Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan and Yao Wan confronted Shi Yu beneath Heaven Sword Hall after he was drawn to the Half Demon Fetus, which Yao Wan was burning with Black Flame. Shi Yu revealed his transformed power and battled Xiao Yan, who used the Glass Forged Golden Body and Ash Extinction Flame before evading an attack with a technique that mimicked the Void Ancient Dragon's mastery of space.

• Xiao Yan knocked Shi Yu into a wall and pulled Yao Wan behind him as Shi Yu emerged in a twisted demon body.
• Yao Wan realized Shi Yu had been drawn to the Half Demon Fetus and warned Xiao Yan that he likely carried its other half.
• Shi Yu claimed the Saint King had chosen him and demanded that Yao Wan release the Demon Fetus, but Xiao Yan attacked him with Five-Colored Strange Fire.
• Shi Yu's dark purple Demonic Qi matched Xiao Yan's Strange Fire and forced him to defend Yao Wan with the Glass Forged Golden Body.
• Xiao Yan controlled Yao Wan's Ash Extinction Flame and shaped it like his Mystic Heavy Ruler as he fought Shi Yu.
• Xiao Yan evaded Shi Yu's bone claws by overlapping with space, leaving Shi Yu wondering how he had replicated the Void Ancient Dragon's abilities.

Shi Yu broke the sword formation seal and reunited with the other half of the Demon Fetus, gaining power that neared the Saint realm. Yao Wan shattered the Forgotten Ruins’ seal on her strength, rose to Dou Zun, and prepared to face Shi Yu alone while Xiao Yan watched.

• Shi Yu turned from Xiao Yan to attack Yao Wan and tore open a crack in the sword formation seal.
• Deep-purple light spread through the crack, and the seal exploded, allowing the two halves of the Demon Fetus to fuse within Shi Yu.
• Shi Yu’s power surged toward the Saint realm, and Xiao Yan shielded Yao Wan from the force he unleashed.
• Yao Wan told Xiao Yan to leave the rest to her and broke the Forgotten Ruins’ seal on her power.
• Yao Wan reclaimed her Dou Zun strength, gathered the Ash Extinction Flame, and told Xiao Yan that protecting each other was only natural.

Yao Wan and Xiao Yan combined their power to fight Shi Yu, whose Demonic Fetus and Spirit Devouring Clan forces threatened them. Their bond strengthened their fused Strange Fire enough to devastate Shi Yu, though his Demonic Fetus began regenerating him as the chapter ended.

• Yao Wan reassured Xiao Yan, then confronted Shi Yu despite the cost of breaking through the Forgotten Ruins’ shackles.
• Yao Wan shared her restored energy with Xiao Yan, and together they fused the Ash Extinction Flame with his Five-Colored Strange Fire to disperse the demonic tide.
• Shi Yu summoned Myriad Thunderbolts and attacked, but Yao Wan guided Xiao Yan through the void as he blocked Shi Yu’s palm strike with his Glass Golden Body.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Wan used their bond to withstand Shi Yu’s demonic seal, then Yao Wan formed their fused Strange Fire into a hammer and struck him.
• Shi Yu’s Blood Cocoon failed to protect him completely, and the blast destroyed much of his body before the Demonic Fetus began regenerating him.

Xiao Yan and Yao Wan destroyed the demonic fetus with Flame Sword, Mountain Sever, but Yao Wan’s Soul Division began to fade from the damage and the cost of breaking the Forgotten Ruins’ shackles. As she weakened in Xiao Yan’s arms, she revealed she had once planned to change his understanding of their relationship so he would stop clinging to her, and Xiao Yan kissed her before she could say more.

• Shi Yu’s demonic fetus devoured his flesh and blood, formed a body from its roots, and attacked Xiao Yan and Yao Wan.
• Yao Wan guided Xiao Yan as they joined their Strange Fires and used Flame Sword, Mountain Sever to engulf the demonic fetus in a sea of fire.
• Yao Wan collapsed from the strain on her Soul Division, and Xiao Yan begged her not to sleep as he tried to restore her Dou Qi.
• Yao Wan told Xiao Yan that she knew her Soul Division was disappearing and wanted to spend her remaining time with him, while the murky Demonic Shadow escaped from the fire.
• Yao Wan explained that she had once intended to modify Xiao Yan’s understanding of their relationship after meeting Xiao Xun'er, and Xiao Yan kissed her to stop her from continuing.

