Chapter Summaries

Rain Master used the swollen waterways to challenge Wuzhiqi’s forces, while Wuzhiqi joined the battle against Heaven-Eroding Lord. Heaven-Eroding Lord revealed a Taiji Domain that made him its sovereign, and Wuzhiqi declared that their fight was Li Boyang’s only chance to defeat him.

• Rain Master turned the waterways into a whirlpool that overwhelmed nearby enemies and challenged Tide-Swallowing Clan’s control.
• Rain Master tried to provoke Wind Earl by reminding him of his former freedom, but Wind Earl ignored him.
• Wuzhiqi arrived at the battlefield and ordered the battered Huoji to retreat before confronting Heaven-Eroding Lord.
• Heaven-Eroding Lord expanded his Taiji Domain, strengthening himself and weakening his opponents as Wuzhiqi recognized the new order within it.
• Heaven-Eroding Lord concluded that Wuzhiqi was not Guhuo Bird, and Wuzhiqi confirmed that Huoji was not truly his son’s counterpart either.
• Wuzhiqi told the watching Li Boyang that Heaven-Eroding Lord would only fuel his strength and warned that this was Li Boyang’s sole chance to defeat him.

Li Boyang revealed that he intended to use Wuzhiqi’s flood disaster to draw in and eliminate the rogue water gods, while the Heaven-Eroding Lord kept Wuzhiqi occupied. The Heaven-Eroding Lord then trapped Wuzhiqi inside the Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land.

• Li Boyang told Xiluo that defeating Wuzhiqi was only part of his plan and that he meant to eliminate the cruel water gods responsible for perpetuating the floods.
• Li Boyang explained that he would keep Wuzhiqi alive and let his banner attract more evil gods, including escaped ghost gods, so they could be dealt with together.
• Wuzhiqi overheard Li Boyang’s ambition and challenged the Heaven-Eroding Lord over the risks of their plan.
• The Heaven-Eroding Lord said his role was to pin Wuzhiqi down and invited him to reveal Guhuo Bird’s whereabouts in exchange for leniency.
• The Heaven-Eroding Lord and Wuzhiqi exchanged blows, intensifying the flood and threatening the Hundred Lands Mountain Range.
• The Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land expanded and swallowed Wuzhiqi.

Li Boyang used the [Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land] to trap Wuzhiqi while the Heaven-Eroding Lord fought him inside. The Rain Master and Kunyu exploited the distraction to attack the seal holding the Tufang Clan, as Wuzhiqi and the Heaven-Eroding Lord escalated their battle with overwhelming strength and competing clones.

• Li Boyang fully unfurled the [Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land], revealing its vast power and trapping Wuzhiqi with the Heaven-Eroding Lord inside.
• The Rain Master struck back the four guardian gods and ordered Kunyu to act while Wuzhiqi was occupied.
• Kunyu shattered the Guifang Kingdom's ancestral temple altar with a pillar, and the Wind Earl warned that the Tufang Clan's seal was breaking.
• Kunyu refined underground mineral veins into metal spikes that erupted through Cliff Settlement City, causing widespread casualties.
• Wuzhiqi formed a gigantic cudgel from earth veins, but the Heaven-Eroding Lord's Taiji Domain converted and returned his force.
• Wuzhiqi sent out countless clones to test the Taiji Domain, and the Heaven-Eroding Lord split into black and white forms to fight them with Yin-Yang fish.

Li Boyang took Xiluo toward Wuzhiqi while explaining that Roaring Heaven Clan, not Tufang Clan, was the deity Wuzhiqi truly feared because he had no weak link. The chapter left Roaring Heaven Clan stripped of the Guifang Kingdom’s people and sacrifices, apparently choosing to become a natural phenomenon rather than serve Wuzhiqi.

