Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Tongtian accepts that Gungun will not give up the Twelfth-Grade Pure World White Lotus, which the Heavenly Court needs to anchor its fortune. Gungun instead suggests alternatives, including asking their teacher for other treasures.
• Tongtian takes the suggestion to Zixiao Palace. Though he fails to obtain the Creation Jade Disc, he returns with three treasures: the Yin-Yang Pagoda, Crescent Hook Sword, and Great Azure Spear.
• Tongtian then selects a group of Jiejiao disciples for service in the Heavenly Court. They agree, expecting that heavenly posts may bring merit.
• Meanwhile, Gungun considers future Human Emperors. He cannot remember which tribe Shennong came from, and he weighs whether to support Xuanyuan or Chi You, unsure whether helping Chi You would empower the Devil Ancestor.
• Three days later, Gungun assigns the Jiejiao disciples their divine offices. Zhao Gongming becomes the Mysterious Altar True Lord and unexpectedly breaks through from Taiyi to Great Luo after receiving the Heavenly Court’s fortune.
• The Three Xiao Sisters are appointed seasonal gods, Wuyun Immortal becomes Winter God, and Golden Light Immortal is assigned as Soul-Seizing Great General under the Eastern Ghost Emperor. When Golden Light protests that soul-seizing belongs to the Underworld, Gungun insists that he commands both realms.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian moves from reluctance to pragmatic acceptance: after asking Gungun for help, he is willing to approach his teacher for support and gains useful treasures.
• Gungun acts decisively as Heavenly Emperor, choosing personnel and distributing offices, while privately wrestling with the political and moral consequences of future Human Emperor conflicts.
• Zhao Gongming is surprised by the power of his appointment, which advances his cultivation dramatically.
• The Jiejiao disciples generally accept their new roles, viewing them as opportunities to gain merit. Golden Light Immortal is the notable exception, questioning his assignment before submitting to Gungun’s authority.
• Gungun’s dealings with Tongtian are cooperative but firmly bounded: he helps find alternatives without surrendering the White Lotus. His appointments also establish his authority over both Heaven and the Underworld.

Significant themes

• Power and authority: Gungun’s claim to command both realms is treated as decisive, even when a post crosses institutional boundaries.
• Merit and advancement: Heavenly service brings status, fortune, and, in Zhao Gongming’s case, a major breakthrough.
• Political uncertainty: Gungun’s deliberation over Xuanyuan and Chi You shows how personal alliances, divine politics, and the threat of the Devil Ancestor complicate future choices.
• Pragmatism and compromise: Tongtian cannot get the treasure he wants, but adapts by seeking other resources and sending disciples to serve in Heaven.

Key events

• Gungun appoints several Jiejiao immortals to Heavenly Court posts: Golden Light Immortal becomes Soul-Seizing Great General, Golden Cudgel Immortal becomes Prison God, and Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal becomes Fourth Heaven Desire Lord. He keeps the rest of the Jiejiao newcomers rather than sending them away.
• Gungun hosts a welcoming banquet and receives the gods’ elaborate praise, which he quietly enjoys.
• In the Netherworld, Zhen Yuanzi asks Houtu to arrange Red Cloud’s reincarnation as a pureblood human. Red Cloud’s badly damaged primordial spirit cannot recover normally; becoming a Human Emperor and gaining the Human Race’s merit may restore it.
• Houtu agrees. Taiqing proposed the plan, hoping Red Cloud will also help anchor Human Race providence in the Fire Cloud Cave. Red Cloud and Zhen Yuanzi accept the cost of that confinement as preferable to his continued injury.
• Eighty years later, Red Cloud is born in the Lieshan Tribe. Xuandu sets out to take him as a disciple, while Fuxi senses the event and reflects uneasily on the Saints’ involvement.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun shows pragmatic tolerance: despite suspecting Long-Eared Dingguang Immortal could betray him, he judges the risk manageable and gives him a post. His self-satisfaction at being praised contrasts with Houtu’s criticism that he neglects the Netherworld out of laziness.
• Houtu is irritated by Gungun’s absentee leadership but remains willing to help Zhen Yuanzi and Red Cloud. She accommodates the requirement that Red Cloud be reborn as a pureblood human rather than a Witch-Human.
• Zhen Yuanzi acts out of loyalty and concern for Red Cloud, seeking Houtu’s aid and accepting the limitations attached to the plan.
• Red Cloud agrees to reincarnation and the prospect of confinement in the Fire Cloud Cave because it offers his only realistic chance of recovery.
• Fuxi’s silent reaction hints at concern over the Saints’ influence on Human Race affairs.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: Gungun enjoys imperial authority but leaves much Netherworld administration to others.
• Pragmatism and compromise: Characters accept imperfect arrangements when better options are unavailable.
• Providence and political influence: Red Cloud’s recovery is tied to Human Race merit, while the Fire Cloud Cave plan serves Taiqing’s broader aims.
• Loyalty and trust: Zhen Yuanzi’s efforts for Red Cloud and Houtu’s assistance contrast with Gungun’s calculated decision to retain a potentially unreliable subordinate.

Summary

• Fuxi’s departure and Shennong’s appointment: Fuxi privately resents that the Saints control the selection of Human Emperors, though he recognizes that he has little power to challenge them. He grants the Lieshan Tribe the surname Jiang and permission to study the Eight Trigrams in Chen Capital. After serving as Human Emperor for a hundred years, he follows Laozi’s decree and asks the tribes to choose a new common ruler. Most support Shennong, leader of the Jiang Tribe, and Fuxi formally passes him the position before departing for Fire Cloud Cave. The role of Human Emperor is distinct from that of common ruler and cannot simply be passed on.
• Shennong’s achievements: Over the following decades, Shennong strengthens and improves human society. He makes bows, develops pottery, and eventually creates plows and cultivates the five grains. This helps humanity shift from nomadic life toward agriculture. Heaven sends merit for his work, increasing his authority over human fortune and attracting the attention of powerful beings.
• Gungun’s detachment: When demonic energy corrupts creatures in the Eastern Wastes Marsh, Gungun casually orders the area sealed and the victims purified. Xiong Yuan carries out the task, and the cleansed creatures are held in the Heavenly Prison until their recovery is confirmed. Gungun quickly loses interest and remains largely indifferent to Shennong’s rise as well.
• The Demon Race’s scheme: Alarmed by humanity’s rapid development, Lu Ya considers attacking it. Bai Ze warns that a direct assault would incur disastrous karma because humanity is protected as Heaven and Earth’s protagonist. Lu Ya instead proposes secretly encouraging other races to attack, hoping to weaken human fortune and eventually let the Demon Race claim humanity’s position. Bai Ze doubts the Demon Race is strong enough to succeed but ultimately allows Lu Ya to try.

