Chapter Summaries

Ji Fa brought Jiang Ziya to Xiqi, where King Wen Ji Chang welcomed him and agreed to appoint him chancellor. Jiang Ziya explained that the arduous carriage journey had been a way to divine Great Zhou’s national fortune.

• Ji Fa asked Jiang Ziya not to report his acceptance as a disciple to Zhen Yuanzi, then returned to tell King Wen Ji Chang he had found Jiang Ziya.
• King Wen Ji Chang gathered his officials and sons to welcome Jiang Ziya, while Bo Yikao objected to trusting him and planned to expose him.
• King Wen Ji Chang met Jiang Ziya fishing by the Wei River, offered him the chancellorship, and personally drove him toward Xiqi in an old carriage.
• When the carriage bogged down, King Wen Ji Chang and Ji Fa pushed it through the mud as Bo Yikao grew angry and the ministers joined in.
• Jiang Ziya stepped down, formally addressed King Wen Ji Chang as king, and said he had used the journey to divine Great Zhou’s national fortune.

Jiang Ziya told King Wen Ji Chang that Great Zhou would last eight hundred years, but Shen Gongbao appeared and denounced him as a fraud. Ji Fa defended Jiang Ziya, and Shen Gongbao fled toward the East Sea after his attack was repelled.

• Jiang Ziya interpreted King Wen Ji Chang’s carriage journey as a prophecy that Great Zhou would rule for eight hundred years before falling to the feudal lords.
• A voice from the sky accused Jiang Ziya of deceiving rulers, and Shen Gongbao revealed himself on a white-browed tiger.
• Shen Gongbao claimed Jiang Ziya had framed him and caused his expulsion from the Teaching of Elucidation, while Ji Chang and Ji Fa remained committed to Jiang Ziya’s role in Xiqi.
• Ji Fa rejected Shen Gongbao’s accusations and declared that Xiqi would not accept him, even with Golden Immortal cultivation.
• Shen Gongbao hurled the Heaven-Opening Pearl at Ji Fa, but an invisible force repelled it and injured Shen Gongbao through backlash from Human Race fortune.
• Shen Gongbao condemned Jiang Ziya for becoming the appointed ruler’s teacher, then rode away from the Wei River toward the East Sea.

Shen Gongbao helped Jiang Ziya secure Ji Fa’s claim to Xiqi, then traveled west to cultivate alliances as part of Zhen Yuanzi and Ancestor Hong Yun’s plan. The chapter revealed that the six Heavenly Dao Saints had divided into three camps, each pursuing its own goals for the Investiture of the Gods Calamity.

• Shen Gongbao met Jiang Ziya, who promised to make him the foremost of the three hundred and sixty-five righteous gods for helping Ji Fa inherit Xiqi.
• Shen Gongbao left Xiqi for the west to befriend Western Religion disciples and recruit them as cannon fodder in the Investiture of the Gods Calamity.
• Zhen Yuanzi and Ancestor Hong Yun planned to use Western Religion disciples to fill the Investiture of the Gods List and end the calamity quickly.
• The two Western Sages welcomed Shen Gongbao while secretly planning to gain merit, place their disciples in the Heavenly Court, and weaken Haotian.
• Donghuang Taiyi pursued a similar plan to use Demon Race figures on the Investiture of the Gods List to reclaim control of the Heavenly Court.
• Hongjun knew the six Heavenly Dao Saints had split into three camps but could not control their thoughts, only their lives and deaths.

Di Xin and Chen Xuan arranged Shang’s campaign against Xiqi, planning to undermine Xiqi from within while bringing Dao Sect disciples to Sishui Pass. As Zhang Guifang marched toward the front, Han Rong faced damage to Sishui Pass’s walls from Nezha and Ao Bing and was promised their reconstruction with precious materials.

