Chapter Summaries

After attaining Primordial Chaos, Zhou Ming left the Dao Origin Divine Pearl in Pangu Hall for the Twelve Ancestral Wu to study. He explained that the Human Clan’s Heavenly Dao-appointed role as protagonists could make them puppets exploited for their Fortune, and the Ancestral Wu asked whether they should help them.

• Di Jiang and the other Ancestral Wu congratulated Zhou Ming on attaining Primordial Chaos, and he left the Dao Origin Divine Pearl in Pangu Hall for them to study alongside the Fragment of the Jade of Creation.
• Di Jiang asked why Houtu had placed a strand of Primordial Spirit in a newborn human, and Zhou Ming revealed it was a strand of his own carrying past obsessions, though the human would not become his Avatar.
• Zhou Ming told the Ancestral Wu that the Human Clan were destined to become the Primordial World’s protagonists because their Innate Dao Body suited the Great Dao, but they needed time and opportunity to grow.
• Zhou Ming warned that the Heavenly Dao had chosen a weak Human Clan it could control, and that the future Six Sages could seize their Fortune and reduce them to livestock without the strength to resist.
• Zhu Rong and Gong Gong asked whether the Wu Clan should help the Human Clan, and the other Ancestral Wu looked to Zhou Ming for his response.

Zhou Ming arranged for Hou Yi to lead Wu Clan members to protect the Human Clan without stifling its growth. At Phoenix Nest Mountain, Nuwa told Fuxi that Zhou Ming had required the Red Embroidered Ball in exchange for the treasures she needed to create humanity, leaving them suspicious of his motives.

• Zhou Ming told Houtu to choose a Great Witch to guard the Human Clan while letting it develop independently, and Houtu selected Hou Yi.
• Zhou Ming summoned Hou Yi to Pangu Hall and reminded the Ancestral Witches to prepare for hearing Nuwa's Dao in a thousand years.
• Fuxi congratulated Nuwa on becoming a Saint, and Nuwa thanked him for protecting and supporting her.
• Nuwa explained that she had traded the Red Embroidered Ball to Zhou Ming for Xirang and the Creation Cauldron so she could create the Human Clan.
• Fuxi and Nuwa suspected Zhou Ming had demanded the Red Embroidered Ball for a hidden purpose, but Nuwa said becoming a Saint mattered more.

Di Jun and Taiyi visited Nuwa after she became a Sage, hoping to learn her stance toward the Demon Race and persuade her to return to the Heavenly Court. Nuwa made clear that she intended to stay out of worldly affairs, and Di Jun’s request for her return remained unanswered.

• Di Jun and Taiyi decided to visit Nuwa at Phoenix Nest Mountain to congratulate her and sound out her attitude toward the Demon Race.
• Nuwa told Fuxi she would establish Empress Wa's Palace in Chaos and avoid interfering in the Demon Race’s affairs.
• Fuxi welcomed Di Jun and Taiyi at the Mountain Gate and escorted them to Nuwa.
• Di Jun congratulated Nuwa and asked her to return to the Heavenly Court to protect and lead the Demon Race.
• Nuwa pointed out that only Di Jun and Taiyi had come despite their claim that all the demons awaited her return, and Di Jun explained they had wanted to ask her first.

Nuwa told Di Jun and Taiyi that the Dao Ancestor forbade Sages from interfering in the Primordial Wilderness, though she would protect the Demon Race from an existential crisis. After they left, Fuxi decided to return to the Heavenly Court, despite Nuwa’s unease.

• Nuwa told Di Jun and Taiyi to continue governing the Demon Race and explained that she would focus on cultivation after her lecture.
• Taiyi asked whether the Sage of the Wu Clan would obey the Dao Ancestor’s rule, and Nuwa answered by asking what he thought.
• Di Jun and Taiyi proposed a celebration for Nuwa, but she refused and said she would intervene only if the Demon Race faced a crisis of survival.
• Di Jun invited Fuxi to return to the Heavenly Court, and Fuxi said he would consider it before leaving with Taiyi.
• Fuxi told Nuwa he intended to return to the Heavenly Court because its turbulent affairs could help his cultivation, and Nuwa warned him to be careful.

Zhou Ming sent Hou Yi to protect the Human Clan while warning him not to interfere with their growth, and entrusted him with the Innate Gourd Vine. Zhou Ming then left to visit Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun at Five Village Temple, where they welcomed him as a Sage and he urged them to treat him as an old friend.

• Hou Yi met Zhou Ming, who instructed him to protect the Human Clan without excessively aiding or interfering with them.
• Zhou Ming gave Hou Yi the Innate Gourd Vine, explaining that his power would protect it and that it would guide Hou Yi to its true master.
• Hou Yi agreed to take trusted clansmen to the Human Clan settlement and deliver the treasure.
• Zhou Ming told Houtu to oversee the Wu Clan while he visited Zhen Yuanzi, and reminded her about Nuwa's sermon in a thousand years.
• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun welcomed Zhou Ming at Five Village Temple, and Zhou Ming asked them to call him Daoist Friend rather than Sage.

