Recaps

After Shi Jian emerged from the Lightless Dead Realm with immense spoils and the Profound Lightning Dao Venerable’s protection, the Nine Realms’ major powers began weighing the threat posed by his Divine Firmament path. The Human Race sought to contain him through the Space Heaven Clan, which prepared to challenge him when he emerged from Lei Yuan six hundred years later.

• The Human Race’s three Supreme Void Lightning Sect elders confirmed that Elder Qingjue and thirty Nascent Soul sword seeds had died, then discussed Shi Jian’s growing strength and his potential to undermine their lightning-sword lineage.
• The Human Race elders decided to approach the Space Heaven Clan and encourage it to oppose Shi Jian without drawing the Human Race into conflict with the Peak Mountain Imperial Clan.
• A Space Heaven Clan Spirit Transformation expert warned two twelve-winged divine generals that Shi Jian’s body, weapon, and Radiant Yang Lightning could make him a major threat.
• One divine general dismissed the warning, ordered thirty-six battalions of Wind and Lightning Heavenly Guards to patrol the realm barriers, and said they would confront Shi Jian when he left Lei Yuan six hundred years later.
• The great clans and imperial powers across the Nine Realms sought information about Shi Jian, whose potential to claim a vacant Dao of Lightning position could give the Beast Realm a second such inheritance.

The Giant Bear Ancestral Court celebrated Shi Jian’s rise and recognized the chance for the clan to gain a second Dao Venerable. The chapter ended with Ancestor Egu elevating the Lightning Bear Line and ordering the clan to protect Shi Jian and the Divine Firmament Plain.

• Shi Pan represented the Lightning Bear Line before the assembled Spirit Transformation leaders of the Giant Bear lineages.
• Man Hengkong praised Shi Jian for taking the Profound Lightning Ancestral Court’s foundations and securing Profound Lightning Dao Venerable’s promise to protect his Dao.
• Ancestor Shanyue explained that Shi Jian could give the Giant Bear Clan a powerful second Dao Venerable if he forged his sixth Divine Firmament Immortal Foundation.
• The Savage Sha and Mysterious Bear lineages offered Shi Pan supplies and resources for the Divine Firmament Plain.
• Man Hengkong announced Ancestor Egu’s decree elevating the Lightning Bear Line to equal rank with the ancestral mountain and granting it access to the secret treasury.
• Man Hengkong ordered the eight lineages to conceal Shi Jian’s powers and hunt down anyone who attacked the Divine Firmament Plain.

Shi Pan received a decree as the Giant Bear Clan transformed the Divine Firmament Plain into a fortified territory. Shi Fangting and Shi Pan surveyed the newly forged Dao Spirit Bear Human warriors and looked ahead to supporting the ancestor’s rise.

• Shi Pan received the decree and vowed to build an immortal divine city for the ancestor.
• The Giant Bear Clan turned the lightning-scarred Divine Firmament Plain into fertile land centered on Divine Firmament Lightning City.
• Shi Fangting and Shi Pan inspected the third batch of Dao Spirit Bear Humans, including thousands of young warriors who had awakened the Barbarian Bone Lightning Mark.
• Shi Fangting explained that he had promoted intermarriage between the Dao Spirit Human Race and the Lightning Bear Tribes to strengthen and secure his people.
• Shi Fangting declared that the plain’s inhabitants would become an army for the ancestor, while Shi Pan agreed that the clan was ready for the ancestor’s return.

Shi Xiao secretly returned from the Dao Realm to Divine Firmament Peak, where he revealed that he had reached Nascent Soul Perfection and was ready to break through to Spirit Transformation. Shi Lei agreed to guard him as he drew on the ancestral land’s lightning Qi to forge his Dao platform.

