Recaps

Su Mo accepted the Broken Brush as his Spirit Artifact and left the Forbidden Land with Wu Qian and Wu Pangzi. After Wu Pangzi departed, Wu Qian recognized that Su Mo planned to go to Floating Life Pass because he felt guilty about killing Li Wudi and leaving Desolate Demon Pass without a defender.

• Su Mo agreed to let the Broken Brush follow him, provided it kept others’ thoughts to itself, and learned it called itself the Brush of All Living Beings.
• The Broken Brush said it could dissolve its Karma Contract if Su Mo died, easing his concern that it would perish with him.
• Su Mo recovered his Spiritual Power, then used his Power of Law to take Wu Qian and Wu Pangzi out of the Forbidden Land while leaving the Ghost-Eyed Divine Flood Dragon behind.
• Su Mo declined Wu Pangzi’s offer to explore tombs together, and Wu Pangzi left for his Master’s Sect.
• Wu Qian guessed that Su Mo wanted to go to Floating Life Pass and help defend Desolate Demon Pass because he felt guilty about killing Li Wudi.

Su Mo traveled with Wu Qian toward Desolate Demon Pass to deliver Li Wudi’s pass token, learning that the southern section was called Rouge Pass. At the quiet, apparently unguarded pass, he spotted a white-haired woman in red sitting alone atop the fortifications.

• Su Mo reflected on his regret over Li Wudi’s death and examined the pass token Li Wudi had asked him to deliver to someone trustworthy.
• The Brush of All Living Beings left Su Mo’s Spirit Sea after being frightened by the Book of Life and Death, then disguised itself as a golden hairpin in his hair.
• Su Mo and Wu Qian traveled for several months toward Desolate Demon Pass, where Wu Qian explained that it consisted of three smaller passes: Desolate Demon Pass, Ten Thousand Swords Pass, and Rouge Pass.
• Su Mo entered Rouge Pass by carriage and found it bustling with ordinary people but seemingly devoid of soldiers and cultivators.
• Su Mo saw a white-haired woman in a red dress sitting alone atop the silent fortifications, gazing beyond the pass.

Su Mo learned that the mysterious woman Yanzhi had guarded Rouge Pass for ages and that Li Wudi had once asked her to protect Desolate Demon Pass. After confirming that Li Wudi was dead and Su Mo had killed him, she told Su Mo that Desolate Demon Pass was under attack by a Demonic Beast Tide and sent him to deal with it.

• Wu Qian explained that the red-dressed woman was called Yanzhi and that Rouge Pass was named after the fragrance of her power.
• Su Mo learned that countless Ancient Desolate Beasts, rather than people from the Desolate Realm, were what the passes guarded against.
• Wu Qian confirmed that Li Wudi had been the only person capable of defending Desolate Demon Pass, prompting Su Mo to worry about its fate after Li Wudi's death.
• Yanzhi summoned Su Mo and Wu Qian, asked where Li Wudi was, and heard Su Mo admit that he had killed him.
• Yanzhi revealed that Li Wudi had asked her to watch over Desolate Demon Pass and told Su Mo to deal with its ongoing Demonic Beast Tide.

Desolate Demon Pass faced a Beast Tide after Li Wudi’s absence left its defenders without their strongest guardian. As a scar-faced woman confronted a Demon Beast rivaling the Difficult Realm, a green-robed Daoist appeared to protect her.

• The defenders of Desolate Demon Pass debated how to survive the gathering Demon Beasts, and one messenger went to seek help from Lady Yanzhi at Rouge Pass.
• The Demon Beasts launched a Beast Tide, and the cultivators charged from the walls to fight them.
• The scar-faced woman fought through the beasts with her sword, killing many as the battle raged.
• The woman spotted a Demon Beast powerful enough to rival the Difficult Realm, which slowly approached her.
• A green-robed Daoist appeared in front of the woman, and she wept with relief while cursing him.

