Chapter Summaries

Gu Changqing confronted Hongjun at Zixiao Palace, urged him to help elevate the Primordial World, and asked to borrow the Qiankun Cauldron so Nuwa could mend the heavens. Hongjun refused and considered empowering Laozi and Yuanshi instead, but Gu Changqing’s pointed reply left him shaken.

• Hongjun ordered Gu Changqing to leave Zixiao Palace, deciding not to imprison him because the damaged Primordial World could not withstand further conflict.
• Gu Changqing revealed that he knew Hongjun had prolonged the Demon Race’s fate and suggested raising the Primordial World’s status; Hongjun demanded to know how he knew.
• Gu Changqing claimed he had learned the secret from the inheritance of the Demon God of the Way of Wine, and Hongjun realized he was mocking him.
• Hongjun insisted that the Heavenly Dao alone determined the Primordial World’s fate, while Gu Changqing concluded that Hongjun was bound by Heavenly Dao Shackles.
• Gu Changqing asked Hongjun to lend him the Qiankun Cauldron for Nuwa to mend the heavens, but Hongjun refused and planned to give it to Laozi and Yuanshi instead.
• Gu Changqing challenged Hongjun to explain why Laozi and Yuanshi had not mended the heavens if they were destined to do so, leaving Hongjun shaken by the implied threat.

Gu Changqing pressured Hongjun into handing over the Qiankun Cauldron so Nuwa could mend Heaven. After returning to Golden Ao Island, he declined Nuwa’s offer to share the merit and set off to find ingredients for brewing wine.

• Gu Changqing warned Hongjun that delaying Nuwa’s attempt to save the world would bring calamity and karma, so Hongjun reluctantly gave him the Qiankun Cauldron and ordered Nuwa to act quickly.
• Gu Changqing stowed the cauldron and left Zixiao Palace, while Hongjun watched him go in anger.
• Gu Changqing returned safely to Golden Ao Island with the Qiankun Cauldron and his sword, delighting the Interception Sect disciples.
• Nuwa thanked Gu Changqing for securing the cauldron and invited him to refine the Sky-Mending Stone with her to gain merit.
• Gu Changqing handed Nuwa the Qiankun Cauldron, declined her offer, and announced that he would seek ingredients for brewing wine.

Gu Changqing refused Nuwa’s offer of merit and left the Interception Sect, hinting that he had found another opportunity amid the Primordial World’s calamity. He traveled to the North Sea and forced the hidden Black Tortoise to reveal himself.

• Tongtian urged Gu Changqing to join Nuwa in saving the Primordial World, but Gu Changqing drank his wine and declared that he was leaving.
• Gu Changqing departed, leaving Tongtian and Nuwa astonished; Nuwa then set out to gather innate Five-Colored Stones for the Sky-Mending Stones.
• Gu Changqing traveled to the deepest reaches of the North Sea, passing over Kunpeng’s domain to reach a desolate immortal island in the Heavenly River.
• Gu Changqing called out to Black Tortoise and threatened to strike with the Purple-Green Nine Heavens Sword until Black Tortoise rose from the water and revealed himself.

Gu Changqing confronted Black Tortoise in the North Sea, claiming he had come to offer him a great opportunity before asking for pieces of his shell to brew wine. Black Tortoise took the request as an insult and threatened to appeal to Saint Tongtian, while Gu Changqing drew his sword and insisted he won people over with virtue.

• Gu Changqing forced Black Tortoise to appear from his seclusion in the North Sea, where Black Tortoise challenged him for disturbing his slumber.
• Gu Changqing claimed he had come to offer Black Tortoise a fortuitous opportunity and asked for hundreds or thousands of jin of his origin immortal shell to brew wine.
• Black Tortoise realized Gu Changqing wanted to use his tortoise shell for wine and grew furious, warning that he would seek an explanation from Saint Tongtian.
• Gu Changqing denied humiliating Black Tortoise, claimed he always won people over with virtue, and drew the Purple-Green Nine Heavens Sword.

