Chapter Summaries

Tongtian forced Zhen Yuanzi to give up Lei Zhenzi and arranged for Wen Zhong to take him as a disciple, while Wen Zhong continued his siege of East Sea City. In Chentang Pass, Taiyi Zhenren sent the Fire Spirit Pearl into Yin Shiniang’s room, and Li Jing’s third son was born.

• Tongtian demanded two Immortal Apricots from Zhen Yuanzi and left with Golden Spirit Holy Mother and Lei Zhenzi.
• Tongtian and Golden Spirit Holy Mother delivered Lei Zhenzi to Wen Zhong, who agreed to bring the infant to Chaoge after suppressing King Pingling’s rebellion.
• Wen Zhong kept East Sea City surrounded and waited for its food supplies to run out while he cultivated and stayed away from Chaoge.
• Li Jing anxiously waited as Yin Shiniang struggled to give birth after a three-year-and-six-month pregnancy.
• Taiyi Zhenren threw Lingzhuzi, the Fire Spirit Pearl, into the delivery room, and Li Jing’s third son was born.

Nezha was born in Chentang Pass, where Taiyi Zhenren accepted him as a disciple and gave him two spiritual treasures. The chapter left Taiyi fighting Medicine Master Daoist, who had come to claim Nezha for the Western Religion and had taken Taiyi’s Nine-Dragon Divine-Fire Mask.

• Li Jing mistook the crimson-lit fleshy ball that emerged from the delivery room for a demon, but Taiyi Zhenren transformed it into the infant Nezha.
• Nezha ran to Yin Shiniang for protection from Li Jing, then refused to let his father hold him.
• Taiyi Zhenren named the child Nezha and offered him the Qiankun Ring and Heaven-Sundering Silk; Nezha accepted Taiyi as his master.
• Nezha’s treasures transformed into a bracelet and bellyband, and Taiyi gave him Fire Spirit Fruits.
• Medicine Master Daoist arrived and claimed Nezha for the Western Religion, but Taiyi attacked him after rejecting the claim.
• Medicine Master Daoist took Taiyi’s Nine-Dragon Divine-Fire Mask with the Seven-Treasure Wonderful Tree, and Taiyi charged at him with his horsetail whisk after Yin Shiniang warned him not to use treasures.

Holy Mother Wudang and the Queen Mother of the West stopped Maitreya and Medicine Master Daoist from recruiting Nezha for the Western Religion. After the Queen Mother of the West drove them off and recovered Taiyi Zhenren’s treasure, Ao Ping revealed Nezha’s connection to Ao Bing and said he would summon him to Chentang Pass.

• Holy Mother Wudang arrived to help Taiyi Zhenren and attacked Medicine Master Daoist with a sword formation.
• Maitreya appeared with the Jieyin Treasure Banner and offered Nezha a Great Luo Golden Immortal relic to join the Western Religion.
• The Queen Mother of the West arrived on Ao Ping and used the Kunlun Seal to knock the Seven-Treasure Wonderful Tree from Medicine Master Daoist’s hand.
• Maitreya and Medicine Master Daoist returned the Nine-Dragon Divine-Fire Mask to Taiyi Zhenren and departed for Mount Sumeru.
• The Queen Mother of the West returned to Azure Lotus Island, while Ao Ping stayed and explained that Nezha and Ao Bing were reincarnations of the Fire Spirit Pearl and Water Spirit Pearl.
• Ao Ping said Nezha and Ao Bing were fated to clash and went to summon Ao Bing to Chentang Pass.

Maitreya and Medicine Master Daoist returned to Mount Sumeru after failing to bring Lingzhuzi's reincarnation to the Western Religion, while Ao Ping brought Ao Bing and Nezha together at Chentang Pass. After the boys fought to a standstill, Ao Ping ordered Taiyi Zhenren to teach them both, leaving Taiyi worried about how to keep them from fighting.

• Maitreya and Medicine Master Daoist told Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti that the Queen Mother of the West had defeated them and prevented them from taking Lingzhuzi's reincarnation.
• Ao Ping welcomed Ao Guang and Ao Bing at the Commander's Mansion, where Nezha challenged Ao Bing to a fight.
• Nezha and Ao Bing exchanged attacks with their magical weapons until Ao Ping stopped their evenly matched battle.
• Ao Ping explained that his teacher had ordered Taiyi Zhenren to teach both boys at Chentang Pass and let their military merits determine which would be senior disciple.
• Taiyi Zhenren asked Ao Ping how he could keep Nezha and Ao Bing from turning Chentang Pass into a battleground.