The cultivators outside the pass city fought a Difficult beast during the Desolate Demon Beast Tide while the pass formation sealed them out. Just as the scar-faced woman and the Daoist were about to die, golden light rescued the surviving cultivators, and a white-clad figure arrived on a divine brush.

• The elder ordered the pass formation activated, trapping the cultivators outside to keep the Difficult beast from reaching the city.
• The cultivators charged the Difficult beast, but it used the beast tide to hold them back as people fell in the fighting.
• The scar-faced woman and the Daoist fought side by side, confessed their feelings, and agreed to marry after death.
• Golden light swept up the surviving cultivators and carried them beneath the pass city just as the beasts were about to overwhelm them.
• A divine brush struck the beast tide, and a white-clad figure appeared standing atop it.

A white-clad man halted the Beast Tide with stone spikes and the power of law while Su Mo faced the Difficult Realm Trapped Beast. After the beast broke free and sent the tide charging again, Su Mo asked the defenders to lend him their Spirit Swords.

• The white-clad man used stone spikes to slaughter low-level demonic beasts and bound the others with the laws of the ten thousand Daos.
• Su Mo confronted the Trapped Beast while Wu Qian joined him and said the demonic beasts possessed an unfamiliar kind of spiritual consciousness.
• Su Mo sent Wu Qian to the defenders, and the Trapped Beast roared, freeing the restrained beasts before retreating into the tide.
• Su Mo teleported the charging demonic beasts away, but they soon attacked again, forcing him to ask the defenders to lend him their Spirit Swords.

Su Mo used ten thousand borrowed Spirit Swords and countless broken swords to devastate the beast tide at Desolate Demon Pass. The Trapped Beast retreated with the beasts, leaving Su Mo wary of its Difficult Realm strength and wishing for a weapon suited to him.

• Su Mo commanded ten thousand Spirit Swords and awakened abandoned swords beyond the pass, gathering them into a vast Sword Tide.
• Su Mo unleashed the Sword Tide against the demonic beasts, destroying many as the broken swords crumbled to dust.
• The woman in the rouge-red dress at Rouge Pass sensed the ringing sword intent, glanced north toward Desolate Demon Pass, then returned her gaze to the distant land.
• The Trapped Beast watched Su Mo before retreating into the Primordial Chaos, and the other demonic beasts followed.
• Su Mo chose not to pursue the Trapped Beast, reflected that he needed a proper weapon, and the Brush of All Living Beings offered to help him find a Slaughter Weapon.

Su Mo followed the retreating beast tide into the gray haze and crossed a Barrier into the Star Sea, where he discovered the declining Desolate Realm. The Brush of All Living Beings helped him forge a sword from a drawing, a star’s substance, and its power.

• Su Mo pursued the beast tide into the gray haze and used a Jade Clasp to conceal himself from those watching.
• Su Mo searched the empty haze, crossed a Barrier, and entered the Star Sea despite the Brush of All Living Beings warning him he could not pass.
• Su Mo and the Brush of All Living Beings saw a collapsing world across the Star Sea, which the Brush identified as the Desolate Realm.
• The Brush of All Living Beings told Su Mo to draw his desired weapon of slaughter, then transformed a star into the materials and power to make the drawing real.
• Su Mo watched a radiant sword take shape as the Brush of All Living Beings wondered aloud whether the process had actually worked.

Su Mo returned to Desolate Demon Pass after forging and naming the Star Sword, then accepted the Pass Lord Token Li Wudi had left for him. The chapter ended with Su Eternal Life officially becoming the new lord of Desolate Demon Pass.

• Su Mo named the newly forged sword the Star Sword and returned from the star sea.
• A lost exotic beast sensed Su Mo’s presence and hurried toward him through the void.
• The cultivators of Desolate Demon Pass thanked Su Mo for repelling the beast tide, and he introduced himself as Su Eternal Life.
• Zhuang Shi recognized Li Wudi’s name had been replaced on the Pass Lord Token and knelt to offer it to Su Mo.
• Su Mo accepted the Pass Lord Token, and the soldiers hailed him as the pass lord of Desolate Demon Pass.

