Chapter Summaries

Gu He found Zi Yan in the academy’s medicinal corridor and won her over by refining a delicious pill from medicinal ingredients. After Zi Yan agreed to become his disciple, Gu He gathered all the ingredients from the corridor, and they prepared to leave.

• Gu He followed his soul-sense to a corridor and encountered Zi Yan, who dropped a golden fruit when he appeared beside her.
• Gu He returned the fruit to Zi Yan and learned she ate medicinal ingredients for the energy they contained.
• Gu He refined a pill for Zi Yan, and she eagerly ate it and asked him to make more.
• Gu He promised his disciples could eat such pills daily, and Zi Yan asked to become his disciple.
• Zi Yan gave her name and accepted Gu He as her master, then took several medicinal ingredients from the jade dishes.
• Gu He used his power to collect all the medicinal ingredients from the corridor into his Storage Ring.

Gu He accepted Zi Yan as his fifth disciple and brought her to his courtyard, where he laid out rules that promised gifts and rewards while giving her considerable freedom. Zi Yan was left surprised by how little he intended to restrict her.

• Gu He and Zi Yan left the herb repository after passing through its energy barrier without using Su Qian's jade token.
• Gu He introduced Zi Yan as his final disciple to Elder Huo and Elder Hao, who warned him that she was unruly.
• Elder Huo guided Gu He and Zi Yan to Gu He's courtyard after they said their farewells.
• Gu He inspected Zi Yan's attributes and confirmed her Ancient Void Dragon Clan race and mid Stage Four level.
• Gu He told Zi Yan that she had to accept three gifts, could earn generous rewards, and was free to do as she wished as long as she did not betray the sect.
• Zi Yan asked whether Gu He had any other requirements, then hurriedly denied wanting more rules when he teased her.

Gu He gave Zi Yan a power transfer that raised her cultivation from mid Tier Four to high Tier Five, then presented her with a Yin Yang Profound Dragon Pill. Zi Yan recognized something familiar in the pill’s dragon aura, while Gu He decided not to absorb the cultivation reward he received until he could do so safely.

• Gu He sealed the courtyard’s space and transferred cultivation power to Zi Yan as her first gift.
• Zi Yan advanced from mid Tier Four to high Tier Five before telling Gu He she could endure no more.
• Gu He received a system reward of twenty-four years of cultivation but withheld it because absorbing it in the Inner Academy would create noticeable fluctuations.
• Zi Yan grew purple Dou Qi wings and celebrated her ability to fly.
• Gu He gave Zi Yan a Yin Yang Profound Dragon Pill, whose dragon aura felt familiar to her.

Gu He gave Zi Yan the Yin Yang Profound Dragon Pill and taught her a powerful Dou Technique, while the system rewarded him with two higher-grade treasures. The chapter left Zi Yan lamenting how long it would take her to advance from the peak of the fifth tier to the sixth.

• Gu He explained that the Yin Yang Profound Dragon Pill could rebuild its user after destruction, and Zi Yan swallowed it, absorbing its dragon aura without an immediate reaction.
• Gu He received the Ninth-Grade Treasure Pill, the Nine-Colored Profound Fate Pill, as a system reward and decided to save it for Yun Yun.
• Gu He used the Empowerment Divine Ability to teach Zi Yan the low-tier Earth Grade Dou Technique Aurora Palm, earning the Heavenly Grade Low-Tier Dou Technique Heavenly Profound Palm in return.
• Zi Yan thanked Gu He and became more respectful toward him after receiving his gifts.
• Gu He promised Zi Yan another reward when she broke through, and Zi Yan tearfully worried that reaching the sixth tier would take too long.

Gu He refined large batches of pills for Zi Yan and spent six days using up a fifth of the Inner Academy's medicinal reserves. He offered half of the pills he had made to the academy, leaving Su Qian relieved about the cost of supporting him.

• Gu He promised Zi Yan that he would refine more tasty pills for her, and she stopped pretending to cry.
• Gu He used the Dragon Soul Cauldron and Purple Flame to make dozens of Spirit Medicine Pills for Zi Yan, who eagerly ate them.
• Gu He removed the barrier over the courtyard and continued refining pills there for five days, drawing the Inner Academy's attention.
• Su Qian visited Gu He's courtyard on the sixth day and saw him finishing another batch of pills while Zi Yan ate one.
• Gu He told Su Qian he had used all the medicinal ingredients he had taken, then offered half of the refined pills to the academy.
• Su Qian accepted Gu He's offer with relief and urged him to rest from the strain of refining pills.

