Chapter Summaries

Nuwa repeatedly failed to create a new race, learning that strong bloodlines and overly perfected bodies could not provide the adaptability and independent learning she sought. When her Creation Dao stalled, Lu Chen chose not to guide her, while his Black Tortoise Old Shell briefly opened its eyes.

• Nuwa's first clay body collapsed when the powerful bloodlines she had mixed into it clashed.
• Nuwa's second clay body followed commands but showed no curiosity or independent desire, so she returned it to soil.
• Nuwa's third clay body displayed simple emotions and initiative, but its rigid life structure failed when the valley's spiritual qi changed.
• Lu Chen sensed Nuwa's bottleneck and chose to let her comprehend creation herself rather than send advice through their karmic connection.
• Lu Chen received a Creation Insight Mark, and his Black Tortoise Old Shell briefly opened its eyes.
• Nuwa sat in meditation for a thousand years as ordinary scenes from Guixu repeatedly returned to her mind.

Nuwa reflected on the young clans in Guixu and realized that life should be able to learn, change, and choose its own path rather than be defined by a powerful bloodline. She shaped a weak, adaptable Innate Dao Body and, as Creation Dao gathered around it, resolved that survival was its first necessity.

• Nuwa remembered a Little Black Dragon patiently teaching the Little Deer Spirit to cultivate and children from different clans settling a dispute over a spirit fruit by playing rock-paper-scissors.
• Nuwa recalled a mixed-blood child asking whether it was a dragon or a bird, and the instructor telling it to cultivate according to its body and choose its clan registration when it grew up.
• Nuwa concluded that her earlier creations had been too completely designed, leaving them little room to adapt or determine their own futures.
• Nuwa used Nine Heavens Breathing Soil and Three Lights Divine Water to shape a deliberately weak Innate Dao Body without strong bloodline traits or fixed cultivation abilities.
• Remembering Lu Chen's advice to first survive, Nuwa decided the clay body was sufficient and let Creation Dao surge as spiritual energy gathered from the southern Primordial World.

Nuwa created the first humans, watched them learn and help one another, and realized that life’s own unfolding completed her Creation Dao. After she named them the Human Clan, immense merit gathered, and Nuwa announced their creation across the Primordial World.

• Nuwa awakened her first clay creation, which learned to stand and walk by observing and trying for itself.
• Nuwa created many more beings, who learned from one another, explored their surroundings, and helped a companion out of the stream.
• Nuwa realized that living beings’ choices and developing stories were the true completion of creation, and she named them the Human Clan.
• Heaven and Earth gathered immense merit as the Human Clan’s birth shook the Primordial World, drawing the attention of great powers and Lu Chen’s group in Guixu.
• Nuwa announced that she had created the Human Clan, and golden merit began descending across the Primordial World.

Nuwa became a Saint after creating the Human Clan, while Lu Chen concealed his true body and chose to assign Guixu’s genuine Creation Dao inspiration to the Mysterious Abyss Emperor’s Old Shell. After protecting the newborn humans, Nuwa sensed the benevolent cause linking her attainment to Guixu and headed north.

• Nuwa merged the Primordial Purple Qi with her Dao, attained Sainthood, and protected the newborn Human Clan with a Creation Barrier.
• Taiqing, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Di Jun, Taiyi, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches sensed Nuwa’s transformation and recognized her new power.
• Lu Chen hid his true Black Tortoise body deeper in Guixu after sensing Nuwa’s Saintly pressure.
• Lu Chen chose not to claim Human-Creation Merit or sever Guixu’s connection, assigning its genuine Creation Dao benevolent cause to the Mysterious Abyss Emperor’s Old Shell.
• A trace of Creation Saintly Destiny entered the Old Shell, strengthening its authenticity, while Nuwa sensed the connection and traveled toward the Northern Sea.

After attaining Sainthood, Nuwa went to Guixu to thank Mysterious Abyss for inspiring her understanding of life and the Human Clan’s freedom to grow. She acknowledged Guixu’s benevolent cause, then noticed that Mysterious Abyss’s manifested form seemed more like a true living being.

