Chapter Summaries

Plot points

• Kunpeng meets Zhunti and Jieyin at Mount Sumeru and proposes a way to erase the karmic debt they owe Hong Yun for his primordial violet qi.
• He plans to kill Hong Yun and take the qi, arguing Hong Yun is unfit to become a Sage. He dismisses the other known strand as likely destined for Tongtian.
• Zhunti and Jieyin fear that attacking Hong Yun would bring Heavenly Dao backlash. Kunpeng offers a workaround: they need only lure Hong Yun out of Wuzhuang Temple and hold Zhen Yuanzi back while Kunpeng handles Hong Yun himself.
• Tempted by the chance to escape their debt without directly attacking Hong Yun, the two agree, though they seek Kunpeng’s assurance that the plan will work.
• At Wuzhuang Temple, Hong Yun snacks on Zhen Yuanzi’s ginseng fruits while avoiding the outside world. Zhen Yuanzi rebukes him for idling rather than cultivating. Zhunti and Jieyin then arrive, asking for Hong Yun.

Character developments and interactions

• Kunpeng is calculating and manipulative. He recognizes Zhunti and Jieyin’s evasiveness, plays along, and exploits their desire to escape their obligation.
• Zhunti and Jieyin are initially cautious and reluctant, citing the danger of karmic backlash. They become willing to cooperate once Kunpeng limits their role to luring Hong Yun out and delaying Zhen Yuanzi.
• Hong Yun remains carefree and complacent, spending his time eating despite Zhen Yuanzi’s warnings to stay hidden and focus on the violet qi.
• Zhen Yuanzi acts protectively toward Hong Yun, having sheltered him because he fears others will target him. His irritation at Hong Yun’s idleness contrasts with his concern for his friend.
• Kunpeng negotiates with Zhunti and Jieyin by identifying what they fear, while Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun’s familiar banter shows their close, informal relationship.

Significant themes

• Self-interest and hypocrisy: Kunpeng sees through Zhunti and Jieyin’s pretense, while they seek a way to settle their debt without accepting the consequences of direct action.
• Power, fate, and ambition: The primordial violet qi—and the prospect of Sagehood—drives the scheme and determines who is considered a target.
• Karmic responsibility: The characters look for ways to escape the cost of past actions, raising the question of whether indirect involvement truly absolves them.
• Complacency versus caution: Zhen Yuanzi urges vigilance and cultivation, while Hong Yun’s relaxed habits leave him vulnerable just as danger approaches.

Plot points and events

• Zhunti and Jieyin arrive at Wuzhuang Temple. Zhen Yuanzi distrusts their visit, but Hong Yun welcomes them, convinced they mean no harm because they owe him a great karmic debt.
• The pair thank Hong Yun for giving up his seat at Purple Cloud Palace, while Hong Yun responds with cheerful modesty that still comes across as self-satisfied.
• Zhunti and Jieyin ask whether Hong Yun has made progress understanding the Primordial Violet Qi. He admits he has made none, as they have. His answer confirms that he poses no special threat to their plans.
• After extending a polite invitation to visit Mount Sumeru, Hong Yun offers to see them out. Zhen Yuanzi cannot prevent the group from leaving the temple.
• Outside the gates, Kunpeng suddenly attacks, roaring that Hong Yun’s life belongs to him.

Character developments and interactions

• Hong Yun remains trusting and buoyant, mistaking formal courtesy for genuine goodwill. His confidence and lack of caution leave him vulnerable.
• Zhen Yuanzi grows increasingly alarmed. He recognizes the danger in the visitors’ behavior and tries to protect Hong Yun, but his friend repeatedly ignores his warnings.
• Zhunti and Jieyin maintain a respectful façade while privately testing Hong Yun and deciding he can be eliminated. They manipulate his hospitality to get him outside.
• The contrast between Zhen Yuanzi’s caution and Hong Yun’s naïveté drives their tense interactions; Zhunti and Jieyin exploit Hong Yun’s openness.

Significant themes

• Naïveté versus vigilance: Hong Yun’s faith in others blinds him to clear warning signs.
• Deceptive courtesy: Polite words and gestures conceal Zhunti and Jieyin’s hostile intentions.
• Fate and vulnerability: Despite Hong Yun’s belief that Sagehood lies ahead, the sudden attack suggests his future may be cut short.

Key plot points and events

• Kunpeng ambushes Hong Yun, demanding the primordial violet qi he believes Hong Yun took from him. His first strike badly injures Hong Yun.
• Zhen Yuanzi tries to intervene, but Zhunti and Jieyin block him under the pretense of wanting to discuss the Dao. Zhen Yuanzi suspects they are helping Kunpeng and attacks, but cannot get past them.
• Kunpeng overwhelms Hong Yun and offers to spare his true spirit if Hong Yun gives up the violet qi. Hong Yun refuses, accusing Zhunti and Jieyin of conspiring against him.
• Rather than surrender, Hong Yun detonates himself, creating a vast explosion. Kunpeng escapes without finding the violet qi.
• Zhen Yuanzi realizes Hong Yun is dead. Zhunti and Jieyin withdraw, leaving him furious and powerless. Hong Yun’s death also alarms the other holders of primordial violet qi, who emerge from secluded cultivation.