• Li Boyang used a fast Earth Escape technique to take Xiluo away from the mountain god’s temple and promised to teach her the technique after they dealt with Wuzhiqi.
• Li Boyang asked Xiluo which heavenly deity Wuzhiqi had feared most during his invasion of the Guifang Kingdom, and Xiluo named Tufang Clan.
• Li Boyang explained that Wuzhiqi had exploited Tide-Swallowing Clan’s and Tufang Clan’s weaknesses, but had defeated Roaring Heaven Clan through strength alone.
• Xiluo concluded that Roaring Heaven Clan stood apart from the other Gods of the Five Directions because he had no obvious weakness and balanced divinity with humanity.
• Li Boyang explained that Wuzhiqi slaughtered and enslaved the Guifang Kingdom’s population to sever Roaring Heaven Clan’s faith and sacrifices.
• Li Boyang said Roaring Heaven Clan had lost his personhood and appeared to have chosen to become a natural phenomenon rather than serve under Wuzhiqi.

Li Boyang explained that he could not destroy all the gods at once, so he planned to awaken the Roaring Heaven Clan and give it the strength to hunt them down over time. He brought Xiluo to Cliff Settlement City, where Kunyu and Xuan Ta were preparing to free the Tufang Clan, leaving Xuan Ta awaiting their next move.

• Li Boyang told Xiluo that gods could escape the Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land, making it impossible to wipe them all out at once.
• Xiluo realized Li Boyang planned to use the Roaring Heaven Clan to avenge the Guifang Kingdom and kill the gods responsible for its destruction.
• Li Boyang said he would awaken the Roaring Heaven Clan from dormancy and give it strength, using a suitable target nearby.
• Li Boyang brought Xiluo to Cliff Settlement City, where Wuzhiqi's forces besieged the ancestral temple altar as the sealed Tufang Clan began to take shape under Kunyu's protection.
• Xuan Ta used his skull staff to soothe the Tufang Clan's anger and asked Kunyu how much longer they would have to wait.

Li Boyang told Xuan that sacrificing his soul could restore Roaring Heaven Clan, and Xuan eagerly accepted. Roaring Heaven Clan then joined with Tufang Clan, became the wind of the netherworld, and began hunting down Wuzhiqi’s forces as Li Boyang’s effort to quell the flood began.

• Li Boyang arrived with Xiluo and explained to Xuan that Roaring Heaven Clan could be revived through a sacrifice that would cost Xuan his life.
• Xuan agreed without hesitation to sacrifice his soul to bring Roaring Heaven Clan back.
• Roaring Heaven Clan reappeared amid the storm and circled the ancestral temple altar as Rain Master’s defenses faltered.
• The altar exploded, freeing Tufang Clan, and Roaring Heaven Clan joined with him through the power of the Taiji Diagram.
• Roaring Heaven Clan became the wind of the netherworld and slaughtered Wuzhiqi’s fleeing subordinates.

Li Boyang and the Rain Master discussed the battle unfolding in the [Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land], and Li Boyang gave him a book as payment before the Rain Master departed. Li Boyang then took Xuan’s remaining skeleton and set out with Xiluo and Kunyu to witness Wuzhiqi’s endgame.

• The Rain Master told Li Boyang he would not get involved in what came next and accepted a book containing guidance and the 'Perception Method.'
• The Rain Master asked Kunyu to travel with him, but Kunyu chose to remain in the Hundred Lands Mountain Range, and the Rain Master departed alone.
• Xiluo asked what Li Boyang would do with Xuan’s crystalline skeleton; she refused to add it to her collection, so Li Boyang stored it in his shadow.
• Li Boyang invited Kunyu to witness Wuzhiqi’s endgame, and Kunyu agreed, saying he would like to bash the Heaven-Eroding Lord if he got the chance.
• Li Boyang said the Heaven-Eroding Lord was their ally for now and predicted that Wuzhiqi would ultimately pay for his arrogance.

Li Boyang revealed that he had trapped Wuzhiqi inside the [Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land] and used Wuzhiqi’s greed and concern for Huoji to bring him to the final confrontation. He restrained Wuzhiqi with the Shadow Baleful Intent Dharma Aspect and unleashed an arsenal of weapons, blasting Wuzhiqi’s body apart.

