Chapter Summaries

The Three Pure Ones backed Zhuangzi as a candidate for the vacant Heavenly Dao saint position, but he initially resisted becoming bound by its responsibilities. Candle Dragon and Vermillion Bird then entered the contest with the support of the Dragon and Phoenix Clans, leaving Zhuangzi to decide to compete as the race began.

• The Three Pure Ones urged Zhuangzi to become the Eighth Saint of the Heavenly Dao, but he refused and tried to escape.
• Laozi sealed off Zhuangzi's escape routes as the Heavenly Dao began examining him, while Li Fan explained that Zhuangzi's success depended on recognition, strength, and fortune.
• Ancestor Dragon and the Dragon Clan backed Candle Dragon for the vacant position.
• Yuanfeng and the Phoenix Clan backed Vermillion Bird, setting up a three-way contest with Zhuangzi and Candle Dragon.
• After hearing of the rival candidates, Zhuangzi stopped trying to flee and agreed to contend for sainthood.

Zhuangzi answered Heavenly Dao Hongjun’s first two questions with a willingness to surrender himself and reconcile all living beings, while Candle Dragon’s forceful claims and the Vermillion Bird’s loyalty to the Heavenly Realm failed to sway the trial. Zhuangzi received Hongmeng Purple Qi and was hailed as the Daoist Saint, but observers warned that his sainthood remained uncertain and that rival factions and the Dharma Ending Age threatened him.

• Heavenly Dao Hongjun asked Candle Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, and Zhuangzi what they would cast aside to ascend to sainthood; Zhuangzi said he would abandon freedom, seclusion, and his own Dao for all living beings.
• Heavenly Dao Hongjun asked how to quell chaos, and Zhuangzi proposed embracing all beings through the Great Dao while Candle Dragon insisted on suppressing them by force.
• Candle Dragon rejected the trial and returned to Dragon Palace, while Zhuangzi merged his aura with the Great Dao and declared that a Saint bore the Heavenly Dao and all living beings.
• Heavenly Dao Hongjun awarded Zhuangzi Hongmeng Purple Qi, and the Prehistoric Universe hailed him as the Saint of the Daoist tradition.
• Li Fan, Goddess Wangshu, Nuwa, Goddess Taiyuan, Empress Ziguang, and Changxi discussed the threats facing Zhuangzi, including rival claimants, hostile factions, and the Dharma Ending Age.

After three thousand years of growing doubt about Zhuangzi’s claim to the Eighth Saint’s place, his opponents forced him to prove his strength in battle. Zhuangzi and Lord Lei nearly destroyed one another, leaving the question of the Saint’s succession unresolved.

• Across the Primordial World, disguised members of rival factions spread rumors that Zhuangzi was unworthy of becoming a Heavenly Dao Saint because he lacked overwhelming strength.
• As Zhuangzi prepared to leave Zhongnan Mountain, a mysterious challenger confronted him and demanded that he prove himself by fighting; the challenger was Lord Lei, a successor of Leize.
• Lord Lei attacked Zhuangzi with a lightning spear, and Zhuangzi countered with his Carefree Palm before the two began a brutal fight.
• Lord Lei’s spear tip shattered, while Zhuangzi’s Dao Foundation was gravely damaged, leaving both fighters severely wounded and neither victorious.
• Zhuangzi declared that his Dao did not deceive his heart, avoid battle, or betray all spirits, while the conspirators remained unconvinced.

As the Three Heavenly Daos fell into disorder, Li Fan and the goddesses identified Taiyi as the one manipulating the upheaval, while Taiyi empowered Lord Lei and prepared to seize control of the Great Dao. As a devastating storm struck the Earth Immortal Realm, leaders and immortals upheld order in their own ways, and the Human Realm’s third ultimate descent began.

• Li Fan, Goddess Wangshu, Nuwa, Empress Ziguang, and Goddess Taiyuan traced the Heavenly Dao’s imbalance to Taiyi’s schemes and his use of Lord Lei against Zhuangzi.
• Taiyi healed and empowered Lord Lei, who pledged to serve as his vanguard, while Taiyi declared his intention to claim the three Heavenly Daos and pursue the Primordial Dao Fruit.
• A cataclysmic storm swept across the Earth Immortal Realm, and Ying Zheng vowed that Great Qin and the Nine Provinces would remain secure under his rule.
• Confucius used rites and music to calm the storm over Qi and Lu, while Pure Sun Lü Dongbin wandered through the rain and split the darkened heavens with his sword light.
• The Human Realm’s third ultimate descent arrived as its people held up their own realm amid the chaos.

