Chapter Summaries

Li Shun met an enigmatic man in black atop Dai Mountain, broke through to the upper grade of the Spirit Resonance Realm, and discussed the Nine-Rank Official System with him. After the man vanished and lifted the mountain’s flight ban for Li Shun, Li Shun wondered whether their encounter was Heaven’s will and flew down the mountain.

• The man in black guided Li Shun to watch the sunrise, and Li Shun broke through to the upper grade of the Spirit Resonance Realm as he contemplated Longevity.
• The man in black revealed that he knew Duan Jiuzhang and asked Li Shun what he thought of the Nine-Rank Official System.
• Li Shun argued that the reform was unlikely to last because officials were stronger than the people, and the man in black said Duan Jiuzhang had judged him well.
• The man in black said Chi had arranged their meeting, then faded away and left Li Shun able to fly despite Dai Mountain’s prohibition.
• Li Shun called after the vanished man to ask his name, received no answer, and flew down Dai Mountain wondering whether the encounter was Heaven’s will.

Li Shun asked Kong Zhao about Dai Mountain’s restrictions and learned which Confucian School disciples would attend the Hundred Schools Gathering. Kong Zhao explained He Wanbai’s unusual connection to the Confucian Sage and warned Li Shun to watch out for a Jun Family heir, leaving the gathering’s nature a mystery.

• Li Shun told Kong Zhao he had climbed Dai Mountain on foot and reached the upper grade of the Spirit Resonance Realm.
• Kong Zhao told Li Shun to consolidate his cultivation at the old residence before the Hundred Schools Gathering and said its participants would meet at Dai Mountain.
• Kong Zhao named He Wanbai and Xu Tingshen as the other Confucian School participants and warned Li Shun to avoid offending He Wanbai.
• Kong Zhao recounted how the Confucian Sage had promised to take a posthumous He Family child as a disciple, leading the Left Chancellor to accept He Wanbai on the Sage’s behalf.
• Kong Zhao warned Li Shun that a Jun Family heir would attend the gathering, and Li Shun wondered whether it was Shentu Xin.

As the Hundred Schools Gathering began, Zhao Cheng told Li Shun that the schools planned to reconnect Heaven and Earth by creating an illusion of the Elder Primordial Continent. Li Shun learned that he must find a Heaven-Piercing Divine Mountain in the realm, but the chapter left the gathering’s trials ahead.

• Li Shun met Zhao Cheng, who reflected on their changed circumstances and told him to do his best at the gathering without forcing himself.
• Zhao Cheng explained that the Hundred Schools Gathering would use Dai Mountain’s lingering power to create a nearly real illusion realm of the Elder Primordial Continent.
• Zhao Cheng warned Li Shun that death in the realm usually only damaged spiritual sense, but some participants had lost their consciousness permanently.
• Li Shun asked what success in the realm required, and Zhao Cheng showed him a map marking ancient locations including Jianmu, Spirit Mountain, and Mount Buzhou.
• Zhao Cheng told Li Shun to identify his random starting location and travel to the nearest Heaven-Piercing Divine Mountain to seek insight into Heaven, gods, and the Dao.

Li Shun learned the dangers and rules of the Primordial Illusion Realm before the Hundred Schools Gathering began at Dai Mountain. As the schools climbed toward the gathering, he discovered that participants would initially be unable to fly and were expected to ascend Heaven-Piercing Divine Mountains on foot.

• Zhao Cheng explained the Confucian Sage's Threefold Self-Reflection and warned that humans would be hunted in the Elder Primordial Continent.
• Li Shun asked about time in the Primordial Illusion Realm, and Zhao Cheng said the ten-hour opening could contain about a hundred days inside.
• After a day of preparation, the Hundred Schools Gathering began, and Li Shun met fellow Confucian participants He Wanbai and Xu Tingshen.
• The schools climbed Dai Mountain, with Zhao Cheng's Confucian group following behind the Legalist School at an unhurried pace.
• Chang Yan and Zhao Cheng told Li Shun and the other participants that they would need time to overcome flight restrictions and should climb surveyed Heaven-Piercing Divine Mountains on foot.

Li Shun joined the Hundred Schools on Heaven-Piercing Divine Mountain to open the Primordial Illusion Realm, learning that Jin Yutang had emptied his consciousness to serve as the necessary vessel. As the schools combined their understanding of the Dao in Jin Yutang’s mind, an unfathomable force carried Li Shun’s consciousness beyond the Great Qian World, where he struck the firmament and everything changed.