Su Mo settled into his role as Pass Master of Desolate Demon Pass, mourning Li Wudi and choosing not to disturb the traces he had left behind. He established the Divine Nest as his new residence and began planning for the pass’s future.

• Su Mo told Zhuang Shi that his sect would not stop him from guarding the Border Pass and asked whether Li Wudi had any family there.
• After everyone left the walls, Su Mo regretted leaving Li Wudi’s body in the Ancient Forbidden Land, and Wu Qian comforted him.
• Su Mo decided to settle at the Border Pass and made a mountain inside the pass the new site of the Pass Master's residence.
• Su Mo brought out the Divine Nest and placed it on the mountaintop, then told Wu Qian he wanted every household in Desolate Demon Pass to prosper.
• Su Mo declined Wu Qian’s suggestion to move Spirit Beast Mountain to the pass and asked her to bring Zhuang Shi and several key people to meet him.

Su Mo took over Desolate Demon Pass and ordered its seat and core soldiers moved to North Yan Mountain, which he renamed Peach Blossom Mountain. He began reorganizing the pass and revealed to Wu Qian that he planned to establish the Peach Blossom Sect.

• Wu Qian brought Zhuang Shi and the pass's officers to meet Su Mo, who told them to call him Young Master.
• Su Mo renamed North Yan Mountain Peach Blossom Mountain, designated the Divine Nest as his residence, and ordered the core soldiers to move there.
• Su Mo ordered the soldiers to oversee all affairs within Desolate Demon Pass and introduce themselves; Wu Qian, Hong Shi, Zhuang Shi, Yan Yu, and Shou Xin gave their names and cultivation levels.
• Su Mo dismissed the officers to prepare for the move, then asked Wu Qian to guess his plans.
• Wu Qian guessed that Su Mo wanted to establish a sect, and Su Mo showed her a sack of peach pits and suggested naming it the Peach Blossom Sect.

Su Mo suspected the Beast Tide had been a deliberate probe meant to provoke a great war at the Border Pass and force the Immortal Gate to open. The Brush of All Living Beings revealed that the world had three heavens and the Immortal Gate had remained closed for tens of thousands of years, leaving Su Mo wondering what awaited beyond it.

• Su Mo planted peach pits in Pass City while Wu Qian watched him from the Divine Nest and then left.
• Su Mo told the Brush of All Living Beings that the Beast Tide seemed like a probe and might return soon.
• Su Mo reasoned that a full Beast Tide assault could draw the great powers and their Saint-rank Ancestors into a devastating war at the Border Pass.
• The Brush of All Living Beings explained that such a conflict might prompt the Immortal Gate to open and the Immortal Domain to intervene.
• The Brush of All Living Beings revealed that the Immortal Gate had not opened for tens of thousands of years, preventing First Heaven cultivators from entering the Second Heaven and advancing further.
• Su Mo asked whether everyone in the Immortal Domain stood above the Saint Realm, and the Brush of All Living Beings answered with a saying about one person attaining the Dao and their chickens and dogs ascending to heaven.

Su Mo questioned the Brush of All Living Beings about the Immortal Domain, the severed path to immortality, and why Immortals might avoid descending to the First Heaven. He then explored the Spirit Sea, where a new bridge and inscription had appeared, and left feeling lonely beside Hui Kong’s silent golden body as green shoots emerged where the Flower of the Other Shore fell.

