Chapter Summaries

Dao Lord Lu Ya joined Great Immortal Yang Mei, Dao Ancestor Hongjun, and Demon Ancestor Rahu in the Taishi World, where they sought the Origin World and a way beyond the Heavenly Dao. The Chaos Green Lotus and Life Spring began transforming the corrosive mist into Chaos Spiritual Qi and Chaos Turbid Qi, setting the Taishi World on the path to becoming a Chaos World.

• Dao Lord Lu Ya entered Great Immortal Yang Mei’s golden hall and learned that Yang Mei, Dao Ancestor Hongjun, and Demon Ancestor Rahu were trapped in the Taishi World while searching for the Origin World.
• Dao Lord Lu Ya revealed the Chaos Green Lotus and tossed it into the mist, where it began to wither until his Life Spring released Xuanhuang Qi to shield it.
• The lotus and Life Spring worked together to generate Creation Qi and Xuanhuang Qi, gradually forming a protective barrier and transforming the mist into Chaos Spiritual Qi.
• The barrier opened and admitted more mist, which the lotus transformed into rain that gathered into a source of Xuanwater and drew in heavy, turbid matter.
• The Taishi World shook as Chaos Turbid Qi accumulated around the Xuanwater source, and Great Immortal Yang Mei foresaw the world becoming a Chaos World.

Dao Ancestor Hongjun and Great Immortal Yang Mei persuaded Dao Lord Lu Ya to help reverse the flow of time in Heaven and Earth, and Lu Ya agreed to bear the Karma. At Wuzhuang Temple, Lu Ya completed Hua Dou’s Destiny Compass with innate Essence of Bing Fire, then invited Jade Emperor Haotian to discuss the Heavenly Court’s response to Buddhism.

• Great Immortal Yang Mei, Dao Ancestor Hongjun, and Demon Ancestor Rahu discussed the origins of Pangu, Xuanhuang, and the Primordial Saint, and Hongjun asked Lu Ya to help Haotian alter time using the Chaos Bell.
• Yang Mei explained that the Three Realms’ mismatched courses threatened the balance of Heaven and Earth, and Lu Ya agreed to bear the Karma of changing time.
• Hua Dou and Great Immortal Zhen Yuan discussed how Five-Finger Mountain had disrupted the Earth Immortal Realm and the Mortal Realm, including Wang Mang’s dynasty, and concluded that time needed to be reversed.
• Lu Ya arrived at Wuzhuang Temple and gave Hua Dou innate Essence of Bing Fire, which completed the four spiritual roots in the Destiny Compass and revealed its connection to the River of Destiny.
• Lu Ya revealed that he had invited Jade Emperor Haotian, and he and Zhen Yuan discussed how Buddhism’s defeat of the demon monkey had united the Heavenly Court’s Daoist forces in resentment.

Hua Dou discovered that a ghost named Sima Mao had become the key whose fate changed on the Destiny Compass, so Jade Emperor Haotian appointed him to judge unresolved cases in the underworld. Sima Mao settled centuries-old grievances by assigning the dead new identities and destinies in the Three Kingdoms era, and the Jade Emperor approved his rulings.

• Hua Dou saw a bright point on the Destiny Compass change its trajectory and identified it as Sima Mao, a scholar imprisoned in the Nether Realm.
• Jade Emperor Haotian ordered Sima Mao to judge underworld cases for six shichen, with a reward for fair rulings and punishment for failure.
• Sima Mao examined the Han Dynasty Four Cases and heard grievances from Han Xin, Peng Yue, Ying Bu, Duke Ding, Lady Qi, Xiang Yu, and others.
• Sima Mao assigned Han Xin to be reborn as Cao Cao, Liu Bang as Emperor Xian, Lady Lü as Emperor Xian's empress, Ying Bu as Sun Quan, Peng Yue as Liu Bei, and Xiang Yu as Guan Yu.
• Sima Mao assigned the six generals who had killed Xiang Yu to serve under Cao Cao, and ruled that Guan Yu would kill them while passing through five passes.
• After King Yama submitted Sima Mao's judgments to the Upper Realm, the Jade Emperor approved them all.

Dao Lord Lu Ya used the Destiny Compass and Chaos Bell to reverse time across the Mortal Realm, enduring the backlash until his body was absorbed and his primordial spirit joined with the bell. At Wuzhuang Temple, Jade Emperor Haotian planned to enter the Mortal Realm with the Primordial Saint and challenge Buddhism’s eastward spread.

