Chapter Summaries

Qin Mu left Wuzhuang Temple after discussing the Dao with Zhenyuanzi, who promised to search for the Earth Spirit Pearl. Meanwhile, Demon King Xue Ya discovered that human blood let weapons pierce Witch Clan bodies and brought the news to Dijun’s court, where the Demon Race leaders awaited his report.

• Qin Mu asked Zhenyuanzi about the Earth Spirit Pearl, and Zhenyuanzi said he would watch for it and notify him if he found any leads.
• Qin Mu discussed the Dao with Zhenyuanzi, received several Ginseng Fruits, and left for Buzhou Mountain on the Five-Colored Peacock.
• Demon King Xue Ya learned that human blood made weapons pierce the Witch Clan’s tough bodies, tested it with his bone blade, and decided to report the discovery to Dijun.
• Dijun and the Demon Race leaders discussed their losses and their inability to overcome the Witch Clan’s formations and powerful bodies.
• A Yao God announced that a Demon King had found a way to counter the Witch Clan’s bodies, and Dijun ordered him brought in.
• Demon King Xue Ya entered Lingxiao Treasure Hall and faced the assembled Demon Race leaders.

Bloodfang claimed that weapons infused with Human Race Quintessential Blood could pierce the Witch Clan’s physical defenses, and Dijun tested the claim in the Heavenly Court. The test succeeded, leaving the Demon Race with a way to wound the Witch Clan.

• Bloodfang told Dijun and the assembled Yao Gods that Human Race blood could help weapons break through the Witch Clan’s bodies, but Ji Meng and the others doubted him.
• Dijun ordered Bai Ze to bring humans and a Witch Clan Earth Witch to the Heavenly Court for a test.
• Dijun’s sword absorbed an ordinary human’s blood but failed to pierce the Earth Witch, prompting Bloodfang to insist that it needed human heart’s blood.
• Dijun refined the humans’ heart’s blood into the sword, which then pierced the Earth Witch’s body with ease.

Dijun confirmed that Human Race blood let Houtian Spirit Treasures pierce Witch Clan bodies and ordered the Demon Race to secretly capture humans for weapon-making despite the risk of angering Taishang Saint. Meanwhile, Qin Mu arrived at a Witch Clan tribe on Buzhou Mountain and reunited with Xing Tian and Kuafu.

• Dijun used a Human Race blood-tempered Houtian Spirit Sword to pierce the Earth Witch and killed him with a second strike.
• The Yao Gods celebrated the discovery, and Dijun ordered guards to capture Human Race beings for forging weapons.
• Fuxi warned Dijun that mass slaughter could provoke Taishang Saint, but Kunpeng proposed secretly capturing people from remote tribes under the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Formation.
• Dijun accepted Kunpeng's plan and ordered the Demon Race to keep the operation secret.
• Qin Mu arrived at a Witch Clan tribe on Buzhou Mountain, where he greeted Xing Tian and Kuafu and said he had come to thank them for their earlier help.

Qin Mu joined Houtu Ancestral Witch on a journey through the Primordial Wilderness, where the suffering and countless dead souls stirred something within her. Meanwhile, the Ancestral Witches grew suspicious of the Demon Race’s sudden retreat, unaware that it was secretly using captured humans to forge weapons against them.

• Xing Tian and Kuafu brought Qin Mu to meet Houtu, who asked whether he was connected to the Human Emperor; Qin Mu denied knowing him.
• Houtu announced that she would leave the tribe to travel, and Qin Mu asked to accompany her; she agreed.
• Qin Mu and Houtu witnessed death and devastation across the Primordial Wilderness, and Houtu felt compelled to do something for the dead.
• The Demon Race secretly captured members of the Human Race to take their heart's Quintessential Blood and forge weapons for slaying witches.
• Dijiang and the other Ancestral Witches discussed the Demon Race’s unexplained retreat, and Dijiang ordered them to watch for a dangerous plot.

