Chapter Summaries

Li Xiaoyu revealed himself as the legendary First Patriarch Sect Leader to Zeng Zihang and the Resistance soldiers. He promised to change the dark future and give humanity hope.

• Li Xiaoyu recognized that Zeng Zihang and the Resistance soldiers were still human despite being tainted by demonic energy.
• Zeng Zihang introduced himself as a disciple of Wind Return Peak, leader of the Dawn Squad, and a member of the Green Cloud Sect.
• Li Xiaoyu realized that Dawn, founded by his old friend Zeng Shushu, had survived for centuries as humanity's resistance force.
• Li Xiaoyu revealed that he was the First Patriarch Sect Leader who had returned from the past, and Zeng Zihang and the soldiers knelt to pay their respects.
• Li Xiaoyu promised Zeng Zihang and the Resistance soldiers that he would change the future and find hope for their world.

Li Xiaoyu proved to Zeng Zihang that he was Green Cloud Sect’s First Patriarch Sect Leader and explained that he sought the Heavenly Emperor Seal fragments to fight the Outer Realm Demons. Before retrieving the final fragment, he visited Moon-Watching Terrace and found the grave of the woman he had loved, marked by her sword Tianya.

• Li Xiaoyu demonstrated the Divine Sword Thunder Control Technique, convincing Zeng Zihang that he was the legendary First Patriarch Sect Leader.
• Li Xiaoyu showed Zeng Zihang a Heavenly Emperor Seal fragment and explained that the final fragment lay deep within the ruins.
• Li Xiaoyu asked to visit an important place before seeking the final fragment, and Zeng Zihang agreed to guide him.
• Li Xiaoyu and Zeng Zihang traveled to Moon-Watching Terrace, where Li Xiaoyu broke down upon seeing the woman’s grave and the sword Tianya embedded above it.

Li Xiaoyu learned from Zeng Zihang how Lu Xueqi led Green Cloud's survivors against the Outer Realm Demons and died protecting them while waiting for Li Xiaoyu to return. He resisted the urge to destroy everything, vowed to change the future, and left with Zeng Zihang for the place holding their final hope.

• Zeng Zihang told Li Xiaoyu that the Demon Lord defeated the righteous alliance, and that Wan Jianyi and Daoxuan died trying to stop him.
• Zeng Zihang explained that Lu Xueqi led the surviving Green Cloud Sect through a hundred-year war before sacrificing her life to protect them, still believing Li Xiaoyu would return.
• Li Xiaoyu grieved at Lu Xueqi's grave and nearly gave in to his desire to destroy the world, but the Heavenly Emperor Seal fragment protected his Dao heart.
• Li Xiaoyu vowed to avenge Lu Xueqi and create a hopeful future, then took the broken Tianya Divine Sword from her grave.
• Li Xiaoyu asked Zeng Zihang to lead him to the place that carried their final hope, and they flew deeper into the ruins of Green Cloud Mountain.

Li Xiaoyu arrived at Hope Bastion, humanity’s last refuge in the demon-corrupted world, where survivors had protected the final fragment of the Heavenly Emperor Seal for centuries. He and Zeng Zihang entered the Grand Hero Hall, where two old friends waited in the darkness.

• Zeng Zihang explained that survivors had built Hope Bastion around the ruins of Heavenly Sound Temple and the Holy Mother Sect to protect the last fragment of the Heavenly Emperor Seal.
• Li Xiaoyu learned that the Buddha-Demon Unity Barrier, created by Patriarch Faxiang and Patriarch Jin Ping'er, shielded the refuge and turned demonic energy into spiritual energy.
• Li Xiaoyu saw the exhausted but hopeful survivors working, rebuilding, praying, and preparing to resist the enemy.
• Zeng Zihang brought Li Xiaoyu to the Grand Hero Hall, where resistance soldiers saluted him and cleared the entrance.
• Li Xiaoyu entered the hall with Zeng Zihang and saw two familiar yet unfamiliar figures waiting at its far end.

Li Xiaoyu reunited with the dying Faxiang and Jin Ping'er, who explained how they had survived the final battle. They gave him the last fragment of the Heavenly Emperor Seal and urged him to return to his own era to change the future.

