Chapter Summaries

Lu Chuan pushed to establish the Jie Sect Disciple Code and proposed creating a Law Enforcement Hall, naming Holy Mother Jin Ling to lead it. The rules sparked an uproar among the disciples, and Daoist Duobao summoned the other direct disciples to discuss the matter.

• Lu Chuan told Wen Zhong and Kong Xuan that the Jie Sect Disciple Code would spread through the sect and agreed that rules would need an enforcement division.
• Wen Zhong proposed his master, Holy Mother Jin Ling, as the head of enforcement, and Lu Chuan appointed her Head of the Law Enforcement Hall.
• The Jie Sect Disciple Code provoked widespread dissatisfaction, so disciples brought their complaints to Daoist Duobao.
• Daoist Duobao read the rules, grew concerned when disciples compared them to the Exposition Sect's rules, and summoned the other direct disciples.
• Holy Mother Jin Ling declined to attend, saying Lingxu Zi acted under the sect leader's decree and should be allowed to try; Wudang, Holy Mother Guiling, and three other female immortals arrived at the hall.

Daoist Duobao gathered the Jie Sect’s senior disciples to discuss the backlash against Lingxu Zi’s new regulations, arguing that they threatened the sect’s unity and made it resemble the Exposition Sect. Holy Mother Jin Ling challenged him, defending the rules as compatible with Tongtian’s teaching and insisting that accepting all living beings did not mean accepting evil.

• Daoist Duobao summoned the Jie Sect’s senior disciples, including Zhao Gongming and the Three Xiao, to discuss Lingxu Zi’s regulations.
• Zhao Gongming complained that the regulations had brought a flood of outer disciples to Mount Emei demanding that he stand up for them.
• Daoist Duobao and Holy Mother Guiling argued that the rules resembled the Exposition Sect’s precepts and could divide the Jie Sect.
• Holy Mother Jin Ling arrived and argued that Tongtian’s teaching without distinction did not require accepting people of poor character.
• Daoist Duobao questioned whether excluding people of poor character contradicted teaching without distinction, and Jin Ling replied that the principle did not erase the difference between good and evil.

Daoist Duobao opposed Lingxu Zi’s authority to impose rules on the Jie Sect, while Tongtian confirmed to Yunxiao that he intended to reform the sect without abandoning its teaching-without-distinction doctrine. Lu Chuan learned that Yuanshi disapproved of his methods, and Yuanshi concluded that Tongtian had finally seen the light.

• Holy Mother Jin Ling defended Lingxu Zi’s appointment and announced that she would oversee the new Law Enforcement Hall, while the other disciples left Daoist Duobao without enough support to challenge the order.
• Tongtian told Zhao Gongming and Yunxiao that he had resolved to change the Jie Sect because accepting disciples without judging their character could lead to great harm.
• Yunxiao guessed that Tongtian’s silence toward Daoist Duobao had been deliberate, and Tongtian said Duobao would understand if Lingxu Zi proved worthy.
• Wen Zhong told Lu Chuan that Yuanshi opposed his methods, and Lu Chuan argued that he was adapting the Exposition Sect’s approach rather than copying it.
• Immortal Nanji reported Lu Chuan’s appointment to Yuanshi, who reacted with surprise and said Tongtian had finally seen the light.

Yuanshi explained his conflict with Tongtian to Immortal Nanji, then Lu Chuan considered how to reform the Jie Sect’s unruly disciples. After learning that the ban on eating meat faced the strongest resistance, Lu Chuan insisted the disciples learn restraint.

• Yuanshi told Immortal Nanji that he and Tongtian disagreed over whether to teach all beings equally or select the superior, and criticized Tongtian’s disciples for bringing calamity upon the Three Realms.
• Immortal Nanji reported that Xiqi had been rebuilt but had lost two to three hundred thousand people, and Yuanshi said mortals would govern themselves after the great tribulation.
• Lu Chuan questioned whether the Jie Sect could become the Exposition Sect and wondered why Duobao opposed him, then asked Wen Zhong to keep a list of disciples resisting the sect rules confidential.
• Wen Zhong told Lu Chuan that the prohibition on eating meat faced the strongest opposition, especially among the Jie Sect’s nonhuman disciples.
• Wen Zhong said he ate vegetarian food, while Kong Xuan revealed that he had stopped eating meat because it harmed his cultivation.
• Lu Chuan declared that the disciples had to restrain their instincts if they wanted to become immortals.

