Chapter Summaries

Hongjun questioned Haotian about his ties to Qin Xuan, but Haotian won his trust by claiming he had recruited the Six-Eared Macaque to resist the Saintly sects. Hongjun ordered Haotian to keep the macaque in the Heavenly Court and secretly planned to send him into the Investiture of the Gods.

• Hongjun threatened Haotian with death if he had colluded with Qin Xuan, but gave him a chance to prove his innocence.
• Haotian clung to Hongjun and recounted how Tongtian and the Saintly disciples had bullied and disregarded him.
• Haotian explained that he recruited the Six-Eared Macaque to strengthen the Heavenly Court and preserve Hongjun's dignity.
• Hongjun comforted Haotian and told him to keep the Six-Eared Macaque in high office and associate with him.
• Hongjun looked toward the wounded Six-Eared Macaque and resolved to send him into the Investiture of the Gods, then glanced toward Yaoji's palace before leaving.

The Eleven Golden Immortals descended from Kunlun Mountain toward the human realm, while Daoist Cihang persuaded True Person Manjushri to join the Western Sect. Fuxi, Shennong, and Chiyou waited for the travelers and intercepted them before they reached their destination.

• Guang Chengzi ordered the Golden Immortals to avoid trouble and warned them not to provoke Fuxi, Shennong, or Chiyou.
• Daoist Cihang secretly asked Manjushri to join the Western Sect and revealed that Randeng had already pledged himself to the West.
• Manjushri accepted Jieyin as his master, received the title Bodhisattva Manjushri, and gained golden light that could hide him from a Sage's perception.
• Fuxi woke Chiyou and told him the Eleven Golden Immortals were approaching, so Chiyou gave Fuxi and Shennong veils from Xuan Ming to conceal their identities.
• Fuxi, Shennong, and Chiyou blocked Guang Chengzi and the other Golden Immortals, and Chiyou demanded their magic treasures and spiritual roots as a toll.

Guang Chengzi confronted three masked cultivators and attacked Chiyou, only to be beaten and robbed. Yuanshi Tianzun recognized the danger of provoking the masked group and chose not to intervene, leaving Guang Chengzi to face the loss of his treasures.

• Real Person Taiyi tried to negotiate with Fuxi, Shennong, and Chiyou, but Guang Chengzi overruled him and insulted the masked cultivators.
• Chiyou provoked Guang Chengzi, who and the other Golden Immortals attacked him with divine lightning and Samadhi True Fire.
• Chiyou emerged unharmed, seized Guang Chengzi, and struck him while demanding his treasures.
• Guang Chengzi called for Yuanshi Tianzun, who sensed the distress and investigated the scene from Kunlun Mountain.
• Yuanshi Tianzun recognized the masked cultivators as likely connected to Buzhou Mountain and decided not to intervene, accepting that Guang Chengzi might be robbed.

Qin Xuan arranged for Candle Dragon to lead the Dragon Race into the Human Dao, promising him one of its six saintly seats. After the Dragon Race was entered into the Book of Life and Death, Qin Xuan returned to Huoyun Palace, where Fuxi, Shennong, and Chiyou were dividing their spoils.

• Chiyou forced Guang Chengzi and the other Golden Immortals to surrender their treasures before letting them go.
• Guang Chengzi and the Golden Immortals reached Emperor Shun and began teaching him cautiously and dutifully.
• Qin Xuan told Candle Dragon that the Human Dao would have six saintly seats and offered him one if the Dragon Race joined it.
• Candle Dragon agreed to place the Dragon Race under the Human Dao after Qin Xuan explained that their true names would be recorded in the Book of Life and Death.
• Qin Xuan used the Book of Life and Death to enter the Dragon Race into the Human Dao, strengthening its river of destiny.
• Qin Xuan returned to Huoyun Palace, where Fuxi, Shennong, and Chiyou greeted him while dividing their loot.

