Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Trapped in Li Yi’s modified Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, Taiyi remains confident that the Demon Court’s forces can withstand it. He and Di Jun threaten Qiankun, unaware that Li Yi is controlling the formation.
• Taiyi uses the Chaos Bell as a shield, with Di Jun and the Ten Demon Sages pooling their power to strengthen its defenses.
• Li Yi unleashes tens of thousands of crimson sword strikes. They rapidly shatter the Chaos Bell’s layers of protective light, overturn the bell, and tear through the formation’s internal space.
• Taiyi is badly wounded, and more than ten Demon Sages lose their good and evil corpses. Yingzhao’s true body is destroyed; his exposed Primordial Spirit is immediately killed.
• Observers outside the formation realize the Demon Tribe is in far greater danger than they had expected. Li Yi explains, through the narration, that his improvements have made the formation virtually impossible to break through technique alone; only overwhelming force could destroy it.
• With the Chaos Bell weakened and the trapped demons facing another devastating attack, Bai Ze urges Di Jun to submit for the sake of the Demon Court and its survival. Di Jun, though humiliated and resentful, kneels and prepares to beg forgiveness.

Character developments and interactions

• Taiyi begins overconfident, relying on the Chaos Bell and the group’s numbers, but is quickly injured and forced to confront the formation’s superiority.
• Di Jun shifts from threatening defiance to reluctant submission when Bai Ze reminds him that the Demon Court needs him alive.
• Bai Ze acts pragmatically, framing surrender as a duty to the Demon Tribe rather than a personal concession.
• Li Yi remains calm and in control, demonstrating how far his formation mastery has advanced.
• Yingzhao’s death shocks the Demon Tribe and the watching cultivators, underscoring that even the leading Quasi-Saints are vulnerable.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence and reversal: The demons’ numerical advantage and powerful treasures prove insufficient against Li Yi’s mastery.
• Power and survival: Di Jun’s pride gives way when the survival of his people—and his own life—is at stake.
• Consequences of arrogance: The Demon Tribe’s threats and aggression lead to catastrophic losses.
• Strategic mastery over brute assumptions: Li Yi’s refined formation defeats opponents who expected strength in numbers to guarantee victory.

Key plot points and events

• Trapped in Li Yi’s Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, Di Jun and the surviving Demon Sages surrender and beg for their lives. Di Jun appeals to his past relationship with Li Yi as his former master.
• Li Yi decides not to kill them: their deaths could let the Witch Tribe dominate the coming Lich Calamity and might provoke the Heavenly Dao to empower Hongjun. Instead, he demands five Supreme-grade Innate Spirit Treasures as the price of their lives.
• Di Jun, Taiyi, Bai Ze, and Shangyang surrender the treasures. Li Yi releases them, and the Demon leaders withdraw in humiliation. News of the defeat quickly spreads across the Primordial World.
• Nuwa, angered by the Demon Court’s conduct, orders her followers in the Demon Tribe to leave. Roughly a tenth of the Demon Court’s members depart, including more than ten Great Firmament-level Demon Gods.
• Tongtian arrives at Penglai with the corpse of Jiuying, a Demon Sage he killed despite Li Yi’s promise to spare the Demon leaders. Tongtian explains that Jiuying had insulted Li Yi; Li Yi accepts the outcome.
• Li Yi asks Tongtian to enter the upcoming third National Destiny Game and investigate the force behind its battlefield. Tongtian readily agrees.

Character developments and interactions

• Di Jun abandons his pride, calling Li Yi “Master” and invoking their former bond to survive. He ultimately gives up two treasures and leads the others away.
• Li Yi shows strategic restraint: rather than pursue revenge, he preserves the balance needed for the future calamity and turns the Demon Tribe’s defeat into a debt of Karma and a material gain.
• Nuwa shifts from noninvolvement to openly severing ties with the Demon Court, using her authority to trigger a significant exodus.
• Tongtian demonstrates fierce loyalty to Li Yi, killing Jiuying for disrespecting him, yet remains deferential when explaining his choice. Li Yi responds pragmatically rather than reproaching him.

Significant themes

• Power and humiliation: The Demon Court’s leaders’ surrender confirms Li Yi’s overwhelming strength, while their public defeat damages their standing.
• Pragmatism and balance: Li Yi spares enemies not from mercy alone but to preserve the future order and avoid provoking greater forces.
• Karma and obligation: The surrendered treasures and the lives Li Yi spares create debts he expects to collect later.
• Loyalty and consequences: Tongtian’s devotion leads him to act beyond Li Yi’s stated wishes, while Nuwa’s response shows how the Demon Court’s behavior drives its allies away.

Key plot points and events

• Li Yi tells Tongtian about the upcoming National Destiny Battlefield and sends him to investigate using a Spirit Treasure Avatar rather than risking his real body. The avatar should be formidable against anyone below the Quasi-Saint level.
• Nuwa visits Li Yi, seeking guidance on how to pursue the Dao of Creation. Li Yi advises her and gives her the Nine Heavens Resting Soil and Innate Gourd Vine. She leaves with a new insight.
• Serafino, having accepted that he lacks cultivation talent, has become a strategist in the Earth Spirit Tiger’s clan. He persuades his father, a Heavenly Immortal Demon King, to represent Eagle Sauce Nation in the coming contest.
• Serafino assures the Earth Spirit Tiger that the opponents will be far weaker than him. The Demon King agrees, and the contract officially names him Eagle Sauce Nation’s combatant.
• Eagle Sauce Nation celebrates the Demon King’s terrifying appearance and mocks Dragon Nation’s representative, Taoist Tongtian, whom they assume is weak. They expect an easy victory.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian readily accepts Li Yi’s assignment, trusting his teacher’s judgment and using the safer avatar technique.
• Nuwa is beginning to understand that creation is the path to Sagehood, though she still needs Li Yi’s guidance. Li Yi believes she will create humanity within one Yuanhui—and that her ascent will coincide with his own proof of the Dao.
• Serafino has shifted from aspiring cultivator to capable political strategist. He conceals his true origins, presents the contest as a supernatural test, and uses an oath to reassure his father.
• Earth Spirit Tiger is initially wary but becomes convinced by Serafino’s assurances and his own confidence in his strength.
• Li Yi and Tongtian, and Li Yi and Nuwa, interact through instruction and trust. Serafino and his father interact through persuasion, filial deference, and mutual confidence.

