Chapter Summaries

Chu Tiange infiltrated the Buddha Kingdom’s forbidden grounds while the Buddha Ancestor intercepted Dabei’s ascension and offered him the title of Future Buddha. Dabei questioned the offer’s motives as the Buddha Ancestor became distracted by a disturbance involving Chu Ge and the Vermilion Bird.

• Chu Tiange confirmed that the Buddha Kingdom’s Thunderclap Monastery was real, then took advantage of the Buddha Ancestor’s absence to knock out his guide and sneak toward the forbidden pagodas.
• Dabei ascended to the Heavenly Realm after completing his work spreading Buddhism, and the Buddha Ancestor welcomed him with a host of Buddhas.
• The Buddha Ancestor praised Dabei’s merit and invited him to Thunderclap Monastery for a ceremony to confer Buddhahood.
• Dabei questioned whether the Buddha Ancestor’s offer treated his work as a means to gain status, and the Buddha Ancestor proposed making him the Future Buddha among the Three Buddhas.
• The Buddha Ancestor sensed a disturbance through his projection and the Vermilion Bird’s karmic thread, leaving Dabei to wonder why the Buddha harbored hostility.

The Buddha Ancestor ordered the monks at Borobudur to attack Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji, hoping to kill them and use the chaos to advance his plans. Qiu Wuji shattered the Buddha statue’s attack, but the temple called on the Vermilion Bird as the hall erupted with heat.

• The Buddha Ancestor decided to seize Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji rather than let them disrupt his plan to replace the Buddha of the Brahma Temple.
• The Buddha statue issued a decree to capture the pair, and the monks attacked Chu Ge with their staves and Esper Abilities.
• Chu Ge used the Golden Bell Shield to withstand the monks, whose abilities proved ineffective against him.
• The Buddha statue struck at Chu Ge, but Qiu Wuji intercepted its golden palm with Autumn Waters and shattered it.
• Qiu Wuji attacked the statue’s brow, and the Abbot called for the divine bird as the hall grew unbearably hot.

The Vermilion Bird and the Buddha Ancestor attacked Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji, but Chu Ge endured the Vermilion Bird’s flames to reach its buried feelings while Qiu Wuji fought the Buddha Ancestor’s avatar. The Black Tortoise intervened and directed the Vermilion Bird to its true spirit, which awakened through Qingyan’s unexpected ascension, leaving the Buddha Ancestor eager to claim Qingyan’s Buddhist-lotus body.

• The Vermilion Bird unleashed its flames while the Buddha Ancestor manifested a Profound Immortal-level avatar, forcing Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji to fight them separately.
• Chu Ge let the Vermilion Bird burn him and endured the monks’ gunfire, prompting the Vermilion Bird to stop its own fire lotus from striking him.
• The Vermilion Bird escalated its attack, but the Black Tortoise extinguished the flames and told it to sense its true spirit in the Heavenly Realm.
• Qingyan ascended through the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth and met Yan Qianlie, who helped her awaken memories of her past life.
• The corpse qi from the Vermilion Bird entered Qingyan, and the Buddha Ancestor realized the Vermilion Bird’s soul had awakened and coveted Qingyan’s lotus-born body.

The Buddha Ancestor tried to control the Vermilion Bird through Qingyan’s Lotus Platform, but Yan Qianlie helped her escape as the Dao Venerable intervened. Their departure coincided with upheaval in the Buddha Kingdom, where Chu Tiange faced trouble and the Heavenly Emperor went to support him.

• The Buddha Ancestor used his power to make Qingyan’s Lotus Platform and soul turn toward conversion, but Yan Qianlie extracted her spirit and returned her body to an empty Lotus Platform.
• The Dao Venerable swept Yan Qianlie and the Vermilion Bird away with his fly-whisk, then battled the Buddha Ancestor over the Vermilion Bird’s essence.
• The Vermilion Bird recovered her past-life memories and told Yan Qianlie that Qingyan’s consciousness had merged with hers, while Yan Qianlie trusted Father God to separate them.
• Yan Qianlie and the Vermilion Bird became spirit flames and escaped to the Mortal World through a passage Father God had left for them.
• A collapse shook the Buddha Kingdom, and Dabei sensed an aura belonging to a true Buddha and someone reminiscent of Chu Tiange.
• The Heavenly Emperor headed east to support Chu Tiange in the Buddha Kingdom.

