Chapter Summaries

Chen Yan discovered an Ancient Thunder Pool deep within Thunder Cliff and found high-grade lightning-attributed Earth Fiend Yin Veins at its bottom. He entered the pool to cultivate and recognized the veins as the rare Jade Pivot Kan Thunder Fiend.

• Chen Yan used the Thunder Department Seal to withstand Thunder Cliff’s lightning and searched its depths for lightning-attributed Earth Fiend Yin Veins.
• Chen Yan found an Ancient Thunder Pool filled with condensed lightning power and used Nether Insight to detect Earth Fiend Yin Veins at its bottom.
• Chen Yan entered the pool despite its terrifying lightning, while the Thunder Department Seal rapidly absorbed its power.
• Chen Yan reached the pool’s bottom, saw the deep-purple Earth Fiend Yin Veins, and identified them as Jade Pivot Kan Thunder Fiend.

Chen Yan harvested the Jade Pivot Kan Thunder Fiend from Thunder Cliff’s Ancient Thunder Pool and cultivated there alongside the Thunder Department Seal. After four months, he broke through to complete Refining Qi into Spirit, leaving him poised to pursue a further breakthrough before the third Blood Moon.

• Chen Yan used a jade porcelain bottle to collect 2,679 strands of Jade Pivot Kan Thunder Fiend from the Ancient Thunder Pool.
• The Thunder Department Seal absorbed thunder power and gradually repaired its cracks while protecting Chen Yan from the pool’s violent energy.
• Chen Yan began cultivating in the Ancient Thunder Pool, absorbing its dense thunder power to advance his Daoist and martial cultivation.
• Over four months, the twin vortices formed by Chen Yan and the Thunder Department Seal drew thunder power away from Thunder Cliff, making it safer for young thunderbirds to fly out.
• Chen Yan forced vast amounts of thunder power through his body and, after three days of refining it, reached complete Refining Qi into Spirit.

Chen Yan reached the peak of Refining Qi into Spirit Transformation while the Thunder Department Seal continued repairing itself, and he prepared to stabilize his cultivation before pursuing the Yin Spirit realm. As the third Blood Moon approached, powerful figures across several worlds set out toward the Netherworld Realm, where Chen Yan remained the Human Ranking’s top name despite his cultivation being publicly listed as unchanged.

• Chen Yan saw that the Thunder Department Seal had absorbed vast amounts of lightning and nearly repaired its cracks, while his martial cultivation advanced to the late Embracing Dan stage.
• Chen Yan chose to let his magic power stabilize before attempting to break through with the Jade Pivot Kan Thunder Fiend.
• Guo Tai told Tong Xiuyuan that he had been unable to meet Chen Yan for four years, and Tong Xiuyuan ordered him to keep Chen Yan’s listed cultivation unverified and unchanged.
• The Dao Alliance sent Li Shouyi toward another world, while a young monk departed from Vajra Temple.
• Bu Lingxu left the Azure Cloud Sect after reassuring the woman who saw him off, and Zhao Wuji learned Chen Yan remained first on the Human Ranking.
• In the Canglan Great World, a young girl questioned why her Big Sister was joining the expedition, and the woman replied that the destination offered more than Earth Fiend Yin Veins.

Chen Yan discovered that the restored Thunder Department Seal had reached the Immortal Embryo stage, then watched it face a lightning tribulation under the Heavenly Dao’s attention. As the seal began nurturing a Dao Fruit, Chen Yan connected it to the ancient war between the Divine Firmament Sect and Yellow Springs, but the secrets behind the conflict remained unanswered.

• Chen Yan saw the Thunder Department Seal restored as an Immortal Embryo after five months of repairs and absorbing lightning power.
• A lightning tribulation gathered above Thunder Cliff, and the Heavenly Dao’s attention appeared before focusing on the Thunder Department Seal.
• Yang God powerhouses across the Three Thousand Worlds sensed a strange Dao rhythm and turned their attention toward the Netherworld Realm.
• Chen Yan withdrew beyond Thunder Cliff as the tribulation clouds formed a thunder pool and unleashed a waterfall of lightning that began melting the Thunder Department Seal.
• Chen Yan sensed a Dao Fruit’s aura coming from the Thunder Department Seal and realized it was nurturing a Dao Fruit.
• Chen Yan suspected Yellow Springs had fought the Divine Firmament Sect to seize the Dao Fruit and wondered whether Old Daoist Liu had known it was hidden in the seal.