Significant themes

• Misjudging strength: Eagle Sauce Nation assumes Tongtian is ordinary, while the reader knows Li Yi considers his avatar exceptionally powerful.
• Different measures of power: Serafino compares worlds and cultivation systems, but his confidence rests on incomplete knowledge of the battlefield.
• Guidance and destiny: Li Yi’s help sets Nuwa on the path to creation, while he anticipates that her breakthrough will align with his own.
• Overconfidence and dramatic irony: The Demon King and Eagle Sauce Nation expect an easy win, setting up a likely clash between their certainty and Tongtian’s true capabilities.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Other nations—including Eagle Sauce, Cherry Blossom, and Kimchi—celebrate their champions, who appear in imposing Demon Tribe forms. Their citizens expect strong results in the National Fortune Rankings.
• Dragon Nation’s champion, Tongtian, appears to be an ordinary, unarmed Daoist beside the enormous Demon Kings. Many citizens assume he is too weak to compete.
• Dragon Nation’s people argue over Li Yi’s choice. Some defend him, noting he has already won two rounds; others accuse him of giving up or succeeding only through luck.
• On the third day of the rankings, golden summons transport each nation’s selected representatives to the trial.
• Eagle Sauce’s Earth Spirit Tiger King enters the plaza in his huge true form. Seeing how weak the locals are compared with Primordial World cultivators, he dismisses them as no threat.
• In the Kunlun Mountains, Tongtian sends a Spirit Treasure Avatar—formed from a High-grade Innate Spirit Treasure—into the summons.

Character developments

• Tongtian remains calm and unconcerned by appearances; his use of a powerful Spirit Treasure Avatar hints that his ordinary-looking presence conceals considerable strength.
• The Earth Spirit Tiger King is confident and dismissive after assessing the people of Blue Star, though his certainty may leave him overconfident.
• Dragon Nation’s public shifts from unified support of Li Yi to division and blame when they fear the next round may go badly.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus true strength: Tongtian looks unremarkable, while the towering champions seem powerful; the chapter invites doubt about judging by outward form.
• Public loyalty under pressure: Dragon Nation’s support fractures at the first perceived setback, revealing how quickly confidence can turn to criticism.
• Overconfidence and underestimation: The Tiger King assumes Blue Star poses no danger after a brief assessment.

Character interactions

• Citizens of Dragon Nation clash over whether Li Yi deserves trust, with some defending his past victories and others questioning his competence.
• Serafino explains the Illusory Trial Light to his father, the Earth Spirit Tiger King, who then enters it.
• The Tiger King surveys the Eagle Sauce crowd and privately compares their strength unfavorably with Primordial World cultivators.

Key plot points and events

• Taoist Tongtian enters the Golden Light Passage using an incarnation. He senses that Blue Star is a weaker world and suppresses his immense aura so the passage won’t collapse.
• He arrives at Dragon Nation’s National Destiny Plaza, where spectators mistake his unremarkable appearance for proof that he is weak. Dragon Nation’s citizens lose hope—until Tang Ren, a powerful Limit Douluo from Soul Land World, emerges as well.
• Other nations’ viewers mock Dragon Nation and boast about their own champions. Dragon Nation’s supporters counter that Tang Ren is their real trump card.
• Tongtian remains indifferent to the arguments, focused instead on obeying his master and investigating who is behind the National Destiny Game. Tang Ren, however, is pleased by the praise and confident that his Ninth Soul Skill can defeat the competition.
• Eagle Sauce Nation gathers three competitors: the Earth Spirit Tiger Demon King, a powerful Rat Spirit, and a Legendary Cherub summoned from Heaven World. Their officials explain the National War rules.
• When the countdown ends, all competitors are transported to the National Destiny Battlefield. On his Arena, the Earth Spirit Tiger scans the roster and notices the name “Tongtian,” which surprises him.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian conceals his overwhelming strength and shows disdain for Blue Star’s people, treating their opinions as beneath his concern.
• Tang Ren is confident and somewhat arrogant, encouraged by the crowd’s admiration and convinced he can dominate the contest.
• The Earth Spirit Tiger begins complacently, assuming no rival can match him, but becomes unsettled when he spots Tongtian’s name.
• Dragon Nation’s citizens and foreign spectators trade boasts and insults, with Tang Ren becoming the focus of Dragon Nation’s renewed hopes.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus true power: Tongtian looks ordinary only because he is suppressing an extraordinary aura.
• Pride and underestimation: Spectators and competitors judge strength by appearances and reputations, setting up possible surprises.
• Competing motives: Tang Ren seeks to prove his strength, while Tongtian’s deeper priority is discovering who orchestrates the National Destiny Game.

