Recaps

Wang Chen and Zuo Xiaomo entered the Nine Dragon Underground Palace for the Outer Sect assessment, but Wang Chen was teleported to an unmapped area alone. Unable to contact Zuo Xiaomo or locate himself on the survey map, he realized he would have to find his own way back.

• Lu Lingshan gave Zuo Xiaomo a Storage Bag and wished him well before the assessment disciples entered the underground palace.
• Wang Chen and Zuo Xiaomo reached the Nine Dragon Grand Hall and used its Teleportation Array to travel to the second level.
• Wang Chen emerged in a desolate, unmapped region and discovered that Zuo Xiaomo was nowhere nearby.
• Wang Chen tried to contact Zuo Xiaomo with a message talisman and the Yaoguang Sword, but neither worked.
• Wang Chen activated his survey map, found that it could not locate him, and concluded he was in an unexplored area.

Separated from Zuo Xiaomo in the Nine Dragon Underground Palace, Wang Chen explored an unfamiliar region and tested its restrictive effects on flight and magic. He discovered valuable Star-Shattering Grass, killed a black snake that ambushed him, and gained Human Virtue.

• Wang Chen worried about Zuo Xiaomo but decided the other man would have to survive the assessment on his own.
• Wang Chen surveyed the endless hills and found that spatial suppression prevented flight and weakened spells, Talismans, and Magic Tools.
• Wang Chen discovered that his Omnidirectional Compass could not find a direction, so he chose a route and continued exploring.
• Wang Chen spotted five mature stalks of Star-Shattering Grass beside a dark pool and approached them.
• A black snake sprang from the pool, but Wang Chen struck it with his fist and finished it with the Crimson Lion Sword, gaining 126 Human Virtue.

Wang Chen explored the Nine Dragon Underground Palace, collecting spirit herbs and fighting its monsters before taking shelter in an abandoned village. As he tried to rest inside a protected stone house, black tentacles seeped beneath the door and disturbed his defensive array.

• Wang Chen killed a black snake guarding six mature Star-Shattering Grass plants and gathered them carefully.
• Wang Chen traveled through the hills for several days, fighting hidden monsters and gathering spiritual materials without finding an exit.
• Wang Chen discovered an abandoned village, spared a fleeing weasel-like monster, and prepared a stone house as a shelter.
• Wang Chen activated his array plate, replenished his mana, and settled down to rest.
• Wang Chen sensed his defensive array being disturbed and saw black tentacles reach beneath the stone door as an Evil Spirit's Yin Evil aura chilled the room.

Wang Chen harvested hundreds of Evil Spirits in the desolate village to replenish the spiritual power of the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil. When a giant Evil Monster attacked, he wounded it with the Crimson Ni Sword and immobilized it with Talismans.

• Wang Chen opened the stone door and found the desolate village surrounded by hundreds of Evil Spirits.
• Wang Chen repeatedly cast the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil, devouring the Evil Spirits and replenishing the net's spiritual power.
• Wang Chen used the net's Heavenly Net power to draw in Evil Spirits from across the village.
• A giant Evil Monster attacked Wang Chen from the dark clouds, and Wang Chen pierced its claw with the Crimson Ni Sword.
• Wang Chen dodged the Evil Monster's harpoon, then immobilized it with Talismans.

Wang Chen defeated a Black Grudge-grade Evil Monster and spent more than half a month fighting Evil Spirits across abandoned settlements in the Nine Dragon Underground Palace. He reached a ruined city and spotted firelight in a temple, suggesting someone might be there.

• Wang Chen used Evil-Quelling Talismans, the Crimson Lion Sword, and the Mystic Fire Flying Crow Technique to defeat the Black Grudge-grade Evil Monster and capture its blood spheres with the Heavenly Net to Punish Evil.
• Wang Chen found a high-grade Yin Qi Bead beneath the monster's fur and rested in an abandoned house before continuing on.
• Wang Chen crossed abandoned villages, killed Evil Spirits to improve his techniques, and collected many Yin Qi Beads.
• Wang Chen emerged from the hills after more than half a month and saw a ruined city whose former inhabitants had apparently suffered a calamity.
• Wang Chen spotted firelight inside a temple in the city's southeastern district and hurried toward the city.

Wang Chen found a City God Temple in the deserted city and waited beside its bonfire, only to discover the fire had been bait for an ambush. He resisted the Bewitching Immortal Incense and countered the attackers, leaving the one-armed cultivator badly maimed.

