Chapter Summaries

The narrator took Qing Lin away from the banquet to meet the Fire Spirit Snake and offered to pay for its food so she could keep it. Qing Lin accepted his help but grew worried when she remembered he would soon return to Gama City.

• The narrator led Qing Lin out of the banquet, drawing knowing looks and laughter from the guests.
• Qing Lin soothed the Fire Spirit Snake, then worried that she could not afford to feed it and considered releasing it.
• The narrator promised to cover the snake’s food and asked Qing Lin to raise it, while teasing the snake until she told him not to bully it.
• Qing Lin shyly mentioned that she had heard the narrator would return to Gama City after finishing his business in Stone Desert City.

The narrator tried to persuade Qing Lin to leave Stone Desert City and return with him to Gama City, but she remained attached to Xiao Ding and Xiao Li. The chapter ended with Qing Lin saying she needed to ask the brothers first.

• Qing Lin told the narrator that Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had treated her kindly despite her mixed human and Snake-People blood, and she was reluctant to leave them.
• The narrator argued that Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were family through his engagement to Xiao Meier and that Qing Lin could visit them in the future.
• When Qing Lin shivered in the night breeze, the narrator gave her a robe, and she blushed and moved away.
• Qing Lin asked about Gama City, and the narrator described its entertainment, food, and famous Chen Jin rouge and powder to entice her.
• Qing Lin said she needed to ask Xiao Ding and Xiao Li before deciding, and the narrator returned to his room.

Nalan Ye invited Ling Ying to tea while negotiating the sale of the Azure Lotus Core Flame. Ling Ying examined Nalan Ye’s asking price and called him greedy.

• Nalan Ye brewed tea beside the Azure Lotus Core Flame and invited an unseen senior to join him.
• Ling Ying appeared and demanded that Nalan Ye name a price for the Exotic Flame.
• Nalan Ye suspected Ling Ying was Xun Er’s guard and insisted that he drink tea before discussing the sale.
• Ling Ying drank the tea and examined the price Nalan Ye handed him on a scroll.
• Ling Ying closed the scroll and told Nalan Ye that his asking price was far too greedy.

I negotiated with Ling Ying over the Azure Lotus Core Flame, securing his agreement to protect me for thirty years in exchange for a Po Zong Pill. When Ling Ying rejected my demand for a Heaven Rank Cultivation Method, he explained that it was one of only two ways to advance to Dou Zong, revealing why the Gamma Empire had so few such experts.

• I defended the price of the Azure Lotus Core Flame and explained that one of the three Po Zong Pills would pay the Dou Huang assigned to protect me.
• I persuaded Ling Ying to become my bodyguard for thirty years, though he asked when he would receive his Po Zong Pill.
• I told Ling Ying the pill could come early if our friendship deepened or if I advanced to Dou Huang, and he agreed to the arrangement.
• Ling Ying refused to provide a Heaven Rank Cultivation Method, prompting me to ask why the Gamma Empire had never produced a Dou Zong.
• Ling Ying explained that Dou Zong could be reached with external aids such as a Po Zong Pill or by cultivating a Heaven Rank Cultivation Method.

The narrator learned that Heaven Rank Cultivation Methods were closely guarded and that Breaking Sect Pills came in nine attributes with a dangerous, low chance of success. He left the conversation with Ling Ying facing the question of who should receive the remaining pill.

• Ling Ying explained that his low-grade Heaven Rank Cultivation Method had not enabled him to break through to Dou Zong, and the narrator promised they would advance together.
• Ling Ying refused to give the narrator a Heaven Rank Cultivation Method but agreed to provide three Breaking Sect Pills and asked which attributes he wanted.
• The narrator requested one Dark Attribute pill and two Lightning Attribute pills, hoping to keep a spare for his own breakthrough.
• Ling Ying warned that a Breaking Sect Pill had only a thirty percent success rate and that failure could permanently damage the user’s meridians.
• The narrator considered Qing Lin, Yun Yun, and Xiao Meier as recipients for the remaining pill, then realized he could not justify giving it to any of them.

The narrator revised his bargain with Ling Ying, received pills that could help cure the clan leader and free a sealed Dou Huang, and arranged to make the Azure Lotus Core Flame’s theft look like an attack. Ling Ying escaped with the flame as Yun Yun confronted him and a second Black-Robed Person.

