Chapter Summaries

Emperor Yu learned Qingyuan's plan to use the Chan Sect Immortals as a public distraction while he established the Nine Provinces Cauldron, then went to the Chan Sect and faced their hostility. After Emperor Yu explained that he had obtained the unfinished cauldron on Guangchengzi's orders and brought it back to report, the Golden Immortals began to reconsider whether they had misjudged him.

• The Great Peng Bird explained that Emperor Yu could use the Chan Sect Immortals to draw blame while quietly building control over the Nine Provinces, and Qingyuan confirmed the plan and gave him a protective token.
• Qingyuan told Emperor Yu to claim he had endured humiliation to obtain the method of attaining the Dao, then dismissed him and warned him not to return to the Interception Sect.
• Emperor Yu traveled to the Chan Sect's Dojo at Qilin Cliff, where the disciples and Golden Immortals scorned him for going to the Interception Sect.
• True Person Taiyi and the other Chan Sect Immortals accused Emperor Yu of betraying his master and threatened to drive him away.
• Emperor Yu said Guangchengzi had ordered him to infiltrate the Interception Sect and obtain a treasure for the Human Race, then showed them the unfinished Nine Provinces Cauldron.
• The Golden Immortals sensed the cauldron's Human Race Fortune Aura and began to believe Emperor Yu's account, wondering whether they had misjudged Guangchengzi.

Emperor Yu convinced the Chan Sect immortals that Guangchengzi had secretly planned to secure the Nine Provinces Cauldron and its Merit for their sect. After learning how Qingyuan had helped, Guangchengzi sent the immortals to aid Emperor Yu while insisting he would remain confined, even for a million years.

• Emperor Yu told the Chan Sect immortals that Guangchengzi had feigned a falling-out and sent him to the Interception Sect to arrange the Nine Provinces Cauldron’s refinement.
• The Chan Sect immortals abandoned their suspicions, declined to report the matter to their Saint, and went with Emperor Yu to Peach Source Cave to apologize to Guangchengzi.
• Guangchengzi opened the cave expecting his junior brothers to confront him, then heard their apologies and Emperor Yu’s claim that he had completed the plan.
• After the immortals left, Emperor Yu explained what had really happened, and Guangchengzi thanked Qingyuan for preserving his reputation and yielding the benefits.
• Guangchengzi instructed the Chan Sect immortals to help Emperor Yu on the East Sea Coast and warned them not to linger among the Human Race.
• When the immortals urged Guangchengzi to leave confinement, he refused and declared that he would endure even a million years for the Chan Sect.

Guangchengzi accepted confinement to protect his disciple and preserve Senior Brother Qingyuan’s plans, while Emperor Yu ordered the Chan Sect Immortals to crush resistance across the East Sea Coast. After pacifying the Nine Provinces and establishing the Nine Provinces Cauldron, Emperor Yu announced the founding of Great Xia, provoking the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

• Guangchengzi refused to leave confinement, and the Chan Sect Immortals apologized before departing with Emperor Yu.
• Emperor Yu ordered the Chan Sect Immortals to kill imperial clan factions and local overlords who resisted his rule.
• The Chan Sect Immortals unleashed widespread slaughter, while Emperor Yu ignored the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors’ demands for an explanation.
• Emperor Yu led a campaign that pacified the East Sea Coast and established the Nine Provinces Cauldron, strengthening Human Race fortune and reducing demonic corruption.
• Emperor Yu summoned his ministers, announced the founding of Great Xia, and proclaimed systems including succession by the eldest legitimate son.
• The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in Huoyun Cave erupted in anger over Emperor Yu’s announcement.

The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors condemned Emperor Yu for abolishing abdication and massacring opponents with Chan Sect aid. At Mount Tai, Emperor Yu declared Great Yu renamed Great Xia and established hereditary rule, triggering a vast surge in Human Race Fortune that shocked the Primordial Wilderness.

