Chapter Summaries

Xu Fayan discussed his cultivation and plans to create an overseas isle with Liu Xiaowen, while Xu Xuan warned the Sect to prepare for political and military upheaval. The chapter ended with Xu Xuan deciding to return to the capital and investigate the Song Clan’s plans.

• Liu Xiaowen manifested a tiger-bear Dharma Body, and Xu Fayan explained how Liu Xiaowen’s Ancient Chu witchcraft had shaped it.
• Xu Fayan explained that his diagnostic arts could transform spirit treasures into complete spirit monsters, then said he planned to seek taboo wood and hidden metal before reorganizing the overseas islands and attempting to create an isle.
• Xu Xuan told Liu Xiaowen and Xu Fayan that the Northern Campaign was being prepared and that Xing Fang had gone with Wen Guang to the Thunder Department.
• Xu Xuan and Wen Si'an discussed unrest along the Southern Border, while Xu Xuan warned that Le Yu remained a threat and reviewed the Sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Xu Xuan learned that Protector Liang’s son Liang Tai had excellent roots and arranged for him to cultivate near an ultimate fire spirit land.
• Xu Xuan sensed Great Li’s forces assembling and decided to return to the capital to probe the Song Clan’s plans.

Liu Xingfang brought Wen Guang to the Great Li Thunder Department to temper their newly forged divine-thunder sword. After naming it Flaw Severance, Liu Xingfang learned its powers and reflected on divine thunder’s nature as a force that cleaves away the old order.

• Liu Xingfang and Wen Guang arrived at the Thunder Department, where Xin Heniан received them on behalf of General Weihua.
• Xin Heniан led Liu Xingfang to the divine thunder refining site, and Liu Xingfang placed Wen Guang’s sword into the formation to temper it.
• Liu Xingfang subdued the finished sword when it tried to escape, then named it Flaw Severance after Xin Heniан warned him that Divine Firmament was an exalted name.
• Liu Xingfang examined Flaw Severance’s [Flaw-Cutting] and [Yanghao] mystical powers and considered their connection to upheaval and rebellion.

Xu Xuan attended Tian'ou’s oath to launch Great Li’s Northern Campaign and watched the monarch mobilize the Immortal Dao against Northern Liao. Suspecting the Song Clan faced mortal danger tied to Li Fire, Xu Xuan followed a strange fluctuation into Southern Capital after the assembly dispersed.

• Xu Xuan surveyed the gathered Song princes and Immortal Dao leaders, then spoke with Yin Guang about joining the Thunder Department and his struggle to cultivate [Self-Reflection].
• Tian'ou swore an oath to Heaven and promised military rewards from Great Li’s treasury to those who earned merit in the Northern Campaign.
• Tian'ou ordered the Divine Dao, Tai Zhen, Martial Mu, and other sects to attack the Path of Rebirth, contain the Profound Secret Demon Land, and campaign against overseas powers.
• Xu Xuan sensed that the Song Clan faced mortal danger and suspected Li Fire’s path might force the clan to fight Wood Virtue.
• After the assembly ended, Xu Xuan followed a faint fluctuation of Li Fire into Southern Capital.

Xu Xuan learned that Tian'ou planned to seek Many Treasures’ help to be reborn if he perished while seeking the golden position. Song Yuanxian then revealed that the Great Li Song Clan had bound itself to a war meant to let Li Fire attain immortality, leaving Tian'ou to murmur, “Self-immolation.”

• Tian'ou told Xu Xuan that a fallen Jiang great lord’s Li Fire had shaped his origins as a spirit monster and that he feared he could not successfully seek the Dao.
• Tian'ou asked Xu Xuan to approach Many Treasures on his behalf, and Xu Xuan agreed to sound them out indirectly.
• Song Yuanxian confronted Tian'ou, explaining that the Great Li Song Clan was committed to a war intended to help Li Fire attain immortality.
• Song Yuanxian said the conquest of Northern Liao was a formality and that seven perfected Li Fire cultivators might be sacrificed if the great lord failed.
• After Song Yuanxian departed, Tian'ou looked toward the origin net and murmured, “Self-immolation.”

The leaders of the Path of Rebirth argued over sending Lion's Roar to defend Great Sage Wilderness and negotiated support for his Thunderclap Pure Land. Great Lotus Vow then revealed that Vast Wood was half ruined, and Tian Tanban ordered the assembled monks to hold back Li Song as Rebirth prepared for a decisive struggle.

