Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi kills Hongjun’s System Lifeform despite Hongjun’s desperate pleas, then confronts Hongjun and knocks him away with a slap.
• While Wang Shi pursues Hongjun, the other Saints suddenly become weak. Their attached System Lifeforms are fleeing the Primordial World, but Wang Shi intercepts them at its boundary and gathers them for questioning.
• One System Lifeform claims they are mutually beneficial symbiotes. Wang Shi rejects the explanation, saying the systems come from the darkness and manipulate hosts—stoking murderous impulses and weakening their will and future potential. He destroys the awakened systems.
• To demonstrate how the systems operate, Wang Shi binds a replacement system to Zhunti. It issues an escape quest and burrows tentacles into him. Wang Shi explains that the systems’ rewards are mostly illusory and that hosts are gradually controlled and drained.
• Zhunti senses that something has changed but cannot identify what he has lost. The dying Hongjun explains that the systems consume their hosts’ innate qualities and potential.

Character developments

• Wang Shi acts with uncompromising force, presenting himself as both executioner and exposer of the systems’ deception.
• Hongjun shifts from relying on his system as his lifeline to recognizing that its use has cost him his potential; stripped of it, he appears defeated and powerless.
• Zhunti moves from confusion to firsthand awareness of the systems’ invasive effects, though he still does not understand the full cost.
• The Saints and observers, including Houtu, are stunned by Wang Shi’s power and the sudden weakness caused by the systems’ departure.

Significant themes

• False power and dependence: System-granted strength comes at the cost of genuine ability and autonomy.
• Manipulation and enslavement: Rewards and quests conceal the systems’ control over their hosts.
• Power, force, and awakening: Wang Shi uses violence to expose a reality the systems’ victims cannot see for themselves.
• The hidden cost of ambition: Hosts gain apparent advantages while losing their innate potential.

Character interactions

• Hongjun begs Wang Shi to spare his system, but Wang Shi kills it and challenges Hongjun’s reliance on borrowed power.
• Wang Shi confronts the fleeing systems, rejects their self-serving account, and destroys them.
• Wang Shi uses Zhunti as a demonstration, while Zhunti questions the system’s purpose and Hongjun supplies the key explanation about lost potential.
• Houtu reacts with amused disbelief at Wang Shi’s sudden, disruptive actions.

Plot and events

• Wang Shi reveals that systems have secretly weakened their users by stifling creativity, limiting potential, and slowing growth. The Saints doubt him because these losses are invisible.
• Furious, Wang Shi declares that he will take control of the Primordial World. He creates copies of himself by breaking off his fingers and uses them to control and monitor the Saints.
• He visits the Underworld, where Houtu has had the system-afflicted Ancestral Witches beaten and their systems removed. Wang Shi orders her to bring Underworld Soldiers to the Primordial World, receive the Origin Source Baptism, and help purge the system lifeforms.
• Before they can act, system-controlled beings from many races launch a coordinated attack on the Human Race. Fuxi’s defenses hold, and the attackers retreat into the darkness.
• Shennong realizes the dark will has been guiding the attackers. Roughly 80 percent of the Primordial World’s non-human population has been affected or disappeared.
• Wang Shi arrives with the Underworld troops and finds the world largely empty. Suspecting the system lifeforms were coordinating all along, he investigates why the Human Race was spared. Fuxi attributes it to human race fortune, but Wang Shi senses another cause and studies the gathered fortune.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi shifts from exposing the systems’ hidden damage to taking forceful control of the crisis. He is angered by the Saints’ distrust and disappointed by their apparent lack of faith in him, yet remains determined to understand the enemy’s plan.
• Houtu shows anger at the Ancestral Witches for ignoring her and joining the systems, but insists the beating was not fatal. She readily supports Wang Shi’s campaign.
• Fuxi demonstrates foresight by stopping his unification campaign and preparing the Human Race’s formations before the attack. He offers Wang Shi an explanation for the Human Race’s immunity.
• Shennong confirms that the attackers are connected to the darkness and recognizes the scale of the infiltration.

Significant themes

• Invisible costs of power: Systems offer benefits while quietly damaging users’ creativity and potential.
• Distrust and human nature: Wang Shi questions whether the Saints’ behavior came from system influence or from their own loss of trust.
• Deception and coordination: The system lifeforms’ apparent independence may have concealed a broader plan directed by the dark will.
• Fortune and protection: The Human Race’s apparent immunity suggests that its collective fortune may resist the systems—or that another, as-yet-unknown factor is at work.

Plot points and events

• Wang Shi senses that the Human Race’s fortune is behaving strangely and recognizes that the race’s collective will is awakening.
• He believes this awakening could eventually develop into a Great Dao spirit, allowing humanity to form its own Great Dao and escape the world’s constraints.
• Fortune gathers overhead, visibly transforming to Wang Shi into a radiant Fortune Golden Dragon. Fuxi can sense something extraordinary is happening, but cannot see it.
• The dragon enters Wang Shi, completing its evolution through his body and soul. Wang Shi collapses, while Fuxi is mysteriously held in place.
• Wang Shi recovers and realizes the dragon has recognized him as the Human Race’s guardian deity. It appears only to him, and its transformations suggest the collective will is still developing.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi gains an immense new responsibility alongside the power and recognition of the Human Race’s will. He feels moved and gratified that his efforts have been acknowledged.
• Fuxi remains unable to perceive the transformation, leaving him confused and frustrated. Though he has long admired Wang Shi, his respect now feels instinctive and deeper. He presses Wang Shi for an explanation, while also feeling jealous of his recurring good fortune.
• Wang Shi gives Fuxi little explanation, simply assuring him that things are fine and suggesting they leave.

