Chapter Summaries

Summary

Key plot points

• Xuanyuan explains to Shaohao that, despite the Human Race’s rapid growth under Shennong, it is not yet strong enough to defeat all the Ten Thousand Races at once. Many rival races hide their true strength, especially the Ancient Barbarian Race.
• The Human Race’s first target, the Spirit Race, was chosen because it is divided and comparatively weak. Xuanyuan argues that the Human Race does have powerful advantages of its own, including two Sages, but should not underestimate its opponents.
• Xuanyuan lays out a cautious campaign: expand from Human territory by defeating roughly a hundred neighboring races, using them both to secure the borders and train the army. He emphasizes minimizing losses and avoiding reckless decisions.
• He gives Shaohao command of the expeditionary force. Shaohao, who expected to remain beside Xuanyuan and learn, is surprised and anxious about leading his first battle—but also excited.
• After Shaohao leaves, Shennong checks on Xuanyuan’s preparations to become a Human Path Sage. Xuanyuan says he will remain concealed and delay advancing unless the Devil Race forces his hand, since hidden enemies such as the Devil Race and the Lord of Fate may require undisclosed trump cards.

Character developments

• Shaohao learns that his belief in the Human Race’s overwhelming superiority was naïve. He is thrust into a practical test of leadership, despite his inexperience and nerves.
• Xuanyuan emerges as a cautious strategist who values intelligence, preparation, and controlled expansion over a dramatic, all-out assault. He also deliberately conceals his own potential power.
• Shennong supports Shaohao’s training but remains focused on Xuanyuan’s larger role and the threat posed by the Human Race’s hidden adversaries.

Significant themes

• Appearances can deceive: Both enemy strength and the information available about it may be deliberately misleading.
• Caution and preparation in war: Leaders must weigh the cost of each decision because soldiers’ lives are at stake.
• Training through responsibility: Shaohao’s first command is meant to develop him through experience.
• Concealed power and long-term strategy: Xuanyuan withholds his advancement to avoid alerting larger enemies and preserve a decisive advantage.

Character interactions

• Xuanyuan patiently challenges Shaohao’s assumptions, teaches him to think beyond surface appearances, and then entrusts him with command.
• Shaohao responds with respect and growing unease, recognizing that Xuanyuan’s view of the conflict is more complex than what he had heard from Shennong.
• Shennong and Xuanyuan discuss Shaohao’s deployment and Xuanyuan’s delayed advancement; their exchange shows Shennong’s concern and Xuanyuan’s determination to keep the Human Race’s plans hidden.

Plot points and events

• Xuanyuan and Shaohao discuss the Human Race’s intention to confront the Lord of Fate, whose power seems overwhelming.
• Demon Emperor Daochen, who has been secretly observing them, interrupts to ask what the Human Race knows about the Ancient Barbarian Race. He is especially intrigued because Xuanyuan’s earlier description conflicts with his own assumptions.
• Xuanyuan gives Daochen a jade slip containing the Human Race’s findings. The Ancient Barbarians are exceptionally strong—nearly all reach Golden Immortal strength from birth—but maintain a population of only about ten thousand.
• Records show that the race once nearly went extinct in a conflict with the Dragon Clan, yet its numbers recovered within a thousand years. The Human Race’s investigation revealed the explanation: the Barbarians’ apparent population is a rotating group, replaced roughly every hundred years. Their true home is in Chaos beyond the Primordial World, and they enter the Primordial World to train.
• Daochen asks where their home is, but Xuanyuan says the Human Race’s attempt to investigate Chaos failed because its environment was too harsh.

Character developments

• Daochen discovers that his confidence in his knowledge of the Primordial World was misplaced. The Human Race’s research impresses and unsettles him, prompting greater caution about what powerful groups may conceal.
• Xuanyuan and Shaohao remain composed enough to share sensitive intelligence, though they initially fear Daochen has appeared to reprimand them.

Character interactions

• Daochen approaches the pair without their noticing, then reassures them with a friendly manner that he has come to ask questions, not accuse them.
• Xuanyuan presents the findings cautiously, emphasizing that the information was difficult to obtain.
• Their exchange shows a practical relationship: the Human Race provides intelligence, while Daochen probes for details the investigation could not uncover.

Significant themes

• Hidden strength and deceptive appearances: A group that seems small and familiar may conceal far greater resources and a separate base of operations.
• Limits of authority and knowledge: Even a Sage can be misled when relying on superficial observation.
• Human curiosity and methodical investigation: The Human Race’s habit of pursuing anomalies to their roots uncovers the Barbarians’ unusual rotation system.
• The dangers of the unknown: Chaos remains too hostile for the Human Race to explore safely, leaving the Ancient Barbarians’ true homeland a mystery.

Plot points and events

• Demon Emperor Daochen meets Xuanyuan and learns what he needs about the Ancient Barbarian Race, then leaves to investigate it himself.
• Xuanyuan orders the Human Race to postpone dealing with the Ancient Barbarians. After the Spirit Race’s destruction, the Human Race will target the Stoneheart Race, whose members secretly parasitize other races and drain their life force.
• Xuanyuan reveals a further motive: Stoneheart cores contain powerful life energy that could strengthen Human cultivation. Attacking them may also provide an opportunity to strike at other races and root out hidden Stonehearts within the Human Race.
• The Human Race’s campaign alarms the remaining Ten Thousand Races. A coalition of ancient, mostly Quasi-Saint races meets to decide whether to flee or resist.
• The Rain Demon Heavenly King arrives on the Devil Ancestor’s orders, offering help against the Human Race. After both sides cautiously test each other, he reveals that the Devil Race has sent five Demon Saints.

