Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• The Primordial World’s Heavenly Dao restricts Sages, turning those who ascend within it into controlled, limited versions. True Sagehood—and further growth—requires breaking free of the world’s constraints.
• Tongtian, now master of the Primordial World, wants it strong enough to face threats from beyond. He has established a seal around it, but no one has broken through by their own strength.
• The Phoenix Patriarch once challenged the seal but withdrew after recognizing its danger. Tongtian was disappointed: he would reward those who reached him, but would not actively nurture the world’s inhabitants.
• After Shen Ni defeated the three ancient vicious-beast races, he disappeared from public view. A Beast Emperor Palace appeared at the foot of Kunlun Mountain, where Shen Ni welcomed vicious beasts willing to join him.
• Shen Ni distributed cultivation techniques suitable for humans and vicious beasts. Though they only enabled cultivation up to the Quasi-Saint realm, they gave previously unguided creatures a path to develop. These methods inspired further techniques, and cultivation spread rapidly throughout the world.
• Many powerful beings eventually reached the Quasi-Saint peak, but none found a way to become Sages. Shen Ni did not teach them how.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian prioritizes his own strength and the Primordial World’s competitiveness over personally helping its inhabitants. He allows opportunity, but expects them to seize it themselves.
• Shen Ni acts as Tongtian’s agent in the world: he provides cultivation methods and welcomes vicious beasts, while also sometimes provoking conflict between humans and beasts to spur advancement. He bears no hostility toward the innate human race.
• The Phoenix Patriarch proves capable of sensing danger, but retreats from the seal rather than pursue what lies beyond it.
• Primordial creatures gain new means to cultivate and begin sharing or developing techniques, though the strongest keep their most valuable methods and abilities secret.

Significant themes

• Opportunity versus charity: Tongtian and Shen Ni make cultivation possible, but individuals must act for themselves.
• Growth through competition: Conflict is presented as a force that keeps the Primordial World advancing.
• Limits imposed by power: The Heavenly Dao’s control prevents true Sagehood, while the world’s creatures remain focused on internal struggles and nearby opportunities rather than the wider cosmos.
• Knowledge and self-interest: Cultivation methods spread, but powerful beings protect their best techniques as hidden advantages.
  The chapter ends as the Primordial World flourishes, setting up the consequences of its newly widespread cultivation.

Key plot points and events

• The Phoenix Patriarch slowly advances through Tongtian’s seal, facing many dangerous Sage-level formations. The formations deepen her understanding of Sagehood as she cultivates.
• She becomes trapped in a powerful Illusion Formation that threatens to destroy her primordial spirit. Though she recognizes the illusion and uses her natal flame to stay clear-minded, she cannot overcome it alone.
• Tongtian watches but refuses to intervene, believing the Phoenix Patriarch must face the consequences herself. He considers Shen Ni exceptionally talented, while judging the other beings of the Primordial World unlikely to progress far in the wider cosmos.
• Tongtian reflects on the hierarchy of cultivation realms and wonders whether God Kings truly stand at the summit of existence. He continues cultivating, nearing the Supreme Realm, while hoping to recover his lost origin and eventually reach God King status.
• Just as Tongtian turns away, the Phoenix Patriarch’s body erupts in colorless soul-flame. The flame counters the Illusion Formation, and her primordial spirit’s aura rapidly rises to the Primordial Origin Realm—an apparent breakthrough that saves her from immediate death.

Character developments

• Phoenix Patriarch: Her perseverance and insight are tested by the illusion. At the brink of destruction, her soul-flame awakens, allowing her spirit to break through to the Primordial Origin Realm.
• Tongtian: He remains detached and strategic, unwilling to nurture those he sees as lacking exceptional potential. Despite his confidence that he can eventually become a God King, he remains uncertain about the true limits of the cosmos and the nature of his missing origin.

Character interactions

• Tongtian monitors the Phoenix Patriarch but deliberately does not help her, leaving her fate to her own talent and choices.
• The Phoenix Patriarch resists the formation through awareness, willpower, and her natal flame until her soul-flame emerges and changes the situation.

Significant themes

• Talent, effort, and destiny: Reaching higher realms requires more than access to techniques or resources; comprehension and innate potential matter.
• Self-reliance and survival: The Phoenix Patriarch must overcome the danger without Tongtian’s aid.
• Uncertainty of cosmic hierarchy: Tongtian questions whether the known peak of power is merely one level in a much larger reality.
• Cultivation as insight: The Sage formations become both hazards and sources of understanding, turning danger into an opportunity for growth.

Key plot points and events

• Patriarch Phoenix breaks free of Tongtian’s illusion formation using soul fire and celebrates a breakthrough in soul cultivation.
• The chapter explains how rare and difficult soul cultivation is in the Primordial World: even its powerful rulers have generally reached only Quasi-Saint levels, and few reliable techniques exist.
• Tongtian reflects on the supposed conflict between good and evil. He believes it is largely a matter of competing standpoints and self-justification, not a clear division between righteous and wicked.
• Tongtian is willing to accept disciples regardless of reputation, provided they have not committed truly heinous acts. However, the seal around the Primordial World makes it difficult for anyone to reach him.
• Concerned that the God-Slaying Heavenly Venerable has not contacted him despite having time to recover, Tongtian leaves an avatar to guard the Primordial World and goes to investigate.
• At the Heavenly Venerable’s former seclusion site, Tongtian finds him missing and discovers signs of a major battle. The traces indicate a clash between Supreme Realm experts, prompting Tongtian to wonder why such a fight occurred in so remote a place.

