Chapter Summaries

Guangchengzi and Pharmacist both sought to become Xuanyuan’s teacher, but Nuwa ordered them to teach him together within the Human Tribe. When Xuanyuan offered them food, Pharmacist ate happily while Guangchengzi struggled to accept the meal without insulting his future disciple.

• Guangchengzi found the household where Xuanyuan was born and went to claim him as a disciple, but Pharmacist arrived to do the same for the Western Sect.
• Guangchengzi and Pharmacist argued over where Xuanyuan should be taught and criticized each other’s sects.
• Nuwa ordered Guangchengzi and Pharmacist to teach Xuanyuan within the Human Tribe, leaving Guangchengzi distressed by the rough surroundings.
• Xuanyuan brought the two teachers bowls of food, and Pharmacist praised the meal while Guangchengzi recoiled from it.
• Guangchengzi hesitated to eat as Xuanyuan watched expectantly and Pharmacist smiled at his predicament.

Guangchengzi’s revulsion at mortal food damaged his standing with Xuanyuan, while Pharmacist used the moment to win the Human Emperor’s trust and the Western Sect celebrated its advantage. Nuwa worried about Xuanyuan’s teachers, and Xuan Yang hinted that their joint appointment served a deeper plan.

• Guangchengzi forced himself to eat Xuanyuan’s mother’s roasted meat, then refused more and explained that he had abstained from grains.
• Pharmacist praised the cooking and excused Guangchengzi’s reaction as unfamiliarity with mortal food, earning more of Xuanyuan’s trust.
• Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin watched the scene and predicted that the Western Sect could gain most of the Human Emperor’s merit.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven grew furious at Guangchengzi’s poor showing and doubted his ability to become a Quasi-Saint.
• Nuwa asked Xuan Yang whether Guangchengzi and Pharmacist could properly guide Xuanyuan, and Xuan Yang said their joint appointment had a deeper purpose.

Nuwa, Houtu, Tongtian, and Laozi received Hongjun’s summons to the Heavenly Court, then accepted Xuan Yang’s invitation to Grand Xuan Palace to discuss how to respond. The four gathered at the palace as Xuan Yang welcomed them inside, where their discussion was about to begin.

• Nuwa received Hongjun’s decree summoning the great powers to the Heavenly Court and wondered whether to attend.
• Xuan Yang invited Nuwa to Grand Xuan Palace to discuss Hongjun’s summons, and she immediately set out for the Sun Star.
• Houtu, Tongtian, and Laozi each received Xuan Yang’s invitation and traveled to Grand Xuan Palace.
• Nuwa, Houtu, Tongtian, and Laozi gathered outside Grand Xuan Palace and recognized the gravity of Hongjun’s summons.
• Xuan Yang opened the palace gates, welcomed the four, and invited them inside to talk.

Xuan Yang failed to locate Jiang Ziya and Shen Gongbao by reading their fate, so he went to Chaoge to use Human Dao Destiny to find them. He appeared before Di Yi, who recognized him as the Martial Ancestor and bowed in reverence.

• Xuan Yang decided to find Jiang Ziya and Shen Gongbao before Primordial Lord of Heaven could recruit them.
• Xuan Yang searched the River of Destiny but found it obscured by Tribulation Malevolent Qi.
• Xuan Yang chose to seek the two men through Human Dao Destiny and traveled to Chaoge.
• Xuan Yang appeared in the Human Emperor Palace before Di Yi.
• Di Yi recognized Xuan Yang as the Martial Ancestor and bowed to him.

Li Jing reassured Lady Yin that Yang Jian and Nezha would be safe from True Man Taiyi, who he believed was bullying the weak and underestimating Grand Xuan Palace. Above the Eastern Sea, Yang Jian challenged Taiyi’s right to claim Nezha by revealing the child’s place in an agreement between Venerable Xuan Yang and Empress Nuwa, then prepared to fight when Taiyi attacked.

