Arc 9The Winter Calamity

Jiang Yang healed the gods, sealed the Cup of Corruption, and pursued the Flame Law while the Winter Calamity spread across the Mortal Realm. He sent his sword to save the Holy City, and as the Dragon War reshaped the south, Azure Dragon Aotian gathered Dragon Beasts and led them toward the Southern Nations Alliance.

  • Jiang Yang learned the Devil Ghost Race’s origins from Anber, then left the Mortal Realm after appointing church envoys and supporting the rebuilding of the Amit Kingdom.
  • Jiang Yang investigated the Poison of Faith, removed corruption from Aurora and afflicted gods, and established his Divine Court on Mount Tai with the Azure Emperor Battle Group.
  • Jiang Yang sealed the Cup of Corruption in the Abyss under the guard of Andrei and the Mettos Royal Clan, then entered seclusion to seek the Fifth Step.
  • As the Winter Calamity spread, Lirui'en knelt at Mount Tai to ask for the Holy City’s salvation, and Yusheng brought him to meet Jiang Yang.
  • Jiang Yang sent his Platinum Longsword with Lirui'en, and its power melted the ice and protected the Holy City across three thousand li.
  • The southern races hunted dragons for protection from Winter, provoking the Dragon Clan to attack and beginning the Dragon War.
  • Jiang Yang realized the Flame Law extended wherever fire existed, while Azure Dragon Aotian awakened Dragon Beasts, became the first Honorary Dragon King, and led their herds toward the Southern Nations Alliance.
Chapters 201–225 Vol. 3 Read

Ch. 201Forgiveness

Demon King Anber explained how the Devil Ghost Race’s ancestors escaped the Devil Army, settled in the Mortal Realm, and swore never to coexist with the Devils. Jiang Yang allowed the race to remain as long as it protected the world, then learned that the Immortal Lord had stopped Devil Master Satan from coming there.

  • Demon King Anber told Jiang Yang that his ancestors had abandoned the Devil Army’s cause, hidden in the Mortal Realm, and waited for the Gods to win the war.
  • Anber explained that the ancestors had intermarried with Humans, founded the Devil Ghost Race, and cursed their bloodline to oppose the Devils forever.
  • Jiang Yang ordered the Devil Ghost Race to honor its blood oath and protect the world, threatening to exterminate them if they violated his terms.
  • Jiang Yang asked why Devil Master Satan had not come to the world, and Anber said the Immortal Lord had stopped him.

Ch. 202Immortal Lord

Immortal Lord Li recovered from severe injuries after fighting the Fourth Epoch’s Devil Master, Satan, while warning his disciple Yao'er to cultivate for the coming Immeasurable Kalpa Calamity. A Flamebearer Envoy then arrived to pay his respects to Immortal Lord Li.

  • Immortal Lord Li gave a drop of his blood to a carp, transforming it into a golden little girl who thanked him.
  • Yao'er questioned why Immortal Lord Li had fought the Devil Master despite the Third Epoch Immortal Clan’s neutrality, and he told her she needed to cultivate to survive the Immeasurable Kalpa Calamity.
  • Immortal Lord Li said his injuries would take tens of thousands of years to heal and admitted that Satan remained more powerful than him despite losing the Supreme seat.
  • Immortal Lord Li wondered whether the Dao Ancestor favored someone else, then prepared to rest.
  • The Seventh Flamebearer Envoy under the Human Emperor appeared outside the floating mountain and paid his respects to Immortal Lord Li.

Ch. 203Planting the Seeds

After the God-Slaying War, Jiang Yang established his influence in the ruined town, spread his faith, and helped restore the Amit Kingdom. With the foundations of a holy city and new religious orders in place, he prepared to leave the Mortal Realm with the sleeping Aurora.

