Chapter Summaries

Su Mo’s Divine Soul injury remained incurable, and he admitted that all he wanted was to live. After hearing that the Immortal Furnace and the Old Madman had no remedy, Bai Zhi resolved to pursue alchemy until she could create a pill to save him.

• Su Mo woke from a nightmare recalling the Demon Moon Great Emperor’s warning that someone had noticed him, then returned to rest beside Bai Zhi and Little Xuanji.
• Granny Su Zhan received word that the Immortal Furnace could not develop a pill for Divine Soul injuries, and the Old Madman’s message left her devastated.
• Granny concealed the bad news from Su Mo, who said he wanted to uncover the Ancestral Grounds’ upheaval and, above all, to live.
• Bai Zhi and Little Xuanji left Cold Azure Cave Heaven after Su Mo admitted he wanted to live.
• Bai Zhi returned to the ruins and vowed to master alchemy and make a pill that could heal Su Mo’s Divine Soul injury.

Little Xuanji learned from his master and grandmaster that Su Mo was the Heavenly Secrets Lineage’s long-awaited Changing Variable, and their Endgame Calculation eased the pain of Su Mo’s shattered divine soul. Su Mo then found a possible way to survive: enter Rouyun’s reincarnation, solve it through repeated deaths, and borrow its Immortal Emperor’s power to enter his own reincarnation.

• Little Xuanji asked his master and grandmaster to save Su Mo, then showed them the Heavenly Secrets chess pieces recording their journey.
• Little Xuanji’s elders learned Su Mo could not be divined and declared him the black Emperor Chess piece and the Heavenly Secrets Lineage’s Changing Variable.
• Little Xuanji’s master and grandmaster performed Endgame Calculation, sending their power toward Su Mo.
• The black chess piece at Su Mo’s chest suppressed his soul pain, allowing him to awaken and connect the upheaval in the Ancestral Grounds with his search for survival.
• Su Mo realized he could enter Rouyun’s reincarnation, repeatedly experience death to solve it, and borrow its Immortal Emperor’s power to enter his own reincarnation.

Su Mo planned to enter the Heart Tree’s reincarnation and use Immortal Emperor power to restore his shattered body, while deducing that the Xu Tribe and the Eight Great Cave Heavens were battling over the Ancestral Image World. He decided to sneak there alone despite the overwhelming danger, leaving the Brush of All Living Beings unable to accompany him.

• Su Mo explained that he would use the Immortal Emperor’s power at the end of the reincarnation to restore his uninjured state and survive.
• The Brush of All Living Beings warned that Su Mo’s untested plan could trigger unforeseen changes, then offered to accompany him; Su Mo refused.
• Su Mo deduced that the Xu Tribe wanted the Ancestral Image World and that the Eight Great Cave Heavens planned to destroy it after reopening the passage to the Ancestral Grounds.
• The Brush of All Living Beings realized that destroying the Ancestral Grounds could leave Rouyun and the little tree spirits trapped in endless reincarnation.
• Su Mo concluded that he had to sneak toward the Ancestral Image World alone because the Eight Great Cave Heavens and possibly the Three Pure Ones would target him if he left Cold Azure Cave Heaven.

Su Mo prepared to face a perilous journey alone, sending the Brush of All Living Beings and Big Strong away with the Divine Maiden and the peachwood gate so the Sages of the Mortal Realm could enter the Immortal Domain. He left Cold Azure Cave Heaven knowing his chances of survival were slim, while Bai Qi Seven-Tails and the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox watched him go.

• Su Mo agreed to let the Brush of All Living Beings and Big Strong accompany him, then asked them to take the Divine Maiden and peachwood gate somewhere safe and bring the Mortal Realm's Sages into the Immortal Domain.
• Su Mo told Big Strong to protect his sister, and Big Strong swallowed the Divine Maiden and the gate before flying away with the Brush of All Living Beings.
• After they left, Su Mo collapsed and admitted that he had lied about waiting for them because he wanted to keep them from risking their lives for him.
• Su Mo set off alone toward the edge of Cold Azure Cave Heaven to face the Eight Great Cave Heavens and the Other Race.
• Bai Qi Seven-Tails and the Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox watched Su Mo leave and said they could not help him, though they believed he would return if he survived.