• Shi Xiao and Shi Lei discussed Divine Firmament Peak’s growth under Shi Pan and the clan system Shi Lei had helped build.
• Shi Xiao reported that their mother had advanced to Middle Spirit Transformation and secured the Li Bear Plains, though outsiders continued trying to infiltrate their territory.
• Shi Lei pointed out that the Lightning Bear Line needed more strength and asked why Shi Xiao had secretly returned from the Dao Realm.
• Shi Xiao revealed his Purple Firmament Lightning and said he had reached Nascent Soul Perfection after decades of fighting in the Dao Realm.
• Shi Xiao announced that he would use Divine Firmament Peak’s lightning Qi to strike the heavenly gate and forge his Spirit Transformation Dao platform, while Shi Lei promised to guard the summit.

Shi Xiao attempted to break through to Spirit Transformation while the Divine Firmament Plain’s tribes guarded the mountain, and his Primordial Spirit entered the river of the Great Dao of Lightning. As the Principles began to dissolve him, Shi Xiao defied their call to merge with heaven and earth.

• Shi Pan and Shi Lei ordered the Divine Firmament Plain’s tribes to seal off approaches while Shi Xiao entered seclusion to attempt a breakthrough.
• For fifteen years, Shi Lei guarded the passage to the summit as the thunderclouds above Divine Firmament Peak grew into a sea of purple lightning.
• A vortex opened in the sky, and the river of the Great Dao of Lightning appeared as Shi Xiao’s Primordial Spirit emerged to face the Tribulation of Dao Dissolution.
• The Great Dao’s Principles scoured Shi Xiao’s memories and began dissolving his Primordial Spirit into Purple Firmament Lightning.
• As his soul neared dissolution, Shi Xiao declared that he would ascend to the pinnacle of the Dao of Lightning and would not seek peace by merging with heaven and earth.

After surviving Dao Dissolution, Shi Xiao forged the Purple Firmament Lightning Immortal Foundation and entered Spirit Transformation, making the Lightning Bear Line a family with three Spirit Transformation experts. His breakthrough drew attention from the Beast Realm’s major clans and reached Shi Jian in his distant seclusion, where his fourth Immortal Foundation stirred.

• Shi Xiao refused to surrender his feelings and will to the Dao, devoured the Purple Firmament Lightning Principles, and carved his own divine soul imprint into them.
• Shi Xiao forged the Purple Firmament Lightning Dao platform, emerged from his sealed chamber, and ascended to Early Spirit Transformation as a colossal Lightning Bear manifestation appeared above Divine Firmament Peak.
• Shi Pan and the Lightning Bear Line celebrated Shi Xiao’s breakthrough, while Shi Lei praised his elder brother and declared that the Giant Bear Lineage would command respect.
• Man Hengkong ordered Shi Xiao’s name entered into the imperial clan’s sacred register and sent gifts, while ancient presences from other Beast Realm clans stirred with wariness.
• Shi Jian sensed Shi Xiao’s breakthrough from his seclusion in the Nine Heavens Extreme Lightning Realm, and his Radiant Yang Lightning Immortal Foundation suddenly flared with pure Yang power.

At his Spirit Transformation ceremony, Shi Xiao welcomed the Beast Realm’s great powers and demonstrated the strength of his Purple Firmament Lightning Immortal Foundation. He expounded the Dao of Divine Firmament, helping cultivators across the plain break through as a Black Eagle general declared the Lightning Bear Line’s fortunes secure.

• Three months after Shi Xiao’s ascension, Divine Firmament Plain prepared for his ceremony with a vast city, lightning formations, and troops on guard.
• Ancestor Shanyue and other Giant Bear lineages arrived with valuable gifts, followed by envoys from the Black Eagle, Kui Lang, and other imperial clans.
• Shi Xiao hosted the assembled Spirit Transformation experts and Nascent Soul cultivators in Divine Firmament Heavenly Hall.
• After Kui Wood Flame asked him to reveal his Dao, Shi Xiao transformed into a giant bear Dharma Form and expounded the Dao of Divine Firmament across the plain.
• Lei Ya broke through to Nascent Soul Late Stage, other cultivators advanced, and Divine General Jinyu remarked that the Lightning Bear Line’s fortunes were made.

