Chapter Summaries

Zhou Xun trapped the Thunder Essence Spirit inside the Lightning Magma Lake and used his Bloodfiend Spawns to prevent its escape. He began fighting the powerful beast with his lightning techniques and prepared a sword formation as the battle continued.

• Zhou Xun deployed the Five Elements Origin Convergence Grand Formation around the Lightning Magma Lake and sent the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle to guard it.
• Zhou Xun searched through the lake’s destructive lightning, replenishing his protective talismans until he sensed the Thunder Essence Spirit and used the Diviner’s Compass to locate it.
• Zhou Xun released five Bloodfiend Spawns and positioned them around the Thunder Essence Spirit to block its escape routes.
• Zhou Xun attacked with the Lightning Pool and thirty-six thunder dragons, while the Thunder Essence Spirit destroyed several dragons and protected itself with a ring of light.
• Zhou Xun recalled the remaining Lightning Seeds and transformed them into lightning swords, beginning to form a sword formation.

Zhou Xun defeated a Thunder Essence Spirit and continued hunting for Thunder Pearls in the Lightning Magma Lake. He discovered a cave residence protected by a Five Clouds Purple Lightning Array and used a jade talisman to try to open it.

• Zhou Xun unleashed his flying sword torrent and destroyed a Thunder Essence Spirit, obtaining a Tier 4 Lower-Grade Thunder Pearl.
• Zhou Xun sealed the Thunder Pearl, planned to give the spirit’s remnant soul to the Soul Devourer Azure Ape, and recalled his exhausted Bloodfiend Spawns.
• Zhou Xun kept the lightning pool with him and continued hunting, killing another Thunder Essence Spirit a day later.
• Zhou Xun discovered a vast light screen and identified it as the Tier 4 Upper-Grade Five Clouds Purple Lightning Array, which he suspected protected a Thundercloud Sect cultivator’s cave residence.
• Zhou Xun remembered the emerald jade talisman from the Heavenly Mystery Secret Realm and infused it with mana, sending its blue beam into the array.

Zhou Xun entered a hidden Thundercloud Sect cave abode and discovered the history of the sect’s decline and the identity of the ancient cultivator who left its records. He learned that the sect leader had preserved its inheritance and that the complete Violet Firmament Thunder Art could refine seventy-two Lightning Seeds.

• Zhou Xun used his jade talismans to enter the Five Clouds Purple Lightning Array and found a hidden courtyard containing a purple-robed cultivator who had died in meditation.
• Zhou Xun respectfully took the cultivator’s emerald jade talisman, marked with the seal-script character “Yuan,” and found an ancient Jade Slip beneath his robe.
• Zhou Xun read Empyrean Cloud True Monarch’s account of how the Thundercloud Sect declined after Violet Jade Celestial Lord died and Fallen Sun Celestial Lord attacked the sect.
• Empyrean Cloud True Monarch explained that he had divided the sect’s seven halls to preserve its inheritance before coming to Thunder Prison to seek a breakthrough to Spirit Transformation.
• Zhou Xun learned that the complete Violet Firmament Thunder Art, reserved for the Sect Leader lineage, could refine seventy-two Lightning Seeds instead of the thirty-six in the version he knew.

Zhou Xun found Yu Xiao True Monarch’s treasure vault, secured the Thundercloud Sect inheritance, and discovered that its command flag could unleash the Five Clouds Purple Lightning Array’s devastating self-destruction. After gathering valuable treasures, he stayed in the Thunder Prison to temper his body before the Lightning Tide.

• Zhou Xun read Yu Xiao True Monarch’s message, vowed to restore the Thundercloud Sect if he reached Spirit Transformation, and entered the treasure vault.
• Zhou Xun claimed the Control Command Flag, which drained much of his Dharma power and revealed that it would destroy the array and unleash the Thunder Lake’s lightning against anyone who lacked the Violet Firmament Thunder Art.
• Zhou Xun found the complete Violet Firmament Thunder Art, a Thunder Prison map identifying a Mystic Thunder Nurturing Mushroom, and two Tier 4 Upper-Grade Lightning Essence Crystals.
• Zhou Xun stored the treasures and chose to remain in the Thunder Prison, using the Thunder Lake to temper his body and pursue the tenth level of the Body Refinement Art.

