Chapter Summaries

Shi Yi promised the Little Red Bird that its Ornate Headdress and Robes would feature a Vermilion Bird, then ruled the Fire Kingdom and learned the Spirit Race might interfere in the Stone Kingdom’s war with the Wood Race. Willow Deity told him the Fire and Stone Kingdoms would eventually unite, though Shi Yi doubted her prediction.

• Shi Yi agreed to have the Little Red Bird’s Ornate Headdress and Robes embroidered with the Vermilion Bird’s likeness.
• At the Fire Kingdom’s court assembly, Shi Yi heard that the Spirit Race had stationed troops on the Stone Kingdom’s western border and approved Kunyu Marquis’s request to lead troops against them.
• Shi Yi told Willow Deity that governing the Fire and Stone Kingdoms was tiring and wished they could merge into one.
• Willow Deity said the kingdoms’ merger was inevitable, but Shi Yi doubted that people would unite them so easily.

Stone Kingdom celebrated a great victory over the Wood Race as frontier soldiers returned to the capital. Meanwhile, the former Stone Emperor’s children gathered at Green Forest Garden, where their rivalries and resentment over being left behind surfaced.

• Frontier soldiers raced into Stone Country Imperial Capital and announced that Stone Kingdom had won a great victory, forcing the Wood Race to retreat a thousand miles.
• Residents praised the victory and discussed the former Human Emperor’s decision to leave his princes and princesses behind in the lower realm.
• Princes and princesses drove their chariots toward Green Forest Garden, where two brothers collided and damaged one chariot during their rivalry.
• Two siblings wondered why Sixteenth Sister had summoned them and complained that their father had abandoned them when he left for the Upper Realm.
• One sister said she would steal Sixteenth Sister’s man, while her companion warned that ordinary people could not even meet him now.

Shi Yi rewarded the Stone Kingdom army for its victory over the Spirit Race, then left court to avoid the ministers. At Green Forest Garden, the Sixteenth Princess gathered her sisters and tried to make them behave, but they complained instead.

• Shi Yi heard that Stone Kingdom had driven the Spirit Race out of the Western Frontier and ordered rewards for the army.
• Shi Yi considered Stone Kingdom’s wealth and imperial treasures, then left court after announcing the reward decree.
• The Sixteenth Princess gathered the princesses at Green Forest Garden without Shi Yi and struck the First Princess with a stone.
• The Sixteenth Princess struck the other princesses when they condemned her, while the princes watched without intervening.
• The princesses complained that the Sixteenth Princess was bullying them and threatened to appeal to Shi Yi.

The Sixteenth Princess confronted the royal siblings over their misdeeds and used her authority over the Divine Spirit Formation to arrest the Second Prince and Sixth Prince. She warned the remaining princes and princesses that Shi Yi would no longer tolerate their actions.

• The princes complained that the Sixteenth Princess had summoned them to waste their time, and she recalled Shi Yi’s order to stop the royal family from causing trouble.
• The Sixteenth Princess ordered guards to seize the Second Prince and Sixth Prince, then warned them that the Divine Spirit Formation would kill anyone who resisted.
• The dark-armored guards took the Second Prince and Sixth Prince to Bright Prison while the other princes abandoned their plans to resist.
• The Sixteenth Princess told the princes that their own shortcomings had cost them the Human Emperor’s position and warned them against undermining Shi Yi’s rule.
• The First Princess denied trying to steal another woman’s man, and the Sixteenth Princess warned the princesses to restrain their households and obey Shi Yi.

Shi Yi returned to the Martial King Manor and asked Qin Yining to help him manage the affairs of the two kingdoms. After she advised him on governing, he insisted that she move into the imperial palace and share his workload, though she protested that it was unsuitable.

• Shi Yi returned to the Martial King Manor instead of staying overnight in the imperial palace.
• Shi Yi embraced Qin Yining, and she urged him to keep his officials busy with practical work.
• Qin Yining explained her governing ideas to Shi Yi and warned him that understanding people was difficult.
• Shi Yi decided that Qin Yining should move into the imperial palace to advise him.
• Qin Yining objected that living there was unsuitable, but Shi Yi insisted because the imperial workload overwhelmed him.

