Chapter Summaries

Xiao Xun'er learned that Xiao Yan had arrived at Canaan Academy and eagerly awaited seeing him while attending the Inner Academy Selection Competition. They reunited in front of the crowd, but Xiao Yan ended their embrace by asking whether she had seen Wan Guniang.

• Xiao Yu and Ruo Lin told Xiao Xun'er that a student returning from two years of leave had arrived in Peace Town, and she guessed it was Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Xun'er went with her classmates to the Selection Competition and defeated her opponent while thinking about Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the arena carrying his black great ruler, and Xiao Xun'er rushed down to embrace him.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Xun'er he had missed her, then asked whether she had seen Wan Guniang.

Xiao Yan reunited with Xiao Xun'er at Canaan Academy and demonstrated his strength in the Selection Competition. As they left together, Xun'er explained why she had waited for him and learned that Yao Wan was at the academy too, resolving to keep an eye on her.

• Xiao Xun'er hid her distress when Xiao Yan mentioned that Yao Wan had come with him.
• Xiao Yan defeated Xue Beng in one move during the Selection Competition, then apologized to Ruo Lin for his long absence.
• Xiao Xun'er took Xiao Yan to their residence and told him she had given up her chance to enter the Inner Academy so she could wait for him.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Xun'er that Yao Wan had gone to find a way to smooth over their arrival at Canaan Academy.
• Xiao Xun'er decided to use her connections in the Outer Academy to watch Yao Wan and stop her from getting her way.

Xiao Yan discussed refining a Soul Fusion Pill with Yao Lao, hoping to trade it to Queen Medusa for his safety. Yao Lao then began explaining Wan Guniang’s unusual bloodline, leaving Xiao Yan eager to learn how it related to her possible departure.

• Xiao Yan met with Yao Lao and learned that Yao Lao had recovered enough Soul Power to contend with a Dou Zong.
• Xiao Yan proposed refining a Soul Fusion Pill for Queen Medusa so he could send her away and avoid relying on her.
• Yao Lao agreed Xiao Yan could attempt the Rank 6 pill as training, but warned him to prepare carefully and avoid rushing.
• Yao Lao asked whether Xiao Yan understood why Wan Guniang had spoken about leaving, then explained that she possessed a special bloodline.
• Xiao Yan listened with interest as Yao Lao began describing bloodline power, but did not yet learn how it connected to Wan Guniang.

Yao Lao explained that Yao Wan had sealed her bloodline to hide from her clan, but that suppressing it threatened her health and she would eventually need to return for her awakening. After Xiao Yan won the Inner Academy Selection Competition, he met Nalan Yanran during the Fire Energy Hunting Competition and learned that Yao Wan was waiting for him in the Inner Academy.

• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan that Yao Wan had sealed her bloodline to delay her clan from finding her, though the suppression could harm her and she would ultimately need to return.
• Xiao Yan accepted that Yao Wan's return would be better for her, despite not wanting to be separated from her.
• Xiao Yan won the Inner Academy Selection Competition, and the New Students gained access to the Treasure Pavilion and qualification to enter the Inner Academy.
• Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er grew uneasy when they could not find Yao Wan in Canaan Academy.
• During the Fire Energy Hunting Competition, Xiao Yan recognized Nalan Yanran, who said Yao Wan would wait for him in the Inner Academy.
• Xiao Yan invited Nalan Yanran to join his group, while Xiao Xun'er watched her with quiet hostility.

Xiao Yan led the new students through the Fire Energy Hunting Competition, with Nalan Yanran helping them fend off senior students and Xiao Xun'er growing wary of her connection to Yao Wan. Seven days later, the new students won, and Yao Wan arrived as Elder Su finished reprimanding the defeated seniors.

• Xiao Xun'er asked Xiao Yan about Nalan Yanran and learned that they were companions who trusted each other more than strangers.
• Xiao Yan's group repeatedly took fire energy from senior students, and Nalan Yanran threatened one senior with her sword to make him hand over his Fire Crystal Card.
• Xiao Xun'er approached Nalan Yanran, who rejected her attempt to talk and told her to discuss Xiao Yan's affections with Yao Wan instead.
• Xiao Yan led the new students to victory over the senior students after seven days in the forest, and Elder Su rebuked the seniors for refusing to accept their loss.
• Yao Wan arrived, drawing delight from Xiao Yan and renewed hostility from Xiao Xun'er, while the others were struck by her beauty.

Yao Wan appeared as Canaan Academy’s newly appointed elder and teased Xiao Yan, revealing their familiarity to the gathered students. She awarded the Fire Energy Hunting Competition victors their rewards, then led the students toward the Inner Academy, where they arrived at its vast basin.