• Lion's Roar demanded another Land of Light and refused to defend Great Sage Wilderness without compensation, while Jin Guangying accused him of abandoning Maha Xu Han Kong.
• Tian Tanban offered Lion's Roar a Lotus Seed, the Great Thunderclap Bell, a chance to leave a true spirit in the Amitabha Form, and reinforcements, but rejected his request to choose the Void Pure Land's presiding monk.
• Great Lotus Vow told Tian Tanban that Vast Wood was half ruined and that Divine Vastness had attained the Dao during the Great Upheaval of Yuan Wei.
• Tian Tanban said Rebirth needed to hold Li Song back until Nanxian suffered the backlash of his oath, and warned that all present might have to go to the battlefield.

Three-Karma Mind sought Liao Emperor Xiao Xian’s help defending Great Sage Wilderness against the Li Kingdom’s forces. Xiao Xian agreed to send three cultivators, including Li Nanshu, and issued the order for them to join the Rebirth Dharma Dao.

• Three-Karma Mind asked Xiao Xian to summon cultivators from several tribes to help defend Great Sage Wilderness.
• Xiao Jun objected to forcing the tribes into battle, while Three-Karma Mind offered to seek him a path to Venerable status through Heavenly Karmic Temple.
• Xiao Xian agreed to send three cultivators but refused to release Yuwen Shenhua because of his ties to Lingsa and Eastern Radiance.
• Three-Karma Mind requested Tuoba Jue, Murong Ge, and Li Nanshu, a True Person of the Songmo Li Clan.
• Xiao Xian ordered Tuoba Jue, Murong Ge, and Li Nanshu to join the Rebirth Dharma Dao at Great Sage Wilderness and resist the Li Army.

Xu Xuan learned the history of Great Sage Wilderness and the formidable Buddhist forces gathered there as the six departments prepared to confront the Pure Lands. When Gu Huaixu challenged the assembled cultivators, Great True Person Jianshi answered him, and the two prepared to fight.

• Weihua told Xu Xuan that the golden mountain was the lingering finger of Heavenly Sorrow, who had sheltered mortals from ten suns before perishing after a dispute with Heavenly Lotus Light.
• Xu Xuan discussed the six departments’ forces with Weihua and considered how to cultivate Righteous Punishment without drawing attention.
• The Devouring-Virtue Pure Land arrived, and Yin Guang revealed that Lion’s Roar, a Second Seat of the Path of Rebirth, had converted Yin Guang’s granduncle-master to Buddhism.
• Weihua explained that Second Seats residing in Lands of Light could rival Purple Mansion Peak cultivators, making the task of dismantling the Pure Lands perilous.
• Gu Huaixu challenged the gathered cultivators to face his Daoist body, and Great True Person Jianshi stepped forward to fight him.

Jianshi fought Stone-Chiding in the Devouring-Virtue Pure Land, but Stone-Chiding defeated him before Zhang Yu arrived and the first assaults on Great Sage Wilderness began. Xu Xuan cut down Thunderclap defenders and overwhelmed Three-Karma Mind, whose Pure Land began to collapse as a golden Greater Yang attack struck.

• Jianshi and Stone-Chiding exchanged divine abilities until Stone-Chiding countered Jianshi’s attacks and forced him to withdraw after Jianshi used a blood-colored gourd to block the locust swarm.
• Zhang Yu arrived, revealed himself as a Daoist Adept of Martial Mu Mountain, and entered the Pure Land as Evil Land and the Immortal Dao forces launched their assault.
• Xu Xuan killed Maha Lightning and Maha Abundant Thunder with one sword strike, while Lion’s Roar demanded that Three-Karma Mind bring out his forces.
• Cease Hostilities and Jianshi joined forces against Tuoba Jue, Li Nanshu, and Murong Ge as their battle shook the Great Void.
• Three-Karma Mind confronted Xu Xuan, but Xu Xuan pierced his Fire-House Pure Land with tribulation power and destroyed part of Calamity Flame’s Dharma Form.
• Xu Xuan’s golden Greater Yang attack struck Three-Karma Mind before he could defend himself, revealing that the intelligence about Xu Xuan was outdated.

Xu Xuan defeated Three-Karma Mind with Greater Yang and Lesser Yin spells, altar thunder, and his sword, decapitating him and capturing his head. As Lion's Roar fought Northern Yin, the monks retreated toward the formation under an elder's protection.