Su Hu received an unusually generous camp outside Chaoge, while Ji Chang hosted him at a banquet under Di Xin’s watchful eye. Yang Jian told Di Xin about Gao Ming and Gao Jue, whose supernatural sight and hearing could spy on the lords, and Di Xin set out for Qipan Mountain to recruit them.

• Fei Zhong and You Hun assigned the lords’ camps according to their bribes, giving Su Hu a place and supplies befitting one of the four great lords because his daughter Su Daji was Di Xin’s favored consort.
• Su Hu endured the other lords’ scorn, while Di Xin intended to keep him close and prevent him from joining any rebellion.
• Ji Chang invited Su Hu to a banquet, hoping Di Xin would interpret the gesture as an attempt to curry favor through Su Daji.
• Yang Jian told Di Xin that Gao Ming and Gao Jue of Qipan Mountain could see a thousand miles and hear in all directions, and said Di Xin needed to recruit them personally to address their weakness.
• Di Xin departed for Qipan Mountain with Yang Jian and Huang Feihu, while Bi Gan and Shang Rong stayed behind to carry out the king’s new policies.

Di Xin, Yang Jian, and Huang Feihu drew Gao Ming and Gao Jue out of Xuanyuan Temple and confronted them for taking the Human Emperor’s aura. Di Xin invested the brothers as Divine Eye General and Divine Ear General, but Yang Jian warned that taking them to Chaoge could expose them to danger.

• Yang Jian pretended to prepare to cut down the peach and willow trees, drawing Gao Ming and Gao Jue out of Xuanyuan Temple.
• Yang Jian told the brothers that Di Xin had come as the Human Emperor to hold them accountable for stealing his aura.
• Gao Ming and Gao Jue admitted their wrongdoing and explained they could not leave Qipan Mountain before reaching the Earth Immortal realm.
• Yang Jian offered the brothers immortality through Di Xin’s investiture in exchange for serving the Human Race, and they agreed.
• Di Xin invested Gao Ming as Divine Eye General and Gao Jue as Divine Ear General, raising them to the Earth Immortal realm.
• As Di Xin prepared to take the brothers to Chaoge, Yang Jian warned that they could be targeted and killed.

Yang Jian explained how Gao Ming and Gao Jue could be killed by attacks on their true bodies, then revealed his identity and accepted them as disciples with Yuding Zhenren’s approval. Yuding Zhenren gave the brothers Yellow-Center Plums to raise their cultivation, and they began absorbing them.

• Yang Jian questioned Gao Ming and Gao Jue about what would happen if their trees, roots, and clay figurines were destroyed, revealing their vulnerabilities.
• Di Xin proposed guarding Qipan Mountain, but Huang Feihu warned that doing so would expose the brothers’ weakness.
• Yang Jian suggested moving Qipan Mountain to Fire Cloud Cave, and Huang Feihu revealed that Yang Jian might be powerful enough to do it.
• Gao Ming and Gao Jue recognized Yang Jian, Erlang of Guanjiangkou, and asked to become his disciples; Yuding Zhenren appeared and approved their request.
• Yuding Zhenren gave Gao Ming and Gao Jue Yellow-Center Plums, and both brothers swallowed them and began cultivating.

Yang Jian moved Qipan Mountain to Fire Cloud Cave with Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan’s approval, then traveled to the North Sea to recruit Bai Jian to secretly aid the Human Race during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity. At Five Villages Temple, Zhen Yuanzi sent Shen Gongbao to the Teaching of Interception and ordered Jiang Ziya to descend the mountain and assist the Zhou House.

• Yang Jian helped Gao Ming and Gao Jue reach Great Luo Golden Immortal and warned them to act honorably as disciples of the Dao Sect.
• After receiving Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan’s consent, Yang Jian lifted Qipan Mountain intact and placed it in Fire Cloud Cave.
• Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan gave Yang Jian a letter for Bai Jian, asking him to secretly help the Human Race survive the calamity.
• Yang Jian delivered the letter to Bai Jian in the North Sea, and Bai Jian agreed to follow Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan’s instructions.
• Zhen Yuanzi exposed Shen Gongbao’s attachment to his former Demon Race identity and sent him to join the Teaching of Interception.
• Zhen Yuanzi ordered Jiang Ziya to descend the mountain and assist the rising Zhou House in carrying out the Investiture of the Gods.

