Chapter Summaries

Liang Yong and Fan Qingzhu attacked Luo He, who emerged through an incense-powered divine statue and overwhelmed them with curse script and magical power. Xu Xuan identified a weakness beneath the statue’s golden silkworm and gathered the power for a decisive sword strike.

• Liang Yong bombarded Luo He's cave abode with the Nine-Fire Pagoda until Luo He retaliated with curse script that injured him and broke Fan Qingzhu's Compassion Heart Vase.
• Luo He summoned Jin Zhong into a divine statue, using the golden silkworm and incense offerings to raise his power to the Foundation Establishment late stage.
• Xu Xuan summoned a tribulation pool and attacked the statue with Constant Light, while Luo He met his sword qi with a bone saber.
• Luo He trapped the three cultivators in curse script and tried to overwhelm them with the statue's superior magical power.
• Xu Xuan used Heavenly Drum to expose an irregularity beneath the golden silkworm, then gathered thunder, sword mystic qi, and blood qi for a decisive strike.

Xu Xuan and his allies defeated Luo He, whose final curse left behind a pill and a fragment of a mysterious letter addressed to Hua Yuan. After securing Luo He’s treasures, Xu Xuan found and harvested three flames from the Nether Poison Fire Pool, then turned toward the spirit mountains at the center of the Wilderness of Witches.

• Xu Xuan used Constant Light to shatter Luo He’s golden body, and Liang Yong helped destroy his remaining flesh.
• Luo He’s final curse script formed a black pill and bloody message; Xu Xuan took the Turbid Yin Origin-Nourishing Pill as Liang Yong and Fan Qingzhu forgot what had happened.
• Xu Xuan collected Luo He’s treasures and found a letter fragment addressed to Hua Yuan that hinted at the Heavenly Mandate and several mysterious cultivation paths.
• Xu Xuan ordered Liang Yong and Fan Qingzhu to occupy the territory, then searched for the Nether Poison Fire Pool.
• Xu Xuan found the underground pool and harvested three Lesser Nether Poison Flames before setting his sights on the central spirit mountains.

Shuchun chose to ignore Jiangyang and focus on a greater prize, while sending Elder Liu to investigate the immortal clans entering the Wilderness of Witches. After Liu Qiuqi and Qingyun seized Xiangyuan Wilds, Qingyun urged him to seek help from a thunder cultivator and abandon his clan, but Liu Qiuqi could not bring himself to agree.

• Shuchun told Huang Yi to let the immortal cultivators take Spirit Mountains while he pursued a greater prize near the former Heavenly Poison Mountain.
• Shuchun learned that Luo He, Lu Yuan, and Suo Xin had been killed by immortal cultivators and sent Elder Liu to identify the clans entering the Wilderness of Witches.
• Liu Qiuqi, Qingyun, and the Verdant Willow killed the injured Lu Yuan and took possession of Xiangyuan Wilds.
• Qingyun told Liu Qiuqi that a powerful divine-thunder cultivator would travel through the Li Kingdom and urged him to seek that person's help.
• Qingyun asked Liu Qiuqi to leave with her for Jade Flow, but he held her and said he could not treat abandoning his clan as an easy choice.

Xu Xuan visited Chongxi Mountain, where Zhu Yucheng challenged his reasons for practicing the sword and offered him a chance to submit. Zhu Yucheng revealed that Wen Fufeng had secretly cultivated a lost sixth-grade sword method, and Xu Xuan learned its name: [Free and Unfettered Journey].

• Zhu Yuanyun welcomed Xu Xuan to Chongxi Mountain and led him to meet Zhu Yucheng.
• Zhu Yucheng advised Xu Xuan to associate with the Liu Household rather than the Duan Clan, then criticized Xu Xuan's practical approach to sword cultivation.
• Zhu Yucheng offered to unite the Plainlands and demanded that Xu Xuan submit to him, but Xu Xuan refused.
• Zhu Yucheng told Xu Xuan that Wen Fufeng had attracted allies and enemies, prompting Xu Xuan to demand the names of those who plotted against his master.
• Zhu Yucheng revealed that Wen Fufeng had restarted his cultivation after a scheme and secretly practiced a lost sixth-grade sword cultivation method.
• Zhu Yucheng named Wen Fufeng's immortal foundation [Free and Unfettered Journey].

