Chapter Summaries

In the eighth year of Di Xin’s reign, the eight hundred feudal lords came to Chaoge to pay homage, uneasy about Shang’s growing prosperity and the taxes funding it. Di Xin summoned the Four Great Marquis for a private meeting and challenged Ji Chang after he arrived last.

• Di Xin fortified Shang’s borders with eleven heavily guarded passes to deter the Four Great Marquis and other feudal lords from rebelling.
• The eight hundred feudal lords arrived in Chaoge with tribute, marveled at the capital’s new development, and spent freely in its commercial districts.
• You Hun and Fei Zhong refused gifts from visiting feudal lords, fearing Di Xin’s scrutiny.
• Di Xin secretly summoned Jiang Hengchu, Chong Houhu, E Chongyu, and Ji Chang to a private meeting without attendants.
• Chong Houhu, Jiang Hengchu, and E Chongyu entered and took their seats, while Ji Chang lingered at the entrance before bowing to Di Xin.
• Di Xin asked Ji Chang whether he held a grievance against him, and Ji Chang claimed he had paused to compose himself out of reverence.

Di Xin privately asked the four regional marquises to support his plan to consolidate the scattered strength of the Human Race, but their loyalties and concerns differed. He ended by asking them plainly who supported the plan and who opposed it.

• Di Xin welcomed the four regional marquises to a banquet after reassuring Ji Chang that he had only been teasing him.
• After the meal, Di Xin declared that he wanted to strengthen the Human Race and free it from pressure by immortals, Buddhas, and other powers.
• Jiang Hengchu said he would help only if the plan did not cost his faction more than it gained, while Chong Houhu eagerly offered support if Di Xin protected his family's interests.
• E Chongyu promised support so long as Di Xin remained a wise ruler.
• Ji Chang avoided directly agreeing, praised Di Xin, and urged him to state his intentions plainly, prompting the other marquises to back his request.
• Di Xin explained that he wanted to unite the scattered strength of the Human Race and asked the marquises who supported or opposed the plan.

Di Xin demanded that the feudal lords’ authority be abolished and the realm unified under Great Shang, provoking a fierce dispute with the four Great Marquis. After rejecting their objections, he told Ji Chang to prepare a coffin, leaving the Western Marquis in mortal danger.

• Chong Houhu enthusiastically supported Di Xin’s plan to unite the Human Race by abolishing the feudal states.
• E Chongyu argued that the lords had committed no offense and that war would violate ancestral law and devastate the people.
• Di Xin dismissed E Chongyu’s objections, boasted of his achievements, and declared that even Cheng Tang would have avoided challenging him.
• Jiang Hengchu agreed to serve Di Xin as a weapon if his family’s interests were protected.
• Ji Chang urged Di Xin to govern through benevolence and let the feudal lords keep their authority, but Di Xin told him to prepare a coffin.

Di Xin announced that he would abolish the feudal states and warned the Great Marquises that those who resisted would die. Ji Chang returned safely to West Qi and took Di Xin’s failure to stop him as proof that he could raise a rebellion without fear.

• Di Xin told the four Great Marquises that he would seize control of the realm, giving them a year to submit before his armies crushed them.
• E Chongyu objected to Di Xin’s demand, while Ji Chang politely took his leave and secretly planned to flee to West Qi and oppose King Zhou.
• Ji Chang traveled through the checkpoints and Tong Pass without obstruction, growing increasingly wary of a possible ambush.
• Ji Chang reached West Qi City unharmed and laughed, convinced that the feudal lords and Chan Sect immortals would support him against Di Xin.
• Ji Chang’s sons urged him to contact the Chan Sect immortals and decide what to do next.

Ji Chang summoned Immortal Elder Nanji to West Qi, where the Immortal declared that Ji Chang was destined to become the Human Race Co-Lord. A report from Chaoge revealed the feudal lords’ reactions to Di Xin’s demands and the events that sent Su Daji toward the capital, where Nuwa’s Nine-Tailed Fox possessed her.

• Immortal Elder Nanji arrived in West Qi and told Ji Chang that Heaven’s mandate and the phoenix’s signs foretold West Qi’s prosperity and Ji Chang’s future rise.
• Ji Chang recounted Di Xin’s plan to bring all eight hundred feudal lords under his command, and Nanji called the king arrogant.
• Ji Chang received a video report describing the lords’ opposition, flight, negotiations, and feasting after Di Xin’s proposal at the Assembly of Lords.
• Su Hu wrote that he would never serve Shang, while his son Su Quanzhong was arrested after killing a man during an argument in Chaoge.
• You Hun ordered Su Hu to send his daughter to the imperial city in exchange for help, and Su Hu sent Su Daji despite his reluctance.
• The Nine-Tailed Fox arranged by Nuwa possessed Su Daji on the road after the report explained that Nuwa had ordered the three demons to corrupt Great Shang’s Fortune Aura.

