Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping learned how to use Lotus Eye Divination through his True Intent, then entered the real story within the Scroll of Time. He faced a new choice when a shackled, pregnant girl who called him “Daddy” offered him food scraped from the muddy street.

• Mister Da explained that Xu Taiping could use Divine Abilities and treasures in the Scroll of Time as long as he did not change the course of time.
• Xu Taiping tested Lotus Eye Divination by finding three people connected to a target, and discovered that using it consumed much of his True Essence and Qi and Blood.
• Mister Da told Xu Taiping that the scene he had witnessed was only the prologue, and Xu Taiping saw a ragged girl crawling through the rain for spilled food as a wealthy young man mocked her.
• Thunder shifted Xu Taiping from the teahouse to the rain-soaked street, where he saw that the girl was shackled to the young man's carriage and had a swollen belly.
• The girl called Xu Taiping “Daddy,” offered him muddy food, and left him facing the choice of whether to eat it.

Xu Taiping repeatedly relived the rainy encounter with a chained girl, learning that each scene took place on a different day and that Qi Zhou had eventually killed the young gentleman. After using the Lotus Eye to inspect the girl, Xu Taiping struck her into the carriage and shattered it.

• Xu Taiping ignored the girl's offered food as the young gentleman dragged her behind his carriage, and he received a small increase in True Essence and Qi and Blood.
• Xu Taiping realized the street had returned on another day, and Mister Da connected the downpour and the villain's meeting with the girl to the beginning of Foolishly Wielding a Sword.
• Xu Taiping again walked past the girl as she offered him a drumstick, then watched her being dragged away while clutching it.
• Xu Taiping reappeared holding the young gentleman's severed head, with the carriage horses cut in two and the gentleman dead.
• The girl offered Xu Taiping bloodstained food, and he used the True Intent of Lotus Root Broken, Yet Its Fibers Remain and the Lotus Eye's Divine Ability to examine her before slapping her into the carriage and shattering it.

Xu Taiping, trapped in Qi Zhou's body, was captured by the Hong Household and displayed in the street as bait for his allies and to force him to reveal a treasure map. After sharing food with the suffering girl who called him Dad, he unexpectedly discovered that he had made the correct choice.

• Xu Taiping found himself hanging upside down where Qi Zhou had killed the young master and realized the Hong Household had captured him.
• The Hong Household's steward announced that Qi Zhou would be displayed for ten days, then revealed they wanted the map to the Yellow Millet Immortal Mansion's treasure before the Five Spirits Sect arrived.
• The steward kicked and spat on Xu Taiping, and townspeople began humiliating him for the promised gold.
• Xu Taiping used the bronze ring to accelerate time until night, but discovered he could not skip the full ten days.
• The girl brought Xu Taiping half a bowl of food and called him Dad, and he accepted it despite the risk of choosing wrongly.
• Golden light enveloped Xu Taiping, showing him that he had chosen correctly.

Xu Taiping received another memory mark from Qi Zhou and learned that Qi Zhou had killed a Hong family member out of irritation, not to save the girl. As the girl fled from guards and Xu Taiping suspected a demonic presence inside her, Mister Da warned him that the trial was nearing its end and that he would need to suppress the cultivation and fortune forced into him.

• Xu Taiping opened Qi Zhou’s second divine soul mark and heard that Qi Zhou had killed the Hong family’s young master because the man kept obstructing him.
• The girl mistook Xu Taiping for her father and spoke happily of returning home to harvest wheat, and Xu Taiping promised they would go soon.
• Guards and servants found the girl, who fled on all fours with an unnatural, beastlike gait; Xu Taiping suspected a ghost or demon embryo was inside her belly.
• Mister Da shared wine with Xu Taiping and warned that the act would soon end, when the power of time would pour Qi Zhou’s cultivation and martial fortune into him.
• Mister Da told Xu Taiping to suppress his cultivation or the power of time would erase him from the river of time, then took the remaining wine and promised to celebrate with him after the trial.

Xu Taiping learned Tian Li’s tragic past and saw how she continued to care for him despite her injuries and hardship. When she asked to go home, the time vortex reset the scene, leaving Xu Taiping to figure out what Qi Zhou had chosen to do.

