Chapter Summaries

Ling Yi rejected NieR’s plan to save the Dream Realm by destroying its dream people, then erased Nightmare and Peng Yang and changed the Dream Realm’s rules. After reflecting on the author’s faltering plots, he chose to set his own pace and transmigrated into A Step into the Past as an assassin facing Shan Rou.

• Ling Yi condemned NieR’s plan, which would trap people in endless nightmares, and warned her not to carry it out.
• Cheng Yuxin reported seeing Peng Yang with a child she suspected was Nightmare, and Peng Yang led an army of villains to surround the city.
• Ling Yi snapped his fingers, erased Nightmare and Peng Yang, and changed the Dream Realm’s rules to separate fantasy and ordinary dream people.
• Yin Wanqing and Cheng Yuxin discussed whether to send the author a hint, while Ling Yi spent three months in the Ling Realm receiving memories from his clones and decided to find his own rhythm.
• Ling Yi transmigrated into A Step into the Past as an assassin marked for death, and found himself facing Shan Rou.

Ling Yi defeated Shan Rou, then encountered Xiang Shaolong, who had fallen from the sky into the State of Zhao. Ling Yi kept Xiang Shaolong’s Space-Time Jade Pendant and led him toward Handan, leaving the chapter with Ling Yi spotting a large animal while searching for food.

• Ling Yi used his Passive Counterattack Aura and swordsmanship to defeat Shan Rou, who withdrew from the valley and vowed to return.
• Xiang Shaolong fell from the sky, and Ling Yi took his Space-Time Jade Pendant and handgun while he was unconscious.
• Xiang Shaolong awoke and shot at Ling Yi, but Ling Yi blocked the bullet with his sword; Xiang Shaolong then followed him to try to recover the pendant.
• Ling Yi warned Xiang Shaolong that he was an assassin and that Handan lay ahead, while Xiang Shaolong disguised himself in coarse hemp clothes at an elderly couple’s home.
• Ling Yi left to search for game and spotted a large animal in the wilderness.

Xiang Shaolong recovered his Space-Time Jade Pendant and joined Ling Yi’s plan to rescue Zhu Ji and her son in Handan, while Shan Rou also attached herself to Ling Yi. The three traveled to Youpeng Town and entered a dangerous warriors’ lodge, where they noticed an old man with a black wooden sword.

• Xiang Shaolong traded his dagger for the Space-Time Jade Pendant and learned that Ling Yi planned to rescue Zhu Ji and Zhao Zheng to earn King Xiang of Qin’s favor.
• Xiang Shaolong persuaded Ling Yi to let him join the plan, and Shan Rou arrived, deflected an attack, and demanded to join as well.
• Ling Yi told Shan Rou and Xiang Shaolong they could follow him, and the three set out for Handan the next morning.
• Shan Rou explained that Youpeng Town’s warriors’ lodge offered food and lodging but forced fighters into deadly contests for influential patrons.
• The three entered the lodge carrying bronze swords and spotted a disheveled old man drinking wine beside a pitch-black wooden sword.

Ling Yi and Shan Rou met Yuan Zong, then joined him in confronting Yan Ping, who had plotted to seize the Mohist Grand Master's Token. Ling Yi cut through Yan Ping’s ambush, and Shan Rou and Yuan Zong forced Yan Ping back from his escape attempt.

• Ling Yi told Yuan Zong that Yan Ping had placed a bounty on his head, and six assassins attacked Ling Yi before he killed them with one sword stroke.
• Ling Yi revealed that he and Shan Rou had been trained by Cao Qiudao, then asked Yuan Zong to lead them to Yan Ping so they could kill him and later rescue Zhu Ji and her son.
• Ling Yi entered Yan Ping’s manor alone and deflected arrows and hidden weapons, killing many of the nearly hundred ambushers as Xiang Shaolong described the fictional Nine Swords of Dugu to Shan Rou and Yuan Zong.
• Shan Rou noticed Yan Ping retreating and charged with Yuan Zong to block his escape while Xiang Shaolong aimed his pistol at him.
• Yan Ping tried to flee over a courtyard wall, but Shan Rou and Yuan Zong attacked together and forced him back into the manor.

