Chapter Summaries

As Ruo Qunshuang neared the end of her life, Xu Changqing and their descendants gathered around her for a final farewell. He carried her away to return to the Heavenly Origin Realm and the Nine-Bend Sect.

• Xu Changqing sat beside Ruo Qunshuang as she told him she had never blamed him and treasured the life they shared.
• Ruo Qunshuang lamented that she would not live to see her children and descendants grow, while Xu Ping'an stayed silent and Xu Linglong wept.
• Xu Linglong clung to Ruo Qunshuang, who comforted her, as Xu He and Xu Sui and the gathered descendants mourned.
• Xu Changqing lifted Ruo Qunshuang from the crystal bed and told the family he would take her back to the Heavenly Origin Realm and the Nine-Bend Sect.
• Xu Changqing looked over his aged descendants and felt estranged among them, while they stared at their youthful ancestor and wondered if the contrast was fair.

Xu Changqing carried Ruo Qunshuang through the stars to the Heavenly Origin Realm and restored the ruined Nine-Bend Sect before she died peacefully in his arms. He then saw her youthful form appear as she faded into the sunset, as if she had never left him.

• Xu Changqing carried Ruo Qunshuang away from her descendants and promised to accompany her as they traveled through the stars.
• Xu Changqing took Ruo Qunshuang to the Nine-Bend Sect instead of visiting his old acquaintances in the Heavenly Origin Realm.
• Xu Changqing ordered young cultivators to leave, then used the Origin Dao Heavenly Scripture and Creation Force to cleanse the Tainted Spirit Water and restore the Nine-Bend Sect.
• Xu Changqing sat with Ruo Qunshuang on a hillside, where she asked whether people had another life and said she would cling to him again in her next one.
• Ruo Qunshuang died in Xu Changqing's arms, then appeared as her youthful self and faded into the sunset glow.

After Ruo Qunshuang’s death, Xu Changqing wandered back to the Azurewood Immortal Sect to revisit old places and learn what had become of his friends. He helped Han Su’s distant descendant Han San begin cultivation and reunited with Li Lingbi, who demanded to know why Xu Changqing had not aged while everyone else had died or grown old.

• Xu Changqing left Ruo Qunshuang’s body buried beneath the Undying Parasol Tree, then departed to wander instead of returning to Jade Balance Star.
• Xu Changqing visited the Azurewood Immortal Sect, where Xuan Yan told him that most of their old friends and disciples had died, vanished, or were otherwise lost, while Mu Ning and Mo Qiushui remained alive.
• Xu Changqing found Han Su’s mortal descendant Han San and used Creation Force to give him Wood and Fire Spiritual Roots, then handed him a recommendation to join the sect.
• Xu Changqing visited Li Sancai’s grave and met Li Lingbi, who explained that secret techniques had consumed his lifespan.
• Li Lingbi compared Xu Changqing unfavorably with their old peers in aptitude, comprehension, talent, and steadiness, then demanded to know why Xu Changqing remained youthful while the others had died or grown old.

Xu Changqing and Li Lingbi mourned at Li Sancai’s grave, discussed the changes in the Heavenly Origin Realm, and faced the grim futures of Li Lingbi and his daughter Yue Yao. After Li Lingbi left, Xu Changqing revealed that Xu Ping'an had been following him and asked whether his eldest senior brother had sent him.

• Li Lingbi vented his resentment to Xu Changqing, then calmed down and asked how long Xu Changqing planned to stay.
• Li Lingbi described the Moon-Inviting Immortal Sect’s split, the Dragon-Tiger Immortal Sect’s rise, and the Azurewood Immortal Sect’s security in the Eastern Domain.
• Xu Changqing learned that Qingyue Fairy had died after failing her Tribulation Transcendence.
• Li Lingbi asked about Yue Yao, and Xu Changqing explained that her lifespan was nearly exhausted and she faced either Tribulation Transcendence or a peaceful death.
• Li Lingbi refused Xu Changqing’s offer to repair his damaged body and asked him to take care of Yue Yao before leaving.
• Xu Changqing called out Xu Ping'an, who appeared from concealment and admitted that his master had been worried about Xu Changqing.

