Chapter Summaries

The Nine Heavens lineage continued purging darkness from the universe, and the surviving Dark Supremes gathered at the Primordial Ancient Star to make a last stand. Yuangeng and the Light Emperor Venerable broke through their defenses, and Yuangeng ended all life on the star with a single technique.

• The Dao Provers of the Nine Heavens slaughtered dark beings across the universe and discovered that several Dark Supremes had escaped the fall of the Dark Heavenly Court.
• Twelve Dark Supreme-level combatants gathered behind Hangu Pass on the Primordial Ancient Star, hoping to defend their last stronghold.
• Yuangeng and the Light Emperor Venerable arrived at Hangu Pass, where the Dark Supremes begged them to withdraw and promised to remain confined to the star.
• The Light Emperor Venerable shattered the Dark Emperor Venerable's formation and Hangu Pass, while Yuangeng killed the Dark Annihilation Heavenly Venerable and a Great Accomplished Tyrant Body.
• The Light Emperor Venerable blasted the Dark Kunlun Supremes into blood mist, and Yuangeng used Return to Stillness to kill every living thing on the Primordial Ancient Star.

Yuangeng collected darkness from Earth and tested a transformation method by infecting his former body, made from the Heaven-Burying Coffin, with it. The body awakened as a dark being with a powerful new primordial spirit, and Yuangeng observed its transformation.

• Yuangeng and Emperor Venerable spent over twenty years killing Earth's dark beings and gathering its dark substance.
• Yuangeng explained his proposed Dark Primordial Spirit Transformation Method to Emperor Venerable, then asked Cao Yusheng about the connection between the Burial Domain Method and darkness.
• Cao Yusheng warned Yuangeng that darkness could swallow his primordial spirit, but Yuangeng decided to proceed with the experiment.
• Yuangeng transformed the Heaven-Burying Coffin into a body resembling himself, sealed it with Burial Dao Chains, and placed a drop of his primordial spirit blood inside.
• Yuangeng poured the collected darkness into the former body, which transformed into a dark being with an entirely new personality and an astonishingly powerful dark primordial spirit.

Yuangeng subdued the dark Primordial Spirit born from his discarded old body and confirmed that his own true self remained uninfected. With darkness’s advance broken, the group discussed the risks of dark transformation and the long work of restoring the corrupted stars, while Cao Yusheng finally allowed his exhausted body to age.

• Dark Yuangeng unleashed the Immortal Tribulation Sword Art, but the White-Clothed Female Emperor’s Flying Immortal Art only briefly checked his attack before she was driven back.
• Wan Qing’s Demon Emperor’s Nine Slashes clashed with dark Yuangeng’s Six-Eared Immortal Ape innate art and shattered, leaving Wan Qing shaken by the old body’s strength.
• Yuangeng used the Burial Dao Chains to suppress and seal dark Yuangeng, then drew the cocoon into his brow as Cao Yusheng, Emperor Venerable, and the others confirmed Yuangeng was uninfected.
• Wan Qing and the White-Clothed Female Emperor said they would wait before attempting dark transformation, while Emperor Venerable observed that cleansing and rebuilding the darkened stars would take far longer than destroying their inhabitants.
• Cao Yusheng, relieved that darkness’s momentum had been broken, let his aging flesh decline and thanked Yuangeng for sparing him from dying in battle.

After Cao Yusheng died, Emperor Venerable led the Nine Heavens’ recovery from darkness while Yuangeng secluded himself to study his dark self. More than eighty-eight thousand years later, Yuangeng began transforming into his fourth life, and the Dao Provers witnessed his nirvana in the ruins of the Dark Heavenly Court.

• Cao Yusheng died peacefully, and Wan Qing and the others held a funeral for him on Gou Chen Ancient Star.
• Yuangeng began studying his dark self in seclusion near the ruins of the Dark Heavenly Court.
• Emperor Venerable led the Dao Provers in cleansing the Life Origin Stars of darkness and restoring life across the universe.
• Tianxuan Great Emperor became the first emperor of the post-darkness era, and Emperor Venerable later rebuilt the Heavenly Court.
• More than eighty-eight thousand years after Cao Yusheng’s death, Yuangeng began his fourth-life transformation, and Emperor Venerable recognized the Burial Emperor’s nirvana.