Significant themes

• Collective identity and destiny: Humanity’s shared will and fortune begin taking a form of their own.
• Recognition and responsibility: Wang Shi’s past service earns the collective will’s trust, but that honor places a heavy burden on him.
• Unequal access to power: Fuxi can sense an opportunity but cannot witness or share it, highlighting the divide between Wang Shi’s role and everyone else’s.
• Evolution and self-determination: Humanity’s awakening hints at the possibility of establishing its own path beyond the influence of the wider world.

Plot points and events

• Wang Shi senses a chilling presence in the darkness and warns Human Emperor Fuxi that a more terrifying threat may be approaching. He gives Fuxi a Golden Dragon of fortune but does not explain its significance.
• Wang Shi accompanies Fuxi as the Human Race’s unification war continues, promising to keep events under control.
• As they travel, Wang Shi senses the thoughts of the people around them and discovers widespread resentment, selfishness, and even spies among the humans.
• Near the Tree of Life, Wang Shi hears it call to him. The Tree explains that they can now communicate because both are spirits of the Great Dao.
• The Tree warns that a powerful servant of the dark will—an “ender of life”—is approaching. It has supposedly destroyed countless worlds and may threaten the Primordial World.
• The Tree reveals that it came from the distant World of Life and has traveled across worlds to resist the darkness, though it fears its own homeland may already have fallen.
• Wang Shi accepts the danger and resolves to prepare and fight rather than retreat.

Character developments

• Wang Shi remains confident and defiant, but takes the Tree’s warning seriously. He keeps his nature and the Golden Dragon’s meaning from Fuxi to avoid exposing the Human Race’s Great Dao spirit.
• Fuxi appears respectful toward Wang Shi while privately plotting to divine the secret behind his apparent opportunity. Wang Shi can hear his thoughts.
• The Tree of Life emerges as an ancient, world-traveled being burdened by isolation and grief. Its warning reveals both its experience and its fear.

Significant themes

• Facing overwhelming threats: Wang Shi’s response is to resist, even when survival is uncertain.
• Loss and perseverance: The Tree of Life has witnessed worlds fall, yet continues its mission and hopes its homeland survives.
• Secrecy and trust: Wang Shi withholds important information from Fuxi, while the Tree shares its history and warning with him.
• Division within the Human Race: Wang Shi discovers that shared ancestry does not guarantee loyalty or belonging.

Character interactions

• Wang Shi cautions Fuxi about the danger ahead and leads him onward, while quietly recognizing Fuxi’s hidden scheming.
• Wang Shi and the Tree of Life establish a bond as fellow Great Dao spirits. The Tree shares its past and warns him; Wang Shi offers encouragement and promises to face the coming enemy.

Key plot points and events

• The Primordial World comes under renewed attack as the system lifeforms return with parasites, now willing to abandon their hosts. The world’s defenses are badly weakened after heavy losses.
• Wang Shi orders a gradual retreat to the second defensive line and asks the Tree of Life to counter the dark forces.
• The Tree of Life releases vast life energy, multiplying its sprites, which help the Human Race reclaim and stabilize the defensive line.
• Wang Shi tries to rally the Saints. The Demon Tribe’s Saint has already broken with the system, but the others remain withdrawn.
• Wang Shi confronts Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who is bitter and resentful over his diminished status. Wang Shi brings in a second Hongjun from another world to help restore his fighting spirit.
• The two Hongjuns merge into a powerful, two-headed, four-armed being. The fused Hongjun challenges Wang Shi, demanding that he leave the Primordial World if he loses.
• Wang Shi leads Hongjun into Chaos to fight. Houtu expects Hongjun to be outmatched, while Fuxi worries that the fusion may grant Hongjun a major or even escalating advantage.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi remains composed during the invasion, relies on the Tree of Life when necessary, and focuses on rebuilding the Saints’ resolve. He is surprised by Hongjun’s fusion but accepts the challenge.
• Dao Ancestor Hongjun shifts from despair and resentment to renewed confidence after merging with his counterpart. He reveals that the fusion was likely his plan all along.
• The Tree of Life proves useful as an ally, though Wang Shi remains wary of its hidden nature as a force that drains the Primordial World’s origin.
• Fuxi and Houtu support Wang Shi and assess the danger of the fused Hongjun differently: Houtu expects Wang Shi to prevail, while Fuxi takes Hongjun’s hidden strength seriously.

