Chapter Summaries

As Black Emperor City erupted into violence over a newly refined Sixth-Rank Pill, Nalan Ye reflected with Yun Yun and Heavenly Flame Venerable on why they cultivated. By the end, Heavenly Flame Venerable recognized that Nalan Ye had achieved Dao Resonance, though the Dao he comprehended remained unclear.

• A Sixth-Rank Pill’s completion drew greedy crowds and triggered fighting across Black Emperor City, while Nalan Ye, Yun Yun, and Heavenly Flame Venerable stayed in their courtyard.
• As the battle raged outside in heavy rain, Nalan Ye and Yun Yun played Go while Heavenly Flame Venerable offered unsolicited advice.
• Nalan Ye reflected that the slaughter arose from human greed and admitted their group avoided the conflict only because the pill was not valuable enough to tempt them.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable explained that he cultivated to escape poverty, and Yun Yun said she cultivated to protect the Yun Lan Sect and the Gamma Empire.
• After losing the Go game and scattering the stones across the board, Nalan Ye said he understood something, and Heavenly Flame Venerable identified his state as Dao Resonance.

At the Black Emperor Sect auction, the narrator reflected on his new insight into the Great Dao and the way powerful factions hoarded cultivation knowledge, then spotted a Seventh-Order Magical Beast corpse that might aid his physical-body refinement. Heavenly Flame Venerable identified the corpse as a Heavenly Demon Phoenix.

• The narrator, Heavenly Flame Venerable, and their companion attended the Black Emperor Sect auction after the recent fight over a Sixth-Rank Pill had ended.
• Mo Tianxing welcomed the crowd, warned against causing trouble, and opened the auction.
• The narrator questioned why sects hoarded cultivation methods and Dou Skills, and Heavenly Flame Venerable explained that sharing them could threaten their power.
• The narrator bought several auction items, including a Six Harmonies Roaming Body Ruler intended as a wedding gift for Xiao Yan and Yanran Jie.
• The Black Emperor Sect presented a dried corpse identified as a Seventh-Order high-grade Magical Beast, and the narrator considered whether it could help his physical-body refinement.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable recognized the corpse as a Heavenly Demon Phoenix.

At the Black Emperor Sect auction, the narrator and Heavenly Flame Venerable recognized a Heavenly Demon Phoenix corpse that could provide bloodline essence for refining a physical body, despite the danger of angering the phoenix clan. The narrator offered an Earth Low-Rank Dou Technique for the corpse, but Mo Tianxing countered by demanding two Sixth-Rank Pills.

• Heavenly Flame Venerable explained that the Heavenly Demon Phoenix corpse could be used to refine a physical body, then decided he wanted it despite the risk of the clan's retaliation.
• The white-haired auctioneer announced that the Black Emperor Sect would trade the corpse only for another item, not gold coins.
• The narrator offered an Earth Low-Rank Dou Technique scroll called the Azure Sea Dragon Sword.
• Fang Yan offered Demon Flame Valley's Flame Manipulation Art, but Mo Tianxing revealed that using its energy-flame fusion could permanently harm or kill its cultivators.
• Mo Tianxing dismissed Fang Yan's offer and demanded two Sixth-Rank Pills from the narrator for the corpse.

The narrator bargained with Mo Tianxing for a magical beast corpse, trading two pills after warning that it might be worthless. Mo Tianxing then unveiled the Time-Space Floating Ice and opened the bidding under heavy security, while the narrator and Yun Yun watched.

• The narrator offered Mo Tianxing a Smooth Meridian Nourishing Dantian Pill and an Enlightenment Pill for the magical beast corpse, and Mo Tianxing accepted.
• Mo Tianxing dismissed the auction elder and personally took charge as the crowd anticipated the Time-Space Floating Ice.
• Five Black Emperor Sect elders guarded the auction platform while Mo Tianxing revealed the Time-Space Floating Ice in a crystal box.
• The narrator’s soul force was repelled by the crystal box, while Yun Yun and Heavenly Flame Venerable examined the ice.
• Mo Tianxing quelled the hall’s commotion with his Dou Zong aura and announced the ice’s weight before beginning the bidding.