• The Brush of All Living Beings explained that Sages could bring their clans into the Immortal Domain, but the immortal gate had not opened for tens of thousands of years and the path to immortality was severed.
• Su Mo realized Immortals could descend through the immortal gate, though the First Heaven’s laws would suppress them and returning would be difficult; the Brush suggested they might not be willing to come even during a war at the Border Pass.
• Su Mo asked who had sealed the Brush in the Forbidden Land, but it angrily refused to explain and fell silent when he threatened to send it back to his Spirit Sea.
• Su Mo examined the Reincarnation Scroll in the Book of Life and Death, then entered his Spirit Sea and found a bridge over the strange river with new words carved on the nearby stele.
• Su Mo could not step onto the bridge, lamented that no one from the Nine Heavens was beside him, and left Hui Kong’s golden body as green shoots appeared where the Flower of the Other Shore had fallen.

Su Mo organized the Desolate Demon Pass forces into a new sect and settled on the name Peach Mountain, while Zhuang Shi raised concerns about its benefits, authority, and lack of powerful experts. Su Mo left those deeper foundations for the future and unexpectedly invited Zhuang Shi to take an elder’s position, but Zhuang Shi said his Spirit Transformation cultivation made him unqualified.

• Su Mo instructed Zhuang Shi to divide the Desolate Demon Pass cultivators into overseeing ranks and assign them responsibility for secular affairs.
• Su Mo and Wu Qian agreed to name the new sect Peach Mountain instead of Peach Blossom Sect.
• Zhuang Shi warned Su Mo that the sect needed benefits for its members, a core purpose, and the Imperial Dynasty’s approval, while Su Mo ordered rewards for merit and dismissed the need for permission.
• Wu Qian agreed to handle the sect rules and administrative details, while Zhuang Shi pointed out that Peach Mountain lacked powerful experts and deep foundations.
• Su Mo said they would build the sect’s strength over time, then asked Zhuang Shi to become an elder, but Zhuang Shi declined, citing his Spirit Transformation cultivation.

Su Mo learned that Zhuang Shi was really Zhuang Shu, the fallen Book Sage who had damaged his Great Dao pursuing another Path to Immortality. After Zhuang Shi refused to become an elder of Peach Mountain, Su Mo called for the Divine Maiden, who appeared before him.

• Su Mo told Zhuang Shi that the Immortal Gate had not opened and asked why his cultivation had fallen.
• Zhuang Shi revealed that his real name was Zhuang Shu and that he had once been called the Book Sage after entering the Dao through books.
• Zhuang Shi explained that he damaged his Great Dao by taking another Path to Immortality, then returned to his home border pass and adopted the name Zhuang Shi.
• Su Mo asked Zhuang Shi to become an elder of Peach Mountain if his cultivation could be restored, but Zhuang Shi refused, saying only the Immortal Gate opening and an Immortal descending could restore him.
• Zhuang Shi and Wu Qian left Su Mo's Divine Nest to handle the founding of Peach Mountain's sect.
• Su Mo called out to the Divine Maiden, and she stepped out of the void before him.

Su Mo discovered that the Divine Maiden knew nothing about the three heavens and wondered whether she had erased her own memories. He then asked her to help him establish a sect at Peach Mountain because the Border Pass was too weak.

• Su Mo asked the Divine Maiden about her strength and the Immortal Domain, learning that she had no knowledge of the three heavens.
• The Brush of All Living Beings nervously explained the three heavens to the Divine Maiden, then fled into Su Mo's Spirit Sea.
• Su Mo asked whether the Divine Maiden had used the Memory-Erasing Technique on herself, but she could not recall doing so.
• Su Mo told the Divine Maiden that he wanted to establish a sect at Peach Mountain because the Border Pass was too weak.

Su Mo explained that he wanted to establish a sect to help the border-pass soldiers improve their cultivation and survive, but the Divine Maiden refused to let him proceed. The chapter ended with her firmly rejecting him again as he tried to persuade her.

• Su Mo told the Divine Maiden that border-pass soldiers sacrificed opportunities to cultivate while protecting others, and he wanted his sect to help them grow stronger.
• Su Mo hoped the sect might eventually encompass the entire Floating Life Pass and ease the soldiers’ burdens.
• The Divine Maiden warned Su Mo that his efforts might be wasted and reminded him that his past sacrifices had brought fear and persecution.
• The Divine Maiden refused to help Su Mo establish the sect and said she would stop him from doing it.
• Su Mo tried to persuade her by calling her “Big Sister Divine Maiden,” but she stood and refused again.

