Chapter Summaries

Xiao Han faced Cai Xukun after Cai devoured his subordinates’ souls and grew stronger. Xiao Han revealed that he possessed two Heavenly Flames and fused them into a fire lotus, leaving the outcome of their clash uncertain after a devastating explosion.

• Xiao Han took over the fight against Cai Xukun after Lan Lan and Tie Protector struggled against him.
• Cai Xukun mocked Xiao Han and planned to capture him to use as leverage against Hun Susu.
• Xiao Han revealed two Heavenly Flames, shocking Cai Xukun, Lan Lan, Tie Protector, and the Azure Old Man.
• Xiao Han fused the flames into an azure-and-white fire lotus, prompting Cai Xukun to activate Soul Self-Immolation and attack with Yanluo Finger.
• Xiao Han hurled Buddha's Angry Fire Lotus at Cai Xukun's attack, and the collision flattened a distant peak and scorched the surrounding land.

Xiao Han pursued Cai Xukun, but Cai Xukun trapped him and self-destructed his soul in a desperate attempt to take him down. Xiao Han survived the blast with severe injuries, and Lan Lan carried him away from the crater.

• Cai Xukun fled after Xiao Han’s attack weakened him, but Lan Lan and Tie Protector helped intercept him.
• Cai Xukun pretended to accept his fate, then seized Xiao Han and engulfed him in black mist as Xiao Han shielded himself with Heavenly Flame.
• Cai Xukun self-destructed his soul, creating a massive explosion that blasted a thousand-meter-wide crater into the ground.
• Xiao Han emerged alive but grievously injured, and the system awarded him 150,000 Experience Points without a Soul Crystal.
• Lan Lan caught Xiao Han, carried him to the crater’s edge, and wept over his injuries.

After healing himself with red potions, Xiao Han distributed healing and Dou Qi potions to Lan Lan and the Human Hall subordinates before leaving with Azure Elder. As they flew away, Azure Elder asked whether Xiao Han needed someone to wait on him.

• Xiao Han drank two hundred red potions and fully healed his severe injuries within five minutes.
• Xiao Han gave Lan Lan ten thousand red potions and ten thousand blue potions, asking her to save half for Hun Susu.
• Xiao Han gave each Human Hall Dou Zhe one hundred red and blue potions and rewarded Tie Protector with two hundred of each.
• Xiao Han said he would stay in the Black-Corner Region near Canaan Academy, then departed with Azure Elder.
• Azure Elder asked Xiao Han whether he needed someone to wait on him.

Xiao Han arrived at Canaan Academy through Peace Town, where the Enforcement Team used pills to suppress visitors’ killing intent. He settled into an independent dormitory and planned to earn an extra Inner Academy selection quota for Ruo Lin; late that night, someone entered his courtyard.

• Xiao Yu introduced Peace Town and the Dead Spirit Tree, where the remains of powerful fighters from an old battle were displayed.
• Azure Elder brought Xiao Han and the convoy through the town gate, where Blood Sword Wu Hao greeted Azure Elder and required visitors from the Black-Corner Region to take pills.
• Xiao Han entered Canaan Academy, where Azure Elder assigned him his own Courtyard House.
• Xiao Han decided to follow the usual path to the Inner Academy Selection Competition so he could secure an extra quota for Xiao Yu’s mentor, Ruo Lin.
• A faint gust stirred the leaves in Xiao Han’s courtyard, and he called out to ask who was there.

Feng Yue'er attacked Xiao Han after learning that Azure Elder intended her to serve him, but Azure Elder stopped their fight and explained their arrangement. Feng Yue'er left promising to defeat Xiao Han in the next day's Inner Academy Selection Competition.

• A seven-colored girl ambushed Xiao Han, and he dodged her attacks while guessing she was Feng Qing'er.
• The girl attacked again with Wind and Thunder Dou Qi, but Azure Elder intervened before Xiao Han could strike back.
• Azure Elder introduced the girl as his granddaughter, Feng Yue'er, and explained that he had offered her as someone to attend to Xiao Han.
• Azure Elder revealed that Feng Yue'er had agreed to serve Xiao Han only if she lost to him in the Inner Academy Selection Competition.
• Feng Yue'er left Xiao Han's Courtyard House, promising to defeat him in the competition the next day.

Azure Elder revealed that the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan had hunted him and his granddaughter Feng Yue'er, and asked Xiao Han to protect her. Xiao Han refused to take her on as a maid, then returned to his room and resolved to grow stronger.