Xu Xuan learned from Zhu Yucheng that a True Person of the Dust-Sweeping Immortal Sect had ordered his master's death because of ties to the [Profound Offering] sword lineage, then prepared to seize Banquet Radiance Mountain with his allies. Elsewhere, a white-robed scholar crossed the Liao border and defeated Hidden Lady in a single clash before continuing south.

• Zhu Yucheng explained the history of sword lineages and revealed that a True Person of the Dust-Sweeping Immortal Sect had ordered Xu Xuan's master's death.
• Zhu Yucheng warned Xu Xuan not to challenge the four northern spirit mountains and told him the remaining mountains could be contested.
• Xu Xuan surveyed the spirit mountains and headed to prepare an assault on Banquet Radiance Mountain with the Liu Household and the Duan Clan.
• A white-robed scholar crossed the Liao border, paying the passage fee in spirit stones as he rode south on a donkey.
• Hidden Lady confronted the scholar on orders from the Dust-Sweeping Immortal Sect, and he nearly destroyed her immortal foundation with a single sword strike before riding on.

Shuchun, Zhan Yi, and Qiong He argued over their alliance’s control of Banquet Radiance Mountain and the future of the Wilderness of Witches. Across the mountains, Duan Chengsi, Xu Xuan, and Liu Qiuqi prepared an assault, leaving Xu Xuan resolved to seize Heavenly Tribulation Mountain despite the risk of deaths.

• Shuchun claimed Banquet Radiance Mountain’s formations would let the witches reinforce the neighboring mountains, and Zhan Yi challenged him before Qiong He stopped their fight.
• Qiong He told Shuchun he wanted to unite the tribes and protect mortals, while Shuchun promised to help and declared that the Wilderness of Witches belonged to them.
• Duan Chengsi told Xu Xuan and Liu Qiuqi that the Ye Clan occupied the four northern mountains under imperial orders, then promised to use the Duan Clan’s Unsettling Instrument in the assault.
• Duan Chengsi outlined a plan to attack Banquet Radiance Mountain and gave Xu Xuan and Liu Qiuqi Origin Spirit Talismans to boost their magical energy temporarily.
• Xu Xuan learned that he would hold Shuchun back while Liu Qiuqi and Duan Chengsi faced Zhan Yi and Qiong He, then resolved to take Heavenly Tribulation Mountain despite the danger.

Xu Xuan and his allies fought the witches at Banquet Radiance Mountain, where Qiong He began the Ghost Feast Sacrificial Rite and trapped them. After Xu Xuan defeated Qiong He, he rushed toward Heavenly Tribulation Mountain and discovered Shuchun’s ritual was raising a golden skeleton with the four northern mountains and their cultivators absorbed into it.

• Qiong He, Shuchun, and Zhan Yan activated the formation around Banquet Radiance Mountain as cultivators and barbarians clashed across the neighboring mountains.
• Xu Xuan fought Shuchun while Liu Qiuqi battled Zhan Yan and Duan Chengsi faced Qiong He; Shuchun and Zhan Yan then left for the neighboring mountains as Qiong He began the Ghost Feast Sacrificial Rite.
• Qiong He trapped Xu Xuan, Liu Qiuqi, and Duan Chengsi in blood baleful energy, but Xu Xuan joined his sword mystic qi with thunder and struck Qiong He down.
• Xu Xuan sensed danger at Heavenly Tribulation Mountain and rushed there, finding a towering golden skeleton as Shuchun revealed that he had killed Zhan Yan and joined the ritual.
• The four northern mountains and their cultivators were absorbed into the golden skeleton, and Xu Xuan realized the Song Clan was behind the upheaval as Heavenly Tribulation Mountain fell into darkness.

