Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan helped Feng Qing'er track down the child who had stolen her Storage Ring and discovered that the boy was being forced to steal for a gang. As the gang leader moved to beat the child, Xiao Yan intervened.

• Feng Qing'er accepted Xiao Yan's help after explaining that a child had stolen her Storage Ring while she chased him through the crowded street.
• Xiao Yan reasoned that someone must be behind the theft and used his Soul Power to follow the child's traces into a dark alley.
• Xiao Yan and Feng Qing'er found the boy arguing with a vicious man, who demanded the Storage Ring without paying him as promised.
• The boy said he had hidden the Storage Ring and would not hand it over until he received the money he was owed.
• Xiao Yan stopped the man's fist just before it struck the boy.

Xiao Yan killed the men exploiting children, then offered the boy money for his sick sister and asked to help treat her. The boy returned Feng Qing’er’s Storage Ring and hurried off with the money, while Xiao Yan told him where to find him if he needed help.

• Xiao Yan killed the One-star Dou Spirit and his three lackeys, then restrained his urge to desecrate their bodies and stored the corpses in his Storage Ring.
• Xiao Yan gently checked on the boy and asked him to return Feng Qing’er’s stolen Storage Ring, but the boy insisted he needed money first.
• Feng Qing’er prepared to attack the boy, but Xiao Yan shielded him and persuaded her to let the boy explain why he needed money.
• The boy said his younger sister, Yiyi, was seriously ill and needed expensive medicine, so Xiao Yan offered him thirty thousand gold coins and offered to treat her.
• The boy accepted the money, spat Feng Qing’er’s Storage Ring out of his mouth, and left after Xiao Yan told him where to find him if he ran into trouble again.
• Yao Chen sensed black qi enter the depths of Xiao Yan’s soul as he suppressed his urge to torment the corpses and decided she needed to help disperse it.

After recovering Feng Qing'er’s Storage Ring, Xiao Yan asked her to help care for homeless children, and she agreed to stay until the end of the month. He brought her to his rented house after spending heavily on supplies, where she met Xiao Yi Xian and the two women silently sized each other up.

• Xiao Yan returned Feng Qing'er’s Storage Ring after rinsing it, and she thanked him for recovering it.
• Feng Qing'er insisted on repaying Xiao Yan, so he asked her to help care for homeless children; she agreed to help until the end of the month.
• Xiao Yan and Feng Qing'er bought household supplies, food, and other provisions for a total of sixty thousand Gold Coins.
• Xiao Yan took Feng Qing'er to his remote rented house, where he introduced her to Xiao Yi Xian, Lu Qiong, and Lu Jing.
• Xiao Yi Xian and Feng Qing'er stared at each other as an uneasy silence filled the living room.

Xiao Yi Xian met Feng Qing'er and worried that Xiao Yan’s new acquaintance might develop feelings for him, while Feng Qing'er insisted she only intended to repay a favor. Xiao Yan cooked a meal for Lu Qiong and Lu Jing, whose comment about wishing their sister could share it left Xiao Yi Xian newly sympathetic to Nalan Yanran.

• Feng Qing'er introduced herself to Xiao Yi Xian and explained that she had come to repay Xiao Yan for helping her.
• Xiao Yi Xian questioned Feng Qing'er about her favor to Xiao Yan and suspected she was hiding details of their encounter.
• Feng Qing'er insisted she was not interested in Xiao Yan, while Xiao Yi Xian warned her to leave before she grew attached to him.
• Xiao Yan cooked a meal using what he had learned from his second sister, and Xiao Yi Xian was surprised by how well it turned out.
• Xiao Yan served the food to Lu Qiong and Lu Jing, who eagerly ate their first such meal and wished their sister could join them.

Xiao Yan told Feng Qing'er about Lu Yao's death and explained why he and Xiao Yi Xian hid the truth from Lu Qiong and Lu Jing. Feng Qing'er moved into their home, where Xiao Yi Xian gave her a calligraphy sheet bearing the words “Uphold One's Original Intention,” and Xiao Yan explained that helping homeless children was necessary for him to keep moving forward.

