Chapter Summaries

Zeng Shilin explained that the emperor’s offer of Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince was meant to draw him and Zeng Anmin into the imperial succession, while revealing that Master Xu’s power depended on the Northern Sacred Dynasty’s national destiny. He warned Zeng Anmin that the Human Race’s destiny was weakening and that they needed to watch for chances to advance the Zeng family’s own destiny.

• Zeng Shilin told Zeng Anmin that the honorary title of Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince signaled the emperor’s intention to build ties with their father and son, who stood close to the likely future emperor, Wang Yuanshen.
• Zeng Shilin said he would follow the emperor’s wishes because the spring examinations had left him distrustful of Master Xu, despite the help Master Xu had given Zeng Anmin.
• Zeng Shilin explained that Xiangliu’s death would open the Myriad Demon Vein to the Human Race and strengthen Master Xu, whose cultivation was bound to the Northern Sacred Dynasty’s national destiny.
• Zeng Shilin revealed that Zeng Anmin’s Grandmaster had warned him that the Human Race’s destiny was weakening and urged caution in the struggle for destiny.
• Zeng Shilin clarified that he meant the destiny of the Zeng family, not the Human Race, and told Zeng Anmin to seize any opportunity to contend for it.

Zeng Anmin led the Imperial City Department in confiscating Ji Qing’s estate, accusing him of murdering an official and trafficking children. After arresting the estate’s steward, Zeng Anmin used Heart Inquiry to ask where Ji Qing kept secrets, and the steward answered, “The study.”

• Zeng Anmin entered the Ji Estate with nearly five hundred Investigators under a confiscation order approved by Bai Ziqing.
• Sima Nan and Dongfang Sheng broke open the estate gates and led the Investigators in to seize the property.
• Zeng Anmin announced the estate’s servants would be dismissed, the men exiled, and the women sent to the Jiaofang Division.
• The steward protested that Ji Qing was fighting demons at the northern border, but Sima Nan subdued him after he revealed himself as a Fourth Rank Martial Artist.
• Zeng Anmin used Heart Inquiry on the steward, who revealed that Ji Qing’s study held secrets.

Zeng Anmin searched Ji Qing’s study and discovered the Xi Huang Diagram hidden in an underground chamber. He brought it to Zeng Shilin, whose intense reaction revealed how eagerly he had awaited it.

• Zeng Anmin questioned Ji Qing’s steward, who admitted to serving Ji Qing but knew nothing about the Tooth Gang Organization.
• Zeng Anmin used Heavenly Eye to identify a book that opened a hidden passage in Ji Qing’s study.
• Zeng Anmin found the Xi Huang Diagram on the chamber wall, absorbed its aura, and stored the folded painting in his Preparation Space.
• Zeng Anmin returned to the Duke of Qi’s Mansion and teased Zeng Shilin with news of his discovery.
• Zeng Anmin showed Zeng Shilin the yellow silk, and Zeng Shilin stared at it with intense anticipation.

Zeng Anmin and Zeng Shilin discussed the Xi Huang Diagram and its potential when combined with the Ancestral Dragon Diagram, but Zeng Shilin could not awaken it. After Zeng Anmin stored it, a mysterious aura inside his Sea of Consciousness Space clashed with the Ancestral Dragon Diagram, forcing his father to contain it temporarily.

• Zeng Anmin and Zeng Shilin considered the power of joining their two diagrams, and Zeng Shilin scolded his son for joking about seizing the realm.
• Zeng Shilin failed to awaken the Xi Huang Diagram and urged Zeng Anmin to try extracting the meanings of both diagrams himself.
• After Zeng Anmin stored the Xi Huang Diagram, a Profound colored aura appeared in his Sea of Consciousness Space and fought with the white aura from the Ancestral Dragon Diagram.
• Zeng Anmin vomited blood, so Zeng Shilin entered his Sea of Consciousness Space and used his Vast Righteous Demon Subduing Circle to contain the aura.
• Zeng Shilin warned that the aura would escape within three days and that he could not use the confinement technique again for ten days.

Zeng Anmin and Zeng Shilin sought a way to remove the strange aura threatening Zeng Anmin’s Sea of Consciousness, and decided to ask Abbot Hongji for help. Before heading to Fa'an Temple, Zeng Anmin’s private messages with Gu Xiangnan were exposed to his father, and the chapter ended as he asked Hongji to speak in private.