• Li Xiaoyu found Faxiang near death and Jin Ping'er's remnant soul lingering above the Holy Mother statue, and apologized for returning too late.
• Jin Ping'er told Li Xiaoyu that she had detonated her body and divine soul to protect the mortals, and that the Holy Mother statue had preserved her last remnant soul.
• Faxiang revealed that he and Jin Ping'er had held on to give Li Xiaoyu the final fragment of the Heavenly Emperor Seal.
• The jade seal joined the other two fragments, awakening the complete seal's power and allowing Li Xiaoyu to resonate with the world's remaining fundamental laws.
• Jin Ping'er asked Li Xiaoyu to return to his era and change the despairing future, and he promised to create a future filled with hope.

After Faxiang and Jin Ping'er gave their lives to reinforce Hope Bastion's barrier, the Demon Lord's arrival shattered it and exposed the survivors to demonic energy. As Zeng Zihang led the refugees away, Faxiang and Jin Ping'er reappeared to buy Li Xiaoyu time, and Faxiang sent a giant Vajra charging at the black vortex.

• Faxiang and Jin Ping'er dissolved into light, strengthening Hope Bastion's protective barrier with their energy.
• A roar shook the underground city, and Li Xiaoyu recognized it as the Demon Lord's arrival.
• Li Xiaoyu and Zeng Zihang emerged above Hope Bastion and saw a vast black vortex form, destroying the barrier and exposing the inhabitants to demonic energy.
• Li Xiaoyu ordered Zeng Zihang to lead the survivors to safety, and Zeng Zihang charged toward them to help them escape.
• Faxiang and Jin Ping'er reappeared beside Li Xiaoyu and explained they had merged their power into the barrier to buy him time.
• Faxiang summoned a towering Vajra and sent it charging toward the black vortex.

Jin Ping'er sacrificed herself to hold back the black vortex, allowing Li Xiaoyu to escape through a spacetime passage with the four sacred artifacts. He returned gravely wounded to Green Cloud Mountain, where Lu Xueqi caught him as he fell.

• Jin Ping'er detonated the Holy Mother statue, combining its white holy light with Buddhist light to push back the black vortex.
• Li Xiaoyu summoned the three Heavenly Emperor relics and the Wine Gourd to open a spacetime passage and attempt to return home.
• The black vortex sent a destructive giant hand after Li Xiaoyu, but the broken Tianya Divine Sword released a sword intent that bought him time to reach the passage.
• After waiting three days, Wan Jianyi, Daoist Daoxuan, Xiao Bai, Zhou Yixian, and the Green Cloud Sect disciples saw Li Xiaoyu emerge from the spatial vortex, badly wounded and unconscious.
• Lu Xueqi caught Li Xiaoyu and held him, relieved that he had returned.

Lu Xueqi used her Cultivation to heal the gravely wounded Li Xiaoyu, who awakened after seven days. Reunited, Li Xiaoyu and his companions gathered at Heaven-Reaching Peak to begin their journey toward Kunlun and seek the Heavenly Emperor’s inheritance.

• Lu Xueqi carried the unconscious Li Xiaoyu to Small Bamboo Peak and asked the elders to keep their distance while she healed him.
• For seven days, Lu Xueqi poured her Cultivation into Li Xiaoyu, repairing his meridians and nourishing his weakened body.
• Li Xiaoyu woke on the seventh morning, and he and Lu Xueqi embraced as he apologized for making her worry.
• At Heaven-Reaching Peak, Li Xiaoyu told the Green Cloud Sect disciples that Kunlun held their hope of resisting the Outer Realm Demons.
• Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao prepared to open the way to Kunlun.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao fused the Heavenly Emperor’s relics and their powers to open a heavenly ladder to Kunlun. They entered the sacred realm, where their strength recovered, but ominous cracking sounds began to rise from its depths.

• Li Xiaoyu summoned the three relics of the Heavenly Emperor, and he, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao poured their powers into them.
• The relics fused and sent three divine beams into the sky, which converged to open a vortex and summon a white jade staircase to Heaven-Reaching Peak.
• Li Xiaoyu and his companions climbed the heavenly ladder and arrived in Kunlun, a celestial realm floating above a golden ocean of spiritual energy.
• The four explored Kunlun, recovered their strength in its dense spiritual energy, and Li Xiaoyu sensed his cultivation nearing a breakthrough.
• Cracking sounds rose from the depths of the immortal realm, and Li Xiaoyu watched the ominous place with vigilance.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao met the Heavenly Emperor, who set them three final trials to earn his inheritance. They entered the first trial, the Ancient Stellar Array, and began fighting its Star Soul Puppets.

