Chapter Summaries

Wang Zheng used Legalist Execution to strike the Cold Mountain Soul with heavenly punishment, but the remnant soul escaped the lightning and killed Wang Zheng and Shang Qingqiu. After slaughtering every other cultivator in Bing Province, the Cold Mountain Soul left Li Shun alive as the calamity and its own form grew stronger.

• Li Shun told Wang Zheng that the Elder Remnant Soul had caused the Earth-Sinking Calamity and had to be slain to stop it.
• Wang Zheng summoned heavenly punishment lightning with Legalist Execution, but the Cold Mountain Soul survived the strikes.
• The Cold Mountain Soul appeared behind Wang Zheng and killed him, then killed Shang Qingqiu as she tried to flee.
• The Cold Mountain Soul slaughtered the other cultivators in Bing Province, leaving Li Shun as the only survivor.
• The Earth-Sinking Calamity expanded as Heaven and Earth's vitality and the moonlight gathered around the Cold Mountain Soul, whose form grew clearer.
• The Cold Mountain Soul came face-to-face with Li Shun instead of killing him, leaving him puzzled about why he had been spared.

Cold Mountain Soul drained Li Shun’s life force through the Spirit-Splitting Life-Creation Technique, then restored him with energy drawn from Heaven and Earth. Li Shun realized she was connected to the Elder Witch Clan and let her carry him southwest while he waited to learn why Great Qian’s experts had vanished.

• Cold Mountain Soul took hold of Li Shun and used his Spirit-Splitting Life-Creation Technique to draw out his essence and blood.
• As Li Shun neared death, he stopped the mysterious power in Square Inch Space from intervening, and Cold Mountain Soul replenished him with Heaven and Earth’s life force and moonlight.
• Li Shun recognized that Cold Mountain Soul’s method resembled Azure Wood Invocation and concluded that she was connected to the Elder Witch Clan.
• Li Shun held back from using his saintly divine abilities because Great Qian’s Creation Realm experts and court officials had mysteriously disappeared.
• Cold Mountain Soul surveyed the land, took Li Shun with her, and flew southwest as they saw calamities spreading across Great Qian.

As an Outer God’s passing threw Great Qian into catastrophic disorder, Cold Mountain Soul brought Li Shun to Blackwater Marsh and uncovered an ancient giant skeleton. After crushing it into powder, Cold Mountain Soul forced the bone powder into Li Shun’s mouth.

• Li Shun crossed Great Qian and saw the unstable Circumcelestial Formation and the devastation threatening to expose the realm to the Primordial Ancient Domain.
• Cold Mountain Soul carried Li Shun to Liang Province, where miasma and rampaging beasts were killing the people.
• Cold Mountain Soul descended with Li Shun into Blackwater Marsh, enduring its foul, spiritual black water and attacking monsters.
• At the marsh’s bottom, Li Shun discovered a gigantic, partly decayed skeleton that Cold Mountain Soul made rise into a half-kneeling posture.
• Cold Mountain Soul crushed the skeleton into white powder and poured it into Li Shun’s mouth.

Cold Mountain Soul fed Li Shun the remains of the Elder Witch Clan, transforming his body into a powerful Witch Body before draining his vitality in its rush to resurrect. As Li Shun recognized a familiar presence in the heavens, a crowned figure declared, “Each day, I engage in Three Reflections upon myself!” and time reversed.

• Cold Mountain Soul forced bone powder from the remains beneath Blackwater Marsh into Li Shun, strengthening his bones and causing his blood and qi to surge.
• Cold Mountain Soul extracted Li Shun’s vitality, then carried him east to find more Elder Witch Clan remains on Blazing Sun Mountain and at the bottom of Thousand-Rift Valley.
• The additional remains transformed Li Shun into a Witch Body, whose red patterns briefly let him break Cold Mountain Soul’s control before the Elder Great Shaman suppressed him again.
• Cold Mountain Soul pressed its palm to Li Shun’s head and drained his vitality at an increasingly frantic pace, while Li Shun suspected it had sensed an approaching threat.
• Li Shun saw a crowned figure in the heavens and recognized Threefold Self-Reflection as it spoke, causing Heaven and Earth and all things beneath them to reverse in time.

Li Shun realized that another hidden powerhouse had used Threefold Self-Reflection to reset Great Qian and save it from the Outer God’s devastation. Determined to prepare for future dangers, he sent Fang Han to collect three Witch Clan skeletons and considered leaving Great Qian for the Martial World.