• Lu Qiong's remark about her sister made Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian react, and Xiao Yi Xian reassured her that Xiao Yan would cook for Lu Yao again when she returned.
• Xiao Yan told Feng Qing'er that Lu Yao had died while stealing, and Feng Qing'er questioned whether hiding the truth from Lu Qiong and Lu Jing was right.
• Xiao Yi Xian argued that the children should be allowed to live well in the present without the burden of grief and guilt over Lu Yao's death.
• Xiao Yan invited Feng Qing'er to stay at the house, and Xiao Yi Xian showed her a room and hung a paper on the wall reading “Uphold One's Original Intention.”
• Feng Qing'er asked how Xiao Yan planned to help homeless children, and he said he wanted to provide for them and teach them literacy, cultivation, and ways to earn an honest living.
• When Feng Qing'er asked what he stood to gain, Xiao Yan said helping the children was what allowed him to keep moving forward on his path.

The Medicine Emperor rejected Jia Xingtian’s rings and learned that Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian had arrived in the Black Corner Region, with Xiao Yi Xian already drawing her interest. At Xiao Yan’s house, the two took in the sick boy who had stolen Feng Qing’er’s ring and his gravely ill sister, and Xiao Yi Xian began treating the girl.

• The Medicine Emperor rejected the Storage Rings Jia Xingtian had sent, then read his letter asking her to look after Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian.
• The Medicine Emperor recognized Xiao Yi Xian from a recent encounter and found the coincidence striking.
• As a storm broke over Xiao Yan’s house, Feng Qing’er spotted someone approaching through the rain.
• Xiao Yan recognized the ring-stealing boy, caught him as he collapsed, and carried him and his feverish sister inside.
• Xiao Yi Xian examined both children, assigned Feng Qing’er to care for the boy, and diagnosed the girl with a worsening viral infection.
• Xiao Yi Xian immersed the girl in hot water and instructed Xiao Yan to prepare her prescription while Yao Chen confirmed that her treatment was appropriate.

Wen Xing woke in Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian’s care and learned that Liu Yiyi was safe after Xiao Yi Xian treated her worsening illness. As Wen Xing began explaining why he had taken in several starving children, Xiao Yan asked him to tell the story of his past.

• Wen Xing awoke to find Feng Qing'er watching over him and panicked about Liu Yiyi, but Feng Qing'er told him she was asleep nearby.
• Feng Qing'er led Wen Xing to Liu Yiyi, and Xiao Yi Xian assured him that the girl was out of danger after the medicine had worsened her fever.
• Xiao Yan brought hot water and later white porridge, while Wen Xing thanked him and Xiao Yi Xian for saving Liu Yiyi.
• Feng Qing'er told Xiao Yi Xian she was curious about her and Xiao Yan, leaving Xiao Yi Xian worried about Feng Qinger's interest in him.
• Wen Xing told Xiao Yan that he had taken in Liu Yiyi and four other children who were close to starving, and said he might have helped them because someone had once saved him too.
• Xiao Yan asked Wen Xing to tell him what he had been through.

Wen Xing told Xiao Yan how his older brother and adopted siblings were killed, leaving him burdened by guilt over surviving. After Xiao Yan and Yao Chen reassured him and affirmed Xiao Yan’s resolve, Xiao Yan renewed his commitment to the Righteous Path.