  • Jiang Yang sealed Aurora, smoothed the battlefield, and taught the Bronze Age leaders to spread the Divine Clan’s stories and warn him about evil gods.
  • Jiang Yang reclaimed the Sacred Relic from the Diria Lineage, weakening Gene I and prompting other leaders to expect Freyr Osman’s lineage to gain power.
  • Demon King Anber pledged the Devil Ghost Race’s faith to the gods, and Jiang Yang encouraged him before dismissing the leaders.
  • Believers gathered at the ruined town, where Jiang Yang built a Sacred Hall and appointed four devout believers as envoys with authority over different church duties.
  • The Osman Lineage and a survivor of the Amit Kingdom rebuilt the kingdom with Jiang Yang’s support, fulfilling his promise.
  • Jiang Yang held the sleeping Aurora and prepared to leave the Mortal Realm after planting the seeds of its future affairs.

Ch. 204Snow Domain Plateau

Jiang Yang returned with Aurora to the Great Snowfield Shelter and learned that Li Xiaowa and Qing Fengxi had gone into seclusion after being affected by the Poison of Faith. He reassured the shelter’s researchers that he would examine the afflicted Divine Clan members and see if he could wake them early, then asked what had happened after the outbreak.

  • Jiang Yang reached the Snow Domain Plateau and contacted the Great Snowfield Shelter using an old communication device.
  • Chen Jumang told Jiang Yang that Li Xiaowa and Qing Fengxi had entered seclusion over a thousand years earlier to heal from the Poison of Faith.
  • Jiang Yang and Aurora entered the underground shelter, where Chen Jumang and other researchers welcomed him back.
  • Jiang Yang reassured the researchers that he would examine their afflicted clansmen and try to wake them early.
  • Jiang Yang asked the researchers to explain what happened after the Poison of Faith broke out.

Ch. 205Pulling it out

Jiang Yang learned how the Poison of Faith devastated the Divine Clan and drove the surviving gods into hiding. After finding Aurora unconscious and realizing he might be able to draw corruption out of others, he began removing her corrupted divine core.

  • At a meeting of the Seven Great Refuges and Seven Divine Courts, Li Zhe proposed treatments for the Poison of Faith, but most gods—including Odin, Zeus, and Ra—chose to seal their Spiritual Seas rather than excise their divine cores.
  • As the Poison of Faith continued to spread, the weakened gods fought their corrupted kin, leaving the Divine Clan gravely injured and unable to protect the world.
  • The Divine Clan concealed their Divine Courts and the refuges went underground, while fallen warriors later entered the Mortal Realm and killed living beings.
  • Jiang Yang examined Li Xiaowa and saw her sealed divine core absorbing negative forces, inspiring him to consider drawing corruption out of others.
  • Jiang Yang had Chen Jumang prepare a laboratory, then used his divine sense to pull Aurora’s pitch-black divine core out of her body.

Ch. 206Trampling the Starry River for Countless Ages

Jiang Yang removed most of the Power of Corruption from Aurora by sacrificing his own Divine Core, and she awoke frightened but free of the corruption. He comforted her and resolved to seek out the unknown civilization responsible for the gods’ suffering.

  • Jiang Yang sealed Aurora’s corrupted Divine Core, then removed his own Divine Core to draw the corruption from her.
  • After several months, Jiang Yang cleared the final trace of corruption from Aurora, and she woke and told him about her fear and guilt.
  • Aurora asked whether she could still ride the wind to the North Sea and gaze at the Starsea, and Jiang Yang assured her she could rest and recover as a member of the Divine Clan.
  • Jiang Yang vowed to find and destroy the unknown civilization that had brought suffering to the gods.

Ch. 207The One and Only God

Jiang Yang removed the Divine Cores of the Divine Clan to protect them from the Poison of Faith, then established the Mount Tai Divine Court as Haotian Shangdi, the Bronze Age’s only God. He recruited mortal heroes and granted them Divine Clan bodies, founding the legion later known as the Azure Emperor Battle Group.

  • Jiang Yang traveled among the Divine Courts and shelters, removing and sealing the Divine Cores of the Divine Clan members afflicted by the Poison of Faith.
  • Jiang Yang beat several troublesome Gods, including Thor, Poseidon, Apollo, Anubis, and Shiva, and ordered them to recover in seclusion.
  • Jiang Yang visited the Far North Shelter, where Filiya embraced him while guarding Ania’s ice coffin.
  • Jiang Yang rebuilt a Divine Court on the mountain later known as Mount Tai and ruled the World Order as Haotian Shangdi.
  • Jiang Yang selected mortal believers of outstanding talent and character, granted them Divine Clan bodies, and formed his personal guard, the Azure Emperor Battle Group.