Su Mo took the Divine Maiden to Li Wudi’s empty Pass Lord’s Residence and explained why Li Wudi had fought him for the moon essence. Realizing he had killed Li Wudi without knowing he was trying to save Senior Book Sage and secure Desolate Demon Pass, Su Mo was left consumed by regret.

• The Divine Maiden’s displeasure stirred the world, and Su Mo took her hand to show her somewhere unseen by others.
• Su Mo brought the Divine Maiden to Li Wudi’s humble, abandoned Pass Lord’s Residence at Desolate Demon Pass.
• Su Mo explained that he had killed Li Wudi while competing for the Great Dao and later learned the border pass was too poor to obtain opportunities easily.
• Su Mo said he had sensed Senior Book Sage’s failing Dao foundation and believed the moon essence was needed to save him.
• Su Mo concluded that Li Wudi had fought for the moon essence to save Senior Book Sage, and regretted killing him without asking why.

Su Mo told the Divine Maiden why Li Wudi had gone to the Forbidden Land and admitted his guilt over killing him. He explained that he intended to remain at Desolate Demon Pass to protect it and pursue answers to his Imperial Fate Three Questions, then cautiously asked for the Divine Maiden’s support.

• Su Mo explained that Li Wudi had sought the Moon Essence for Senior Book Sage and had entrusted him with the Pass Lord Token before dying without blame.
• Su Mo brought the Divine Maiden to Peach Mountain Summit and revealed that Li Wudi had entered the Forbidden Land to save Zhuang Shi.
• Su Mo said the Border Pass soldiers trusted him because he had driven back the Beast Tide, carried Li Wudi’s token, and could defend the pass.
• Su Mo confessed that he should not have killed Li Wudi and feared what would happen to Desolate Demon Pass if he left.
• Su Mo said his guilt, a premonition tied to his dream in the Ruins, and the chance to resolve his Imperial Fate Three Questions were reasons to stay.

Su Mo persuaded the Divine Maiden to help Peach Mountain gain a powerful First Elder by restoring Zhuang Shi’s cultivation, while keeping her involvement secret. She revealed that poison caused Zhuang Shi’s Dao Foundation injury and that the Origin of All Things could neutralize it.

• The Divine Maiden agreed to support Su Mo’s plans but warned she would take him away if they went beyond his control.
• Su Mo explained that he wanted Zhuang Shi to become Peach Mountain’s First Elder and lend the new sect prestige and strength.
• The Divine Maiden agreed to restore Zhuang Shi’s cultivation, and Su Mo asked her to make the recovery appear accidental and conceal her existence.
• Su Mo asked what had caused Zhuang Shi’s Dao Foundation injury, and the Divine Maiden said it was poison.
• The Divine Maiden told Su Mo that neutralizing the poison with the Origin of All Things would allow Zhuang Shi’s Dao Foundation and cultivation to recover.

Peach Mountain took over Desolate Demon Pass’s neglected civil affairs, and its disciples reopened the government office to hear the people’s grievances. After they captured six outlaws accused of killing an old man’s granddaughter, Su Mo’s judgment arrived: kill them.

• Peach Mountain sent Outer Sect Disciples to manage Desolate Demon Pass’s trade, schools, farming, and local disputes.
• A Peach Mountain disciple invited an old man into the reopened government office to report his grievance.
• The old man said six outlaws from Xisuo Mountain had robbed his family, violated his granddaughter to death, and wounded him.
• Peach Mountain disciples flew to Xisuo Mountain and returned with the six outlaws, whose crimes were known to other townspeople as well.
• The leading disciple sent the case to Peach Mountain for review, and Su Mo’s judgment came back with the word “Kill!”