Character developments and interactions

• Patriarch Phoenix demonstrates unusual aptitude for soul cultivation and gains confidence from his breakthrough.
• Tongtian reveals a pragmatic, nonjudgmental approach to morality and discipleship. He admits that he, too, has killed for treasure and does not claim to be righteous.
• Tongtian and the God-Slaying Heavenly Venerable have an established connection: Tongtian had left him a way to make contact, so his silence now alarms Tongtian. Their reunion has not yet occurred.
• Tongtian’s avatar remains behind to protect the Primordial World while his true body investigates.

Significant themes

• Soul cultivation and its limits: Progress depends on rare techniques, insight, and fortune, making Phoenix’s breakthrough exceptional.
• The ambiguity of good and evil: People often label themselves righteous while pursuing self-interest; moral identity is shaped by perspective and conduct.
• Power, protection, and isolation: The seal shields the Primordial World from outside attention but also prevents potential disciples from reaching Tongtian.
• Unease and impending danger: The missing Heavenly Venerable and evidence of a high-level battle suggest a larger threat beyond the Primordial World.

Key plot points and events

• Though capable of facing his enemies, the God-Slaying Heavenly Venerable avoids meeting or contacting Tongtian. Tongtian finds a hidden message from him at the battlefield: the Heavenly Venerable is unharmed, has recovered from his wounds, and intends to draw the outside world’s attention while Tongtian protects the Primordial World.
• Reassured, Tongtian returns to the Primordial World and finds the Phoenix Patriarch cultivating inside the seal. The seal blocks outside observation but allows—and even gathers—energy for the world.
• Tongtian reflects on how the Primordial World’s cultivators can reach Quasi-Sainthood without severing the Three Corpses, a path he believes brings serious limitations. He resolves to keep strengthening the world rather than impose a cultivation system that could stunt its inhabitants.
• He plans to raise the Primordial World gradually by enriching its spiritual energy and providing cultivation methods. Though unsure whether it can eventually support microcosm-realm cultivators, he is determined to keep improving it.
• Seeing that the Phoenix Patriarch has made substantial progress and found a path toward Sagehood, Tongtian removes her from the seal while she is still focused on breaking through.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian moves from concern about his master to calm, purposeful action. He accepts the responsibility of safeguarding and developing the Primordial World, while rejecting the Three Corpses shortcut except where necessary.
• The God-Slaying Heavenly Venerable remains absent but communicates care and strategic intent through his message, reassuring Tongtian and urging patience.
• The Phoenix Patriarch has grown markedly stronger through cultivation and appears to have found her own route toward Sagehood. Tongtian responds by easing his restrictions on her and bringing her out of the seal.

Significant themes

• Patience and trust: Tongtian honors his master’s request not to act rashly.
• The cost of shortcuts: Severing the Three Corpses can enable Quasi-Sainthood but may obstruct independent advancement to Sagehood.
• Cultivation and collective growth: Tongtian seeks to strengthen the Primordial World itself so its inhabitants can advance through their own potential.
• A wider cosmos: Tongtian’s awareness of the myriad worlds has expanded his ambitions beyond the limits of the Primordial World’s former order.

Key plot points and events

• The Phoenix Patriarch discovers that the spiritual energy outside the Primordial World is not merely more plentiful but of higher quality, making Sagehood attainable in roughly a century rather than after millions of years.
• Beast Emperor Shen Ni returns to the outside world at Tongtian’s summons. Though he is now a Sage, the seal is still too powerful for him to cross without Tongtian’s help. He quickly begins cultivating, delighted by the superior energy.
• Shen Ni’s absorption of the surrounding energy nearly disrupts the Phoenix Patriarch’s breakthrough. Tongtian intervenes, drawing in a vast supply so she can continue.
• Nearly a hundred years pass. The Phoenix Patriarch remains immersed in her breakthrough, which proves more difficult and time-consuming than she expected. Tongtian’s seal keeps her growing aura from reaching the Primordial World.

Character developments and interactions

• Phoenix Patriarch: Her pursuit of Sagehood is driven by the outside world’s superior spiritual energy. As she cultivates, her perspective on the clan wars shifts: she begins to see the Phoenix, Qilin, and Dragonfolk territories as naturally complementary rather than reasons to fight.
• Shen Ni: He is eager to leave the Primordial World behind, where his cultivation had stagnated. He recognizes the seal’s formidable strength and respects Tongtian’s authority, but does not question his plans.
• Tongtian: He quietly supports the Phoenix Patriarch by replenishing the energy Shen Ni consumes. His seal both controls passage and prevents outsiders from detecting events within the Primordial World.

Significant themes

• Environment and advancement: The quality of spiritual energy, not just its quantity, determines whether cultivators can progress.
• Changing perspective: Exposure to a broader world makes old rivalries seem unnecessary and challenges assumptions shaped by life inside the Primordial World.
• Power and protection: Tongtian’s seal can restrict movement while also shielding the Primordial World from outside observation—and concealing its inhabitants’ breakthroughs.

