Chapter Summaries

As the Cloud and Thunder Sects moved to destroy the Rain Sect, Yutian awakened the Rain Sect’s ancient Rain Spirit, revealing a true spirit powerful enough to threaten both armies. The enemy forces tried to retreat, but Yutian declared it was too late and called on the spirit to slay them.

• Yun Huan and Lei Ruo demanded that Yutian disband the Rain Sect, while Yutian refused to surrender without a fight.
• Yun Huan ordered an attack, and Yutian raised his hands to awaken an ancient presence in the Rain Sect’s mountains.
• Su Mo sensed the awakening from a thousand li away, while Great Calamity and the Mysterious Maiden recognized the aura.
• Yutian summoned the Rain Spirit, and an ancient raindrop rose against the downpour.
• Yun Huan recognized the Rain Spirit as a true spirit, and Lei Ruo and the Cloud and Thunder Sect elders fled in fear.
• Yutian declared that it was too late to escape and commanded the Rain Spirit to slay the enemy.

The Rain Sect’s Rain Spirit attacked the Cloud and Thunder Sects, but their Ancestors intervened before the rain swords could destroy them. As the Rain Sect’s dying Ancestor, Yu Chen, joined the confrontation, Su Mo realized the Rain Spirit’s nature could lead him toward the Heavenly Mystery Dao, while the Mysterious Maiden and Great Calamity speculated that his divine soul might give him a Boundless Spiritual Root.

• The Rain Spirit sealed the battlefield and sent a tide of rain swords at the Cloud and Thunder Sects, breaking Yun Huan’s Cloud Veil and gravely injuring him.
• Su Mo studied the Rain Spirit and reasoned that ruling over heaven and earth would resemble the emotionless Heavenly Mystery Dao; the Mysterious Maiden and Great Calamity suspected his divine soul could cause his spiritual root to become a Boundless Spiritual Root.
• Two Ancestors of the Cloud and Thunder Sects appeared and stopped the Rain Spirit’s attack, prompting Yun Huan and Lei Ruo to bow to them.
• Yu Chen, the Rain Sect’s frail and dying Ancestor, emerged from Back Mountain and greeted the other Ancestors, who questioned why he did not pursue their illusory goal.
• Yu Chen said he had sent people to the Lower Realm with them so he could borrow Frost through the combined standing of the three sects.

The Rain Sect Ancestor revealed that he had lured the Cloud and Thunder Sects into a century-long trap to stop their pursuit of eternal life and save his sect. He used Rain Reversal and a replica of Frost to kill both Ancestors, then died alongside the Rain Spirit, leaving the three sects without anyone above the Inquiry Realm.

• The Rain Sect Ancestor denounced the Cloud and Thunder Sects for bringing calamity upon the Ninth Realm in pursuit of eternal life.
• He used the forbidden technique Rain Reversal to restore his body to its peak, though his deathly aura remained.
• The Rain Sect Ancestor revealed that he had spent a hundred years arranging for the Phoenix Race to take a replica of Frost, then summoned the real Frost.
• The Cloud and Thunder Ancestors tried to retreat, but the Rain Spirit sacrificed itself to form the Rain Realm and seal them in.
• The Rain Sect Ancestor poured his remaining cultivation into Frost, which froze and pierced both Ancestors before he turned to ash.
• Yun Huan and Lei Ruo, along with the Cloud and Thunder Sect members, felt relief as the three sects were left without anyone above the Inquiry Realm.

Su Mo chose to take the Sacred Artifact Frost under his own name and used the Rain Realm’s lingering power to confront the Cloud and Thunder Sect Masters. After revealing his identity and striking them, he was warned to seize Frost before the Rain Realm faded and the Phoenix Race arrived.

• Su Mo told Great Calamity that he would take Frost as Su Mo, accepting the danger and karma attached to the Sacred Artifact.
• The Mysterious Maiden explained that the Rain Realm’s power still lingered, and Su Mo recalled his Seven Thoughts to connect with the power of rain.
• Su Mo revealed himself as the Human Emperor of the Lower Realm, Su Mo, also known as Su Jingyan, shocking the three sects.
• The Cloud and Thunder Sect Masters attacked Su Mo, but he invoked the Rain Realm and sealed everyone in the area.
• Su Mo struck the two Sect Masters and moved to pursue them, but Great Calamity urged him to take Frost before the Rain Realm’s power failed and the Phoenix Race arrived.

Su Mo seized Frost from the Rain Sect and used the Rain Realm and Confucian Dao True Words to flee from a powerful Phoenix Race pursuer. After half a day of pursuit, he asked Great Calamity what the Phoenix Race feared, but her answer—filth—left him unsure how to escape.