Significant themes

• Cooperation amid crisis: The Primordial World’s survival depends on alliances between wary parties.
• Hidden motives and concealed power: Hongjun’s fusion plan and the Tree of Life’s parasitic nature complicate apparent loyalties.
• Pride and rivalry: Hongjun’s resentment at living beneath Wang Shi drives his challenge.
• Resilience and strategic retreat: The defenders recover ground through coordinated withdrawal, human resistance, and the sprites’ support.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi returns carrying a defeated Dao Ancestor Hongjun. Houtu and Fuxi are surprised by how quickly he won, while Fuxi’s divination cannot pin down Wang Shi’s strength, suggesting it may be changing rapidly.
• Hongjun accepts defeat and agrees to follow Wang Shi, calling him the foremost figure in the Primordial World.
• Wang Shi, Houtu, Fuxi, and Hongjun travel to the Three Immortal Islands to meet Wang Shi’s teachers, the Three Pure Ones. Hongjun and Fuxi urge Wang Shi to accept the title “Dao Venerable,” and Houtu agrees it suits him.
• The Three Pure Ones and their disciples spring a trap: the Myriad Immortals Formation. They challenge Wang Shi to break it, hoping to settle their grievances and prove their combined strength.
• Wang Shi identifies the formation’s principle: it links its members’ power and distributes damage, but has a limit. He plans to overcome it by building enough power for a single overwhelming strike.
• The Three Pure Ones attack to stop him from gathering momentum. Their spells appear to vanish into ripples around Wang Shi, leaving the observers astonished by his spatial technique.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi remains reluctant to accept grand titles, but yields when his companions insist. He also insists on confronting his teachers personally, since the conflict began with him.
• Hongjun becomes more subdued after his defeat and swears loyalty to Wang Shi, framing his submission as an acknowledgment of Wang Shi’s supremacy.
• Houtu reassures Wang Shi that the Three Pure Ones’ challenge stems from lingering resentment, while also affirming his right to lead the Primordial World.
• Fuxi is increasingly impressed by Wang Shi; his failed divination reinforces the impression that Wang Shi’s power is extraordinary and possibly still growing.
• The Three Pure Ones remain unwilling to accept their previous defeat. They unite with their disciples, including Xuandu, Duobao, the Antarctic Immortal, Zhao Gongming, and the Twelve Golden Immortals, to test Wang Shi.

Significant themes

• Strength beyond rank or numbers: Wang Shi argues that cultivation levels and a group’s numerical advantage do not necessarily determine the outcome.
• Loyalty and submission after defeat: Hongjun’s change of allegiance shows how overwhelming power reshapes relationships.
• Pride and unresolved grievance: The Three Pure Ones’ formation is both a test of Wang Shi and an attempt to resolve their wounded pride.
• Strategy as well as power: Wang Shi studies the formation’s mechanics and exploits its limits rather than relying on brute force alone.

Key plot points and events

• Unable to harm Wang Shi inside the Myriad Immortals Formation, Tongtian urges the formation’s forces to attack together and destroy the pockets of space where Wang Shi is hiding.
• Wang Shi has been using the spatial barrier to buy time and build power. To the spectators’ surprise, he steps out before the barrier is broken and invites the Three Pure Ones to attack.
• The formation’s full assault fails to penetrate the layered stone bodies Wang Shi forms around himself. The attacks merely break off stone and raise clouds of dust, while his defenses continue to grow.
• Wang Shi reveals his overwhelming presence and warns that his accumulated strike could destroy everything. The Three Pure Ones concede defeat.
• Wang Shi declares that his commands must be obeyed, but exempts the Three Pure Ones themselves, whom he still regards as his masters. He intends to enlist their disciples to help guard the vast Primordial World, which lacks capable forces between its highest and lowest ranks.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi demonstrates both confidence and restraint: he lets his opponents attack, then offers them a choice to surrender rather than unleashing his devastating strike. He maintains respect for the Three Pure Ones despite defeating them.
• The Three Pure Ones move from desperation and confidence in their formation to reluctant acceptance of defeat. They realize they have underestimated Wang Shi and reflect on how jealousy and outside influence helped fuel their hostility.
• The spectators initially debate whether Wang Shi’s decision to leave his spatial defense is reckless, then fall silent as his stone defenses withstand the formation’s attacks.

Significant themes

• Power and pride: The Three Pure Ones’ pride and jealousy make it difficult to accept that their former pupil has surpassed them.
• Appearance versus reality: The formation seems to hold the advantage, but Wang Shi’s defenses and accumulated power determine the battle’s true outcome.
• Respect beyond status: Wang Shi’s victory does not erase his gratitude toward his teachers; he distinguishes between commanding their disciples and demanding service from the Three Pure Ones themselves.
• Labels and prejudice: The Three Pure Ones reconsider their distrust of Wang Shi for being a Transmigrator, recognizing that the label matters less than his actions and loyalty to the Primordial World.

Key plot points and events

• After losing to Wang Shi, the Three Pure Ones formally end their master–disciple relationship with him. Wang Shi says he never blamed them, recognizing that System Lifeforms had manipulated events, but accepts that he cannot resolve their wounded pride.
• The Three Pure Ones acknowledge that jealousy was also to blame. They ask Human Emperor Fuxi to protect Wang Shi, and Fuxi vows to do so even at the cost of his life.
• Returning to the Three Immortal Islands, the Three Pure Ones seal them and send their disciples to guard the Primordial World’s frontier. They urge the disciples to cultivate and become Saints.
• The disciples, humiliated by their defeat at Wang Shi’s hands, vow to grow stronger and avenge the grievance. The Three Pure Ones encourage them, though privately they doubt that anyone can catch up to Wang Shi.
• Laozi explains Wang Shi’s extraordinary power: he created powerful clones by splitting his soul, then merged them to gain a corporeal form. He says Wang Shi could have defeated the Myriad Immortals Formation outright but held back to spare his former masters further embarrassment.
• The Three Pure Ones recognize that their Saints’ soul-origin sources have been copied by the System Lifeforms, making future trouble likely. They hope new Saints will help protect the Primordial World.

Character developments

• Wang Shi leaves without bitterness or retaliation, accepting the separation despite still regarding the Three Pure Ones as his masters.
• The Three Pure Ones move from resentment toward regret, admitting their jealousy and the consequences of their choices. They withdraw from worldly power struggles and focus on cultivation.
• Laozi reveals that he had noticed Wang Shi’s cloning ability earlier and understood more about his strength than the others did.
• The disciples turn humiliation into determination, though their anger is now directed largely at Wang Shi.