Ling Yi, Shan Rou, and Xiang Shaolong reached Camel Hump Mountain and recovered the Heirloom Seal of He from the mounted bandits. After rescuing two survivors from Wu Family Fort, they learned Xiang Shaolong had been bitten by the proud woman, and the group prepared to decide what to do next.

• Shan Rou killed Yan Ping, and the surviving men surrendered to Yuan Zong.
• Ling Yi told Xiang Shaolong that his abilities came from innate talent, then parted from Yuan Zong and rode toward Handan with Shan Rou and Xiang Shaolong.
• The group found the slaughtered Wu Family Fort convoy in a valley and learned the mounted bandits had taken the Heirloom Seal of He.
• Ling Yi and his companions stormed the bandits' stronghold, subdued them, and found the seal hidden beneath the seat of honor.
• Shan Rou and Xiang Shaolong rescued the only two survivors from Wu Family Fort, but the woman bit Xiang Shaolong and then kicked him after Shan Rou struck him.

Ling Yi and his companions recovered the Heirloom Seal of He and discovered Lian Jin had betrayed Wu Family Fort. After Ling Yi severed Lian Jin’s sword arm and Wu Tingfang pleaded for his life, the group escorted her and Tao Fang toward Wu Family Fort, where its master came out to greet them.

• Ling Yi returned the Heirloom Seal of He to Tao Fang, and Tao Fang realized Wu Tingfang had told Lian Jin about its secret transport.
• Lian Jin arrived, admitted his loyalty to Zhao Mu, killed the bandit chief, and demanded the seal.
• Ling Yi cut off Lian Jin’s right arm, and Wu Tingfang pleaded with Ling Yi to spare him.
• Wu Tingfang fainted after Lian Jin left, and Tao Fang asked Ling Yi to escort them to Wu Family Fort.
• Ling Yi agreed to stay at Wu Family Fort, and Tao Fang described its warhorses and the upcoming cuju tournament.
• Wu Yingyuan met the group on the road as they approached Wu Family Fort.

Ling Yi and his companions arrived at Wu Family Fort, where Wu Yingyuan thanked him for saving the fort and discussed the Heirloom Seal of He and Zhu Ji’s rescue. Wu Tingfang later asked Ling Yi for advice, and he sent her to Xiang Shaolong to solve her father’s problem, promising Xiang Shaolong an advanced breathing method in return.

• Wu Yingyuan welcomed Ling Yi and his companions, while Wu Tingfang reunited with her family and Wu Tingwei left with her.
• Ling Yi told Shan Rou to scout Zhao Mu’s residence and explained that he planned to hand Zhu Ji and her son to Wu Yingyuan after meeting someone important.
• Wu Yingyuan discussed Ling Yi, the hostage prince, and Zhao Mu with Tao Fang and Wu Tingfang, then planned to visit the king with Tao Fang.
• Wu Tingfang visited Ling Yi and asked for advice about the Heirloom Seal of He, and Ling Yi told her to take Xiang Shaolong to her father.
• Xiang Shaolong agreed to help Wu Tingfang after Ling Yi promised to teach him an advanced breathing method, and Wu Tingfang took him to see Wu Yingyuan.

Ling Yi learned that Zhao Pan, a time traveler, had become a powerful adviser to the King of Zhao and intended to pursue power in Zhao rather than become the First Emperor of Qin. Ling Yi decided to find the real Zhao Zheng and oppose Zhao Pan, then faced Cao Qiudao outside Wu Family Fort.

• Ling Yi learned that Zhao Pan sold modern goods, had earned the title Marquis of Peace, and had weakened Zhao Mu's position at court.
• Ling Yi sent Shan Rou to Niu Family Village to find Niu Zheng, whose real identity was Zhao Zheng, while explaining that Zhao Pan's Zhao Zheng was an impostor.
• Ling Yi concluded that Zhao Pan was Xiang Shaolong's enemy because he was willing to change history, and Xiang Shaolong agreed to investigate how Zhao Pan brought modern goods to the past.
• Ling Yi gave Shan Rou and Xiang Shaolong a breathing cultivation technique, and they went off to practice.
• Ling Yi deflected two hidden weapons and confronted Cao Qiudao, who challenged him to a fight.

Ling Yi defeated Cao Qiudao and recruited him to help with an impending upheaval, then won Yuan Zong’s support for his plan to unite the states. At Wu Family Fort, Ling Yi revealed that the real Zhao Zheng had died years ago, leaving Wu Yingyuan and Tao Fang fearing Lü Buwei’s retaliation.