Zhou Ming reassured Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun about their chances of attaining the Dao, then directed their attention to the Human Clan and the merit Nuwa gained by creating it. The two realized the seemingly frail Humans must hold a significance they had overlooked.

• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun insisted on treating Zhou Ming with the respect due a Sage, but he persuaded them to use Daoist Friend when they were alone.
• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun congratulated Zhou Ming on attaining Sagehood and lamented that they had little hope of becoming Saints themselves.
• Zhou Ming told them to strengthen their Dao Foundations and wait for an opportunity, prompting Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi to ask for guidance.
• Zhou Ming asked what they thought of the newly created Human Clan, and both described its members as weak and vulnerable.
• Zhou Ming reminded them that Nuwa had become a Sage through the merit of creating the Human Clan, and Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun realized the Humans must be more significant than they appeared.

Zhou Ming advised Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun about their paths to Sagehood, then spent a thousand years discussing the Dao with them. When they arrived at Empress Wa's Palace for Nuwa's Dao lecture, Zhou Ming went ahead to visit her.

• Zhou Ming told Hong Yun to watch the Human Clan and revealed that Zhen Yuanzi's greatest opportunity lay in the Earth Book.
• Zhou Ming discussed the Dao with Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun for a thousand years, helping both advance their cultivation.
• When the thousand years ended, Zhou Ming, Zhen Yuanzi, and Hong Yun set out for Empress Wa's Palace.
• The gathered Great Powers greeted Zhou Ming, Zhen Yuanzi, and Hong Yun with respect upon their arrival.
• Zhou Ming told the gathered Great Powers he would visit Nuwa and entered Empress Wa's Palace.

Nuwa and Zhou Ming completed their twenty-thousand-year sermon at Empress Wa's Palace, then answered the Great Powers' cultivation questions. After Nuwa could offer no clear guidance on when the other Quasi-Sages would find their opportunities for Sagehood, Zhou Ming and the Twelve Ancestral Wu departed for Buzhou Mountain.

• Nuwa and Zhou Ming each expounded on the Great Dao for ten thousand years, sharing their distinct understandings with the gathered Great Powers.
• After the sermon, Zhunti asked Nuwa how she found her opportunity to attain Sagehood, and she said each person's karmic affinity and Heavenly Secrets were different.
• The Three Pure Ones, Jieyin, and Zhunti were left disappointed by Nuwa's advice to wait patiently and continue cultivating.
• Nuwa and Zhou Ming answered the Great Powers' remaining questions about cultivation over several hundred years.
• The Great Powers thanked the two Sages and left Empress Wa's Palace to return to their Dao Fields and cave abodes.
• Zhou Ming invited Nuwa to visit Pangu Hall, then left for Buzhou Mountain with the Twelve Ancestral Wu.

Wu reflected on the Human Clan’s hardships and his struggle to develop a cultivation method suited to them before meeting with Suiren, Youchao, and Ziyi. The search for the Five Grains had failed again, but Wu insisted they truly existed.

• Wu recalled how the Human Clan had endured deadly dangers and how he had struggled to adapt cultivation knowledge into a method they could use.
• Wu met Suiren, Youchao, and Ziyi in the tribe’s council house, where he admitted that his cultivation-method research was progressing slowly.
• Ziyi comforted Wu and urged him not to pressure himself over the lack of a breakthrough.
• Suiren told Wu that the clansmen who had searched for the Five Grains had returned without finding any.
• Youchao questioned whether the Five Grains existed, and Wu firmly assured him that they did.

Wu rejected Youchao’s plan to spend Merit on reaching the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, warning that it would damage his foundation, and urged the Human Clan to keep searching for the Five Grains while strengthening itself. He then announced that he would leave to seek a powerful master, despite Suiren, Youchao, and Ziyi’s fears for his safety.

• Youchao proposed using Merit to reach the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm and search the depths of the Primordial Land for the Five Grains.
• Wu refused, explaining that forcefully raising cultivation with Merit would damage Youchao’s foundation and that the Human Clan needed to preserve its future strength.
• Wu said the Human Clan should continue searching as it expanded and focus on raising its overall strength.
• Ziyi pointed out that the Human Clan lacked a guide and a complete cultivation inheritance, and Wu recognized that he could not yet access the knowledge Zhou Ming had left in his mind.
• Wu announced that he would leave the Human Clan to seek a powerful master and learn from them.
• Suiren, Youchao, and Ziyi warned Wu that the Primordial Wilderness was dangerous, but he insisted his decision was made, and Suiren lamented the Human Clan’s weakness.

Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi visited the Human Clan’s ancestral land to investigate the opportunity Zhou Ming had mentioned. Wu and the clan leaders welcomed them, hoping the powerful visitors would guide the Human Clan.

• Hong Yun invited Zhen Yuanzi to visit the Human Clan, and the two traveled to its ancestral land.
• Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi observed the vast Human Clan settlement but could not identify what made the race extraordinary.
• Human guards stopped the visitors at the tribe’s entrance, and Hong Yun asked permission for them to rest there.
• A guard reported the visitors to Suiren, Youchao, Ziyi, and Wu as they discussed Wu’s plan to leave the tribe and seek a master.
• Wu persuaded the leaders that the travelers might be powerful experts who could offer guidance, so they went to welcome Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi.

Wu begged Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi to accept him as a disciple and revealed the Human Tribe’s hidden treasure to persuade them. Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi recognized it as the Innate Gourd Vine, carrying the mark of Zhou Ming’s power.

• Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi entered the Human Tribe with Suiren, Youchao, Ziyi, and Wu, then introduced themselves.
• Wu knelt before Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi and begged them to take him as their disciple, but they said they had no intention of accepting one.
• Wu announced that the Human Tribe possessed a supreme treasure and ran to the Saint Mother Temple to retrieve it, alarming Suiren, Youchao, and Ziyi.
• Wu convinced Suiren, Youchao, and Ziyi to let him reveal the treasure, and the four brought it out wrapped in Beast Hide.
• Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi saw the Innate Gourd Vine and recognized Zhou Ming’s power within it.

Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi agreed to stay with the Human Clan and preach the Dao three times, then departed after tens of thousands of years of teaching and protection. Wu resolved to enter seclusion to create a cultivation method suited to the Human Clan, while Suiren, Youchao, and Ziyi promised to protect the tribe.

• Wu offered Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi the Innate Gourd Vine in hopes that they would accept him as a disciple, but they declined and offered to preach the Dao three times instead.
• Hong Yun told the Human Clan to keep the Innate Gourd Vine safe and not reveal it lightly, and the tribe welcomed the two Great Powers.
• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun held three Dao-preaching assemblies over tens of thousands of years, guiding the Human Clan as it multiplied under their protection.
• Hou Yi visited the Human Tribe, discovered Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun were there, and reported it to Zhou Ming, who sent him and his clansmen back to Wu Clan territory.
• After their karmic affinity with the Human Clan ended, Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun departed, and the Human leaders thanked them for their teachings and protection.
• Wu announced that he would enter seclusion to deduce a cultivation method for the Human Clan, while Suiren, Youchao, and Ziyi pledged to protect the tribe.

Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun discovered that the Human Clan's Fortune had blessed them after they gave three sermons, and Zhou Ming explained that it would grow as the Human Clan prospered. The discussion ended with Hong Yun reporting that Rogue Cultivators had begun hunting minor members of the Demon Race.

• After leaving the Human Tribe, Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun sensed the Human Clan's Fortune settling upon them and decided to seek Zhou Ming's guidance.
• Zhou Ming welcomed Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun to Pangu Hall, where the Twelve Ancestral Witches had been listening to his sermon.
• Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun asked whether the Human Clan's Fortune was the opportunity Zhou Ming had mentioned, and Zhou Ming said it was only the beginning and would increase as the Human Clan grew.
• Zhen Yuanzi worried that Sage Nuwa might object to them receiving the Human Clan's Fortune, but Zhou Ming promised to explain the matter to her.
• Hong Yun told Zhou Ming and the Ancestral Witches that Rogue Cultivators had been hunting minor demons, surprising them with the cultivators' new boldness.

Zhou Ming invited Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun to listen as he expounded the Dao, while the Demon Race discovered that Rogue Cultivators were hunting them for materials to refine pills and magic treasures. Di Jun ordered Taiyi to wipe out the hunters, but the crackdown drove the desperate Rogue Cultivators to spread the news even further.

• Zhou Ming and the Ancestral Wu discussed Rogue Cultivators attacking the Demon Race, then Zhou Ming invited Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun to hear his Dao exposition.
• Bai Ze reported to Di Jun, Taiyi, and Fuxi that Rogue Cultivators were killing Demon Race members for their flesh, blood, inner cores, fur, and bones.
• Di Jun ordered Taiyi to lead the elite Demon Army and kill every Rogue Cultivator involved in hunting the Demon Race.
• Taiyi led a brutal campaign across the Primordial Wilderness, killing the hunters and uprooting factions that sheltered them.
• The campaign frightened many Rogue Cultivators, but those driven into desperation spread the news that Demon Race remains could be used to refine pills and artifacts.

