Recaps

The sky revealed Empress Ruthless’s past battles and her devotion to protecting the Human Clan, then named her as the fourth great inheritance. The Human Emperor and Wuming produced more than a dozen additional inheritance scrolls, and the Human Emperor told Taishang Laozi that humans would be free to choose among many cultivation paths.

• The beings of the Primordial World watched Empress Ruthless fight formidable enemies to protect the Human Clan, even as the people she defended condemned her ruthlessness.
• A narration identified the woman as Empress Ruthless and described her as an eternal empress who reigned over the world.
• The Human Emperor mocked Taishang Laozi over the four inheritances already revealed, while Ye Xuan, disguised as Wuming, produced more than a dozen further scrolls.
• The beings of the Primordial World realized the scrolls contained complete cultivation systems and feared the Human Clan would soon rise in power.
• The Human Emperor told Taishang Laozi that humans could pursue any cultivation path they chose and warned that he would abolish the Human Teaching if it interfered again.

The Human Emperor challenged Taishang Laozi by threatening to abolish the Human Teaching and introducing alternative cultivation systems, but Taishang revealed that the Heavenly Dao—not he—restricted the Human Clan. Taishang called on the Heavenly Dao to intervene, and its overwhelming presence descended upon the Primordial World.

• The Human Emperor's threat to abolish the Human Teaching stunned the Primordial World, while observers recognized that his many new cultivation systems had cornered Taishang Laozi.
• Taishang Laozi glared at the Human Emperor and Wuming but could not identify Wuming through the treasures blocking his karma and Qi.
• Taishang Laozi told the Human Emperor that the Heavenly Dao had restricted the Human Clan's cultivation since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.
• Taishang Laozi bowed toward the heavens and begged the Heavenly Dao to intervene and uphold heaven's law.
• The Primordial World trembled as the Heavenly Dao's boundless might appeared, forcing weaker beings to prostrate themselves and pressing down on even ancient experts.

Ye Xuan faced the Heavenly Dao’s Eye of Heavenly Punishment after forcing his way to the final stage of his gamble, hoping a hidden power would appear to help him. When no one came, he cursed the Heavenly Dao to its face, provoking its fury.

• The Heavenly Dao’s Eye of Heavenly Punishment appeared over Chaoge, and Taishang Laozi believed the Heavenly Dao—not he—had truly restricted the Human Clan.
• Ye Xuan called into the depths of the Primordial World, demanding that the one he had waited for finally appear.
• Empress Nuwa worried that Ye Xuan would die and considered intervening as her Red Embroidered Ball rose into the air.
• When his hoped-for ally did not appear, Ye Xuan confronted the Eye of Heavenly Punishment and cursed the Heavenly Dao.
• Taishang Laozi thought Ye Xuan had gone mad, and the Heavenly Dao answered with a thunderous display of anger.

Ye Xuan defied the Heavenly Dao as it prepared to kill him, and the Human Dao Repository finally arrived to protect him. With its power behind him, he learned how the three Dao Repositories had once balanced one another and how the Heavenly Dao had gained dominance.

• Ye Xuan mocked and challenged the Heavenly Dao from the Star Picking Tower while Daji and Wushuang stayed by his side and Wuming readied the Qiankun Purple Gold Bell.
• The Heavenly Dao struck at Ye Xuan with a devastating bolt of lightning as a streak of red light approached from afar.
• A mysterious sigh stopped the lightning, and a gentle breeze swept across the Primordial World, easing the fear of its inhabitants and gathering around Ye Xuan.
• Ye Xuan recognized the breeze as the Human Dao Repository and realized his bet had succeeded.
• Ye Xuan explained that the Heavenly Dao, Human Dao, and Earthly Dao had once checked and complemented one another, but Dao Ancestor Hongjun's support had allowed the Heavenly Dao to flourish and force the other two back.

Ye Xuan drew the Human Dao Will out and gained its protection against the Heavenly Dao’s punishment. As new auspicious signs appeared over Chaoge, Taishang Laozi and Empress Nuwa realized the Human Emperor had been plotting to change the balance among the three Dao repositories.

• Ye Xuan used the Human Dao Will’s support to withstand the Heavenly Dao’s lightning and received a powerful Golden Fortune Robe.
• Taishang Laozi realized Ye Xuan had used the Heavenly Dao to reveal the Human Dao Will and feared that all three repositories would contend for power.
• Empress Nuwa recognized Ye Xuan’s scheme and foresaw upheaval among the Heavenly Dao, Human Dao, and Earthly Dao.
• Radiant clouds, purple-gold lotuses, and other auspicious signs appeared over Chaoge, and the common people knelt in amazement.

