Chapter Summaries

Han Jinyue’s Immortal-grade Dao Seed gave her remarkable physical and mental wonders, and she advanced quickly under Zhang Huang’er’s instruction. The chapter ended as Han Jinyue arrived to watch Zhang Huang’er practice her fierce, dazzling swordsmanship.

• Fan Qingmeng possessed Heavenly-grade Dao Seed dharma power, while Mu Xuan and Zhang Huang’er were half-immortal, half-heaven.
• Yellow Heaven Daoist decided to cultivate Zhao Cheng after learning that Zhao Cheng had comprehended Yellow Heaven Rebirth and reached Dao-grade quality.
• Han Jinyue’s Dao Seed transformation granted her an Immortal-grade Dao Seed, bringing her human immortal wonders and a sudden opening of the pearl of wisdom.
• Han Jinyue studied Dao arts and swordsmanship under Zhang Huang’er and improved rapidly, especially in swordsmanship.
• Han Jinyue passed through Zhang Huang’er’s estate and arrived as Zhang Huang’er practiced swordsmanship before onlookers.

After attaining the Dao, Han Jinyue watched Zhang Huang'er’s sword practice and wondered why Zhao Xiang reminded her of Zhao Cheng. Back in reality, Han Jinyue spotted Zhao Cheng in a café, and he joked with Wang Yun about becoming the Holy Emperor before Han Jinyue arrived in her sports car.

• Han Jinyue watched Zhang Huang'er practice her sword and reflected on how much she still had to learn from her.
• Han Jinyue noticed that Zhao Xiang’s features resembled Zhao Cheng’s, though she doubted her own impression.
• After returning to reality, Han Jinyue cultivated, worked, and later spotted Zhao Cheng at a café with Wang Yun.
• Wang Yun teased Zhao Cheng about pursuing the wealthy woman in the sports car, and he said he planned to become the Holy Emperor.
• Han Jinyue returned in her red sports car, parked nearby, and stepped out as Zhao Cheng and Wang Yun watched.

Han Jinyue unexpectedly met Zhao Cheng and Wang Yun, and the three shared afternoon tea while Han Jinyue reflected on her return to her original nature after entering the Dao. Afterward, Han Jinyue decided to follow Zhao Cheng and Wang Yun to see the base he had been building in his hometown.

• Han Jinyue ran into Zhao Cheng and met Wang Yun, and the two women sensed they were kindred spirits despite privately disliking each other.
• Zhao Cheng offered Han Jinyue a drink, and she ordered a fresh coconut latte before joining them.
• Han Jinyue reflected that entering the Dao had helped her recover her formerly bold and unrestrained nature.
• Zhao Cheng considered how his incarnation was fulfilling the karmic circumstances of his early life and how karmic circumstances might lead beyond the Primordial Beginning.
• After afternoon tea, Han Jinyue learned that Zhao Cheng had quit his job to farm in his hometown and asked to see the base he was building.

Zhao Cheng drove Han Jinyue and Wang Yun to his rundown family home in the suburbs and showed them the work he had begun to turn the property into a pastoral retreat. The women were initially disappointed by its appearance, but Zhao Cheng’s enthusiasm and sense of freedom soon drew them in as he led them toward the river behind the house.

• Wang Yun rode in Han Jinyue’s luxury car while Zhao Cheng drove his secondhand minivan to the suburban family home he was renovating.
• Han Jinyue and Wang Yun frowned at the dilapidated house and grounds, which did not resemble their imagined pastoral idyll.
• Zhao Cheng described his plans for fruit trees, vegetables, a fence, and other improvements, and showed them the brick paths, bamboo trellises, and homemade watering device.
• Zhao Cheng showed them the clay utensils he had made and joked that he planned to fire them secretly, making both women laugh.
• Han Jinyue and Wang Yun began to appreciate the freedom of Zhao Cheng’s project, and he led them through the backyard toward the river.

