Chapter Summaries

Fang Yun completed New Annotations to the Analects after three days of work, and the effort purified his cultivation and removed its hidden dangers. He left the valley, where the Demon Barbarians bowed to him as their teacher, and planned his next moves in Burial Saint Valley.

• Fang Yun finished annotating The Analects, then slept for twenty-four hours while the Demon Barbarians continued studying his teachings.
• After waking, Fang Yun packed the Stone Fetus Blood Egg and rode Flowing Current out of the gorge with two incomplete sets of Emperor Spirit Bones.
• The Demon Barbarians awakened and bowed farewell to Fang Yun, with Snake Mian Emperor calling him their honored teacher.
• Fang Yun realized that completing New Annotations to the Analects had removed the hidden dangers in his cultivation.
• Fang Yun planned to seek a Fierce Tree Diagram, visit Thunderweave Mountain and the Sky-Hanging River, and avoid the Human Sacred Mausoleum until he was strong enough.

Ao Zhou discovered evidence linking the Plague Lord to the Rat Sage’s death and found a possible route back to the Saint Origin Continent. At the Dragon Race Blood Tomb Mausoleum, Ao Yuwei attacked the Demon Barbarians guarding the entrance and warned that anyone plotting against Fang Yun would be killed.

• Ao Zhou found the Rat Sage’s blood and suspected the Plague Lord had betrayed him, but decided not to reveal what he learned.
• Ao Zhou spotted a barren planet that might contain an ancient Dragon Race passage back to the Saint Origin Continent.
• The Lion Might Emperor and other Demon Barbarians waited outside the Dragon Race Blood Tomb Mausoleum for Fang Yun.
• Ao Yuwei arrived in her Dragon Pearl and used an Imperial Jade Seal to destroy the Lion Might Emperor’s body, though his head escaped.
• Ao Yuwei killed nearly all the fleeing Demon Barbarians and declared that anyone who plotted against Fang Yun would be slain on sight.

Fang Yun crossed the Tree Realm through a lake of extremely heavy water while searching for rare star-bearing stone, then overheard that the Demon Emperor had learned where the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas would appear. He recognized Wolf Abyss King among the speakers and prepared to act on the dangerous information.

• Fang Yun traveled through the Giant Vine Forest and descended into extremely heavy water, where he searched for star-bearing stone before rising to the surface.
• Fang Yun left Heavy Water Lake and overheard Demon Barbarians discussing the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas and the Demon Emperor’s prediction of their location.
• Wolf Abyss King said the Demon Emperor had told him the general area and ordered him not to spread the news, while another Demon Barbarian agreed to accompany him.
• Fang Yun realized the Demon Realm’s advance knowledge could give it a decisive advantage over the Human Race and the Ancient Demons.
• Fang Yun recognized Wolf Abyss King from their earlier clash near Offering Skull Mountain and secretly prepared as he circled the mountain.

Fang Yun confronted Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King, asking for the location of the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas and demanding Wolf Abyss King’s submission. After Wolf Abyss King attacked, Fang Yun swiftly overpowered both Great Demon Kings with his spirit bones and Flowing Current.

• Fang Yun revealed himself to Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King, who were shocked to learn he had become a Third Realm Great Scholar.
• Wolf Abyss King boasted of his spirit bones and sacred qi, then attacked Fang Yun with a powerful blood-qi claw.
• Fang Yun’s Realm of Family, State, and World easily blocked the attack, and he asked Wolf Abyss King for the approximate location of the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas.
• Fang Yun demanded that Wolf Abyss King choose between being killed and submitting to him, prompting Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King to attack.
• Fang Yun used the sin turtle’s chains to capture the Fifth Realm turtle spirit bones while his Snake Emperor Spirit Bones, Eagle Emperor Spirit Bones, and Flowing Current subdued Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King.

Fang Yun captured Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King and questioned them about Burial Saint Valley. Mouse Tai King revealed the Mouse Clan’s plans for the Ancient Emperor Forest and offered to lead Fang Yun to complete emperor spirit bones.