• Li Shun climbed Heaven-Piercing Divine Mountain with Zhao Cheng, Chang Yan, and the other members of the Hundred Schools.
• Zhao Cheng explained that Jin Yutang had no cultivation and that the Jin Family had sacrificed one of its members to serve as the vessel whenever the Primordial Illusion Realm was opened.
• Jin Yutang completed the rites, emptied his consciousness, and sat ready as the vessel for the gathering.
• Li Shun and the Hundred Schools sent their consciousnesses into Jin Yutang’s mind and combined their knowledge in a mysterious force at its center.
• Li Shun contributed his understanding of the Spring-Autumn Brush lineage before an unfathomable power drew his consciousness upward beyond Dai Mountain and into the firmament.

Li Shun entered the Primordial Illusion Realm, discovered that he could fly despite Dai Mountain’s seal, and encountered a strange underground monster among countless earthen mounds. As more creatures began stirring beneath the mounds, he prepared to flee before being overwhelmed.

• Li Shun found himself alone in a desolate wilderness and confirmed that Square Inch could not be activated in the illusion.
• Li Shun flew above the wasteland and discovered thousands of connected earthen mounds emitting strange sounds.
• A bone-less-looking creature burst from the ground and attacked Li Shun, who bound it with a Spring and Autumn Annals technique.
• The creature exploded into pieces, but Li Shun burned its reassembling flesh with golden flames.
• As the creature continued to burn, rustling rose from the surrounding mounds, and Li Shun decided to avoid being surrounded and move on.

Li Shun escaped the mud-and-stone monsters, only to face the ancient calamity of ten suns in the Primordial Illusion Realm. After finding shelter in a giant footprint, he considered using Threefold Self-Reflection to restart and explore more carefully.

• Li Shun used Thunder Gale Flashstep and an illusionary double to divert the monsters, then fled for two days until he escaped their territory.
• Ten suns appeared, scorching Li Shun and destabilizing his cultivation, so he tried to dig underground for shelter.
• Rotten air from the soil weakened Li Shun and made the ground seem to grab him, forcing him to abandon his hole and keep flying.
• Li Shun found shade in a giant footprint, recovered from the suns, and realized its owner must have been at least a thousand zhang tall.
• Li Shun decided he might use Threefold Self-Reflection to start over and treat the experience as a scouting attempt.

Li Shun waited out the seven-day cataclysm of ten suns and a blue moon, then set out across the wasteland and discovered that an ancient footprint was eroding and controlling him. He broke free of its influence and vomited up a worm with his own face, which he crushed.

• Li Shun sheltered in a deep pit from the ten suns and blue moon, whose heat and cold made it impossible for him to explore.
• After the celestial phenomena vanished seven days later, Li Shun flew toward the sunrise but sensed growing danger whenever he moved.
• Li Shun found a footprint on the ground shaped like the deep pit and used a water mirror to reveal himself unconsciously making matching steps in midair.
• Li Shun resisted the footprint’s rhythm and painstakingly reclaimed control of his own steps despite whispers and physical distress.
• Li Shun vomited up a decaying blue-gray worm with his face and stomped it into pulp.

After escaping the footprint’s influence, Li Shun crossed a grassland and found the solitary Unsalted Mountain, where villagers captured him before their elder communicated with him. He learned about the mountain’s god and the dangers facing humanity, while his search for the Heaven-Piercing Divine Mountain brought him to Unsalted Village.

• Li Shun flew east for ten days and discovered a grassland and a towering mountain that appeared only when he drew near.
• Li Shun concealed himself near the mountain and watched several hundred villagers return to their village at night.
• A tattooed villager attacked and subdued Li Shun, whose language he could not understand.
• A white-haired elder used his staff to communicate with Li Shun through spiritual thought and asked which tribe he came from.
• Li Shun told the elder about his journey, and the elder identified the barren wilderness as the Unbeginning Wilds and explained that a god had driven away the beast whose footprint Li Shun encountered.
• The elder explained that the mountain and village were called Unsalted Mountain and Unsalted Village, and that humans depended on gods for protection from beasts and the Witch Clan.

Li Shun joined the Zhou Wasteland Clan’s feast before beginning his climb up Unsalted Mountain, where he hoped to meet the god. After eating a Yu Wolf, he met a boy who was recording the tastes and effects of creatures in a Wilds Food Record.

