Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Hongjun gives Nuwa the nine heavens breathing soil, telling her it can help her attain the Dao. When Laozi asks where it came from, Hongjun reacts coldly; Laozi apologizes, and Hongjun dismisses everyone before beginning Dao Integration.
• On Buzhou Mountain, Nuwa realizes the Primordial World needs a new race. Using the soil, she shapes figures modeled on Pangu, then creates many more with a willow twig dipped in mud.
• Nuwa declares the creation of the Human Race, earning a vast response of Heavenly Dao merit and becoming the first Sage.
• The merit is divided: most goes to Nuwa, some to the Human Race, and a portion transforms the willow twig into a Golden Whip, which disappears. The remaining merit flies to Kunlun Mountain and reaches Xu Tong, who is pleased and believes it will make Hongjun more cautious of him.
• Di Jun prepares to congratulate Nuwa, hoping to secure her support for the Demon Tribe. But Sages are constrained from intervening freely in worldly affairs and no longer belong to a race.
• Laozi, Yuanshi, Zhunti, Jieyin, and the others visit Nuwa and pay their respects. Seeing the humans, Laozi asks about their future, then realizes their fate may reveal his own path to enlightenment.

Character developments and interactions

• Nuwa fulfills her destiny, becomes a Sage, and gains deeper understanding of the Heavenly Dao. She recognizes that using Tongtian’s soil leaves her indebted to Xu Tong, though she believes the debt will be manageable.
• Hongjun is irritable after dealing with Xu Tong and makes clear that his disciples should not question the soil’s origins.
• Laozi first misjudges Hongjun’s reaction by probing too far, then shifts his attention to Nuwa’s creation and appears to discover a clue to his own Dao.
• Di Jun sees Nuwa’s ascension as a possible advantage for the Demon Tribe, unaware of the limits imposed by sagehood.
• Xu Tong receives a major share of merit, strengthening his position relative to Hongjun.

Significant themes

• Creation and destiny: Nuwa’s act of making humanity fulfills a destined opportunity and brings her to sagehood.
• Merit, karma, and obligation: The soil’s transfer creates karmic ties, while the merit it generates benefits Nuwa, humanity, Xu Tong, and others.
• Power and restraint: Becoming a Sage brings immense status but also limits one’s freedom to intervene in worldly affairs.
• Hierarchy and recognition: Nuwa’s new rank changes how her fellow disciples address and treat her.

Plot points and events

• Laozi gains insight from observing the humans Nuwa created. He establishes the Human Teachings, channels the resulting merit into his Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Pagoda, and becomes a Sage—surpassing Nuwa.
• Yuanshi follows by founding the Chan Sect and also becomes a Sage.
• Zhunti and Jieyin establish the Western Teachings, but receive too little merit to ascend. They make dozens of vows to the Heavenly Dao, which grants them enough merit to become Sages.
• Their success comes at a heavy cost: the vows create a vast karmic debt they must repay, leaving them apprehensive rather than triumphant.
• Five Sages—Nuwa, Laozi, Yuanshi, Zhunti, and Jieyin—emerge, shocking the Primordial World. Hongjun is satisfied but decides not to concern himself with Tongtian for now.
• The five Sages sense that the Heavenly Dao remains incomplete and that another Sage is expected, though none appears. Laozi suspects Tongtian’s seat is missing and wonders why the Heavenly Dao seems especially concerned about him.
• Xu Tong hears of the ascensions and anticipates a decisive clash between the Witch Clan and Demon Tribe. He believes he cannot become a Sage and leaves Hongjun’s problem to him.
• The Ancestral Witches worry that Nuwa’s ascension leaves them vulnerable to the Demon Tribe. After Houtu rejects seeking help from Hongjun, she proposes visiting Kunlun Mountain—not to ask Laozi or Yuanshi, but because she has discovered that merit lost during Nuwa’s ascension went to Tongtian.

Character developments and interactions

• Laozi and Yuanshi quickly recognize that founding teachings can trigger their accumulated creation merit and propel them to Sagehood.
• Zhunti and Jieyin act together, first establishing their teachings and then making vows in desperation. Their rise reveals the price of obtaining power through Heavenly Dao merit.
• Hongjun sees the five ascensions as progress toward his plans, while dismissing Tongtian as temporarily irrelevant.
• Laozi questions the Heavenly Dao’s apparent favoritism toward Tongtian.
• Houtu emerges as a perceptive strategist: she identifies Tongtian as the recipient of the missing merit and redirects the Witches toward investigating him.
• The Ancestral Witches are united by anxiety over the Demon Tribe’s growing threat, but lack a clear path forward.

Significant themes

• Power and obligation: Sagehood can be won through merit, but merit obtained through vows carries a debt.
• Unequal destinies and perceived favoritism: The Heavenly Dao’s concern for Tongtian puzzles the other Sages.
• Political and cosmic imbalance: Five Sages have emerged, yet the Heavenly Dao remains incomplete, and the Witches fear the consequences of the Demon Tribe’s advantage.
• Hidden opportunity: The missing merit’s arrival in Tongtian’s hands suggests that his role—and the Witches’ possible connection to him—may reshape what comes next.

