Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Emperor Yu is confused when Qingyuan, the Human Lord of the Interception Sect, instructs him to seek help from the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect, despite Guangchengzi previously warning him not to do so.
• The Interception Sect disciples understand Qingyuan’s strategy immediately. Great Peng explains that the Chan Sect immortals are being used as “borrowed knives”:
  • They can confront the remaining forces of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
  • Their arrogance and prominence will attract hostility, allowing Emperor Yu to avoid direct blame.
  • Publicly praising the Chan Sect immortals will make them overconfident and place them in the spotlight while Emperor Yu secretly consolidates power.
• Qingyuan reveals that he has already refined the Nine Provinces Cauldron and will secretly ensure that the Chan Sect’s efforts fail while Great Yu ultimately benefits.
• He advises Emperor Yu to claim that he endured humiliation and infiltrated the Interception Sect only to obtain a method of attaining the Dao, which he then returned to offer to the Chan Sect. This preserves Guangchengzi’s reputation while allowing Emperor Yu to complete his mission.
• Qingyuan warns that the plan will not make Emperor Yu completely innocent. He may gain a bad reputation, and the Human Race cannot instantly leap into a more advanced civilization. Its progress must come through gradual historical development.
• Qingyuan gives Emperor Yu a token that can protect him if the plan fails.
• Emperor Yu leaves for the Chan Sect, deeply grateful and convinced that Qingyuan has perfectly solved his dilemma.
• At the Chan Sect’s East Kunlun dojo, the Outer Disciples mock and condemn him for supposedly betraying Guangchengzi and defecting to the Interception Sect.
• True Person Taiyi and the other Golden Immortals openly insult and reject Emperor Yu, accusing him of ingratitude, betrayal, and trying to exploit the Chan Sect.
• Emperor Yu explains that his actions were part of a secret mission ordered by Guangchengzi. He presents the embryonic Nine Provinces Cauldron and claims that he entered the Interception Sect to obtain a treasure capable of suppressing Human Race destiny.
• The cauldron’s powerful Fortune Aura and Human Race momentum surprise the Chan Sect immortals. They begin to wonder whether Emperor Yu is telling the truth and whether they have misunderstood Guangchengzi’s intentions.

Character Developments

• Emperor Yu: Begins confused and anxious about conflicting instructions, especially his loyalty to Guangchengzi. Qingyuan’s plan gives him confidence and emotional relief. He becomes determined to protect his teacher’s reputation while carrying out the political strategy. At the Chan Sect, he remains calm despite humiliation and successfully presents a convincing explanation.
• Qingyuan/Human Lord: Demonstrates exceptional political foresight and strategic manipulation. He balances short-term political tactics with a broader understanding of civilization’s gradual development. He also shows concern for Emperor Yu’s safety by giving him a protective token.
• Great Peng Bird: Serves as the clearest interpreter of Qingyuan’s plan, explaining how the Chan Sect immortals can be used as scapegoats and distractions.
• The Interception Sect disciples: Admire Qingyuan’s cunning and immediately grasp the strategic value of using the Chan Sect as a public target.
• Guangchengzi: Although absent, his reputation and political position are central to the plan. Qingyuan seeks to preserve his standing by allowing Emperor Yu to claim that the entire operation was conducted under his teacher’s orders.
• Chan Sect immortals: Initially hostile, arrogant, and deeply offended by Emperor Yu’s supposed betrayal. Their certainty begins to weaken when they see the Nine Provinces Cauldron and realize that his actions may have served the Chan Sect after all.

Significant Themes

• Political manipulation and indirect warfare: Qingyuan avoids direct confrontation by making the Chan Sect bear the risks and blame while Emperor Yu strengthens his own position.
• Appearances versus reality: Emperor Yu appears to have betrayed his sect, but his actions are actually part of a larger strategy. The Chan Sect’s initial judgment is based on incomplete information.
• Loyalty and reputation: The plan is designed to preserve Guangchengzi’s reputation while forcing Emperor Yu to bear some personal disgrace.
• Gradual civilizational progress: Qingyuan emphasizes that a society cannot skip the stages of development required to build the necessary knowledge, institutions, and cultural foundations.
• Power, legitimacy, and control: The Nine Provinces Cauldron symbolizes the ability to stabilize Human Race destiny, while control of the Nine Provinces represents the consolidation of political authority.
• Arrogance and misjudgment: The Chan Sect’s pride causes its members to condemn Emperor Yu before investigating his motives, making them vulnerable to Qingyuan’s scheme.

Character Interactions

• Emperor Yu respectfully questions the Interception Sect disciples about Qingyuan’s plan.
• Great Peng explains the strategy to him, while Qingyuan clarifies the political and historical reasoning behind it.
• Qingyuan reassures Emperor Yu, protects him, and gives him a plausible story to tell the Chan Sect.
• Emperor Yu expresses deep gratitude, believing Qingyuan has understood both his own intentions and his concern for Guangchengzi.
• At Kunlun, Taiyi and the other Chan Sect immortals confront Emperor Yu with contempt, accusing him of betrayal and ingratitude.
• Emperor Yu counters their hostility with an explanation that frames his time in the Interception Sect as a mission ordered by Guangchengzi.
• The appearance of the Nine Provinces Cauldron forces the Chan Sect immortals to reconsider their assumptions, ending the chapter on uncertainty over whether they have wrongly judged both Emperor Yu and Guangchengzi.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• At Qilin Cliff, the Chan Sect immortals discover that the Nine Provinces Cauldrons brought back by Emperor Yu are completely unrefined. This proves that Emperor Yu did not betray the Chan Sect or secretly give the treasures to the Interception Sect.
• Emperor Yu explains that Guangchengzi’s apparent conflict with the Chan Sect and his later confinement were part of a deception. Guangchengzi intentionally appeared to break with his fellow disciples so the Interception Sect would lower its guard.
• Guangchengzi then sent Emperor Yu to seek help from Qingyuan of the Interception Sect in refining the Nine Provinces Cauldrons. The Interception Sect agreed in exchange for a share of the resulting Merit and Fortune Aura.
• Once the cauldrons were completed, Emperor Yu returned to the Chan Sect instead of remaining with the Interception Sect, allowing the Chan Sect to claim the benefits of the plan.
• Delighted and ashamed of having misjudged Guangchengzi, the Chan Sect immortals decide not to report the matter to their Saint. They hope to complete the operation themselves and gain Merit before the Interception Sect can interfere.
• The immortals travel to Guangchengzi’s Peach Source Cave to apologize. Guangchengzi initially assumes they have come to interrogate or punish Emperor Yu, but they instead praise him and apologize for their misunderstanding.
• Emperor Yu privately explains the truth to Guangchengzi. Guangchengzi realizes that Qingyuan willingly surrendered the Interception Sect’s potential benefits and helped preserve Guangchengzi’s reputation.
• Guangchengzi decides to continue following Qingyuan’s plan and refuses to have his confinement lifted, fearing that doing so would attract suspicion and cause the Saint to investigate.
• He instructs the other Chan Sect immortals to accompany Emperor Yu to the East Sea Coast, help him establish the nation, and obtain Human Dao Merit and Fortune Aura.
• When the others encourage Guangchengzi to leave confinement and promise to defend him, he angrily refuses, declaring that even a million years of confinement will not make him abandon his principles or compromise the Chan Sect’s interests.

2. Character Developments

• Emperor Yu is revealed to be a loyal and highly capable disciple. He successfully maintains the deception, earns the Interception Sect’s cooperation, and returns the completed cauldrons to the Chan Sect without exposing the plan.
• Guangchengzi is shown to be deeply committed to the Chan Sect and willing to endure injustice and isolation for its benefit. Although initially confused by the others’ behavior, he ultimately embraces his role and chooses to remain confined rather than appear eager to clear his name.
• The Chan Sect immortals undergo a major shift from suspicion and hostility to embarrassment, admiration, and gratitude. They recognize that they wrongly accused Guangchengzi and now regard his strategy as brilliant.
• Qingyuan is portrayed as selfless and devoted to the greater good. He helps refine the Nine Provinces Cauldrons, gives up the Interception Sect’s expected rewards, and protects Guangchengzi’s standing within the Chan Sect.
• The other Chan Sect disciples are also depicted as opportunistic: although they apologize sincerely, they are eager to secure the Merit and Fortune Aura produced by Emperor Yu’s success.

3. Significant Themes

• Loyalty and sacrifice: Guangchengzi accepts confinement and reputational damage to advance the interests of his sect.
• Misunderstanding and reconciliation: The Chan Sect’s initial distrust is replaced by regret and renewed respect once the truth is revealed.
• Strategic deception: The apparent division between Guangchengzi and the Chan Sect is used to manipulate the Interception Sect into assisting them.
• Selflessness versus personal gain: Qingyuan’s willingness to surrender benefits contrasts with the Chan Sect immortals’ eagerness to claim Merit and Fortune Aura.
• Pride and principle: Guangchengzi refuses to explain or defend himself, insisting that his actions should be judged by his loyalty to the Chan Sect rather than by temporary accusations.
• Merit, destiny, and cultivation: Establishing a nation and suppressing the Nine Provinces’ Fortune Aura is presented as a path to immense Human Dao Merit, increased blessings, and higher cultivation.

