Recaps

After Cai Lin’s death, Yue Mei became the Snake-People Tribe’s new queen and entered the Land of Inheritance, where she met the ancient Ashes Queen. Ashes began Yue Mei’s baptism and declared that future queens must focus on helping the tribe survive in the Tagor Desert, not preserving its secrets or pursuing revenge.

• Du Qian Teng questioned whether Flower Snake had betrayed Cai Lin, but Yue Mei defended her and ordered an investigation of the Queen’s Guard.
• Yue Mei called for war against the Gamma Empire and planned to seek alliances with the Chuyun Empire and the Mulan Empire, while ordering other tribes to provide support and watch the Da Xia Dynasty.
• Flower Snake led Yue Mei to the Land of Inheritance, where Yue Mei used Cai Lin’s royal seal to open a hidden passage beneath the God Hall.
• A voice in the darkness asked whether Cai Lin was dead, and Ashes emerged from a bronze coffin and identified herself as the first Medusa Queen of this branch of the tribe.
• Ashes grieved over Cai Lin’s death and refused to pass down the tribe’s old secrets, telling Yue Mei that future queens must lead the Snake-People Tribe in surviving the Tagor Desert.
• Yue Mei pleaded for the tribe’s history and hopes of revenge to be preserved, but Ashes told her to sit for the inheritance baptism.

After resolving the Mo Family affair, Ye and his companions approached Gama City, where the Nalan Residence had arranged a triumphant return ceremony. As the group reached the city, thunderous war drums began to sound.

• Ye received a letter saying the Mo Family had paid compensation, Mo Cheng had retired, and the Mo Family head had stepped down.
• Ye promised to compensate Qing Lin for the Mo Family's attempt to target her, though she insisted she had not been harmed.
• A plume of yellow smoke rose from the escort's flying beast, signaling the ceremony arranged by the Nalan Residence.
• Ye and the others saw Gama City's soldiers lining the road and its walls as they approached the city.
• Xiao Yu teased Ye and discovered Xiao Meier was nervous before thunderous war drums suddenly boomed.

Nalan Ye arrived at a grand Triumphant Return Ceremony after killing the Snake-People Tribe Queen, but his flying beast struggled to land amid the noise. He learned that Nalan Su had named him Heir Apparent, dressed for the ceremony, and joined the waiting group outside Gama City.

• Nalan Ye watched Nalan Family troops perform a Triumphant Return Ceremony as his flying magical beast circled above the clearing, frightened by the drums and singing.
• The handler coaxed the flying beast into landing, and Nalan Ye went to a tent to bathe and prepare for the ceremony.
• The head maid told Nalan Ye that Nalan Su had announced him as Heir Apparent and planned to hold a Capping Ceremony on another auspicious day.
• Nalan Ye put on crimson ceremonial armor and stepped out to meet Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Xiao Yu, Qing Lin, and Nalan Yiling.
• Nalan Yiling and Qing Lin praised Nalan Ye's appearance, while Xiao Yu tapped his armor and teased him.

Yezi led Xiao Meier in a lavish triumphal return ceremony, presenting her beside him on a war chariot before the assembled soldiers and city factions. The chapter ended with their chariot meeting those of the Mittel Family, the Mu Family, and other powers, as both sides exchanged bows and sang a poem.

• Xiao Meier emerged in ornate finery, stunning Yezi, Xiao Yu, Yi Ling, and Xun Er.
• Yezi helped Xiao Meier aboard his four-horse War Chariot and led her to the front of the four-hundred-man formation.
• Yezi and Xiao Meier stood before the soldiers as they sang during the triumphal return ceremony.
• Seven War Chariots representing the Mittel Family, the Mu Family, and other factions approached from the west.
• Yezi reassured the nervous Xiao Meier, and they exchanged bows and sang a poem with the opposing group.

Ye Jun led the victory procession into Gama City and headed to the palace for an audience with Emperor Mo Lin Gama. The chapter ended as Ye Jun and his companions arrived before the emperor’s waiting chamber.

• Ye Jun’s grand procession approached Gama City as Nalan soldiers and civilians bowed and chanted for him.
• Ye Jun wondered whether the acclaim was glory or vanity and saw City Defense Army Commander Ran Lu Gama watching from the gate tower.
• Ye Jun’s procession toured Gama City before reaching the imperial palace, where the party dismounted and entered on foot.
• Ye Jun and the Xiao Family members admired the palace’s castle-like buildings, and Xiao Meier asked why anyone would want to live in a tower.
• The Yousi announced that Ye Jun had arrived and that Emperor Mo Lin Gama was waiting inside.