Xu Xuan fought the black curse script engulfing Heavenly Tribulation Mountain and, as his immortal foundation collapsed, merged his tribulation pool with his thunder marsh to manifest [Upper Successive Union]. The curse lifted and the golden-bodied skeleton departed into the Great Void, while most witnesses forgot what had happened and Xu Xuan was left wondering which path his new power belonged to.

• Wen Si'an told Xu Xuan that Shuchun had wounded Liang Yong, rescued a demon, and that a golden-bodied skeleton had sealed the mountain and seized disciples.
• Xu Xuan saw the Duan Clan use [Dingji] to free its people, while [Thunder Edict] failed to save many members of the Liu Household.
• Xu Xuan shielded Wen Si'an, Xu Fayan, and the other disciples from the black curse script, then fought it with his master's sword intent as his dharma body and immortal foundation repeatedly broke down.
• Xu Xuan's shattered tribulation pool joined with his immortal register and thunder marsh, manifesting [Upper Successive Union] and dispersing the curse script.
• The golden-bodied skeleton swallowed the remaining barbarian cultivators, entered the Great Void, and settled beside a divine mountain associated with Heavenly Poison Mountain.
• Everyone except Xu Xuan and Xu Fayan forgot the greater events, and Xu Xuan wondered which path [Upper Successive Union] belonged to.

After the battle for Heavenly Tribulation Mountain, Xu Xuan claimed the mountain and discovered its valuable thunder resources, while the Imperial House discussed the divine appointments and the Northern Sea’s Upper Successive Union. Xu Xuan resolved to seek a connection to Upper Successive Union, and he and Wen Si'an began planning for the sect’s future and the battle’s casualties.

• Zongxiang told Song Shiyi that Shuchun would be appointed because he was the only available practitioner for the calamity-poison divine position, then explained the gaps in the Thunder Department and Upper Successive Union’s decline.
• Zongxiang warned Song Shiyi not to speculate about the [Lesser Yin Dao Realm] lineage and said the Grand Ancestor had ordered the Imperial House to cooperate with it.
• Xu Xuan decided to investigate Upper Successive Union and his master’s connection to the Thunder Radiance Spirit-Inquiry Method, then claimed Heavenly Tribulation Mountain and its mineral veins.
• Xu Xuan absorbed [Heavenly Abundance Cauldron Thunder] and discovered new powers in his Tribulation Pool, including [Concealed Edge] and a radiant Altar Thunder.
• Wen Si'an told Xu Xuan that the sect’s survivors needed compensation, and he entrusted her with overseeing it.

Xu Xuan oversaw the Duan Clan’s relocation of Heavenly Tribulation Mountain to Green Luo and began establishing the Scarlet Radiance Abode there. He planned to make Hanging Thunder Peak the sect’s center for nurturing Foundation Establishment cultivators and returned to Green Luo to discuss advancing Cinnabar Thunder.

• Wen Si'an compensated the families of dead and wounded disciples, recorded the dead in the sect’s annals, and oversaw the Guarding the Azure Camp’s replenishment.
• Xu Xuan accompanied Duan Chengsi as he used the Unsettling Instrument and talismans to move Heavenly Tribulation Mountain onto Green Luo’s eastern side.
• Duan Chengsi explained how the Duan Clan’s “gen earth” path related to earth veins, formations, and talismans before departing.
• Xu Xuan reflected on Qiong He’s disappearance, the vanished spirit mountains, and his search for spirit treasures of the “blood qi” path.
• Xu Xuan used the Scarlet Radiance token to bring halls and pavilions from the Scarlet Radiance Abode onto Heavenly Tribulation Mountain, reviving their Foundation Establishment formations.
• Xu Xuan chose Hanging Thunder Peak as the home of the sect’s core heirs, considered expanding cultivation into the metal virtue path, and returned to Green Luo to discuss raising Cinnabar Thunder to Foundation Establishment.