Zhao Cheng showed Wang Yun and Han Jinyue his secluded riverside home, then watched Wang Yun leave while reflecting on the unity of his four bodies. In Seize the Dragon World, Xuanzhenzi’s warning about Zhao Cheng reached Wu Qi, who reacted with extreme anger to news of a threat against Wu City.

• Zhao Cheng described his plans for a peach grove, pavilion, and fishing platform, leaving Wang Yun and Han Jinyue captivated by his secluded life.
• Zhao Cheng sent Wang Yun away by high-speed train, and she felt reluctant to leave and wondered whether their connection had been severed.
• Zhao Cheng reflected that his four bodies were facets of one self, then saw a shooting star as a vast, inhuman aura briefly surfaced.
• Xuanzhenzi and his group left the mountains after calling Zhao Cheng a Hidden Dragon in the Abyss, and a secret letter about him was sent to Wu City.
• Wu Qi read the secret letter while inspecting the city walls and grew furious at the prospect of an attack on Wu City.

Wu Qi recalled how he had defeated the Yellow Heaven Army and killed the famed Godslayer General, a victory made possible by luck, terrain, and the enemy’s misfortunes. He understood Zhao Cheng’s threat to take Wu City as a bid to build his strength and keep his troops motivated.

• Wu Qi remembered that the Godslayer General had risen from a falsely condemned village captain to a celebrated commander who slew five divine generals in one day.
• Wu Qi recalled how three thousand defenders had defeated fifty thousand Yellow Heaven soldiers at Wu City, while the Godslayer General nearly killed him in a final counterattack.
• Wu Qi credited the victory partly to the Godslayer General’s age, the bad weather, Wu Qi’s familiarity with the city, and the illnesses of the enemy’s strategists Zhuge Yun, Li Taiqing, and Sun Qi.
• Wu Qi’s strategists interpreted Zhao Cheng’s promise to take Wu City as a sign of rebellious ambition and an attempt to exploit the Chain Mountains’ isolation.
• Wu Qi concluded that Zhao Cheng’s distant goal could also keep his five thousand troops’ morale from fading while they farmed in the mountains.

Wu Qi considered suppressing Zhao Cheng’s forces in the Chain Mountains but abandoned the idea when Mr. Wen explained the cost and risks, then focused on the Feng and Chen Families. Meanwhile, Zhao Cheng demonstrated destructive Daoist power to his officers and revealed plans involving the Yellow Heaven Daoist, while Xuanzhenzi judged the Wu Family doomed and turned his attention to Cao Zheng.

• Wu Qi asked Mr. Wen how many troops were needed to suppress the bandits, and Mr. Wen estimated thirty thousand with devastating losses likely.
• Wu Qi decided not to invade the Chain Mountains and ordered Mr. Wen to watch the Feng and Chen Families, disrupt their possible alliance, and seek an heir among the Wu Family clansmen.
• Zhao Cheng brought Lin Yi, Wei Ye, and other officers to a mountain overlook and asked whether Wu City was impregnable.
• Zhao Cheng used Daoist art to blast apart nearly half a hill, convincing his officers that Wu City could be taken.
• Zhao Cheng planned for the Yellow Heaven Daoist to receive blueprints and search for uranium ore, though the process would require Golden Immortals.
• Xuanzhenzi judged Wu Qi and the Feng and Chen Families unlikely to rise, then departed to assess Cao Zheng of Qing Province.

The Yellow Heaven Daoist examined a sweet potato from the Chain Mountains and recognized that Zhao Cheng’s achievements were more substantial than the rumors suggested. After reading Zhao Cheng’s vow not to return until Wu City was taken, he asked Li Tonghai for his honest judgment, while Li condemned Zhao Cheng’s defiance.

