Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations

Xiao Yao shattered a voice-projecting crystal. A voice that was deep like rolling thunder connected to the other side. “Is something up, Inferno Emperor?”

The voice belonged to the current leader of the Purple Clouds Sect, the Thunderclouds Holy Man.

Xiao Yan didn’t hide his actions from Tang Jun, Lei Lie and Lei Jie. Lei Lie immediately understood what was going on the moment he heard the Thunderclouds Holy Man’s voice.

The people that possessed the Nine Qi True Thunder Form were few and far between across history, and such a person closest to the current generation was a powerful cultivator from the Purple Clouds Sect who perished during the Middle Age.

This individual was formidable, and his talents were extraordinary. The Purple Clouds Sect was relatively glorious and impressive when he was alive, but he had passed away early under unfortunate circumstances and died when he was in the third-level immortal soul stage.

The information passed down through the generations in the Divine Lands about the various salient features and uses of the Nine Qi True Thunder Form were said to have originated from this Purple Clouds Sect ancestor.

The Purple Clouds Sect contained many secrets and techniques regarding this ancestor’s cultivation with the Nine Qi True Thunder Form. The Thunderclouds Holy Man, the Blue Pavilion Holy Man and the other great Purple Clouds Sect elders held Lei Jie in high regard partially because of this.

Lei Jie would have had many conveniences if he continued his path of cultivation inside the Purple Clouds Sect.

However, the Great Zhou Empire were wealthier, and they were a lot more influential and powerful. The Celestial Sect of Wonders weren’t as powerful back then as they were today, so even though the Purple Clouds Sect was close to the Celestial Sect of Wonders, they weren’t as attractive as the Great Zhou Empire.

When the Lei Family leaned towards the Great Qin Empire and they were communicating with the Great Zhou Empire in secret, the Celestial Set of Wonders had yet to appear in the Divine Lands.

Even though the Purple Clouds Sect’s ancestor with the Nine Qi True Thunder Form had passed away some time ago, he wasn’t killed on the spot. Instead, he was heinously injured and returned to the mountain but his wounds never healed and eventually took his life.

He was gone, but the Nine Qi Thundergod’s Body that he had created after reaching the immortal soul stage was preserved and those remains had been kept at the Purple Clouds Sect ever since. It was located at the Purple Clouds Peak inside Mount Thunder and had been anchoring down their mountain gate up till today.

The Nine Qi Thundergod’s Body wasn’t like an actual avatar and neither was it a proper spell body. It wasn’t really an external entity either, and was considered something in between while maintaining an intimate connection with its original owner.

Xiao Yan and the Thunderclouds Holy Man exchanged formalities through their voice-projecting crystal before he immediately posted his question. “I have a question, Thunderclouds Holy Man, and that is the reason for my message. Please forgive me if I am causing you any inconvenience or if I offend you.”

“The ancestor from your sect with the Nine Qi True Thunder Form – are the remains of the Nine Qi Thundergod’s Body still intact?”

The Thunderclouds Holy Man’s voice sounded conspicuously astonished as he heard Xiao Yan’s question, and he replied, “Yes, it has always been intact. Why do you ask?”

Xiao Yan took a deep breath and said, “Please go take a look and check.”

He paused momentarily before he continued, “I have discovered someone who possesses the blood essence from the remains of a powerful cultivator with the Nine Qi True Thunder Form, but I’m not sure where it’s from.”

The Thunderclouds Holy Man grew silent and deliberated for a while before he answered, “Please hold on, Inferno Emperor. I will personally go and check.”

Xiao Yan said, “Thank you, Thunderclouds Holy Man.” He waited patiently after the sentence while Lei Lie and the others said nothing. Tang Jun’s expression was as calm as ever, but Lei Jie’s face became a shader darker.

Inside the Divine Thunder Pavilion on top of Purple Clouds Peak inside Mount Thunder, where the Purple Clouds Sect’s mountain gate was located and away from everybody’s vision, a terrifying streak of lightning suddenly surged into the sky.

