Chapter Summaries

Nuwa sought East King Duke’s help after Lingzhuzi fell into a strange, lifeless state, and East King Duke sent him into reincarnation. Meanwhile, Yang Jian joined the Yin-Yang Lineage, and Haotian ordered another attempt to capture Yao Ji and her family.

• A mysterious aura from the Chaos entered the Spirit Pearl as it took human form, and Nuwa named the child Lingzhuzi.
• Kong Xuan returned Yang Jian to the Three Immortal Islands, where East King Duke welcomed him into the Yin-Yang Lineage, taught him, and gave him two Spiritual Treasures.
• Nuwa brought Lingzhuzi to East King Duke after his breakthrough left his senses sealed and his soul fading; East King Duke traced the condition to the aura of destruction and proposed reincarnation.
• Nuwa agreed, and East King Duke took Lingzhuzi to the Place of Reincarnation and had Fengdu send him into reincarnation.
• Haotian, still unable to accept Yao Ji’s defiance, issued another decree to send Heavenly Generals down to capture her and her family.

East King Duke broke through to the mid-stage Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, drawing the attention of the Primordial World's great powers. Hongjun then summoned him to the Purple Firmament Palace, where East King Duke arrived to learn what the Dao Ancestor wanted.

• East King Duke cultivated in seclusion for centuries as his Yin-Yang Law began to form a celestial realm.
• Queen Mother of the West sensed the breakthrough and waited while East King Duke drew world-creating power from the Yin-Yang Realm.
• The Primordial World's Sages and Zhenyuanzi noticed the spectacle as East King Duke's laws formed a vivid Grotto-Heaven.
• East King Duke completed his breakthrough to the mid-stage Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, and Queen Mother of the West celebrated with him.
• Hongjun summoned East King Duke to the Chaos Purple Firmament Palace, so East King Duke left Queen Mother of the West to oversee the Three Immortal Islands and traveled there.
• East King Duke entered the Purple Firmament Palace and found Hongjun waiting solemnly to receive him.

Nine Heavens Profound Maiden and the Heavenly Court forces tried to capture Yao Ji, but Jade Cauldron and Guangchengzi intervened. After Guangchengzi defeated Nine Heavens Profound Maiden, Haotian struck him with the Haotian Sword, and the Jade Emperor’s Good Corpse Incarnation appeared at the Bank of Yu Water.

• Nine Heavens Profound Maiden led Heavenly General Guangyue and the Heavenly Soldiers to the Bank of Yu Water and captured Yao Ji and her family.
• Jade Cauldron attacked the Heavenly forces, but Nine Heavens Profound Maiden defeated him before Guangchengzi arrived and fought her.
• Guangchengzi defeated Nine Heavens Profound Maiden after several days of battle.
• Haotian watched through the Haotian Mirror and struck Guangchengzi with the Haotian Sword, seriously injuring him.
• Guangchengzi denounced Haotian, while Haotian regretted his attack and his Good Corpse Incarnation appeared at the Bank of Yu Water.

Haotian’s attempt to reclaim Yao Ji was thwarted by Primordial and the Western Saints, while Yang Tianyou’s hidden affiliation split Yao Ji’s family among rival sects. Humiliated by the Saints and their disciples, Haotian left Heavenly Court to ask Hongjun for an edict, arriving at the silent, closed gates of Purple Cloud Palace.

• Haotian’s Good Corpse drove Guangchengzi away, but Primordial’s projection wounded it and forced it back to Heavenly Court.
• Jieyin and Zhunti claimed Yang Jiao and Yang Tianyou for the Western Sect after Zhunti restored Yang Tianyou’s cultivation and revealed him as their disciple.
• Yao Ji realized her marriage had been part of a scheme, and Golden Phoenix took Yang Chan to Empress Wa Palace; Yao Ji later returned to Heavenly Court and accepted imprisonment beneath Peach Mountain.
• Haotian lamented his humiliation to Yaochi, then decided to ask Hongjun to command the Saintly Sects to obey Heavenly Court.
• Haotian traveled through the chaos to Purple Cloud Palace and found its gates closed and the palace silent.

