Chapter Summaries

Helplessness took Xiao Hua aside and explained the risks of his sect token and the arrangements for his cultivation and duties. Xiao Hua chose the Medicinal Garden for his menial work, then felt a sudden jolt as they approached Myriad Thunder Valley.

• Ganlei Zi and Fairy Xuanhua discussed using the Lightning Devouring Bead to nourish it in the Thunder Pool and address changes in heavenly lightning.
• Helplessness asked whether Xiao Hua sincerely wished to become his disciple and warned him that the Sect Master's token could tempt him to pursue too many cultivation methods and attract attention.
• Xiao Hua defended keeping the token, and Helplessness agreed that the sect's cultivation methods shared similar foundations and that the token could help him perfect his Lightning Escape Technique.
• Helplessness explained that Xiao Hua would live and cultivate in Dui Lei Palace, visit Myriad Thunder Valley for instruction, and perform menial duties in Zhen Thunder Palace.
• Xiao Hua chose work in the Medicinal Garden, and as Helplessness led him toward Myriad Thunder Valley, Xiao Hua suddenly felt a jolt.

Xiao Hua proved that his lightning-avoidance method worked, then met Wu Nai’s wife Zhuo and Xiangyang’s cultivation partner Yan Qinglian. The group reached Wu Nai’s cave abode, where Xiao Hua began tasting the valley’s Azure Thunder Fruit.

• Wu Nai forgot to register Xiao Hua at Jade Slip Hall and asked Xiangyang to take him there later.
• Xiao Hua flew through the thunder waves using the incantation he had comprehended, reassuring Wu Nai that the method worked.
• Wu Nai introduced Xiao Hua to Zhuo and Yan Qinglian, who gave him a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• The group arrived at Wu Nai’s cave abode and met the mountain ape Xiao Shan, which then ran off to chase a pheasant.
• Yan Qinglian served Xiao Hua Cloud Mist Tea and an Azure Thunder Fruit, and the fruit crackled like lightning in his mouth.

Xiao Hua impressed Wunai by refining the Azure Thunder Fruit’s lightning spiritual qi and discussed his unusual cultivation technique with his Master. After Wunai sent him with Xiangyang to register at Jade Slip Hall, Xiao Hua also discovered that lightning had appeared in his private space.

• Xiao Hua refined the Azure Thunder Fruit’s spiritual qi in three cycles, and Xiangyang explained that the test showed his physique suited Thunder Control Sect cultivation.
• Xiao Hua gave Wunai his Heaven and Earth Manifestation technique, which Wunai judged unusual but capable of reaching Foundation Establishment, and told him to keep cultivating it.
• Xiao Hua entered his space mentally, checked on Little Yellow and the growing spirit creatures, and noticed dark clouds and lightning above Suo Guang.
• Wunai declined to give Xiao Hua a magic artifact before Foundation Establishment and warned that the Thunder Control Sect was not free of conflict.
• Wunai instructed Xiangyang to take Xiao Hua to Jade Slip Hall to register, worship the patriarchs, and find lodging, and urged Xiangyang to guide him in Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Xiao Hua left Martial Uncle Wu Nai and Zhuo’s cave after learning about their long-standing jealousy over Gan Qinghuo, then received a magical artifact refining manual from Xiangyang. As Xiangyang brought him to Jade Slip Hall, two Gen Lei Palace disciples waited there and discussed why Xiao Hua had been assigned to Wu Nai.

• Martial Uncle Wu Nai jealously questioned Zhuo’s concern for Gan Qinghuo, and Xiao Hua described his encounter with Gan Qinghuo while concealing the Lightning Devouring Bead.
• Xiangyang explained the history between Wu Nai, Zhuo, and Gan Qinghuo, while Yan Qinglian served Xiao Hua spirit wine that sent surging spiritual energy through his meridians.
• Xiangyang gave Xiao Hua a magical artifact refining manual and escorted him toward Jade Slip Hall at Gen Lei Palace.
• Gen Liang and Gen Ming disparaged Xiao Hua’s selection results and speculated that Martial Uncle Gen had assigned him to Wu Nai to counter Wu Nai’s influence; footsteps then sounded in the corridor.

