Chapter Summaries

Hongjun offered Jieyin and Zhunti two ways to divide the Primordial Violet Qi, forcing them to weigh their Saintly power against their merit. Zhunti favored keeping half a strand each, but Jieyin urged him to consider the consequences before they decided.

• Hongjun explained that Jieyin could retain Saint strength across the Western Lands with half a strand of Primordial Violet Qi and Zhunti’s transferred merit, while Zhunti would be reduced to Half-Saint strength.
• Hongjun offered another choice: Jieyin and Zhunti could each give up half a strand, preserving their merit and remaining Saints within Mount Sumeru.
• The Three Pure Ones realized this second choice would make Jieyin and Zhunti compete over their standing, with neither able to wield Saintly power throughout the Western Lands.
• Zhunti privately urged Jieyin to choose the method that gave each of them half a strand, but Jieyin asked him to weigh both choices carefully.

Jieyin chose to sacrifice his own merit so Zhunti could retain Saintly power across the Western Lands. Hongjun began extracting Jieyin’s merit and directing it to Zhunti, while Jieyin’s aura rapidly weakened.

• Jieyin and Zhunti chose to combine their merit so one of them could remain a Saint across the Western Lands.
• When Hongjun asked whose merit should be extracted, Jieyin offered his own despite Zhunti’s surprise.
• Jieyin explained that he had rejected the option of splitting Primordial Violet Qi because one Saint could guard a region, and he wanted to explore what lay beyond the Saint’s position.
• Hongjun accepted Jieyin’s choice and used Heavenly Dao Power to strip away his merit, sending it toward Zhunti.
• Jieyin’s aura rapidly fell as he neared the Quasi-Saint position.

Hongjun divided Jieyin’s extracted Primordial Violet Qi between Jieyin and Zhunti, then sent the Western sages back to Mount Sumeru to learn through building and giving. Zhunti discovered his Saintly power was restored within the Western Lands, while Jieyin’s weakened connection to the Heavenly Dao continued to fade.

• Hongjun extracted Jieyin’s entire strand of Primordial Violet Qi, and Zhunti briefly gained the full power of an unburdened Saint before the Heavenly Dao began drawing away merit again.
• Hongjun split the strand in two, returned one half to Jieyin, gave Zhunti the other, and handed the resulting complete strand to Laozi, who passed it to the Primeval Lord of Heaven.
• Hongjun sent Jieyin and Zhunti back to Mount Sumeru and told them their recovery depended on understanding giving and gaining and learning to build the mountain themselves.
• Zhunti sensed that his half-strand of Primordial Violet Qi had merged with Mount Sumeru’s destiny and found that his full Saintly power worked across the mountain and Western Lands but weakened in the east.
• Jieyin felt his merit and Saintly power ebb away as his connection to the Heavenly Dao narrowed, with the half-strand of Primordial Violet Qi barely keeping it intact.

Jieyin fell to Half-Saint status while Zhunti retained a regional Saint position on Mount Sumeru, and the brothers considered how to regain their power. After realizing Laozi might be pursuing Three Corpses Unite, Jieyin proposed retrieving their stolen Spiritual Treasures by appealing to the Sixth Prince.

• Jieyin’s Saintly authority diminished after he transferred his merit, leaving him a Half-Saint restricted to Mount Sumeru.
• Zhunti thanked Jieyin for sacrificing his status, and the brothers agreed to seek whatever merit they could to restore their strength.
• Jieyin reminded Zhunti of Laozi’s Three Corpses and Chaos Bell at Kunlun Mountain, and they concluded that Laozi might be pursuing Three Corpses Unite after seeing Di Jun’s power.
• Zhunti worried that Di Jun had taken their Spiritual Treasures, but Jieyin explained that their old connections and Dao marks remained within them.
• Jieyin decided to speak with the Sixth Prince, who possessed one of his Spiritual Treasures.

Jieyin explained to Zhunti that he planned to reclaim their Spiritual Treasures and pursue the path of uniting the Three Corpses. Meanwhile, Lu Jun considered using Innate Spiritual Treasures to cultivate powerful Star Avatars, but Jieyin and Zhunti’s phantoms emerged from two treasures before Lu Jun suppressed them with star power.

