Chapter Summaries

Great White Golden Star concluded that both Zheng Kongs were real and fake, then summoned Manjushri Bodhisattva to identify them. Manjushri denied knowing about the duplicates and called the false Zheng Kong a likely demon, but Great White Golden Star pressed him to use his powers to reveal the truth.

• Great White Golden Star said both Zheng Kongs were real and fake, protected Chun Zang, and ordered Sun Hong to bring Manjushri Bodhisattva back.
• Chun Zang told Sun Lei that Lü Cao could identify his true disciple because Zheng Kong had killed her parents, but Sun Lei said Great White Golden Star already knew.
• Manjushri Bodhisattva arrived, and Great White Golden Star revealed the two Zheng Kongs after the inspectors withdrew their seals.
• Both Zheng Kongs claimed to be the real one and resumed fighting before Manjushri Bodhisattva.
• Manjushri Bodhisattva denied knowing about the duplicate and suggested the false Zheng Kong was a demon, while Great White Golden Star urged him to reveal the truth.

Manjushri Bodhisattva’s attempt to expose which of the two Zhen Kongs was real instead revealed a mystery serious enough to bring Ananda’s appearance to the attention of the Buddhas. He took both Zhen Kongs to Thunder Sound Temple for judgment, while Zhen Jie returned to Chun Zang’s side and discovered the Fire Ape was missing.

• Manjushri Bodhisattva used Buddhist light and a grand vow to examine the two Zhen Kongs, but could not distinguish them and reacted with shock.
• Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One and Rāgaratna Tathagata sensed Ananda had appeared, while Maitreya Buddha World Honored One stirred in the void.
• Manjushri Bodhisattva refused to decide which Zhen Kong was real and said he would take both to Thunder Sound Temple for Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One to judge.
• Zhen Jie arrived, learned Chun Zang was safe, and complained to Manjushri Bodhisattva about the trials before returning to the thatched hut.
• Zhen Jie saw Zhen Han and Dragon Horse Zhen Feng outside the hut and angrily asked Chun Zang where the Fire Ape had gone.

Chun Zang learned that a demon had impersonated Zhen Kong, while Zhen Jie worried that the matter could endanger the real Zhen Kong. At Thunder Sound Temple, the Great Sun Tathagata began explaining why one Zhen Kong was true and the other false, but the dispute remained unresolved.

• Chun Zang explained the impostor to Zhen Jie, who said the Great Sun Tathagata would clear Zhen Kong's name and ordered the Four Seasons Gong Cao to fetch food.
• Namo Great Wisdom Manjushri Bodhisattva traveled to Thunder Sound Temple and reported that he could not distinguish between the two Zhen Kongs.
• The Great Sun Tathagata summoned both Zhen Kongs and explained that understanding their identities required understanding the cause and karma behind the scripture-seeking journey.
• Manjushri pointed to one Zhen Kong as false, prompting him to protest and accuse the other of being the impostor.
• The accused Zhen Kong attacked his counterpart, but the Great Sun Tathagata stopped him and began explaining why he was false while the other was true.

Zhen Kong killed his false counterpart, and the resulting upheaval exposed the consequences of Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One’s interference in the Pure Land’s causes and effects. Maitreya Buddha World Honored One challenged the World Honored One’s judgment and declared that he would resist Thunder Sound Temple to protect his principles.

• Zhen Kong struck the false Zhen Kong dead, and Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One stopped him from attacking the escaping primordial spirit.
• Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One warned Zhen Kong against killing, as Thunder Sound Temple and its Buddhist light began to decay.
• Zhen Kong vowed to escort Chunzang to Changsheng Town and erect Namo Great Compassionate Guanyin Bodhisattva’s golden body on Jiangchao Ridge before departing.
• Rāgaratna Tathagata and Maitreya Buddha World Honored One debated whether Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One had erred by interfering with cause and effect.
• Maitreya Buddha World Honored One criticized the Buddhist sect’s divisions and dependence on offerings, then said he could not watch the Pure Land Buddha lose its way.
• Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One asked whether Maitreya Buddha World Honored One intended to rebel against Thunder Sound Temple, and Maitreya answered that Thunder Sound Temple lay within his heart.

Maitreya Buddha World Honored One used the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree to lead many Buddhist disciples away from Thunder Sound Temple, while Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One and Rāgaratna Tathagata discussed the karma tied to Ananda, Zhen Kong, and Xiao Hua. On the East Sea Shore, Chunzang’s hidden golden light formed the beginnings of a Buddha Lord’s golden body, and Zhen Kong returned from Thunder Sound Temple as Zhen Jie suspected something was wrong with him.