Lu Chuan accepted Wen Zhong’s advice to remove the vegetarian rule and planned to frame the change as a favor to Holy Mother Jin Ling. When Bixiao arrived looking for him, Lu Chuan tried to flee in disguise, but Yunxiao saw through him, leaving Wen Zhong caught in Bixiao’s demand for an explanation.

• Wen Zhong warned Lu Chuan that imposing vegetarianism too quickly would provoke resistance, so Lu Chuan agreed to remove the rule and not add it back.
• Lu Chuan explained that the change could raise Holy Mother Jin Ling’s standing among the disciples, then left with Wen Zhong to find her.
• Lu Chuan spotted Bixiao approaching with Zhao Gongming, Yunxiao, and Qiongxiao, disguised himself as Lu Renjia, and tried to escape.
• Bixiao captured the disguised Lu Chuan, but Yunxiao recognized his Eight-Nine Profound Art and persuaded him to reveal himself.
• Bixiao accused Wen Zhong of confirming Lu Chuan’s earlier deception and demanded an explanation.

Daoist Duobao challenged Master of Heaven over Lingxu Zi’s new sect rules, but left determined to uphold their old convictions after Master of Heaven defended his changed beliefs. At Heavenly Heart Peak, Yunxiao reviewed Lu Chuan’s proposal and asked him to explain its Elder Hall.

• Daoist Duobao asked Master of Heaven to withdraw Lingxu Zi’s seventy-three sect rules and argued that they contradicted his past ideals.
• Master of Heaven said some beings could not be changed and that he would rather abandon his grand aspiration than let his teachings bring further harm.
• Duobao left resolved to prove Master of Heaven’s former convictions were not wrong, then told Holy Mother of Fire Spirit and Holy Mother Guiling not to interfere in sect affairs.
• Wen Zhong explained to Bixiao that Lu Chuan was also Lingxu Zi, and Yunxiao stopped Bixiao from continuing to scold him.
• Yunxiao gave Lu Chuan her annotated comments on his proposal and asked what his Elder Hall was.
• Lu Chuan explained the Elder Hall and its purpose of preventing power from resting in one person’s hands.

Lu Chuan organized Jie Sect’s new governance, persuading senior disciples to join the Elders Council and Jin Ling to establish an independent Law Enforcement Office. Tongtian approved recalling the scattered disciples to Golden Turtle Island, adding more elders to the council and authorizing the plan.

• Lu Chuan asked Yunxiao and the other senior disciples to serve on the Elders Council, explaining that Jin Ling would be excluded because she headed the independent Law Enforcement Office.
• Lu Chuan asked the senior disciples to promote the council and considered how reforming Jie Sect could help preserve Great Shang and change the future.
• Lu Chuan persuaded Holy Mother Jin Ling to establish the Law Enforcement Office and revoke the sect’s vegetarianism rule; the disciples welcomed the change.
• Lu Chuan proposed recalling Jie Sect’s scattered members to Golden Turtle Island, and Tongtian agreed after reviewing the sect rules that protected his peace and quiet.
• Tongtian added Wuyunxian, Golden Hoop Immortal, and Vilu Immortal to the Elders Council, then said Zhao Gongming would issue the decree to begin the recall.

Lu Chuan led a Law Enforcement Office squad to summon Bai Lin and the other absent Jie Sect disciples, hoping to reform the sect while sending the worst offenders west. Bai Lin rejected the summons and faced Lu Chuan’s assembled True Immortals.

• In the Western Paradise, Zhun Ti Daoist noticed that the crimson auras of those destined for the Western Sect had weakened, and Jieyin agreed that Zhun Ti Daoist should investigate in the east.
• After more than six hundred outer disciples failed to attend Tongtian’s gathering, Lu Chuan decided to bring them back and joked that he could send the worst offenders west to study.
• Lu Chuan and Wen Zhong set out with a twenty-five-person Law Enforcement Office squad, including Lin Xianyin, to find the missing disciples.
• The group reached Bai Lin’s island, where Lu Chuan recognized Bai Lin as Jiaomujiao and explained that Tongtian had ordered the disciples to gather.
• Bai Lin refused to return to the Jie Sect and told Lu Chuan to leave, while Lu Chuan’s six True Immortals surrounded him.