Yao Wan’s Soul Division vanished from the Forgotten Ruins while she was close to death in Xiao Yan’s arms, and her memories returned to her main body in the Inheritance Land. After learning that the demonic fetus was the Spirit Devouring King’s successor, she left the Yao Realm to deal with it.

• Yao Wan’s body faded away before she could finish telling Xiao Yan what she wanted to say, and her consciousness returned to the Inheritance Land.
• Yao Wan recalled her experiences with Xiao Yan and questioned the Medicine Emperor Phantom about the Forgotten Ruins.
• The Medicine Emperor Phantom revealed that the Forgotten Ruins had been created to destroy the Spirit Devouring King, whose demonic remains could produce a successor.
• Yao Wan told the Medicine Emperor Phantom that the demonic fetus had escaped, then resolved to pursue and destroy it.
• Yao Wan returned to the Yao Realm and encountered Yao Wanhua, who noticed that her Soul Power was near the Heaven Realm Great Perfection.

Yao Wan persuaded Yao Wanhua to accompany her to the Forgotten Ruins, while he mistakenly assumed her errand involved Xiao Yan and warned her about their relationship. After seeing Xiao Yan’s rapid rise to One-Star Dou Zun, Yao Wanhua reconsidered his doubts about him.

• Yao Wan asked Yao Wanhua to accompany her outside the Yao Realm, and he agreed after she promised to explain on the way.
• Yao Wanhua warned Yao Wan that Xiao Yan would need to prove himself and that their relationship could face serious pressures, but she said her errand had nothing to do with him.
• Yao Wan and Yao Wanhua traveled to the void connected to the Forgotten Ruins while the demon fetus fled and met two Spirit Devouring Clan survivors, who carried it toward their territory.
• Yao Wanhua sensed Xiao Yan in the Forgotten Ruins and discovered that he had advanced from Dou Ling to One-Star Dou Zun in five or six years.
• Yao Wanhua was astonished by Xiao Yan’s cultivation speed and realized the Yao Clan elders might have to accept him if Yao Wan chose to marry him.

Yao Wan and Yao Wanhua hunted the Spirit Devouring Clan’s Demon Fetus, but Yao Wan suspected the creature they destroyed was only a decoy and continued searching. In the Forgotten Ruins, Xiao Yan began recovering from losing Yao Wan, with powerful energy still remaining in his body.

• Yao Wan sensed Xiao Yan nearby but left with Yao Wanhua to follow traces of Demonic Qi.
• Yao Wan told Yao Wanhua about the Spirit Devouring Clan and the danger posed by the Demon Fetus.
• The Demon Fetus ordered one demon to act as a decoy while another fled with its main body.
• Yao Wanhua destroyed the fleeing decoy with the Nine Netherworld Wind Flame, but Yao Wan doubted the Demon Fetus had been eliminated.
• Yao Wan asked Yao Wanhua to search the void with her for more traces of the Demon Fetus.
• Xiao Yan gradually emerged from his grief in the Forgotten Ruins, still carrying some of the energy he had returned to Yao Wan.

Xiao Yan returned from the Forgotten Ruins believing Yao Wan had died, carrying Han Shanshan’s soul fragment and grieving as he resumed his plans to grow stronger. After hearing what happened, Yao Lao urged him to visit the Yao Clan before deciding whether Yao Wan was truly gone.

• Xiao Yan destroyed the remaining Spirit Devouring Clan, left the Forgotten Ruins, and took Han Shanshan’s soul fragment with him in a Soul Pearl.
• Yao Wan and Yao Wanhua gave up searching for the demonic fetus, and Yao Wanhua planned to warn the Yao Clan and the other eight clans about the Spirit Devouring Clan.
• Yao Wanhua reminded Yao Wan to prepare for her Coming-of-Age Ceremony, while acknowledging her talent had already surpassed the limits of bloodline rankings.
• Xiao Yan returned to Starfall Pavilion, where Zi Yan and Yao Lao noticed his grief and learned that he believed Yao Wan was gone.
• After Xiao Yan recounted what happened in the Forgotten Ruins, Yao Lao urged him to visit the Yao Clan because Yao Wan might still be alive.

