Chapter Summaries

Cangyuan visited Tongtian and discussed Duobao’s chances of attaining the Dao after founding a new sect, then accepted Tongtian’s plan for the three of them to establish their own Daoist traditions. The chapter ended with Cangyuan, Xiao Bai, and Duobao declaring their new titles and sects.

• Cangyuan went to Biyou Palace, while Bixiao and Qiongxiao urged Yunxiao to take the initiative with him; Qiongxiao revealed she had read illustrated literature, prompting her sisters to tease and chase each other.
• Tongtian asked Cangyuan about his whereabouts and Duobao’s prospects for attaining the Dao; Cangyuan said Duobao had a ninety-eight percent chance and urged him to study Mahayana Buddhism carefully.
• Cangyuan noticed the bumps on Duobao’s head, and Duobao shaved off his hair at Cangyuan’s suggestion.
• Tongtian explained his plan for Cangyuan and Xiao Bai, and Cangyuan agreed to establish the Martial Hall and become Martial Ancestor Cangyuan.
• Xiao Bai declared her sect the Bailian Cult and named herself Holy Mother Bai Lian, Bai Lianxin, while Duobao established Mahayana Buddhism and named himself World Honored One Tathagata, Duobao Tathagata.

Cangyuan gave Duobao Mount Wuyi as the base for his Mahayana Buddhist tradition and encouraged him to recruit disciples from Chan Sect. Xiao Bai then decided to establish an all-female Daoist Tradition as they returned to Chaos Three Immortal Island.

• Cangyuan offered Duobao the Top-Grade Blessed Land of Mount Wuyi for his Daoist Tradition, and Duobao eagerly accepted.
• Tongtian sent Cangyuan, Duobao, and Xiao Bai away before beginning secluded cultivation to pursue a breakthrough.
• Cangyuan assured Duobao that Primordial Lord of Heaven would lend him Chan Sect disciples if he mentioned Cangyuan and hinted at the next Calamity.
• Duobao headed to Chan Sect, while Xiao Bai asked Cangyuan to choose disciples for her Bailian Cult and decided it would accept only female immortals.
• Cangyuan and Xiao Bai set off for Chaos Three Immortal Island.

Duobao visited Kunlun Mountain to borrow Chan Sect disciples for Cangyuan’s plan for the next Calamity, and the Primordial Lord of Heaven approved without asking for details because he trusted Cangyuan. Duobao left with permission to recruit five named disciples, while Guangchengzi and Immortal Weng of the South Pole regretted being excluded.

• Guangchengzi and Immortal Weng of the South Pole received Duobao at Kunlun Mountain and escorted him to the Jade Void Palace.
• Duobao told the Primordial Lord of Heaven that Cangyuan had sent him to borrow Chan Sect disciples for preparations for the next Calamity.
• The Primordial Lord of Heaven approved the request and let Duobao borrow whoever Cangyuan had selected, saying he trusted Cangyuan.
• Duobao told Guangchengzi and Immortal Weng of the South Pole that Cihang, Puxian, Manjushri, Ju Liusun, and Randeng were on the list, but they were not.
• Guangchengzi and Immortal Weng of the South Pole lamented that Randeng was included while they were left out, and Duobao recalled Randeng’s betrayal and punishment.

Cangyuan helped Xiao Bai establish the foundations for her Bailian Cult and then peered into his River of Time, where he saw Yunxiao preparing to confess her feelings. He arrived beneath the Martial Dao Tea Tree and asked Yunxiao to become his Dao companion.

• Duobao explained that Guangchengzi and Immortal Weng of the South Pole could not leave the Chan Sect, so Guangchengzi agreed to help summon the people on Duobao’s list.
• Xiao Bai chose Fangzhang Immortal Island for the Bailian Cult, while Cangyuan claimed Penglai Island and Yingzhou Island for the Martial Hall.
• Xiao Bai tried to recruit Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, Bixiao, Shiji, Caiyun, Han Zhixian, and Huo Ling, but Qiongxiao and Bixiao dragged her away to keep her from entering the island.
• Cangyuan peered into his River of Time and saw that Yunxiao planned to confess her feelings to him.
• Cangyuan went to Yunxiao beneath the Martial Dao Tea Tree and asked her to become his Dao companion.

