Chapter Summaries

Chen Guan removed the Heavenly Cold Crystal Core from the Sound Valley Master, allowing her to recover, and received generous gifts from Ran Qingchen. After discovering an eighth-tier Heavenly Origin Pill formula among them, he promised Yun Yun he would refine the pill for her after they returned to the Pill Tower.

• Chen Guan expelled the weakened Heavenly Cold Crystal Core from the Sound Valley Master and sealed it in a Blazing Sun Jade Box.
• Ran Qingchen learned that her mother would awaken after replenishing her energy and thanked Chen Guan with medicinal ingredients, pill formulas, and a Jade Slip.
• Chen Guan inspected the gifts and found the Earth Tier High Grade soundwave Dou Skill Great Soundless Sound and five eighth-tier pill formulas.
• Yun Yun hoped to improve her aptitude with the Heavenly Origin Pill, and Chen Guan promised to refine it for her after they returned to the Pill Tower.

After returning to Holy Pill City with Yun Yun, Chen Guan learned that the Soul Hall had ambushed Yao Chen and threatened the Pill Tower ahead of the Pill Refining Convention. Cao Ying explained that Song Qing resented Chen Guan both over her and because Chen Guan threatened his prospects of becoming one of the Three Giants, then encouraged Chen Guan to claim the position Song Qing coveted.

• Chen Guan and Yun Yun returned to Holy Pill City after traveling through the Central Plains and went to the Pill Tower.
• Chen Guan entered Xuan Kongzi's study alone and heard that the Soul Hall had threatened the Pill Tower before the upcoming Pill Refining Convention.
• Cao Ying told Chen Guan that the Soul Hall's Eighth and Ninth Heavenly Venerables had ambushed Yao Chen and Feng, but Xuan Yi's intervention prevented Yao Chen from being captured.
• Song Qing introduced himself proudly as a high-level seventh-tier alchemist and left angrily after Chen Guan brushed him off.
• Cao Ying explained that Song Qing saw Chen Guan as a threat to his chance of becoming one of the Three Giants, and she encouraged Chen Guan to take the position for himself.

Chen Guan and Yun Yun returned to the Ye Clan, where Ye Chong thanked Chen Guan for helping the clan pass the Pill Tower assessment. Chen Guan received news from Venerable Skyfire and checked on Xiao Yi Xian’s progress, then settled in to study the Ye Clan’s alchemy texts while awaiting what came next.

• Chen Guan and Yun Yun left the Pill Tower for Ye City after Cao Ying and Yun Yun met and got along well.
• Ye Chong welcomed Chen Guan and thanked him for helping the Ye Clan pass the Pill Tower assessment, then gave him a letter from Yao Tianhuo.
• Chen Guan learned that Yao Tianhuo had delivered the requested resources, informed Su Qian that Zi Yan had returned to her clan, and delayed his return to investigate a sect.
• Chen Guan and Yun Yun visited the Ancient Sunfire Altar, where Old Monster You Du estimated that Xiao Yi Xian would emerge from seclusion in three to six months.
• Ye Xinlan brought Chen Guan the Ye Clan’s ancient alchemy books and notes, and Yun Yun guessed that the Ye Clan hoped he would guide Xinlan.

During the Pill Gathering preparations, Chen Guan spent six months improving his cultivation, sound technique, alchemy, and puppet while Xiao Yi Xian neared her breakthrough. She emerged as a peak one-star Dou Venerate, reunited with Chen Guan and Yun Yun, and accepted Yun Yun as her elder sister; Chen Guan then suggested they return to the courtyard and spend the evening getting to know each other.

• Chen Guan advanced to four-star Dou Zong, mastered Great Soundless Sound, refined an eighth-tier Heavenly Origin Pill, and helped his puppet reach the eighth tier.
• Yun Yun told Chen Guan that Holy Pill City was crowded, Soul Hall was targeting Starfall Pavilion, and Xiao Yan might miss the Pill Gathering.
• Chen Guan and Yun Yun went to the Ancient Sunfire Altar, where Venerable Skyfire predicted Xiao Yi Xian would soon break through.
• Xiao Yi Xian emerged from her cultivation chamber and absorbed vast amounts of World Energy, reaching the peak of one-star Dou Venerate.
• Xiao Yi Xian greeted Yun Yun, and the two agreed to address each other as sisters, easing Chen Guan's worries.
• Chen Guan suggested that the three return to the courtyard and spend the evening getting to know each other, but someone objected.

