Chapter Summaries

After Gongzi Wu ordered a plot to turn the King of Shang against Jie, Fang Yuan killed Doctor Jiu while resisting arrest and escaped Shang Yi with Heizhong and the others. Di Xin ordered a nationwide manhunt, while a young prince decided to pursue Jie himself.

• Gongzi Wu ordered Mo Ge to bribe the king’s attendants and make Jie’s arrest deepen the rift between Jie and the Shang court.
• Zou Zi told Gongzi Wu that Jie seemed to be one of the vanished Wu and had noticed him spying.
• Doctor Jiu led Shang Dynasty Soldiers to arrest Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan broke their shield formation, killed Doctor Jiu, and routed the troops.
• Fang Yuan summoned a whirlwind and escaped with Heizhong and the others from the post station.
• Di Xin ordered the Four Gates sealed and a nationwide manhunt for Jie.
• A young prince decided to leave the palace and personally capture Jie, telling his vassals to report that he was acting on his father’s orders.

Fang Yuan escaped Shang Yi with Prince Pan’s help after fighting his way out of the Wa Temple, where Shang soldiers had killed Nuwa’s ritual master. Nuwa, the Earth Goddess, recognized that Heaven was turning the desecration into the beginning of the calamity that would replace Shang with Zhou.

• Fang Yuan visited the Wa Temple and observed that Nuwa’s worship and faith had made her a true deity.
• When Shang soldiers attacked, Fang Yuan fought his way out and took Prince Pan hostage, securing passage through the city gates.
• Prince Pan explained that he had helped Fang Yuan because he considered him a rare talent, and Fang Yuan warned him that a calamity had begun.
• Fang Yuan gave Prince Pan incense to summon him for help in the future, while suspecting that Gu Chen would appear during the coming war between Shang and Zhou.
• Nuwa saw that her temple had been desecrated and her ritual master slain, then realized Heaven was using her anger to fulfill the mandate of replacing Shang.

Fang Yuan headed for Western Zhou while assessing the struggle over Shang and refining his cultivation methods. After rebuilding his True Dream Realm, he reshaped the Eight Gates Sword Array into the Creation Sword Array, leaving his Dream Master path newly defined but his ability to refine Source Power unresolved.

• Fang Yuan concluded that Nuwa would help bring down Shang under Heaven's will and chose to travel to Western Zhou to study the coming upheaval.
• At camp, Gai Nie learned to absorb moonlight while Heizhong cultivated under Fang Yuan's threat to expel him if he fell behind.
• Fang Yuan judged that his Great Yin Orthodox Method could raise cultivators to roughly the Nine Aperture Spirit Scholar level but needed more Qi Refiner texts to improve it.
• Fang Yuan compressed Dream Origin Power into Dream Origin Crystal within his rebuilt True Dream Realm and decided he could not safely release the Source Power sealed within him.
• Fang Yuan formed the Sword of Departing Fire from Dream Origin Crystal, renamed the Eight Gates Sword Array the Creation Sword Array, and updated his cultivation status.

Fang Yuan watched Nuwa’s signs bolster Western Zhou as the Marquis of Western Zhou claimed a five-colored heavenly treasure at Qi Mountain. A phoenix protected him, and news of victory over the Quanrong and Western Yi seemed to confirm Zhou’s Mandate of Heaven.

• Fang Yuan entered Western Zhou and learned from Gai Nie that the kingdom had grown powerful by defeating the Quanrong and Western Yi and expanding its population.
• Nuwa empowered Western Zhou’s army and sent a five-colored stone toward Qi Mountain, while the Marquis of Western Zhou received an omen and set out to find it.
• Fang Yuan and his companions raced to Qi Mountain, where the Marquis approached the fallen stone as soldiers held back nearby cultivators and demons.
• A giant black bear charged the Marquis, but Zi Hui, a purple phoenix, struck it down and allowed the Marquis to claim the Five-colored Stone, which became armor and a sword.
• A messenger reported that Western Zhou had crushed the Quanrong and Western Yi armies, killed the King of Quanrong, and won the submission of Western Yi’s lords.

