Chapter Summaries

Plot points

• After Houtu arrives, Gungun feigns distress and clings to her, but she kicks him away and scolds him for provoking Taiyi by resisting his attack on the Iron-Eating Forest.
• Houtu mocks Gungun’s reliance on the Innate Kuiwood Grand Formation: he has only two innate Spirit Plants to power it. She throws him into the distance, then kicks him back into the forest, where he lands in a crater.
• Gungun pretends to be badly injured to avoid further punishment, but Houtu sees through him. She criticizes him for linking his clan’s fortunes with the Dragon Race and allowing Ao Yue to use the alliance to protect the dragons whichever side wins the coming War of the Liches.
• Gungun claims he accepted the arrangement to keep the Dragon Race from aiding the Demon Race, thereby reducing the threat to the Witch Race. He insists he would let anyone use him if it helped Houtu’s people.
• Houtu responds with chilling laughter, recalls Gungun’s threat to send Hou Yi to bathe in the Sea of Blood, and decides to give Gungun the experience himself. She kicks him toward the Sea of Blood.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun relies on comic deception—fake tears, exaggerated pain, and a self-deprecating “foolish bear” act—to manage Houtu’s anger. Beneath the performance, he appears genuinely willing to make strategic sacrifices for the Witch Race, though he hides how much he understands.
• Houtu is protective of the Witch Race but expresses concern through harsh scolding and physical punishment. She is angry that Gungun made a risky alliance and failed to recognize its advantages for Ao Yue.
• Their relationship is teasing but volatile: Gungun seeks Houtu’s sympathy and praise, while Houtu sees through his theatrics and turns his own words back on him.

Significant themes

• Strategy and loyalty: Gungun’s alliance with the Dragon Race serves his own strategic goal of limiting the Demon Race, even as it benefits Ao Yue.
• Manipulation and appearances: Both Gungun and Ao Yue may be using the alliance for their own purposes, while Gungun deliberately presents himself as naïve.
• Affection expressed through conflict: Houtu’s sternness and Gungun’s comic pleading create a bond in which care and punishment are closely intertwined.

Plot points and events

• Houtu kicks Gungun away to the Sea of Blood and asks River Styx to discipline him for his laziness and shamelessness.
• After Taiyi withdraws, Houtu tells the Iron-Eating Beasts they can leave their hall. They refuse to trust her voice and stay inside. When Houtu tries to open the doors, a powerful light repels her, revealing that the hall has an unexpected protective force.
• At the Sea of Blood, Gungun’s restraints disappear. River Styx appears and, wielding the Abi Sword, ominously tells Gungun to stay and keep him company. Gungun is terrified.
• At the Heavenly Court, Dijun confronts Ao Yue for linking the Dragon Race’s fortune with the Iron-Eating Beasts, a Witch-aligned clan. Ao Yue admits he knew the implications but says he acted as the Dragon Crown Prince.
• Taiyi tries to defend Ao Yue, but Dijun silences him and accuses him of failing to control his subordinate.
• Ao Yue apologizes to Taiyi and accepts punishment, asking only that the Dragon Race not be harmed. He refuses to bring the Dragon Race into the Demon Race, insisting that his debt to the demons is his own.
• Dijun orders Ao Yue to endure eighty-one rounds of solar-fire punishment. Taiyi watches uneasily as Ao Yue is taken away.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun remains impulsive and finds himself in danger, first through Houtu’s anger and then River Styx’s threatening hospitality.
• Houtu scolds Gungun but also arranges for River Styx to discipline him. Her surprise at the hall’s defenses hints that the Iron-Eating Beasts—or their home—may be more formidable than she expected.
• The Iron-Eating Beasts show remarkable caution and loyalty to Gungun’s orders, refusing even Houtu’s invitation to come out.
• Ao Yue stands by his duty to the Dragon Race despite his position and obligations in the Demon Race. He accepts personal punishment rather than compromise the dragons’ independence.
• Dijun asserts his authority harshly, prioritizing the Demon Race’s interests and making clear that Ao Yue’s actions are treated as disobedience.
• Taiyi cares about Ao Yue and attempts to protect him, but submits to Dijun’s authority; his conflicted reaction suggests unease about the punishment.

Significant themes

• Duty versus loyalty: Ao Yue is torn between his obligations to the Demon Race and his responsibility to the Dragon Race.
• Authority and discipline: Houtu and Dijun both respond to disobedience with punishment, though Dijun’s is politically charged.
• Trust and caution: The Iron-Eating Beasts’ refusal to trust appearances contrasts with Gungun’s reckless behavior.
• Political allegiance: Linking the Dragon Race’s fortune to a Witch-aligned clan is treated as a major challenge to the Demon Court’s power.

