Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qingqing teased the Three Pure Ones with songs about the Investiture of the Gods while Bai Ze tried to interpret her words about the road beneath one's feet. After a year, Bai Ze identified cultivators traveling to Eastern Kunlun, including Dragon-whiskered Tiger, and continued listing his discoveries.

• Zhou Qingqing considered singing about Nezha, then turned to a song about flowers blooming and falling, while the Three Pure Ones listened.
• Bai Ze inferred that Zhou Qingqing's new target might be beneath Kunlun or heading there and used his Wisdom Great Dao divine ability to investigate.
• Zhou Qingqing watched Bai Ze's investigation for a year until he announced that he had found cultivators traveling to Eastern Kunlun.
• Bai Ze named Dragon-whiskered Tiger, and Zhou Qingqing noted that he was Jiang Ziya's disciple and would later become the Nine Ugly Star.
• Zhou Qingqing said Dragon-whiskered Tiger could be subdued by junior brothers on the mountain, and Bai Ze moved on to his next discovery.

Zhou Qingqing and Bai Ze found Shen Gongbao, a black panther whose role made him a crucial figure in an approaching Calamity. She warned Bai Ze to flee whenever someone said “Fellow Daoist, please stay,” but chose to keep Shen Gongbao alive and watch what happened.

• Bai Ze named Shen Gongbao, prompting Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones to recognize his importance and set out to find him.
• Bai Ze led Zhou Qingqing to a black panther radiating black energy, and she identified him as Shen Gongbao.
• Bai Ze asked whether a Chaos Demon God was involved, but Zhou Qingqing said there was not and warned him to flee if anyone called him “Fellow Daoist.”
• Bai Ze offered to remove Shen Gongbao, but Zhou Qingqing said another panther would take his place and decided to observe him instead.
• Zhou Qingqing reflected that Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya were replaceable pieces in the Calamity, and Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate disliked her thoughts turning to him.

Zhou Qingqing decided to bring Shen Gongbao back to Three Pure Ones Heaven, while the Three Pure Ones prepared to act on his role in the coming Calamity. She entered Three Pure Ones Hall with Bai Ze and Shen Gongbao, where the three Sages awaited them.

• Zhou Qingqing considered letting Shen Gongbao return to the Eastern Kunlun lineage for reform, trusting Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate to teach him.
• Supreme Pure Laozi told his brothers that Shen Gongbao's arrival was the moment to act, and Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate sent out his Nine-Dragon Agarwood Carriage.
• Zhou Qingqing told Bai Ze to bring Shen Gongbao aboard and explain what he needed to do, then the carriage took them back to Three Pure Ones Heaven.
• Shen Gongbao feared meeting the three Daoist Sages, but Zhou Qingqing calmly led the group toward Three Pure Ones Hall and announced her return.
• The Three Pure Ones invited Zhou Qingqing and her companions into the hall.

Zhou Qingqing returned to Three Pure Ones Hall with Shen Gongbao, whom Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate accepted as his disciple after freeing him from his demon form. When Shen Gongbao asked how to overcome the calamity qi threatening his path to the Great Dao, Jade Pure revealed that a solution existed, while the Three Pure Ones prepared to guide him.

• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate thanked Zhou Qingqing for finding Shen Gongbao and declared that Shen Gongbao was fated to become his disciple.
• Jade Pure used Yuqing Qi to help Shen Gongbao shed his black panther form and become a Daoist.
• Zhou Qingqing stopped Shen Gongbao from calling Bai Ze “Fellow Daoist” and warned him not to use the title carelessly.
• Jade Pure told Shen Gongbao that calamity qi could block his path to the Great Dao, prompting Shen Gongbao to ask how to resolve it.
• Jade Pure said there was a way to overcome the problem as Zhou Qingqing wondered how Shen Gongbao’s fate had changed.