Ch. 208Guarding for Eternity

Jiang Yang went to the Abyss in the Far West and asked the Devil Ghost Race to guard a divine artifact containing corruption and evil. Andrei Mettos swore that his people would protect it for generations as Jiang Yang prepared to seal it at the Abyss’s bottom.

  • Jiang Yang surveyed the Abyss while his golden-armored guards stood watch nearby.
  • Andrei Mettos arrived with members of the Devil Ghost Race and pledged his loyalty to Jiang Yang.
  • Jiang Yang revealed a dark divine artifact called the Evil of This World, whose aura overwhelmed Andrei.
  • Jiang Yang ordered the Devil Ghost Race to guard the artifact after he sealed it at the Abyss’s bottom.
  • Andrei swore that his people and descendants would guard the place forever, and Jiang Yang noticed that the world was growing colder.

Ch. 209The Path to the Fifth Step

Jiang Yang sealed the Cup of Corruption in the Abyss and returned to Mount Tai to rest. After several quiet days, he prepared to take the fifth step.

  • Jiang Yang sealed the Cup of Corruption beneath a golden formation in the Abyss and entrusted Andrei and the Mettos Royal Clan with guarding it.
  • Jiang Yang thanked Andrei and the others, then stayed in the Methos Kingdom for a few days.
  • Jiang Yang returned to the Divine Court on Mount Tai and spent several days resting in solitude.
  • Jiang Yang picked up his Platinum Longsword and declared that it was time to take the fifth step.

Ch. 210Heavy snow

After thousands of years at the Fourth Step, Jiang Yang searched Mount Tai for the path to the Fifth Step while the world endured worsening cold and heavy snow. As the northern peoples fled south and fought for land, his protected Holy City remained warm, and the Dragon Clan began to rise.

  • Jiang Yang stood on Mount Tai and searched the elemental world for the source that might lead him to the emperor-rank Fifth Step.
  • The climate grew colder each year, driving northern races south and sparking bloody struggles over habitable land.
  • The Devil Ghost Race migrated south on the Western Continent and called themselves the God-Blessed Clan, guardians of the True God's treasure.
  • The Church ruled the Holy City, where Jiang Yang's lingering Divine Power kept the territory warm amid the frozen Northern Territory.
  • Frost-adapted races and beasts remained in the north, while Dragonkind multiplied and began to rise.

Ch. 211Winter

As Winter spread across the Mortal Realm, Jiang Yang spent a thousand years seeking the Dao on Mount Tai before entering the world of the Flame Law, where the flame ocean welcomed him. His power halted the snow around Mount Tai, while the Bronze People continued developing ways to resist the cold.

  • Winter advanced across the Mortal Realm, leaving the Holy City as the last refuge in the north while its outskirts began to see snow.
  • Jiang Yang remained in seclusion on Mount Tai for a thousand years, exploring an unknown world as he sought the Dao.
  • Jiang Yang entered the ocean of the Flame Law, and its flames stirred as if welcoming him as their long-awaited sovereign.
  • A phantom ocean of flames spread a thousand li around Jiang Yang, stopping snowfall over Mount Tai and raising the temperature there.
  • The Bronze People fought Winter by moving south and advancing their runes and technology, eventually developing technology related to dragons that could resist the bitter cold.

Ch. 212Dragons of East and West

The chapter traced the Western and Eastern Dragon Clans to their separate origins and described how they grew and interacted during the Bronze Age. The two clans gradually merged before the winter cataclysm descended.