• Li Shun deduced that a powerful figure in Great Qian had retained the other half of the Confucian Sage’s body and used Threefold Self-Reflection to reverse time.
• Li Shun concluded that the reset had erased the Outer God’s upheaval, saving Chen Mo, Shang Qingqiu, Wang Zheng, and others, while Cold Mountain Soul remained asleep.
• Li Shun sent Fang Han to Blackwater Marsh, Blazing Sun Mountain, and Thousand-Rift Valley to collect three Witch Clan skeletons.
• Li Shun accepted the risk that Fang Han’s actions might expose their connection and his ability to retain memories across resets.
• Li Shun decided that Fang Han should grow stronger and considered moving to the Martial World if Great Qian became too dangerous.

After Heaven and Earth reset, Li Shun discovered that Han Qi’s Mind-Communicating Bead now led to a different world and concluded that Great Qian was not a secure foothold. He asked Ancient Web about the previous cycle’s Yin-Yang upheaval and was left questioning whether an Outer God had truly caused it.

• Li Shun decided to seek another world to develop in after dealing with Han Qi.
• Han Qi demonstrated the Mind-Communicating Bead, whose divine sense now reached an abyssal apocalypse rather than the religious world he had visited before.
• Han Qi hurried away after completing the demonstration, and Li Shun realized the reset had changed the bead’s destination and that Han Qi had noticed the extra incarnation.
• Li Shun entered Square Inch and told Ancient Web about the Outer God-like disturbance he had encountered in the previous cycle.
• Ancient Web argued that the Yin-Yang upheaval did not fit the effects of a distant Outer God and suggested the disturbance might have come from something similar to one.
• Li Shun reconsidered what he had witnessed and suspected that hidden clues had led him to misidentify the cause.

After Great Qian’s upheaval, Fang Han sent Ancient Web to make himself a native of the realm so he could investigate the Mind-Communicating Bead. Meanwhile, Fang Han refined three Witch Clan skeletons with Martial World Heavenly Dao thunder and absorbed their power, discovering that it carried the Witch Clan’s inheritance.

• Fang Han learned that Great Qian’s court planned to alter the seasons again and prepared to absorb the Witch Bones he had secretly collected.
• Fang Han summoned Ancient Web in White Mountain Commandery, and Ancient Web explained that he would spend about half a year reshaping his body and soul to become a native of Great Qian.
• Ancient Web set off toward Mount Taibai, while Fang Han asked Fei about Witch remains in the Demon Race’s Main World and promised to reclaim them someday.
• Fang Han used the Martial World’s Heavenly Dao thunder to soften and refine the three Witch Clan skeletons into liquid.
• Fang Han absorbed the liquid and sensed that it contained not only vitality but also the Witch Clan’s inheritance.

While absorbing the Witch Clan skeleton, Fang Han witnessed ancient battles and the apocalyptic calamity known as Severing Heaven and Earth. The vision spread ominous signs through the Martial Dao World, but Fang Han destroyed them with heavenly lightning and began to consider how the calamity had reached his world.

• Fang Han absorbed the Witch Clan skeleton and saw visions of a Witch Clan warrior fighting a six-winged golden lion, another confronting a god, and the Elder Primordial Continent facing an apocalypse.
• Fang Han recognized the apocalyptic vision as the legend of Mount Buzhou falling and Severing Heaven and Earth, then broke free before witnessing the sky crash down.
• The Martial Dao World darkened, its stars seemed ready to fall, and the earth groaned as signs of the calamity appeared throughout it.
• Fang Han connected with the world's Heavenly Dao, located contaminated regions, and struck them with heavenly lightning until the danger disappeared and the skies cleared.
• Fang Han wondered whether the calamity could spread through memories and concluded that his connection to the Heavenly Dao had likely accelerated its manifestation.

Li Shun feared the World-Ending Calamity could follow him through his memories, so he checked Square Inch for corruption and devised a way to guard it. He empowered the pangolin to patrol Square Inch Mountain, then reflected on the limits of bringing things from Square Inch into reality.

• Li Shun returned to Square Inch and searched it for signs that the World-Ending Calamity had infiltrated, finding none.
• Li Shun decided that a creature unconnected to his mind should watch for abnormalities, and chose the pangolin living in Square Inch.
• Li Shun summoned the pangolin, warned it to take its new duty seriously, and empowered it to ride the wind, burrow through earth, commune with spirits, and make duplicates.
• Li Shun ordered the pangolin to monitor the Square Inch Mountains and report any trouble, while realizing its transformed body could not descend into reality.
• Li Shun considered whether he might one day manifest Square Inch Mountain in reality, but concluded that he needed to deepen his understanding of the Square Inch Dao and protect Square Inch in the meantime.

Li Shun considered whether Emperor Gan had erased the ancient past to protect Great Qian from the World-Ending Calamity. Fang Han mastered the Azure Wood Invocation’s control over vitality, then decided to strengthen himself in other worlds before attempting to ascend Martial Dao World.