Plot points and events

• Houtu tells the Ancestral Witches that she believes Tongtian helped Nuwa attain sagehood. She reasons that Nuwa’s earlier attempts to create life failed because she lacked the right material; after acquiring Tongtian’s Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, she succeeded, and some of the resulting merit went to Tongtian.
• Houtu also suspects Tongtian has deliberately avoided the Purple Cloud Palace and knows secrets about becoming a Sage. The Witches wonder whether he might know how their clan could attain the Dao.
• Dijiang decides to approach Tongtian with an offer: one of Pangu’s remaining drops of blood essence in exchange for what he knows. He assigns Houtu to make the journey to Kunlun Mountain.
• Meanwhile, Xu Tong, in Tongtian’s Dao Field, reaches the mid-stage Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal realm. He hopes to eventually reach the Limitless Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal realm, and plans to use Hongjun’s promised Innate Five Directions Banners to help evolve the Chaos Bead and the world tree.
• Xu Tong reflects that he is still not powerful enough to obtain more valuable treasures from Hongjun, then realizes he may be able to gain merit without leaving seclusion. He reveals that he secretly kept a small piece of the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.

Character developments and interactions

• Houtu takes the lead in interpreting Tongtian’s role in Nuwa’s success and persuades her brothers that he may possess knowledge valuable to the Witch Clan.
• Dijiang weighs the risks and commits the clan to offering Pangu’s blood essence, entrusting Houtu with the negotiations.
• Xu Tong grows stronger and remains calculating, pursuing cultivation through artifacts and quietly preserving resources for future plans.
• The Ancestral Witches shift from skepticism to cautious interest, though they recognize they have no obvious reason to expect Tongtian’s help.

Significant themes

• Power and hidden knowledge: Tongtian’s absence and secrecy lead others to suspect he understands the path to sagehood.
• Strategic bargaining: The Witches are willing to trade a precious inheritance for information that could secure their future.
• Ambition and cultivation: Xu Tong’s advancement is tied to his plans for the Chaos Bead and world tree.
• Resourcefulness and concealed intentions: Xu Tong adapts when better treasures are unavailable—and secretly retains a piece of the soil that helped Nuwa create the Human Race.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Tong considers using the nine heavens breathing soil to refine four pillars that could support heaven and earth, earning him substantial Heavenly Dao merit and making it riskier for Hongjun to target him.
• He believes the pillars would need Buzhou Mountain’s core, but obtaining it seems impossible without causing the mountain to fall and drawing Hongjun’s intervention.
• He realizes Houtu’s visit may offer another route: combining the soil with Ancestral Witch blood essence might substitute for Buzhou Mountain’s core. His calculations suggest the plan could work.
• Houtu arrives to ask Tongtian two questions. Xu Tong refuses to leave seclusion or meet her in person, so they speak through the closed gates of his Dao Field.
• Houtu asks whether Nuwa obtained the nine heavens breathing soil from him. She explains that she witnessed its merit flow to his Dao Field when Nuwa created humanity. Xu Tong admits the soil was lent to Nuwa.
• Houtu then asks whether Xu Tong knows how the Witch Clan can attain the Dao.

Character developments

• Xu Tong remains cautious and self-protective, prioritizing seclusion and merit as safeguards against Hongjun. He is also quick to recognize how Houtu’s visit could serve his own plans.
• Houtu shows pride and irritation at being denied a face-to-face meeting, but restrains herself because of the Witch Clan’s precarious situation. Her questions reveal that she has been carefully observing events and is seeking a path for her people to attain the Dao.

Significant themes

• Merit as protection and political leverage: Xu Tong seeks Heavenly Dao merit to make harming him costly.
• Caution amid cosmic schemes: Both the dangers of disrupting the Heavenly Dao’s arrangements and the threat posed by Hongjun shape Xu Tong’s choices.
• Knowledge and opportunity: Houtu’s unusual observation of the soil’s merit trail uncovers Xu Tong’s involvement and opens the possibility of cooperation—or mutual benefit.
• Conflicting interests: Xu Tong wants Witch Clan blood essence for his pillars, while Houtu seeks knowledge that might secure her clan’s future.

Character interactions

• Xu Tong and Houtu’s first exchange is tense: she expects the respect due an Ancestral Witch, while he refuses to accommodate her status or leave seclusion.
• Houtu’s evidence forces Xu Tong to acknowledge lending Nuwa the soil.
• The chapter ends with Houtu’s second question, leaving Xu Tong’s knowledge—and his response—unrevealed.

Key plot points and events

• Houtu visits Xu Tong’s Dao Field seeking guidance on how to attain the Dao and become a sage. To persuade him, she offers a drop of Pangu’s blood essence.
• Xu Tong worries that explaining too much could disrupt fate or draw Hongjun’s attention, so he gives Houtu deliberately indirect guidance: even beings without a primordial spirit can attain the Dao through great merit and fortune, and become sages who uphold reincarnation.
• Houtu senses that his words contain a path meant for her. Her cultivation rises, though she cannot yet fully understand the teaching. Grateful, she leaves the blood essence with Xu Tong.
• Xu Tong uses the blood essence together with Nine Heavens Breathing Soil to forge four miniature Heavenly Pillars, which can later expand to support heaven and earth.
• He reflects that the pillars may also spare the North Sea Black Tortoise from being killed to support the heavens.

