Chapter Summaries

Shennong completed Xuandu’s Alchemy Method by tasting herbs across the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and recording their properties, then used his knowledge to cure the Human Race’s plague. Honored as the Ancestor of Medicine and elected Common Lord, he continued searching for unknown herbs to expand his Compendium of Herbs.

• Xuandu told Shennong to personally test the unnamed herbs in the Alchemy Method, and Shennong agreed before setting out.
• Shennong endured poisoning, attacks by wild beasts, and injuries while traveling the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and recording medicinal herbs in his Compendium of Herbs.
• After testing the final herb listed without an explanation, Shennong returned to the Human Race and treated the plague with remedies he had developed.
• The Human Race recovered from the plague, honored Shennong as the Ancestor of Medicine, and elected him their new Common Lord.
• Shennong led others in searching for herbs missing from the Alchemy Method and continued testing them himself despite his attendants’ concerns.

Shennong died after tasting a dangerously poisonous herb while completing the Compendium of Herbs, plunging the Human Race into grief. Xuandu arrived and declared that Shennong deserved to become the Human Emperor, winning the Human Race's unanimous support.

• Shennong led his attendants into a poisonous valley to test its herbs despite their pleas to return.
• Shennong tasted an unfamiliar black herb, was overcome by its poison, and died despite an antidote.
• Shennong's attendants returned his body to the Human Race, whose people mourned his death.
• Huang Tian told the Human Race's leaders that Shennong's death was his fate and the Earth Emperor's tribulation, and that they must not interfere.
• Xuandu appeared before Shennong's remains, praised his benevolence and courage, and asked whether anyone objected to Shennong becoming Human Emperor.
• The Human Race unanimously supported Xuandu's declaration.

Shennong revived after the Human Race’s aspirations and merit gathered, recovered his memories as Hong Yun, and attained the Dao as the Earth Emperor, reaching the Quasi-Saint realm. Xuandu departed after receiving merit for guiding him, while the Three Pure Ones agreed that Primordial Heavenly Lord would send a disciple to guide the third sovereign.

• Golden Light of Merit enveloped Shennong’s corpse, restoring his body and bringing him back to life.
• Shennong’s memories of his past as Hong Yun returned, and he chose to live as Shennong of the Human Race.
• Shennong declared that he had attained the Dao as Earth Emperor, and Heavenly Dao Merit raised his cultivation to the Quasi-Saint realm while also advancing Xuandu’s cultivation.
• The Human Race hailed Shennong as Earth Emperor, and he thanked Xuandu, who then departed.
• The Three Pure Ones discussed guiding the third sovereign, and Primordial Heavenly Lord agreed to send a disciple.

After Shennong proved the Dao as the Earth Emperor, the Human Race flourished, and years later the Human Emperor aura reappeared, signaling the arrival of the third emperor. Primordial Heavenly Lord chose Guangchengzi to guide him, leaving Jade Void Palace poised to pursue the role.

• Jieyin and Zhunti envied the Merit Shennong gained and hoped Western Teachings would receive Merit from guiding one of the Five Emperors.
• Niu Ba anticipated that the Ox Clan could guide one of the Five Emperors, while Niu Ben continued refining Pangu's Essence Blood after fulfilling his promise to Zhen Yuanzi.
• Zhen Yuanzi celebrated Shennong's attainment as the Earth Emperor, and Huang Tian congratulated him while they kept their connection to Shennong from Cangjie.
• Shennong's leadership helped the Human Race enter a period of rapid development, and many years passed.
• A faint Human Emperor aura appeared across the Primordial Wilderness Land, prompting the saints to speculate about the third emperor.
• Primordial Heavenly Lord summoned Guangchengzi and told him that Jade Void Palace would guide the Human Race's third emperor.

As the aura of the Human Emperor gathered over the Human Race, Primordial Heavenly Lord ordered Guangchengzi to guide Xuanyuan, the future Human Emperor. The other Saints and Niu Ba anticipated the coming era and considered how their factions might gain merit, leaving the Western Saints weighing whether to challenge the existing assignments.