• Li Jing told Lady Yin that True Man Taiyi feared the strong and that Yang Jian had the support of Grand Xuan Palace and Six-Eared Macaque.
• Yang Jian carried the sleeping Nezha toward his assigned immortal island in the Eastern Sea.
• True Man Taiyi caught up with Yang Jian and accused him of stealing the disciple he wanted.
• Yang Jian said Nezha was Spirit Pearl’s reincarnation and had been promised to his lineage through an agreement between Venerable Xuan Yang and Empress Nuwa.
• Unable to refute Yang Jian, True Man Taiyi threatened to suppress him and attacked with his fly-whisk.
• Yang Jian stood his ground and met Taiyi’s attack with a surge of fighting spirit.

Duobao Daoist confronted the defenders of Xi Qi City and demanded they hand over Kinnara, then overwhelmed Guangchengzi in battle. After Guangchengzi's Heaven-Turning Seal backfired and left him gravely wounded, Duobao moved to kill him, and Guangchengzi begged the others to save him.

• Duobao Daoist arrived before the two armies and demanded that Xi Qi City hand over Kinnara or die.
• Guangchengzi challenged Duobao, but Duobao stopped the Soul-Dropping Bell and shattered the Male-Female Twin Swords with a torrent of spiritual treasures.
• Guangchengzi attacked with the Heaven-Turning Seal, but Duobao caught the descending divine mountain with his Upper Clarity Buddha Kingdom in the Palm and hurled it back, gravely injuring Guangchengzi.
• Duobao formed a divine sword and prepared to kill Guangchengzi, who desperately called on Pharmacist Daoist, Kinnara, and his junior brothers for help.
• Duobao dismissed Guangchengzi's pleas and brought the sword down, declaring that no one could save him.

Tongtian tried to persuade Primordial Lord of Heaven and Grand Pure Laozi not to cultivate Old Ancestor Hongjun's Slaying the Three Corpses method, arguing that they should forge their own paths. Primordial Lord of Heaven rejected his warning, and Tongtian ended by invoking their earlier dispute and cautioning that they might regret their choice.

• After the Three Pure Ones returned to Kunlun Mountain, Tongtian stopped Primordial Lord of Heaven and Grand Pure Laozi as they prepared to cultivate Slaying the Three Corpses.
• Tongtian argued that supreme Strong Persons created their own cultivation paths and warned that following a predecessor's method could hinder them from transcending it.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven challenged Tongtian's argument, while Grand Pure Laozi listened thoughtfully.
• Tongtian reminded his brothers that they were Pangu's Three Pure Ones, destined to attain the Dao, and urged them to consider whether Old Ancestor Hongjun might be scheming against them.
• When neither brother accepted his warning, Tongtian brought up their previous disagreement and cautioned that it would be too late for regret; Primordial Lord of Heaven's expression darkened.

Cangjie’s vow to establish the Human Path and create writing for the Human Race drew a vast response from the Great Dao and gathered an enormous cloud of merit. Zhen Yuanzi vowed to protect him as Saints and Primordial Lord of Heaven hoped he would fail, while Hongjun watched from Purple Cloud Palace.

• Cangjie’s declaration stirred the Human Path, the Great Dao, and the Human Race’s Golden Dragon of Destiny, while a vast cloud of merit gathered above the eastern continent.
• Zhen Yuanzi recognized that Hongyun’s reincarnated fragment was beginning the Literary Dao and vowed to protect Cangjie from the dangers ahead.
• Zhunti and Jieyin identified Cangjie as Hongyun’s reincarnated fragment and resented the merit he might gain, but chose to wait for the Heavenly Dao to respond.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven condemned Cangjie’s attempt to establish a Dao and hoped heavenly punishment would destroy him and weaken the Human Race.
• Hongjun watched Cangjie’s declaration from Purple Cloud Palace, and a faint ripple appeared in his otherwise emotionless eyes.