• Maitreya Buddha World Honored One announced that he would leave Thunder Sound Temple to cultivate elsewhere, and about forty percent of the Buddhist disciples followed him to Great Snow Mountain, Little Linglong Temple.
• Rāgaratna Tathagata and Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One concluded that Ananda’s actions had caused Maitreya Buddha World Honored One’s heart tribulation and that Zhen Kong’s master was True Person Xiao.
• Great Sun Tathagata World Honored One sealed Zhen Kong’s soul in a five-colored crystal and stored it along with the corpse, while Rāgaratna Tathagata sensed a change in Thunder Sound Temple’s karmic reincarnation.
• Chunzang’s Niwan Palace filled with Buddhist light, and a nine-foot golden body with a Nine-Ranked Lotus Platform began to take form.
• Zhen Kong returned to the thatched hut, but Zhen Jie stopped him and called for Lü Cao to inspect him; Zhen Kong claimed he had killed the fake Zhen Kong, and Chunzang reproached him for breaking the precept against killing.

Zhen Kong repented after his demon tribulation, and Lü Cao confirmed he was the real Zhen Kong before Chun Zang’s party resumed its journey. Nearly fifty years later, the chapter recounted the Heaven-Defying Thunder Phoenix’s quiet rise among the demons and Wenqu’s arrival as master of Wenqu Palace, where he made the Method of Five Qi Towards the Origin available to Confucian cultivators.

• Zhen Kong admitted that his slaughter had caused his demon tribulation and vowed before the World Honored One never to kill recklessly again.
• Lü Cao recognized the real Zhen Kong, whose face had once frightened her, and her hatred gave way to relief.
• Zhen Jie sent Zhen Kong to beg alms and scout the road, while Chun Zang’s group packed up and set out with Lü Cao.
• Over nearly fifty years, the Heaven-Defying Thunder Phoenix established the Big Dipper Seven Realms but avoided fighting over territory.
• Wenqu presented the complete Method of Five Qi Towards the Origin to the Immortal Palace and earned recognition as Immortal Master and Lord of Wenqu Palace after defeating Confucian generals in literary contests.

Maitreya Buddha World Honored One established Little Linglong Temple, while Chunzang’s scripture-seeking entered its final stage and the Creation Sect grew powerful under Thunderclap True Person. As Xiao Hua and his incarnations continued cultivating in Star Moon Palace, the eighty-one rounds of Xuanhong Discourse on the Dao ended and the gods prepared to part.

• Maitreya Buddha World Honored One led nearly forty percent of Thunder Sound Temple’s Buddhists to Little Linglong Temple, where they studied and discussed Buddhist teachings together.
• After fifty years of hardship, Chunzang and his disciples entered Yuzhou, bringing the scripture-seeking journey into its final stage as Confucian cultivators harassed them along the way.
• The Xuanhuang Order sent Literary Sages to attack the Creation Sect, but Thunderclap True Person returned and killed the attackers and their besieging forces with lightning and a counterattack.
• The Creation Sect strengthened its position as the Immortal Palace and Confucian factions remained divided and unwilling to challenge Thunderclap True Person.
• The eighty-one rounds of Xuanhong Discourse on the Dao ended while Xiao Hua and his incarnations remained in Star Moon Palace.

Xiao Hua and his companions were expelled from the Star Moon Palace as its realm collapsed, and he returned to the Three Great Continents. After using Senior Xu’s Mao Luo Talisman to dispel the realm’s backlash, he found himself among rice paddies and spoke with a local elder.

• The nine suns in the Primordial Realm exploded, and the realm’s power swept Xiao Hua and the others out of the Star Moon Palace.
• Xiao Hua called his avatars back into his space and rescued Xiaohei and Xiao Huang, then saw Ancestor Hongmeng as they were separated.
• Jing told her Teacher that the treasure ship had been damaged and that a mayfly had fallen into the mortal world; her Teacher ordered her to repair it after realizing the event had followed the Heavenly Dao.
• Xiao Hua arrived in the Three Great Continents, where the laws and repulsive force of the realm assailed him.
• Xiao Hua activated Senior Xu’s Mao Luo Talisman, which removed the pressure and conflict from his body.
• Xiao Hua admired the ripening rice in a paddy, then answered an elder who called out from a distant field ridge.

