Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Ran Deng, discouraged by the difficulty of connecting his Earth Lamp–created Evil Corpse Clone to the Earthly Dao, discovers an area filled with souls whose obsessions prevent them from reincarnating.
• The Spirit Coffin Palace Lantern and his Evil Corpse Clone react to the souls, prompting Ran Deng to realize the lantern could soothe and purify their troubled spirits. He plans to use it to guide the souls toward reincarnation, earning merit and deepening his ties to the Earthly Dao.
• Ran Deng intends to leave his Evil Corpse Clone in the Underworld to manage this work while his original body searches for the other two lamps for ten origin cycles. If that search fails, he will abandon the three-lamp pursuit and commit fully to the Earthly Dao.
• The Queen Mother of the West observes the Underworld and identifies Meng Po’s role at the Bridge of Helplessness as a fitting opportunity. She plans to station her Good Corpse Clone there, using her Pure Yin Dao and West Kunlun herbs to improve Meng Po’s soup.
• Minghe, Ran Deng, and the Queen Mother return to Lord Wanshouyuan with their plans. Wu Zhen notices the charged atmosphere as they prepare to speak with the Sage.

Character developments

• Ran Deng moves from despair to renewed resolve, devising a practical fallback without fully surrendering his ambition to acquire the three lamps.
• The Queen Mother of the West demonstrates patience and strategic judgment, choosing a role that supports both her cultivation and West Kunlun’s interests.
• Minghe returns with a clearer direction and a more serious, restrained demeanor.
• Wu Zhen, newly assigned as a guardian of the Earthly Dao, begins to sense the significance of the gathering.

Significant themes

• Service as a path to power: Both Ran Deng and the Queen Mother seek Earthly Dao merit by taking on roles that help the reincarnation process.
• Balancing ambition with security: Ran Deng preserves his quest for the lamps while establishing a dependable alternative.
• Transformation and release: The souls’ purification and Meng Po’s soup frame reincarnation as a passage from attachment and memory toward renewal.
• Alignment between personal Dao and duty: Each character looks for an Underworld role that complements their own cultivation and long-term goals.

Character interactions

• The three cultivators independently identify ways to contribute to the Underworld, then gather before Lord Wanshouyuan to present their intentions.
• Their contrasting approaches—Minghe’s resolve, Ran Deng’s urgency, and the Queen Mother’s composure—create a tense, expectant scene.
• Lord Wanshouyuan watches them knowingly, while Wu Zhen listens from nearby.

Chapter Summary: Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Minghe’s Submission

Key Plot Points and Events

• In the silent underworld, Lord Wanshouyuan listens as Daoist Ran Deng and Minghe present their requests for a future within the Earthly Dao.
• Ran Deng proposes leaving his Evil Corpse Clone, created through the Spirit Coffin Palace Lantern, in the underworld. The clone would establish a Hall of Listening and Judging to comfort and guide souls trapped by obsessions and vengeance into Reincarnation.
• Ran Deng argues that this arrangement would:
  • Reduce disturbances in the underworld.
  • Earn Earth Dao Merit.
  • Allow his clone and Earth Lamp to be strengthened by the Earthly Dao and Reincarnation Dao Rhyme.
• To preserve the possibility of uniting the Earth, Man, and Heaven Lamps, Ran Deng promises to leave the underworld and search for the Treasure Lotus Lamp and the Eight Sceneries Palace Lantern. He offers to return permanently if he fails.
• Lord Wanshouyuan accepts the plan. Ran Deng’s clone may serve in the underworld, with half its accumulated merit going to the underworld’s public treasury and half nourishing Ran Deng’s clone and lantern. Ran Deng receives ten Yuanhui to pursue the remaining lamps.
• Wanshouyuan reflects that Ran Deng’s proposed role resembles the later Buddhist figure Ksitigarbha, who vows to remain in hell to save suffering beings. However, he recognizes that Ran Deng’s motives are not Buddhist infiltration but a mixture of genuine service, self-preservation, and ambition.
• Minghe then makes a far more direct submission. He asks to remain beside Lord Wanshouyuan and the Six Paths of Reincarnation indefinitely, serving the Earthly Dao and seeking insight into the Asura Great Dao.
• Minghe swears that the Sea of Blood lineage will devote itself entirely to the Earthly Dao. He places a severe curse upon himself should he ever develop divided loyalties.

Character Developments

• Ran Deng demonstrates his characteristic blend of pragmatism, ambition, and adaptability. Though he sincerely offers to help the underworld, he also uses the proposal to preserve his chance of obtaining the Three Lamps and advancing his own cultivation.
• Ran Deng gains a realistic path forward: his clone can accumulate merit in the underworld while his true body continues searching for the missing treasures.
• Lord Wanshouyuan appears calm and farsighted, weighing both the immediate benefits to the Earthly Dao and the hidden motives behind Ran Deng’s proposal. He grants permission while imposing clear limits and conditions.
• Minghe abandons hesitation and calculation. His submission is absolute, emotional, and uncompromising. Rather than negotiating for a temporary arrangement, he binds his entire future and the Sea of Blood lineage to the Earthly Dao.
• Minghe’s primary motivation is not merit or treasure but the opportunity to comprehend the Asura Great Dao through proximity to the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

Significant Themes

• Service and self-interest: Acts of compassion can also serve personal ambitions. Ran Deng’s plan benefits the underworld while helping him pursue his own cultivation goals.
• Legitimacy versus infiltration: Wanshouyuan contrasts Ran Deng’s genuine, if self-serving, commitment with the possibility of future Buddhist forces using compassion as a means to seize Reincarnation authority and Earth Dao resources.
• Fate and compromise: Ran Deng’s ten-Yuanhui deadline provides a compromise between pursuing his original dream and accepting a permanent role in the underworld if that dream fails.
• Absolute loyalty: Minghe’s oath represents a total surrender of personal independence in exchange for a chance to advance the Asura Dao.
• Foundations of power: Merit, Destiny, Reincarnation, and Dao Rhyme are portrayed as resources that can strengthen both individuals and broader spiritual systems.