• Nuwa arrived above the Northern Sea soon after becoming a Saint, and Mysterious Abyss went out to greet her while hiding his true body deep in Guixu.
• Nuwa and Mysterious Abyss walked along the Northern Darkness Sea, where she explained that observing Guixu’s young clans had influenced her decision to leave the Human Clan room to learn and choose their own paths.
• Nuwa bowed to Mysterious Abyss in gratitude, and he accepted Guixu’s benevolent cause while rejecting any claim to the Merit of creating humanity.
• Nuwa looked toward Guixu and told Mysterious Abyss that his manifested form seemed more like a true living being.

Nuwa used her Creation Dao to restore four massive legs to Lu Chen’s Old Shell, completing the foundation of its body and unlocking the Complete Heaven-Bearing Path. The shell’s fate-bearing and death-substitution prospects improved, while the newly restored body showed a faint sign of life.

• Nuwa recognized that Lu Chen’s Old Shell Avatar had developed a genuine but incomplete living origin and offered to make it more complete as thanks.
• Lu Chen accepted Nuwa’s help after learning she could restore the shell’s missing flesh, bones, and four legs.
• Nuwa used the Heaven-Earth Cauldron, Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, Three Lights Divine Water, and Creation Dao to grow four legs for the Old Shell.
• The system announced that the Black Tortoise Four-Leg Dao Embryo had formed and the Complete Heaven-Bearing Path had officially unlocked.
• Lu Chen saw his Old Shell Fate-Bearing rise to 52%, Heavenly Pillar Fate-Bearing Compatibility to 54%, and Heaven-Mending Death Tribulation Substitution Progress to 51%.
• Nuwa admired the restored Black Tortoise body, and its tightly shut eyes made an almost imperceptible movement.

After Nuwa left Guixu, rumors spread across the Primordial World that Mysterious Abyss had guided her to sainthood. Lu Chen denied the claims, but Han Jue and others interpreted his modesty as further proof, while the Old Shell showed signs of awakening.

• Nuwa praised the Old Shell's growing life force, then left Guixu after thanking Lu Chen for helping her find inspiration.
• Rumors spread from Kunlun that Mysterious Abyss had guided Nuwa's path to sainthood, growing more exaggerated over time.
• Di Jun and Taiyi considered the rumors and concluded that Mysterious Abyss understood the path to sainthood more deeply than they had thought.
• Taiqing noted that Nuwa had personally visited the Northern Sea to thank Mysterious Abyss, stirring his own opportunity for sainthood.
• Han Jue showed the rumors to Lan Shuang and Lady Mingzhu, then took Lu Chen's denial as proof that he refused to claim credit.
• Lu Chen dismissed the rumors, but the Old Shell opened its eyes and kept them open.

Lu Chen discovered that the Old Shell had awakened a basic personality shaped by its identity as Mysterious Abyss Emperor and began teaching it how to act independently. The Old Shell could distinguish itself from Lu Chen and showed a cautious temperament, leaving Lu Chen ready to make it handle routine matters while he stayed hidden.

• Lu Chen confirmed that the Old Shell had gained stable Heavenly Mandate Spirituality and a basic identity personality, with no foreign consciousness present.
• The Old Shell identified itself as Mysterious Abyss and Lu Chen as its true body, and it recognized Guixu, Lan Shuang, Ao Lie, Han Jue, and Nuwa.
• Lu Chen had the Old Shell transform into human form and tested its judgment about danger and rewards; it refused risky missions and said it would ask Lu Chen if Nuwa summoned it.
• Lu Chen decided the Old Shell could handle ordinary visitors and affairs while he stayed hidden, then began teaching it its first rule: avoid going out whenever possible.

Lu Chen taught the Old Shell how to stay safe in the Primordial World and tested its judgment. He left it with plans to handle minor affairs at the Northern Darkness Dao Palace.

• Lu Chen instructed the Old Shell to avoid unnecessary trips, leadership roles, Saint-related disputes, risky fights, unknown treasures, unfamiliar arrays, suspicious opportunities, and dangerous crowds.
• The Old Shell answered Lu Chen's scenarios cautiously, choosing to consult him about invitations from Tongtian, Nuwa, and Houtu.
• The Old Shell proposed making Han Jue repair the floor if he tried to provoke it, while Han Jue and Ao Lie discussed the Emperor's warning about curiosity.
• Lu Chen decided the Old Shell had learned enough and told it to sit at the Northern Darkness Dao Palace in a few days to handle minor affairs.