4. Character Interactions

• Emperor Yu reassures the Chan Sect immortals that Guangchengzi’s apparent betrayal was only an elaborate plan.
• The Chan Sect disciples apologize repeatedly to Guangchengzi and attempt to comfort him, even offering pills and promising to defend him before their master.
• Guangchengzi and Emperor Yu hold a private conversation in which Emperor Yu clarifies the entire operation and Guangchengzi expresses gratitude toward Qingyuan.
• Guangchengzi instructs the Chan Sect immortals to help Emperor Yu but warns them not to remain too long among the Human Race, lest they become affected by worldly tribulations.
• The immortals urge Guangchengzi to end his confinement, but his refusal culminates in his declaration that he will remain confined—even for a million years—rather than surrender his dignity or principles.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Guangchengzi reassures the Chan Sect Immortals that he has no intention of betraying the sect. He accepts his master’s punishment and declares that he will remain in confinement for a million years, ordering the others to leave.
• Privately, Guangchengzi reveals that he is cooperating to protect his disciple and to ensure that Qingyuan’s plans are not disrupted.
• After returning to the Great Yu Dynasty, Emperor Yu orders the Chan Sect Immortals to eliminate every imperial clan and local power that refuses to submit.
• The Chan Sect begins a ruthless campaign of slaughter across the East Sea Coast, nearly wiping out the opposing factions. This shocks the Human Race and alarms the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors in Huoyun Cave.
• Emperor Yu refuses to answer Huoyun Cave’s demands for an explanation, hiding himself with Human Path Fortune. The Chan Sect Immortals likewise reject the idea that they must justify their actions to outsiders.
• Once the opposition is crushed, Emperor Yu launches his own imperial campaign. Within a thousand years, he pacifies the realm and establishes the Nine Provinces Cauldron beneath the Nine Provinces.
• The cauldron creates a connected network of Human Dao and Human Race Destiny, strengthening the people’s intelligence, cultivation, fortunes, and resistance to demonic corruption.
• With peace and prosperity established, Emperor Yu announces the founding of Great Xia and introduces new political systems, most notably hereditary succession through the eldest legitimate son. This provokes outrage among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.

Character Developments

• Guangchengzi demonstrates loyalty, dignity, and self-sacrifice. Though wrongfully suspected, he accepts confinement to protect both the sect’s broader plans and his disciple.
• Emperor Yu becomes increasingly decisive and ruthless. He recognizes that internal wars would weaken the Human Race, so he delegates the initial massacres to the Chan Sect before personally consolidating power.
• The Chan Sect Immortals move from guilt over misunderstanding Guangchengzi to unquestioning obedience toward Emperor Yu. Their confidence and contempt for outside criticism become especially clear in their refusal to explain themselves.
• The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors are portrayed as increasingly frustrated and powerless, unable to restrain Emperor Yu or investigate his actions.

Significant Themes

• Loyalty and sacrifice: Guangchengzi endures punishment and isolation for the sake of his disciple and the sect’s future.
• Power versus moral authority: Emperor Yu’s violent consolidation brings stability and prosperity, but raises serious ethical and political concerns.
• Centralization of authority: The destruction of rival factions and establishment of Great Xia mark the transition toward a unified imperial state.
• Ends justifying means: Mass slaughter is presented as a calculated method to prevent prolonged civil war and preserve the Human Race’s foundations.
• Generational and institutional change: The founding of Great Xia and the eldest-son succession system establish a new political order that challenges older traditions and authorities.

Character Interactions

• Guangchengzi and the Chan Sect Immortals share an emotional farewell, with the disciples apologizing and bowing after realizing they had misjudged him.
• Guangchengzi internally reflects on Qingyuan’s assistance and his responsibility toward his disciple.
• Emperor Yu commands the Chan Sect Immortals to carry out the purge, using their strength while preserving his own ability to complete the broader political consolidation.
• The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors repeatedly attempt to question Emperor Yu, but he blocks them. Their appeals to the Chan Sect Immortals are dismissed with the attitude that Chan Sect immortals do not need to explain their actions.
• Emperor Yu’s announcement of Great Xia directly sets him against the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, foreshadowing further political conflict.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Inside Huoyun Cave, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors become enraged upon learning of Emperor Yu’s actions. They oppose his decision to abolish the traditional Abdication System and replace it with hereditary succession.
• They condemn Emperor Yu for using Chan Sect Immortals to suppress and massacre members of the Human Race who resisted his rule. Since the Saints have confined them to Huoyun Cave, they are unable to confront him directly.
• After consolidating control over the realm, Emperor Yu prepares to establish a new dynasty. He rewards the Chan Sect Immortals with titles and access to the Human Race’s Fortune Aura.
• Officials from across the land are summoned to Mount Tai. There, Emperor Yu announces that the Great Yu Dynasty will be renamed the Great Xia Dynasty.
• He formally replaces abdication with hereditary rule, declaring that the throne will pass through his direct bloodline.
• Emperor Yu reorganizes the realm into Nine Provinces, establishes administrative centers around the Nine Provinces Cauldrons, and creates new government positions.
• Following his proclamation, the Human Race’s Destiny merges with the broader Human Dao. A golden National Destiny Dragon appears above Mount Tai, absorbing the people’s Fortune Aura while the Nine Provinces Cauldrons feed power into it.
• Great Xia’s National Fortune and the Human Race’s Fortune Aura surge dramatically, causing the Human Dao’s momentum to blaze into the heavens and shocking the entire Primordial Wilderness.

Character Developments

• The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors: They are portrayed as defenders of the traditional Human Race political order. Their anger reflects both moral outrage at Emperor Yu’s massacres and fear that hereditary rule will place the Human Race under a single family’s control.
• Emperor Yu: He shifts from ruler and reformer to dynastic founder. He demonstrates ruthless ambition by eliminating opposition, relying on outside forces, rewarding his allies, and transforming his reign into a hereditary monarchy.
• Chan Sect Immortals: They become Emperor Yu’s powerful political and military supporters, receiving honors and benefits in return for helping him suppress resistance.

Significant Themes

• Abdication versus hereditary rule: The chapter centers on the conflict between leadership based on merit and succession based on bloodline.
• Power and legitimacy: Emperor Yu’s violence raises questions about whether a ruler can claim legitimacy while massacring his own people.
• Betrayal of the Human Race: The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors view Emperor Yu’s alliance with outsiders as a betrayal of shared human interests.
• The rise of centralized authority: The creation of Great Xia, the Nine Provinces, and new official positions marks the formation of a more centralized and institutionalized state.
• Political power and cosmic destiny: Emperor Yu’s dynastic reforms trigger an immense reaction in the Human Dao, suggesting that political changes within the Human Race can affect the entire Primordial Wilderness.

Character Interactions

• The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors collectively denounce Emperor Yu, though they cannot confront him because of their confinement in Huoyun Cave.
• Emperor Yu collaborates closely with the Chan Sect Immortals, rewarding them with titles and Fortune Aura for their assistance.
• Emperor Yu’s relationship with the Human Race is presented as increasingly hostile: he rules over it while destroying those who resist and concentrating authority within his own bloodline.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Human Dao suddenly undergoes a dramatic transformation, rising from a level beneath the Heavenly Dao to one capable of rivaling it.
• Within the Human Dao Origin, the Human Race’s accumulated Fortune Aura condenses into a powerful National Destiny Golden Dragon.
• The Fortune Aura of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors is absorbed by the dragon, strengthening it further.
• As the dragon grows, the Heavenly Dao Saints lose much of their former control over the Human Dao and the Human Race.
• Saint Taiqing reacts angrily from Taiqing Hall and attempts to command the dragon with the Human Dao Seal, but the supreme treasure has no effect.
• Concluding that the dragon is an uncontrollable threat, Taiqing personally attacks it with overwhelming power, causing the laws of heaven and earth to tremble.
• The National Destiny Golden Dragon expands enormously and manifests the Nine Provinces Cauldron and a vast Heaven and Earth Dao Diagram formed from the Human Race’s Fortune Aura.
• These powers block Saint Taiqing’s attack. Taiqing is shocked to discover that the golden dragon can apparently consume or deplete his Fortune Aura.

Character Developments

• The Human Race demonstrates unprecedented independence and collective power. Its Fortune Aura has transformed into a force capable of challenging the Heavenly Dao Saints.
• The National Destiny Golden Dragon evolves from a manifestation of Human Dao momentum into an autonomous, intelligent power. It can move freely through the Human Dao Origin, absorb Fortune Aura, and resist control by the Human Dao Seal.
• Saint Taiqing shifts from confident authority to anger and disbelief. His established control over the Human Dao fails, and his direct attack is unexpectedly resisted.
• The other Saints observe the confrontation secretly. Though they recognize the Human Race’s achievement, most assume it will be unable to withstand Taiqing’s intervention.

Significant Themes

• Human independence versus Heavenly control: The Human Race begins breaking free from the Heavenly Dao Saints’ influence.
• The rise of collective destiny: The golden dragon represents the unified Fortune Aura and national destiny of the Human Race.
• Postnatal beings challenging ancient powers: The chapter emphasizes the surprising strength of humanity, despite its origins as a “postnatal” race.
• Authority and resistance: Treasures and established hierarchies lose effectiveness when confronted by a new, self-sustaining source of power.
• Power concealed within transformation: The Human Dao’s sudden qualitative change reveals that the Human Race has reached a level even the Saints did not anticipate.