Chen Guan returned to Holy Pill City for the Pill Gathering, reunited with Xuan Kongzi and Cao Ying, and learned about the dangerous assessments ahead. As the competition began, he set out with Yun Yun and Xiao Yi Xian, ready to show his skill.

• Ye Chong led Chen Guan and his companions into Holy Pill City, where the Ye Clan elders and Ye Xinlan parted ways with them at the Inner Region.
• Xuan Kongzi welcomed Chen Guan back, explained the Pill Gathering’s three rounds, warned him about Soul Hall and dangerous contestants, and gave him three eighth-grade pill formulas.
• Cao Ying delivered the medicinal ingredients Chen Guan had requested, accepted two eighth-grade pills, and looked forward to competing against him.
• Yun Yun and Xiao Yi Xian helped Chen Guan prepare the next morning, and he left with them for the start of the Pill Gathering.

Chen Guan entered the Pill Gathering’s first stage, the Soul Illusion, after learning that the champion would receive an ancient Soul Cultivation Method. Inside the illusion, he encountered Sect Master Yun and Yaoye, who said she had come to fulfill an old promise.

• Chen Guan observed the Pill Gathering grounds, identified Dan Chen among the alchemists, and noticed a disguised Soul Hall member watching him with malice.
• Xuan Kongzi announced the Pill Gathering rules and the champion’s reward, then sent the participants into the Soul Illusion.
• Chen Guan kicked Song Qing into the Illusion Space before entering with Cao Ying and the other competitors.
• The Pill Tower’s Three Greats discussed the risk of the Soul Hall obtaining Three Thousand Burning Flame and resolved to trust the younger competitors.
• Chen Guan explored the Illusion Space until it transported him to a mist-shrouded sect, where he saw Sect Master Yun and Yaoye waiting for him.

Chen Guan passed the illusion trial and entered the staging area for the Pill Realm, where Elder Liao explained the second round’s rules and dangers. After collecting their task lists, Chen Guan, Cao Ying, and Dan Chen prepared to enter, and Chen Guan wondered whether a certain girl was inside.

• Chen Guan crossed the Space Entrance and found contestants gathered in a temporary resting point, where he noticed Cao Ying, Dan Chen, and the hostile Song Qing.
• Elder Liao opened the Pill Realm trial after the contestants gathered and explained that they had ten days to collect every listed ingredient and could use a Spatial Stone to forfeit and escape.
• Elder Liao warned the contestants that powerful magical beasts inhabited the Pill Realm and that the competition could be deadly.
• Cao Ying, Dan Chen, and Chen Guan waited until most contestants had entered, then selected their task lists from Elder Liao.
• Chen Guan picked a task list without checking its contents and wondered whether the girl he sought was in the Pill Realm.

Chen Guan searched the Pill Realm for medicinal ingredients, killed magical beasts, and discovered Earth Core Soul Marrow capable of helping him advance his soul. As he began preparing to break through to Spirit Realm Perfected, a hidden figure with a grudge decided to attack him.

• Chen Guan split up with Cao Ying and Dan Chen, then found Glazed Grass and killed a Que Tian Eagle, using its corpse to create the Que Tian Wings flying Dou Technique.
• Chen Guan killed an Earth Yellow Python to save Lin Kai’s group of alchemists, then dug up Thousand-Year Earth Yellow Essence and the Earth Core Jade Mother beneath it.
• Chen Guan found Earth Core Soul Marrow inside the Earth Core Jade Mother and realized it could help his soul break through to Spirit Realm Perfected.
• Chen Guan began adjusting his condition on a sand dune, while a hidden figure watched with hatred and resolved to disturb his breakthrough.

Chen Guan staged a failed breakthrough to lure Song Qing and Qiu Zhang into revealing their plot, then used an illusion to turn their ambush against them. He defeated Qiu Zhang, who escaped with a Spatial Stone, and left Song Qing badly wounded.