Wuming gained the Human Dao’s recognition and became a Saint, while Ye Xuan kept his identity concealed through the incarnation. The new Saint shocked the Primordial World’s powerful figures and threatened to disrupt the Investiture of the Gods, while Tongtian saw a chance to oppose his brothers.

• The Human Dao announced that Di Xin’s merits were immeasurable and recognized Wuming as a Human Dao Saint for aiding the Human Emperor and opening a new path of inheritance.
• Heavenly phenomena and auspicious Qi flowed into Wuming as he ascended to sainthood, and the people of Chaoge bowed in celebration.
• Ye Xuan realized that the Human Dao had bestowed sainthood on his incarnation, preserving his hidden identity and potentially beginning a struggle between the Human Dao and Heavenly Dao.
• Taishang Laozi was shocked that another Saint had appeared, while Yuanshi Tianzun feared Wuming and Ye Xuan would disrupt the Investiture of the Gods.
• Tongtian welcomed the new Saint as a potential ally and vowed not to show mercy to Taishang Laozi and Yuanshi Tianzun.

Ye Xuan became a Human Dao Saint, and Dao Ancestor Hongjun ordered Taishang Laozi to withdraw rather than attack the Human Emperor. Hongjun warned Ye Xuan to conduct himself well, leaving him wary of the powerful enemy he had made.

• Empress Nuwa realized Ye Xuan had used the Kongtong Seal and the clash between the Heavenly Dao and Human Dao to establish a Human cultivation lineage and become a Human Dao Saint.
• Nuwa considered that Ye Xuan's rise had strengthened their side and could help them resist the planned Investiture of the Gods tribulation.
• Taishang Laozi recognized that he could not safely attack either the Human Emperor or Ye Xuan while the Heavenly Dao and Human Dao wills confronted each other.
• Dao Ancestor Hongjun appeared in the sky, ordered everyone to disperse, and told Taishang Laozi to return because the tribulation had not yet begun.
• Hongjun withdrew the Eye of Heavenly Punishment and warned Ye Xuan that whether the outcome was blessing or calamity remained to be seen.
• Ye Xuan suspected Hongjun had targeted him, but resolved to make the most of his life in the Primordial World.

After Taishang Laozi and Xuandu disappeared, Ye Xuan returned to the small Heavenly Pool to assimilate the Saint Dao Fruit. His divine consciousness became a world that his two Saint Dharma Bodies opened into heaven and earth, though the new realm remained unstable.

• Ye Xuan bowed toward Empress Nuwa and greeted Ancestor Minghe, Queen Mother of the West, Kong Xuan, Five-Virtue Qilin, and the others before returning to the small Heavenly Pool.
• Ye Xuan cultivated to assimilate the Saint Dao Fruit and discovered that his sea of consciousness had become a world-like egg nurturing two Saint Dharma Bodies.
• Ye Xuan saw that one Dharma Body wore the Golden Robe of Fortune and Merit and wielded treasures including the Kongtong Seal, while the other wore the Hongmeng Mystic Daoist Robe and the Prajna Asura Tribulation.
• The two Saint Dharma Bodies grew to their limit, erupted with divine power, and shattered the egg-like world.
• The Dharma Bodies opened heaven and earth within Ye Xuan’s divine consciousness and began developing the unstable new world.

After spending more than three months cultivating and attaining Sainthood, Ye Xuan returned to find Yin Shang and the wider Primordial World at peace. He brought Daji and Wushuang into his newly opened sea of consciousness and gave Wushuang Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood, leaving her enduring a dangerous transformation.

• Ye Xuan emerged from cultivation after more than three months and learned that the new year was near.
• Daji told Ye Xuan that the Primordial World and Yin Shang had remained peaceful, the North Sea had been subdued, and its prisoners were reclaiming wasteland.
• Ye Xuan brought Daji and Wushuang into his newly opened sea of consciousness and said he would bestow good fortune upon them.
• Ye Xuan gave Wushuang Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood as a reward for the Dragon Clan's submission and urged her to transform into a True Dragon.
• Wushuang swallowed the blood and collapsed in agony as its power destroyed and repaired her body, while Ye Xuan watched to see whether she could complete the transformation.