• Li Xiaoyu and his companions saw the Kunlun guardians emerge, and the Heavenly Emperor revealed himself as the guardian of the previous era.
• The Heavenly Emperor told the four they had to pass three final trials to obtain his inheritance and activated the Ancient Stellar Array for the first trial.
• Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao entered the array and encountered the Star Soul Puppets guarding it.
• Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao unleashed their powers together and attacked the Star Soul Puppets.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Bi Yao, and Zhang Xiaofan discovered that destroying the star-soul puppets only caused them to return, and Li Xiaoyu tasked Zhang Xiaofan with deciphering the Star Dipper Grand Array. Zhang Xiaofan found the formation’s hidden eye and asked his companions for help breaking it.

• The four companions destroyed hundreds of star-soul puppets, but the puppets reformed in even greater numbers.
• Li Xiaoyu explained that the trial required them to decipher the Star Dipper Grand Array, then entrusted Zhang Xiaofan with finding a way through it.
• Zhang Xiaofan asked Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and Bi Yao to hold off the puppets while he comprehended the formation.
• Using the five volumes of the Heavenly Tome, Zhang Xiaofan saw the laws and star patterns that sustained the endless cycle.
• Zhang Xiaofan identified an inconspicuous star as the formation eye and told his companions he needed their help to break the array.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, and Bi Yao destroyed the Perpetual Motion Array’s core, ending the first trial and revealing a dying hidden realm. After learning they had to restore its rampaging elemental sources, the four companions split up, with Li Xiaoyu heading east to confront the Chaotic Storm.

• Li Xiaoyu used his Wine Gourd to disrupt the array-core star, allowing Lu Xueqi and Bi Yao to destroy it with their combined techniques.
• The Perpetual Motion Array collapsed, and Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao awoke in a desolate hidden realm.
• The group found a stele bearing the words “To bear Heaven's mandate, first mend Heaven's flaws,” and four destructive elemental sources appeared across the realm.
• Li Xiaoyu realized the trial required them to purify the elemental sources and restore the dying world, so he assigned each companion a direction.
• Li Xiaoyu flew east toward the Chaotic Storm while Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao headed toward the other three sources.

Li Xiaoyu subdued the destruction storm by using his Dao to restore order, while Lu Xueqi melted the profound ice by awakening life in the Source of Dead Water. Both worlds were reborn, and the chapter ended with streams flowing across the land where the ice mountain had stood.

• Li Xiaoyu entered the destruction storm and realized that brute force could not overcome its chaotic laws.
• Li Xiaoyu comprehended the storm, opened his Guardian Sword Domain, and guided its chaos back into order.
• Lu Xueqi approached the profound ice mountain and realized that force alone could not melt it.
• Lu Xueqi resonated with the ice, awakened its desire for life, and used Tianya to make the mountain melt.
• The storm subsided and the ice mountain became flowing streams as both lands regained life.

Zhang Xiaofan and Bi Yao each faced a force of destruction and used their Dao hearts to transform it into a power that could nurture life. Zhang Xiaofan revived the Extinction Dead Earth, while Bi Yao turned the Endfire Ash Flame into warm flames of rebirth.

• Zhang Xiaofan entered the Extinction Dead Earth and first repelled its devouring force with his Cultivation.
• Zhang Xiaofan understood the land’s longing for life and used the balance of Buddhist, Daoist, and demonic powers to guide it toward reincarnation.
• The Extinction Dead Earth became fertile soil, and green shoots emerged across it.
• Bi Yao entered the Endfire Ash Flame and initially resisted its power with the life force of the Holy Mother Divine Spark.
• Bi Yao embraced the flames, summoned the Holy Mother’s phantom, and guided their power toward rebirth.
• The Endfire Ash Flame subsided into clusters of warm golden flames across the newly reborn land.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao restored the small grotto-heaven by purifying its four elemental sources and gained deeper understanding of their Daos. They entered the Kunlun Immortal Realm’s third trial, where the Heavenly Emperor’s Chess Soul challenged them to find a way for the world to survive.

• Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao purified the four elemental sources, restoring the grotto-heaven and its core spiritual vein.
• The core spiritual vein sent the four powers of creation into them, strengthening their Dao foundations and understanding.
• The ancient stone stele formed a gateway, and Li Xiaoyu and his companions passed through it to reach the third trial.
• The Heavenly Emperor appeared and explained that their next trial concerned the survival of the entire world.
• The Heavenly Emperor summoned a cosmic chessboard and left the four to face his Chess Soul in a game for the world’s future.