• The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors raged in Huoyun Cave over Emperor Yu's actions, but the Saints' confinement kept them from confronting him.
• Emperor Yu pacified the realm, prepared to change dynasties, and rewarded the Chan Sect Immortals with honors and Fortune Aura.
• Emperor Yu summoned officials to Mount Tai and proclaimed the founding of Great Xia, hereditary succession through his bloodline, and a reorganization into Nine Provinces.
• Human Race Destiny intertwined with the Human Dao, forming a golden dragon that devoured Fortune Aura as the Nine Provinces Cauldrons drew in dense threads.
• Great Xia's National Fortune and the Human Race's Fortune surged, sending the Human Dao's momentum skyward and shocking the Primordial Wilderness.

The Human Dao’s momentum surged as the Human Race’s Fortune Aura formed a National Destiny Golden Dragon beyond the Heavenly Dao Saints’ control. Saint Taiqing attacked it, but the dragon blocked his strike and began depleting his Fortune Aura.

• The Human Dao’s momentum surged, and the Human Race’s Fortune Aura transformed into a golden dragon that absorbed Fortune Aura from the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
• Saint Taiqing tried to command the National Destiny Golden Dragon with the Human Dao Seal, but it had no effect.
• Saint Taiqing reached out to erase the dragon as other Saints watched from afar.
• The National Destiny Golden Dragon expanded, joined by the Nine Provinces Cauldron and a Heaven and Earth Dao Diagram, and blocked Saint Taiqing’s attack.
• Saint Taiqing realized that the golden dragon could deplete his Fortune Aura and reacted with disbelief.

Saint Taiqing discovered that attacking Great Xia’s National Destiny Golden Dragon drained his Fortune Aura, revealing that the Human Race had slipped beyond the Saints’ control. He summoned the Heavenly Dao Saints, and Venerable Yuanshi agreed to investigate whether his disciples had caused the upheaval.

• The National Destiny Golden Dragon recovered from Saint Taiqing’s attack as the Nine Provinces Cauldrons appeared behind it.
• Saint Taiqing sensed his Fortune Aura fall by more than ten percent and withdrew, while the other Heavenly Dao Saints recognized the backlash.
• Saint Taiqing summoned the Heavenly Dao Saints to Taiqing Hall and asked who had been following Human Emperor Yu the Great’s affairs.
• The Saints blamed Venerable Yuanshi’s disciples for helping Yu the Great establish Great Xia, forge the Nine Provinces Cauldrons, and create National Fortune.
• Venerable Yuanshi said he had punished Guangchengzi and asked for time to investigate the matter.

Emperor Yu founded Great Xia and formed the Nine Provinces National Fortune, which blessed the Chan Sect Immortals and repelled demons. Venerable Yuanshi summoned the Immortals to the Jade Void Palace and revealed that their actions had helped the Human Race break free of control and take more than a tenth of their Human Dao Destiny from their Senior Grandmaster Uncle.

• Emperor Yu performed the Fengshan rites on Mount Tai, founded Great Xia, and formed the National Fortune, which strengthened people and drove demons from human settlements.
• The Chan Sect Immortals celebrated their Fortune Blessing and left Emperor Yu for the Kunlun Mountains, expecting Venerable Yuanshi to reward them.
• The Chan Sect Immortals entered the Jade Void Palace, where Venerable Yuanshi angrily ordered them to kneel and explain their recent actions.
• The Immortals told Venerable Yuanshi they had helped Emperor Yu establish the Nine Provinces Cauldron and found Great Xia, and described the benefits of the National Fortune.
• Venerable Yuanshi told the Immortals that the Human Race had broken free of control and taken more than a tenth of their Senior Grandmaster Uncle's Human Dao Destiny, leaving them alarmed.

Venerable Yuanshi revealed that the Chan Sect Immortals had incurred immense Karma and Red Dust Tribulation Aura by slaughtering Human Race members with great Fortune Aura, leaving them doomed to die when the Tribulation of Calamity arrived. After hearing their account of how they became involved in helping Emperor Yu, he concluded they had been tricked, but the immortals could not tell who had set them up.