Cangyuan and Yunxiao became Dao companions, and Cangyuan began guiding her cultivation. Nearly a thousand years later, Duobao established Mahayana Buddhism on Mount Wuyi, provoking Zhunti, while Primordial Lord of Heaven watched over the new sect.

• Cangyuan asked Yunxiao to become his Dao companion, and she agreed.
• Cangyuan drew Yunxiao into a cloud formation and began guiding her cultivation.
• Nine hundred and ninety-nine years later, a Top-Grade Blessed Land fell in the Western Ox Continent, and Zhunti tried to claim it.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven restrained Zhunti, revealed the mountain was his, and then let Zhunti leave.
• Duobao established Mahayana Buddhism on Mount Wuyi and called on the Heavenly Dao, Earth Path, and Humanity Path to bear witness.
• Zhunti realized Duobao had established Buddhism before the Western Teach and angrily accused him of stealing its foundation.

Zhunti tried to destroy Duobao’s Mahayana Buddhism, but Primordial Lord of Heaven stopped him until Jieyin arrived and attained the Dao Integration Realm by merging with Western Ox Continent and absorbing both Buddhist traditions. Jieyin became the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Buddhas, while Zhunti rejoiced that his own breakthrough was no longer blocked.

• Zhunti attacked Duobao and Mount Wuyi with the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, but Primordial Lord of Heaven erased the strike and defended Duobao’s plans.
• Zhunti threatened Primordial Lord of Heaven, who immobilized him and sent the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi crashing toward him.
• Jieyin appeared and blocked the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi, revealing that he had merged with Western Ox Continent and integrated his forty-eight great vows into his Great Dao.
• Jieyin declared that he would gather the Western Teach and Buddhism into his Dao Fruit, then attained the First Heaven of the Dao Integration Realm as the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
• Jieyin returned his immeasurable merit to the Heavenly Dao, fulfilled his vows, and settled his Karma, though his Dao Integration methods remained limited to Western Ox Continent.
• Zhunti laughed with joy when he realized that Jieyin’s breakthrough had removed the shackles blocking his own.

Jieyin ended Zhunti’s Heavenly Dao debt, allowing him to break through to the Saint Second Heaven, then negotiated for the Western Teach to join Duobao’s Buddhism. Duobao agreed to admit selected Western Teach disciples and began assigning Buddhist titles, establishing Buddhism as a joint undertaking of the Three Teachings.

• Jieyin fulfilled his Forty-Eight Great Vows, cleared the debt that had shackled Zhunti, and Zhunti broke through to the Saint Second Heaven before embracing his senior brother in tears.
• Jieyin challenged Primordial Lord of Heaven over his treatment of Zhunti but avoided a feud, then turned to Duobao and proposed that the Western Teach join the Buddhism founded at Mount Wuyi.
• Jieyin recognized Cangyuan’s influence behind Duobao’s plans and proposed joint governance; Duobao agreed that Western Teach disciples could join, provided he chose them.
• Duobao named Medicine Master, Maitreya, Sunlight, Moonlight, Great Master of Attainment, Kasyapa, Dragon Subduing Arhat, and Tiger Subduing Arhat among the Western Teach disciples joining Buddhism.
• Duobao proclaimed himself Sakyamuni, the Present Buddha, named Maitreya the Future Buddha and assigned Buddhist titles to Medicine Master, Lu Ya, Cihang, and Puxian.

Duobao’s Buddhism was established on Mount Wuyi, and Bai Lianxin founded the all-female Bailian Cult with Qiongxiao and Bixiao as Vice Sect Masters. The chapter ended with Cangyuan announcing the founding of Martial Hall to lead the flourishing Martial Dao.

• Duobao established Buddhism on Mount Wuyi with disciples from Chan Sect, Jie Sect, and Western Teach, while Primordial Lord of Heaven chose not to intervene.
• Jieyin told Zhunti that his Dao Integration power was confined to Western Ox Continent, and they prepared to return to Spirit Mountain.
• Bai Lianxin declared the founding of the Bailian Cult, with Qiongxiao and Bixiao serving as its Vice Sect Masters, and female immortals flocked to join.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven recognized Buddhism and the Bailian Cult as extensions of Jie Sect, while Jieyin and Zhunti worried that Cangyuan might establish his own lineage.
• Cangyuan declared the founding of Martial Hall on Penglai and Yingzhou Immortal Islands to unite Martial Dao cultivators and defend the Three Realms.