Shi Yi left Qin Yining to handle the affairs of the two Human Emperors and entered the Void God Realm, where he reunited with Yun Xi. He realized she was upset because he seemed to have forgotten the meaning of her Telepathy Pendant, so he promised to propose marriage to the Heavenly Human Race in two years.

• Qin Yining and Shi Yi argued over whether it was appropriate for her to enter the palace, while Qin Yining privately schemed to grow closer to him.
• Shi Yi handed the affairs of the two Human Emperors to Qin Yining and entered the Void God Realm's Second Realm.
• In the Arctic Cold Lands, Shi Yi summoned his Ten Celestial Passages and frightened a giant bear into burying its head in the snow.
• Yun Xi followed the sight of Shi Yi's Ten Celestial Passages to the frozen lands, and Shi Yi invited her to discuss the Dao.
• Yun Xi began to cry because Shi Yi had not mentioned her missing Telepathy Pendant, but Shi Yi reassured her that he had kept it safe and promised to propose marriage in two years.

Shi Yi reconciled with Yun Xi and brought her to the Void God Realm to reveal a mass-producible civilian treasure artifact. He planned to use such artifacts to improve everyday life for the people of the Stone Kingdom and Fire Kingdom.

• Shi Yi proposed marriage to Yun Xi, but after their stubborn standoff, he pulled her into his embrace and led her away.
• Shi Yi took Yun Xi to a city in the Second Realm of the Void God Realm, where she clung to his arm in the crowded streets.
• Shi Yi brought Yun Xi into a pavilion and showed her a black card, which she initially mistook for an indecent joke.
• Shi Yi explained that the card was a civilian treasure artifact he had designed using the Void God Realm's underlying structure.
• Shi Yi planned to mass-produce affordable civilian treasure artifacts to benefit the people of the Stone Kingdom and Fire Kingdom.

Shi Yi showed Yun Xi a black card that used arrays to project a Void Screen and let people communicate across the Two Great Ancient Countries. Yun Xi realized he had designed it for ordinary people, while Shi Yi remained unaware of how extraordinary his own talent was.

• Shi Yi explained that he had created civilian magical artifacts from common materials because he cared about ordinary people.
• Yun Xi doubted the black card could do anything useful and dismissed its flimsy construction.
• Shi Yi activated the card and revealed its Void Projection Array and other combined arrays.
• Shi Yi said the card’s Communication Function Module let its holders communicate across the Two Great Ancient Countries.
• Yun Xi understood that Shi Yi intended the device to serve ordinary people and urged him to focus more on cultivation.
• Shi Yi said he had made the card casually, leaving Yun Xi amazed by his array talent.

Shi Yi showed Yun Xi a new civilian treasure artifact that could communicate and play music throughout the Void God Realm. Yun Xi named it Xi Yi, meaning a way to convey feelings to someone far away.

• Shi Yi explained why he had not created more practical civilian treasures, noting that ordinary people in this world faced few taxes but were threatened by beasts and other races.
• Shi Yi told Yun Xi that items made in the Void God Realm could be used across its different realms, and Yun Xi chose a purple card from his collection.
• Shi Yi opened the artifact’s music function and played a song he had recorded, while he and Yun Xi kissed.
• Yun Xi asked to name the artifact, and Shi Yi agreed.
• Yun Xi named the artifact Xi Yi and explained that it signified conveying one’s feelings to someone far away, which Shi Yi accepted.

Shi Yi returned from Yun Xi's Void God Realm and handled personal and political troubles before discussing his civilian-use treasure artifact with Qin Yining. She pointed out that ordinary people could not afford even its low price, leaving Shi Yi to suggest giving it away for free.

• Shi Yi left Yun Xi's Void God Realm and comforted Yu Yuexian, then rebuffed Yu Zimo's objections to his relationships by teaching her a lesson.
• Huo Ling'er reminded Shi Yi to return to the Fire Kingdom, and the Sixteenth Princess reported that Shi Yi's siblings had settled down.
• Shi Yi learned that Qin Yining had taken charge of the court and accelerated the planned merger of the Stone Kingdom and Fire Kingdom to less than a year.
• Qin Yining questioned Shi Yi's plan to name his civilian-use treasure artifact Xi Yi and warned him about the jealousy it could provoke.
• Qin Yining asked how ordinary people could afford the treasure artifact even if it cost only one Essence Wall, and Shi Yi proposed giving it away for free.