Mysterious Abyss's Old Shell handled Guixu's affairs independently while Lu Chen watched from seclusion, settling a clan dispute and making several administrative decisions. As Old Shell accepted recognition from Guixu's people, its identity as the Mysterious Abyss Emperor grew more independent, allowing Lu Chen to return to his cultivation.

• Lan Shuang and Lady Mingzhu heard the Mystic Clam Tribe and Cold Sand Clan dispute their contributions to a Spirit Field until Mysterious Abyss's Old Shell arrived.
• Old Shell ruled that past investments would be converted into merit and future Spirit Field profits would be divided according to each clan's contributions over every hundred years.
• Old Shell approved expanding Guixu Academy and the Calamity-Resolution Hall, but denied Han Jue's request to extend Realm Guard patrols and assigned him to help expand the Academy.
• Old Shell handled the remaining matters by relying on existing officials, the Book of Cause and Effect, and merit, then told Lan Shuang he was learning to manage Guixu's affairs.
• Old Shell received greetings from Guixu's people and spoke with children at the Academy as their recognition strengthened his independent identity as the Mysterious Abyss Emperor.
• Lu Chen watched Old Shell act on his own and returned to seclusion with greater confidence.

Taiqing taught the Human Clan to cultivate and established the Human Teaching, becoming the Primordial World's second Saint. Lu Chen remained hidden in Guixu as two more Great Dao auras rose from Kunlun Mountain.

• Taiqing observed the Human Clan for years, then began teaching them how to cultivate and gradually drew thousands of people to learn from him.
• Taiqing recognized that his path to sainthood was tied to the Human Clan and declared that he would establish the Human Teaching and pass down Immortal Dao cultivation.
• The Human Clan's Fortune and Heavenly Merit surged, and Taiqing became the second Heavenly Dao Saint.
• Yuanshi and Tongtian sensed Taiqing's ascension and saw their own paths to sainthood more clearly, while Lu Chen chose to keep hiding in Guixu.
• As Taiqing's Saintly might still lingered, two more Great Dao auras rose from Kunlun Mountain, prompting Lu Chen to open his eyes again.

Taiqing, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Jieyin, and Zhunti attained sainthood, joining Nuwa and leaving all six strands of Primordial Purple Qi claimed. As the Primordial World reckoned with the Saints’ rise, Lu Chen strengthened Guixu’s concealment, but more than a dozen Great Principle cultivators gathered outside the Three Lives Gate seeking a path to Primordial Unity without Primordial Purple Qi.

• Yuanshi established the Exposition Sect, attained sainthood, and declared that anyone with aptitude and a Dao heart could seek his teachings.
• Tongtian established the Interception Sect to offer all living beings a chance to seek the Dao, then Jieyin and Zhunti made great vows and attained sainthood through the Western Sect.
• Di Jun and Taiyi considered Nuwa’s distance from Demon Court affairs and wondered what path Mysterious Abyss followed after rejecting Primordial Purple Qi, while Houtu reflected on Guixu’s wandering souls.
• Han Jue discussed the five new Saints with Ao Lie and Mysterious Abyss, who calmly congratulated them and continued inspecting Dragon-Suppressing Pass.
• Lu Chen deepened Guixu’s concealment in response to the Saints’ arrival, then learned that more than a dozen Great Principle cultivators had gathered outside the Three Lives Gate to seek a Primordial Unity Great Dao without Primordial Purple Qi.

Daluos and Quasi-Saints gathered outside Three Lives Gate to ask Mysterious Abyss whether they could reach Primordial Unity without Primordial Purple Qi. His advice to follow their own foundations and paths sent many away with renewed purpose, and Tongtian set out for the Northern Sea after hearing of it.

