Chapter Summaries

Over centuries of fighting evil cultivators, founding a sect, and seeking a breakthrough, you became a powerful nascent soul cultivator but remained unable to reach spirit transformation. After Li Changge vanished during a heavenly tribulation, you traveled to the crater and began studying its lingering thunder and the Immortal Sword.

• You fought evil cultivators, defeated nascent soul old devils, and broke through to the nascent soul realm before leading a regional alliance against the evil cultivators.
• You resigned as alliance leader to cultivate in seclusion, later reaching the nascent soul middle stage as the conflict with the Yin Corpse Sect continued.
• After Li Changge led the righteous cultivators to destroy the Yin Corpse Sect, you traveled for over a century, then founded a sect when you could not find a path to spirit transformation.
• When your sect gained a second nascent soul elder, you noticed your bottleneck loosen and glimpsed a possible direction for breakthrough.
• After Li Changge vanished in a heavenly tribulation and left an Immortal Sword in a thunder-struck crater, you went there and spent two years studying the thunder and trying to resonate with the sword.

After Xu Changxing chose the sword cultivator’s legacy, he discovered that Li Changge had left it behind as a remnant soul. Li Changge made Xu Changxing cleave through the legacy’s thunderclouds with a flying sword, leaving him to fight his way forward.

• Xu Changxing reviewed his simulation’s tragic end and chose the sword cultivator’s legacy over core formation late stage cultivation.
• Xu Changxing found Li Changge’s remnant soul inside a realm filled with thunderclouds.
• Li Changge questioned how Xu Changxing was alive and why his cultivation was so weak, then accepted him as his successor.
• Li Changge told Xu Changxing to cleave through the thunderclouds with the flying sword in his hand to escape.
• Xu Changxing repeatedly slashed open a path through the thunderclouds as they quickly closed behind each strike.

Xu Changxing endured Li Changge’s thundercloud trial and received the sword intent of Li Changge’s defiant strike against the heavens. The inheritance forced Xu Changxing into Core Formation, where his new sword core cracked under the purple lightning before stronger sword intent gathered it together again.

• Xu Changxing repeatedly fought the thunderclouds with sword strikes and learned to anticipate and sever their lightning bolts.
• Li Changge observed Xu Changxing’s progress, then condensed the thunderclouds into a powerful purple bolt that struck Xu Changxing and transformed his spiritual roots.
• Xu Changxing understood that Li Changge’s inheritance was the sword intent behind his strike against the heavens, and the illusory space shattered.
• Back in his body, Xu Changxing used the overwhelming sword intent to form a sword core, but purple lightning fractured it.
• A stronger surge of sword intent caused Xu Changxing’s sword core, which had nearly shattered, to coalesce again.

Xu Changxing survived the heavenly lightning and formed an unusual golden core that intertwined a sword core with thunderclouds, transforming his spiritual roots and granting him powerful thunder abilities. He left his courtyard in a flash of lightning sword intent, alarming Han Mingguan and Liu Chenyu as they realized Xu Changxing had reached core formation.

• Xu Changxing repeatedly re-formed his sword core under the heavenly lightning until it endured, leaving purple thunderclouds suspended above it in his dantian.
• Xu Changxing discovered he could wield the dantian lightning and that his spiritual roots had transformed into thunder roots, with only a faint trace of his wood root remaining.
• Xu Changxing sensed thunder spiritual energy nearly a hundred li away and drew it in, then stopped when the resulting lightning threatened to keep tempering his core.
• Han Mingguan challenged Xu Changxing, who dismissed him before releasing a surge of thunder sword intent and flying away; Han Mingguan recognized that Xu Changxing had reached core formation.
• Liu Chenyu felt Xu Changxing's thunder sword intent pierce his protective true essence and called out for the unknown fellow Daoist to stand down.

Xu Changxing sought help controlling the fierce sword intent of his newly formed thunder sword core, and Liu Chenyu summoned Li Changge to assist him. When the two junior brothers met, their swords clashed, and Li Changge glimpsed a path forward in his cultivation.