Fang Yuan confirmed that the Five Elements Purple Phoenix was the reincarnated Sage Gu Chen and left Western Zhou, deciding to return to Great Shang and resist Zhou’s growing mandate. Meanwhile, Prince Pan learned that the Eastern Yi had united into an eighty-thousand-strong army and began considering how the crisis could advance his claim to the throne.

• Fang Yuan recognized the Five Elements Purple Phoenix as Gu Chen after it merged with Western Zhou’s fortune and became its Guardian Sacred Beast.
• Fang Yuan left Western Zhou with Heizhong, Gai Nie, and the Silver Fox sisters, resolving to support Shang and find a way to break Zhou’s mandate.
• Fang Yuan considered whether the world’s will would directly prevent Shang from winning and concluded he would have to undermine Zhou through smaller actions.
• An attendant told Prince Pan that the Eastern Yi tribes had formed a Blood Oath Alliance under the Nine Ferocious Tribe and invaded with eighty thousand troops.
• Prince Pan worried that the King of Shang would lead the campaign in person, then saw a chance to gain military command and strengthen his succession prospects.

Fang Yuan tested how much of Great Shang’s fate he could alter and discovered that the kingdom’s Mysterious Bird destiny originated with him. After warning the Great Priest against letting the King lead the campaign, he left the priest to relay his command to Di Xin.

• Fang Yuan learned that Eastern Yi had invaded with eighty thousand troops and that Di Xin planned to lead the campaign, while Shang’s weakening fortune suggested a costly defeat.
• Gongzi Wu learned of Western Zhou’s victories and Heaven’s favor, then arranged for Di Xin—and ideally Prince Pan—to join the expedition.
• Fang Yuan entered Shang’s ancestral temple and realized that he held a powerful claim over the kingdom’s Mysterious Bird destiny.
• The Great Priest Wu mistook Fang Yuan for a returned former king and pledged to convey his warning that Di Xin must not lead the expedition.
• Fang Yuan withdrew after his warning reached Wu, believing the priest could use ancestral authority to persuade the king.

Fang Yuan sent Heizhong and Gai Nie to join Prince Pan’s campaign, then sought a way to preserve Shang’s future by finding the family of Lian and E Lai. He shared the Mysterious Bird clan’s aura with Lian’s family, leaving their fate tied to the struggle between Shang and Zhou.

• Young Master Wu learned that Prince Pan would lead the campaign against Eastern Yi and ordered Mo Ge to work with Cao Qiu to kill him.
• Fang Yuan welcomed the King of Shang’s decision to send Prince Pan east and gave Heizhong and Gai Nie spirit swords before sending them to join the expedition.
• Fang Yuan recalled how Shang would fall to Zhou, but reasoned that Shang’s legacy survived through Qin and decided to use that lineage as a way to alter the grand trend.
• Fang Yuan visited Lian’s residence and met E Lai, who recognized him as Jie, the swordsman wanted by the King of Shang.
• Lian told E Lai to stand down, and Fang Yuan gave Lian and his family streams of the Mysterious Bird clan’s aura.

Fang Yuan’s Wu Clan bloodline awakened his True Saint strength, and he empowered E before leaving Shang Yi as the Great Shang army marched toward the Eastern Yi. Nuwa sensed the breakthrough and watched the army depart, troubled by the forces gathering around the coming war.

• Fang Yuan asked E to become his disciple, gave him Wu Clan blood, and warned that a deadly trial awaited him in the future.
• Fang Yuan’s Ancestor Witch True Body reached perfection, restoring his True Saint strength and advancing his Fiery Golden Eyes; he sensed probes from War Lord Chi and Nuwa and fled Nuwa’s approach.
• Nuwa appeared at the site of Fang Yuan’s breakthrough, recognized Chi’s aura, and urged him to abandon his attachment to the Wu Clan’s former glory.
• Nuwa sensed that the Great Shang army would win its campaign, then watched it leave Shang Yi under Prince Pan and felt uneasy about its steady army qi and guarding sword lights and stars.

