Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan and the Xiao Family spent New Year's preparing a large reunion feast, with relatives and guests helping around the compound. Watching them from his ring, Yao Chen felt drawn to the family’s lively celebration and decided she wanted to celebrate New Year's with them someday.

• Xiao Yan woke on New Year's feeling carefree and joined Xiao Ning on the way to help the Xiao Family prepare for the celebration.
• Xiao Yan saw Nalan Yanran carrying firewood and helping with chores, then Xiao Li sent him and Xiao Ning to buy more meat and fish.
• At the market, Xiao Yan and Xiao Ning ran into Xiao Xun'er and Xiao Mei carrying vegetables before buying two cows and twenty large fish.
• Xiao Yan and Xiao Ning returned with the supplies and began butchering the cows when Xiao Li was too busy cooking to help.
• Yao Chen watched the Xiao Family bustling together and decided that she wanted to celebrate New Year's with them someday.

The Xiao Family gathered for its New Year banquet, where Xiao Zhan announced the clan’s rise and the new generation’s advancement to Dou Zhe. Xiao Yan relaxed among his family and friends, then agreed to drink with Xiao Ning.

• The Xiao Family members set out the banquet, and Xiao Yan sat with Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Yu, Xiao Mei, Nalan Yanran, Qing Lin, and others.
• Xiao Zhan announced that the Xiao Family had become Wutan City's foremost clan and that every disciple of its new generation had advanced to Dou Zhe.
• Xiao Yan joked with Xiao Ning and Xiao Mei, while Nalan Yanran observed this unfamiliar side of him.
• Xiao Zhan toasted the New Year, and the Xiao Family members began their feast.
• Xiao Mei piled meat onto Qing Lin's plate, but Xiao Yu replaced it with an empty plate and helped Qing Lin choose her own food.
• Xiao Ning challenged Xiao Yan to drink a jug, and after Yao Chen advised him to learn his limit, Xiao Yan agreed.

Xiao Yan woke from a drunken stupor, cleaned up, and joined his family for dinner, where Nalan Yanran and Xiao Xun'er competed to care for him. The Xiao Family ended the evening with a toast to their prosperity.

• Xiao Yan woke with a hangover and remembered that he and Xiao Ning had emptied twelve jars of wine.
• Xiao Yan hurried to the family dining hall, where Xiao Zhan and the others had waited for him.
• Xiao Xun'er and Nalan Yanran both rushed to support Xiao Yan, then exchanged pointed remarks about who should look after him.
• Xiao Yan defused their rivalry and joined the family for dinner, refusing Xiao Li's offer to drink.
• Xiao Zhan raised his cup to the family's prosperity, and everyone toasted together.

Xiao Yan and the others prepared the Xiao Family’s New Year’s Eve Party, where the juniors presented performances for Xiao Yan to select. Nalan Yanran grew curious about the family’s bizarre acts after Xiao Yu rejected Xiao Mei’s script and stopped Xiao Ning before he could perform.

• Xiao Yan took Qing Lin to the courtyard, where Xiao Family Disciples crowded around him to pitch their performances.
• Xiao Xun'er and Xiao Yu explained to Nalan Yanran that the juniors performed each year and Xiao Yan decided which acts made the program.
• Xiao Mei proudly presented a script casting herself and Xiao Yan as the leads and Xiao Xun'er, Nalan Yanran, and Ya Fei as villains.
• Xiao Yu tore up Xiao Mei’s script, and Xiao Xun'er and Nalan Yanran objected to their roles in it.
• Xiao Yu ordered Xiao Ning to go home and put on clothes before he could perform, leaving Nalan Yanran eager to know what his act had been.

The Xiao Family prepared and held its annual New Year's Eve Party, where Xiao Yan hosted performances by the family’s juniors. As the show ended, Xiao Ning eagerly prepared for a final activity reserved for the Xiao Family.

• Xiao Yan and Xiao Yu watched the Xiao Family Disciples prepare for the party, while Xiao Mei and Xiao Ning lamented that their proposed performance had been rejected again.
• Xiao Yan sent Xiao Xun'er to notify the elders and directed the others to finish preparing the venue and refreshments.
• Xiao Yan welcomed the elders and announced the start of the New Year's Eve Party, then introduced the juniors’ performances as the Xiao Family members cheered and laughed.
• Yao Chen watched the family’s joy from inside Xiao Yan’s ring and felt her sealed heart begin to open.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Ning to get ready to light something after the final performance, while Xiao Xun'er told Nalan Yanran that the last activity was exclusive to the Xiao Family.

