Chapter Summaries

Xingtian Shi revealed that Mount Kunlun was the half of the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension that remained rooted in the earth, and Lu Huaijin realized it was the source of the present crisis. As a monstrous Buddha head emerged from the ground, Wu Zhen deployed her Mechanical Demon God and cracked the black lotus protecting it.

• Xingtian Shi explained that the first Witch King transformed part of the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension into the Jianmu Cauldron, while the other half remained as a divine artifact rooted in the earth.
• Xingtian Shi revealed that the black mist, Gods and Devils, mountains, and waters were all part of the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension, and Lu Huaijin realized Mount Kunlun was the remaining half of the heavenly pillar.
• The black mist and lightning intensified around Mount Kunlun, and a pitch-black Buddha head rose from a fissure in the ground.
• Wu Zhen sent her ten great demon gods and Primordial Spirit to attack the Buddha head, but a black lotus repelled them.
• Wu Zhen summoned her Mechanical Demon God, whose mechanical arm cracked the black lotus, then revealed its full form as a faceless, hundred-armed behemoth.

Wu Zhen entered the mechanical demon god and faced the black demonic Buddha while the Ten Witches of Spirit Mountain debated the danger of fighting a Dao Proving One. Wu Xie invoked Great Xia’s gods, became the Shaman God, and broke through to the Dao Assimilator realm.

• Wu Zhen joined her ten demon gods with the mechanical demon god and entered its cockpit to confront the black demonic Buddha.
• Wu Peng warned that the mechanical demon god lacked the black Buddha’s undying properties, making Wu Zhen likely to lose in a prolonged battle.
• Wu Pan argued that the Ten Witches were already caught up in the catastrophe and had to fight, and Wu Xie declared the Dao Proving One their common enemy.
• Wu Xie opened his [Mind-Aspect Barrier], summoned the gods of Great Xia who answered his call, and declared himself the Shaman God.
• Wu Xie saw a figure at the end of time and space urging him to become one of the first Ancient Ones, then realized he had become a Dao Assimilator.

The black Buddha attacked Mount Changyang as the gods of Great Xia and the Xingtian Shi fought to hold it back. Xiluo explained to Luo Lan that the Buddha had four faces—greed, anger, delusion, and attachment—and that exposing all four might create a chance to kill it.

• The gods of Great Xia joined the Ten Witches of Spirit Mountain in attacking the black mist, easing pressure on Mount Changyang.
• The black Buddha emerged with massive arms, smashed Wu Zhen's mechanical demon god, and seized the horned serpent despite its attempts to evade and fight back.
• The Buddha revealed a face formed from the assimilated Xingtian Shi great witches, and Xiluo told Luo Lan that the clan had forgotten they ever existed.
• Luo Lan vowed to take revenge, and Xiluo showed him the Buddha's complete four-faced, six-armed form and explained its faces of greed, anger, delusion, and attachment.
• As the Xingtian Shi mobilized their defenses, Xiluo said greed and anger had appeared and that forcing out the other two faces could make the Buddha vulnerable.

As Luo Lan, Wu Zhen, and the "Horned Dragon" fought the demonic Buddha, Li Boyang discovered the hidden mastermind’s location and entered the [Heaven and Earth Ring] with Xu Jia to confront him. Xiluo stayed behind to contain the Buddha and told Xiao Ling that her dead grandpa would reincarnate, leaving open the prospect of Xiao Ling finding him and recovering her memories.

• Luo Lan attacked the demonic Buddha’s wrathful face, and Wu Zhen identified its head as its weakness before she and the "Horned Dragon" joined the assault.
• The three attackers forced the demonic Buddha to reveal its final face, but it began pulling itself out of the earth veins.
• Li Boyang told Xu Jia that the mastermind was hidden in the black mist and that his impatience to achieve Dao Proving had exposed him.
• Li Boyang reassured Xu Jia that Xiluo could keep the demonic Buddha from causing widespread destruction, then entered the [Heaven and Earth Ring] with him to seek the mastermind.
• Xiluo appeared on the steel aircraft carrier’s deck, where Xiao Ling asked whether her grandpa was alive.
• Xiluo told Xiao Ling that her grandpa was dead but would reincarnate, and that Xiao Ling could seek him out and might regain her memories.

