Ruling the Gods

Commanding the Gods is an Eastern fantasy novel by the web novelist Yucheng. It was first serialized on Xiaoxiang Academy on December 17, 2010, moved to Qidian Chinese Network in February 2011 with an A-level contract, and was completed in 2012 at roughly 1.22 million characters and more than 430 chapters. The story opens in the real world: Bai Yu, a fourth-year pharmacy student on Earth, is obsessed with pharmaceutical research and dies in an explosion while involved in research on a mysterious lotus seed. His soul crosses into the "Sacred Continent" (also called the Tianchi Continent) and possesses Chen Yang, a youth from Wangshan Village. In this world, holy power is the foundation of all cultivation. Cultivators must first accumulate holy power through the ten grades of the Holy Apprentice, then overcome the great bottleneck of tempering a Holy Diagram and condensing a Holy Wheel before becoming true "Sages". The Holy Diagram determines the attributes of one's holy power and fighting style, while the number of Holy Wheels indicates the level of cultivation; the legendary nine-wheeled Legendary Sage Lord is the highest realm. The realms are roughly divided into Human, Mystic, Spirit, Earth, Heaven, Void, Nirvana, Sage and Legend. Drawing on his knowledge of pharmacology from his previous life and his skills in crafting fragrant medicines, Chen Yang improves his family's circumstances and trades for cultivation resources. From establishing his authority at a village school and making a name for himself in Fuhu Town to winning the Xuan Yu Sect tournament and slaying powerful enemies in the Myriad Beast Cave trial, he rises step by step within the holy power system. Amid disasters that befall his village and the scattering of his family, he embarks on a path of revenge and self-strengthening, ultimately mastering the Chaos Green Lotus and the Mountains and Rivers Seal, ascending as the "Chaos Divine King", and reaching the ending with the revival of his old friend Xia Qingying as the central emotional thread.