Chapter Summaries

Hu Ze secured Hu Meiniang’s authority over the Vermilion Bird Dharma Form as he prepared to bring the Sacred Spirit Grand Formation under his control. He returned to the Sacred Capital and began a crackdown on notorious criminals, leaving Iron Sword Gate officers facing execution.

• Hu Ze planned to use his influence over the emperor, civil officials, military, and imperial in-laws to gain full control of the Sacred Spirit Grand Formation.
• Hu Meiniang agreed to share the authority she controlled over the Vermilion Bird Dharma Form by making Hu Ze a secret talisman.
• Hu Ze returned to the Sacred Capital, summoned Han Li, and ordered her to bring the case files so he could punish notorious criminals.
• The next day, Hu Ze’s forces stormed the imperial troops’ barracks and seized officers accused of heinous crimes.
• Black Spirit cited the case file and announced that the arrested Iron Sword Gate officers would be executed for joining the Imperial Guard and engaging in its abuses.

Hu Ze’s campaign dismantled abusive sects and martial academies across Great Qian, while he explained to Han Li why he judged wrongdoing by its consequences rather than its motives. He declared that his campaign followed the laws of heaven and earth, leaving Han Li to grapple with his belief that the strong should reign supreme.

• Government forces surrounded and destroyed the Iron Sword Gate, arresting its leaders and dispersing its disciples.
• Under Hu Ze’s orders, troops launched punitive operations against sects and martial academies, executing offenders and arresting others.
• Han Li questioned Hu Ze about wiping out sects that had once produced righteous people, and he argued that their past did not excuse the harm they caused.
• Hu Ze told Han Li that the Iron Sword Gate had surrendered to the Imperial Guard, after which Senior Sister Jing became a tyrant and Junior Sister Wang died by suicide.
• Hu Ze explained that his fairness followed the laws of heaven and earth, and said he was carrying out Heaven’s will.

Hu Ze explained to Han Li that weakness, not karmic retribution, had caused her suffering, and urged her to grow strong enough to choose whether to perpetuate the cycle. Meanwhile, Li Chen gathered the Great Qian Dynasty’s fortune and broke through to the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.

• Hu Ze told Han Li that the strong preyed on the weak and that she should strive to become strong enough to choose her own path.
• Hu Ze inspected the Sacred Capital and discovered that its people were worshipping statues made in his likeness.
• Han Li explained that the people regarded Hu Ze as their savior after he restored order, and that officials had started the trend of making statues.
• Li Chen drew on fortune gathered through the Great Qian Dynasty’s deification system and the support secured by his avatars.
• Li Chen absorbed the dynasty’s fortune, broke through his bottleneck, and reached the Nascent Soul Realm Peak.

Li Chen gathered the Puppet Dao Grandmasters in the Great Qian inner imperial palace and explained that his authority let him control the Four Great Sacred Spirits. The grandmasters agreed to help him refine the spirits’ power and laws, but warned him that losing control could alert powerful enemies.

• Li Chen sensed the Great Dao’s laws and believed he was nearing the insights needed to become a Primordial Spirit Great Power.
• Li Chen used his magic power to summon projections of the Puppet Dao Grandmasters inside the Great Qian inner imperial palace.
• The grandmasters marveled that Li Chen had infiltrated the palace and brought the Great Qian Emperor under his control.
• Pan Ning explained that the Four Great Sacred Spirits were remnant souls stripped of their intelligence and bound to obey whoever held authority.
• Li Chen told the grandmasters he intended to pursue a Confucian Dao fruit, and Pan Ning agreed to help him refine the sacred spirits’ power and laws.
• Shen Longcheng warned Li Chen to maintain control over the spirits, since a mishap could alert the Confucian Dao’s Second Sages and the Martial Emperor Great Powers.

Li Chen used the Four Great Sacred Spirits’ origins to commune with the Great Dao and transform his understanding. He vanished beyond the grandmasters’ perception, realizing he had become a Heavenly Ghost.