Character developments and interactions

• Houtu shifts from confident bargaining to sincere respect after receiving Xu Tong’s guidance. She leaves convinced that the teaching holds a future path for her, even if its meaning is not yet clear.
• Xu Tong balances caution about interfering with fate against his desire for the valuable blood essence. He avoids giving Houtu a direct answer, then puts the gift to practical use rather than absorbing it.
• Their exchange takes place without a face-to-face meeting: Houtu speaks outside the closed Dao Field, while Xu Tong answers from within.

Significant themes

• Fate and indirect guidance: Xu Tong offers a hint rather than a full explanation, leaving Houtu to discover its meaning in time.
• Merit, fortune, and the Dao: The chapter suggests that even those without a primordial spirit may attain sagehood through merit and great fortune.
• Pragmatism and responsibility: Xu Tong turns rare materials into tools that may protect the Black Tortoise and help uphold heaven and earth.

Plot points and events

• Houtu returns to the Witch Clan after speaking with Xu Tong and tells the other Ancestral Witches that his advice “worked.” His words gave her a significant insight and improved her cultivation, though she has not become a Sage.
• The other Ancestral Witches initially doubt Xu Tong and suspect he tricked Houtu to obtain Pangu Blood Essence. They prepare to confront him, but Houtu stops them by releasing a powerful aura.
• Houtu explains that she cannot be sure why her brothers gained no insight—perhaps Xu Tong’s words work only when he speaks them, or perhaps the path is hers alone. The Ancestral Witches accept her account and resolve not to provoke Xu Tong.
• Meanwhile, the Demon Tribe grows bolder after Nuwa becomes a Sage. Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor ask her to destroy the Witch Clan, but she refuses: the resulting karmic debt would ultimately fall on the Demon Tribe. They decide they must rely on their own strength, while using Nuwa mainly as a deterrent.
• Di Jun allows the Demon Tribe’s provocations to intensify. The chapter ends as a Demon commander orders a Witch tribe to abandon its land, only for the giant Kuafu to emerge and challenge him.

Character developments and interactions

• Houtu gains confidence in Xu Tong’s guidance and shows her authority when she halts her brothers’ angry response. She also feels guilty that the insight benefited only her.
• Dijiang reassures Houtu and urges the clan to value her progress, even if she alone can eventually become a Sage. The other Ancestral Witches likewise comfort her.
• The Ancestral Witches shift from suspicion and aggression toward caution, recognizing that Xu Tong may be far more powerful than they had assumed.
• Nuwa establishes a firm boundary: she will not use her Sage power to serve the Demon Tribe’s war aims.
• Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor accept that Nuwa will not eliminate their rivals for them, but continue encouraging the Demon Tribe’s confidence.
• Kuafu enters as the latest flashpoint in the escalating conflict, confronting the Demon commander who threatens his tribe.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: Nuwa’s refusal shows that great power remains constrained by cosmic law and consequences.
• Trust and humility: Houtu’s trust in Xu Tong contrasts with her brothers’ quick suspicion; their fear of his hidden strength makes them reconsider their impulsiveness.
• Rising conflict and unintended consequences: The Demon Tribe’s growing arrogance and Di Jun’s tolerance of its aggression foreshadow a disastrous clash between the two tribes.

Plot points and events

• After a century in seclusion, Xu Tong receives a system prompt: Demon Emperor Fuxi is in danger as Witch–Demon tensions escalate. He can rescue Fuxi, warn Nuwa, or remain in seclusion.
• The first two choices promise powerful rewards, but Xu Tong suspects that warning Nuwa would lead to a heavenly marriage—and unwanted political entanglements. He chooses to stay hidden, accepting a Merit Creation Pool he considers nearly useless.
• Xu Tong blames Hongjun for the system’s tempting choices and vows to surpass him someday. Hongjun, unaware of Xu Tong’s grudge, suddenly shivers.
• At the foot of Buzhou Mountain, a Demon Court general orders a Witch tribe to leave their ancestral home. Kuafu confronts him and, after the general insults the Witches, knocks him down and pins him underfoot. The general threatens retaliation from the Demon Emperor and a Sage.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong remains committed to avoiding danger, even when offered an offensive divine ability and a chance to become closer to Nuwa. His humorous complaints reveal both his ambition and his fear of being drawn into responsibility.
• Kuafu responds fiercely to the Demon general’s arrogance and disrespect toward the Witch Clan, demonstrating his strength and readiness to defend his people.
• The Demon general overestimates his protection from Nuwa’s status as a Sage and provokes Kuafu with condescension and threats.
• Hongjun is unknowingly the target of Xu Tong’s resentment, creating a comic contrast between Xu Tong’s dramatic vow and Hongjun’s unexplained shiver.

Significant themes

• Seclusion versus intervention: Xu Tong prioritizes personal cultivation over helping Fuxi, despite potentially valuable rewards.
• Temptation and responsibility: He views both treasure and romance as traps that could pull him into larger conflicts.
• Rising factional conflict: The general’s confrontation with Kuafu shows how Witch–Demon hostility is turning into direct violence.

Plot points and events

• Kuafu confronts a Demon General who has tried to seize Witch Clan territory. When Demon Emperor Fuxi arrives, he asks Kuafu to release the captive.
• Fuxi divines that the Demon General acted out of ambition, assuming the Witch Clan would retreat because Nuwa had become a Sage. Though Fuxi condemns the General’s behavior, he insists on taking him back to protect the Demon Tribe’s standing.
• Kuafu refuses and kills the General before Fuxi can stop him, turning the dispute into a direct fight between the two leaders.
• Kuafu and Fuxi clash, neither gaining the advantage. Fuxi considers withdrawing, but Great Witch Man Niu arrives and joins Kuafu.
• Outnumbered and quickly injured, Fuxi decides to use the force of Kuafu’s attack to escape.