Nine Infants slaughtered millions of humans to forge the Witch Slaying Sword and ordered more captures despite the Demon Emperor’s orders. Meanwhile, Houtu followed the souls to the Nether Blood Sea, where a fleeting insight into their fate arose before Ancestor Minghe confronted her and Qin Mu.

• Nine Infants slaughtered imprisoned humans and used their blood essence to strengthen the Witch Slaying Sword, but it remained unfinished.
• Nine Infants killed a snake-bodied Demon King who objected to capturing more humans, then ordered the Demon Kings to raid the lower realm.
• Houtu and Qin Mu followed the vengeful spirits to the Nether Blood Sea, where Houtu sensed a fleeting insight as the souls were consumed.
• Ancestor Minghe emerged from the Blood Sea and asked Houtu and Qin Mu why they had come.

Qin Mu guided Houtu Ancestral Witch toward realizing that the departed souls needed a cycle of reincarnation, and the Heavenly Dao began drawing her into the Nether Blood Sea. Ancestor Minghe tried to stop her, but Qin Mu blocked his way and said Houtu was about to attain the Dao and become a saint.

• Qin Mu and Houtu Ancestral Witch greeted Ancestor Minghe and watched the Blood Sea's aura consume countless departed souls.
• Houtu Ancestral Witch felt compassion for the souls and asked Minghe why they gathered in the Blood Sea, but he said he believed it was the Heavenly Dao's will.
• Qin Mu brought out a model of the Eighteen Layer Hell and an Innate Demon God Dao Embryo, then urged Houtu to consider the cycle of life and death.
• Houtu realized the Primordial World lacked a place for departed souls to reincarnate.
• A crack opened above the Blood Sea, and its aura drew Houtu into the sea.
• Ancestor Minghe rushed to stop Houtu, but Qin Mu blocked him and said she was about to attain the Dao and become a saint.

Qin Mu told Ancestor Minghe that Houtu could become a Saint by transforming into the cycle of reincarnation, and Houtu began comprehending the Dao within the Nether Blood Sea. Meanwhile, Human tribes were disappearing, prompting Suiren Shi to investigate as the mystery reached the Human Emperor Hall.

• Qin Mu explained that Houtu would attain sainthood without Primordial Violet Qi by becoming the cycle of reincarnation, powerful within the Underworld but not beyond it.
• Ancestor Minghe accepted Qin Mu's explanation and waited with him outside the Nether Blood Sea rather than disturb Houtu.
• Houtu comprehended life, death, and reincarnation as departed souls in the Nether Blood Sea bowed to her.
• A Human Race cultivator discovered another empty tribe and reported that three entire tribes had vanished in the past hundred years.
• Suiren Shi heard that about a million people had disappeared, sent cultivators to investigate, and looked toward Huang Tian's retreat on Kongtong Mountain.

At the Nether Blood Sea, Qin Mu obtained a cultivation method suited to the second Clone he planned to establish in the Underworld, while Houtu continued toward comprehending the Dao. Elsewhere, Yao God Nine Infants completed the Witch Slaying Sword using the blood of hundreds of thousands of Human Race mortals and wondered whether it could pierce an Ancestral Witch.

• Qin Mu collected and opened a Large Red Packet at the Nether Blood Sea, obtaining the Netherworld Ghost Dao Method.
• Qin Mu recognized that the method’s cultivation techniques and secrets for commanding Yin soldiers and refining ghost artifacts would suit his planned second Clone.
• Ancestor Minghe asked Qin Mu if anything was wrong, and Qin Mu said he was moved by Houtu’s impending Dao comprehension.
• Yao God Nine Infants ordered Demon Race soldiers to kill hundreds of thousands of Human Race mortals and pour their blood into the Witch Slaying Sword.
• Nine Infants took the completed Witch Slaying Sword from the blood pool and wondered whether it could pierce an Ancestral Witch.

