Chapter Summaries

Ye Xuan sealed the eleven Ancestral Witches in ancient bronze coffins and told Houtu he planned to revive them and restore the Witch Clan’s Twelve Dutian Divine Fiends Formation. He chose Xing Tian as the Great Witch to fill the missing place, and Houtu led him to reveal a figure hidden beneath a red cloth.

• Ye Xuan admired the appearances of Dijiang and Xuanming among the eleven Ancestral Witches and considered the strength of his growing alliance against Xiqi, Dao Ancestor Hongjun, and the Heavenly Dao.
• Ye Xuan summoned eleven ancient bronze coffins, placed the Ancestral Witches inside, and sealed them away.
• Ye Xuan told Houtu he intended to trace the Ancestral Witches’ spirits through time and restore the Twelve Dutian Divine Fiends Formation.
• Houtu said several Great Witches could take an Ancestral Witch’s place, and Ye Xuan chose Xing Tian.
• Houtu led Ye Xuan into another hall and pulled away a red cloth, revealing a huge figure.

Ye Xuan completed his Netherworld mission, secured Xing Tian and the Twelve Ancestral Witches, and received the Pangu Bloodline as his reward. Meanwhile, Houtu deduced that the Human Dao Saint was the Human Emperor, and Jiang Ziya arrived in Chaoge seeking his old acquaintance Song Yiren.

• Ye Xuan collected Xing Tian, completing his collection of the Twelve Ancestral Witches, and left the Netherworld after finishing his mission.
• The system gave Ye Xuan the Pangu Bloodline, which he hoped would help him master the Law of Strength.
• Houtu used the Reincarnation Hall to conclude that the Human Dao Saint and the Human Emperor were the same person.
• Jiang Ziya arrived in Chaoge after wandering the Primordial World and went to Song Yiren's residence.
• A Song household servant questioned Jiang Ziya, who decided to leave, but a voice suddenly called out behind him.

After reuniting with Song Yiren, Jiang Ziya shared Fire Jujubes and demonstrated several simple immortal arts for his brother and the Song household. He ended by transforming soybeans into golden-armored warriors, astonishing Song Yiren.

• Jiang Ziya reunited with Song Yiren after more than forty years apart, and the two shared their joy at seeing each other again.
• Song Yiren explained that a friend’s ginseng rootlet had strengthened his body, and Jiang Ziya gave him Fire Jujubes to extend his life.
• Song Yiren hosted a banquet and asked Jiang Ziya to demonstrate his immortal arts, so Jiang Ziya created and extinguished flames, summoned rain within the estate, and froze the ground with wine.
• Jiang Ziya scattered soybeans and transformed them into golden-armored warriors, prompting Song Yiren to recognize the legendary Scattering Beans into Soldiers.

Jiang Ziya learned that Chaoge’s people now practiced human cultivation systems and that a young general named Wang Yong had reached the Heavenly Immortal realm, leaving him shaken about how the Great Tribulation would unfold. Song Yiren’s wife summoned Wang Yong to demonstrate his abilities before Jiang Ziya.

• Jiang Ziya showed Song Yiren his soybean warriors, but Song Yiren’s wife dismissed the trick as commonplace in Chaoge.
• Song Yiren’s wife explained that the Human Emperor and the Human Dao Saint had established dozens of cultivation systems, and that Wang Yong had reached the Heavenly Immortal realm.
• Jiang Ziya wondered how he could preside over the Investiture of the Gods now that Chaoge had changed so greatly.
• Song Yiren’s wife summoned Wang Yong, who arrived carrying a child and learned that she wanted him to demonstrate his skills before Jiang Ziya.

Wang Yong demonstrated his lethal martial techniques at the Song residence, impressing everyone before leaving the awkward family gathering. Jiang Ziya later restored Song Yiren and Madam Song’s vitality with Fire Jujubes, then learned that Song Yiren had arranged a marriage for him with the Ma family’s sixty-year-old daughter.

• Wang Yong killed a rat and an enormous eagle with tossed soybeans, then flattened the mountain behind the Song residence with a dragon-shaped palm strike.
• Wang Yong said farewell and took his child home, leaving Song Yiren and Madam Song to reconcile over wine with Jiang Ziya.
• Song Yiren and Madam Song ate Jiang Ziya’s Fire Jujubes, suffered stomach pain, and afterward felt their vitality and strength renewed.
• Jiang Ziya stayed at Song Yiren’s residence and enjoyed the comforts of the mortal world.
• Song Yiren told Jiang Ziya that he had arranged a marriage between him and the Ma family’s sixty-year-old daughter, and that the wedding would take place in a few days.

