Chapter Summaries

The King of Reincarnation explained how the Dharma-ending Age weakened the world and made cultivation increasingly difficult. He reflected on the crises he had faced and resolved that someone had to keep defending the Nine Provinces.

• The King of Reincarnation warned Jiang Chen that powerful outsiders could threaten the Nine Provinces and asked what he would do if he became prey.
• The King of Reincarnation described how the weakening world made battles more destructive and cultivation harder, leaving most people unable to advance beyond King-Level.
• The King of Reincarnation recalled Zhao Jingtian as the most promising genius of recent centuries and lamented that he had been born too late to become a Supreme Powerhouse.
• The King of Reincarnation recounted defending the Nine Provinces through the Gu Clan's rebellion, the Dark Alliance's invasion, and Old Xiao's emergence, saying someone had to guard their home.

The King of Reincarnation began his attempt to take the tenth step, unleashing the Nine Reincarnation Swords as heaven and earth fought to suppress him. Under mounting pressure, he rejected his former understanding of the sword and began to grasp a new sword Dao.

• The King of Reincarnation explained that ancient threats and the reappearance of the River of Forgetfulness left him no time to delay his breakthrough.
• The King of Reincarnation took a step forward and began risking his life to reach the tenth step, while Jiang Chen retreated to watch.
• The King of Reincarnation unleashed his first two sword strikes, and heaven and earth responded by pressing down on him and attacking with black weapons formed from seawater.
• The King of Reincarnation performed more of his Nine Reincarnation Swords, then stopped as he questioned whether any of them truly embodied the sword Dao.
• The King of Reincarnation continued swinging under the crushing pressure and concluded that the sword Dao followed the swordsman's heart, able both to kill and defend.

The King of Reincarnation endured heaven and earth’s lethal suppression, using successive sword strikes to survive and deepen his understanding of the sword. After beginning the next stage of his breakthrough, he was struck by an internal wind calamity, and Jiang Chen recognized the danger.

• The King of Reincarnation used Slash to cleave through the prison of heaven and earth, then faced waves of powerful blood-red creatures and skeletal beings.
• The King of Reincarnation used Slaughter to annihilate the manifested enemies, but the sky collapsed upon him in another assault.
• The King of Reincarnation struck upward with Heaven-Piercing, survived the collapse with a broken sword, and then used Heaven-Opening to tear a hole in the dark sky.
• Jiang Chen watched the King of Reincarnation begin the second stage of his breakthrough, in which his body underwent powerful internal changes.
• The King of Reincarnation suddenly spat blood as wind surged inside his body, and Jiang Chen identified the attack as a Wind Calamity.

The King of Reincarnation endured the wind, water, and fire calamities and emerged reborn with immense Blood Qi. He then brought Jiang Chen through a tear in space to a remote island, where he revealed the entrance to Soldier Demon City.

• The King of Reincarnation endured the wind and water calamities by withstanding the wind and rebuilding his body with Sword Intent.
• Black-and-red fire consumed the King of Reincarnation's flesh, and Jiang Chen waited beside his apparently lifeless body through the night.
• The King of Reincarnation emerged from his carbonized remains reborn, with Blood Qi far stronger than anything Jiang Chen had seen before.
• The King of Reincarnation opened a rift in space and took Jiang Chen to a remote island covered in concealed restrictions.
• The King of Reincarnation identified the grave and bronze plate on the island as Pseudo-Restricted Zone S-23, the entrance to Soldier Demon City.

The King of Reincarnation recalled Zhao Dayuan’s death in a Restricted Zone and worked through the guilt that had burdened him for three hundred years. He then brought Jiang Chen to Dream Country, the world’s most dangerous Restricted Zone, and began explaining its strange defenses.

• The King of Reincarnation told Jiang Chen how the Imperial Guards’ expedition into Soldier Demon City ended with Zhao Dayuan and more than a dozen others missing, forcing their comrades to erect cenotaphs.
• The King of Reincarnation revisited Zhao Dayuan’s grave, admitted that he still wanted to live and protect the Nine Provinces, and let go of his guilt over surviving.
• The King of Reincarnation declared that he would take the tenth step beyond the King Realm and took Jiang Chen to the ocean above Dream Country.
• The King of Reincarnation explained that the global barrier around Dream Country kept people from entering, not things from escaping, and asked Jiang Chen why it was the world’s deadliest Restricted Zone despite never releasing a Weird Object.

The King of Reincarnation explained how Dream Country’s bell deluded kings into believing the waking world was a dream, then told Jiang Chen how his beloved Xiaoxuan entered Dream Country after falling under its influence. As the King of Reincarnation called her name, an unreadable woman appeared before them.

