Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan tried to obtain the Purification Lotus Demon Flame map fragment from Hai Bo Dong, but their confrontation was interrupted by Xiao Yan’s uncle, Xiao Xian. Yao Lao sensed that Xiao Xian was a terrifying expert, possibly a peak Dou Sheng.

• Yao Lao warned Xiao Yan that Hai Bo Dong was a Dou Huang whose power had been sealed, and Xiao Yan abandoned the idea of taking the map by force.
• Hai Bo Dong reacted with alarm when Xiao Yan revealed he had sensed the energy within him, then refused Xiao Yan’s offer to trade for the map fragment.
• Xiao Yan insisted that he would take the fragment, and Hai Bo Dong dismissed him as a mere Dou Shi.
• Xiao Xian arrived and Xiao Yan greeted him as his uncle, while Yao Lao sensed a fatal threat from the newcomer.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan that Xiao Xian might be a peak Dou Sheng capable of killing even Yao Lao at his former peak.

Xiao Yan used Xiao Xian’s overwhelming power to take the map fragment from Ice Emperor Hai Bo Dong, who begged for mercy. As Xiao Yan and Xiao Xian prepared to leave, Hai Bo Dong asked Xiao Xian to help treat his worsening injuries.

• Xiao Yan learned from Yao Lao that Xiao Xian was likely a Peak Dou Sheng and smugly took the map fragment from Hai Bo Dong.
• Xiao Xian pressured Hai Bo Dong to hand over the fragment, and Hai Bo Dong apologized and pleaded for his life.
• Xiao Yan asked Xiao Xian to spare Hai Bo Dong, claiming he would not hold a grudge after reclaiming the fragment.
• Xiao Xian withdrew his pressure and prepared to leave with Xiao Yan, but Hai Bo Dong called them back to ask for help.
• Hai Bo Dong explained that his injuries had weakened him to the Dou Ling Realm and that he needed Xiao Xian’s help to survive.

Xiao Xian rejected Hai Bo Dong’s plea for help because the Ice Emperor offered nothing that interested him, and Hai Bo Dong let him leave rather than surrender his pride. Xiao Xian then told Xiao Yan that the Azure Lotus Core Flame was in Queen Medusa’s possession, leaving Xiao Yan discouraged by the strength of his target.

• Hai Bo Dong asked Xiao Xian to remove the flame energy in his body and offered treasures or a favor in return.
• Xiao Xian dismissed Hai Bo Dong’s offer, and Xiao Yan stopped seeing the Ice Emperor as someone worthy of reverence.
• Xiao Xian left, and Hai Bo Dong hesitated instead of following or agreeing to become his servant.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Xian he had come to the Tagor Desert to find a different flame for his cultivation technique.
• Xiao Xian revealed that Queen Medusa had taken the Azure Lotus Core Flame, and Xiao Yan despaired at facing a peak Dou Huang.

Xiao Xian refused to fight Medusa but told Xiao Yan how to take the Azure Lotus Core Flame during her evolution and gave him a jade bottle containing the Fallen Heart Flame. After the flame devastated part of Mo City, Xiao Yan fled the people pursuing him and escaped into the Tagor Desert.

• Xiao Xian told Xiao Yan that Medusa was near the Dou Zong realm and advised him to steal the Azure Lotus Core Flame while she evolved.
• Xiao Xian gave Xiao Yan a jade bottle and disappeared into the crowd.
• Xiao Yan opened the bottle, releasing the Fallen Heart Flame and burning everything within several hundred meters of Mo City.
• Yao Lao identified the flame and urged Xiao Yan to seal it back inside the bottle.
• Xiao Yan fled as Mo City's experts gathered, then fought and evaded pursuers with Yao Lao's help.
• Xiao Yan escaped into the Tagor Desert and finally lost the remaining pursuers.

Xiao Yan used Hai Bo Dong’s map to correct his course toward the Snake-People Royal Court, while Gu He, Jia Xingtian, and another man arrived there seeking Queen Medusa’s Heavenly Flame. The Snake-People mobilized to defend their sacred land, and Medusa appeared to confront the visitors.

