Chapter Summaries

Zhou Xun fought Maple Moon True One, revealing a False Core cultivation level and using the Wood Radiance Gourd to overpower her Natal Treasure. Wounded and unwilling to accept the disadvantage, Maple Moon True One deployed defensive and binding Mystic Treasures against him.

• Zhou Xun attacked Maple Moon True One with a fully nurtured Wood Blade Talisman, surprising her with his False Core mana.
• Maple Moon True One blocked the wooden blade with a Flame Shield and sent her crimson tower crashing toward Zhou Xun.
• Zhou Xun unleashed the Wood Radiance Gourd, which defeated Maple Moon True One's tower in their clash and injured her.
• Maple Moon True One suppressed her injuries, then summoned an earthen-yellow defensive shield and a fiery red binding Mystic Treasure to attack Zhou Xun.

Zhou Xun fought Maple Moon True One with his Bloodfiend Spawn, Ape Puppet, and Wood Radiance Gourd while waiting for his Lightning Cultivation Avatar to arrive. Both he and Maple Moon True One feigned weakness, and their clash continued as each believed the other was being drawn into a losing position.

• Zhou Xun released five Bloodfiend Spawn, which became entangled with Maple Moon True One’s rope treasure and held it fast.
• Zhou Xun’s Lightning Cultivation Avatar approached, while he sent his Ape Puppet to attack Maple Moon True One.
• Maple Moon True One used her giant hammer talisman treasure against the Ape Puppet as Zhou Xun pressed her with the Wood Radiance Gourd.
• Zhou Xun secretly reduced the gourd’s power and kept attacking to make Maple Moon True One believe he was running low on magical power.
• Maple Moon True One concluded that Zhou Xun would lose in a prolonged fight and pretended to be grievously injured to keep him from fleeing.
• Zhou Xun continued striking her Thick Earth Shield, and the battle devastated the surrounding forest as Maple Moon True One kept up her act.

Zhou Xun revealed his Foundation Establishment Peak incarnation and joined the battle against Maple Moon True One, exposing her feigned weakness and forcing her to flee. He and his forces trapped her, leaving her surrounded as his Puppet Beasts attacked.

• Zhou Xun's incarnation arrived on the battlefield and revealed itself, surprising Maple Moon True One with its resemblance to him.
• Maple Moon True One dropped her act and revealed that she was still at full strength, while Zhou Xun intensified the Wood Radiance Gourd's attack and damaged her Thick Earth Shield.
• Maple Moon True One raised her cultivation with a secret art, used talismans to attack, and fled under the protection of a blue talisman.
• Zhou Xun's incarnation blocked Maple Moon True One with a net formed from twelve Lightning Seeds, while Zhou Xun caught up and sealed away her rope-shaped treasure.
• Zhou Xun surrounded Maple Moon True One with five Bloodfiend Spawns, a quasi-third-rank Puppet Beast, and four Foundation Establishment Peak Puppet Beasts, forcing her to defend herself with a red barrier.

Zhou Xun killed Maple Moon True One after exhausting her defenses and spiritual power, then hurried back to Forgetful River Lake to prepare for the Cloud Radiance Sect’s retaliation. At Seeking Sky Market, the Four Great Clans gathered to discuss the battle they had witnessed.

• Zhou Xun used his Puppet Beasts to wear down Maple Moon True One while recovering his own spiritual power.
• Maple Moon True One begged Zhou Xun to spare her, but he pierced her heart with a Wood Thorn Art after her final barrier disappeared.
• Zhou Xun took Maple Moon True One’s Storage Pouch, Fire Cloud Pagoda, and Thick Earth Shield, then set off for Forgetful River Lake with her corpse for refining a Bloodfiend Spawn.
• Yu Mengsheng and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Four Great Clans gathered at Seeking Sky Market to discuss the battle.
• Ren Shiang proposed activating the market’s formation and staying out of the fight between the Core Formation cultivators.

The four clan elders discovered the devastation left by Zhou Xun and Maple Moon True One’s battle, then returned to report the apparent True Core conflict. The Cloud Radiance Sect learned that Maple Moon True One had died, while Zhou Xun returned to Forgetful River Lake and began sorting his spoils.

