Chapter Summaries

Gu Yu divined great fortune for the expedition into the ruins of High Antiquity and insisted that Su Mu join, earning Su Mu a twenty-percent share of the gains. Meanwhile, an enormous cyclone headed toward the coast of Huaxia on Earth, leaving disaster preparations underway.

• Gu Yu performed a divination and determined that the auspicious position lay due south, where Su Mu was standing.
• The eldest princess and Gu Yu argued over how to divide the expedition's gains, and Su Mu asked for a share.
• Gu Yu secured Su Mu twenty percent of the gains, while he and the eldest princess each took forty percent.
• Su Mu wondered whether Gu Yu had a hidden motive and worried about whether he would be useful in the ruins.
• An enormous cyclone approached Huaxia, disrupting transport and prompting disaster preparations.

Su Mu learned that orthodox immortal cultivators were rare and tied to an uncertain great calamity, then entered a sect treasury with Gu Yu and the eldest princess. He collected nearly eighty million Spirit Stones and received a medium spirit spring, while the others searched the remaining treasures.

• Su Mu asked the old Daoist about orthodox immortal cultivators, but the old Daoist remembered little beyond their rarity and their ability to unleash extraordinary strength when enraged.
• The old Daoist offered Su Mu access to the sect treasury to help him prepare for a great calamity, though he admitted he did not know when it would come.
• Su Mu, Gu Yu, and the eldest princess entered the teleportation formation after Gu Yu checked it for danger.
• Su Mu found a vast pile of Spirit Stones and collected nearly eighty million of them while Gu Yu and the eldest princess examined other treasures.
• Gu Yu gave Su Mu a medium spirit spring and said they would not contest the Spirit Stones but would keep most of the other treasures.

Su Mu obtained the ultra-long-distance Teleportation Array instructions but realized he could not use them on Earth without Spirit Stones, so Gu Yu suggested asking a formation master to modify the array. After the group left the treasury, the old Daoist warned Su Mu that a great calamity was approaching before finally dissipating.

• Gu Yu gave Su Mu a Law Treasure garment, and the eldest princess handed him a Jade Slip containing an ultra-long-distance Teleportation Array.
• Su Mu discovered the array required Spirit Stones at both ends, which he did not have on Earth, and Gu Yu suggested asking the eldest princess to find a formation master to modify it.
• Su Mu, Gu Yu, and the eldest princess finished collecting the treasures and returned to the platform, where Su Mu found no other cultivators.
• The old Daoist explained that cultivators who entered were sent to different places to protect orthodox cultivators from being hunted, then warned Su Mu that a great calamity was near and dissipated.

Su Mu, the eldest princess, and Gu Yu left the palace and set off to search for more treasures. Elsewhere, Old Monster Pang teleported into a chamber, where a mysterious prisoner killed him and escaped.

• The eldest princess led Su Mu and Gu Yu away from the palace after they heard other cultivators fighting the Jade-Eyed Beast.
• The eldest princess carried Su Mu toward a distant flash of spiritual light to hunt for more treasures.
• Old Monster Pang used a damaged Jade Slip to find a Teleportation Array in an ancient palace and teleported away from the others.
• Old Monster Pang discovered a chained figure and tried to escape, but the figure’s profound yin iron chains pierced his body and captured his Nascent Soul.
• The mysterious man swallowed Old Monster Pang’s Nascent Soul, searched his storage ring, and learned that someone had tried to rescue him from the Azure Cloud Sect.
• The man left through the Teleportation Array, taking the chains he had refined with him.

Su Mu asked Zhou Jianhua to help supply the power needed to open a Teleportation Array and bring treasures from another world. After Zhou reported the risks and benefits, senior officials debated whether Huaxia should approve the attempt, including the possibility of gaining control of the Array.

• Su Mu explained that the modified formation could open a Teleportation Array but might require an enormous amount of electricity.
• Zhou Jianhua placed the area under a level-one alert and questioned Su Mu about the Array’s purpose, risks, and the people on the other side.
• Su Mu said the treasures could nourish Huaxia’s Dragon Vein and support research, and assured Zhou that no one would come through.
• Zhou Jianhua left to report the matter, prompting senior officials to convene a secret meeting.
• The officials debated whether to trust Su Mu and considered the potential benefits of controlling the Teleportation Array.

Su Mu and the engineers poured an unprecedented amount of electricity into the Teleportation Array until it linked with the array in the Immortal Cultivation Realm. After Su Mu retrieved his storage ring, he ordered the power shut off, leaving the array’s future use uncertain.