Character Interactions

• Saint Taiqing attempts to dominate the National Destiny Golden Dragon through the Human Dao Seal, but the dragon ignores him entirely.
• Taiqing then directly attacks the dragon, treating it as a rebellious and dangerous force that must be erased.
• The National Destiny Golden Dragon counters by drawing upon the Human Race’s collective treasures and Fortune Aura, including the Nine Provinces Cauldron and Dao Diagram.
• The confrontation shocks the observing Saints, who witness Taiqing’s authority being resisted and his Fortune Aura apparently being drained.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The National Destiny Golden Dragon withstands Saint Taiqing’s palm strike by absorbing the attack and replenishing itself through the surrounding National Fortune.
• Nine Provinces Cauldrons appear behind the dragon. Empowered by the fortune of Great Xia, the Human Race, and the Nine Provinces, they have transformed from ordinary innate treasures into powerful vessels of national destiny.
• Although the Human Dao Seal normally governs Human Dao authority, the National Fortune created by Great Xia has developed a degree of independence. Qingyuan’s secret interference helped prevent the Human Dao Seal from directly controlling it.
• Attacking the National Destiny Golden Dragon causes the attacker’s Human Path Fortune to drain. Taiqing loses over ten percent of his Fortune Aura, and the backlash even threatens the cultivation realm he had recently stabilized.
• Realizing the danger, Taiqing withdraws and stops attacking. The other Heavenly Dao Saints are shocked when they sense his loss of Fortune Aura.
• The Saints gather at Taiqing Hall to determine who is responsible for the Human Race’s sudden transformation from a controllable tool into a force capable of resisting them.
• Suspicion falls on the Chan Sect and Venerable Yuanshi because his disciple Guangchengzi assisted Human Emperor Yu the Great, while the Twelve Golden Immortals were also involved in the Human Race’s affairs.
• Zhunti accuses Yuanshi’s disciples of orchestrating the creation of Great Xia, the hereditary dynasty, the Nine Provinces Cauldrons, and the National Fortune system.
• Taiqing demands that Yuanshi provide an explanation, warning that losing control of the Human Race would threaten the Saints’ foundations and their access to Human Dao Fortune and origin.
• Yuanshi denies direct responsibility, explaining that he approved Guangchengzi’s assistance years earlier but later punished him and confined him for one hundred thousand years. He agrees to investigate.

Character Developments

• National Destiny Golden Dragon: Revealed to possess remarkable resilience and a newly established independence. It is no longer merely an extension of the Human Dao but the embodiment of Great Xia’s distinct National Fortune.
• Saint Taiqing: Suffers a major blow to his confidence and cultivation plans. His assumption that the Human Race was completely under his control is shattered, replacing his usual composure with anger, alarm, and intense killing intent.
• Venerable Yuanshi: Becomes the primary suspect despite claiming ignorance. His connection to Guangchengzi and the Chan Sect places him under pressure, forcing him to defend himself and investigate his disciples’ actions.
• Zhunti Daoist: Takes advantage of the crisis to point suspicion toward Yuanshi and the Chan Sect, emphasizing the political tension among the Saints.
• Guangchengzi and the Twelve Golden Immortals: Though absent from the scene, they are portrayed as possible architects of the Human Race’s transformation.

Significant Themes

• Loss of control: The Heavenly Dao Saints believed the Human Race was their possession, but Great Xia’s National Fortune has created an independent power beyond their direct authority.
• Backlash against oppression: Attacking the Human Race’s National Destiny causes the Saints to lose their own Fortune Aura, suggesting that abusing authority over the Human Dao carries consequences.
• Evolution of collective destiny: The Nine Provinces Cauldrons and National Fortune show how a people’s shared civilization, land, laws, and history can develop into a powerful metaphysical force.
• Political blame and factional conflict: The crisis quickly becomes a struggle over responsibility, with the Chan Sect and Yuanshi positioned as potential scapegoats.
• The danger of underestimated creations: Human Emperor Yu the Great’s reforms, initially viewed as misguided or insignificant, have produced a system capable of challenging Saint authority.

Character Interactions

• Taiqing confronts the other Heavenly Dao Saints about the Human Race’s transformation and demands accountability.
• The Saints collectively turn toward Yuanshi when Taiqing asks who was overseeing Yu the Great’s affairs.
• Zhunti directly challenges Yuanshi’s attempt to distance himself from the events, arguing that his disciples’ schemes caused the current crisis.
• Taiqing warns Yuanshi and the other Saints that the Human Race is central to their power and that losing control over it could have severe consequences.
• Yuanshi responds defensively but agrees to investigate, leaving open the question of whether he was genuinely uninformed or is avoiding responsibility.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• On Mount Tai, Emperor Yu performs the Feng and Shan rites, formally establishing Great Xia and causing the National Fortune of the Nine Provinces to manifest.
• The National Fortune appears as a massive golden dragon surrounding Emperor Yu, greatly strengthening his authority, protecting him from evil, and making his words and actions carry immense heavenly might.
• Ministers and citizens also receive benefits, including clearer minds, stronger and healthier bodies, and increased longevity.
• The formation of National Fortune severely harms hidden demons, monsters, ghosts, and other strange beings living among humans. Some are forced to flee, while disguised demons serving as officials die instantly.
• The Chan Sect immortals appointed by Emperor Yu discover that they are receiving powerful Fortune blessings. These blessings resemble Merit, strengthen their Dao arts, repel evil, and greatly accelerate their cultivation and understanding of heavenly laws and Human Dao principles.
• Delighted by their gains, the immortals return to Kunlun Mountains after receiving a summons from Venerable Yuanshi, assuming he will praise and reward them for their accomplishments.
• At Jade Void Palace, however, Yuanshi angrily demands that they kneel. The immortals explain that they assisted Emperor Yu in creating the Nine Provinces Cauldron, founding Great Xia, and establishing the Human Emperor’s Dao.
• After hearing about the National Fortune’s benefits, Yuanshi calls his disciples idiots and reveals the real danger: the Human Race has broken free of control, and their Senior Grandmaster attempted to regain authority over them.
• Instead, the Human Race resisted and caused the Senior Grandmaster to lose more than a tenth of his Human Dao fortune. He is now searching for the person responsible, placing the Chan Sect immortals in serious danger.

Character Developments

• Emperor Yu gains immense power and majesty through the newly formed National Fortune. His authority over the Human Race becomes visibly and spiritually reinforced, and he appears to be advancing his larger plan successfully.
• The Human Race becomes more independent and empowered. National Fortune strengthens ordinary people while also helping them resist the influence of powerful external beings.
• The Chan Sect immortals become extremely optimistic after receiving unexpected cultivation benefits. Their joy and confidence reveal that they do not understand the broader political and cosmic consequences of their actions.
• Venerable Yuanshi shifts from expected pride to anger and frustration. He recognizes that his disciples’ “good deeds” have unintentionally disrupted the balance of power and endangered the Chan Sect.
• The Senior Grandmaster is revealed to have suffered a major loss of Human Dao fortune after the Human Race rejected his control, though his exact identity and motives are not fully explained in this chapter.

Significant Themes

• National power and legitimacy: The founding of Great Xia transforms Emperor Yu’s authority into a tangible supernatural force.
• Freedom from control: The Human Race’s resistance suggests a major turning point in its struggle against manipulation by higher powers.
• Unintended consequences: The immortals believe they are benefiting the Chan Sect, but their actions have undermined their own side’s interests.
• Ignorance versus deeper strategy: The disciples focus on immediate cultivation gains, while Yuanshi understands the larger conflict and realizes the danger they have helped create.
• Fortune as power: National Fortune functions as protection, cultivation aid, political authority, and a weapon against demons and hostile forces.

Character Interactions

• Emperor Yu works with the Chan Sect immortals to establish the Nine Provinces Cauldron and Great Xia, promising them substantial rewards through National Fortune.
• The immortals proudly report their achievements to Yuanshi, expecting praise and rewards.
• Yuanshi instead rebukes them harshly, forcing them to kneel and interrogating them about their actions.
• The disciples defend themselves by emphasizing the tangible benefits they received and insisting that they intended to honor the Chan Sect.
• Yuanshi reveals the hidden consequences of their actions, causing the previously jubilant immortals to panic.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The Chan Sect Immortals reject Venerable Yuanshi’s claim that their Senior Grandmaster Uncle, the Human Sect’s leader, suffered backlash from the Human Race’s Fortune Aura. They argue that a Heavenly Dao Saint, especially one controlling the Human Dao Seal and Kongtong Seal, should be impossible to injure.
• Angered by their insolence, Venerable Yuanshi attacks them with the Immortal-Beating Whip. The weapon tortures both their bodies and Primordial Spirits for over half an hour before he finally stops.
• Yuanshi warns that the disciples have been trapped by a Red Dust Tribulation and will likely suffer body death and Dao vanishing when the Tribulation of Calamity arrives.
• The immortals insist they should be protected because they helped Emperor Yu attain the Dao, forged the Nine Provinces Cauldron, possessed great merit, and were disciples of Saints.
• Yuanshi reveals that they deliberately slaughtered Human Race members with powerful Fortune Aura. Their actions generated enormous Karma, Karmic Power, and Red Dust Tribulation Aura.
• He explains that when the larger Tribulation of Calamity erupts, their accumulated karmic burden will draw them into disaster, and even he may be unable to save them.
• Terrified, the immortals kneel and confess how Emperor Yu came to Kunlun seeking Guangchengzi, only to be intercepted by them. They recount their involvement in helping him while killing fortunate members of the Human Race.
• Yuanshi condemns them for repeatedly falling into schemes and criticizes even their Senior Disciple Brother, Guangchengzi, for being involved in such foolishness.
• He suggests the Interception Sect or Qingyuan may have manipulated them, but the immortals cannot determine who truly orchestrated the trap.

2. Character Developments

• Venerable Yuanshi: Shifts from anger to grim concern. Though he punishes the disciples harshly, his warnings show that he understands the seriousness of their karmic situation and may genuinely be unable to protect them.
• The Chan Sect Immortals: Begin arrogant and skeptical, confident in their merit, Saint lineage, and supposed justification for their actions. After Yuanshi’s explanation, they become terrified, submissive, and desperate for survival.
• Guangchengzi: Though absent from the confrontation, he is implicated as part of the failed scheme. Yuanshi’s criticism suggests that even the sect’s senior disciple was manipulated or acted foolishly.
• Emperor Yu: His attempt to seek Guangchengzi becomes the starting point for the Chan Sect’s disastrous involvement, though his exact intentions remain less important than the consequences of their intervention.