• The King of Reincarnation told Jiang Chen that Dream Country’s bell could delude kings anywhere, driving some to enter the Restricted Zone and causing others to fight or die trying to stop them.
• The King of Reincarnation recounted how he met Xiaoxuan, whose brilliance helped establish the Netherworld before she became the King of the Metropolis and his partner.
• When unrest in Dream Country deluded Xiaoxuan and two other kings, the King of Reincarnation confined them, but released them after one king killed himself.
• The King of Reincarnation followed Xiaoxuan as she entered Dream Country and admitted that he had never let go of her.
• A woman appeared beside Dream Country, and Jiang Chen could not sense what she was or how she had arrived.

The King of Reincarnation faced a vision of Xiaoxuan during his breakthrough and resisted Dream Country’s attempt to draw him in. After letting the vision fade, he took the tenth step into the Supreme Powerhouse Realm, leaving the Nine Provinces celebrating and other regions alarmed.

• The King of Reincarnation followed Xiaoxuan toward Dream Country while Jiang Chen tried to warn him.
• The King of Reincarnation realized the vision was a trap and refused to enter Dream Country, though watching Xiaoxuan disappear caused him great pain.
• The King of Reincarnation’s aura surged as his body and sword intent advanced, and he declared that he had entered the Supreme Powerhouse Realm.
• Powerful figures across the nations reacted with shock and concern at the King of Reincarnation’s breakthrough.
• The Ten Yama Kings and the Six Giants celebrated in the Nine Provinces, and the Spirit Treasure Sect offered free artifact forging and repairs.

After the King of Reincarnation became a Supreme Powerhouse, he confronted hidden old monsters before returning with Jiang Chen to the Nine Provinces. Jiang Chen went home, punished Tie Zhu for devouring his feast, and settled in Tang Yi’s former room to sort through his gains.

• The King of Reincarnation sensed hidden old monsters and challenged them over their refusal to fight past disasters and their attempts to restrain him.
• The King of Reincarnation opened a passage to the Nine Provinces, and Jiang Chen followed him while silently noting that other ancient powerhouses remained hidden.
• The King of Reincarnation returned to the Fengdu Forbidden Domain, while Jiang Chen went home past celebrations at the Jiangbei Branch Bureau and Jade Garden Residential Complex.
• Jiang Chen found Tie Zhu drunk amid an empty banquet and beat him awake, then ordered him to clean the apartment or face a snake-meat dinner.
• Jiang Chen went downstairs to sort through his gains in Tang Yi’s former room and reflected that what he had learned might be beyond what she could bear.

Jiang Chen visited Chen Xue, an old companion who had become stuck at the bottleneck to Grandmaster, and spent the evening talking with her about the looming calamity and her hopes for the future. He gave her divine soul fragments as a New Year's gift and promised she would live to see the Restricted Zones defeated.

• Jiang Chen assessed his gains, including over seventy million ghost qi, the Yin God's five fingers, Blood Man's tendon, and divine soul fragments he planned to share with Tie Zhu and old friends.
• Jiang Chen visited Chen Xue at her apartment, and she greeted him with excitement despite the gulf between their current strengths.
• Chen Xue told Jiang Chen that the Chen Family had divided its Sacrificial Offerings between her and Chen Xiaoyu, but she remained stuck at the Grandmaster bottleneck.
• Chen Xue expressed hope that the King of Reincarnation's breakthrough would help the Nine Provinces defeat the Restricted Zones and end the recurring turmoil.
• Jiang Chen gave Chen Xue a New Year's gift and told her to get some sleep, assuring her she would live to see the day her hopes came true.

Jiang Chen visited old friends and gave most of them Divine Soul fragments, then joined the King of Reincarnation after the Blood River reappeared near Formless City. The King of Reincarnation began revealing hidden truths about other Supreme Powerhouses and the unusual situation.

• Jiang Chen visited his old acquaintances and gave each a Divine Soul fragment, but advised Chen Xiaoyu to be cautious about pursuing a higher realm.
• Jiang Chen scolded Tie Zhu for criticizing the King of Reincarnation and told him to stop speaking carelessly.
• The King of Reincarnation summoned the Nine Provinces' powerhouses to a camp outside the Fengdu Forbidden Domain.
• King Biancheng reported that the Blood River had reappeared near Formless City and that unknown powerhouses had fought above it.
• The King of Reincarnation confirmed that Supreme Powerhouses had taken part in the battle and said it was time to reveal some hidden secrets.