Character developments and interactions

• Xuanyuan is shown to be a strategic and pragmatic leader, combining public moral rhetoric with military, political, and internal-security goals.
• Shaohao demonstrates growing insight by identifying the wider strategic consequences of targeting the Stoneheart Race. Xuanyuan approves, crediting Shennong’s judgment in choosing him as successor.
• Daochen leaves in haste, intent on investigating the Ancient Barbarians personally.
• The ancient-race elders are fearful but proud; they initially resist the Rain Demon Heavenly King’s contemptuous approach, then welcome his offer once he threatens to withdraw.
• The Rain Demon Heavenly King is arrogant and calculating, using mockery and a show of departure to assess the elders before disclosing the Devil Race’s limited but substantial commitment.

Significant themes

• War and survival: The Human Race’s rise makes extinction a real possibility for its rivals.
• Strategy beneath idealism: Xuanyuan frames the campaign as righteous cleansing, while also pursuing resources, territorial opportunities, and the removal of internal threats.
• Power and vulnerability: Long-lived, formidable races may still be outmatched by the Human Race’s strength and willingness to fight.
• Suspicion and alliance-building: Both the elders and the Devil Race probe one another, showing that cooperation is shaped by distrust and self-interest.

Key plot points and events

• The Ten Thousand Races Alliance refuses to commit to joining the Devil Race, wary of its conversion-based rule and unwilling to risk their peoples’ survival. They note they could retreat to other realms if necessary.
• Rain Demon’s group leaves to provoke Fuxi and Shennong, hoping to draw the Human Race’s Sages into action. The Sages avoid harming ordinary humans because they fear the Demon Emperor’s retaliation.
• Luo Hou has sent the devils to test the situation, suspecting the Demon Emperor may be waiting for an excuse to intervene. Attacking humans would cross the Demon Emperor’s line.
• The Lord of Fate returns to his hidden Fate Space and catches Heavenly Dao Hongjun trying to find a way inside. Hongjun denies wrongdoing awkwardly.
• The Lord of Fate offers to pay Hongjun twice what the Demon Emperor offered to secure an alliance against him. Hongjun refuses, urging him to return the Demon Emperor’s children and warning that the world faces grave danger.
• Hongjun shows him visions of monsters gnawing at a protective barrier and tells him to look into the chaos himself. The Lord of Fate rushes out and is shocked by what he sees, finally understanding the Demon Emperor’s restraint and Hongjun’s actions.

Character developments and interactions

• The Ten Thousand Races Alliance shows its cautious, self-preserving nature, resisting pressure to join the devils and keeping escape options in mind.
• Rain Demon is caught off guard when the alliance anticipates the Devil Race’s intentions, leaving him with little room to argue.
• Luo Hou acts strategically, using the devils to test the Demon Emperor’s response while avoiding a direct breach of his rules.
• Heavenly Dao Hongjun is embarrassed at being caught, but remains committed to rescuing the Demon Emperor’s children because of his promise and oath. He tries to persuade the Lord of Fate rather than fight him.
• The Lord of Fate begins dismissive and defiant, but Hongjun’s warning prompts him to investigate the danger personally.

Significant themes

• Caution and survival: The alliance prioritizes preserving its people over pledging loyalty.
• Power restrained by boundaries: The Demon Emperor’s reputation deters attacks on ordinary humans, even among powerful Sages.
• Hidden threats and delayed understanding: The Lord of Fate has ignored a growing crisis until evidence forces him to confront it.
• Oaths and responsibility: Hongjun’s promise to rescue the children drives him to risk conflict with the Lord of Fate.

Key plot points and events

• The Lord of Fate learns that the dangerous beings pursuing them are powerful enough to threaten the Primordial World. Heavenly Dao Hongjun argues that the world needs the Demon Emperor’s strength to face this danger.
• Hongjun reveals he once swore to help the Demon Emperor recover the Demon Crown Prince. Fulfilling that oath is necessary for Hongjun’s hoped-for advancement to the Heavenly Dao Realm, so he is determined to secure the prince.
• The Lord of Fate agrees to release the prince but insists Hongjun must not return him to the Demon Emperor. He fears that without the prince as leverage, they cannot restrain the Demon Emperor.
• Hongjun accepts the condition, though he privately intends to get both crown princes into his hands and decide what to do later. The Lord of Fate sees through this and insists on accompanying him to speak with the Demon Emperor.
• The chapter ends by emphasizing that the Demon Emperor’s power is unusually independent of the Primordial World: he can retain much of his strength in Chaos and even grow stronger by absorbing its energy.