Character developments and interactions

• Fuxi has shifted from an innate god’s perspective to a ruler’s: he now resents the Saints’ control over humanity, yet remains constrained by their authority. He nevertheless accepts the tribes’ consensus and hands leadership to Shennong.
• Shennong emerges as a capable, practical leader whose inventions bring material change and greater influence to humanity.
• Gungun remains carefree and disengaged, delegating the demonic-energy crisis rather than involving himself personally.
• Lu Ya is resentful and ambitious, choosing indirect manipulation over a direct attack. Bai Ze acts as the cautious adviser who warns him about karma and the Demon Race’s limitations, but eventually yields.

Significant themes

• Power and constraint: Even rulers and “protagonists” remain subject to the Saints and cosmic forces.
• Human progress: Practical innovations and agriculture strengthen humanity’s fortunes.
• Ambition versus consequence: Lu Ya’s plan offers a way around direct confrontation, but still risks entangling the Demon Race in karma.

Key plot points and events

• Gungun watches Shennong receive heavenly merit and realizes he is Red Cloud reincarnated. It briefly regrets missing the chance to seize Red Cloud’s primordial purple qi in the past, but decides to let the matter go.
• It observes that Xuandu has spread the Golden Core cultivation method and helped restore the Human Race’s strength after Fuxi’s long period of governance.
• Hungry for rice, Gungun disguises itself as a human youth and repeatedly steals and cooks rice from a paddy near Chen Capital. After a week, Shennong catches it in the act.
• Shennong sentences Gungun to military service, but Gungun asks to work as the army’s cook instead.
• Before Shennong can respond, messengers report that his daughter Nuwa was dragged into the sea by an evil dragon while traveling near the East Sea. Shennong orders the Human Race to march against the Dragon Race unless they return her and explain themselves.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun is powerful but unserious, driven by appetite and largely unconcerned when captured. Its irreverent thoughts about divine politics contrast with its practical wish to become a camp cook. It is baffled by the sudden prospect of war.
• Shennong shifts from stern ruler prosecuting a food thief to a distressed father, then to an angry sovereign issuing a military command.
• Nuwa does not appear directly, but her reported kidnapping becomes the chapter’s crisis. Her father’s reaction shows how deeply he cares for her.
• Xuandu is shown supporting the Human Race’s recovery through teaching and cultivation; Gungun recognizes his importance to their growing strength.
• Shennong’s attendants correct Gungun’s casual address, while the returning cultivators report their failed attempt to save Nuwa.

Significant themes

• Humor amid epic stakes: Gungun’s hunger, odd manners, and cook request undercut the gravity of its capture and the coming conflict.
• The Human Race’s recovery and power: cultivation, leadership, and collective strength have rebuilt the tribes enough to contemplate confronting the Dragon Race.
• Family and sovereignty: Shennong’s personal anguish quickly becomes a public call to arms, linking a ruler’s family crisis to the fate of the whole Human Race.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Shennong orders a campaign against the East Sea Dragon Race, accusing it of harming his daughter and killing humans. Gungun is caught after stealing grain and conscripted into the army, but willingly goes along for the novelty. He introduces himself to the soldiers as Xiong Ba.
• On an East Sea island, Lu Ya learns that Shennong is preparing for war. Satisfied with the situation he has helped set in motion, he leaves for the Demon Emperor Palace, intending to watch events unfold.
• Ao Guang wakes beside a fox spirit and, believing he has slept with her, promises to take her to the Dragon Palace as his consort. Once home, however, he hides her in his bedchamber and never fulfills that promise.
• In Chen Capital, Shennong’s teacher, Xuandu, warns that the Dragon Race may be overwhelmingly powerful, especially without aid from the Nine Li Tribe. Shennong refuses to abandon his people or his daughter. After the assembled humans call for revenge, he orders the army and cultivators to march on the East Sea.

Character developments

• Gungun shows his usual irreverence, but also a willingness to take risks—or simply to entertain himself—by joining the army despite having the power to escape.
• Shennong emerges as a resolute leader who values justice and the dignity of his people over the safety of avoiding a hopeless-looking war.
• Xuandu remains cautious and doubtful, warning Shennong of the consequences of defeat, but does not stop him.
• Ao Guang is shown as lecherous and unreliable: he makes a grand promise to the fox spirit, then avoids honoring it.
• Lu Ya acts as a schemer who has helped set the conflict in motion, then withdraws to observe the results from a distance.

Character interactions

• Gungun’s complaints about being pushed around amuse—and provoke—the soldiers, who respond by shoving him more.
• Shennong and Xuandu clash over whether the Human Race should risk war against a stronger enemy. Shennong argues that refusing to defend the people would itself be a betrayal.
• Ao Guang’s tender assurances win the fox spirit’s trust, but his later secrecy leaves her resentful.
• Shennong’s call for revenge unites the gathered humans behind the campaign.

Significant themes

• Justice versus power: Shennong insists that a stronger enemy does not justify accepting violence without resistance.
• Collective dignity and courage: The Human Race chooses to face danger rather than live in humiliation.
• Manipulation and deception: Lu Ya engineers events while keeping himself removed from their consequences; Ao Guang’s promises similarly prove hollow.
• Fate and possibility: Shennong challenges Xuandu’s certainty that victory is impossible, pointing to the Human Race’s rise as proof that unlikely outcomes can occur.

