Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ming completed a life simulation in which he rose to fame through Jia Nan Academy, advanced his alchemy and cultivation, and returned to strengthen the Xiao Family. At the simulation’s end, he had to choose one of three valuable rewards.

• Xiao Ming won the Inner Academy Selection Competition, obtained the Ninefold Phoenix Fire Technique, and gathered Fire Energy while cultivating in the Inner Academy.
• Xiao Ming improved his alchemy, befriended a mysterious girl in purple, and later graduated from Jia Nan Academy.
• Xiao Ming returned to the Xiao Family and failed to cure Xiao Zhan’s son, then later prepared to protect the clan ahead of the Three-Year Agreement.
• Xiao Ming used pills to recruit four Dou Emperors and twelve Dou Kings to guard the Xiao Family and made three Dou Wangs for the clan.
• The Simulator offered Xiao Ming the Life Devouring Pill Recipe, the Emperor Grade Embryonic Pill, or a strand of Origin Qi to extract.

Xiao Ming chose Origin Qi from the Life Simulator and safely stored it, securing a path to Dou Di once he reached Peak Nine Star Dou Sheng. He went on to win the Inner Academy Selection Competition, which ended with him leaving to loud cheers.

• Xiao Ming chose Origin Qi over the Emperor Grade Embryonic Pill and Life Devouring Pill Recipe, then sealed it in a Jade Jar and stored it in his Fiery Red Storage Ring.
• Xiao Ming attended the competition the next morning and defeated his opponent with one punch, while Hu Jia asked why he seemed so happy.
• Hu Gan suggested arranging a childhood betrothal between Xiao Ming and Hu Jia, but Elder Huo told him to ask Xiao Ming himself, and Hu Gan dropped the idea.
• Xiao Ming defeated every opponent in a single move over the following days and finished first in the competition, ahead of Yin Lu, Buck, Jiayun, and Jiang Yanshu.
• Xiao Ming left the square as the crowd cheered, bringing the Inner Academy Selection Competition to a close.

After the Selection Competition, Xiao Ming spent several leisurely days studying Pill Formulas before Hu Jia summoned him to join the other top five students at the Library Pavilion. Hu Gan led them through a hidden passage to the ancient pavilion, where two gray-robed figures appeared after he requested entry.

• Xiao Ming spent his days studying Pill Formulas and relaxing at his residence after the competition.
• Hu Jia told Xiao Ming that Hu Gan had called him to go to the Library Pavilion, and Xiao Ming joined her.
• Xiao Ming arrived to meet the other four top-five students, and Hu Gan explained their reward of entering the Library Pavilion to choose an item by luck.
• Hu Gan opened a hidden passage and led the five students through it to a vast mountain valley containing the Library Pavilion.
• Hu Gan requested that the Venerable Elders open the pavilion, and two gray-robed figures appeared at its entrance.

Xiao Ming and the other top five contestants met Jia Nan Academy's Qianbai Two Elders, who recognized the Heavenly Flame he controlled and opened the Space Lock around the Library Pavilion. After Hu Gan explained the pavilion's rules, the group reached its entrance and prepared to seek a treasure.

• Hu Gan waited as the Qianbai Two Elders emerged from their meditation and noticed Xiao Ming's Heavenly Flame.
• One elder identified Xiao Ming's flame as the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, ranked twenty-second, and praised his talent as Elder Huo's disciple.
• Hu Gan asked the elders to open the Space Lock, and they formed hand seals to create a doorway through the barrier.
• Hu Gan explained that each contestant could take only one item from the Library Pavilion, provided they could pass through its protective energy layer.
• Xiao Ming and the others crossed the moss-covered steps and arrived before the ancient Library Pavilion.

Xiao Ming entered the treasure chamber and searched its energy barriers for a Flying Dou Technique. Jiayun found Flying Cloud Wings for him, and the five visitors left with treasures before the chamber’s barriers vanished.

• Xiao Ming and the others entered the chamber, where treasures began flying out of the energy barriers.
• Jiayun took the Profound Tier Low-Grade Blazing Flame Cultivation Method, and Xiao Ming caught an Earth Tier Low-Grade Wind Spirit Art.
• Xiao Ming gave Wind Spirit Art to Jiayun and asked her to help him find Flying Cloud Wings.
• Jiayun caught Flying Cloud Wings near the end of the hour, and Xiao Ming took the Xuan Tier Middle Grade Flying Dou Technique and thanked her.
• Xiao Ming and the other four left the chamber, and its energy barriers shrank and disappeared.

