Chapter Summaries

Yao Wan learned that people born in the Forgotten Ruins were already at the peak of their potential and could not cultivate, while Heavenly Flame Honored One waited for Xiao Yan to prove he came from beyond the Ruins. After Xiao Yan absorbed Heaven and Earth Energy for several days, he revealed a powerful Glass Image, convincing the onlookers that the Fated Person had appeared.

• Han Shanshan told Yao Wan that people born in the Forgotten Ruins could not grow stronger through cultivation and suggested she ask the Palace Master about the Ruins.
• Xiao Yan began absorbing Heaven and Earth Energy, drawing a golden vortex across the Medicine Department and attracting powerful figures from Sword Mountain.
• Heavenly Flame Honored One kept the onlookers at a distance and hoped Xiao Yan’s cultivation would prove that he and Yao Wan came from outside the Forgotten Ruins.
• After several days, Xiao Yan’s vortex faded, leading the onlookers to fear that his cultivation had failed.
• When the vortex vanished, Xiao Yan released a towering Glass Image whose aura threatened even Heavenly Flame Honored One, and the crowd cried that the Fated Person had appeared.

Xiao Yan formed a towering Glass Image with the Glass Body Sculpting Art, convincing Heavenly Flame Honored One that he was the Fated Person. After Heavenly Flame Honored One promised Heaven Sword Palace’s support and arranged a meeting with its Palace Master, Xiao Yan’s conversation with Han Shanshan ended with her asking Yao Wan to keep him in line.

• Xiao Yan manifested a Glass Image over twenty zhang tall, stunning the crowd and erasing Heavenly Flame Honored One’s doubts about him as the Fated Person.
• Yao Wan told Han Shanshan that the Glass Image came from a Body Tempering Technique and judged it impressive but still fragile.
• Yao Wan praised Xiao Yan’s success, and he understood from her signal that they needed to focus on Heavenly Flame Honored One’s arrival.
• Heavenly Flame Honored One told Xiao Yan to recover before meeting the Palace Master and promised that Heaven Sword Palace would direct its cultivation resources toward Xiao Yan and Yao Wan.
• After Heavenly Flame Honored One departed, Han Shanshan invited Xiao Yan to compete in alchemy, but he gave her a perfunctory reply.
• Han Shanshan nudged Yao Wan and asked her to keep Xiao Yan in line, and Yao Wan questioned whether she could control him.

Xiao Yan discovered Yao Wan suffering a violent backlash from the Ash Extinction Flame and tried to ease her pain by using the Flame Mantra to refine the Black Flame. He failed to refine any of it, but Yao Wan awoke in his arms.

• Xiao Yan and Yao Wan returned to their rooms, where Yao Wan seemed unusually exhausted and went to rest alone.
• Xiao Yan heard faint sounds from Yao Wan's room, rushed in, and found her convulsing in pain as Black-Red Flame flared across her body.
• Xiao Yan recognized the Ash Extinction Flame's backlash and used his Soul Power to check on Yao Wan, suffering burning pain from the contact.
• Xiao Yan used the Flame Mantra to try to devour and refine the Black Flame, easing Yao Wan's pain but failing to refine any of it.
• Yao Wan came to in Xiao Yan's arms and called his name.

Xiao Yan absorbed Yao Wan’s Ash Extinction Flame and sealed it within his own meridians, refusing to release her from the burden despite her protests. As he struggled to contain it, Yao Wan’s fear and pain erupted into an angry demand that he leave her alone.

• Yao Wan woke in Xiao Yan’s arms and urged him to stay away because the Ash Extinction Flame was dangerous.
• Xiao Yan drew the Black-Red Flame from Yao Wan and used five Heavenly Flames and the Flame Mantra to suppress it.
• Xiao Yan sealed the absorbed Ash Extinction Flame inside his meridians, leaving Yao Wan increasingly distressed as he ignored her pleas to stop.
• Yao Wan shouted at Xiao Yan to get away from her and called him a half-baked fool for trying to act like a hero.

As Xiao Yan endured the Ash Extinction Flame, Yao Wan tried to drive him away with cruel insults, but he confessed that he liked her and wanted to stay by her side. The chapter ended with Yao Wan crying as Xiao Yan gently drew the Calamity Flame out of her and into his Storage Ring.

• Yao Wan insulted Xiao Yan and claimed her past encouragement and affection had been lies, hoping he would hate and leave her.
• Xiao Yan stayed calm, questioned why Yao Wan's breathing was unsteady, and said he wanted the chance to protect her.
• Xiao Yan told Yao Wan, “Wan'er, I like you,” and explained that he wanted to remain close to her rather than become a stranger.
• Yao Wan broke down in tears and asked why Xiao Yan wanted more when she had already given him everything.
• Xiao Yan gently touched Yao Wan's face as the black-red Calamity Flame flowed from her into his Storage Ring.

