Chapter Summaries

Haotian struggled to staff the newly rebuilt Heavenly Court and sought help from the Saints, but Jieyin, Zhunti, and Tongtian all avoided giving him assistance. Tongtian explained that he would act only when Haotian became more desperate, while Bixiao abandoned her request to learn Duobao’s cultivation method after seeing it.

• Haotian appointed the unfamiliar early Quasi-Sage Liu Er as Marshal Ma, though Liu Er was only assigned to oversee the Heavenly Steeds.
• Haotian traveled to Spirit Mountain to ask Jieyin and Zhunti for disciples, but they faked sudden ailments and slipped away.
• Haotian visited Golden Ao Island, where Bixiao claimed Tongtian was away traveling and offered to relay his request.
• Tongtian told Bixiao that Haotian was not yet desperate enough for the time to make arrangements.
• Bixiao asked Tongtian to teach her Duobao’s cultivation method, then changed her mind after seeing Duobao’s cultivation in a water mirror.

Tongtian pushed Duobao through dangerous sword-intent training, rapidly raising his cultivation. Meanwhile, Haotian visited Yuanshi Tianzun to request Chan Sect disciples for the Heavenly Court, but Yuanshi focused on Haotian’s praise of the sect instead.

• Tongtian trapped Duobao in a sealed space and forced him to spin among growing numbers of sword intents while healing and nourishing him.
• Duobao adapted to the sword intents and advanced from the late Great Golden Immortal stage to its peak in several thousand years.
• Tongtian added over a hundred new streams of sword qi to Duobao’s training.
• Haotian arrived at Jade Void Palace, saw the exhausted Twelve Golden Immortals, and decided he could not accept them into the Heavenly Court.
• Haotian asked Yuanshi Tianzun to provide ordinary Chan Sect disciples, and Yuanshi asked him to repeat the sentence praising the sect’s Myriad Immortals Coming to Court.

Haotian failed to recruit Yuanshi Tianzun’s disciples without surrendering a Heavenly Emperor position, then returned to the Heavenly Court, prompting Grand Supreme Laozi to send his evil corpse there on his own. Meanwhile, Hongjun prepared to begin the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era, while Qin Xuan brought Hong Yun to the Underworld to help Duke Dong guide the dead.

• Yuanshi Tianzun demanded a Four Heavenly Emperor position in exchange for putting his Chan Sect disciples at Haotian’s command, so Haotian left without an agreement.
• Yuanshi Tianzun summoned the Twelve Golden Immortals to return in a hundred years for more games, leaving them terrified.
• Haotian turned back toward the Heavenly Court instead of visiting Grand Supreme Laozi, so Laozi sent his evil corpse there to seek an important post.
• Hongjun judged Haotian’s failed recruitment efforts satisfactory and sent Divine Sense to the sages to begin preparations for humanity’s Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors era, bypassing Golden Ao Island.
• Qin Xuan took Hong Yun to the Underworld and persuaded Zhen Yuanzi to let him help guide departed souls so Hong Yun could build merit.
• Duke Dong welcomed Hong Yun as a helper in the Eighteen Levels of Hell, while Grand Supreme Laozi’s good corpse continued laboring in the Underworld.

Qin Xuan learned that Hongjun had summoned the saints to choose teachers for the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and decided to attend despite suspecting a trap. He gathered Nuwa and the Ancestral Witches for protection and arrived in Primordial Chaos, while Hongjun’s meeting in Zixiao Palace began in tense silence.

• Grand Supreme Laozi continued refining pills under King Qin Guang’s relentless supervision in Fengdu City.
• Qin Xuan found Hou Tu feeding souls empty bowls at the Bridge of No Return and secretly filled them with Meng Po Soup.
• Four-Alike reported that an unnamed messenger had revealed Hongjun was gathering the saints to discuss teachers for the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
• Hou Tu insisted on accompanying Qin Xuan, who agreed to bring the Twelve Great Heavenly Gods and Demons Array but not Dijiang or Pingxin.
• Qin Xuan called Nuwa, gathered the other eleven Ancestral Witches, and crossed into Primordial Chaos.
• Hongjun forcibly summoned Grand Supreme Laozi, Yuanshi Tianzun, Jieyin, and Zhunti to Zixiao Palace, where they remained silent after he explained the meeting’s purpose.