Jiuying reported that he had forged a Witch-Slaying Sword, and Taiyi tested it before deciding to capture a great witch for a stronger trial. Taiyi abducted a great witch from a Witch Clan settlement, and Zhurong arrived too late to stop him.

• Jiuying met Taiyi outside the sun and told him that the Witch-Slaying Sword had been successfully forged.
• Jiuying took Taiyi to the weapons-forging hall, where the sword pierced a captive Heavenly Shaman with ease.
• Taiyi asked for a great witch to test the sword against, then used the Eastern Emperor Bell to travel to a Witch Clan settlement.
• Taiyi bound and abducted a great witch before the Ancestral Shamans could respond.
• Zhurong arrived after Taiyi had fled and angrily lamented that the feathered bird had gotten away.

Donghuang Taiyi tested the Witch Slaying Sword on a captured Great Witch and ordered Nine Infants to seize humans on a large scale for more Human Quintessential Blood. Meanwhile, Houtu emerged from the Nether Blood Sea having understood her path to the Dao and returned to the Witch Clan through Qin Mu’s Gate of Space, leaving Qin Mu to visit Ancestor Minghe’s Dao Field.

• Donghuang Taiyi brought a captured Great Witch to Nine Infants, who tested the Witch Slaying Sword and managed to pierce the captive only three inches.
• Nine Infants explained that the sword lacked enough Human Quintessential Blood, so Donghuang Taiyi ordered him to capture humans in great numbers despite the risk of drawing the attention of their leaders and Saints.
• Houtu emerged from the Blood Sea surrounded by an aura of reincarnation and told Qin Mu she understood the Dao she must follow, but needed to return to the Witch Clan first.
• Qin Mu opened a Gate of Space connecting the Blood Sea to the Witch Clan, and Houtu praised his mastery of space and time before passing through.
• Qin Mu followed Ancestor Minghe to his Dao Field while privately anticipating that Houtu would later transform herself into reincarnation and establish the Underworld in the Nether Blood Sea.

Houtu returned to the Witch Clan and told the Ancestral Witches she would transform herself into the Six Paths Reincarnation. To preserve the Witch Clan’s ability to form its battle array, she left behind her Ancestral Witch Quintessential Blood, and they chose Chi You to inherit it.

• Houtu returned to the Witch Clan, and Xuan Ming noticed her sorrow as she brought her to Pangu Temple.
• Houtu told the Ancestral Witches she had chosen to transform into the Six Paths Reincarnation, despite Xuan Ming and the others urging her to stay.
• Houtu explained that she had left a drop of her Ancestral Witch Quintessential Blood so a Great Witch could become a new Ancestral Witch and help preserve the Twelve Heavens Divine Fiend Formation.
• Houtu bid farewell and left Pangu Temple, and Dijiang took charge of the Quintessential Blood.
• The Ancestral Witches discussed possible successors and chose Chi You to inherit Houtu’s Quintessential Blood.

Dijiang offered Chi You Houtu’s Ancestral Witch blood so he could become a new Ancestral Witch, and Chi You accepted and began refining it. Houtu returned to her tribe, entrusted it to Xing Tian and Kuafu, then left for the Nether Blood Sea, where Qin Mu and Ancestor Minghe saw her arrive.

• Dijiang showed Chi You a drop of Houtu’s Ancestral Witch blood and asked whether he was willing to become a new Ancestral Witch; Chi You agreed and began refining it in Pangu Temple.
• Houtu returned to her tribe, where Xing Tian and Kuafu asked why she had come back without Qin Mu.
• Houtu told Xing Tian and Kuafu that she was reluctant to leave and entrusted the Houtu Tribe to their care.
• After staying in the tribe for three days, Houtu transformed into a streak of light and left.
• Ancestor Minghe sensed Houtu’s return to the Nether Blood Sea, and he and Qin Mu appeared above it to see her arrive.

