Chapter Summaries

Ying Zheng sent Yao Jia to contact the Witch Clan, whose leader offered Qin aid against the allied armies in exchange for retrieving the Skull of Gonggong from the Buzhou Mountain Ruins. As Qin’s defenses came under mounting pressure, Cheng Xi’s secluded cultivation produced the first manifestation of the Human Dao Net.

• Ying Zheng ordered Meng Tian to monitor the Witch Clan and sent Yao Jia north with Cheng Xi’s jade pendant to learn their intentions.
• Yao Jia met Great Witch Priest Han Zhe, who explained that the Xuan Ming Tribe had come under Ancestor Witch Xuan Ming’s command and offered an alliance with Immortal Qin.
• Han Zhe promised that the Xuan Ming Witch Domain could disrupt the eastern allied army, but demanded that Qin retrieve the Skull of Gonggong from the Buzhou Mountain Ruins within three months.
• Yao Jia returned to Xianyang with the Witch Clan’s terms as reports arrived that the southern allied army had breached two defensive lines and threatened Hangu Pass.
• Ying Zheng ordered Wang Jian to hold Hangu Pass and Meng Tian to coordinate with the Xuan Ming Witch Domain, postponing the Buzhou Mountain decision until Cheng Xi emerged from seclusion.
• Radiant light spread from Cheng Xi’s secluded chamber, briefly revealing the Human Dao Net across Qin territory.

Cheng Xi emerged from seclusion and used the newly formed Human Dao Net to suppress the allied army’s immortal arts at Hangu Pass, then disrupted Taibai Jinxing’s star-power supply and attacked him. As Cheng Xi moved to capture the Heavenly Court envoy, a force linked to the Abyssal Temple struck at Hangu Pass’s core formation hub.

• Cheng Xi learned of the siege of Hangu Pass and chose to relieve it before addressing the Witch Clan alliance and Buzhou Mountain.
• Cheng Xi traveled through the Human Dao Net to Hangu Pass as the Four-Nation Allied Army pressed its assault and Taibai Jinxing prepared a powerful strike.
• Cheng Xi spread the Human Dao Net across the battlefield, weakening the allied army’s immortal arts and strengthening the Qin defenders.
• Cheng Xi used the Dao Net and the Chaos Bell fragment to disrupt Taibai Jinxing’s star-power channel, then lunged to capture him.
• A chain carrying the aura of the Abyssal Temple erupted from the allied camp and attacked Hangu Pass’s core formation hub.

Cheng Xi protected Hangu Pass from an Abyssal Temple ambush with the Kongtong Seal, then defeated Taibai Jinxing and routed the allied army. With the siege lifted, he resolved to hasten his journey to Buzhou Mountain, while the Kongtong Seal pulsed in response to something in the north.

• Cheng Xi hurled the Kongtong Seal backward, and it destroyed the Vengeful Soul Chains before they could strike Hangu Pass's formation core.
• Cheng Xi struck Taibai Jinxing with Chaos Du Tian Lei, shattering his defenses and forcing him to flee.
• Wang Jian led the Qin army in pursuit as the Four-Nation Allied Army collapsed and fled.
• Cheng Xi, Xuan Chengzi, and Fairy Yaochi recognized that hidden factions including the Abyssal Temple had intervened at Hangu Pass.
• Cheng Xi decided to prioritize the journey to Buzhou Mountain, and the Kongtong Seal pulsed with a resonance from the north.

Cheng Xi traveled to the Buzhou Mountain Ruins to reach the Skull of Gonggong and strengthen the Witch Clan Alliance. After crossing the Weak Water on a boat formed from Civilization Fire, he found Abyssal Temple agents waiting to ambush him.

