Chapter Summaries

Chen Guan and Queen Medusa discovered an immature Fallen Heart Flame and met its former master, Venerable Skyfire, whose soul lingered in the magma. Venerable Skyfire gave Chen Guan the flame and valuable techniques in exchange for help repairing his soul, leaving them with a new agreement.

• Chen Guan explained that the small Fallen Heart Flame was a second, immature flame and said he planned to use it to compensate the Inner Academy.
• A white-robed spirit appeared from the skeleton, introduced himself as Yao Tianhuo, also known as Venerable Skyfire, and explained that he had once controlled the flame.
• Venerable Skyfire offered Chen Guan the immature Fallen Heart Flame in exchange for repairing his damaged soul, and Chen Guan accepted.
• Venerable Skyfire gave Chen Guan the Five Ring Fire Separation Method and presented Queen Medusa with an Earth Tier Low Grade technique called Heaven's Scar.

Chen Guan and Queen Medusa escaped the Lava World after fighting through waves of Flame Lizardmen, and Chen Guan returned to the academy as a One-Star Dou Emperor. He gave the academy an immature Fallen Heart Flame to replace the one he had refined, then left the pagoda with Medusa.

• Chen Guan and Queen Medusa battled Flame Lizardmen on their way up through the lava, collecting more than a hundred Fire Cores before fleeing from an approaching Dou Zong-level expert.
• Medusa gave Chen Guan her Fire Cores, and he reflected on the Tou She Ancient God's Cave Mansion and the uncertain whereabouts of the Ancient Jade fragment.
• Chen Guan and Medusa emerged from the Fire Well, where Su Qian and the elders welcomed them and recognized Chen Guan's rise to One-Star Dou Emperor.
• Chen Guan presented an immature Fallen Heart Flame and explained how the academy could nurture it to maintain the pagoda and eventually gain a new combat force.
• Su Qian and the elders tested the Little Heart Flame in a container, while Chen Guan left the pagoda with Medusa and flew beneath the open sky.

Chen Guan studied the Five Ring Fire Separation Method and Heaven's Scar while Zi Yan completed her advancement. Zi Yan emerged as a beautiful young woman, but the Form Transformation Grass soon turned her back into a little girl.

• Chen Guan practiced the Five Ring Fire Separation Method with Venerable Skyfire's guidance and learned how to use Heaven's Scar with Queen Medusa.
• After seven days, Zi Yan's advancement began, and Chen Guan left Queen Medusa to watch over her.
• Zi Yan emerged from the energy cocoon in a mature form and joyfully embraced Queen Medusa.
• When Zi Yan put on Queen Medusa's clothes, the Form Transformation Grass made her shrink back into a little girl, and she wailed while Chen Guan and Queen Medusa laughed.

After Zi Yan advanced, Chen Guan took her and Queen Medusa to seek high-tier Beast Flames, obtaining leads from Su Qian and collecting one from a sixth-tier magical beast. The group then visited a town, where Zi Yan teased Chen Guan into buying snacks for Queen Medusa, only to eat nearly all of them herself.

• Zi Yan reunited with Chen Guan and boasted to him and Queen Medusa about growing taller after her advancement.
• Chen Guan brought Zi Yan to Su Qian, who told him about a sixth-tier Beast Flame auction in Black Seal City and a sixth-tier magical beast on Ghost Buddha Mountain.
• Chen Guan, Zi Yan, and Queen Medusa visited Ghost Buddha Mountain, where Chen Guan obtained the Fire Horn Rhino's Beast Flame in exchange for sparing it.
• The group entered a nearby town, where Zi Yan asked Chen Guan to buy snacks for herself and Queen Medusa.
• Chen Guan returned with more than a dozen skewers, Queen Medusa tasted one, and Zi Yan ate the rest.

Chen Guan used a sixth-grade Dou Spirit Pill to draw out Yuan Yi, the master of the Eight Gates, and demanded that the faction work for him. After Queen Medusa revealed her Dou Zong strength, Yuan Yi agreed, leaving Chen Guan poised to use the Eight Gates to search for valuable items in the Black Corner Region.