Character developments and interactions

• Hong Yun moves from confidence in his destiny as a Heaven-Appointed Sage to fear and regret, then makes a final, defiant choice rather than let Kunpeng take the violet qi.
• Zhen Yuanzi proves loyal to his friend, risking himself to intervene. He recognizes Zhunti and Jieyin’s duplicity but cannot save Hong Yun, and is left grieving and enraged.
• Kunpeng acts from resentment over losing the chance to obtain the violet qi. Though he nearly kills Hong Yun, he retreats after the explosion, concerned that his actions will make him a target.
• Zhunti and Jieyin conceal their connection to Kunpeng and deliberately keep Zhen Yuanzi occupied. Their satisfaction at Hong Yun’s death reveals their self-serving motives, though they avoid directly attacking him.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and self-interest: Supposed allies manipulate events for personal gain.
• Fate versus choice: Hong Yun’s belief that he is destined to become a Sage cannot protect him, but he retains agency in choosing not to surrender.
• Friendship and helplessness: Zhen Yuanzi’s loyalty is genuine, yet even his efforts cannot overcome the forces arrayed against Hong Yun.
• The cost of ambition: The struggle for the primordial violet qi leads to deception, violence, and catastrophic loss.

Plot points and events

• After Hong Yun dies, Zhen Yuanzi grieves, regrets failing to protect his friend, and returns to Wuzhuang Temple for secluded cultivation. He reflects that Hong Yun’s pursuit of the primordial violet qi—and the Sagehood it promised—was a perilous mistake.
• Hong Yun’s death jolts Laozi and Yuanshi from seclusion. Neither has made progress studying the primordial violet qi, and the news makes them fear that others will soon pursue it more aggressively. They decide to visit their younger brother, Xu Tong.
• Xu Tong is unsurprised by Hong Yun’s fate. He believes the primordial violet qi is dangerous without Hongjun’s protection and that personal strength is the only reliable safeguard.
• Laozi and Yuanshi ask Xu Tong about his cultivation. Xu Tong gives only a brief, guarded answer, frustrating Laozi’s attempt to learn more. The brothers leave without resolving the growing distance between them.
• Xu Tong returns to cultivation. Having reached the peak of the quasi-sage realm, he plans to refine the Chaos Bead and use it, together with the Sage Dao Field’s concealment, to hide his breakthrough to the primordial Daluo Golden Immortal Realm from Hongjun.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhen Yuanzi is devastated by Hong Yun’s death and turns inward, lamenting both his friend’s choices and his own inability to save him.
• Laozi and Yuanshi become anxious and doubtful after realizing their study of the primordial violet qi has yielded nothing. Laozi tries to draw information from Xu Tong; Yuanshi is displeased by Xu Tong’s initial delay in answering but follows Laozi’s lead.
• Xu Tong remains confident in his judgment and increasingly independent of his brothers. He deliberately withholds details about his progress and prepares to advance without attracting Hongjun’s attention.
• The visit reveals that the brothers are “drifting farther and farther apart,” underscoring how Xu Tong’s cultivation and priorities are separating him from Laozi and Yuanshi.

Significant themes

• Power and survival: Status or a promised path to Sagehood cannot substitute for strength and protection.
• Dangerous ambition: The primordial violet qi brings peril as well as opportunity.
• Secrecy and self-reliance: Xu Tong protects his plans and relies on his own resources rather than trusting others.
• Growing estrangement: Shared ties among the brothers cannot overcome their diverging paths and interests.

Key plot points and events

• After Hong Yun’s death, Di Jun orders an investigation into both the killer and the missing primordial violet qi. Kunpeng fears his role will be exposed but believes only Zhunti, Jieyin, and the secluded Zhen Yuanzi know the truth.
• Hongjun takes little interest in Hong Yun’s death, but sees it as a sign that the Witch–Demon conflict is nearing another escalation.
• The two tribes’ skirmishes grow into devastating battles, and their struggle increasingly becomes a war of mutual destruction rather than a contest over the violet qi.
• In seclusion, Xu Tong finishes refining the Chaos Bead’s first restriction and explores its inner realm. He discovers that the World Tree Sprout he had placed inside has grown into a seedling bearing three thousand unfinished worlds.
• He realizes the Force Dao seed has generated the beginnings of the three thousand Great Dao laws. Together, the seed, World Tree, and unopened Chaos Bead have formed a nascent chaos world with the potential to surpass the Primordial World.
• Inspired by the world’s laws and their interaction with the World Tree, Xu Tong begins rapidly advancing beyond the peak of quasi-sage. Meanwhile, the thousand-year mark approaches, and those bearing primordial violet qi continue searching for their opportunities.

Character developments and interactions

• Di Jun responds to uncertainty with an official investigation, determined to personally question whoever killed Hong Yun.
• Kunpeng becomes increasingly anxious about being implicated. He privately assesses who knows his secret and relies on their shared interests to protect him.
• Hongjun remains detached from Hong Yun’s fate, viewing the death mainly as a sign of larger events to come.
• Xu Tong moves from surprise to exhilaration as he grasps the significance of his discovery. His confidence in reaching the next realm grows, reinforcing his decision to stay out of the world’s conflicts.
• The chapter highlights indirect interactions: Di Jun’s decree alarms Kunpeng; the Witch and Demon tribes intensify their conflict; and Xu Tong’s cultivation resonates with the laws and World Tree within the Chaos Bead.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and political danger: Kunpeng’s hidden pursuit of the violet qi could be interpreted as a threat to Di Jun’s rule.
• War’s escalation: The Witch–Demon conflict consumes both sides, eclipsing the original prize and ravaging the world.
• Seclusion and opportunity: Xu Tong’s withdrawal from worldly affairs allows him to make a breakthrough discovery while others remain caught in conflict.
• Creation and growth: The Chaos Bead’s emerging laws and three thousand worlds suggest that a new cosmos can develop through the harmony of its foundational forces.