• Di Xin appointed Chonghou Hu to raise an army against Xiqi and sent Zhang Guifang ahead with troops to prevent Xiqi from recovering.
• Chen Xuan told Di Xin to exploit Bo Yikao’s dissatisfaction, wait for Wen Zhong to lead the main campaign, and have Guangchengzi and Chijingzi take Yin Jiao and Yin Hong away.
• Chen Xuan ordered Yang Jian to summon his master and Taiyi Zhenren with their disciples to Sishui Pass, where Chen Xuan would oversee the campaign.
• Zhang Guifang and Feng Lin marched toward Xiqi with fifty thousand soldiers, eager to win glory before Chonghou Hu arrived.
• Han Rong learned that Nezha and Ao Bing had damaged more than five li of Sishui Pass’s wall and went to seek Taiyi Zhenren’s help.
• Yang Jian assured Han Rong that Taiyi Zhenren would rebuild the walls with heavenly treasures and earthly materials, leaving Han Rong hopeful that Sishui Pass could withstand Xiqi.

After Nezha and Ao Bing demolished Sishui Pass’s walls, Han Rong secured Nine-Heavens Breath Soil from Taiyi Zhenren to rebuild them. The boys fled toward Xiqi to capture Jiang Ziya, but instead entered his home after Jiang Ma-shi invited them to become her sons.

• Han Rong persuaded Taiyi Zhenren to provide Nine-Heavens Breath Soil to repair Sishui Pass’s walls.
• Nezha and Ao Bing fled toward Xiqi to capture Jiang Ziya before Taiyi Zhenren could punish them.
• Taiyi Zhenren spotted Zhang Guifang’s army approaching Sishui Pass and alerted Yuding Zhenren.
• Nezha and Ao Bing sneaked into Xiqi, learned where Jiang Ziya lived, and met Jiang Ma-shi outside his residence.
• Nezha claimed Di Xin had killed their parents, and Jiang Ma-shi invited both boys to become her sons.
• Nezha and Ao Bing followed Jiang Ma-shi into Jiang Ziya’s residence as she began preparing rooms and food for them.

Nezha and Ao Bing infiltrated Jiang Ziya’s residence in Xiqi and attacked him, but Guangchengzi intervened and injured Nezha. Taiyi Zhenren rescued the two and returned with them to Sishui Pass, where Zhang Guifang’s army had just arrived.

• Jiang Ma-shi brought Nezha and Ao Bing into Jiang Ziya’s residence, where Nezha revealed their plan and punched Jiang Ziya.
• Nezha and Ao Bing attacked Jiang Ziya until Guangchengzi arrived and struck Nezha with the Heaven-Flipping Seal.
• Ao Bing caught the injured Nezha and called for Taiyi Zhenren, who used a feint to escape with both disciples.
• Han Rong welcomed Zhang Guifang and his army to Sishui Pass, while the troops camped outside the city.
• Taiyi Zhenren returned to Sishui Pass with Nezha and explained that Guangchengzi had grievously wounded him.
• Yang Jian praised Nezha for surviving the Heaven-Flipping Seal, and Nezha boasted before coughing up blood again.

Taiyi Zhenren and the others treated Nezha after the Heaven-Flipping Seal left him gravely injured, using the Three Lights Divine Water and Ao Bing’s Water Spirit Pearl to expel Chaos qi and awaken the Fire Spirit Pearl. When the two pearls formed a Water-Fire Taiji Diagram, Chen Xuan appeared and infused them with the Great Dao’s laws of water and fire, but Nezha and Ao Bing’s bodies changed again.

