Chapter Summaries

Zhang Guifang killed Lord Qin with a hidden innate spirit treasure spear after using his Name-Calling Horse-Dropping Technique, but Jiang Ziya confirmed Qin's true spirit had not entered the Investiture of the Gods List. Yang Jian intervened when the remaining nine Heavenly Lords attacked, while Juliusun secretly retrieved Lord Qin's body and protected him with a medicinal pill.

• Lord Qin disdained Zhang Guifang and demanded that Taiyi Zhenren fight him, but Zhang Guifang charged and used the Name-Calling Horse-Dropping Technique to make him fall from his cloud.
• Zhang Guifang pierced Lord Qin's chest with his low-grade innate spirit treasure spear and flung his body back toward the opposing formation.
• Jiang Ziya checked the Investiture of the Gods List, found that Lord Qin's true spirit was absent, and told the others that Qin might still survive if his body was recovered.
• The nine remaining Heavenly Lords charged Zhang Guifang, but Yang Jian drove them back with his Heaven Eye and told Zhang Guifang to retreat.
• Zhang Guifang withdrew toward his formation and watched the Heavenly Lords, planning to help Yang Jian with his Name-Calling Horse-Dropping Technique.
• Juliusun used the Earthwalking Technique to retrieve Lord Qin's unguarded body and placed a medicinal pill in his mouth to protect his heart meridians.

Daoist Randeng used a soul-protecting talisman and Three Lights Divine Water to save Qin Tianjun as the Heavenly Lords deployed eight linked formations outside Xiqi City. Jiang Ziya challenged the Shang army to break them, and the chapter ended with Nezha asking Ao Bing if he was ready.

• Juliusun brought the gravely wounded Qin Tianjun to Daoist Randeng, who explained that Saint Hong Yun's talisman had kept Qin Tianjun's soul in his body and healed him with Three Lights Divine Water.
• Zhao Tianjun lost consciousness after Zhang Guifang called him Zhao Jiang, while Dong Tianjun and the other Heavenly Lords began setting up their formations.
• The Heavenly Lords established eight linked arrays outside Xiqi City, and Ji Fa relaxed as the formations surrounded most of the city.
• Jiang Ziya offered Zhang Guifang a formation contest, proposing that the Shang army withdraw to the Five Passes if it could not break Xiqi's arrays.
• Qin Tianjun agreed to let the Shang side inspect the completed formations, and Zhang Guifang withdrew with Yang Jian to the Shang camp.
• Nezha emerged from a cloud and asked Ao Bing whether he was ready.

Nezha and Ao Bing used the Qiankun Bow and Heaven-Shaking Arrows to kill Jiang Ziya, then escaped their pursuers with help from Taiyi Zhenren. After Nezha celebrated his supposed achievement, Taiyi Zhenren kicked him into Sishui Pass, where he and Ao Bing appealed to Chen Xuan for protection.

• Nezha and Ao Bing fired three Heaven-Shaking Arrows at Jiang Ziya, who deflected two before the last pierced his chest and killed him.
• Nezha and Ao Bing fled toward Sishui Pass on Ao Bing's dragon form, with the Wind-Fire Wheels boosting their speed as Samantabhadra and Manjushri Guangfa Heavenly Venerable pursued them.
• Taiyi Zhenren used the Nine-Dragon Divine-Fire Mask to drive Samantabhadra and Manjushri Guangfa Heavenly Venerable away, and Nezha recalled the bloodstained arrows.
• Nezha boasted that he had killed Jiang Ziya, so Taiyi Zhenren kicked him into Sishui Pass; Ao Bing followed him to Chen Xuan for shelter.
• Chen Xuan asked whether Nezha and Ao Bing had received military orders, and Nezha admitted through his evasive reply that they had acted on their own.

After Nezha and Ao Bing were punished for killing Jiang Ziya without orders, they were told to redeem themselves by breaking one of the Ten Unique Arrays. The Three Xiao Sisters arrived at camp with the Third Master’s instructions on how to break the arrays, and Zhang Guifang planned to inspect them the next day.