Character developments and interactions

• Kuafu is fiercely protective of Witch Clan territory and refuses to yield even to a Demon Emperor. He openly provokes Fuxi after killing the General.
• Fuxi recognizes that the Demon General caused the crisis, but feels obligated to defend his tribe’s authority. His confidence gives way to alarm when Man Niu arrives.
• Man Niu enters as an aggressive ally, helping Kuafu turn the fight against Fuxi.
• The confrontation between Kuafu and Fuxi shifts from a tense negotiation into open combat; Man Niu’s intervention makes it a two-against-one struggle.

Significant themes

• Tribal pride and territorial rivalry: Neither leader can back down without appearing weak to their people.
• Duty versus personal judgment: Fuxi believes the General deserves blame but still feels compelled to protect the Demon Tribe.
• Escalation and the cost of provocation: The General’s attempt to exploit Nuwa’s status leads to his death and a wider clash between the tribes.
• Strength and survival: Once outnumbered, Fuxi abandons the fight for an escape strategy.

Plot and events

• Kuafu’s punch unexpectedly accelerates Fuxi into the path of Man Niu’s battle-axe. Man Niu meant only to wound him, but the axe severs Fuxi’s head and destroys his primordial spirit, making escape impossible.
• Kuafu and Man Niu realize the killing may provoke Nuwa and endanger the whole Witch Clan. Man Niu offers to take sole responsibility; Kuafu refuses to abandon him or ignore the clan’s safety.
• They bring Fuxi’s body to Pangu Hall and explain what happened to the Twelve Ancestral Witches. The group accepts that the two acted to defend the clan, but worries about Nuwa’s reaction.
• Nuwa arrives, furious, and overwhelms the Great Witches with her Sage power. Kuafu and Man Niu each claim responsibility and offer their lives, but their argument only intensifies her anger. She threatens to destroy the entire Witch Clan.
• As Nuwa gathers thunder to attack, Dijiang orders the Ancestral Witches to form the Dutian Divine Fiends Formation. Houtu intervenes, claiming she can resurrect Fuxi.

Character developments and interactions

• Man Niu shifts from shock to resolve, willing to accept the consequences of killing Fuxi.
• Kuafu stands by Man Niu and prioritizes protecting their people, while also offering himself to spare the clan.
• The Ancestral Witches are divided between defiance and concern: Zhurong rejects fear of Nuwa, while Houtu urges caution. Dijiang tries to manage the crisis.
• Nuwa’s grief and rage overwhelm the confrontation; she sees the Witch Clan’s actions and the two warriors’ defiance as an affront.
• Houtu steps into the conflict at its climax, offering a possible way to avert a massacre.

Significant themes

• Unintended consequences: A chain of misjudged actions turns a fight into a fatal killing and threatens a war.
• Loyalty and shared responsibility: Kuafu and Man Niu refuse to let either one bear the burden alone.
• Clan honor versus survival: The Witches defend their dignity but must face the cost of provoking a Sage.
• Power and grief: Nuwa’s immense power, fueled by the loss of her brother, puts the entire clan at risk.

Plot points and events

• Nuwa is enraged over Fuxi’s death, since his destroyed primordial spirit leaves only a fading trace of true spirit. Even she doubts she can restore him.
• Houtu steps forward and claims she knows someone who may be able to save Fuxi. She stakes her life on the promise and reveals that she has begun to comprehend her own path to Sagehood.
• Nuwa agrees to accompany Houtu to the unnamed, secluded master. Houtu refuses to disclose the master’s identity and says she must lead Nuwa there herself.
• Before leaving, Houtu secretly slips something into Dijiang’s robes, then flies toward Kunlun Mountain with Nuwa.
• The other Ancestral Witches assume Houtu will return. Dijiang reveals in Pangu Hall that she will not, and opens the jade bottle she left him: it contains more than a dozen drops of her blood essence.

Character developments and interactions

• Houtu shows resolve and compassion, willingly risking her life to save Fuxi and protect the Witch Clan from Nuwa’s wrath. Her private farewell suggests she expects not to come back.
• Dijiang first tries to stop Houtu, then accepts her choice. His somber revelation shows he understands the sacrifice she has made.
• Nuwa begins in fury and threatens to destroy the Witch Clan, but Houtu’s sincerity and emerging Sage power persuade her to give the proposed rescue a chance.
• The Ancestral Witches fiercely protect Houtu, seeing her as their clan’s hope. Their relief turns to shock when Dijiang tells them she is gone for good.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and duty: Houtu risks herself for Fuxi and the survival of her people.
• Hope amid apparent loss: The hidden master offers a possible path to saving Fuxi, though Houtu’s own fate appears bleak.
• Trust and uncertainty: Nuwa must rely on Houtu without knowing the master’s identity.
• Leadership and grief: Dijiang bears the burden of recognizing—and revealing—the cost of Houtu’s decision.