Plot and events

• The Earth Spirit Tiger realizes that the “Tongtian” on Dragon Nation’s roster is the legendary Taoist Tongtian of the Primordial World. Terrified, it briefly convinces itself this must be someone else—then accepts that it is facing the real figure.
• Hearing Eagle Sauce Nation spectators mock Tongtian, the Tiger panics at being associated with their boasts. It decides to deliberately lose the first two rounds so it can avoid meeting Tongtian in the third.
• The first arena match begins, but the opposing team is so weak that the Tiger cannot plausibly throw the fight. While it hesitates, the Rat Spirit and Cherub swiftly kill all three opponents.
• Eagle Sauce Nation wins in two seconds. Its spectators celebrate the victory and praise the team’s strength, while the Rat Spirit approaches the Tiger to boast about handling the fight without needing its help.

Character developments and interactions

• Earth Spirit Tiger: Its confidence as one of the Heavenly Spirit Mountains’ Nine Demon Kings collapses into comic terror at the prospect of fighting Tongtian. It tries to escape the matchup by planning to lose, but is left stunned when its teammates win before it can act.
• Rat Spirit: Eager to impress the Tiger, it takes the initiative and dominates the match, then flatters the Tiger by saying the opponents were beneath its notice.
• Cherub: Fights alongside the Rat Spirit, killing an opponent with a swift, blade-like strike of its wings.
• Eagle Sauce Nation spectators: Their boastful celebration clashes with the Tiger’s private panic; they mistake its reaction as contempt for Tongtian.

Significant themes

• Power and perspective: The Tiger’s status among lesser beings means nothing beside a legendary powerhouse, revealing how sharply strength depends on one’s perspective.
• Comic mismatch between expectation and reality: The Tiger plans to lose but cannot do so naturally because its team overwhelms an exceptionally weak opposing side.
• Pride and misplaced confidence: The spectators’ claims of superiority contrast with the Tiger’s awareness of the danger posed by Tongtian.

Plot points and events

• The Earth Spirit Tiger realizes that surrendering may offer a way to avoid fighting, after watching an opponent win by giving up in an earlier match.
• In Eagle Sauce Nation’s second-round match against Lion Nation, the Tiger immediately declares surrender before either side attacks.
• Spectators worldwide are stunned: they had assumed Lion Nation was surrendering, and Eagle Sauce Nation had been boasting about its likely easy victory.
• The arena’s Surveillance Eye rejects the surrender because the sides have not fought and Eagle Sauce Nation is not at an absolute disadvantage. The Tiger’s attempt to escape danger fails.

Character developments

• Earth Spirit Tiger shifts from a feared, confident favorite to a desperate strategist. It sees surrender as a clever escape, then panics when the arena refuses it.
• Rat Spirit believes its earlier actions have earned the Tiger’s approval, unaware that the Tiger blames it for making matters worse.
• Eagle Sauce Nation’s spectators go from smug confidence to disbelief and humiliation when their strongest contestant is revealed as the one who surrendered.

Character interactions

• The Rat Spirit tries to curry favor with the Tiger, while the Tiger privately resents it.
• The Tiger’s unexpected surrender confuses its teammates, the Rat Spirit and the Cherub, who had been preparing to fight.
• Eagle Sauce Nation’s boastful supporters mock Lion Nation for supposedly surrendering, only to discover their own champion has done so.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence and reversal: Eagle Sauce Nation’s certainty of victory makes the Tiger’s surrender all the more shocking.
• Rules and unintended consequences: The Tiger assumes surrender is an easy loophole, but the arena’s conditions prevent it.
• Comic misunderstanding: Both contestants and spectators misread who surrendered, amplifying the scene’s irony.

Plot points and events

• Earth Spirit Tiger of Eagle Sauce Nation announces that he wants to surrender, alarming his country’s officials and spectators. The crowd assumes he is only teasing Lion Nation, since Eagle Sauce’s superior strength makes surrender seem absurd.
• The surrender request is rejected because Eagle Sauce is not judged to be at an absolute disadvantage. Eagle Sauce’s officials calm down, though Cole privately suspects Earth Spirit Tiger may have been serious.
• Rat Spirit hears the crowd’s interpretation and decides the fight should end quickly to prove itself useful to Earth Spirit Tiger.
• Rat Spirit kills two Lion Nation fighters in rapid succession, piercing one with its tail and breaking another’s shield before killing him.
• The last Lion Nation fighter surrenders just before Rat Spirit’s next attack lands. The Surveillance Eye approves the surrender and declares Eagle Sauce the winner.
• Back in the preparation area, Rat Spirit apologizes for letting one opponent survive and promises to finish the next battle within two seconds. Earth Spirit Tiger is appalled by its confidence, especially since Rat Spirit is talking about defeating Tongtian.

Character developments and interactions

• Earth Spirit Tiger appears overwhelmingly powerful but is desperate to surrender; his attempted retreat is misread as mockery. He is frustrated when Rat Spirit’s attack nearly wipes out Lion Nation before he can act.
• Rat Spirit is eager to impress its lord and treats the fight as a test of its usefulness. Its confidence rises after an efficient victory, though its promise to defeat Tongtian is wildly overconfident.
• Eagle Sauce’s officials and citizens move from panic to relief by convincing themselves Earth Spirit Tiger was playing with the opposition. Cole alone remains doubtful but keeps quiet.
• Lion Nation’s fighters are intimidated by the perceived strength gap; two are killed before the final fighter manages to surrender.

Significant themes

• Misinterpretation and groupthink: Spectators and officials impose a flattering explanation on Earth Spirit Tiger’s surrender attempt, even when Cole suspects otherwise.
• Power and humiliation: Lion Nation’s weakness leaves its fighters vulnerable to both defeat and the belief that they are being toyed with.
• Loyalty and overconfidence: Rat Spirit’s eagerness to prove itself leads to decisive violence—and an absurdly ambitious boast about defeating Tongtian.
• Irony: Eagle Sauce celebrates a victory that Earth Spirit Tiger never wanted, while Rat Spirit mistakes his frustration for a need to fight harder.

