Chapter Summaries

After escaping the city, Jiang Ling and Si Shuo raised the rescued infant Jiang Ran in a secluded mountain valley, living as mortals for over a decade. When Jiang Ran grew into a young man and asked to leave the mountains to help people suffering in the chaos, they let him go.

• Si Shuo found goat’s milk to feed the crying infant, and he and Jiang Ling agreed to raise him and make a home deep in the mountains.
• They built a cabin and named the child Jiang Ran; Jiang Ling became his aunt, while Si Shuo became his master.
• When three-year-old Jiang Ran developed a dangerous fever, Si Shuo risked his life in a blizzard to fetch herbs, and Jiang Ling devoted herself to their life together.
• More than a decade passed as Jiang Ran trained with a spear under Si Shuo and learned right from wrong from Jiang Ling.
• Jiang Ran asked to leave the mountains and help people in the chaotic world, and Jiang Ling and Si Shuo allowed him to go.

Jiang Ling and Si Shuo waited years for Jiang Ran to return, then left the mountain to find him after his letters stopped. They learned that Jiang Ran and his twenty thousand soldiers had been betrayed and killed in a court-engineered battle, leaving the elders with the truth of his death.

• Jiang Ran returned to the mountain in his second and third years of service, sharing his battlefield successes and bringing peaches for Jiang Ling.
• Jiang Ran planted peach pits near the house and promised to return after the war to grow old with Jiang Ling and Si Shuo.
• As Jiang Ran’s fame grew, his visits dwindled, and in the tenth year his letters stopped; Jiang Ling and Si Shuo went down the mountain to search for him.
• Travelers praised Jiang Ran’s leadership, but people near the capital fell silent whenever the white-clad general was mentioned.
• An old soldier told Jiang Ling and Si Shuo that the court had trapped Jiang Ran’s army in a valley and killed them with boulders and fire.
• The old soldier revealed that Jiang Ran had been shot in the back by his own comrades and that all twenty thousand soldiers had died with him.

After learning that Jiang Ran had been burned to death for the court’s political schemes, Jiang Ling and Si Shuo attacked the capital to avenge him. They slaughtered the emperor and his officials, and Jiang Ling turned toward the surviving imperial family.

• Jiang Ling and Si Shuo mourned Jiang Ran and set out for the capital to collect a debt.
• At a celebration in the palace, Lord Gao basked in praise while the emperor secretly planned to dispose of him.
• Jiang Ling and Si Shuo stormed the palace, killing the guards who tried to stop them.
• Jiang Ling killed Lord Gao and the emperor, then massacred the ministers gathered in the hall.
• Jiang Ling approached the palace’s maids, eunuchs, consorts, princes, and imperial grandsons, intent on killing them too.

Jiang Ling and Si Shuo escaped the palace after Jiang Ling nearly killed the imperial women and children, then mourned Jiang Ran at the burned battlefield and lived on in the Secluded Valley. As Jiang Ling declared that the mortal world was never sweet, Si Chen appeared and asked whether she still held out hope for the wounded world.

• Jiang Ling tried to kill the imperial women and children, but Si Shuo stopped her and argued that they should not become butchers.
• Imperial Guards stormed the hall, forcing Jiang Ling and Si Shuo to fight their way out; Si Shuo was gravely wounded while shielding her.
• Half a month later, Jiang Ling and Si Shuo searched the burned gorge for Jiang Ran and found the warped spearhead Si Shuo had forged for him.
• A year later, Jiang Ling and the ailing Si Shuo lived in the Secluded Valley, where Jiang Ling remembered Jiang Ran and said the mortal world was never sweet.
• Si Chen appeared in the peach grove, dismissed the mortal world as rotten, and asked Jiang Ling whether she still had hope for it.

Taichu revealed that Si Shuo and Jiang Ling had been trapped in the past, in a Mortal Forbidden Zone on the verge of collapse, and offered them a choice between sacrificing themselves or destroying the world. Si Shuo tried to become a vessel, but Jiang Ling stopped him and chose the sphere containing their cultivation.

• Taichu introduced himself and explained that the place where Si Shuo and Jiang Ling had lived for decades was a Mortal Forbidden Zone in the past.
• Taichu revealed that Jiang Ran's death had truly happened and that the plague in Lonely Crag City had come from Filth leaking through the planet's failing Seal.
• Taichu offered Si Shuo and Jiang Ling the choice to become vessels and save the planet for a hundred years, or reclaim their cultivation and destroy it.
• Jiang Ling prepared to choose destruction, but Si Shuo walked toward the black sphere to sacrifice himself as a vessel.
• Jiang Ling slashed Si Shuo's thigh to stop him and took hold of the golden sphere, declaring that she would not allow anyone else to be sacrificed.