Zhou Xun tempered his body in the Thunder Lake until his Body Refinement Art reached the tenth level, then set out for Mount Thunder-Gavel to seek a Tier 5 Lower Grade Mystic Thunder Nurturing Mushroom. A Tier 4 Upper-Grade Lightning Flood Dragon attacked him on the way, and he escaped by hiding deep underground until it gave up.

• Zhou Xun spent thirteen days absorbing lightning in the Thunder Lake and broke through to the tenth level of the Body Refinement Art.
• Zhou Xun tested his new strength by slashing his arm with a mid-grade magic treasure, which left him unharmed, then packed away the Five Clouds Purple Lightning Array and Celestial Abode.
• Zhou Xun left the Thunder Lake and headed toward Mount Thunder-Gavel to find the Mystic Thunder Nurturing Mushroom.
• A Tier 4 Upper-Grade Lightning Flood Dragon attacked Zhou Xun, who fled with his Thunderclap Wings and hid a thousand zhang underground using an earth escape talisman and the Thousand-Faced Mask.
• After the Lightning Flood Dragon abandoned its search, Zhou Xun cautiously emerged from the valley a day later.

Zhou Xun found a fifth-tier Mystic Thunder Nurturing Mushroom guarded by a powerful Illusion Butterfly on Mount Thunder-Gavel, but chose to retreat and return after growing stronger. He raced toward the Thunder Prison exit before the expected Lightning Tide, arriving at the plain where he had parted ways with the others.

• Zhou Xun reached Mount Thunder-Gavel and cautiously climbed toward the summit while concealing his aura.
• Zhou Xun discovered the Mystic Thunder Nurturing Mushroom and sent a puppet to test the area around it.
• An Illusion Butterfly appeared, destroyed Zhou Xun’s connection to the puppet, and revealed itself as a powerful creature coveted by artifact refiners.
• Zhou Xun decided to leave the mushroom and Illusion Butterfly for a future visit, then recorded their location on his sheepskin scroll.
• With the Lightning Tide expected soon, Zhou Xun flew toward the exit and arrived two days later at the plain where he had parted from the others.

Zhou Xun and the others waited for True Lord Hong Chuan as the Lightning Tide approached, but a lightning bolt immobilized Hong Chuan and the tide killed him. The survivors escaped to the Quicksand Sea, where Thunder Prison True Lord offered to take Hong Chuan’s great-grandson as his disciple.

• Zhou Xun emerged from the Thunder Essence Amethyst Mine and joined Thunder Prison True Lord, Profound Thunder True Lord, and Profound Star True Lord in waiting for True Lord Hong Chuan.
• The Lightning Tide began to erupt before Hong Chuan returned, and the group realized he was in grave danger.
• Hong Chuan fled toward the group, but a colossal bolt of lightning froze him in place and the Lightning Tide swallowed him.
• Zhou Xun and the others escaped through the exit vortex and returned to the Quicksand Sea.
• Thunder Prison True Lord learned that Hong Chuan had a great-grandson at Early-Stage Core Formation and offered to accept him as a disciple.

Zhou Xun and the others fought their way through a vast outbreak of ghost mist in the Quicksand Sea, then returned to Seatown Immortal City. Concerned that the Netherworld might be connected to the Western Desert’s desolation, Zhou Xun went to inform Netherfiend True Lord and was welcomed as a fellow Dao brother.

• Zhou Xun recognized the approaching black mist as ghost mist and led the group in attacking it with lightning.
• Zhou Xun, Profound Star True Lord, Thunder Prison True Lord, and Profound Thunder True Lord fought through the ghost mist for two days.
• Zhou Xun and the others returned to Seatown Immortal City, where Zhou Xun found no treasure at the exchange meet.
• Zhou Xun suspected the Netherworld might be connected to the Western Desert’s desolation and decided to alert the Three Alliance Lords.
• Zhou Xun visited Netherfiend True Lord, who welcomed him warmly and suggested they address each other as fellow Dao brothers.