Plot points and events

• After watching Eagle Sauce Nation defeat its second opponent with ease, Dragon Nation’s spectators fear their upcoming match. They see Eagle Sauce’s Rat Spirit and Legendary Angel as overwhelming threats, while Dragon Nation’s Taoist Tongtian appears inactive and unimpressive.
• In the preparation zone, Tongtian extends his spiritual sense beyond Blue Star and realizes it is enclosed within a disguised Minor World. He suspects the National Destiny Training is being used by unseen observers to explore other worlds, records the world’s aura, and decides to report his findings to his Master.
• The third round begins: Dragon Nation faces Eagle Sauce Nation. Eagle Sauce’s spectators taunt Tongtian and expect their Earth Spirit Tiger—a Celestial Immortal powerhouse—to crush Dragon Nation.
• The Tiger releases a terrifying pressure that leaves Dragon Nation’s contestants, including Tang Ren and the Soul Land powerhouse, convinced they cannot withstand him.
• Instead of attacking Dragon Nation, the Tiger strikes his own teammates: he sends the Rat Spirit flying with a claw and knocks the Cherub down with his tail. He then declares that Eagle Sauce Nation surrenders. Both injured contestants survive due to the arena’s protections, while spectators across the nations stare in disbelief.

Character developments

• Tongtian remains outwardly calm and withdrawn, but reveals his perceptiveness by uncovering the hidden nature of Blue Star’s surroundings and the purpose of the tournament.
• Earth Spirit Tiger shifts from an apparently fearsome Eagle Sauce champion to a figure acting against his own side. His anger at the crowd’s insults is evident, though his reasons for surrendering—and for attacking his teammates—remain unexplained.
• Tang Ren and the Soul Land powerhouse are forced to recognize how far outmatched they are by the Tiger, despite their earlier confidence.
• The Rat Spirit and Cherub go from trusting and admiring the Tiger to shock when he attacks them.

Significant themes

• Appearances can mislead: Tongtian’s apparent weakness and the Tiger’s expected role as Eagle Sauce’s champion do not reflect what is really happening.
• Hidden power structures and surveillance: Tongtian’s discovery suggests the tournament is part of a larger scheme involving observers and worlds beyond Blue Star.
• Public opinion and humiliation: The spectators’ insults toward Tongtian provoke the Tiger’s visible anger and precede his startling action.
• Uncertainty and reversal: The seemingly inevitable Eagle Sauce victory is overturned in an instant.

Character interactions

• Eagle Sauce spectators praise the Tiger and urge him to target Tongtian, while other viewers join in mocking Tongtian’s apparent weakness.
• Dragon Nation’s contestants brace for the Tiger’s attack, but he turns on the Rat Spirit and Cherub instead.
• The Tiger’s surrender leaves his teammates and the worldwide audience confused, setting up the mystery of his motives.

Key plot points and events

• During the National Destiny contest, Eagle Sauce Nation’s Celestial Immortal, Earth Spirit Tiger, suddenly attacks his own teammates—Rat Spirit and Cherub—leaving them badly injured.
• Rather than fight Dragon Nation’s team, he surrenders. The crowd and even the Surveillance Eye are stunned by this unprecedented behavior.
• When the system delays its ruling, Earth Spirit Tiger panics and kneels before Taoist Tongtian, calling him a Sage and begging to be spared.
• His confession makes the spectators realize that he did not betray Eagle Sauce Nation out of spite: he was terrified of Tongtian and had been trying to surrender since an earlier round.

Character developments

• Earth Spirit Tiger is revealed as a powerful but frightened figure whose fear of Tongtian overwhelms his loyalty to Eagle Sauce Nation. He humbles himself, pleading for his life.
• Rat Spirit goes from boasting that the battle would end quickly to recognizing how foolish his confidence was. He realizes their opponent is a Sage.
• Cherub is shaken by the realization that Tongtian may be stronger than even the Creator Angel of his own world.
• The spectators shift from accusing Earth Spirit Tiger of betrayal to wondering who Tongtian really is. Dragon Nation’s viewers also revise their earlier doubts about him.

Significant themes

• Power and fear: Tongtian’s unseen reputation is enough to make a Celestial Immortal refuse to fight.
• Pride and humility: Rat Spirit’s earlier arrogance contrasts with Earth Spirit Tiger’s desperate submission.
• Misjudgment and revelation: What first appears to be treachery is revealed as a response to an overwhelming threat.
• Reputation and uncertainty: Tongtian’s true identity and strength remain unexplained, intensifying the mystery around him.

Character interactions

• Earth Spirit Tiger ignores Eagle Sauce Nation’s leaders as they demand an explanation, focusing instead on the Surveillance Eye and Tongtian.
• He addresses Tongtian respectfully as “Sage,” prostrating himself and asking for mercy.
• Rat Spirit and Cherub watch their former ally’s surrender and reassess both their opponent and their own chances of survival.
• Spectators from multiple nations argue over Earth Spirit Tiger’s motives, then unite in astonishment at Tongtian’s apparent power.

