Chapter Summaries

Chen Wei survived Yang Jian’s illusion trial and found his Golden Immortal power restored, but Yang Jian immediately demanded that he defeat him in a final trial. The chapter ended with Yang Jian summoning the Mountain-Splitting Axe as Chen Wei tried to dodge and talk his way out of the fight.

• In the illusion, Yang Jian cut off Chen Wei’s head, and Yang Chan attacked Yang Jian in a rage before Chen Wei lost consciousness.
• Chen Wei awoke in a mountain ravine with his head restored and his magic power and Golden Immortal Dao Fruit intact.
• Yang Jian confronted Chen Wei, who apologized for his insults and explained away the mud on Yang Jian’s face as part of testing the illusion.
• Yang Jian retrieved the Yin-Yang Demon-Slaying Sword from Chen Wei’s sleeve and ordered him to defeat him as the final trial.
• When Chen Wei refused and tried to negotiate, Yang Jian summoned the Mountain-Splitting Axe, and Chen Wei dodged in alarm.

Chen Wei fought Yang Jian, who suppressed his cultivation to the Golden Immortal realm, and used the Formless Mind Ape Technique to imitate the Great Sage Equal to Heaven. After Chen Wei struck Yang Jian with Heavenly Law, Earthly Form, Yang Jian revealed his own genuine version and prepared to attack, just as a voice spoke from Chen Wei’s Sea of Consciousness.

• Yang Jian suppressed his cultivation to the Golden Immortal realm, but quickly defeated Chen Wei and attacked him with sword shadows created by his Heavenly Eye.
• Chen Wei transformed into the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and fought Yang Jian with an imitation Golden Cudgel, earning Yang Jian’s praise.
• Chen Wei used Heavenly Law, Earthly Form to enlarge himself and struck Yang Jian into a mountain.
• Yang Jian emerged in his own enormous form, revealing a genuine Heavenly Law, Earthly Form and preparing to strike Chen Wei.
• A strange voice in Chen Wei’s Sea of Consciousness told him that he was using a staff incorrectly.

Chen Wei endured Yang Jian’s trial in the Landscape, Mountains, Rivers, and Society Map, with help from a strand of Sun Wukong’s hair. Yang Jian conceded, and Chen Wei reached Guanjiangkou to marry Chan'er.

• Chen Wei discovered Sun Wukong’s hair on his Dharma Aspect, and the Great Sage took control of his body to fight Yang Jian.
• As the Great Sage’s power faded, he told Chen Wei to follow the cudgel’s momentum, and Chen Wei struck Yang Jian with the accumulated force.
• Chen Wei and Yang Jian returned to their true forms, and Yang Jian conceded, saying that if he had not won, he had lost.
• Yang Jian sent Chen Wei to Guanjiangkou and told him to hurry and marry Chan'er.
• Chen Wei found Sun Wukong, Taibai Jinxing, and the cleared cloud road at the temple, then learned that the ordeal had taken place inside Yang Jian’s map.

Chen Wei entered Guanjiangkou for his wedding and faced a formation of brides who were all Yang Chan, with only himself allowed to identify her. He exposed Yang Chan by insulting her cooking, then endured her furious elbow strikes and ear-twisting as the gathered immortals pretended the scene was wedding entertainment.

• Chen Wei led the wedding procession into Guanjiangkou and found brides covering the courtyard and surrounding mountains, each bearing Yang Chan’s identical aura.
• Yang Jian forbade Sun Wukong and the other immortals from helping Chen Wei identify his bride, leaving him to face the challenge alone.
• Chen Wei entered the formation and provoked the brides by claiming the Dragon Maiden’s tangyuan tasted better than Yang Chan’s.
• Yang Chan revealed herself by elbowing Chen Wei, then struck him again and seized his ear as he tried to explain himself.
• Yang Jian told the embarrassed wedding guests to treat the scuffle as a staged performance, and the immortals turned away and praised it.