Character developments

• Heavenly Dao Hongjun shifts from urging cooperation to making a firm stand because of his oath. He agrees to the Lord of Fate’s compromise but remains calculating and hopes to retain control of the princes.
• The Lord of Fate is anxious about the Demon Emperor’s hidden abilities and refuses to surrender his leverage. He negotiates a conditional release rather than openly opposing Hongjun.
• Demon Emperor Daochen, though absent, is portrayed as exceptionally powerful, secretive, and dangerous—someone neither Hongjun nor the Lord of Fate can reliably control.

Significant themes

• Survival and self-preservation: The looming threat to the Primordial World forces rivals to consider cooperation.
• Oaths versus pragmatism: Hongjun’s obligation conflicts with the political need to keep the Demon Emperor constrained.
• Power and mistrust: The Demon Emperor’s hidden strength makes even powerful figures wary of giving him an advantage.
• The value of the world itself: Hongjun and the Lord of Fate preserve the Primordial World because their ambitions and future prospects depend on it.

Character interactions

• Hongjun tries to persuade the Lord of Fate with the danger facing the world, then strengthens his case by revealing his oath.
• The Lord of Fate counters with a compromise: release the prince, but do not hand him back to the Demon Emperor.
• Hongjun’s attempt to meet the Demon Emperor without supervision is blocked when the Lord of Fate insists on joining him.

Plot points and events

• Demon Emperor Daochen infiltrates the Ancient Barbarian Race, disguising himself as Alix, a member who supposedly lost his memory after a head injury.
• He travels with Grandy to the race’s gathering place, where the Ancient Barbarians enter a stable spatial rift to return to their ancestral lands once every thousand years.
• An old man leads a ritual, calling the journey a holy baptism. He casts off his body and lets his soul dissolve into the rift; the others follow.
• Daochen discovers they are walking through Chaos as souls. A further passage of eerie light attacks souls, and he witnesses them being shattered and consumed.
• Their souls then reappear as wooden, puppet-like figures. Daochen suspects these apparent Ancient Barbarians are manufactured tools rather than the real race.
• An ordinary-looking old man emerges from the radiant place with a bell, followed by the soul puppets. Daochen identifies him as a possible key to the mystery, but the old man again dissolves his soul into the rift before Daochen can question him.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen is playful and curious, choosing infiltration over simply extracting information by force. His amusement gives way to alarm and suspicion as he encounters the race’s strange soul-based practices. He hides when he senses the soul-targeting light and begins piecing together how the puppets are made.
• Grandy treats the amnesiac “Alix” warmly and encourages him to recover his memories, despite being wary of impostors. He appears unaware of the deeper nature of the ritual.
• The old man acts as a devout ritual leader, but his apparent willingness to sacrifice his soul—and his connection to the returning puppets—makes him an unsettling figure.

Significant themes

• Identity and deception: Daochen’s disguise contrasts with the possibility that the supposed Ancient Barbarians themselves are only puppets.
• Faith and sacrifice: The group willingly follows a ritual framed as sacred, even as their souls are destroyed.
• Hidden systems of power: The race’s survival and true location remain obscure, while its rituals suggest an unseen creator or controller.
• Curiosity versus danger: Daochen’s desire to investigate draws him into a process that can directly threaten his soul.

Key plot points and events

• Daochen enters the hidden space after its radiance fades. Inside, he finds countless nearly identical old men—the true form of the Ancient Barbarian Race—cultivating through soul power.
• Their leader, a dying Saint Realm Expert, reveals that he once failed a forced breakthrough, fled the Primordial World into Chaos, and has survived only by sheltering in this independent Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land.
• The old men are his clones, repeatedly remade to preserve his race. He admits that his attempt to restore them has consumed almost the entire race, yet he cannot accept its extinction.
• He asks Daochen to take his body and the race’s historical stone tablet back to the Primordial World for burial, offering him control of the space in return.
• Daochen refuses to approach, explaining that he can wait until the old man dies and claim the space then. The old man briefly drops his kindly façade and attempts to manipulate him, but Daochen dismisses the threat.
• The old man insists that the Ancient Barbarians may still be reborn: if he stops controlling the clones, they could develop independent consciousness. Daochen doubts whether such beings would truly count as the original race.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen remains composed, perceptive, and cautious. He quickly sees through both the old man’s weakened state and his attempted bargain, while showing some pity for the old man’s regret and attachment to his lost homeland.
• The Ancient Barbarian leader shifts between remorse, desperation, and deception. He regrets his failed breakthrough and the sacrifice of his people, but fear of death drives him to scheme. His final hope is that the clones can become a new generation.
• Their conversation moves from apparent generosity to confrontation, with Daochen asserting the power imbalance and the old man admitting that he simply does not want to die.

Significant themes

• The cost of obsession: The leader’s refusal to accept loss led him to sacrifice his people in pursuit of restoring them.
• Identity and rebirth: Whether clones that gain their own consciousness are truly the same race remains unresolved.
• Mortality and letting go: The old man struggles to accept the end of his life and civilization, while Daochen argues that what must perish will eventually perish.
• Power and deception: The old man’s schemes are ineffective against Daochen’s overwhelming strength and insight.

