Chapter Summaries

Great Order Wisdom King learned that Wang Dun had impersonated He Pingsheng and nearly attacked He Pingsheng before his Fifty-Fifty talisman stopped her. Then Zhao Xiangdu confronted Zhou Qingmei, who refused to leave with him unless He Pingsheng allowed it.

• Great Order Wisdom King realized Wang Dun had used He Pingsheng's name, but He Pingsheng explained that she had mistaken him for Wang Dun despite his denials.
• Great Order Wisdom King threatened to kill He Pingsheng, but Zhou Qingmei defended him and He Pingsheng displayed a Fifty-Fifty talisman, making her back down.
• Demon Emperor Hollow deduced that Wang Dun and He Pingsheng had impersonated each other and vowed to kill them after the Stone Terrace Gathering.
• Zhao Xiangdu approached He Pingsheng, Wang Dun, and Zhou Qingmei, recognized Zhou Qingmei, and said he would explain what had happened before asking her to come with him.
• Zhou Qingmei refused to go with Zhao Xiangdu without her young master's approval, and He Pingsheng said she could consider him her master.

He Pingsheng confronted Zhao Xiangdu over Zhao’s demand to reclaim Zhou Qingmei, whom Zhao had killed and He had brought back to life. Zhao backed down from attacking He after warnings from the Great Order Wisdom King and Demon Emperor Hollow, but He ended by asserting his right to decide Zhou Qingmei’s fate.

• Zhou Qingmei told Zhao Xiangdu that she could become He Pingsheng’s Heavenly Dao slave just as Zhao had become one of the Phoenix Race.
• Zhao Xiangdu lost his composure, boasted of the Phoenix Race’s power, and threatened to kill He Pingsheng.
• The Great Order Wisdom King revealed that Duan Feihong had once tried to kill He, and Demon Emperor Hollow warned Zhao that He might possess a Supreme Grade Death-Substitute Puppet.
• Zhao Xiangdu abandoned his threat and asked He Pingsheng to return Zhou Qingmei in exchange for any price.
• He Pingsheng condemned Zhao for killing Zhou Qingmei and asked what right Zhao had to claim her.
• He Pingsheng said he had the right because Zhao had killed Zhou Qingmei and He had brought her back to life.

He Pingsheng faced Zhao Xiangdu’s public accusations over Zhou Qingmei, while Buddha Venerable Bright Moon and Wang Dun exposed Zhao’s hypocrisy. The hall learned that He Pingsheng had given Zhou Qingmei a supreme-grade Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure, leaving Zhao’s low-grade spear offer thoroughly overshadowed.

• Buddha Venerable Bright Moon testified that He Pingsheng had revived Zhou Qingmei and helped her reach the Integrated Body Realm, while warning of the karmic burden.
• Zhao Xiangdu conceded that He Pingsheng could take Zhou Qingmei, then tried to leave and promised to reward him another day.
• Wang Dun challenged Zhao Xiangdu for delaying his thanks, pressuring him to offer He Pingsheng a low-grade Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure.
• He Pingsheng returned Zhao Xiangdu’s spear, refusing to accept it.
• Zhou Qingmei drew her supreme-grade Heavenly Ice Sword and announced that He Pingsheng had bestowed it upon her.

Zhao Xiangdu tried to withdraw his offer for Zhou Qingmei after learning He Pingsheng had given her a Supreme Grade Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure, but Wang Dun pushed him to offer the Imperishable Sacred Fire instead. Zhao Xiangdu refused and returned to his lotus platform, while Wang Dun revealed he had hoped Zhao would kill him.

• Zhao Xiangdu apologized to He Pingsheng and offered to repay him with a better treasure later.
• Wang Dun suggested Zhao Xiangdu give He Pingsheng the Imperishable Sacred Fire in exchange for Zhou Qingmei.
• Yun Yi objected that the sacred fire was Zhao Xiangdu's Dao foundation and greatly increased his fighting strength.
• Wang Dun insulted Zhao Xiangdu by comparing him to a dog protected by the Phoenix Race, and Zhao Xiangdu threatened to have him killed.
• Wang Dun taunted Zhao Xiangdu to kill him, but Zhao Xiangdu returned to his lotus platform instead.
• The Soaring Serpent Clan leader feared Wang Dun had endangered her clan, while Wang Dun lamented that Zhao Xiangdu had not dared to kill him.

