Chapter Summaries

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• After Taishang Laozi becomes a Saint through his connection with the Human Race, other powerful beings begin leaving their secluded homes, inspired to pursue sainthood themselves.
• Yuanshi travels to Buzhou Mountain to seek guidance from his disciple, Wang Shi. Wang Shi explains that Yuanshi’s path lies in following the Heavenly Dao through teaching: enlightening the Human Race and founding a sect can earn merit. Yuanshi enters deep contemplation, then departs with renewed confidence and a plan to seek answers.
• Tongtian arrives after Yuanshi leaves. A mysterious voice tells him that his path lies in “the one which escapes”—the single opportunity for survival beyond Heaven’s ordained order. He repeats the words, acknowledges the message, and leaves.
• Laozi confronts Wang Shi about his uncanny knowledge of Heaven’s secrets. Wang Shi says he gained it by consuming a soul that knew the Primordial World’s past and future.
• Wang Shi reveals a disturbing discrepancy: the history he learned included major calamities and the Three Pure Ones’ routes to sainthood, but not Luohu’s invasion or the fierce-beast tribulation. He proposes that the invading realm is a separate Primordial World—one in which Luohu defeated Hongjun and became a Saint—and that it is changing their own world.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi shifts from quietly guiding his masters to disclosing the source and limits of his knowledge. He recognizes that events have diverged from the history he remembers and grows alarmed about the invasion.
• Yuanshi accepts Wang Shi’s advice, experiences an insight, and sets out to discover how to earn merit and attain sainthood.
• Tongtian senses that he may be behind his brothers but remains unconcerned, believing the Three Pure Ones are one. He receives a cryptic instruction about his own path.
• Laozi moves from curiosity about Wang Shi’s foresight to grave concern as he hears about the soul and the possibility of another, altered Primordial World.
• The exchanges highlight Wang Shi’s role as a guide to Yuanshi and Tongtian, while his conversation with Laozi becomes a serious revelation about the world’s hidden history.

Significant themes

• Teaching, merit, and destiny: The chapter presents teaching and founding sects as possible paths to sainthood, while suggesting each figure has a distinct route.
• Fate versus deviation: Wang Shi’s foreknowledge provides a broad outline, but current events do not fully match it.
• Worlds and altered history: The invasion may come from a parallel Primordial World, raising the possibility that reality itself is being transformed.
• Hope within cosmic order: Tongtian’s “one which escapes” points to a surviving possibility even within Heaven’s fixed structure.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi tells Taishang Laozi that the Primordial World faces an uncertain future, with Demon Ancestor Luohu apparently acting under the influence of an even stronger power. He says he guided the Three Masters toward sainthood to prepare for the danger, and believes the Heavenly Dao supports his actions because it has not punished him for revealing Heavenly Secrets.
• Laozi accepts this explanation, though Wang Shi’s knowledge of his plans—including his intended Daoist name, Taiqing, and the identity of his new disciple, Xuandu—leaves him wondering whether the future Wang Shi sees is fixed or merely one possibility.
• Wang Shi leaves in a hurry, intending to help Houtu avoid her tragic fate of transforming into reincarnation and remaining trapped there.
• At Pangu Temple, Dijiang complains that Wang Shi has taken Houtu away again and accuses him of bad intentions. The other Ancestral Witches defend Wang Shi, noting his strength and status and admitting they cannot stop him.
• Wang Shi arrives unnoticed and catches Dijiang criticizing him. He jokes that he was studying an earth technique with Houtu, then challenges Dijiang to a “cultivation lesson.” The sounds from inside the temple suggest Dijiang is thoroughly beaten.
• Houtu returns looking for Wang Shi. The other Witches conceal what happened and awkwardly distract themselves with a debate about fire and water.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi presents himself as a guide acting in line with the Heavenly Dao, while privately focusing on changing Houtu’s fate. His teasing confidence contrasts with his serious concern for the world’s future.
• Laozi moves from suspicion to reassurance, but Wang Shi’s impossible foresight leaves him questioning whether reality and destiny are reliable.
• Dijiang is fiercely protective of Houtu and distrustful of Wang Shi, but his bluster collapses when Wang Shi appears and confronts him.
• The other Ancestral Witches have grown to respect Wang Shi’s power, though they avoid getting involved in Dijiang’s dispute.
• Houtu remains unaware of the confrontation and continues to seek Wang Shi’s company.

Significant themes

• Destiny versus change: Laozi wonders whether Wang Shi’s visions reveal a fixed future or only one possible outcome.
• Foreknowledge and trust: Wang Shi’s knowledge of hidden plans reinforces his claims, but also unsettles Laozi.
• Preparing for catastrophe: The possibility of a powerful threat beyond Luohu drives Wang Shi’s efforts to strengthen the world.
• Protectiveness and comic jealousy: Dijiang’s concern for Houtu becomes a humorous clash with Wang Shi’s confidence and the other Witches’ helplessness.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi emerges from the Pangu Temple with Houtu, leaving a bruised Dijiang behind after a session of Earth-Style Technique practice. Dijiang grudgingly claims he is fine, then takes out his frustration by ordering the other Ancestral Witches into strenuous combat training.
• Once alone with Houtu, Wang Shi warns that the Ancestral Witches’ great physical gifts come at a cost: they lack souls. He stresses that Houtu is different because she can understand the Heavenly Dao, cultivate Dao arts, and study the Great Dao.
• As they travel and study the Great Earth Dao, Houtu sees wandering souls suffering in the world and wishes they could have a home. Wang Shi recognizes this as the first sign of her destined transformation into Reincarnation, but resolves to change that fate.
• Seeking a foundation for a world capable of sustaining Reincarnation, Wang Shi brings Houtu to Mount Sumeru to learn from Zhunti and Jieyin about their spatial art, “Mount Sumeru Contained in a Mustard Seed.”
• Jieyin explains that the art combines the Space Dao and Great Earth Dao, treating tiny particles as worlds and opening vast spaces within them. Wang Shi and Houtu listen closely, gaining new insights.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi is protective of Houtu and determined to prevent her from sacrificing herself to create Reincarnation. He also approaches other cultivators as sources of knowledge and possible solutions.
• Houtu shows compassion for the wandering dead and becomes increasingly engaged in studying the Dao. Her sympathy hints at the role she may be destined to take.
• Dijiang is embarrassed and irritated after being beaten in training, but redirects that frustration toward the other Ancestral Witches.
• Zhunti and Jieyin welcome Wang Shi, praise his master’s sainthood, and take pride in the Western Teachings’ growth. Jieyin shares their understanding of the mustard-seed art.

