Chapter Summaries

Su Jingyan used the Longevity Stele and Book of Life and Death to preserve the life souls of everyone in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, then reunited with Green Robe in a vision. A thousand years later, Little Girl waited for Su Mo’s return, and he appeared among the blooming flowers of the other shore.

• Su Jingyan used the Longevity Stele to gather a thread of life soul from every living being, and Green Robe appeared before him before fading away.
• Su Jingyan merged the life-soul threads into the seventh volume of the Book of Life and Death, recording everyone’s names and deeds.
• People near death began reporting visions of a stone gate and a flower of the other shore leading to another world.
• Little Girl gathered the flower of the other shore power to preserve her appearance until Su Mo returned, while her black-robed master warned that Su Mo might be dead.
• Little Girl said her incarnation had traveled upstream along the Long River and that Su Mo would return soon.
• Flowers of the other shore bloomed across the hillside, and Su Mo appeared among them with his arms open to Little Girl.

Little Girl reunited with Su Jingyan after waiting a thousand years and told him why she had remained a child. Su Jingyan then spoke with Great Peng, who revealed that taking Little Girl as his disciple had been a way to see whether Su Jingyan’s devotion was worth it.

• Little Girl rushed into Su Jingyan’s arms, and the two embraced as she wept and called him Older Brother.
• Little Girl told Su Jingyan about the past thousand years, including becoming Great Peng’s disciple and sending an incarnation to the Long River.
• Little Girl said she had stayed a child because she feared Su Jingyan would not recognize her if she grew up, and Su Jingyan promised he would not leave again.
• Little Girl fell asleep in Su Jingyan’s arms, and he recognized the black-robed elder as Great Peng.
• Su Jingyan asked why Great Peng had taken Little Girl as his disciple, and Great Peng said he wanted to know whether Su Jingyan’s devotion was worth it before answering that it was.

Great Peng told Su Jingyan how his solitary pursuit of sainthood gave way to a desire for an ordinary life after he witnessed mortal kindness and took Su Jingyan’s younger sister as his disciple. With Su Jingyan returned and Little Girl safe, Great Peng accepted his approaching death and passed away beneath the moon.

• Great Peng recalled planning to refine half the world’s people to gain sainthood and buy time for the Nine Heavens, despite becoming a condemned sinner.
• After Su Jingyan died, Great Peng wandered the Mortal World and was moved by an ordinary woman who lived a peaceful, contented life.
• Great Peng sought to recover his discarded mortal intent and found Su Jingyan’s younger sister, who became his disciple and waited for her Older Brother to return.
• Great Peng regained his mortal intent, relinquished his supreme cultivation, and devoted himself to guiding Little Girl and fulfilling her wish to reunite with Su Jingyan.
• Su Jingyan offered to let Great Peng live another thousand years, but Great Peng refused and chose to die after learning Su Jingyan had returned.
• Great Peng let Little Girl sleep undisturbed and passed away beneath the moon, calling the Mortal World a temporary lodging and himself a traveler.

Su Jingyan understood that reincarnation let the dead leave their regrets behind as flowers of the Other Shore, and he began guiding souls across the River of Forgetfulness. After Great Peng crossed, the little Peng Bird warned that Su Jingyan might never be able to lay his own cares to rest, then departed into the unknown.

• Su Jingyan realized that souls should leave their thoughts on the Other Shore, where they would become flowers, and changed the Soul Incense Volume so he could guide the dead across the River of Forgetfulness.
• After Great Peng died, his soul took the form of a little Peng Bird, and Su Jingyan guided him through a stone gate toward the River of Forgetfulness.
• The little Peng Bird questioned whether souls would truly be reborn, and Su Jingyan assured him that rebirth would come with time as countless souls crossed the bridge.
• The little Peng Bird told Su Jingyan that he would suffer most because he would have to send his loved ones across while remaining unable to lay his own cares to rest.
• The little Peng Bird crossed the Stone Bridge, said that he and Su Jingyan would never meet again, and left a flower of the Other Shore bearing his regrets.

Su Jingyan reviewed the seventh volume of the Book of Life and Death, which recorded the lives of everyone whose Life Souls he had obtained, and faced his duty to send them into Reincarnation. Little Girl urged him to meet the women waiting for him, but he fled in another direction, while she returned to the palace with Big Strong.

