Chapter Summaries

Xu Xuan and Xu Yi discovered that the Ascension Platform required them to temper their souls with heavenly lightning to leave the grotto-heaven. As they competed to endure stronger strikes, the grotto-heaven was revealed to the cultivators outside, who saw the pair ascending naked and trading challenges.

• Xu Xuan found twelve Mysterious Pivot Dao disciples dead on the terrace, their souls gone after they read the words “Ascend to immortality.”
• Xu Yi was pulled from her body after reading the words, but a divine ability left by her grandfather saved her soul from the lightning and returned it to her body.
• Xu Yi explained that they needed to steady their souls, endure heavenly lightning, and gather white vapor to find a way out, so she and Xu Xuan agreed to ascend together.
• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi manifested their naked souls and began enduring lightning strikes, then challenged each other to rise higher and withstand stronger bolts.
• Outside the grotto-heaven, the great figures removed its seals, and Xu Mingguang and the other cultivators saw Xu Xuan and Xu Yi soaring naked and calling out to each other.

Xu Xuan and Xu Yi passed the soul-tempering tribulation, then faced lightning spirits that tested their physical bodies. After Xu Xuan recovered his stolen scales and blood from Xu Yi, they joined forces and charged the three spirits guarding the heavenly light.

• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi returned their souls to their bodies after their souls were tempered, and Xu Yi rushed toward the heavenly light.
• A lightning Daoist attacked Xu Yi with maces that bypassed her artifacts and spells, forcing her to endure the blow with her Dharma body.
• Xu Xuan let the lightning spirits break and reforge his body, then destroyed one Daoist and swallowed its lightning mace.
• Three lightning Daoists formed an array and blasted Xu Xuan down after he tried to return the mace fragments; Xu Yi admitted she had taken his scales and blood.
• Xu Xuan reclaimed and refined his scales and blood, then transformed into a dragon and charged the three spirits with Xu Yi riding on his back.

Xu Xuan and Xu Yi defeated the three thunder spirits, reached the Celestial Pivot Sword-Washing formation, and entered it to seek its treasures. As more cultivators arrived and the grotto-heaven’s restrictions began to unravel, Yang Yuanyi was also making his way inside.

• Xu Yi pinned the three thunder spirits with the Yin Sacrifice Five-Rite Thunder Diagram, allowing Xu Xuan to destroy them with Cinnabar Thunder and Xi Flame.
• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi reviewed their Daoist scripture catalog, agreed to exchange shock thunder cultivation methods, and approached the Celestial Pivot Sword-Washing formation.
• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi entered the formation, followed by Xiao Xueya and Song Shiming, who arrived at odds with each other.
• An Xianhui and Hidden Lady discussed their opposing views on protecting lives, then entered the formation together.
• Outside the grotto-heaven, Dao Yan and the other Purple Mansion cultivators discussed the entrants while Yang Yuanxin asked whether Xu Xuan preferred humans.
• The Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion’s seals began to lift as golden divine thunder surged and the Thunder Pool’s rumbling filled the Great Void.

Zhou Shi used the [Five Apertures Heart-Ruining Record] to affect Mu Youdu while Xu Xuan explored the Mysterious Pivot Dao armory with Xu Yi. Xu Xuan found a matching pair of yin-and-yang Dharma Swords, but a stranger arrived and claimed an interest in them.

• Zhou Shi summoned Jingjing'er and used the [Five Apertures Heart-Ruining Record] to target Mu Youdu, while True Lord [Suspended Chaos] watched from beyond heaven.
• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi entered the [Celestial Pivot Sword Cleansing] armory, where Xu Yi behaved with newfound caution and Xu Xuan sensed that something had changed.
• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi agreed to search separately, and Xu Yi entered a treasure pavilion while reflecting on her Dao heart.
• Xu Xuan entered the [Tempered Radiance] hall and discovered two matching Dharma Swords embodying greater yin and greater yang.
• A man in a dark-red Daoist robe entered the hall and looked toward the two Dharma Swords, declaring that fortune favored him.

Xu Xuan fought An Xianhui of the Dust-Sweeping Sect over two Dharma Swords, but a sword-bearing woman intervened and divided them between the two cultivators. Xu Xuan took the Greater Yin Dharma Sword and resolved to reclaim the Greater Yang Dharma Sword from An Xianhui someday.