Significant themes

• Fate versus choice: Wang Shi believes Houtu’s transformation may be destined, yet insists that it can be prevented.
• Sacrifice and the cost of power: The Ancestral Witches’ strength comes with the loss of their souls.
• Compassion and responsibility: Houtu’s concern for the suffering souls begins the chain of events associated with Reincarnation.
• Learning across traditions: Wang Shi and Houtu seek insight from other cultivators, suggesting that different Dao traditions may offer pieces of a solution.

Key plot points and events

• While contemplating the Heavenly Dao, Wang Shi and another companion enter sudden enlightenment. Zhunti and Jieyin recognize Wang Shi’s remarkable talent and order Mount Sumeru’s followers not to disturb them.
• After a long time, Luohu arrives, claiming he has been sent by a Saint to guard the Western Lands. He asks to borrow the Great Thunderclap Temple, then says he needs to search Mount Sumeru for a treasure lost there.
• Zhunti and Jieyin refuse to let him roam freely and prepare to confront him. Luohu draws the God-Slaying Spear, confident he can handle the two patriarchs.
• Wang Shi’s voice stops the standoff. Luohu immediately backs down, revealing his lingering fear of Wang Shi from a previous encounter.
• Wang Shi suspects Luohu’s revival depended on a hidden treasure. When he orders a search of the mountain, Luohu admits the treasure was involved and begs to keep it, saying it is bound to his life.
• Wang Shi insists on accompanying Luohu to find it. Guided by a rare shaft of sunlight, Luohu passes through an apparently solid rock wall into a hidden ocean beneath Mount Sumeru. Wang Shi, Zhunti, and Jieyin follow.
• The group pursues Luohu through the strange underwater realm to a dark trench. The place suppresses their souls and divine senses, leaving even their Quasi-Saint powers impaired.

Character developments

• Wang Shi appears relaxed but remains observant and strategically shrewd: he bluffs about searching the mountain to make Luohu confess. His formidable reputation is reinforced by Luohu’s immediate retreat.
• Luohu shifts from swaggering confidence to nervous submission once Wang Shi appears. Despite his fear, he remains deeply protective of the treasure that enabled his revival.
• Zhunti and Jieyin show greater confidence than before, standing up to Luohu and trusting Wang Shi’s presence, though they still treat Luohu’s weapon and strength cautiously.

Significant themes

• Power and reputation: Luohu’s aggressive posture collapses when confronted with someone he knows can defeat him.
• Deception and leverage: Wang Shi uses a bluff rather than force to uncover Luohu’s secret.
• Hidden mysteries: The concealed ocean and its unusual properties suggest that Mount Sumeru contains secrets beyond its visible landscape.
• Dependence and attachment: Luohu’s revival treasure is so vital that he cannot willingly surrender it.

Character interactions

• Zhunti and Jieyin protect their sect’s home and challenge Luohu’s presumptuous demands.
• Luohu threatens the pair, but quickly becomes deferential toward Wang Shi, even blaming Zhunti and Jieyin for not warning him Wang Shi was present.
• Wang Shi questions Luohu’s revival and takes control of the search, compelling Luohu to lead the others to the hidden realm.
• The four proceed together through a dangerous, unfamiliar place, with the three companions keeping close watch on Luohu.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi, Zhunti, and Jieyin follow Luohu into a strange underwater palace where magical power and spiritual energy are absent, and divine sense cannot be used.
• Luohu says he awoke in this world after his soul had nearly faded, and that he found a gold-and-jade coffin containing a miniature version of his former body. The body decays rapidly outside the coffin, but lying inside restores Luohu’s vitality.
• Wang Shi suspects something is wrong and wounds Luohu. The injury heals, revealing an ink-black substance inside rather than ordinary flesh.
• The palace’s rooms open, releasing many Luohu-like creatures who speak as if recalling torment. Wang Shi destroys them with his surviving Heart Fire after ordinary attacks fail.
• The Luohu who guided them flees. Wang Shi takes the coffin, which is absorbed into his body, then burns the building as they leave.
• Another Luohu appears and claims they were separated. Wang Shi judges this one more likely to be genuine and follows him with Zhunti and Jieyin.
• They reach a graveyard bearing the names of Hongjun, Zhunti, Jieyin, and Luohu. The second Luohu digs up a coffin from his own grave, carries it away, and urges the group to leave quickly.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi grows increasingly suspicious of the first Luohu, tests him physically, and takes charge when the creatures attack. Though deprived of magic, he relies on his Heart Fire and practical judgment.
• Luohu is presented in two uncertain versions: the first appears to be an artificial, ink-filled being and escapes; the second behaves more convincingly like the real Luohu and leads the group onward.
• Zhunti and Jieyin are alarmed by the palace and its horrors, looking to Wang Shi for protection and direction.
• Wang Shi’s decision to trust the second Luohu is based on instinct and his familiarity with Luohu’s mannerisms, rather than proof.