Gu Changqing attacked Black Tortoise after he refused to share wine brewed from his origin immortal shell, unleashing successive forms of the Nine Sword Divine Ability. By the eighth strike, Black Tortoise had been driven back, and Gu Changqing murmured an unfamiliar sword phrase as he continued his assault.

• Gu Changqing drew the Purple-Green Nine Heavens Sword and told Black Tortoise that he would let his sword speak after his invitation to share wine was rejected.
• Black Tortoise summoned his immense power and dared Gu Changqing to attack, confident that his defenses could withstand him.
• Gu Changqing struck Black Tortoise with the first and second forms of the Nine Sword Divine Ability, shaking his blood qi despite failing to break his defenses.
• Gu Changqing unleashed the third through seventh forms, forcing Black Tortoise to stagger backward and drawing Kunpeng's attention from the Demon Master Palace.
• Gu Changqing began the eighth strike, murmuring, "An eternal sword... severs karma..." instead of its usual name, "Final Song: Immortals Kneel."

Gu Changqing severed the Black Tortoise's origin immortal armor, removing the karma that had kept him in seclusion, and offered him another fortuitous opportunity. Meanwhile, Nuwa mended the Primordial World's shattered heavens, earning the gratitude of its living beings and drawing Laozi and Yuanshi's displeasure.

• Gu Changqing used Eternal Sword... Severing Karma... to cut away a piece of the Black Tortoise's origin immortal armor and stored it as a brewing ingredient.
• The Black Tortoise discovered that the armor's removal had also erased the karma he had carried since the fierce beast calamity, and he solemnly thanked Gu Changqing.
• Gu Changqing asked whether the Black Tortoise would accept another great fortuitous opportunity, and the Black Tortoise asked to hear the details.
• Nuwa announced that she would mend the heavens, then used thirty-six thousand five hundred Sky-Mending Stones to repair the Primordial World and halt the catastrophe.
• Living beings across the Primordial World praised and thanked Nuwa, while fortune flowed toward her and Laozi and Yuanshi grew angry at her opportunity.

After Nuwa mended the heavens, Laozi, Yuanshi, and Tongtian realized the Primordial World still lacked a heavenly pillar and remained under pressure from chaotic energy. Gu Changqing then announced he had found a new pillar, and the Black Tortoise declared it would anchor the Four Extremities with its legs.

• Laozi and Yuanshi lamented that Nuwa had gained the living beings’ reverence by mending the heavens before they could act.
• Laozi and Yuanshi noticed that innate spiritual energy had become postnatal energy and that chaotic pressure still threatened the repaired heavens.
• Tongtian asked Nuwa whether she could support the heavens and anchor the earth, but she said she could not discern a way and credited Gu Changqing for her success.
• Gu Changqing appeared on his Immortal Sword and announced that he had found a new heavenly pillar.
• Yuanshi accused Gu Changqing of boasting, but the Black Tortoise declared it would use its four legs to anchor the Four Extremities and protect the Primordial World.

The Black Tortoise stabilized the Primordial World by anchoring its four extremities, while Yuanshi tried to claim him for the Profound Gate. The Black Tortoise rejected Yuanshi’s threats and offer of a Sage’s position, remaining loyal to Gu Changqing.

• The Black Tortoise grew to span Heaven and Earth and planted his four feet at the world’s extremities, stabilizing the Nine Heavens and the Primordial World.
• Kunpeng regretted missing the chance to recognize the Black Tortoise’s destiny, though he admitted he might not have been able to subdue or help him.
• Yuanshi descended and condemned the Black Tortoise for serving Gu Changqing instead of the Profound Gate.
• The Black Tortoise mocked Yuanshi and said he owed his loyalty to Gu Changqing, who had shown him kindness.
• Yuanshi offered the Black Tortoise a future Sage’s position if he submitted to the Profound Gate, but the Black Tortoise rejected the offer.

