Recaps

Great Master Xuan Du and Celestial Venerable Taiyi clashed over whether Qi WuHuo belonged to their lineage, while Qi WuHuo recognized that Gouchen’s plans centered on warfare as well as Master of All Species. The chapter ended with Fuxi appearing before Qi WuHuo in the rain.

• Great Master Xuan Du confronted Celestial Venerable Taiyi about calling Qi WuHuo his Junior Brother, and their argument escalated into a fight that devastated an immortal realm.
• Celestial Venerable Taiyi claimed he had taught Qi WuHuo the Tribulation Sword, Primordial Scarlet Script, and secret Lingbao method, while Great Master Xuan Du defended his own instruction in the Supreme Elixir Art.
• Great Master Xuan Du accused Tianpeng of trying to steal his disciple and carried Celestial Venerable Taiyi away as purple flames filled the heavens.
• In the Demon Realm, Li Zhai told Qi WuHuo he planned to connect human-held cities into a Great Wall that would warn the human race of demon attacks.
• After Li Zhai passed out, Qi WuHuo realized Gouchen’s pursuit of Master of All Species concealed a parallel plan to claim the pinnacle of warfare.
• Fuxi appeared before Qi WuHuo in the rain, and Qi WuHuo asked whether he should address him as Destroy Buddha, Execute Emperor, or Fuxi.

Qi WuHuo learned from Fuxi’s zither spirit that Gouchen’s war was a ritual and heard the history of Fuxi’s conflict with [Taiyi]. The spirit revealed that Fuxi had planned his defeat so he could use Gouchen’s martial aura to challenge the Great Dao and restore the erased Empress Wa.

• Fuxi’s artifact spirit explained that Gouchen had subdued him in the past and that the battle of slaughter had been Gouchen’s ritual.
• The spirit recounted how [Taiyi] erased the Empress Wa from the Great Dao, and how Fuxi, despite eventually forgetting her, recorded the truth before his madness and death.
• The spirit revealed that Fuxi had caused the ancient heavenly court to crash into the mortal world, creating the Demon Realm, and had shaped the conflicts of the Second Kalpa to bring down [Taiyi].
• The spirit said Gouchen ultimately defeated Fuxi, who used his own Imperial rank to sever Gouchen’s martial aura.
• The spirit explained that Fuxi had intended to use the force of an all-out battle between Imperials to raise his sword against the Great Dao and recover the Empress Wa’s traces and a sliver of life.

Qi WuHuo learned how Fuxi died after inscribing the Empress Wa into the Dao, and how Fuxi’s spirit had killed Buddha and an emperor to try to restore her. He agreed to hear the spirit’s strategy against Gouchen, while the young Jade Emperor discovered that Heaven’s unchanging order was beginning to shift.

• The spirit explained that Fuxi returned to the Dao after restoring the Empress Wa’s existence and memories, but could not ensure her immediate revival.
• The spirit revealed that Gouchen had defeated Fuxi in battle and described how Gouchen’s rise and title as Heavenly Emperor God had followed the Dao’s turning.
• The spirit offered to help Qi WuHuo against Gouchen, then confessed that he had killed an emperor and a Buddha while following Fuxi’s orders to restore the Empress Wa’s bloodline.
• Qi WuHuo refused to let the spirit go to Xiao Pengcao, and the spirit offered Fuxi’s strategy in exchange for a test of Qi WuHuo’s plan; Qi WuHuo accepted.
• After a month reading records left by his former selves, the young Jade Emperor realized that he was bound to maintain Heaven’s order until he vanished.
• The Old Celestial Lord told the Jade Emperor that Great Master Xuan Du was carrying Celestial Venerable Taiyi while chasing Heavenly Marshal Tian Peng.

Great Master Xuan Du and True Lord Tian Peng fought over whether their junior apprentice brother belonged to their lineages, then agreed to ask the mortal himself. Great Emperor Ziwei proposed summoning him to the heavenly palace and persuaded the Jade Emperor to grant him the honorific title [True Martial].