East King Duke met Hongjun in Purple Heaven Palace, where Hongjun warned that a Foreign World invasion would bring a calamity within a hundred thousand years and asked to prepare for escaping the Heavenly Dao. Their discussion was interrupted when Haotian arrived to ask Hongjun to make the Saint Sects obey the Heavenly Court.

• East King Duke met Hongjun in Purple Heaven Palace and discussed their agreement to help Hongjun transcend the Heavenly Dao.
• Hongjun told East King Duke that Foreign World cultivators might already be hiding in the Primordial World and that an invasion was expected within a hundred thousand years.
• Hongjun explained that the Primordial World would have to fight the invaders, and that victory could allow it to absorb their world and cultivators.
• East King Duke and Hongjun agreed to discuss the Dao, but paused when Haotian requested an audience.
• Haotian complained that the Heavenly Court lacked authority and manpower, and asked Hongjun to order the Saint Sects to obey him.

Haotian’s complaint about the Heavenly Court’s lack of manpower led Dao Ancestor Hongjun to summon the Sages and announce the Investiture of the Gods Calamity. The Sages were left to negotiate who would supply the 365 Righteous Gods, with Tongtian and his Jie Sect facing particular pressure.

• Haotian told Dao Ancestor Hongjun that the Heavenly Court lacked manpower, and Hongjun sent him back while promising a solution.
• East King Duke reappeared in the Purple Firmament Palace, and Hongjun said the approaching killing tribulation made it time to begin the Investiture of the Gods.
• Hongjun summoned the Sages and explained that beings below the Quasi-Saint realm were caught in the calamity and would be assigned the Immortal Dao, Divine Dao, or reincarnation according to their virtue.
• Tongtian asked how many beings had to be listed, and Hongjun revealed that the Investiture required 365 Righteous Gods, 2,000 subordinate gods, and tens of thousands of Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.
• Laozi asked how the positions would be filled, and Hongjun said mortals would fill most roles while the Sects must negotiate over the 365 Righteous Gods and submit their list within a hundred years.
• Hongjun left the Investiture of the Gods suspended in the palace, leaving the Sages in silence.

The Saints settled the Investiture of the Gods: each sect’s disciples would enter the calamity according to their Destined Affinity, while Hongjun said the future god-conferrer would be a mortal marked by the Appearance of Flying Bear. After the meeting, Tongtian sought East King Duke’s help to protect the Jie Sect, and East King Duke agreed.

• East King Duke, Pingxin, and the Saints wrote disciple names onto the Investiture of the Gods, but more than two hundred divine positions remained vacant.
• Zhunti, Jieyin, and Primordial urged Tongtian to add more Jie Sect disciples, and Tongtian refused, threatening them with the Immortal Slaying Sword Array.
• East King Duke proposed letting each sect’s disciples face the calamity by their own abilities, and Hongjun approved the agreement.
• Primordial asked who would preside over the god-conferring, and Hongjun described a mortal with the Appearance of Flying Bear who would join one of the sects.
• Tongtian visited East King Duke and asked the Yin-Yang Lineage to protect the Jie Sect during the calamity, offering his knowledge of sword arrays in return.
• East King Duke accepted Tongtian’s offer and promised the Yin-Yang Lineage would help protect the Jie Sect.

East King Duke told the Yin-Yang Lineage that the Investiture of the Gods Calamity was approaching and that Yang Jian was destined to enter it. As the major sects prepared their own plans, Zhunti saw the calamity as a chance to divide the Three Pure Ones and recruit disciples for the Western Sect.

• East King Duke summoned the Yin-Yang Lineage disciples and explained that the Investiture of the Gods was an unavoidable calamity arising from the Sage Sects’ accumulated karma.
• East King Duke reassured his disciples that their virtue would help them pass through the calamity, but revealed that Yang Jian was destined to undergo it.
• Yang Jian accepted East King Duke’s decree, and East King Duke assured Kong Xuan that the main battlefield would involve Third Generation disciples and that Kong Xuan could protect him.
• Primordial planned to find the person with the Appearance of Flying Bear and send Chan Sect disciples down the mountain to recruit Third Generation disciples for the calamity.
• Zhunti told Jieyin that the Western Sect could use the calamity to break apart the Three Pure Ones and recruit disciples from the Eastern sects.