Hongjun tried to assign the saints the task of teaching the human race, but they refused because they feared Qin Xuan’s reaction. Qin Xuan and Nuwa arrived at Zixiao Palace, where Qin Xuan struck Yuanshi Tianzun and confronted Hongjun over meddling in human affairs.

• Hongjun urged Jieyin, Zhunti, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Grand Supreme Laozi to claim the merit of teaching the human race, but they stayed silent.
• Grand Supreme Laozi warned Hongjun that Qin Xuan would object, and Jieyin, Zhunti, and Yuanshi Tianzun agreed that they did not want to provoke him.
• Qin Xuan and Nuwa arrived at Zixiao Palace after Qin Xuan declared that Hongjun had no authority over the human race.
• Qin Xuan mistook Yuanshi Tianzun’s lingering glance for evidence of plotting and slapped him into a jade pillar.
• Hongjun rebuked Qin Xuan for acting presumptuously in Zixiao Palace, and Qin Xuan accused Hongjun of secretly deciding the human race’s future.

Qin Xuan challenged Hongjun over the Heavenly Dao’s attempt to dictate humanity’s fate, then followed him to Zixiao Palace’s rear hall to hear his proposal. While they talked, Yuanshi Tianzun admitted he had plotted against Qin Xuan and Nuwa dragged him away to punish him; Hongjun secretly planned to suppress the Human Dao and eventually turn on Qin Xuan.

• Qin Xuan questioned Hongjun’s authority over humanity and agreed to discuss the matter with him in Zixiao Palace’s rear hall.
• Nuwa accused Yuanshi Tianzun of plotting against Qin Xuan, and Yuanshi eventually admitted that he had done so.
• Nuwa seized Yuanshi Tianzun and dragged him outside, while the other Saints followed and watched as he was beaten.
• Hongjun told Qin Xuan that the emergence of the Heaven, Earth, and Human Dao could raise the Primordial World’s level and let everyone become Saints.
• Hongjun proposed that he and Qin Xuan divide the Primordial World between them, while secretly planning to suppress the Human Dao and later defeat Qin Xuan.

Qin Xuan rejected Hongjun’s claim that the Heavenly Dao’s plans could not be changed and accepted his challenge to fight over the fate of humanity’s Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Before following Hongjun into the Primordial Chaos, Qin Xuan summoned the eleven Ancestral Witches and formed the Great Heavenly Gods and Demons Array, leaving the nearby Saints fleeing the destruction.

• Qin Xuan condemned Hongjun for his past actions and called him a spineless earthworm, making Hongjun spit blood in rage.
• Qin Xuan cited changes to the fates of Tongtian, Nuwa, the Twelve Ancestral Witches, Duke Dong, Hou Tu, and Pingxin to challenge Hongjun’s claim that the Heavenly Dao’s grand momentum could not be changed.
• Hongjun challenged Qin Xuan to battle in the Primordial Chaos, with the victor deciding the fate of humanity’s Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and Qin Xuan accepted.
• Qin Xuan summoned the eleven Ancestral Witches from the Pangu Temple and formed the Great Heavenly Gods and Demons Array, manifesting Pangu True Body and destroying the second Zixiao Palace.
• Grand Supreme Laozi, Jieyin, and Zhunti fled the blast, while Nuwa dragged Yuanshi Tianzun away and hit him with a golden brick after mistaking his relieved smile for scheming.

Hongjun unleashed a divine ability that created six powerful avatars and attacked Qin Xuan with seven beams of annihilating light. Qin Xuan countered with the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe, but Hongjun challenged him to keep enduring as the battle continued.

