Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan and his companions passed the Pill Tower’s Seventh Grade Intermediate assessment, and Xiao Yan learned that powerful factions were gathering for a Trading Fair. After Tang Zhen brought him a Prosperous Fire and invited him to attend, Xiao Yan joined him at the fair, where attendees were divided among three floors according to rank and status.

• Xiao Yan, Gu He, and the Dou Zun expert passed the Seventh Grade Intermediate assessment and received their badges.
• Han Li warned Xiao Yan that powerful factions interested in the Prosperous Fire might seek him out, and Xiao Yan thanked him with a Seventh Grade Pill Recipe.
• Tang Zhen visited Xiao Yan, gave him a Prosperous Fire, and explained that the Gu Clan’s Gu Zhen wanted to meet him at the Trading Fair.
• Xiao Yan agreed to attend the Trading Fair with Tang Zhen, and three days later they arrived at the pavilion divided into three areas for attendees of different ranks and status.

At the Gu Clan’s Trading Fair, Xiao Yan recognized Gu Xun’er despite her disguise and learned the Soul Hall planned to capture Venerable Yao. He left to pursue the Ninth Heavenly Venerates, while Gu Xun’er received his message about the Nether Flame Demon Saint’s Inheritance.

• Xiao Yan and Tang Zhen entered the Trading Fair’s top floor, where Gu Zhen displayed Gu Clan techniques in exchange for merit against the Soul Hall.
• Xiao Yan spoke with Gu Xun’er, whom he recognized despite her using the name Gu Yao, and questioned the quality of the techniques on offer.
• Gu Xun’er revealed that the Soul Hall planned to send powerful Ninth Heavenly Venerates to capture Venerable Yao.
• Xiao Yan sent a message with a Flame Mark and said he intended to hunt the Heavenly Venerates for high-level techniques, then left with Tang Zhen.
• After Xiao Yan departed, Gu Xun’er read his message about discovering the Nether Flame Demon Saint’s Inheritance and left the pavilion.

Xiao Yan shared the Heaven Refining Ancient Array and the location of Tou She Ancient God's inheritance with Gu Xun'er, who gave him two Dou Techniques in return. Gu Xun'er left to prepare against Soul Hall, while reflecting that Xiao Yan already had two wives.

• Xiao Yan returned to the Ye Family residence and found Gu Xun'er talking with Xiao Yi Xian.
• Xiao Yan shared the Heaven Refining Ancient Array with Gu Xun'er, and she gave him the final three seals of the Emperor Seal Art and Limitless Void Shattering Body.
• Xiao Yan told Gu Xun'er that Tou She Ancient God's inheritance lay beneath Jia Nan Academy's Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower and explained that a complete Tou She Ancient God Jade was needed to open it.
• Gu Xun'er said she would wait until she reached Peak of Nine-Star Dou Sheng before telling the Gu Clan about the inheritance, and she declared that she would strive to become a Dou Emperor.
• Gu Xun'er told Xiao Yan that the Gu Clan had sent an Advanced Half-Saint to Ye City with a Space Jade Slip, then left to prepare against Soul Hall.
• After leaving, Gu Xun'er looked back at the Ye Family residence and murmured that it was a pity Xiao Yan already had two wives.

Xiao Yan attended the Five Great Families assessment with the Ye Family, whose standing depended on passing. Cao Ying opened the contest by revealing a Soul Value of 1976, leaving the other assessors to respond.

• Xiao Yan asked Tang Zhen to send Old Ancestor Huoyun to Ye City as extra protection before the assessment.
• Xiao Yan and the Ye Family entered the assessment hall, where he saw Gu Xun'er, the Dan Family's young alchemist, and Cao Ying.
• Xuan Kongzi began the assessment and explained that a Soul Value of at least 400 was required to pass.
• Cao Ying volunteered to go first and channeled her Soul Power into the stone monument.
• The Mirror Disk displayed Cao Ying's Soul Value of 1976, more than double her previous record.

Xiao Yan overwhelmed Cao Ying and Dan Chen in the Soul Value test, then dominated the Soul Power control test as well. The chapter ended with Xiao Yan catching 685 Soul Testing Beads, nearly twice Cao Ying’s score.

