Chapter Summaries

Ye Xuan questioned Marquis Ji Chang about the heroes under heaven, while Ji Chang tried to gauge the ruler’s intentions by naming regional lords. Ye Xuan dismissed Su Hu and E Chongyu as incompetent, and Ji Chang’s hidden influence over other lords came into focus.

• Ye Xuan suggested that Ji Chang retire to Youli City, but Ji Chang insisted he could not yet give up control of Xiqi.
• Ye Xuan asked Ji Chang which of the regional lords counted as heroes, and Ji Chang cautiously agreed to answer.
• Ji Chang named Su Hu of Jizhou, but Ye Xuan called him a reckless brute who had been easily defeated.
• Ji Chang praised E Chongyu’s command of the south, but Ye Xuan dismissed him as a brainless brute whose people suffered.
• Ye Xuan recalled that E Chongyu had been deceived by Ji Chang into defending Jiang Hengchu, leading King Zhou to imprison and execute him.

Ye Xuan challenged Marquis Ji Chang of the West to name a hero, rejecting every candidate Ji Chang suggested before declaring that only the two of them qualified. He then forced Ji Chang to use stones to divine how many years he had left to live, and Ji Chang began the Six-Yao Divination Technique.

• Marquis Ji Chang of the West named E Chongyu, Chong Houhu, Jiang Hengchu, Cao Bao, and Kong Mingliang as possible heroes, but Ye Xuan dismissed them all.
• Ye Xuan declared that only Marquis Ji Chang of the West and himself could be called heroes, and Ji Chang fell to the ground in shock.
• Ji Chang denied that he was a hero and praised Ye Xuan, while recognizing that the Human Emperor intended him harm.
• Ye Xuan demanded that Ji Chang divine his remaining lifespan and ordered him to use stones as tools.
• Ji Chang picked up the stones and began reciting the secret teachings of the Six-Yao Divination Technique.

After learning that a powerful rat demon ruled the rats of the western world, Ye Xuan used a divination mirror to locate him at Spirit Mountain. He decided to seek the demon out, suspecting he might be one of two rat demons known from the Journey to the West Calamity.

• Marquis Ji Chang of the West divined that he had about ten years left to live, and Ye Xuan left Youli impressed by his skill.
• Su Daji told Ye Xuan that the Green Mound Shadow Guards had found rumors of a powerful, loyal rat king ruling the rats in the West.
• Ye Xuan used a mirror divination to search the western lands and discovered the rat demon was at Spirit Mountain.
• Ye Xuan decided to meet the rat demon and considered recruiting him and his rats to the Twelve Zodiac Animals and a western intelligence network.
• Ye Xuan wondered whether the demon was the yellow weasel who used Samadhi Divine Wind or the white-furred rat demon Lady Earth Flow.

Ye Xuan disguised himself and entered an abandoned cavern beneath Spirit Mountain, believing the White-Haired Rat Spirit lived there. After killing a strange creature that attacked him, he came face to face with the beautiful woman he had sought, who was startled by his appearance.

• Ye Xuan concealed his presence with his magical treasures and traveled to Spirit Mountain to find the Rat Spirit.
• He entered a dry well and fell through a deep cavern into a vast underground paradise.
• Ye Xuan explored the cavern and spotted wooden pavilions that suggested a woman lived there.
• A horned, dragon-like creature emerged from the lake and charged at Ye Xuan, who killed it with a single palm strike.
• The disturbance drew a beautiful woman to the cavern, and Ye Xuan recognized her as the White-Haired Rat Spirit and rumored Half Guanyin.

Ye Xuan visited the Golden-Nosed White-Haired Rat Spirit at Great Mount Sumeru and invited her to leave seclusion, warning that she could not escape the Investiture of the Gods tribulation. He showed her a mirror depicting her future, and she recognized herself sneaking into the Western Teachings’ treasure pavilion.

• The White-Haired Rat Spirit recognized Ye Xuan as the Human Dao Saint and invited him into her bamboo house.
• Ye Xuan told the White-Haired Rat Spirit he had come to invite her out of seclusion and warned her that she would not escape the coming tribulation.
• Ye Xuan produced a hexagonal mirror and claimed it could reveal her past, present, and future.
• The mirror showed the White-Haired Rat Spirit entering the Western Teachings’ treasure pavilion, where she had secretly stolen treasures before.
• The White-Haired Rat Spirit realized Ye Xuan knew about her past visits and watched as the mirror’s image changed again.

Ye Xuan showed the White-Haired Rat Spirit a vision of how her theft of lamp oil led to the deaths and capture of those connected to her. He urged her to leave seclusion and join the Human Emperor and himself, offering the possibility of helping her reach the Quasi-Saint realm, and she asked why they wanted her.