Jiang Ziya left Mount Longevity with Zhen Yuanzi’s instructions and gifts, while Shen Gongbao was intercepted by Daoist Zhunti on the way to Golden Turtle Island. Zhunti persuaded Shen Gongbao to join the Western Religion and took him toward Mount Sumeru before he could formally become a disciple.

• Jiang Ziya accepted Zhen Yuanzi’s Eight-Trigrams Robe, peachwood sword, and life-saving jade talisman, and was told to establish himself in Chaoge before going to Xiqi and building the Investiture Platform in Qishan.
• Clear Wind and Bright Moon saw Jiang Ziya off with a Ginseng Fruit, and Jiang Ziya left Mount Longevity alone.
• White Crane Boy escorted Shen Gongbao toward Golden Turtle Island as Shen Gongbao blamed Jiang Ziya for his expulsion.
• Daoist Zhunti appeared, persuaded White Crane Boy to return to Five Villages Temple, and told Shen Gongbao that Zhen Yuanzi rejected him because of his Demon Race past.
• Shen Gongbao admitted his resentment and desire for recognition, then agreed to follow Zhunti to Mount Sumeru before completing the rites to become his disciple.

Ancestor Hong Yun stopped Daoist Zhunti from taking Shen Gongbao and persuaded him to join the Teaching of Interception as one of the two people fated for the Investiture of the Gods. Back in Chaoge, Di Xin learned that several great marquises were responding differently to Jiang Huanchu’s plans for rebellion and prepared to deliberate with his ministers.

• Ancestor Hong Yun confronted Daoist Zhunti, who left after reiterating his offer to make Shen Gongbao a personal disciple of the Western Religion.
• Ancestor Hong Yun told Shen Gongbao that he was destined to gather the gods alongside Jiang Ziya, and Shen Gongbao accepted him as his master.
• Zhen Yuanzi learned that White Crane Boy had handed Shen Gongbao to Daoist Zhunti, then secretly instructed Ancestor Hong Yun to proceed according to their plan.
• Yang Jian reported to Di Xin that Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan had directed him to visit Bai Jian, and Di Xin vowed to act for the future of the Human Race despite the consequences.
• Gao Ming and Gao Jue reported that Jiang Huanchu planned to flee Chaoge and raise rebellion; Di Xin and Yang Jian discussed the marquises’ loyalties, especially Ji Chang’s threat.
• Di Xin ordered Huang Feihu, Bi Gan, and the others to come to Xiande Hall for a deliberation.

Di Xin ordered his ministers to stage signs of a court rupture and secretly warn Ji Chang that he planned to kill the Four Great Lords. The lords reacted in different ways, while Ji Chang believed Di Xin’s supposed plan would give Xiqi an opening to rise.

• Di Xin ordered Huang Feihu to assist Chonghou Hu, Bi Gan to warn Ji Chang to leave Chaoge, and Shang Rong to tell the Teaching of Elucidation that Ji Chang was in danger.
• Huang Feihu threatened to resign, and Bi Gan visited the ancestral temple, as Di Xin intended to deceive the Four Great Lords.
• Jiang Huanchu and E Chongyu took the ministers’ apparent estrangement from Di Xin as an opportunity to move against him and bring troops into Chaoge.
• Chonghou Hu condemned the court ministers for opposing Di Xin, while Ji Chang suspected that the events had been staged.
• After reading Bi Gan’s letter, Ji Chang believed Di Xin meant to kill the Four Great Lords and concluded that the resulting unrest could allow Xiqi to rise.

Ji Chang refused Guangchengzi’s offer to flee Chaoge, choosing seven years of imprisonment to protect Xiqi from a premature war. Chen Xuan then bestowed powerful treasures, including the Gate of All Beings, on Gao Ming and Gao Jue.

• Guangchengzi warned Ji Chang that Di Xin planned to kill the four great feudal lords and offered to take him out of Chaoge.
• Ji Chang chose to remain in Chaoge because his divinations foretold seven years of imprisonment and Xiqi was not ready for war.
• Gao Ming and Gao Jue relayed Ji Chang and Guangchengzi’s conversation to Di Xin, who asked Yang Jian whether he could stop Guangchengzi from rescuing Ji Chang.
• Chen Xuan arrived and remarked that Yang Jian’s disciples lacked suitable magic treasures.
• Chen Xuan gave Gao Ming and Gao Jue innate spirit treasure weapons and robes, while Di Xin gave them the Gate of All Beings.
• Gao Ming and Gao Jue accepted the treasures and kowtowed to Chen Xuan.