The narrator offered a Po Zong Pill in a private exchange for the Time-Space Floating Ice, while Heavenly Flame Venerable negotiated with Mo Tianxing. Mo Tianxing announced that the narrator’s private room had won the treasure.

• Mo Tianxing arranged private, one-person offers for the Time-Space Floating Ice, and the narrator sent Heavenly Flame Venerable to negotiate.
• The narrator chose a Dark Attribute Po Zong Pill as his offer after Heavenly Flame Venerable assured him the treasure could help him reach the Dou Zong realm.
• While Heavenly Flame Venerable met Mo Tianxing, Yun Yun reflected on the narrator’s rapid cultivation and fell silent after he promised to help her advance.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable returned and reported that Mo Tianxing was pleased with the pill but was still considering another valuable offer.
• Mo Tianxing announced that the narrator’s private room had won the Time-Space Floating Ice.

After Mo Tianxing revealed that they possessed the Time-Space Floating Ice, Xiao Yan and his companions became targets for the forces gathered in Black Emperor City. They collected their auction purchases from the Black Emperor Sect and left under its temporary protection, but hostile watchers filled the streets around them.

• Mo Tianxing announced the auction's end and invited guests to a banquet, while Xiao Yan dismissed the threats outside the auction house.
• Xiao Yan led Yun Yun and Heavenly Flame Venerable to the Black Emperor Sect to collect their purchases.
• Mo Tianxing handed Xiao Yan the Time-Space Floating Ice, and Heavenly Flame Venerable confirmed it was genuine.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable inspected the other items, Xiao Yan paid Mo Tianxing, and the two sides completed the exchange.
• Mo Tianxing promised to protect Xiao Yan's group within Black Emperor City, and they left the sect with suspicious figures watching them in the streets.

The narrator and Heavenly Flame Venerable examined a Heavenly Demon Phoenix corpse and harvested its bone wings and claws before refining its remains. Heavenly Flame Venerable extracted the Phoenix’s bloodline essence and magic core, which he decided to keep for now.

• The narrator brought out the Heavenly Demon Phoenix corpse, and its jade bone wings released powerful Wind and Fire energy when he touched them.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable cut off the bone wings and claws, then refined the claws with the Fallen Heart Flame into potent red bone spikes that the narrator stored.
• The narrator explained how to extract the Phoenix’s bloodline essence and magic core, and Heavenly Flame Venerable refined the corpse’s flesh into five drops of crimson blood.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable applied a drop of blood to the dried skin and refined it, condensing the released energy into a cyan-and-crimson magic core.
• The narrator caught the magic core, but Heavenly Flame Venerable drew it away and decided to keep it.

The narrator used the Time-Space Floating Ice to enter a detached state and reflect on how he had become part of the world. He left the hall before reaching Dou Zong and revealed that the Dao he had comprehended was Humanity.

• The narrator placed the Time-Space Floating Ice inside his soul, but withdrew it when its chill overwhelmed him.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable explained that the treasure made the mind cold and detached, and the narrator used it again to observe his memories without emotion.
• The narrator reflected on meeting Nalan Yanran, Xiao Yan, and Xun Er, and on the deaths and wars that made the world feel real to him.
• The narrator stood up and told Heavenly Flame Venerable and Yun Yun that he wanted to walk outside, despite the treasure's effects not having faded.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable sensed the narrator's obscure Dao aura and asked what Dao he had comprehended; the narrator answered, "Humanity."

After leaving the Black Emperor Pavilion, I visited Black Emperor City’s mortal market and reflected on ordinary life and the Nalan Empire’s influence. An Eight Star Dou Huang confronted us there, demanding the Time-Space Floating Ice and sending the market into panic.