Key events

• Kunpeng welcomes Ao Yue’s punishment, hoping the Dragon Race will be weakened enough for the Demon Race to attack it. He still resents the Dragon Race’s ancient feud with the Phoenix Race.
• Taiyi secretly meets Ao Yue before his punishment. He slips a Golden Crow feather into Ao Yue’s robes, then allows the escort to continue. Ao Yue cannot reveal Torch Dragon’s final words and silently apologizes to Taiyi.
• At the Jade Pool, Dijun reprimands Taiyi for letting personal feelings interfere with the Demon Race’s interests. He orders Taiyi to resolve the Dragon Race matter, then destroys his symbolic game board of the Primordial World.
• In the Sea of Blood, River Styx forces Gungun to hold up a heavy stone for five hundred years. Gungun invokes his ties to powerful figures—including Houtu, Gonggong, and Jieyin—but River Styx remains unmoved. When a mosquito bites him, Gungun abandons his protests and chases it while still holding the stone.

Character developments and interactions

• Taiyi shows compassion toward Ao Yue despite obeying the punishment order, revealing a conflict between personal loyalty and duty to the Demon Race.
• Ao Yue remains loyal to his people’s interests and keeps Torch Dragon’s words secret, even as he feels guilty toward Taiyi.
• Dijun is focused on the Demon Race’s power and fortune; his warning makes clear that Taiyi’s leniency carries political consequences.
• Kunpeng is revealed as an opportunist, intent on exploiting Dragon Race weakness to pursue old grudges.
• Gungun tries humor, status, and threats to escape River Styx’s punishment, but none work. River Styx’s teasingly harsh treatment sets up the chapter’s comic ending.

Significant themes

• Duty versus personal feeling: Taiyi’s sympathy for Ao Yue clashes with his obligations to the Demon Race.
• Political maneuvering and old grudges: Kunpeng sees punishment as an opportunity to revive a historic conflict.
• Loyalty and secrecy: Ao Yue protects the Dragon Race’s future by withholding sensitive information.
• Comic contrast: The grand political stakes give way to Gungun’s petty, chaotic battle with a mosquito.

Key plot points

• Gungun is bitten by a mosquito, then discovers it is the powerful Primordial Chaos Beast known as the Bloodwing Black Mosquito.
• He grows to enormous size and fights back, but the mosquito repeatedly flees and returns whenever he stops. Carrying River Styx’s bloodstone slows him down, and the chase wears him out over three days.
• When the mosquito approaches again, Gungun uses the law-based ability “Silence” to freeze it, then lands a full-powered punch that badly injures it and destroys at least thirty thousand years of its cultivation.
• Gungun begs River Styx to release him. River Styx refuses and assigns him years of labor: holding the bloodstone for five hundred years, hauling ten thousand bloodstones, and tending Golden Mandala Flowers until they produce fruit.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun begins the chapter outraged and eager to punish the mosquito. Despite his usual laziness, he shows persistence by pursuing it for days, then reveals tactical cunning by pretending to give up before trapping it. Afterward, he is exhausted and dismayed by his new duties.
• River Styx watches the chase without intervening, amused by Gungun’s predicament. He calmly explains the damage Gungun inflicted, then firmly establishes himself as Gungun’s master and threatens harsh consequences for disobedience.
• The Bloodwing Black Mosquito shifts from a tiny bloodsucker into a gigantic, formidable pursuer. It exploits Gungun’s fatigue and limited speed, but is ultimately caught off guard and badly wounded.
• Their exchanges emphasize the contrast between Gungun’s dramatic complaints and River Styx’s cool authority. River Styx sees through Gungun’s attempts to play the victim.

Significant themes

• Comedic reversal: The supposedly mighty bear is tormented by a mosquito, then becomes its relentless pursuer.
• Persistence and ingenuity: Gungun’s endurance and clever use of “Silence” turn the fight in his favor.
• Power and coercion: River Styx’s control over the bloodstone and his threats make clear that Gungun’s victory over the mosquito does not mean he is free.
• Forced responsibility: Gungun’s carefree, lazy identity clashes with the long, dangerous work River Styx imposes on him.

Plot points and events

• Three hundred years after Houtu sent Gungun to River Styx, Gungun is still carrying a magically restricted Bloodstone above the Sea of Blood, enduring Karmic Fire and complaining that he has received no system reward.
• River Styx tempts him with a red Mandala Fruit. When Gungun asks for another, Styx offers one in exchange for spending seven days carrying the stone at the perilous End of the Sea of Blood.
• Gungun protests, but Styx threatens him with the Abi Sword and orders him to go. Gungun realizes Houtu likely arranged this training and reluctantly sets off, convinced he does not need it.
• After Gungun leaves, Houtu appears. She and Styx discuss his abilities and his lack of courage in battle, then watch him go.

Character developments

• Gungun remains comfort-loving, food-motivated, and reluctant to face danger. Though powerful, he tends to flee unless cornered; he grudgingly obeys under threat.
• River Styx acts as Gungun’s harsh trainer, using danger and incentives to push him. His stern judgments are softened by a private fondness for Gungun’s fluffiness.
• Houtu is concerned that Gungun’s temperament will fail him in the coming War of the Liches. She agrees with Styx’s assessment but suspects Gungun may be more calculating than he appears, given her inability to enter his Crouching Bear Hall.