After leaving Cold Azure Cave Heaven, Su Mo learned that the Ancestral Grounds entrance had reopened and insisted on entering to seek a chance to survive. He severed his ties with the Immortal Furnace so its members would not be drawn into the danger, then walked away alone.

• Su Mo emerged from Cold Azure Cave Heaven in pain and was embraced by Granny Su Zhan as the Immortal Furnace's Immortal Lords gathered around him.
• Old Madman told Su Mo that the Ancestral Grounds entrance had reopened and asked whether he was going back because of the Xu Tribe.
• Su Mo confirmed he had to go, and Old Madman and the other Immortal Lords offered to accompany him.
• Su Mo refused their help and declared that he was no longer a disciple of the Immortal Furnace.
• Su Mo confessed that he had joined the Immortal Furnace for protection, shattered his Jade Slip, and walked away alone.

Su Mo left the Immortal Furnace to seek a chance of survival at the Ancestral Grounds, and Old Madman gave him power to reach it while revealing that Su Mo himself was an incarnation. Little Xuanji followed Su Mo, leaving Bai Zhi behind as she remained bound to the Bai Ze Lineage’s last hope.

• Granny Su Zhan and the Immortal Furnace elders realized Su Mo had claimed he was unrelated to them to keep them safe from the enemies he expected to face.
• Old Madman lent Su Mo his Immortal Venerable power so he could reach the Ancestral Grounds, then told him that he could not form an incarnation because he was one himself and warned him to beware of himself.
• Su Mo bowed to Old Madman and vanished through the power of law, leaving the Immortal Furnace elders fearing he might never return.
• Bai Zhi and Little Xuanji returned and learned that Su Mo had left; Little Xuanji confessed he belonged to the Heavenly Secrets Lineage and set down his Immortal Furnace disciple jade slip.
• Little Xuanji hurried after Su Mo toward the Ancestral Grounds, while Bai Zhi stayed behind because she carried the Bai Ze Lineage’s last hope.

Gravely wounded and near death, Su Mo returned to the Ancestral Image World and found the Immortal Domain and the Xu Tribe battling over the Ancestral Origin Heart Tree. Protected by the Book of Life and Death’s Incense Power, he walked toward the tree, survived the Three Pure Ones’ attack, and was identified as the Lord of the Mortal Realm, Pei Min’an, now known as Su Mo.

• Su Mo entered the portal to the Ancestral Image World after sensing his Divine Soul was close to destruction.
• He found the Xu Tribe and the Immortal Domain forces gathered around the Ancestral Origin Heart Tree, each trying to take or destroy it.
• Su Mo called on the Book of Life and Death, which surrounded him with Incense Power from the Mortal Realm and let him approach the Heart Tree safely.
• The Three Pure Ones attacked Su Mo with a powerful palm, but Su Mo continued walking, protected by the Incense Power.
• The Three Pure Ones recognized Su Mo as the Variable responsible for what happened in the Ancestral Grounds and revealed his identity as Pei Min’an, the Lord of the Mortal Realm.

Su Mo confronted the Three Pure Ones in the Ancestral Image World and entered the Rouyun Heart Tree’s barrier after it recognized him as a dear friend. As Su Mo demanded the truth behind the Three Pure Ones’ plans, the Xu Tribe elder began to reveal that even the Three Realms would ultimately pass into oblivion.

• Su Mo told the Three Pure Ones that he had come to stop them and save the woman whose inheritance they sought to harm.
• Su Mo called the Rouyun Heart Tree’s deceased Immortal Emperor his dear friend, but the tree initially kept him outside its barrier.
• After Su Mo revealed his dying Divine Soul, the Rouyun Heart Tree reached out, took his hand, and led him inside its barrier.
• Su Mo demanded that the Three Pure Ones reveal the truth, warning that he might stop their plans.
• The Xu Tribe elder offered to tell Su Mo the truth and said that all things, including the Three Realms, would eventually pass into oblivion.