Xu Changqing visited Mu Ning at the World Tree and arranged for Flower Elder to replace her as its tree spirit so she could leave with him. Afterward, Xu Ping'an witnessed the power of Creation Force firsthand, while his father’s hidden distance from the Great Dao Venerable remained unexplained.

• Xu Changqing told Xu Ping'an that he would understand his father's secret someday, then went to see Fifth Senior Sister before returning to the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion.
• At the World Tree, Mu Ning told Xu Changqing that her senior siblings and Master were gone and confessed how lonely she felt.
• Xu Changqing offered to take Mu Ning with him, but explained that the World Tree needed a tree spirit to sustain it and the Azurewood Immortal Sect.
• Xu Changqing transplanted Flower Elder from the Spirit Melody Sect, and Flower Elder gladly agreed to become the World Tree's tree spirit.
• Xu Changqing used Creation Force to replace Mu Ning with Flower Elder, and Xu Ping'an watched in awe.

The Great Dao Venerable expounded on the present, past, and future, explaining how time and karma relate to cultivation. The chapter ended with his declaration that all cultivation and existence lay within time, beyond which there was only Void.

• The Great Dao Venerable began his lecture by describing the present as the sole dwelling place of existence.
• He explained that the past anchored the present through karmic marks, and Xu Ping'an deepened his understanding of the Time Law while Xu Changqing felt he had forgotten something important.
• He described the future as a shadow shaped by present choices, prompting cultivators of different paths to interpret his words according to their doctrines.
• The Great Dao Venerable concluded that cultivators could only act in the present, where all laws and Daos began.

After the Great Dao Venerable’s sermon, Xu Changqing worried that his hidden Origin Dao would be exposed if he underwent tribulation under his master’s protection. Mu Ning recognized that he was trapped by the trust and protection surrounding him, and urged him to leave.

• Xu Ping'an gained fresh insight from the sermon and decided to enter seclusion with Zhen Yuanzi to prepare for a breakthrough into the Body Integration Realm.
• Xu Changqing returned alone to Jade Balance Star, where Mu Ning emerged from his Divine Kingdom and asked about the Great Dao Venerable.
• Mu Ning explained that she could sense the Great Dao Venerable but could not see Him, as though the sermon’s presence were only a projection of the River of Time.
• Mu Ning told Xu Changqing that he was confined despite others trusting and valuing him, and he admitted that tribulation under the Great Dao Venerable might reveal his Origin Dao.
• Mu Ning urged Xu Changqing to leave Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion rather than keep hesitating over his tribulation.

Xu Changqing met Ji Chen, the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion’s seventh direct disciple, who asked him to cultivate a sword-intent spirit plant and provide a fruit from the Myriad Dao Spirit Tree. Ji Chen then revealed he had been searching for the long-missing Jun Wuhuo and Yin Wuji and asked Xu Changqing to help find them.

• Xu Changqing weighed the risks of revealing his strength while protecting his descendants and the Xu Lineage’s standing.
• Ji Chen visited Xu Changqing and asked him to cultivate a Life-and-Death Sword Orchid from a seed of sword intent.
• Ji Chen requested a sword-intent fruit from the Myriad Dao Spirit Tree, and Xu Changqing gave him one.
• Ji Chen told Xu Changqing that he had been searching for Jun Wuhuo and Yin Wuji, two direct disciples missing for over ten thousand years.
• Ji Chen asked Xu Changqing to use his Creation Force to help locate the missing disciples, reminding Xu Changqing of a past search for information left by Jun Wuhuo.