Significant themes

• Strength requires more than power: Courage and resolve are necessary to survive an age of conflict.
• Training through hardship: Houtu and Styx use danger to prepare Gungun for future battles.
• The gap between appearance and reality: Gungun looks cowardly and carefree, but Houtu suspects he may have hidden plans.

Character interactions

• Styx alternates between teasing, bribing, and threatening Gungun to make him train; Gungun responds with complaints and reluctant obedience.
• Houtu thanks Styx for training Gungun, while Styx presents the arrangement as an amusing diversion.
• Houtu and Styx share a candid assessment of Gungun, though Houtu remains unsure whether his apparent recklessness—or cowardice—reveals his true nature.

Plot points and events

• Houtu watches Gungun head into the Sea of Blood, still wondering about the white light that once kept her out of Crouching Bear Hall. She plans to ask about it later without revealing that she can hear Gungun’s thoughts.
• Carrying the bloodstone overhead, Gungun runs through the Sea of Blood’s dangerous baleful energy. It adds Tongtian’s Purification Drum for protection, then spends nearly six days sleeping at the far end of the sea, propping up its arms with bamboo so it can keep holding the stone.
• An explosion wakes Gungun. It discovers someone nearby is purifying baleful energy and goes to investigate.
• The stranger is Huanglin, a qilin-horned young man who is struggling to contain and purify a mass of concentrated baleful energy. He recognizes Gungun as the Ancestral Bear; Gungun recognizes him as Huanglin, Primordial Qilin’s eldest son.
• Huanglin explains that he is purifying the energy to accumulate merit and invites Gungun to join him. Gungun praises his resolve, compares him favorably to Four-Unlike, and offers him a spirit fruit. Huanglin’s interest sharpens when Gungun mentions Four-Unlike.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun remains lazy and self-serving, turning its assigned training into a long nap, but its curiosity draws it to Huanglin. It abandons its planned demand for compensation once it realizes who Huanglin is and begins cultivating a friendly connection.
• Huanglin is introduced as capable, disciplined, and modest despite his distinguished lineage. Neglected by his father, he has not developed an arrogant manner; he calmly accepts the difficult task of purifying the Sea of Blood for merit.
• Houtu remains curious about Gungun’s mysterious protective light, setting up a future conversation.
• Gungun and Huanglin meet as equals in cultivation rank, exchange respectful greetings, and begin a conversation that may connect Huanglin to his half-brother Four-Unlike.

Significant themes

• Danger and caution: Even powerful immortals must respect the Primordial World’s hazards; the Sea of Blood’s baleful energy can corrupt the mind.
• Merit and perseverance: Huanglin willingly undertakes an immense, seemingly endless task for the sake of merit.
• Humor and contrast: Gungun’s elaborate precautions and improvised sleeping setup undercut the seriousness of its mission and Huanglin’s labor.
• Lineage and neglect: Huanglin’s standing as Primordial Qilin’s eldest son contrasts with the lack of favor he received from his father.

Chapter summary

• Gungun meets Huanglin while the qilin is purifying baleful energy in the Sea of Blood. Huanglin reacts bitterly when Gungun calls Four-Unlike his brother, disparaging him for submitting the Qilin Clan to the Witch Race.
• Gungun defends Four-Unlike’s decision: with the Demon Race threatening the clan and Primordial Heavenly Venerable promising protection only for Four-Unlike—not the Qilin people—submission was, in Gungun’s view, the clan’s only chance to survive. He argues that serving whichever power benefits one’s own people matters more than judging that power as good or evil.
• Huanglin agrees with the principle, but his attempt to purify the Sea of Blood’s baleful energy causes him visible strain. Gungun offers help and uses his Purification Drum to weaken the energy, allowing them to work together. After a day, both have gained merit, and Huanglin’s opinion of Gungun improves.
• Gungun explains that Patriarch Styx has forced him to hold a bloodstone under a restriction. Huanglin tries to remove it but cannot overcome Styx’s power.
• Asked why he has not returned to the Qilin Emperor Forest, Huanglin reveals that his parents and nearly all his former followers died in battle. With little left to return to, he has stayed in the Sea of Blood to earn merit and protect the Qilin Clan, following his father’s example despite being a concubine’s son.
• Styx calls Gungun back after seven days. Before leaving, Gungun invites Huanglin to visit the Iron-Eating Forest; Huanglin accepts. He watches Gungun depart with growing warmth, then resumes recovering and purifying the Sea of Blood.

Character developments and interactions

Huanglin’s resentment toward Four-Unlike reflects their unequal standing in the family, but his conversation with Gungun reveals a deeper commitment to the clan. Gungun’s defense of Four-Unlike challenges Huanglin’s judgment, while his practical help earns Huanglin’s respect. Their exchange develops into a courteous, tentative friendship. Huanglin’s contrast between his own sacrifice and Four-Unlike’s circumstances also shapes Gungun’s harsh private view of Four-Unlike.