Chen Wei and Yang Chan married in a ceremony blessed by the Great Heavenly Venerable, and the wedding merit elevated Chen Wei to a hollow Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. Years later, with their twins still unborn, Yang Chan hinted that she had planted a spy beside Chen Wei.

• Chen Wei and Yang Chan completed their wedding ceremony as the Great Heavenly Venerable officiated and blessed them.
• Marriage merit raised Chen Wei's cultivation to Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, though his magic power remained ordinary.
• Yang Jian congratulated the newlyweds and warned Chen Wei not to let Yang Chan suffer.
• Wildly distorted accounts of the wedding spread through unofficial histories until the Great Heavenly Venerable sealed them in the Heavenly Treasury.
• Years later, Chen Wei cared for Yang Chan while their twins remained in her womb, and Yang Chan said she had planted a spy at his side.

Chen Wei placated Yang Chan when she asked about investigating her informants, then discussed his duties and the new mansion being prepared for their family. Meanwhile, Ma Muzhi and the Discipline Censorate officials praised Chen Wei’s painting, “Phoenix's Proud Spirit,” as a work of profound Dao insight.

• Chen Wei praised Yang Chan until she was satisfied, then refused to leave her side until she urged him back to his official duties.
• Chen Wei recalled that the Great Heavenly Venerable had approved a vast mansion for him and Yang Chan, publicly describing it as a temporary loan to protect her from criticism.
• Ma Muzhi gathered the Discipline Censorate officials to study Chen Wei’s painting, which had earned thirty thousand merit at Tongming Hall’s 173rd literary assessment.
• Ma Bide interpreted the painting’s distorted phoenix, three tail feathers, and grain of rice as symbols of the Great Dao and the Discipline Inspection Court’s mission.
• The other Immortal Officials echoed Ma Bide’s praise and claimed the painting had cleared their minds and nearly advanced their cultivation.

Chen Wei rewarded his trusted Discipline Inspection Court officials with promotions and stipends, then hurried home when Yang Chan called him. After Chen Wei left, Ma Muzhi began arranging Heavenly Court posts for his relatives.

• Ma Muzhi praised Ma Bide and lectured the Censorate officials about loyalty and serving their superiors.
• Chen Wei arrived with an Imperial Decree and summoned Pang Long, Xiao Yan, Chu Feng, Han Li, and his other trusted officials.
• Chen Wei read the decree promoting Ma Muzhi and Pang Long to Golden Immortals and Xiao Yan, Chu Feng, and Han Li to True Immortals.
• The promoted officials pledged loyalty to Chen Wei, who then left after Yang Chan called him home to taste her osmanthus tangyuan.
• Ma Muzhi asked Ma Bide which Ma family relatives lacked Heavenly Court posts and ordered him to bring them all to the Discipline Inspection Court.

Chen Wei handled the Martial Virtue Star Lord’s attempt to secure Wu Wen’s release and reported the matter to Taibai Jinxing, who backed Chen Wei’s investigation. Taibai Jinxing then told Chen Wei that the Great Heavenly Venerable wanted to give the unborn children of the Third Holy Mother more responsibility.

• The Martial Virtue Star Lord secretly sent lavish gifts to Ma Muzhi, and Chen Wei decided to question Wu Wen himself.
• Wu Wen refused to cooperate, so Xiao Yan arranged for the Recording Stone to stop recording while Chen Wei left the interrogation room.
• Chen Wei visited Taibai Jinxing at Clear Pool and helped him treat the Martial Virtue Star Lord’s gifts as fish bait rather than a violation.
• Chen Wei reported that Wu Wen remained stubborn and that his colleagues were helping clear Wu Wen’s meridians.
• Taibai Jinxing said Wu Wen had disturbed mortal incense offerings and fortune, then told Chen Wei to handle the case.
• Taibai Jinxing revealed that the Great Heavenly Venerable wanted to give the unborn children of the Third Holy Mother more responsibility, delighting Chen Wei.

