Chapter Summaries

Jiang Zhen visited Stone Village, reunited with the two Little Kun Peng, and entered the River of Time to travel toward the future. There, he killed three Quasi Immortal Emperors who attacked him, and the three pursuers recognized him.

• Jiang Zhen told Nezha to refine the Sarira without breaking through, and Little Stone approved the plan.
• Jiang Zhen arrived in Stone Village and saw that Second Under Heaven and Immortal Gold had been restored.
• Two Little Kun Peng greeted Jiang Zhen, who praised their cultivation and promised to take them to other worlds later.
• Jiang Zhen entered the River of Time and headed downstream toward the future as observers watched.
• Three Quasi Immortal Emperors traveling upstream threatened Jiang Zhen, and he swept them into the River of Time, where they died.
• The three figures pursuing the dead Quasi Immortal Emperors arrived and recognized Jiang Zhen.

Jiang Zhen traveled to the future, took the Green Lotus Emperor Weapon from the Demon Emperor’s tomb, and found the Demon Emperor near death inside the ruined world of the Desolate Pagoda. He restored the Demon Emperor’s origin and offered him the Xuanhuang Tower in exchange for the Green Lotus Emperor Weapon, but the Demon Emperor called out to him before he could leave.

• Jiang Zhen sent the man and his companions away from the River of Time, then traveled to a future Universe.
• Jiang Zhen found the Green Lotus Emperor Weapon in a tomb and took it, then went to the nearby Desolate Pagoda.
• Jiang Zhen entered the shattered world inside the Desolate Pagoda and met the nearly dissipated Demon Emperor.
• Jiang Zhen offered to restore the Demon Emperor in exchange for his Green Lotus Emperor Weapon and replenished his origin with Xuanhuang Qi.
• Jiang Zhen gave the recovered Demon Emperor the Xuanhuang Tower and its refining method, but the Demon Emperor asked him to wait.

Jiang Zhen explained the ways to become an Immortal in the mortal world and told the Demon Emperor that Nine-Life Reincarnation was the viable path in their era. He named several powerful beings already pursuing related transformations, including the creator of the Heaven Devouring Demonic Art, Tribulation Transcending Celestial Venerable, his disciple, and the Innate Dao Body Saint Fetus.

• The Demon Emperor asked Jiang Zhen whether he was an Immortal and how one could become one.
• Jiang Zhen explained that the world's broken Laws limited Great Emperors and described the Immortal Realm fragment as one route to True Immortality.
• Jiang Zhen said that surviving nine lives could make someone a stronger Mortal World Immortal, while One-Life Immortality required an extraordinarily deep foundation.
• Jiang Zhen explained that the creator of the Heaven Devouring Demonic Art and Tribulation Transcending Celestial Venerable were pursuing transformations, while the latter's disciple sought a higher realm.
• Jiang Zhen said the Innate Dao Body Saint Fetus and the Old Phoenix were undergoing transformations in a place rich in longevity substance, where their contest would determine who advanced first.

Jiang Zhen explained the true Dark Calamity to the Demon Emperor and warned him to stay hidden while three future Immortal Emperors rose to aid the man fighting the darkness. Outside the tomb, Jiang Zhen secretly guided a child toward an opportunity, and the child vanished into a vast hidden space.

• Jiang Zhen told the Demon Emperor that those who cut down their cultivation while waiting for the immortal path had only damaged their states of mind.
• Jiang Zhen warned the Demon Emperor not to interfere with the era in which three people would rise to Immortal Emperor and explained that true darkness threatened the world from the Above the Heavens.
• The Demon Emperor agreed to hide in the Xuanhuang Tower until the Heavenly Court emerged, and Jiang Zhen left him there.
• Jiang Zhen appeared outside the tomb, considered the child's good fortune, and moved the Demon Emperor's descendant and several treasures elsewhere.
• Jiang Zhen secretly guided the child into a nearby mountain, where the child touched a glowing rock and was transported into a vast hidden space.

Xiao Ye entered a hidden Legacy site and met Jiang Zhen, who explained the origins of his Pangu Clan lineage and offered him a Body Refining Technique and two powerful treasures. Xiao Ye accepted the Legacy and learned that he must endure the Myriad Beast Blood Pool to cultivate the Nine Revolutions Indestructible Scripture.