3. Significant Themes

• Karma and retribution: Merit from helping Emperor Yu cannot erase the immense Karma gained by slaughtering Human Race members with great Fortune Aura.
• Deception and manipulation: The immortals believe they are benefiting the Human Race and themselves, but they have unknowingly been used by others.
• Arrogance and ignorance: Their confidence in their Saint background blinds them to the danger of their actions and prevents them from recognizing the Red Dust Tribulation already affecting them.
• Limits of protection and power: Being Saint disciples or possessing merit does not guarantee safety from cosmic laws, calamity, or karmic consequences.
• Comedic humiliation: The disciples’ repeated denial, painful punishment, and inability to identify who deceived them create a farcical contrast with the grave danger they face.

4. Character Interactions

• The Chan Sect Immortals challenge Yuanshi’s revelation, prompting him to punish them with the Immortal-Beating Whip.
• After being released, they plead with Yuanshi and repeatedly invoke their merit, Saint status, and service to Emperor Yu as reasons he should save them.
• Yuanshi interrogates them about their actions, forcing them to confess the details of their scheme.
• He mocks and reprimands them for being manipulated by the Interception Sect, Emperor Yu, or their own senior brother.
• The chapter ends with the immortals confused about who actually set them up, while Yuanshi remains convinced that they foolishly walked into someone else’s trap.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Venerable Yuanshi returns to Taiqing Hall with his Chan Sect disciples after investigating the Human Race’s recent upheaval.
• He presents the disciples before the assembled Heavenly Dao Saints and orders them to recount what happened.
• Their testimony reveals that Chan Sect disciples assisted Emperor Yu in overthrowing his opponents, accepted his edict, and became Great Xia Immortal Tutors.
• Saint Taiqing, furious over losing control of the Human Race and suffering a tenth reduction in his Fortune Aura, turns his anger toward Sect Master Tongtian and demands an explanation.
• Tongtian rejects the accusation, emphasizing that the Interception Sect gained neither Fortune Aura nor Merit from Great Xia’s rise. He points out that Yuanshi’s disciples, not his own, directly supported Emperor Yu.
• Yuanshi attempts to insult Tongtian, but Tongtian dismisses him and Taiqing stops the argument, redirecting the discussion toward reclaiming control of the Human Dao.
• The Saints admit that Great Xia’s National Fortune is powerful enough to retaliate against Saints, making direct confrontation dangerous.
• Zhunti Daoist proposes a strategy: provoke conflict within the Human Race and divide Great Xia into several factions. Since Great Xia’s National Fortune depends on the unity and strength of the Human Race, internal division would weaken it.
• Zhunti further suggests exploiting the rivalry between Great Xia and Haotian’s Heavenly Court, allowing the Saints to benefit while the two powers fight each other.

Character Developments

• Venerable Yuanshi becomes increasingly aggressive and vindictive. Rather than accepting responsibility for his disciples’ actions, he attempts to redirect blame toward Tongtian.
• Sect Master Tongtian remains confident and sarcastic under pressure. He clearly distinguishes the Interception Sect from the Chan Sect’s actions and demonstrates greater composure than Yuanshi.
• Saint Taiqing is revealed to be deeply threatened by Great Xia’s growing independence. His loss of Fortune Aura exposes how heavily his power and cultivation depend on control of the Human Dao.
• Zhunti Daoist emerges as a calculating strategist. He is willing to exploit division and warfare rather than confront Great Xia’s National Fortune directly.

Significant Themes

• Power and accountability: The confrontation centers on which sect truly benefited from Great Xia’s rise and who should bear responsibility.
• Dependence on the Human Dao: The Saints’ authority and cultivation are closely tied to controlling the Human Race, making Great Xia’s independence a serious threat.
• Political manipulation: Instead of acting openly, the Saints consider engineering conflict between major powers and weakening their opponents indirectly.
• Factional rivalry and hypocrisy: Yuanshi accuses Tongtian despite his own disciples’ involvement, highlighting the continuing hostility between the Chan and Interception Sects.
• The danger of unity: Great Xia’s National Fortune is powerful because it is connected to the unified Human Race; dividing that unity may be the Saints’ only viable method of defeating it.

Important Character Interactions

• Yuanshi and Tongtian: Yuanshi tries to implicate Tongtian, but Tongtian calmly exposes that the Interception Sect gained nothing from the affair. Their exchange reinforces their antagonism and contrasting temperaments.
• Taiqing and Tongtian: Taiqing demands an explanation from his younger brother, but Tongtian refuses to accept blame and challenges Taiqing’s authority.
• Taiqing and the Saints: Taiqing leads the emergency discussion, stressing that losing control of the Human Dao could severely damage their cultivation and influence.
• Zhunti and the assembled Saints: Zhunti offers the first concrete strategy, proposing that the Saints manipulate the conflict between Great Xia and the Heavenly Court to weaken both sides and recover influence over the Human Race.

Chapter Summary: “Schemes Among the Saints”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Heavenly Dao Saints gather to discuss how to create conflict between the Human Race and the Heavenly Court.
• Venerable Yuanshi and Sect Master Tongtian argue over past schemes involving their disciples and accuse one another of plotting.
• Saint Taiqing stops the quarrel and asks Zhunti Daoist to explain whether he has a workable plan.
• Zhunti initially pretends to have lost confidence after being criticized, but Taiqing offers him a future favor in exchange for results.
• Zhunti proposes exploiting the tension between:
  • Haotian’s ambition to control all powers in the Primordial Wilderness, and
  • The Human Race’s newly established dynasty and National Fortune, which cannot easily be controlled even by Heavenly Dao Saints.
• Zhunti claims he can secretly intensify contradictions between the Human Race and Heavenly Court until war breaks out. He emphasizes that the plan will require time and must be carried out gradually to avoid detection.
• Taiqing agrees to wait but remains cautious, clearly maintaining his own plans and not fully trusting Zhunti.
• The discussion shifts to Haotian’s demands for support. Jieyin and Zhunti declare that Western Teachings will not sacrifice their disciples to satisfy the Heavenly Emperor.
• The other Saints also reject compromising with Haotian, laughing at the idea of surrendering their disciples to support his ambitions.

Character Developments

• Zhunti Daoist reveals himself as patient, manipulative, and politically ambitious. He uses apparent hesitation to secure Taiqing’s trust and a future favor, while concealing the details of his plan.
• Saint Taiqing shows his determination to regain control of the Human Dao through the Human Sect. Although he accepts Zhunti’s proposal, he remains suspicious and warns that those who oppose him may face retaliation.
• Yuanshi Venerable remains hostile and quick to blame Tongtian, reflecting the continuing tension between the Chan Sect and Interception Sect.
• Sect Master Tongtian defends his position and criticizes the Western Sages for their covert schemes against his disciples.
• Jieyin Daoist and Zhunti present a united front, refusing to let Western Teachings weaken itself by surrendering disciples to Haotian.
• Haotian is characterized indirectly as an overbearing Heavenly Emperor who seeks to command even the Saints and bring the entire Primordial Wilderness under his authority.

Significant Themes

• Political manipulation and indirect warfare: The Saints prefer to provoke conflict between the Human Race and Heavenly Court rather than confront either side openly.
• Control of the Human Dao: The Human Race’s National Fortune and resistance to outside control make it the central prize in the Saints’ struggle for power.
• Distrust among allies: Even while cooperating, the Saints continue to suspect and undermine one another.
• Ambition versus independence: Haotian seeks universal authority, while the Human Race strives to preserve its autonomy.
• The cost of compromise: None of the Saints is willing to sacrifice their own disciples merely to appease Haotian, revealing that self-interest outweighs loyalty to the Heavenly Court.
• Patience and long-term planning: Zhunti’s strategy depends on slowly accumulating contradictions rather than provoking immediate conflict.

Character Interactions

• Yuanshi and Tongtian exchange sharp accusations over previous schemes involving their sects and disciples.
• Taiqing acts as mediator, silencing their dispute and asserting authority over the meeting.
• Taiqing and Zhunti negotiate a future favor, with Zhunti promising to engineer a conflict that serves the Saints’ interests.
• Jieyin supports Zhunti’s refusal to yield Western disciples, and together they challenge Haotian’s expectations.
• The remaining Saints align with the Western Sages in rejecting compromise, though their agreement appears rooted in shared self-interest rather than unity.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Heavenly Dao Saints’ meeting ends at Saint Taiqing’s suggestion, but the Saints remain deeply unsettled by the Human Race’s sudden creation of National Fortune and the National Destiny Golden Dragon.
• The Saints realize that Great Xia’s National Fortune can sever or damage their connection to Human Path Fortune, causing severe backlash—even to Heavenly Dao Saints. This makes the Human Race an unexpectedly dangerous force.
• At Mount Tai, Emperor Yu and Great Xia’s officials experience the immense benefits of National Fortune. It enhances cultivation, law comprehension, and their ability to resist or intimidate supernatural beings.
• National Fortune gives Great Xia’s officials an aura of terrifying authority. Although many officials are personally weak, nearby immortals instinctively sense that harming them could result in serious injury or death.
• Emperor Yu demonstrates National Fortune’s defensive power by ordering Lin, chief of the Eight Directions Office, to attack him. Lin’s hostile intent is automatically repelled, sending him flying.
• Emperor Yu then unleashes Great Xia’s National Fortune to suppress the surrounding immortals, proving that the Human Race can use its collective destiny to intimidate even powerful beings.
• He declares that, from now on, neither demons, immortals, nor even Hunyuan Saints will be able to control the Human Race without suffering consequences.
• The National Destiny Golden Dragon roars across the Primordial Wilderness, drawing the attention of countless factions and increasing their fear and wariness of Great Xia.