The Three Pure Ones planned to transfer Shen Gongbao’s calamity to Zhou Qingqing so she could obtain the Heaven Book and complete the Three Books. They began the ritual at once, leaving Shen Gongbao and Zhou Qingqing enveloped by the Taiji Diagram as he discovered he stood in its white half.

• Zhou Qingqing agreed to help Shen Gongbao after Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate said she was key to giving him a new life.
• Upper Pure Master Tongtian and Supreme Pure Laozi explained that Zhou Qingqing would bear Shen Gongbao’s calamity and might thereby obtain the Heaven Book.
• Bai Ze realized the Three Pure Ones intended to transfer the calamity to Zhou Qingqing and eagerly watched the plan unfold.
• Supreme Pure Laozi announced that the Three Pure Ones would begin immediately, and Zhou Qingqing and Shen Gongbao sat down to cooperate.
• Supreme Pure Laozi summoned the Taiji Diagram, which enveloped Zhou Qingqing and Shen Gongbao at the boundary between black and white; Shen Gongbao found himself in the white half.

Supreme Pure Laozi, Upper Pure Master Tongtian, and Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate joined forces to alter the Calamity tied to Shen Gongbao. Their plan succeeded when the Flying Bears became a Chaos Azure Lotus and descended into Zhou Qingqing’s dream.

• Supreme Pure Laozi used the Taiji Diagram, the Primordial Heaven-Measuring Ruler, and the Heaven-and-Earth Mystic Yellow Exquisite Treasure Pagoda to manifest Taiji Virtue and interfere with the Calamity.
• Upper Pure Master Tongtian sent the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords into Shen Gongbao and revealed the Flying Bear connected to the Calamity.
• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate used the Karma Great Dao to manifest a second Flying Bear, and Upper Pure Master Tongtian destroyed both with his sword light.
• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate used the Pangu Banner to reassemble the Flying Bear fragments into a Chaos Azure Lotus.
• The Chaos Azure Lotus descended into Zhou Qingqing’s dream, and she recognized her three masters’ success.

After Shen Gongbao became Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s disciple, Zhou Qingqing cultivated and condensed Yin Virtue and Calamity Luck. The Three Pure Ones assigned Shen Gongbao the Yin Virtue and planned for him to pass the Calamity Luck to a future junior brother, while Qingqing wondered whether her changes to the investiture of the gods would draw Dao Ancestor Hongjun’s attention.

• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate accepted Shen Gongbao as his disciple and told him his calamities had receded.
• Bai Ze and the Three Pure Ones watched Zhou Qingqing cultivate after she gained insight from Flying Lotus Dream Entry.
• Zhou Qingqing condensed the origins of Yin Virtue and Calamity Luck, recognizing their connection to Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya.
• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate gave Shen Gongbao the Yin Virtue origin and instructed him to pass on the Calamity Luck origin to a future junior brother.
• Zhou Qingqing realized the Three Pure Ones had placed the investiture of the gods upon her and wondered whether changing its ordained course would bring Dao Ancestor Hongjun.

Hongjun recognized that the Three Pure Ones were preparing for the Investiture of the Gods Calamity and decided to start it himself. He proclaimed that the Calamity could involve Saints, leaving Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones concerned that he intended to draw them in and hasten the Primordial World's decline.

• Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones discussed the Calamity and considered Hongjun a victim of the Heavenly Dao's changing greater trend.
• Hongjun noticed that the destined names had fallen from two to one and that cultivators were claiming positions across the Three Daos, so he resolved to begin the Calamity himself.
• Hongjun sent the Investiture of the Gods List above the Primordial World, where it appeared amid surging Calamity qi.
• Hongjun announced that the list would establish the Divine Path across Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, and declared the Calamity could involve Saints.
• Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones suspected Hongjun meant to involve the Saints and feared the Calamity could hasten the Primordial World's destruction.

The Investiture of the Gods Calamity appeared, and the leaders of the Human and Earth Daos discussed its likely connection to a changing dynasty and arrangements already made by Zhou Qingqing. They expected the Three Pure Ones and Zhou Qingqing to find a way to keep the calamity from involving Saints, and decided to wait and see.

