Chapter Summaries

Laozi discovered that Shen Gongbao had been stalling while the Human Race secretly prepared the Mountains and Rivers, and the State Great Array beneath the East Sea coast. As the armies clashed and allies joined the Human Race, Shen Gongbao fled toward Chentang Pass with the Investiture of the Gods, and Primordial Heavenly Venerable moved to stop him.

• Laozi uncovered millions of Huaxia Imperial Dynasty soldiers underground completing the Mountains and Rivers, and the State Great Array, and revealed that Shen Gongbao was Fuxi's pawn delaying the war.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerable arrived at Chentang Pass, shattered the Human Race's formation with his Sage pressure, and ordered Bai Ze and the Heavenly Court forces to attack.
• The Zhou Tian Stars Great Array appeared, but the completed Mountains and Rivers, and the State Great Array countered it with phantoms of grotto-heavens and blessed lands.
• Human Race great powers engaged the Heavenly Court's forces, while the Three Xiao intercepted Guangchengzi and the Twelve Golden Immortals, and Dragon Clan troops blocked the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.
• Shen Gongbao rushed toward Chentang Pass with the Investiture of the Gods, and Primordial Heavenly Venerable struck to hold him back.

Shen Gongbao’s betrayal and the Heavenly Court’s worsening defeat forced Hongjun to appear on the battlefield. Fuxi challenged him, and the two faced off as the fighting resumed around them.

• Yuanshi Tianzun attacked Shen Gongbao, but Fuxi used the Fuxi Qin to protect him, and Suiren Shi hid him with the Investiture of the Gods.
• Fuxi sent Primordial Heavenly Venerable to the rear, while the Human Race defeated dozens of Heavenly Court experts and summoned a Vermilion Bird formation that wiped out more than half the Heavenly forces on the East Sea shore.
• The Three Xiaos expelled the Twelve Golden Immortals from the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation after stripping away their cultivation and turning them into stone statues.
• Hongjun appeared beside Primordial Heavenly Venerable, stopped his outburst, and confronted Fuxi as his presence drew the battlefield into a state of Dao comprehension.
• Fuxi dispelled Hongjun’s strange phenomena and challenged him to break the rule against Sages entering the field, but Hongjun grew wary and hesitated to attack.

Hongjun summoned the Heavenly Dao to suppress Fuxi, but Suiren Shi and Di Xin called upon the Human Path through the Huaxia Imperial Dynasty’s altars and beacon fires. Their effort formed the Human Path Sword, which shattered the heavenly punishment and left Hongjun and Fuxi facing the choice of avoiding a battle that could destroy the Primordial World.

• Hongjun summoned the Heavenly Dao’s pressure over Chentang Pass, causing tribulation clouds to gather and alarming mighty figures across the Primordial World.
• Suiren Shi offered an altar, the Sui Fire, and tokens of Human Race inheritances to call upon the Human Path while beacon fires rose from the Huaxia Imperial Dynasty’s 3,650 prefectural seats.
• Di Xin prayed at the imperial capital’s altar, and an illusory implement traveled among the beacon fires, forming a longsword depicting Human Race civilization and order.
• The Human Path Sword shattered the heavenly punishment clouds and dispelled the Heavenly Dao’s pressure, shocking Hongjun and Laozi, Jieyin, and Zhunti.
• Fuxi credited the Heavenly Court’s actions for helping the Human Path form its supreme treasure, then asked Hongjun whether he still intended to go to war.
• Hongjun and Fuxi both recognized that their battle could destroy the Primordial World, so Fuxi gave Hongjun a chance to back down.

Fuxi and Hongjun recognized that their evenly matched battle could destroy the Primordial World, so Hongjun negotiated an end to the conflict as the Heavenly Court’s forces faced defeat. They restored the battlefield and separated the opposing sides, bringing the battle between the Human Race and the Heavenly Court to a close.

• Hongjun waited for Primordial, Laozi, Jieyin, and Zhunti to help, but they stayed out of the fight after realizing Fuxi matched their master.
• After nearly a quarter of an hour, Hongjun backed down and agreed with Fuxi that they could not fight recklessly without endangering the Primordial World.
• Hongjun saw that the Heavenly Court was losing across the battlefields and offered to settle the conflict, admitting that Haotian had acted on his own authority.
• Hongjun and Fuxi appeared before the cultivators, ended the fighting, restored the damaged battlefield, and placed the Human Race’s forces inside Chentang Pass and the Heavenly Court’s forces above the Eastern Sea.
• Hongjun sent the Dragon Clan and its Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals into the depths of the Eastern Sea, ending the battle.