• Wang Chen found the City God Temple and carefully searched its empty hall, where he discovered a bonfire and scattered travel supplies.
• Wang Chen added firewood and rested beside the bonfire, but Bewitching Immortal Incense made him appear to fall asleep.
• Three ragged cultivators entered the hall, and the female cultivator attacked Wang Chen with a silver hairpin.
• Wang Chen deflected the hairpin and revealed that the incense had not affected him, then explained that his Vajra Indestructible Body resisted poisons.
• The one-armed cultivator charged Wang Chen while the scar-faced cultivator used a talisman and the female cultivator launched hidden darts.
• Wang Chen met the one-armed cultivator's punch with his palm, rupturing the man's fist and mangling his arm.

Wang Chen killed the Qinghe siblings after they ambushed him, then confronted Yang Yi, a Purple Mansion cultivator who claimed to be trapped in the Nine Dragon Underground Palace. As Yang Yi described his arrival and asked about Wang Chen’s own, Wang Chen revealed that he had noticed something suspicious about the wine and regarded the old man as an enemy.

• Wang Chen’s Heavenly Dragon Vajra Palm crippled the one-armed cultivator, while his Resplendent Shield Armor blocked the female cultivator’s poisoned needles.
• The female cultivator and scar-faced cultivator fled, but Wang Chen’s Crimson Ni Sword killed them both and earned him Heavenly Merit.
• Wang Chen called out the hidden observer, and Yang Yi entered the hall, claiming he had only watched the fight out of curiosity.
• Yang Yi cleared the corpses, shared spirit wine with Wang Chen, and said he had been trapped in an unexplored area of the Nine Dragon Underground Palace for over half a year.
• Yang Yi asked whether Wang Chen knew how to return, and Wang Chen suggested that the poison had not taken effect on him before fixing the old cultivator with a hostile gaze.

Wang Chen resisted Yang Yi’s poisons and survived the Purple Mansion cultivator’s deadly soul attack, then pursued and killed him inside the Nine Dragon Underground Palace. The chapter ended with Wang Chen claiming the Heavenly Merit from Yang Yi’s death.

• Wang Chen sensed Yang Yi’s concealed malice and realized the old cultivator had secretly poisoned him, but his Vajra Indestructible Body rendered the poison useless.
• Yang Yi attacked Wang Chen with his Soul Annihilation Thorn, but Wang Chen shattered it with the Heavenly Dragon Vajra Palm and sent Yang Yi crashing into the temple.
• Yang Yi summoned black-mist skulls and fled with Blood Evasion Art, while Wang Chen’s Flying Sword pierced him and drove him into a stone house.
• Wang Chen finished the wounded Yang Yi with the Crimson Lion Sword and received 500 Heavenly Merit.

After defeating Yang Yi and his subordinates, Wang Chen searched their Storage Bags and discovered a strange sealed jade before preparing a meal in the City God Temple. As a living City God statue attacked him, Wang Chen caught its mace but faced a second strike.

• Wang Chen burned the corpses and used Talismans to send the dead souls onward.
• Wang Chen found little in the Qinghe siblings’ Storage Bags, then destroyed Yang Yi’s restricted bags to prevent harm.
• A jade box survived the destruction of Yang Yi’s Storage Bag, and Wang Chen placed it in his Sumeru Ring for later investigation.
• Wang Chen roasted a Long-Horned Spirit Sheep leg in the City God Temple.
• The City God statue attacked Wang Chen with its mace, and he caught the blow before it stomped at him.

Wang Chen was trapped inside the City God Temple with a powerful City God statue and fought to survive after his sword proved ineffective. He trapped the statue in a mud pit and tried using Turn Stone to Mud on its head.

• The City God statue sealed the temple in an invisible cage, preventing Wang Chen from escaping.
• Wang Chen attacked with the Crimson Ni Sword, but the statue blocked and damaged it, forcing him to recall it.
• Wang Chen broke free from the statue's gravity-like restraint and dodged beneath its mace.
• Wang Chen used Turn Stone to Mud to transform the floor into a deep pit, sinking the statue to its waist.
• As the statue tried to pull itself free, Wang Chen struck its head and cast Turn Stone to Mud again.

Wang Chen destroyed the City God statue by disrupting its core with a Spirit-Focusing Beam and then shattering its body. A stone door marked “Treasure Pavilion” rose where the statue had stood, revealing the next destination.

