Chapter Summaries

Li Hao and Dijiang recovered the Kongtong Seal, whose Human Dao consciousness feared Li Hao because it had been accidentally trapped beneath a latrine by stone pillars. Li Hao isolated it and tried to persuade it to cooperate in a plan involving Fuxi, leaving the Human Dao exposed and bargaining with him.

• Dijiang found the Kongtong Seal wedged underground by stone pillars and brought it to Li Hao.
• Li Hao realized the Human Dao consciousness inside the seal was frightened of him, though he had trapped it there accidentally during latrine construction.
• Li Hao told Dijiang that the Human Dao needed to be trained before the seal could be passed to Fuxi, so it would not seize control and turn the Human Race against the Witch Tribe.
• Li Hao separated himself and the Kongtong Seal in Dijiang's space and addressed the Human Dao consciousness directly.
• The Human Dao tried to play dead until Li Hao threatened to hand it to the Heavenly and Earthly Daos and revealed he knew its identity.
• The Human Dao gave up pretending and offered Li Hao an opportunity, but Li Hao rejected its attempt to control the conversation.

Li Hao secured the Human Dao's cooperation through a Great Dao oath and discussed the path of the Human Emperor, then went to find Fuxi. He began speaking with Fuxi about his studies, leaving Fuxi bewildered by his advice.

• Li Hao pressured the Human Dao into swearing a Great Dao oath to seek coexistence and not harm others.
• The Human Dao agreed that Fuxi was its preferred Human Emperor candidate, while Li Hao said Fuxi was close to succeeding and that they were seeking a second candidate.
• Li Hao left the Space Law with the Kongtong Seal, and Dijiang confirmed the other two tribes had emerged and would be watched by the Great Witches.
• Li Hao found Fuxi studying symbols by the river and startled him, prompting Fuxi to greet him respectfully as his teacher.
• Li Hao told Fuxi to stop dwelling on making amends and suggested that problems might be someone else's fault, leaving Fuxi dumbfounded.

Li Hao urged Fuxi to help his people in the present and gave him the Kongtong Seal, prompting Fuxi to develop practical ways to provide food. Fuxi’s fishing nets and livestock-raising efforts brought him fame and heavenly merit, and he returned to his symbols facing a choice about the path ahead.

• Li Hao gave Fuxi the Kongtong Seal and told him that his tribespeople were struggling to find food.
• Fuxi tried spearing fish with sharpened branches, then devised and spent more than three hundred years weaving an effective fishing net.
• Fuxi taught the Hua Xu Tribe to make nets and used one to trap a demon beast, earning heavenly merit and raising his reputation.
• Fuxi spread fishing nets among Human Race tribes and developed animal husbandry over three thousand years.
• Fuxi returned to studying his symbols, found his earlier problems easier to solve, and wondered which path to take next.

Fuxi overcame his doubts about proving the Dao, survived his heavenly tribulation, and proclaimed the Human Dao and the position of Human Emperor. The human tribes were prepared for unification, and Fuxi became the first Human Emperor.

• Fuxi sought Hua Xu's advice, and she urged him to trust Li Hao while leaving the choice to him.
• After speaking with Hua Xu, Fuxi continued comprehending the Innate Eight Trigrams and advanced toward proving the Dao.
• Li Hao and his companions coordinated with the Three Ancestors of the Human Race and prepared the tribes for unification.
• Fuxi faced a comparatively weak heavenly tribulation, endured eighty-one lightning strikes, and received a surge of energy from the clouds.
• Li Hao brought Fuxi to the sacrificial altar, where Fuxi declared the Human Dao and established the position of Human Emperor, naming himself its first holder.

The Human Race celebrated its reunification while other Primordial Era beings feared its rise would bring another war. In the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Heaven Dao and Earthly Dao tried to understand how Human Dao had emerged and realized he had joined an already powerful Human Race.

• The Human Race rejoiced at reunifying under the Human Emperor, while other beings feared the race would contend for hegemony and complained about Heaven Dao.
• Heaven Dao discovered that Human Dao had already established himself and went to confront Earthly Dao in the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
• Earthly Dao denied helping Human Dao, explaining that he had destroyed the magic treasures capable of housing a consciousness before Third Brother awakened.
• Heaven Dao and Earthly Dao wondered whether an expert had guided Human Dao, but could identify no possible source of such guidance.
• Earthly Dao assumed Human Dao had made the Human Race powerful, and Heaven Dao explained that the race had already become a strong contender before Human Dao appeared.
• Earthly Dao learned that Human Dao had joined an established power and reacted with alarm.