• Chief Xi told Li Shun that Unsalted Mountain belonged to no clan and invited him to climb it step by step to meet the god.
• The Gauze Wasteland Clan welcomed Li Shun, believing he would become the god’s subject, and invited him to their feast.
• Xi gave Li Shun the fragrant meat between the wings of a Yu Wolf, and Li Shun ate the entire slab and felt more agile.
• A boy asked Li Shun about the meat’s taste, then wrote an entry about the Yu Wolf in his Wilds Food Record.
• The boy told Li Shun he planned to eat every edible thing on the Primordial Continent, corrected how Li Shun addressed him, and vanished without giving his name.

Li Shun climbed Unsalted Mountain to meet the god whose spirit light protected the clans. At the summit, a colossal and inhuman deity appeared before him, leaving him stunned.

• Li Shun asked Xi about Chui's spirit light and learned that it came from the god on Unsalted Mountain.
• Xi warned Li Shun to remain reverent during the climb, since the god would watch his every word and action.
• Li Shun climbed Unsalted Mountain on foot, reflecting on how Yuhu meat had improved his speed and imagining other demon beasts he might taste.
• After two days, Li Shun reached the summit, where darkness obscured the heavens and the surrounding world.
• A colossal god descended before Li Shun, whose thoughts froze as he beheld its strange, translucent body and umbilical cords reaching into the darkness.

In the Primordial Illusion Realm, Li Shun encountered Formless Suspended Skull and was remade into its servant. When the illusion ended, the tainted fragment of his consciousness tried to corrupt his true self, and Li Shun drew the struggle into Square Inch Space.

• Li Shun reached the summit of Unsalted Mountain, where Formless Suspended Skull overwhelmed him and made him its servant.
• Formless Suspended Skull implanted a dusky blue thread in Li Shun, and he returned safely to Kuanghuang Clan Village.
• Li Shun settled into the Kuanghuang Clan's life and forgot his original purpose during the forty-five days of the illusion.
• The Primordial Illusion Realm ended, and Li Shun's transformed consciousness returned, attempting to make his true self serve Formless Suspended Skull.
• Li Shun sensed the corruption and drew the confrontation into Square Inch Space.

Li Shun survived the Formless Suspended Skull’s invasion of the Square Inch by opening the Deep Profound Gate, which made the deity withdraw. Afterward, he reflected on the gods and the Primordial Continent’s ancient disaster, while the Hundred Schools Gathering participants faced questioning before a victory banquet.

• The Formless Suspended Skull’s power overwhelmed Li Shun’s Sage stone statues and threatened to shatter the Square Inch Space.
• Li Shun lifted the Mystic Yellow Qi’s seal on the Deep Profound Gate, causing the Formless Suspended Skull to pause and then vanish.
• Li Shun confirmed that the rebellious thought and the deity’s divine consciousness had disappeared, and considered the Formless Suspended Skull’s origins and possible connection to the ancient disaster.
• The Hundred Schools Gathering participants were escorted to a manor at the foot of Dai Mountain for a victory banquet.
• The elders questioned the disciples about their schools’ classical texts and doctrines before allowing them to take their seats.

Li Shun concealed his encounter with a god while reporting his journey through the Unbeginning Wilds, and Zhao Cheng explained the region’s history and its connection to Mount Buzhou. After a Mohist disciple named Zou Mo erupted into a monstrous frenzy, Zhao Cheng told Li Shun he could learn the truth only after swearing not to reveal what he had witnessed.

• Li Shun passed Zhao Cheng’s test and described his time in the Land of No Beginning while hiding his encounter with the Formless Suspended Skull.
• Zhao Cheng marked the Unbeginning Wilds on a map and explained that its people had migrated east after Mount Buzhou’s heavenly pillar broke.
• Zou Mo erupted in a pillar of dark green light, sprouted thousands of snake-like forms, and attacked the figures surrounding him before a powerful expert sealed off the battlefield.
• Zhao Cheng returned exhausted and injured, then presented Li Shun with a blank wooden plaque that conjured the world.
• Li Shun swore before the plaque not to reveal what he had witnessed.

Zhao Cheng explained to Li Shun that the green light came from an Outer God and revealed why the Hundred Schools Gathering exposed attendees to such danger. He left Li Shun with the possibility that the ancient Primordial Continent had shattered to stop the Outer Gods’ corruption.

• Zhao Cheng told Li Shun that the Heaven-and-Earth Grand Oath prevented him from revealing what he had witnessed.
• Zhao Cheng explained that the green light came from an Outer God, whose corruption could permanently turn people into its servants.
• Zhao Cheng said attendees were not warned about Outer Gods because their knowledge could cause them to appear in the Primordial Illusion Realm and corrupt most participants.
• Li Shun questioned why the Hundred Schools Gathering continued despite the danger, and Zhao Cheng explained that Great Qian was only a small fragment of the shattered Primordial Continent.
• Zhao Cheng said the Outer Gods likely caused the Primordial Continent to shatter and that Severing Heaven and Earth may have stopped their corruption.

