Chapter Summaries

Cheng An'an wandered through a boundless mist and met an inscrutable figure beneath a stele marked “Eternal Life,” who asked her to bring someone to see her. Meanwhile, Su Mo cleared a city of people whose souls had been shattered, then left a memorial before departing for the next city.

• Cheng An'an found the Eternal Life stele and met the aloof figure standing beneath it.
• The figure told Cheng An'an to bring someone to see her, though she could not explain more.
• Su Mo killed the people in the city one by one, searching for anyone who could still be saved, while Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden followed him.
• After finding no survivors, Su Mo raised a stone stele beneath the city gate and carved a memorial inscription recording the massacre.
• Su Mo, Great Calamity, and Mysterious Maiden left the silent city and headed toward the next one.

After slaughtering the people trapped by the Red Mist for three months, Su Mo reached the second level of the Inquiry Realm but was left exhausted and grief-stricken, having lost the Nine Heavens’ National Fortune and his Human Emperor’s power. The Mysterious Maiden departed for the Spirit Realm, and Su Mo returned to the Imperial Palace, where Prince Ying’s Princess Consort welcomed him in tears.

• Su Mo spent three months killing everyone trapped by the Red Mist, and the countless shattered Divine Souls advanced his cultivation to the second level of the Inquiry Realm.
• Great Calamity and the Mysterious Maiden urged the exhausted Su Mo to leave the devastated land, and the Mysterious Maiden announced she was returning to the Spirit Realm to break through.
• The Mysterious Maiden warned Su Mo that a great calamity was approaching and offered him refuge in her Spirit Realm before vanishing.
• Su Mo and Great Calamity returned through the Spirit Sea Gate, and Su Mo found that he could no longer connect with the National Fortune Power.
• Three months after the sword stroke, Su Mo appeared at the Imperial Palace, where Prince Ying’s Princess Consort rushed to him and told him he had suffered.

Su Mo suffered a severe backlash after the Book of Life and Death absorbed countless strands of soul incense, leaving the Imperial Palace unable to treat him. The Great Calamity eased his pain, then climbed into bed beside him, teasing him as he recovered.

• Su Mo's soul incense backlash overwhelmed his divine soul, and his vitality weakened after the sword strike that severed heaven.
• Prince Ying and his wife worried over Su Mo while the Imperial Physicians failed to diagnose or treat his illness.
• Luo Yin decided to remain in the Imperial Palace until Su Mo recovered and returned to her Side Hall to play the zither.
• After everyone left Su Mo alone, the Great Calamity soothed his divine soul with spiritual power until he woke.
• The Great Calamity teased Su Mo and lay down beside him, while he told her not to do anything out of line.

After Great Calamity comforted Su Mo through the night, he returned to his imperial duties despite his grief and the loss of the Ninth Heaven’s National Fortune Power. Prince Ying’s Princess Consort urged him to give up the Human Emperor’s Throne, and the chapter ended with the family joking about Prince Ying taking it instead.

• Great Calamity embraced and teased Su Mo until he fell asleep, then warned that the Heavenly Cataclysm had arrived and a great tribulation was coming.
• Su Mo woke early and went to the imperial study to review memorials, where Prince Ying’s Princess Consort found him looking haggard.
• Prince Ying’s Princess Consort combed Su Mo’s hair and urged him to hand the realm to someone trustworthy and stop being the Human Emperor.
• Su Mo considered an elderly man who had sacrificed his own sects for righteousness, but said they should wait and see whether the man would accept.
• Prince Ying’s Princess Consort suggested that Prince Ying take the throne, and Su Mo solemnly agreed, embarrassing Prince Ying and making her laugh.

Su Mo met the First Elder, who revealed that Ning Baixue had been found as an infant on a leaf floating along a vast, heavenly river beyond the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. The Ninth Heaven would soon reconnect with the outside world, and the First Elder agreed to help govern and defend it as Chancellor, though he warned that time was short.

• Prince Ying sent Su Mo to meet the Holy Sect's First Elder and took over reviewing the memorials.
• The First Elder told Su Mo that he had once crossed into an unknown place and found the infant Baixue on a leaf drifting along a vast river reaching into the heavens.
• The First Elder explained that he had brought Baixue back to the Holy Sect and named her Ning Baixue, while admitting that the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths held mysteries beyond their understanding.
• The First Elder said Su Mo's sword strike had cut away the Ninth Heaven's barrier, and the Ninth Heaven would soon reconnect with the outside world.
• The First Elder revealed that he had already reached the Difficult Realm and agreed to serve as Chancellor to govern and guard the Ninth Heaven.
• The First Elder told Su Mo not to avoid the people of the Nine Heavens, then sighed that there was not much time left.