• Chen Xuan waived Nezha and Ao Bing’s death penalty but ordered Taiyi Zhenren to punish them for violating military discipline.
• Taiyi Zhenren brought Nezha and Ao Bing to Zhang Guifang, who offered to forgive their offense if they broke one of the Ten Unique Arrays or face one hundred military strokes each.
• Taiyi Zhenren suggested asking Yunxiao for help, and Yuding Zhenren offered to send Yang Jian to invite her.
• The Three Xiao Sisters arrived at the camp, and Yunxiao explained that the Third Master had sent them to break the Ten Unique Arrays and taught them how.
• Zhang Guifang proposed that they inspect the arrays the next day.

Yunxiao explained the Ten Unique Arrays and prepared to confront them, while Jiang Ziya revived and began using the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book to curse Nezha. Nezha’s sudden distress prompted Yunxiao to insist they observe the formations at dawn.

• Yunxiao explained the Ten Unique Arrays’ weaknesses and warned that the Wind Roar Formation and Red Sand Formation required special treasures to break.
• Bixiao offered to take Nezha and Ao Bing to the vanguard, but Yunxiao stopped her and said she had other plans.
• Guangchengzi reassured Ji Fa that Jiang Ziya would revive, and Ji Fa saw Jiang Ziya’s heart regenerating under the Three Lights Divine Water.
• Randeng revealed that he had borrowed the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book from Demon Master Kunpeng and told Guangchengzi to give it to Jiang Ziya to avenge himself on Nezha.
• After waking, Jiang Ziya set up an altar and began cursing Nezha with the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book.
• Nezha suddenly felt his heart grow unsettled, but Yunxiao’s Golden Flood Dragon Scissors eased his distress, and she ordered everyone to observe the Ten Unique Arrays at dawn.

Jiang Ziya continued using the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book to curse Nezha while Yunxiao led the inspection of the Ten Unique Arrays. After Jiang Ziya urged Ji Fa to eliminate those who stood in his way, Ji Fa prepared to deal with King Wen Ji Chang and Bo Yikao.

• Jiang Ziya was struck by two dragon phantoms while performing the curse and told Guangchengzi, who learned Randeng had gone to Mount Longevity.
• The Shang army gathered before the Ten Unique Arrays, where Bixiao threatened Nezha and Ao Bing over their Golden Hoops.
• Qiongxiao and the others inspected eight formations, and Yunxiao sensed a curse being cast in Xiqi.
• Nezha collapsed from the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book, so Taiyi Zhenren took him to Azure Lotus Island after Yunxiao explained the curse needed twenty-one days to take effect.
• Jiang Ziya continued the ritual as Ji Fa warned him about its consequences, but Jiang Ziya insisted Nezha had to die.
• Ji Fa understood Jiang Ziya was urging him to deal with King Wen Ji Chang and Bo Yikao, then returned to his residence to prepare.

Taiyi Zhenren brought the cursed Nezha to the Three Pure Ones, who suppressed the curse and sent Taiyi back to find and destroy its source. After Ji Fa became King Wu following the deaths of Ji Chang and Bo Yikao, Zhang Kui arrived at the Shang camp claiming he could enter Xiqi and steal the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book.

• Taiyi Zhenren brought Nezha to the Three Pure Ones, who suppressed the black qi with the Taiji Diagram and sent Nezha to Chen Xuan’s spirit fruit garden.
• Laozi instructed Taiyi Zhenren to return and destroy the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book himself before the twenty-one-day deadline.
• Ji Fa prepared pills in secret, and Ji Chang and Bo Yikao died during the night.
• Ji Shudan concealed his suspicions and pressured Ji Fa to become King Wu, and Ji Fa ascended the throne.
• Yunxiao warned that Xiqi was likely prepared for anyone trying to steal the book, while Zhang Guifang proposed capturing the city.
• Zhang Kui arrived at the Shang camp and claimed he could enter Xiqi to steal the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book.