• Fang Yun used Flowing Current and the Eagle Emperor Spirit Bones to subdue Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King, then demanded information about Burial Saint Valley.
• Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King recognized the Stone Fetus Blood Egg and realized Fang Yun had taken it from the Tree Realm after defeating powerful demons.
• Fang Yun pressed Mouse Tai King to explain why the Mouse Clan had come to Burial Saint Valley, and Mouse Tai King agreed to submit to him in exchange for protection.
• Mouse Tai King revealed that his clan planned to visit the Ancient Emperor Forest to seek a Sacred Qi Source and retrieve buried emperor spirit bones.
• Mouse Tai King admitted he had approached Wolf Abyss King to use him as a companion in the dangerous forest, angering Wolf Abyss King.
• Mouse Tai King offered to take Fang Yun to complete emperor spirit bones belonging to a Tiger Clan Emperor Realm expert, and Fang Yun asked what else the Ancient Emperor Forest contained.

Fang Yun learned the Mouse Clan’s secret for absorbing Emperor phantoms and heard that the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas might appear near Red Mountain. He secured Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King as temporary followers and led them toward the Ancient Emperor Forest, then demanded half of Wolf Abyss King’s sacred qi clusters.

• Mouse Tai King revealed the Mouse Clan’s method for absorbing Emperor phantoms with Emperor Tree Fruits, and Fang Yun ordered him to pick a fruit in the Ancient Emperor Forest.
• Wolf Abyss King told Fang Yun that the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas might appear near Red Mountain, where the Demon Emperor could be waiting.
• Fang Yun decided to visit the Ancient Emperor Forest first, and both Great Demon Kings swore to follow him within Burial Saint Valley.
• Fang Yun placed grayish-yellow lights in Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King as safeguards, then traveled toward the forest with Flowing Current and the spirit bones.
• Fang Yun summoned the Fifth Realm Turtle Race spirit bones and asked Wolf Abyss King for half of his sacred qi clusters.

Fang Yun collected Sacred Qi and divine treasures from Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King, including a Saint Body Fruit, a Dragon Court Edict, and a Void-Escape Leaf. He then proposed joining forces to gather the other Demon Barbarians for a larger undertaking.

• Mouse Tai King persuaded Wolf Abyss King to give Fang Yun four hundred Sacred Qi Clusters.
• Fang Yun demanded Mouse Tai King's spoils, keeping a Saint Body Fruit and a Dragon Court Edict among the divine treasures.
• Mouse Tai King reluctantly handed over a Void-Escape Leaf, and Fang Yun promised to do his best to protect him.
• Fang Yun proposed that he, Wolf Abyss King, and Mouse Tai King unite to pursue a great undertaking among the other Demon Barbarians.

Fang Yun and his allies ambushed the weakened Lion Might Emperor after tricking him into believing Fang Yun was dead. Fang Yun killed him when he refused to reveal Lion Race secrets, and the group prepared to continue toward Red Mountain.

• Lion Might Emperor encountered Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King, who claimed they had killed Fang Yun and were carrying his body to the Demon Emperor at Red Mountain.
• Lion Might Emperor approached the disguised Fang Yun, and Flowing Current, the Emperor Spirit Bones, and the two Great Demon Kings attacked him by surprise.
• Fang Yun led the group to a concealed spot and confirmed that Lion Might Emperor belonged to the Fang-Slaying Guard.
• Lion Might Emperor revealed that Ao Yuwei had ambushed him for targeting Fang Yun, leaving him severely wounded and weakened.
• Fang Yun demanded divine treasures or information, but Lion Might Emperor refused to disclose Lion Race secrets, so Fang Yun killed him.

Fang Yun killed Lion Might Emperor and used the corpse to stage a story that lured Ox Lu King into a trap. When Fang Yun threatened to kill Ox Lu King, Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King defied him and demanded that he spare their fellow Demon Barbarian.

