Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• After returning from the mysterious space, Daochen finds that a milky-white drop has left seven-colored, meridian-like patterns and unfamiliar Dao Resonance inside his Primordial Spirit. He suspects the substance was the coveted “Dao Source,” but cannot determine where he went or what the winding river of Dao Resonance was.
• Daochen realizes the drop has also completed his body’s breakthrough: he reaches the Ninth Revolution of the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art and attains the Primordial Unity Great Luo Golden Immortal realm—physical sanctification. The effortless advance amazes him, though he wishes he had obtained more Dao Source.
• A vast Golden Crow apparition appears above the Demon Emperor Palace. Its power compels the Demon Race across the Heavenly Court to bow, including its leaders, and its gaze reaches Mount Kunlun.
• Yuanshi is forced to his knees by the apparition’s pressure. Daochen warns him telepathically not to show disrespect again, and Yuanshi, intimidated by Daochen’s superior power, falls silent.
• Nüwa quietly approves of Yuanshi’s humiliation, then realizes she has inadvertently spoken in Daochen’s favor. Daochen hears her and invites her to the Heavenly Court in a thousand years to witness his establishment of the Demon Race Heavenly Court. Startled that he could reach her protected palace—and seemingly hear her thoughts—Nüwa blushes before curtly refusing.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen grows dramatically stronger, gaining physical sanctification through the Dao Source. His curiosity about its origin remains unresolved, but his confidence and command over others are evident.
• Yuanshi is publicly humiliated and privately threatened. His resentment gives way to fear once Daochen’s warning reminds him of the gulf between their powers.
• Nüwa shows an unexpected flash of sympathy for Daochen, then becomes embarrassed when he detects her remark. Her sharp refusal reasserts her independence.
• The Demon Race reacts to the Golden Crow apparition with instinctive reverence, underscoring its overwhelming authority and connection to the race.

Significant themes

• Power and hierarchy: Daochen’s new strength reshapes how others respond to him, while even powerful figures are vulnerable before superior force.
• Mystery and hidden origins: The Dao Source, the strange space, and Daochen’s unexplained connection to them remain open questions.
• Pride, fear, and embarrassment: Yuanshi’s public humiliation and Nüwa’s flustered reaction add personal consequences to Daochen’s displays of power.

Plot points and events

• Nüwa initially refuses Daochen’s banquet invitation, insisting he come invite her in person. Daochen tempts her by offering insights into reaching the second heaven of the sage realm, but withdraws before she can accept. Nüwa realizes he was provoking her and is left furious.
• Daochen orders his subordinates to invite the Primordial World’s major powers to the Demon Race Heavenly Court’s founding ceremony, set for a thousand years later. The proclamation will benefit his followers and earn Daochen merit to refine the Chaos Pearl.
• The chapter notes that Daochen previously spent his Sagehood merit repairing the God-Slaying Spear and Heaven Measuring Ruler. The spear has become vastly more powerful, rivaling Yuanshi’s Pangu Banner in killing power.
• The invitations put the recipients in an awkward position: refusing risks offending Daochen, while attending requires bringing a worthy gift. Jieyin and Zhunti reluctantly decide to go, despite having only recently gathered a few treasures.
• Bai Ze delivers invitations to the Three Pure Ones at Mount Kunlun. Yuanshi, still humiliated by Daochen’s earlier pressure, bristles when Bai Ze says Laozi and Tongtian may attend without him. Laozi prevents Yuanshi from storming off and confirms that all three will attend.

Character developments and interactions

• Nüwa remains proud and resentful, but Daochen’s promise of cultivation guidance is tempting because she has yet to reach the realm he has already attained.
• Daochen uses his status and teasing provocations to assert control, while turning the Heavenly Court’s founding into a source of merit and political influence.
• Jieyin and Zhunti are shown as wary and resource-poor compared with Daochen; they attend less out of enthusiasm than fear of the consequences of refusing.
• Yuanshi reacts with wounded pride to Daochen’s deliberate slight and remains openly antagonistic. Laozi acts as the mediator, preserving unity among the Three Pure Ones; Tongtian is present but does not speak.
• Bai Ze carries out Daochen’s orders with calm confidence, and his visit shows how his association with Daochen has elevated his standing.

Significant themes

• Power and humiliation: Daochen’s overwhelming strength shapes others’ choices, while his taunts expose their vulnerability.
• Pride versus pragmatism: Nüwa and Yuanshi resist being manipulated, but Daochen’s power and promised benefits make defiance difficult.
• Political influence and obligation: The ceremony invitation functions as both a public announcement and a test of allegiance, forcing even rivals to consider attending.
• Wealth and cultivation resources: Merit and treasures are vital means of strengthening weapons and advancing cultivation.