• Taiyi Zhenren, Yuding Zhenren, and Yang Jian brought the unconscious Nezha to a quiet room and found that the Heaven-Flipping Seal had damaged his primordial spirit.
• The Ninth-Turn Golden Elixir failed to heal Nezha, so Taiyi Zhenren used Three Lights Divine Water and asked Ao Bing to control it through his Water Spirit Pearl.
• Ao Bing, Yang Jian, and Wuzhiqi guided the Water Spirit Pearl as Nezha expelled a strand of Chaos qi and his Fire Spirit Pearl emerged.
• The Water Spirit Pearl and Fire Spirit Pearl formed a Water-Fire Taiji Diagram, but Yang Jian noticed that Nezha’s Fire Spirit Pearl was covered in cracks.
• Chen Xuan arrived, infused both spirit pearls with the Great Dao’s laws of fire and water, and watched as Nezha and Ao Bing’s bodies underwent another change.

Nezha and Ao Bing's bodies were reconstructed through the Water-Fire Spirit Pearls, granting them powerful new forms that remained child-sized. After Guangchengzi attacked Sishui Pass, they pursued him and began fighting him as Han Rong and Zhang Guifang prepared to face Jiang Ziya's forces.

• Chen Xuan explained that the Water-Fire Spirit Pearls were awakening their source laws as Nezha and Ao Bing's bodies dissolved and were rebuilt.
• After three days, Nezha and Ao Bing emerged from the Spirit Pearl with new appearances but still looked like children.
• Guangchengzi's Heaven-Flipping Seal attacked them, but they blocked it and chased him toward Xiqi while Yang Jian warned that Guangchengzi and Jiang Ziya were leading an assault.
• Han Rong and Zhang Guifang went to meet the enemy as Nezha and Ao Bing confronted Guangchengzi and resisted his Soul-Seizing Bell.
• Ao Bing struck Guangchengzi from his immortal crane, then met his halberd head-on when Guangchengzi retaliated.

Jiang Ziya summoned the ancient beast Taotie with a blood talisman, turning the battle into a deadly retreat for both armies. Yang Jian and Guangchengzi joined forces to restrain the beast, while Jiang Ziya escaped toward Xiqi and the others withdrew toward Sishui Pass.

• Yang Jian arrived in time to block Guangchengzi's attack on Ao Bing, then fought Guangchengzi while Nezha and Ao Bing moved to capture Jiang Ziya.
• Nezha and Ao Bing defeated Jiang Ziya's golden-armored divine generals, but Nangong Shi charged Nezha and was thrown into the Xiqi formation.
• Jiang Ziya activated a purple-gold talisman that summoned Taotie, which devoured Shang soldiers and attacked Nezha and Ao Bing.
• Taotie swallowed Ao Bing's dragon-pearl floodwaters and chased the retreating armies, killing many soldiers as Jiang Ziya ordered Xiqi's forces to withdraw.
• Taiyi Zhenren attacked Taotie with the Nine-Dragon Divine-Fire Mask, but the beast damaged the treasure and wounded him; Yang Jian then immobilized it briefly with his Heaven Eye.
• Guangchengzi struck Taotie with the Heaven-Flipping Seal, but the beast broke free, and Guangchengzi fled toward Xiqi while Yang Jian remained to fight it.

Chen Xuan explained how Yang Jian could use Taotie’s fear of its own form to restrain the corpse beast, then Nezha, Ao Bing, and three monkeys helped destroy it. Back in Xiqi, Guangchengzi learned that Jiang Ziya had summoned Taotie with a mysterious talisman and ordered him to stay inside the city while he reported the matter to his master.

• Chen Xuan identified Taotie as a corpse beast and advised Yang Jian to transform into its likeness to frighten it.
• Yang Jian transformed into Taotie, briefly stalling the beast, while Chen Xuan warned that the method would only work temporarily against a corpse beast.
• Nezha and Ao Bing attacked Taotie as Yang Jian restrained it, and Wuzhiqi, Yuan Hong, and Yuan Futong joined the fight.
• The three monkeys tore Taotie apart, and Nezha burned its remains to ash.
• Guangchengzi confronted Jiang Ziya about the talisman that summoned Taotie and concluded that someone was plotting against him.
• Guangchengzi ordered Jiang Ziya not to leave Xiqi to fight until he returned from informing his master.