• Zhou Jianhua and the engineers struggled to supply enough electricity as the Teleportation Array continued absorbing power without activating.
• Zhou Jianhua questioned Su Mu about the immense power costs, and Su Mu explained that he had asked the country for help because he did not know how much electricity the array required.
• After more than a hundred billion kilowatt-hours had been supplied, the Teleportation Array released a pillar of light that illuminated much of Earth and alarmed people across the world.
• Su Mu confirmed the link was established, traveled to the Immortal Cultivation Realm, and threw his prepared storage ring into its Teleportation Array.
• Su Mu returned to Earth, retrieved the ring, and ordered the engineers to stop the power supply, causing the pillar of light to fade.

After returning to Earth, Su Mu gave Zhou Jianhua spirit rice plants and a small spirit spring for the country to study, asking for help developing higher-yield spirit rice. The chapter ended with Zhou Jianhua ordering their urgent transport to Azure Dragon Base.

• A chemical defense squad examined and disinfected Su Mu and the Teleportation Array, and Su Mu removed the array's core.
• Su Mu showed Zhou Jianhua a robe from the High Antiquity ruins, while Zhou Jianhua asked him to provide something for the country to study.
• Su Mu gave Zhou Jianhua spirit rice plants and asked him to arrange research into developing higher-yield hybrid spirit rice.
• Su Mu asked Zhou Jianhua to provide money or other help if he needed it later, and Zhou Jianhua agreed.
• Su Mu explained that the spirit rice needed water from a small spirit spring and handed both over to Zhou Jianhua.
• Zhou Jianhua ordered a special forces squad to transport the spirit rice and spring to Azure Dragon Base under level-one alert.

Su Mu showed Wang Peng his sudden wealth and promised to help him earn money, then returned to the Immortal Cultivation Realm. There, Gu Yu sensed her Heavenly Tribulation was imminent and left the imperial city with Su Mu, the eldest princess, and trusted demons to prepare for it on a mountain peak.

• Su Mu encouraged Wang Peng after his breakup and showed him a bank transfer confirming his wealth, promising to help him make money.
• Wang Peng was moved by Su Mu's offer and set aside his heartbreak to discuss how he could earn money.
• After returning home, Su Mu swallowed a pill and cultivated through the night, refining its Spiritual Power.
• Su Mu returned to the Immortal Cultivation Realm and found Gu Yu emerging from the formation, where she said the Heavenly Tribulation was coming.
• Gu Yu asked Su Mu to stand guard, and the eldest princess and trusted demons joined them as they traveled to a mountain peak.
• Gu Yu sat down to prepare for Tribulation Transcendence while the demons guarded the perimeter and Su Mu and the eldest princess watched over her.

Foreign leaders sent the Delta squad to investigate the secrets in Huaxia’s Qinling Mountains, while Su Mu absorbed thousand-year spirit milk and continued tending to his mountain. In the Immortal Cultivation Realm, Great Liang’s National Fortune stabilized after the Demon King’s successful tribulation, and Yu Guyue challenged the Eldest Princess over making Su Mu a physical body.

• Foreign leaders ordered the Delta squad to infiltrate Huaxia and explore the Qinling Mountains.
• Su Mu soaked in the spirit spring, then asked the Spirit of the Dragon Vein to water the newly planted fruit trees with Spiritual Power.
• Ancestor Wuwang realized the Demon King’s successful Tribulation Transcendence had stabilized Great Liang Kingdom’s National Fortune, so he fled its backlash while the demons in his cave were wiped out.
• The Eldest Princess sensed that the thieves who had stolen from Great Liang were executed and that its National Fortune had stabilized.
• Yu Guyue demanded that the Eldest Princess finish shaping Su Mu’s physical body or hand over the materials, and threatened to make one herself.

Su Mu gained a fleshly body shaped by the Eldest Princess, then learned that Great Liang’s vassal states might target him during their tribute visit. After agreeing to help the Eldest Princess for payment, he returned to his courtyard and received a grateful carp spirit bearing gifts and a Daoist companion seeking his guidance.

• The Eldest Princess and Yu Guyue helped Su Mu merge into a fleshly body, and he dressed and tested his new senses.
• Yu Guyue and the Eldest Princess argued over taking Su Mu away, but he stayed to eat and learned that vassal states might challenge Great Liang and hold a grudge against him.
• The Eldest Princess asked Su Mu to help Great Liang deal with the vassal-state envoys through calligraphy or strategy, and he agreed in exchange for payment.
• Back at the courtyard, Su Mu let in the carp spirit after hearing it had brought treasures.
• The carp spirit thanked Su Mu for his guidance and described its improved cultivation prospects, while its Daoist companion wondered whether Su Mu could help him reach Foundation Establishment Great Perfection.

Su Mu supplied spirit medicine for Huaxia’s planned crewed moon landing and prepared to protect his villa, while refusing the crown prince’s invitation in the Immortal Cultivation Realm. As Great Liang’s vassal states gathered in the capital, their scholars learned that the courtesans admired Su Mu’s calligraphy, leaving them angered and resentful.

