Chapter Summaries

Yan Qingshan stopped the academy students from forcing recruits to endure the sunbathing rule, then met Xiao Yu and learned about the Xiao Family. Mentor Ruolin arrived to assess the new students’ cultivation and assign their classes.

• Yan Qingshan asked Shi Kai to let the other recruits stand up, and Shi Kai agreed.
• Xiao Yu thanked Yan Qingshan, introduced herself, and chatted with him about the Xiao Family and Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yu joined Xuelan and Xiao Yi Xian, leaving Yan Qingshan to cultivate amid their gathering.
• Mentor Ruolin arrived with Shi Kai and introduced herself as the recruitment mentor for the Wutan City region.
• Ruolin asked the recruits to report their cultivation levels so the academy could assess their potential and assign their classes.

Mentor Ruolin assessed the freshmen’s cultivation and potential, discovering that Xuelan was a Three-star Dou Practitioner and Xiao Yi Xian a Seven-star Dou Practitioner. Yan Qingshan declined to give his exact level, but decided to wait six months for the Inner Academy competition after learning no competitors had reached the Dou Ling realm.

• Ruolin classified the freshmen’s potential as they announced their names and cultivation levels.
• Xuelan revealed she was a Three-star Dou Practitioner, earning a B-rank potential assessment from Ruolin.
• Xiao Yi Xian announced she was a Seven-star Dou Practitioner, and Ruolin classified her as S-rank and promised to discuss special training with the vice principal.
• Yan Qingshan asked whether academy benefits could get him into the Library Pavilion, then learned only the Inner Academy competition’s top five could enter.
• Ruolin explained that the next Inner Academy competition was in six months and warned Yan Qingshan that this year’s seed students were strong.
• After learning that no seed students had reached the Dou Ling realm, Yan Qingshan chose to wait for the competition and went to cultivate, leaving Ruolin and others suspecting he was a Da Dou Shi.

Yan Qingshan and the new students traveled from Peace Town through a magical-beast-filled forest to Jia Nan Academy, where their journey also served as a combat test. The students arrived at the academy after Yan Qingshan protected Xuelan and Xiao Yi Xian from the stronger beasts.

• Jia Nan Academy's recruitment team brought the new students to Peace Town, where they saw the Necrotic Tree and its corpses.
• Mentor Ruolin's group passed through Peace Town and entered the forest between the town and Jia Nan City.
• Magical beasts attacked the students along the way, and Yan Qingshan cut down the First-order beasts while leaving weaker ones for Xuelan and Xiao Yi Xian.
• Mentor Ruolin watched Yan Qingshan fight and recognized that his strength might exceed hers.
• The weary group reached Jia Nan Academy.

Yan Qingshan searched the Endless Forest for a fifth-rank Snow Demon Heavenly Ape guarding Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid. He found the beast in its valley, but it sensed him and attacked.

• Yan Qingshan spent a month studying alchemy and mastering the strength he had gained from his recent breakthrough.
• Yan Qingshan followed information from magical beasts to a valley where a Snow Demon Heavenly Ape guarded Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid.
• Yan Qingshan entered the valley and found the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape sleeping among piles of magical beast bones.
• The Snow Demon Heavenly Ape sensed Yan Qingshan, rose to its feet, and roared as a wave of force cracked the surrounding boulders.

Yan Qingshan lured the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape into an ambush to overcome its superior strength and claim the Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid. Crimson Serpent’s coordinated fire attacks brought the ape down, leaving Yan Qingshan and the snake approaching its crater.

• Yan Qingshan confronted the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape and used his flight to evade its attacks while provoking it over the Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid.
• The Snow Demon Heavenly Ape hurled frost-covered rocks at Yan Qingshan, forcing him to dodge as he secretly guided it toward a chosen location.
• Yan Qingshan lured the ape toward a small hill where Crimson Serpent waited in hiding.
• Crimson Serpent struck the airborne ape with successive fire pillars and a flaming tail, blasting it into a crater.
• Yan Qingshan praised Crimson Serpent’s coordinated attack and rode it toward the fallen Snow Demon Heavenly Ape.

Yan Qingshan and Crimson Serpent fought the berserk Snow Demon Heavenly Ape using a coordinated series of attacks, then left it alive to recover. They headed to the valley to collect the Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid.