• Chen Guan presented a sixth-grade Dou Spirit Pill at the Black Seal Auction House, prompting Chief Appraiser Min Mo and Yuan Yi to inspect it.
• Chen Guan confirmed that he had refined the pill and told Yuan Yi that he wanted the Eight Gates to work for him rather than joining the faction.
• Yuan Yi left to consult the Eight Gates' elders while Chen Guan placed a Spiritual Imprint on him.
• Chen Guan explained to Queen Medusa that he wanted the Eight Gates' channels to search for treasures, including a fragment of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame map.
• Yuan Yi returned with powerful Eight Gates members nearby and asked what his faction would gain from serving Chen Guan.
• Queen Medusa hovered into the air, frightening Yuan Yi into agreeing that the Eight Gates would work for Chen Guan.

Chen Guan secured the Eight Gates’ cooperation and gathered ingredients while refining Soul Warming Saliva for Venerable Skyfire. Reviewing the Black Seal Auction House’s records, he discovered an Earth Tier Low Grade movement technique, Three Thousand Lightning Movement, and arranged to acquire it when it was put up for auction.

• Chen Guan promised Yuan Yi that the Eight Gates could keep its internal affairs and offered a Spirit Ascension Pill in exchange for medicinal ingredients; Yuan Yi agreed to follow his lead.
• Yuan Yi delivered the ingredients, and Chen Guan refined Soul Warming Saliva for Venerable Skyfire while Yuan Yi watched.
• Chen Guan asked Yuan Yi for catalogues, and Yuan Yi returned with records of the Eight Gates’ treasures and entrusted auction goods.
• Chen Guan spotted Three Thousand Lightning Movement in the catalogue and learned that a disguised man had entrusted it to the Black Seal Auction House.
• Chen Guan told Yuan Yi to arrange for a shill to buy the movement technique at auction, promising to compensate him afterward.
• Chen Guan found no record of the fragmentary map, then noticed Zi Yan had marked every medicinal ingredient above the fourth tier in her booklet.

After collecting the Three Thousand Lightning Movement scroll from Yuan Yi, Chen Guan waited for a thunderstorm so he could begin cultivating the technique. He released the scroll’s sealed energy figures, pulled them into his body, and refined the Wind and Lightning Power, meeting the technique’s first requirement.

• Yuan Yi accepted Chen Guan’s Azure Origin Pill and agreed to use a Soul Imprint to alert Chen Guan about illicit goods he could not identify.
• Chen Guan left the auction with Queen Medusa and Zi Yan, then watched Zi Yan terrorize magical beasts in the mountain forest.
• Chen Guan spotted an approaching thunderstorm, asked Queen Medusa to take Zi Yan back, and flew to a mountain peak to cultivate the movement technique.
• Chen Guan sent Iron Egg to block lightning strikes while he waited out the storm.
• Chen Guan tore open the Three Thousand Lightning Movement scroll’s seal, restrained the energy figures that emerged, and drew them into his mind and body.
• Chen Guan used Heavenly Flames to refine the trace of Wind and Lightning Power, fulfilling the first condition for cultivating the technique.

After improving his techniques, Chen Guan left the Inner Academy with Queen Medusa and Zi Yan to investigate the powerful strangers appearing across the Jia Ma Empire. At the edge of the Tagor Desert, Queen Medusa returned to her people, while Zi Yan followed Chen Guan toward the Magical Beast Mountain Range and Wutan City.

• Chen Guan reached the Lightning Blink level of Three Thousand Lightning Movement and continued improving his other Dou Techniques.
• Zhao Gang delivered a letter from Yaoye reporting unfamiliar powerful experts near the Misty Cloud Sect and Wutan City, so Chen Guan, Queen Medusa, and Zi Yan set out for the Jia Ma Empire.
• Near the Holy City of the Snake People Race, Queen Medusa decided to return to her people, and Chen Guan embraced her before leaving.
• Zi Yan caught up with Chen Guan after Queen Medusa told her to follow him, and they flew toward the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• The Little Amethyst Winged Lion King recognized Chen Guan flying past and fled into the cave.

Chen Guan and Zi Yan confronted the Amethyst Winged Lion King, and Chen Guan defeated its Amethyst Seal with his improved Heaven's Scar. He persuaded the Lion King to submit by offering protection and benefits for its child, then prepared to baptize the Little Amethyst Winged Lion King with the Fallen Heart Flame.