Su Mo left the Imperial City with Luo Yin and Prince Ying’s family to recover in a quiet mountain retreat, while First Elder Ning Wuya took charge of state affairs as chancellor. They chose a home near a waterfall, and Su Mo granted the surrounding hills to Prince Ying as the family settled into a peaceful life.

• Su Mo entrusted government affairs to First Elder Ning Wuya, who agreed to serve as chancellor but refused the title of Human Emperor.
• Su Mo left the Imperial City with Prince Ying, Prince Ying’s pregnant Princess Consort, and Luo Yin to recuperate in seclusion.
• Luo Yin spotted flowers of the other shore beside a stream, and Su Mo remembered the Void Beast planting them across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
• Prince Ying’s Princess Consort chose a scenic hillside retreat, and Su Mo approved the location despite Prince Ying’s concern about the waterfall.
• Su Mo bestowed the surrounding hills upon Prince Ying, and the group walked toward their new home amid laughter.

Su Mo and his companions settled into a secluded mountain retreat, where he spread Flowers of the Other Shore while longing for the absent Little Girl. After half a year, Prince Ying's Princess Consort went into labor as Su Mo waited among the flowers for the Little Girl's promised return.

• Su Mo used his Confucian Dao to build wooden houses, a zither table, and chairs for the group near a waterfall.
• Su Mo and Luo Yin shared a quiet evening as she played the Ink Zither, while Prince Ying's Princess Consort watched and Prince Ying clattered dishes inside.
• Over the following months, Su Mo planted Flowers of the Other Shore across the mountains, Luo Yin played daily, and Prince Ying and Su Mo watched over the pregnancy.
• As the flowers spread throughout the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, Su Mo grew increasingly downcast and sat alone among them, calling for the absent Little Girl.
• Prince Ying's Princess Consort went into labor, and Luo Yin helped her inside while she told Prince Ying to leave Su Mo alone.
• An infant cried from the house, and Su Mo trembled and turned toward the sound.

Su Mo witnessed the birth of Prince Ying and his Princess Consort’s daughter and recognized the Flower of the Other Shore Divine Seal on her forehead. He held his newborn sister and named her Ning Baihua, but the family ultimately considered calling her Girl, leaving Su Mo stunned by the name’s painful familiarity.

• Prince Ying and his Princess Consort welcomed a daughter, and Su Mo saw the Flower of the Other Shore Divine Seal on the newborn’s forehead.
• Su Mo recognized his sister’s familiar face and aura, then held her as she stopped crying and reached for him.
• Prince Ying’s Princess Consort explained that Su Mo had saved the baby by sharing his Flower of the Other Shore Power after her Divine Soul shattered.
• Prince Ying asked Su Mo to name the baby, and Su Mo suggested Ning Baihua; Prince Ying’s Princess Consort then proposed Ning Shitong before setting the name aside.
• Prince Ying suggested calling the baby Girl, and Su Mo trembled and froze at the name.

Cheng An'an emerged from seclusion at Spirit Transformation and learned that Su Mo had severed the Nine Heavens to stop the red mist, then set out to find him. Ning Wuya directed her to the ancestral grounds of the sect tied to her Divine Realm inheritance, while Mude and Zhixuan faced his warning after entering the Ninth Realm.

• Cheng An'an broke through to Spirit Transformation and asked Cheng Hongye how she could leave the Ninth Realm to find Su Mo.
• Cheng Hongye told Cheng An'an about the red mist and how Su Mo had severed the Nine Heavens, killing countless people to save its inhabitants.
• Cheng An'an flew to the Imperial City, where Ning Wuya told her Su Mo was traveling and then revealed where she could find him.
• Ning Wuya sent Cheng An'an the location of the ancestral grounds connected to her Divine Realm inheritance, and she immediately flew there.
• Ning Wuya sensed outsiders entering the Ninth Realm and sent a warning that froze Mude and Zhixuan, who decided to fight him.

Su Mo realized that the newborn baby was Girl in her infancy and used their tangled history to calculate that he would die in the Calamity of the Nine Heavens in nine years. He rejected the fate he foresaw, while the Reincarnation Mirror sensed an enormous variable in him that transcended the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

• Su Mo recognized the newborn baby as Girl, not her reincarnation, and recalled how their past had shaped his cultivation and his planting of flowers of the Other Shore.
• Su Mo reasoned that Girl would travel upstream along the Long River because he would disappear forever, and concluded that he would die in the Calamity of the Nine Heavens in nine years.
• Su Mo questioned the heavens about karma, and his cultivation silently rose to the second layer.
• The Reincarnation Mirror came to Su Mo, and he vowed not to let fate repeat itself or let Girl suffer the deaths of her countless incarnations again.
• The Reincarnation Mirror withheld its calculation of Su Mo's greatest tribulation, having seen that an enormous variable in him transcended the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.