• Yan Qingshan recognized that the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape had awakened its berserk bloodline and ordered Crimson Serpent to keep its distance.
• Yan Qingshan and Crimson Serpent split up, distracting the ape with attacks from two directions while it dodged and counterattacked.
• Yan Qingshan struck the ape with Azure Wood Sword Qi, causing nearby plants to grow wildly and entangle its feet.
• Crimson Serpent pinned the ape with pillars of fire as Yan Qingshan unleashed the Green Lotus Core Flame from underground, then Crimson Serpent smashed the ape into the ground.
• Yan Qingshan chose not to kill the badly burned ape and went with Crimson Serpent to collect the Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid.

Yan Qingshan found the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape’s underground store of Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid and took most of the concentrated liquid from inside a giant stalactite, leaving some behind. He also collected diluted liquid and gave the awakened Snow Demon Heavenly Ape enough to recover before departing with the Two-headed Fire Spirit Snake.

• Yan Qingshan entered the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape’s lair, uncovered a hidden passage, and told the Two-headed Fire Spirit Snake to guard the entrance.
• Yan Qingshan followed the passage to an underground cavern and found a pool of diluted Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid beneath a giant stalactite.
• Yan Qingshan carefully opened the stalactite and collected more than half of its concentrated Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid, then took some diluted liquid as well.
• The Two-headed Fire Spirit Snake eagerly approached Yan Qingshan’s containers, but he told it he would give it something better later.
• Yan Qingshan poured Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid into the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape’s mouth, and the awakened beast agreed to let him take a jar after he left half behind.

Yan Qingshan returned to Jia Nan Academy after a trip to the Forest of Magical Beasts, having offered the injured Snow Demon Heavenly Ape a chance to cooperate with him. After sneaking into Mentor Ruolin’s lesson and calming her anger with a gift, he left the story having presented her with Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid as an apology.

• Yan Qingshan offered the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape healing medicine and a proposal to trade suitable cultivation methods for spiritual herbs and help recruiting other fifth-tier magical beasts.
• The Snow Demon Heavenly Ape swallowed Yan Qingshan’s pill, felt its healing effects, and carefully stored the jade bottle in its lair.
• Yan Qingshan returned to Jia Nan City and slipped into Yellow-tier Class Two while Mentor Ruolin taught students how to break through to Dou Zhe.
• Mentor Ruolin spotted Yan Qingshan and attacked him with a water whip, but he shattered it with Azure Wood Sword Qi and grabbed her wrist.
• Yan Qingshan apologized to Mentor Ruolin for his extended absence by giving her a bottle of Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid.

Yan Qingshan gave Mentor Ruolin a share of Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid and sought contacts for trading the rest to wealthy cultivators. At Jia Nan Academy, Vice Principal Hu Gan and the elders reviewed Yan Qingshan’s background and agreed to grant him special permissions and nurture him.

• Mentor Ruolin was shocked by the Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid Yan Qingshan gave her, but accepted it after he assured her he had plenty.
• Yan Qingshan asked Mentor Ruolin to help him contact wealthy students and cultivators for trades, then showed her a jar containing far more liquid than she had expected.
• Mentor Ruolin suggested dividing the liquid into portions for an auction and offered to involve Vice Principal Hu Gan and Elder Huo.
• Vice Principal Hu Gan presented the academy elders with a report on Yan Qingshan’s background and his suspected involvement in major events.
• Elder Huo praised Yan Qingshan’s learning and judgment, and other elders supported cultivating him.
• Vice Principal Hu Gan proposed granting Yan Qingshan special permissions and deeper support, and the elders agreed.

Han Yue, Han Xian, Lin Yan, Bai Cheng, and Bei Ju approached Yan Qingshan hoping to trade for his Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid, but he said Elder Huo had already arranged it. Yan Qingshan listed the items he wanted in the upcoming trade fair, leaving the five Outer Academy standouts to consider whether they could supply them.

• Han Yue learned that Yan Qingshan had a large supply of Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid and hurried to contact him before Inner Academy students arrived.
• Han Xian, Lin Yan, Bai Cheng, and Bei Ju converged with Han Yue at Yan Qingshan’s building, where Han Xian revealed that Yan Qingshan was no weaker than Lin Yan.
• Yan Qingshan came down to meet the five students and explained that Elder Huo had already handled the liquid, though he would prioritize trades for items he needed.
• Yan Qingshan requested a Profound-tier Mid-grade or better cultivation method for a Snow Demon Heavenly Ape.
• Yan Qingshan also asked for high-level methods, techniques, and resources of several attributes, along with advanced alchemist notes, pill formulas, and knowledge about spiritual herbs.

Yan Qingshan traded Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid for valuable resources and received Elder Huo’s notes on cultivating spiritual herbs. He then gave the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape a cultivation technique and proposed a partnership to gather spiritual herbs, leaving them ready to cooperate with the region’s Magical Beast lords.