• Xu Xuan recognized An Xianhui as a Dust-Sweeping Sect cultivator and challenged him for the two Dharma Swords.
• Xu Xuan and An Xianhui exchanged attacks, with An Xianhui using yin fire, a golden lamp, and a vermilion bow while Xu Xuan fought back with thunder and sword techniques.
• A late-stage Foundation Establishment woman arrived and urged the two men not to leave themselves vulnerable to others.
• Xu Yi joined Xu Xuan, and the sword-bearing woman divided the Dharma Swords, letting Xu Xuan choose the Greater Yin Dharma Sword.
• An Xianhui left with the other sword, and Xu Xuan resolved to become strong enough to take it back.

Xu Xuan chose a featureless stone statue in the Chaos Aperture Hall and seized the bronze Dharma Sword Mu Ming by destroying its altar before the hall collapsed. He and Xu Yi headed for the Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion as it prepared to open, while Zhou Shi considered the Northern Sea’s intervention and the coming violence over the treasure pavilion’s Dao repository and origin liquid.

• Xu Xuan sensed the Chaos Aperture Hall and chose its unremarkable stone statue over the bronze Dharma Sword, then lifted the statue with great effort and stored it in his qi sea.
• Xu Xuan used Cinnabar Thunder and Pure Essence to shatter the altar and seize Mu Ming, but the hall began collapsing before he could take the black cauldron, forcing him and Xu Yi to withdraw.
• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi saw the Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion opening and flew toward it as sounds of the Dao spread through the grotto-heaven.
• Jingjing'er questioned whether Xu Xuan’s actions connected him to True Lord Upper Successive Union, and Zhou Shi concluded that the Chaos Aperture Hall’s appearance signaled the Northern Sea’s intervention.
• Zhou Shi resisted the lesser yin immortal light and heard a voice tell him to judge the matter himself and not fear the Northern Sea, whose figure could not return.
• Zhou Shi watched the chosen entrants and Golden Core descendants approach the pavilion, anticipating slaughter when the thunder tribulation origin liquid appeared.

Xu Xuan exchanged for several powerful thunder and sword arts, then collected thunder tribulation origin liquid as the Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion revealed a rift to the Ancient Underworld. When Nan Xiu and Luo Shunfu demanded the liquid, Xu Xuan and Xu Yi prepared to fight them as the rift widened.

• Xu Xuan exchanged for the Marsh Thunder Dragon-Treading Scripture, the Tribulation-Slaying Sword Canon, and the Thunder-Grasping Formation Art.
• Xu Xuan and the other cultivators collected thunder tribulation origin liquid, and Xu Yi secretly warned him that someone had arrived outside.
• The Clear Yang Mighty Spirit Pavilion rose into the golden thunder, revealing an Ancient Underworld ferry crossing that split the grotto-heaven and blocked the way east.
• Nan Xiu of the Void Spirit Hall demanded Xu Xuan's origin liquid, while Luo Shunfu accused him of coveting an immortal Dao treasure.
• Xu Xuan struck Luo Shunfu with his sword, then summoned three dharma swords as Nan Xiu prepared to intervene.
• Xu Yi joined Xu Xuan against Nan Xiu and Luo Shunfu as the Ancient Underworld rift widened and the battle began.

Xu Xuan defeated Nan Xiu and Luo Shunfu after overcoming their artifacts designed to counter his powers. Nan Xiu then sacrificed himself to bind Xu Xuan with a talisman that called to the underworld, leaving Xu Xuan facing a pull toward the Ancient Underworld.

• Xu Xuan used his Greater Yin Dharma Sword, four Spirit Artifacts, and Marsh Dragon Body to break through Nan Xiu's Baleful Qi and Sword Lock Talisman.
• Nan Xiu sent the Golden Roc Scissors after Xu Xuan, but Xu Xuan shattered them and impaled Nan Xiu with his swords and Thunderfire Pearl.
• Xu Xuan killed Nan Xiu and Luo Shunfu, then retrieved a golden token containing thunder tribulation origin liquid and Dao teachings.
• Xu Yi warned Xu Xuan that the Grotto-Heaven was opening fully and the Ancient Underworld had broken many restraining seals.
• Nan Xiu reappeared in bloody water, burned his Immortal Foundation, and transformed himself into a Grand Talisman that called the underworld and bound Xu Xuan.

Yang Yuanyi learned that Dragon Prince Youdu had been dragged into the Netherworld, while the Fire Crows and Void Spirit Hall clashed over the Thunder Tribulation Origin Liquid outside Surging Tribulation Heaven. Trapped on an endless bridge in the Netherworld, Xu Xuan saw visions of the Mysterious Pivot Dao’s fall before Tiantuo awakened and offered to guide him.

