Chapter Summaries

Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable judged Taisu Miaoguang King and Chouguan Mingli, then left Qi WuHuo to take responsibility for restoring order in the Underworld. After Qi WuHuo freed two imprisoned True Lords, Yin Virtue Ding Xiu recognized that Qi WuHuo and Mount Tai Prefect were the same person.

• Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable exposed Taisu Miaoguang King's lies and ordered him and Chouguan Mingli to take their own lives; Chouguan Mingli obeyed, while Taisu Miaoguang King turned to dust when he tried to resist.
• Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable explained the two King Yamas' downfall to Qi WuHuo, left their weapons and jade pendants at a cliff, and charged Qi WuHuo with a task before disappearing.
• Qi WuHuo freed Yin Virtue Ding Xiu True Lord and Wushang Zhengdu True Lord from their chains and considered how to unite the Underworld with the human world.
• Yin Virtue Ding Xiu recognized Qi WuHuo's resemblance to the Mount Tai Prefect and realized they were one and the same.

Qi WuHuo reorganized the Yin Courts and Netherworld under Fengdu, established rules to limit the Yama Kings’ power, and departed after bidding farewell to Yin Virtue Ding Xiu True Lord and Wushang Zhengdu True Lord. Judicial Great Celestial Venerable then learned that the Ten Yama Kings had been suppressed.

• Yin Virtue Ding Xiu True Lord realized Qi WuHuo was Mount Tai Prefect but chose to treat him simply as his old friend.
• Qi WuHuo and the Southern Ghost Emperor set new ranks and rules for the Yin Courts, including reincarnation after each thousand years and rotation of posts every ten thousand years.
• Meng Po demanded a vacation, and Qi WuHuo ruled that she would reincarnate and rotate posts alongside her assigned Yama King.
• Qi WuHuo gave Yin Virtue Ding Xiu True Lord and Wushang Zhengdu True Lord jade pendants, then left; the two True Lords threw their pendants away and toasted their departed friends.
• Judicial Great Celestial Venerable expected the Ten Hall Yama Kings to answer his appeal, but a celestial official reported that they had been suppressed.

The Judicial Great Celestial Venerable concluded that Qi WuHuo and the Mount Tai Prefect were allied and began plotting to kill Qi WuHuo. Years passed as Mingxin grew closer to the Daoist and supported Li Weifeng, who promised to leave the burdens of rule behind and join his friends once his duty was done.

• The Judicial Great Celestial Venerable blamed Qi WuHuo and the Mount Tai Prefect for the Netherworld upheaval and planned to turn them against each other before killing Qi WuHuo.
• City God temples spread across the Mortal World as the Lady of Wa experienced its winter and New Year, while King Wei Wu Li Zhai steadily conquered Qiu Long Kingdom.
• Mingxin visited the Daoist with Little Medicine Spirit and reflected on how far his Martial Uncle’s realm lay beyond his reach.
• Mingxin and Little Medicine Spirit brought chestnuts and sweets to Li Weifeng, whom they found recovering from a furious dispute with a minister.
• Mingxin reminded Li Weifeng to practice qi refinement and warned him against recklessly using Human Dao Destiny.
• Li Weifeng promised Mingxin that after he set aside his responsibilities, he would join him and their friends to practice the Dao.

Qi WuHuo reached the age for his Capping Ceremony, while Li Weifeng resisted pressure to claim the throne and vowed to avenge his parents through his own achievements. Empress Nuwa offered to perform Qi WuHuo’s ceremony, leaving him with his hair unbound and her asking permission.

• Li Qiongyu told Qi WuHuo that he had turned twenty and was due for a Capping Ceremony, prompting him to wonder who could perform it after the Supreme One had tied up his hair.
• Li Weifeng roasted chestnuts with Mingxin and Little Medicine Spirit, then ordered the servants to leave the bonfire’s ashes where they lay.
• Li Weifeng confronted the former Human Emperor, struck him, and nearly gave in to pressure to claim the throne so he could punish him with royal authority.
• Li Weifeng rejected becoming Human Emperor, promised to earn the people’s trust and avenge his parents himself, then returned to reviewing memorials.
• Empress Nuwa removed Qi WuHuo’s wooden hairpin, let his hair fall loose, and asked to perform his Capping Ceremony.