• Li Chen sealed the area within the Divine Realm and summoned golden chains of all living beings’ fate to bind the Four Great Sacred Spirits.
• Emperor Chongdao’s decree became talismans that fixed the Four Great Sacred Spirits in place.
• Shen Longcheng, Pan Ning, Wu Fangdao, and True Person Miaobao extracted origin power from the Sacred Spirits, and Li Chen drew it into himself.
• Li Chen merged with the Sacred Spirit origins, gaining insight into the Great Dao and bringing his past cultivation together into a Dao Fruit.
• Li Chen’s body and primordial spirit disappeared from the grandmasters’ perception, and he recognized himself as a Heavenly Ghost.

Li Chen understood that his experience of merging with and returning from the Great Dao revealed the true form of Void Creation, a Root Dao Art that created objects by controlling their root information. After the Grandmasters departed with their shares of dragon aura and sacred spirit origins, Li Chen clarified his path toward a Primordial Spirit Dharma Body and sensed Hu Meiniang approaching.

• Li Chen realized that his transformation into and return from the Great Dao was the process called “the Dao gives birth to one.”
• Li Chen concluded that true Void Creation used laws to create physical objects directly from root information, unlike the material-based false art.
• Li Chen told Han Tong and the others that he had gained insight into the creation law, then let the Grandmasters divide the available dragon aura and sacred spirit origins.
• Shen Longcheng said a Dharma Body might be within Li Chen’s reach, and Li Chen described his plan to combine mental imagination with manifestation through laws.
• Li Chen sensed that Hu Meiniang had noticed the commotion.

Hu Meiniang sensed Li Chen and the Puppet Dao Grandmasters disrupting the Sacred Spirit Grand Formation, but Li Chen used its authority to transport her to Qian'an Palace and trap her. Pan Ning claimed her as a potential puppet, and Hu Meiniang unleashed her demon essence and the Vermilion Bird’s power in a desperate bid to resist.

• Hu Meiniang abandoned her male favorite after sensing a disturbance in the palace’s fortune and found that the Sacred Spirit Grand Formation no longer obeyed her.
• Li Chen seized on Hu Meiniang’s attempt to command the formation and transported her from Kunning Palace to Qian'an Palace.
• Hu Meiniang tried to flee toward the Vermilion Bird Gate, but Li Chen, Shen Longcheng, and Pan Ning surrounded and immobilized her.
• Pan Ning asked to refine Hu Meiniang into a puppet, and Li Chen agreed while warning him about her Zhang Mountain Mark.
• Hu Meiniang unleashed her demon essence and invoked the Vermilion Bird’s power at the cost of her life.

Hu Meiniang briefly seized control of the Vermilion Bird’s power, prompting Li Chen to summon six Primordial Spirit-level forces to kill her. As she tried to take over the main Vermilion Bird dharma form, Emperor Chongdao stripped her of her title and reclaimed her authority over fortune, turning her apparent chance of survival into a trap.

• Hu Meiniang broke free of Li Chen’s control for a moment and gathered Vermilion Bird power into a lesser dharma form.
• Li Chen summoned Shen Longcheng’s Sky-Reaching Divine Dragon and Pan Ning’s Desolate Beast God, then forced the Four Sages to manifest and attack Hu Meiniang.
• Hu Meiniang withstood the battle puppets’ blows and rushed to seize control of the main Vermilion Bird dharma form.
• Emperor Chongdao wrote an edict stripping Hu Meiniang of her title as Grand Empress Dowager and consigning her to the cold palace.
• Emperor Chongdao reclaimed Hu Meiniang’s authority over fortune, causing the power of her lesser Vermilion Bird dharma form to flow into the main body.

Pan Ning possessed Hu Meiniang’s body after Li Chen and the others killed her, and the three Puppet Masters moved to cover up the change. When King Qinggu arrived to investigate the disturbance, they summoned him into the palace.