• Yang Yuanyi fought through the Longevity Monastery’s cultivators and found Xu Yi, who gave him Dragon Prince Youdu’s severed hand and the token containing Thunder Tribulation Origin Liquid.
• Yang Yuanyi’s royal father summoned the Heavenly Crow Sun-Patrol Vase, but the Void Spirit Hall’s Spirit Artifacts pinned it amid a fierce struggle in the Great Void.
• Xu Yi received Yin Guang’s instructions and set aside her grief to follow Yin Thunder Mountain’s plan.
• Xu Xuan awoke in the Netherworld after severing his hand, then used the Fish Nether Token to cross a bridge above a river of blood.
• Xu Xuan saw carvings depicting Surging Tribulation Heaven’s destruction and the Mysterious Pivot Dao’s fall, then continued across the endless bridge as his magical power dwindled.
• Tiantuo awakened in Xu Xuan’s Qi Sea and offered to lead him through the Netherworld.

Xu Xuan and Tiantuo reached the Reincarnation Sea while searching for a way out of the Netherworld, but the lake threatened to draw Xu Xuan into another life. The Fire Crow king intervened to rescue him, provoking a battle with the Netherworld’s guardian, which ended with an ancient presence sealing off the realm and warning the king to leave.

• Tiantuo helped Xu Xuan refine Thunder Tribulation Origin Liquid, restoring his magical power and strengthening his Tribulation Heart Pool.
• Xu Xuan and Tiantuo found the Reincarnation Sea and a battered boat that appeared to offer a way out, but Tiantuo warned Xu Xuan not to touch the lake.
• The lake showed visions of Xu Xuan and called for him to enter reincarnation, while an unseen presence stirred in the darkness.
• The Fire Crow king called for Mu Youdu to return and clashed with a towering skeleton that guarded the Netherworld.
• The Fire Crow king demanded that the skeleton hand over the flood dragon, but an ancient presence sealed the Netherworld and ordered the king to leave.

Yang Dingguang fought Netherworld forces to reach Xu Xuan, but the black jar’s power drove him back as Xu Xuan fell into Reincarnation Lake. Outside the Grotto-Heaven, Yang Dingguang returned and challenged [Void Dao], while Xu Xuan awoke somewhere within the lake as an infant.

• Yang Dingguang fought three Netherworld officials, but the black earthenware jar overpowered his fire armor and sealed the Netherworld.
• After Tiantuo urged him onward, Xu Xuan plunged into Reincarnation Lake, where his consciousness faded and he heard an infant cry before opening his eyes.
• Lingming True Person and Ye Du True Person discussed the plan behind giving Yang Dingguang the Thunder Tribulation Origin Liquid and the coming rise of the thunder paths.
• Yang Dingguang returned to the battlefield, sent Yang Yuanyi and Yang Yuanxin back to their Ancestral Land, and attacked [Void Dao] with his heavenly halberd.
• Yang Dingguang and [Void Dao] fought their way into the Great Void as the cultivators watched them depart.

Xu Xuan endured countless reincarnations in which he lost his memories, rebuilt his life, and repeatedly died fighting Zuo Hemo. After Tiantuo called him back, Xu Xuan faced the many possible versions of himself and wielded sword intent to cut them down.

• Xu Xuan experienced a past life as [Upper Successive Union], but the Immortal Stele shattered the vision and returned him to the reincarnation lake.
• Xu Xuan relived his youth without the Immortal Stele, ran through a snowstorm seeking his master, and was found by Wen Fufeng, who took him to Green Luo.
• Xu Xuan practiced the sword through repeated reincarnations, became sect leader after the sect's ruin, and discovered his master's Qi-transformation inheritance, but he could not escape being refined into a Witchcraft Spirit Sword by Zuo Hemo.
• Tiantuo's voice reached Xu Xuan as he was about to become a spirit sword, and the Six Paths of Reincarnation Wheel gathered his reincarnated selves into one true self.
• Xu Xuan saw the many possible future versions of himself, formed sword intent with [Cinnabar Thunder], and attacked them to leave only the present possibility.

Xu Xuan escaped the Netherworld, gained powerful thunder and mastered sword intent, then rescued Xu Yi from Xi Ming in the Water-Fire Chamber. The two headed toward the central pill chambers to obtain the spirit pill.

