Chapter Summaries

After Fahai abducted Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing, Xu Xian mobilized imperial troops and marched on Jinshan Temple to rescue his consort. He burned through Fahai’s magical defenses and struck the monk with a powerful punch, leaving Fahai embedded in the mountain wall.

• Xu Xian received word that Fahai had taken Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing, obtained military authority from the three emperors, and rode his Ink Qilin back to Qiantang County.
• Xu Xian dismissed his brother-in-law’s warning that Bai Suzhen was a demon and mobilized ten thousand infantry and two thousand cavalry to march on Jinshan Temple.
• Xu Xian ordered the soldiers to burn Jinshan Temple after its worshippers had left, but Fahai shielded the temple with a golden barrier.
• Xu Xian shattered the barrier with his Heaven and Earth Bow and Heaven-Shaking Arrow, allowing the flames to engulf Jinshan Temple.
• Xu Xian charged Fahai and punched him through the temple, leaving him embedded in the mountain wall.

Xu Xian stormed Jinshan Temple to find his consort and battered Fahai, who revealed his Vidyaraja Dharma Body and fought back. Xu Xian destroyed Fahai’s weapons and Alms Bowl, then chased him into the sky on the Ink Qilin, leaving Fahai with nowhere to flee.

• Xu Xian punched Fahai through the mountainside and tore through Jinshan Temple while its buildings burned.
• Xu Xian dragged Fahai from the rock wall and demanded to know where his wife was, but Fahai unleashed his Vidyaraja Dharma Body instead.
• Xu Xian used Eight Blades Flash with his giant axe to break Fahai’s Dharma weapons and damage his Dharma Body.
• Fahai trapped Xu Xian inside his Alms Bowl, but Xu Xian used Kaio-ken to burst out and shatter it.
• Xu Xian struck Fahai and chased him into the sky on the Ink Qilin as the gathered believers and soldiers watched.

Xu Xian defeated Fahai and rescued Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing from Cishou Pagoda, declaring that he already knew they were snakes and would protect them. Guanyin appeared to find the planned story derailed by Xu Xian’s unexpected strength and status.

• Xu Xian defeated Fahai, who revealed that Bai Suzhen was at Cishou Pagoda, and headed there without opening his treasure chests.
• Xu Xian broke into Cishou Pagoda, rescued Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing, and told them he had beaten Fahai.
• Bai Suzhen confessed that she and Xiao Qing were snakes, but Xu Xian said he already knew and did not care.
• Guanyin blocked Xu Xian and the two sisters as they left the ruined temple.
• Guanyin realized Xu Xian was nothing like the frail scholar expected and questioned how the planned trials could proceed.

Xu Xian summoned Duke with an Ancient Summoning Scroll just as Guanyin was about to capture him and Bai Suzhen. Duke let the couple escape, then defeated Guanyin and went on to terrorize Spirit Mountain and the Heavenly Court.

• Guanyin tried to stop Xu Xian from taking Bai Suzhen away, but Xu Xian attacked her when she struck with a willow leaf.
• Xu Xian opened Fahai's treasure chest and tore the Ancient Summoning Scroll, summoning Duke and dispelling Guanyin's willow leaf.
• Duke ordered Xu Xian to take Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing away while he stayed to face Guanyin.
• Guanyin challenged Duke, who struck her with lightning and overwhelmed her Thousand-Armed Golden Body.
• Duke transformed into a giant black eagle, beat Buddha at Spirit Mountain, and plucked the Jade Emperor's beard before fattening him up.

After the Southern Song collapsed, Xu Xian unified the realm, founded the Liang Dynasty, and eventually ascended with Bai Suzhen. Centuries into secluded cultivation, Duke acquired the Haotian Mirror, traveled to another world, and found the head of Xingtian, whom he planned to use in a grand array.