• Over ten accelerated days, Xu Taiping learned that Tian Li came from Yangliugou and had been abused after the Hong Household sold the villagers into town.
• Tian Li brought Xu Taiping a partly rotten pear, and he shared it with her despite her bloodied arms.
• Xu Taiping told Tian Li that the Hong Household’s people had hurt her, and she asked him to take her home to harvest the wheat.
• When Xu Taiping ignored her request, Tian Li’s head exploded and the Nine Abysses’ time vortex tore him apart.
• After the scene reset, Xu Taiping realized Qi Zhou must have made a choice when Tian Li asked to go home and wondered what it was.

Xu Taiping agreed to go home with A Li, then realized Qi Zhou had hidden his strength as the Hong Household guards attacked them. After Xu Taiping defeated the guards, a purple-robed Daoist descended and attacked him.

• Xu Taiping accepted A Li's plea to return home with her and received a surge of true essence and qi and blood power.
• Qi Zhou's voice told Xu Taiping that Tian Li would not live much longer, making Xu Taiping question what he sensed about her condition.
• Hong Household guards surrounded A Li, struck her down, and shot her with rune-lit arrows when she tried to escape.
• Xu Taiping broke free of his shackles, shielded Tian Li from the arrows, and drew the guards in before cutting them down with his saber.
• Xu Taiping shredded the arrows and killed the bowmen and crossbowmen on the rooftops.
• A purple-robed Daoist descended from the sky and attacked Xu Taiping with an enormous palm shadow.

Xu Taiping watched through Qi Zhou as he defeated the Hong Household fighters, then revealed that he had broken Buddha-Slaying Town’s barrier to let the Nine Abysses invade. The chapter left Xu Taiping on the gate tower as Tian Li fought the demonic beasts and called for Qi Zhou, while another demon-nurturer mocked him.

• Qi Zhou’s demon seed transformed his body, allowing him to shatter the purple-robed Daoist’s palm strike and fight the Hong Household ancestor, head, and elder.
• Xu Taiping watched Qi Zhou’s battle and briefly entered the empty and still realm of the Dao heart, gaining insight into Qi Zhou’s fighting techniques.
• A Five Spirits Sect rune net immobilized Qi Zhou, but he signaled the Nine Abysses and announced that he had broken Buddha-Slaying Town’s Four-Faced Buddha Barrier.
• Demonic qi flooded into town, and Xu Taiping saw Nine Abysses beasts slaughtering the townspeople as Tian Li fought them and called for Qi Zhou.
• A red-eyed demon-nurturer appeared beside Xu Taiping on the gate tower and mocked Qi Zhou for having a daughter.

Qi Zhou turned back to save Tian Li after realizing she was the only person who had shown him compassion. Xu Taiping entered the next act as Yunyan and learned from Mister Da that he would receive Qi Zhou’s gains only after Yunyan raised the curtain on the first act.

• Qi Zhou killed the Demon-Nurturer who ordered him to leave no one alive, then walked away from Buddha-Slaying Town.
• Remembering Tian Li’s kindness, Qi Zhou turned back and charged into town to save her from the Demonic Beasts.
• Time sped forward, and Xu Taiping found himself attached to Yunyan, riding toward Buddha-Slaying Town with Fairy Yunling and Mister Da.
• Xu Taiping froze time and asked Mister Da why he had gained none of Qi Zhou’s Martial Fortune, True Essence, or Qi and Blood cultivation.
• Mister Da explained that Yunyan still had to give the curtain call for the first act.

Xu Taiping and his companions entered Buddha-Slaying Town and found Qi Zhou kneeling atop a mountain of demonic beast corpses with a young girl in his arms. Mister Da confirmed this was the final curtain and warned that at least twenty percent of Qi Zhou’s power would be transferred to Xu Taiping, who feared he could not suppress it.