Qin Xuan took Kong Xuan to Undying Volcano to meet Yuan Feng and discuss freeing her from the Heavenly Dao’s prison. After Kong Xuan reunited with his mother, Qin Xuan entered the barrier and saw the karmic chains binding her wrists.

• Qin Xuan rejected the treasures Fuxi, Shennong, and Chiyou offered, then left Huoyun Palace for the Human Emperor Mansion.
• Qin Xuan invited Kong Xuan to accompany him to Undying Volcano to meet Yuan Feng and seek a way to rescue her.
• Qin Xuan and Kong Xuan crossed into Undying Volcano and reached the Heavenly Dao barrier that confined Yuan Feng.
• Yuan Feng recognized Kong Xuan, and he entered the barrier to reunite with her while Qin Xuan waited outside.
• Yuan Feng invited Qin Xuan inside, where he saw karma chains binding her wrists.

Qin Xuan secured Yuan Feng’s pledge to lead the Phoenix Clan into the Human Dao and offered her a way out of Undying Volcano, but she chose to stay and await the Human Dao’s rise. He then brought the Kylin Clan into the Human Dao, advancing the transformation of human fortune to nearly ninety percent.

• Yuan Feng thanked Qin Xuan for helping the Phoenix Clan and agreed to lead it into the Human Dao.
• Qin Xuan added Yuan Feng’s page to the Book of Life and Death, bringing the transformation of human fortune to nearly seventy percent.
• Qin Xuan offered to shelter Yuan Feng in his independent world, but she chose to remain in Undying Volcano and wait to become a Human Dao Saint.
• Kong Xuan asked Yuan Feng why she had refused Qin Xuan’s offer, and she said she stayed to teach his younger brother.
• Qin Xuan brought the Kylin Clan into the Human Dao through Four-Alike, raising the transformation of human fortune to nearly ninety percent.

Qin Xuan struggled to advance the Human Dao while the Chan Sect and Buddhist Sect fought over control of the Heavenly Court. After the Three-Headed Flood Dragon stole the Dragon Pearl and fled to the mortal world, Yaoji went to capture him and launched a surprise attack.

• Qin Xuan spent a thousand years persuading more than a dozen races to join the Human Dao, but its progress increased by less than half a percent.
• Guang Chengzi and the Eleven Golden Immortals confronted Medicine Master Buddha over the Buddhist Sect's control of Heavenly Court positions, and their conflict dragged on for a hundred years.
• Grand White Golden Star reported that the Three-Headed Flood Dragon had stolen the Dragon Pearl and escaped to the mortal world.
• Yaoji persuaded Haotian to let her pursue the thief, and Haotian sent Grand White Golden Star with her.
• Yaoji discovered that Grand White Golden Star had disappeared, then tracked the Three-Headed Flood Dragon to a valley and crept up behind him.
• Yaoji thrust her immortal sword at the Three-Headed Flood Dragon's back.

Yaoji was ambushed and gravely wounded by the Three-Headed Flood Dragon, whom Qin Xuan secretly killed after he fled with the Dragon Pearl. Qin Xuan watched as Yang Tianyou found Yaoji and gave her half of his own heart to save her, while remaining unsure whether Hongjun had arranged their meeting.

• Yaoji realized the Three-Headed Flood Dragon was a phantom and was struck down by his real body as he escaped with the Dragon Pearl.
• The Three-Headed Flood Dragon examined the Dragon Pearl in a hidden cave, then died and crumbled into ashes when Qin Xuan appeared.
• Qin Xuan returned to the valley and watched Yang Tianyou discover the injured Yaoji and carry her to a ruined temple.
• Yang Tianyou stabbed his own heart, split it in two, and pressed half of it against Yaoji's chest before collapsing unconscious.

Qin Xuan watched Yang Tianyou and Yaoji recover after Grand Supreme Laozi secretly gave them golden pills, then saw their hearts mysteriously become bound together. Ten years later, Qin Xuan visited their family and took Yang Jian as his disciple, giving him a powerful spear.