The Vermilion Bird reunited with Qingyan’s True Spirit and joined Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji in defeating the Buddha Ancestor’s projection. The Azure Dragon sealed the Buddha Ancestor’s escaping spirit, and the Vermilion Bird destroyed it before Moon Shadow’s forces arrived.

• The Vermilion Bird and Qingyan compared what they had witnessed, concluding that Chu Ge had shown no ill intent while the Buddha Ancestor had tried to control them.
• Qingyan entered the Vermilion Bird, restoring her Divine Soul, and the Vermilion Bird Heart joined her as she revived and attacked the Buddha Ancestor’s statue.
• Chu Ge, Qiu Wuji, Yan Qianlie, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Tortoise destroyed the statue, while Chu Ge severed the Buddha Ancestor’s route back to the book.
• The Buddha Ancestor’s Primordial Spirit hid in a gold fragment, but the Azure Dragon sealed it after Chu Ge had arranged for him to guard the east.
• The Vermilion Bird burned the trapped fragment to ash and vowed to flatten the Buddha Kingdom before Moon Shadow’s forces arrived.

Chu Ge recovered from the Vermilion Bird’s flames while Qiu Wuji tended his burns, and he confronted the newly merged Vermilion Bird about her lingering hatred and guilt. He proposed separating her from Qingyan when she returns to the book, but delayed the return until the ongoing war reached a less critical moment.

• Qiu Wuji treated Chu Ge’s burns and scolded him for risking his life to take responsibility for the Vermilion Bird’s suffering.
• The Vermilion Bird entered, called Chu Ge Father God, and admitted that her hatred remained, though it was no longer directed at him.
• Chu Ge said he wanted Qingyan restored as a separate person and named Yan Qianlie as the Vermilion Bird’s counterpart among the Four Emperors.
• The Vermilion Bird acknowledged that she had done wrong, while Chu Ge insisted that both of them had reasons to make amends.
• Chu Ge explained that the Vermilion Bird could return to the book by divine soul and that her heart-shaped flame could become the foundation for Qingyan’s body.
• Chu Ge told Yan Qianlie to wait before returning because their sudden arrival during the ongoing war could cause heavy losses.

Chu Ge explained why the Vermilion Bird had no meaningful connection to Sandru, then realized Sandru and the Heavenly Emperor were both pursuing the White Tiger. Meanwhile, Chu Tiange infiltrated the Buddha Kingdom by disguising himself as Kama Buddha and walked past its guards.

• The Vermilion Bird left Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji alone, and Little Flame urged Chu Ge to interrogate her about Sandru.
• Chu Ge explained that the Vermilion Bird had not shared information with Sandru, and the Vermilion Bird confirmed that Sandru and the Buddha Ancestor were rivals.
• The Vermilion Bird revealed that Sandru had found and partially controlled the White Tiger's body, while its true spirit remained in the Buddha Kingdom.
• Chu Ge deduced that the Heavenly Emperor wanted the White Tiger and was using Chu Tiange to introduce a new variable into the conflict with the Buddha Ancestor.
• Chu Tiange entered the Buddha Kingdom's guarded rear, disguised himself as Kama Buddha, and passed the guards by claiming he had returned from an assignment.

Chu Tiange explored Vulture Peak in search of the Western Great Emperor’s tomb and encountered Kṣitigarbha, whose doubts about the Buddha Kingdom led him to recognize Chu Tiange’s disguise. After Chu Tiange spoke of the lower-realm monk Dabei’s beliefs, Kṣitigarbha invited him to come along.

• Chu Tiange reasoned that the White Tiger’s tomb was likely behind Vulture Peak’s Main Peak and turned toward the mountain’s rear.
• Chu Tiange challenged Kṣitigarbha about delivering living beings, prompting Kṣitigarbha to say that the Buddha Kingdom itself was hell and the Western Heaven lay in the heart.
• Kṣitigarbha realized Chu Tiange was not Kama Buddha and identified his Heavenly Court transformation, but chose not to expose him.
• Chu Tiange quoted Dabei’s teachings about the Buddha and the Heavenly Dao, and Dabei ascended through the Bridge Between Heaven and Earth.
• Kṣitigarbha watched Dabei’s arrival, reflected on the Heavenly Dao’s gaze, and invited Chu Tiange to accompany him.