• The Chan Sect Immortals denied that the Human Race could have caused backlash against their Senior Grandmaster Uncle, so Venerable Yuanshi whipped them until they begged for mercy.
• Venerable Yuanshi warned the immortals that the Red Dust Tribulation had already descended on them and that he could not save them when the Tribulation of Calamity arrived.
• Venerable Yuanshi explained that their slaughter of Human Race members with great Fortune Aura had burdened them with Karma and Red Dust Tribulation Aura.
• The Chan Sect Immortals confessed that Emperor Yu had come to Kunlun Mountains seeking Guangchengzi, but they had intercepted him and helped him attain the Dao.
• Venerable Yuanshi berated the immortals for falling into a scheme and asked who had set them up, while they remained unsure whether the Interception Sect, Emperor Yu, or Guangchengzi was responsible.

Venerable Yuanshi brought his Chan Sect disciples before the Saints to accuse Sect Master Tongtian, but Tongtian denied responsibility for Great Xia’s rise. With the Saints worried about losing control of the Human Dao, Daoist Zhunti proposed turning the Human Race against itself to tear Great Xia apart.

• Venerable Yuanshi brought his Chan Sect disciples to Taiqing Hall and ordered them to explain what had happened.
• The Chan Sect disciples described Emperor Yu’s rise and the damage Great Xia National Fortune had done to Saint Taiqing’s control of the Human Race.
• Saint Taiqing asked Sect Master Tongtian to explain, but Tongtian argued that his Interception Sect had gained nothing from helping Emperor Yu.
• Saint Taiqing ended the quarrel and asked the Saints how they could counter Great Xia National Fortune and regain control of the Human Dao.
• Daoist Zhunti suggested setting the Human Race against itself to divide Great Xia and weaken its National Fortune.

Daoist Zhunti proposed secretly provoking a conflict between the Human Race and the Heavenly Court to help Saint Taiqing reclaim control of the Human Dao. The Saints then rejected Haotian’s demands for disciples to serve in the Heavenly Court.

• Venerable Yuanshi and Sect Master Tongtian argued over schemes against the Human Race and their sects.
• Saint Taiqing offered Daoist Zhunti a future favor if his plan could ignite conflict between the Human Race and the Heavenly Court.
• Daoist Zhunti explained that Haotian’s ambition to control the Primordial Wilderness would bring him into conflict with the Human Race, and said he would stoke their grievances in secret over time.
• Saint Taiqing agreed to wait, while keeping his doubts and his own plans to reclaim the Human Dao.
• Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin refused to send Western Teachings disciples to serve Haotian, and the other Saints also rejected his demands.

Emperor Yu revealed how Great Xia’s National Fortune protected its officials and could intimidate even immortals, then declared that the Human Race would control its own destiny. The National Destiny Golden Dragon’s roar drew wary attention from factions and Saints across the Primordial Wilderness.

• The Heavenly Dao Saints adjourned their meeting, still shaken by the Human Race’s National Fortune and its Golden Dragon.
• Emperor Yu and Great Xia’s officials discovered that National Fortune enhanced them and made outsiders fear the consequences of attacking them.
• Emperor Yu explained that he had established Great Xia to unite the Human Race and break the imperial clans’ control over its resources and people.
• At Emperor Yu’s command, Lin tried to attack him but was repelled by National Fortune’s protection.
• Emperor Yu demonstrated National Fortune’s power to intimidate the gathered immortals and declared that even Hunyuan Saints could no longer control the Human Race without suffering consequences.
• The National Destiny Golden Dragon roared over the Primordial Wilderness, prompting factions and Saints to watch the Human Race with growing wariness.

The Human Race prospered under Emperor Yu and its National Fortune, making other races wary while the Heavenly Dao Saints weighed how its growing power might affect their authority. In the Western Land, Daoist Zhunti learned that Maitreya had obtained a wisp of the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit containing the Variable.