Xu Changqing learned that the Cosmic Tidal Surge might have involved the Red-Clad Lord and that the Sea of Chaos concealed a growing threat. Ji Chen explained that All Heavens and Myriad Realms might be an Inner Realm vulnerable to color-marked Outsider Evils that distorted the rules of time, and Xu Changqing was left with reason to worry about his eldest son in the Sea of Chaos.

• Xu Changqing recalled a twisted red light from the Cosmic Tidal Surge and told Ji Chen it might have been connected to Senior Brother Jun.
• Ji Chen said the surges were releases from All Heavens and Myriad Realms, and their intervals had been shortening.
• Ji Chen revealed that Void-Biting Lord was the incarnation of the Sea of Chaos's will and that Zhen Yuanzi guarded the region and watched over the Lord; Xu Changqing realized his eldest son was headed there and planned to visit.
• Xu Changqing asked Ji Chen to explain Outsider Evils, and Ji Chen said the known laws of cultivation relied on the rule that space extended and time could not be reversed.
• Ji Chen described All Heavens and Myriad Realms as a possible Inner Realm and said Outsider Evils seeped in by distorting time and other rules rather than breaking time.
• Ji Chen named at least seven known color-marked evils, explaining that red distorted cause and effect, black distorted life and death, and blue distorted space, while the Red-Clad Lord had infiltrated the Endless Starfield.

Ji Chen told Xu Changqing that the Red Tide and the expanding Sea of Chaos threatened All Heavens and Myriad Realms, then asked him to help trace two missing senior brothers. Xu Changqing used Origin Dao to activate the Creation Mirror and saw a startling image in Jun Wuhuo's jade pendant.

• Ji Chen explained that the Red-Clad Lord's influence and the Sea of Chaos fed each other's growth, worsening the threat to cultivators and All Heavens and Myriad Realms.
• Xu Changqing realized Ji Chen wanted help locating the missing Jun Wuhuo and Yin Wuji, but said he could not leave because Master forbade it.
• Ji Chen asked to use the Creation Mirror to investigate Jun Wuhuo's broken jade pendant and Yin Wuji's shattered soul lamp, and Xu Changqing agreed.
• Xu Changqing avoided using Creation Force, which would alert his master, and instead activated the Creation Mirror with Origin Dao.
• The Creation Mirror showed a blurry image from Jun Wuhuo's jade pendant, and Xu Changqing widened his eyes in surprise.

Xu Changqing used the Creation Mirror to discover that Jun Wuhuo had been erased by the Great Dao Venerable and that Yin Wuji might be alive inside a Living Star. Ji Chen set out to investigate Yin Wuji’s whereabouts, while Xu Changqing remained confined to the Four Mortal Domains.

• The Creation Mirror showed Jun Wuhuo caught in the Red-Clad Lord’s power during the Cosmic Tidal Surge before the Great Dao Venerable erased him.
• Xu Changqing used a fragment of Yin Wuji’s soul lamp to reveal a Living Star where Yin Wuji might have survived.
• Xu Changqing told Ji Chen that the Living Star resembled one he had encountered with Luo Qinghan near the Evernight Ruins.
• Ji Chen decided to travel to the Living Star and investigate Yin Wuji’s fate, while Xu Changqing explained that he could not leave the Four Mortal Domains.
• Xu Changqing offered to grow Ji Chen’s Life-and-Death Sword Orchid, and Ji Chen chose to let it mature naturally while he investigated.

After planting the Life-and-Death Sword Orchid, Xu Changqing considered the dangers facing his senior brothers, Ping'an, and the Four Mortal Domains. He told Mu Ning he would wait for others to act, confident he had time to respond.

• Xu Changqing planted Ji Chen’s Life-and-Death Sword Orchid seed in the Grade-Five Spirit Field, where the surrounding spirit plants tilted away from it.
• Xu Changqing reflected on the dangers in the Sea of Chaos, Jun Wuhuo’s erasure from time, and Yin Wuji’s uncertain survival on a Living Star.
• Mu Ning overheard Xu Changqing’s concerns and asked whether the outside world’s dangers worried him, including threats to the Xu Family’s business and lineage.
• Xu Changqing said he would preserve the family’s wealth and standing but felt little attachment to its descendants, and he would wait for others to address the growing danger to the Four Mortal Domains.