As Great Shang’s army retook a town from the Eastern Yi, Mo Ge enlisted Sword Saint Cao Qiu to assassinate Prince Pan. At the front lines, Fang Yuan met War Lord Chi, who appeared in human form after showing him an ancient battlefield.

• During a council of war, Gai Nie’s sword moved on its own and killed an Eastern Yi assassin who had burrowed into the camp.
• Minister Lian and his son E led the vanguard in defeating the Eastern Yi, retaking a town and killing or wounding over a thousand.
• Mo Ge asked Cao Qiu to assassinate Prince Pan, and Cao Qiu agreed to make one final attempt with Mo Ge accompanying him.
• Fang Yuan arrived at the front lines and encountered War Lord Chi, whose divine realm revealed the ancient war between Wu and Xia.

Fang Yuan secured War Lord Chi’s alliance by promising to preserve the Wu bloodline and help block the Western Zhou’s rise. In the Shang camp, Sword Saint Cao Qiu attacked Prince Pan, and Heizhong and Gai Nie confronted him as their swords clashed.

• Fang Yuan revealed that Evil had become a member of the Wu Tribe and persuaded War Lord Chi to oppose the Western Zhou and help the Great Shang.
• War Lord Chi agreed to the plan, sent a golden light toward the Shang camp, and warned that Prince Pan still faced one trial.
• Prince Pan celebrated the victory over the Eastern Yi with Grand Master Lian, while Heizhong and Gai Nie watched from the sidelines.
• The Water and Fire Swords flew out and attacked Cao Qiu as he entered the tent to assassinate Prince Pan.
• Cao Qiu cut down a Grand Master and drove Evil back before advancing toward Prince Pan.
• Heizhong and Gai Nie attacked Cao Qiu with the Water and Fire Swords, and Cao Qiu countered with his Thunderclap Sword.

Fang Yuan helped Prince Pan’s forces eliminate Cao Qiu and Mo Ge, while the Marquis of Western Zhou used his army and the Purple Phoenix to force the western lords into an alliance against Shang. The chapter ended with the lords swearing a blood oath and preparing to invade Shang Yi.

• Heizhong and Gai Nie killed Cao Qiu with the divine swords, while Mo Ge fled underground and Fang Yuan trapped him in the rock.
• Fang Yuan saw that the Shang army’s fortune had risen and that Western Zhou was making its move.
• The Marquis of Western Zhou displayed his forces and demanded that the assembled lords join an alliance against the Great Shang.
• Earl of Lu publicly supported the Marquis, while Earl of Qi tried to escape and was crushed by the Purple Phoenix.
• The Marquis accused the lords of Zou, Wei, and Qu of spying for Shang, had them executed, and promised the other lords their lands.
• The lords swore a blood oath naming the Marquis Alliance Leader, and he ordered them to strike at Shang Yi.

Fang Yuan watched Prince Pan’s Shang army defeat the Yi People after E Lai killed their king, then confronted War Lord Chi as Nuwa appeared briefly and departed. The victory strengthened Shang’s position, but Fang Yuan and Chi feared what Nuwa could do when Heaven’s Mandate favored her.

• Fang Yuan observed the Shang and Yi armies clash, judging that the Shang army’s discipline and formation gave it a decisive advantage.
• Prince Pan ordered the archers and chariots forward, and E Lai cut through the Yi ranks toward the King of the Yi People.
• Nuwa’s Five-colored Radiance briefly trapped E Lai in a net, but he tore free and killed the fleeing King of the Yi People with a thrown halberd.
• The Yi army broke into a rout, with warriors from many tribes surrendering or fleeing as the Shang forces pursued them.
• Fang Yuan and War Lord Chi confronted Nuwa, who appeared, looked at Fang Yuan, and vanished without fighting.
• Fang Yuan and War Lord Chi concluded that Shang had Heaven’s favor for now, but feared Nuwa’s power when the world’s Mandate changed.