• Elder Su introduced Yao Wan as Canaan Academy’s new elder, while Xiao Yan, Xiao Xun'er, and Nalan Yanran recognized her.
• A Senior Student accused Xiao Yan and the others of disrespecting their seniors, but Yao Wan teased Xiao Yan and showed that they knew each other.
• Yao Wan awarded the New Students twenty days of Fire Energy each and gave Xiao Yan, Xiao Xun'er, Hu Jia, Wu Hao, and Nalan Yanran Azure Fire Crystal Cards and thirty additional days of Fire Energy.
• Yao Wan led the students toward the Inner Academy, and Xiao Yan tried unsuccessfully to catch up with her in flight.
• The students passed over a ridge and saw the enormous basin and buildings of the Inner Academy.

Yao Wan offered Xiao Yan and his companions her luxurious residence, but Xiao Yan declined and settled into the academy’s modest new-student courtyard instead. After everyone rested, the awakened Seven-Colored Little Snake confronted Xiao Yan about the Soul Fusion Pill.

• Yao Wan offered her residence as a special benefit, but Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er refused it, and Yao Wan showed them their assigned courtyard instead.
• Yao Wan explained the Inner Academy’s weekly training opportunity and warned Xiao Yan’s group that they would need strength and unity to establish themselves.
• Nalan Yanran went to rest after Xiao Yan gave her Qi Recovery Pills, and he distributed pills to Xiao Xun'er, Hu Jia, and Wu Hao as well.
• Xiao Yan returned to his room to train and considered the Fallen Heart Flame, the Soul Fusion Pill, and Yao Wan’s return.
• The Seven-Colored Little Snake awakened amid sweet red mist and demanded to know why Xiao Yan had not refined the Soul Fusion Pill.

Xiao Yan negotiated with Queen Medusa over the Soul Fusion Pill and worried about the danger of entering the Snake-People Tribe, while Yao Lao advised him on Wan Guniang's coming departure. The chapter left Xiao Yan resolving to cherish their remaining time together and find her after she left.

• Queen Medusa pressed Xiao Yan to refine the Soul Fusion Pill, and he asked her to give him more time.
• Xiao Yan demanded a reward for the pill, and Queen Medusa promised to pay him after returning to the Snake-People Tribe.
• After Queen Medusa turned back into the Seven-Colored Little Snake, Xiao Yan told Yao Lao he feared the tribe might threaten him despite her promise.
• Xiao Yan asked Yao Lao whether he should talk to Wan Guniang about her return and admitted he wanted her to stay but feared for her safety.
• Yao Lao advised Xiao Yan to enjoy the time he had left with Wan Guniang and prepare to find her after she departed.

Xiao Yan set aside a stroll with Xiao Xun'er to help the New Students resist Senior Students who were extorting protection fees, and Pan Gate was established with Nalan Yanran managing it. He then discovered the Heavenly Flame Refining Gas Tower and suspected the Fallen Heart Flame was sealed inside, so he led Xun'er toward the entrance to investigate.

• Xiao Yan agreed to explore the Inner Academy with Xiao Xun'er, but a group of New Students asked him to stop Senior Students from extorting them.
• Xiao Yan drove off the Senior Students, and the New Students established Pan Gate, with Xiao Yan leaving Nalan Yanran and others to manage it.
• Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er walked toward the north of the Inner Academy and found students gathered around the Heavenly Flame Refining Gas Tower.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Lao inferred that the tower's spatial distortion might be connected to the Fallen Heart Flame.
• Xiao Yan took Xiao Xun'er by the hand and led her toward the tower to investigate.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er accidentally entered the Heavenly Flame Refining Gas Tower and were scorched by its heart fire, prompting Yao Wan to help them. After Xiao Xun'er woke, she confronted Yao Wan, and Xiao Yan awoke to find himself caught between them.

• Yao Wan and Han Yue heard a commotion at the tower entrance and found Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er suffering from the heart fire.
• Yao Wan suppressed the heart fire in both newcomers until Elder Liu arrived, while Han Yue explained what had happened.
• Xiao Xun'er woke and reacted to Yao Wan with hostility, and the two exchanged pointed remarks as onlookers speculated about their rivalry.
• Xiao Yan expelled the heart fire with his Azure Flame and woke, then moved closer to Xiao Xun'er after Yao Wan urged him to soothe her.

Xiao Xun'er claimed Xiao Yan's hand in front of Yao Wan, but the two women avoided a confrontation and she left with him. Yao Wan later returned home unsettled, and Qing Lin's guess that Xiao Yan was the cause made her panic and protest.

