Chapter 177: Purple Sky Divine Thunder

Above the mortal cultivation realm lies the Spirit Realm, and beyond that is the Immortal Realm.
Su Che knew very little about the Spirit Realm. He had only heard that even those at the Yuan Ying stage were not qualified to ascend to it—only those at the Hua Shen stage could.
However, Su Che believed he was still at the Zhu Ji stage, so concepts like the Spirit Realm were far too distant for him. They were merely things to be discussed or heard about; even if chaos erupted in the cultivation realm, it seemed unlikely to have much impact on him.
As long as it didn’t hinder his cultivation, it was fine.
By now, Zi Xiao had calmed down from his shock and murmured, “At first, it seems unbelievable, but upon closer thought, it makes some sense. With such a big stir this time, if it were orchestrated by some sect or faction in the cultivation realm, I really can’t believe it…”
Su Che tentatively suggested, “Grandmaster, it seems that the Tai Yi Sect was the first to start this chaos. Could it be that the Tai Yi Sect is secretly controlled by some powerful figure in the Spirit Realm?”
“Possible,” Zi Xiao nodded. “I wondered too—why would those two old devils, Tai Wu and Tai Hua, go berserk and commit massacres everywhere? It turns out…”
At this point, Zi Xiao warned seriously, “Su Che, aside from me, you must never mention this to anyone else. Everything must wait until we return to the sect, where the supreme leader will make a decision.”
“Yes, Grandmaster. I understand the stakes.”
Su Che nodded in agreement, confirming that Grandmaster Zi Xiao would not mention these matters to the elders of the Tai Yi Sect or any other sects. From now on, even if he knew, he had to pretend not to.
Zi Xiao glanced at the unconscious Yu Qing and reiterated, “Don’t mention Yu Qing either.”
Su Che nodded and pretended to be cautious as he asked, “Grandmaster, you’re not going to kill me to silence me, are you?”
Zi Xiao slapped his forehead and realized, “That’s a good idea. I wouldn’t have thought of it if you hadn’t mentioned it.”
Su Che laughed. Of course, he knew Grandmaster was just joking.
Perhaps because of Grandmaster Zi Xiao’s easy-going personality, Su Che felt he was like a peer, giving him the courage to joke with him.
After the joke, Su Che asked again, “Grandmaster, since I’ve uncovered such a conspiracy, does that count as meriting credit?”
“Sure!”
Zi Xiao glanced at him sideways. “What do you mean? Just say it plainly.”

“Since we’ve already made contributions, please make me and Senior Yu Qing official true disciples right away,” Su Che said bravely. “After all, it’s you who decides everything in this assessment. Moreover, my abilities and those of Senior Yu Qing are far greater than most true disciples.”
“You really have no shame!”
Zi Xiao sneered, but then changed his tone: “However, compared to me back then, you still fall short—your audacity isn’t enough! Actually, you should have made such a request as long as ago, when you offered that Ancient Town Mountain Talisman.”
“That day in the sect master’s hall, if you had taken the initiative to make such a request, and Xuan Ji had added a few words in your favor, it would likely have been settled on the spot…”
At that point, he knocked Su Che on the forehead again: “I hinted at it twice, but you remained indifferent. In the end, you even asked for a bunch of useless pills.”
The blow was quite hard, causing pain in Su Che’s forehead, but he wasn’t really regretful. After all, over three thousand pills of grade six or higher would be far more useful to him than the status of a true disciple.
It was just that Elder Zi Xiao didn’t know he could consume pills freely to aid his cultivation, which was why he described those pills as worthless.
Su Che definitely wouldn’t trade over three thousand high-grade pills for the status of a true disciple. No matter when or where, improving his cultivation was the top priority.
Though he thought this way, he couldn’t argue with Zi Xiao, nor could he ignore his kindness. So, after bowing respectfully in gratitude, Su Che said, “Grandmaster, Senior Yu Qing and I really pushed ourselves to the limit before successfully killing that Golden Pill cultivator. It was a life-or-death struggle…”
“Stop talking!”
Zi Xiao waved his hand and said with a sinister smile, “Consider it bad luck. This merit can only be rewarded privately—it can’t be made public. If it were, it wouldn’t be convincing. So, if you want to earn merits, you’ll need to complete other tasks.”
“Sigh!”
Su Che let out a long sigh, knowing full well that Grandmaster Zi Xiao was telling the truth. The matters related to the Spirit Realm he mentioned were too significant; if revealed, they would surely cause panic and fear among everyone.
“As for me personally, I can give you such a reward.”
Zi Xiao flipped his hand and took out two deep purple thunder beads.

