Chapter Summaries

Li Hao helped Laozi and Tongtian combine their three corpses, while Zhu Rong beat Yuanshi’s Evil Corpse and drove him away. With the Three Pure Ones’ preparations complete, Li Hao tried to leave, but Laozi stopped him to ask what they should do next.

• Zhu Rong beat Yuanshi’s Evil Corpse and sent him away with a warning not to return for a hundred thousand years.
• Dijiang and the other Ancestor Witches released Li Hao after he assured them he had calmed down.
• Li Hao warned the Three Pure Ones to make the Good Corpse or True Self Corpse their primary body, not the Evil Corpse.
• Laozi and Tongtian’s three corpses arrived, and the two completed their combinations as Taishang Laojun and Daoist Qinglian.
• Li Hao started to leave, but Laozi stopped him and asked what the Three Pure Ones should do next.

Li Hao explained to the Three Pure Ones that merit required a righteous cause, then urged them to establish teachings on a grand scale. Dijiang transported them to the human canyon, where Laozi and Tongtian’s saintly physical bodies were left with them as they continued pondering their plan.

• Li Hao connected the merit earned during the ferocious beast tribulation to righteous causes and grand vows, prompting the Ancestor Witches to recognize the significance of his explanation.
• Laozi asked whether the Three Pure Ones had earned little merit because they had not made a grand vow, and Zhu Rong rebuked them for missing Li Hao’s point.
• Zhu Rong explained that a righteous cause let their actions represent a faction, and Laozi and Tongtian realized their mistake while Yuanshi struggled to respond.
• Li Hao told the Three Pure Ones to establish teachings as grandly as possible and asked Dijiang to escort them without attracting attention.
• Dijiang teleported the Three Pure Ones to the human canyon, left them with Laozi and Tongtian’s saintly physical bodies, and departed as the group pondered how to establish a righteous cause.

Taishang Laojun, Yuanshi’s evil corpse, and Tongtian’s True Self Corpse established the Human, Chan, and Interception Sects and became Saints. As the Three Pure Ones worried that their looming attainment of the Dao would expose their two bodies to a mysterious observer, Dijiang arrived to take them away, while Hongjun rejoiced at gaining three helpers and began watching them.

• Taishang Laojun proclaimed the Golden Elixir method and established the Human Sect, gaining the Saint Fruit Status through merit.
• Yuanshi’s evil corpse established the Chan Sect, and Tongtian’s True Self Corpse established the Interception Sect; both became Saints.
• The Three Pure Ones’ avatars headed back to Kunlun Mountain, while Yuanshi’s Jade Void Saint avoided the human valley guarded by the Witch Tribe.
• Laozi warned Yuanshi and Tongtian that their future attainment of the Dao would reveal their two bodies, and the three wondered how to conceal themselves.
• Dijiang appeared, said Thirteenth Brother had anticipated their predicament, and transported the Three Pure Ones away.
• Hongjun celebrated the Three Pure Ones’ sainthood as a source of help, then used his power to look into the Primordial Era.

Li Hao urged Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian to prove the Dao in the Witch Clan’s ancestral land, assuring them that it was simple and safe. The Three Pure Ones remained wary but agreed to prepare and prove the Dao promptly.

• Hongjun watched the Three Pure Ones prepare to recruit disciples at Kunlun Mountain and waited for them to visit him, unaware they were acting as a cover for Li Hao.
• Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian arrived at the Witch Clan’s ancestral land, where Li Hao said he had brought them there to protect their Dao proofing from outside scrutiny.
• Li Hao claimed all the Ancestor Witches had proved the Dao and explained that their heavenly tribulations had already passed without signs visible to the outside world.
• The Three Pure Ones hesitated over Li Hao’s suggestion to prove the Dao the next day, while Zhu Rong insisted the process was easy.
• Laozi agreed that the Three Pure Ones would prepare as soon as possible and prove the Dao promptly.