Summary

A thousand years after Yuanshi’s latest clash with Daochen, Laozi rebukes him for repeatedly provoking the Demon Emperor. Yuanshi insists Daochen was at fault, but falls silent when reminded that he once incited Nüwa to attack Daochen—an act that nearly cost him his life. Laozi returns to the Supreme Purity Realm, advising that the brothers avoid Daochen until they become Sages. Tongtian likewise cannot understand Yuanshi’s stubborn hostility.
At the Demon Race’s Heavenly Court inauguration, guests are astonished by its splendor and by the demons’ disciplined ranks, which obey Daochen’s strict Heavenly Rules. Seeing the soldiers’ humanlike forms and order, the visiting powers transform themselves into innate Dao bodies to look more fitting.
The Twelve Ancestral Witches attend, led by Dijiang. Though the demons are wary, they escort the Witches respectfully to the Hall of Ascending Heaven. The Witches admire the Heavenly Court, while Xuanming keeps her boisterous brothers in line. Her authority is backed by strength: she has reached the late Quasi-Saint stage, and Houtu the mid stage.
The Witches are seated near Daochen, opposite the Three Pure Ones. Yuanshi tries to leave upon seeing them, but Laozi and Tongtian hold him back, unwilling to insult their host. Goumang then presents Daochen with a Supreme Xiantian Spiritual Treasure. The gift embarrasses the Three Pure Ones, whose offerings were only Mid-Grade treasures, and Yuanshi is especially irritated by Goumang’s cheerful manner.
Jieyin and Zhunti, who had brought two low-grade spiritual roots, panic at the prospect of appearing even more miserly. They replace them with two High-Grade Xiantian Spiritual Treasures. Bai Ze promptly takes the gifts and seats them near the Three Pure Ones. The brothers are left ruefully lamenting the loss of treasures to which their already poor sect could hardly afford to part.

Character developments and interactions

• Yuanshi remains proud and resentful, but Laozi’s reminder of his near-death mistake silences him. He also has to endure being seated across from the Witches.
• Laozi acts as a cautious mediator, restraining Yuanshi and urging him not to challenge Daochen prematurely. Tongtian shares his frustration with Yuanshi’s behavior and helps keep him seated.
• Xuanming’s increased cultivation strengthens her authority over her brothers; her kicks and glare quickly quiet them.
• Goumang playfully provokes the Three Pure Ones while making the Witches’ lavish gift on behalf of the clan.
• Jieyin and Zhunti reluctantly upgrade their gifts to avoid embarrassment, but their generosity leaves them comically poorer.
• Bai Ze manages the guests and gifts efficiently, taking the treasures before the Western brothers can reconsider.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts power and restraint: Yuanshi’s pride repeatedly brings him into danger, while Laozi counsels patience. It also highlights the Demon Race’s transformation under Daochen’s strict rule, as unruly demons have become an orderly force. Finally, the competing gifts reveal the importance of status, generosity, and social embarrassment among the great powers—and provide comic relief through the poorer Jieyin and Zhunti.

Plot points and events

• Jieyin and Zhunti arrive at the Heavenly Court ceremony and greet the Three Pure Ones, who coldly ignore them. The Three Pure Ones resent that the pair—like the Twelve Ancestral Witches before them—gave Daochen lavish gifts while leaving their own offerings comparatively unimpressive.
• Nüwa arrives and is seated apart from the others because she has already attained Sagehood. She first gives an ordinary Xiantian Spiritual Treasure, then adds a valuable chaos crystal that could help Daochen create a Supreme Xiantian Spiritual Treasure. The Three Pure Ones are dismayed to find their gifts look even cheaper by comparison.
• Daochen appears to the assembled guests and Demon Race, who pay him homage. He declares the establishment of the Demon Race Heavenly Court, using the Chaos Pearl to anchor its fortune.
• Merit Aura descends in response. Daochen sends all of his share into the Chaos Pearl to refine its grandmist purple restrictions, leaving the observers astonished.
• The gathered mighty figures recall how little merit Ancestor Minghe received for creating the Asura race—and how he was punished by divine lightning after complaining about the Heavenly Dao’s unfairness. At that very moment, Minghe senses the abundant merit flowing to Daochen and nearly loses his temper again.

Character developments and interactions

• The Three Pure Ones grow increasingly resentful and embarrassed as Jieyin, Zhunti, and Nüwa all offer gifts that make their own contributions seem miserly. The Primordial Heavenly Venerable even breaks his chair’s armrest in frustration.
• Jieyin and Zhunti are confused by the cold reception, unaware that their generous gifts to Daochen have aggravated the Three Pure Ones.
• Nüwa remains irritated with Daochen for having deceived her, but attends because he promised to share insights on advancing her cultivation. She gives a substantial gift partly befitting her status as a Sage.
• Daochen displays his authority over the Demon Race and dedicates the ceremony’s merit to strengthening the Chaos Pearl rather than keeping it.
• Ancestor Minghe, though absent, is the target of the others’ pity and envy-inducing comparison. Seeing Daochen’s flood of merit renews his resentment toward the Heavenly Dao.

Significant themes

• Status and hierarchy: Nüwa’s Sagehood entitles her to a place above those who have not yet attained it.
• Pride, rivalry, and public embarrassment: The guests’ gifts become a measure of generosity and prestige, leaving the Three Pure Ones feeling outdone.
• Unequal rewards and cosmic injustice: Daochen’s abundant merit contrasts sharply with Minghe’s meager reward, highlighting the story’s bitterly comic treatment of fairness.
• Power and ambition: Daochen uses both the Heavenly Court’s establishment and its merit to advance the Chaos Pearl’s power.