• Zeng Shilin said Buddhist power might purify the aura and proposed seeking Abbot Hongji’s help.
• Zeng Anmin and Zeng Shilin saw Dao announce his upcoming visit to the capital, while Huang said he was coming with his father to seek sealing formations from Master Xu.
• Zeng Anmin’s private chat with Gu Xiangnan appeared, exposing his affectionate messages to Zeng Shilin.
• Zeng Anmin pretended the aura had injured him until Zeng Shilin left his Sea of Consciousness Space, then replied to Gu Xiangnan affectionately.
• Zeng Anmin went to Fa'an Temple and asked Old Monk Hongji to speak with him somewhere private.

Zeng Anmin sought Old Monk Hongji’s help with the strange aura that had entered his body at the Ji Mansion. Hongji identified it as Decay Qi from a deceased Great Power and agreed to treat it, but demanded seven thousand taels of gold.

• Zeng Anmin visited Old Monk Hongji and reluctantly sampled his tea, which proved surprisingly fragrant.
• Zeng Anmin explained that evil qi had entered his body and refused to let Hongji investigate his Sea of Consciousness Space.
• Hongji used a Buddhist sacred method to deduce what had happened, revealing Zeng Anmin touching the Xi Huang Diagram before the aura entered him.
• Hongji identified the aura as Decay Qi, resentment left behind by a dead First Rank Expert or someone even higher, and said he could treat it.
• Hongji initially demanded ten thousand taels of gold, but Zeng Anmin negotiated the treatment fee down to seven thousand taels.

Zeng Anmin had Master Hongji draw the Corrupting Force out of his Sea of Consciousness, and learned the monk would endure it himself. After preparing to attend the Daoist-Buddhist Convention, Zeng Anmin returned home to find Wuxin Daoist and a Taoist nun who seemed to be his cousin.

• Zeng Anmin paid Master Hongji seven thousand taels and let him use the Power of Great Vow to pull the Corrupting Force from his Sea of Consciousness.
• Master Hongji absorbed the Corrupting Force into his own body and promised to subdue it with Buddhist Dharma within half a year.
• Little Yingchen asked Zeng Anmin to tell Huzi that he missed him, and Zeng Anmin agreed to pass along the message.
• Zeng Shilin told Zeng Anmin about the upcoming Daoist-Buddhist Convention and advised him to observe the Daoist Sword Sect's experts.
• Zeng Anmin learned that Wuxin Daoist had arrived at the capital and recognized the Taoist nun visiting his home as his cousin.

Zeng Anmin reunited with his cousin Zeng Rongyu and saw how distant she and Huzi remained, while Wuxin asked after Bai Ziqing. The chapter ended with Bai Ziqing arriving and joyfully reuniting with Wuxin.

• Zeng Rongyu told Zeng Anmin she would stay at Zeng Manor during the Daoist-Buddhist conflict but return to her sect afterward.
• Zeng Anmin introduced Huzi to his birth mother, but Huzi retreated to Zeng Anmin instead of accepting her.
• Wuxin greeted Zeng Anmin and asked where Bai Ziqing was.
• Zeng Anmin told Wuxin that Bai Ziqing was at the Imperial City Department offices.
• Bai Ziqing arrived, announced his hopes of reaching the Third Rank, and joyfully greeted Wuxin.

Wuxin Daoist and Bai Ziqing traded boastful verses until the Sword Sect’s Grand Elder appeared and demanded that Zeng Anmin explain his words about the Dao. Zeng Anmin refused to tolerate the elder’s presumptuous questioning, and the chapter ended with the elder summoning a sword formation and preparing to fight.

• Wuxin Daoist and Bai Ziqing competed by reciting grandiose lines while Zeng Anmin watched in silence.
• The Sword Sect’s Grand Elder appeared so suddenly that Zeng Anmin and Bai Ziqing could not sense him before seeing him.
• The Grand Elder sought Zeng Anmin and demanded an explanation of the words, “The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name.”
• Zeng Anmin challenged the Grand Elder’s lack of courtesy and warned him that he was in Duke of Qi’s Mansion, invoking his father’s rank as a Second Rank Second Sage.
• The Grand Elder summoned a sword formation and declared that he would not leave without answering Zeng Anmin’s humiliation.

