Chapter Summaries

Zhou Xun deliberately prolonged his arena fights to attract challengers, defeating several before a formidable Sword Cultivator stepped forward. After learning about his opponent’s record and preparing his defenses, Zhou Xun began their duel, which remained unresolved.

• Zhou Xun noticed Su Qi was feigning weakness to draw challengers, then used the same tactic against a Mid-Stage Core Formation cultivator and defeated him with a Lightning Fall Technique.
• Zhou Xun won against two more challengers by pretending to struggle.
• A newly arrived Sword Cultivator challenged Zhou Xun, who recognized the threat and summoned his Golden Jade Plate, a Defense Talisman, and the Mystic Thunder Sword.
• The Sword Cultivator named his Natal Spirit Sword Sword Three and warned Zhou Xun that he had slain nine Core Formation cultivators, including two Late-Stage cultivators.
• Zhou Xun refused to retreat, sent the Mystic Thunder Sword toward his opponent, and the Sword Cultivator met it with his Natal Spirit Sword.

Zhou Xun defeated his fifth opponent in the arena bouts and secured a place in the secret realm, then met with the Righteous Alliance deacon An Yudao. An Yudao visited Zhou Xun the next morning, where Zhou served him Spirit Mist Tea and impressed him with his brewing technique.

• Zhou Xun used the Sword Shadow Unification Technique to overpower the middle-aged cultivator's Natal Flying Sword and win the bout.
• The referee announced Chen Ping'an as the victor, and Zhou Xun secured a secret-realm spot after five consecutive wins.
• An Yudao exchanged Message Talismans with Zhou Xun and said he would seek him out after the bouts.
• Su Qi defeated his final opponent and claimed the seventeenth spot, and all forty spots were decided by evening.
• An Yudao visited Zhou Xun at his temporary cave dwelling the next morning.
• Zhou Xun brewed Spirit Mist Tea with a striking technique, and An Yudao praised its taste and spiritual effects.

Zhou Xun learned that the secret realm was once controlled by the Heavenly Mystery Sect and set out to investigate its ties to the Heaven Feather Sect. When the entrance stabilized, he joined the other Rogue Cultivators at the market but waited to enter until he had watched others pass through safely.

• An Yudao offered Zhou Xun a Grade C deacon position in the Righteous Alliance, but Zhou Xun declined because he preferred his freedom.
• An Yudao told Zhou Xun that the secret realm was at least fourth rank and had once belonged to the Heavenly Mystery Sect, one of the Central Continent's seven great sects.
• Zhou Xun asked Elder Ge about the Heavenly Mystery Sect, learned of its ancient ties to the Heaven Feather Sect, copied the relevant records, and secretly left Heaven Han City to investigate.
• Nine days after the competition, the secret realm entrance stabilized, and An Yudao announced that the qualified Rogue Cultivators could enter.
• Zhou Xun watched the other cultivators enter the vortex and waited until he was sure there had been no accidents.

Zhou Xun entered the secret realm and found its dense spiritual energy, abundant spirit herbs, and demon beasts. After discovering that its Tier 3 beasts lacked intelligence, he killed a giant bear and continued exploring with a haul of herbs and materials.

• Zhou Xun used a Teleportation Talisman to enter the vortex and arrived alone in a dim forest within the secret realm.
• Zhou Xun activated his Golden Jade Plate for protection, followed his Diviner's Compass, and harvested more than ten Tier 2 Spirit Herbs on his way through the forest.
• Zhou Xun encountered a Tier 3 giant bear and sent Earth Origin Beast Feng Chong to capture it alive.
• Zhou Xun examined the bear and learned that secret-realm beasts had the strength of Great Demons but only wild-beast intelligence, so it could not guide him.
• Zhou Xun killed the bear, collected its demon core and other materials, and continued onward after gathering more spirit herbs, beast materials, and a Tier 3 spirit tree.