• Mister Da warned Xu Taiping that the inherited qi, blood, and true essence from the Brawny Men could kill him if he failed to suppress them or advanced too soon.
• Xu Taiping, Mister Da, Fellow Daoist Yunyan, and Fairy Yunling rode into Buddha-Slaying Town, where Yunling vomited at the sight of its corpses before they continued deeper into town.
• The party followed a trail of demonic beast corpses to a street where thousands of beasts had been piled into a towering mountain.
• Xu Taiping recognized Qi Zhou kneeling atop the corpse mountain with a young girl in his arms, having slain the beasts single-handedly.
• Qi Zhou told Yunyan and Yunling to cut off his head before he lost control and became a Demon Emperor.
• Mister Da confirmed this was Qi Zhou’s final curtain and told Xu Taiping that at least twenty percent of Qi Zhou’s power would enter his body, leaving Xu Taiping worried he could not contain it.

Yunyan attacked Qi Zhou to seize the Yellow Millet Immortal Map, but the awakened demonic beast corpses overwhelmed him and Yun Ling. Eldest Senior Sister Yun Jiang arrived with a massive sword strike, and Qi Zhou welcomed the arrival of someone powerful enough to kill him.

• Yunyan ignored Yun Ling's warning and attacked Qi Zhou, who knocked him through a tavern wall.
• Yunyan attacked Qi Zhou again and knocked him from the mountain of corpses, awakening the demonic beasts.
• The demonic beast corpses struck Yunyan, and Yun Ling shielded him with her cracking Bai Yu Jade Carved Lotus.
• Yun Jiang descended on a gigantic golden sword and severed the tendrils attacking Yunyan and Yun Ling.
• Xu Taiping and Qi Zhou recognized Yun Jiang as someone capable of killing Qi Zhou.

Qi Zhou asked Yun Jiang to kill him before the Demon Seed consumed his mind, while revealing that he had a map to the Yellow Millet Immortal Mansions Ruins. After Yun Jiang used a jade pendant to view his recent memories, Qi Zhou made clear that his condition for handing over the map concerned taking Tian Li home to harvest wheat.

• Yun Jiang arrived and found Qi Zhou atop Corpse Mountain, where he warned her that the Demon Seed was eroding his mind and asked her to kill him before he became a demon.
• Yun Jiang questioned Qi Zhou about the demonic beasts he had killed and inferred that he had acted to protect the sleeping Tian Li.
• Yun Jiang threatened to burn Buddha-Slaying Town with an Innate True Fire Talisman unless Qi Zhou let her use a jade pendant to read his recent memories.
• Qi Zhou revealed that he wanted to leave a strand of divine sense and the Yellow Millet Immortal Mansions Ruins map in his saber, then channeled power into the pendant so everyone could see his memories.
• After viewing Qi Zhou's memories, Yun Jiang bowed and asked what condition he required in exchange for the map.
• Qi Zhou said Tian Li wanted to return home to harvest the ripe wheat.

Qi Zhou revealed Tian Li’s horrific memories to expose the Nine Abysses’ scheme and urged Yun Jiang to act before the region fell to demonic beasts. He entrusted Tian Li to her, revealing that the child she carried was human and might be used to challenge the Third Demon Abyss’ Demon Emperor.

• Qi Zhou asked Yun Jiang to take Tian Li back to Yangliugou after his death, but Yunyan objected because the route led to the Third Demon Abyss.
• Qi Zhou released Tian Li’s memories through her jade pendant, showing how demonic beasts had abused her and manipulated events in Buddha-Slaying Town to cultivate a demon embryo.
• Qi Zhou warned that the lands west of Cloud Ridge would become a Demon Domain within a month, while Yun Jiang recognized that his revelations had drawn her into an Inquiry of the Heart Trial.
• Qi Zhou revealed that Tian Li’s unborn child was an ordinary human child and that Tian Li had become a ghost corpse to protect it from the demon seed.
• Yun Jiang confirmed that Tian Li and her child were gravely weakened, and Qi Zhou proposed sending Tian Li before the Third Demon Abyss’ Demon Emperor, whose Dao Heart was being tested by his cultivation of the Taixuan Scripture.

Xu Taiping accepted the Scroll of Time’s choice and killed Qi Zhou after defeating the reanimated corpses with his own blade. Qi Zhou’s memories revealed the loss of his pregnant wife, and Xu Taiping was left to endure the torrents of Qi Zhou’s true essence and qi and blood.