Significant themes

The chapter emphasizes loyalty to one’s people, pragmatic choices in wartime, and the personal cost of protecting a clan. It also contrasts inherited status with demonstrated sacrifice, while presenting merit-making as both spiritual labor and a means of safeguarding the future.

Plot points and events

• On the way back to the Sea of Blood, Gungun plans how to recruit the remaining sacred beasts. It hopes to earn merit by helping Huanglin reunite with Four-Unlike and recover the Qilin Seal. It also considers its possible future dealings with the Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise.
• Gungun resents River Styx’s “training,” viewing the hard labor as bear abuse, and privately imagines getting revenge.
• River Styx gives Gungun a red Mandala Fruit and explains that red mandalas nourish life, while golden mandalas embody death and can destroy living beings.
• He assigns Gungun a two-hundred-year regimen: eat a red Mandala Fruit every ten years, eventually carry ten thousand bloodstones from the bottom of the Sea of Blood without using magic, and tend the golden mandala flower.
• River Styx promises Gungun a mandala seedling once the golden flower bears fruit. He advises Gungun to ask Primordial Heavenly Venerable for three lights divine water to revive the divine tree that will serve as the core of Gungun’s Innate Kuiwood Grand Formation. With the tree restored and Gungun’s future cultivation, the formation could become exceptionally formidable.
• Gungun suspects Houtu must have offered River Styx more than a verbal promise in exchange for his help. River Styx claims that was all; Gungun openly refuses to believe him and returns to its work.

Character development and interactions

• Gungun remains boastful, greedy for merit, and comically self-justifying, but becomes more receptive to River Styx’s training when it sees the benefits offered. Its playful suspicion and resentment persist.
• River Styx appears blunt and teasing, yet his training is purposeful: the fruit and bloodstones are meant to strengthen Gungun, while his guidance offers a path to improve its formation.
• Their relationship is marked by mock insults, disbelief, and reluctant cooperation. River Styx questions why powerful figures value Gungun; Gungun answers with shameless confidence before conceding that its innate origins may be the reason.

Significant themes

• Merit, karma, and obligation: Gungun views alliances and favors as ways to accumulate merit, while River Styx’s help is tied to Houtu’s promise of future repayment.
• Growth through discipline: What Gungun dismisses as labor is revealed to be a training method that strengthens its body and magical defenses.
• Comic self-interest: Gungun frames its appetite, weight, and ambitions as necessary for the good of the world, sustaining the chapter’s humorous tone.

Key plot points

• After roughly 1,500 years in the Sea of Blood, Gungun helps River Styx tend the Godslaying Flowers. The plants bear fruit earlier than expected, and Styx credits Gungun’s careful work.
• Styx ends their arrangement and gives Gungun a golden mandala seedling to take home. Over the years, Gungun has received many valuable Mandala Fruits and absorbed some of the Sea of Blood’s life force, so he recognizes that he has benefited despite the hard labor.
• Before Gungun leaves, Styx warns him not to die at Eastern Emperor Taiyi’s hands a million years in the future. Gungun confidently promises to outlive Taiyi.
• Styx tells Houtu that Gungun is stronger and better off than before, and that she need not worry about him unless Taiyi corners him. Houtu thanks Styx and offers future assistance.
• At the Sea of Blood’s edge, Gungun accuses Houtu of breaking her promise to give him 100,000 years off: he says she interrupted his rest, then sent him to work for Styx. He flies away, and Houtu follows, indignant that he has blamed her when he was the one who had deceived her.
• Meanwhile, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable arrives at the Iron-Eating Forest seeking two mounts—one imposing and one docile.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun has grown stronger through his time in the Sea of Blood and has become more favorably disposed toward Styx, despite Styx’s harsh manner. He leaves with a valuable seedling but remains comically resentful of Houtu and eager to rest.
• River Styx shows a measure of concern for Gungun, giving him a parting gift and warning him about Taiyi, while maintaining his brusque, dismissive style.
• Houtu appears to have arranged Gungun’s time with Styx partly for his benefit, but their competing versions of the past create a comic quarrel.
• Gungun and Styx part on respectful terms; Gungun and Houtu immediately clash over whether she kept her promise.

Significant themes

• Hardship can bring unexpected growth and rewards.
• Affection and concern may be hidden beneath blunt or quarrelsome behavior.
• Comic misunderstandings—and self-serving interpretations—shape relationships.
• The chapter sets up a new development with the Primordial Heavenly Venerable’s arrival at the forest.

Yuanshi visits the Iron-Eating Beasts’ territory intending to choose two new mounts, having lost faith in Four-Unlike after its poor performance. He finds the bears shut inside Crouching Bear Hall, obeying an order from their absent sovereign to remain hidden until he returns. Yuanshi tells them that Houtu sent their sovereign to the Sea of Blood to train and that the outside is safe, then tries to open the hall himself.
A powerful white barrier blasts Yuanshi back. Recognizing it as the Sealing Demon God’s Innate World-Sealing Grand Formation, he is astonished: even his Three-Treasure Jade Ruyi cannot immediately overcome it. He wonders what Gungun used as the formation’s core, especially since Gungun’s earlier Kuiwood formation had been comparatively fragile.
Gungun returns and is startled to find Yuanshi at his hall. After exchanging respectful greetings, Yuanshi explains that he plans to select two Iron-Eating Beasts as mounts. He asks Gungun to lift the seal, saying that forcing his way through the formation would violate etiquette. Houtu, who spent three hundred years unable to enter, is left wondering whether Yuanshi could actually break it with ease.