Chapter Summary

• Gungun joins the human army marching toward the East Sea, treating the conflict with the dragons as an amusing adventure rather than a serious threat.
• In the Dragon Palace, Zitong discovers Ao Guang hiding a fox spirit, Little Fox. She orders the fox punished, but Ao Guang pleads for her life, explaining that she is not part of the Demon Race. Zitong refuses, partly because Ao Guang is betrothed to the daughter of Elder Long Ming and the affair could endanger the match.
• A sudden attack shakes the palace. Zitong orders Little Fox taken to the Extreme Cold Prison and commands Ao Guang to investigate. Though reluctant to leave the fox, Ao Guang obeys after his mother rebukes him for neglecting his duties as Dragon King.
• At the East Sea shore, Shennong and the human forces attack the Dragon Palace. Zitong intercepts Shennong’s magical strike with an Ice Arrow, then emerges with Ao Guang and the dragon army.
• Shennong accuses the Dragon Race of attacking his daughter Nuwa’s ship, abducting her, and killing dozens of humans. Ao Guang angrily denies the charge and insists the dragons have acted honorably.
• Shennong brings forward surviving human cultivators as witnesses. To Ao Guang’s shock, they identify him as the dragon who attacked them and took Nuwa.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Ao Guang shifts from a self-assured denial of wrongdoing to stunned disbelief when the witnesses accuse him. His concern for Little Fox also exposes a conflict between his personal attachment and his responsibilities—and his mother’s expectations.
• Zitong is stern and commanding, prioritizing the Dragon Race’s reputation, Ao Guang’s betrothal, and the palace’s safety. She reprimands him for putting Little Fox before his royal duties.
• Shennong remains focused on justice for Nuwa and the slain humans, using witnesses to confront the dragons directly.
• Gungun provides a lighthearted contrast to the growing crisis, eager for battle and unconcerned about its larger consequences.
• The human and dragon leaders move from mutual accusation to a direct confrontation, while the witnesses’ claim creates a major question:

Was Ao Guang truly responsible, or is there another explanation?

Significant Themes

• Duty versus personal desire: Ao Guang’s attachment to Little Fox conflicts with his obligations as Dragon King and his arranged marriage.
• Truth, evidence, and mistaken identity: The witnesses’ accusation contradicts Ao Guang’s confident denial, leaving his guilt uncertain.
• Escalation through accusation: The humans and dragons are pushed toward war before the circumstances of Nuwa’s disappearance are clarified.
• Power and status: Both sides invoke their standing—the humans as protagonists of Heaven and Earth, the dragons as an ancient, honored race—to justify their positions.

Plot points and events

• Ao Guang rejects the humans’ accusation that he abducted Shennong’s daughter and threatens the envoys. Shennong, convinced the Dragon King is responsible, demands his daughter’s return and declares war when Ao Guang denies knowing anything about her.
• Zitong, the Dragon Queen Dowager, treats the accusation as an insult to the Dragon Race and orders her forces to kill the humans, sparing only Shennong. The two armies clash.
• Gungun, disguised as a human, fights energetically but indiscriminately, striking both sides. Shennong drives Ao Guang back with the Human Race’s fortune and the Five-Colored Dao Tassel, asserting that the Heavenly Emperor has no authority over the Human Sovereign.
• Zitong turns the tide by summoning storms and unleashing dozens of dragons. The human army is overwhelmed. Xuandu warns Shennong that the humans cannot win, and Shennong orders a retreat.
• A decree from the Heavenly Sovereign prevents Zitong from pursuing the retreating humans. The humans escape, but the battle ends in their decisive defeat.
• Back in Chen Capital, Shennong laments failing his people. His commanders encourage him, though he doubts the Human Race can defeat the dragons during his reign. A general then brings the captured Gungun into the hall.

Character developments and interactions

• Shennong moves from confidence and fury to reluctant acceptance of defeat. He asserts human sovereignty against Ao Guang, but Zitong’s power forces him to retreat. His grief afterward reveals his deep responsibility for his people.
• Ao Guang is indignant at the accusation and initially attacks Shennong, but is quickly knocked back. Zitong catches him and takes control of the confrontation.
• Zitong emerges as the decisive military power: she scorns the humans, strengthens her own forces with a storm, and nearly destroys the retreating army before obeying the Heavenly Sovereign’s decree.
• Xuandu acts as a sober adviser, urging Shennong to withdraw rather than sacrifice the Human Race’s elite.
• Gungun displays impressive, chaotic battlefield prowess, fighting friend and foe alike. His irreverent jokes continue after his capture, provoking a comic contrast with the chapter’s grave defeat.
• The human generals express loyalty and urge Shennong not to blame himself, while their inability to withstand the dragons underscores the imbalance between the two sides.

Significant themes

• Human ambition versus established power: The Human Race claims equality with heaven, but its shallow foundations leave it vulnerable to the ancient Dragon Race.
• Leadership and responsibility: Shennong must choose retreat over pride, then bears the emotional burden of the loss.
• Power and hierarchy: Zitong’s strength and the Heavenly Sovereign’s authority shape the battle’s outcome more than the humans’ resolve.
• Comic relief amid tragedy: Gungun’s reckless antics and crude humor punctuate the grim, bloody conflict.