Chen Xuan and Di Xin uncovered the Teaching of Elucidation’s plan to use Jiang Ziya and Daji’s sisters to drive a wedge between Daji and the king. Di Xin agreed to spare Pipa for now, but Daji might have to act against her sisters if she cannot persuade them to change sides.

• Chen Xuan told Di Xin that Ji Chang’s fate was unimportant and urged him to use the situation to justify a campaign against Xiqi while denying Jiang Ziya influence in Chaoge.
• Daji reported that Jiang Ziya had captured her sisters and planned to burn Pipa in public, and Di Xin ordered Jiang Ziya brought before the court.
• Daji explained that Pipa’s body was as strong as an innate spiritual treasure, while Di Xin and Chen Xuan suspected the sisters had knowingly provoked Jiang Ziya as part of a scheme.
• Chen Xuan explained that the Teaching of Elucidation intended to make Jiang Ziya famous and turn Daji against Di Xin by manipulating Pipa’s public burning.
• Daji asked Di Xin to spare Pipa, and he agreed while warning that Daji would have to act herself if she failed to persuade her sisters to abandon their course.

Daji asked Chen Xuan to protect the Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon and the Millennium Pipa Demon from choosing the wrong side in the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, and he gave her a way to send them to safety. At the Nine-Room Hall, Di Xin and Chen Xuan's disguised interference turned Jiang Ziya's attempt to expose a demon into a humiliating ordeal, which Yin Hong prolonged.

• Daji asked Chen Xuan how to seal away her sisters' souls, and he gave her a talisman that opened a gate to Azure Lotus Island, where the Queen Mother of the West could shelter them.
• After hearing Jiang Ziya had arrived with the officials, Di Xin went outside the Nine-Room Hall with Chen Xuan disguised as a lower official.
• Di Xin challenged Jiang Ziya to prove the young woman was a demon and ordered archers to shoot him if he failed; Jiang Ziya burned her, but she remained unharmed and looked human.
• Yin Jiao shot Jiang Ziya in the buttocks, then pulled the arrow out while apologizing after Jiang Ziya argued that the fire proved the woman was a demon.
• Yin Hong questioned whether Jiang Ziya's talismans had protected the woman from fire and stuck the arrow back into Jiang Ziya, saying it could not yet be removed.

Jiang Ziya failed to convince Di Xin that the Jade Pipa Spirit was a demon and was rescued from execution by White Crane Boy, but the Spirit’s true soul survived. At Song Family Village, she asked to enter the Investiture of the Gods List, while the Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon exposed Jiang Ziya’s attempt to trap her in a soul-refining gourd.

• Jiang Ziya burned the Jade Pipa Spirit with Samadhi Fire, and Chen Xuan secretly redirected her escaping true spirit south of Chaoge City.
• Di Xin rejected Jiang Ziya’s defense and ordered him beheaded, but White Crane Boy arrived with a decree and then rescued him when the Human Emperor’s fortune shattered the golden light.
• White Crane Boy carried Jiang Ziya to Song Family Village, where the Jade Pipa Spirit appeared and asked him to let her enter the Investiture of the Gods List.
• Jiang Ziya said the list remained with his master and offered the Jade Pipa Spirit a gourd, claiming it would nourish her soul.
• The Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon seized the gourd and warned the Jade Pipa Spirit that it was actually a soul-refining gourd that would destroy her soul.

Jiang Ziya fled Song Family Village after Di Xin's men threatened his sworn brother's family, leaving Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon defeated and Jade Pipa Spirit's true spirit in her care. Daji restored Jade Pipa Spirit and arranged for both sisters to cultivate under Queen Mother of the West, but they insisted on staying with Daji instead.

• Jiang Ziya used his magical treasures to overpower Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon after she swallowed Jade Pipa Spirit's true spirit.
• Di Xin's men surrounded Song Family Village and threatened to capture Jiang Ziya's sworn brother's family, so Jiang Ziya escaped with Jiang Ma-shi.
• Daji confronted Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon and convinced her that the Teaching of Elucidation had been using them.
• Daji restored Jade Pipa Spirit's body with Chen Xuan's aura of creation and helped her reunite with her true spirit.
• Daji sent Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon and Jade Pipa Spirit to cultivate under Queen Mother of the West on Azure Lotus Island.
• Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon and Jade Pipa Spirit refused to leave Daji and vowed to face the calamity with her.