• Su Mo appeared above the Rain Sect, knocked the Rain Sect Master and Yu Gu away, and took Frost as the Phoenix Carriage approached.
• Su Mo restrained the phoenix with the Rain Realm and attacked the carriage with Frost, but its protective light blocked the attack and the phoenix began breaking free.
• Great Calamity urged Su Mo to run, so he used Confucian Dao True Words to send the Phoenix Carriage ten thousand miles away and repeatedly crossed the void to escape its pursuit.
• The Phoenix Carriage chased Su Mo relentlessly for half a day, frightening people wherever they passed.
• Su Mo asked Great Calamity what the Phoenix Race feared, and she said they feared filth; as the carriage caught up again, Su Mo asked whether they feared anything else.

Su Mo continued fleeing the Phoenix Race with Frost while the three sects faced the aftermath of their Ancestors’ deaths. After half a month of pursuit, the exhausted Phoenix carriage tried to negotiate, but Su Mo refused to surrender Frost and escaped again.

• The Mysterious Maiden refused to help Su Mo, fearing the Phoenix Race would wage war on her realm, and the Great Calamity said he could do nothing to assist.
• After the Rain Sect’s sealing power faded, Yu Gu and the Rain Sect’s Sect Master recognized that the three sects were vulnerable and that Rain and Cloud would likely fight to the death.
• On Medicine Mountain, Du Pingsheng questioned Chen Meiren about being poisoned, then learned Su Mo had returned to the Rain Sect and flew off to look for him.
• Su Mo kept fleeing the Phoenix Carriage for half a month, growing weaker but refusing to abandon Frost.
• When the Phoenix carriage called for a talk and demanded Frost, Su Mo traversed the void and declared that Frost was his, forcing the Phoenix Race to resume its pursuit.

Su Mo repeatedly fled the Phoenix Carriage while its occupant tried to borrow Frost, eventually offering her Phoenix Feather as collateral. Just as Su Mo agreed to the exchange, a powerful presence approached, and the Great Calamity ordered him to run.

• Su Mo and the Mysterious Maiden suspected the Phoenix Race was growing weaker because it had failed to achieve nirvana for several generations.
• The Phoenix Carriage caught up with Su Mo, and its occupant asked to borrow Frost, but Su Mo demanded a Sacred Artifact as collateral.
• The occupant said she had brought no Sacred Artifact, and Su Mo refused to trust her promise to return Frost.
• The Phoenix Carriage's occupant offered to exchange her Phoenix Feather for Frost, and Su Mo agreed to the deal.
• A powerful presence appeared nearby, and the Great Calamity warned Su Mo to run.

Su Mo fled with the Phoenix Carriage from a Great Peng that was hunting its Phoenix Race occupant, then turned back to help when the occupant was overwhelmed. After using his Confucian Dao True Words to strip a feather from the Great Peng, Su Mo caught the exhausted Phoenix Race member and followed the Great Calamity’s advice by charging into the World Barrier.

• Su Mo and the Phoenix Carriage fled from the pursuing Great Peng, which the Great Calamity identified as a Demon Realm sovereign attacking the Phoenix Race.
• When the Phoenix Carriage fell behind, Su Mo threw Frost to its occupant, who emerged and fought the Great Peng but was quickly defeated.
• Su Mo turned back and used the Confucian Dao True Words to make the Great Peng shed a feather, allowing Frost to freeze the bird temporarily.
• The Phoenix Race member fainted, and Su Mo caught them as the Great Peng glared at him from within the ice.
• The Great Calamity told Su Mo that forcing through a World Barrier with a Divine Race body could lead into a Void Zone, so Su Mo carried the Phoenix Race member and charged into the barrier.

After escaping into the region between worlds, Su Mo healed while Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden remembered that the place was connected to a mysterious corridor. They left to follow it, warning Su Mo to depart and grow stronger before they returned.

• Su Mo shrank his hundred-zhang body, took healing pills, and recovered from the backlash of his Dao Arts.
• Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden emerged from the Spirit Sea and recognized the empty region as the corridor.
• Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden decided to follow the corridor despite sensing that its destination was dangerous.
• Great Calamity told Su Mo to leave the region, protect himself, and reach Spirit Transformation while she and Mysterious Maiden were gone.
• Great Calamity teased Su Mo before she and Mysterious Maiden entered the expanse of nothingness.

Du Pingsheng obtained a Cloud Sect record about pill cultivators who died making the Life-Bathing Pill, while Su Mo recovered in the Void Land beside the Phoenix Race woman. The chapter ended with the woman attacking Su Mo after learning he belonged to the Divine Race.