Key plot points and events

• Daochen receives immense Heavenly Dao merit for establishing the Heavenly Court and uses the Chaos Pearl—a Chaos Supreme Treasure—to anchor its fortune. The gathered powers are amazed and envious of his treasure trove.
• Nüwa hints that Daochen owes her the cultivation insights he gained in the Wa Imperial Palace. He counters by offering a supposed opportunity to gain merit, but she suspects a trap and refuses. Daochen privately considers proposing a heavenly marriage between them to earn merit.
• Daochen hosts a nine-day banquet and makes no move to dominate the Primordial World. This reassures the assembled powers, including the Ancestral Witches, that the Demon Race may not threaten them.
• The drunken guests reveal old rivalries: the Ancestral Witches boast about beating the Three Pure Ones and the Western pair, while the Three Pure Ones resent them and contemplate attacking them.
• The Three Pure Ones leave first to pursue their cultivation; Jieyin and Zhunti depart afterward, embarrassed by their drunken behavior.
• Once most guests are gone, Dijiang approaches Daochen with the question that brought the Ancestral Witches to the Heavenly Court: can the Witch and Demon Clans coexist?

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen remains charming but calculating. He understands Nüwa’s request, toys with her by dangling a chance to gain merit, and reassures the guests through his restraint. He also anticipates Dijiang’s concern before it is voiced.
• Nüwa is wary of Daochen’s offers, having been tricked by him before, and declines what she assumes is another scheme.
• Dijiang and the Ancestral Witches begin the banquet casually, but become solemn when they finally raise the clans’ future with Daochen.
• The Three Pure Ones are irritated by the Ancestral Witches and by Daochen’s growing power, yet focus on finding their own paths to the Dao.
• Jieyin and Zhunti behave foolishly while drunk and leave in embarrassment; their hostility with Daochen remains unresolved.

Significant themes

• Power and envy: Daochen’s merit and extraordinary treasures deepen other figures’ resentment.
• Trust and manipulation: Nüwa’s suspicion reflects a history of Daochen’s schemes.
• Restraint and political uncertainty: Daochen’s refusal to seize dominance offers reassurance, but does not settle the rivalry between the clans.
• Coexistence versus conflict: The chapter closes by bringing the central Witch-Demon question to the fore.

Key plot points and events

• Dijiang asks Daochen whether the Demon and Witch Clans can coexist or are destined for war. Daochen refuses to promise an answer about the future, but says he has no desire to conquer the world or start a war.
• Daochen offers a practical boundary: the Witch Clan must not wantonly slaughter demons, and he will not intervene in ordinary clashes between the two peoples. He accepts such conflicts as part of the natural struggle for survival.
• Dijiang is reassured and prepares to leave, believing Daochen will only act if the Witch Clan seriously threatens the Demon Race.
• Goumang proposes strengthening the peace through marriage, pointing out that the Heavenly Court lacks an empress. Before Zhurong can explain further, Xuanming knocks him through the hall’s floor and drags him away.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen presents himself as a cautious, pragmatic Demon Emperor. His priority is securing the Demon Race’s survival and destiny—not conquering the world or micromanaging every skirmish. He also recognizes that future Sage-led factions may threaten the Witch Clan more than his Demon Race.
• Dijiang shifts from suspicion to relief once Daochen clarifies his position. He accepts that coexistence is possible, at least for now.
• Houtu and Xuanming, who know Daochen well, sense that his hesitation reflects genuine concerns about an uncertain future. Xuanming’s violent response to the marriage proposal suggests she strongly objects to the idea—or to Zhurong raising it.
• Goumang and Zhurong try to turn the peace agreement into a political marriage alliance. Goumang is timid under the others’ scrutiny, while Zhurong boldly steps forward—but is abruptly silenced by Xuanming.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism over domination: Daochen rejects the pursuit of total supremacy, seeing it as dangerous and unnecessary.
• Balance and natural order: Ordinary conflict among living beings is treated as part of survival and the Heavenly Dao’s cycle.
• Destiny and the limits of power: Daochen believes no single person or race can monopolize the world’s destiny; attempting to do so invites ruin.
• Peace remains conditional: The clans reach an understanding, but future political pressures—and the comic interruption of the proposed marriage alliance—leave their relationship unresolved.

Plot points and events

• Xuanming drags Zhurong out of the Hall of Ascending Heaven after he says something offensive. When Dijiang tries to smooth things over, he accidentally says something that angers her too, so she drags him out as well.
• Houtu bids Daochen farewell, then follows Xuanming. As she passes the two men, she steps on their hands, cracking the hall’s jade floor.
• Goumang, the real instigator behind the trouble, stays behind and asks to remain in the Heavenly Court to avoid returning to Mount Buzhou. Nüwa refuses and hurls him all the way back to the mountain.
• Goumang tries to hide under rubble, but Houtu uses her earth-law power to uncover him and announces that Xuanming sent her to bring him back. His cries from Mount Buzhou suggest the sisters punish him.
• After the banquet, Nüwa asks when Daochen will give his promised Dao discourse. Daochen says he never promised to give one now, and Nüwa leaves angrily.
• Daochen sends a powerful aura after her. Nüwa receives it in her Sea of Consciousness and, though she still snorts, her anger softens into playful petulance.

Character developments and interactions

• Xuanming is shown as quick-tempered and physically forceful, while Zhurong and Dijiang suffer the consequences of careless remarks.
• Houtu remains courteous toward Daochen but is also stern and complicit in the sisters’ punishment of Goumang.
• Goumang shifts from smugly escaping notice to panicked avoidance, only to be forcibly returned and found.
• Daochen watches the Witch Clan’s antics with amused disbelief and teases Nüwa by refusing to give the discourse she expects.
• Nüwa appears jealous of Goumang’s noise and irritated by Daochen’s teasing, but his gift or gesture visibly eases her mood.