Xiao Yan’s New Year celebration ended with fireworks that stirred hope and resolve in Nalan Yanran, Qing Lin, and Yao Chen. As the display continued, Xiao Yan and Yao Chen reaffirmed how much they valued meeting each other.

• Xiao Yan led the Xiao Family in a countdown, and fireworks burst over Wutan City as everyone welcomed the new year.
• Nalan Yanran watched the fireworks and vowed to grow strong enough to stand proudly beside Xiao Yan.
• Qing Lin remembered her parents’ love, rejected the belief that she should never have been born, and resolved not to run away anymore.
• Yao Chen watched the fireworks, let go of her doubts about her worth, and thanked Xiao Yan in her heart for meeting him.
• Xiao Yan returned Yao Chen’s feelings and told her that meeting her had been wonderful for him too.

Nalan Yanran, Xiao Jing, Xiao Li, and Qing Lin left the Xiao Family, with Qing Lin determined to help bring humans and the Snake-people race to peace. Xiao Yan told Xiao Zhan he would leave the next day to travel and refine his Righteous Path, and his father gave him his blessing.

• Nalan Yanran said she would never give up before departing for the Misty Cloud Sect.
• Xiao Jing and Xiao Li prepared to return to the Mercenary Group, and Qing Lin chose to go with them so she could help prevent another tragedy between humans and the Snake-people race.
• Xiao Mei and Xiao Yu said goodbye to Qing Lin, while Xiao Zhan promised Xiao Jing and Xiao Li that the Xiao Family would support them if they ever needed help.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Zhan he planned to leave the Xiao Family the next day to travel, experience the wider world, and refine his Righteous Path.
• Xiao Zhan accepted Xiao Yan's decision and urged him to pursue his own path without regret.

Xiao Yan agreed to delay his departure until after Jia Nan Academy’s recruitment, after Yao Chen urged him to visit because the academy had a Heavenly Flame. Yao Chen then revealed that she wanted him to obtain it because it could help evolve Fen Jue, a cultivation technique that devoured Heavenly Flames.

• Xiao Mei begged Xiao Yan not to leave, but Xiao Yan insisted he needed to experience the world to perfect his Righteous Path.
• Xiao Yu asked Xiao Yan to wait for Jia Nan Academy’s recruitment, and Xiao Yan agreed after Yao Chen mentioned the academy’s Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Yan returned to his room and asked Yao Chen why she valued the Heavenly Flame, noting that one person could barely contain even one.
• Yao Chen showed Xiao Yan two cultivation techniques and explained that Fen Jue could evolve from a Yellow-tier technique into a Heaven-tier technique.
• Yao Chen revealed that Fen Jue evolved by devouring Heavenly Flames.

Xiao Yan agreed to cultivate the dangerous Fen Jue after learning it might let Yao Chen forge a body and return to life. Yao Chen explained her motive and resolved to support him without reservation.

• Xiao Yan accepted the Fen Jue despite Yao Chen warning that success was unlikely and absorbing Heavenly Flames could repeatedly endanger his life.
• Xiao Yan knelt before Yao Chen and said he would cultivate the technique to repay her kindness to him and the Xiao Family.
• Yao Chen revealed that she wanted to escape her soul state and resolve the regrets of her past by returning to life.
• Yao Chen explained that the Fen Jue might create a body capable of housing her soul, though she could not be certain its records were true.
• Xiao Yan embraced the possibility and vowed to pursue the Fen Jue to the end, while Yao Chen decided to support him without holding back.

Xiao Yan prepared to register for Jia Nan Academy while accepting that Fen Jue would make his future battles more difficult. After he and Xiao Yu, Xiao Xun'er, and Xiao Mei passed recruitment, an angry voice erupted from the temporary courtyard.

• Xiao Yan worried that Fen Jue’s weakness would put him at a disadvantage, but Yao Chen reminded him that his actual strength exceeded his rank.
• Xiao Yu invited Xiao Yan to register at Jia Nan Academy, and Xiao Mei eagerly clung to him before they left with Xiao Xun'er.
• Xiao Yu explained that most of the crowded applicants were spectators or people trying to sneak through, and she recalled leaving the Inner Academy after failing to find an answer to Xiao Yan’s lost Dou Qi.
• Xiao Yu led Xiao Yan, Xiao Mei, and Xiao Xun'er through the recruitment queue, and the group passed the requirements.
• As the four approached the temporary courtyard, someone inside shouted at the freshmen not to get arrogant.