Zhou Xun visited Netherfiend True Lord to report a vast outbreak of ghost mist in the Quicksand Sea, then returned to his cave abode and reunited with Jiang Wanning. He checked on his spirit beasts and learned the Earth Origin Beast seemed close to a Tier 4 breakthrough.

• Netherfiend True Lord served Zhou Xun Tier 4 Middle-Grade Snow Moon Tea, and Zhou Xun told him about the enormous ghost mist in the Quicksand Sea west of Yue West Immortal City.
• Netherfiend True Lord said he would discuss the ghost mist with the other alliance leaders, and Zhou Xun exchanged Dao insights with him before returning home.
• Jiang Wanning welcomed Zhou Xun back, and he asked her to buy one hundred jin of Dan Yuan Wine from Five Willows Pavilion.
• Zhou Xun visited the insect chamber, fed the Wind-Guiding Butterfly Tier 3 Spirit Elixir, and found it had grown stronger during his absence.
• Zhou Xun checked on the Earth Origin Beast and sensed that it might attempt to break through to Tier 4 within a few years.

Zhou Xun bought Dan Yuan Wine and used his secluded cultivation to condense all seventy-two Lightning Seeds. After inspecting his spirit creatures, he visited True Lord Tian Ci to share tea and discuss the Dao.

• Jiang Wanning told Zhou Xun she had bought all of Five Willows Pavilion’s Dan Yuan Wine for a thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Zhou Xun placed the Thunder Centipede Dan in the wine to infuse it with Spiritual Qi, then began condensing Lightning Seeds.
• Over the next year, Zhou Xun condensed his seventy-second Lightning Seed and planned to nurture them for several years before using them against enemies.
• Zhou Xun checked on Jiang Wanning’s Ice Soul Silkworms and Wind-Guiding Butterfly, learning that the butterfly’s appetite and strength had increased.
• Zhou Xun left his cave abode and visited True Lord Tian Ci, bringing spirit tea to share.

Zhou Xun refined his Natal Treasure Lightning Pool into a High-Grade Mystic Treasure and learned that Profound Thunder True Lord had advanced to the Nascent Soul Late Stage. He traveled with Jiang Wanning to Profound Thunder True Lord’s advancement ceremony, where Monarch Qian Chuan greeted him at the Seatown Grand Hall.

• Zhou Xun shared Snow Moon Tea with True Lord Tian Ci and discussed cultivation with him for half a month.
• Zhou Xun used Thunder Essence Power from the Thunder Prison to refine his Natal Treasure Lightning Pool over six months, successfully advancing it to a High-Grade Mystic Treasure.
• The Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle told Zhou Xun that Profound Thunder True Lord had invited him to an advancement ceremony after reaching the Nascent Soul Late Stage.
• Zhou Xun instructed the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle to prepare carefully for the ceremony and bring a suitable congratulatory gift.
• Zhou Xun and Jiang Wanning arrived at the Seatown Grand Hall, where Monarch Qian Chuan welcomed Zhou Xun.

Zhou Xun attended Profound Thunder True Lord’s advancement ceremony, then returned to cultivation. Three years later, Feng Zhong began breaking through to the Demon Emperor realm, drawing support and attention from powerful cultivators across Seatown Immortal City as the chapter left Zhou Xun facing a crowd outside his cave abode.

• Monarch Qian Chuan welcomed Zhou Xun to Profound Thunder True Lord’s ceremony, where Profound Thunder True Lord seated Zhou Xun in the front row.
• Profound Thunder True Lord completed his three-day advancement ceremony and pledged to fight the Demon Race alongside the other cultivators.
• Three years later, Zhou Xun sensed Feng Zhong’s breakthrough attempt and joined Jiang Wanning and the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle outside his cultivation chamber.
• Zhou Xun activated his formation to aid Feng Zhong as dark clouds gathered and the Transformation Lightning Tribulation began to form.
• Monarch Qian Chuan directed Seatown Immortal City’s Spiritual Qi toward Zhou Xun’s cave abode, while Netherfiend True Lord and other cultivators arrived to watch.
• Zhou Xun emerged from his cave abode and saw the growing crowd, whose members watched with envy, jealousy, and restless desire to act.

