Chapter Summaries

Xu Qi'an and Great Feng's Transcendents battled the Buddhist powerhouses at Aranda while new allies confronted Salun Agu outside the capital. The chapter ended with Wei Yuan meeting Arhat Du'e on the western outskirts.

• Jialuoshu summoned his Vajra Dharma Idol and wrestled Shenshu's idol while Xu Qi'an was stalled by Guangxian's compassion domain and Daoist Jinlian was targeted by Nalan Tianlu.
• Sun Xuanji rescued Jinlian from Nalan Tianlu's lightning, while Asuro pursued the Rain Master and the two fought to a stalemate.
• Liuli trapped Li Miaozhen, Zhao Shou, and the others in her Formless Liuli Domain, but Xu Qi'an broke it with his sword and led the Transcendents toward Aranda's main hall.
• Shenshu's black Dharma Idol destroyed Jialuoshu's golden Vajra Dharma Idol, prompting Xu Qi'an and his allies to continue their assault on the Buddhist bodhisattvas.
• Luo Yuheng, Huaiqing, and Yang Gong faced Salun Agu, Wuda Baota, and Yierbu outside the capital, and Yang Gong repositioned the fighters before the battle began.
• Kou Yangzhou stopped his carriage when Arhat Du'e appeared, and Wei Yuan stepped out to greet him.

Wei Yuan tried to recruit Arhat Du'e to spread Mahayana Dharma in the Central Plains, and Du'e agreed to consider it. At Aranda, Great Feng’s Transcendents coordinated an attack on Jialuoshu, but a great sun began rising before Xu Qi'an and Shenshu could strike him.

• Wei Yuan invited Arhat Du'e into his carriage, discussed the Buddhist Order’s opposition to Mahayana Dharma, and offered to make Du'e State Preceptor and let him establish the state religion in the Central Plains.
• Du'e said he needed to consider Wei Yuan’s offer, and Wei Yuan arranged for Kou Yangzhou to fight him without exposing a possible alliance to Aranda.
• At Aranda, Shenshu, Xu Qi'an, and Asuro pressed their attack on Jialuoshu while Bodhisattva Liuli and Guangxian used their Dharma Idols to hinder the attackers.
• Nalan Tianlu, Daoist Jinlian, Li Miaozhen, the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, Sun Xuanji, and Zhao Shou helped counter the Buddhist powers, allowing Asuro to seize Jialuoshu while Xu Qi'an and Shenshu closed in.
• As Xu Qi'an and Shenshu prepared to strike Jialuoshu, a great sun slowly rose deep within Aranda.

The Buddha’s Mahavairocana Tathagata Dharma Idol devastated the attackers at Aranda, forcing them to flee while confirming that the Buddha’s power and condition might be limited. Using the Pagoda Treasure Tower to conceal Xu Qi'an’s divine sense inside the Bear King, Xu Qi'an reached Chan Grove, where a cry for help sounded beside the Bodhi Mother Tree.

• Mahavairocana Tathagata’s Dharma Idol illuminated the battlefield, severely injuring Xu Qi'an, Shenshu, and the Buddhist Bodhisattvas while Sun Xuanji teleported the other Transcendents away.
• The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox revived Li Miaozhen, Zhao Shou, Sun Xuanji, and the others, and they concluded that the Buddha’s intervention had confirmed their suspicions about his condition.
• Rain Master Nalan Tianlu healed his burns and regretted that his injuries prevented him from exploiting the battle to kill Xu Qi'an.
• Xu Qi'an’s divine sense used the Pagoda Treasure Tower to control the Bear King and travel to Chan Grove, carrying out his plan to investigate the sealed grounds.
• Xu Qi'an reached the Bodhi Mother Tree, saw the broken stones that showed the Confucian Sage’s seal had been broken, and heard a cry for help.

Xu Qi'an found Bodhisattva Faji's remaining soul trapped in the Bodhi Tree and learned that Faji believed Shenshu was the Buddha and had eaten him. Meanwhile, Shenshu reached the Demon-Suppressing Ravine and tried to free his head from a living cavern, whose walls attacked him.