Significant themes

• The chapter uses exaggerated slapstick to portray the Ancestral Shamans’ rough sibling dynamics and the consequences of speaking carelessly.
• Daochen and Nüwa’s relationship is marked by teasing, pride, and jealousy, with irritation masking growing affection.
• No one can evade the consequences of their actions: Goumang escapes one danger only to be delivered into another.

Key plot points and events

• Daochen’s reforms of the Demon Race continue, but several Greater Demons—including two Quasi-Saint Demon Marshals—break his ban and descend into the mortal world to prey on other races. Their actions alarm the Ten Thousand Clans and cause complaints to reach the Heavenly Court.
• Dijun, Eastern Emperor Taiyi, Fuxi, and Bai Ze consult Daochen, unsure how severely to punish such powerful offenders. Daochen orders every culprit expelled from the Heavenly Court, and barred from returning.
• The decision causes unrest, but the Heavenly Court’s leaders obey. Daochen leaves the administration to them and travels alone into the Primordial World to see how the Human Race has developed.
• The Human Race has grown into tribes along the Eastern Seashore, but remains primitive, living largely on raw flesh and blood. Daochen also discovers Laozi’s Good Corpse, Li Er, living among humans with his memories and cultivation sealed.
• Near the Eastern Seashore, Daochen unexpectedly spots Tongtian and Yuanshi behaving suspiciously.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen shows that he prioritizes the Demon Race’s long-term survival over protecting powerful individuals. He sees slaughter-driven demons as liabilities: karma may erode their reason, block their cultivation, and bring disaster upon the whole race. His concern for humanity also reflects his former life as a human, though he believes he must not interfere with the Human Race’s hardships.
• Dijun, Taiyi, Fuxi, and Bai Ze feel responsible for failing to supervise the offenders. They are surprised by Daochen’s severe ruling, but accept it because they trust his authority and judgment.
• Li Er demonstrates extreme discipline in pursuing enlightenment by surrendering his memories and cultivation to live as an ordinary human.
• Tongtian and Yuanshi’s unexplained presence hints at a possible future encounter.

Significant themes

• Reform and accountability: Old customs do not excuse conduct that threatens the community; even powerful figures must face consequences.
• Collective responsibility: Individual violence can create karmic repercussions that endanger an entire race.
• Restraint and destiny: Daochen believes the Human Race must endure its own trials and that intervention could worsen its future tribulations.
• Sacrifice in pursuit of enlightenment: Li Er’s immersion in ordinary human life illustrates the cost of seeking the Dao.

Key plot points and events

• Yuanshi and Tongtian observe Laozi living as a mortal among the Human Race, having sealed away his memories and power. After nearly a thousand years, they still cannot understand what he hopes to learn.
• The two dismiss humans as weak and speculate that their survival is merely good fortune. Daochen appears and argues that their innate Dao bodies, pure primordial spirits, and protection by the Heavenly Dao reveal their immense potential and fortune.
• When Yuanshi and Tongtian react defensively to Daochen’s sudden appearance, he flicks them on the forehead. He then chastises them for failing to grasp what Laozi’s long experiment—and Nüwa’s rise to Sagehood through creating humanity—might mean.
• Yuanshi privately resents Daochen’s success, but Daochen appears to catch the thought and smacks him again. The brothers endure the rebuke rather than challenge him.
• As Daochen watches Laozi, Yuanshi and Tongtian wonder whether humanity holds an opportunity for them too. Before they can reach any conclusion, Laozi’s eyes clear, golden light surrounds him, and he declares, “My Dao is complete!” He leaves his hut and approaches the Nüwa statue in the Human Ancestral Land.

Character developments

• Laozi appears to have reached a breakthrough after years of surrendering his divine identity and sharing the Human Race’s primitive life.
• Yuanshi and Tongtian remain unable to see the significance of humanity. They are also wary of Daochen, especially Yuanshi, who fears his past beatings.
• Daochen acts as a blunt mentor: he sees humanity’s hidden promise and pushes the others to reconsider their assumptions.

Significant themes

• Hidden potential: A physically weak people may possess extraordinary spiritual promise and fortune.
• Humility and immersion: Laozi’s willingness to abandon status and experience mortal life contrasts with the brothers’ pride and distance.
• Insight versus power: Long observation alone does not guarantee understanding; Laozi’s breakthrough follows genuine engagement with human life.
• Comic intimidation: Daochen’s physical reprimands and the brothers’ anxious inner thoughts undercut the chapter’s grand spiritual debate.

Character interactions

• Yuanshi and Tongtian discuss and disparage the Human Race until Daochen interrupts and challenges their judgment.
• Daochen’s scolding forces them to connect humanity’s survival and Nüwa’s Sagehood with the race’s deeper fortune, though they remain confused.
• Laozi’s sudden declaration ends their speculation and signals that his insight has finally borne fruit.

Key plot points and events

• Laozi begins preaching beneath the Human Race’s statue of Nüwa, declaring that his Dao is complete.
• Tongtian and Yuanshi worry that Laozi’s success will prove Daochen was right to call them fools. Daochen abruptly slaps Yuanshi for speaking insolently of a Sage, leaving Tongtian wary of being caught up in the punishment.
• Laozi’s teaching draws the Eastern Seashore’s humans, who quickly understand his words and enter Dao comprehension.
• He teaches not only the Dao De Jing but also the Golden Core Great Dao, a cultivation path he created for the Human Race.
• As Laozi completes his teaching, the Heavenly Dao appears and boundless merit gathers, signaling that he is about to attain Sagehood. He rises toward the Nine Heavens.