The Xu Tribe elder revealed that the Ancestral Image World was the remains of the Xu Realm, destroyed when the Thirteen True Immortals killed Immortal Emperor Rouyun and stole the realm’s essence to prolong the dying Immortal Domain. Su Mo learned that Rouyun had sacrificed her remnant soul to preserve the Xu Realm’s last essence and protect its survivors, and the chapter ended with her sorrowfully crouching before him.

• The Xu Tribe elder explained that the Ancestral Image World was what remained after the Xu Realm’s destruction, not a world created after Rouyun’s death.
• The elder recounted how the Thirteen True Immortals sought to save the aging Immortal Domain by taking the essence of another realm, while Rouyun refused to sacrifice the Xu Realm.
• The Thirteen True Immortals framed Taowu, lured Rouyun to the Xu Realm, and wounded her before killing her.
• The Thirteen True Immortals used the Xu tribespeople to refine the Seven-Faced Banner and drained the Xu Realm’s essence, causing its collapse.
• Rouyun turned her remnant soul into a pool of essence, created a cycle of reincarnation, and opened a living space for the surviving Xu Tribe.
• Su Mo faced the unchanged expressions of the eight Cave Heaven lords, then saw Rouyun crouch helplessly before him.

Su Mo learned from the Three Pure Ones that the Desolate Realm had been destroyed to save the Mortal Realm, which now faced the same decline and needed the Heart Tree’s origin. The chapter left Su Mo facing the same choice Rouyun had faced: whether to use the Heavenly Dao Sword to take that origin.

• Su Mo questioned whether the Three Pure Ones had deliberately let him reach the Heart Tree and discover the truth, and the Three Pure Ones admitted they had.
• The Three Pure Ones explained that all thirteen True Immortals had disappeared and that four grotto-heavens had been lost in the Long River.
• The Three Pure Ones revealed that the Mortal Realm began declining after its Mandate of Heaven Emperor Lineage died out.
• The Three Pure Ones said they and seven other Immortal Venerables had refined the Desolate Realm into a Pill of Origin to sustain the Mortal Realm, destroying the Desolate Realm.
• The Three Pure Ones told Su Mo that the Mortal Realm was shrinking and needed the Heart Tree’s origin, which they could seize using the Heavenly Dao Sword he had taken from them.
• Su Mo realized that the Three Pure Ones had made him inherit the choice Rouyun had faced.

Su Mo rejected the Three Pure Ones’ plan to sacrifice Rouyun for the Mortal Realm’s essence and chose to enter her Reincarnation, claiming he had another way to save both her and the realm. As the Xu Tribe elder held off the eight Immortal Venerables, Rouyun drew Su Mo into the Heart Tree, and the Three Pure Ones ordered an attack.

• Rouyun watched Su Mo from within the Heart Tree’s Reincarnation, and Su Mo decided he would not kill her to obtain its essence.
• The Xu Tribe elder explained that his tribe had schemed to keep the Immortal Domain from extracting the essence, which he saw as the world’s last tenderness.
• Su Mo asked the Xu Tribe elder to help hold off the Immortal Venerables and declared that he could save the Mortal Realm without Rouyun dying.
• The Xu Tribe elder unleashed his power to block the eight Immortal Venerables while Su Mo asked Rouyun to draw him into her Reincarnation.
• Rouyun wrapped Su Mo in pale green light and took him into the Heart Tree as his divine soul shattered and his body collapsed.
• The Three Pure Ones ordered the Immortal Venerables to attack the Xu Tribe elder, who accused him of seeking the Mortal Realm’s essence to save the Immortal Domain.

Su Mo entered the Rouyun Heart Tree’s reincarnation and told Rouyun how to end it by making the little tree spirits remember traces that reincarnation could not erase. As Su Mo’s life faded, he asked Rouyun to send him into the ruleless reincarnation rift and use the Ancestral Source Power to save the Mortal Realm, leaving their reunion uncertain.