• The Jade Emperor asked whether Great Emperor Spirit Observation had the upper hand as Great Master Xuan Du chased True Lord Tian Peng across the sky.
• Great Unity Salvation Heavenly Venerate stopped the fight by suggesting the three senior disciples ask the mortal which lineage he wanted to join.
• The Jade Emperor wanted to descend with them, but Great Master Xuan Du and Great Unity Salvation Heavenly Venerate refused to let him leave the Heavenly Court.
• Great Emperor Ziwei said the Jade Emperor could meet the mortal when he ascended to receive the title [Martial] for ending the calamity.
• Great Emperor Ziwei used his privilege to ask the Jade Emperor to grant the mortal the highest honorific title, [True], and declared that he should be called [True Martial].

Qi WuHuo returned the Dragon Emperor’s Dragon Pearl to the Dragon Clan’s ancestral grounds, then asked Dragon King Ao Guang for a treasure from the East Sea’s Ancestral Vein. As the Demon Emperor and Human Emperor drove the realms toward war, Qi WuHuo revealed his plan to borrow the Demon Emperor’s Seal.

• The Jade Emperor granted Qi WuHuo the title of True Warrior, while Great Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole confirmed that Yun Qin had been stripped of her title and punished for breaking Heaven’s laws.
• Qi WuHuo left for the Eastern Sea to honor his promise to the Dragon Emperor, despite the green-robed artifact spirit urging him to protect Xiao Pengcao instead.
• At the Eastern Sea, Qi WuHuo returned the Dragon Emperor’s Dragon Pearl to the Dragon Clan’s ancestral grounds, where the Dragon Emperor’s spirit faded away.
• The Human Emperor ordered Li Zhai back to the capital and allowed thirty-two border cities to fall, but Li Zhai followed the message Qi WuHuo had left and turned his army back to reclaim the cities.
• Qi WuHuo asked Dragon King Ao Guang for a treasure from the East Sea’s Ancestral Vein, then requested that Ao Guang lend him the Demon Emperor’s Seal.

Qi WuHuo sought to borrow the Dragon Race’s seal to stop the Tribulation of All Living Beings, but the Azure Dragon refused until Qi WuHuo swore to reunite the Dragon Clan’s three branches. The Azure Dragon lent him the treasure and led him into Guixu, where Qi WuHuo learned it was the Taiyi Seal, the seal of the Master of All Species.

• Ao Guang refused Qi WuHuo’s request to borrow the Dragon Emperor’s Seal, and the Azure Dragon emerged from Guixu to reject him as well.
• Ao Guang explained that the ancient pureblood dragons guarded the East Sea Eye and that the Azure Dragon would destroy the seal rather than surrender it under pressure.
• Qi WuHuo learned from Di Ting that Huang Yao and Xiao Pengcao had been captured and that the Demon Emperor had gathered five great sages.
• When the Azure Dragon attacked Qi WuHuo, the artifact spirit took the blow, and Qi WuHuo offered to unite the Dragon Clan’s three branches in exchange for the seal.
• Qi WuHuo swore by his Dao-heart to fulfill the task or die and be imprisoned in Guixu for thirty thousand years.
• The Azure Dragon brought Qi WuHuo into Guixu and revealed that the mountain-sized treasure was the Taiyi Seal, the seal of the Master of All Species.

Qi WuHuo obtained the Taiyi Seal from the Azure Dragon and rushed to confront the Demon Emperor Great Firmament as he rallied the demon armies. After exposing Great Firmament’s betrayal of the Dragon Emperor, Qi WuHuo used the seal to redirect the demons’ momentum and declare that whoever killed the Demon Emperor would become their rightful ruler.

• The Azure Dragon gave Qi WuHuo the Taiyi Seal, warned him about its power, and took him to the Demon Emperor’s gathering before returning to the East Sea.
• The Demon Emperor Great Firmament stirred the demon armies’ anger over their stolen homeland and prepared to use Xiao Pengcao as a sacrifice to consecrate his war banner.
• Qi WuHuo climbed alone through the demon ranks and challenged Great Firmament over why he had led them into the conflict between Gouchen and Houtu.
• Qi WuHuo revealed that Great Firmament had joined Gouchen in betraying and killing the Dragon Emperor, and Great Firmament hurled a spear at him.
• Qi WuHuo blocked the spear with Destroy Buddha, Execute Emperor, and used the Taiyi Seal to seize the demons’ momentum and depose Great Firmament.
• As the Great Sages turned against Great Firmament, Qi WuHuo declared that whoever killed the Demon Emperor would become the rightful ruler and Lord of All Spirits and All Things.