• Wang Chen and the City God statue fought a draining stalemate as he used the Evil-Exorcising Net’s stored spiritual energy to sustain Turn Stone to Mud.
• Wang Chen used the Cave Truth Technique to locate the statue’s earth-yellow core and struck it with a Spirit-Focusing Beam, disrupting its power.
• Wang Chen poured his strength into the statue’s head, split open its shell, and broke its body apart with a final strike.
• Wang Chen retrieved the heavy earth-yellow crystal from the wreckage and realized it was his reward for defeating the mechanical puppet.
• A bronze-colored stone door rose from the ground and displayed the True Script Runes “Treasure Pavilion.”

Wang Chen chose the white jade box as his reward in the Nine Dragon Underground Palace and was transported back to the Nine Dragon Grand Hall. He reunited with Zuo Xiaomo in Myriad Spirit City and learned that the teleportation array had scattered the protectors and disciples; Wang Chen still wanted to know how long he had been missing.

• Wang Chen used the earth-yellow crystal and the jade Yang Yi had given him to open the stone door and enter a secret chamber with three reward choices.
• Wang Chen chose the white jade box after the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron reacted to it, then was transported back to the Nine Dragon Grand Hall.
• Wang Chen hid the box from the greedy onlookers, left the hall, and flew to Myriad Spirit City after sending a message talisman.
• Wang Chen met Zuo Xiaomo at the Xu family residence and learned that the teleportation array had sent the protectors and disciples to an unknown area where they faced monsters and Evil Spirits.
• Zuo Xiaomo told Wang Chen that the returned disciples had passed the assessment and that he had become an official Outer Sect disciple of the West Sea Sect.
• Wang Chen asked Zuo Xiaomo how long he had been missing.

After reuniting with Xu Xinlan, Wang Chen gave her Face-Fixing Pills and strengthened his Physique and Divine Soul with Heavenly Merit. He then opened the jade box from the Treasure Pavilion to investigate its resonance with the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron.

• Xu Xinlan told Wang Chen how worried she had been during his disappearance and described her progress in cultivation.
• Wang Chen gave Xu Xinlan Peiyuan Pills, Qi-Uniting Pills, and three bottles of Face-Fixing Pills, which she decided to share with Xiao Dai and Xiao Yu.
• Xu Xinlan called Xiao Dai and Xiao Yu into the room, and the three women later fell asleep after spending time with Wang Chen.
• Wang Chen spent 2,000 points of Heavenly Merit to raise his Physique and Divine Soul to 21, healing injuries and sharpening his senses.
• Wang Chen took out the jade box from the Treasure Pavilion to discover what resonated with the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron.

Wang Chen discovered that the jade box contained Great Sun True Fire, a priceless Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire, and fed it into the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron. The cauldron began transforming after consuming a vast quantity of Medium Spirit Stones, but it remained sealed with only one Unsealing Point left to gain.

• Wang Chen opened the jade box with mana and revealed a flame he identified as Great Sun True Fire.
• Wang Chen realized the flame was too dangerous to keep exposed and activated the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, which had resonated with the jade box.
• Wang Chen strained to move the Great Sun True Fire into the cauldron, triggering a crimson-gold blaze and the cauldron's transformation.
• The Life-Giving Creation Cauldron demanded Medium Spirit Stones as firewood, so Wang Chen fed it most of his stored stones.
• The cauldron's Unsealing Points climbed to 999999/1000000, leaving it one point short of unsealing.

Wang Chen fully unsealed the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, awakening its Artifact Spirit, Little Cauldron, and learned that the Yellow-grade treasure could craft, repair, and strengthen magical items. He negotiated Little Cauldron down to a thirty-Medium-Spirit-Stone fee to repair his Crimson Ni Sword.

• Wang Chen spent 1 point of Human Virtue to remove the cauldron’s final seal, causing its Artifact Spirit to manifest as a child named Little Cauldron.
• Little Cauldron gave Wang Chen knowledge of the Cauldron Control Method and the cauldron’s origins and functions, though his cultivation limited him to its Yellow grade.
• Wang Chen asked Little Cauldron to repair his Crimson Ni Sword, but it demanded five hundred Medium Spirit Stones.
• Wang Chen began shrinking the cauldron to resist Little Cauldron’s price, and Little Cauldron repeatedly lowered its demand.
• Wang Chen accepted Little Cauldron’s final price of thirty Medium Spirit Stones and ordered it to repair the sword.

Wang Chen restored the Crimson Ni Sword with the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, then returned to cultivation and handled the spoils from the Xuan Yi bandits. After receiving generous mission rewards, he chose the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder as his new cultivation technique.