Key plot points

• After the battle, Gungun claims he is Xiong Ba, a member of the Youxiong Tribe. The tribe’s new chief, Yi, recognizes him—but only after a startling vision reveals Gungun’s immense divine identity.
• Shennong confronts Gungun for injuring his own people during the fighting. Gungun argues that Shennong likewise knowingly risked human lives by leading the doomed campaign against the Dragon Race.
• Shennong admits his guilt: defeat has made the sacrifices of those lost in the East Sea seem meaningless. He withdraws, then begs his teacher Xuandu for a way to atone. Xuandu agrees to help.
• As Gungun and Yi leave, Gungun points out that Shennong is crying.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun is playful and irreverent, disguising his power behind an innocent persona. Yet he also challenges Shennong with a serious moral argument about responsibility for sacrificing lives.
• Yi is awed and intimidated after glimpsing Gungun’s true, imperial form. Though he outwardly confirms Gungun belongs to the tribe, he treats him with great deference.
• Shennong moves from anger at Gungun to painful self-reproach. He accepts the comparison between their actions and seeks a path to make amends.
• Xuandu responds to Shennong’s plea with sympathy and agrees to guide him.
• Gungun and Shennong’s confrontation turns the question of wartime sacrifice back on the Human Sovereign, while Gungun and Yi’s final exchange adds a note of dry humor.

Significant themes

• Responsibility and the cost of leadership: Leaders must answer for lives lost in decisions made for revenge or victory.
• Meaning, defeat, and atonement: Shennong believes victory might have justified the sacrifices, but defeat forces him to face their cost and seek redemption.
• Hidden power and identity: Gungun’s casual “Xiong Ba” persona conceals a divine presence that Yi alone briefly perceives.
• The limits of authority: Gungun challenges Shennong’s judgment, showing that being Human Sovereign does not exempt him from moral scrutiny.

Key plot points and events

• After the disastrous battle, Yi learns from Gungun that the Human Sovereign is crying. Though Yi sympathizes, he cannot bring himself to cry; Gungun reassures him that Shennong will recover and invites him to eat.
• In the East Sea Dragon Palace, Zitong confronts Ao Guang over the humans’ claim that he attacked their ships and abducted Shennong’s daughter. Ao Guang denies it, insists the humans are falsely accusing him, and swears a grave oath of innocence.
• Convinced by her son, Zitong shifts her anger toward the Human Race. She decides to go to the Heavenly Court and accuse Shennong’s forces of slander and aggression. Ao Guang eagerly joins her, and they set off.
• In the Western Pure Land, Zhunti watches events unfold and is pleased that Zitong and Ao Guang are heading to heaven, expecting this to create more trouble for Shennong. Jieyin questions their involvement, but Zhunti argues that he did not cause the conflict and says he will eventually intervene to help Shennong repay an old karmic debt.

Character developments and interactions

• Yi shows compassion for Shennong but struggles to express his grief, maintaining a stalwart exterior.
• Gungun is calm and pragmatic, treating death with detachment and trying to comfort Yi through food and reassurance.
• Zitong moves from suspecting her son to defending him, then turns her maternal loyalty into a grievance against the humans.
• Ao Guang is anxious and aggrieved while defending himself, then becomes pleased when his mother promises to challenge the Human Race.
• Zhunti reveals his calculating, self-assured role in the unfolding crisis; Jieyin remains uneasy and questions the ethics of their actions.

Significant themes

• Grief and resilience: Yi and Shennong’s suffering contrasts with Gungun’s detached perspective and confidence that Shennong will recover.
• Family loyalty and justice: Zitong’s trust in Ao Guang redirects the conflict rather than resolving it.
• Manipulation and political escalation: Zhunti’s concealed interference helps turn a disputed accusation into a larger confrontation.
• Karma and responsibility: Zhunti frames his future aid to Shennong as repayment for a past debt, despite his present role in worsening the crisis.

Plot points and events

• Zhunti proposes a scheme to Jieyin, who reluctantly agrees and hopes Laozi will not discover it.
• In the Heavenly Court, Zitong and Ao Guang ask Ao Yue to punish the Human Race after Shennong’s army attacked the Dragon Palace. Ao Yue displays a vision of the wounded humans in Chen Capital, where Shennong is tending to them and searching for medicinal herbs.
• Crown Prince Changqin confirms that Shennong’s daughter, Nuwa, is dead, but her spirit has been captured by an unknown powerful being. Ao Yue sends Changqin to ask Empress Houtu to investigate.
• Ao Yue verifies that Ao Guang bears no karma for harming humans, concludes the Dragon Race was falsely accused, and orders Yinglong to seize Shennong and execute him.
• Zhenwu arrives with Zhen Yuanzi, who pleads for Shennong’s life and reveals that Shennong is the reincarnation of Red Cloud. Moved by Red Cloud’s identity and merit, Ao Yue spares Shennong, but imposes punishments: three strikes of heavenly flame and three years of drought and failed rice harvests for the tribes involved in the attack.

Character developments and interactions

• Ao Yue acts as a stern judge, first defending the Dragon Race and ordering a death sentence, then tempering his ruling after learning of Shennong’s connection to Red Cloud. He still insists on accountability.
• Zhen Yuanzi demonstrates his devotion to Red Cloud by personally pleading with Ao Yue, but accepts the punishment once Shennong’s life is spared.
• Zitong and Ao Guang formally seek justice and reaffirm their claim that the Dragon Race was wronged.
• Shennong is shown as compassionate and responsible, caring for the wounded while seeking remedies—even as Ao Yue condemns his military action.
• Changqin serves as an intermediary with the Netherworld, while Yinglong is halted before carrying out Ao Yue’s order.

Significant themes

• Justice and mercy: Ao Yue balances punishment for an unjust attack with compassion prompted by Shennong’s heritage.
• Truth and accountability: Ao Yue investigates the accusations and weighs evidence before ruling.
• Kinship and loyalty: Zhen Yuanzi’s friendship with Red Cloud drives him to defend Shennong.
• The cost of conflict: The human defeat leaves widespread suffering, and the ensuing judgment threatens further hardship for the tribes.