Di Xin received immense rewards from the system after shocking the feudal lords and resolved to bring the Nine Provinces under his direct control. Newly empowered as an early-stage Golden Immortal, he ordered Fei Zhong to prepare Fei Lian and E Lai’s army for an immediate inspection.

• Di Xin reflected on his plan to seize control of the Nine Provinces rather than rely on the feudal lords.
• The system rewarded Di Xin with Golden Immortal Early Stage Daoxing, treasures, an army’s weapons and armor, and other items after he earned over eight billion Shock Value points.
• Di Xin extracted the rewards, gained Golden Immortal power, and tested his Metal Laws by disintegrating a timber beam.
• Di Xin equipped himself with the Human Emperor Jiang Shan Sword and Human Emperor Statecraft Map, then summoned Fei Zhong.
• Di Xin ordered Fei Zhong to tell Fei Lian and E Lai to prepare their army for inspection and threatened them if they were not ready in time.

Di Xin confronted the elite imperial guards after they complained about waiting for him, then challenged their officers to fight him without using the Human Emperor's Fortune Aura. He effortlessly defeated Bo Shan and charged into the gathered crowd, leaving corpses covering the ground.

• Di Xin arrived at the training ground hours late and reprimanded Fei Lian and E Lai for the soldiers' poor discipline.
• The officers and soldiers complained about waiting, and Di Xin challenged them to defeat him for a promotion and reward.
• Di Xin refused to use the Human Emperor's Fortune Aura, and Bo Shan attacked him with a spear.
• Di Xin caught Bo Shan's weapons, disarmed him, pierced him through the chest, and kicked him from the platform.
• Di Xin drew the Human Emperor Sword and charged into the officers, leaving corpses across the ground.

Di Xin defeated the Imperial Guard’s strongest fighters and ordered the creation of a divine army of three thousand elites. After assigning E Lai and Fei Lian command roles, he learned that Su Daji had arrived and punished You Hun for arranging her presentation without permission, then spared him.

• Di Xin defeated the assembled soldiers barehanded, won their submission, and announced a contest to select three thousand elite soldiers after three days of rest.
• E Lai and Fei Lian apologized for their troops, and Di Xin appointed Fei Lian to command the Imperial Guard and E Lai to lead the new divine army.
• You Hun told Di Xin that Marquis Su Hu had sent Su Daji to the palace and that he had arranged for her to attend the King.
• Di Xin became furious when You Hun admitted he had arranged Su Daji’s arrival to fulfill what he assumed was the King’s objective, and ordered him executed.
• Di Xin relented as You Hun was being dragged away and spared his life.

Di Xin summoned Su Daji and had her help him cultivate, then equipped three thousand elite imperial guards with Houtian Spiritual Treasure armaments. He announced that he had prepared Immortal Elixirs to help them ascend as immortals, leaving the soldiers in a frenzy.

• Di Xin punished You Hun for acting without permission, rewarded him with gold, silk, and pearls, and ordered Su Daji brought to him.
• Di Xin questioned Su Daji about her abilities and told her to help him cultivate.
• Several days later, Di Xin inspected the three thousand elite soldiers E Lai had selected and gave them complete sets of Houtian Spiritual Treasure armaments.
• Di Xin praised the soldiers as his future divine force, while Fei Lian and E Lai asked for equipment and learned that he had better items prepared for them.
• Di Xin warned the soldiers that their strength was insufficient and announced that each would receive an Immortal Elixir to become an immortal.

Di Xin gave three thousand elite Imperial Guards Immortal Elixirs, turning them into Human Immortals, and sent them outside Chaoge to undergo their tribulation after Taibai Golden Star warned that they would otherwise become Pseudo-Immortals. Di Xin then privately asked Taibai Golden Star whether Great Shang could cooperate with the Heavenly Court.

• Di Xin announced that selected elite Imperial Guards would receive Immortal Elixirs and equipment, while assuring Fei Lian and E Lai that their service would earn them greater rewards.
• The three thousand elites swallowed the Pills and broke through to the Human Immortal Realm, drawing attention across Chaoge as the Heavenly Calamity gathered and dispersed above the protected capital.
• Taibai Golden Star arrived as the Heavenly Emperor's emissary and warned Di Xin that the new Immortals needed to undergo tribulation to gain true Immortal status.
• Di Xin ordered E Lai to lead the three thousand Human Immortals into the wilderness outside Chaoge to undergo their tribulations.
• Di Xin invited Taibai Golden Star to speak privately and asked whether Great Shang could cooperate with the Heavenly Court.

