Chapter Summaries

Chen Luo defeated Fang Shenxiu in their exchange, and Fang Shenxiu's confidence crumbled when he learned his opponent was the Lord of Martial Dao. When Fang Shenxiu unleashed a powerful Confucian Divine Ability, Chen Luo awakened The Human World and shattered it, leaving Fang Shenxiu unconscious.

• Chen Luo absorbed Fang Shenxiu's Heavenly Principle Seals, causing Fang Shenxiu to doubt himself until he steadied his Literary Palace by blaming the defeat on a stronger, older opponent.
• The Fang Family Great Scholar asked Lang Feixian to stop the fight, but Lang Feixian allowed him only to urge Fang Shenxiu to admit defeat.
• Fang Shenxiu learned that Chen Luo stood before him, and the revelation sent his Literary Palace into collapse and drove him into a Demonic Obstruction.
• Fang Shenxiu used his blood to form Heavenly Principle Establishes Bonds and sent its iron-cage-like attack toward Chen Luo.
• Chen Luo comprehended the Martial Dao Divine Ability The Human World, shattered Fang Shenxiu's attack with a punch, and watched Fang Shenxiu faint.

After Chen Luo defeated Fang Shenxiu, he challenged the Fang Family’s principles and received the Sacred Heart Jade as his spoils. At the Cui residence, the Cui Family formally acknowledged him as their Martial Uncle before agreeing to use ordinary forms of address, and Chen Luo then used the Jade’s Primordial Chaos Qi to open a new book.

• The Fang Family Great Scholar conceded defeat, returned the Sacred Heart Jade to Chen Luo, and promised to restore the lands taken from the Qu and Zou Families.
• The onlookers praised Chen Luo as Young Master Liu, then left the Cui residence; Cui Youdu thanked Chen Luo and led the Cui Family in formally saluting him as their Martial Uncle.
• At Yun Siyao’s suggestion, Chen Luo and Cui Youdu agreed to record Chen Luo’s seniority in the clan records without using special forms of address, and Cui Youdu gave Chen Luo sixteen inferior Great Scholar’s Literary Treasures.
• Yun Siyao explained that the Sacred Heart Jade contained pure Primordial Chaos Qi, and Chen Luo discovered he could use it without being affected by Heavenly Dao Bad Luck.
• Chen Luo released the Primordial Chaos Qi into the Six Thousand Li Flower Forest, where a golden peacock struck him and a new book appeared in his mind.

After writing the opening of The Complete Biography of Ji Gong, Chen Luo summoned Dragon-Subduing Arhat and opened the Book of Buddhas and Demons as the Mahayana Buddhist Dharma Three Treasuries. The new scripture revealed a vast Buddhist Great Dao before the Dao Ancestor folded it away, and it left Chen Luo with a message to head east.

• Chen Luo wrote the opening of The Complete Biography of Ji Gong, depicting Li Maochun praying for a son and the newborn Li Xiuyuan meeting Monk Xingkong.
• The Buddhist verse triggered a manifestation of seventeen Arhats, who merged into Dragon-Subduing Arhat and bowed to Chen Luo.
• Dragon-Subduing Arhat entered Chen Luo's mind, where he opened the Book of Buddhas and Demons as the Mahayana Buddhist Dharma Three Treasuries.
• Chen Luo discovered an illusory ten-thousand-li Buddhist Great Dao beneath the Martial Dao Heaven-Connecting Path.
• An old man riding a blue ox folded the Buddhist Great Dao into a point of light and disappeared.
• The True Sutra of the Three Treasuries told Chen Luo to head east.

Adamo fought Yan Benyu at the Sword Discussion Pavilion and broke free of a soul illusion by awakening a golden power in his fist. He revealed the technique as Shaolin’s Arhat Fist, while the Great Scholars watched in astonishment.

• Adamo faced Yan Benyu, whose Painting Dao attacks clashed with Adamo’s Shaolin martial arts.
• Yan Benyu trapped Adamo in Draw Space as Prison, where he repeatedly relived the Giant Palm destroying the Siddhartha Royal Family.
• Yan Benyu failed to withdraw the technique, and Yan Tianbing and Xiang Jixuan realized Adamo’s fear had overwhelmed the painted illusion.
• Adamo rejected his doubt, declared that the True Buddha of the True Dharma was in his heart, and heard a distant song as golden power gathered in his fist.
• Adamo shattered the Giant Palm and the painted prison with one punch, then identified his technique as Shaolin’s Arhat Fist.