Chen Yan discovered that the Thunder Department Seal contained half of the powerful Dao Fruit: Nine Heavens, which Yellow Springs had once fought the Divine Firmament Sect to obtain. He left the damaged seal to recover at Thunder Cliff and began breaking through to Refining Spirit into Void, while a mysterious voice beyond the Netherworld Realm sensed Nine Heavens.

• Nine lightning tribulations shattered the Thunder Department Seal while strengthening the Dao Fruit inside it, and Chen Yan learned its name was Dao Fruit: Nine Heavens.
• Chen Yan realized Dao Fruit: Nine Heavens was incomplete and inferred that Yellow Springs held the other half after defeating the Divine Firmament Sect.
• Chen Yan chose not to refine Dao Fruit: Nine Heavens because doing so would overwhelm his current strength, and he left the seal in the Ancient Thunder Pool to recover.
• Chen Yan returned to the Ancient Thunder Pool and began his breakthrough to Refining Spirit into Void.
• At the edge of the Three Thousand Worlds, an ethereal voice in a small world said it had sensed the aura of Nine Heavens.

Yellow Springs learned that the aura of Nine Heavens had appeared in the Netherworld Realm and sent Chou Fei to investigate and retrieve an unfinished Dao Fruit. Meanwhile, Chen Yan began breaking through to Refining Spirit into Void and, after enduring the soul-tempering pain and overcoming an inner demon, formed his Yin Spirit.

• Yellow Springs traced the brief aura of Nine Heavens southeast and identified the Netherworld Realm as the location of Chou Fei's unfinished Dao Fruit.
• Chen Yan prepared at Thunder Cliff and began his breakthrough after spending nearly a month bringing himself to peak condition.
• Chen Yan refined Jade Pivot Kan Thunder Fiend to temper his divine soul, enduring severe pain as it grew clearer and stronger.
• Demons invaded Chen Yan's soul sea, but the Dragon Sparrow Saber and Thunder Department Seal protected him while his Yin Spirit continued to develop.
• An inner demon wearing Chen Yan's face tried to drag him into darkness, but the Heavenly Book of Merit awakened him and he severed it with a blade of thunder.
• Chen Yan's inner demon vanished, his state of mind settled, and his Yin Spirit radiated a crystalline white light.

Chen Yan completed his breakthrough to Refining Spirit into Void by using the outer demons to strengthen his Yin God, then continued cultivating at Thunder Cliff. At the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, Tong Xiuyuan learned Chen Yan had vanished from the Human Ranking and assumed he was dead.

• Chen Yan lured outer demons into his lightning barrier, refined one hundred thousand of them into Star Soul Crystals, and strengthened his Yin God to the limit his body could bear.
• Chen Yan killed part of a powerful snake-shaped Yin Demon, kept it outside his soul sea, and completed his breakthrough to become a Yin God master.
• Chen Yan assessed his new strength, concluded he could confront the Ghost Cry Sect master, and reflected on the gains from his Inner World journey.
• With less than three months until the third Blood Moon, Chen Yan stayed at Thunder Cliff, put the Thunder Department Seal in the Ancient Thunder Pool, and resumed cultivating.
• Dong Hai reported to Tong Xiuyuan that Chen Yan had disappeared from the Human Ranking, and Tong Xiuyuan assumed Chen Yan had died.

Tong Xiuyuan concluded that Chen Yan had died after his name disappeared from the Heavenly Secrets Stele, but the third Blood Moon forced the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion to delay updating the Human Ranking. As the Blood Moon appeared over the Nine Provinces, Chen Yan’s Wood Spirit Physique sensed that his true body was alive and much stronger, just as a massive Ghost Cry Sect army gathered to invade.

• Tong Xiuyuan learned that Mount Lao still reported Chen Yan in secluded cultivation, concluded Chen Yan was dead, and ordered the Human Ranking updated.
• Guo Tai reported that the third Blood Moon had descended on the Netherworld Realm, so Tong Xiuyuan synchronized the ranking update with the end of the Blood Moon.
• The third Blood Moon appeared over the Nine Provinces, where Ye Ming, Yin Mo, and Gu Panpan anticipated the Inner World’s revival.
• At Mount Lao, the Wood Spirit Physique could not locate Chen Yan’s true body but sensed that he was alive and seemed several times stronger.
• Xu Ji reported that a large Ghost Cry Sect army was assembling in the Azure Sea, and about fifty thousand forces gathered around the spatial passage.
• The Ghost Cry Sect’s Sect Master emerged from the passage, and the assembled forces saluted him.