A Daoist Sword Sect elder attacked Zeng Anmin with Myriad Swords Facing the Abyss after he refused to join the sect, but Zeng Shilin, Master Xu, and others intervened as the battle threatened the capital. Master Xu halted the fighters, then sided with Zeng Shilin’s demand that the elder kneel and apologize.

• The old Daoist overwhelmed Bai Ziqing and Wuxin Daoist with his sword pressure, then unleashed Myriad Swords Facing the Abyss at Zeng Anmin.
• Zeng Rongyu shielded Zeng Anmin from the giant sword and was badly wounded, while Bai Ziqing attacked the old Daoist and Zeng Shilin arrived to seize the sword with his Dharma Aspect.
• Zeng Shilin and the old Daoist fought as Zeng Anmin and Bai Ziqing joined in, but Master Xu froze their attacks with the Great Sage Dynasty’s National Destiny Power.
• Zeng Shilin demanded that the old Daoist kneel and apologize, and Zeng Anmin repeated the demand.
• The old Daoist threatened to summon the Dao Head, but Master Xu agreed with Zeng Shilin.

Zeng Anmin helped his dying cousin Zeng Rongyu prepare to reunite Huzi with his father, then connected several attempts on his life to a conspiracy involving Emperor Jianhong. The chapter ended with Zeng Shilin confronting the possibility that the emperor had arranged his son’s death to control the court.

• Wang Dong mediated between Zeng Shilin and Elder Jiyuan, who offered a Qi Yu Treasure Lotus to settle the dispute and then left the capital.
• Zeng Rongyu explained that Chaoyuan Sword Qi had left her only a day to live and asked Zeng Shilin to help her use her Illusion Arts to reunite Huzi with his father.
• Zeng Anmin revealed the Illusion Spirit Breath of the Illusory Demon Lord, prompting Zeng Shilin and Zeng Anmin to connect the demon’s entry into the Spring Examination to someone giving her Zeng Anmin’s Eight Characters.
• Zeng Anmin recalled that Ji Qing had lured him outside the city and that Elder Jiyuan had attacked him with full strength, concluding that both had tried to kill him.
• Zeng Anmin accused Emperor Jianhong of arranging the attempts to kill him so Zeng Shilin could rise against Master Xu without having descendants to challenge the emperor’s plans.
• Zeng Anmin pointed out that Emperor Jianhong had summoned Zeng Shilin to the palace on the day Ji Qing attacked, and Zeng Shilin smashed his fists into the table.

Zeng Anmin learned that Guanglingzi could save Zeng Rongyu by sacrificing his Divine Soul Power, but demanded that Anmin found a nation and let the Daoist Talisman Sect draw on its national fortune. As the rescue began, Anmin’s ambition stirred and his Confucian Path broke through toward the third rank.

• Zeng Shilin and Zeng Anmin discussed their suspicions about Emperor Jianhong and planned to seek a way out through the Southern Mountains of the Myriad Demon Mountain Range.
• Zeng Rongyu revealed that Chaoyuan Sword Qi was killing her, and Zeng Anmin summoned Guanglingzi, who explained that only a second-rank cultivator and a supreme yin treasure could save her.
• Guanglingzi offered his own Divine Soul Power as the treasure, on the condition that Zeng Anmin establish a nation and allow the Daoist Talisman Sect to borrow its national fortune.
• Zeng Anmin accepted the condition, and Zeng Shilin channeled Vast Righteous Qi through Guanglingzi to guide his Divine Soul Power into Zeng Rongyu.
• As Zeng Anmin thought of injustice and the need for change, his Vast Righteous Qi surged and he realized he was advancing to the third rank of the Confucian Path.

Zeng Anmin passed Greater Heart Scrutiny, advanced to the third rank, and chose the Wrath of the Martial Artist entry. After watching over Zeng Rongyu as Guanglingzi treated her, he was absent from the opening of the Daoist-Buddhist Convention, where Daoist Master Jiyuan and Wuxin arrived before the assembled crowd.

