Chapter Summaries

Nalan Ye told Xiao Yan and the others that the expedition to Stone Desert City was aimed at obtaining an Exotic Flame. As the flying beast descended toward the city, Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er grew wary of what Nalan Ye knew about the flame.

• Xiao Yu challenged Nalan Ye to fight again, but backed down after seeing his Dou Shi cultivation and promised to challenge him once she reached the same level.
• Xiao Yan asked Nalan Ye whether his brothers would be endangered by the gathering in Stone Desert City, and Nalan Ye promised they would be safe and could profit from the affair.
• Nalan Ye revealed that Yun Yun and Hai Bodong's presence was secret and that the group had come for an Exotic Flame.
• Xiao Yu teased Xiao Yan about being an Alchemist who might only get to see an Exotic Flame, and Xiao Yan snapped back before Xiao Xun'er urged him not to curse.
• Xiao Xun'er encouraged Xiao Yan to believe he could obtain an Exotic Flame someday, while Nalan Ye hinted that one might eventually be bought; the flying beast then descended toward Stone Desert City.

Nalan Ye arrived in Stone Desert City with Yun Yun, Hai Bodong, Xiao Yan, Xiao Meier, and the others, then met with the Nalan elders to prepare for the expedition for the Azure Lotus Core Flame. He asked Nalan Jie to gather the people in charge over the next two days so he could explain his plan once everyone had arrived.

• Nalan Ye led the group through Stone Desert City’s disorderly mercenary crowds to the Nalan Family shop.
• The Shop Manager brought Nalan Ye to a fortified courtyard, where Nalan Jie, Nalan Tie, Nalan Dong, and Nalan Yiling were waiting.
• Nalan Ye introduced Yun Yun and Hai Bodong, and Nalan Jie learned that Hai Bodong had regained his Dou Emperor strength.
• Hai Bodong asked about the Azure Lotus Core Flame expedition, and Nalan Ye insisted the flame was there but requested that Nalan Jie gather the remaining leaders before he explained the plan.
• Hai Bodong offered to bring Nalan Ye into the Mitre Family, but Nalan Ye declined and introduced Xiao Meier, Xiao Yan, and Xiao Xun'er to the Nalan elders.

Nalan Ye met Qing Lin in the Desert Iron Mercenary Group’s council hall and recognized the scales on her wrist as a sign of the bloodline he wanted for his plan. He asked to take her along, but Xiao Yan insisted that Qing Lin must agree first.

• Nalan Ye visited the Desert Iron Mercenary Group with Xiao Yan and promised Xiao Ding and Xiao Li that their group would not suffer losses under his command.
• Nalan Ye noticed blue-green scales on the wrist of a maid serving tea and realized she might be Qing Lin.
• Qing Lin identified herself as human, and Xiao Ding explained that she had inherited scales from her bloodline.
• Nalan Ye apologized to Qing Lin and asked Xiao Ding to let her assist with his plan for a few days.
• Xiao Yan objected to using Qing Lin and insisted that Nalan Ye ask whether she wanted to help.

Nalan Ye offered Qing Lin gold coins to help him, and she cautiously accepted only a few before agreeing to go with him. As he prepared to leave, Xiao Yu suggested that he had taken an interest in Qing Lin because she was part Snake-People, leaving Nalan Ye furious at her assumptions.

• Nalan Ye offered Qing Lin a thousand gold coins, and Xiao Yan said she should decide for herself whether to help him.
• Qing Lin’s Jade Eye Three Flower Pupils briefly affected Nalan Ye, who realized she had unusual talent and praised her caution and resilience.
• Qing Lin took only a handful of coins and agreed to help Nalan Ye, who corrected her by telling her his full name was Nalan Ye.
• Nalan Ye asked Xiao Yan whether he could take Qing Lin away, and Xiao Yan agreed but told him to give her more money later.
• While Nalan Ye gathered the coins, Xiao Yu told Xiao Meier that he might desire Qing Lin because of her Snake-People heritage, and Nalan Ye reacted angrily.

Nalan Ye and the Xiao siblings learned that Stone Desert City had been placed under martial law and that thousands of mercenaries were surrounding the Nalan Family’s shop. He suspected Yun Yun or Hai Bodong might be the reason, but the chapter ended before he learned what was happening.

• Qing Lin woke Nalan Ye and helped him dress, and he gave her a necklace as a reward.
• Nalan Ye joined Xiao Yan, Xiao Yu, Xiao Meier, and Xun Er for breakfast at the Desert Iron Mercenary Group.
• A mercenary reported that the Mo Family had sealed Stone Desert City’s gates, and the group hurried to the Council Hall.
• Xiao Li mapped reports showing over two thousand mercenaries converging on and surrounding the Nalan Family’s shop.
• Nalan Ye worried that Yun Yun or Hai Bodong might have provoked the mobilization, while Xiao Meier comforted him.