Significant themes

• Uncanny identity and imitation: Multiple Luohus blur the line between the original and copies.
• Decay, time, and restoration: The coffin appears to reverse bodily deterioration, while bodies outside it rapidly crumble.
• Power under constraint: With magic and divine sense unavailable, Wang Shi’s judgment and Heart Fire become crucial.
• A world of eerie secrets: The hospital-like palace, haunted graveyard, and named graves suggest a larger mystery about this realm and its inhabitants.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi learns that Luohu’s soul was preserved in a mysterious, coffin-filled place. Luohu says he has no hostility toward the Primordial World, admits his memories are incomplete, and refuses to explain more. The group returns to the Primordial World after only an hour has passed there; the stone entrance has become ordinary, and Luohu hopes never to return.
• Yuanshi announces the founding of the Chan Sect and becomes a Saint. Wang Shi celebrates that both of his masters—Laozi and Yuanshi—are now Saints, and boasts that he will help Tongtian become one too.
• Yuanshi’s success prompts many powerful figures to establish sects, expecting to gain sainthood. Though their sects attract disciples and merit, none of them become Saints.
• After a thousand years of seclusion, Tongtian establishes the Interception Sect, promising to teach beings without distinction and offer all a chance to cultivate. His merit makes him a Saint. He accepts Duobao as his chief disciple, followed by Zhao Gongming, the Three Xiao Sisters, and others. The sect quickly gains immense popularity.
• While Houtu remains in enlightenment and Luohu oversees the Western Lands, Wang Shi considers—but rejects—helping Zhunti and Jieyin attain the Dao. The two suspect Wang Shi truly had a hand in Tongtian’s rise to sainthood.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi gains a glimpse of a mysterious realm but gets no answers from Luohu. His confidence—and apparent influence over events—grows; he openly claims he will help Tongtian become a Saint.
• Luohu reveals vulnerability beneath his fearsome reputation: his memory is damaged, and his wish to forget the strange realm suggests deep weariness and loneliness.
• Tongtian acts on his inclusive beliefs, founding a sect open to all with affinity and earning sainthood through merit.
• Zhunti and Jieyin envy Wang Shi’s extraordinary connection to two Saint masters. Their private conversation shifts from disbelief to suspicion that his boast about Tongtian was serious.

Significant themes

• Sect founding, merit, and sainthood: Yuanshi and Tongtian’s success inspires imitators, but founding a sect alone does not guarantee enlightenment.
• Inclusive teaching and opportunity: Tongtian’s promise to teach without distinction challenges the Primordial World’s hierarchy of favored and excluded beings.
• Fate, affinity, and influence: Wang Shi’s fortunate ties to Saints—and the possibility that he can help shape who becomes one—are a source of both wonder and envy.
• Buried mysteries and loss: Luohu’s unexplained past and desire to forget the strange realm introduce a darker, unresolved thread.

Key plot points

• Zhunti and Jieyin revisit Wang Shi’s past actions and conclude that his uncanny success may mean he can foresee events. Despite their pride, they secretly visit him to ask how they can become Saints.
• Wang Shi admits he knows something about their path but asks what they are willing to offer in return. The pair pledge to obey his commands if he helps them attain Sainthood.
• He explains that their limited talents make merit-based Sainthood their most realistic option, rather than advancing through cultivation or proving the Dao by force.
• When they say their own efforts to save people have earned too little merit, Wang Shi proposes a different strategy: let others perform meritorious deeds on their behalf while they guide events from behind the scenes.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhunti and Jieyin set aside some of their pride and approach Wang Shi as supplicants. Their eagerness to become Saints leads them to make a serious commitment to him.
• Wang Shi remains cautious and pragmatic. He refuses emotional appeals, negotiates for a meaningful pledge, and then offers the two a strategic solution.
• The meeting shifts their relationship: the pair now view Wang Shi as a potential benefactor, while he establishes leverage over them through their promise.

Significant themes

• Merit and power: Sainthood can be attained through accumulated merit, not only personal cultivation or force.
• Strategy over direct action: Wang Shi argues that indirect influence may earn greater rewards than personally helping people.
• Pride and dependence: Zhunti and Jieyin’s need for guidance forces them to acknowledge Wang Shi’s unusual insight and accept a subordinate position.

Plot and key events

• Wang Shi tells Zhunti and Jieyin that founding another ordinary religion will not provide enough merit for Sainthood. They must “borrow” merit from the future by making Great Vows to Heaven, then repay it by fulfilling those vows.
• He suggests reshaping the Western Teachings into Buddhism, with doctrines the Heavenly Dao would approve of: deliver beings from suffering, teach without distinction, accept disciples broadly, discourage killing, and spread cultivation.
• After a thousand years of deliberation, Zhunti and Jieyin settle on forty-eight Great Vows. They formally establish Buddhism and swear the vows before Heaven.
• The Heavenly Dao responds with immense merit, and both immediately become Saints. Their announcement that they will preach on Mount Sumeru shocks the Primordial World; other powerful figures envy and criticize their success.
• The new Saints thank Wang Shi and offer to repay his help. He asks them instead to share any information they have about the Pangu Bloodline, which he needs to activate as part of cultivating the Pangu Great Dao.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi acts as a shrewd adviser, steering the brothers toward Sainthood while withholding some guidance so they will owe him a favor. He recognizes the Great Vows as a dangerous, seemingly impossible long-term obligation, but lets them proceed.
• Zhunti and Jieyin move from uncertainty to confidence as Wang Shi’s hints clarify their path. Their vows secure Sainthood, and despite their new status, they remain respectful toward him and acknowledge their debt.
• Other mighty figures react with outrage, disbelief, and jealousy, especially because they see the pair as undeserving and remember past grievances.

Significant themes

• Merit and obligation: Spiritual advancement can be gained through vows, but the merit is effectively borrowed and carries a lasting debt.
• Ambition and risk: Zhunti and Jieyin attain their goal, yet commit themselves to vows they may never fulfill.
• Guidance and influence: Wang Shi’s advice shapes the rise of Buddhism while also creating a debt he can later call upon.
• Status and resentment: Their elevation to Sainthood provokes debate over who is worthy and how power is earned.