• A white-haired old daoist gave Yang Tianyou and Yaoji golden pills before departing, and their hearts fused into a shared half-immortal, half-mortal heart.
• Yang Tianyou and Yaoji woke, recognized their bond, and remained together; over ten years they had Yang Jiao, Yang Jian, and Yang Chan.
• Qin Xuan arrived at the family’s home and told Yaoji he had come to take the qilin-blessed Yang Jian as his disciple.
• Yang Jian bowed to Qin Xuan, who accepted him and presented him with a three-pointed, double-edged spear.
• Yaoji recognized the spear’s extraordinary power and objected that it was too precious, but Qin Xuan dismissed it as a trinket.

Qin Xuan secretly helped Yang Tianyou and Yang Jian advance in cultivation before leaving, while Yaoji remained hidden with her family. Haotian learned of her marriage and children, and Guang Chengzi later exposed her violation of the Heavenly Edict before the Heavenly Court.

• Qin Xuan spent ten years teaching Yang Jian and guiding Yang Tianyou, then left after Yang Tianyou reached the Human Immortal realm and Yang Jian stabilized his Golden Immortal cultivation.
• Haotian learned from Six-Eared Macaque that Yaoji had married a mortal and had children, and he hoped she would remain hidden to avoid punishment.
• Decades later, Guang Chengzi and Medicine Master raised the case of an immortal violating the Heavenly Edict before Haotian.
• Haotian confronted Guang Chengzi, who named Yaoji as the lawbreaker.

Guang Chengzi accused Yaoji of violating the Heavenly Edict by having a mortal lover and offspring, and Yuanshi Tianzun forced Haotian to order her arrest. Haotian sent Grand White Golden Star to the mortal realm, while Guang Chengzi went along with permission to deal with anyone who resisted.

• Guang Chengzi accused Yaoji of secretly consorting with a mortal and demanded that the Heavenly Court punish her.
• Haotian threatened to execute Guang Chengzi, but Guang Chengzi summoned Yuanshi Tianzun.
• Yuanshi Tianzun struck Haotian aside, protected Guang Chengzi, and declared that Yaoji would receive no exemption from the Heavenly Edict.
• Yuanshi Tianzun pressured Haotian to send Grand White Golden Star to arrest Yaoji, and Haotian reluctantly issued the order.
• Yuanshi Tianzun told Guang Chengzi to accompany Grand White Golden Star and deal with anyone who resisted.

Yang Jian’s family faced a Heavenly Court force led by Grand White Golden Star and Guang Chengzi, who came to punish Yaoji for marrying a mortal. As Guang Chengzi ordered the family killed, Yang Jian challenged the accusation by declaring that Yang Tianyou was not a mortal.

• Yaoji urged Yang Jiao, Yang Chan, and Yang Jian to hide as dark clouds gathered, but Yang Jian stayed with his parents.
• Grand White Golden Star and Guang Chengzi arrived with Heavenly soldiers and generals to take Yaoji into custody.
• Yang Tianyou claimed he alone was at fault, while Yaoji begged for her husband and children to be spared.
• Guang Chengzi declared that Yang Tianyou would be killed and that the children’s fates would be decided later, then ordered the soldiers to attack anyone who resisted.
• Yang Jian asked what crime his mother had committed and argued that the Heavenly Edict did not apply because his father was not a mortal.

Yang Jian revealed that Yang Tianyou was a Human Immortal, disrupting Hongjun’s plan to condemn Yaoji. Hongjun’s strike failed to harm Yang Tianyou, and Qin Xuan confronted Hongjun, promising to protect him as Hongjun prepared his next move.