• Xiao Yan thanked Yao Wan for helping him, while she replied coolly and declined to engage with Xiao Xun'er.
• Xiao Xun'er took Xiao Yan's hand and led him away from the Heavenly Flame Refining Gas Tower after exchanging a tense silence with Yao Wan.
• Yao Wan asked Elder Liu to look after Xiao Yan and his companions, then confirmed her observations of the Fallen Heart Flame and its heart fire were complete.
• Yao Wan returned to her residence feeling inexplicably unhappy, and Qing Lin guessed that her mood was related to Xiao Yan.
• Yao Wan sprayed her tea and angrily denied that she could not live without Xiao Yan, then told Qing Lin not to mention him casually.

After Yao Wan returned upset, Qing Lin went to Pan Gate to find Xiao Yan and ask him to come with her. Xiao Xun'er noticed Nalan Yanran’s reaction to her suspicions as Xiao Yan left with Qing Lin, leaving her convinced that something was going on.

• Yao Wan calmed down after venting, and Qing Lin decided to seek Xiao Yan out despite Yao Wan’s warning.
• Qing Lin found Pan Gate as Nalan Yanran drove Bai Shan and his men away after they attacked the courtyard.
• Qing Lin told Nalan Yanran that Yao Wan had returned distressed, and they waited together for Xiao Yan to return.
• Xiao Yan came back with Xiao Xun'er, and Qing Lin asked him to accompany her; Xiao Xun'er reluctantly let him go alone.
• Xiao Xun'er noticed Nalan Yanran’s slight smile and realized her suspicion about Qing Lin and Nalan Yanran was correct.

Xiao Yan returned to Yao Wan’s courtyard, where she confronted him over Xiao Xun’er’s insults before inviting him to stay the night. The chapter ended with Xiao Xun’er waiting for Xiao Yan to return, then Yao Wan telling him to take off his clothes.

• Yao Wan questioned Xiao Yan about bringing Xiao Xun’er’s hostility into their relationship, and Xiao Yan explained that Xun’er was jealous and had acted impulsively.
• Yao Wan accepted Xiao Yan’s explanation, and Qing Lin left to rest after the couple assured her they would handle the tea.
• Yao Wan invited Xiao Yan to stay the night, and he worried that Xiao Xun’er would become jealous, but Yao Wan said she no longer planned to avoid a clash with her.
• Xiao Xun’er waited for Xiao Yan at her window, blamed Yao Wan for keeping him away, and asked Ling Ying to keep watch.
• Yao Wan told Xiao Yan to take off his clothes.

Yao Wan gave Xiao Yan a strand of the Fallen Heart Flame and a pill to study how to suppress the flame before he tried to refine its powerful main body. As Xiao Yan prepared to leave, he impulsively embraced her; she let him off with a warning and sent him out, while Ling Ying watched from above the Inner Academy in dismay.

• Yao Wan placed a strand of the Fallen Heart Flame inside Xiao Yan and explained that his heavenly flames would let him endure the heart fire longer than ordinary cultivators.
• Yao Wan gave Xiao Yan a pill that broke down the strand of heart fire into dou qi and Heart Fire Residue, though she remained dissatisfied with its usefulness for suppressing the flame's main body.
• Xiao Yan impulsively pulled Yao Wan into an embrace, and she froze before asking him how much longer he planned to hold her.
• Xiao Yan called the embrace his repayment, and Yao Wan told him to sleep before pushing him out and warning that she would lock him in the Enforcement Hall if he caused trouble the next day.
• Yao Lao praised Xiao Yan's boldness, and Xiao Yan blamed the Fallen Heart Flame for his actions.
• Ling Ying watched Xiao Yan get kicked out of Yao Wan's room and reacted with dismay.

Xiao Yan told Yao Wan he planned to refine a Soul Fusion Pill for Queen Medusa, intending to help her and secure compensation from the Snake-People Tribe. Yao Wan pointed him toward the Inner Academy’s Medicinal Herb Management Repository to search for the missing Yan Luo Branch, then teased him about another woman’s scent on his clothes.

• Xiao Yan noticed Qing Lin cultivating at Dou Qi Stage 8, and Yao Lao reminded him of her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
• Xiao Yan gave Yao Wan a Rank 6 Soul Fusion Pill formula and explained he wanted to refine it for Queen Medusa so she would no longer remain a dangerous presence by his side.
• Yao Wan said she lacked the Yan Luo Branch but offered to develop a substitute formula; Xiao Yan declined and chose to find the herb himself.
• Yao Wan suggested Xiao Yan search the Inner Academy’s Medicinal Herb Management Repository and returned the clothes he had left in her room.
• Yao Wan told Xiao Yan his clothes carried another person’s scent.