Gu He fused twenty-four years of cultivation in seclusion and advanced to Two-star Dou Zun. After learning Zi Yan had outgrown the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower, he devised a plan to have his Soul Avatar steal the Fallen Heart Flame.

• Gu He gave Su Qian half of the refined pills, and Su Qian urged him to take care of Zi Yan, his new disciple.
• After Su Qian left, Gu He told Zi Yan he was going out and headed into the mountains to cultivate in seclusion.
• Gu He fused twenty-four years of cultivation and broke through to Two-star Dou Zun.
• Gu He returned to the Inner Academy and learned that Zi Yan no longer benefited from the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower because she had reached the peak of the fifth rank.
• Gu He decided that his Soul Avatar, disguised as a Soul Hall Protector, could steal the Fallen Heart Flame in his place.

Gu He entered the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower to inspect its interior and discovered that its central abyss concealed a powerful presence. As the temperature rose and an ancient aura surged from the depths, the chapter ended with something beginning to emerge.

• Gu He flew to the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower, where students recognized him as the famed alchemist from the Jia Ma Empire.
• Ling Feng told the students he had once met Gu He, then reluctantly accepted their ingredients and agreed to ask Gu He to refine pills.
• Gu He entered the tower and met Elder Liu, who offered to show him around before leaving him to explore alone.
• Gu He reached the tower's central abyss and used his unusual vision to perceive distorted space and a source of intense heat below.
• A shrill hiss rang out as the abyss brightened, its temperature soared, and an ancient aura burst upward from its depths.

Gu He witnessed the Formless Fire Python, the intelligent spirit of Fallen Heart Flame, attack the spatial cage sealing the abyss before retreating. After leaving the tower’s central area with Elder Liu, Gu He encountered a silver-haired young woman whose identity he recognized.

• A huge Formless Fire Python emerged from the abyss and battered the spatial cage, but it failed to break through and returned to the darkness.
• Gu He sensed that the Fire Python was Fallen Heart Flame’s intelligent spirit and concealed his true understanding from Elder Liu.
• Elder Liu explained that the beast had been causing trouble for years and worried that the Headmaster’s seal might not hold.
• Gu He assured Elder Liu he would not report their unauthorized visit, then declined to explore farther down the tower.
• Gu He and Elder Liu reached the entrance to the second floor, where a silver-haired young woman appeared and Gu He guessed who she was.

Gu He set the conditions for accepting Han Yue as his disciple, then secretly triggered the Fallen Heart Flame beneath the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower. The Formless Fire Python broke loose and attacked the tower, leaving the Inner Academy elders facing the Headmaster’s final seal.

• Han Yue asked Gu He to accept her as a disciple, and he required her to advance by one star within a month.
• Gu He returned to his courtyard, then secretly appeared beneath the tower and prepared the hidden seal and magma for his plan.
• The next day, Gu He sensed his avatar approaching, instructed Zi Yan, and vanished into his room.
• The magma beneath the tower churned, forcing the Inner Academy to evacuate the students as the Formless Fire Python emerged.
• The Formless Fire Python attacked Su Qian’s seals, breaking them and sending a column of magma into the tower tip.
• The Headmaster’s thin dark barrier stopped the magma column, though the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower shook violently.

The Formless Fire Python weakened the seal on the Fallen Heart Flame as Su Qian prepared to use the Headmaster’s formation. A powerful Soul Hall intruder arrived to seize the Heavenly Flame, drove Su Qian back, and the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower exploded as magma erupted.

• The Formless Fire Python spewed invisible flames at the dark energy membrane, burning it until it was close to collapse.
• Su Qian ordered the students to retreat and said the elders would have to rely on the Headmaster’s great formation.
• A Soul Hall shadow arrived in dark clouds and revealed that it had come to seize the Heavenly Flame.
• Su Qian fought the intruder’s black chains, but the shadow’s attack overwhelmed him and forced him to retreat.
• The Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower exploded, and a scorching pillar of magma burst forth.