After Yang Jian routed the Chan Sect’s Golden Immortals, Jiang Ziya asked them to help defend West Qi, but they chose to retreat to Kunlun Mountain for reinforcements. Left alone to face Wen Zhong and Yang Jian, Jiang Ziya reluctantly rode Si Bu Xiang back to West Qi.

• Jiang Ziya asked Guangchengzi what the Chan Sect would do now that Yang Jian had rescued Shen Gongbao and gone to the Shang Camp.
• Guangchengzi and the other Golden Immortals avoided returning to West Qi because they feared Yang Jian’s power and wanted to seek guidance from Primordial Lord of Heaven.
• Guangchengzi told Jiang Ziya to return to West Qi alone and hold out while they fetched reinforcements from Kunlun Mountain.
• The eleven Golden Immortals departed, leaving Jiang Ziya on the mountain with Si Bu Xiang.
• Jiang Ziya accepted that he could not abandon West Qi and rode Si Bu Xiang back toward the city.

Heavenly Dao Hongjun exploited a flaw in Shennong's Shell Trading Method by controlling Dog-Head Daoist to defraud the Human Race of its food. Sect Master Tongtian discovered the scheme and sent Golden Spirit Mother after the fleeing Dog-Head Daoist.

• Heavenly Dao Hongjun deduced that shells lacked the uniqueness needed to serve as reliable currency and controlled Dog-Head Daoist with a golden light.
• Dog-Head Daoist disguised himself as a human, transformed weeds into shells, and used them to take food from Human Race markets without paying.
• The counterfeit shells reverted to weeds, leaving the Human Race victims shocked and angry as Dog-Head Daoist escaped with the stolen food.
• Sect Master Tongtian deduced Heavenly Dao Hongjun's scheme, told Golden Spirit Mother what had happened, and calculated Dog-Head Daoist's location.
• Golden Spirit Mother flew out of Jie Sect and caught up with the fleeing Dog-Head Daoist.

Xuan Yang explained how he made Pharmacist and Guang Chengzi Xuanyuan’s teachers to share the karma of his conquest and to deter Hongjun from interfering. Hongjun saw the scheme and realized that any move against Xuanyuan would risk a rift with Yuanshi, Zhunti, and Jieyin.

• Xuan Yang told Nuwa and Fuxi that Xuanyuan’s conquest would create overwhelming karma, so Pharmacist, Guang Chengzi, and their sects would help bear it.
• Xuan Yang explained that making the two disciples Xuanyuan’s teachers would force Hongjun to choose between allowing the Human Race to unify and angering the Saints whose disciples stood to gain merit.
• Nuwa praised Xuan Yang’s scheme for leaving Hongjun with no favorable choice.
• Hongjun deduced Xuan Yang’s plan in the Purple Heaven Palace and grew furious at the dilemma it created.
• Hongjun recognized that interfering with Xuanyuan’s unification would harm the interests of Yuanshi, Zhunti, and Jieyin.

Cangjie created three thousand characters to establish the Literary Dao, provoking the Heavenly Dao to unleash Chaos World-Destroying Divine Thunder. Zhen Yuanzi protected Cangjie with the Earth Book, leaving the Human Race’s script intact and the watching powers stunned.

• Hongjun sensed that Cangjie’s Literary Dao could strengthen the Human Path and gathered tribulation clouds to stop it.
• Nuwa worried that Cangjie could not withstand the approaching tribulation, while Xuan Yang said he had made preparations.
• Cangjie wrote three thousand characters that resonated with the Great Dao and caused the Human Race’s fortune to surge.
• The Heavenly Dao sent Chaos World-Destroying Divine Thunder toward Cangjie, and Zhunti, Jieyin, and Primordial Lord of Heaven expected him to die.
• Zhen Yuanzi opened the Earth Book and shielded Cangjie and the Human Ancestral Land, absorbing and dissipating the divine thunder.