The chapter explored the aftermath of three Daoist traditions rising from the Jie Sect and Jieyin’s costly attainment of the Dao Integration Realm. It ended with Jieyin seeing hope in the restoration of the Western Ox Continent, while the Shang Dynasty neared collapse and its feudal lords coveted the Human Sovereign’s position.

• People across the Prehistoric World discussed the Jie Sect’s new traditions, while female immortals and martial artists flocked to Fangzhang Immortal Island and the Martial Hall.
• Jieyin told Zhunti that merging with the Western Ox Continent had made it his prison and left his path to further cultivation uncertain.
• Zhunti proposed undermining Duobao to remove him as Buddhism’s leader and replace him with Maitreya or Medicine Master, and Jieyin cautioned him not to provoke Tongtian.
• Zhunti suggested that Zhenyuanzi’s restoration of the Western Ox Continent’s earth veins could strengthen Jieyin, and Jieyin realized he might be able to continue improving.
• The Shang Dynasty had dwindled to control of Chaoge as its feudal lords governed themselves and competed for the Human Sovereign’s position.

As Karmic Tribulation Energy rose, Cangyuan explained to Yunxiao that the coming World of Great Contention was not a catastrophic Calamity and decided to visit Ancestor Dragon. Cangyuan reached the East Sea Eye, where Ancestor Dragon invited him to talk.

• Yunxiao worried that the rising Karmic Tribulation Energy heralded another Calamity, and Cangyuan told her it signaled a World of Great Contention.
• Cangyuan said he would make no arrangements for the contention and wondered about the connection between Ancestor Dragon and Ying Zheng.
• Cangyuan left Yunxiao and went to the East Sea Eye to meet Ancestor Dragon.
• Yunxiao let Su Daji leave cultivation to play on Fangzhang Immortal Island while she continued training Huang Feiyan, Su Jiuer, Yu Linglong, and Cai Ji.
• Ancestor Dragon welcomed Cangyuan at the East Sea Eye, and Cangyuan accepted his invitation to talk.

Cangyuan reached the East Sea Eye and met Ancestor Dragon, who was suppressing it with his body. Ancestor Dragon thanked Cangyuan for helping the Dragon Clan and asked him to erase its remaining Heavenly Dao Karma; Cangyuan accepted in exchange for Ancestor Dragon joining the Saint's Martial Hall.

• Cangyuan arrived at the deepest part of the East Sea Eye and found Ancestor Dragon coiled there, holding back its devouring force.
• Ancestor Dragon thanked Cangyuan for helping the Dragon Clan erase seventy percent of its Heavenly Dao Karma and promised him one-tenth of the clan's treasures.
• Ancestor Dragon asked Cangyuan to remove the Dragon Clan's remaining Karma so it could escape its restrictions.
• Cangyuan chose to help Ancestor Dragon after the system offered him a Creation Green Lotus Seed as a reward.
• Ancestor Dragon offered to join the Saint's Martial Hall and said he could attain the Hunyuan Great Luo Golden Immortal realm within one YuanhuI once freed from his predicament.

Cangyuan recruited Ancestor Dragon into the Martial Hall and arranged for him to reincarnate as First Emperor Ying Zheng, hoping his deeds would earn merit for the Dragon Clan. As the World of Great Contention began, the Great Dao announced a contest among the Hundred Schools of Thought, with extraordinary rewards for the leaders.

• Cangyuan persuaded Ancestor Dragon to swear allegiance to the Martial Hall and assigned him a plan to help unify the Human Race through reincarnation as First Emperor Ying Zheng.
• Cangyuan received a Chaos Green Lotus seed from the system and decided to leave its cultivation to Xiao Bai.
• Buddhism and the Bailian Cult recruited disciples as Human Race wars spread and Karmic Tribulation Energy rose.
• After Duke Huan of Qi State became hegemon, the Great Dao issued an edict declaring the World of Great Contention and inviting the Hundred Schools of Thought to compete.
• The Great Dao promised titles, fortune, and treasures to the top schools, including sainthood and a Chaos Spiritual Treasure for first place.
• Great Supernatural Beings questioned the Great Dao’s sudden appearance and wondered whether Pangu had summoned it.