The Formless Fire Python broke free from the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower and attacked the Inner Academy while Su Qian and the elders tried to protect the students. As the elders struggled to stop it, Jia Nan Academy’s Guardians appeared and rescued Gu He from a flame pillar.

• Black Robe stopped attacking Su Qian after the Formless Fire Python escaped, while Su Qian realized he could no longer organize a formation to reseal it.
• The Formless Fire Python struck the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower, then turned toward the Inner Academy students, prompting Su Qian to order their evacuation.
• Su Qian, Gu He, and the other elders attacked the python and briefly knocked it back, buying time for the students to flee.
• The python fired invisible flame pillars at the elders, and two gray-robed figures pulled Gu He out of the path of a second blast.
• Su Qian identified the two figures as Jia Nan Academy’s Guardians, who only acted when the academy faced a crisis of life and death.

Gu He, the two gray-robed elders, and Black Robe fought the Formless Fire Python at Jia Nan Academy, but it escaped into the mountains with Black Robe in pursuit. Gu He intercepted the beast there and met its flames with his Purple Flame.

• Gu He thanked the two gray-robed elders for rescuing him, and Su Qian led the academy elders to reform the Thousand-Layer Sealing Formation.
• Black Robe blasted the Formless Fire Python, severely wounding it and damaging much of the Inner Academy.
• The Formless Fire Python fled into the mountains while Black Robe delayed the two gray-robed elders and then pursued it.
• The gray-robed elder stopped Su Qian from forming the formation and ordered the academy to check for casualties and rebuild.
• Gu He emerged from a spatial rift to block the Formless Fire Python, then clashed with its flames using his Purple Flame.

Gu He defeated the Formless Fire Python by locating and striking Fallen Heart Flame's source, then captured the flame's true body and left. Back at Jia Nan Academy, Su Qian discussed the attack and the Soul Hall's destruction of several Black Corner Region factions with Guardians Bai Lie and Qian Mu.

• Gu He used his vision to find Fallen Heart Flame's source and pierced it twice with a Purple Flame spear, making the Formless Fire Python vanish.
• Gu He seized Fallen Heart Flame's true body with a hand of Purple Flame and left without refining it.
• Bai Lie and Qian Mu arrived after Gu He had departed, found signs of battle, and returned to Jia Nan Academy.
• Su Qian rebuked Bai Lie and Qian Mu for neglecting the academy, and they discussed the absent headmaster and their plans to enter seclusion.
• Su Qian told Bai Lie and Qian Mu that the Soul Hall had wiped out several major Black Corner Region factions, including Earth Demon Ancestor's, leaving them concerned about Jia Nan Academy's safety.

After returning to Jia Nan Academy, Gu He reunited with Zi Yan and attended a meeting about the aftermath of the Fallen Heart Flame’s escape. He returned to his courtyard and urged Zi Yan to compete for first place, while the Fallen Heart Flame quietly tempered his body from within.

• Zi Yan mourned Gu He beside the crater until he appeared, and she happily discovered that he was alive.
• An academy elder summoned Gu He to the council hall, where Su Qian and the other elders discussed rebuilding and replacing the Strong Ranking rewards after the Fallen Heart Flame escaped.
• Su Qian introduced Gu He to Elder Qian and Bai, and the leaders reassured him that Jia Nan Academy was safe from the Soul Hall.
• Gu He returned to his courtyard and told Zi Yan she would receive no more Spirit Medicine Pills unless she won first place.
• Gu He sealed himself in his room as the Fallen Heart Flame rested in his heart and tempered his body.

The Inner Academy held its Strong Ranking tournament, drawing its top contestants together as Zi Yan arrived and challenged them to face her all at once. The tournament was about to begin, with the contestants reacting uneasily to her provocation.

• Jia Nan Academy restored the Inner Academy within three days, and on the fifth day crowds gathered for the Strong Ranking tournament.
• Lin Xiuyai, Liu Qing, Han Yue, Yan Hao, and other contestants assembled as they anticipated the tournament and its improved rewards.
• Su Qian announced the competition, and the Strong Ranking contestants entered the arena.
• Zi Yan arrived while chewing Spirit Medicine Pills, and many contestants showed fear when they recognized the student ranked first.
• As the contestants began drawing lots, Zi Yan told Su Qian that everyone should come at her together so she could finish quickly.