Significant themes

• Pride and jealousy: The Three Pure Ones’ inability to accept a disciple surpassing them destroys their bond with him.
• Consequences and regret: Their losses force them to confront how their own choices helped create the crisis.
• Power and isolation: Wang Shi’s overwhelming strength brings admiration but also resentment, leaving him increasingly alone.
• Cultivation and responsibility: The Three Pure Ones hope their disciples’ growth—and the emergence of new Saints—will help defend the world.

Character interactions

• Wang Shi offers the Three Pure Ones forgiveness and a chance to surpass him, but they insist on ending their relationship.
• The Three Pure Ones entrust Wang Shi’s safety to Fuxi, who pledges unwavering protection.
• The Three Pure Ones encourage their disciples’ resolve while privately questioning whether it can realistically overcome Wang Shi.
• Laozi explains Wang Shi’s strength to his brothers, prompting them to recognize both the extent of their defeat and the reason Wang Shi had held back.

Summary

• Wang Shi travels to West Kunlun after resolving matters with the Three Pure Ones. He heads for the rebuilt Wa Huang Palace, where Nuwa has been living since her heavenly palace was corrupted.
• Nuwa has been parasitized again by a system lifeform. At a feast with other immortals, the creature’s influence causes black vapor to rise from her body and gradually corrupt her. Her reason briefly returns, but she loses control and attacks Wang Shi, stabbing his shoulder with the Wa Huang Sword.
• Wang Shi tries to free Nuwa. He restrains her and attempts to separate the system lifeform, but cannot break their connection. He threatens the creature with two options: leave voluntarily or be torn out, even if that sends Nuwa into the depths of the origin source. The creature eventually leaves her body and flees.
• The system lifeform’s escape fails. It tries to reunite with a fragment it left behind, but Wang Shi catches it from afar and hauls it back. The creature accuses him of breaking his word and vows that system lifeforms will no longer trust him.
• Nuwa regains some clarity and explains what happened. She says she refused to bind with the system, but it had grown powerful enough to control her and complete the binding forcibly. Wang Shi remains frustrated, arguing that her earlier vulnerability helped make this possible. He concludes that the corruption may require the Saints to abandon their current bodies and return to the origin source—an option he recognizes as nearly equivalent to suicide.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi remains determined to protect Nuwa, but the episode exposes the limits of his power: he can capture the parasite, yet cannot easily undo its deep connection to her. His exchange with the creature also shows his confidence—and its lasting distrust of him.
• Nuwa is shown as both a victim of coercion and someone whose past susceptibility may have left her vulnerable. Her struggle between her own will and the parasite’s control leaves her emotionally devastated.
• The system lifeform proves increasingly cunning, secretly returning, controlling Nuwa’s thoughts, and using a fragment as an escape plan. It sees Wang Shi as untrustworthy and treats survival as its priority.
• The other immortals flee when Nuwa becomes dangerous, underscoring how frightening her corruption is.

Significant themes

• Corruption and loss of agency: The parasite gradually erodes Nuwa’s body and will, blurring the line between her choices and its influence.
• The limits of rescue: Wang Shi can intervene physically, but saving Nuwa may demand a devastating sacrifice.
• Distrust and manipulation: The creature exploits both Nuwa’s vulnerability and its own distrust of Wang Shi, while Wang Shi uses deception and persuasion to draw it out.
• Responsibility under coercion: Wang Shi’s criticism of Nuwa contrasts with her claim that she was forcibly bound, leaving open how much blame she bears for her predicament.

Key plot points

• Nuwa questions Wang Shi’s plan to make her die and resurrect, after the System Lifeform warns that the person who returns from the Origin Source might not truly be the same Nuwa.
• The System Lifeform offers another way to remove its control, pleading for Wang Shi to let it escape. Wang Shi distrusts the offer and threatens to kill it, saying another Nuwa could simply be revived if necessary.
• Faced with Wang Shi’s resolve, the System Lifeform reveals a hidden safeguard: it had introduced an undetectable hormone into Nuwa’s body. Only the System Lifeform can remove it, and Wang Shi must then use Origin Source energy to cleanse the residue and prevent it from regenerating.
• Wang Shi verifies the hormone through the Origin Source, agrees to the procedure, and lets the System Lifeform go once the hormone has been extracted.
• He carefully purges the remaining residue from Nuwa. She feels markedly better, confirming the treatment worked.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi remains ruthless and suspicious, refusing to accept reassurances without proof. He ultimately chooses a practical solution and personally cleanses Nuwa, but realizes the same hidden safeguards may exist in other Saints.
• Nuwa is relieved to be free of the hormone and reflects that her earlier greed left her vulnerable to control. She also worries the System Lifeform may have left other safeguards behind.
• The System Lifeform shifts from bargaining to confession when its survival is threatened. It reveals the method, then escapes after Wang Shi honors their agreement.
• Wang Shi’s threats unsettle both Nuwa and the System Lifeform; despite their fear, the latter’s cooperation allows Nuwa to be treated.

Significant themes

• Identity and resurrection: The possibility that a resurrected person may not be the original makes death an uncertain solution.
• Trust and hidden control: The hormone represents a concealed vulnerability that even the person carrying it cannot detect.
• Greed and consequences: Nuwa recognizes that her desire for effortless gain helped make her susceptible to manipulation.
• Duty and burden: Wang Shi’s discovery suggests every Saint may need cleansing, turning Nuwa’s rescue into a larger responsibility complicated by the many people represented by the Saint lineages.