• Xiao Yan compared Hai Bo Dong’s map with the desert landmarks, realized he was heading east instead of north, and set off toward the Snake-People Royal Court.
• Gu He asked Jia Xingtian and his companion to help him obtain Queen Medusa’s Heavenly Flame, and Jia Xingtian agreed.
• Gu He, Jia Xingtian, and their companion reached the royal court, where their Dou Huang auras triggered alarms and drew Snake-People warriors to defend it.
• Yue Mei and Mo Bas challenged the visitors, but Gu He called for an audience with Queen Medusa and refused to leave.
• Queen Medusa emerged from the temple, and the Snake-People guards greeted her as their queen.

Xiao Yan reached the Snake-People Divine Hall and took advantage of the weakened defenses to sneak inside while Gu He, Jia Xingtian, and Yun Yun confronted Queen Medusa. The chapter left Gu He pleading for the Azure Lotus Core Flame after Medusa immediately rejected his request.

• Xiao Yan and Yao Lao noticed that Snake-People troops were gathering at the Divine Hall, and Xiao Yan decided to continue pursuing the Azure Lotus Core Flame.
• Xiao Yan traveled by night and hid by day, reaching the Divine Hall after three days as the Snake-People forces were occupied elsewhere.
• Xiao Yan recognized Jia Xingtian and Yun Yun among the figures confronting Queen Medusa, then used Yao Lao's soul power to conceal himself and slip into the city.
• Queen Medusa rejected Gu He's unspoken request for the Azure Lotus Core Flame before he could explain his purpose.
• Gu He offered Queen Medusa a favor in return and vowed not to refuse any future command, but the outcome of his plea remained unresolved.

Gu He’s attempt to obtain the Azure Lotus Core Flame from Queen Medusa failed, and negotiations erupted into battle. As Medusa fought Yun Yun and Jia Xingtian, Gu He was intercepted by the Snake-People Tribe’s forces and found himself trapped in a fight with several Dou Wang experts.

• Queen Medusa refused Gu He’s offer again, so he ordered Yun Yun and Jia Xingtian to attack her together.
• Yun Yun and Jia Xingtian unleashed their strongest techniques, but Queen Medusa shattered their combined assault and countered with Hundred Flowers Kill.
• Gu He moved to seize the Azure Lotus Core Flame, but Yue Mei and Mo Bas blocked him as Snake-People soldiers surrounded him.
• Gu He burned more than ten Snake-People soldiers with his Beast Fire, prompting Mo Bas to order the tribe’s stronger fighters to attack.
• Several Dou Wang experts joined the fight and pinned Gu He down, leaving him furious as he battled the Snake-People Tribe.

With Yao Lao’s help, Xiao Yan located the Azure Lotus Core Flame in Queen Medusa’s palace and crossed a poisoned lake to reach the island where it lay. He escaped an attack by a powerful snake and continued toward the island’s interior in search of the flame.

• Yao Lao detected that Medusa had divided the Heavenly Flame’s aura among four directions and identified the real flame to the east.
• Xiao Yan reached a lake where a flight-restriction array grounded his wings, and he discovered that the poisonous water dissolved a jade ruler.
• Yao Lao covered Xiao Yan with the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, and Xiao Yan swam across the lake before the protection could fail.
• A powerful emerald snake attacked Xiao Yan near the island, but it stopped pursuing him once he moved onto the island.
• Xiao Yan ignored the snake and headed farther into the island to find the Azure Lotus Core Flame.

Xiao Yan found the Azure Lotus Core Flame in Queen Medusa’s territory, where it was contained by a crystal lotus drawing on the Ice Spirit Cold Spring. After Yao Lao broke the lotus’s restriction, the flame erupted, and they decided Xiao Yan would refine it on the spot because they had no way to carry it away.

• Xiao Yan searched the island and discovered a pool of Ice Spirit Cold Spring surrounding the Azure Lotus Core Flame.
• Xiao Yan realized the crystal lotus used the spring to suppress the flame and asked Yao Lao how to break its restriction.
• Yao Lao guided Xiao Yan through a series of hand seals that broke the restriction on the Lotus Platform.
• The Azure Lotus Core Flame surged in size and heat, burning the surrounding plants and rapidly drying up the spring.
• Yao Lao explained that they lacked a Born Lotus Seat to carry the flame and decided Xiao Yan should refine it there.

Xiao Yan prepared to devour the Azure Lotus Core Flame with Yao Lao’s guidance and used the Blood Lotus Pill to protect his body. As he drew the resisting flame close, its heat overwhelmed the area and began melting his protective layer, leaving the attempt underway and perilous.