Daji sent her sisters to Azure Lotus Island with the Ninth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus to protect her. As Jiang Ziya’s betrayal of Song Yiren’s family ruined his reputation, Di Xin executed Jiang Huanchu and attacked E Chongyu in Nine-Room Hall, leaving Ji Chang bloodied and face-to-face with the emperor.

• Daji reassured the Nine-Headed Pheasant Demon and Jade Pipa Spirit that the Azure Lotus Sage had arranged their cultivation and showed them the Ninth-Grade Merit Golden Lotus before sending them to Azure Lotus Island.
• E Lai released Song Yiren’s family on the condition that they spread the truth about Jiang Ziya abandoning them, and Jiang Ziya was condemned throughout Chaoge City the next morning.
• Chonghou Hu brought the captured Jiang Huanchu before Di Xin and accused him of plotting to depose the emperor and raise Yin Jiao to the throne.
• Di Xin ordered E Lai to behead Jiang Huanchu in Nine-Room Hall, then demanded to know how E Chongyu and Ji Chang had answered Jiang Huanchu’s appeal.
• E Chongyu charged Di Xin, who killed him with two punches and wiped his bloody hand on Ji Chang’s clothes.

Di Xin ordered Ji Chang executed for suspected treason, but Jiang Ziya rescued him from Chaoge after Guangchengzi secretly kept him alive. A mysterious voice instructed Jiang Ziya to take Ji Chang to Xiqi and prepare for the coming calamity.

• Di Xin rejected Ji Chang’s claims that he had tried to stop the Lord of the East and sentenced him to hang outside the Nine-Room Hall.
• Di Xin threatened to confiscate the households of officials who pleaded for Ji Chang, then watched as E Lai hanged him.
• Di Xin tried to cut out Ji Chang’s heart, unaware that Guangchengzi had placed him in suspended death.
• Jiang Ziya arrived in an Eight-Trigrams Robe, rescued Ji Chang, and escaped Chaoge despite Di Xin ordering archers to stop him.
• Di Xin declared Ji Chang a rebel and ordered the lords under heaven to raise armies against him.
• A mysterious voice told Jiang Ziya to take Ji Chang to Xiqi, reorganize the troops, and earn Ji Chang’s trust by claiming he had risked his life to save him.

Jiang Ziya brought Ji Chang safely to Xiqi with Jiang Ma-shi, then settled by the Wei River. After Ji Chang reunited with his family and recounted his humiliation in Chaoge, Bo Yikao urged Xiqi to rebel, while Ji Fa warned that Shang forces might attack first.

• Jiang Ziya carried the unconscious Ji Chang toward Xiqi with Jiang Ma-shi, and they escaped a White Tiger that Jiang Ziya subdued with a talisman.
• Jiang Ziya brought Ji Chang to Xiqi, delivered him to the city guards, and awakened him before settling with Jiang Ma-shi beside the Wei River.
• Ji Chang woke in Xiqi, learned that a Daoist and an old woman had brought him there on a White Tiger, and ordered portraits made of Jiang Ziya and Jiang Ma-shi.
• Ji Chang returned to his residence with Bo Yikao and Ji Fa, then told his trusted retainers how the ruler of Shang had forced him to hang himself.
• Bo Yikao urged Ji Chang to declare Xiqi independent and lead troops against Chaoge, while Ji Fa predicted that Shang's army might march on Xiqi.

Ji Fa sought Jiang Ziya’s help for Xiqi and became his disciple after choosing to learn statecraft rather than immortal arts. Jiang Ziya accepted him and said he would inform their grandmaster, while Ji Fa’s ambition to inherit Xiqi remained hidden.

• Ji Chang declared himself King Wen of Great Zhou and ordered San Yisheng to publicize Di Xin’s crimes.
• After learning Jiang Ziya had saved their father, Bo Yikao and Ji Fa searched for him, but only Ji Fa stayed by the Wei River and waited for his return.
• Jiang Ziya revealed himself to Ji Fa, who invited him to Xiqi; Jiang Ziya insisted that King Wen personally invite him first.
• Ji Fa stayed with Jiang Ziya, discussed governing and warfare with him, and asked to become his disciple.
• Jiang Ziya offered to teach Ji Fa statecraft or immortal arts, and Ji Fa chose statecraft so he could assist his father in ruling Xiqi.
• Jiang Ziya accepted Ji Fa as his disciple and said he would report the matter to their grandmaster.