• Xu Qi'an found Faji's face in the Bodhi Tree, and the tower spirit used the Great Wisdom Dharma Idol to restore Faji's awareness temporarily.
• Faji said that the Buddha was Shenshu, that Shenshu had eaten him, and that the being was not the Buddha before his soul faded back into a vacant state.
• Xu Qi'an drew Faji's soul from the tree with the Heaven-Encompassing Divine Mirror and sent it into the Pagoda Treasure Tower.
• Jialuoshu saw what appeared to be Xu Qi'an's burned corpse, then moved to attack him as Liuli and Guangxian joined forces against him.
• Shenshu entered the Demon-Suppressing Ravine and found his head embedded in a fleshy wall, where two voices argued over whether it would return to his body.
• Shenshu tried to pull his head free, but the cavern's walls transformed into living flesh and sent tentacles toward him.

Asuro rescued Xu Qi'an from the Bodhisattvas, and Xu Qi'an recovered enough to fight his way into the Demon-Suppressing Ravine and reach Shenshu. With Shenshu trapped inside Buddha's living body and the Bodhisattvas moving to stop him, Xu Qi'an used Jade Shatters to wound Buddha.

• Asuro used the Worthy of Offerings Fruition to pull Xu Qi'an from the Bodhisattvas' attack, then used decoys and a shadow technique to escape with him.
• Xu Qi'an revived, taunted the three Bodhisattvas, and headed for the Demon-Suppressing Ravine while Asuro retreated.
• Xu Qi'an evaded Jialuoshu and Liuli with Empathy and Shadow Gu Arts, then entered the ravine as Aranda's fleshly body awakened.
• Xu Qi'an found Shenshu trapped inside Buddha's flesh, with Shenshu's head still embedded in the wall, and tried to force open the entrance.
• The Bodhisattvas attacked Xu Qi'an to prevent him from reaching Shenshu, but he used Jade Shatters to make Buddha roar in pain.

Xu Qi'an’s Jade Shatters disrupted the Buddha’s suppression of Shenshu, allowing Shenshu to reclaim his head and restore his true body. As Shenshu and the Buddha took shape as opposing giants, Xu Qi'an vanished just as the Buddha began forming the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Idol.

• Xu Qi'an used Jade Shatters to wound the Buddha and interrupt His suppression of Shenshu.
• Shenshu pulled his head free, reattached it, and awakened as a Half-Step Martial God.
• Shenshu broke through the Buddha’s flesh and appeared as his two-hundred-zhang Vajra Dharma Idol.
• Jialuoshu, Guangxian, and Bodhisattva Liuli transformed a little black dragon with their blood essence and sent it into the mountain of flesh.
• The Buddha gathered the golden flesh into a seated form facing Shenshu, then began forming the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Idol.
• Xu Qi'an used Shadow Jump and vanished before the Buddha’s great sun could rise.

Shenshu and Xu Qi'an joined forces to shatter the Buddha’s Mahavairocana Tathagata Dharma Idol with the Confucian Sage’s Carving Knife, then withdrew from the ruined Aranda. Afterward, the allies debated the Buddha’s identity and power, and learned that Shenshu and Xu Qi'an had awakened.

• Shenshu endured the Buddha’s Mahavairocana Tathagata Dharma Idol until Xu Qi'an fused with him, lending him strength and the Undying Tree’s spiritual essence.
• Zhao Shou explained that Xu Qi'an could unleash the Confucian Sage’s Carving Knife because he could control the nation’s Fate, and Shenshu used the weapon to destroy the Buddha’s Dharma Idol.
• Xu Qi'an and Shenshu retreated from Aranda while the wounded Buddha and the surviving Bodhisattvas remained behind, and Nalan Tianlu recorded the battle’s revelations.
• On the Mountain of Ten Thousand Demons, Li Miaozhen and the others discussed the Buddha’s limited use of Dharma Idols, his flesh-mountain form, and what might have weakened him.
• Qingji announced that Shenshu and Silver Gong Xu had awakened.

Shenshu explained how the Buddha created him and how the Buddhist Order betrayed the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons, while Xu Qi'an suspected the Buddha needed Bodhisattva Faji's wisdom to remain lucid. After returning to the capital with the Transcendents, Xu Qi'an visited Arhat Duqing beneath the Star Observation Tower and asked whether he had killed the ancient corpse in Yongzhou.