• The world inside the [Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land] collapsed into pure energy, and Li Boyang appeared with Xiluo and Kunyu as the Heaven-Eroding Lord withdrew.
• Li Boyang told Wuzhiqi that his greed for the diagram and his concern for Huoji had allowed the plan to succeed.
• Wuzhiqi admitted Li Boyang had exploited his weakness, but declared he could still win by killing him.
• Wuzhiqi attacked Li Boyang, but the Shadow Baleful Intent Dharma Aspect blocked his blow and bound him with its tentacles.
• Li Boyang explained that the diagram could be upgraded, then transformed its Shadow Baleful Intent Dharma Aspects into mechanical weapons.
• Li Boyang’s barrage left Wuzhiqi howling in agony and blasted his body to pieces.

After witnessing Li Boyang defeat Wuzhiqi with modern weapons, Huoji met Yin Fei, a fully transformed Guhuo Bird who explained his connection to her and forced him to trade his memories of the Method of the Celestial Person for help awakening a power of foresight. Yin Fei left Huoji alive and expected him to grow stronger, while he vowed to kill her.

• Huoji watched Li Boyang destroy Wuzhiqi and feared that machine guns and cannons could let mortals challenge the gods.
• Yin Fei appeared before Huoji and revealed that she had once been a Night-Wandering Woman and that Wuzhiqi had implanted a fragment of her soul into him.
• Yin Fei explained that Huoji's mother had sacrificed herself to prevent her children from becoming Guhuo Bird incarnations, and that Wuzhiqi's attempt to resurrect her was doomed.
• Yin Fei awakened Huoji's potential to foresee fortune and calamity, demanding his memories of the Method of the Celestial Person in return.
• Huoji vowed to kill Yin Fei, but she welcomed the possibility as proof that the Guhuo Bird had grown stronger.

Li Boyang failed to track Huoji, whose strange ability to evade divination remained unexplained, and focused instead on how to control the Huai River flood. In the flooded Baling Kingdom, Xuanyu received Chi’s River Chart and Luo River Book from a Human-Faced Fish and resolved to help rebuild the kingdom.

• Li Boyang determined that Huoji could somehow sense divination and change his plans, though he had not cultivated a Primordial Spirit.
• Li Boyang and Xiluo discussed their lack of information about Huoji and Wuzhiqi as Li Boyang considered how to control the flood upstream.
• Xuanyu found a village where residents used channels, windmills, and waterwheels to divert floodwaters.
• Xuanyu spoke with a Human-Faced Fish and learned that Chi had sent it to teach flooded villages water-management methods.
• The Human-Faced Fish gave Xuanyu the River Chart and Luo River Book, and Xuanyu vowed to help rebuild the Baling Kingdom and honor Chi and the Great Arbiter of Fate.

Lu Huaijin struggled to relate to her classmates as Li Jingshu warned her that her exceptional intelligence could attract jealousy, then took her to see Flying Peak. Meanwhile, the old village chief scolded Qiwa for remaining unmarried, and reflected on how much village life had improved.

• Li Jingshu explained that Lu Huaijin's name referred to precious jade and warned her that her intelligence could invite jealousy, then dismissed the class and arranged to take her to Yunmeng Marsh to see Flying Peak.
• The old village chief arrived to deliver lunch and learned from Qiwa that Li Jingshu had left, prompting him to complain about her thoughtlessness and lack of suitors.
• The old village chief berated Qiwa for not marrying, but Qiwa insisted through his actions that he would not deceive a wife or choose someone who looked down on his father.
• Qiwa escaped the old village chief's scolding by handing out the children's free meals, while the old village chief reflected on how village life had changed over the past decade.

Li Jingshu discovered that Lu Huaijin had secretly learned talisman seal script and made a working revolver, then confiscated both the weapon and her talismans. As they hurried toward Li Household Village using the talismans, Li Jingshu reflected on how roads and water transport had transformed the Hundred Lands Mountain Range.

• Li Jingshu stopped on the road and made Lu Huaijin empty her pockets.
• Li Jingshu found Lu Huaijin's handmade revolver and talisman seal script, and Lu Huaijin explained that she had secretly learned by listening to lessons.
• Li Jingshu scolded Lu Huaijin for studying ahead and making a revolver, while Lu Huaijin complained that she had not been taught the Speech Talisman Incantation.
• Li Jingshu reflected on the mountain villages' growing prosperity and the role of roads and water transport in connecting them.
• Li Jingshu confiscated the revolver and talismans, then applied Light Body and Divine Movement Talismans to Lu Huaijin and sped off with her.