Demon Emperor Vajra announced five events for the Stone Terrace Gathering, and He Pingsheng left the Great Hall with Zhou Qingmei after the gathering ended. Outside, he encountered Tian Yao with Crown Prince Empty Void and recognized that Tian Yao might be using the prince to provoke conflict with him.

• Demon Emperor Vajra announced five trials testing fortune and state of mind, Dao comprehension, divine sense, combat strength, and ability to climb the Stone Terrace Heavenly Ladder.
• He Pingsheng left the Great Hall with Zhou Qingmei, who said seeing her old lover had only made her more disappointed and warned He Pingsheng to plan a safe departure.
• He Pingsheng told Zhou Qingmei he intended to leave early if danger arose and teased her about spending the night with him.
• He Pingsheng encountered Tian Yao standing intimately beside Crown Prince Empty Void, who challenged him and threatened what would happen if they met in the arena.
• He Pingsheng suspected Tian Yao was using Crown Prince Empty Void to drive a wedge between him and the Hollow Beast Tribe, then said he had something to tell the prince.

He Pingsheng exposed Tian Yao’s plan to use Crown Prince Empty Void to provoke a fight that would leave He Pingsheng dead and Empty Void killed by Demon Emperor Hollow. After Empty Void dismissed Tian Yao, He Pingsheng returned to Zhou Qingmei and declared that he would become her true master.

• Tian Yao claimed Crown Prince Empty Void accepted her past and urged him to help kill He Pingsheng.
• He Pingsheng revealed that Tian Yao meant to use Empty Void to start a fight, leading Demon Emperor Hollow to kill He Pingsheng in revenge for his son.
• He Pingsheng listed his past victories, and Crown Prince Empty Void realized Tian Yao had hidden his strength from him.
• Crown Prince Empty Void demanded to know whether He Pingsheng’s feats were true, then ordered Tian Yao to leave when she admitted they were.
• Crown Prince Empty Void vowed to kill He Pingsheng but said he would not tolerate Tian Yao scheming against him.
• He Pingsheng entered Zhou Qingmei’s compound, lifted her chin, and told her he would become her true master.

Nan Qiqi explained the Stone Terrace Gathering’s events and urged the Vermilion Bird Emperor Domain’s prodigies to pursue a top-thirty team ranking, which would let the domain call on the emperors for protection. Back at his Daoist Grounds, He Pingsheng asked Zhou Qingmei about her future, then prepared to take her and Ting Tong to study the Stone Terrace Inscriptions.

• Nan Qiqi explained how Three Dreams of the Mortal World tested prodigies by trapping them in a lifelike dream and rewarding those who awakened early and found hidden items.
• Nan Qiqi described the other competitions and said the Vermilion Bird Emperor Domain needed to finish in the top thirty to gain the right to request the emperors’ intervention.
• He Pingsheng told Nan Qiqi he would give the competitions his best effort, and Nan Qiqi asked the team to aim high in the individual rankings as well.
• He Pingsheng asked Zhou Qingmei whether she would leave him after he reached the Body Integration Realm, and Zhou Qingmei said she wanted to serve him for life.
• He Pingsheng told Zhou Qingmei to prepare to study the Stone Terrace Inscriptions the next morning and asked her to bring Ting Tong, while Zi Qing had already returned to the Great Order Wisdom King.

He Pingsheng studied the Stone Terrace Inscriptions and learned that the Heavenly Phoenix Clan dominated the all-ages rankings, while Feng Wanxi was expected to challenge the top spot. He declared that he and Senior Brother Wang would make the top ten, then Feng Wanxi approached him and bowed respectfully, shocking the crowd.

