Chapter Summaries

Di Xin awoke as King Zhou of Shang after the visit to Wa Huang Palace and learned that Su Daji had arrived, though he knew she was a Nine-Tailed Fox. He activated the Human Emperor System, gained his first cultivation level by provoking it, and ended the chapter greeting Daji with a teasing remark.

• Di Xin woke in the Jade Chamber with the memories of King Zhou and realized Daji had arrived after the events at Wa Huang Palace.
• Bi Gan asked whether Di Xin would summon Su Hu and Daji, and the Human Emperor System offered him a choice between meeting Daji or sending her back.
• Di Xin chose to meet Daji and learned that the system rewarded him with points for provoking others and could exchange them for cultivation and tools.
• Di Xin insulted the system, gained points, and received the first level of the Essence Refining into Qi Realm before the system made itself immune to his attacks.
• Su Hu and Daji entered the hall, and Di Xin admired Daji before telling her, “Daji, you're such a tease!”

Di Xin used the system to expose Daji’s fox nature and resist her charm, turning her own enchantment against her. He sent Daji to Shouxian Palace and prepared to punish Su Hu rather than restore his office.

• Di Xin taunted Daji about her stench, earning negative emotion points and unsettling her with the suspicion that he knew she was a fox spirit.
• Daji used the Fox Charm Art on Di Xin, but he spent 2,000 negative emotion points to activate the Anti-Fox Charm Art.
• Daji became infatuated with Di Xin, who ordered the palace maids to escort her to Shouxian Palace.
• Su Hu raged as Daji was taken away, while Bi Gan asked Di Xin to pardon Su Hu and restore his former office.
• Di Xin rejected Bi Gan’s proposal, pulled a thorn switch from Su Hu’s back, and demanded to know whether Su Hu was guilty.

Di Xin ordered Su Hu executed despite Bi Gan’s pleas, but Zheng Lun stormed into the palace and knocked Huang Feihu unconscious with his nasal technique. Recognizing Zheng Lun’s ties to Perfected Du'e, Di Xin received a side quest to win him over, though Zheng Lun’s favorability stood at -100.

• Di Xin ordered Huang Feihu to execute Su Hu after Su Hu confessed, and Bi Gan unsuccessfully pleaded for his life.
• Bi Gan proposed that Su Hu prove his loyalty by leading an army against Xiqi, but Di Xin accused him of aiding the rebels.
• Huang Feihu dragged Su Hu out and prepared to strike, but Zheng Lun charged into the palace to protect his master.
• Zheng Lun fought Huang Feihu and used his nasal white lights and cold snort to knock him unconscious.
• Di Xin recognized Zheng Lun as Perfected Du'e’s disciple and received a side quest to win him over, with Zheng Lun’s favorability at -100.

Di Xin turned Zheng Lun’s accusation into a pretext to pardon Su Hu and condemn Ji Chang, the Marquis of the West. He promoted Zheng Lun and won his loyalty, then learned that he had earned Merit Points and a chance to forge a merit golden body.

• Di Xin claimed that demanding Su Hu’s daughter had been a test and blamed Ji Chang for urging Su Hu to offer her.
• Di Xin freed Su Hu, raised him to Duke of Jizhou, and ordered Ji Chang punished, while Shang Rong recognized the political advantage of keeping Su Hu in Chaoge.
• Di Xin praised Zheng Lun’s loyalty, made him commander of the Inner Court Golden Guards and Left Guard General, and awarded him gold and Bi Gan’s jade belt.
• Zheng Lun swore lifelong loyalty to Di Xin, completing a mission and earning Di Xin a chance to draw a Secret Manual.
• Di Xin learned that Zheng Lun’s growing affinity could earn him Merit Points and that 10,000 Merit Points would provide an opportunity to forge a merit golden body.

Di Xin appointed Zheng Lun as his guard general, then used his system lottery and drew a cultivation art called Thanks for Playing. Its power could make an opponent’s intended action fail, and Di Xin decided to use it as he prepared to meet Daji.

• Di Xin accepted Zheng Lun’s oath of loyalty, made him General of the Guards, and ordered him to remain at his side.
• Bi Gan asked Di Xin to perform sacrifices for Wen Zhong’s return, and Di Xin agreed; Bi Gan then resolved to write Wen Zhong and urge him to return.
• Di Xin used his one lottery attempt and drew Thanks for Playing, an art that could cause an opponent’s purpose in an action to fail once.
• Di Xin noticed Su Hu’s resentment through the system and decided to keep him in Chaoge as a source of negative emotion values.
• Di Xin set out with Zheng Lun to meet Daji, then stopped after an idea made him laugh ominously.