Key plot points and events

• Dijiang reveals the blood essence Houtu left behind. Because an Ancestral Witch has very little of it, the other witches recognize it as a grave sign: Houtu intends to sacrifice herself.
• The Ancestral Witches realize she is trying to appease Nuwa and save the Witch Clan from destruction. Dijiang rebukes the others for their outburst and reminds them that Houtu is saving them from a debt they owe. He urges them to remember this and eventually become strong enough to avenge her.
• The witches turn toward choosing a new Ancestral Witch and preparing to challenge the Demon Tribe.
• Houtu travels toward Kunlun Mountain, with Nuwa following. Houtu wants Tongtian to mediate if Nuwa refuses to accept her sacrifice.
• Nuwa suspects Tongtian may be able to restore Fuxi’s true spirit and follows Houtu to seek his help.
• Both women call to Tongtian at his Dao Field. He is startled by their arrival and suspects their visit concerns Fuxi, but stays inside. Nuwa grows impatient and sharply asks him to appear.

Character developments and interactions

• Houtu is shown as self-sacrificing and strategic: she leaves her blood essence as a safeguard for her people and seeks a mediator, though she doubts Nuwa will accept the exchange.
• Dijiang moves from grief to stern leadership, suppressing the others’ panic and turning their sorrow into resolve.
• Zhurong refuses to accept Houtu’s intentions, while Gonggong’s silence confirms what everyone fears.
• Nuwa remains focused on saving Fuxi. Her respect for Tongtian’s mysterious power leads her to hope he can help, though her urgency makes her impatient.
• Tongtian (Xu Tong) is cautious and committed to keeping a low profile; despite two powerful visitors requesting an audience, he does not come out.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and duty: Houtu is willing to give her life to protect her clan.
• Power and vulnerability: The witches recognize that even they are helpless before a Sage.
• Grief transformed into ambition: The clan channels its loss into plans for survival, strength, and eventual revenge.
• Mediation and uncertain hope: Houtu and Nuwa both turn to Tongtian, but he remains inaccessible and his intentions unclear.

Key plot points and events

• Nuwa and Houtu wait outside Tongtian’s Dao Field. When he does not respond, Houtu offers a generous reward, prompting the gates to open.
• Tongtian—actually Xu Tong using a clone—lets them in. In reality, he had planned to meet them because he needed someone to place the Heavenly Pillars he had forged, allowing him to earn merit without drawing Hongjun’s attention.
• Houtu explains that Fuxi’s true spirit needs repairing, disguising his death as an accidental result of a friendly encounter between the Witch and demon clans.
• Xu Tong recognizes that he has twelve Divine Refining Pills, which can repair true spirits. When he questions why Houtu came to him, she admits she was simply taking a chance, but his response convinces her he may have a remedy.
• Nuwa asks Xu Tong to save her brother and offers to incur another debt of karma. Xu Tong reluctantly anticipates giving up one of his pills.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong tries to appear cautious and mysterious, but his own speculation exposes that he may have a solution. He also views the encounter as a mix of opportunity and costly inconvenience.
• Houtu is anxious to save Fuxi and willing to offer substantial compensation. Her earlier respect for Xu Tong’s insight gives her a reason to trust him.
• Nuwa begins suspicious of Xu Tong’s unusual behavior and hidden potential, then becomes hopeful when he appears to know how to repair a true spirit. She appeals to him as Fuxi’s sister and offers a karmic debt.
• Houtu and Nuwa mistake Xu Tong’s timing for mercenary bargaining, while he recognizes that their assumptions are not entirely wrong.

Significant themes

• Misunderstanding and accidental disclosure: Xu Tong’s attempt to probe Houtu’s knowledge gives away more than he intended.
• Caution versus opportunity: He wants to stay hidden from Hongjun, yet meeting the visitors may help him secure merit.
• Karma and negotiation: A rare life-saving remedy is tied to rewards, favors, and debts between powerful cultivators.

Plot and key events

• Nuwa and Houtu discover that Xu Tong has a way to restore a damaged true spirit and ask him to save Fuxi.
• Xu Tong agrees only in exchange for a concrete price, declining to accept another karmic debt. Houtu offers the Witch Clan’s help.
• Xu Tong gives them four small Heavenly Pillars, asking them to help place them in suitable locations when the opportunity arises. He also provides a Divine Refining Pill, which stabilizes Fuxi’s true spirit and begins restoring his primordial spirit.
• Nuwa thanks Xu Tong and offers future help, but he insists Houtu’s agreement already covers the bargain. As Nuwa and Houtu leave, Nuwa secretly sends him two Spiritual Treasures as a thank-you. Xu Tong realizes she has ignored his attempt to avoid further entanglements and protests.

Character developments

• Xu Tong shows compassion but keeps firm control of the terms, preferring a practical exchange over owing or being owed karmic favors. He remains wary of getting involved with Sages.
• Nuwa is desperate to save her brother and grateful for Xu Tong’s help, but she suspects he is concealing the extent of his power. She expresses her gratitude through an unsolicited gift.
• Houtu is willing to commit the Witch Clan’s support to save Fuxi and readily accepts Xu Tong’s condition.
• Fuxi remains unconscious, but the pill restores his true spirit enough for his primordial spirit to begin reappearing.

Themes and interactions

• The chapter explores reciprocity, obligation, and the burdens of favors: Xu Tong wants a clear price rather than accumulating karmic debts, while Nuwa sees his modest condition as an excuse to help her.
• Hidden power and misunderstanding shape the exchange: Xu Tong’s capabilities impress both women, who suspect he is stronger or more resourceful than he appears.
• The tense bargaining softens into gratitude and trust, though Xu Tong’s comic frustration at Nuwa’s gift underscores his desire to avoid further entanglement.