Shi Xiao hosted the Spirit Transformation elders after his breakthrough and asked Kui Wood Flame to help Kuang Dou, the loyal leader of the Sun Devourer Black Hound Clan. He argued that Kuang Dou’s service to the Lightning Bear Line had held back his prospects, leaving the nature of his request unresolved.

• Shi Xiao received praise from the gathered elders for his understanding of the Divine Firmament True Intention and slaughter principles.
• The Profound Lightning Imperial Clan guest elder offered Shi Xiao a place to cultivate at the ancestral court, and Shi Xiao accepted the invitation.
• Shi Xiao asked Kui Wood Flame for a favor on behalf of the Kui Lang Clan and summoned Kuang Dou into the hall.
• Kuang Dou knelt before Shi Xiao, who praised his long service and the Sun Devourer Black Hounds’ loyalty to his father and the Lightning Bear Line.
• Kui Wood Flame praised Kuang Dou’s strength, and Shi Xiao said the Lightning Bear Line had held back the general’s prospects.

At his Spirit Transformation ceremony, Shi Xiao arranged for Kuang Dou to join the Kui Lang Imperial Clan and pursue a chance at Spirit Transformation, securing a bond between their clans. After the feast, Shi Xiao told Shi Lei that he was placing pieces for the Lightning Bears’ future across the Nine Realms.

• Shi Xiao explained that Kuang Dou’s cultivation had stalled because Divine Firmament Peak’s lightning Qi hindered his fire-based Dao, and he refused to let his loyal subordinate abandon the pursuit of the Dao.
• Shi Xiao asked Kui Wood Flame to accept Kuang Dou into the Kui Lang Imperial Clan in exchange for the Lightning Bear Line’s future support.
• Kui Wood Flame agreed to take Kuang Dou as his disciple, provide Fire Dao resources and teachings, and protect his attempt at Spirit Transformation.
• Kuang Dou thanked Shi Xiao, promised to strive for Spirit Transformation, and departed with Kui Wood Flame.
• After the feast, Shi Xiao told Shi Lei that the Lightning Bears needed to cultivate strength in multiple Daos and that their clan was making advance plans for the coming age.

A century after Shi Xiao forged his [Purple Firmament Lightning] Immortal Foundation, the Lightning Bear Line transformed the Divine Firmament Plain into a powerful, orderly realm. The plain’s population, agriculture, clans, and military structure flourished under Shi Xiao, Shi Lei, and Shi Pan.

• A hundred years passed, and the Lightning Bear Line’s authority spread across the Divine Firmament Plain under Shi Xiao, Shi Lei, and Shi Pan.
• The Dao Spirit Human Race grew to tens of millions and cultivated lightning-rich crops and spirit medicines across the plain.
• Dao Spirit Bear Humans became the backbone of the plain’s farms, cities, formations, and patrols after Shi Fangting’s bloodline-fusion efforts took hold.
• The four Lightning Bear lines and their twenty-four tribes filled their Nascent Soul commander positions with pureblood cultivators.
• Shi Lei attracted the Thunder Leopard, Thunder Owl, Thunder Rat, Thunder Tiger, and Thunder Elephant clans, which joined the order around Divine Firmament Peak.

Shi Pan oversaw the Divine Firmament Plain’s ten-year spirit-tax collection, then ordered a share of the tribute sent to support newly advanced Lightning Bear cultivators. The chapter ended by introducing Purple Firmament Peak, a cultivation sanctuary for the tribes’ most promising young disciples.

• Shi Pan presided over the grand spirit-tax collection in Divine Firmament Lightning City as the twenty-four tribes presented their tribute.
• Lei Ya presented the Frenzied Thunder Azure Profound Tribe’s tribute, which an accounting officer recorded as fully paid and upper rank.
• Observers from the Thunder Elephant Race and Thunder Tiger Race praised the Divine Firmament Line’s system of collecting resources and rewarding young prodigies.
• Shi Pan ordered thirty percent of the spirit marrow set aside for the Blessed Lands and distributed among Lightning Bears who had recently advanced.
• The chapter described the Divine Firmament Plain’s newly developed cultivation peaks and introduced the eastern subsidiary peak, Purple Firmament Peak.