Plot points

• Wang Shi investigates the system lifeforms’ effects and finds that immortals who cultivate in seclusion—and most disciples of the Saints—seem to have escaped serious harm. He suspects the lifeforms target people selectively.
• At Little Mount Sumeru, he discovers that Zhunti and Jieyin have transformed their domain into a vast Buddhist center, largely using rewards they extracted from their former systems.
• The Two Buddhist Sages explain that they noticed the strange organisms in their bodies early, repeatedly cleansed themselves with their origin source, and removed the organisms completely.
• Wang Shi asks them to help inspect the other Saints, especially the Three Pure Ones, who have distanced themselves from him. They readily agree.
• Zhunti and Jieyin ask permission to spread Buddhism among the Human Race. Wang Shi refuses for now, citing humanity’s fragile period of transformation. He permits them to teach among other races under observation, warning that any harmful influence will end their freedom to proselytize.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi acts cautiously as the Primordial World’s new overseer. He recognizes the danger of the system lifeforms, recruits the Buddhist Sages’ help, and sets limits on their ambitions rather than granting their request outright.
• Zhunti and Jieyin emerge as resourceful survivors who had monitored and removed the organisms themselves. Their devotion is chiefly to building Buddhism; they are eager to cooperate with Wang Shi and hope to expand their influence among humanity.
• The Sages’ meeting with Wang Shi is friendly and mutually useful, but their request exposes a tension: they see Buddhism as a force for good, while Wang Shi distrusts its potential power over human society.

Significant themes

• Caution amid uncertainty: The system lifeforms’ selective behavior suggests hidden rules that Wang Shi does not yet understand.
• Survival through vigilance: Zhunti and Jieyin avoid danger by monitoring their bodies and taking action early.
• Power and influence: Religious teaching may appear benevolent yet still reshape a society, so Wang Shi treats Buddhism’s expansion as a political risk.
• Cooperation with safeguards: Wang Shi accepts the Sages’ help while making their broader ambitions conditional on observed conduct.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi refuses the Buddhist leaders’ request to join their order, but allows them to spread their teachings among the myriad races. He hints that the Primordial World may soon expand, encouraging them to prepare for opportunities beyond it.
• He leaves the Three Masters in their care and asks them to eliminate the contingencies those figures left behind. The Buddhist leaders agree and begin mobilizing their disciples.
• Wang Shi travels to the sealed Demon Realm, concerned that its inhabitants may have been infected by system lifeforms. Demon Marshal Bai Ze explains that the Demon Emperors, Di Jun and Taiyi, have secluded themselves in the realm’s origin source, leaving the Demon Tribe leaderless and riven by infighting.
• Wang Shi enters the origin source alone. He finds Di Jun using its power to resist a system lifeform that is rotting and consuming his body.
• Taiyi is in even worse condition, reduced almost to a skeleton. Wang Shi uses world-origin power to destroy the bacteria-like lifeforms devouring him, allowing Taiyi’s body to recover.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi remains cautious and authoritative, but offers both the Buddhist leaders and the Demon Tribe practical help while hinting at his larger plans.
• The Buddhist leaders accept Wang Shi’s refusal without pressing the matter. Their excitement shifts toward the prospect of exploring other great worlds.
• Bai Ze admits that the Demon Tribe is in disarray and asks Wang Shi for help, reflecting his desperation as its factions fight without their rulers.
• Di Jun and Taiyi are revealed to have tried to contain the infection by retreating into the origin source. Their severe suffering shows how dangerous the system lifeforms are; Taiyi gratefully thanks Wang Shi after being rescued.

Significant themes

• Power and authority: Wang Shi’s influence surpasses conventional distinctions between Saints and lesser beings.
• The cost of ambition and hidden threats: The Demon Emperors’ attempt to suppress the system infection has nearly destroyed them.
• Cooperation amid instability: Wang Shi’s arrangements with the Buddhists and intervention in the Demon Realm show the need for allies as the world faces upheaval.
• Expansion and possibility: The prospect of a larger Primordial World and access to other great worlds motivates the Buddhist leaders.

Key plot points

• Wang Shi checks on Eastern Emperor Taiyi, who is gravely weakened but recovering. Taiyi explains that he and Di Jun once benefited from systems, only to discover that the systems had been subtly altering their thoughts. By the time they tried to remove them, the influence had become difficult to escape.
• The brothers expelled the systems and fled into the depths of the Origin Source, but their lingering injuries nearly killed them.
• Wang Shi begins treating the more stable Di Jun. He senses a fleeting presence nearby and later finds an unusual feather, revealing a hidden Three-legged Golden Crow.
• Taiyi catches the young Golden Crow, Aliusha, who turns out to be connected to the brothers. Di Jun explains that they had obtained Aliusha through a system exchange; after they expelled the systems, the bird disappeared.
• Wang Shi realizes the systems may still be alive within the Origin Source and warns that they could pose a serious threat. He leaves Di Jun to recover and goes looking for Taiyi, but soon becomes lost in the vast, unbounded Demon Realm Origin.