• Wen Xing recounted how his older brother cared for hungry children until thieves killed the siblings and burned their home, while Wen Xing escaped without saving the girl he loved.
• Wen Xing admitted he took in younger siblings partly to imitate his brother and ease his guilt, and Xiao Yan told him that the care he gave them mattered more than his reasons.
• Wen Xing broke down in tears after Xiao Yan left the room, while Xiao Yan asked Yao Chen whether witnessing suffering would eventually make him numb.
• Yao Chen described how she had grown accustomed to tragedy and explained that luck and hard work both shaped a person’s path.
• Yao Chen praised Xiao Yan’s repeated sacrifices and choices, insisting that his Righteous Path came from his resolve as well as luck.
• Xiao Yan accepted Yao Chen’s encouragement and vowed to keep moving forward on the Righteous Path.

Xiao Yan offered to take in Wen Xing, Liu Yiyi, and Wen Xing’s other younger siblings, explaining that he helped them simply because he wanted to. Wen Xing was moved by the answer and remembered the brother who had once taken him in.

• Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian prepared breakfast, and Xiao Yan brought the children downstairs to eat.
• After breakfast, Wen Xing thanked Xiao Yan for his help and said he had to return to the younger siblings waiting at home.
• Xiao Yan offered to bring all of Wen Xing’s younger siblings to stay with them, but Wen Xing questioned why he would do so without gaining anything.
• Wen Xing angrily asked why Xiao Yan cared about other people’s lives, stirring memories of the big brother who had once saved and adopted him.
• Xiao Yan said he helped because he wanted to, and reminded Wen Xing that he had also taken in children because he wanted to care for them.
• Wen Xing remembered his big brother’s similar words and looked down at Liu Yiyi as tears slid down his cheek.

Xiao Yan explained to Wen Xing that he planned to help children survive safely in the Black Corner Region and ultimately change the region itself. Though Wen Xing thought the goal was delusional, he chose to help Xiao Yan pursue it.

• Xiao Yan reassured Wen Xing that he would teach the children survival skills and send them to the Jia Ma Empire only as a last resort.
• Wen Xing explained that many abandoned children lived in the Black Corner Region and that sending them all away would not be practical.
• Xiao Yan declared that he wanted to improve the Black Corner Region so its children could survive safely there.
• Wen Xing challenged Xiao Yan's ability to change a region that had remained harsh for centuries, but Xiao Yan insisted that nothing was impossible before it was tried.
• Wen Xing told Xiao Yan he would help him pursue the seemingly impossible goal.

Jia Xingtian reviewed the Jia Ma Empire’s preparations for rebuilding Chisha City as a home for the Snake-people race and discussed Yao Ye’s training with Xiao Jing. With the settlement and its supplies being managed, the chapter left Jia Xingtian still burdened by imperial duties and wishing he could retire.

• Xiao Jing gave Jia Xingtian reports on Chisha City’s construction and special supply shipments, and he signed the documents while ordering that supplies keep pace with construction.
• Jia Xingtian had assigned Xiao Li to lead Chisha City’s former residents, oversee reconstruction, and command an imperial army, while the Mittel Family funded supplies and Ya Fei worked to limit the resulting losses.
• Jia Xingtian asked Xiao Jing about Yao Ye’s training, and Xiao Jing explained that Yao Ye had secretly left the palace for a day of rest after two months of training.
• Jia Xingtian told Xiao Jing to teach Yao Ye more than combat skills and urged Xiao Jing to rest, then Xiao Jing left his study.
• Xiao Jing encountered Gu He, who had become the Alchemist Guild Master after Fa Ma retired, while Jia Xingtian reflected that he still carried the empire’s responsibilities and wanted to retire.

Gu He struggled with the burdens of leading the Alchemist Guild while Xiao Jing worried over Xiao Yan’s complicated relationships and sought advice from him. At the Misty Cloud Sect, Yun Yun reviewed compensation for the sect’s past crimes and resolved to make amends, while keeping her pregnancy secret.

