Chapter Summaries

Hua Dou arrived in Qin-era Xianyang and learned about the First Emperor’s harsh rule, including the book burning and execution of scholars. Unable to tell fortunes or use his old coins, he accepted the shopkeeper’s offer of a neighboring shop and took Peng Yi as his apprentice, planning to teach him medicine.

• Hua Dou narrowly avoided being struck by Zhang San’s horse and learned from a passerby that Qin Shi Huang had unified the realm and claimed the title of First Emperor.
• A shopkeeper explained that fortune-telling was forbidden after the First Emperor’s pursuit of immortality, the burning of books, and the execution of more than four hundred and sixty people.
• Hua Dou discovered that his coins were obsolete and agreed to write the shopkeeper a method for prolonging life in return for help finding a place to settle.
• The shopkeeper offered Hua Dou the neighboring shop and asked him to teach his son, Peng Yi, medicine.
• Peng Yi became Hua Dou’s disciple, and Hua Dou told him to join him in the mountains the next day to identify medicinal herbs.

Hua Dou discovered that the shopkeeper’s clan had been afflicted for generations by purple specks he had accidentally released long ago. After the shopkeeper died, Hua Dou absorbed the specks and found they were restoring his Origin Power, while he began to uncover a mysterious connection between Peng Yi and his past.

• The shopkeeper begged Hua Dou to save him from the purple specks inside his body and explained the deadly illness afflicting his bloodline.
• Hua Dou recognized the purple specks as remnants of the nebula he had created during the Western Zhou and realized they had consumed the shopkeeper’s vitality.
• The shopkeeper’s illness flared up, and Hua Dou absorbed the purple specks, easing the man’s pain before he died.
• The purple specks gathered into a nebula inside Hua Dou and began slowly repairing his Origin Power.
• Hua Dou brought Peng Yi to his father’s body and sensed a seal-like power within the boy connected to Righteous Qi and Primordial Violet Qi.
• Hua Dou tried to draw out and guide Peng Yi’s hidden power, but Peng Yi remained lost in grief and did not begin cultivating.

Hua Dou met Lü Ying, a descendant of Lü Buwei who suffered from the incurable Nine Yin Absolute Meridian, and agreed to stay at Uncle Fu’s residence to treat her. After preparing an altar, he began using spiritual power to open Peng Yi’s blocked meridians, leaving the boy in severe pain.

• Hua Dou taught Peng Yi to identify medicinal herbs while they walked through the forest.
• Lu Xing brought Hua Dou to Lü Ying, and Hua Dou diagnosed her with the Nine Yin Absolute Meridian, which he initially said had no cure.
• After learning that Lü Ying was Lü Buwei’s descendant, Hua Dou agreed to stay at Uncle Fu’s residence and use acupuncture to ease her symptoms.
• Hua Dou prepared cinnabar, Silk Cloth, and an altar, then used a talisman to send spiritual power into Peng Yi and force open his blocked meridians.
• Peng Yi woke in agony, followed Hua Dou’s instruction to recite a mantra, and eventually fainted as the spiritual power broke through his meridians.

Hua Dou, Ziyang, and Guiguzi entered the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor to destroy the Yin-soul formation and confront its Wu-clan master. They fought Bai Qi and the mausoleum’s ghosts, but the ghost chariot escaped deeper into the palace.

• Hua Dou explained that Peng Yi was the reincarnation of Wu Peng and that he had restored Peng Yi’s Dao Foundation so he could eventually help resolve the Karma binding him.
• Hua Dou and Ziyang agreed to meet at the Qin Mausoleum, where they joined Guiguzi to oppose the First Emperor’s Heaven-Defying Magic Array.
• Ziyang opened the mausoleum entrance with his sword, and the three reached the First Emperor’s bedchamber, where Bai Qi challenged them.
• Bai Qi summoned Yin Soldiers and Ghost Generals, and a Ghost General forced Ziyang to one knee before Guiguzi drove it back.
• Guiguzi summoned Heavenly Thunder to destroy the ghosts, while Hua Dou warned that pure Yang energy was needed to keep them from reforming.
• Black Qi shielded Bai Qi’s ghost chariot from the thunder, and it fled deeper into the palace.

Hua Dou, Guiguzi, and Ziyang entered the Ghostly Netherworld Hall and faced Bai Qi’s Ghost General, whose Yin-powered attacks overwhelmed them. Hua Dou lent Ziyang the Golden Crow’s power to counter the hall’s Ghost Qi, but the Ghost General transformed into a Ghost Corpse; the chapter ended with Ziyang absorbing Hua Dou’s scattered yellow talismans as Guiguzi fused them with his primordial spirit.