• Wei Zhonghao told Su Mu that Huaxia planned a January moon landing and would activate the Teleportation Array, and Su Mu prepared diluted spirit medicine for the participants.
• Wei Zhonghao warned Su Mu that a foreign team had infiltrated the country and was targeting his location, so Su Mu decided to set up protective arrays around his villa.
• Su Mu bought arrays with Yu Guyue and Lin Hongbin, then refused the crown prince’s invitation and said the crown prince should seek the eldest princess’s approval first.
• The vassal states arrived in Great Liang’s capital with tribute, and their scholars went to the Entertainment Bureau hoping to challenge Great Liang’s scholars.
• A courtesan praised Su Mu’s two calligraphic treasures and recited his line about the mortal world’s breathtaking banquet, angering the visiting scholars.

Su Mu agreed to help Wang Peng start a fruit business and accepted Zhou Jianhua’s request to bring restricted technology back for the country. After returning to the Immortal Cultivation Realm, he watched Great Liang and its vassal states clash during a tribute ceremony, where Fallen God Sand left several envoys wounded and some cultivators dead.

• Wang Peng asked Su Mu to let him try the business opportunity first, and Su Mu said they could begin in January.
• After Leizi called home about his mother’s surgery, Zhou Jianhua asked Su Mu to steal restricted equipment abroad; Su Mu accepted but said he would go later.
• Su Mu returned to the Immortal Cultivation Realm, where Yu Guyue took him to watch Great Liang’s tribute ceremony.
• An envoy from Great Zhou challenged Great Liang over its refusal to help the vassal states, and officials and envoys began fighting.
• A Great Liang cultivator unleashed Fallen God Sand, injuring foreign envoys and leaving several corpses before both sides stopped fighting and resumed their assembly.

After watching the foreign envoys settle down, Su Mu returned to the palace and spent the evening with Lin Hongbin, whose pursuit of Perfect Foundation Establishment led him to mistake Su Mu's casual remarks about the moon for guidance. Ancestor Wuwang divined a sign of flourishing yin and set out for the Wasteland of Withered Bones, while Lin Hongbin and Yu Guyue were left pondering Su Mu's words.

• Su Mu and Yu Guyue left the tribute presentation after the foreign envoys and Great Liang's court officials stopped fighting.
• Su Mu returned to the palace with street snacks and promised Lin Hongbin he would try to bring him along when he went out.
• Ancestor Wuwang divined that yin was flourishing and yang waning, then flew toward the Wasteland of Withered Bones.
• Su Mu told Lin Hongbin that a crescent moon had its own beauty, and Lin Hongbin mistook the remark for guidance about Perfect Foundation Establishment.
• Lin Hongbin apologized for failing to comprehend Su Mu's guidance, but Su Mu went to his room, leaving Lin Hongbin ashamed and Yu Guyue wondering what he had meant.

Su Mu entered the literary contest and began a poem that initially seemed to produce mediocre calligraphy, drawing ridicule from the foreign scholars. His final line transformed the work into a seven-inch piece, and Mingze recognized it as an unrivaled verse.

• Su Mu dismissed Duan Qi and the other scholars’ anger, then insisted they write after him.
• Su Mu began writing a poem as Righteous Qi formed a bamboo whose joints measured the calligraphy’s length.
• Su Mu’s first three lines raised the bamboo to just over three joints, prompting the scholars to mock his work.
• Su Mu wrote the final line, and the bamboo surged to seven inches.
• Mingze and the other scholars recognized Su Mu’s poem as an unrivaled verse, while Duan Qi and the foreign scholars looked dismayed.
• The eldest princess sensed the occurrence in the palace and smiled faintly.

Su Mu won the calligraphy contest with a seven-inch work, prompting the visiting scholars to concede. After returning to the courtyard, he learned that Moon Pursuing the Sun would strengthen the Demon Race and suppress Righteous Qi, threatening Great Liang and its vassal states.

• Su Mu completed a seven-inch calligraphy work, and the visiting scholars were unable to match it.
• Mingze and the other scholars toasted Su Mu, while Duan Qi and his companions eventually conceded.
• Su Mu put away his calligraphy and returned to the courtyard, where Yu Guyue had recovered from regulating her breathing.
• Yu Guyue explained that Moon Pursuing the Sun would boost Demon Power and suppress Righteous Qi, potentially driving undisciplined demons into a frenzy.
• Su Mu realized the phenomenon could leave towns and villages vulnerable, as scholars in the imperial capital gathered urgently and hurried away.

As Moon Pursuing the Sun threatened Great Liang, the court prepared to suppress demons and sent the eldest princess to guard the Wasteland of Withered Bones. Su Mu agreed to accompany her, and Yu Guyue also offered help, leaving the eldest princess irritated when Su Mu gave her his calligraphy because she was stronger.