Zhunti persuaded Jieyin that the Western Sect should leave the Mystic Gate and establish Buddhism, a plan Jieyin confirmed was sanctioned by Heaven's will. They went to the Purple Firmament Palace to seek Hongjun's approval, where East King Duke arrived before Hongjun could summon the other Saints.

• Zhunti secretly concealed the Heavenly Secrets and proposed that the Western Sect break from the Mystic Gate and establish its own sect.
• Jieyin objected out of concern for the consequences, but he deduced that Heaven's will supported Zhunti's plan.
• Zhunti persuaded Jieyin to seek Hongjun's approval and proposed renaming the Western Sect Buddhism, which both Saints accepted.
• Jieyin and Zhunti traveled to the Purple Firmament Palace, where Hongjun said he would summon the other Saints to discuss their request.
• East King Duke arrived at the palace, surprising Jieyin and Zhunti, who suspected he knew about their plans.

Jieyin and Zhunti asked Dao Ancestor Hongjun to approve their departure from the Mystic Gate and the founding of Buddhism, drawing the other Saints’ anger before Hongjun granted their request. A hundred years later, they established the Buddhist Gate, appointed its ranks and leaders, and watched its influence spread across the Primordial World.

• Jieyin told the gathered Saints that he and Zhunti intended to leave the Mystic Gate and establish Buddhism.
• Primordial Heavenly Venerate condemned the pair, and the Three Pure Ones prepared to confront them before Jieyin appealed to Hongjun.
• Hongjun revoked Jieyin and Zhunti’s status as Named Disciples, approved their separate sect, and ordered them to uphold their Duty of Enlightenment.
• A hundred years later, Jieyin and Zhunti swore an oath to Heaven, founded the Buddhist Gate, and named Medicine Master, Maitreya, and Ksitigarbha to prominent ranks.
• Jieyin and Zhunti’s new Buddhist Gate gained followers and renown as rumors spread across the Primordial Continent and the Four Seas.

Di Xin’s auspicious birth marked the start of the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, prompting the Sages to seek the person destined to oversee it. Jiang Ziya and Shen Gongbao traveled toward Kunlun together until Shen Gongbao felt called east across the sea and parted from Jiang Ziya.

• Haotian and Yaochi discussed the newly established Buddhist Gate but decided to wait and see how it affected the Heavenly Court and the coming Investiture.
• Di Yi’s queen gave birth to Di Xin amid strange celestial portents, and Di Yi named him heir to the Shang throne.
• The Sages and Haotian sensed the rising calamity, and the Sages sent disciples into the human realm to seek the person bearing the flying bear sign.
• Jiang Ziya and Shen Gongbao set out for Kunlun Mountain to find a renowned master and traveled together for several years.
• Near the East Sea, Shen Gongbao felt called toward a destined sect across the sea, so he and Jiang Ziya parted ways.

Jiang Ziya reached Kunlun Mountain and became Primordial Heavenly Lord’s thirteenth Direct Disciple, while Shen Gongbao was brought to the Three Immortal Islands and joined Kong Xuan’s line in the Yin-Yang Lineage. Both men entered the sects that would shape their roles in the coming Investiture of the Gods, but they now stood at different generations.

• After nearly a hundred years of travel, Jiang Ziya reached Kunlun Mountain, where White Crane Boy brought him to Jade Void Palace.
• Primordial Heavenly Lord recognized Jiang Ziya’s Appearance of Flying Bear and accepted him as his thirteenth Direct Disciple, then taught him the Jade Purity Immortal Law.
• Primordial Heavenly Lord confirmed that Jiang Ziya was destined to preside over the Investiture of the Gods and urged his disciples to take on disciples of their own.
• Shen Gongbao drifted across the East Sea for nearly a hundred years until a Daoist Boy carried him to the Three Immortal Islands.
• East King Duke accepted Shen Gongbao into the Yin-Yang Lineage as a junior third-generation disciple under Kong Xuan.