• Elder Huo gave Yan Qingshan the Storage Ring from the trade and a notebook of his spiritual herb cultivation insights.
• Yan Qingshan visited the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape and gave it the Great Ape Demonic Art cultivation technique.
• The Snow Demon Heavenly Ape gave Yan Qingshan a fifth-tier Wood-attribute Magic Core and explained that it had killed a Wood Owl Dragon that tried to steal its Earth Core Body Tempering Liquid.
• Yan Qingshan treated the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape’s poison wounds and learned that the Wood Owl Dragon had come from outside the nearby territories.
• Yan Qingshan proposed that the Magical Beast lords gather spiritual herbs in exchange for cultivation techniques and medicinal pills, and the Snow Demon Heavenly Ape agreed to cooperate.

At the Inner Academy Selection, Xiao Yi Xian faced the powerful lightning-user Lei Ting, who initially controlled their match with speed and swordplay. After Xiao Yi Xian spread her poisonous mist, Lei Ting conceded, sending her through to the finals.

• Yan Qingshan watched the selection from the stands beside Xuelan and hoped Xiao Yi Xian could qualify for the Inner Academy without his help.
• Xiao Yi Xian took the stage to face Lei Ting, an Eight-star Dou Master with lightning-based techniques.
• Lei Ting used his speed and sword attacks to wear Xiao Yi Xian down while keeping his distance from her poison.
• Xiao Yi Xian released a seven-colored poisonous mist that made Lei Ting dizzy.
• Lei Ting conceded, allowing Xiao Yi Xian to advance.

Xiao Yi Xian won her match against Lei Ting and revealed a sudden surge in cultivation, while Yan Qingshan warned her not to undo the seal restraining her Poisonous Body of Misfortune. Yan Qingshan then defeated Sha Tie with overwhelming speed, drawing the attention of the other top contenders.

• Lei Ting conceded to Xiao Yi Xian, whose cultivation rose to the peak of seven-star Dou Shi after she used her secret technique.
• Hu Gan reflected that he had arranged Xiao Yi Xian's match with Lei Ting to assess whether she could enter the Inner Academy this year.
• Yan Qingshan scolded Xiao Yi Xian for undoing the seal that restrained her Poisonous Body of Misfortune, and she said she wanted to enter the Inner Academy with him.
• Yan Qingshan faced Sha Tie, overwhelmed his metal-element defenses with rapid attacks, and won the match.
• Han Yue, Lin Yan, Han Xian, Bai Cheng, and Bei Ju watched Yan Qingshan's victory and considered what it meant for their chances in the selection.

Yan Qingshan challenged the inner academy selection’s final one-on-one format and persuaded the contestants to fight in a fifty-person melee. As the match began, he teamed up with Lin Yan to clear weaker contestants while Xiao Yi Xian defended herself.

• Yan Qingshan proposed that all fifty finalists fight together, arguing that the format would better reflect real battles and prevent strong contestants from being eliminated too early.
• Hu Gan accepted the proposal, and the contestants agreed to the melee format.
• The finalists entered the arena, where Han Xian, Bai Cheng, Han Yue, and Bei Ju stood with groups while Lin Yan remained alone.
• Yan Qingshan revealed his peak seven-star Da Dou Shi cultivation and asked Lin Yan to help eliminate weaker opponents.
• Lin Yan charged at a nearby group, while Yan Qingshan used Azure Wood Sword Threads to ensnare and drive opponents from the arena.

Yan Qingshan held off a growing coalition of fighters in the arena, but Han Xian joined Bai Cheng and Bei Ju and launched a focused attack. Han Xian revealed the alchemy department’s Pill Fire Art and struck at Yan Qingshan with a spinning flame drill.

• Yan Qingshan used his Azure Wood Sword Qi to weave a resilient net that restricted the Dou Shi fighters and injured many of them.
• Bai Cheng and Bei Ju led nine Dou Shi in an attack on Yan Qingshan, but he fended off their opening blows.
• Han Xian joined Bai Cheng and Bei Ju, while Lin Yan and the other remaining fighters stayed out of the assault.
• Yan Qingshan protected Xiao Yi Xian and continued fighting the surrounding Dou Shi while keeping Bai Cheng and Bei Ju at bay.
• Han Xian attacked with crimson flames and used the Pill Fire Art to form a spinning drill aimed at Yan Qingshan’s vital points.

Yan Qingshan used his lightning ability and Peach Blossom Flame to defeat Bei Ju and Bai Cheng while battling Han Xian in the arena. His fire techniques proved weaker than Han Xian’s Crimson Cloud Flame, leaving their fight at a stalemate.