Black Tortoise revealed that the Heavenly Dao allowed only seven Sages, and Hongjun’s silence confirmed the secret to all living beings. Gu Changqing dismissed the restrictions and was hailed for persuading Black Tortoise to anchor the Four Extremities.

• Black Tortoise accused Yuanshi of deception and declared that no more than seven Heavenly Dao Sages could exist.
• Black Tortoise challenged Hongjun to confirm his claim, but Hongjun stayed silent as living beings realized the limits on attaining sagehood.
• Gu Changqing declared that he would follow his own Dao regardless of the Heavenly Dao’s restrictions, impressing powerful cultivators.
• Yuanshi glared at Gu Changqing and left, while Nuwa praised Gu Changqing for winning Black Tortoise over.
• Tongtian announced that Gu Changqing had found Black Tortoise and persuaded him to anchor the Four Extremities, prompting living beings to bow in gratitude.

After restoring the Four Extremities, Gu Changqing received boundless Great Dao merit and reached the peak quasi-saint realm. He used the remaining merit to perfect his Merit Golden Wheel, leaving his strength near that of a Sage while his cultivation stayed unchanged.

• The Great Dao bestowed immense merit on Gu Changqing, provoking Yuanshi’s anger and envy among the Sages.
• The merit raised Gu Changqing’s cultivation to the peak quasi-saint realm, but he remarked that he had nowhere to put the remaining merit.
• Gu Changqing poured the surplus merit into his Merit Golden Wheel, forming nine forward-turning and nine reverse-turning layers.
• The perfected Merit Golden Wheel multiplied Gu Changqing’s strength, making his aura approach a Sage’s despite his unchanged realm.
• Tongtian and Nuwa discussed Gu Changqing’s astonishing potential as the remaining manifestations faded, and Gu Changqing drank wine while murmuring, “Good and evil in a thought, gods and demons in an instant...”

After reaching the peak quasi-saint realm, Gu Changqing returned to the Interception Sect, where he promised its disciples a way to keep advancing despite Heaven and Earth's changes. The chapter ended with him summoning a vast river of wine above Golden Ao Island for them to drink.

• Gu Changqing returned to the Interception Sect after warning that he could use the Merit Golden Wheel against any lineage that provoked him.
• The disciples praised Gu Changqing's power, while Zhen Yuanzi and Hong Yun said he had surpassed the constraints of Heaven and Earth.
• Gu Changqing thanked Black Tortoise, who credited him with severing his karma and enabling him to protect living beings.
• Bixiao worried that she and the other disciples would struggle to advance now that innate spiritual energy had vanished.
• Gu Changqing summoned a vast river of fine wine above Golden Ao Island and told the disciples that each mouthful was worth a hundred zhang of innate spiritual energy.

Gu Changqing’s wine filled Golden Ao Island with Earth Dao resonance, and Tongtian allowed the Jie Sect Disciples to drink and cultivate from it. The spectacle drew millions of beings who begged to join the Interception Sect, leaving Tongtian to tease Gu Changqing about handling them while Gu Changqing tried to pass the decision to his master.

• Gu Changqing raised a Heavenly River of wine over Golden Ao Island, and Duobao drank first, sensing unfamiliar Dao resonance that strengthened his cultivation.
• Jin Ling, Wudang, the Three Xiao, and the other disciples hesitated over the wine’s different Dao inheritance until Tongtian gave them permission to drink freely.
• Nuwa recognized the wine’s resonance as the Earth Dao, and Tongtian defended letting the disciples learn from Houtu’s cultivation.
• The Interception Sect Disciples drank and celebrated as outside observers compared Golden Ao Island’s purity with the polluted world beyond.
• Millions of beings knelt and begged to join the Interception Sect or become Gu Changqing’s disciples, while Duobao and the others watched in astonishment.
• Tongtian teased Gu Changqing about deciding what to do with the applicants, and Gu Changqing said the Jie Sect Leader should handle it before returning to his wine.