• The Amethyst Winged Lion King attacked Chen Guan and Zi Yan, but Zi Yan met its charge head-on and matched its strength.
• Chen Guan blocked the Lion King's Amethyst Seal with Heaven's Scar, split a distant mountain, and spared the Lion King.
• Venerable Skyfire praised Chen Guan for fusing Heaven's Scar with his own technique and increasing its power.
• The Amethyst Winged Lion King offered to end their past grievances, and Chen Guan invited it to follow him for protection.
• Chen Guan offered to baptize the Little Amethyst Winged Lion King with the Fallen Heart Flame and promised a chance to earn Form Transformation Pills.
• The Amethyst Winged Lion King agreed to submit, and Chen Guan told it to bring out its child for the baptism.

Chen Guan reunited with Xiao Yan in the Magical Beast Mountain Range and learned that he had obtained the Wind Fury Dragon Flame. After Yao Chen offered Chen Guan two valuable scrolls in exchange for protecting the Xiao Family, Chen Guan refused the request, though Yao Chen still gave him the scrolls.

• Chen Guan sent Zi Yan toward the Imperial Capital with the Amethyst Winged Lion King and its child, then headed for the Outer Edge of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• Chen Guan sensed a Heavenly Flame and found Xiao Yan fighting an Iron Rock Savage Elephant with the Wind Fury Dragon Flame.
• Xiao Yan told Yao Chen that the escaped black-robed man might be hunting them, and Yao Chen warned him to hide his identity and avoid returning to the Xiao Family for now.
• Yao Chen gave Chen Guan scrolls describing body refinement and the Bone-Growing Blood-Melting Pill, then asked him to protect the Xiao Family.
• Chen Guan refused to involve the Jia Ma Imperial Family in protecting the Xiao Family, but Yao Chen insisted that Chen Guan keep both scrolls.

Chen Guan visited Wutan City to check on the Xiao Family and discovered that Soul Hall agents had secretly infiltrated it after a Misty Cloud Sect member led them there. The suspected motive was the Tou She Ancient God Jade, and Chen Guan wondered whether Gu Xun'er had left Ling Ying behind to protect it.

• Chen Guan told Xiao Yan that Nalan Yanran had once been stronger than him and estimated their strengths were now close as the Three-Year Agreement approached.
• Chen Guan flew to Wutan City, disguised himself, and sensed a hidden Dark Attribute expert in the Xiao Family whose strength matched Ling Ying's.
• Chen Guan learned from a Xiao Family junior that Gu Xun'er had quietly lived among the family and later left without drawing attention.
• Chen Guan questioned Wei Jun, who reported that thirteen strange black-robed figures had infiltrated the Xiao Family about fifty days earlier while a man in white flew toward the empire.
• Wei Jun said the man in white wore robes resembling those of the Misty Cloud Sect, and Chen Guan suspected Yun Leng's faction had brought the Soul Hall's attention to the Xiao Family.
• Chen Guan concluded the Soul Hall was probably seeking the Tou She Ancient God Jade and wondered whether Gu Xun'er had left Ling Ying behind because of it.

Chen Guan infiltrated the Soul Hall’s attack on the Xiao Family, secretly sparing its members while helping the assault appear genuine. Ling Ying rescued Xiao Zhan and took the Tou She Ancient God Jade, but a mysterious black-robed figure blocked Ling Ying’s escape.

• Chen Guan advanced to two-star Dou Emperor, then sensed twelve Soul Hall members heading for the Xiao Family and disguised himself as one of them.
• Chen Guan and the Soul Hall attackers raided the Xiao Family, killed its defenders, and failed to find the Tou She Ancient God Jade in the Dou Qi Pavilion.
• Chen Guan secretly knocked Xiao Family members unconscious as the attackers slaughtered the clan, leaving Xiao Zhan and the three Great Elders alive.
• Ling Ying rescued Xiao Zhan from the Soul Hall leader, asked for the Ancient Jade, and persuaded Xiao Zhan to hand it over in exchange for protection for his sons.
• Ling Ying evaded the Soul Hall pursuers and fled with the Ancient Jade, but a black-robed figure appeared ahead and blocked his path.

Protector Chen defeated Ling Ying with a powerful soul attack and nearly captured him, but a mysterious ally rescued Ling Ying, who escaped with the news that the Soul Hall had taken the Xiao Family's Tou She Ancient God Jade. Chen Guan recovered the jade and returned to Wutan City, where he ordered the Xiao Family estate sealed and its destruction blamed on a mysterious faction.

