Chapter Summaries

Qin He visited the Underworld’s Cycle Ritual and learned that the damaged artifact now offered only the Human Path and Beast Path of reincarnation. The Underworld explained what was missing from its former Six Paths, while Qin He’s ability to watch the Cycle Pearl left the Yin Marshals in awe and fear.

• Qin He stared at the Cycle Pearl for nearly the time it took an incense stick to burn, resisting its pull until Shen Yu warned him not to watch too long.
• Qin He withdrew his gaze and asked what was missing from the Cycle Ritual as the twelve Yin Marshals watched him in terror.
• Ghost King explained that the Cycle Ritual had once enabled the Six Paths of Reincarnation, but four paths had vanished, leaving only the Human Path and Beast Path.
• Qin He learned that the Underworld’s hells were prisons rather than the true Hell Path, and that demons belonged to the Beast Path.

Qin He discovered that a complete gray ring from his Armpit Space was a ritual orbit for the Cycle Pearl, but the orbit stalled before joining it. A mysterious voice urged him to summon lightning, and the chapter ended as Purple Cloud Divine Thunder struck while Little Calf rode on Commander Niu and urged him to flee.

• Qin He tried smashing the Cycle Pearl with the Golden Egg, which bounced off and struck Commander Niu in the face.
• Qin He retrieved a gray ring from his Armpit Space, and it expanded into a ritual orbit that moved toward the Cycle Pearl.
• Qin He realized the complete ring was one of six ritual orbits needed to complete the Cycle Ritual, while a broken ring he produced showed no reaction.
• The ritual orbit stalled above the Cycle Pearl, and a hidden voice told Qin He to summon lightning.
• Qin He summoned heavenly lightning, which became Purple Cloud Divine Thunder and sent the Underworld's spirits and Yin Commanders fleeing.
• Little Calf climbed onto Commander Niu's shoulders and told him to run.

Qin He restored the Human Path Ritual by channeling the Purple Cloud Divine Thunder into it, allowing sinless souls to reincarnate without passing through the Underworld. After the restoration, he wondered who had secretly used him to deal with the ritual.

• Little Calf rode Commander Niu away as the Yin Commanders fled from the Purple Cloud Divine Thunder.
• Qin He used the Shadowless Hand and Purple Firmament Divine Thunder Skill to slowly restore the Cycle Ritual around the Cycle Pearl.
• The restored Human Path Ritual erupted with energy, destroyed Cycle Cliff, and began drawing in sinless departed souls.
• Qin He realized that sinful souls were not drawn in and that the Human Path Ritual had eased the problem of reincarnation after the end of the Dharma Age.
• Qin He hoped the Riffle Fish Spirit and Rat Spirit would find the remaining intact rituals, then wondered who had whispered the secret message and used him as a club.

Qin He pursued the Illusory Shadow through Hell’s eighteen layers, enduring its formations and discovering that the deepest layer was built over ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Court. He confronted the shadow there and asked whether it was King Yama and why it had lured him into Hell.

• Qin He tracked the fleeing Illusory Shadow into Hell, slipping past the Great Heavenly Fiend Array by swapping places with a ghost soldier.
• Qin He followed a marking technique through the eighteen layers while Hell’s punishments and defenses grew increasingly severe.
• Qin He reached the desolate eighteenth layer and found ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Court surrounded by lingering killing intent.
• Qin He tested the ruins with Corpse Suppressing Nails, but most vanished before reaching them.
• Qin He asked the Illusory Shadow whether it was King Yama and what it wanted from him.

Qin He met the Illusory Shadow in the Eighteen Layers of Hell and learned that it was King Yama, who had been born there and considered the ruins its home. After hearing that its kind was the spirit of the surrounding ruins, Qin He realized it meant the Heavenly Court and asked if it was a spirit born from it.

• Qin He suspected the Illusory Shadow was King Yama, and the shadow recalled talking with Daoist Lingyun before driving him away.
• King Yama said it disliked the title and the other Underworld officials, and it stayed in the Eighteen Layers of Hell because it was born there and considered the place home.
• Qin He asked what kind of being King Yama was, and King Yama said it belonged to the category of spirits.
• King Yama pointed to the surrounding ruins as the thing it was a spirit of, and Qin He realized the ruins were part of the Heavenly Court.
• Qin He asked King Yama in disbelief whether it was a spirit born from the Heavenly Court.