• Jieyin told Zhunti he had chosen to fall from the Saint realm so he could seek the path of Three Corpses Unite as a Half-Saint.
• Jieyin and Zhunti agreed to try to reclaim the Spiritual Treasures they had used to slay their Three Corpses.
• Lu Jun decided to save the Innate Spiritual Treasures as core materials for cultivating powerful Star Avatars in the future.
• The Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree and the Twelve-Petaled Merit Golden Lotus flared, and phantoms of Zhunti and Jieyin began to form.
• Lu Jun connected with the Star Domain and suppressed both treasures and phantoms with the power of the stars, while Eastern Emperor Tai Yi and the Ancestral Dragon Pagoda arrived.

Tai Yi prepared to erase Jieyin and Zhunti’s Three Corpses imprints, but Lu Jun restrained him and let the two explain themselves. Jieyin and Zhunti were stunned by Tai Yi’s treasures and sought information from Lu Jun, who said he knew nothing about their circumstances.

• Tai Yi raised the Primordial Measure Ruler to destroy Jieyin and Zhunti’s Three Corpses, then paused when they pleaded for a chance to speak.
• Lu Jun loosened his stellar suppression enough for the two phantoms to stabilize while keeping them contained.
• Jieyin and Zhunti noticed their Zixiao Palace poufs among Lu Jun’s possessions and saw Tai Yi carrying the Mysterious Yellow Pagoda of Heaven and Earth.
• Jieyin speculated that Laozi and Tai Yi had exchanged their treasures to pursue Three Corpses Unite, and he grew excited about the possibility.
• Jieyin and Zhunti noticed the Primordial Measure Ruler in Tai Yi’s hand and asked what had happened in the Great Desolation World.
• Tai Yi demanded that the two explain their visit, and Lu Jun told them he knew nothing about their circumstances.

Jieyin and Zhunti explained how they had lost their sainthood and spiritual treasures, then asked Lu Jun to return four treasures tied to their Three Corpses. Lu Jun stayed silent as Tai Yi rejected their plea, leaving the treasures' fate undecided.

• Jieyin and Zhunti recounted how they had been beaten, lost spiritual treasures and Primordial Violet Qi, and suffered severe restrictions to their status and power.
• Lu Jun considered Zhunti's confinement to the Western Lands and Jieyin's fall to Half-Saint status, and wondered why the Three Pure Ones had taken their Primordial Violet Qi.
• Zhunti and Jieyin asked Lu Jun to return the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, Six Roots Pure Bamboo, Twelve-Petaled Merit Golden Lotus, and Jieyin's Treasure Banner so they could restore their Three Corpses and travel more freely.
• Tai Yi mocked their offer of future repayment and warned them that the treasures belonged to Lu Jun now.
• Lu Jun remained silent, weighing the treasures' value as Star Avatar materials against the Three Corpse imprints they still contained.

Lu Jun worried that the Three Corpses imprints in the Spiritual Treasures could contaminate his future avatars, but learned that Zhunti’s Self Corpse was named Bodhi and became reluctant to erase it. Tai Yi interpreted Lu Jun’s interest as evidence that Bodhi mattered to a future Timeline and put away the Primordial Measure Ruler, leaving Zhunti and Jieyin puzzled.

• Lu Jun considered the risks of using Spiritual Treasures containing Jieyin and Zhunti’s Three Corpses imprints to nurture his avatars, but hesitated to erase the imprints and incur great Karma.
• Lu Jun asked Zhunti the name of his Three Corpses incarnation in the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, and Zhunti said he had named it Bodhi.
• Lu Jun connected Bodhi with the future master of Sun Wukong and decided he wanted to preserve a small remembrance despite the changed history.
• Zhunti explained that Jieyin had helped him transform by severing part of his Origin Spirit, and that he had later used the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree to create Bodhi as his Self Corpse.
• Tai Yi inferred that Bodhi had been important to a future Timeline and that Di Jun’s failure to erase the Three Corpses imprints was part of an arrangement.
• Tai Yi put away the Primordial Measure Ruler and lowered his murderous aura, leaving Zhunti and Jieyin wondering why the name Bodhi had changed his mood.