• The First Elders of the Yu, Ren, Yuan, and Liu Families joined forces to investigate the battle site, where they found the hillside nearly flattened and concluded that True Core cultivators had fought there.
• Yu Mengsheng ordered the area sealed off and a report sent to the Cloud Radiance Sect, and the four elders fled back to Seeking Sky Market and activated its formation.
• Fan Chengpeng discovered that a soul lamp on the top rack had shattered and rushed to tell True Person Yun An that a True Core patriarch had died.
• True Person Yun An identified the broken lamp as Maple Moon True One’s and sent a messenger with a Jade Slip to the Golden Ape Valley front.
• Zhou Xun returned to Lakeheart Island and examined Maple Moon True One’s magical treasures, setting aside the Fire Cloud Pagoda and noting that the damaged Thick Earth Shield would need time to recover.

Zhou Xun inspected the treasures and wealth left by Maple Moon True One, finding valuable cultivation resources and insights on Core Formation. Discovering a manual about the Water Moon Spiritual Body, he suspected Lin Xueying possessed it and realized she might have the potential to reach the Nascent Soul Realm.

• Zhou Xun examined the Profound Azure Shield, White Turtle Shield, and Crimson Flame Cord, deciding the binding treasure filled a gap in his arsenal.
• Zhou Xun opened Maple Moon True One's Storage Pouch and found over four hundred thousand spirit stones, valuable pills, ores, and herbs.
• Zhou Xun found the Crimson Flame True Art, Core Formation Essentials, and other Jade Slips, including a detailed manual on the Water Moon Spiritual Body.
• Zhou Xun wondered whether Maple Moon True One had coveted Lin Xueying's body because she possessed a Water Moon Spiritual Body.
• Zhou Xun concluded Lin Xueying might have the potential to reach the Nascent Soul Realm and decided to give her the Water Moon Spiritual Body manual.

Zhou Xun began refining Maple Moon True One's corpse into a powerful Bloodfiend Spawn, while the Cloud Radiance Sect learned of Maple Moon True One's death and True Person Yun Yi set out to confront Zhou Xun. Zhou Xun returned to his cave abode and prepared to arrange matters at Forgetful River Lake before his incarnation attempted Core Formation.

• Zhou Xun used the Azure Ape to consume Maple Moon True One's remnant soul, then began refining the corpse into a Bloodfiend Spawn.
• Zhou Xun buried the corpse in the Four Yin Lands, estimating that it would take about six years to finish nurturing the Spawn.
• True Person Yun Yi learned that Maple Moon True One's soul lamp had shattered and concluded that Zhou Xun had killed him.
• True Person Yun Yi decided to leave Golden Ape Valley and personally travel to Forgetful River Lake, telling True Person Jin Hong to preserve himself if the front line came under attack.
• Zhou Xun returned to his cave abode and planned to make arrangements at Forgetful River Lake before his incarnation attempted Core Formation.

Zhou Xun gathered his followers and subordinates on Lakeheart Island and announced that he would enter seclusion to form his core. He ordered them to remain inside the Forgetful River Lake grand formation until he emerged.

• Wei Qiuxin, Zhou Jinsong and his family, Fang Tianlun and his wife, Lin Xiuyin, Wang Shun, and the others gathered in the reception hall.
• Zhou Xun entered and told everyone that he would begin forming his core in seclusion.
• Zhou Jinsong questioned how Zhou Xun could be forming a core when he appeared to be only at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment.
• Zhou Xun explained that concealing one's strength was wise when lacking sufficient power and backing.
• Zhou Xun said he would activate the Forgetful River Lake grand formation and ordered everyone to stay inside it until he returned.

Zhou Xun began forming a core with his avatar in the cultivation chamber beneath Forgetful River Lake, using an Essence Crystallization Pill and the dense Spiritual Qi gathered there. As a vast Spiritual Qi vortex formed and drew attention across the lake, his disciples realized he was truly attempting the breakthrough, but his success remained uncertain.