• Xu Changxing arrived at Liu Chenyu’s courtyard after forcibly forming a golden core and explained that he could not control its powerful sword intent.
• Liu Chenyu contacted Li Changge and ordered him to return before dark, while Xu Changxing tried to stabilize his cultivation.
• Four hours later, Li Changge returned to Flying Stream Peak and sensed Xu Changxing’s sword intent lock onto him.
• Xu Changxing’s thunder sword core resonated with the thundercloud in his dantian, and Li Changge recognized the sword intent as the answer he had been seeking.
• Li Changge and Xu Changxing exchanged hundreds of flying-sword strikes, and Li Changge caught a glimpse of the road ahead.

Xu Changxing and Li Changge pushed each other to new heights in a sword duel, learning to combine sword intent with lightning as they fought through gathering thunderclouds. When Elder Li tried to intervene, the lightning struck down his bronze mirror, and the duel continued.

• Li Changge adapted to Xu Changxing's lightning and became one with his sword, breaking through a thundercloud and launching a lightning-wreathed attack.
• Xu Changxing also became one with his sword, and the two men's clash stirred thunderclouds across the sky.
• Xu Changxing and Li Changge charged into the thunderclouds and continued their battle as more than a dozen Core Formation elders gathered outside.
• Elder Li, worried that the lightning would frighten his Cloud Phoenixes, hurled a bronze mirror toward the duel to stop the fighters.
• Lightning struck Elder Li's bronze mirror twice, extinguishing its radiance, while Xu Changxing and Li Changge continued battling inside the clouds.

Li Changge and Xu Changxing fought through thunderclouds as the Setting Sun Sect elders realized their power and Shi Haoyan explained what was happening. Their sparring ended with Li Changge’s core beginning to shatter, suggesting he was advancing toward a nascent soul.

• Elder Li’s bronze mirror stopped responding after the thunderclouds’ lightning shattered the spiritual sense controlling it, and the elders recognized Li Changge’s sword light was contending with the clouds and another opponent.
• The Core Formation elders suspected Xu Changxing was fighting Li Changge until Shi Haoyan arrived with Liu Chenyu and confirmed the two disciples were sparring.
• Liu Chenyu asked Shi Haoyan to intervene, but Shi Haoyan said to wait and observed that Li Changge had found a path toward forming a nascent soul.
• Shi Haoyan praised Xu Changxing for bringing opportunities to both himself and Li Changge, while Liu Chenyu struggled to respond.
• Li Changge and Xu Changxing stopped fighting, and Li Changge’s dantian began to crack as spiritual energy surged around him.

Li Changge formed his nascent soul and shattered the heavenly tribulation with his sword, while Xu Changxing gained a new understanding of his own sword intent. Li Changge returned to his mountain to stabilize his cultivation, promising to spar with Xu Changxing after he emerged from seclusion.

• Liu Chenyu and Xu Changxing realized that Li Changge was forming his nascent soul as his breakthrough stirred the thunderclouds into a heavenly tribulation.
• Li Changge charged into the tribulation, pierced the lightning and thundercloud with his sword, and passed the tribulation.
• Xu Changxing stopped suppressing his sword core and let his sword intent soar, realizing that his own vision had been too narrow.
• Li Changge thanked Xu Changxing for guiding him, bowed to Liu Chenyu and Shi Haoyan, and returned to his mountain to enter seclusion.

After Li Changge credited Xu Changxing with guiding him, Liu Chenyu suspected Xu Changxing was a reincarnated predecessor and rewarded him with spirit stones. Xu Changxing realized the inheritance may have taken real time, leaving him questioning whether it truly existed outside the system’s simulations.