• A thatched hut summoned Xiao Ye inside, where Jiang Zhen revealed that he knew Xiao Ye’s identity and said they were both from Earth Star.
• Jiang Zhen explained that the Pangu Clan descended from Hou, whose soul gave rise to Han Ba, Hou Qing, and Ying Gou, while his corpse became Jiang Chen.
• Jiang Zhen offered Xiao Ye a Body Refining Technique and two treasures, and Xiao Ye agreed to accept the Legacy.
• Jiang Zhen led Xiao Ye through the hut’s inner Cavern Heaven to the Myriad Beast Blood Pool and said it would prepare Xiao Ye’s body for cultivation.
• Xiao Ye saw the Nine Revolutions Indestructible Scripture inscribed on a stone wall.

Jiang Zhen taught Xiao Ye the first three layers of the Nine Revolutions Indestructible Scripture, and Xiao Ye endured three months of painful cultivation to reach the first revolution. Jiang Zhen then gave him the Yin Yang Mirror and Water-Fire Flood Dragon Scissors, leaving Xiao Ye with powerful treasures and instructions to refine them himself.

• Jiang Zhen explained that the Nine Revolutions Indestructible Scripture combined the Nine Revolutions Primordial Art and the Indestructible Scripture, and that Xiao Ye would eventually need to create its later layers himself.
• Jiang Zhen kicked Xiao Ye into cultivation, and Xiao Ye spent three months enduring the painful process of reaching the first revolution.
• Xiao Ye emerged with immense vitality and blood energy, and he told Jiang Zhen that his body and soul had been torn apart during cultivation.
• Xiao Ye said the first revolution had greatly strengthened his foundation and expanded his Sea of Suffering, though it would now require far more resources to refill.
• Jiang Zhen showed Xiao Ye the Yin Yang Mirror and the Water-Fire Flood Dragon Scissors, explained their powers, and told him to refine them himself.

After leaving Jiang Zhen’s collapsing Secret Realm, Xiao Ye used the Yin Yang Mirror to ambush cultivators near the Demon Emperor's Tomb and seized their resources. He eventually went into secluded cultivation as the area emptied, while Jiang Zhen departed into the River of Time.

• Jiang Zhen told Xiao Ye about the Sacred Body’s potential, the path to immortality, and the coming great calamity before Xiao Ye left the Secret Realm, which then vanished.
• A Young Man demanded Xiao Ye’s treasures, but Xiao Ye used the Yin Yang Mirror to drain his breath, stripped his belongings, and killed him.
• Xiao Ye decided to hunt treasure seekers near the Demon Emperor's Tomb for resources and began killing them with ambushes.
• The killings spread panic and rumors of escaped Ghostly Spirits until treasure seekers stopped coming, so Xiao Ye took his gains away to cultivate in seclusion.
• Jiang Zhen praised Xiao Ye’s ruthlessness, glimpsed the Primordial Ancestors Above the Heavens, and entered the River of Time.
• Lu Yu appeared within Water Curtain Cave on Flower-Fruit Mountain.

Jiang Zhen returned to Flower-Fruit Mountain and learned that powerful Heavenly Court forces had trapped the group inside the Water Curtain Cave. He gave Nezha a method and the Green Lotus Emperor Weapon’s origin to help him overcome his bodily restrictions and reach Daluo.

• Sun Wukong told Jiang Zhen that Wang Lingguan and other Heavenly Court gods had surrounded Flower-Fruit Mountain and trapped them with Ten Absolute Formations.
• Jiang Zhen learned that the besiegers had not attacked and proposed focusing on helping Nezha recover first.
• Jiang Zhen revealed that he had taken the Green Lotus Emperor Weapon, which contained half the origin of the Demon Emperor’s true body.
• Nezha told Jiang Zhen that he had fused the Sarira into his body and soul, filling in his former flaws.
• Jiang Zhen taught Nezha an adapted version of the Heaven Devouring Demonic Art and transformed the Green Lotus Emperor Weapon into a Green Lotus Immortal Medicine.
• Jiang Zhen urged Nezha to absorb the lotus’s origin and fuse it into his body so he could break through his restrictions and achieve Daluo.

Jiang Zhen and the others discussed the Heavenly Court's Ten Absolute Formations and the hidden Buddhist watcher near Flower-Fruit Mountain. Yang Jian began explaining the formations' dangers and past weaknesses, while Jiang Zhen said he would deal with the watcher and they would break the formations.