• I left the Black Emperor Pavilion with Heavenly Flame Venerable and Yun Yun, telling the gatekeeper we were only going for a walk.
• I led Heavenly Flame Venerable through a mortal market, where he recalled his childhood in a poor mountain village.
• I noticed Nalan Empire salt for sale and considered how mortals’ lives compared with those of Dou Zhe.
• An Eight Star Dou Huang kicked over a stall, demanded the Time-Space Floating Ice, and caused the mortals to flee in terror.
• I watched the market’s peaceful bustle collapse and remarked that mortals lived like ants while Dou Zhe preyed on the weak.

After sensing that he could enter the Dou Zong realm, the narrator planned to flee Black Emperor City with Heavenly Flame Venerable and Yun Yun rather than fight for the Time-Space Floating Ice. Their escape drew a vast pursuit, and they left the city facing hundreds of powerful cultivators.

• The narrator sensed that he could step into the Dou Zong realm, then put away the depleted Time-Space Floating Ice and left the marketplace with Heavenly Flame Venerable and Yun Yun.
• The narrator proposed that the three fly north to shake off weaker pursuers, and they rested in the Black Emperor Pavilion until nightfall.
• The narrator, Heavenly Flame Venerable, and Yun Yun took off from the pavilion, prompting people across Black Emperor City to pursue them for the Time-Space Floating Ice.
• Mo Tianxing ordered the pursuers to fight outside the city, but several powerhouses ignored him and joined the chase.
• After the trio flew beyond Black Emperor City, the narrator sensed at least two hundred Dou Wang and nearly a hundred Dou Huang following them, with possible Dou Zong among the pursuers.

The narrator, Yun Yun, and Heavenly Flame Venerable fled the pursuing cultivators after obtaining the Time-Space Floating Ice, using their speed to leave most of the crowd behind. They were finally trapped between nine high-level Dou Huangs and the Dou Zong Old Man Ying Shan, who demanded the treasure.

• The narrator and his companions defeated or drove off four Dou Wangs who ambushed them, then continued fleeing as the larger pursuit closed in.
• The narrator, Yun Yun, and Heavenly Flame Venerable outran most of the pursuing Dou Wangs and low-level Dou Huangs, leaving nine high-level Dou Huangs trailing behind.
• Sensing danger ahead, the narrator changed course toward the Tiao Zhi Empire, but a Dou Zong soon appeared and blocked their way.
• The narrator asked the old man his name, and he identified himself as Old Man Ying Shan and demanded the Time-Space Floating Ice.
• The nine Dou Huangs behind the group cursed Old Man Ying Shan and revealed that he was a notorious former Black Ranking expert who had advanced from Dou Huang Peak to Dou Zong.

The narrator's group was intercepted by Old Man Ying Shan, Mo Tianxing, and Su Qian, who sought the Time-Space Floating Ice. After the narrator convinced Su Qian to join their side, the four Dou Zong prepared to fight, forcing the narrator and Yun Yun to retreat.

• Old Man Ying Shan confronted the narrator's group, and Heavenly Flame Venerable exposed Mo Tianxing and Su Qian hiding nearby.
• The narrator recognized Mo Tianxing as the Black Emperor Sect Master and accused him of trying to reclaim the Time-Space Floating Ice his sect had sold.
• The narrator revealed clues about his identity to Su Qian, who recognized him as the person connected to the Canaan Inner Courtyard incident two years earlier.
• The narrator offered Su Qian the remaining Time-Space Floating Ice in exchange for help, and Su Qian agreed to oppose Mo Tianxing.
• Mo Tianxing and the other three Dou Zong released their immense auras, and the narrator took Yun Yun away from the coming battle.

Demon Flame Valley’s Fang Yan joined Mo Tianxing and Old Man Ying Shan to challenge Heavenly Flame Venerable and Su Qian, using the valley’s Transformation Fire to boost his group’s strength. Heavenly Flame Venerable dismissed the technique and prepared to fight the three opponents himself, while Su Qian wondered if he was a high-level Dou Zong.

