Chapter Summaries

Li Er arranged for Duobao to establish Mahayana Buddhism at Spirit Mountain, splitting the Buddhist Sect’s fortune before accepting the offer to become its Present Buddha. As the Buddhist fortune began to recover through the merger, Randeng’s Buddha light suddenly faltered at Mount Sumeru.

• Li Er revealed that Duobao’s demonic origin was the Heavenly Devil Tower and told him to enter Buddhism to cleanse it and pursue the Hunyuan Saintly Dao.
• Duobao accepted Li Er’s decree, comprehended Mahayana Buddhism, and declared himself Shakyamuni at Spirit Mountain, establishing a teaching that all sentient beings could become Buddhas.
• Mahayana Buddhism drew fortune away from Mount Sumeru, enraging Amitabha Buddha and Zhunti while Laozi watched the Mysterious Gate’s fortune begin to recover.
• Amitabha Buddha and Patriarch Bodhi offered Shakyamuni the position of Present Buddha, and he accepted, allowing Mahayana Buddhism to join the Buddhist Sect’s orthodox lineage.
• As the Buddhist fortune began to merge and recover, Randeng’s Buddha light flickered violently at his sanctuary on Mount Sumeru.

Randeng attempted to enter Nirvana, sever his karmic ties, and escape the Saints’ control, but Jieyin, Zhunti, and Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate stopped him. He realized his life had been shaped by their schemes and faced being used as nourishment for Maitreya or imprisoned as a pawn.

• Randeng began burning his Glazed Golden Body with the Spirit Coffin Lamp’s fire of extinction to sever his karma and pursue sainthood.
• As Randeng’s Buddhist fortune, Buddha lands, and most karmic ties burned away, two indestructible chains remained: one from Jieyin and Zhunti, and one from Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate.
• Jieyin and Zhunti sent a Buddha Light hand to seize Randeng’s true spirit, while Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate used the Pangu Banner’s phantom to bind him.
• Randeng realized that the Saints had maneuvered him into serving as a pawn and sacrifice throughout his life.
• Randeng resisted the Saints’ restraints, but their power overwhelmed him, weakened his Nirvana fire, and left him facing exploitation by the Buddhist Sect or eternal imprisonment by Yuanshi.

The Spirit Coffin Lamp awakened a remnant of an ancient Dao’s fall, revealing that Randeng’s Destiny Treasure was tied to a fallen Hunyuan Limitless being. Seeing a chance to escape his fate, Randeng sacrificed his body, Dao Fruit, and magic power to merge with the remnant, as the Sages attacked to stop him and claim it.

• The Spirit Coffin Lamp released a mysterious Dao energy that caused the Great Desolation to mourn and drew the attention of Sages and powerful beings.
• Sage Taiqing realized that the Spirit Coffin Lamp had been formed from the Coffin of Buried Dao and that Randeng was its spirit.
• Hongjun and Rahu recognized the ancient Dao energy and reacted to the fallen being’s return to annihilation.
• Randeng sensed that the Dao energy could help him escape his restraints and chose to sacrifice his Flawless Dao Body, Half-Saint Dao Fruit, Glazed Golden Body, and magic power.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate attacked Randeng with the Pangu Banner, while Jieyin and Zhunti struck with Buddhist Seals to seize the Dao energy.

Randeng used the Opportunity of Dao’s Fall to sever his ties to the Saints and enter the Great Dao Reincarnation, while Lu Yuan discovered the secret of Randeng’s origins. On Spirit Mountain, Duobao became Shakyamuni, and Lu Yuan realized his senior brother had chosen the Buddhist path to purge his demonic root and protect the Interception Sect’s future.

