Chapter Summaries

Xu Yue, Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, Qi Zhengyan, Qing Ying, and Ruan Yushu entered the Investiture of the Gods World on a mission to spread a Hundred School doctrine among the states. They drew the difficult Mohist School, and Xu Yue proposed that they win over a state or even replace its ruler before they arrived in an ancient city.

• The Six Paths assigned Xu Yue, Meng Qi, Jiang Zhiwei, Qi Zhengyan, Qing Ying, and Ruan Yushu a mission to spread one of the Hundred Schools’ teachings within three months.
• The group drew the Mohist School and discussed how its doctrines of universal love, non-aggression, and frugality would be difficult for rulers to accept.
• Xu Yue proposed establishing Great Shang’s rule in the world or persuading a small state to adopt their doctrine, with replacing its ruler as a last resort.
• The group exchanged for consumable items in preparation for powerful enemies, then entered the Investiture of the Gods World.
• They appeared in an ancient city and realized they needed to change their out-of-place clothing.

Xu Yue and his companions planned to spread Mohism in the Investiture of the Gods World, balancing efforts to influence rulers with work among the people. Their first attempt to approach a potential patron revealed that even a city lord commanded Grandmaster strength and a formidable force of experts, leaving the group to reconsider how dangerous this world was.

• The group discussed the dangers of hostile factions and unpredictable Magic Treasures, then agreed to protect themselves with defensive treasures from Six Paths.
• Xu Yue decided they would spread Mohism both from the top down and by gathering the power of humanity.
• Meng Qi went to gather intelligence and learned that Lord Bole of Bole City was a powerful, generous noble who welcomed retainers.
• The group chose Xu Yue to lead them and went to Lord Bole's residence, where Lord Bole personally welcomed them.
• Xu Yue's companions sensed that Lord Bole was a Grandmaster and that more than twenty Outer Scenery experts served nearby, revealing the scale of power in the Investiture of the Gods World.

Xu Yue and his companions tested their revised Mohist teachings with Lord Bole, who welcomed most ideas but rejected Moderated Burials because of his belief in the afterlife. They then followed Zhao Bai to meet other martial artists, where Meng Qi began spreading the doctrines as the group learned how to adapt them to the world’s powerful nobles and gods-blooded lineages.

• Xu Yue presented the revised Mohist doctrines to Lord Bole, who accepted Universal Love but angrily rejected Moderated Burials.
• Lord Bole treated Xu Yue and the others as ordinary retainers after the discussion, then provided travel expenses when they left.
• Meng Qi noticed they were being followed, and Zhao Bai introduced himself as Lord Bole’s Exterior-level retainer, eager to learn from them.
• Xu Yue’s group accepted Zhao Bai’s invitation and went to a courtyard where his friends gathered to hear the Mohist doctrines.
• Meng Qi led the discussion while Xu Yue’s group considered how to revise their teachings and recruit people in a world where nobles possessed powerful bloodlines.

Xu Yue and Meng Qi promoted foundational education and argued that righteous rulers could wage just wars to end the feudal states’ chaos. Lord Bole was tempted by their vision of unification but decided to have them captured and detained until he could use them.

• Xu Yue and his companions planned to spread basic education and cultivation among ordinary people, hoping to test the approach in a small state.
• Meng Qi complained about Xu Yue’s plan, but they agreed that ending unjust warfare and developing the land could win support from small-state rulers.
• Lord Bole objected that avoiding war would prevent the Han Kingdom from gaining land, people, and resources.
• Meng Qi argued that non-aggression allowed righteous campaigns to punish tyrants and unify all under heaven.
• Lord Bole was captivated by the prospect of standardizing writing and axle widths, then decided to capture Xu Yue and Meng Qi and summon reinforcements from Little Dry Cave on Jade Void Mountain.

Xu Yue and the others suspected Lord Bole had left Bole City to arrange an attack, and prepared to wait for his move. A Little Dry Cave Grandmaster arrived outside the city, confident he could capture them without using his imitation of the Rivers and Mountains Painting.