Li Hao took Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian to witness Chiyou achieving Dao after Xing Tian mistook his tribulation cloud for a heavenly punishment. Chiyou survived the lightning with ease, leaving the three pure ones astonished at how simple achieving Dao seemed.

• Li Hao and Dijiang decided to arrange a place for Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian to prove the Dao, then Xing Tian rushed in with alarming news about Chiyou.
• Li Hao recognized the expanding dark cloud over his tribe as Chiyou's Dao-achievement tribulation and led the ancestor witches and the three pure ones to watch.
• Chiyou explained that he had prepared to fight the cloud, thinking the Primordial Era was punishing him, and Li Hao told him the lightning was coming.
• Chiyou stood beneath the cloud and endured its seventy-two bolts of lightning without injury, smoothly achieving Dao.
• Laozi asked whether achieving Dao was really so simple, and Li Hao confirmed that it was.

Chiyou attained the Dao easily, but Yuanshi dismissed the achievement as a trick and declared that he could do the same. As Yuanshi prepared to prove it, Li Hao explained that his tribulation would be different because the Three Pure Ones were formed from pure qi.

• Chiyou crossed the lightning tribulation, attained the Dao, and ran to Li Hao for praise before heading off with Xing Tian.
• Yuanshi accused the Ancestor Witches of faking Chiyou’s attainment and insisted he could attain the Dao himself, despite Laozi’s warnings.
• Laozi tried to stop Yuanshi while Tongtian was left out of their quarrel, until Li Hao pointed out that they should include their third brother.
• Li Hao told Yuanshi that Great Witches faced weaker tribulations because of their nature, then revealed that the Three Pure Ones were pure qi, leaving the brothers stunned.

Yuanshi defied Li Hao’s warning and began proving the Dao, only to be overwhelmed by the thunder tribulation. The Ancestor Witches rescued him from the first eighty bolts, but the final bolt still had not appeared, leaving Laozi and the others unsure what would happen.

• Li Hao warned Yuanshi that proving the Dao would bring a tribulation at least as severe as Chiyou’s, but Yuanshi insisted he would succeed.
• The Ancestor Witches reinforced the area around Li Hao’s tribe while Yuanshi summoned the thunder tribulation.
• Yuanshi struggled as the lightning intensified, and Laozi tried to rush in to help him.
• Yuanshi refused help out of pride, but Laozi asked Li Hao and the Ancestor Witches to save his Second Brother.
• The Ancestor Witches helped Yuanshi withstand the first eighty bolts, but the eighty-first bolt did not descend as expected.

Yuanshi changed dramatically after surviving his tribulation, unsettling Laozi, Tongtian, and the Ancestor Witches. As Laozi and Tongtian settled in the Ancestral Land, Yuanshi’s strange behavior worsened, and he began shouting at something to get out of his body.

• A strange lightning bolt struck Yuanshi, healing his injuries and restoring his appearance; he then treated Laozi, Tongtian, and Li Hao with unexpected warmth.
• Li Hao led Laozi, Tongtian, and the Ancestor Witches to the Ancestor Witch Hall, where the Three Pure Ones settled in; Tongtian studied laws while Laozi prepared for his tribulation.
• Tongtian later told Li Hao that Yuanshi had become increasingly gentle and had begun agreeing with Tongtian’s plan to teach disciples without discrimination.
• Laozi and Tongtian secretly watched Yuanshi at night and heard him tremble and roar, “Get out of my body!”

Yuanshi’s two competing consciousnesses fought for control, leaving Laozi and Tongtian unsure how to help him. Li Hao suspected Yuanshi was undergoing a Heart Demon Tribulation and told the Ancestor Witches that he was mentally deranged.