Key plot points

• After Daochen kills the long-lived, dying cultivator, the man’s body disintegrates. Daochen takes control of the grotto-heaven beneath his throne.
• Removing the throne reveals a vast reservoir of energy. Daochen absorbs it, and his stagnant eighth-layer cultivation begins advancing toward its peak.
• Beneath the grotto-heaven, Daochen discovers spiritual veins embedded in a fragment of a shattered world. Though incomplete and lifeless, this “Microcosm” retains world-like laws that can draw in chaos and turn it into spiritual energy.
• Seeing the Microcosm as the foundation he needs, Daochen resolves to use it and the energy from Resentment Aggregates to pursue the ninth layer of the Saint Realm. He plans to recruit others to help hunt the aggregates.
• Daochen returns to the Demon Realm to organize its forces. He orders Kong Xuan to summon Demon Master Kunpeng, the Ten Great Demon Marshals, and all the Demon Race’s Quasi-Saints.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen shifts from claiming a newly acquired territory to recognizing its cosmic significance and making a concrete plan for advancement. He also acknowledges that he has neglected the Demon Race and decides to address its weakness.
• Kong Xuan has reached the peak of the Quasi-Saint stage and is still devotedly guarding the palace entrance, believing he owes Daochen a great deal. Daochen praises his rapid progress and includes him in the upcoming meeting.
• The Demon Race is portrayed as dispirited and politically diminished: the Demon Dao has prevented Sages from emerging, while the Devil Race has gained multiple Saint Realm experts. Its members keep a low profile and feel overlooked by their own emperor.

Significant themes

• Death and persistence: The cultivator’s body survives beyond its natural limits through sheer will and borrowed energy, but ultimately dissolves once its soul is gone.
• Fortune and cultivation: Daochen’s discovery of the Microcosm offers a rare foundation for overcoming the immense difficulty of reaching the ninth Saint Realm layer.
• Leadership and responsibility: Daochen’s decision to strengthen the Demon Race marks a renewed commitment to the people he founded, rather than relying on them only as potential resources.

Key plot points and events

• The Demon Race appears to lack Saint Realm experts, but it has an unusually large number of peak Quasi-Saints. Its past aid to the Human Race, along with Human support afterward, helped it grow into a formidable power.
• Daochen (the Demon Emperor) summons the demons to warn of a new threat: resentment left by the Three Thousand Demon Gods killed by Pangu has gathered around newly formed worlds. These resentful forces have found the Primordial World and are trying to break through its barrier.
• Since the barrier is holding for now, Daochen urges the Demon Race to prepare. He proposes adopting the Demon Realm’s approach: help Quasi-Saints advance to the Saint Realm, even if their foundations will need strengthening afterward.
• He offers to help peak Quasi-Saints break through and provide energy to assist those below that level. In return, he orders the demons to hunt down the gathered resentment.
• Kunpeng volunteers first. Daochen reveals the Great Dao to him, and Kunpeng begins his breakthrough amid sacred light.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen / the Demon Emperor takes a direct leadership role, explaining the danger and offering substantial aid to his people. His warm, sincere manner reinforces the demons’ loyalty, though he turns away awkwardly when they complain about their diminished status.
• The Demon Masters, Marshals, Generals, and soldiers voice frustration that powerful newcomers have made their old titles and authority less meaningful. Despite this, they respond to Daochen’s offer with devotion and resolve.
• Kunpeng steps forward confidently, becoming the first to accept the chance to reach the Saint Realm.
• The demons’ bond with the Emperor is portrayed as deeply personal: they believe their race’s future and significance depend on him, and they view his assistance as a life-changing gift.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and gratitude: The demons commit to Daochen because of his past importance and the opportunity he gives them.
• Power versus foundations: Rapidly increasing the number of Saint Realm experts strengthens the race, but skipping the Quasi-Saint accumulation stage leaves many with unstable foundations.
• Preparing for an approaching threat: The warning about the ancient resentment turns the Demon Race’s advancement into both a strategic response and a call to protect the Primordial World.

Key events

• Kunpeng, long stalled at the Peak Quasi-Saint Stage, finally begins breaking through. His breakthrough inspires Bai Ze, the Ten Great Demon Marshals, and many other Demon Race cultivators to follow.
• Daochen promises a Xiantian Spiritual Treasure—a Saint Weapon—to everyone who breaks through. The reward sparks a rush, but he warns those without sufficient cultivation not to force it and promises to guide them with individual Dao lectures.
• Dozens of qualified Quasi-Saints reach the Saint Realm. As their breakthroughs overlap, the Demon Realm’s Heavenly Dao mistakenly treats them as cooperating and gathers their tribulation lightning into one terrifying storm.
• Daochen’s desire to devour the lightning causes the Heavenly Dao, which is linked to him, to withdraw it. Realizing that the demons need lightning to temper their bodies, he summons a safer three-by-nine tribulation for each one and makes them endure it.

Character developments and interactions

• Kunpeng is the first to break through, becoming the catalyst for the Demon Race’s collective advance.
• Daochen shows both generosity and authority: he offers treasures and personal instruction, cautions against reckless breakthroughs, and ultimately ensures the demons receive physical training—even when they would rather avoid the pain.
• The other demons are first excited by the promised weapons, then alarmed by the merged tribulation, and finally forced to endure Daochen’s lightning baptism. Their reactions range from screams to angry and excited roars.

