Chapter Summaries

Li Changshou resisted the Incarnation of Desire’s assault by drawing on his overwhelming need for stability and using bizarre paintings to break her Heart’s Desire attack. He found her true form, while the freed Wicked Thought Girl began transforming under a surge of black aura.

• The Incarnation of Desire’s pink mist drove King Chu Jiang and King Qin Guang into a frenzy, while the Great Mage fell asleep and left Li Changshou to face her.
• The Incarnation of Desire tried to tempt Li Changshou with power, but discovered that his strongest desire was stability, which she could not stir without empowering him.
• Li Changshou asked to meet Empress Houtu, but the Incarnation of Desire entered him and forced Heart’s Desire upon him, also affecting the Wicked Thought Girl.
• Li Changshou used paintings to resist the assault, weakened the Incarnation of Desire, and pressed his Sword Finger to her brow to enter her starry inner world.
• The Wicked Thought Girl tore apart her Eternal Life Lock, and black aura surged toward her.

Grand Master Xuandu woke to find Li Changshou battling Houtu’s Incarnations of Desire and Malice, then helped him escape and calm two possessed Yama Kings at Tear Lake. Li Changshou recounted reaching the sorrow-bound Houtu and learning how to help her, then asked the Grand Master to recruit more Daoist experts for the coming operation.

• Grand Master Xuandu awoke, subdued King Chu Jiang and King Qin Guang, and fought Houtu’s Incarnation of Malice while Li Changshou escaped with the Incarnation of Desire.
• Grand Master Xuandu and Li Changshou brought the two Yama Kings to Tear Lake, where Little Ai’s sorrow made them stop fighting and weep.
• Li Changshou told the Grand Master that he had entered the Incarnation of Desire’s mind and found Houtu trapped by her Seven Emotions.
• Li Changshou recalled that asking Houtu for help awakened her, allowing him to explain the Netherworld’s situation and receive a way to resolve it.
• Li Changshou asked the Grand Master to recruit Daoist experts, and the Grand Master agreed that they should prepare for the operation.

Li Changshou assembled experts from the Jie and Chan Teachings to help Empress Houtu suppress the Seven Emotions Incarnations in the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk. The group entered Tear Lake and discovered that even its strongest members were vulnerable to the sorrow incarnation’s influence.

• Grand Master Xuandu advised Li Changshou to recruit experts with sound Dao Hearts, and Li Changshou planned the operation for three days later.
• Li Changshou summoned the Jie Teaching’s Duobao, Zhao Gongming, and Holy Mother Jinling, who agreed to help and sent Golden Light Holy Mother to spread a separate order among Jie Teaching sects.
• Li Changshou invited Yunxiao, who joined the mission and traveled to the Netherworld.
• Grand Master Xuandu arrived with Guang Chengzi, True Lord Taiyi, and True Lord Yu Ding, and the assembled experts descended beneath the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
• At Tear Lake, the experts encountered the sorrow incarnation Little Ai, whose words affected nearly everyone; True Lord Taiyi collapsed in tears, and Duobao lamented that their happiness had faded.

Li Changshou gathered Dao Sect experts to study Houtu’s Seven Emotions Incarnations and organized a plan to balance them and rescue Houtu. He then helped Little Ai rise from despair, weakening the sorrow that filled Tear Lake.

• True Lord Taiyi, Daoist Duobao, and Holy Mother Jinling withdrew from the meditation circle after Little Ai’s sorrow overwhelmed them.
• The immortals agreed that Houtu’s Seven Emotions had to be guided into balance rather than suppressed, and Li Changshou outlined four steps to rescue her.
• Li Changshou assigned the immortals to handle the different incarnations, with himself and Fairy Yunxiao taking on Sorrow and Guang Chengzi and Daoist Duobao providing support.
• Li Changshou used a demonstration of joy and sorrow merging into chaos to question Little Ai’s belief that her existence and future were already fixed.
• Little Ai sat upright and reached hesitantly toward the covered pearl as the sorrow around Tear Lake weakened.
• Grand Master Xuandu studied the Taiji spheres and said he would later spar with the Incarnation of Evil.

Li Changshou and eight Daoist experts entered the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk to reunite Houtu with her seven emotional incarnations, while the Sea God Cult and allies gathered prayers to strengthen her return. Houtu reclaimed her emotions and chose to embrace them herself, while Li Changshou parted from the incarnation of sorrow he had named Little Ai.