Qin Yining advised Shi Yi on how to make his instant communication treasure useful, leading him to consider helping more people become cultivators. They agreed to produce the treasures for the armies and officials of the two kingdoms before selling them more widely.

• Qin Yining told Shi Yi that ordinary people could not afford cheap treasures and advised him to take a high-end approach.
• Shi Yi considered whether everyone could be given a path to cultivation through the Form and Will Method he had created.
• Qin Yining explained that Xi Yi could strengthen the Human Emperor’s control over local regions and benefit ordinary people indirectly.
• Shi Yi assured Qin Yining that a mother unit could copy the core arrays and make them collapse if tampered with.
• Qin Yining planned to manufacture Xi Yi for the armies and grassroots officials of the two kingdoms before considering external sales, and Shi Yi agreed.

Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er traveled to the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land after hearing of unrest and discussed its possible ties to the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace. They encountered powerful beasts and a slaughtered group near a lava pool, where the beasts revealed that the victims had come from the Heaven Domain seeking an opportunity.

• Ten days after spending the night with Qin Yining, Shi Yi arrived with Huo Ling'er at the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land.
• Huo Ling'er told Shi Yi that the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace was hidden there and had an unclear connection to the Fire Clan.
• Shi Yi suggested the palace and the Fire Clan might have origins in the Upper Realm, while Huo Ling'er admitted she knew little about her ancestors' past.
• A Ferocious Bird fled when it saw Shi Yi, while a Crimson Flame Demon Wolf and a Golden Eyed Dragon Horned Lion greeted him as the Fire Emperor.
• Shi Yi spotted corpses and severed limbs in a lava pool and asked the wolf where the Ferocious Bird had come from.
• The Giant Wolf and the Golden Eyed Dragon Horned Lion said the creatures had come from the Heaven Domain to seek a great opportunity.

Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er investigated the disturbance in the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land and entered the Tombs of the Past Fire Emperors. There, Shi Yi discovered that the oil in an ancient bronze lamp was God Blood, but Huo Ling'er did not know its origin.

• Huo Ling'er grew angry over outsiders trespassing in the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land, while Shi Yi sent the Giant Wolf and Frenzied Lion after the fleeing Ferocious Bird.
• Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er headed toward the source of the disturbance after discussing the ancestral land’s history and its guarding tomb beasts.
• Shi Yi used his Double Pupils to confirm that no outsiders had entered the Tombs of the Past Fire Emperors.
• Huo Ling'er carried the slow-swimming Shi Yi through the Magma Sea and into a hall that sank beneath the magma.
• Shi Yi found that the lamp oil in an ancient bronze lamp was God Blood, and Huo Ling'er said she did not know where it came from.

Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er paid respects to Fire Kingdom’s former Human Emperors in the ancestral hall, then Huo Ling'er began cultivating there to break through into the Inscription Realm. Shi Yi stayed beside her to guard her as the hall’s mysterious chimes accelerated her cultivation.

• Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er found a newly carved statue of Huo Ling'er's father among the ancestral Human Emperor statues and decided to pay respects to him as well.
• Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er burned offerings and bowed to Fire Kingdom’s past Human Emperors, causing Huo Ling'er's father in the Upper Realm to briefly feel an overwhelming chill.
• Huo Ling'er chose to remain in the ancestral hall and attempt a breakthrough into the Inscription Realm, while Shi Yi agreed to protect her.
• Huo Ling'er entered deep meditation as vital flames transformed her body, and the hall’s bell chimes helped her cultivate at an astonishing pace.
• Shi Yi watched over Huo Ling'er and noted that he would also cultivate there if he did not need to consolidate his realm.

Huo Ling'er broke through to the Inscription Realm, and she and Shi Yi continued investigating disturbances in the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land while searching for the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace. The palace showed no sign of appearing, and the chapter ended with Huo Ling'er teasing Shi Yi about his unsuccessful attempt to catch Yang Fish in the magma.

• Huo Ling'er broke through to the Inscription Realm and proudly told Shi Yi she was only one realm behind him.
• Shi Yi suggested they continue investigating the disturbances in the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land, and he kissed Huo Ling'er after she pouted.
• Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er explored the ancestral land together, but the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace still had not appeared.
• Shi Yi fished for Yang Fish in a Magma Sea while Huo Ling'er rested in his embrace.
• Huo Ling'er told Shi Yi that his Ancient Descendant meat bait would not be enough to catch Yang Fish.

Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er fished and bickered in the Fire Kingdom Ancestral Land until the Vermillion Bird Plume acknowledged Shi Yi and revealed its power over the magma. They then reached the God Soil, where Huo Ling'er explained that the crimson raptors shared the Vermilion Bird's clan but were not Vermilion Birds.

• Huo Ling'er showed Shi Yi how to fish by shaking the rod, caught a Yang Fish, and teased him for failing.
• The Vermillion Bird Plume hidden in Shi Yi's hair began to glow, and the surrounding magma obeyed him.
• Huo Ling'er told Shi Yi that the plume's chosen could learn Vermillion Bird Nirvana, while Shi Yi doubted the legend and teased her about being the Vermilion Bird's disciple.
• Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er traveled to the God Soil, the Vermilion Bird's birthplace, where they saw fiery crimson raptors flying above the magma.
• Huo Ling'er explained that the raptors belonged to the Vermilion Bird's clan but were not Vermilion Birds, and Shi Yi questioned the distinction.

Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er visited the Little Red Bird to learn about the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace. The Little Red Bird warned that the palace was dangerous and required great fortune and perseverance, leaving Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er uncertain whether they could enter.

• Shi Yi left the Little Red Bird's volcanic tree, but it shrank into its cute form and stopped him, insisting it was his guide.
• The Little Red Bird asked whether Shi Yi disliked Huo Ling'er, and Shi Yi denied it while reflecting on the suffering she might face in the future.
• Huo Ling'er caught up with Shi Yi, and the two bickered playfully as the Little Red Bird complained about being left out.
• The Little Red Bird revealed that the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace contained powerful restrictions and was extremely dangerous.
• The Little Red Bird told Huo Ling'er that her father had failed to enter the palace for lack of fortune and perseverance, and Shi Yi asked whether he and Huo Ling'er had enough.

Shi Yi, Huo Ling'er, and Little Red Bird argued over the requirements for opening the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace and the Vermillion Bird Plume. Little Red Bird eventually opened a flaming passage to the palace, though it first claimed its promise was fake.

• Little Red Bird said Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er lacked the qualities it required, then revealed that opening the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace needed a Ten Celestial Passages cultivator and its approval.
• Huo Ling'er revealed that the Vermillion Bird Plume had acknowledged Shi Yi, and Little Red Bird discovered it could no longer take the plume back from him.
• Little Red Bird asked Shi Yi not to comprehend the plume, while Shi Yi returned it; Little Red Bird refused to accept it back.
• Huo Ling'er explained that returning a gifted Vermillion Bird Plume was considered an insult, and Little Red Bird hurried to stop her from saying more.
• Little Red Bird announced it would open the passage, called its promise fake, and summoned a sea of fire that formed a flaming passage.

Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er reached the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace beneath the Fire Kingdom and bickered before exploring it. The chapter left them at the palace entrance, with Huo Ling'er obediently quiet beside Shi Yi.

• Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er followed a fiery passage through the magma to the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace, despite Little Red Bird's warning about its dangerous restrictions.
• Huo Ling'er excitedly celebrated finding the palace, while Shi Yi examined its ancient appearance and wondered about the powers of the Lower Realm.
• Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er argued, and Shi Yi stopped their quarrel with playful physical affection.
• After an hour, Huo Ling'er became calm and obedient, and she stopped talking when Shi Yi told her to shut up.

Shi Yi and Huo Ling'er crossed the Magma Sea to reach the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace, where the palace opened its stone door for Shi Yi. After Huo Ling'er warned him of the danger beyond it, Shi Yi stepped back and questioned what her ancestors’ warning really meant.

• Shi Yi learned from Huo Ling'er that Yang Fish could form a golden bridge for someone approved by the Ancient Sacred Emperor Palace.
• Shi Yi fed the Yang Fish instead of harming them, and they transformed into a golden bridge after recognizing him as the Human Emperor and a Double Pupil User.
• Shi Yi carried Huo Ling'er across the bridge and climbed the palace stairs with her.
• Shi Yi opened the stone door, but Huo Ling'er warned him that anyone without human blood would turn to ash beyond it.
• Shi Yi stepped back and asked whether the warning was meant to keep humans away.