• The Core Formation elders speculated that Xu Changxing was a reincarnated Spirit Transformation patriarch and praised Liu Chenyu’s luck in choosing disciples.
• Liu Chenyu asked Xu Changxing whether he was a reincarnated sect predecessor, then offered him a reward for helping Li Changge condense his nascent soul.
• Xu Changxing asked for spirit stones so he could afford a simulation, and Liu Chenyu gave him fifty thousand while keeping the remaining treasures to sell.
• Xu Changxing realized Han Mingguan’s challenge suggested that his inheritance experience may have lasted a month in real time.
• Liu Chenyu asked whether something was wrong with Xu Changxing’s golden core, and Xu Changxing said he had regained control of his sword core and noticed something.

After returning to his peak, Xu Changxing ran a simulation to check whether his reputation as a reincarnated Spirit Transformation patriarch would cause trouble. The simulation showed Zhou Lechi dying in a secret realm and Xu Changxing growing stronger through repeated battles with demons, ending with powerful demons targeting him.

• Shi Haoyan offered to guide Xu Changxing, and Liu Chenyu asked him to help Zhou Lechi after he stabilized his cultivation.
• Xu Changxing returned to his peak, confirmed all was well, and spent ten thousand low-grade spirit stones to begin a simulation.
• The simulation showed Zhou Lechi entering a dangerous secret realm after becoming unsettled by Li Changge’s and Xu Changxing’s progress, then dying there before Xu Changxing and Liu Chenyu could rescue him.
• Xu Changxing returned to the secret realm to avenge Zhou Lechi, joined Li Changge in killing its high-level demonic beasts, and advanced to the core formation middle stage.
• Xu Changxing fought increasingly powerful demons across several secret realms, reached the core formation late stage, and eventually slew a nascent soul demon.
• The demons marked Xu Changxing for death and repeatedly laid traps for him, but he escaped each one and continued hunting them.

Xu Changxing survived the battle that stopped the Yin Corpse Sect’s revival, but his nascent soul was shattered and his strength never fully recovered. Li Changge repeatedly sought treasures to heal him, leaving Xu Changxing with mixed feelings as he continued his retirement.

• Xu Changxing broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm, then investigated the Yin Corpse Sect with Li Changge and recruited Shi Haoyan to help.
• Xu Changxing, Li Changge, and Shi Haoyan attacked the Yin Corpse Sect’s secret realm, where Xu Changxing grievously wounded the awakening old devil before his nascent soul shattered.
• Li Changge destroyed the old devil’s divine sense, while Shi Haoyan wounded the guarding patriarch and carried Xu Changxing and Li Changge away.
• After two years of recovery, Xu Changxing found that his nascent soul remained damaged and began living in retirement within the Setting Sun Sect.
• Li Changge reached Spirit Transformation, took Extreme Yin Jade from the Yin Corpse Sect, and gave it to Xu Changxing to repair his nascent soul.
• Li Changge later brought Xu Changxing a millennium thunder infant fruit, despite appearing to have injured his own primordial spirit.

After the simulation ended with Xu Changxing sacrificing himself to preserve Li Changge’s legacy, Xu Changxing chose to experience the simulated life rather than take a cultivation reward. He began watching the increasingly realistic simulation footage to learn where Zhou Lechi’s Secret Realm was and how the Yin Corpse Sect operated.

• Xu Changxing reflected on why his simulated self had chosen to die and considered how the system judged the simulation’s results.
• The system offered Xu Changxing a first-person experience of the simulated life or late core formation cultivation.
• Xu Changxing chose the first reward so he could locate Zhou Lechi’s Secret Realm and study the Yin Corpse Sect’s plans and spirit transformation patriarch.
• The simulation footage became more realistic, and Xu Changxing began watching it at several hundred times normal speed.

Xu Changxing watched a simulation of his future battles and death, gaining a deeper understanding of heavenly punishment that strengthened his cultivation. He flew into the secret realm to save Zhou Lechi and sensed him nearby.