Significant themes

• Accumulation over haste: Daochen stresses that forcing a breakthrough without adequate preparation can damage one’s foundations.
• Leadership as protection and discipline: He supports the Demon Race’s growth while also imposing hardship he believes will benefit them.
• Power and the natural order: Daochen’s control over the Demon Realm’s Heavenly Dao lets him override ordinary tribulation rules.
• Growth through suffering: The lightning is painful but strengthens the demons’ bodies, which are especially important to their fighting ability.

Key plot points

• Daochen subjects the young demons to controlled three-nine tribulation lightning, using the ordeal to break their complacency and strengthen their bodies.
• He relents after Bai Ze pleads for them, though he still orders one final bolt. The demons survive and are soon promoted into the saint realm.
• Daochen warns them to stabilize their cultivation and build firm foundations rather than pursue rapid gains. Because they forced their breakthroughs through the Demon Realm Heavenly Dao, their potential is limited.
• Meanwhile, Heavenly Dao Hongjun and the Lord of Fate fail to divine Daochen’s location. They search the Primordial World and especially the Human lands, but arrive after he has left for the Ancient Barbarian Race. They then slip into the Demon Realm, whose defenses they find easy to bypass.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen acts as a harsh but protective mentor. He takes satisfaction in the demons’ complaints, but controls the lightning to avoid serious harm and wants them to grow stronger.
• The young demons plead, flatter Daochen, and promise to follow his teachings. Their ordeal reveals how sheltered and complacent they have become.
• Bai Ze intercedes on the demons’ behalf, prompting Daochen to show mercy while maintaining his lesson.
• Hongjun and the Lord of Fate are increasingly frustrated by their inability to locate Daochen, whose power prevents their divinations from succeeding.

Significant themes

• Adversity and vigilance: A life without danger can weaken even a powerful people; hardship can restore discipline.
• Self-earned strength versus shortcuts: Fuxi’s achievements and Xuanyuan’s choice to suppress his cultivation are contrasted with breakthroughs gained through external methods. Such shortcuts can leave unstable foundations and limit future growth.
• Leadership and protection: Daochen shields the demons from lasting harm while deliberately making them endure difficulty.
• The limits of potential: Talent and the way one cultivates matter; even intensive training cannot overcome every foundational limitation.

Key plot points and events

• After arriving in the Demon Realm, Heavenly Dao Hongjun and the Lord of Fate fail to find the Demon Emperor, who is still away with the Ancient Barbarian Race. They cannot get his help or guidance.
• The pair decide that the Primordial World’s only chance against the invading Resentment Aggregates is to unite every available force: the Demon, Buddha, Immortal, and Netherworld realms, the Human Race, the Ten Thousand Races Alliance, and hidden cultivators.
• Hongjun also worries that a greater power may be behind the invaders. Knowing the coalition may still be outmatched, he proposes seeking help from the Beyond Lands, the sanctuary where the Chaos Demon Gods live.
• Fate doubts that the Beyond Lands’ inhabitants will cooperate, since they are independent of the Heavenly Dao. Hongjun threatens to force them to contribute, even destroy their refuge if they refuse.
• Fate agrees to accompany him, and the two set out for the Beyond Lands. Their arrival alarms its inhabitants, who suspect they may be coming to attack. They invoke Pangu’s promise that the sanctuary would remain free from interference.

Character developments and interactions

• Heavenly Dao Hongjun shifts from frustration over the missing Demon Emperor to urgent, uncompromising action. He is willing to discard old restraints to gather support and recognizes how close the Primordial World is to destruction.
• The Lord of Fate shares Hongjun’s assessment that the crisis requires a united front. He sets aside his former plan to destroy the Human Race, though his support for coercing the Beyond Lands shows how ruthlessly he now prioritizes survival.
• The Chaos Demon Gods, including Daoist Shichen and the Lord of Destruction, are wary of Hongjun and Fate. Their envy of Luo Hou’s Demon Realm—and their desire for immortality through establishing worlds—helps explain their close attention to events in the Primordial World.
• Hongjun and Fate act as allies, while their impending confrontation with the Beyond Lands’ inhabitants creates tension between the need for cooperation and the threat of coercion.

Significant themes

• Unity in the face of existential danger: The threatened world must draw on every possible ally, including groups once kept at a distance.
• Power, authority, and autonomy: The Beyond Lands’ independence and Pangu’s promise conflict with Hongjun’s claim that survival overrides their freedom.
• Immortality and its costs: The Chaos Demon Gods covet world-making because it offers enduring life, even if it means being bound to a world.
• Desperation and moral compromise: As destruction looms, former enemies abandon plans and principles—but may replace diplomacy with force.

Key plot points and events

• The Beyond Lands’ Chaos Demon Gods cannot understand why the Heavenly Dao and Fate would turn against them, since doing so would seem to violate Pangu’s oath.
• Heavenly Dao Hongjun and the Lord of Fate arrive before several hundred gathered Demon Gods. Hongjun explains that the creation of many Microcosms has attracted the resentful remains of the three thousand Demon Gods slain by Pangu.
• These Resentment Aggregates are attacking the Primordial World’s barrier. Hongjun warns that they are effectively innumerable and that nearly all are Saint- or Pseudo-Sage-level threats.
• Fate bluntly demands that the Beyond Lands’ Demon Gods help destroy them, threatening to take them down along with the Primordial World if they refuse. Hongjun presents a calmer, more conciliatory version of the appeal.
• The Demon Gods agree to inspect the threat for themselves. Once they enter Chaos, they see the Resentment Aggregates gnawing at the Primordial World’s barrier and are shaken by the scale of the danger.