• Primordial Heavenly Lord told Guangchengzi to accept Xuanyuan as his disciple and guide him to confirm his Dao as Human Emperor.
• Guangchengzi eagerly left Jade Void Palace, hoping to gain Heavenly Dao merit as Xuandu had after guiding Shennong.
• Tongtian and Duobao anticipated that the third Sovereign would soon be born and that Duobao would later teach one of the Five Emperors.
• Zhunti proposed that Western Teachings find a way to claim more merit, but Jieyin urged caution and agreed to wait for a suitable opportunity.
• Nuwa sensed the Human Emperor's aura and reflected on the changes ahead, while Niu Ba wondered which Five Emperor Niu Ben had secured for the Ox Clan to teach.

Niu Ben asked Empress Pingxin to send the heaven-supporting Mystic Turtle’s True Spirit into human reincarnation, hoping it would become the third Human Emperor. After Pingxin granted his request, Niu Ben returned to refining Pangu’s Essence Blood.

• Niu Ba dismissed the idea of choosing which of the Five Emperors to guide and expected Ben'er to seek his help.
• Niu Ben sensed the third Human Sovereign beginning to take shape and recalled how the Mystic Turtle had helped him support the heavens.
• Niu Ben visited Empress Pingxin and presented the Mystic Turtle’s True Spirit, asking her to send it into the Human Path so it could become the third of the Three Sovereigns.
• Empress Pingxin sent the Mystic Turtle’s True Spirit into human reincarnation and gave Niu Ben a meaningful look without explaining her favor.
• Niu Ben returned to his separate Innate Blessed Land and resumed refining Pangu’s Essence Blood.

Queen Mother of the West considered seeking a share of the next Human Emperor’s Merit and Fortune, while Shennong prepared to leave the Human Race and reunite with Zhen Yuanzi. In the Youxiong Clan, Xuanyuan was born, and Guangchengzi arrived to claim him as his disciple and declare him Heaven’s chosen Human Emperor.

• Queen Mother of the West sensed the next Human Emperor’s coming and suspected the Heavenly Dao was guiding her toward his Merit and Fortune.
• Shennong learned that the next Human Emperor was about to be born and left to visit his elder brother in the Human Emperor Realm.
• Huang Tian told Zhen Yuanzi that he would soon see his wish fulfilled as Shennong prepared to join the Human Emperor Realm.
• After the woman of the Youxiong Clan gave birth to Xuanyuan, Guangchengzi arrived and declared him Heaven’s chosen Human Emperor.
• Guangchengzi announced that he would take Xuanyuan as his disciple and guide him toward greatness.

Xuanyuan grew into a powerful Human Race leader under Guangchengzi’s instruction, while Chiyou united Wu Clan remnants and led them in an attack on the Human Race. The war began as the great powers dismissed the attackers as scattered remnants rather than the Witch Realm’s full army.

• Guangchengzi recognized the infant Xuanyuan as the future Human Emperor and stayed among the Human Race to guide him.
• Chiyou, a Great Witch who resented the Wu Clan’s retreat to the Witch Realm, vowed to reclaim the Primordial Wilderness Land from the Human Race.
• Xuanyuan matured, strengthened the Youxiong Clan, and drew tribes from across the region to submit to him.
• Chiyou forged weapons, united hidden Wu Clan forces, and rallied his warriors to reclaim their former territory before Xuanyuan became the Human Race’s Common Lord.
• Chiyou led the Wu Clan forces in an assault on the Human Race, shocking the great powers, who concluded that the attackers were remnants left behind in the Primordial Wilderness Land.

The Saints and Niu Ba learned that a Wu Clan army led by Chiyou had appeared in Human Race territory, threatening to complicate Xuanyuan’s path to becoming the third Human Emperor. Niu Ben recognized the likely role of Chiyou in Heaven’s ordained course and chose not to intervene, while Xuanyuan received news of the Wu Clan’s arrival.

