Chapter Summaries

Bodhisattva Liuli learned that the Gu God could not foresee a way to avoid the coming calamity, while Xu Qi'an brought the Gu Race leaders and Great Feng's allies together to seek a path to Martial God. The chapter ended as Xu Qi'an called on Teacher Yang to offer the first plan.

• The Gu God told Bodhisattva Liuli that the calamity left him only the possibility of replacing the Heavenly Dao or perishing, and that he needed to peer into the future.
• Xu Qi'an led the Gu Race leaders northward, and Long Tu ordered the Strength Gu tribespeople to prepare to leave for Great Feng.
• Xu Qi'an summoned Great Feng's Transcendent experts and key figures to the imperial study for a meeting about advancing to Martial God.
• Sun Xuanji arrived with Protector Yuan, who read the assembled experts' thoughts and exposed their reluctance to welcome him.
• Xu Qi'an warned that the great calamity would arrive within three months and asked the gathered leaders for a plan to bring forth a Martial God.

Xu Qi'an and the Transcendents searched for a way to complete his Half-Step Martial God advancement, then turned to ancient artifacts for answers. At the Extreme Abyss, the Gu God revealed that the Confucian Sage had known how to advance to Martial God.

• Xu Qi'an described his Half-Step Martial God condition, but Sun Xuanji found no formation patterns inside him, and Huaiqing concluded that only Xu Qi'an could see them.
• Daoist Jinlian suggested the patterns might be credentials for becoming the Gatekeeper, while the others debated how heaven and earth could complete them.
• Wei Yuan asked where the name Martial God came from, and Zhao Shou confirmed that the Confucian Sage had left no recorded explanation.
• Heaven Gu Granny pointed the group toward the Carving Knife and the Confucian Crown as artifacts that might know the answer.
• At the Extreme Abyss, the Gu God told Bodhisattva Liuli that the Confucian Sage was one of only two people in history who knew how to advance to Martial God.

Xu Qi'an and the others searched for a way to learn how to advance to Martial God, concluding that the Carving Knife might hold the answer and that Zhao Shou could unlock it after advancing to Second Rank. As Heaven Gu Granny glimpsed the future, she suddenly rose and looked south.

• Zhao Shou explained that the Confucian Sage had sealed the Carving Knife after it repeatedly rejected his writing, while the Confucian Crown had never spoken since it gained consciousness from the Sub-Sage's study of a cautious-speech copybook.
• Zhao Shou said he might undo the Carving Knife's seal after advancing to Second Rank, or the Superintendent might know how to bypass it and communicate with the artifact.
• Shadow and the others proposed that the Superintendent had prepared Xu Qi'an to become Martial God, and they debated whether Fate was necessary; Li Lingsu suggested Xu Qi'an gather Huaiqing's Fate through dual cultivation, angering Li Miaozhen and Luo Yuheng.
• The Gu God urged Bodhisattva Liuli to go overseas and have Desolation kill the Superintendent, while the Nine-Tailed Fox abandoned her attempt to reach him at the Ruins of Return and left with the Merfolk Queen.
• Wei Yuan and Luo Yuheng concluded that the Carving Knife was likely the Superintendent's hidden clue to advancing to Martial God, and Huaiqing instructed Zhao Shou to seek its knowledge once he reached Second Rank.
• Heaven Gu Granny glimpsed the future, then abruptly stood and looked south.

Xu Qi'an recorded the Gu Race’s migration, his friends’ lives, and the Nine Provinces’ worsening crisis in a diary that ended with a reflection on his past and the people he loved. On the thirteenth day of the tenth month, Zhao Shou arrived at the Sub-Sage’s Hall at Cloud Deer Academy.

• Heaven Gu Granny said she had foreseen puzzling events but could not reveal details, and Huaiqing ordered the Gu tribes to complete their migration north and prepare for the great tribulation.
• Long Tu reunited with Mosang at the palace’s southern gate, knocked him down for shouting about his rank, and left with Lina after seeing his son’s pride as an imperial guard.
• Xu Qi'an’s diary recounted the Gu Race’s resettlement, changes among his family and friends, and the Shaman God’s spreading power as the great tribulation approached.
• Xu Qi'an wrote his final diary entry, recalling how he had changed and describing what he felt for the women in his life.
• Zhao Shou climbed the steps to the Sub-Sage’s Hall at Cloud Deer Academy.