Zhou Xun found evidence that a powerful demon beast was hunting lightning-attributed great demons and used divination to locate its nest. He entered the empty nest and discovered it was built from valuable lightning-attributed spiritwood.

• Zhou Xun sheltered in a cave with signs that a Tier 3 lightning-attributed demon beast had been devoured, and he had Feng Zhong guard him overnight.
• Zhou Xun found a recently torn-off horn from another Tier 3 lightning-attributed great demon and suspected a stronger beast nearby was preying on them.
• Zhou Xun used the Diviner's Compass to track the predator northwest and concealed himself as he approached its mountain peak.
• Zhou Xun reached the predator's enormous nest and found it empty, with its owner apparently away hunting for food.
• Zhou Xun entered the nest and discovered it was built from several kinds of lightning-attributed spiritwood, all at least Tier 3 Low-Grade.

Zhou Xun trapped the Tier 3 High-Grade Mystic Lightning Falcon in the Four Symbols Demon Subduing Grand Formation and subdued it with a giant lightning net. He withdrew the formation before its demon spirits could damage the falcon, then prepared to finish it with the Edge of Utmost Sharpness.

• Zhou Xun recognized the lightning-gathering nest’s valuable spiritwood and secretly set up the Four Symbols Demon Subduing Grand Formation around it.
• The Mystic Lightning Falcon flew into the concealed formation, and Zhou Xun activated it to trap the beast.
• The falcon destroyed the White Tiger demon spirit with a lightning-fast strike and dodged Zhou Xun’s giant lightning net.
• Zhou Xun shrank the formation’s barrier and reinforced it against the falcon’s attacks until the lightning net bound the beast.
• Zhou Xun withdrew the formation before the remaining demon spirits could damage the falcon, then summoned the Edge of Utmost Sharpness.

Zhou Xun killed a Tier 3 High-Grade Thunder Roc, gained its inner core and wings, and prepared to refine the Thunderclap Wings. He hid when two Blood Refinement Sect cultivators arrived, leaving their next move uncertain.

• Zhou Xun summoned the Soul Devourer Azure Ape, which devoured the Thunder Roc's soul, then retrieved the beast's thunder-attribute inner core.
• Zhou Xun collected the Thunder Roc's wings as materials for refining the Thunderclap Wings.
• Zhou Xun concealed himself inside a stone wall when two Mid-Stage Core Formation cultivators approached.
• The Black-Robed Man released four Demonic Corpses to search the area, but they did not discover Zhou Xun.
• The Elder proposed contacting Senior Brother Yu Zhen to hunt the missing thunder-attribute demon beast together.

Zhou Xun ambushed and killed two demonic cultivators who approached the Thunder Roc Nest, then began stripping its lightning-attributed spiritwood. When two more cultivators arrived, he sent Feng Chong and five Bloodfiend Spawn to attack them while he continued dismantling the nest.

• A black arrow carried a warning about a Thunder-attributed great demon to a blood-robed Elder and a young man, who hurried toward the Thunder Roc Nest.
• Zhou Xun ambushed the Black-Robed Man and White-Haired Old Man with a Tier 3 High-Grade Golden Sword Talisman, killing the old man before punching the middle-aged man to death.
• Zhou Xun collected the two cultivators' Storage Pouches and began dismantling the Thunder Roc Nest for its valuable lightning-attributed spiritwood.
• As two more cultivators approached, Zhou Xun summoned Feng Chong and five Bloodfiend Spawn and ordered them to attack.
• The newcomers recognized the Bloodfiend Spawn and wondered whether Zhou Xun belonged to the Blood Refining Sect, while Zhou Xun continued dismantling the nest.

Zhou Xun defeated two Blood Refinement Sect cultivators while his Earth Origin Beast and Bloodfiend Spawn dismantled the Thunder Roc Nest. He looted the fallen cultivators and began searching the black-robed Elder’s supplies for valuable spirit herbs, but had not found the Tier 4 Grade 2 herb he needed.