Humanity Dao reached its zenith and seized authority from the Heavenly Dao, but the triumph revealed that someone was using the moment to forcibly recast the timeline of the Prehistoric Universe. Li Fan and his companions entered the River of Time to set things right as the universe’s supreme beings rushed toward the temporal disturbance.

• Humanity Dao’s golden torrent overwhelmed the disaster clouds, forced back the chaotic energies, and awed the immortals and gods across the Earth Immortal Realm.
• Heavenly Emperor Cangli, the Dragon Clan, Yuanfeng, Shi Qilin, the Three Pure Ones, and the Western Sages sensed that the Human Realm’s descent had disrupted the expected course of time and heavenly momentum.
• Huang Tian recognized that the timeline had been forcibly rewritten, while the Three Pure Ones and the Western Sages realized their plans had been thrown into disarray.
• Li Fan, Wangshu, Goddess Taiyuan, and Empress Ziguang found that twenty-four of the Thirty-Six Sea-Calming Divine Pearls were entangled in temporal distortions and declared they would set things right.
• The River of Time surged and time accelerated across the Prehistoric World, prompting Huang Tian to warn that someone was using Humanity Dao’s zenith to recast the timeline.
• Cangli, Ancestor Dragon, Yuanfeng, Shi Qilin, Huang Tian, the Three Pure Ones, the Western Sages, Kunpeng, Minghe, and other supreme beings headed toward the source of the temporal disturbance.

Li Fan used his Pangu Heavenly King title and the Sea-Calming Divine Pearls to stop the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King’s return from disrupting the River of Time, then demanded and received compensation before letting him pass. The timeline was restored, and the gathered Hunyuan figures departed while Li Fan kept the treasures.

• Li Fan invoked his Pangu Heavenly King title and used the Sea-Calming Divine Pearls to suppress the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and stabilize the River of Time.
• The Three Pure Ones, the Two Sages of the West, and other Hunyuan figures displayed their Dao titles and watched as the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King’s advance stalled.
• Li Fan restored the time origin, Heavenly Dao laws, and the Prehistoric Universe’s greater trend, then hinted that the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King owed compensation for the disruption.
• The Primordial Beginning Heavenly King gave Li Fan time origin, a creation Dao seal, and several Innate Spiritual Treasures, and Li Fan allowed him to proceed.
• Li Fan announced that time and the greater trend had been restored, and the Hunyuan figures departed while he kept the offerings.

Primordial Beginning Heavenly King claimed Yujing Mountain and preached the primordial Dao to the gathered powers of the Prehistoric Universe. His exchange with Li Fan established an understanding between them, while a wisp of Primordial Beginning Pure Qi quietly enlightened Yuqing Yuanshi.

• Primordial Beginning Heavenly King took Yujing Mountain from Hongjun and declared it the Tai Xu Dao Field, prompting Hongjun to accept the situation rather than challenge him.
• Primordial Beginning Heavenly King announced his return and invited all beings to hear his teachings on Chaos Taichu and the Orthodox Method of Heaven and Earth.
• Taiqing Laozi, Yuanshi, Lingbao Tianzun, Li Fan, Changxi, Wangshu, and many other powers set out for Yujing Mountain to hear the sermon.
• Seven days later, Primordial Beginning Heavenly King preached the fundamental Great Dao, helping listeners understand obscure laws and loosen their cultivation bottlenecks.
• Primordial Beginning Heavenly King praised Li Fan's breadth of mind and acknowledged the Heavenly Court's orthodoxy; Li Fan nodded in agreement.
• A wisp of Primordial Beginning Pure Qi entered Yuqing Yuanshi's brow, while Hongjun watched from Purple Heaven Palace and felt relieved that Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Li Fan had made peace.

After the Primordial World’s new order was established, Li Fan returned to Grand Unity Heaven with Wangshu, Taiyuan, Ziguang, and Nuwa. Wangshu examined the Heaven-Opening Dao Seal’s Inner Chaos method as the Heavenly Court entered a flourishing golden age.

• The Primordial Beginning Heavenly King swiftly took the Jade Palace, and Taiqing, Yuqing, Shangqing, and he stood ready to uphold the Primordial World’s new order.
• Li Fan and the goddesses crossed the Inner Chaos on a bridge formed by the thirty-six Sea-Calming Pearls.
• Wangshu discovered that the Heaven-Opening Dao Seal contained a blueprint for creating and enclosing the Inner Chaos.
• Taiyuan opened the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King’s gift of spiritual pearls, found only Mid-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, and complained that the group had lost out.
• Li Fan and the goddesses arrived at Grand Unity Heaven, where Xihua, Yunxiao, Nüyi, and Yaochi welcomed them and reported that the Heavenly Court was stable and ready for the future.
• The eight goddesses gathered around Li Fan as the Heavenly Court flourished and the River of Fate rose again.