Qin He questioned the Illusory Shadow, who revealed how it became King Yama and described its ability to observe the world through meditation. The Illusory Shadow also disclosed that it knew Qin He was from another world, leaving Qin He mortified by how closely it had watched him.

• Qin He asked the Illusory Shadow about its origins, and it said it had once left the Heavenly Court, fought some people, and been named King Yama.
• The Illusory Shadow told Qin He that it did not cultivate and mostly stayed in the ruins, sometimes meditating to see the outside world.
• Qin He learned that the Illusory Shadow had watched him milking a cow and had struggled to see him clearly in certain concealed places.
• The Illusory Shadow accused Qin He of lacking morality because he watched people and impersonated them to do so.
• The Illusory Shadow explained that it watched Qin He because he was from another world and stood out to it.

Qin He questioned the Illusory Shadow about the coming Silent Dharma era and revealed that he had come from another world. The Illusory Shadow insisted his origins bore the laws of a mythological world, leaving Qin He unsure whether to trust its claim or his own memories.

• Qin He invited the Illusory Shadow to speak, but it refused because it sensed his ill intent.
• Qin He asked the Illusory Shadow about the Silent Dharma era, and it said the era was coming soon but offered nothing more.
• The Illusory Shadow asked where Qin He came from, and Qin He said he had come from a world without cultivators, Demonic Creatures, or Ghosts.
• The Illusory Shadow said Qin He's traces of world laws proved he came from at least a mythological world, not a Silent Dharma world.
• Qin He recalled the Black Robed Man and wondered whether the Illusory Shadow's claim or his own memories were correct.

Qin He questioned the Illusory Shadow about the damaged Cycle Ritual and learned that the Ghost Clan had vanished and should be guided back to the Human Path. The Illusory Shadow warned him that he did not belong in this world and had to leave before the water ran dry, but it vanished without explaining how.

• Qin He asked the Illusory Shadow about the Cycle Ritual, and it said reincarnation was the first order and that lightning was closest to Dao laws.
• The Illusory Shadow explained that the Ghost Clan had long since perished and that Qin He must guide them back to the Human Path before leaving.
• The Illusory Shadow warned Qin He that he did not belong in this world and would suffocate if he stayed as the water ran dry.
• Qin He pressed the Illusory Shadow for a way to leave, but it said it did not know and disappeared.
• After Qin He left, the Illusory Shadow reappeared and wondered why it had called him a fish.

Qin He followed the Heaven Heavenly Court Spirit’s warning to flee, though he had no clear destination, and decided to soothe his nerves by claiming the Underworld’s imprisoned fiendish souls. He discovered the Book of Life and Death had become a ledger of sinful souls as reincarnation shifted away from the Underworld, then learned hell held nine fiendish souls.

• Qin He considered the Ancient Prophecy about Silent Dharma and decided to use the Underworld’s prisoners to make up for his fear.
• Qin He summoned the Ghost King on hell’s seventeenth level and asked for the Book of Life and Death.
• Qin He noticed the book now recorded only sinful souls because virtuous souls reincarnated directly through the Cycle Ritual.
• The Ghost King confirmed that fewer dead souls were entering the Underworld and worried about its diminishing role.
• Qin He warned that Silent Dharma would favor the human path and bring ill fortune to the ghost path, then found nine fiendish souls imprisoned across hell’s seventeen levels.

Qin He entered the ancient prison on the seventeenth level of hell and crossed into a seemingly real, peaceful Buddhist kingdom. He arrived at the prosperous city beneath Spirit Mountain, where he continued investigating the place.

• Ghost King warned Qin He that the sealed prison had killed several King Yamas, but Qin He ordered him to stay back if he was afraid.
• Qin He burned away the Netherworld Spider webs with Southern Ming Li Fire and found the powdered remains of more than a dozen powerful beings.
• A sacred aura surged through the gate and tried to dissolve Qin He, but he resisted as the gate opened and revealed a vivid new world.
• Qin He joined young monks from Jinghe Village on their pilgrimage to Spirit Mountain and traveled through peaceful villages for three days.
• Qin He reached a prosperous city beneath the divine mountain, where temples and monks filled a society without visible government or disorder.

Qin He met the Great Buddha atop the divine mountain and challenged the perfection of its Buddhist kingdom. The Great Buddha admitted it had suppressed human greed and laziness, then asked whether people should restrain those traits to create a perfect world.