• Little Dry Cave sent a Grandmaster carrying an imitation of the Rivers and Mountains Painting to capture Xu Yue and the others alive for Lord Bole.
• Lord Bole told Xu Yue and the others he would leave Bole City for a few days, prompting them to suspect he was preparing to strike.
• Meng Qi warned the Mohist disciples about the Investiture of the Gods World's hidden powers and abundant treasures, while Xu Yue and the others chose to wait quietly.
• The Little Dry Cave Grandmaster reached Bole City and decided to handle the supposed Peak Experts himself, saving the imitation treasure for later.

Meng Qi and his companions defeated and captured Lord Bole’s Grandmaster-level tiger demon, then uncovered its ties to the Demon Emperor Hall. They left Bole City with the demon’s remains and stolen treasures, while Lord Bole reported the loss and awaited the hall master’s decision.

• Meng Qi sensed the tiger demon outside Bole City, confronted it away from the residents, and overwhelmed it with Dharma Form Heaven and Earth while Jiang Zhiwei used a replica Dismay Bell to disrupt it.
• Meng Qi crippled the tiger demon, took its replica Rivers and Mountains Painting and Soul-Bewildering Bell, and interrogated it about its origins and the Demon Emperor Hall.
• Lord Bole’s retainers and the city’s Outer Scenery experts arrived, but they let Meng Qi’s group leave with the tiger demon’s remains and materials.
• Lord Bole returned, learned that the tiger demon had died, and decided to report the full account to the hall master while offering to compensate for the losses.

Xu Yue and Meng Qi chose Chen Kingdom as their next destination and went directly to meet its Grandmaster ruler, hoping to secure his support. Lord of Chen welcomed them into his palace, where Meng Qi sensed danger as their audience began.

• After learning that Jade Void descendants were being hunted, Meng Qi urged the group to keep a low profile and suggested they seek a small state between Chu Kingdom and Tang Kingdom.
• Xu Yue and Meng Qi chose Chen Kingdom because its ruler was a Grandmaster and the country’s precarious position made him receptive to change.
• Xu Yue announced their visit to Lord of Chen as the Grandmaster of Mohism, and the ruler invited them into the palace.
• Xu Yue and the others entered the palace formation and met Lord of Chen beside an artificial mountain.
• Meng Qi sensed danger near Lord of Chen, who asked the young visitors why they had come to Chen Kingdom.

Chen Kingdom adopted Meng Qi’s Mohist-inspired reforms, opened trade between Chu and Tang, and introduced an accessible cultivation method as the kingdom prospered. Meanwhile, the Wang, Tian, and Gongyang families plotted with the Hidden Dao Sect to kill Chen’s ruler and blame the Six Mohist Disciples.

• Chen’s ruler appointed Meng Qi grand minister of works and adopted Mohist teachings, while the group compiled an accessible Aperture Opening Stage cultivation method.
• Chen enforced the tariff ban, and the new trade route brought profits to merchants, nobles, and ordinary people across Chen, Chu, and Tang.
• The Wang, Tian, and Gongyang families met secretly and resolved to reclaim influence over Chen’s reforms.
• Gongyang Zeng revealed that experts from his son’s sect, Golden Light Cave, would support their plot against Chen’s ruler.
• The conspirators planned an inside-outside attack on the ruler and intended to frame the Six Mohist Disciples for his death.

Golden Light Cave sent five powerful experts to the Gongyang Family, demanding the two leading Mohist disciples, while Meng Qi and the Mohists continued spreading their teachings through Chen Kingdom. A Jade Void Disciple arrived unexpectedly, and Meng Qi discovered he was Duke Qi Heng, Jiang Xiaobai.