• Li Shun suspected that Emperor Gan had erased records of the ancient era to evade the World-Ending Calamity and wondered whether Great Qian’s unrest came from external threats.
• Fang Han absorbed three Witch Clan skeletons and reached minor mastery of the Azure Wood Invocation, gaining control over the vitality in Martial Dao World.
• Fang Han used the Life Tree to heal injured martial artists across the world by redirecting its existing vitality.
• Fang Han chose not to raise Martial Dao World’s upper limit yet, judging the Demon Race’s attention and the effort required too dangerous.
• Fang Han decided to visit other worlds to increase his strength and establish another stronghold, then returned his consciousness to Square Inch Space and looked toward the Deep Profound Gate.

Li Shun prepared to investigate the sealed gate with his Fang Han puppet while waiting for the Ancient Web's answer. He paused when Shentu Xin crossed into the Martial Dao World, where Fang Han suppressed the world's resistance as Shentu Xin passed through its boundary.

• Li Shun weighed the dangers of exploring the world beyond the gate and resolved to use the Fang Han puppet, trusting his accumulated Mystic Yellow Qi to seal the gate if necessary.
• Li Shun sensed that Shentu Xin had reached the Martial Dao World sooner than expected.
• Fang Han noticed Shentu Xin approaching the world's frontier and asked the strange beast Fei whether an outsider's intrusion would alert the Demon Race.
• Fei explained that minor intrusions were reported to him rather than the Main World, and Fang Han allowed Shentu Xin to enter.
• Shentu Xin passed through the Heaven and Earth Membrane as Fang Han suppressed the Martial Dao World's resistance.

Fang Han tried to preserve Shentu Xin’s route from Great Qian through the Primordial Ancient Domain to the Martial World, but the route kept fading as memories of the journey eroded. He stabilized it by making 108 martial practitioners into Heavenly Constellations whose stories and achievements anchored the line, then began studying the route.

• Shentu Xin drew the dangerous route from Great Qian to the Martial World across the sky, while Fang Han explained that the worlds’ positions were connected.
• Fang Han realized that memories and records of the Primordial Ancient Domain faded after leaving it, and the route Shentu Xin had inscribed began to disappear.
• Fei suggested that people could preserve the route, and Fang Han named 108 outstanding practitioners as Heavenly Constellations, allowing others to challenge them for their places.
• The 108 practitioners’ lives and martial arts stabilized the route, while Fang Han began studying it and recalling Shentu Xin’s journey.

Fang Han learned how Demon Race armies traveled in Kunming and kept the route map hidden while he considered Great Qian’s response. Shentu Xin discovered that a Spatial Fault near the Martial World caused his sudden arrival and found signs of a devastating force concealed beyond it.

• Fang Han questioned Fei about how Demon Race armies traveled between worlds, and Fei explained that they journeyed inside enormous Kunming.
• Fei told Fang Han an unverified story that Bai Ze had cursed the Kunming Clan to grow enormous after they promoted thinness.
• Fang Han decided not to reveal the route map yet, and the shadowy line in the sky vanished beneath the stars.
• Shentu Xin retraced his route toward the Martial World and discovered that crossing a Spatial Fault shifted his position instantly.
• Shentu Xin crossed the fault repeatedly and saw that space had fractured and twisted under a tremendous blow, but he could not find what lay hidden beyond it.

Fang Han entered the Deep Profound Gate and discovered it led to a distant world deep within Chaos, where he woke trapped behind transparent seals. The seals had erased his hand, leaving him unable to heal it, and he wondered whether the gate had been a trap.

• Fang Han sensed that establishing the Martial 108 Stars had renewed the Inner World's warriors’ ambition and changed Heaven and Earth's atmosphere.
• Fang Han released the Deep Profound Gate from its seal and plunged through it, causing the gate to vanish from Square Inch.
• Li Shun realized the gate was one-way and that Fang Han had traveled an immense distance into Chaos; he used Fang Han’s Square Inch imprint to keep track of him.
• Fang Han awoke in a cramped enclosure surrounded by transparent seals after losing his blood, vitality, and energy during the journey.
• Fang Han touched a seal and lost his hand, which healed smoothly but could not be regrown; he suspected the Deep Profound Gate had been a trap.

Fang Han was transported beyond the Deep Profound Gate and assigned the identity of a Level 1 Appraiser in a vast realm of transparent cubes. After his appraisal ability caused him pain, he deliberately challenged the cube’s boundary and was reassigned to a lower-difficulty work area.

• Fang Han returned to Square Inch, then continued probing the transparent seal until it opened and a mechanical voice granted him permission to be born.
• Fang Han received the identity of a Level 1 Appraiser with a lifespan of 19 years and arrived in a cube among countless appraisers.
• Fang Han touched a battered stone and experienced its history, then fainted from the pain and woke with blood beneath his nose.
• Fang Han discovered his appraisal progress bar and personal information, then burned his hand against the cube boundary to test its rules.
• The system deemed Fang Han mentally deficient and moved him to a smaller area where incomplete appraisers, including children, worked slowly.