The King of Reincarnation warned that Reincarnators and ancient, inhuman Supreme Powerhouses posed threats to the Nine Provinces alongside the weird. King Biancheng described the battle at the River of Forgetfulness Blood River and how an order from the First Emperor halted the Supreme Powerhouses at Formless City, ending with a command to Bai Qi.

• The King of Reincarnation traced the history of conflict between people and argued that the Netherworld must oppose Reincarnators who endangered the Nine Provinces.
• The King of Reincarnation revealed that multiple Supreme Powerhouses and other ancient existences had survived from earlier eras and were pursuing the River of Forgetfulness Blood River.
• King Biancheng recounted how fighters at the Blood River withdrew after its waves killed an Eight-Step Ghost King and injured a Supreme Powerhouse.
• King Biancheng said the Supreme Powerhouses then entered the Seal of Formless City, where he was unable to move.
• A voice from the Mausoleum of the First Emperor ordered the parties to withdraw, then commanded, “Bai Qi, disperse them. Do not slaughter.”

King Biancheng recounted how Bai Qi drove away the Supreme Powerhouses with one sword strike before the Blood River outside Formless City faded. The King of Reincarnation brought the assembled Kings to the Blood-Colored City, where the River of Forgetfulness Blood River was rushing toward its seal.

• King Biancheng described seeing Bai Qi sever a Supreme Powerhouse's arm with one strike and order the others to leave.
• King Biancheng said Bai Qi restrained his bloodlust, left Formless City with his troops, and the Blood River faded afterward.
• The King of Reincarnation warned the Yamas and Dao Alliance Kings that old powerhouses had emerged and the Restricted Zone unrest was unusually dangerous.
• The King of Reincarnation led the Kings through a void rift to the Blood-Colored City, leaving the Half-Kings behind.
• The Kings saw the River of Forgetfulness Blood River surge toward the Blood-Colored City's seal, and the King of Reincarnation ordered the people below to retreat.

The King of Reincarnation confronted the Supreme Powerhouses at Blood-Colored City and wounded three of them with a single sword strike. As the standoff continued, Jiang Chen spotted Young Ba in the Wangchuan River’s mist, but Young Ba sensed a powerful presence hidden in his sleeve and withdrew.

• The King of the Fifth Office ordered Blood-Colored City’s Guardian personnel to retreat as the Wangchuan River surged toward them.
• The King of Reincarnation explained that the River of Forgetfulness was an ancient danger comparable to a Restricted Zone, then refused to let the Supreme Powerhouses pass unchallenged.
• The Supreme Powerhouses mocked the King of Reincarnation, who struck them with his Broken Sword and wounded three while they restrained their strength.
• The King of Reincarnation taunted the wounded figures and suggested that impostors had infiltrated their ranks.
• Jiang Chen recognized Young Ba in the river mist and tried to approach it, but Young Ba sensed a powerful presence in Jiang Chen’s sleeve and retreated.

Jiang Chen learned that the River of Forgetfulness’s Blood River was expected to flow into the Blood-Colored City’s Forbidden Zone, giving Kings a chance to enter. He decided to join the expedition, hoping to explore the zone and possibly find Uncle Wei.

• Jiang Chen recognized the Yin God’s left hand, several Reincarnators, and Xuanyi among the gathered Kings and powerhouses.
• Tang Yi silently warned Jiang Chen that Shenji and Jing Shou might be among the indistinct figures.
• Er Leng identified the balding middle-aged man as Earth One, and he and Jiang Chen speculated that Earth One might be the Hidden Kill Sect’s missing Tian Yi.
• Er Leng told Jiang Chen that a Reincarnator’s prediction had the Blood River entering the Blood-Colored City’s Forbidden Zone.
• Jiang Chen agreed to enter with the gathered group, hoping to explore the zone and perhaps help Uncle Wei.

Jiang Chen and the Nine Provinces’ Kings let the River of Forgetfulness Blood River enter the Blood-Colored City after the King of Reincarnation ordered the seal opened. Jiang Chen then turned the King of Reincarnation’s taunts into a public shouting match with King Artifact loudspeakers.

• Tie Zhu agreed to follow Jiang Chen into danger after Jiang Chen promised him access to missed cartoons.
• The King of Reincarnation ordered the Kings of the Nine Provinces to retreat and open the Blood-Colored City’s seal as the River of Forgetfulness Blood River approached.
• The King of the Fifth Office, the Song Emperor, and the Treasure-Gathering Daoist joined forces to open the seal.
• The King of Reincarnation taunted the Supreme Powerhouses on the river, then challenged them to fight in the present world.
• Jiang Chen gave the King of Reincarnation a King Artifact loudspeaker, then used a better one to curse the Supreme Powerhouses and urged the King of Reincarnation to join in.

