Chapter Summaries

Qi WuHuo helped Fuxi free Empress Nuwa’s Primordial Spirit, but the rescue brought him face to face with the source of the Great Dao and its assimilating power. Fuxi pulled him to safety after he glimpsed his Teacher, Taiqing Moral Celestial Venerable, before transcendence.

• Fuxi prepared a vast formation across the Shenwu Kingdom’s capital, letting Qi WuHuo enter the deepest part of the Taiyi Realm and bring Empress Nuwa’s Primordial Spirit out.
• The [One] surged toward Qi WuHuo and began assimilating him, so he used the Tribulation Sword to resist.
• Fuxi appeared, activated a formation that shielded Qi WuHuo, and offered him access to the [source of the Great Dao] as payment for rescuing Empress Nuwa.
• Qi WuHuo absorbed the source’s countless insights until Fuxi pulled him away from danger; Qi WuHuo said he had seen his Teacher’s back.
• When Qi WuHuo approached Empress Nuwa in the mortal world, his Pure One Spirit Charm clarified the insights, revealing Taiqing Moral Celestial Venerable before transcendence turning toward him.

Qi WuHuo encountered the Kai Huang-era reflection of his future Teacher in the Origin of Taiyi and discussed the Dao with him for several days. The reflection promised to leave Qi WuHuo a path to seek at Doushuai Palace and a sword, then erased the encounter from his own records before returning to the past.

• Qi WuHuo saw a middle-aged Daoist with Tai Shang’s aura, who identified himself as Late Tribulation of Kai Huang and tested Qi WuHuo by discussing the Dao with him.
• Tai Shang noticed the disturbance in the Daoist rhythms and let Qi WuHuo continue, while Fuxi carried the unconscious Qi WuHuo away and confirmed that his condition was stable.
• Late Tribulation of Kai Huang learned that his future self had changed his path, but said he would still follow the choices of his present self.
• Late Tribulation of Kai Huang accepted Qi WuHuo as his disciple and told him to seek Doushuai Palace on the Ninth Heaven for guidance about the path from extreme to transcendence, promising him a sword as well.
• Late Tribulation of Kai Huang shattered the Origin of Taiyi’s records of their meeting and returned to the Primordial Era, where he woke from a dream with a vague sense that he would have a fine disciple.
• Jade Firmament Daoist Lord and Late Tribulation of Kai Huang challenged each other over whose disciples would prove superior.

After waking from a month-long coma, Qi WuHuo reflected on his Teacher’s promised legacy and recognized that Heaven’s formations were preparing for conflict with both him and the Human Realm. He resolved to face the coming threat, while Fuxi wondered whether he would become Qing or Yu; at Ziwei Palace, a young girl watched the Human Realm and lamented how long it had been.

• Qi WuHuo woke, and Fuxi complained about having cared for him for a month before demanding to know what he had seen.
• Qi WuHuo recalled [Emperor End-Tribulation Celestial Venerable]’s promise of Doushuai Palace, a sword, and the direction of [From Extreme to Transcendence].
• Qi WuHuo noticed that Heaven’s formation had begun to show signs of becoming a killing array, with one force targeting him and another targeting the Human Realm.
• Qi WuHuo warned Fuxi that Heaven might attack as the power of Severing Heaven and Earth weakened, and Fuxi urged him to focus on his own Dao.
• Qi WuHuo said he had to act because he was the tallest person beneath the threatened sky, while Fuxi wondered whether he would become Qing or Yu.
• At Ziwei Palace of the North Pole, a young girl watched the Human Realm and sighed that it had been a long time.

Yun Qin decided to cultivate so she could stand beside WuHuo, while the Human World’s rulers and Mingxin each set out on their own paths. Qi WuHuo planted the Imperial Qi of Yu in the mortal world, giving its people sixty years of spring and autumn, and left Fuxi speechless.

• Yun Qin learned that only a few years had passed since WuHuo left, then resolved to cultivate so she could one day save him.
• Qi WuHuo gave the late Human Emperor the posthumous title Li, while Li Zhai judged his father with the title You and continued his campaign.
• Mingxin said farewell to Qi WuHuo and left Shenwu Capital to travel the Human World, accompanied by the amnesiac Yin.
• Li Weifeng received Li Zhai’s judgment, combined the posthumous titles into You Li, and descended from the Star Picking Tower to begin his reign.
• Qi WuHuo drove the Imperial Qi of Yu from himself, shaped it into a seed, and planted it in the mortal world, declaring that he was gifting the Human World sixty years of spring and autumn.
• Fuxi confronted Qi WuHuo after sensing the surge of pure qi, then fell silent when Qi WuHuo explained his choice.