Character Developments

• Emperor Yu is revealed as proud, forceful, and highly confident in his political vision. He insists that his harsh actions were necessary to unify the Human Race and create a foundation for its independence.
• He defends the establishment of Great Xia and his suppression of the imperial clans, arguing that those clans monopolized resources, raised demons, and placed their authority above the Human Emperor’s decrees.
• Emperor Yu’s confidence grows after National Fortune manifests. He now believes the Human Race has finally acquired the means to determine its own destiny.
• Lin and the other Human Race immortals are shocked to discover that National Fortune can protect ordinary officials and make them dangerous to offend, regardless of their personal cultivation.
• The Heavenly Dao Saints, though not directly present during Emperor Yu’s demonstration, become increasingly cautious of the Human Race after realizing the potential threat posed by National Fortune.

Significant Themes

• Self-determination and independence: Emperor Yu’s central goal is to prevent the Human Race from being controlled by powerful clans, immortals, demons, or Saints.
• Unity versus internal division: The imperial clans represent factionalism and competing authority. Emperor Yu believes centralized rule is necessary for the Human Race to develop.
• Collective power: National Fortune transforms the strength of the entire Human Race into protection and authority for its officials, showing that unity can compensate for individual weakness.
• Political legitimacy and sacrifice: Emperor Yu portrays his ruthless treatment of the imperial clans as a painful but necessary sacrifice for the greater survival and prosperity of humanity.
• Fear and deterrence: Great Xia’s power is not only defensive; its National Fortune can actively intimidate outsiders, forcing supernatural factions to reconsider attacking or manipulating the Human Race.
• The rise of humanity: The Human Race shifts from a vulnerable, subordinate force into an emerging power capable of challenging the established order of the Primordial Wilderness.

Character Interactions

• The Saints collectively react with shock and suspicion to the Human Race’s new power, recognizing that Great Xia may possess a weapon more influential than the Human Dao Seal.
• Emperor Yu addresses Great Xia’s officials and explains his reasons for founding the dynasty, attempting to justify his hostility toward the imperial clans.
• He directly challenges Lin to attack him, using the incident to publicly demonstrate the automatic protection provided by National Fortune.
• Emperor Yu then suppresses the surrounding immortals with his aura, reinforcing his authority and proving that Great Xia’s power extends beyond mere political control.
• His declaration that even Hunyuan Saints cannot dominate the Human Race marks a direct ideological and practical challenge to the highest powers of the Primordial Wilderness.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Emperor Yu establishes Great Xia and forges its National Fortune, the Human Race’s fortunes rapidly improve.
• The National Fortune suppresses and kills large numbers of demons and ghosts along the East Sea Coast and throughout the Nine Provinces, bringing greater peace, prosperity, and social order.
• Humanity’s attitude toward Emperor Yu changes from confusion, resentment, and hatred to remorse, reverence, and enthusiastic support. Temples and longevity steles honoring him are erected across the Human Realm.
• The Human Race becomes an independent force rather than a population controlled by the Heavenly Dao Saints. Its command of National Fortune gives it a powerful weapon capable of weakening even Saints’ Fortune Aura.
• A Demon Race Grand Unity Golden Immortal provokes the Human Race and is severely wounded by Emperor Yu’s use of National Fortune. Despite the Demon Race Saints’ efforts to save him, he dies from his Dao injuries centuries later. This shocks the Primordial Wilderness and makes other races wary of confronting humanity.
• Although the Human Race’s traditional experts and foundation have been greatly weakened, its National Fortune compensates for much of that loss. The Human Dao Origin consequently begins to recover and strengthen.
• The Heavenly Dao Saints recognize both the benefits and dangers of humanity’s rise. They welcome the improvement of the Human Dao because it aids their cultivation, but worry that the Human Race may eventually challenge them for control of the Human Dao Origin.
• The Saints largely refrain from direct interference, since their individual doctrines and Great Dao pursuits differ from the Human Dao. Taiqing adopts a conciliatory strategy, sending Human Sect disciples into the Nine Provinces to eliminate demons, uphold justice, spread the Golden Core Great Dao, and build goodwill.
• In the Western Land, Zhunti reveals that Maitreya has obtained a mysterious strand of True Spirit from Ksitigarbha. Zhunti identifies it as a fragment of the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit, created when the Heavenly Emperor once attempted an unknown cultivation method. Zhunti claims to have intercepted it only after immense effort and at great cost.

Character Developments

• Emperor Yu grows from a newly established ruler into a formidable protector of humanity. His command of National Fortune demonstrates that he can punish even high-level members of other races.
• The Human Race gains confidence, unity, prosperity, and political independence. Its reverence for Emperor Yu becomes widespread, while its status as the protagonist of Heaven and Earth becomes more secure.
• The Heavenly Dao Saints become cautious observers of humanity’s development. They are not yet openly hostile, but they recognize that humanity may eventually become a rival for Human Dao authority.
• Taiqing shows a moderate and pragmatic approach, choosing cultural influence and benevolent action instead of attempting to dominate the Human Race directly.
• Maitreya is portrayed as patient and secretive, spending years obtaining the True Spirit while concealing his movements to avoid detection by the Earthly Dao Saint.
• Zhunti continues to pursue hidden schemes and exploit powerful spiritual resources, presenting the True Spirit as a major asset in the Western Teachings’ plans.

Significant Themes

• Human independence and empowerment: The Human Race is breaking free from manipulation by the Saints and gaining the means to determine its own destiny.
• National Fortune as collective power: The chapter emphasizes that a united nation can wield a force capable of challenging even Saints and powerful immortals.
• The balance between benefit and control: The Saints benefit from humanity’s rising Human Dao Origin but fear losing authority over the very force that strengthens them.
• Political influence versus direct domination: Taiqing’s strategy suggests that cooperation, goodwill, and ideological influence may be more effective than coercion.
• Hidden schemes and spiritual manipulation: The Western Teachings’ secret acquisition of the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit introduces a more covert struggle involving ancient powers and uncertain future consequences.

Character Interactions

• Emperor Yu and the Demon Race: Emperor Yu decisively punishes a demon cultivator who challenges humanity, establishing a deterrent and demonstrating the destructive power of National Fortune.
• The Human Race and Emperor Yu: Humanity’s initial hostility gives way to admiration and worship as Emperor Yu restores security and prosperity.
• Taiqing and the Human Race: Rather than confronting Emperor Yu, Taiqing sends disciples to help people, suppress evil, and spread Human Sect teachings.
• Zhunti and Maitreya: Zhunti questions Maitreya about the secret mission, and Maitreya respectfully presents the True Spirit he acquired.
• Maitreya and Ksitigarbha: Maitreya obtained the True Spirit from Ksitigarbha while operating covertly in the Netherworld.
• Zhunti and the Heavenly Emperor: Zhunti’s possession of a fragment of the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit suggests that he is attempting to exploit the Heavenly Emperor’s past cultivation and hidden secrets.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Western Lands Teachings reveal that they secretly deduced the Heavenly Emperor Haotian’s plan to scatter hundreds of millions of True Spirit wills throughout the Primordial Wilderness as potential successors.
• The Two Sages secretly abducted one strand of Haotian’s True Spirit from the Six Paths of Reincarnation without alerting Haotian or the Earthly Dao Saint.
• Zhunti rewards Maitreya for assisting with the scheme:
  • He grants him the Three Thousand Future Branch Maitreya Freedom Great Dao Buddhist Scripture.
  • He gives him the powerful Golden Cymbal, a High-grade Houtian Spiritual Treasure capable of killing anything trapped inside it over three days and nights.
  • Zhunti uses these rewards to strengthen his authority and loyalty among the Western Lands Teachings’ disciples.
• After dismissing the disciples, Zhunti and Jieyin discuss how to use Haotian’s stolen True Spirit.
• Jieyin proposes reincarnating it into the Human Race, where it will rise to prominence, provoke conflict with the Heavenly Court, and potentially trigger a war.
• Their ultimate objective is to weaken both the Heavenly Court and the Human Race, allowing the Heavenly Dao Saints to regain control over humanity.
• Zhunti expands the scheme: because the Human Sect is influential in Great Xia, any conflict between the Human Race and Heavenly Court could also implicate the Human Sect, creating destructive internal conflict within the broader Mystic Gate.
• The two sages recognize that the plan is dangerous. The True Spirit must hate the Heavenly Court and gain Emperor Yu’s trust, yet it cannot retain or reveal memories in a way that exposes its identity or the Western Lands Teachings’ involvement.
• Zhunti eventually claims to have devised a solution for hiding the True Spirit’s identity while preserving the hatred necessary to drive the plot forward.

Character Developments

• Zhunti Daoist is shown as manipulative, ambitious, and skilled at exploiting rewards and authority. He strengthens Maitreya’s loyalty while privately designing a far-reaching conspiracy.
• Jieyin Daoist emerges as the more calculating and ruthless strategist. He remains calm and detached while proposing a plan that could destabilize both the Human Race and Heavenly Court.
• Maitreya gains recognition and substantial resources, marking his rise within the Western Lands Teachings. His acceptance of the scripture and Golden Cymbal reinforces his dependence on Zhunti.
• Haotian, though absent, is positioned as a powerful and increasingly aggressive figure whose authority makes the conspiracy especially dangerous.
• Emperor Yu and the Human Sect become central targets of the scheme despite not yet knowing they are being manipulated.