Nalan Ye met Emperor Mo Lin Gama and reviewed a military dispatch reporting Snake-People activity in the Chuyun Empire. He warned that the Snake-People Tribe might ally with the Gamma Empire’s enemy and proposed steps to prepare for war.

• Mo Lin Gama welcomed Nalan Ye and introduced him to Princess Yao Ye, who praised him for killing the Medusa Queen.
• Mo Lin gave Nalan Ye a dispatch from General Jianwei reporting traces of Snake-People in the Chuyun Empire.
• Nalan Ye suggested the Snake-People Tribe could be seeking supplies or planning an alliance with the Chuyun Empire.
• Nalan Ye proposed sending envoys to investigate and seek allies, then gathering supplies, recruiting troops, and strengthening city defenses.

After returning from the Nalan Family’s feast, I dreamed of his former life and encountered a seemingly real Medusa in a classroom. Medusa examined books formed from his memories, while he realized he was trapped in something unlike an ordinary dream.

• The Gamma Emperor postponed a decision on the military reports, and I left the palace with Yao Ye, who agreed to visit the Nalan Family.
• I attended the Nalan Family’s lavish banquet and later returned to my courtyard drunk.
• I dreamed of a classroom from my former life, where a teacher with Medusa’s face appeared and asked where she was.
• I realized the pale-eyed Medusa was an independent, seemingly real person rather than a dream figure, and demanded to know who she was.
• Medusa examined textbooks whose printed passages matched my memories and remarked that their markings were genuine writing.

Nalan Ye confronted Medusa inside a dream, where she questioned his memories and his Nalan Family’s small world. After he claimed it was left behind by a Dou Sheng, Medusa tried to coax him into revealing what treasures it contained.

• Medusa transformed into her true form and told Nalan Ye she had meant to erase his soul and possess his body, but had become interested in him.
• Medusa inferred from the classroom that Nalan Ye had lived in another world and asked whether he had possessed the real Nalan Ye.
• Nalan Ye denied being an outsider and claimed his family had discovered a small world left behind by a Dou Sheng, where he had seen places and scripts like those in the dream.
• Medusa rushed up to Nalan Ye and demanded to know whether the small world contained cultivation methods, Dou Techniques, secret arts, or other treasures.
• Nalan Ye tried to understand the dream, but Medusa said his cultivation was too weak to perceive its nature and began enticing him to describe the small world.

The narrator fought Medusa in a strange dreamscape where they could summon objects, but she killed him repeatedly despite his powerful Soul Power. After discovering that he could revive and conjure weapons, he resolved to gamble on a new tactic as Medusa continued to overpower him.

• The narrator resisted Medusa’s soul attack and slashed her, but she healed and demanded the secret of his small world.
• Medusa rejected his offer to find her a body and stabbed him, sending him back to a schoolyard in the dreamscape.
• The narrator summoned the Gatling Bodhisattva and destroyed Medusa, but she revived behind a shield and killed him with a javelin.
• On his second revival, the narrator summoned a Type 99A tank, but it was nonfunctional and Medusa killed him with more javelins.
• The narrator revived in a dim classroom and decided he had to gamble on a new approach to survive Medusa.

The narrator created a huge iron ball inside a sealed Metal Fortress and used it to threaten Medusa, hoping it could break her dream world and let him seek outside help. As they faced off over whether he should use it, he searched for a way to make Medusa surrender without risking his life.

• The narrator hid inside a Metal Fortress and used the principles of a nuclear bomb to create a small metal sphere, then enlarged it with Soul Power into a Big Iron Ball.
• Medusa stopped attacking the fortress when she sensed the Big Iron Ball's threat, and the narrator opened the damaged walls to confront her.
• The narrator reasoned that destroying the dream world might give his soul time to return to his body and seek help from Jia Xingtian, Xiao Yan, or Xun Er.
• Medusa warned that the Big Iron Ball might fail or consume too much Soul Power, and offered to spare the narrator if she could brand his soul.
• The narrator demanded that Medusa let him brand her soul instead, and both stood their ground as he considered how to persuade her to surrender.

The narrator told Medusa that the supposed Small World was a lie and claimed he came from another world, where he had been a powerful Keyboard Emperor. After Medusa sensed the power inside his Big Iron Ball, he offered to help the Snake-People Tribe reclaim its ancestral land if she followed him.

