Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qing prepared to devote himself to cultivation in Thunder Serpent Cave, where he advanced rapidly under the Thunder Serpent Ancestor’s watch. After reaching the sixth layer of Qi Refinement, he remained focused on strengthening his cultivation and magnetic field.

• Zhou Qing thanked the Thunder Serpent Ancestor for allowing him to cultivate in Thunder Serpent Cave, and the Sect Leader True Person told him he could visit on his own.
• Zhou Qing arranged for Yu Liangmou, Cheng Feipeng, Xuan Zhe, and Wu Tao to manage his affairs, then gave his junior brothers and sisters Restore Qing Destroy Ming Array Tokens and cautioned them not to rely on the tokens for breakthroughs.
• Zhou Qing began cultivating in Thunder Serpent Cave, where the spiritual qi let him cultivate five shichen a day and the Thunder Serpent Ancestor watched him with growing familiarity.
• Zhou Qing studied the Thunder Serpent’s horn but could not damage it, so he decided to consult an Elder from the Weaponry Hall of the Esoteric Division after leaving seclusion.
• Zhou Qing broke through to the fifth layer of Qi Refinement after a month, expanded his magnetic field to a five-zhang radius, and continued refining his understanding of its strength.
• After another half year of rapid cultivation, Zhou Qing broke through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement.

After emerging from seclusion at the sixth level of Qi Refinement, Zhou Qing returned to the Array Institute, where he handled its business and strengthened its benefits. He learned that no one in Azure Cloud Sect could smelt his Thunder Serpent Horn, and left wondering whether his Plasma Beam could melt it.

• Zhou Qing emerged from Thunder Serpent Cave and visited the Array Institute, where Wu Tao reported strong profits and growth in the institute’s business.
• Zhou Qing ordered the institute to increase its members’ benefits and restart the Five Elements Extinction Grand Formation, while setting conditions for jointly selling Talismans developed by the Arrays Association.
• Zhou Qing approved publishing research from unaffiliated array masters in the association’s external journal and encouraged the institute’s array masters before leaving.
• Zhou Qing visited the Weaponry Hall and learned from Tie Hui that Azure Cloud Sect could not smelt the Thunder Serpent Horn because it was a Nascent Soul-level treasure.
• Zhou Qing considered testing whether his Plasma Beam, boosted by Withered Wood Revives, could heat the Thunder Serpent Horn enough to melt it.

Zhou Qing returned to Violet Cloud Mountain, where new disciples learned that he was the legendary senior brother they admired. After emerging from seclusion, he reunited with his junior brothers and sisters and assessed their cultivation progress.

• Zhou Qing met five newly arrived Outer Disciples on the path to Violet Cloud Mountain, and they recognized him as the legendary senior brother after following him to his courtyard.
• Zhang Jingzhai warned the others not to speak admiringly of Zhou Qing in front of their instructor, Martial Uncle Lu, who had grievances with him.
• Zhou Qing sent Wei Xu a paper crane asking his junior brothers and sisters to gather at his home for a banquet.
• Zhou Qing found Qingyuan away from home and noted that she preferred spending Spirit Stones on trinkets to cultivating.
• Wang Xiaohu and Wei Xu arrived with the others, and Zhou Qing discovered that everyone had reached the second level of Qi Refinement; he encouraged Wei Xu to attempt a breakthrough soon.

After emerging from six months of seclusion, Zhou Qing reunited with his fellow disciples and met Yuan Hongying’s cousin, Yuan Feichen. Qingyuan then shared an ominous premonition about Longevity Sect, while Zhou Qing set out to test his strength far from Azure Cloud Sect.

• Wei Xu told Zhou Qing that his return had steadied his Dao heart enough for him to break through, and Yuan Hongying arrived having already reached the third level of Qi Refining.
• Yuan Hongying introduced her cousin Yuan Feichen, who thanked Zhou Qing for saving her father, Yuan Ben, during Great Liang’s invasion of New Zheng.
• Zhou Qing welcomed Yuan Feichen and offered guidance to the junior brothers and sisters at the banquet.
• After the banquet, Qingyuan told Zhou Qing that she had felt afraid for half a month and worried that something had happened to Longevity Sect.
• Zhou Qing suggested that Qingyuan ask Xuan Zhe to contact Longevity Sect through the Long-Distance Communication System, and she agreed to do so the next day.
• Zhou Qing traveled deep into the Phoenix Tail Mountain Range to test whether he could destroy the Thunder Serpent Horn, while Qingyuan headed to Azure Cloud Mountain to find Xuan Zhe.