Over ten years, Qi WuHuo spread Daoist teachings and cultivated Human Dao Destiny across the mortal world while waiting for the seed of Imperial Pure Qi to sprout. As Fuxi warned that a catalyst was needed to break the heavens’ balance, a gifted fifteen-year-old named Qiu set out for the capital to find Qi WuHuo.

• Qi WuHuo planted a seed of Imperial Pure Qi in the mortal world, and he and Fuxi disagreed over whether it would ever grow.
• Over the next decade, the Human Emperor’s capital brought people from many lands together, while Qi WuHuo’s Nine Stone Tablets and Daoist scriptures spread cultivation throughout the human world.
• Xi Men Da Chong attended Qi WuHuo’s lecture and learned that Qi WuHuo would teach the rest of the Daoist scriptures when the seed finally sprouted.
• Fuxi told Qi WuHuo that the Judicial Great Celestial Venerable had prepared a deadly array for True Martial, while Qi WuHuo said he was waiting for an unknown catalyst.
• Fuxi realized that someone would need to break the existing balance and lead the human world’s outstanding talents for the seed to sprout.
• A gifted fifteen-year-old named Qiu told his mother he wanted to study and travel, and she directed him to find the Daoist priest in the capital.

A fifteen-year-old boy prepared to travel to Shenwu Capital to seek the Dao from Qi WuHuo, while Qi WuHuo recorded ancient techniques and waited for a breakthrough in his cultivation. Years later, Xi Men Da Chong met Qi WuHuo beside the river during the Lantern Festival, as the Human World's fortune settled and a young man named Qiu entered the capital.

• The boy agreed to travel to Shenwu Capital after the New Year, and his mother reassured him that her health had improved.
• Qi WuHuo recorded techniques drawn from ancient records and the Daoist resonance within the Taiyi Cultivation Body, while Fuxi questioned whether his accumulated cultivation would ever transform.
• Xi Men Da Chong's neighbor took him to see lanterns floating on the river, where he encountered Qi WuHuo making a wish for someone he could not see.
• Xi Men Da Chong learned that sesame pastries had been made for a dear old friend, and he thought of Qi WuHuo as the Daoist walked away beneath the stars.
• The immortals saw the Human World's fortune settle and felt reassured, while a young man named Qiu entered Shenwu Capital.

Qiu arrived in the Human World and sought the Daoist, while Qi WuHuo and Fuxi watched the standoff between the Human World and the heavens intensify. When Qiu finally met Qi WuHuo, their encounter stirred Human Dao Destiny and broke the Six Realms’ deadlock, leaving Fuxi to conceal their meeting.

• Qiu entered the Human World, paid respects at the Nine Stone Tablets, and went to the Treasury Chamber seeking WuHuo, but Old Green Ox said the Book Keeper was elsewhere in the city.
• Qi WuHuo fished with Fuxi nearby as the Heavenly Realm’s Thousand-Mile Eye and Wind Ear monitored the swelling Human World destiny and the growing tension among the Six Realms.
• Fuxi sensed the calamity begin to disperse as Qiu’s arrival stirred the Human Dao Destiny, and Qi WuHuo announced that he had waited for him.
• Qiu bowed to Qi WuHuo and said he had come to seek the Dao, causing Human Dao Destiny to surge and the frozen balance of the Six Realms to split open.
• Fuxi concealed the radiance of their meeting from the heavens, then praised Qi WuHuo and veiled the great sun to keep the encounter unknown.

During a three-day discussion of the Dao, Qi WuHuo guided the gifted boy Qiu and urged him to travel the Human World and find his own path. Qiu set out determined to leave his name among the Nine Stone Tablets, while the seed of the Way of Imperial Clarity finally broke through the soil.

• Fuxi concealed the sun and the changes in humanity's destiny while Qi WuHuo discussed the world and the Dao with Qiu for three days and nights.
• Qi WuHuo advised Qiu to learn from water and choose between traveling the Human World or staying to observe its changes; Qiu chose to find his own path and asked to return for guidance.
• Qiu revealed that he was seventeen by his hometown's custom, and Qi WuHuo told him they would meet again in seventeen years.
• At Shenwu Capital's Nine Stone Tablets, Qiu studied the Daoist scriptures and Li Zhai's cultivation method, then declared that one tablet must bear his name.
• Qiu's words about setting his ambition on the Dao silenced the people who had mocked him, and his departure caused a crack in humanity's destiny.
• Fuxi restored the sun, and the accumulated destiny flowed into the seed of the Way of Imperial Clarity, which finally sprouted after twelve years.