Qi WuHuo turned the Demon Race’s soldiers and Great Saints against the Demon Emperor, Great Firmament, using their fear and ambition to build momentum for his downfall. After Great Firmament fled wounded and the Great Saints turned on Qi WuHuo over the Taiyi Seal, Qi WuHuo threw it to the Dragon Saint, leaving the Dragon Saint holding the seal as fate shifted around him.

• Qi WuHuo revealed that the Taiyi Seal was only a token and used the Great Saints’ ambitions and the Demon Race’s soldiers’ outrage to establish momentum against Great Firmament.
• Dijiang and the Phoenix Emperor joined the assault on Great Firmament, while Dijiang challenged Qi WuHuo’s authority to confer titles and called on the soldiers to kill him.
• Qi WuHuo explained to the weapon spirit that he had gambled on Great Firmament’s pride and fear, then asked why Taiyi had opposed Empress Wa and her creations.
• Great Firmament broke through the battle and fled wounded, while the Great Saints descended and began competing to seize the Taiyi Seal and kill Qi WuHuo.
• Qi WuHuo tossed the Taiyi Seal to the Dragon Saint, who caught it and saw the currents of fate turn.

Qi WuHuo returned the Taiyi Seal and exposed Great Firmament’s crimes, then watched the Great Saints compete for the Demon Emperor’s throne as his ritual transformed Ying Huo Star. The seal recognized the bewildered girl beside Huangyao, changing the ritual’s course and leaving the myriad spirits stunned.

• The Dragon Saint stopped the demons from killing Qi WuHuo, arguing that he deserved respect for returning the seal and exposing Great Firmament’s crimes.
• Qi WuHuo explained that he had used the seal to break the deadlock and force the Dragon Saint to protect him, while preparing an escape plan in case it failed.
• Dijiang insisted that the Great Saints decide the next Emperor immediately, and they agreed to test the Taiyi Seal before the myriad spirits.
• As the Great Saints took turns trying the seal, Qi WuHuo endured agonizing changes as Ying Huo Star began shifting toward revolution.
• The Dragon Saint and Dijiang clashed over the seal before Huangyao seized it, but the Taiyi Seal’s killing intent forced her to release it.
• The girl beside Huangyao caught the seal, which accepted her and unleashed a sacred radiance as Qi WuHuo’s flame markings steadied.

Xiao Pengcao gained the Taiyi Seal’s recognition and was proclaimed emperor, but the Great Sages’ support concealed competing agendas. Qi WuHuo asked Xiao Pengcao whether she wanted the throne as Huangyao urged him to take her away, while a disturbance erupted in the Department of Dipper.

• The Taiyi Seal recognized Xiao Pengcao, and Dijiang and the Dragon Saint accepted her claim to the throne while the other Great Sages remained uncertain.
• Dijiang told his followers he intended to use Xiao Pengcao as a puppet emperor and make his own will the true authority.
• The Dragon Saint explained that he supported Xiao Pengcao because he believed the Dragon Emperor ancestor and Azure Dragon Ancestor had approved of Qi WuHuo and the seal.
• Huangyao warned Qi WuHuo that the Great Sages had their own agendas and asked him to take Xiao Pengcao away from the danger.
• Qi WuHuo asked Xiao Pengcao whether she herself wanted to become emperor.
• An attendant at the Department of Dipper shouted that Fire Star had gone berserk again.

Qi WuHuo helped Xiao Pengcao choose to become a Huang and began shaping a path for her that would let her develop her own power. As Fire Luminary broke free of the Department of Dipper’s suppression, the Eleven Luminaries aligned, and the Northern Emperor sensed that events had taken an unexpected turn.