Hongjun abandoned his interference in Xuanyuan’s rule to preserve the Heavenly Dao faction, while Xuanyuan struggled to reconcile the teachings of Guangchengzi and Pharmacist. Shennong and Fuxi urged him to seek a path rooted in the Human Race, leaving Xuanyuan with the first glimmer of his own way.

• Hongjun chose to temporarily stop interfering in Human Emperor's Governance, preserving his ties with Yuanshi and the Two Sages of the West while vowing revenge against Xuan Yang.
• Guangchengzi taught Xuanyuan hierarchy and rule, while Pharmacist taught equality, Karma, and compassion.
• Xuanyuan questioned whether either teacher’s doctrine offered the right path for the Human Race.
• Shennong and Fuxi told Xuanyuan to learn from the two teachings without accepting them completely and to seek the Human Dao in his people and his own heart.
• After Shennong and Fuxi disappeared, Xuanyuan began to trust that he could forge a new path for the Human Race.

Nuwa rejected Heavenly Dao Hongjun’s claim that he was only advising her about trouble facing the Human Path, while Houtu and the Ancestral Witches prepared to support Nuwa if needed. Just as Nuwa dismissed Hongjun’s interference, Xuan Yang appeared.

• Heavenly Dao Hongjun announced that he would advise the Human Path, prompting cultivators across the Primordial Wilderness to anticipate another confrontation.
• Nuwa asked Hongjun whether he was meddling too much, but he insisted the Three Paths were one family and that he had to offer counsel.
• Houtu and the Eleven Ancestral Witches mocked Hongjun’s shamelessness and discussed helping Nuwa if he escalated matters.
• Houtu said the Earth Path and Human Path were closely connected through Xuan Yang, and the Ancestral Witches’ auras grew stronger as they prepared to act.
• Nuwa told Hongjun that the matter concerned her Human Race and that she did not need his concern, then Xuan Yang suddenly appeared.

Tongtian failed to dissuade Grand Pure Laozi and Primordial Lord of Heaven from cultivating the Method of Slaying Three Corpses, while he continued to strengthen his own foundations. Fifty thousand years later, both brothers entered the Quasi-Saint realm by slaying their Good Corpses, and Primordial Lord of Heaven laughed at Tongtian’s slow progress.

• Primordial Lord of Heaven dismissed Tongtian’s warning and left, while Grand Pure Laozi advised Tongtian to reconsider before returning to his cave mansion.
• Tongtian worried that his brothers would become trapped at the Quasi-Saint peak, then returned to his cave mansion to refine his Dao of Formations and Dao of the Sword.
• Grand Pure Laozi spent ten thousand years examining the Method of Slaying Three Corpses, found no problems, and began cultivating it.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven continued cultivating the method, convinced that Tongtian’s warning was wrong.
• After another fifty thousand years, Grand Pure Laozi and Primordial Lord of Heaven each slew their Good Corpse and entered the Quasi-Saint realm.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven sensed Tongtian’s barely changed aura and laughed aloud.

After completing the Grand Formation of the Stars, Xuan Yang returned to meet Zhen Yangzi and Hongyun, hoping to strengthen their friendship and alliances. He offered them the Dao Proving through Laws Method, leaving them stunned by the scroll he presented.

• Di Jun, Taiyi, and Xuan Yang completed the Grand Formation of the Stars, then Di Jun and Taiyi announced they would cultivate in seclusion to seek breakthroughs.
• Xuan Yang left the formation to meet Zhen Yangzi and Hongyun, who had waited in his palace for years.
• Xuan Yang reflected that he needed to build friendships, gather strength, and prepare for the conflict that Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao were driving toward.
• Six-Eared Macaque told Xuan Yang that Zhen Yangzi had given him a Ginseng Fruit, and Xuan Yang permitted him to eat it.
• Xuan Yang entertained Zhen Yangzi and Hongyun, explained the formation's uses, and offered them the Dao Proving through Laws Method.
• Zhen Yangzi and Hongyun stared in shock when Xuan Yang presented the cultivation method.

