Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng traveled north in his true form, savoring the world while preparing for a dangerous act that might cost him his life. He found a place he liked and dug his own grave, then sobbed alone as he thought of Eldest Senior Brother and the Great Calamity.

• Chen Changsheng wandered freely down the mountain, enjoying ordinary experiences and wishing Eldest Senior Brother were with him.
• Chen Changsheng reflected on Eldest Senior Brother and imagined calling him “Big Brother,” while Leng Qingsong felt a sudden jolt as he traveled east.
• Chen Changsheng left the Azure Cloud Sect and headed north to find an auspicious place, regretting that he had never visited Jiangnan.
• Chen Changsheng found a spot between the Snow Domain and green mountains, then dug a grave for himself by hand.
• Chen Changsheng lay in the hole beneath the stars, touched Eldest Senior Brother’s Peace Talisman, and sobbed because he was afraid and wanted to see him.

Chen Changsheng attempted to take over Zu Yuan’s body and become the future Demon Emperor, but the reconstruction’s agony nearly destroyed his Divine Soul. Ouyang absorbed the transferred pain, allowing Chen Changsheng’s soul to stabilize and continue rebuilding Zu Yuan’s body.

• Chen Changsheng summoned a golden rune from the Myriad Laws Sect and mocked the fact that it was his own response to his prayer.
• Chen Changsheng opened a coffin containing Zu Yuan’s body and decided to abandon his identity to become the future Demon Emperor.
• Chen Changsheng cut his own throat, and his body dissolved into light that entered Zu Yuan’s body to reshape its Spirit Platform and meridians.
• The agony of reconstructing Zu Yuan’s body damaged Chen Changsheng’s Divine Soul until his consciousness faded.
• Chen Changsheng’s Peace Talisman shattered, and Ouyang felt the transferred agony while holding Chen Changsheng’s waist token.
• Ouyang endured the pain as Chen Changsheng’s Divine Soul stabilized and continued rebuilding Zu Yuan’s body, then told Bai Feiyu that his blood sugar was low.

Ouyang endured a day of agony while Bai Feiyu guarded him and carried him toward a nearby village after he passed out. Meanwhile, Zu Yuan awakened in the Demon Emperor’s body, escaped to the Myriad Laws Sect’s Forbidden Land, and accepted that Chen Changsheng was gone.

• Liang Zai told Bai Feiyu that Ouyang was undergoing Dao Enlightenment, and Bai Feiyu stood guard over him until the pain subsided.
• Ouyang passed out, and Bai Feiyu carried him toward a village while wondering what Third Senior Brother was doing with Ouyang’s Waist Token.
• Leng Qingsong felt uneasy again as he traveled south with Mu Wu, while the newly awakened Zu Yuan recalled memories of Ling Feng and questioned how many people had been reborn in this world.
• Zu Yuan used the Array Ancestor’s Xiantian Talisman to blink into the Runic Gate in the Myriad Laws Sect’s Forbidden Land, where the Array Ancestor removed the array.
• Zu Yuan and the Array Ancestor discussed his successful transfer into Zu Yuan’s body, and Zu Yuan concluded that Chen Changsheng no longer existed.

Zu Yuan broke through to the Body Integration Realm in the Array Ancestor’s space, and Chen Changsheng discovered that Zu Yuan had been a pawn in a greater mystery behind the future Dao-Demon Great Calamity. Chen Changsheng decided to continue toward the Demon Realm and sensed that the missing Twelfth Grade Black Lotus Seed lay far to the west.

• Zu Yuan absorbed Heaven and Earth Essence and rapidly advanced through the cultivation realms while the Array Ancestor restrained the terrifying Divine Soul in his Spirit Platform with the Xiantian Talisman.
• Zu Yuan merged his Divine Soul with his Nascent Soul, mastered the Killing Great Dao, and reached the Body Integration Realm.
• Zu Yuan’s memories revealed that he had come to the Cultivation World to break the Devil Race Seal and trigger the Dao-Demon War, and that his Myriad Transformations Demon Image let him imitate others’ appearances, talents, and Spell Arts.
• Zu Yuan transformed back into Chen Changsheng, who decided he could keep that name and told the Array Ancestor that Zu Yuan had been only a chess piece in a greater force’s plan.
• Chen Changsheng resolved to enter the Demon Realm and investigate the world’s truth, then sensed a connection to the lost Twelfth Grade Black Lotus Seed and identified its direction as west.

Chen Changsheng sensed Zu Yuan’s bonded black Lotus Seed far to the west and set out to retrieve it from western Buddhism. He suspected Hui Zhi had taken it and wondered whether hidden forces were shaping the Dao-Demon War.