Character Interactions

• Ran Deng and Lord Wanshouyuan: Ran Deng carefully presents a proposal designed to appeal to the Sage’s interests. Wanshouyuan sees through its calculations but accepts it because it strengthens the underworld and the Earthly Dao.
• Minghe and Lord Wanshouyuan: Minghe approaches with decisive submission, offering loyalty without negotiation. His oath places the relationship on a more personal and absolute footing than Ran Deng’s conditional arrangement.
• Ran Deng and Minghe: Their contrasting approaches highlight their different personalities. Ran Deng relies on planning, bargaining, and fallback options, while Minghe acts through uncompromising commitment and devotion to his chosen path.

Key plot points and events

• Lord Wanshouyuan accepts Minghe’s submission to the Earthly Dao and grants him a Sea of Blood Asura Dojo beside the Reincarnation Disk. Minghe is charged with developing the Asura Dao in service of reincarnation, the creation of living beings, and the perfection of laws; Asura beings and the Blood Sea’s slaughter must remain within underworld jurisdiction.
• The Queen Mother of the West proposes that her pure-yin Good Corpse Clone provisionally take the vacant office of Meng Po at the Bridge of Helplessness. She offers to refine Meng Po Soup with West Kunlun’s spiritual ingredients and help establish the laws governing the passage of souls into rebirth.
• Wanshouyuan approves her proposal, authorizing the underworld’s yin qi and West Kunlun’s resources for the work. With all three petitions granted, he dismisses the group.
• Minghe immediately heads for his new dojo to pursue the Asura Dao.

Character developments and interactions

• Minghe commits himself outright to the Earthly Dao, seeing the Sage’s approval and dedicated dojo as the path he has long sought. His zeal contrasts with Ran Deng’s cautious planning.
• Ran Deng feels envy and briefly wonders whether his careful approach seemed insincere, though he recognizes Minghe’s circumstances and Dao are different.
• The Queen Mother of the West presents herself as a practical collaborator rather than a full subordinate. By committing only her clone—and offering West Kunlun’s resources—she gains a meaningful role in reincarnation while keeping her own position secure.
• Wanshouyuan evaluates the petitioners by their usefulness and compatibility with the Earthly Dao, granting both proposals while setting clear duties and limits.

Significant themes

• Commitment versus caution: Minghe’s wholehearted pledge earns direct recognition, while the others weigh risks and preserve options.
• Service and authority: Spiritual opportunities come with responsibilities to the underworld’s laws and the proper functioning of reincarnation.
• Changing destiny: The Queen Mother’s appointment replaces the expected role of Houtu’s compassionate clone, illustrating how the Earthly Dao creates new paths and alliances.
• Cooperation and mutual benefit: Her proposal links West Kunlun’s resources with the underworld, advancing both reincarnation and her own cultivation.

Plot points and events

• Ran Deng assigns his Evil Corpse Clone to serve as Master of the Hall of Listening and Judging, guiding souls burdened by lingering attachments. He then leaves the underworld to search for a lamp, his sorrow tempered by desperate resolve.
• The Queen Mother of the West creates a Good Corpse Clone to establish Meng Po’s office at the Bridge of Helplessness. The clone merges with Meng Po’s hazy phantom and begins serving broth to souls passing toward reincarnation.
• The new office gradually takes shape: the broth helps souls shed some of their past-life attachments, and an orderly resonance begins to form between Meng Po’s work and the cycle of reincarnation.
• Satisfied that the office is functioning, the Queen Mother returns to West Kunlun to prepare materials to improve the broth and tend to her other responsibilities. She leaves her clone in the underworld and recognizes that the position offers both spiritual insight and a valuable connection between West Kunlun and the Earthly Dao.
• Wu Zhen trains in a cave chosen by Lord Wanshouyuan, learning to refine his exceptional hearing through the Primordial Chaos Cave Profound Listening True Chapter. He also studies the underworld’s duties and laws alongside veteran emissaries.

Character development and interactions

• Ran Deng delegates his underworld duties to his clone before departing. His grief remains, but he is determined to pursue his uncertain goal.
• The Queen Mother of the West acts pragmatically and diplomatically: she establishes a lasting role for her clone, reports her plans respectfully to Lord Wanshouyuan, and considers the long-term benefits for West Kunlun.
• Wu Zhen moves from uncontrolled, passive listening toward focused perception and purposeful cultivation. His inherited will to fight becomes a resolve to protect the Earth Dao and preserve the operation of reincarnation.
• Lord Wanshouyuan oversees the new arrangements, permits the Queen Mother’s departure, and provides Wu Zhen with both instruction and a place to train.

Significant themes

• Duty through delegation: Clones allow powerful figures to fulfill responsibilities while pursuing other aims.
• Reincarnation and release: Meng Po’s broth begins helping souls loosen their attachments before rebirth.
• Purposeful strength: Wu Zhen’s power shifts from stubborn survival to protective resolve.
• Cooperation and mutual benefit: The Queen Mother’s role creates a potential partnership between West Kunlun and the Earthly Dao.

Key plot points and events

• Lord Wanshouyuan transforms into the Six Paths Reincarnation Tree, his true form reshaped by the Ginseng Fruit Tree, Houtu’s vital blood, the Reincarnation Disk, and immeasurable merit.
• Rooted in the disk and joined to the Underworld, the tree helps stabilize the Netherworld’s Reincarnation system. Its presence nourishes the realm and clarifies the flow of Reincarnation and its laws.
• Wu Zhen feels the tree’s resonance during cultivation and gains a much clearer perception of the Earth Dao.
• Back in the Primordial Land, Houtu returns to her tribe. Her eleven brothers, the other Ancestor Witches, rush to meet her, concerned about her time in the Underworld.
• Houtu reassures them that her experience went well and shares lessons they can grasp: the earth’s virtue, the strength to bear burdens, and compassion beyond battle.
• She proposes sending suitable young members of the Witch Clan—especially her own tribe—to serve in the Underworld. They could learn from Reincarnation, help uphold its order, and strengthen the Clan’s ties with the Earthly Dao. Her brothers react with immediate concern.

Character developments and interactions

• Lord Wanshouyuan shifts from a separately manifest Sage into a largely constant presence within the Underworld, sustaining it through the Reincarnation Tree.
• Wu Zhen benefits directly from the tree’s influence, deepening his understanding of the Earth Dao.
• Houtu returns calm and assured, showing both gratitude toward Yuanjun and growing interest in the Witch Clan’s long-term future. She acts as a mediator, translating profound teachings into ideas her brothers can understand.
• The Ancestor Witches show strong familial concern for Houtu. Their curiosity about the Underworld is tempered by wariness, and they are unsettled by the prospect of their people serving there.