Di Xin proposed an alliance with the Heavenly Court, but Haotian refused because the Heavenly Dao’s plans made Great Shang expendable. Back in Chaoge, Di Xin planted the Black Bird Banner atop the Star-Picking Tower and then encountered Jiang Shang, who asked to offer advice.

• Di Xin offered Taibai Golden Star temples and Human Race worship in exchange for the Heavenly Court’s cooperation, and Taibai agreed to report the proposal to Haotian.
• Taibai praised Di Xin’s bearing but privately believed Great Shang could not escape the Heavenly Dao Saints’ designs.
• Taibai told Haotian about Di Xin’s proposal, but Haotian rejected cooperation and declared that Great Shang and the coming conflict served a larger plan against the Interception Sect.
• E Lai returned to Chaoge with three thousand Human Immortals, and Di Xin ordered them to train harder in military formations.
• Di Xin planted the Black Bird Banner atop the Star-Picking Tower, causing Chaoge’s Fortune Aura to surge, then met Jiang Shang outside the tower as Jiang Shang asked to offer advice.

Jiang Shang noticed demon aura on Di Xin and gave him a talisman to expose the demon he believed was near the King. Di Xin made Su Daji drink the talisman water, but it failed to reveal her true form, and Jiang Shang asked about the result the next day.

• Jiang Shang saw traces of demon aura on Di Xin and offered to help eliminate the demon in the palace.
• Di Xin praised Jiang Shang’s work at the Star-Picking Tower, encouraging him to speak freely.
• Jiang Shang gave Di Xin a talisman and instructed him to burn it, mix the ashes with water, and give it to the woman recently close to him.
• Di Xin made Su Daji drink the talisman water, but she did not reveal her true form and instead became more lascivious.
• The next day, Jiang Shang asked Di Xin whether the demon had revealed her true form.

Jiang Shang misread Di Xin’s exhaustion as proof that his talisman had unleashed a demon, then received a promotion that convinced him to prepare the True Samadhi Fire to expose it. Meanwhile, rumors portraying Di Xin as the tyrannical King Zhou spread across the realm, and the lords began preparing to oppose Shang.

• Di Xin complained to Jiang Shang that he had spent the night without sleep and asked him for a tonic, while Jiang Shang mistakenly assumed a demon had kept the king awake.
• You Hun delivered an imperial edict appointing Jiang Shang Lesser Grand Master in the Directorate of Astronomy, and Jiang Shang resolved to repay Di Xin’s favor by subduing the suspected demon with True Samadhi Fire.
• The eight hundred lords left Chaoge after parting from Di Xin and began forming alliances and discussing a campaign against him.
• Rumors accusing Di Xin of sacrilege, debauchery, cruelty, harsh punishments, heavy taxes, and abductions spread across the Human Realm under the name King Zhou.
• The Marquis of the East and the Marquis of the North warned their subordinate lords, the Marquis of the West let the rumors spread, and the Marquis of the South began gathering an army for the Conquest of Zhou.

Di Xin organized Great Shang’s response to rebellions across the realm, confident that its passes were well guarded. When Jiang Shang offered to use the True Samadhi Fire against a demon, Di Xin listened to his boasts but questioned whether the elderly minister should take on dangerous work.

• Di Xin received reports of rebellions in the south, north, and east, and of Ji Chang’s proclamation.
• Di Xin approved plans to supply and reinforce the passes, control prices, secure grain, recall officials, summon Interception Sect disciples, and train more troops.
• Jiang Shang followed Di Xin and warned that a demon’s aura around him had grown stronger.
• Jiang Shang demonstrated the True Samadhi Fire and listed his abilities as a Chan Sect cultivator.
• Di Xin praised Jiang Shang’s confidence but warned that he was old and inexperienced in battle, making Jiang Shang even more eager for a dangerous assignment.

Di Xin appointed Jiang Shang Grand Marshal of the Southern Campaign and sent him south with one hundred thousand troops to suppress E Chongyu's rebellion. Jiang Shang reached Three Mountains Pass and met Deng Taigong, who questioned whether he was really Jiang Ziya.

• Di Xin offered Jiang Shang a chance to win high office by defeating E Chongyu and swore him to a military pledge.
• Di Xin named Jiang Shang Grand Marshal of the Southern Campaign despite ministers' objections, and assigned Zhang Shan, Li Jin, Lu Renjie, Lei Kun, and Lei Peng to support the campaign.
• Jiang Shang led one hundred thousand troops and their supplies by train to Three Mountains Pass in less than half a month.
• Jiang Shang entered the pass with his deputies and met Deng Taigong, Kong Xuan, and the other defenders.
• Deng Taigong frowned at the unfamiliar old man and asked, "So you're Jiang Ziya?"