Character developments and interactions

• Yuanshi remains proud and authoritative, but his surprise at the formation reveals that Gungun’s abilities and resources may exceed his expectations. He is careful to respect Gungun’s authority over the hall.
• Gungun is caught off guard by Yuanshi’s arrival and briefly imagines the benefits of becoming Yuanshi’s mount, including possible future status. He dismisses the idea because he is already Houtu’s mount and resents effectively doing two jobs for one reward.
• Houtu greets Yuanshi as a fellow senior figure and is intrigued by his confidence about the formation, which she herself has been unable to breach.
• The exchange between Yuanshi and Gungun is formally courteous, while Houtu’s reaction highlights the contrast between Yuanshi’s apparent confidence and her own frustration.
  Themes: The chapter contrasts rank and raw power with the ingenuity of formations; emphasizes loyalty, etiquette, and respect for authority; and uses humor to expose Gungun’s self-interest and complaints about his “double duty.”

Plot points and events

• Yuanshi claims he can break Gungun’s Innate World-Sealing Grand Formation. Gungun quietly doubts the ease of this but deactivates it and opens Crouching Bear Hall.
• The Iron-Eating Beasts, who have lived comfortably inside the hall’s protected minor worlds for nearly two thousand years, greet Gungun enthusiastically.
• Yuanshi clarifies that he will not take Houtu’s mount, Gungun, and asks the clan to provide two mounts. With Gungun’s encouragement, Xiong Zhan and Xiong Meng accept.
• Yuanshi praises Xiong Zhan’s strength and fortune, and Xiong Meng’s cultivation, then takes both toward Mount Kunlun.
• Houtu asks about Four-Unlike, who remains on Mount Buzhou. Yuanshi says he will not retrieve him for ten thousand years while he trains his new mounts.
• As Yuanshi departs, Gungun nearly reveals that the two bears are connected to Chi You, then catches himself and recalls the link between Yuanshi’s disciple Guang Chengzi and Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun remains deferential to powerful figures, but takes pride in the clan’s affection and sees Yuanshi’s choice as a benefit to the bears and their people. He also shows knowledge of future events, though he hides it.
• Yuanshi is confident and decisive, selecting mounts by his own judgment and planning to train them for ten thousand years. His willingness to leave Four-Unlike behind seems cold to Houtu.
• Houtu is attentive to Gungun’s situation and raises the question of Four-Unlike, showing concern for the abandoned creature.
• Xiong Zhan is a capable, courageous warrior who willingly becomes Yuanshi’s mount after checking with Gungun. Xiong Meng is shy and nervous, but follows Gungun’s reassurance and accepts.

Significant themes

• Deference and hierarchy: The bears’ choices are shaped by respect for Gungun and fear of Yuanshi, while Gungun’s own claims about the formation remain unchallenged.
• Opportunity and status: Gungun reframes becoming a sage’s mount as an honor that could benefit the whole clan.
• Fate and foreshadowing: Gungun’s near-slip about Chi You and his recollection of Guang Chengzi hint at future historical connections.
• Selective care: Yuanshi invests in training his new mounts while leaving Four-Unlike waiting, prompting Houtu’s sympathy.

Key plot points and events

• After Yuanshi takes Xiong Zhan and Xiong Meng to Kunlun, Gungun suspects the two bears may eventually become Chi You’s Iron-Eating Beast mounts—and perhaps play a role in Chi You’s defeat by Xuanyuan, the future Human Sovereign.
• Gungun worries Houtu might blame him for that future. Houtu hears his thoughts but, unfamiliar with the people and events he mentions, only concludes that the bears might someday cause trouble. She privately resolves to have Gungun call them back if necessary.
• Houtu praises Xiong Zhan’s potential and asks Gungun about the formation protecting Crouching Bear Hall. Gungun realizes she has tried to breach it, but she declines to pry into what she assumes is a clan secret.
• When Houtu starts to ask about the formation’s core, Gungun bolts inside and shuts the doors, pleading for a hundred thousand years of rest. Houtu recognizes how hard he has worked and agrees to leave him alone until then.
• Once she departs, Gungun reflects that the formation’s core is the Twelfth-Grade Pure World White Lotus. He keeps it secret because Houtu might ask him to use it to protect the Witch Race, potentially endangering his own clan’s fortune. He also cannot explain the future without risking heavenly punishment.
• Gungun ends by wondering why the Demon Court fell despite the Chaos Bell anchoring its fortune.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun is anxious and calculating: he fears future blame, guards his clan’s independence, and uses humor and evasion to protect his secrets and secure rest.
• Houtu shows concern and respect for Gungun’s efforts. Though curious about his formation, she honors his request to stop asking.
• Their exchange combines mutual familiarity with a clear boundary: Houtu can hear Gungun’s thoughts, but Gungun still withholds what he considers crucial knowledge.