• Chen Guan failed to force a breakthrough and pretended to be injured as Song Qing and Qiu Zhang confronted him.
• Qiu Zhang claimed he had cleared the area, attacked Chen Guan, and appeared to kill him while Song Qing watched.
• Song Qing gave Qiu Zhang two pill formulas, but Qiu Zhang turned on him, tore off his arm, and left him near death.
• Chen Guan revealed that the slain figure had been an illusion and fought Qiu Zhang with fire techniques, severing his left arm.
• Qiu Zhang escaped using a Spatial Stone, while Chen Guan took his storage ring and mocked the dying Song Qing.

After killing Song Qing and taking Qiu Zhang’s Dou Technique, Chen Guan searched for the mission herbs and reached the Myriad Medicine Mountain Range with Cao Ying and Dan Chen. There, the Little Dragon Person waited in a Magical Beast’s cave, having sensed Chen Guan but planned to surprise him.

• Chen Guan stored Song Qing’s corpse, took Qiu Zhang’s Thousand Gold Fire Plate scroll, and found eleven Jade Heart Orchids after searching the sandy plains.
• Chen Guan traveled overnight to the Myriad Medicine Mountain Range, where he used his flute to search for the Little Dragon Person but received no response.
• Cao Dan invited Chen Guan to join a group of over a hundred alchemists, but Chen Guan declined and warned them about the danger of Eighth Tier Magical Beasts.
• Cao Ying and Dan Chen joined Chen Guan as they entered the mountains to search for herbs, while Cao Ying said they had already found the Thousand-Year Earth Fire Lotus and Lake Heart Blood Ganoderma.
• The Little Dragon Person told a burly Magical Beast that she had sensed Chen Guan and was hiding her presence to surprise him, while eating medicinal herbs from the cave’s stores.

Chen Guan, Cao Ying, and Dan Chen went to the Magical Beast King’s hall to find rare herbs, where they reunited with Zi Yan and met Xiong Zhan, the Eighth Tier beast who had collected them. Zi Yan invited them to take what they needed, and Xiong Zhan reluctantly agreed.

• Chen Guan led Cao Ying and Dan Chen to the Magical Beast King’s hall after they found the rare herbs they needed had already been harvested.
• Chen Guan subdued the Seventh Tier guards with his Spiritual Power and called for the hall’s master to negotiate.
• A black-robed attacker charged Chen Guan, but he recognized Zi Yan and welcomed her after she revealed herself.
• Zi Yan explained that she had left her clan, found Xiong Zhan hoarding the mountain’s rare herbs, and moved into his hall.
• Zi Yan led Chen Guan, Cao Ying, and Dan Chen inside, introduced Xiong Zhan, and offered them the herbs they needed.
• Xiong Zhan agreed to let them take herbs from his collection, claiming he had kept them only because they looked pleasing.

Chen Guan gathered rare ingredients from Xiong Zhan and sent Cao Ying and Dan Chen to leave the Pill Realm while he stayed with Zi Yan to protect the other participants. The chapter ended with an elite masked force gathering at the edge of the Myriad Medicine Mountain Range.

• Chen Guan accepted Xiong Zhan's offer to take a few medicinal ingredients and promised to refine pills for him after leaving the Pill Realm.
• Chen Guan found the ingredients he needed, collected Pill Spirit Paste and Gastrodia Jade Stone Essence, and realized they could help improve the soul realms of his companions.
• Chen Guan told Cao Ying and Dan Chen to leave for the Pill Realm's exit, while he stayed behind with Zi Yan to fulfill his duty to protect the participants from Soul Hall.
• Zi Yan told Xiong Zhan to wait for her in the Pill Realm, and she left with Chen Guan.
• More than a dozen masked subordinates, including Dou Zong Experts, gathered behind a cold middle-aged man in black and a sinister young man in white at the edge of the Myriad Medicine Mountain Range.

Chen Guan and Zi Yan interrupted Chen Xian’s Soul Hall-backed attack on Cao Dan and the alchemists, killing Chen Xian and his masked subordinates. Cao Dan’s remark made Chen Guan realize that he, Dan Chen, and Cao Ying might have been Soul Hall’s targets all along.