• Golden Light Cave arrived at the Gongyang Family with five likely Grandmasters and demanded the two leading Mohist disciples, dead or alive.
• The Mohist Way gained support across Chen Kingdom as its disciples organized to spread their teachings throughout the world.
• Qi Zhengyan and Qing Ying debated their differing Mohist principles of social rules and individual leadership.
• A Daoist presented the Mohists with a Jade Void token, and Meng Qi recognized it as genuine and suspected the visitor was a Dharma Body.
• Meng Qi went to greet the visitor and found Duke Qi Heng, Jiang Xiaobai, who possessed the God-Beating Whip and knowledge of the Primordial Golden Chapter.

Meng Qi and his companions learned that King Chu had sent a powerful force to capture them, but they chose to stay and help King Chen resist. King Chen uncovered a conspiracy within his court and purged the traitorous clans, while his tolerance toward them hardened into resolve.

• Duke Qi Heng revealed that a Half-step Dharma Body bearing the Sun Chasing Bow and four Masters with secret treasures were coming for Meng Qi and Xu Yue, and offered to take them away.
• Meng Qi chose to face the attackers with King Chen, while Duke Qi Heng promised to intervene if one of them was about to die, though he might not stop a Divine Weapon in time.
• King Chen learned of the planned attack and ordered his court to prepare to expose Golden Light Cave's interference in worldly affairs.
• King Chen purged the three great aristocratic clans from the royal palace after Meng Qi's group discovered the clans had been ordered to cooperate and poison him.
• King Chen realized that his tolerance had emboldened the clans and resolved to deal with them decisively.

Gongyang Zeng’s plan to smuggle Golden Light Cave Grandmasters into the palace turned into an ambush when Xu Yue and Meng Qi revealed themselves as infiltrators. King Chen and the Mohist Disciples survived as decoys, and the attackers were defeated, leaving King Chen stunned by the victory.

• Gongyang Zeng and the disguised Golden Light Cave group entered the palace with help from an insider, who said King Chen and the Mohist leaders had been given poison.
• The white-haired Grandmaster ordered a surprise attack on King Chen and the Six Mohist Disciples, believing the poison had weakened King Chen and the palace formation was inactive.
• Xu Yue and Meng Qi revealed their disguises and attacked the Golden Light Cave group, with Xu Yue using the Tianzi Sword and secret treasures to kill the white-haired Grandmaster.
• King Chen emerged under the palace formation’s protection while Meng Qi and Xu Yue joined him against the remaining four Grandmasters.
• The attackers discovered that the King Chen and Six Mohist Disciples in the study were decoys made from strands of hair, and the real group suppressed the remaining resistance.
• King Chen realized they had wiped out the Golden Light Cave force, far exceeding his original plan to drive them away.

Xu Yue’s group destroyed Golden Light Cave’s forces in Chen Kingdom, prompting King Zhuang of Chu to confront Jiang Xiaobai and accuse Duke Qi Heng of breaking their agreement. Meng Qi glimpsed the path to the second Heavenly Ladder and sensed the Jade Void Palace, while Lu Ya realized its appearance had come far earlier than expected.

• King Zhuang of Chu discovered that all five Soul Lamps had gone out and rushed toward Chen Kingdom, convinced a Dharma Body expert had ambushed his forces.
• Jiang Xiaobai recognized the power and unusual Sword Intent in Xu Yue’s strike, while Xu Yue claimed the Sun-Chasing Bow as his share of the spoils.
• King Chen praised Xu Yue’s decisive attack as the survivors prepared to eradicate the remnants of the three noble clans.
• King Zhuang of Chu accused Duke Qi Heng of violating their agreement and challenged Jiang Xiaobai, who used Sleeve Universe as King Zhuang answered with Myriad Worlds Teleportation Fist and took them both to another world.
• Meng Qi sensed the threshold of the second Heavenly Ladder and glimpsed the Jade Void Palace through his Spiritual Sense.
• Lu Ya sensed the Jade Void Palace’s unexpected early appearance and wondered where the problem had arisen.

Xu Yue brought Meng Qi and the others to the Jade Void Palace, where they explored its Nine Halls and gained access to the Nine Seals’ inheritances. As Xu Yue studied the palace and the secrets of the other shore, he realized how formidable the Most Ancient Ones were.