• Zeng Anmin confronted visions of past choices during Greater Heart Scrutiny and declared that he would become a spark to change the world.
• Zeng Anmin reached the third-rank Embrace Flame Realm, his Vast Righteous Qi turned crimson, and he chose the Wrath of the Martial Artist entry.
• Zeng Shilin learned that Zeng Anmin's Dharma Aspect had grown to nine hundred and ninety-nine zhang, while Guanglingzi said Zeng Rongyu needed three treatments a day for three days.
• Zeng Anmin stayed by Zeng Rongyu over the next two days as the capital's population grew several times larger without anyone noticing.
• Daoist Master Jiyuan and Wuxin arrived at the Daoist-Buddhist Convention on a rainbow bridge, and Daoist Master Jiyuan called for Master Hongji.
• The crowd turned toward the entrance when someone announced that His Majesty had arrived.

At the Daoist-Buddhist Convention, Daoist Master Jiyuan claimed Fa'an Temple descended from the Daoist Qi Sect and challenged its monks with a Dao Heart Stairway. Master Hongji confronted him despite his grave illness, while Yingchen was left with the burden of restoring the Buddhist lineage; at the end, Zeng Anmin and Zeng Shilin saw the stairway and hurried toward the convention.

• Emperor Jianhong arrived at the convention with Empress Bai, noticed Duke Wenqing was absent, and told Empress Bai they could bring the little monk back to the palace after the event.
• Daoist Master Jiyuan declared that the Buddhist lineage had originated from the Daoist Qi Sect and used a mirror to point to matching destiny within Fa'an Temple.
• Daoist Master Jiyuan demanded that the monks return to the Dao Sect, while Qin Shouchang accused him of using the debate to seize Buddhist destiny.
• Master Hongji appeared before Yingchen, warned him that his Great Tribulation had arrived, and invoked his Wrathful Vajra form to confront Daoist Master Jiyuan.
• Daoist Master Jiyuan transformed into a one-hundred-and-eight-step Dao Heart Stairway, declaring that the monks could either convert to the Dao Sect or climb to the summit and break his Dao heart.
• After Master Hongji collapsed from Decay Qi, a monk volunteered to climb the stairway, while Zeng Anmin and Zeng Shilin saw it from the Duke's Mansion and rushed toward Fa'an Temple.

Yinghui climbed the Dao Heart Heavenly Stair, succumbed to its influence, and died after briefly regaining his senses. Master Hongji then attempted the ascent himself, but as he neared the summit, Zeng Anmin appeared to take his place.

• Yinghui climbed to the twenty-first stair, renounced Buddhism for the Dao Sect, and urged his fellow monks to follow him.
• After briefly regaining his senses, Yinghui realized his Buddha Heart was tainted and killed himself to clear Buddhism’s name.
• Master Hongji stopped Yingchen from climbing and began ascending the stairway to face Daoist Master Jiyuan.
• Hongji climbed past eighty stairs despite crushing pressure and sword-like edges that cut and bloodied him.
• As Hongji approached the final nine stairs, Zeng Anmin arrived in the clouds and offered to take the steps in his stead.

Zeng Anmin took Master Hongji's place on the Heavenly Stairway after learning that the Dao Sect's victory would threaten humanity and the nation. Immune to the stairway's mental illusions, he raced past its trials and reached the hundredth step, where Daoist Master Jiyuan's sword energy awaited him.

• Zeng Shilin explained that Zeng Anmin had come to help Master Hongji, while Qin Wanyue and Princess watched him anxiously.
• Master Hongji revealed that the Dao Sect would use its victory to rise in power, so Zeng Anmin promised to climb the stairway and let Hongji descend.
• Zeng Anmin stepped onto the Heavenly Stairway, and Hongji declared that he would climb in Zeng Anmin's place.
• Zeng Anmin passed the Dao Ancestor's illusion and the founding patriarchs' scene without being affected by their mental influence.
• Zeng Anmin raced up the stairway to the hundredth step, where Daoist Master Jiyuan's sword energy confronted him.

Zeng Anmin reached the final stair of the Dao Heart Stairway and encountered the Dao Ancestor Remnant Soul, who could not harm him because the Heavenly Dao protected his divine soul. After hearing Zeng Anmin recount the world’s history and recite the Dao De Jing, the remnant soul gave him a Dao Star, and Zeng Anmin returned unharmed before a panicked Daoist Master Jiyuan.