Zhunti and Jieyin tried to take two demon spirits’ seats, but Di Jun and Taiyi used the incident as a pretext to suppress and beat them. The chapter ended with the brothers begging for mercy as Di Jun and Taiyi demanded compensation.

• Zhunti and Jieyin feigned misery and promised rewards to persuade two minor demon spirits to give up their seats.
• Di Jun urged the demon spirits to keep their seats and promised to intervene if Zhunti and Jieyin tried to take them by force.
• Zhunti and Jieyin attacked the demon spirits, prompting Di Jun and Taiyi to strike them with stellar power and the Chaos Bell.
• Di Jun accused Zhunti and Jieyin of bullying the Demon Race, and he and Taiyi suppressed them despite their defensive treasures.
• Zhunti and Jieyin begged for mercy, and Di Jun and Taiyi stopped beating them and demanded compensation.

Xuan Yang obtained the Innate Gourd Vine and the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil from Buzhou Mountain, then toured the Witch Tribe with Houtu. The Ancestral Witches met him and Zhu Rong proposed that they exchange pointers.

• The Ancestral Witches speculated that Houtu wanted Xuan Yang as her Dao Companion, and Di Jiang decided they should test his abilities.
• Xuan Yang persuaded the wary Innate Gourd Vine to submit to him, bonded with it using his essence blood, and took it with its seven gourds into his sea of consciousness.
• Xuan Yang collected all the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and left the site, where Houtu and the others congratulated him.
• Houtu led Xuan Yang and his companions on a tour of the Witch Tribe, where they saw its simple dwellings and members sparring without killing one another.
• Di Jiang and the other Ancestral Witches met Xuan Yang courteously, and Zhu Rong challenged him to exchange pointers.

Xuan Yang earned the Ancestral Witches’ respect and formed friendships with them after staying in their settlement for nearly a hundred years. Hongjun discovered that Xuan Yang’s actions were undermining his plans for a future Witch-Demon War, while Nuwa emerged from cultivation after failing to find a path to breakthrough.

• Xuan Yang and Zhu Rong became friends, and Di Jiang and the other Ancestral Witches acknowledged Xuan Yang’s strength.
• Houtu felt relieved that Xuan Yang’s friendship with the Witch Tribe might help prevent a future Witch-Demon War.
• Xuan Yang stayed with the Witch Tribe for nearly a hundred years before leaving; Hongyun and Zhen Yuanzi returned to Wuzhuang Temple, West King Mother returned to West Kunlun, and Xuan Yang headed for the Sun Star.
• Hongjun discovered that Di Jun and Taiyi were still cultivating in seclusion and that Xuan Yang had befriended the Witch Tribe, prompting him to curse in anger.
• Hongjun found that Tongtian and Nuwa had not begun cultivating Slaying the Three Corpses, and decided to wait for them to encounter setbacks.
• Nuwa emerged from cultivation after repeatedly failing to find a path to breakthrough.

Xuanyuan learned to judge the Chan Sect and Western Sect’s teachings independently as he unified the eastern tribes through benevolent rule. In the west, Chi You united the tribes under his iron-fisted leadership and built a powerful army, setting the stage for a struggle over the Human Race’s future.

• Xuanyuan studied under Pharmacist and Guangchengzi while evaluating their teachings from the Human Race’s perspective, and Nuwa and Xuan Yang watched his growth with approval.
• Xuanyuan strengthened the Chendu Tribe through better systems, farming, and handicrafts, then brought surrounding tribes under his rule with promises of equal treatment and prosperity.
• Chi You rose to lead the Jiu Ying Tribe, imposing strict laws and developing agriculture, irrigation, and abundant grain reserves.
• Chi You established metal-smelting workshops, equipped his army with weapons and armor, and advanced in the Martial Dao until he rivaled a True Immortal.
• Chi You unified the western Human Race, tamed Iron-Eating Beasts as mounts, and set his hegemony against Xuanyuan’s benevolent rule.