• The Dharma Bodies sensed the Jade Void Palace, and Xu Yue used the Tianzi Sword to bring Meng Qi, King Chen, and the others to its entrance.
• Jiang Xiaobai reassured the group that Meng Qi’s Jade Void lineage made the palace safe to explore, and they headed toward the Nine Halls.
• Meng Qi absorbed the Nine Seals’ true meanings and shared the Seal arts with the others as they explored the halls and Eight-Nine Arcane Arts training grounds.
• The group found that the Void Seal and Limitless Seal were missing, and an imprint revealed that the Golden Emperor had taken them and become Mother Wusheng.
• Xu Yue studied the palace and the Nine Seals, concluding that the Most Ancient Ones posed an unparalleled threat in the struggle for the Dao Fruit.

Xu Yue secretly intervened as Lu Ya redirected his curse from Xu Yue to the Demon Buddha, whose divine consciousness was injured and expelled from Jade Void Palace. Xu Yue then demonstrated the Primordial Nine Seals to Meng Qi and the others, earning the largest share of the Immortal Medicines as they continued exploring the palace.

• The Demon Buddha sent a strand of divine consciousness into Jade Void Palace, hoping to investigate Primordial Heavenly Venerate's secrets and gain power through Meng Qi.
• Lu Ya erased Xu Yue's name from the straw effigy and wrote down the Demon Buddha's name instead, hoping to limit his gains in Jade Void Palace.
• Xu Yue's true body manipulated the confrontation from Earth, and the Nail Head Seven Arrows Book struck the Demon Buddha's divine consciousness, forcing Jade Void Palace to expel it.
• Xu Yue told Meng Qi he had gained insight into the Nine Seals, then demonstrated the Four Symbols Seal and Heaven Opening Seal to the group.
• At the pill chamber, Xu Yue received the largest share of the Immortal Medicines, taking a Ginseng Fruit and a Flat Peach.

After returning from Jade Void Palace, Xu Yue and his companions secured Chen Kingdom’s support for Mohist learning and made arrangements before their mission ended. Back in the present, Meng Qi sensed a troubling connection between Xu Yue and Ruan Yushu, while Xu Yue won Sword Washing Pavilion’s support for Great Shang and departed for Langya with Jiang Zhiwei.

• King Chen made Mohist learning Chen Kingdom’s national doctrine, and Xu Yue’s group selected disciples to oversee its spread and left King Chen a token and life-extending Flat Peaches.
• After returning to Reincarnation Plaza, Qi Zhengyan and Qing Ying discussed their ideals, and Xu Yue suggested combining their paths.
• Jiang Zhiwei proposed visiting Ruan Yushu; despite Meng Qi’s objections about Xu Yue going in person, Xu Yue and Meng Qi agreed to visit her.
• After the group returned to reality, Meng Qi questioned Xu Yue about his connection with Ruan Yushu, and Xu Yue admitted it was probably what Meng Qi suspected.
• At Sword Washing Pavilion, Su Wuming pledged the sect’s support for Xu Yue’s actions on behalf of the Righteous Path and all living beings, and Xu Yue granted the pavilion preferential policies.
• Xu Yue left Sword Washing Pavilion with Jiang Zhiwei and headed for Langya.

Yan Chong’s successful Ascension to Heaven in One Step made him a celebrated example for minor sects and independent martial artists. Xu Yue, Meng Qi, and Jiang Zhiwei visited Haichao Gate to congratulate him, where their arrival left the gathered representatives wondering who they were.

• News spread that Yan Chong, the former first-ranked Human Ranking fighter from Haichao Gate, had Ascended to Heaven in One Step.
• Moved by Yan Chong’s achievement, Meng Qi and Jiang Zhiwei agreed with Xu Yue to visit him and offer congratulations.
• Xu Yue, Meng Qi, and Jiang Zhiwei arrived in Stillwave City amid celebrations and a surge of young people seeking to join Haichao Gate.
• Yan Chong welcomed the three after Xu Yue asked to follow Martial World Rules, and led them into the sect’s gathering of guests from major powers.
• The gathered representatives asked Yan Chong to identify the newcomers, but he introduced the representatives to Xu Yue and his companions instead.