• A black-clad disciple warned the prodigies to stay beyond a thousand zhang of the Stone Terrace Heavenly Ladder, and Nan Qiqi explained that the restriction prevented them from comprehending the Innate Gang Qi before the trial.
• Hu Tianci spotted the Stone Terrace Inscriptions, and He Pingsheng saw that the Heavenly Phoenix Clan held most of the highest ranks, with the Netherworld Holy Maiden in seventh place.
• The crowd discussed Feng Wanxi’s exceptional fortune and her chance to challenge the all-ages first-place record, while Nan Qiqi named the predicted top ten for the gathering.
• He Pingsheng told Nan Qiqi that he and Senior Brother Wang would definitely make the top ten, and she laughed while acknowledging Wang Dun’s strength.
• Feng Wanxi walked up to He Pingsheng and bowed respectfully, stunning the gathered prodigies.

Feng Wanxi demanded that Ting Tong return to the Phoenix Race, and Ting Tong agreed to spare He Pingsheng trouble. He Pingsheng let her go but rejected Feng Wanxi’s golden token and warned her against mistreating Ting Tong before leaving.

• Feng Wanxi asked He Pingsheng whether Ting Tong was his enslaved pet, and he and Ting Tong insisted they were friends with no binding mark.
• Feng Wanxi demanded Ting Tong return to the Phoenix Race and threatened He Pingsheng as dozens of Phoenix prodigies surrounded them.
• Ting Tong chose to return to the Phoenix Race and asked Feng Wanxi to let He Pingsheng visit her.
• He Pingsheng accepted Ting Tong’s decision and took the golden token Feng Wanxi offered.
• He Pingsheng warned Feng Wanxi he would slaughter the Phoenix Race if they mistreated Ting Tong, threw the token back, and left.

He Pingsheng rejected Feng Wanxi’s attempt to portray him as yielding to the Phoenix Race, and he and Zhou Qingmei suspected someone had informed her about Ting Tong. The Three Dreams of the Mortal World contest then began with an explanation of how contestants would be tested on their state of mind, Mortal World Power, and fortune.

• Feng Wanxi lost face when He Pingsheng refused her golden token and spoke of slaughtering the Phoenix Race, while Tian Yao secretly welcomed the conflict she had stirred up.
• Zhou Qingmei suspected Crown Prince Empty Void had told Feng Wanxi about Ting Tong, and He Pingsheng said they could only guess before returning to prepare for the contest.
• Nine hundred and sixty prodigies gathered in Stone Terrace City as the Buddha Emperor, Great Order Wisdom King, and Demon Emperor Vajra prepared the Dreamweaving Grand Array.
• The Buddha Emperor explained that contestants would forget their identities and cultivation in the dream, while gathering Mortal World Essence and seeking a plain stone would determine their scores and test their fortune.

The prodigies entered the Three Dreams of the Mortal World contest, where they had to awaken from the deepest dream and find a hidden stone while competing for mortal world essence. He Pingsheng entered the first layer still lucid and saw Wang Dun in the strange, empty dreamspace.

• The Buddha Emperor explained that contestants would forget themselves in the dream, where time passed far faster, and that rankings depended on mortal world essence while the stone earned its finder one hundred points.
• The Buddha Emperor opened the formation, and the prodigies followed the three Great Emperors inside as Demon Emperor Hollow was persuaded not to join them.
• The Great Order Wisdom King explained that contestants could lose themselves in different dream layers and that those who reached the third layer would inevitably fall asleep.
• A Heavenly Phoenix Clan prodigy asked whether the three Great Emperors would enter the dream, and the Great Order Wisdom King said they would usually leave after activating the array.
• The Great Order Wisdom King, the Buddha Emperor, and Demon Emperor Vajra activated the formation, sending He Pingsheng and the others into the first dream layer.
• He Pingsheng remained conscious in the empty dreamspace, where Wang Dun challenged him to see who could stay lucid through the third layer.

He Pingsheng, Wang Dun, and the other prodigies advanced through the Dreamweaving Grand Array’s dream layers, where dream power gradually put them to sleep and sent them into a vast world with new identities. He Pingsheng and Wang Dun were the last prodigies to enter, leaving the three Demon Emperors to send the stone into the dream world.