• Fang Yun ordered Mouse Tai King to search Lion Might Emperor's corpse, then told Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King to mourn the dead emperor.
• Mouse Tai King told Ox Lu King that Fang Yun and Lion Might Emperor had perished together, using the fabricated account Fang Yun had prepared.
• Fang Yun, the two Demon Kings, and the Emperor Spirit Bones attacked Ox Lu King as he approached Flowing Current and captured him.
• Fang Yun threatened to kill Ox Lu King and trade his corpse, but Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King refused to help him slaughter their fellow Demon Barbarian.
• Fang Yun kicked Mouse Tai King repeatedly after Mouse Tai King insisted that he would not help retrieve Ox Lu King's treasures if Fang Yun killed him.

Fang Yun coerced Ox Lu King into surrendering his treasures and swearing an oath before releasing him, then continued ambushing Demon Barbarians with Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King. After robbing twelve Great Demon Kings over five days, he rewarded his demon allies and announced that he would teach them his new commentaries on the Confucian classics, leaving them uneasy.

• Fang Yun whipped Mouse Tai King to make Ox Lu King believe he would die unless he surrendered, and Ox Lu King handed over his treasures and swore an oath implicating Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King.
• Fang Yun released Ox Lu King, who ran off promising to return and save the others, then explained that he planned to rob him again if they met.
• Fang Yun, Mouse Tai King, and Wolf Abyss King continued ambushing Demon Barbarians, and Human Race Great Scholar Li Zhenggang left after briefly encountering them.
• Over five days, the group robbed twelve Great Demon Kings, killing two and releasing ten, while Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King grew uneasy about Fang Yun's scheme.
• Fang Yun divided valuable divine objects between Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King, then said he would teach them his new annotations and commentaries, making both demons tremble with fear.

Fang Yun taught the two Great Demon Kings the Four Books while traveling toward Red Mountain, writing new commentaries and explaining his different approach to Mencius’s political ideas. He left the story with Mouse Tai King understanding how the Great Learning and Doctrine of the Mean could help Confucian students progress before specializing in one of the Five Classics.

• Fang Yun recited the New Annotations to the Analects, and the two Great Demon Kings listened until they were deeply absorbed.
• Fang Yun changed course and traveled toward Red Mountain, finishing his lessons on the New Annotations to the Analects four days later; Mouse Tai King asked to become his disciple, but Fang Yun declined.
• Fang Yun began writing commentaries on the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean, and Mencius, while teaching the two Great Demon Kings.
• Fang Yun praised Mencius’s political principles but avoided endorsing his specific methods of governance, explaining that Mencius’s ideas were sound but difficult to put into practice.
• Fang Yun told Mouse Tai King that students below Metropolitan Graduate should study the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean, while more advanced students could specialize in one of the Five Classics.

Fang Yun advised Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King on how to establish the Confucian School in the Demon Realm and win support for its teachings. The two Great Demon Kings accepted his guidance and prepared to spread the Way despite the danger.

• Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King asked Fang Yun to accept them as disciples, but he refused while acknowledging their resolve to spread Confucian teachings in the Demon Realm.
• Fang Yun agreed to honor them at the Sacred Academy if they died spreading the Way, and advised them to learn foreign arts to counter foreign influence.
• Fang Yun told the two Great Demon Kings to combine Demon Barbarian customs with Confucian rites to gain the sages' approval for spreading the teachings.
• Fang Yun outlined arguments they could use to persuade Demon Barbarians, emphasizing human equality, Confucian ideals, honest leadership, prosperity, heroes, and education.
• Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King accepted Fang Yun's arguments, while Fang Yun reflected on how similar methods had once destabilized an empire in the Ancient Hua Kingdom.

Fang Yun resolved to pursue the difficult path of protecting the Human Race while teaching Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King Confucian classics and history. Mouse Tai King challenged the traditional account of Confucius’s teachings, and Fang Yun began to explain why the argument’s conclusion was wrong.