Key events

• Matriarch Phoenix realizes the Three Clans’ conflict may leave them all exhausted and driven from the Primordial Lands. The thought briefly disrupts her breakthrough, but she regains focus and advances.
• She breaks through to the Sage realm—also called the primordial origin realm—and a heavenly tribulation gathers across the universe.
• Tongtian decides not to shield her from the tribulation, believing it will temper her body and strengthen her foundation. He does conceal Beast Emperor Shen Ni’s aura so he will not be caught in it; otherwise, the tribulation could become vastly more dangerous.
• As she faces the tribulation, Matriarch Phoenix is thrilled to confirm her breakthrough and begins to understand why the Three Clans together could not defeat Shen Ni.

Character developments and interactions

• Matriarch Phoenix moves from anxiety about her clan’s future to renewed concentration, then to excitement and awe at her new realm. Her breakthrough gives her a clearer sense of the gulf between Quasi-Saints and Sages.
• Tongtian acts as a mentor who allows Matriarch Phoenix to face a valuable trial herself while protecting Shen Ni from accidentally worsening it. He explains that advancement requires continual bodily tempering, even at the highest levels.
• Shen Ni is near another breakthrough, but his rise from the early to middle primordial origin realm will not trigger a tribulation. Tongtian’s intervention keeps him separate from Matriarch Phoenix’s ordeal.

Significant themes

• The cost of conflict: The Three Clans’ fighting risks destroying their strength and forcing them out of the Primordial Lands.
• Growth through hardship: Tribulations are dangerous but can improve a cultivator’s body and foundation.
• The vast hierarchy of power: A Sage’s access to spiritual energy and the Heavenly Dao makes the gap over Quasi-Saints effectively impossible to overcome by numbers alone.
• Endless advancement: There is no absolute strongest physique or final limit—greater realms demand greater strength.
• Limits of exceptional talent or “cheats”: Advantages may help within a realm, but the chapter argues they cannot normally erase the enormous gap between realms.

Plot points and events

• The Phoenix Patriarch survives a dangerous Sage Realm lightning tribulation, despite having few preparations and relying on her clan’s innate fire ability. Her natural resilience and regenerative power help her endure it.
• After the tribulation, heaven’s blessing heals and strengthens her, confirming her breakthrough into the Sage Realm, also called the Primordial Origin Realm.
• She kneels before Tongtian to thank him for helping her leave the seal and gather spiritual energy during her breakthrough. Tongtian says her success was earned through her own ability.
• The Phoenix Patriarch asks to follow Tongtian and pledge her loyalty. After considering the responsibility and possible dangers of keeping her close, Tongtian agrees.
• Tongtian reflects that his main goal is to grow stronger toward the God King realm. He also thinks about reuniting the three pieces of the Purple Firmament Divine Sword: he has the Thunderclap Sword, the Green Lotus Sword Sage holds the Star-Shattering Sword, and the Bright Moon Sword remains missing.

Character developments

• Phoenix Patriarch: Overcomes a long-standing cultivation barrier and becomes a Sage. Though newly powerful, she remains humble and recognizes Tongtian’s overwhelming strength. She seeks to repay him by becoming his follower.
• Tongtian: Accepts her loyalty while maintaining that her breakthrough was her own achievement. He remains focused on improving his strength rather than pursuing treasures or disciples, though he recognizes that the Phoenix Patriarch has talent.

Significant themes

• Trial and self-earned growth: The tribulation is perilous, but the Phoenix Patriarch’s success comes from her own endurance and ability.
• Power and perspective: Becoming a Sage is a major achievement in small worlds, yet Sages remain minor figures beside the truly powerful.
• Gratitude and loyalty: The Phoenix Patriarch sees Tongtian’s help as a debt she should repay, while he sees her success as her own.
• Strength over possessions: Tongtian values personal cultivation above most treasures, with the exceptional potential of the reunited sword as a rare exception.

Character interactions

• The Phoenix Patriarch approaches Tongtian with deference and gratitude, kneeling and addressing him as “Senior.”
• Tongtian tries to diminish his role in her success, but she insists that his assistance merits her loyalty.
• Their exchange establishes a new relationship: she will follow him, while he accepts her without claiming ownership of her achievement.

Key plot points and events

• Tongtian agrees to let Phoenix Patriarch Yuanfeng follow him. He explains that a divine weapon would be useless to him for now; his priority is improving his own cultivation.
• Tongtian gives Yuanfeng a cultivation method, which she may adapt for the Phoenix Clan. He offers to answer her questions but leaves her progress up to her own effort.
• He cautions her not to become impatient or arrogant, stressing that the wider cosmos is far beyond the Primordial World and that power—not status alone—determines whether someone is respected.
• Tongtian assigns Yuanfeng her first task: return to the Primordial World with Shen Ni and spread their teachings, giving more beings the chance to become Sages.
• Shen Ni emerges from Void’s Palace. Yuanfeng recognizes that he has reached the mid-stage Sage realm in only a million years, and realizes his talent is exceptional.

Character developments

• Tongtian appears pragmatic and patient. He provides guidance and opportunities rather than forcing his subordinates to cultivate, while remaining focused on strengthening himself.
• Yuanfeng accepts a subordinate role and is eager to follow Tongtian into a wider world. Though she recognizes how difficult his task will be, she commits to it without complaint.
• Shen Ni’s rapid advancement establishes him as a remarkably talented cultivator.