Xiao Ming and the other four received their rewards in the Library Pavilion and were told to prepare for the Inner Academy. Two days later, Hu Gan led the fifty new students toward the Inner Academy, and the Griffon Beast convoy stopped above a deep mountain gorge.

• The Qianbai Two Elders scanned Xiao Ming and the others as they left the Library Pavilion and warned them not to reveal what they had seen inside.
• Hu Gan told the five to rest for two days before entering the Inner Academy and cautioned that surviving among its students would be difficult.
• Two days later, Xiao Ming joined the fifty students gathered outside Hu Gan's study, where classmates and other Outer Academy students came to see them off.
• Hu Gan explained that the Inner Academy's location was secret, then had the students board ten Griffon Beasts, with the top five traveling as one team.
• Hu Jia, Xiao Shan, and Instructor Ge Hu waved goodbye as the convoy flew into the back mountains, where Hu Gan and the elders drove off attacking Magical Beasts.
• After more than an hour, the Griffon Beast convoy stopped above a bottomless mountain gorge.

Xiao Ming and the new students entered the hidden Inner Academy and received Fire Energy Cards. Elder Su announced that they would have to cross a forest where current students could attack and steal their Fire Energy, beginning the Fire Energy Hunting Competition.

• Hu Gan revealed a hidden Silver Gate and led the new students through it into the Inner Academy.
• Elders Su and Qing welcomed the students, recognized Xiao Ming, and reacted to his age and experience in the Black Corner Region.
• Elder Su gave each new student a Jet Black Chip marked with their Fire Energy and warned them to protect it.
• Elder Su explained that students in the forest could attack the newcomers and steal their Fire Energy, then started the Fire Energy Hunting Competition.

Xiao Ming let his companions split up, then waited for senior students and defeated their teams to take their Fire Energy. After stripping the White Fiend Squad of its Fire Energy, he continued through the competition with his total increased to thirteen hundred.

• Buck, Jiang Yanshu, Yin Lu, and Jiayun each left Xiao Ming to compete alone, while he stayed behind waiting for the senior students.
• A blue-robed senior student and his four companions attacked Xiao Ming, but Xiao Ming defeated all four and took their Fire Energy Crystal Cards, raising his own total to one hundred and twenty.
• Xiao Ming spent the following days defeating isolated senior student teams and taking their Fire Energy, causing the number of teams remaining in the forest to dwindle.
• Xiao Ming knocked down the White Fiend Squad's strongest member, then took the captain's Crystal Card and raised his total from twelve hundred to thirteen hundred.
• Xiao Ming asked the other four White Fiend Squad members for their Crystal Cards.

Xiao Ming defeated the White Fiend Squad and took most of their Fire Energy, proving himself the strongest participant in the competition. Elder Su declared the new students the victors and awarded Xiao Ming a Green Fire Crystal Card and fifty days' worth of Fire Energy, while the others received three days each.

• Xiao Ming collected the White Fiend Squad's Crystal Cards and raised his Fire Energy total from 1300 to 1530.
• Elder Su announced the new students' victory and called those still in the forest to come out.
• Xiao Ming spotted Jiayun unharmed and Buck bruised among the returning students.
• Elder Su awarded Xiao Ming a Green Fire Crystal Card and fifty days' worth of Fire Energy, and gave each other new student three days' worth.

Xiao Ming received a Green Fire Crystal Card as his reward for passing the Fire Energy Hunting Competition, and Elder Su led the freshmen into the Inner Academy. After showing five freshmen their shared residence, Elder Su offered Jiang Yanshu and Jiayun the option of joining a faction if they objected to living with the three men.

• Elder Su explained that Xiao Ming's Green Fire Crystal Card saved him three hundred days of Fire Energy, then exchanged his Black Crystal Card for it.
• Elder Su led the freshmen up the hillside and showed them the vast basin and buildings of the Inner Academy.
• Elder Su took the five freshmen to a pavilion and said it would be their shared residence.
• Jiang Yanshu and Jiayun objected to sharing a home with Buck and the other man, and Elder Su suggested they could join a faction and live with its members.