Xiao Yu stopped Luo Bu from fighting Xiao Ning and made him apologize for bullying new students. She then revealed that she had withdrawn from the inner academy and would remain his classmate, leaving Luo Bu horrified.

• Xiao Ning refused to kneel to Luo Bu, and the two prepared to fight.
• Xiao Yu struck the ground between them with her whip and stepped in to protect Xiao Ning.
• Luo Bu recognized Xiao Ning as Xiao Yu's younger brother and apologized after Xiao Yu called out his bullying of new students.
• Xiao Yu accepted Luo Bu's apology and explained that she had not realized how feared she was at the academy.
• Xiao Yu told Luo Bu she had withdrawn from the inner academy and would remain his classmate, leaving him dismayed.

Xiao Yu reunited with her friends at Jia Nan Academy and confirmed that she had withdrawn from the inner academy to return to the outer academy. After she intimidated Luo Bu, Xiao Ning comforted him over their shared fear of Xiao Yu, turning their hostility into an awkward friendship.

• Xue Ni enthusiastically hugged Xiao Yu, who revealed she had left the inner academy and was returning to the outer academy.
• Xue Ni ignored Xiao Yu's requests to let go, so Xiao Yu threw her down and repeatedly stomped on her while their friends watched.
• Ruolin welcomed Xiao Yu back to the outer academy and accepted her decision to transfer, despite believing the inner academy offered better resources.
• Luo Bu despaired when he learned Xiao Yu would be at the outer academy, and Xiao Ning sympathized with him because he also feared his sister.
• Xiao Ning encouraged Luo Bu to overcome their shared fear of Xiao Yu, and the two clasped hands while Xiao Mei, Xiao Yan, and Xun'er reacted with disgust.

Xiao Yan asked Instructor Ruo Lin for a one-year leave from Jia Nan Academy, and she agreed to grant it if he survived twenty exchanges against her. Xiao Yan accepted the challenge, leaving his request undecided.

• Instructor Ruo Lin discovered that twenty-three of the fifty students who passed the requirements were Xiao Family members, all of them Dou Zhe.
• Xiao Yan left Xiao Mei and asked Instructor Ruo Lin for a one-year leave of absence.
• Xiao Xun'er stopped Xiao Mei from trying to persuade Xiao Yan to stay, and Xiao Mei accepted that he should choose his own path.
• Instructor Ruo Lin said she would grant Xiao Yan's leave if he endured twenty exchanges against her, a five-star great dou shi.
• Xiao Yan accepted Instructor Ruo Lin's challenge.

Xiao Yan fought Ruolin to prove he could take a year off from Jia Nan Academy. He left Ruolin stunned by breaking his own arm to land a devastating counterattack, and she questioned whether he was a genius or a monster.

• Xiao Ning accepted Xiao Yan's decision to take a year off and cleared the courtyard for his test against Ruolin.
• Ruolin attacked Xiao Yan with her whip, and he relied on his instincts to dodge while she struck his shoulder twice.
• Xiao Yan stopped dodging and took a whip strike on his arm, breaking it, then grabbed the whip and charged Ruolin.
• Xiao Yan used Eight Extreme Blast and narrowly missed Ruolin's unguarded face, blasting a trench through the courtyard.
• Xiao Yan asked Ruolin whether he had won, and she stood stunned by his strength and ruthlessness.

After Xiao Yan defeated Instructor Ruo Lin in their recruitment match, he collapsed from exhaustion and learned that his arm was badly broken, though Ruo Lin approved his one-year leave. Left behind with the wrecked courtyard, Ruo Lin realized the Xiao Family juniors treated life-threatening combat as ordinary and feared the group of newcomers she had recruited.

• Xiao Yan collapsed after the match, and Ruo Lin eased his arm pain before explaining that its bones were shattered.
• Ruo Lin approved Xiao Yan's one-year leave and told Xiao Yu to make sure he treated his injury at home.
• Xiao Ning helped Xiao Yan leave the Recruitment Hall with the other Xiao Family Disciples.
• Luo Bu and Xue Ni reacted in terror to Xiao Yan's strength, while Ruo Lin recognized that he had nearly killed her after she underestimated him.
• Ruo Lin realized the Xiao Family juniors were accustomed to risking their lives in fights and ordered Xue Ni to clean up the shattered courtyard.