Di Xin avoided Daji by spending the night discussing the Primordial World with Zheng Lun, whose loyalty to him grew. After learning how the coming calamity would use Great Shang and humanity as pawns, Di Xin resolved to survive and control his own fate.

• Di Xin invited Zheng Lun to talk through the night instead of visiting Daji, and Zheng Lun’s loyalty increased by 95 when he believed Di Xin was a wise ruler.
• Di Xin and Zheng Lun drank and discussed the affairs of the Primordial World in a side hall.
• Daji learned that Di Xin would not come to the Pepper Chamber Palace and decided she would make him submit so she could fulfill Empress Nuwa’s command.
• After Zheng Lun became drunk, Di Xin reflected on the rival sects, the Heavenly Court, and humanity’s suffering in the coming calamity.
• Di Xin resolved not to remain a pawn and declared that man could conquer heaven.

Di Xin rejected the human sacrifice at the ceremony, defying the ministers who warned him against offending the gods. The Human Emperor System recognized his stance and rewarded him with a breakthrough and a secret method, while Weizi challenged him over the consequences.

• Di Xin received negative emotion points from Daji and Wen Zhong, and suspected Bi Gan had reported his conduct to Wen Zhong.
• Bi Gan brought Di Xin to the Sacrificial Altar, where Great Shang officials had gathered for a ceremony intended to pray for Wen Zhong’s victory.
• Di Xin discovered that the offerings were people marked for sacrifice and refused to let them be slaughtered for the gods.
• Bi Gan, Huang Feihu, and Weizi pleaded with Di Xin to take back his words, but he questioned the gods’ authority and rejected human sacrifice.
• The Human Emperor System recognized Di Xin, awarded him 5,000 negative emotion points, and advanced him to the second level of the essence refining into qi realm, granting him the Suiren Tranquil Heart Method.
• Weizi accused Di Xin of risking Great Shang’s ruin by refusing to sacrifice to the gods.

Di Xin rejected human sacrifices and declared that the gods could march against him, activating the full Investiture of the Gods system. After Weizi and Jizi urged him to resume the sacrifices, he ordered their execution as offerings to Heaven, leaving Zheng Lun to carry out the command.

• Di Xin chose to stop the human sacrifices, unlocked the system, and declared that he would oppose the gods if they objected.
• A bolt of heavenly lightning destroyed the Great Shang banner, and Weizi and Jizi condemned Di Xin as a wicked king and tyrant.
• Di Xin pretended to accept Weizi and Jizi’s advice, then ordered King of Wucheng Huang Feihu to execute them as sacrifices to Heaven.
• Huang Feihu refused to act, so Di Xin commanded Zheng Lun to carry out the execution.
• Zheng Lun approached Weizi and Jizi with his Demon-Subduing Pestles as Di Xin bade his royal uncle and royal brother farewell.

Di Xin ended human sacrifice and tried to enlist the Three Sovereigns against the Three Teachings, earning their anger by threatening to replace other temples with Fire Cloud Palaces. Fuxi cast him out, but Di Xin suspected the Sovereigns secretly agreed with his plans and left them with a cryptic recitation.

• Di Xin had Zheng Lun kill Weizi and Jizi after they cursed him, then banned human sacrifice and ordered the displaced people given wasteland to farm.
• Di Xin ordered a procession to the Fire Cloud Palace and asked Suiren, Fuxi, and Shennong to support humanity against the Three Teachings.
• When the Three Sovereigns remained silent, Di Xin declared that Great Shang would worship them alone and threatened to replace other temples with their palaces, gaining negative emotion points from Fuxi, the Xuanyuan Clan, and Shennong.
• Fuxi’s statue came to life and hurled Di Xin out of the palace, but Di Xin took the lack of further negative emotion points as a sign the Sovereigns might secretly agree with him.
• Di Xin got up, told the Sovereigns he would leave, and recited a cryptic passage about the origins of humanity and civilization.

Di Xin used the Thousand Character Classic to stir the Three Sovereigns, then returned to the palace and discovered the newly unlocked system mall and the bizarre Suiren Tranquil Heart Method. He left Daji baffled after summoning and dismissing her twice.

• Di Xin recited part of his revised Thousand Character Classic in Fire Cloud Palace, provoking the Three Sovereigns and earning their negative emotion points.
• Di Xin left Fire Cloud Palace, ordered Bi Gan to arrange a feast, and dismissed the banquet after finding the food and wine unpleasant.
• Di Xin asked Bi Gan to find craftsmen, then discovered the system mall and saw that Dao-Merging Grass cost 5000 points.
• Di Xin activated the Suiren Tranquil Heart Method and was shocked when it played a maddeningly repetitive song.
• Di Xin first told the palace maid to send Daji away, then summoned her, only to order her to leave again as she reached the door.

