Chapter Summaries

Xuanwei explained that Ye Lin’s Hourglass of Time was the incomplete shell of an Innate Spirit Treasure, and offered a trade to obtain it for the Sky Domain. Ye Lin heard the terms but had not yet accepted.

• Star Lord Wenqu introduced Ye Lin and his companions to Xuanwei, the lord of Floating City.
• Xuanwei identified Ye Lin’s Hourglass of Time as the Time Scar Shell, one half of the Cosmic Light Hourglass, and explained its role in stabilizing heaven and earth.
• Ye Lin realized the Hourglass of Time was an incomplete Innate Spirit Treasure.
• Xuanwei offered to exchange information about the Three Thousand Sacred Lands and the Sword Dao Holy Land, four Heaven-Ascent Tokens, and substantial resources for the Time Scar Shell.
• Ye Lin listened to Xuanwei’s proposal without agreeing to the trade.

Xuanwei offered Ye Lin detailed information and a direct route to the Three Thousand Sacred Lands in exchange for help retrieving the Cosmic Light Source Crystal from the Tomb of Time. He also offered Ye Lin the option to hand over the Time Scar Shell and let Xuanwei’s people take the risk, leaving Ye Lin to weigh the value of the information against his Innate Spirit Treasure.

• Ye Lin considered the offer of information about the sacred lands, the Sword Dao Holy Land, its trials, and a direct route there, but realized he might lose the Hourglass of Time.
• Xuanwei asked Ye Lin to enter the Tomb of Time and retrieve the Cosmic Light Source Crystal, explaining that only someone carrying the Time Scar Shell could approach its core restriction.
• The Red-Robed Elder offered to send people to assist Ye Lin against the tomb’s traps and formidable spirit generals.
• Xuanwei offered Ye Lin an alternative: hand over the Time Scar Shell so Xuanwei’s people could retrieve the crystal, in exchange for the promised information but not the additional resources.
• Xuanwei warned that outsiders had only a hundred years in the region and needed to reach a sacred land within ninety years to complete its ten years of training.

Ye Lin realized that Xuanwei and the others needed his Hourglass of Time to repair the secret realm and would not let him leave with it. He accepted that refusing could lead to a costly fight and asked what resources they would offer in exchange.

• Ye Lin weighed selling the Hourglass of Time for a direct route to the Sword Dao Holy Land and information about the sacred lands.
• The Sword Demon tapped Ye Lin, bringing him back to his senses.
• Ye Lin understood that Xuanwei and the others needed the Hourglass of Time to mend the secret realm and that they might seize it if he refused.
• Ye Lin considered the danger of fighting them and asked Xuanwei what abundant resources he would receive.

Ye Lin agreed to help Xuanwei retrieve an item from a restriction in exchange for the Time Scar Shell, with three valuable treasures promised in return. After settling into the Holy City, Ye Lin and his companions began to suspect that the offer and their easy acquisition of the shell concealed something.

• Xuanwei offered Ye Lin the Creation Return-to-Ruin Furnace, the Eternal Hourglass, and the Sword Remains Dao Seed for the Time Scar Shell.
• Ye Lin accepted Xuanwei's mission after learning that even failure would not cancel their deal and that a talisman could transport them out of the Tomb of Time.
• Xuanwei told Ye Lin's group to study the Tomb of Time and its Tomb-Guarding Spirit Generals before gathering at the Holy City's Mustering Platform the next day.
• Star Lord Wenqu arranged secluded lodging and attendants for Ye Lin and the other three in the Holy City.
• Blade Fanatic voiced suspicion that obtaining the Time Scar Shell had been too easy and questioned why Xuanwei's people had failed to find it.

Ye Lin weighed the danger of entering the Tomb of Time against the risk of missing the Sword Dao Sacred Land and decided to go the next day. Sword Demon and Blade Fanatic agreed to trust him, while Iron Hammer followed their lead.

• Sword Demon warned that the Tomb of Time could be a trap, while Ye Lin argued they could not risk missing the Sword Dao Sacred Land if the hundred-year deadline was real.
• Ye Lin reviewed his status and decided they would enter the Tomb of Time tomorrow, relying on his hidden chance to advance to the Saint Realm if they were betrayed.
• Sword Demon and Blade Fanatic agreed to follow Ye Lin’s decision and trust his trump card.
• Iron Hammer stayed silent and resolved to obey Ye Lin and fight if danger arose.

