Chapter Summaries

Zhong Shan hurried to Phoenix Island to protect the Phoenix Clan and found the Sky Splitting Crown Prince holding its kings captive. He joined King Skeleton in breaking the palace formation, provoking a clash with the Crown Prince’s powerful Three-Colored Divine Light.

• Zhong Shan decided to investigate Nie Fanchen’s suspicious death further and set out for Phoenix Island to honor his promise to Wu Jiu Tian.
• The Sky Splitting Crown Prince and Kong Shang kept ten Phoenix Kings imprisoned, while Kong Shang urged them to serve his master and the Crown Prince planned to capture Wu Jiu Tian.
• Zhong Shan stopped at a Great Rong Merchant Guild branch, then continued across the North Sea with King Skeleton and Wu Luo.
• Wu Luo introduced Zhong Shan to the Phoenixes gathered outside the sealed Phoenix Palace, and Zhong Shan displayed the Phoenix Clan Token before ordering King Skeleton to break the formation.
• King Skeleton shattered the formation, but the Sky Splitting Crown Prince attacked him with Three-Colored Divine Light, which the Bronze Throne blocked; King Skeleton asked whether the Crown Prince belonged to the Hongru Saint lineage.

Zhong Shan and King Skeleton drove Sky Splitting Crown Prince away from Phoenix Palace, then Zhong Shan cured the phoenixes and won their trust. As Phoenix Island began moving to Great Zheng, King Skeleton explained the Peacock Clan’s divine lights and revealed that the Hongru Saint was Confucius.

• Sky Splitting Crown Prince attacked King Skeleton with a Three-Colored Divine Light, but the Bronze Throne withstood the strike.
• Zhong Shan gave King Skeleton Lu Guitian’s broken Ninth Grade Treasure Sword, and Sky Splitting Crown Prince retreated with the Three-legged Golden Crow and Kong Shang.
• Zhong Shan used the Red Phoenix Mist to cure the poisoned phoenixes, while King Skeleton recovered over the next three days.
• Zhong Shan gained the phoenixes’ trust, and they agreed to move Phoenix Island to the Great Zheng Emperor Dynasty.
• King Skeleton explained the Peacock Clan’s Five-Colored and Seven-Colored Divine Lights and identified the Hongru Saint as Confucius.

Zhong Shan realized Nie Fanchen had been reborn through a divine ability and had arranged the Great Li Heavenly Dynasty’s collapse to draw the major powers into a northern struggle. He assigned his ministers new tasks while Great Qin prepared to call Lu Guitian’s soul back.

• Ying sent Bai Qi to lead Great Qin’s northern campaign and tasked Li Si and Xu Fu with helping Lu recover his soul.
• Zhong Shan’s ministers reported that Great Li strategists, including Young Flying Marquis and his family, had vanished before the dynasty’s collapse.
• Zhong Shan concluded that Nie Fanchen had died and been reborn through a divine ability, and that the old eunuch had helped him stage his apparent betrayal.
• Zhong Shan inferred that Nie Fanchen’s collapse of Great Li would pull the three great Heavenly Dynasties into a northern contest and give the High Heaven Court time to pursue its southern plans.
• Zhong Shan assigned Shui Wuhen and Liu Wushuang to gather northern intelligence, ordered Yi Yan to oversee the Great Whale Devour Plan, and sent Water Mirror and Empress Bei to approach the Black Tortoise Young Master.
• Three months later, Li Si and Xu Fu arrived at Lu Residence and began the ritual to call Lu Guitian’s soul back.

Gui Shou rejected the Great Zheng Emperor Dynasty’s offer to recruit the Black Tortoise Clan and prepared to report to the Eternal Life Realm, while Zhong Shan studied Nie Fanchen’s instructions for the Rivers and Mountains Shrine Painting. Zhong Shan then received reports on the northern campaigns and learned that Lu Buwei had appeared in Great Qin.