Character developments and interactions

• Laozi demonstrates confidence in his path and fulfills his role as teacher of the Human Race, bringing him to the threshold of Sagehood.
• Daochen displays overwhelming power and casual authority, striking Yuanshi while dismissing his complaints.
• Yuanshi is humiliated and increasingly intimidated by Daochen, recognizing that Daochen may have grown even stronger since attaining the Dao.
• Tongtian tries to keep his distance from Yuanshi to avoid becoming collateral damage, but eventually stands beside him.
• The Human Race responds to Laozi with reverence and shows remarkable aptitude for understanding and cultivation.

Significant themes

• Teaching as a path to enlightenment: Laozi’s guidance gives the Human Race a means to cultivate and earns him the merit that enables his rise.
• The Human Race’s potential: Its pure primordial spirits allow faster comprehension than that of the Demon or Witch Clans.
• The costs of different forms of cultivation: Humans can compensate for physical weakness through magical cultivation, while the Witch Clan’s resource-intensive physical path is portrayed as unsustainable.
• Power and humiliation: Daochen’s casual violence underscores the hierarchy among the powerful and Yuanshi’s inability to challenge it.

Plot points and events

• Laozi becomes the first of the Three Pure Ones to establish a sect and attempt Sagehood. He teaches the Human Race the Golden Core Great Dao, founds the Human Sect, and uses the Taiji Diagram to anchor its fortune.
• Heaven responds with vast merit. The Human Race benefits from spiritual rain, healing, and greater understanding of cultivation.
• Laozi’s three corpses emerge and begin merging with his true body, bringing him to the brink of becoming a Sage. But the merit abruptly stops, leaving him stranded at the peak of the Quasi-Saint stage.
• Laozi discovers that half of the Human Race’s fortune is tied to Nüwa and the other half to Daochen and the Demon Race. Daochen’s share is suppressed by the Chaos Pearl, so Laozi cannot draw on it.
• Daochen suggests Laozi use the Heaven-Opening Merit within his Primordial Spirit. Laozi reluctantly does so, sacrificing a resource he had hoped to preserve for future cultivation, and vows to settle the matter with Daochen once he becomes a Sage.

Character developments and interactions

• Laozi shifts from confident founder to furious near-Sage, forced to spend his Heaven-Opening Merit to complete his breakthrough.
• Daochen remains outwardly innocent and polite while effectively blocking Laozi from accessing part of the Human Race’s fortune. His apparent helpfulness only makes Laozi more enraged.
• Yuanshi and Tongtian watch in confusion. Without Sage-level insight, they cannot understand why Laozi’s breakthrough has stalled.
• Jieyin and Zhunti envy Laozi’s progress from Mount Sumeru. They also regret having spent two high-grade spiritual treasures on a drinking session after their earlier dealings with Daochen.

Significant themes

• Power and competing claims to fortune: The Human Race’s fortune is divided, limiting Laozi’s access to the resource he needs.
• The cost of advancement: Laozi can still reach Sagehood, but only by sacrificing merit he hoped to use later.
• Bitterly comic rivalry: Daochen’s restrained, “innocent” manner contrasts with Laozi’s fury and the Western disciples’ regret.

Plot points and events

• Boundless heaven-opening merit completes Laozi’s transformation: his three corpses fully merge with his true self, and he becomes a Sage. His immense pressure makes people across the Eastern Seashore bow, while even Tongtian and Yuanshi feel its force.
• Laozi’s primordial-spirit imprint enters the Heavenly Dao’s origin. There he senses Hongjun and Nüwa, but finds no trace of Daochen or the Three-Legged Golden Crow. He suspects Daochen attained the Dao by a different route, potentially preserving the freedom to advance beyond the Sage realm.
• Laozi recognizes that his own path offers Sage immortality but makes further advancement extremely difficult. He also resents that Daochen holds a much larger share of Human Race fortune, as well as Demon Race fortune.
• Convinced Daochen owes him an explanation, Laozi challenges him. Daochen accepts, and the two meet in the Chaos Void. Laozi then summons the Taiji Diagram and Heaven and Earth Exquisite Tower, now vastly empowered by his Sage status.

Character developments and interactions

• Laozi shifts from detached observer to openly resentful challenger. His envy of Daochen’s greater fortune and possible potential beyond Sagehood drives him to seek a confrontation immediately after ascending.
• Daochen remains calm and amused, rejecting any responsibility for Laozi’s late attainment of the Dao. His effortless movement through space also reveals that his command of spatial law far surpasses Laozi’s.
• Yuanshi and Tongtian are bewildered: Laozi is the least likely of the Three Pure Ones to start a fight, making his challenge especially surprising.
• Nüwa watches with a wry smile. Knowing Daochen is already at the Second Heaven of the Saint Realm while Laozi has only just reached the First, she expects Laozi to lose and stops watching.
• Hongjun regards the events as within the world’s broader course and turns his attention back to comprehending the Heavenly Dao.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: Sagehood brings immense power and a form of immortality, but binding one’s primordial spirit to the Heavenly Dao restricts future growth.
• Freedom versus security: Daochen’s apparent alternative path may lack a Sage’s automatic revival, yet could let him progress further.
• Envy and grievance: Laozi’s newly attained status does not satisfy him; comparison with Daochen’s greater fortune turns his success into resentment.
• Pride and misjudgment: Laozi challenges a stronger opponent despite others recognizing the disparity, setting up a clash that may cost him face.