• Ling Yi bested Cao Qiudao in a series of exchanges and persuaded him to stay at Wu Family Fort and cooperate in return for a cultivation technique.
• Yuan Zong agreed to help Ling Yi unite the states, while warning that the Mohist School would kill him if his actions violated the Heavenly Dao.
• Wu Yingyuan and Tao Fang reviewed what they had learned about Ling Yi, Xiang Shaolong, and their connections before welcoming Ling Yi to Wu Family Fort.
• Ling Yi told Wu Yingyuan that he would rescue Zhu Ji but that Zhao Zheng did not need rescuing because the child at Zhao Mu’s residence was a fake.
• Ling Yi revealed that the real Zhao Zheng, raised as Niu Zheng in Niu Family Village, had died in a plague, alarming Wu Yingyuan and Tao Fang about Lü Buwei’s likely response.

Ling Yi persuaded Wu Yingyuan to consider helping him replace Zhao Zheng, then gathered allies and discovered that Zhao Pan possessed advanced surveillance technology and a modern army. He ordered preparations to leave Handan and activated a pill-refining cheat, leaving Yuan Zong stunned by a huge pit in the manor.

• Ling Yi told Wu Yingyuan and Tao Fang that Zhao Zheng had to live and declared that he would become Zhao Zheng, while Wu Tingfang learned her family’s Qin origins and Wu Yingyuan’s ties to Lü Buwei.
• Yuan Zong, Cao Qiudao, and Shan Rou arrived at Ling Yi’s manor, and Ling Yi sent Cao Qiudao to assassinate Zhao Pan, the Marquis of Taiping.
• Shan Rou brought back Niu Zheng’s belongings, and Yuan Zong tested Ling Yi with a sudden sword strike that stopped just above his head when a miniature drone fell into Ling Yi’s goblet.
• Ling Yi and Xiang Shaolong identified the device as a surveillance drone linked to Zhao Pan, and Xiang Shaolong revealed that Zhao Pan commanded a modern force armed with submachine guns, armor, armored vehicles, and autocannons.
• Ling Yi ordered Yuan Zong to watch Zhao Pan and told Shan Rou and Xiang Shaolong to prepare Wu Yingyuan to leave Handan, then activated Passive Pill Aura to counter Zhao Pan’s technology cheat.
• Yuan Zong returned to find an enormous pit inside the manor and was dumbfounded.

Ling Yi refined earth-attribute pills that let people gain earth abilities, and he urged his allies to eat them as Zhao Pan grew stronger after Cao Qiudao joined him. The chapter ended with Zou Yan and Qin Qing arriving outside Handan at night, where Zou Yan predicted they would meet a benefactor.

• Ling Yi and Yuan Zong ate earth-attribute pills, gained earth powers, and accidentally covered Shan Rou in dirt when Yuan Zong raised a wall at the courtyard entrance.
• Shan Rou reported that Cao Qiudao had slaughtered his fellow disciples and joined Zhao Pan, and Ling Yi predicted Zhao Pan would avoid acting rashly for now.
• Ling Yi told Shan Rou to keep eating pills, then learned from Xiang Shaolong that Zhao Pan had already rescued Zhu Ji.
• Ling Yi invited Wu Yingyuan, Tao Fang, and Wu Tingfang to take pills and help him end the age of chaos, and Wu Yingyuan pledged Wu Family Fort's allegiance to Ling Yi.
• Zou Yan and Qin Qing traveled toward Handan after Zou Yan observed an unusual celestial configuration, then arrived after dark and prepared to spend the night outside the city.

Ling Yi welcomed Zou Yan and Qin Qing to Wu Family Fort, where Zou Yan deduced that Ling Yi came from beyond their world and agreed to travel beyond it with him. After half a month preparing Attribute Pills and plans, Ling Yi announced that they would begin their operation that night under his new identity: Ying Zheng.

• Ling Yi welcomed Zou Yan and Qin Qing, while Xiang Shaolong mistook Qin Qing for his modern girlfriend before realizing she did not know him.
• After learning Xiang Shaolong came from the future, Zou Yan inferred that Ling Yi was also from outside their world and agreed to join him in seeing what lay beyond it.
• Ling Yi spoke with Qin Qing about doubting whether his experiences across many worlds were real, then carried her to a guest room after she fell asleep.
• Wu Yingyuan brought materials for Ling Yi to refine into Attribute Pills, and Zou Yan advised him using his five elements theory.
• After half a month, Wu Yingyuan reported that Lü Buwei was ready to receive them, and Ling Yi ordered everyone to begin that night, announcing he would be known as Ying Zheng.