Cangyuan chose to stay out of the Hundred Schools of Thought contest and upgraded the Sky-Flipping Seal, then planned to find a promising candidate to compete in his place. The Great Dao’s rewards drew major powers into the race, including Taiqing Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, and Bixiao.

• Cangyuan concluded that the Great Dao’s rewards were meant to strengthen the Prehistoric World against the Black Tide and chose not to enter the contest himself.
• Cangyuan selected the Sky-Flipping Seal for the system to upgrade into a Low-grade Chaos Spiritual Treasure, then decided to seek a promising contestant at Immortal Volcano.
• Taiqing Laozi decided to delay uniting with the Yin Yang Great Dao and pursue the Hundred Schools of Thought leadership and its Chaos Spiritual Treasure.
• Primordial Lord of Heaven declared that he would compete for the leadership, intending to impose laws and rules on the troubled world.
• Sect Master Tongtian welcomed the World of Great Contention, while Bixiao asked Xiao Bai to enter the world with her.

Xiao Bai, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao planned to reincarnate with their memories and support an enlightened ruler. Meanwhile, Zhunti, Jieyin, and other powerful figures rushed to the Netherworld to compete in the Great Dao’s Hundred Schools contest, where Xuanming ordered them to follow the Underworld’s rules.

• Xiao Bai, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao agreed to seek Empress Houtu’s help to reincarnate while retaining their memories and establish the Bailian Cult as a state religion.
• Zhunti and Jieyin resolved to compete for a top-three ranking and win an Innate Supreme Treasure for the Western Teach.
• Zhunti, Jieyin, Old Hongjun, and numerous other figures sent wisps of their Primordial Spirits to the Netherworld to reincarnate.
• Di Jiang blocked the crowd from entering the sacred place of Reincarnation, and Xuanming warned them against forcing their way in.
• Taiqing Laozi asked what decision Houtu had made, and Xuanming told the visitors to line up and enter Reincarnation one at a time.

At nineteen, Confucius set out to travel the states with three hundred disciples, intending to teach the people and urge rulers to govern benevolently. After their funds ran out, he led the group to hunt bandits and vagrants for money, while other schools of thought and notable figures appeared across the realm.

• Confucius taught his lackeys, then invited them to join his journey through the states; he gave money to one disciple who stayed behind to support his mother.
• Three hundred disciples followed Confucius, and the group set out to travel the states after Confucius completed his mother's mourning period.
• After traveling five hundred li, Confucius ran out of travel funds and sent his disciples into a town to learn about local bandits and vagrants.
• Confucius led the disciples toward the bandit strongholds and vagrant hideouts, declaring that they would rid the people of harm.
• In Chaoge, Wei Bubao founded the Gourmets, also called the Old Eaters, to spread his recipes through disciples.
• In Qi State, the young Xiaoshuai worked as an inn dormitory manager and encountered the retired shamanic doctor Master Changsang.

Mozi abandoned carpentry to study teachings that could bring peace, becoming Confucius’s disciple while doubting Confucius’s violent ways. Years later, Confucius led his followers to Chaoge, where they were put to work in a restaurant and he went to seek the King of Shang.

• Master Changsang recognized the innkeeper Bian Que’s talent for shamanic medicine and took him as a disciple, teaching him his medical arts.
• Mozi left carpentry to pursue Universal Love and Non-Aggression, then joined Confucius’s Eastern Lu Gang, though he doubted its teachings.
• Tongtian watched his reincarnated self Mozi become Confucius’s disciple, while Kong Xuan worried that his reincarnation had accepted a Saint as a student.
• The second wave of reincarnators entered the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and Houtu stopped Di Jiang from confronting Zhunti after he complained about unfairness.
• Two and a half years later, Confucius led his followers into Chaoge, where Mozi lamented the Shang Dynasty’s decline.
• Confucius left his followers to work off their meal at a restaurant and went to the Royal Palace to request an audience with the King of Shang.