Key plot points

• Xu Tong receives two treasures Nuwa leaves behind: the Landscape, Rivers, and Society Diagram and the Red Embroidered Ball. He is especially worried that the ball may be needed for the heavenly marriage and that its absence could attract Hongjun’s attention.
• Nuwa reconciles with Houtu, choosing not to punish the Witch Clan after Houtu helped save Fuxi. She takes the Heavenly Pillar Xu Tong had entrusted to Houtu, promising to carry out his task.
• Nuwa realizes Houtu had intended to sacrifice herself to repay Fuxi’s death, and is surprised that Xu Tong managed to revive Fuxi. She suspects he forged the Heavenly Pillar in anticipation of Buzhou Mountain’s future calamity and grows more curious about him.
• Laozi and Yuanshi visit Xu Tong to ask why Nuwa came. Xu Tong says only that he treated Fuxi with pills, withholding the larger story.
• Laozi suggests Xu Tong seek Hongjun’s help to attain sagehood. Xu Tong recognizes the condescension behind the advice and answers that he is content as a Quasi-Sage with his brothers to protect him.
• Yuanshi rejects the idea of supporting Xu Tong, while Laozi tries to soften the exchange without truly opposing Yuanshi. Xu Tong ends the visit and returns to seclusion.
• After Xu Tong’s gates close, Yuanshi calls him a good-for-nothing and questions why Laozi bothers with him. Laozi does not defend Xu Tong and leaves.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong remains secretive and self-possessed. He hides his deeper involvement from his brothers and privately resolves not to rely on them, seeing their attitude as a reason to separate from them when the time comes.
• Nuwa moves from anger toward the Witch Clan to forgiveness and gratitude toward Houtu. Xu Tong’s actions deepen her respect and curiosity.
• Houtu is relieved that Nuwa lets the matter go and hands over the Heavenly Pillar without resistance.
• Laozi and Yuanshi reveal the limits of their brotherly loyalty: Laozi is tactful but evasive, while Yuanshi is openly dismissive. Xu Tong responds politely but emotionally distances himself from both.

Significant themes

• Hidden motives and misunderstandings: Nuwa and the brothers interpret Xu Tong’s actions without knowing their full purpose.
• Family loyalty versus self-interest: The Three Pure Ones’ bond is tested by Yuanshi’s refusal to help Xu Tong and Laozi’s failure to firmly defend him.
• Power and humility: Laozi and Yuanshi’s new status as Sages makes them patronizing, while Xu Tong conceals his confidence behind apparent modesty.
• Consequences of good intentions: Xu Tong’s generosity leaves him with potentially troublesome treasures, while his brothers’ supposedly helpful advice exposes their condescension.

Plot and key events

• The Witch Clan’s leaders mourn Houtu, whom they believe has sacrificed herself to protect the clan. Dijiang urges them to choose a successor so they can restore the Twelve Dutian Divine Fiends Formation and eventually challenge the Demon Tribe.
• Zhu Jiuyin nominates the Great Witch Hou Yi to inherit Houtu’s Ancestral Witch blood essence. The others agree.
• Just as the meeting ends, Houtu returns unharmed. She says the crisis with Nuwa is over and asks her brothers not to dwell on it.
• Pressed for details, Houtu explains that she had intended to trade her life for the clan’s safety, but she found a way to save Fuxi. Tongtian provided Nuwa with a pill that restored Fuxi’s true spirit and gave him a trace of primordial spirit.
• Houtu says Tongtian’s power may rival a Sage’s. Dijiang orders the clan to treat him as an honored guest.
• Houtu declines to reclaim her blood essence, saying she expects to attain enlightenment within a thousand years. The clan agrees to use it to make Hou Yi the new Ancestral Witch.

Character developments and interactions

• Dijiang shifts from managing the clan’s grief and military needs to welcoming Houtu’s return and trusting her judgment about her imminent enlightenment.
• Houtu returns calm and reassuring, reveals Tongtian’s intervention, and prioritizes the clan’s future over recovering her own blood essence.
• The Ancestral Witches, especially the impulsive Zhurong, move from mourning and uncertainty to relief, curiosity, and renewed hope. Their view of Tongtian changes from dismissive to deeply respectful.
• Zhu Jiuyin proposes Hou Yi, while the group—including Houtu—supports his selection.

Significant themes

• Family and loyalty: Houtu risks herself for her brothers and the Witch Clan; her return reunites the grieving family.
• Sacrifice and duty: She gives up her blood essence to strengthen the clan, even as she approaches enlightenment.
• Changing judgments: Tongtian’s unexpected intervention overturns the Witches’ assumptions about him.
• Hope after loss: Houtu’s survival and the plan to appoint Hou Yi restore the clan’s morale and strengthen its preparations against the Demon Tribe.

