Chapter Summaries

Su Mo questioned Wen Ge and Hong Xia about their return to the Ancestral Grounds and learned that four of the thirteen grotto-heavens had perished after Immortal Emperor Rouyun fell. He realized that the surviving nine might know the truth Nameless had warned him about, while the four newer grotto-heavens did not.

• Su Mo, Wen Ge, and Hong Xia reached one of the seven Banners as it gathered the Ancestral Image World's Power of Origin.
• Su Mo asked whether Wen Ge and Hong Xia were the only grotto-heaven Wonders in the Ancestral Grounds, and Wen Ge said Wonders usually remained in their grotto-heavens.
• Su Mo questioned how the two had learned about missing disciples and whether their grotto-heavens knew they were returning; Wen Ge confirmed their Sects had sent them to investigate.
• Su Mo asked whether the Immortal Domain had always had thirteen grotto-heavens, and Wen Ge revealed that four had perished after Immortal Emperor Rouyun fell.
• Wen Ge named the four lost grotto-heavens as Immortal Furnace, Ancient Scroll, Torrent, and Heavenly Secrets, and Su Mo concluded that the other nine might know the truth Nameless had mentioned.

Su Mo deduced that the nine great Cave Heavens had sealed the Ancestral Image World before the Seven-Faced Banner arrived, sacrificing everyone inside to conceal a secret and ensure their victory. He prepared to destroy the banner as the last chance to survive, then revealed the imperial blood and Heavenly Dao Sword of the Mortal Realm, leaving Wen Ge and Hong Xia stunned by his identity as its lord.

• Su Mo questioned Wen Ge and Hong Xia about the sealed Ancestral Image World, and Wen Ge realized the outside world had cut it off before the Seven-Faced Banner descended.
• Wen Ge concluded that the nine great Cave Heavens had sacrificed the disciples inside to hide the truth and guarantee their victory, and Su Mo agreed that no one could leave.
• Su Mo explained that everyone would die if the Seven-Faced Banner took shape, so he ordered Wen Ge and Hong Xia to stand back and prepare to break it.
• Su Mo warned Wen Ge and Hong Xia to keep his identity secret, and they swore upon their Dao Hearts that they would remain silent.
• Su Mo spoke a single word, awakened his imperial blood, and summoned a Heavenly Dao Sword of the Mortal Realm, revealing himself as the lord of the Mortal Realm.

Su Mo’s Heavenly Dao Sword failed to destroy the Seven-Faced Banner, and its reflected strike worsened his injuries. With the banners nearing completion and no way to escape the sealed Ancestral Image World, Su Mo prepared to use the Book of Life and Death to send them away, beginning with “Punishment One!”

• Su Mo revealed himself as the ruler of the Mortal Realm and struck at the forming Banner with the Heavenly Dao Sword.
• The Banner reflected Su Mo’s strike, shattering his dragon robes and sending him crashing into the mountains.
• Wen Ge and Hong Xia rushed to Su Mo as he spat blood and struggled to rise.
• Su Mo realized the seven banners were realm-level artifacts connected to the Ancestral Image World and could not be defeated by force.
• Su Mo took out the Book of Life and Death, opened its first page, and declared, “Punishment One!”

Su Mo used Punishment One to drag away the Banners, enduring worsening karmic backlash until he collapsed before the last one. As the final Banner neared completion, a familiar thousand-zhang exotic beast arrived and cried out to him.

• Su Mo used Punishment One to drag the first Banner through an eerie gate, suffering another injury to his divine soul.
• Su Mo pushed onward and used Punishment One to remove more Banners despite the Brush of All Living Beings warning that he could not safely use the technique again.
• Su Mo dragged away the next-to-last Banner, but his divine soul cracked and his strength gave out before the final Banner.
• Wen Ge and Hong Xia found Su Mo collapsed, while the final Banner gathered power of origin and began to form.
• A thousand-zhang exotic beast tore through the void, recognized Su Mo, and cried out to him.

Su Mo reunited with Big Strong, his long-lost Void Beast, as the completed Banner threatened him. Big Strong swallowed the Banner and carried it away, then returned gravely wounded and collapsed into Su Mo’s arms.

• Big Strong recognized Su Mo and approached him affectionately, while Su Mo tearfully realized his long-lost companion had found him again.
• The final Banner formed, its murderous intent and laws injured Su Mo and forced Wen Ge and Hong Xia to their knees.
• Big Strong attacked the Banner to protect Su Mo, enduring its power before swallowing it whole and vanishing into the void.
• Su Mo waited patiently for Big Strong, telling Wen Ge that it was his companion and would return.
• Big Strong returned to the Ancestral Image World covered in blood, fell from the void, and crawled into Su Mo’s arms.