Luo Qinghan began the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation, and the Great Dao Venerable moved her and the forming tribulation away from the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion. Baili Hong explained the trials awaiting cultivators of different paths, including the four layers of the Transcendence Path’s Bond-Severing Tribulation.

• Luo Qinghan’s Star-Palace Dao-Fusing Pill drove her cultivation to the threshold of the Tribulation Stage as her attachments began to break.
• The Great Dao Venerable used Time Force to send Luo Qinghan and the forming Hongmeng Light away from the Northern Dipper Star Region.
• Xu Changqing and Baili Hong discussed the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation after the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion returned to calm.
• Baili Hong described the trials for the Dao-Integration Path and Genesis Path, then explained the Transcendence Path’s four-layer Bond-Severing Tribulation.

Xu Changqing and Baili Hong discussed the Ninefold Heavenly Tribulation, the vanished immortals, and Ji Chen’s search for a Life-and-Death Sword Orchid. After Baili Hong left, Xu Changqing and Mu Ning both sensed that something was missing, but neither could identify it.

• Xu Changqing questioned whether cultivators still had a path to immortality, and Baili Hong admitted he did not know.
• Baili Hong told Xu Changqing that Ji Chen had obtained a rare Life-and-Death Sword Orchid that could help him advance his sword intent and reach Mahayana.
• Xu Changqing defended Ji Chen’s character, and Baili Hong urged Xu Changqing to prepare for his own tribulation before leaving.
• Xu Changqing activated Creation Force to maintain the Temporal Barrier, then realized that something about his conversation with Baili Hong felt wrong.
• Xu Changqing summoned Mu Ning, and she also sensed a hollow feeling as they wondered what was missing.

While Xu Ping'an trained with Zhen Yuanzi in the Sea of Chaos, he discovered traces of the past through the Time Law and was urged to push himself against Chaos Behemoths instead of rushing into the Body Integration Realm. Xu Ping'an admitted he doubted his father’s importance to the Xu Lineage, and Zhen Yuanzi challenged him to explain why a Great Dao Venerable had chosen his father as a direct disciple instead of him.

• Xu Ping'an saw people from the past through his perception of the Time Law, and Zhen Yuanzi said this showed he had reached its threshold.
• Xu Ping'an wanted to break through to the Body Integration Realm, but Zhen Yuanzi told him to fight Chaos Behemoths and endure the Chaos Law to reach his full potential.
• Xu Ping'an said he could lead the Xu Lineage farther once he reached the Body Integration Realm, and Zhen Yuanzi asked whether he understood his father.
• Xu Ping'an admitted he thought his father was not irreplaceable because other family members handled business, campaigns, and outside connections.
• Zhen Yuanzi cited the alliances and opportunities Xu Changqing had secured for the Xu Lineage, then asked why a Great Dao Venerable had chosen Xu Changqing as a direct disciple rather than Xu Ping'an.

Xu Changqing watched Jade Balance Star’s spiritual plants mature and recalled his days as a spirit farmer before deciding to harvest them himself. His precise work amazed the disciples and increased his lifespan from over sixteen million years to 21.53 million years.

• Xu Ping'an told Zhen Yuanzi that he wanted to prove himself by surpassing his father, and said he would support his father if he ever had to sacrifice something for the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion.
• Xu Changqing saw that most of Jade Balance Star’s spiritual plants were ready for harvest and remembered his earlier life as a spirit farmer.
• Xu Changqing told the harvesting teams he would harvest the plants personally, then took a sickle and began cutting Spirit Rice with exceptional precision.
• Xu Changqing harvested increasingly rare spiritual plants, gaining lifespan until his total reached 21.53 million years.