• The Yellow Heaven Daoist inferred from the sweet potato that Zhao Cheng had managed to produce abundant food through powerful earth-energy, not merely careful cultivation.
• The Yellow Heaven Daoist recognized that merchants’ unreliable reports and mountain rumors had led other factions to underestimate Zhao Cheng and his army.
• The Yellow Heaven Daoist handed Li Tonghai Zhao Cheng’s brief reply, which vowed not to return until Wu City was taken.
• Li Tonghai called Zhao Cheng treasonous for defying superior orders, but the Yellow Heaven Daoist asked him to speak the truth.
• The chapter recalled that a Yellow Heaven Army general had proposed summoning Zhao Cheng back, a supposed promotion that could instead strip him of power.

Yellow Heaven Daoist summoned Zhao Cheng back to the army, but Zhao Cheng refused, keeping his troops and base in the Chain Mountains. Yellow Heaven Daoist approved of his resolve and hoped he would take Wu City, while discovering that Zhao Cheng had sent plans for a devastating thunder weapon.

• Yellow Heaven Daoist issued an edict recalling Zhao Cheng and his forces, but Zhao Cheng replied that a general in the field need not obey every order.
• Yellow Heaven Daoist told Li Tonghai that he intended Zhao Cheng to inherit his foundation and praised his refusal as proof of the judgment and resolve of a Human Lord.
• Yellow Heaven Daoist said Zhao Cheng could silence the army's proud generals if he captured Wu City, though Li Tonghai doubted five thousand soldiers could take it.
• Yellow Heaven Daoist and Li Tonghai discussed the Heavenly Mandate, and Yellow Heaven Daoist suspected that it might now rest with Zhao.
• Yellow Heaven Daoist recalled Zhao Cheng's blueprints for World-Destroying Divine Thunder, a dangerous weapon powerful enough to destroy a city in one strike.

Yellow Heaven Daoist ordered Li Tonghai to seek uranium ore and spread reports supporting Zhao Cheng’s defiance, while Li Tonghai weighed whether the Yellow Heaven Army could survive. In Qing Province, Cao Zheng judged Zhao Cheng’s position in the mountains to be a trap and continued looking to recruit Li Tonghai.

• Yellow Heaven Daoist asked Li Tonghai about the ore search, stressed its importance, and instructed him to circulate news about his anger at Zhao Cheng and Zhao Cheng’s vow to take Wu City.
• Li Tonghai received angelica root from Cao Zheng’s spy and wondered whether to defect, deciding to wait and see if Zhao Cheng could take Wu City.
• Cao Zheng dismissed Zhao Cheng’s vow as reckless, arguing that the Chain Mountains would trap his army and drain its strength.
• Situ Yuan agreed that Zhao Cheng was young and impetuous, while Cao Zheng continued to value Li Tonghai as a potential recruit.

Cao Zheng failed to secure Xuanzhenzi’s allegiance, while Wu Qi prepared for war after the Feng and Chen Families allied against him. Wu Qi left Wu Zu and Wu Hu to defend Wu City, but an army soon marched toward it under a bloody moon.

• Cao Zheng welcomed Xuanzhenzi and his two grand-disciples, but Xuanzhenzi discussed the realm without pledging allegiance, leaving Cao Zheng bitter.
• Wu Qi learned that the Yellow Heaven Army had split from Zhao Cheng and considered candidates to inherit his foundation.
• Players discussed the expected TNT and nuclear-bomb plot turns as winter passed and the Heaven-Answering Army focused on farming.
• After the Feng and Chen Families allied against Wu Qi, he entrusted Wu City to Wu Zu and left Wu Hu and five thousand soldiers to defend it.
• Soon after Wu Qi departed, an army assembled in the Chain Mountains at midnight and marched toward Wu City as witnesses reported a bloody glow crossing the moon.

Wu Qi resolved to fight the Feng and Chen families despite the blood-red moon’s ominous appearance. At the Heaven-Answering Army camp, Zhao Cheng executed suspected traitors and ordered his forces to march on Wu City.