Zhao Shou became a Second Rank Great Confucian and broke the Carving Knife’s seal. The artifact revealed that ascending to Martial God required gathering fate and gaining recognition from all under heaven and from heaven and earth.

• Zhao Shou welcomed the Sub-Sage back to court, and the Sub-Sage’s clear light raised him to the Second Rank.
• Zhao Shou tested his new power and learned that his Words Become Law lasted longer and that he could influence a dynasty’s fate.
• Zhao Shou used the Sub-Sage’s Confucian Crown and the statue’s power to break the Carving Knife’s seal.
• The Carving Knife complained about being sealed by the Confucian Sage for over twelve hundred years, then asked Zhao Shou why he had freed it.
• Zhao Shou asked how to ascend to Martial God, and the Carving Knife recalled that the prerequisite was to gather fate and the two conditions were recognition from all under heaven and from heaven and earth.

Xu Qi'an learned the conditions for advancing to Martial God and discovered that Xu Lingyin carried the Seven Absolutes Gu, while the Gu God emerged in the Southern Frontier. The chapter ended with Long Tu urging the chiefs to warn Xu Qi'an as the Gu God's power spread across the region.

• Xu Qi'an consulted the Carving Knife, which explained that he needed more Fate and recognition from all under heaven and heaven and earth to advance to Martial God.
• Xu Qi'an told the Heaven and Earth Society about the two conditions, then privately informed Huaiqing that gathering Fate was also a prerequisite.
• The Carving Knife sensed the Gu God in Xu Lingyin and warned that the Gu God might turn her into Gu or project his will through her; it failed to open her mind to learning.
• The Confucian Sage's statue shattered in the Extreme Abyss, and the Gu God's power spread through the Southern Frontier, mutating its creatures into mindless Gu.
• Long Tu and the other chiefs sensed the Gu God's emergence and hurried to notify Silver Gong Xu.

After the Gu God emerged from the Extreme Abyss, He went south and then out to sea instead of attacking Great Feng, while His influence transformed the Gu Race leaders. Xu Qi'an restored the leaders, and the Buddha ordered the Bodhisattvas to attack the Central Plains just as Shenshu warned Xu Qi'an that the Buddha had arrived.

• Chun Yan and the other Gu Race leaders watched the Gu God emerge from the Extreme Abyss, and His power caused the leaders and nearby Gu Gods to mutate.
• Xu Qi'an met Heaven Gu Granny and learned that the Gu God had gone south while the leaders had turned into Gu; he absorbed the excess power from Long Tu, Ba Ji, Shadow, Chun Yan, and You Shi, restoring them.
• Heaven Gu Granny confirmed that the Gu God had gone out to sea, matching the vision she had previously seen.
• In Aranda, the Buddha ordered Jialuoshu, Guangxian, and Bodhisattva Liuli to attack the Central Plains.
• The Heaven and Earth Society discussed why the Gu God had gone overseas, and Xu Qi'an received a warning from Shenshu that the Buddha was there.

As the Buddha confronted Shenshu at the border, Huaiqing urged Xu Qi'an to return to the capital and gather Fate so he could advance to Martial God. Xu Qi'an left preparations against the Buddha to others and returned to Huaiqing, while Li Miaozhen said goodbye to the poor siblings she had been helping and Hengyuan and Du'e hurried west.

• Xu Qi'an told the Heaven and Earth Society that the Buddha was facing Shenshu, and Huaiqing proposed that the Buddha and Gu God might be coordinating their actions.
• Huaiqing urged Xu Qi'an to gather Fate and prepare to advance to Martial God; he told Shenshu to stall for time and sent the Gu Race's leaders toward Leizhou.
• Huaiqing ordered a bath after sending Xu Qi'an back to the capital.
• Li Miaozhen gave silver to poor residents in Sanhuang County, said goodbye to a youth and his sick younger sister, and left him a note urging him to do good.
• After hearing that something had happened in Leizhou, Hengyuan and Du'e left Azure Dragon Temple and headed west.
• Xu Qi'an teleported into Huaiqing's private chamber and found her waiting on the imperial bed in her court robes.

Xu Qi'an and Huaiqing became intimate, and Huaiqing admitted she regretted that he had never courted her. Meanwhile, the Spirit Dragon sensed Great Feng's national fortune and Dragon Vein being drained, while Heaven Gu Granny investigated the strange movements of the Gu God and Buddha.