• Randeng’s Nirvana intent destroyed the Saints’ attacks and shattered his karmic bonds to the Buddhist Sect and Yuxu.
• Randeng cast his purified True Spirit into the Great Dao Reincarnation, escaping Yuanshi, Jieyin, and Zhunti’s interception.
• Lu Yuan recognized the Opportunity of Dao’s Fall as a remnant of a fallen Hunyuan Limitless existence and realized Randeng was the Spirit of the Coffin of Buried Dao.
• Duobao appeared on Spirit Mountain as Shakyamuni Tathagata, and the Buddhist Sect’s followers acclaimed him as their World Honored One.
• Lu Yuan reviewed Duobao’s path and realized he had willingly joined the Buddhist Sect to cleanse his demonic root and leave the Interception Sect a chance to recover.
• Lu Yuan sent Shakyamuni a blessing, while Tongtian watched Spirit Mountain and silently accepted his disciple’s choice.

Confucius established the Confucian Dao by writing the Spring and Autumn Annals, gaining the Supreme Sage Dao Fruit and becoming a Great Divine Ability User. As his disciples advanced and Confucian teachings spread, the rival schools and powers recognized that the struggle for the Human Dao lineage had begun.

• Confucius traced the collapse of Zhou ritual and the Human Dao through history, then wrote the Spring and Autumn Annals and established the Confucian Dao.
• Profound Yellow Merit transformed the Spring and Autumn Annals into a Merit Spiritual Treasure and raised Confucius to the rank of Supreme Sage and Perfected First Teacher.
• Li Er, Yuan, Zhuang Zhou, Chan, Mo Di, Guiguzi Wang Xu, Jieyin, Zhunti, Nuwa, Houtu, and Ancestor Minghe reacted to Confucius's rise and considered how their own Daos would fare.
• Confucius's merit and Dao destiny empowered his disciples, and Yan Hui, Zeng Shen, Zilu, Zigong, Zi Xia, and Zisi each condensed a Daluo Dao Fruit.
• Confucius and his seventy-two worthies prepared to spread Confucian teachings across the states as the struggle for the Human Race's Dao lineage began.

Chan, Mo Di, Yuan, Zhuang Zhou, and Wang Xu established Legalist, Mohist, Agricultural, Zhuangzi, and Zongheng Dao lineages, each reaching the realm of a Great Divine Ability User. The Hundred Schools began competing across the states for influence and Human Dao Destiny as powerful figures and heavenly lineages backed different sides, bringing the Era of Great Strife to its height.

• Chan established the Legalist Dao in Qin, formed his Dao Fruit, and received support from Primordial Heavenly Venerate.
• Mo Di established Mohism in Song through Universal Love and Non-Aggression, and Sect Master Tongtian strengthened his Dao lineage.
• Yuan established the Agricultural School's Dao in Chen, while Lu Yuan protected its foundations of farming and sericulture.
• Zhuang Zhou opened the Great Dream Realm and established the Zhuangzi lineage of the Taoist School.
• Wang Xu established the School of Zongheng in Chu, and Zhenyuanzi strengthened his Dao Fruit with the Great Earth's Dao-rhyme.
• The Hundred Schools' disciples spread through the states and contested for Dao Lineage, while powerful figures backed rival schools and the Era of Great Strife reached its boiling point.

The Jin State fell as Han, Zhao, and Wei received investiture and divided its territory, while the Tian Clan overthrew the Jiang Clan in Qi with the Human Sect’s support. Lu Yuan saw that Zhou’s remaining Mandate of Heaven was close to extinction.

• King Zhuang of Chu failed to seize the Nine Tripods after Zhou’s Yuqing Talisman triggered a backlash, and Chu’s supremacy later weakened.
• The Jin State’s noble clans rose against the ducal house, and Han, Zhao, and Wei forced Zhou Son of Heaven Ji Wu to invest them as marquises and divide Jin.
• After Jin’s sacrifices ended, Ji Wu suffered the Five Decays of Heaven and Man and was annihilated by the accumulated sins of the Jin ducal house.
• Tian He, backed by Grand Master Xuandu, captured Duke Kang Jiang Dai, forced him to abdicate, and established the Tian Clan’s rule over Qi.
• The Jiang Clan’s ancestral temple and former Qi rulers were consumed by accumulated Human Dao sins, while Sage Taiqing accepted the Tian Clan’s rise as the will of Heaven and the people.
• Lu Yuan divined that Zhou’s remaining Mandate of Heaven was flickering on the verge of extinction.