• Zhou Xun activated the formations around Forgetful River Lake, made arrangements with Song Yiqing, and entered the underground cultivation chamber with his avatar.
• Zhou Xun's avatar lit a quasi-Tier 3 Spirit Soothing Incense stick and prepared to form a core while Zhou Xun's true body stood guard outside.
• Zhou Xun's avatar swallowed an Essence Crystallization Pill, circulated the fourth layer of the Purple Firmament Lightning Art, and passed the vitality-and-blood barrier.
• Zhou Xun's avatar absorbed immense Spiritual Qi as the one hundred and ninety liquid Mystic Force droplets in his Dantian spun together and began condensing into a Dan.
• A Spiritual Qi vortex spread across Forgetful River Lake, and Zhou Jinsong, Shi Wanying, and Zhou Qiuyue recognized that Zhou Xun was forming his core.

Zhou Xun’s incarnation began the final, dangerous stages of Core Formation as a vast Spiritual Qi phenomenon persisted around Forgetful River Lake. As observers wondered whether he could form a Superior True Core, True Person Yun Yi raced toward the lake to kill him, while another Elder also approached after noticing the phenomenon.

• Zhou Jinsong, Zhou Qiuyue, Fang Tianlun, and Wei Qiuxin watched the Core Formation phenomenon and discussed Zhou Xun’s age and prospects.
• True Person Yun Yi secretly left Golden Ape Valley and hurried toward Forgetful River Lake, intent on killing Zhou Xun before he threatened the Cloud Radiance Sect.
• Zhou Xun compressed his liquid mana until crystalline grains gathered into a solid inner Dan, then continued tempering it to improve its quality.
• After six days of Spiritual Qi gathering, a Cloud Radiance Sect disciple watching from Forgetful River Quarter feared Zhou Xun might form a Superior True Core and wondered why the sect had not acted.
• On the eighth day, an Elder traveling by flying boat spotted the Core Formation phenomenon and accelerated toward Forgetful River Lake.

Zhou Xun completed his Core Formation, though he believed his core had fallen just short of the Golden Core grade. The phenomenon left Zhou Jinsong celebrating, while Cloud Radiance Sect observers feared Zhou Xun had become too powerful to oppose and Yun Yi began reconsidering what he knew about Zhou Xun’s past.

• Zhou Xun’s eight-day Core Formation ended with a golden-white inner core, but he sensed its thunder essence was incomplete and concluded he had reached only Half-Step Golden Core.
• Zhou Jinsong told Zhou Qiuyue and Zhou Jing that Zhou Xun had succeeded and likely formed a Superior True Core, celebrating his own status as Zhou Xun’s eldest disciple.
• Liu Huayuan watched the Spiritual Qi vortex dissipate and sent his teacher a warning that Zhou Xun had formed a core and might possess a Superior True Core or Golden Core-grade core.
• True Person Yun Yi observed the aftermath from the clouds and wondered whether Zhou Xun had still been at Foundation Establishment when Junior Sister Maple Moon died.

Zhou Xun consolidated his newly formed Core Formation cultivation while True Person Yun Yi came to assess his strength and challenge him over Maple Moon True One’s death. After they exchanged accusations, Yun Yi proposed a fight, and Zhou Xun agreed.

• True Person Yun Yi learned Zhou Xun had formed a core at sixty-nine and worried that he could become a threat to the Cloud Radiance Sect.
• Zhou Xun received a message that True Person Yun Yi had come to visit and realized the sect was probing his strength.
• Zhou Xun emerged from his formation and greeted True Person Yun Yi but refused to invite him inside.
• True Person Yun Yi questioned Zhou Xun about killing Maple Moon True One, and Zhou Xun said Maple Moon had ambushed him using Lin Xueying.
• True Person Yun Yi proposed exchanging pointers to test Zhou Xun’s strength, and Zhou Xun accepted.

Zhou Xun and True Person Yun Yi fought to a standstill, then negotiated an end to their conflict. Yun Yi offered compensation and proposed making Lin Xueying his heir disciple, leaving Zhou Xun to consider what else he wanted from Cloud Radiance Sect.