• The Buddhist Emperor, Great Order Wisdom King, and Demon Emperor Vajra opened the second layer, where He Pingsheng remained clearheaded but warned that he could not endure the dream power indefinitely.
• The three Demon Emperors opened the third layer, and the Buddhist Emperor scattered mortal world essence throughout its vast world.
• The Buddhist Emperor explained that the sleeping prodigies would enter the world as ordinary people with new identities, while their actual bodies remained in the Dreamweaving Grand Array.
• Most prodigies fell asleep and entered the world, including Feng Wanxi; He Pingsheng followed voluntarily after asking the Buddhist Emperor about their consciousness forms.
• Wang Dun entered after asking when the Buddhist Emperor would throw the stone, and the Buddhist Emperor prepared to send it into the world so the three Demon Emperors could leave.

The Buddhist Emperor, Great Order Wisdom King, and Demon Emperor Vajra tried to ensure Wang Dun could not claim a stone before entering the dream, but their efforts ended with all three Great Emperors drawn into the dream world. Wang Dun then used a strange talisman to send a treasure toward He Pingsheng.

• The Buddhist Emperor used the Great Order Wisdom King and Demon Emperor Vajra's power to throw a stone into the dream, but Wang Dun picked it up before entering.
• The three Great Emperors confronted Wang Dun, who surrendered the stone and left; they then waited three days before trying to send it into the dream again.
• The Buddhist Emperor threw the stone with the other two Great Emperors' help, but the dream's power pulled the Great Order Wisdom King and Demon Emperor Vajra into the world.
• Wang Dun appeared and made the Buddhist Emperor lose consciousness, then sent a strange talisman toward the point of light where He Pingsheng had fallen.

The Demon Emperors decided not to wake the three Great Emperors who had fallen asleep in the Dreamweaving Grand Array, leaving them to undergo the dream trial. In the dream, He Pingsheng worked as a blacksmith’s apprentice and learned that he and Jiaojiao would marry after finishing a court order.

• Zhao Xiangdu explained that the three Great Emperors had entered the mortal world in their sleep, and the Demon Emperors agreed to leave them there.
• He Pingsheng forged iron under his master Blacksmith Kong’s instruction while Jiaojiao brought him water and wiped his sweat.
• Jiaojiao asked whether the iron goods requisitioned by the court were nearly finished, and Blacksmith Kong said they would be delivered in two days.
• Blacksmith Kong announced that He Pingsheng and Jiaojiao should hold their wedding after the delivery, and both blushed with happiness.
• Jiaojiao promised that she and He Pingsheng would take care of Blacksmith Kong after their marriage.

Blacksmith Kong married his daughter Jiaojiao to his apprentice He Pingsheng after Company Commander Yan hinted that she should be sent to the palace. On their wedding night, a gigantic Demon Beast chased Kong, and He Pingsheng rushed to save him, claiming the creature was a dog.

• Company Commander Yan collected Blacksmith Kong’s ironware and suggested sending his beautiful daughter to the palace, but Kong refused.
• Kong hurriedly arranged Jiaojiao’s marriage to He Pingsheng, and they held a simple wedding the next day.
• He Pingsheng and Jiaojiao took the west wing while Kong returned to the main room, then the newlyweds spent the night together.
• Kong went behind the house to smoke, spotted a huge Demon Beast, and ran home as it pursued him.
• He Pingsheng and Jiaojiao rushed outside, and He Pingsheng told Jiaojiao to stay back while he went to save Kong.

He Pingsheng subdued a Heavenly Spirit Dog and brought it home, then told Blacksmith Kong about his martial arts and family history. Months later, the dog had grown into a prolific hunter, while Jiaojiao was pregnant and expecting a child with the He surname.

• He Pingsheng protected Jiaojiao and Blacksmith Kong from a Heavenly Spirit Dog, fought it into submission, and brought it home as a hunting helper.
• He Pingsheng chained the dog outside and fed it leftovers before Blacksmith Kong questioned how he had learned martial arts.
• He Pingsheng told Blacksmith Kong that his father had been an imperial general and that he had fled to the frontier after his family lost its wealth.
• He Pingsheng kept his family’s secret Scripture of Primordial Xuansu and his search for its missing second half to himself.
• As winter came, the dog grew larger and helped He Pingsheng hunt enough game to fill the courtyard with cured meat.
• Jiaojiao told Elder Yuan that she was not yet four months pregnant and that the child would take He Pingsheng’s surname.