• Hua Dou lent the Destiny Compass’s power to help Dao Lord Lu Ya break the Chaos Bell’s final restriction and prepare to reverse time throughout the Mortal Realm.
• Dao Lord Lu Ya froze the Mortal Realm, drew the heavenly stems and earthly branches into the Chaos Bell, and began turning their runes backward despite the crushing backlash.
• As the bell reversed time, Hua Dou saw Sima Mao’s life and previous life unfold in its images, while Dao Lord Lu Ya’s body was destroyed by the Karma of all beings.
• Dao Lord Lu Ya told Hua Dou that time in the Mortal Realm now flowed at the same rate as in the Earth Immortal Realm, and that his primordial spirit had joined with the Chaos Bell.
• At Wuzhuang Temple, Jade Emperor Haotian told Great Immortal Zhen Yuan that he intended to enter the Mortal Realm with the Primordial Saint and make Buddhism face tribulations for spreading east.

Cihang Guanyin restored Flower-Fruit Mountain and gathered the souls of its monkeys, while Hua Dou and Ziyang prepared to return to the Mortal Realm. There, Zhuang Zhou and Sun Wu discussed Zhang Ling and the Primordial Violet Qi before Haotian arrived to investigate Buddhism’s arrival in Luoyang.

• Cihang Guanyin revived Flower-Fruit Mountain and collected the monkey souls, promising to guide them west to seek scriptures alongside Sun Wukong.
• Cihang Guanyin proposed using the surviving fragments of the Great Sage Who Spreads Wind and Great Sage Who Drives Gods as external incarnations of Sun Wukong, and the Four Valiant Generals agreed to guard the restored mountain.
• Hua Dou and Ziyang debated Guanyin’s Buddhist allegiance, then decided to return to the Mortal Realm as Ziyang looked forward to traveling freely.
• Zhang Ling left his mountain cave to spread Daoist teachings, while Zhuang Zhou and Brother Sun Wu discussed his lineage, the Primordial Violet Qi, and the altered course of history.
• Haotian visited Zhuang Zhou and Brother Sun Wu, announced that he would appoint Zhang Ling Heavenly Master True Person after he completed his merit, and questioned whether Buddhism could endure in the Mortal Realm.
• Haotian explained that he had come to investigate Emperor Ming of Han’s welcome of Kasyapa Matanga and Dharmaratna and the construction of a monastery in Luoyang.

Hua Dou found that Peng Yi had retreated from medicine into luxury and Daoist cultivation, then visited the Yellow Stone Elder, who was preparing to be reborn into an age of chaos. Peng Yi later recognized his forgotten purpose and died after receiving Hua Dou’s permission to face the coming era as a physician.

• Hua Dou and Ziyang visited Peng Yi’s lavish clinic, where his descendant Peng Ji claimed Peng Yi was cultivating in the mountains and refused to let them see him.
• Hua Dou left Peng Ji a verse urging a childlike heart and a duty to save the people, then departed with Ziyang.
• At the Yellow Stone shrine, Hua Dou awakened the Yellow Stone Elder’s soul and sent him toward reincarnation, promising to guide him through the coming age of chaos.
• Hua Dou and Ziyang discussed faith, merit, and fortune in the Mortal Realm, and Ziyang sensed that Peng Yi had found them.
• Peng Yi bowed to Hua Dou, admitted he had forgotten his original purpose, and said he had come to bid farewell.
• Hua Dou urged Peng Yi to use the coming age of chaos to experience the people’s suffering and become a true physician; Peng Yi returned to his mountain, prepared himself, and passed away.

Tang Zhou and Ma Yuanyi oversaw the recruitment of Yellow Turban soldiers in Julu, where Zhou Cang proved his strength and was assigned to serve General Digong. Tang Zhou left wanting the world to grow more chaotic so he could gather baleful energy and unlock a hidden treasure.

• Yan Qing urged refugees to join the Way of Great Peace and recruited three thousand soldiers for the Yellow Turban Army.
• A sharp-faced young man took the battle blade Zhou Cang had been about to claim, and Yan Qing initially refused to add Zhou to the ranks.
• Tang Zhou proposed testing the recruits through combat, and Zhou Cang defeated the sharp-faced young man with a kick.
• Ma Yuanyi challenged Zhou Cang with the Power of Divine Talisman, and their clash showed Zhou's great strength.
• Tang Zhou persuaded Ma Yuanyi to send Zhou Cang to serve General Digong, while Ma Yuanyi ordered Yan Qing to train the three thousand recruits.
• Tang Zhou watched the recruits and privately hoped the world would become more chaotic so he could gather baleful energy and unlock a hidden treasure.