Qi WuHuo resisted the urge to claim the Imperial Qi that had sprouted from his seed and began preaching a higher Dao before the Nine Stone Tablets. As his words stirred the Human World’s destiny, the immortals realized that Qi WuHuo—not Fuxi—had caused the upheaval and turned their attention to him.

• Fuxi sensed the seed Qi WuHuo had planted sprout into an unending source of Imperial Qi rooted in the Human World.
• Qi WuHuo told Fuxi that both Qiu’s destiny and his own Dao had arrived, then walked toward the Nine Stone Tablets.
• Fuxi took Qi WuHuo’s bamboo fishing rod and drew the immortals’ attention by announcing that those who carried destiny should take the hook.
• Qi WuHuo sat before the Nine Stone Tablets, refused to absorb the tender shoot’s Great Dao breath, and began his familiar lecture.
• When Qi WuHuo continued past the lesson’s usual ending to preach the Dao of Taiyi and Xuanxu, the green shoot grew and Human Dao Destiny surged skyward.
• Fuxi snapped the fishing rod and laughed as the immortals turned from him and recognized Qi WuHuo as the source of the upheaval.

Qi WuHuo taught the Dao beneath the Nine Stone Tablets, strengthening Human Dao Destiny while the immortals watched. When Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole sent a thunderbolt toward the human realm, Severing Heaven and Earth formed a golden figure that caught it, and Qi WuHuo commanded it to stop.

• The immortals realized Fuxi had distracted them while Qi WuHuo’s preaching drove the human realm’s growing destiny, and the Jade Emperor and a white-clothed woman watched him through mirrors.
• Qi WuHuo expanded his foundational teachings into a complete cultivation path, drawing crowds and causing the Imperial Pure Tree to grow as listeners gained insight.
• The immortals recognized Qi WuHuo as the source of the human realm’s transformation, while Judicial Great Celestial Venerable seethed over the Dao Fruit he had lost.
• A thunderbolt carrying Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole’s power descended toward the human realm, as the Northern Emperor expected Fuxi to intervene.
• Severing Heaven and Earth gathered golden light into a vast figure that caught the thunderbolt, while Qi WuHuo continued teaching and ordered, “Stop here.”

Qi WuHuo used Human Dao Destiny and the Nine Cauldrons to withstand and turn back Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole’s hidden strike, killing the divine generals who had attacked the Human World. The heavens mistook the feat for his sole trump card, while Qi WuHuo ended his sermon and said he might teach again in seventeen years.

• Qi WuHuo formed a colossal incarnation from Human Dao Destiny and dispelled Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole’s thunderous attack.
• Qi WuHuo shaped the thunder into a spear and killed several divine generals who had attacked the Human World.
• The Great Celestial Venerable Jade Emperor declared Qi WuHuo an ally, ordered the array targeting the Human World’s destiny withdrawn, and ordered an investigation into the attackers.
• The immortals and gods departed, believing Qi WuHuo had revealed his trump card, while Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole and Great Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole considered his power.
• Qi WuHuo ended his sermon and told his listeners they might return in seventeen years; blood from the slain divine generals then fell as rain.
• Great Master Xuan Du, Great True Lord Tian Peng, and Great Unity Salvation Heavenly Venerate met in the Nine Heavens and went to report the events to the Three Pure Ones.

Qi Wuhuo refused to consume Human Dao Destiny for his own power and instead planned to leave behind a sword that could protect the Human World after he departed. As his lectures drew ever more listeners beneath the Nine Stone Tablets, Fuxi sensed a wisp of qi from Qi Wuhuo and wondered whether his cultivation had broken through.

• Great Master Xuandu and the Heavenly Worthy Who Relieves Suffering in Taiyi failed to reach their Teachers, while the Great True Lord Tianpeng found a message in Yuxu Palace expressing the Three Pure Ones' wish for Qi Wuhuo to come to them himself.
• Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole concluded that Qi Wuhuo had Imperator-level methods and decided to treat him as a newly risen Imperator.
• Qi Wuhuo told Fuxi he would not seize Human Dao Destiny to strengthen himself and instead planned to forge a sword of destiny to protect the Human World after he left.
• Qi Wuhuo said the sword was only the first step and planned to spread Daoist Magic so people of many lineages could create their own Sword Artifacts; he and Fuxi wagered on what would happen next.
• More people gathered beneath the Nine Stone Tablets to hear Qi Wuhuo lecture and exchange insights, causing Human Dao Destiny to rise.
• Fuxi sensed a wisp of qi escaping from Qi Wuhuo and was astonished that his cultivation might have broken through.