Confucius met Laozi in the Shang royal capital and debated whether rites could preserve a declining world. After Confucius left, Laozi resigned, went into seclusion, and was stopped at Hangu Pass, where he wrote five thousand characters on the Dao.

• Confucius met King Ling of Shang, judged the dynasty beyond revival, and went to the Imperial Library to meet Laozi.
• Confucius and Laozi debated rites, sacrifice, and how to change the world over a chessboard, and Laozi urged Confucius to stop trying to straighten everyone else.
• Confucius left Chaoge with seventy-two hall masters and three thousand followers.
• Laozi resigned from office, warned King Ling of Shang that the dynasty was doomed, and spent two and a half years cultivating in seclusion.
• Laozi traveled west on a Green Ox but was stopped at Hangu Pass by Yin Xi, who demanded that he write a book before passing.
• Laozi inscribed five thousand characters on the walls of Hangu Pass, beginning with the words, “The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.”

Laozi named his five-thousand-word work the Classic of the Way and Virtue, while Confucius’s disciples compiled Kongzi Lun Yu, sparking a flourishing of schools across the Nine Provinces. As feudal wars intensified, rulers recruited scholars and the chapter leaves readers debating how the Great Dao evaluates the schools.

• Laozi named his work the Classic of the Way and Virtue and rode west through Hangu Pass as Yin Xi and the officials bade him farewell.
• Confucius named his work Lun Yu, and Yan Hui inscribed Kongzi Lun Yu on the bamboo slips; Mozi left the Eastern Lu Gang because Confucius’s teachings did not match his ideals.
• The Classic of the Way and Virtue and Kongzi Lun Yu spread through the Nine Provinces, and many schools emerged.
• Mozi returned to the State of Lu after two and a half years of secluded cultivation and founded Mohism around Universal Love and Non-Aggression.
• Bian Que founded the Medical School, while Sun Wu completed The Art of War, became a general under King Helü of Wu, and established the Military School’s renown.
• As the feudal states fought for the Human Sovereign’s Throne, rulers recruited scholars, and the Legalist and Military schools rose alongside other schools; people then debated how the Great Dao judged them.

Subhuti transformed from the remains of his former body, received permission from the Three Dao Wills to settle in the Prehistoric World, and established a dojo near Spirit Mountain. He sent the last surviving origin essence of an old friend to Flower-Fruit Mountain, while Jixia Academy announced a grand debate to determine the standing of the Hundred Schools.

• Subhuti used the remains of his body to form a new one and declared that he had severed ties with the Bodhi Gods and Devils.
• The Three Dao Wills approved Subhuti's request to live in the Prehistoric World, and he raised an underwater continent to establish Spiritual Terrace Square Inch Mountain, Slanting Moon Three Stars Cave.
• Subhuti sent his old friend's remaining origin essence to Flower-Fruit Mountain, where it became an immortal stone.
• A troublemaker established Jixia Academy beside Chaoge and arranged a grand Hundred Schools Dao Debate under a royal decree from the Shang court.
• News of the debate spread across the Nine Provinces, and people argued over whether Laozi, Confucius, Mozi, or the Buddhist School would prevail.

As Jixia Academy’s debate among the hundred schools drew near, masters and rulers from across the Nine Provinces traveled to Chaoge to take part. Mozi, Laozi, Confucius, and other renowned scholars arrived, leaving the story with Confucius and his followers watching the mechanical Vermilion Bird descend.

• Immortals across the Prehistoric World discussed Jixia Academy, while Cangyuan predicted that its debate would bring the Spring and Autumn era to an end.
• Mozi agreed to attend the debate, and his disciples departed for Chaoge aboard the mechanical Vermilion Bird.
• Laozi left Hangu Pass on his old ox and set out for Chaoge.
• Confucius returned to Lu with three thousand followers, paid respects at his parents’ graves, and vowed to become foremost among the hundred schools.
• Over two and a half months, Bian Que, Xu Xing, Guigu, Zhuang Zhou, Sun Wu, and other scholars arrived in Chaoge.
• Confucius and Yan Hui watched the mechanical Vermilion Bird descend and recognized Mozi as its rider and the Mohist Giant.