Zou Yan attacked Zhao Pan’s estate with stone puppets, forcing Zhao Pan’s forces to expend weapons and ammunition until the estate was left silent. Meanwhile, Ling Yi traveled with Zhu Ji toward the Zhao border, where Lü Buwei awaited them, and Zhu Ji worried that Zhao Pan would threaten Zhao Zheng.

• Zhao Pan woke to an alarm and found nine stone giants attacking his estate, but he did not realize Ling Yi’s group had sent them to drain his resources.
• Zou Yan controlled the puppets and repeatedly transformed them, countering Zhao Pan’s guns, incendiary bombs, and water tanker with stronger five-elements formations.
• After hours of fighting, Zhao Pan’s estate fell silent near dawn, with only corpses left inside.
• Ling Yi traveled with Zhu Ji and Wu Yingyuan toward the Zhao border, while Zhu Ji shared her hardships and tried to reconnect with the son she believed was Zhao Zheng.
• Zhu Ji worried that Zhao Pan would become a threat to Zhao Zheng, and Wu Yingyuan recalled Xiang Shaolong calling Zhao Pan a humanoid vending machine.

Ling Yi led the convoy toward Qin while Zhao Pan remained imprisoned in a vending-machine-like cage and Xiang Shaolong pursued Zhao Qian. After Ling Yi killed Lian Jin, the group raced for the Qin border, where Zhao’s army blocked their way and forced an unavoidable battle.

• Xiang Shaolong made Zhao Pan serve as a vending machine, and Zhao Pan tried to unsettle him by warning that changing history could make him disappear.
• Zhao Pan insulted Zhao Qian, who overheard him and angrily threw food into his cage before Shan Rou led her away.
• Ling Yi told Qin Qing about the women he had loved in other worlds, and Qin Qing urged him not to let guilt keep him from love.
• Lian Jin challenged Ling Yi on the road, but Ling Yi swiftly killed him and buried his body beneath the earth.
• Ling Yi ordered the convoy to hurry despite Zhu Ji asking to rest, and the group reached the Qin-Zhao border after more than ten days of forced travel.
• Ling Yi and his companions found Zhao’s army blocking the route, and he told Yuan Zong that the battle ahead could not be avoided.

Ling Yi and his companions charged through Li Mu’s four-hundred-thousand-strong Zhao army and escaped into Great Qin territory. After Ling Yi reprimanded Zhu Ji for endangering Zhao Qian, his followers hailed him as Zheng, and he assigned tasks for the return to Xianyang.

• Ling Yi ordered Shan Rou, Tao Fang, Wu Yingyuan, Xiang Shaolong, Qin Qing, Zou Yan, and Yuan Zong to use their powers as the group charged Li Mu’s army.
• Ling Yi’s force broke through the Zhao ranks and rode into Great Qin territory despite Li Mu’s attempts to stop them.
• Ling Yi slapped Zhu Ji for pushing Zhao Qian from the carriage and warned her not to endanger his friends and family again.
• Wu Yingyuan and the others shouted “Zheng” in support of Ling Yi, who announced they would return to Xianyang the next day.
• Ling Yi assigned Xiang Shaolong to train a Five Elements Army, Shan Rou to build an intelligence network, and Yuan Zong to capture Cao Qiudao.

Ling Yi established an empire spanning the world, then arranged for the true First Emperor of Qin to rule it before leaving with Qin Qing and Shan Rou. He began a new transmigration as a small, highly venomous black snake, unsure where or when he had arrived.

• Ling Yi freed Zhao Pan and recruited him to help build an invincible army, promising him the chance to travel through myriad worlds.
• After returning to Xianyang, Ling Yi rejected Lü Buwei’s attempts to control him and challenged his claim to be Ying Zheng’s father.
• Ling Yi succeeded King Xiang of Qin, let Shan Rou kill Cao Qiudao after one day as state preceptor, and united the world under Great Qin.
• Ling Yi placed the true First Emperor of Qin on the throne, then left Xianyang with Qin Qing and Shan Rou while his original body and Yin Wanqing discussed an upgraded Transmigration Prediction Radar.
• Ling Yi transmigrated into a three-year-old black snake whose bite could kill an ox, and found himself hungry and unable to identify his surroundings.