• Yao Lao revealed the Spirit Absorption stone and explained its rarity as Xiao Yan prepared the items needed to devour the Azure Lotus Core Flame.
• Xiao Yan swallowed the Fifth Grade Blood Lotus Pill, which coated his body and organs in protective blood-colored barriers.
• Xiao Yan began drawing the Azure Lotus Core Flame toward himself while Yao Lao restrained its energy and contained the disturbance.
• The Azure Lotus Core Flame expanded and melted the surrounding stones into magma as Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi rapidly drained.
• When the flame came within one meter, it began melting Xiao Yan’s protective layer, and Yao Lao wrapped himself in the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to steady his soul body.

Xiao Yan endured the Azure Lotus Core Flame’s scorching heat and seized its source fireseed, then swallowed it to begin refining the Heavenly Flame. With Yao Lao’s guidance and the Ice Spirit Cold Spring protecting his body, Xiao Yan managed to guide the flame energy through his meridians, but a fresh wave of pain struck as it gathered into magma inside him.

• At Yao Lao’s urging, Xiao Yan plunged his hand into the Azure Lotus Core Flame and endured severe burns to pull out its source fireseed.
• Yao Lao explained that the cyan magma was the Azure Lotus Core Flame’s source fireseed, and Xiao Yan swallowed it despite his fear.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to drink the Ice Spirit Cold Spring and use Dou Qi and the Flame Mantra to suppress and refine the Heavenly Flame.
• After repeated attempts, Xiao Yan finally guided the flame energy through his meridians while the spring’s icy power protected them.
• The last wisp of the Azure Lotus Core Flame entered Xiao Yan, condensed into a small pool of magma, and brought him another burst of intense pain.

Medusa overwhelmed Yun Yun and Jia Xingtian, but Xiao Xian intervened before Medusa could kill Yun Yun. He rescued Yun Yun, teased her about marrying Medusa, then soothed her jealousy with a declaration of love, leaving Medusa frozen in midair.

• Medusa struck Jia Xingtian from the sky and heavily injured him, then turned to attack Yun Yun.
• Gu He tried to break free from Mo Bas and save Yun Yun, but Mo Bas kept him occupied.
• Xiao Xian caught Yun Yun before Medusa's fist could hit her and held her while teasing her.
• Xiao Xian praised Medusa's beauty, making Yun Yun jealous, then pulled Yun Yun back into his arms when she tried to leave.
• Xiao Xian assured Yun Yun that she was the only woman he loved and blamed Xiao Yan for wanting Medusa.

Xiao Xian punished the fighters who had threatened Yun Yun and confronted Medusa over the attack on his wife. Medusa feared for her people as Xiao Xian left the Snake-People Race’s fate in his hands, and she resigned herself to what he might do.

• Jia Xingtian admitted he had failed to protect Yun Yun, and Xiao Xian spared him while warning him against making excuses.
• Xiao Xian struck down the fighters on the battlefield, including Gu He, and blamed Gu He for drawing Yun Yun into danger.
• Yun Yun felt touched by Xiao Xian’s anger but decided not to ask him to spare Gu He in front of everyone.
• Medusa pleaded for the Snake-People Tribe’s survival, but Xiao Xian said its destruction was deserved because she had attacked his wife.
• Medusa challenged Xiao Xian’s claim that she should not have resisted, then gave up in despair as she remained powerless before him.

Xiao Xian spared Medusa and the Snake-People Race only after forcing her to make Xiao Yan fall in love with her within a year. Medusa discovered that Xiao Yan had already taken the Azure Lotus Core Flame and set out to find him.

• Yun Yun asked Xiao Xian to spare Medusa, and he agreed to punish her by making her win Xiao Yan's love within one year.
• Xiao Xian threatened to destroy the Snake-People Race with a descending giant palm, so Medusa accepted his condition to save her people.
• Medusa asked where she could find Xiao Yan, and Xiao Xian told her to follow the Azure Lotus Core Flame's vanished aura.
• Medusa sensed Xiao Yan on the island where she had kept the Azure Lotus Core Flame and realized he had taken the flame she meant to use for her advancement.

After Xiao Xian left, Medusa treated the wounded Snake-People experts and confronted Xiao Yan as he tried to escape with the Azure Lotus Core Flame. She offered to let him go in exchange for compensation, but Xiao Yan suspected she was setting a trap.