After Xiao Yan risked taking Instructor Ruo Lin’s whip, Yao Chen scolded him, but he explained that he needed to learn to face future dangers without relying on her. The argument ended with Yao Chen accepting his resolve and teasing him about finding a wife as beautiful as she was.

• Yao Chen angrily reprimanded Xiao Yan for taking Instructor Ruo Lin’s whip head-on and risking his life.
• Xiao Yan told Yao Chen that he had to face dangers with his own strength because she could not always protect him.
• Xiao Yan said he wanted to become a disciple who made Yao Chen proud, and Yao Chen accepted his decision while asking him to warn her before risking his life again.
• Yao Chen asked Xiao Yan whether he thought she was beautiful, and he shyly said that she was.
• Yao Chen teased Xiao Yan about needing a wife who met her beauty standards, so he buried his face under a pillow and tried to rest.

On the day the Xiao Family Disciples were due to leave for Jia Nan Academy, Xiao Yan said goodbye to Xiao Mei and Xiao Xun'er and asked Xiao Yu to look after them. Xiao Yu kissed him and confessed that she was serious, leaving Xiao Yan stunned at the courtyard gate.

• During their final week at home, Xiao Ning spent his days at Ningchun Tower until Xiao Yu dragged him back and made him stay home.
• Xiao Yan recovered from his injuries and prepared to leave, while Xiao Mei and Xiao Xun'er waited outside his room.
• Xiao Mei asked Xiao Yan again if he would go to Jia Nan Academy, and he encouraged her to enjoy academy life.
• Xiao Xun'er told Xiao Yan she would wait for him, and he asked Xiao Yu to take care of everyone at the academy.
• Xiao Yu kissed Xiao Yan and told him she was not joking, then walked away as he stood stunned.

Xiao Yan struggled to process Xiao Yu’s confession and saw the Xiao Family Disciples off as they departed for Jia Nan Academy. Xiao Yu reaffirmed that she was serious before leaving him behind, flustered and uncertain.

• Xiao Yan questioned whether Xiao Yu had been teasing him, and Yao Chen told him she had not been joking.
• Xiao Zhan came to see Xiao Yan, learned that the Juniors were leaving for Jia Nan Academy, and encouraged his son to travel carefully.
• Xiao Zhan and a large group of Xiao Family elders accompanied the Disciples to the Recruitment Hall, where Ruolin arranged for them to board the Flying Convoy.
• Xiao Ning, Xiao Mei, and Xiao Xun'er said goodbye to Xiao Yan, and he hurriedly sent Xiao Xun'er onto the vehicle when she asked about Xiao Yu acting strangely.
• Xiao Yu told Xiao Yan again that she was serious, then boarded the vehicle and said she would see him in a year.

After Ruolin reminded Xiao Yan of his one-year deadline, he collected the medicinal ingredients Ya Fei had prepared and said farewell to her before leaving Wutan City. He left his childhood home determined to pursue and spread the Righteous Path.

• Ruolin reminded Xiao Yan that he had one year before departing in the Flying Convoy, and Yao Chen teased him after he watched her leave.
• Xiao Yan went to the Miter Auction House, where Ya Fei gave him the medicinal ingredients, a Storage Ring, and a Gold Coin Card.
• Ya Fei encouraged Xiao Yan to move forward without worry, and Xiao Yan promised to work hard before heading back to the Xiao Family.
• Xiao Yan gathered his packed necessities and left the room where he had lived for sixteen years, vowing to spread the Righteous Path and shatter the world's law of the jungle.

After returning from the Xiao Family, Nalan Yanran pushed herself through extreme physical training to match the Xiao Family Disciples, driven by her competitive spirit. She dismissed Ge Ye and continued training without pills, leaving him convinced he should prepare his will.

• Ge Ye worried as Nalan Yanran trained for nearly ten shichen a day and repeatedly used Recovery Pills.
• Nalan Yanran recalled the Xiao Family Disciples’ training and Xiao Yan and Xiao Ning’s battle, then resolved to match their strength.
• After nearly a week, Nalan Yanran ran out of pills and told Ge Ye to leave her alone.
• Nalan Yanran revealed she would train another shichen and reduce her pill intake, then sent Ge Ye away and asked him to leave larger, meat-heavy meals outside her door.
• Ge Ye stood outside Nalan Yanran’s locked room and thought he should write his will.