Deep beneath Kunlun, Xu Jia fought a man who copied his Buddhist powers, while Li Boyang consulted Hao Jun’s reflection in the Haotian Mirror about the mysterious Mara. Hao Jun revealed Mara had meddled across multiple eras and was known in the future as the Enemy of the Buddha, leaving Li Boyang to consider the identity of the second-generation Heavenly Demon.

• Xu Jia explored Kunlun’s ancient earth-vein ruins and realized they contained the original Long Stairway of Divine Ascension.
• A sixteen-foot-tall black man confronted Xu Jia, copied his Buddhist abilities, and attacked him with the Great Majestic Virtue Hand Seal.
• Xu Jia and the black man clashed in the ruins, sending tremors through Kunlun’s earth veins and affecting the surface war.
• Li Boyang arrived at the crystal cluster and spoke with Hao Jun’s reflection in the Haotian Mirror, who denied causing the current events.
• Hao Jun identified Mara as a time-manipulating figure who had meddled in several events across history and appeared in future timelines.
• Hao Jun said Mara was also known as the Enemy of the Buddha and the Son of Great Sovereign Heaven, prompting Li Boyang to suspect a connection to the second-generation Heavenly Demon.

Li Boyang and Wu Jun discussed Mara’s ability to travel through time and space, then argued over Wu Jun’s ambition to claim the Dao of Primordial Beginning. The conversation ended with Li Boyang exposing that Wu Jun wanted to seize the Dao rather than let others prove it in his era.

• Li Boyang recalled Mara’s history of making enemies and questioned how he had gained the ability to move freely across eras.
• Wu Jun explained that Mara was a Dao thief who copied others’ Daos, concealed himself well, and escaped to other spacetimes when threatened.
• Wu Jun offered to let Li Boyang prove the Dao of Primordial Beginning in his era, but Li Boyang pointed out that Wu Jun would seize the Dao for himself.
• Li Boyang suggested Wu Jun had failed to prove the Dao and wanted a shortcut like Mara, leaving Wu Jun silent.
• Wu Jun’s ambition to become the unique endpoint of the Dao was revealed: he intended to prevent others from replicating his Dao and take it for himself.

Xingtian Shi reforged Ganqi from his own head and used it to behead Mara’s demonic Buddha. Mara then unleashed the remaining half of the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension, raising Mount Kunlun into the sky as Xingtian Shi and Great Xia’s gods prepared to strike.

• Xingtian Shi kicked the demonic Buddha down and formed Ganqi from his flying head.
• Xingtian Shi used Ganqi to cut off the demonic Buddha’s head, breaking through its black lotus and bronze bell.
• Xu Jia explained that Mara’s Dharma manifestation was vulnerable to the backlash of the evil thoughts it contained.
• Mara declared that the remaining half of the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension would make him unbeatable and caused Mount Kunlun to rise from the earth.
• Xingtian Shi roared as Wu Xie led Great Xia’s gods in pouring their Divine Power into him, and he raised Ganqi to strike.

Xingtian Shi shattered the floating continent and exposed the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension, where Li Boyang used Samadhi True Fire to melt the crystal pillar and sever Mara’s connection to it. Mara questioned whether he was truly himself or another Boshun, and Li Boyang forged the Heaven-Overturning Seal as it descended toward him.

• Xingtian Shi cleaved the floating continent apart with Ganqi, revealing the crystal pillar of the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension within Mount Kunlun.
• Lu Huaijin recognized Li Boyang at the pillar’s center, while Xiluo saw Samadhi True Fire emerge around him and ignite the crystal.
• Li Boyang’s flames began melting the pillar, and Mara felt his hard-won connection to the Long Stairway rapidly fade.
• Mara told Li Boyang he feared he was a pawn whose desire to escape his fate had been planted by another, and asked whether he was Mara or a second Boshun.
• Li Boyang recast the pillar with Samadhi True Fire, forming the Heaven-Overturning Seal, which descended toward Mara.