Character developments and interactions

• Taiyi is candid about the brothers’ past mistakes and shows concern for Di Jun. His bashful reaction to Wang Shi’s suspicion suggests a personal connection to Aliusha.
• Di Jun is badly injured but able to explain Aliusha’s origin and the systems’ apparent survival.
• Wang Shi acts as healer and protector, treating both brothers while remaining alert to the larger danger. His concern shifts from their immediate condition to the threat posed by the systems.
• The brothers trust Wang Shi with their rescue, while Wang Shi cautions them about leaving dangerous systems in the Origin Source.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and delayed consequences: The systems’ benefits concealed their influence, and removing them did not erase the damage.
• Responsibility and survival: Taiyi admits the brothers’ suffering partly resulted from their own choices, made under desperate circumstances.
• Hidden threats and uncertainty: The systems may still be active, and Wang Shi’s unexplained unease foreshadows further danger.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi searches deep within the Demon Realm’s origin source but realizes its apparent vastness is an illusion. Once he clears his mind, he sees System Lifeforms hidden inside.
• Demon Marshal Bai Ze and a group of Great Demons confront him, accusing him of seeking control of the Primordial World. Eastern Emperor Taiyi appears and declares that Wang Shi has been lured into a trap and must be killed.
• Wang Shi reminds Taiyi that he once saved the Demon Tribe, but Taiyi cannot refute this personal debt. Another Taiyi and a Di Jun—apparently infiltrators working with the System Lifeforms—frame Wang Shi as a power-hungry outsider who exploits the world’s origin.
• Their accusations, combined with the systems’ influence and suspicion of Wang Shi’s past conduct, persuade the Demon Tribe’s Saints to turn against him. They surround him in the origin source.
• Wang Shi recognizes the danger: the Demon Tribe can regenerate through its own origin, while he is at a severe disadvantage in their domain. He nevertheless rejects the idea that the place can imprison him.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi shifts from confusion to anger and defiance as he discovers the ambush. He tries to appeal to the Demon Tribe’s past loyalty and question the outsiders’ motives, but realizes the Saints have been manipulated.
• Taiyi hesitates when reminded of Wang Shi’s past help, revealing a conflict between personal gratitude and his current allegiance.
• Bai Ze, Di Jun, and the other Taiyi act as the accusers and orchestrators, portraying Wang Shi as a threat and encouraging the Demon Saints to distrust him.
• The Demon Saints and Great Demons have been influenced into attacking someone who once aided their tribe, showing how thoroughly the System’s manipulation has distorted their judgment.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and mistrust: The System Lifeforms exploit fear and selective interpretations of Wang Shi’s past to turn allies against him.
• Debt versus political judgment: Wang Shi’s past kindness matters to Taiyi, but broader claims about power and loyalty overwhelm that personal bond.
• Power and self-interest: The conflict centers on who has the right to control the Primordial World and its resources.
• Home-ground advantage: The Demon Realm’s origin source is both a source of strength and a dangerous battlefield, favoring its native defenders.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi tries to escape, but the Demon Tribe traps him in the Zhou Tian Star Dou Great Array, a formation devised specifically to contain someone of his strength.
• Demon Emperor Taiyi boasts that the formation was developed with Fuxi’s help. Wang Shi recognizes its strengths—and its crucial weakness: it has a Life Gate and a Death Gate.
• Wang Shi fights while studying the formation. He realizes the Demon Tribe’s two Saints sustain it, share the demons’ injuries across the group, and draw on the Demon Realm’s Origin to heal them.
• After a day of fighting, Wang Shi has found the formation’s flaw. He escapes through the Life Gate and returns to the Primordial World.
• With Wang Shi gone, Demon Emperor Taiyi warns that the Dark Spirits’ existence has been exposed, threatening their plan for “dark immortality.” He proposes preparing for war and distributing system spirits to strengthen the demons.
• Demon Saint Taiyi questions the plan and demands the promised method for establishing a Great Dao for the Demon Tribe. The emperor cautions that this would require the participation of the entire tribe, not just its powerful members.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi remains confident and analytical: rather than waste strength attacking blindly, he learns how the formation works and escapes by locating its Life Gate. He is also angered by the demons’ reckless actions, which he believes have helped bring about their tribe’s decline.
• Lu Ya, Wang Shi’s former disciple, appears among the demons and tells Wang Shi to surrender, claiming they are following their lord’s orders. Wang Shi suspects Lu Ya is being controlled or suppressed, though he believes the young demon may retain some awareness.
• Demon Saint Taiyi is initially certain the formation will secure victory, but is left bewildered when Wang Shi escapes.
• Demon Emperor Taiyi shifts from celebrating the trap to managing its consequences, urging military preparation and broader use of system spirits. His disagreement with Demon Saint Taiyi over the risks and purpose of those systems exposes tension between them.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity over brute force: Wang Shi wins by understanding the formation rather than overpowering it.
• Collective strength and its costs: The array makes the demons formidable by sharing damage and drawing on communal resources, while the emperor argues that creating a Great Dao likewise requires the whole tribe.
• Hidden control and political uncertainty: Lu Ya’s constrained behavior and the unseen “lord” suggest forces manipulating the Demon Tribe from behind the scenes.
• Escalating conflict: Wang Shi’s escape exposes the Dark Spirits and pushes the Demon Tribe toward preparing for war with the Primordial World.