• Cao Ying scored well in the Soul Value test, but Dan Chen gathered surrounding Soul Power and scored 2097.
• Xiao Yan scored 4073, matching Cao Ying and Dan Chen’s results combined, and Xuan Kongzi ranked him first.
• Xuan Kongzi explained the Soul Power control test, in which contestants caught falling Soul Testing Beads using only Soul Power.
• Xiao Yan caught the falling beads with an invisible dragon while Cao Ying and Dan Chen struggled to keep theirs aloft.
• Dan Chen gave up with 321 beads, Cao Ying followed with 364, and Xiao Yan revealed a total of 685.

Xiao Yan dominated the first two tests and faced the other four contestants in the final soul-power arena. He effortlessly thwarted their attacks, including Cao Ying’s Soul Profound Seal Palm, leaving her without a way to challenge him.

• Xuan Kongzi awarded Xiao Yan first place in the Soul Testing Bead test and explained that the final test would be a soul-power battle inside a circle.
• Xiao Yan entered the arena as the other four contestants grouped together against him, and he warned the two seventh-grade Alchemists that they might be injured.
• The four contestants attacked Xiao Yan with Soul Power, but their assault vanished as soon as it reached him.
• Cao Ying formed a soul phoenix and sent it at Xiao Yan, but he destroyed it effortlessly; Dan Chen then tried to devour his Soul Power and failed.
• Cao Ying attempted to condense her Soul Profound Seal Palm while the others distracted Xiao Yan, but he repeatedly destroyed the forming seal.
• Cao Ying finally launched the completed hand seal, and Xiao Yan shattered it with Soul Power erupting from between his brows.

Xiao Yan secured first place for the Ye Family in the assessment and made a deal with Xuan Kongzi to give the Pill Tower the Nong Yan Jue in exchange for a Pill Beast. He planned to use the arrangement to expand Prosperous Fire’s reach and improve its quality.

• Xiao Yan demonstrated his control of Soul Power and Fallen Heart Flame, then Xuan Kongzi declared the Ye Family the assessment’s first-place winner.
• Xiao Yan and Tang Zhen agreed that outsiders seeking Soul Devouring Fire would buy Prosperous Fire through the Ye Family.
• A few days before the Pill Gathering, Sheng Elder summoned Xiao Yan to the Pill Tower, where Xuan Kongzi asked to purchase the Nong Yan Jue.
• Xiao Yan gave Xuan Kongzi the Nong Yan Jue, and Xuan Kongzi gave him a Pill Beast originally prepared for refining Three Thousand Burning Flame.
• Xiao Yan planned to use the Pill Tower’s distribution of Prosperous Fire to attract more customers and eventually improve the flame with the Green Lotus Core Flame Sacred Altar.

Xuan Kongzi explained that Soul Hall planned to seize or unleash Three Thousand Burning Flame, and Xiao Yan proposed devouring it himself after winning the Pill Gathering. Xiao Yan then urged the Pill Tower to ally with the Gu Clan and hire Peak Dou Zun experts to protect the alchemists in the Pill Realm.

• Cao Ying, Dan Chen, and Song Qing entered, and Song Qing criticized Xiao Yan for humiliating Cao Ying during the Five Great Families' assessment.
• Xuan Kongzi revealed that Soul Hall and the Gu Clan would attend the Pill Gathering because of Three Thousand Burning Flame, which threatened to break free of its weakening seal.
• Xiao Yan showed Emperor Flame and offered to devour Three Thousand Burning Flame, so Xuan Kongzi agreed to let him claim it after he won the Pill Gathering and promised Prosperous Fire to the remaining top ten.
• Xuan Kongzi ordered Cao Ying, Dan Chen, and Song Qing to keep the decision secret.
• Xiao Yan proposed joining forces with the Gu Clan to eliminate Soul Hall's people in the Pill Realm, then offered his Seven-Colored Pill Lightning Pill as a reward for Peak Dou Zun experts.
• Xuan Kongzi agreed to contact Peak Dou Zun experts who might accept Xiao Yan's command in exchange for the pill.