Key plot points and events

• The Twelve Ancestral Witches examine Hou Yi and decide he is suitable to become a new Ancestral Witch. Houtu approves, and Dijiang offers him the position.
• Hou Yi accepts, though he is puzzled: according to Witch Clan tradition, raising a Great Witch to Ancestral Witch status should require enough blood essence to kill an existing Ancestral Witch. Dijiang says the elders have another method, then leads Hou Yi away.
• Alarmed by the prospect of the Witch Clan gaining another powerful leader, Di Jun resolves to strengthen the Demon Tribe by recruiting two talented beings from the Taiyin Star.
• The Eastern Emperor suggests Di Jun take them as Demon Empress and Demon Consort, linking the marriages to the Golden Crow bloodline and the Demon Court’s succession. Di Jun embraces the plan and proposes asking Nuwa to serve as matchmaker.
• Hongjun independently recognizes the union of solar and lunar forces as the first heavenly marriage under the Heavenly Dao. He intends to use the Red Embroidered Ball, but discovers it is now in Tongtian’s possession. Frustrated, he heads to Kunlun Mountain to intervene.

Character developments and interactions

• Hou Yi moves from confusion to willing acceptance of his extraordinary promotion, while remaining uncertain about how it can be achieved.
• Dijiang and Houtu show confidence in Hou Yi’s potential; Dijiang speaks for the Ancestral Witches, while Houtu’s approval helps settle the choice.
• Di Jun shifts from worry about the Witch Clan’s growing strength to an ambitious marriage-and-recruitment plan, encouraged by his brother.
• The Eastern Emperor acts as Di Jun’s strategist, connecting the proposed marriages to political stability and Golden Crow succession.
• Hongjun is irritated that Tongtian’s unexpected possession of the Red Embroidered Ball may divert merit from the plan. His repeated frustration emphasizes Tongtian’s disruptive influence.

Significant themes

• Power and bloodline: Witch Clan advancement depends on blood essence, making Hou Yi’s promotion seem to defy established limits.
• Political competition: Both clans seek ways to strengthen themselves as the struggle for power intensifies.
• Fate, marriage, and heavenly order: Di Jun’s political scheme coincides with Hongjun’s view that the union is ordained by the Heavenly Dao.
• Unintended disruption: Tongtian’s possession of the crucial treasure threatens to upset Hongjun’s carefully arranged plans.

Key plot points and events

• Hongjun, now merged with the Heavenly Dao, comes to Tongtian’s Dao Field to request the Red Embroidered Ball, which Nuwa left with Xu Tong.
• Xu Tong’s system offers three choices: keep the ball for a Chaos Supreme Treasure, use it to preside over Heavenly Marriage for a God-Slaying Spear, or surrender it while remaining secluded for three-lights divine water.
• Knowing that defying Hongjun over the ball could get him killed, Xu Tong chooses the third option and receives the divine water.
• Before Hongjun can raise the subject, Xu Tong reminds him of an old debt: Hongjun borrowed Xu Tong’s nine heavens breathing soil and promised the Innate Five Directions Banners as interest.
• Hongjun admits he has not gathered the banners and cannot readily return the soil, which he already gave to Nuwa. Xu Tong refuses to accept this and demands the soil back, leaving Hongjun unable to proceed with his request.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong remains cautious about confronting Hongjun directly, but is increasingly confident in using leverage and negotiation to benefit himself. Although he intends to hand over the Red Embroidered Ball, he plans to extract compensation first.
• Hongjun is frustrated by repeatedly being drawn into Tongtian’s affairs. Despite his authority, his duties to the Heavenly Dao force him to approach Xu Tong and tolerate being pressed over an old debt.
• Their meeting is marked by awkward politeness, mutual suspicion, and a reversal of expectations: Hongjun arrives to ask for a treasure, but Xu Tong makes him answer for what he owes first.

Significant themes

• Caution versus temptation: Xu Tong rejects the system’s most powerful rewards because the risks of openly opposing Hongjun are too great.
• Power and obligation: Even the Dao Ancestor is constrained by the Heavenly Dao and by debts he would rather ignore.
• Clever bargaining: Xu Tong treats the Red Embroidered Ball as leverage, aiming to gain repayment rather than give it away freely.
• Comic reversal: Hongjun expects to make a request but instead finds himself cornered by Xu Tong’s accounting.

Key events

• Hongjun asks Xu Tong to lend him the Red Embroidered Ball for the Heavenly Marriage.
• Xu Tong refuses to discuss it until Hongjun returns the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, which Hongjun previously borrowed.
• Xu Tong claims he has hit a cultivation bottleneck and asks to borrow Hongjun’s Jade Disc of Creation. Hongjun refuses, but offers instead to bring him the Innate Five Directions Banners.
• Xu Tong argues that Hongjun already owes him five treasures—the five banners—and demands compensation for the delay and the missing Breathing Soil.
• He proposes that Hongjun pay one additional Innate Spiritual Treasure as “interest” before Xu Tong lends the Red Embroidered Ball.

Character developments

• Xu Tong reveals his talent for bargaining and manipulation, using a feigned grievance and an apparent cultivation problem to make Hongjun less wary. In truth, he has already advanced to the primordial Daluo Golden Immortal realm and is concealing it.
• Hongjun grows increasingly frustrated at Xu Tong’s shameless demands. Though he tries to keep his dignity as Dao Ancestor, he is eager to secure the Red Embroidered Ball and avoid jeopardizing the Heavenly Marriage.

Themes

• Power and leverage: Xu Tong uses Hongjun’s need for the Red Embroidered Ball to extract concessions.
• Deception and appearances: Xu Tong pretends to be stuck in his cultivation to reassure Hongjun, while Hongjun mistakes the performance for weakness.
• Debt and double standards: Their dispute over whether the Five Directions Banners count as one treasure or five highlights Xu Tong’s opportunism and the absurdity of their negotiations.