• Zhunti and Jieyin discussed the Wu Clan remnants on the Primordial Wilderness Land and wondered whether Niu Ben would intervene.
• Primordial Heavenly Lord, Saint Taishang, Tongtian Cult Master, and Saint Nuwa each sensed the Wu Clan’s return and considered its possible impact on Xuanyuan’s Dao confirmation.
• Niu Ba grew angry that Chiyou’s Wu Clan army could make Xuanyuan’s Dao confirmation more uncertain, but noted that Niu Ben could act without the Saints’ restrictions.
• Niu Ben recognized the Wu Clan army as likely connected to Chiyou and decided to let events follow Heaven’s ordained course rather than intervene.
• Xuanyuan heard that a Wu Clan army had attacked Human Race territory and wondered how the Wu Clan had returned from the Witch Realm.

Xuanyuan underestimated Chiyou and the Wu Clan army, which had prepared weapons to counter the Human Race and captured vast territory. After Chiyou defeated him in battle, Xuanyuan retreated with heavy losses and blamed himself for the deaths of his warriors.

• A Human Race general identified the attackers as remnants of the Wu Clan, but Xuanyuan dismissed them and ordered only routine vigilance.
• Chiyou led the Wu Clan army and eighty-one generals in capturing Human Race territory and advancing to a city.
• Xuanyuan gathered the Human Race army and confronted Chiyou, who demanded the return of Wu Clan territory before ordering his warriors to attack.
• The Wu Clan's specialized weapons inflicted severe losses, and Chiyou wounded Xuanyuan while fighting him alongside several of his brothers.
• Xuanyuan ordered a retreat as the Human Race army collapsed, then returned to the city and regretted the lives lost because of his carelessness.

After Chiyou defeated Xuanyuan’s army, Guangchengzi decided to return to Penglai and seek Primordial Heavenly Lord’s help. The great powers and Western Teachings recognized that Chiyou’s Wu Clan army was a serious threat to Xuanyuan’s path to Dao Confirmation.

• Guangchengzi watched Xuanyuan return in defeat and comforted him, while Xuanyuan asked his master to aid the Human Race against Chiyou.
• Guangchengzi told Xuanyuan to gather the Human Race and avoid battle if Chiyou’s army attacked while he was away.
• Guangchengzi considered seeking help from Niu Ben but chose instead to return to Penglai and consult Primordial Heavenly Lord.
• The great powers of the Primordial Wilderness were shocked that Chiyou’s Wu Clan army had defeated the Human Race and discussed its strength.
• At Mount Sumeru, Jieyin and Zhunti discussed the defeat and considered whether Western Teachings could benefit from Xuanyuan’s predicament.

After Xuanyuan’s Human Race army was defeated by Chiyou’s Army, various powers assessed the Wu Clan threat. Queen Mother of the West saw a chance for her Jade Pool lineage to gain Human Race fortune, while Guangchengzi returned to seek aid from Primordial Heavenly Lord.

• Zhunti suggested that Jieyin make no moves for now, and Jieyin agreed.
• Nuwa realized the Wu Clan force was more formidable and prepared than she had assumed, but chose not to intervene.
• Niu Ba lamented the Human Race’s defeat, then decided to follow Niu Ben’s advice and abandon ambitions for dominance.
• Huang Tian told Cangjie that Xuanyuan’s defeat could be a trial and refused to send help from the Human Emperor Realm.
• Queen Mother of the West saw the defeat as an opportunity for her Jade Pool lineage and vanished from West Kunlun.
• Guangchengzi told Primordial Heavenly Lord that Chiyou and his Eighty-One Witch Generals overwhelmed the Human Race, and asked the sect for a way to quell the Witch Chaos.

Primordial Heavenly Lord sought Saint Taishang’s help against Chiyou’s Wu Clan army, and Taishang forged a divine sword for Xuanyuan. After naming it the Xuanyuan Sword, Primordial Heavenly Lord took it back, while Guangchengzi remained anxious as he waited to be summoned.