Yuangeng reunited with Emperor Venerable, Wan Qing, and the White-Clothed Female Emperor after living into his fourth life, and shared his new cultivation method with them. Before preparing to leave the era, he received the Dao Integration Flower from Emperor Venerable and saw the Desolate Heaven Emperor waiting beyond the Stone Door.

• The Heavenly Court learned that the Burial Emperor had lived into his fourth life, and countless beings offered him their congratulations and devotion.
• Emperor Venerable, Wan Qing, and the White-Clothed Female Emperor met Yuangeng in the ruins of the Dark Heavenly Court, where they shared Enlightenment Tea and discussed their cultivation.
• Yuangeng gave the three visitors Jade Spirits containing his method of cultivating the Primordial Spirit, and they described their own progress toward new lives.
• Yuangeng said he would leave before Cao Yusheng awoke, and he gave his companions his remaining Enlightenment Tea Leaves.
• Emperor Venerable gave Yuangeng the Dao Integration Flower, and Yuangeng later saw the Desolate Heaven Emperor waiting beyond the Sick One's Stone Door.

Yuangeng encountered the original Dark Immortal Emperor, who introduced himself as Emperor Bone Brother and took a photograph of Yuangeng and the Stone Door. Emperor Bone Brother revealed that he had come not for Yuangeng, but for a tributary of the River of Time.

• Yuangeng returned to the River of Time and discovered an Immortal Emperor watching from beyond the ages.
• Yuangeng greeted the figure, who identified himself as the original self of the Dark Immortal Emperor and agreed to be called Emperor Bone Brother.
• Emperor Bone Brother drew Yuangeng closer and used an old camera to take a photograph that captured Yuangeng, the Stone Door, and the River of Time.
• Emperor Bone Brother gave Yuangeng the photograph and asked him to show it to him if they met again.
• Emperor Bone Brother explained that he had come to see a tributary of the River of Time, not Yuangeng.

Emperor Bone Brother explained how his dark self had created the timeline’s divergence and revealed that Desolate and Yuangeng’s actions had stopped its resurrection. After sealing the dark remnant, Emperor Bone Brother departed to fight in the Calamity Land, and Yuangeng left the converged timeline by traveling upstream.

• Emperor Bone Brother told Yuangeng that a contingency left by his dark self had disrupted history and created the tributary timeline.
• Emperor Bone Brother explained that Desolate and Yuangeng’s interventions had extinguished the dark self’s resurrection and restored history’s normal course, in which the Second-Generation Heavenly Court joined Desolate’s Heavenly Court.
• Emperor Bone Brother discussed the uncertain futures of the Netherworld Venerable and others, saying Cao Yusheng had his best chance in this timeline to become an Immortal Emperor.
• Emperor Bone Brother drew his weakened dark remnant from the universe and sealed it inside an earthenware jar.
• Emperor Bone Brother departed to continue fighting the Calamity Land, and Yuangeng activated the stone gate and traveled upstream along the River of Time.

In the Strange World's Life Forbidden Zone, Fighting Saint Emperor watched Beast God and Light-Dark Supreme battle and learned more about the Supremes he hoped to surpass. As Carefree Heavenly Venerate pointed out Heng Emperor's strength, Heng Emperor's Faith Dao Body stirred and opened its eyes.

• Beast God rang the Kunlun Immortal Bell and challenged the Life Forbidden Zone's Supremes to battle.
• Fighting Saint Emperor and Light-Dark Supreme left their halls, and Light-Dark Supreme charged at Beast God beneath the bell.
• Beast God and Light-Dark Supreme fought within the forbidden zone's Supreme Formation Patterns while Fighting Saint Emperor watched.
• Carefree Heavenly Venerate encouraged Fighting Saint Emperor to keep pursuing immortality through battle and compared himself unfavorably with Heng Emperor.
• Carefree Heavenly Venerate and Fighting Saint Emperor looked toward Heng Emperor's Faith Dao Body, which opened its eyes after more than ninety thousand years of stillness.

