Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• Lin Tian reveals to Tongtian that he is building a coalition to counter Hongjun, including a future plan to create a Heavenly Dao-level Vine Dao Venerable Group. Tongtian complains that he has been manipulated into helping, but gives Lin Tian another 200 million merit.
• Lin Tian establishes a new group, recruits powerful figures from different eras of the Primordial World, and brings them into the Anti-Hongjun Alliance.
• Nuwa enters Hongmeng Space to investigate. Hongjun watches through a hidden trace of his consciousness attached to her, unaware that Lin Tian’s allies are ready for her arrival.
• Lin Tian, posing as Pan Gu, gathers Yang Mei, Luo Hou, Qian Kun, Yin-Yang, Ancestral Dragon, Yuan Feng, and Shi Qilin. He claims Hongjun intends to destroy the world to attain the Great Dao and urges them to unite against him.
• The resurrected figures appear in Hongmeng Space and agree to follow Lin Tian’s plan: stage a convincing confrontation for Hongjun, who may be observing through Nuwa.
• When Nuwa arrives, Ancestral Dragon, Shi Qilin, and Yuan Feng attack her. Nuwa fights back with the Qian Kun Cauldron, then calls out to Yang Mei, acting as though she is seeking help.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Tian continues to manipulate events through careful planning and persuasive performance, recruiting past enemies and allies into a coordinated scheme.
• Tongtian recognizes Lin Tian’s trap and complains, yet remains loyal enough to provide support.
• Yang Mei and the resurrected figures move from suspicion and anger over Hongjun’s past betrayals toward cooperation against him.
• Ancestral Dragon takes a practical, mediating role, while Luo Hou, Qian Kun, and Yin-Yang revive old accusations and rivalries.
• Yuan Feng questions Ancestral Dragon about his past strength, but the group’s immediate mission takes priority.
• Nuwa knowingly performs her role in the staged encounter, while Hongjun unknowingly observes what he believes is an authentic investigation.

Significant themes

• Deception and performance: Lin Tian’s alliance depends on a carefully staged show designed to mislead Hongjun.
• Trust built from betrayal: Former rivals must set aside old grievances and unite against a greater threat.
• Preparation and power through cooperation: Lin Tian’s expanding groups turn scattered figures from different eras into a coordinated force.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Nuwa enters Hongmeng Space to investigate and discovers Yang Mei, the Heaven-and-Earth Ancestor, the Yin-Yang Holy Lord, and the Ancestral Dragon there. They oppose Hongjun and intend to stop the Journey to the West Calamity so he cannot attain the Great Dao. Luo Hou confronts Nuwa, and she is struck out of the space.
• Back at the Purple Heaven Palace, Nuwa reports what she learned. Hongjun confirms that completing the calamity would perfect his Heavenly Dao and allow him to pursue the Great Dao.
• Jieyin and Zhunti realize that their hoped-for prosperity of the Western Lands may have been a pretext: Luo Hou argues that Hongjun needs Western demonic and slaughtering qi to balance his Daoist cultivation. The pair feel betrayed.
• Hongjun dismisses the threat from Luo Hou and Yang Mei, but recognizes that the conflict will center on the Journey to the West—specifically, the Wuji Kingdom.
• At the Wuji Kingdom, Red Boy and Immortal Qiu Shou again demand that the group secure Tongtian’s release from the Purple Heaven Palace. Tathagata says a Saint has pleaded, but Tongtian refuses to leave. Unconvinced, Red Boy orders Tang Sanzang killed, and Qiu Shou prepares to do so.
• Wuchao and Bodhi intervene. Red Boy’s first attack is destroyed, but he activates a summoning device. Dragonfly Captain appears, encloses the combatants in an arena, and transforms the Three Realms into a vast spectacle resembling the earlier Three Realms Assembly.

Character developments

• Nuwa acts as Hongjun’s investigator, then openly asks whether he is nearing the Great Dao. Though rebuffed violently in Hongmeng Space, she returns with crucial information.
• Hongjun drops his secrecy and admits his ambition. Confident he can defeat his opponents again, he nevertheless sees the Journey to the West as the decisive battleground.
• Jieyin and Zhunti lose faith in the purpose of the calamity, feeling they may have been manipulated.
• Red Boy and Immortal Qiu Shou escalate their pressure over Tongtian, moving from demands to a threat against Tang Sanzang.
• Red Boy reveals he has a second, more powerful tactic: summoning Dragonfly Captain.

Significant themes

• Hidden motives and betrayal: The calamity’s stated purpose may conceal Hongjun’s personal goal, leaving Jieyin and Zhunti questioning whether they were used.
• Power struggles and resistance: Yang Mei’s faction seeks to thwart Hongjun’s ascent, while the conflict shifts to the Journey to the West.
• Justice and spectacle: Dragonfly Captain’s arrival turns a violent confrontation into a public arena, with fairness and judgment explicitly invoked.
• Escalation through unconventional power: Red Boy counters the Saints’ advantage not simply with force, but with an unexpected summon from beyond their familiar world.

Character interactions

• Yang Mei’s group confronts Nuwa, with Luo Hou openly accusing Hongjun of seeking the Great Dao and rejecting peace.
• Nuwa reports to Hongjun and the gathered Saints, prompting Hongjun’s confession and the others’ strained congratulations.
• Luo Hou taunts Jieyin and Zhunti over their disillusionment, while they acknowledge their mistake.
• At Wuji, Qiu Shou seeks confirmation from Tathagata about Tongtian; Tathagata’s answer fails to reassure him. Red Boy and Qiu Shou then threaten Tang Sanzang, prompting Wuchao and Bodhi to defend him—until Dragonfly Captain’s arena traps the group.