Drumming sounds shook the heavens after a slight delay and made the thunderclouds above the peak tremble.

Heaven and earth and all the void space in between shuddered continuously with the constant booming sounds, and a tiny world seemed to be destroyed with every boom.

The elders from the Purple Clouds Sect, let alone the younger generation of disciples, were stricken with shock. Those drumming sounds were clearly from the Purple Clouds Sect’s Mahayana-level magic treasure, the Nine Paths Lightning Drum.

Lightning bolts permeated the skies above the Divine Thunder Pavilion in between the deafening booms. They expanded continuously and enveloped the entire Purple Clouds Peak in an instant.

The thunderclouds in the sky grew denser as strike after strike of purple lightning rained down and integrated with the streaks of lightning enveloping the Purple Clouds Peak. All these lightning streaks and bolts came together to form an enormous magic formation pattern that expanded in all directions, and eventually grew so large that it covered almost the entire Mount Thunder mountain range.

There was only lightning left between heaven and earth and all other things were ground to dust.

“We are being invaded by a powerful foe?!” The group of Purple Clouds Sect cultivators were shell-shocked. The scene before their eyes was clearly directed by their sect leader, the Thunderclouds Holy Man, who was using the Nine Paths Lightning Drum to channel the Nine Heavens Divine Clouds Thunder Emperor Douzhuan Formation to the highest possible level.

The lightning streaks quickly dissipated, and the magic formation returned to a state of silence. The thunderous booming sounds gradually faded away and there was not a single enemy in sight.

What just transpired baffled the Purple Clouds Sect cultivators and nobody knew what was going on.

Inside the Divine Thunders Pavilion atop the Purple Clouds Peak, the Thunderclouds Holy Man, the Blue Pavilion Holy Man and the other supreme elders from the Purple Clouds sect stood together with black expressions on their faces. An intimidating elderly man stood in the midst of them all, and the hair on his head were all purple-green and he had a dense aura. It was the Nine Paths Lightning Drum’s original soul.

This purple-haired elderly man’s hair was on edge and an infuriated look flashed across his face.

The Thunderclouds Holy Man took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself down before he reestablished a connection with Xiao Yan. He didn’t attempt to hide anything as he lowered his voice and said, “Our ancestor’s remains are intact, but somebody has tainted it before. Somebody has stolen part of our ancestor’s blood essence.”

The Thunderclouds Holy Man’s expression grew ever so sullen as he spoke.

He had no idea about this, and this person’s methods were so extremely intelligent and esoteric. He had gone to great lengths to cover his own tracks, and even after Xiao Yan’s reminder, he couldn’t really discern the changes contained within. He had to ask the Nine Paths Lightning Drum and he had to channel the Clouds Thunder Emperor Douzhuan Formation to the highest possible level and he searched meticulously before he discovered what was wrong.

If Xiao Yan hadn’t reminded him specifically, he probably wouldn’t have realized that something was amiss even if he used the magic formation under typical circumstances to fight off invaders.

Such an event was a great source of embarrassment for the Thunderclouds Holy Man and the rest of the Purple Clouds Sect.

This was simply too humiliating and the Thunderclouds Holy Man, the Blue Pavilion Holy Man and the others wanted to deny that it had ever happened to prevent this piece of news from spreading. They studied their ancestor’s remains fastidiously and discovered what was wrong with it, but they had no idea who did it. Xiao Yan seemed to know something, and they admitted everything honestly in order to obtain information so that they could seek vengeance upon the perpetrator.

“Do you have any clues, Inferno Emperor? Do you know who did this?” The Thunderclouds Holy Man lowered his voice and asked.

Even though there was no way he could be sure that the blood essence Tang Wenhua had used in his ritual belonged to the ancestor from the Purple Clouds Sect, Xiao Yan had a hunch and he was positive that this was the case.

He answered, “Our clues are still vague and obscure. I will explain to everyone later.”

The Thunderclouds Holy Man heaved a sigh of defeat after a long moment and exclaimed, “We have disgraced our ancestor! We have et him down!”

