Chapter Summaries

Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun emerged from seclusion at the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal Realm and thanked Zhou Ming for helping them restore and advance their Dao Paths. Zhou Ming warned them that the Mystic Gate Killing Tribulation was coming, and they concluded it would not involve them.

• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun left their cultivation chambers and greeted Zhou Ming and Houtu.
• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun thanked Zhou Ming for urging them to keep comprehending the Laws, which helped them rebuild their foundations and reach the peak of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal Realm.
• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun promised Zhou Ming they would repay his kindness, and the three reaffirmed their friendship.
• Zhou Ming told Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun that the Tribulation was coming and explained Hongjun's order for the Three Teachings' disciples to fill the Heavenly Court's divine positions.
• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun were relieved that the Mystic Gate Killing Tribulation concerned the Three Teachings, and decided to avoid involvement while they pursued further cultivation.

Zhou Ming warned Hongyun that the Human Clan would be drawn into the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, prompting him to rush back to Huoyun Cave. After Wu explained the Saints’ scheme and his plan to enter reincarnation as the Human Emperor, he reassured the gathered Human Clan leaders that Saints were also constrained by greater schemes.

• Zhou Ming told Hongyun that the Human Clan outside Huoyun Cave would be drawn into the Tribulation, and Hongyun hurried back to investigate.
• Zhen Yuanzi left Pangu Hall to return to the Underworld.
• At Huoyun Cave, Wu explained to Hongyun and the Human Clan Forefathers how the Saints planned to use the Human Clan and changing dynasties to bring about the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation.
• Hongyun warned Wu that entering reincarnation as the Human Emperor was dangerous, and Wu assured him that he had a plan.
• Wu explained that Saints were also caught in schemes and could not act freely, easing the gathered leaders’ sense of helplessness.

Wu explained that the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation could boost Human Clan fortune enough to help Hongyun break through to the Hunyuan Realm. Hongyun then warned the Human Clan to abandon the Slaying Three Corpses Method and have its Immortal Path cultivators follow the Path of Laws, leaving them to prepare quietly for the tribulation.

• Wu asked Hongyun when he expected to break through, and Hongyun explained how difficult it was to attain the Dao.
• Fuxi and Shennong Shi agreed that breaking through was difficult, especially for cultivators developing the Martial Path.
• Wu said that surviving the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation and gaining its fortune could help Hongyun break through, and Fuxi supported his plan.
• Hongyun instructed the Human Clan to stop teaching the Slaying Three Corpses Method and guide Immortal Path cultivators to comprehend Laws and the Great Dao instead.
• Fuxi and the others accepted Hongyun's warning without demanding its secret reason, and Hongyun proposed they quietly await the tribulation.

On the ten-thousand-year deadline, the Three Pure Ones met at Purple Cloud Palace to decide whether their disciples would sign the Investiture of the Gods. They refused, and Hongjun ruled that the victors in the Tribulation would go free while the losers’ True Spirits would enter the list and serve the Heavenly Court.

• Taiqing Saint, Primordial Lord Tianzun, and Tongtian Sect Master arrived at Purple Cloud Palace and found the Investiture of the Gods awaiting their decision.
• Taiqing asked his Junior Brothers whether they would let their disciples enter the list, but Tongtian said no Jie Sect disciple was willing to sign.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun refused to let any Chan Sect disciple sign, calling them the foundation of the Mystic Gate.
• Taiqing concluded that the Investiture of the Gods would not be signed, and the Three Pure Ones agreed to let each side face the Tribulation on its own.
• Hongjun appeared and decreed that the victors would pass through the Tribulation, while the losers would die and have their True Spirits enter the Investiture of the Gods to serve the Heavenly Court.

Hongjun revealed that the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation would begin with a Person destined for the Tribulation, born ten thousand years later under the auspicious sign of a flying bear. He entrusted the Investiture of the Gods and the God-Beating Whip to that person, leaving the Three Pure Ones to seek him by fate as they departed Purple Xiao Palace.

• Primordial Lord Tianzun asked Hongjun when and how the Tribulation would begin, and Hongjun explained that it had a Person destined for the Tribulation.
• Hongjun showed the Three Pure Ones the God-Beating Whip and explained that it could punish any god listed in the Investiture of the Gods.
• Hongjun said the Person destined for the Tribulation would be born ten thousand years later with the auspicious sign of a flying bear, and that whoever took him as a disciple could claim both treasures.
• Tongtian Sect Master asked how they could find the person, and Hongjun answered that they would meet him if fate allowed.
• The Three Pure Ones left Purple Xiao Palace; Tongtian and Primordial Lord Tianzun departed, leaving Taiqing Saint alone in Chaos.

