Chapter Summaries

Great Emperor Zhuling entered the Human World and chose not to fight Supreme Xuanwei, while Qi WuHuo watched the capital’s growing political unrest. As the Aristocratic Clans turned against Li Zhai, Li Hui exposed their rebellion and died taking the head of the Wang family with him.

• Great Emperor Zhuling saw Human Dao Destiny flourishing, put aside his plan to fight Supreme Xuanwei, and entered the capital to stay for a while.
• Qi WuHuo observed the Dragon Maiden and Ran Deng, cultivated Human Qi, and heard rumors that Li Zhai’s campaign against the Aristocratic Clans was making him unpopular.
• An envoy urged Li Weifeng to seize the throne, but Li Qiongyu killed the envoy and slapped her brother until he suppressed his ambition.
• The Aristocratic Clans and monks forced Li Hui to proclaim himself emperor and rally the capital against Li Zhai, while their troops and agents blocked Li Zhai’s return.
• Li Hui denounced the clans and Buddhist sects as rebels, ordered Li Zhai to kill them, and fell from the Star Picking Tower holding the head of the Wang family as the two died together.

After Li Hui sacrificed himself to expose the Aristocratic Clans, Li Zhai used his death as justification to destroy their power. When Li Zhai asked Qi WuHuo how to counter Buddhism’s spread across the Human World, the Daoist proposed absorbing Buddhist institutions into the Daoist sect by reforming Buddhism into Dao.

• Li Hui provoked the Wang clan and died alongside the head of the Wang family, leaving the people convinced that the Aristocratic Clans had murdered the Emperor.
• Li Zhai used Li Hui’s death to suppress the Aristocratic Clans, rejected Su Shengyuan’s plea on their behalf, and buried his brother with the rites of a ruler.
• Qi WuHuo watched Li Hui’s funeral from a distance, remembered their earlier friendship, and left the Human World after pouring out his wine.
• Li Zhai discovered Buddhist involvement in the Aristocratic Clans’ plots and the spread of Buddhist teachings, then asked Qi WuHuo to show him a way forward.
• Qi WuHuo proposed turning Buddhist temples into Daoist temples and reclassifying Buddhist figures and monks, then declared that Buddhism should be reformed into Great Awakened Golden Immortals, given surnames, and absorbed into the Daoist sect.

Qi WuHuo used the mortal world's destiny to recast Buddhism as a branch of the Daoist Sect, prompting King Wei Wu Li Zhai to enforce new titles and alter Buddhist statues. As the changes spread, the Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole moved to confront Qi WuHuo in the mortal world.

• Qi WuHuo subdued a monk who attacked him and revealed himself as the ruler of the underworld, then left the matter to King Wei Wu Li Zhai.
• King Wei Wu Li Zhai ordered monks to change their attire and Buddhist statues to be given hair, while craftsmen adapted the statues’ ushnishas to meet the deadline.
• A Dragon Maiden scouted the Treasury Chamber and prepared to steal from it, but Qi WuHuo noticed her from afar.
• Buddhism’s Buddhas complained to the Tathagata of Immeasurable Life, Wisdom, and Light about Qi WuHuo’s actions.
• The Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole influenced the Tathagata and decided to confront Qi WuHuo, striding toward the mortal world.

Zhuling revealed himself as the Great Emperor Zhuling of the South Pole and rushed to protect Nuwa as the Buddha advanced to confront Qi WuHuo over Human Dao Destiny. The chapter ended with Zhuling attacking the Tathagata of Immeasurable Life, Wisdom, and Light, furious that the Buddha had come to start a fight.

• Zhuling caught the old temple keeper and watched the turbulent Destiny, then ordered the attendants into the Nuwa Hall before setting out to protect Nuwa.
• The Tathagata of Immeasurable Life, Wisdom, and Light crossed the Buddha Kingdom and strode into the Nine Provinces to confront Qi WuHuo.
• Qi WuHuo prepared to answer the Buddha's approach, while Old Green Ox urged him not to risk his life by acting.
• Zhuling burst across the sky in scarlet flames and struck the Tathagata, interrupting his advance toward Qi WuHuo.
• The Tathagata asked why Zhuling had come, and Zhuling answered by attacking with his spear and shouting insults.