• Gui Shou told Gui She how Zhong Shan had injured him and killed Lu Guitian and Wu Huan, then insisted the Black Tortoise Clan remain allied with the Eternal Life Realm.
• Gui She revealed that Water Mirror had come to recruit the Black Tortoise Clan for the Great Zheng Emperor Dynasty, but Gui Shou refused and set out for the Eternal Life Realm.
• Zhong Shan read Nie Fanchen’s scroll about the Rivers and Mountains Shrine Painting, learned it was a fragment of a sacred treasure, and put aside its difficult refining method.
• Shui Wuhen reported that Huan Tu Long, Forget Dust, and Bai Qi were leading the Great Yong, Grand Sui, and Great Qin armies north, and that Bai Qi had buried a million prisoners after the first battle.
• Shui Wuhen reported that golden wealth had filled Xianyang after Xu Fu cried “Soul, Return!” at the Lu Residence, and Zhong Shan identified the event with Lu Buwei.

Zhong Shan discussed launching the Great Whale Devour Plan before Zi Xun arrived and asked him to make amends for their past intimacy by becoming Dao Companions. He refused to abandon his four empresses, and Zi Xun left after warning him that Nu Qinghui intended to target him.

• Zhong Shan, Yi Yan, and Shui Wuhen planned to sell the Scenery Jade Disc through the Great Rong Merchant Guild and recruit members into a nine-level sales scheme.
• Liu Wushuang reported that Zi Xun had come to the palace, and Zhong Shan dismissed the others to meet her.
• Zi Xun asked Zhong Shan whether he remembered their encounter outside Dragon Gate Valley and challenged him to make amends for taking her chastity.
• Zhong Shan offered to make Zi Xun his Dao Companion, but refused her demand that he give up his four empresses.
• Zi Xun left in anger and warned Zhong Shan that Nu Qinghui intended to deal with him.

Zhong Shan’s envoys made progress toward winning over the Black Tortoise Clan, while Kong Lietian launched a plan to spread Confucianism and the Eternal Life Realm prepared to target Zhong Shan. Three months later, Lu Buwei warned Ying that Zhong Shan was preparing a commercial battle that could engulf the southern Emperor Dynasties.

• Bei Qing Si and Shui Jing reported that Gui She was receptive to negotiations, and Shui Jing predicted they could persuade the Black Tortoise Young Master and secure the Black Tortoise Clan.
• Kong Lietian ordered Se Kong to coordinate a campaign to spread Confucianism throughout the world, then learned that Zhong Shan was seeking to recruit the Black Tortoise Clan.
• Divine Crow Dao Lord urged Gui Shou to feign submission to Zhong Shan and revealed plans to attack the Great Zheng Emperor Dynasty and kill Zhong Shan.
• Three months later, Li Si told Ying that Bai Qi was winning on the Northern Battlefield and that Confucianism had appeared in western Emperor Dynasties under Kong Lietian’s influence.
• Lu Buwei praised Zhong Shan’s Heavenfall Plan and predicted an even larger commercial battle in the south, potentially involving more than fifteen Emperor Dynasties.

Gui She agreed to bring the Black Tortoise Clan into Great Zheng, while Zhong Shan set plans in motion against four invading dynasties whose officials had been compromised by the Great Whale Devour Plan. After two months of inconclusive border war, the Divine Crow Dao Lord arrived at High Heaven Court with six powerful allies, and Emperor Xuan Sha warned Zhong Shan that they were there.

• Zhong Shan promised Gui She that the Black Tortoise Clan would stand equal to the Phoenix Clan in Great Zheng, and Gui She agreed to join.
• Gui She revealed that the Supreme Sovereign had sent him to make a false offer, and Zhong Shan assigned Mister Shui Jing to win over wavering Black Tortoises and monitor the loyalists.
• Yi Yan reported that four imperial dynasties were preparing to attack Great Zheng, while Zhong Shan ordered the Great Whale Devour Plan accelerated and sent Yi Yan and Mister Shui Jing to the southern world.
• Officials across the four dynasties opposed war because it threatened their income from the Scenery Jade Discs, but their emperors forced the border conflict to begin.
• After two months without capturing a Great Zheng city, the Divine Crow Dao Lord led Nu Qinghui, Gui Shou, and four Eternal Life Realm elders toward High Heaven Court.
• Emperor Xuan Sha reported that the seven Tian Ji Realm experts had arrived, and Zhong Shan opened his eyes in the Eternal Life Hall.