• Xu Xuan left the Netherworld aboard the black skiff and emerged in the Thunder-Planting Abyss, where he accepted the Primordial Unity Calamity-Free Mystic Thunder and collected six Foundation Establishment-level thunderbolts.
• Xu Xuan reached the Water-Fire Chamber as Xi Ming and three Heavenly Demon Attendants trapped the injured Xu Yi and demanded her thunder tribulation origin liquid.
• Xi Ming attacked Xu Yi, but Xu Xuan's bronze Dharma Sword killed Xi Ming and cut apart the killing-intent net.
• Xu Xuan treated Xu Yi with spirit pills, confiscated the Mustard Seed Object containing his scales and blood, and revealed his newly mastered sword intent.
• Xu Xuan and Xu Yi walked toward the central pill chambers to seek the spirit pill.

Xu Yi and Xu Xuan seized pills and furnaces from the Water-Fire Chamber, then exchanged one furnace for a pill method and a spiritual stone. When golden heavenly roads appeared, Tiantuo warned them that something within might concern their fortune, and they chose to ascend.

• Xu Yi defeated the cultivators who demanded her Thunder Tribulation Origin Liquid, then drove Wei Luxing from the Pill Chamber with [Mu Ming].
• Xu Yi and Xu Xuan seized pills from all three furnaces, taking the nurturing earth and true fire furnaces as the cultivators fought over the remaining pills.
• Xu Xuan gave Xu Yi the true fire furnace in exchange for a fifth-grade [Clear-Spirit Pill Method] and a [Shangyin Sacrificial Stone].
• The Tremor-Calamity Token reacted as golden heavenly roads appeared, and Tiantuo warned Xu Xuan that something within might involve his allotted fortune.
• Xu Yi asked Xu Xuan whether they should ascend, and he agreed after sensing a powerful sword intent within the golden sun.

After the Mysterious Thunder Grotto-Heaven collapsed, Zhou Shi opened the Mysterious Thunder Offices Diagram and gathered its entrants to receive celestial offices. Xu Xuan received the title Mingdu Heavenly Soldier, defeated Xiao Xueya on the heavenly stairway, and then confronted An Xianhui.

• Zhou Shi entered the Mysterious Thunder Offices Diagram and waited as cultivators from several sects followed thunder roads into it.
• Xu Xuan received the celestial writ of Mingdu Heavenly Soldier, which linked him to the Thunder Palace and increased his fortune.
• Xu Xuan climbed the heavenly stairway, where he encountered Xiao Xueya and learned that the Liao cultivator's sixth-grade immortal foundation could dispel thunder.
• Xu Xuan overcame Xiao Xueya with his sword and continued upward as his celestial writ neared promotion.
• Xu Xuan met An Xianhui on the stairway and challenged him to return the Dharma Sword he had left in An Xianhui's safekeeping.

Xu Xuan defeated An Xianhui, claimed his greater yang Dharma sword, and advanced to the upper reaches of the heavenly stairway. Remembering Wen Fufeng’s encouragement to reach higher, he chose to challenge Zhou Shi at the summit, where a sword battle was about to begin.

• Xu Xuan overcame An Xianhui’s spiritual fire and arrows with sword intent and thunder, then wounded him and knocked him unconscious.
• A distant Purple Mansion cultivator rescued An Xianhui, while Xu Xuan took his artifacts and discovered the greater yang Dharma sword Dong Xi.
• Xu Xuan’s heavenly register named him the Nether-Degree Immortal General, and he resolved to keep ascending rather than settle for protecting his sect.
• Tiantuo urged Xu Xuan to challenge the remnant of Mysterious Pivot, and Xu Xuan used three drops of thunder tribulation origin liquid to strengthen himself.
• Xu Xuan passed two late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators and drew Cinnabar Thunder as he approached the summit.
• Zhou Shi opened his eyes and faced Xu Xuan from the top of the golden heavenly stairway.

Xu Xuan fought Zhou Shi atop the Golden Stairway, using his sword formation and every available power against Zhou Shi’s overwhelming sword intent. As both unleashed their strongest attacks, a mouth appeared on the ash-gray stone deity statue in Xu Xuan’s Qi Sea and connected to his immortal foundation.