Chen Luo learned that the True Sutra of the Three Treasuries had strengthened Shaolin Martial Arts and discussed with Yun Siyao the mysterious call to head east, toward Fangzhang Island. Meanwhile, his senior brother intercepted a Buddhist Bodhisattva sent to assassinate him and destroyed Ciwei City with a vast array of Explosion Talismans.

• Chen Luo decided to delay publishing The Complete Biography of Ji Gong, asked Yun Siyao about the east, and learned of Fangzhang, also called Heart of Heaven Island.
• Chen Luo told Yun Siyao about the True Sutra of the Three Treasuries, but found he could neither speak nor write about the old man in the Azure Nether.
• Bodhisattva Fei Lieshe sensed Siddhartha Adamo's reincarnation aura vanish and suspected the Hidden Sect, while noting that assassins had been sent after Chen Luo.
• In Ciwei City, Chen Luo's unremarkable senior brother revealed that the street's workers and residents were paper figures and that the entire city was part of his trap.
• The senior brother transformed Ciwei City into Saint-Wounding City and detonated its one hundred and eight billion Explosion Talismans, then recorded the blast's damage and ran in to scatter the ashes.

Fifth Master demonstrated the devastating archery technique “One Arrow Leaks the Universe” and used it to target Jin Luosa, who had entered Great Xuan to assassinate Chen Luo. The arrow pierced Jin Luosa’s body and Reincarnation Pure Land, leaving his fate uncertain before the chapter ended with an author’s note about a confirmed case in Hangzhou and getting tested.

• A young Confucian Scholar told the Master he had completed the Five Shoots, and Fifth Master rewarded him with his handwritten “Essence of Piercing Heart.”
• Fifth Master took the Scholar’s bow, revealed that someone was targeting a newly gained Young Scholar, and warned him to watch the arrow carefully.
• Fifth Master fired “One Arrow Leaks the Universe,” splitting the sky as the arrow traveled toward Jin Luosa in Mian'an City.
• Jin Luosa transformed into his Bodhisattva golden body and used the Spirit Mountain Pure Land to defend against the arrow.
• The arrow broke through the Spirit Mountain, pierced Jin Luosa’s golden body, and continued into his Reincarnation Pure Land, where it pierced his Dharma Idol’s heart.

Fang Zigu wagered that Chen Luo would suffer a great bout of bad luck, while Chen Luo and his senior siblings decided to leave Qingning City and head east. Xie Sansheng departed after advising Xie Xiao Shi, then watched the children together and reflected on a prophecy pointing east.

• Fang Zigu told a white-robed monk that Chen Luo had endured two calamities without overcoming a tribulation, and wagered that a colossal bout of bad luck awaited him.
• Chen Luo complained that refining sixteen Literary Treasures had yielded only three strands of Primordial Chaos Qi, and Yun Siyao told him they would leave Qingning City and travel east no more than three thousand li.
• Xie Sansheng warned Xie Xiao Shi against several kinds of mischief, then left after promising to bring Li Bajiu a dress.
• Xie Xiao Shi asked Li Bajiu not to run away after they married, and she blushed and gently bit his arm.
• Xie Sansheng watched Xie Xiao Shi and Li Bajiu, reflected that his father had lost, and looked east while recalling an elder's prophecy.

Chen Luo unlocked and published chapters of Legend of the Eight Immortals introducing Bat, Sun Xianci, and Zhang Guo, with spiritual radiance entering a womb as a path to rebirth. The story’s release inspired readers to free snails, stirred Dao Lord Tian Ling’s pursuit of a breakthrough, and led a Rat Demon to declare Zhang Guo the rats’ ancestor.

• Chen Luo finished writing the new chapters and sent them to Dongcang Tower, while Yun Siyao and Lang Feixian discussed their implications for the Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian schools.
• Yu Jia decided to leave Dongcang City but changed her mind after reading the flyer announcing the next telling of Zhang Guolao’s story.
• Chen Luo and his companions left Dongcang City and traveled east.
• In Central Capital City, readers rushed to buy and release snails after learning that Miss Snail had repaid a young man’s kindness and given birth to a future Dao Venerable.
• Dao Lord Tian Ling saw spiritual radiance entering a womb as a possible path toward becoming a Dao Venerable and pondered how to separate primordial spiritual radiance.
• A Rat Demon gathered countless rats underground in Central Capital City, declared Zhang Guo their primordial ancestor, and ordered them to stop harming people or damaging property.