Jiang Ziya arrived at Three Mountains Pass as the king’s appointed commander and tried to convince Deng Jiugong that his training under Venerable Yuanshi made him capable of defeating E Chongyu. After Deng described the rebel’s overwhelming forces and strange weapons, Jiang Ziya deferred proposing a plan and secretly prepared to contact his master.

• Deng Jiugong challenged Jiang Ziya’s qualifications and questioned why the king had entrusted him with the southern campaign.
• Jiang Ziya introduced himself as a Kunlun Mountains cultivator and claimed he had once become a disciple of Venerable Yuanshi.
• Deng Jiugong explained that E Chongyu commanded five hundred thousand troops and possessed powerful formations and unusual weapons that had repeatedly repelled his forces.
• Jiang Ziya said he would investigate E Chongyu’s capabilities the next day, and Deng Jiugong hosted a welcoming banquet.
• After returning to his room, Jiang Ziya dismissed his attendants and set up an altar to contact Venerable Yuanshi.

Jiang Ziya asked Venerable Yuanshi for a way to defeat E Chongyu before trying to devise one himself, and was rebuked and sent back to Three Mountains Pass. There he assessed E Chongyu’s forces as he and Deng Jiugong faced the rebels’ challenge.

• Jiang Ziya told Venerable Yuanshi about his appointment and his difficulties against E Chongyu, but Venerable Yuanshi ordered him to try on his own before asking for help.
• The Twelve Golden Immortals criticized Jiang Ziya after Venerable Yuanshi sent his consciousness back to Three Mountains Pass.
• Jiang Ziya apologized toward the Kunlun Mountains, then fell asleep without finding a plan.
• The next day, Jiang Ziya joined Deng Jiugong on the city wall and recognized E Chongyu as a powerful overlord with dense Fortune Aura.
• Deng Jiugong explained the rebels’ forces and commanders while E Shun taunted him and E Chongyu urged him to join the rebellion.

E Chongyu’s rebel army attacked Three Mountains Pass while he and Deng Jiugong argued over King Zhou’s demand that the feudal lords surrender their power. The defenders repelled the assault, and E Chongyu withdrew after suffering heavy losses, leaving the southern lords discouraged in their camp.

• E Chongyu urged Deng Jiugong to rebel against King Zhou, while Deng defended the Human Emperor’s right to reclaim his authority.
• E Chongyu ordered his army of five hundred thousand to attack Three Mountains Pass after their argument ended.
• Deng Jiugong’s defenders, aided by the pass’s defenses and its stationed cultivators, held off the rebel army and killed more than ten thousand soldiers.
• E Chongyu sounded the retreat, and both sides cleared the battlefield during the lull.
• E Chongyu met with the southern feudal lords in their main camp, where they looked dispirited after repeated failures to take the pass.

The monk urged E Chongyu to seek help from a Demon Race Saint to break Three Mountains Pass, but E Chongyu refused and left the camp. That night, E Chongyu suddenly died in his tent, and the monk’s concealed hostility remained unexplained.

• The Southern Lords Alliance debated how to capture Three Mountains Pass, and E Chongyu asked the monk for a practical plan.
• The monk proposed flooding the pass by diverting the Great River, but the lords doubted the plan could work.
• The monk suggested that E Chongyu invite a Saint through his connection to Demon Saint Ying Zhao.
• E Chongyu refused to let the Demon Race interfere in Human Race affairs, threatened the monk, and warned the lords not to act rashly.
• That night, E Chongyu died suddenly in the main camp, and the monk’s eyes flashed with killing intent.

After E Chongyu died mysteriously, his son E Shun learned from Akasagarbha that Jiang Ziya was responsible and took command of the allied army. E Shun vowed to kill Jiang Ziya and asked Akasagarbha how to defeat Three Mountains Pass, who advised him to seek a Hunyuan Saint’s intervention.

• E Shun found E Chongyu dead and killed several attendants while demanding to know who had murdered his father.
• Akasagarbha blamed Jiang Ziya, explaining that he was a mortal saint’s disciple and the grand marshal of King Zhou’s army.
• E Shun swore revenge on Jiang Shang and promised rewards to those who killed Jiang Ziya, breached Three Mountains Pass, or captured King Zhou.
• E Shun killed lords who considered retreating, then gained the support of the assembled generals and took control of the five-hundred-thousand-strong army.
• Akasagarbha apologized for his oversight and advised E Shun to invite a Hunyuan Saint to intervene against Three Mountains Pass.