Yao Wan woke in Xiao Yan’s arms and struggled to escape without waking him, unsettled by both her closeness to him and the feelings stirred by his confession. Xiao Yan pretended to sleep, held her tighter, and quietly asked her not to go.

• Yao Wan woke curled in Xiao Yan’s embrace and tried to free herself without disturbing him.
• Yao Wan carefully withdrew one arm, then struggled to pull her other hand from beneath Xiao Yan’s waist.
• Xiao Yan woke when Yao Wan’s movements disturbed him, but pretended to remain asleep.
• Xiao Yan turned and pinned Yao Wan beneath him as she tried to escape.
• Xiao Yan murmured, “Wan'er, don't go,” and Yao Wan replied that she was already in his arms.

Yao Wan tried to slip out of Xiao Yan’s embrace while he pretended to sleep, but Han Shanshan’s visit interrupted them and left her worried that their closeness had been discovered. After Han Shanshan left pills for Xiao Yan and teased Yao Wan, Xiao Yan revealed he was awake and asked what had been misunderstood.

• Yao Wan struggled to escape Xiao Yan’s arms, and Xiao Yan loosened his hold while pretending to sleep.
• Han Shanshan knocked and asked Yao Wan why she had not gotten up and where Xiao Yan was.
• Yao Wan denied knowing Xiao Yan’s whereabouts, but Han Shanshan suspected he was with her and said she would leave pills by his bed.
• Han Shanshan left, and Yao Wan blamed Xiao Yan for making her look as though she had given them away.
• Xiao Yan revealed he had been awake and asked Yao Wan what had been misunderstood.

Xiao Yan woke and teased Yao Wan by holding her close, while she struggled to hide her embarrassment and deny that she wanted his affection. After he released her, her reaction unsettled her, and her forceful turn accidentally revealed her calves to him.

• Xiao Yan surprised Yao Wan by wrapping his arms around her waist and telling her he was awake.
• Yao Wan asked Xiao Yan to let go, but he teased her by calling her Wan'er and reminding her that she had once urged him to be proactive.
• Xiao Yan eventually released Yao Wan, leaving her unexpectedly uncomfortable and insecure.
• Yao Wan denied wanting Xiao Yan to hold her longer, then turned sharply and revealed her calves when her clothing shifted.

Xiao Yan massaged Yao Wan’s feet after she accidentally exposed them, and their teasing grew increasingly intimate. He stopped after finishing both feet, while Yao Wan remained embarrassed and weak from the unfamiliar experience.

• Xiao Yan stared at Yao Wan’s bare calves and feet, and she blushed and kicked at him for looking.
• Xiao Yan caught Yao Wan’s foot and massaged it despite her protests, leaving her limp and flustered.
• Xiao Yan massaged Yao Wan’s other foot as she continued resisting and telling him to stop.
• Xiao Yan finished the massage without going further and asked how Yao Wan felt, and she hid in the quilt and snapped that she was not all right.

Yao Wan and Xiao Yan discussed the Ash Extinction Flame incident and prepared for their meeting with the Heaven Sword Palace Master. Xiao Yan recovered and advanced to eight-star Dou Zong, and Heavenly Flame Honored One came to escort them through the Heaven Sword Palace.

• Yao Wan rejected Xiao Yan's suggestion to rest, and they discussed how the Ash Extinction Flame had disappeared without either of them resolving it.
• Yao Wan urged Xiao Yan to take his medicine and prepare to meet the Heaven Sword Palace Master, whom they believed held answers about the Forgotten Ruins.
• Xiao Yan healed his injuries and cultivated to eight-star Dou Zong, startling Yao Wan with his rapid progress.
• Xiao Yan emerged from seclusion on the third day, and Heavenly Flame Honored One met him and Yao Wan at the Medicine Department on the eighth day.
• Heavenly Flame Honored One said their victory over a Spirit Devouring Clan Dou Venerate had convinced him they could defeat the clan, then offered to show them the Heaven Sword Palace before their meeting with its Palace Master.

Xiao Yan and Yao Wan explored Heaven Sword Palace’s lively market and saw how the Forgotten Ruins’ humans shared goods and stood together against the Spirit Devouring Clan. Yao Wan was moved by the peaceful scene, and Xiao Yan led her onward by the hand.