Xiao Hua and Xiangyang went to Jade Slip Hall to register Xiao Hua, but Gen Liang and Gen Ming barred them and humiliated Xiangyang. Xiao Hua attacked Gen Liang and threatened Gen Ming, leaving the conflict unresolved at Jade Slip Hall.

• Xiangyang explained the limits of the Thunder Control Sect’s Lightning Evasion Techniques as he brought Xiao Hua to Jade Slip Hall.
• Gen Liang and Gen Ming sealed Jade Slip Hall’s entrance and claimed Xiao Hua could not be registered until Wu Nai brought him the following year.
• Xiangyang pleaded with the gatekeepers and offered spirit stones, but Gen Liang accepted them only to throw them on the ground and insult him.
• Xiao Hua snapped when Xiangyang crouched to retrieve the spirit stones, then seized Gen Liang and broke through his defensive talisman.
• Xiao Hua slapped and injured Gen Liang, warned Gen Ming not to interfere, and insisted he could not be accused of defying superiors because he had not yet been registered.

Xiao Hua forced Jade Slip Hall’s attendants to register him as a Thunder Control Sect disciple and make a blood tablet, then confronted them with Ganlei Zi’s Sect Master Token. He left with Xiangyang after warning the attendants not to obstruct him again.

• Xiao Hua threatened Gen Liang and made him and Gen Ming gather Xiangyang’s scattered spirit stones before opening Jade Slip Hall.
• Xiangyang led Xiao Hua to the Zhen Thunder Palace records, where he inscribed Xiao Hua’s name on a jade tablet.
• Xiao Hua’s blood would not enter the tablet until he used his own perception to guide it, briefly producing a brilliant golden light before the tablet returned to normal.
• Gen Ming confirmed that Xiao Hua had been registered as an official Thunder Control Sect disciple, and Xiao Hua released Gen Liang.
• Xiao Hua showed Gen Liang and Gen Ming Ganlei Zi’s Sect Master Token, rebuked them for obstructing Xiangyang, and left the hall with his senior brother.

Xiao Hua registered with Thunder Control Sect after confronting Gen Liang and Gen Ming in Jade Slip Hall, then followed Xiangyang to his assigned hut on Chicks Thunder Peak. Gen Gen learned that Xiao Hua had presented a Sect Master Token and began wondering how he had obtained it.

• Xiangyang worried that Xiao Hua had acted rashly, but Xiao Hua said strength mattered more than schemes and asked where he would live.
• Gen Ming persuaded Gen Liang not to complain openly about Xiao Hua, and the two concealed their conflict while treating Gen Liang’s injuries.
• Steward Gen Gen confirmed Xiao Hua’s registration, dismissed Gen Liang’s insinuations about the Sect Master Token, and wondered how Xiao Hua had obtained it.
• Xiangyang brought Xiao Hua to hut number 1134 on Chicks Thunder Peak and recalled that he had once lived there for fifty years.
• Xiao Hua asked Xiangyang why a Martial Uncle at Qi Qiao Pavilion had asked about his son.

Xiao Hua learned about Xiangyang’s imagined son, Xiang Zhili, and settled into a wooden hut before heading to Zhen Thunder Palace. As they traveled, Xiangyang warned him about factions within Thunder Control Sect and explained why he had refused another senior’s offer to leave Myriad Thunder Valley, a choice that had delayed his Foundation Establishment.

• Xiangyang told Xiao Hua that he expected his future child, Xiang Zhili, to become a Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Xiangyang showed Xiao Hua his wooden hut, gave him its command token, and prepared to take him to Zhen Thunder Palace.
• Xiao Hua met Wang Yunxiao, declined his offer to join Hundred Refinements Hall, and learned Wang Yunxiao served Zhen Yue.
• Xiangyang cautioned Xiao Hua that he might face retaliation for striking a Jade Slip Hall duty disciple and explained how family ties and rival factions shaped Thunder Control Sect.
• Xiangyang recounted that he had refused a Zhen Thunder Palace senior’s offer to help him establish his foundation because he would not abandon Myriad Thunder Valley while Helpless’s fate was unknown.
• Xiangyang explained that his loyalty had cost him an earlier opportunity to establish his foundation, and Xiao Hua praised his integrity.

Xiao Hua learned from Xiangyang’s story that loyalty and righteousness could bring both losses and gains, and his insight into the Heavenly Dao deepened. When Xiangyang tried to secure him a suitable chore at Zhen Thunder Palace, Zhen Feng first offered him a harsh posting, then changed his attitude after recognizing Xiao Hua’s name as someone valued by the Palace Master.