Key plot points and events

• The Three Realms’ spectators are summoned to a new arena, where Dragonfly Captain announces a contest: the winning team gets the right to decide Tang Sanzang’s fate.
• The Saints are transported into the judges’ seats—including Tongtian, who remains imprisoned beneath the Creation Jade Disc. Their repeated appearance no longer surprises the audience.
• Zhu Bajie objects to Tang Sanzang being treated as a prize, but Dragonfly Captain rejects the objection.
• The teams are formed. Tathagata’s side includes Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Sandy, Chan Master Wuchao, and Patriarch Bodhi. Red Boy’s side recruits Holy Mother Jinling and the Three Skies, who hope victory might help free Tongtian; Red Boy, Immortal Qiu Shou, and the King of Wuji’s phantom complete the team.
• Just as Dragonfly Captain is about to begin, Hongjun appears and orders him to stop, claiming the contest has no authority under the Heavenly Dao. Zhunti and Jieyin urge Hongjun to shut it down, but Dragonfly Captain refuses, insisting on fair judgment.
• Lin Tian reassures Zhunti that Dragonfly Captain, once his domain is established, has power equivalent to the Heavenly Dao within it and can stand against Hongjun.

Character developments and interactions

• Dragonfly Captain remains confident and uncompromising, dismissing Zhu Bajie’s objection and directly defying Hongjun.
• Red Boy shows resourcefulness, recruiting allies by linking the contest to Tongtian’s release.
• Holy Mother Jinling and the Three Skies eagerly join Red Boy’s team out of loyalty to Tongtian.
• Zhu Bajie voices concern for his master, while Tathagata and other Saints worry the contest may be manipulated.
• Hongjun finally intervenes, setting up a confrontation over who has authority in the arena.
• The spectators and Saints discuss Dragonfly Captain’s extraordinary strength, while Lin Tian presents him as a match for Hongjun within the arena.

Significant themes

• Power versus authority: Hongjun invokes the Heavenly Dao’s authority, while Dragonfly Captain insists his own mission and arena rules are binding.
• Justice and fairness: The contest is presented as fair, but its premise—using Tang Sanzang as a stake—raises questions about what “fairness” means.
• Loyalty and liberation: Red Boy’s appeal draws allies who hope to free Tongtian.
• Spectacle and absurdity: The assembled realms treat the increasingly strange arena proceedings as familiar entertainment, even as the stakes grow more serious.

Key plot points and events

• Dragonfly Captain withstands Hongjun’s devastating Chaos Tribulation Lightning by absorbing it, proving he can referee the contest. Hongjun chooses to watch rather than challenge him further.
• The Monster Team and Spirit Mountain Team begin a best-of-three contest, with the first game selected by roulette: Red Light, Green Light.
• Dragonfly Captain sets the finish line behind himself and explains that players must cross it while he writes the character “Dao,” freezing whenever he turns around and calls “Red Light, Green Light.”
• He transforms the game into a trial involving the River of Time. Players must move through different historical eras while obeying the rules.
• Red Boy and Sun Wukong volunteer first. They travel into the Yellow Turban Rebellion and later the Heavenly Court during Sun Wukong’s earlier rebellion. When Dragonfly Captain turns, both stay still and endure attacks from the people and soldiers of those eras without retaliating.

Character developments

• Dragonfly Captain demonstrates extraordinary power and control over time, while remaining composed and playful as referee.
• Hongjun shifts from confronting Dragonfly Captain to observing the unfamiliar contest, apparently interested in its rules and implications.
• Red Boy and Sun Wukong show courage and teamwork by leading the way into the River of Time. Their willingness to take blows rather than break the rules demonstrates discipline as well as toughness.
• Tathagata, Bodhi, and the other Spirit Mountain contestants become wary when they realize the game’s dangers, looking to Hongjun for guidance.

Significant themes

• Power and authority: Dragonfly Captain’s ability to absorb tribulation lightning and manipulate the River of Time challenges the established powers of the Three Realms.
• Rules, restraint, and endurance: Victory depends not simply on strength, but on obeying the game’s constraints under pressure.
• The past made present: The River of Time turns historical events into immediate hazards, showing how time and history can become a battleground.
• Spectacle and the unfamiliar: A seemingly childish game becomes a test that unsettles even the realm’s greatest figures.

Character interactions

• Dragonfly Captain proves his strength to Hongjun, who then watches the contest rather than interfering.
• Lin Tian hints to Tongtian that the game is more than an ordinary children’s pastime.
• Red Boy and Sun Wukong take the lead together, while the Spirit Mountain team hesitates.
• Dragonfly Captain praises the players’ composure and continues the game, leaving the contest unresolved at the chapter’s end.

Plot points and events

• Dragonfly Captain runs a magical version of “Red Light, Green Light” inside the River of Time. Contestants must advance while he faces away and remain perfectly still when he turns; touching dangerous moments in history can injure or eliminate them.
• Zhu Bajie and Yunxiao are eliminated early: Bajie is struck by Sun Wukong’s cudgel, while Yunxiao moves after time freezes. Dragonfly Captain refuses Yunxiao’s plea for another chance, insisting on the rules.
• Sun Wukong and Red Boy make rapid progress through famous historical and mythic events, while the audience realizes the course spans an immense stretch of time.
• Wukong charges ahead but lands directly in the path of Gonggong’s collision with Mount Buzhou and is eliminated. Red Boy is caught dodging Lu Ya’s Immortal-Slaying Flying Blade and is eliminated as well.
• Other contestants—including Tathagata, Bodhi, Sandy, and several immortals—continue by choosing or landing in relatively safer historical scenes. The game remains in progress at the chapter’s end.

Character developments and interactions

• Dragonfly Captain is shown as a strict, impartial referee who enforces the rules even when contestants protest.
• Zhu Bajie quickly loses his nerve after being hit and withdraws from the game, while Yunxiao is frustrated by her elimination.
• Wukong’s boldness turns into overconfidence: he races ahead, is eliminated, then urges the remaining players to proceed more cautiously.
• Red Boy likewise regrets his risky move and encourages his allies after being eliminated. Tathagata and the others become increasingly invested in the contest and heed the warnings.
• Lin Tian smiles at Tongtian’s questions but does not explain his purpose for creating the game. The gathered audience, including the sages and monsters, watches with fascination and unease.