Key plot points and events

• Gungun eats an enormous meal in Chen Capital, then freezes time throughout the city using the Law of Silence when he senses Crown Prince Changqin approaching.
• Changqin reports that Ao Guang has accused the Human Race of attacking the Dragon Palace. Shennong’s daughter Nuwa is dead, but her spirit has not entered the Underworld; Changqin suspects a powerful being has hidden it and asks Houtu to help investigate.
• Gungun cannot divine the culprit. He suspects a saint may be involved and considers Nuwa or the Western Sages, while acknowledging Houtu could also be under suspicion. He tells Changqin to follow the Heavenly Sovereign’s instructions.
• Zhunti arrives and says the culprit is another saint, not one of the Western Sages, then invites Gungun to uncover the truth with him. Zhunti breaks Gungun’s time-stopping spell, restoring movement in Chen Capital.
• A dragon’s arrival alarms the city. Xuandu prepares to defend the people, but recognizes Yinglong, who has come to proclaim the Heavenly Sovereign’s decree.
• Yinglong announces that Shennong’s attack on the East Sea was a grave offense. Instead of execution, Shennong must endure three strikes of heavenly flame at the Undying Volcano. The tribes involved will suffer three years of drought, and their rice harvests will fail.
• Shennong refuses inwardly to accept the decree. He believes the Dragon King attacked human ships and abducted his daughter, so the accusations against him are false. He also rejects the idea that the Human Sovereign must submit to Heaven’s ruler.
• Watching from above, Gungun is puzzled by Shennong’s hesitation, considering the sentence lenient compared with punishments imposed on others.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun shifts from detached observer to potential investigator. Though he initially considers staying out of the human-dragon dispute, Zhunti’s invitation draws him toward uncovering the truth.
• Changqin acts as a messenger between the Heavenly Court and Underworld, openly seeking Gungun’s guidance.
• Zhunti calmly addresses Gungun’s suspicions and claims the Western Sages are not responsible, while leaving the culprit unnamed.
• Xuandu shows loyalty to both Shennong and the Human Race. Though anxious about the decree, he asks Yinglong to seek leniency and ultimately yields the floor to him.
• Yinglong is courteous to Xuandu but firmly delivers the Heavenly Sovereign’s judgment, presenting it as merciful compared with the originally intended punishment.
• Shennong reveals fierce independence and indignation. He is less concerned about his own suffering than about what he sees as false charges and the demand that he submit to the Heavenly Court.

Significant themes

• Authority and sovereignty: The decree tests whether the Human Race’s status as the protagonists of the world places it beneath, or alongside, the Heavenly Court.
• Justice versus political power: The punishment may be lenient by heavenly standards, but Shennong disputes the judgment’s account of events.
• Hidden manipulation: Nuwa’s missing spirit and the conflict between humans and dragons suggest that a powerful figure is secretly engineering events.
• Duty and loyalty: Xuandu risks confronting a powerful heavenly representative because he feels responsible for protecting Shennong and the people.

Key plot points

• Gungun wonders why Shennong refuses to accept the Heavenly Court’s decree. Zhunti explains that Fuxi taught the Human Race to regard the Human Emperor as equal to Heaven, because Heaven, Earth, and Humanity are equal.
• Shennong declares that the Human Race is not subject to the Heavenly Court and that the Heavenly Sovereign has no authority to command its leader. He is willing to be punished for losing the war against the Dragon Race, but refuses to acknowledge the decree.
• Yinglong sees Shennong’s defiance as an affront to the Heavenly Court and prepares to kill him. Xuandu tries to stop Yinglong, but cannot hold him back.
• Shennong stands firm, recalling Fuxi’s teachings that the Human Race must keep its dignity and rely on itself. He accepts the possibility of death rather than submit.
• Gungun decides to intervene, but Zhunti acts first. The Saint’s arrival dispels Yinglong’s lightning and commands the reverence of everyone present.

Character developments and interactions

• Shennong reveals a newfound political conviction and courage, placing the Human Race’s independence above his own safety.
• Yinglong is exposed as fiercely protective of the Heavenly Court’s authority; he treats Shennong’s refusal as treason and moves to execute him.
• Xuandu is caught between his disciple and Yinglong, urgently pleading for Shennong’s life while regretting Fuxi’s influence on him.
• Zhunti takes control of the confrontation by arriving dramatically and stopping the attack, while Gungun is surprised by his intervention—and privately envies the spectacle.
• Fuxi, though absent, shapes the conflict through the principles he taught Shennong. Gungun views those principles as evidence of Fuxi’s tendency to champion whichever group he belongs to.

Significant themes

• Human dignity and self-determination: Shennong insists that the Human Race must not surrender its independence, even under threat of death.
• Political status versus actual power: The Human Race may be the world’s “protagonist,” but it remains vulnerable because it lacks powerful protectors. The chapter’s closing note stresses that its strength will come later, through the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
• Authority and legitimacy: Shennong challenges the Heavenly Court’s right to rule humanity, while Yinglong argues that allowing such defiance would undermine the Court’s governance.
• The influence of teaching: Fuxi’s convictions give Shennong the resolve to resist, but also place him in mortal danger.

Key events

• Zhunti arrives at Chen Capital and stops Yinglong from punishing Shennong immediately. He insists that the dispute’s cause must be revealed before blame is assigned.
• Zhunti conjures a vision showing that the attacker who impersonated Ao Guang and abducted Shennong’s daughter, Nuwa, was actually Lu Ya, the Demon Race’s Crown Prince.
• The revelation clears the Dragon Race of responsibility and exposes the Demon Race’s attempt to provoke war between humans and dragons. Shennong and the human leaders realize they attacked the wrong people.
• Shennong accepts responsibility and asks that punishment fall on him alone. His tribal leaders, recognizing their own complicity, choose to share the penalty.
• The humans accept the Heavenly Sovereign’s decree: Shennong must endure three strikes of heavenly flame, and the participating tribes’ lands will suffer three years of drought.
• In the Heavenly Court, Ao Yue reflects on Shennong’s claim that humanity stands equal to Heaven. He decides to pursue influence among humanity by splitting off a fragment of his soul and arranging for it to be reborn among the Youxiong Tribe as Xuanyuan.