Su Mo survived the battle and reunited with Big Strong, but his divine soul shattered again and left him near death. Big Strong carried him toward a place he believed might hold answers, where they encountered a white-haired old man at the edge of the Ancestral Image World.

• Big Strong endured injuries while helping Su Mo reclaim the Banner, and Su Mo comforted it after the danger passed.
• Hong Xia and Wen Ge departed as Su Mo rested with Big Strong in the ruined Ancestral Grounds.
• Big Strong recovered enough to shrink Su Mo and carry him, while Su Mo realized his shattered divine soul could not be healed there.
• Su Mo told Big Strong that he could not return to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths because the Floating Leaf could not support him and he could no longer form an avatar.
• Su Mo directed Big Strong toward a place where someone might save him and where he could ask questions.
• Big Strong carried Su Mo to a vast rift and confronted a white-haired old man, who called Su Mo a variable.

Su Mo confronted the White-Haired Elder, who revealed that the Xu Tribe had achieved its goal by exposing a lie to Rouyun. The elder left after claiming Rouyun had been deceived about the reincarnation, while Su Mo remained gravely wounded and unable to reach her.

• The White-Haired Elder told Su Mo that the Xu Tribe’s goal had been to expose a lie, and that Rouyun had seen it.
• Su Mo asked what Rouyun had been deceived about, and the elder said she believed she had trapped herself in reincarnation.
• The White-Haired Elder left, saying Rouyun had been too gentle to seem like an Immortal Emperor.
• Su Mo collapsed on the Void Beast’s back, while Rouyun remained trapped in reincarnation and unable to reach him.
• Su Mo’s Great Dao Wound kept him from passing the Heart Tree’s Trials to reach Rouyun.

After Su Mo saved the people in the Ancestral Grounds, the Void Beast carried him and the survivors to the Immortal Domain, where the Immortal Furnace disciples called for help. Before the Immortal Lords could arrive, an unknown Immortal Venerable seized Su Mo and the Void Beast, leaving Granny Su Zhan and the Old Madman to investigate.

• Wen Ge and Hong Xia told the Ancestral Grounds that Su Mo had saved everyone at the cost of his life, and the Void Beast returned with the unconscious, badly wounded Su Mo.
• The Void Beast swallowed the people in the Ancestral Grounds, entered the Immortal Furnace Ancestral Courtyard, and brought Senior Sister Rou'er's corpse along before taking everyone out of the Ancestral Image World.
• The Void Beast carried the group to a mountain in the Immortal Domain and pleaded for someone to save Su Mo, so the Immortal Furnace disciples urgently contacted their elders and Immortal Lords.
• Granny Su Zhan and the Immortal Lords told the disciples to wait, but a powerful immortal force sealed and abducted Su Mo and the Void Beast before they arrived.
• Granny Su Zhan and the Old Madman questioned the Immortal Furnace disciples, who recounted Su Mo's actions and Senior Sister Rou'er's death.

After learning Su Mo had saved the Immortal Furnace disciples, Old Madman evacuated the sect and led its entire lineage toward Cold Azure Cave Heaven to rescue him. There, the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox revealed that she knew Su Mo was the Lord of the Mortal Realm but had kept his identity secret from the other cave heavens.

• Suzhan saw Rou'er dead, and Old Madman praised Su Mo for protecting the surviving Immortal Furnace disciples.
• Old Madman ordered every Immortal Furnace disciple to leave, revealed that the sect's mountains formed a pill furnace, and led the lineage toward Cold Azure Cave Heaven.
• Su Mo woke in Cold Azure Cave Heaven and found the Void Beast sealed beside him while the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox watched over him.
• Su Mo suspected the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox had kept him alive because the Void Beast had brought everyone out of the Ancestral Image World.
• The Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox told Su Mo that she alone knew he was the Lord of the Mortal Realm, and the other cave heavens did not yet know.

The Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox kept Su Mo alive in Cold Azure Cave Heaven and offered to protect him in exchange for taking her to a place she could not reach. Su Mo agreed to help her find her elder sister, who might know the truth about the Ancestral Image World, while disciples arrived to plead for his life.

• The Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox told Su Mo that Cold Azure's chill had stabilized his shattered divine soul and could keep him alive while he waited for the Immortal Furnace to find a cure.
• The Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox explained that she needed Su Mo and the Void Beast to take her somewhere, since the Void Beast would die if Su Mo did and could not serve another master.
• Su Mo accepted that he had little choice but to remain in Cold Azure Cave Heaven and help the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox in exchange for protection.
• Su Mo asked the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox to tell him the truth about the Ancestral Image World, and she said her elder sister might know and was the person she wanted him to help find.
• Dozens of Cold Firmament Ancestral Courtyard disciples came to the hall and begged the Nine-Tailed Immortal Venerable to spare Su Mo, saying he had saved their lives.

The Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox faced Cold Azure disciples pleading for Su Mo, while the Wonder of Cold Azure defended her Master and tried to reassure them. When the Immortal Furnace arrived to confront Cold Azure, the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox went to meet it, leaving Su Mo with the carefree White Wonder, who introduced herself as Seven-Tails.

• Cold Azure disciples begged the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox to let Su Mo return, and she ordered them to leave.
• The Wonder of Cold Azure arrived and argued that her Master would not harm Su Mo, persuading the disciples to stop questioning her.
• The Immortal Furnace descended on Cold Azure Cave Heaven to save Su Mo, and the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox flew out to face it.
• The Wonder of Cold Azure fell into the hall when the doors burst open, then reassured the disciples after seeing Su Mo was unharmed.
• The woman introduced herself to Su Mo as White Wonder, or Seven-Tails, and explained that she had chosen the title because of her legs.

Su Mo remained in Cold Azure Cave Heaven to recover from his divine-soul injuries and reasoned that five cave-heaven lords may have vanished together. The Immortal Furnace's people arrived, and Su Mo thanked the Nine-Tailed Immortal Venerable for bringing him to safety.

• Bai Qi Seven-Tails took Su Mo's Immortal Furnace token to negotiate with the Immortal Furnace's people, while Su Mo decided he could not leave Cold Azure Cave Heaven until his divine soul healed.
• Su Mo and the Brush of All Living Beings speculated that five cave-heaven lords, including the Nine-Tailed Immortal Venerable's elder sister, had disappeared together and might be connected to the thirteen dead True Immortals of the Immortal Domain.
• Su Mo's painful deductions overwhelmed his damaged divine soul, so he stopped thinking and tried to recuperate.
• The Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox returned with the Immortal Furnace's Immortal Lords, the Old Madman, Bai Zhi, and Little Xuanji.
• Granny Su Zhan and Bai Zhi rushed to comfort Su Mo, and Su Mo thanked the Nine-Tailed Immortal Venerable for bringing him to Cold Azure Cave Heaven.

Su Mo recounted the Ancestral Image World upheaval to Old Madman, who confirmed that the masters of the five great Cave Heavens had disappeared together ten thousand years ago. Old Madman agreed to accompany Su Mo and Nine-Tails to seek her missing sister, while Su Mo’s divine-soul wounds remained unresolved.

• Old Madman sent everyone else from the hall and asked Su Mo what had happened in the Ancestral Image World.
• Su Mo described the events and shared his suspicions that the upheaval was connected to the other Cave Heavens and the demise of the four great Cave Heavens.
• Su Mo told Old Madman that he had bargained with Nine-Tails to help her find the place where her older sister disappeared.
• Old Madman confirmed that the masters of the five great Cave Heavens had vanished together ten thousand years ago, leading to the four Cave Heavens’ ruin.
• Old Madman agreed to accompany Su Mo and Nine-Tails, while Su Mo realized that even Old Madman could not resolve his divine-soul injuries.

The Old Madman told Su Mo that his shattered Divine Soul left him no more than two years to live and gave him an ancient text about a man with a similar affliction. Its final page revealed that the man had died long ago, leaving Su Mo to confront the same possibility.

• The Old Madman told Su Mo that neither leaving Cold Azure Cave Heaven nor remaining sealed could save him, and Su Mo refused to be sealed.
• The Old Madman gave Su Mo no more than two years to live, returned the Immortal Furnace's Jade Slip, and left him an ancient text about a man with a similar condition.
• The Brush of All Living Beings read that the man could not form an Incarnation or have children, and that even the ancient Immortal Furnace had failed to find the cause.
• The Brush of All Living Beings and Su Mo read the man's final account, which said his affliction began with a Life-and-Death Great Tribulation and that he had died long ago.

After reading an ancient book, Su Mo realized he had died long ago and was now sustained by vitality the Divine Maiden had fused into him. With his Divine Soul failing and little time left, he and the Brush of All Living Beings resolved to seek a chance at survival.

• Su Mo read that the person in the ancient book had long since died and recognized his own inability to create an Incarnation as evidence that he too had died in the Fallen Leaf Tribulation.
• The Brush of All Living Beings tried to reassure Su Mo, but he explained that the vitality in his body belonged to a star and had been fused into him by the Divine Maiden.
• The Brush of All Living Beings compared Su Mo’s uncertain state to its own existence and to Xiaoyueyue and Rouyun, who persisted despite having died.
• The Brush of All Living Beings argued that Su Mo’s circumstances differed from the person in the book because the Divine Maiden had saved him.
• Su Mo and the Brush of All Living Beings acknowledged that his Divine Soul was close to perishing and resolved to seek a chance for him to survive.