• Hua Dou used Four Spirits Sealing Heaven Talismans to suppress the hall’s Yin Energy, revealing ranks of Terracotta Warriors and the Ghost General summoned by Bai Qi.
• Ziyang attacked the Ghost General but was beaten back, lost his sword, and abandoned his mortal body; Guiguzi rescued his primordial spirit from the General’s grasp.
• The Ghost General unleashed Raging Yin Wind, so Hua Dou drew on the Golden Crow’s power through his compass and Ziyang absorbed it to scatter the Yin Clouds.
• The Ghost General turned the Terracotta Warriors into ghost soldiers and raised waves of Grievance Qi, but Ziyang’s purple and golden sunlight burned the Yin forces away.
• The Ghost General transformed into a Ghost Corpse, extinguished Guiguzi’s flames, and struck Ziyang’s primordial spirit; Hua Dou then sent yellow talisman light toward it, which Ziyang absorbed as Guiguzi fused it with him.

Guiguzi transformed Ziyang’s primordial spirit into a powerful rune and destroyed the ghost corpse, then the group reached the Divine Hall of the Twelve Golden Men. Ziyang helped Hua Dou suppress the hall’s aura while Guiguzi disrupted its formation, but the chapter left Ziyang demanding that Guiguzi explain the hidden Spiritual Sense in his primordial spirit.

• Guiguzi forged Ziyang’s primordial spirit into a purple Dao Soul rune, which destroyed the ghost corpse and drove the Yin Energy back into the terracotta figures.
• Hua Dou explained Ziyang’s new power, then showed him how to draw runes as they followed Guiguzi into the Divine Hall.
• Hua Dou warned that Guiguzi was struggling to break the Twelve Golden Men’s formation, and Ziyang formed four runes to suppress the hall’s aura and give Guiguzi time.
• Guiguzi entered the Divine Hall, and Ziyang attacked him with a rune after noticing hidden Spiritual Sense in his primordial spirit.
• Guiguzi erased the attacking rune and took the primordial-spirit power it contained, prompting Ziyang to demand it back.

Guiguzi, Hua Dou, and Ziyang encountered Bai Qi’s divine form guarding the Divine Hall, and Guiguzi fought him after Bai Qi refused to let them pass. Bai Qi unleashed the power of the Golden Men and was defeated, then vanished in a burst of Primordial Violet Qi, leaving Guiguzi and Hua Dou to recognize his potential as a Martial Saint.

• Ziyang recognized Bai Qi in a mural, and Bai Qi appeared as a divine being who said the First Emperor had granted him a divine body to guard the Divine Hall.
• Bai Qi attacked Ziyang after he insulted Bai Qi’s loyalty, and Guiguzi challenged Bai Qi to a fight so the group could pass.
• Bai Qi met Guiguzi’s sword strikes with his powerful body and Martial Soul, but Guiguzi’s Immortal Slaying Sword Qi overwhelmed him.
• Bai Qi drew power from the twelve Golden Men and used a rune-covered saber to cut through Guiguzi’s sword qi, but Guiguzi held off his final attack.
• Bai Qi vanished in spiritual light, leaving behind Primordial Violet Qi containing his Martial Soul, and Guiguzi said Bai Qi could have become a Martial Saint.

In the Human Hall, Ziyang’s Spiritual Sense was swallowed by a mural depicting two mysterious figures with Great Destiny, and he experienced life as a starving child in a besieged town. After his grandmother died and his family faced hunger and cold, Ziyang searched for wild greens and collapsed, whereupon a golden rune-like light stirred his Spiritual Sense.

• Ziyang noticed two faint, purple-aura figures in a mural, and Hua Dou and Guiguzi said they had manifested through Heaven and Earth and bore Great Destiny.
• Ziyang sent his Spiritual Sense toward the mural, and a ripple swallowed it despite Guiguzi’s warning.
• In a freezing, besieged town, young Ziyang fought Brother Qiang after he stole food meant for Ziyang and his little sister.
• Ziyang’s grandmother died, and his mother comforted the children with a story about their soldier father returning with food and warm quilts.
• Ziyang left the alley to find food, ate wild greens and snow, and collapsed from weakness.
• A golden, rune-like light appeared, stirring Ziyang’s dormant Spiritual Sense and bringing him around.