Plot and key events

• After a thousand years of cultivation, Xu Tong breaks through to the primordial Daluo Golden Immortal realm by mastering the evolution of the three thousand worlds. His strength now exceeds that of ordinary Sages, though he remains far below Hongjun, who has reached the realm of Dao integration.
• A system prompt offers three rewards for his next choice. Despite being tempted by powerful treasures, Xu Tong chooses to remain in seclusion, reasoning that survival matters more than displaying his strength. He receives twelve Divine Refining Pills, which can nourish and potentially form a primordial spirit, but stores them for later.
• Xu Tong resolves to continue cultivating toward the limitless primordial Daluo Golden Immortal realm, believing that greater strength may eventually let him face Hongjun.
• Meanwhile, the Witch Clan and Demon Tribe begin an all-out war. The Demon Tribe suffers a severe defeat because the Witch Clan’s bodies withstand many attacks. After failing to find either Hong Yun’s or Xu Tong’s primordial violet qi, Di Jun also gives up on targeting Nuwa, protected by her powerful connections and status.
• Emboldened by their battlefield advantage, the Twelve Ancestral Witches consider destroying the Demon Tribe and claiming dominion over the world. Dijiang ultimately orders the campaign to exterminate them.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong has achieved a major breakthrough but remains cautious. His confidence is tempered by his awareness of Hongjun’s superior realm and treasures; he chooses long-term survival and cultivation over immediate recognition. He briefly admires the pills but sets them aside.
• Di Jun learns that the Demon Tribe cannot withstand the Witch Clan in direct combat and abandons his plan to target Nuwa after judging her too well protected.
• Gonggong urges an immediate victory, arguing that ruling the world would grant the Witch Clan immense fortune and power.
• Dijiang, initially silent, is persuaded by the prospect of supremacy and gives the order for total war.

Significant themes

• Perseverance and ambition: Xu Tong’s breakthrough comes only after a thousand years of effort, and he remains focused on reaching a higher realm.
• Caution over pride: Rather than show off his new power, Xu Tong prioritizes staying alive in a dangerous world.
• Power and political ambition: The Witch Clan sees dominion and worldly fortune as a way to overcome its inability to cultivate primordial spirits or become Sages.
• The consequences of imbalance: The Witch Clan’s physical advantage turns the conflict into a rout and encourages an escalation that threatens the Demon Tribe’s survival.

Key plot points

• The Witch Clan overwhelms the Demon Tribe until Hongjun intervenes. He decrees that witches will rule the earth and demons the heavens, and forbids them from fighting for a thousand years.
• Hongjun announces his third sermon, which will explain the Dao of Sages. Many powerful figures—including Nuwa, Fuxi, Zhunti, Jieyin, Laozi, and Yuanshi—head to the Purple Cloud Palace.
• Xu Tong refuses Laozi and Yuanshi’s invitation, insisting that his Dao lies elsewhere. He stays in seclusion, confident that the Sage’s path is not relevant to him.
• Di Jun, shaken by the Demon Tribe’s defeat, sees becoming a Sage as the only way to overcome the witches. The Eastern Emperor persuades him to attend the sermon.
• Dijiang plans to bring all twelve Ancestral Witches to the palace, partly to keep Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor from gaining power. Houtu privately wonders whether the Witch Clan might also have a path to Sagehood.
• Xu Tong anticipates that Hongjun may confront him for skipping the sermon and takes out the Chaos Bead to prepare.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun demonstrates the overwhelming gap between a Sage and the tribes, imposing peace through authority alone.
• Xu Tong remains independent and dismissive of the Sage’s Dao, while recognizing that the rise of the Six Heavenly Sages may threaten his advantage. He prepares for possible trouble from Hongjun.
• Di Jun shifts from despair over the Demon Tribe’s weakness to an intense determination to become a Sage, encouraged by the Eastern Emperor.
• Dijiang responds to the Witch Clan’s victory by looking for ways to preserve its advantage, including obstructing the Demon Tribe’s leaders.
• Houtu quietly questions whether the Witch Clan’s prospects are as limited as others assume.
• Laozi invites Xu Tong to the sermon partly to test whether Hongjun can identify Xu Tong’s cultivation method; Xu Tong declines, frustrating Laozi and Yuanshi.

Significant themes

• Power and hierarchy: Hongjun’s effortless intervention reveals how far the tribes—and even the Ancestral Witches—stand below a Sage.
• Competing paths to power: Many characters look to Sagehood, while Xu Tong rejects that route and follows his own Dao.
• Fear and ambition: The Demon Tribe’s defeat turns Di Jun’s desire for strength into an obsession with becoming a Sage.
• Political rivalry: The thousand-year truce pauses the conflict but does not resolve the witches’ and demons’ struggle for supremacy.