• Su Jingyan found Great Peng and the people he knew recorded in the seventh volume and considered the regrets that would come with sending them across the River of Forgetfulness.
• Little Girl asked whether her master could be reborn, and Su Jingyan assured her that he could.
• Little Girl urged Su Jingyan to visit his waiting confidantes and tell them how he felt, mentioning Luo Yin's illness and Phoenix Woman's near-failed Nirvana.
• Su Jingyan agreed to go but vanished in another direction because he did not know how to face the women.
• After seeing Su Jingyan's name on the final page of the seventh volume, Little Girl rode Big Strong back to the palace.

A woman told the old man that a dream during her nirvana showed a white-clad man protecting her before birth and suggested he was her parents’ close friend. She hoped the dream meant he had survived and might return, but the old man could only tell her she missed him too much.

• The old man asked the woman why her last nirvana had caused such a tremendous upheaval, and she said she had dreamed of her deceased parents.
• The woman described a white-clad man who had sealed her and her mother in the Phoenix Nest and used the Phoenix Feather to protect her.
• The woman realized the man was familiar with the Phoenix Nest because he had entered it with her and had undergone nirvana using her Phoenix Feather.
• The woman told the old man that the white-clad man had been her parents’ close friend and wondered whether he had survived and could return.
• The old man watched the woman lower her head over the man’s teacup and told her she missed him too much.

A woman and an old man mourned Jing Yan and recalled the pain and sacrifices that had driven him away. Jing Yan returned to the bamboo hut, proved himself real by restoring the Flowers of the Other Shore, and told his master that all was well.

• The woman blamed herself for asking Jing Yan to go to the Demon Realm and lamented that the world had turned against him.
• The old man remembered Jing Yan as his only disciple and believed his plans had come from caring for others, not disappointment in the world.
• The old man saw a white-robed figure approach and thought he was dreaming until the figure touched his face.
• Jing Yan told his master, “It's me, Jing Yan,” and said that he had really returned.
• Jing Yan made the Flowers of the Other Shore bloom across the ground before the hut, and the woman and old man recognized him.
• The old man asked Jing Yan how it had been, and Jing Yan smiled through his tears and answered, “All right.”

After a thousand years, Su Jingyan reunited with Du Pingsheng and shared tea with his master, while the Phoenix Woman returned to the Demon Realm. Du Pingsheng urged Su Jingyan to face his complicated feelings, and Su Jingyan left for the Demon Realm at dusk.

• The Phoenix Woman saw Su Jingyan again, then flew back to the Phoenix Palace in the Demon Realm.
• Su Jingyan brewed tea for Du Pingsheng, and the two shared a quiet reunion after a thousand years apart.
• Du Pingsheng urged Su Jingyan to tell the women in his life how he felt, even if he could not promise them a future together.
• Su Jingyan asked about Qing Yi, and Du Pingsheng said she was still practicing medicine and that he would bring her back soon.
• After spending the day together, Su Jingyan took his leave and headed toward the Demon Realm.

Su Jingyan returned to the Demon Realm after a thousand years and reunited with the Phoenix Woman in the Phoenix Palace. He took her through the Spirit Sea Gate and said that perhaps everything would have a perfect ending if he survived what was coming.

• Su Jingyan entered the Phoenix Palace, where the Green-Robed Attendant and the other attendants recognized him and welcomed him back.
• Su Jingyan learned that the Phoenix Venerable had returned and went alone to the Sleeping Hall.
• The Phoenix Woman told Little Fish that its father was back, and Little Fish flew off toward the Ninth Heaven to find him.
• Su Jingyan tasted the Phoenix Woman's cooking, called the dishes bad, and said he still liked them before sharing a meal with her.
• Su Jingyan summoned the Spirit Sea Gate, took the Phoenix Woman by the hand, and said that perhaps they would have a perfect ending if he survived.

Su Mo explained to Phoenix Woman that he would send the world through Reincarnation to avert its catastrophe, while a mysterious force had stopped anyone from being born. After admitting that he liked her, he left her behind, knowing their next meeting would be her crossing into Reincarnation.

• Su Mo told Phoenix Woman that the world's people had to cross the River of Forgetfulness and enter Reincarnation, where they would begin again without Destiny.
• Phoenix Woman asked whether people would remain themselves and whether everyone could cross; Su Mo revealed that no one could have children and that the Book of Life and Death had stopped recording new names.
• Su Mo said an unknown will or the world itself might be helping his plan, and Phoenix Woman foresaw a Mortal Realm emptied of ordinary people before hope arrived.
• Phoenix Woman understood Su Mo's fear of forming ties and asked whether he liked her; Su Mo said that he did.
• Phoenix Woman asked Su Mo to see her across the river when they met again, and Su Mo left, knowing their next meeting would be her passage into Reincarnation.