• Yun Jiang agreed to confront Qi Zhou at Yangliugou, and her righteous qi and sword power suppressed the corpse mountain.
• The Scroll of Time made Xu Taiping choose on Yun Jiang’s behalf, and Mister Da urged him to strike decisively.
• Xu Taiping used his blade domain and blade qi thunderclap to destroy the corpse tendrils, then beheaded Qi Zhou.
• Qi Zhou’s memory mark showed him bringing noodle soup to his pregnant wife before revealing her corpse in the ruins of their courtyard.
• A golden pillar of light descended on Xu Taiping, and Qi Zhou’s true essence and qi and blood surged into his body.

Xu Taiping refined the True Essence he had absorbed from Qi Zhou, bringing its purity close to eight times that of an ordinary Heaven Gazing Realm cultivator. The scene in the Scroll of Time resumed as Yun Jiang and her companions prepared to carry Tian Li toward the Third Demon Abyss and sent warnings to cultivators nearby.

• Xu Taiping suppressed the surging power from Qi Zhou and refined the True Essence with the Cloud-Riding Scripture.
• Mister Da congratulated Xu Taiping for surviving the first scene, and Xu Taiping silently thanked Qi Zhou.
• Yun Jiang explained that taking Tian Li to the Third Demon Abyss could boost Shangqing's morale and create a rare chance to strike the enemy.
• Yunyan agreed to accompany Yun Jiang in exchange for seeing the map of the Yellow Millet Immortal Mansions Ruins, and Yun Ling joined them after Yun Jiang approved.
• Yun Jiang used the jade pendant's Carrier Pigeon Divine Ability to send news and Divine Soul Marks to cultivators in the region.

Xu Taiping completed the first six acts of the Scroll of Time and entered the curtain call in the seventh, leaving only the final act ahead. Five years after the trial began, Zhao Qian opened the Bronze Coffin to check his progress and reported the results to Lü Daoxuan.

• Mister Da warned Xu Taiping that the coming acts would test his control and character, and cautioned him against reversing time when faced with suffering.
• Five years later, Zhao Qian asked Lü Daoxuan for permission to open the Bronze Coffin and inspect Xu Taiping’s progress; Lü agreed and warned him not to open it again before the trial ended.
• The Scroll of Time revealed that Xu Taiping had accomplished Act One, Buddha-Slaying Town, and Zhao Qian read its recorded events aloud.
• Zhao Qian used the Scroll of Time to confirm that Xu Taiping had completed Acts Two through Six.
• The scroll showed Act Seven was in progress with its curtain call, and Lü Daoxuan praised Xu Taiping as only the eighth act remained.

Zhao Qian and Lü Daoxuan learned that Xu Taiping had completed the first seven acts of the Scroll of Time but faced a deadly battle in the seventh. In Outer Heaven, Fairy Lingyue received news of his progress and continued toward the Great Yu Ancient Kingdom ruins with Ping'an, who prepared to undergo his own trial.

• Zhao Qian reported that Xu Taiping could not use his usual abilities in the seventh act and had to slay a Demon Emperor, so Lü Daoxuan told him to close the Bronze Coffin and guard it from the Nine Abysses.
• Lü Daoxuan explained that Xu Taiping could enter the Scroll of Time again through his Origin Beginning Clone, but doing so would cost years and consume a valuable resource.
• Lü Daoxuan instructed Zhao Qian to send Fairy Lingyue an update, and Zhao Qian sent a recording of the coffin inspection through her Spirit Mirror.
• Fairy Lingyue watched Zhao Qian reveal that Xu Taiping had completed the first seven acts and felt reassured, though his curtain call and final trial remained.
• Fairy Lingyue told Ping'an that the Immortal Boat would bring him to the Great Yu Ancient Kingdom ruins within three days, where he would have to rely on himself.
• Ping'an vowed to reach the demon race's Great Sage Realm and reunite with Fairy Lingyue, Xu Taiping, and Bai Yu.