He severed the voice-projection connection and Xiao Yan turned back towards Lei Lie and Lei Jie. Lei Lie sighed and said, “I promise you that we will keep this between ourselves.

Lei Jie nodded his head with a complicated expression in his eyes.

Xiao Yan said, “This Tang Wenhua that we saw was probably actually in the nascent soul stage and what we saw wasn’t a form of deception. However, the person that I just encountered through void space was far more powerful than a nascent soul stage cultivator, and that should be his original body. The Tang Wenhua that was saw was probably just an avatar, but the clues that we could have picked up to discover his whereabouts had been cut off.”

“However, his movements and whatnot are becoming clearer. We cannot make a conclusion about his true identity and his ultimate goal, and we can only know that by finding him in person.”

Lei Lie turned towards Lei Jie. Lei Jie met his gaze and his lips pressed tightly together. “Grandfather – I am fine.”

He heaved a heavy sigh into the sky and turned towards Tang Jun. “Let’s do it today. You don’t have to repress your mastery. It’s your destiny to be where you are today, and my mastery is also a result of my own fate. A fight under such a circumstance is fair!”

Tang Jun nodded his head and muttered, “As you wish.”

Lei Lie glanced at both Tang Jun and Lei Jie as he sighed in similar fashion. He waved his sleeves and sent them both to the Lei Family’s battle arena.

He turned towards Xiao Yan and said, “We…”

Xiao Yan shook his head. “We can just wait here.”

Victory would be determined very quickly.

A single person sauntered out while the other remained inside forever.

When Xiao Yan reported his findings and everything related to Tang Wenhua to Lin Feng, Lin Feng didn’t really have a reaction. “He must know that this day would come when he did those things all those years ago. You can handle this however you wish. You might also want to investigate the origins of the Fire Lord Body’s blood essence and see if you can find any clues.”

Xiao Yan replied, “Yes, master.”

He severed his connection with Xiao Yan and began to contemplate. “Tang Wenhua… interesting. There are truly many hidden tigers in the world. Even if his mastery and his abilities are not at the highest possible level, he has still found the opportunity to innovate and improvise.”

“Since we already know the reasons for what you did and the intricacies within, it’s a lot easier for us to find you even though it may be a shot in the dark. However, it seems as if you already know this and perhaps you will keep an even lower profile from now on to avoid taking a wrong turn. In the end, you revealed yourself today and we have latched onto you.”

Lin Feng chuckled and shook his head. “This is nothing of importance for me. It doesn’t matter if I have to keep waiting – but how long can you hold out?”

He shelved this issue to the back of his head and he turned towards Zhu Yi beside him. “Have you obtained the items?”

Zhu Yi answered, “Just as Shao Dongtian said those years ago, the Emerald Cloud Stone and the Universal Azure Crystal are both with Shao Qingcheng. My Great Sun Avatar has captured her. and I am now in possession of these items.”

Lin Feng nodded his head. “Pass them on to Chu Yang. These items should have belonged to him, and now that the Great Zhou Empire saga has finally concluded, you can carry on with your plans to open an academy of classical learning.”

A faint smile came over Zhu Yi’s face as he heard Lin Feng’s words and said, “Yes, master.”

He paid his respects to Lin Feng before Zhu Yi departed Mount Yujing once more and traveled due east. He arrived in the Great Zhou Empire’s territory and descended into the Great Zhou Empire’s Tianjing City.

He met up with the Great Zhou Empire’s new emperor, Liang Gan, before he spoke to Chu Yang. Chu Yang wasn’t surprised by his visit to the Great Zhou Empire’s Tianjing City, but he was a little baffled as to the reason why Zhu Yi would seek him out.

Zhu Yi extended his palms and two rays of light hovered in midair. One was an emerald stone that seemed to encompass the endless heavens, while the other was a black crystal with specks of azure light flickering within, much like green stars sparkling in the silent night sky.

Chu Yang’s eyes glowed when he saw these items and exclaimed, “The Emerald Cloud Stone and the Universal Azure Crystal?!”