After King Nan’s death, the Chengzhou Dao Lineage collapsed and its accumulated karma and sin erupted across the human realm. Saints and great powers began competing to shape the new Human Dao Lineage, while Lu Yuan recognized the upheaval as an opportunity to advance his Profound Yellow Tribulation Fortune Dao Fruit.

• The Zhou Son of Heaven died, and the court posthumously titled him Nan, triggering the end of the Chengzhou Dao Lineage.
• The Pillar of Destiny collapsed as Primordial Heavenly Venerate withdrew his attempt to intervene, and the released karma and sin ravaged Luoyi and places tied to Zhou rule.
• The Human Dao’s backlash pursued beings connected to Chengzhou, while Tongtian, Jieyin, Zhunti, Taiqing, Nuwa, Minghe, Haotian, and Zhenyuanzi considered their responses to the emerging power vacuum.
• Haotian summoned his subordinates to plan for a Heavenly Court-aligned human Dao Lineage, while Zhenyuanzi resolved to protect the earth’s veins and his spiritual root.
• Lu Yuan concluded that the contest for the new Human Dao Lineage was also a struggle for destiny and transcendence, and saw it as an opportunity to perfect his Profound Yellow Tribulation Fortune Dao Fruit.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate burned away most of the Chan Sect’s karmic ties to the failing Chengzhou Dao Lineage, then revealed a plan to control the Human Dao and ripen his Dao Fruit. He prepared to use Heavenly Dao pressure to force the Human Dao into choosing between two paths, and turned his attention to the Human Sect’s Elder Brother.

• Primordial Heavenly Venerate used the Yuxu Glazed Tile Lamp to burn away most of the Chan Sect’s karma with Chengzhou, while protecting a few strands as the foundation of its Dao Lineage.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate told his disciples that Chengzhou’s fall was unavoidable and that the Chan Sect had gained valuable experience and advantages from its mortal-world experiments.
• Guangchengzi and the other Yuxu immortals praised Primordial Heavenly Venerate, while privately fearing that he might discard them as he had Jiang Shang, the Duke of Zhou, and Duke Zhao.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate taught his disciples an Order Blueprint based on weakening the people, dividing society into ranks, restricting knowledge, centering farming and warfare, strengthening royal authority, and imposing laws.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate revealed that the Order Blueprint was a temporary cage and that he planned to use Heavenly Dao pressure to make the Human Dao choose between oppression and a more appealing form of control.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate looked toward Great Scarlet Heaven and wondered what the Human Sect’s Elder Brother would choose.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate arranged for Bo Yikao to relinquish his divine post and reincarnate, using him to test Sage Taiqing's response and settle the Zhou Dao Lineage's lingering cause and effect. As Bo Yikao entered the cycle of reincarnation, he secretly sent a trace of Tianfu Star's radiance toward Laojun's palace.

• Yuanshi ordered White Crane Boy to send Bo Yikao into reincarnation and described him as a touchstone for testing the Sages.
• White Crane Boy delivered Yuanshi's decree, ordering Bo Yikao to surrender his post as Star Lord Tianfu and enter the mortal world.
• Bo Yikao accepted the decree despite recognizing that Yuanshi intended to use him to contain the resentment left by the fallen Zhou Dao Lineage.
• Bo Yikao asked who would watch over the evil sha and stars of Dou Mansion, while White Crane Boy said Yuanshi had not chosen a replacement.
• As White Crane Boy stripped away Bo Yikao's divine authority, Bo Yikao secretly sent a trace of Tianfu Star's radiance toward Laojun's palace.
• Bo Yikao's true spirit left Dou Mansion in the Immortal Light of Reception and plunged into mortal reincarnation.