Su Che certainly recognized it—it was the Purple Sky Divine Thunder he had personally crafted. Back in the Xiao Mi Immortal Realm, he had even used one to blow Asura to pieces. But its power seemed rather weak…
“Grandmaster, this thing can’t kill someone at the Golden Core stage.” Though he said that, Su Che still took the two thunder beads.
In Lao Hei’s words, don’t refuse something just because it’s free—get it first and worry later.
“You’ve used it before?” Zi Xiao asked with a strange expression.
“Mm.” Su Che nodded.
“How many bolts of lightning?”
“Ten.”
“That definitely won’t work.” Zi Xiao smiled. “Those are all defective products from my failed attempts at crafting. They’re just candies given to kids.”
“Oh?” Su Che perked up and asked, “Then what about these two?”
“One hundred bolts of Purple Lightning.” Zi Xiao raised a finger and gestured. “It can easily kill one or two at the early Golden Core stage. Of course, that’s assuming the opponent doesn’t have higher-grade defensive magic artifacts.”
The impact of magic artifacts was hard to predict, so no one dared make bold claims in such matters.
“One hundred Purple Sky Divine Thunders!” Su Che’s eyes sparkled. That was truly formidable! With it in hand, today’s battle would have been easily won.
However, this thing was meant for saving lives, so it certainly couldn’t be used recklessly.
“Grandmaster, are there any more?” Su Che, greedy as ever, asked shamelessly, “I’d like to buy a few more.”
“Buy?”
Zi Xiao glared. “Do you know how difficult it is to craft one of these? The success rate is less than one percent! That’s why those kids in the sect have so many defective ones to play with.”
“Grandmaster, don’t underestimate me.” Su Che said seriously. “I have money—I can afford ten or eight top-grade spirit stones.”
“You have top-grade spirit stones?”
Zi Xiao immediately became interested. “Show me.”
In this cultivation world where low-grade spirit stones were common, top-grade spirit stones had long become rare. Generally, they were only used as currency in transactions among Yuan Ying ancestors.
If Su Che could afford top-grade spirit stones, he indeed had the qualifications to trade with Zi Xiao.
Whoa!
To please him, Su Che brought out high-grade spirit stones related to lightning magic. Of course, they were the same ones he had taken from the underground temple in the Xiao Mi Immortal Realm.
There were ten in total—deep blue, deep purple, and light golden radiant crystals. Floating three feet above the ground, they stunned Zi Xiao: He didn’t expect this kid to be so talented!

“I’m sure that if we tear you to pieces, we’ll find even more spirit stones,” Zi Xiao said, narrowing his eyes.
“Same here.”
Su Che chuckled, feeling no fear at all. In human interactions, sometimes it comes down to intuition. Su Che was convinced that although Zi Xiao appeared to be the kind of carefree person, he was actually proud and haughty at heart. He might commit acts like killing and robbing, but only against opponents of his own level—never against his own sect’s “children.”
Within their sect, if Su Che respected someone the most, it was Venerable Xuanji; but the person he admired the most was Zi Xiao.
He had heard many rumors about Master Zi Xiao and always thought of him as a true hero—a man who faced life with ease, unafraid and unfazed by honor or disgrace…
Snap, snap, snap.
Zi Xiao took back three deep purple spirit stones and handed out three more Zi Xiao Divine Thunder Beads. “There are only these three left. I’ll take three spirit stones from you—this deal is good for you.”
“Okay!”
Su Che nodded with a smile, but he still didn’t put away the remaining seven spirit stones. This was a rare opportunity, and he wanted to buy more thunder beads as a means of protecting himself. So he said, “Master, these spirit stones are my deposit. When I return to the sect, please sell me more thunder beads.”
“Dream on!”
Zi Xiao waved his hand and sighed. “With such big events happening in the cultivation world, we old folks will be busy from now on. We won’t have time to craft these things.”
“Alright.” Su Che had no choice but to put away all the spirit stones.
After the transaction, Zi Xiao floated away, disappearing without a trace. Inside the hall, only Su Che and the unconscious Yu Qing remained.
Three more hours passed before Yu Qing finally woke up. Su Che briefly explained everything that needed to be said, without mentioning any secrets related to the Spirit Realm.
“These are the thunder beads given to us by Elder Zi Xiao. They contain a hundred Zi Xiao Divine Thunder strikes, enough to seriously injure a Golden Core cultivator.”
Su Che handed over the thunder bead meant for Yu Qing.
Yu Qing nodded calmly and took it readily.
“And then there are those items used to seal the fire…” Su Che dumped out a pile of items, all relics left behind by Golden Core cultivators who had sealed their fire.
Without hesitation, Yu Qing picked up the war hammer and said, “I don’t need anything else. Just give me this. I almost died from it—keep it as a memento.”
Although the Golden War Hammer was a precious artifact, Su Che didn’t care much about it. After all, in the end, he had gained the most.

In particular, the robe for sealing fire was an excellent spiritual artifact that could be used right away. Moreover, as a Golden Core cultivator, Fenghuo had many valuable items in his Qi Bag, including over a hundred thousand spirit stones. Su Che didn’t waste time with pleasantries; with a wave of his hand, he gathered all the miscellaneous items together.