• Xiao Han listened as Azure Elder explained that Feng Qing'er had plotted against Feng Yue'er's mother and that assassins had tried to kill him and his granddaughter.
• Azure Elder said forbidden techniques had left him with only ten years to live and that he wanted to find Feng Yue'er a protector against the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan.
• Azure Elder urged Xiao Han to take Feng Yue'er in, citing his strength and ties to the Hun Clan, but Xiao Han pointed out that his family situation was dangerous.
• Azure Elder dismissed Su Qian as an unsuitable protector because he would not leave Canaan Academy or challenge the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan.
• Xiao Han ended the conversation, returned to his room, checked his personal information panel, and resolved to raise his realm.

Xiao Han accompanied Xiao Yu to the Inner Academy Selection Competition, attracting resentment from her admirers. After Chekenao confronted them and Xiao Han kissed Xiao Yu in public, Chekenao ordered an investigation into Xiao Han’s family and threatened to have his parents killed.

• Xiao Yu dragged Xiao Han out of bed and led him to the academy, where he gained Experience Points from holding her hand and provoking a jealous admirer.
• Xiao Han and Xiao Yu entered the Great Plaza, where hundreds of hostile stares directed at him generated Experience Points.
• Chekenao confronted Xiao Yu and Xiao Han, insisting Xiao Yu would eventually fall for him and questioning whether Xiao Han was worthy of her.
• Xiao Han rejected Chekenao’s warning, kissed Xiao Yu on the cheek, and walked with her toward Xue Ni.
• Chekenao ordered his followers to investigate Xiao Han’s background and kill his parents if they were ordinary people, earning Xiao Han 62 Experience Points.

Xiao Han learned that Chekenao had been controlling Xiao Yu’s interactions with male students, while Fire Old Man considered taking Xiao Han as an alchemy disciple. The selection tournament’s second round began with forty-seven Inner Academy places after three students were granted direct entry to the final advancement matches.

• Xue Ni told Xiao Yu and Xiao Han that Chekenao had beaten male students who showed interest in Xiao Yu, and Xiao Han looked at Chekenao with displeasure.
• Fire Old Man noticed Xiao Han’s unusual Dou Qi and discussed taking him as a disciple with the Green-Robed Old Man.
• Instructor Ruo Lin recommended that Xiao Han join the Alchemist Department, but he declined before the system revealed that refining pills also granted Experience Points.
• Instructor Ruo Lin told Xiao Han that he could become Rookie King and enter the Hidden Book Pavilion to choose a cultivation technique.
• Hu Qian announced that three students had received direct entry to the final round, reducing the available Inner Academy places to forty-seven, and promised an extra technique to anyone who defeated one of them.
• The selection tournament began after Hu Qian warned contestants that exceeding the designated time would count as forfeiting.

As the Inner Academy Selection Competition continued, Xiao Han learned about Feng Yue'er, a secluded genius whose cultivation had reached Great Dou Shi at age nine. He wondered who the third Recommended Student was, while recognizing that he and Feng Yue'er were likely destined to fight.

• The referee called students to compete, and Xiao Han asked Instructor Ruo Lin who the other Recommended Students were.
• Instructor Ruo Lin identified Feng Yue'er as one of them and described her extraordinary talent and rapid rise to Great Dou Shi at age nine.
• Instructor Ruo Lin explained that Feng Yue'er had trained privately with Azure Elder and remained unknown to most of the academy.
• Xiao Han noted that Feng Yue'er was not human, while Xue Ni teased him about his own strength and joked that he might have met his match.
• Instructor Ruo Lin advised Xiao Han not to worry about winning the selection, since he already had Recommended Student status and access to the Hidden Book Pavilion.
• Xiao Han asked who the third Recommended Student was.

Xiao Han and the others learned that the Inner Academy’s final selection match would pit the forty-seven qualifiers against three Recommended Students, with rankings based on how long they endured. Xiao Han entered the arena and discovered that the third recommended student was Yao Ye, the Gamma Empire’s Great Princess and a gifted academy graduate.

• Instructor Ruo Lin told Xiao Yu she did not know who the third Recommended Student was, and explained that Feng Yue’er had only been her guess.
• Vice Dean Hu Qian announced that the final match would be a free-for-all in which the qualifiers would rank higher the longer they lasted against the three Recommended Students.
• Xiao Han stepped onto the arena, followed by Feng Yue’er and then Yao Ye.
• Xiao Han recognized Yao Ye and greeted her, while Instructor Ruo Lin explained that Yao Ye had photographic memory and could perfect incomplete Dou Techniques.