Zhang Kui, Yang Jian, and Bixiao carried out a coordinated plan to steal the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book and set fire to Xiqi’s grain depot. Yang Jian drew the defenders into battle and Zhang Kui broke through Juliusun’s Earth-to-Steel Technique, while the burning granary forced Jiang Ziya to leave the altar and Juliusun suddenly vomited blood.

• Zhang Kui revealed that Duobao Daoist had given him the Golden Rosy Cloud Crown to counter Juliusun’s Earth-to-Steel Technique, and Yunxiao arranged for Yang Jian to help him steal the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Book while Bixiao and Ao Bing burned Xiqi’s granaries.
• Zhang Kui infiltrated Xiqi underground and waited beneath Jiang Ziya’s residence as Yang Jian disguised himself as Gui Che and reached for the straw effigy on the altar.
• Juliusun and several other disciples confronted Yang Jian, who fled and transformed into a peacock, using Five-Colored Divine Light against their magical treasures as the two teachings pursued him.
• Zhang Kui used the Golden Rosy Cloud Crown to melt through Juliusun’s Earth-to-Steel Technique and swim toward the surface.
• A fire broke out at Xiqi’s Three Relief Granary, and Jiang Ziya left the altar to investigate after learning that water only made the flames fiercer.
• After Jiang Ziya departed, Juliusun suddenly felt his blood and qi churn and spat out a mouthful of blood.

Zhang Kui rescued Nezha’s scarecrow and the allied forces destroyed Three Relief Granary, while Tongtian restored Nezha and gave him a three-headed, eight-armed form and several treasures. Nezha prepared to return to Xiqi, but Primordial Heavenly Venerable intervened to prevent his new heads from fighting over control of his body.

• Zhang Kui broke the Nail-Head Seven-Arrows Art altar, escaped Juliusun’s Quicksand Immortal-Trapping Formation, and carried Nezha’s scarecrow away through the earth.
• Bixiao and Ao Bing attacked Xiqi City and froze Zhou soldiers, while Yuding Zhenren and Taiyi Zhenren helped Yang Jian escape and withdrew with him.
• Guangchengzi returned to Three Relief Granary, where he found Jiang Ziya unconscious and extinguished the Southern Bright Separation Fire, though the grain had already burned to ash.
• Tongtian restored Nezha, gave him three heads and eight arms, and let him choose four magical treasures to wield.
• Nezha’s new heads each tried to direct his body, so Primordial Heavenly Venerable dulled the two side heads and began giving them separate powers of sight and hearing.

The Three Pure Ones gave Nezha divine eyes and eight trigram-powered arms, but forgot to teach him how to retract his extra heads and limbs. Chen Xuan intervened before Nezha reached Xiqi, taught him the technique, and warned him to keep the other disciples away from the Three Pure Ones.

• Primordial Heavenly Venerable gave Nezha eyes that could see through the Thirty-Three Heavens and the Eighteen Levels of Hell, while warning him about their limits.
• Laozi marked Nezha’s eight arms with the innate Eight Trigrams, granting each arm a different power.
• Nezha left Azure Lotus Island for Xiqi as the Three Pure Ones discussed experimenting on more disciples, and Chen Xuan watched with concern.
• Chen Xuan pulled Nezha from the road, restrained him, and discovered that the Three Pure Ones had not taught him how to retract his extra heads and arms.
• Chen Xuan taught Nezha the technique and told him to warn the other disciples to avoid the Three Pure Ones; Nezha promised to do so.

Nezha returned to the Shang camp and joined the plan to break the Ten Unique Arrays, while Jiang Ziya returned to life in Xiqi, where the burned granary left the city without food. Randeng brought Han Dulong and Xue Ehu with a magical dipper that supplied grain, but its use would force Xiqi to repay the food with interest through future natural disasters.