Taiqing Laozi mourned Bo Yikao’s fall and offered him a possible path to survival, while Randeng realized Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate had engineered Chengzhou’s rise and collapse as an experiment and a means to refine his Dao Fruit. As Tongtian and Lu Yuan expounded the Dao, they discussed Bo Yikao’s reincarnation as Yuanshi’s new piece in the struggle between Dao lineages.

• Taiqing Laozi watched Bo Yikao’s true spirit depart and invited him to seek help in Luoyang if he retained his awareness after reincarnation.
• Randeng reviewed Chengzhou’s history and concluded that Yuanshi Heavenly Venerate had orchestrated its prosperity, decline, and fall to test the Order Heavenly Dao and mature his Dao Fruit.
• Randeng recognized that he had been one of Yuanshi’s pieces and resolved to remain wary after escaping the chessboard of the Saints.
• Tongtian and Lu Yuan manifested their Dao Fruits in Profound Yellow Heaven while Biyou Palace’s immortals observed and gained insight.
• Tongtian and Lu Yuan discussed Yuanshi’s stripping Bo Yikao of his divine office and sending him into reincarnation as a test of the Human Sect and a spark for new tribulations.

Lu Yuan and Sect Master Tongtian devised a strategy for the Interception Sect to spread its teachings among the Hundred Schools and resist Yuanshi’s plans for the Human Dao. Meanwhile, Wei Si’s Legalist reforms made Wei hegemon of Central Xia, and the other states pledged to follow its example, advancing Yuanshi’s Order Dao Lineage.

• Lu Yuan warned Sect Master Tongtian that Yuanshi intended to use Bo Yikao to provoke conflict between the Interception Sect and the Human Sect, and urged Biyou Palace to spread its teachings through the Hundred Schools.
• Sect Master Tongtian issued a decree allowing Biyou Palace disciples to enter the mortal world and teach self-improvement, renewal, universal instruction, and the breaking of shackles.
• Bo Yikao was reborn as Wei Si, who became Marquis Wen of Wei and adopted Li Kui’s Book of Laws while Zi Xia established the Confucian Xihe School.
• Wei Si’s reforms and Wu Qi’s training of the Wei Wu Battalion transformed Wei into a military power that defeated rival states and dominated Central Xia.
• The rulers of Han, Zhao, Chu, Qi, and other states asked Wei Si to guide their own Legalist reforms, and he offered to help establish a Legalist order under the Primordial Heavenly Dao Order.

Yuanshi summoned Jieyin and Zhunti to join him and Taiqing in breaking Tongtian’s Zhu Xian Sword Formation, and the four Saints arrived at Jiepai Pass to discuss the Dao. As their teachings began influencing the assembled disciples, Tongtian recognized their attempt to weaken his followers and probe the formation, and vowed that the Interception Sect would not yield.

• Yuanshi condemned Tongtian and the Zhu Xian Sword Formation, then announced that Jieyin and Zhunti would come from the West to help break it.
• Jieyin and Zhunti agreed to intervene, weighing the risks of the calamity against the Western Teachings’ opportunity to spread east.
• Jieyin and Zhunti arrived at Jiepai Pass, where Yuanshi asked them to join him and Taiqing in breaking the formation.
• Yuanshi ordered the disciples to wait while the four Saints sat above the pass and expounded their respective Dao principles.
• The Saints’ discussion stirred the Yuxu and Western disciples, while Tongtian sensed their Dao intent eroding the formation and influencing his followers.
• Tongtian accused Yuanshi, Taiqing, Jieyin, and Zhunti of using the discussion to undermine the Interception Sect, and declared that his followers would keep fighting.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate used Wei Si and the states’ Legalist reforms to spread harsh rule and accumulate Sinful Power, while Lu Yuan and Sect Master Tongtian prepared to resist. After the State of Wei collapsed and Wei Si died, Primordial Heavenly Venerate turned to the Primordial Chaos Ruins and offered Zu Long’s remnant soul rebirth in exchange for serving the Chan Sect as humanity’s Sage King.

• Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s Legalist reforms spread across the states, draining the people and the State of Wei’s fortune as Wei Si reveled in his apparent hegemony.
• Lu Yuan ordered Mohism and Agricultural School disciples to undermine Legalist rule and aid the displaced, while Sect Master Tongtian warned that the Human Dao would eventually resist.
• Wei Si executed Li Kui and Wu Qi, whose Primordial Spirits Primordial Heavenly Venerate absorbed into his Order Dao Fruit.
• The State of Wei fell into turmoil after Wei Si’s death, and it later lost its hegemony after defeat at the Battle of Maling.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate entered the Primordial Chaos Ruins, awakened Zu Long’s remnant soul, and offered it rebirth if it followed the Chan Sect and became humanity’s Sage King.

Primordial Heavenly Venerate arranged for Zu Long’s remnant soul to reincarnate as Ying Quliang of Qin, intending to use the future Sage King to bind the dragon race to humanity and monopolize the Human Dao. The six Sages united against his scheme and formed an alliance of the six states, but its first campaign against Qin failed at Hangu Pass.

• Primordial Heavenly Venerate sent Zu Long’s remnant soul into reincarnation after revealing that he had diverted the dragon race’s merit to forge its karmic ties to humanity.
• Lu Yuan realized that Zu Long had reincarnated as Ying Quliang in Qin, and he warned the other five Sages that Primordial Heavenly Venerate planned to use Qin to seize the Human Dao.
• The six Sages agreed to oppose Primordial Heavenly Venerate by restraining Qin, and they helped Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, and Wei form a vertical alliance under Su Qin.
• The six states sent a coalition army against Qin, while Duke Xiao and Wei Yang pressed ahead with Qin’s reforms.
• The coalition’s divided commanders failed to act together, and the Qin Army raided their camp and defeated them beneath Hangu Pass.

The Six Sages watched Qin unify the realm while Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s control over the Human Dao grew, until Ying Zheng’s birth triggered the Heavenly Dao and Human Dao’s backlash. With the Sages’ help, Ying Zheng merged with Zu Long’s remnant soul, broke the contract, and destroyed Primordial Heavenly Venerate; Ying Zheng then purged his remaining influence by burning books and burying scholars.

• The six states’ alliances repeatedly failed, and Qin expanded under the successive reigns of Zu Long’s reincarnations until it conquered the realm.
• King Zhuangxiang of Qin died, and Zu Long’s remnant soul reincarnated as Ying Zheng while the Heavenly Dao and Human Dao backlash arose against Primordial Heavenly Venerate.
• Lu Yuan saw that Ying Zheng carried a second, native soul, and the Six Sages blocked Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s attack on Xianyang Palace.
• The Six Sages helped Ying Zheng and Zu Long merge, shattering the Heavenly Dao contract and empowering Ying Zheng to destroy Primordial Heavenly Venerate and his Order Dao Fruit.
• After unifying the realm, Ying Zheng ordered books burned and scholars buried to eliminate Primordial Heavenly Venerate’s remaining followers and influence.

Ying Zheng burned the classics and purged the fangshi and Confucian scholars, while the Saints chose not to interfere. Primordial Heavenly Venerate manipulated Haotian into forming an alliance against Qin, and Haotian ordered the Heavenly Court to march on Xianyang in three days, unaware that Primordial Heavenly Venerate also intended to weaken the Jie Sect.

• Ying Zheng burned the classics and buried the fangshi and Confucian scholars, claiming they had served the Chan Sect and threatened Qin’s order.
• Lu Yuan worried that Ying Zheng’s purge could harm innocents and damage mortal civilization, while the Saints accepted the purge without intervening.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate, weakened by backlash and unable to face the other Saints, sent a Saintly Thought to persuade Haotian to attack Ying Zheng.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate offered to place the Chan Sect immortals in the Heavenly Court under Haotian’s command, and Haotian accepted the alliance and ordered troops to march on Xianyang in three days.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate revealed that he intended the campaign to weaken Ying Zheng and the Jie Sect forces serving in the Heavenly Court, leaving him positioned to benefit from their losses.