Mara was sent to the underworld and sentenced to serve as a prisoner in the Palace of Zhoujue Yin Heaven. On Mount Kunlun, Li Boyang refined the Wutian Mirror into the Kunlun Mirror, used it to restore the devastated land and resurrect the dead, then offered Xiluo a chance to test its power.

• Mara arrived at the Ghost Gods of the Six Heavens Palace and kowtowed to the Great Emperor of Fengdu, pleading to report for his sins.
• The Great Emperor of Fengdu assigned Mara to serve as a prisoner in the Palace of Zhoujue Yin Heaven, where he would help handle newly dead souls under Ox-Head and Horse-Face.
• After crushing Mara with the Heaven-Overturning Seal, Li Boyang retrieved the Wutian Mirror and renamed it the Kunlun Mirror.
• Li Boyang used the Kunlun Mirror to restore Mount Kunlun and resurrect the people and great shamans Mara had killed, returning their memories as well.
• Xiluo questioned whether the Kunlun Mirror was safe, and Li Boyang explained that it could break the spacetime paradox and offered to let her test it.

Jinhong, a powerful demigod, had stopped cultivating his body and begun secretly stilling his mind, while his mother Goddess Milun worried he might be involved with the Rebels. Yulü ambushed and killed Goddess Milun, claiming her death was necessary for history to follow its proper course.

• Jinhong had trained for nearly a century and become a formidable god of war, but he had recently abandoned body tempering to cultivate his heart.
• Goddess Milun wondered why Jinhong had changed and feared he had become involved with the Rebels.
• A fierce wind swept through Goddess Milun and cut her body into pieces.
• Yulü revealed himself, denied being a Rebel, and said Goddess Milun's identity made her death necessary for history.
• Yulü shattered Goddess Milun's head with his halberd.

Li Boyang returned from another disrupted journey through spacetime and realized Wu Jun had used the Wutian Mirror to draw him into a trap. He suspected Wu Jun was trying to achieve Prove Once, Prove Forever, leaving Xiluo asking what that meant.

• Li Boyang emerged in a mountain forest, bedraggled, while Xiluo teased him and Jinhong tempered his Dao Heart inside the Diagram of Mountains, Rivers, and the Land.
• Xiluo blamed Li Boyang’s reckless use of the Kunlun Mirror for their repeated trips through eras and the upheaval in the river of time, while Li Boyang reminded her that she had wanted to meet Wu Yao.
• Li Boyang concluded that Wu Jun had left the Wutian Mirror as bait, knowing Li Boyang would study it and eventually use it to travel through spacetime.
• Li Boyang said the Jade Disc of Creation could not restore order permanently and praised Wu Jun for anticipating his actions, though he still did not know where Wu Jun was hiding.
• Xiluo questioned why Wu Jun would provoke Li Boyang, and Li Boyang suggested Wu Jun was seeking Prove Once, Prove Forever by elevating the dimensions of every era under his rule.
• Xiluo asked Li Boyang what Prove Once, Prove Forever meant.

Xiluo and Li Boyang realized Wu Jun intended to use the Jade Disc of Creation to make his proven Dao and existence span past and present. Li Boyang then revealed that Jinhong was the Netherworld Lord’s reincarnation, and that a Dao Proving One from another spacetime had just killed his mother to preserve history.

• Xiluo inferred that Wu Jun planned to exploit turmoil in the river of time to attain a form of eternal proving through the Jade Disc of Creation.
• Li Boyang suspected Wu Jun already held some authority over the Jade Disc of Creation, explaining why the discs in different eras were out of contact.
• Xiluo blamed Li Boyang for relinquishing ownership of the Jade Disc, while he defended his pursuit of Refining Emptiness and Uniting with the Dao.
• Li Boyang asked Xiluo whether she knew Jinhong’s identity, and she described how she had trained him after learning he was the son of Goddess Milun and Shaohai.
• Li Boyang explained that Jinhong was the Netherworld Lord’s reincarnation and that a Dao Proving One from another spacetime had killed his mother to keep history on course.