Li Jingshu and Lu Huaijin entered Yunmeng Marsh and saw how Li Boyang used bound ghosts and gods to maintain its artificial islands and unusual ecosystems. The chapter also recounted Li Boyang’s efforts to share medicinal knowledge and literacy with mountain folk and spirit creatures, who had come to recognize him as a sage.

• Li Jingshu and Lu Huaijin reached Yunmeng Marsh’s misty interior with the help of talismans.
• They saw bound ghosts and gods maintaining the waterways and hundreds of artificial floating islands created by Li Boyang.
• Li Boyang cultivated unusual species and materials on extreme-environment islands for pill and artifact refining.
• Li Boyang promoted medicinal herbs for cultivation and helped mountain folk sell them beyond the Hundred Lands Mountain Range.
• Li Boyang distributed practical illness manuals to mountain folk and spirit creatures to encourage treatment and literacy.
• The mountain folk, spirit creatures, and deities came to acknowledge Li Boyang as a sage.

Li Jingshu brought Lu Huaijin to Flying Peak in Yunmeng Marsh, where they encountered the recently awakened God-Binding Cord and Xiao Gui. After Xiao Gui discovered Lu Huaijin’s transformed Heavenly Eye, she gave the girl a protective talisman as a first-meeting gift.

• Li Jingshu flew toward Flying Peak with Lu Huaijin, passing golden lights from the God-Binding Cord that the ghost gods avoided.
• Xiao Gui told Li Jingshu that the God-Binding Cord had thrown a tantrum and nearly overturned Xiluo’s treasury while trying to taste food.
• Xiao Gui noticed Lu Huaijin, and Lu Huaijin’s Heavenly Eye opened, briefly revealing Xiao Gui’s spider-woman form.
• Li Jingshu explained that Lu Huaijin’s progress in the Perception Method had caused her Heavenly Eye to undergo its first transformation.
• Xiao Gui gave Lu Huaijin a crystal-silk ghost-faced spider talisman that warded off ordinary spiders and briefly protected against poison.

Li Jingshu brought Lu Huaijin up Flying Peak, where Li Boyang was teaching ghosts and gods through a voice of the mind. As his lessons expanded from cultivation methods to the nature of the Dao, Lu Huaijin struggled to absorb his ideas, while Li Boyang urged his listeners to keep seeking truth rather than cling to fixed answers.

• Li Jingshu led Lu Huaijin up Flying Peak on foot and told her not to be surprised by what they encountered.
• Lu Huaijin saw ghosts and gods sitting quietly along the path, listening to Li Boyang expound the Dao through a voice of the mind.
• Li Boyang explained cultivation methods, describing how deities could quiet their minds, awaken their spirituality, and develop beyond the limits of the flesh.
• As they climbed, Lu Huaijin heard Li Boyang teach subjects ranging from divine abilities and crafts to the underlying nature of the Dao.
• Li Boyang described the Dao as the source and law underlying all things, urged the deities to pursue paths suited to themselves, and warned them not to cling to fixed names or answers.

Li Boyang taught the ghosts and gods of Yunmeng Marsh while Xiluo slept through his discourse, then explained his mind-reading Divine Ability to her. He revealed that Lu Huaijin’s talent could help her learn it faster, while Xiluo remained hostile to Li Boyang’s decision to take her as a disciple.

• Li Jingshu brought Lu Huaijin to Ghost God Cliff, where they saw Li Boyang expounding the Dao from the altar.
• Li Boyang’s monthly discourse rewarded ghosts and gods who had worked well, as part of his effort to reform them and eventually let them leave Yunmeng Marsh.
• Xiluo woke after the discourse and asked Li Boyang when she could learn his mind-transmission Divine Ability.
• Li Boyang explained that the Discerning the Hidden Subtleties of Others' Minds · Barrier-Free Communication Divine Ability used the Primordial Spirit and that Lu Huaijin’s talent would make it easier to learn.
• Xiluo criticized Li Boyang for taking Lu Huaijin as his disciple, while Lu Huaijin accepted that Xiluo might still kill her.