Significant themes

• Strength determines status: Titles and connections may earn respect, but lasting influence requires real power and achievements.
• Growth through personal effort: A teacher can offer a path and guidance, but each person must cultivate for themselves.
• The vastness of the world: Even beings who seem powerful within the Primordial World may be insignificant in the wider cosmos.
• Ambition tempered by patience: Tongtian urges humility and warns against rushing along the cultivation path.

Character interactions

• Yuanfeng expresses gratitude and pledges obedience; Tongtian responds by giving her a cultivation method and addressing her as a subordinate who may call him “Master.”
• Tongtian offers Yuanfeng perspective on the harsh realities of rank and power, while also giving her a concrete mission.
• Yuanfeng’s reaction to Shen Ni’s breakthrough highlights her respect for his potential and the scale of his progress.

Key plot points and events

• The Phoenix Patriarch reflects that Shen Ni’s exceptional talent, alongside his Sage cultivation and God-Slaying Spear, enabled him to defeat the three clans with remarkable ease. Even the Phoenix Patriarch believes that, relying only on his own power, he would have needed centuries to achieve a similar victory.
• Though Shen Ni dislikes the idea of the Phoenix Patriarch becoming his junior sister, he obeys Tongtian’s command. The two return to the Primordial World through a gateway in its seal.
• They find the world plunged into chaos: the Dragonfolk and Qilin Clan have been slaughtering other creatures under the Heavenly Dao’s covert influence. The Phoenix Clan has been spared, since the Heavenly Dao fears provoking the newly ascended Phoenix Patriarch.
• Shen Ni orders every creature to gather at the Beast Emperor Palace within three thousand years, threatening to kill anyone who refuses. His Sage aura immediately overwhelms the inhabitants, ending the fighting.
• Angered by Shen Ni’s show of authority, the Heavenly Dao gathers tribulation clouds to warn him. It wants a representative to govern the world and reduce the number of powerful experts, whose influence threatens its own interests.
• Once Shen Ni and the Phoenix Patriarch return, the Heavenly Dao withdraws its hidden influence over the world.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Ni is shown as both extraordinarily capable and bluntly authoritarian. Although he resents the Phoenix Patriarch’s new status as his junior sister, he submits to their master’s command and takes decisive control of the crisis.
• The Phoenix Patriarch recognizes Shen Ni’s strength and effectiveness, while remaining cautious about the situation. He follows Shen Ni into the Primordial World without hesitation because Tongtian’s protection makes the gateway safe.
• The Heavenly Dao is revealed to have a weak but independent consciousness. It prioritizes its own authority and survival over the world’s inhabitants, even while instinctively seeking enough stability to govern the Primordial World.
• Shen Ni’s intervention directly counters the Heavenly Dao’s manipulation, setting up a conflict between his authority and its desire to control the world.

Significant themes

• Power and authority: Shen Ni’s Sage aura can halt violence more effectively than the Heavenly Dao’s subtle influence.
• Self-interest and governance: The Heavenly Dao’s actions are driven largely by its own survival and control, not compassion for the Primordial World.
• Strength as deterrence: Shen Ni restores order through fear, raising the question of whether stability imposed by overwhelming force is true peace.

• Key events: The Heavenly Dao recognizes that it cannot afford to antagonize the powerful figure outside or the two Sages, and refrains from interfering further. Peace returns to the Primordial World. After Beast Emperor Shen Ni orders everyone to gather at Kunlun Mountain within three thousand years, beings across the world set out—some powerful enough to travel easily, others undertaking a journey they may not survive out of fear of displeasing him.
• The first arrivals: The Qilin Clan reaches Kunlun early because its ancestral lands are nearby. Its chief finds Shen Ni and the Phoenix Patriarch standing together. Seeing that the Phoenix Patriarch has also advanced to a higher realm, he concludes she must have received guidance from Shen Ni’s mysterious Master.
• Character developments: The Qilin Clan Chief, secretly the second qilin born and nearly as strong as Ancestral Kirin, begins to hope that he too can break through by meeting the mysterious senior. Though he has long avoided fame, ambition stirs in him. His greeting receives little response, leaving him embarrassed and resentful. The Phoenix Patriarch, meanwhile, postpones practicing the technique Tongtian gave her so she can attend to the gathering.
• Character interactions and tensions: Shen Ni and the Phoenix Patriarch ignore the Qilin Clan Chief while waiting for the other arrivals, making clear that the gathering takes priority. The Chief’s resentment is worsened by the Heavenly Dao’s influence, which fuels hostility between the Qilin Clan and the Phoenix Clan and Dragonfolk.
• Background conflict and themes: With Shen Ni absent, the Qilin Clan and Dragonfolk have fought bitterly, sharply reducing both populations. The Dragonfolk may recover through their prolific descendants, but the Qilin Clan’s strict bloodline rules make replenishment harder. The chapter emphasizes the fear inspired by overwhelming power, the temptation of advancement, the political weight of recognition, and how divine influence can intensify existing rivalries.