• Cheng Xi left Xianyang after persuading Ying Zheng to let him pursue the Witch Clan Alliance and followed the Kongtong Seal toward Buzhou Mountain.
• Cheng Xi cautiously traversed the ruins, using his Entropy Pupils and Chaos Power to avoid hazards and follow witch-clan markings.
• Cheng Xi reached the Weak Water and crossed it on a Heart Fire Boat formed from the Kindling Fire Imprint.
• Cheng Xi arrived at the altar and found the sealed Skull of Gonggong, whose aura resonated with the Kongtong Seal.
• Three Abyssal Temple agents appeared, led by a Peak Golden Immortal, and attacked Cheng Xi while he was weakened from the crossing.

Cheng Xi sacrificed his life origin and Chaos Dao Foundation to ignite the Kindling Fire, survive the abyssal attack, and awaken the Skull of Gonggong. The Skull shattered its seals and struck the Peak Golden Immortal, while Cheng Xi fell unconscious into a chaotic abyss below Buzhou Mountain.

• Three abyssal black-robed men trapped Cheng Xi with chains and an Abyss Force Field as he struggled to protect himself with Chaos Four Extremes.
• Cheng Xi burned his remaining power and existence to fuel the Kindling Fire, melting the Nirvana Death Ray and driving back the two Early Golden Immortals.
• Cheng Xi reached the Skull of Gonggong, and the Kongtong Seal resonated with it until the Skull awakened and shattered its nine bronze chains.
• The Skull of Gonggong slammed into the Peak Golden Immortal and tore apart the Abyss Force Field in a devastating explosion.
• The Skull of Gonggong escaped through a Spatial Rift with the two injured Early Golden Immortals as Cheng Xi fell unconscious into a chaotic abyss, protected by the Kongtong Seal.

After sacrificing his Dao Foundation to awaken the Skull of Gonggong, Cheng Xi recovered in Empress Pingxin’s origin realm and returned to Xianyang. The Witch-Qin alliance eased Immortal Qin’s military crisis, but a warning from Grand Master Xuandu revealed that the old conflict over the Investiture of the Gods might begin again.

• Empress Pingxin sheltered Cheng Xi’s damaged true spirit and told him that the Skull of Gonggong had reached the Nine Netherlands and the Abyss’s captured Early Golden Immortals had been imprisoned in the Eighteen Layers of Hell.
• Han Zhe and Yao Jia swore a blood oath between the Witch Clan and Immortal Qin, and the Xuan Ming Witch Domain helped Meng Tian’s forces defeat the eastern allied army of Qi and Yan.
• Cheng Xi urged Empress Pingxin to let him return, and she and the Skull of Gonggong helped rebuild his Consciousness Core and fragile Dao Foundation with Earth and Water origins.
• Cheng Xi returned to Zhangtai Palace, where Ying Zheng welcomed him, and he reported that the Skull of Gonggong had awakened and the Witch-Qin alliance had formed.
• Cheng Xi learned that Immortal Qin had gained breathing room on its eastern and southern fronts as its spirit-core and Human Dao Academy projects continued.
• A Black Ice Platform spy delivered Grand Master Xuandu’s letter warning Cheng Xi that his master had gone to Kunlun Jade Void and that the old matters of the Investiture of the Gods might arise again.

After learning that the Investiture of the Gods might be revived to subdue Immortal Qin, Cheng Xi and Ying Zheng strengthened their defenses while Hongjun authorized preparations for a Candidate God List. The Heavenly Court began secretly marking potential targets, and the chapter ended as the Kongtong Seal pointed west and conveyed a faint signal resembling Yan Lingji’s aura.

• Cheng Xi warned Ying Zheng that the Investiture of the Gods could target Immortal Qin’s leaders and bind them as Heavenly Dao puppets.
• Cheng Xi expanded the Human Dao Net with defenses against karmic targeting, bewitchment, and abnormal fortune, while Ying Zheng promoted Immortal Qin’s ideals and workshops developed new spirit-core devices.
• At Zixiao Palace, Taishang Laojun, Primordial Heavenly Venerate, Accepter Daoist, Cundi Daoist, and Lord Tongtian deliberated before Hongjun ordered preparations for a Candidate God List and told Tongtian to restrain Immortal Qin.
• Reports showed that cultivators and Qin commanders were being watched or marked, while minor sects distanced themselves from Immortal Qin and Patrolling Star Officials gathered information for the list.
• Cheng Xi sensed a scrutinizing gaze from the Heavenly Dao fall upon Xianyang, and the Kongtong Seal pointed west with a faint ripple resembling Yan Lingji’s aura.