Plot and key events

• At Hongjun’s next lecture in the Purple Cloud Palace, the major powers attend, but Tongtian is absent for the third time. Hongjun intended to use the lecture to draw Tongtian out and bring him under control.
• Tongtian—called Xu Tong in the narration—has become a primordial Daluo Golden Immortal, allowing him to comprehend the Great Dao despite Hongjun’s growing control over the Heavenly Dao. He hides this breakthrough and strengthens his cultivation grounds against divination.
• The system offers three choices. Xu Tong selects the option to stay put, earning nine heavens breathing soil, a material crucial to Nuwa’s future creation of humanity. He decides it could serve as leverage to secure a karmic debt from Hongjun.
• Hongjun probes Xu Tong’s retreat with the Jade Disc of Creation, but the defenses of the Sage Dao Field and the Chaos Bead block him. Unable to learn what Xu Tong is hiding—and unwilling to risk harming his merger with the Heavenly Dao—Hongjun gives up for now.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong/Tongtian grows more confident and strategic: he conceals his true cultivation, anticipates Hongjun’s reaction, and treats the breathing soil as a bargaining chip rather than merely a reward.
• Hongjun becomes increasingly frustrated and suspicious. He assumes Tongtian is simply neglecting cultivation, then grows wary when his probing fails.
• The gathered forces, including Di Jun, the Eastern Emperor, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches, keep their hostility contained because Hongjun has ordered a thousand-year truce.

Significant themes

• Concealed power and misjudgment: Hongjun underestimates Tongtian’s breakthrough and mistakes secrecy for stagnation.
• Resistance to control: Tongtian’s ability to cultivate beyond the Heavenly Dao’s restrictions challenges Hongjun’s authority.
• Leverage and consequence: The breathing soil may give Tongtian bargaining power, but its importance to humanity and the future of the world makes keeping it potentially dangerous.
• Strategic restraint: Hongjun backs off because using the Heavenly Dao’s power could jeopardize his own merger with it.

Plot points and events

• Hongjun fails to probe Xu Tong’s Dao Field and reluctantly withdraws, threatening to deal with him after completing Dao integration.
• Xu Tong is relieved that his preparations blocked Hongjun’s divination. Confident that his creation merit protects him from being attacked outright, he decides to remain in seclusion and avoid the witch-demon conflict.
• Xu Tong plans to use his possession of the nine heavens breathing soil as leverage when Nuwa is ready to create humanity: if Hongjun’s terms are unacceptable, he will delay cooperating.
• At Purple Cloud Palace, Hongjun’s failed divination leaves the assembled figures wondering what could resist him. The Witch Clan and Demon Tribe both resolve to find and recruit the mysterious expert.
• Laozi suspects that Hongjun was probing Tongtian, who has repeatedly missed the sermons, but dismisses the idea as unlikely.
• Hongjun begins his third sermon and explains the path to Sagehood. Afterward, he declares that becoming a Sage means following Heaven’s will.
• Xu Tong hears the declaration and interprets it as Hongjun’s attempt to pressure him into obedience. He rejects the message and returns to cultivating in seclusion.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong remains wary and independent: rather than confront Hongjun, he relies on his defenses, merit, and strategic patience.
• Hongjun is frustrated by his inability to investigate Xu Tong, but continues to exert influence through his sermon.
• Laozi grows suspicious that Tongtian is connected to Hongjun’s probing, though he cannot reconcile the idea with the power gap between them.
• The gathered Witch Clan and Demon Tribe members briefly share a goal: locating and winning over whoever can resist Hongjun.

Significant themes

• Resistance to control: Xu Tong refuses to become Hongjun’s pawn and chooses withdrawal over obedience.
• Power, secrecy, and leverage: Xu Tong’s defenses and possession of the breathing soil give him bargaining power, while Hongjun’s failed divination sparks speculation.
• The meaning of Heaven’s will: Hongjun presents Sagehood as following Heaven, but Xu Tong suspects he is disguising his own desire for control as heavenly authority.

Key plot points and events

• After Hongjun’s thousand-year lecture on the Dao of Sages, the audience admits nothing aloud, though most understood little.
• Fuxi asks whether the number of Sage positions is fixed. Hongjun explains that the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Zhunti, and Jieyin each have destined routes to Sagehood; the primordial violet qi is granted to those able to attain it, not a prize that makes anyone a Sage.
• Fuxi’s question comes from concern for Nuwa’s safety: he fears Di Jun might try to seize her violet qi and hopes to head off that danger.
• Houtu asks whether the Witch Clan can attain the Dao. Hongjun says its destined opportunity has not yet arrived.
• The gathered immortals plead for their own path to transcendence. Hongjun says that whoever becomes the leading force of heaven and earth can gather sufficient fortune to stand equal to the Sages, then disappears.
• Di Jun, the Eastern Emperor, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches recognize the implication: the Witch and Demon Clans may soon fight for supremacy.

Character developments

• Fuxi shows himself to be protective and politically cautious, seeking security for Nuwa.
• Nuwa remains detached from the Demon Tribe’s conflicts, while her future Sagehood is affirmed.
• Houtu takes the initiative to ask about the Witch Clan’s prospects, though her opportunity remains in the future.
• Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor grow anxious at the Witch Clan’s potential path to power.
• Dijiang is pleased by the prospect that the Demon Tribe cannot rely on a Sage to dominate the Witch Clan.
• Kunpeng remains bitter that he has no path to Sagehood.
• Hongjun stays aloof, revealing only enough to redirect the assembly toward a struggle for worldly supremacy.