Xu Taiping fought and killed three Demon Emperors in the seventh act inside the Scroll of Time. Afterward, he watched Yun Jiang, who had survived from the second act, finally fall beside the lion Demon Emperor’s corpse.

• Xu Taiping used the Azure Luan Ring to fend off the lion Demon Emperor’s sandstorm as the eagle Demon Emperor attacked from above.
• Xu Taiping baited the eagle Demon Emperor into range and used the ring’s Sea-Splitting strike to sever its claw and wing, while his hidden clone blocked the bull Demon Emperor’s punch.
• Xu Taiping drew his blade and used the Dragon-Slaying Form to burn the bull Demon Emperor to ashes.
• Xu Taiping’s clone hurled the Thunder Sound Banner through the lion Demon Emperor’s throat, and Xu Taiping finished it with the Baxia Form.
• Xu Taiping saw Yun Jiang sink to her knees beside the lion Demon Emperor’s headless corpse, having fallen after surviving from the second act.

Xu Taiping witnessed the end of Yun Jiang's battle against three Demon Emperors and learned that she had defeated them by using the Spirit Transformation Curse. As Yun Jiang died through Liberation by Violence, she entrusted Yun Ling and Yunyan with her Bamboo Hairpin and a message pendant that would lead them to the Abyssal Pavilion Thirteenth Seat.

• Xu Taiping recognized that Yun Jiang, not he, had truly defeated the three Demon Emperors, and that her strength far exceeded that of cultivators at her level.
• Yun Jiang refused Yun Ling's Azure Nether Pill, explaining that the Spirit Transformation Curse would soon cause her body to undergo Liberation by Violence.
• Yun Jiang gave Yun Ling her Bamboo Hairpin as her Dao Seal and urged her to carry on with Yunyan to Willow Tree Bay.
• Yun Jiang gave Yunyan her Message Jade Pendant and revealed that the Abyssal Pavilion Thirteenth Seat was coming to find them.
• Yun Jiang apologized to her Master for failing to inherit her mantle, then turned to ash in the wind, leaving behind her Dharma Robe.

After the seventh act ended, Xu Taiping suppressed the surging qi and blood and true essence that threatened to force a forbidden breakthrough. In the eighth act, he saw Yun Ling cornered by demonic beasts until Ni Zhao, the Abyssal Pavilion Thirteenth Seat, appeared and saved her.

• Yunyan sent Yun Ling east with the sleeping girl while he flew toward the pursuing demonic beasts to draw them away.
• Yun Ling promised to wait for Yunyan at Azure Dawn Temple, and Xu Taiping reflected on the pair's courage before the seventh act closed.
• Xu Taiping stabilized and refined the greatly increased qi and blood and true essence, avoiding a breakthrough that would erase him from the River of Time.
• In the eighth act, a demonic beast struck Yun Ling into a tree, and another blocked her path to an abandoned village.
• Yun Ling saw that the pig-headed demonic beast held Yunyan's severed head as another beast prepared to crush her.
• Ni Zhao appeared in black armor and killed the attacking demonic beast with a single palm strike.

Ni Zhao arrived with Mister Da to protect Yun Ling and Tian Li as the group faced an overwhelming demonic army. After sending Yun Ling away, Ni Zhao revealed that Tian Li’s unborn child could poison the Demon Emperor of the Third Demon Abyss, and prepared to confront the Demon Emperor with Mister Da.

• Ni Zhao confirmed he was the Abyssal Pavilion Thirteenth Seat, while seven whale demons descended and Mister Da blocked them with a river of sword qi.
• Ni Zhao destroyed a charging Demon Venerable-level demonic beast and gave Yun Ling a scroll to teleport away with Yunyan’s head.
• Ni Zhao told Yun Ling that the cries of the infant in Tian Li’s womb were deadly poison to the Demon Emperor of the Third Demon Abyss, and Yun Ling departed.
• Tian Li woke and happily believed she had returned home as demonic beasts converged and Mister Da’s sword barrier broke.
• The Demon Emperor challenged Ni Zhao’s plan to kill him, and Ni Zhao replied with a mysterious smile that there were not just two of them.