Chapter Summaries

The Thunder Department and its allies launched a full assault on Desecration Mound, where Feng Yan and the Water Transformation demons resisted the Divine Thunder Calamity. Xu Xuan fought his way through the battlefield, but his advance ended when he encountered Xu Dai, a newly created Demon Manifestation identical to him.

• Xu Xuan joined the campaign against Desecration Mound, where three Purple Mansion Peak cultivators backed the Thunder Department’s advance.
• Weihua unleashed the Divine Thunder Heaven-Pillar, but Feng Yan caught and pushed back its blow with his body.
• Desecration Mound released vast numbers of Water Transformation Spirit Monsters, and Fu Chang attacked Feng Yan as the battlefield erupted into a brutal melee.
• Wondrous Womb emerged and fought Corpse Inquiry over a lake of boiling Water Transformation fluid.
• Xu Xuan confronted Zhi Youya, who yielded to Xu Dai, a matching Demon Manifestation created from Withering Qi and demonic materials.

Feng Yan battled Fu Chang in the heavens while Xu Xuan fought the demonic manifestation Xu Dai at Desecration Mound. Xu Dai escaped their clash and headed for Misty Mountain to kill Li Song’s Purple Mansion cultivators.

• Feng Yan overwhelmed Fu Chang’s defenses, survived the Final Yin Pivot-Settling Sword through Rebirth from a Drop of Blood, and attacked with the Great Mystic Dragon-Snake Spear.
• Xu Dai used the demonic sword Eternal Darkness to reproduce a Sword Immortal’s sword intent, while Xu Xuan countered him with heavenly thunder and the Heavenly Eye.
• Xu Xuan used Tribulation Command to shatter Xu Dai’s dharma body, but Xu Dai wielded Loss of Magic and formed an array from blood, withering, baleful intent, and turbidity.
• Xu Xuan and Xu Dai’s attacks shook Desecration Mound, but Xu Dai escaped and vowed to kill Li Song’s Purple Mansion cultivators.
• Xu Dai’s withering light raced toward Misty Mountain, where Zhi Wuya was holding Misty Mountain back.

Xu Xuan destroyed the withering demon manifestation Xu Dai, while Feng Yan was stripped of his Fu Xuan bloodline on the Dragon-Skinning Platform and broke free with his blood-qi cultivation unleashed. The chapter ended with Feng Yan killing Song Minglan, the King of Misty Mountain, despite the consequences for Great Li.

• Xu Xuan used the Yin-Illuminating Essence Refinement Art to seize Xu Dai and smash its head, forcing the wounded demon to flee into the Great Void.
• Tiantuo explained that Xu Dai had been drawn from the no-thought demon trial and that defeating it could strengthen Xu Xuan’s path toward the Golden Position.
• The Dragon-Skinning Platform appeared and suppressed Feng Yan, stripping away his Fu Xuan bloodline as Fu Chang declared it retribution for his reliance on it.
• Feng Yan broke the Dragon-Skinning Platform, revealed that his blood-qi cultivation was finally complete, and defeated Fu Chang with a punch.
• Feng Yan struck the King of Misty Mountain with overwhelming force, ignored Song Minglan’s warning about the political consequences, and killed him.

Feng Yan sought the blood Dao, briefly attained its authority, and was killed after the blood fruit position rejected him. His final decree opened a path for blood qi, and the chapter ended as Li fire swept over the battlefield and a woman confronted Song Lang.

• Feng Yan’s ancient golden blood nature emerged, and he crossed the No-Thought Demon Trial to seek the Dao.
• Feng Yan gathered the blood phenomena, upheld the Human Dao beneath the collapsing sky, and briefly gained the blood fruit position.
• A force in great Luo severed Feng Yan from the blood position, and the northern Dharma Form pierced his body and removed his heart.
• Feng Yan declared that immortals and demons would have no gateway while blood qi would have a path, then his body was erased by water transformation.
• Li fire swept across the battlefield as a woman sitting on a Lotus Throne told Song Lang that he was too overbearing.

Li Fire won its contest of Dao against Sky Wolf, while Xu Xuan reflected on Feng Yan’s death and the forces shaping the war. With the Buddhist Pure Lands still blocking the advance toward Liao, Weihua said the next battle would require support from the southern Immortal Dao.