Great Emperor Zhuling attacked Longevity Buddha but was defeated when Great Emperor Changsheng’s divine will descended into a stronger Buddhist form and advanced on the Capital City. As the Human World’s destiny failed to stop him, Qi WuHuo wrote the opening line of a principle meant to unite the people, freezing all things for an instant.

• Great Emperor Zhuling fought Longevity Buddha, then impaled him despite his claim to be an incarnation of Great Emperor Changsheng.
• Great Emperor Changsheng sent his divine will into the Human World, broke Zhuling’s spear, and subdued him before advancing toward the Capital City.
• Qi WuHuo sensed the Human World’s destiny rejecting the Buddha, while Fuxi arrived and urged everyone to retreat with Nuwa rather than risk a battle that would shatter that destiny.
• Qi WuHuo proposed uniting the scattered Human Dao Destiny through a shared principle and began writing its first stroke.
• As Longevity Buddha stepped into the Capital City, Qi WuHuo wrote, “The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao,” and all things stopped for an instant.

Qi WuHuo wrote three lines of Daoist scripture that stirred Human Dao Destiny and forced Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole’s Buddha avatar to retreat. After the clash left Qi WuHuo exhausted, he noticed that Emperor Xi had vanished.

• Qi WuHuo’s writing stirred destiny across the Capital City, halting the Tathagata of Immeasurable Life, Wisdom, and Light as he tried to enter.
• Qi WuHuo wrote three lines of Daoist scripture, and the Tathagata retreated after his avatar resisted the heavenly threads urging it forward.
• Qi WuHuo used his brush like a sword to sever the threads connecting the fleeing Buddha avatar to Buddhism and the heavens.
• Qi WuHuo collapsed from exhaustion, while Old Green Ox found him unharmed and asked whether Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole’s backup plan had left.
• Qi WuHuo looked around and asked where Emperor Xi was, and Old Green Ox realized Fuxi had disappeared.

Fuxi Xi Huang erased the Buddhist incarnation’s resolve to end the Buddhist-Daoist tribulation, then sent him back to the Buddha Kingdom and placed Great Emperor Zhuling of the South Pole at a karmic nexus. Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole attacked Qi WuHuo with a falling chess piece, but Great Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole intercepted it, leaving the immortals aware that the balance between the sovereigns had shifted.

• The Tathagata of Immeasurable Life, Wisdom, and Light discovered that Fuxi Xi Huang’s Eight Trigrams formation had trapped him where he started, and he begged Fuxi for three days to warn the Buddhist kingdoms.
• Fuxi touched the Tathagata’s brow, erased his awakened sense of self, broke his body, and hurled him into the Western Heaven Buddha Kingdom, reigniting the monks’ fury.
• Fuxi injured Great Emperor Zhuling of the South Pole and sent him to a junction of karma and destiny, then sat alone beneath a tree.
• Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole sensed his connection to his Buddhist incarnation weakening and dropped a massive chess piece toward Qi WuHuo, claiming it was an accident.
• Great Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole shattered Changsheng’s chess piece, then praised the outcome by saying, “The youngsters have greatly defeated the thieves.”
• The immortals recognized that both northern and southern sovereigns had intervened, while the Three Pure Dao Ancestors saw what their disciple had done.

In the Shangqing Library, the Black-clothed Dao Lord praised his disciple for recording the Dao in Primordial Scarlet Script, while Yuqing recognized that Qi WuHuo’s scripture could make him a Daoist patriarch if he perfected and spread it. The Three Pure Ones realized Qi WuHuo had acted under a title associated with Yuqing’s lineage rather than Shangqing’s, and the Supreme One teased them about being outmaneuvered as they acknowledged his potential.

• The Black-clothed Dao Lord praised his disciple’s written scripture for preserving the Dao’s rhyme without its divine powers.
• The Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable paused during his lecture after noticing his junior disciple’s achievement, then told Holy Mother Taiyuan that Qi WuHuo could become a patriarch by perfecting and spreading the scripture.
• Holy Mother Taiyuan was stunned that her once-inexperienced junior brother might earn the Daoist title of patriarch.
• The Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable and the Shangqing Spirit Treasure Celestial Venerable realized Qi WuHuo had used a title tied to Yuqing’s lineage rather than Shangqing’s.
• The Supreme One laughed that Qi WuHuo was like him, and the three Dao Ancestors agreed that Qi WuHuo might become a patriarch of their Daoist tradition.