Lu Chuan captured Bai Lin and led the enforcement squad in subduing hundreds of Jie Sect members, but several empty abodes suggested that the remaining fugitives had joined forces. Their opponents gathered under Jin Shengyang and prepared to confront Lu Chuan, whose group was approaching.

• Bai Lin feigned a desperate charge, transformed into a green Flood Dragon, and tried to escape, but Lu Chuan trapped him in the Ruyi Qiankun Bag.
• Lu Chuan and his squad captured more than six hundred people, including twenty-one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, while some others surrendered and were sealed in the bag.
• Lu Chuan found several empty cave abodes and concluded that the remaining fugitives had joined forces.
• Li Xiong arrived at a mountain cave and found Jin Shengyang, Huang Cang, Lu Neng, and others assembled there.
• Jin Shengyang’s group discussed Tongtian’s support for Lu Chuan and planned to confront the approaching enforcement squad.

Lu Chuan and Wen Zhong’s group traveled toward Golden Lock Mountain and encountered Zhun Ti, a Sage of the Western Sect. Lu Chuan thwarted Zhun Ti’s attempt to read his mind, then struck up a friendly conversation before the group resumed its journey.

• Lu Chuan agreed with Wen Zhong that the seven missing True Immortals had likely joined forces, but urged the group to continue to Golden Lock Mountain.
• The group met a Taoist who identified himself as Zhun Ti of the Western Sect and said he had come east to ferry people with affinity to his faith.
• Zhun Ti tried to read Lu Chuan’s mind, but the Purple-Gold Heart-Piercing Lock shielded him with purple qi and the figure of an old Taoist.
• Lu Chuan praised Zhun Ti and spoke warmly of the Western Sect, while Zhun Ti recognized him as the celebrated Jie Sect reformer and praised him in return.
• Lu Chuan and the group bade farewell to Zhun Ti and continued on their way.

Zhun Ti returned to Mount Sumeru after meeting Lu Chuan and told Jie Yin that the Jie Sect's renewed fortunes came from Lu Chuan's reforms. Meanwhile, Lu Chuan and the enforcement group confronted seven Jie Sect disciples who refused to return to Golden Turtle Island, and both sides prepared to fight.

• Lu Chuan told Wen Zhong that books had taught him about the West, while Zhun Ti watched the group depart and reflected on recruiting Eastern cultivators.
• Zhun Ti returned to Mount Sumeru and told Jie Yin that Lu Chuan had strengthened the Jie Sect by reforming the mortal realm and the sect.
• Zhun Ti proposed recruiting cultivators from the Chan Sect and Jie Sect to strengthen the Western Sect and subdue Western deities such as the Yakshas and Asuras.
• At Golden Lock Mountain, Li Daotong and six other beast-headed Daoists refused to return to Golden Turtle Island, arguing that they could not tolerate the Jie Sect's rules.
• The Jie Sect enforcement group confronted the seven disciples, who released their True Immortal auras, and Wen Zhong told the group to prepare to fight.

Wen Zhong and the Law Enforcement Office’s True Immortals battled seven rebels while Lu Chuan watched for a chance to use the Qiankun Bag. When Lin Xianyin faced the Wing Fire Snake, Lu Chuan called in the Chongming Bird, whose arrival gave him a natural advantage over the snake.

• The seven beast-headed Daoists attacked the five black-clad True Immortals and Lin Xianyin, and the Law Enforcement Office’s fighters moved to meet them.
• Wen Zhong challenged the Wolf Head Daoist, but the Wolf Head Daoist rejected the sect’s rules and demanded that they fight together.
• Lu Chuan replenished his mana and waited for the combatants to weaken before using the Qiankun Bag.
• Lin Xianyin’s black lightning forced the snake-headed Daoist to reveal his Wing Fire Snake form.
• Lu Chuan told Lin Xianyin to leave the Wing Fire Snake to him and summoned the Chongming Bird, which arrived with an aura that overwhelmed the snake.