Haotian admitted the Heavenly Court’s fault and surrendered to the Human Race, stunning the Primordial World and filling the Human side with pride. Di Xin prepared to travel to the battlefield in a grand procession, leaving with Nuwa’s Jiu Feng Sky-Patrolling Chariot and a hundred and eight Daluo Golden Immortals.

• Haotian appeared in his Heavenly Emperor’s procession, admitted the Heavenly Court had been wrong to wage war, and agreed to compensate the Human Race and live in harmony with it.
• Hongjun gave no objection to Haotian’s surrender, and the Human Race celebrated while Suiren Shi, Shennong, and Xuanyuan took pride in its rise.
• Di Xin decided to go to the battlefield to accept the Heavenly Court’s surrender, and Fuxi told him to request Nuwa’s Jiu Feng Sky-Patrolling Chariot.
• Nuwa bestowed the Jiu Feng Sky-Patrolling Chariot on Di Xin and urged the Human Race to create additional processions for future Human Emperors.
• Feng Bo and Rain Master led a procession with Di Xin and a hundred and eight Daluo Golden Immortals toward the battlefield at Chentang Pass.

After the Human Race defeated the Heavenly Court, Human Dao Fortune rewarded the Dragon Clan and the Interception Sect, while Haotian and the Primordial Heavenly Venerable faced the losses their sides had suffered. The Primordial Heavenly Venerable activated Kunlun Mountain’s protective formation, sealing the Chan Sect’s mountain.

• Di Xin accepted the Heavenly Court’s surrender, and Hongjun, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, Haotian, and the Heavenly Court’s forces withdrew from the battlefield.
• Fuxi collected the altars across the Huaxia Imperial Dynasty as Human Dao Fortune flooded the Human Race’s territory and nourished its people.
• The Human Path rewarded the Dragon Clan, advancing the Four Seas Dragon Kings to Great Luo and healing Candle Dragon and Ying Long; Candle Dragon ordered the clan to seek vassal status under the Human Race.
• The Three Xiao received Fortune for their role in the war, Yunxiao became a Quasi-Sage, and the Interception Sect’s Fortune rose above the Taiji Sect and the Chan Sect.
• Haotian convened a meeting in the Heavenly Court, while the Primordial Heavenly Venerable brought his disciples back to Kunlun Mountain after the Twelve Golden Immortals lost their cultivation.
• The Primordial Heavenly Venerable activated Kunlun Mountain’s protective formation, and the Chan Sect sealed its mountain.

After the battle, the Netherworld gathered the dead and grew powerful enough to restore balance among the Heavenly Dao, Human Path, and Earthly Dao. The restored balance revealed Hongjun’s hidden plans for the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, provoking Nuwa and Tongtian to attack him and leaving the Primordial World’s spiritual Qi transformed.

• Seven days after the battle, Houtu and the Ten Kings of Hell opened a Ghost Gate over the East Sea and sent the wandering souls into the Netherworld.
• Houtu judged the dead and cast them into Reincarnation, causing six new Ghost Gates and red spider lilies to appear as the Earthly Dao’s strength surged.
• The Heavenly, Human, and Earthly Daos returned to balance, revealing Hongjun’s ordained secrets about the Investiture of the Gods Calamity to all the Sages.
• Nuwa and Tongtian attacked Zixiao Palace and Mount Sumeru, while Tongtian declared that he had severed his ties with Hongjun.
• Tongtian thanked Fuxi, and the unleashed Baleful Qi formed caverns that began exchanging energy with the Primordial World’s grotto-heavens and blessed lands.

The Primordial World began ascending as Acquired Spiritual Qi and Dao Seeds emerged, revealing a future capacity of one yuan Daluo Golden Immortals. Fuxi sensed the path toward Return to Emptiness and watched the Heavenly Dao, Human Path, and Netherworld claim Great Dao Rivers, while Human cultivators gained new Daluo Golden Immortals.