Jiang Ling shattered the seal at the heart of the Mortal Forbidden Zone, restoring her and Si Shuo’s powers as the world collapsed. She chose to leave with Taichu and help him reshape the world, while Si Shuo was swept into the Void and the planet crumbled to dust.

• Jiang Ling drove her hairpin into the golden orb, detonating the seal and unleashing Immortal Essence as the planet began to collapse.
• Si Shuo and Jiang Ling regained their youthful appearances and Immortal King power, then acknowledged their bond and their irreconcilable differences.
• Taichu invited Jiang Ling to join him, and she accepted after recognizing Si Chen’s aura in him.
• Jiang Ling drew Jiang Ran’s peach grove into her storage space before leaving with Taichu.
• Taichu sent Si Shuo into the Void, and the Mortal Forbidden Zone disintegrated into dust.

After returning to the Demon Race Ancestral Court, Si Shuo learned that what felt like years in the past had taken only a blink in the present and hurried to contact Chen'er. Meanwhile, Jiang Ling brought Taichu to her Traveling Palace, strengthened Jiang Ran’s peach grove with her Immortal King origin essence, and named the palace Jade Pool.

• Si Shuo returned to the Demon Race Ancestral Court and learned that he and Jiang Ling had vanished for barely a blink after he touched the formation stone.
• Si Shuo recalled Taichu’s explanation of the past timeline and used a Communication Jade Talisman to contact Chen'er.
• Taichu explored Jiang Ling’s Traveling Palace and praised its craftsmanship.
• Jiang Ling summoned Jiang Ran’s peach grove into the palace and nourished it with her Immortal King origin essence.
• Taichu asked what the Traveling Palace was called, and Jiang Ling named it Jade Pool.

Taichu helped Jiang Ling reach the Immortal Lord realm, then took her into the void and captured a chaos beast he named Kunpeng. The beast ended the chapter trembling at Taichu’s side, unable to resist.

• Taichu explained that Luo Hou had transformed after fusing with a fragment of the Demon Realm’s Heavenly Dao, and promised Jiang Ling the chance to kill him later.
• Taichu summoned a new-era lightning tribulation that destroyed the old world’s laws within Jiang Ling and raised her to the Immortal Lord realm.
• Taichu took Jiang Ling into the void, where they encountered the enormous chaos beast she had once seen with Si Chen.
• The chaos beast fled from Taichu, but discovered it had never escaped his palm and was shrunk down before him.
• Taichu ordered the beast to remain at his side and named it Kunpeng.

Si Chen reunited with Si Shuo after returning to the Demon Race Ancestral Court and learned how Taichu had taken Jiang Ling. After bringing his uncle to Undying Mountain and telling him what had happened there, Si Chen watched Si Shuo go to meet the women who had arrived from the Lower Realm.

• Si Chen appeared in the underground palace and calmed Si Shuo, who had been unable to reach him through the Communication Jade Talisman.
• Si Shuo recounted how he and the others had returned to the past, how Jiang Ran died, and how Taichu took Jiang Ling after she detonated the Formation Eye.
• Si Chen reassured Si Shuo that Jiang Ling would be fine because Taichu still had a use for her, then said Taichu was another version of himself.
• Si Chen brought Si Shuo to Undying Mountain and explained what had happened there while he was away.
• Si Chen told Si Shuo that Second Uncle had brought their clansmen and Si Shuo's lady friends from the Lower Realm, and Si Shuo went to see them.

Si Chen ordered Li Tiezhu and Wang Yan to undergo vastly more intense training as the upheaval in the Immortal Realm accelerated, while Si Shuo hid his grief behind his usual playful act. Elsewhere, Luo Hou summoned the fallen souls of the Filth Demons and prepared to take revenge on Song Chi, Zhu Yao, and Feng Qing.

• Si Shuo emerged from Si Chen's courtyard, slapped himself until his usual carefree expression returned, and joined Su Miaoyin, Mu Qianqian, and the other women, though Gray Gray sensed his sadness.
• Si Chen told Li Tiezhu and Wang Yan that the changing situation demanded tenfold training, but Wang Yan enthusiastically requested even harsher discipline.
• Si Chen accepted Wang Yan's request and raised their training intensity a hundredfold, leaving Li Tiezhu horrified.
• Luo Hou, driven back by Zhu Yao and Feng Qing, vowed to create an army of thousands and used his power to remake and awaken the fallen Filth Demons.
• Luo Hou declared that his battle against Song Chi, Zhu Yao, and Feng Qing had only just begun.