Lu Jun agreed to return Jieyin and Zhunti’s four Spiritual Treasures in exchange for them forging treasures, but Tai Yi warned them that the repayment had to match the profound value of restoring their Dao foundation. The agreement remained subject to Lu Jun’s judgment, with Tai Yi and Di Jun ready to intervene if the Saints tried to shortchange him.

• Jieyin and Zhunti decided to use Zhunti’s Bodhi identity to persuade Lu Jun to return their Spiritual Treasures.
• Lu Jun asked what compensation Jieyin and Zhunti would offer and proposed that they forge Spiritual Treasures for him instead of giving him ready-made items.
• Jieyin and Zhunti eagerly accepted Lu Jun’s vague terms and privately planned to minimize their effort and materials.
• Tai Yi interrupted and explained that returning the treasures could give Jieyin and Zhunti hope of rebuilding their Three Corpses and restoring their Dao path.
• Tai Yi declared that Lu Jun and his witnesses would decide whether the forged treasures adequately repaid the favor, warning that he and Di Jun could visit Mount Sumeru if the Saints were perfunctory.

Jieyin and Zhunti accepted Tai Yi’s terms to recover their Spiritual Treasures, then asked him how he and Taiqing had replaced the treasures used to Sever the Corpse. Tai Yi said only Laozi could explain the method, leaving them worried that seeking guidance from the Three Pure Ones would bring further demands.

• Tai Yi’s added conditions left Jieyin and Zhunti with no choice but to promise they would forge artifacts to Lu Jun’s satisfaction.
• Lu Jun withdrew the star power suppressing the Spiritual Treasures, and Jieyin and Zhunti’s four Three Corpses Incarnations emerged and thanked him and Tai Yi.
• Jieyin asked Tai Yi how he and Taiqing had exchanged the treasures used to Sever the Corpse without damaging their foundations.
• Tai Yi refused to explain and told Jieyin to ask Laozi, saying the method depended on Taiqing’s cultivation and One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones.
• Bodhi Daoist warned Jieyin that the Three Pure Ones might demand harsher terms if they sought instruction from Laozi.

Jieyin and Zhunti’s Three Corpses decided to seek help from the Three Pure Ones, then asked Lu Jun whether they could still pursue the path of Three Corpses Unite. Lu Jun warned Jieyin that his lack of merit made Taiqing’s transfer method nearly impossible, leaving the pair’s hopes shaken.

• Jieyin and Bodhi agreed to visit Kunlun Mountain and ask the Three Pure Ones for help, relying on the Karma owed to them.
• Jieyin asked Lu Jun whether he and Zhunti could still walk the path of Three Corpses Unite, and Lu Jun said that knowing more possibilities could offer hope.
• Lu Jun recalled how concepts associated with Buddhism had once inspired Di Jun’s Divine Path and offered to share relevant secrets with Jieyin and Zhunti.
• Lu Jun explained that Jieyin’s depleted merit, damaged cultivation, and lack of a powerful treasure made Taiqing’s transfer method nearly impossible to perform safely.
• Jieyin realized that transferring all his merit to Zhunti had deprived him of the power needed to anchor the exchange.

Jieyin and Zhunti realized that concentrating their merit had severed one of their futures, and they regretted ignoring Hongjun’s alternative. Hongjun watched their reaction from Zixiao Palace and sighed in disappointment.

• Jieyin and Zhunti’s Three Corpses realized that their concentrated merit had removed their chance to replace Spiritual Treasures through Three Corpses Unite.
• Jieyin and Bodhi Daoist recalled that Hongjun had offered them the option of giving up a wisp of Primordial Violet Qi while keeping their merit.
• Jieyin and Zhunti concluded that Hongjun had been trying to help them and that Laozi’s proposal had led them to cut off their own future path.
• Lu Jun and Tai Yi watched as Jieyin and Zhunti regretted their decision.
• Hongjun observed the exchange from Zixiao Palace and sighed with disappointment.