Tang Zhou treated injured refugees while secretly using talismans and a Soul Summoning Banner to gather souls and strengthen his Demonic Body. At the Changping Ancient Battlefield, he devoured a powerful Military Soul but found the battlefield’s Yin Sha Qi had largely vanished, leaving his plan to break into the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor uncertain.

• Tang Zhou led Yellow Turban Soldiers toward Chang'an and gave them talismans to treat injured refugees outside a closed county town.
• Tang Zhou used the talismans to control people, then summoned zombie-like figures and had his Soul Summoning Banner devour their souls.
• Tang Zhou sent his Black Python to the Changping Ancient Battlefield to seek powerful malevolent souls for completing his Demonic Body.
• The Black Python absorbed Yin Energy and Grievance Qi, then fought and refined a headless Military Soul, swallowing its pure Soul Thought.
• The Black Python found that the Changping Ancient Battlefield’s Yin Sha Qi had been stripped away and wondered whether its incomplete Demonic Body could break the seal at the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.

After the Yellow Turban rebellion erupted across the Han Empire, Wang Mang escaped the underground passage beneath the Changping Ancient Battlefield by transforming the Soul Summoning Banner into a demonic body. He emerged into a grand formation and fought its power, destroying the Immortal Tea Trees it summoned.

• Tang Zhou revealed Zhang Jiao’s planned rebellion to Emperor Ling, prompting the court to execute Ma Yuanyi and order Zhang Jiao’s arrest.
• Zhang Jiao and his brothers launched the Yellow Turban uprising, and its forces seized commanderies and killed officials across several provinces.
• Han commanders led campaigns against the rebels, but Bo Cai’s army defeated Zhu Jun and surrounded him and Huangfu Song at Changshe.
• Trapped underground, the Black Python consumed the Soul Summoning Banner’s power and returned as Wang Mang in a One-Horned Demon God’s body.
• Wang Mang broke through the underground formation into another grand formation, where golden light and green leaves attacked him.
• Wang Mang recognized the summoned trees as Immortal Tea Trees and blasted them apart with Demonic Lightning.

Mo Di trapped Wang Mang in the Platform of Investiture after accusing him of stealing Wang Mang’s body and committing atrocities. Wang Mang remained conscious inside the sealed platform, where Mo Di feared his presence might disturb the evil thoughts imprisoned there.

• Wang Mang fought his way through Mo Di’s formations, breaking the nine purple pillars and recognizing their maker as Mo Di.
• Mo Di used a Sword Master Puppet, empowered by his family’s convictions, to trap Wang Mang in a sphere of sword light.
• Mo Di sent Wang Mang into the Platform of Investiture, where the black hole swallowed his Demonic Body but Righteous Qi preserved his divine sense.
• Wang Mang resisted the force that lulled the platform’s sealed souls to sleep, remaining conscious in the darkness.
• Mo Di admitted he could not refine the platform’s evil thoughts and sank the Platform of Investiture beneath the surface.

Zhang Jiao turned the battle against Dong Zhuo’s Han Army by summoning devastating lightning, but Zuo Ci and Ge Xuan intervened to break his spell. The Han troops fled in panic while Zhang Jiao and Zhang Bao realized a powerful Daoist expert was among their enemies.

• Dong Zhuo’s Xiliang Elite Soldiers overwhelmed the Yellow Turban Army, while Zhang Jiao told Zhang Bao to wait before acting.
• Zhang Jiao summoned dark clouds and struck the Han ranks with repeated bolts of Falling Thunder, killing or wounding hundreds of soldiers.
• Zuo Ci urged Ge Xuan to disrupt Zhang Jiao’s spell, and Ge Xuan dispersed the eighth bolt with Taiqing True Qi.
• Zuo Ci dispersed the clouds before the ninth bolt formed, causing Zhang Jiao to spit blood and tell Zhang Bao that a powerful expert had broken his Daoist Magic.
• The Han Army’s morale collapsed as the Yellow Turban Army’s spirits rose, and thousands of Han soldiers fled while Dong Zhuo’s men carried him from the battlefield.