Nalan Ye learned that Pill King Gu He had arrived with a powerful force to seize the Azure Lotus Core Flame, then went to the Nalan Family’s fortified command post near the shop. He confirmed the flame existed and asked Guardian Elder Nalan Jia to let him enter the shop, leaving his request unanswered.

• A guard reported that Gu He had arrived with two other Dou Wangs, seven Dou Spirits, and twenty-four Da Dou Shi, prompting Nalan Ye to decide to meet him.
• Xiao Yan, Xun Er, and Xiao Yu insisted on joining Nalan Ye, while Xiao Ding and Xiao Li stayed behind and Nalan Ye comforted the frightened Xiao Meier.
• Nalan Ye’s group found the shop surrounded by two thousand Nalan Family elite guards armed with Dragon Slayer Crossbows and backed by Dragon Hunting Crossbows.
• Nalan Ye discovered that Guardian Elder Nalan Jia was commanding the guards and greeted him at the pavilion overlooking the shop.
• Nalan Jia asked whether the Azure Lotus Core Flame truly existed, and Nalan Ye confirmed it before requesting permission to enter the shop.

Nalan Ye entered the courtyard with Xiao Yan and the others, where Gu He and his supporters had gathered to discuss the Exotic Flame. After Lion King Yan Shi pressured Nalan Ye and Gu He’s allies mocked his offer to pay them double to withdraw, the courtyard was left waiting for their response.

• Guardian Elder ordered Nalan Zhan to escort Nalan Ye inside, and the Da Dou Shi outside let Nalan Ye and the Xiao Family pass without resistance.
• Nalan Ye greeted the people gathered in the courtyard, and Nalan Jie told him and the Xiao Family members to stand behind him.
• Lion King Yan Shi accused Nalan Ye of disrespect and used his Dou Wang pressure against him, prompting Nalan Jie to intervene.
• Nalan Ye asked Gu He directly whether he had come to seize his Exotic Flame, but Gu He ignored him while Ba Gu Li ordered him to leave.
• Nalan Ye offered to pay Lion King, Wind Walker, and the other seniors double to stand aside, and Lion King laughed at him and questioned Nalan Jie about his grandson.

The narrator tried to persuade Gu He’s companions that Nalan Family could offer them freedom from their obligations, provoking Yan Shi and exposing their dependence on Gu He. When Ba Gu Li attacked the narrator, Yun Yun intervened and ordered everyone to stop.

• The narrator told Feng Li and the others that Nalan Family could offer them freedom, then challenged Yan Shi’s claim that he had come only to repay Gu He’s favor.
• The narrator mocked Yan Shi and the others for traveling across the empire to help Gu He, enraging Yan Shi and prompting Nalan Jie to shield the narrator from his pressure.
• Ba Gu Li charged at the narrator with a dagger while Yan Shi kept Nalan Jie occupied, and Nalan Tie and Nalan Dong rushed to intervene.
• Yun Yun appeared between Ba Gu Li and the narrator, drove Ba Gu Li back with Azure Dou Qi, and ordered everyone to stop.

Nalan Ye offered the assembled experts the freedom to choose between Gu He and Nalan Dong for pill refinement, promising that Nalan Dong would charge only a fee if the Azure Lotus Core Flame helped him become a Sixth-Rank Alchemist. Gu He realized the prospect of a rival threatened his monopoly and the support he needed to obtain the Exotic Flame.

• Yun Yun stopped the fighting, and Nalan Jie agreed to discuss the matter peacefully.
• Gu He defended the difficulty and expense of alchemy, while Nalan Dong claimed advancing as an alchemist was not especially difficult.
• Nalan Ye announced that Nalan Dong could become a Sixth-Rank Alchemist and offer the empire an alternative to Gu He.
• Nalan Dong promised not to use favors as leverage when refining pills for customers.
• Feng Li, Yan Shi, and the Dou Spirits considered Nalan Ye's offer, while Gu He recognized that losing their support could ruin his attempt to obtain the Exotic Flame.

Gu He failed to persuade the experts to help him take the Nalan Family’s Exotic Flame and left with Ba Gu Li. The courtyard dispute subsided, and the gathered elders and experts resumed their conversations.

• Gu He appealed to Wind Walker and Yan Shi for help, but both refused to help him seize the Nalan Family’s Exotic Flame.
• Ba Gu Li accused Wind Walker and Yan Shi of breaking their promises, and Nalan Ye called him a thief for trying to take the Nalan Family’s belongings.
• Gu He told Ba Gu Li to leave with him, and Ba Gu Li followed after denouncing the other experts.
• Yun Yun left for her guest room, while Hai Bodong and Feng Li began catching up and the elders spoke with Yan Shi and the six Dou Spirits.
• The Nalan Family informed the Guardian Elder, and the two thousand guards withdrew to their city garrisons.