Hongjun explained that Jieyin and Zhunti had missed the path he had secretly prepared to restore their damaged foundations and gain both Hunyuan freedom and limited Heavenly Dao authority. He left them to face the consequences of their choices, while affirming that he had tried to provide each disciple with a path suited to them.

• Hongjun said Taiqing had sought the Primordial Violet Qi and intended to keep Jieyin and Zhunti from interfering with the Three Pure Ones’ plans.
• He explained that retaining their individual merits while dividing the Violet Qi could have preserved their Dao foundations and given them grounds to seek Taiqing’s method of One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones.
• Hongjun outlined how Jieyin and Zhunti could have used that method and their merits to pursue Three Corpses Unite, then become Hunyuan Grand Unity Golden Immortals with limited Heavenly Dao authority.
• He said he had planned this combined path as compensation for the Western disciples’ damaged foundations and burdensome Karma, but they had instead concentrated their merit and lost the opportunity.
• Hongjun reflected that he had tailored opportunities for the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Di Jun, the Ancestral Witches, and his other disciples, but Jieyin and Zhunti had failed to seize the path he offered.

Lu Jun explained how Di Jun used the Vow Power of All Beings to transform his Three Corpses into Three Bodies and unite them, creating a path to sainthood that Jieyin and Zhunti might follow. Jieyin and Zhunti were left considering this alternative to their failing path of giving and gaining.

• Jieyin asked Lu Jun whether he had any other way to deal with the Converging Timeline.
• Lu Jun suggested that Jieyin and Zhunti consider the path Di Jun had explored, and Tai Yi recognized its connection to ideas from the future Western Lands sect.
• Lu Jun explained that Di Jun had gathered the Demon Race’s trust, prayers, worship, and devotion as Vow Power of All Beings.
• Lu Jun described how Di Jun used Wish Power to transform his Three Corpses’ foundations from Innate Spiritual Treasures into Vow Power incarnations.
• Lu Jun explained that Di Jun united the Three Bodies after their foundations had changed, achieving the Primordial Dao Fruit and becoming a Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal.

Jieyin and Zhunti realized that Di Jun had used the wish power of all beings to transform his Three Corpses’ Dao foundation, offering them a new way to restore their cultivation. They thanked Lu Jun for showing them the path, while Jieyin planned to gather the Western Lands’ faith and try it himself.

• Jieyin and Zhunti’s Three Corpses were stunned as they understood how Di Jun had used wish power to transform his Dao foundation.
• Zhunti proposed that wish power could imbue the Three Corpses severed with any Spiritual Treasures and replace the need for treasures of the same origin.
• Jieyin and Zhunti realized that Zhunti’s Saintly authority over the Western Lands could help gather enough wish power for Jieyin to rebuild his Three Corpses.
• Jieyin and Zhunti bowed to Lu Jun and thanked him for returning their Spiritual Treasures and revealing a path toward Hunyuan.

Tai Yi explained that the Golden Crow family had already laid claim to the main sources of Wish Power, while he and Ren Jing pursued Golden Crow Nirvana by absorbing Chaos Qi. Jieyin refused to wait for a place in the Wish Power queue and resolved to create a new source.

• Tai Yi told Jieyin and Zhunti that Xi He was using Wish Power to seek Hunyuan, so most organized Wish Power was already flowing to her.
• Tai Yi explained that Chang Xi would follow Xi He, leaving Jieyin and Zhunti unable to use the path until after her.
• Tai Yi revealed that he would pursue the Way of Nirvana, and Jieyin and Zhunti saw Ren Jing absorbing Chaos Qi in Golden Crow Nirvana.
• Tai Yi warned Jieyin and Zhunti that Wish Power would be difficult to obtain as the Human Race rose and other powers competed for it.
• Jieyin resolved that they could not wait or compete for existing Wish Power, and declared that they would create something new.