Xu Xuan and Wang Xiwei inspected Heavenly Tribulation Mountain’s new halls and installed the Bright Sun Furnace in the Forge Rectitude chamber, awakening the spiritual-fire child Wen Guang. Wen Guang revealed his origins and the sect’s artifact-refining inheritance, leaving Xu Xuan with a path toward restoring its lost techniques.

• Xu Xuan and Wang Xiwei watched Cinnabar Thunder being nurtured, and Wang Qiyun predicted it would gain the wondrous properties of reverse ascent and tribulation descent.
• Xu Xuan showed Wang Xiwei the Great Scarlet Hall and Sword-Watching Pavilion, then led him to the Forge Rectitude chamber on Desolate Awakening Peak.
• Wang Xiwei placed the Bright Sun Furnace in the chamber, where its three spiritual flames merged and formed the Daoist child Wen Guang.
• Wen Guang explained that he was the Immortal Child of Refining Insight and needed a Foundation Establishment Bing fire or true fire to recover his strength.
• Wen Guang revealed that he remembered the Great Scarlet True Explanation of Artifact Refining and manifested its Qi Refining methods for Xu Xuan and Wang Xiwei to copy.

Lie Huo learned from Duke Kui Dragon that True Lord Upper Successive Union had perished but could return through altar thunder, then set out for the Eastern Sea and encountered Bai Xuan. A year after Heavenly Tribulation Mountain descended, Xu Xuan prepared to enter the grotto-heaven, where Yang Yan Xiang told him the clan chief was waiting.

• Duke Kui Dragon told Lie Huo that True Lord Upper Successive Union had perished but might return while altar thunder remained, and warned him to avoid Surging Tribulation Heaven and flee if Dongfang Guanji made Lesser Sage Tiantuo manifest.
• Lie Huo set out for the Eastern Sea to seek a share if Eastern Radiance Heaven opened, and met Bai Xuan traveling toward the Cold Law Sea.
• Xu Xuan emerged from a year of cultivation with progress in the Thunder Marsh Saint-Transmuting Body and gave Liu Xingfang his insights on the Tribulation Heart Pool.
• Xu Xuan entered Deep Abyss and discovered his flood dragon form had gained pure dragon blood and new combat abilities.
• Yang Yan Xiang welcomed Xu Xuan as Dragon Prince Youdu and led him toward Mountain Flame City, where the clan chief awaited him before the grotto-heaven opened.

Xu Xuan learned that [Surging Tribulation Heaven] would descend within months and received Yang Yuanyi’s warning about the powerful factions seeking its treasures. At the crossing, Yuan Xi summoned Xu Xuan to [Firmament-Ritual City] on the Immortal Sect’s orders, but Xu Xuan refused and challenged him, and the two began fighting.

• Yang Yuanyi told Xu Xuan to return to Chonghua and explained the threats posed by [Void Spirit Hall] and other factions entering [Surging Tribulation Heaven].
• Yang Yuanyi revealed that he would also enter the Grotto-Heaven to help Xu Xuan compete for the [Thunder Tribulation Origin Liquid].
• Yang Yanxiang reported that Yuan Xi, a foundation establishment middle-stage descendant of the [Firmament-Ritual Blackbird] lineage, was blocking the crossing and demanding to meet Xu Xuan.
• Yang Yuanyi and Xu Xuan confronted Yuan Xi, who said the Immortal Sect wanted Xu Xuan to visit [Firmament-Ritual City] and speak with a great one.
• Xu Xuan refused Yuan Xi’s demand, invoked the Dragon Lord’s authority, and drew a purple lightning Dharma Sword.
• Xu Xuan and Yuan Xi attacked each other, sending purple and blue lightning surging into the sky.