• Primordial Lady Taiyin sent the Five Luminaries and the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to suppress Fire Luminary, but it broke through their formation.
• Qi WuHuo told Xiao Pengcao she could choose her own future, and she decided to become a Huang rather than live as someone else’s puppet or shadow.
• Qi WuHuo agreed to help Xiao Pengcao and, with Huang Yao’s support, prepared to teach her a cultivation method based on the Taiyi Seal.
• Qi WuHuo asked Xiao Pengcao to pass him the seal’s Spirit Charm and began adapting his senior brother’s method for all spirits, naming its Way fortune.
• The Four Hidden Stars joined the Seven Luminaries and Sun and Moon, forming an unprecedented Eleven Luminaries alignment that brought Fire Luminary into balance.
• The Northern Emperor observed the alignment and sensed that the struggle between Gou Chen and Hou Tu had ended sooner than expected, setting events in motion.

Qi WuHuo prepared Xiao Pengcao to assume the throne of the Demon Realm and agreed to accompany her at her coronation, while news arrived that Qing Jingwei had fled after attaining ordinary Great Sagehood. As the spirit attendant offered to arrange a Taiyi-style ritual and the Dragon Saint arrived, he confronted Qi WuHuo over handing the Dragon Race's seal to the Demon Emperor.

• Great Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole ordered Left Assistant and Right Assistant to prepare the ceremony conferring the title of True Warrior, saying Houtu and Gouchen's battle would soon be decided.
• Qi WuHuo taught Xiao Pengcao a method drawn from the Taiyi Seal to gather the fortune of all spirits and told her to condense her fortune during her coronation; he agreed to walk with her that day.
• The spirit attendant told Qi WuHuo that Qing Jingwei had fled beyond Demon Race territory after attaining ordinary Great Sagehood, and Qi WuHuo reviewed Huang Yao's efforts to clear his name and protect Xiao Pengcao's reputation.
• Qi WuHuo said he would remain until Xiao Pengcao's coronation, and the spirit attendant offered to arrange a simplified Taiyi ritual with Great Sage Huang Yao.
• The Dragon Saint confronted Qi WuHuo, demanding to know why he had handed the Dragon Race's entrusted seal to the Demon Emperor and how he would answer to the Dragon Race.

Qi WuHuo confronted the Dragon Saint and bargained for his branch of the Dragon race to protect Xiao Pengcao, while the Eleven Luminaries’ ritual was disrupted by the Fire Luminary’s surge. As Qi WuHuo led Xiao Pengcao through her enthronement rite, later generations remembered him as the Imperial Preceptor, though official histories omitted his name.

• Qi WuHuo exposed the Dragon Saint’s plan to take the Dragon Emperor’s remains and offered to help reconcile him with the Dragon Emperor and Azure Dragon if he and Huangyao protected Xiao Pengcao for five hundred years.
• The Dragon Saint resisted returning to the East Sea, but Qi WuHuo warned him that Empress Houtu would soon have a free hand, and the Dragon Saint departed.
• Di Ting agreed to stir fear within the Dragon race, while Qi WuHuo watched the Eleven Luminaries’ ritual prepare to strengthen Primordial Lady Taiyin.
• As Mount Buzhou and Gouchen continued their fierce clash, Huangyao and the Artifact Spirit assembled the ancient rite for Xiao Pengcao’s enthronement.
• Qi WuHuo led Xiao Pengcao up the ritual steps as the Fire Luminary shattered the Eleven Luminaries’ formation and surged toward the Violet Palace.
• Qi WuHuo declared the Fire Luminary a great auspice and guided Xiao Pengcao onward; later accounts remembered him as the Imperial Preceptor, though official records left him unnamed.

Great Firmament planned to kill Qi WuHuo after the celebrations, while the Fire Luminary’s ritual raised it to a new imperial rank and title. Far beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, Houtu defeated Gouchen’s war halberd, shattering his divine weapon.