Xiao Hua met an old farmer in the fields of Xiao Kingdom and accepted his offer of shelter, touched by his kind words about family and home. After giving the farmer spirit dates, Xiao Hua left the old man with enough to share with his family.

• Xiao Hua spoke with the old farmer about his harvest and admitted that he had been away from home so long he could no longer find the way back.
• The old farmer comforted Xiao Hua and invited him to rest in his field shed and eat warm rice porridge.
• Xiao Hua noticed something in the night sky, flicked several golden threads into the void, and then declined the farmer’s food by claiming he had already eaten.
• The old farmer explained that they were in Xiao Kingdom, founded after the Divine Demon Blood Swamp vanished, and offered to help Xiao Hua find his book attendant the next day.
• Xiao Hua gave the old farmer spirit dates, and the farmer tasted one before Xiao Hua poured the rest onto the boards for him to take.

Xiao Hua learned that neighboring Daoist sect countries were seizing Xiao Kingdom’s land and terrorizing its farmers, so he revealed himself and vowed to punish those responsible. He sent Xiong Yi to destroy the nearby countries and then continued arranging cultivation for Ao Sheng, Xiaohei, and Xiaohuang.

• Xiao Hua listened as the old man described how Mo Wu Kingdom and other neighboring countries destroyed farmland and drove villagers from their homes.
• Xiao Hua rose into the sky, proclaimed himself True Person Xiao, and promised to make those who threatened Xiao Kingdom pay tenfold.
• Xiao Hua summoned tens of thousands of Shenhua Continent disciples and ordered Xiong Yi to eliminate the nearby countries, capture their rulers, and uncover the forces behind them.
• Xiao Hua sent Ao Sheng back into his space with dragon crystals and Dragon Race treasures to aid his cultivation.
• Xiao Hua placed the remains of Tun Tian Beast and Diting into Xiaohei and Xiaohuang, whose bodies settled as the beasts’ phantoms enveloped them.

Xiao Hua witnessed the villagers’ faith in him and vowed to protect them, then learned that the surrounding countries’ rulers had been captured and returned to the Creation Dao Palace. There, Lan Dianzi and Li Xiang reflected on the Creation Sect’s growth and began discussing its affairs.

• Xiao Hua watched the villagers of Xiao Kingdom worship him, vowed not to betray their trust, and received a divine response that strengthened their faith.
• Xiong Yi told Xiao Hua that the Creation Sect had captured the rulers and royal families of thirty neighboring countries, and Xiao Hua ordered him to lead the way back to the Soaring Dragon Mountain Range.
• Xiao Hua departed on the Heavenly Horse as the villagers wept and bid him farewell.
• At the Creation Dao Palace, Lan Dianzi asked Li Xiang to discuss a matter and recalled their early struggles building the Creation Sect with Xiong Yi and Chang Yu.
• Lan Dianzi praised the Creation Sect’s rise, while Li Xiang acknowledged how much the sect and the Three Great Continents had changed.

Lan Dianzi urged the Creation Sect to arrange the division of Cangxian Continent’s nine provinces and expand its influence, while Li Xiang warned that the plan could make the sect a weapon in someone else’s hands. Xiao Hua returned to the Soaring Dragon Mountain Range, interrupting Lan Dianzi’s growing authority, and shared news and medicinal pills from his trip to Star Moon Palace.

• Li Xiang warned Lan Dianzi that cooperating with Ancestor Hongmeng without knowing his strength could provoke the Confucian, Buddhist, and demon forces into another alliance.
• Lan Dianzi explained his plan for dividing the nine provinces with True Lord Qingxu, but Li Xiang feared the Creation Sect would become a pawn and urged him to consult Thunderclap True Person.
• Lan Dianzi proposed sending You Fang and other disciples to recruit members elsewhere, while Li Xiang suspected he was using the plan to expand his own influence.
• Thunderclap True Person announced that Xiao Hua had returned, and Lan Dianzi hurried to join Li Xiang in welcoming him.
• Xiao Hua told Thunderclap True Person about the teachings at Star Moon Palace, and Thunderclap True Person entered the space to collect the medicinal pills Xiao Hua had left for him.

Xiao Hua returned to the Creation Sect with overwhelming force, reunited with his disciples, and began restoring order while keeping his suspicions about Lan Dianzi in mind. After dispatching disciples to protect those emerging from Star Moon Palace, he delegated rewards to Lan Dianzi and started guiding Li Xiang’s cultivation.