Significant themes

• Order and interconnectedness: The Reincarnation Tree links the Underworld’s laws, beings, and cycles into a more stable system.
• Strength as responsibility: True strength can mean bearing burdens and protecting order, not merely winning battles.
• Compassion and change: Houtu’s teachings suggest that courage can mature into compassion, while Reincarnation offers the Witch Clan a path beyond its familiar martial world.
• Family and diplomacy: Houtu’s brothers’ protectiveness contrasts with her effort to build a strategic relationship between the Witch Clan and the Earthly Dao.

Key plot points and events

• The Ancestor Witches debate Houtu’s plan to send some Witch Clan warriors to the Underworld to help establish its order. Zhu Rong, Gonggong, and other combat-minded Witches object, seeing the Underworld as restrictive and reincarnation as irrelevant to their clan.
• Di Jiang, Zhu Jiuyin, Xuanming, and Gou Mang argue that the Earthly Dao may offer the Witches new insights, abilities, and forms of experience. Zhu Jiuyin also warns that rising tensions with the Demon Clan make it wise to explore another path.
• The Ancestor Witches agree to let Houtu test the plan within her own tribe. Houtu begins carefully choosing candidates for their discipline, resilience, responsibility, and capacity to reflect on death—not merely their strength.
• At Wuzhuang Temple, Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, and Daoist Yin Yang review the progress of the Underworld and the Earthly Dao. With the order taking shape and the reincarnation core protected, they decide the time is right for their own pursuits.
• The three resolve to enter the Depths of Chaos to pursue breakthroughs suited to their different Dao paths: Zhenyuanzi will seek to prove the Dao through strength, Hong Yun will pursue Four Symbols Return to Origin, and Yin Yang will deepen his understanding of yin and yang before their separation.

Character developments and interactions

• Houtu persists despite resistance and takes responsibility for carefully selecting the first Witch Clan representatives, recognizing that their conduct will shape the clan’s future relationship with the Earthly Dao.
• Di Jiang balances the clan’s combat traditions with the potential benefits of new experience, while Zhu Jiuyin supports the proposal partly because of the dangers posed by the Demon Clan.
• Zhu Rong and Gonggong voice the most direct opposition, reflecting the more martial Witches’ discomfort with the Underworld.
• Xuanming and Gou Mang identify ways the Underworld’s conditions and cycles of life and death might complement their divine abilities and the clan’s growth.
• Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, and Yin Yang display mutual trust and shared resolve. Their distinct cultivation goals converge on Chaos as the best setting for profound, relatively unrestrained breakthroughs.

Significant themes

• Tradition versus adaptation: The Witches must consider whether their identity can accommodate paths beyond battle.
• Order, responsibility, and leadership: Houtu’s selection process emphasizes discipline and service over raw power.
• Uncertainty and preparation: The looming Demon Clan threat makes alternative avenues of growth strategically valuable.
• The search for transcendence: The three friends see Chaos as a place to escape the constraints of the Primordial World and pursue their Dao paths more freely.

Plot points

• Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, and Daoist Yin Yang carefully weigh the dangers of entering Chaos—its lethal energies, distortions, and uncertain beings—against the need to grow stronger before upheaval reaches the Primordial Wilderness. After discussing supplies, mutual support, and emergency plans, they agree to venture into Chaos to seek breakthroughs.
• Before they depart, Zhenyuanzi summons Kong Xuan and Nuwa. Kong Xuan, a peak Great Luo Golden Immortal, has reached the limits of his five-element cultivation but lacks a clear path to advance. Nuwa has recently entered the Primordial Chaos Golden Immortal realm and feels confident about her direction.
• Zhenyuanzi explains how Hong Yun’s “return to origin” approach parallels Hongjun’s Three Corpses method: one unifies inner essence, while the other divides outward manifestations, yet both seek transcendence.
• He then outlines a path tailored to Kong Xuan. Using the five Innate Five Elements Banners, Kong Xuan can sever five imbalances in his Dao—such as excessive sharpness in metal or stagnation in earth—purify his five-element foundation, and ultimately reunite the five aspects into complete harmony. This should allow him to form the Primordial Chaos Dao Fruit.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhenyuanzi demonstrates his caution and strategic wisdom in planning the journey, then acts as Kong Xuan’s teacher by identifying a method suited to his nature and abilities.
• Hong Yun remains bold about entering Chaos and explains the philosophical distinction between his unifying method and the Three Corpses method.
• Daoist Yin Yang supports the expedition, stressing the group’s complementary skills and the opportunities Chaos may offer.
• Kong Xuan is proud but uncertain about his final step in cultivation; Zhenyuanzi’s guidance gives him a concrete route forward.
• Nuwa contrasts with Kong Xuan: her recent breakthrough has left her calm and expectant rather than lost.

Significant themes

• Risk and preparation: Progress requires facing danger, but the three elders approach that risk through careful planning and mutual reliance.
• Unity and division: Different cultivation methods can appear opposed while pursuing the same ultimate truth.
• A path suited to one’s nature: Kong Xuan’s advancement depends on refining the distinctive strengths and imbalances of his own five-element Dao.
• Purification before integration: His proposed breakthrough requires first correcting each element’s excess, then reuniting the purified aspects into harmony.

Key plot points and events

• Zhenyuanzi reveals a path for Kong Xuan: use the Innate Five Elements Banners to sever the imbalances among the five elements, then reunite them to pursue the Dao. He leaves Kong Xuan to work out the method and its risks himself.
• Kong Xuan receives the five banners and is charged with studying them while continuing to guard the Mountain Gate and tend the Earth Veins.
• Zhenyuanzi invites Nuwa to accompany him, Hong Yun, and Daoist Yin Yang into Chaos. Their distinct quests—Earth-Evolving Chaos Power, Four Symbols Return to Origin, and the transformation of Chaos into yin and yang—will let her witness the Great Dao Origin being reshaped and deepen her Dao of Creation.
• Zhenyuanzi emphasizes that Nuwa’s path is tied to the coming rise of the Human Dao, whose future will depend in part on her understanding and guidance.
• Daoist Yin Yang entrusts the Taiji Diagram to Jin Peng and Fuxi. It contains his latest insights and preparations for possible future “Variables”; he assigns each disciple guidance suited to their cultivation and asks them to work with the other disciples to protect Wuzhuang Temple.
• The four elders depart for Chaos. Zhenyuanzi opens a fissure in the Primordial World, and each traveler uses a protective treasure or power to withstand the Chaos Energy Streams. The opening seals behind them, leaving their disciples behind.