After the Three Saints refused to sign the Investiture of the Gods, they prepared their disciples for a Tribulation beginning in ten thousand years and a race to find the Person destined for the Tribulation. Taiqing Saint agreed to let True Person Ziyang bring his disciple Bian Zhuang to Eight Views Palace for protection.

• Tongtian Sect Master told Duobao that the Tribulation would begin in ten thousand years and ordered the Jie Sect disciples to find the Person destined for the Tribulation, marked by the auspicious sign of a flying bear.
• Duobao spread Tongtian Sect Master's order, rousing the Jie Sect disciples to prepare for the search and the coming conflict.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun told the Twelve Golden Immortals to find the Person destined for the Tribulation and bring him to the Chan Sect.
• Taiqing Saint ordered True Person Ziyang to remain in Eight Views Palace throughout the Tribulation.
• True Person Ziyang asked Taiqing Saint to shelter his disciple Bian Zhuang, and Taiqing Saint agreed to let him bring Bian Zhuang to the palace.

Primordial Lord Tianzun sought the Spirit Pearl from Nuwa so it could become True Person Taiyi’s disciple and undergo the tribulation in his place. Nuwa reluctantly handed it over in repayment of an old debt, then shut Empress Wa’s Palace to keep clear of the tribulation.

• Primordial Lord Tianzun decided the Spirit Pearl was the right candidate to take Taiyi’s place in the tribulation and went to Empress Wa’s Palace to ask Nuwa for it.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun offered Nuwa an upper-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, but she refused because she wanted no part in the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun invoked Nuwa’s debt for the Three Lights Divine Water he had lent her when she created mankind, and proposed exchanging that favor for the Spirit Pearl.
• Nuwa agreed to give up the Spirit Pearl on the condition that she and Empress Wa’s Palace would have no further ties to it or responsibility for its fate.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun took the Spirit Pearl and left, and Nuwa sealed the palace gates after his aura disappeared.

Primordial Lord Tianzun placed the Spirit Pearl in Jade Void Palace to cleanse its ties to Nuwa and make it a substitute for Taiyi’s tribulation. He decided to wait until the Tribulation began in ten thousand years before selecting human children as substitutes for his other disciples.

• Primordial Lord Tianzun set the Spirit Pearl on the Lotus Throne and ordered it to become a protector of the Chan Sect.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun considered finding more innate spiritual objects to substitute for his disciples but concluded that this approach would not work.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun recalled that Huoyun Cave’s Human Clan Forefathers had prevented Yaoji’s son from entering True Person Yuding’s tutelage.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun decided that the Human Clan could provide suitable substitutes because its people had orthodox origins and could be taught from childhood.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun resolved to wait ten thousand years, then send his disciples to find human children born as the Tribulation began.

Zhou Ming told Houtu that he would guide the true person destined for the Investiture of the Gods into Tongtian’s Jie Sect to test whether the mandate followed the person or the sect. He suspected Hongjun’s tribulation was designed to turn the Three Pure Ones against one another, and the chapter ended with Zhou Ming sensing that something had happened.

• Houtu suggested that the Wu Clan search for the person destined for the Tribulation, but Zhou Ming said he already knew the person’s birthplace and had a plan.
• Zhou Ming said he would tell Tongtian where to find the true person destined for the Tribulation and have him take that person as a Jie Sect disciple, partly to secure Tongtian’s favor and pursue his Heaven-Opening Mark.
• Zhou Ming explained that two people would bear the auspicious sign of a flying bear, and he wanted to learn whether the power to preside over the Investiture of the Gods would follow the person or the sect.
• Houtu concluded that the Chan Sect might be destined to receive the mandate regardless, but Zhou Ming said he suspected the Tribulation was aimed at the Three Pure Ones themselves and would make them fight over their Dao Lineages.
• Houtu said she would wait for the destined person to be born, but Zhou Ming suddenly sensed something and frowned.

Zhou Ming visited the growing world he had opened, named it the Pangu Realm, and considered it a refuge for the Wu Clan and a way to protect Pangu's Will from the Heavenly Dao. He then went to the Moon Star to meet Wangshu, whose Remnant Soul had grown stronger and was ready to reshape her Dao Body.

• Chang Xi alerted Zhou Ming that Wangshu had asked him to come, and Zhou Ming left Pangu Hall for the small world atop Buzhou Mountain.
• Zhou Ming inspected the thriving world, praised Chang Xi and its other caretakers, and named it the Pangu Realm.
• Zhou Ming considered guiding some of Pangu's Will into the Pangu Realm, making it a safe haven and a retreat for the Wu Clan if his struggle with the Heavenly Dao went badly.
• Chang Xi confirmed that Wangshu had completed her preparations, then returned to oversee the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array.
• Zhou Ming went to the Pangu Realm's Moon Star, where Wangshu's increasingly solid Remnant Soul gathered beneath the Moon Laurel Tree to greet him.