Significant themes

• Risk, timing, and judgment: Success depends not just on magical power but on choosing safe moments and knowing when to stop.
• Rules and impartiality: Dragonfly Captain’s firm enforcement makes the contest unforgiving, regardless of status or pleas.
• History as spectacle: The River of Time turns legendary events into an interactive arena, letting contestants and spectators witness pivotal moments firsthand.
• Playfulness with danger: The game is entertaining to watch, but its collisions with real historical battles make it genuinely hazardous.

Key plot points and events

• Dragonfly Captain continues his freeze-tag game on the River of Time, while Hongjun watches and grows convinced that the game master has extraordinary command over time—perhaps even comparable to the ancient Old Man of Time.
• The game’s remaining players reach pivotal eras in history, including Yu the Great’s flood-control period and the final war between the shamans and demons. Jinling, Bixiao, and Qiongxiao arrive at the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation and witness the Primordial Heavenly Venerable attack the Three Skies.
• Jinling calls out a warning, drawing the past-era Primordial Heavenly Venerable’s attention. He mistakes her for a doppelgänger, attacks her, and knocks her out of the River of Time. He then crosses into the present, disrupting the arena and hurling Tathagata, Bodhi, and Wuchao away.
• The past Primordial Heavenly Venerable encounters Hongjun and his present-day counterpart. Before the two can resolve the encounter, Dragonfly Captain strikes the intruder and sends him back into his own era. The present-day Primordial Heavenly Venerable is injured as well, confirming that events in one time period can affect another.
• Dragonfly Captain tells the players not to provoke powerful beings in the River of Time, then resumes the game. The remaining players are shaken and reluctant to continue.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun shifts from detached observer to fascinated investigator. He recognizes Dragonfly Captain’s power but does not intervene, instead watching to see how he handles the temporal crisis.
• Dragonfly Captain shows that his control of the game extends beyond its rules: he can directly restrain a Saint and restore the timeline. His casual treatment of the Primordial Heavenly Venerable’s attack emphasizes the vast gap in power.
• Holy Mother Jinling instinctively tries to warn her past-era companions, only to become the target of the past Primordial Heavenly Venerable. Her encounter demonstrates the danger of interacting with events in the River of Time.
• The two Primordial Heavenly Venerables are stunned by their meeting. The past version’s attack reverberates onto the present version, who is left with a handprint and a bleeding mouth.
• The other contestants and Saints react with alarm, especially after seeing a past Saint cross into the present and Dragonfly Captain dismiss him with a slap.

Significant themes

• The danger and instability of time: Actions within the River of Time can disrupt the present and cause consequences across eras.
• Power and hierarchy: Even a Saint is vulnerable before Dragonfly Captain, whose authority over the game—and apparently time itself—far exceeds the contestants’ expectations.
• History as both spectacle and danger: The game lets participants witness famous battles, but those events are not safely separated from the observers.
• Limits of control: The contestants thought they had learned the game’s rules, yet the past Primordial Heavenly Venerable’s interference shows that the River of Time introduces risks they cannot manage.

Key plot points and events

• Bodhi asks Hongjun whether they can withdraw, but Hongjun insists the game continue, curious to see how far it will go.
• Dragonfly Captain resumes Red Light, Green Light on the River of Time. Immortal Qiu Shou carefully crosses the War of the Liches, but Tathagata is caught moving when the Captain turns.
• Tathagata lands amid the decisive clash between the Witch and Demon Clans’ supreme formations. The forces destroy his body and annihilate his primordial spirit. The Captain declares him eliminated.
• Hongjun confirms that Tathagata has truly vanished, while mourning bells and dark clouds over the Western Lands affirm his death to the Three Realms.
• The remaining players, especially Holy Mother Jinling and the Three Skies, advance far more cautiously. Red Boy urges them onward from the arena.
• Tongtian appears outwardly unmoved, having heard Lin Tian reveal that he intervened—and that he has somehow restored a disciple for Tongtian.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun rejects Bodhi’s plea to quit. Though furious and suspicious that Tathagata’s death may be a deliberate warning, he restrains himself and keeps watching.
• Bodhi, Wuchao, and the spectators are shaken by the proof that the game can kill even a powerful figure.
• Immortal Qiu Shou shifts from bold rushing to cautious, incremental steps.
• Holy Mother Jinling and the Three Skies struggle with shock but continue after Red Boy’s warning.
• Tongtian conceals his grief or concern because Lin Tian privately tells him that Tathagata’s elimination was manipulated and that a disciple has been recovered.

Significant themes

• The danger of play: A seemingly simple game becomes a lethal trial, with consequences extending beyond the arena.
• Powerlessness before history: Tathagata is helpless when caught between forces from a past calamity.
• Fear and restraint: His death changes everyone’s behavior, while even Hongjun chooses caution over retaliation.
• Hidden intervention and karma: The final revelation suggests that events presented as fatal may have been altered behind the scenes.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Tian reveals that Tathagata’s death was deliberate: he recovered Duobao’s true spirit, giving him a chance to be reborn in Hongmeng Space and escape Laozi’s control.
• The Statue Game continues, with players crossing dangerous periods in the River of Time. Sandy is eliminated after attempting to skip the Witch-Demon Calamity out of fear.
• Lady Qiongxiao is killed by Zhurong’s flames during the Witch-Demon Calamity. Her body, soul, and true spirit disappear, confirming that the game can cause real deaths.
• Holy Mother Jinling is eliminated when she tries to warn Tongtian not to accept Dingguang Immortal into Jiejiao. Tongtian attempts to intervene, but Dragonfly Captain forces him back.
• Four players remain: Immortal Qiu Shou and Bixiao for the Monsters’ team, and Patriarch Bodhi and Chan Master Wuchao for Spirit Mountain. They pass the era when four Saints attained sainthood in one day.
• Watching that event prompts the Saints to question Hongjun’s role in their attainment of sainthood and the conflicts that followed. They suspect he manipulated them into founding opposing sects and taking on karma.
• The players reach the time when Nuwa creates humanity and attains sainthood. The Human Race honors her, while observers reflect on how humanity eventually became central to the world.
• Nuwa wonders whether creating humanity set later calamities in motion and whether it contributed to Fuxi’s death. Lin Tian reassures her that humanity was ordained by heaven and would have been created regardless.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian accepts Lin Tian’s explanation of Duobao’s rebirth, but his anger flares when Jinling is eliminated; even so, Dragonfly Captain easily restrains him.
• Nuwa begins questioning her own historical role and whether her actions caused suffering. Lin Tian’s reassurance leaves her quiet, though it does not resolve the deeper question.
• The Saints increasingly distrust Hongjun, reconsidering whether their sects, conflicts, and karmic burdens were part of his design.
• The remaining players become more cautious as deaths and eliminations prove the game’s danger, while the Jiejiao and Spirit Mountain figures watch their allies fall.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and freedom: The Saints suspect that Hongjun shaped their choices and bound them to roles that served his plans.
• Fate and responsibility: Nuwa’s doubts reflect the difficulty of distinguishing personal responsibility from actions supposedly ordained by heaven.
• The cost of revisiting history: The game makes the past immediate and dangerous, with consequences that cannot be dismissed as mere spectacle.
• Power and vulnerability: Even Saints cannot freely intervene, while players face permanent death within the River of Time.