Jiang Li mobilized the Ghost Cry Sect to attack Xiang Prefecture and arranged for the Heavenly Cripple Elder to help defeat Mount Lao. With Chen Yan’s true body absent, Huai Qing rallied Mount Lao’s leaders to prepare for the invasion and asked how many Bing Fire Thunder God Cannons they had.

• Jiang Li reviewed the Ghost Cry Sect’s forces and intelligence on Mount Lao, then decided to treat Chen Yan as a foe with Refining Spirit into Void-level combat strength.
• Jiang Li offered the Heavenly Cripple Elder a share of the Ghost Cry Sect’s Inner World entrance in exchange for help taking Mount Lao, and sent the army toward Xiang Prefecture.
• Huai Qing gathered Mount Lao’s leaders, learned that Chen Yan’s true body might not return in time, and faced their worsening morale.
• Huai Qing rebuked the leaders until Qin Chong and the others rallied to fight, then asked Lu Da how many Bing Fire Thunder God Cannons Xiang Prefecture possessed.

The Wood Spirit Physique deployed Xiang Prefecture’s forces to prepare for Ghost Cry Sect’s assault on Mount Lao and secured the Four-Winged Cold Cicada’s help by promising to restore his freedom. Meanwhile, Chen Yan vanished from the Three Thousand Worlds’ rankings, prompting speculation that he had died as Li Shouyi prepared to leave for the Netherworld Realm.

• Lu Da reported that Xiang Prefecture had twenty-four Bing Fire Thunder God Cannons and eight thousand Blood Thunder Curse Arquebuses, giving Mount Lao substantial firepower for the coming battle.
• The Wood Spirit Physique assigned Xu Ji, Yuantong, Wu Guhan, Black Tiger, Enbatu, Qin Chong, and Zhang Tianzheng to defend key routes, gather intelligence, and prepare reinforcements against Ghost Cry Sect.
• The Wood Spirit Physique promised the Four-Winged Cold Cicada freedom if he fought hard, and the cicada agreed to fight while Wang Lingguan questioned whether he could be trusted.
• Heavenly Secrets Pavilion released an updated Human Ranking, and cultivators across the Three Thousand Worlds discovered that Chen Yan had disappeared from all three rankings.
• Li Shouyi heard Dao Alliance disciples speculate that Chen Yan had died, then asked them what had happened as he prepared to depart for the Netherworld Realm.

The latest rankings showed Chen Yan had vanished from the Human Ranking, leading many across the Three Thousand Worlds to believe he was dead. As rival geniuses set out for the Netherworld Realm and Ghost Cry Sect advanced on Xiang Prefecture, Jiang Li ordered his army to move at full speed.

• Li Shuren was shocked by Chen Yan's disappearance from the Human Ranking, while Li Shouyi told him not to dwell on it.
• Little Monk Tianyin left Vajra Temple alone for the Netherworld Realm and murmured Chen Yan's name after checking the rankings.
• Bu Lingxu was sent off from Azure Cloud Sect with several companions and a Dao Protector, while Zhao Wuji departed Jade Spirit Sword Mountain alone and questioned whether Chen Yan had been worthy of being his opponent.
• Gu Panpan, Yin Mo, and Ye Ming celebrated Chen Yan's apparent death and discussed the arrival of outside forces and the danger facing Xiang Prefecture.
• A Ghost Cry Sect elder informed Jiang Li of the news, and Jiang Li ordered his army to advance at full speed toward Xiang Prefecture.

As the Ghost Cry Sect advanced on Mount Lao, the Wood Spirit Physique reassured Xiang Prefecture’s commanders that Chen Yan was alive and revealed that he had likely broken through to Refining Spirit into Void. The armies and defenses gathered for battle, and the chapter ended with the Ghost Cry Sect less than a hundred li from Mount Lao as powerful outsiders arrived in the Netherworld Realm.