Zhou Ming began rebuilding Wangshu’s Dao Body by forcibly drawing Primordial Origin from the Primordial World. The Heavenly Dao retaliated with a lightning tribulation, and Wangshu used her Merit and Fortune to resist as her body continued to form.

• Wangshu gave up on rebuilding a top-tier Innate Dao Body and agreed to let Zhou Ming help her recover.
• Zhou Ming took Wangshu’s remnant soul from the Pangu Realm to the foot of Buzhou Mountain.
• Zhou Ming drew Primordial Origin from across the Primordial World and poured it into Wangshu, rapidly rebuilding her flesh, meridians, and bones.
• The Primordial World retaliated with a powerful lightning tribulation aimed at Wangshu.
• Wangshu sent her Merit and Fortune to form a canopy that clashed with the Divine Thunder, consuming much of her Fortune as the lightning continued to fall.

Zhou Ming forcibly drew out the Primordial Origin to restore Wangshu’s Dao Body, drawing the attention of Hongjun and the Six Sages. Wangshu successfully became an Innate Divine, and the Saints warned Zhou Ming not to damage the Primordial World this way again.

• Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao Will observed Zhou Ming extracting the Primordial Origin and decided not to intervene.
• The Six Sages sensed the disturbance and traveled to Buzhou Mountain to see what Zhou Ming was doing.
• The Six Sages discovered Zhou Ming using Origin Essence, Merit, and Fortune to create Wangshu’s Dao Body amid a Divine Thunder tribulation.
• Zhou Ming stopped drawing out the Primordial Origin as Wangshu’s Dao Body reached completion and the tribulation ended.
• Wangshu became an Innate Divine, and the Six Sages approached Zhou Ming and cautioned him against repeating the act.

Zhou Ming reassured the six Saints and proposed a covenant forbidding anyone from drawing upon the Primordial World's origin, which they all accepted. Wangshu awoke in her reconstructed Dao Body and revealed her identity as the former Taiyin Demon God; Zhou Ming took her to Pangu Hall to stabilize her cultivation, while Houtu noted her potential to aid the Pangu Realm's evolution.

• Zhou Ming promised the six Saints he would not draw upon the Primordial World's origin again and proposed that they jointly punish anyone who did so.
• Laozi, Primordial Lord Tianzun, Tongtian Sect Master, Jieyin, Zhunti, and Nuwa agreed to the covenant.
• Wangshu awoke in her reconstructed Dao Body and told the six Saints that she was now only Wangshu, though she had once been the Taiyin Demon God.
• The six Saints congratulated Wangshu and departed, after which Zhou Ming brought her to Pangu Hall to consolidate her cultivation.
• Wangshu entered seclusion, and Houtu told Zhou Ming that Wangshu's recovery could accelerate the Pangu Realm's evolution.

After ten thousand years, the Jie Sect and Chan Sect descended into the Primordial Wilderness to find the person marked by the “Auspicious sign of a flying bear.” Guang Chengzi and Chijingzi began searching among the Human Clan, worried that the Jie Sect’s vastly larger numbers would find the person first.

• The Jie Sect received Tongtian’s edict and sent its disciples, including Zhao Gongming and Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao, to search for the destined person.
• Primordial Lord Tianzun ordered the Twelve Golden Immortals to find the person and bring them into the Chan Sect’s lineage.
• The Chan Sect immortals descended from Kunlun Mountain, while True Person Taiyi dismissed the Jie Sect’s chances and Guang Chengzi urged caution.
• Guang Chengzi and Chijingzi searched a Nine Provinces city in disguise and saw Jie Sect disciples flying openly overhead.
• Chijingzi worried the Jie Sect would find the person first, while Guang Chengzi defended their slower search but privately resolved to hasten it.

Zhao Gongming and the Sanxiao searched for the Person destined for the Tribulation and clashed with Guang Chengzi and Chijingzi, but both sides held back rather than risk delaying their masters’ orders. Across the Primordial Wilderness, the Chan and Jie disciples continued searching as their resentment grew, yet the person with the auspicious sign of a flying bear remained nowhere to be found.

• Zhao Gongming and the Sanxiao searched a mountain range but found no trace of the Person destined for the Tribulation.
• Zhao Gongming and the Sanxiao encountered Guang Chengzi and Chijingzi by a river, where both groups exchanged insults and prepared to fight.
• Guang Chengzi and Zhao Gongming each suppressed the urge to battle, and Zhao Gongming led the Sanxiao away.
• True Person Yuding and Saint Mother Guiling faced off for three days, then parted without fighting because they feared delaying the search.
• Chan and Jie disciples continued clashing and searching across the Primordial Wilderness, but the Person destined for the Tribulation remained missing.

Wu prepared to reincarnate as the Human Emperor and entered the Tribulation, while the Human Clan's forefathers promised to conceal the disturbance in their fortune. After Wu left Huoyun Cave, Fuxi led the others in raising a formation to suppress the Human Clan's providence and hide the Heavenly Secrets.