Zhou Xun’s Earth Origin Beast endured the nine bolts of its transformation lightning tribulation, appearing dead after the final strike. It revived with the Undying Physique, leaving the onlookers stunned as its advancement continued.

• Netherfiend True Lord and other powerful cultivators joined Zhou Xun, while the gathered cultivators congratulated him on the Earth Origin Beast’s impending breakthrough.
• The Earth Origin Beast withstood the first six lightning strikes using wind vortices and a rune shield.
• The seventh and eighth strikes shattered its defenses and left it gravely wounded, while Zhou Xun and the onlookers watched with concern.
• The ninth strike engulfed the Earth Origin Beast, which lay motionless and seemingly lifeless after the lightning faded.
• A glow appeared on the Earth Origin Beast as its wounds healed and its aura recovered, and Netherfiend True Lord recognized its Undying Physique.

After Feng Zhong advanced to Tier 4 and awakened the Undying Physique, Zhou Xun welcomed him back and watched him and the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle compete for his favor. Zhou Xun then visited Monarch Qian Chuan to thank him for helping Feng Zhong’s breakthrough and asked to redeem the Soul-Locking Ring.

• Feng Zhong consolidated his cultivation, took human form, and thanked Zhou Xun for raising him.
• The Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle and Feng Zhong traded pointed remarks as they vied to remain Zhou Xun’s favored retainer, and Zhou Xun told them to get along.
• Feng Zhong and the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle continued their rivalry in private while maintaining harmony on the surface.
• Zhou Xun visited Seatown Grand Hall to thank Monarch Qian Chuan for directing the city’s Spiritual Qi to aid Feng Zhong’s breakthrough.
• After sharing wine and food with Monarch Qian Chuan, Zhou Xun asked to redeem the mortgaged High-Grade Mystic Treasure, the Soul-Locking Ring.

Zhou Xun traded Thunder Essence Amethyst and spirit stones with Monarch Qian Chuan to reclaim the Soul-Locking Ring, then returned to cultivating and studying pill crafting. After reaching the limit of Tier 3 pill crafting, he successfully refined his first Tier 4 Qi Recovery Pills, becoming a Tier 4 Pill Refinement Master.

• Monarch Qian Chuan accepted Zhou Xun's Thunder Essence Amethyst and ten Top-Grade Spirit Stones in exchange for the Soul-Locking Ring.
• Zhou Xun returned to his cave abode and focused on pill crafting while continuing his cultivation and body tempering.
• Zhou Xun refined Tier 3 High-Grade Essence Recovery Pills, producing two exceptional pills and reaching the limit of Tier 3 pill crafting.
• After a month of preparation, Zhou Xun used the Dan Yuan Cauldron and Tier 4 spirit herbs to refine Tier 4 Qi Recovery Pills.
• Zhou Xun successfully condensed the pills and celebrated his breakthrough in Tier 4 pill crafting.

Zhou Xun completed a Tier 4 lower-grade pill and shared Dan Yuan Wine made from a Tier 4 lightning-attribute inner core, boosting his cultivation. After four years, his Seventy-two Lightning Bolts matured, and he brought his spirit beasts and Bloodfiend General to a remote sea to test their power against them.

• Zhou Xun successfully refined a genuine pill and became a Tier 4 Lower Grade Pill Refinement Master.
• Zhou Xun shared the newly matured Dan Yuan Wine with Jiang Wanning, the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle, and Feng Chong, then resumed secluded cultivation.
• After another year, Zhou Xun realized his Seventy-two Lightning Bolts had completed four years of refinement and summoned them to inspect their power.
• Zhou Xun traveled with the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle and Feng Chong to a secluded sea region and summoned his five Bloodfiend Spawns, which merged into a Bloodfiend General.
• Zhou Xun ordered the two spirit beasts to join the Bloodfiend General and resist his attacks as he prepared to test the Lightning Seeds.