Houtu Ancestral Witch asked Ancestor Minghe to give up the Nether Blood Sea so she could transform herself into the Six Paths Reincarnation, and Minghe refused. Dao Ancestor Hongjun intervened and ordered Minghe not to obstruct her, leaving Houtu free to proceed.

• Houtu Ancestral Witch told Ancestor Minghe that her Dao lay in the Nether Blood Sea and asked him to relinquish it.
• Ancestor Minghe angrily refused, summoned Yuantu and Abi, and prepared to defend his Dao Field.
• Qin Mu watched as Houtu and Minghe remained at an impasse over the Blood Sea.
• Space-time froze across the Blood Sea, and Dao Ancestor Hongjun appeared amid heavenly phenomena.
• Hongjun ordered Minghe not to obstruct the Blood Sea becoming the place of reincarnation, and Minghe reluctantly agreed.
• Houtu thanked Hongjun, while Qin Mu understood that the Heavenly Dao supported completing reincarnation and Earthly Dao.

After Hongjun departed, Qin Mu persuaded Houtu to let the Interception Sect govern the Underworld while its authority remained hers. Houtu then entered the Blood Sea and vowed to transform into the Six Paths of Reincarnation, with her declaration reaching across the Primordial World.

• Hongjun left after giving Qin Mu a meaningful look, and Houtu assured Minghe that she would reserve a Dao Field for him in the Underworld.
• Qin Mu asked Houtu to entrust the Underworld's administration to the Interception Sect and offered to help establish it.
• Houtu agreed, believing Qin Mu had helped her understand reincarnation and that the Interception Sect could protect the Underworld from other Saints.
• Minghe realized the Interception Sect's new influence made it important to build a relationship with them, while Qin Mu considered recruiting him with his remaining Primordial Violet Qi.
• Houtu entered the Blood Sea, expanded her True Body, and vowed to become the Six Paths of Reincarnation as souls gathered around her and her words resounded throughout the Primordial World.

Houtu Ancestral Witch began transforming herself into reincarnation, shaking the Primordial World and bringing hope to the dead while devastating the Witch Clan. The Demon Race saw an opening against its rivals, and Zhenyuanzi believed Houtu’s act could let Hong Yun be reborn; Nuwa acknowledged she could not match Houtu’s resolve.

• Houtu Ancestral Witch’s vow shook the Primordial World for three days and three nights, and living beings across the world praised her sacrifice and bowed to her manifestation.
• Dijiang, Zhurong, Xuanming, and the other Ancestral Witches mourned Houtu’s departure, while the Witch Clan grieved over losing its leader and weakening its formation.
• Xing Tian and Kuafu understood why Houtu had asked them to look after her tribe and resolved to respect her choice.
• Dijun and Donghuang Taiyi celebrated Houtu’s transformation, believing the Witch Clan could no longer complete its formation and planning to attack once the Witch Slaying Sword was finished.
• Zhenyuanzi connected Houtu’s creation of reincarnation to Qin Mu’s promise to revive Hong Yun and held Hong Yun’s remnant soul, anticipating their reunion.
• Nuwa divined the significance of Houtu’s sacrifice, felt guilty, and admitted she lacked Houtu’s courage to abandon her Saint status and eternal life.

Huang Tian sensed that Houtu Ancestral Witch’s transformation into reincarnation would become a contest over Underworld authority. Venerable Yuanshi gathered support from Nuwa and then appeared before the Western Saints to pursue that authority.

• Huang Tian sensed the Netherworld’s disturbance and suspected that Qin Mu had planned for a second clone to be born from the Yellow Springs as reincarnation began.
• Venerable Yuanshi recognized the Underworld’s importance and went to Wa Huang Palace to ask Nuwa for support in claiming its authority.
• Nuwa agreed to help Yuanshi after he promised to assist her brother Fuxi during his future tribulation.
• Daoist Zhunti and Daoist Jieyin discussed the Underworld’s potential to strengthen the Western Teachings, but worried that Eastern Saints would oppose them.
• Venerable Yuanshi arrived at Mount Sumeru and greeted Jieyin and Zhunti.