Over a hundred years, the Lightning Bear Line grew its strength and established Divine Firmament Lightning City as a thriving trade center while Shi Xiao and Shi Lei guarded their clan’s expanding territory. As Shi Xiao awaited his father’s return from seclusion, he ordered his brothers to keep building their foundation and biding their time.

• A new Lightning Spirit emerged on Purple Firmament Peak, ignored the gathered young Lightning Bears, and flew into the back mountain clouds.
• Divine Firmament Lightning City prospered as cultivators and merchants from across the Nine Realms traded rare goods and increased the Lightning Bear Line’s influence.
• Shi Lei told Shi Xiao that their mother had secured the Li Bear Plains, the clan’s tax revenues had more than doubled, and over eighty foreign Nascent Souls were under their protection.
• Shi Lei reported that the clan had killed Human Realm spies, uncovered Heaven Realm shadow guards, and suffered caravan attacks from underlings of Tiger Sha and Black Eagle.
• Shi Xiao said the clan’s enemies feared its rise and ordered Shi Lei to protect their territory, bide their time, and prepare for their father’s return from seclusion.

The Immortal Slayer Dao Venerable rejected his disciples’ demand for revenge against the Lightning Bear Line, prioritizing his plan to complete the Sword Origin fruition and form a Sword Dao Dao Embryo. He ordered the Hidden Sword Dao Palace to seal its mountain for two thousand years, leaving the Lightning Bear Line unchallenged for now.

• A white-haired Sword Venerable reported Shi Xiao’s breakthrough and the Lightning Bear Line’s growing strength, then urged the Immortal Slayer Dao Venerable to authorize retaliation against Shi Jian.
• The Immortal Slayer Dao Venerable rebuked the sword cultivators for blaming Shi Jian for Qingjue’s death and dismissed their call for revenge as foolish.
• The Immortal Slayer Dao Venerable revealed that he had mastered the Immortal Slayer Dao and acquired three Sword Origin foundations, and said he expected to form a Sword Dao Dao Embryo within two thousand years.
• The Immortal Slayer Dao Venerable warned that attacking the Lightning Bear Line would benefit the Space Heaven Clan and provoke the Peak and Mountain Imperial Clan’s emperor.
• The Immortal Slayer Dao Venerable ordered the Hidden Sword Dao Palace to seal its mountain and forbid its True Disciples from entering the Beast Realm for two thousand years.

In the Azure Extremity Heaven Domain, Mu Kurong and other Spirit Race leaders lamented their losses in the battle for the Dao Realm and the Beast Realm’s rising strength. With most of their forces committed against the Nether River Clan, they chose espionage and diplomacy over an invasion, leaving their agents to prepare reports for the Space Heaven Clan.

• Mu Kurong destroyed an ornamental jade mountain in anger over the Beast Realm and its gains.
• A Spirit Race woman recalled how the Myriad Spirits Imperial Clan had failed to seize the [Treasured Earth] and lost more than a hundred Spirit Transformation Grand Venerables and thousands of Nascent Soul clansmen.
• The Spirit Race leaders discussed how Shi Jian’s emergence in the Beast Realm threatened them while the Nether Realm’s incursions occupied most of their forces.
• Mu Kurong ordered Spirit Transformation elites from the Hundred Flowers and Formless lineages to infiltrate the Beast Realm and document the Divine Firmament Plain’s defenses and deployments.
• Mu Kurong directed that a copy of the intelligence be sent to the Space Heaven Clan so the two realms might clash and ease pressure on the Spirit Race.

Feng Xiaoting learned that the Yu Tian Imperial Clan’s agents had failed to infiltrate Divine Firmament Lightning City and reflected on the growing power of rival realms. He resolved that the clan must prioritize claiming the Primal Lightning position as the Nine Realms moved toward a period of upheaval.