• Qin He climbed the Heavenly Ladder and was led by a Spirit Mountain Attendant to meet the Great Buddha.
• The Great Buddha revealed that it had expected Qin He because of a prophecy connected to the fall of the Heavenly Court.
• Qin He and the Great Buddha agreed to Discuss the Dao, with the Great Buddha promising to submit afterward if it lost.
• Qin He argued that greed and laziness made the kingdom’s apparent equality and social order unrealistic.
• The Great Buddha admitted it had suppressed greed and laziness and asked whether individuals should sacrifice undesirable traits for a perfect world.

Qin He challenged the Great Buddha’s claim that its controlled world was perfect and discussed whether its actions made it a Buddha or a demon. The Great Buddha conceded defeat and asked Qin He to carry a message to someone in the Abyss who looked exactly like it.

• Qin He argued that desire and greed drove invention, happiness, and the continuation of life, while the Great Buddha’s world left people numb and laboring.
• The Great Buddha asked whether Qin He had seen a perfect world, and Qin He replied that a life of numb toil could not be called perfection.
• Qin He asked how the Great Buddha’s transformation of the world related to Silent Dharma, and the Great Buddha began a discussion about whether it was a Buddha or a demon.
• Qin He said Buddha and demon were states shaped by each thought, and that a life should be judged by its good and evil.
• The Great Buddha admitted defeat and asked Qin He to tell someone in the Abyss that it had once sheltered the world; it said that person looked exactly like it.

Qin He learned three ways to reach the Abyss and discovered that his golden egg was the legendary Primordial Corpse Kun. Great Buddha made Qin He the True Buddha before dying, asking him to send a letter to the person who imprisoned him.

• Great Buddha offered to reveal three paths to the Abyss in exchange for Qin He delivering a message, and described the South Heaven Gate, the Cycle Ritual, and the Primordial Corpse Kun.
• Qin He showed Great Buddha the golden egg from Armpit Space, and Great Buddha recognized it as the Primordial Corpse Kun.
• Great Buddha estimated that the Spiritual Tide’s final flash of radiance could last two or three years, then agreed to Qin He’s request to place his image in a temple.
• Great Buddha declared Qin He the True Buddha, named him Azure Ox Buddha, and ordered the temple’s protectors, monks, and nuns to revere him during a three-year-and-six-month reincarnation period.
• Great Buddha explained that his enemy had sealed him away until Silent Dharma, asked Qin He to send that enemy a letter saying he had not become a demon, and told him to take the egg if he could.
• Great Buddha closed his eyes, his Buddhist light and aura faded, and he died.

Qin He burned the dead Divine Buddha and used its Shadow Play to learn that it was Foluo, a Demon Shell who had been imprisoned by the Original Buddha for trying to save living beings. The chapter ended with the Black Robed Man’s judgment of good and evil and the reward of Buddha Kingdom in Palm.

• Qin He confirmed that the Divine Buddha was truly dead and burned its body with Southern Ming Li Fire.
• Qin He discovered through the Shadow Play that the Divine Buddha was Foluo, a rare Demon Shell formed with love as its dominant emotion.
• Foluo secretly left the Original Buddha to teach Buddhist principles and help suffering people during the Three Realms’ turmoil.
• The Original Buddha revealed Foluo’s identity and imprisoned it in the eighteenth level of hell, where Foluo resolved to prove that a Demon Shell could become a Buddha.
• As the end of the Dharma arrived, the Original Buddha fled into the Abyss, and Foluo’s imprisoned Buddha Kingdom became its proof that all beings could become Buddhas.
• The Black Robed Man delivered a judgment on the uncertainty of good and evil, and Qin He received Buddha Kingdom in Palm.

Qin He gained the Buddha Kingdom in Palm after burning Foluo's Demon Shell, but his magical power was insufficient to fully unleash the art. He collected Foluo's relics, learned the truth behind Foluo's feelings for the Original Buddha, and continued clearing the hells.

• Qin He tried casting Buddha Kingdom in Palm, sensed its immense suppressive power, but could not make the hazy Buddhist temple fully appear.
• Qin He collected three relics from the Buddha Lotus Throne after the Southern Ming Li Fire went out.
• Qin He learned from Foluo's Shadow Play that Foluo had longed for the Original Buddha's approval and asked only for a letter to be delivered before dying.
• Qin He left Foluo's little world and, several days later, resumed clearing the hells by subduing the imprisoned monsters with his shovel.

Qin He finished clearing evil spirits across the Eastern Land and Western Regions, then returned to Capital City as the new emperor reshaped Great Li’s finances and relieved the people. After the city’s pleasure houses noticed Qin He, he took up listening to songs there.