After completing his first appraisal, Fang Han discovered that his appraiser status had advanced and that a temporal reward had increased his remaining lifespan. He learned he could spend lifespan to trade, while a dwarf in a nearby cube tried to charge him three days for help.

• Fang Han appraised a damaged combat suit from Ancient Calendar Year 375 and learned that it could offset physical costs below Level 3.
• The system awarded Fang Han a Level 1 temporal reward, advanced his Appraiser progress, and scheduled his next task for three hours later.
• Fang Han noticed that some appraisers left their cubes or continued working, then tried to request a break and leave using his thoughts.
• A dwarf in a nearby cube told Fang Han that he had to spend lifespan to trade for benefits and taught him how to access his remaining lifespan.
• The dwarf asked Fang Han to pay three days of lifespan, but Fang Han suspected the price was unfair and canceled the transaction.

Fang Han learned that lifespan served as currency and used it to travel to a time when he reunited with his wife and daughter before the world’s destruction. After returning to the transparent cube, he discovered that using his appraisal profession exacted a delayed price that ultimately reduced his lifespan.

• Fang Han exchanged temporal sequence for knowledge and learned that a day contained ten thousand hours, exposing the dwarf’s attempt to overcharge him.
• Fang Han chose an orange-red time node and arrived in Ancient Calendar, Year 487663, where he recognized his wife Liang Hui and daughter Xiao An.
• Fang Han spent his three-hour visit with his family before the time node ended and returned him to the transparent cube.
• Fang Han suffered intense heart pain after returning and realized it was the delayed cost of using the Appraisal Technique.
• Fang Han bought knowledge of retribution laws and learned that professional abilities exacted delayed prices that ultimately reduced lifespan.

Fang Han defied the Temporal World's work rules, discovered that its punishment accelerated his personal time, and was killed when Heavenly Spirit detected his attempt to escape. Back in Great Qian, Li Shun found that the Deep Profound Gate and its mark were gone, and considered finding another Turtle Shell to recreate the route.

• Fang Han refused to resume appraisal despite Heavenly Spirit's warnings, so the Heavenly Spirit Arbitration Committee punished him by accelerating his personal time tenfold.
• Fang Han realized the punishment made time flow faster for him rather than directly draining his vitality, and decided the Temporal World might be too dangerous to explore.
• Heavenly Spirit detected abnormal values and began cognitive restructuring, prompting Fang Han to try to return to Square Inch.
• Heavenly Spirit detected traces of an extraterrestrial invasion and formatted the timeline, killing Fang Han before he could escape.
• Li Shun sensed Fang Han's death and discovered that the Deep Profound Gate and Square Inch's mark on the Temporal World had vanished.
• Li Shun reasoned that another piece of Turtle Shell might let him reproduce the Deep Profound Gate and regain access to the Temporal World.

After Gu Zhizhong resigned, Li Shun received Cheng Yu’s request to use the Mind-Communicating Bead to explore another world. He arrived in a world also called Great Qian, where the Grand Preceptor ruled and was rumored to have killed three young emperors.

• Gu Zhizhong announced his resignation, stirring a contest among court officials over who would become the next Left Chancellor.
• Cheng Yu told Li Shun that Dong Chunqiu sought the chancellorship and asked Li Shun to help build his prestige by exploring a world with the Mind-Communicating Bead.
• Li Shun realized the bead could search for worlds through unique concepts and considered using that ability to reach the Martial Dao world, but decided to wait until he had his own bead.
• Li Shun sent a wisp of his divine soul through the Mind-Communicating Bead and arrived in a new world as the son of its Grand Preceptor.
• Li Shun learned that this Great Qian had one all-powerful Grand Preceptor and that three emperors had died young; he doubted the rumors that the Grand Preceptor had killed them.

Li Shun investigated why Great Qian had endured for thousands of years and asked Li Langxuan about the dynasty’s unchanging rule. Li Langxuan revealed that infants’ souls randomly exchanged bodies on their first-month birthdays, leaving Li Shun stunned as he began to learn how people had adapted to the cycle.

• Li Shun used the library pavilion’s records to piece together Great Qian’s history and realized that the dynasty’s endurance for more than eight thousand years was unnatural.
• Li Langxuan summoned Li Shun and asked what he had learned from reading the histories.
• Li Shun questioned why Great Qian had remained unchanged for thousands of years, and Li Langxuan agreed that rulers were not born to their positions.
• Li Langxuan explained that infants’ souls randomly exchanged with those of other infants across the realm when they turned one month old.
• Li Shun questioned how anyone could know an exchange had happened, and Li Langxuan said people had verified it over generations before gradually accepting it.