As Qi WuHuo prepared for his coming-of-age ceremony, Fuxi warned that his devotion to inaction had left his understanding of the Dao incomplete, while the Shenwu Kingdom’s campaign reached Qiu Long Kingdom’s final city. Tian Yangzi stood alone against Li Zhai’s army and called out to Qi WuHuo to debate the Dao.

• Fuxi explained to Old Green Ox that Qi WuHuo had overemphasized inaction and had to understand both action and inaction on his own.
• Old Green Ox tried to warn Qi WuHuo, but Fuxi stopped him, saying that no one else could guide him through this hurdle.
• Empress Nuwa chose a white jade crown for Qi WuHuo, and three days later he began his quiet coming-of-age rites by looking inward.
• Qi WuHuo sensed a distant disturbance as Li Zhai’s army broke through Qiu Long Kingdom’s final defenses and approached its capital.
• Tian Yangzi emerged alone and used his cultivation, joined with Human Dao Destiny, to hold back Li Zhai’s forces.
• Tian Yangzi asked to settle the battle through a discourse on the Dao and called to Qi WuHuo for instruction.

Qi WuHuo met Tian Yangzi on the battlefield and showed him how Li Zhai’s campaign had improved life in conquered cities and how prosperous the Shenwu Kingdom had become. When Tian Yangzi questioned who would hold a unified world accountable, Qi WuHuo resolved to live and die with the Mortal World, as the Nine Stone Tablets and its divine order lit up.

• Qi WuHuo followed Tian Yangzi’s invitation to the battlefield, where Li Zhai halted his forces and the two Daoists began a debate on the Dao.
• Tian Yangzi challenged Li Zhai’s unification campaign, and Li Zhai defended it as a way to end wars between humanity’s divided kingdoms.
• Qi WuHuo took Tian Yangzi through cities captured by the Shenwu Kingdom, where Tian Yangzi saw that Li Weifeng’s policies had preserved order and improved people’s lives.
• Qi WuHuo showed Tian Yangzi the Shenwu Kingdom’s prosperity, but Tian Yangzi questioned whether its rulers could be trusted to protect the people after unification.
• Qi WuHuo pointed to the Mortal World and declared that he would take it as his measure and live and die with it as the Nine Stone Tablets and the divine order illuminated the realm.

Qi WuHuo’s transformation linked the human realm together and earned Tian Yangzi’s surrender, while Fuxi concealed the ritual’s significance to protect Qi WuHuo from Changsheng. Tian Yangzi secured a promise for the people of the Qiu Long Kingdom by sacrificing his cultivation, then died peacefully in his temple.

• The human realm changed under Qi WuHuo’s command, and Fuxi recognized that Qi WuHuo had gained a path toward the Imperial realm and hid the ritual from Changsheng.
• Tian Yangzi conceded the debate to Qi WuHuo, agreed to open the Qiu Long Kingdom’s gates, and secured a promise that its people would be treated well.
• Tian Yangzi returned to the Qiu Long Kingdom, handed over its Human Dao Destiny treasures, and reassured the people as Li Zhai’s army entered the city.
• Tian Yangzi returned to his temple, released his cultivation and the kingdom’s Human Dao Destiny, and rejected the Jade Talisman that could have made him a god after death.
• Tian Yangzi remembered his Master and died peacefully; Li Zhai found his body, and the Jade Yang Master’s body scattered into the world.

Qi WuHuo followed a mysterious prompting toward a fateful encounter while the Buddhas discussed the human world's reunification and sent a powerful monk to preserve their Dharma. He met the young monk Golden Cicada and introduced himself as Qi WuHuo.

• Qi WuHuo sensed that returning to the Shenwu Kingdom's Nine Stone Tablets would complete a crucial step in his cultivation, but he calmly followed a faint trace of Heaven's secrets in another direction.
• The Buddhas discussed the Shenwu Kingdom's conquest of the Qiu Long Kingdom and worried that the human world would reunite beyond Buddhism's reach.
• Namo Joyful Sound and Light Tathagata revealed that a senior Buddhist had surrendered his cultivation foundation to enter the human world and teach the Dharma.
• Qi WuHuo saw a young monk tormenting a Black Tortoise and recognized that their fates were connected to the future, then chose to intervene.
• Qi WuHuo rescued the Black Tortoise and introduced himself to the monk, who gave his dharma name as Golden Cicada.