Yao Lao told Xiao Yan that Yao Wan might still be alive and urged him to visit the Yao Clan to confirm it. After Xiao Yan left, Yao Lao met the old friend whose soul was in the Soul Pearl, though he could not remember her.

• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan that Girl might still be alive and that he needed to visit the Yao Clan to learn the truth.
• Xiao Yan asked where the Yao Clan was, then vowed to grow strong enough to see her again and prepared to train for the Pill Gathering.
• Xiao Yan gave Yao Lao a Soul Pearl containing the soul of an old friend and left to refine medicine with Zi Yan.
• Yao Lao sensed a familiar connection in the Soul Pearl and invited the woman inside to reveal herself.
• Yao Lao returned to his youthful appearance, and the woman emerged, calling him Yao Chen.

Xiao Yan struggled with worry over Yao Wan, but talking with Zi Yan eased his mood enough for him to resume alchemy. Meanwhile, Feng Qing'er remained unsettled by the mysterious new pavilion master’s long absence from Wind and Lightning Pavilion.

• Zi Yan asked Xiao Yan why Yao Wan mattered so much to him, and he explained that he loved her and felt happy when she was near.
• Zi Yan tried to reassure Xiao Yan that Yao Wan would be fine until they reached the Yao Clan, though he could not dismiss his painful memories of the Forgotten Ruins.
• Xiao Yan began refining pills with his five-colored Heavenly Flame, relying on his greatly improved soul power and flame control.
• Nearly half a year after Wind and Lightning Pavilion changed allegiance, its new pavilion master’s pills and strict rule had made the pavilion and its territories more peaceful.
• Feng Qing'er feared the mysterious woman had left for good, despite feeling tormented by the thought of her return.

Yao Wan urged Yao Wanhua to support Xiao Yan and Starfall Pavilion, revealing her belief that Xiao Yan would become a Dou Di. Yao Wanhua remained stunned by her certainty.

• Yao Wan confronted Yao Wanhua with Yao Chen’s achievements and his expulsion from the Yao Clan.
• Yao Wanhua realized Yao Chen was connected to Xiao Yan and regretted how the clan had treated him.
• Yao Wan said she would handle Yao Chen’s standing in the clan and asked Yao Wanhua to help Xiao Yan.
• Yao Wanhua questioned whether Xiao Yan was worth backing on behalf of the Yao Clan, and Yao Wan insisted he was.
• Yao Wan declared that Xiao Yan would surely become a Dou Di, leaving Yao Wanhua astonished.

Yao Wan persuaded Yao Wanhua to have the Yao Clan offer support to Starfall Pavilion and Wind and Lightning Pavilion, then confronted Feng Qing'er with a blood pill made from the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan. Feng Qing'er broke down, but ultimately accepted Yao Wan's reassurance and pleaded not to be abandoned.

• Yao Wanhua agreed to send trustworthy people to help Starfall Pavilion and Wind and Lightning Pavilion in the Yao Clan's name.
• Yao Wan withdrew her Divine Sense and offered Feng Qing'er the chance to grow stronger with a Heaven Demon Phoenix Blood Pill.
• Feng Qing'er realized the pill had been made from members of her clan and knelt, overwhelmed by horror, grief, regret, and hatred.
• Yao Wan told Feng Qing'er she would not force her to take the pill, but Feng Qing'er admitted she regretted her choices, feared Yao Wan, and hated what had happened.
• Feng Qing'er grasped Yao Wan's fingertips and begged her not to abandon her, and Yao Wan promised she would stay.

Feng Qing'er absorbed the Heaven Demon Phoenix blood pill under Yao Wan's guidance, while Yao Wan wondered how she would face Xiao Yan again. At Starfall Pavilion, Xiao Yan refined pills but remained distracted by Yao Wan's earrings until Zi Yan cheered him up and promised to accompany him to the Pill Tower before returning home.