• Zhou Xun and True Person Yun Yi traveled to a remote wilderness to fight.
• Zhou Xun used twelve lightning chains to restrain Yun Yi’s giant hammer, and neither cultivator gained the advantage.
• Yun Yi called off the fight, and Zhou Xun agreed because his goal of intimidating Cloud Radiance Sect had been achieved.
• Yun Yi admitted that Cloud Radiance Sect had wronged Zhou Xun and offered him a mid-grade wood-attributed defensive Mystic Treasure.
• Yun Yi proposed taking Lin Xueying as his heir disciple and raising her to lead Cloud Radiance Sect, then invited Zhou Xun to make further requests.

Zhou Xun negotiated peace with True Person Yun Yi and received generous compensation, including the Wood Essence Shield. Back at Forgetful River Lake, he assessed his incarnation’s strength and successfully refined the shield, though its heavy spiritual-power cost made him wary of using it.

• Zhou Xun asked True Person Yun Yi for a higher-tier talisman inheritance, spirit herbs, and High-Grade Spirit Stones, and Yun Yi agreed while increasing the rewards and granting him the region around Forgetful River Lake.
• True Person Yun Yi gave Zhou Xun the Wood Essence Shield and promised to deliver the remaining rewards to Forgetful River Lake.
• Zhou Xun’s incarnation explained that its Half-Step Golden Core foundation and roughly three-thousand-zhang divine sense made it comparable to a Mid-Stage Core Formation cultivator.
• Zhou Xun planned to equip his incarnation with the Profound Azure Shield, White Turtle Shield, and Edge of Utmost Sharpness while keeping the Wood Essence Shield and White Mirage Pearl for his true body.
• Zhou Xun successfully refined the Wood Essence Shield, but found that activating it consumed a third of his spiritual power in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

Zhou Xun refined the Crimson Flame Cord and turned the lightning pool into his avatar’s Natal Treasure, then gathered storm lightning to strengthen it. After returning to Lakeheart Island, he reunited with Song Yiqing, who congratulated him on reaching Core Formation, and learned that Qiuxin and Wanrong had been waiting for him.

• Zhou Xun refined the Crimson Flame Cord while his avatar refined the lightning pool into a Natal Treasure using repeated offerings of essence blood.
• Zhou Xun considered how to strengthen the lightning pool and used the Diviner's Compass to locate coming thunderstorms.
• Zhou Xun’s avatar traveled across Xu Nation for months, absorbing lightning into the lightning pool.
• Zhou Xun finished refining the Wood Essence Shield and Crimson Flame Cord, emerged from seclusion, and returned to Lakeheart Island three days after his battle with True Person Yun Yi.
• Song Yiqing congratulated Zhou Xun on achieving Core Formation, and he encouraged her to keep cultivating toward Foundation Establishment.
• Song Yiqing told Zhou Xun that Qiuxin and Wanrong had been waiting in the reception hall for three days.

After Zhou Xun confirmed that he had formed a Superior True Core, Forgetful River Lake celebrated the rise of its power and planned a core formation celebration. True Person Yun Yi returned to Cloud Radiance Sect and told True Person Yun An that he regretted his earlier decision about Zhou Xun.

• Wang Shun, Zhou Ping, Fang Tianlun, and the others discussed building an immortal city now that Zhou Xun had formed his core.
• Zhou Xun entered the reception hall with Song Yiqing, greeted his disciples and followers, and agreed to hold a core formation celebration in half a year.
• Zhou Jinsong asked what quality of inner core Zhou Xun had formed, and Zhou Xun confirmed it was a Superior True Core.
• True Person Yun Yi returned to Cloud Radiance Sect instead of the Golden Ape Valley front lines and met with True Person Yun An.
• True Person Yun Yi told True Person Yun An that he had already resolved the matter concerning Zhou Xun, then admitted that he regretted his previous decision.

True Person Yun Yi told True Person Yun An that Zhou Xun had formed a Superior True Core and fought him to a standstill, then secured an agreement to preserve the Cloud Radiance Sect’s inheritance. Meanwhile, Zhou Xun’s Core Formation was celebrated at Forgetful River Quarter, and news of his achievement spread across Xu Nation.