Su Mo reunited with Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden after a thousand years apart, and all three embraced as they shared how much they had missed one another. Great Calamity then pulled Su Mo away from Mysterious Maiden to catch up with him, leaving the two women poised to vie for his attention.

• Su Mo sensed Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden approaching and greeted them in the void.
• Great Calamity embraced Su Mo and recalled how she had accompanied and protected him throughout his growth.
• Su Mo admitted how much he had missed Great Calamity, and they held each other for a long time.
• At Great Calamity's urging, Su Mo embraced Mysterious Maiden, who confessed that she had missed him too.
• Great Calamity pulled them apart and teased Mysterious Maiden while leaning against Su Mo.

Su Mo reunited with Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden, whose teasing gave way to concern when they saw the souls and flowers in his Spirit Sea and realized he was preparing something for the dead. The scene then shifted to a rainy forest at the Waterside of Sky and Water, where a group gathered beside a river to carry out a task.

• Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden teased Su Mo for not visiting them first after his return.
• Great Calamity revealed she had been spending time with Emperor Ying Consort, and Mysterious Maiden and Great Calamity argued over their ties to Su Mo.
• Mysterious Maiden entered Su Mo’s Spirit Sea, followed by Great Calamity, and they found souls crossing the River of Forgetfulness as Flowers of the Other Shore bloomed along its banks.
• Great Calamity and Mysterious Maiden realized Su Mo was making plans involving the departed, while Su Mo gazed silently at the moon.
• At the Waterside of Sky and Water, a little girl and two men stood in the rain beneath umbrellas and complained that their target was in a river they could only see when it rained.

The group followed the rainy river’s clues to a hidden opening beneath a broken rock face, where they believed the Great Tomb lay. As they wondered how to enter, a voice spoke of the Other Shore and Eternal Life, and a sudden boom shook them.

• The group debated whether to follow the river upstream or downstream, and a vote ended in a tie.
• Little Girl proposed deciding by the number of bites she took from a chicken drumstick, then declared they should go upstream.
• The group found a cliffside opening where the water curved around a rock face and mist blew outward, matching the clue about waters turning and mist clearing.
• Red-Clad One asked how they could dig into the mountainside without disturbing the Great Tomb, and the two men lamented that Little Junior Brother was absent.
• A voice nearby said, “This Shore is the Other Shore. I am... Eternal Life...,” and a boom made everyone turn toward it.

Su Mo reunited with Gu Yu and his fellow disciples in the rain, then joined them in continuing their exploration of the Great Tombs. When Su Mo hesitated over how to open the next tomb without inviting bad luck, his companions began chiseling an entrance into the cliff.

• Gu Yu recognized Su Mo, and he confirmed that he was alive.
• Sixth Senior Sister, Fourth Senior Brother, and Fifth Senior Brother rushed to embrace Su Mo, while First Senior Brother and Second Senior Brother watched.
• Gu Yu straightened Su Mo's clothes and told him to live properly now that he had returned.
• Su Mo agreed to keep exploring the Great Tomb and tried to open it by saying, "This Shore..."
• Sixth Senior Sister stopped Su Mo from calling the tomb his home, and the group discussed how to make the Laws of Heaven and Earth open it.
• Fourth Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, and Sixth Senior Sister began chiseling an entrance into the cliff.

Su Mo accidentally made a tomb skeleton emerge when he opened a tomb with his Confucian Dao True Words, so he and his companions abandoned the exploration and decided to return to the Academy. He then found Luo Yin on a mountaintop and reunited with her through music.

• Su Mo opened the Tomb Cave with his Confucian Dao True Words, and a skeleton came out under the control of the Laws of Heaven and Earth.
• Gu Yu and the others decided not to enter the tomb, and the skeleton returned inside after Su Mo apologized and said goodbye.
• The group chose to return to the Academy, and Gu Yu asked Su Mo to bring Luo Yin back with him.
• Su Mo found Luo Yin alone on a mountaintop, and she wept when she heard his familiar voice and saw him again.
• Luo Yin restored the broken strings of her Ink Zither, and she and Su Mo played music together with the Jade Flute.