• Su Mo considered whether to take a Phoenix Feather from the unconscious Phoenix Race woman, then decided to wait for her to wake.
• Du Pingsheng returned to Medicine Mountain after failing to find Su Mo and mourned Le'er and the young man he had lost.
• Elder Xia gave Du Pingsheng a copied Cloud Sect record and an embroidered handkerchief in exchange for his promise to refine a pill.
• Du Pingsheng read that the Cloud Sect had abducted pill cultivators to make a Life-Bathing Pill for its Ancestor, and that the cultivators had all died.
• The Phoenix Race woman woke and questioned Su Mo, then attacked him after he said he was of the Divine Race.

Su Mo argued with the Phoenix Race woman as they fled through the Void Land Between Realms, then demanded the Phoenix Feather she had promised him. She offered to hand it over if he protected her, prompting Su Mo to realize he had already provoked many Inquiry Realm cultivators without feeling afraid of them.

• Su Mo taunted the Phoenix Race woman while fleeing, repeatedly provoking her into chasing and attacking him.
• When she finally caught him, the Phoenix Race woman beat Su Mo, but her blows could not hurt his Divine Race body.
• Su Mo demanded the Phoenix Feather, while the Phoenix Race woman asked where they were and learned they were in the Void Land Between Realms.
• The Phoenix Race woman offered Su Mo the Phoenix Feather if he agreed to protect her for a while.
• After she pointed out how many Inquiry Realm cultivators he had provoked, Su Mo realized he felt no fear of them.

The phoenix maiden explained that she was entering nirvana and asked Su Mo to protect her while her cultivation was weak, offering a Phoenix Feather in return. Su Mo negotiated for freedom to pursue his own affairs, and the phoenix maiden agreed to his condition.

• The phoenix maiden told Su Mo that she was in her nirvana period and could not return to the Demon Realm because the peng bird had prepared to attack her there.
• She explained that Frost was meant to open a safe sealed place, but gave it back to Su Mo because she could no longer use it.
• The phoenix maiden asked Su Mo to protect her through nirvana, which could last from three to five years or as long as three to five hundred years.
• Su Mo said he could not remain hidden with her the entire time because he had his own affairs to handle, and the phoenix maiden agreed.

Su Mo tested Phoenix Woman’s regressed mind by pretending a sheet of paper was a Sacred Artifact, then discovered seals on six of his seven thoughts. The Reincarnation Mirror showed that it had sealed them to spare him sorrow, but Su Mo refused to let it hide suffering from him.

• Su Mo learned that Phoenix Woman’s cultivation and mind would likely regress further during nirvana, then tried to trick her into believing his white paper was a Sacred Artifact; she saw through him.
• Su Mo summoned his seven thoughts and found that all except his desire thought bore seals he could remove easily.
• Su Mo suspected the Reincarnation Mirror had sealed his six thoughts and asked it directly.
• The Reincarnation Mirror showed memories of Su Mo’s grief when all seven thoughts were present and his carefree happiness while six were absent.
• Su Mo told the Reincarnation Mirror that things did not stop existing just because they could not be seen, and refused its attempt to keep him from suffering.

Su Mo restored his Seven Thoughts, completing the Human Scroll and awakening the Punishment Scroll as he resolved to pursue Spirit Transformation. He left the void after placing the Phoenix Woman inside his Spirit Sea, warning her not to touch or eat anything there.

• Su Mo rejected the Reincarnation Mirror's offer to keep his thoughts sealed and restored his Seven Thoughts, strengthening his Dao Heart.
• The Human Scroll dissipated as Su Mo completed its cultivation, and the Punishment Scroll unfolded, flooding his Divine Sense with its arts of punishment.
• The Phoenix Woman watched Su Mo's aura transform, and he decided it was time to pursue Spirit Transformation.
• Su Mo summoned the Spirit Sea Gate and told the Phoenix Woman to hide inside while he handled other matters.
• Su Mo warned the Phoenix Woman not to touch anything in his Spirit Sea, especially the flowers by the river, or eat the fish in the pond.
• Su Mo left the Spirit Sea and wondered whether the Phoenix Woman would later retaliate when her mind and cultivation recovered.

Su Mo returned to Medicine Mountain and risked revealing himself to say goodbye to Du Pingsheng, who had mourned his absence. After Su Mo admitted his identity and said he was leaving to reach Spirit Transformation, Du Pingsheng reminded him of his earlier promise to help him advance.

• Su Mo watched Du Pingsheng drinking alone on Medicine Mountain and decided to emerge from concealment despite the danger.
• Su Mo joined Du Pingsheng at the stone table, shared cold tea with him, and revealed that he was Su Mo.
• Du Pingsheng accepted Su Mo's confession without surprise and asked why he had returned; Su Mo said he had come to say goodbye.
• Su Mo said he was leaving to reach Spirit Transformation, and Du Pingsheng warned him of the difficulty of advancing through the Confucian Dao.
• Du Pingsheng asked whether Su Mo remembered his promise from their earlier parting to help him raise his cultivation.