• Ling Ying and Protector Chen fought with weapons until Protector Chen overwhelmed Ling Ying using a Three-Stage Soul Lock that broke through his Netherworld Heavenly Wall and severely injured his soul.
• Protector Chen stripped Ling Ying of his storage ring and pierced his shoulders with chains, but a mysterious figure appeared, rescued Ling Ying, and fought Protector Chen.
• Ling Ying swallowed a medicinal pill from a jade bottle, fled the battlefield, and resolved to report that the Soul Hall had taken the Xiao Family's Tou She Ancient God Jade.
• Protector Chen recovered the Tou She Ancient God Jade from Ling Ying's storage ring, then returned to Wutan City and spoke with Venerable Skyfire about concealing his role.
• Chen Guan ordered Wei Jun to have City Lord Yao seal the Xiao Family estate, dispose of the bodies, and spread the story that a mysterious faction had exterminated the family.

After hearing that the Xiao Family had been exterminated, Xiao Yan rushed back to Wutan City and discovered that dozens of his clansmen had survived in a state resembling suspended death. The survivors revealed that black-robed attackers had sought the Ancient Jade, leaving Xiao Yan and Yao Chen with questions about what had really happened.

• A mercenary found a storage ring at the battlefield outside Wutan City and decided to leave before anyone discovered it.
• Xiao Yan learned in the Imperial Capital that the Xiao Family had been wiped out and flew toward Wutan City with Yao Chen.
• Yao Chen persuaded Xiao Yan to avoid rushing into danger, then secretly brought him into the Xiao Family estate to investigate.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Chen discovered that dozens of people in the corpse pit were alive, and Xiao Yan recognized Xiao Ming among them.
• The Great Elder said black-robed attackers had slaughtered the Xiao Family while searching for the Ancient Jade, and Yao Chen suggested Chen Guan might explain the remaining mysteries.
• Yao Chen urged Xiao Yan to move the surviving clansmen somewhere safe, and Xiao Yan began considering where to take them.

Chen Guan reunited with Yun Yun and brought her to meet Jia Xingtian, while Yun Yun saw the imperial family’s powerful magical beasts and apologized to the Amethyst Winged Lion King. She had come on Yun Shan’s orders to discuss a complicated matter concerning the Misty Cloud Sect.

• Yun Shan resolved to act against Yun Leng after realizing that Soul Hall had infiltrated the Misty Cloud Sect, and he asked Yun Leng to send Yun'er to see him.
• Chen Guan visited the Alchemist Guild, where Yaoyue showed off her newly refined fourth-grade Foundation Strengthening Pill, then returned to the Imperial Palace with her and Zi Yan.
• Yaoye brought Yun Yun to the Imperial Palace to meet Jia Xingtian, and Chen Guan escorted her after learning she had come at her teacher’s request.
• Yun Yun told Chen Guan that her matter was complicated and that she would explain it to him and Jia Xingtian together.
• Yun Yun saw the Abyssal Sea Flood Dragon and the Amethyst Winged Lion King in the Back Mountain, then apologized to the Lion King for taking its horn; Chen Guan reminded it that she was his friend.

Yun Yun sought Jia Xingtian’s help against Soul Hall Protector Zhu, whose pressure on Yun Shan and the Misty Cloud Sect threatened the Jia Ma Empire. After Yan Xiao arrived, Chen Guan proposed using the Three-Year Agreement between Nalan Yanran and Xiao Yan to resolve the danger, though the Misty Cloud Sect would have to make sacrifices.

• Yun Yun told Jia Xingtian that Soul Hall had pressured Yun Shan and that Protector Zhu, a wounded Dou Zong, was interfering in Misty Cloud Sect affairs.
• Yun Yun asked Jia Xingtian to help plan a way to kill Protector Zhu while keeping the royal family and the Misty Cloud Sect clear of responsibility.
• Jia Xingtian worried that even a weakened Dou Zong could overwhelm their combined forces, and the group discussed the risks of opposing Soul Hall.
• Yaoyue told Chen Guan that a visitor named Yan Xiao had come and gave him a stone miniature ruler as a clue.
• Chen Guan recognized Yan Xiao as Xiao Yan and proposed using the Three-Year Agreement between Nalan Yanran and Xiao Yan to eliminate the threat posed by Protector Zhu.

Xiao Yan visited Chen Guan to learn about the Xiao Family’s destruction and received help for his coming conflict with the Misty Cloud Sect and Soul Hall. Chen Guan revealed that he had ties to Yun Yun, and left Xiao Yan stunned by explaining his many relationships.