Plot points and events

• Zhunti and Jieyin promise to help Wang Shi search for what he needs, though they privately feel the weight of their debt to him. For a moment, they consider killing him to escape it, but abandon the idea because the Three Pure Ones would defend him.
• Wang Shi argues that the Primordial World is incomplete and should eventually be perfected, then leaves Mount Sumeru with Houtu.
• On their way, a Witch Clan messenger reports that the Witch and Demon Tribes have suddenly gone to war. Wang Shi suspects the conflict is part of a larger scheme, and he and Houtu hurry to Buzhou Mountain.
• At the Pangu Temple, Dijiang explains that the Demon Tribe launched a surprise attack, devastating Witch settlements. The Ancestral Witches are furious and ready to retaliate.
• Di Jun and Taiyi arrive with the Demon Tribe’s forces and demand the Witch Clan surrender to the Heavenly Court. Di Jun claims that unifying the Primordial World will let him attain the Great Dao and bring peace.
• Wang Shi tries to prevent the war, questioning Di Jun’s certainty and asking who gave him this idea. Di Jun refuses to back down and threatens Wang Shi.
• Taiyi reveals that Demon Master Kunpeng is the key to the matter, directing Wang Shi to seek him out.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhunti and Jieyin are uneasy about their karmic debt to Wang Shi. Their fleeting murderous impulse gives way to fear of the Three Pure Ones and a renewed desire to repay him.
• Wang Shi remains a mediator, looking for the cause behind the sudden war rather than simply taking sides. He suspects manipulation and challenges Di Jun’s claim that conquest guarantees the Great Dao.
• Houtu reluctantly leaves her nearly mastered Great Earth Dao cultivation to return with Wang Shi and face the crisis.
• Dijiang and the Ancestral Witches are enraged by the surprise attack and determined to fight rather than surrender.
• Di Jun appears driven to extremes by his ambition for the Great Dao; his plan has already led him to forge the Witch-Slaying Sword using the slaughter of humans.
• Taiyi provides a crucial lead by identifying Kunpeng as the source of the idea behind Di Jun’s campaign.

Significant themes

• Ambition and delusion: Di Jun’s hope that conquest will bring enlightenment may be a desperate, manipulated gamble.
• The persistence of conflict: Temporary peace cannot erase deep-rooted hatred or prevent an old calamity from reigniting.
• The cost of war: The surprise attack has already caused widespread suffering, and a full conflict threatens the whole world.
• Suspicion and hidden influence: Wang Shi senses that the sudden war has been engineered, setting up the search for whoever is directing events.

Key plot points and events

• Eastern Emperor Taiyi reveals that Demon Master Kunpeng orchestrated the renewed conflict between the Witch and Demon Tribes, shocking everyone.
• Wang Shi leaves Pangu Temple to confront Kunpeng at the Northern Darkness Sea. Kunpeng intercepts him, displaying near-Saint-level power and seeming to expect his arrival.
• Kunpeng denies that his words alone caused the war, but argues that the tribes are destined to fight as part of the “Witch-Demon Tribulation.” He claims their mutual destruction would clear accumulated tribulation and allow the Human Race to rise.
• Wang Shi doubts this explanation, reasoning that earlier events had already relieved much of the world’s accumulated tribulation and that the tribes’ reconciliation should not have been so easily undone.
• Suspecting Kunpeng learned the theory from another source, Wang Shi calls on the Three Masters—the Saints—to detain and investigate him. Kunpeng admits he pushed events forward but insists he acted for the world’s benefit.
• Wang Shi demands that Kunpeng reveal who taught him about the tribulation, threatening to have his soul searched.

Character developments

• Wang Shi grows increasingly alarmed by the inexplicable return of a war he had helped prevent. He remains skeptical of Kunpeng’s claims and responds cautiously, bringing in the Saints rather than handling the powerful demon alone.
• Kunpeng appears confident and convinced that his actions serve the greater good. His knowledge of the Witch-Demon Tribulation and the Human Race’s future suggests he has been influenced—or informed—by a hidden party. Under the Saints’ scrutiny, his confidence gives way to anxiety, though he continues defending himself.
• Taiyi exposes Kunpeng’s role, prompting Wang Shi’s investigation.

Significant themes

• Destiny versus intervention: The characters disagree over whether the war is an unavoidable cosmic calamity or a conflict deliberately revived by Kunpeng.
• Knowledge and manipulation: Kunpeng’s unexplained foreknowledge raises the possibility that unseen forces are shaping events through him.
• Good intentions and consequences: Kunpeng insists that provoking war will benefit the world, while Wang Shi questions whether such reasoning justifies mass destruction.
• The struggle to change history: Wang Shi’s prior efforts to reconcile the tribes appear threatened by a supposed destiny he does not accept.

Character interactions

• Taiyi’s revelation sends Wang Shi to confront Kunpeng directly.
• Wang Shi challenges Kunpeng’s responsibility and asks where his theory came from; Kunpeng counters that Wang Shi’s attempts to suppress tribal hatred have merely resisted Heaven’s will.
• Wang Shi summons the Saints to restrain Kunpeng and investigate his source of knowledge. Kunpeng protests the heavy-handed response but continues to defend his actions.

Key plot points and events

• Kunpeng claims that the Heavenly Dao revealed the coming Calamity Tribulation to him during a moment of sudden enlightenment, convincing him he was chosen to protect the Primordial World.
• At Wang Shi’s request, the Three Pure Ones trace the supposed revelation to its source. Tongtian captures a bodiless outsider hiding beneath the Northern Darkness Immortal Palace. The intruder admits allegiance to the Chaos Empire and tries to self-destruct, but Tongtian suppresses him. The outsider has already destroyed his own soul, leaving no evidence or useful information.
• Kunpeng realizes the “voice of the Heavenly Dao” was fabricated by the outsider, who manipulated his sudden enlightenment. Horrified that his actions helped ignite the Witch-Demon conflict and endangered both tribes, Kunpeng tries to kill himself. Wang Shi stops him and urges him to help make peace.
• Tongtian rejects reconciliation, arguing that the conflict must run its course in accordance with the Heavenly Dao. This alarms Wang Shi, who knows the coming war could derail his efforts to save Houtu and prevent her from sacrificing herself to create Reincarnation.
• The Three Pure Ones try to draw Wang Shi away from the conflict by inviting him back to their sects. Wang Shi refuses, declaring that he must save Houtu, the woman who understands him. Tongtian is left troubled by his stubborn disciple.