Shentu fought Minghe, who had taken Changcheng’s identity, to stop him from claiming authority over the Netherworld. Their battle added to the chaos across eight hundred years, but Yulü killed Changcheng’s incarnation, preventing Minghe from attaining the Dao under that identity.

• Shentu confronted Minghe, disguised as Changcheng, at Yu Abyss and refused his offer to share Dao authority.
• Changcheng used a jade ruler to reveal Yu Abyss, and Shentu attacked him as the two battled across time.
• Minghes and Shentus from different eras joined the fight above the river of time, amid widespread battles between Dao Proving Ones.
• Yulü appeared in the West Sea, bound Changcheng with a reed rope, and destroyed his head with a golden halberd.
• Shentu told Minghe that Changcheng’s death ended his chance to attain the Dao under that identity and challenged him to produce another incarnation within eight hundred years.

Shentu and Yulü discussed the death of Goddess Milun and the struggle between Dao Proving Ones trying to preserve or disrupt history. They remained at Yu Abyss to guard the Netherworld Lord’s authority, uncertain what had happened to Hao Jun and hoping to endure the next five hundred years.

• After Minghe withdrew, Shentu asked Yulü whether he had killed Goddess Milun, and Yulü confirmed that no Dao Proving One had stopped him.
• Shentu and Yulü reflected on how the Orthodox Faction sought Milun’s death to awaken Jinhong as the Netherworld Lord, while the Chaos Faction tried to preserve her and disrupt history.
• Yulü wondered why Hao Jun had vanished and the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension had closed three hundred years earlier, while Shentu argued Wu Jun could not truly die as long as the Heavenly Emperor’s Capital remained.
• Shentu suggested Wu Jun might have closed the stairway to keep the Dao Ancestor out, but Yulü said it was unlikely that the stairway could stop the Dao Ancestor.
• Yulü reaffirmed that they had to hold Yu Abyss and prevent other Dao Proving Ones from stealing the Netherworld Lord’s authority, while Shentu hoped they could survive the remaining five hundred years.

Divine Lord Meng Zhang arrived in the chaotic era as a young azure snake and was confronted by Ink Qilin, who blamed him for excluding him from the Four Spirits of Heaven and Earth. Their quarrel became a battle, and Divine Lord Meng Zhang summoned the stars to overpower Ink Qilin.

• Divine Lord Meng Zhang emerged from an East Sea whirlpool and wondered whether Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, and White Tiger had also reached the era.
• Ink Qilin struck the whirlpool with lightning, then appeared and demanded that Divine Lord Meng Zhang stop pretending to be hurt.
• Ink Qilin accused Divine Lord Meng Zhang of excluding him from the Four Spirits of Heaven and Earth and challenged him to fight after five hundred years of growth.
• Divine Lord Meng Zhang told Ink Qilin that someone was using him as a spear and explained that Dao Proving in this era could secure his anchor in history.
• Ink Qilin refused to change his focus from defeating Divine Lord Meng Zhang, and Divine Lord Meng Zhang attacked him with the power of heaven, earth, and the stars.

Lu Ya and Great Golden Crow watched the Azure Dragon gather the power of the stars and considered how the shifting balance of history was empowering the Golden Crows and other Great Heavenly Deities. Great Golden Crow revealed that Hao Jun had vanished while pursuing Dao Proving, and warned that powerful gods were maneuvering for the Heavenly Emperor's throne.

• Great Golden Crow asked Lu Ya whether the Azure Dragon had appeared, and Lu Ya confirmed it while explaining how changes to history had strengthened the Golden Crows.
• Lu Ya wondered whether Great Golden Crow had also heard the Dao Ancestor's voice and considered whether his own future memories had awakened to balance the growing number of Dao Proving Ones.
• Great Golden Crow told Lu Ya that Hao Jun had disappeared three hundred years earlier after announcing his intention to achieve Dao Proving.
• Great Golden Crow explained that he and Heng'e had closed the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension, though Heavenly Deities could still travel between the Heavenly Realm and the mortal world.
• Great Golden Crow said Zaochi, Jiuying, Great Wind, and even Xiu Snake were stirring, then challenged Lu Ya's suggestion to consult Heng'e by asking whether she also wanted to become Heavenly Emperor.