• Great Firmament withdrew from the celebration and resolved to ambush and kill Qi WuHuo after he left the Demon Race.
• The Fire Luminary surged toward Ziwei Palace, and the Northern Emperor allowed it to continue while the Dou Department’s Star Lords watched in alarm.
• The Jade Emperor ordered the Heavenly Court to stabilize the Fire Luminary’s ascension, and the Dipper Department gave it the titles Three Qi Fire Official, True Lord Flame Emperor, and Great Emperor Dongyang of Three Qi, Heavenly Venerate of Southern Elixir Longevity.
• The young Jade Emperor rejoiced at the Heavenly Court’s strength, then realized the Lord of Fire Virtue was present and watched Great Master Xuan Du leave rather than arrange a meeting.
• Gouchen faltered during his battle with Houtu, who struck him with the Sky-Shattering Mace and shattered his war halberd.

Empress Houtu defeated Great Emperor Gouchen, who surrendered and sealed himself beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, leaving the Celestial Court with only two Emperors. Houtu then asked Shangqing Great Dao Lord to forge Qi WuHuo a sword from Gouchen’s broken weapon and Mount Tai’s Earth Veins, naming it Cease War.

• Empress Houtu shattered Gouchen’s war-glaive, seized its broken section, and struck him down with the Sky-Shattering Mace.
• Gouchen admitted defeat, abandoned his title, and sealed himself beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens while Houtu sealed the passage with Mount Buzhou’s mountains.
• The young Jade Emperor realized Houtu and Gouchen had both left the Four Emperors and worried that only Zhenwu could be relied upon.
• After the honored gods departed, Houtu stopped Shangqing Great Dao Lord and asked him to forge a sword for Qi WuHuo from Gouchen’s broken weapon and Mount Tai’s Earth Veins.
• Houtu named the sword Cease War, explaining that it would be made for Qi WuHuo alone.

Shangqing Great Dao Lord accepted Empress Houtu’s request to forge a sword for Qi WuHuo and planned to train him in person, while Houtu returned to discipline a reckless youth. In the mortal realm, the Demon Race exposed Great Firmament as a traitor by presenting his severed arm to the Human Emperor, whose shock and rage were later recast by Crown Prince Li Hui as a public display of joy.

• Shangqing Great Dao Lord agreed to forge a sword uniquely suited to Qi WuHuo and arranged to build a forge where he lived so he could teach him.
• Empress Houtu left to give a reckless youth a lesson, while she declined the Old Celestial Lord’s request to return to the Heavenly Court.
• The young Jade Emperor learned that the ancient Demon Race was stirring, as Li Zhai received a letter about a Demon Race messenger bound for the imperial capital.
• Daoist Tian Yangzi returned nine frontier cities to Li Zhai and explained that he refused to serve as a pawn against the general.
• The Demon Race’s hero presented the Human Emperor with Great Firmament’s severed arm and declared that Great Firmament had been a traitor, causing the Emperor to spit blood and collapse.
• Crown Prince Li Hui altered the court historian’s account so the Emperor’s shock and near-fainting were recorded as a reaction of joy.

Qi Wuhuo destroyed the forbidden Saint Embryo methods and left the Demon Realm after revealing his title, Supreme Xuanwei, despite the Great Sages’ attempt to keep him there. As Great Firmament prepared to ambush him on the journey east, Empress Houtu appeared before the Demon Emperor.

• Qi Wuhuo burned the collected Saint Embryo scriptures, including the original scroll, after reading their creator’s warning about the method’s slaughter and danger.
• The Demon Race’s Great Sages tried to make Qi Wuhuo stay, but he revealed his jade plaque and declared himself Supreme Xuanwei, so they let him leave.
• Qi Wuhuo departed with the Dragon Saint, intending to reach the East Sea and seek Great Sage Azure Dragon’s protection while helping resolve the Dragon race’s conflict.
• Great Firmament sensed Qi Wuhuo’s departure and prepared a powerful strike, while Qi Wuhuo and the Dragon Saint braced for the ambush.
• Great Firmament halted when the earth’s ley lines stirred and Empress Houtu appeared before him.

Great Firmament confronted Houtu after she defeated Gouchen, but Houtu killed him with one strike. Qi WuHuo escaped with Dragon Saint to the Eastern Sea, where they learned of Great Firmament’s death and heard that Houtu had come to see Qi WuHuo.