Elder Su explained the Inner Academy’s faction rivalries, training facilities, and the value of teamwork to Xiao Ming and the other new students. The next morning, Xiao Ming planned to explore the academy and see the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda, without joining or forming a faction.

• Elder Su told Xiao Ming and the others that factions and competition were allowed in the Inner Academy to push students to grow stronger.
• Elder Su encouraged the five students to work as a team, but Buck, Yilu, and the others hesitated to promise loyalty.
• Elder Su explained that students could cultivate in the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda, exchange Fire Energy for skills and methods, and earn Fire Energy in the Arena.
• Xiao Ming and the others settled into the pavilion for the night, and Xiao Ming asked them to get along while they adjusted to the Inner Academy.
• The next morning, Jiayun asked Xiao Ming about his plans, and he said he would explore the academy and visit the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda rather than join a faction.

Xiao Ming left the new student area and headed for the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda after senior students let him pass without collecting a tribute fee. He reached a busy northern path where other students were rushing toward the pagoda.

• Jiang Yanshu and Jiayun waited with Xiao Ming for the steward bringing the Fire Energy, but Xiao Ming chose to leave first.
• Senior students tried to collect tribute fees at the avenue's exit, then cleared the way when they recognized Xiao Ming and learned he had defeated Wu Tao and taken the Fire Energy from the competition teams.
• Xiao Ming asked a senior student for directions and learned where the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda was.
• Xiao Ming used his Movement Dou Technique to travel north, passing many sparring matches along the way.
• After nearly fifty minutes, Xiao Ming reached a busy northern path and saw students rushing toward the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda.

Xiao Ming arrived at the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda, where students gathered to enter and the academy’s Space Lock suppressed the Fallen Heart Flame. When Xiao Ming entered the tower, its invisible Sub-Flame began burning his body, but he recognized the danger and remained calm because he knew how to deal with it.

• Xiao Ming pushed through the crowd and saw the underground tower, whose Space Lock was weakening as it suppressed the Fallen Heart Flame.
• Xiao Ming considered the benefits of devouring the Fallen Heart Flame but decided he would have to wait until he was stronger.
• Students recognized Xiao Ming as the New Student Champion who had robbed 507 old students during the Fire Energy Hunting Competition.
• After an ancient bell sounded, the tower gates opened and Xiao Ming followed the other students inside.
• The Fallen Heart Flame Sub-Flame appeared within Xiao Ming and began scorching his meridians and body, while he stayed calm and prepared to handle it.

Xiao Ming absorbed a weak Fallen Heart Flame Sub-Flame with Ling and entered the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda, where he discovered the Fire Well and provoked the violent Fire Python within. After the creature was blocked by a Space Cage and retreated, a little girl’s voice sounded behind him.

• Xiao Ming had Ling swallow the Fallen Heart Flame Sub-Flame, then quickly left the entrance as Elder Liu arrived and learned that the new student had been Xiao Ming.
• Xiao Ming explored the first floor of the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda and observed its cultivation rooms and their different grades.
• Xiao Ming used the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame to see the Invisible Giant Fire Python in the Fire Well and drew its attention.
• The Fire Python surged from the well but could not break through the Space Cage, and it eventually returned to the darkness.
• A little girl spoke from behind Xiao Ming and asked what he was doing there.

Xiao Ming met Zi Yan near the center of the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda after she sensed the Magical Beast aura of his Myriad Beast Spirit Flame. Zi Yan mistook him for a transformed Magical Beast and tried to make him her sidekick, then dragged him away when Elder Liu caught them.

• Zi Yan startled Xiao Ming by approaching without his Soul Perception detecting her.
• Zi Yan accused Xiao Ming of releasing a powerful creature and offered not to tell the elders if he became her sidekick.
• Xiao Ming refused and explained that he was not a Magical Beast, while Zi Yan searched for the aura she had sensed.
• Elder Liu rebuked Xiao Ming and Zi Yan for being near the pagoda's center, and Xiao Ming apologized.
• Zi Yan threatened Elder Liu, then pulled Xiao Ming away from the center of the pagoda's first floor.