Ling Yi, reborn as a black snake in the world of the White Snake legend, evolved by eating ants and a bee, then gained a monkey’s genes. After exploring the ancient wilderness, he called Yin Wanqing and learned how to solve the time problem and endure the long wait for the White Snake’s legend.

• Ling Yi left his cave, where his white snake sister slept, and searched unsuccessfully for an opening to attack a troop of monkeys.
• Ling Yi ate ants and a bee, strengthening his body and senses and gaining the ability to transform into a bee.
• Ling Yi flew out of the cave, saw only mountains and primeval forest, and worried that he would have to wait seventeen hundred years for the White Snake’s story.
• Ling Yi bit a monkey to acquire its genes, then transformed into a monkey and called Yin Wanqing for advice.
• Yin Wanqing reminded Ling Yi that he could control time through the Ling Realm and suggested acquiring genes from a creature that could sleep for centuries.
• Ling Yi decided to seek a long-sleeping creature and joked that he would give Yin Wanqing an extra egg later.

Ling Yi killed the toad that was the future Fahai, unknowingly taking on the karma that had belonged to White Snake, while the Old Mother of Mount Li visited their cave and taught White Snake a cultivation technique. After finding a seaside town, Ling Yi witnessed villagers offering livestock and children to Guanyin, just as powerful beings approached and an invisible presence noticed him.

• Ling Yi explored the mountains, killed a toad that was actually the future Fahai, and unknowingly inherited White Snake’s karmic connection with him.
• The Old Mother of Mount Li found Ling Yi and White Snake’s cave, taught the sleeping White Snake a cultivation technique, and said she might accept him as a disciple if he became an immortal.
• Ling Yi flew east, found a seaside town, acquired human genes, and transformed into a young man.
• Ling Yi followed villagers to the shore and watched them prepare pigs, cattle, and six children as offerings to Guanyin.
• As the villagers prayed, a powerful creature approached through the sea and an invisible powerhouse appeared above; Ling Yi looked up and drew its attention.

Ling Yi learned why a thousand-year-old crab spirit had been demanding human sacrifices in Guanyin’s name, then killed the spirit when Guanyin let it flee. After returning to There Is a Cave with Guanyin, Ling Yi found a troubling scene inside.

• Guanyin told Ling Yi that the crab spirit had once helped the fishing village prosper but began demanding young people as sacrifices after it tasted human essence.
• Guanyin explained that the immortal peach trees had withered as the world’s spiritual Qi faded, and that the Investiture of the Gods Calamity had made merit and karma separate, binding gods and Buddhas to strict consequences.
• The crab spirit threatened villagers, then released them and tried to escape after Guanyin agreed to spare it; Ling Yi intercepted and killed it, gaining its armor genes and keeping its pincers.
• Guanyin gave Ling Yi a jade vase that could store objects when he recited its incantation, and Ling Yi used it to put away the crab pincers.
• Ling Yi and Guanyin returned to There Is a Cave, where Ling Yi’s expression darkened at what he saw inside.

Ling Yi discovered that the little white snake had been taken away while undergoing her first cultivation tribulation, and Guanyin found that she was safe. After Guanyin refused Ling Yi’s parasitic seed, they flew to find the snake, and Ling Yi learned that this Primordial World’s history had changed after a mysterious powerhouse disrupted the Witch-Demon Calamity.

• Ling Yi and Guanyin used the Light-Reversal Technique to reconstruct the cave’s past and saw three men capture the sleeping little white snake.
• Guanyin tracked the little white snake and told Ling Yi that she had been rescued and was undergoing a tribulation that would aid her cultivation.
• Ling Yi offered Guanyin a parasitic seed that could grant genetic abilities but leave its user under his control, and Guanyin refused it.
• Ling Yi asked Guanyin to take him to the little white snake, and they flew toward the southern part of Mount Juehuang.
• Guanyin explained that a mysterious powerhouse had altered the Witch-Demon Calamity by attacking Mount Buzhou and the Heavenly Court, and Ling Yi wondered if that person had been him.