• Xiangyang told Xiao Hua how his choice to save Master and Mistress had damaged his Dao Foundation and state of mind, and how Master had nearly expelled him from Myriad Thunder Valley.
• Xiao Hua’s respect for Xiangyang’s sincere heart clarified the Heavenly Dao Starry Sky in his space and revealed more of the Hand of Cause and Effect’s incantation.
• Xiangyang said he would report Xiao Hua’s recent troubles to Master, then escorted him to Ben Lei Hall to seek a suitable chore.
• At Shuo Lei Hall, Zhen Feng mocked Xiangyang and proposed assigning Xiao Hua to the distant medicinal garden or mountain patrol.
• After checking a jade slip and confirming Xiao Hua’s identity, Zhen Feng recognized him as someone the Palace Master valued and welcomed his late arrival.

Xiao Hua chose to tend East Ridge Medicine Garden and used the Sect Master Token to gain access to Yan Lei Hall’s Teaching Pavilion. The chapter ended as he asked to view the Lightning Evasion Technique and Xiangyang tugged at his sleeve.

• Xiao Hua rejected talisman-making and alchemy duties, choosing a medicine garden instead, and Zhen Feng assigned him East Ridge Medicine Garden, which had abandoned earthfire.
• Xiangyang gave Xiao Hua a Thousand Mile Sound Transmission Talisman, and Xiao Hua gave Xiangyang the Invisibility Talisman refinement method for his sister-in-law to study.
• Xiao Hua asked Xiangyang for a spiritual-sense inscription technique and received a booklet before they reached Yan Lei Hall.
• Xiao Hua showed the Sect Master Token to the Teaching Pavilion's gatekeeper and learned it let him view materials in all eight Thunder Palaces but not take them away.
• Xiao Hua asked whether he could view the Lightning Evasion Technique, and Xiangyang tugged at his sleeve.

Xiao Hua asked Xiangyang for a Lightning Escape Technique, then got lost on his way back to Gen Lei Palace and fell into a formation set by a late Foundation Establishment cultivator. Trapped and unable to move, he found hope when he discovered that the Spirit Seeking Rat inside his space had awakened and was lively beside Little Yellow.

• Xiangyang told Xiao Hua that Lightning Escape Techniques were difficult to cultivate and agreed to bring him a copy the next day.
• Xiao Hua became lost while flying back to Gen Lei Palace and accidentally entered a formation.
• A late Foundation Establishment cultivator restrained Xiao Hua, concealed him with a small flag, and left to meet someone.
• Xiao Hua failed to break free and lamented his past misfortunes, then remembered Little Yellow and the puppet in his space.
• Xiao Hua found the awakened Spirit Seeking Rat playing around Little Yellow, and Little Yellow said the rat had taken her for its mother.

Xiao Hua discovered that his consciousness, not his hand, could retrieve objects from his space. While he hid beneath a formation, Zhen Xie trapped Kan Mingwei and attacked him over the Great Evolution Exquisite Pagoda, but Zhen Xie suddenly suffered a mysterious injury as Kan Mingwei laughed.

• Xiao Hua realized that he could use his consciousness to take a spirit stone from his space and return it.
• Xiao Hua overheard Zhen Xie and Kan Mingwei discussing the Great Evolution Exquisite Pagoda and their plan to bring it to the Sect Master.
• Zhen Xie sensed someone near the formation, then lured Kan Mingwei inside and trapped him with an Azure Separation Fire Formation.
• Zhen Xie revealed that he intended to keep the pagoda for himself and used Dry Fire to counter Kan Mingwei's Separation Fire Physique.
• Kan Mingwei attacked the formation with his flying sword, but Zhen Xie strengthened its barrier with the little flag.
• Zhen Xie suddenly clutched his chest in pain while Kan Mingwei laughed from inside the formation.

Zhen Xie and Kan Mingwei tried to outwit each other with a Heart-Eating Spirit Worm and a fire formation, then struck at the same time. Zhen Xie died from the curse, and Kan Mingwei died in the Qian Fire as the formation began to crack.