Song Chi joined Li Feng’s Floating Net Heaven forces to search for the Demon Race Ancestral Court, but they found Filth Demons gathering around a gigantic black egg. A black giant emerged and singled out Song Chi, leaving the surrounding Immortals stunned.

• Song Chi met Li Feng’s forces and asked whether they had located the Demon Race Ancestral Court, but Li Feng said they were still investigating the Lower Realm.
• Song Chi agreed to accompany Li Feng, then followed the Filth Demons with him when they converged across the land.
• Song Chi and Li Feng found a black egg in a canyon absorbing the Filth Demons that threw themselves against it.
• A black giant emerged from the egg and threatened to eat the cultivators, prompting Li Feng to prepare his forces for battle.
• The black giant recognized Song Chi and shouted, “Kill Song Chi,” leaving Li Feng and the other Immortals staring at him.

Song Chi fought a rapidly strengthening giant that singled him out, using his speed to evade its attacks while Li Feng and the Immortal Realm cultivators tried to help. As the giant neared the Immortal King Realm, Song Chi summoned thousands of loyal Obsessions from his shadow, leaving the battle poised to escalate.

• The newly risen giant ignored the Immortal Realm cultivators’ attacks and pursued Song Chi, while Song Chi insisted he did not know it and drew his Shadowstrike Sword.
• Song Chi evaded the giant’s blows with astonishing speed and taunted it, but the giant grew from middle-stage Golden Immortal strength to peak Golden Immortal.
• Li Feng ordered the Immortal Realm cultivators to cover Song Chi, and their attacks interrupted the giant’s pursuit long enough for Song Chi to catch his breath.
• Song Chi decided he had to end the fight quickly and called, “Come forth... my disciples!”
• Thousands of Obsessions emerged from Song Chi’s shadow, bowed to him, and formed an army as he pointed his Shadowstrike Sword at the giant.

Song Chi’s shadow disciples overwhelmed the giant with unorthodox attacks, but their assault triggered its awakening into the Immortal King Realm. As the army prepared to destroy it, Song Chi wondered whether his Dao could reform the giant and make it his disciple.

• Song Chi reassured Li Feng and the Immortal Realm Cultivators that his terrifying shadow army consisted of disciples who had turned toward the light.
• The shadow disciples attacked the giant, resisting its attempt to devour them and striking it with coordinated assaults, including sword attacks below the belt.
• The giant unleashed a surge of power, rose beyond the Golden Immortal peak, and began awakening into the Immortal King Realm.
• Song Chi ordered Li Feng to have the army concentrate its fire while he prepared to join the battle.
• Song Chi realized the giant was composed of filth like the demons he had already taken in, and began considering making it his disciple.

Song Chi formed the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation to trap the black giant and tried to use Cang Xuan’s essence to enslave it. He discovered the giant was already marked by Luo Hou, who recognized Song Chi’s power and raged at the attempted theft.

• Song Chi asked Li Feng and Floating Net Heaven’s forces to hold the black giant back for ten breaths while he formed his supreme formation.
• Li Feng led the cultivators in a desperate assault, buying Song Chi enough time to summon four sword pillars and activate the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation.
• Song Chi pinned the giant with sword qi and used Cang Xuan’s essence to try to make it his subordinate.
• Song Chi found that the giant’s only obsession was killing him and that Luo Hou had already branded its sea of consciousness.
• Luo Hou sensed Song Chi trying to erase his mark, recognized Cang Xuan’s power, and swore to kill Song Chi.

In another Lower Realm, the Azure Bull Demon King and his army struggled against Luo Hou’s Three-Faced Monster, whose attacks drove the demons to madness and despair. Luo Hongyi arrived and used her zither to cleanse the mind corruption, allowing Azure Bull to strike back while she focused on keeping the monster in check.

• The Azure Bull Demon King and tens of thousands of demon soldiers fought Luo Hou’s late immortal king Three-Faced Monster, but its laughter and sobbing made the soldiers attack one another or try to kill themselves.
• The monster fired a red beam that snapped off Azure Bull’s horn, and he realized his physical attacks were not enough to stop it.
• Luo Hongyi played her Jade Zither and used “Three Thousand Great Dreams, one dream of the mortal world” to clear the demons’ minds.
• Azure Bull praised Luo Hongyi and charged the monster while she recovered from the strain of cleansing its corruption.
• Azure Bull’s axe strike drove the Three-Faced Monster into a crater, and Luo Hongyi resolved to keep it restrained rather than fight it head-on.

Luo Hongyi used the Great Dream Dao to disrupt the Three-Faced Monster’s emotions, giving Demon King Azure Xi an opening to wound it and turn the battle in the Demon Race’s favor. As the army attacked the fallen monster, Luo Hongyi realized she had glimpsed the true threshold of the Great Dream Dao Si Chen taught her.