• Ye Xuan watched a mirror reveal that the White-Haired Rat Spirit’s thefts from the treasure pavilion led the Western Teachings to hunt her, while the Yin-Yang Sun-Moon Lamp and a weasel helped her escape.
• The vision showed the lamp’s two wills becoming Zixia and Qingxia, the weasel being captured by four monks, and the White-Haired Rat Spirit dying at the monkey’s hands.
• Ye Xuan told the White-Haired Rat Spirit that hiding could spare her in the current tribulation but not the next, and that those connected to her would suffer too.
• Ye Xuan urged the White-Haired Rat Spirit to leave seclusion and work with the Human Emperor and him, suggesting he might help her reach the Quasi-Saint realm.
• The White-Haired Rat Spirit questioned why Ye Xuan and the Human Emperor would seek her out, and Ye Xuan offered to explain.

Ye Xuan recruited Bai Susu for the Twelve Zodiac Animals Formation and asked her to organize the western rat spirits into an intelligence network. Bai Susu agreed to establish the Heavenly Rat Shadow Guards, which would monitor the western lands while she prepared to join the formation.

• Ye Xuan explained that the Twelve Zodiac Animals Formation needed twelve powerful cultivators of different origins and recruited Bai Susu as its rat representative.
• Bai Susu agreed to serve the Human Emperor and described the western rat spirits under her command, including the Great Sun Thunderflame Rat, the Yellow Springs Rat, and a weasel who cultivated Samadhi Divine Wind.
• Bai Susu warned that moving her rat spirits east would be dangerous because the eastern rats were led by the Quasi-Saint Daoist Duobao.
• Ye Xuan told Bai Susu to keep the western rats in the west and organize them to gather intelligence, especially about Western Spirit Mountain.
• Ye Xuan named the new organization the Heavenly Rat Shadow Guards, and Bai Susu agreed to establish it.

After Ye Xuan secretly visited Spirit Mountain to recruit Jin Susu, Saint Zhunti spotted him leaving and went to Chaoge to confront him. Zhunti accused Ye Xuan of trespassing on Spirit Mountain, while powerful figures across the realms watched.

• Ye Xuan told Jin Susu to finish preparing for her post in Chaoge and seek Ancestor Minghe if she needed help, then left Spirit Mountain.
• Saint Zhunti saw Ye Xuan depart and told Saint Jieyin that he would go to Chaoge to confront the Human Dao Saint.
• Ye Xuan returned to Chaoge in a single step and sensed Saint Zhunti's arrival, wondering whether Zhunti had discovered him.
• Saint Zhunti appeared openly above Chaoge, drawing the attention of Saints and other powerful figures.
• Saint Zhunti addressed Ye Xuan as Saint Wuming and demanded to know why he had secretly trespassed on Spirit Mountain.

Ye Xuan confronted Saint Zhunti in Chaoge, and the two prepared to fight after Zhunti demanded an explanation for Ye Xuan entering Western Spirit Mountain. Zhunti unleashed his Heaven and Earth Manifestation, while Ye Xuan stayed at a distance and brought out the Soul-Scattering Red Gourd, leaving the battle poised to begin.

• Ye Xuan rejected Saint Zhunti’s invitation to join the Western Teachings and told him to stop wasting time with empty words.
• Saint Zhunti demanded to know why Ye Xuan had secretly entered Western Spirit Mountain and threatened to settle the matter in a fight.
• Saint Zhunti transformed into his enormous Heaven and Earth Manifestation, bearing twenty-four heads and eighteen arms holding Dharma treasures.
• Ye Xuan decided not to use his own Heaven and Earth Manifestation and instead reclined on auspicious clouds as Zhunti charged at him.
• Ye Xuan revealed the Soul-Scattering Red Gourd and released countless grains of red sand that filled the sky.

Ye Xuan used the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Red Gourd to hold Saint Zhunti at bay, then met his Great Mount Sumeru attack with a hand formed from flowing sand. The two forces remained locked together as Empress Nuwa, the Queen Mother of the West, and Kong Xuan watched the battle with astonishment and concern.

• Saint Zhunti struggled to advance through the red sand and mist, while Ye Xuan watched from his reclining chair.
• Saint Zhunti conjured Great Mount Sumeru and hurled it at Ye Xuan with the power of his Saint laws.
• Ye Xuan formed a sky-supporting hand from the flowing sand and stopped Great Mount Sumeru from pressing any farther.
• Empress Nuwa and the Queen Mother of the West watched Ye Xuan fight Saint Zhunti as an equal and marveled at his rapid growth.
• Kong Xuan watched from the Southern Barbarian Lands and worried that Ye Xuan had challenged Saint Zhunti too soon.