The Divine Crow Dao Lord’s group tested the High Heaven Court with Toad Lai’s poisonous roar, injuring its people. Zhong Shan answered with the Nineteen-Clawed Qi Luck Golden Dragon, which turned the attack back on Toad Lai and left him badly wounded.

• The Divine Crow Dao Lord arrived at the South Heaven Gate with Nu Qinghui, Gui Shou, and three other Eternal Life Realm experts, and Toad Lai volunteered to attack.
• Toad Lai transformed into a giant toad and struck the guards with his poisonous sound attack, but Zhong Shan’s edict ordered the guards to withdraw.
• Toad Lai’s roar shook the High Heaven Court and poisoned its commoners, prompting Zhong Shan to summon the power of Great Zheng’s qi luck and merit.
• The Nineteen-Clawed Qi Luck Golden Dragon roared back, suppressing the quake and helping the commoners recover from the poison and damaged hearing.
• Zhong Shan called on the citizens to raise their right hands, and their strength empowered the golden dragon to drive Toad Lai’s attack back toward him.
• The dragon’s sound wave struck Toad Lai and sent him flying a thousand li, leaving him bleeding and badly injured.

Divine Crow Dao Lord attacked Zhong Shan with the Slaying Immortal Flying Knife, then joined three Eternal Life Realm experts to trap the High Heaven Court in the Immortal Execution Sword Formation. Zhong Shan stabilized the court with Great Zheng’s qi luck and the power of the stars, but Divine Crow Dao Lord hinted that Gui Shou could weaken Zhong Shan’s qi luck.

• Toad Lai was blasted away by the Great Zheng Qi Luck Golden Dragon, and Nu Qinghui warned that Zhong Shan could not risk drawing on the entire dynasty’s momentum.
• Divine Crow Dao Lord launched the Slaying Immortal Flying Knife at Zhong Shan, but Emperor Xuan Sha caught and deflected it.
• Divine Crow Dao Lord and three Green-Clad Men formed the Immortal Execution Sword Formation around the High Heaven Court.
• Zhong Shan summoned Great Zheng’s Emperor Dynasty Sacred Light, and Lu Jianping activated the power of 108 stars to stabilize the court and NanGong Sheng’s formation.
• Divine Crow Dao Lord said he would lower Zhong Shan’s qi luck, while Gui Shou sent a ray of multicolored light beyond the sword formation and Nu Qinghui watched the Qi Luck Golden Dragon.

As the Immortal Execution Sword Formation continued to trap the High Heaven Court, officials in the East Forest Emperor Dynasty grew resentful of the war, while Great Qin and Great Yong sent people to investigate Great Zheng. The gathered observers uncovered clues about the battle’s defenses and the feng shui Masters near the formation.

• East Forest Emperor Dynasty officials complained to the prime minister that the war had crippled their income, and Zhang Daren predicted that the prime minister would eventually push to end it.
• Ying forbade Great Qin from using Great Zheng’s commercial warfare, then sent Lu Buwei and Guigu to investigate Great Zheng and Mud Bodhisattva.
• The Great Yong Emperor sent Gu Taizong, King Zhan Tian, and Heavenly Old to Great Zheng as powers from across the world converged on the sword formation.
• Lu Buwei concluded that Zhong Shan had cast a vast net, while Guigu determined that the High Heaven Court’s earth-vein formation had protected it from major damage; the two argued before Lu Buwei departed.
• Heavenly Old told Gu Taizong and King Zhan Tian that Guigu was nearby, and King Taizong ordered his subordinates to investigate the people entering and leaving that area without alerting them.