Zhou Qing tested the peak power of Withered Wood Revives, splitting a mountain with a Plasma Beam and trying unsuccessfully to forge the Thunder Serpent Horn. After returning to Violet Cloud Mountain, he learned that the Longevity Sect and its shop had gone silent, and offered to go with Qingyuan to investigate.

• Zhou Qing expanded his magnetic field with Withered Wood Revives and used a Plasma Beam to split a stone mountain in two.
• Zhou Qing heated the Thunder Serpent Horn with the Plasma Beam, but could not soften it enough to reshape it before his Life Potential began to decline.
• Zhou Qing returned to Bamboo Grove Courtyard and found Qingyuan anxiously waiting; she told him that neither the Longevity Sect nor the Azure Cloud Sect's shop at Longevity Market had responded.
• Zhou Qing reassured Qingyuan that her father, Grandmaster Qingmu, could likely escape danger, though he suspected the sect might be facing a serious crisis.
• Zhou Qing offered to accompany Qingyuan to the Longevity Sect, explaining that the Azure Cloud Sect could not ignore trouble affecting its ally.

Zhou Qing, Mu Zhuosha, and Qingyuan reached the besieged Longevity Sect and found it concealed behind a black fog array beneath unnatural thunderclouds. Mu Zhuosha drew the attention of the enemy, and Zhou Qing sensed powerful cultivators approaching through the fog.

• Zhou Qing consulted Mu Zhuosha, who had already decided to investigate the Longevity Sect, and they set out with Qingyuan.
• After several days of travel, the three saw violent thunderclouds and lightning surrounding the Longevity Sect.
• Zhou Qing identified the black fog near Longevity Market as an array and warned that the enemy might have multiple Golden Core cultivators.
• Zhou Qing proposed drawing out the array's guards to capture and question them, and Mu Zhuosha agreed to make a commotion.
• Mu Zhuosha released her full Spirit Pressure, disrupting the thunderclouds, while Zhou Qing sensed powerful Foundation Establishment cultivators approaching through the black fog.

Bai Yujing and Liang Shaowen discussed the Azure Cloud Sect reinforcements and planned to capture Zhou Qing after drawing Mu Zhuosha away. Zhou Qing recognized their trap, but Bai Yujing confronted him and demanded that he come along.

• Bai Yujing identified Mu Zhuosha and Zhou Qing, then planned for Liang Shaowen to lure Mu Zhuosha away while he captured Zhou Qing.
• Zhou Qing spotted the three Foundation Establishment cultivators approaching and told Mu Zhuosha to follow their Golden Core cultivator while he questioned the others.
• Zhou Qing told Qingyuan to flee when the enemies arrived, and she reluctantly agreed.
• Liang Shaowen attacked Mu Zhuosha and drew her away from Zhou Qing and Qingyuan.
• Bai Yujing led two Foundation Establishment deacons out of the illusion formation, greeted Zhou Qing, and demanded that he come with them.

Bai Yujing persuaded Zhou Qing to enter the Seven Emotions Sect’s illusion formation and asked him to mediate with the Longevity Sect over its Longevity Fruit. Zhou Qing studied the formations as they traveled and learned that the sect’s Thunderstorm Array blocked outside communication but could not direct lightning accurately.

• Bai Yujing explained Zhou Qing’s plan to draw information from him, and Zhou Qing agreed to go with him on the condition that Qingyuan be released.
• Qingyuan flew away after Zhou Qing told her to find somewhere to hide, and Bai Yujing escorted Zhou Qing into the Ten Directions Illusionary Realm.
• Bai Yujing told Zhou Qing that the Seven Emotions Sect wanted a branch of the Longevity Fruit and would destroy the Longevity Sect if it continued resisting.
• Zhou Qing agreed to meet Grandmaster Qingmu and mediate, while secretly studying the illusion formation’s spiritual energy patterns.
• Bai Yujing showed Zhou Qing the Longevity Sect’s protective barrier and explained that the Thunderstorm Array blocked messages but could not direct lightning to strike accurately.