• Emperor Yu’s National Fortune crushed demons and fiends, and the Human Race grew safer, more prosperous, and increasingly devoted to him.
• A Demon God who provoked the Human Race suffered a fatal Dao Injury despite the Demon Race Saint’s efforts to save him, alarming cultivators across the Immortal World.
• The Heavenly Dao Saints saw the Human Race’s strength and Human Dao Origin growing, but chose not to intervene directly.
• Saint Taiqing sent disciples into the Nine Provinces to fight demons, spread the Human Sect’s teachings, and build goodwill with the Human Race.
• Daoist Zhunti asked Maitreya whether he had completed his task, and Maitreya presented the wisp of True Spirit he had obtained from Ksitigarbha.
• Daoist Zhunti revealed that the wisp belonged to the Heavenly Emperor’s divided True Spirit and contained the Variable.

Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin planned to send a strand of Haotian's True Spirit into the Human Race to provoke war between it and the Heavenly Court, hoping the Saints could exploit the losses. The chapter left them considering how to give the reborn spirit memories that would fuel their plan without exposing its identity or the Western Teachings.

• Daoist Zhunti praised Maitreya, gave him the Scripture of the Three Thousand Future Maitreya's Unfettered Great Dao and a Golden Cymbal, and promised generous rewards to disciples who served him well.
• Daoist Zhunti questioned whether they should use the stolen strand of Haotian's True Spirit as a sacrifice to the Human Race rather than bait for the Heavenly Court.
• Daoist Jieyin proposed making the True Spirit a Human Race leader who would provoke war with the Heavenly Court, giving the Saints an opportunity to reclaim influence over the Human Race.
• Daoist Zhunti pointed out that the conflict could also draw the Human Sect into a clash with the Heavenly Court and weaken the Mystic Gate without the Western Teachings fighting.
• Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti worried that the reborn spirit might reveal its identity or the Western Teachings' involvement, until Daoist Zhunti said he had found a solution.

Daoist Zhunti proposed making the Heavenly Emperor True Spirit believe he was a traveler from another world, so fear of being exposed would keep him silent. After hundreds of years preparing the fabricated memories, the Two Shakya sent Maitreya to deliver the True Spirit to King Ksitigarbha for rebirth, leaving Ksitigarbha lingering by the Netherworld Sea of Blood.

• Daoist Zhunti told Daoist Jieyin they could prevent the Heavenly Emperor True Spirit from revealing its identity by making it afraid to speak.
• Daoist Zhunti proposed implanting memories that would make the True Spirit believe it came from another world and would be erased if it revealed itself.
• Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin spent several hundred years in Secluded Cultivation preparing the True Spirit.
• The Two Shakya ordered Maitreya to take the True Spirit to King Ksitigarbha and have him send it into the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
• Maitreya delivered the Soul Wood to King Ksitigarbha and returned to claim his reward, while Ksitigarbha remained beside the Netherworld Sea of Blood.

Empress Pingxin forced King Ksitigarbha to help return the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit to reincarnation, but Qingyuan secretly altered its fate with the Human Dao Mandate. More than five hundred years later, Great Xia prospered, and the birth of the prodigy Ji Fengming was marked by extraordinary signs.

• Empress Pingxin confronted King Ksitigarbha over his debts of Karma and ordered him to send the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit into reincarnation.
• A hundred years later, King Ksitigarbha secretly sent the True Spirit into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and Maitreya informed the Two Shakya.
• Qingyuan intercepted the incomplete True Spirit, infused it with the Human Dao Mandate, and sent it back into reincarnation.
• After more than five hundred years of peace and prosperity in Great Xia, Ji Fengming was born amid a phoenix’s cry and other auspicious signs.

Ji Fengming rose from a mocked, impoverished child to the hidden leader of a growing territory, but the Immortal Ceremony revealed that Great Xia existed in a vast mythological world. He abandoned his plans to proclaim himself king and began seeking knowledge of immortals.

• After Cang He returned the infant Ji Fengming to his farming parents and reclaimed their wealth, the farmer killed himself under the pressure of ruin and ridicule.
• Ji Fengming endured bullying as a child, then organized village children to sell candied hawthorn skewers and straw toys, sharing most of their earnings with them.
• Ji Fengming gathered children and vagrants into the Kun Sect, expanded his trade, and used his wealth and influence to organize local outlaws and build a territory.
• At the once-in-a-century Immortal Ceremony, Ji Fengming saw immortals descend and Great Xia officials slay demons, realizing he had been living in a mythological age.
• After months of investigation, Ji Fengming learned of the Ninefold Immortal Realm, the myriad Buddha Realms, the Underworld, and the countless worlds and races beyond Great Xia.