Lu Buwei discovered that Mud Bodhisattva’s formation was trapping people at the entrance to the Eternal Life Realm, while the Great Yong Heavenly Dynasty killed Guigu. At the High Heaven Court, Zhong Shan exposed Gui She’s reversal of the Black Tortoise Clan and used a heavenly demon to disrupt Divine Crow Dao Lord’s allies.

• Lu Buwei questioned a cultivator outside the Eternal Life Realm, learned that its mist had trapped everyone for ten days, and recognized Mud Bodhisattva’s feng shui formation.
• King Zhan Tian killed Guigu after he and Heavenly Old and King Taizong defeated the Great Qin feng shui Master.
• Lu Buwei saw five-colored light flare from the Eternal Life Realm as King Skeleton and Mud Bodhisattva escaped from its mist.
• Zhong Shan revealed that Gui She had turned the Black Tortoise Clan against the four great imperial dynasties, and Gui She said their armies were suffering defeats.
• A heavenly demon possessed Gui Shou, Nu Qinghui, and Toad Lai; Divine Crow Dao Lord evaded the attack, Gui Shou fled beneath a gathering thundercloud, and Toad Lai regained consciousness after Divine Crow struck him.

Iron Blood persuaded the East Forest Emperor Dynasty’s officials to overthrow their ruler, causing the dynasty to collapse and Great Zheng’s fortune to surge. Trapped in the Immortal Execution Sword Formation, Zhong Shan declared that it was his turn to strike back at Divine Crow Dao Lord.

• Iron Blood and Wu Luo met with the Chancellor and officials, offering them greater rank and wealth if they found a way to end the war.
• Iron Blood encouraged the officials to kill East Forest Great Emperor, and they agreed to make the Chancellor their Emperor.
• Three days later, the Chancellor poisoned East Forest Great Emperor during a birthday banquet, and the officials trapped and killed him after a fierce fight.
• The East Forest Emperor Dynasty collapsed, while Gui Shou escaped the Immortal Execution Sword Formation and Toad Lai remained weakened by a Heavenly Demon.
• Divine Crow Dao Lord realized that four emperor dynasties had fallen as Great Zheng’s fortune surged and its Nineteen-Clawed Qi Luck Golden Dragon grew stronger.
• Zhong Shan smiled at Great Zheng’s growing power and told Divine Crow Dao Lord that it was his turn to strike back.

Zhong Shan resisted the Immortal Execution Sword Formation and survived Divine Crow Dao Lord’s assault by relying on Great Zheng’s providence, the Star Bead, and his own strength. As Emperor Xuan Sha killed more Eternal Life Realm experts, Zhong Shan drew on his citizens’ power and grew to a thousand zhang, while the enemy pressed their attack.

• The Qi Luck Golden Dragon merged with Zhong Shan, granting him True Dragon Body Protection and forcing the Immortal Execution Sword Formation to withdraw.
• Zhong Shan ordered Emperor Xuan Sha to attack, and Emperor Xuan Sha vanished to confront the Eternal Life Realm experts as Divine Crow Dao Lord pursued Zhong Shan with the Slaying Immortal Flying Knife.
• Zhong Shan’s Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail swallowed two white Slaying Immortal Flying Knives, while the Star Bead deflected the Immortal Trapping Sword and Zhong Shan blocked another blade with his saber.
• Nu Qinghui’s blue light entered the golden dragon’s brow, and Zhong Shan survived the attackers’ combined assault despite his saber shattering and his hand being wounded.
• Zhong Shan ordered Great Zheng’s citizens to raise their right hands, drew on their strength, and grew to a thousand zhang as Emperor Xuan Sha killed two more Eternal Life Realm experts.
• Divine Crow Dao Lord ordered another attack, sending the Slaying Immortal Flying Knife and the Immortal Trapping Sword toward Zhong Shan.

Zhong Shan endured a second assault by four Tian Ji Realm experts until Emperor Xuan Sha arrived and clashed with Divine Crow Dao Lord. The three supreme swords were then summoned away, Divine Crow Dao Lord escaped, and Zhong Shan returned to the High Heaven Court injured while ordering Nu Qinghui detained for questioning.