• Yao Wan gave Feng Qing'er the blood pill and warned her to suppress its power gradually so her cultivation would not outpace her foundation.
• Yao Wan compared Feng Qing'er's struggle to Xiao Yan's extraordinary progress and worried about how she would explain herself when they met again.
• Xiao Yan finished refining about ten pills and gave them to Zi Yan, who noticed he was preoccupied with Yao Wan's earrings.
• Zi Yan urged Xiao Yan to cheer up, and he put away the earrings and resolved to pull himself together.
• Zi Yan said she would stay with Xiao Yan until he obtained the Three Thousand Burning Flame, then return home, and Xiao Yan teased her before she punched him.

Xiao Yan, Yao Chen, and Zi Yan traveled to Holy Pill City so Xiao Yan could enter the Pill Gathering and pursue the Three Thousand Burning Flame. While registering him, Yao Chen added his own name and reflected on his unresolved past with Xuan Yi, unsure whether he should seek her out.

• Xiao Yan saw Yao Chen in his youthful form and chose not to question the reason, then asked how to enter the Pill Gathering.
• Yao Chen explained that Starfall Pavilion had an invitation and asked whether Xiao Yan was mentally prepared; Xiao Yan said he needed the Three Thousand Burning Flame and remained consumed by his hatred of the Spirit Devouring Clan.
• Xiao Yan, Yao Chen, and Zi Yan traveled through the bustling Pill Domain to Holy Pill City, where Yao Chen registered Xiao Yan at the Alchemist Guild headquarters beneath the Pill Tower.
• Yao Chen hesitated before adding his own name to the registration, prompting Han Shanshan to ask why he had included it.
• Yao Chen told Han Shanshan that Xuan Yi had once confessed to him and that he had rejected her; he doubted he should meet her, while Han Shanshan suspected Xuan Yi was still there.

As the Pill Gathering approached, Xiao Yan sensed Yao Wan nearby and frantically searched for her, but she stayed hidden. After he left, Yao Wan warned Feng Qing'er against belittling Xiao Yan or mistaking her place in Yao Wan’s heart.

• While preparing for the Pill Gathering, Xiao Yan sensed a faint familiar aura and rushed out to search for its source.
• Xiao Yan searched through the crowd, but Yao Wan and Feng Qing'er watched unseen as he failed to find Yao Wan and eventually left.
• Yao Wan told Feng Qing'er that she was not avoiding Xiao Yan, but could not meet him yet because the timing was wrong.
• When Feng Qing'er began to say Xiao Yan was unworthy, Yao Wan stopped her and warned her not to challenge Yao Wan’s choices.
• Yao Wan told Feng Qing'er that her place in Yao Wan’s heart could not compare to Xiao Yan’s, and Feng Qing'er tearfully said she understood.

Yao Wan brought Feng Qing'er to the Pill Tower and met Xuan Kongzi, explaining that she had come to watch her friend Xiao Yan compete for the Three Thousand Burning Flame. She asked the Pill Tower to keep her visit secret, while news that Yao Chen had returned sent another Pill Tower giant rushing down to meet them.

• Yao Wan brought Feng Qing'er into the Pill Tower, where Feng Qing'er reflected on her growing strength and how far she still felt from Yao Wan.
• Yao Wan met Xuan Kongzi, who introduced himself and learned she had come because a friend was participating in the Pill Gathering.
• Xuan Kongzi suspected Yao Wan wanted special treatment for her friend and warned that the Pill Tower would not interfere with the competition.
• Yao Wan named her friend as Xiao Yan of Starfall Pavilion, and Xuan Kongzi checked the entry list and discovered that Yao Chen had also returned with Starfall Pavilion.
• Yao Wan asked Xuan Kongzi to keep her visit secret and said she only wanted to witness Xiao Yan's attempt to obtain the Three Thousand Burning Flame.
• Xuan Kongzi passed the news of Yao Chen's return to another Pill Tower giant, who rushed down from the tower.

Xuan Yi came to see Yao Chen in Holy Pill City and was shocked by his weakened soul-body state, while Xiao Yan watched their reunion and realized her feelings for his teacher were likely unrequited. Xuan Yi offered to help rebuild Yao Chen's body, but learned Xiao Yan had gathered the materials and possessed five kinds of Strange Fire.