Character interactions

Xu Tong repeatedly stops Hongjun from making his request, turns the conversation toward past debts, and raises the price of cooperation. Hongjun alternates between anger, suspicion, and reluctant negotiation, while Xu Tong calmly maintains that the Dao Ancestor should pay up. The chapter ends with Hongjun exasperated and Xu Tong still waiting for his answer.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Tong pressures Hongjun into compensating him, exploiting Hongjun’s precarious position while he is still integrating with the Dao. Hongjun agrees to provide several treasures rather than risk Xu Tong demanding back the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.
• To obtain the Innate Five Directions Banners, Hongjun forcibly takes one banner from Minghe, freezing the Blood Sea and beating him until he gives it up.
• Hongjun hands Xu Tong the banners and an innate spiritual root—the Flat Peach tree—though both cost him dearly and disrupt his plans to reserve the tree for Yaochi and the future Heavenly Court.
• Xu Tong lends Hongjun the Red Embroidered Ball, emphasizing that it must be returned. Hongjun, surprised by Xu Tong’s generosity, accidentally prompts him to ask for further compensation, then quickly flees.
• Xu Tong plans to use the laws contained in the Five Directions Banners to strengthen the laws inside his Chaos Bead and advance his cultivation.
• Hongjun hurries to Buzhou Mountain to deliver the Red Embroidered Ball to Nuwa for the Heavenly Marriage. Di Jun also sets out to ask Nuwa to act as matchmaker.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Tong remains cunning and opportunistic, bargaining hard for treasures but stopping before he pushes Hongjun too far. He views the Red Embroidered Ball chiefly as a future source of merit and even imagines using it as a weapon.
• Hongjun is frustrated and financially strained by Xu Tong’s demands. His anger spills over onto Minghe, whom he punishes for resisting. He also reveals anxiety about losing control while his Dao integration remains incomplete.
• Minghe resists surrendering his treasure but is overpowered and forced to comply.
• Xu Tong and Hongjun’s exchange is a comic contest of coercion and misread intentions: Hongjun is wary of being exploited, while Xu Tong sees even a loan as a chance to negotiate.

Significant themes

• Power and leverage: Even the Dao Ancestor must negotiate when his authority is constrained, while Xu Tong uses the situation to secure valuable gains.
• Greed and resourcefulness: Xu Tong treats treasures as both bargaining chips and tools for cultivation; Hongjun resorts to taking from others when necessary.
• Cultivation through adaptation: Unable to progress with the laws already in his Chaos Bead, Xu Tong seeks another method—incorporating laws from spiritual treasures.

Key plot points and events

• After receiving the Red Embroidered Ball, Hongjun sets off for Buzhou Mountain. Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor are also traveling there.
• Nuwa and Fuxi discuss Fuxi’s recovery. He is alive again thanks to Tongtian’s Divine Refining Pill, though his body and primordial spirit still need time to fully settle.
• Nuwa explains that Tongtian asked her to help arrange the Heavenly Pillars. Fuxi suspects Tongtian somehow foresaw that Buzhou Mountain would collapse and concludes they should build a good relationship with him.
• Di Jun and the Eastern Emperor visit the siblings. Nuwa is wary of them, recalling that they failed to support Fuxi during his crisis and previously sought her help against the Witch Clan. Fuxi, more loyal to the Demon Tribe, insists they should hear them out.
• Di Jun asks Nuwa to act as matchmaker for his marriage to the moon goddesses Changxi and Xihe. Before she can respond, Hongjun declares that the union of Di Jun and Changxi is a destined heavenly marriage and entrusts Nuwa with the Red Embroidered Ball to officiate it.
• Nuwa accepts the heavenly mandate and departs for Taiyin Star. Hongjun is relieved, but regrets having to surrender another Spiritual Treasure, knowing Tongtian will benefit from the resulting merit.

Character developments and interactions

• Nuwa remains grateful to Tongtian for saving Fuxi, but becomes increasingly impressed by his apparent foresight. She is also distrustful of Di Jun and resents his self-serving visits.
• Fuxi has recovered and is eager to repay Tongtian, while remaining a staunch defender of the Demon Tribe and urging Nuwa to accommodate its leaders.
• Di Jun approaches Nuwa through their shared Demon Tribe status, concealing his displeasure when she assumes he wants help attacking the Witches. His marriage request reveals another political and heavenly objective.
• Hongjun intervenes to ensure the destined marriage proceeds, while privately resenting the cost and Tongtian’s growing accumulation of merit.
• The siblings’ exchange highlights their contrasting outlooks: Nuwa judges Di Jun personally, while Fuxi prioritizes his duty to the Demon Tribe.

Significant themes

• Fate and heavenly order: The marriage is presented as a destined event that affirms the Heavenly Dao, overriding Nuwa’s personal reluctance.
• Gratitude and obligation: Fuxi and Nuwa feel indebted to Tongtian, though Tongtian appears to avoid creating karmic debts.
• Political loyalty versus personal judgment: Fuxi supports the Demon Tribe’s leadership despite its past failures, while Nuwa questions Di Jun’s motives.
• Power, foresight, and merit: Tongtian’s knowledge of future events deepens the mystery around his power, and Hongjun’s resentment underscores the stakes of accumulating merit.