• Hongjun summoned a phantom whose six avatars grew to power approaching his own, shocking the saints and worrying Nuwa.
• Hongjun explained that Qin Xuan had forced him to reveal his ultimate technique, then used the Great Heavenly Dao Art, Annihilation, with his six avatars.
• Qin Xuan swung the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe and destroyed five beams of immortal light before striking down the remaining two with another blow.
• Qin Xuan dismissed Hongjun's divine ability as nothing special, and Hongjun wondered whether he had another hidden trump card before challenging him to keep fighting.

Pingxin arrived in the chaos intending to ambush Hongjun, but discovered what she suspected was the Heavenly Dao space and decided to inspect it with Qin Xuan after the battle. As the Pangu True Body began to weaken, Nether River and Zhen Yuanzi prepared to support the fight in their own ways.

• Pingxin reached the chaos after Nuwa's message and searched for a chance to ambush Hongjun.
• Pingxin sensed the Heavenly Dao space, chose not to enter it, and planned to return with Qin Xuan after the battle.
• Tongtian warned that the Pangu True Body was taking more strikes to break Hongjun's attacks, while Nether River lamented his inability to help.
• Nether River tried to rush in and self-destruct his Saint's body, but Nuwa stopped him.
• Zhen Yuanzi arrived with the Book of Earth and offered to follow Nether River toward the battlefield.

Nuwa stopped Patriarch Nether River and Zhen Yuanzi from risking their lives while Qin Xuan’s Pangu True Body weakened against Hongjun. Qin Xuan then unleashed a divine hall and transformed the Pangu True Body’s eyes, leaving Hongjun shaken and pleading to negotiate.

• Nuwa pulled Patriarch Nether River and Zhen Yuanzi back before they could interfere in the battle.
• Zhunti suggested helping Qin Xuan by self-destructing, but Jieyin warned him that Hongjun would punish them if they acted openly.
• As the Pangu True Body weakened, Hongjun offered to spare Qin Xuan and his brothers if Qin Xuan swore to serve him.
• Qin Xuan summoned an ancient divine hall that struck the Pangu True Body’s heart and restored its strength.
• The Pangu True Body’s eyes fused Baleful Qi with black qi and dissolved it with golden Great Dao Merit light, making Hongjun panic and ask Qin Xuan to talk things out.

Qin Xuan empowered the Pangu True Body to its peak within the Saint Realm, struck Hongjun, and negotiated after Hongjun threatened to self-destruct. Hongjun returned to the former site of Zixiao Palace to await Qin Xuan, while Patriarch Nether River wondered if he had made things worse.

• Qin Xuan combined demonic qi, Baleful Qi, and Great Dao Merit to raise the Pangu True Body to the Saint Realm's limit, but it could not break into the Great Dao Realm.
• Qin Xuan's Pangu True Body demanded that Hongjun take an axe strike before they negotiated, then hit him with the Fifth Style of Heaven-Opening, Sever.
• Pingxin appeared and kicked the badly wounded Hongjun away before vanishing, and Qin Xuan and the Ancestral Witches recognized her beneath her black veil.
• Hongjun returned with a grievous wound and threatened to hug Qin Xuan and self-destruct, so Qin Xuan agreed to discuss matters with him.
• Hongjun conjured a replica of Zixiao Palace at its former site and went inside, while Patriarch Nether River wondered if he had made things worse.

After Qin Xuan thanked the allies who had supported him against Hongjun, the Ancestral Witches learned that Yuanshi Tianzun had plotted against him and surrounded him with golden bricks. As Yuanshi Tianzun was beaten, Grand Supreme Laozi relived memories of being beaten himself, then watched the scene with satisfaction.

• Qin Xuan thanked Nuwa, Tongtian, Patriarch Nether River, and Zhen Yuanzi for standing by him against Hongjun.
• The Ancestral Witches noticed Yuanshi Tianzun’s swollen head, and Zhurong and Gonggong asked Nuwa what had happened.
• Nuwa told the Ancestral Witches that Yuanshi Tianzun had plotted against Qin Xuan, prompting them to arm themselves with golden bricks.
• Hou Tu led the Twelve Ancestral Witches in surrounding Yuanshi Tianzun and beating him with their bricks.
• Grand Supreme Laozi nearly clutched his head at the sight, but after Jieyin and Zhunti teased him, he watched Yuanshi Tianzun’s beating with amusement.