• Li Fire, the Water Transformation Primordial Lord, Myriad Evils, and Sky Wolf manifested above the battlefield as the contest of Dao began, while a geng metal figure restrained the woman from intervening.
• Desecration Mound collapsed after Feng Yan’s fall, leaving a river of blood and a field of Li Fire manifestations as the demons withdrew.
• Xu Xuan recognized that Feng Yan’s lingering manifestations had rapidly advanced his fourth Divine Ability, while Tiantuo explained the stakes of the emperors’ fight.
• Li Fire’s radiance subdued Sky Wolf Star and advanced north, prompting the Thunder Department’s Heavenly Soldiers to celebrate its victory.
• Xu Xuan spotted the gravely wounded Cloud Crane True Person fleeing, and Weihua said the next campaign would require southern Immortal Dao forces to overcome the Buddhist Pure Lands.

Yue Lingxu abandoned his secluded pursuit of the Pacifying the Realm position and prepared to take up arms for Tai Zhen as the lineage turned toward ancient Geng Metal. He set out with Wanjin to confront those who had injured his disciple, leaving the coming violence unresolved.

• Zh Ya told Wanjin that the war in Desolate Capital Path had been settled and proposed taking Central Capital Path, but Wanjin warned that Glorious Age's Evil Land made an advance difficult.
• Yue Lingxu emerged from the Great Void, took up Golden Scale, and said he would abandon seclusion because the Pacifying the Realm method was no longer viable.
• Zh Ya assured Yue Lingxu that the sect had arranged a Golden Nature for his reincarnation, and Mei Tianya explained that Tai Zhen would not let him die without a future.
• Yue Lingxu bade farewell to Mei Tianya and took Wanjin into the Great Void, where he warned that Azure Radiance's hopes in Eastern Azure and Dragonkind might fail.
• Yue Lingxu asked Wanjin which factions had injured him, then resolved to demand an explanation from Rebirth and Clear Reverence.

Xu Xuan continued perfecting his altar thunder divine abilities while the Li court delivered rewards and arranged a temporary palace tied to Xu Ming’s marriage to Princess Qingci. Meanwhile, Huji brought Yuan E a blood contract and relayed a warning that he must fulfill his petition before Sky Wolf devoured him.

• Xu Ming reached the eighth layer of Qi Refining, and Liu Xiaowen turned away from the imperial procession so the boy would not be disturbed.
• Xie Kuo delivered imperial rewards and explained that a palace in Jiangyang would be built for the Sword Immortal and Princess Qingci, whose marriage arrangement with Xu Ming was awaiting his Foundation Establishment.
• Liu Xiaowen assigned Liu Yingxue and Liu Lingxin to oversee the palace construction, then returned to prepare his second divine ability.
• Xu Xuan discussed his altar thunder cultivation and possible routes to its final divine ability, including seeking the Qilin of Kunlun.
• Huji visited Yuan E at Heavenly Poison Mountain, handed over a portion of the blood contract, and warned him that he had to fulfill his petition before Sky Wolf devoured him.

At Great Sage Wilderness, Lion's Roar confronted Evil Land over Xu Han Kong's death and Rebirth's failing defenses, while Evil Land weighed a proposed ascension to Venerable against his own ambitions. At Wolf Mountain, Tai Zhen prepared to advance on Great Sage Wilderness as the Li-Liao war intensified.

• Lion's Roar accused Evil Land of neglecting Rebirth and causing Xu Han Kong's death, but Evil Land blamed Lion's Roar for acting against Tai Zhen and withdrew to his pure land.
• Wei Fan delivered Supreme Truth's message that Mount Sumeru had approved Evil Land's ascension to Venerable, but Evil Land chose to delay until the Li-Liao conflict was settled.
• Evil Land reflected on his desire for a higher fruit position and on how Feng Yan's brief ascension had changed the world, including allowing some newborns in the Liao Lands to cultivate blood qi without spirit roots.
• At Wolf Mountain, Cease Hostilities prepared to lead Tai Zhen against Great Sage Wilderness in three days, while Wanjin reported that Chou Xi had been sent to the Southern Sea's Universal Salvation Lineage.
• Cease Hostilities and Wanjin discussed the other Buddhist and demonic factions, and Cease Hostilities anticipated a bloody conflict after Great Li pacified Liao.

Yang Yuanyi received a method for cultivating Heaven-Dimming Darkness and agreed to approach the White Foxes about submitting to Great Xia. In Linyang, Dark-Knowing reported to the Imperial Scion, who discussed the dynasty’s plans and dismissed the need to trust the Immortal Prophecy.