Haotian ordered the Heavenly Court to invade Qin and placed the Jie Sect’s Thunder and Star Departments in the vanguard. Tongtian instructed them to feign compliance, and as they staged ineffective attacks on Xianyang, Haotian’s rage was checked by the threatening auras of the Qingping Sword and the Profound Yellow Gate.

• Haotian appointed Li Jing and Immortal Elder Nanji to lead the Qin campaign, assigned Wen Zhong and the Star Department to the vanguard, and ordered the Heavenly River Navy to surround Xianyang.
• Wen Zhong and the Star Department secretly reported Haotian’s plan to weaken the Jie Sect, prompting Tongtian to tell them to fight through their incense-and-faith divine bodies and preserve their true spirits.
• The Heavenly Court army surrounded Xianyang, while the Thunder and Star Departments directed their attacks away from the city and its Twelve Golden Men.
• Li Jing accused Wen Zhong of making a feeble assault, and Wen Zhong defended the cautious attacks as a way to avoid the Dragon Qi’s backlash and preserve Heaven’s forces.
• Haotian watched the ineffective attacks through the Haotian Mirror and grew furious, but the Qingping Sword’s killing intent and the aura of the Profound Yellow Gate appeared and made him hesitate.

Haotian sent Li Jing and the Heavenly Origin Sect’s immortals to lead the assault on Xianyang, where Ying Zheng’s defenses devastated the Heavenly Court army. Haotian confronted Ying Zheng directly, and their rival powers clashed as Primordial Heavenly Venerate watched from Yuxu Palace.

• Haotian ordered Li Jing and the Heavenly Origin Sect’s immortals to take the vanguard while the Thunder Department and Star Department held the perimeter.
• The Twelve Golden Men activated Xianyang’s Human Dao Forbidden Domain, suppressing the Heavenly Court’s power and striking down its soldiers and generals.
• Bai Qi and Wang Jian led yin soldiers and war souls from Xianyang, whose battle formation overwhelmed the Heavenly Court’s main force.
• Guangchengzi’s Fan Tian Seal failed to break the Golden Men, and Haotian left the Lingxiao Treasure Hall to confront Ying Zheng himself.
• Haotian attacked Xianyang with the Haotian Mirror, but Ying Zheng answered with the Human Emperor Imperial Seal, and their powers collided.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate suffered Heavenly Dao backlash in Yuxu Palace while watching Ying Zheng and Haotian battle.

Ying Zheng used the Human Dao’s power to repel Haotian’s campaign, then established the Immortal Qin Sage Dynasty and transformed the Twelve Golden Men into Innate Supreme Treasures. As the Heavenly Court and Chan Sect prepared to unite against Immortal Qin, Lu Yuan sensed a disturbance in the heavenly secrets.

• Ying Zheng summoned the fire of the Human Dao, broke Haotian’s assault, and forced the Heavenly Court’s forces to retreat from Xianyang.
• Ying Zheng issued reforms to strengthen the human realm and announced a winter-solstice ceremony to establish the Immortal Qin Sage Dynasty.
• Ying Zheng proclaimed the Sage Dynasty at the Heavenly Altar, and Human Dao Destiny transformed the Twelve Golden Men into Innate Supreme Treasures.
• The Heavenly Dao recognized Immortal Qin, while immortals and rulers across the Three Realms watched the dynasty’s rise with awe and apprehension.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate and Haotian set aside their grievances and agreed to suppress Immortal Qin and kill Ying Zheng.
• Lu Yuan sensed a change in the heavenly secrets as the two powers stirred the destiny of the Three Realms.