Significant themes

• Destiny and entitlement: Sagehood depends on predetermined qualifications and opportunities, not simply possession of primordial violet qi.
• Power through fortune: A clan may rival Sages by becoming the dominant force of heaven and earth.
• Political rivalry and insecurity: The prospect of a Witch–Demon contest quickly replaces the assembly’s hope of individual advancement.
• Indifference of authority: Hongjun’s silence and departure underscore how little the powerful are obliged to answer the pleas of others.

Character interactions

• Fuxi’s question draws the assembly’s attention and prompts Hongjun to clarify who may become a Sage.
• Houtu’s question unsettles Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor, who fear the Witch Clan’s growing advantages.
• Dijiang silently mocks the Demon leaders, while the two sides exchange wary looks after Hongjun’s final pronouncement.

Key plot points and events

• After the third lecture at the Purple Cloud Palace, Hongjun announces that he will merge with the Heavenly Dao and leave his spiritual treasures on the Treasure Distribution Cliff for anyone with the right affinity.
• In secret, Hongjun intends to provoke the Witch Clan and Demon Tribe into fighting over supremacy. He knows the Heavenly Dao has already chosen the human race as its future central protagonist, so neither rival can truly claim that role.
• Irritated that Tongtian stayed away and repeatedly thwarted him, Hongjun places the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords at the front of the cliff, hoping to spite Tongtian.
• The swords attack the first arrivals, Laozi and Yuanshi, then lash out at everyone else. Unable to get past them, the cultivators abandon the treasure hunt. Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor leave first; Laozi, Yuanshi, Zhunti, and Jieyin also retreat.
• The failed distribution earns Hongjun widespread ridicule. Laozi and Yuanshi later tell Xu Tong what happened, and he struggles not to laugh.
• Hongjun begins his Dao integration, while the Witch Clan and Demon Tribe prepare for their coming struggle. Nuwa, Laozi, and the others feel more secure now that they have been recognized as future Sages. Xu Tong continues cultivating peacefully.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun reveals himself as calculating and spiteful: he uses the prospect of supremacy to fuel conflict and places the swords to punish Tongtian indirectly. His plan backfires when the swords prevent anyone from claiming the treasures.
• Laozi and Yuanshi show greed by trying to seize the swords despite their obvious danger; after failing, they return to Xu Tong with the story.
• Zhunti and Jieyin are equally unwilling to give up the treasures, but repeated failed attempts force them to leave.
• Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor recognize the danger and withdraw rather than keep risking themselves.
• Xu Tong remains detached from the scramble and amused by Hongjun’s failure.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and destiny: Hongjun tries to steer the Witch Clan and Demon Tribe toward conflict, but the Heavenly Dao has already determined the human race’s future role.
• Greed and its consequences: The cultivators’ eagerness to seize treasures turns the gathering into chaos and leaves them empty-handed.
• Irony and unintended consequences: Hongjun’s attempt to spite Tongtian—and his supposed generosity—results in a humiliating failure and damages his reputation.
• Power and security: Recognition as future Sages reassures Nuwa, Laozi, and the others, while the rival clans remain poised for conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Tong learns that Hongjun’s attempt to distribute the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords has backfired: the swords now protect the Treasure Distribution Cliff, keeping many important treasures from their intended future recipients. Xu Tong expects this disruption to complicate Hongjun’s plans, but decides the swords would make their holder a target and returns to secluded cultivation.
• After Hongjun’s thousand-year ban on fighting expires, the Witch Clan and Demon Tribe resume expanding. They divide nearly all the Primordial World between them, stopping short of attacking each other because neither is sure it can defeat the other. Their uneasy peace seems likely to end in a final war.
• Nuwa, still unable to draw guidance from the primordial violet qi, talks with her brother Fuxi about the approaching conflict. Wishing there were more races rather than only one dominant people, she suddenly realizes her Dao: creating races.
• Nuwa tries to make a new race from mud, but the figures collapse. Ordinary mud cannot withstand the Heavenly Dao’s power, and attempts with other materials fail as well.

Character developments

• Xu Tong remains cautious and self-interested. He takes satisfaction in Hongjun’s disrupted plans but avoids the dangerous swords and withdraws from worldly affairs.
• Nuwa moves from discouragement over her stalled cultivation to a sudden revelation about her purpose. Her compassion for a world dominated by conflict inspires her to create another race.
• Fuxi is supportive and protective, sharing Nuwa’s hopes while offering practical advice when her first attempts fail.

Significant themes

• Destiny and disrupted plans: Xu Tong’s intervention changes the expected flow of treasures and future events, potentially undermining Hongjun’s designs.
• Power and danger: The swords’ immense strength makes them a liability as well as a prize; great power attracts enemies.
• Conflict and coexistence: The Witch Clan and Demon Tribe’s expansion leaves little room for others, while Nuwa imagines a more diverse world.
• Purpose through compassion: Nuwa’s concern about a lonely, war-torn world leads her toward her Dao.