Qi WuHuo challenged Golden Cicana’s orthodox Buddhist teachings and explained that the Dao was the source of all things, while a true path to Buddhahood meant passing on the Dharma without building sects or seeking offerings. Golden Cicada recognized a new understanding of Buddhism within his own heart at the foot of Square Inch Mountain.

• Golden Cicada accused Qi WuHuo of slaughtering monks at Lantuo Temple, while Qi WuHuo denied responsibility and Golden Cicada explained why he would kill corrupt monks himself.
• Golden Cicada revealed that he had come to spread orthodox Buddhist Dharma and raced Qi WuHuo through a debate on Buddhist teachings and the Dao.
• Qi WuHuo answered Golden Cicada’s arguments with brief Daoist principles, eventually leaving Golden Cicada unable to advance his case.
• When Golden Cicada asked what the Dao was, Qi WuHuo explained that the Dao was the Mother of all things, not the things themselves, and questioned whether Buddhist leaders truly sought to save all beings.
• Qi WuHuo proposed passing on Buddhist Dharma without conversion rules, sect hierarchies, or offerings, so that everyone could become a Buddha.
• Golden Cicada realized that the Dharma and Buddha were in his heart, and understood the meaning of Square Inch Mountain as he stood before Qi WuHuo.

Qi WuHuo challenged Golden Cicada’s Buddhist beliefs and let him leave to test the Dharma for himself. After honoring Jade Yang Master’s return to Heaven and Earth, Qi WuHuo completed a ritual linking the Human Dao Destiny of Shenwu Kingdom and Qiu Long Kingdom, breaking through the bottleneck in his Human Qi.

• Qi WuHuo invited Golden Cicada to cultivate both the Dao and the Buddha at Square Inch Mountain, but Golden Cicada rejected his claims and departed to test the Dharma himself.
• Qi WuHuo sensed that Tian Yangzi had died and bowed in farewell to his senior brother, Jade Yang Master.
• Qi WuHuo reached the capital of the Shenwu Kingdom and used the Nine Cauldrons to ignite and connect the mortal world’s Human Dao Destiny.
• Qi WuHuo summoned the Human Dao artifacts in Qiu Long Kingdom and smelted them into the Qiu Long Cauldron, which anchored and linked that kingdom’s Human Dao Destiny with Shenwu Kingdom’s.
• With the ritual complete, Qi WuHuo broke through the bottleneck in his Human Qi.

Qi WuHuo’s second Nine Cauldron drove Human Qi to Great Accomplishment, allowing him to advance the Severing Heaven and Earth formation while the Human World’s Destiny surged. The change concealed the birth of a faint new Imperial Exalt aura, which Great Dao Lord Yuchen mistook for a challenger and set out to test.

• Qi WuHuo absorbed the surge of Human Qi, refined it instantly, and reached a state in which the Five Qi Facing the Origin became possible.
• Empress Nuwa’s incarnation vanished when the passage through Taiyi’s sealed realm collapsed, and Fuxi reassured her that she would return while secretly planning to frighten Qi WuHuo.
• Qi WuHuo manifested the ancient Human Race’s divine form and realized that Human Qi had reached Great Accomplishment through the second Nine Cauldron.
• Qi WuHuo used the River Diagram and Luo Script to activate a second core of the Severing Heaven and Earth formation at Qiu Long Kingdom, strengthening its protection over the Human World.
• Shangqing Spirit Treasure Celestial Venerable and Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable sensed a faint, extraordinary aura, while Great Dao Lord Yuchen identified it as a new Imperial Exalt and prepared to challenge it.

WuHuo’s breakthrough stirred the Six Realms, prompting powerful figures to prepare for a future confrontation while they wrongly focused on Fuxi’s schemes. As the calamity of reckoning expanded, the Fire Star’s rank and Spirit Charm surged.

• Great Dao Lord Yuchen recognized WuHuo’s aura in the sea of blood, restrained his urge to attack, and released his frustration with a sword sweep that shook the Heavenly River Navy.
• Great Spirit Treasure Celestial Venerable divined WuHuo’s new chance to rule, celebrated, then cursed when he realized the opportunity was only a tiny sliver.
• Yuqing Primordial Celestial Venerable and Tai Shang discussed WuHuo’s first step toward becoming a ruler and agreed that he must choose and walk the rest of his path himself.
• Judicial Great Celestial Venerable ordered his forces to prepare a grand formation to attack True Martial Demon Queller when the human realm’s seal was lifted, treating him as an enemy of Great Grade.
• Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole guessed at Fuxi’s possible plans and began preparing for a confrontation sixty to three hundred years ahead.
• As the Judiciary and other powers entered the growing calamity, the Fire Star’s golden flames swelled and its rank and Spirit Charm surged.