Su Mo embraced his newborn sister, whom he recognized as his Little Girl, and resolved to defy the Calamity of the Nine Heavens rather than follow his destined course. After learning Cheng An'an had come looking for him, he left her to meet his parents at his secluded residence.

• Su Mo decided to protect his loved ones and find a way to break the fate leading to the Calamity of the Nine Heavens in nine years.
• Prince Ying's Princess Consort showed Su Mo that Little Girl had opened her eyes, and Su Mo held her as she stopped crying and smiled at him.
• Prince Ying brought home a fish, but Su Mo and Luo Yin refused to eat fish again; Su Mo left with Little Girl to find milk from Auspicious Beasts.
• Su Mo returned briefly to tell Prince Ying and his wife that a friend was arriving, then vanished again.
• Cheng An'an arrived at Su Mo's residence and respectfully greeted Prince Ying and his wife.

Cheng An'an reunited with Su Mo at his secluded home and agreed to stay to consolidate her Spirit Transformation cultivation. Meanwhile, the Demon Realm’s elders discussed Su Mo’s visit and worried that Phoenix Woman would soon learn of his return.

• Prince Ying's Princess Consort welcomed Cheng An'an and persuaded her to stay, while Cheng An'an misunderstood the mention of a baby before learning Little Girl was Su Mo's younger sister.
• Cheng An'an learned Su Mo had gone to find milk for Little Girl and felt pleased that he had shared the secret of his secluded residence with her.
• Su Mo returned with Little Girl and described how he had obtained Divine Dew, Divine Brew, and milk from powerful demons in the Demon Realm.
• Old Tree Demon and Divine Crow discussed giving Su Mo their treasures and concluded that his visit showed he still considered the Demon Realm his own people.
• Divine Crow wondered whether Phoenix Venerable would discover Su Mo's return after he had taken milk from many powerful demons, while Phoenix Woman sat in the Phoenix Palace with her head aching.

Phoenix Woman learned that Su Mo had returned to the Demon Realm, while the greater demons used their complaints to provoke her and make sure she knew. After reuniting with Little Girl, Su Mo heard from Cheng An'an that a woman in her dream had left him a message pointing him toward a place above the cataclysm.

• Greater demons complained to Phoenix Woman that Su Mo had taken their possessions, then admitted they had given them willingly to see her reaction and tell her he had returned.
• Phoenix Woman returned to the Sleeping Hall and, suspecting why Su Mo had collected milk, insisted that Little Fish was hungry.
• Su Mo fed Little Girl divine dew and divine brew, and Prince Ying's Princess Consort carried her back to the hut as Cheng An'an watched.
• Cheng An'an told Su Mo that a woman she encountered in a dream had said that 'Mist' came from the Longevity Stele and instructed him to find her if he survived the Nine Heavens Tribulation.
• Su Mo asked where the woman was, and Cheng An'an answered, "Above the cataclysm."

Su Mo pondered Cheng An'an's dream about the Longevity Stele and Beyond the Calamity, then welcomed her to stay in the Secluded Refuge. He spent a peaceful day with Prince Ying and Little Girl, taking her into the woods to meet a terrified tiger.

• Su Mo considered the questions raised by Cheng An'an's account, while Cheng An'an and Luo Yin watched him with concern.
• Prince Ying's Princess Consort invited Cheng An'an to stay, and Su Mo built her a wooden house.
• Su Mo and Prince Ying went hunting and returned with a wild rabbit each.
• Prince Ying's Princess Consort handed Little Girl to Su Mo, who carried her into the woods to show her the world.
• Su Mo introduced a fierce tiger to Little Girl and made it force a smile until she laughed.
• After Su Mo left with Little Girl, the tiger wept over the indignity it had suffered.

Two years after Su Mo’s sword strike shattered the World Barrier, outside cultivators entered the Ninth Heaven and spread claims that he had caused the Heavenly Cataclysm to devour Divine Souls. A little girl who had been saved by Su Mo challenged their accusations, and the chapter ended with her pointing them toward the red mist that still remained beyond the severed part of the Nine Heavens.