Xiao Yan learned about the Kong Xuan Sect’s support and the Pill Gathering’s trials before entering the Illusory Realm Space. He overcame its illusions and reunited with Xiao Yi Xian at the exit, leaving them together as the contestants prepared to continue.

• Xuan Kongzi introduced Xiao Yan to Void Venerate, who accepted Xiao Yan’s Seven-Colored Pill Lightning Pill and recognized his potential to help the Kong Xuan Sect.
• Xuan Kongzi announced the Pill Gathering’s process and rewards, then opened the competition as the alchemists entered the Illusory Realm Space.
• Xiao Yan used his Soul Power to navigate the space’s folds and blocked paths, then stopped before an illusion of a bustling city and reflected on his past life and the people affected by his actions.
• Xiao Yan left the city illusion behind and continued through the Illusory Realm Space until he reached its exit and emerged at a spatial resting point.
• Xiao Yi Xian anxiously asked why Xiao Yan had taken so long, and he pulled her into an embrace as she leaned against him.

Xiao Yan entered the Pill Realm with Zi Yan and Xiao Yi Xian, then headed for the Myriad Medicine Mountain Range while Void Venerate targeted a Soul Hall infiltrator. There, Xiao Yan recruited the powerful Ancient Dragon Bear Xiong Zhan, who eagerly agreed to follow him.

• The examiner explained the ten-day herb-gathering trial and gave each candidate a Space Stone, map, and herb list before they entered the Pill Realm.
• Xiao Yan used two Space Jade Slips to bring in Void Venerate and Zi Yan, assigning Void Venerate to watch Gu He and planning to join Zi Yan in dealing with the Soul Hall.
• Zi Yan returned with Earth Core Jade Mother and Thousand Year Earth Yellow Essence while Xiao Yan refined a Primal Qi Augmentation Pill for her.
• At the Myriad Medicine Mountain Range, Xiao Yan saw Void Venerate and a Gu Clan expert fighting the Soul Hall's Third Heavenly Venerate, then chose not to join the battle.
• Xiao Yan encountered Xiong Zhan, the mountain range's Eighth Rank Ancient Dragon Bear, and offered to nurture him into a Supreme Dragon Bear; Xiong Zhan agreed to follow Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan processed Xiong Zhan’s medicinal herbs, blended Earth Core Soul Marrow with two other treasures, and used the resulting slurry and the Pill Realm’s Spiritual Qi to reach Spirit Realm Great Perfection. He sent Zi Yan to Ye City to break through and left Gu He to finish handling the remaining herbs.

• Xiong Zhan led Xiao Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, and Gu He to his plaza of medicinal herbs, where Xiao Yan sorted and packed the valuable herbs.
• Xiao Yan called Gu He to condense the herbs that were losing their medicinal properties into pills, then prepared the Earth Core Soul Marrow with Pill Spirit Paste and Heavenly Hemp Jade Stone Essence.
• Xiao Yan consumed the blended slurry and absorbed the Spiritual Qi gathering across the Myriad Medicine Mountain Range, advancing his soul to Spirit Realm Great Perfection.
• Xiao Yan ordered Zi Yan to leave the Pill Realm and return to Ye City to make her breakthrough, while Xiao Yi Xian and Xiong Zhan kept and ate portions of Gu He’s pills.
• Xiao Yan found that Gu He was still refining herbs and told him to keep working or take the remaining herbs along until after the Pill Gathering.

After gathering treasures in the Pill Realm, Xiao Yan passed the herb inspection and began the Pill Gathering’s final stage. He refined an Eighth Grade Four-Color Pill in five days, then studied Void Venerate’s pill formula as more than twenty days remained.

• Xiao Yan looted the two other treasure lands marked on his map and left the Pill Realm on its final day.
• Xiao Yan and the other two contestants passed the Pill Tower Elder’s herb inspection and returned to the starting plaza.
• After Xuan Kongzi started the final stage, Xiao Yan surveyed the flames of Cao Ying, Dan Chen, Xiao Yi Xian, and Gu Xun'er before choosing to refine a Supreme Pill.
• Xiao Yan completed his Supreme Pill after five days, producing Eighth Grade Four-Color Pill Lightning and surprising the spectators and Pill Tower Elders.
• Xiao Yan caught the escaping pill and let the Heavenly Demon Puppet absorb its lightning, then studied the seven key ingredients in Void Venerate’s pill formula.