Character developments and interactions

• Kong Xuan moves from uncertainty to confidence after receiving a clear direction for his cultivation. He expresses deep gratitude and vows to honor his teacher’s trust.
• Nuwa recognizes the value of observing her elders’ experiments in Chaos and accepts the responsibility she may one day bear for the Human Dao.
• Daoist Yin Yang shows warmth and trust toward Jin Peng and Fuxi by leaving them his supreme treasure and practical instructions.
• Jin Peng and Fuxi respond to the responsibility with solemn vows to cultivate, safeguard the temple, and cooperate with their fellow disciples.
• The four departing figures share a sense of resolve, while their disciples watch in awe and apprehension.

Significant themes

• Teaching and self-directed cultivation: A teacher can reveal a path, but the disciple must understand its details, dangers, and choices independently.
• Trust and responsibility: Treasures and duties are entrusted to the younger generation as the elders depart.
• Different paths toward the Dao: Each elder pursues a distinct transformation of the Great Dao, while their efforts may illuminate Nuwa’s creative path.
• The future of the Human Dao: Nuwa’s cultivation is presented as inseparable from the coming development of humanity and the wider Primordial World.

Plot points and events

• Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, Daoist Yin Yang, and Nuwa travel through Chaos, where time has no clear meaning. Each studies the primordial realm in pursuit of their own Dao.
• Daoist Yin Yang recognizes that the moment for his breakthrough has arrived. Zhenyuanzi and Hong Yun stabilize the surrounding Chaos to protect him, while Nuwa observes from a safe distance and uses her diagram to study the changing Qi.
• Daoist Yin Yang withdraws his Taiji phantom into himself and becomes a seeming point between existence and nonexistence. Pure black Yin and white Yang emerge and revolve, manifesting a vast Taiji diagram whose laws begin to impose faint patterns on the chaotic currents.
• The three companions each perceive insights relevant to their cultivation: Zhenyuanzi witnesses the first movement from nothing into something; Hong Yun glimpses primordial traces of the Four Symbols; and Nuwa considers how creation, transformation, and destruction relate.
• As the group absorbs these revelations, the Taiji phantom suddenly begins spinning faster, setting up the next development.

Character developments and interactions

• Daoist Yin Yang moves from quiet preparation into a pivotal breakthrough, manifesting his Great Dao directly rather than through a treasure.
• Zhenyuanzi and Hong Yun coordinate without needing discussion, combining their powers to create a stable space and support their friend’s breakthrough. They also learn from what they witness.
• Nuwa grows through careful observation, treating her martial uncle’s cultivation as a living lesson and gaining new perspectives on her Dao of Creation.
• The companions’ shared journey is both practical and intellectual: they protect one another while learning from each other’s paths.

Significant themes

• Unity and division: Yin and Yang emerge from a prior undivided state, and their interplay begins to shape order within Chaos.
• Creation and transformation: The chapter asks whether creation means bringing something from nothing, unfolding many things from one, or returning them to their source.
• The Dao as both personal and shared: Each character follows a distinct path, yet one person’s breakthrough offers insight to all.
• Order arising from chaos: The Taiji’s influence gives some disorderly currents structure, hinting at the principles behind world formation.

Key events

• Daoist Yin Yang manifests the Dao’s generative cycle: yin and yang produce the Four Symbols, which produce the Eight Trigrams, which point toward the creation of all things. He then reverses the process, showing all things returning through the trigrams and symbols to yin and yang.
• The visions disappear into a greatly strengthened Taiji Diagram, which merges back into Daoist Yin Yang. He reaches the peak of the Primordial Chaos Golden Immortal realm and breaks through to Primordial Chaos Great Luo.
• Though the demonstration lasts only moments, it gives Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, and Nuwa major insights into their own paths.

Character developments and interactions

• Daoist Yin Yang emerges with not a visibly greater force but a sense of perfect harmony and completeness, more deeply connected to Chaos and the world’s complementary opposites.
• Zhenyuanzi sees that strength can create and sustain, not merely destroy. The balance and cycles of yin and yang clarify his path to proving the Dao through strength.
• Hong Yun realizes that Return to Origin means tracing the underlying thread of evolution, not forcibly absorbing and blending things. He openly thanks Yin Yang for revealing a way forward.
• Nuwa reflects that creation depends on understanding how life and forms evolve from the Dao, not just giving beings form, spirit, and awareness. She considers incorporating yin-yang, the Four Symbols, and the Eight Trigrams into her Creation Dao, potentially producing beings with deeper Dao resonance and greater potential. Her insights also lead toward the Human Dao, still unformed but connected to her fortune.

Significant themes

• Creation and return: The same cycle that generates multiplicity also leads everything back to its source.
• Balance and transformation: Reality develops through the interaction of opposites, while harmony and cycles ultimately stabilize it.
• Learning through observation: Yin Yang’s breakthrough becomes a revelation for others, helping each refine a distinct Dao.
• Foundations over immediate power: Nuwa’s insight does not raise her cultivation at once, but promises a stronger basis for future growth.

Key plot points and events

• Daoist Yin Yang completes his breakthrough into primordial chaos Great Luo, unifying his Yin-Yang Dao and establishing his status through his own Great Dao rather than the Heavenly Dao.
• Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, and Nuwa witness the transformation. Hong Yun gains confidence in his path of returning to the origin, while Zhenyuanzi’s resolve to prove the Dao through strength becomes firmer. Nuwa sees new possibilities for her Dao of Creation.
• Yin Yang credits his success to his companions’ protection, the opportunities of Chaos, and accumulated past connections and insights.
• A powerful presence approaches: Great Immortal Yang Mei, an ancient survivor of the Chaos Demon Gods who commands the fundamental Space Great Dao.
• Yang Mei recognizes Yin Yang as an old acquaintance who has reclaimed his origin. After exchanging greetings with the group, he invites Yin Yang to discuss the Dao. Yin Yang agrees.
• The two sit in Chaos and begin their exchange. Yang Mei’s spatial Dao unfolds across vast, layered dimensions, distorting distance and time and making him seem the ruler of the surrounding space.