After Taotie’s attack, Chen Xuan warned that the Investiture of the Gods Calamity could involve the ancient races and ordered preparations to defend Chaoge and Sishui Pass. He gave Zhang Guifang a Yin Eye that strengthened his Name-Calling Horse-Dropping Technique, and Zhang Guifang revealed that the Soul-Seizing Daoist had been his master.

• Chen Xuan assessed the casualties from Taotie’s attack and warned that the fierce beast race and other ancient races might join the calamity.
• Chen Xuan sent Yang Jian to warn Di Xin, request Wen Zhong’s deployment to Xiqi, and arrange Great Luo Golden Immortals to protect Chaoge.
• Chen Xuan assigned Wuzhiqi, Yuan Hong, and Yuan Futong to help Han Rong defend Sishui Pass, and ordered Zhang Guifang to march on Xiqi with Yuding and Taiyi.
• Chen Xuan opened a Yin Eye for Zhang Guifang, allowing him to learn the full names and pasts of people below the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
• Zhang Guifang thanked Chen Xuan and explained that he and his junior brother Feng Lin had trained under the Soul-Seizing Daoist for fifteen years.

Chen Xuan sent Zhang Guifang and Taiyi Zhenren to investigate Zhang Guifang’s master, the Soul-Seizing Daoist, using the Kunlun Mirror to view the past. They learned the master was Du'e Zhenren’s evil corpse incarnation, and Chen Xuan was left wondering what Du'e Zhenren was truly planning.

• Chen Xuan urged Zhang Guifang to bring Taiyi Zhenren to meet his master and invite him to join their Dao Sect.
• Zhang Guifang and Taiyi Zhenren found the mountain retreat abandoned, so Taiyi Zhenren used the Kunlun Mirror to enter the River of Time.
• Zhang Guifang watched the past and discovered that his master was the Soul-Seizing Daoist, who had taken him and Feng Lin as disciples for his own purposes.
• Taiyi Zhenren brought Zhang Guifang out of the Kunlun Mirror and replenished his mana with Ninth-Turn Golden Elixirs.
• Zhang Guifang returned to Sishui Pass with Taiyi Zhenren and told Feng Lin and Chen Xuan that the Soul-Seizing Daoist was Du'e Zhenren’s evil corpse incarnation, who had made them pawns and intended to use them to obtain Zhen Yuanzi’s reward.
• Chen Xuan wondered whether Du'e Zhenren’s plan was more complicated than it appeared.

Zhang Guifang revealed that Du'e Zhenren had raised him and Feng Lin as expendable pawns, prompting both men to reject any duty to their supposed master and join Chen Xuan's Dao Sect. Chen Xuan destroyed Feng Lin's demonic Red Pearl and exposed the corruption it had caused.

• Zhang Guifang told Feng Lin that Du'e Zhenren had taken them in to use their lives to evade the Investiture of the Gods Calamity and might order them to defect to Xiqi before sacrificing them.
• Feng Lin and Zhang Guifang vowed to remain loyal to Great Shang and its soldiers rather than obey Du'e Zhenren or take their own lives for him.
• Chen Xuan told the brothers they owed Du'e Zhenren nothing, and they resolved to fight for Shang and return his teachings only after victory.
• Chen Xuan accepted Zhang Guifang and Feng Lin as nominal disciples of the Dao Sect and imparted its foundational cultivation technique to them.
• Chen Xuan identified Feng Lin's Red Pearl as a demon core and destroyed it, causing Feng Lin to cough up foul-smelling black blood.

Chen Xuan restored Feng Lin and gave him the Karmic Fire Pearl and new weapons for the campaign against Xiqi. Back on Azure Lotus Island, he and the Three Pure Ones suspected Du'e Zhenren was secretly gathering soul power for the Meng Realm, whose origins Laozi explained to Tongtian.