• Emperor Gaozong killed Emperor Qinzong, but a eunuch poisoned Gaozong, and the grieving Emperor Huizong soon died as well.
• Xu Xian subdued the rebels, became Emperor Wu of Liang, made Bai Suzhen empress and Xiao Qing his secondary consort, and led campaigns that destroyed the Jin Kingdom and defeated a nomadic coalition.
• Xu Xian attained sainthood and ascended with Bai Suzhen, while the Liang Dynasty endured for six hundred years before the fourth industrial revolution ended it.
• After centuries of secluded cultivation, Duke was struck by the Haotian Mirror, identified it as an ownerless Innate Spirit Treasure, and refined it.
• Duke used the Haotian Mirror to travel to another world and encountered the beheaded Great Witch Xingtian, whose attacks he blocked.
• Duke decided to take twelve drops of Xingtian's Essence Blood to create an Ancestral Witch True Body and prepare the Twelve Gods and Demons Grand Array.

Duke used Xingtian’s Essence Blood to forge twelve formation banners, then traveled through the Three Thousand Worlds to feed them baleful qi. He left two worlds with the banners strengthened and continued into a modern city where a Ma Family successor was hunting ghosts.

• Duke extracted twelve drops of Essence Blood from Xingtian and used them to complete the twelve formation banners.
• He used Xingtian’s head to endure the heavenly lightning sent to destroy the banners, then left Xingtian behind and traveled through the Haotian Mirror.
• Duke arrived in the world of Mr. Zombie and deployed the banners to absorb baleful qi, causing Master Ren to stop turning into a zombie.
• After a night, Duke left with the banners full and traveled to a bustling modern city.
• Duke spotted the forty-first-generation successor of the Ma Family catching ghosts and began absorbing the world’s baleful qi.

Duke traveled through several worlds before reaching Lanruo Temple, where he disguised himself as a scholar to confront its vicious ghosts. He instead slept with Xiaozhuo, and Granny sent Xiaodie to investigate as the night at the temple descended into chaos.

• Duke filled twelve formation flags with baleful aura in My Date with a Vampire World, then left when he sensed people searching for him.
• Duke visited a demon city and a battlefield overrun by gods, Buddhas, demons, and monsters, leaving each world after encountering its strange sights.
• Duke arrived at Lanruo Temple, recognized it as a place where ghosts killed at midnight, and disguised himself as a white-robed scholar to wait for them.
• Xiaozhuo entered the temple pretending to seek help, but Duke recognized her as Xiaoqian before she corrected him and seduced him.
• Tree Demon Granny sent Xiaolan and then Xiaodie to check on Xiaozhuo after neither ghost returned, and Xiaodie went hoping to outshine her rival.
• Duke and Xiaozhuo spent the night together as storm clouds and flooding filled Lanruo Temple.

Duke freed the three female ghosts from Tree Demon Granny’s control and left Guanyin to guide them and help save the corrupted world of A Chinese Ghost Story. He then traveled to another world, where the city gate marked Chaoge made him hesitate.

• The three female ghosts discovered that sunlight no longer harmed them and realized their bond to Tree Demon Granny had been broken.
• Duke appeared in his demon form, accepted the ghosts’ gratitude, and summoned Guanyin from the world of Legend of the White Snake to address the troubled world.
• Guanyin agreed to take responsibility for saving the world, and Duke showed her two monks approaching Lanruo Temple before disappearing.
• Guanyin transformed the three female ghosts into attendants and brought them to the monks, where the old monk mistook her for a demon and Shifang produced a Golden Buddha.
• Duke traveled to another world with abundant spiritual energy and hesitated when he saw the city gate marked Chaoge.

Duke entered Chaoge during the Investiture of the Gods era and chose to join Wen Zhong’s campaign against Western Qi. After defeating the Four Heavenly Lords of Huanghua Mountain, he won Wen Zhong’s trust and was welcomed into the Shang army’s camp.

• Duke learned of King Zhou’s decline and decided to seek out Wen Zhong instead of joining the royal court.
• Duke challenged Wen Zhong’s army at the camp gate, defeated its generals, and captured Deng Zhong.
• Xin Huan, Zhang Jie, and Tao Rong attacked Duke, but he overcame their combined assault and remained unharmed by Tao Rong’s Wind Gathering Banner.
• Wen Zhong rode out to meet Duke and asked why he had blocked the army’s path.
• Duke offered to serve as a vanguard general against Western Qi, and Wen Zhong invited him into the camp.