• Feng Xiaoting berated three divine generals after their Wind and Lightning deathsworn were exposed and killed near Divine Firmament Lightning City.
• A divine general explained that Shi Xiao’s lightning network and the Dao Spirit Bear Humans had thwarted all three infiltration attempts.
• Feng Xiaoting lamented that Profound Lightning had rejected the Yu Tian Imperial Clan’s marriage alliance and passed the Lightning opportunity to the Giant Bear Clan.
• An old servant warned Feng Xiaoting that attacking the Beast Realm directly would risk provoking its Dao Venerables and Peak Mountain Emperor Lord.
• Feng Xiaoting assessed the rising strength and ambitions of the Nether, Human, Spirit, and Beast Realms, and feared another world-ending conflict.
• The old servant reassured Feng Xiaoting that the clan was close to producing a Space Dao Ancestor, but said claiming the Primal Lightning position still took priority.

The Dragon Emperor and seven Dragon Venerables gathered in the Jianmu Sea Eye to discuss the upheaval across the Nine Realms and the quieting of threats near the Vast Realm. They turned their attention to Wood Virtue Dao Venerable, whose unassuming reputation concealed his importance in the coming change.

• The Dragon Emperor's Dharma Body and the eight Dragon Venerables assembled in the Jianmu Sea Eye.
• Male Fire Dao Venerable reported that the Heaven Realm had withdrawn its spies from the East Sea as its forces focused on the Beast Realm.
• Unseen Dao Venerable described the Beast Realm's ambitions, conflict between the Spirit and Nether River Imperial Clans, and the Nine Realms' growing disorder.
• Unseen Dao Venerable declared that an unprecedented change was before them, and the Dragon Venerables focused on Wood Virtue Dao Venerable.
• The chapter introduced Wood Virtue Dao Venerable as the Azure Dragon lineage's head, an apparently mild cultivator of plants whom outsiders underestimated.

Wood Virtue Dao Venerable revealed that he had perfected three Wood Dao fruitions and was ready to attempt a breakthrough to Dao Embryo. The Dragon Emperor and the Dragon Venerables prepared their alliances to protect him and seize supremacy across the Nine Realms.

• Wood Virtue Dao Venerable manifested three perfected fruitions—Wood Virtue, Xun Wood, and Geng Wood—with all eighteen Immortal Foundations complete.
• Converging Water Dao Venerable explained that the True Dragon Clan had secretly preserved the Xun Wood and Geng Wood inheritances and hidden Wood Virtue Dao Venerable’s progress for seventy thousand years.
• The Dragon Emperor backed Wood Virtue Dao Venerable’s breakthrough, saying that water could nourish wood and that the time had come for the True Dragon Clan to become a hegemon.
• Wood Virtue Dao Venerable revealed that he had glimpsed the heavenly gate three thousand years earlier but had waited for upheavals across the Nine Realms to weaken potential enemies.
• Unseen Dao Venerable and Constant Strength Dao Venerable described alliances with the Changqing Clan, the Mystic Realm’s Metal Dao venerables, and the Measure Realm powers to shield the breakthrough from interference.

The Dragon Emperor ordered the Dragon Race to seal the Vast Realm and protect Dao Venerable Wood Virtue as he fused the three Dao of Wood fruit positions. His ascension created a supreme Dao Embryo that shook the Nine Realms, and the Spirit Emperor rose in fury to confront the True Dragon Clan.

• The Dragon Emperor dispatched three Dao Venerables to activate the Vast Realm's All-Heavens Sea-Overturning Myriad Severance Formation and ordered four others to guard the Heavenly Gate while entrusting the Dragon Race's future to Dao Venerable Wood Virtue.
• Three days later, Dao Venerable Wood Virtue released the Dao of Wood's power from the Jianmu Sea Eye, awakening plants and stirring the Vast Realm's seas.
• Dao Venerable Wood Virtue manifested as a nine-clawed azure dragon and merged the Wood Virtue, Xun Wood, and Geng Wood Dao platforms into a chaotic azure lotus, forming a supreme Dao Embryo.
• The upheaval disrupted the workings of heaven across the Nine Realms and caused cultivators of the Dao of Wood to feel the new Dao Embryo's suppression.
• Mu Kurong recognized that the three Dao fruit positions had been forcibly combined and cried out in disbelief at the True Dragon Clan.
• The Spirit Emperor rose from the Myriad Spirits Ancient Abyss and angrily accused the True Dragon Clan of bullying him.