• Chen Xian led a group from the Heavenly Underworld Sect to attack alchemists inside a Soul Barrier while a Soul Hall man stayed behind.
• Chen Guan and Zi Yan arrived at the barrier, where Chen Guan saw Cao Dan and the alchemists surrounded by masked attackers.
• Chen Guan’s black-robed puppet killed the attackers, and Chen Guan punched Chen Xian before he could remove his mask or explain himself.
• Cao Dan thanked Chen Guan and said no Dou Venerate Experts had joined the attack, since the alchemists were not prominent enough targets.
• Cao Dan noted that Dou Venerate Experts would target popular Pill Gathering champions, prompting Chen Guan to suspect that Soul Hall was after him, Dan Chen, and Cao Ying.

Chen Guan rushed to rescue Cao Ying and Dan Chen from Old Man Mu Gu, a Soul Hall Dou Venerate who had trapped them near the Pill Realm exit. After Chen Guan arrived and the girls withdrew to safety, he prepared to fight Old Man Mu Gu, determined to destroy him.

• Chen Guan used his puppet and Spatial Wormholes to hurry toward the disturbance, while reflecting that he had underestimated how much events had changed.
• Cao Ying recognized Old Man Mu Gu as a Soul Hall elder and fought alongside Dan Chen, but their attacks failed to break his Soul Barrier.
• Cao Ying sent Dan Chen away and fled in the opposite direction, but Old Man Mu Gu pursued Cao Ying and gravely wounded her.
• Chen Guan struck Old Man Mu Gu from behind, rescued Cao Ying, and gave her a Return Life Pill while his puppet protected Dan Chen.
• Old Man Mu Gu identified Chen Guan and showed greed for his soul, Heavenly Flame, and puppet; Chen Guan vowed to annihilate him.

Chen Guan and his puppet fought Old Man Mu Gu inside the Soul Barrier, and Chen Guan used a hidden Spiritual Power attack to turn the battle around. The barrier collapsed after the puppet’s self-destruction, leaving Old Man Mu Gu fleeing in a ruined state and Chen Guan unconscious but alive.

• Cao Ying and Dan Chen left the Soul Barrier to alert the Pill Tower elders while Chen Guan faced Old Man Mu Gu with his puppet.
• Chen Guan used his five-flame formation against Old Man Mu Gu’s flaming arms, while the puppet battled the stronger black-flame attack.
• Chen Guan and the puppet pressed Old Man Mu Gu with saber strikes, fists, and flames, but Chen Guan suffered accumulating injuries.
• As the Pill Tower elders attacked the Soul Barrier from outside, Chen Guan struck Old Man Mu Gu with a Soul Great Mudra and then secretly unleashed powerful Soul Storms.
• Chen Guan ordered the puppet to self-destruct while Old Man Mu Gu was stunned, and the blast shattered the Soul Barrier and devastated the battlefield.
• Old Man Mu Gu escaped the crater badly burned, while Cao Ying dug out the unconscious Chen Guan and carried him away in a sack after handing over his assignment ingredients.

Dan Chen emerged from the Pill Realm first, followed by the captured Old Man Mu Gu and the injured Chen Guan, whose battle revealed that he had defeated a Dou Venerate and acquired a Nihility Devouring Flame Sub-Flame. As Chen Guan refined the Black Flame in seclusion, the Pill Tower’s leaders discussed confronting Soul Hall, and two mysterious visitors entered its hidden dungeon.

• Dan Chen exited the Pill Realm, prompting the Pill Tower’s three giants to secure the area and prepare for Old Man Mu Gu’s emergence.
• The three giants captured Old Man Mu Gu, discovered something was wrong with him, and sent Tian Leizi to take him away for safekeeping.
• Cao Ying carried the injured Chen Guan out of the Pill Realm and told the crowd that he had fought Old Man Mu Gu; she then handed him over to Xiao Yi Xian and Yun Yun.
• Chen Guan used his three Heavenly Flames to suppress and refine the Nihility Devouring Flame Sub-Flame inside his body while his companions concealed the disturbance and discussed Old Man Mu Gu’s condition.
• Cao Ying and Dan Chen recounted what they knew to Xuan Kongzi, Xuan Yi, and Tian Leizi, who agreed to use Old Man Mu Gu as bait for Soul Hall.
• Two visitors appeared in the Pill Tower’s hidden dungeon, with a cute girl urging her large companion to hurry.