• The black-robed Elder recognized Zhou Xun as the cultivator who had learned the Bloodfiend Combination Technique and tried to flee, while the burly man followed.
• Zhou Xun’s Earth Origin Beast, wind blades, and Bloodfiend Spawn trapped the two cultivators; the Elder summoned a peak Tier 3 Grade 2 Bloodfiend Spawn and clashed with Zhou Xun’s Bloodfiend Hand.
• While the battles continued, Zhou Xun’s forces finished dismantling the Thunder Roc Nest.
• Zhou Xun killed the Elder with the Mystic Thunder Sword, and the Earth Origin Beast killed the burly man.
• Zhou Xun took both men’s pouches and found that the Elder’s Storage Pouch held over thirty high-grade spirit herbs, including two Tier 4 Lower Grade herbs, but no Tier 4 Grade 2 herb.
• Zhou Xun began opening the Elder’s Spirit Sealing Talisman-covered boxes.

Zhou Xun examined his spoils, found a Mystic Jade Lotus Seed and learned how to create Bloodfiend Crystals from a jade slip. He strengthened his Bloodfiend Spawn and prepared to refine the thunder condor wings.

• Zhou Xun found a Mystic Jade Lotus Seed among the captured treasures and recognized that he could use divination to locate the Mystic Jade Lotus Root.
• Zhou Xun discovered a jade slip explaining how Bloodfiend Spawn could advance and how to extract Bloodfiend Crystals.
• Zhou Xun fed two Bloodfiend Crystals to the Spawn made from Maple Moon True One and Wu Zongdao, then extracted four more crystals from captured Bloodfiend Spawn.
• Zhou Xun gave the four new Bloodfiend Crystals to his remaining three Bloodfiend Spawn and replenished his Bloodfiend Pouch with yin qi.
• Zhou Xun rested, then took out the thunder condor wings to begin refining them before their power dissipated.

Zhou Xun initially refined the Thunderclap Wings, then used his Diviner’s Compass to locate the Mystic Jade Lotus Root and hurried toward it. A day from his destination, he spotted someone familiar, while a thousand li ahead Fairy Jiang and Li Buxiu argued over who would claim an Earth Spirit Flower.

• Zhou Xun used the Blood Refinement Method to initially refine the Thunderclap Wings, enabling him to absorb them into his body.
• After recovering his strength, Zhou Xun used the Mystic Jade Lotus Seed and Diviner’s Compass to locate the Mystic Jade Lotus Root northwest of him.
• Zhou Xun concealed his presence and hurried toward the spirit herb, bypassing demonic beasts and cultivators rather than stopping to fight or help.
• When Zhou Xun was a day from his destination, he spotted a familiar figure several dozen li away.
• Fairy Jiang accused Li Buxiu of breaking their agreement over a Tier 4 Lower-Grade Earth Spirit Flower, and Li Buxiu proposed redistributing it or swore he would give her the next spirit herb.

Zhou Xun, using his Li Feiyu identity, rescued Jiang Wanning from a dishonest cultivator and killed the man before he could escape. Jiang Wanning gave the Earth Spirit Flower to Feng Chong, who began advancing, and Zhou Xun used a formation to gather Spiritual Qi around him.

• Zhou Xun arrived as Jiang Wanning argued with a young cultivator over an Earth Spirit Flower and intervened on her behalf.
• The young cultivator agreed to leave the flower to Jiang Wanning, but Zhou Xun killed him with the Mystic Thunder Sword to keep his Li Feiyu identity secret.
• Jiang Wanning showed Zhou Xun the flower, and Feng Chong recognized it as an Earth Spirit Flower and asked to have it.
• Jiang Wanning gave Feng Chong the flower, which he consumed before beginning a breakthrough inside a stone shell.
• Zhou Xun set up the Icefire Heavy Cloud Formation to draw Spiritual Qi toward Feng Chong as his cultivation reached Tier 2 High-Grade.