• As the Primordial World ascended, Innate Spiritual Qi changed into Acquired Spiritual Qi, and Acquired Dao Seeds appeared in the Great Dao Rivers.
• Hongjun discovered that the Heavenly Secrets showed the Primordial World could support one yuan Daluo Golden Immortals, far beyond his expected three hundred and sixty-five.
• Fuxi sensed the road toward Return to Emptiness but realized he would need to wait for the Primordial World's ascension to finish.
• The Black Tortoise thanked Fuxi for fulfilling their agreement, revealed his new Sage-level strength, and gave him the Chaos Earth Fiend Diagram.
• The Jade Disc of Good Fortune and Human Path Sword drew Great Dao Rivers to the Heavenly Court and Human territory, and Dao Seeds made dozens of Human cultivators Daluo Golden Immortals.
• The Reincarnation Disk gathered eighteen Great Dao Rivers in the Netherworld, leaving Fuxi to consider the relative standing of the three paths.

The Sages learned that Luohu’s Demon Sea of Outside-Heaven Demons was advancing toward the Primordial World and would arrive in a hundred years. After Hongjun outlined the threat and summoned Fuxi to plan against the Heavenly Demon King, the Human Race began preparing for another war under Di Xin’s command.

• The Demon Sea changed course toward the Primordial World after sensing its exposed coordinates, and Hongjun identified it as Luohu’s contingency of Outside-Heaven Demons.
• Hongjun told the Sages that the calamity would arrive in a hundred years, explained that fallen demons would be reborn within the Demon Sea, and invited Fuxi to Zixiao Palace to discuss the Heavenly Demon King.
• The Sages announced the coming calamity across the Primordial World and urged its inhabitants to prepare for the invasion.
• At the Huaxia Imperial Dynasty’s victory banquet, Di Xin called on the Human Race to prepare for war, and Huang Feihu and the other ministers agreed.

As the Primordial World prepared for the Outside-Heaven Demons’ invasion, Haotian ordered the Heavenly Court to leave the fighting to the Human Race, provoking outrage across the world. His announcement destroyed the Heavenly Court’s remaining authority, while Hongjun and the Four Saints were left furious and bewildered.

• Zhen Yuanzi, Hong Yun, Minghe, and other great powers prepared to resist the Outside-Heaven Demons and gain Merit, while the myriad races pledged to defend the Primordial World.
• Haotian refused to commit the Heavenly Court to the coming battle, arguing that its forces had been weakened by the defeat at Chentang Pass.
• Haotian ordered Taibai Jinxing to announce that the Human Race would be responsible for dealing with the Extraterrestrial Demons Calamity.
• Hong Yun, Zhen Yuanzi, Minghe, Kunpeng, and other powers mocked or lamented Haotian’s decision, while Human cultivators denounced him and Yang Jian considered confronting him.
• Hongjun and the Four Saints were shocked and angered by Haotian’s announcement as Hongjun discussed how to handle the calamity with Fuxi.

Fuxi left Hongjun and Haotian to handle the Outside-Heaven Demons, while the Sages tried to stop the demon kings in the Chaos. They discovered the Sages’ heart demons could revive endlessly, but Jieyin found that Buddha Light weakened them.

• Fuxi told Hongjun that the Human Race would take on the Outside-Heaven Demons and left Zixiao Palace, where an angry Haotian had also been summoned.
• Laozi, Primordial Heavenly Venerable, Jieyin, Zhunti, Tongtian, and Nuwa reached the Demon Sea and found that its Sage-realm demons had been formed from their severed heart demons.
• The Sages set up the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation and the Mountains and Rivers, and the State Great Array, then had Zhunti lure the heart demons inside.
• The Sages trapped and defeated the heart demons, but the demons repeatedly revived, keeping them in the Chaos as the demon army advanced toward the Primordial World.
• Jieyin noticed that Buddha Light weakened the heart demons and urged Zhunti to use it against them.

The Sages discovered that Merit and Merit Spiritual Treasures could suppress Outside-Heaven Demons, then sealed the Heart-Demon Kings and returned to the Primordial World. Jieyin and Zhunti urged Hongjun to bring forward the Journey to the West Calamity and use the approaching demon invasion to advance the west’s fortunes, and Hongjun agreed to discuss it.

• Laozi tested Jieyin’s Buddhist Dao technique and found that its Great Liberation Buddha Light stripped away heart-demon Qi without letting it recover.
• Nuwa used her Merit Golden Wheel to destroy her heart demon, and Tongtian confirmed that his Merit-bearing Qingping Sword could suppress one as well.
• The Sages sealed the Heart-Demon Kings with Tongtian’s Immortal Slaying Sword Formation and returned to the Primordial World.
• Jieyin and Zhunti told Hongjun that the Buddhist Dao could counter Outside-Heaven Demons and proposed bringing forward the Journey to the West Calamity.
• Hongjun considered the changed circumstances and agreed that the proposal required careful discussion.