Character developments and interactions

• Shennong moves from certainty and anger to shock, remorse, and accountability. His willingness to shield his people reinforces their respect for him.
• Yinglong initially pursues punishment but accepts the need to uncover the truth; he is shocked to learn Lu Ya was behind the attack.
• Zhunti acts as mediator and revealer, guiding the parties toward an agreed punishment while settling his past karmic debt to Shennong. He also privately considers whether Nuwa bears responsibility through her leadership of the Demon Teaching.
• The human tribal leaders shift from guilt and suspicion to solidarity, kneeling alongside Shennong and accepting shared consequences.
• Ao Yue turns his attention toward humanity’s political and spiritual significance. His decision to create Xuanyuan marks the beginning of a new strategy to gain influence through human affairs.
• Gungun, watching events, suspects a Saint was involved in the scheme but concludes that Lu Ya’s role rules out Houtu, leaving Nuwa or one of the Western Sages as possibilities.

Significant themes

• Truth and responsibility: The vision reveals how appearances can mislead, and how acting on assumptions can bring unjust conflict.
• Leadership and collective accountability: Shennong accepts blame, while the tribal leaders acknowledge their own role rather than leaving him to suffer alone.
• Political influence and human destiny: The chapter emphasizes humanity’s importance as the world’s protagonists, prompting Ao Yue to intervene in its future.
• Manipulation among powerful factions: Lu Ya’s deception demonstrates how larger powers can exploit conflicts between peoples for their own ends.

Chapter 343 Summary

• Zhunti answers Shennong’s question: After Shennong asks whether his daughter Nuwa is still alive, Zhunti says she has fallen—but reveals that she can return as a Divine Bird. Using his power, he frees Nuwa’s imprisoned spirit from Lu Ya’s formation and guides her to Chen Capital, where she reunites joyfully with her father.
• Zhunti repays an old debt: He gives Shennong a golden lotus for protection and says his aid is repayment for a debt he owes. Gungun recognizes that Zhunti is repaying his karmic debt to Red Cloud, though he suspects Zhunti has further plans.
• The Saints accuse Nuwa: After learning that the Demon Race helped provoke the Human–Dragon Conflict, the Saints infer that Nuwa concealed Heaven’s secrets and blame her for sabotaging Shennong’s rise as Human Emperor. Nuwa denies knowing about Lu Ya’s attack and angrily cuts off their communication.
• Nuwa orders an investigation: Alone, Nuwa wonders who framed her, considering Zhunti, Laozi, Yuanshi, Houtu, and others as possible suspects. She commands Soaring Serpent to arrest Lu Ya and bring him in for questioning.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Shennong moves from despair to joy at seeing his daughter restored, and is deeply grateful to Zhunti.
• Zhunti presents himself as both a benefactor and a debtor repaying past karma, while hinting that his involvement is not finished.
• Nuwa is furious and increasingly suspicious: although the Saints hold her responsible, she insists she had no part in Lu Ya’s actions and resolves to uncover the truth.
• The Saints unite in condemning Nuwa, with Tongtian laying out the political motive he believes drove her actions. Zhunti’s admission that Lu Ya is his disciple complicates the accusations, while Jieyin also pressures Nuwa to stop competing over the Human Race.

Significant Themes

• Karma and repayment: Zhunti’s intervention is framed as repayment for a debt rooted in the past.
• Political blame and suspicion: The conflict’s consequences become a struggle over who controls the Human Race’s fortune and influence.
• Truth obscured by appearances: The Saints treat circumstantial evidence as proof, while Nuwa’s denial leaves the real instigator uncertain.
• Family and devotion: Shennong and Nuwa’s reunion provides an emotional contrast to the Saints’ political confrontation.

Key plot points

• Soaring Serpent leaves for the Northern Lands to capture Lu Ya.
• Walking beside the Yellow River, Gungun tells Zhunti that Shennong could still become Human Emperor: human leadership depends chiefly on popular love and recognition, which Shennong might regain through future achievements.
• Zhunti agrees that Shennong’s standing has suffered, but acknowledges that he and his senior brother must repay their karmic debt to Red Cloud within a hundred years.
• Back in the Heavenly Court, Gungun meets Ao Yue. Ao Yue says he has already chosen how to deal with Shennong, whose attack on the Dragon Palace is forgiven after he accepts punishment.
• Ao Yue reveals that he wants to replace the Human Race’s Co-ruler—not mainly for power, but to establish the Heavenly Court’s authority over humanity.
• He asks Gungun to send a fragment of his soul through reincarnation so it can be born in the Youxiong Tribe and compete for the Human Emperor’s position. The fragment will be named Xuanyuan.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun shows insight into the distinct basis of human authority and gently needles Zhunti into admitting the debt to Red Cloud. Later, he is skeptical of Ao Yue’s intervention but agrees to help with the reincarnation.
• Zhunti recognizes that Shennong’s political position is precarious, yet leaves open the possibility of redemption. His promise to repay Red Cloud adds urgency to the Saints’ obligations.
• Ao Yue shifts from treating Shennong as a potential criminal to accepting his punishment, then reveals a more ambitious plan: entering human politics himself to make humanity acknowledge Heavenly Court rule.
• Gungun and Ao Yue banter familiarly over peaches and accusations of tyranny, but their exchange turns serious when Ao Yue explains his intentions.

Significant themes

• Legitimacy and popular approval: Unlike rulers of innate races, a human ruler’s authority rests on the people’s recognition and affection.
• Redemption and political standing: Shennong’s mistakes weaken his support, but his survival leaves room for him to regain it.
• Authority and control: Ao Yue fears humanity’s future influence and wants to secure Heavenly Court’s standing before humans become more powerful.
• Reincarnation and identity: Ao Yue’s plan echoes Zhiming’s earlier use of a soul fragment to become Zhenwu—and the final reveal links Ao Yue’s fragment to Xuanyuan.