Chen Wei learned that his unborn twins had been appointed Star Lords and tasked with overseeing mortal Incense Offerings, leaving him to handle the work until they were born. As he agreed to investigate the accounts, Yang Chan used the Treasure Lotus Lamp to protect her belly from outside disturbance.

• Chen Wei received an Imperial Decree naming his unborn son Jade Pivot Numina Star Lord and his unborn daughter Illuminating Vows Star Lord.
• Yang Chan told the twins about their titles, and they kicked in response while Chen Wei playfully tried to get their attention.
• Chen Wei realized the twins’ duties involved auditing mortal Incense Offerings and suspected the assignment was connected to the Martial Virtue Star Lord.
• Chen Wei refused Yang Chan’s suggestion to ask Yang Jian for help and promised to handle the investigation himself.
• Yang Chan summoned the Treasure Lotus Lamp, which flattened her belly and insulated the twins from outside disturbance, astonishing Chen Wei.

Chen Wei reviewed evidence of Wu Wen's interference with mortal incense offerings and prepared to punish him despite the Martial Virtue Star Lord's influence. When the Star Lord arrived to seek leniency, Chen Wei showed him the case files, and the Star Lord reacted with fury at his son.

• Chen Wei's Immortal Officials competed to serve him, while Xiao Yan's work secured Wu Wen's confession and Ma Muzhi and Pang Long gathered evidence in the Mortal Realm.
• Chen Wei told Ma Muzhi and Pang Long that Wu Wen must be punished and that the rules could not be broken, even if the shortfall was repaid.
• The Martial Virtue Star Lord came to the Censorate and asked Chen Wei to show discretion toward Wu Wen.
• Chen Wei gave the Star Lord the case files, and after reading them, the Star Lord condemned Wu Wen's actions and vowed to punish his unfilial son.

Chen Wei maneuvered the Martial Virtue Star Lord into accepting a detailed case file that placed the blame for widespread embezzlement on Wu Wen. The Star Lord learned that Wu Wen could live only if he accepted the charges and served time in the Heavenly Prison, leaving him to decide whether to persuade his son to confess.

• Chen Wei recognized that the Martial Virtue Star Lord was trying to secure leniency for Wu Wen while hiding his request from the Recording Stones.
• Chen Wei had Ma Muzhi and Pang Long remove the Recording Stones and leave the room so the Star Lord could speak privately.
• The Martial Virtue Star Lord asked Chen Wei to spare Wu Wen, and Chen Wei claimed he would try the case however the Star Lord wished before handing him the case files.
• The Martial Virtue Star Lord read the documents and saw that they assigned Wu Wen extensive charges backed by a closed chain of evidence and a confession awaiting his thumbprint.
• The Martial Virtue Star Lord asked whether Wu Wen could survive the charges, and Chen Wei said he could live if he served time in the Heavenly Prison and the Star Lord persuaded him to accept the blame.

Martial Virtue Star Lord accepted Chen Wei’s terms and tried to make Wu Wen confess to his crimes and accept imprisonment in the Heavenly Prison. Wu Wen’s outburst revealed that the missing merit had gone into his father’s treasury, but Martial Virtue forced him to sign anyway.

• Martial Virtue Star Lord agreed to persuade Wu Wen and hinted that Chen Wei should understand his fear as a father-to-be, making Chen Wei suspect he had threatened Yang Chan’s unborn children.
• Martial Virtue Star Lord visited Wu Wen in the Discipline Inspection Court, where Xiao Yan’s harsh methods had made the prisoner far more subdued.
• Wu Wen complained to his father and cursed the Discipline Inspection Court, but Martial Virtue presented Chen Wei’s confession and told him to accept punishment in the Heavenly Prison.
• Wu Wen protested that the missing merit had gone into his father’s treasury, alarming Martial Virtue, who silenced him and warned that staying in prison was his only chance to survive.
• Martial Virtue overpowered Wu Wen and forced his signature, personal mark, and blood seal onto the confession.