Significant themes

• Foreknowledge and helplessness: Gungun knows fragments of future events but cannot safely reveal them or change them directly.
• Loyalty versus self-preservation: He cares about the Witch Race but prioritizes safeguarding the Iron-Eating Beast Clan’s separate fortune.
• Rest and recognition: Houtu’s decision to honor her promise acknowledges the burden Gungun has carried.
• Comic secrecy: Gungun’s dramatic retreat contrasts with the immense stakes surrounding the lotus and the races’ futures.

Key plot points and events

• Gungun reflects on why the Witch and Demon races fell while the weak Human Race became the world’s leading race. Suspecting deeper schemes, it chooses to avoid entanglement and returns to its peaceful life in the Iron-Eating Forest.
• Over the next 93,000 years, Gungun tends its forest and bears, while Hou Yi, Xingtian, and other Great Shamans occasionally visit. Houtu continues trying to comprehend the Dao but makes no progress.
• Nuwa becomes the first to attain sagehood. She creates the Human Race from nine-heavens breathing soil, spirit water, and the Creation Law. Her first successful creation, Feng Ling, receives a drop of Nuwa’s blood and is raised to peak Taiyi Golden Immortal; Nuwa uses a gourd-vine whip to create the rest.
• Nuwa announces the Human Race’s creation and receives immense merit: most enters her, while the gourd vine and remaining breathing soil also gain merit. The other major powers bow to recognize her as a sage.
• Nuwa opens Taisu Heaven to teach the Dao and asks Fuxi to care for the humans. Fuxi relocates them from Witch territory to the Yellow River, then stays hidden nearby to protect them while letting them establish their own way of life.
• After Fuxi leaves, Feng Ling claims leadership, citing her status as Nuwa’s first creation and sole blood descendant. She declares that her future descendants will form a distinct “Nuwa Race,” prompting Fuxi’s stunned reaction.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun remains cautious and detached from the world’s political struggles, preferring its quiet life and the comfort of the World-Cleansing White Lotus.
• Houtu is frustrated and wounded by Nuwa’s success, questioning whether the Witch Race can attain the Dao without primordial purple qi.
• Nuwa discovers that creating an innate-Dao-body race is her path to sagehood. Though she becomes a sage, she remains affectionate and informal with Fuxi, resisting his overly respectful form of address.
• Fuxi acts as a protective uncle to the newly created humans. He honors Nuwa’s request but avoids controlling their society, choosing to guard them discreetly instead.
• Feng Ling quickly shifts from Nuwa’s favored first creation to an ambitious leader. She asserts authority over the other humans and uses her inherited power to enforce her claim.

Significant themes

• Destiny and historical change: Gungun’s doubts about the Human Race’s eventual prominence frame its arrival as a major turning point.
• Merit, creation, and sagehood: Nuwa’s act of creation fulfills her Dao and transforms her into a sage.
• Power and legitimacy: Feng Ling bases her claim to rule on divine bloodline, firstborn status, and superior strength.
• Protection versus self-determination: Fuxi safeguards the humans while deliberately allowing them to shape their own lives.
• Unequal beginnings: The humans start inexperienced and vulnerable, while their first leader immediately establishes a hierarchy among them.

Summary

This chapter is an author’s clarification and revision note responding to reader questions about the previous chapter.

• Gungun’s merit: The author has revised the story so Gungun receives one-tenth of the merit, bestowed directly by the Heavenly Dao.
• Feng Ling and the Human Race: The author explains that Feng Ling’s use of her imposing aura was meant to establish leadership, not cause infighting. As the first-born and strongest among the humans, she steps forward to unite and guide them.
• The Nuwa House: The author acknowledges that the previous wording made it sound as though Feng Ling and her followers were leaving the Human Race. The intended meaning is that the Nuwa House is a distinct lineage or group within the Human Race.
• Yuanshi’s mount and Chi You: The author reaffirms that Yuanshi sent the Iron-Eating Beast to undermine Chi You, not aid him. Since Chi You’s defeat would benefit Xuanyuan, Gungun reasons that the act would earn merit rather than incur karma.

Character and relationship points

Feng Ling is presented as a forceful leader who gains her people’s allegiance through her strength and bloodline. Gungun’s role is clarified as one that can bring merit to others through the consequences of his actions. Yuanshi’s choice of mount is portrayed as a deliberate strategy against Chi You.

Themes

The note emphasizes leadership and unity, the importance of clear distinctions within a larger community, and the way actions can be judged by their wider consequences. It also foregrounds the author’s engagement with reader feedback and willingness to revise confusing details.