Peach Mountain disciples punished six bandits and began handling injustices and developing Desolate Demon Pass, while Su Mo’s plans transformed the pass over the course of a year. As Peach blossoms bloomed and people increasingly called it Peach Blossom Pass, Su Mo sat at Peach Mountain Summit, troubled by a pill made with weak water from his Spirit Sea.

• Peach Mountain disciples executed six bandits after the Inner Sect approved their case, and the old man and watching crowd thanked Peach Mountain and Young Master Changsheng.
• The leading disciple announced that Peach Mountain would oversee all affairs in Desolate Demon Pass, then invited the people to bring forward their grievances.
• A thin man described a confusing dispute over an ox, leaving the Peach Mountain disciples bewildered by his tangled family relationships.
• Peach Mountain disciples organized water transport and Immortal Ship construction, brought back crops and fruit plants, and established schools teaching practical knowledge and basic cultivation.
• After a year, peach blossoms covered the mountain and people increasingly called Desolate Demon Pass Peach Blossom Pass.
• Su Mo examined a pill containing the Divine Maiden’s power and water from his Spirit Sea, realizing that the origin of all things she had mentioned was weak water.

Su Mo learned that people in Desolate Demon Pass had built Eternal Life Temples to worship him after Hong Shi publicly used Su Mo’s talismans to control the weather. The chapter left Su Mo exasperated at Hong Shi’s grandstanding as Wu Qian laughed at him.

• Wu Qian told Su Mo that more people were moving to Desolate Demon Pass and that the inner sect needed more disciples, and Su Mo left both matters in her hands.
• Wu Qian revealed that people had built Eternal Life Temples and worshipped statues of Su Mo, then pointed him toward Hong Shi.
• Su Mo used his divine sense to find Hong Shi in Desert City, where Hong Shi called down rain with a talisman and claimed to act by Su Mo’s command.
• Hong Shi traveled to a flood-stricken city and used another talisman to clear the skies, earning the people’s gratitude.
• Su Mo realized Hong Shi’s public displays had made his weather work look like miracles and provoked the worship, while Wu Qian laughed at his frustration.

Su Mo tried to stop Hong Shi from openly summoning rain and planned to create an accident to destroy the Eternal Life Deity Statues. After learning that Book Sage’s cultivation had fallen to Nascent Soul, Su Mo devised a way to get him the pill that could neutralize his poison and left Peach Mountain.

• Wu Qian told Su Mo that Hong Shi had been using Su Mo’s Talisman Paper to summon wind and rain across Desolate Demon Pass.
• Su Mo summoned Hong Shi and asked him to conceal himself while bringing rain, and Hong Shi agreed while deciding to preserve his grandeur.
• Su Mo told Wu Qian that people would forget Peach Mountain and that they could later create accidents to demolish the Eternal Life Deity Statues.
• Wu Qian told Su Mo that Book Sage was teaching beginner disciples at the school and that his cultivation had fallen to Nascent Soul.
• Su Mo realized he could use someone at Rouge Pass to arrange an accident that would let Book Sage obtain the pill, then left Peach Mountain.

Su Mo asked Yanzhi to deliver a pill to the Book Sage so the origin of the cure would remain hidden. Yanzhi made Su Mo the Pass Lord of Rouge Pass and asked what he wanted to do at the Border Pass, leaving her own plans unstated.

• Su Mo met Yanzhi at Rouge Pass and asked her to give the Book Sage a pill that could remove the poison harming his Dao Foundation.
• Su Mo explained that he wanted Yanzhi to deliver the pill so the Book Sage would not learn where it came from.
• Yanzhi asked Peach Mountain’s disciples to take over Rouge Pass’s secular affairs and gave Su Mo its Pass Lord Token.
• Su Mo asked what would happen to Yanzhi, but she instead asked what he wanted to do at the Border Pass.
• Su Mo said he wanted peach blossoms to bloom throughout Floating Life Pass, and Yanzhi briefly looked dazed.