Li Fan observed the Human Realm’s flourishing Humanity Dao and warned that uncontrolled Incense Fire wishes were throwing its mortal world into chaos. As faith consumed human dynasties, Buddhist lands, and schools of thought, only the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans remained unmoved, while Li Fan judged that wish power could not endure as a true foundation.

• Li Fan explained that the Human Realm encompassed all mortal beings and that the Earth Immortal Realm served as the pivot protecting it within the Three Realms.
• Li Fan warned that the Human Realm’s accumulated contradictions and surging Incense Fire wishes could drive it into chaos and eventual replacement.
• Immortal Qin, Buddhist communities, Confucian academies, Daoists, and other schools became entangled in worship, factional strife, and the pursuit of influence.
• The Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Clans studied Li Fan’s ancient counsel and watched the turmoil without intervening.
• Li Fan concluded that wish power and Incense Fire could be borrowed but not relied upon, and that faith without sufficient conviction would vanish.

Yang Mei tried to exploit the chaos to draw on the Prehistoric Universe’s origin, but Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and the Three Pure Ones cornered him. Yang Mei refused to surrender, and the chapter ended as he challenged Primordial Beginning Heavenly King to fight.

• Yang Mei hid from the Heavenly Emperor and Primordial Beginning Heavenly King, hoping they would not find him.
• Primordial Beginning Heavenly King locked down the void, exposed Yang Mei’s plan, and demanded that he stop exploiting the Prehistoric Universe.
• Yang Mei defended his actions by claiming he had earned the right to collect interest from the World-Opening War, then threatened to ally with enemies from Return to Ruins.
• The Three Pure Ones arrived and surrounded Yang Mei, sealing off the space around him.
• Yang Mei manifested the Dharma Form of the Hollow Willow and unleashed his Space Great Dao, declaring that he would fight.
• Primordial Beginning Heavenly King accepted the challenge and began to raise the Origin Heavenly Dao.

The Three Pure Ones and Heavenly Dao Hongjun sealed the Earth Immortal Realm, trapping Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Yang Mei in battle while the realm and its inhabitants were devastated. As Li Fan and the other divine figures reacted to the destruction, Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Yang Mei ignited their origins and escalated the fight into a second stage.

• Taishang, Primordial Lord of Heaven, and Lingbao Tianzun sealed the Earth Immortal Realm with their laws, and Heavenly Dao Hongjun reinforced the seal and suppressed Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Yang Mei.
• Yang Mei welcomed the confinement, while Primordial Beginning Heavenly King realized that the realm created by the Heavenly Emperor was trapped with them.
• The clash of Yuanshi Heavenly Dao and Yang Mei's Space Law destroyed Jixia Academy, ended the Pure Yang True Dao, and devastated the Earth Immortal Realm for seven days.
• Li Fan saw the destruction in the Earth Immortal Realm's origin and raged, while Nuwa, Goddess Wangshu, Empress Ziguang, and Goddess Taiyuan recognized the crisis and reacted.
• Primordial Beginning Heavenly King tried to force Yang Mei to surrender, but Yang Mei refused, and both fighters ignited their origins to begin the battle's second stage.

Li Fan intervened in the ruinous battle between Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Yang Mei, but both defied him and continued fighting. As the Earth Immortal Realm suffered, Goddess Taiyuan and Heavenly Dao Hongjun declined to take responsibility, while Li Fan waited for the combatants to exhaust themselves.

• Li Fan froze the battlefield with a command, but Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Yang Mei refused to stop, so he withdrew and warned that their debts would be settled.
• Li Fan returned to the Primordial World with Wangshu, Taiyuan, Ziguang, Nuwa, and the others, and the Three Pure Ones saluted them.
• Goddess Taiyuan condemned Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and separated his clash with Yang Mei, but Primordial Beginning Heavenly King renewed his attack after Hongjun authorized her to handle the matter.
• Li Fan watched from above as Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Yang Mei continued burning their origins, while the beings of the Earth Immortal Realm could only watch their world suffer.
• Houtu lamented that Primordial Beginning Heavenly King was squandering Pangu's blessing and reflected on how those unable to see their own path eventually fell from power.

Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Yang Mei ended their three-era battle after Heavenly Dao Hongjun ordered them to stop, and Li Fan made them compensate for the Earth Immortal Realm’s destruction. Their payment restored order and stabilized the End of Dharma Era, while Li Fan hinted that the conflict had won him more than a chess game.

• Primordial Beginning Heavenly King and Yang Mei fought for three eras, exhausting their origins and destroying the Earth Immortal Realm, while Li Fan and the others watched from above the clouds.
• Heavenly Dao Hongjun ordered the exhausted fighters to stop, and Li Fan summoned them to answer for the damage they had caused.
• Yang Mei surrendered first, and Primordial Beginning Heavenly King followed after Li Fan’s pressure made resistance impossible.
• Li Fan demanded three strands of Hongmeng Purple Qi from each as compensation, threatening to let them perish if they refused.
• Primordial Beginning Heavenly King offered two strands of Hongmeng Purple Qi and Three Pure Ones Qi, while Yang Mei offered one strand and three Chaos Space Origin Crystals.
• Li Fan collected their offerings as the others departed, and Hongjun sensed that the End of Dharma Era had stabilized.

After the great battle, the Prehistoric Universe remained trapped in the End of Dharma as Li Fan watched Humanity Dao’s defiant fate gather within Nuwa’s stone on Flower Fruit Mountain. He strengthened the Golden Lotus of Merit, distributed treasures, and ended by preparing to invest the Ancestral Human Emperor and the Confucian Sage.

• Li Fan and Wangshu discussed how the Heavenly Dao’s effort to survive the Immeasurable Kalpa had plunged the Three Realms into the End of Dharma.
• On Flower Fruit Mountain, Nuwa’s five-colored divine stone absorbed Humanity Dao’s defiant fate qi and awakened a strand of True Spirit.
• Li Fan infused the Golden Lotus of Merit with Hongmeng Purple Qi, then gathered it with the other lotus platforms to resonate and advance.
• Li Fan gave one strand of Hongmeng Purple Qi each to Goddess Taiyuan and Wangshu, and let Nuwa, Empress Ziguang, and the others study additional treasures.
• Haotian reported that order had returned to the Earth Immortal Realm, and Li Fan told him to continue governing the Heavenly Court.
• Li Fan said the Humanity Dao investiture of the Ancestral Human Emperor and the Confucian Sage should proceed without further delay.

Nuwa established the Humanity Dao Orthodoxy Altar and conferred sainthood on Ying Zheng and Kong Qiu as the Ancestral Human Emperor Saint and Confucian Saint. Their ascension marked Humanity Dao’s zenith and the early phase of the End of Dharma Era’s end, while Nuwa foresaw the coming Immeasurable Kalpa.

• Nuwa built the nine-tier Humanity Dao Orthodoxy Altar at the world's center and placed the Hongmeng Sacred Sword upon it.
• Nuwa summoned the Saints of Humanity Dao, and Ying Zheng and Kong Qiu traveled from Xianyang and Jixia Academy to the altar.
• Nuwa named Ying Zheng the Ancestral Human Emperor Saint and Kong Qiu the Confucian Saint, then used the Hongmeng Sacred Sword to establish their Dao positions.
• The Humanity Dao Rule flowed into Ying Zheng and Kong Qiu, completing Ying Zheng's Human Witch bloodline and securing Kong Qiu's literary Saint position.
• Nuwa declared Humanity Dao's two Saints established, and the gathered immortals and great powers witnessed the End of Dharma Era beginning to subside.
• Nuwa considered the twelve destined Saint positions and the approaching Immeasurable Kalpa before fading away.

Ying Zheng brought Immortal Qin to Huoyun Cave after becoming a Saint and declared that his merit and virtue surpassed those of the earlier Human Emperors. He settled his household and forces there, while Li Fan and the others watched the chaos from Grand Unity Heaven and Nuwa began considering how to keep Fuxi occupied.

• Ying Zheng arrived at Huoyun Cave with his household and army, proclaiming himself the Ancestral Human Emperor and challenging the established rankings of Humanity Dao.
• Fuxi, Shennong, and Xuanyuan tried to avoid confronting Ying Zheng, but they and the Five Emperors stepped forward to receive him.
• Ying Zheng argued that his unification and laws deserved first place, then enlisted Confucius to teach benevolence while he enforced order.
• Bai Qi and the Immortal Qin army entered Huoyun Cave, where Ying Zheng claimed a place for his people and an Immortal Qin historian recorded his supposed superiority over the Three Emperors and Five Emperors.
• Immortal Qin stripped Shennong's medicinal fields and later assigned shifts to the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, leaving Huoyun Cave in turmoil.
• Li Fan and the others watched from Grand Unity Heaven as Nuwa decided Fuxi needed something to do, giving him a foreboding sense that trouble was coming.