• Su Mo reached Rouyun inside the Heart Tree and collapsed as his divine soul shattered.
• Su Mo explained that traces of the little tree spirits’ karma with outsiders could deepen until they remembered past reincarnations and broke the cycle.
• Rouyun understood Su Mo had planned to use repeated deaths to strengthen those traces, though ending reincarnation would leave him truly dead.
• Su Mo asked Rouyun to send him into the reincarnation rift that would form when the Ancestral Image World collapsed.
• Su Mo asked Rouyun to use the Ancestral Source Power to save the Mortal Realm and told her to erase her memories of him if he never returned.
• Rouyun asked whether they would meet again, and Su Mo’s life ended.

Rouyun repeatedly waited through Reincarnation’s resets for Su Mo to return, listening as he explained how to unravel the cycle and asking him to save his Mortal Realm. As the little tree spirits began remembering him and Reincarnation reached its final cycle, Rouyun asked whether they could meet again, and Su Mo said it would probably be hard.

• After Su Mo died in Rouyun’s arms, she held him until Reincarnation ended and reset, when he appeared before her again.
• Su Mo explained how to unravel Reincarnation and asked Rouyun to use his essence to save his Mortal Realm before dying again.
• Rouyun waited through countless resets for Su Mo’s return, while his repeated words, “I’m here,” became harder for the little tree spirits to forget.
• The power resetting Reincarnation gravely injured the little tree spirits, and Su Mo realized that he had returned many times before.
• Rouyun told Su Mo that this was the last cycle, asked whether they could meet again, and heard him say it would probably be hard.

White-Clad One's death and the Little Tree Spirits' memories cause Reincarnation to collapse, releasing Rouyun and opening a rift. Su Mo and Little Xuanji fall into it together, while Rouyun leaves the disintegrating Ancestral Image World with the Power of Origin and the Xu Tribe elder stays behind as the world perishes.

• White-Clad One dies in Rouyun's arms, and the Little Tree Spirits finally remember his repeated sacrifices.
• Reincarnation's laws clash with the memories that could not be erased, causing it to collapse and connect the Heart Tree to the outside.
• The Ancestral Image World begins to crumble, and the Three Pure Ones orders the Eight Great Immortal Venerables to leave.
• Rouyun sends Su Mo through the rift as his only chance of survival, and Little Xuanji leaps in after him and catches his robe.
• The Xu Tribe elder asks Rouyun to leave, and she takes the Power of Origin, which has become a flower without leaves.
• The Brush of All Living Beings dives into the rift, while the Xu Tribe elder remains behind as the Ancestral Grounds and Ancestral Image World collapse.

The Divine Maiden sealed the Peach Gate from the Immortal Domain and left with Big Strong to find Su Mo, while the Three Pure Ones revealed that Su Mo had been sent away rather than killed. Su Mo and Little Xuanji fell endlessly through a void in Reincarnation until the broken Brush of All Living Beings appeared, vowing not to abandon its master again.

• Big Strong sensed Su Mo and the Brush of All Living Beings disappear, but stayed beside the Peach Gate until the Divine Maiden woke and promised to find Su Mo.
• The Divine Maiden used the Power of Law to conceal the Peach Gate, then left with Big Strong to seek Su Mo.
• The Three Pure Ones told the other Cave Heaven Immortal Venerables that the only way to deal with Su Mo was to send him and those with him back where they came from.
• A woman in a pale green dress sealed the eight Immortal Venerables in an abyss and wondered whether she would ever meet Su Mo again.
• Su Mo and Little Xuanji fell through the darkness of Reincarnation until the broken Brush of All Living Beings rushed toward them, declaring that no one could leave the Pen Lord behind again.

Su Mo, Little Xuanji, and the Brush of All Living Beings continued falling through the empty Reincarnation Gap with no apparent way out. The brush decided to spend its accumulated spiritual energy drawing a mirror that could see through reincarnation and give Su Mo a path to escape.