Key plot points and events

• Taoist Tongtian reveals his immense power during Dragon Nation’s final match. The Earth Spirit Tiger begs for mercy, and the Surveillance Eye declares Dragon Nation the winner. The tiger returns home and kills Serafino, then decides to hide in seclusion to avoid further trouble.
• Shaken by the tiger’s fear, Dragon Nation’s remaining opponents surrender, and Dragon Nation takes first place.
• A hidden observer from the Xuanhuang Realm realizes Tongtian is far too powerful to control. He decides to bring Dragon Nation’s Trial Participant, Li Yi, back so Li Yi can be used as leverage over Tongtian. He alters the next day’s rules to summon the participants back for a contest.
• Other nations welcome the change, hoping to learn from Li Yi and threatening Dragon Nation if it refuses to share him.
• In the Primordial World, Tongtian gives Li Yi a trace of the Xuanhuang Realm’s aura. Li Yi uses it to uncover the National Destiny Game’s true purpose: the Xuanhuang Realm has been exploiting participants to gather information, seize weaker worlds, and manipulate powerful beings in stronger ones. It has already consumed two comparable worlds.
• Li Yi dismisses the threat, noting that the Xuanhuang Realm’s strongest figures are far below the Primordial World’s level. He then senses that Nuwa’s opportunity to become a Sage has arrived.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian remains humble and avoids attention despite his overwhelming strength. He shows respect to Li Yi and has reached the Peak Primordial Unity Supreme Immortal realm.
• The Earth Spirit Tiger goes from terror to relief after Tongtian spares him, then vents his resentment by killing Serafino.
• The Xuanhuang observer shifts from studying Tongtian to plotting to exploit Li Yi as a means of controlling him.
• Li Yi demonstrates his ability to trace karma and quickly understand the scheme. He remains unconcerned about the Xuanhuang Realm and appears ready to help Tongtian advance without abandoning the Law Dao.

Significant themes

• Power and intimidation: Tongtian’s brief display changes the behavior of every opponent.
• Exploitation and control: The National Destiny Game is revealed as a tool for harvesting information and conquering worlds.
• Overconfidence: The Xuanhuang Realm’s plan to manipulate Li Yi underestimates the power of the Primordial World.
• Advancement and opportunity: Tongtian’s difficult path toward Sagehood and Nuwa’s emerging chance point toward future breakthroughs.

Plot points and events

• At the foot of Buzhou Mountain, Nuwa realizes that proving her Dao through Creation requires making a new race. Reasoning that Dao Bodies accord with the Heavenly Dao, she decides to create beings born in that form.
• Using the Nine Heavens Resting Soil and Three Lights Divine Water given to her by her master, Li Yi, she begins molding figures from clay.
• Hongjun senses that Nuwa’s breakthrough will bring a major opportunity. His deductions reveal that her creation may become the next Era Protagonist, replacing the Wu and Yao Tribes, whose violence is building toward their eventual downfall.
• Hongjun summons Laozi and instructs him to teach the new race. Their karmic bond could allow Laozi to establish a sect and become a Merit Sage, governing the race on behalf of the Heavenly Dao.
• Laozi recognizes this as his long-awaited path to sainthood and leaves to pursue it.
• Hongjun sees Laozi’s opportunity as a step toward his own plan: once Laozi becomes a Heavenly Dao Sage, Hongjun expects to gain Heavenly Dao support and merge with it through Three Corpses Unity. He believes this will let him overcome the obstruction posed by Qiankun—also known as Heaven-Earth Daoist—and ultimately overpower him.

Character development and interactions

• Nuwa moves from studying the world to acting on her insight, taking the first decisive step toward creating a new race and achieving her Dao.
• Laozi hides anxiety beneath his detached demeanor. He resents the Yao Lord Di Jun’s rise and fears the world will forget his own status as the foremost of the Three Pure Ones. Hongjun’s revelation turns that insecurity into renewed purpose.
• Hongjun acts as both mentor and strategist: he directs Laozi toward his destiny while calculating how Laozi’s success will advance his own. He also dismisses Qiankun’s ambition to avoid dependence on the Heavenly Dao.
• Nuwa and Laozi are linked by the consequences of Nuwa’s creation: her race may offer Laozi a route to sainthood, though neither directly interacts with the other in this passage.

Significant themes

• Creation and destiny: Nuwa’s insight transforms her Dao of Creation into the making of an entirely new people.
• Karma and opportunity: The rise of the new race is presented as a chance for both Nuwa and Laozi to advance toward sainthood.
• Power and control: Hongjun views Heavenly Dao-backed sainthood as a path to authority, while Qiankun’s refusal suggests the cost may be submission to the Heavenly Dao.
• Ambition and rivalry: Laozi’s wounded pride and Hongjun’s schemes show how spiritual advancement is entangled with competition for status and power.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• Nuwa uses Nine Heavens Resting Soil and Three Lights Divine Water to form clay figures, but they lack life.
• She uses the five-element Innate Gourd Vine to scatter the clay, creating exactly ten thousand figures with vitality—but they still remain incomplete.
• Li Yi appears and supplies the missing answer: blood. Nuwa divides a drop of her Essence Blood among the figures, bringing the Human Race to life.
• The birth of humanity triggers an unprecedented flood of Heavenly Dao Merit. Powerful beings across the Primordial World, including Di Jun, Taiyi, the Twelve Ancestor Witches, and other great cultivators, rush toward its source.
• In Purple Cloud Palace, Hongjun sees the future laid out as “Fixed Destiny”: Nuwa will become a Merit Sage and Heavenly Dao puppet; the Three Pure Ones will become Merit Sages; Hongjun will merge with the Heavenly Dao; and the Heaven-Earth Daoist will die opposing them.
• Nuwa senses that accepting the Merit may cost her something. Li Yi intervenes by adding his own Five-Colored Chaos Demon God Essence Blood to the still-unawakened humans, splitting it among them.

Character developments and interactions

• Nuwa progresses from experimenting with creation to successfully forming a living race. Her joy turns to unease when the Merit descends, suggesting she recognizes a hidden danger.
• Li Yi acts as Nuwa’s mentor, guiding her to the final ingredient and then directly intervening against the apparent fate awaiting her.
• Hongjun is confident that the revealed future is unavoidable and sees it as proof that his plans will succeed.
• Di Jun, Taiyi, and the Ancestor Witches are shaken from seclusion by the immense Merit and speculate about who may become a Sage.