• Pan Ning found the Zhang Mountain lineage’s mark in Hu Meiniang’s body, and Li Chen explained how the Heavenly Fox Heart Sutra’s six desires could corrupt its wielder.
• Li Chen restored Qian’an Palace to the real world, and the three Puppet Masters entered Kunning Palace to meet the palace guards.
• Pan Ning killed Hu Meiniang’s male favorite and read his memories, while Shen Longcheng proposed disguising the killings as an internal power struggle.
• Li Chen captured Eunuch Ma, extracted his memories, and arranged to preserve his body as a means of deceiving onlookers.
• After the three finished purging Kunning Palace, King Qinggu requested an audience, and Li Chen used Eunuch Ma to summon him inside.

King Qinggu entered Kunning Palace after Hu Meiniang summoned him, only to be ambushed and overcome by Li Chen and his allies. Hu Meiniang stabbed him through the chest, and the chapter ended with Qinggu accepting the attack as long as she remained safe.

• King Qinggu entered the palace with his followers after Hu Meiniang's decree summoned him.
• Eunuch Ma revealed himself as an attacker, and Li Chen's Secret Art Corrupting Shadow overwhelmed Qinggu's mind before he was thrown into the palace hall.
• Shen Longcheng struck Qinggu's forces with a dragon claw, killing more than half of them and leaving the survivors badly injured.
• King Qinggu saw Li Chen beside Hu Meiniang and questioned who they were, but Hu Meiniang claimed she was the real Meiniang.
• Hu Meiniang used her charm on Qinggu and stabbed him through the chest, while he forgave her and urged her not to cry.
• Li Chen stood up and remarked that simps were something else.

After defeating King Qinggu and his forces, Li Chen traded their remains for materials and commissions suited to his Wisdom Dao work. He then spread rumors blaming Hu Meiniang for the lost Dragon Aura, and Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan accepted the deception but planned to consult Grand Preceptor Hu.

• Li Chen, Shen Longcheng, and Pan Ning disposed of King Qinggu and the Demon Cultivators, then agreed to trade their remains and arrange work refining Wisdom Cores and artificial primordial spirits.
• Li Chen spread rumors that Hu Meiniang had tried to steal Dragon Aura, suffered a backlash, and killed King Qinggu during a dispute over spoils.
• Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan investigated the rumors and verified Hu Meiniang's violent actions and King Qinggu's disappearance.
• Pan Ning and Li Chen disguised Hu Meiniang, and the two ministers failed to detect that a Great Power had possessed her.
• Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan believed the rumors and decided to seek Grand Preceptor Hu's opinion before acting.

Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan asked Hu Ze to help pressure Hu Meiniang to leave Kunning Palace, and Hu Ze relayed their plan to Pan Ning. Pan Ning agreed to move only in exchange for support for a Deer Terrace project that could strengthen his body, enrich their operation, and weaken Great Qian.

• Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan told Hu Ze they wanted a Court Deliberation to urge Hu Meiniang to leave Kunning Palace, and Hu Ze agreed to coordinate.
• Hu Ze secretly informed Pan Ning of the ministers’ intentions, and Pan Ning decided to move out if he could negotiate favorable terms.
• Pan Ning proposed having the ministers build an Imperial Retreat and perform a Deification Sacrifice Ritual to refine his body and gather fortune.
• Li Chen proposed naming the terrace Deer Terrace and using the project to recruit craftsmen, embezzle supplies, and free abducted Puppet Dao artisans.
• Li Chen explained that draining Great Qian’s treasury would make it harder for the dynasty and its allies to fund expeditions against the Puppet Masters.

Li Chen used Hu Ze's Avatar to persuade Great Qian's ministers to build Pan Ning's requested Deer Terrace so Hu Meiniang would relocate, and the court approved the costly wonder-grade ritual altar. The chapter ended with plans for raising funds and materials underway, while Li Chen intended to claim the completed structure for his own purposes.