Yuangeng's faith body awakened after more than ninety thousand years beneath the Sixteen-Foot Bodhi Tree, and the Supremes gathered to welcome him and introduce themselves. He reunited with old allies, met several new emperors, and ended by hearing the name of a mysterious silver-haired cultivator: Yun Gen.

• Heng Emperor's faith body awakened, absorbed the thought power of living beings, and was strengthened by the Sixteen-Foot Bodhi Tree.
• The awakened body released vital essence that nourished the flowers and ancient trees throughout the life forbidden zone.
• Supremes gathered beneath the Bodhi Tree, and Yuangeng told them he had completed his fourth lifetime after more than ninety thousand years in seclusion.
• Annihilation Heavenly Venerable and Dongfang Taiyi introduced themselves, while Yuangeng learned that Kui Emperor and Fighting Saint Emperor had also joined the gathering.
• Yuangeng encouraged Fighting Saint Emperor to accumulate strength toward becoming a Battle Immortal, then asked the last unfamiliar emperor his name.
• The silver-haired emperor introduced himself as Yun Gen.

Yuangeng learned that the Carefree Heavenly Venerate and Yun Gen had been separated into independent sovereigns, then tested the Carefree Heavenly Venerate’s strength. Yuangeng easily defeated his completed Unity of the Nine Secrets, leaving the Carefree Heavenly Venerate amazed by the Myriad Transformation Sacred Art.

• Yun Gen introduced himself after the Two-Spirit Separation Method freed him and the Carefree Heavenly Venerate from their fused state.
• The Carefree Heavenly Venerate explained that he and many allies had spent fifty thousand years devising the method, and Yun Gen thanked them for their help.
• Yuangeng challenged the Carefree Heavenly Venerate to test his strength, and the surrounding Supremes stabilized the vast space between them.
• The Carefree Heavenly Venerate revealed his Unity of the Nine Secrets and sent its immortal beam at Yuangeng.
• Yuangeng used the Myriad Transformation Sacred Art to erase the attack and strike the Carefree Heavenly Venerate, who acknowledged Yuangeng’s overwhelming strength.

After returning to the Shrouding the Heavens universe, Yuangeng met Tai Chu in the Divine Ruins and asked what had happened during his hundred-thousand-year absence. Tai Chu reported on the era’s sovereigns and warned that the Netherworld Venerable was close to returning to life.

• The Divine Ruins reappeared above Origin Star, and cultivators across the universe wondered whether the Heng Emperor had survived.
• Yuangeng absorbed the gathered celestial light, then met Tai Chu, the Saint Spirit who had endured for over a hundred thousand years.
• Yuangeng learned that Tai Chu was in his third lifetime and had been using his power to restore the Primordial Ancient Mine.
• Tai Chu told Yuangeng about the Kui Emperor, the Fighting Saint Emperor, and a Great Accomplished Tyrant Body who had failed to prove his Dao.
• Tai Chu revealed that the Netherworld Venerable had formed his fourth Reincarnation Seal and was about to return to life.

Yuangeng visited Tai Chu at the Undying Mountain and saw the Immortal Tears Green Gold Saint Spirit nearing the third extremity of the Four Extremes Secret Realm. After Yuangeng advised Tai Chu to give the murderous Stone Egg a final chance as a trial for the next emperor, they set off together for the Underworld.

• Tai Chu told Yuangeng that Netherworld Venerable's body had developed spiritual awareness with help from powerful visitors, and Yuangeng said they feared he would disappear after reviving.
• Tai Chu brought Yuangeng to the Undying Mountain, where they found the Immortal Tears Green Gold Saint Spirit developing rapidly under Tai Chu's care.
• Tai Chu explained that he had gathered and protected Saint Spirit embryos to prevent premature emergence and reduce their hostility toward living beings.
• Yuangeng suggested that Tai Chu create scriptures to help interrupted Saint Spirit gestations reach perfection.
• Tai Chu showed Yuangeng the Stone Egg whose inhabitant had a strong urge to destroy everything, and Yuangeng advised releasing him when the next emperor emerged as a final trial.
• Tai Chu agreed to accompany Yuangeng to the flourishing Underworld.