Significant themes

• Creation and life: The chapter presents creation as a process requiring not only form and elemental vitality, but blood and life force.
• Destiny versus choice: Hongjun believes the future is fixed, while Li Yi’s intervention challenges whether it can truly be overturned.
• Merit and hidden costs: Heavenly Merit appears magnificent but may conceal a loss of freedom, with Nuwa fearing she could become a puppet of the Heavenly Dao.

Chapter Summary

• Li Yi seeks a way into human destiny. He believes the Heavenly Dao is trying to control humanity—destined to become the Era Protagonist—through Nuwa, their creator, and Laozi, who is expected to establish the Human Sect. Their roles and Merit are legitimate under the rules of Karma, but Li Yi sees them as a way to constrain humanity’s many possibilities.
• Li Yi makes himself humanity’s ancestor. Knowing that his previous guidance to Nuwa did not create a strong enough bond, Li Yi sends a drop of his Chaos Demon God Essence Blood toward the ten thousand-plus humans who have not yet fully awakened. The blood divides and enters their bodies, giving him a direct connection to the Human Race—and the standing to intervene in their fate.
• The Heavenly Dao strikes, but the Chaos Gourd intervenes. Hongjun recognizes Li Yi’s plan and reacts with fury. The Heavenly Dao summons immense Purple Cloud Divine Thunder to destroy the scattered blood, but Li Yi releases a purple-black Chaos Gourd that swallows the attack. Hongjun is stunned: the gourd appears to be a Chaos Spirit Treasure, a class of treasure he believed had vanished after Pangu’s ancient battle.
• Humanity’s destiny blocks the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao gathers another thunderbolt, but Li Yi’s Essence Blood reaches the humans first. Because the Heavenly Dao cannot directly kill the Era Protagonist, its attack freezes and then disperses. Instead, Heavenly Dao Merit continues to descend, as it still believes that controlling Nuwa will keep humanity within its grasp.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Li Yi moves from observing humanity’s fate to directly shaping it. By giving humans his Essence Blood, he claims the role of their father and secures a place in their Karma. His confidence reflects both careful preparation and his belief that the Chaos Gourd can evade the Heavenly Dao’s calculations.
• Hongjun shifts from distant observer to alarmed opponent. He understands the significance of Li Yi’s action and is especially shaken by the gourd’s unexpected power.
• The Heavenly Dao tries to stop Li Yi, then turns to its established means of influence: Nuwa and the Merit bestowed upon her.
• Li Yi, Hongjun, and the Heavenly Dao are linked through competing efforts to determine who can influence humanity’s future.

Significant Themes

• Free will versus control: Humanity’s “endless variables” make it difficult to govern, yet powerful forces seek to direct its destiny.
• Karma and legitimacy: Li Yi’s ability to interfere depends on creating a genuine bond with humanity, not merely opposing the Heavenly Dao.
• Limits of power: Even the Heavenly Dao cannot destroy the Era Protagonist outright, while the Chaos Gourd proves to be an unpredictable force beyond its calculations.
• The struggle for influence: The chapter reframes humanity’s origin as a contest over who has the right—and the ability—to shape its future.

Key plot points and events

• Li Yi takes a Great Dao Oath with Nuwa, declaring the creation of the Human Dao. He proclaims that humanity should govern its own destiny, preserve civilization, and be guided rather than controlled by its Sovereigns.
• The oath reaches across the Primordial World. The Great Dao awakens, verifies Li Yi’s words, and descends in person to authenticate the oath.
• Great Dao Merit falls upon Li Yi and Nuwa, raising both to the Primordial Unity Great Firmament realm and granting them the titles of Human Dao Sovereigns and Great Dao Merit Sages. The gathered powers—including the Demon Court’s Di Jun and Taiyi, and Laozi and Yuanshi—bow before them.
• The newly awakened human race is far stronger than the Heavenly Dao had intended: each person begins at the Heavenly Immortal realm, with the potential to reach Great Firmament Golden Immortal. Li Yi distributes spirit treasures to the humans.
• When the Heavenly Dao Merit that had descended earlier starts to retreat, Li Yi refuses to let it be taken back and opens the Chaos Gourd to collect it.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Yi achieves a major breakthrough and gains a status that frees him from the Heavenly Dao’s control. He also retains the possibility of advancing further by proving the Dao through his mastery of the laws.
• Nuwa becomes Li Yi’s equal in status as a Human Dao Sovereign, though her power is weaker because of his superior foundation and law comprehension. She is relieved to have escaped the Heavenly Dao’s control and looks warmly at Li Yi.
• The humans awaken, acknowledge Li Yi and Nuwa as Father God and Mother God, and receive treasures from them.
• The assembled powers bow to the new Sovereigns, recognizing that their authority now rivals the Heavenly Dao’s.

Significant themes

• Self-determination versus imposed destiny: Li Yi establishes the Human Dao to protect humanity’s right to shape its own future.
• Power and independence: Great Dao Merit gives Li Yi and Nuwa immense power without binding them to the Heavenly Dao’s limits.
• Human potential: The humans’ enhanced origins undermine the Heavenly Dao’s plan to keep them weak and predictable.
• Guidance without domination: Li Yi’s oath defines legitimate leadership as protecting and guiding people without enslaving them.