Ye Xuan and Saint Zhunti continued their battle above Chaoge after Ye Xuan broke Zhunti’s attack. Zhunti’s next treasure also failed against Ye Xuan’s black cloak, leaving Zhunti to suspect it was the same cloak Wuming had once relied on.

• Kong Xuan recalled how Wuming had rescued her and, thinking of visiting Chaoge to see him, smiled.
• Ye Xuan and Saint Zhunti exhausted their opposing attacks, and Ye Xuan recovered his strength with Chaoge’s gathered providence.
• The people of Chaoge watched the battle and hoped the Human Dao Saint would defeat Zhunti.
• Zhunti attacked Ye Xuan again with the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Red Gourd’s sand, then used an imitation Six Roots Pure Bamboo to strike at his senses.
• Ye Xuan’s black mist swallowed the bamboo’s attack, and Zhunti recognized the cloak as a treasure Wuming might have used before.

Saint Zhunti unleashed his Three Thousand Great Worlds against Ye Xuan, but Ye Xuan used the Chaos Creation Brush to dissolve the divine ability. The worlds collapsed completely, leaving the onlookers stunned.

• Saint Zhunti's Blessing Divine Pestle failed to break through Ye Xuan's sand defense, so he began chanting and gathered Buddha light.
• Saint Zhunti formed the Three Thousand Great Worlds above Chaoge and sent them toward Ye Xuan.
• Ye Xuan produced the Chaos Creation Brush and spread purple ink across the void toward the approaching worlds.
• The purple totem dissolved the Three Thousand Great Worlds until they collapsed and vanished.

Ye Xuan used the Soul-Scattering Red Gourd’s endless red quicksand to suppress Saint Zhunti, who broke free with the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree but could not advance through the replenishing sand. The battle fell into an uneasy pause as Zhunti calmed himself and Ye Xuan slowed his attack.

• Ye Xuan’s purple energy plundered the Three Thousand Great Worlds and broke apart Zhunti’s trump-card technique, leaving Zhunti trapped in the sea of sand.
• Saint Zhunti brought out the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree and swept away great stretches of red quicksand, finally escaping the trap.
• Zhunti swept away more sand and drew close to Ye Xuan, but Ye Xuan poured more magic power into the Soul-Scattering Red Gourd and replenished the gaps with endless quicksand.
• Yuanshi Tianzun lamented that Ye Xuan had turned the stolen Soul-Scattering Red Gourd into a supreme weapon, while Nuwa wondered whether Hongjun knew Ye Xuan’s true identity.
• Saint Zhunti stopped struggling and stood quietly in the quicksand, and Ye Xuan gradually slowed the gourd’s attack.

Saint Zhunti unleashed his Buddha Kingdom in the Palm after Ye Xuan refused to let him leave Chaoge. Ye Xuan prepared to counter the overwhelming attack with the Qiankun Purple Jin Ling.

• Saint Zhunti conceded defeat and tried to leave, but Ye Xuan declared that he would not let him go without paying a price.
• Saint Zhunti answered Ye Xuan's threat with Lion's Roar and summoned his Buddha Kingdom in the Palm above his eighteen hands.
• The Buddha Kingdom filled with Buddhas and other powerful beings, whose combined light strengthened it as Saint Zhunti hurled it toward Ye Xuan.
• Ye Xuan faced the incoming Buddha Kingdom by bringing out the Qiankun Purple Jin Ling.

Ye Xuan used a bell to break Saint Zhunti’s Buddha Kingdom in the Palm, leaving Zhunti injured and unable to depart freely from Chaoge. As Ye Xuan sensed a new arrival, an old man appeared in the sky.

• Ye Xuan’s bell enchanted everyone who heard it, causing the beings inside Saint Zhunti’s Buddha Kingdom in the Palm to crumble and vanish with the kingdom.
• The people of the Primordial World awoke from the bell’s reveries, while Saint Zhunti realized it had shaken his Dao heart and injured him.
• Ye Xuan demanded that Saint Zhunti show his sincerity before leaving Chaoge, and Zhunti stood silently aside.
• Ye Xuan sensed an immense power approaching, and a dignified old man surrounded by golden lotuses appeared in the sky.

Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun arrived in Chaoge and demanded that Ye Xuan return the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Red Gourd and other stolen treasures. Ye Xuan openly admitted taking the gourd and defied him, leaving a clash between the two Saints looming.

• Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun intervened after Saint Zhunti and Ye Xuan's exchange, urging them to stop and warning that Ye Xuan's actions could provoke conflict between the Human Dao and Heavenly Dao.
• Ye Xuan rejected Yuanshi Tianzun's warning and declared that the Human Clan and the Primordial World's living beings did not have to follow the Heavenly Dao.
• Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun accused Ye Xuan and Human Emperor Di Xin of owing him, citing Qilin Cliff's destruction, the theft of the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Red Gourd, and the taking of more than ten thousand spiritual roots and medicinal plants from Jade Void Palace.
• Saint Zhunti recognized the red gourd at Ye Xuan's waist as the treasure that had restrained him and watched, hoping Yuanshi Tianzun and Ye Xuan would fight.
• Ye Xuan admitted that he had taken the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Red Gourd, claimed it was fated to belong to him, and challenged Yuanshi Tianzun to do something about it.

Ye Xuan blocked Yuanshi Tianzun’s attack with the Soul-Scattering Red Gourd, then revealed three coffins marked with the names of ancient experts. The Ancestral Dragon emerged from the first coffin, and the middle coffin opened as the beings of the Primordial World watched.

• Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun attacked Ye Xuan with a colossal palm, and Ye Xuan blocked it with the Soul-Scattering Red Gourd.
• Yuanshi Tianzun threatened Chaoge by pointing out the demons and monsters gathering there, but Ye Xuan refused to yield.
• Ye Xuan summoned three black coffins inscribed with Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin.
• The leftmost coffin opened, revealing a young man whom the onlookers recognized as the Ancestral Dragon.
• The middle coffin opened, revealing the figure inside to the beings of the Primordial World.

Ye Xuan revealed the Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin, then ordered Wen Zhong to seal Chaoge and execute hostile outsiders. He confronted Yuanshi Tianzun with the Glazed Lamp in his possession, leaving their confrontation escalating.

• Kong Xuan saw her mother Yuanfeng appear and worried that Wuming was risking his life, while Golden-Winged Great Peng celebrated and called Wuming his brother-in-law.
• The third coffin opened, revealing Primordial Qilin, and beings across the Primordial World wondered whether the Three Ancient Clans would rise again.
• Ye Xuan ordered Wen Zhong to seal Chaoge and have the Ancestral Dragon, Yuanfeng, and Primordial Qilin deal with any enemies the city’s forces could not handle.
• Ye Xuan threatened to kill the outsiders causing trouble in Chaoge and told Yuanshi Tianzun that even Taishang Laozi could not save them.
• Yuanshi Tianzun asked whether Ye Xuan possessed the Heaven Lamp Glazed Lamp, and Ye Xuan displayed it and refused to return it.

Ye Xuan, the Human Dao Saint, fought Yuanshi Tianzun after refusing to return the Glazed Lamp and using the Soul-Scattering Red Gourd to counter his attacks. Yuanshi Tianzun escalated with the Yuqing Casket, while Saint Zhunti watched and questioned whether he was the weakest Saint.

• Ye Xuan used the Soul-Scattering Red Gourd’s sand to shatter Yuanshi Tianzun’s palm attacks.
• Yuanshi Tianzun attacked Ye Xuan with the Fivefold True Fire from the Seven Birds Wind and Fire Fan, but Ye Xuan’s sand held back and buried the flames.
• Yuanshi Tianzun sent the Yuqing Casket crashing toward Ye Xuan, but Ye Xuan’s sword intent knocked it off course.
• Yuanshi Tianzun invoked the Yuqing Mystic Art to unleash the Yuqing Casket’s full power against Ye Xuan.
• Saint Zhunti sensed Yuanshi Tianzun’s superior strength and wondered if he was the weakest Saint.

Ye Xuan used the Xuanyuan Sword to wound Yuanshi Tianzun, shocking the Primordial World's onlookers. Yuanshi Tianzun summoned the Pangu Banner, setting the stage for a clash between the two supreme treasures.

• Saint Zhunti's Dao heart cracked as the Human Dao Saint drew an unknown immortal sword, while the onlookers fixed their attention on Ye Xuan.
• Sect Master Tongtian sensed compassion and responsibility in Ye Xuan's sword intent and grew eager to test his swordsmanship.
• Ye Xuan slashed at Yuanshi Tianzun with the Xuanyuan Sword, and its Sword Qi struck him and made him spit blood.
• The onlookers realized Ye Xuan had injured Yuanshi Tianzun, who recognized the sword as the Human Clan's Xuanyuan Sword.
• Yuanshi Tianzun summoned the Pangu Banner, and the gathered mighty figures anticipated a battle between the two treasures.