Ziyang, Hua Dou, and Guiguzi crossed the Qin Mausoleum’s perilous Human Hall and became trapped inside the Mountain River Hall, a vast world shaped like the Qin dynasty. After Ziyang’s attempt to break the formation nearly destroyed them, they searched Mount Tai for a way out, but found no clue before Ziyang admitted he had forgotten where he sensed something unusual.

• Ziyang learned that the Human Hall’s murals could trap and kill his Divine Soul, though escaping them had refined his Primordial Spirit.
• Hua Dou, Ziyang, and Guiguzi entered the Mountain River Hall, a self-contained world representing the Qin dynasty’s territory.
• Ziyang attacked the mountains with Nine Stars Aligned, triggering a torrent of magma, while Guiguzi seized a jade talisman that calmed the formation.
• Hua Dou explained that Xu Fu may have created the Mountain River Hall to cultivate by reversing yin and yang with the Ghost Qi of the dead.
• The three searched Mount Tai for the formation’s path to survival but found nothing unusual.
• Ziyang said he had sensed something unusual, then admitted he had forgotten where it was.

Hua Dou, Ziyang, and Guiguzi entered the Heavenly Palace through the Hangu Pass gateway and confronted Qin Shi Huang’s ghost and the Ghost King. After the Ghost King revealed his role in the sacrifices and destroyed Qin Shi Huang’s ghost, he summoned Xu Fu, whose true nature remained a mystery as Hua Dou recognized that he had cultivated in the Mortal Realm.

• Hua Dou, Ziyang, and Guiguzi found the real gateway at Hangu Pass and entered the Heavenly Palace.
• The three discovered Qin Shi Huang’s coffin on a blood-channelled altar and confronted his ghost about the human sacrifices and his pursuit of immortality.
• Ghost King Bai Qi appeared and revealed that he had helped create the formation, blaming Qin Shi Huang for ordering the sacrifices that sustained his ghost.
• The Ghost King burned Qin Shi Huang’s ghost with Ghost Fire, and the coffin exploded, revealing a sheet of Human Skin covered in fading runes.
• The Ghost King claimed he had a Backup Plan and summoned Xu Fu, who said he had taken over Xu Fu’s body and gained power by devouring scholars’ Spiritual Senses.
• Hua Dou realized that Xu Fu had cultivated in the Mortal Realm.

After Ying Zheng’s sacrifice ended, Ziyang fought the Ghost King Bai Qi while Xu Fu watched, and Ziyang nearly exhausted his power before creating the Wheel of Destruction. Guiguzi stepped in against the Ghost King and trapped him and the ghost carriage inside a jade cauldron.

• Xu Fu explained that the Heavenly Palace’s formation had made living beings’ blood and Soul Power valuable cultivation resources, and Ziyang attacked him in anger.
• The Ghost King Bai Qi confronted Ziyang, using a black giant body and relentless attacks to overwhelm him.
• Ziyang formed a destructive rune wheel that severed the black giant’s arm, but the Ghost King’s two shadows trapped and destroyed the wheel before the giant retreated to the ghost carriage.
• The Ghost King summoned vengeful souls to attack Ziyang, but Guiguzi stopped him and summoned Heavenly Soldiers and Generals with the Art of Scattering Beans to Make Soldiers.
• Xu Fu recognized Guiguzi as the reincarnation of True Person Yu Ding, and Guiguzi sent a jade cauldron flying at the Ghost King, drawing him and the ghost carriage inside.

Guiguzi fought Xu Fu’s sand-based clones in the Qin Mausoleum and used the Eight Trigrams Compass of the Primordial Unity Immortal to overcome the sandstorm. Xu Fu revealed his plan to pursue a blood debt across realms, then vanished toward the Netherworld Land while his Good Thought and true body had already entered the Earth Immortal Realm.

• Xu Fu attacked Guiguzi with sand magic, but Guiguzi dodged into a stone chamber and used the Immortal Slaying Sword to destroy a soul fragment.
• Xu Fu created nine ghost-headed clones from the endless sand, and they surrounded Guiguzi with enormous sand walls.
• Guiguzi used his jade cauldron and summoned wind and rain, weakening the sand while his sword energy destroyed the clones.
• Guiguzi revealed that the Eight Trigrams Compass of the Primordial Unity Immortal had enabled the storm, and Hua Dou recognized Xu Fu’s connection to the Primordial Unity Immortal.
• Xu Fu explained that he sought revenge for his descendants and had separated his Good Thought from his evil thoughts and obsession.
• Xu Fu said his true body and Good Thought had entered the Earth Immortal Realm, then vanished toward the Netherworld Land to bear his sins.