Xu Xuan defeated Yuan Xi in Deep Abyss and learned that his Heavenly Canopy Demon-Slaying Diagram depicted an ancient Thunder Palace battle. He agreed to meet Yang Yuanyi in Chonghua in three days to prepare for entering the grotto-heaven, while Dao Yan and Stolen Script discussed the forces moving around him.

• Xu Xuan used his thunder arts and two Heavenly Soldiers to overcome Yuan Xi's attacks, then shattered his manifested body and drove his true spirit away through the ferry crossing.
• Yang Yuanyi identified Xu Xuan's Dao diagram as a record of Celestial Lord Tianpeng slaying the Blood Qi Immortal and praised Xu Xuan's understanding of thunder arts.
• Yang Yuanyi explained that the Fire Crows could temporarily raise Xu Xuan's magical power by one minor stage before he entered the grotto-heaven, and Xu Xuan agreed to come to Chonghua in three days.
• Dao Yan and Stolen Script discussed the Upper Firmament Sect's interest in Xu Xuan, the opportunity in the Lesser Yin Dao Realm, and Zhou Shi's approach from the north.
• Stolen Script tried to divine what lay ahead but saw only blankness.

Xu Xuan finished strengthening the Great Red Abbey’s defenses and prepared to leave, but learned that Liu Shengshui was dying and hurried to see him. Liu Shengshui died after asking Xu Xuan to care for Xiao Wen, leaving him a pouch of money saved for his grandson.

• Xu Xuan completed Cinnabar Thunder’s advancement and concealed his powerful possessions with the White Jade Dao Altar’s clear qi.
• Wang Qiyun told Xu Xuan that the abbey had completed its formations and discussed Cheng Yan’s future cultivation.
• Wang Qiyun reported that Liu Shengshui was near death, so Xu Xuan went to Green Plain Town to see him.
• Liu Shengshui remembered Xu Xuan and asked him to take Xiao Wen as a disciple and look after him.
• Liu Shengshui died, leaving Xu Xuan a pouch of money marked for Xiao Wen.

Liu Xiaowen, Zhang Yu, and Li Jinzhi reached the Eastern Sea and set out toward Rosy-Haze Island after collecting spiritual flames from a passing cultivator. Meanwhile, Xu Xuan met with the Fire Crows, who offered him support and a marriage alliance with Yang Yuanxin; he refused, leaving Dao Yan waiting for his explanation.

• Liu Xiaowen and his companions recovered from their journey to the Eastern Sea and decided to skirt dragonkind's waters on their way to Rosy-Haze Island.
• A Purple Mansion cultivator passed overhead in a Silver Scented Carriage, and Liu Xiaowen, Zhang Yu, and Li Jinzhi collected the true-red flames left in its wake.
• Xu Xuan used the Black Jade Dragon-Patterned Bracelet to travel upstream to Mountain Flame City and met Yang Yuanxin, who led him to Dao Yan.
• Dao Yan gave Xu Xuan clear spiritual magical power, raising his reserves to the Foundation Establishment middle stage, and offered the Fire Crows' support in exchange for a marriage alliance with Yang Yuanxin.
• Xu Xuan refused Dao Yan's offer, and Dao Yan waited for him to explain his decision.

Xu Xuan proved to the Fire Crows that he had cultivated sword mystic qi and received the treasured armor Xi Flame before entering the Grotto-Heaven. After hearing Dao Yan’s warnings about dangerous cultivators and his mission to find the Thunder Pool’s origin liquid, Xu Xuan was escorted away by Yang Yuanxin, who learned that his heart belonged to someone else.