Character developments

• Yin Yang emerges transformed but remains humble and composed, treating his breakthrough as a new beginning rather than a cause for pride.
• Zhenyuanzi is inspired rather than discouraged by the gulf between his level and Yin Yang’s; the breakthrough confirms that an independent path to the pinnacle is possible.
• Hong Yun feels renewed confidence in pursuing his own return-to-origin path.
• Nuwa gains a vision of creation extending beyond making life toward the evolution of the Great Dao.
• Yang Mei appears as a calm, genial but immensely powerful elder, approaching Yin Yang as an equal and fellow seeker.

Significant themes

• Self-proven transcendence: True attainment comes from realizing one’s own Dao, not relying on the Heavenly Dao’s recognition.
• Friendship and mutual cultivation: Yin Yang’s progress reflects protection, shared discussions, and accumulated connections.
• Inspiration across different paths: Witnessing another’s success strengthens each companion’s distinct aspirations.
• Dao as lived reality: The discussion of the Dao manifests directly through changes to space and time, showing that it is more than verbal debate.

Character interactions

• Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, and Nuwa respond with reverence and congratulations, while Yin Yang accepts their respect without arrogance.
• Yang Mei and Yin Yang recognize one another as ancient fellow survivors and exchange formal greetings.
• Yang Mei praises the younger group, especially Nuwa, before inviting Yin Yang to compare their insights; the others prepare to learn by listening.

Chapter Summary: “Yinyang and Yang Mei”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Mei demonstrates the Primordial Chaos-level Space Great Dao, revealing that space is not merely a container but a fundamental framework that gives structure, possibility, change, and existence to all things.
• Zhenyuanzi, Hongyun, and Nuwa are deeply affected by this revelation. Each begins reconsidering how space relates to their own Dao:
  • Zhenyuanzi questions whether the Earthly Dao and his pursuit of proving the Dao through strength must overcome the fundamental limitations of space.
  • Hongyun considers whether space must be incorporated into his Four Symbols Return to Origin.
  • Nuwa realizes that creation requires not only Yin Yang, Five Elements, vitality, and spirit, but also space as the framework in which life exists.
• Daoist Yin Yang responds not with resistance, but by manifesting his own Primordial Chaos Yin Yang Great Dao within Yang Mei’s spatial domain.
• Yin Yang brings distinction, balance, motion, order, and vitality to Yang Mei’s vast and abstract Space Dao. A Tai Chi vision appears, representing the balance between expansion and contraction, existence and nonexistence, and the unfolding and convergence of space.
• The two Great Daos resonate rather than clash. Their interaction deepens both:
  • Space becomes more ordered and rational through Yin Yang.
  • Yin Yang becomes more expansive and comprehensive through Space.
• The surrounding Chaos transforms through the discourse, displaying dimensional crystal walls, intertwined laws, and cycles of creation and destruction. The observers experience an intense baptism and acceleration of their own insights.
• After the discourse, Yang Mei praises Yin Yang’s understanding of the “constant” within spatial change, while Yin Yang acknowledges Space as the environment and framework necessary for Yin Yang’s circulation.
• Yang Mei warns that the Primordial Wilderness is approaching a major calamity: the Heavenly Dao will merge, Sages will emerge, the Witch-Demon conflict is approaching, and the rising Earthly Dao will also be drawn into the crisis.
• He emphasizes that hiding in Chaos can delay trouble but cannot sever the Karma connected to the Primordial Wilderness.
• Yang Mei departs by withdrawing his existence from space itself, leaving no trace except lingering Dao Rhymes and his cryptic suggestion that the remnants of Chaos may eventually seek a true home after the Primordial Wilderness’ “chess game” concludes.
• Afterward, Yin Yang begins stabilizing his newly attained realm and offers continued protection to Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun while they prepare to attack the final barriers of their own Daos.
• Nuwa remains to absorb the insights of the discourse and strengthen the foundation of her Creation Dao.
• The chapter closes by noting that Hongjun’s process of merging with the Heavenly Dao senses Yin Yang’s breakthrough and Yang Mei’s appearance, but the Heavenly Dao’s overall trend remains outwardly unchanged. Nevertheless, these independent choices may become true variables beyond Heaven’s calculations.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Yang Mei appears as an ancient, profound, and detached figure whose understanding of Space surpasses the Primordial World. Although powerful, he is willing to exchange insights and treats Daoist Yin Yang as an intellectual equal.
• Daoist Yin Yang successfully proves the Primordial Chaos Dao and demonstrates that Yin Yang is a foundational principle underlying not only life and change but even the existence and operation of space. His Dao becomes more refined through the exchange with Yang Mei.
• Zhenyuanzi gains a deeper understanding of Earth and Space and becomes even more determined to prove the Dao through strength. He intends to confront calamity directly and break through every restriction threatening himself and those he values.
• Hongyun abandons his usual carefree attitude and adopts a more resolute stance. He accepts that Karma cannot be escaped and vows to return to the Primordial Wilderness once he finds his opportunity to return to origin.
• Nuwa gains an expanded understanding of Creation. She recognizes that her future responsibility toward the Human Dao is connected to the coming calamities and resolves to fulfill her inheritance and her master’s expectations.
• Yin Yang, Zhenyuanzi, Hongyun, and Nuwa form a united group preparing for the coming upheavals, though each follows a distinct path toward enlightenment.
• Yang Mei and Yin Yang’s interaction is one of mutual recognition: their Dao principles complement each other, and their discourse benefits both rather than becoming a contest for supremacy.

Significant Themes

• Space as a fundamental law: Space is portrayed as an active principle that structures existence, rather than an empty background.
• Complementarity of Dao: Yin Yang and Space are not opposites that must conflict; they complete and deepen one another.
• Change and constancy: Yang Mei’s Space Dao reveals change and transformation, while Yin Yang identifies the constant balance underlying those changes.
• Dao as mutual verification: True cultivation involves exchanging perspectives and allowing one’s Dao to be tested, expanded, and refined through contact with other supreme principles.
• Karma cannot be escaped: Retreating into Chaos may provide safety and time, but the consequences and connections of the Primordial Wilderness must eventually be confronted.
• Individual will versus cosmic destiny: The Heavenly Dao follows its apparent course, yet the characters’ choices may produce variables beyond Heaven’s predetermined trend.
• Preparation for calamity: The chapter marks a transition from observation and cultivation toward active preparation for the approaching Witch-Demon calamity and the wider transformation of the Primordial Wilderness.
• Inheritance and responsibility: Nuwa’s growing awareness of the Human Dao emphasizes that greater power brings heavier obligations.