• Wang Chen restored the Crimson Ni Sword in the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, shrank the cauldron, and began cultivating.
• Wang Chen gave Xu Xinlan the Xuan Yi bandits' spoils to sell and asked her to buy materials for Dragon Tiger Spirit Strengthening Soup.
• Wang Chen left the Xu family and submitted his mission to eliminate the Xuan Yi bandits at the Inner Sect General Affairs Department.
• Wang Chen received 2,600 Merit Points, the right to choose a Purple Mansion cultivation technique, and three days to comprehend the Ancestor Hall.
• Wang Chen selected the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder from the Library Pavilion to replace the Five Suns Dry Thunder.

Wang Chen entered West Sea Sect’s Ancestor Hall to comprehend the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Purple Mansion Chapter. There, he encountered the true soul of a former master, who began demonstrating the thunder technique for him.

• Wang Chen chose Nine Heavens Divine Thunder because it shared a pure Yang lineage with the Five Suns Dry Thunder he had already mastered.
• Using his Ancestor Token, Wang Chen ascended Taiqing Peak and entered the Ancestor Hall alongside five true inheritance disciples.
• Wang Chen settled in a corner of the hall, prayed to West Sea Sect’s forebears, and began studying the thunder technique’s true characters.
• As Wang Chen immersed himself in comprehension, he found himself on a mountain peak before a black-robed elder who appeared to be a former master’s true soul.
• The elder formed a hand seal and summoned repeated Lightning Strikes while Wang Chen held his focus and tried to comprehend the technique.

Wang Chen reached Great Accomplishment in the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Method after three months of training on Lightning Island. While celebrating with a meal at the Nourishing Origin Cave, he was approached by Wu Yanqiu, who asked whether he knew about Thunder Beasts.

• Wang Chen used 10 Human Virtue points to raise the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Method to Great Accomplishment and demonstrated its power by splitting a lightning-resistant stone stool with a Lightning Strike.
• Wang Chen left the Law Comprehension Cave after three months of training, having strengthened his Dao foundation and become ready to advance to the Purple Mansion third layer.
• Wang Chen went to the Nourishing Origin Cave and ordered a deluxe Spirit Food meal to celebrate his progress.
• Wu Yanqiu joined Wang Chen, set up a Mana barrier, and asked whether he knew about Thunder Beasts.
• Wang Chen explained that Thunder Beasts were spirit creatures born from thunder and lightning, and that their Thunder Cores could aid lightning cultivation and the forging of lightning-aspected items.

Wang Chen refused Wu Yanqiu’s attempt to recruit him for a dangerous Thunder Beast hunt and returned to cultivating lightning arts. At a later exchange gathering, he spotted a Thunder Core being auctioned for at least five hundred Medium Spirit Stones.

• Wu Yanqiu invited Wang Chen to join a party hunting a Thunder Beast nest, but he firmly declined.
• Wu Yanqiu told Senior Brother Zhao that Wang Chen had refused, and Zhao revealed that he had wanted Wang Chen to lure the Thunder Beasts from their nest.
• Wang Chen resumed cultivating the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Method, but its progress after Great Accomplishment proved extremely slow.
• Half a month later, Wang Chen attended the Nourishing Origin Cave exchange gathering and browsed the disciples’ stalls.
• Wang Chen recognized a Thunder Core at Senior Brother Zhao’s stall, where Zhao set a starting bid of five hundred Medium Spirit Stones.

Wang Chen failed to buy an expensive thunder core at auction, then rejected Wu Yanqiu’s offer to join Zhao Hongsheng’s team. He bought a large supply of cheap thunderstones, hoping they could help with his Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Method.

• Wang Chen bid on a thunder core but gave up when Zhao Hongsheng sold it for 1,150 Medium Spirit Stones.
• Wu Yanqiu introduced Wang Chen to Zhao Hongsheng and offered to recommend him for the team hunting thunder beasts, but Wang Chen declined.
• Wang Chen left Wu Yanqiu, suspecting her invitation had ulterior motives and deciding he did not need a thunder core badly enough to join the team.
• Wang Chen found a stall selling thunderstones and bargained with the owner for all 4,000 jin at 20 Medium Spirit Stones.
• The stall owner accepted Wang Chen’s offer, and Wang Chen paid for the thunderstones.

Wang Chen used the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron to refine a large supply of Thunderstone into a powerful Lightning Crystal. He then set up a stall at the Nourishing Origin Cave exchange gathering to buy more high-grade Thunderstone at a fixed price.