Wen Zhong’s army confronted Jiang Ziya’s forces outside Western Qi, where Duke overwhelmed the opposing generals and helped the Shang army win the battle. Jiang Ziya escaped behind the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag as Wen Zhong’s troops drove Western Qi’s soldiers back to the city.

• Wen Zhong arrived in Western Qi with three hundred thousand soldiers, and Jiang Ziya prepared to defend the city after surveying the imposing Shang camp.
• Wen Zhong and Jiang Ziya exchanged challenges and insults before their armies met outside the city, where Wen Zhong ordered Huang Feihu captured for betraying King Zhou.
• Duke routed Western Qi’s generals, captured several fighters, and crushed Huang Tianhua’s Heart-Piercing Nail.
• Duke caught Nezha’s Golden Brick, struck Yang Jian with it, and pierced Yang Jian’s shoulder with his spear.
• Jiang Ziya struck Duke with the God-Beating Whip, but the weapon bounced away; Jiang Ziya then fled behind the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag as Wen Zhong attacked.
• Wen Zhong ordered his soldiers forward, and the Shang army routed Western Qi’s troops to the city walls before withdrawing at the sound of the gong.

After losing many generals in battle, Jiang Ziya planned a midnight raid on Wen Zhong’s camp, but Wen Zhong anticipated the attack and prepared an ambush. The battle ended with Duke defeating Nezha and Huang Tianhua and striking down Yang Jian after he tried to rescue them.

• Jiang Ziya rallied Western Qi’s generals and ordered a midnight attack on the Shang Dynasty camp.
• Wen Zhong learned of the raid and arranged ambushes around the camp while he and Duke guarded the center.
• Jiang Ziya’s forces attacked at midnight, but Shang soldiers sprang their ambush and the armies fought amid burning tents.
• Duke defeated Huang Tianhua, captured him, then struck Nezha down when he came to help.
• Yang Jian transformed into a Great Peng and seized Nezha and Huang Tianhua, but Duke pursued him and knocked him from the sky.

Duke routed Western Qi’s forces, captured Huang Feihu and numerous generals, and stripped Jiang Ziya of two prized protections. Jiang Ziya retreated to the city with Yang Jian and decided to seek help from his master at Jade Void Palace.

• Duke sent Garurumon Duke to destroy the Shang Dynasty’s grain stores, then intervened when Western Qi set them ablaze and scattered their forces.
• Duke charged into the Western Qi army, defeated Huang Feihu, Jin Zha, Mu Zha, and other generals, and had them bound and captured.
• Jiang Ziya struck Wen Zhong with the God-Beating Whip, but reports of his army’s defeat forced him to retreat.
• Duke’s spear missed Jiang Ziya, but five-colored light took the Apricot Yellow Banner and Sibuxiang; Shang troops pursued the fleeing Western Qi army.
• Yang Jian returned to Jiang Ziya and described Duke’s strength, prompting Jiang Ziya to seek answers from his master at Jade Void Palace.

Wen Zhong’s army regrouped after its victory, but the arrival of the Twelve Golden Immortals forced him to withdraw and seek allies. As Duke repaired Wen Zhong’s twin whips, True Person Yellow Dragon challenged the Shang camp and accidentally exposed Yang Jian’s plan to sneak inside.

• Wen Zhong punished Huang Feihu by hanging him and recorded the failures of six commanders, while Duke urged him to press the advantage against Western Qi.
• Wen Zhong ordered Western Qi captives executed to weaken the city’s resolve, but the defenders held out; the next day, he divined that the Chan Sect’s experts had arrived and raised a truce banner.
• The Twelve Golden Immortals joined Jiang Ziya, and Wen Zhong withdrew his army thirty li before leaving to seek allies; Duke stayed behind and repaired Wen Zhong’s Male and Female Twin Whips.
• True Person Yellow Dragon repeatedly challenged the Shang camp, and Duke finally came out to face him after Yellow Dragon cut apart the camp gate.
• True Person Yellow Dragon called for Yang Jian to rescue the captives, revealing Yang Jian’s planned stealth entry, and Duke readied his Golden Brick.