Chen Luo and his companions encountered water demons after Jin Guagua was accused of paying with fake immortal pills. The demons returned the pills and explained that the waterfolk of the region cultivated Confucianism and Daoism to quiet strange voices in their minds.

• Jin Guagua returned from scouting and said water demons had chased him after accusing him of using fake pills to pay for sweets and drinks.
• Chen Luo paid the water demons for Jin Guagua’s purchases and demanded the pills back, learning their shopkeeper had tried to cheat him.
• Xia Chedan, a great sage mantis shrimp demon, arrived, apologized, returned the pills, and said he had punished the shopkeeper and sentenced him to ten years in the water prison.
• Xia Chedan told Chen Luo that the waterfolk in the Eight Hundred Li Water Domain cultivated Confucianism or Daoism because reciting their classics quieted the strange sounds in their minds.

Chen Luo visited a water-demon marketplace with Xia Chedan, where a poem he recited earned him the merchants’ trust and led him to a mysterious staff that stirred the True Sutra of the Three Treasuries. The Squid Shopkeeper said he had found it near Abbot Island after hearing “Bodhi Moksha” and seeing a golden mountain, at the same time Chen Luo had condensed the Buddhist scripture.

• Xia Chedan showed Chen Luo around the marketplace and warned him not to debate the classics with water demons, recommending that he compose poetry instead.
• Chen Luo recited lines from “If Life Were Only Like the First Meeting,” leaving Xia Chedan so moved that he transformed into his original mantis-shrimp form and begged for more.
• Xia Chedan promised to treat Chen Luo and the others, then ordered the merchants to show their hidden goods; Chen Luo followed the True Sutra of the Three Treasuries’ reaction to a weapons shop.
• Chen Luo chose a strange, indestructible staff that resembled a broken Buddhist monk’s staff, and the Squid Shopkeeper said he had found it near Abbot Island.
• The Squid Shopkeeper recounted hearing “Bodhi Moksha” and seeing a golden mountain two days earlier; Chen Luo realized this had happened when he condensed the True Sutra of the Three Treasuries.

Chen Luo traveled east with Xia Chedan after the Stone Cudgel resonated with the True Sutra of the Three Treasuries, and his companions considered whether it was connected to the lost Mount Sumeru. Meanwhile, Xie Sansheng destroyed two Buddhist corpse puppets in the Bihai Sea and recovered their Reincarnation Threads.

• Chen Luo accepted Xia Chedan’s offer to escort him east, and Xia Chedan recognized Yun Siyao as a True Dragon after sensing her aura.
• Yun Siyao examined the Stone Cudgel and found that principles permeated its mountain-stone material.
• Lang Feixian explained that the Ancient Buddhist Sect had sought to create Mount Sumeru, and Chen Luo suspected the golden mountain might be related to it.
• Xie Sansheng encountered a dog demon and a pig demon whose corpses had been refined into Great Sage puppets through the Beast Path.
• Xie Sansheng burned the puppets with Karmic Fire, freed the dog demon’s mind before it died, and collected the two Reincarnation Threads.

Chen Luo reached the Azure Sea and learned that Abbot Island’s Six Gates trial involved solving lantern riddles for Abbot Tokens. He solved all sixteen riddles in moments, but the celebration was interrupted when the Little Crab Demon fled the shop shouting that someone had died.

• Xia Chedan explained that Abbot Island barred outsiders from landing, but its shop in the underwater eighteenth stronghold offered tokens to those who passed the Six Gates trial.
• Chen Luo discovered that the trial consisted of lantern riddles and paid to light an entire row of sixteen lanterns.
• Chen Luo quickly solved all sixteen riddles, astonishing the surrounding water demons and prompting the Little Crab Demon to seek the person in charge.
• The Little Crab Demon rushed out of the coral shop shouting that someone had died, while Chen Luo sensed the birds of Dream Flower Forest stirring as they had during his encounter with Heart-Snatching Child.