Character developments and interactions

• Kunpeng shifts from self-assured “chosen one” to remorseful victim of deception. He acknowledges the harm he caused and seeks death, but Wang Shi intervenes and gives him a chance to make amends.
• Wang Shi remains determined to protect Houtu, even as the Saints’ intentions put him at odds with them. He openly pleads with Tongtian to let him follow his own course.
• Tongtian and the other Saints show their willingness to follow the Heavenly Dao’s course rather than prevent the Witch-Demon war. Their concern for Wang Shi leads them to try to remove him from the situation, though Tongtian does not force him to comply.
• The outsider is revealed as a cunning, fanatical agent who manipulated Kunpeng and destroyed his own soul to conceal the truth.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and false destiny: Kunpeng mistakes an enemy’s deception for divine guidance.
• Guilt and redemption: Kunpeng’s remorse contrasts with Wang Shi’s insistence that he can still make amends.
• Fate versus personal choice: The Saints accept the Heavenly Dao’s course, while Wang Shi risks opposing it to save Houtu.
• Love and loyalty: Wang Shi’s devotion to Houtu drives him to reject even his master’s wishes.

Key plot points and events

• Sect Master Tongtian allows Wang Shi to act, but warns him not to become too entangled in the Witch-Demon War. He and Wang Shi’s other masters promise to support and protect him.
• Kunpeng is permitted to return to his Northern Darkness Immortal Palace, but refuses to stay and speak with Wang Shi, fleeing instead.
• Back at the Pangu Temple, Wang Shi finds the Witch and Demon forces still fighting fiercely. Both sides are preparing their strongest formations: the Witches’ Twelve Dutian Divine Fiends Great Array and the Demons’ Celestial Star Dou Great Array.
• Realizing neither side will listen to reason and that the battle could devastate both tribes—and the wider world—Wang Shi decides that he must overpower them to make them stop.
• He transforms into a stone giant and reveals the Pangu Divine Axe, whose swing tears open space. He warns that the tribes’ leaders will die unless everyone hears him out.
• Eastern Emperor Taiyi steps forward, eager to test the axe against his Chaos Bell. Wang Shi strikes at the bell, and Taiyi disappears at the moment of impact. The chapter ends before the result is revealed.

Character developments

• Wang Shi moves from attempting diplomacy to accepting that force may be the only way to halt the war. He reveals both his resolve and the immense power of the Pangu Divine Axe.
• Tongtian shows affection and confidence in Wang Shi, despite warning him that intervening is risky.
• Kunpeng appears fearful and unwilling to get drawn back into the conflict.
• Taiyi responds to Wang Shi’s threat not with retreat but with excitement and curiosity, demonstrating his confidence in his own treasure and strength.

Significant themes

• The cost of ambition and hatred: Greed and long-standing enmity have driven both tribes beyond reason.
• The limits of diplomacy: Wang Shi’s appeal is ignored once battle fury takes hold.
• Power and responsibility: Wang Shi chooses to use overwhelming force to prevent greater destruction.
• Political and divine calculation: The Saints prefer to let the tribes weaken each other, leaving Wang Shi’s aims at odds with theirs.