Heavenly Dao and Earthly Dao plotted to exploit a future Human Race calamity, while Fuxi committed himself to helping the Human Race prosper. Li Hao worried over the newborn Shen Nong’s future path and summoned the Ancestor Witches, who learned that Fuxi had attained the Dao.

• Heavenly Dao told Earthly Dao to wait for a calamity to weaken the Human Race, offering him a share of the source energy if he stayed out of the plan.
• Fuxi recovered his memories but chose to remain a Human and help the Human Race prosper.
• Lian Shan’s wife gave birth to a boy amid auspicious signs, and Li Hao recognized him as Shen Nong.
• Li Hao, unable to find a path for Shen Nong beyond farming and medicine, summoned all thirteen Ancestor Witches to discuss the problem.
• Dijiang told the Ancestor Witches that Fuxi had attained the Dao, and Zhu Rong asked whether Fuxi had become a Saint.

After Fuxi’s enlightenment, Li Hao led the Ancestor Witches to the Lian Shan Tribe to meet the newborn Shen Nong, whom he identified as the Human Race’s second Human Emperor. Shebishi wanted to take Shen Nong as his disciple, and the other witches pretended to hesitate, leaving him anxiously waiting for their answer.

• Dijiang explained that the earlier thunder had been Fuxi’s mild enlightenment tribulation, and Li Hao told the Ancestor Witches they could stop guarding Fuxi but had more children to watch over.
• Li Hao led the witches to the Lian Shan Tribe, where Lian Shan welcomed them and brought out his son, Shen Nong.
• Li Hao said Shen Nong was destined to become the Human Race’s second Human Emperor.
• Shebishi became captivated by Shen Nong’s transparent belly and asked to take him as a disciple after the others playfully deferred the opportunity.
• The Ancestor Witches acted reluctant to give Shen Nong to Shebishi, making him anxiously await their decision.

After a thousand years of study, Shen Nong traveled the Primordial Era, tasting herbs, treating illnesses, and recording their effects in Shen Nong's Compendium of Materia Medica. In You Xiong territory, he met his cousin You Xiongzi, ate poisonous Gut-Severing Grass, and collapsed as You Xiongzi called for his teacher.

• Li Hao told Shebishi to teach Shen Nong medicine without turning him into a poison expert, then left with the Ancestor Witches.
• Lian Shanzi studied medicine and poison under Shebishi for a thousand years while discovering the five grains, though most Human Race tribes favored the Witch Tribe's crops.
• Lian Shanzi traveled widely, tasted herbs to identify their effects, treated the sick, shared agricultural knowledge, and became known as Shen Nong.
• Shen Nong recorded his knowledge in Shen Nong's Compendium of Materia Medica and met You Xiongzi in You Xiong territory.
• You Xiongzi warned Shen Nong not to eat an unfamiliar plant, but Shen Nong ate it, identified it as Gut-Severing Grass, and collapsed.
• You Xiongzi called for his teacher, and a burly figure arrived, complaining about the trouble he had caused.

Shen Nong survived eating Gut-Severing Grass, attained the Dao of medicine and poison, and inherited the Human Emperor’s office from Fuxi. As Shen Nong struggled with the burden of ruling, Fuxi asked Li Hao about the Human Race’s future and was told to wait for events to unfold.

• Zhu Rong found Shen Nong convulsing after eating poisonous grass and summoned Shebishi, who removed the poison and healed his accumulated injuries.
• Shebishi urged Shen Nong to attain the Dao, and Shen Nong began comprehending his Dao of medicine and poison as lightning gathered overhead.
• After Shen Nong attained the Dao, Fuxi gave him the Kongtong Seal and announced him as the next Human Emperor, then departed happily.
• Shen Nong realized the Human Emperor’s duties left little time for cultivation and regretted accepting the position from Fuxi.
• Fuxi asked Li Hao why the Human Emperor succession had not drawn attention, and Li Hao told him not to rush or seek answers before the time came.

Li Hao learned that You Xiongzi’s unusual memory problems were stalling his education, so he took over tutoring him and asked about his ambition to become Human Emperor. The chapter ended with Li Hao discovering that You Xiongzi wanted the throne mainly so he could marry seventeen or eighteen wives.

• Fuxi asked Li Hao whether the Human Race could avoid disaster by becoming strong, and Li Hao said strength was the foundation for handling anything.
• Li Hao found the Ancestor Witches struggling to teach You Xiongzi because he forgot what he learned after eating or sleeping, while his martial ability kept growing.
• Dijiang pressured Li Hao to devise a new teaching method, and Zhu Rong clung to Li Hao’s leg until he agreed to help.
• Li Hao explained that You Xiongzi needed to be taught according to his own aptitudes, then began a heart-to-heart conversation with him.
• You Xiongzi said he wanted to become Human Emperor and revealed that he planned to marry seventeen or eighteen wives, shocking Li Hao.

