Chapter Summaries

Fu Xie questioned Lu Zhi and Zong Yuan about the mysterious power behind the Yellow Turbans as the Han Army marched toward Guangzong. Zhang Jiao ordered a decisive battle, and the Yellow Turban Army marched out of the city to face the Han forces.

• Fu Xie asked Lu Zhi and Zong Yuan to recount the earlier Battle of Guangzong and questioned why the deity had let them escape.
• The Han Army arrived outside Guangzong and established its camp while the Yellow Turbans continued their routine inside the city.
• Tian Feng proposed striking the weary Han Army, but Zhang Jiao said the whole army would fight a decisive battle the next day at the Holy Venerable's command.
• Huangfu Song, Cao Cao, Dong Zhuo, and Fu Xie watched as Guangzong's gates opened and the Yellow Turban Army formed ranks outside the city.
• Zhang Jiao's carriage and banner emerged, and the full Yellow Turban Army prepared to face the Han Army.

The Han Army and the Yellow Turban Army committed their full forces outside Guangzong and began a fierce battle. Fu Xie’s vanguard fought He Yi’s troops while Cao Cao’s cavalry intercepted Yellow Turban horsemen sent to reinforce them.

• Fu Xie explained that Zhang Jiao’s detached force had not returned, leaving forty thousand battle-ready troops at Guangzong.
• Huangfu Song ordered the Han Army to form ranks, and Cao Cao led his cavalry past the formation as both sides prepared to fight.
• Fu Xie’s vanguard and He Yi’s Yellow Turban troops advanced, exchanged volleys of arrows, and clashed in brutal close combat.
• Huangfu Song spotted two thousand Yellow Turban cavalry heading to reinforce He Yi and signaled Cao Cao to intercept them.
• Cao Cao led nearly three thousand Han cavalry against the Yellow Turban horsemen, trading arrows and repeated charges as riders fell on both sides.

Huangfu Song and Zhang Jiao committed their central armies, turning the battle into a brutal melee that began to favor the Han forces. As the Yellow Turban line faltered, a young man appeared atop Guangzong City and unleashed golden spiritual light, while thunderous booms rose from beneath the earth.

• Zhang Jiao sent Huang Shao to block Dong Zhuo, whose troops relied on Commandery Soldiers at the front while his elite Liang Province army held back.
• Huangfu Song weighed the Han Army’s advantage but hesitated because he feared the power of Holy Venerable Huang Tian.
• Huangfu Song ordered the Han central army to advance, and Zhang Jiao sent the Yellow Turban central army forward to meet it.
• The two central armies clashed, and the Yellow Turban line gradually retreated as Huangfu Song anticipated victory.
• People on Guangzong City’s walls roared their prayers as a young man appeared on the gate tower and released golden spiritual light, triggering thunderous booms beneath the earth.

Fifteen Earth Giants shattered the Han Army’s formation, allowing the Yellow Turban Army to win decisively and capture Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, and Fu Xie. Huang Tian ordered Zhang Jiao to rest the troops before taking Ji Province and redistributing land seized from powerful clans.

• Fifteen Earth Giants emerged on the battlefield and smashed through the Han Army, turning its soldiers’ fear into a rout.
• Fu Xie tried to rally the fleeing troops, but an Earth Giant knocked him unconscious, and Yellow Turban soldiers captured him.
• The Yellow Turban Army captured Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi, while Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao escaped with a few dozen cavalry pursued by Huang Shao and He Yi.
• Zhang Jiao rode to Guangzong City, reported the victory to Huang Tian, and received orders to let the army rest before demanding that Ji Province’s cities surrender.
• Huang Tian ordered Zhang Jiao to expand the Political Academy, survey Ji Province’s land and population, seize powerful clans’ holdings, free their servants and slaves, and distribute the land to commoners.

After the Yellow Turban Army defeated Huangfu Song, Tian Feng tried to persuade the captured Han generals to surrender, while news of the defeat spread across Ji Province and reached Luoyang. The Han Court was left in panic after losing its finest sixty thousand troops.

• Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi reflected in prison on their defeat and on the power of God Huang Tian.
• Tian Feng introduced himself to Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi and urged them to join the Yellow Turban Army.
• Tian Feng told Lu Zhi that Fu Nanrong had killed himself after being captured, and Huangfu Song refused to surrender.
• Tian Feng separated Huangfu Song and explained the Yellow Turban Army's land-clearing policy and possible rewards to Lu Zhi.
• Yellow Turban scouts spread proclamations across Ji Province announcing the Han Army's defeat and demanding that cities surrender.
• Aristocratic families carried news of the defeat to Luoyang, where the emperor and people panicked over the loss of sixty thousand elite troops.