Su Mo returned to his Spirit Sea as his divine soul continued to shatter, and he tried to cross the Stone Bridge in hopes of saving himself but could not. He discovered a flower grown from Little Girl’s remains and, though it had no feelings and could not save him, transplanted it into Little Fish’s Pill Furnace to keep it with him for his remaining two years.

• Su Mo entered his Spirit Sea, visited the sleeping Divine Maiden, and reflected on his worsening condition and the time since Ning Baixue crossed the Stone Bridge.
• Su Mo tried to step onto the Stone Bridge and cross the River of Forgetfulness, but the bridge remained an illusion beneath his foot.
• The Brush of All Living Beings reminded Su Mo that once his divine soul shattered, he would have nothing left to cross with.
• Su Mo noticed a bloomless Flower of the Other Shore growing where Little Girl’s flower had turned to dust.
• Su Mo realized the new flower had no feelings and could not save him, but he transplanted it into Little Fish’s Pill Furnace so it could accompany him for the two years he had left.

Su Mo remained in Cold Azure Cave Heaven while recovering from his shattered divine soul, and the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox brought him pills from the Immortal Furnace. Their conversation raised questions about how she knew of Void Beasts and what might have happened in the world long ago; the chapter ended as another figure arrived and asked about the fox.

• Su Mo stayed on a snowy mountain with the recovering Void Beast beside him.
• The Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox delivered pills from the Immortal Furnace and told Su Mo to rest while they sought a way to heal his divine soul.
• Su Mo asked how they would find the destination, and Nine-Tails explained that the Void Beast could locate it if given the corresponding aura.
• When Su Mo asked how she knew about Void Beasts, Nine-Tails answered that she had heard rumors, prompting him to wonder about the world's buried history and the Divine Race.
• Su Mo took one of Old Madman's pills, found its effect negligible, and then another white figure arrived asking, "That fox?"

Su Mo spent his days in Cold Azure Cave Heaven tending the unbloomed Flower of the Other Shore while his health worsened, and Bai Qi Seven-Tails revealed that the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox was her aunt as well as her master. The chapter ended with Granny Su Zhan, Bai Zhi, and Little Xuanji arriving to visit him.

• Bai Qi Seven-Tails explained that the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox was her master and her aunt, then asked about Su Mo’s worsening injury and the Flower of the Other Shore.
• Bai Qi Seven-Tails began to reveal something about the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox, but a Thunder Tribulation struck her down before she could finish.
• Su Mo spent over two months in Cold Azure Cave Heaven watering the Flower of the Other Shore, while the Void Beast’s injuries improved and news arrived that rumors blaming Taowu’s followers had fallen apart.
• Granny Su Zhan, Bai Zhi, and Little Xuanji came from the Immortal Furnace to visit Su Mo.
• Granny Su Zhan stopped Su Mo from getting up and asked about his health, while Su Mo asked Bai Zhi and Little Xuanji how they had been.

Su Mo grieved over Rou'er and hinted that he feared dying alone, while Granny Su Zhan, Bai Zhi, and Xuanji stayed close and tried to reassure him. Granny warned that several cave heavens were secretly restoring teleportation links to the Ancestral Image World, leaving the group worried about an approaching upheaval.

• Su Mo asked Granny Su Zhan whether Rou'er had been buried, and she described the quiet place between the water and clouds where Rou'er rested.
• Su Mo said he did not like quiet places, making Granny Su Zhan, Bai Zhi, Xuanji, and the Void Beast realize he feared loneliness even after death.
• Granny Su Zhan tried to reassure Su Mo that Old Madman was seeking a way to heal his shattered Divine Soul, while Su Mo changed the subject.
• Su Mo had Big Strong isolate their surroundings, and Granny Su Zhan revealed that several cave heavens were secretly trying to restore severed teleportation links to the Ancestral Image World.
• Granny Su Zhan, Bai Zhi, and Xuanji chose to remain with Su Mo in Cold Azure Cave Heaven, and Su Mo privately ordered the Void Beast to take them away if danger came.
• The Void Beast lowered its head and refused to agree to Su Mo's request.

Su Mo weakened as his divine soul remained wounded, while the Old Madman examined Su Mo’s heart’s blood for the source of his condition. The blood revealed a vision of Su Mo alone beside a river of graves, leaving the Old Madman to wonder who could save him.

• Su Mo spent half a year growing weaker in Cold Azure Cave Heaven as Bai Zhi stayed by him and Little Xuanji tried unsuccessfully to divine his fate.
• Granny Su Zhan watched over Su Mo and pleaded for the Old Madman to hurry.
• The Immortal Furnace’s Immortal Lords tried to refine a pill for divine-soul wounds, while the Old Madman studied a drop of Su Mo’s heart’s blood.
• The Old Madman broke through a taboo force within the blood and saw a white-robed man beside a river, with graves stretching behind him.
• The Old Madman recognized the man’s face, fell from the sky, and wondered who could still save Su Mo.