• Jiang Zhen asked Canonized Nezha about the Ten Absolute Formations, and Canonized Nezha warned that their power and the lack of the Nine Provinces barrier made them difficult to break.
• Little Stone sensed a powerful figure hiding nearby, and Jiang Zhen suspected the watcher was from Buddhism and offered to handle them.
• Jiang Zhen asked Yang Jian and Canonized Nezha to explain the formations, and Yang Jian began describing their names, history, and the Heavenly Annihilation, Earthly Rage, Wind Howl, and Ice formations.
• Yang Jian explained that the Golden Light Formation used twenty-one mirrors to fill its space with lethal reflected light, and that all the mirrors had to be destroyed at once to break it.

Nezha explained the remaining Heavenly Formation’s deadly formations, including the Red Sand Formation, which could harm both body and soul. Jiang Zhen connected its Red Sand to Daoist Hongyun’s Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul Scattering Gourd and revealed the origins and powers of the Seven Treasure Gourds.

• Yang Jian asked Nezha to explain the Blood Transformation Formation and the later formations, and Nezha described their dangers and how they had been broken in the past.
• Nezha explained that the Red Sand Formation was especially difficult to overcome, harmed both the body and Divine Soul, and was only broken after Zhang Shao died.
• Jiang Zhen said he knew of a treasure containing Red Sand and asked whether Sun Wukong knew the origins of Laozi’s Purple Gold Gourd.
• Jiang Zhen explained that seven gourds had grown on the primordial Gourd Vine and named the treasures made from several of them.
• Jiang Zhen revealed that Daoist Hongyun’s Nine-Nine Red Cloud Soul Scattering Gourd contained Red Sand that could break Divine Abilities and protective methods and defile the Divine Soul.

Jiang Zhen sent Xiao Huo, Ace, and Natsu to break Bai Li’s Blazing Flame Formation together, using their resistance to fire and a Mountain-splitting Axe from Yang Jian. Natsu began by devouring Bai Li’s flames, leaving the fight inside the Formation underway.

• Jiang Zhen assigned Xiao Huo, Ace, and Natsu to break the Blazing Flame Formation, and all three said its fire would not stop them.
• Jiang Zhen borrowed Yang Jian’s reforged Mountain-splitting Axe and said it would help send Bai Li back to the Investiture of the Gods.
• Sun Wukong announced that the group would challenge the Blazing Flame Formation rather than the Heavenly Annihilation Formation, and Bai Li accepted.
• Sun Wukong sent Xiao Huo, Ace, and Natsu into the Blazing Flame Formation after taunting the Ten Heavenly Lords about being afraid.
• Bai Li attacked the three with a surge of fire, but Natsu opened his mouth and devoured the flames.

Natsu, Ace, and Xiao Huo devoured the flames powering Bai Li’s Blazing Flame Formation, defeated him, and emerged with increased strength. Bai Li explained the defeat in the Heavenly Court, while a terrifying presence backed Sun Wukong’s decision to continue the other formations tomorrow.

• Natsu devoured Bai Li’s Earth Fire, Ace absorbed the Solar Golden Flames, and Xiao Huo’s Fire Spirit devoured the Samadhi Divine Fire.
• Xiao Huo broke the Blazing Flame Formation with his Mountain-splitting Axe, and Bai Li accepted defeat and vanished.
• Natsu, Ace, and Xiao Huo emerged unharmed as the Blazing Flame Formation exploded, and Sun Wukong said they would face the other formations tomorrow.
• A terrifying primordial aura warned the gathered powers that the battle would continue tomorrow, alarming them about the force backing Sun Wukong.
• In the Heavenly Court, Bai Li told the Jade Emperor that the three opponents had devoured his flames and used them to reach Taiyi Golden Immortal strength.

After the Blazing Flame Formation fell, Jiang Zhen realized the Intercept Sect Disciples were reluctant participants and devised a way to free their True Spirits from the Investiture of the Gods. He gave his allies tools to offer the disciples reincarnation, leaving the group ready to approach them while avoiding further deaths.