Xiao Yan spent most of the Pill Gathering refining the Profound Void Sacred Pill, while Dan Chen and Cao Ying completed Eighth Grade pills with three-colored Pill Lightning. Gu Xun'er then revealed an Eighth Grade pill with six-colored Pill Lightning, surpassing Xiao Yan's four-colored result.

• Xiao Yan spent weeks extracting and fusing the Profound Void Sacred Pill's ingredients, leaving only the final simmering and condensation.
• On the final day, Dan Chen sacrificed her blood to complete an Eighth Grade pill with three-colored Pill Lightning.
• Cao Ying completed her own Eighth Grade pill with three-colored Pill Lightning, but its quality was inferior to Dan Chen's.
• After Dan Chen and Cao Ying finished, only Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er remained refining pills in the arena.
• Gu Xun'er opened her cauldron and revealed an Eighth Grade pill with six-colored Pill Lightning, the only pill to surpass Xiao Yan's four-colored result.

Xiao Yan captured the Profound Void Sacred Pill, won the Pill Gathering, and received an ancient Soul Cultivation Method. He announced that the Ye Family would make the method available to Alchemists, leaving the crowd cheering his name.

• Xiao Yan captured the Profound Void Sacred Pill and used the Eight-Color Pill Lightning to temper his Heavenly Demon Puppet.
• Xuan Kongzi announced the end of the Pill Lightning and had the contestants present their pills for judgment.
• Xuan Kongzi declared Xiao Yan the Pill Gathering champion and gave him an ancient Soul Cultivation Method.
• Xiao Yan announced that Seventh Grade High-level Alchemists could obtain part of the method through the Ye Family and that Eighth Grade Alchemists could receive the complete method.
• Xuan Kongzi praised Xiao Yan, and the gathered Alchemists erupted into cheers for him.

Xiao Yan entered the Star Domain to refine Three Thousand Burning Flame and subdued its consciousness with his Soul Power and Emperor Flame. Three Thousand Burning Flame then self-detonated, leaving Xiao Yan to face the explosion after swallowing the Pill Beast.

• Xiao Yan followed elder Qiu Ling into the Star Domain and approached the sealed Three Thousand Burning Flame.
• Xiao Yan entered the Origin Fire Seed through a dragon scale and overpowered Three Thousand Burning Flame with his Dragon Might and Soul Power.
• Three Thousand Burning Flame severed the connection to the outside and tried to devour Xiao Yan, but he engulfed it in white mist that put its intelligence to sleep.
• Three Thousand Burning Flame chose to self-detonate, cracking its scale and breaking the Pill Tower's seal.
• Xiao Yan swallowed the Pill Beast as Three Thousand Burning Flame's accumulated energy exploded.

Xiao Yan subdued the Three Thousand Burning Flame and absorbed its power alongside several pills, breaking through to Two-star Dou Zun while his body grew exceptionally strong. With the Heavenly Flame now fully obedient, he began altering its intelligence and Origin Fire Seed, considering giving it a new body and child flame.

• Xiao Yan followed his connection to the Nightmare Heavenly Mist, found the weakened Three Thousand Burning Flame, and used the mist and blood-red threads to suppress it.
• Xiao Yan swallowed the Fire Dragon, absorbing its energy as the flame tempered his body and the Supreme Pill’s medicinal power strengthened his Dou Qi.
• After a month in the Star Domain, Xiao Yan broke through to Two-star Dou Zun and demonstrated physical strength powerful enough to dent the Heavenly Demon Puppet.
• Xiao Yan found that the Three Thousand Burning Flame had become a fully submissive Flame Slave and decided to manipulate its intelligence and Origin Fire Seed.

Xiao Yan refined Three Thousand Burning Flame, reached the peak of Four-star Dou Zun, and learned how his teacher and the Ye Family had transformed the alchemist world. He proposed that the Pill Tower open its teachings more broadly, with the Ye Family serving as a test case.