Key plot points and events

• The Qilin Clan’s small population leaves it at a numerical disadvantage, while the Phoenix Clan is smallest because its home, the Divine Parasol Tree, limits its growth. The Dragonfolk vastly outnumber both.
• The Qilin Clan Chief, convinced he is at least as capable as Yuanfeng, resents her success and decides to seek the mysterious senior who aided her. He suspects the senior is beyond the Primordial World, but waits for Beast Emperor Shen Ni’s announcement before setting out.
• Yuanfeng returns to the Beast Emperor Palace and spends three thousand years studying the Heavenly Demon Art given to her by Tongtian. She finds it incomprehensible in places, but learns that it describes realms far above those of the Primordial World, including Dao-Unification and Primordial Chaos.
• Yuanfeng suspects Tongtian has reached the Primordial Chaos Realm. The technique deepens her awe of him, and she begins trying to cultivate it. She is also expected to help Shen Ni expound the Dao to the world’s living beings, though she resents the obligation.

Character developments and interactions

• Qilin Clan Chief: His pride and competitiveness shape his belief that Yuanfeng’s success should be within his reach. He plans to explore beyond the heavens, while outwardly showing deference to Shen Ni.
• Yuanfeng: She shifts from simply possessing a powerful technique to recognizing how vast the wider cosmos is. Her admiration for Tongtian grows, but her loyalty remains focused on strengthening the Phoenix Clan rather than helping everyone else.
• Shen Ni and Yuanfeng: They return together to the palace, where Yuanfeng takes a room to study. Shen Ni’s coming announcement keeps the Qilin Chief from leaving immediately.

Significant themes

• Heavenly Dao and rivalry: The Dao’s influence has turned the naturally gentle Qilin into an ambitious, status-conscious clan, intensifying competition among the Three Clans.
• Limits of worldly power: Even a Quasi-Saint who seems invincible in the Primordial World may face dangers beyond it; true strength lies in the higher worlds.
• Knowledge and ambition: Tongtian’s technique reveals how little Yuanfeng understands, yet inspires her to pursue greater power.
• Self-interest versus responsibility: Yuanfeng sees teaching the world’s beings as a thankless duty and questions why she should benefit those outside her clan.

Key plot points and events

• Tongtian recognizes that teaching the Dao to all beings could bring enormous benefits, including Heavenly Dao merit and influence over future cultivation techniques. He keeps these possibilities to himself, uncertain whether the altered Primordial World will reward the effort, but promises not to leave his followers disappointed.
• After three thousand years, hundreds of millions gather outside the Beast Emperor Palace for the scheduled lesson. The Dragonfolk and Qilin arrive first, followed by the Phoenix Clan; the Three Clans each claim their own space and wait peacefully.
• The Phoenix Clan knows its Patriarch has broken through and believes this makes it the strongest race in the Primordial World, though the news is not announced publicly.
• When the palace opens, Quasi-Saints are invited inside. Tens of thousands enter and marvel at the palace’s vast interior, speculating that Shen Ni has mastered spatial techniques.
• Shen Ni and the Phoenix Patriarch begin the lesson by repeating Tongtian’s teachings exactly, starting with the classification of cultivation realms.

Character developments

• Tongtian shows strategic foresight, seeing the lasting influence and possible rewards of public instruction, but keeps his motives private.
• Shen Ni acts as host and teacher, commanding respect from the gathered beings while faithfully delivering Tongtian’s material.
• The Phoenix Patriarch has grown powerful enough to elevate her clan’s standing, and now shares the teaching platform with Shen Ni.
• The Three Clans remain proud despite their submission to Shen Ni; their leaders conceal the Phoenix Patriarch’s breakthrough from the wider gathering.

Character interactions

• The Dragonfolk and Qilin obey Shen Ni’s summons, while the Phoenix Clan attends at its Patriarch’s request.
• The gathered beings avoid mentioning the Three Clans’ defeat, wary of offending their pride and provoking retaliation.
• Shen Ni and the Phoenix Patriarch address the crowd together, presenting Tongtian’s instruction without alteration.

Significant themes

• Knowledge as power: Teaching a cultivation system can shape the development of an entire world.
• Merit and uncertainty: Tongtian hopes the lesson may earn Heavenly Dao rewards but accepts that his changes may prevent them.
• Hierarchy and reputation: The Three Clans retain influence despite defeat, while the Phoenix Clan’s new strength quietly shifts the balance.
• Order and restraint: Even a massive, crowded gathering remains disciplined, reflecting the attendees’ respect for the event and its powerful hosts.

Key plot points and events

• Tongtian reflects that the Primordial World has too little time to prepare for threats from beyond. Its inhabitants are unlikely to reach the primordial origin realm before the outside conflict arrives, so he plans to nurture only the most gifted.
• The Purple Firmament and Taixu God Kings are close to war. Whoever survives may become Tongtian’s next opponent; a breakthrough by the God-Slaying Heavenly Venerable could buy Tongtian time, but that is uncertain.
• Watching the new lecture, Tongtian recalls Hongjun’s earlier teachings. He now sees Hongjun’s system as flawed, though he recognizes that Hongjun offered the only path the Primordial World then knew and was limited by his lack of knowledge about the wider cosmos.
• Tongtian leaves the work of teaching to Beast Emperor Shen Ni and Phoenix Patriarch Yuanfeng, trusting the Heavenly Dao to credit him with any deserved merit.
• Shen Ni and Yuanfeng begin a systematic lecture on cultivation realms. Thousands of years pass, and many listeners—especially those at lower realms—gain insights and break through.
• The lecture stops at Great Luo. Yuanfeng dismisses everyone below that level, explaining that more advanced teachings could harm them. Shen Ni then directs the remaining, mostly Great Luo-level cultivators into the spacious Beast Emperor Palace.