Ji Fengming searched for a path to immortality but found no cultivation manuals, so he pursued officialdom as another way to reach the supernatural. He rose to authority in Long City, learned how little its officials knew, and remained dissatisfied as a major turn approached.

• Ji Fengming sold most of his businesses to seek cultivation knowledge but found no trace of manuals or immortals among ordinary people.
• Ji Fengming decided to become a Great Xia official after recalling immortals and officials fighting demons.
• Ji Fengming staged an attack on Uncle Ke and rescued him, then became a minor prison clerk in Long City.
• Ji Fengming used his knowledge to improve investigations and prison administration, gaining influence under Uncle Ke.
• Ji Fengming learned that cultivation paths were mostly legends in Long City and that meeting Emperor Yu or rising to high office would be difficult.
• After spending two gloomy years in Long City, Ji Fengming faced a major turn in his circumstances.

Ji Fengming spent years advancing through Great Xia’s bureaucracy while lamenting how little room his knowledge gave him to rise, and he kept searching for the mysterious Daoist he had once heard about. On a rainy trip to the abandoned temple, he met a composed young man riding a Green Ox and invited him into his carriage, hoping the encounter would change his fortunes.

• Ji Fengming rushed to the Desolate Deity Temple after hearing reports of a Daoist who had meditated there and flown away, but he arrived too late and never found him.
• Ji Fengming’s reforms earned the provincial governor’s approval, and he was promoted toward a judicial registrar’s post in a provincial city if he could avoid mistakes for ten years.
• Ji Fengming felt frustrated by the barriers of bloodline, connections, and circumstance, but he continued his official work and prepared writings drawn from his past life for a future opportunity.
• Years later, Ji Fengming rode toward the temple in April rain, still unmarried and determined to climb the ranks of Great Xia.
• Ji Fengming saw a young man riding a Green Ox, stopped his carriage, and invited him to shelter inside; the young man agreed and told the ox to follow.

Ji Fengming told Xuandu that he was searching for an immortal because he had given up hope of advancing in Great Xia's rigid officialdom. At an abandoned temple, Ji Fengming compared rain's cycle to reincarnation, revealing a destiny that could make him a leader among the Human Race; Xuandu began considering whether the Human Sect could help him fulfill it.

• Ji Fengming invited the young man, Xuandu, to ride with him and explained that he was searching for an immortal who could teach him to cultivate.
• Ji Fengming said he had turned to seeking immortality because he lacked the connections and opportunities to rise in Great Xia's officialdom, while Xuandu warned him that cultivation was difficult.
• Xuandu accompanied Ji Fengming to an empty abandoned temple, where Ji Fengming watched the rain and described its cycle as resembling reincarnation.
• Ji Fengming's words triggered a great surge of fortune that showed Xuandu he could become a leader among the Human Race, though the fortune vanished when Ji Fengming grew troubled again.
• Xuandu considered helping Ji Fengming so the Human Sect could restore its influence, but decided to test him further before revealing his intentions.

Xuandu recognized a resemblance between Ji Fengming and Senior Brother Qingyuan, accepted Ji Fengming’s invitation, and accompanied him for several years. Ji Fengming’s steady work in local government ended with an imperial decree appointing him Commandery Governor of Shangtang Commandery, stunning Long City.

• Xuandu listened to Ji Fengming describe his ambitions and remembered Senior Brother Qingyuan and the days before the Three Sects parted ways.
• Ji Fengming declared that he believed he would succeed, and Xuandu accepted his invitation to accompany him.
• Over the next several years, Ji Fengming served Count Zheng, helped improve Long City’s livelihoods, and gave up waiting for immortal opportunities.
• Great Xia Dragon Guards arrived in Long City, called for Ji Fengming, and presented an imperial edict appointing him Commandery Governor of Shangtang Commandery.
• Count Zheng, Uncle Ke, the officials, and the townsfolk were stunned by Ji Fengming’s appointment.