• Chen Xuan healed Feng Lin, replaced his lost demon core with the Karmic Fire Pearl, and gave Zhang Guifang and Feng Lin acquired spirit treasures before ordering them to camp outside Xiqi City.
• Chen Xuan returned to Azure Lotus Island and summoned the Three Pure Ones, telling them to investigate Du'e Zhenren's suspicious conduct.
• Laozi reasoned that Du'e Zhenren's soul-attacking techniques let him gather soul power through his disciples, and Chen Xuan urged them to investigate possible ties to the Western Religion.
• Laozi concluded that Du'e Zhenren was likely sending stolen soul power to the Meng Realm, prompting Tongtian to ask what it was.
• Laozi explained that Hongjun had created the Meng Realm to seal Rahu's remnant soul, which later made it his territory and used it to absorb cultivators' true spirits.

Chen Xuan investigated Du'e Zhenren’s ties to the demon race and returned to Sishui Pass to oversee the campaign against Xiqi. As Jiang Ziya endured mockery and political pressure, Ji Fa maneuvered Ji Shugan into a rash attack, where Feng Lin confronted him.

• Chen Xuan ordered Laozi to investigate Du'e Zhenren’s connection to the demon race and considered using him to free Demon Ancestor Rahu’s remnant soul.
• Chen Xuan returned to Sishui Pass while Zhang Guifang and Feng Lin advanced on Xiqi with Yuding Zhenren, Taiyi Zhenren, Yang Jian, Nezha, and Ao Bing supporting the campaign.
• Jiang Ziya ignored Zhang Guifang’s soldiers as they mocked his past, while Ji Chang, Xiqi’s officials, and Jiang Ma-shi pressured him to act.
• Ji Fa arranged for his rival Ji Shugan to leave Xiqi with five hundred guards and attack the Shang army.
• Feng Lin rode out to face Ji Shugan and swung his spiked club at him.

Feng Lin killed Ji Shugan with the Karmic Fire Pearl, leaving King Wen Ji Chang unconscious and Bo Yikao gravely ill. Ji Fa took control of Xiqi’s government and sought Jiang Ziya’s help against Zhang Guifang’s army, and Jiang Ziya decided it was time to return to Mount Longevity.

• Feng Lin feigned defeat, then struck Ji Shugan with the Karmic Fire Pearl and burned him to ashes.
• Bo Yikao saw Ji Shugan die and vomited blood, while Ji Chang fainted upon hearing the news.
• Ji Fa pretended to demand a chance to avenge Ji Shugan, but Bo Yikao sealed the city gates and ordered him to stop causing trouble.
• Feng Lin returned to Zhang Guifang’s camp, where Zhang Guifang praised his victory and warned him not to underestimate Xiqi’s forces.
• With Ji Chang unconscious and Bo Yikao bedridden, Ji Fa took charge of state affairs and asked Jiang Ziya how to repel the Shang army.
• Jiang Ziya agreed to support Ji Fa and said it was time to return to Mount Longevity.

Jiang Ziya traveled to Mount Longevity to ask Zhen Yuanzi for help with Xiqi’s crisis, and Huanglong Zhenren sped him there. Zhen Yuanzi gave him the Investiture of the Gods List, the God-Beating Whip, and a Four-Unlike mount, then fed him two Ginseng Fruits and boosted his cultivation.

• Ji Fa agreed to keep Xiqi behind a no-battle banner while Jiang Ziya sought help from Zhen Yuanzi.
• Huanglong Zhenren found Jiang Ziya on the road and carried him to Five Villages Temple in less than half a day.
• Jiang Ziya reported Xiqi’s troubles to Zhen Yuanzi, who rebuked him for releasing the Taotie after being deceived.
• Zhen Yuanzi gave Jiang Ziya the Investiture of the Gods List and God-Beating Whip and ordered him to build the Investiture Platform at Qishan.
• Zhen Yuanzi arranged for Clear Wind to bring Jiang Ziya a Four-Unlike mount and learned that Jiang Ziya had given Ji Chang his Ginseng Fruit.
• Zhen Yuanzi had Bright Moon bring two more Ginseng Fruits, made Jiang Ziya eat them, and guided his innate qi to raise his cultivation.