• Thunderclap True Person took the bamboo segment containing a congealed river and began refining it in seclusion, while Xiao Hua learned more about Lan Dianzi and decided to confront Ancestor Hongmeng in the future.
• Xiao Hua’s return stirred the skies, and the disciples of the Soaring Dragon Mountain Range welcomed him before he led them back to the Creation Dao Palace.
• Xiao Hua ordered Xuan Songzi, True Person Jingting, Wang Jingfei, You Zhongquan, and Chang Yuan to search the Three Great Continents for every Creation Sect disciple who had entered Star Moon Palace.
• Lan Dianzi and Li Xiang reported on the sect’s development, and Xiao Hua gave Lan Dianzi responsibility for distributing the disciples’ rewards while he focused on teaching Li Xiang.
• Fu Zhiwen told Xiao Hua that he had an important private matter to discuss, then withdrew as Xiao Hua passed secret arts and medicinal pills to Li Xiang and encouraged his progress toward the Integration stage.

Xiao Hua arranged Li Xiang’s cultivation and heard Fu Zhiwen’s account of events across the Three Great Continents. He learned that Princess Xinxin had been imprisoned for sacrificing the Heavenly Heart to save him, and began considering how to find her as he summoned Qiongqiong for more information.

• Xiao Hua gave Li Xiang cultivation techniques and pills, sent him into the Kunlun Immortal Realm, and discussed Creation Sect disciples and the coming Yaotai Gathering.
• Fu Zhiwen told Xiao Hua about Wenqu’s appointment as an Immortal Master and other changes across the Three Great Continents.
• Fu Zhiwen revealed that Princess Xinxin had lost half the Heavenly Heart to save Xiao Hua and had been imprisoned in the Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal for nearly three hundred years.
• Fu Zhiwen explained that Qiongqiong had been banished to the lower realm ten years earlier and had warned of the Nangong Family’s possible marriage proposal to the Immortal Palace.
• Xiao Hua dismissed the Luoyi Merchant Alliance’s ability to uncover Immortal Palace secrets and ordered Fu Zhiwen to bring Qiongqiong to him.

Xiao Hua learned from Qiongqiong how Princess Xinxin was imprisoned and discussed the obstacles to rescuing her. Qiongqiong revealed that Sun Jian had returned to the Immortal Palace, suggesting he and Empress Dongmian were coordinating with Xiao Hua to help find Xinxin.

• Xiao Hua welcomed Qiongqiong as Fu Zhiwen’s wife, bestowed pills on the couple, and promised to rescue Princess Xinxin.
• Qiongqiong recounted Xinxin’s longing for Xiao Hua, her apparent farewell before receiving heavenly punishment, and her imprisonment in an unknown Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal.
• Qiongqiong explained that she had been banished to the lower realm with her cultivation intact, apparently to deliver a message to Xiao Hua.
• Fu Zhiwen said Xiao Hua would need to locate Xinxin’s crystal and enter the Immortal Palace and Thunder Province Three Divisions to learn where it was held.
• Qiongqiong realized that Sun Jian was the Sun Chou she had seen at Pixiang Hall and inferred that he and Empress Dongmian were coordinating with Xiao Hua from within the Immortal Palace.

Xiao Hua decided to rescue Princess Xinxin openly and honorably, then propose to the Immortal Emperor Gouchen in person. He planned to find the Immortal Palace himself, though he warned that he might fight his way into Lingyun Hall if the Emperor refused to help.

• Xiao Hua told Fu Zhiwen to contact Nangong Pingping and arrange a message to Nangong Jingyin.
• Xiao Hua remembered his promise to have Wenqu propose marriage to the Gusu Family for Gu Suqiudi, and Fu Zhiwen revealed that he and Qiongqiong planned to marry.
• Hearing their concern for proper status made Xiao Hua resolve to rescue Princess Xinxin publicly and propose marriage to the Immortal Emperor Gouchen.
• Xiao Hua rejected suggestions to let Nangong Jingyin rescue Xinxin first, insisting that he would find and rescue her himself before returning to the Immortal Palace to propose.
• Xiao Hua said he would ask the Emperor for Xinxin's whereabouts and, if refused, break into Lingyun Hall, while keeping his plan to find the Immortal Palace to himself.

Xiao Hua planned to use the National Teacher's tokens at the Yaotai Gathering to trace their return to Lingguan Hall and find the Immortal Palace, while sending Creation Sect disciples to take over Xiao Kingdom. After learning Princess Xinxin had risked herself to save Qiongqiong, Qiongqiong vowed to rescue her; Xiao Hua and his disciples then arrived at Yaotai Mountain for the gathering.