Qin Xuan and the Ancestral Witches subdued Yuanshi Tianzun, then met Hongjun to negotiate over the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Hongjun’s proposed division angered Qin Xuan, who threatened him with Pangu Temple, forcing Hongjun to continue bargaining.

• The Ancestral Witches beat Yuanshi Tianzun and warned him against scheming against Qin Xuan again.
• Qin Xuan thanked the Ancestral Witches, then gathered them inside Pangu Temple before heading to Zixiao Palace.
• Hongjun recognized Pingxin as the masked woman who had kicked him and recalled how badly the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe had wounded him.
• Qin Xuan asked Hongjun how they would divide the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and Hongjun proposed that the Mystic Gate take the Three Sovereigns while Qin Xuan took the Five Emperors.
• Qin Xuan accused Hongjun of trying to fool him and threatened him with Pangu Temple, so Hongjun hurriedly asked him to wait and continue negotiating.

Qin Xuan and Hongjun negotiated over who would teach the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, with Qin Xuan insisting that humanity's affairs belonged to him and Nuwa. After Hongjun conceded that the matter was an internal affair of humanity, Qin Xuan demanded the Creation Jade Plate in exchange for allowing Hongjun a share.

• Qin Xuan demanded all the positions teaching the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, and Hongjun rejected his demand as excessive.
• Hongjun threatened to use a Saint to kill the teachers Qin Xuan sent, but Qin Xuan said he could teach humanity himself and was not intimidated.
• Hongjun asked Qin Xuan to propose a solution after realizing his threat had failed.
• Qin Xuan made Hongjun acknowledge that the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were humanity's internal affairs, jointly governed by Qin Xuan and Nuwa.
• Qin Xuan said Hongjun would have to offer something in exchange for a share of the teaching positions, then demanded the Creation Jade Plate.

Qin Xuan bargained with Hongjun for the Creation Jade Plate and secured it for ten thousand years in exchange for teaching positions among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. After the treasure entered Qin Xuan’s Sea of Consciousness, he hinted that he wanted to offer Hongjun even more, though Hongjun refused.

• Hongjun refused to give Qin Xuan the Creation Jade Plate outright, even when Qin Xuan offered him any teaching position among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
• Qin Xuan proposed borrowing the Creation Jade Plate for ten thousand years in exchange for the positions of teacher to the Earthly Sovereign and two of the Five Emperors.
• Hongjun agreed on the condition that Qin Xuan swear to the Great Dao to return the treasure intact, and Qin Xuan made the oath.
• Hongjun reluctantly handed over the Creation Jade Plate, which flew into Qin Xuan’s Sea of Consciousness and seemed to display emotions.
• Qin Xuan told Hongjun that he should receive more teaching positions, but Hongjun repeatedly refused.

Qin Xuan tried to obtain the Twelve-Grade Pure World White Lotus from Hongjun by offering another Teacher of the Five Emperors, but he abandoned the bargain when Hongjun attempted to raise the price. Hongjun then assigned the Earthly Sovereign and two Emperors to the Mystic Gate and left the remaining arrangements to the saints and Qin Xuan.

• Qin Xuan asked Hongjun to exchange the Pure World White Lotus for another Teacher of the Five Emperors, knowing Hongjun had bestowed the lotus on Haotian.
• Hongjun argued that the lotus was too valuable for the offer, and Qin Xuan decided to take advantage of the dispute by seeking it from Haotian himself instead.
• Qin Xuan pretended he no longer wanted the lotus and left Zixiao Palace with Nuwa after warning Hongjun not to send unsuitable candidates to the human race.
• Hongjun regretted failing to negotiate another Imperial Teacher and announced that the Mystic Gate would teach the Earthly Sovereign and two of the Five Emperors.
• Hongjun left the remaining choices to Qin Xuan and the saints, who departed Zixiao Palace after guessing that Hongjun had suffered a loss.