Mingxin asked to leave Refining Yang Temple after dreaming of flying with the purple qi, and his teacher eventually agreed. He set out for the Capital City, beginning a journey that would lead him to become the Joyful True Person.

• Chao Feng and Jiao Tu reminisced about Qi WuHuo and wondered how he was doing.
• Mingxin told his teacher he wanted to leave the mountain, then revealed he had achieved Complete Three Talents at fifteen.
• Mingxin explained that a dream of flying with the purple qi had made him want to explore the Mortal World.
• His teacher gave Mingxin his blessing, advice, and a brocade pouch before he left Refining Yang Temple.
• Mingxin walked through Central Province Prefecture City, told the gate statues he was headed for the Capital City, and set out beneath the sun.

Judicial Great Celestial Venerable accused Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole and Qi WuHuo of violating Heavenly Court order, while his words spread the title of Daoist ancestor across the Six Realms. Qi WuHuo rejected using Human Dao Destiny for his own advancement and chose to preserve it for future generations with nine stone tablets, yet accepted that this path might make him a Dao Ancestor.

• Judicial Great Celestial Venerable submitted memorials demanding that Qi WuHuo answer for neglecting his post and that Great Emperor Changsheng be punished for entering the Buddhist-Daoist struggle.
• Judicial Great Celestial Venerable called Qi WuHuo a possible Daoist ancestor, and the title Nine Heavens Demon Queller Patriarch spread throughout the Nine Heavens and Six Realms.
• Great Emperor Changsheng dismissed Judicial Great Celestial Venerable's ambitions, said Qi WuHuo had only bought the human world sixty years, and ordered his attention turned to Xuanwei.
• Qi WuHuo read the Three Dao Ancestors' approving letters, then told Old Green Ox he did not want to consume Human Dao Destiny to complete his own Dao.
• Qi WuHuo proposed using ley-line stones from Mount Tai to make nine stone tablets in the Divine Martial realm, preserving Human Dao Destiny for future generations to add their understanding.
• Qi WuHuo declared that if opening a way for those who came after made him a Dao Ancestor, he would accept the title.

Qi WuHuo prepared to raise a stele that would establish a new path for humanity as Human Dao Destiny neared its peak. After Empress Nuwa reassured him and urged him to live freely, Empress Houtu gave him a powerful weapon for the conflicts ahead: the God-Beating Whip.

• Qi WuHuo refused to absorb Human Dao Destiny for personal advancement and sent letters to Li Zhai and others as he arranged a site for the stele.
• Li Zhai granted Qi WuHuo buildings seized from aristocratic families, while Mountain Gods brought special stones from the Mount Tai ranges toward the capital.
• Empress Nuwa summoned Qi WuHuo, checked that he was safe, and urged him not to risk his life or devote himself entirely to rescuing her.
• Qi WuHuo learned that the stones would arrive soon and anticipated fierce resistance when he raised the stele at Human Dao Destiny's peak.
• Empress Houtu arrived and presented Qi WuHuo with a six-edged iron whip, naming it the God-Beating Whip for him to use against arrogant immortals and gods.

Qi WuHuo turned the Human Dao Destiny gathered by King Wei Wu Li Zhai’s oath-taking ceremony into a lasting foundation anchored by nine stone tablets, then founded the Human Teachings instead of claiming the destiny for himself. He declared that the Daoist School would be one of nine streams among the Hundred Schools of the Masters, leaving the Immortals and Gods stunned.

• King Wei Wu Li Zhai held an oath-taking ceremony, where tens of thousands of soldiers and more than a hundred thousand witnesses pledged themselves beneath the raised weapons.
• King Wei Wu announced a Heaven Worship Ceremony for the next day, drawing the attention of the Immortals and Gods, who expected Supreme Xuanwei to become a Daoist Ancestor.
• Qi WuHuo began the Heaven Worship Ceremony as Earth Deities brought nine stone tablets and set them down to anchor Human Dao Destiny to the ley lines.
• Qi WuHuo used Human Dao Destiny as the foundation for the Nine Stone Tablets, ensuring that no one could shake the Human Dao without shaking Mount Tai.
• Qi WuHuo declared that there would be nine streams and the Hundred Schools of the Masters, named the Human Teachings, and established the Daoist School as one among them.