• Shenshu revealed that the Buddha had joined part of His soul with the dying Asura King's remnant, creating Shenshu, and sent him to convert the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons.
• Shenshu recounted meeting the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, becoming her consort, and returning to the Buddhist Order after she agreed to make the kingdom its vassal.
• Shenshu said the Buddha broke His promise and led a massacre of the demons, then explained that the Buddha's Mahavairocana Dharma Idol was a hidden link that kept Him in control of Shenshu.
• Xu Qi'an reasoned that the Buddha had wanted Bodhisattva Faji's Great Wisdom Dharma Idol to preserve His sanity, and Daoist Jinlian agreed to restore Faji's remaining soul.
• Xu Qi'an took the injured Transcendents back to Great Feng and led them beneath the Star Observation Tower to see Arhat Duqing.
• Xu Qi'an asked Arhat Duqing whether he had killed the ancient corpse in the underground palace outside Yongzhou City.

Xu Qi'an deduced that the Buddha was the Dao Venerable’s Human Sect avatar, who had founded the Buddhist Order after shedding his body and keeping Fate as a trump card. Arhat Duqing tacitly admitted that he had been sent to silence the ancient corpse, and Xu Qi'an asked Daoist Jinlian how the tomb’s owner had stripped away his Fate.

• Xu Qi'an linked Arhat Duqing to the ancient corpse’s death and argued that the tomb’s owner had erased the corpse’s spiritual intelligence to conceal evidence.
• Xu Qi'an identified the tomb’s owner as the Dao Venerable’s Human Sect avatar, and Daoist Jinlian agreed that the murals and the avatar’s survival supported the deduction.
• Xu Qi'an and the others connected the Buddha’s creation of Shenshu to the tomb’s creation of the ancient corpse through One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones.
• Daoist Jinlian explained that the Human Sect avatar had gathered Fate by usurping the throne, then used Heavenly Tribulation to shed his body after discovering that Fate prevented immortality.
• Xu Qi'an concluded that the Buddha had sought to reclaim the jade seal’s Fate through attempts to capture him, and Arhat Duqing tacitly admitted the Buddhist Order had sent him to silence the corpse.
• Xu Qi'an asked Daoist Jinlian how the tomb’s owner had stripped away his Fate.

Xu Qi'an and Wei Yuan prepared for the Buddha’s likely retaliation by discussing alliances and a search for a way to advance, while Arhat Du'e returned to the ruins of Aranda. The chapter ended with an unknown voice asking Du'e who had defeated him.

• The Daoist, Li Miaozhen, and Asuro discussed the costly body-shedding method and the urgent threat posed by the Shaman God and the Gu God.
• Nalan Tianlu reported the Western Regions battle to Salun Agu, who worried that Xu Qi'an might eventually join Shenshu as a Half-Step Martial God and discussed the Buddha’s strange state.
• Xu Qi'an told Wei Yuan that the Buddha was the Dao Venerable’s Human Sect avatar, and Wei Yuan urged him to prepare for the Buddha’s retaliation by forming alliances with Du'e and the Shaman God Cult.
• Wei Yuan advised Xu Qi'an to go out to sea and seek descendants of the Gods and Devils as a path toward greater strength.
• Xu Qi'an told Wei Yuan that the Gu God had said Wei Yuan was originally chosen to become the Central Plains’ First Rank Martial Warrior, and Wei Yuan accepted the choice of Xu Qi'an instead.
• Du'e returned to find Aranda in ruins and thousands of monks mourning the dead, then heard an unknown voice ask who had defeated him.

After witnessing the Buddha’s power, Xu Qi'an reflected on the limits of martial strength before news from the Directorate of Astronomy interrupted him. Meanwhile, the Superintendent explained ancient secrets to Desolation, and the arcanists began contesting who would lead the Directorate in his absence.

• Arhat Du'e learned that the Buddha had forbidden Mahayana preaching and would summon Western Regions believers to a Dharma Assembly at Aranda after autumn began.
• Xu Qi'an described the Buddha’s overwhelming power to Luo Yuheng, then heard that something had happened at the Directorate of Astronomy.
• The Superintendent told Desolation that the Buddha had created a Half-Step Martial God in an attempt to escape the Confucian Sage’s seal and advance to Martial God.
• Desolation described the destructive power of Transcendent Rank beings and said he had backed down rather than fight Xu Qi'an.
• At the Directorate of Astronomy, Protector Yuan declared that the absent Superintendent’s position belonged to him, while the arcanists’ factions gathered to compete for leadership.