Fang Yuan’s warning prompted Prince Pan to prepare a return to Shang Yi, though Heaven’s Mandate fueled his doubts and ambitions. Fang Yuan then learned Nuwa had ordered the demons to aid Western Zhou and suspected they would use a flood in the coming war.

• Gai Nie warned Prince Pan that Western Zhou had raised troops against Shang, and Prince Pan announced that he would end the Eastern Yi campaign and return.
• Minister Lian and E Lai backed Prince Pan as he decided to take fifty thousand elite troops home while leaving the rest to guard the prisoners and conquered lands.
• War Lord Chi used his remaining strength to influence Prince Pan, who overcame his hesitation and ordered the troops to depart at dawn.
• Fang Yuan found Da Bai and Xiao Bai, who told him that Nuwa had commanded the demons to help Western Zhou earn merit.
• Fang Yuan connected the demons’ water-controlling abilities to the bloody Battle of Muye and suspected Western Zhou would attack with a flood.

The Great Shaman warned Di Xin that Western Zhou had reached Muye, and Di Xin hastily assembled an army to confront them. As Shang’s forces marched out, the Great Shaman realized Heaven’s Mandate had shifted; meanwhile, Marquis of Western Zhou concealed news that Prince Pan was returning with fifty thousand troops.

• The Great Shaman brought his ominous divination to Di Xin and learned that Marquis of Western Zhou Li had reached Muye with an army of one hundred thousand.
• Di Xin killed Fei Zhong and Kun Guo after the Great Shaman exposed their deception and learned Gongzi Wu had escaped.
• Di Xin freed and armed the slaves, gathered more than one hundred thousand people, and led them out of Shang Yi toward Muye.
• The Great Shaman felt a force restrain him and concluded that Great Shang had lost Heaven’s Mandate before hurrying after Di Xin’s army.
• Gongzi Wu told Marquis of Western Zhou that Prince Pan was returning with fifty thousand troops, and Marquis of Western Zhou ordered the scouts who knew the news killed.
• Marquis of Western Zhou told the vassal lords that Di Xin had raised an army and urged them to prepare for battle, claiming victory was certain.

Western Zhou’s forces defeated Di Xin’s army when the Five Elements Purple Phoenix and the Great Demons unleashed a flood, and Di Xin died as Shang Yi fell. Prince Pan then counterattacked with his southern campaign army, drove Western Zhou from the city, and restored Shang’s banner as Fang Yuan judged that he had won his gamble against Heaven’s Mandate.

• Marquis of Western Zhou ordered the feudal lords to attack while his main army held the high ground, and the Great Shaman sacrificed himself to bolster Shang’s troops as Di Xin led their charge.
• The Five Elements Purple Phoenix and the Great Demons flooded the battlefield, scattering both armies; Di Xin retreated to Shang Yi, and Western Zhou’s troops stormed the city as he set himself on fire.
• Marquis of Western Zhou ordered his soldiers to loot under discipline and demanded a corpse to present as Di Xin, while the Mysterious Bird banner fell and Shang Yi burned.
• Prince Pan arrived with fifty thousand troops, learned that Shang Yi had fallen, and led a counterattack that drove the exhausted Western Zhou forces from the city.
• Fang Yuan watched the black Mysterious Bird rise again and concluded that he had won his gamble by letting Di Xin’s death mark Western Zhou’s peak.

Fang Yuan used the Chaos Sword Formation to defeat Gu Chen’s Five Elements Purple Phoenix and help Shang turn the battle against Western Zhou. After Gu Chen’s phoenix was destroyed, Fang Yuan sensed that the true backlash from reversing Heaven’s Mandate was about to begin.

• Marquis of Western Zhou summoned the Five Elements Purple Phoenix, which attacked Shang Yi alongside a host of demons.
• Fang Yuan trapped the phoenix in the Chaos Sword Formation and destroyed the demons following it.
• Gu Chen’s phoenix recovered after Fang Yuan tore it apart, protected by its bond to Western Zhou’s fortune.
• Fang Yuan urged Prince Pan to attack, and Shang’s fifty thousand soldiers drove Western Zhou’s army into retreat.
• As Western Zhou’s fortune weakened, Fang Yuan shattered the phoenix again, and Gu Chen’s true spirit fled into the pillar of Heaven.