Significant Themes

• Political manipulation and indirect warfare: The Western Sages intend to destroy their enemies by causing others to fight, avoiding direct confrontation.
• Power through conspiracy: A single stolen True Spirit becomes the foundation for a plan targeting Haotian, the Human Race, the Heavenly Court, and the Human Sect.
• The danger of ambition: Haotian’s growing dominance provokes the Saints to seek subtle ways to undermine him.
• Trust and identity: The central challenge is preserving the True Spirit’s hostile memories while preventing it from revealing its origin.
• Factional conflict: The chapter highlights the growing tension among the Western Lands Teachings, Heavenly Court, Human Race, Human Sect, and Mystic Gate.

Character Interactions

• Zhunti publicly praises and rewards Maitreya, using generosity to establish loyalty and reinforce his leadership.
• In private, Zhunti expresses concern to Jieyin about provoking Haotian, showing that he is bold but aware of the risks.
• Jieyin calmly presents the main strategy, while Zhunti recognizes and develops its wider implications.
• The brothers collaborate closely, with Jieyin supplying the ruthless strategic framework and Zhunti identifying how the plan could also entangle the Human Sect.
• Their final exchange ends with Zhunti announcing that he has found a method to conceal the True Spirit’s identity, setting up the next stage of the conspiracy.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Zhunti Daoist proposes a solution to prevent the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit from revealing its identity or betraying the Western Teachings’ scheme.
• His plan is to alter the True Spirit’s memories and make it believe that it is a transmigrator from another world.
• Zhunti explains that transmigrators are viewed in the Primordial Wilderness as dangerous anomalies or Extraterritorial Demons. If the True Spirit reveals its true identity, it will supposedly be rejected or erased by the Heavenly Dao.
• To make the deception convincing, Zhunti and Jieyin plan to implant:
  • False memories of a previous life
  • Cultivation methods and insights
  • Knowledge of treasures and opportunities
  • Great Dao and law fragments that will allow the True Spirit to cultivate rapidly
• The two Buddhist leaders spend several hundred years in secluded cultivation researching and completing the memory-manipulation process.
• They summon Maitreya and order him to deliver the modified True Spirit, contained in a piece of Soul Wood, to King Ksitigarbha in the Netherworld.
• Maitreya delivers the Soul Wood without knowing the full details and happily returns to receive his reward.
• The chapter ends with Ksitigarbha silently holding the Soul Wood for a long time, clearly troubled or emotionally affected by what he has been asked to do.

Character developments

• Zhunti Daoist: Demonstrates his characteristic cleverness and scheming nature. He uses popular Eastern entertainment—especially transmigration stories—as the foundation for a sophisticated psychological trap. He also attempts to repair his strained relationship with Jieyin by presenting his plan humbly and emphasizing their brotherhood.
• Jieyin Daoist: Initially doubts that the True Spirit can be controlled, but becomes impressed by Zhunti’s elaborate strategy. His reaction reinforces the contrast between his own decisiveness and Zhunti’s talent for intricate, manipulative planning.
• Maitreya: Acts obediently as the messenger, though he remains unaware of the true nature of the plan. His eagerness to receive a reward highlights his more straightforward and self-interested role.
• King Ksitigarbha: Receives the True Spirit but does not immediately act. His prolonged silence and hesitation suggest moral unease, sympathy, or awareness of the seriousness of tampering with the Heavenly Emperor’s soul.
• The Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit: Becomes the target of an elaborate identity manipulation. Its unusual nature—having been split into many unconscious fragments—makes the plan possible.

Significant themes

• Manipulation of identity and memory: The Western Teachings intend to reshape the True Spirit’s entire understanding of itself, turning fabricated memories into a weapon of control.
• Fear as a means of obedience: Rather than relying on loyalty, Zhunti plans to make the True Spirit believe that revealing the truth will lead to rejection and annihilation by the Heavenly Dao.
• Fiction influencing reality: Popular stories about transmigration, cultivation, and miraculous opportunities become practical tools in the Primordial Wilderness.
• Brotherhood and rivalry: Zhunti and Jieyin’s exchange shows both genuine long-standing affection and an underlying desire to prove intellectual superiority.
• Moral ambiguity and coercion: The plan involves violating a powerful being’s soul and autonomy, while Ksitigarbha’s hesitation hints at the ethical burden of carrying it out.
• Strategic patience: The plan requires centuries of research and preparation, emphasizing the importance of long-term scheming in the conflict among major powers.

Important character interactions

• Jieyin questions how Zhunti can prevent the True Spirit from exposing them, prompting Zhunti to unveil his plan.
• Zhunti reassures Jieyin that their shared history as fellow Western cultivators makes formalities unnecessary, using warmth and flattery to mend their relationship.
• Zhunti explains the transmigrator concept and the memory-implantation process, leaving Jieyin impressed and somewhat stunned by his junior brother’s devious creativity.
• The Two Shakya collaborate for centuries to perfect the manipulation.
• Maitreya carries out their orders and delivers the Soul Wood to Ksitigarbha, whose prolonged reaction closes the chapter on a note of unease and impending consequence.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• At the Netherworld Sea of Blood, Empress Pingxin confronts King Ksitigarbha over his repeated interference in the Six Paths of Reincarnation and his involvement in secretly transferring a fragment of the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit.
• Pingxin reminds Ksitigarbha that she has spared his life three times despite his actions. She threatens to destroy him and bring ruin upon Western Teachings unless he repays the immense Karma he owes.
• Ksitigarbha agrees to cooperate. Pingxin instructs him to wait until she enters Secluded Cultivation, then tell Two Shakya that the matter has been resolved.
• A century later, Pingxin withdraws into Secluded Cultivation because of major changes in the Earthly Dao and the expansion of the Netherworld. Ksitigarbha secretly places the Heavenly Emperor’s True Spirit into reincarnation and informs Maitreya.
• Maitreya reports the success to Two Shakya. Although they find the situation suspiciously easy, they accept it and stop investigating, believing the Netherworld’s expansion explains the event.
• Qingyuan reveals that he has been monitoring the scheme. He takes control of the fragmentary True Spirit and injects it with a wisp of Human Dao Mandate, deliberately influencing its future path. He intends to see what can emerge from a soul shaped by the manipulation of three Saints.
• The chapter then shifts to the Great Xia Human Race. More than five hundred years after Emperor Yu’s Feng and Shan rites, Great Xia enjoys stability and prosperity under the protection of National Fortune.
• During this flourishing era, a remarkable child named Ji Fengming is born. Phoenix cries, a giant phoenix apparition, radiant light, and a rainbow-like magpie bridge appear at his birth, causing his poor parents to realize that their son possesses an extraordinary destiny.

Character Developments

• Ksitigarbha is shown as trapped by guilt and obligation. He recognizes that his repeated violations have created overwhelming Karma and submits to Pingxin’s demand, though he remains uneasy about the hidden cost of her mercy.
• Empress Pingxin demonstrates her authority and strategic pragmatism. Rather than persuade Ksitigarbha emotionally, she uses a direct threat, while her decision to conceal his actions suggests a larger plan.
• Two Shakya remain confident but careless. They accept the apparent success of their scheme without probing its suspicious circumstances, revealing their willingness to underestimate both Pingxin and Qingyuan.
• Maitreya acts as the messenger who carries the good news to Western Teachings and eagerly supports the plan.
• Qingyuan emerges as the true manipulator behind the reincarnation. By adding Human Dao Mandate to the True Spirit, he redirects the Western Teachings’ plan toward an unknown outcome.
• Ji Fengming is introduced as a potentially world-changing human prodigy whose birth portents mark him as destined for greatness.

Significant Themes

• Karma and consequence: Ksitigarbha’s actions have accumulated a debt so severe that even Western Teachings’ survival is placed at risk.
• Manipulation and hidden agendas: Pingxin, Two Shakya, and Qingyuan all conceal their true intentions, creating a layered struggle in which each faction believes it is controlling events.
• The limits of Saintly schemes: The Western Teachings think they have successfully arranged the Heavenly Emperor’s reincarnation, but Qingyuan secretly alters the process.
• The rise of Human Dao: Qingyuan’s intervention emphasizes the growing influence of Human Dao and suggests that humanity may soon produce a figure capable of affecting the broader Primordial Wilderness.
• Prosperity and historical change: While most races become stagnant through long lifespans and Secluded Cultivation, humanity’s short lives produce rapid development, social change, and the emergence of exceptional individuals.

Character Interactions

• Pingxin and Ksitigarbha: Their exchange is defined by authority, debt, and coercion. Ksitigarbha respectfully acknowledges his wrongdoing, while Pingxin offers no emotional consolation and demands repayment.
• Ksitigarbha and Maitreya: Ksitigarbha secretly communicates the completion of the reincarnation scheme, allowing Maitreya to report it to Two Shakya.
• Two Shakya and the reincarnated True Spirit: Though they believe their plan has succeeded, they are unaware that Qingyuan has taken control of the process.
• Qingyuan and the True Spirit: Qingyuan acts directly upon the fragment, imbuing it with Human Dao Mandate and turning the reincarnation into an experiment or intervention.
• Ji Fengming and his parents: His miraculous birth overwhelms his humble farming parents, while the reaction of visiting strangers signals that his arrival will dramatically change their family’s status and possibly the future of the Human Race.