Character developments

• Tongtian is pragmatic and focused on the looming external danger. Rather than lead the Primordial World himself, he prioritizes his cultivation and recovery of his lost essence, while delegating its education.
• Shen Ni and Yuanfeng show themselves to be capable, responsible teachers, tailoring the lecture to the listeners’ levels and protecting weaker beings from dangerous knowledge.
• Hongjun, in Tongtian’s recollection, is portrayed as sincere but limited: his teachings guided the Primordial World, yet his narrow understanding led it onto a flawed path.

Significant themes

• The urgency of limited time: The Primordial World cannot fully prepare before greater powers turn their attention toward it.
• Knowledge as both aid and danger: A clear account of cultivation helps listeners advance, but teachings beyond their capacity may harm them.
• Perspective and limitation: Hongjun’s shortcomings stem partly from not knowing the wider universe, while Tongtian’s broader perspective changes how he judges the past.
• Delegation and responsibility: Tongtian chooses not to rule or teach personally, entrusting the task to others and relying on the Heavenly Dao to recognize his contribution.

Character interactions

• Tongtian observes Shen Ni and Yuanfeng’s lecture from afar, comparing it with Hongjun’s earlier teachings.
• Shen Ni and Yuanfeng guide the assembled cultivators through the realms, then jointly manage the audience: Yuanfeng dismisses the lower-level listeners, and Shen Ni invites the qualified remainder into the Beast Emperor Palace.

Key plot points and events

• Beast Emperor Shen Ni expands the Beast Emperor Palace to hold all attendees. He and the Phoenix Patriarch sit at its center, and the Patriarch begins a lecture on the Quasi-Saint realm.
• The lecture reveals many abilities and techniques that even long-established Quasi-Saints have never understood—especially the use of spatial power. Some test the claims privately and find them true.
• The Three Clans’ Quasi-Saints are particularly unsettled. Their shared knowledge has long made them stronger than independent cultivators, but the Patriarch’s teaching exposes major gaps in their understanding.
• The Phoenix Patriarch’s new Sage status also intensifies political tension: the Phoenix Clan now appears impossible for the Dragonfolk and Qilin Clan to restrain.
• Inside the Beast Emperor Palace, Shen Ni’s power blocks the Heavenly Dao’s influence. Ancestral Dragon and the Qilin Clan Chief feel their hostility fade and recognize that their clans’ endless wars have brought no real benefit.
• They connect the lecture’s explanation of Quasi-Saints’ potential to threaten the Heavenly Dao with the severe lightning tribulations imposed on them. They conclude that the Heavenly Dao has been suppressing Quasi-Saints, including by limiting their numbers.

Character developments and interactions

• Phoenix Patriarch demonstrates deep mastery of the Quasi-Saint realm, earning the attention of the gathered cultivators while inadvertently provoking distrust among some rival-clan listeners.
• Ancestral Dragon and the Qilin Clan Chief move from habitual rivalry toward clear-eyed suspicion of the Heavenly Dao. A shared glance leads them to the same conclusion: something is wrong with it.
• The Three Clans’ Quasi-Saints struggle to accept that their knowledge is incomplete; some listen resentfully because the lecture could strengthen the Phoenix Clan’s standing.
• Loose cultivators are less concerned with which clan dominates, since they see Shen Ni as the greatest power regardless.

Significant themes

• Knowledge reshapes power: the lecture shows that apparent mastery may conceal profound ignorance.
• Manipulation and control: the Heavenly Dao may be engineering conflict and restricting powerful beings to preserve its authority.
• The futility of rivalry: freed temporarily from the Dao’s influence, the clan leaders recognize that their wars have only weakened them.
• Political tension: the Phoenix Clan’s rise threatens the old balance among the Three Clans.

Key plot points and events

• Many attendees have enough power to reach quasi-Saint, but an unseen force prevents them from advancing. Some also experience unexplained hostility toward other beings; a few instead believe slaughter is the path to enlightenment.
• After finishing their explanation of the quasi-Saint realm, the Phoenix Patriarch and Beast Emperor Shen Ni begin teaching about the Sage (Primordial Origin) Realm. The quasi-Saints find the Sage-level Dao incomprehensible, and the lecture’s pressure may even harm their cultivation.
• The lecture clarifies that becoming a Sage requires enormous accumulation and resources. The Qilin Clan and Dragonfolk chiefs decide to use their clans’ foundations to pursue breakthroughs after returning. Ancestral Dragon has deep reserves, while the Qilin chief has exceptional affinity for comprehending the Dao.
• Shen Ni ends the lecture, announcing another in a million years. Their broader assignment from Tongtian is to nurture three more Sages within that period.

Character developments and interactions

• The Qilin chief and Ancestral Dragon move from considering the difficulty of a breakthrough to committing to pursue one, fearing their clans would be vulnerable beside the Phoenix Clan’s Sage.
• The Phoenix Patriarch has already reached Sagehood and, as Tongtian’s disciple, will no longer take part in the Three Clans’ conflict. The Phoenix Clan may use its resources to cultivate a successor.
• The Phoenix Patriarch and Shen Ni jointly teach, then stop when the audience can no longer benefit. They silently align on how to meet Tongtian’s assignment; Shen Ni is unconcerned about which individuals ultimately become Sages.