Xiao Ming negotiated with Zi Yan to make her medicinal herbs into tasty pellets in exchange for her protection in the Inner Academy, then entered an Advanced Cultivation Room to test the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda. He sensed a powerful Split Flame appear inside his body and chose to face it without Ling.

• Zi Yan confronted Xiao Ming over his strength and insisted he become her little brother.
• Xiao Ming proposed that he refine medicinal herbs into tasty pellets while Zi Yan looked out for him, and she agreed to return with herbs the next day.
• Xiao Ming searched the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda for a cultivation room and won an Advanced Single Cultivation Room from its occupant in a spar.
• Xiao Ming examined the room, inserted his Fire Crystal Card, and began cultivating as one unit of Fire Energy was deducted.
• A powerful Split Flame appeared near Xiao Ming's heart, and he decided not to have Ling devour it.

Xiao Ming tempered his Dou Qi with Fallen Heart Flame in the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda and considered whether to use a pill to advance further. After returning to his residence, he began studying the Flying Cloud Wings and found the remnant soul inside posed little threat.

• Xiao Ming circulated his Dou Qi through Fallen Heart Flame, making it more condensed, and left the pagoda after its bell signaled the end of the cultivation period.
• Xiao Ming noticed the other cultivators had red glimmers in their eyes from accumulated Fire Poison and wondered whether the academy would restrict his time in the tower.
• Xiao Ming returned to his residence, answered Jiayun's questions about the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower, and heard about her group's day exploring the Inner Academy.
• Xiao Ming opened the Flying Cloud Wings scroll and read that its Gold-Patterned Cloud Eagle remnant soul might attack cultivators during training.
• Xiao Ming sensed the remnant soul in the Flying Cloud Wings and dismissed it as insignificant.

Xiao Ming mastered the Flying Cloud Wings and used the Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill to break through to the Eight Star Great Dou Shi realm. He woke the next morning at his new rank as someone knocked at his door.

• Xiao Ming subdued the Gold-Patterned Cloud Eagle Soul and cultivated the Flying Cloud Wings, enduring pain as two branch meridians formed along his back.
• Xiao Ming activated the wings and tested their lift, then stopped to restore his Dou Qi before attempting a breakthrough.
• Xiao Ming took the Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill and used the Spirit Nourishing Technique to refine its energy into his Dou Crystal.
• After a night of cultivation, Xiao Ming woke to knocking and confirmed that he had reached the Eight Star Great Dou Shi realm.

After reaching Eight Star Great Dou Shi, Xiao Ming was summoned by Zi Yan to refine the Ice Fire Dragon Whisker Fruit she had taken from Jia Nan Academy’s Medicinal Herb Warehouse. He quickly refined it into dozens of purple medicinal pellets, leaving Zi Yan eager to see the result.

• Buck told Xiao Ming that a little girl in white was waiting for him and warned him after she had injured him.
• Xiao Ming found Zi Yan in the Pavilion Hall, where she offered him an Ice Fire Dragon Whisker Fruit and demanded tasty Medicinal Pellets.
• Xiao Ming recognized the fruit and realized Zi Yan had taken it from the warehouse, which she admitted she could enter at will.
• Xiao Ming brought Zi Yan to his room, summoned his medicinal cauldron, and reassured her that his flame carried the Magical Beast Aura she had sensed before.
• Xiao Ming refined the Ice Fire Dragon Whisker Fruit with powder and condensed the mixture into dozens of purple medicinal pellets.

Xiao Ming gave Zi Yan the flavorful pills he had refined, and they became friends after she promised to protect him in the Inner Academy. He settled into a steady routine of cultivation and alchemy, but his progress in alchemy stalled because Elder Huo had nothing more to teach him.

• Xiao Ming gave Zi Yan his pills, and she eagerly ate them while asking him to make more when she ran out.
• Zi Yan told Xiao Ming she ranked first on the Strong Ranking and accidentally damaged his cauldron with a display of her strength.
• Zi Yan apologized and left, promising to return after she had eaten the pills.
• Xiao Ming followed a regular schedule of cultivation, alchemy study, Arena matches, and refining pills for other students.
• Xiao Ming's cultivation advanced steadily in the Heavenly Flame Refining Pagoda, while Elder Huo admitted he could no longer teach him more about alchemy.