Summary

During Hongjun’s third lecture at the Purple Heaven Palace, the Three Realms watch scenes from the past unfold through a dangerous time-travel game. Hongjun’s original proclamations—that Laozi, Yuanshi, Tongtian, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti could become Saints—raise suspicions that he had planned for the present long in advance. The game also revisits Hongjun’s own rise to Sainthood, displaying his prominence in the Primordial World.
The players then enter the Dragon-Han Calamity, where Immortal Qiu Shou lands amid the decisive battle between Hongjun’s alliance and Devil Ancestor Luo Hou. The scene reveals Hongjun taking the Qian Kun Cauldron and Taiji Diagram from the battlefield and using them to sever two corpses, before breaking Luo Hou’s Executioner Immortal Sword Formation. Caught in the battle’s devastating aftermath, Qiu Shou is annihilated and eliminated. His death underscores the game’s lethal stakes and prompts observers to question whether Hongjun manipulated Luo Hou—or the reverse.
Only Qiongxiao remains on the monster team, while Patriarch Bodhi and Chan Master Wuchao continue cautiously for the Spirit Mountain team. Encouraged by their allies, the survivors cross the rest of the Dragon-Han era safely and reach the final, mysterious stretch of the River of Time. Zhunti asks Pan Gu whether their doppelgängers are meant to be destroyed, but Lin Tian gives no answer beyond saying they may play as they wish.
Bodhi then risks a sudden fifty-meter run and falls into the river, triggering a vision of the Three Thousand Gods and Devils attacking Pan Gu as he seeks to attain the Dao.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun appears increasingly calculating: his battlefield actions suggest he gained powerful treasures from the deaths of his former allies and used them to turn the battle against Luo Hou.
• Immortal Qiu Shou dies after serving, unintentionally, as a test of the Dragon-Han battlefield’s danger.
• Qiongxiao, Bodhi, and Wuchao remain cautious but determined. Their allies cheer them on, while each survivor keeps personal plans.
• Zhunti seeks clarity about the players’ fate; Lin Tian deliberately withholds spoilers.
• Bodhi’s bold move ends the survivors’ careful progress and exposes the group to the game’s most mysterious scene yet.

Significant themes

The chapter explores fate and manipulation, questioning whether Hongjun’s apparent rise was carefully engineered; the cost of power, as self-sacrifice and battlefield deaths yield little against Luo Hou; and risk, survival, and spectacle, as players and observers confront history as both deadly game and revelation.

Plot points and events

• Qiongxiao and Chan Master Wuchao make their final moves in “Red Light, Green Light.” Qiongxiao crosses the finish line first, while Wuchao ends up transported to the moment of creation. The Monster Team wins the round, bringing the score to 1–0.
• Sun Wukong asks whether the contestants who disappeared are truly dead. Dragonfly Captain describes three levels of death: physical death, being forgotten by everyone who knew you, and the erasure of every trace of your existence.
• The next game is selected: “Ultimate Name-Tag Ripping.” Contestants will travel to the Primordial World after Hongjun’s three Dao lectures and try to tear off opponents’ name tags, each made from Hongmeng Purple Qi. Claiming two or more opposing tags can grant the Dao and sainthood.
• Chan Master Wuchao summarizes the game and asks how its sainthood works, whether the contestants will disrupt the past or be attacked by its inhabitants, whether their Hongmeng Qi can be taken, and whether Hongjun will intervene.

Character developments

• Qiongxiao proves decisive and determined, pushing through the dangerous time-based course to secure her team’s victory.
• Chan Master Wuchao demonstrates composure and tactical insight: he chooses the next game and identifies the practical and historical risks in its rules.
• Sun Wukong shifts quickly from concern about the missing contestants to getting the next round underway.
• Hongjun remains outwardly calm, though Dragonfly Captain’s account of death prompts him to ponder its meaning.
• Dragonfly Captain remains inscrutable, offering a philosophical definition of death while saying nothing about the missing contestants’ fates.

Character interactions

• Dragonfly Captain enforces the final moments of the race and declares Qiongxiao and the Monster Team winners.
• Sun Wukong directly questions the Captain about the vanished players; the Captain answers indirectly, leaving the group uncertain.
• Sun Wukong lets Wuchao choose the next game, and Wuchao then questions the Captain about its rules and consequences.
• The Saints and spectators look to Hongjun for a response to the game’s challenge to history, but he gives none.

Significant themes

• Death and remembrance: The chapter distinguishes bodily death from social and total erasure, leaving the fate of the missing contestants ambiguous.
• Time and historical disruption: The new game threatens to send contestants into the past and interfere with the rise of the Saints.
• Power and competition: Name tags made of Hongmeng Purple Qi turn a game into a direct contest for sainthood.
• Uncertainty and control: The rules appear clear, but Wuchao’s questions expose how much remains unknown—especially the role of the past’s Heavenly Dao and Hongjun.