Yuangeng and Tai Chu visited the flourishing Underworld, where Yuangeng met the Lunar Essence Human Emperor and learned that the Netherworld Venerable was nearing revival. Guided by the Heavenly Nether Treasure, Yuangeng headed toward the hall where Cao Yusheng would soon awaken.

• Yuangeng and Tai Chu entered the Underworld Star Domain and saw how its branches and undead forces had grown stronger over the past hundred thousand years.
• Yuangeng recognized the Lunar Essence Human Emperor in Rebirth Hall, and the Human Emperor explained that he had rebuilt his body and spirit and was preparing to live a new life.
• The Heavenly Nether Treasure greeted Yuangeng, who drew it into his sleeve with the Burial Dao Chain and learned it had grown stronger while studying the path of Saint Spirits with Tai Chu.
• The Heavenly Nether Treasure told Yuangeng that the Netherworld Venerable's fourth Reincarnation Seal had formed and that he would soon awaken into his fifth life.
• Yuangeng followed the Heavenly Nether Treasure's guidance and vanished toward an ancient hall deeper in the Underworld.

Yuangeng used the completed fourth Reincarnation Seal to awaken Cao Yusheng, whose memories from four lifetimes merged as he returned to life. Cao Yusheng woke to find himself unable to move, surrounded by Underworld Supremes inspecting him.

• Yuangeng arrived at Cao Yusheng’s corpse-nurturing grounds and found the opened coffin guarded by six Imperial Dao Weapons and sealed formation patterns.
• Yuangeng examined Cao Yusheng’s four perfected Reincarnation Seals and asked about the suppressed jade bowl beside him.
• Yuangeng gathered netherworld energy, transformed it into pure life force, and struck Cao Yusheng between the brows.
• Cao Yusheng’s four Reincarnation Seals connected, awakening memories spanning his four lifetimes as his heart began to beat.
• Cao Yusheng opened his eyes, lamented that he had entered another lifetime, and discovered he could not move while the Supremes watched him.

Netherworld Venerable awakened in the ancient hall and broke free of the seven weapons suppressing him, confronting Yuangeng and the former Underworld Supremes. Yuangeng overpowered him and, recognizing that he had sealed away memories of the Chaotic Ancient Era, pressed his attack to force those memories to return.

• Netherworld Venerable recognized Carefree, Annihilation, Prison-Suppressing, Rebirth, Yama, Corpse Emperor, and the other Supremes, who demanded answers about his abandonment of the Underworld.
• Netherworld Venerable declared that he would sever his past ties if they obstructed his immortal path, then shattered the iron coffin and the cage formed by seven Supreme Artifacts.
• Yuangeng stepped forward to protect the weapons and invited Netherworld Venerable, whom he called Yusheng, to join him on the Burial Domain cultivation path.
• Netherworld Venerable used Nine Secrets: Qian against Yuangeng, but Yuangeng dispelled the attack and struck him with a palm of Order Divine Chains.
• Yuangeng realized Netherworld Venerable had sealed some memories of the Chaotic Ancient Era and attacked with the Immortal Tribulation Sword Art to break the seal.

Yuangeng fought the Netherworld Venerable to break the seal on his memories, restoring Cao Yusheng’s memories and Chaotic Ancient cultivation. Cao Yusheng recognized Yuangeng’s origins and reflected on how slowly his reincarnations had progressed.

• Yuangeng overpowered the Netherworld Venerable and asked whether he remembered his teacher and Desolate.
• The Netherworld Venerable attacked Yuangeng to force his sealed memories to return, and they fought through the Epoch Burial Pit.
• After more than a thousand exchanges, Yuangeng shattered the seal, and Cao Yusheng’s memories and Chaotic Ancient cultivation awakened.
• Cao Yusheng unleashed an Immortal Dao Domain killing formation, which Yuangeng broke with Burial Dao Light.
• Cao Yusheng recognized Yuangeng as an expert from an earlier epoch, and Yuangeng urged him to resume his cultivation with greater urgency.
• Cao Yusheng admitted that he had only just begun his fifth life despite millions of years of cultivation.