Character developments

• Hongjun presents himself as a responsible guardian acting on Pangu’s trust, and tries to persuade the Demon Gods through explanation and reassurance.
• The Lord of Fate is impatient and coercive, openly threatening the Demon Gods to secure their help.
• The Lord of Destruction responds pragmatically, recognizing that the Demon Gods have a stake in protecting their home and asking for details about the enemy.
• The gathered Demon Gods shift from skepticism and suspicion toward alarm once they witness the threat firsthand.

Significant themes

• Unity in the face of catastrophe: The danger is great enough to require cooperation among long-standing rivals.
• Duty and Pangu’s legacy: The conflict raises questions about preserving the world Pangu created and honoring his oath.
• Fear born of scale: The Demon Gods underestimate the danger until they see its seemingly endless numbers.
• Persuasion versus coercion: Hongjun’s measured appeal contrasts with Fate’s threats, revealing different approaches to securing allies.

Character interactions

• Hongjun explains the crisis while Fate pressures the Demon Gods to join the fight; their contrasting styles leave the group uneasy.
• The Demon Gods challenge the claim that the threat is serious, but the Lord of Destruction urges cooperation and seeks a clearer assessment.
• The group’s doubts give way to fear when Hongjun and Fate take them into Chaos and show them the attackers firsthand.

Plot points

• Heavenly Dao and the Lord of Fate bring the Chaos Demon Gods into Chaos, where Resentment Aggregates immediately attack them.
• The creatures are roughly Saint-level, numerous, and difficult to kill. The Lord of Destruction identifies their life cores as a weakness, but the cores are hard to locate, so the fighters must wear them down by force.
• Heavenly Dao and Fate deliberately let the Demon Gods take the brunt of the fighting, viewing it as overdue service to the Primordial World.
• After a grueling battle, the Demon Gods complain that they are being used as “free labor” and demand compensation. The Lord of Destruction agrees to raise the issue.
• Heavenly Dao and Fate instead call for a retreat to the Primordial World to rest, regroup, and plan. Fate warns that retreat is not permission to desert the coming fight.

Character developments and interactions

• The Lord of Destruction shows battlefield experience by recognizing the creatures’ cores as their likely weakness. He also becomes the Demon Gods’ spokesman when they turn their complaints on him.
• Heavenly Dao Hongjun and the Lord of Fate reveal that they intentionally recruited the Demon Gods to fight and regard the battle as a way to make them contribute. They coordinate closely, though Fate takes a harsher, more threatening stance.
• The Chaos Demon Gods begin stunned but fight together against the threat. Their fear and frustration eventually give way to resentment toward their leaders and suspicion that they have been manipulated.
• The group’s conflict shifts from cooperation against the Resentment Aggregates to a dispute over obligation, rewards, and the risk of abandoning the fight.

Significant themes

• Duty versus self-interest: The Demon Gods resist serving the Primordial World without compensation, while Heavenly Dao and Fate insist that the threat demands collective action.
• Manipulation and leadership: The Demon Gods were brought into battle without understanding the true purpose, raising questions about trust and consent.
• The cost of endless conflict: The creatures’ numbers and resilience make victory exhausting, especially when fighters cannot replenish their power in Chaos.
• Unity under threat: The approaching invasion may force cooperation, but the retreat ends with the group’s commitment still uncertain.

Key plot points and events

• After the battle, the Chaos Demon Gods struggle to disengage from the Resentment Aggregates. Hongjun stays behind to draw most of the creatures away, then senses that something is watching him. He finds no trace, but suspects some Resentment Aggregates possess intelligence.
• Back in the Primordial World, the Lord of Fate confirms he felt the same presence. The group recovers from the exhausting battle, while Hongjun warns the Demon Gods that the Lord of Fate’s tracking measures mean they cannot evade their obligation by fleeing.
• The Heavenly Dao calls a gathering of the Primordial World’s powerful experts. Since only Saint Realm beings can confront the crisis, the Chaos Demon Gods will be central to the response.
• To secure their cooperation, the Heavenly Dao promises that resolving the crisis will earn them merit and freedom to enter and leave the Primordial World. The Demon Gods welcome the offer and begin discussing ways to pursue influence and rewards.
• Their talk reveals that Devil Ancestor Luo Hou is recruiting Demon Gods with valuable Xiantian Spiritual Treasures. Hongjun and the Lord of Fate worry that Luo Hou is expanding his power and may create another crisis after the resentment threat is dealt with.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun takes responsibility for protecting the retreating group and remains alert to the possibility of intelligent enemies. He later tries to keep the Demon Gods committed through firm warnings and promised rewards.
• The Lord of Fate shares Hongjun’s suspicion about being watched and is especially wary of Luo Hou, who has previously undermined him.
• The Chaos Demon Gods, initially resentful and reluctant, become enthusiastic once merit and material benefits are offered. They joke about seeking status, interfering with rival factions, or joining Luo Hou.
• Hongjun and the Lord of Fate agree that the Devil Race must be brought into their alliance, but also recognize the danger of letting Luo Hou’s influence grow unchecked.