• Xu Changxing watched the simulation, studied his sword techniques, and noticed the Divine Sword Phantom seemed stronger than before.
• The simulation's final scene of heavenly punishment sparked an epiphany, and lightning tempered Xu Changxing's sword core as he consolidated his cultivation.
• Xu Changxing realized the simulation had not delayed him for two months and hurried to the secret realm to save Zhou Lechi.
• Xu Changxing entered the secret realm and followed the route from the simulation toward the place where Zhou Lechi was supposed to die.
• Xu Changxing sensed Zhou Lechi nearby after flying only a short distance.

Xu Changxing secretly followed Zhou Lechi through the Secret Realm and discovered that a hidden cultivator had sabotaged Zhou Lechi’s fight with a Red Essence Tiger. Xu Changxing saved Zhou Lechi and revealed himself, then turned to pursue the fleeing culprit.

• Xu Changxing concealed his cultivation and followed Zhou Lechi, who was heading toward a specific destination in the Secret Realm.
• Xu Changxing recognized the place where Zhou Lechi had died in the simulation and sensed both a powerful Red Essence Tiger and a concealed cultivator nearby.
• Zhou Lechi battled the Red Essence Tiger and laid a formation that began to weaken the beast.
• The hidden cultivator disrupted the spiritual energy, shattered Zhou Lechi’s formation, and drove the Red Essence Tiger into a sudden frenzy.
• Xu Changxing killed the Red Essence Tiger with a streak of purple sword light and revealed himself to Zhou Lechi.
• Xu Changxing identified the hidden cultivator as the culprit, and the cultivator fled from the Red Essence Tiger’s lair.

Xu Changxing captured Li Hong after rescuing Zhou Lechi from an ambush and learned that Li Hong had tricked Zhou with a fake Nascent Soul legacy. Li Hong claimed someone else had ordered the attack, and Xu Changxing suspected he was trying to lure them toward rescuers waiting at the Secret Realm exit.

• Xu Changxing struck down Li Hong with the Thunder Technique after Li Hong interfered with Zhou Lechi’s formation and provoked the Red Essence Tiger.
• Zhou Lechi recognized Li Hong, a longtime friend and Nine Immortals Sect disciple, and learned that he had used a jade pendant and a false legacy story to lure him into danger.
• Li Hong claimed someone else wanted Zhou Lechi dead and offered to reveal the mastermind if they took him back to the Nine Immortals Sect.
• Xu Changxing warned Zhou Lechi that Li Hong wanted them to leave the Secret Realm and that accomplices were likely waiting near its exit.

Xu Changxing and Zhou Lechi discovered that Li Hong was waiting for his master, Wu Chuan, to rescue him. When Wu Chuan arrived and accused them of attacking Li Hong, Xu Changxing fought the Nascent Soul Ancestor and launched a powerful sword attack.

• Xu Changxing realized Li Hong was stalling for time while waiting for rescue, and Zhou Lechi tried to kill him before help arrived.
• Wu Chuan arrived, and Li Hong accused Xu Changxing and Zhou Lechi of trying to kill him and steal his treasures.
• Xu Changxing recognized Wu Chuan as a low-grade Nascent Soul cultivator and attacked when Wu Chuan unleashed golden light at them.
• Xu Changxing's sword strikes cut through Wu Chuan's attacks and cracked his treasured bone artifact.
• Xu Changxing taunted Wu Chuan about his mongrel Nascent Soul and merged with his sword to attack him.

Xu Changxing relentlessly pursued Wu Chuan while Zhou Lechi fought the wounded Li Hong. Wu Chuan unleashed a terrifying demonic technique, and the chapter left Xu Changxing's sword light shaking off the demonic dragon as Li Hong fled.