Jiang Ziya reluctantly agreed to marry Lady Ma after Song Yiren arranged the match, and a Fire Jujube restored some of Lady Ma’s youth. After learning of the wedding, Ye Xuan decided to spare Jiang Ziya and go see the ceremony himself.

• Song Yiren insisted that Jiang Ziya marry Lady Ma, and Jiang Ziya agreed on the condition that he could divorce her if she displeased him.
• Song Yiren brought Jiang Ziya to the Ma household, where Lady Ma and her maid discussed the match and her age.
• A maid delivered Jiang Ziya’s Fire Jujube to Lady Ma, and eating it made her shed her old skin and look decades younger.
• Lady Ma secretly watched Jiang Ziya at the feast, approved of his appearance, and the two families began preparing a grand wedding banquet.
• Su Daji told Ye Xuan that Jiang Ziya was getting married, and Ye Xuan rejected the idea of killing him and decided to attend the wedding.

Ye Xuan attended Jiang Ziya and Lady Ma’s wedding feast, where he teased the groom with a poem and revealed himself as the Human Emperor. Jiang Ziya later enjoyed married life but grew unhappy again after a few days.

• Ye Xuan brought Su Daji and Wushuang to Jiang Ziya’s wedding feast and found Wang Yong there, who reported mastering fourteen of the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.
• Ye Xuan shared food and wine with Wang Yong, then offered to demonstrate the remaining palms if Wang Yong needed help.
• Jiang Ziya came to toast Ye Xuan, and Ye Xuan recited a poem mocking Jiang Ziya’s age while hinting at his origins.
• Ye Xuan left with Su Daji and Wushuang, and Wang Yong told Jiang Ziya and Song Yiren that their visitor had been the Human Emperor.
• Jiang Ziya questioned why demons accompanied the Human Emperor, but the guests treated it as nothing unusual.
• After the wedding, Jiang Ziya experienced married life with Lady Ma, then grew unhappy again a few days later.

Jiang Ziya failed at selling bamboo strainers and flour, then found success telling fortunes in Chaoge. When Bi Gan asked him to divine Yin Shang’s fate, Jiang Ziya said the kingdom was flourishing but would soon face a calamity that could bring its fall.

• Lady Ma suggested that Jiang Ziya find a trade so they could support themselves and establish their own household.
• Jiang Ziya tried selling bamboo strainers and flour, but both ventures failed.
• After Song Yiren suggested divination as a livelihood, Jiang Ziya set up a fortune-telling stall and earned money by impressing the townspeople.
• Bi Gan visited Jiang Ziya’s stall and insisted that he divine the fortune of Yin Shang.
• Jiang Ziya divined that Yin Shang’s fortune was rising but that its defiance of heaven had displeased the Heavenly Dao and threatened the kingdom with a coming fall.

Jiang Ziya realized the Heavenly Dao intended Yin Shang’s destruction, divorced Lady Ma, and left Chaoge for Xiqi. Meanwhile, Bo Yikao decided to travel to Chaoge and offer treasures to free his imprisoned father, despite his ministers’ warnings that Xiqi needed him to remain.

• Bi Gan confronted Jiang Ziya for predicting Yin Shang’s fall, but Jiang Ziya insisted it was the will of heaven.
• Bi Gan rejected the Heavenly Dao’s authority and left, while Jiang Ziya concluded that Yin Shang’s prosperity conflicted with the plans behind the Investiture of the Gods.
• Jiang Ziya returned home, divorced Lady Ma, and rode west from Chaoge toward Xiqi.
• Bo Yikao told Xiqi’s ministers he would go to Chaoge with gifts to ransom Ji Chang from Youli City.
• San Yisheng and the other ministers urged Bo Yikao to stay and govern Xiqi, but he refused to change his decision.

Bo Yikao arranged for Xiqi to be governed in his absence, then traveled to Chaoge to seek his father Ji Chang’s release. Bi Gan agreed to introduce him to the Human Emperor, though he pitied Bo Yikao and suspected the meeting would end badly.