Character interactions

• Tongtian warns Wang Shi but ultimately backs his choice and assures him of his masters’ protection.
• Wang Shi tries to obtain a statement from Kunpeng, but Kunpeng flees without listening.
• Wang Shi calls on both armies to pause; neither side responds.
• Taiyi directly challenges Wang Shi’s newly revealed weapon, setting up a confrontation between the Pangu Divine Axe and the Chaos Bell.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi’s single axe blow sends Eastern Emperor Taiyi flying, apparently striking with enough force to tear through space despite Taiyi wielding the Chaos Bell.
• He challenges Demon Emperor Dijun for risking the lives of ordinary demons and witches in a war the Demon Tribe is unlikely to win. Dijun rejects his warning and threatens to kill anyone who obstructs him.
• Wang Shi enters the Demon Tribe’s supposedly impregnable Celestial Star Dou Great Array. The witches prepare to rescue him, while Dijun rallies the demons and attacks.
• Wang Shi’s slow, gathering axe swing overwhelms the formation: it severs Dijun’s fist, cuts down demons, and destroys the array. The demons are left badly injured and unable to fight.
• The witches celebrate and move to attack the defeated Demon Tribe, but Wang Shi turns on them with a murderous gaze. A terrifying fissure appears before them, ending the chapter on an ominous cliffhanger.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi acts as a powerful but wary outsider, condemning the leaders’ disregard for their followers. When Dijun refuses to listen, Wang Shi resorts to force. His final hostility toward the witches suggests he does not intend to let either side continue the slaughter.
• Dijun remains proud and uncompromising, dismissing Wang Shi’s counsel and committing himself to battle. His confidence collapses when Wang Shi effortlessly defeats his forces.
• Taiyi is abruptly removed from the battle by Wang Shi’s opening blow; his fate is unknown.
• The Twelve Ancestral Witches see Wang Shi as an ally and rush to help him. After his victory, they eagerly call for the demons’ destruction, prompting his threatening turn toward them.
• The demon warriors move from confidence in their formation to fear and helplessness once it is destroyed.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: Wang Shi’s overwhelming strength makes clear that he could cause far greater destruction, but his criticism focuses on preventing needless deaths.
• Leaders’ responsibility: Dijun’s pursuit of victory puts his followers at risk, while the witches’ eagerness to retaliate suggests both sides are driven by vengeance.
• The limits of collective strength: The demons trust their numbers and formation, but neither can challenge Wang Shi.
• Escalating conflict: Even after one side is defeated, the witches’ desire to press the advantage threatens to perpetuate the cycle of violence.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi orders the Witch and Demon Tribes to stop fighting, threatening to kill their leaders and replace them if they refuse.
• The Twelve Ancestral Witches ignore him and activate the Dutian Divine Fiends Formation to attack the Demon Emperor. Wang Shi destroys its Pangu Phantom with one axe strike, leaving the Witches badly injured by the backlash.
• Both factions submit. Wang Shi says he wants to spare them and give them another way forward, rejecting their ambitions to dominate the world. Dijun recognizes that his path to unification and a Sage Seat is over.
• The Saints, watching from above, marvel at Wang Shi’s power. Their discussion is interrupted when a mysterious, withered hand emerges from a vortex and attacks him. Wang Shi evades it with repeated axe strikes, but the hand easily repels the Three Pure Ones.
• The Saints combine their attacks, forcing the attacker to withdraw. From another world, the being behind the hand orders its followers to hasten their efforts to breach the spatial barrier and claim the Primordial World, having noticed Wang Shi’s complete Pangu Divine Axe.
• After surviving the attack, Wang Shi blames the Demon Tribe for drawing the threat to him and beats its members until they promise to behave.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shi establishes himself as an impartial but uncompromising force: he stops both sides, punishes the Witches for defying him, and later turns his anger on the Demons. Despite his overwhelming power, the mysterious attacker exposes his vulnerability and frightens him.
• Dijiang abandons his assumption that Wang Shi would favor the Witch Clan because of Houtu. He realizes his misjudgment and is relieved Wang Shi spared his life.
• Dijun reluctantly accepts that his ambitions of conquest and advancement are finished, though he questions why either tribe must give up the chance to rule.
• The Saints shift from watching in amazement to cooperating against a common danger. Even together, they only manage to drive the attacker away.
• The Demon Tribe ends the chapter humbled, pleading for mercy after Wang Shi’s punishment.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: Wang Shi has the strength to destroy both factions, but insists on stopping their war rather than letting either win.
• The limits of ambition: The leaders’ desire for supremacy is challenged by Wang Shi’s insistence on a different path.
• Hidden threats and vulnerability: Wang Shi’s victory over the Witch formation contrasts with his near-fatal encounter with a power beyond the Saints, hinting at a larger danger to the world.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi forbids all fighting between the Witch and Demon Tribes, warning that if conflict resumes, he will punish their leaders rather than their soldiers. Both sides promise to obey.
• In the Purple Firmament Palace, Hongjun tells the Saints to prepare for his Third Sermon and orders them not to interfere with the Primordial World’s natural development.
• Hongjun is troubled by Wang Shi’s apparent possession of the intact Pangu Divine Axe. His attempts to divine the truth are blocked by a mysterious force.
• After questioning the Three Pure Ones about their history with Wang Shi, Hongjun tells them to keep his role in their sainthood secret and ensure that one of them is always nearby to protect him.
• At Buzhou Mountain, Wang Shi demonstrates a simulated Witch-Demon War to show the tribes how it would end. The Demon Tribe’s forces gradually lose ground to the physically stronger Witches. Their Heavenly Cycle Star Dou Great Array initially matches the Witches’ Dutian Divine Fiends Formation, but eventually fails as the Demon Tribe’s strength runs out. Taiyi detonates himself, killing Dijiang in an attempt to break the Witches’ formation.

Character developments

• Wang Shi acts as an uncompromising mediator, using threats and a war simulation to prevent the tribes from destroying each other.
• Hongjun grows wary of Wang Shi and the mystery surrounding the Pangu Axe, while choosing restraint and observation over direct intervention.
• The Three Pure Ones remain loyal to Wang Shi but are anxious about Hongjun’s scrutiny and the danger posed by unknown forces.

Significant themes

• The cost of war: Even powerful armies and formations cannot prevent devastating losses.
• Restraint versus intervention: Hongjun’s order to let the world develop freely reflects the danger of excessive interference.
• Hidden forces and uncertainty: Hongjun’s inability to divine the truth suggests that forces beyond his understanding are at work.
• Power and responsibility: Wang Shi uses his strength to impose peace, though his threats reveal how coercive that peace is.

Character interactions

• Wang Shi intimidates the Witch and Demon leaders into accepting a truce.
• Hongjun questions the Three Pure Ones about Wang Shi, then directs them to protect him and keep his assistance secret.
• Wang Shi confronts the tribes’ skepticism by recreating their forces in a controlled battle simulation, making the likely consequences of war visible.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Dijun rejects the war game’s first outcome and asks Wang Shi to run it again. The Demon Tribe changes tactics, targeting Houtu to prevent the Twelve Ancestral Witches from forming their powerful Dutian Divine Fiends Formation.
• The revised scenario goes somewhat better for the demons, but the Witch Clan replaces Houtu with great witches and retains much of its strength. The Demon Tribe is devastated: Dijun is its only major survivor, and the Primordial World suffers prolonged disorder before recovering.
• Both sides recognize that every likely outcome leaves them ruined. Dijun realizes Wang Shi’s support would matter more than continuing the slaughter. Wang Shi proposes restoring the old division of rule—demons governing the heavens and witches the earth—and the exhausted leaders agree to stop fighting.
• The agreement is interrupted when Bai Ze reports that Eastern Emperor Taiyi has not returned. Wang Shi and the Three Pure Ones discover through divination that Taiyi is no longer in the Primordial World and is likely deep in Chaos.
• Wang Shi organizes a search party. The Three Pure Ones and Wang Shi lead a cautious expedition, with Quasi-Saints and other demons following their trail. Meanwhile, Taiyi continues moving through Chaos, drawn by a mysterious voice and a sense of fated opportunity.