• Hu Ze's Avatar reported that Pan Ning would not agree to move unless Great Qian built her a Deer Terrace, and the ministers objected to its expense.
• Li Chen argued that building the altar was preferable to risking a forced relocation, a military coup, and damage to Great Qian's stability.
• Yue Dongyang, Lu Yuan, and the other officials agreed to build the Deer Terrace and began discussing labor and treasury funds.
• Over a month later, the Ministry of Works proposed new transport bureaus, levies on the prefectures, and a Tribute Bureau to oversee construction at Fragrant Mountain.
• A Ministry of Works official estimated the project would cost approximately one hundred quadrillion talisman coins, and Li Chen planned to take the completed wonder for the Bone Kun Warship.

Li Chen reviewed the cost and engineering requirements for building a true Sky City and decided he needed a secure stronghold for his growing forces. He planned to recruit skilled Righteous Qi Continent artisans for the Puppet Dao, while Pan Ning offered to abduct them if persuasion failed.

• Hu Ze's Avatar sent Li Chen the Ministry of Works' engineering plan, and Li Chen calculated that building the Sky City would cost at least eighty-five quadrillion Talisman Coins.
• Li Chen assessed the expertise and low status of the listed artisans, and concluded that a Sky City required sophisticated Array Dao design and coordinated construction rather than merely being made to float.
• Li Chen reflected that the Bone Kun Warship and Azure Billow Immortal Abode lacked the defenses and stability needed for a true rear base against powerful enemies.
• Pan Ning asked whether the artisans could help Li Chen build a Sky City, and Li Chen proposed approaching Array Dao master Bu Qingyun and Artifact Dao masters Tie Jin, An Feng, and Mei Yicheng.
• Pan Ning gave Li Chen permission to recruit the masters discreetly and suggested abducting them if necessary, while Li Chen considered bringing their disciples, descendants, and workers into the Puppet Dao as well.

Bu Qingyun, a renowned Array Dao grandmaster chosen to oversee the Deer Terrace’s construction, was summoned to meet Grand Preceptor Hu. After Hu questioned him about an optimized design, Bu Qingyun explained why his original plan suited Great Qian’s resources, but Hu ordered him to use the revisions anyway.

• Bu Qingyun arrived at the Deer Terrace site and praised its feng shui to his disciple.
• A Ministry of Works assistant director summoned Bu Qingyun to meet Grand Preceptor Hu at a temporary imperial retreat.
• Hu Ze’s Avatar received Bu Qingyun politely and questioned him about several points in the construction plans.
• Bu Qingyun explained that his original design better matched Great Qian’s engineering capabilities, manpower, and resources.
• Li Chen controlled Hu Ze’s Avatar to order Bu Qingyun to follow the revised plan, and Bu Qingyun reluctantly agreed.

Li Chen and Pan Ning discussed the limits of changing the world and Li Chen’s vision for a society governed by skill and contribution. As the Deer Terrace project began, they stabilized the Sacred Capital while maintaining their cover and preparing to return their attention to the Central Sea.

• Li Chen described his plan to establish Materialized Heaven under his rule, and Pan Ning suggested that Li Chen’s inventions might let him influence the Myriad Heavens and Worlds.
• Pan Ning urged Li Chen to resume his former work after their plan was completed and they attacked the Central Sea.
• Li Chen accompanied Pan Ning’s Hu Meiniang avatar to the Deer Terrace groundbreaking, then continued suppressing rebels and restoring order as Grand Preceptor Hu.
• Hu Ze’s Avatar drove back the Demon Kings who demanded the court’s submission, and Li Chen and Pan Ning concealed their strength by appearing weakened.
• Li Chen accused Qinggu and the Demon Kings of atrocities in letters to Zhang Mountain and the Demon God Palace, while Fairy Zhang Hua lost her hold over Hu Meiniang.

