Timeline Issues Regarding Xiao Yan's Advancement to Dou Venerate

Recently, I have seen comments saying that the protagonist had taken many of Xiao Yan's resources, yet Xiao Yan still advanced to Dou Venerate with "ease." This stemmed from a misunderstanding involving the timeline.

When writing, the author had not deliberately specified the timing, only using the rather vague news of Starfall Pavilion going to war with Soul Hall, which led people to mistakenly believe that Xiao Yan advanced to Dou Venerate not long after the Pill Convention.

However, looking at the later plot, not long after the protagonist spoke with Cao Ying, there was a trip to the Flower Sect. In the original work, only a few months passed between the Flower Sect arc and the Gu Clan's Coming-of-Age Ceremony, while several years passed between the Gu Clan's Coming-of-Age Ceremony and the Pill Convention.

In the original work, Xiao Yan spent at least eight or nine months absorbing the Three Thousand Burning Flame. Including the trip to the Mountain Range of Departed Souls to rescue Old Ya, more than a year had passed. Then, after returning from the Mountain Range of Departed Souls to Starfall Pavilion, he remained unconscious for another half year or so. Altogether, this stretch took two or three years.

For reference, in the original Battle Through the Heavens, Chapter 1207, "Time Flies," Medusa recalled that Xiao Yan had been gone for five or six years. From leaving the Jia Ma Empire to going to the Central Plains to participate in the Pill Convention, the plot during that period was fairly compact and took at most a little over a year.

Therefore, in the original work, Xiao Yan advanced to Dou Venerate around three years after the Pill Convention.

After Xiao Yan advanced to Dou Venerate in the original work, there were still plots such as