Overall Significance

The chapter marks the successful completion of Yin Yang’s Dao-Proving and elevates the surrounding characters’ understanding of their own paths. Yang Mei’s visit transforms the Chaos refuge into a place of inspiration and cultivation while warning that no one can permanently avoid the coming calamities. The protagonists emerge more determined: Yin Yang consolidates his realm, Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun prepare to break through, and Nuwa strengthens the foundation of her future role in the Human Dao.

Key plot points and events

• In the still-unsettled region of Chaos where Daoist Yin Yang attained the Dao and discussed its mysteries with Yang Mei, Zhenyuanzi and Hong Yun continue meditating.
• Zhenyuanzi studies the principle of “evolution returning to its source,” combining it with his understanding of earth and strength. Hong Yun refines his path of “Four Symbols Return to Origin,” drawing on insights into yin-yang and space.
• Both realize they are ready to attempt breakthroughs. Zhenyuanzi invites Hong Yun to go first, both to protect his friend and to observe a process that may inform his own later attempt to Prove the Dao with Strength.
• Hong Yun accepts and reveals four Dao Bodies—Azure Wood, Li Fire, Geng Metal, and Dark Water—each representing one aspect of the Four Symbols Great Dao.
• Calling on the ancient remnants of Chaos, Hong Yun summons four primal Dao resonances: ultimate earth, fire, metal, and water. Each resonance merges with its corresponding Dao Body, greatly amplifying it and briefly evoking the ancient Chaos Demon Gods associated with those forces.
• The chapter ends as Hong Yun begins the crucial work of using his perfected Dao Bodies as vessels to receive, refine, and unify the scattered origins of Chaos’s four extremes.

Character developments

• Zhenyuanzi demonstrates patience, strategic judgment, and concern for Hong Yun. He postpones his own breakthrough because Hong Yun’s process offers useful insight and because Zhenyuanzi’s attempt would cause a greater disturbance.
• Hong Yun shows confidence and trust in his close friend. His previously refined Four Symbols path now reaches its decisive stage, shifting from harmonizing the elements toward unifying them as one.

Significant themes

• Evolution and return to origin: Both cultivators seek to trace many forces back to a fundamental source.
• Unity through multiplicity: Hong Yun’s four distinct Dao Bodies and elemental resonances are intended to converge into a single origin.
• Friendship and mutual support: Zhenyuanzi’s decision to let Hong Yun proceed first reflects their deep understanding and lack of need for formal courtesy.
• Learning through observation: Hong Yun’s breakthrough may guide Zhenyuanzi’s own path to enlightenment.

Character interactions

• Zhenyuanzi offers Hong Yun the first opportunity, explaining both his concern for his friend and the value of witnessing the breakthrough.
• Hong Yun responds warmly and accepts without hesitation, recognizing that the process will benefit Zhenyuanzi too. Their exchange underscores their close friendship and shared spiritual purpose.

Key plot points and events

• Hong Yun undertakes a dangerous breakthrough, using his perfected Four Symbols Dao Bodies and prior insights to withstand the chaotic will embedded in the remnants of ancient powers.
• The four bodies—Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind—reach near-peak power, then begin violently clashing. Hong Yun declares that he will find the “one” left after conflict ends in annihilation, rather than suppressing or reconciling the forces.
• He dissolves the four bodies into pure Origin Laws and draws their torrents into his own Dao body. As the opposing laws threaten to destroy him, they cancel one another out and give birth to harmonious One-Origin Qi.
• Hong Yun’s body transforms into an immense four-colored cloud, revealing his original form. Its elements flow into one another in an endless, self-sustaining cycle: the perfected expression of Four Symbols Return to Origin.
• The cloud contracts, and Hong Yun resumes his Dao-body form, now having successfully attained the Dao.

Character developments

• Hong Yun completes a perilous breakthrough, transforming elemental conflict into a unified, dynamic system. His new aura is balanced, unbound, and authoritative.
• Zhenyuanzi gains valuable insight into how to break and then establish anew—knowledge relevant to his own ambition to cleave Chaos and create the limitless.
• Nuwa recognizes Hong Yun’s breakthrough as a form of creation: not making individual beings, but creating a complete Dao system. This expands her understanding of the Dao of Creation.
• Daoist Yin Yang watches closely and approves, prepared to intervene if Hong Yun’s origin collapses.

Significant themes

• Conflict as a path to harmony: opposing forces can reach a point of annihilation and give rise to a greater balance.
• Break and then establish: destruction is not merely an end; it can make room for a new, more complete order.
• Return to origin and unity: the many distinct elements become One-Origin Qi without losing their role in the whole.
• Creation as system-building: creation can mean establishing an internally harmonious cycle, not only forming beings or things.

Character interactions

• Daoist Yin Yang, Zhenyuanzi, and Nuwa observe Hong Yun’s transformation, sharing concern as he nears collapse.
• Daoist Yin Yang stands ready to stabilize Hong Yun but does not need to intervene.
• Hong Yun’s breakthrough directly inspires Zhenyuanzi and Nuwa, each applying its principles to their own cultivation and understanding of the Dao.

Key plot points and events

• Hong Yun successfully proves the Dao through his Four Symbols Return to Origin method, becoming a Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal. His breakthrough fills the surrounding Chaos with powerful Dao resonance.
• He celebrates his newfound freedom and encourages Zhenyuanzi to attempt his own breakthrough.
• Zhenyuanzi commits to proving the Dao through strength, but defines “strength” not as brute force: he seeks to master the relationship between earth and Chaos.
• His method is to evolve Chaos from earth, allowing destruction and creation to arise within Chaos before all things ultimately return to earth. Rather than imitate Pangu’s act of splitting open Chaos, he follows a path rooted in his own understanding of earth.
• Using the Book of the Earth, Zhenyuanzi releases its Profound Yellow earth essence and reverses its qualities—bearing, stability, and growth—into the primordial, undivided nature of Chaos.
• The process places immense pressure on the treasure and tests the foundation of Zhenyuanzi’s Dao. At its end, the earth essence vanishes, leaving a ten-foot Chaos Qi cluster dense with primordial force.