Bai Ze approached Heng'e and offered to support her as a second Heavenly Emperor if Wu Jun failed to prove the Dao. He revealed that he had deduced the Rebels were transmigrators from the future, leaving Heng'e to confront how much he understood.

• Bai Ze told Heng'e that troubled times needed a decisive ruler and that he would acknowledge her as the second Heavenly Emperor if Wu Jun failed.
• Heng'e distrusted Bai Ze and questioned whether Wu Jun had sent him to test her and Great Golden Crow.
• Bai Ze called Heng'e the most powerful Rebel he knew, surprising her, and explained that he had recognized the Rebels' impossible knowledge and abilities.
• Bai Ze recounted how the Rebels described Divine Power as Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, called Wu Jun an obsessed Dao Proving One, and included infants with aged eyes among their number.
• Bai Ze concluded that the Rebels were transmigrators from the future and that Wu Jun's jealousy of a future wisdom-sharing figure had sparked the three-hundred-year upheaval.

Heng'e explained how Bai Ze had uncovered her identity, then discussed whether to ally with Divine Lord Meng Zhang. Bai Ze advised caution and urged her to recruit future allies who had not yet arrived in this era, leaving Heng'e considering whether Wangshu and Dayi would help her.

• Bai Ze told Heng'e that the Heavenly Emperor's unusual treatment of her and her efforts to save her sisters had revealed her identity to attentive observers.
• Heng'e asked Bai Ze whether the Azure Dragon among the stars could become their ally, indirectly accepting his proposal to join forces.
• Heng'e identified the Azure Dragon as Divine Lord Meng Zhang, ruler of the Seven Mansions of the East, and said he was connected to the Dao Ancestor in most timelines.
• Bai Ze advised Heng'e not to try to win over Meng Zhang and instead suggested recruiting Dao Proving Ones who had not yet arrived in this era.
• Heng'e thought of Wangshu and Dayi as potential allies, but doubted whether they would agree to help her.

Wangshu rejected Heng'e’s offer to help her prove the Dao of the Moon Demon, and Heng'e instead claimed that the Dao Ancestor might need Wangshu’s help in another era. In the aftermath of the War of Shooting the Suns, Li Xuandu arrived before Dayi, who recognized him as the Cause of All Effects.

• Wangshu refused Heng'e’s invitation and explained that she used subconscious suggestions and future possibilities to guide her own development.
• Heng'e changed her offer, saying she knew which era the Dao Ancestor was in and that he might need Wangshu’s help.
• Li Xuandu appeared in the era two years after the War of Shooting the Suns, where the aged Dayi worked among the fields.
• Nine golden dragons drew Li Xuandu’s purple carriage through time and space as he lamented arriving in the wrong era.
• Dayi recognized Li Xuandu as the Cause of All Effects, and Li Xuandu said he had once filled in part of Dayi’s life as Houyi.
• Dayi told Li Xuandu that his appearance before him was destined, rather than a mistake.

Li Xuandu realized he would reject the futures chosen for him and pursue a unique Dao of Cause and Effect, while Dayi explained that he recognized Li Xuandu because he shared his belief in being one irreplaceable self. Dayi’s thoughts left Li Xuandu contemplating identity and the impossibility of replacing another person.

• Li Xuandu understood that he could choose his own future rather than become the Primordial Beginning Heavenly King or the Heavenly Emperor’s incarnation.
• Li Xuandu decided to sever his cause and effect with Wu Jun and prove a unique Dao spanning past, present, and future, leaving only one Li Xuandu across all spacetimes.
• Li Xuandu questioned how Dayi had recognized him, and Dayi revealed that Li Xuandu was walking the path he had once wanted to take.
• Dayi said he hated his parallel selves and identified himself as the one true Dayi, a child of the Eastern Yi and Chang'e’s husband.
• Li Xuandu agreed that he could never be anyone else’s replacement, and Dayi concluded that no one could replace another person, even if they shared the same appearance, life, and thoughts.