Duke watched the Ten Heavenly Lords set up the Ten Ultimate Arrays and battle the Chan Sect Golden Immortals, while recognizing that Shen Gongbao had drawn them into a doomed conflict. After five Heavenly Lords fell, Zhao Gongming arrived to avenge them, and Duke realized Shen Gongbao had stirred up trouble again.

• Duke knocked Yang Jian unconscious, had him tied up, and hung True Person Yellow Dragon from a flagpole.
• Wen Zhong arrived with the Ten Heavenly Lords, who set up the Ten Ultimate Arrays and challenged the Chan Sect Golden Immortals.
• Duke learned that Shen Gongbao had alerted the Ten Heavenly Lords to Wen Zhong’s campaign and expected the arrays’ defenders to die.
• The Chan Sect broke four arrays, and four Heavenly Lords died; Heavenly Lord Sun then died in the Blood Transformation Array.
• Golden Light Holy Mother’s array was broken, but Zhao Gongming drove Guangchengzi away with his twenty-four Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearls and arrived to avenge the fallen Heavenly Lords.

Duke secretly seized Zhao Gongming’s Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearls and other treasures after Zhao drove off the Chan Sect Golden Immortals, then began refining them. When Zhao fell under the Seven Arrows Book of Nail Head curse, Duke identified the spell and promised to retrieve the book from Western Qi before it could kill him.

• Zhao Gongming defeated five Chan Sect Golden Immortals, but Randeng struck him and killed his Black Tiger before fleeing with Zhao in pursuit.
• At Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao’s mountain, Zhao lost the Dragon-Binding Rope and Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearls to the Treasure-Dropping Coin, then killed Xiao Sheng while trying to recover them.
• After Randeng knocked Zhao back and Cao Bao handed him the pearls, Duke ambushed them, took the Treasure-Dropping Coin and Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearls, and looted Randeng’s Spirit Coffin Lamp and Cosmic Ruler.
• Randeng awoke to find his treasures gone and fled west, while Zhao later attacked Western Qi City with the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors, believing Randeng had stolen the pearls.
• Duke developed the Twenty-Four Heavens and strengthened his Five-Colored Divine Light, then Wen Zhong summoned him after Zhao fell into a cursed sleep.
• Duke recognized the Seven Arrows Book of Nail Head curse and told Zhao he would go to Western Qi to seize the book and save him.

Duke disrupted Jiang Ziya’s Seven Arrows Book ritual, defeated Lu Ya, and recovered Zhao Gongming’s straw effigy. After Duke restored Zhao Gongming, the Three Xiao took their brother back to Three Immortals Island, leaving Duke wondering where the Nine-Bend Yellow River Array was.

• Duke flew to Western Qi City and struck down Jiang Ziya during the Seven Arrows Book ritual, then removed the altar’s straw effigy.
• Lu Ya confronted Duke, but Duke withstood his flames and Immortal-Slaying Flying Dagger, prompting Lu Ya to flee.
• Duke returned to Zhao Gongming’s camp with the effigy, then spent ten days restoring Zhao Gongming’s scattered souls.
• The Three Xiao arrived to collect Zhao Gongming, learned Duke had saved him, and thanked Duke.
• Yunxiao scolded Zhao Gongming for wanting to fight before he had recovered, then took him and her sisters back to Three Immortals Island.
• Duke watched the Three Xiao depart and wondered where the Nine-Bend Yellow River Array was.

Duke toyed with Wen Zhong by letting Yang Jian escape, then secretly disguised him as a soldier and captured him again. When Guangchengzi led the Chan Sect Golden Immortals against the Shang camp, Duke endured their attacks without injury and left Guangchengzi baffled.