• Yang Jian prompted Yang Tianyou to reveal his Human Immortal aura, invalidating Guang Chengzi’s accusation that Yaoji had violated the Heavenly Edict by marrying a mortal.
• Hongjun realized Qin Xuan had helped Yang Tianyou attain immortality and decided to turn him back into a mortal.
• Hongjun sent a Haotian-like Dharma manifestation to strike Yang Tianyou, but Yang Tianyou emerged unharmed and thought his scalp had merely itched.
• Qin Xuan appeared beside Hongjun and declared that he would protect Yang Tianyou.
• Hongjun argued that Yang Tianyou could still count as a mortal despite his immortal body, secretly sent a strand of Divine Sense to Yuanshi Tianzun, and told Qin Xuan to watch.

Yuanshi Tianzun arrived and declared that Yang Tianyou was still a mortal despite being a Human Immortal, condemning him and Yaoji for their relationship. Yang Tianyou offered his life to spare his family, and Yaoji accepted death in exchange for the safety of her three children.

• Yuanshi Tianzun arrived, comforted Guang Chengzi, and demanded that Yaoji answer for her crime.
• Yuanshi Tianzun argued that Yang Tianyou remained a mortal because he had not abandoned mortal attachments, and said that only membership in a Saint's lineage or a Heavenly Court office made someone an immortal in his eyes.
• Yang Tianyou challenged Yuanshi Tianzun's definition of an immortal, then offered to bear the consequences alone and begged for mercy for Yaoji and their children.
• Yang Jian silently vowed revenge against those who had endangered his family.
• Yaoji offered to die in exchange for her children's safety, and Yuanshi Tianzun agreed.
• Yaoji embraced Yang Jian, looked toward Yang Jiao and Yang Chan, and then went to stand beside Yang Tianyou.

Four-Alike, Buzhou Mountain’s guardian divine beast, arrived as Yang Tianyou and Yaoji faced death and revealed that Yuanshi Tianzun feared his origins. He announced Pingxin Niangniang’s decree appointing Yang Tianyou a Netherworld official, offering the family hope of salvation.

• Yaoji resolved to die with Yang Tianyou, but he urged her to live and raise their children.
• Four-Alike arrived with a turtle perched on his head and dismissed Yang Tianyou’s warning, saying he had come to watch the show.
• Guang Chengzi tried to rebuke Four-Alike, but Yuanshi Tianzun silenced him and greeted the newcomer respectfully.
• Yuanshi Tianzun identified Four-Alike as Buzhou Mountain’s guardian divine beast, astonishing the immortals and gods.
• Yang Tianyou and Yaoji begged Four-Alike to save their family, and he prevented Yang Jian from kneeling.
• Four-Alike announced Pingxin Niangniang’s decree appointing Yang Tianyou Netherworld Official of the Merit and Benevolence Department.

Yang Tianyou received an Underworld post from Pingxin Niangniang, ending the conflict with Yuanshi Tianzun and protecting his family. As Qin Xuan questioned Hongjun’s ambitions, Hongjun revealed his history among the Chaos Demon Gods and vowed to become the Primordial World’s only Heaven.

• The Earthly Dao appointed Yang Tianyou as a Judge, and he thanked Pingxin Niangniang and the Dao Venerable while Yaoji and Yang Jian bowed with him.
• Yaoji asked Yuanshi Tianzun whether she still bore guilt, but Hongjun ordered him to end the matter, so Yuanshi Tianzun left with Guang Chengzi.
• Grand White Golden Star returned to the Heavenly Court, while Four-Alike told Yang Tianyou to prepare to report for duty in the Underworld and then departed.
• At the edge of the Primordial World, Hongjun asked Qin Xuan why he intervened for mortals, and Qin Xuan replied that he acted according to his sense of righteousness.
• Hongjun recalled being bullied by Chaos Demon Gods and declared that he had sworn to trample them beneath him and become the Primordial World’s only Heaven.

Hongjun revealed his long-standing schemes to Qin Xuan and asked where he came from, but Qin Xuan left without giving a real answer. Hongjun summoned the five Saints to Zixiao Palace to confront them over their treatment of Haotian, and their accusations against one another began to spiral.