• Dark-Knowing delivered the Youjun Heaven-Dark Scripture to Yang Yuanyi, who accepted the gift but could not yet cultivate Heaven-Dimming Darkness.
• Dark-Knowing asked Yang Yuanyi to persuade the White Foxes of Far Piao to submit to Great Xia, and Yang Yuanyi agreed to visit them and report back within a year.
• Yang Yuanyi studied the scripture and wondered about its connection to Nurturing Earth and Dry Yang.
• Dark-Knowing reported to the Imperial Scion that Yang Yuanyi would need more time before he could cultivate Heaven-Dimming Darkness.
• Dark-Knowing asked whether the dynasty should deal with a northern Black Baleful Great True Person, and the Imperial Scion dismissed the lineage as unworthy of concern.
• The Imperial Scion said Great Xia would watch the conflict involving Ren Water and Yi Wood without aiding either side, and declared that Dry Yang would attain the Dao before the Immortal Prophecy came to pass.

Wang Cheng Yan and Wen Guang investigated Brocade Capital and witnessed a primitive shaman cultivator named Du Lang gain the Golden Hibiscus Gate’s protection, raising suspicions about his influence and origin. In Longyang, Wei Mi retrieved the High Shaman Jar for Heavenly Poison Mountain, while Wei Cun considered the risks of Yuan E’s attempt to pursue the Calamity Blessing Fruit Position.

• Wang Cheng Yan and Wen Guang surveyed Brocade Capital’s formation sites and discussed how few cultivators remained in Shu.
• Wang Cheng Yan and Wen Guang saw Du Lang flee a wounded green ox, and Rong of the Golden Hibiscus Gate intervened with a Purple Mansion Spirit Talisman.
• Du Lang accused White Mountain of harming mortals, while the green ox retreated after warning Rong that the Great Zhao Demon King would seek an answer.
• Wen Guang and Wang Cheng Yan noticed that Rong and the other women of her sect showed an unnatural devotion to Du Lang, and Wen Guang resolved to investigate him.
• Wei Mi summoned the High Shaman Jar from Insect Valley and gave it to Wei Cun, who planned to help Heavenly Poison Mountain.
• Wei Cun reflected that Yuan E would need to hide from Lingsa while pursuing the Calamity Blessing Fruit Position.

Xu Xuan completed [Righteous Punishment], gaining a view of the Thunder Palace’s law and its surveillance of cause and effect through the Great Void. He visited Liu Xiaowen, who completed [Kunwu Furnace], then examined the Xu ancestral shrine’s treasures before Tiantuo questioned whether its black-flamed sword came from the heavens.

• Xu Xuan completed [Righteous Punishment] and saw how the Thunder Palace used altar thunder as law and the Great Void to monitor the world and trace cause and effect.
• Xu Xuan entered the [Virtue-Heavy Secret Realm] and saw that Liu Xiaowen’s fate was entangled with White Paper Blessed Land and the Great Flame dynasty.
• Liu Xiaowen completed [Kunwu Furnace], and Xu Xuan revealed that he had also just completed [Righteous Punishment].
• Xu Xuan and Liu Xiaowen examined the black-flame lotus and sword at the Xu ancestral shrine, and Xu Xuan used his sword case to record the sword intent of [Fire-Following Word-Destroying Sword].
• Xu Xuan refused to subdue the sword through heavenly punishment, explaining that doing so would destroy its spirit and artistic conception; Tiantuo then wondered whether it was a thing from the heavens.

Xu Xuan learned more about the differences between ancient and present-day paths to the Dao, then warned Liu Xiaowen about the dangers Great Li would face after unification. After receiving the heavenly sovereign’s decree, Xu Xuan set out for Southern Capital with Xu Ming for a victory banquet.

• Tiantuo explained that golden ranks united authority, cause, and history, and that ancient cultivators proved the Dao while present-age cultivators imitated former masters to seek it.
• Xu Xuan decided not to tamper with the Virtue-Heavy Secret Realm because its Spirit Sword and false nature suggested a True Lord’s involvement.
• Xu Xuan warned Liu Xiaowen that Li Fire sought immortality and that future struggles could involve Bing Fire and Wu Earth; he advised him to turn to Yan if necessary and distrust four Wu Earth lineages.
• After Xu Xuan and Liu Xiaowen left the secret realm, a decree announced Central Capital’s defeat and summoned the immortal lineages to a banquet in Southern Capital, specifically ordering Xu Xuan to bring Xu Ming.
• Xu Xuan told Liu Xiaowen that he would attend as Great Li’s Heavenly Altar Marquis, not as a representative of their sect, then took Xu Ming with him toward Southern Capital.

Prince Mount Li Song Mingli sought the Mount Tai Underworld Office’s help with his Water-and-Li cultivation and prepared for the possibility of death, while Emperor Li warned Xu Xuan that perfected altar thunder could make him a target. The chapter left Xu Xuan without the missing divine ability and pointed him toward the open road to Kunlun or the uncertain Northern Thunder inheritance.