Ye Lin and the others visited the Myriad Arts Pavilion to learn about the Tomb of Time. They discovered that the Cosmic Light Source Crystal lay deep inside a dangerous maze, but the records revealed little about the strength of its nine guardian spirit generals.

• Ye Lin suggested that the group visit the Myriad Arts Pavilion, and the four of them headed there with an attendant.
• The attendant explained that Xuanwei's Identity Token gave them free access to the seventh floor and its information about the Tomb of Time.
• Ye Lin learned that the Tomb of Time was a dangerous space-time maze formed by ancient disturbances, with the Cosmic Light Source Crystal at its deepest point.
• Ye Lin read that nine guardian spirit generals wielded the fundamental forces of law and could manipulate time and space when they joined forces.
• Ye Lin and the others found no useful information about the spirit generals' strength and concluded they would learn more only by entering the tomb.

Ye Lin and the others left the Myriad Arts Pavilion and explored Holy City, where he found an ancient bronze Shadow-Tracing Mirror that seemed to resonate with him. He tried to trade for it and handed the shopkeeper three items from his Spatial Ring for appraisal.

• Ye Lin and the other three left the Myriad Arts Pavilion and strolled through Holy City without buying anything.
• Ye Lin noticed a damaged bronze mirror in the Antiquities Appraisal Studio and felt it resonate with a power within him.
• The shopkeeper explained that the Shadow-Tracing Mirror could reveal events from the past twelve hours and had two uses remaining.
• Ye Lin asked where the mirror came from and learned it had been unearthed from an ancient ruin near the Myriad Laws Turbulent Flow Belt.
• Ye Lin offered a pill, a sword, and an exquisite Compass for the shopkeeper to appraise.

Ye Lin traded a vast collection of low-grade treasures for a bronze Shadow-Tracing Mirror, then set out with his companions when the agreed time arrived. He remained confident they could survive whatever trap the old man might have prepared.

• The shopkeeper rejected Ye Lin’s first offerings as too low in value, so Ye Lin produced over a thousand more items until the shopkeeper accepted the trade and handed over the bronze mirror.
• Ye Lin left the shop with the mirror, while the shopkeeper began sorting through the items to find things he could sell.
• Ye Lin and his companions returned to their loft and rested until the next day, when their agreed meeting time arrived.
• Ye Lin set off holding the Shadow-Tracing Mirror, while Iron Hammer vowed to destroy the place if the old man played tricks.
• The Sword Demon asked whether Ye Lin was confident, and Ye Lin said he was because he had become a saint and did not believe the old man’s trap could kill one.

Ye Lin and the others entered the Tomb of Time on a mission, warned that time inside was unpredictable and that they had to return within thirty hours outside. They arrived in a silent gray wasteland, where the golden hourglass appeared unable to measure the passage of time.

• Xuanwei introduced Star Lord Wenqu, Elder Yan Yang, Xuan Ming Elder, and Wuqu Star Lord as the four who would join Ye Lin's group, and urged everyone to cooperate.
• Xuanwei opened a stellar gate with a bronze key and gave Ye Lin a golden hourglass to track time, along with Time Talismans for emergencies or mission completion.
• The four accompanying cultivators entered the gate first, and Ye Lin followed them through the time-warping passage.
• Ye Lin arrived in a bleak wasteland beneath a pale gray sky, where the sounds were muffled and distorted.
• Star Lord Wenqu said he could not sense the flow of time, and Ye Lin saw that the black sand in the hourglass was not moving.

Ye Lin and the others traveled through the shifting Tomb of Time toward the Eye of Time, where three stone puppets ambushed them. Elder Yan Yang and Elder Xuan Ming destroyed the puppets, and the group continued into the tomb.

• Star Lord Wenqu warned the group not to touch anything unusual as they set out across the Lost Time Wasteland toward the Eye of Time.
• Wuqu Star Lord explained to Ye Lin that the Tomb of Time’s terrain and traps changed constantly, making each visit unfamiliar.
• Three stone giants formed from the gray-white sand and attacked the group.
• Elder Xuan Ming froze one puppet’s lower body, allowing Elder Yan Yang to destroy it with a fire Dragon.
• Elder Yan Yang struck down the other two stone puppets.