• Qin He used the Great Shovel to send off the evil spirits in hell and across the Eastern Land and Western Regions, then stopped expanding his search after finding the boundary between Dharma Decline and Silent Dharma.
• Qin He returned to Capital City in October and saw that the new emperor had taken the estates of fallen princely houses and established the Imperial Enterprise Bureau.
• The new emperor demoted princes who protested, imprisoned the loudest opponents, and ordered the newly titled marquises to fund relief for the people.
• The emperor ended Great Li’s maritime ban and created Maritime Trade Offices in thirteen coastal cities, drawing customs revenue and challenging the Donglin Party’s trade monopoly.
• A shipping guild stole Tie Sanqi’s firewood-powered machine and abducted him, while grain prices fell and dockworkers’ wages rose in Capital City.
• Pleasure houses began sending girls into the streets to attract customers, and Qin He developed a new hobby of listening to songs there.

Qin He spent his days listening to music in brothels, while Wang Tie Zhu recorded his increasingly uneventful routine in the Chronicles of Immortal Green Ox. The chronicle preserved Qin He’s teachings and past deeds, but its latest entries had become a record of his brothel visits.

• Qin He left the East City Corpse Burning Facility with a birdcage and went to listen to music in a brothel.
• Wang Tie Zhu lamented Qin He’s idleness and continued writing the Chronicles of Immortal Green Ox.
• Wang Tie Zhu recorded the chronicle’s teachings, which forbade successors, interpreters, sect ranks, and additional scriptures or decrees.
• Wang Tie Zhu reviewed accounts of Qin He’s past deeds, including slaying ghosts and monsters and helping people across several regions.
• Wang Tie Zhu listed Qin He’s recent routine of visiting brothels, occasionally tending to small duties and asking about the Riffle Fish Spirit.

Qin He learned that the Beast Path ritual was at Lingyun Temple and hurried there as Silent Dharma’s arrival drew near. Lingyun Temple’s Daoists revealed that their Dao Ancestor had foretold Qin He’s visit and led him to an altar holding a coffin.

• Qin He saw a strange comet in the sky and realized Silent Dharma was about to arrive, though he still needed to find the Beast Path ritual.
• Hui Miqiu and the Riffle Fish Spirit returned to the docks and told Qin He they had found the ritual at Lingyun Temple.
• Qin He rode Lamborghini with the Riffle Fish Spirit to Lingyun Temple, reaching it before noon.
• Wu Miaozhen welcomed Qin He and explained that Daoist Lingyun had predicted his arrival and left an object for him to claim.
• Wu Miaozhen led Qin He to the temple’s highest cave chamber, where an altar held a coffin.

Qin He retrieved the Beast Path Ritual Apparatus from Lingyun Temple and discovered that the revered coffin was actually a coffin lid, which he took as well before restoring the apparatus in the Underworld. Several days later, a catastrophic explosion destroyed the Di Kingdom’s ancestral lands, and Flying Fish Guard scouts raced south with the report.

• Qin He learned that the coffin at Lingyun Temple was a coffin lid and collected it, causing the Beast Path Ritual Apparatus to drift toward him.
• Qin He gave Lingyun Temple pills in return, returned to the Capital City, and restored the Ritual Apparatus in the Underworld.
• The Di Kingdom recovered its strength and gathered more than fifty thousand recruits while preparing to resume its southern campaign.
• A comet-like object exploded above the barbarian camp, destroying it and devastating the land around the Di Kingdom’s ancestral home.
• Flying Fish Guard scouts galloped south with news that nothing remained within a thousand li of the Di Kingdom’s ancestral land.

Qin He reached the Tunguska explosion site and found the damaged South Heaven Gate, which attracted demons and other factions hoping to gain Immortal Destiny. When the spiritual tide peaked and the gate barely reacted, Qin He realized the final surge would last less than three hours and raced south.

• Qin He arrived at the Tunguska Region before the other factions and found the South Heaven Gate surviving at the explosion’s center, cracked and missing a piece.
• An owl demon charged the South Heaven Gate, struck its surface, and fell into the crater; more demons and other beings gathered and tried to enter.
• Qin He judged that the South Heaven Gate was unlikely to lead to the Abyss and considered the Cycle Ritual a better prospect.
• A powerful spiritual tide surged across the land, and Qin He felt it awaken the cultivation techniques within his body.
• After waiting about two hours, Qin He saw that the spiritual tide had peaked and the South Heaven Gate had barely responded, so he headed south at top speed.