Supreme Xuanwei founded Daoism by publicly inscribing a cultivation method on stone tablets and declaring that its teachings should be open to all, prompting alarm among the heavenly Daoist sects. As Human Dao Destiny grew, Qi WuHuo considered using it to show Empress Nuwa the Human World, while Mingxin encountered a badly injured, burning man on his way to the Capital City.

• Supreme Xuanwei wrote Daoist teachings and a cultivation method on the first of nine tablets, then proclaimed that Daoism should break down its gates and save all living beings.
• The heavenly Daoist patriarchs feared the public teachings would undermine their sects, but could neither destroy the tablets nor find another author to confront.
• Dao Ancestor Tai Shang learned of the rite, praised his disciple’s purpose, and chose to address him as a Daoist friend.
• Qi WuHuo felt his Human Qi growing stronger and considered using Human Dao Destiny to let Empress Nuwa see the Human World.
• Mingxin changed course for the Capital City after hearing about the tablets, then found a bloodied, feverishly hot man in the wilderness and approached him.

Young Daoist Ming found an arrogant, amnesiac man and insisted on caring for him, then took him to a fortune teller to choose a temporary name. After Daoist Yin revealed terrifying power by killing a monk who attacked Ming, the fortune teller named him, while a mysterious man in green watched them leave and went to find Qi WuHuo.

• Young Daoist Ming rescued the badly injured, amnesiac man despite his insults, then brought him to a town for medicine, clean clothes, and food.
• Ming took the man to a fortune teller to choose a name, but the fortune teller's reading was interrupted when a monk attacked Ming.
• Daoist Yin broke the monk's Buddhist bell and killed him with a sudden burst of flame, despite his own injuries.
• The fortune teller interpreted the hexagram as “A lord without a mouth; Yi is not human,” and the man chose to be called Daoist Yin.
• A man in a green shirt watched Daoist Yin and Ming depart, reflected on their fates, and set out to find Qi WuHuo.

Qi WuHuo planned to use Human Dao Destiny to create an incarnation so Empress Nuwa could visit the Human World, while the Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole dismissed his effort to teach cultivation to humanity. The chapter ended with the Great Emperor and the Thunder Sound Universal Salvation Celestial Venerable discovering that the Supreme One addressed Qi WuHuo as “Daoist Friend.”

• People across the Human World recited Qi WuHuo’s Daoist teachings, though many struggled to cultivate because of their limited talent and comprehension.
• Qi WuHuo prepared chilled fruit and flowers at the Treasury Chamber, then studied the Map of Mountains and Rivers and State as Human Dao Destiny grew stronger.
• Qi WuHuo decided to use Human Dao Destiny and an incarnation art to create a body for Empress Nuwa, and she agreed to his proposal.
• The Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole told the Thunder Sound Universal Salvation Celestial Venerable that humanity lacked the ability to benefit from Qi WuHuo’s teachings.
• The Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole intercepted a letter from the Supreme One to Qi WuHuo and froze when he saw the greeting, “Daoist Friend.”

Qi WuHuo joined Human Qi and Spirit Qi with the power of the earth to break through Taiyi’s domain and bring Empress Nuwa back to the Human World. Their effort awakened a sense of Qi in one hundred thousand people in the Capital City and raised humankind’s potential, while Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole reconsidered his plans toward Qi WuHuo.

• Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole read Taishang’s praise of Qi WuHuo, abandoned his immediate plan to kill him, and decided to send him a gift instead of visiting in person.
• Qi WuHuo’s first attempt to create a manifested body for Empress Nuwa failed when Taiyi’s domain shattered it.
• Qi WuHuo combined Human Qi and Spirit Qi, drew on the earth veins and the Nine Stone Tablets, and pulled Empress Nuwa out of Taiyi’s Inner Scenery World.
• The new energy spread through the Human World, giving people a sense of Qi and improving humankind’s attributes in the Heavenly Book of Destiny.
• Empress Nuwa regained her senses in the Capital City, where Qi WuHuo welcomed her back to the Human World.

Qi WuHuo helped Empress Nuwa adjust to the mortal world after her awakening, while Old Green Ox delivered news of her return to Great Master Xuan Du. Emperor Fuxi arrived at the Treasury Chamber and found Nuwa waiting there, leaving him stunned as she greeted him.