• Gu He told Xiao Jing that he had regretted taking over as Alchemist Guild Master because of the crushing workload, though he had helped supply pills for Chisha City.
• Xiao Jing asked Gu He about Yun Yun and Xiao Yan, and he advised her that the matter ultimately depended on those involved.
• Yun Yun reviewed the Misty Cloud Sect’s compensation payments and planned to send more disciples out to train and earn contributions for the sect.
• Zi Yun visited Yun Yun with roasted meat, and Yun Yun’s nausea nearly exposed her pregnancy.
• Yun Yun returned to her work, determined to atone for the Misty Cloud Sect’s mistakes for herself and her unborn child.

Xiao Yan followed Yao Chen’s guidance to a black house where Wen Xing’s younger siblings were being held, while Yao Chen recognized the lingering soul trace of the disciple who had once betrayed her. Xiao Yan confronted the kidnappers and entered the house by force, but Wang Da insisted the children could not leave that day.

• Xiao Yan learned from Yao Chen that an alchemist had erased the soul traces at Wen Xing’s collapsed cardboard home, and Yao Chen secretly recognized a trace left by her former disciple.
• Yao Chen guided Xiao Yan to the black house and hid herself inside the ring while Xiao Yan told Wen Xing to wait nearby.
• Xiao Yan sensed five children and three men inside the house, while Wang Da worried that a mysterious Dou Huang had forced him to keep the children there for one day.
• Wang Er opened the door and found Xiao Yan, who politely asked to take the children home, but Wang Da ordered him to leave.
• Wang Da failed to shut the door against Xiao Yan’s strength, and Xiao Yan entered the house as Wang Da angrily declared that the children could not be taken away that day.

Xiao Yan went to rescue the children and defeated Wang Da and his two underlings, startling the Green-haired Woman, who had arranged the confrontation to assess him. As the house suddenly collapsed, Xiao Yan rushed toward the children in the inner room, but the disaster seemed to have come too late for him to stop.

• Wang Da ordered Wang Er to lock the door and threatened Xiao Yan, who insisted he had come only to take the children away.
• The Green-haired Woman watched from hiding, revealing that she had commissioned Wang Da to test Xiao Yan and planned to rescue him if he lost.
• Wang Er and Wang San attacked Xiao Yan, but he sent both of them flying into the wall in an instant.
• Xiao Yan punched Wang Da unconscious and spared all three men because they had not yet crossed his moral limits.
• The house suddenly began to collapse, and Xiao Yan rushed toward the children, but the collapse came too quickly.

Xiao Yan rescued Wen Xing’s younger siblings from the collapsed house with help from a green-haired woman, while Yao Chen recognized the woman as Han Feng and restrained herself from confronting her. After questioning the kidnappers and letting them go, Xiao Yan asked the woman’s name, and she introduced herself as Han Feng.

• Xiao Yan and Wen Xing searched the collapsed house for the children until the green-haired woman revealed that she had rescued them and left them unconscious nearby.
• Xiao Yan recognized a familiar feeling in the woman, while Yao Chen identified her as the person from her past and decided not to reveal herself.
• Xiao Yan found Wang Da, Wang Er, and Wang San in the rubble and questioned them about kidnapping the children.
• Wang Da said a cloaked client had paid them five million gold coins to hold the children for one day, and the three men gave matching accounts.
• Xiao Yan let Wang Da and his men leave without taking the gold, then asked the green-haired woman her name.
• The green-haired woman told Xiao Yan that her name was Han Feng.

After Han Feng rescued the children, she questioned Xiao Yan and quietly assessed his character while concealing her own urgent purpose. Xiao Yan brought the children home and learned from Yao Chen not to question Han Feng yet, while Feng Qing'er’s attempt to help cook ended in chaos.

• Xiao Yan thanked Han Feng for saving the children, explained why he had let the kidnappers go, and refused to take their money.
• Han Feng judged Xiao Yan sincere but remained cautious, believing she had little time left and could entrust her matter to him only if she was certain.
• Xiao Yan returned to the rented house with Wen Xing and five children, and Xiao Yi Xian arranged rooms for them.
• Yao Chen told Xiao Yan to treat Han Feng normally and wait for her to explain their past, while she investigated Han Feng’s betrayal herself.
• Feng Qing'er tried to help Xiao Yan cook, repeatedly confused ingredients, and stubbornly began making a dish of her own.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian discovered that Feng Qing'er had made an inedible dish with dish soap, then served lunch to the children while Xiao Yan considered how they could earn a living in the Black Corner Region. After meeting Yun Ying and learning that the region had few restaurants, Xiao Yan began considering a food business.

• Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian tasted Feng Qing'er's dish and vomited, then learned she had added dish soap along with every other seasoning.
• Xiao Yan rejected serving Feng Qing'er's cooking to the children and brought out his own food, which the children eagerly ate.
• Xiao Yan left to buy more seating and thought about how to help the children support themselves safely after he was gone.
• Xiao Yan met Yun Ying on the street and thanked her for helping him find direction.
• Xiao Yan and Yun Ying searched for a place to sit, and Yun Ying explained that Black-Seal City had few restaurants because most people relied on dry rations or high-end inns.
• Xiao Yan realized the scarcity of restaurants in the Black Corner Region might offer a way for the children to make a living.

Xiao Yan planned to open a restaurant in the Black Corner Region so the orphaned children could support themselves after he left. With Xiao Yi Xian’s funding and Yun Ying’s help, he rented a storefront and began preparing it, leaving the restaurant’s opening still ahead.

• Xiao Yan explained his restaurant plan to Xiao Yi Xian, who agreed it could give the children a way to survive independently.
• Xiao Yi Xian gave Xiao Yan three million gold coins as startup funds, and he accepted them while promising to repay her.
• The next day, Xiao Yan rented a storefront for one million five hundred thousand gold coins per month and asked about hiring guards for the restaurant.
• Xiao Yan and Yun Ying cleaned the shop while Xiao Yi Xian and Feng Qing'er stayed home to watch the children and teach them to cook.
• Xiao Yan decided to make the restaurant’s tables and chairs himself, then finished cleaning the shop with Yun Ying’s help.

Xiao Yan and the children worked on the restaurant while Feng Qing'er repeatedly blew up the kitchen during cooking lessons, frustrating Xiao Yi Xian. After Xiao Yi Xian left to cool off, three masked robbers confronted her, but a mysterious Green-haired Woman intervened and sent them flying.

• Xiao Yan worked with Liu Yiyi and the other children to build restaurant furniture while Feng Qing'er caused the kitchen to explode for the sixth time.
• Xiao Yi Xian lost her temper at Xiao Yan, told him to take over teaching Feng Qing'er, and left to relax before returning to apologize.
• Wang Da and his two companions, forced by a powerful employer to rob Xiao Yi Xian, confronted her on the street.
• Xiao Yi Xian drew the Black Xuan Heavy Ruler and prepared to fight Wang Da, but the Green-haired Woman appeared and effortlessly sent all three robbers flying.

Han Feng helped Xiao Yi Xian, revealed that Jia Xingtian had asked her to look after Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yan, and arranged to meet Xiao Yan. After Xiao Yan read her letter and formally greeted her, Han Feng’s plan to assess him moved toward a direct encounter.

• Han Feng rescued Xiao Yi Xian from trouble, then asked her to take her to meet Xiao Yan, explaining that Jia Xingtian had asked her to look after them.
• Xiao Yi Xian examined Han Feng’s letter and portraits, decided they were credible, and introduced herself to Han Feng.
• At Xiao Yan’s rented house, Feng Qing’er’s cooking exploded again, and Xiao Yan left Wen Xing to teach her while he went to meet Xiao Yi Xian.
• Xiao Yi Xian introduced Han Feng to Xiao Yan and passed him the letter and portraits; Xiao Yan recognized the letter’s resemblance to Jia Xingtian’s style.
• Xiao Yan questioned Han Feng about their earlier meeting, listened to her explanation, and formally greeted her while keeping Yao Chen’s instructions in mind.