After Qi WuHuo’s teachings helped him break through to perfect Human Qi, crowds gathered beneath the Nine Stone Tablets to debate the Dao. As Li Weifeng discussed unifying the human world and the Nine Cauldrons with his master, a familiar friend returned to the Treasury Chamber and one stone tablet began to ripple.

• Qi WuHuo broke through the bottleneck in his Human Qi, though his outward cultivation aura appeared to fall by a level.
• People gathered beneath the Nine Stone Tablets at Jimen to debate the Dao, and Li Weifeng’s personal visit ended official resistance to their meetings.
• Li Qiongyu visited Qi WuHuo, spoke with him about their shared dream and the gatherings, then left without discussing her rumored affection for him.
• Li Weifeng told Qi WuHuo that his Seventh Brother had reached the final frontier and that unifying the human world would allow them to cast the Nine Cauldrons.
• Li Weifeng asked whether his achievements could wash away his sins and whether he could stand beside Seventh Brother; Qi WuHuo gave no answer.
• A familiar friend arrived at the Treasury Chamber, and one of the Nine Stone Tablets began to ripple as the young sapling swayed.

The Golden Cicada recounted how he tested Buddhism by helping ordinary people, then gave up his cultivation to test the Dharma against the worst of human nature. Qi WuHuo watched the lives of Medicine Master Buddha’s reincarnation and others unfold, and the chapter ended with Mingxin writing that he had found a Dao-attuned disciple surnamed Zhuang.

• The Golden Cicada told Qi WuHuo how years spent among ordinary people convinced him that Buddhist principles could save people without sectarian rules or supernatural power.
• The Golden Cicada relinquished his cultivation, left his Sarira with Qi WuHuo, and set out to test the Dharma against greed, violence, and lust among the wicked.
• The Golden Cicada changed a thief and a violent thug, then chose a dangerous courtesan as the target of his final vow.
• Qi WuHuo attended the betrothal ceremony of Medicine Master Buddha’s reincarnation, Ming, returned his Buddhist beads, and promised to visit again in seventeen years.
• Seventeen years later, Qi WuHuo attended Xi Men Da Chong’s marriage, named his son Bao, and received Mingxin’s letter about a Dao-attuned child surnamed Zhuang.

After seventeen years, Qi WuHuo’s Five Qi reached perfection as King Wei Wu Li Zhai conquered the last city, bringing the mortal world closer to renewed contact with Heaven. Ming Xin introduced Zhuang Ergou, whom Qi WuHuo named Zhuang Zhou, and Qiu returned to stand before his former master.

• Daoist Ming Xin wrote to Qi WuHuo about finding Zhuang Ergou among bandits and bringing the clever boy to meet him.
• Qi WuHuo watched the Daoist school flourish as Human Dao Destiny and literary tradition grew, while Fuxi warned that Great Emperor Changsheng of the South Pole would eventually come for him.
• Qi WuHuo declined to take Zhuang Ergou as his disciple, gave him the name Zhuang Zhou, and told Ming Xin to guide him as they traveled.
• King Wei Wu Li Zhai conquered the last city, and Qi WuHuo’s five kinds of Qi all reached perfection after seventeen years.
• Qiu returned to the capital with his disciples and stood before Qi WuHuo.

Qi WuHuo and Qiu’s meeting inspired Qiu to challenge the cultivators beneath the Nine Stone Tablets, where their struggle helped the Hundred Schools flourish. Qi WuHuo delayed his plan to ascend until the era reached its end, as the final material for the Ninth Cauldron arrived.

• At thirty-four, Qiu returned to visit Qi WuHuo, discussed the Dao with him for a month, and praised him as a dragon.
• Qi WuHuo sent Qiu to debate the cultivators beneath the Nine Stone Tablets, where Qiu’s formidable challenge shattered their confidence before Qi WuHuo began teaching them again.
• Qiu left to travel the world once more, while Zhuang Zhou followed Qi WuHuo and then dozed through the renewed lectures.
• Under pressure from Qiu and Qi WuHuo’s teachings, the cultivators developed new schools of thought, and Fuxi urged Qi WuHuo to act while Human Dao Destiny surged.
• Qi WuHuo told Fuxi he would wait for Qiu, Golden Cicada, Li Zhai, and the Phoenix of Might to return and for the era to end before ascending to the heavens.
• The final material for the Nine Cauldrons arrived, ready for Qi WuHuo to forge into the Ninth Cauldron.