Plot and key events

• Feng Ling declares herself a descendant of Nuwa and names her people the Nuwa House of the Human Race. Heavenly merit descends, confirming her status and earning her the Human Race’s reverence.
• Feng Ling becomes the Human Race’s sovereign, orders her people to settle along the Yellow River, and urges them to grow strong without dishonoring Nuwa. The humans accept her decree and begin to thrive.
• Gungun, having gained substantial merit and advanced to the late Great Immortal stage, decides to attend Nuwa’s upcoming sermon in Taisu Heaven. He also sets out for the Yellow River to visit the new Human Race.
• The Witch Race discusses whether to attend Nuwa’s sermon. Though Dijiang doubts they can benefit from it, he agrees they should go to avoid offending her.
• The Ancestral Witches speculate that Gungun’s role in Nuwa’s enlightenment earned him a share of her Sainthood merit. Dijiang sees him as a potentially important asset in the future war against the Demon Race.
• When Dijiang senses Gungun heading to the Yellow River, Houtu decides to go as well and suggests bringing him along.
• At the Yellow River, Gungun wakes and sees Feng Ling brutally beating a blood-soaked fish demon, finding her rule—and her temperament—intimidating.

Character developments and interactions

• Feng Ling firmly embraces her divine lineage and authority. The merit validates her claim, and the Human Race responds with awe and obedience.
• Gungun remains lazy and comical, but his growing power and accumulated merit make him increasingly significant. His trip marks a rare willingness to leave his forest retreat.
• Houtu shows concern and curiosity about Gungun, while Dijiang recognizes his growing strategic value. Their conversation highlights the Witch Race’s mixed feelings toward him.
• Dijiang reluctantly acknowledges the political importance of attending a Saint’s sermon, while resenting that powerful beings without Pangu’s bloodline have surpassed the Witches.
• Feng Ling and Gungun have not yet met, but his first glimpse of her leaves him wary of her ferocity.

Significant themes

• Legitimacy and divine authority: Heavenly merit confirms Feng Ling’s identity and sovereignty.
• The rise of the Human Race: The humans receive a homeland, leadership, and a shared purpose.
• Power and political calculation: Even the Witches attend the sermon to maintain relations with Nuwa, while evaluating Gungun’s potential role in future conflict.
• Humor amid grandeur: Gungun’s laziness and irreverent thoughts contrast with the chapter’s cosmic politics and the Human Race’s founding.

The chapter contains no story content—only a notice that it is unavailable. There are no plot events, character developments, interactions, or themes to summarize.

Plot points and events

• Gungun, a powerful Great Immortal, visits the newly settled Human Race, whose territory is still an open grassland and whose members are busy gathering food and building their community.
• The humans notice Gungun eating bamboo. Though wary of unfamiliar creatures, they decide his cute, calm appearance makes him seem safe, and Luo approaches to greet him.
• Gungun explains that he came to see the race created by Nuwa. Luo welcomes him and invites him to share in the meal after Feng Ling defeats a huge fish demon.
• Gungun offers spirit fruit in return. Luo and Feng Ling are curious about the unfamiliar food, while Gungun eagerly accepts the invitation despite not particularly liking fish.
• Feng Ling welcomes Gungun to the Human Race’s celebration. From the void, Fuxi watches and wonders what the bear is really there for.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun is revealed as immensely powerful but gentle, sociable, and fond of food. He enjoys the humans’ warm welcome and sees the visit as a comforting return to human company.
• Luo acts as a friendly and practical representative of the new community, cautiously approaching Gungun and extending hospitality.
• Feng Ling demonstrates her strength by killing the fish demon bare-handed, then shows an unexpectedly soft side when Gungun’s appearance wins her over.
• The humans balance caution with curiosity, quickly interpreting Gungun’s harmless behavior—and cuteness—as grounds for trust.
• Fuxi remains suspicious and observant, unlike the humans, who readily welcome Gungun.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus power: Gungun looks cuddly and harmless despite being extraordinarily strong; Feng Ling’s fearsome combat ability contrasts with her gentle response to him.
• Hospitality and cooperation: The humans welcome a stranger, and Gungun reciprocates with spirit fruit, setting a friendly tone for relations between the new race and other beings.
• Beginnings and uncertainty: The newly formed Human Race lacks knowledge of the world and must rely on observation, judgment, and courage as it establishes itself.

Key events

• Houtu appears beside Fuxi in the void to observe Nuwa’s newly created Human Race and see why her bear, Gungun, has come.
• Gungun accompanies the humans’ chief, Feng Ling, to their settlement. He learns that her snake tail is a special trait inherited from the Mother Goddess, while ordinary humans have legs.
• The humans warmly welcome Gungun, pulling the bewildered visitor into a celebratory dance before their unfinished statue of Nuwa.
• At night, Gungun teaches the humans to cook by roasting a Fish Demon. They eagerly try the seasoned fish and Spirit Fruit, discovering how enjoyable prepared food can be.
• Feng Ling asks where the humans can find more Spirit Fruit. Gungun gives her many fruit-tree saplings, explaining that growing their own food will keep them from trespassing on other races’ territory.
• Feng Ling hesitates to accept such a generous gift, but the completed Nuwa Statue shines and a divine voice tells her to accept it.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun shows practical knowledge and generosity, sharing food preparation, safety advice, and fruit saplings. His friendly, earnest manner contrasts with his bewilderment at the humans’ customs.
• Feng Ling is curious about the wider world, taking note of Gungun’s mention of the powerful Soaring Serpent. She is also cautious and responsible, hesitating to accept gifts on behalf of her people.
• The humans prove welcoming and enthusiastic: they celebrate Gungun’s arrival, learn from him, and readily trust his advice.
• Houtu and Fuxi observe events from the void; Houtu finds Gungun’s awkward participation in the dance amusing. Nuwa’s voice ultimately settles Feng Ling’s uncertainty.