Wu Wen accepted responsibility for his crimes and was sent to the Heavenly Prison, while Chen Wei returned to find Yang Jian visiting Yang Chan. The unborn twins spoke their first word—“Uncle”—to Yang Jian and revealed they could leave Yang Chan’s womb as tiny spirit forms.

• Wu Wen confessed to embezzling merit and disrupting incense offerings, accepted the Heavenly Dao’s backlash, and was escorted to the Heavenly Prison.
• Wu Wen threatened Chen Wei as he left, and Chen Wei warned him that he might not last long enough to take revenge.
• Chen Wei returned to the Mansion and found Yang Jian shaking a rattle drum for Yang Chan’s unborn twins.
• The twins called Yang Jian “Uncle,” delighting him and leaving Chen Wei jealous that their first word was not “Father.”
• Yang Chan sent the twins’ tiny black-and-white spirit forms out of her belly, and Chen Wei changed the subject after realizing she had concealed this from him.

Chen Wei and Yang Chan’s children, Chen Xiaochan and Chen Xiang, visited with their family as Yang Jian doted on them and took Chen Xiang flying with the Mountain-Splitting Axe. Chen Xiang accidentally activated the weapon and damaged the Heavenly Court’s Cloud Road, and Yang Jian encouraged him to keep swinging as they headed toward Lingxiao Palace.

• Yang Jian gave Chen Xiang the Mountain-Splitting Axe after the boy reached for his Storage Bag, while Chen Xiaochan called Chen Wei and Yang Chan Mommy.
• The family’s children were named Chen Xiaochan and Chen Xiang.
• Yang Jian took Chen Xiang flying along the Heavenly Court’s Cloud Road with the axe.
• Chen Xiang activated the Mountain-Splitting Axe and cleaved a huge breach in the Cloud Road.
• A Heavenly General saw Yang Jian and Chen Xiang, declared the Cloud Road had collapsed on its own, and withdrew with his soldiers.
• Yang Jian praised Chen Xiang and took him toward Lingxiao Palace, telling him to swing the axe at whoever they saw.

Chen Wei went to investigate a breach in the South Heaven Gate’s Cloud Road, caused by his unborn son, and found that Lu Beiwang had once covered up the road’s shoddy construction. After Chen Wei ordered repairs instead of pursuing the old scandal, Lu Beiwang begged him for a post.

• A Heavenly General told Chen Wei that the Cloud Road at the South Heaven Gate had been split open, and Chen Wei realized his unborn son had caused it with the Mountain-Splitting Axe.
• Chen Wei returned Chen Xiaochan to Yang Chan’s belly, then flew to inspect the damaged Cloud Road.
• Chen Wei recognized the breach as the same poorly built stretch Lu Beiwang had once tried to get him to approve.
• Lu Beiwang claimed the road had collapsed on its own, then admitted fault and blamed his former superiors when Chen Wei pressed him.
• Chen Wei ordered Lu Beiwang to arrange repairs, and Lu Beiwang knelt and asked Chen Wei to give him a post.

Chen Wei rejected Lu Beiwang’s request for promotion but promised him a chance to prove himself after learning that the Young Master had chopped down a pillar before Lingxiao Palace. Lu Beiwang offered to handle the crisis, and Chen Wei tasked him with it in exchange for a Golden Immortal-grade residence.

• Lu Beiwang begged Chen Wei for an official post, but Chen Wei asked whether he could quell demon calamities in the Mortal Realm.
• Chen Wei helped Lu Beiwang up and told him to keep working diligently at the Immortal Works Bureau.
• A Guard Heavenly General reported that the Young Master had chopped down a pillar before Lingxiao Palace while the Holy Manifestation True Lord watched.
• Lu Beiwang overheard the report and offered to resolve the matter for Chen Wei.
• Chen Wei warned Lu Beiwang that failure would bring double punishment, then promised him a Golden Immortal-grade residence if he succeeded.