• Xu Qi'an eased Huaiqing's nervousness and began dual cultivation with her in the imperial bedchamber.
• Huaiqing told Xu Qi'an that she regretted he had never courted her, and he explained why he had held back.
• The Spirit Dragon watched the palace as Great Feng's national fortune rapidly drained and its Dragon Vein was devoured.
• Heaven Gu Granny inspected the Gu Race's preparations to leave the Southern Frontier and learned the Gu God had gone out to sea.
• Heaven Gu Granny used Heaven Gu arts to actively search the future for answers about the Gu God and Buddha.

Heaven Gu Granny foresaw the Nine Provinces’ doom, while Huaiqing confirmed that Great Feng’s Fate had nearly all passed to Xu Qi'an. As Shenshu fought the Buddha in the Western Regions, Heaven Gu Granny reached the capital and demanded that Xu Qi'an return at once with news of utmost urgency.

• Heaven Gu Granny searched through visions of the future, then collapsed and declared that Heaven had doomed the Nine Provinces.
• Huaiqing reflected that she had transferred Great Feng’s Dragon Vein Qi and most of its Fate to Xu Qi'an, gambling that he would become a Martial God and save the Nine Provinces.
• Shenshu evaded the Buddha’s flesh-and-blood tide and used the God-Shooting Bow to blast Bodhisattva Guangxian’s upper body apart.
• Heaven Gu Granny arrived at the imperial study and asked Huaiqing where Xu Qi'an was; when she learned he had gone to Leizhou, she demanded that he be summoned back immediately.

Heaven Gu Granny revealed that the Gu God had gone overseas to kill the Superintendent and warned Xu Qi'an that he had to rescue him to prevent the Nine Provinces from falling. Xu Qi'an prepared to leave again, entrusting the Central Plains to Huaiqing and saying farewell to his family before departing.

• Huaiqing recalled Xu Qi'an from near Leizhou after Heaven Gu Granny arrived with grave news.
• Heaven Gu Granny told Xu Qi'an that her vision showed his failure to advance to Martial God, the destruction of the Nine Provinces, and the Gu God's mission to kill the Superintendent.
• Heaven Gu Granny urged Xu Qi'an to rescue the Superintendent, entrusted the Gu Race's future to him, and died after revealing the vision.
• Xu Qi'an told Huaiqing what Granny had seen, and Huaiqing embraced him before he left her to govern the Central Plains.
• Xu Qi'an visited Lin'an, his aunt and second uncle, and his sleeping sister Xu Lingyin before looking toward Xu Lingyue's window.

Xu Qi'an said farewell to his family and prepared to face the Gu God overseas, while Huaiqing and the Heaven and Earth Society responded to the coming calamity. In Leizhou, the Buddha and two Bodhisattvas pressed Shenshu back, but the Shadow Gu Tribe chief rescued him at the last moment.

• Xu Qi'an told Xu Xinnian he was going to sea and asked him to help Huaiqing and the Grand Secretariat move the people toward the capital.
• Xu Qi'an contacted the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox through Yeji and urged her to return to help Shenshu against the Gu God.
• Xu Qi'an told Mu Nanzhi he was going to sea to confront the Gu God, and she tearfully tried to stop him before letting him leave.
• Song Qing explained to Huaiqing that the Spirit Dragon could gather some Fate for an emperor, and Huaiqing relayed Heaven Gu Granny’s vision to the Heaven and Earth Society.
• Li Lingsu left the capital to return to his sect, unwilling to remain idle while his friends faced the coming battles.
• At Leizhou, the Buddha, Liuli, and Jialuoshu coordinated their attacks against Shenshu, but the Shadow Gu Tribe chief pulled Shenshu away through his shadow.

Bodhisattva Liuli attacked the Gu Race chiefs, but Zhao Shou, Luo Yuheng, and Daoist Jinlian worked together to stop her and force the Buddha to heal the wounded. At the Ruins of Return, Desolation emerged at full strength and tried to devour the Superintendent, whose light endured inside its horn.

• Bodhisattva Liuli overwhelmed the Gu Race chiefs, but Zhao Shou restrained her while Luo Yuheng and Daoist Jinlian helped set up a counterattack.
• Luo Yuheng's Heart Sword struck Bodhisattva Liuli, and the Buddha used the Pharmacist Dharma Idol to heal her and the dying Gu Race chiefs.
• Daoist Jinlian told the recovering Gu Race chiefs to rest as Du'e, Hengyuan, Li Miaozhen, Yang Gong, Sun Xuanji, and Kou Yangzhou arrived at the battlefield.
• The black hole at the Ruins of Return vanished, and Desolation emerged from the abyss restored to its peak.
• Desolation tried to devour the Superintendent sealed in its horn, but the Superintendent's clear light held firm and he chuckled.