• Yuanshi argued with his other consciousness, then choked himself and nearly used his law to attack himself.
• Laozi stopped Yuanshi and sent Tongtian to fetch Li Hao, despite both sides of Yuanshi pleading that he not intervene.
• Li Hao hurried toward the assembly hall with Tongtian and summoned the Ancestor Witches, wondering if Yuanshi was suffering a Heart Demon Tribulation.
• Outside the hall, Zhu Rong told the Ancestor Witches that Yuanshi was in trouble but insisted he knew no more.
• Li Hao arrived, defended Zhu Rong, and told the Ancestor Witches that Yuanshi was sick and mentally deranged.

Li Hao examined Yuanshi’s Heart Demon Tribulation and concluded that Yuanshi needed to acknowledge the thoughts he had buried within himself. Laozi recognized that Li Hao had struck a nerve, but Yuanshi continued to deny it and mistook his heart demon’s agreement for support.

• Li Hao explained to the Ancestor Witches that Yuanshi’s Primordial Spirit cultivation caused him to face a different Dao-attainment tribulation, and Tongtian urged everyone to enter the hall to check on him.
• Laozi led Li Hao and the Ancestor Witches to Yuanshi, whose face showed one amiable side and one stern side as his heart demon manifested.
• After Yuanshi insulted Li Hao for having no solution, Li Hao said he had an idea and proposed that Yuanshi accept his hidden thoughts.
• Yuanshi angrily rejected Li Hao’s advice, but Laozi noticed that the heart demon looked nervous and believed Li Hao had identified the problem.
• Yuanshi broke free when Laozi tried to stop him, and his heart demon agreed with his complaint that Laozi was siding with an outsider.
• Laozi told Yuanshi that the heart demon shared his resentment because Li Hao had struck its weakness, and urged him to trust his brother and judge for himself.

Yuanshi trusted Laozi and began preparing to accept his inner self, but the emergence of the Barren and Demon races drew Li Hao and the Ancestor Witches’ attention. Li Hao brought the witches and some humans to watch the two armies, which were still facing off after years of waiting.

• Yuanshi rejected his inner self’s warnings and followed Laozi’s advice, beginning to confront it.
• The Barren and Demon races emerged after one hundred thousand years, frightening ordinary living beings across the Primordial Era.
• The Ancestor Witches dismissed the emergence as unimportant, while Li Hao wondered whether the renewed conflict might threaten the Witch Tribe.
• Li Hao visited the Three Ancestors of the Human Race, then scouted near Wangwu and Taihang and found the Barren and Demon armies facing each other.
• Li Hao returned to gather the Ancestor Witches and some humans, and they went to watch the armies.
• Li Hao told Zhu Rong that the armies had been staring each other down for eight or ten years, leaving him uninterested.

The Barren and Demon Races were drawn into a devastating war after Hongjun secretly provoked them, while the Ancestor Witches and Human Race watched. E Huang and Di Jun fought in a remote corner, where Di Jun accidentally killed E Huang and was left horrified by her death.

• Li Hao questioned the suspiciously convenient family-revenge story that started the fighting between the Barren and Demon Races.
• Hongjun revealed that he had disguised himself as a Barren soldier to incite the war, then withdrew as the fighting spread across the Primordial Era.
• The Barren and Demon Races suffered catastrophic casualties, and their leaders, E Huang and Di Jun, met and fought in a remote corner.
• Di Jun held E Huang close as she struggled, and she tried to escape by striking at the spot where his wings attached.
• Di Jun reflexively severed E Huang's hand with the Desolation-Slaying Sword and then stabbed her in the chest.
• E Huang remembered her past with Di Jun as she collapsed, and Di Jun was horrified by what he had done.

The Barren and Monster tribes’ war ended with both tribes nearly wiped out, and golden rain restored the Primordial Era. After the tribulation, Li Hao told the Human Race they were free to leave or stay, then reflected on how he would reshape the Primordial Era’s future.