Key plot points and events

• Laozi confronts Daochen in the Chaos Void, accusing him of taking the Human Race’s fortune and nearly preventing Laozi from attaining the Dao.
• Daochen rejects the charge, arguing that he claimed the fortune through his own strength. He mocks Laozi’s appeal to fairness and says he would gladly let Laozi pursue the Demon Race’s fortune if he could.
• Laozi gives up arguing and attacks, using the Taiji Diagram and Heaven and Earth’s Yellow Exquisite Pagoda. Daochen charges bare-handed, while Tongtian and Yuanshi retreat to avoid the battle’s fallout.
• Daochen’s punch combines the Laws of Destruction and Geng Metal, guided by the Law of Strength. It pierces the Taiji Diagram’s Yin-Yang defenses and damages Laozi despite the pagoda’s protection, sending him flying and leaving him badly injured.
• Tongtian and Yuanshi are stunned by Laozi’s swift defeat. Far away, the Hollow Willow takes an interest in Daochen after sensing a familiar aura in him. The horned Daoist Shichen retreats into a mysterious cavern and vows revenge.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen is confident, contemptuous of moral posturing, and willing to settle disputes through force. His formidable control of destructive laws reveals that his combat power far exceeds what Laozi expects.
• Laozi begins the confrontation believing his Sagehood and treasures will let him defeat Daochen, but is decisively humbled. His accusation also exposes how much the Human Race’s fortune matters to his cultivation.
• Tongtian and Yuanshi keep their distance, then react with disbelief when Laozi loses almost immediately.
• The Hollow Willow becomes curious about Daochen, while Shichen remains hostile and promises to confront him later.

Significant themes

• Power over rhetoric: Daochen dismisses appeals to fairness, insisting that strength determines who prevails.
• Overconfidence and reversal: Laozi’s confidence in his treasures and status cannot withstand Daochen’s unusual law-based attack.
• Ambition and fortune: The struggle over the Human Race’s fortune reflects the stakes of power and attaining the Dao.
• Foreshadowing: The Hollow Willow’s interest and Shichen’s vow hint at future connections and conflicts.

Plot points and events

• Daochen senses a disturbance somewhere in the distant Beyond Lands but cannot determine whether it came from Great Immortal Yangmei or Daoist Shichen.
• After Laozi’s victory over Daochen, Hongjun instructs him not to return to Mount Kunlun, but to establish his own grounds in the Chaos Void.
• Hongjun prompts Tongtian and Yuanshi to seize their own opportunities for Sagehood by founding schools. Yuanshi establishes the Chan School, while Tongtian establishes the Jade Void Sect.
• Both brothers receive immense Heavenly Dao merit and become Sages. Together with Laozi’s Human Sect, their teachings establish three major schools. Their simultaneous ascensions bring spiritual rain to the Primordial World, awaken many creatures, and mark the beginning of the age of Sages.
• Nüwa congratulates the newly ascended Sages. Hongjun then directs the Three Pure Ones to establish grounds in the Chaos Void and preach for a thousand years.
• Daochen returns to the Heavenly Court and orders his demons to attend the sermons. Bai Ze, Fuxi, and the other commanders go further than he expected, bringing not only powerful cultivators but also Golden and Profound Immortals under protection. Daochen laughs at the prospect of the Three Pure Ones’ reaction.

Character developments and interactions

• Laozi accepts Hongjun’s instruction and departs with Tongtian and Yuanshi. His Sagehood prompts his brothers to recognize their own paths to ascension.
• Yuanshi becomes a Sage and publicly welcomes disciples, though Daochen privately mocks the contradiction between that promise and Yuanshi’s elitist standards for disciples.
• Tongtian becomes a Sage and declares that he will teach without distinction, emphasizing a more inclusive ideal.
• Yuanshi considers confronting Daochen, but remembers Daochen’s earlier beating of Laozi and thinks better of it. Daochen notices his unease and deliberately unsettles him with a smile.
• Nüwa now greets the Three Pure Ones as fellow Sages, reflecting their equal standing.
• Daochen shifts from personal conflict to pragmatic leadership, turning the Three Pure Ones’ public sermons into an opportunity for his Demon Race.

Significant themes

• The rise of a new era: The Three Pure Ones’ ascensions transform the Primordial World and inaugurate the age of Sages.
• Teaching and sect-building: Sagehood is linked to founding schools, spreading doctrine, and guiding followers.
• Different ideals of discipleship: Yuanshi’s selective standards contrast with Tongtian’s promise to teach all without distinction.
• Power and opportunism: Daochen and his commanders treat the sermons as a chance to benefit their forces, mixing cultivation, strategy, and humor.