Cheng Xi traveled west to investigate Yan Lingji’s distress signal and found the Abyss of Return attacked. He arrived to discover its guardians defeated, the protective barriers broken, and Yan Lingji missing.

• Cheng Xi told Ying Zheng he would leave Xianyang to find Yan Lingji, and Ying Zheng agreed while promising to guard Immortal Qin.
• Cheng Xi traveled west, evading Heavenly Court scouts, hostile cultivators, and strange forces drawn to his aura.
• A Celestial Patrol Envoy ambushed Cheng Xi in the Ten Thousand Withering Marshes, but Cheng Xi used the Kongtong Seal and Chaos Sword Qi to defeat him before continuing west.
• Cheng Xi followed the Kongtong Seal’s intensified resonance across the West Sea and entered the Abyss of Return.
• Cheng Xi found Ao Guang and the other guardians gravely wounded, the Candle Dragon’s barrier shattered, and Yan Lingji’s empty sleeping place marked by evil aura and broken black feathers.

Cheng Xi tracked Yan Lingji’s abductors to a hidden Abyssal Temple base in the Sea of Shifting Sands, where he found her being prepared as a vessel for the descent of the Holy Master. He confronted Daoist Yujing and four Peak Golden Immortal guards as the ritual neared completion.

• Cheng Xi examined the shattered barrier, identified a Star Raven feather linked to the starship Hope Frontier, and learned from Torch Dragon that the Starfall Abyss had disrupted the guardians’ perceptions with a reset fragment.
• Cheng Xi used the Civilization Fire Seed to draw a star-map trajectory and fragmented messages from the feather, revealing that Yan Lingji was intended for a Great Nirvana Ritual in the Sea of Shifting Sands.
• Cheng Xi followed the coordinates to a concealed black-metal base, where he found imprisoned creatures being drained for the ritual.
• Cheng Xi reached the base’s central hall and saw Yan Lingji suspended above an altar as her bloodline power fed a reset-charged vortex.
• Daoist Yujing revealed that the ritual was preparing a vessel for the Holy Master’s descent, while four Abyssal Guards surrounded Cheng Xi and sealed the hall.

Cheng Xi tried to save Yan Lingji and disrupt the Holy Lord’s descent, but their interference caused an explosion that let an incomplete projection enter the hall. As the projection reached to erase him, Cheng Xi ignited his origins and Kindling Fire in a self-sacrificial strike, leaving Yan Lingji crying out in alarm.

• Four Peak Golden Immortal Abyssal Guards attacked Cheng Xi, and he used the Kongtong Seal to withstand their blows.
• Cheng Xi reached into Yan Lingji’s consciousness with the Kindling Fire Imprint and urged her to remember their shared struggle.
• Yan Lingji’s resistance disrupted the ritual, allowing Cheng Xi to fire the Kongtong Seal at the Dark Vortex before Daoist Yujing intercepted the beam.
• Fire Witch Bloodline Power collided with the power of returning to zero, exploding across the altar and forcing an incomplete projection of the Holy Lord into the hall.
• The Holy Lord’s projection reached for Cheng Xi, who ignited his underworld, water, Chaos, and Kindling Fire origins to strike back at the cost of his existence.
• Yan Lingji regained a trace of clarity and cried out as Cheng Xi began to burn.

Cheng Xi sacrificed his spirit body to unleash the Light of Dao Transformation, which damaged the Holy Lord’s projection and forced Daoist Yujing to retreat. Yan Lingji awakened her Ancestor Witch power and disrupted Yujing’s escape, but Cheng Xi vanished as the base began to collapse.