Hongjun and the Sages arranged the Journey to the West Calamity to use eighty-one tribulations against the Outside-Heaven Demons while gathering fortune to repair the western land veins. They selected the five pilgrims and located the Lingming Stone Monkey on Flower-Fruit Mountain.

• Hongjun warned Jieyin and Zhunti that the Journey to the West route and its tribulations would require Fuxi's cooperation, since the pilgrims would gather land-vein fortune across the Primordial World.
• Jieyin and Zhunti proposed that the Western Teachings provide two pilgrims, with the Taiji Sect, Heavenly Court, and Chan Sect each providing one.
• Haotian offered Curtain-Lifting General Juanlian, Laozi chose Marshal Tianpeng, and Primordial Heavenly Venerable selected True Person Huang Long as the mount.
• Hongjun explained that Huang Long's connection to the land veins could raise the chance of repairing the western land veins to ninety percent and earn him at least twenty percent of the Merit.
• Hongjun and the Sages divined the Lingming Stone Monkey's whereabouts and found him on Flower-Fruit Mountain, where the East Sea dragon veins converged.

Hongjun assigned Zhunti to teach the Lingming Stone Monkey, while Fuxi allowed the Western Teachings to spread Buddhist cultivation among the Human Race but barred their Daluo Golden Immortals. Fuxi and Nuwa planned to claim the main share of the Journey to the West Calamity’s Merit through the monkey, while Jieyin and Zhunti discussed how to obtain the true scriptures.

• Hongjun made Zhunti the Lingming Stone Monkey’s master, completing the arrangements for the Journey to the West Calamity.
• Jieyin and Zhunti asked Fuxi for permission to spread Buddhist cultivation among the Human Race, and Fuxi agreed on the condition that Western Teachings experts at or above the Daluo Golden Immortal realm stay out of its territory.
• Nuwa questioned Fuxi’s decision, and he explained that Buddha Light could help the Human Race fight the Outside-Heaven Demons while conserving Merit.
• Fuxi revealed that Hongjun had established the Journey to the West Calamity to settle his karma with the west and repair its ley lines.
• Fuxi told Nuwa that the Lingming Stone Monkey was connected to her Five-Colored Stone and that he would take the monkey as his disciple to secure the main share of the calamity’s Merit.
• On Mount Sumeru, Jieyin and Zhunti discussed the need for Mahayana Buddhism and wondered where the true scriptures should come from.

Zhunti and Jieyin began establishing a Buddhist Sect and recruited Duobao and Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal from the Interception Sect. Duobao set out to recruit hundreds more disciples, but Wudang Holy Mother, the Three Xiao, Zhao Gongming, and others confronted him after learning of his plan.

• Zhunti proposed that he and Jieyin establish a Buddhist Sect, and they sought Laozi and Yuanshi for help finding disciples.
• Laozi recommended Duobao, while Yuanshi suggested Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal; Jieyin and Zhunti went to the East Sea to recruit them.
• Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal agreed immediately, and Duobao accepted after Zhunti promised him the sect leadership and the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.
• Duobao proposed recruiting at least three hundred and sixty-five Interception Sect disciples, and Jieyin and Zhunti agreed to support his effort.
• Duobao and Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal persuaded a group of disciples, but Wudang Holy Mother, the Three Xiao, Zhao Gongming, and others intercepted them and challenged Duobao.

Daoist Duobao declared that he would leave the Interception Sect for the Western Paradise, prompting Yunxiao and the others to prepare to stop him by force. Tongtian confronted the Western Sages, reclaimed the treasures he had bestowed on Duobao’s followers, and sent them away, while his remaining disciples vowed revenge.

• Daoist Duobao accused the Interception Sect of favoring Yunxiao and announced that he would establish the Buddhist Sect while his followers sought Great Luo attainment.
• Yunxiao, Wudang Holy Mother, Turtle Spirit Holy Mother, Zhao Gongming, and the others brought out their spiritual treasures to block Duobao and his followers.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerable appeared and argued that the disciples should not obstruct Duobao’s pursuit of the Dao.
• Tongtian arrived, revealed Zhunti and Jieyin, and mocked them for recruiting disciples from the Interception Sect.
• Tongtian recalled the Interception Sect’s foretold fate, reclaimed the spiritual treasures he had given Duobao and his followers, and ordered them to leave the East Sea and never claim membership in the sect again.
• Back on Jin'ao Island, Wudang Holy Mother, Turtle Spirit Holy Mother, and the others vowed to punish Duobao and the Western Teachings, while Tongtian looked toward Zixiao Palace with killing intent.