Key plot points and events

• Chan Master Wuchao’s warning makes clear that the name-tag game may send its players back to the age when the Saints attained the Dao. The eight contestants could compete for Saint positions—and might even challenge Hongjun and the original Saints.
• Dragonfly Captain answers the teams’ questions but keeps the game’s crucial mechanics secret. He confirms that players retain their current cultivation, cannot tear off teammates’ tags, and will be scattered randomly across the Primordial World.
• The eight contestants collect Hongmeng Purple Qi name tags and are transported to the Primordial World. The audience watches their progress on eight screens.
• Spectators eagerly propose a possible third game: sending the survivors to Hongjun’s first sermon to fight for Saint positions. Lin Tian accepts the suggestion but warns that he may not control the outcome.
• The Six Sages worry that changing the past could affect the present, while Tongtian questions whether the experiment is safe. Lin Tian explains that he wants to test whether Hongmeng Purple Qi can enable someone to attain the Dao in an era when the Heavenly Dao was incomplete—and says Hongjun could suffer if it can.
• Red Boy makes the first major move: after observing that Primordial beings lack a path to cultivation, he refines his Hongmeng Purple Qi and immediately declares that he will establish the Chan Sect, borrowing the Primordial Heavenly Venerable’s proclamation.

Character developments and interactions

• Dragonfly Captain remains patient but secretive, building suspense by withholding the rules that matter most.
• Chan Master Wuchao recognizes the game’s enormous implications and voices them to the others.
• Red Boy proves bold and opportunistic, choosing to pursue the Dao immediately rather than hunt for opponents’ name tags. His decision sets the game’s stakes in motion.
• Lin Tian embraces the spectacle and treats the game as a test of his newfound advancement, while reassuring Tongtian and the anxious Saints without revealing the outcome.
• Tongtian remains cautious but agrees to watch. Jieyin, Zhunti, and the other Saints focus on the possible consequences for their present-day selves.
• The monsters’ group turns the looming danger into entertainment, enthusiastically brainstorming increasingly elaborate future games.

Significant themes

• Competition and ambition: The name-tag contest may become a struggle for the chance to become Saints.
• The consequences of altering history: The game tests whether people from the present can change the course of the Primordial era.
• Secrecy and suspense: The hidden rules leave contestants and observers guessing.
• Spectacle versus danger: The audience treats a potentially world-changing conflict as an exciting game, while the Saints worry about its consequences.

Key plot points and events

• Red Boy declares that he will establish the Chan Sect to offer all beings a path to cultivation. The declaration triggers vast merit and celestial signs, rapidly raising his cultivation from Great Encompassing Golden Immortal to the Saint realm.
• Hongjun appears, stunned that an unfamiliar figure has become a Saint ahead of his expected disciples. Red Boy dismisses him and immediately attacks Sandy, killing him in the sandbox and taking his Hongmeng Purple Qi. Dragonfly Captain then removes Sandy from the simulation, where Sandy learns he was only eliminated.
• Hongjun follows Red Boy, seeking an explanation. Red Boy curses at him and refuses to engage.
• Red Boy finds Zhu Bajie attempting to establish Jiejiao. He interrupts the declaration, defeats Zhu Bajie, and burns him with Samadhi True Fire, then claims another Hongmeng Purple Qi.
• Sun Wukong independently establishes Jiejiao and becomes another Saint. Chan Master Wuchao then declares the founding of the Western Religion, with signs of yet another ascent appearing.

Character developments and interactions

• Red Boy emerges as a ruthless, highly strategic player: he understands that founding a religion can grant sainthood, then uses his new power to eliminate rivals and collect their Hongmeng Purple Qi. He shows open contempt for Hongjun.
• Hongjun shifts from confident observer to bewildered pursuer, repeatedly trying—and failing—to get answers from Red Boy.
• Sandy is killed inside the sandbox but safely extracted by Dragonfly Captain, confirming that defeat there means elimination rather than real death.
• Zhu Bajie recognizes the route to sainthood and tries to imitate Red Boy, but is stopped before he can succeed.
• Sun Wukong proves capable of making his own bid for sainthood, while Wuchao joins the rapidly growing contest by founding another religion.

Significant themes

• Power through declarations and belief: Founding a religion, backed by merit, can transform a cultivator into a Saint almost instantly.
• Competition and opportunism: Players race to seize limited opportunities—and Hongmeng Purple Qi—often by eliminating rivals.
• The gap between authority and control: Hongjun’s status and knowledge do not help him understand or restrain Red Boy.
• A game with real stakes inside the simulation: Characters may appear to die, but the audience sees that they can be extracted and eliminated instead.

Key plot points

• Chan Master Wuchao becomes the third Saint, having reached the Dao from the Quasi-Saint Realm.
• Nuwa creates the Human Race and attains Sainthood. Holy Mother Jinling follows by teaching the Human Race the Golden Elixir Great Dao and founding the Human Teaching.
• Sun Wukong eliminates Qiongxiao before she can attain the Dao, taking her Hongmeng Purple Qi. Furious, Qiongxiao laments that her chance to create the Six Paths of Reincarnation has been stolen.
• The King of Wuji, under the name Wumeng, establishes the Six Paths of Reincarnation and vows not to become a Saint until they are empty. This brings the total to six Saints in one day: Red Boy, Sun Wukong, Wuchao, Nuwa, Jinling, and Wumeng.
• The mass ascensions transform the world: heavenly phenomena boost everyone’s cultivation, the Three Pure Ones reach the Quasi-Saint Realm, and Wuchao’s Western Religion causes the barren Western Lands to flourish.
• In the Journey to the West world, Jieyin realizes his Wuchao doppelgänger has become a Great Dao Saint. Jieyin explains that a Great Dao Saint can sense the Heavenly Dao’s incompleteness—and hear it calling.
• Hongjun recognizes that the newly emerged Great Dao Saints may give the Heavenly Dao alternatives to him. He summons the other major figures to the Purple Heaven Palace, troubled by how little control he now seems to have.