• Xuan Yi arrived seeking Yao Chen, recognized Xiao Yan as his disciple, and warmly asked him to call her Xuan Aunt.
• Yao Chen appeared and reunited with Xuan Yi, who was horrified by his soul-body condition and angrily asked what had happened to him.
• Yao Chen reassured Xuan Yi that the culprit had been executed, and she offered to gather materials and find alchemists with Strange Fire to restore his body.
• Yao Chen declined Xuan Yi's offer because Xiao Yan had already gathered nearly all the needed materials, and Xiao Yan revealed five kinds of Strange Fire.
• Xiao Yan watched Yao Chen and Xuan Yi reminisce and concluded that Xuan Yi's affection was probably unrequited, then exchanged teasing remarks with Zi Yan.

Xiao Yan and Zi Yan bickered over her upcoming return to her clan, and Xiao Yan admitted he would miss her. Yao Chen told Xuan Yi that Zi Yan was a Void Ancient Dragon and explained that he had brought Xiao Yan to obtain the Three Thousand Burning Flame, while Xuan Kongzi watched events in Holy Pill City and saw no apparent trouble.

• Xiao Yan told Zi Yan that he was married and warned her not to get ideas about him, prompting her to threaten to beat him once she became a Dou Venerate.
• Xiao Yan asked Zi Yan whether her clan would accept her, and she said she had to return because her bloodline tied her to her people.
• Xiao Yan admitted he was reluctant to see Zi Yan leave, leaving her flustered before she told him to focus on refining medicine for the Pill Gathering.
• Yao Chen told Xuan Yi that Zi Yan was likely a Void Ancient Dragon and that she had come with them from the Northwest Continent.
• Yao Chen said Xiao Yan needed to obtain the Three Thousand Burning Flame, and he declared that his disciple would surpass his own accomplishments.
• Xuan Kongzi watched Holy Pill City and remarked that everything seemed to be proceeding without a problem.

Yao Wan gained access to the Pill Tower’s records on the Spirit Devouring Clan and searched them for information to support her research. Meanwhile, Little Fairy Doctor emerged from seclusion near the threshold of Dou Venerate and met another woman who had also just come out of seclusion.

• Yao Wan apologized for the misunderstanding with Xuan Kongzi and assured him she would not ask the Pill Tower to bend its rules for Xiao Yan.
• Yao Wan told Xuan Kongzi about the Spirit Devouring Clan, and he agreed to let her read the Pill Tower’s records about them.
• Yao Wan and Feng Qing'er searched the Library Pavilion’s branch-guild records for information on the Spirit Devouring Clan.
• Little Fairy Doctor refined the Netherworld Poison Flame and found that its evolution had brought her close to breaking through to Dou Venerate.
• Little Fairy Doctor left her secret chamber and met a woman in white who had also emerged from seclusion; the woman said she was a Nine Star Dou Zong, still short of Dou Venerate.

Nalan Yanran and Little Fairy Doctor discussed their plans to meet Xiao Yan before the Pill Gathering, while Yao Wan resumed investigating the Spirit Devouring Clan. The chapter ended with Star Plucking Old Ghost and a Spirit Devouring Clan member negotiating over a planned attack on the alchemists.

• Little Fairy Doctor explained that her poisonous flame had greatly accelerated her cultivation, and Nalan Yanran decided to return to No Sword Mountain to train.
• Nalan Yanran urged Little Fairy Doctor to go find Xiao Yan and joked that she would one day pin Yao Wan down on Xiao Yan's bed.
• Yao Wan sneezed while researching the Spirit Devouring Clan, then took Feng Qing'er to an Alchemy Room to organize her discoveries and resume her experiments.
• Star Plucking Old Ghost met a Spirit Devouring Clan member near the Pill Domain, and they argued over their alliance and the spoils of an attack.
• Star Plucking Old Ghost offered the Spirit Devouring Clan the alchemists' flesh and blood in exchange for their souls and the Three Thousand Burning Flame, but the clan member demanded half the souls as well.