Plot points and events

• Ao Yue asks Gungun to help reincarnate a fragment of his soul so he can compete to become Human Emperor. Gungun refuses, worried about opposing the Devil Ancestor’s side, but directs Ao Yue to seek Tongtian’s support and then visit Houtu.
• Gungun privately grows uneasy that Chi You’s defeat could weaken the Witch-Human Race and bring the Devil Ancestor’s anger. It decides to go to the Netherworld after all.
• Tongtian agrees to support Ao Yue, seeing him as a candidate to rival Yuanshi’s choice, Chi You. His sole condition is that Yinglong stay beside Ao Yue and share in the Human Emperor’s fortune. Ao Yue agrees, and Tongtian pledges Jiejiao’s full backing.
• At the Netherworld, Ao Yue meets Houtu, with Gungun already present. Houtu reveals she had planned to support Chi You, but Gungun persuaded her that another Witch-Human Human Emperor would provoke the Saints, especially since Fuxi is already Witch-Human.
• Houtu is willing to support Ao Yue instead, provided he gives suitable compensation to her—or, more precisely, to the Witch Race. The chapter ends before she names her terms.

Character developments and interactions

• Ao Yue moves from seeking help cautiously to gaining Tongtian’s backing and negotiating with Houtu. He remains respectful and shows strong affection for Yinglong.
• Gungun initially evades involvement by pretending to sleep, but later changes course and actively persuades Houtu. Its comic scheming is driven by loyalty to Ao Yue and anxiety about political consequences.
• Tongtian backs Ao Yue partly to counter Yuanshi, but his main stated concern is securing fortune for his favored disciple Yinglong.
• Houtu shifts from supporting Chi You to considering Ao Yue, while insisting the Witch Race receive compensation.
• Ao Yue and Tongtian negotiate through a humorous exchange about Yinglong; Ao Yue and Houtu begin a serious bargain, with Gungun acting as mediator.

Significant themes

• The contest for the Human Emperor is also a struggle among Saints and supernatural factions for influence and fortune.
• Political alliances depend on balancing power: Houtu weighs the Witch Race’s interests against the danger of provoking the Saints.
• Loyalty and family affection shape strategy, especially in Tongtian’s protection of Yinglong and Gungun’s support of Ao Yue.
• Comedy arises from Gungun’s evasions and the characters’ competing, often self-interested interpretations of the stakes.

Key plot points and events

• Houtu agrees to support Ao Yue’s split soul in the contest to become the third Human Emperor, but demands that it marry the Witch Race’s Great Shaman Jiu Feng.
• Ao Yue is horrified by the match, while Gungun enthusiastically praises Jiu Feng and speaks for Ao Yue before he can object. Ao Yue reluctantly accepts, reasoning that only his split soul—not his original self—will marry her.
• Houtu sends the split soul into reincarnation. The arrangement also serves the Witch Race’s interests: whichever candidate wins between Ao Yue and Chi You, the Witches will have a stake in the outcome.
• As they leave, Ao Yue accuses Gungun of arranging the marriage. Gungun insists that Xuanyuan, Ao Yue’s future incarnation, will be a womanizer because he shares Ao Yue’s nature.
• Gungun’s claim that he himself has never considered sleeping with thousands of women is abruptly interrupted when divine lightning strikes him.

Character developments

• Ao Yue moves from shock and resistance to reluctant acceptance, prioritizing the larger political goal. He becomes flustered when Gungun suggests his split soul will be a womanizer.
• Gungun shows little sympathy for Ao Yue’s objections, manipulating the conversation to secure Houtu’s agreement. He also makes bold claims about Ao Yue’s romantic nature—then invites suspicion about his own.
• Houtu balances the Witch Race’s interests with the contest for the Human Emperor. She suspects Gungun is trying to keep the Human Race aligned with the Heavenly Court, but accepts his proposal as advantageous.

Significant themes

• Political compromise: A marriage becomes the price of securing Houtu’s support and protecting the Witch Race’s influence.
• Duty versus personal choice: Ao Yue accepts a match he dislikes for the sake of a broader strategy.
• Destiny and divided identity: The exchange raises whether Ao Yue’s split soul will inherit his own traits.
• Comedy through irony: Gungun’s confident teasing—and his boast about virtue—ends in a lightning strike.

Character interactions

• Gungun overrides Ao Yue’s hesitation and presents the marriage as an honor; Houtu treats the matter as settled.
• Ao Yue later confronts Gungun for arranging the match, while Gungun counters by accusing him of being a womanizer.
• Houtu privately interprets Gungun’s motives and considers how the agreement benefits both the Heavenly Court and the Witch Race.

Key plot points

• Gungun is struck by heavenly lightning after complaining that the heavens punish him for telling the truth. He recovers briefly with a Flat Peach, then provokes a second strike and collapses again.
• Houtu brings the injured bear to the Netherworld. She tells Ao Yue that Gungun may need a thousand years to recover, so Ao Yue must shoulder more responsibility in the Heavenly Court.
• Houtu also clarifies that the Witch Race will neither support Chi You nor deliberately weaken the Nine Li Tribe if Chi You later contests the Human Emperor’s throne with Xuanyuan.
• Once alone with Gungun, Houtu realizes he deliberately sought the second lightning strike so he could withdraw from the coming succession struggle and avoid being blamed for its outcome.
• Gungun finally reveals—through his thoughts, which Houtu can now hear—that he fears Luo Hou, who will demand that Houtu help Chi You. Houtu is stunned to learn Luo Hou is the threat he has been anticipating.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun uses injury as a calculated escape from political responsibility, though he insists the lightning genuinely hurt. His comic complaints and apparent self-pity mask a shrewd plan.
• Houtu has become perceptive enough to see through Gungun’s tricks and, after gaining a complete primordial spirit, can hear his thoughts. Her conversation with him shifts from frustration to shock when she discovers Luo Hou’s involvement.
• Ao Yue shows concern for Gungun, then accepts Houtu’s instructions and leaves to manage his duties.
• Houtu and Gungun’s familiar, teasing exchanges highlight her growing insight and his habit of withholding the real reason behind his actions.