Lu Chuan provoked the Wing Fire Snake and captured it in his Qiankun Bag, then watched as Lin Xianyin and the other True Immortals revealed their true forms and plunged the battlefield into chaos. With no way to stop the melee, Lu Chuan and Wen Zhong withdrew to watch from a distance and wait for the fighters to exhaust themselves.

• Lu Chuan taunted the Wing Fire Snake, which charged at him, and he trapped it in his Qiankun Bag.
• Lin Xianyin fought the horse-headed Daoist, who transformed into a swift crimson-gold horse and evaded his lightning attacks.
• Lin Xianyin transformed into a black flood dragon as the other Daoists and the Law Enforcement True Immortals revealed their true forms and joined the battle.
• Wen Zhong asked Lu Chuan what to do, and Lu Chuan proposed letting the True Immortals fight until they were exhausted.
• Lu Chuan, Wen Zhong, and the Dao Integration Realm cultivators retreated to watch the chaotic battle from a safe distance.

Lu Chuan watched the Jie Sect True Immortals battle for three days, then captured them with the Qiankun Bag after his companions channeled their mana into him. Back on Golden Turtle Island, he warned Kong Xuan about a powerful figure he had encountered and revealed that at least two other Heavenly Venerables lived in the Western Lands.

• Lu Chuan and the others watched twelve Jie Sect True Immortals fight until most were exhausted, leaving Neck Gold Dragon, Star Horse, a black flood dragon, and a Golden Eagle among the last standing.
• Lu Chuan arranged for twenty-one Dao Integration Realm cultivators to channel their mana into him, then used the Qiankun Bag to capture the exhausted True Immortals.
• After resting, Lu Chuan's group surrounded and captured Neck Gold Dragon and Star Horse, then rested two more days before returning to Golden Turtle Island.
• Lu Chuan handed the captives to Holy Mother Jin Ling and warned Kong Xuan not to fight the dangerous person he had encountered.
• Lu Chuan told Kong Xuan that at least two Heavenly Venerables lived in the Western Lands, astonishing him.

Lu Chuan received Tongtian’s approval to act on his roster of Jie Sect disciples and prepared to return to the Shang-Zhou war. He left for Xiqi with Kong Xuan, while Tongtian warned him about his cultivation and hinted at the danger of his new elder brother.

• Wen Zhong returned with the Qiankun Bag and said he would go back to Great Shang as Lu Chuan prepared to seek leave from Tongtian.
• Wen Zhong questioned Kong Xuan about how he had met Lu Chuan, and Kong Xuan began to answer.
• Tongtian reviewed Lu Chuan’s roster, noted that nearly half its names overlapped with the List of Conferred Gods, and approved proceeding according to it.
• Tongtian told Lu Chuan he was the weakest among Jie Sect’s third-generation disciples and asked about his relationship with Kong Xuan, whom he recognized as a Peacock.
• Lu Chuan returned to the continent with Wen Zhong and Kong Xuan, then said he would go to Xiqi to help in the war while Wen Zhong watched over his father in Chaoge.
• Lu Chuan reflected that Xiqi could not be pacified before the Investiture of the Gods ended because many more heads would be needed to fill the List of Conferred Gods.

Lu Chuan returned to the Shang camp after Kong Xuan departed, only to be mistaken for Yang Jian and attacked by Zhang Guifang. After proving his identity, he learned Yang Jian had stolen Shang treasures and reached the Dao Integration Realm, leaving Lu Chuan to consider how to face him.

• Kong Xuan told Lu Chuan that tribulation could bring opportunity and suggested Lu Chuan might attain the Dao within fifty years before flying away.
• Lu Chuan recalled the missing turtle and wondered whether Yuan Hong was still in Xiqi, then flew back to the Shang camp.
• Zhang Guifang mistook Lu Chuan for Yang Jian, locked him in a hold, and called the soldiers to seize him.
• Lu Chuan summoned the Mystic Dragon Halberd and demonstrated his Five Elements Tribulation, convincing Zhang Guifang that he was the real strategist.
• Zhang Guifang explained that Yang Jian had impersonated Lu Chuan, gravely wounded Mo Lihong, stolen the Primordial Umbrella and Universe Ring, and killed the Pine-Bamboo Two Friends.
• Lu Chuan learned Yang Jian had reached the Dao Integration Realm and went to the main tent to consider his next move and look for Yuan Hong.