As the Yellow Turban Army faltered, Zhang Jiao used a forbidden ritual to summon an army of ghost corpses, prompting his former master to condemn his turn to demonic ways. Ge Xuan struggled against the regenerating corpses until Zhang Daoling arrived and burned them away, while the black vortex remained a threat.

• Zhang Jiao opened the sealed silk roll, absorbed its Yin Energy, and ordered a rite to summon Heavenly soldiers.
• Zhang Jiao's ritual opened a passage to the netherworld, raising corpses across the battlefields as ghost soldiers.
• Zhang Jiao's master rebuked him for betraying his beliefs and unleashing wicked thoughts from the Netherworld Blood Sea, but Zhang Jiao refused to repent and attacked him with a Ghost General.
• Ge Xuan fought corpse soldiers that kept reassembling until Zhang Daoling arrived and destroyed them with fire dragons.
• Ge Xuan told Zhang Daoling that his master had gone to seal the black vortex, and Zhang Daoling urged him to trust that powerful figures would intervene.

Zhang Zhongjing returned to Wancheng amid plague and famine, learned that his great-uncle had died, and persuaded his father to distribute medicinal porridge to the starving. As he helped the people, Mo Di and Zhuang Zhou recognized his unusual potential and discussed guiding him.

• Zhang Zhongjing and his apprentice reached Wancheng and learned from the old steward that famine and plague had killed many people and that Zhang Zhongjing's great-uncle had died.
• Zhang Zhongjing proposed using grain and edible medicinal herbs to make porridge for starving residents, and Zhang Zonghan agreed to help.
• Zhang Zhongjing arranged for household members to distribute ordinary porridge to those able to queue and richer porridge to people too weak to rise.
• Mo Di watched Zhang Zhongjing distribute porridge and sensed his dormant potential, while Zhuang Zhou identified his connection to the Medical Dao and proposed guiding him.

Yang Jian led Heavenly troops into the Underworld to suppress the Ghost Cultivator rebellion, fighting through Hell as wicked thoughts and Asura forces spread. In the Eighteen Levels of Hell, he confronted the Blood River Old Ancestor, who declared that the Asuras would rule the Three Realms and summoned the swords Abi and Yuantu.

• Yang Jian fought through the Ghost Gate Pass, destroying Yin Soldiers and defeating two commanders before overcoming a powerful sword-qi attack.
• At Grinding Stone Hell, Yang Jian ordered the Ghost Cultivators to surrender, then used Dharma Heaven Dharma Earth to destroy the attacking rebels after most refused.
• Yang Jian entered the Eighteen Levels of Hell and saw Asura forces battling the Ghost Cultivators, including six enormous Turtle Dragon Naga.
• The Blood River Old Ancestor appeared atop a Turtle Dragon and rejected Yang Jian's authority, claiming the Asuras would rule the Three Realms.
• Yang Jian challenged the Blood River Old Ancestor, who revealed that the Nether River Daoist had defected to the Demon Realm and brought forth Abi and Yuantu.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva confronted the Asura Clan in the Sea of Blood and fought the Demon King Asura with Buddhist formations. The Pure World Great Formation weakened the Sea of Blood, but the Demon King Asura’s weapons pressed toward Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and Diting.

• Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva vowed to keep delivering the souls consumed by malice, and the Demon King Asura activated the Sea of Blood Great Formation.
• Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva summoned the Buddha Kingdom in Palm, whose chanting weakened and confused the Asura warriors until the Demon King Asura used the Heavenly Demon Song and Dance to rouse them.
• Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva and the Buddhist disciples formed the Pure World Great Formation, which pierced the blood streams and began refining the malice in the Sea of Blood.
• The Demon King Asura infused malice into the Bone Dragons, turning them into Blood Dragons that attacked the Buddha Kingdom, but the Pure World Great Formation repeatedly shredded them.
• The Demon King Asura launched hundreds of Malevolent Qi weapons at Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva; most shattered against the remaining golden light, while Diting struggled to hold back those that remained.

Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva fled toward Hell as Old Ancestor of the Blood Sea battled Yang Jian, but Liu Bei’s master sent an ancient mirror that helped the Heavenly Court crush the Blood Sea rebellion. The Asura Clan submitted after the battle, while Tongtian’s evil thoughts escaped the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars.

• Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva sent Diting to strike Demon King Asura into the Blood Sea, then escaped toward the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
• Old Ancestor of the Blood Sea formed his Hunyuan Great Formation and offered Yang Jian a place in his future rule, but Yang Jian refused.
• Liu Bei’s master rinsed an ancient mirror in water and vanished, sending the mirror through a breach into Hell.
• The Haotian Mirror shattered the Blood Sea Great Formation, and Taibai Jinxing led the Grand Formation of the Myriad Stars in destroying most of the Asura forces.
• Old Ancestor of the Blood Sea begged the Heavenly Emperor for mercy and pledged the Netherworld Blood Sea’s submission, while Tongtian’s evil thoughts escaped the star formation.
• Yang Jian declared the rebellion ended and led the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals back to the Heavenly Court.

Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei led Han troops against bandits and confronted a tiger formed from Demonic Qi. After Guan Yu and his brothers combined their powers to defeat and seal it, Liu Bei warned that the world might have strayed from its original course.

• Liu Bei urged Zhang Fei to endure the postal inspector’s insults while they waited for Guan Yu to arrive and fulfill his master’s instructions.
• Zhang Fei charged the bandit stronghold and smashed through its copper-covered gate as the Han troops advanced.
• A demonic tiger emerged from the stronghold, and its Demonic Qi drained soldiers’ Essence Blood and consumed their Flesh and Blood.
• Guan Yu prepared to break the purple seal within him, while Liu Bei and Zhang Fei joined their power to strike the tiger with dragon-shaped bolts of force.
• Guan Yu’s green blade aura split the weakened tiger, and he used talismans to absorb its power into the brothers’ weapons.
• Liu Bei warned Guan Yu against using his sealed power again and said his master had claimed the world might have strayed from its original course.

Wang Mang absorbed evil souls while practicing a strange technique inside the Platform of Investiture, awakening the Darkness Origin’s attention. The Dark God explained the origin of darkness and urged Wang Mang to help restrain the three awakened Origin Laws.

• The Dark Divine Platform emerged in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and the Dark God awakened and empowered the kneeling giants and beasts.
• The Dark God sent a beast’s Origin Power into the Platform of Investiture, where Wang Mang’s soul consciousness was practicing a strange technique.
• Wang Mang’s depleted soul absorbed a phantom evil soul, then awoke and devoured the evil stars around him until he became a massive black serpent.
• A voice identifying itself with the Dark Dao told Wang Mang that darkness preceded the world and that the Great Dao Will had concealed the Laws of Destiny, Creation, and Life.
• The Dark God said the three Origin Laws had awakened and that darkness was needed to keep them from surpassing the Great Dao Will.

Wang Mang refined Dark Matter, overcame the remnant soul of a quasi-sage beast, and became an undying Divine Body of Darkness before refining and swallowing the Platform of Investiture. When Hua Dou trapped him with the River of Destiny, Wang Mang escaped by sending the platform beyond the restrictions, prompting Hua Dou and Ziyang to consider returning to the world beyond Heaven.

• Wang Mang fought the giant wolf remnant in his sea of consciousness, using spatial power and the Darkness Law to withstand its attacks.
• Wang Mang's soul broke apart as strange runes formed the Heart of Darkness, which devoured the wolf and transformed him into a being of darkness.
• Wang Mang emerged on the Ancient Battlefield of Investiture, refined the Platform of Investiture into black jade, and swallowed it before declaring himself an initial Divine King.
• Hua Dou ensnared Wang Mang with the River of Destiny, but Wang Mang abandoned his body and sent the Platform of Investiture flying beyond the restrictions.
• Hua Dou told Ziyang that the aura resembled Ao Cang's and that disturbances in the Taichu World might affect the Three Realms, so they needed to return beyond Heaven.

A gigantic, unknown beetle emerged from a black hole and threatened the Taiji World, forcing Meng Ke and the Wu Clan to fight it. Even after Xing Tian and Houyi wounded it severely, the beetle began regenerating, leaving the defenders unsure how to stop it.

• Meng Ke used Confucian treasures to shield the Gentleman's Kingdom, then worked with Xuan Jian and Xing Tian to teleport the beetle to a remote valley.
• Xing Tian attacked the beetle with his fists and bronze axe, but its corrosive black liquid badly injured him.
• Houyi shot an arrow through the beetle, and Xing Tian struck it with crimson beams that destroyed half its body.
• The beetle rapidly regenerated its wounds, and Xing Tian watched helplessly as it recovered.