• Nezha returned to the Shang camp, recounted how Chen Xuan helped him control his three heads and eight arms, and warned Ao Bing to stay away from the Three Pure Ones.
• Yunxiao assigned Qiongxiao, Bixiao, and Ao Bing to break the Heaven-Extinguishing Formation, then added Nezha to their group; Taiyi Zhenren and Yuding Zhenren were assigned to take Yang Jian into the Earth-Blazing Formation.
• Jiang Ziya returned from the dead for the second time, while Ji Fa worried that Xiqi would descend into chaos because the Three Relief Granary had burned down.
• Randeng returned with Han Dulong and Xue Ehu, whose dipper poured out an apparently endless supply of grain for Xiqi.
• Ji Fa sent San Yisheng to distribute the grain, unaware that the dipper drew on Xiqi's future food supply and that the debt would be repaid with interest through natural disasters.

Randeng and Guangchengzi secretly altered the Ten Unique Arrays and equipped the Ten Heavenly Lords to face the Dao Sect disciples. When Yunxiao and her allies entered the arrays, she discovered the formations had been switched, leaving her sisters trapped in the Cold-Ice Formation while Taiyi Zhenren's group confronted illusions in the Earth-Blazing Formation.

• Randeng gave the Ten Heavenly Lords pills and Topsy-Turvy Yin-Yang Talismans, while Guangchengzi revealed that he had replaced the arrays' core treasures with fakes.
• Yunxiao warned her allies that Randeng had likely tampered with the arrays and decided to enter the Heaven-Extinguishing Formation with Qiongxiao and Bixiao.
• At dawn, Yunxiao led the Dao Sect disciples to the arrays, rejected Randeng's offer to join the Teaching of Elucidation, and entered the formation with her sisters.
• Inside the formation, Yunxiao scattered the black mist with the Primordial Golden Dipper, but a false Randeng struck her with the Qiankun Ruler.
• Yunxiao realized Randeng had switched the arrays and that the sisters were in the Cold-Ice Formation as ice spikes attacked them.
• Taiyi Zhenren, Yuding Zhenren, Yang Jian, Nezha, and Ao Bing entered the Earth-Blazing Formation, where Nezha's treasures passed through Zhao Tianjun's body.

Yang Jian, Nezha, Ao Bing, and the other disciples destroyed Zhao Tianjun’s Earth-Blazing Formation, while Yunxiao dismantled two more formations and captured Zhao Tianjun. As the remaining Tianjuns rushed out to fight, Zhang Guifang killed Zhang Tianjun, and the Randeng Daoist fled again after a flash of blinding white light stopped him from intervening.

• Yang Jian exposed Zhao Tianjun’s true position, and the group destroyed the Earth-Blazing Formation’s crimson gourd formation eye, forcing Zhao Tianjun to flee.
• Yunxiao raised the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation, split apart the Heaven-Extinguishing and Cold-Ice Formations, and captured Zhao Tianjun with the Primordial Golden Dipper.
• Guangchengzi tried to recall the remaining formations, but the seven Tianjuns charged out in anger, and Zhang Guifang killed Zhang Tianjun with his spear.
• Jiang Ziya warned Guangchengzi that Zhang Tianjun’s true spirit had entered the Investiture of the Gods List, and Guangchengzi used the Heaven-Flipping Seal to cover the retreat.
• The Randeng Daoist returned to the front lines but fled when a flash of white light blinded him, while a Daoist riding a black tiger watched him go.

Zhao Gongming joined the battle outside Xiqi, where Randeng escaped after losing the Lingtai Palace Lamp and detonating the Qiankun Ruler, while Yang Jian killed Dong Tianjun. Zhang Guifang’s army nearly captured Xiqi before Daoxing Tianzun’s summoned soldiers restored the defenses; Zhao arrived at the camp, and Bixiao asked why he had come and where he got his familiar sika deer.