Hu Qian started the Inner Academy selection’s final ranking match as a melee, with contestants allowed to team up and earn an extra Hidden Book Pavilion chance by defeating one of the three Recommended Students. The thirty-four remaining contestants formed an alliance and chose Xiao Han as their target, leaving him to face them alone.

• Hu Qian explained the melee rules and announced the start of the final ranking match.
• The contestants spread out and formed teams as the melee began, quickly eliminating several people.
• The remaining thirty-four contestants agreed to cooperate so they could defeat one of the three Recommended Students and earn an extra Hidden Book Pavilion chance.
• The contestants ruled out Yao Ye and Feng Yue'er because of their backgrounds, then chose Xiao Han as their target.
• Xiao Han watched the group focus on him and wondered if he really looked like an easy target.

Xiao Han endured the contestants’ attacks and drove every opponent from the arena, securing his place in the Inner Academy selection match. He gained more than eleven thousand Experience Points and hoped winning first place would help him advance to Three-Star Dou Huang.

• More than twenty contestants struck Xiao Han with long-range Dou Techniques, but he stood unmoved and warned them to leave the arena.
• Zhu Zhuang, Hou Shuang, and Ma Xiao attacked Xiao Han together, but he seized and threw Zhu Zhuang and Hou Shuang off the arena and kicked Ma Xiao off.
• The remaining thirty-one contestants rushed Xiao Han and tried to push him off, but his shout flung them from the arena.
• Two contestants left on the edge shook with fear and rolled off after Xiao Han asked if they still wanted to fight.
• Xiao Han checked his personal information and saw that the previous matches had earned him more than eleven thousand Experience Points.
• Xiao Han looked toward Yao Ye and Feng Yue'er and hoped that winning first place would bring enough Experience Points to reach Three-Star Dou Huang.

Xiao Han defeated thirty-four opponents before facing Feng Yue'er, whose Dou Huang strength and fused wind-and-thunder techniques made her a formidable opponent. He ultimately seized her ribbon and pulled her out of her storm, leaving two contestants to continue fighting for Rookie King.

• Xiao Han won flawlessly against thirty-four opponents, stunning the spectators and earning Experience Points.
• Feng Yue'er revealed that she had reached the Dou Huang realm, and Xiao Han displayed an equally powerful aura.
• Feng Yue'er unleashed her Wind and Thunder Storm and sent a pursuing ribbon at Xiao Han, who dodged its attacks with ease.
• Xiao Han caught the ribbon with his bare hand and yanked Feng Yue'er out of the storm, defeating her.
• The referee announced that Feng Yue'er had been defeated and that two contestants remained to determine the Rookie King.

Xiao Han defeated Feng Yue'er after she unleashed her Wind and Thunder Colorful Phoenix, then refused her offer to become his maid. Feng Yue'er was left furious after learning that Xiao Han had never agreed to their wager.

• After Xiao Han broke her Colorful Phoenix Paying Respects, Feng Yue'er refused to admit defeat and prepared another attack.
• Feng Yue'er combined Wind and Thunder Sacrifice with her blood to create the Wind and Thunder Colorful Phoenix and sent it at Xiao Han.
• Xiao Han covered himself in pale green Heavenly Flame and charged through the phoenix, emerging unharmed before Feng Yue'er.
• Feng Yue'er conceded and offered to become Xiao Han's maid, but Xiao Han pointed out that he had never agreed to the wager.
• Feng Yue'er realized Xiao Han was rejecting her offer and glared at him in anger.

Xiao Han made Feng Yue'er his chef, and the system rewarded him with a level-up to Three-Star Dou Huang while insisting that his new chef was Feng Qing'er. He suspected something had happened to Feng Yue'er after she joined the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan as a child.

• Feng Yue'er angrily confronted Xiao Han, who asked her to become his chef instead of his maid.
• Feng Yue'er accepted and left to prepare Xiao Han's requested dishes.
• The system rewarded Xiao Han for acquiring a personal chef, and he advanced to Level 53, Three-Star Dou Huang.
• Xiao Han noticed that the system named his chef Feng Qing'er, though he had recruited Feng Yue'er.
• After the system could not explain the discrepancy, Xiao Han suspected Feng Yue'er's past with the Heaven Demon Phoenix Clan held the answer.

During the selection tournament’s final match, Yao Ye revealed that she had followed Xiao Han because she loved him and kissed him in front of the spectators. Xiao Han remained stunned as the system rewarded him with experience points and detected Yao Ye’s mounting distress.