• Xu Xuan overwhelmed Three-Karma Mind's Fire-House Pure Land, broke his Hell-Transformation Lotus, and sealed his escape with altar thunder.
• Xu Xuan's tribulation lightning crippled Three-Karma Mind and destroyed his Calamity-Flame Bodhi manifestation body.
• Xu Xuan severed Three-Karma Mind's head with Cinnabar Thunder and sword intent, while the Fire-House Pure Land fled away.
• The King of Wei arrived too late to save Three-Karma Mind and was struck by Geng metal sword qi as Lion's Roar cursed the fallen monk.
• Northern Yin used False Usurpation Name against Lion's Roar, who summoned the Great Thunderclap Bell and ordered a retreat.
• A Lone Lamp shielded the retreating monks as an elderly monk in a Sandalwood-Black Robe with Gold Patterns emerged from the Golden Mountain.

After Rebirth’s forces suffered heavy losses at the Great Sage Wilderness, Lion's Roar sought a way to counter Xu Xuan’s altar thunder. He persuaded the King of Wei, Tuoba Jue, to use the Grand Historian Book to summon Lion's Roar’s grandfather, the Great True Person Wang Yuchu.

• Lion's Roar ordered White Lotus Mountain to send more monks and summoned Demon Fang to reinforce the battle.
• Lion's Roar warned that Xu Xuan’s thunder could permanently damage Rebirth’s pure lands and lives, while several cultivators refused to face him or said they were wounded.
• Lion's Roar offered Tuoba Jue a mystic pill, then promised him a page from the Ji Book to secure his help.
• Lion's Roar recounted how his grandfather, Wang Yuchu, had recorded his life in the Ji Book after being denied entry to Eastern Radiance.
• Tuoba Jue accepted the scroll and agreed to summon Wang Yuchu with the Grand Historian Book to oppose Xu Xuan’s altar thunder.

Fan Shi recruited Shang Zixi to help attack Qingyue, while Xu Xuan studied tribulation fire, strengthened Xing Fang, and received resources and a plan from Northern Yin True Person. Northern Yin warned Xu Xuan to withdraw after Liao Capital fell and revealed that he might become a demon if he lost his remaining humanity.

• Fan Shi ordered Wei Ke to summon Great True Person Xu Gong and pressure the Li Army, then welcomed Shang Zixi, who vowed to kill Qingyue over his clan’s old grievances.
• Xu Xuan compared ancient and modern Ding Fire and gave the Heaven and Earth Upside Down Tribulation Fire to Xing Fang for Primordial Unity Thunderfire.
• Northern Yin True Person gave Xu Xuan spirit treasures to complete his Supreme Clarity Dharma Body and proposed using False Usurpation Name to deceive the Buddhist cultivators and strike their Thunderclap Pure Land.
• Northern Yin arranged for Xu Xuan to aid Tai Zhen against Lion's Roar while Yin Guang True Person fought Murong Ge.
• Northern Yin told Xu Xuan that Liao Capital could fall within ten years but warned him to withdraw afterward and let Shu Han advance to Purple Mansion.
• Northern Yin said he would accept death while he could still feel pain, but would become a demon and plunge the world into chaos if he lost that feeling.

Lion's Roar absorbed Fire-House Pure Land's survivors into Thunderclap Pure Land and prepared to face the advancing Li Army, while Xu Xuan joined True Person Cease Hostilities to discuss their enemies and the turmoil among the Dao lineages. The chapter ended as Thunderclap Pure Land unfolded before Golden Mountain and Xu Xuan and Cease Hostilities advanced to confront Lion's Roar.

• Lion's Roar refused to let Blazing Ghost Bodhi and the seven remaining Calamity God Diamonds return to Fire-House Pure Land, absorbing them into Thunderclap Pure Land instead.
• Lion's Roar ordered Shen Feng to keep watch and drive the Calamity Gods into battle, then directed Zai Bi and Gui You to help perform the Great Thunderclap Heavenly Sacrifice Ritual Path using his preserved Life Foundation Mystic Core.
• Lion's Roar summoned Miao Ding and planned to use him against Yin Guang, then prepared for the Li Army's attack on Great Sage Wilderness.
• Xu Xuan met True Person Cease Hostilities, who explained Wanjin's cultivation, the upheaval in Peaceful Mountain, and his history with Dust-Sweeping.
• Xu Xuan and Cease Hostilities discussed the Five Fires Prophecy and then proceeded toward the front as Thunderclap Pure Land unfolded before Golden Mountain.

Xu Xuan and his allies attacked the Thunderclap Pure Land, where Lion's Roar restored his Immortal Dao life foundation and fought back. Xu Xuan escaped after severely threatening the Pure Land, but Shaochu, Wang Yuchu arrived to subdue him, leaving him facing a powerful victory-gold opponent.