• Xu Xuan challenged Zhou Shi and activated his thunder marsh and sword intent, but Zhou Shi’s golden swordlight broke through his defenses.
• Xu Xuan deployed the Heavenly Tribulation and Earthly Punishment Sword Formation, and Zhou Shi shattered it with a divine thunder sun that made him the pivot of the battlefield.
• Xu Xuan suffered grievous injuries but found an opening and struck Zhou Shi with his strongest sword attack; Zhou Shi returned Xu Xuan’s severed arm and briefly lowered his blade.
• Xu Xuan used three more drops of thunder tribulation origin liquid despite Tiantuo’s warning, tearing his body apart as he gathered power for another strike.
• Xu Xuan and Zhou Shi unleashed their ultimate attacks, filling the summit with violet and gold light.
• A mouth appeared on the ash-gray stone deity statue in Xu Xuan’s Qi Sea, and chaos qi spread as it connected to his immortal foundation.

Xu Xuan survived Zhou Shi’s sword trial, formed the sixth-grade [Primordial Unity Calamity-Free Mystic Thunder], and advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. After witnessing the Thunder Palace’s history and a possible future catastrophe, he escaped the collapsing Grotto-Heaven with help from Dao Yan and others.

• Zhou Shi pushed Xu Xuan to the brink in their sword clash, allowing Xu Xuan to stabilize his Immortal Foundation, form [Primordial Unity Calamity-Free Mystic Thunder], and break through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Zhou Shi warned Xu Xuan that Shock Thunder was a dangerous path and that he should judge the times for himself, then let him ascend the Golden Stairway.
• Xu Xuan studied visions of the Thunder Palace’s past, glimpsed [Celestial Lord Tianpeng] still existing beyond the world, and heard Tiantuo explain that three paths had to block his return.
• Xu Xuan returned to the Golden Stairway as the Grotto-Heaven collapsed; Xu Yi was carried away by a purple Grand Talisman, while Zhou Shi battled Mei Ye.
• Dao Yan took Xu Xuan through the Great Void, and Senior Stolen Script blocked the pursuing Divine Ability as the Grotto-Heaven crumbled completely.

Xu Xuan witnessed the destruction of Surging Tribulation Heaven and learned that the Li Kingdom’s Imperial House had claimed its ancient thunder seal. Back in Chonghua, he accepted a marriage decree from Dragon King Guangze and agreed to the Fire Crows’ proposal while Tiantuo laid out a plan for his dragon and human bodies to cultivate separately.

• A golden Heavenly Sword and the Dipper Pivot Supreme Punishment Seal emerged from the shattered Grotto-Heaven, and Song Shiming claimed the seal through the Li Fire Imperial House’s Incense Offerings Divine Dao.
• Dao Yan brought Xu Xuan back to Flame-Offering Mountain, where he gave Xu Xuan a golden token containing a fifth-grade Divine Thunder cultivation method.
• Dao Yan and Yang Yuanyi urged Xu Xuan to marry Yang Yuanxin, and Dao Yan showed him Dragon King Guangze’s decree approving the match.
• Tiantuo advised Xu Xuan to cultivate his dragon body with Thunderfall Marsh and his human body with Tribulation Heart Pool, using the Thunder Palace’s destiny to obtain a suitable method.
• Xu Xuan agreed to the marriage proposal, and Dao Yan sent Yang Yuanxin to take him to the Roosting Crow Treasury for an item.

Xu Xuan left Flame-Offering Mountain with a Clear Spirit Divine Unity Pill and used the Mist Marsh Skyroad to evade Purple Mansion observers. Back in Green Luo, he began practicing a mind-dividing cultivation method and planned to advance both bodies, strengthen his sect, and seek freedom after reaching Purple Mansion.

• Yang Yuanxin told Xu Xuan she would support his choice about their marriage, and Yang Yuanyi gave him a Clear Spirit Divine Unity Pill before warning that the Fire Crows would leave the Li Kingdom in two or three years.
• Tiantuo revealed that a dozen Purple Mansion cultivators were watching Xu Xuan and used Dragon King Guangze's decree to take him through the Mist Marsh Skyroad to Green Luo.
• Xu Xuan anchored his mind in the Supreme Clarity Dao Realm and divided his immortal foundation between his dragon body and original body so they could cultivate and exchange power.
• Xu Xuan broke down several ancient artifacts for their materials, kept An Xianhui's other artifacts for trade, and found two Foundation Establishment-grade true fires and four Purple Mansion spirit pills among his gains.
• Xu Xuan resolved to cultivate more Foundation Establishment cultivators, delay the marriage, and take his sect overseas after reaching Purple Mansion, then began practicing the Great Thousand Mind Contemplation.