God Huang Tian advanced his cultivation as the Yellow Turban Army secured Ji Province, then listened to voices across the land and turned his attention to the Han court’s response. In Luoyang, Emperor Liu Hong and his ministers debated how to defend the capital, while Deng Sheng warned against abandoning Liang Province.

• God Huang Tian broke through to the fourth layer of Qi Refining and noted that Ji Province had fallen under Yellow Turban control.
• God Huang Tian listened to voices across the realm and noticed an unusually dark voice channel from Luoyang Palace.
• Liu Hong asked his ministers how to respond to the Yellow Turban Army’s rapid conquest of Ji Province.
• Yang Ci and He Jin urged strengthening Luoyang’s defenses, while Liu Yan questioned where the court could find enough troops.
• Deng Sheng warned that withdrawing troops from Liang Province could let the Qiang People threaten Sanfu and expose the capital.
• Deng Sheng estimated that the court could gather seventy or eighty thousand troops within three months, but left his answer unfinished.

Liu Hong asked Liu Yan whether the Han dynasty’s founding emperors might be gods who could save the realm from God Huang Tian, then secretly prepared a witchcraft curse against Sovereign Yellow Absolute. As Liu Hong prayed over the Puppet at the ancestral temple, God Huang Tian watched from Guangzong City and laughed.

• Liu Yan reassured Liu Hong that Luoyang could hold out, then admitted he could not say whether the Han ancestors were Immortal Gods.
• Liu Hong decided to pray at the ancestral temple for his ancestors to protect the dynasty.
• Zhang Rang gave Liu Hong a Puppet inscribed with Sovereign Yellow Absolute’s name and warned that the curse required burying it near its victim.
• Liu Hong brought the Puppet to the Gao Temple and prayed for the Grand Progenitor High Emperor to curse Sovereign Yellow Absolute to death.
• God Huang Tian watched Liu Hong’s prayer from the Guangzong City county office and burst into laughter.

Huang Tian ordered a land survey in Ji Province and used the powerful clans’ resistance as grounds to execute their members and confiscate land and wealth. After two months of reorganization, he led an expeditionary force to march on Luoyang and overthrow the false emperor.

• Zhang Jiao reported Ji Province’s gains and the reorganization of surrendered Han troops, and Huang Tian set a two-month timetable for marching on Luoyang.
• Huang Tian ordered a public land survey in Julu Commandery to expose powerful clans that concealed land and people.
• Zhang Jiao had clans that obstructed the survey attacked, and the Yellow Turban Army executed hundreds and confiscated land and servants.
• The Dao Court crushed armed resistance across Ji Province and forced surviving clans to surrender concealed property, while distributing seized land to the poor.
• After more than two months, Huang Tian reviewed 40,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry at Guangzong and announced their march on Luoyang.

Zhang Jiao’s Yellow Turban Army advanced toward Luoyang with little resistance, while Emperor Liu Hong tried to flee but was persuaded to stay and defend the city. The chapter ended with the Yellow Turban forces arriving on Luoyang’s outskirts.

• Zhang Jiao led the expedition through Henei and across Mengjin Pass, opening the road to Luoyang.
• Liu Hong tried to flee Luoyang with carts loaded with valuables, but Deng Sheng and other officials blocked his departure and urged him to remain.
• Liu Hong argued that the Han forces could not withstand the Yellow Turbans’ divine protection, but agreed to stay after He Jin reported that their scouts had reached the city outskirts.
• Liu Hong entrusted Luoyang’s defense to his ministers, who began preparing the city for a siege.
• Two days later, Zhang Jiao’s vast Yellow Turban Army advanced to Luoyang under the banner of Great Peace Yellow Heaven.

With the Moth Bandits surrounding Luoyang, He Jin convened a banquet to discuss the city’s defense, but the commanders struggled to find a way to face the Yellow Turban Army and its Immortal Gods. Sun Jian volunteered to lead five thousand troops out to fight, while Yuan Shao privately feared his clan had left him to die in the doomed city.

• News that the Moth Bandits had reached Luoyang sparked panic among the people and officials.
• At He Jin’s banquet, Yuan Shao rebuked him for drinking and fondling a woman instead of discussing the siege.
• Sun Jian proposed leading several thousand soldiers outside the city, but Cao Cao warned that the Immortal Gods had defeated the Han forces.
• Dong Zhuo urged the officials to find a way out, while Yuan Shao rejected surrender because the city held the emperor, nobles, and their families.
• Sun Jian vowed to lead five thousand troops against the Moth Bandits, and He Jin promised to request a military order from the emperor.
• Yuan Shao privately resented that his clan had sent Yuan Shu away to safety while leaving him trapped in Luoyang.