• Yao Chen told Xiao Yan that Yaoyue and Yaoye were unusually gifted, then Yaoye left after noticing Chen Guan had returned.
• Xiao Yan thanked Chen Guan for helping the Xiao Family and asked about the night his father was taken; Chen Guan said Yun Leng had led the attackers to the family.
• Chen Guan warned Xiao Yan not to blame the whole Misty Cloud Sect and revealed that Yun Leng was a Peak Dou King backed by a powerful black-robed figure.
• Yao Chen identified the figure as likely belonging to Soul Hall, and Chen Guan promised covert support for Xiao Yan’s plans against Yun Leng and the Soul Hall Protector.
• Xiao Yan learned Chen Guan would not enter the Alchemist Grand Meeting, then asked about his relationships with Queen Medusa and Yun Yun.
• Chen Guan said he loved many people to conceal his true feelings, leaving Xiao Yan dumbfounded.

Chen Guan, Hai Bodong, and Fama captured Yan Li before he could sabotage the Alchemist Grand Meeting, which then began in the Imperial Capital. Yaoyue won the championship by refining a fourth-grade Foundation Strengthening Pill, while Xiao Yan accepted his loss and looked ahead to gaining strength before the Misty Cloud Sect.

• Chen Guan stopped Yan Li from taking a pill, and Hai Bodong and Fama helped corner him outside the inn before Fama crippled his Dou Qi and took him away.
• Fama opened the seventh Alchemist Grand Meeting at the Royal Plaza, where Xiao Yan, Yaoyue, and more than two thousand contestants gathered.
• Xiao Yan and Yaoyue passed the first round, then advanced through the second-round Windwalk Pill challenge after Xiao Yan realized the Thick Earth Ganoderma should be discarded.
• For the final round, Yaoyue used her Azure Flame Cauldron and Azure Water Flame to refine a fourth-grade Foundation Strengthening Pill, while Xiao Yan and Liu Ling produced third-grade pills.
• Fama declared Yaoyue the champion, and Xiao Yan congratulated her before resolving to seek medicinal ingredients and prepare for the Misty Cloud Sect.

Yaoyue claimed the Alchemist Grand Meeting’s sixth-grade Barrier Breaking Pill formula, while Xiao Yan joined the Alchemist Guild as an honorary elder and prepared for the Three-Year Agreement. At the Misty Cloud Sect, Xiao Yan arrived before Nalan Yanran and announced that he had come to fulfill their agreement.

• Yaoyue chose the Barrier Breaking Pill formula as her reward, and Chen Guan later gave her Han Feng’s alchemy notes.
• Xiao Yan accepted the Alchemist Guild’s offer to become an honorary elder, then learned that Yan Li had been exposed and imprisoned for plotting against Jia Ma.
• Yun Leng welcomed the factions gathering at the Misty Cloud Sect, while Yun Shan watched Chen Guan arrive with Zi Yan and told Yun Yun to proceed with the plan.
• Chen Guan and Zi Yan joined the guests at the plaza, where Chen Guan rebuffed Yun Leng’s mockery and exchanged a silent greeting with Yun Yun.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the plaza, drew the Mysterious Heavy Ruler, and declared that he had come to honor the Three-Year Agreement.

Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran began their Three-Year Agreement duel before the Misty Cloud Sect, with both revealing powerful techniques and Xiao Yan gaining the advantage in close combat. The chapter ended as they unleashed their strongest attacks against each other, with Xiao Yan’s Flame Splitting Wave Devouring Ruler crashing toward Nalan Yanran’s Extreme Wind: Setting Sun Radiance.

• Xiao Yan rejected Yun Leng’s proposal to make the duel a friendly exchange, and Nalan Yanran agreed that life and death would be left to fate.
• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran clashed in close combat, then Nalan Yanran used Wind Spirit Splitting Sword while Xiao Yan countered with his Mysterious Heavy Ruler.
• Xiao Yan put away the ruler to increase his speed, caught Nalan Yanran off guard, and forced her into a defensive retreat with a fierce close-range assault.
• Nalan Yanran created distance and attacked with Thousand Wind Aura, but Xiao Yan blocked the sword auras and revealed that he was a Three-Star Da Dou Shi.
• Nalan Yanran gathered energy for Extreme Wind: Setting Sun Radiance as Xiao Yan prepared the Flame Splitting Wave Devouring Ruler with his Wind Fury Dragon Flame.
• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran released their ultimate attacks, and Xiao Yan’s massive ruler radiance collided with Nalan Yanran’s descending sword Qi.