• Heavenly Flame Honored One explained that people in the Forgotten Ruins had largely abandoned trade because their cultivation could no longer advance and many treasures had lost their value.
• Xiao Yan took Yao Wan down from Cloud Top to visit the market despite her protests.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Wan saw people of different ranks buying and selling peacefully, including a Dou Zong thanking a Dou Zhe who had gathered Golden Lotus Fruits.
• Yao Wan was astonished by the market’s cooperation and wondered aloud whether the Dou Qi Continent could ever be like it.
• Xiao Yan said disputes would remain even if everyone lacked the ability to cultivate, then led Yao Wan through the market while holding her hand.

Xiao Yan and Yao Wan explored a market in Heaven Sword Palace, where a shop clerk’s selfless service and recognition of Xiao Yan as the prophesied Fated Person deepened the pressure he felt. They left the shop with Xiao Yan questioning whether he truly was the person destined to save humanity.

• Yao Wan reluctantly walked hand in hand with Xiao Yan through the market, then chose a medicine shop to visit.
• Yao Wan selected healing and cultivation pills, and offered rare herbs as payment, but the clerk explained that Heaven Sword Palace’s goods were provided freely for humanity’s survival.
• The clerk said he would pass Yao Wan’s herbs to Medicine Department Hall Master Han Shanshan so she could refine pills for them without charge.
• The clerk recognized Xiao Yan and Yao Wan as the people who had caused the Energy Storm in the Medicine Department and addressed Xiao Yan as the prophesied Fated Person.
• After the clerk wished them victory for humanity, Xiao Yan admitted he felt pressured by the expectations placed on him and wondered whether he truly was the Fated Person.

Xiao Yan and Yao Wan walked through the Forgotten Ruins, teasing each other as they browsed shops and discussed their past shopping trips. Xiao Yan entered a magical artifact shop after noticing a bracelet, leaving Yao Wan suspicious about what had caught his eye.

• Yao Wan comforted Xiao Yan about the pressure of being the Fated Person, and he told her he was glad to have her by his side.
• Yao Yan and Yao Wan walked along the street together, drawing curious looks from passersby as she blushed and scolded him.
• They discussed whether Xiao Yan should replace his Mystic Heavy Ruler and whether Yao Wan needed a new stone hammer.
• Yao Wan asked whether Xiao Xun'er had once dragged Xiao Yan around shopping, and Xiao Yan admitted they had shopped together in Wutan City and at Canaan Academy.
• Yao Yan silently criticized Xiao Xun'er while Xiao Yan entered a magical artifact shop and picked up an amber-colored bracelet.

Xiao Yan searched a shop for an ornament that could nourish Yao Wan’s soul, hoping to protect her from the backlash of the Ash Extinction Flame. Yao Wan tried on a set of Azure Ancient Jade accessories and nervously asked Xiao Yan whether they looked good.

• Xiao Yan asked the shopkeeper for ornaments that could nourish Soul Power after deciding a bracelet was unsuitable.
• The shopkeeper brought out earrings and a hairpin made from Azure Ancient Jade, explaining that the jade benefited the soul.
• Xiao Yan asked Yao Wan to try the accessories, and she agreed after the shopkeeper encouraged her.
• Yao Wan put on the earrings and secured her silver hair with the jade hairpin.
• Yao Wan turned to Xiao Yan and nervously asked whether she looked good.

Xiao Yan and Yao Wan chose supplies at Sword Mountain, where Yao Wan tried on Azure Ancient Jade earrings that helped sustain her declining Soul Power. Afterward, Heavenly Flame Honored One led them through the clouds to meet the Heaven Sword Palace Master, whose hall stirred a strange sense of familiarity in Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan told Yao Wan that the azure earrings looked good, and she accepted them after sensing their benefit to her Soul Power.
• Yao Wan teased Xiao Yan about Xian'er and Nalan, leaving the female shopkeeper shocked and dejected.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Wan left the market and reunited with Heavenly Flame Honored One, who explained that their battle against the Spirit Devouring Demon Generals had paid for their supplies.
• Heavenly Flame Honored One led Xiao Yan and Yao Wan to the highest point of Heaven Sword Palace to meet its Palace Master.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Wan reached a cloud-shrouded great hall filled with terrifying sword intent, and Xiao Yan found it inexplicably familiar.

Xiao Yan and Yao Wan met Yun Potian, the Heaven Sword Palace Master, and learned that he knew of Xiao Yan as the prophesied Fated Person. Yun Potian began explaining the Forgotten Ruins and its prophecy, revealing that the ruins repeated in cycles like reincarnation.