He Pingsheng awakened to the fact that his life in the frontier town was a dream trial, then learned that his wife, Kong Jiaojiao, had already awakened too. He planned to search for the special stone, but the story left him facing the revelation that she was the Great Order Wisdom King.

• Company Commander Yan led soldiers toward the army camp after announcing that consorts in the imperial harem had rebelled.
• He Pingsheng rushed to fetch Granny Yu, who helped Jiaojiao give birth to their son.
• He Pingsheng celebrated the birth with Jiaojiao, their daughter He Yuqing, and Little Black nearby.
• He Pingsheng told Jiaojiao that he planned to leave for three months to search for a stone.
• Kong Jiaojiao revealed that she had awakened and knew He Pingsheng was going to look for the stone.
• He Pingsheng realized that his wife was the Great Order Wisdom King and that she had awakened before him.

He Pingsheng learned that Kong Jiaojiao had awakened years earlier and agreed to her conditions for continuing their dream marriage and caring for their children. After she gave him a lead on the golden stone, he left to investigate Lanruo Temple, still uncertain about why some dreamers awakened and others did not.

• Kong Jiaojiao revealed she had awakened five or six years earlier and insisted that their dream marriage had been an experiment, not a real relationship.
• Kong Jiaojiao set conditions for He Pingsheng: he had to return in three months, keep experiencing mortal life with her, and take responsibility for their children.
• Kong Jiaojiao explained that time in the array passed thousands of times faster and speculated that cultivation and the consorts' riot might affect awakening.
• Kong Jiaojiao asked He Pingsheng to leave her his internal cultivation technique, and he wrote down the first part of the Scripture of Primordial Xuansu for her.
• Kong Jiaojiao told He Pingsheng that the golden stone had landed near Lanruo Temple in Lanruo Commandery, and he left to investigate with Crown Prince Empty Void.
• He Pingsheng wondered why Crown Prince Empty Void had not awakened if cultivation determined when dreamers awakened.

He Pingsheng rushed to Lanruo Temple to find the stone, only to discover that Emperor Radiant Might had arranged for it to be kept for him. After receiving the stone from Abbot Hui Gu, He Pingsheng asked for the emperor’s name.

• He Pingsheng rode Big Black for sixteen days to reach Lanruo Temple, where Great Song troops let him pass through their cordon.
• He Pingsheng encountered Ming Yue, who said he had awakened and urged him to search for the stone.
• He Pingsheng entered Lanruo Temple and met Abbot Hui Gu, who recognized him from a portrait sent by the emperor ten years earlier.
• Hui Gu retrieved a brocade box hidden beneath the floor and gave He Pingsheng the stone once held by the Buddha Emperor.
• He Pingsheng asked Hui Gu for Emperor Radiant Might’s name.

He Pingsheng learned that the emperor controlling the dream was his old acquaintance Wang Dun and that the dream would collapse in thirty days. As he hurried to return to his daughter, Feng Wanxi appeared with the emperor’s other consorts, revealing the extent of Wang Dun’s harem.

• Zen Master Hui Gu told He Pingsheng that the emperor was Wang Dun, who had transformed Great Song during his reign.
• Hui Gu gave He Pingsheng the Buddhist cultivation formula Hell and the Mortal World, which He Pingsheng memorized and mastered at minor accomplishment.
• Hui Gu relayed Wang Dun’s warning that the great dream would collapse thirty days after He Pingsheng obtained the stone.
• He Pingsheng resolved to return home before the dream collapsed so he could see his daughter Yuqing again.
• Feng Wanxi arrived with several Phoenix Race women and demanded to know whether He Pingsheng had the stone.
• Hui Gu identified Feng Wanxi and the other women as the empress and imperial consorts, leaving He Pingsheng stunned by Wang Dun’s harem.