Nalan Ye proposed waiting for Medusa to find the Azure Lotus Core Flame, then taking it from her and killing her if she was weakened. Yun Yun judged that she could hold Medusa off while the queen carried the flame, but could not stop her if she abandoned it.

• Nalan Ye told the Nalan family and Hai Bodong that he knew the Azure Lotus Core Flame was somewhere outside Stone Desert City but did not know its exact location.
• Nalan Ye explained that the flame lay deep beneath the earth and proposed waiting for Medusa, who had clues to its location, to appear and find it.
• Nalan Ye proposed seizing the flame from Medusa and killing her while she was injured from collecting it.
• Yun Yun said she could probably hold off the Nine-Star Dou Huang Medusa while the queen carried the flame, but could not prevent her escape if she abandoned it.

Nalan Ye proposed using Qing Lin to sense Medusa’s approach to Stone Desert City, giving the defenders time to prepare an ambush. Yun Yun and the Nalan leaders then planned the battle, while Nalan Ye followed the discussion only loosely.

• Nalan Ye urged Yun Yun to help kill Medusa, but Yun Yun said their chances depended on how badly Medusa was injured by the Azure Lotus Core Flame.
• Nalan Jia raised the problem of detecting Medusa before she could take the Exotic Flame and escape.
• Nalan Ye revealed that Qing Lin, a human and snake-person mixed-blood child, could sense Medusa’s bloodline pressure within fifty li of Stone Desert City.
• Nalan Jie praised Nalan Ye, and the group began planning how the guards and mercenaries would surround Medusa.
• Hai Bodong described Medusa’s fighting techniques and habits, helping Yun Yun and the Nalan leaders prepare counters and coordinate their forces.
• Nalan Ye struggled to follow the military planning and left the detailed tactics to his subordinates.

After the war council, Nalan Ye told Nalan Jie about Mo Wang and tried to win Mo Wang’s loyalty as they headed to the Desert Iron Mercenary Group headquarters. Meanwhile, a disguised Nalan Family guard secretly recorded their conversation, and the four elders reunited in a hidden chamber to discuss Nalan Ye.

• Nalan Jie assigned Nalan Jia command of the army and ordered him to prepare for the battle according to their plan.
• Nalan Jie questioned Nalan Ye’s account of the Wu Si City battle, and Nalan Ye explained that Mo Wang had joined the Nalan Family willingly and been treated well.
• Nalan Ye left with Mo Wang and ten guards, telling Mo Wang that Nalan Jie had praised him and might someday drink with him.
• Nalan Ye offered Mo Wang a bright future in the Nalan Family, but Mo Wang responded indifferently and did not pledge himself to his master.
• An inconspicuous guard secretly memorized Nalan Ye’s words while Nalan Jie, Nalan Tie, and two other elders met again in a secret chamber to discuss how Nalan Ye had been doing.

Nalan Jie and the other Nalan elders suspected that Nalan Ye was backed by a powerful outside faction, so they decided to make him Young Clan Leader while secretly investigating the faction. The meeting ended before dawn, with Nalan Tie hoping his grandson would not disappoint him.

• Nalan Jia listed Nalan Ye's unexplained knowledge and achievements, leading the elders to suspect a powerful outside faction was secretly supporting him.
• Nalan Dong defended Nalan Ye, while Nalan Tie argued that the family should monitor him rather than interrogate him.
• Nalan Jie proposed making Nalan Ye Young Clan Leader so he would gain authority and potentially reveal the faction's plans and origins.
• Nalan Tie said the family could either resist the faction or rely on Nalan Ye to protect them if it proved too powerful.
• Nalan Jie concluded that the elders would build Nalan Ye's reputation and secretly investigate the faction, and Nalan Tie watched the dawn and hoped Ye Er would not disappoint him.

Nalan Ye sparred with Xiao Li, using a Heavy Shield to withstand the stronger fighter’s Lightning Attribute attacks until they called the match a draw. Afterward, Qing Lin told Nalan Ye she sensed a powerful aura resembling the one inside her east of the city, leaving him with a new lead to investigate.

• Nalan Ye blocked Xiao Li’s Thunder Arc Three-Section Dance with a Heavy Shield and resisted its lightning paralysis with his own Dou Qi.
• Xiao Li stopped attacking when he could not break through Nalan Ye’s defense, and they tacitly accepted a draw despite the mercenaries’ protests.
• Nalan Ye boasted to Xiao Meier that he could have defeated Xiao Li, while Xiao Yu suggested his techniques might let him do so.
• Nalan Ye wondered whether Xiao Meier should study at Canaan Academy and drank the tea Qing Lin brought him.
• Qing Lin told Nalan Ye she sensed a very powerful aura like the one inside her east of the city.