Xu Qi'an and Huaiqing oversaw the Directorate of Astronomy’s election for a new Superintendent, and Chu Caiwei unexpectedly won. The chapter ended with the Superintendent reflecting that Chu Caiwei had been the most dependable choice among his disciples.

• Xu Qi'an and Huaiqing arrived at the Eight Trigrams Platform and proposed electing a Superintendent by vote, with each term lasting three years.
• Sun Xuanji, Yang Qianhuan, Song Qing, Zhong Li, and Chu Caiwei presented themselves as candidates, though Zhong Li abstained.
• Xu Qi'an counted the votes and announced that Chu Caiwei had won with 123 votes, ahead of Song Qing, Sun Xuanji, Yang Qianhuan, and Zhong Li.
• While traveling with Desolation, the Superintendent discussed the possibility that the Shaman God had once been a human slave of Hexagram.
• Huaiqing asked whether Xu Qi'an had predicted Chu Caiwei's victory, and he said the other candidates had ignored his advice to win support.

Chu Caiwei won the Directorate of Astronomy election and Huaiqing threatened anyone who challenged the result, while Xu Qi'an returned to his household routine. Later, Huaiqing asked Xu Qi'an to judge potential husbands for her, and he called for a great hero worthy of her, prompting her to ask whom he meant.

• Huaiqing confirmed Chu Caiwei as Superintendent for a three-year term and warned that anyone who rejected the result would be imprisoned.
• Xu Qi'an resumed his routine, while Li Miaozhen returned to the capital and heard Li Lingsu describe the conflicts among the women in Xu Qi'an's household.
• Li Lingsu gave Li Miaozhen a stolen Human Sect cultivation manual and suggested she could dual cultivate with Xu Qi'an to counter Karmic Fire, but she threw it into a flower bed and left.
• The Holy Son searched the flower bed for the manual but could not find it.
• Huaiqing showed Xu Qi'an portraits of men proposed as her potential husbands, but he dismissed them as unworthy of her.
• Huaiqing asked Xu Qi'an to name the great hero worthy of her.

Xu Qi'an heard the Gu God’s cryptic warning through Xu Lingyin after his growing closeness with Huaiqing unsettled the Xu household. The message left him wondering what “autumn dew” meant and what great calamity required someone to become Gu.

• Huaiqing invited Xu Qi'an to spend time with her, and he began visiting the palace daily while Wei Yuan sent silver to support Mahayana Dharma in the Western Regions.
• Baiji sensed tension among the women at the Xu Residence, while Xu Lingyin told Lina that the Gu God had spoken to her but admitted she had forgotten his words.
• Huaiqing and Xu Qi'an discussed the Xu household and its marriages before a messenger summoned him back home.
• Xu Qi'an used Xu Lingyin as a medium to contact the Gu God, who warned that without becoming Gu, he could not escape the great calamity and mentioned “autumn dew.”
• Xu Qi'an sent a message to the Earth Book group asking what the Gu God’s warning meant.

After the Gu God’s words led Xu Qi'an and the Heaven and Earth Society to suspect that the Buddhist Order’s Dharma Assembly at the start of autumn was tied to the great calamity, Xu Qi'an spent the day with his family. That night, a warning from the nation’s fortune sent him into a dream of powerful, ominous beings, and he woke drenched in sweat.

• Xu Qi'an and the Heaven and Earth Society discussed the Gu God’s references to Autumn Dew and becoming Gu, connecting them to the Buddhist Order’s Dharma Assembly and the prophecy that the Nine Provinces would become a world of Gu.
• Daoist Jinlian concluded that the Gu God was warning Xu Qi'an about the Buddhist Order’s plans at the start of autumn and might want him to sabotage the Buddha’s scheme.
• Xu Qi'an left the group chat and joined his family for dinner, where Xu Lingyin was tricked into eating green tangerines brought home by the Xu men.
• After Xu Qi'an and Lin'an finished dual cultivation, a warning from the nation’s fortune prompted him to sleep and dream of a great sun, a cloud-formed face, blood-red eyes, and a distorted shadow.
• Xu Qi'an woke from the shattered dream drenched in cold sweat and gasping for air.

After learning that the Shaman God and Gu God could break free by the end of the year, Xu Qi'an gathered the Heaven and Earth Society and announced he would sail overseas to seek a way to become a Half-Step Martial God. The next day, the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox offered to accompany him, leaving his preparations for the voyage underway.