• Di Jun watched E Huang die from the wound inflicted by Desolation-Slaying Sword, buried her, and later searched the Primordial Era before returning to guard her grave as an aging elder.
• Golden rain fell across the Primordial Era for eighty-nine seventy-one days, reviving the land and enriching its Spiritual Energy.
• Hongjun felt relieved that his mission was complete, while Dijiang and Li Hao recognized that the tribulation had passed and the Witch Tribe was safe.
• Li Hao told the Three Ancestors of the Human Race that they could leave or remain, and clarified that the Witch Tribe would stop garrisoning their valley.
• Li Hao explained to Qiang Liang that the Human Race should remain independent rather than become the Witch Tribe’s subordinates.
• Li Hao watched the restored Primordial Era from the Ancestral Land and rejected the idea that tribulations were beneficial.

Li Hao decided to disrupt the Primordial Era’s cycle of tribulations without destroying its ecological balance, and planned to discuss making the Human Race the enduring protagonists with Dijiang and the other Wu. Meanwhile, Tai Yi left Dizang holding their Netherworld burden and found the Demon Court abandoned, where he encountered a child who looked exactly like Di Jun as a youth.

• Li Hao resolved to change the cycle of tribulations by helping the Human Race remain the Primordial Era’s protagonists, then returned home to plan with Dijiang and the other Wu.
• Tai Yi suffered severe pain and asked Dizang to shoulder the Book of Death’s burden while he went to check on his elder brother.
• Dizang accepted the duty, and Tai Yi left the Netherworld for the Demon Court in the Ninth Heaven.
• Tai Yi found the Demon Court deserted and searched it for Di Jun and the other inhabitants.
• Tai Yi encountered a frightened child who claimed to be Di Jun’s son and the Demon Court’s Crown Prince, then recognized the child’s face as Di Jun’s youthful likeness.

Tai Yi reunited with his nephew, the Little Golden Crow, and learned that the child and his mother, Yu Xiang, had been living in poverty in the ruined Demon Court. Yu Xiang began explaining how she came to bear Di Jun’s child, revealing that Di Jun and E Huang had separated during the tribulation, while Tai Yi remained unaware of those events.

• Tai Yi recognized the child’s weakened Golden Crow bloodline, discovered that he was Di Jun’s son, and learned that the child believed his mother was dying.
• Tai Yi carried the Little Golden Crow through the ruined Demon Court to a makeshift hut where the child lived with his mother.
• Tai Yi met Yu Xiang, treated her frail body, and asked how she had given birth to Di Jun’s child.
• Yu Xiang explained that she belonged to the Black Crow Clan and had entered the Demon Court to serve, then revealed that Di Jun and E Huang had separated and fought during the tribulation.
• Tai Yi learned that the tribulation had involved Di Jun and E Huang, admitted he had known nothing of it, and asked Yu Xiang to continue with the child’s story.

Tai Yi learned how Di Jun disappeared, named Yu Xiang’s son Lu Ya, and promised to investigate the calamity that destroyed the Demon Court. After Tai Yi left to attend to Dizang, Lu Ya worried that his uncle disliked him, but Yu Xiang reassured him that Tai Yi would visit again.

• Yu Xiang told Tai Yi that Di Jun had forced himself on her while drunk, then left for war and never returned; she later learned that Di Jun and E Huang had died together and that returning demons had plundered the Demon Court.
• Yu Xiang explained that she stayed in the ruins so her son could grow up there and restore the Demon Race’s reputation.
• Yu Xiang asked Tai Yi to name the child, and he chose Lu Ya.
• Yu Xiang declined Tai Yi’s offer to take her and Lu Ya away, but asked him to investigate the strange calamity; Tai Yi promised to uncover its cause and left to help Dizang.
• Lu Ya returned from playing, found Tai Yi gone, and cried; Yu Xiang comforted him and explained that Tai Yi had left because of an urgent matter, not because he disliked him.
• Lu Ya asked whether Tai Yi would visit again, and Yu Xiang reassured him that his uncle would return.