Qin Xuan convened the Saints at Creation Heaven to arrange teachers for the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. After the Eastern Saints challenged the Western Sect’s claim to the Earthly Sovereign’s position, Jieyin rose to defend his sect, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Qin Xuan told the Saints that disciples of the Mystic Gate would teach the Earthly Sovereign and two of the Five Emperors, and let the Saints choose the teachers.
• Tongtian withdrew from the arrangement, while Zhunti and Jieyin argued that Xuan Du should not teach the Human Emperor because of his identity.
• Jieyin proposed that the Western Sect and Yuanshi Tianzun divide the three teaching positions, but Yuanshi demanded the Earthly Sovereign’s position for the East.
• Grand Supreme Laozi sided with Yuanshi and criticized the Western Sect’s disciples for their origins.
• Jieyin rejected their prejudice against Western cultivators and rose to speak in defense of his sect.

Jieyin argued that Western Sect disciples were best suited to teach the Earthly Sovereign, then attained enlightenment and established Buddhism as a path separate from the Mystic Gate. His vow to save sentient beings earned a response from the Heavenly Dao, while the Primordial World erupted in alarm over Buddhism’s rise.

• Jieyin defended Western Sect disciples as better equipped than pampered eastern cultivators to teach humanity how to survive and prosper.
• Qin Xuan considered Jieyin’s argument but worried that the Western Sect’s doctrine could lead humanity astray.
• Jieyin meditated in the great hall, attained enlightenment, and declared that his Dao was accomplished.
• Jieyin recited Buddhist teachings, and golden Dao scripts formed a scripture that merged into his Dao body as Buddhist laws appeared between heaven and earth.
• Jieyin vowed before the Heavenly Dao to establish the Buddhist Sect apart from the Mystic Gate and save sentient beings across the Three Realms.
• The Heavenly Dao sent down clouds of golden merit, and beings across the Primordial World feared that Buddhism would claim the east.

Jieyin’s vow established Buddhism, and its golden light spread across the Primordial World, alarming the Saints and stirring resentment among eastern beings. Nuwa and the other Saints blocked the Buddhist light from their domains, while Pingxin dismissed Great Emperor Fengdu’s worry that Jieyin was targeting the Underworld.

• Jieyin’s vow brought Heavenly Dao Merit and established Buddhism, prompting Grand Supreme Laozi and Yuanshi Tianzun to envy his rising fortunes.
• Qin Xuan worried that Buddhism had appeared far earlier than expected and that Hongjun would blame him for Jieyin’s departure from the Mystic Gate.
• The Heavenly Dao Merit briefly entered Jieyin before escaping through the Primordial Violet Qi, but Buddhist light spread across the eastern lands.
• Nuwa dispersed the Buddhist light over human territory and warned Jieyin not to harbor designs on the human race, then congratulated him on attaining the Dao.
• Grand Supreme Laozi, Yuanshi Tianzun, and Tongtian used Saintly power to keep Buddhist light away from their domains.
• Great Emperor Fengdu suspected that Jieyin’s doctrine might threaten the Underworld, but Pingxin said he would not dare target it.

Pingxin decided to cultivate for the coming battle against Hongjun, but remembered she had promised to explore Heavenly Dao space with her little brother. Meanwhile, Hongjun discovered that Jieyin had founded Buddhism early in Qin Xuan's Creation Heaven and resolved to deal with Jieyin and Zhunti when they returned to Spirit Mountain.

• Great Emperor Fengdu joked about using the Thirteen Great Heavenly Gods and Demons Arrays against Hongjun, while Pingxin resolved to grow strong enough to stand beside her siblings in the next battle.
• Pingxin handed the Underworld's affairs to Great Emperor Fengdu, then remembered her plan to explore Heavenly Dao space with her little brother and left.
• Hongjun sensed that Jieyin had founded Buddhism in Creation Heaven and was shocked that it had happened before the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation.
• Hongjun blamed Qin Xuan for pushing Jieyin to become a Buddha and vowed to deal with Jieyin and Zhunti when they returned to Spirit Mountain.
• Jieyin asked Qin Xuan for permission to send disciples to teach the Earthly Sovereign, and Qin Xuan turned to ask Yuanshi Tianzun what he thought.