Character interactions

• Xu Tong privately mocks Hongjun’s miscalculation, then chooses not to involve himself further.
• Fuxi asks Nuwa about her progress and warns that the two great races may soon fight; Nuwa responds with concern for those who would suffer.
• After Nuwa announces her insight, Fuxi eagerly encourages her and suggests trying different materials when her mud creations fail.

Key plot points

• Nuwa repeatedly fails to create a new race, despite believing that doing so is the path to becoming a Sage. Fuxi suggests she divine what materials she needs, but her divination is blocked by chaotic heavenly secrets.
• Meanwhile, Laozi, Yuanshi, Zhunti, and Jieyin all sense that the time has come for them to attain the Dao, yet none knows how. They realize something is preventing the expected progress.
• Xu Tong understands that the missing ingredient is the nine-heavens breathing soil, which he has withheld. He ignores the Heavenly Dao’s summons and continues cultivating, expecting Hongjun to negotiate with him.
• After a hundred years of Nuwa’s continued failures, the four other cultivators visit her at Buzhou Mountain. Nuwa reveals that she knows the general path to Sagehood but cannot complete it. Laozi suggests asking their teacher, Hongjun, for guidance.

Character developments and interactions

• Nuwa remains determined but increasingly frustrated by her inability to create life. She confides in Fuxi, who tries to help and comfort her, then openly explains her problem to the visiting cultivators.
• Fuxi is supportive and practical, proposing divination as a way to identify what Nuwa lacks.
• Laozi shows caution and initiative: recognizing that the others may share his predicament, he consults Yuanshi and later leads the group to Nuwa.
• Yuanshi, Zhunti, and Jieyin are likewise unsettled by the Heavenly Dao’s prompting and join Laozi in searching for a solution.
• Xu Tong remains confident and deliberately withholds the key material, treating the other cultivators’ stalled progress as part of his plan.
• The chapter’s central interaction is the four cultivators comparing their confusion with Nuwa’s partial knowledge; their conversation ends with Hongjun identified as their next possible source of answers.

Significant themes

• Knowledge versus means: Knowing the path to a goal is useless without the necessary materials.
• Frustrated destiny: The cultivators sense that their appointed moment has arrived, but events cannot proceed as expected.
• Hidden leverage and delayed progress: Xu Tong’s possession of the missing soil gives him control over when the others can advance.
• Cooperation in uncertainty: The cultivators seek answers by sharing their experiences, even though their discussion yields no immediate solution.

Plot points and events

• Laozi, Nuwa, and the other future Sages visit Hongjun because none of them has attained the Dao. Nuwa has understood the method but cannot complete it; the others cannot identify their own paths.
• Hongjun realizes their failure explains why his integration with the Heavenly Dao has stalled. In the expected course of events, Nuwa’s creation of humanity should have enabled the other Sages to advance.
• Nuwa explains that she lacks something necessary. Hongjun’s ordinary divination—and then the Jade Disc of Creation—cannot reveal what it is.
• Desperate, Hongjun risks using the Heavenly Dao’s power through the Jade Disc. He finally sees that Xu Tong has the missing nine heavens breathing soil, the material Nuwa needs to create humanity.

Character developments and interactions

• Hongjun shifts from detached, mechanical calm to alarm and frustration when he learns the Sages have not advanced. Though wary of harming his cultivation, he risks drawing on the Heavenly Dao to uncover the obstacle.
• Laozi speaks for the group, openly admitting their difficulties rather than protecting their pride.
• Nuwa candidly explains her incomplete understanding, giving Hongjun a lead to investigate.
• Xu Tong, though absent from the meeting, is revealed as the hidden cause of the blockage: his growing concealment powers have kept Hongjun from locating the soil.

Significant themes

• Interdependence of fate and ambition: Hongjun’s Dao Integration depends on the other Sages progressing, while Nuwa’s task depends on a missing object.
• The danger of disrupting the destined order: Without humanity, the expected balance of power and events—including the Witch-Slaying Sword—may never occur.
• Limits of knowledge and power: Even Hongjun and the Jade Disc cannot penetrate Xu Tong’s concealment without drawing on the Heavenly Dao.
• Composure under pressure: Hongjun’s professed detachment collapses when his own plans are threatened.

Plot points and events

• Xu Tong anticipates that Hongjun will investigate him, so he removes the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil from the Chaos Bead, preventing Hongjun from discovering the bead itself.
• Hongjun confirms that Xu Tong possesses the soil Nuwa needs to become a Sage. His Heavenly Dao power is exhausted, so he goes in person to Kunlun Mountain to request an audience.
• Xu Tong worries that meeting Hongjun could expose his cultivation—or leave him vulnerable to an attack. He also knows he cannot keep the soil indefinitely without provoking Hongjun and the Heavenly Dao.
• The system offers three choices. Xu Tong rejects handing over the soil immediately or refusing Hongjun outright, and chooses to remain in seclusion, earning the fully mastered divine ability One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones.
• Xu Tong creates three peak Quasi-Sage avatars and uses the Chaos Bead to shield the area from Hongjun’s probing. One avatar—chosen because it most resembles Xu Tong—goes out to meet Hongjun.