• Wu Qi saw a bloody glow around the moon at Moonwatch County and decided that retreat would only strengthen his enemies, so he would stake everything on the coming battle.
• Zhao Cheng assembled the Heaven-Answering Army in the middle of the night, and Han Qing announced that suspected enemy collaborators would be executed.
• Heaven-Answering Army soldiers executed the accused recruits before the gathered camp.
• Zhao Cheng declared that the army would advance on Wu City and claimed a divination had foretold they would seize it in one strike.
• Zhao Cheng assigned Wei Ye to guard the main camp with five hundred men and Lin Yi to lead the vanguard with eight hundred.

Zhao Cheng’s army secretly marched through the mountains toward Wu City while Wei Ye stayed behind to make the empty camp seem occupied. In Wu City, Wu Zu and Wu Hu remained unaware of the approaching danger, each confident in his position and the city’s defenses.

• Zhao Cheng led his army along a route prepared in advance with marked paths, supply caches, and medicine against mountain creatures.
• Wei Ye watched the Heaven-Answering Army’s camp empty and resolved to disguise the departure while guarding it with five hundred men.
• Wu Zu stayed awake in Wu City, believing Wu Qi planned to leave him the Wu Family’s foundation.
• Wu Hu drank at his residence, trusting the hidden sentries to warn him of any threat from Qing Province.

While Wu Zu inspected Wu City's defenses and cultivated support among its officers, Lin Yi's vanguard secretly reached the city and blasted a breach in its wall. The chapter ended with Lin Yi ordering his troops to storm Wu City as its people awoke to the explosion.

• Wu Zu toured Wu City's walls with Wu Hu and urged him to strengthen the city's defenses on Wu Qi's behalf.
• Wu Hu praised Wu Qi's past victories and boasted that he could defeat the Zhao bandits, winning laughter from the officials.
• Near Shanglin County, Wu Qi's Tiger Leopard Cavalry raided the Feng and Chen Families' camp, but their commanders contained the attack before both sides withdrew with heavy casualties.
• After the battle, Wu Qi felt an unexplained foreboding and ordered his troops to reinforce their defenses.
• Lin Yi led the vanguard through the mountains, seized more than a dozen watchtowers, and reached Wu City undetected.
• Lin Yi's soldiers stacked square stones against the city wall and blasted a massive breach, after which he ordered them to charge into Wu City.

Zhao Cheng’s Heaven-Answering Army overwhelmed Wu City with explosive crossbow volleys, captured Wu Hu, and forced him to kill Wu Zu to prove his surrender. News of the city’s fall reached Wu Qi, who spat blood in shock.

• Wu Hu woke to the explosions and hurried to assemble the garrison as Lin Yi led the Heaven-Answering Army into Wu City.
• Zhao Cheng’s soldiers fired five volleys of explosive arrows at the barracks, setting it ablaze and breaking the defenders’ resolve.
• Lin Yi’s men wounded Wu Hu’s horse and trapped him in nets as he tried to flee; Zhao Cheng then made him choose between death and surrender.
• Wu Hu surrendered, and two hours later he killed Wu Zu before a crowd.
• News of Wu City’s capture spread across the realm, and Wu Qi spat blood when he heard it in Shanglin County.

After learning that Wu City had fallen to Zhao Cheng through a meteor strike and fiery meteor rain, Wu Qi concealed his death and planned to lure the Feng-Chen allied forces into a trap. Left alone, he wondered whether Heaven truly favored Zhao and doubted he could reclaim the city while his family was in Zhao Cheng’s hands.

• Wu Qi ordered his commanders to announce that he had died from rage while keeping his actual condition secret, and he assigned Mr. Wen to stage a feigned retreat.
• Wu Qi explained that they had to defeat the Feng-Chen allied forces before Zhao’s army could trap them between two enemies.
• Wu Qi predicted that Feng Bao would lead the alliance while Chen Chi would hesitate, and ordered his troops to strike fiercely when the enemy probed them.
• After his commanders left, Wu Qi reflected on the meteor that breached Wu City and the fiery rain that devastated his elite troops, and wondered if the Heavenly Mandate favored Zhao.
• Wu Qi feared that Zhao Cheng had captured his family in Wu City and questioned whether he could still risk fighting to the death.