• Zhao Gongming attacked Randeng with the Sea-Calming Pearls, taking the Lingtai Palace Lamp and forcing Randeng to detonate the Qiankun Ruler to escape.
• Yang Jian killed Dong Tianjun with his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Saber after the Howling Celestial Hound bit him, and Jiang Ziya ordered the remaining Heavenly Lords to retreat.
• Zhang Guifang ordered his army to charge through the ruined wall, but Daoxing Tianzun summoned golden-armored warriors and restored Xiqi’s wall, forcing the Shang Army to withdraw.
• The cultivators from both sides retreated under the rules forbidding them from using their powers to seize cities or attack ordinary soldiers.
• Feng Lin told the camp that a Daoist had turned the battle around, and Zhao Gongming identified Daoxing Tianzun’s techniques as Scatter Beans, Summon Soldiers and Nine-Heavens Breath Soil.
• Yunxiao and Bixiao welcomed Zhao Gongming, and Bixiao asked why he had come and why the sika deer he carried looked familiar.

Zhao Gongming returned with Randeng Daoist’s abandoned sika deer, and the Shang camp planned to roast it beneath Xiqi City. Jiang Ziya hung the Investiture of the Gods List on the Investiture Platform, where Di Xin stopped Bai Jian from trying to take it down and whispered instructions before leaving.

• Zhao Gongming told his fellow disciples that Randeng Daoist had destroyed the Qiankun Ruler and escaped, leaving behind his sika deer.
• Feng Lin proposed roasting the sika deer beneath Xiqi City, and Yuding Zhenren agreed that he should take others with him.
• Bai Jian told Jiang Ziya that he had completed the Investiture Platform, and Jiang Ziya hung the Investiture of the Gods List there and gave Bai Jian the Soul-Guiding Banner.
• After Jiang Ziya left, Bai Jian prepared to take down the list, but Di Xin arrived and warned him that removing it would bring deadly backlash.
• Bai Jian explained that he had wanted to deliver the list to Di Xin in Chaoge, and Di Xin whispered instructions to him before leaving Qishan.

Chen Xuan revealed how Di Xin could keep Great Shang’s heroic spirits off the Investiture of the Gods List and prepare them for a Human Race investiture. At Xiqi, Jiang Ziya and the Teaching of Elucidation disciples suspected Randeng had been captured, and Daoxing Tianzun sent a bird to investigate.

• Chen Xuan explained that barring Great Shang’s heroic spirits from the Investiture Platform would leave the Investiture of the Gods List incomplete and send the spirits to Deer Terrace to await Di Xin’s ceremony.
• Chen Xuan gave Di Xin the Sage Investiture List, which could grant the Human Race’s heroic spirits providence-golden bodies, and Di Xin returned to Chaoge with it.
• Outside Xiqi City, Feng Lin’s soldiers roasted Randeng’s spotted deer mount, prompting Jiang Ziya to report the sight to Guangchengzi and the others.
• Jiang Ziya confirmed that he had not seen Randeng’s true spirit enter the Investiture of the Gods List, and Guangchengzi concluded Randeng might have been captured.
• Juliusun warned that the Shang army included an Earth-Traveling Art expert who might know the Earth-to-Steel Technique, making a rescue dangerous.
• Daoxing Tianzun offered to investigate instead and sent a bird flying toward the area outside Xiqi City.

Daoxing Tianzun’s Mystic Bird was destroyed while scouting the Shang camp, and the backlash revealed that Zhao Gongming had likely wounded Daoist Randeng. As Feng Lin taunted Xiqi with the roasted remains of Randeng’s mount, Xiqi’s forces stayed behind the walls, while Randeng weighed his anger against the danger of facing Zhao Gongming again.