• Northern Yin True Person reported that the enemy had left the formation, while Demon King Xing You, True Person Chan Wei, and Yuan Sui moved to support the battle.
• Lion's Roar swallowed his life-foundation mystic core, completed his condition, and suppressed Cease Hostilities with shock thunder.
• Xu Xuan borrowed Senior Wu Chu's divine abilities and used Color-Aversion against the Thunderclap Pure Land, but Tuoba Jue summoned the ancient figure Shaochu, Wang Yuchu.
• Lion's Roar realized Xu Xuan had infiltrated the Pure Land in disguise as the Northern Yin Great True Person, and Xu Xuan damaged the Pure Land before escaping under the protection of Righteous Punishment and Su Wei Mountain.
• The Northern Yin Great True Person charged into the Pure Land as Xu Xuan retreated, while Tuoba Jue allowed him to pass and warned Xu Xuan to be careful.
• Shaochu, Wang Yuchu confronted Xu Xuan and General Weihua, withstanding Weihua's attack and demonstrating complete victory-gold power.

Xu Xuan fought True Person Shao Chu, a powerful victory-gold cultivator, while the battle raged around the Buddhist Golden Mountain. After Tuoba Jue restored Shao Chu’s full awareness, Shao Chu condemned Wang Bo for turning to Buddhism and attacked Xu Xuan as the battle for the mountain continued.

• Xu Xuan’s attacks wounded True Person Shao Chu, but Shao Chu adapted to them and used his abilities to endure and heal.
• Weihua and Xu Xuan failed to defeat Shao Chu, so Weihua pulled Xu Xuan away and turned toward the Golden Mountain formation.
• Xu Xuan joined Gao Wand u in attacking the Golden Mountain, while True Person Shao Chu caught up and Tuoba Jue released his restraint on him.
• Shao Chu regained his full awareness, recognized Wang Bo, and condemned him for abandoning his lineage to join the Buddha Land.
• Shao Chu charged Xu Xuan, who held him off with thunder techniques while Weihua went to attack the Pure Land forces around the mountain.
• Shao Chu lamented that his Ji Book had been used to protect the Pure Land and declared that he had no blood descendant like Wang Bo.

Lion's Roar used the Primordial Innate Thunderclap Dharma Form to defend Great Sage Wilderness and pursue a transformation that could prepare him to become a Venerable after reincarnation. After the Golden Mountain fell and the monks withdrew, he stayed behind to confront the Li Army and gather cause and effect for his gamble.

• Lion's Roar confronted his grandfather's legacy, lamented the Wang clan's exclusion from Eastern Radiance, and declared that he would rely on himself rather than immortals or Buddhas.
• Jianshi used the Heavy Baleful Stone to pin down Li Nanshu's Qian Metal Dharma Body, freeing Xu Xuan to attack Great Sage Wilderness's protective fortune with the sword of Tribulation Command.
• Xu Xuan's strike exposed the Golden Mountain, and his silver thunder destroyed its defenses and killed the four Diamonds supporting it.
• Lion's Roar summoned the remaining Bodhi and Diamonds as Tuoba Jue destroyed the Ji Book; True Person Shaochu spent his life unleashing the Heavenly Stems Xianji Mystic Ring, while Tuoba Jue captured Yuan Sui and left.
• After the Golden Mountain fell, Evil Land withdrew with the remaining monks, while Lion's Roar stayed behind and prepared to face the Li Army with his completed Thunderclap Dharma Form.

Lion's Roar attacked the Divine Department at Wolf Mountain and attempted to pass through the Primordial Gate to reincarnate as a powerful spirit monster. Xu Xuan witnessed the transformation and sensed a mysterious figure named Shang who had once cut open the gate.

• Lion's Roar used his thunderclap dharma form to charge toward Wolf Mountain, forcing Zhang Yu, Xu Xuan, Weihua, Golden Scale, and others to try to stop him.
• Lion's Roar broke through the defenses at Wolf Mountain, struck Weihua with the Yin Sacrificial Cauldron, and pressed on toward the White Qilin and Dawn Pavilion Palace.
• Lion's Roar summoned the Primordial Gate and sent his essential spirit toward it, then transformed into a thunder giant and departed to reincarnate as the Giant Spirit deity of Thunderfall Marsh.
• Xu Xuan recognized Lion's Roar's plan and used calamity blessing to record his nature and life, allowing him to track the monk after his reincarnation.
• Xu Xuan sensed figures associated with the Primordial Gate, then felt the Cave-Transmuting Sword Casket react to the name Shang, whose severing power had once cut open the gate.