• Cheng Xi’s Light of Dao Transformation pierced the Holy Lord’s projection, making it collapse and forcing Daoist Yujing to abandon the ritual.
• Daoist Yujing tried to teleport away with Yan Lingji and the altar, but Yan Lingji awakened her Zhurong power and broke the spatial transmission.
• Yan Lingji struck Daoist Yujing, interrupting his escape and preventing him from taking Cheng Xi.
• Daoist Yujing escaped with four Abyssal Guards and most of the altar after realizing he could not take Cheng Xi.
• Cheng Xi disappeared completely, and the remaining motes of his light merged into Yan Lingji as she wept in the ruined hall.
• The abyssal base began to shake and collapse around Yan Lingji.

After Cheng Xi gave up his Dao to save Yan Lingji, she returned to Xianyang and told Ying Zheng that Cheng Xi was gone. Ying Zheng rallied Immortal Qin to carry on Cheng Xi’s work as powers across the Primordial World reacted, while the Abyssal Temple’s true threat drew closer.

• Yan Lingji returned to Xianyang with the awakened Ancestor Witches Bloodline and told Ying Zheng that Cheng Xi had given up his Dao to save her.
• Ying Zheng mourned Cheng Xi, named him the Chaos Benevolent Sage Emperor, and appointed Yan Lingji Protector Witch Venerable while ordering Immortal Qin to strengthen its defenses and prepare for war.
• Haotian Shangdi ordered the Candidate God List process accelerated and sought to reignite war against Immortal Qin.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate, Taishang Laojun, Lord Tongtian, and Empress Pingxin each reacted to Cheng Xi’s sacrifice, while Lord Tongtian ordered support sent to his forces.
• Daoist Yujing reported that Cheng Xi’s power had disturbed the Holy Lord’s origin, and the Abyssal Temple ordered construction of the Gate of Annihilation accelerated.
• A vast black star erased dead stars as it moved through the Chaos Sea of Stars toward the Primordial World.

After Cheng Xi dissolved into the Dao, Ying Zheng used Great Qin’s dragon qi and national destiny to stabilize the weakened Human Dao Net, drawing the attention of rival powers. A damaged star vessel crashed on the Eastern Sea coast, where its survivors resonated with Cheng Xi’s lingering power and sought contact with Yan Lingji’s group, as forces from across the realm watched.

• Ying Zheng infused the Human Dao Net with dragon qi and national destiny, temporarily restoring it while making it more rigid and worsening his injuries.
• Taibai Jinxing marked potential allies with Star Marks, Disciples of Jade Void prepared formations, and Daoist Duobao sent supplies and disciples to Qin Territory as the Abyssal Temple remained active in the Sea of Shifting Sands.
• A flaming spindle-shaped star vessel crashed on the Eastern Sea coast, causing the Human Dao Net and Yan Lingji’s dormant motes of light to resonate.
• Yan Lingji, Xuan Chengzi, and Fairy Yaochi reached the wreckage and confronted the injured survivors, led by a short-haired ice-blue-haired woman whose device pointed toward Xianyang.
• The ice-blue-haired leader gestured toward Xianyang and sought communication with Yan Lingji’s group, while Immortal Senses from the Heavenly Court, Kunlun Mountain, and an abyssal source swept over the crash site.

Yan Lingji and Ying Zheng learned that Ai Wen and her crew belonged to the Human Civilization Alliance and had come to warn Immortal Qin about the approaching Reapers. As Immortal Qin began protecting the survivors and studying their knowledge, Daoist Yujing ordered the Dark Raven unit to eliminate them.

• Yan Lingji, Xuan Chengzi, and Fairy Yaochi encountered the starship survivors on the East Sea Shore, where Ai Wen’s identity rune resonated with the Kindling Fire Light in Yan Lingji.
• The resonance gave Yan Lingji visions linking the visitors to Cheng Xi’s Civilization Fire Seed and the Human Civilization Alliance.
• Yan Lingji’s group brought Ai Wen and the other survivors to Xianyang, where Ai Wen warned Ying Zheng that the Reapers were approaching and threatened to destroy civilizations.
• Ying Zheng housed the survivors under protection, assigned scholars to establish communication, and authorized Gongshu Ban and other craftsmen to study the wreckage.
• Daoist Yujing learned that the visitors had contacted Immortal Qin and ordered the Dark Raven unit to eradicate them and their knowledge.