Ye Lin’s group battled the tomb’s rule-born creatures and reached the River of Broken Flow, where they used the Time-Crossing Shuttle to ferry across in two trips. On the second crossing, a giant hand made of time fragments attacked the shuttle, and Star Lord Wenqu identified it as an aggregate of the river’s malevolent temporal thoughts.

• Ye Lin’s group fought through increasingly frequent attacks from wind-blade birds, lava pythons, and shadow demons as they traveled deeper into the tomb.
• Star Lord Wenqu explained that the River of Broken Flow could not be crossed by flight and brought out a Time-Crossing Shuttle that could carry five people.
• Ye Lin arranged for Wuqu Star Lord, Elder Yan Yang, Blade Fanatic, and Iron Hammer to cross first while the others waited on the near bank.
• The first four reached the opposite shore safely, and the Time-Crossing Shuttle returned for Ye Lin and the remaining travelers.
• A giant hand formed from time fragments rose from a vortex and attacked the shuttle midway across the river.
• Star Lord Wenqu recognized the hand as an aggregate of the river’s malevolent temporal thoughts and unleashed his saintly might to suppress it.

Ye Lin used the Hourglass of Time and his Chaos Sword Body to sever the silver giant hand, allowing the group to cross the River of Broken Flow. On Layered Peaks Mountain, nine tomb-guarding spirit generals appeared, forming the final line of defense in their path.

• Ye Lin activated the Hourglass of Time and slashed the silver giant hand, severing its wrist and driving it back into the river.
• Star Lord Wenqu put away the Time-Crossing Shuttle after the group reached the opposite bank, and they continued toward Layered Peaks Mountain.
• Star Lord Wenqu used a star compass to calculate a safe route through the mountain’s shifting platforms and disordered space.
• The group reached a broad platform, where nine pillars of light appeared and the nine tomb-guarding spirit generals took form.
• Star Lord Wenqu recognized the spirit generals as the final line of defense and prepared to confront them.

Nine Spirit Generals formed the Nine Spirit Heaven-Sealing Formation around the platform, trapping Ye Lin and his allies in an independent battlefield. As the others chose their opponents, Ye Lin asked Sword Demon whether he had ever killed a third-layer Quasi-Saint while only a first-layer Quasi-Saint himself, and Sword Demon said it was as easy as slaughtering a chicken.

• The nine Spirit Generals appeared and joined their laws to seal the platform in a nine-colored domain.
• Star Lord Wenqu warned that the Nine Spirit Heaven-Sealing Formation cut off the battlefield from the outside and imposed its own laws.
• Wuqu Star Lord, Elder Yan Yang, Cold Nether Elder, Sword Demon, Blade Fanatic, and Iron Hammer each chose a Spirit General to fight.
• Star Lord Wenqu turned to Ye Lin to divide up the remaining Wood, Water, and Light Spirit Generals.
• Ye Lin asked Sword Demon if he had killed a third-layer Quasi-Saint while at the first layer, and Sword Demon answered that he had done so as easily as slaughtering a chicken.

Ye Lin took on the Nine Spirit Generals to test his strength after reaching the Quasi-Saint Realm, using the Starshift Instant Prison Sword to slip through their combined attack. The Light Spirit General and Dark Spirit General then moved to stop him.

• The Sword Demon explained that he had once fought cultivators two levels above him, and Ye Lin decided to seek a satisfying battle against the Nine Spirit Generals.
• Ye Lin launched the Starshift Instant Prison Sword, filling the platform with thousands of sword shadows.
• The Nine Spirit Generals countered with torrents of sword aura, flames, lightning, and laws, shaking the platform and tearing open rifts in space.
• Ye Lin concealed himself among the sword shadows and advanced through the Nine Spirit Generals' attack without being injured.
• The Light Spirit General bound Ye Lin's hidden sword shadow with chains of light as the Dark Spirit General appeared behind him and stabbed toward his heart.

Ye Lin broke through the five spirit generals’ coordinated encirclement with his timeline-based sword techniques and neared the steps to the summit. When the Metal, Fire, and Thunder Spirit Generals unleashed lethal attacks, Ye Lin stopped in place.