  • Enkidu led the Western Dragons to Dragon Island, developed their clan, and later mysteriously disappeared during the Silver Age.
  • After Enkidu vanished, the Western Dragons spread across the continent and became a powerful race.
  • Li Xiaowa created five Yinglong, who bred dragon species until she beat them into restraining themselves.
  • When the Devil invaded, three Yinglong died in battle, while Azure Dragon and White Dragon remained in the Kunlun Divine Court to recover.
  • Descendants of the surviving Yinglong formed the Eastern Dragon Clan, which interacted and intermarried with the Western Dragon Clan during the Bronze Age.
  • The Eastern and Western Dragon Clans gradually merged before the winter cataclysm arrived.

Ch. 213The Holy City Was About to Vanish!

Lirui'en led a church delegation to Mount Tai to seek Jiang Yang’s help as the Holy City’s protective Divine Power dwindled and its million residents faced the city’s disappearance. Divine Court guard Mishang refused to let them approach Jiang Yang, even after Lirui'en and his followers knelt in desperation.

  • Lirui'en rebuked Edward for questioning whether Jiang Yang would bless their mission and insisted they trust their God.
  • The church’s Divine Power was being consumed faster, and the Holy City risked vanishing within decades, prompting the church to send Lirui'en to seek help.
  • Lirui'en’s party crossed the fiery region around Mount Tai and met Divine Court guard Mishang at its foot.
  • Lirui'en asked Mishang to let him ascend the mountain and meet Jiang Yang, but Mishang refused because Jiang Yang was in seclusion.
  • Lirui'en knelt and pleaded for the million people in the Holy City, but Mishang angrily forbade the delegation from going to Mount Tai’s summit.

Ch. 214Let them kneel for now

Lirui'en and the Punishment Knights sought permission to ascend Mount Tai and appeal to Haotian, but Yusheng refused to let them pressure the Divine Court. He sent Mishang to investigate the trouble in the Holy City and left Lirui'en and his companions kneeling at the mountain's foot.

  • Mishang rejected Lirui'en's request to ascend Mount Tai, and Lirui'en kowtowed nine times while his knights remained kneeling.
  • Lirui'en rebuked his anxious knights and told them to keep kneeling, insisting the Divine Court Guards would not abandon their successors.
  • Mishang told Yusheng that Lirui'en had come from the Holy City to seek an audience with Haotian.
  • Yusheng recalled Lirui'en's past sacrifice and ordered Mishang to go to the Holy City and learn what had happened.
  • Yusheng told Mishang to let Lirui'en and his knights keep kneeling for now.

Ch. 215Going in Person

Lirui'en and his followers endured months of kneeling at Mount Tai, hoping to see a god, while the Holy City suffered as winter rapidly spread. After hearing how dire the city's situation had become, Yusheng decided to take the remaining believers to seek an audience with His Majesty.

  • Lirui'en and the believers continued kneeling at Mount Tai, though most eventually left and only Qingqiu, Taoshan, and Shouyang remained beside him.
  • Several months later, Mishang returned and found Lirui'en and the three young men still kneeling beneath Lingluo's falling Fire Maple Leaves.
  • Yusheng asked Mishang about the Holy City, which had lost territory, food supplies, and many residents to the worsening Winter Calamity.
  • Yusheng ordered Mishang to bring the believers up so he could personally take them to seek an audience with His Majesty.

Ch. 216Ascending the mountain

After kneeling at the foot of Mount Tai for half a year, Lirui'en and his three companions were summoned by Lord Yusheng. They climbed to the summit and met him beneath a Fire Maple tree.

  • Mishang arrived and observed that half a year of kneeling had left Lirui'en and the three young knights worn and dusty but strengthened in will.
  • Lirui'en asked whether Lord Yusheng would grant them an audience, and Mishang said that Yusheng wished to see them.
  • Lirui'en and his companions struggled to their feet, recovered, and followed Mishang up Mount Tai.
  • The group climbed the white stone steps until dusk, when they reached a pavilion and level ground near the summit.
  • Lirui'en and the others bowed to Lord Yusheng, who stood beneath a Fire Maple tree in golden armor.

Ch. 217Yusheng

Yusheng welcomed Lirui'en as a fellow descendant of an ancient lineage after recognizing the Li Lineage mark on his hand. He revealed that he was the last member of the Borli Lineage and ended by giving his full name: Yusheng Borli.