• True Person Yun Yi told True Person Yun An that he regretted failing to recruit Zhou Xun after seeing the Core Formation phenomenon at Forgetful River Lake.
• True Person Yun Yi recounted that Zhou Xun had agreed to fight him after breaking through, and the two had fought to a standstill; he believed Zhou Xun had formed a Half-Step Golden Core and benefited from his lightning cultivation.
• True Person Yun Yi told True Person Yun An that he had reached a deal with Zhou Xun to preserve the Cloud Radiance Sect’s inheritance, and True Person Yun An arranged to provide the promised treasures.
• True Person Yun Yi left Forgetful River Lake for Golden Ape Valley, while True Person Yun An remained behind.
• Zhou Jinsong and the others announced Zhou Xun’s successful Core Formation and Superior True Core, and Forgetful River Quarter celebrated by waiving fees and opening cultivation inheritances and a Spirit-Testing Tower.
• Song Chengyuan confirmed Zhou Xun’s Core Formation with Song Yiqing and reported it to the Song family, as news spread throughout Xu Nation.

True Person Yun Yi returned to Golden Ape Valley and told True Person Jin Hong that Zhou Xun had formed a Half-Step Golden Core, leaving the Cloud Radiance Sect’s future tied to Lin Xueying. Yun Yi and Jin Hong found Lin Xueying and told her that True Person Maple Moon had died, but hesitated to reveal who had killed her.

• True Person Yun Yi returned to Golden Ape Valley and told True Person Jin Hong about Zhou Xun’s Core Formation and likely Half-Step Golden Core.
• True Person Jin Hong accepted that Zhou Xun’s rise had ended his hopes of taking control of the Cloud Radiance Sect, and urged Yun Yi to bring Lin Xueying back to the sect.
• True Person Yun Yi and True Person Jin Hong broke into True Person Maple Moon’s cave abode and found Lin Xueying inside.
• True Person Yun Yi and True Person Jin Hong told Lin Xueying that True Person Maple Moon had fallen, and Lin Xueying demanded to know who had killed her.
• True Person Yun Yi and True Person Jin Hong exchanged uneasy glances and withheld the killer’s identity to avoid damaging Lin Xueying’s relationship with Zhou Xun.

Lin Xueying learned that Zhou Xun had killed Maple Moon True One after she was lured into attacking him, and Cloud Radiance Sect had made peace with Zhou Xun. Lin Xueying accepted Yun Yi as her inheriting disciple, while a sect delegation carrying promised treasures headed to Forgetful River Lake.

• True Person Yun Yi told Lin Xueying that Zhou Xun had killed Maple Moon True One after Maple Moon used Lin Xueying's altered letter to lure him out and attack him.
• Yun Yi explained that he had fought Zhou Xun after Zhou formed his core, confirmed Maple Moon's death, and made peace with him; Lin Xueying worried Zhou would blame her, but Yun Yi assured her he had cleared her name.
• Yun Yi offered to take Lin Xueying as his inheriting disciple, and she accepted, believing Zhou Xun had helped secure her future.
• Yun Yi held a ceremony in Golden Ape Valley and publicly named Lin Xueying his inheriting successor, then sent her back to the sect under escort.
• True Person Feng Yu, True Person Zong Yu, Sun Yuanque, and Yu Jiuan sailed toward Forgetful River Lake with the treasures Yun Yi had promised Zhou Xun; Sun Yuanque learned Zhou had formed a Superior True Core.

Zhou Xun received Cloud Radiance Sect’s envoys at Forgetful River Lake and treated his old acquaintance Sun Yuanque as a close friend. After accepting the sect’s valuable congratulatory gifts, he began preparing to recruit people for his future plans.

• Sun Yuanque was astonished to find that Zhou Xun had advanced to True Core, while Li Zhengyuan tried to ingratiate himself with Sun because of their connection.
• True Person Feng Yu and True Person Zong Yu arrived at Forgetful River Lake, where Wei Qiuxin greeted them as Zhou Xun’s foremost subordinate.
• Zhou Xun entered the reception hall, welcomed the Cloud Radiance Sect cultivators, and invited Sun Yuanque to sit near him as an old friend.
• Zhou Xun asked Sun Yuanque to stay for a few days, signaling his goodwill toward True Person Zong Yu and his interest in recruiting people.
• True Person Feng Yu and True Person Zong Yu presented Zhou Xun with spirit herbs and spirit stones on behalf of the Cloud Radiance Sect, then the guests attended a feast and departed.