• The narrator changed his final Po Zong Pill to Wind Attribute for Nalan Yanran and revised his conditions for the Ancient Clan.
• Ling Ying gave the narrator a Seventh-Rank Mystic Dew Detoxification Pill for the clan leader and a Sixth-Rank Po E Pill to remove a Dou Huang’s seal.
• The narrator asked Ling Ying to deliver the Mystic Dew Detoxification Pill in exchange for his family’s Azure Lotus Core Flame.
• The narrator asked Ling Ying to knock him unconscious so his family would have an explanation, and Ling Ying struck him with Dou Qi.
• Ling Ying flew away carrying the Azure Lotus Pedestal, while another Black-Robed Person blocked Yun Yun as she pursued him.
• Yun Yun recognized the black robes and asked whether the two Dou Huangs had been with the Dou Huang from the Magma Cave.

During the Nalan Family’s banquet, three Dou Huang attacked while an unknown poison incapacitated nearly everyone. Ling Ying offered Nalan Jie a Seventh-Rank Pill for the Azure Lotus Core Flame and escaped as another Dou Huang blocked Nalan Jie, leaving the family facing three powerful enemies.

• Nalan Jie and Chu Sha She sensed multiple Dou Huang approaching and ordered the banquet guests to prepare for an attack.
• Poison caused most of the guests, including Nalan Dong and Nalan Tie, to collapse unconscious, leaving Nalan Jie and Chu Sha She standing.
• Ling Ying flew in carrying the Azure Lotus Core Flame and offered Nalan Jie a Mystic Dew Detoxification Pill in exchange for it.
• Ling Ying explained that Four Everlasting Powder had poisoned the guests and that circulating Dou Qi worsened its effects.
• Nalan Jie attacked Ling Ying, but another black-robed Dou Huang appeared and blocked his spear while Yun Yun fought a third Dou Huang.

Nalan Yiling told Nalan Ye that three Dou Huang experts had stolen the Azure Lotus Core Flame from Stone Desert City, leaving everyone alive. Nalan Ye secretly celebrated the theft but pretended to blame himself, and Nalan Jie grew irritated when he refused to stop kneeling.

• Nalan Yiling woke Nalan Ye and told him the Azure Lotus Core Flame had been stolen during the night.
• Nalan Yiling explained that three Dou Huang experts had poisoned the banquet, subdued the defenders, and escaped with the flame without killing anyone.
• Nalan Ye secretly admired the Ancient Clan’s success and followed Nalan Yiling to the Council Hall.
• Nalan Ye knelt before Nalan Jie and repeatedly claimed responsibility for the theft.
• Nalan Jie insisted the theft was not Nalan Ye’s fault, but became angry when Nalan Ye continued to blame himself.

Nalan Ye was punished with fifteen military rods for failing to protect the Azure Lotus Core Flame, while Nalan Jie accepted that the Nalan Family could not recover it. After Nalan Dong confirmed the Mystic Dew Detoxification Pill was an antidote, Nalan Jie ordered the young members to leave for Gama City that afternoon.

• Nalan Jie ordered Nalan Ye to receive fifteen military rods, and Nalan Yiling pleaded for him.
• Nalan Dong and Nalan Tie argued over Nalan Dong's failure to notice he had been poisoned.
• A subordinate of the Punishment Elder struck Nalan Ye fifteen times, leaving his back bloody.
• Nalan Dong confirmed that the Mystic Dew Detoxification Pill was an antidote, and Nalan Jie accepted it.
• Nalan Jie said the Nalan Family could not reclaim the Azure Lotus Core Flame and ordered the young members to depart for Gama City that afternoon.

After the Azure Lotus Core Flame affair, Nalan Ye left to have his wounds treated, while the Nalan elders discovered evidence that he had secretly met with the Dou Huang who stole the flame. They suspected he was connected to an outside force and began debating why that force had used the Nalan Family to retrieve the flame.

• Nalan Ye accepted the elders’ decision to leave that afternoon and return to Gama City, then went with Nalan Yiling to treat his back wound.
• Nalan Jie and the others went to check on the injured Nalan Jia, who had avoided the Four Everlasting Powder and helped mobilize the city’s forces.
• Nalan Tie showed the elders a teapot and two teacups he had found in Nalan Ye’s room, and explained that the guards had seen Nalan Ye return alone.
• Nalan Jia suggested that the Dou Huang who stole the Azure Lotus Core Flame had come from Nalan Ye’s room, and Nalan Dong realized that Nalan Ye had shared tea with the thief.
• Nalan Dong tried to leave to punish Nalan Ye, but Nalan Jie stopped him and argued that the three Dou Huang might belong to the outside force Nalan Ye had joined.
• Nalan Dong questioned why the outside force had told Nalan Ye about the Azure Lotus Core Flame and let the Nalan Family retrieve it before stealing it.