  • Yusheng recognized Lirui'en as a just and noble knight commander.
  • Yusheng identified the fox mark on Lirui'en's hand as the Li Lineage emblem.
  • Yusheng said the Li and Borli ancestors had been close friends and that the Li Lineage once had divine blood.
  • Yusheng revealed that he was an orphan and the last member of the ancient Borli Lineage, whom His Majesty had brought to the Divine Mountain.
  • Yusheng gave his full name, Yusheng Borli, and welcomed Lirui'en as a friend from the Li Lineage.

Ch. 218An audience

Lirui'en met Yusheng Borli and discovered their lineages were bound by an ancient oath. After answering Yusheng’s questions and pledging everything to his god, Lirui'en was invited to meet His Majesty.

  • Lirui'en recognized Yusheng Borli as a descendant of the oathbound Borli Lineage and paid him the lineage’s traditional courtesy.
  • Yusheng asked why Lirui'en wanted to save the Holy City instead of leading the Li Lineage south, and Lirui'en said he was protecting his god’s people.
  • Yusheng asked whether Lirui'en would devote everything to his god, and Lirui'en vowed to give even his life without hesitation.
  • Yusheng invited Lirui'en to follow him to the summit and have an audience with His Majesty.

Ch. 219Wield My Divine Sword

Lirui'en and the other believers reached Jiang Yang during his breakthrough to ask him to save the Holy City from the Winter Calamity. Jiang Yang gave Lirui'en his Platinum Longsword and told Yusheng to seek Xiaowa's help if mortals could not handle the calamity themselves.

  • Yusheng reassured Lirui'en and the others that Jiang Yang would welcome them regardless of their appearance, then led them to Mount Tai's peak.
  • Lirui'en and the three young knights knelt before Jiang Yang and sang a hymn, while Yusheng explained that the believers had an urgent request.
  • Lirui'en pleaded for Jiang Yang to save the Holy City, and Yusheng explained that the Winter Calamity had overwhelmed the north and threatened the city.
  • Jiang Yang, unable to leave his breakthrough, sent his Platinum Longsword to Lirui'en and declared that it would protect everything within three thousand li.
  • Jiang Yang told Yusheng to find Xiaowa if mortals could not save themselves, and Yusheng worried that he could not rely on the Bronze People.

Ch. 220Southbound Travelers

After obtaining the divine sword at Mount Tai, Lirui'en and his companions traveled north through the snow toward the Holy City, sheltered by the sword’s warmth. In the south, a young church knight arrived in Lunling City and saw a modern city whose technology relied on dragons, as headlines reported new discoveries, escalating conflict, and the Holy City’s looming destruction.

  • Lirui'en and his companions left Mount Tai carrying the Platinum Longsword and bowed to the mountain before heading into the snow.
  • The Platinum Divine Sword radiated golden light that drove away the cold and snow, allowing the group to continue toward the Holy City.
  • Lirui'en saw dragons thriving in the northern winter and wondered whether the South Nations had learned to resist the cold through dragons.
  • A young church knight from Mount Tai entered Lunling City and marveled at its steam-powered vehicles, factories, airships, and dragon-powered heating crystals.
  • The knight bought a copy of Lunling Monthly and read headlines about captive dragon breeding, rising tensions with the Dragon Clan, a Dragon-Eating Potion, and the Holy City’s imminent destruction.

Ch. 221The Sacred Fire Shone Bright, Its Way a Great Light!

Lirui'en returned to the Holy City carrying the Platinum Divine Sword, and the people gathered there prayed for their god’s protection. The sword released Jiang Yang’s power, driving back winter and restoring warmth across three thousand li around the city.

  • Lirui'en and his companions reached the frozen outskirts and saw that the nearby village had been encased in ice.
  • Lirui'en led the group to the Holy City, where High Priest Vivian reassured the refugees and recognized the divine radiance around them.
  • The citizens welcomed Lirui'en and the Platinum Divine Sword with hymns as he carried it to the altar.
  • Pope Yuanhua, Lirui'en, Vivian, and Leides knelt and prayed with the people for Haotian Shangdi to protect the Holy City.
  • The Platinum Divine Sword released Jiang Yang’s will and power, melting the ice and driving winter back across three thousand li.