Dark Ravens attacked the Imperial Preceptor's Residence to kill Ai Wen and seize the Star Spirit Race's knowledge, but Immortal Qin's defenders repelled them with dragon aura, witchfire, and newly adapted Psionic Crossbows. Afterward, Ai Wen revealed a star map showing the Reapers approaching faster than expected and unknown ominous forces following them.

• Dark Ravens bypassed Xianyang's defenses and attacked Ai Wen, her teammates, and their equipment at the Imperial Preceptor's Residence.
• Xuan Chengzi and Fairy Yaochi raised defenses, while Yan Lingji shielded Ai Wen with Zhurong's Divine Fire and destroyed several Dark Ravens.
• Ying Zheng strengthened the Human Dao Net with dragon aura, allowing elite Qin soldiers to suppress the Dark Ravens and destroy many with newly optimized Psionic Crossbows.
• Xuan Chengzi stopped Yan Lingji from pursuing the fleeing Dark Ravens, and the attack ended with the Star Spirit Race's people and equipment unharmed.
• Ai Wen activated a sealed metal cylinder and showed a star map revealing the Reapers drawing near, with unfamiliar ominous forces following them.

Conservative officials challenged Immortal Qin’s alliance with the Star Spirit Race, but Yan Lingji and Ying Zheng upheld the alliance. In the Imperial Preceptor’s Manor, the craftsmen created a Belief Spirit Core as Ai Wen’s scans revealed the Reapers were accelerating toward the Primordial World and linked to a possible gate in the Sea of Shifting Sands.

• Ying Xi and conservative officials demanded that the Star Spirit Race visitors be expelled or executed, while Li Si and Wang Jian defended the alliance.
• Yan Lingji silenced the court and warned that rejecting the Star Spirit Race would endanger Immortal Qin; Ying Zheng declared the alliance his will and threatened traitors with execution.
• Ai Wen, Gongshu Ban, Xuan Chengzi, Fairy Yaochi, and their collaborators combined Star Spirit Race technology, Immortal Qin runes, and human belief to create the Belief Spirit Core.
• The new core amplified a soldier’s protective belief and gave its energy bolt a faint ability to purify and repel evil, while Cheng Xi’s remaining light dust reacted with approval.
• Ai Wen’s scans showed the Reapers growing more powerful and changing course toward the Primordial World; contaminated information pointed to the Sea of Shifting Sands and a word meaning “door” or “passage.”
• Xuan Chengzi feared the Abyssal Temple’s Gate of Annihilation was guiding or baiting the Reapers for a catastrophic purpose.

Ying Zheng used the Human Dao Net and his dragon aura to overcome the Belief Spirit Core production bottleneck, then dispatched Qin forces as the Reapers approached and a Star Gate threatened to open in the Sea of Shifting Sands. Yan Lingji, Xuan Chengzi, Fairy Yaochi, and the Imperial Guard fought through the Abyssal Temple’s defenses, while the invasion crisis continued to escalate.

• Ying Zheng established the Nine Dragon Spirit Gathering Altar at the Lantian workshop and called on Qin’s people to contribute protective belief, improving Belief Spirit Core production and power.
• The first three hundred Belief Spirit Cores enabled Wang Jian’s Formation Breaking Camp to pierce a simulated demonic formation and form a temporary Belief Barrier.
• Ai Wen detected the Reapers nearing the Primordial world and a Large Spatial Gate about to open in the Sea of Shifting Sands; a warning reaching Yan Lingji indicated that a greater entity might follow them.
• Ying Zheng ordered Wang Jian and Meng Wu to defend the borders, Li Si to secure supplies and production, and Yan Lingji, Xuan Chengzi, and Fairy Yaochi to stop or wound the Star Gate.
• Yan Lingji, Xuan Chengzi, Fairy Yaochi, and three thousand Imperial Guards advanced into the Sea of Shifting Sands, destroying fortresses and fighting Abyssal creatures and bewitched cultivators.
• The Qin army suffered heavy casualties against the Abyssal Temple’s resistance but used Belief Spirit Cores to sustain a barrier that weakened demonic corruption.