Chen Luo investigated a poison massacre at a coral shop and learned that the poison was connected to the power from beyond the heavens. After learning more about heavenly demons from Yun Siyao and Lang Feixian, he reached Abbot Island and discovered the Beast Path among the island’s mysterious occupants.

• The Little Crab Demon reported that everyone in the coral shop had died, and Lang Feixian found the corpses poisoned, including a duplicate of Starfish Great Sage Paida.
• Xia Chedan explained that Paida’s duplicate was linked to the original, whose soul had also been destroyed, and told Chen Luo the stronghold belonged to a missing Cloud Dragon Princess.
• Chen Luo gave Xia Chedan Yun Siyao’s Cloud Dragon Token and asked him to manage the stronghold while Chen Luo went to investigate Abbot Island.
• Yun Siyao and Lang Feixian explained that demons from beyond the heavens had once invaded and warned Chen Luo not to pursue matters beyond his cultivation level.
• Chen Luo and his companions approached Abbot Island in secret, where they found poisoned waters, two water demons bearing an otherworldly aura, and three dead Demon Race Great Sages.
• Chen Luo sensed the Beast Path’s presence on the island.

Chen Luo and his allies ambushed the Beast Path’s forces on Abbot Island, defeating the puppets and demons who had poisoned the aquatic Great Sages. After the Fire Phoenix drew a mysterious snake-like spirit from the Pufferfish Great Sage, it promised Chen Luo a great fortuitous opportunity if he released it.

• The Eagle Demon gave the aquatic Demon Saint a feather containing the method to refine Abbot Island and prepared to take the poisoned Great Sages away as puppet materials.
• Lang Feixian destroyed the Eagle Demon’s cloth bag with Green Lotus Sword Qi and killed one aquatic Demon Saint as Ao Lingling, Cui Shanque, and the Fire Phoenix attacked.
• Cui Shanque fought the Tiger and Leopard puppets, Ao Lingling overwhelmed the Eagle Demon, and the Fire Phoenix subdued the Pufferfish Great Sage.
• Chen Luo identified the attackers’ master as the Beast Path Master, then ordered Ao Lingling to kill the captured Eagle Demon.
• The Fire Phoenix pulled a small black snake-shaped spirit from the Pufferfish Great Sage, and the spirit offered Chen Luo a great fortuitous opportunity in exchange for release.

Chen Luo learned that the black snake had used the Pufferfish Great Sage to seek a Divine Mountain tied to Abbot Island, then helped Yun Siyao save the poisoned Water Demon Great Sages. The grateful demons pledged to repay Chen Luo, while Yun Siyao’s use of a drop of essence blood left her weakened.

• Chen Luo burned the black snake until it admitted it was a Heavenly God seeking to refine Abbot Island, then had the Fire Phoenix swallow and refine it.
• The Pufferfish Great Sage revealed that the black snake had searched for a place connected to a golden Divine Mountain and believed Abbot Island was its counterpart: when Abbot was hidden, the Divine Mountain appeared.
• After learning the water demons could not be cured by the Pufferfish Great Sage, Chen Luo prepared to use the Fire Phoenix, but Yun Siyao offered to heal them through the True Dragon Art.
• Yun Siyao used a drop of her essence blood to cleanse the water demons’ poison, and Chen Luo carried her away when she collapsed; she later revealed she had feigned unconsciousness, though the blood loss was real.
• A Water Demon Great Sage recovered first and pledged that all the demons of Abbot Island would repay Chen Luo’s kindness at any cost.

Chen Luo used Zen teachings to convince the Water Demon Great Sages that he counted as one of their people, clearing the way for him to learn about the Divine Mountain. The Water Demon Great Sage went to summon the others, while the Beast Path Lord and Sea Ox Great Sage headed toward Abbot Island to pursue Chen Luo.

• The Beast Path Lord learned that his Beast Puppets had been destroyed and decided to go to Abbot Island with the Sea Ox Great Sage to capture Chen Luo alive.
• The Water Demon Great Sages offered Chen Luo the Beast Cores of their dead companions, but the Water Demon Great Sage refused to reveal Abbot Island’s secret because of his ancestors’ warning.
• Chen Luo recited Zen teachings, prompting the Water Demon Great Sage to recognize that their paths followed the same road despite differing methods.
• The Sea Turtle Great Sage concluded that Chen Luo counted as one of their people, so he could be shown the Divine Mountain.
• The Water Demon Great Sage left to summon the other Water Demon Great Sages so they could reveal the Divine Mountain to Chen Luo.