• Bo Yikao entrusted Xiqi’s domestic affairs to Ji Fa and San Yisheng, its military to Nangong Shi, and urged everyone to protect the secret of its six-million-strong army.
• Bo Yikao departed for Chaoge with guards, treasures, and beauties, including the Seven-Fragrance Chariot, the White-Faced Ape, and the Sobering Felt.
• After a month’s journey, Bo Yikao asked Bi Gan to help secure Ji Chang’s release from Youli City.
• Bi Gan explained that Xiqi’s past bribery and other actions had angered the Human Emperor, but agreed to introduce Bo Yikao to him.
• Bo Yikao rejoiced at Bi Gan’s promise, while Bi Gan privately pitied him and feared he would meet a bad end.

Bo Yikao came to Chaoge to ask Ye Xuan to release his father, Ji Chang, and brought treasures to win the Human Emperor’s favor. After Ye Xuan summoned him to court, Bo Yikao revealed his three treasures, and Ye Xuan uncovered the cage containing the white-faced ape.

• Bo Yikao waited in Chaoge for over a month while officials rejected his gifts, until Ye Xuan called morning court.
• Huang Feihu stopped Bo Yikao’s Xiqi guards at the palace and escorted Bo Yikao alone to the great hall.
• Bo Yikao begged Ye Xuan to release Ji Chang, then offered gold, jewels, beauties, and three rare treasures.
• Bo Yikao described the Seven-Fragrance Chariot, the Sobering Felt, and a wounded white-faced ape, while Ye Xuan showed interest only in the ape.
• Ye Xuan went to the covered iron cage and tore away its coarse cloth, revealing the creature inside.

Ye Xuan watched Bo Yikao present a savage white-faced ape in Chaoge and turned its attempted attack into an opportunity to recruit it. The ape became a tiny monkey in Ye Xuan’s hand, joining the Twelve Zodiac Animals.

• Ye Xuan ordered the cage opened, while Bo Yikao suggested inviting Su Daji to watch the ape perform.
• Wushuang brought Su Daji to the square, and Ye Xuan pulled her into his arms as Bo Yikao looked on jealously.
• Bo Yikao opened the cage, and the white-faced ape pretended to dance before suddenly lunging at Ye Xuan.
• Wushuang struck the gravely injured ape down, and Bo Yikao knelt to beg Ye Xuan’s forgiveness.
• Ye Xuan used his power to shrink the ape into a tiny monkey and picked it up, welcoming another member of the Twelve Zodiac Animals.

Ye Xuan uncovered the white-faced ape’s connection to the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey, then challenged Bo Yikao to prove his musical reputation by playing the qin. Bo Yikao impressed the ministers, but Ye Xuan dismissed his performance as ordinary and his fame as hollow.

• Ye Xuan learned through the white-faced ape’s divine sense that it was the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey’s lover, captured after the two were ambushed in ancient times.
• Ye Xuan hosted a feast for Bo Yikao and the ministers, setting aside affairs of state for the day.
• Ye Xuan urged Bo Yikao to play the qin, offering him a chance to visit his father in Youli City if his performance proved exceptional and threatening punishment if it did not.
• Bo Yikao played a soothing, skillful piece that astonished the ministers and strengthened his confidence in his musical ability.
• Bo Yikao asked Ye Xuan for his opinion, and Ye Xuan called the piece ordinary and Bo Yikao’s reputation empty.

Ye Xuan challenged Bo Yikao’s claim to musical skill and played the guqin to demonstrate a mastery that transported the audience through the life of an unparalleled swordsman. The performance ended in silence, leaving everyone shaken and Bo Yikao’s challenge eclipsed.

• Ye Xuan told Bo Yikao that Sanjiu, Su Daji, and the East Sea Dragon Clan princess all surpassed him in music.
• Ye Xuan challenged Bo Yikao to surpass his own playing, then had Wushuang bring him a guqin.
• Ye Xuan’s music conjured visions of a solitary swordsman who traveled the Primordial World and swept away injustice.
• Ye Xuan’s melody shifted into a clear, purifying sound that severed the listeners’ distracting thoughts.
• The music ended, and the audience remained stunned before finally recovering from the profound performance.

Ye Xuan played the Guangling Melody, humbling Bo Yikao and inspiring the court with its spirit of chivalry. He then performed an even more martial piece that left the officials and generals stirred by visions of battle.