Tongtian restricted entry to the Interception Sect to loyal applicants, while Gu Changqing considered using his Merit Golden Wheel to end measureless calamities. On Kunlun Mountain, Laozi and Yuanshi failed to restore innate spiritual energy and began to suspect Gu Changqing had foreseen Buzhou Mountain’s collapse.

• Gu Changqing left Tongtian to return to his cave abode and drink.
• Tongtian announced that the Interception Sect would accept only those truly loyal to it, then opened its protective formation and examined those who entered.
• Gu Changqing watched the influx of applicants and considered how hundreds of thousands of Interception Sect disciples might affect the Investiture of the Gods Measureless Calamity.
• Gu Changqing contemplated resolving measureless calamities at their source and brought forth his Merit Golden Wheel, which displayed visions of further divine arts and Dao techniques.
• Laozi and Yuanshi tried to reshape Kunlun Mountain’s laws and restore innate spiritual energy, but failed.
• Laozi wondered whether Gu Changqing had foreseen Buzhou Mountain’s collapse, leaving Yuanshi shocked by the possibility.

Laozi and Yuanshi suspected Gu Changqing had allowed Buzhou Mountain to fall to secure humanity’s future, then used Immortal Elixirs to rapidly advance their disciples and recruit for their sects. Their recruitment drew only a few ordinary cultivators, leaving them furious that Gu Changqing’s fine wine proved more enticing, so Yuanshi proposed another competition of the Three Teachings.

• Laozi and Yuanshi wondered whether Gu Changqing had let Buzhou Mountain collapse to gain merit and ensure humanity would prosper in later ages.
• Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, Yu Ding Zhenren, Xuandu, and other disciples emerged after taking Laozi’s Immortal Elixirs, boasting of their rapid cultivation advances.
• Laozi and Yuanshi invited cultivators to join the Human and Chan Sects with promises of supreme-grade Immortal Elixirs.
• Only a few hundred to a thousand mostly weak cultivators arrived, and Laozi realized Gu Changqing’s fine wine attracted stronger disciples than his elixirs.
• Yuanshi proposed holding another competition of the Three Teachings to restore the Human and Chan Sects’ prestige, and Laozi warmed to the idea.

Laozi and Yuanshi brought their disciples to Golden Ao Island and publicly challenged the Interception Sect to a contest, hoping to damage Gu Changqing’s prestige. Tongtian accepted their challenge and welcomed them inside, while Gu Changqing remained in his cave, eager to test his newly created Dream Sword.

• Yuanshi proposed using the attention of all living beings to pressure Tongtian into accepting a contest, and Laozi agreed the plan was feasible.
• Laozi asked Guangchengzi, Xuandu, and the other disciples whether they could defeat Gu Changqing together, and they confidently promised they would succeed.
• Laozi and Yuanshi led their disciples from Kunlun Mountain to Golden Ao Island and challenged the Interception Sect to a contest between disciples of the same generation.
• The Interception Sect disciples recognized the challenge as an attempt to undermine their prestige and angrily prepared to face the visitors.
• Gu Changqing heard the challenge in his cave, recalled creating Dream Sword, and continued drinking instead of going out to meet them.
• Tongtian opened the protective formation and welcomed Laozi, Yuanshi, and their disciples into the Interception Sect.

Laozi and Yuanshi brought their disciples to Golden Ao Island to challenge the Interception Sect and provoke Gu Changqing. Yu Ding Zhenren challenged him, but Gu Changqing brushed him off and told Bixiao to defeat him, leaving the contest poised to begin.

• Tongtian appeared as the Interception Sect's formation opened and addressed Laozi and Yuanshi as Dao Brothers.
• Yuanshi mocked the Interception Sect and asked where Gu Changqing was, so Tongtian brought him out of his cave abode.
• Laozi and Tongtian exchanged pointed words as the Three Teachings' disciples took their positions for a contest.
• Yu Ding Zhenren revealed that he had reached the early-stage quasi-saint realm and challenged the Interception Sect disciples.
• Yu Ding Zhenren taunted Gu Changqing, but Gu Changqing refused to fight and claimed the others were deciding who would win first.
• Duobao prepared to answer Yu Ding Zhenren's challenge, but Gu Changqing told Bixiao to give him a sound thrashing.