Qi WuHuo completed the Severing Heaven and Earth formation and glimpsed the perspective of an Imperator, then prepared to explain the Three Vehicles of cultivation. As the Jade Firmament Daoist Lord strengthened the Blood Sea ritual with his blood, the stars erupted in response to the upheaval.

• Fire Luminary struggled to contain the Spirit Charm feedback, while the other Eleven Luminaries erupted and forced their Star Lords to cultivate.
• The Jade Firmament Daoist Lord added his blood to the Blood Sea ritual to challenge Qi WuHuo and push his limits.
• Qi WuHuo completed the Severing Heaven and Earth formation and drew the River Diagram and Luo Script into his sleeve.
• Qi WuHuo considered whether to advance through the Five Qi Facing the Origin and gained a glimpse of his Imperator self.
• Qi WuHuo declared that he would expound the Dao and began describing the upper, middle, and lower paths of breakthrough as the Three Vehicles.

Qi WuHuo examined three possible paths to the Great Dao and chose a supreme path that established and preserved the Human, Earth, and Heavenly Daos for all beings. After briefly entering the Imperator state, he deliberately stepped back out of it, astonishing Fuxi.

• Qi WuHuo rejected the lower path of suppressing Heaven, Earth, Man, God, and Ghost because it would limit his progress toward the Great Grade.
• Qi WuHuo judged the middle path of uniting the Nine Cauldrons and ruling the Six Realms insufficient for the highest Dao.
• Qi WuHuo chose the supreme path: establish the Human, Earth, and Heavenly Daos, unite the Five Qi, bring order to the underworld and human world, and deliver all beings before departing of his own accord.
• Qi WuHuo recalled answering Teacher that he wanted to cultivate the supreme, unsurpassed Great Dao, while Teacher seemed to recognize the words from the future.
• Fuxi concealed the immense disturbance caused by Qi WuHuo's awakening and planned to help him remain in the Imperator state longer.
• Qi WuHuo told Fuxi that he had not fallen out of the Imperator state but had taken half a step back and walked out of it himself.

After stepping back from the Imperator realm, Qi WuHuo used the insight he had gained to open a passage through Taiyi’s remnant realm and bring Empress Nuwa back to the mortal world. Her arrival released a vast aura across the world, striking Qi WuHuo first.

• Qi WuHuo explained to Fuxi that he had left the Imperator realm because he would not claim a state he could not truly command.
• Fuxi told Qi WuHuo that Empress Nuwa needed help and asked him to widen the passage through the seal Taiyi had left behind.
• Qi WuHuo entered the Taiyi Realm, used the True Talisman of Controlling Heaven's Creation, and tore open a fissure despite the realm's stronger resistance.
• Fuxi stabilized the fissure as Empress Nuwa stepped through into the mortal world.
• Empress Nuwa's gentle aura spread across the mortal world and struck Qi WuHuo, who stood nearest.

Qi WuHuo helped Empress Nuwa briefly escape Taiyi Realm, but Fuxi released her when the realm’s backlash caused her pain. Nuwa crowned Qi WuHuo in a coming-of-age ceremony, and he returned to Fuxi carrying a fragment of Taiyi’s Origin that might offer another way to free her.

• Nuwa’s return strengthened Human Qi and restored Qi WuHuo’s Imperator state, while Fuxi realized WuHuo had unexpectedly gained a second chance to experience it.
• Qi WuHuo and Fuxi brought Nuwa into the mortal world, but Fuxi released her when Taiyi Realm’s counterattack hurt her, and WuHuo cut off its pull to send her back safely.
• Nuwa performed Qi WuHuo’s capping ceremony inside Taiyi Realm, and WuHuo’s Imperator state silenced the realm’s backlash.
• Fuxi accepted that he and Qi WuHuo would have to build Human Dao Destiny to free Nuwa, until WuHuo revealed he had taken a fragment of Taiyi’s Origin.
• Fuxi saw the fragment as a possible opportunity and began to consider a new plan.

Qi WuHuo learned that Fuxi wanted him to impersonate Taiyi and use Taiyi’s authority to free Empress Nuwa, while Human Dao Destiny faced a crucial turning point. Meanwhile, Li Weifeng left his government work to meet Mingxin and Little Medicine Spirit, but overheard people dismissing his contributions beside Li Zhai’s victories.