Li Xiaoyu and the others entered the Epoch Sand Table, where the Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul tasked them with commanding the Divine Land against the Outer Realm Demons. Li Xiaoyu chose to divide their forces and call on all the land's inhabitants to resist, and golden lights of resistance appeared across the sand table.

• The Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul revealed the Epoch Sand Table and explained that Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao had to find a way to save their world from the Outer Realm Demons.
• The Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul set the demons' three-pronged assault in motion, showing their forces devastate the Central Plains Continent.
• Li Xiaoyu identified the eastern, western, and central armies and outlined the different threats they posed.
• Lu Xueqi asked whether they should concentrate their forces on one front or divide them across all three, and Zhang Xiaofan warned that splitting their already limited troops could doom them.
• Li Xiaoyu chose to divide their forces and trust the people of the Divine Land to defend their homeland; Bi Yao understood and supported his plan.
• Li Xiaoyu activated the sand table, revealing golden points of light as sects, reclusive groups, and mortal kingdoms gathered to resist the Outer Realm Demons.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao repeatedly failed to stop the Outer Realm Demons in the Epoch Sand Table, even after the Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul reset the world. Zhang Xiaofan realized they had been wrong to seek victory at the smallest cost and said they had to be prepared to sacrifice everything, even themselves, to protect the world.

• The first people's war against the Outer Realm Demons ended in devastation, and Li Xiaoyu chose to continue despite the group's despair.
• The Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul restored the Epoch Sand Table, and the group tried a second strategy by building a defensive line around Green Cloud Mountain, Heavenly Sound Temple, and the Holy Mother Sect.
• The defensive line failed, and the Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul reset the world again after Li Xiaoyu vowed not to give up.
• Li Xiaoyu and the others tried again and again, but each strategy failed as the Divine Land neared destruction.
• Zhang Xiaofan said they had been wrong from the beginning because they sought victory at the smallest cost, and that protecting the world required being ready to sacrifice everything, even themselves.

Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao passed the Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul’s final trial by sacrificing much of the Divine Land to preserve its last hope. The Chess Soul began giving them his inheritance and mission, revealing the world’s ancient history as the vision reached the age of myriad races.

• Li Xiaoyu and the others restarted the game and united their strength at the Divine Land’s center, sacrificing doomed lands and kingdoms to preserve the world’s final spark.
• The Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul declared that they had passed his trial, and the Epoch Sand Table shattered as they returned to the grand hall.
• The Heavenly Emperor Chess Soul praised the four and summoned a vast pillar of light to deliver his final inheritance and mission.
• Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao received a torrent of information showing the Age of Gods and Demons, the invasion of the Outer Realm Demons, and the Heavenly Emperor’s stand against them.
• The vision continued into the age of myriad races, when intelligent peoples built a civilization across the land.

The Heavenly Emperor granted Li Xiaoyu, Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao power and hope after showing them the world's doomed future. Li Xiaoyu formed a world within his body through his Dao of protection and emerged with overwhelming power.

• The four witnessed the Outer Realm Demons' return, the world's destruction, and the sacrifices of those who protected them.
• The Heavenly Emperor comforted them and sent four torrents of inheritance energy into their bodies.
• Li Xiaoyu absorbed the energy, transformed his body and primordial spirit, and formed a chaotic vortex in his dantian.
• Li Xiaoyu declared that his Dao was to protect everyone and merged his Dao heart into the vortex.
• A star-filled world with an azure planet formed inside Li Xiaoyu, releasing a vast aura that astonished Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao.

Li Xiaoyu and Lu Xueqi reached the Half-Step Saint Realm through the Heavenly Emperor’s inheritance, while Zhang Xiaofan began transforming through its power. The chapter ended with Zhang Xiaofan’s Fire Poker and Ancient Immortal-Slaying Sword merging into an ancient bluestone longsword.

• Li Xiaoyu succeeded in reaching the Half-Step Saint Realm, and the Heavenly Emperor’s inheritance sent torrents of power to Lu Xueqi, Zhang Xiaofan, and Bi Yao.
• Lu Xueqi fused the Judgment Divine Spark with her Dao Heart and transformed Tianya into the divine sword Tianya: Judgment.
• Lu Xueqi reached the Half-Step Saint Realm and told Li Xiaoyu she had caught up to him.
• Zhang Xiaofan resonated with the world’s primordial laws as the inheritance restored and elevated his Cultivation.
• Zhang Xiaofan fused his Dao Heart with the transforming Fire Poker and Ancient Immortal-Slaying Sword, which merged into an ancient bluestone longsword.