• Kan Mingwei revealed that he had planted the Heart-Eating Spirit Worm in pills he gave Zhen Xie thirty years earlier and explained that he used a talisman curse to control it.
• Zhen Xie and Kan Mingwei agreed to lower the formation and remove the worm, but each planned to kill the other when they acted together.
• Zhen Xie empowered the Qian Fire against Kan Mingwei, while Kan Mingwei unleashed the Heart-Eating Spirit Worm, causing Zhen Xie to collapse and die.
• Kan Mingwei used a spirit talisman to transform and battered the formation's light screen while the Qian Fire burned him.
• Kan Mingwei's transformation faded before he could escape, and the Qian Fire ignited his body and meridians as he made one final wave of the little hook.

After Little Yellow revealed its Eye of Delusion Breaking and Little Silver gnawed through the restriction, Xiao Hua escaped the spell array and collected the dead cultivators’ belongings. He found a piece of white bone beneath the Great Evolution Exquisite Pagoda, leaving its significance unknown.

• Xiao Hua called Little Yellow out of his space, and Little Yellow used its Eye of Delusion Breaking to locate the restriction’s weakness before directing Little Silver to gnaw through it.
• Little Silver weakened the Great Restraint Technique, and Xiao Hua broke free by forcing the restriction apart with his strength.
• Xiao Hua stabbed the array’s crack with the demon spear, shattered the spell array, and collected its six disks.
• Xiao Hua took Zhen Xie’s storage pouch and burned Zhen Xie’s corpse with Samadhi True Fire to conceal his traces.
• Xiao Hua found a small black hook and the Great Evolution Exquisite Pagoda among Kan Mingwei’s ashes, then discovered a small section of white bone beneath the pagoda.

Xiao Hua discovered ancient talisman techniques recorded on Kan Mingwei’s bone and survived an attempt by Kan Mingwei’s spirit to possess him, thanks to Little Yellow. After returning toward Gen Lei Palace, he encountered Gen Liang, who questioned why he had been away the previous night.

• Xiao Hua burned the white bone with Samadhi True Fire, revealing Green Seal Script that flowed into Suo Guang and imprinted talisman curse techniques in his mind.
• Xiao Hua took the bone and the soul artifact into his space, where the bone was struck by tiny bolts of lightning.
• Kan Mingwei’s Primordial Spirit sprang from the soul artifact and entered Xiao Hua’s head, but it could not find his Niwan Palace.
• Little Yellow sucked Kan Mingwei’s Primordial Spirit into its body, then fell asleep after Xiao Hua stored it in his space.
• A mid Foundation Establishment cultivator guided Xiao Hua toward Gen Lei Palace, and Xiao Hua resolved to keep his secrets hidden.
• Gen Liang spotted Xiao Hua and asked why he had not been in Gen Lei Palace the previous night.

Xiao Hua received his identity token and learned how to use its map, then discovered that Master Wunai had arranged for him to live at East Ridge Medicine Garden instead of reporting to Gen Lei Palace each day. Xiangyang escorted him there and pointed out the dangerous areas along the route.

• Gen Liang gave Xiao Hua his identity token and its instruction booklet after hearing that he had been lost overnight.
• Xiao Hua bound the token with his blood, examined its map, and amused himself by making duplicate tokens.
• Xiangyang brought Xiao Hua the first-level Lightning Evasion Technique formula and a token permitting him to cultivate at East Ridge Medicine Garden without daily reports to Gen Lei Palace.
• Xiangyang explained the arrangement to Gen Gen at Spring Thunder Hall and took Xiao Hua toward East Ridge Medicine Garden.
• Xiangyang guided Xiao Hua past forbidden and dangerous areas, and they neared the medicine garden around noon.

Xiao Hua entered East Ridge with Xiangyang and inspected the abandoned medicinal garden and its cave residence. After Xiangyang warned him about the harsh fire-aspected spiritual qi and a nearby forbidden ground, Xiao Hua was left to begin his duty and privately promised to surprise everyone with his cultivation progress.