• Demon King Azure Xi’s attacks failed to pierce the Three-Faced Monster’s defenses, while Luo Hongyi worried that his strength would run out.
• Luo Hongyi recalled Si Chen’s advice about reversing extreme emotions and stained her zither strings with her essence blood.
• Luo Hongyi used sorrow against the Joy Face and joy against the Sorrow Face, throwing the monster’s divine soul into chaos.
• The Rage Face’s red orb detonated in its mouth, and Demon King Azure Xi seized the opening to chop off the Joy Face and Sorrow Face.
• Demon King Azure Xi rallied the Demon Race army to attack the grievously wounded monster as Luo Hongyi recognized her progress in the Great Dream Dao.

After Demon King Azure Xi and Luo Hongyi defeated the late-stage Immortal King Filth Demon, the monster began to reform, and Luo Hongyi used Si Chen’s booklet to absorb its remaining energy. She realized the booklet could not solve the wider calamity and resolved to devise a complete system of reincarnation.

• Demon King Azure Xi severed the Filth Demon’s last head after more than six hours of fighting, and the exhausted demons celebrated their victory.
• Demon King Azure Xi praised Luo Hongyi for helping the army defeat the monster, but she remained wary of its corpse.
• The corpse began turning back into Filth Demon energy, so Luo Hongyi told the demons to step back and opened the booklet empowered by Si Chen.
• Luo Hongyi commanded the booklet to gather the energy, which became points of light and vanished into its pages.
• Luo Hongyi concluded that absorbing souls one at a time could not end the calamity and resolved to develop a broader plan she called reincarnation.

Luo Hongyi and the Azure Bull Demon King reached the Demon Race Ancestral Court, where he was recognized as Ancestor Azure Xi and retrieved the Time Amber. Luo Hongyi departed for Undying Mountain with the artifact while the Azure Bull Demon King stayed behind to help restore order and celebrate with his descendants.

• Luo Hongyi learned that the Azure Bull Demon King had ascended from this world and knew where its Demon Race Ancestral Court was located.
• The Azure Bull Demon King led Luo Hongyi and the Demon Race soldiers to the Ancestral Court, where the defenders mistook their arrival for an enemy attack.
• The Azure Bull Demon King revealed himself as Ancestor Azure Xi, and his descendants welcomed him as their manifested ancestor.
• The Azure Bull Demon King ordered the defenders to retrieve the Divine Stone of Time, and Luo Hongyi collected it in her Storage Ring.
• Luo Hongyi offered to return to Undying Mountain with the Time Amber while the Azure Bull Demon King stayed to help stabilize the world.
• The Azure Bull Demon King accepted and asked his descendants to bring him their finest immortal wine.

Luo Hongyi and the others returned from their missions with Time Amber, while Song Chi struggled to get them to listen to his heroic tale. Xie Changsheng gathered the crystals and led the group toward the Forgotten River, where they planned to open the door and meet Si Chen.

• Luo Hongyi watched the many escort ships carrying Time Amber through the Fusang Divine Tree and reflected on how the reincarnation project could succeed with everyone working together.
• Song Chi arrived boasting about his battle against a powerful Filth Demon, but Xie Changsheng, Zhou Yan, and Murong Li interrupted him before he could finish.
• Black Mountain and Red Wind joined the group, and everyone exchanged news from their missions across the realms.
• Zhou Yan, Luo Hongyi, and Black Mountain handed their Time Amber to Xie Changsheng, while Song Chi reluctantly gave up his own crystal after the others asked for it.
• Xie Changsheng said the gathered Time Amber was enough to open the door, and Luo Hongyi said she needed to see Si Chen immediately.
• Xie Changsheng led everyone toward the Forgotten River, saying they were going home.

Xie Changsheng and his companions returned to Undying Mountain with the Time Amber, where Si Chen told them Fairy Jiang had joined Taichu and revealed the crystals he had gathered. He asked Xie Changsheng, Zhou Yan, and Murong Li whether they were ready to face their karma.

• Xie Changsheng and his companions arrived at Undying Mountain, where countless ships were delivering Time Amber and the Si brothers were coordinating the crowds.
• Gray Gray greeted the returning group, and Si Shuo joked with them, though Xie Changsheng and Zhou Yan sensed something was wrong with him.
• Xie Changsheng and the others found Li Tiezhu and Wang Yan exhausted on the ground after Si Chen's harsh daily training.
• Si Chen told the group that Fairy Jiang had left to join Taichu, and said their differing paths meant they could not walk together.
• Si Chen produced a mountain of Time Amber and asked Xie Changsheng, Zhou Yan, and Murong Li if they were ready to face their karma.