Character developments

• Hong Yun moves from long pursuit to hard-won liberation. His success gives him confidence in Zhenyuanzi’s chances, and he becomes an enthusiastic supporter.
• Zhenyuanzi grows more resolute after witnessing his friends’ breakthroughs. He clarifies a distinctive, ambitious path based on earth’s deepest connection to Chaos.
• Nuwa watches intently through her Creation Eye and recognizes that Zhenyuanzi’s method challenges the boundary between creation and Returning Ruins.
• Daoist Yin Yang recognizes an affinity between Zhenyuanzi’s method and his own return-to-origin approach, while noting their different starting points.

Significant themes

• Freedom through self-realization: Each cultivator finds a personal route beyond the constraints of Chaos.
• Transformation and return: Earth can be traced backward into Chaos, suggesting that creation and its source are linked in a cycle.
• Distinct paths to the Dao: Zhenyuanzi’s method is neither brute force nor imitation, but a unique expression of his understanding.
• Creation and destruction as connected forces: The same process that dissolves established forms can reveal a more fundamental origin.

Character interactions

• Hong Yun congratulates Zhenyuanzi and urges him onward; Zhenyuanzi asks him to consolidate his realm and guard him during the attempt.
• Nuwa and Daoist Yin Yang observe the dangerous transformation, while Hong Yun openly praises Zhenyuanzi’s ingenuity.

Plot points and events

• Zhenyuanzi turns his understanding of earth into a dense, “earth-natured” Chaos Qi Cluster, then provokes destruction within it.
• Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind erupt as violent torrents. Rather than let them destroy the cluster at random, he guides them into early functions and laws: earth condenses, fire tempers and purifies, water nourishes and connects, and wind circulates and changes.
• These forces begin to interact and evolve into a miniature model of a primordial world. Zhenyuanzi then withdraws most of his control and invokes his Dao’s principle: all things arise, but ultimately return to earth.
• The resulting explosion preserves the cluster’s emerging laws and forms. A force of “return,” channeled through Zhenyuanzi and the Book of the Earth, draws the scattered energy and Dao traces back toward the book.

Character development and interactions

• Zhenyuanzi demonstrates not only immense power but also the insight and resolve to create order within destruction. Though weakened and bleeding Dao blood, he persists, culminating in a risky act that expresses the core of his Dao: bearing and gathering all things.
• Nuwa watches in awe. Seeing the creation of a world’s laws—not merely its living beings—loosens her bottleneck and inspires new possibilities for her Dao of Creation.
• Daoist Yin Yang and Hong Yun are likewise captivated by the originality and depth of Zhenyuanzi’s undertaking.

Significant themes

• Creation through destruction: New forms and laws emerge from violent upheaval.
• Order within chaos: Zhenyuanzi shapes primal forces into the beginnings of a functioning world.
• The earth as bearer and return: Earth does more than support creation; it receives, gathers, and brings all things back to their source.
• Dao through practice: Zhenyuanzi proves his Dao by embodying its principle in a dangerous act, rather than merely explaining it.

Plot points and events

• Zhenyuanzi completes his dangerous cultivation cycle: using the earth to evolve chaos, allowing destruction to lead to creation, and returning all things to the earth.
• The energy flowing through this cycle enters the Book of the Earth, transforming it from an innate supreme treasure into a Chaos Spirit Treasure. Its pages now embody dynamic cycles of chaos, destruction, creation, and return.
• The transformed book refines the energy and channels it back into Zhenyuanzi, strengthening and reshaping his Dao.
• Zhenyuanzi breaks free of the Primordial World’s limits and attains the Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal Dao Fruit. The Book of the Earth becomes an extension of his Great Dao.
• Daoist Yin Yang, Hong Yun, and Nuwa congratulate him. The four travelers’ progress is affirmed: Yin Yang, Hong Yun, and Zhenyuanzi have all attained the Dao, while Nuwa has greatly deepened her foundation in the Dao of Creation.

Character development and interactions

• Zhenyuanzi completes his arduous path with composure and satisfaction. His presence becomes vast, weighty, and enduring, reflecting his Dao of bearing, strength, and return to the source.
• The Book of the Earth evolves alongside him, changing from a defensive and recording treasure into a powerful manifestation of his Dao.
• Daoist Yin Yang, Hong Yun, and Nuwa share sincere admiration and happiness for Zhenyuanzi, having witnessed his distinctive breakthrough. Zhenyuanzi acknowledges them and shares a quiet, resonant bond with his transformed treasure.
• Nuwa, though not attaining the Dao in this chapter, gains valuable insight and a firmer foundation for her future path.

Significant themes

• Transformation through cycles: Destruction and creation are interconnected, and all things ultimately return to their source.
• Unity of cultivator and treasure: The Book of the Earth’s advancement both reflects and strengthens Zhenyuanzi’s Great Dao.
• Individual paths to enlightenment: Each cultivator reaches the Dao through a distinct understanding and method.
• Endurance and culmination: Zhenyuanzi’s breakthrough rewards a perilous journey with lasting transcendence.

Key plot points and events

• Zhenyuanzi, Daoist Yin Yang, and Hong Yun attain the Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal Dao Fruit in the Depths of Chaos. Meanwhile, events in the Primordial World intensify.
• Di Jun and Tai Yi arrive in the Northern Darkness with nearly all the Demon Clan’s leading Demon Gods. Tai Yi carries the Chaos Bell, and the group’s linked auras seal the region, making clear this is an act of coercion rather than a friendly visit.
• Kunpeng, ruler of the Northern Darkness and holder of a Hong Meng Purple Qi, has been trying desperately to discover its path to sainthood. He has made progress but has not crossed the final threshold.
• Di Jun presents the Demon Clan’s plan to establish the Heavenly Court and offers Kunpeng an honored position if he gives the purple qi to Tai Yi for study. Tai Yi’s silence and the surrounding force make the threat behind the offer unmistakable.
• Kunpeng recognizes that hiding or refusing may bring an assault on his palace and devastate his domain. The chapter ends with him inwardly rejecting the pressure in anger; his response is not yet revealed.