Wushuang completed her evolution into a rare white True Dragon and reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm. She pledged herself and the Dragon Clan’s loyalty to Ye Xuan, who then reflected on Su Daji and the Demon Fox Clan’s history with the Human Clan.

• Wushuang transformed into a giant white dragon and endured a painful evolution as Ye Xuan watched.
• Wushuang succeeded in becoming a True Dragon, and her magic power reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.
• Wushuang returned to human form, knelt before Ye Xuan, and vowed unwavering loyalty to him.
• Ye Xuan told Wushuang to rise and turned his attention to Su Daji.
• Ye Xuan recalled the Demon Fox Clan’s longstanding ties to the Human Clan and how other powers had hunted the foxes until they went into hiding.

Ye Xuan used the Chaos Creation Brush to grant Su Daji good fortune, causing her to evolve into a Ten-Tails Demon Fox. She reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm and sensed the potential to rise further, possibly to Quasi-Saint.

• Ye Xuan chose not to give Su Daji Ancestral Dragon Essence Blood and instead offered her good fortune with the Chaos Creation Brush.
• Ye Xuan drew with the brush and pressed it to Su Daji's forehead, forming a purple mark that drew power from the surrounding world into her.
• Su Daji endured the influx of power inside a purple cocoon before emerging in her demon fox form.
• Su Daji grew a tenth tail and evolved into a Ten-Tails Demon Fox.
• Su Daji's strength advanced from Primordial Unity Golden Immortal to Daluo Golden Immortal, and she sensed her potential could carry her to the Quasi-Saint realm.
• Su Daji transformed back into an enchanting woman.

Ye Xuan assigned Daji and the Green Mound Shadow Guards to oversee the Human Clan inheritances and identify talented people. He then summoned four veteran ministers and began granting them good fortune, starting with Shang Rong.

• Ye Xuan ordered Daji to monitor Yin Shang and arrange for the Human Clan inheritances to be studied by the public and the armies.
• Ye Xuan asked Wushuang to summon Wen Zhong, Huang Feihu, Shang Rong, and Bi Gan.
• Ye Xuan brought the four ministers into his spiritual consciousness space to keep his plans secret.
• Ye Xuan used the Chaos Creation Brush on Shang Rong, causing a purple mark to appear on his forehead and intense pain to surge through him.

Ye Xuan used the Chaos Creation Brush to transform Shang Rong into a vigorous Heavenly Immortal, and Bi Gan eagerly asked to receive the same blessing. After Bi Gan endured the painful transformation, he rose delighted at his changed body.

• Ye Xuan watched as purple fortune entered Shang Rong, who writhed in pain before the light faded.
• Ye Xuan washed Shang Rong clean, and Shang Rong regained his youth and became a Heavenly Immortal with a Merit Golden Wheel.
• Huang Feihu and Wen Zhong marveled at Shang Rong's transformation, while Bi Gan watched Ye Xuan eagerly.
• Ye Xuan pressed the Chaos Creation Brush to Bi Gan's forehead, causing a purple totem and spiritual Qi to pour into him.
• Bi Gan endured the painful transformation, and Ye Xuan washed away the grime as Bi Gan rose in delight at his changed body.

Ye Xuan used the Chaos Creation Brush to awaken Huang Feihu, raising him to the late stage of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm. He then began awakening Wen Zhong, hoping to restore the veteran's depleted Qi and blood, but the chapter ended before Wen Zhong's transformation was shown.

• Bi Gan and Shang Rong examined their rejuvenated bodies after reaching the Heavenly Immortal realm, and Bi Gan discovered that his Seven-Orificed Exquisite Heart had become his foundation for recovery.
• Huang Feihu eagerly asked Ye Xuan to awaken him, and Ye Xuan pressed the Chaos Creation Brush to his forehead.
• The awakening transformed Huang Feihu's body and martial strength, carrying him past the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal threshold to its late stage.
• Huang Feihu knelt before Ye Xuan, thanked him, and swore to serve the Human Emperor for life.
• Ye Xuan turned to Wen Zhong and explained that he hoped to improve the veteran minister's condition; Wen Zhong, whose appearance and Qi and blood had remained as they were at over eighty, prepared for the awakening.
• Ye Xuan touched the Chaos Creation Brush to Wen Zhong's forehead, beginning his transformation.