• Ye Xuan named his first piece the Guangling Melody and explained that it celebrated chivalry and defending the people.
• Bo Yikao was left speechless after Ye Xuan asked what he thought of the performance.
• Ye Xuan began another qin piece, immersing the court in visions of armies clashing and soldiers charging into battle.
• Su Daji and Bo Yikao recalled Ye Xuan's fierce poem from their meeting in Jizhou as the music intensified.
• The music faded, but the court remained filled with fervor and resolve for battle.

Ye Xuan played “Ambush from Ten Sides” and “High Mountains and Flowing Water,” stunning the court and earning Wen Zhong’s admiration. After Bo Yikao admitted defeat, Ye Xuan allowed him to visit his father in Youli City, while Bo Yikao left the palace sober despite pretending to be drunk.

• Ye Xuan shifted from “Ambush from Ten Sides” to “High Mountains and Flowing Water,” immersing everyone in the music.
• Wen Zhong praised Ye Xuan, and the court bowed as Ye Xuan named the two pieces.
• Su Daji admired Ye Xuan’s qin playing and said he might enter the Dao through music and become a saint.
• Bo Yikao admitted that Ye Xuan’s playing surpassed his own, and Ye Xuan allowed him to visit his father in Youli City.
• The banquet ended after toasts and Dragon Clan dances, and Bo Yikao left the palace sober, revealing that he had only pretended to be drunk.

Ye Xuan allowed Bo Yikao to travel to Youli to see Ji Chang, believing the young man would soon die and refusing to kill Ji Chang. When Bo Yikao arrived, Ji Chang rebuked him for coming to Chaoge and feared his son had put himself in danger.

• Bo Yikao left Chaoge for Youli, and Ye Xuan told his ministers Ji Chang was not fated to die while Bo Yikao would not live much longer.
• Ji Chang cast an ominous divination in Youli and wondered how Xiqi could stand against Chaoge's growing fortune.
• Bo Yikao arrived with his men and tearfully told Ji Chang he had brought treasures to seek his release.
• Ji Chang grew furious when he learned Bo Yikao had disobeyed his orders, slapped him, and made him kneel.

Ji Chang warned Bo Yikao that entering Chaoge would bring disaster, but Bo Yikao returned to the palace at night to confront Su Daji and demand that she go with him to Xiqi. When she refused, he threatened to rape and kill her, then lunged at her.

• Ji Chang scolded Bo Yikao for coming to Chaoge and urged him to leave before he was killed.
• Bo Yikao reassured Ji Chang that Xiqi was being managed well by Ji Fa, San Yisheng, and Nangong Shi.
• Bo Yikao left with his companions but decided he had to see Su Daji again before departing.
• An Xiqi expert helped Bo Yikao sneak into the palace and reach Su Daji's residence.
• Bo Yikao insulted Su Daji and demanded that she go with him to Xiqi, threatening her when she refused.
• Bo Yikao lunged at Su Daji.

Su Daji exposed and defeated Bo Yikao’s attempt to approach her, and Ye Xuan had him dragged away. The next morning, Wushuang delivered Ji Chang a meal and blood wine from the Human Emperor, leaving him to ask what kind of meat he was eating.

• Su Daji struck Bo Yikao down when he approached her, and Wushuang and Ye Xuan came out to confront him.
• Bo Yikao tried to claim he had only come to ask Su Daji for help, but Ye Xuan threatened to turn him into buns for his father and ordered him dragged away.
• Ji Chang felt troubled in Youli City and worried about his son’s fate in Chaoge.
• Wushuang introduced herself to Ji Chang as Ao Wushuang, the East Sea Dragon King’s daughter and the Human Emperor’s personal maid.
• Wushuang presented Ji Chang with meat and blood wine as gifts from the Human Emperor, and Ji Chang eagerly ate the meat.
• Ji Chang praised the meat’s flavor and asked Wushuang what kind it was.

Ye Xuan offered Ji Chang a chance to return to Xiqi after finishing the meat and wine he had been served. When Ye Xuan showed him the courtyard, Ji Chang recognized the meat as coming from Bo Yikao’s slaughtered guards and feared his son had also been killed.

• Wushuang told Ji Chang that the meat and blood wine were rare delicacies, and Ji Chang ate and drank them eagerly.
• Ye Xuan visited Ji Chang and promised to let him return to Xiqi after he finished eating all the meat drying outside.
• Ye Xuan led Ji Chang into the courtyard, where Ji Chang saw dozens of butchered corpses hanging from racks.
• Ji Chang recognized many of the dead as Bo Yikao’s guards, collapsed retching, and searched the corpses for his son while restraining his rage.