• Li Changshou and the immortals entered the Reincarnation Disk, where the Great Mage subdued the Incarnation of Malice and the others began handling the remaining incarnations.
• Li Changshou used the pearl, Yunxiao's comfort, and a performance to ease Little Ai's sorrow, while True Lord Yu Ding, Zhao Gongming, Guang Chengzi, True Lord Taiyi, Holy Mother Jinling, and Daoist Duobao restrained or strengthened the other incarnations.
• The Sea God Cult, Heavenly Court, Dragon Palaces, Daoist sects, Wu Tribe, and even the Western Teachings' followers prayed for Houtu, sending their faith into the Reincarnation Disk.
• Li Changshou offered the grass ring and called for Houtu's return; the gathered prayers empowered her, and all seven incarnations were drawn toward her.
• Little Ai thanked Li Changshou and revealed the name Houtu Ai before joining Houtu, while Li Changshou disclosed that he had changed the pearl so it held joy instead of sorrow.
• Houtu awakened, gathered the seven incarnations into the grass ring, and declared that she would embrace her own emotions and bear the suffering of all living beings.

Li Changshou helped Houtu stabilize the Seven Emotions Incarnations, and Houtu rewarded the Daoist immortals before privately thanking him. He promised the Incarnation of Sorrow that he would take her around the world if she learned to control her power, then left with a fresh shower of merit.

• Houtu merged her Primordial Spirit with the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk and preserved the Seven Emotions Incarnations, while Li Changshou realized his comforting words had created new karma.
• True Lord Taiyi worried that the Incarnation of Anger might attack Qianyuan Mountain, and Li Changshou promised to help explain matters if trouble arose.
• Houtu gave Grand Master Xuandu the Nine-Nine Return to One Profound Technique, and the Daoist immortals left after thanking her.
• Houtu privately bowed to Li Changshou and offered him Witch Race Talisman Arts and Pangu True Blood, but he accepted only the promise of the talisman arts.
• Houtu let the Incarnation of Sorrow speak with Li Changshou, who promised to show her the world if she learned to control her power and left her a treasure pearl.
• Li Changshou received Great Merit as he left the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, while Zhao Gongming used his Sea-Calming Divine Pearls to drench True Lord Taiyi.

Li Changshou returned to Lesser Qiong Peak after helping Empress Houtu, recovered from the lingering sorrow of the Seven Emotions Incarnation, and planned his next moves. Black Panther set out for Golden Ao Island just as the Heavenly Court issued a manifesto targeting Daoist Lu Ya, stirring the Demon Race to action.

• Ling'e found Li Changshou weeping in the Alchemy Room, and he explained that he was releasing emotions left by Houtu’s calamity before asking her to play cheerful music.
• Li Changshou learned that Western Teachings’ prayer power had helped the Netherworld and considered how to complete his Merit Golden Body and prepare for future events.
• Li Changshou told Ling'e she would travel down the mountain in twelve years, then planned to raise Junior Sister Youqin’s cultivation and arrange her entry into Heavenly Court.
• The water demon Miaomiao asked Li Changshou to stop Black Panther from visiting Golden Ao Island, but he told her to let her husband go if he wished.
• Black Panther left for Golden Ao Island, and the Heavenly Court issued a Demon-Subjugation Manifesto ordering Daoist Lu Ya’s capture because of his dangerous magic treasure.
• Demon Race experts seized on the manifesto’s claims about Lu Ya and began waiting for their Crown Prince to lead them, while Lu Ya was left dumbfounded by the news.

Daoist Lu Ya learned that the Heavenly Court had announced a search for him and feared the proclamation was a trap designed to force him out of hiding. Meanwhile, Li Changshou arranged for Ao Yi to draw Black Panther into learning of Lu Ya’s danger, while Daoist Wen Jing met Iron Fan in the Blood Sea to discuss the Primordial Slaughter Sword.

• Daoist Lu Ya consulted Duke Lu about the Heavenly Court’s proclamation, then left Peach Blossom Valley with the Immortal Slaying Flying Knife and a cloth bundle.
• Ao Yi reported that the Jie Teaching’s immortals welcomed Black Panther to Golden Ao Island and showered him with gifts, though he refused to stay after meeting Han Zhi.
• Li Changshou instructed Ao Yi to keep watch on Black Panther and arrange for him to overhear a staged order to investigate Lu Ya.
• Black Panther heard Ao Yi and a Dragon Clan expert discuss Lu Ya’s identity and danger, then worried about his benefactor and struck himself in frustration.
• Daoist Wen Jing watched Ox-Head and Horse-Face rehearse a coffin procession intended to provoke the Demon Race, then went to the Blood Sea.
• Daoist Wen Jing met a hidden Blood Sea figure and Iron Fan, who requested the return of the Primordial Slaughter Sword for her clan’s princess.