He Jin traveled to the palace through a Luoyang terrorized by undisciplined visiting troops and requested permission for Sun Jian to lead an attack, but Liu Hong refused. With morale worsening and the Moth Bandits threatening the city, Liu Hong proposed offering them half the realm in exchange for peace, and Liu Yan agreed to negotiate.

• He Jin passed through deserted, fearful streets while more than a hundred armored soldiers escorted him to the palace.
• He Jin asked Liu Hong to let Sun Jian lead five thousand troops out to scout the Moth Bandits, but Liu Hong refused.
• Liu Yan introduced Liu Bei and asked Liu Hong to send him out to raise the army's morale, but Liu Hong again refused.
• Liu Hong proposed seeking peace by offering the Moth Bandits several eastern provinces, and possibly Yu Province, in exchange for withdrawing to Ji Province.
• Liu Yan objected that the proposal would ruin the state, but agreed to enter the rebel camp as Liu Hong's envoy.

Liu Yan entered the Yellow Turban camp with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei to negotiate peace, but Zhang Jiao rejected the Han Court’s offers of territory. Zhang Jiao ended the meeting with a divine pronouncement demanding that the Han Army surrender Luoyang in exchange for their lives.

• Zhang Liang told Zhang Jiao that the Han Court had sent an envoy, and Zhang Jiao allowed the envoy to enter the camp to hear a divine pronouncement.
• Liu Yan rode out from Luoyang with Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, who accompanied him despite the danger.
• Liu Yan and his companions entered the Yellow Turban camp and met Zhang Jiao in his command tent.
• Liu Yan offered Zhang Jiao several provinces, eventually proposing to divide the realm, but Zhang Jiao refused to negotiate peace.
• Zhang Jiao declared that the Han Army could live if it surrendered Luoyang, then ended the meeting.

After Zhang Jiao rejected Liu Yan’s peace overture and demanded Luoyang’s surrender, Liu Hong ordered the city’s population conscripted while the Yellow Turban Army quietly built a towering earthen platform outside the walls. Yuan Shao suspected the platform would soon change the fate of Luoyang and began preparing an escape plan.

• Zhang Jiao refused to negotiate with Liu Yan, saying the Holy Venerable had foreseen his offer and would spare Liu Hong only if he surrendered Luoyang.
• Liu Yan returned to the palace with Liu Bei and the others, and Liu Hong ordered Deng Sheng and He Jin to conscript civilians to defend the city.
• Soldiers seized people across Luoyang, while the Yellow Turban Army drilled and continued raising an earthen platform instead of attacking.
• Yuan Shao questioned the Yellow Turban Army’s purpose, noting that the platform was growing despite the city’s ample grain supplies.
• Liu Hong refused military officers’ requests to destroy the platform, which reached three zhang, three chi, and three cun and was decorated with flags and a square table.
• Yuan Shao sensed that the platform would soon alter the situation and began preparing his household, horses, and an escape route near Dongyang Gate.

As the Yellow Turban Army prepared to attack Luoyang, Liu Hong tried to bolster the defenders’ morale from the city walls. The army’s leader then appeared in a Cloud Pattern Daoist Robe and rose onto a high platform by means of pale clouds, leaving the defenders stunned.

• Sun Jian spotted the Yellow Turban Army assembling outside Daxia Gate and sounded the alarm across Luoyang.
• He Jin and Deng Sheng inspected the enemy ranks and wondered how they could assault the city without siege equipment.
• Liu Hong arrived on the ramparts with his ministers, mocked the Yellow Turban Army’s lack of ladders, and promised the defenders coins and cloth.
• The defenders cheered as Liu Hong’s reward lifted their morale.
• Tens of thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers knelt and shouted “Holy Venerable Huang Tian” as their young leader rose onto an earthen platform on pale clouds.

Huang Tian summoned a violent wind and rain over Luoyang, throwing the city wall into panic as Liu Bei tried to protect Liu Hong. The crowd crushed its way toward the stairs, and Sun Jian fought through it until a crossbow bolt pierced his left eye.

• Liu Bei told Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to get Liu Hong out through Dongyang Gate if Luoyang fell.
• Huang Tian cast the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique, calling up a fierce gale and torrential rain.
• Liu Bei tried to escort Liu Hong down from the wall, but panicked soldiers clogged the stairs and plunged the wall into chaos.
• Sun Jian cut down soldiers to force a path through the crowd.
• An unseen attacker shot Sun Jian through his left eye with a crossbow bolt.