Yao Wan turned Xiao Xun'er away from her courtyard, prompting Xiao Xun'er to resolve to win Xiao Yan's affection rather than confront Yao Wan directly. At the Medicinal Herb Management Repository, Xiao Yan found the Yan Luo Branch missing and encountered a mysterious little girl eating a medicinal fruit.

• Xiao Yan collected his clothes and left to search the Inner Academy's Medicinal Herb Management Repository while Yao Wan watched Qing Lin cultivate.
• Xiao Xun'er visited Yao Wan, who taunted her and told her Xiao Yan had gone to the repository.
• Xiao Xun'er left angry but decided to avoid Yao Wan's sharp edge and focus on making Xiao Yan fall for her.
• Xiao Yan entered the repository using Yao Wan's name and found the cabinet for the Yan Luo Branch empty.
• Xiao Yan chased a white figure through the repository and found a little girl eating a dark-golden medicinal fruit; she asked who he was.

Xiao Yan met Zi Yan in the Medicinal Herb Management Repository and agreed to refine medicinal herbs for her to eat. While making her pill-like treats, he learned she was a Magic Beast trapped in human form after eating Transformation Grass, and she left him promising protection in exchange for more food.

• Xiao Yan met Zi Yan as she ate raw Diamond Bodhi and learned she wanted an alchemist to turn herbs into tastier pills.
• Zi Yan promised Xiao Yan any herbs he wanted if he helped her, and Elder Hao let them leave after she took several herbs.
• Xiao Yan learned Zi Yan had no parents and asked how she could eat medicinal herbs raw.
• Zi Yan revealed she was a Magic Beast who had eaten Transformation Grass and hoped to grow strong enough to change forms at will.
• Xiao Yan refined the herbs into pill-like pellets, and Zi Yan praised their taste and offered to protect him in exchange for more.

Xiao Yan told Zi Yan he planned to search the Black-Corner Region for the Yan Luo Branch, then returned to find Xiao Xun'er waiting for him. Xun'er accepted his need to leave and spent the night beside him, asking for his presence rather than promises.

• Xiao Yan told Zi Yan he would leave for the Black-Corner Region to search for the Yan Luo Branch, and Zi Yan reluctantly agreed not to go with him.
• Xiao Yan estimated he would return in about seven days, then left the Inner Academy's Alchemy Room and headed home.
• Xiao Xun'er told Xiao Yan she knew about what had happened and would not blame him, then listened as he explained his plan to leave.
• Xiao Yan decided to report to the Elder Council the next day because it was too late to make the journey that evening.
• Xiao Xun'er visited Xiao Yan in his room, embraced him, and said she only wanted to stay by his side without asking him for promises.

Xiao Yan left the Inner Academy and traveled through the Black-Corner Region to search for the Yan Luo Branch and rare medicinal ingredients. On the journey, Yao Lao pressed him to confront his feelings for Xun'er and Wan Guniang, but Xiao Yan postponed deciding what to do.

• Xiao Yan left the Inner Academy with an Elder, passed through Peace Town, and entered the Black-Corner Region.
• Xiao Yan told Yao Lao he planned to visit Thousand Medicines Workshop in Black Cloud City to search for medicinal ingredients and the Yan Luo Branch.
• Yao Lao asked Xiao Yan whether he had romantic feelings for Xun'er, and Xiao Yan admitted that he was avoiding the question and saw her as more than a younger sister.
• Xiao Yan acknowledged that he liked both Xun'er and Wan Guniang, and Yao Lao suggested that he consider being with both rather than choosing one.
• Xiao Yan said he needed more time to think, and Yao Lao advised him to become stronger before facing the families of Xun'er and Wan Guniang.

Xiao Yan reached Black Cloud City to buy Yan Luo Branch from Thousand Medicines Workshop and offered a Purification Pill in exchange. While waiting for the shopkeeper to appraise it, he noticed a veiled silver-haired woman who seemed familiar, and she warned him with a look.

• Xiao Yan arrived in Black Cloud City and visited Thousand Medicines Workshop to purchase Yan Luo Branch.
• The shopkeeper led Xiao Yan through a Dou Qi barrier to inspect the rare Yan Luo Branch, and Xiao Yan chose to barter for it.
• Xiao Yan offered a Purification Pill, which the shopkeeper recognized as a pill associated with the Medicine Fairy, then took away for appraisal.
• While waiting, Xiao Yan complained to Yao Lao that his cloak could not block Soul Power probing.
• Xiao Yan saw a veiled silver-haired woman collecting a Storage Pouch at the poison counter, and she looked back at him in warning.