Daoist Wen Jing left the Blood Sea with the silver-haired Asura girl, while Daoist Lu Ya endured a string of misfortunes as he sought a fortune-teller. On Lesser Qiong Peak, Li Changshou reflected on practicing non-action, refined pills, and considered strengthening his body with the Eight-Nine Profound Technique.

• Daoist Wen Jing dismissed the Blood Sea Asuras’ demands for the Primordial Slaughter Sword and carried the silver-haired girl toward the Netherworld border.
• Daoist Wen Jing spotted the Netherworld’s Soul-Reaping Marshal riding a coffin with a band of battle shamans and wondered whether pledging loyalty to Lord Sea God would have been happier than infiltrating the Western Teachings.
• Daoist Lu Ya suffered a succession of mishaps while disguised as a middle-aged woman, then visited an old fortune-teller to ask how to dispel his bad luck.
• Li Changshou monitored Black Panther as he returned to find that Miaomiao had left him, and decided to let events unfold without further plotting.
• Li Changshou finished refining pills for Xiong Lingli, gave one to Jiu Jiu, and resolved to study the Eight-Nine Profound Technique to strengthen his body.

Bai Ze warned Lu Ya that the Water God threatened his life and advised him to turn the Demon Kings’ rebellion into a way to surrender to the Heavenly Court. Lu Ya proclaimed a rebellion against Heaven, and Li Changshou waited to see whether the demons would give him grounds to intervene.

• Bai Ze refused Lu Ya’s request for help, warned that the Water God wanted him dead, and explained why the ancient Demon Court’s fall had been inevitable.
• Bai Ze advised Lu Ya to rally the Demon Kings against Heaven, then surrender and offer them up to secure his survival, while warning him not to ally with Spirit Mountain.
• Several months later, Lu Ya issued the Proclamation Against Heaven, and three hundred and twenty-five demon kings gathered millions of soldiers and thousands of experts to answer him.
• The Heavenly Court prepared for war as demon clans and human Qi Refiners headed toward the Northern Continent; one demon king called for the Demon Court’s restoration but soon fell silent.
• Li Changshou considered Lu Ya’s strategy and decided to wait for the Demon Race to make the first move, planning to use even a trace of Demonic Aura at Heaven’s gates as grounds to seek support from the Three Teachings.

Li Changshou organized the Heavenly Court’s response to Lu Ya’s proclamation, advising the gods to avoid an immediate war and weaken the Demon Race through proclamations, preparations, and divine powers. After the council, Grand Master Xuandu heard of the plan and went to find a weapon for his Junior Brother.

• Li Changshou calmed the Heavenly Court’s officials and explained that an immediate attack could expose their military weakness and cause heavy casualties.
• Li Changshou proposed issuing a second proclamation that condemned the ancient demons while affirming that the Heavenly Court protected the Dao rather than ruled all races.
• Li Changshou arranged defensive rotations, reinforcements, recruitment, and a strategy to delay battle until the Heavenly Court was fully prepared.
• Li Changshou ordered the Matchmaker and several divine departments to disrupt the demons through marriages, punishments, dreams, misfortune, and other supernatural troubles.
• The officials laughed at the Toilet God’s proposal to make demon toilets explode, then began carrying out Li Changshou’s orders.
• Grand Master Xuandu heard Li Changshou’s plan, calculated briefly, and departed to obtain a weapon for him.

Li Changshou recruited Bian Zhuang to help the Matchmaker devise ways to disrupt the Demon Race, then reviewed the damage the Heavenly Court had inflicted over six months. He brought Ling'e and Youqin Xuanya to meet the Great Mage, who had arrived with an unknown gift.

• Li Changshou and the Matchmaker asked Bian Zhuang to explain how demon kings could steal one another's wives, and Bian Zhuang eagerly supplied tactics and lines.
• Li Changshou told Ao Yi that the Matchmaker's actions would earn merit because the Demon Race had defied Heavenly Dao, while the demon leaders were using the conflict to reduce threats to themselves.
• Over the following half year, the Heavenly Court's departments sowed disorder among the Demon Race, whose forces suffered falling morale and growing internal divisions.
• Li Changshou checked on his sect and asked Youqin Xuanya about her cultivation, giving her pills and urging her to become a celebrated female general for the Heavenly Court.
• The Great Mage summoned Li Changshou, Ling'e, and Youqin Xuanya through the Taiji Diagram, promising that he had brought them a gift.