The Superintendent revealed that he had let Desolation seal him so he could target Desolation, then opened the Heavenly Gate and began drawing out Desolation’s Spiritual Essence. The Gu God intervened and stopped the gate from consuming Desolation, while Shenshu and the others prepared to fight the Buddha statue on the battlefield.

• Desolation realized the Superintendent had allowed himself to be sealed and learned that the Superintendent’s true target was him.
• The Superintendent chanted an unknown incantation, igniting Desolation’s cyclone and opening the Heavenly Gate to absorb his Spiritual Essence.
• The Gu God arrived, shattered the clear-light cyclone, and closed the Heavenly Gate before Desolation could dissolve into the Dao.
• The Gu God reinforced the seal on the Superintendent and declared that he had come to save Desolation, kill the Superintendent, and destroy the Martial God.
• Shenshu charged the Buddha statue as Li Miaozhen, Daoist Jinlian, Luo Yuheng, Yang Gong, Zhao Shou, and Sun Xuanji supported him with their powers.

Bodhisattva Liuli nearly killed Arhat Du'e, but Asuro’s arrival as a newly advanced First Rank forced her to retreat. At Gods and Devils Island, the Gu God identified the Superintendent as the Heavenly Dao, and Xu Qi’an appeared to strike the Superintendent’s horn.

• Bodhisattva Liuli attacked Sun Xuanji, but discovered she had killed only a mechanical puppet, then turned on Arhat Du'e.
• Zhao Shou, Yang Gong, Li Miaozhen, Daoist Jinlian, Luo Yuheng, and others tried to protect Du'e, while Bodhisattva Guangxian and Jialuoshu obstructed them.
• Asuro arrived as a First Rank, and Bodhisattva Liuli withdrew rather than face him; Asuro revealed his new Vajra Dharma Idol.
• Li Lingsu reached the Heaven Sect and repeatedly begged the Heavenly Venerable to help Great Feng, but received no answer.
• The Gu God revealed that the Superintendent was the Heavenly Dao and explained that he had used Desolation to refine Spiritual Essence and reopen the Heavenly Gate.
• The Superintendent struck the Gu God with lightning, but Desolation refused to devour him; Xu Qi’an then appeared and swung the Nation-Guarding Sword at the Superintendent’s horn.

Xu Qi'an fought Desolation and the Gu God while trying to rescue the Superintendent, learning that the Superintendent was the Heavenly Dao and that the Gu God could turn the Seven Absolutes Gu against him. The battle left Xu Qi'an facing both Transcendent Ranks as the Gu God broke free of his seal, and Chu Yuanzhen reported that the Shaman God had emerged as well.

• Xu Qi'an attacked Desolation to rescue the Superintendent, but the Gu God obscured his senses and Desolation nearly devoured him before the pagoda spirit transported him away.
• The Gu God explained that the Superintendent was sealed and that Xu Qi'an had come to help him advance to Martial God; Desolation realized the significance of the rescue.
• The Gu God gave the Seven Absolutes Gu a will, causing it to fight Xu Qi'an for control of his body, then joined Desolation in attacking him.
• At Jingshan City, the Confucian Sage's statue collapsed, and black smoke erupted from the Shaman God's statue as creatures died and rose to march west.
• Chu Yuanzhen saw the Shaman God's black clouds spreading, warned a nearby army camp, and sent the Heaven and Earth Society a message that the Shaman God had emerged.

As the Shaman God broke free and Great Feng faced threats on every front, its leaders prepared for catastrophe while Xu Qi'an fought to escape the Gu God and Desolation overseas. Huaiqing then forced the Spirit Dragon to gather Fate for her, leaving her purpose unclear.