• Xu Ji and Qin Chong reported that the troops were ready to defend Mount Lao, and the Wood Spirit Physique told them Chen Yan was alive and likely had reached Refining Spirit into Void.
• Xu Ji and Qin Chong led the Dragon Sparrow Army and Xiangxi Commandery Soldiers to guard Mount Lao’s routes, while Lu Da reported that sixteen improved Bing Fire Thunder God Cannons were installed there.
• The Ghost Cry Sect invasion drew attention across the Nine Provinces, while Guo Tai dismissed the prospect of helping Xiang Prefecture after believing Chen Yan had died.
• In May of the twentieth year of the Peaceful Era, Jiang Li redirected the fifty-thousand-strong Ghost Cry Sect army toward Mount Lao after hearing that Chen Yan had died.
• Enbatu and Lang Xing sent reinforcements to Mount Lao, bringing the gathered force there to fifty thousand.
• Li Shouyi, Little Monk Tianyin, Bu Lingxu, Zhao Wuji, Ao Shuang, and other heavenly talents arrived in the Netherworld Realm as the Ghost Cry Sect army approached within a hundred li of Mount Lao.

Li Shouyi and the Dao Alliance party arrived in the Netherworld Realm, where they learned about Chen Yan and the approaching Ghost Cry army. Other heavenly geniuses also descended, and Zhao Wuji entered the unstable Inner World passage ahead of schedule as the Ghost Cry army reached Mount Lao.

• Li Shouyi and four companions arrived at the Spiritual Mountain Dao Sect through the World Anchor, and Zhang Jiuling welcomed them.
• Li Shouyi promised Zhang Jiuling a share of mid-grade Earth Fiend, then learned the passage to the Inner World would stabilize in about two days.
• Zhang Jiuling told Li Shouyi's party about Chen Yan's rapid rise, his conflict with the Spiritual Mountain Dao Sect, and the Ghost Cry Sect's march toward Xiang Prefecture.
• Bu Lingxu seized the passage entrance in Pingzhou, Ao Shuang disappeared after arriving, and Zhao Wuji destroyed the White Bone Sect and Blood Fiend Sect in Yizhou.
• Zhao Wuji entered the unstable passage to the Inner World, while the Ghost Cry army arrived before Mount Lao.

Ghost Cry Sect attacked Mount Lao with Jiang Li and the Heavenly Cripple Elder, trapping Xiang Prefecture’s forces and overwhelming their defenses. The battle began with Xiang Prefecture fighting back, but the Wood Spirit Physique realized two Yin God experts were opposing them.

• The Wood Spirit Physique activated Mount Lao’s Thunder Star and Star Dipper arrays, but Jiang Li’s attacks shattered the defensive Black Tortoise and Ghost Cry Sect sealed the region with the Myriad Ghosts Imprisonment Array.
• Wang Lingguan left for Mount Lao’s rear mountain as Jiang Li ordered his troops to kill without mercy and tens of thousands of Ghost Cry Sect soldiers charged.
• Xu Ji, Enbatu, Lang Xing, Zhang Tianzheng, Yuantong, Zhang Yan, and Hong Gu led Xiang Prefecture’s forces into battle, and eight thousand Blood Thunder Curse Arquebuses killed more than a thousand Ghost Cry Sect disciples before Golden Core cultivators turned the tide.
• The Heavenly Cripple Elder volunteered to attack Mount Lao’s main peak while Jiang Li watched, and the Wood Spirit Physique recognized him as a second Refining Spirit into Void Yin God expert.

After more than a month of extra seclusion at Thunder Cliff, Chen Yan emerged with greatly increased strength and discovered Zhao Wuji nearby. Chen Yan tried to learn how much time had passed and whether Ghost Cry Sect had taken Xiang Prefecture, but Zhao Wuji mistook him for an inner demon and blocked his way.

• Zhao Wuji entered the Inner World ahead of Li Shouyi and the others and found Thunder Cliff, believing its lightning might conceal high-grade Earth Fiend Yin Veins.
• Zhao Wuji hesitated to enter Thunder Cliff’s deadly lightning, then saw Chen Yan emerge from its thundercloud.
• Chen Yan reviewed his strengthened cultivation and physical power, then worried that Ghost Cry Sect might have seized Xiang Prefecture during his extended seclusion.
• Chen Yan asked Zhao Wuji about the date, the third Blood Moon, and Ghost Cry Sect, but Zhao Wuji was stunned to hear his name.
• Zhao Wuji insisted Chen Yan was dead and concluded that he was an inner demon, while Chen Yan decided to leave the Inner World and check on Xiang Prefecture.
• Zhao Wuji transformed into sword light, blocked Chen Yan’s path, and challenged his supposed inner demon to be defeated.

Chen Yan exposed Zhao Wuji’s fear and offered him a chance to face one punch, which Zhao Wuji accepted and met with his strongest sword technique. Chen Yan’s blazing sun-like strike overwhelmed Zhao Wuji’s sword, leaving the outcome of the clash unresolved.