• Qi WuHuo showed Empress Nuwa how to change her appearance and gave her records of human clothing through the ages to read.
• Qi WuHuo sent a karma-obscured letter announcing Nuwa's awakening to Great Master Xuan Du through Old Green Ox, who hurried to the Ninth Heaven.
• A Green-robed Scholar concealed his identity and carried a Dao Proving Treasure through the mortal world, planning to lend it to Qi WuHuo for protection.
• The Green-robed Scholar entered the Treasury Chamber and saw Empress Nuwa standing beside Qi WuHuo.
• Empress Nuwa greeted Fuxi, calling him Elder Brother and telling him he was back.

Fuxi returned and spoke with Qi WuHuo about the Wa Emperor’s recovery, while Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole decided to kill Qi WuHuo before the Human Race could grow stronger. Fuxi stopped Changsheng’s strike, revealed his true body, and shielded the mortal world as he confronted the South Pole Emperor.

• Fuxi arrived and learned from Qi WuHuo that the Wa Emperor’s soul remained in the Taiyi Inner Scenery World while her true body was guarded beneath the Sea of Blood.
• The Wa Emperor watched the mortal world with delight, and Fuxi decided to act after recalling how much it had changed.
• After learning that the Human Race’s talent had risen and the Wa Emperor had appeared, Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole chose to eliminate Qi WuHuo despite the likely opposition of Great Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole and the Great One.
• Great Emperor Changsheng unleashed an Imperial Realm thunder strike, but Fuxi caught and crushed it, causing his concealed aura to emerge across the Six Realms.
• Fuxi soothed the Wa Emperor’s incarnation, told Qi WuHuo to protect her, and ascended toward the Heavenly Palace while shielding the mortal world from Changsheng’s thunder.
• Great Emperor Changsheng recognized Fuxi, and the Emperor Xi challenged him, asking whether he wished to die.

Fuxi revealed his true form and fought the Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole, drawing the Celestial Realm’s strongest gods into a deadly encirclement. He used the confrontation to expose hidden enemies to Qi WuHuo and the Taiyi, then challenged them all to attack him together.

• Fuxi appeared in his true form, sent Empress Nuwa’s consciousness back to the Taiyi Realm, and began battling the Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole.
• Fuxi dismantled the South Pole Emperor’s attacks and manipulated the world’s rules, while Qi WuHuo worried that Fuxi was being held in place.
• Ziwei Great Emperor arrived with the North Pole Exorcism Institute and wounded Fuxi with his sword, prompting the Jade Emperor and the Celestial Realm’s forces to join the encirclement.
• Fuxi told Qi WuHuo that the assault would expose hidden enemies and their methods to the Taiyi, then seized causality and dragged concealed immortals down from the heavens.
• Fuxi turned Ziwei Great Emperor’s starlight into a Sea of Flowers, forced the attackers back with the Innate Eight Trigrams, and called for them all to face him together.

As Fuxi battled the Jade Emperor, the Great Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole, and the assembled immortals, Qi WuHuo used his Heavenly Eye to record their Dao Rhythms. He arranged the countless abilities through the Judicial Great Celestial Venerable’s ritual and brought Heavenly Qi into being.

• The Jade Emperor attacked Fuxi with Haotian’s domineering sword technique, but Fuxi stopped the strike and turned aside the blade.
• The Great Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole wounded Fuxi and shattered the world trapping him, while Fuxi crushed a Tian Shu Institute general who tried to ambush him.
• Ran Deng the Daoist recognized that the battle involved multiple Imperial Purity-level beings and glimpsed the primordial outline of Taiyi behind Qi WuHuo.
• Qi WuHuo strained his Heavenly Eye to record the fighters’ abilities until Ran Deng, the Eight Sceneries Palace Lantern, and the Empress Houtu’s incarnation formed a Three Powers formation around him.
• Qi WuHuo used the Judicial Great Celestial Venerable’s ritual to arrange and preserve the gathered Dao Rhythms, causing the Judicial Great Celestial Venerable to feel that something had been stolen.
• A pale blue flame appeared at the center of Qi WuHuo’s ritual, and Ran Deng recognized that Heavenly Qi had taken form.