Zhou Xun’s Earth Origin Beast, Feng Zhong, broke through to Tier 3 High-Grade, and Zhou Xun parted ways with Jiang Wanning after giving her several valuable treasures. As he rode onward, Zhou Xun checked his spoils and found that his Bloodfiend Spawns had grown considerably stronger.

• Feng Zhong absorbed Spiritual Qi and Demon Energy until it broke through to Tier 3 High-Grade.
• Zhou Xun and Jiang Wanning spent the night together after reminiscing about their past.
• Feng Zhong emerged from its shattered stone sphere, thanked Zhou Xun, and prepared to carry him onward.
• Zhou Xun gave Jiang Wanning a Purple Jade Pill, the Profound Gold Bowl, and three Tier 3 talismans before leaving on Feng Zhong.
• Jiang Wanning decided to leave the secret realm, while Zhou Xun sorted his spoils and checked the Bloodfiend Spawns’ progress.

Zhou Xun cautiously entered a dangerous swamp while searching for the Mystic Jade Lotus Root, witnessing a demon alligator tribe overwhelm a group of Late-Stage Core Formation cultivators. After assessing his resources and waiting for the beasts to pass, he ventured deeper, where stronger demonic beasts and a white mist that hindered his senses left him wary.

• Zhou Xun put away the Earth Origin Beast, concealed himself, and entered the swamp with his Golden Jade Plate and a Tier 3 High-Grade Fire Dragon Talisman ready.
• Zhou Xun saw more than twenty demon alligators, including five Tier 3 High-Grade beasts, pursue four Late-Stage Core Formation cultivators and kill one with a combined attack.
• Zhou Xun assessed his six powerful combat methods and his ability to escape with Thunder Escape, then waited for the demon alligators to leave.
• Zhou Xun traveled deeper into the swamp and encountered increasingly powerful demonic beasts living in large groups.
• Zhou Xun noticed white mist ahead that reduced his vision and compressed his divine sense from over three thousand zhang to five hundred, and he hesitated.

Zhou Xun reached the Mystic Jade Lotus Root but found it protected by a powerful array he could not break with his current methods. After his Tier 4 attack failed, two jade boxes in his Storage Pouch began to flicker.

• Zhou Xun summoned Kaiyang and transformed the Tier 4 Human Puppet into the Heavenly Mystery Spirit Armor, then continued through the swamp toward the Mystic Jade Lotus Root.
• Cultivators entering the swamp suffered heavy losses, and survivors spread word of the great terror lurking there.
• Zhou Xun found a Tier 4 array guarding the Mystic Jade Lotus Root and failed to detect its Spirit Energy nodes.
• Zhou Xun used the Golden Claw Jade Talisman to strike the barrier, but it absorbed the attack and remained intact.
• Zhou Xun opened his Storage Pouch after it stirred and found two jade boxes faintly flickering.

Zhou Xun used two jade talismans to enter a secret formation, harvested the Mystic Jade Lotus Root and its fruits, and began cultivating in a profound state through both his avatar and main body. Meanwhile, Meng Zihong fled pursuers toward the swamp and attacked them with unusually powerful ice sword talismans.

• Zhou Xun's jade talismans opened a passage through the formation, and he entered after realizing they might connect the secret realm to the Heaven Feather Sect and Heavenly Mystery Sect.
• Zhou Xun harvested and sealed seven Mystic Jade Fruits and the Mystic Jade Lotus Root, securing at least two points of spiritual root sensitivity.
• Zhou Xun infused his first Mystic Jade Lotus Seed with life essence, replanted it in the pit, and entered a profound state while his avatar circulated the Purple Firmament Lightning Art.
• Zhou Xun's main body also entered a profound state and circulated the Spirit Wood True Art, causing both bodies' cultivation to rise rapidly.
• Meng Zihong fled five pursuers toward the swamp, rejected their offer to spare him, and attacked them with five unusually powerful Tier 3 Lower-Grade Ice Sword Talismans.