• Wu announced that the ten-thousand-year deadline had passed and that he would enter reincarnation as the Human Emperor.
• Wu asked Fuxi, Shennong, Suiren, Hongyun, and the other forefathers to use the Kongtong Seal and a formation to conceal the turmoil in the Human Clan's fortune.
• Fuxi assured Wu that they would raise the Innate Eight Trigrams Formation to muddle the Heavenly Secrets as he reincarnated.
• The forefathers warned Wu about the Saints' schemes and urged him to preserve himself if the Tribulation became too dangerous.
• Wu thanked the forefathers and left Huoyun Cave as they bowed him farewell.
• Fuxi ordered the forefathers to take their positions, and they formed a grand formation with the Kongtong Seal at its core to suppress the Human Clan's providence.

Wu met Empress Pingxin in the Underworld and arranged to reincarnate into the Human Clan with his memories sealed until he ascended as Human Emperor. After Wu entered the reincarnation passage, Empress Pingxin concealed the secrets of his reincarnation from the Saints.

• Wu arrived before the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk and met Empress Pingxin.
• Wu asked to be reincarnated into the Human Clan with his memories sealed until he became Human Emperor.
• Empress Pingxin agreed that Wu's memories would awaken when the Human Clan's fortune came upon him at his ascension.
• Empress Pingxin opened the Humanity Dao passage, and Wu stepped into its light to reincarnate.
• Empress Pingxin used Earthly Dao Authority to erase traces of Wu's reincarnation and conceal his Heavenly Secrets.

Zhou Ming told Houtu he had secretly watched Jiang Ziya for more than ten years and was ready to bring him to Tongtian on Golden Ao Island. He left Buzhou Mountain to secure Jiang Ziya before unexpected changes could threaten his plan to test whether the authority to confer gods followed a person or a sect.

• Zhou Ming told Houtu that the tribulation's destined person had been born long ago and that he had observed him for more than ten years.
• Zhou Ming explained that the Heavenly Secrets concealed the destined person, making the Chan and Jie Sects' decades of searching futile.
• Zhou Ming and Houtu discussed testing whether the authority to confer gods followed the person or the sect, with Jiang Ziya and Shen Gongbao as the candidates.
• Zhou Ming decided to take Jiang Ziya to Tongtian on Golden Ao Island before the baleful qi of the Tribulation or unforeseen Variables caused trouble.
• Houtu assured Zhou Ming that she would watch over the Wu Clan as he departed Buzhou Mountain for Golden Ao Island.

Zhou Ming visited Tongtian Sect Master on Golden Ao Island and revealed that he had found one of the people bearing the Auspicious sign of a flying bear. He warned that two such people existed and that joining the Jie Sect would make this one less likely to preside over the Investiture of the Gods, leaving Tongtian confused.

• Zhou Ming arrived at Golden Ao Island, and Tongtian Sect Master welcomed him into Jade Palace.
• Zhou Ming told Tongtian that he had come to bring him a disciple, identifying the person as one bearing the Auspicious sign of a flying bear.
• Tongtian realized Zhou Ming had found the Person destined for the Tribulation and eagerly asked to be taken to him.
• Zhou Ming revealed that two people bore the Auspicious sign of a flying bear, though he had located only one.
• Zhou Ming warned Tongtian that taking the person as a Jie Sect disciple would make him unlikely to preside over the Investiture of the Gods.
• Tongtian asked why joining the Jie Sect would reduce the person's chances of becoming the Person destined for the Tribulation.

Zhou Ming warned Tongtian Sect Master that the Jie Sect’s strength might make Hongjun and the Heavenly Decree oppose its survival in the Tribulation. Tongtian resolved to test Hongjun’s intentions by claiming the Investiture of the Gods, and he and Zhou Ming set out to find the person bearing the Auspicious Sign of a Flying Bear.

• Zhou Ming told Tongtian Sect Master that the Jie Sect’s power could threaten Hongjun’s plans and make the Dao Ancestor unwilling to let it survive the Tribulation.
• Tongtian questioned Zhou Ming’s theory, citing Hongjun’s promise that the Chan and Jie Sects would rely on their own abilities, but Zhou Ming said the possibility was worth testing.
• Zhou Ming advised Tongtian to take the known person bearing the Auspicious Sign of a Flying Bear as a disciple and ask Hongjun for the Investiture of the Gods and the God-Beating Whip.
• Tongtian agreed to go to the Purple Firmament Palace after taking the person as his disciple, while Zhou Ming predicted Primordial Lord might find the other person at the same time.
• Zhou Ming and Tongtian left the Jade Palace and flew toward the Primordial Continent to find the person bearing the Auspicious Sign of a Flying Bear.