Tai Yi learned from Minghe that Di Jun and E Huang’s conflict may have been manipulated, and he and Dizang suspected Hongjun had acted at the Heavenly Dao’s behest. As Tai Yi struggled with the conclusion, the Earthly Dao offered to help him take revenge, leaving him to consider the Primordial Era’s struggle between higher powers.

• Tai Yi met Minghe, who said Di Jun and E Huang had fought despite loving each other and hinted that someone had manipulated their conflict.
• Minghe left, and Tai Yi pondered the possibility that Hongjun was behind the events before returning to the Underworld.
• Tai Yi helped Dizang support the reincarnation wheel and told him what Minghe had said; Dizang agreed that Hongjun had likely acted, though they had no evidence.
• An unseen voice spoke to Tai Yi, offering revenge, while Dizang mistook his reaction for possible Qi deviation.
• The voice identified itself as the Earthly Dao and offered its power, prompting Tai Yi to consider the struggle between the Heavenly Dao and Earthly Dao.

Tai Yi accepted the Earthly Dao’s request to cause a disaster in the Primordial Era, then joined Dizang in planning how to do it. Meanwhile, Li Hao feared that Zhu Rong and Gong Gong might trigger the collapse of Buzhou Mountain, and rushed to find Dijiang before hearing someone tease Gong Gong about ramming the mountain.

• The Earthly Dao told Tai Yi to cause a disaster severe enough to overwhelm the Heavenly Dao, promising to bear the consequences and revealing its need for more dead souls.
• Tai Yi told Dizang about the Earthly Dao’s plan, and Dizang chose to help him devise the disaster despite the danger to the Primordial Era’s living beings.
• Li Hao grew uneasy about the possibility of Buzhou Mountain collapsing, found neither Zhu Rong nor Gong Gong at home, and hurried to Dijiang for help.
• Li Hao explained that Gong Gong might have rammed Buzhou Mountain after losing a fight with Zhu Rong, while Dijiang looked bewildered.
• Someone laughed and mocked Gong Gong for supposedly being unable to accept defeat and ramming the pillar of heaven.

Li Hao discovered that Zhu Rong and Gong Gong had become friendly after Gong Gong fell in love with a human maiden and became engaged to her. When Zhu Rong asked Li Hao for advice on supporting his pregnant partner, Li Hao tried to think of a convincing answer despite knowing little about the subject.

• Li Hao found Zhu Rong and Gong Gong peacefully drinking tea together and was shocked by their harmony.
• Dijiang explained that the two had gotten along for more than twenty thousand years, while Li Hao remained concerned about Buzhou Mountain's predicted fall.
• Zhu Rong told Li Hao that Gong Gong had matured after falling in love with a human maiden and becoming engaged to her.
• Dijiang revealed that Zhu Rong's partner was pregnant and that Zhu Rong had come to seek guidance.
• Zhu Rong asked Li Hao for help dealing with his pregnant partner's tantrums, and Li Hao pondered how to respond convincingly.

Buzhou Mountain collapsed, opening a breach in the sky and unleashing the Heavenly River over the Primordial Era. Li Hao assured the Ancestor Witches that they could mend the heavens and began to explain how, leaving them waiting for his solution.

• A storm broke over the Primordial Era, and Li Hao and the Ancestor Witches realized Buzhou Mountain had collapsed.
• Dijiang questioned Zhu Rong and Gong Gong, then sent them to gather the clansmen and help manage the disaster.
• Gong Gong followed Li Hao to the breach and channeled the Heavenly River’s waters away from the Witch Clan Ancestral Land.
• Li Hao told Gong Gong that they would mend the heavens, and Gong Gong continued controlling the water while they waited for Dijiang and the others.
• Dijiang arrived with the other Ancestor Witches and reported that the clansmen were safe, though some fields had flooded.
• Li Hao again declared that they would patch the sky, and the Ancestor Witches gathered to hear his plan.