Chapter Summary

Plot and Major Events

• Ji Fengming is born with extraordinary omens—“Phoenix Cry Across the Nine Heavens” and a phoenix shadow—suggesting he may be a heaven-sent prodigy. The phenomenon attracts Cang He, Governor of Qing Province, who initially adopts the child and rewards his farming parents.
• After consulting wise advisers, Cang He decides to let the parents raise Ji Fengming themselves and withdraws the rewards. The family quickly falls from prosperity into poverty, abandoned by former relatives and mocked by the villagers.
• Unable to endure the humiliation and pressure, Ji Fengming’s father commits suicide. His mother remains strong and raises him alone despite their worsening hardship.
• As a child, Ji Fengming is bullied because his miraculous birth has become a local joke. However, he remains calm and manipulative, turning rival groups of village children against one another and eventually making them follow him.
• At only four years old, he organizes the children into small businesses, producing candied hawthorn skewers and straw toys. He distributes most of the profits to the children, keeps a small portion for operations, and gives the rest to his mother.
• Ji Fengming expands his influence by recruiting children, vagrants, and local strongmen into the Kun Sect. He establishes strict rules, rituals, rewards, and punishments to maintain loyalty and discipline.
• He develops new products, exploits regional information gaps through reselling, and uses his profits to bribe bandits and hill leaders. Through the organization Green Prosperity, he becomes the hidden leader behind the local outlaw forces.
• Under his direction, the outlaws train as troops. Ji Fengming begins suppressing predatory wealthy figures, collecting protection fees, and building a private territory. By age ten, his influence extends across hundreds of thousands of miles, though he remains publicly disguised as an ordinary child peddler.
• Ji Fengming initially plans to consolidate his power slowly by building defenses and storing grain before declaring himself king. His ambitions change completely after witnessing the Immortal Ceremony, where immortals descend, Great Xia officials interact with them, and demons are slain.
• He realizes that he has not transmigrated into a merely primitive or fantastical world, but into a vast mythological age. He abandons his plans for earthly kingship and begins investigating the true structure of the world.
• His research reveals the existence of the Ninefold Immortal Realm, innumerable worlds and races, the Buddhist realms, powerful gods and Buddhas, demons and monsters beyond Great Xia, and the terrifying Underworld and reincarnation system.
• Although the scale and danger of the world initially unsettle him, Ji Fengming soon becomes excited by the possibilities it offers.

Character Development

• Ji Fengming: Develops from a seemingly helpless, bullied child into a highly intelligent, emotionally controlled organizer and hidden regional power. He demonstrates strategic thinking, economic talent, leadership, manipulation, and long-term planning. His worldview expands dramatically when he discovers the mythological nature of the world.
• Ji Fengming’s mother: Becomes a symbol of resilience, raising her son alone after her husband’s death and enduring poverty and social contempt.
• Ji Fengming’s father: His suicide reflects the crushing social pressure produced by the family’s sudden fall from honor and wealth.
• Cang He: Initially treats Ji Fengming as a potentially invaluable prodigy, but his decision to withdraw support indirectly contributes to the family’s collapse.
• The children and outlaws: Begin as unruly villagers or criminals but are gradually transformed into loyal followers and organized economic and military forces under Ji Fengming’s leadership.

Themes

• The fragility of status and fortune: The family’s rapid rise and collapse show how quickly public admiration can turn into cruelty and abandonment.
• Resilience and self-reliance: Ji Fengming and his mother survive without institutional support, rebuilding their lives through determination and intelligence.
• Leadership and organization: Ji Fengming turns chaos into structured commercial, social, and military power through incentives, discipline, and shared profit.
• Hidden power versus outward appearance: Despite appearing to be a poor ten-year-old peddler, Ji Fengming secretly controls a vast territory and network.
• Limits of human ambition: His dream of becoming a local king seems enormous until he learns that Great Xia is only a tiny part of a universe filled with immortals, gods, demons, and countless worlds.
• Discovery and expanding worldview: The chapter shifts from a grounded rise-to-power story into a much larger mythological adventure when Ji Fengming learns the true nature of the world.

Important Interactions

• Cang He’s intervention brings temporary honor and wealth to Ji Fengming’s family, but his later withdrawal leaves them exposed to ridicule and poverty.
• Ji Fengming’s mother provides the stable emotional foundation that allows him to grow despite hardship.
• Ji Fengming manipulates bullying children into fighting among themselves, then converts them into loyal followers and business partners.
• He builds relationships with vagrants, bandits, and strongmen through profit-sharing, bribery, and organization, transforming them into the Kun Sect and Green Prosperity.
• The decisive interaction is Ji Fengming’s observation of Great Xia officials, immortals, and demon-slaying forces at the Immortal Ceremony. This encounter overturns his understanding of reality and redirects his ambitions from earthly domination toward uncovering the path to immortality and the greater world.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ji Fengming discovers that the world he transmigrated into contains genuine legends of immortals, demons, monsters, and supernatural power. Excited by the possibility of cultivation, he abandons much of his business empire and spends several years searching for cultivation manuals or traces of immortals.
• His search repeatedly fails. Ordinary people possess no cultivation knowledge, immortal sects never appear, and the world seems cut off from the supernatural. Ji Fengming begins questioning whether immortality is real or whether he simply lacks the qualifications to access it.
• Remembering that he has witnessed immortals and seen Great Xia officials defeat demons, Ji Fengming decides to approach cultivation indirectly by becoming a government official.
• He spends a fortune purchasing books on governance, law, literature, filial piety, and administration. Thanks to his extraordinary memory, he quickly memorizes them all.
• He then discovers that Great Xia has no civil-service examinations or formal schools. Official positions are controlled by clans, noble families, and influential lineages, leaving commoners with virtually no path into government.
• Determined to create an opportunity, Ji Fengming arranges an elaborate fake bandit attack in which his deathsworn men “murder” an official, while Ji Fengming appears to rescue him.
• The rescued official, Uncle Ke of Long City, becomes grateful and impressed by Ji Fengming’s intelligence. He takes Ji Fengming on as a minor prison clerk.
• Ji Fengming uses knowledge from his previous life to improve judicial administration, including separating prisoners, classifying crimes, investigating cases, pursuing criminals, and suggesting new laws. His reforms make him increasingly influential in Long City.
• Through Uncle Ke and Count Zheng, Ji Fengming learns that Great Xia has enjoyed centuries of peace under the protection of National Fortune, supposedly established after Human Emperor Emperor Yu performed the Feng and Shan rites at Mount Tai.
• The legendary Divine Path Stele and Martial Dao Monument have vanished, and the Divine, Martial, and Immortal Paths have become distant legends. Most people believe that powerful figures will handle such matters and that ordinary people need only manage their daily lives.
• Ji Fengming learns that advancement depends on noble birth, powerful bloodlines, extraordinary abilities, fame, or great merit. He also learns that he might see Emperor Yu at a birthday celebration decades in the future, though neither Uncle Ke nor Count Zheng knows where the imperial capital is.
• After spending two frustrated years in Long City, Ji Fengming’s situation is finally about to change.

Character Development

• Ji Fengming begins as an ambitious transmigrator confident that his superior modern knowledge and apparent good fortune will let him dominate the world and obtain immortality.
• His repeated failures to find cultivation knowledge cause confusion, disappointment, and self-doubt, but they ultimately strengthen his determination. Rather than surrendering, he changes strategies and seeks an official position as a gateway to higher secrets.
• He demonstrates adaptability, manipulation, organizational ability, and exceptional memory. His willingness to sacrifice most of his fortune and fabricate an elaborate rescue shows how obsessive he has become about pursuing the supernatural.
• Uncle Ke changes from a local law official into Ji Fengming’s patron and mentor-like supporter after being “rescued.” He recognizes Ji Fengming’s unusual intelligence and helps bring him into official service.
• Count Zheng and Uncle Ke represent ordinary officials who are competent within their limited sphere but largely ignorant of the ancient supernatural traditions governing the wider world.

Significant Themes

• The gap between legend and reality: Immortality and supernatural paths clearly exist, but they are inaccessible to ordinary people and have faded from common knowledge.
• Ambition versus social hierarchy: Ji Fengming’s modern abilities cannot immediately overcome a rigid society controlled by clans, bloodlines, and inherited status.
• Adaptation and perseverance: Every failed approach forces Ji Fengming to devise a new one, shifting from commerce to study, then to government service.
• The limits of modern knowledge: His technological and administrative knowledge gives him local power, but it does not automatically reveal the secrets of cultivation.
• Historical decline and forgotten traditions: The Divine Path, Martial Path, and Immortal Dao appear to belong to an older age whose institutions and knowledge have been lost or deliberately obscured.
• Power hidden behind stability: Great Xia’s peace makes supernatural matters seem irrelevant, allowing ancient traditions to disappear beneath ordinary governance and prosperity.

Important Character Interactions

• Ji Fengming manipulates his deathsworn followers to stage a rescue, creating his first meaningful connection with the official world.
• Uncle Ke is impressed by Ji Fengming’s insight into law and administration and takes him under his protection.
• Ji Fengming collaborates with local authorities while gradually gaining practical authority through reforms and investigations.
• His conversations with Uncle Ke and Count Zheng reveal the limited knowledge available even to government officials and deepen his frustration about reaching the true centers of power.
• The chapter ends with Ji Fengming trapped between his growing local influence and his inability to access the larger world of immortals, just as an unknown turning point approaches.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ji Fengming learns that a mysterious Daoist appeared at the abandoned Desolate Deity Temple outside Long City and was seen soaring into the sky. He rushes there, hoping to meet him, but arrives too late.
• Over the following years, Ji Fengming repeatedly visits the temple but never encounters the Daoist again.
• His work improving Great Xia’s laws and administrative systems earns recognition from the provincial governor. With the support of Long City officials Zheng and Ke, he is promoted to become a judicial registrar in a larger provincial city—provided he makes no mistakes for ten years.
• Despite this being an extraordinary achievement for someone born to a peasant family, Ji Fengming feels dissatisfied. He believes his progress is painfully slow and laments that his modern knowledge cannot easily be applied in a society governed by bloodlines, connections, and entrenched institutions.
• He realizes that even with knowledge of papermaking, gunpowder, generators, compasses, and other technologies, he lacks the opportunity, resources, and social influence needed to transform society or rise rapidly.
• Several more years pass. Ji Fengming becomes more mature and cautious, studies the customs of the era, and secretly compiles knowledge from his previous life in preparation for displaying his abilities after moving to a provincial city.
• During a rainy journey to the temple, he spots a composed young man riding a Green Ox. Sensing that the stranger is extraordinary, Ji Fengming invites him into his carriage.
• The young man accepts, while the intelligent Green Ox follows behind. Ji Fengming begins courteously offering him tea and pastries as their journey continues.