• Fuxi explained that Qi WuHuo could fool the Taiyi Realm by using his Taiyi Cultivation Body and Taiyi’s Origin, and Qi WuHuo agreed to try the plan to free Empress Nuwa.
• Qi WuHuo showed Fuxi the flickering Human Dao Fire, and they realized Human Dao Destiny’s turning point might be tied to someone who could anchor Empress Nuwa’s return.
• Li Weifeng finished a stack of government work and prepared to meet Mingxin and Little Medicine Spirit after receiving their invitation.
• Li Weifeng left the palace with tea and pastries, while his attendant reported that Li Zhai’s victory had been publicized and the people were celebrating.
• Li Weifeng heard people praise King Wei Wu Li Zhai and dismiss Prince Qin’s work managing supplies, leaving him to confront how little the public valued his efforts.

Li Weifeng struggled with the public praise of Li Zhai and chose to pursue his own path rather than meet Mingxin and Little Medicine Spirit. Meanwhile, Qi WuHuo used Taiyi's Origin to strengthen his Primordial Spirit avatar, leaving Fuxi stunned as he realized how to complete the balance of his three avatars.

• Li Weifeng's guard confronted townspeople praising Li Zhai, but Li Weifeng stopped him and accepted that public opinion served his needs.
• Li Weifeng sent Mingxin and Little Medicine Spirit pastries through his guard, then refused to visit them and resolved that he would not lose to Li Zhai or anyone else.
• Mingxin and Little Medicine Spirit waited in the cold, but Li Weifeng never came, and the tea he had sent was cold.
• Qi WuHuo considered the changes in Human Dao Destiny and decided not to interfere directly as he prepared to free Empress Nuwa.
• Fuxi urged Qi WuHuo to master Taiyi's Origin, but Qi WuHuo channeled it into his Primordial Spirit avatar instead.
• Taiyi's Origin transformed Qi WuHuo's avatar, and he thanked Fuxi for giving him the hint he needed.

Qi WuHuo slowly absorbed Taiyi’s Origin while Fuxi prepared for Empress Nuwa’s return, as Li Weifeng struggled to govern in the shadow of Li Zhai’s growing fame. After resisting the temptation to seize the Human Emperor’s throne, Li Weifeng watched Li Zhai’s army return with news that the campaign against Zhao would continue, and the last glimmer in his eyes vanished.

• Qi WuHuo and Fuxi agreed to keep their plan to restore Empress Nuwa secret from her while Qi WuHuo cautiously absorbed Taiyi’s Origin.
• Qi WuHuo and Fuxi noticed that Human Dao Destiny had surged to three times its previous strength.
• Li Weifeng integrated Qiu Long Kingdom into Shenwu’s governance and worked relentlessly, but Li Zhai’s reputation eclipsed his after Qiu Long’s ruler came to pay respects.
• Overwhelmed by despair, Li Weifeng went to the Treasury Chamber but left without asking Qi WuHuo for help, then resisted the urge to claim the Human Emperor’s throne and clear his parents’ names.
• Li Weifeng renewed his efforts to govern, but Li Zhai’s returning army announced that he would continue the campaign against Zhao, and Li Weifeng’s last glimmer of hope disappeared as Ming saw him.

Li Weifeng abandoned his promise to cultivate with Mingxin and Little Medicine Spirit, became the Human Emperor, and pursued justice for the Jinzhou victims. After executing the former Human Emperor, he consolidated his rule, while Qi WuHuo prepared to bring Empress Nuwa back.

• Li Weifeng announced that he would become the Human Emperor, and Mingxin confronted him at the palace, but Li Weifeng said he could not turn back and chose to remain in the era.
• Mingxin left chestnuts at the hall and departed; Li Weifeng’s Daoist aura scattered as Human Dao Destiny filled him, and he naturally entered Primordial Prenatal Qi.
• After ascending the throne, Li Weifeng reopened the Jinzhou case, exposed those involved, and ordered the former Human Emperor and other accused to be executed.
• Li Weifeng personally beheaded the former Human Emperor, who accused him of being just like his uncle before dying.
• Qi WuHuo told the Green-robed Scholar that he had left a lamp for Li Weifeng, then said the struggle had ended and it was time to bring Empress Nuwa back.