Gu Changqing sent Bixiao to fight Yu Ding Zhenren, and she overwhelmed his Jade Purity Immortal Light with a single sword strike. As Bixiao realized her strength had surpassed expectations and Yu Ding’s power seemed weak, Yu Ding attacked again.

• Gu Changqing ordered Bixiao to face Yu Ding Zhenren and promised her a jar of Immortal Brew if she defeated him.
• Tongtian trusted Gu Changqing’s judgment and told Bixiao to take the first battle, so she stepped forward to challenge Yu Ding.
• Yu Ding unleashed the Chan Sect’s Jade Purity Immortal Light, and Bixiao countered with a sword strike that shattered it and forced him back.
• Guangchengzi and the other Chan Sect disciples were stunned when Bixiao’s attack overwhelmed Yu Ding’s Quasi-Saint might.
• Bixiao realized her strength exceeded that of others at her realm and told Gu Changqing that she understood, while Yu Ding roared and attacked again.

Bixiao defeated Yu Ding Zhenren in their duel, earning a jar of fine wine from Gu Changqing. Yuanshi then accused Gu Changqing of secretly helping Bixiao and demanded an explanation, leaving the onlookers waiting for his response.

• Bixiao overwhelmed Yu Ding Zhenren with her sword and sent him crashing before Guangchengzi and the other Chan Sect disciples.
• Gu Changqing praised Bixiao and rewarded her with a jar of fine wine, prompting Interception Sect disciples to volunteer for more fights.
• Yuanshi accused Gu Changqing of secretly assisting Bixiao and violating the one-on-one terms of the exchange.
• The onlookers turned their attention to Gu Changqing, waiting to learn whether Yuanshi's accusation was true.

Yuanshi and Laozi accused Gu Changqing of secretly helping Bixiao defeat Yu Ding Zhenren, but Gu Changqing pointed out that the Sages had no evidence and should have detected any hidden methods. Yuanshi then pushed for the Three Teachings' contest to continue, determined to restore the Chan Sect's standing.

• Yuanshi accused Gu Changqing of secretly interfering in Bixiao's victory and insulted the Interception Sect's disciples.
• Tongtian defended his disciples, while Laozi backed Yuanshi and questioned whether the Interception Sect relied on Gu Changqing alone.
• Bixiao insisted that she had defeated Yu Ding Zhenren through her own strength, but Yuanshi demanded to know what methods she had used.
• Gu Changqing mocked Yuanshi and asked how he could claim hidden interference when he and Laozi had detected nothing.
• Laozi and Yuanshi could not answer without admitting either their failure to detect Gu Changqing's methods or Yu Ding Zhenren's defeat by Bixiao alone.
• Yuanshi challenged the Interception Sect to prove its other disciples were as strong as Bixiao, and the Three Teachings' contest resumed.

The Interception Sect disciples defeated the Human and Chan Sects’ Quasi-Saint challengers, leaving Laozi and Yuanshi humiliated. As Yuanshi blamed Gu Changqing for their predicament, the apparently sleeping Gu Changqing hinted that he would return the favor.

• Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, Taiyi Zhenren, and other Human and Chan Sect disciples challenged the Interception Sect disciples, and the two sides began a fierce battle above Golden Ao Island.
• Wudang Holy Mother defeated Juliusun, a newly advanced early Quasi-Saint, despite her own peak Daluo Golden Immortal cultivation.
• Duobao, Jin Ling, Zhao Gongming, and the other Interception Sect disciples defeated their challengers, leaving the Human and Chan Sect disciples wounded and unable to fight.
• The defeated Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, Xuandu, and others protested their losses while the Interception Sect disciples mocked them.
• Yuanshi blamed Gu Changqing for the humiliation, and Laozi rebuked Yuanshi for provoking him.
• Gu Changqing appeared to sleep through the confrontation, but secretly murmured that he would return the favor.