• Xu Qi'an inspected the cracked Confucian Sage statues in Jingshan City and the Southern Frontier, then rejected Salun Agu's prediction that he was doomed.
• Xu Qi'an told the Heaven and Earth Society that the Transcendent Ranks could return by year's end and said he would set out to sea for up to three months to pursue Half-Step Martial God.
• Xu Qi'an urged the others to strengthen themselves and prepare to flee overseas if he failed to advance, then bade them farewell for three months.
• The next day, Xu Qi'an asked the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox for an overseas map, and she admitted the demons had none but offered to sail with him.

Xu Qi'an and the Nine-Tailed Fox sailed toward Merfolk Island to seek information about descendants of Gods and Devils. They reached the island and found a dead merfolk guard, suggesting the merfolk were in trouble.

• Xu Qi'an asked the Nine-Tailed Fox about the overseas world and learned that Merfolk Island was their first waypoint.
• The Nine-Tailed Fox described the merfolk and explained the dangers of exploring unfamiliar sea routes.
• After several days at sea, Xu Qi'an noticed his Earth Book Fragment had nearly lost contact with the other fragments.
• The Nine-Tailed Fox spotted Merfolk Island and suggested asking its inhabitants about underwater settlements of descendants of Gods and Devils.
• A mutilated merfolk guard's corpse floated toward the boat, and the Nine-Tailed Fox identified her as one of the queen's personal guards.

Xu Qi'an and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox captured a deranged Flood Dragon whose body carried a jumble of incomplete innate abilities, then turned it into Xu Qi'an’s puppet. They headed toward Merfolk Island to learn what had caused its condition, and a merfolk appeared before them.

• Xu Qi'an and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox deduced that a Transcendent predator had killed the merfolk guard and was still prowling nearby.
• The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox caught a savage Flood Dragon, and the pair cut it apart before Xu Qi'an used the Seven Absolutes Gu to make its soul his subsidiary Gu.
• Xu Qi'an sensed that the Flood Dragon possessed chaotic, jumbled innate abilities, and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox found that its body patterns were incomplete abilities that might have driven it mad.
• Xu Qi'an proposed visiting Merfolk Island to ask the Merfolk Queen about the Flood Dragon and other nearby descendants of Gods and Devils.
• A lovely dark-green-haired merfolk surfaced nearby, and Xu Qi'an reached out to seize her.

Azi returned to Merfolk Island and reported that a human had subdued the Flood Dragon threatening the merfolk. The queen, still recovering and planning to lure the monster away so her people could hunt, learned that the threat might already be under control.

• Xu Qi'an questioned a merwoman and learned that a powerful descendant of the Gods and Devils had attacked Merfolk Island and injured the queen.
• Xu Qi'an revealed that he had subdued the Flood Dragon and asked the merwoman to take him to the queen.
• In the capital, Luo Yuheng advised Chu Yuanzhen to explore the connection between Intent Nurturing and the Human Sect's Karmic Fire.
• Azi returned to Merfolk Island, where hungry merfolk asked about the Flood Dragon; she told them it had been killed.
• Azi met the queen, who planned to lure the Flood Dragon away so the merfolk could hunt, and reported that a human had subdued it.

The Merfolk Queen, Pearl, learned that the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox and Xu Qi'an had subdued the evil Flood Dragon, ending the Merfolk’s crisis, and welcomed them to Merfolk Island. At a banquet, Pearl explained that the Flood Dragon had once pursued her, and the Nine-Tailed Fox asked how he had gone mad.

• The Merfolk Queen recognized the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox and, after hearing that Azi had seen her outside, went to welcome her and her companions.
• The queen announced that friends from afar had subdued the evil Flood Dragon, and the Merfolk celebrated their deliverance.
• Luo Yuheng used her horsetail whisk to expose Chu Yuanzhen to the seven emotions and teach him to turn them into Sword Intent, then sent him away from the Numinous Treasure Temple.
• The Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox introduced Xu Qi'an to Pearl and revealed that he was a First Rank Martial Warrior, prompting Pearl to greet him with deference.
• At a banquet on Merfolk Island, Pearl said the Flood Dragon had ruled Dragon Island and pursued her, and the Nine-Tailed Fox asked what had driven him mad.