Character developments

• Dijun shifts from refusing defeat to recognizing that war cannot secure lasting victory. He begins to see Wang Shi as a decisive political and military force.
• Wang Shi demonstrates both impartiality and growing authority: he allows the requested war-game scenarios, mediates a truce, and takes charge of the search for Taiyi. His unease about the possible danger in Chaos reveals that even his great power has limits.
• The Witch and Demon leaders accept the need to stop fighting after seeing the devastating consequences of both scenarios.
• Taiyi remains absent from the conflict’s resolution and appears to be following an instinctive summons into Chaos, trusting his sense of destiny.

Significant themes

• The cost and futility of war: Different tactics change the details, but both clans face ruin and the world suffers.
• Cooperation over domination: The chapter suggests that unity—and gaining Wang Shi’s support—offers more than trying to destroy the opposing clan.
• Power and uncertainty: Wang Shi’s influence is immense, yet the dangers of Chaos and the unknown force calling Taiyi remain beyond the characters’ understanding.
• Fate and opportunity: Taiyi’s decision to follow the mysterious call hints at a larger destiny unfolding beyond the war.

Character interactions

• Dijun challenges Wang Shi to repeat the war game, and Wang Shi agrees despite disliking the Demon Tribe’s more underhanded strategy.
• Wang Shi proposes a settlement to both sides; their leaders accept it after recognizing their mutual exhaustion.
• Bai Ze alerts Dijun to Taiyi’s disappearance, prompting Wang Shi to coordinate the search with the Three Pure Ones.
• The Witch Clan withdraws without hindering the search, while Wang Shi, the Three Pure Ones, and the Demon Tribe’s searchers venture into Chaos to find Taiyi.

Summary

Eastern Emperor Taiyi ventures farther into Chaos, using the Chaos Bell to withstand its storms, until he finds a hidden palace. Its master, Great Immortal Yang Mei, explains that he once planted a Fusang Tree on the Sun Star and left two Golden Crow eggs there—Taiyi and his brother. Yang Mei says he led Taiyi to the palace because he wants to take him as a disciple, not to claim family ties.
Taiyi is startled by this revelation but senses Yang Mei is telling the truth. After learning that Yang Mei’s power reaches the Dao Integration Realm—beyond ordinary Sainthood—Taiyi eagerly accepts the offer, seeing it as a rare chance to grow stronger.
Meanwhile, Wang Shi, the Spirit of Buzhou Mountain, arrives while searching for Taiyi. Yang Mei recognizes him as someone from the ancient battle in which Yang Mei and Hongjun defeated Luohu. Wang Shi recognizes Yang Mei in turn, and they establish themselves as old acquaintances. Yang Mei welcomes him in and asks him to witness Taiyi’s apprenticeship. The three enter the palace, where Yang Mei serves tea made from the Chaos Evergreen Tree and leaves to prepare the ceremony.
While Yang Mei is away, Wang Shi teases Taiyi for finding a powerful master while others struggled in the Primordial World. Taiyi replies that he trusted Wang Shi to keep the two sides from fighting.

Character developments and interactions

• Taiyi moves from wary surprise to enthusiastic acceptance, seizing the chance to study under a powerful master. His easy confidence with Wang Shi shows their friendly rapport.
• Yang Mei reveals a personal connection to Taiyi’s origins and a desire to pass on his teachings. Though immensely powerful, he is awkwardly anxious about whether Taiyi might refuse.
• Wang Shi arrives by chance while searching for Taiyi, then recognizes Yang Mei from the ancient conflict. Their mutual recognition turns a formal meeting into a reunion between old acquaintances.
• Taiyi and Wang Shi exchange lighthearted banter, with Wang Shi joking about Taiyi’s good fortune and Taiyi trusting him to prevent conflict.

Significant themes

• Fate and fortuitous encounters: Yang Mei says fate brought Wang Shi to his palace, while Taiyi’s chance arrival leads to a life-changing apprenticeship.
• Ambition beyond conventional limits: Yang Mei’s Dao Integration Realm shows that Sainthood is not the ultimate stage of cultivation.
• Mentorship and opportunity: Taiyi’s quick acceptance reflects the value of recognizing and embracing rare chances to advance.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Shi apologizes to Eastern Emperor Taiyi for taking time to rest while the Witch–Demon conflict rages. Taiyi is content to let Wang Shi handle matters, since he believes the war is unnecessary but must support his brother, Demon Emperor Dijun.
• Great Immortal Yang Mei formally accepts Taiyi as his disciple in a ceremony witnessed by Wang Shi.
• Yang Mei orders Taiyi to remain and cultivate until he becomes a Saint, forbidding him from returning to the Demon Tribe. He argues that Taiyi’s current strength can do little to resolve the wider crisis, while sainthood could have far greater consequences.
• Wang Shi initially objects because the Demon Tribe needs Taiyi, but accepts Yang Mei’s reasoning and promises to protect the Primordial World and keep the tribe stable in Taiyi’s absence.
• Yang Mei reveals that a powerful being from a parallel world is trying to break into the Primordial World. Yang Mei has been holding it back, but admits he cannot defeat it; the world needs more powerful beings to survive.
• Wang Shi leaves the Chaos storm and unexpectedly reunites with the Three Pure Ones, who had been searching for him and worrying over his silence. He explains that Taiyi has become Yang Mei’s disciple and cannot leave until he becomes a Saint. They accept this without pressing him for details.

Character developments

• Wang Shi shifts from concern about Taiyi’s immediate role in the conflict to recognizing that helping him reach sainthood may better protect the world in the long term. He also gains a deeper appreciation for Yang Mei’s hidden efforts.
• Eastern Emperor Taiyi accepts discipleship but is torn between his duty to the Demon Tribe and his master’s command to focus on cultivation.
• Great Immortal Yang Mei emerges as a quiet guardian who has long protected the Primordial World from an external threat, despite being unable to defeat it.
• The Three Pure Ones show their concern for Wang Shi, then trust his account and refrain from probing into what happened.