• Wu Chuan attacked Xu Changxing with a Soul Cone, but Xu Changxing's sword light knocked it aside and broke through Wu Chuan's protective magic.
• Xu Changxing drove Wu Chuan into a desperate retreat, while Zhou Lechi recognized his junior brother's ability to contend with a Nascent Soul Ancestor.
• Li Hong tried to flee, but Zhou Lechi attacked him with Spell Arts and battered him despite his threats.
• Wu Chuan unleashed a surge of demonic energy that formed a dragon and disrupted Zhou Lechi's spiritual energy, giving Li Hong a chance to escape.
• Zhou Lechi refused to abandon Xu Changxing and resumed pursuing Li Hong, while Xu Changxing's sword light shook off Wu Chuan's demonic dragon.

Xu Changxing used thunderclouds and sword techniques to defeat Wu Chuan, who had been transformed by demonic and corpse qi. After killing him, Xu Changxing suspected Wu Chuan’s nascent soul had fused with his flesh through a Yin Corpse Sect method, confirming the Nine Immortals Sect’s secret collusion with the sect.

• Xu Changxing unleashed a powerful thunderous sword strike that scattered Wu Chuan’s demonic dragon and briefly restored Wu Chuan’s awareness.
• Wu Chuan flooded his body with demonic and corpse qi, transformed into a hardened corpse, and charged Xu Changxing despite losing an arm and half his flesh.
• Xu Changxing used thunder evasion and spread thunderclouds across more than ten li, repeatedly striking Wu Chuan until his movements slowed and he tried to flee.
• Xu Changxing merged with his sword and drew lightning from the thunderclouds onto himself, then cleaved Wu Chuan in two with a strike of heavenly punishment.
• Xu Changxing searched for Wu Chuan’s nascent soul and concluded it had fused with his flesh through a Yin Corpse Sect method, revealing the Nine Immortals Sect’s secret collusion with the sect.

After killing Wu Chuan and Li Hong, Xu Changxing confirmed that the Nine Immortals Sect had colluded with the Yin Corpse Sect and took Zhou Lechi to confront the sect. He demanded that the Nine Immortals Sect open its gates and submit to questioning, then asked a young cultivator where Elder Liu had gone.

• Xu Changxing inferred that the Yin Corpse Sect had used minor sects to gather corpse-pill materials and searched Wu Chuan’s remains for spoils, finding none.
• Zhou Lechi thanked Xu Changxing for saving him, and Xu Changxing pointed out that Wu Chuan and Li Hong had used methods tied to the Yin Corpse Sect.
• Xu Changxing took Li Hong’s Storage Bag, found stolen belongings and corpse-pill refining materials, and confirmed the Nine Immortals Sect’s connection to the Yin Corpse Sect.
• Xu Changxing carried Zhou Lechi on his flying sword to the Nine Immortals Sect and announced that Wu Chuan had been executed for colluding with the Yin Corpse Sect and attempting murder.
• The Nine Immortals Sect cultivators argued and tried to activate their Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation as Xu Changxing summoned thunderclouds overhead.
• Xu Changxing descended before a young cultivator and asked who Elder Liu was after hearing that the elder had left.

Xu Changxing demanded compensation from the Nine Immortals Sect for its leader’s wrongdoing and left with six Storage Bags after intimidating the sect with thunderclouds. He shared some of the spoils with Zhou Lechi and returned toward the Setting Sun Sect, where Liu Chenyu saw his approach and worried that something had gone wrong.

• A Nine Immortals Sect disciple explained that Elder Liu had been the sect leader’s trusted guest, and Xu Changxing learned that the fugitive had escaped after Wu Chuan died.
• Xu Changxing told Zhong Liangsheng that the Nine Immortals Sect owed Zhou Lechi compensation and threatened to take it himself if they did not provide it.
• Zhong Liangsheng sent attendants to fetch the treasury’s Storage Bags, and Xu Changxing selected six before flying away with Zhou Lechi.
• Xu Changxing gave Zhou Lechi three Storage Bags, but Zhou Lechi accepted only one, and the pair continued toward the Setting Sun Sect.
• Liu Chenyu saw Xu Changxing’s purple sword light approaching Flying Stream Peak and worried that something had happened.