• Chen Changsheng spoke with the Array Ancestor, who called himself a contingency, and Chen Changsheng said they existed to prevent a greater tragedy.
• Chen Changsheng encountered Xu An in the Myriad Laws Sect’s Forbidden Land and learned that Zhang Zixiang had made him the sect master’s personal disciple.
• Chen Changsheng declined to return to the Azure Cloud Sect soon, while Xu An said the Myriad Laws Sect disciples would wait for him there.
• Following the Lotus Seed’s vague signal westward, Chen Changsheng recognized that it had reached the Great Spirit Mountain Temple and suspected Hui Zhi had acquired it at the Azure Cloud Sect’s Inner Sect tournament.
• Chen Changsheng recalled that Zu Yuan had feared an unknown Demon Venerable and continued west with killing intent, prepared to fight Hui Zhi if necessary.

Chen Changsheng entered the Buddhist western lands and confronted Pu Cong in White Elephant City while demanding to see Hui Zhi. After Hui Zhi appeared, Chen Changsheng demanded the return of his belongings, and the chapter ended with him beheading Pu Cong when Hui Zhi refused.

• Chen Changsheng arrived in White Elephant City and watched Pu Cong’s Buddhist procession approach on a white elephant.
• Pu Cong challenged Chen Changsheng for refusing to kneel and demanded to know why he had come.
• Chen Changsheng revealed his strength, threatened White Elephant City with a golden formation, and forced Pu Cong to his knees.
• Chen Changsheng used a Paper Figure to summon Hui Zhi, who appeared and recognized him.
• Chen Changsheng demanded his belongings back, but Hui Zhi claimed they belonged to Buddhism, so Chen Changsheng killed Pu Cong.

Chen Changsheng confronted Hui Zhi outside White Elephant City and demanded the Devil Race secret treasure that Buddhism was keeping. Hui Zhi proposed that they speak privately, hinting that they could become close allies.

• Pu Cong regenerated from an old woman's body in White Elephant City, then killed the old woman's son and absorbed the other people in the room.
• Pu Cong went to the city gate tower and watched Chen Changsheng face the Great Wisdom King Hui Zhi.
• Chen Changsheng feared that Zu Yuan's demonic qi was making him more bloodthirsty and resolved to resist its influence.
• Hui Zhi recognized Chen Changsheng as the Azure Cloud Sect's Holy Son and sensed his connection to the Devil Race.
• Chen Changsheng demanded his things and threatened to expose Buddhism for harboring a Devil Race secret treasure.
• Hui Zhi opened a golden Buddhist gate and invited Chen Changsheng to speak privately, suggesting they could become close friends.

Chen Changsheng entered a Buddhist space with Hui Zhi, who revealed his connection to the Black Lotus and questioned Chen Changsheng about his identity and fate. Hui Zhi hinted that he believed fate could not be changed, while Chen Changsheng remained certain he could alter his own.

• Chen Changsheng sent a lifelike puppet through Hui Zhi's Buddhist gate before following into a lotus pond space created by Patriarch Bodhidharma.
• Chen Changsheng and Hui Zhi sat at opposite ends of a boat, and Hui Zhi asked whether Chen Changsheng was himself or a surviving remnant of the Devil Race.
• Hui Zhi showed Chen Changsheng a Black Lotus and said it had helped him sever his self and achieve his Dao.
• Hui Zhi said he alone had fallen to the devils, then asked Chen Changsheng whether he believed in fate.
• Chen Changsheng declared that fate could be changed through greater effort, and Hui Zhi envied his confidence.

Hui Zhi revealed that his Buddhist path had reached a dead end and offered to ally Buddhism with the Devil Race to preserve it. Chen Changsheng claimed Buddhism for himself instead, but both men secretly intended to use the other to advance their own ambitions.

• Hui Zhi discovered that his path had no future and feared that he would lead the Great Spirit Mountain Temple and Buddhism to ruin.
• Hui Zhi proposed an alliance with the Devil Race, and Chen Changsheng demanded to know what Buddhism could offer in return.
• Hui Zhi gave Chen Changsheng the Black Lotus and pledged Buddhism to follow his lead, but Chen Changsheng refused to accept Buddhism as subordinate to the Demon Realm.
• Chen Changsheng and Hui Zhi sealed their agreement with three claps of their palms, forming a connection between their Nascent Souls.
• After Chen Changsheng left, Hui Zhi revealed that he intended to use both the Demon Realm and the Cultivation World as nourishment for Buddhism's resurgence, while Chen Changsheng privately resolved to let Hui Zhi die with the Devil Race.

Chen Changsheng destroyed White Elephant City and buried the remains of his former identity before heading toward the Snow Domain to enter the Demon Realm under Zu Yuan’s name. Little Bie San found the grave and resolved to grow strong enough to bring Chen Changsheng back, setting off to find Big Boss.