• Wang Chen asked Little Cauldron whether it could refine Thunderstone, and Little Cauldron agreed in exchange for one hundred medium spirit stones.
• Wang Chen placed the Thunderstone and spirit stones in the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron, then cultivated while Little Cauldron refined the materials.
• Wang Chen retrieved a large, sapphire-blue Lightning Crystal whose power surpassed the scattered crystals he had seen before.
• Wang Chen returned to the Nourishing Origin Cave and posted an offer to buy high-grade Thunderstone for one lower spirit stone per jin.
• Wang Chen refused to raise his offer, but cultivators still began trading their plentiful Thunderstone with him.

Wang Chen used Lightning Crystals refined by the Life-Giving Creation Cauldron to rapidly cultivate the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Method, then went to the monthly exchange gathering to buy high-grade Thunderstone. After purchasing over a hundred thousand jin, he turned away an Inner Sect Disciple selling expensive Lightning Crystals, who became curious about his use for Thunderstone.

• Wang Chen saw that absorbing Lightning Crystals had raised his Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Method to 315/400 and strengthened his resistance to lightning.
• Wang Chen put away a powerful Lightning Crystal and left the Law Comprehension Cave to stockpile Thunderstone at the monthly exchange gathering.
• Wang Chen bought high-grade Thunderstone from Outer Sect disciples for one Lower Spirit Stone per jin, eventually purchasing more than a hundred thousand jin.
• A short, stocky Inner Sect Disciple offered Wang Chen upper-medium-grade Lightning Crystals for ten Medium Spirit Stones per jin, but Wang Chen refused.
• The short, stocky cultivator questioned Wang Chen about using Thunderstone to cultivate, then left after Wang Chen gave a vague answer.

Wang Chen completed the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Method and tested its power on Lightning Island, where he killed a Thunder Leopard and collected Thunder Cores. He returned to West Sea City, visited Xu Xinlan in Myriad Spirit City, and received a large quantity of Spirit Stones from her.

• Wang Chen refined over a hundred thousand Thunderstones into five Lightning Crystals and cultivated the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning Method to Grand Completion.
• Wang Chen tested the lightning art during a storm, shrugged off a Lightning Strike, and killed a Thunder Leopard with a single cast.
• Wang Chen collected the Thunder Leopard's Thunder Core and continued practicing the lightning art on Lightning Island for three days.
• Wang Chen returned to West Sea City, traveled to Myriad Spirit City, and reunited with Xu Xinlan after months apart.
• Wang Chen gave Xu Xinlan the Thunder Cores he had collected, and she returned a Storage Bag filled with Spirit Stones.

After advancing to the Purple Mansion third layer, Wang Chen received a three-year mandatory assignment as Protector Heavenly Master in the remote border city of Great Ying. He left Xu Xinlan in Myriad Spirit City and set out for West Continent, suspecting the assignment was connected to Zuo Xiaomo.

• Wang Chen quietly advanced to the Purple Mansion third layer while cultivating in the West Sea Sect.
• The Sect Affairs Department ordered Wang Chen to serve a three-year term as Protector Heavenly Master in Great Ying, West Continent, and he accepted despite suspecting someone was targeting him.
• Wang Chen went to Myriad Spirit City and told Xu Xinlan to stay behind and wait for him while he was away.
• Three days later, Wang Chen boarded a Flying Ship for West Continent, and Zuo Xiaomo apologized for possibly causing his assignment.
• Wang Chen told Zuo Xiaomo to look after Xu Xinlan and to endure trouble until Wang Chen returned.

Wang Chen arrived in Daying City to take up a Sub-Protector Heavenly Master post in a frontier city troubled by Sand People raids and political tensions. He was received coldly by Grand Protector Luo Han, and the previous postholder hurriedly handed over his staff and fled, leaving Wang Chen with a difficult assignment and no trusted people.

• Wang Chen studied a book about Daying Prefecture and learned about its harsh frontier conditions, Sand People raids, and the deaths of several Protector Heavenly Masters.
• Wang Chen arrived in Daying City aboard a West Sea Sect Flying Ship and met Grand Protector Luo Han, who sent him to rest without offering a warm welcome.
• The next morning, a steward escorted Wang Chen to his Sub-Protector Heavenly Master Pavilion in the city's northwest corner.
• The previous Protector Heavenly Master transferred the pavilion's staff and personnel to Wang Chen, then fled with several disciples.
• Wang Chen realized he had inherited a dangerous post without any trustworthy attendants of his own.