Significant themes

• The limits of knowledge: A lesson can offer direction without making an immense gap in cultivation immediately bridgeable.
• Power and sacrifice: The clans must weigh spending their accumulated resources to produce Sages against preserving their foundations.
• Misguided ambition: Some beings mistake their violent impulses for a legitimate path to enlightenment, while others recognize that something is wrong.
• Political pressure: The Phoenix Clan’s Sage changes the balance of power and pushes the Dragonfolk and Qilin toward urgent action.

Key plot points and events

• Beast Emperor Shen Ni retains Feng Jiu, the Ancestral Dragon, and the Qilin Clan Chief after dismissing everyone else from the palace.
• He reveals that he and his junior sister, the Phoenix Patriarch Yuanfeng, must nurture three new Sages within a million years. They have chosen these three candidates.
• The Qilin Clan Chief questions why they were not chosen from among unaffiliated Quasi-Saints. Yuanfeng explains that time and resources favor the Three Clans, while privately recognizing that loose cultivators would be harder to control.
• Shen Ni and Yuanfeng give the three candidates cultivation techniques containing guidance on reaching Sagehood, and instruct them to cultivate diligently. The candidates are free to seek Shen Ni’s advice, but must succeed within the allotted time.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Ni is focused on completing Master Tongtian’s assignment and firmly shuts down the Qilin Clan Chief’s challenge.
• Yuanfeng is now a Sage and shares Shen Ni’s detachment from the Primordial World. Her priority is fulfilling the assignment and pursuing higher realms, not managing the Three Clans’ rivalries. She offers help but warns she will show no mercy if the candidates fail.
• Feng Jiu welcomes the opportunity: success would give the Phoenix Clan a second Sage, while failure carries little personal risk given Yuanfeng’s standing.
• The Ancestral Dragon and Qilin Clan Chief are eager for Sagehood but wary of accepting techniques from a former rival. They ultimately agree to proceed, recognizing Yuanfeng’s superior status as a Sage.

Significant themes

• Ambition beyond the familiar world: Shen Ni and Yuanfeng look past the Primordial World toward higher realms.
• Power and status: Yuanfeng’s Sagehood has changed the balance among the Three Clans and reshaped her relationship with its former equals.
• Pragmatism over trust: The candidates accept help despite lingering suspicion, while their mentors choose them for practical reasons—time, resources, and control.
• Conditional support: The techniques are offered freely, but the candidates’ opportunity comes with a strict deadline and the threat of consequences for failure.

Key plot points

• The Phoenix Patriarch’s new Sage status changes the balance among the Three Clans. The Qilin Clan Chief and Ancestral Dragon show her the respect due to a Sage, while Feng Jiu is elevated to their apparent equal.
• Feng Jiu receives a cultivation technique and the Phoenix Patriarch’s promise of support. Ancestral Dragon and the Qilin Clan Chief depart to gather resources and prepare for their own breakthroughs.
• Ancestral Dragon privately struggles with having to rely on Yuanfeng, his longtime rival, to become a Sage. He nevertheless accepts the situation because survival and advancement matter more to him than pride.
• The Phoenix Patriarch borrows Beast Emperor Shen Ni’s palace, takes Phoenix Clan resources—with a note to the guard to record the withdrawal—and brings Feng Jiu into a specially adapted cultivation chamber.
• She tells Feng Jiu to begin her breakthrough and promises to stand guard, strongly implying she will actively help her reach Sagehood.

Character developments and interactions

• The Phoenix Patriarch now commands unquestioned authority within her clan and acts as mentor and protector to Feng Jiu. She and Shen Ni interact with mutual trust: he grants her use of his palace without requiring an explanation.
• Feng Jiu is proud of her rise in status but remains deferential to the Phoenix Patriarch. Her confidence grows when the Patriarch offers to oversee her breakthrough.
• Ancestral Dragon feels humiliated by his dependence on Yuanfeng, but pragmatically submits to the new hierarchy and focuses on gaining power.
• The Qilin Clan Chief accepts his diminished standing more easily, partly because he was formerly a clan elder.
• The rival clan chiefs leave to pursue Sagehood, while Feng Jiu stays under the Phoenix Patriarch’s care.

Significant themes

• Strength determines status: The Primordial World’s hierarchy shifts with power, and even proud leaders submit to those stronger than themselves.
• Pride versus survival: Ancestral Dragon suppresses his resentment because pride cannot secure resources or advancement.
• Mentorship and opportunity: The Phoenix Patriarch uses her new standing and resources to give Feng Jiu an exceptional chance at Sagehood.
• Changing authority: The Patriarch’s breakthrough transforms the Phoenix Clan from a council-led organization into one governed by her word alone.

Key plot points and events

• Phoenix Patriarch chooses Feng Jiu as the Phoenix Clan’s best prospect for naturally reaching Sagehood. Her talent, steadiness, and temperament distinguish her from other Quasi-Saints.
• The Dragonfolk and Qilin Clan leaders are favored as their clans’ candidates—not necessarily because they are the strongest, but because their authority and leadership make them better choices to cultivate and potentially govern the Primordial World.
• Feng Jiu begins her breakthrough, having built a strong enough foundation to attempt the final step to Sagehood.
• Her effort sparks a wave of cultivation across the Primordial World. Creatures pursue higher realms, while Quasi-Saints study their abilities and seek to strengthen their combat skills even if Sagehood seems beyond reach.
• Most of the world becomes quiet as its inhabitants cultivate, though violent beings exploit the calm to pursue slaughter, believing battle may bring them Sagehood. The Phoenix Patriarch and Beast Emperor Shen Ni observe but do not interfere unless the Primordial World itself is endangered.
• Tongtian returns to cultivation. His recreated understanding of the Primordial World has greatly advanced his realm, and the Creation Energy stored within him can fuel further growth.
• As time passes, smaller cultivators emerge from seclusion, and the world continues to develop. Unnoticed by most, a group calling itself the Witch Clan begins to grow.