Hua Dou and Guiguzi found the wounded Ying Zhao at Hangu Pass and explained how he could reach Taiyi in the Taiji World. As the Golden Crocodile entered the Earth Immortal Realm, Heaven and Earth unleashed a devastating lightning tribulation, leaving his golden soul helpless beneath the storm.

• Hua Dou and Guiguzi found Ying Zhao at Hangu Pass, healed him, and told him that Taiyi ruled a Heavenly Court in the Taiji World.
• Ying Zhao admitted that the Golden Crocodile had escaped him, and Hua Dou said they had come in pursuit.
• A passage appeared in the Earth Immortal Realm, and the Golden Crocodile emerged as lightning began striking him.
• The Golden Crocodile transformed into a tyrannosaur and then a golden dragon, but the tribulation destroyed his body and left only his soul.
• Hua Dou's radiance shielded the Golden Crocodile's soul from the lightning, and Ziyang wondered why he was not reacting.

Guiguzi attained sainthood after delivering the Vengeful Spirits and dividing the Mortal, Royal, and Immortal Dao among his thoughts. As Guiguzi and the Golden Crocodile departed for the Taiji World, Fusang Wood followed to help Crown Prince Lu Ya, and Hua Dou sent a mysterious Yellow Stone True Person to Earth.

• Crocodile Ancestor released the seeds of his evil thought and obsession; Hua Dou sent the obsession into reincarnation, while Guiguzi took the evil thought into his jade cauldron.
• Guiguzi used scriptures and lotus flowers to deliver the Vengeful Spirits, then called forth True Person Yu Ding to continue the work.
• Guiguzi separated his thoughts and assigned the Way of Divination to his Good Thought, the Royal Way to his thought of acting, and the Immortal Dao to True Person Yu Ding; Hua Dou declared him a Saint named Xuanweizi.
• Crocodile Ancestor became the Golden Crocodile and agreed to serve as Guiguzi's mount, and Hua Dou opened a passage for them to enter the Taiji World.
• Fusang Wood arrived and explained that Di Jun's Essence Blood could help Crown Prince Lu Ya escape the Divine Soul Pool, then entered the passage to the Taiji World.
• Hua Dou caught a Yellow Stone True Person falling from the passage and sent it beneath Xiapi in the East Sea, at the foot of Jibei Gucheng Mountain on Earth.

Hua Dou and Ziyang investigated the Grievance Qi on Flower-Fruit Mountain and discovered that its demons had been abducting and eating people from the Kingdom of Aolai. After Hua Dou began saving the victims’ spirits, he learned his former disciples planned to face an approaching calamity together, and he decided to stay with them.

• Ziyang detected Grievance Qi in the northwest of Flower-Fruit Mountain and brought Hua Dou there, where Lesser Demons surrounded them.
• Hua Dou learned the mountain was divided among several demon kings and found a valley full of human bones and vicious Vengeful Spirits.
• A Lesser Demon revealed that the demons abducted one person from the Kingdom of Aolai each day, and Hua Dou recited the Sutra for Saving People to dispel the spirits’ Grievance Qi.
• Xuanjiao arrived, recognized Hua Dou, and explained that Sun Wukong had gone to Heaven while Bull Demon King had left for the Western Ox Continent.
• Peng Demon King and Shituo Wang chose to remain with Xuanjiao despite Hua Dou’s warning that a calamity was near.
• Hua Dou decided to stay and protect his disciples, rejecting Ziyang’s and the others’ attempts to persuade him to leave.

Sun Wukong welcomed his brothers and Hua Dou’s companions to Flower-Fruit Mountain, where Hua Dou awakened memories within Sun Wukong’s cudgel. A dispute over Hua Dou’s status led Ziyang to fight Macaque King, until Sun Wukong intervened and recognized Ziyang from his past life.

• Sun Wukong questioned his brothers about the mysterious master of Flood Demon King Xuanjiao, and defended their absent elder brothers from suspicion.
• Hua Dou arrived, and Sun Wukong knelt to greet him before Hua Dou revealed that the Gold-Banded Cudgel contained memories from Sun Wukong’s past life.
• Macaque King and King Yurong challenged Hua Dou’s authority, and Ziyang offered to teach Macaque King a lesson.
• Macaque King attacked Ziyang with wind powers, but Ziyang countered with a rune, a formation, and a Wheel of Destruction.
• King Yurong used a Mountain God to pull Macaque King out of danger, and Sun Wukong stopped him from continuing the fight.
• Sun Wukong told Ziyang that Big Head was gone and that they had both changed identities since their last meeting.