Nalan Ye gathered the Xiao brothers and the Nalan Family’s allies after Qing Lin sensed a powerful snake-person aura moving around Stone Desert City. Yun Yun tested Qing Lin’s perceptions, confirming the aura was stronger than Dou Huang pressure and therefore belonged to Medusa; the group waited for her to find the Azure Lotus Core Flame before acting.

• Nalan Ye warned Xiao Ding that Medusa had arrived, then sent him and Xiao Li to prepare for battle while Xiao Yan watched over Xiao Meier.
• Nalan Ye brought Qing Lin to the Council Hall, where Nalan Tie, Nalan Jia, Nalan Dong, Hai Bodong, and Yun Yun gathered.
• Qing Lin said she sensed a powerful aura moving around the city, and Nalan Jia questioned whether it truly belonged to Medusa.
• Yun Yun used Dou Ling, Dou Wang, and Dou Huang pressure to test Qing Lin’s perception, and Qing Lin identified the aura outside the city as stronger than all three.
• Nalan Ye and the others concluded that Medusa was searching for the Azure Lotus Core Flame and decided to wait until she found it before acting.

Nalan Ye learned that he would be named commander of the operation against Medusa, though Nalan Jia would direct the battle, and Qing Lin reported that the aura had stopped outside Stone Desert City. The forces deployed toward her indicated location, where Nalan Jia ordered Nalan Ye onto the war chariot as the honored commander.

• Nalan Jie named Nalan Ye the operation’s commander, while Nalan Jia clarified that he would command the battle and Nalan Ye would receive the title.
• Qing Lin sensed that the aura had stopped and estimated its location about twenty to thirty li northeast of Stone Desert City.
• Nalan Jie and Yun Yun left the Council Hall to investigate while Nalan Jia issued troop deployments across the city.
• Nalan Jia led Nalan Ye, Qing Lin, Nalan Dong, and Hai Bodong out to meet an elite force of nearly two hundred Nalan Family Dou Masters.
• Nalan Jia stood on the right side of the war chariot and called to Nalan Ye, asking why he was not climbing aboard.

Nalan Ye led the central force toward Medusa’s location while the Nalan Family and mercenary groups prepared to surround her. Medusa appeared holding the Azure Lotus Core Flame and demanded to know what the Nalan Family intended to do.

• Nalan Ye set out with the central force as the southern and northern forces moved to encircle Medusa.
• Nalan Jia ordered the Black Wolf and Great Snow Mercenary Groups to take the vanguard, while Nalan Ye asked him to keep the Desert Iron Mercenary Group in the rear.
• Qing Lin sensed that Medusa was nearby, and Nalan Ye sent the Great Snow Mercenary Group to search the desert for caves.
• An explosion erupted behind a sand hill, and Medusa appeared in the air with the Azure Lotus Core Flame in her hand.
• Nalan Ye greeted Medusa and offered her wine, but she ignored him and demanded to know what the Nalan Family intended to do.

The Nalan Family ambushed Medusa to seize the Azure Lotus Core Flame, and Nalan Jie engaged her while the army attacked with crossbows. Medusa broke away and dove toward the chariot, where the narrator stood exposed.

• Medusa demanded to know why Nalan Jie had brought the Nalan Family into the Tagor Desert, and Nalan Jie claimed the Azure Lotus Core Flame for the Gamma Empire.
• The narrator revealed that profit had led them to the flame, and Medusa declared that anyone trying to take it would die.
• Nalan Jie fought Medusa while Nalan Jia ordered the army to attack with Dragon Hunting Crossbows and Dragon Slayer Crossbows.
• The crossbow volleys and Nalan Jie's attacks pressured Medusa, whose Dou Qi Armor consumed more energy than Nalan Jie's Scarlet Heavy Armor.
• Medusa summoned five giant purple serpents, forced Nalan Jie back, then abandoned him and dove toward the narrator's chariot.

The narrator and Nalan Jia lead the mercenaries and elite soldiers in an attack on Medusa, but their combined assault fails to stop her. Medusa approaches the fallen narrator, who realizes his helplessness and desperately wishes for power, while Qing Lin begs her to spare him.

• The narrator promises the Black Wolf and Heavy Snow mercenaries generous rewards to rally them against Medusa.
• Nalan Jia orders the soldiers to fire their crossbows and the mercenaries to throw javelins, but Medusa evades and deflects most of the attacks.
• Medusa sends a powerful purple serpent at the chariot, and the narrator, Nalan Jia, and the elite soldiers combine their battle techniques to destroy it.
• The blast scatters the soldiers and throws the narrator from the chariot, while Qing Lin rushes to help him.
• Medusa lands nearby and advances on the narrator as he retreats in terror, and Qing Lin pleads with her not to kill him.