Character developments and interactions

• Feng Jiu is revealed as the Phoenix Patriarch’s most promising candidate and commits fully to her breakthrough.
• The Phoenix Patriarch shows careful political judgment: Sage candidates are selected for temperament and leadership as well as talent, and the clan chiefs are prioritized to avoid resentment and preserve authority.
• The Phoenix Patriarch and Shen Ni act as detached guardians. Though they can perceive events across the world, they allow its inhabitants to follow their own destinies unless the world’s survival is threatened.
• Tongtian remains focused on cultivation, trusting the stored Creation Energy to support his continued advancement. The passage does not show him interacting directly with the emerging Witch Clan.

Significant themes

• Sagehood requires more than cultivation: reaching Quasi-Saint is attainable through progress, but the leap to Sage depends on rare talent and opportunity.
• Leadership and merit: the best candidate is not always the strongest; judgment, temperament, and the ability to command respect matter.
• Noninterference and responsibility: powerful Sages permit conflict and destruction among individuals, but draw the line at threats to the world itself.
• A world in transition: widespread cultivation, ongoing clan tensions, and the rise of the Witch Clan signal continued change beneath an apparent calm.

Key plot points

• Tongtian notices that the Witch Clan has emerged and expects the Demon Race to take shape soon. He recalls the coming Witch-Demon War and the Human Race’s role in enabling the demons to create the Witch-Slaying Sword.
• He also notices Nuwa, an initially obscure innate being who has recently reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm. Tongtian asks Beast Emperor Shen Ni to bring her to him.
• Shen Ni finds Nuwa just after she leaves seclusion and escorts her beyond the heavens, using his power to carry her there.
• Yuanfeng observes Shen Ni fetching Nuwa and imagines that Tongtian may be seeking a female companion. Tongtian senses her thoughts and silently reproaches her, leaving her embarrassed.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian takes a personal interest in Nuwa, though he does not explain why he summoned her. He also recognizes Yuanfeng’s growing romantic feelings.
• Nuwa is modest and cautious: surprised by the summons, she nonetheless agrees to go with Shen Ni.
• Shen Ni obeys Tongtian immediately, despite wondering why his Master is interested in a relatively low-ranking cultivator.
• Yuanfeng, freed from the Heavenly Dao’s control and no longer consumed by the Three Clans’ struggle, has begun to think about romance and appears attracted to Tongtian. She is mortified when he catches her thoughts.

Significant themes

• The chapter connects personal choices to major historical events, foreshadowing the Witch-Demon War and Nuwa’s future importance.
• It contrasts vast cosmic conflicts with intimate emotions, especially Yuanfeng’s new desire for companionship.
• Tongtian’s power and influence shape both the unfolding world and the relationships around him.

Key plot points and events

• Tongtian’s reputation as a Supreme Realm powerhouse spreads across the Myriad Worlds. His conflict with two God Kings makes him and his master, the God-Slaying Heavenly Venerable, dangerous allies to approach.
• Though Tongtian briefly considers the prospect of a Dao Companion after returning to the Primordial World, he decides against it while his enemies remain a threat.
• Tongtian sends Shen Ni away and asks Nuwa, a Daluo Golden Immortal, to become his disciple. Nuwa is startled by his name and face, which feel strangely familiar to her.
• Yuanfeng looks into the River of Time and Space and sees the Primordial World’s former destined future: the Three Clans collapse, leaving only a few survivors, while the Demon Race and Witch Clan rise. She cannot reach the riverbed to see the future Tongtian has changed.
• Shen Ni remains focused on cultivation, hoping to reach the Dao-Unification Realm so Tongtian will allow him to travel independently.

Character developments and interactions

• Tongtian remains cautious despite his immense power, prioritizing his struggle against the God Kings. He recognizes that Nuwa’s familiarity with him reflects an enduring connection in her destiny, and offers to take her as his disciple.
• Nuwa is intimidated by Tongtian but senses an inexplicable bond with him. She misreads his offer, briefly wondering whether he is romantically interested in her, and blushes.
• Yuanfeng learns how grim the Three Clans’ original fate was and turns away from it, though she is curious about the altered future. Her current power is not enough to explore it safely.
• Shen Ni shows deference to Tongtian and stays committed to his own cultivation, uninterested in probing the River of Time and Space.

Significant themes

• Destiny and change: The River of Time and Space reveals a future that Tongtian’s actions have already disrupted.
• Power and vulnerability: Even a formidable cultivator like Tongtian avoids personal attachments while facing overwhelming enemies.
• Fate and connection: Nuwa’s instinctive familiarity with Tongtian hints that some bonds persist despite a recreated world.
• Different attitudes toward the future: Yuanfeng seeks to understand what lies ahead, while Shen Ni considers the future too changeable to matter.