East King Duke welcomed Rogue Cultivators fleeing Taiyi’s purge into the Immortal Court, prompting Taiyi to lead the Demon Army to Penglai Immortal Island and demand their surrender. East King Duke refused, and the two sides began fighting, with East King Duke mocking Taiyi’s weakened strength without the Chaos Bell.

• After learning that corpse-refining could yield powerful pills and treasures, Rogue Cultivators sought protection by joining East King Duke’s Immortal Court, increasing its strength and Fortune.
• Taiyi learned East King Duke had accepted the Rogue Cultivators and ordered the Demon Army to march on Penglai Immortal Island.
• Taiyi demanded that East King Duke hand over the Rogue Cultivators, but East King Duke refused and declared that the Immortal Court would protect its members.
• Taiyi and East King Duke challenged each other to a duel, while the Demon Army and Immortal Court forces clashed below.
• East King Duke’s Dragon Head Cane helped him fight Taiyi to a standstill, and he taunted Taiyi for losing the Chaos Bell.

Taiyi failed to force East King Duke to surrender the Rogue Cultivators, and the Immortal Court sheltered them despite the demon race’s threats. Back in the Heavenly Court, Fuxi warned Di Jun that East King Duke’s defiance suggested the Immortal Court had a hidden means of countering the demon race.

• Taiyi and East King Duke fought to a standstill, and East King Duke refused to hand over the Rogue Cultivators.
• Taiyi ordered the Demon Army to retreat, while East King Duke celebrated the Immortal Court’s victory but worried the demon race would retaliate.
• Taiyi returned to the Heavenly Court and recounted the defeat, prompting Di Jun to summon the demon race’s leaders.
• The Demon Saints and Demon Gods demanded an attack on Penglai Immortal Island, but Fuxi cautioned that East King Duke’s actions seemed suspicious.
• Fuxi suggested the Immortal Court might possess a hidden means of contending with the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array.

Di Jun and the Demon Race leaders debated how to respond to East King Duke’s Immortal Court, and Fuxi urged caution until they uncovered its hidden strength. After ordering a campaign against Immortal Court cultivators, Di Jun approved Fuxi’s plan to secure the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array from Heavenly Dao’s interference.

• Fuxi warned that East King Duke must have hidden support, so the Demon Race should investigate before risking a direct war.
• Fuxi proposed killing Immortal Court members who ventured onto the Primordial Continent and capturing others to reveal the Immortal Court’s methods.
• Di Jun put Bai Ze in charge of carrying out the campaign against the Immortal Court.
• After the other Demon Race leaders left, Fuxi warned Di Jun that Heavenly Dao might weaken the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Great Array as easily as it had enhanced it.
• Fuxi proposed having the Demon Gods refine their corresponding Star Cores to strengthen their control of the array and resist outside interference.
• Di Jun ordered Taiyi to oversee the Star Core refinement as quickly as possible.

Di Jun, Taiyi, and Fuxi prepared the Demon Race for a conflict with East King Duke’s Immortal Court, while both sides began a bloody campaign of smaller clashes across the Primordial Continent. East King Duke treated the losses among his new recruits as a trial by fire and insisted that only survivors deserved to become Immortal Court elites.

• Fuxi warned Di Jun and Taiyi that someone might be provoking Rogue Cultivators to set the Demon Race against the Immortal Court, but said war had become unavoidable.
• Di Jun decided to open the Heavenly Court Treasury and use its resources to cultivate more Quasi-Saint Great Powers.
• The Demon Race ordered its forces to kill any Immortal Court cultivator found beyond Penglai Immortal Island, and East King Duke answered by sending more cultivators to fight them.
• Demon Race elites and Immortal Court cultivators, including Rogue Cultivators who had joined the Immortal Court for protection, fought a brutal battle in the Primordial Continent.
• After hearing that thirty-two Immortal Court members had died in an ambush, East King Duke called their losses a trial by fire and said only survivors would become the Immortal Court’s backbone.

Zhou Ming stopped the Ancestral Wu from dwelling on Zhu Rong’s reckless suggestion to use Nuwa to refine pills and proposed a backup plan for the Wu Clan’s battle formation. The Ancestral Wu agreed to select elite Great Witches to refine their Essence Blood and fill in if one of them could not join the formation.

• The Ancestral Wu celebrated the trouble brewing between Rogue cultivators and the Demon Clan, while Houtu worried that innocents would suffer.
• Zhu Rong joked about using Nuwa to refine pills and treasures, stunning the hall; Zhou Ming and the other Ancestral Wu warned him not to repeat the idea.
• Zhou Ming ordered Di Jiang and the other Ancestral Wu to select thirteen elite Great Witches from each tribe.
• Zhou Ming explained that the Great Witches would refine a drop of each Ancestral Wu’s Essence Blood so they could fill vacant positions in the Thirteen Capital Heavenly God Evil Array.
• Di Jiang understood the plan and said he would select the most suitable Great Witches at once.