Character developments

• Xu Tong acts cautiously and strategically: he recognizes the danger of both compliance and defiance, then uses the system’s reward to create a safer way to negotiate.
• Hongjun is visibly unsettled by the situation. Although he approaches Xu Tong politely as a “fellow Daoist,” his resentment grows because Xu Tong, once expected to be his disciple, now stands as an apparent equal.
• Nuwa and the other figures at the Purple Cloud Palace remain unaware of the full situation; Hongjun tells them only that the needed item is in someone else’s possession.

Character interactions

• Hongjun probes Xu Tong through the Heavenly Dao, while Xu Tong uses the breathing soil to keep the Chaos Bead concealed.
• Hongjun addresses Xu Tong respectfully, but the form of address carries tension for both of them.
• Xu Tong’s avatar volunteers to face Hongjun, allowing Xu Tong himself to stay hidden and protected.

Significant themes

• Caution and self-preservation: Xu Tong weighs the consequences of every choice rather than acting impulsively.
• Power and leverage: The breathing soil is valuable to multiple Sages, making it both a bargaining asset and a dangerous burden.
• Deception and identity: Xu Tong uses an avatar and concealment to control what Hongjun can discover.
• Changing status and resentment: Their new relationship as apparent equals disrupts the former master-disciple hierarchy.

Plot points and events

• Hongjun arrives at Tongtian’s Dao Field, intending to confront him over the nine heavens breathing soil. When Tongtian does not respond, Hongjun prepares to attack—but the gates open, and Xu Tong’s physical clone greets him.
• Hongjun examines the clone but detects nothing unusual. Believing Tongtian’s cultivation has stalled and that he will eventually need Hongjun’s help, he abandons his immediate hostility.
• Inside, Hongjun directly asks for the nine heavens breathing soil, concealing its importance to a Sage’s attainment of the Dao.
• Xu Tong pretends he cannot spare it, then refuses Hongjun’s offer of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords. He recognizes the swords as a trap and claims they would be useless to someone who wants a quiet life.
• Xu Tong tries to end the meeting. Hongjun, frustrated that his bargaining has failed, threatens him with a trace of Sage-level pressure. Xu Tong is briefly surprised, then laughs, anticipating a chance to make Hongjun pay.

Character developments

• Xu Tong is confident in the physical clone’s ability to pass as Tongtian and uses it to conceal his position. He is also increasingly assertive: rather than submit to Hongjun’s prestige or threats, he sees through the offer and refuses to yield.
• Hongjun shifts from murderous anger to condescension after judging Tongtian’s cultivation to be stalled. When subtle pressure and bargaining fail, his frustration exposes his willingness to threaten rather than negotiate fairly.

Significant themes

• Deception and hidden knowledge: Xu Tong’s clone conceals his true situation, while both men hide what they know about the soil and the swords.
• Power and coercion: Hongjun assumes his reputation and strength should secure compliance, then resorts to intimidation when they do not.
• Scheming versus resistance: Hongjun’s attempt to turn the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords into a useful bargain is recognized as a trap, and Xu Tong refuses to play along.

Character interactions

• Hongjun and Xu Tong begin with formal courtesy, but the politeness masks mutual suspicion.
• Hongjun offers the swords as payment, expecting the proposal to succeed; Xu Tong rejects them and moves to dismiss his guest.
• Their exchange turns openly confrontational when Hongjun releases his oppressive aura. Xu Tong’s amused response signals that the negotiation is about to escalate.

Plot and key events

• Hongjun confronts Xu Tong over the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, expecting his status and power to force Xu Tong to surrender it.
• Xu Tong refuses and challenges Hongjun’s claim that treasures belong to the capable—arguing that anyone who considers themselves more virtuous may come take it.
• Xu Tong reveals a Merit Golden Wheel, demonstrating his immense creation merit. Hongjun realizes that killing him could invite Heavenly Dao punishment and jeopardize his own plans, so he backs down.
• Hongjun proposes exchanging the Breathing Soil for Spiritual Treasures. Xu Tong refuses: he will lend it, but never trade it, since it is too valuable and its use could earn him substantial merit.
• Hongjun eventually agrees to borrow it. Xu Tong then insists that borrowing also requires payment, leaving Hongjun furious and nearly revealing the treasure’s connection to attaining Sagehood.

Character developments

• Xu Tong proves himself a shrewd negotiator who anticipates Hongjun’s pressure and uses his merit as a deterrent. He remains composed and turns the confrontation into a chance to profit.
• Hongjun shifts from intimidation to negotiation when he realizes Xu Tong’s merit makes attacking him too risky. His frustration grows as Xu Tong repeatedly blocks his plans.
• Xu Tong’s careful preparation is revealed: he transferred his merit to his clone specifically as a safeguard, and that precaution helps him bluff Hongjun.

Character interactions

• The exchange is a contest of leverage: Hongjun tries to use authority and force, while Xu Tong counters with virtue, Heavenly Dao consequences, and firm terms.
• Hongjun grudgingly yields to Xu Tong’s conditions but remains resentful, especially because the merit associated with the Breathing Soil may benefit Xu Tong instead.
• Xu Tong uses polite, teasing language while provoking Hongjun, who struggles to control his temper.

Significant themes

• Power and legitimacy: Raw strength matters, but merit and Heavenly Dao favor can constrain even the most powerful figures.
• Negotiation and leverage: Preparation and knowledge allow Xu Tong to reverse an apparent imbalance of power.
• Self-interest and merit: Both characters seek advantage from the Breathing Soil’s immense significance, while Xu Tong’s insistence on lending rather than trading is designed to preserve its future rewards.