Di Xin used the Suiren Tranquil Heart Method to resist Daji’s seduction, then tormented her while her powers failed to affect him. Daji escaped his chambers in tears, while Di Xin gained more negative emotion points.

• Daji tried to seduce Di Xin, but the Suiren Tranquil Heart Method’s refrain dispelled her charm and Di Xin recognized the danger of the Xuanyuan Tomb fox spirits.
• Daji tried to control Di Xin with her seductive power, but it vanished inside him and strengthened the golden flame on the page in his mind.
• Di Xin squeezed Daji while she repeatedly failed to affect him, earning negative emotion points as her pain and distress grew.
• Di Xin eventually released Daji, who staggered out in relief while he complained that she had been too easy to break.

Di Xin gambled his negative emotion points on Spin-to-Win, won Dao-Merging Grass, and discovered it granted him fragments of the Minor Pickpocketing Art. After buying and eating more grass, he met Bi Gan and two craftsmen he had summoned to forge iron.

• Di Xin spent 5,500 negative emotion points on spins before winning a stalk of Dao-Merging Grass.
• Di Xin ate the grass and gained 5/3000 completion in the Minor Pickpocketing Art, which let him steal mortals’ belongings.
• Di Xin bought and consumed Ordinary Dao-Merging Grass for 5,000 points, raising the art’s completion to 8/3000.
• Bi Gan arrived with two burly craftsmen, and Di Xin glared at him twice, earning 700 negative emotion points.
• Di Xin asked the two craftsmen whether they knew how to forge iron.

Di Xin ordered artisans to build new tools and promised Bi Gan he would solve the Abandoned People's spring-sowing crisis within three days. As the work continued, Queen Jiang arrived at his palace and found him directing the craftsmen.

• Di Xin gave two artisans drawings for new objects and threatened their families to make them within three days.
• Di Xin told Bi Gan that the Abandoned People would receive state grain and promised to solve their spring-sowing problem, wagering that Bi Gan would obey him if he succeeded.
• Di Xin set artisans to building furnaces and crafting metal and wooden implements, while ministers criticized his absence from court.
• Bi Gan went to Queen Jiang at the ministers' urging, and she brought Yin Hong to visit Di Xin.
• Queen Jiang found Di Xin overseeing sweating craftsmen in the palace courtyard, and Di Xin realized he had failed to avoid her.

Di Xin’s meeting with Queen Jiang raised her affection and unlocked the Consort’s Infatuation task, while her plea for Daji showed him that history had changed. At the fields outside Chaoge, Bi Gan and the ministers awaited Di Xin’s demonstration, and he arrived at noon with artisans and chests.

• Queen Jiang visited Di Xin at Bi Gan’s request, and his confident talk about useful inventions raised her loyalty and affection by 20.
• Queen Jiang asked Di Xin to treat Daji kindly, and his praise of her magnanimity raised her affection by another 5.
• Queen Jiang left with Yin Hong and urged him to grow into a man as great as his father.
• Bi Gan and the other ministers waited outside Chaoge for Di Xin, whose deliberate delay pushed his negative emotion points to 10,330.
• Di Xin arrived at noon with artisans carrying chests and asked Bi Gan why he had waited so long to come.

Di Xin forced Huang Feihu to lend him the Five-Colored Divine Ox and revealed a Curved-Blade Plow to help the Abandoned People with spring planting. The ox began pulling the plow as Di Xin prepared to demonstrate it to Bi Gan and the other ministers.

• Di Xin mocked the ministers with a joke, then promised to resolve the Abandoned People’s spring-plowing problem.
• Di Xin teased Huang Feihu about his close bond with the Five-Colored Divine Ox and demanded to borrow her.
• Huang Feihu reluctantly surrendered the ox after Di Xin and Zheng Lun pressured him.
• Di Xin ordered Zheng Lun to harness the Five-Colored Divine Ox to the Curved-Blade Plow.
• Di Xin struck the ox’s rump to set her moving and told Bi Gan to watch the plow’s demonstration.

Di Xin tested the Curved-Blade Plow, proving it could prepare farmland far faster and better than human labor. The Heavenly Dao recognized his achievement and bestowed merit, while Hongjun’s pressure forced Di Xin to kneel and fueled his resolve to challenge the Dao Ancestor.