• Huaiqing learned that the Shaman God had broken free, and Wang Zhenwen urged the court to preserve order while trusting Xu Qi'an to return.
• Wei Yuan visited the empress dowager, and the Transcendents at Leizhou learned of the Shaman God's release as Bodhisattva Guangxian demanded they convert or surrender Leizhou.
• Li Miaozhen, Daoist Jinlian, Du'e, Yang Gong, Kou Yangzhou, and Asuro rejected the Buddhist Order's demands and prepared to continue resisting.
• Xu Qi'an escaped the Gu God and Desolation's attack by using Jade Shatters, removed the Seven Absolutes Gu, and sensed the danger of the Shaman God's release.
• Li Lingsu learned the Shaman God had broken free after Daoist Master Xuancheng refused to seek the Heavenly Venerable's help.
• Huaiqing ordered the Spirit Dragon to gather Fate, and it began swallowing the purple qi of Fate.

Huaiqing entrusted Great Feng’s remaining Fate to the Spirit Dragon and wrote a final letter to Ningyan before going to Jianzhou to confront the advancing Shaman God. Zhao Shou stopped her from sacrificing herself, summoned the Confucian Sage’s heroic soul, and gave his life to repel the Shaman God at the border.

• Huaiqing received the Spirit Dragon’s pearl containing Great Feng’s last remaining Fate and wrote Ningyan a farewell letter declaring her love and resolve to defend the nation.
• As the Shaman God’s corpse tide swept through the provinces, Chu Yuanzhen rescued a mother and daughter, and the girl mistook him for Silver Gong Xu.
• Huaiqing met Chu Yuanzhen at Jianzhou’s border, gave him a letter, a chipped Butter Jade seal, and a dried lotus petal for Xu Ningyan, then prepared to hold back the Shaman God with two-tenths of Great Feng’s Fate.
• Zhao Shou arrived and immobilized Huaiqing, then announced that he would sacrifice himself to protect Great Feng and its people.
• Zhao Shou summoned the Confucian Sage’s heroic soul, joined it with the golden dragon bearing the nation’s Fate, and charged into the Shaman God’s black clouds.
• Zhao Shou repelled the Shaman God at Jianzhou’s border on the third day of the eleventh month in the first year of Huaiqing’s reign, giving his life for the nation.

Zhao Shou and the Confucian Sage defeated the Shaman God’s immediate attack, but the Confucian Sage fell and Great Feng lost all its National Fate. As the Buddha drove Shenshu toward defeat and the Bodhisattvas blocked reinforcements, Li Lingsu lashed out at the Heaven Sect for refusing to act.

• Zhao Shou charged into the Shaman God’s black clouds, and the Confucian Sage destroyed the clouds and scattered the Shaman God’s Primordial Spirit after stripping Him of His Transcendent abilities.
• Huaiqing told Chu Yuanzhen that the Shaman God would return in three to five days and ordered an evacuation, then revealed that Great Feng had lost all its National Fate.
• Yang Gong sensed the Confucian Sage’s fall and Great Feng’s loss of National Fate, while Li Miaozhen and the other Transcendent experts grieved.
• The Buddha battered Shenshu and prepared to strike him with the Great Sun Reincarnation Dharma Idol as the Bodhisattvas blocked the Daoist Order’s attempts to intervene.
• Li Lingsu denounced the Heaven Sect for hiding while the Human Race faced destruction and cursed the Heavenly Venerable.

Xu Qi'an manipulated the Gu God and Desolation into fighting each other, then joined forces with the Gu God to break Desolation’s black hole and cut off the horn sealing the Superintendent. The Superintendent’s release proved to be too late: Great Feng’s National Fate had vanished, and the Superintendent returned to the Heavenly Dao as Xu Qi'an learned the Gu God had deliberately kept him occupied until his time ran out.

• Xu Qi'an used the Great Wisdom Dharma Idol to anticipate the Gu God’s Obscure and provoked Desolation by warning that the Shaman God and Buddha were taking Great Feng while they remained overseas.
• The Gu God attacked Xu Qi'an with seductive illusions, poison, and Corpse Gu, but Xu Qi'an used Jade Shatters to injure him and drive a wedge between him and Desolation.
• Desolation tried to devour Xu Qi'an and the Gu God, but Xu Qi'an persuaded the Gu God to join forces with him and they broke Desolation’s black hole with a combined attack.
• The Pagoda Treasure Tower moved Xu Qi'an above Desolation, and Xu Qi'an used the Peace Saber to cut off Desolation’s horn and release the Superintendent’s seal.
• Xu Qi'an realized Great Feng’s National Fate had vanished, and the Superintendent’s lingering image disappeared as he returned to the Heavenly Dao.
• The Gu God revealed that he had learned from a divination that the Shaman God would break free and had deliberately prolonged the fight until the Superintendent’s time ran out.