• Fuxi asked Nuwa about the calamity, and she said it would most likely accompany the transition from the Shang Dynasty to the Zhou Dynasty.
• Nuwa revealed that Zhou Qingqing had recommended Yu the Great for the position of Water Official Great Emperor, leading Fuxi and the other Three Sovereigns to suspect Qingqing was connected to the future Zhou Dynasty.
• At the place of Reincarnation, Houtu said the Witch Race had sent Xingtian and others to heaven because she knew the calamity had descended.
• Zhen Yuanzi explained that Julu Sun's visit had helped him connect the Witch Race's actions to the calamity, and Eastern Emperor Taiyi realized the Three Pure Ones and Zhou Qingqing had already been making arrangements.
• Houtu said the Three Pure Ones and Qingqing would likely find a way to prevent the calamity from involving Saints, and Eastern Emperor Taiyi agreed to wait and see.

The Three Pure Ones told Zhou Qingqing to draw down the Investiture of the Gods List and joined forces with her to bring it under her control. The list vanished into her lotus, and the Calamity’s growing aura stopped increasing.

• The Three Pure Ones discussed taking down the Investiture of the Gods List and revealed that they had chosen Zhou Qingqing to confer the gods.
• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate asked Zhou Qingqing to draw down the list, while Shen Gongbao feared becoming caught up in the Calamity and Bai Ze realized the list was one of her components.
• Zhou Qingqing agreed that she could take in the list but questioned whether she could directly overcome its connection to the Calamity and Dao Ancestor Hongjun.
• The Three Pure Ones released their qi and joined Zhou Qingqing as she manifested her thirty-six-petaled Chaos Azure Lotus.
• The Investiture of the Gods List vanished into Zhou Qingqing’s lotus, and the Calamity’s aura stopped growing.

Zhou Qingqing reclaimed the Investiture of the Gods List and was publicly named its fated overseer, with Hongjun accepting the Three Pure Ones’ decision. She ended the chapter holding the authority to oversee the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, while the Three Pure Ones worried over her thoughts.

• Heavenly Dao Hongjun regretted throwing the Investiture of the Gods List into the Primordial World after Zhou Qingqing reclaimed it.
• Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate announced that Zhou Qingqing would wield the Investiture of the Gods List and oversee the calamity.
• Zhou Qingqing held up the Investiture of the Gods List, and observers across the Primordial World considered her suited to control the calamity.
• Haotian praised his earlier decision to give Zhou Qingqing some Heavenly Court authority, while Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti worried that she would favor Daoism.
• Heavenly Dao Hongjun confirmed that Zhou Qingqing was the fated overseer, and Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate privately worried that her thoughts could cause trouble.

Hongjun challenged Zhou Qingqing to guarantee that the Investiture of the Gods Calamity would not damage the ascended Primordial World. Qingqing proposed holding the Calamity in a miniature world she had created with the Three Pure Ones, leaving the Saints stunned and the Western Sages dismayed.

• Hongjun questioned whether Zhou Qingqing could carry out the Calamity without harming the Primordial World.
• The Three Pure Ones and other Saints began searching for a solution while Jieyin and Zhunti hoped Qingqing would fail.
• Qingqing realized she could use the miniature world she had created with the Three Pure Ones to host the Calamity.
• Qingqing brought the miniature Primordial World out of Lotus Space and proposed holding the Calamity there.
• Fuxi praised Qingqing's solution, Taiyi laughed silently, and Jieyin and Zhunti fell silent with ugly expressions.

Zhou Qingqing proposed using Blue Planet as a separate battlefield for the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, allowing participants to project themselves and have simulated defeats count as failures. Heavenly Dao Hongjun approved the plan, and Qingqing returned to Three Pure Ones Heaven with the Investiture of the Gods List, intending to turn it into the Heaven Leaf.