• More than a dozen Daluos and two Quasi-Saints gathered outside Three Lives Gate, hoping to learn about a path to Primordial Unity beyond the Heavenly Dao Saint Position.
• Lu Chen sent Old Shell to meet the visitors, and Qingheng asked whether anyone could attain Primordial Unity without Primordial Purple Qi.
• Old Shell confirmed that such a path existed but warned that his own path suited only him and could not safely be copied.
• Old Shell urged the cultivators to examine their own foundations, Daos, and experiences instead of seeking the same path as others, prompting Qingheng to reconsider his abandoned Wind Dao.
• Qingheng and more than half of the gathered cultivators departed, and the saying that the Great Dao could only be sought by oneself spread through the Primordial World.
• After hearing the account on Kunlun Mountain, Tongtian smiled and flew toward the Northern Sea.

Saint Tongtian visited Guixu and questioned Mysterious Abyss about refusing the Primordial Purple Qi and pursuing a path toward Primordial Unity without relying on the Heavenly Dao. Tongtian left a sword mark for Guixu Academy’s young cultivators, then departed; afterward, Di Jun sent another invitation.

• Tongtian arrived at Guixu and asked Mysterious Abyss why he had refused the Primordial Purple Qi; Mysterious Abyss said it bound its bearer too tightly.
• Mysterious Abyss explained that he intended to walk toward Primordial Unity through his own Great Dao, and Tongtian asked how he followed that path.
• Mysterious Abyss answered, “Live first. Then walk,” and Tongtian accepted the value of surviving before pursuing the Dao.
• At Guixu Academy, Tongtian left a sword mark on a black stone and told the young cultivators not to cower when it was time to fight back.
• Tongtian departed after inviting Mysterious Abyss to Golden Ao Island, and Han Jue hurried to study the sword mark.
• Lanshuang delivered another invitation from Di Jun, leaving Lu Chen wondering why Di Jun had come again.

Di Jun visited Guixu to settle the boundaries between the Demon Court and the northern clans, and he and Mysterious Abyss agreed on rules for recruitment, refugees, and criminals. Before leaving, Di Jun asked what Mysterious Abyss had been doing in the Northern Sea, and Mysterious Abyss answered that he was raising shells, leaving Di Jun to wonder what the cryptic remark meant.

• Di Jun arrived at Guixu alone and met Mysterious Abyss at the Northern Darkness Dao Palace.
• Di Jun proposed that the Demon Court would not forcibly conscript clans registered in Guixu, while Guixu would not actively recruit clans under the Demon Court.
• Mysterious Abyss insisted that refugees be judged through the Book of Cause and Effect, and Di Jun agreed that Guixu could shelter innocent people fleeing oppression while handing over lawful fugitives.
• Di Jun asked Guixu not to support rebellion among clans under the Demon Court, and Mysterious Abyss agreed.
• Di Jun asked what Mysterious Abyss had been raising in the Northern Sea, and Mysterious Abyss replied that he was raising shells for later use.
• Di Jun took Mysterious Abyss's answer seriously, while Lu Chen wondered why he had read so much into it.

A false Mysterious Abyss Divine Court oppressed Northern Sea tribes and slaughtered the White Fish Tribe while claiming to act under Mysterious Abyss's authority. After Lan Shuang traced the crimes to Daoist Xuan Cang, Lu Chen chose to punish the impostors and clear his name, then led a force toward the Divine Court.

• The Mysterious Abyss Divine Court demanded tribute and conscripted cultivators from Northern Sea tribes, then seized their resources and killed the White Fish Tribe when they resisted.
• Survivors of the White Fish Tribe brought a bloodstained banner to the Three Lives Gate, where Lan Shuang used the Book of Cause and Effect to identify Daoist Xuan Cang as the source of the crimes.
• Lan Shuang told the survivors that the Emperor had nothing to do with the Divine Court and sent news of the imposture to the Northern Darkness Dao Palace.
• Lu Chen chose to settle the crimes, kill the chief culprit, return the seized resources, and establish rules to clear the Mysterious Abyss name.
• Mysterious Abyss ordered Han Jue, Ao Lie, and Feng Li to accompany him to destroy the Divine Court and kill its people, while Lan Shuang began gathering records of the tribes it had oppressed.

Mysterious Abyss confronted Daoist Xuan Cang for impersonating him and using his name to extort and massacre Northern Sea tribes, then destroyed the Mysterious Abyss Divine Court. He returned the stolen resources and warned that Guixu would pursue anyone who abused its name, before leaving for Guixu.