• The narrator revealed to Medusa that the surroundings were a scene from his homeland and that he had come from beyond the Dou Qi Continent.
• Medusa questioned him about other worlds and suspected he had been a Dou God, but he claimed his former rank was Keyboard Emperor.
• The narrator urged Medusa to follow him and promised he would one day rule the Dou Qi Continent.
• The narrator presented the Big Iron Ball, and Medusa sensed immense power inside it that she could not understand.
• Medusa asked what she would gain by following him, and the narrator promised to help the Snake-People Tribe defeat its ancient enemies and return to its ancestral land.

Ye Er outwitted Medusa with the Big Iron Ball and bound her remnant soul to his command, then returned to the Nalan Residence and woke to find their connection was real. After speaking with Medusa and catching up with Sun Er, he was startled when his mother asked about the little fiancée he had brought home.

• Ye Er convinced Medusa to submit and placed a Soul Imprint on her weakening Soul Origin.
• Medusa dissolved her Dou Technique, returning Ye Er to his room at the Nalan Residence, where he worried that she might discover his deception.
• The next morning, Ye Er confirmed that Medusa could hear him and observe the world around him through their connection.
• Ye Er went to the dining hall, where Sun Er told him she had reached Dou Qi Level Seven but could no longer buy Foundation Establishment Liquid.
• Ye Er's mother arrived and asked whether he had brought his little fiancée home.

Nalan Ye stopped Nalan Family youths from provoking Xiao Yan and used Qing Lin’s new Guest Elder status to send them for punishment. After apologizing to Xiao Yan, Nalan Ye invited Xiao Meier to dinner so his parents could meet her.

• Nalan Family youths mocked Xiao Yan and the Xiao Family guests, prompting Xiao Yan to prepare to fight their leader.
• Nalan Ye intervened, threatened the youths with punishment, and revealed that Qing Lin had become a Guest Elder of the Nalan Family.
• The youths went to the Punishment Elder, while Nalan Ye apologized to Xiao Yan for their behavior.
• Xiao Yan accepted the apology and remarked that Nalan Ye’s position as Heir Apparent seemed insecure.
• Nalan Ye said he had a problem and invited Xiao Meier to dinner with his parents.

Xiao Ye reassured Xiao Meier that they would marry after she finished studying at Canaan Academy, then welcomed Nalan Yanran, who had come down from Yun Lan Mountain to find him. She revealed that a military report had uncovered powerful Snake-People in the Chuyun Empire, leaving Xiao Ye surprised that the threat was being discussed only now.

• Xiao Ye told Xiao Meier he had rejected his mother's suggestion and would wait until she graduated from Canaan Academy to marry her.
• Xiao Yu teased Xiao Meier about her engagement, while Xun Er watched her with bashfulness and envy.
• A maid announced Nalan Yanran's arrival, and Xiao Yan insisted she be allowed into the courtyard rather than having Xiao Ye meet her outside.
• Xiao Ye went out to greet Nalan Yanran and invited her in, saying his fiancée was present.
• Nalan Yanran accepted the scroll from Yun Yun and told Xiao Ye that a military report had found traces of powerful Snake-People within the Chuyun Empire.

Ye Gege brought Nalan Yanran to meet the Xiao Family, where Xiao Yan challenged her to a fight. Nalan Yanran accepted after Ye Gege explained that Xiao Yan still hated her, and their duel began with Xiao Yan launching Fire Palm.

• Nalan Yanran entered the hall with Ye Gege and greeted Xiao Meier, Xiao Yu, Xiao Yan, Xun Er, and Qing Lin.
• Xiao Yan challenged Nalan Yanran, who calmly told him that he was no match for her.
• Xiao Yan left the hall, followed by Xun Er and Xiao Yu, while Xiao Meier showed distress over the fight between her family and her in-laws.
• Ye Gege urged Nalan Yanran to fight Xiao Yan and told her that Xiao Yan still hated her; she then walked outside.
• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran faced each other in the courtyard, and Xiao Yan opened the spar by attacking with Fire Palm.

Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran exchanged blows, with Xiao Yan briefly gaining an advantage through his heavy ruler techniques before Nalan Yanran overwhelmed him with her superior cultivation and sword techniques. Xiao Yan lay injured in a flower bed, while Nalan Yanran stood over the fallen Mystic Heavy Ruler.