Significant themes

• Cooperation and friendship: Gungun’s gifts help the new race become more self-sufficient and avoid conflict with neighboring peoples.
• Learning and cultural exchange: Cooking, cultivation, and knowledge of the wider world are introduced through Gungun’s visit.
• The Human Race’s beginnings: The celebration, first shared meal, and completed Nuwa Statue mark the community’s early development under divine protection.

• Plot: Nuwa’s statue miraculously speaks, confirming Gungun’s connection to the Mother Goddess and asking him to help the Human Race. Feng Ling accepts Gungun’s fruit seedlings and learns that he has known Nuwa for over two hundred thousand years. Gungun then spends fifty years helping the Human Race establish itself: he teaches agriculture and grafting, seasoning-making, weaponcraft, and shipbuilding. When Nuwa announces a hundred years of Dao teachings in Taisu Heaven, Gungun prepares to leave and invites Feng Ling, but she stays to protect her people. Houtu arrives, ends Gungun’s “vacation,” and insists he return to Mount Buzhou after the teachings.
• Character developments and interactions: Feng Ling’s gratitude and respect for Gungun deepen; she resolves that future generations will remember his help. Gungun is deferential toward Nuwa and the humans, but remains comically self-serving and dramatic with Houtu. Houtu is jealous and possessive when Nuwa assigns Gungun work, though she disguises her concern as teasing and authority. Fuxi tries to calm her. When Houtu questions Gungun’s reluctance to return, he theatrically declares eternal loyalty, clinging to her leg and even using magic to make himself cry.
• Themes: The chapter highlights gratitude and the value of passing on practical knowledge; a community’s survival depends on preparation as well as divine protection. It also plays with the contrast between solemn reverence for Saints and Gungun’s irreverent comic behavior, while exploring loyalty, attachment, and possessiveness through Houtu and Gungun’s relationship.

Plot points and events

• Houtu catches Gungun after the bear claims to have visited the Human Race out of curiosity about Nuwa’s sainthood and in hopes of learning enough to advance its cultivation and help in the Lich War. Though unsure whether Gungun is truthful or simply too lazy to form thoughts, Houtu accepts the explanation.
• Houtu warns Gungun not to meet Nuwa again after the sermon. She also plans to send Kuafu and a group of Witches to guard the Human Race near the Yellow River, both to protect them and to keep Nuwa from ordering Gungun around.
• At Wa Emperor Palace, Nuwa summons Soaring Serpent and orders him to tell Gungun to stay after the sermon for a private meeting. She also warns Soaring Serpent to stop eyeing her mounts, Azure Luan and Fire Phoenix. When he boasts, she magically knocks him face-first to the ground.
• Gungun brings several Iron-Eating Beast clan members chosen by their elders to the sermon. The bears and Witches join the other Ancestral Witches and notable warriors, including Hou Yi and Xingtian, and travel to Taisu Heaven.
• At Wa Emperor Palace, Gungun and Soaring Serpent both recognize a familiar, unpleasant smell. Before they can meet, the Demon Race arrives in a grand carriage, led by Eastern Emperor Taiyi and Heavenly Emperor Dijun.

Character developments and interactions

• Gungun presents itself as sincere and eager to help Houtu, but its honesty remains uncertain. Its history as a mischievous thief is also recalled.
• Houtu shows affection and trust toward Gungun, while remaining protective and wary of Nuwa’s influence. She supports Gungun’s interest in the Human Race by arranging protection for them.
• Nuwa is authoritative but amused by the troublemaking Soaring Serpent, whom she treats much like Gungun. She firmly protects her mounts and ensures Soaring Serpent obeys.
• Soaring Serpent is irreverent and boastful, but quickly submits to Nuwa’s commands. His past thefts link him comically with Gungun.
• The chapter closes by setting up a meeting between the Witch and Demon factions at the sermon.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and obligation: Gungun frames its curiosity as a desire to become stronger and aid Houtu in the coming war.
• Protection and power: Houtu’s plans for the Human Race reflect the competing forces surrounding them.
• Comic mischief amid grand conflict: The characters’ petty antics and teasing contrast with the looming struggle between Witches and Demons.
• Uncertain truth: Houtu must decide whether to trust Gungun without knowing what the bear truly thinks.