Chen Wei returned home to find Chen Xiang playing with the Mountain-Splitting Axe, and Yang Chan brushed off the damage he had caused at the Lingxiao Palace. After the children returned to her womb, Yang Chan fell asleep and suddenly showed signs of advancing to the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.

• Chen Wei returned to the Back Garden and found Chen Xiang chasing the immortal cranes with the Mountain-Splitting Axe.
• Yang Jian told Chen Wei that Chen Xiang had chopped down several pillars outside the Lingxiao Palace, and Yang Chan dismissed the damage as unimportant.
• Yang Chan coaxed Chen Xiang back into her womb, where he joined Chen Xiaochan, and then she quickly fell asleep.
• Chen Wei tried to carry Yang Chan to bed but was thrown back by a surge of magic power.
• Yang Jian sealed the courtyard with a Magic Array and said Yang Chan was nearing the Daluo Golden Immortal threshold after receiving origin essence from her unborn children.

Chen Wei learned that Yang Chan and their unborn children were cultivating together, while the Heavenly Court blamed a careless inspector for the broken pillars near Lingxiao Palace. After Lu Beiwang settled the scandal by shifting responsibility, Chen Wei rewarded him with a mansion and a transfer to Tongming Hall under Pang Long.

• Yang Chan's unborn children circulated energy alongside her, and Yang Jian praised their innate gifts before returning to Guanjiangkou.
• The Immortal Works Bureau announced that neglected maintenance had caused the Jade Pillars to break and disciplined the Immortal Official who had skipped an inspection.
• Lu Beiwang revealed that he had altered the records and persuaded the inspector to accept blame, prompting Chen Wei and Pang Long to praise his handling of the matter.
• Chen Wei awarded Lu Beiwang an unoccupied Golden Immortal mansion on the eastern stretch of the Celestial River and transferred him from the Immortal Works Bureau to Tongming Hall under Pang Long.
• Pang Long gave Lu Beiwang the mansion's Command Token and told him to inspect Buckingham.

Yang Chan awoke after two days of sleep, and the Great Heavenly Venerable visited her to meet her unborn children. He approved the name Chen Xiang and began considering what offices to grant the twins after their birth.

• Chen Wei kept watch while Yang Chan slept for two days, then hurried to welcome the Great Heavenly Venerable and Taibai Jinxing when they arrived.
• Yang Chan woke as the visitors reached her bedroom, and the Great Heavenly Venerable praised her transformed cultivation and told her to rest.
• Yang Chan apologized for the children chopping down pillars at Lingxiao Palace, but the Great Heavenly Venerable dismissed the damage and asked to see their true spirits.
• The twins emerged as black and white streaks of light and settled into the Great Heavenly Venerable's hands, where he happily cuddled them.
• Chen Wei revealed that he had once wanted to name the boy Chen Zhong Great Heavenly Venerable, and the Great Heavenly Venerable confirmed Chen Xiang as the boy's name.
• The Great Heavenly Venerable wondered what offices to grant the twins after they were born, leaving Chen Wei startled by the prospect of further promotions.

Yang Chan, the Great Heavenly Venerable, and Chen Wei agreed that her unborn children should not be rushed into high office. The Great Heavenly Venerable and Taibai Jinxing then tasked Chen Wei with rectifying incense merit, leaving him committed to a dangerous assignment.

• Yang Chan asked the Great Heavenly Venerable to give her unborn children only minor Third Rank posts, and he agreed they should be tempered before receiving high positions.
• The Great Heavenly Venerable returned the children to Yang Chan's womb and summoned Chen Wei to discuss official business with Taibai Jinxing.
• Taibai Jinxing warned Chen Wei that his growing fame and influence had made him too conspicuous and suggested he take on arduous duties to cool things down.
• The Great Heavenly Venerable assigned Chen Wei to rectify incense merit, a politically perilous task involving the gods' and Immortals' sources of power and income.
• Chen Wei pledged to devote himself to the assignment, and the Great Heavenly Venerable questioned why such a beneficial task could not be carried out.