• The World Barrier’s destruction allowed outside cultivators to enter the Ninth Heaven, though fear of Su Mo kept them from acting recklessly.
• Outside cultivators in a teahouse discussed claims that Su Mo had devoured Divine Souls and deliberately caused the Heavenly Cataclysm.
• A little girl confronted the outsiders, insisting that people of the Ninth Heaven honored the Human Emperor and knew he had acted to save them.
• The little girl revealed that her parents had died in the Heavenly Cataclysm and that Su Mo had personally saved her and her younger brother.
• The little girl said Su Mo had buried his own national fortune with his sword strike, then urged the outsiders to see the endless red mist beyond the severed Nine Heavens for themselves.

Two years after settling by the waterfall, Su Mo’s family enjoyed a peaceful life while Little Girl played with the Void Beast and the mountain animals. Su Mo returned from a secret errand with a growing, terrifying aura, and he kept Little Girl from touching the white stone at his chest.

• Prince Ying, his Princess Consort, Cheng An'an, and the others relaxed by the waterfall while Little Girl played nearby.
• The Void Beast helped Little Girl chase butterflies, then lifted her onto a fierce tiger so she could ride through the mountain forest.
• Su Mo returned to the huts and rested in his Rocking Chair without explaining where he had been.
• The fierce tiger sensed an increasingly terrifying aura in Su Mo and fled back into the mountain forest after bringing Little Girl home.
• Little Girl climbed into Su Mo’s arms and reached for the white stone at his chest, but Su Mo stopped her from touching it.

Su Mo brought Cheng An'an and Little Girl into the ancient tomb behind the waterfall, where they found a sorrowful message on its walls. Elsewhere, a man crossed the barrier Su Mo had made and failed to return, leaving his companions to fear Su Mo had told the truth.

• Su Mo told Cheng An'an that her legacy's owner might be buried in the tomb behind the waterfall, and agreed to accompany her inside with Little Girl.
• Su Mo opened the stone door simply by approaching it, and he and Cheng An'an entered the tomb while the Void Beast stood guard outside.
• Su Mo and Cheng An'an found words on a stone wall: “You knew my heart, yet alas, you had no love to spare...”
• Several people at the barrier debated whether Su Mo had told the truth, but a lavishly dressed man dismissed their fears and crossed it.
• The man did not return after an hour, and his companions began to wonder if the stories about Su Mo were true.

Su Mo and Cheng An'an found the ancestral tomb empty and left without learning more about Cheng An'an’s inheritance. Three years later, Little Girl had reached Nascent Soul cultivation and tied up Su Mo’s white hair, leaving him gazing at a familiar hairstyle.

• Su Mo and Cheng An'an searched the ancestral tomb, found nothing, and left after Su Mo sensed there might be something hidden.
• Three years passed as Flowers of the Other Shore bloomed across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, and Cheng An'an returned to her Demon Sect Mountain Gate.
• Little Girl turned five, reached Nascent Soul cultivation under Su Mo’s guidance, and remained closely attached to him.
• Little Girl asked Prince Ying's Princess Consort to teach her how to tie hair, then asked Su Mo if she could style his hair.
• Little Girl tied Su Mo’s long white hair with a ribbon, and Su Mo studied the familiar hairstyle in the Reincarnation Mirror.

Over three years, Su Mo grew weaker as the flowers of the other shore spread across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, while the approaching calamity kept the world under a cloud of dread. After Little Girl feared he would leave her, Su Mo assured her he would stay and explained that his weakness came from something he had done himself.

• The People from the Outside World returned to their Sects as the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths fell quiet in anticipation of catastrophe.
• As the flowers of the other shore spread, Su Mo's divine sense and cultivation continued to weaken until he could no longer summon food from a table.
• Little Girl asked Su Mo whether he would leave her, and he promised that he would not.
• When snow began to fall, Su Mo became dizzy and could not rise from the Rocking Chair, so Little Girl helped him back to the Small Hut.
• Su Mo told Little Girl that he had made himself weak for a while to avoid leaving her and assured her there was no danger.

Su Mo’s years-long scheme left him near death, and his family feared it would cost him his life as they suspected it was tied to the Calamity of the Nine Heavens. When he briefly woke, he asked the Reincarnation Mirror to protect Little Girl after he died and keep her from searching for him.

• Su Mo lay close to death as Little Girl, Prince Ying, Prince Ying's Princess Consort, and Luo Yin kept watch over him.
• Little Girl refused to leave Su Mo’s side, while Prince Ying's Princess Consort and Prince Ying grieved outside his room.
• Prince Ying's Princess Consort told Prince Ying she believed Su Mo’s scheme would cost him his life and had forced him to face the Calamity of the Nine Heavens.
• Luo Yin recalled the Confucian Sage Remnant Soul’s warning and wondered whether Young Master Xu would blight her life.
• Su Mo woke briefly, thanked the Reincarnation Mirror, and asked it to protect Girl after his death and stop her from coming to find him.