Li Hao helped train You Xiongzi, who grew into Ji Xuanyuan and set out to travel after a thousand years. With Xuanyuan gone, Li Hao turned to the problem of how to arrange Chiyou’s eventual conflict with him.

• Li Hao disciplined You Xiongzi until he retained his lessons, while Xuanyuan secretly tried to avoid becoming Human Emperor after seeing how exhausting the role was.
• Shen Nong established currency and farmland measurements, while Fuxi built defensive plans to protect the Human Race.
• Over five hundred years, You Xiongzi invented chariots and plows, earned the name Ji Xuanyuan, and continued learning as the Human Race developed.
• When Xuanyuan left to travel, Zhu Rong watched from a mountain rather than see him off, and Li Hao told Xuanyuan where his teacher was waiting.
• Xuanyuan tearfully bid farewell to Zhu Rong and departed; Li Hao then considered how to bring Chiyou into the future conflict without letting his overwhelming strength endanger Xuanyuan.

Li Hao learned that the Jiuli Tribe’s Chiyou was not the Great Witch Chiyou and that the impostor was attacking the Human Race, leaving Xuanyuan rushing home to confront him. Li Hao sent the Great Witches to secretly observe the conflict, where they were disappointed by what they saw.

• Hearing that the Human Race faced a catastrophe, Xuanyuan hurried home, unaware that the attacking Chiyou was not the Great Witch he knew.
• Li Hao questioned Chiyou and confirmed that he had neither cultivated the Corpse-Severing Technique nor had a brother, then sent Dijiang to investigate the Jiuli Tribe.
• Dijiang discovered that the Jiuli Chiyou was an unrelated figure who shared Great Witch Chiyou’s name, title, and choice of weapons.
• Chiyou wanted to confront his namesake, but Li Hao warned him to hold back and let someone else handle the matter.
• Li Hao led the Great Witches to the Human settlements, where they concealed themselves and began watching the Jiuli faction.

The real Chiyou and Zhu Rong let the Jiuli Tribe’s Chiyou continue his campaign against the Human Race without Witch Tribe interference. Li Hao learned that Jiuli descended from abandoned creations of Nuwa and regretted that they had not been united with the Human Race earlier, though Xuanyuan still had to defeat Chiyou to attain the Dao.

• The Jiuli Tribe’s Chiyou discovered the real Chiyou and the Great Witches, then fled back to his camp in terror.
• Zhu Rong told the Jiuli Chiyou that the Witches would not interfere with his actions against the Human Race.
• The Jiuli Chiyou chose to continue his campaign, hoping to avenge his people’s generations of grievances.
• The chapter explained that Jiuli comprised eighty-one surviving branches of Pangu’s Dao Bodies, created by Nuwa and later abandoned.
• Dijiang overheard the Jiuli discussing their grievances and reported their story to Li Hao.
• Li Hao lamented that Jiuli could have strengthened the Human Race if they had been united earlier, while Dijiang worried he might abandon Xuanyuan.

Li Hao and Dijiang agreed that Xuanyuan would need reinforcements against Chiyou, while they stayed out unless the human race faced a crisis. On the battlefield, Xuanyuan used Feng Hou’s compass to overcome Chiyou’s fog, and Fengbo and Yushi joined the Jiuli as vanguard generals.

• Li Hao told Dijiang that the human race was on the right track and that they should rest rather than cultivate someone new, then warned that Xuanyuan could not defeat Chiyou without help.
• Dijiang agreed to seek reinforcements for Xuanyuan and said he would inform their Third Brother.
• Chiyou’s forces trapped the human army in blinding fog, but Xuanyuan and his companions used chariots fitted with Feng Hou’s compasses to rescue their troops and defeat the Jiuli for the first time.
• Frustrated by the Jiuli’s setbacks, Chiyou kept his tribe drilling until Fengbo and Yushi offered him a strategy.
• Chiyou appointed Fengbo and Yushi as vanguard generals and sent them to earn military merit.

As the Human Race struggled against Fengbo and Yushi’s winds and rain, Li Hao urged Xuanyuan to seek reinforcements and learned that Ying Long was willing to help but had demanding conditions. Li Hao sent Chiyou to fetch Ying Long, leaving Zhu Rong relieved and Chiyou riding Gun Gun toward the far southern lands.