Chu Tiange, disguised as Kama, convinced Kṣitigarbha to take him into the White Tiger Mausoleum, where he revealed himself as the White Tiger’s inheritor. The White Tiger learned that the Mortal Realm still existed, and the Vermilion Bird awakened as Qingyan ascended.

• Chu Tiange reasoned that Kama’s ties to the White Tiger made his disguise useful, then persuaded Kṣitigarbha to guide him into the Forbidden Ground.
• Chu Tiange argued that the Buddha Ancestor’s divinations might be limited by the Heavenly Dao, prompting Kṣitigarbha to reconsider the Buddha Ancestor’s power.
• Kṣitigarbha and Chu Tiange passed the guards and entered the mausoleum, reaching the White Tiger’s imprisoned True Spirit.
• The White Tiger recognized Chu Tiange’s inherited sword intent, and Chu Tiange told it that he came from the Mortal Realm and had inherited its fang.
• The White Tiger learned that the Mortal Realm still existed, while Kṣitigarbha urged them to hurry before the Buddha Ancestor returned.
• The mausoleum’s Earthfire stirred as Qingyan ascended and the Vermilion Bird awakened, and the White Tiger demanded to be released.

Chu Tiange used the Heavenly Emperor’s token to break the Buddha Ancestor’s seal and free White Tiger, triggering a revolt by the Original Buddhist School. The Heavenly Emperor and Buddha Ancestor began fighting as the Buddha Kingdom descended into chaos, while Chu Ge watched from Indonesia and waited for his moment to act.

• Kṣitigarbha recognized that the Buddha Ancestor’s absence offered the Original Buddhist School a chance to act, and he told Chu Tiange to free White Tiger while he contacted his faction.
• Chu Tiange used the Heavenly Observance Envoy token to break the seal on White Tiger’s coffin, and White Tiger’s true spirit escaped Vulture Peak.
• The Original Buddhist School blocked Indian Buddhist forces from recapturing White Tiger, igniting an internal uprising in the Buddha Kingdom.
• The Heavenly Emperor tried to seize White Tiger, but the returning Buddha Ancestor intercepted him and started a battle.
• Chu Tiange withdrew with White Tiger as the Heavenly Emperor and Buddha Ancestor fought, and Chu Ge watched the unfolding chaos from a hotel in Yogyakarta.

The Heavenly Emperor, Chu Tiange, Qiu Wuji, and Yan Qianlie joined forces to kill the Buddha Ancestor, leaving the Heavenly Emperor poised to unite the Heavenly Realm. Chu Tiange urged him to appoint a new Buddha rather than subdue Vulture Peak by force, and Kṣitigarbha named Dabei as the Future Buddha.

• The Dao Venerable targeted Chu Tiange to seize White Tiger, but the Heavenly Emperor and Buddha Ancestor struck him together, forcing him to flee.
• Chu Ge sent Qiu Wuji and Yan Qianlie into the battle against the Buddha Ancestor, while the Heavenly Emperor and Chu Tiange also attacked.
• The Buddha Ancestor's golden protection shattered, and his body dispersed into starlight as the Heavenly Emperor watched.
• The Heavenly Emperor asked Chu Tiange how to handle Vulture Peak, and Chu Tiange recommended supporting a new Buddha instead of using force.
• Kṣitigarbha cited the Buddha Ancestor's decree naming Dabei the Future Buddha, leaving Dabei stunned.

Chu Ge spoke with the Buddha Ancestor's remnant soul about fate and the schemes that had led to his end. After the soul dissipated, Dabei became the Buddha Ancestor beneath the Bodhi Tree, while the Heavenly Emperor accepted him as the Buddha Kingdom's leader and prepared to reward Chu Tiange.