• Zhou Qingqing explained that Primordial World cultivators could project into Blue Planet and that losing there would count as losing in the Calamity.
• Bai Ze recognized the idea’s significance, while Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti hoped Heavenly Dao Hongjun would reject it.
• Heavenly Dao Hongjun approved Zhou Qingqing’s proposal and allowed the Heavenly Court, Underworld, and imperial dynasties to project into the Calamity or enter in their true bodies if they lacked sufficient strength.
• The Three Pure Ones returned to Three Pure Ones Heaven with Zhou Qingqing and told her to transform the Investiture of the Gods List into the Heaven Leaf.
• The beings of the Primordial World began considering whether to enter the Calamity in person or project themselves into Blue Planet.

Zhou Qingqing examined the Investiture of the Gods List and found that its writing had changed into unfamiliar talismans. When she realized it was divine script, a divine aura emerged around her, and the Three Pure Ones inferred that gods and cultivators who integrated with the Divine Path had existed in past cycles of the Primordial World.

• Shen Gongbao left the Three Pure Ones Hall to cultivate after Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate instructed him to find a place.
• Bai Ze praised Qingqing for holding the Calamity on Blue Planet, and the Three Pure Ones advised her to stay humble and examine the Investiture of the Gods List.
• Zhou Qingqing refined the Investiture of the Gods List and discovered that its innate Dao script had changed into unfamiliar talismans.
• Zhou Qingqing wondered whether the writing was divine script, and a divine aura appeared around her.
• The Three Pure Ones realized the writing was divine script and heard Qingqing conclude that gods and Divine Path cultivators had existed in past cycles of the Primordial World.

Zhou Qingqing used the Investiture of the Gods List to glimpse an ancient Divine Path era and searched for the being who had integrated with that Dao. She saw Taiyi God perish before recognizing the figure above him as Second Master, leaving the Three Pure Ones stunned by the revelation.

• Zhou Qingqing’s thoughts led the Three Pure Ones to compare the Divine Path with the Immortal and Buddha Paths and wonder who had integrated with the Divine Path.
• The Investiture of the Gods List showed Zhou Qingqing a Primordial World where all beings cultivated the Divine Path, including a powerful Taiyi God who seemed to combine Taiyi and Di Jun.
• Taiyi God was destroyed in a single breath while looking toward an even more powerful figure above him.
• Zhou Qingqing followed Taiyi God’s gaze and saw a figure beneath a huge, multicolored halo.
• Zhou Qingqing recognized the figure at the highest point among the gods as Second Master.

Zhou Qingqing viewed a sealed vision in the Investiture of the Gods List, which showed Heavenly King Yuanshi wielding the Heaven-Opening Axe before the Primordial World fell into darkness. The Three Pure Ones considered what the vision meant for their separate paths, and Zhou Qingqing awoke with a new problem to report.

• Zhou Qingqing saw Heavenly King Yuanshi, formed from the Three Pure Ones, wield the Heaven-Opening Axe against the darkness, but the gods and Primordial World were extinguished.
• Zhou Qingqing concluded that the Investiture of the Gods List had revealed sealed information about the Divine Path after she took control of it.
• The Three Pure Ones considered whether their choice to follow separate paths had been shaped by Heavenly King Yuanshi's failure and discussed the Divine Path's connection to the Immortal Path and Buddha Path.
• Zhou Qingqing decided that knowing about the past Primordial Worlds could help her masters prepare, and the Three Pure Ones regained their composure before she awoke.
• Bai Ze watched Zhou Qingqing open her eyes and secretly decided to add notes about the Three Pure Ones to the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• Zhou Qingqing told her masters that she had discovered a problem.

Zhou Qingqing discovered that the Investiture of the Gods List contained a Divine Path cultivation method called the "Scripture of Salvation." The Three Pure Ones began studying it, while Bai Ze worried that the Three Pure Ones’ influence extended across every path.