• The vassal states recalled their talented scholars as Great Liang prepared for the dangers of Moon Pursuing the Sun.
• The Emperor of Liang issued an imperial edict to Li An to suppress the myriad demons and assigned the eldest princess to guard the Wasteland of Withered Bones.
• The eldest princess told Su Mu about the assignment, and he agreed to accompany her.
• Yu Guyue said she would help suppress the Wasteland of Withered Bones after putting the Demon Race under her command in line.
• Su Mu gave the eldest princess his calligraphy, explaining that she was stronger, which pleased Yu Guyue and annoyed the eldest princess.

Su Mu and the eldest princess reached the Wasteland of Withered Bones as Moon Pursuing the Sun threatened to strengthen its yin baleful power. After seeing the seal under pressure, Su Mu settled in the guarding city and received a request from local scholars to meet him.

• Su Mu returned to the Immortal Cultivation Realm and boarded a flying boat with the eldest princess and Lin Hongbin, bound for the Wasteland of Withered Bones.
• The eldest princess let Su Mu see how Moon Pursuing the Sun had transformed the land, where yin baleful power suppressed Righteous Qi and the Wasteland lay buried in darkness.
• The eldest princess brought out Su Mu's calligraphy, provoking a surge of yin baleful power from the Wasteland, and Yu Guyue urged her to put it away.
• The group reached the city guarding the Wasteland, where Yu Guyue explained that monks and scholars continually reinforced the Buddhist seal and wore down the yin baleful power.
• The eldest princess left to discuss the threat with the local prefect, while Su Mu and Yu Guyue found lodging; Lin Hongbin then told Su Mu that local scholars wanted to meet him.

Su Mu learned that the Wasteland of Withered Bones’ seal was threatened by restless ghosts and agreed to help defend it, then prepared to copy Buddhist scriptures unknown in this world. As Ancestor Wuwang drove the ghosts into attacking the seal, the eldest princess and the defenders prepared for battle, but Yin fire overwhelmed the scholars’ calligraphy.

• Liu Yuanfeng and the scholars told Su Mu that the ghosts remained inside the Wasteland of Withered Bones for its dense Yin Baleful Qi, but Moon Pursuing the Sun could make them go berserk and break the seal.
• Su Mu agreed to help guard the seal and learned from Lin Hongbin that the Buddhist scriptures he knew from Earth were unknown in this world.
• Ancestor Wuwang stirred the ghosts into attacking the seal, while scholars, monks, and cultivators rushed to defend it.
• The eldest princess arrived and ordered the defenders to prepare for battle as ghosts of many forms emerged within the Wasteland of Withered Bones.
• The monks strengthened the seal with Buddhist scriptures and the scholars attacked with calligraphy swords, but ghastly green Yin fire swallowed the swords and turned their calligraphy to ash.

As the Nine Nether Extreme Flame and endless monsters and fiends threatened the seal, the eldest princess and Yu Guyue struggled to hold the Wasteland of Withered Bones back. Just as the defenders neared collapse, a brilliant golden light erupted behind them and Buddhist temples began to shine.

• A bone giant struck the seal with the Nine Nether Extreme Flame, weakening it and injuring the monks who sustained it.
• The eldest princess summoned a Vermilion Bird formed from a refined feather, which burned away Yin Baleful Qi and many monsters and fiends.
• Ancestor Wuwang stayed hidden and let the creatures keep attacking, while the eldest princess called for Yu Guyue to fight beside her.
• The eldest princess used Su Mu's calligraphy to summon a seven-jointed bamboo that swept monsters aside, but the defenders' strength dwindled and she recalled the fading Vermilion Bird.
• As the seal lost its golden light and the defenders despaired, brilliant light shone from behind them and Buddha statues throughout the temples began radiating Buddhist light.

Su Mu used the Diamond Prajnaparamita Sutra to help the monks reinforce the seal and repel the fiends, awakening a Buddha Lotus and an unknown purple-gold lotus within his sea of consciousness. He left with Yu Guyue and the eldest princess, while Ancestor Wuwang vowed to try again in three days and the women pressed Su Mu for an explanation.

• Su Mu brought the monks the Diamond Prajnaparamita Sutra, and their chanting sent golden Sanskrit characters onto the seal, destroying approaching fiends.
• As the sutra spread, a Buddha Lotus appeared in Su Mu's sea of consciousness and opened one petal, while a purple-gold lotus formed beside it.
• The monks thanked Su Mu and Master Wuren invited him to join the Buddhist order, but Yu Guyue objected and Su Mu declined.
• Ancestor Wuwang watched the Buddhist characters disappear and vowed that Su Mu would not stop Moon Pursuing the Sun three days later.
• Su Mu returned to the courtyard and saw Liu Yuanfeng and the other scholars off before the eldest princess asked him what the sutra was about.