• Guangchengzi pleaded with Primordial Heavenly Lord for help against Chiyou, and Primordial Heavenly Lord agreed to assist Xuanyuan.
• Primordial Heavenly Lord visited Saint Taishang and asked him to forge a divine weapon for Xuanyuan.
• Saint Taishang used treasured celestial iron to forge a sword over forty-nine days.
• Saint Taishang named the finished weapon the Xuanyuan Sword and gave it to Primordial Heavenly Lord.
• Guangchengzi wondered why Primordial Heavenly Lord had still not summoned him and worried about the Human Race’s worsening situation.

Queen Mother of the West visited Primordial Heavenly Lord and offered the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra to strengthen Xuanyuan and help him defeat Chiyou. Primordial Heavenly Lord agreed to let her disciple Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden assist Xuanyuan, leaving him wondering whether the Heavenly Dao had guided Queen Mother of the West.

• Primordial Heavenly Lord worried that Xuanyuan might not be strong enough to wield the Xuanyuan Sword and defeat Chiyou's army.
• Queen Mother of the West arrived at Jade Void Palace and questioned whether the Xuanyuan Sword alone could ensure Xuanyuan's victory.
• Queen Mother of the West offered the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra and proposed sending Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden to help Xuanyuan cultivate it.
• Primordial Heavenly Lord discovered that the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra involved dual cultivation and asked whether Queen Mother of the West sought a share of the Human Emperor's Merit and Fortune.
• Queen Mother of the West admitted her goal, and Primordial Heavenly Lord agreed to her proposal.
• Queen Mother of the West said Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden was waiting outside Penglai Immortal Island, prompting Primordial Heavenly Lord to wonder whether the Heavenly Dao had given her a revelation.

Primordial Heavenly Lord sent Guangchengzi and Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden to help Xuanyuan defeat Chiyou, providing a sword and a cultivation technique. As the Human Race lost territory and Xuanyuan worried over the invasion, his master and Mystic Maiden arrived, and Guangchengzi presented him with the Xuanyuan Sword.

• The Queen Mother of the West entrusted Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden to Primordial Heavenly Lord, who assigned her to assist Xuanyuan.
• Primordial Heavenly Lord summoned Guangchengzi, gave him the Xuanyuan Sword and a Jade Slip, and ordered him to take Mystic Maiden to the Human Race.
• While Xuanyuan held his army back, Chiyou and his Wu Clan forces captured more Human Race territory, and Xuanyuan's generals urged him to fight.
• Guangchengzi and Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden arrived, and Xuanyuan greeted his master with relief.
• Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden said she would help Xuanyuan cultivate, and Guangchengzi presented him with the Xuanyuan Sword.

Xuanyuan completed the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra and refined the Xuanyuan Sword, making him ready to fight Chiyou. He led the Human Race in a counterattack that routed a Wu Clan army, while Chiyou learned of the defeat at his camp.

• Guangchengzi gave Xuanyuan the Xuanyuan Sword and the Jade Slip, then advised him to defend the cities until his cultivation was complete.
• Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden helped Xuanyuan cultivate the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra and taught him the Heavenly Book and Art of War as the Human Race repelled repeated Wu Clan attacks.
• After half a year, Xuanyuan completed his cultivation and refined the Xuanyuan Sword, and Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden said he could now contend with Chiyou's army.
• Xuanyuan summoned his commanders, planned a counterattack, and led the Human Race out to defeat a Wu Clan force attacking the city.
• At the Wu Clan camp, a wounded general rushed in, and Chiyou demanded to know what had happened to the force sent to harass the Human Race's main city.

After Xuanyuan defeated Chiyou’s forces twice with the Xuanyuan Sword, Chiyou resolved to lead the Wu Clan army himself. A year later, the Human Race and Wu Clan faced each other outside Zhuolu for the decisive battle.