Emperor Ying visited the ailing Xu Xixi, and the two reflected on Xu Xixi’s lifelong service to the people and the Four Admonitions left by the White-Clad One. Xu Xixi remained content with his life and continued waiting for the White-Clad One to return.

• Emperor Ying arrived alone at the Xu Residence and asked Xu Xixi’s eldest son about his father’s health.
• Emperor Ying visited the bedridden Xu Xixi, and they acknowledged that they had both grown old.
• Xu Xixi explained that he had entered government service to repay the White-Clad One but had come to serve the people as his life’s purpose.
• Emperor Ying praised Xu Xixi’s service, while Xu Xixi said the realm’s true blessing was the Four Admonitions.
• Emperor Ying departed, and Xu Xixi closed his eyes, content to wait for the White-Clad One.

Su Mo visited the dying Xu Xixi and learned that Xu Huanhuan had died quelling a rebellion centuries earlier. He revealed that he had brought reincarnation to the world, then personally sent Xu Xixi through the Road of Rebirth.

• Su Mo quietly met Xu Xixi in the Xu Residence and asked about his elder sister, Xu Huanhuan.
• Xu Xixi told Su Mo that Xu Huanhuan had died in battle while leading troops to suppress a rebellion.
• Su Mo confirmed that he had created the possibility of rebirth because he did not want the world to end in extinction.
• Xu Xixi realized that he had died and saw his own body lying in bed as his family wept.
• Su Mo gave Xu Xixi a flower of the other shore and opened a stone gate to the Road of Rebirth.
• Xu Xixi bowed to Su Mo and entered the gate, while the Reincarnation Mirror illuminated Su Mo before onlookers in the void.

After Xu Xixi crossed the River of Forgetfulness, Su Mo returned to the Academy and concealed his return while the world stopped producing new births and fell into despair. He met the souls of Cheng An'an and Dao Hua, who had died early because they could no longer bear the world’s hopeless decline.

• Su Mo watched Xu Xixi depart, then returned to the Academy and made it his home with Emperor Ying, Emperor Ying Consort, Little Girl, and his friends.
• Su Mo spent ten years at the Academy without revealing his return, while Emperor Ying continued ruling in his stead.
• The world discovered that no one could become pregnant and no children were born, unrest spread, and Su Mo silently watched as the population dwindled.
• Gu Yu and Luo Yin discussed why Su Mo kept his return secret, as he sought a chance for the world to survive without seeking recognition or gratitude.
• The souls of Cheng An'an and Dao Hua entered Su Mo’s Spirit Sea, where they explained that despair over the world’s lack of new births had made life seem pointless.

Cheng An'an and Dao Hua crossed the River of Forgetfulness, leaving Su Mo burdened by regret as the world downstream continued toward extinction. Years passed without new births, until the last mortal crossed the river and the remaining cultivators faced an empty Mortal Realm.

• Cheng An'an promised to meet Su Mo again in rebirth, then crossed the River of Forgetfulness, leaving a flower of the Other Shore.
• Dao Hua urged Su Mo not to repeat his past failures before crossing the Stone Bridge himself.
• Su Mo remained unable to let go of his regrets as the world grew quiet and people chose death and crossed the river.
• Little Girl stayed with Su Mo in the Academy as the Mortal Realm lost its people and fewer souls crossed the River of Forgetfulness.
• After heavy snow fell, the final mortal crossed the river, and the surviving cultivators entered the empty Mortal Realm in despair.

After the Mortal Realm emptied, despair drove cultivators across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths to end their lives, while Su Mo and the Academy watched. The Academy members tried to restore a little daily life by planting flowers, and Du Pingsheng finally closed his eyes, saying it was their turn to ferry a lifetime.

• The cultivators searched the empty Mortal Realm for surviving mortals, then succumbed to despair and began performing Liberation by Violence upon themselves.
• Su Mo, Emperor Ying, his consort, Little Girl, and the Academy watched the lights of the cultivators' suicides as Luo Yin played the zither.
• Over several years, more cultivators chose Liberation by Violence until scarcely anyone remained alive in the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
• Gu Yu suggested that the Academy members plant flowers, and they busied themselves with gardening while Luo Yin played and Emperor Ying Consort embroidered.
• Du Pingsheng watched the Academy members from the pavilion, closed his eyes, and murmured, "Our turn... Ferrying... a lifetime..."