The Golden Cicada told Qi WuHuo how a woman’s sacrifice and the Buddhas’ rejection shattered his certainty in the Buddhist Way, then left to walk among ordinary people and seek his answer. Qi WuHuo later forged and placed the ninth cauldron, bringing the Nine Cauldrons together as the Human World awaited the rite’s completion.

• The Golden Cicada recounted how he guided a greedy man, a killer, and a courtesan, before the courtesan died to save him from the city lord.
• The Golden Cicada described how the Buddhas refused to admit the woman into the Buddha’s realm, and he questioned Qi WuHuo about the Buddhist Way’s unequal treatment of living beings.
• Qi WuHuo answered that he did not know what the Buddha was, and the Golden Cicada chose to return to the Human World as one among all living beings, promising to return in seventeen years.
• Qi WuHuo visited Ming, the reincarnation of Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata, and promised to see him again in seventeen years.
• Qi WuHuo gathered the Human Dao artifacts into the final cauldron and sent it to the last formation point, completing the union of the Nine Cauldrons as the Human World fell still.

Qi WuHuo completed the Nine Cauldrons formation, unleashing Human Dao Destiny across the mortal realm and revealing Fengshan at Mount Tai as its final step. Li Weifeng postponed the rite until the realm had truly prospered, while Qi WuHuo prepared for a final battle and grew old as he awaited his promised meeting with Qiu.

• Qi WuHuo activated the completed Nine Cauldrons formation, spreading its protective Human Dao Destiny across the entire mortal realm.
• The Celestial Realm witnessed the formation’s immense power, and the Judicial Great Celestial Venerable grew consumed by jealousy toward Qi WuHuo.
• Qi WuHuo and Li Weifeng discovered that the Nine Cauldrons still required a final act, and Li Weifeng identified Fengshan at Mount Tai as the rite that would complete it.
• Li Weifeng refused to perform Fengshan immediately, choosing to wait until the realm had entered a genuine golden age before undertaking the rite.
• Qi WuHuo gathered Human Dao Destiny, underworld energy, and local gods around Mount Tai to strengthen Fengshan, then told Fuxi that the rite might be his last battle in the Human World.
• Seventeen years passed as Qi WuHuo grew old, and his promised final meeting with Qiu arrived.

Qiu met the old man at Jixia Academy and debated him for three months, while the Human World watched their meeting as the convergence of Daoism and Confucianism. When the old man told Qiu he had attained the Dao, the Spring and Autumn Cauldron and Imperial Pure Tree reached their full bloom, and Fuxi realized the Daoist’s long wait might finally be over.

• Zhuang Zhou escorted the old man to Jixia Academy, where he and Qiu reunited and walked together to meet him.
• Qiu and the old man debated privately for three months as news of their meeting spread throughout the Human World.
• Zhuang Zhou recorded the old man telling Qiu, “You have attained it,” and titled the account “Zhuangzi: Heaven’s Fortune.”
• Qiu and the old man crossed paths as Daoism and Confucianism converged, and the Imperial Pure Tree spread its influence across the Human World.
• Fuxi watched the Spring and Autumn Cauldron bloom and realized Qiu had attained the Dao, possibly fulfilling the purpose for which the Daoist had waited.

Qi WuHuo watched Qiu, Golden Cicada, and Zhuang Zhou fulfill their paths as the flourishing Human Dao Destiny reached completion. After promising to expound the Way one last time, the aged Daoist returned to his quiet chamber and closed his eyes, leaving his identity as Zhenwu, the Supreme One, revealed as Angelica.

• Qiu left the capital to continue traveling, while Zhuang Zhou saw him off and later drove Qi WuHuo to visit Ming, the reincarnation of the Medicine Master Glazed Buddha.
• Ming described his lonely old age and asked whether his life had been good or bad; Qi WuHuo promised to return in seventeen years so Ming could answer for himself.
• Golden Cicada returned after seventeen years of seeing the common people, explained that people could turn back by looking inward, and established the Shi school, which later developed into Yogacara and Zen.
• Golden Cicada reclaimed his Sarira, crushed it as he left the capital, and departed after Qi WuHuo pointed him toward Ming.
• Zhuang Zhou bowed to Qi WuHuo before leaving to write the Zhuangzi, whose Inner Chapter titles described the old Daoist's path.
• Qi WuHuo returned to his quiet chamber as his cultivation scattered away, and the chapter revealed that the Supreme One was Angelica.