• Zeng Anmin climbed the final stairs despite Daoist Master Jiyuan’s pressure and announced that he would expose Jiyuan’s conspiracy.
• Zeng Anmin stepped onto the one hundred and eighth stair, causing the stairway to vanish and a vast sphere of golden and crimson light to appear.
• Zeng Anmin met the Dao Ancestor Remnant Soul, who explained that the Heavenly Dao protected him from being possessed.
• Zeng Anmin told the Dao Ancestor Remnant Soul about the world’s history and his own origins, then recited passages from the Dao De Jing.
• The Dao Ancestor Remnant Soul gave Zeng Anmin a Dao Star and vanished, leaving Zeng Anmin unharmed before the shocked Daoist Master Jiyuan.

Zeng Anmin seized Daoist Master Jiyuan’s Dao Heart and forced him to expose the Dao Sect’s scheme, but the Dao Head’s Dharma Aspect appeared and began extracting the Buddhist Destiny from Fa'an Temple. As Master Xu and Zeng Shilin struggled to resist, Zeng Anmin revealed that he could move under the Dao Head’s pressure and stepped forward with a Dark Gold Longbow.

• Zeng Anmin discovered that the Dao Star only flickered, then learned he had taken control of Daoist Master Jiyuan’s Dao Heart by reaching the top of the stairway.
• Zeng Anmin demanded that Daoist Master Jiyuan reveal the Dao Sect’s scheme and kneel, and Jiyuan admitted that the plan came from his master.
• Daoist Master Jiyuan summoned the Dao Head Dharma Aspect, whose immense pressure immobilized nearly everyone in the capital.
• The Dao Head declared his intent to seize the Buddhist Destiny for the Dao Sect, and his golden pillars began stripping Profound Yellow Qi from Fa'an Temple.
• Master Xu and Zeng Shilin attacked the golden pillars while the Dao Head’s pressure forced everyone else down, and Zeng Anmin revealed he could still move with a shining Dao Star and a Dark Gold Longbow.

Zeng Anmin killed Daoist Master Jiyuan and shot down both pupils of Daoist Guangming’s Dharma Aspect, accepting the corrupting resentful force to prevent the Dao Sect from seizing Buddhist Destiny. Though the pressure lifted and the capital’s people rushed to save him, Zeng Anmin was left barely alive and wondered why his Last Reserve entry had not activated.

• Zeng Anmin confronted Daoist Master Jiyuan, forced him to confess his crimes, and crushed his golden heart to kill him.
• Zeng Anmin condemned Daoist Guangming for threatening the Great Sage Dynasty and drew the Dark Gold Longbow with power from Master Xu’s Array Imprinting.
• Daoist Guangming offered Zeng Anmin immortality and a Dao Fruit if he lowered his bow, but Zeng Anmin refused and shot out the left pupil of the Dharma Aspect.
• Zeng Anmin endured the resentful force and fired again, shattering the right pupil and ending the pressure that had restrained everyone.
• The golden pillars above Fa'an Temple dissipated, and the Princess caught the blackened, barely living Zeng Anmin as Qin Wanyue and Emperor Jianhong rushed to save him.
• Zeng Anmin checked his Golden Finger panel and wondered why his Last Reserve entry had not activated.

Zeng Anmin feigned a deathbed confession to secure promises of marriage from the Princess and Qin Wanyue before passing out. At Fa'an Temple, Master Hongji used Buddhist Destiny to contain the resentment power, but absorbed its Corrupting Force himself; Zeng Anmin then awoke as the necklace tattoo at his neck burned.

• Zeng Anmin pretended to be near death and asked the Princess and Qin Wanyue to marry him, and both agreed.
• Master Xu said National Destiny Power might save Zeng Anmin, but Master Hongji offered to help with Buddhist Destiny and requested a consultation fee of one hundred thousand taels of gold.
• The Princess carried Zeng Anmin to Fa'an Temple, where Master Hongji transferred Buddhist Destiny into his body.
• Zeng Shilin recognized that a necklace-like tattoo on Zeng Anmin's neck was absorbing both the Buddhist Destiny and the resentment power.
• Master Hongji collapsed as the Corrupting Force spread through his body, and Zeng Shilin used a Demon Subduing Circle to restrain it.
• Zeng Anmin woke up while the necklace tattoo around his neck burned hot.