Significant themes

• Avoiding responsibility: Gungun engineers an excuse to stay out of a politically dangerous conflict.
• Power and coercion: The coming contest over the Human Emperor’s throne is shaped not only by rival factions but by powerful figures who may demand others’ allegiance.
• Humor amid high stakes: Gungun’s slapstick suffering and Houtu’s exasperation contrast with the serious revelation that Luo Hou may influence the conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Gungun tells Houtu that he encountered the Devil Ancestor Luo Hou in the Demon Realm and reveals that Chi You is the reincarnation of a fragment of Luo Hou’s soul. Gungun says he used the Spirit-Washing Cauldron to erase the fragment’s memories and power, so Chi You has not yet awakened to his true nature.
• Houtu worries that Chi You may eventually become Luo Hou’s pawn. She also recognizes how powerful he has become, thanks to her essence blood and centuries of cultivation. She reasons, however, that Nuwa and Tongtian may support Xuanyuan against Chi You, while Luo Hou is unlikely to intervene openly. Houtu decides to watch events unfold without drawing Luo Hou’s suspicion.
• In the Wa Emperor Palace, Nuwa confronts Lu Ya for engineering the conflict between humans and dragons. Lu Ya admits what he did but argues that he acted for the Demon Race, which has suffered losses and is routinely exploited by humans. He resents Nuwa for appearing to favor humanity despite her role as leader of the Demon Teaching.
• Lu Ya says no one instructed him, though Nuwa detects that a Saint concealed the heavenly secrets around his scheme. Unable to identify that Saint, she releases him and asks him to behave himself.
• Troubled by Lu Ya’s accusations and her own perceived failures toward both humans and demons, Nuwa asks Soaring Serpent to petition Ao Yue for leniency toward Lu Ya, offering to incur a karmic debt in return.
• Ao Yue, meanwhile, is unsure how to punish Lu Ya, who is both the mastermind behind the conflict and the Demon Race’s Crown Prince. He is considering the issue when Soaring Serpent arrives with Nuwa’s request.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun chooses to trust Houtu with the truth he had long withheld, explaining that his silence was intended to protect her and the Witch Race. He reassures her about Chi You’s current state, while admitting the future contest will be difficult.
• Houtu shifts from anger and shock at Gungun’s concealed connection to Luo Hou to serious concern about Chi You. Her strategy is cautious: avoid provoking Luo Hou and rely on possible Saintly support for Xuanyuan.
• Nuwa moves from fury at Lu Ya to doubt and guilt after hearing his grievance. Her decision to seek mercy for him shows compassion and uncertainty about whether she has fulfilled her obligations to the Demon Race.
• Lu Ya is defiant but deeply resentful, viewing his actions as retaliation for the Demon Race’s suffering. His confrontation exposes the personal and political costs of Nuwa’s divided loyalties.
• Ao Yue is caught between justice and his ties to the Demon Race, setting up a negotiation over Lu Ya’s fate.

Significant themes

• Trust and disclosure: Gungun’s confession contrasts with the danger of keeping secrets, while Houtu must decide how much to reveal or act on.
• Divided loyalties and justice: Lu Ya challenges Nuwa’s responsibility to both humans and demons, and Ao Yue faces a similar conflict over punishment.
• Power and political calculation: The likely intervention of Saints, Luo Hou’s constraints, and Houtu’s restraint all shape the coming struggle for Human Emperor.
• Guilt and responsibility: Nuwa questions whether she has failed both races, while Lu Ya frames his violence as a response to longstanding injustice.

Plot points and events

• Nuwa’s intervention prevents Lu Ya from receiving an even harsher punishment. Ao Yue orders him confined to the Demon Emperor Palace for a thousand years; Lu Ya accepts on Bai Ze’s advice.
• Twelve years later, Shennong undergoes punishment by heavenly flame at the Undying Volcano, protected by a lotus Zhunti gave him. He then begins tasting herbs to heal humanity.
• Shennong’s long absence and the Human-Dragon War weaken Chen Capital’s authority. Tribal chiefs increasingly govern themselves, and the Human Race begins to fragment.
• As the next Human Emperor contest approaches, Yuanshi and Tongtian choose opposing candidates: Yuanshi backs Xuanyuan of the Youxiong Tribe, while Tongtian backs Chi You of the Nine Li Tribe. Yuanshi sends Guang Chengzi to teach Xuanyuan and Nine Li to teach Chi You.
• Tongtian sends his disciple Yinglong to form a contract with Xuanyuan and help him become Human Emperor. Duobao warns that Chi You is exceptionally powerful, but Tongtian trusts Yinglong and promises to intervene if needed.
• Tongtian tells Ao Yue that Xuanyuan must be strong enough to contend with Chi You. Ao Yue is left wondering how to accomplish this.

Character developments and interactions

• Ao Yue obeys Nuwa’s request in Lu Ya’s case, but remains reluctant to become involved in humanity’s affairs. Tongtian’s demand to strengthen Xuanyuan leaves him frustrated and burdened.
• Shennong continues his duty to humanity, though his absence has diminished his political influence.
• Yuanshi and Tongtian turn their long-standing rivalry into a contest over which of their pupils’ candidates will become Human Emperor. Yuanshi insists Nine Li teach his younger brother Chi You, despite the awkward family dynamic.
• Tongtian and Duobao discuss the dangers Chi You and Ran Deng may pose. Tongtian reassures Duobao with confidence in Yinglong and his own strength.
• Yinglong accepts the mission to support Xuanyuan, while Guang Chengzi and Nine Li are dispatched as the candidates’ teachers.

Significant themes

• Authority and fragmentation: Shennong’s absence exposes the limits of central rule as tribes turn toward self-governance.
• Rivalry and mentorship: The Saints’ competition plays out through teachers, disciples, and rival claimants to the Human Emperor’s position.
• Power and responsibility: Tongtian expects Ao Yue to ensure Xuanyuan can match Chi You, even though Xuanyuan is only Ao Yue’s divided soul.
• Divine influence on human affairs: Saints and powerful beings shape humanity’s political future, while human tribes increasingly make their own decisions.