Wen Zhong broke through to the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, and his Heavenly Eye grew more powerful after absorbing the seal on his forehead. Ye Xuan gave his ministers Heavenly Pool crystals, then spent over a month writing books before unveiling his work to widespread acclaim.

• Wen Zhong broke through to the Daluo Golden Immortal realm, and his Heavenly Eye absorbed the seal and unleashed a powerful beam.
• Ye Xuan praised Wen Zhong’s growth and gave him, Shang Rong, Bi Gan, and Huang Feihu one Heavenly Pool crystal each.
• Ye Xuan told the four ministers to handle court and military affairs while he remained away from court to write books.
• After more than a month in seclusion, Ye Xuan emerged and announced his work to his ministers, sparking cheers throughout the realm.

Ye Xuan compiled influential books on governance, rites, medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and hunting, drawing on later generations’ knowledge to advance the Human Clan. Chaoge’s civil and military officials were astonished by the books and their potential impact.

• Ye Xuan wrote the Human Emperor's Classic, combining major schools of thought into a foundation for the Human Clan's cultural inheritance.
• Ye Xuan compiled the Human Emperor's Rites to teach propriety and moral conduct, promote the people's welfare, and prepare for the eventual abolition of slavery.
• Ye Xuan assembled Shennong's Book of Medicine from medical texts and remedies, creating a guide that could greatly improve the age's medical arts.
• Ye Xuan wrote Fuxi's Classic of Celestial Phenomena to help people navigate, observe stars, forecast weather, and organize farming around twenty-four solar terms.
• Ye Xuan recorded multiplication tables and other mathematical knowledge in Mental Arithmetic, and hunting and fishing techniques in Xuanyuan's Hunting.
• Chaoge's civil and military officials saw Ye Xuan's books and were astounded by their contents and their potential to transform society.

Ye Xuan went incognito with Wushuang and Daji to stroll through a prosperous Chaoge, pleased by the improvements his policies and books had brought to the people. As he watched children marvel at a flying paper bird, he saw how the books had made practical knowledge accessible to ordinary people.

• Ye Xuan stabilized his cultivation for a little over a month before taking Wushuang and Daji into Chaoge in disguise.
• Ye Xuan admired the city's prosperity and reflected on how his policies, better harvests, and educational efforts had improved people's lives.
• Ye Xuan spotted officers from the Northern Expedition sneaking into pleasure quarters and chuckled at their behavior.
• Children marveled at a paper bird flying overhead, and one father promised to make a bird for his child.
• Ye Xuan watched the people treat such inventions as familiar results of the knowledge in his books and revere him as Human Emperor.

Ye Xuan unexpectedly met Wang Yong, a celebrated veteran of the northern campaign, while traveling incognito through Chaoge and played with Wang Yong’s young son. Wang Yong introduced his wife, whose excited pleas for Ye Xuan to protect her husband ended with Wang Yong striking her.

• Ye Xuan recognized Wang Yong in the street and greeted him, then held and played with his son, Wang Shuai.
• Ye Xuan recalled Wang Yong’s fearsome deeds in the northern campaign and how he had chosen to remain with his old general rather than join the War Elephant Cavalry.
• Wang Yong hurried away and returned with his wife, introducing her to Ye Xuan.
• Wang Yong’s wife excitedly praised the chance to meet Ye Xuan and asked him to look after her husband.
• Wang Yong shouted at his wife and slapped her across the face for speaking that way in front of Ye Xuan.

Ye Xuan visited Wang Yong’s tavern, enjoyed the food, and left him a martial inheritance. He then walked through the prosperous streets with two women, reflecting on the people’s happiness.

• Ye Xuan scolded Wang Yong for slapping his wife, then accepted his invitation to dine at the tavern.
• Wang Yong and his wife served Ye Xuan and the two women a feast, and Ye Xuan praised the dishes.
• Wang Yong apologized to his wife, who forgave him and demanded that he serve her that night.
• Ye Xuan left Wang Yong a scroll of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms, a martial art he had recreated but that had not become a cultivation system.
• Ye Xuan strolled through the joyful streets with the two women as one of them praised the golden age under his leadership.

Ye Xuan visited a bookstore in Chaoge and found errors in copies of his own works, prompting him to consider papermaking and movable-type printing. After the shopkeeper angrily defended the books and ordered Ye Xuan and his companions to leave, Ye Xuan calmly asked to buy two volumes.