• Chen Yan revealed that Zhao Wuji had called him an inner demon to hide his fear, and Zhao Wuji identified himself as a prodigy from Jade Spirit Sword Mountain.
• Chen Yan offered Zhao Wuji one punch, warning that he might die, and Zhao Wuji agreed to face it.
• Zhao Wuji summoned his sword momentum and unleashed his strongest attack, Unfettered Edge.
• Chen Yan manifested the Indestructible Vajra Dao Fruit and brought down a blazing sun-like mass of magma and flame.
• Chen Yan’s attack swallowed Zhao Wuji’s sword radiance and shattered his sword momentum.

Chen Yan defeated Zhao Wuji but spared him, then learned Ghost Cry Sect had attacked Xiang Prefecture and rushed back. At Mount Lao, Heavenly Cripple Elder broke through the Thunder Star Array and charged the Wood Spirit Physique.

• Chen Yan overwhelmed Zhao Wuji but spared him, explaining that Zhao Wuji was a true cultivator and that he wanted to avoid making an enemy of Jade Spirit Sword Mountain.
• Zhao Wuji gave Chen Yan his identity token and promised to help him, then warned him that Ghost Cry Sect had attacked the road to Xiang Prefecture and pointed out a nearby spatial passage.
• Chen Yan thanked Zhao Wuji and sped toward the passage he had used to enter the Inner World, praying that his Wood Spirit Physique clone would hold on.
• At Mount Lao, Heavenly Cripple Elder attacked the Thunder Star Array for half an hour while Xiang Prefecture's defenders fought Ghost Cry Sect.
• Heavenly Cripple Elder revealed his Demon Dao nature, shattered Mount Lao's protective formation with a fish-shaped radiance, and charged the Wood Spirit Physique.

The Wood Spirit Physique and Wang Lingguan sprang a cannon ambush on Heavenly Cripple Elder at Mount Lao, using eighteen Bing Fire Thunder God Cannons to destroy him. The blast then swept into the Ghost Cry Sect army, killing at least ten thousand as the surviving forces fled in terror.

• Heavenly Cripple Elder charged the Wood Spirit Physique and swung his fin-like blades at his neck.
• The Wood Spirit Physique raised his arm and ordered the cannons to fire, while Wang Lingguan relayed the command.
• Concealment formations vanished around Mount Lao, revealing eighteen Bing Fire Thunder God Cannons aimed at Heavenly Cripple Elder.
• Heavenly Cripple Elder sensed the danger and tried to flee, but the cannon blast caught and annihilated him.
• The blast’s shockwaves tore through the Ghost Cry Sect army, killing at least ten thousand disciples and ghost creatures while the survivors scattered.

After the Bing Fire Thunder God Cannons killed Heavenly Cripple Elder, Jiang Li tried to destroy the cannons and the Wood Spirit Physique with the Yin Sha Ghost Head Saber. Just as his attack seemed certain to overwhelm Mount Lao, a mysterious figure appeared before the Wood Spirit Physique.

• Lu Da studied the devastation caused by the eighteen cannons and considered designing a larger, more powerful version.
• Jiang Li crushed fleeing cultivators to restore the Ghost Cry Sect army’s discipline, then ordered Gao Xiong to reorganize the troops and attack again.
• Jiang Li unleashed the Yin Sha Ghost Head Saber at the cannons and the Wood Spirit Physique.
• The Wood Spirit Physique and Wang Lingguan tried to stop the slash, but their attacks shattered and the defenders faced imminent defeat.
• A figure appeared before the Wood Spirit Physique and raised one finger toward Jiang Li’s incoming attack.

Chen Yan returned to Mount Lao and stopped Jiang Li’s saber strike with a finger, revealing that he had advanced to Refining Spirit into Void. Jiang Li dismissed Chen Yan’s breakthrough as flawed and prepared to fight, but Chen Yan vanished after calling him a clown.

• Chen Yan appeared before the Wood Spirit Physique and halted Jiang Li’s Yin Sha Ghost Head Saber with one finger.
• Chen Yan’s subordinates rejoiced at his return, while the Ghost Cry Sect recognized him and realized he had advanced beyond the Human Ranking.
• Jiang Li speculated that Chen Yan had used low-grade Earth Fiend Yin Veins and regained confidence in his superiority.
• Jiang Li threatened Chen Yan and unleashed his Yin God Third Refinement aura, making Chen Yan’s subordinates worry about the coming fight.
• Chen Yan called Jiang Li a clown and vanished from where he stood.