• Fengbo and Yushi unleashed gale-force winds and torrential rain against the Human Race’s positions, while Li Hao told Xuanyuan to call for help.
• Xuanyuan met Li Hao and explained that his wives were persuading potential allies, including the ancient Ying Long, to join the fight.
• Li Hao learned that Ying Long would only come if his lodging, surroundings, and food met his demands.
• Li Hao told Zhu Rong that Ying Long could solve the problem, but Zhu Rong refused to go because he had promised the Ancestor Witches would stay uninvolved.
• Li Hao agreed to send Chiyou to retrieve Ying Long and warned him not to injure the powerful ally.
• Chiyou mounted Gun Gun and set off for the far southern lands.

Chiyou forced Ying Long to agree to assist Xuanyuan, while Xuanyuan’s four wives discovered that Chiyou was helping their husband and were left with questions. Chiyou and Gun Gun departed, and Zhu Rong anxiously paced elsewhere.

• Chiyou arrived on Gun Gun and beat Ying Long until Ying Long agreed to assist Xuanyuan in battle.
• Chiyou realized he had not told Ying Long what he wanted, then explained his request and ordered him to help Xuanyuan.
• Xuanyuan’s four wives gathered around Gun Gun, and Chiyou waited nearby until Gun Gun called for him to come save him.
• Ying Long flew off to help Xuanyuan, leaving the four wives confused about why Chiyou was aiding their husband.
• Chiyou told the four wives to ask Xuanyuan for an explanation, then rode Gun Gun away as they headed home.
• Zhu Rong paced back and forth anxiously.

Li Hao urged Xuanyuan to seek help as the Human Race’s fortunes shifted against Jiuli, but Xuanyuan revealed that the goddess Nüba might turn the tide. He admitted he had wronged her and could not face her, leaving Li Hao to wonder what had happened between them.

• Chiyou returned and reported to Li Hao, while Ying Long’s floods routed Jiuli and boosted Xuanyuan’s standing among the Human Race.
• Shen Nong abdicated in Xuanyuan’s favor, and Xuanyuan became Human Emperor and launched a counterattack.
• Fengbo and Yushi formed a formation that stopped the rain and drained the flood, allowing Jiuli to defeat the Human Race again.
• Li Hao prompted the desperate Xuanyuan to think of family and allies who could change the weather.
• Xuanyuan identified the goddess Nüba as a possible solution, then confessed that he had wronged her and dared not visit her.

Xuanyuan recalled how he had promised Nüba he would seek a cure for her heat and drought affliction, then left her waiting for seven hundred years. As he struggled to ask her for help against Jiuli, an arid heat anomaly spread across the Human Race camp, and Xuanyuan feared Nüba had come to settle scores.

• Li Hao ordered Xuanyuan to resolve matters with Nüba and subdue Jiuli, while Xuanyuan reluctantly agreed.
• Xuanyuan remembered meeting Nüba in the northern wasteland, where her scorching heat prevented him from approaching, and promised to ask his elders and master to cure her.
• Xuanyuan failed to return for seven hundred years, first forgetting his promise while traveling and later being occupied by Chiyou’s invasion.
• A messenger reported that the Human Race camp was growing hotter and drier despite Jiuli’s winds and rain.
• Xuanyuan recognized Nüba as the likely cause of the anomaly and panicked, suspecting she had come to settle accounts while Jiuli remained a threat.

Xuanyuan was reunited with Nüba, who joined the battle and used her drought power to weaken the Jiuli, but the Human Race could not capitalize on the advantage. Zhu Rong asked Li Hao for help, and Li Hao refused to solve the crisis for him, insisting Zhu Rong handle it himself.

• Nüba confronted Xuanyuan over his broken promise, then accepted his apology and revealed she had come to help him.
• Nüba entered the battlefield and stopped the rain, drying out many Jiuli warriors and reversing the battle’s momentum.
• The Human Race lacked morale, allowing the Jiuli to recover and regain a slight advantage despite their fear of Nüba.
• Zhu Rong sought Li Hao’s help with Xuanyuan’s predicament, and Li Hao told him to find a solution himself.

Li Hao told Zhu Rong how to make a drum from a Kui Niu to raise the Human Race’s morale against Jiuli, and Zhu Rong set off to find one on Liu Bo Mountain. He discovered the Kui Niu right beside him, then turned his attention to the terrified creature.

• Li Hao explained that Zhu Rong could use a Kui Niu’s hide and bone to make a drum, and described how Kui Niu came to be.
• Zhu Rong left to search the East Sea for Liu Bo Mountain, then blasted the sea to get Ao Guang’s attention.
• A nearby creature scolded Zhu Rong for making a noise, and Zhu Rong told it he was looking for Ao Guang and a Kui Niu.
• Ao Guang appeared after Zhu Rong called for him and pointed out that the creature beside Zhu Rong was the Kui Niu he sought.
• Zhu Rong grinned at the frightened Kui Niu, who trembled under his gaze.