A hundred years after Ji Chen left, Xu Ping'an broke through to the Body Integration Realm and announced he would represent the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion in the Endless Starfield. Xu Changqing warned him of the Red-Clad Lord's dangers, but Ping'an departed anyway, leaving Xu Changqing to accept that his son must choose his own path.

• A hundred years passed without Ji Chen returning, while the Life-and-Death Sword Orchid continued growing in the Grade-Five Spirit Field.
• Xu Ping'an broke through to the Body Integration Realm, turning his Divine Kingdom into a self-sustaining small world.
• Xu Ping'an told Xu Changqing he would join the mission to counter the Red-Clad Lord's infiltration of the Endless Starfield and test his strength against its cultivators.
• Xu Changqing warned Xu Ping'an that Red-Clad Lord contamination could distort causality and cited Jun Wuhuo's erasure from time, but Xu Ping'an dismissed the warning and left, claiming he was stronger than his father.
• Mu Ning encouraged Xu Changqing to focus on breaking through to the Body Integration Realm, and Xu Changqing picked up his fishing gear and went fishing.

Xu Changqing went fishing on a quiet wild river where no one knew he was the Lord of Jade Balance Star or a long-lived immortal. After catching fish beside an old man who caught almost nothing, he spoke with him about his age, marriages, and home, leaving the old man asking where he came from.

• Xu Changqing walked upstream to his usual fishing spot but found an old man occupying it, so he settled nearby.
• Xu Changqing caught a steady string of azure carp with ordinary earthworms while the old man's float stayed still.
• The old man asked what bait Xu Changqing used and watched his growing catch with disbelief.
• The old man asked Xu Changqing's age and whether he had started a household, and Xu Changqing claimed to be twenty-eight and to have had two wives.
• The old man asked where Xu Changqing was from, and Xu Changqing answered, "Heavenly Origin!"

Xu Changqing reflected on restraint after an old fisherman advised him not to take more than he needed, then continued living quietly on Jade Balance Star. Eighty years later, Xu Ping'an led the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion's war against the spreading Red Tide while Xu Changqing remained apart from the conflict.

• An old fisherman told Xu Changqing that taking too much left nothing for others and that people should know when enough was enough, and Xu Changqing accepted that there was truth in his words.
• Xu Changqing gave the old man his black carp and returned to the bamboo hut as night fell.
• Over the next eighty years, the Red Tide spread into eleven more star regions and began corrupting other regions as its followers actively advanced its reach.
• The Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion mobilized its resources for the front lines, with Xu Ping'an commanding forces and becoming renowned for his power.
• Xu Ping'an returned to the bamboo hut less often, while Xu Changqing stayed on Jade Balance Star, tending spirit plants, fishing, and cultivating.

At a gathering in the Northern Dipper Immortal Mansion, the Great Dao Venerable explained that karmic entanglements had allowed the Red-Clad Lord to infiltrate the Endless Starfield. The True Lord of Myriad Realms asked Xu Changqing to use Creation Force to forge a Creation Supreme Treasure, leaving Xu Ping'an resentful that his father's contribution had been recognized while his own was overlooked.

• Xu Changqing attended a meeting where the True Lord of Myriad Realms arrived with powerful cultivators from the Endless Starfield.
• The Great Dao Venerable revealed that the Red Tide was spreading faster than expected and that karmic threads enabled the Red-Clad Lord's infiltration.
• The Great Dao Venerable explained that the Endless Starfield's vast karmic entanglements had caused it to become the Red Tide after nearly ten thousand years of infiltration.
• The True Lord of Myriad Realms called on Xu Changqing to use Creation Force to refine a Creation Supreme Treasure, and the Great Dao Venerable approved.
• Xu Ping'an watched Xu Changqing receive the request and resented that his own years of fighting the Red Tide had gone unrecognized.