• The five spirit generals attacked Ye Lin in a coordinated encirclement, but he used Sword of the Past and Sword of the Future to break their formation.
• Ye Lin slipped past the blockade and came within a hundred zhang of the steps leading to the summit.
• The Metal, Fire, and Thunder Spirit Generals turned their strongest attacks on Ye Lin, while Star Lord Wenqu and Wuqu Star Lord could not reach him in time.
• Ye Lin stopped as the three attacks bore down on him.

Ye Lin used Returning Ruins Draw to exile the three spirit generals’ combined attacks into chaos, then struck back with Grand Void Space-Rending Sword. He left the three generals facing a spatial rift filled with chaotic currents and a powerful devouring force.

• Ye Lin halted the three spirit generals’ attacks and turned to face them.
• Ye Lin used Returning Ruins Draw to swallow and exile their golden radiance, fireball, and lightning pillar into chaos.
• Ye Lin recognized that his deeper understanding of the technique had improved its use and continued testing it against the spirit generals.
• Ye Lin attacked the three generals with Grand Void Space-Rending Sword, opening a rift that tore through space and unleashed chaotic currents.

Ye Lin used the Grand Void Space-Rending Sword to heavily wound three Spirit Generals, but the attack left him unable to move again. Star Lord Wenqu and the others seized the opening and advanced toward the stone steps to complete their mission.

• Ye Lin’s rift tore through the Gold Spirit General’s defenses and dragged him toward the darkness.
• Ye Lin branched the rift toward the Fire Spirit General and Thunder Spirit General, tearing away the Fire Spirit General’s shoulder and the Thunder Spirit General’s leg.
• Ye Lin exhausted himself with the attack and could no longer move.
• Star Lord Wenqu cast his star compass into a road of starlight leading to the stone steps.
• Wuqu Star Lord, Yan Yang, and Han Ming held back the Spirit Generals as they advanced toward the stone steps.

Ye Lin and the others faced a spreading region of nothingness after the Eye of Time’s power leaked out and destabilized the platform. Star Lord Wenqu refused to retreat, insisting they reach the core source crystal and prevent the Tomb of Time from collapsing.

• Ye Lin stepped toward the starlit path as chaotic time flow disrupted the movements of everyone on the platform.
• Star Lord Wenqu explained that the Eye of Time’s power was leaking out because the nine Spirit Generals were badly wounded and the formation had weakened.
• The spatial rift Ye Lin had opened with the Great Ruins Space-Rending Sword expanded uncontrollably, swallowing the platform’s space and the remains and laws of the Spirit Generals.
• Wuqu Star Lord attacked the spreading nothingness with his battle halberd, but it swallowed his astral force without effect.
• Star Lord Wenqu insisted they could not retreat because the core source crystal and the fate of the Tomb of Time were at stake.

Ye Lin agreed to help Star Lord Wenqu after securing a doubled reward, then risked being swallowed by the expanding void to reverse his earlier attack. He began using the Hourglass of Time to pull the scattered Chaos power back into the structure of space.

• Star Lord Wenqu offered Ye Lin double the promised resources to keep him and the others from retreating.
• Ye Lin accepted the offer and warned Star Lord Wenqu not to break his promise.
• Ye Lin charged toward the expanding void and asked Sword Demon and the others to buy him time.
• As the void's devouring force weakened his Saint power, Ye Lin used the Hourglass of Time and Returning Ruins Draw to reverse the attack and reclaim the Chaos power.

Ye Lin reversed the Returning Ruins Draw to repair the expanding void fissure while the Hourglass of Time calmed the chaotic temporal currents. With the Star Lords and elders lending their power, they contained the fissure, which began to close slowly.

• Ye Lin reversed the Returning Ruins Draw and poured chaotic aura into the void fissure to mend space.
• Star Lord Wenqu recognized Ye Lin's plan and called on the others to help fill the void with the pure origins of law.
• Star Lord Wenqu, Wuqu Star Lord, Elder Yan Yang, Cold Nether Elder, Sword Demon, and the other two sent their laws into Ye Lin's chaos vortex.
• Ye Lin endured the pressure as the combined power slowed the fissure's expansion and began repairing its edges.
• Ye Lin used the Hourglass of Time to stabilize the temporal currents as the fissure stopped expanding and started to close.