After Zhen Yuanzi restored Jiang Ziya’s cultivation and explained his role in the Investiture of the Gods, Jiang Ziya returned to Xiqi with Bai Jian and prepared to receive reinforcements. Disciples of the Teachings of Elucidation and Interception gathered in Xiqi, where the Ten Heavenly Lords began preparing to demonstrate their Ten Unique Arrays.

• Zhen Yuanzi used the Ginseng Fruit to raise Jiang Ziya to the early Golden Immortal realm and explained that the Heavenly Dao had chosen him to help Ji Fa and complete the Investiture of the Gods.
• On his journey back to Xiqi, Jiang Ziya met Bai Jian, who joined the Investiture of the Gods List and brought the Soul-Guiding Banner to guard the Investiture Platform.
• Ji Fa welcomed Jiang Ziya back and ordered the construction of the Investiture Platform at Qishan and separate residences for the two teachings’ disciples.
• Guangchengzi asked Ancestor Hong Yun to send Teaching of Interception disciples to Xiqi, and Ancestor Hong Yun dispatched the Ten Heavenly Lords to establish the Ten Unique Arrays.
• Guangchengzi and the Ten Heavenly Lords joined Daoist Randeng and the other disciples in Xiqi, where they met Jiang Ziya and Ji Fa to discuss the coming battle.
• At Guangchengzi’s request, Heavenly Lord Qin led the other nine Heavenly Lords into the square and asked which of them would demonstrate his array first.

The Ten Heavenly Lords displayed their formations to Ji Fa and the others, and Randeng revealed that sacrificial offerings could weaken them. He explained ways to guard against the flaw, but the permanent fixes were beyond the Ten Heavenly Lords’ current abilities.

• Zhao Jiang demonstrated the Earth-Blazing Formation, and Dong Quan displayed the Wind Roar Formation to Ji Fa and the others.
• Yuan Jiao, Golden Light Holy Mother, Sun Liang, and the other Heavenly Lords displayed their formations before Qin Tianjun showed everyone the Heaven-Extinguishing Formation from within.
• After the group returned to the main hall, Randeng warned that offering a human life to a formation could reduce its baleful energy by seventy percent.
• Qin Tianjun accepted Randeng’s warning and asked him how the Ten Heavenly Lords could remedy the weakness in their formations.
• Randeng advised them to use each formation only once and to kill both intruders or neither if two entered together.
• Randeng said a permanent solution required a Daluo Golden Immortal to preside over each formation and an innate spiritual treasure as its core, leaving the Ten Heavenly Lords embarrassed by what they could not yet achieve.

After Randeng warned that the Ten Unique Arrays could be broken, Ji Fa proposed linking them together, and the Ten Heavenly Lords sought innate spirit treasures from Saint Hong Yun. They returned to Xiqi as Jiang Ziya’s forces faced Zhang Guifang, and Lord Qin went out to challenge him.

• Lord Qin and the other Heavenly Lords worried that they lacked the cultivation and treasures needed to protect their formations, so Ji Fa proposed linking all ten arrays together.
• Randeng suggested they ask Saint Hong Yun for innate spirit treasures, and the Ten Heavenly Lords traveled to Golden Turtle Island.
• Saint Hong Yun gave the Ten Heavenly Lords ten innate spirit treasures suited to their formations and urged them to keep cultivating.
• The Ten Heavenly Lords returned to Xiqi and found Jiang Ziya’s army preparing to face Zhang Guifang outside the city.
• Lord Qin challenged Zhang Guifang, who identified him as Qin Wan and charged at him with his spear.