• Nalan Yanran blocked Xiao Yan’s fire dragon with Three Feet Sword Barrier and deflected his Mystic Heavy Ruler with a precise sword strike.
• Xiao Yan used Yao Lao’s heavy ruler techniques to pin Nalan Yanran’s sword and press her back, forcing her to break free with her Dou Qi.
• Nalan Yanran used Wind Spirit Transformation Sword to make Xiao Yan dodge three streaks of sword light, then sent a fourth attack after him in midair.
• Xiao Yan countered with Eight Extremities Collapse, but Nalan Yanran’s sword light blasted him into a pavilion pillar and a flower bed.
• Nalan Yanran remained standing as Xiao Yan’s Mystic Heavy Ruler fell and cracked the paving tiles.

Xiao Yan insisted on continuing his duel with Nalan Yanran despite his injuries, but she outmaneuvered him and struck him again. The fight left him bleeding and staggering, while Nalan Yanran watched without pressing her advantage.

• Xun Er rushed to Xiao Yan and worried over his injuries, but he told her to stay back and continue the match.
• The narrator warned Xiao Yan that Nalan Yanran had spared him after their first exchange, but Xiao Yan charged at her anyway.
• Xiao Yan used Eight Extremities Collapse and dodged two streaks of Nalan Yanran’s Wind Spirit Transformation Sword light to close the distance.
• Nalan Yanran feinted with her sword and secretly attacked with Thousand Wind Qi, forcing Xiao Yan to block the sword qi with the Mystic Heavy Ruler.
• The impact made Xiao Yan stagger and spit blood, while Nalan Yanran remained in place and let him recover.

After Xiao Yan lost to Nalan Yanran again, he challenged her to a rematch in three years, and Xun Er restored his confidence. The narrator then took Xiao Yu, Xiao Meier, and Qing Lin sightseeing in Gama City, ending as they entered Chen Jin's, a famous shop selling rouge and face powder.

• Xiao Yan admitted defeat, then challenged Nalan Yanran to fight again in three years after he cultivated at Canaan Academy, and she accepted.
• Xun Er comforted Xiao Yan and reminded him that he had overcome his cultivation regression, rekindling his determination to defeat Nalan Yanran.
• The narrator left the courtyard with Xiao Yu, Xiao Meier, and Qing Lin and took them to explore Gama City's bustling streets.
• Xiao Yu enjoyed the street performances and shopping, giving a performer several gold coins before the narrator stopped her.
• The group entered Chen Jin's after Xiao Meier explained that it was famous for rouge and face powder, and Xiao Yu teased the narrator for bringing the girls there.

Nalan Heir Apparent Ye teased Xiao Yu about buying her armor, then offered to arrange a gift from the Nalan Family’s treasury. The offer seemed promising, but Xiao Yu’s hopes dimmed when Ye explained that the Weapon Crafting Elder controlled the weapons.

• Ye brought Xiao Yu to Chen Jin’s, where Mei Er and Qing Lin tried rouges and powders.
• Xiao Yu asked Ye to buy her magic-core armor and several weapons at the Mitre Auction House, but he balked at the cost.
• Ye noticed Xiao Yu’s disappointment and offered to get her armor from the Nalan Family treasury as a gift.
• Xiao Yu asked Ye to remember to include a sword and other weapons, but Ye explained that the Weapon Crafting Elder would have to approve their release.
• Mei Er asked Ye and Xiao Yu what they had been discussing so happily.

Ye Gege took Xiao Meier, Qing Lin, and Xiao Yu shopping in Gama City, buying Xiao Meier supplies for her dangerous future at Canaan Academy while Xiao Yu pressed him for promised armor and gifts. After returning to the Nalan Residence, he arranged to meet Xiao Meier for dinner, leaving her nervous and blushing.

• Xiao Yu warned that Canaan Academy was dangerous, so Ye Gege took Xiao Meier and Qing Lin to the Mitre Auction House to buy protective supplies.
• Xiao Yu demanded a share of anything Ye Gege bought for Xiao Meier and threatened to introduce her to Dou Emperor family geniuses at Canaan Academy.
• Ye Gege bought incense, medicinal pills, and concealed weapons for Xiao Meier and Xiao Yu, then took the group to lunch and shopping for jewelry and dresses.
• Xiao Yu reminded Ye Gege that he had promised her stylish women's armor, and he agreed to find a suitable suit in the Nalan Family Treasury.
• Back at the Nalan Residence, Ye Gege told Xiao Meier to return to her courtyard and get ready for dinner, and asked her not to wear the new things they had bought.

After Xiao Yu taunted Xiao Yan over his defeat by Nalan Yanran, Xiao Yan withdrew to his room and questioned his progress with Yao Lao. Yao Lao challenged him to aim beyond the Gamma Empire and introduced him to the vast possibilities of the Dou Qi Continent, leaving Xiao Yan wondering whether young Dou Huangs truly existed.