• Duke stopped Wen Zhong from seeking reinforcements and joked that Wen Zhong and Yang Jian might be related because both had three eyes.
• Duke exposed Yang Jian disguised as a soldier by striking him with the Golden Brick, then ordered him hung from the flagpole again.
• After Jiang Ziya recovered, Guangchengzi persuaded the Chan Sect Golden Immortals to attack Wen Zhong's army and rescue their captured companions.
• Duke went out alone to confront the Chan Sect Golden Immortals, and Guangchengzi's Soul-Shattering Bell and Male-Female Swords failed to harm him.
• Guangchengzi struck Duke with the Sky-Flipping Seal, but Duke remained unharmed and joked that the blow had eased his neck pain.

Duke endured the Chan Sect immortals’ attacks and revealed a body powerful enough to shrug off their treasures. After freeing himself from the Immortal-Binding Rope, he announced his Five-Colored Divine Light and challenged them to test it.

• Jade Cauldron True Man, Red Essence Child, and Daoist Cihang attacked Duke with their treasures and Three-Light Divine Water, but none could harm him.
• Ju Liusun bound Duke with the Immortal-Binding Rope, and several Golden Immortals attacked him with their treasures, fire, and the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover.
• Duke’s Phoenix phantom dispersed the flames and subdued the nine fire dragons, forcing True Person Taiyi to recall his damaged treasure.
• Duke snapped the Immortal-Binding Rope and told the Chan Sect immortals it was his turn to test them.
• Duke summoned five streams of light and declared his Five-Colored Divine Light invincible beneath the Sages.

Duke captured the Chan Sect’s eleven Golden Immortals with his Five-Colored Divine Light and had them hung alongside True Person Yellow Dragon, routing Western Qi’s army. As Primordial Heavenly Venerate prepared to confront him, the other Saints learned of Duke’s actions and began watching the coming clash.

• Duke used the Five-Colored Divine Light to capture the eleven Golden Immortals as they tried to flee, while Yang Jian gave up his escape attempt and rehung himself on the flagpole.
• Jiang Ziya ordered Western Qi’s army to withdraw, and Wen Zhong sent cavalry after them as their morale collapsed.
• Duke returned the dazed Golden Immortals alive, told Wen Zhong to hang them up, and nearly stumbled when Wen Zhong suggested Daoist Cihang be sent to his tent.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate sent Antarctic Immortal to Western Qi and announced that he would soon arrive.
• Sect Master of Heaven summoned Duobao and the other disciples to witness the coming events, while Nuwa sent Lu Ya to investigate Duke.
• Zhunti said he believed Duke was destined to join the Western Sect, but worried that Duke’s offense against Primordial Heavenly Venerate might change that fate; Jieyin advised him to wait and see.

Duke challenged Primordial Heavenly Venerate outside Western Qi City and revealed that his knowledge of other worlds was beyond the Saint’s reach. He unleashed a Buddha’s Golden Body that trapped Primordial Heavenly Venerate in a world of his creation, drawing the Western Sect’s attention and leaving the spectators awed.

• Primordial Heavenly Venerate arrived at Western Qi City and ordered Jiang Ziya to summon Duke.
• Duke ignored Wen Zhong’s warning, went to the city, and challenged Primordial Heavenly Venerate to inspect his formation.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate exposed Duke’s possession of the Haotian Mirror and warned that he would die in the Investiture of the Gods tribulation.
• Duke asked whether Primordial Heavenly Venerate knew Dark Titan Sargeras or Pure Fragrant White Lotus Su Huanzhen, then revealed his Buddha’s Golden Body.
• Duke used the Five-Colored Divine Light and Twenty-Four Heavens to trap Primordial Heavenly Venerate in a Buddha Kingdom that collapsed after its creation.
• Zhunti and Jieyin discussed securing Duke for the Western Sect, while Randeng mourned losing his connection to the Twenty-Four Heavens and the disciples at Biyou Palace watched in awe.