Plot points and events

• Li Yi uses the Chaos Gourd to seize the Heavenly Dao Merit that was being recalled. He intends to strip away its Heavenly Dao Will, convert it into Human Dao Merit, and eventually use it to appoint a Human Dao Sage.
• The Heavenly Dao reacts angrily but is constrained by the rules governing the Primordial World.
• In the Purple Cloud Palace, Hongjun watches Li Yi’s rise and realizes that the Human Dao can provide a path to authority alongside the Heavenly Dao.
• The Heavenly Dao empowers Hongjun. He merges his Three Corpses and finally breaks through from Peak Quasi-Saint to Sage.
• Believing his Three Corpses method makes him superior to Li Yi, Hongjun appears before the assembled powers and declares that he will punish or kill him for defying the Heavenly Dao.

Character developments

• Li Yi remains confident and calculating. As Human Dao Sovereign, he believes his standing lets him safely claim Heavenly Dao Merit and repurpose it for humanity.
• Hongjun gains Sagehood through the Three Corpses Severing method. His gratitude to the Heavenly Dao becomes an obligation to uphold its will, and he grows overconfident about defeating Li Yi.
• Yuanshi, Laozi, and the other powerful cultivators are envious of the Merit Li Yi takes and reassured by Hongjun’s arrival and new strength.

Character interactions

• The onlookers silently covet the Merit Li Yi captures, while also wondering whether he can withstand the Heavenly Dao.
• The Heavenly Dao and Li Yi are in open conflict: it resents his actions but cannot simply intervene outside the rules.
• Hongjun confronts Li Yi with accusations of disrupting Heavenly Dao order and interfering with Nuwa’s Merit, setting the stage for a direct clash.

Significant themes

• Competing cosmic authorities: Human Dao power challenges the Heavenly Dao’s dominance.
• Power and obligation: Hongjun’s new strength comes with a duty to serve the Heavenly Dao.
• Rules and loopholes: Both Li Yi and the Heavenly Dao operate within—or test—the constraints of cosmic law.
• Pride and rivalry: Hongjun assumes his method of attaining Sagehood makes him superior, while the gathered cultivators’ loyalties and confidence shift with displays of power.

Plot points and events

• Hongjun reveals that Li Yi is a Chaos Demon God, shocking the assembled Primordial divinities.
• Li Yi turns the accusation against Hongjun: Li Yi has been formally appointed Human Dao Sovereign by the Great Dao, while Hongjun has neither Heavenly Dao nor Great Dao recognition. With Yang Mei gone, Hongjun is now the Primordial World’s only “unregistered resident.”
• Stung by the reversal, Hongjun challenges Li Yi to fight in the Hundun, where their immense power will not endanger the world or its inhabitants. Li Yi accepts, and the spectators—including Nuwa—follow.
• In the Hundun beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, the crowd sees that both fighters can withstand the Chaos Astral Wind with their bodies alone, thanks to their Chaos Demon God foundations.
• Hongjun opens the battle by summoning the Pangu Banner. It fixes the Hundun space in place, then unleashes a devastating attack that shatters the surrounding void.
• Li Yi responds with a White Lotus that surrounds him in protective light. The observers struggle to withstand even the distant shockwaves, and the excerpt ends before the attack’s result is clear.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Yi remains composed when exposed as a Chaos Demon God and confidently asserts his legitimate standing. He also shows curiosity rather than fear when Hongjun brings out the Pangu Banner.
• Hongjun goes from accusing Li Yi to being publicly humiliated by the same charge. Frustrated, he abandons argument for a direct fight and attacks without hesitation.
• The spectators divide over the likely winner. Laozi and Yuanshi expect Hongjun to prevail because he is a Three Corpses Saint; Tongtian worries because Li Yi once said that method surpassed Merit Sainthood. Nuwa is calmer, reasoning that Li Yi is not an ordinary Heavenly Dao Merit Sage.
• The confrontation highlights the contrast between Hongjun’s forceful, familiar method of condemning an opponent and Li Yi’s ability to turn that rhetoric back on him.

Significant themes

• Legitimacy and belonging: Recognition by the Great Dao determines who is entitled to stand in the Primordial World.
• Rhetoric backfiring: Hongjun’s habitual moral accusations collapse when the same standard is applied to him.
• Power and uncertainty: The spectators debate competing paths to Sainthood, while the battle’s first exchange demonstrates how far their power exceeds ordinary beings’ ability to judge or endure.

Key plot points and events

• Hongjun uses the Pangu Banner at full strength, obliterating the surrounding chaos with a devastating strike. He expects it to overwhelm Li Yi, but Li Yi emerges unharmed, protected by the Pure World White Lotus.
• Li Yi explains that the White Lotus matches the Pangu Banner in rank and that Hongjun is weaker than he is. His taunt enrages Hongjun, who launches another assault with the banner.
• Li Yi counters with the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation. Hongjun’s banner can attack powerfully but is poorly suited to defense, and the sword energy repeatedly wounds him while draining his Magic Power faster than Li Yi’s.
• After hours of fighting, Hongjun’s attacks weaken. Observers realize Li Yi’s Great Dao-bestowed Merit Sage status gives him an advantage over Hongjun, whose Primordial Unity comes from the Three Corpses Severing Method.
• Hongjun asks for a truce, but Li Yi refuses. Trapped in the sword formation and nearly out of Magic Power, Hongjun cannot escape.
• Li Yi unleashes the true forms of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords. They pierce Hongjun, destroy his exposed Primordial Spirit, and devastate his body.

Character developments

• Li Yi remains calm and confident throughout, turning the fight decisively in his favor and refusing to spare Hongjun once victory is near.
• Hongjun shifts from smug certainty to disbelief, anger, desperation, and finally helplessness as his strongest weapon fails to overcome Li Yi.
• The spectators move from shock at Li Yi’s survival to recognizing Hongjun’s likely defeat. Yuanshi and Laozi grow fearful and consider abandoning their master, but remain to avoid losing face. Tongtian is relieved, while Nuwa’s quiet confidence is rewarded.