• Song Mingli asked Fan Ju whether Song Minglan’s soul had been completely destroyed, and Fan Ju confirmed that Feng Yan had destroyed both his body and soul.
• Song Mingli told Fan Ju he was nearing completion of Origin-Water Mountain and would need the Underworld Office to preserve his true spirit if he fell; Fan Ju cautioned that Water and Li might not lead to a golden rank.
• Fan Ju departed to meet someone from Heavenly Poison Mountain, and Song Mingli suspected Yuan E was preparing to attain the golden rank with the Gloomy Netherworld’s protection.
• Emperor Li praised Xu Ming’s swordsmanship during the autumn hunt and identified his inheritance as the Sword Canon of the Azure Leisure Profound Lord.
• Emperor Li warned Xu Xuan that accomplished altar thunder could obstruct another cultivator’s Dao, citing the Northern Altar Sect and Deng Zhuoxin as precedents.
• Emperor Li told Xu Xuan that Li Song’s legacy held no trace of the divine ability he lacked, leaving the Northern Thunder inheritance or a journey to Kunlun as possible paths.

Xu Ming competed in the autumn hunt at Apricot Grove Gardens and won first place despite riding a slow white colt and facing beasts driven against him by a Changsun scion. After receiving a Foundation Establishment Pill, he was summoned by Princess Qingci’s maid.

• Xu Ming impressed the other hunters by killing savage beasts with sword qi from an apricot branch, while Qi Yanchuan recognized him as a scion of the Xu household.
• Wu Yao approached Xu Ming to speak, but he left to continue the hunt and pursue first place.
• A Changsun scion cultivating Ultimate Fire drove a group of savage beasts toward Xu Ming, who escaped across the river with the white colt.
• Xu Ming used Sunrise in the East to pin down and kill the pursuing beasts, while others crashed into the Changsun scion and knocked him from his horse.
• A eunuch proclaimed Xu Ming the winner and gave him a Foundation Establishment Pill prepared for a Lesser Yang cultivator.
• A maid from Princess Qingci arrived and told Xu Ming that the princess requested his presence.

Xu Ming met Princess Song Qing, affirmed that he sought a Dao partnership, and received the True Yang Dao Seed to aid his cultivation. Meanwhile, Yuandan revealed Heavenly Poison Mountain’s plan to help Yuan E enter the Place of the Formless and evade the Lingsa True Lord.

• Xu Ming entered the Redheart Palace and told Song Qing that their differing paths could support one another in pursuing the Dao.
• Song Qing accepted Xu Ming as a genuine Dao companion and gave him the True Yang Dao Seed, which bestowed the Qian Origin Immortal Art of Dao Bestowal.
• Song Qing asked Xu Ming to reach Foundation Establishment within a year and told him to stay with her before the imperial banquet.
• At a northern temple, Yuandan explained to Fan Ju how the ancient High Shaman sacrificed origin poison to establish the venerable position of calamity poison.
• Yuandan revealed that Yuan E planned to sacrifice the Poison-Viewing Assembly with Offering the Child Vessel to enter the Place of the Formless and seek calamity blessing.
• Fan Ju agreed to help find Heavenly Poison Mountain a hiding place in the gloomy netherworld, but said the Netherworld lords would not obstruct the Lingsa True Lord.

At an imperial banquet celebrating the Northern Campaign, Emperor Tian brooded over the Li Kingdom’s schemes while Xu Xuan and Wanjin discussed their paths through the coming upheaval. Wanjin revealed his master’s metal Dao and its murderous resolve, while Xie Kuo later warned Fan Ju that ghosts and spirits had appeared and fled after a great lord swore an oath.

• Emperor Tian reflected on his imposed Song Clan identity and the schemes surrounding Li fire before disappearing into the radiance.
• Wanjin asked Xu Xuan what future he sought for altar thunder, and Xu Xuan refused to abandon his Dao or pursue greater yin and greater yang.
• Wanjin recounted how his master rose from humble origins to perfect the geng metal Dao amid the collapse of Great Feng.
• Wanjin invoked his master’s vision that only slaughter could cleanse the world, and Xu Xuan drank the boiling metal-like wine he offered.
• On the city wall, Xie Kuo told Fan Ju that ghosts and spirits had arrived and departed after a great lord’s oath stirred heaven and earth.