• Zhong Shan used Heavenly Law: Eight Hundred Heavy Waves and the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail to fend off the four experts’ attacks, though he suffered severe wounds.
• Divine Crow Dao Lord transformed the Slaying Immortal Gourd into a seven-colored greatsword and prepared to strike Zhong Shan again.
• Emperor Xuan Sha arrived and used the Immortal Execution Sword to clash with Divine Crow Dao Lord.
• The Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail bound three Tian Ji Realm experts, but Divine Crow Dao Lord crushed a five-colored pearl and the Immortal Execution Sword, Immortal Trapping Sword, and Immortal Slaughtering Sword flew west.
• The Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail swallowed the expert who had wielded the Immortal Trapping Sword, while Emperor Xuan Sha blocked Divine Crow Dao Lord and forced him to flee with Toad Lai.
• Zhong Shan ordered Emperor Xuan Sha to take Nu Qinghui to the Eternal Life Hall for questioning, then flew back to the High Heaven Court to recover.

After surviving the siege of Lingxiao Heavenly Court, Zhong Shan recovered quickly and advanced to the seventh layer of the Imperial Extreme Realm. He reforged his Nightmare Saber while remaining wary of the mysterious force Nu Qinghui had placed inside him, and Huan Ji asked to make him a wish someday.

• The Great Yong Grand Supreme King praised Zhong Shan’s tactics, while the War Heaven King struggled to accept that Zhong Shan had anticipated Emperor Xuan Sha’s arrival.
• Zi Xun stayed near Lingxiao Heavenly Court as Zhong Shan recovered, and by the next day the Fortune Golden Dragon showed that he was nearly well.
• Emperor Xuan Sha questioned Nu Qinghui, who admitted Zhong Shan would have died if the attackers had launched another combined strike; Xuan Sha insisted Zhong Shan had hidden more capabilities.
• Zhong Shan used energy from the Eight Extremities Heavenly Tail to recover and reach the seventh layer of the Imperial Extreme Realm, but he could not identify the blue light Nu Qinghui had sent into him.
• Zhong Shan reforged the Nightmare Saber over three days and thanked Huan Ji, who asked to make him a wish later but had not decided what it would be.

Zhong Shan settled Great Zheng’s affairs and confronted the captured Nu Qinghui to learn what the Blue Light inside him was. Their interrogation was interrupted when Zi Xun arrived, and Zhong Shan ordered the hall isolated before admitting her.

• Zhong Shan reassured Tian Ling'er, Bao Er, and Bei Qing Si, then heard Mud Bodhisattva and King Skeleton report that a powerful figure wielding Five-Colored Divine Light guarded the Eternal Life Realm.
• Shui Jing and Yi Yan reported progress destabilizing the imperial dynasties, and Zhong Shan set his sights on bringing most of them under Great Zheng’s control.
• Zhong Shan entered the Eternal Life Hall and questioned Nu Qinghui, demanding to know what Blue Light she had driven into his body.
• Nu Qinghui stayed silent as Zhong Shan tried to intimidate her, but she showed signs of panic when he threatened extraordinary methods.
• Liu Wushuang reported that Zi Xun had requested an audience, and Zhong Shan ordered her admitted while instructing everyone to withdraw and activate the isolation formation.

Nu Qinghui revealed that the Blue Light inside Zhong Shan was Gu Shentong’s Residual Thought, which would grow and eventually try to devour him. After Nu Qinghui was sent to the imperial prison, Zhong Shan concealed the danger from Bao Er, Tian Ling'er, and Bei Qing Si and resolved to face Gu Shentong himself.

• Zi Xun confronted Nu Qinghui and accused her of trying to revive Gu Shentong, whom Zi Xun said was truly dead.
• Nu Qinghui admitted that Gu Shentong’s Residual Thought was inside Zhong Shan and would grow until it could devour his spirit and everything else.
• Nu Qinghui explained that she chose Zhong Shan over Gu Zheng Yi because Zhong Shan shared Gu Shentong’s underlying intent more closely, while Zi Xun demanded that the spiritual sense be removed.
• Zi Xun wept and fled the hall, while Nu Qinghui insisted that no one could extract Gu Shentong’s spiritual sense.
• Zhong Shan ordered Liu Wushuang to confine Nu Qinghui in Heaven Number One Prison Cell and then went to Bao Er’s palace.
• Zhong Shan kept the truth from Bao Er, Tian Ling'er, and Bei Qing Si and silently resolved to find out who was stronger, he or Gu Shentong.