East King Duke arranged for Shen Gongbao to join the Yin-Yang Lineage and watched Zhunti make King Zhou’s erased poem reappear at Nuwa Temple. After learning Zhunti’s role, Nuwa restrained her anger and prepared to use the Monster Summoning Banner.

• Kong Xuan accepted Shen Gongbao as his disciple and received East King Duke’s instruction to prepare him for the Investiture of the Gods Calamity.
• East King Duke reflected that Shen Gongbao’s choice of the Yin-Yang Lineage was his intervention, meant to alter lesser paths and test the Heavenly Dao.
• King Zhou visited Nuwa Temple, wrote a poem praising Nuwa’s beauty, and ignored Shang Rong’s remonstrance; Shang Rong later had a servant wash the poem away.
• Zhunti secretly restored the poem to the temple wall, and East King Duke witnessed his spell before Nuwa discovered the writing and grew furious.
• East King Duke told Nuwa that Zhunti had restored the poem and persuaded her not to confront him, after which Nuwa took out the Monster Summoning Banner.

Nuwa sent three demons to Chaoge, where the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox possessed Su Daji and became King Zhou’s concubine. Yang Jian obtained Great Yu’s Mountain-Opening Axe and freed Yao Ji from Peach Mountain, but the furious Jade Emperor confronted them.

• Nuwa ordered the Thousand-Year Fox Spirit, Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit, and Jade Pipa Spirit to go to Chaoge and help bring about the dynasty’s fall.
• King Zhou issued a decree demanding beauties, and Fei Zhong and You Hun pressured Su Hu into sending Su Daji to the palace.
• The Nine-Tailed Demon Fox swallowed Su Daji’s soul, possessed her body, and was welcomed into the palace as King Zhou’s concubine.
• Yang Jian asked Kong Xuan and East King Duke how to free his mother, and East King Duke sent him to borrow Great Yu’s Mountain-Opening Axe.
• Yang Jian borrowed the axe from Great Yu, split Peach Mountain, and freed Yao Ji.
• Haotian confronted Yang Jian as Yao Ji pleaded for her son and Yang Jian refused to let her beg.

After Haotian attacked Yang Jian and Yao Ji, Kong Xuan intervened and fought the Jade Emperor in a clash that drew the attention of powerful figures across the Primordial World. Saint Zhunti halted the battle, leaving the dispute unresolved as he protected Yang Jian’s role in the Investiture of the Gods.

• Haotian tried to kill Yang Jian and Yao Ji for breaking his seal, but Kong Xuan appeared and shattered his attack.
• Kong Xuan challenged Haotian to defend his disciple, and the two summoned their spiritual treasures and fought as Quasi-Saint-level powers.
• Kong Xuan sent Yang Jian and Yao Ji far from the battle while he and Haotian contained the destruction with barriers.
• Kong Xuan and Haotian traded powerful attacks until Saint Zhunti arrived and ordered them to stop.
• Zhunti mediated the conflict because he knew Yang Jian was a key figure in the Investiture of the Gods.

After Zhunti intervened, Kong Xuan took Yao Ji and Yang Jian to the Three Immortal Islands, where Yao Ji settled. Meanwhile, Li Jing’s wife gave birth to Nezha after a strange three-year pregnancy, and a Daoist arrived claiming to represent Li Jing’s third son.

• Zhunti persuaded Haotian to drop the matter of Yao Ji, and Kong Xuan took Yao Ji and Yang Jian away from the mountain.
• Yang Jian invited Yao Ji to live on the Three Immortal Islands, and Kong Xuan said the Yin-Yang Dao Venerable had permitted her to stay.
• Yao Ji paid her respects to East King Duke and settled on the Three Immortal Islands.
• Lady Yin gave birth to a ball of flesh, and Li Jing split it open with his sword, revealing a baby boy.
• Li Jing prepared to strike the child again, but Lady Yin shielded him, and a servant announced that a Daoist had come on behalf of Li Jing’s third son.
• Li Jing met the Daoist and asked where he came from and why he had visited.