• The referee announced that Xiao Han and Yao Ye would decide the Rookie King title in the final match.
• Xiao Han asked why Yao Ye had left the Gamma Empire to come to Canaan Academy, and Yao Ye said she had come because he had stolen her heart.
• Yao Ye ignored the referee and kissed Xiao Han before he could react, triggering system rewards for her heartfelt and first kiss.
• Xiao Han questioned whether Yao Ye truly loved him and noticed that his experience rewards were increasing instead of diminishing.
• The system converted Yao Ye’s intense negative emotions into 5,200 experience points, and Xiao Han realized that she was crying.

Xiao Han and Yao Ye kissed during the Inner Academy Selection Competition, and Yao Ye confessed her love before conceding to him. Xiao Han won the Rookie King title, qualified for the Inner Academy, and leveled up to Four-Star Dou Huang, bringing him closer to the Fallen Heart Flame.

• Xiao Yu told Xue Ni she would accept Xiao Han having other women, and Xue Ni teased her by asking to be introduced to him.
• Xiao Han gained 93,000 Experience Points from Yao Ye as they kissed, then heard her confess that she had resigned her posts and wanted to be with him.
• The referee urged Xiao Han and Yao Ye to resume the match, but Yao Ye conceded, ending their contest.
• Vice Dean Hu Qian announced that Xiao Han, Yao Ye, Feng Yue'er, Yan Hao, and Qin Zhen had placed in the top five and could choose a skill or cultivation method from the Hidden Book Pavilion.
• The system awarded Xiao Han the Rookie King title and a record for entering the Inner Academy quickly, then raised him to level 54, Four-Star Dou Huang.

Xiao Han encouraged Yao Ye to return to the Gamma Empire and pursue her political ambitions, then exposed Feng Yue'er as Feng Qing'er. Feng Qing'er admitted he had seen through her disguise, and Xiao Han asked how she had become Feng Yue'er.

• Xiao Han told Yao Ye he wanted her to return to the Gamma Empire and live according to her love of politics and imperial power.
• Yao Ye accepted Xiao Han's explanation and kissed his cheek.
• Xiao Han called Feng Yue'er Feng Qing'er and identified her Wind Kill Finger and Demon Emperor Bell as her trump cards.
• Xiao Han threatened to ask Azure Elder to verify Feng Yue'er's identity, prompting her to grab him and ask how he had discovered the truth.
• Feng Qing'er admitted Xiao Han had seen through her disguise, and he asked how she had become Feng Yue'er.

After absorbing Protector Wu’s Soul Crystal, Xiao Han advanced from the Mortal Realm Middle-Stage to the Spirit Realm Middle-Stage and sought soul-based battle skills to strengthen himself. Xiao Yu and Yao Ye then led him to Canaan Academy’s Hidden Book Pavilion, where they were due to meet the Vice Dean.

• Feng Qing'er asked Xiao Han to keep her identity secret, then left his courtyard without explaining further.
• Xiao Han reflected on his need to grow stronger to help his mother oppose Hun Tiandi and swallowed the Soul Crystal he had obtained from Protector Wu.
• After a painful night of cultivation, Xiao Han’s soul realm rose to the Spirit Realm Middle-Stage, though he still lacked enough soul power to use Ninefold Forest Hundredfold Soul Devour.
• Xiao Yu and Yao Ye each invited Xiao Han to spend the afternoon with her, but he claimed he had plans with Xiao Mei.
• Xiao Yu and Yao Ye revealed that they had expected Xiao Han to refuse them, then led him toward the Hidden Book Pavilion as the Vice Dean waited.

Xiao Han and the other four finalists followed Vice Dean Hu Qian through a hidden passage to Canaan Academy’s Hidden Book Pavilion, where they were allowed to seek combat techniques and cultivation methods. Two gray-robed elders appeared at the entrance, and Feng Qing’er recognized their power as at least Dou Zun.

• Hu Qian congratulated Xiao Han, Yao Ye, Feng Qing’er, Yan Hao, and Qin Zhen on reaching the top five and warned them to stay united in the Inner Academy.
• Hu Qian opened a concealed passage in his office and led the five finalists underground toward the Hidden Book Pavilion.
• Xiao Han reassured Yao Ye as they traveled through the winding, lantern-lit passage, eventually emerging into a mountain valley.
• Qin Zhen recognized the ancient building ahead as the Hidden Book Pavilion.
• Hu Qian requested that the pavilion’s seniors open the door, and two gray-robed elders appeared before the group.
• Feng Qing’er recognized the elders’ display of spatial power and judged them to be at least Dou Zun.