As the Spirit Emperor tried to stop the Dragon Emperor from joining the Dao, Jinyuan and two Measure Realm Dao Venerables blocked his way. Wood Virtue became a Dao Embryo, shifting the balance among the Nine Realms, while Shi Jian’s fourth Divine Firmament Foundation began to complete.

• The Spirit Emperor reached toward the Vast Realm, but Imperial Lord Jinyuan and the Three Returns and True Qi Dao Venerables cut off his attempt and protected the younger generation.
• Feng Xiaoting learned that Wood Virtue had become a Dao Embryo and ordered the Heaven Realm to attack, but the Heaven Emperor told him the Dragon Emperor’s breakthrough could not be stopped and ordered the troops to withdraw.
• The Immortal Slayer Dao Venerable delayed the Hidden Sword Dao Palace’s mountain sealing by three thousand years after sensing the True Dragon Clan’s rise.
• Shi Xiao and Shi Lei reacted to the new Dao Embryo, and Shi Xiao declared that the Giant Bear Lineage would contend for dominion once his father emerged from seclusion.
• In the Ten-Thousand-Zhang Transformation Lei Yuan, Shi Jian’s [Radiant Yang Lightning] foundation surged as the lightning slurry poured into him, and he announced that his fourth Divine Firmament Foundation would soon be complete.

As Azure Dragon’s Wood Dao transformation drew closer to claiming authority over plant life across the Nine Realms, the Spirit Emperor’s allies fought to break through the realm pass. The battle became a vast melee as reinforcements from the Spirit Realm and Measure Realm confronted Jinyuan and the Mystic Realm’s Metal Dao Venerables.

• Azure Dragon’s wood lotus unfolded above Wood Virtue Dao Venerable as the Spirit Emperor failed to pass Jinyuan’s halberd at the Void Realm’s edge.
• The Myriad Spirits Imperial Clan sent seven Dao Venerables to attack Jinyuan and sever the void river feeding Azure Dragon’s transformation.
• Jinyuan summoned the Mystic Realm’s three Metal Dao Venerables to meet the Spirit Realm’s assault.
• The Spirit Realm Venerables pressed the Metal Dao defenders, with Extreme Cold Dao Venerable, Immortality Dao Venerable, Li Fire Dao Venerable, and Decay Dao Venerable leading the attack.
• Three Returns Dao Venerable and True Qi Dao Venerable arrived from the Measure Realm and blocked Dharma Breaking Dao Venerable and Li Fire Dao Venerable.
• More than ten Dao Venerables fought across the Realm River, shattering the surrounding laws and plunging the void into chaos.

The Spirit Emperor’s warning persuaded the Heavenly Emperor to join the war against the Dragon Race, escalating the battle across the Vast Realm. With the Spirit Realm’s forces distracted, Peak Mountain Emperor Lord launched a surprise attack on its exposed headquarters to seize Gen Earth Dao Venerable’s attainment.

• The Spirit Emperor called on the Yu Tian Imperial Clan to stop the Dragon Race from gaining control of Wood and threatening the Heaven Realm’s power.
• The Heavenly Emperor led six Yu Tian Dao Venerables through the realm wall to attack the Dragon Emperor’s forces at the Jianmu Sea Eye.
• The Dragon Emperor raised the Zhoutian Sea-Overturning Myriad Absolutes formation, and the seven true dragon venerables fought the six Yu Tian venerables as the emperors clashed above the sea.
• While the great powers focused on the battles, Peak Mountain Emperor Lord secretly entered the Spirit Realm through its earth veins and attacked Gen Earth Sacred Peak.
• Peak Mountain Emperor Lord declared that he would take Gen Earth Dao Venerable’s head and attainment to advance as the first ancestor of the five elements, and Gen Earth struggled to resist.