As chaos engulfed Luoyang’s walls, Huang Tian summoned a Thunder Spear and blasted open the city’s defenses. He ordered the Yellow Turbans to enter Luoyang, which fell without meaningful resistance.

• Liu Bei pulled Liu Hong to shelter as panicked soldiers slaughtered one another on the wall, and Deng Sheng declared that Luoyang could not be defended.
• Yuan Shao regretted staying in Luoyang and feared he would die there with the Great Han.
• Huang Tian summoned a Thunder Spear from the storm clouds as the Yellow Turbans watched in awe and the defenders cowered.
• Huang Tian hurled the spear and destroyed a vast section of Luoyang’s wall, leaving surviving Han soldiers stunned among the ruins.
• Huang Tian ordered the Yellow Turbans to enter the city, and they surged through the breach to claim Luoyang.

Liu Hong woke in the Yellow Gate North Temple Prison and was beaten by Huang Shao until he agreed to attend a trial. In Luoyang, Huang Tian began teaching the Yellow Turban leaders a cultivation scripture while pondering the unfinished purple orb in his sea of awareness.

• Liu Hong learned from Cao Cao that the lightning attack had killed several leaders and left them among the few survivors captured by the Yellow Turban Army.
• Huang Shao beat Liu Hong for continuing to speak as emperor, then had his hands bound and took him to trial.
• Huang Tian meditated on the purple orb, which he believed would be completed once the realm was unified.
• Huang Tian summoned Zhang Jiao, Zhang Liang, He Yi, Huang Shao, and the other leaders to Deyang Hall and promised to teach them Dao arts.
• Huang Tian taught the leaders the Qi-Gathering chapter of the Mountain-Suppressing Spirit Scripture.

Over seven months, the Dao Court expanded its authority across the realm, subdued the Qiang rebellion, and won the submission of the remaining provinces. Huang Tian then returned to reality, where he discovered Zong Wenjun planned to visit him the next day.

• The Dao Court established its capital at Luoyang and founded three institutions to govern the realm, while Liang Province officials sought its protection from the Qiang rebellion.
• Zhang Bao led troops through Yan, Yu, Xu, and Qing Provinces, defeated abusive rebel leaders, and brought the region under Dao Court rule.
• After Zhang Jiao and the others learned the Earth Golem Technique, Zhang Liang and Lu Zhi used twelve Earth Giants to rout the Qiang forces and capture sixty thousand soldiers.
• The leaders of Jing, Yang, Yi, and Jiao Provinces submitted to the Dao Court, and Huang Tian judged that their full integration would complete his purple sphere.
• Huang Tian returned to reality at the sixth layer of Qi Refining in the Late Han Dynasty World and the third layer in reality.
• Zong Wenjun messaged Huang Tian that she would arrive in Chang City the following afternoon and come to his home.

Huang Tian spent Zong Wenjun’s short visit with her, sharing a quiet evening and exploring Wanshou Palace the next day. While waiting for her to buy Kun Tea, he discovered that his supernatural abilities had greatly improved his aptitude for learning and began considering what he wanted to do in the future.

• Zong Wenjun brought Huang Tian a bouquet of tulips and white roses, and they ate dinner and walked together that evening.
• Zong Wenjun kissed Huang Tian under the streetlamps, then she and Huang Tian returned to the apartment and fell asleep together.
• Huang Tian and Zong Wenjun bought a vase and flower preservative, arranged the bouquet, and went to Wanshou Palace to sample local snacks.
• While Zong Wenjun waited in line for Kun Tea, Huang Tian read Modern Algebra in a bookstore and found its concepts suddenly easy to understand.
• Huang Tian realized his supernatural abilities had increased his aptitude and photographic memory, and he thought he had figured out what he wanted to do in the future.

After losing his job, Huang Tian decided to pursue mathematics and explore the nature of cultivation, using his newfound ability to study quickly. He spent the evening with Zong Wenjun at Kun Tea and on a cruise beneath the illuminated Tengwang Pavilion.

• Huang Tian reflected on his childhood ambition to become a scientist and decided to make achievements in mathematics before investigating cultivation and other technologies.
• Huang Tian read a copy of Complex Analysis at the bookstore and rapidly committed its contents to memory.
• Zong Wenjun met Huang Tian at the Kun Tea shop, where they tried the pottery-cup drink and watched musicians perform from an upstairs window.
• Huang Tian and Zong Wenjun rode shared bikes to the Gan River pier and boarded a cruise ship to view Tengwang Pavilion at night.
• Huang Tian admired the moonlit river while Zong Wenjun gazed at the glowing Tengwang Pavilion as the ship moved across the Gan River.