• Bai Li left after the Jade Emperor dismissed him, and Jiang Zhen’s group discussed the nine remaining formations.
• Xiao Huo explained that Bai Li had given up fighting after the formation failed to stop them, leading Jiang Zhen to suspect the Intercept Sect Disciples were only putting on a show.
• Jiang Zhen proposed releasing the disciples’ True Spirits from the Investiture of the Gods and sending them to reincarnate with their memories and divine potential intact.
• Yang Jian raised concerns that the Jade Emperor might prevent the immortals from returning, but Jiang Zhen explained how they could reincarnate in subordinate worlds and return after five hundred years.
• Sun Wukong agreed to Jiang Zhen’s plan, and Jiang Zhen gave everyone tools to offer reincarnation to willing disciples while warning them not to kill the disciples again.

Jiang Zhen secured Bai Li’s agreement to help free the Intercept Sect Disciples and prepared Sun Wukong, Esdeath, and Hong Hong for the Ten Absolute Formations. Esdeath and Hong Hong entered the Ice Formation, where they convinced Yuan Jiao that Bai Li’s plan had succeeded, and Yuan Jiao chose to descend into reincarnation.

• Jiang Zhen met Bai Li in the Heavenly Court, showed him information about the plan, and helped free his True Spirit from his Divine Path Incarnation; Bai Li agreed to recruit others and return in five hundred years.
• Jiang Zhen instructed Sun Wukong to accept Imperial Recruitment after the Ten Absolute Formations were broken, find the Intercept Sect Disciples in the Heavenly Court, and send them into reincarnation.
• Jiang Zhen assigned Esdeath and Hong Hong to break the Ice Formation and told them to show Yuan Jiao Bai Li’s words and recording before fighting him.
• Esdeath and Hong Hong entered the Ice Formation and showed Yuan Jiao the evidence that Bai Li’s restrictions had been removed.
• Yuan Jiao accepted that the plan had succeeded, had his True Spirit freed from the Investiture of the Gods, and departed to enter reincarnation, leaving the Formation’s Innate Qi to Esdeath and Hong Hong.

Esdeath and Hong Hong of Tushan met Yuan Jiao's Divine Dao Avatar, who explained that the Interception Sect disciples were not expected to fight in earnest and offered them the remaining Innate Qi. He agreed to return to the Heavenly Court while they planned to handle the remaining matters themselves and seek his help during the Journey to the West.

• Yuan Jiao vanished, and Esdeath and Hong Hong of Tushan questioned his Divine Dao Avatar about whether they would fight.
• Yuan Jiao's Divine Dao Avatar explained that the Ten Absolute Formations had originally been one formation and that the Jade Emperor knew the disciples were only expected to keep up appearances.
• Yuan Jiao's Divine Dao Avatar offered the remaining Innate Qi, saying it could help Esdeath and Hong Hong of Tushan break through to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
• Yuan Jiao's Divine Dao Avatar said he would return to the Heavenly Court after his Ice Formation broke and told them they would need to go there to rescue the other Interception Sect Disciples.
• Esdeath declined his offer of help in the Heavenly Court, saying Sun Wukong would handle the matter after receiving an official post, and asked Yuan Jiao to help them once the Journey to the West began.
• Yuan Jiao marveled at Esdeath and Hong Hong of Tushan's bold plans, and Esdeath said their allies had the strength to support them.

The Ice Dragon and Eight-tailed Celestial Fox broke Yuan Jiao’s Ice Formation after absorbing its innate cold qi, and Jiang Zhen sent Wuming and Cherry into Dong Quan’s Wind Roar Formation. Dong Quan helped them absorb its innate wind and water qi before reincarnating, and the pair shattered the Formation two days later, leaving the other Ten Heavenly Lords hopeful.

• The Ice Dragon and Eight-tailed Celestial Fox escaped Yuan Jiao’s Ice Formation, absorbed its innate cold qi, and broke through, giving Flower-Fruit Mountain the victory.
• Jiang Zhen sent Wuming and Cherry to challenge the Wind Roar Formation after Esdeath advised them to explain matters before fighting.
• Wuming showed Dong Quan phantoms of Lord Bai and Lord Yuan explaining the situation, and Dong Quan agreed to help the pair.
• Dong Quan offered Wuming the innate wind qi and Cherry the innate water qi, along with the remaining earth and fire qi for their allies, then Wuming sent Dong Quan’s True Spirit to reincarnate.
• Two days later, Wuming and Cherry unleashed wind and rain that shattered the Wind Roar Formation and drove back the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.
• Dong Quan returned and nodded to the other Ten Heavenly Lords, who grew hopeful without knowing what had happened.