• Daoist Xuan Cang collected tributes from minor tribes while claiming to act under Mysterious Abyss's authority.
• Mysterious Abyss arrived with Han Jue, Ao Lie, and Feng Li, and used the Book of Cause and Effect to expose the Divine Court's crimes.
• Daoist Xuan Cang tried to flee, but Mysterious Abyss killed him with one palm and erased his Primordial Spirit and true spirit.
• Han Jue, Ao Lie, and Feng Li killed the nine core perpetrators, while the Book of Cause and Effect identified the guilty and spared those forced into service.
• Lady Mingzhu and the Treasury Bureau returned stolen resources, and Mysterious Abyss destroyed the Divine Court and declared that Guixu would not collect tribute or conscript soldiers.
• Mysterious Abyss warned that Guixu would pursue anyone who abused its name, then returned to Guixu as the tribes bowed to him.

After the false Mysterious Abyss Divine Court fell, Northern Sea clans flocked to the Three Lives Gate, drawn by Guixu’s refusal to collect tribute or conscript cultivators. To keep them from crowding the gate or turning Guixu’s refuge into an expansion, Lu Chen approved a trial network of Three Lives Post Stations across the Northern Sea.

• Northern Sea clans abandoned false claims of ties to Guixu and sought registration at the Three Lives Gate after Daoist Xuan Cang was killed and the false Divine Court’s abuses were exposed.
• Clans gathered outside the Three Lives Gate, where they could trade freely, undergo Causality Illumination, and leave whenever they wished.
• As more than a hundred clans asked to settle near the gate, Old Shell Mysterious Abyss sent their requests to Lu Chen for a decision.
• Lu Chen worried that crowds near the gate would be difficult to screen and could make Guixu appear to be expanding its territory.
• Lan Shuang proposed voluntary transfer points along key waterways, and Lu Chen approved three trial Three Lives Post Stations.
• Han Jue offered to build the stations, but Mysterious Abyss told him to finish building the Academy first.

Guixu’s Three Lives Post Stations spread across the Northern Sea as local tribes built them for safety and trade, giving Guixu influence without territorial rule. Lu Chen approved their continued operation under strict limits, then learned that a strange departed soul bearing a faint trace of Nuwa’s creation aura had arrived at the Three Lives Gate.

• The Water Moon Tribe’s chief eagerly provided land and labor for the first Three Lives Post Station on Cold Moon Reef, and nearby tribes gained a refuge and trading hub.
• Northern Sea tribes built more stations themselves, and the network expanded from three posts to sixty-seven across nearly half the sea.
• A Demon Court general showed the map to Di Jun, who realized that tribes increasingly turned to the stations and Guixu rather than the Demon Court for help.
• Lan Shuang showed Lu Chen the map, and he confirmed through the system that the stations had created no territorial rule or Imperial Court Fortune collection.
• Lu Chen ordered Lan Shuang to continue the stations without taxes, troops, or land seizures, while warning against anyone abusing their name.
• The Bureau of Cause and Effect reported to Guixu that a strange departed soul carrying a faint trace of Nuwa’s creation aura had arrived outside the Three Lives Gate.

Houtu returned to Guixu and met Shi Sheng, a young Human Clan soul who wanted to go home to his family. Seeing the souls gathered at the Three Lives Gate led Houtu to consider where ordinary beings went after death, and she stayed with Shi Sheng as a subtle change began in her earth aura.

• A young Human Clan boy named Shi Sheng arrived at the Three Lives Gate after dying while saving his younger brother, and Lu Chen ordered that his soul be kept from dispersing.
• Houtu entered Guixu thirty years later and asked Shi Sheng how he had died and whether he wanted to return home.
• Shi Sheng told Houtu he missed his mother and worried about his younger brother, prompting her to consider the fate of ordinary souls after death.
• Mysterious Abyss told Houtu that she was suited to seek an answer because she was willing to ask the dead what they wanted.
• Houtu listened as Shi Sheng described his home, strengthened his soul with earth aura, and promised to tell him if a way home appeared.