Character Development

• Ji Fengming: Develops from an impatient, ambitious transmigrator into a more restrained and politically aware young official. His repeated failure to find the Daoist and inability to immediately exploit his modern knowledge teach him patience and humility. Nevertheless, he remains highly ambitious and hopes to rise to the highest levels of government.
• The mysterious young man: Introduced as calm, self-possessed, and seemingly ordinary, yet possessing an unusual presence that immediately distinguishes him from common people. His easy relationship with the Green Ox further suggests that he is not an ordinary traveler.
• The Green Ox: Shown to be unusually intelligent and attached to its master, tugging at his clothing when he dismounts and obediently following the carriage.

Significant Themes

• The limits of individual ability against historical circumstances: Ji Fengming’s modern knowledge is not enough to overcome the political and social structures of the era.
• Patience versus ambition: His desire for rapid success gradually gives way to a more measured strategy, though his goal of becoming a powerful official remains unchanged.
• Fate and missed opportunities: Ji Fengming repeatedly searches for the mysterious Daoist but fails to find him, only to encounter another potentially extraordinary figure unexpectedly.
• Social mobility and class barriers: Ji Fengming’s promotion is remarkable precisely because he comes from a peasant background, highlighting the difficulty of advancement in a society dominated by inherited status and connections.
• The hidden extraordinary within the ordinary: The young man appears unremarkable, but his bearing and supernatural-looking companion imply that greater forces may be moving beneath everyday life.

Character Interactions

• Ji Fengming receives encouragement and congratulations from officials Zheng and Ke, who regard his promotion as an unprecedented achievement for a farmer’s son.
• He avoids marriage proposals from local families because he fears becoming trapped in provincial life and losing his ambitions.
• Ji Fengming initiates contact with the mysterious young man by offering shelter from the rain. The stranger accepts, allowing the two to begin traveling together.
• Ji Fengming treats the young man respectfully, offering tea and food, while observing the close and unusual bond between him and the Green Ox.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Ji Fengming gives a refined, mysterious young traveler a ride during a rainy outing. Impressed by the traveler’s composure and sophistication, Ji assumes he is an important person from Great State City and tries to cultivate a relationship with him.
• Ji explains that he is searching for an opportunity to cultivate immortality. Years earlier, he heard that a Daoist lived in an abandoned temple outside Long City, but repeated searches proved fruitless. He now visits Divine Mountain whenever possible to seek immortals.
• The young man questions why Ji, a Great Xia official, does not focus on serving the people and advancing in government. Ji replies that the officialdom is rigid, and without a powerful background or connections, he has no opportunity to achieve more. He therefore chooses to pursue the Great Dao instead.
• The two travel to the abandoned temple, where they find nothing unusual. While watching the rain, the young man asks Ji whether he has gained any insight.
• Ji compares rain’s cycle—from heaven to earth, evaporation, condensation, and its return as rain—to the lives of ordinary people. He identifies this endless cycle as reincarnation.
• Ji’s insight triggers a spectacular eruption of Fortune Aura. Xuandu realizes that Ji possesses extraordinary and highly unstable potential: his destiny seems to depend largely on his own choices rather than a fixed heavenly fate.
• Xuandu begins considering whether Ji could help restore the Human Sect’s influence among humanity, but he decides to test Ji further before revealing his identity or intentions.

2. Character Developments

• Ji Fengming is shown to be ambitious, perceptive, and deeply dissatisfied with the limitations of official life. Though outwardly an ordinary official, he possesses unusual philosophical insight and potentially immense destiny. His choice to pursue cultivation comes from frustration, but his determination to follow the Great Dao is sincere.
• Xuandu initially interacts with Ji out of curiosity, unable to read his destiny. As Ji reveals more of himself, Xuandu becomes increasingly astonished and begins viewing him as a possible future leader of the Human Race and a valuable ally to the Human Sect.
• Green Ox remains a quiet, relaxed presence, sleeping in the temple while the two men converse.
• Ji’s attendants remain silent and deferential, observing the exchange without interfering.

3. Significant Themes

• Destiny versus personal effort: Ji’s Fortune Aura changes according to his choices, suggesting that his future is not predetermined. He could remain obscure, rise through officialdom, or become an extraordinary leader depending on whether he acts decisively and whether he receives support.
• The cycle of life and reincarnation: Ji’s interpretation of rain transforms an ordinary natural process into a meditation on existence, death, renewal, and the endless cycles of the world.
• Frustration with worldly institutions: Ji’s decision to seek immortality reflects his belief that rigid social systems prevent talented but unsupported people from advancing.
• Fate and meaningful encounters: The meeting in the rain is presented as a convergence of kindness, opportunity, and Dao. Xuandu senses that their encounter may be part of a larger destined connection.
• The Human Sect’s decline and possible revival: Xuandu hopes Ji might become the means through which the Human Sect regains influence and recovers its diminished Fortune Aura.

4. Character Interactions

• Ji actively flatters and befriends Xuandu, believing him to be an extraordinary worldly figure, while Xuandu calmly studies Ji and conceals his true identity.
• Xuandu challenges Ji’s choice to abandon official advancement, prompting Ji to explain his lack of resources and his commitment to cultivation.
• Their discussion in the abandoned temple shifts from casual conversation to philosophical exchange. Ji’s reflections on rain reveal his hidden potential and profoundly shock Xuandu.
• Although Xuandu recognizes Ji as potentially invaluable, he does not yet accept him as a disciple or disclose his intentions. He believes one final opportunity or test is necessary before deciding whether Ji is truly connected to the Human Sect’s destiny.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• In a ruined temple, Ji Fengming confides in Great Master Xuandu about his ambitions for Great Xia. He describes numerous plans for improving governance and the lives of the people, insisting that, if given the opportunity, he could perform as well as the empire’s high officials.
• Ji declares that he believes he is destined to rise, comparing himself to a golden-scaled fish waiting to transform into a dragon. Xuandu is struck by Ji’s confidence and ideas, which remind him of his former senior brother, Qingyuan, and the ambitious days before the Three Sects divided.
• Xuandu accepts Ji’s invitation to accompany him, and from then on remains by his side.
• Nearly thirty years pass. Ji receives no miraculous opportunities, cultivation system, or extraordinary fortune. He eventually abandons his hopes of obtaining an immortal opportunity and focuses on government work instead.
• Ji helps Count Zheng, Magistrate of Long City, and Uncle Ke improve local administration and people’s livelihoods. His practical methods and achievements gradually establish his reputation.
• One day, the Great Xia Dragon Guards arrive in Long City. Their appearance causes widespread alarm because they serve Emperor Yu directly, possess immense authority, and normally appear only for major political appointments or official punishments.
• The Dragon Guards summon Ji Fengming and announce an imperial decree: Emperor Yu recognizes Ji as a man of exceptional talent and appoints him Grand Minister of Shangtang Commandery’s Regional Administration. He must assume office within ten years.
• The appointment shocks everyone. Ji is not yet thirty and had previously been only a minor local official. Shangtang is a major commandery governing twenty-nine provinces and nearly two thousand cities and settlements, making the post equivalent to that of a regional overlord.

Character Developments

• Ji Fengming: Initially frustrated by his lack of recognition, Ji reveals strong ambition, confidence, and a detailed vision for reforming Great Xia. Over the following decades, he becomes more pragmatic, setting aside dreams of supernatural fortune and dedicating himself to public administration. His efforts eventually earn him an astonishing imperial appointment.
• Great Master Xuandu: Xuandu becomes intrigued by Ji’s ideals and personality, seeing similarities between him and Qingyuan. Ji’s ambition rekindles Xuandu’s memories of the cooperative, purposeful era before the Three Sects split. Xuandu chooses to accompany and support Ji.
• Count Zheng and Uncle Ke: They recognize Ji’s abilities and help advance his career, but remain completely stunned when he is unexpectedly elevated far beyond what they believed possible.
• Emperor Yu: Though he does not appear directly, his imperial decree establishes that Ji’s accomplishments have attracted the attention of the highest authority in Great Xia.

Significant Themes

• Talent and opportunity: The chapter contrasts Ji’s belief that success requires extraordinary luck with the reality that sustained effort and administrative ability can eventually create an opportunity.
• Destiny versus merit: Ji initially expects a transmigrator’s miraculous fortune but receives none. His eventual rise comes through years of practical work, suggesting that ability can matter even without supernatural advantages.
• Renewed purpose: Xuandu’s encounter with Ji revives memories of his former ideals and the energetic cooperation of the Three Sects before their division.
• Unexpected advancement: The dramatic imperial appointment emphasizes how quickly a person’s status can change when their abilities are recognized by those in power.
• Political power and hierarchy: The arrival of the Dragon Guards highlights the authority of Emperor Yu and the vast difference between Ji’s former local position and his new commandery-level office.

Character Interactions

• Ji openly shares his ambitions with Xuandu, while Xuandu listens thoughtfully and recognizes echoes of Qingyuan in him.
• Xuandu’s quiet encouragement and decision to accompany Ji establish a relationship based on mutual interest and companionship.
• Ji works alongside Count Zheng and Uncle Ke to improve Long City, earning their trust through practical results.
• The Dragon Guards’ interaction with Ji dramatically changes his political future: after formally identifying him, they deliver Emperor Yu’s decree and elevate him to a position that leaves the officials and citizens of Long City speechless.