• Yao Wan stopped Xiao Yan from touching the dangerous Sword Aura around the Heaven Sword Palace.
• Yun Potian welcomed Xiao Yan, Yao Wan, and Heavenly Flame Honored One, and Xiao Yan recognized him as Sect Master Yun Potian.
• Xiao Yan explained his connection to Yun Potian’s Yun Lan Sect and his relationship with Yao Wan, while Yun Potian acknowledged him as the Fated Person.
• Yun Potian sent Heavenly Flame Honored One away and invited Xiao Yan and Yao Wan to ask about the prophecy, the Spirit Devouring Clan, and the Forgotten Ruins.
• Yun Potian explained that the prophecy may have appeared in earlier cycles and described the Forgotten Ruins as a repeating whirlpool, perhaps a form of reincarnation.

Yun Potian explained that the Forgotten Ruins had restarted twice and was now in its third, declining cycle, while warning Xiao Yan and Yao Wan that the Spirit Devouring Clan and an uncertain prophecy threatened their future. Yao Wan felt an ominous unease as Xiao Yan grew eager to uncover the truth, and they returned to the Medicine Department to find Han Shanshan asking if they had died again.

• Yun Potian told Xiao Yan and Yao Wan that the Forgotten Ruins had gone through three cycles, shrinking and weakening with each restart, and that the Spirit Devouring Clan persisted across them.
• Yun Potian said he did not know the prophecy’s origins, but offered Heaven Sword Palace’s cultivation resources to Xiao Yan and Yao Wan because Xiao Yan had defeated a Spirit Devouring Demon General as a Dou Zong.
• Yao Wan grew uneasy about the prophecy and their situation, while Xiao Yan became more motivated to investigate the truth; she glanced at him but kept her worries to herself.
• Yun Potian warned that the Spirit Devouring Clan’s recent loss might buy them only a few quiet days, urged them to cultivate, and told them to settle in Sword Mountain.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Wan left Heaven Sword Hall and returned to the Medicine Department, where Han Shanshan asked whether they had died again.

Xiao Yan and Yao Wan returned to the Medicine Department and arranged to stay there, while Yao Wan struggled with the consequences of her weakened condition. After Xiao Yan checked on her at night, Yao Wan asked him to stay and cultivate with her.

• Xiao Yan told Han Shanshan that he and Yao Wan had met Yun Potian and needed lodging, and Han Shanshan agreed to let them stay at the Medicine Department.
• Han Shanshan asked Xiao Yan and Yao Wan to help refine pills, and Yao Wan agreed on Xiao Yan's behalf because of his Pill Gathering preparations.
• Yao Wan worried about her damaged Soul Power, sealed cultivation, and the dangers that had followed her weakness in the Forgotten Ruins.
• Xiao Yan knocked on Yao Wan's door to check whether she was asleep, and they spoke through the door about his recent breakthrough.
• As Xiao Yan started to leave, Yao Wan called him back and asked him to stay and cultivate in her room for the night.

Yao Wan invited Xiao Yan to cultivate in her room for the night, leaving him surprised and delighted as they shared her bed with strict boundaries. As they settled in, they discussed Yun Potian’s prophecy, and Xiao Yan asked why Yao Wan had grown uneasy about it.

• Yao Wan nervously invited Xiao Yan to stay and cultivate in her room, and Xiao Yan accepted.
• Yao Wan told Xiao Yan he could cultivate on her bed while she slept, but firmly refused to let them sleep together.
• Xiao Yan sat beside Yao Wan and began cultivating while she gradually relaxed and prepared to sleep.
• Yao Wan asked what Xiao Yan thought about Yun Potian’s prophecy and admitted she did not believe in fate.
• Xiao Yan said his opposition to the Spirit Devouring Clan came from duty, not prophecy, then asked Yao Wan whether she had noticed something wrong.

Xiao Yan realized Yao Wan was afraid despite her denials and held her when she resisted the comfort only briefly. The chapter ended with Yao Wan relaxing into his embrace, though Xiao Yan still did not know what frightened her.

• Yao Wan warned Xiao Yan not to crowd her as they lay together, and Xiao Yan moved closer to the wall.
• Xiao Yan asked why Yao Wan distrusted Yun Potian's prophecy, and she said she did not believe it by instinct.
• Xiao Yan covered Yao Wan with the quilt and suggested she was exhausted, while she admitted her nerves were tense.
• Xiao Yan asked whether Yao Wan was afraid and pointed out that she had asked him to spend the night with her.
• When Yao Wan denied being afraid, Xiao Yan pulled her into his arms, and she struggled before gradually settling against him.