The five Demon Gods of Guixu began probing the Three Realms while remaining within Guixu, and the Three Pure Ones and Primordial Beginning Heavenly King struck back at their spying. The demons withdrew to wait for a better opportunity, leaving the Three Realms outwardly peaceful but on the brink of war.

• The five Demon Gods stirred Guixu’s earth, wind, water, and fire entrances, while Yuanfeng suppressed the erupting tribulation fire.
• The Three Pure Ones and Primordial Beginning Heavenly King met at Tai Xu Mountain to discuss the threat, while Li Fan assigned them the front line and sent Empress Ziguang to guard the stars.
• The five Demon Gods gathered intelligence on the Three Realms, with the Death Demon God, Soul Demon God, Yellow Springs Demon God, and Curse Demon God probing different regions as the Darkness Demon God investigated from Guixu’s source.
• Taishang struck the Death Demon God’s spying divine sense, the Primordial Lord of Heaven quelled the Ninth Heaven’s tempest, and the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King attacked Guixu’s source before Ancestor Dragon intervened.
• The five Demon Gods retreated after their probing attempts were repelled and resolved to wait for more Chaos Demon Gods to return, while Li Fan and his companions watched from the Grand Unity Palace.

Divine Han rose after Immortal Qin’s withdrawal, and Liu Bang received Emperor Yao’s blessing as the new dynasty began. The Three Emperors used Han’s rise to balance rival powers, while Li Fan watched the unfolding struggle from the Grand Unity Heaven Palace.

• Li Fan, Wangshu, Nuwa, and Nüyi observed Divine Han’s founding and the Postnatal Divine Path’s resurgence as the Chaos Demon Gods lamented their lost chance to infiltrate the Earth Immortal Realm.
• The Phoenix Ancestor and Yuanfeng manifested the Phoenix Temple above the southern Immortal Volcano and proclaimed peace as Divine Han’s era began.
• Emperor Yao appeared in Chang’an, recognized Liu Bang’s founding of Divine Han, and bestowed Human Emperor’s Fortune, strengthening the dynasty’s national fortune.
• The Three Emperors in Huoyun Cave discussed Liu Bang’s status and the balance of power, treating Divine Han as part of a wider game of mutual restraint.
• Li Fan watched the competing powers’ plans, while Nuwa urged him to let Humanity Dao grow through competition.

Liu Bang reflected on how Divine Han rose from humble beginnings to establish a Humanity Dao dynasty through the people's support and the efforts of his allies. Empress Ziguang then revealed that she had helped arrange Divine Han's rise as a casual diversion, leaving Li Fan and the other goddesses exasperated by her mischief.

• Liu Bang remembered his rise from an idle commoner to emperor and how he overcame Xiang Yu through allies, strategy, and the people's allegiance.
• Divine Han's victory at Gaixia ended the conflict, and Liu Bang's red imperial aura settled as he established a new age for the human race.
• Empress Ziguang reflected that she had secretly helped shape Divine Han's rise by arranging the Son of the Red Emperor title and related events.
• Empress Ziguang's projection in the Grand Unity Heaven Palace sought praise from Wangshu, while Nuwa, Taiyuan Xuan Guang, Xihe, and Changxi reacted to her scheme.
• Li Fan silently rubbed his forehead as everyone recognized that Ziguang had acted on her own and was deliberately teasing them.

Li Fan and the goddesses met the five Demon Gods in the Return to Ruins, where Darkness warned that a great terror tied to the Chaos Supreme Treasure threatened them all. The group left without fighting, and the Three Pure Ones wondered whether the return of the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King had been planned.

• Li Fan and the goddesses visited Yunxiao, and they discussed the mortal world's role as a shield in the End of Dharma Era.
• Li Fan led the group through the Star Sky and Three Realms Barrier to meet the five Demon Gods in the Return to Ruins.
• The Demon Gods declared their intent to reclaim what they believed was theirs, but Darkness Demon God agreed to avoid a confrontation after seeing Li Fan's Thirty-Six Sea-Calming Divine Pearls.
• Darkness Demon God warned Li Fan that a great terror lay deep within the Return to Ruins and said the Chaos Supreme Treasure might break the deadlock.
• Li Fan left with the goddesses, and the Three Pure Ones speculated that the return of the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King was no accident.