• Great Firmament unleashed his full power and attacked Houtu, but she shattered his weapon and killed him with the Sky-Shattering Mace in a single strike.
• Houtu said she had killed Great Firmament for attacking the Earthly Deity, fighting the Demon Race, and turning his murderous intent toward Qi WuHuo.
• Dragon Saint carried Qi WuHuo to the Eastern Sea, where Great Sage Azure Dragon told them Houtu had killed Great Firmament and destroyed his soul.
• The Sea Patrol Yaksha announced that Houtu had arrived and delivered her message to Qi WuHuo: “Stay right there this time. Do you hear me?”

After the victory banquet, Qi WuHuo left the Dongyue Seal behind and returned to his devastated hometown of Jinzhou, where he restored its ley lines by releasing the Saint Embryo’s power as rain. Exhausted, he slept on Ao Cang’s back and completed the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, as Jinzhou flourished once more.

• Empress Houtu reunited with Qi WuHuo, reassured him that she had approved his appointment of the Mountain Gods, and brought him to the earthly spirits’ victory banquet.
• When Old Celestial Lord arrived with the Jade Emperor’s decree, the earthly spirits discovered that Qi WuHuo had left the Dongyue Seal behind and departed with Ao Cang.
• Qi WuHuo told Ao Cang that Jinzhou was his hometown, then reversed the Saint Embryo’s power and returned it to Jinzhou, restoring the prefecture’s ley lines and bringing rain and new growth.
• Qi WuHuo released the Saint Embryo into a river after Ao Cang advised him to let Heaven and Earth nurture it, and he fell asleep on Ao Cang’s back.
• As Ao Cang carried Qi WuHuo across the sky, Qi WuHuo completed the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, and Ao Cang hailed him as a True Immortal.

Yun Qin was forced to attend the grand Nine Heavens ritual to enshrine True Martial, while the Jade Emperor and assembled immortals awaited the honoree. The ritual reached its climax, but True Martial failed to appear, leaving the Jade Emperor and the Celestial Court in shock.

• Yun Qin tried to avoid the ritual, but Yun Zhiyi and Weaver Girl insisted she attend because the Jade Emperor would be present.
• Yun Qin dressed in sword-immortal attire, joined her parents and Old Yellow Ox, and traveled to the Soaring Heavens Palace among the gathered immortals and Bodhisattvas.
• Yun Qin watched the Judicial Great Celestial Venerable arrive and secretly recorded the ceremony to show Wuhuo later.
• Old Celestial Lord recited the Jade Emperor's decree, appointing True Martial as Nine Heavens Patrol Envoy and granting him several titles.
• The ritual formation remained empty when Old Celestial Lord called for True Martial, and the Jade Emperor's anticipation turned to shock.

Qi WuHuo refused the Heavenly Court’s True Warrior investiture, condemning the Jade Emperor for celebrating while the dead were still being mourned. After hearing his words, the young Jade Emperor acknowledged his own failure and decided to meet Qi WuHuo in the mortal world.

• Qi WuHuo explained to Empress Houtu why he distrusted the Heavenly Court and would not accept the True Warrior title.
• Qi WuHuo criticized the Jade Emperor for failing to stop the Calamity and declared that Heaven was sick.
• Qi WuHuo cast the Jade Emperor’s decree into the river, rejecting the investiture.
• The young Jade Emperor watched the exchange through the Haotian Mirror and was shaken by Qi WuHuo’s accusations.
• The young Jade Emperor told Old Celestial Lord he would go to the mortal world to meet Qi WuHuo himself.

Qi WuHuo refused the Jade Emperor’s appointment and showed the Old Celestial Lord the deaths caused by the Heavenly Court’s failures, then explained his plan to unite the mortal realm and the other realms through fortune and destiny. The young Jade Emperor descended to meet him, and Qi WuHuo welcomed the tearful boy who claimed to be Little Jade.