• After Chen Changsheng left, Pu Cong tried to defend White Elephant City with a golden Buddha, but the great formation destroyed the city and killed him.
• Hui Zhi emerged from the lotus space, found a grievously injured white-furred rat, and gave it the Dharma name Half-Section Guanyin.
• Chen Changsheng buried his purple robe and bloodstained blade in a small mound at the place where he had taken his own life, then flew toward the Snow Domain.
• Little Bie San dug up Chen Changsheng’s coffin, put on the purple robe, and resolved to cultivate until he could bring Boss back.
• Little Bie San set off to find Big Boss and tell him what Chen Changsheng was doing.

Ouyang woke after fourteen days unconscious, still badly injured, and planned to take Hu Tutu to the Ten Thousand Demon Nation once Bai Feiyu’s situation was settled. While Ouyang rested, Bai Feiyu transformed the abandoned mountain god’s temple into a garden and summoned its newly appointed mountain god to find a wheelchair.

• Ouyang woke on a straw heap and accepted water from Bai Feiyu, who asked what Chen Changsheng had done to leave him so badly hurt.
• Ouyang saw Hu Tutu still asleep and decided to take her to the Ten Thousand Demon Nation to have their Master's Wife examine her.
• Ouyang tried to stand, fell back onto the straw, and fell asleep beside Little Fox; Bai Feiyu realized he had been unconscious for fourteen days.
• Bai Feiyu covered Ouyang and Little Fox, then used the Heaven-Measuring Ruler to clear the temple courtyard and make it bloom into a garden with a spring.
• Bai Feiyu tried to build Ouyang a wheelchair, failed, and summoned the mountain god Zhang Hong to find one.

Bai Feiyu struggled to design his Divine Dao, so he asked Ouyang to review his ideas and advise him. Ouyang proposed that they visit the Qing Nation’s capital, and the group set off from the mountain temple.

• Bai Feiyu spent the night writing and sketching his plans for the Divine Dao, then woke when Ouyang returned to the temple courtyard.
• Ouyang raced around the courtyard in his wheelchair, pulled by Liang Zai and Diao Mao, before Bai Feiyu pushed him inside.
• Bai Feiyu gave Ouyang a thick manuscript and asked him to resolve his doubts about the Divine Dao.
• Ouyang recalled that Bai Feiyu’s path resembled God-Sealing and claimed he understood the Divine Dao, though he admitted he had no clear advice.
• Ouyang suggested they travel to the Qing Nation’s capital so Bai Feiyu could learn from what he saw there.
• Bai Feiyu packed, and he, Ouyang, Little Fox, Liang Zai, and Diao Mao left the mountain temple for the capital.

Ouyang and Bai Feiyu traveled through rainy Jiangnan toward the Capital of the Qing Nation, where Demon Race phantoms repeatedly greeted them with fearful deference. One phantom explained that the spirits feared them because Ouyang had once defeated an army of a hundred thousand Immortals and humiliated their lord.

• Ouyang and Bai Feiyu crossed the mountains in the rain while Hu Tutu slept in Ouyang's arms, and Bai Feiyu noted that the fox's two immense powers were slowly merging.
• The pair arrived at a town and politely declined the phantoms' food and supplies before continuing toward the Capital of the Qing Nation.
• After Ouyang and Bai Feiyu left, a smaller phantom questioned why the phantoms had treated the two humans so respectfully.
• The phantom in the weeping mask reminded him that their lord had once led a hundred thousand Immortals against the pair and that Ouyang had scattered their army with a single sword strike.
• The weeping-mask phantom recalled that Ouyang had even sat astride their lord and slapped him across the face.

Bai Feiyu and Ouyang met two human-demon couples who had chosen to live together despite the harm it caused them. After hearing their stories and learning that they accepted a shortened life rather than separation, Ouyang offered them a choice.

• Bai Feiyu saw human-demon couples living among mortals and prepared to intervene, but Ouyang urged him to watch before judging.
• Bai Feiyu approached the couples and asked them for water, and they invited him and Ouyang to their cottage.
• The two couples shared stories of how they had fallen in love and married despite the danger and opposition.
• Bai Feiyu asked whether the human partners would rather die young than live apart, and the old man and elderly woman affirmed their choice.
• Ouyang applauded and took out a porcelain bottle, saying he would offer the couples a choice.

Ouyang gave two human-yao couples rare Foundation Establishment pills that could restore their youth, then predicted the gift would drive them into conflict. Bai Feiyu disagreed and left Ouyang to see what would happen, while Ouyang reflected on the need to understand human hearts before mastering gods.

• Ouyang offered the two couples a porcelain bottle containing two precious pills, and the old woman eagerly took it after he clarified they could choose whether to use them.
• The pangolin youth asked whether taking the pills meant separating from their spouses, and Ouyang assured the four that the choice was simply whether to take them.
• Bai Feiyu questioned Ouyang about the pills as they traveled toward the Qing Nation's capital, and Ouyang explained they were high-quality Foundation Establishment pills capable of restoring the recipients to youth.
• Ouyang predicted that becoming young again would make the couples clash, but Bai Feiyu insisted their love would endure.
• Ouyang proposed a three-day bet, and Bai Feiyu left to check on the couples while Ouyang considered how difficult it would be to master the hearts of gods without first understanding human hearts.