Zhou Qing accompanied Bai Yujing to the besieged Longevity Sect and tried to mediate the dispute over the Longevity Fruit rootstock. After Grandmaster Qingmu refused to surrender it, the Seven Emotions Sect attacked the array, and Qingmu unexpectedly left its protection to fight Bi Du.

• Bai Yujing introduced Zhou Qing to Bi Du and asked him to persuade Grandmaster Qingmu to open the array.
• Lu Yuyi questioned Zhou Qing's alliance with the Seven Emotions Sect and said Qingmu would soon arrive.
• Grandmaster Qingmu met Zhou Qing, but refused to give the Longevity Fruit rootstock to the Seven Emotions Sect, citing the danger of helping Old Devil Pan Zhang.
• Bi Du ordered the Seven Emotions Sect cultivators to attack the array and unleashed his Emotion-Devouring Secret Art with his bone staff.
• Grandmaster Qingmu left the array and engaged Bi Du in battle, surprising Bai Yujing.

Zhou Qing severely injured Bai Yujing with his Iron Pellet Technique, then formed a formidable defense with dozens of accelerated pellets. Bai Yujing and the Shadow Elder disrupted the formation with flying rocks, creating an opening for Bai Yujing to attack Zhou Qing in flames.

• Zhou Qing struck Bai Yujing with iron pellets, while the Shadow Elder pulled him clear of a second attack but could not prevent his leg from being broken.
• Bai Yujing recognized that Zhou Qing had coordinated with Qingmu to lure Bi Du away, then used the Seven Emotions Sect's Anger Formula to raise his strength to Golden Core level.
• Zhou Qing formed a spherical defense from eighty-nine iron pellets traveling at thirty times the speed of sound, astonishing Bai Yujing and the Shadow Elder.
• The Shadow Elder shattered the rocks beneath them and sent the stones into Zhou Qing's defenses, slowing the pellets and disrupting their formation.
• Zhou Qing redirected at least twenty pellets toward the Shadow Elder, while Bai Yujing charged at him in flames, convinced the defense had been broken.

Zhou Qing used Withered Wood Revives to intensify his power and turn the fight against Bai Yujing and the Shadow Elder. After a Plasma Beam destroyed the Shadow Elder’s left arm, both Golden Core cultivators feared for their lives.

• Bai Yujing charged Zhou Qing but was blasted backward by the Five-Colored Divine Light, while the Shadow Elder broke free of the Iron Pellet Technique with severe burns.
• Zhou Qing replenished his iron pellets and displayed an aura of invincibility that stirred Bai Yujing’s jealousy.
• Zhou Qing decided to test Withered Wood Revives at low efficiency, and Bai Yujing sensed danger and called for a retreat.
• Zhou Qing fired a Plasma Beam as Bai Yujing and the Shadow Elder fled, vaporizing the Shadow Elder’s left arm.
• Bai Yujing and the Shadow Elder recognized the ray’s overwhelming speed and destructive power and feared Zhou Qing would kill them.

Zhou Qing fought Shadow Elder after Bai Yujing escaped, using lightning, Plasma Beams, and iron pellets to suppress the effects of Demonic Descent. Shadow Elder’s transformation expired, leaving him a skeleton, while Grandmaster Qingmu and Mu Zhuosha watched in shock.

• Shadow Elder used Demonic Descent to hold off Zhou Qing as Bai Yujing fled, but Zhou Qing’s iron pellets shattered Bai Yujing’s right arm and half his body before Bi Du carried him away.
• Shadow Elder charged Zhou Qing and unleashed spells, but Zhou Qing’s lightning and Plasma Beams repeatedly stopped him and exposed his connection to powerful forces beyond the Dao Heart World.
• Zhou Qing continued attacking Shadow Elder with lightning, Plasma Beams, and iron pellets while Grandmaster Qingmu and Mu Zhuosha arrived and watched.
• After half an incense stick, Shadow Elder’s healing failed, his body shrank and withered, and he became a skeleton.

After defeating the Seven Emotions Sect’s attack, Zhou Qing discussed the threat posed by the Demonic Path with Grandmaster Qingmu. They agreed to propose a unified emergency organization for eight allied sects, with Zhou Qing as its natural leader, and he promised the visiting array masters a surprise.