Li Chen and Pan Ning toured the completed Deer Terrace, rewarded its builders, and planned to move there the following month. Their plans were disrupted when the Confucian Second Sages promoted a rival Sage King in East Zou, while a major war began in the Central Sea, suggesting the Great Powers were acting against a hidden threat in Sacred Capital City.

• Pan Ning and Li Chen toured the Deer Terrace and discussed how its wealth and benefits should be distributed.
• Pan Ning, posing as Hu Meiniang, praised and rewarded the Deer Terrace's builders, then told Li Chen she would move there on the first of the next month.
• Li Chen learned that an Immortal Stone and Divine Weapon had appeared in East Zou, where rumors proclaimed Sage King Long Yan and promised Great Zou's prosperity.
• Hu Ze's Avatar and Pan Ning recognized the Second Sages' campaign as an effort to undermine Hu Meiniang and reclaim imperial authority.
• Yue Dongyang, Lu Yuan, and other Capital Confucians feared the Saints planned to attack their Imperial Capital.
• Li Chen learned that Puppet Dao Masters Huang, Qing, and Chang had begun the Central Sea War from the Sky City Smokeless City, and he and Pan Ning suspected the Great Powers were responding to a hidden threat in Sacred Capital City.

Pan Ning and Li Chen prepared for East Zou’s coming campaign by planning to seize the Deer Terrace and plunder the Sacred Capital’s fortune. Fang Yuan accepted the emperor’s summons to become Imperial Tutor, but as he prepared to leave for the capital, he felt an ominous premonition.

• Pan Ning and Li Chen suspected that their efforts to conceal their identity had alerted powerful experts, and they resolved to use the coming war to destabilize Great Qian.
• Pan Ning and Li Chen agreed to move up their plans to take the Deer Terrace and plunder the Sacred Capital before East Zou’s army arrived.
• Li Chen said he would trap Fang Yuan if he came to the capital, or punish him for defying the emperor if he refused.
• Fang Yuan accepted the imperial summons to serve as Imperial Tutor, and his disciples celebrated the opportunity for Luli Academy to gain influence.
• Fang Yuan told his great-grandson to bring only a few relatives and attendants to the capital, then wondered why the summons gave him an ominous premonition.

Hu Ze's Avatar advised Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan that the Four Great Academies could overcome their decline by adopting Confucius' teachings and spreading benevolence. He outlined the three bonds and five constants, leaving the ministers considering how to use this doctrine to strengthen their schools and attain sagehood.

• Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan invited Hu Ze's Avatar to discuss the Four Great Academies' standing and the balance among Sacred Capital factions.
• Hu Ze's Avatar argued that the academies' divided interpretations of the classics held them back and urged them to unite around Confucius' teachings.
• When Yue Dongyang questioned how benevolence could govern the world, Hu Ze's Avatar explained that filial piety and brotherly respect formed its foundation.
• Yue Dongyang asked how to spread benevolence, and Hu Ze's Avatar introduced the three bonds and five constants as the principles governing human relationships.

Li Chen used Hu Ze's Avatar to introduce Neo-Confucianism and the Song of Righteousness to Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan, hoping they would develop the doctrine and reshape Great Qian's Confucian Dao. After discussing his plan with Pan Ning, he learned that Grand Confucian Fang Yuan had arrived in the Capital.

• Hu Ze's Avatar explained Neo-Confucianism to Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan and gave them the Song of Righteousness as a method for nourishing vital energy.
• Yue Dongyang and Lu Yuan received the new doctrines as a possible path to sagehood and a means of restraining the Martial Sect and changing the moral order.
• Li Chen told Pan Ning that he intended to use the White Meme and the Confucian Sect to spread Neo-Confucianism and stir change through ideas rather than warfare.
• A servant told Hu Ze's Avatar that Grand Confucian Fang Yuan had arrived in the Capital, and Hu Ze's Avatar welcomed the news.