Bai Feiyu struggled to understand how Gods could remain impartial when they came from living beings, but Ouyang’s guidance helped him define divine nature as treating all beings fairly. He appointed two Yao spirits as Gods, beginning his path toward the Divine Dao.

• Bai Feiyu asked Ouyang why a human couple had abandoned their vows and fled after receiving pills that restored their youth.
• Ouyang explained that the couple had chosen survival and used their decision to prompt Bai Feiyu to consider what divine nature should be.
• Bai Feiyu’s doubts about God-Sealing deepened until Ouyang shouted him out of his wavering Dao Heart.
• After seeing a praying mantis catch a caterpillar, Bai Feiyu concluded that Gods should follow impartial principles and embody those principles themselves.
• Bai Feiyu appointed the spirits of two Yao who had died in a fire as the Land God and Mountain God, gaining a connection to everything within a hundred li.

Bai Feiyu realized God-Sealing’s purpose and sought the missing Treasure Book, but the vow-power gathering over the Qing Nation’s capital revealed a rival force and tested his resolve. Ouyang shielded him from the city’s hostility, then left Bai Feiyu to face the final trial alone.

• Bai Feiyu concluded that God-Sealing joined the living and the dead through vow-power, but lamented that the God-Sealing Treasure Book was missing.
• Bai Feiyu asked Ouyang where the Treasure Book was, and Ouyang said he could not know its whereabouts.
• Ouyang pointed out the capital of the Qing Nation, where Bai Feiyu sensed an immense ocean of vow-power and wondered whether someone else was pursuing his Dao.
• As Bai Feiyu entered the capital, its hostile gazes overwhelmed him and suppressed the purple-gold Magatama within him.
• Ouyang told Bai Feiyu that he had to continue on his own, and Bai Feiyu walked forward to face the city’s final trial.

The Demon Ancestor, ruling the Qing Nation as Bo Huang, reflected on the blue-green-robed man who had overpowered him and exposed the strain caused by the demon souls in his Mortal World. He summoned the Qing Nation’s Immortals before Bai Feiyu, whose attempt to enact the God-Sealing Dao was about to begin.

• Bo Huang recalled how the blue-green-robed man had slapped him, overwhelmed him with True Essence, and forced him to confront the burden of the demon souls in his Mortal World.
• Bo Huang watched Bai Feiyu and wondered why Li Taibai’s reincarnation intended to save him through the God-Sealing.
• Bo Huang rose from his throne and manifested as a Three-Legged Golden Crow above the Qing Nation’s Capital.
• The Qing Nation’s Immortals appeared on auspicious clouds as the Capital’s people bowed before the spectacle.
• Bai Feiyu calmly faced the Immortals, confident that his Dao was not alone as his trial began.

Bai Feiyu confronted the Demon Race’s Divine Souls, who combined their Dao Resonances into a massive dragon to test him. As the dragon’s attack bent him under its torrent, Bai Feiyu drew the Heaven-Measuring Ruler and prepared to shoulder the power of all one hundred and eight thousand Immortals.

• Bai Feiyu stood unruffled before the gathered Immortals, while Ouyang watched and thought his wayward son had finally grown up.
• The Demon Race’s Divine Souls joined their myriad Dao Resonances into a colossal dragon and sent it charging at Bai Feiyu.
• The torrent of Dao Resonance bent Bai Feiyu at the waist, but he recognized that the Divine Souls were testing his ability.
• Bai Feiyu’s purple-gold Magatama spun as he drew the Heaven-Measuring Ruler and rested it on his shoulder.
• Bai Feiyu declared that he would see whether he could shoulder all one hundred and eight thousand Immortals.

Bai Feiyu endured the torrent of Dao Resonance, transformed into a gigantic white elk, and took a sacred new form above High Heaven. As the Demon Ancestor revealed that a hidden Progenitor had arranged events to protect another contingency, Ouyang wondered who he really was.

• Bai Feiyu straightened beneath the Dao Resonance, opened his golden eyes, and swept the Heaven-Measuring Ruler toward the sky.
• Bai Feiyu transformed into a gigantic white elk, scattered the Immortals, and knocked the Three-Legged Golden Crow away.
• Bai Feiyu returned to human form in golden-patterned robes and manifested a Treasured Book resembling the God-Sealing Treasure Book.
• The Demon Ancestor told Ouyang that he felt relieved to have put down his burden after millions of years.
• The Demon Ancestor revealed that another Progenitor had planned events and that they were keeping a second contingency hidden.