Zi Yan and Xiong Zhan retrieved Mu Gu from the Pill Tower dungeon while Chen Guan refined the Nihility Devouring Flame Sub-Flame and reached six-star Dou Zong. As the final round of the Pill Gathering began, Chen Guan arrived with his companions and three concealed Dou Venerate Experts.

• Zi Yan dissolved the seals on Mu Gu’s cell, and she and Xiong Zhan carried his lifeless body away.
• After eight days of refining the Sub-Flame, Chen Guan reached six-star Dou Zong and resolved to reshape Mu Gu into an intelligent puppet and use him as an insider in the Soul Hall.
• Zi Yan told Chen Guan that she had visited a Great Elder’s home with Xiong Zhan, while Venerable Skyfire cautioned Chen Guan to consolidate his rapidly rising cultivation.
• At the Pill Gathering plaza, Xuan Kongzi and Cao Ying discussed Mu Gu, Song Qing, and Cao Ying’s feelings for Chen Guan as the contestants gathered for the final round.
• Chen Guan arrived at the plaza with Yun Yun, Xiao Yi Xian, Zi Yan, and three companions whose Dou Venerate strength stunned the powerful observers.

Chen Guan returned from the Pill Realm and told the Great Elder how Song Qing had died, handing over the body so the Pill Tower could pursue those responsible. The Pill Tower announced the final round of the Pill Gathering, where the remaining alchemists would compete for the championship.

• The Song Clan patriarch and the Great Elder suspected Chen Guan of killing Song Qing, but the Great Elder stopped the patriarch from confronting him.
• Chen Guan arrived at the plaza with Xiao Yi Xian and his powerful guards, drawing attention from the gathered alchemists.
• The Great Elder asked Chen Guan whether he had seen Song Qing, and Chen Guan admitted that Song Qing's death was related to him.
• Chen Guan recounted what happened in the Pill Realm, gave the Great Elder Song Qing's corpse, and urged him to verify the story by pursuing the other culprit.
• The Great Elder accepted the body and left to handle the matter, while Chen Guan expected the culprit's faction to face retribution.
• Xuan Kongzi announced that the final round would determine the Pill Gathering champion, igniting excitement among the alchemists.

Chen Guan and the other finalists began the unrestricted final round of the Pill Gathering, choosing secluded platforms and preparing to refine their pills. Cao Ying revealed her powerful Blood Demon Flame, then Chen Guan summoned a Heavenly Flame that made the other flames submit before beginning to warm his cauldron.

• Xuan Kongzi announced that the finalists could refine any pill without time limits or other restrictions, and the contestants claimed platforms in the sky.
• Chen Guan chose a quiet platform near the edge, while Cao Ying and Dan Chen settled at distant platforms nearby.
• At Xuan Kongzi’s signal, the alchemists summoned their cauldrons and ignited their flames as the crowd cheered.
• Cao Ying revealed her Blood Demon Flame, drawing attention from the alchemists and prompting Chen Guan to recognize its strength.
• Chen Guan released his Heavenly Flame, which made the other flames tremble and bend toward it before he sent it into the Myriad Beast Cauldron.
• Chen Guan warmed the cauldron and summoned more than a hundred Jade Boxes of ingredients to begin alchemy.

Chen Guan refined a high-grade pill through the Pill Gathering’s long final stages while other contestants finished their pills. As the contest neared its climax, an unidentified elderly Alchemy Master revealed a Grade 8 pill, drawing everyone’s attention.

• Chen Guan rapidly refined the medicinal ingredients for his pill and began the lengthy process of fusing their essences.
• A veiled woman and her mother arrived at the plaza, and the woman identified Chen Guan before offering to take her mother to Yun Yun and the others.
• Over seven days, contestants failed or completed their pills, while Chen Guan continued refining and eventually entered the crucial fusion stage.
• Cao Dan completed a high-level Grade 7 pill and rushed to suppress its pill lightning as many other contestants finished at nearly the same time.
• An unfamiliar gray-haired elder produced a Grade 8 pill, and the Three Greats of the Pill Tower wondered which old acquaintance had disguised himself to compete.