Song Zongxiang received a decree ordering Yuan E to seek the position of calamity blessing before the next Northern Campaign, while the Song Clan’s ancestors insisted their plans were necessary to secure li fire’s future. At Liao’s capital, Xiao Xian and Xiao Jun prepared a shamanic sacrifice and declared that the Xiao Clan would pursue its own Dao without yielding further.

• Song Zongxiang warned the li fire ancestors that Heaven might not remain under their control, but they dismissed his concern and affirmed their plans for Yuan E.
• The highest ancestor ordered Yuan E to seek attainment before the next Northern Campaign and sent Song Zongxiang a golden decree for Heavenly Poison.
• Song Zongxiang feared the bloodshed expected after Liao’s pacification, but the ancestors pressured him to accept the sacrifices required for their ambitions.
• At Liao’s capital, Woodleaf Mountain’s ancestral spirits gathered around a damaged blood contract to perform a grand sacrifice for the Sky Wolf.
• Xiao Jun questioned whether Yuan E’s arrival had forced their hand, and Xiao Xian explained that Lingsa needed to keep exploring witchcraft.
• Xiao Xian told Xiao Jun that the Xiao Clan had yielded enough and that no one would stop them from pursuing their Dao.

Liu Qiuqi learned about Penglai’s plans to support Yuan E’s attempt to seek the golden position, while Fan Ju discovered how Yuan E could use the Great Moonlight Temple’s Pure Land as refuge. Fan Ju questioned whether those preparations could protect Yuan E, then sensed a vast silver-white framework beyond the Pure Land.

• Huaiyin explained the origins of Penglai’s esoteric inheritance and warned Liu Qiuqi that Yuan E might die if his attainment did not improve.
• Jingyan told Fan Ju that High Shaman Calamity Omen had taken an immortal talisman from the temple and used it to establish calamity poison.
• Jingyan revealed that the Moonlight Pure Land could shelter Yuan E and that the relic of the temple’s Bodhi Maha served as its guiding marker.
• Fan Ju realized Yuan E had prepared his refuge years earlier, but doubted that the Pure Land, Penglai, and the Gloomy Netherworld were enough to protect him.
• Fan Ju sensed thunder outside the Pure Land and saw an immense silver-white framework spanning heaven and earth.

As Heavenly Poison Mountain began a blood sacrifice to prepare for seeking the golden position, Qi Changsheng and Bimo discussed their own paths to verification. Xu Xuan rejected the calamity omens’ influence, stopping the disasters in Heaven Province while they continued elsewhere.

• Qi Changsheng sensed Heavenly Poison Mountain ritually refining the blood-contract fragment and watched its blood-colored light begin to recede.
• Bimo met Qi Changsheng in the great void, and he advised her to wait and observe how he and Yuan E fared before pursuing the golden position.
• Bimo challenged Qi Changsheng’s claim to bless living beings, then departed; Qi Changsheng resolved to rely on the purple gold method and his own deeds to attain verification.
• Heavenly Poison Mountain’s sacrifice unleashed calamity omens and disasters across the surrounding lands, while Xu Xuan remained within Red Cloud’s protected borders.
• Tiantuo explained how different Dao lineages understood formless ghost gods and calamity blessing, and Xu Xuan concluded that he needed only to treat the omens as phenomena and keep the fruit position under control.
• Xu Xuan declared, “I refuse. I reject. I do not believe,” and the anomalies ceased in Heaven Province while the invisible wind continued to ravage other lands.

Yuan E opened the Heavenly Poison Secret Realm and led Heavenly Poison Mountain toward Shu to seek the golden position of calamity blessing. Xu Xuan and Liu Xiaowen joined Wen Si'an in Brocade Capital, where they prepared to face the upheaval as Heavenly Poison Mountain entered Shu.

• Yuan E completed the sacrificial rite, opened the secret realm, and sent Heavenly Poison Mountain flying southwest toward Shu.
• Xu Xuan and Liu Xiaowen decided to observe Yuan E’s attempt and traveled ahead to Rainbow-Washed Mountain, where Wen Si'an was stationed.
• Wen Si'an learned that Yuan E was approaching and warned her companions to proceed cautiously amid the many Purple Mansion cultivators arriving in Shu.
• Wen Si'an used her divine ability to conceal Brocade Capital and Sword Pass, but altar thunder from Xu Xuan drove away the cultivators probing the area.
• Xu Xuan and Liu Xiaowen reunited with Wen Si'an and discussed Yuan E’s likely destination at Insect Valley in Longyang Commandery.
• Xu Xuan recognized the Wei clan’s connection to the blackbird nature, and Heavenly Poison Mountain entered Shu.