Significant themes

• Long-term sacrifice versus immediate duty: Taiyi’s absence may weaken the Demon Tribe in the short term, but his cultivation could benefit the whole world.
• The limits of strength: Even Yang Mei cannot defeat the threat alone, making the world’s future dependent on developing stronger protectors.
• Hidden guardianship and responsibility: Yang Mei’s unseen defense of the Primordial World inspires Wang Shi to take its protection more seriously.
• Trust and restraint: The Three Pure Ones accept Wang Shi’s explanation without demanding further information.

Character interactions

• Wang Shi and Taiyi share a light exchange before Yang Mei’s ceremony, with Taiyi trusting Wang Shi to manage the crisis.
• Yang Mei establishes a firm teacher–student relationship with Taiyi, prioritizing his cultivation over his political and military obligations.
• Wang Shi challenges Yang Mei’s decision but ultimately agrees to safeguard the world in Taiyi’s place.
• Yang Mei confides in Wang Shi about the greater threat, prompting Wang Shi to acknowledge his sacrifice.
• The Three Pure Ones greet Wang Shi with anxious reproaches and relief, then cooperate with his plan to return.

Key plot points and events

• After hearing that Eastern Emperor Taiyi survived, Demon Emperor Dijun abandons plans to attack the Witch Clan and accepts peace.
• Hongjun announces his third and final sermon. With the chaos storms around the Purple Firmament Palace weakening, an unprecedented number of cultivators—including many ordinary immortals—rush to attend.
• Wang Shi recognizes that most will struggle to reach the palace in time, but finds it packed when he arrives. The Three Pure Ones ask Hongjun to begin, and the sermon brings many listeners to enlightenment.
• The sermon is interrupted by a blood-red figure: a Blood Demon who has seized control of most of the ordinary immortals, many of them members of the Demon Tribe. It challenges the assembled powers to break its Blood River Formation without killing its puppets, then taunts them for their apparent inability to do so.
• Zhunti tries to purify the blood-red energy with Buddhist chants, but the Blood Demon is unaffected, claiming it has spread throughout the Primordial World.

Character developments and interactions

• Dijun shifts from warmaking to seeking strength, viewing the sermon as a chance for the Demon Tribe to improve. His excitement turns to anger when its followers are taken hostage.
• Wang Shi remains observant and skeptical: he questions Hongjun’s decision to admit such a vast crowd, understands the dangers of the journey, and is stumped by the Blood Demon’s technique.
• Hongjun begins the sermon without addressing the disorder, then stops when the Blood Demon appears; his slight smile suggests he may know more than he shows.
• The Blood Demon uses the crowd as leverage, deliberately provoking the powerful beings by forcing them to choose between defeating it and sparing its controlled victims.
• Zhunti confronts the demon through Buddhist purification, but his attempt fails.

Significant themes

• Opportunity and ambition: The final sermon draws beings of every rank, each hoping for a path to greater power.
• Power versus responsibility: The Blood Demon’s challenge tests whether the powerful will protect ordinary lives or treat them as expendable.
• Manipulation and hidden motives: The crowded gathering becomes a vulnerability, and the demon’s claim to be widespread raises the stakes beyond the palace.
• Unease beneath apparent order: A major spiritual gathering turns into a crisis, while Hongjun’s unexplained choices and reaction leave his intentions uncertain.

Key plot points and events

• Hongjun traps a blood-colored infiltrator inside the Purple Firmament Palace, where he can control the world’s laws, and has the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa bind the intruder’s soul.
• After searching the captive’s soul, Hongjun discovers that many powerful outsiders have infiltrated the Primordial World and recruited local agents. He releases the intruder with a warning for its master: the Primordial World will resist and defend itself.
• Hongjun removes hidden blood-colored control from cultivators below the Daluo Golden Immortal level, revealing how widespread the infiltration is. He warns everyone to stay vigilant.
• The Dao lecture resumes and continues for ten thousand years, greatly strengthening its listeners.
• At its conclusion, merit descends. Hongjun and the Saints distribute their share among the assembled cultivators rather than keeping it for themselves.
• Hongjun names Taishang Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Nuwa, Fuxi, Di Jun, Zhunti, Jieyin, and Houtu as his direct disciples; everyone else becomes a nominal disciple.

Character developments

• Hongjun demonstrates both overwhelming authority and strategic restraint: he captures the infiltrator to learn the enemy’s plans, then releases it to deliver a message. His generosity in sharing merit reinforces his commitment to strengthening the whole world.
• Wang Shi recognizes that he had overlooked the danger facing ordinary cultivators. He is moved by the growing unity of the Primordial World and feels it has become the world he hoped to nurture.
• The gathered cultivators and Saints show a shared resolve to grow stronger and protect their home, accepting merit as a means to improve their cultivation.

Significant themes

• Unity against an external threat: The Primordial World must overcome internal divisions to face its hidden invaders.
• Vigilance and collective responsibility: Even lower-level cultivators may be compromised, so danger cannot be left solely to the powerful.
• Strength as protection: The lecture frames cultivation as essential preparation for the coming conflict.
• Generosity and shared progress: Hongjun and the Saints distribute merit so the wider community can grow, rather than reserving power for themselves.

Character interactions

• Hongjun commands the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa to bind the blood man, then confronts him with what he has learned and sends him back with a warning.
• Hongjun addresses the assembled cultivators, urging them to remain alert; Wang Shi reflects on the warning and its implications.
• Hongjun and the Saints share merit with the crowd, prompting a collective vow that the people of the Primordial World should strive for greatness.
• The nine named figures bow to Hongjun as their master, while the remaining listeners gratefully accept nominal discipleship.