Chen Luo learned that Abbot Island’s aquatic demons followed an ancient Buddhist path and watched the island vanish under the Law of Abbot’s Hiddenness. He awoke on the seabed, where Xie Sansheng had captured Jin Guagua, and prepared to attack.

• The Sea Turtle Great Sage told Chen Luo that Abbot Island’s demons heard innate Buddhist teachings, used Confucian and Daoist ideas to quiet similar voices in other demons, and could not practice present-day Buddhism without dying.
• The Sea Turtle Great Sage explained that Abbot Island had vanished three times before and that no Divine Mountain appeared; the Qilin Emperor had said its proper time had not arrived.
• The Sea Turtle Great Sage transformed into blood qi and entered a turtle egg, which hatched into a novice monk who paid respects to fifty-three aquatic demon Great Sages before Abbot Island became a golden lotus and disappeared.
• Chen Luo awoke alone beneath the sea, confirmed that Yun Siyao and Lang Feixian were nearby, and sensed that the True Sutra of the Three Treasuries indicated they had arrived.
• Xie Sansheng approached Chen Luo while carrying the bound, unconscious Jin Guagua and offered to treat him to roasted frog; Chen Luo recognized Xie Sansheng’s reincarnation aura and attacked with Red Dust Qi and Martial Dao True Intent.

Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng mistook each other for allies of the Six Paths Master and fought until a Buddhist Mercy Law stopped them, revealing their conflict was a misunderstanding. When the Beast Path Master arrived to demand recompense from both men, Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng prepared to face the threat together.

• Chen Luo attacked Xie Sansheng with the Bean Marshals and Cui Shanque, but a Buddhist chant nullified their abilities and ended the fight.
• Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng realized neither was a Six Paths Master, and Jin Guagua spat on Xie Sansheng after he insulted his cultivation.
• Chen Luo introduced himself and Jin Guagua, while Xie Sansheng questioned him about Abbot Island and decided to follow him.
• A voice from the sea's surface announced that the Beast Path Master had arrived to avenge his destroyed Beast Puppets.
• Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng discovered they had both killed the Beast Path Master's puppets, and Chen Luo challenged the newcomers to break through his Myriad Laws Annihilation formation.

Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng used the Mercy Law and Myriad Laws Annihilation formation to repel the Beast Path Dao Lord’s attacks, while Jin Guagua accidentally exposed the Sea Ox Great Sage. As the Mercy Law weakened, Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng headed west toward the Death Gate, leaving the Dao Lord uncertain whether they were fleeing or setting a trap.

• The Beast Path Dao Lord attacked Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng with Myriad Laws Annihilation and three Howling Moon Silver Wolf Beast Puppets, but Chen Luo dispersed each attack with his formation.
• Jin Guagua accidentally discovered the Sea Ox Great Sage, whose killing attack vanished before Jin Guagua’s ordinary hammer struck his nose and sent him fleeing.
• Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng discussed seeking reinforcements and Abbot Island’s disappearance, then learned the Mercy Law had weakened.
• Chen Luo charged west toward the Death Gate, and Xie Sansheng followed while warning that changing the formation could weaken it.
• The Beast Path Dao Lord suspected Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng might be luring him toward the Death Gate, but the Sea Ox Great Sage warned him not to risk pursuit, so he sent the wolf puppets after them.

Chen Luo realized they were trapped inside a golden lotus created by Buddhist law and used the Heart Sutra to make it bloom. The seal vanished, revealing Mount Sumeru as the Beast Path Lord and his forces attacked.

• Chen Luo and Xie Sansheng discovered that a sealing formation blocked their escape and trapped their communications beneath the sea.
• Chen Luo traced the seal’s shape and, recalling the golden lotus formed during the Fifty-Three Encounters, concluded that they were inside a Buddhist-law lotus that had to bloom.
• As dawn broke, a Buddhist chant sounded, the Mercy Law disappeared, and the Beast Path Lord led his Beast Puppets and the Sea Ox Great Sage into the sea to attack Chen Luo.
• Chen Luo recited part of the Heart Sutra, unleashing Buddhist resonance that made the invisible lotus bloom and filled everyone with joy.
• A point of light appeared, vast yet tiny, and revealed Mount Sumeru as a bell rang.