Su Mo left the Cloud Sect with Du Pingsheng, who offered to take him to his homeland and guide him as he faced the Confucian Dao’s path to Spirit Transformation. Their night walk led Su Mo to realize that the Confucian Dao sought the true heart, though he still did not know how to achieve Spirit Transformation.

• Du Pingsheng asked where Su Mo would undergo Spirit Transformation, and Su Mo admitted he had nowhere he could call home.
• Du Pingsheng invited Su Mo to his homeland, and Su Mo agreed; they quietly departed Medicine Mountain together.
• As they walked through the night, Du Pingsheng questioned Su Mo’s understanding of Spirit Transformation and explained that transcending mortality was only one way to cultivate the Dao.
• Du Pingsheng asked what the Confucian Dao sought, and Su Mo realized it sought the true heart.
• Su Mo revealed his original appearance, but he admitted he still did not know how to achieve Spirit Transformation; Du Pingsheng told him there was no hurry.

Su Mo and Du Pingsheng settled in Du Pingsheng’s remote hometown, where the townspeople helped them build a bamboo hut. Su Mo tried to reach Spirit Transformation but failed again, unable to overcome the immense burden of his Confucian Dao.

• Su Mo and Du Pingsheng walked for months before reaching the ruins of Du Pingsheng’s ancestral home.
• Su Mo and Du Pingsheng began building a bamboo hut, and a woodcutter and several young men from the town came to help.
• Su Mo reflected on the townspeople’s kindness while they finished the hut and thanked them.
• Du Pingsheng told Su Mo to stay in the hut and focus on reaching Spirit Transformation, while he refined pills from Medicine Mountain.
• Su Mo attempted Spirit Transformation but failed, sensing that his Confucian Dao burden kept him from passing the threshold.

Su Mo failed to break through to Spirit Transformation because his mortal attachments bound him, and Du Pingsheng explained that the Confucian Sage had taken centuries to shed mortality. Su Mo realized that reaching Spirit Transformation might require losing everyone he was connected to, while the Strange Man confirmed that this was the tragic price of the Confucian Dao.

• Su Mo's repeated attempts to reach Spirit Transformation failed, and his Nascent Soul suffered backlash.
• Du Pingsheng gave Su Mo a Nascent Soul Stabilizing Pill and said the Confucian Sage had spent several hundred years shedding mortality.
• Pressed by the approaching calamity, Su Mo wondered whether shedding mortality meant everyone bound to him had to die.
• In the Divine Realm Ghost Gate, the Strange Man recalled that his sect had been destroyed, leaving him alone and stripping away his attachments.
• The Strange Man explained that Confucian cultivators shed mortality through life and death, and wondered whether Su Mo would wait for his loved ones to die one by one.

Su Mo reflected on the price of reaching Spirit Transformation through the Confucian Dao and realized his attachments made that path seem hopeless, while his Divine Race body would take too long to mature. His consciousness traveled through the Ninth Realm’s national fortune, reaching Dao Hua and then Cheng An'an, whom it helped overcome the backlash from her inheritance.

• Su Mo concluded that Spirit Transformation through the Confucian Dao would require sacrificing the attachments he could not bear to lose, while relying on his Divine Race body would take tens of thousands of years.
• Du Pingsheng regretted that he could do little for Su Mo beyond refining pills, and the Ninth Realm’s national fortune stirred within Su Mo.
• Su Mo’s consciousness followed the national fortune to Dao Xuan Mountain, where he discovered Dao Hua had reached the Nascent Soul realm; Dao Hua sensed his presence and called out to him.
• At the Demon Sect, Cheng Hongye and the ancestor watched as Cheng An'an struggled with the backlash from an inheritance she had tried to merge with before reaching Nascent Soul.
• Su Mo’s passing consciousness reached Cheng An'an, calmed the chaotic inheritance power, and helped her integrate it into her Dao Arts; Cheng An'an recognized him and promised to wait for him.

Prince Ying and his Princess Consort worried about Su Mo as his consciousness wandered through places from his past. Su Mo resolved to defy the Heavenly Dao and enter Spirit Transformation without casting off mortality, leaving to refine pills as thunder and rain gathered.

• Prince Ying and his Princess Consort spoke of their worry that Su Mo was alone and silently bearing hardship in the Upper Realm.
• Su Mo's consciousness drifted through the Imperial Palace, the Academy, and familiar places before settling on the lonely painted pleasure boat.
• Su Mo reflected that the mortal world was his foundation and declared that he would defy heaven rather than cast off mortality.
• Su Mo told Elder Du he would pursue Spirit Transformation by perfecting both the Confucian Dao and the Plants and Trees Dao of Alchemy.
• Elder Du agreed that Su Mo should refine pills, and Su Mo entered the Bamboo Hut as thunder broke and torrential rain began.