After Lion’s Roar devastated the battlefield, Xu Xuan helped the wounded, learned more about the true fire lineage, and considered the gains from the battle. He withdrew to heal and study his discoveries, ending with suspicions about the Sword Dao Ancestor’s legacy at Kunlun.

• Lion’s Roar’s attack destroyed Wolf Mountain and the Divine Dao Grand Formation, badly wounded the cultivators, and forced the offensive to halt.
• Xu Xuan found Song Yuanxing, Liu Xingfang, and Xi Wuya injured, helped treat them, and ordered the slain fire hounds sent back for their materials.
• Xi Wuya explained the history of the true fire fruit position, leading Xu Xuan to identify its current lord as True Lord Yuan Sui, Cao Daoyi.
• Zhang Yu recognized Xu Xuan’s attainment of the rare heavenly heart within me realm and noticed signs that Xu Xuan’s nature and life had been nourished.
• Xu Xuan retreated to the Treasure Ship’s Temporary Palace, reflected on calamity blessing and the Primordial Gate, and connected the name Shang to the Sword Dao Ancestor and a possible inheritance at Kunlun.

Qingyue assessed the vast wood defenses blocking Great Li’s advance and suspected the Song Clan was testing the yi wood path and Panmi’s condition. At White Lotus Mountain, Yang Puto volunteered to hold back the Li Army through reincarnation, while the Buddhists discussed his request for a pure-vehicle immortal bloodline.

• Qingyue and Ru Su examined Xu Gong’s vast wood formation, and Qingyue ordered the factions to prepare for Zhu Xia’s arrival and warned them to watch Guang Chan.
• Qingyue connected the Song Clan’s probing to the battle in which the forces of Chi and Dust-Sweeping joined against the Lord of Shock Thunder.
• Tian Tanban explained that Lion’s Roar had fallen after delaying the Li Army and asked for another volunteer to sacrifice themselves and reincarnate.
• Yang Puto volunteered without taking a Lotus Seed and requested reincarnation into a branch of the pure-vehicle immortal bloodline; Tian Tanban agreed.
• Fan Guangying questioned Yang Puto’s request, and Nine-Jade Body explained that Immortal Lord Tianying’s bloodline had dispersed when Chi’s bloodline turned to Buddhism.

Xu Xuan studied how the five phases might connect to Yin-Yang and used that insight to cultivate the Thunder-Grasping Formation. He then witnessed Li Huanyou’s birth from the Ghost Mother’s corpse, just as a True Lord arrived to claim him.

• Xu Xuan examined five jue vessels from the Southern Li Dao Lineage and concluded they could help him link the five phases to Yin-Yang.
• Xu Xuan drew the vessels into his Inner Scenery and began cultivating the Thunder-Grasping Formation through the five phases, planning to gather more Thunder Palace artifacts.
• Xu Xuan sensed the Thunder-Grasping Formation resonating with the Great Unity Moon Eclipse Secret Method, but recognized that he still lacked the original formation.
• Xu Xuan witnessed a ghost child devour the dead Ghost Mother and grow into a youth bearing a golden birthmark that revealed his Righteous Order nature.
• Xu Xuan borrowed Divine Status to record Li Feng’s perceptions, then severed the connection when a True Lord approached and ordered Li Huanyou to come with him.

Qingyue and Song Shiyi led Purple Mansion cultivators in an assault on Xu Gong’s vast wood formation, using Li Fire and Heavenly Inquiry to break through its defenses. Xu Gong’s counterattacks injured the attackers, but Qingyue advanced on him with the metal-virtue treasure Fine Dust.

• Song Shiyi used the Vermilion Bird Southern Li Fan to burn the forest formation, while Qingyue’s Shaking Light Mystic Talisman countered its power to mislead and scatter the flames.
• Qingyue used Insinuation by Gradual Infiltration to disrupt the forest’s creatures and ordered Ru Su, Guiqing, Guang Chan, Han Chenzi, and Yutai to help break the formation.
• Xu Gong summoned a powerful Radiant Tiger that struck Ru Su and forced him and Guang Chan to fight it while Xiao Dianqing and Han Chenzi continued breaking through the forest.
• Xu Gong’s Guangxiu Palace immobilized Han Chenzi, but Yutai’s Lead-Washing Radiance freed him before Xu Gong’s mixed-mystery tower trapped him; Qingyue then drove off the danger with silver-gray light and autumn winds.
• Qingyue approached Xu Gong and gathered the metal-virtue treasure Fine Dust, intending to test the damaged puppet’s strength.