Plot points and events

• After the Three Pure Ones become Sages, they create three Daoist lands and palaces in the Outer Chaos, then prepare to preach for a thousand years and recruit disciples.
• Daochen arrives with hundreds of millions of Demon Race members, transporting them in his Purple-Black Gourd so they can attend the sermons.
• The Three Pure Ones realize they cannot turn the Demon Race away: their preaching is meant for the Primordial World’s living beings, and refusing them would risk the Heavenly Dao’s displeasure.
• Daochen tells the Demon Race to listen carefully. The crowd thanks and reveres him, having gained the chance to reach the best seats through his help.
• Laozi and Yuanshi resent that the gathering leaves them little opportunity to attract disciples—and that the Demon Race’s gratitude goes to Daochen instead of them.
• When the two consider confronting Daochen, he warns them and displays his weapons. They restrain themselves, deciding to endure rather than fight while their Sage realms are still unstable.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen acts as a powerful benefactor to the Demon Race and uses his influence to keep the Three Pure Ones in check.
• Laozi and Yuanshi are frustrated and humiliated but choose caution over retaliation, especially given their recent ascension and Daochen’s strength.
• Tongtian responds more calmly. His belief in teaching without discrimination makes him willing to preach to the Demon Race as well as other peoples.
• The Demon Race’s public devotion to Daochen intensifies the Three Pure Ones’ resentment and underscores their unequal standing with him.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: The Three Pure Ones must suppress their anger because Daochen holds the advantage.
• Access to knowledge: Proximity to a Sage affects how much of the Dao’s power listeners can absorb, making Daochen’s escort especially valuable.
• Teaching and prejudice: Tongtian’s openness contrasts with Laozi and Yuanshi’s reluctance to share their teachings with the Demon Race.
• Gratitude and influence: Daochen’s generosity wins the Demon Race’s loyalty, while the Three Pure Ones’ sermon risks bringing them little personal benefit.

Key plot points and events

• Laozi and Yuanshi begin a thousand-year sermon at their Daoist grounds. Daochen’s transformed Demon Race followers attend, and the Three Pure Ones tolerate their presence.
• Daochen returns to the Heavenly Court, where Nüwa visits to warn him that the Three Pure Ones may retaliate for his actions.
• Daochen dismisses the danger, reasoning that the Three Pure Ones’ doctrinal differences will eventually divide them and that his strength is sufficient to withstand them.
• Daochen proposes a wager with Nüwa, using the World-Destroying Black Lotus and World-Cleansing White Lotus as stakes. If the Three Pure Ones—or Jieyin and Zhunti—target Nüwa, Daochen wins and she must become mistress of the Heavenly Court’s inner palace. If he loses, Nüwa gets both lotus treasures.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen is confident in his power and political judgment. He teases Nüwa about caring for him, then turns their conversation into a flirtatious, high-stakes wager.
• Nüwa shows concern for Daochen despite denying that she is worried. She is skeptical of his confidence, but the valuable treasures tempt her to consider the bet. She has grown accustomed to his proposals that she join the Heavenly Court.
• Their relationship remains playful and flirtatious: Nüwa tries to keep the discussion serious, while Daochen alternates between teasing her and making bold advances.

Significant themes

• Power and political rivalry: Daochen believes the Three Pure Ones’ divisions will matter more than their present unity.
• Confidence versus caution: Nüwa sees the danger of retaliation; Daochen trusts his strength and foresight.
• Courtship through competition: The wager disguises Daochen’s romantic ambitions as a contest, while Nüwa weighs the risks and rewards.

Key plot points

• Daochen offers Nüwa the World-Destroying Black Lotus and World-Cleansing White Lotus if she loses their wager. They agree that the bet will be decided at the next clash between Sages.
• Nüwa accepts, hoping she can refuse to honor the wager if she loses. Daochen immediately suggests building her a palace, embarrassing her and prompting her to flee.
• Daochen reasons that Nüwa will likely become a target as the Three Pure Ones and Jieyin and Zhunti seek to strengthen their own fortunes by establishing sects. He expects the Three Pure Ones to show restraint, but considers Jieyin and Zhunti more ruthless.
• On Mount Sumeru, Zhunti worries that he and Jieyin are the only ones among the Six Destined Saints who have yet to attain Sagehood. Their weaker foundations and lack of Nüwa’s or the Three Pure Ones’ advantages make it difficult to earn enough merit.
• Jieyin warns that their possible path to Sagehood would burden their sect with enormous karmic debt. Zhunti argues that the risk is preferable to remaining Quasi-Saints and potentially perishing in a future tribulation.

Character developments and interactions

• Nüwa is torn between her attraction to the lotus treasures and suspicion that accepting them would bind her to Daochen. She is also willing to consider breaking her promise, especially because Daochen has done the same before.
• Daochen uses charm and teasing to unsettle Nüwa, while privately calculating how the struggle over spiritual and sectarian fortune may draw her into conflict with other Sages.
• Jieyin and Zhunti reveal their anxiety and ambition. Jieyin is cautious about karmic consequences; Zhunti is more focused on the danger of failing to attain Sagehood. Their discussion shows both recognize that their survival and influence depend on becoming Sages.

Significant themes

• Power and spiritual treasures: Once Sages attain their status, powerful treasures can determine their relative strength.
• Fortune, merit, and competition: Different paths to Sagehood depend on unequal foundations and opportunities, making spiritual fortune a contested resource.
• Karmic debt versus survival: Jieyin and Zhunti must weigh the long-term cost of their plan against the immediate danger of remaining below Sagehood.
• Ambition and mistrust: Nüwa’s willingness to evade the wager and Daochen’s strategic expectations underscore how personal dealings and political maneuvering overlap.