Li Changshou met 108 ancient human Demon Soldiers and resolved to help them regain their Seven Emotions and Six Desires before deciding their future. After Great Mage identified Bai Ze as the hidden adviser aiding Lu Ya and left to confront him, a jade talisman from someone calling himself Ze Bai arrived for Li Changshou.

• Great Mage brought 108 ancient human Demon Soldiers from Xuandu City, but Li Changshou refused to send them straight into battle and planned to help restore their perceptions.
• Great Mage explained the Demon Soldiers’ origins in humanity’s ancient slaughter by the Demon Race, and Li Changshou argued that the heroes should be allowed to choose their own fate.
• Li Changshou defended the Heavenly Court’s tactics against the rebelling Demon Race, while Youqin Xuanya questioned whether those methods were honorable.
• Great Mage used the Taiji Diagram to identify Bai Ze as the hidden figure advising Lu Ya, then left to pursue him after discussing ways to counter his ability to seek good fortune and avoid disaster.
• Li Changshou sent a Paper Daoist with the Demon Soldiers toward Anshui City, intending to let them experience the peaceful age they had helped secure.
• Ling'e brought Li Changshou a jade talisman delivered by a Daoist calling himself Ze Bai, and Li Changshou suspected Bai Ze had contacted him.

Li Changshou analyzed Bai Ze’s plea and wager while arranging a place in Anshui City for the ancient human soldiers. He and Great Mage found Bai Ze at True Lord Du'e’s cave abode just before the deadline, leaving Bai Ze exposed to their attack.

• Li Changshou received Bai Ze’s plea for mercy and reasoned that Bai Ze was trying to avert punishment for his ties to the Demon Race.
• Li Changshou arranged for Xiong Laosan to house the one hundred and eight demon soldiers in Anshui City and entrusted their care to the Witch-Human Tribe’s Divine Envoys.
• Great Mage returned with Bai Ze’s wager: find his true body within half an hour, or let him hide in the Chaos Sea for three thousand years.
• Li Changshou, Great Mage, and Ling'e compared their guesses, and Li Changshou chose to investigate True Lord Du'e’s residence after Ling'e named the Kunlun Mountains.
• Bai Ze waited in True Lord Du'e’s vacant cave abode, believing his hiding place was safe, until Li Changshou and Great Mage arrived and prepared to attack him.

Li Changshou and the Great Mage captured Bai Ze and forced him to swear loyalty to the Human Teaching, then assigned him to Du Xian Sect. As Bai Ze carried Li Changshou, Ling'e, and the Great Mage toward the sect, he revealed he had foreseen their meeting, prompting the brothers to consider killing him after all.

• Li Changshou and the Great Mage threatened Bai Ze with death until he admitted he wanted to join the Human Teaching and explained that he had helped Lu Ya to repay the Sun-Riding Goddess for saving his life.
• Bai Ze questioned Li Changshou's motives, and Li Changshou explained that many of his apparent schemes had been accidental or driven by the pursuit of merit.
• The Great Mage and Li Changshou bound Bai Ze with oaths and restraints, and the Great Mage decided that Bai Ze should be raised at Du Xian Sect rather than kept at Lesser Qiong Peak.
• Bai Ze transformed into his elegant beast form and pulled Li Changshou, Ling'e, and the Great Mage through the sky toward Du Xian Sect.
• Li Changshou explained to Ling'e that he had chosen her suggestion because it was a plausible answer Bai Ze might have anticipated, then asked Bai Ze why he had investigated the Sea God Temple so early.
• Bai Ze said he had already seen their meeting coming, and Li Changshou and the Great Mage discussed scattering him.

Li Changshou settled Bai Ze on Black Pool Peak after the Great Mage spared him, then used a private conversation and a cooking contest to ease their hostility. He ended by challenging Bai Ze to confront his past choices and explain why he deserved to be remembered as a renowned figure.

• Ji Wuyou arranged for Bai Ze to live on Black Pool Peak and gave Li Changshou authority over his residence and its formations.
• Li Changshou explained that the Great Mage had helped restrain Bai Ze rather than kill him, while Bai Ze reflected on how badly he had misjudged Li Changshou's ambitions.
• Li Changshou and Bai Ze discussed power, ambition, and Bai Ze's wish to assist a wise ruler, then bonded over a cooking contest and wine.
• Li Changshou accused Bai Ze of abandoning the Demon Race while still bearing its karma and warned that he did not want to become another Demon Emperor in Bai Ze's eyes.
• Li Changshou left after challenging Bai Ze to rebut his criticism when they met again in three days.