• Xiao Yan separated Three Thousand Burning Flame's soul, discovered it had been an Ancient Void Dragon bearing a Dragon Seal, and devoured its Origin Fire Seed to strengthen the Emperor Flame.
• The flames surrounding Xiao Yan surged into him, raising his Dou Qi cultivation to the peak of Four-star Dou Zun while his Flame Mantra and Soul Realm remained unchanged.
• Xiao Yan arrived in Sacred Pill City, where Xuan Kongzi came to greet him and marveled at his rapid breakthrough.
• Xuan Kongzi told Xiao Yan that alchemists had flocked to the Ye Family for Prosperous Fire, and that Old Yao's rise to Medicine Saint had made the family a major Central Continent force and prompted Pill Tower reforms.
• Xiao Yan advised Xuan Kongzi to lower the Pill Tower's barriers to advancement and suggested that the Ye Family pilot the reforms.

Xiao Yan brought Zi Yan’s cocoon into the Heaven Array and fed it the Ancient Void Dragon power in the Three Thousand Burning Flame, helping her complete her breakthrough. The cocoon broke open, and Zi Yan emerged in a mature form before throwing herself at Xiao Yan and declaring that she liked him.

• Xiao Yan visited Old Yao in Ye City and learned that Zi Yan’s breakthrough had formed a huge cocoon inside a Space Barrier.
• Xiao Yan asked Old Yao to move Zi Yan into the Heaven Array and connect it to the Star Domain, where the Three Thousand Burning Flame’s energy could aid her.
• Xiao Yan fed medicinal liquid and Ancient Void Dragon power from the Three Thousand Burning Flame to Zi Yan’s cocoon, while condensing a child flame for himself.
• Zi Yan’s cocoon cracked apart, and she emerged from a purple-gold pillar of light in a mature form.
• Zi Yan pounced on Xiao Yan, clung to him, and told him that she liked him.

Xiao Yan restored the Three Thousand Burning Flame’s consciousness in a new body and opened access to his Heavenly Flames for approved alchemists, drawing widespread interest across the Central Continent. As alliances formed around his growing influence, the Gu Clan sent Gu Xun'er to negotiate with him using the Green Lotus Core Flame rhizome.

• Zi Yan told Xiao Yan she had chosen to stay with him, then fell asleep beside him after teasing him about ignoring her.
• Old Yao gathered the materials Xiao Yan needed, and Xiao Yan revived the Three Thousand Burning Flame’s consciousness in a Dou Zun corpse and named him Candle Star Flame.
• Candle Star Flame fused with Xiao Yan’s sub-flame, reached Nine-star Dou Zun, and went to cultivate with Xiong Zhan.
• Xiao Yan worked with the Pill Tower to let approved alchemists cultivate with the Green Lotus Core Flame and Three Thousand Burning Flame in exchange for energy-rich treasures.
• The Gu Clan realized Xiao Yan’s alliances had grown without its help and sent Gu Xun'er to negotiate with him, carrying the Green Lotus Core Flame rhizome.

Xiao Yan stabilized the clash between the Emperor Flame and the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, then negotiated with Gu Xun'er over the Earth Array quotas. Their conversation was interrupted when Soul Hall Master Hun Miesheng arrived in Ye City, leaving Gu Xun'er weighing how to respond to the powerful threat.

• Tang Zhen praised Xiao Yan and asked him to refine the Nine Dragon Thunder Gang Fire, but Xiao Yan postponed it after sensing a Heavenly Flame and a dangerous clash within himself.
• Xiao Yan branded the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame with a Soul Imprint and steadied its conflict with the Emperor Flame, then told Tang Zhen to keep the Nine Dragon Thunder Gang Fire for now.
• Gu Xun'er told Xiao Yan that the Gu Clan wanted the Earth Array quotas in exchange for the roots of his Green Lotus Core Flame, and Xiao Yan offered the Gu Clan all the quotas in return for resources for the Ye Family.
• Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er discussed how his influence had changed Ye City and the Alchemist World, with Gu Xun'er praising his impact.
• Hun Miesheng's terrifying voice announced his arrival over Ye City and mocked Yao Chen for surviving and becoming a Medicine Saint; Gu Xun'er recognized the Soul Hall Master and considered whether to summon Gu Yuan.