• Xu Xuan revealed his transformed Cinnabar Thunder, and Dao Yan recognized his sword mystic qi and praised his progress toward sword intent.
• The old Demon King approved Xu Xuan’s ambition, and Dao Yan gave him the Xi Flame armor and ordered him to find the Thunder Pool’s origin liquid.
• Dao Yan warned Xu Xuan to avoid interfering with the Song and Xiao Clans’ plans and to stay clear of Zhou Shi and the Dust-Sweeping Sect’s cultivator and their companion.
• Dao Yan explained the order in which cultivators would enter the Grotto-Heaven and told Xu Xuan to prepare over the coming days.
• Yang Yuanxin offered to show Xu Xuan to his cave abode, then asked whether his heart belonged to someone and promised not to report his answer to her royal father.
• Xu Xuan admitted that he already loved someone and reaffirmed his choice in his heart.

Xu Xuan entered the Mysterious Pivot Grotto-Heaven’s trial and defeated nine animated skeletons in its first hall. He followed the Shock Thunder Avenue, while the other entrants chose separate paths as the Grotto-Heaven began to awaken.

• A bloody light provoked the thunder sea, and the Grotto-Heaven appeared as a towering mirror before Dao Yan sent Xu Xuan inside.
• Xu Xuan entered the hall called “Clouds of the Firmament Descend to Banish Souls,” collected its spiritual soil, and uncovered the bones of former Mysterious Pivot disciples.
• Nine skeletons animated and attacked Xu Xuan, but he broke their formation and destroyed them, earning a page describing the Firmament-Cloud Purification Refining Formation.
• Xiao Xueya took the central Divine Thunder road, while Xu Xuan followed the Shock Thunder Avenue; Xu Yi and Song Shiming chose the Shock Thunder and Altar Thunder roads, respectively.
• Yun Cangyu and Luo Shunfu entered by the Divine Thunder road, and a white-robed scholar ascended golden lightning steps as the Grotto-Heaven began to awaken.

Xu Xuan devoured lightning spirits to strengthen his abilities and gathered enough white qi to approach the final trial, where an intelligent immortal general overwhelmed him. Xu Yi arrived and joined Xu Xuan in fighting the general, who trapped them beneath the Heavenly Net Umbrella.

• Xu Xuan defeated a lightning Heavenly Soldier, obtained the Tremor-Calamity Token, and learned that white qi could be exchanged for treasures in the Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion.
• Xu Xuan discovered he could swallow lightning weapons and refine them into lightning essence, then consumed more weapons and beasts while advancing through the trials.
• Xu Yi found the trials strangely altered, with incomplete humanoid Heavenly Soldiers in place of the expected spirit beasts, and worried that Surging Tribulation Heaven had changed.
• Xu Xuan reached the final trial and confronted an intelligent immortal general who accused him of devouring its troops and drove him back with thunder and fire.
• Xu Yi encountered the retreating Xu Xuan and was caught with him beneath the Heavenly Net Umbrella as the immortal general suppressed her immortal foundation.
• Xu Xuan transformed and charged the general, and Xu Yi summoned a small cauldron to fight alongside him as thunder and fire shook the grotto-heaven.

Xu Xuan and Xu Yi survived a deadly battle with an immortal general, then claimed its thunder weapons and discovered the Thunder Palace spells and the name of Deng Zhishu. They parted ways and raced toward the Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion as the Shocking Calamity Heavenly Dao sealed shut and the pavilion began to awaken.

• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi combined their abilities to fight the immortal general, and Xu Xuan nearly died before the general vanished after trying to warn him.
• Xu Xuan repaired his manifested body and collected most of the white vapor from the general, while Xu Yi received a smaller share.
• Xu Xuan swallowed the jade-green longsword and Heavenly Net Umbrella, then used the Immortal Register to bind them in the tribulation pool and learned the spells Altar-Nether Thunderfire Talisman Sword and Heavenly Baleful Net.
• Xu Xuan found Deng Zhishu's name on the weapons and realized that visualizing the Thunder Department had helped him survive the general's final attack.
• Xu Yi introduced herself as a disciple of the Yin Thunder Gate, and Xu Xuan and Xu Yi quickly went their separate ways toward the Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion.
• The Shocking Calamity Heavenly Dao sealed shut as a white pattern emerged in the golden sun and the Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion began to awaken.