Character developments and interactions

• Qiongxiao is bitter and enraged after Sun Wukong takes the opportunity she wanted.
• Sun Wukong embraces his new status with playful confidence, heading west at Wuchao’s invitation.
• Red Boy calls Holy Mother Jinling to meet him at the Netherworld Blood Sea, then vanishes without acknowledging Hongjun.
• Wuchao and Jieyin are revealed to share a consequential connection: Wuchao’s success gives Jieyin firsthand insight into Great Dao Sainthood.
• Hongjun shifts from apparent composure to serious concern, while Zhunti eagerly questions Jieyin about the new level of power.

Significant themes

• Power and succession: Saint positions are seized and redistributed, overturning the old order and leaving Hongjun’s former disciples largely displaced.
• The Heavenly Dao’s vulnerability: The new Saints may offer it alternatives to Hongjun, suggesting the game is also a test of the Dao’s weaknesses.
• Transformation through upheaval: The ascensions raise the world’s cultivation ceiling and even renew the Western Lands.
• Competition and spectacle: The audience treats the escalating struggle as an increasingly entertaining game, even as its consequences reshape the Primordial World.

Plot points and events

• Jieyin explains that his doppelgänger acts independently and that, as a Great Dao Saint, is now beyond his control.
• At the Netherworld Blood Sea, the King of Wuji has captured Patriarch Minghe and taken his Karmic Fire Red Lotus. Red Boy and Holy Mother Jinling claim the treasure for their faction and order Minghe to guard the entrance.
• Red Boy and Jinling discuss strategy. Their side has three Saints against Sun Wukong and Chan Master Wuchao, and they hold two strands of Hongmeng purple qi. They plan for Jinling to use them, while worrying their opponents may ally with Hongjun.
• In the Purple Heaven Palace, Hongjun and the existing Saints question how five unfamiliar figures became Saints. Nuwa recounts how Jinling guided her to create humanity and attain Sainthood, then used the human race to become a Saint herself.
• Hongjun concludes that Red Boy, Jinling, and the others are Great Dao Saints, so they have not taken the Heavenly Dao Saint positions reserved for his disciples. He urges those disciples to become Saints quickly and remain in the palace, warning that the newcomers may be hostile.
• As the chapter ends, Red Cloud suddenly vows to join the Western Religion and attain the Dao by saving all beings from suffering.

Character developments and interactions

• Jieyin admits he cannot direct his independent doppelgänger, underscoring his limits.
• Minghe is humiliated and forced to submit, though his counterpart in the Journey to the West world reacts with furious resentment.
• Red Boy acts decisively, taking charge of the strategy and assigning Jinling the purple qi.
• Nuwa is newly a Saint but remains stunned by the experience; she trusts Jinling’s apparent kindness, while Hongjun interprets Jinling’s help as manipulation.
• Hongjun shifts from confidence to caution as he loses sight of the Western Lands and Blood Sea and senses that the Heavenly Dao is no longer responding.
• The established Saints feel vulnerable and rely on Hongjun’s protection.

Significant themes

• Power and loss of control: Even powerful figures such as Jieyin and Hongjun face limits over their doubles, domains, or the Heavenly Dao.
• Trust versus manipulation: Jinling’s assistance to Nuwa can be seen as generosity or a means to advance her own power.
• Political rivalry and shifting alliances: The world is dividing into competing factions, with strategy and possible coalitions becoming crucial.
• Ambition and transformation: The sudden arrival of new Saints—and Red Cloud’s vow—signals a rapidly changing order.

Plot points and events

• As Red Cloud prepares to attain sainthood at the Five Villages Temple, Kunpeng races in to stop him, convinced that Red Cloud’s Hongmeng Purple Qi should have been his.
• Sun Wukong intervenes, striking Kunpeng away with his Golden Cudgel and warning Red Cloud that he cannot attain the Dao through the Heavenly Dao. He advises him to seek the Great Dao instead.
• With Sun Wukong and Chan Master Wuchao protecting him, Red Cloud declares his intention to serve living beings and bring peace to the world. The group chat’s members urge Lin Tian, the “Group Master,” to give him the chance.
• The Great Dao answers Red Cloud’s appeal: merit from his own good deeds and from those he helped gathers around him, and he becomes a Great Dao Saint. Those he aided bow to him.
• Red Cloud and Zhen Yuanzi thank Sun Wukong and Wuchao. Wukong makes clear that their support comes with an expectation: Red Cloud must join their side.
• In the Purple Heaven Palace, Zhunti and Jieyin are shocked that Red Cloud became a Saint without a Saint Position. Laozi questions Hongjun about the implication, apparently recognizing that the established path to sainthood may not be the only one.
• Red Boy and Holy Mother Jinling realize their side must revise its plans. Jinling suggests recruiting the Cult Leader, but Red Boy doubts they can reach him because Hongjun has taken him and the others to the Purple Heaven Palace.

Character developments

• Red Cloud moves from hopeful would-be Saint to a Great Dao Saint, with his lifelong kindness and service to others rewarded. He also becomes an ally of Sun Wukong’s side.
• Sun Wukong demonstrates overwhelming strength against Kunpeng and takes an active role in guiding Red Cloud’s path to sainthood.
• Kunpeng is shown as resentful and possessive of the Hongmeng Purple Qi, but is easily repelled by Wukong.
• Zhen Yuanzi is deeply moved by his friend’s achievement and grateful to those who helped him.
• Laozi becomes suspicious of Hongjun’s account of sainthood after seeing Red Cloud bypass the Saint Position.
• Red Boy and Holy Mother Jinling respond to the shift by reconsidering their strategy, though they disagree on whether they can enlist the Cult Leader.

Significant themes

• Kindness rewarded: Red Cloud’s accumulated compassion and service become the basis of his ascension.
• Alternative paths to power: His success through the Great Dao challenges the belief that sainthood requires the Heavenly Dao or a Saint Position.
• Power and allegiance: Sun Wukong’s aid is also a political move, securing a new Saint for his side.
• Changing balance of power: Red Cloud’s ascension disrupts the conflict between the opposing groups and prompts both sides to reassess their plans.