Nuwa and Fang Yuan wagered that the Western Zhou army could destroy the Shang only if it broke through Fang Yuan’s Chaos Sword Array. Fang Yuan prepared the array and watched as Nuwa sent Gu Chen and three other challengers into it.

• Nuwa reinforced the Western Zhou army, but agreed to Fang Yuan’s proposal that it test its strength against his array while he and the other gods stayed out of the fight.
• Fang Yuan assigned Lian, Evil, Heizhong, and Gai Nie to wield the array’s four swords and set up the Chaos Sword Array.
• Nuwa sent the Marquis of Western Zhou, two Great Demons, and Gu Chen to challenge the array through its four gates.
• Fang Yuan recognized that Nuwa and he shared an interest in the outcome, and revealed that his main goal in this world was to kill Gu Chen.

The Primordial Chaos Sword Formation’s Array Eyes fell, and Gai Nie and Lian died as the formation weakened and changed. E Lai’s grief awakened a mysterious power from the future, while the Marquis of Western Zhou and Gu Chen faced the formation’s next transformation.

• E Lai killed the three-headed Demon Tiger inside the Earth Gate, while Heizhong defeated Sang Qing in the Fire Sword Gate and spared him because of Da Bai and Xiao Bai.
• Gai Nie hesitated to kill the Marquis of Western Zhou, who fatally stabbed him and took the Water Sword, disrupting the formation.
• Gu Chen defeated Lian after the weakened formation could no longer protect him, and Fang Yuan recognized that Gai Nie and Lian had died.
• The Primordial Chaos Sword Formation changed, drawing the Marquis of Western Zhou, Gu Chen, E Lai, and Heizhong together as Gu Chen prepared to attack E Lai.
• E Lai’s grief awakened the Mysterious Bird’s power, and four beams of swordlight merged into Azure Qi, revealing visions that ended with a powerful western state rising like a tiger.

Fang Yuan destroyed the Mandate of Heaven, ensuring Gu Chen could not be reborn and freeing the world’s destiny from Shang, Zhou, and Qin. After advising Prince Pan to win the people’s support, Fang Yuan met Nuwa and Taiyi Heavenly Emperor, then offered to make a deal.

• Fang Yuan used the Chaos Sword Formation and Qin’s future destiny to kill Gu Chen and scatter the Mandate of Heaven across the world.
• Nuwa refused Marquis of Western Zhou’s demand to destroy Shang and left, while the Marquis’s Five-colored Stone armor and sword shattered.
• Fang Yuan advised Prince Pan that Great Shang must win the people’s hearts, then departed.
• Nuwa summoned Fang Yuan to a divine palace, where Taiyi Heavenly Emperor asked where Fang Yuan came from.
• Fang Yuan claimed he had visited a world with a similar history and proposed a deal with Taiyi Heavenly Emperor.

Fang Yuan returned to the Great Gan World, restored his strength, and set out for the Nine Absolute Mountains after learning that a Demon Commander had led a huge Demonic Beast army to besiege them. The siege began as Liu Mengmei and A Duo defended the mountains with the Heavenly Net Greenwood Great Array, while Fang Yuan rushed to their aid.

• Fang Yuan awakened from seclusion with his strength restored, studied his Dao of Creation, and realized he still needed to turn the illusory into the real.
• Fang Yuan contacted Extreme Yin and learned that a Demon Commander had destroyed A Duo’s army and was attacking the Nine Absolute Mountains.
• Fang Yuan flew toward the Nine Absolute Mountains on a divine sword, intending to reinforce the besieged territory.
• Three-Tails and Amovanto led millions of Demonic Beasts in surrounding the mountains and attacking the Heavenly Net Greenwood Great Array.
• A Duo warned the defenders about Amovanto’s Demon Seeds, while Liu Mengmei used the formation to sweep the seeds away.