Lu Chuan returned to camp, reunited with Yuan Hong, and asked him to impersonate him while he cultivated for a breakthrough. In Xiqi, Ji Fa and Jiang Ziya discussed the city’s devastation and agreed it would need three years to recover.

• Lu Chuan returned to his tent and found Yuan Hong still waiting there, honoring their agreement.
• Lu Chuan learned that Yuan Hong had watched Yang Jian fight and could currently suppress him.
• Lu Chuan asked Yuan Hong to impersonate him and oversee the camp while he entered seclusion to pursue the Dao Integration Realm; Yuan Hong agreed.
• Lu Chuan estimated that Xiqi’s losses would keep its forces from campaigning for a long time, giving him a chance to improve his strength.
• Ji Fa asked Jiang Ziya about relocating villagers to replenish Xiqi’s population, and Jiang Ziya said recovery would take at least three years and they must not wage war during that time.

Ji Fa agreed to Jiang Ziya’s plan to rebuild Xiqi’s strength over three years while avoiding a fight with the Shang army. Yang Jian reunited with Yang Chan, who visited with her friend Ao Cunxin and brought him food, leaving the siblings and Ao Cunxin together over a meal.

• Ji Fa accepted Jiang Ziya’s advice to hang the No-War Tablet, recover Xiqi’s strength, and prepare to fight again in three years.
• Yang Jian defeated Nezha, Huang Tianhua, and the other martial brothers during a courtyard practice match.
• A gatekeeper told Yang Jian that a young lady was waiting for him, and Yang Jian went to the residence gate with his fellow disciples.
• Yang Jian greeted Yang Chan and met her friend, the Third Princess of the West Sea, Ao Cunxin.
• Yang Chan invited herself and Ao Cunxin inside, then served Yang Jian the vegetarian dishes she had cooked.

Yang Chan visited Yang Jian, who warned her that Lu Chuan had likely met with misfortune, while Lu Chuan secretly cultivated at Shouyang Mountain. After two years, Lu Chuan reached the Dao Integration Realm and returned to the Shang camp, facing the question of what his Dao was.

• Yang Jian shared a meal with Yang Chan and guessed that she had come to discuss Lu Chuan, then told her Lu Chuan had likely met with misfortune.
• Yang Jian speculated that Lu Chuan might be invested as a god because of his connection to Jiang, giving them a chance to meet again.
• Lu Chuan left the Shang camp in disguise and secluded himself in a Shouyang Mountain cave to temper his Primordial Spirit and advance his cultivation.
• A Bian guarded Lu Chuan's cave while he cultivated for two years, completing his Yang Spirit and advancing into the Dao Integration Realm.
• Lu Chuan emerged from the cave, tested his expanded divine sense, and returned to the Shang camp as he considered what his Dao was.

Shen Gongbao tested Hong Jin and promised to recommend him to lead the campaign against Xiqi, while Lu Chuan returned to the Yin Shang camp and learned Zhang Guifang had been recalled. In Chaoge, Shen Gongbao attempted to recover the princess’s missing vital soul, but a trapped soul escaped its bottle and was caught by the Nine-Tailed Fox.

• Shen Gongbao fought Hong Jin and judged him equal to Lu Chuan as he had been two years earlier.
• Shen Gongbao told Hong Jin he would recommend him to the King to campaign against Xiqi alongside Lu Chuan.
• Lu Chuan met Yuan Hong, who reported that Zhang Guifang had been ordered back to Azure Dragon Pass and a replacement had not yet been chosen.
• Shen Gongbao diagnosed Di Xin and Lady Huang’s daughter as lacking a vital soul and began a ritual to recover it.
• A white light escaped from the Nine-Tailed Fox’s porcelain bottle, but she caught it and revealed it as a tiny figure resembling herself.