Significant themes

• Unity through necessity and reward: The Primordial World’s survival depends on powerful figures who may not cooperate out of loyalty, so the Heavenly Dao uses incentives as well as authority.
• A threat beyond appearances: The Resentment Aggregates may be more than mindless combatants, suggesting a deeper enemy behind the crisis.
• Power struggles amid catastrophe: Even as the world faces an existential danger, factions pursue influence, alliances, and personal gain—potentially sowing the seeds of future conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Heavenly Dao Hongjun and the Lord of Fate decide they need the elusive Demon Emperor Daochen to prepare the Primordial World for a possible Devil Race invasion. Hongjun will try to reach Daochen through Human Sovereign Fuxi; Fate, reluctant to approach Fuxi because of their hostile history, agrees to recruit Devil Ancestor Luo Hou and says the Buddha and Immortal Realms should also be secured.
• In the Demon Realm, Daochen completes the enhancement of 635 demons into Saint Realm experts. He organizes them into three balanced groups, with squads and companies, and trains them to fight the Resentment Aggregates.
• Daochen sends the army into the Chaos to destroy the creatures and collect their resentment cores. He conceals that he intends to absorb the cores’ power to advance his own cultivation.
• While Daochen prepares a formation to give the army a place to rest and regroup, a vast swarm of Resentment Aggregates charges toward them, forcing the demons to form ranks and prepare for battle.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun is practical and determined, while Fate is uneasy about asking for help from someone he once betrayed. Their discussion leads to a division of diplomatic responsibilities.
• Daochen emerges as a careful commander: he balances the forces, drills them, and plans tactics to limit casualties. Though confident in his strength, he warns the demons not to underestimate the danger.
• Veteran demons such as Kunpeng, Bai Ze, and the others are eager to prove themselves after reaching the Saint Realm, but the approaching swarm quickly turns their excitement to fear. They rely on Daochen’s leadership and try to hold formation as he finishes his preparations.

Significant themes

• Preparation and cooperation: Both the realm leaders and Daochen organize allies and resources against looming threats.
• Pride tempered by danger: The newly empowered demons’ confidence falters when confronted with the sheer number of enemies.
• Leadership and concealed motives: Daochen protects his troops through careful planning, even as he keeps his personal aim of absorbing the resentment cores hidden from them.

Plot points and events

• Surrounded by powerful Resentment Aggregates, Bai Ze urges the group to organize into defensive teams and hold out until Demon Emperor Daochen finishes a formation.
• Daochen mocks the group’s earlier bravado. Pressured by him, Kunpeng charges into the horde and uses his innate ability, Sky-Swallowing Whale, to swallow hundreds of the creatures into his Origin Space, where they will gradually dissipate and provide him with nourishment.
• Kunpeng briefly boasts about his feat, but the Resentment Aggregates swarm him without fear. He retreats to the group and resumes fighting.
• Daochen quickly completes a temporary foothold: the Human Race’s Stellar Five Elements Defense Formation, a powerful barrier the group can use while they remain in Chaos.

Character developments and interactions

• Bai Ze takes charge of battlefield coordination but is rattled by the enemies’ strength. His surprise at Daochen’s speed reveals how little he knows about formations.
• Kunpeng proves both capable and self-protective: he has a powerful swallowing technique, but avoids openly explaining how it works and retreats when the enemies surround him. Daochen’s taunting pushes him to demonstrate his strength.
• Daochen is confident, impatient, and adept at formations. He openly rebukes Bai Ze for failing to learn them when Daochen arranged for Fuxi to teach him.
• The group shifts from swaggering confidence to anxious reliance on Daochen’s protection, while still fighting together against the horde.

Significant themes

• Preparation and teamwork: Organized formations and coordinated defense matter more than individual bravado.
• Skill and missed opportunities: Bai Ze’s inability to learn formations is contrasted with Daochen’s mastery and the practical value of past training.
• Survival amid danger: Even impressive attacks cannot frighten the relentless, seemingly fearless Resentment Aggregates.
• Power and humility: Kunpeng’s boast is quickly undercut by the danger around him, while Daochen’s competence comes with sharp criticism of those who failed to prepare.

Key plot points and events

• Daochen reveals that the Human Sovereign had been asked to teach Bai Ze formations. Bai Ze admits he never cared for the subject and feels he disappointed the Demon Emperor.
• The Demon Race fights the Resentment Aggregates using Daochen’s tactics: two fighters restrain each creature while Bai Ze decapitates it and removes its Resentful Qi Core. The cores cannot be absorbed because they are shrouded in resentful qi, but Daochen asks that they be saved for his purposes.
• To sustain the prolonged battle, Daochen divides the fighters into three rotating groups. Bai Ze organizes his team effectively, while Kunpeng’s and Ji Meng’s groups are disordered and need Daochen’s intervention.
• Daochen trains the commanders, establishes rules, and makes Bai Ze responsible for the others. He then announces that he must leave to pursue his own goal: finding the intelligent being who watched him when he departed years ago.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen is a demanding but attentive leader. He recognizes the Demon Race’s shortcomings, patiently coaches them, and prioritizes their survival. He also acknowledges that he cannot remain to manage them indefinitely.
• Bai Ze shows humility about his lack of interest in formations, but proves capable as a battlefield organizer. Daochen trusts him with command, leaving him both honored and burdened.
• Kunpeng is embarrassed by his poor leadership and admits he is unfamiliar with his subordinates.
• Ji Meng, though powerful and sociable, also struggles to command effectively.
• Daochen repeatedly contrasts Bai Ze’s diligence with the others’ disorder, while the Demon Race members respect Bai Ze’s authority.

