After the Investiture of the Gods, the Tongtian Cult Leader was suppressed, the Jie Order disbanded, and the age when thousands of immortals flocked to pay homage became a thing of the past. Yet the Investiture of the Gods had accumulated immeasurable merit by granting titles across the Three Realms. Even Hongjun, who had merged with the Dao, could not fully control it. On the day its task was complete, it transformed into a rainbow and vanished. To preserve stability across the Three Realms, the Heavenly Dao suppressed its fortune and established new rules for the newly founded Heavenly Court, the mortal world, and the underworld. The Investiture of the Gods took on human form, but the transformation consumed an enormous amount of merit, leaving it with incomplete intelligence and the mind of a simple child. One day, a little girl named Liu Yuner found him and brought him home. The Liu family was blessed with the power of merit and became a wealthy, influential household. Yuner and Liu Xu, the name the family gave the Investiture after adopting him, grew up together. Beautiful and kindhearted, Liu Yuner helped many disaster victims and refugees. The Liu family, too, was charitable, often giving aid to their neighbors. ... Their wealth attracted envy. A village bully joined forces with jealous neighbors, and bandits raided the Liu household, slaughtering all 32 members of the family, young and old, men and women alike. Liu Yuner was kidnapped and taken to the bandits’ stronghold, where she endured terrible torment before dying. The other kindhearted families in the village were also slaughtered by the bandits. Liu Xu, being a simpleton, was knocked unconscious and thus escaped their fate. The Liu home was awash with blood, and a blood moon hung overhead. When the blood further stirred Liu Xu’s hatred, it combined with the unrefined power of merit within him, turning him into a demon in an instant and robbing him of reason. He slaughtered every bandit. Consumed by boundless resentment, he vowed to unite the Three Realms and rewrite their rules. He began recruiting demons and monsters from every corner, encroaching on the mortal world and the underworld while secretly rescuing the Sage Tongtian. He joined forces with the scattered Jie Order members who had fled, and the Three Realms teetered on the brink of chaos once more. Three people born in response to the will of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity endured one trial after another. They would eventually grow strong enough to work together and cleanse Liu Xu of his obsession. At last, he let go and became the Heavenly Dao’s arbiter of reward and punishment, restoring peace to the Three Realms.