Character developments and interactions

• Kunpeng is revealed as ambitious and wary: he hopes sainthood will let him stand as Di Jun and Tai Yi’s equal, but his failure to decipher the purple qi leaves him vulnerable. He maintains a composed exterior despite his resentment.
• Di Jun acts as a persuasive ruler, framing the demand as a generous reward and as part of the Heavenly Dao’s direction, while using overwhelming force to secure compliance.
• Tai Yi reinforces the ultimatum without speaking, gripping the Chaos Bell and fixing Kunpeng with a threatening gaze.
• The Demon Gods, led by Bai Ze and others, function as the visible machinery of pressure, blocking escape and backing Di Jun’s proposal with force.
• The encounter pits Di Jun’s imperial authority and promises of shared power against Kunpeng’s independence and hope of attaining sainthood.

Significant themes

• Power disguised as generosity: Di Jun’s offer of honor and protection is backed by an encirclement that leaves Kunpeng little real choice.
• Ambition and control: Kunpeng’s purple qi represents a route to power outside the Demon Clan’s command, making him a threat to its plans.
• The cost of delayed opportunity: Kunpeng’s inability to reach sainthood in time allows the Demon Clan to act before he can secure his independence.
• Expansion of rule: The planned Heavenly Court signals the Demon Clan’s effort to organize and dominate the Primordial World.

Chapter summary

• Kunpeng refuses Di Jun’s offer to surrender the Hong Meng Purple Qi in exchange for status and protection within the Demon Clan. He sees the offer as a trap: giving up the key to his own path to Sainthood would leave him dependent on Di Jun and Tai Yi’s promises.
• Tai Yi attacks after Kunpeng rejects them, striking with the Chaos Bell. Kunpeng evades the direct blow using his famed Kunpeng Extreme Speed, though the shockwave still injures and destabilizes him.
• Di Jun orders the Northern Darkness sealed. More than a dozen Demon Gods take positions and coordinate with the emerging Great Formation of the Stars of the Heavens. Its stellar power traps Kunpeng, weakens the region’s natural protections, and damages his territory and palace.
• Kunpeng fights back, revealing part of his true form and drawing two treasures: the Northern Darkness Fan, which commands the region’s cold, wind, and weak water, and the Freedom Sword, a swift, space-piercing weapon.
• Di Jun uses the He Tu Luo Shu to unleash a river of stellar light over the Northern Darkness, while Tai Yi charges Kunpeng as a Golden Crow with the Chaos Bell and true sun fire. The confrontation is still underway when the excerpt ends.

Character developments and interactions

• Kunpeng rejects security at the cost of his independence and ambition. Though furious and under heavy pressure, he relies on his own speed, treasures, and knowledge of the Northern Darkness rather than submitting.
• Di Jun proves calculating and determined: after diplomacy fails, he coordinates the Demon Gods and uses the stellar formation to prevent Kunpeng’s escape.
• Tai Yi is impatient and forceful, moving quickly from negotiation to violence and leading the direct assault.
• Their interaction shifts from coercive persuasion to open conflict: Kunpeng recognizes the offer as a bid to control him, and the brothers respond to his refusal by attempting to seize the Purple Qi by force.

Significant themes

• Independence versus power and security: Kunpeng would rather risk death than surrender control of his future.
• Distrust of political promises: the chapter questions whether guarantees of protection mean anything when rulers’ ambitions and collective interests change.
• Power and coercion: the Demon Clan’s formation, treasures, and numbers demonstrate how political authority can become overwhelming force.
• The cost of ambition: the Purple Qi represents the chance at Sainthood, making it valuable enough to endanger Kunpeng’s life and destroy his homeland.

Plot points and events

• Kunpeng uses the Northern Darkness Fan to shape ice and weak water into defenses, while the Freedom Sword’s speed lets him briefly threaten Tai Yi—even piercing part of the Chaos Bell’s suppressive domain.
• Di Jun tightens the Great Formation of the Stars of the Heavens, and Tai Yi uses the Chaos Bell’s “Chaos Returns to Void” to restrict Kunpeng’s movement. Starlight chains eventually break through his defenses, wound him badly, and bind him.
• Faced with capture, Kunpeng appears to yield the Hong Meng purple qi, but instead pours his remaining power, blood essence, and part of his primordial spirit into his two spirit treasures and detonates them.
• The blasts shatter the chains, rupture the Chaos Bell’s domain, disrupt the star formation, and injure nearby Demon Gods. Amid the chaos, Kunpeng’s nearly extinguished true spirit and remnant soul secretly escape toward the newly established Netherworld.
• The purple qi emerges from the blast. Tai Yi claims it, while Di Jun declares Kunpeng dead, orders Northern Darkness brought under the Heavenly Court, and commands that the purple qi be kept secret.
• The Demon Court believes Kunpeng has been destroyed. In reality, his surviving essence has taken refuge in the Netherworld, preserving his memories and hatred.

Character developments and interactions

• Kunpeng shifts from confident, resourceful resistance to apparent defeat, then makes a desperate sacrifice that conceals an escape. His apparent death is both a tactical gambit and the beginning of a potential return.
• Tai Yi relies on the Chaos Bell’s overwhelming force and coordination with Di Jun; after Kunpeng’s apparent death, he eagerly seizes the purple qi as a path toward sagehood.
• Di Jun directs the battlefield through the stellar formation and, once Kunpeng seems dead, turns victory into a political claim over Northern Darkness while suppressing news of the purple qi.
• Bai Ze warns of Kunpeng’s planned detonation, but cannot prevent it. The other Demon Gods witness the blast and accept the official account despite some unease.
• Kunpeng’s conflict with Tai Yi and Di Jun is marked by mutual tactical coordination on their side and Kunpeng’s determined defiance on the other. Their victory is real in the short term, but they unknowingly let their enemy escape.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and survival: Kunpeng destroys his treasured weapons and much of himself to escape an otherwise fatal defeat.
• Appearance versus reality: The Demon Court mistakes Kunpeng’s apparent death for true destruction, while the reader knows his remnant survives.
• Power and ambition: The struggle over the purple qi reflects the pursuit of sagehood and the Heavenly Court’s desire to strengthen its rule.
• Competing cosmic orders: Kunpeng’s escape into the Netherworld hints at an alternative earth-based Dao system, distinct from the Heavenly Dao, that may shelter his future plans.