Cao Yusheng and Yuangeng ended their battle peacefully and discussed their paths and bonds with the people around them. Before Cao Yusheng began his fifth lifetime, Yuangeng learned that Ming He might be the mysterious female burial immortal who had slept through the Chaotic Ancient Era.

• Cao Yusheng told Yuangeng about his four reincarnation seals and his wish to follow Desolate into the Immortal Domain.
• Yuangeng said he would seek ways to help his friends live longer, and the two repaired the Underworld after ceasing their battle.
• Cao Yusheng asked Yuangeng to guide him back to the Extreme Dao when his fifth lifetime began, without uniting with the Heavenly Heart.
• Yuangeng asked Cao Yusheng about the Burial Lord's lineage and revealed that his Dao companion was Ming He, a Golden Burial Cultivator descended from that lineage.
• Cao Yusheng recalled a female burial immortal who had slept through an era, and Yuangeng believed she might be Ming He.

Cao Yusheng ended his Netherworld Venerable lifetime and began his fifth life as an unawakened young man. Yuangeng sent him to Big Dipper under secret protection, while the Underworld’s ancient figures accepted that their ties to him had ended.

• Cao Yusheng returned his cultivation, memories, and Dao fruit to the Four Reincarnation Seals, becoming a powerless, unconscious youth.
• Yuangeng explained that Cao Yusheng’s fifth lifetime had begun and promised to keep him safe and prevent him from slacking off.
• Yuangeng placed a Jade Bowl containing protective scriptures and methods with Cao Yusheng, then assigned a Quasi-Emperor black tiger to guard him for two thousand years.
• Yuangeng sealed Cao Yusheng and the Jade Bowl in an iron coffin and sent them through a gateway to Big Dipper’s Eastern Wasteland.
• The Underworld’s venerables accepted that their karma with Cao Yusheng had ended, and the Heavenly Nether Treasure resolved to become an Immortal Artifact.

In the Strange World’s Life Forbidden Zone, the Prison-Suppressing Venerable broke through into his third life after overcoming his long-held obsession with the Netherworld Venerable. Yuangeng then helped the Black Tortoise Ancient Emperor and other Supremes develop a preliminary method for repairing damaged Immortal Platforms, before an event in the Shrouding the Heavens Universe drew his attention.

• The Prison-Suppressing Venerable emerged from an ancient hall and began his third life after his obsession with the Netherworld Venerable dissipated.
• Yuangeng and other Supremes congratulated Prison-Suppressing, who discarded the bronze armor he had worn for a million years.
• The Carefree Heavenly Venerate discussed his stalled progress on the Red Dust Immortal Path with Yuangeng, who advised him to focus on the Great Dao of time.
• The Carefree Heavenly Venerate told Yuangeng that the Black Tortoise Ancient Emperor had reached a bottleneck while studying how to repair self-slashed Supremes’ Immortal Platforms.
• Yuangeng joined the Black Tortoise Ancient Emperor and other Supremes, helping them develop a preliminary repair method over a thousand years.
• Before they could test the method, Yuangeng was drawn to another event in the Shrouding the Heavens Universe.

After more than a hundred thousand years of slumber, the Lunar Essence Human Emperor completed his fourth lifetime and returned as the Underworld’s new emperor. Yuangeng took him to Ziwei Ancient Star, where he saw the Human Race’s flourishing lineages and learned that a new age for humanity was approaching.

• The Lunar Essence Human Emperor emerged from his ancient coffin, and the Underworld’s cultivators celebrated his return as their new emperor.
• The Lunar Essence Human Emperor thanked Yuangeng for expounding the Dao, while Yuangeng, the Heavenly Nether Treasure, and Tai Chu congratulated him.
• Yuangeng invited the Lunar Essence Human Emperor to visit Ziwei Ancient Star, and Tai Chu returned to the Primordial Ancient Mine.
• Yuangeng told the Lunar Essence Human Emperor about the Solar Essence Saint Emperor and Dongfang Taiyi, whose Dao had helped secure the Human Race’s standing on Ziwei.
• The Lunar Essence Human Emperor inspected the Sun God Sect and the human sects’ peaceful coexistence, then Yuangeng declared that the Human Race’s age was about to arrive.