Character interactions

• Kunpeng attacks Red Cloud, but Wukong protects him and sends Kunpeng flying.
• Wukong advises Red Cloud to pursue the Great Dao; Wuchao also stands with them.
• Red Cloud and Zhen Yuanzi express gratitude to Wukong and Wuchao, while Wukong asks Red Cloud to repay their help by joining their side.
• In the Purple Heaven Palace, Laozi’s question puts Hongjun on the spot, while Red Boy and Jinling debate how to respond to Red Cloud’s new allegiance.

Chapter Summary

Key events

• Holy Mother Jinling, Red Boy, and the King of Wuji realize they need help countering their opponents but cannot give Hongmeng Purple Qi to the Primordial World’s natives. They decide to seek support from the Demon Race and Witch Clan, whose formations could challenge Saints. Jinling stays behind to refine the remaining Purple Qi while Red Boy and the king split up.
• Sun Wukong, Chan Master Wuchao, and Red Cloud anticipate this plan. They head to the Witch Clan first, hoping to ambush Red Boy’s party—or recruit the Witches themselves.
• The livestream audience’s chatter gives away the ambush. The King of Wuji avoids it and changes course for the Demon Court; Wukong’s group waits in vain before deciding to approach the Witch Clan leader, Dijiang.
• Red Boy reaches the Demon Court alone and demands that Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi lend him the Celestial Star Dou Formation. Taiyi refuses, but Di Jun, intimidated by Red Boy’s Saint-level threat, agrees. Red Boy offers to help them master the formation and refine the needed Star Banners. The chapter ends before the arrangement is put into action.

Character developments and interactions

• Red Boy proves bold and politically forceful, using the threat of his power to secure the Demon Race’s cooperation; he also displays confidence in his knowledge of the formation.
• Di Jun prioritizes his people’s survival and quickly reverses Taiyi’s refusal, while Taiyi initially resists lending the formation.
• Wuchao is strategic and composed, devising the Witch Clan ambush and adapting when it fails. Wukong is eager to act but becomes frustrated when the King of Wuji does not show.
• Red Boy casually calls Jinling “Senior Sister” rather than using the more formal martial-aunt title, prompting playful teasing from their friends and objections from his father.
• Lin Tian penalizes spoilers by putting Red Boy, Wukong, and the King of Wuji in timeout. He explains that the game’s shrinking circle will force players into conflict and that the long travel time will be edited into brief highlights.

Significant themes

• Strategy and information: Plans can be undone by leaked information, while changing course can avert an ambush.
• Power and coercion: Red Boy’s status as a Saint makes even a powerful faction like the Demon Race reluctant to oppose him.
• Games and spectatorship: The contest’s rules, live commentary, and spoilers shape events as much as the players’ decisions.
• Cooperation under pressure: Both sides seek alliances because no single player or faction can easily overcome the opposing Saints.

Plot points and events

• Red Boy takes charge of the Demon Race’s preparations, teaching Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi how to deploy the Celestial Star Dou Formation. In return, he promises that he and two other Saints will preach the Dao to the demons, strengthening them.
• Sun Wukong and Chan Master Wuchao train the Twelve Ancestral Witches to use the All-Heaven Baleful God Formation. With Saints backing both sides, the Witch and Demon Clans rapidly grow stronger.
• Hongjun and Nuwa are unsettled by the Saints’ competing support for the two clans. Hongjun suspects a larger force may be driving events, but admits he has lost control of the Primordial World and urges his disciples to cultivate.
• After five hundred years, the Hongmeng circle appears and begins shrinking. Anyone outside it will lose access to Hongmeng power—and likely be eliminated. Since the Demon Race’s territory threatens to leave the Sun Star outside the circle, Red Boy’s side decides to attack.
• Di Jun and Taiyi mobilize hundreds of millions of demons against the Witches. The Witch Clan answers with its own forces, and the third War of the Liches begins. The battle quickly spreads across the Primordial Land, with widespread destruction and casualties.

Character developments and interactions

• Red Boy acts as the Demon Race’s strategist and patron, balancing his demand for their treasures with a promise of real aid. Di Jun and Taiyi move from anxious protectiveness to cooperation once offered the Saints’ preaching.
• Sun Wukong and Chan Master Wuchao take the opposing side, training the Witches and setting up a direct contest between the two camps.
• Hongjun’s uncertainty deepens: despite his authority and efforts to cultivate more Saints, he can no longer steer events. Nuwa shares his concern but can only speculate about the cause.
• The Three Pure Ones, Jieyin, and the other disciples awaken to find the war already underway, despite their belief that Hongjun’s truce should still be in effect.

Significant themes

• Escalating rivalry: Saint intervention turns an old conflict into a massive arms race.
• Fate and loss of control: Even Hongjun cannot tell whether the conflict is coincidence, destiny, or the work of the Heavenly Dao.
• Power and survival: The shrinking Hongmeng circle makes territory and timing decisive, transforming preparation into an urgent fight for survival.