Key plot points and events

• On Mount Sumeru, Jieyin and Zhunti decide to attain Sagehood by making great vows to the Heavenly Dao and borrowing merit. They establish a Western sect, make eighteen vows, and receive a vast surge of merit.
• The merit helps them unite their three corpses and reach the peak of the quasi-saint realm. They begin the final, uncertain step toward full Sagehood, worried the borrowed merit may not be enough for both.
• Daochen, busy arranging a rear palace for Nüwa, observes their move and recognizes that their success will make the Primordial World’s conflicts more intense. Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian also take notice.
• The new Sages need followers and sect fortune to strengthen themselves. Unable to win over the Witch Clan, or safely take fortune from Daochen’s Demon Race, they will turn toward the Human Race—and toward the fortune held by Nüwa.
• Nüwa realizes that the Sages’ ambitions make her a likely target. Alarmed, she leaves the Wa Imperial Palace to seek Daochen.

Character developments and interactions

• Jieyin and Zhunti act boldly and accept a heavy debt to secure Sagehood first, trusting they can repay it later. Their decision marks them as potential rivals in the coming struggle for fortune.
• Daochen sees the strategic consequences clearly and reacts with amused cynicism. His control of Demon Race fortune makes that faction difficult for the Sages to exploit.
• Nüwa shifts from surprise to urgent concern as she recognizes that her share of Human Race fortune may draw the Sages’ attention. She turns to Daochen for support.
• Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian understand that the Sages’ need to expand their sects will bring them into conflict with the Witch Clan and, ultimately, the Human Race.

Significant themes

• The cost of power: Borrowed merit may enable Sagehood, but it creates enormous obligations and risks.
• Ambition and competition: Sects need followers and fortune, turning religious expansion into a struggle for dominance.
• Fate versus choice: The text presents conflict as nearly inevitable once the Sages tie themselves to the Heavenly Dao’s system.
• Nüwa’s vulnerability: Though powerful, her connection to the Human Race’s fortune makes her a valuable target in the emerging contest.

Key plot points and events

• Jieyin and Zhunti become Sages by making an enormous number of grand vows and borrowing merit from the Heavenly Dao. Their desperate lack of resources drove them to take the risk.
• Nüwa arrives in the Heavenly Court and asks Daochen whether he foresaw their plan. He denies knowing, using his status as a Sage to deflect her suspicion.
• Daochen teases Nüwa about joining him as Demon Queen and bearing little Golden Crows. She is embarrassed by the suggestion, but their flirtation is interrupted when Daochen turns to the serious matter of the Human Race.
• Nüwa fears the newly established Sages will eventually struggle over the Human Race’s fortune. She asks Daochen to support her if conflict erupts.
• Daochen agrees on the condition that she bind her fortune to the Heavenly Court’s Demon Race. Nüwa accepts, and her fortune seal merges with the Demon Race’s fortune, greatly strengthening it and advancing the world within Daochen’s Chaos Pearl.

Character developments and interactions

• Nüwa shifts from wary curiosity to seeking a political ally. She recognizes that her independent Sage fortune has helped strengthen Daochen’s power, but concludes the arrangement is an acceptable exchange for his future protection.
• Daochen shows both playful confidence and strategic calculation: he flirts with Nüwa, then secures her allegiance and gains the benefits of her fortune while accepting responsibility for defending her.
• Their banter reveals mutual familiarity, but the alliance is ultimately presented as a practical, unequal partnership, with Daochen in the leading role.

Significant themes

• Power and obligation: Jieyin and Zhunti’s vows secure Sagehood but leave them burdened with promises to repay.
• Fortune as political leverage: Nüwa’s allegiance strengthens the Demon Race, while tying her fate to Daochen’s court.
• Alliance amid rivalry: As more Sages emerge, Nüwa anticipates competition over the Human Race and seeks protection before conflict begins.

Plot points

• Nüwa agrees to bind the Demon Race’s fortune to Daochen’s Chaos Pearl and asks him to help when the Sages eventually clash. Daochen accepts, then teasingly invites her to join him in the Demon Emperor Palace.
• Nüwa is flustered but seems tempted. Their moment is interrupted when Bai Ze requests an audience; the commotion causes the unfinished side hall to collapse. Nüwa flees, and Daochen resolves to punish Bai Ze for ruining the moment.
• Jieyin and Zhunti attain Sagehood by making vows, establishing Buddhism, and borrowing immense merit. But with the Three Pure Ones drawing the crowds, their preaching is ignored; the few listeners who arrive fall asleep.
• Ancestor Minghe sees how religious foundations can earn merit. Having already gained some merit by creating races, he considers establishing a religion to grow stronger and protect himself from Daochen’s circle.

Character developments and interactions

• Nüwa reveals a softer, unusually affectionate side around Daochen, despite her indignation at his teasing. She leaves embarrassed after Bai Ze’s interruption.
• Daochen remains playful and confident with Nüwa, but turns his attention to revenge when Bai Ze spoils their encounter.
• Bai Ze blunders into an intimate moment and escapes the scene amid the wreckage, deciding to return another day.
• Jieyin and Zhunti go from hopeful founders expecting followers to frustrated preachers addressing an empty, inattentive audience.
• Minghe shifts from cautiously hiding in the Blood Sea to actively seeking ways to gain merit and advance his cultivation, driven by fear of powerful enemies.

Significant themes

• Merit and religious establishment are presented as routes to power, prompting rivalry and imitation.
• Ambition and status are undercut by comic mishaps: Sagehood goes unnoticed, sermons fall flat, and a ruined hall interrupts a romantic moment.
• Minghe’s drive for security is mixed with exaggerated paranoia, while Nüwa’s teasing exchange with Daochen hints at growing intimacy.