Zhou Xun’s enlightenment greatly advanced his cultivation, and his Bloodfiend Spawns grew stronger as they absorbed Bloodfiend Crystals. As he hid in the white-mist formation, a wounded yellow-robed man and four pursuing cultivators arrived, and the man unleashed powerful Gold Blade Talismans.

• Zhou Xun completed his enlightenment, advancing his incarnation past halfway to the peak of Mid-Stage Core Formation while his main body neared the peak of Early-Stage Core Formation.
• Zhou Xun found that the five Bloodfiend Spawns had greatly strengthened, then planned to cultivate in seclusion and nurture them further after leaving the secret realm.
• Zhou Xun hid again in the formation when he sensed approaching cultivators, as the yellow-robed middle-aged man stumbled into the white-mist hollow with four pursuers on his heels.
• The lead Elder declared that the wounded man would die and attacked him with a blue water bowl, while the man sent five Golden Daggers at his pursuers.
• Zhou Xun recognized the daggers as unusually powerful Gold Blade Talismans created with the Talismans Infusion Art.

Zhou Xun intervened when Hu Daoquan collapsed during a battle with a Heaven Talisman Sect Elder and three companions. He protected Hu Daoquan and revealed overwhelming lightning power, leaving the surviving attackers facing a deadly threat.

• The Heaven Talisman Sect Elder and his companions surrounded Hu Daoquan with water wyrms and magical treasures as his internal injuries erupted and he fell from the sky.
• Zhou Xun caught Hu Daoquan, refused to hand him over, and destroyed the Elder's three water wyrms with lightning.
• The Elder ordered three companions to kill Hu Daoquan while he held Zhou Xun back, but Zhou Xun's Mystic Thunder Sword killed one attacker in a single strike.
• The two surviving attackers recoiled in fear, while the Elder resolved to kill Hu Daoquan and used essence blood to strengthen himself.

Zhou Xun killed the four cultivators who attacked a middle-aged man, then saved him and learned that he belonged to the Heaven Talisman Sect, which had lost the complete Talismans Infusion Art. The man began explaining how he had traveled from the South Sea to the Central Continent after encountering a rare Musk Whale.

• The Elder boosted his strength with a secret art, but Zhou Xun killed the other two cultivators and destroyed the Elder's water bowl with his Mystic Thunder Sword before slaying him.
• Zhou Xun collected the four men's spoils and examined the unconscious middle-aged man, whose Dantian had been destroyed, then gave him a Dan that revived him.
• Zhou Xun questioned the middle-aged man about his enhanced talismans and showed him a Jade Slip containing the complete Talismans Infusion Art.
• The middle-aged man recognized the art as a lost inheritance of his Heaven Talisman Sect and described the sect's former power and decline in the South Sea.
• The middle-aged man said he had come from the South Sea to the Central Continent after encountering a Tier 3 Middle-Grade Musk Whale while hunting demon beasts.

Zhou Xun agreed to deliver the dying Heaven Talisman Sect elder’s message in exchange for the location of the Void Tribulation Flower, then left the secret realm with his spoils. Guided by two glowing jade talismans, he headed northeast to investigate a possible Heavenly Mystery Sect legacy and spotted a towering mountain surrounded by rising rings of buildings.

• The middle-aged man explained how he had fled into the secret realm and offered news of the Void Tribulation Flower in exchange for Zhou Xun delivering his death notice and First Elder Token to the Heaven Talisman Sect.
• Zhou Xun agreed, received the man’s letter on a Jade Slip and the location of the secret realm’s exit, and the man died an hour later.
• Zhou Xun burned the corpse, collected the ashes, and inventoried the Storage Pouches, finding more than four million spirit stones, seven Tier 3-or-higher demon beast inner cores, and several magical treasures.
• Zhou Xun left the secret realm and, after confirming he had obtained the Mystic Jade Lotus Root, chose to follow the jade talismans’ pull toward the northeast.
• Three days later, Zhou Xun saw a towering mountain surrounded by buildings arranged in rings up its slopes.