Key plot points and events

• The War of the Liches erupts, and the Witch and Demon Clans—greatly strengthened by centuries of training under Saints—wage a catastrophic battle across the Primordial World.
• Di Jun and Taiyi unleash the Celestial Star Dou Formation; Dijiang and the Ancestral Witches answer with the All-Heaven Baleful God Formation. Their collision breaks Mount Buzhou and tears the world apart, unleashing floods, eruptions, and earthquakes.
• Amid the devastation, Saints and other powerful figures fight across the ruined land. Sun Wukong and Red Boy clash dramatically, while Chan Master Wuchao battles Holy Mother Jinling and Red Cloud confronts the King of Wuji.
• The fighting destroys Mount Kunlun, the Western Lands, and even the Taiyin Star. Countless beings are endangered, though figures such as Zhen Yuanzi, Minghe, Kunpeng, and the Queen Mother of the West manage to survive.
• In the Purple Heaven Palace, Hongjun and the other major figures watch helplessly as the Primordial World collapses. Hongjun sends Nuwa to protect the Human Race and urges Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian to draw on their World-Opening merit to become Saints. He borrows Tongtian’s Four Zhuxian Swords.
• The Hongmeng circle shrinks, pushing the Saints’ battles toward the Purple Heaven Palace. When the King of Wuji is sent hurtling toward it, Hongjun raises the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation to defend the palace.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun moves from stunned observer to urgent protector, prioritizing the Human Race and his own survival over his long-term ambitions.
• Nuwa is tasked with shielding the Human Race, whose survival Hongjun sees as essential to the world’s future.
• Tongtian readily lends Hongjun his swords, while the Three Pure Ones, Jieyin, Zhunti, and Nuwa appeal to Hongjun for help.
• Sun Wukong and Red Boy turn their fight into a spectacular display of power, using the battle to demolish major landmarks as well as contest each other.
• The Three Realms’ audience watches the battle as a shrinking-circle spectacle; commentators note that, despite the destruction, the Saints’ game rules mean no one has yet been eliminated.

Significant themes

• Unchecked power and collateral destruction: The Saints’ conflict devastates the world and threatens countless lives.
• Helplessness in the face of catastrophe: Even powerful figures can only watch as their homes and world are destroyed.
• Protection amid chaos: Hongjun’s orders to Nuwa highlight the urgency of preserving humanity and the possibility of the world’s future.
• Spectacle versus suffering: The battles entertain the Three Realms’ audience, even as the Primordial World and its inhabitants are devastated.

Key plot points and events

• The shrinking Final Circle closes around the Purple Heaven Palace, drawing the battlefield’s combatants together. Hongjun realizes the palace is now directly threatened and prepares the Executioner Immortal Sword Formation.
• Hongjun sends Nuwa to help Holy Mother Jinling, partly to repay Jinling for helping her attain sainthood. Nuwa strikes Chan Master Wuchao, wounding him.
• Sun Wukong loudly accuses Hongjun of betrayal, but the apparent outrage is a ruse: the opposing Saints promptly unite to attack Nuwa. Jinling lands a blow, and the group seals Nuwa and sends her into Chaos, removing her from the battle.
• Sun Wukong, Red Boy, the King of Wuji, and Red Cloud attack the four gates of Hongjun’s sword formation, while Jinling and Wuchao confront Hongjun. The assault breaks both the palace and the formation.
• Hongjun uses the Chaos Pearl to transport Laozi, Tongtian, Haotian, and the others into a primordial space filled with world-origin rules, urging them to comprehend those rules and become Saints so they can help him.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun shifts from cautious observer to open combatant once the conflict reaches his palace. He remains confident in his strength, but also takes steps to prepare his allies for the battle.
• Nuwa responds loyally and without hesitation to Hongjun’s request. Her attempt to aid Jinling ends in betrayal: the coalition targets, seals, and removes her.
• Sun Wukong uses theatrical anger to conceal the group’s strategy, coordinating with Red Boy and the others to neutralize Nuwa before attacking Hongjun.
• Holy Mother Jinling repays Nuwa’s earlier kindness with betrayal, prioritizing the battle’s objectives over personal ties. Wuchao, meanwhile, faces his former master Hongjun directly.
• Red Boy, the King of Wuji, and Red Cloud abandon their separate fights to help overwhelm Nuwa, then join the assault on the palace.

Significant themes

• Deception and shifting alliances: apparent outrage and sudden cooperation mask a coordinated plan.
• Loyalty versus strategy: Nuwa acts out of loyalty, while Jinling chooses tactical necessity over gratitude.
• Escalation and sacrifice: the shrinking battlefield forces combatants into a decisive confrontation, and Hongjun risks his palace and formation while preparing others to join the fight.

Plot points and events

• Hongjun reveals the Chaos Pearl, confirming the Six Sages’ suspicion that their apparent opponents had come to seize it. He summons his Three Corpses and fights all six at once.
• As the final battle zone shrinks, the contestants agree that killing Hongjun will decide the round. They attack together, injuring him and his duplicates, but are also wounded.
• Cornered, Hongjun reunites his Three Corpses with himself and merges with the Heavenly Dao, gaining immense power.
• Sun Wukong attacks first but is swiftly crushed. Hongjun then uses the Creation Jade Disc to summon three thousand versions of himself, overwhelming the remaining fighters.
• Red Boy and four others self-detonate in a desperate counterattack. The blast appears to destroy the entire Primordial World, but Hongjun survives unharmed.
• Hongjun restores the world and its inhabitants, then knocks Nuwa unconscious and erases her memory of the battle. He uses the Chaos Pearl to contain the restored world.
• Dragonfly Captain declares the second game a draw and announces a third round. Zhu Bajie is dismayed, while the group resolves to win the final match.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun shifts from a powerful but pressured opponent into an almost invincible force after merging with the Heavenly Dao. His cold, detached manner underscores his transformation.
• Sun Wukong shows boldness by leading the attack, but his confidence cannot overcome Hongjun’s new strength.
• Red Boy and the other Saints choose self-sacrifice rather than surrender, showing their resolve and willingness to protect one another.
• Nuwa is shocked by Hongjun’s power, then becomes a victim of his effort to conceal the battle.
• Lin Tian explains that the game was a simulation intended to demonstrate how far the Anti-Hongjun Alliance still lags behind Hongjun. Jieyin, Zhunti, and Tongtian recognize the lesson, though Tongtian questions Lin Tian’s indirect approach.

Significant themes

• Power and imbalance: Even coordinated attacks by six Saints fail against Hongjun after his merger with the Heavenly Dao.
• Sacrifice and resistance: The fighters continue opposing Hongjun even when victory seems impossible.
• Hidden motives and instruction: The game is a disguised rehearsal meant to expose the alliance’s weakness and prepare it for the real confrontation.
• Control over reality: Hongjun’s ability to destroy, restore, and erase memories demonstrates the near-total authority he gains as the Heavenly Dao.