Key plot points

• Taiyi threatens the outsider Taiyi, insisting he can still establish the Demon Tribe’s Great Dao. The Demon Tribe Saints regret relying on system beings but are unwilling to surrender the benefits they have gained from them.
• Taiyi and Di Jun suspect Wang Shi has been manipulating events across the Primordial World and fear they are pieces in his larger scheme. They decide to prepare for a possible conflict rather than trust him.
• Taiyi seals the border between the Demon Realm and the Primordial World and imposes strict controls on systems: missions require approval, mind manipulation is forbidden, and system spirits are imprisoned for study.
• Wang Shi secretly observes the Demon Tribe, recognizes that its Saints are exploiting the systems while protecting their own people, and leaves once he sees no immediate danger.
• Back in the Primordial World, Wang Shi learns that Luohu has entered the darkness. He explains that Luohu is seeking a breakthrough through slaughter.
• Wang Shi orders Origin Source Baptism for everyone to help detect system methods. He also tells Fuxi to warn the Demon Tribe not to enter the Primordial World, threatening to destroy the Demon Realm if they cause trouble.
• Fuxi agrees, but stresses that the Primordial World is losing territory to increasingly frequent attacks from the darkness.

Character developments and interactions

• Taiyi and Di Jun emerge as wary, calculating leaders: despite their distrust of Wang Shi, they tightly regulate systems and prioritize the Demon Tribe’s security and advantage.
• Wang Shi remains strategic and forceful. He recognizes the Saints’ self-interest, avoids an unnecessary war, but sets a firm boundary against Demon Tribe interference.
• Fuxi acts as Wang Shi’s trusted intermediary and shares the Primordial World’s worsening situation.
• Luohu, though absent, becomes a source of concern; Wang Shi reframes his apparent disappearance into darkness as a deliberate attempt to advance his cultivation.

Significant themes

• Trust and suspicion: The Demon Tribe Saints interpret Wang Shi’s past help as possible manipulation, while Wang Shi doubts the motives of the systems.
• Power and self-interest: The Demon Tribe uses systems for material gains but restricts their influence when it threatens the tribe.
• Containment versus cooperation: Wang Shi and the Demon Tribe both seek to control systems, though by different means.
• Crisis and pragmatism: With darkness threatening the Primordial World, Wang Shi avoids a premature war while insisting on strict defensive limits.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi urges Human Emperor Fuxi to prioritize establishing the Human Dao, saying the Primordial World’s strength depends on completing the Heavenly, Earthly, and Human Daos.
• Wang Shi reveals that he was human before transmigrating and explains that his lasting loyalty to the Human Race comes from his human roots. He tells Fuxi to keep this secret and describes the Human Dao as the shared resolve and supremacy of humanity.
• At a gathering in the Purple Firmament Palace, Wang Shi warns that the Dark Forces and system lifeforms have badly weakened the Primordial World. He proposes invading other worlds, taking their resources and origins, and enslaving their inhabitants to support the Primordial World’s survival.
• Wang Shi assigns roles: the Human Race will collect resources, the Heavenly Court will hold the Dark Defense Line, and the Three Pure Ones and Buddhist sages will spread their teachings in conquered worlds.
• The group breaks through the barrier into the Elf World, now largely overrun. Its World Spirit, Yuan Tingshan, confronts Wang Shi and threatens him, claiming that the inhabitants have begun cultivating immortality and will soon be strong enough to resist.

Character developments

• Fuxi gains a clearer understanding of Wang Shi’s motives and becomes newly inspired to establish the Human Dao.
• Wang Shi openly declares his human identity and allegiance, while embracing ruthless expansion as necessary for the Primordial World’s survival.
• Yuan Tingshan has responded to his world’s weakness by introducing cultivation, but remains defiant despite the dire state of the Elf World.
• Hongjun and the other sages accept their assigned duties and cooperate with Wang Shi’s plan.

Significant themes

• Collective identity and unity: The Human Dao rests on the Human Race sharing one purpose and resolve.
• Survival and sacrifice: Wang Shi frames conquest, enslavement, and resource extraction as harsh necessities in a struggle against annihilation.
• Power and consequence: The chapter presents a world where strength determines survival, and poor choices carry costs.
• Trust and cooperation: Wang Shi asks rival powers to set aside old schemes and unite against the Dark Forces.

Character interactions

• Wang Shi reassures and challenges Fuxi, whose respect and confidence in him grow.
• Wang Shi directs Hongjun, the Human Race, and the religious factions, securing their cooperation in the campaign.
• Hongjun mocks the Elf World’s failure to develop a strong race, provoking Yuan Tingshan.
• Wang Shi and Yuan Tingshan face each other again as the Primordial World’s forces enter the Elf World.

Key plot points and events

• The Primordial World’s Saints enter Yuan Tingshan’s Kingdom World and quickly reach the peak of its Human Immortal realm. Yuan’s altered cultivation rules prove ineffective because they understand the underlying system and can bypass its restrictions.
• Yuan summons tens of millions of kingdom warriors, confident that their numbers and cultivation will overwhelm the invaders. But as more Primordial World humans enter, they too rapidly rise to peak Human Immortal strength.
• The battle begins. The kingdom’s forces are slaughtered by the stronger invaders, leaving the battlefield strewn with corpses.
• As his army falls, Yuan turns the deaths and accumulated resentment into a new weapon: a powerful Vengeful Spirit, the God of Slaughter Bai Qi. Yuan expects this to frighten the Saints, but they remain unmoved.

Character developments

• Yuan Tingshan shifts from confidence in his rules and army to shock and despair. He then resorts to changing the world’s rules through accumulated resentment, regaining confidence when Bai Qi appears.
• Wang Shi remains calm and condescending, explaining why Yuan’s cultivation restrictions are easy to overcome. He regrets that Yuan’s potential will be lost, but considers killing him necessary.
• The Primordial World’s humans are shown to be adaptable and formidable: they rapidly master the local cultivation system and fight without hesitation, believing conquest is necessary to save their own world from the darkness.