Jieyin proposed creating a Pure Land World that promised peace and bliss to believers in exchange for Wish Power. He planned to attract the wicked by offering salvation from the Eighteen Levels of Hell, leaving Zhunti, Tai Yi, and Lu Jun shocked by the scheme.

• Jieyin explained that he wanted to imitate Di Jun's method of answering the needs of living beings and giving them hope, rather than copying his status as Demon Emperor.
• Jieyin proposed that he and Zhunti use Mount Sumeru and Saint authority to create a Pure Land World attached to the Western Earth Veins, where believers could find peace, joy, and opportunities to cultivate.
• Zhunti questioned whether the Pure Land would attract enough believers, since cultivators in the Great Desolation were accustomed to striving and danger.
• Jieyin suggested targeting evildoers by promising them rebirth in the Pure Land instead of the punishments of the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
• Jieyin's proposal shocked Zhunti, Tai Yi, and Lu Jun, while Lu Jun recognized its resemblance to the Buddhist teaching of laying down the butcher's knife and becoming a Buddha.

Zhunti and Jieyin devised a Pure Land system that would accept repentant evildoers and suffering souls, drawing in vast sources of wish power while promising escape from hell and the cycle of Reincarnation. To avoid provoking the Twelve Ancestral Witches, Jieyin concluded they needed a new name and doctrine, leaving Zhunti to ask what they should call it.

• Zhunti realized that the Pure Land could attract evildoers by offering them a chance to repent and avoid hell.
• Jieyin explained that desperate souls would produce fervent wish power, which the Saints could purify and use to nourish the Pure Land.
• Zhunti proposed spreading a method that could let the dying enter the Pure Land by sincerely reciting Jieyin's name ten times.
• Jieyin added that weary souls, the oppressed, and cultivators without a path would also be drawn to the Pure Land.
• Zhunti warned that creating a system independent of ordinary Reincarnation could provoke the Twelve Ancestral Witches.
• Jieyin said they needed to abandon the name Western Teachings and create a new doctrine, and Zhunti asked what they should call it.

Jieyin and Zhunti established Buddhism, naming Jieyin Amitabha Buddha and vowing to create the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss. The Heavenly Dao granted Jieyin's Three Corpses merit, recognizing Buddhism as a viable path, while Hongjun watched from Zixiao Palace.

• Jieyin realized that he and Zhunti should establish Buddhism, a teaching centered on enlightenment, liberation, karma, discipline, meditation, and wisdom.
• Zhunti praised Jieyin's insight and connected their new teaching to their teacher's lesson about giving and gaining.
• Jieyin named himself Amitabha Buddha and vowed to build Pure Lands and guide immeasurable beings to escape suffering and attain joy.
• Jieyin named his Pure Land the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss, prompting the Heavenly Dao to send merit to his Three Corpses.
• Zhunti rejoiced at the Heavenly Dao's recognition, while Tai Yi and Lu Jun understood that Buddhism's emergence had been affirmed.
• Hongjun watched from Zixiao Palace and repeated the names Buddhism, Amitabha Buddha, and Ultimate Bliss Pure Land World.

Hongjun reflected on how Lu Jun had guided Jieyin and Zhunti toward founding Buddhism, a new path combining Three Corpses and the Vow Power of All Beings. The Three Pure Ones sensed Jieyin’s merit and recognized Buddhism as a distinct Faith Godhood Path, though its effect on Di Jun’s path remained uncertain.

• Hongjun concluded that Jieyin and Zhunti had found a new Human Dao Saint path by using Wish Power and the salvation of evil to establish Buddhism.
• Hongjun credited Lu Jun with guiding Jieyin toward a way out of his dead end and wondered whether Bodhi, rather than Jieyin and Zhunti, would matter in the future.
• The Three Pure Ones sensed merit descending upon Jieyin and investigated his new teaching.
• Laozi identified Buddhism’s connection to a new concept, while Tongtian compared its emphasis on salvation with the Severing Sect’s pursuit of life opportunity.
• The Three Pure Ones recognized Buddhism as a Faith Godhood Path and discussed how it differed from Di Jun’s Wish Power path.