Significant themes

• Strength versus intelligence: The Demon Race is formidable physically but often lacks judgment, coordination, and leadership.
• Preparation and teamwork: Effective tactics, organization, and rest matter as much as individual power.
• Responsibility and succession: Daochen must teach others to function without him and entrusts Bai Ze with leadership.
• Humility and aptitude: Bai Ze’s failure in formations comes from disinterest, while his strengths emerge in management and command.

Key plot points and events

• Daochen leaves the others to deal with the Resentment Aggregates and punches his way through their encirclement. Though difficult to destroy, the creatures largely ignore him and focus on a fissure leading toward the Primordial World.
• Daochen reasons that the aggregates are driven by instinct and dependent on the Primordial World, then follows the trail of resentful energy into Chaos to find its source.
• In the Primordial World, Heavenly Dao Hongjun visits the Human Race, which is on guard and prepared for war. Human Sovereign Xuanyuan challenges him, insisting the Human Race has no quarrel with the Heavenly Dao.
• Hongjun pressures Xuanyuan with a Sage’s aura, but the Human Path’s Fortune Golden Dragon appears and dispels it, protecting the Human Sovereign.
• Xuanyuan defends that protection as justified by his responsibility and devotion to his people, while accusing Hongjun of selfishly seeking freedom from the Heavenly Dao and neglecting the world’s inhabitants.
• Enraged, Hongjun prepares to attack. Fuxi and Shennong intervene diplomatically but remain ready to fight. Devil Ancestor Luo Hou arrives and mocks Hongjun for hesitating to attack the Human Race.

Character developments and interactions

• Daochen acts independently and analytically: he prioritizes escaping the swarm and investigating its origin rather than fighting endlessly.
• Xuanyuan shows boldness and fierce loyalty to humanity, confronting Hongjun despite the danger. His defiance reveals the Human Sovereign’s confidence in the Human Path’s protection.
• Hongjun shifts from curiosity to wounded pride and anger. He is unsettled by the Human Path’s intervention and Xuanyuan’s accusations, yet hesitates when facing the Human Race’s united resistance.
• Fuxi and Shennong attempt to prevent immediate bloodshed, apologizing on Xuanyuan’s behalf while signaling that they will defend their people.
• Luo Hou exploits the tension, taunting Hongjun publicly.
• The Human Path’s Fortune Golden Dragon acts protectively toward Xuanyuan, contrasting with Hongjun’s self-interested conduct.

Significant themes

• Instinct versus reason: Daochen sees the Resentment Aggregates as governed by instinct rather than understanding.
• Leadership and responsibility: Xuanyuan argues that a ruler’s devotion to the people makes the Human Path’s support fair.
• Power and legitimacy: The Human Race’s growing strength and divine protection challenge the Heavenly Dao’s assumed authority.
• Selflessness versus self-interest: Xuanyuan condemns Hongjun for seeking personal freedom while disregarding the world’s living beings.
• Conflict held in check: Both sides approach violence, but mutual strength and political caution prevent an immediate clash.

Plot points and events

• Heavenly Dao Hongjun confronts Devil Ancestor Luo Hou, suspecting he had tried to use Hongjun against the Human Race. Luo Hou denies it and calls out the Lord of Fate, who has been nearby.
• The Lord of Fate explains that he intervened to prevent a fight. The powerful figures must conserve their strength because countless dangerous Resentment Aggregates are gathering in Chaos and threaten the Primordial World.
• Hongjun reveals that he came to the Human Race to contact Demon Emperor Daochen, who has disappeared. The group needs his help against the Resentment Aggregates.
• Human Sovereign Fuxi agrees to try to reach Daochen. To show him the danger is real, Hongjun and the Lord of Fate take him beyond Chaos, where he sees the vast mass of Resentment Aggregates.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun shifts from suspicion and anger toward practical cooperation, recognizing that the Human Race is too valuable to antagonize.
• Luo Hou maintains a deferential, joking tone, denying hostile intent and helping reveal the Lord of Fate’s presence.
• The Lord of Fate acts as mediator and emphasizes the urgency of preserving powerful allies.
• Fuxi is cautious and aware of his limits, but accepts the request and the trip once he understands its importance. His shock at the threat is the chapter’s closing beat.
• The encounter underscores the uneasy cooperation among these powerful figures: they question and distrust one another, yet the larger crisis requires them to work together.

Significant themes

• Cooperation in the face of catastrophe: Even rivals must preserve their strength and join forces against a threat to the world.
• The Human Race’s growing importance: Protected by the Human Path, its Sages may be stronger than expected, making the race an essential ally rather than an easy target.
• The scale of hidden danger: The Resentment Aggregates reveal that the threat extends far beyond ordinary conflicts within the Primordial World.