• Fairy Qingqing told the Three Pure Ones that Heavenly King Yuanshi had appeared in her visions, and the Masters teased and fought with Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate.
• Zhou Qingqing asked the Three Masters to interpret her discovery, and Jade Pure Primordial Heavenly Venerate suggested Heavenly King Yuanshi might have left behind a Divine Path cultivation method.
• Zhou Qingqing used divine script to examine the Investiture of the Gods List and found the "Scripture of Salvation."
• Zhou Qingqing recited the scripture, and the Three Pure Ones began comprehending it separately.
• Bai Ze heard the scripture mention Taiyi and feared that the Three Pure Ones had influence over the Heavenly Dao, Earth Dao, and Divine Path.

After Zhou Qingqing recited the Scripture of Salvation, her three masters became the Three Pure Divine Gods and agreed that the Investiture of the Gods Calamity could help unseal the Divine Path. Zhou Qingqing began preparing a civilization-wide calamity on Blue Planet, while Bai Ze used the Classic of Mountains and Seas to reshape it.

• Zhou Qingqing recited the Scripture of Salvation, and Tongtian, Primordial Heavenly Venerate, and Laozi transformed into the Three Pure Divine Gods.
• Bai Ze praised Zhou Qingqing for revealing the Scripture, and she considered restoring the Divine Path through the Investiture of the Gods Calamity.
• Laozi warned Zhou Qingqing against handling the calamity conventionally, while Tongtian offered to deal with matters above the Saint realm.
• Zhou Qingqing planned to project the Human Race into the calamity so cultivators could choose factions and clash across civilizations.
• Zhou Qingqing asked Bai Ze to use the Classic of Mountains and Seas to develop Blue Planet, then left to study the Scripture of Salvation.
• Bai Ze manifested the Classic of Mountains and Seas over Blue Planet, reshaping its stars, mountains, rivers, and living beings to resemble the Primordial World.

Hongjun restored fragments of the Creation Jade Disc and sent his previously unseen Self Corpse to descend upon Blue Planet, seeking to collect more fragments and control the Investiture of the Gods Calamity. While dreaming and cultivating, Zhou Qingqing sensed the true-body descent and recognized its aura as Hongjun’s Self Corpse.

• Hongjun reassembled fragments of the Creation Jade Disc and realized Zhou Qingqing’s progress made restoring the treasure possible.
• Hongjun sent his Self Corpse to descend upon Blue Planet and vanished from Purple Cloud Palace to pursue more fragments.
• Zhou Qingqing cultivated the Divine Path in her dream while considering whether to bring Di Jun back as a possible true god.
• Zhou Qingqing sensed the Chaos Azure Lotus shaking and detected a cultivator’s true body descending on Blue Planet.
• Zhou Qingqing recognized the descending aura as Hongjun’s Self Corpse, and the Three Pure Ones realized she had exposed another of Hongjun’s corpses.

Zhou Qingqing discovered that Hongjun’s self corpse had hidden himself on Blue Planet and decided to bring Di Jun back to watch him. After Bai Ze explained the Divine Path and Qingqing revealed Hongjun’s arrival, Di Jun asked how he could return to the Primordial World.

• Zhou Qingqing and the Three Pure Ones realized Hongjun’s self corpse had concealed his aura on Blue Planet, so Qingqing decided to bring Di Jun back to keep watch.
• Zhou Qingqing woke from her dream and told Bai Ze to contact Di Jun, while Bai Ze worried she was setting up the Demon Emperor again.
• Di Jun received Zhou Qingqing’s call through a Water Mirror, and Bai Ze explained the Divine Path, the Primordial World’s Reincarnation, Heavenly King Yuanshi, and Taiyi God.
• Zhou Qingqing told Di Jun that Dao Ancestor Hongjun’s self corpse had descended on Blue Planet.
• Di Jun asked how he could return to the Primordial World, and Bai Ze realized that he had fallen into Qingqing’s plan.