Taiyi True Person named Nezha and took him as his disciple, and the boy grew into a gifted but reckless cultivator. After Nezha killed the East Sea Dragon King’s son Ao Bing and stripped his tendons and skin, Ao Guang brought his forces to Chentang Pass, where Li Jing learned of the killings and went to question Nezha.

• Taiyi True Person named Li Jing’s third son Nezha and accepted him as his disciple, joining Jinzha and Muzha as a Chan Sect student.
• At seven years old, Nezha went to Nine Bends River to cool off and killed the Sea Patrol Yaksha with his Universe Ring.
• Ao Bing came to arrest Nezha, but Nezha bound him with the Chaos Tunic, killed him, and removed his tendons and skin.
• Ao Guang learned of his son’s death and led his naval forces toward Chentang Pass, threatening to drown it.
• Li Jing confronted Ao Guang, learned that Nezha had killed Ao Bing, and hurried home to bring his son out for questioning.

East King Duke helped Hongjun sever his connection to the Heavenly Dao and escape his tribulation. Hongjun's Law-born body awakened as Jun Tian Daoist, while his Heavenly Dao incarnation disappeared.

• East King Duke went to the Purple Firmament Palace, where Hongjun prepared to separate his Laws and spirit from the Heavenly Dao.
• Hongjun used the Jade Plate of Creation to draw the Laws from his body and form a new Dao body.
• East King Duke struck Hongjun's link to the Heavenly Dao three times with the God Slaying Spear, severing it on the final strike.
• The Heavenly Dao raged across the Primordial World, and Hongjun split his Primordial Spirit and True Spirit between the new body and the Heavenly Dao.
• The new body awakened and declared that Hongjun no longer existed in the Primordial World and that he was Jun Tian Daoist.

Jun Tian told East King Duke he would attain Primordial Grand Unity in the Chaos, while Nezha killed himself after Li Jing agreed to hand him over to Ao Guang. Taiyi True Person took Nezha's remains to revive him, and East King Duke continued investigating the mysterious aura he sensed in Nezha.

• Jun Tian invited East King Duke to witness his planned attainment of Primordial Grand Unity, and East King Duke agreed before returning to the Primordial World.
• Nezha admitted killing Ao Bing and taking his hide and sinews, so Ao Guang threatened to drown Chentang Pass unless Li Jing surrendered the culprit.
• Li Jing told Nezha to accept punishment to save the people, and Nezha returned his flesh to his mother and bones to his father by killing himself.
• Ao Guang withdrew his forces without flooding Chentang Pass, and Lady Yin begged Li Jing to seek help for Nezha.
• Taiyi True Person arrived, collected Nezha's remains and soul, and promised to bring him back to life in a few months.
• East King Duke watched from above and pondered the increasingly strong but obscured aura he had sensed in Nezha since his birth.

Taiyi True Person resurrected Nezha in a lotus-root body, unaware that a powerful demonic soul had taken over him. After Nezha returned to Chentang Pass, he secretly fired a sacred arrow that killed Shi Ji Niangniang’s attendant, and Shi Ji captured Li Jing; Li Jing began to suspect Nezha was responsible.

• Taiyi True Person rebuilt Nezha’s body from lotus root and restored him, but a dormant soul devoured Nezha’s original soul and memories.
• The new Nezha concealed his true nature, obeyed Taiyi True Person, and returned to Chentang Pass, where Li Jing and Lady Yin welcomed him.
• Nezha found the Qiankun Bow and Zhen Tian Arrows in the city tower and fired an arrow without knowing it was a human treasure.
• The arrow flew to Skull Mountain and killed Azure Cloud Boy, prompting Shi Ji Niangniang to identify Li Jing’s name on the arrow and fly to Chentang Pass.
• Shi Ji captured Li Jing and brought him to her Cave Abode, where he denied shooting Azure Cloud Boy and explained that only his sons could have used the bow.
• Li Jing named Jinzha and Muzha as absent disciples, then hesitated when he realized Nezha was the only son at home.