Xiluo explained that Li Boyang’s growing ability to hear believers’ voices was part of advancing toward godhood and suggested Yunmeng Marsh as a place for him to become a god. After complaining about the bizarre Human-Faced Fish statues made in his image, Li Boyang considered whether godhood could coexist with his Way of the Celestial Person and looked beyond the Hundred Lands Mountain Range for guidance.

• Xiluo told Li Boyang that his many believers and the converging water veins of Yunmeng Marsh could help him advance to godhood.
• Li Boyang blamed Chi for the Human-Faced Fish spreading stories that led people to make statues of him, and Xiluo teased him about their strange designs.
• Li Boyang complained that some villagers had imagined him as a crimson, three-eyed book with sharp fangs.
• Xiluo explained that gods could usually choose which believers’ voices to hear, but Li Boyang’s inability to block them might stem from not yet being a god.
• Li Boyang wondered whether becoming a god conflicted with his Way of the Celestial Person and sought an answer beyond the Hundred Lands Mountain Range.

Wu Yi and Yue traveled toward the fallen Guifang Kingdom, where a village had raised a statue of the Arbiter of Fate. As they entered the devastated land, Wu Yi discovered that the lingering Wind of the Netherworld and the aftermath of battles between Heavenly Deities had made the kingdom nearly uninhabitable.

• Wu Yi and Yue saw a village statue of the Arbiter of Fate, and Yue said the prophet might not want to become a god.
• Wu Yi recalled the prophet's many achievements and said they could make him a candidate to succeed Wu Yi as the future common sovereign.
• Yue explained that the Wind of the Netherworld was the Roaring Heaven Clan, who targeted Wuzhiqi's followers and troublesome water gods but left outsiders alone unless they provoked him.
• Wu Yi and Yue entered Guifang Kingdom and found flood-damaged rivers, swamps, and collapsed riverbanks across the land.
• Wu Yi discovered that remnants of battles between the Roaring Heaven Clan, the Tide-Swallowing Clan, the Tufang Clan, and Wuzhiqi had disordered the region's earth veins, water veins, and primordial Qi.

Wu Yi and Yue reached the Hundred Lands Grand Canal and saw the mountain folk’s advanced vessels carrying goods toward the outside world. Their journey was interrupted when Yan Xiaojun, the mountain god of River Pillow Peak, sensed them and prepared a lightning attack with his enormous metal bow.

• Wu Yi and Yue skirted Cliff Settlement City and reached the border between the Guifang Kingdom and the Hundred Lands Mountain Range.
• Yue recognized the Hundred Lands Grand Canal as the former Thread of Sky, while Wu Yi observed that the mountain folk had turned it into a trade route.
• Wu Yi explained that the mountain folk’s ships carried cargo for trade and marveled at how much they had advanced.
• Wu Yi and Yue sensed an approaching threat, and Yue formed a fire dragon to shield them.
• Yan Xiaojun detected the pair at River Pillow Peak, forged a giant metal bow, and summoned a lightning arrow with a Thunder Method Talisman Seal Script.

Yan Xiaojun attacked Wu Yi and his companion with lightning arrows, while the Left Path Primordial Spirit shielded them from the first strike before being overwhelmed. Yan Xiaojun continued firing as the pair was driven toward the mountain peak.

• Yan Xiaojun's lightning arrow collided with the fire dragon formed by the Left Path Primordial Spirit, creating a huge explosion above the Grand Canal.
• The mountain folk fled the gods' battle and prepared to defend their boats from spirits and monsters, using crude talisman launchers.
• Wu Yi recognized Yan Xiaojun's lightning attack as an altered form of his Thunder Method Witchcraft Incantation and realized the arrow's force made it especially powerful.
• Yan Xiaojun's arrow overwhelmed the Left Path Primordial Spirit, and one of the figures crashed into the mountain peak.
• Yan Xiaojun fired more lightning arrows toward Wu Yi and his companion, filling the sky with lightning.