Jiang Chen cursed the gathered powerhouses while the King of Reincarnation guarded the Nine Provinces, until the River of Forgetfulness breached the Blood-Colored City’s seal. As the breach quieted and the King of Reincarnation considered entering the Restricted Zone, Jiang Chen stepped into the Blood River to seek its treasures for the Nine Provinces.

• Jiang Chen used a King Artifact loudspeaker to insult the powerhouses gathered on the Blood River and gained a huge amount of Ghost Qi.
• The River of Forgetfulness swept away the barriers and struck the Blood-Colored City’s seal, opening a breach and sending a shockwave across the area.
• A terrifying voice laughed from inside the Blood-Colored City, then cried out in fear before falling silent as the river entered the city.
• The King of Reincarnation regretted keeping the Nine Provinces’ fighters from the opportunity and considered entering the Restricted Zone, while others urged him not to risk his life.
• Jiang Chen declared that he would give his all for the Nine Provinces and stepped into the Blood River.

Jiang Chen entered the Blood-Colored City Restricted Zone with the Blood River, while the kings of the Nine Provinces worried over his fate and watched the breach seal itself. As powerful figures inside the Restricted Zone began to threaten him, Jiang Chen’s immediate danger became clear.

• Jiang Chen entered the Blood River alone, and Sister Hong told the King of the Metropolis that no one could divine Jiang Chen’s fate and that the Restricted Zone would not bury him.
• The Blood River vanished into the Blood-Colored City Restricted Zone, and the breach repaired itself as the kings debated whether heaven and earth or human hands had made the seals.
• The King of Reincarnation argued that the Restricted Zones were man-made, mocking those who supported the natural-origin theory based on their professions and education.
• Inside the Restricted Zone, powerful figures ignored Jiang Chen, but a vicious middle-aged man and a woman in a black dress stepped forward to threaten him.

Jiang Chen faced a gathering of hostile Kings at the Blood River, but Tie Zhu stopped Zhao Congren’s attack while Er Leng secretly blocked Earth One’s assassination attempt. The confrontation escalated when an indistinct-faced Supreme Powerhouse entered the fray and threatened to kill Jiang Chen.

• Jiang Chen taunted the watching Kings, accusing them of waiting for someone else to attack first.
• Zhao Congren struck at Jiang Chen, but Tie Zhu appeared and blocked his saber before challenging him to a fight.
• The woman with the Flood Dragon sensed its fear of Tie Zhu and held back, while other Kings watched the fight.
• Er Leng warned Jiang Chen that he had blocked Earth One’s hidden attack and told Jiang Chen to fend for himself.
• An indistinct-faced Supreme Powerhouse declared that killing Jiang Chen would make the King of Reincarnation heartbroken.

As the Blood River neared the Blood-Colored City, Jiang Chen faced a Supreme Powerhouse’s attack and used Five-Star Demon Transformation to become a Six-Eared Macaque. He left the others stunned by plunging toward the Blood River.

• The Supreme Powerhouse gave Jiang Chen a chance to use his trump cards while the Blood River advanced toward the Blood-Colored City.
• Jiang Chen mocked the Supreme Powerhouse and secretly gathered Ghost Qi as he prepared for a future Seven-Star Card.
• The Supreme Powerhouse pressed a finger down on Jiang Chen, causing space and time around them to stagnate.
• Jiang Chen decided a Five-Star Card could help him escape into the Restricted Zone without exposing his greater power.
• Jiang Chen transformed into a Six-Eared Macaque, used Six-Eared Heaven-Penetrating Insight, and plunged toward the Blood River.

Jiang Chen plunged into the Wangchuan River to escape a Supreme Powerhouse, resisted its visions of past and present lives, and used his abilities to impersonate another Supreme Powerhouse. He rescued Tie Zhu from a group of attackers, but his pursuer discovered he had survived the river and vowed to kill him.

• Jiang Chen used Six-Eared Heaven-Penetrating Insight to learn how the Wangchuan River worked, then dove into it to escape the Supreme Powerhouse.
• Jiang Chen woke from the river's embrace with his memories restored and surfaced farther downstream, while Tie Zhu remained under attack.
• Jiang Chen saw through the Supreme Powerhouses' disguises and used Great Transformation Divine Ability and Six-Element Enlightenment Art to imitate an old man skilled in the Dao of space.
• Jiang Chen reached through space and pulled Tie Zhu away from Zhao Congren, the woman in black, and Xuanyi.
• The Supreme Powerhouse who had attacked Jiang Chen sensed his survival in the Blood River and declared that he could not let Jiang Chen live.