Tian Xiao Zi honored Tian Ji Zi for choosing the Reverse Yellow Springs Road and reincarnating in the living world with his memories intact. Half a year later, Great Zheng prepared to absorb lands destabilized by Zhong Shan’s commercial warfare, while Zhong Shan agreed to meet Gui Shou before the Black Tortoise Supreme departed for the Great Chiliocosm World.

• Tian Xiao Zi found Tian Ji Zi dead in meditation, placed his body in a jade coffin, and arranged for guards to watch the Yellow Springs Road Entrance.
• Tian Xiao Zi told Tian Chen Zi that Tian Ji Zi had taken the Reverse Yellow Springs Road to reincarnate with his memories, and Tian Chen Zi ordered closer monitoring of the entrance and Great Zheng.
• Ying heard that the northern armies were nearing a decisive battle, discussed Guigu’s death and the Eternal Life Realm with Li Si and Lu Buwei, and ordered Great Qin to send new commanders south.
• Lu Buwei reported that ten southern imperial dynasties had collapsed amid Zhong Shan’s commercial warfare, and Zhong Shan ordered Great Zheng to take over their lands as the northern Heavenly Dynasties mobilized.
• Zhong Shan appointed Shui Jing chief examiner for Great Zheng’s Imperial Examination, then learned that Gui Shou wished to see him before leaving for the Great Chiliocosm World and sent Gui She to bring him to Heaven’s Fate Pavilion.

Gui Shou allied the Black Tortoise Clan with Great Zheng and gave Zhong Shan the Four Symbols Great Array formation diagram. Over three years, Great Zheng took seventeen southern imperial dynasties through the Scenery Jade Disc’s influence, and Zhong Shan ordered preparations for the final stage of his expansion plan.

• Gui Shou accepted Gui She's decision to ally the Black Tortoise Clan with Great Zheng and urged Zhong Shan to protect the clan.
• Gui Shou revealed that two Sages once competed for the Heavenly Canon in the Small Chiliocosm World and gave Zhong Shan the Four Symbols Great Array diagram, which required the Black Tortoise, Phoenix, Dragon, and Tiger clans.
• The Scenery Jade Disc and Great Zheng’s merchant network stirred unrest across the southern lands, helping Great Zheng’s army take imperial dynasties with little resistance.
• Over three years, Great Zheng took seventeen of the south’s twenty-four imperial dynasties, while Yi Yan stopped Iron Blood from advancing further to avoid provoking the three Heavenly Dynasties.
• Zhong Shan ordered Shui Jing to appoint Imperial Examination talents to important posts in the conquered cities and decided to continue the Pyramid Scheme for another year before beginning the beheading and palace-seizing stage of the Great Whale Devour Plan.

Great Zheng eradicated the Scenery Jade Disc pyramid schemes and secured its position as one of four powers dividing the Divine Continent. Thirty years later, Xuan Yuan arrived at Zhong Shan’s court badly wounded and warned that the Divine Continent might face a great calamity.

• General Iron Blood surrounded City Lord Lin’s manor and executed the pyramid scheme’s high-ranking members under the Great Zheng Emperor’s decree.
• Great Zheng consolidated its rule in the south as talents flocked to the dynasty, while a mysterious child in a teahouse began calling himself Tian Ji Zi.
• In Xianyang, Ying and his officials discussed the four great powers and chose to recuperate rather than launch another war.
• Thirty years later, Xuan Yuan sensed an invader from the Great Chiliocosm World, confronted the threat, and suffered severe injuries.
• Xuan Yuan came to see Zhong Shan and warned him that the Divine Continent might face a great calamity.