Zi Yan challenged all the Strong Ranking experts at once, and Su Qian allowed it under conditions that she take no lives and receive no reward if she lost. She revealed her Dou Wang strength and began overwhelming the challengers, leaving the tournament in chaos.

• Su Qian agreed to Zi Yan's challenge after requiring her to spare lives and forfeit any reward if she failed.
• Lin Xiuyai, Liu Qing, and the other Strong Ranking experts prepared to attack Zi Yan together, while Han Yue stayed out of the fight.
• Zi Yan cracked the arena floor with a stomp and sent several weaker students flying using only her physical strength.
• Zi Yan revealed her Dou Qi wings, dodged the coordinated attacks, and knocked Lin Xiuyai out of the fight with one punch.
• Liu Qing dropped his spear and covered his face, but Zi Yan flicked his forehead and raised a lump on it.

Zi Yan won the Strong Ranking Tournament’s first place after the other contestants surrendered, and the elders delayed the remaining matches because she had injured several competitors. Days later, Han Yue and Yan Hao fought for second place, with Yan Hao activating his Rock Dou Qi to counter his injuries as the battle continued.

• Zi Yan sent the contestants around her flying, prompting Han Yue and the others to concede, then asked Su Qian about the first-place reward.
• The elders revealed that Gu He had drawn the task of preparing the reward for first place, which went to his disciple Zi Yan, and postponed the remaining tournament matches.
• Lin Xiuyai and Liu Qing withdrew before the finals because of their injuries, leaving Han Yue and Yan Hao to compete for second place.
• Han Yue attacked Yan Hao with icy Dou Qi, and he blocked her first strike with his hammer but was caught by her follow-up attack to his feet.
• Yan Hao struck the ground with his hammer and forced Han Yue to evade the resulting earth energy, then hardened his body with Rock Dou Qi.

Han Yue defeated Yan Hao and was announced as the Strong Ranking Tournament’s runner-up. Before the elders could announce the rewards, Gu He’s pill refinement triggered a lightning tribulation, which Elder Qian and Bai Lie intercepted.

• Han Yue slowed Yan Hao with frost energy until he conceded the match.
• An elder announced Han Yue as the second-place finisher of the Strong Ranking Tournament.
• Pill lightning gathered over the Inner Academy, and Su Qian identified Gu He as its source.
• Su Qian offered to protect Gu He, but Elder Qian and Bai Lie arrived and took on the lightning.
• Elder Qian and Bai Lie destroyed the lightning bolts as they descended and celebrated the emergence of another Seventh-Grade Alchemist in the Inner Academy.

After refining a Seventh-Grade Pill, Gu He learned that Zi Yan had won the Strong Ranking Tournament and gave her the pill as her reward. The award ceremony ended with Han Yue receiving a Sixth-Grade Pill and the injured Lin Xiuyai collecting a First-Grade Pill.

• Gu He finished refining a Seventh-Grade Pill and learned from Su Qian that Zi Yan had taken first place in the Strong Ranking.
• Gu He gave Zi Yan the Seventh-Grade Pill during the award ceremony, while Han Yue received a Sixth-Grade Pill from Su Qian.
• Han Yue reminded Gu He of their agreement that he would accept her as a disciple if she broke through one star within a month.
• Hu Gan and several other elders urged Gu He to accept their grandchildren as disciples, but Gu He politely declined to make any promises.
• The official announced the remaining rewards, and the injured Lin Xiuyai felt around for his First-Grade Pill while pretending to be unconscious.

Gu He sent his one-star Dou Zun avatar into the magma beneath the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower to search for the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion, but powerful Flame Lizard Tribe creatures destroyed it. Back in the Inner Academy, Han Yue returned after completing her task and Gu He agreed to take her as his disciple.

• Gu He descended into the magma world and avoided Fire Poison and Flame Lizardmen as he searched for the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion.
• A nine-star Dou Zong Flame Lizardman attacked Gu He, who escaped using a spatial technique.
• Gu He reappeared before three enormous creatures, and one of them destroyed his avatar instantly.
• Gu He returned to his senses in the Inner Academy and worried that finding the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion would be difficult.
• Han Yue told Gu He she had advanced from a six-star Dou Ling to a seven-star Dou Ling and asked to become his disciple, and Gu He agreed.