• Fang Yan planned to wait for the four Dou Zongs to fight, then seize the Time-Space Floating Ice from the narrator.
• The narrator warned the four Dou Zongs about the nine watching Dou Huangs, prompting them to turn their attention toward the group.
• Fang Yan ordered the Demon Flame Valley elders to combine their flames, creating the powerful but crude Transformation Fire.
• Fang Yan persuaded Mo Tianxing and Old Man Ying Shan to join him in targeting Heavenly Flame Venerable and Su Qian.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable trapped Fang Yan’s firebird attack and assigned Su Qian to hold off Mo Tianxing while he faced Old Man Ying Shan and Fang Yan.
• Su Qian sensed that Heavenly Flame Venerable might be a Dou Zong of at least Seven Stars.

Fang Yan and Old Man Ying Shan joined forces against Heavenly Flame Venerable, combining Transformation Fire with wind to empower their Starry Sky Fire Phoenix. The phoenix attacked, but Heavenly Flame Venerable calmly neutralized its fire feathers and faced the attackers.

• Fang Yan's firebird was destroyed by Heavenly Flame Venerable's fire net, and Fang Yan suffered a minor injury.
• Old Man Ying Shan ambushed Heavenly Flame Venerable but had his hand badly burned by the crimson flames.
• Fang Yan and the two elders of Demon Flame Valley combined their Transformation Fire to summon the Starry Sky Fire Phoenix.
• Old Man Ying Shan added Wind Attribute energy to the phoenix, greatly increasing its size and power until Fang Yan warned that it was becoming uncontrollable.
• Fang Yan and the other two sent the phoenix to attack, raining gray fire feathers on Heavenly Flame Venerable.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable's crimson fireball extinguished the incoming feathers while he watched the attackers calmly.

Heavenly Flame Venerable fought off Fang Yan and Old Man Ying Shan’s attacks, burning the Starry Sky Fire Phoenix and Blade Storm in his crimson fire sea. As Fang Yan and the elders mounted a desperate counterattack to buy time for Old Man Ying Shan, the narrator sensed danger and pulled Yun Yun away just before the ground exploded, revealing Old Man Ying Shan’s figure in the dust.

• Fang Yan and the two elders used their vital essence blood to strengthen the Starry Sky Fire Phoenix, which attacked Heavenly Flame Venerable.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable trapped the phoenix in his crimson fire sea and shattered Old Man Ying Shan’s giant azure sword, then burned the resulting Blade Storm.
• Fang Yan tried to recall the phoenix, but the fire sea held it fast and began consuming it.
• Old Man Ying Shan told Fang Yan he needed time to unleash a trump card, so Fang Yan and the elders sent the phoenix into a desperate attack.
• Old Man Ying Shan began preparing his technique as the narrator sensed danger, pulled Yun Yun away, and watched the ground erupt with Old Man Ying Shan appearing in the dust.

The narrator tricked Old Man Ying Shan with decoy rings and escaped with Yun Yun toward Heavenly Flame Venerable, who drove Ying Shan back. As Demon Flame Valley’s allies sought to retreat and Mo Tianxing considered withdrawing, the narrator challenged Fang Yan and the others while allowing Mo Tianxing to leave.

• Old Man Ying Shan ambushed the narrator and Yun Yun, demanding the Time-Space Floating Ice, so the narrator threw him an empty decoy ring and fled with Yun Yun toward Heavenly Flame Venerable.
• The narrator tossed Ying Shan a second decoy ring, enraging him, and Heavenly Flame Venerable engulfed Ying Shan in a sea of fire.
• Fang Yan and the other two blamed Ying Shan for their attack and asked Heavenly Flame Venerable to release the Starry Sky Fire Phoenix, while Ying Shan cursed them.
• The narrator stopped Fang Yan and the others from leaving, then pointed out that his side had two Dou Zong experts.
• The narrator asked Mo Tianxing whether he would continue fighting now that Ying Shan had been defeated, and Mo Tianxing used an excuse to withdraw.