After the Ten Absolute Formations fell, Jiang Zhen prepared his allies for the Heavenly Court’s next attack and promised to settle Sun Wukong’s fate. He issued a challenge to Heaven and Spirit Mountain, drawing out the Jade Emperor in his recovered Haotian form while Burning Lamp Ancient Buddha urged Tathagata to act.

• Li Jing called a truce and withdrew his army after Jiang Zhen’s allies broke the Ten Absolute Formations and advanced in cultivation.
• Jiang Zhen told Zhang Chulan and the others that the next conflict would be a direct war, with him handling opponents above the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
• When the war drums sounded days later, Jiang Zhen told Sun Wukong he would arrange confinement at Two Realms Mountain instead of Five Elements Mountain, then went to challenge Heaven and Spirit Mountain.
• The Jade Emperor summoned Haotian Shangdi’s phantom, revealed the Haotian Mirror and Haotian Sword, and set out to confront Jiang Zhen.
• Burning Lamp Ancient Buddha appeared at Spirit Mountain and told Tathagata that only Buddha Ancestor might defeat Jiang Zhen.

Burning Lamp explained that Jiang Zhen was likely an Eternal Daluo whose power could rival a Quasi-Saint, prompting Tathagata to go to the Heavenly Court. As Nezha overwhelmed the Heavenly Court’s forces, Jiang Zhen explained how his origin could be strengthened, and Tathagata appeared, acknowledging Burning Lamp’s role in the matter.

• Burning Lamp warned Tathagata that Jiang Zhen was likely an Eternal Daluo and that only Tathagata and the Jade Emperor together might defeat him.
• Tathagata left Spirit Mountain despite Burning Lamp’s warning to avoid starting a battle unless necessary.
• Nezha smashed Li Jing’s Exquisite Pagoda and drove the Heavenly Court’s forces into disarray while Jiang Zhen and the Jade Emperor watched.
• Jiang Zhen told the Jade Emperor that Nezha’s corpse and clay statue inside the Exquisite Pagoda held part of his origin and could help him advance if returned to him.
• Tathagata appeared and told Jiang Zhen that he had learned of the matter only after becoming Tathagata, since Burning Lamp had handled it.

Jiang Zhen challenged Tathagata over Buddhism’s plan to restrain the Monkey during the journey to the west, demanding that the Monkey avoid five hundred years of imprisonment and the golden headband. They agreed to settle their disagreement with one move in the starry sky, where Tathagata unleashed his Buddha Kingdom in the Palm and Jiang Zhen answered with a space-and-time-powered punch.

• Tathagata explained that Nezha had inherited Taiyi Zhenren’s karma and praised Jiang Zhen for helping Nezha improve his foundation.
• Jiang Zhen questioned Buddhism’s plans for the Monkey and demanded that he not be imprisoned or controlled with a golden headband.
• Tathagata refused, arguing that the Monkey needed restraint, so Jiang Zhen proposed a one-move contest to decide the matter.
• Jiang Zhen and Tathagata traveled to the starry sky, with the Jade Emperor following to watch.
• Tathagata summoned his Sixteen-Foot Golden Body and struck with the Tathagata Divine Palm, while Jiang Zhen broke the spatial seal and countered with a time-and-space-powered punch that shattered nearby dead stars.

Jiang Zhen defeated Tathagata and secured Sun Wukong’s role in the pilgrimage plan, then agreed to spar with the Jade Emperor. After Jiang Zhen outmatched the Jade Emperor in weapon combat, the Jade Emperor tested his treasure against Jiang Zhen’s mysterious book.

• Jiang Zhen shattered Tathagata’s Buddha Kingdom in the Palm and right hand, forcing Tathagata to concede and agree that Sun Wukong could escort the Scripture Pilgrim to Spirit Mountain.
• Jiang Zhen and Tathagata agreed that Sun Wukong would take an impressive but powerless office, cause trouble at the Peach Banquet, and be banished to Two Realms Mountain to await the Scripture Pilgrim.
• The Jade Emperor invited Jiang Zhen to battle, and Jiang Zhen accepted a contest that would stop before either was defeated.
• The Jade Emperor attacked with the Haotian Sword while Jiang Zhen used a long spear to suppress him and force him onto the defensive.
• The Jade Emperor fired the Haotian Mirror at Jiang Zhen, but a book that appeared above Jiang Zhen blocked its beam.