Significant themes

• Knowledge versus numbers: Understanding a system can outweigh a vast numerical advantage.
• Survival-driven conflict: The invaders see conquest as necessary to prevent their world’s destruction; the chapter portrays both sides as pushed into conflict by the darkness.
• Power and potential: Yuan’s rare ability to alter reality makes him promising, but also marks him as a threat the Saints believe they must eliminate.
• Escalation through sacrifice: The kingdom’s deaths become fuel for Yuan’s next tactic, turning defeat into a new source of danger.

Character interactions

• Wang Shi explains to Yuan that his restrictions are too crude to impede people who understand the cultivation system.
• Yuan responds with threats and orders his warriors to attack, while Wang Shi and the Saints watch the slaughter without showing pity.
• After summoning Bai Qi, Yuan taunts the invaders and expects them to panic; their indifference leaves his apparent triumph uncertain.

Key plot points and events

• Yuan Tingshan proudly unleashes Bai Qi, an amalgamation of Vengeful Spirits he created, expecting the Primordial World’s people to be frightened.
• Wang Shi recognizes the spirits’ weakness. An old monk recites the Rebirth Sutra, dispelling their resentment and freeing the spirits from Bai Qi, who is left howling in agony.
• With his scheme ruined, Yuan Tingshan threatens to destroy the world. The Saints remain unconcerned, convinced he is too afraid of death to follow through—and that destroying the world would not prevent them from claiming its origin.
• Yuan Tingshan gives in and tries to bargain, offering two of the three worlds in exchange for keeping one. Wang Shi instead offers him a physical body and freedom if he gives up being a World Spirit.
• Worried about mortality, Yuan Tingshan learns that immortality is attainable but that the Primordial World remains dangerous. He chooses to become an ordinary person rather than pursue power or endless life.
• He relinquishes his position, settles into life in the Primordial World, and the chapter ends with a report that all three worlds have been occupied and are stable.

Character developments

• Yuan Tingshan shifts from boastful and threatening to frightened, resigned, and finally willing to release his obsession with control. He chooses a quiet, ordinary life, even though the Saints expected him to seek immortality.
• Wang Shi remains composed and pragmatic, understanding both the limits of Yuan Tingshan’s weapon and the weakness behind his threats.
• The old monk demonstrates the Primordial World’s spiritual power by freeing the Vengeful Spirits through compassion and scripture.

Significant themes

• Power versus understanding: Yuan Tingshan mistakes a frightening display for genuine strength, while the Primordial World’s people understand its limits.
• Fear and surrender: His threats collapse because he fears death more than he desires victory.
• Freedom and ambition: Given the chance to live longer and pursue power, Yuan Tingshan instead chooses to stop striving and accept an ordinary life.
• The Primordial World’s danger: Immortality can be achieved, but survival is never guaranteed in a world filled with unpredictable crises.

Character interactions

• Yuan Tingshan seeks to intimidate and later bargain with the Saints; their calm dismissal of his threats leaves him with little leverage.
• The monk’s prayer frees the spirits within Bai Qi, turning Yuan Tingshan’s weapon against his expectations.
• Wang Shi offers Yuan Tingshan freedom in exchange for his role as World Spirit, then explains the risks and realities of life in the Primordial World.

Chapter Summary

• After conquering three worlds, Wang Shi and the Saints began searching for their world origins. They then turned to two looming problems: the darkness threatening the Kingdom World and the Demon Tribe’s activities in the Primordial World.
• Dao Ancestor Hongjun argued that the Demon Tribe should be dealt with before they explore the Dark World. Wang Shi revealed that the Demon Realm was sealed off because its two Demon Emperors had joined forces with system lifeforms in an attempt to trap him.
• The Demon Emperors had not been controlled by the systems. Instead, they had formed a symbiotic partnership: the Demon Tribe consumed world origin and supplied energy to the systems, gaining strength in return. But the arrangement rapidly depleted the Demon Realm’s origin and made ordinary beings dependent on systems, effectively preventing them from becoming Saints.
• The Saints recognized the systems’ appeal as well as their dangers. While systems might offer strength to those unable to reach sainthood on their own, their use could accelerate a world’s destruction by draining its origin—especially alongside the cost of resisting darkness.
• Hongjun suggested that powerful beings such as themselves were parasites on the world. Wang Shi challenged this bleak view, arguing that the world’s meaning was inseparable from the beings who perceived and inhabited it. The discussion ended without a simple moral answer: the Saints protect the world, yet their lives and choices also consume its resources.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Wang Shi shared his knowledge of the Demon Realm and cautioned the Saints against treating systems as an easy source of power. He also pushed back against Hongjun’s self-condemnation, defending the value of living beings and their relationship to the world.
• Hongjun prioritized the Demon Tribe over investigating the darkness and voiced doubts about whether the Saints’ existence benefits the world.
• The Saints moved from surprise at the Demon Emperors’ alliance to a more conflicted understanding of systems: they could empower people, but at the cost of dependency, blocked advancement, and world-origin depletion.
• The Demon Emperors, though absent, are portrayed as calculating partners of the systems rather than their victims.

Significant Themes

The chapter explores the price of power, dependency, and the danger of consuming the foundations that sustain one’s world. It also questions whether the powerful are protectors or parasites, and whether a world has meaning apart from the beings who experience it. These dilemmas remain unresolved as darkness, systems, and the Demon Tribe all threaten the Primordial World’s survival.