• Fang Yun decided to oppose divisive ideas in the Demon Realm and lay groundwork for strengthening unity among the Human Race.
• Fang Yun resumed the journey and taught Wolf Abyss King and Mouse Tai King the Five Classics, then recounted Human history.
• Mouse Tai King described Rebel Scholars’ arguments that Confucius and the Confucian School inherited only rites and music, not the other arts or classical texts.
• Wolf Abyss King watched Fang Yun anxiously to learn whether he accepted the Rebel Scholars’ claims.
• Fang Yun acknowledged that the argument had evidence behind it but said its reasoning was incomplete, and Mouse Tai King asked him to explain.

Fang Yun explained to Mouse Tai King why Confucius’s teaching went far beyond court musicians and why the Confucian School preserved the ancient arts. After entrusting Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King with the future of Confucianism in the Demon Realm, Fang Yun’s cultivation surged, and both demons began approaching breakthroughs.

• Fang Yun argued that Confucius taught the broad learning of Zhou scholars, not merely the lineage of court musicians, and that the Confucian School preserved the ancient arts for later generations.
• Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King joked about recording Fang Yun’s teachings in a future Confucian classic, and Fang Yun warned them not to reveal their plans to spread Confucianism.
• Fang Yun announced that they would rest before he headed toward Red Mountain, then entrusted the future of the Confucian School in the Demon Realm to the two Great Demon Kings.
• Fang Yun shared some of his treasures with Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King, reviewed his experiences, and rose to the third realm peak, nearing the Pacification of the World Realm.
• Fang Yun noticed that both demons’ auras were steadily rising and that they would soon break through to the next realm.

Fang Yun watched Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King advance through their study of Confucian learning, then sent them to the Demon Barbarian Blood Tomb Mausoleum with gifts and books. After parting with them, he flew toward Red Mountain, intent on strengthening himself before the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas.

• Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King thanked Fang Yun for his teachings after advancing to the Fourth Realm, and Fang Yun warned them to respect the Confucian way.
• The two Great Demon Kings asked Fang Yun about Confucian learning, and he gave them collections of Human Race examination questions to study.
• Mouse Tai King and Wolf Abyss King chose to cultivate in the Demon Barbarian Blood Tomb Mausoleum rather than enter the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas, and Fang Yun gave them treasures for their journey.
• Fang Yun watched the two demons depart and reflected on their bond before turning toward Red Mountain.
• Fang Yun considered the danger of the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas' greatest rewards falling to the Demon Barbarians, then decided to focus on ways to strengthen himself.

Fang Yun prepared for danger in the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas, trained against a Great Demon King, and strengthened his Medical Book by completing the Plague Treatise. Meanwhile, Li Wenying announced that the Saint Apricot Literary Assembly would honor Fang Yun with poetry, leaving the possibility of a transmissible battle poem unanswered.

• Fang Yun hid from a passing Barbarian emperor, sent Mosquito-Fly Mechanisms carrying information toward humans, and marked his route with papers bearing the character for "human."
• Fang Yun searched for sacred qi and encountered a fourth-realm Wolf Race Great Demon King, using the fight to train before killing him with three sets of emperor spirit bones.
• Fang Yun deduced how to use the Plague Lord's avatar and completed the second volume of the Plague Treatise, strengthening his Medical Book and Poison-Attack Literary Platform.
• The Medical School's Sacred Way grew stronger across the Saint Origin Continent, and scholars suspected Fang Yun had written a medical classic while in danger in the Burial Saint Valley.
• Li Wenying announced that the Saint Apricot Literary Assembly would require attendees to compose works praising Fang Yun, promising rewards for transmissible war poetry.

Fang Yun strengthened his Sacred Soul, True Dragon, and Blood Radiance Literary Platforms with sacred blood and dragon bones while searching Burial Saint Valley for treasures. After discovering that a human had found one of his markers, he approached cautiously and recognized Xi Luan, a Fourth Realm Great Scholar from the Sage Xi Family.