• Hongjun told Qin Xuan how he had defeated the innate demon gods and merged with the Heavenly Dao, then condemned Qin Xuan for disrupting his plans.
• Qin Xuan rejected Hongjun's path and left after claiming he had been nurtured from Father God's Pangu essence blood, frustrating Hongjun's unanswered question.
• Hongjun realized that Yang Tianyou's survival and Yaoji's freedom had disrupted the Heavenly Dao's plans, then summoned all Saints to Zixiao Palace.
• Tongtian, Grand Supreme Laozi, Yuanshi Tianzun, Jieyin, and Zhunti arrived at Zixiao Palace, where Hongjun scolded them for bullying Haotian.
• Grand Supreme Laozi tried to clear himself by blaming the other Saints and Tongtian, and Yuanshi Tianzun accused him of improper dealings with Xuan Du.

Grand Supreme Laozi argued with Yuanshi Tianzun, Jieyin, and Zhunti in Zixiao Palace after they mocked his relationship with Xuan Du, then left to avoid fighting them. The four Sages were trapped by a supreme power and returned to find Laozi back in the hall, where the solemn atmosphere suggested a greater danger.

• Yuanshi Tianzun, Jieyin, and Zhunti insinuated that Grand Supreme Laozi's bond with Xuan Du was improper, and Laozi accused them of treating their disciples as tools.
• Zhunti called Xuan Du Laozi's boy toy, prompting Laozi to rebuke him and challenge him to fight in the Primordial Chaos.
• Grand Supreme Laozi left Zixiao Palace, and Jieyin and Zhunti followed him while Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian went out to watch.
• Jieyin and Zhunti found that Laozi had vanished, then discovered that an immense power had sealed the surrounding space-time.
• The four Sages returned to Zixiao Palace and found Grand Supreme Laozi already there, looking helpless as Zhunti fell silent at the hall's solemn mood.

Hongjun summoned the saints to explain the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation and revealed that disciples would have to surrender their True Spirits to fill the Heavenly Court’s divine positions. Grand Supreme Laozi pleaded to put his own evil corpse on the list in place of his only disciple, Xuan Du.

• Hongjun seized Grand Supreme Laozi as he tried to flee Zixiao Palace, then explained that Haotian’s complaints and the saints’ disciples’ accumulated karma had brought about the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation.
• The saints realized that Haotian would be at the center of the matter and resolved to confront him when they returned to the Primordial World.
• Hongjun declared that every disciple who had not attained sainthood was subject to the tribulation and ordered the saints to recall their disciples from the Heavenly Court.
• Hongjun revealed the Investiture of the Gods, explaining that those listed could become gods after death but would lose their freedom and have their True Spirits controlled.
• Grand Supreme Laozi pleaded with Hongjun to place his own evil corpse on the list instead of Xuan Du.

The Sages argued over which disciples would fill the Investiture of the Gods until Tongtian warned them that the tribulation involved Nuwa and Qinxuan. Afraid to provoke Qinxuan, Yuanshi Tianzun volunteered Chan Sect disciples, leaving Hongjun to consider how the tribulation would proceed.

• Jieyin and Zhunti outargued Yuanshi Tianzun until Hongjun separated them and declared that the West would not take part in the tribulation.
• Grand Supreme Laozi refused to offer Xuan Du for the Investiture, and Tongtian rejected Yuanshi Tianzun’s suggestion that Jie Sect disciples serve in the Heavenly Court.
• Tongtian pointed out that the tribulation involved the human race and asked whether Nuwa and Qinxuan would agree to the Sages’ plans.
• The Sages reconsidered their willingness to sacrifice disciples after recognizing Qinxuan’s power and his possession of the Kongtong Seal.
• Yuanshi Tianzun told Hongjun that he would select fifteen hundred Chan Sect disciples to fill the Investiture of the Gods.