News that Zhao Cheng had taken Wu City made the Yellow Heaven Daoist and Huang Qi consider whether he truly possessed the Heavenly Mandate, while Cao Zheng resolved to avoid crossing paths with him. In the Capital City, Emperor Liu Guangzheng questioned why the event had not occurred in his previous life.

• The Yellow Heaven Daoist reflected that Zhao Cheng's city-taking arts would not solve the Yellow Heaven Dao's deeper need for capable governors and stable foundations.
• Huang Qi heard that Zhao Cheng had taken Wu City and concluded that the feat had won over the Yellow Heaven Army and strengthened his belief that handing the foundation to Zhao Cheng was right.
• Cao Zheng dismissed the Heavenly Mandate as temporary aid but decided to avoid confronting Zhao Cheng if possible.
• Emperor Liu Guangzheng learned that Zhao Cheng had seized Wu City, condemned his claim to the mandate, and wondered whether his previous-life actions had kept him from hearing about the Southern Wasteland.

Liu Guangzheng suspected Wu Qi might be a Child of Heavenly Mandate and maneuvered to send the Imperial Uncle against him. In Shanglin County, Zhao Cheng’s letter claiming Wu Qi was alive disrupted the Feng and Chen Families’ plans, while Zhao prepared to purge disloyal households in Wu City.

• Liu Guangzheng reasoned that a Child of Heavenly Mandate could be dangerous but not invincible, and decided to make the Imperial Uncle fight him.
• Liu Guangzheng wrote to the Imperial Uncle, urging him to kill the Southern Wasteland rebel and promising generous rewards.
• Wu Qi’s wheelchair appearances and the Wu Family Army’s fierce fighting kept the Feng and Chen Families uncertain about rumors that he had died.
• Feng Bao prepared to seize the opportunity, but Zhao Cheng’s letter stating that Wu Qi was not dead pushed the allied families to harass and wear down Wu Qi’s forces.
• Wu Qi retreated into Shanglin County after sacrificing troops, then learned Zhao Cheng’s letter had exposed his ruse and cursed Zhao Cheng before coughing up blood.
• Zhao Cheng told Han Qing he had guessed Wu Qi might be faking his death and said he would now kill the Wu City households he could not control.

After taking Wu City, Zhao Cheng secured the city by disciplining his troops, winning over residents and prominent families, and recruiting a large militia. Once his hold was firm, he turned against the great clans and scholars who refused to serve him, calling them rats scurrying across the street.

• Zhao Cheng let Wu Qi's surviving soldiers leave Wu City after the Heaven-Answering Army captured it with few casualties.
• Zhao Cheng confiscated Wu Qi's household wealth, imposed strict discipline, and used ballads and tales to promote General Yingtian's divine marvels.
• Zhao Cheng offered prominent families positions and recruited a militia, while Dao officers exposed and punished impostors and abusive recruits.
• Zhao Cheng built the city's militia to ten thousand soldiers, bringing his forces in Wu City to fifteen thousand.
• Zhao Cheng accused the Qian, Zhang, and Chu families of snubbing his invitations and denounced Wang Qi and Zhu Xian for refusing to enter office.

Zhao Cheng ordered the execution of nearly seventy percent of Wu City's prominent households, declaring that potential disloyalty was treason. While wealthy young men mocked him and trusted that General Pingnan would return, the sounds of soldiers and slaughter erupted through the city at midnight.

• Zhao Cheng explained that he relied on commoners rather than scholars and powerful clans, whom he considered unreliable.
• Zhao Cheng ordered Han Qing to execute the three clans of those named on a list of prominent households marked for treason.
• Han Qing recognized that the listed families could threaten the newly captured city by opening its gates to Wu Qi's forces, though the accusations had not yet been proven.
• At the Drunken Flower Tower, wealthy young men mocked Zhao Cheng and boasted that their relatives had refused his offers of office.
• At midnight, the young men awoke to marching soldiers, clashing weapons, shouts, and cries of slaughter across Wu City.