• Yan Qingshan struck Bei Ju with Explosive Thunder Flash and knocked him out, then helped Xiao Yi Xian defeat two Dou Masters with her poison mist.
• Bai Cheng joined Han Xian against Yan Qingshan, while Han Yue and Lin Yan held back and watched.
• Yan Qingshan unleashed Peach Blossom Flame and pale cyan sword Qi, shattered Bai Cheng’s Dou Qi Armor, and knocked him out of the arena.
• Han Xian recognized Yan Qingshan’s Beast Flame and fought back with his Crimson Cloud Flame as they exchanged fire attacks.
• Elder Huo explained the strengths and weaknesses of their flames as Yan Qingshan and Han Xian’s battle remained at a stalemate.

Yan Qingshan defeated Han Xian in their fire-control contest by revealing a second Beast Flame, then prepared to face Lin Yan for first place in the Inner Academy selection competition. The chapter ended as Lin Yan launched a spear attack at him.

• Yan Qingshan summoned a Kuimu Beast from his Peach Blossom Flame, and Han Xian answered by forming a Crimson Cloud Crane from his Crimson Cloud Flame.
• Yan Qingshan’s superior fire control kept the two flame beasts locked in a fierce battle until he chose to end the contest quickly.
• Yan Qingshan revealed a second Beast Flame and made it explode against the Crimson Cloud Crane, defeating Han Xian’s manifestation.
• Lin Yan asked Han Yue to step aside, and she yielded because she only sought a place in the top five.
• Lin Yan challenged Yan Qingshan for first place, then swung his spear at him as their auras clashed.

Yan Qingshan defeated Lin Yan with the Amethyst Winged Lion King's Roaring Lion's Roar and won the class competition. Hu Gan announced the top five, and the cheering crowd hailed Yan Qingshan as the strongest student in Jia Nan Academy's current class.

• Yan Qingshan and Lin Yan fought an intense spear-and-sword close-quarters battle, with Yan Qingshan injuring Lin Yan's shoulder.
• Lin Yan used Lightning force to break their stalemate and kick Yan Qingshan away, then began gathering Dou Qi for his Great Violent Spear.
• Yan Qingshan prepared his own finishing strike and unleashed the Amethyst Winged Lion King's Roaring Lion's Roar, blasting Lin Yan into a wall and shattering it.
• Lin Yan admitted defeat, and Yan Qingshan acknowledged that he had held back his attack.
• Hu Gan announced Yan Qingshan, Lin Yan, Han Yue, Han Xian, and Xiao Yi Xian as the top five, while the crowd cheered Yan Qingshan as the competition's champion.

Yan Qingshan and the other top five students reached Jia Nan Academy’s Library Pavilion, where they were allowed one hour to seek a single treasure. After the guardians opened the entrance, Yan Qingshan entered with Xiao Yi Xian and the others to begin their search.

• Vice Principal Hu Gan warned Lin Yan to be cautious in the Inner Academy, and Yan Qingshan promised that their cohort would look out for one another.
• Hu Gan opened a hidden passage and led Yan Qingshan, Xiao Yi Xian, Lin Yan, Han Xian, and Han Yue to the Library Pavilion.
• Yan Qingshan recognized the pavilion’s guardians, Qian Mu and Bai Lie, and tested whether his concealment could withstand their scrutiny.
• Qian Mu and Bai Lie opened the spatial lock and warned the students that they could take only one item and had one hour inside.
• Yan Qingshan entered the Library Pavilion with Xiao Yi Xian, followed by Lin Yan, Han Xian, and Han Yue.

Yan Qingshan used Dawn to predict the treasures emerging from the Library Pavilion’s energy barriers, helping the group find valuable items while choosing not to keep several that appeared. He drew out two scrolls guarded by Azure Dragon phantoms and rushed to claim them.

• Yan Qingshan proposed that Lin Yan join forces with him in the Inner Academy, and Lin Yan questioned why he had been chosen.
• Yan Qingshan returned a Rejuvenation Grass and a lightning-element Earth-tier Dou Skill, then told the group to focus on barriers with stronger energy fluctuations.
• Yan Qingshan used Dawn to predict which barriers would release valuable items, and Han Yue obtained a sword while Lin Yan claimed an Earth-tier Mid-grade fire-element Dou Skill.
• Han Xian was blasted back when he tried to take a treasure, and Yan Qingshan gave Lin Yan an Earth-tier Low-grade fire-element cultivation technique.
• Yan Qingshan used wood-element Dou Qi to draw out treasures, then charged at two scrolls enveloped by Azure Dragon phantoms.