• Bai Yujing and Bi Du fled, and Grandmaster Qingmu and Mu Zhuosha led the Longevity Sect disciples in pursuit of the remaining Seven Emotions Sect cultivators.
• Grandmaster Qingmu praised Zhou Qing’s strength, and Zhou Qing asked him to send people to find Qingyuan.
• Grandmaster Qingmu warned that the Old Devil’s death could unleash destructive demonic intent and that the Seven Emotions Sect might target the Azure Cloud Sect next.
• Zhou Qing proposed an emergency organization to coordinate the eight allied sects, and Grandmaster Qingmu agreed to invite them to discuss it.
• Zhou Qing asked Grandmaster Qingmu to summon the chief array masters as well, promising them a surprise.

Zhou Qing and Mu Zhuosha stayed at the Longevity Sect as representatives of the Azure Cloud Sect, where Zhou Qing helped establish the Eight Sect Alliance and became its first Alliance Leader. The chapter ended with him asking the gathered array masters to improve long-distance communication.

• Lu Yuyi brought Qingyuan back to the Longevity Sect, where she reunited with Grandmaster Qingmu and decided to stay, though Zhou Qing sensed that Qingmu's warmth toward her was only a practiced expression.
• Zhou Qing inspected the two arrays left by the Seven Emotions Sect while Grandmaster Qingmu invited representatives from the other sects to a meeting.
• The sect representatives unanimously approved Zhou Qing's proposed emergency organization and chose him as its leader, naming it the Eight Sect Alliance.
• Zhou Qing told the first alliance meeting that rapid, reliable communication was essential for protecting the sects and asked the gathered array masters to develop an improved system.
• Zhou Qing outlined how circuitous relay routes, disrupted signals, and the inability to contact people outside their sects weakened the existing communication system, and Chang Xin acknowledged that array masters had long struggled with those problems.

Zhou Qing proposed moving Long-Distance Communication System Relay Stations into the Etheric Stratum and miniaturizing them so they could be suspended and powered by spiritual energy. The array masters began optimizing the system and agreed to help reconstruct two powerful arrays, while Zhou Qing led a remarkable share of the work.

• Zhou Qing explained that aerial Relay Stations above the thunderstorm layer could avoid dangerous terrain and interference from nearby battles.
• Chang Xin raised concerns about protecting airborne Relay Stations and the cost of keeping them aloft, and Zhou Qing proposed miniaturization, spiritual-energy-gathering arrays, mass production, and redundant relay routes.
• Zhou Qing asked the array masters to pool their Long-Distance Communication Systems for study and to reconstruct the Ten Directions Illusion Array and the Thunderstorm Array used by Seven Emotions Sect.
• The array masters gathered at Longevity Sect's Array Institute and began optimizing the Long-Distance Communication System together.
• Zhou Qing completed nearly one-third of the tedious work, astonishing the other array masters with his skill.

After completing a simplified Long-Distance Communication Formation and analyzing two powerful arrays, Zhou Qing secured the Eight Sect Alliance’s support for deploying the new system. He returned to Azure Cloud Sect as its celebrated Alliance Leader, where the Sect Leader personally welcomed him and the sect recognized his growing authority.

• Zhou Qing and the other array masters completed the Long-Distance Communication Formation, analyzed the Thunderstorm Array and Ten Directions Illusion Array, and expanded the participating sects’ rune repositories.
• Zhou Qing presented the results to the Eight Sect Alliance and asked its member sects to support the Array Institute and establish the new Long-Distance Communication System.
• Qingyuan returned with Zhou Qing and Mu Zhuosha, but she remained frustrated that her father seemed distant despite his kindness.
• After four or five days, Zhou Qing, Mu Zhuosha, and Qingyuan returned to Azure Cloud Sect, where the news of the alliance and Zhou Qing’s appointment had filled the sect with pride.
• The Sect Leader welcomed Zhou Qing at Azure Cloud Mountain and personally led him toward Purple Dusk Palace as the sect heads and Elders made way.

Zhou Qing oversaw the construction and testing of the Azure Cloud Sect’s first Long-Distance Communication System Relay Station, which he had secretly equipped with surveillance and infrasound arrays. Satisfied with its performance and the system’s future potential, he ordered more stations built and returned to Thunder Serpent Cave.