Hua Dou taught the demons of Flower-Fruit Mountain the Great Dao Scripture and promised to plead with the Heavenly Court for Sun Wukong. He then visited Wuzhuang Temple at Great Immortal Zhen Yuan’s summons, where his companions clashed with the arrogant Daoist Child Mingyue before Qingfeng recognized them as guests.

• Hua Dou taught the demons, and the Macaque King and King Yurong repented while Sun Wukong resolved to face the Heavenly Court’s coming calamity.
• Hua Dou warned Sun Wukong about the Heavenly Court’s strength, then received an invitation from Great Immortal Zhen Yuan and left Flower-Fruit Mountain with Xuanjiao, Peng Demon King, and Shituo Wang.
• Hua Dou gave spirit talismans to the Macaque King and King Yurong and told them to think carefully if trouble arose.
• At Wuzhuang Temple, Mingyue insulted Hua Dou and his companions, so Xuanjiao knocked him down and damaged his sleeve with black water when Mingyue attacked.
• Qingfeng returned and stopped Mingyue, then admitted that Hua Dou’s companions were powerful and welcomed them into Wuzhuang Temple.

Hua Dou visited Zhen Yuanzi, accepted a portion of his Xiantian Wutu Essence, and helped him restore a Ginseng Fruit Tree. Zhen Yuanzi explained why he was aiding the Celestial Court against demon factions and revealed that Hua Dou would be kept at his estate for three years, leaving Hua Dou unable to intervene in the campaign against Flower-Fruit Mountain.

• Hua Dou and his companions arrived at Zhen Yuanzi’s estate, where Qingfeng and Mingyue served four Ginseng Fruits to Hua Dou and Zhen Yuanzi.
• Hua Dou and Zhen Yuanzi discussed the Celestial Court’s changing laws, the growing demon factions, and Zhen Yuanzi’s reasons for becoming involved in the coming calamity.
• Zhen Yuanzi drew Xiantian Wutu Essence from the Earth Book and gave it to Hua Dou to settle the Karma incurred by inviting him.
• Hua Dou combined the Wutu Essence with his other Five Elements treasures, and Zhen Yuanzi used the resulting power to grow a new Ginseng Fruit Tree.
• Zhen Yuanzi told Hua Dou that the Celestial Court had asked him to keep Hua Dou at the estate for three years, and Hua Dou accepted that he could not protect the demon kings of Flower-Fruit Mountain from the campaign.

Old Ancestor Xuanbing wandered through the Chaos Beast and discovered a stone coffin containing a powerful remnant soul and reassembling flesh. After the coffin swallowed him, Dao Lord Lu Ya awakened inside it, emerged into the Taiji World, and rewarded the Chaos Beast with Origin Power.

• Old Ancestor Xuanbing found an earthen-yellow coffin in the chaos and attacked the blue-gray remnant soul that emerged from it.
• The remnant soul transformed into a black sun, while Old Ancestor Xuanbing opened the coffin and found broken bones and flesh beginning to reassemble.
• Old Ancestor Xuanbing realized he was inside the Chaos Beast, but the coffin drew him and the surrounding chaos inside before sealing shut.
• The coffin's power began melting Old Ancestor Xuanbing, and he lost consciousness as his strength was stripped away.
• After an unknown time, Dao Lord Lu Ya rose from the coffin, spoke of Xuanhuang's merit purging his evil thoughts, and entered the Taiji World through a black hole.
• Dao Lord Lu Ya gave the Chaos Beast a portion of Origin Power.

Dao Lord Lu Ya failed to find Heaven Burying Ground until Kong Qiu guided him there, where they discovered Pangu’s green lotus and Xuanhuang’s Life Spring. Lu Ya drew the treasures into himself and helped Fusang Wood retrieve Crown Prince Lu Ya’s soul from the Divine Soul Pond.

• Dao Lord Lu Ya failed to locate Heaven Burying Ground and urged Eastern Emperor Taiyi to relinquish his title and disband the Demon Race’s Heavenly Court.
• Taiyi relinquished his imperial title, and Dao Lord Lu Ya went to Ruxian Palace to ask Kong Qiu about the River of Destiny and Hua Dou’s delay.
• Kong Qiu guided Dao Lord Lu Ya and Fusang Wood into Heaven Burying Ground, where they found a three-leaf green lotus identified as Pangu’s true form and the Life Spring associated with Xuanhuang.
• Dao Lord Lu Ya drew the green lotus and Life Spring into his body, then used the lotus to help Fusang Wood pull Crown Prince Lu Ya’s Golden Crow soul from the Divine Soul Pond.