• Chu Ge told the Buddha Ancestor that he had been able to see and understand him, and the Buddha Ancestor accepted his fate and dissipated.
• Dabei ascended Vulture Peak, sat beneath the withered Bodhi Tree, and caused it to bloom as the Buddhist assembly bowed to him as the Buddha Ancestor.
• Dabei offered to serve as the Heavenly Emperor's western bulwark, and the Heavenly Emperor agreed to support his rule.
• The Heavenly Emperor found that White Tiger had left Chu Tiange and taken his true spirit back to the mortal world, then praised Chu Tiange and escorted him toward the Heavenly Court.
• Qiu Wuji suspected the Heavenly Emperor was ignoring her and Yan Qianlie, and worried that Chu Ge's arrangement might empower him too much.

Qiu Wuji returned to Chu Ge and found him playing with a kitten-sized White Tiger, whose body had fallen under someone else’s control. After discussing how to restore the White Tiger and Qingyan, Qiu Wuji and Chu Ge began kissing while the White Tiger watched in bafflement.

• Qiu Wuji returned to Chu Ge’s hotel room and discovered that the tiny white kitten he was playing with was the White Tiger.
• Chu Ge explained that only a wisp of the White Tiger’s True Spirit was with them and that she had lost contact with her body, which someone else controlled.
• Qiu Wuji sparred briefly with the White Tiger and then let her play with a fluffy ball on the sofa.
• Chu Ge told Qiu Wuji that the Vermilion Bird was with Yan Qianlie in the southern swamps and that he planned to make a body for Qingyan.
• Qiu Wuji scolded and beat Chu Ge over his teasing, but the two eventually kissed while the White Tiger covered her eyes.

After resolving the Buddha Kingdom crisis, Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji considered resting and traveling in Indonesia, while Qiu Wuji wrestled with the approaching end of the book and her changing role in its story. Chu Ge then turned his attention to Yan Qianlie’s complaints and revealed a supreme treasure that Qingyan should wield.

• Qiu Wuji asked Chu Ge to stay in Indonesia and go sightseeing, and he agreed to contact Moon Shadow and take a day off.
• Qiu Wuji worried that she had become less useful in the story, and Chu Ge explained that he had taken on danger so she would not have to bear it.
• Yan Qianlie complained that the Vermilion Bird still possessed Qingyan’s soul and demanded Chu Ge act.
• Chu Ge told Yan Qianlie that supporting characters did not receive the same treatment as protagonists, then produced the Glazed Glass Lamp.
• Chu Ge explained that the Glazed Glass Lamp connected the Ghost Mansion and the netherworld and said Qingyan should wield it.

Chu Ge separated Qingyan from the Vermilion Bird and rewarded her with a powerful body made from an Innate Spiritual Treasure. He rebuilt Yan Qianlie with karmic fire, then took the still-recovering Vermilion Bird to the Mortal World while he prepared to deal with the Heavenly Emperor and the Dao Venerable.

• Chu Ge separated Qingyan's soul from the Vermilion Bird and gave Qingyan a feathered robe and a new body fashioned from an Innate Spiritual Treasure.
• Qingyan thanked Chu Ge and pledged to support him against the Heavenly Emperor, while Yan Qianlie waited for his own body to be restored.
• Chu Ge rebuilt Yan Qianlie's Red Dragon body and strengthened it with karmic fire, warning him to use it to burn away hell's sins alongside Qingyan rather than harm the living.
• Chu Ge asked the Vermilion Bird to come with him to the Mortal World, explaining that it would be safer there while she recovered.
• The Vermilion Bird questioned the Mortal World's safety, but Chu Ge took her with him and said they would address the Heavenly Emperor and Dao Venerable after he arranged matters.

Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji took the Vermilion Bird and White Tiger out in pet-sized forms, where the sacred beasts received the humiliating names Maltose and Cotton Candy. As they toured the city with Moon Shadow, Qiu Wuji suspected Chu Ge was gathering material for the mystery of the Dao Venerable and his supposed Thirty-Three Heavens.

• Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji accidentally sent the Vermilion Bird flying when Qiu Wuji mistook Chu Ge’s comment about his bird for a sexual joke.
• Chu Ge suggested taking the Vermilion Bird and White Tiger sightseeing, and Qiu Wuji eagerly carried the White Tiger out for breakfast.
• Moon Shadow met them in the hotel corridor, fed the White Tiger bread, and helped Qiu Wuji name it Cotton Candy; Chu Ge named the Vermilion Bird Maltose.
• Moon Shadow drove Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji around the city while Chu Ge said he wanted to gather material about local customs.
• Qiu Wuji asked Chu Ge whether he planned to use local legends as a template for the Dao Venerable’s supposed Thirty-Three Heavens, which was actually the netherworld.