Yuanshi formed an alliance with Jieyin and Zhunti, offering to divide control of the Underworld equally between their teachings, while claiming Nuwa's support against Tongtian. At the Nether Blood Sea, Houtu's body dissolved into the features of the Underworld as the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk took shape.

• Yuanshi arrived in the Western Lands and asked Jieyin and Zhunti to ally with him to seize authority over the Underworld.
• Yuanshi offered to split the Underworld's authority equally between Chan Teachings and Western Teachings, and said Nuwa had agreed to help.
• Jieyin and Zhunti accepted the alliance, which Yuanshi intended to use to prevent Tongtian from interfering.
• Houtu walked across the Nether Blood Sea as golden lotuses bloomed beneath her feet, then her True Body exploded and sent Qin Mu and Ancestor Minghe flying.
• Houtu's hands transformed into the River of Forgetfulness and the Yellow Springs, while her veins and meridians spread into paths through the Blood Sea.
• Six Chaos whirlpools formed in the Blood Sea as the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, and Qin Mu recognized the paths through which souls would be reborn.

As the Underworld formed, Qin Mu moved to claim the Book of Life and Death and the Judge's Brush, but Dijun and the Demon Race arrived and demanded the treasures. Qin Mu refused to yield, and the Witch Clan's Ancestral Witches joined him, leaving the two factions poised for battle.

• The Six Paths Reincarnation Disk created the Underworld, and the Book of Life and Death and the Judge's Brush appeared.
• Qin Mu flew to claim the treasures, but Donghuang Taiyi used the Donghuang Bell to knock him back as Dijun declared them the Demon Race's property.
• Qin Mu rejected Dijun's demand to leave, and both sides prepared to fight over the treasures.
• Dijiang led the other Ancestral Witches to Qin Mu's side, declaring that the Demon Race had no right to claim the world Houtu Ancestral Witch had given her life for.
• Dijun and his allies faced off against the Witch Clan, while Ancestor Minghe watched as a battle threatened to begin.

Qin Mu and the Ancestral Witches prepared to resist Dijun’s attempt to interfere with Houtu’s transformation, but four Saints arrived at the Blood Sea. Yuanshi then claimed the emerging Underworld for the Chan Teachings and Western Teachings, leaving the Demon Race and the others stunned.

• Dijiang pledged that the Ancestral Witches would fight alongside Qin Mu against the Demon Race.
• Dijun prepared to attack with the River Diagram and Luo Book, but a Saint’s aura froze the Blood Sea.
• Nuwa Saint arrived above the Blood Sea, and the Demon Race expected her to support them.
• Yuanshi, Jieyin, and Zhunti arrived after Nuwa, bringing the total number of Saints at the Blood Sea to four.
• Yuanshi ordered everyone to leave and declared that the Underworld belonged to the Chan Teachings and Western Teachings.

The Four Saints moved to claim control of the Underworld, and Yuanshi suppressed Zhurong when he objected. Qin Mu asserted that Houtu had entrusted the Underworld to the Interception Sect, and when Zhunti attacked the Underworld’s treasures, a powerful sword strike interrupted him.

• Nuwa signaled Dijun and the Demon Race to withdraw from the dispute over the Underworld.
• Yuanshi struck Zhurong down after Zhurong argued that the Witch Clan should govern the Underworld.
• Qin Mu told the Four Saints that Houtu had promised the Underworld to the Interception Sect, and Minghe confirmed his account.
• Zhunti dismissed Minghe’s testimony and declared that strength would decide who controlled the Underworld.
• Zhunti sent the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree toward the Book of Life and Death and the Judge’s Brush, but a sword strike split his golden radiance.