• Zhou Qing reported the results of his trip to the Longevity Sect and secured the Sect Leader True Person’s support for building the Long-Distance Communication System.
• Zhou Qing assigned Xuan Zhe, Hong Guan, and Wu Tao to construct the communication system and told the Array Grandmasters to revise the Thunderstorm Array and Ten Directions Illusion Array for the Sect Protection Array.
• While updating the sect’s rune repository, Zhou Qing planned to add flight capability to the Relay Stations and waited for the first station to be built.
• Xuan Zhe and Hong Guan showed Zhou Qing the first Relay Station, and Zhou Qing activated its concealed array to test its surveillance of Spirit Pressure across the surrounding area.
• Zhou Qing ordered Xuan Zhe to build and position more Relay Stations, then returned to Thunder Serpent Cave.

Zhou Qing spent nearly four years cultivating in Thunder Serpent Cave, reaching the Qi Refining Ninth Level and developing his magnetic field abilities. He emerged to find the Ten Directions Illusion Array and Thunderstorm Array nearing completion, with Bai Muyun having guided the work.

• Zhou Qing entrusted the Eight Sect Alliance's affairs to Mu Zhuosha and began a long seclusion in Thunder Serpent Cave.
• Zhou Qing broke through to the seventh and then Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, while his magnetic field grew stronger and he tested his ability to tear apart air.
• After nearly four years in seclusion, Zhou Qing reached the Qi Refining Ninth Level and decided to postpone Foundation Establishment until he had consulted Mu Zhuosha and the others.
• Zhou Qing demonstrated his ability to generate electric sparks, then bid farewell to the Thunder Serpent and left the cave.
• Zhou Qing encountered Bai Muyun outside the Array Institute, where Xuan Zhe and Hong Guan explained that Bai Muyun had helped bring the Ten Directions Illusion Array and Thunderstorm Array close to completion.

After four years in seclusion, Zhou Qing returned to the Array Institute, reconciled with Bai Muyun, and heard how the institute and the eight sects had advanced. He revised the institute’s rewards and evaluation policies, then turned his attention to the Long-Distance Communication System and its impact on the Cultivation World.

• Zhou Qing persuaded Bai Muyun to put aside their past grievances and rejoin the Array Institute’s research, and Bai Muyun agreed to follow his orders.
• Zhou Qing gathered the Array Institute’s leaders and learned from Xuan Zhe that relay-station construction was nearing completion and Azure Cloud Sect’s two new sect-protecting arrays had been integrated into its original formation.
• Wu Tao told Zhou Qing that the eight sects’ jointly operated shops had become leading talisman retailers and had greatly increased the Array Institute’s profits.
• Zhou Qing declared that evaluations should account for research, lectures, publications, and administrative work, and he doubled the basic monthly Spirit Stone allowance for everyone associated with the Array Institute.
• Zhou Qing asked about the Long-Distance Communication System and learned that it had stirred discussion throughout the Cultivation World.

Zhou Qing learned that rival cultivators were probing the Etheric Stratum Relay Stations and asked Mu Zhuosha about Foundation Establishment after revealing he had reached Qi Refining Ninth Level. Mu Zhuosha arranged for him to obtain five Foundation Establishment Pill portions and warned that the Western Serenity Continent was entering a dangerous period.

• Xuan Zhe reported that cultivators from major sects, small sects, and among Rogue Cultivators had been probing the Relay Stations, and Zhou Qing ordered him to keep watch.
• Mu Zhuosha estimated Zhou Qing was at Qi Refining Fourth or Fifth Level and warned that the Seven Emotions Sect and other cultivators might target him if he left the sect.
• Zhou Qing revealed he had reached Qi Refining Ninth Level, shocking Mu Zhuosha.
• Mu Zhuosha explained that Foundation Establishment required a strong Dao Heart and protection for the Qi Sea, and she offered to arrange five portions of Foundation Establishment Pills from Medicine King Valley.
• Mu Zhuosha told Zhou Qing that the Eight Sect Alliance had driven the Seven Emotions Sect away from the Longevity Sect and that Demonic Path sects were searching for lifespan-extending treasures, then warned him to travel carefully.