• Di Xin made the Five-Colored Divine Ox drag the Curved-Blade Plow, and Shang Rong showed Bi Gan how efficiently it turned and cleared the soil.
• Bi Gan recognized the plow’s value to the nation and its people, though Di Xin misread his negative emotions as treachery.
• The Heavenly Dao formed golden images of agricultural sages and Di Xin, declaring that his Curved-Blade Plow had earned boundless merit.
• Dao Ancestor Hongjun appeared, and his pressure forced Di Xin to kneel and spit blood; Di Xin swore to make Hongjun kneel one day.
• Hongjun bestowed golden merit on Di Xin, the Five-Colored Divine Ox, the Curved-Blade Plow, and the artisans, while Di Xin’s cultivation rose.

Di Xin used Heavenly Dao merit to create protective boxer shorts and advanced his cultivation, then earned a flood of negative emotion points by making Huang Feihu jealous of the Five-Colored Divine Ox. After the ox chose to stay with Di Xin, Huang Feihu collapsed, while the Three Sovereigns of Fire Cloud Cave decided to keep watching.

• Di Xin chose boxer shorts as his merit golden body, and his cultivation reached the third level of the Essence Refining into Qi Realm, though he still lacked many negative emotion points for the next breakthrough.
• The Five-Colored Divine Ox affectionately licked Di Xin, and Huang Feihu gained negative emotion points as Di Xin praised the ox to provoke him.
• Di Xin cheered as the Five-Colored Divine Ox plowed the wasteland, while Huang Feihu watched in growing despair.
• Shennong, Fuxi, and Human Emperor Xuanyuan watched Di Xin and the ox through a pool, and Shennong said they should observe longer.
• After reclaiming two thousand mu, the Five-Colored Divine Ox followed Di Xin instead of Huang Feihu, and Huang Feihu collapsed after coughing blood.

Di Xin introduced the Curved-Blade Plow as the Shoude Plow and reshaped the court by making Shang Rong Chancellor of the Right while retaining Bi Gan as Chancellor of the Left. A Daoist arrived at the palace gates to present Di Xin with a sword, leaving him excited by the arrival of a powerful figure.

• Di Xin made the Five-Colored Divine Ox visit Huang Feihu morning and evening and serve as his mount by day, extracting a record 4,999 negative emotion points from Huang Feihu.
• Bi Gan accepted his wager’s loss and pledged to obey Di Xin, bringing Di Xin’s negative emotion total past thirty thousand.
• Shang Rong urged Di Xin to distribute the plow’s plans to the vassal states, and Di Xin approved the plan while naming it the Shoude Plow.
• Di Xin appointed Shang Rong Chancellor of the Right and kept Bi Gan as Chancellor of the Left, prompting Bi Gan to silently endure his demotion.
• A guard reported that a powerful Daoist had arrived at the palace gates to present Di Xin with a sword, and Di Xin reacted with excitement.

Di Xin welcomed Yun Zhongzi to Chaoge and revealed that he knew the Daoist had come because of Daji. He showed Yun Zhongzi the merit-bearing Shoude Plow and challenged his claim that it was too crude to be worthy of sages, arguing that the way of sages was tied to ordinary people’s daily needs.

• Di Xin hurried back to Chaoge on Huang Feihu’s Five-Colored Divine Ox and had Zheng Lun bring the Shoude Plow.
• Di Xin greeted Yun Zhongzi at the palace and brought him inside, surprising him by knowing his name and purpose.
• Di Xin told Yun Zhongzi that he knew Daji was a fox spirit and showed no fear of her; Yun Zhongzi noticed her demonic aura had weakened.
• Zheng Lun presented the Shoude Plow, and Di Xin explained how it let one person and one ox plow dozens of mu in a day.
• Yun Zhongzi praised the plow’s usefulness but criticized its crude construction, and Di Xin replied that the way of sages was no different from the everyday needs of common people.

Di Xin showed Yun Zhongzi how practical tools for ordinary people could embody the Great Dao, then demonstrated his new wok by cooking braised pork. Yun Zhongzi eagerly tasted the dish, leaving Di Xin’s cooking and inventions to make a powerful impression on him.

• Di Xin’s words about the Sages’ way and common people’s needs stirred Yun Zhongzi to reconsider what made a magical implement valuable.
• Di Xin led Yun Zhongzi to the kitchen and explained that his wok could handle several cooking methods.
• Di Xin cooked wild boar pork in the wok, and Yun Zhongzi used controlled pressure to speed up the stewing.
• Di Xin served the fragrant braised pork and quickly stir-fried pheasant eggs while Yun Zhongzi and the palace maids waited impatiently.
• Di Xin teased Yun Zhongzi by demonstrating how to eat the pork, and Yun Zhongzi cursed before grabbing chopsticks and taking a piece.