During a market outing in Indonesia, Qiu Wuji realized Chu Ge might be turning the Dao Venerable’s Heaven Beyond Heaven into a Buddhist hell realm, while she wrestled with what it meant to become real beyond the book. She lost interest in researching local customs and returned her attention to Chu Ge, who gifted her a necklace and promised to keep her close.

• Qiu Wuji reasoned that the Dao Venerable’s Heaven Beyond Heaven might actually be the undeveloped Netherworld, which Chu Ge was shaping into a Buddhist hell realm through his research and writing.
• Qiu Wuji reflected on whether she wanted to escape the book and become a real person, and the kitten remarked that her sword had softened enough to curl around a finger.
• The Vermilion Bird teased Chu Ge about his research, prompting him to realize he could have asked the bird or consulted Brahma Temple’s texts instead of questioning stallholders.
• Chu Ge turned from the market stall and found Qiu Wuji looking at him tenderly, and she said she wanted to go back rather than keep exploring local customs.
• Chu Ge attached bells to the kitten and the Vermilion Bird, then fastened a platinum necklace around Qiu Wuji’s neck and whispered that he would keep her tied to him.

Qiu Wuji realized she wanted to return home with Chu Ge rather than keep traveling, and they left Indonesia after three days. Back home, Chu Ge began preparing to replace the Dao Venerable’s world while watching for the hidden Gu God, and Qiu Wuji took White Tiger and Vermilion Bird out to buy clothes.

• Qiu Wuji told Chu Ge she wanted to return home after they finished sorting the Brahma Temple scriptures, and he agreed to leave that afternoon.
• Moon Shadow asked about bringing their pets on the plane, but Chu Ge had already stored the cat and bird in his portable world.
• Chu Ge and Qiu Wuji flew home in early April, and Chu Ge scanned the Brahma Temple scriptures to begin secretly constructing the Dao Venerable’s Heaven Beyond Heaven.
• Chu Ge worried that the Gu God might emerge during future events and considered whether writing Ye Xiaozhu’s ascension would draw him out.
• White Tiger and Vermilion Bird questioned Qiu Wuji about Chu Ge’s home and the strange objects in it, so she took them out to buy cute clothes.

At the Comics Company, Qiu Wuji approved the design drawings and arranged for Zhu Mengmeng to care for the Vermilion Bird and learn from it. In North America, Zhong Yi listened to a Native American musician and was recognized as an immortal.

• Zhu Mengmeng admired Qiu Wuji’s kitten and Vermilion Bird, and Qiu Wuji explained that the bird could teach her the Southern Pole Immortality Emperor Scripture.
• Qiu Wuji agreed to let Zhu Mengmeng look after the Vermilion Bird temporarily, and Zhu Mengmeng happily accepted.
• Qiu Wuji approved the design drawings and decided to contact a construction crew before buying the materials herself.
• Zhong Yi watched a Native American performer play "The Last of the Mohicans" and replaced a coin after someone stole the money from the bowl.
• The performer told Zhong Yi that he was feeding dogs and said Zhong Yi should understand that better than he did, calling him an immortal.

Zhong Yi met a mysterious musician who recognized his immortality, then returned to the North America Base and learned the entertainment projects were gaining some traction. A supposed old friend named Bill Carter left a business card, hinting that the operation in North America was about to intensify, while Zhong Yi remained curious about the musician's identity.

• Zhong Yi praised the musician's performance and questioned how he had recognized Zhong Yi's immortality despite having no apparent esper ability.
• The musician explained that he had traveled the world and performed as a Mohican for artistic interest, then warned Zhong Yi that living outside society was little different from death.
• Zhong Yi followed the musician around a corner but found the street deserted, and he wondered what identity the man held in society.
• Zhong Yi returned to the North America Base, where employees reported that music sales were improving but the TV series, animation, comics, and books were struggling.
• An assistant gave Zhong Yi a business card from Bill Carter, who had claimed to be an old friend, and Zhong Yi suspected that developments in the search for the White Tiger were stirring up North America.