Li Shun used Threefold Self-Reflection to return to the previous day and enter the Primordial Illusion Realm again. After realizing the realm contained traces from different eras, he headed west toward Mount Buzhou.

• Zhao Cheng told Li Shun that people who had seen native gods in the Primordial Illusion Realm had kept their sanity, unlike those who encountered Outer Gods.
• Li Shun decided to use Threefold Self-Reflection to learn more about the Primordial Illusion Realm and the aura that had frightened the Formless Suspended Skull's phantom.
• Li Shun activated Threefold Self-Reflection, resetting the Great Qian World while leaving the Martial World and Outer Gods unaffected.
• Li Shun reasoned that Mount Buzhou might still stand in the Primordial Illusion Realm because the realm gathered traces from different eras.
• Li Shun noticed that the Hundred Schools Gathering's illusion realm had been built upon remnants of the ancient Primordial Illusion Realm.
• Li Shun returned to the familiar wilderness and flew west toward Mount Buzhou.

Li Shun endured the Ten Suns and blue moon to strengthen his soul, spirit, and will, then flew west and found a divine mountain with a heavenly gate. At the gate, he met a powerful figure and asked for his name.

• Li Shun flew west through the biting winds, enduring injuries and sheltering during the seven-day upheaval of heaven and earth.
• Li Shun exposed one arm to the Ten Suns and blue moon for seven days, discovering that their torment gradually weakened.
• After the upheaval faded, Li Shun found the strange footprints no longer affected him and realized he had grown stronger.
• Li Shun flew west for more than twenty days and found a divine mountain, then climbed its stairs for seven days to reach the summit.
• A human-faced, bird-bodied figure appeared beyond the golden gate and was surprised to see a mortal at the Buzhou Heavenly Gate.
• Li Shun asked the figure for his honored name.

Li Shun returned to Mount Buzhou and identified the gatekeeper as Roushou, the Metal God. He persuaded Roushou to consider a contest under equal conditions, leaving the god wavering as he weighed Li Shun’s argument.

• Roushou’s axe overwhelmed Li Shun with a vision of murderous golden qi, and his dragons’ wind hurled Li Shun back to the foot of Mount Buzhou.
• Li Shun recognized Roushou from the snake on his ear and the twin dragons beneath his feet, then flew back to the summit.
• Roushou warned Li Shun that he was too weak to pass the trial guarding the Buzhou Heavenly Gate.
• Li Shun asked whether defeating Roushou would count as passing the trial, provoking the god’s laughter and anger.
• Li Shun argued that they should suppress their strength to equal levels and compete through weapon skill and understanding.
• Roushou withdrew some of his killing intent and considered Li Shun’s reasoning, confident he could not lose even at equal strength.

Li Shun defeated Roushou in a sparring match by using the Sword of No Killing, then entered the Buzhou Heavenly Gate. He found the Heavenly Court in ruins and suspected the Native Primordial Gods had vanished, leaving the illusion without a true source of divine power.

• Roushou shrank to Li Shun’s size, suppressed his Divine Power, and offered him a sword for their duel.
• Li Shun used the Old Friend move to strike Roushou, who praised his Sword of No Killing and opened the Buzhou Heavenly Gate.
• Roushou told Li Shun that the gate led to the Heavenly Court and urged him to enter.
• Li Shun passed through the gate and found himself alone among the ruins of the Heavenly Court.
• Li Shun questioned whether he was still in the Primordial Illusion Realm and concluded that the Native Primordial Gods had likely disappeared.

Li Shun explored the Ancient Heavenly Court Ruins and found a strange pattern that seemed connected to an Outer God and the court’s destruction. After the illusion failed to end, he realized he was trapped and wondered whether the missing consciousnesses from past gatherings had entered the ruins.

• Li Shun searched the Heavenly Court Ruins and found no signs of battle or written records, but noticed that the buildings and space had been unnaturally distorted.
• Li Shun discovered a perfectly ordered honeycomb pattern on a stone slab and suspected an Outer God had left it behind, perhaps causing the Ancient Heavenly Court’s destruction.
• The pattern sprang from the stone and vanished; Li Shun searched himself, fearing it might return to his true body.
• Li Shun waited roughly thirty days, realized he was trapped in the illusion, and wondered whether the consciousnesses lost at past gatherings had wandered into the ruins.