• A defeated Wu general reported that Xuanyuan had attacked with a powerful divine weapon, and Chiyou excused him before sending ten of his brothers to strike the Human Race’s city.
• Xuanyuan led the Human Race army against the ten Wu generals, defeated them and routed their troops with the Xuanyuan Sword.
• The ten Wu generals returned in panic and told Chiyou that they had been unable to match Xuanyuan, so Chiyou ordered the Wu Clan to prepare for war under his personal command.
• Xuanyuan led the Human Race army on the offensive and recovered large areas of lost territory over the following year.
• The Human Race and Wu Clan armies gathered outside Zhuolu, where Xuanyuan’s imperial aura and Saint-forged Xuanyuan Divine Sword bolstered his soldiers’ fighting spirit.

Xuanyuan and Chiyou brought the Human Race and Wu Clan armies to a tense standoff at Zhuolu, each rallying their warriors for battle. As the armies prepared to clash, the great powers and saints watched, with Niu Ba hoping Xuanyuan would end the Witch Chaos and usher in the Era of the Five Emperors.

• Chiyou led eighty-one Wu generals and the Wu Clan army against Xuanyuan, claiming the Primordial Wilderness belonged to the Wu Clan.
• Xuanyuan and Chiyou sounded their armies’ war drums and horns, then urged their warriors to fight for their respective peoples.
• The Human Race soldiers roared their refusal to be enslaved, pushing back the Wu Clan’s baleful aura, while Chiyou ordered his forces to kill.
• The armies’ clash of auras shook Zhuolu and drew the attention of powerful figures and saints across the Primordial Wilderness.
• Saint Taishang, Primordial Heavenly Lord, and Tongtian Cult Master backed Xuanyuan, while Zhunti, Jieyin, and Saint Nuwa commented on the battle’s stakes.
• Niu Ba watched from the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and urged Xuanyuan to win so the Era of the Five Emperors could begin.

Niu Ben recognized Chiyou’s war against Xuanyuan as part of Heaven’s ordained plan, while the Witch and Demon leaders reacted to the conflict from their realms. The chapter ended with Dijiang warning the Ancestral Witches that Chiyou’s army faced powerful Human Race figures who were disciples of Daojun Niu Ben.

• Niu Ben continued refining Pangu’s Essence Blood and chose not to interfere with Chiyou’s predetermined role in Xuanyuan’s rise as Human Emperor.
• Queen Mother of the West worried that Xuanyuan might lose to Chiyou, though she hoped his victory would benefit Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden and herself.
• Di Jun told Emperor Taiyi that the Wu Clan army confronting Xuanyuan was made up of scattered survivors, while Taiyi privately vowed revenge against Niu Ben.
• Di Jun explained that he had passed Heavenly Dao Merit to Emperor Taiyi to help him advance toward becoming a Saint, and that he hoped the Demon Clan could eventually challenge Niu Ben.
• Dijiang questioned Chiyou about the war, and Ju Mang suggested Chiyou might destroy the Human Race.
• Dijiang rejected Ju Mang’s claim, explaining that the Human Race had become the ruler of the Primordial Wilderness and that Huang Tian and Cangjie were disciples of Daojun Niu Ben.

Di Jiang Ancestor Witch decided that the Wu Clan would leave the outside conflict to fate and focus on growing stronger, while Xuanyuan and Chiyou led their armies into battle at Zhuolu. Xuanyuan’s formation trapped and slaughtered Wu Clan warriors, and his Saintly Light sword strike fell toward Chiyou.

• Di Jiang Ancestor Witch told Chiyou and the other Ancestor Witches to leave the outside Chiyou’s battle with the Human Race to fate and return to cultivation.
• Xuanyuan and Chiyou ordered their armies to charge, and the Human Race and Wu Clan forces clashed at Zhuolu.
• Xuanyuan activated the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams Formation, which trapped the Human Race army’s Wu Clan attackers and shredded many warriors.
• Chiyou used the Bow of the Wind Duke and an Arrow of the Rain Master to tear open the formation, then led his eighty-one Wu Clan generals toward the breach.
• Xuanyuan unleashed the Xuanyuan Sword’s Saintly Light, which dissolved the Wu Clan’s baleful light, and struck at Chiyou as Chiyou raised all six weapons to defend himself.