Key plot points and events

• Hongjun asks Xu Tong to lend him the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, but refuses to explain its true purpose.
• Xu Tong realizes Hongjun badly wants it and uses that leverage to demand compensation. He briefly displays the soil, then withdraws it while arguing that it is rare and that he needs it for his supposed dream of cultivating spiritual plants.
• Hongjun recognizes the bargaining tactic but cannot afford to walk away. Xu Tong eventually demands one request and one Innate Spiritual Treasure in exchange for the loan.
• Hongjun, furious but determined to secure the soil, accepts those terms. Xu Tong agrees and prepares to state his request.

Character developments

• Xu Tong reveals himself as shrewd, confident, and willing to exploit Hongjun’s urgency. He maintains a mock-innocent, reluctant-to-part-with-the-soil act while negotiating.
• Hongjun struggles to maintain his dignity and temper. Although accustomed to authority, he swallows his anger and compromises because he needs the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.

Significant themes

• Bargaining and leverage: Whoever needs something more has less power in the negotiation.
• Composure and pride: Hongjun’s frustration clashes with his need to keep the deal intact.
• Self-interest disguised as courtesy: Both parties frame their demands as respect or reluctance, while pursuing their own advantage.

Character interactions

• Xu Tong needles Hongjun with polite-sounding but provocative remarks, while Hongjun internally fumes and repeatedly restrains himself.
• Hongjun tries to limit the price to one favor and one treasure; Xu Tong accepts once he judges he has pushed as far as he can.
• The chapter ends just before Xu Tong reveals the favor he wants.

Plot points

• Hongjun negotiates with Xu Tong for the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, offering a karmic debt and one superior innate spiritual treasure.
• Xu Tong demands the complete set of five Innate Five Directions Banners, arguing that they function as one treasure. Hongjun objects, saying he possesses only two and will provide no more.
• Hongjun tries to leave, confident the Heavenly Dao will eventually punish Xu Tong for withholding the soil. Xu Tong remains unbothered and says he will keep it until the Witch-Demon Tribulation ends.
• Realizing Xu Tong knows the soil’s importance and that waiting could ruin his plans for the Primordial World, Hongjun gives in and agrees to obtain all five banners.
• Xu Tong refuses to hand over the soil first, declaring, “Small business, no credit.” Hongjun is forced to accept the terms.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong shows himself to be shrewd, shamelessly confident, and unwilling to make a losing deal. He uses his knowledge of the tribulation and Hongjun’s urgency as leverage.
• Hongjun shifts from bargaining and intimidation to frustration and reluctant submission. Though he initially tries to outmaneuver Xu Tong, he cannot risk delaying the deal.
• Their exchange is a tense contest of wills: Hongjun threatens consequences, while Xu Tong calmly holds firm and makes clear that force or delay are Hongjun’s only alternatives.

Significant themes

• Bargaining and leverage: Even a powerful figure like Hongjun is constrained when another person controls something essential.
• Power versus patience: Xu Tong’s calm refusal proves more effective than direct confrontation.
• Self-interest and manipulation: Both characters pursue their own plans, but Xu Tong better understands what the stakes mean to Hongjun.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Tong refuses to leave seclusion or become Hongjun’s disciple, despite Hongjun offering him Sagehood, numerous treasures, and even Taiyi’s Chaos Bell.
• Xu Tong returns the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil to Hongjun. After a tense exchange in which Hongjun appears to consider killing him, Hongjun takes the soil and leaves.
• Xu Tong believes Hongjun restrained himself because killing him could provoke Heavenly Dao backlash and jeopardize Hongjun’s Dao Integration. He resolves to strengthen himself before Hongjun completes it and returns to cultivating with his three avatars.
• Hongjun privately decides Xu Tong must eventually be eliminated. Back at the Purple Cloud Palace, he tells the gathered cultivators that Nuwa’s path to Dao has been settled and asks Laozi and Yuanshi to surrender their Innate Five Directions Banners. Both comply, though Yuanshi is reluctant.
• Hongjun presents the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil to Nuwa, drawing everyone’s attention.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong stays outwardly courteous but remains defiant and wary, rejecting power and status in favor of independence. He recognizes Hongjun as a future threat and commits to preparing for that danger.
• Hongjun shifts from negotiation to concealed hostility. He tests Xu Tong with extraordinary offers, then collects the banners needed for his plans.
• Laozi and Yuanshi respond obediently to Hongjun’s request; Laozi acts quickly, while Yuanshi feels the loss of his treasure.
• Nuwa expects to be asked for a treasure but is uneasy because she owns very few. Instead, Hongjun gives her the Breathing Soil.

Significant themes

• Freedom versus power: Xu Tong rejects Sagehood and supreme treasures rather than surrender his independence.
• Hidden motives and strategic bargaining: Hongjun’s generous offer is also a probe, while both men conceal their deeper calculations.
• Fate and Heavenly Dao: Xu Tong relies on the limits imposed by Heavenly Dao to deter Hongjun, yet fears those protections may vanish after Dao Integration.
• Unintended consequences: Hongjun’s earlier placement of the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords at the Treasure Distribution Cliff has disrupted the expected distribution of treasures, though he remains unaware of the full effect.