Daoist Yujing’s ritual partially opened the Gate of Annihilation, but Cheng Xi’s phantom interrupted him and gave Yan Lingji, Xuan Chengzi, and Fairy Yaochi a chance to strike. As the Qin army and Ai Wen’s Star Gate escort vessels fought back the demonic tide, the Kongtong Seal Phantom connected the soldiers’ belief to a divine bridge and collided with the gate’s Dark Vortex.

• Daoist Yujing used Yan Lingji’s stolen Bloodline Origin to activate the Gate of Annihilation, but Cheng Xi’s phantom briefly halted the ritual.
• Yan Lingji, Xuan Chengzi, and Fairy Yaochi attacked Daoist Yujing, wounding him while the heart’s power still opened an unstable crack in the gate.
• Xuan Chengzi, Fairy Yaochi, and the Qin Imperial Guards attacked the Dark Vortex as Abyss Demons surged across the battlefield to defend the gate.
• Ai Wen’s repaired Star Gate escort vessels used a Purification Matrix to weaken the demonic tide and help the Qin army hold its line.
• The Kongtong Seal Phantom formed a Mysterious Yellow Divine Bridge linked to Yan Lingji and the Qin soldiers’ belief, then collided with the Dark Vortex.

Yan Lingji and the Qin army used the Kongtong Seal to suppress the Gate of Annihilation, but a Demon Commander’s arrival and a strike that cracked the seal pushed the battle toward defeat. Cheng Xi’s Chaos Kindling Fire and support from Xianyang and the Star Spirit inheritance began repairing the Kongtong Seal, unsettling the Nirvana Will.

• Yan Lingji and the Qin soldiers combined Mysterious Yellow power, Witch Clan blood vitality, and faith to hold the Dark Vortex in place.
• Daoist Yujing sacrificed his vital essence to summon a Peak Golden Immortal Demon Commander, while Xuan Chengzi and Fairy Yaochi blocked its attack on Yan Lingji.
• Ai Wen’s escort ships struck the Demon Commander with the Purification Matrix, but one ship crashed and the other two withdrew as Daoist Yujing attacked the Qin soldiers.
• The Nirvana Will struck the Kongtong Seal Phantom, cracking it and weakening the Mysterious Yellow Divine Bridge.
• Cheng Xi’s Chaos Kindling Fire and light dust activated within the damaged seal, drawing support from Ying Zheng’s Human Dao Net and Ai Wen’s Civilization Fire Seed to begin repairing it.

Yan Lingji used the Kongtong Seal Phantom and Chaos Kindling Fire to destroy the Gate of Annihilation, killing Daoist Yujing and driving off the wounded Abyssal Demon Commander. Before Immortal Qin could recover, the Reapers’ advance fleet entered Low Earth Orbit, and Ying Zheng called the defenders to battle.

• Yan Lingji empowered the Kongtong Seal Phantom with the Will of All Beings, and its Chaos Torrent shattered the Gate of Annihilation.
• The backlash annihilated Daoist Yujing, while the wounded Abyssal Demon Commander fled through a Spatial Rift and the remaining monsters fell.
• Ai Wen detected the Reapers’ advance fleet entering Low Earth Orbit as enormous, evil-energy-wreathed celestial bodies appeared above the Primordial World.
• Yan Lingji sensed the Kongtong Seal Phantom and Cheng Xi’s light dust respond to the Reapers’ destructive aura.
• Ying Zheng declared that Immortal Qin would fight the enemies from the starry sea and summoned the Immortal Qin Elite Guards.