Zhou Xun tested his strengthened lightning and sword techniques, then resumed his quiet routine until Wang Lingfeng summoned him to Seatown Grand Hall. Monarch Qian Chuan assigned him a sea patrol and offered him a choice between a short patrol near the city and a year-long patrol of the southern sea territory.

• Zhou Xun unleashed his Lightning Seeds on the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle, Feng Zhong, and the Bloodfiend General, overwhelming them before stopping the attack at their pleas.
• Zhou Xun tested the Azure Jade Chalice and discovered he could teleport a short distance despite its spatial seal, then found that his Heavenly Origin Sword Formation had also grown much stronger.
• After half a year of cultivation and talisman commissions, Zhou Xun received a visit from Wang Lingfeng, who had advanced to the late stage of Core Formation and invited him to Seatown Grand Hall.
• Monarch Qian Chuan told Zhou Xun that his turn to patrol the sea region had come and offered him either a three-month patrol near Seatown Immortal City or a year-long patrol across the southern sea territory.

Zhou Xun chose a fifty-year patrol across the Southern Sea and prepared to travel with Wang Lingfeng and the Earth Origin Beast. Before departing, he visited True Lord Tian Ci and shared Dan Yuan Wine, whose cultivation benefits impressed his old friend.

• Zhou Xun chose to patrol the entire Southern Sea territory and agreed to look after Wang Lingfeng during the dangerous assignment.
• Zhou Xun prepared for the patrol, selected the Earth Origin Beast to accompany him, and told the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle to guard his cave abode.
• Zhou Xun visited True Lord Tian Ci, who noticed Zhou Xun's greatly improved cultivation.
• Zhou Xun shared his Dan Yuan Wine with True Lord Tian Ci, who praised its effects, and Zhou Xun gave him more than ten jin of it.

Zhou Xun set out from Seatown Immortal City with Feng Chong and ten Core Formation cultivators to inspect the Southern Sea, carrying a message and treasure from True Lord Tian Ci for Daoist Tieshan. Three months into the journey, they reached Heaven Talisman Island, where Zheng Wang mistook their approach for a demonic beast attack and was struck from behind.

• Zhou Xun asked True Lord Tian Ci to watch over his grotto abode and agreed to deliver a Tier 4 Demonic Beast inner core and letter to Daoist Tieshan.
• Zhou Xun gathered Wang Lingfeng and nine other Core Formation cultivators at the eastern city gate, then departed on Feng Chong with the Heavenly Mystery Grotto set on the beast's back.
• During three months of travel, Zhou Xun cultivated in the grotto while his companions dealt with Tier 3 demonic beasts.
• Wang Lingfeng announced that Heaven Talisman Island lay ahead, and Zhou Xun thought of Old Brother Cao and his other acquaintances there.
• Zheng Wang, now Luo Yuancheng's chief disciple, saw Feng Chong approaching and shouted that a demonic beast was attacking the island before someone smacked the back of his head.

Zhou Xun returned to Heaven Talisman Island with the newly fourth-rank Earth Origin Beast Feng Chong and reunited with its cultivators and disciples. He stayed on the island, welcomed a promising new disciple into the family, and gave Wen Yue a Purple Jade Pill to help her advance.

• Luo Yuancheng corrected Zheng Wang, explaining that the giant beast was the Earth Origin Forefather, then brought him to meet Zhou Xun.
• Zhou Xun arrived on Heaven Talisman Island with Feng Chong, and Cao Feiyu, Wen Yue, Li Daniu, and the others welcomed them.
• Feng Chong accepted congratulations on advancing to the fourth rank and asked the island's cultivators to treat him as a fellow Daoist.
• Cao Feiyu told Zhou Xun that Heaven Talisman Island had prospered and that Luo Yuancheng had taken in Zheng Wang, a disciple with an Earth Spiritual Root.
• Zhou Xun examined Zheng Wang and gave him the Wood Radiance Gourd, then decided to stay on the island and arranged lodging for his followers.
• Zhou Xun returned to his preserved dwelling cave and gave Wen Yue a Purple Jade Pill to aid her cultivation.