• Fang Yun used Hua Tuo's Half-Sage blood to strengthen his Sacred Soul Literary Platform, Medical Book, Poison-Attack Literary Platform, and Myriad-People Literary Platform.
• Fang Yun fed his dragon bones to the True Dragon Literary Platform, strengthening the golden dragon statue.
• Fang Yun used ten drops of Mountain Bearer's sacred blood to increase the power of his Blood Radiance Literary Platform.
• Fang Yun continued searching Round Mountain for sacred qi and treasures while leaving markers for the Human Race.
• Fang Yun learned that a human had found one of his markers and sent Mosquito-Fly Mechanisms to scout before approaching.
• Fang Yun spotted and recognized Xi Luan, a Fourth Realm Great Scholar from the Sage Xi Family of the Qing Kingdom.

Fang Yun and Xi Luan joined forces to search Round Mountain while waiting for the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas, as the Sacred Apricot Fruit ripened and the human race prepared for the Saint Apricot Literary Assembly. The Divine Gift Mountains and Seas then emerged south of Red Mountain.

• Fang Yun met Xi Luan, explained that he planned to enter the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas to prevent the Demon Emperor from claiming its world-shaking treasure, and agreed to search for treasures with him.
• Fang Yun and Xi Luan entered Round Mountain together and searched for treasures as winter passed.
• The Sacred Apricots at Yueyang Literary Academy began ripening, and the Jing Kingdom announced that the Saint Apricot Literary Assembly would take place on the tenth day of the first lunar month.
• The Jing Kingdom announced that the top one hundred poems and prose praising Fang Yun would each earn a Sacred Apricot, then expanded the awards to the top two hundred for scholars unable to attend in person.
• The Great Scholars of Two Worlds Mountain negotiated a ceasefire with the Demon Realm for the assembly date, and scholars across the human race rushed to prepare works praising Fang Yun.
• A pale golden pillar appeared south of Red Mountain, marking the emergence of the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas.

Fang Yun and Xi Luan hurried toward the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas as beings from across Burial Saint Valley gathered around its extraordinary appearance. Along the way, Fang Yun revealed his plan to write a book that would establish his own Sacred Way, while a mysterious man emerged from Heavy Water Lake and headed toward the Ancient Emperor Forest.

• Fang Yun and Xi Luan flew toward the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas, while Ao Yuwei, Yi Zhishi, and beings from across Burial Saint Valley also turned toward its pillar of light.
• A handsome man in white rose from Heavy Water Lake, transformed the lake into an inkstone, collected three gray stones, and stepped toward the Ancient Emperor Forest.
• Fang Yun warned Xi Luan that Burial Saint Valley might undergo a major upheaval within a year and advised him to enter the Human Race Blood Tomb Mausoleum beforehand.
• Fang Yun asked Xi Luan for advice about writing a book that was half Confucian learning and half history, then suggested it would be neither; Xi Luan realized Fang Yun was founding his own Sacred Way.
• Fang Yun said the Saints and Sacred Academy would not prevent his plan, and he claimed a Saint who owed him a debt would not descend into the world.
• After ten double-hours of travel, Fang Yun and Xi Luan saw flashes of apparent demon barbarian blood qi or human War Poetry beside the Divine Gift Mountains and Seas.

Fang Yun strengthened his literary platforms while attempting to seize the Plague Lord’s power from the Sacred Scale. The struggle escalated inside his Realm of Family, State, and World, leaving Xi Luan watching in alarm as Fang Yun fought a demon barbarian Half-Sage’s power.

• Fang Yun received a distress signal from Literary Ancestor He Mingyuan, who and three Great Scholars were holding off demon barbarians and a barbarian Emperor.
• Fang Yun asked Xi Luan to guard him while he strengthened his literary platforms inside his Realm of Family, State, and World.
• Xi Luan saw Fang Yun’s nine literary platforms, including the Sacred Soul Literary Platform, and sensed the Sacred Way power in his realm.
• The Plague Lord’s Sacred Scale absorbed the Withering Force, transformed into a black cobra, and attacked Fang Yun.
• Wang Jinglong’s statue shattered the cobra into black smoke, and Fang Yun’s powers trapped some of it while the rest reformed and attacked.
• Xi Luan realized Fang Yun was trying to steal a demon barbarian Half-Sage’s power as the struggle shook Fang Yun’s realm and cracked Flowing Current.