• Xiao Yan and Xun Er admired the Nalan Residence before Xiao Yu returned and mocked Xiao Yan for losing to Nalan Yanran and still hoping to attend Canaan Academy.
• Xiao Yan leaped down as if to fight Xiao Yu, but turned away and slammed his room door instead; Xun Er also returned to her room.
• Xiao Yu set Xiao Meier to preparing to meet her future in-laws, while Xiao Yan sat troubled by the noise outside.
• Yao Lao appeared and reminded Xiao Yan that he had risen from the third stage of Dou Qi to Five-Star Fighter in just over a year, then asked whether his ambitions stopped at the Gamma Empire.
• Yao Lao described powerful young Dou Emperors, peerless beauties, and Pill Refining Grandmasters across the Dou Qi Continent, and Xiao Yan asked whether anyone really reached Dou Huang while young.

Yao Lao encouraged Xiao Yan to explore the wider world and explained why he did not want Xiao Yan driven by revenge. He warned Xiao Yan that his love for Xun Er was distracting him from cultivation, then hinted that something was more interesting than romance or family affection.

• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to see the world for himself, and Xiao Yan vowed to do so.
• Xiao Yan promised to avenge Yao Lao, who said he had kept his past secret so Xiao Yan would not be burdened by hatred.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to let good things in life motivate him and treat revenge as only a small matter along his cultivation path.
• Xiao Yan asked whether Yao Lao opposed his relationship with Xun Er, and Yao Lao said Xiao Yan should not be with her right now because she had distracted him from cultivating after his loss to the Nalan Girl.
• Xiao Yan insisted Xun Er was his everything, but Yao Lao reminded him of his father, Xiao Ding, and Xiao Li before hinting at something more interesting than love or family.

After losing to Nalan Yanran, Xiao Yan learned that Yao Lao had obtained the Azure Lotus Core Flame and agreed to leave Gama City for a trial to gather the ingredients needed to refine it. He departed into the night, while Xun Er watched from a hidden corner with his letter in hand.

• Yao Lao revealed the Azure Lotus Core Flame and claimed that the three Dou Emperors who seized it had been his helpers.
• Xiao Yan urged Yao Lao to gather the ingredients so he could refine the flame, but Yao Lao insisted that Xiao Yan leave Xun Er and undertake a trial.
• Xiao Yan reluctantly agreed to leave his family and friends, wrote a letter for Xun Er, and set out that night.
• Xiao Yan crossed the city wall and headed toward the unknown, determined to gather the ingredients and eventually go to Canaan Academy.
• Xun Er watched Xiao Yan leave and reproached him for breaking their agreement to attend Canaan Academy together.

Nalan Ye planned to divert the Snake-People Tribe’s ambitions from the Gamma Empire toward the Chuyun Empire by proposing an alliance with a division of conquered territory along the Red River. After spending the night working out the plan with Medusa, he learned that Xiao Yan had apparently run away.

• Nalan Ye asked Medusa whether she could still control the Snake-People Tribe, and she explained that Yue Mei had become its sole queen.
• Nalan Ye proposed that the Snake-People Tribe ally with the Gamma Empire and attack the Chuyun Empire, with the Snake-People Tribe receiving the northern bank of Red River.
• Medusa agreed to persuade Yue Mei but asked how Nalan Ye would secure the Gamma Empire’s approval.
• Nalan Ye and Medusa discussed the plan’s details late into the night, negotiating how the Gamma Empire and Snake-People Tribe would share the gains.
• The next morning, Xiao Yu told Nalan Ye that Xiao Yan seemed to have run away.

After Xiao Yan left Wutan City to train and promised to defeat Nalan Yanran before returning, Nalan Ye proposed an alliance with the Snake-People Tribe. Nalan Su approved the plan, and Nalan Ye volunteered to lead the mission to the Tagor Desert.

• Xiao Yu told Nalan Ye that Xiao Yan had left to train, and Xun Er had kept the letter he left behind.
• Xiao Yu joined Nalan Ye’s family for breakfast, where Nalan Ye told Xiao Meier that Xiao Yan was missing.
• Nalan Ye explained his plan to ally with the Snake-People Tribe to his father, who agreed to take him to Nalan Su.
• Nalan Su approved Nalan Ye’s plan and asked who should be sent to negotiate with the Snake-People Tribe.
• Nalan Ye declared that he was the one who should lead the mission to the Tagor Desert.