Significant themes

• Power and merit: The chapter emphasizes the superiority of Great Dao-granted merit over Heavenly Dao-related power.
• Weapon strength versus the wielder: Even a supreme treasure like the Pangu Banner cannot compensate for Hongjun’s disadvantage in strength and stamina.
• Overconfidence and reversal: Hongjun expects an easy victory, but Li Yi’s defense and measured counterattack overturn his assumptions.
• No retreat from a decisive conflict: Li Yi treats the battle as a contest over who will stand as the Primordial World’s Dao Ancestor and rejects Hongjun’s late attempt to stop.

Character interactions

• Li Yi openly praises the Pangu Banner’s power, then undercuts Hongjun by saying the weapon is wasted in his hands.
• Hongjun’s attacks and Li Yi’s taunts escalate the confrontation, while Li Yi’s refusal of a truce makes clear that he intends to finish the fight.
• The onlookers’ reactions—especially Yuanshi and Laozi’s uncertainty, Tongtian’s relief, and Nuwa’s calm support—underscore the political and personal stakes of Li Yi’s victory.

Key plot points

• Li Yi defeats and apparently kills Hongjun in the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation. Heaven-and-earth signs of a Sage’s death shock the assembled cultivators.
• Heavenly Dao retrieves the Pangu Banner and later restores Hongjun, confirming Li Yi’s suspicion that Hongjun is now bound to Heavenly Dao. The restoration costs Heavenly Dao greatly, and Hongjun loses his Chaos Demon God body and some of his potential.
• Li Yi leaves with Tongtian and Nuwa, then establishes the newborn human race near Mount Buzhou. He chooses not to protect or accelerate them directly: they must develop on their own, and intervening too openly could draw the Wu and Yao tribes into attacking them.
• Back at his abode, Li Yi reveals that he has refined the Yin-Yang Demon God’s body into an external incarnation. He sends this avatar to join the human race and become its leader, hoping to prevent Laozi from claiming that role and its share of human fortune.
• Meanwhile, restored as a fusion of himself and Heavenly Dao, Hongjun recruits Laozi to civilize the human race and establish the Human Sect. He intends to secure human fortune for Heavenly Dao and eventually take Li Yi’s authority.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Yi emerges as a formidable Sage but remains cautious about the limits of his authority. He protects the human race’s future through indirect guidance rather than overt force, and uses his avatar to act where he himself cannot.
• Hongjun returns consumed by resentment toward Li Yi, though he quickly masks it. His alliance with Heavenly Dao makes him an active strategist against Li Yi and the human race’s independence.
• Nuwa watches Li Yi arrange the human race and shows a new, emotionally significant regard for him. Li Yi does not notice the change.
• Laozi becomes the focus of both sides’ plans: Li Yi wants to pre-empt his claim to leadership, while Heavenly Dao intends to use him to establish the Human Sect.
• Tongtian departs after the confrontation; the other cultivators, including Di Jun and Taiyi, are left intimidated and wary of Li Yi.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: Even a Sage cannot act freely without regard for Heavenly Dao and the consequences of intervention.
• Guidance versus control: Li Yi believes the human race must grow through its own trials rather than be sheltered.
• Competing claims to human destiny: Li Yi, Heavenly Dao, and Laozi maneuver for influence over the future era’s human race and its fortune.
• Cunning and indirect action: Both Li Yi and Hongjun work through proxies—the Yin-Yang avatar and Laozi—to pursue their aims.

Plot and key events

• Troubled by the memory of Li Yi (the Heaven-Earth Daoist) apparently killing Hongjun, Laozi loses confidence in his own path.
• Hongjun summons Laozi to the Purple Cloud Palace and claims Li Yi did not truly defeat him: Hongjun says he used the encounter to sever his former self’s Karma and merge completely with the Heavenly Dao. His newly overwhelming aura convinces Laozi.
• When Laozi urges Hongjun to kill Li Yi, Hongjun conceals that his new role prevents him from acting directly unless Li Yi threatens the Primordial World’s order.
• Hongjun hints that Laozi’s path to sanctification lies in the newly created Human Race. Laozi infers that he must teach them and build great Karma with them.
• Hongjun advises him to wait several eras, until the Human Race has suffered and struggled to survive. Laozi agrees and departs, while Hongjun sees this as the start of a plan to take Li Yi’s Human Dao Fortune.

Character developments and interactions

• Laozi begins frightened and directionless, but regains hope after learning Hongjun survived. He quickly grasps the hint about teaching humanity and accepts a patient, strategic approach.
• Hongjun presents himself as more powerful than before, but is constrained by his merger with the Heavenly Dao. He manipulates the conversation, guiding Laozi toward a future role while hiding the limits on his own actions.
• Their interaction is shaped by Laozi’s reverence and eagerness, contrasted with Hongjun’s careful, self-interested instruction. Laozi’s blunt suggestion that Hongjun kill Li Yi briefly unsettles him.

Significant themes

• Power with limits: Hongjun’s increased strength comes with restrictions on his ability to intervene.
• Manipulation and strategic patience: Hongjun encourages Laozi to wait until humans are vulnerable, so his teaching will earn their gratitude and support his future Human Sect.
• Karma and legitimacy: Laozi’s anticipated sanctification depends on his relationship with humanity, while Li Yi’s authority as Human Dao Sovereign depends on the Human Dao and the people’s recognition.
• Rivalry over influence: Hongjun intends to use Laozi’s future role to undermine Li Yi’s standing and seize the Human Dao’s Fortune.