• Ye Xuan explored Chaoge’s bustling main avenue and entered a bookstore divided into sections for bamboo slips, hides and hemp, and silk scrolls.
• Ye Xuan found errors in a copy of Shennong's Book of Medicine and thought papermaking and movable-type printing were urgently needed.
• The shopkeeper became angry when Ye Xuan pointed out the copying errors and insisted that the Human Emperor’s books could not be wrong.
• Wushuang defended Ye Xuan, while the shopkeeper rebuked her and warned the group to leave before the city patrol arrived.
• Daji stopped Wushuang, and Ye Xuan apologized for his maids’ tempers before asking to buy Shennong's Book of Medicine and Mental Arithmetic.

Ye Xuan and Wushuang argued with a shopkeeper over sample scrolls before a young maid confronted them. A veiled woman apologized and revealed that the maid, Xiao Tu'er, had answered Ye Xuan’s math puzzle incorrectly.

• The shopkeeper explained that Ye Xuan’s scrolls were samples and that the other copies had been reserved, so Ye Xuan agreed to put the books back.
• Wushuang threatened the shopkeeper for refusing Ye Xuan, and a young girl accused her of bullying him and threw a magical treasure at her.
• Ye Xuan sent the treasure back and calmed the dispute as a veiled woman apologized for her maid’s behavior.
• Ye Xuan posed a tree-spacing problem to the maid, who confidently answered ten zhang.
• The veiled woman called the maid Xiao Tu'er and explained that she had been tricked because there were only nine gaps between ten trees.

Ye Xuan answered a riddle posed by the masked woman in white and explained how to solve it, impressing her with his arithmetic. He modestly praised the Human Emperor while Wushuang and Su Daji struggled not to laugh at his self-praise.

• Xiao Tu'er realized her elder sister was right about the distance between the trees and felt embarrassed for arguing.
• The masked woman in white challenged Ye Xuan with the Human Emperor’s chicken-and-rabbit cage problem.
• Ye Xuan correctly answered that there were twelve rabbits and twenty-three chickens, then explained his method.
• The masked woman understood the solution and praised Ye Xuan’s intellect as comparable to the Human Emperor’s.
• Ye Xuan praised the Human Emperor as a heaven-gifted genius, while Wushuang and Su Daji tried not to laugh at his self-praise.

Ye Xuan met a veiled woman in Chaoge and recognized her as Chang'e of Guanghan Palace. After she left, he returned to the imperial palace and considered the Hongmeng Corpse-Driving System's upcoming second-stage tasks.

• The veiled woman praised Ye Xuan and said she would seek his guidance again before leaving with Xiao Tu'er.
• Ye Xuan identified the woman as Chang'e, daughter of Di Jun and Xihe, who lived in Guanghan Palace on the Taiyin Star.
• Ye Xuan reflected that Chang'e, Wushuang, and Daji were renowned beauties of the sky, sea, and land.
• Ye Xuan considered that the system's next tasks might involve the Witch Clan or the Demon Clan and worried about seeking the Ancestral Witches' corpses in Empress Pingxin's territory.
• Ye Xuan returned to the imperial palace to ensure the books he had prepared would be circulated properly.

Ye Xuan presented paper to his ministers as a convenient alternative to bamboo slips and costly writing materials. The ministers praised his invention, and Bi Gan asked whether it would be simple and affordable to produce.

• Ye Xuan summoned his ministers to court and proposed reforming the Human Clan’s bulky, costly writing materials.
• Ye Xuan unveiled a thin, white sheet he called paper and demonstrated that it could be written on clearly.
• The ministers admired the paper and praised Ye Xuan’s past inventions and contributions to the Human Clan.
• Bi Gan asked whether making paper would be complicated or too costly, and Ye Xuan assured the ministers that anyone could learn its simple production steps.

Ye Xuan explained how to make paper and demonstrated movable type printing to the ministers. The ministers understood how the inventions could produce books quickly and accurately, and were left admiring him.

• Ye Xuan dictated the five steps of papermaking while Shang Rong recorded his instructions.
• Ye Xuan explained that errors in books came from widespread illiteracy and mistakes made when copying obscure characters.
• Ye Xuan introduced movable type printing, and Wushuang demonstrated it by arranging reversed character blocks, applying ink, and printing a sheet.
• The ministers recognized that movable type could produce large numbers of accurate books and admired Ye Xuan's invention.