• Xiangyang explained that Earth Fire had made East Ridge unsuitable for ordinary spirit herbs, but Xiao Yan Grass thrived there and supplied the Thunder Control Sect with ingredients for Minghua Pills.
• Xiao Hua used his East Ridge token to open the formation array and followed Xiangyang through the yellow mirror into the medicinal garden.
• Xiao Hua and Xiangyang found the guarding disciple’s cave residence, and Xiangyang described its halls, resting area, and spirit-herb cultivation caves.
• Xiangyang warned Xiao Hua that East Ridge’s violent fire-aspected spiritual qi could harm Qi Cultivation disciples, though Xiao Hua’s Hidden Fire Physique might help him withstand it.
• Xiangyang cautioned Xiao Hua to avoid a forbidden ground north of East Ridge, where earlier stationed disciples had vanished, and offered to respond to messages on his communication talisman.
• After Xiangyang left, Xiao Hua closed the formation and privately resolved to make rapid cultivation progress, while worrying that showing it off would be too high-profile.

Xiao Hua explored East Ridge’s neglected medicinal garden, transplanted rare herbs into his expanding space, and examined the Great Evolution Exquisite Pagoda in his cave abode. He fitted his gold foil into the pagoda, awakening its radiance and Brahma sounds, and began cultivating in a state of profound tranquility.

• Xiao Hua inspected East Ridge’s medicinal garden and transplanted spiritual herbs into his space, which had grown larger as his cultivation advanced.
• Xiao Hua returned to his cave abode, set warning talismans at the entrance, and decided to inspect the alchemy room after using up the Fire Marrow Blazing Crystal in his meridians.
• Xiao Hua examined the Great Evolution Exquisite Pagoda and discovered that he could pull its protrusion out partway with his great strength.
• Xiao Hua recognized that the protrusion he had drawn out was a sheet of gold foil and watched it transform into a golden leaf when it neared the pagoda.
• Xiao Hua placed the remaining seven gold-foil sheets into the pagoda, which filled the cave abode with golden lotuses, milky-white radiance, fragrance, and Brahma sounds.
• Xiao Hua sat cross-legged and began cultivating while sensing the faint rhythm of the Brahma sounds.

After two months of cultivation, Xiao Hua stabilized at the mid-stage eleventh layer of Qi Cultivation and received the Baye Linglong Scripture through the Great Evolution Exquisite Pagoda. He learned that he had missed messages about the Xiao Yan Grass harvest and hurried to Shuo Lei Hall, where a disciple’s reaction left him fearing he had delayed the sect’s pill refining.

• Xiao Hua refined the Fire Marrow Blazing Crystal’s residual flames while the Great Evolution Exquisite Pagoda’s Buddhist lotuses gathered between his brows, stabilizing his cultivation at the mid-stage eleventh layer of Qi Cultivation.
• The mark drew Xiao Hua’s consciousness into a Buddhist realm, where a Buddha’s flower-bearing gesture transmitted the Baye Linglong Scripture and revealed a method for cultivating a golden Buddha Sarira.
• Xiao Hua received Xiangyang’s messages and replied, then heard Xue Xue’s message about her training and her hopes of establishing her foundation within twenty years.
• Xiao Hua replied to Xue Xue without disclosing his location, harvested Xiao Yan Grass, and flew to Shuo Lei Hall to deliver it.
• A disciple on duty recognized Xiao Hua as the East Ridge Medicine Garden menial, prompting Xiao Hua to worry that he had delayed the sect’s pill refining.

Xiao Hua faced punishment after his closure of the East Ridge formation delayed the gathering of Xiao Yan Grass for Minghua Pills. Zhen Ping fined him one year's allotment but left his probationary assessment at risk, and Xiao Hua went to apologize to Zhen Ye.

• A duty disciple told Xiao Hua that the spare East Ridge token had disappeared, prompting Xiao Hua to suspect something unusual at the medicine garden.
• Zhen Feng accused Xiao Hua of sealing the formation despite having been warned about the yearly harvest, while Xiao Hua accepted responsibility before Zhen Ping.
• Xiao Hua offered the Xiao Yan Grass he had gathered, and Zhen Ping praised his careful work and learned that he had advanced to the eleventh layer of Qi Cultivation.
• Zhen Ping fined Xiao Hua one year's allotment and directed him to apologize to Zhen Ye, warning that the matter could affect his probationary assessment.
• Zhen Feng explained that Zhen Ye had been forced to refine Minghua Pills after Zhen Xie vanished and that Zhen Ming had also been fined; Xiao Hua privately considered examining Zhen Xie's stolen belongings for pill formulas.
• A boy led Xiao Hua into Zhen Ye's cave residence while Zhen Feng departed.