Su Qian and Heavenly Flame Venerable defeated Demon Flame Valley and Old Man Ying Shan, while Nalan Ye secured the corpse he needed to refine a physical body. After leaving Canaan Academy with Yun Yun, Nalan Ye offered her Old Man Ying Shan’s belongings to help her advance.

• Fang Yan charged Su Qian while the Second and Third Elders fled, and Su Qian killed Fang Yan without pursuing them.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable killed Old Man Ying Shan and handed his corpse to Nalan Ye, who searched it and stored it in his Ring of Holding.
• Nalan Ye explained why he and Yun Yun had not stopped the fleeing elders, then handed Su Qian the remaining Time-Space Floating Ice and left for the Nalan Empire.
• On the journey home, Nalan Ye offered Yun Yun the belongings he had taken from Old Man Ying Shan, and she accepted them after he said they could help her advance to Dou Zong.

Xiao Yan married Nalan Yanran in the Nalan Imperial Palace, though he worried that marrying before finding Xun Er would complicate their reunion. After the wedding rites began, Yun Yun asked him to treat her disciple well, and Xiao Yan left the past behind as he approached Nalan Yanran.

• Xiao Yan agonized over marrying Nalan Yanran before finding Xun Er, while Yao Lao teased him and urged him to enjoy his wedding day.
• Xiao Li summoned Xiao Yan, and the Xiao Family procession carried him to the Nalan Imperial Palace, where the narrator and Yun Yun watched his arrival.
• Xiao Yan and Nalan Su exchanged formal words before Xiao Yan honored the Nalan ancestors at their ancestral temple.
• Yun Yun asked Xiao Yan not to hold Nalan Yanran responsible for the old broken engagement and to treat her well.
• Xiao Yan said he had forgiven Yun Yun, and she stepped aside to reveal Nalan Yanran waiting beneath her red veil.

After Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran’s wedding, the narrator visited Heavenly Flame Venerable, who had finished preparing a body for him from Old Man Ying Shan’s skeleton. The narrator fused his soul with the skeleton using a Seventh-Rank pill, and the chapter ended as flesh and organs began forming under the Venerable’s flames.

• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran left the palace in their wedding clothes while Yun Yun watched them go, and the narrator reassured her that the marriage was a good choice.
• The narrator and Yun Yun returned to the Nalan Residence and found that Heavenly Flame Venerable had finished roughly refining a body for the narrator.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable gave the narrator a Life Bone Blood Fusion Pill and explained that refining it had cost him a portion of his cultivation.
• The narrator entered Old Man Ying Shan’s skeleton and activated the pill, causing flesh to grow over the bones and connect with his soul.
• Heavenly Flame Venerable repeatedly burned away the new flesh so it could regrow and fuse properly, while the narrator endured intense pain and itching.
• As the pill’s power waned, the Venerable lowered the flames, and a bloody human form gradually took shape.

Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran's wedding was interrupted when Dou Zong Qi Yu and Xia Valley's forces arrived to investigate the deaths of the Three Elders of Mulan. Xiao Yan defended his actions, but the Green Robe Dou Huang ordered his men to seize him.

• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran performed their wedding rites at the New Xiao Family Residence.
• As they began the Joint Cup Ceremony, Dou Zong Qi Yu arrived with Xia Valley's forces and demanded that the Nalan Empire send someone to answer for the deaths of the Three Elders of Mulan.
• Xiao Yan comforted Nalan Yanran, then confronted the intruders alongside Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.
• The Green Robe Dou Huang accused Xiao Yan and his companions of killing the Three Elders of Mulan and threatened the Nalan Empire.
• Xiao Yan said the Three Elders had attacked first, but the Green Robe Dou Huang ordered his men to seize him.