• The Old Celestial Lord challenged Qi WuHuo for refusing the Jade Emperor’s appointment, and Qi WuHuo questioned the Heavenly Court’s claim that it could not interfere in mortal affairs.
• Qi WuHuo showed the Old Celestial Lord Jinzhou’s funeral banners and the underground memorial of the dead, explaining that he understood the Heavenly Court’s difficulties but had difficulties of his own.
• The Old Celestial Lord returned toward Heaven as grieving people begged him to restore their dead, and the young Jade Emperor decided to descend to see the mortal world himself.
• Qi WuHuo told Empress Houtu that he would complete Senior Brother Xuan Zhen’s record, unite the human nations, and build a system of fortune and destiny across the realms independent of Heaven.
• Qi WuHuo explained that a self-reliant mortal world could free the Jade Emperor from Haotian’s legacy, and the young Jade Emperor arrived at his door in tears, claiming his name was Little Jade.

Zhang Xiaoyu, the young Jade Emperor with a newly born consciousness, visited Qi WuHuo and struggled to control the power left in his body. After returning to Heaven, he recorded a plan to abandon Haotian’s court and establish a Celestial Court of his own.

• Empress Houtu invited Zhang Xiaoyu inside after his emotions overwhelmed him, and he told Qi WuHuo that he had lost his memory.
• Zhang Xiaoyu accidentally destroyed kitchen utensils and sent pottery crashing into the river, where an angry River God emerged; Qi WuHuo assumed he was a cultivator who could not control his strength.
• Qi WuHuo offered to help Zhang Xiaoyu regain control through sparring and hardship, while Empress Houtu observed him closely.
• Empress Houtu reunited Zhang Xiaoyu with Taiyi Salvation Heavenly Venerate and Great Master Xuan Du, then demanded that Xuan Du explain the Jade Emperor’s worsening condition.
• Taiyi Salvation Heavenly Venerate brought Zhang Xiaoyu back to the Soaring Heavens Palace, where he recorded his experiences and resolved to defy Heaven by creating a Celestial Court belonging to the Jade Emperor.

Zhang Xiaoyu decided to rebel against the Heavenly Court’s failing order, trusting Qi WuHuo as a possible ally and resolving to descend to the mortal world to reclaim his power. Qi WuHuo then met Xuan Du, who asked whether the Jade Emperor had returned to the Heavenly Court.

• Zhang Xiaoyu considered Qi WuHuo’s plan to unite the five directions and five realms and concluded that rebellion could give the Jade Emperor a chance to remake the world.
• Zhang Xiaoyu judged the Heavenly Court’s leaders unreliable and named Qi WuHuo as the person he trusted most for now.
• Zhang Xiaoyu recorded his plan to descend again, cultivate his power anew, and observe Qi WuHuo’s actions despite the risk to his body and soul.
• Qi WuHuo reflected on Zhang Xiaoyu’s strange arrival and the danger implied by his name and failing body.
• Empress Houtu returned with Xuan Du, who introduced himself to Qi WuHuo as his eldest senior brother.
• Xuan Du asked whether the Jade Emperor had returned to the Heavenly Court.

Xuan Du Great Master explained that the Jade Emperor’s apparent memory loss came from his soul being gravely wounded after the battle eight thousand years ago, leaving a child in his place. He urged Qi WuHuo to judge the Heavenly Court for himself, then gave him the Supreme Elixir Art and warned him not to trust the Jade Emperor’s childlike appearance.

• Xuan Du Great Master made Qi WuHuo call him senior brother before explaining the Jade Emperor’s condition.
• Xuan Du Great Master recounted how the Jade Emperor’s soul was severely injured after he subdued the chaos eight thousand years earlier, and how he later found a sixteen-year-old boy on the Imperial Seat.
• Xuan Du Great Master described the competing aims of the Heavenly Court’s powerful figures and told Qi WuHuo to see their different Dao paths before choosing his own course.
• Xuan Du Great Master warned Qi WuHuo that the Jade Emperor’s child had died more than six hundred times and might visit him again, then told him not to mistake the child for the Jade Emperor.
• Xuan Du Great Master returned the Supreme Elixir Art to Qi WuHuo, blaming Heavenly Marshal Yu Zhen for withholding it.
• Heavenly Marshal Tian Peng sensed someone mentioning him, then received a message from Xuan Du Great Master and opened it with concern.