Xu Yue, Meng Qi, and Jiang Zhiwei attended Yan Chong’s celebration, and the visiting families learned that Xu Yue was the Human Sovereign of Great Shang. After the guests discussed the Blue-blooded Men’s threat, Xu Yue said he would deal with them, leaving Meng Qi to realize their visit had given them a legitimate reason to meet the families.

• Yan Chong introduced Jiang Zhiwei and Meng Qi to the gathered family representatives, and they were shocked by Meng Qi’s reputation and power.
• The guests recognized Xu Yue as the Human Sovereign and knelt before him, then cautiously took their seats after he told them to rise.
• Yan Chong realized how much Xu Yue’s authority exceeded his own expectations and considered choosing him as his patron instead of another power.
• The Ruan Family representative warned Xu Yue that the Blue-blooded Men threatened the coast and had clashed with the Ruan Family.
• Xu Yue said he already knew about the Blue-blooded Men and would find time to deal with them, while Meng Qi realized they had a legitimate reason to visit the families.

Xu Yue made Haichao Gate the first site for his new martial arts teaching policies, drawing the representatives’ attention to how the reforms could reshape the sects. After traveling to Langya for a gathering about the Blue-blooded Men, Xu Yue and the assembled leaders faced a sudden assault as the surrounding sea surged toward the city.

• Xu Yue recruited Yan Chong and established Haichao Gate as a pilot site for teaching an open-source foundational cultivation technique.
• The visiting representatives recognized that the reforms could pressure small and large sects alike to improve their cultivation methods.
• Xu Yue traveled to Langya, where the Ruan Family’s old master, He Xiu, Wonderful Desire Bodhisattva, and Thirteenth Master Yun welcomed him.
• Jiang Zhiwei and Meng Qi left to find Little Glutton while Xu Yue joined the leaders’ public discussion of the Blue-blooded Men.
• Langya’s formation shook as the nearby sea surrounded the city, and He Xiu warned that experts from the Blue-blooded Men’s main clan had intervened.

The Blue-blooded Men launched a massive assault on Langya, wielding the Du Ren Qin and the power of Dharma Bodies while concealing their actions from outside help. The attackers revealed that their real target was the Great Shang Human Sovereign, who had come to the alliance gathering.

• The Blue-blooded Men flooded Langya and swept up fishermen and ordinary people in their attack.
• A Blue-blooded phantom revealed that it had seized the Ruan Family’s Du Ren Qin, while a mysterious aura empowered the attackers to Dharma Body-level strength.
• He Xiu recognized a senior member of the Formless Sword Gu lineage among the attackers and realized the lineage had joined forces with the Blue-blooded Men.
• The Formless Sword Gu lineage head declared that they had veiled heavenly secrets to prevent Dharma Body reinforcements from arriving.
• The combined attackers battered Langya’s formation and announced that the Great Shang Human Sovereign was their true target.

Blue-blooded Men and their hidden allies ambushed the Great Shang Monarch’s gathering, but Destiny Daoist and Life-Taking Yaksha disrupted their assault. A concealed attack then targeted Xu Yue and Meng Qi, but Xu Yue crushed the Buren Tower Lord and broke his divine weapon.

• Xu Yue explained that Great Shang’s karmic ties and secret plotting by powerful beings had helped provoke the Blue-blooded Men’s attack.
• Destiny Daoist arrived with a formation diagram, stabilized the failing formation, and struck at the Blue-blooded Men.
• Life-Taking Yaksha emerged from the sea and attacked the High Priest, while four concealed Blue-blooded Men sprang from water flasks to target Xu Yue and Meng Qi.
• Xu Yue trapped the four attackers with the Tianzi Sword, but they self-destructed as the disguised Buren Tower Lord attacked with a divine weapon.
• Xu Yue caught the Buren Tower Lord’s sword between two fingers, broke it, and killed him.