• Xiao Hua explained that he would establish Creation Sect rule in Xiao Kingdom and send its outer sect disciples there to avoid conflict with the inner sect disciples.
• Fu Zhiwen estimated that about eight hundred National Teacher's tokens would be available at the Yaotai Gathering, and Xiao Hua revealed that he intended to follow them to the Immortal Palace.
• Xiao Hua sent Fu Zhiwen to organize the Creation Sect disciples and assigned Qiongqiong to investigate the Confucian cultivators around Xiao Kingdom.
• Qiongqiong learned that Princess Xinxin had gone to Profound Water Palace to rescue her and vowed to save the princess from the Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal.
• Xiao Hua gathered Fu Zhiwen, Qiongqiong, and the disciples into Shenhua Continent, then arrived at Yaotai Mountain as the Yaotai Gathering approached.

Zhi Chengzi returned to Yaotai Mountain to recruit cultivators and seek National Teacher's tokens as the Yaotai Gathering began. Linghu Pizheng opened the gathering, but the arrival of one hundred thousand Creation Sect disciples in a lightning formation left the Star Lord Palace facing an overwhelming challenge.

• Zhi Chengzi recalled how he had escaped the previous Yaotai Gathering's calamity by leaving early and later joined Ancestor Hongmeng's forces.
• Zhi Chengzi brought over a hundred cultivators to Yaotai Mountain to recruit followers and seize National Teacher's tokens.
• Linghu Pizheng and the Twenty-Eight Star Generals opened the Yaotai Gathering, and Linghu Pizheng received a golden imperial decree.
• A tremendous gale and lightning disrupted the gathering's ceremony, and Linghu Pizheng recognized the approaching force as the Creation Sect.
• One hundred thousand Creation Sect disciples arrived in the Golden Crow Immortal Slaying Demon Array, prompting Linghu Pizheng to wonder whether they intended to seize tokens or destroy the Star Lord Palace.

Xiao Hua arrived at Yaotai Mountain with one hundred thousand Creation Sect disciples, overwhelming the gathering and shattering the imperial decree’s yellow dragon with a cough. After the Dragon Gate opened, Fu Zhiwen ordered the disciples to claim all 483 National Teacher’s tokens, and Linghu Pizheng finally approached Xiao Hua to pay his respects.

• Xiao Hua and one hundred thousand Creation Sect disciples arrived at Yaotai Mountain, leaving Linghu Pizheng and the other attendees in awe.
• Fu Zhiwen told Linghu Pizheng that the Creation Sect intended to establish a nation in Gun Province and requested access to the Dragon Gate.
• Nearly seventy percent of the Daoist sect cultivators departed after Fu Zhiwen refused to say how many National Teacher’s tokens the Creation Sect wanted.
• Linghu Pizheng opened the imperial decree, but Xiao Hua shattered its yellow dragon with a cough; the decree then opened a damaged Dragon Gate.
• Linghu Pizheng placed the treasures and 483 National Teacher’s tokens inside the Dragon Gate, and Fu Zhiwen ordered the Creation Sect disciples to take every token.
• After the other Daoist cultivators left, Linghu Pizheng approached Xiao Hua and apologized for being unable to greet him earlier.

Xiao Hua questioned Linghu Pizheng about Kong Hongwu and Heaven and Earth Gate, then revealed that he planned to collect the National Teacher's tokens to establish Xiao Country and find the Immortal Palace. After the Creation Sect disciples gathered 483 tokens at Yaotai Mountain, Xiao Hua sent one back to Lan Dianzi to establish Xiao Country.

• Xiao Hua asked Linghu Pizheng about the Yaotai Gathering, and Linghu revealed that Kong Hongwu had served Heaven and Earth Gate, the Immortal Palace's secret-agent organization.
• Linghu Pizheng explained that Heaven's Secret Hall had altered Kong Hongwu's private chambers after his death, and Xiao Hua confirmed he knew Wenqu and True Confucian.
• Xiao Hua told Linghu Pizheng that the Creation Sect would establish Xiao Country as a lasting paradise and that he intended to use the National Teacher's tokens to locate the Immortal Palace.
• The Creation Sect disciples emerged from Yaotai Mountain and handed Fu Zhiwen 483 National Teacher's tokens before Linghu Pizheng departed.
• Xiao Hua gave one token to Fu Zhiwen to send to Lan Dianzi, instructing him to establish Xiao Country.