• Jia Xingtian fed Gu He a Healing Pill, then carried him back toward their camp.
• Medusa ordered the injured Snake-People experts rescued and used the Treasure Vault’s healing supplies to preserve their lives.
• Medusa flew to the lake and caught Xiao Yan trying to escape with the Azure Lotus Core Flame.
• Xiao Yan tried to pass his theft off as a misunderstanding, and Medusa mocked him for resembling Xiao Xian.
• Medusa said she would not blame Xiao Yan if he offered compensation, while Xiao Yan quietly prepared to flee and suspected she meant to kill him.

Xiao Xian used a Martial Arts World Travel Ticket and arrived in a fused Jin Yong martial arts world for a one-year journey. He began exploring the unfamiliar world and stopped at a busy roadside tea stall for a meal.

• Medusa declared herself Xiao Yan’s creditor and began staying by his side until he repaid her.
• Xiao Xian received a Martial Arts World Travel Ticket during his routine check-in and decided to use it before the wedding.
• Xiao Xian tore the ticket, entered the spatial gateway, and arrived in a dense forest in the Jin Yong Martial Arts Great World.
• Xiao Xian walked to a bustling official road and observed merchants and martial heroes traveling through the area.
• Xiao Xian ordered a meal at a crowded roadside tea stall and received several dishes, including steamed shad.

Xiao Xian learned that Great Xia was weakening amid rebellion and foreign threats, then headed for Zhongnan Mountain to see the Quanzhen Sect and the Tomb of the Living Dead. He left the story approaching the forbidden grounds where Little Dragon Girl lived.

• Xiao Xian listened to travelers discuss Later Jin's military buildup and Great Xia's troubles.
• Xiao Xian pieced together that Great Xia was faltering after disasters, rebellions, and the Human Emperor's aid strengthened Later Jin.
• Xiao Xian paid for his meal with a gold coin and left the teahouse for Zhongnan Mountain.
• Xiao Xian learned that the Tomb of the Living Dead stood on the Quanzhen Sect's forbidden back mountain and that Little Dragon Girl was famed as the martial world's greatest beauty.
• Xiao Xian went toward the Tomb of the Living Dead, where Quanzhen Daoists were forbidden to enter without necessity.

Xiao Xian used his apparent weakness to lure a gang of bandits into revealing themselves, but Guo Jing arrived before he could finish dealing with them. The bandits recognized Guo Jing and retreated in terror.

• Xiao Xian confronted the bandits who had followed him into the forest and pretended to be frightened when they demanded his money.
• Scarface ordered the bandits to seize Xiao Xian, and several men surrounded him and reached for his neck.
• Guo Jing suddenly appeared and rebuked the bandits for robbing travelers.
• Scarface recognized Guo Jing, and the bandits backed away in fear of his reputation and his alliance with Qiao Feng.

Xiao Xian killed the bandits Guo Jing had spared, then explained his journey to Zhongnan Mountain. Guo Jing revealed he was taking Yang Guo to the Quanzhen Sect, and Xiao Xian proposed they travel there together.

• Guo Jing accepted the bandits’ surrender and warned them to abandon their crimes before letting them leave.
• Xiao Xian killed eleven fleeing bandits with branches, revealing his formidable martial arts to Guo Jing.
• Xiao Xian thanked Guo Jing for intervening, and Guo Jing explained that he had come to take Yang Guo to the Quanzhen Sect to study.
• Xiao Xian said he was also visiting the Quanzhen Sect and invited Guo Jing to travel with him.
• Guo Jing asked Xiao Xian why he wanted to visit the sect.

Xiao Xian met Guo Jing and Yang Guo on their way to the Quanzhen Sect, then gave Yang Guo a martial arts manual as a gift. Guo Jing recognized its extraordinary value and insisted that Yang Guo could not accept it.

• Guo Jing accepted Xiao Xian’s invitation to visit the Quanzhen Sect, while privately preparing to oppose him if he proved hostile.
• Guo Jing introduced Yang Guo to Xiao Xian, and Yang Guo reluctantly called him Uncle after learning Xiao Xian was nearly forty.
• Xiao Xian gave Yang Guo the manual Three Points Return to Origin and told Guo Jing to study it before teaching the boy.
• Guo Jing read the manual, was shocked by its unparalleled internal cultivation method, and solemnly asked Xiao Xian to take it back.