Ch. 222Dragon War

As the survivors gathered in the Holy City’s Saint Domain, the southern kingdoms hunted dragons for protection from the Winter Calamity. After the Morningstar Kingdom killed a true Yinglong and used its crystal to shield its capital, the enraged Dragon Clan attacked the south, beginning the Dragon War.

  • The Holy City gathered just over a million Bronze People in the Saint Domain, where survivors founded villages and began building a sacred kingdom.
  • The southern races learned that dragon blood, flesh, and crystals could help them withstand the Winter Calamity, and began hunting dragons in large numbers.
  • The Morningstar Kingdom’s king and more than a dozen Third Step Magic Potion powerhouses killed a Third Step Yinglong and brought its crystal to the capital.
  • The Morningstar Kingdom hung the dragon crystal above the city, shielding it from Winter and provoking the Dragon Clan.
  • The Dragon Clan attacked the southern Mortal Realm and slaughtered an entire city, declaring war on the living beings of the world.
  • The southern kingdoms and myriad races united against the Dragon Clan, beginning the conflict later called the Dragon War.

Ch. 223Dragon King

The Southern Nations Alliance used Rune Technology and Steam Technology to defeat the true dragons, killing or capturing hundreds and driving the survivors back to Dragon Island and the Crystal Palace. As the alliance considered attacking Dragon Island, Ao Tian investigated the dragons’ defeat and found a way to turn their fortunes around.

  • Mortals armed with Rune Technology and Steam Technology killed a true dragon on the battlefield, shocking the continent’s powerhouses.
  • The Southern Nations Alliance pushed the true dragons out of the myriad races’ territories and killed or captured five hundred dragons in a major battle.
  • Dragon knights emerged, and cities displayed true dragon crystals to provide protection from the Winter Calamity.
  • The surviving true dragons retreated to Dragon Island and the Crystal Palace as the Southern Nations Alliance considered a campaign against them.
  • Ao Tian set aside the Dragon Clan’s pride, studied the reasons for their defeat, and found an opportunity to reverse their disadvantage.

Ch. 224The Origin of Dragon Might

Jiang Yang comprehended the fifth step of the Flame Law and realized that it was present wherever fire existed. On the Great Wilderness Snowfield, Azure Dragon Aotian demonstrated the early form of Dragon Might before a gathering of draconic creatures, intending to bring them under his sway.

  • Jiang Yang opened his eyes in the Flame World and declared that he understood what made the fifth step special.
  • Jiang Yang realized that the Flame Law extended through endless worlds wherever fire existed.
  • Azure Dragon Aotian struck an imposing pose on the snowfield, displaying the qualities he had developed into his self-named ultimate technique.
  • Azure Dragon Aotian revealed the embryonic Dragon Might that later dragons would possess instinctively.
  • Azure Dragon Aotian faced the gathered draconic creatures, intending to make them submit.

Ch. 225The Path of Dragon Beasts

Azure Dragon Aotian used a potion and dragon blood to awaken the intelligence of Dragon Beasts, then organized them into forces under his command. The Dragon Clan honored him as its first Honorary Dragon King, and months later the Dragon Beasts marched toward the Southern Nations Alliance as a new war began.

  • Azure Dragon Aotian gathered Dragon Beasts across the Northern Continent and tried to recruit them as his army.
  • Aotian used his potion to awaken the Dragon Beasts’ ancestral intelligence and bound the cleverest ones to him with dragon blood.
  • Aotian’s intelligent Dragon Beasts spread across the Northern Continent, drawing attention from the Holy City and the Dragon Clan elders.
  • The Dragon Clan named Aotian its first Honorary Dragon King, with the title King Who Bestowed Fire in the Bronze Age.
  • Months later, true dragons herded endless Dragon Beast herds out of Winter and toward the Southern Nations Alliance.
Arc 9 of 34