• Daoxing Tianzun sent a Mystic Bird to scout the Shang camp, but it was destroyed by a pearl, injuring him through the backlash.
• Daoxing Tianzun identified the pearl as Zhao Gongming’s Sea-Calming Pearl, and Daoist Randeng returned to Xiqi badly wounded without knowing who had attacked him.
• Daoist Randeng told Jiang Ziya that Xiqi had to withstand the campaigns of thirty-six armies, and Ji Fa looked stricken by the news.
• After learning that Feng Lin had roasted his mount, Daoist Randeng considered going out to fight but feared an ambush and another encounter with Zhao Gongming.
• Feng Lin taunted Xiqi’s defenders for an hour with roasted venison, but no one came out, so he returned to camp, where Zhang Guifang laughed and invoked Azure Lotus Island and the Dao Sect.

As Chonghou Hu marched toward Xiqi with five hundred thousand troops, the Shang and Xiqi sides prepared for the coming siege. Xiqi reinforced its walls and welcomed Lü Yue, whose disciples planned to unleash plagues on the Shang camp while he prepared the Plague Formation.

• A messenger reported that Chonghou Hu had led five hundred thousand troops out of Sishui Pass, and Zhang Guifang went to welcome him and join forces.
• Jiang Ziya accepted Daoxing Tianzun's Nine-Heavens Breath Soil and used it to reinforce Xiqi's walls.
• Daoxing Tianzun said Han Dulong and Xue Ehu knew the Bean-Summoning Soldier Technique and that Western Religion disciples would soon arrive.
• Lü Yue arrived in Xiqi with Chen Geng, Li Ping, and his four disciples, then announced he would set up the Plague Formation.
• Zhou Xin, Li Qi, Zhu Tianlin, and Yang Wenhui prepared to spread plague through the Shang army camp and visit Sishui Pass, while Lü Yue began preparing his formation.

Zhou Xin and Lü Yue’s three other disciples unleashed plague arts on the Shang army camp, incapacitating its soldiers and generals. The Dao Sect disciples contained some of the poison and saved the leading generals with fragments of Ninth-Turn Golden Elixirs, but they remained unable to cure the plague.

• Zhou Xin released a Plague Pill over the Shang army camp, and he and his three junior brothers attacked the soldiers with their magic treasures.
• The plague threw the camp into chaos, leaving Zhang Guifang and Feng Lin gravely ill and Chonghou Hu unconscious.
• The Three Xiao Sisters and other Dao Sect disciples took Ninth-Turn Golden Elixirs to resist the plague and rushed to help the camp.
• Yunxiao ordered Yang Jian, Nezha, and Ao Bing to capture the four attackers while the others tried to protect and rescue the soldiers.
• Fire Spirit Holy Mother arrived with the Golden Rosy Cloud Crown, but Yunxiao stopped her from using its primordial fire, which would have killed the mortal soldiers.
• The Dao Sect disciples broke Ninth-Turn Golden Elixirs into fragments and fed them to the generals, easing their suffering while leaving the wider plague unresolved.

Yang Wenhui reported that Yang Jian, Nezha, and Ao Bing had killed his three senior brothers, though Lü Yue's Plague Pills had infected the Shang army. As Yang Jian set out to fetch Shennong for a cure, Lü Yue raised the Plague Formation around Xiqi, and Fire Spirit Holy Mother dismissed the danger because no Shang soldiers were inside it.

• Yang Jian, Nezha, and Ao Bing killed Zhou Xin, Li Qi, and Zhu Tianlin, while Yang Wenhui escaped to Xiqi.
• Yang Wenhui told Lü Yue that his senior brothers had died but that the Plague Pills had infected the Shang army; Jiang Ziya identified the three fighters.
• Zhao Gongming and the Dao Sect members treated the sick as thousands of Shang soldiers died, and Yang Jian proposed asking Shennong to cure the plague.
• Yuding Zhenren sent Yang Jian to Fire Cloud Cave to invite Shennong, and Yang Jian transformed into a Golden-Winged Roc and departed.
• Nezha reported that a black-mist Plague Formation had appeared outside Xiqi, and Fire Spirit Holy Mother said there were no Shang soldiers within it.