Jieyin and Zhunti established the Buddhist Sect with Duobao as its leader, while Chan Sect disciples joined to claim a share of the Journey to the West Merit. After Jin Chanzi was killed to begin the calamity, Jieyin and Zhunti debated how to protect his ten reincarnations from interference in Houtu’s Netherworld.

• Tongtian left without stopping Duobao and the Jie Sect Disciples from going west, and Jieyin and Zhunti established the Buddhist Sect with Duobao Tathagata in charge.
• Randeng, True Person Cihang, True Person Manjushri, and other Chan Sect disciples joined the Buddhist Sect, taking positions as Past Buddha and Bodhisattvas.
• Duobao Tathagata struck Jin Chanzi until only his soul remained, and Randeng carried it to Jieyin and Zhunti to begin the Journey to the West Calamity.
• Duobao Tathagata told the Buddhist disciples to go preach to the Human Race, while Jieyin and Zhunti returned Jin Chanzi’s soul to Spirit Mountain and discussed his reincarnations.
• Zhunti proposed seeking help from Yuanshi and Laozi to secure authority in the Netherworld, but Jieyin warned that Houtu’s power there made such a move unwise.

Jieyin and Zhunti sent Ksitigarbha to make a great vow concerning the Netherworld so he could attain the Bodhisattva Realm through the Power of Vows. Ksitigarbha reached the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, but the Netherworld gave no response to his vow, even after he entered.

• Jieyin told Zhunti to summon Ksitigarbha and offered him a path to the Great Luo through a vow not to become a Buddha until hell was empty.
• Ksitigarbha went to the Blood Sea but, afraid to enter the Netherworld, made his vow outside its gates.
• Ancestor Minghe cursed Ksitigarbha for making the vow at the Blood Sea, while Zhunti and Jieyin rushed to stand surety for him.
• Houtu suppressed the Earthly Dao's anger, and the Earthly Dao ignored Ksitigarbha's vow.
• The Heavenly Dao accepted the vow and raised Ksitigarbha to the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm, but the Netherworld did not respond.
• Zhunti shouted at Ksitigarbha to enter the Netherworld, and Ksitigarbha went inside without eliciting any response.

Ksitigarbha sent Jin Chanzi into reincarnation, but the Buddhist Sect struggled to gain influence among the Human Race. When the Lingming Stone Monkey was born on Flower-Fruit Mountain, Zhunti and Jieyin set aside their concerns about Jin Chanzi and began arranging the monkey’s future, wary of Fuxi’s warning against entering Human territory.

• Ksitigarbha hurried Jin Chanzi’s soul into reincarnation, and Houtu told the Ten Kings of Hell and Netherworld Constables not to hinder him.
• The Human Race’s Hundred Schools of Thought adapted Buddhist techniques for the battlefield, leaving the Buddhist Sect with little influence among humans.
• A pillar of light rose above the East Sea as the Lingming Stone Monkey was born on Flower-Fruit Mountain.
• Zhunti and Jieyin headed toward the East Sea, eager to claim the monkey and believing he would help restore the Western Paradise’s origin.
• Fuxi appeared on Flower-Fruit Mountain, looked at the Lingming Stone Monkey, and left without intervening.
• Remembering Fuxi’s ban on entering Human territory, Zhunti and Jieyin abandoned their journey there and arranged for the Lingming Stone Monkey to seek immortality and leave.

Fuxi interrupted the planned meeting between the Lingming Stone Monkey and Zhunti, subdued the watching Sages, and accepted the monkey as his disciple. After Fuxi departed with him, the Sages decided to continue the Journey to the West Calamity with Jin Chanzi.

• Fuxi sensed that the Lingming Stone Monkey had not yet become Zhunti's disciple, so he left Fuxi Temple to find him.
• The Lingming Stone Monkey reached Lingtai Three-Inch Mountain and asked a woodcutter whether it was an Immortal Mountain Blessed Land.
• Fuxi revealed himself as the woodcutter, froze Jieyin and Zhunti with his gaze, and accepted the Lingming Stone Monkey after the monkey performed three bows and nine kowtows.
• Fuxi told the Lingming Stone Monkey about his origins and potential, then immobilized Laozi and Yuanshi when they challenged him.
• Fuxi took the Lingming Stone Monkey away, and the four Sages agreed to continue the Journey to the West Calamity with Jin Chanzi.