• Su Mo caught the Brush of All Living Beings, and it refused to leave him despite his urging it to find another master.
• The Brush of All Living Beings realized that the Reincarnation Gap contained no visible beginning, end, or way out, while Su Mo's divine soul wound remained frozen.
• The brush told Su Mo and Little Xuanji that its accumulated spiritual energy might be their only chance to escape the gap.
• The Brush of All Living Beings flew upward and began using its radiance to draw a mirror capable of seeing through reincarnation.

The Brush of All Living Beings spent its spiritual consciousness creating the Reincarnation Mirror, which carried Su Mo and Little Xuanji out of the Reincarnation Gap. Su Mo grieved over the brush’s loss of sentience, and several days passed without his pain fading.

• The Brush of All Living Beings drew the Reincarnation Mirror, using up its spiritual consciousness and naming itself an Emperor Artifact.
• The Brush of All Living Beings asked Su Mo to pass a message to Xiaoyueyue, then gave the mirror its final stroke and fell into Su Mo’s arms, silent and lifeless.
• The Reincarnation Mirror carried Su Mo and Little Xuanji out of the Reincarnation Gap and brought them to a mountain peak beneath an ancient tree.
• Su Mo clutched the broken brush and howled in grief while the Reincarnation Mirror nuzzled him and Little Xuanji sobbed nearby.
• Su Mo’s tears fell on the Flower of the Other Shore, and its power merged with the Divine Rune on his forehead, but he did not notice.
• Several days passed as Su Mo remained in pain over the Brush of All Living Beings.

After the Brush of All Living Beings lost its spiritual awareness, Su Mo realized he had returned to the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths but found no one he knew. The Reincarnation Mirror showed him falling through reincarnation, and he concluded that he and Little Xuanji had arrived in the wrong time, possibly far enough in the past to find Girl.

• Su Mo mourned the loss of the Brush of All Living Beings and tucked it into his hair as the Reincarnation Mirror comforted him.
• Su Mo told Little Xuanji that they were in his homeland, the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, but he sensed none of the people from his past.
• The Reincarnation Mirror showed Su Mo falling through a gap in reincarnation, leading him to suspect he had traveled upstream along the Long River.
• Su Mo spread his divine sense across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths but found no trace of Girl or any familiar presence.
• Su Mo told Little Xuanji they had come to the wrong time, and Little Xuanji asked whether meeting his younger self would affect his karma.

Su Mo and Little Xuanji traveled to the Mortal Realm to search for the Confucian Sage and discover what era they had reached. No one recognized the Sage’s name, and the chapter left Su Mo sitting beside a mysterious couple who reacted oddly to the storyteller’s tale.

• Su Mo set out with Little Xuanji to find the Confucian Sage, and the Reincarnation Mirror nestled beside the Brush of All Living Beings in his hair.
• Su Mo and Little Xuanji arrived at a Mortal Realm tavern, where a storyteller recounted the Phoenix’s deeds and speculated about her life with the Emperor of the Mortal Realm.
• Su Mo asked the waiter about the Confucian Sage, but the waiter had never heard of him and suggested asking the storyteller.
• A curious couple at the neighboring table said they had never heard of the Confucian Sage and doubted anyone would dare call themselves a Sage.
• The man coughed at the storyteller’s speculation about the Phoenix and Emperor, then grew jealous as the woman studied Su Mo.

Su Mo visited a tavern with Little Xuanji while searching for the Confucian Sage, but the old storyteller had never heard of him. Su Mo agreed to take over the tavern, and the storyteller suggested that Su Mo seek a path before seeking his way home.

• Su Mo drank wine in the tavern while Little Xuanji eagerly ate the food.
• The old storyteller explained that wine tasted different to everyone and said he had never heard of the Confucian Sage, leaving Su Mo disappointed.
• The old storyteller revealed that he was nearing death and worried about what would become of the tavern after he was gone.
• Su Mo agreed to take over the tavern so it could remain open, and the man and woman left.
• The old storyteller told Su Mo that he seemed lost and was seeking a way home, then advised him to seek a path first.