Li Changshou gradually won Bai Ze over through a series of debates, while continuing his Heavenly Court duties and planning for the coming conflict with the Demon Race. Bai Ze finally realized that Li Changshou had engineered their first meeting and pledged himself to serve him.

• Li Changshou and Bai Ze debated whether the ancient Demon Race could have been saved while building a pavilion, and Bai Ze spent the following days reconsidering Li Changshou's arguments.
• Over roughly a year and a half of repeated debates, Li Changshou and Bai Ze reached an understanding, and Li Changshou gave Bai Ze topics for a hundred future debates.
• Li Changshou discussed his plans with Ling'e, monitored the Jade Emperor and Queen Mother's mortal tribulations, and checked on the retired demon soldiers in Anshui City.
• Ox-Head and Horse-Face delivered three volumes of Witch Race Secret Records and offered Netherworld forces for the coming war against the Demon Race.
• Bai Ze realized Li Changshou had used his instinct to seek fortune and avoid misfortune to draw him to Du'e's Cave Abode, then pledged to serve Li Changshou without reservation.

Li Changshou and Bai Ze built Bai Ze’s reputation and planned Youqin Xuanya’s rise as a Heavenly Court War Goddess while learning that Lu Ya possessed the deadly Seven Arrows Book of Nail Heads. Later, Li Changshou visited True Lord Taiyi at Qianyuan Mountain and discovered that Taiyi’s shy disciple Lingzhu Zi was a boy whom Taiyi wanted him to help make more masculine.

• Li Changshou and Bai Ze planned Youqin Xuanya’s ascension and circulated paintings and rumors presenting Bai Ze as a virtuous auspicious beast.
• Bai Ze warned Li Changshou that Lu Ya possessed the Seven Arrows Book of Nail Heads, which could secretly kill a Daluo Golden Immortal, and pleaded for Lu Ya’s life.
• Li Changshou hosted Bai Ze, Ji Wuyou, and Wan Linjun at Black Pool Peak while Lu Ya urged the Demon Race elders to avoid provoking the Heavenly Court.
• Li Changshou received True Lord Taiyi’s invitation and assigned Bian Zhuang to demonstrate his personal charm and courtship theories.
• Li Changshou arrived at Qianyuan Mountain as a Paper Daoist and met Lingzhu Zi, whom True Lord Taiyi introduced as his timid male disciple.
• True Lord Taiyi asked Li Changshou to help Lingzhu Zi become more masculine.

Li Changshou agreed to help True Lord Taiyi strengthen Lingzhu Zi’s timid temperament and secured a favor from Taiyi in return. After gathering advice from people around him, he planned to train Lingzhu Zi among Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.

• True Lord Taiyi showed Li Changshou and True Lord Yu Ding examples of Lingzhu Zi’s gentle, hesitant behavior and asked for help changing him.
• Li Changshou agreed to devise a gradual training plan and obtained a favor from True Lord Taiyi that could give him more initiative during the Investiture of the Gods.
• Li Changshou questioned Jiang Lin'er, Jiu Yushi, Ling'e, and Xiong Lingli about traits that helped shape a person’s character.
• Li Changshou consulted people in the Heavenly Court and Sea God Temples, then proposed immersing Lingzhu Zi among Heavenly Soldiers and Generals.
• True Lord Taiyi entrusted Lingzhu Zi to Li Changshou and told him to make the boy bolder.

Li Changshou prepared the Heavenly Court for a possible Demon Race attack on the Wu Tribe after Bai Ze warned him of danger in the Northern Continent. After half a year without an attack, he spotted Wen Jing meeting two unfamiliar figures inside the Demon Race’s guarded territory and suspected the Western Sect was scheming with the demons.

• Li Changshou brought Lingzhu Zi to the Heavenly Court, reassured him about his gentle temperament, and arranged for him to stay at the Water God’s Mansion.
• Li Changshou told Ao Yi and Bian Zhuang to use a dream encounter with a Demon Race woman to show that Heavenly Generals had genuine emotions, while warning Bian Zhuang not to become involved with her.
• Bai Ze warned Li Changshou that the Demon Race might attack the Wu Tribe in the Northern Continent and draw the Heavenly Court into battle.
• Li Changshou ordered Ao Yi and Bian Zhuang to prepare the Celestial River Navy and monitored the Demon Race territories, while the Wu Tribe remained hidden and the Heavenly Court stood ready for six months.
• Li Changshou detected Wen Jing entering a Demon Race stronghold with a silver-haired woman and a gaunt, cloaked figure, and suspected that the Western Sect was guiding the Demon Race toward an attack.