The Nalan elders reasoned that the mysterious force had arranged events to raise Nalan Ye’s standing, then realized the force might possess at least five Dou Huangs and either a Dou Zong or a Seventh-Rank Alchemist. They resolved to help Nalan Ye secure his place in the force, seeing his prospects as the Nalan Family’s path to rise.

• Nalan Dong questioned why the mysterious force had gone to such lengths, and the elders considered whether it aimed to pit the Nalan Family against Gu He, the Gama Royal Family, the Yun Lan Sect, or the Snake-People Tribe.
• Nalan Tie proposed that the force wanted the Nalan Family to kill the Medusa Queen, and the elders concluded that Nalan Ye could be credited with planning her death.
• Nalan Tie argued that the force was raising Nalan Ye’s status so its later plans in the Gamma Empire would proceed smoothly.
• Nalan Jie inferred that the force had at least five Dou Huangs and might possess a Dou Zong or a Seventh-Rank Alchemist.
• Nalan Tie and Nalan Jie celebrated Nalan Ye’s connection to the force and vowed to help him establish himself, hoping he might reach Dou Huang or even Dou Zong.

While Nalan Yiling treated Ye Gege’s back, the Xiao Family visited and teased him, easing the awkward mood in the room. Xiao Meier began applying medicine to his bruises, and Yiling revealed that his injuries came from a punishment rather than his fight with the Medusa Queen.

• Nalan Yiling applied ointment to Ye Gege’s split wounds while he tried to hide how much they hurt.
• The Xiao Family arrived, and Ye Gege introduced Nalan Yiling to them, including his fiancée, Xiao Meier.
• Xiao Yu poked Ye Gege’s wound to judge its severity, then Xiao Ding rebuked her for joking about the dead.
• Nalan Yiling offered Xiao Meier the bruise ointment, and Ye Gege pleaded with her to apply it.
• When Xiao Meier asked whether Ye Gege was injured fighting the Medusa Queen, Nalan Yiling explained that he had been punished with military rods for making a mistake.

Nalan Ye reassured Xiao Meier about surviving the attack that stole the Azure Lotus Core Flame, while Xiao Yan questioned him about the thieves and the lost flame. Nalan Ye invited Xiao Yan and Xiao Meier to travel with him to Gama City, leaving Xiao Meier nervous about meeting his parents.

• Nalan Ye explained to Xiao Meier that a Dou Huang had stolen the Azure Lotus Core Flame from his room and nearly killed him, bringing her to tears.
• Nalan Yiling taught Xiao Meier how to apply ointment to Nalan Ye's bruises.
• Xiao Yan asked Nalan Ye about the three Dou Huang and whether he intended to recover the Azure Lotus Core Flame; Nalan Ye said his family could not fight them.
• Nalan Ye announced that he planned to leave Stone Desert City for Gama City and invited Xiao Yan to travel with him.
• Nalan Ye invited Xiao Meier to visit his home, and Xiao Yu teased her about meeting her in-laws.

Xiao Yan prepared to leave for Canaan Academy as the brothers considered their future after the killing of Medusa Queen. Xiao Ding agreed to enter the imperial army, Xiao Li chose to become a city lord, and they decided Qing Lin would go to Gama City with the narrator.

• Xiao Ding urged Xiao Yan to leave for Canaan Academy, and Xiao Yan warned that the Snake-People Tribe would retaliate for Medusa Queen’s death.
• The narrator offered Xiao Ding and Xiao Li positions as imperial officers or city lords and offered to place the Desert Iron Mercenary Group under their command.
• Xiao Li asked what ranks and cities they could receive, and the narrator offered Xiao Ding a Sima post and Xiao Li a third-rank city lordship.
• Xiao Li chose to become a city lord while Xiao Ding chose to join the army.
• Xiao Li agreed that Qing Lin should travel to Gama City with the narrator rather than accompany him and Xiao Ding.

The narrator said farewell to the Xiao Family before visiting Hai Bodong, who was gravely weakened after breaking Medusa Queen’s Serpent Sealing Art. Seeing the former expert calmly await death, the narrator gave him a Rank 6 Po E Pill to break his seal and restore his strength.

• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li urged Xiao Yan to cultivate at Canaan Academy and protect the girls, while Xiao Yu doubted he could do so and Xun Er defended him.
• The narrator left the Xiao Family gathering to bid farewell to Hai Bodong and Yun Yun, visiting Hai Bodong first.
• Hai Bodong explained that he had spent over twenty years trying to overcome Medusa Queen’s seal and believed he was ready to die after losing the Azure Lotus Core Flame.
• The narrator revealed a Rank 6 Po E Pill, and Hai Bodong recognized it as a pill capable of breaking his seal.
• The narrator gave Hai Bodong the pill without asking for anything in return and called him a hero.

Nalan Ye said farewell to Yun Yun and prepared to return to Gama City with Xiao Yan, Qing Lin, and the others. As their group boarded flying magical beasts, Mo Li of the Mo Family arrived and asked to travel with them to Salt City.

• Nalan Ye told Yun Yun that their debt was settled, and she explained she would stay in Stone Desert City to guard against a possible Snake-People Tribe attack.
• Yun Yun wrote a letter for Nalan Ye to deliver to Yun Leng, and she startled when their hands touched as he accepted it.
• Nalan Ye gathered Xiao Yan, Xun Er, Qing Lin, Nalan Yiling, and the others to leave Stone Desert City for Gama City.
• The group boarded two reserved flying magical beasts, with Mo Wang leading ten guards.
• Mo Li rode up to the station and asked Nalan Ye to let him travel with them through Salt City, and Nalan Ye welcomed him aboard.

As the party traveled from Stone Desert City toward Salt City, Qing Lin mourned leaving her hometown while Mo Li tried to approach her and learn about her ability to control the Fire Spirit Snake. Nalan confronted Mo Li about the Mo Family and ended by questioning why the family used Green Salt instead of the premium White Salt.

• Nalan's party set off on a flying magical beast, and Qing Lin cried as Stone Desert City disappeared behind them.
• Mo Li approached Qing Lin, praised her control of the Fire Spirit Snake, and asked how she had managed it, but Qing Lin hid beside Nalan.
• Nalan sent Qing Lin to the tent with Mei Er and listened as Mo Li praised his role in the battle against the Medusa Queen.
• Nalan asked Mo Li about Resting Pool's salt grades, and Mo Li described White Salt, Green Salt, and Coarse Salt.
• Nalan challenged Mo Li with the claim that the Mo Family consumed Green Salt rather than the superior White Salt.

Nalan Ye captured Mo Li after suspecting the Mo Family wanted Qing Lin for her Jade Eye Three Flower Pupils. Mo Li admitted his family had sent him to marry Qing Lin, while Nalan Ye revealed the Mo Family’s ancestor had practiced grotesque methods of grafting magical beast parts onto people.

• Nalan Ye ordered Mo Wang to seize Mo Li and accused him of approaching Qing Lin with ulterior motives.
• Mo Li claimed he had only wanted to recruit Qing Lin, then confessed the Mo Family had promised to make him its next head if he married her.
• Nalan Ye questioned Mo Li about Qing Lin’s talent, but Mo Li said his family had not told him the details.
• Nalan Ye explained that the Mo Family’s Alchemist ancestor had increased people’s strength by attaching magical beast limbs and bones to their bodies.
• Xiao Yan reacted in horror at the Mo Family’s methods.

Nalan Ye exposed the Mo Family’s plan to seize Qing Lin’s Jade Eye Three Flower Pupils and forced Mo Li to explain the Saint Pupils legend. Mo Li revealed the legend linked the pupils to the Snake-People Tribe’s return to its ancestral land in the Central Plains.

• Nalan Ye explained that the Mo Family captured people with unusual talents and planned to take Qing Lin’s Jade Eye Three Flower Pupils.
• Mo Li realized Qing Lin possessed the Saint Pupils and revealed the legend that whoever obtained them could dominate the Dou Qi Continent.
• Nalan Ye threatened Mo Li with a dagger until he agreed to explain what the Mo Family knew.
• Mo Li recounted how an ancestor found records about the pupils among the belongings of a Snake-People Dou Wang killed in the war a century earlier.
• Mo Li quoted the records: when the Saint Pupils appeared again, the Snake-People Tribe would return to its ancestral land, which Nalan Ye identified as the Central Plains.

Yue Mei told the leaders of the Snake-People Tribe that Medusa had died after being ambushed by the Gamma Empire while seeking the Azure Lotus Core Flame. The six tribal leaders questioned the account and demanded to know how the Gamma humans had learned of Medusa’s plans.

• The chapter recounted the Snake-People Tribe’s migration to the Tagor Desert and the decline of its strength over the centuries.
• The six remaining tribal Dou Wangs gathered in the Holy City’s God Hall after learning that Medusa had died.
• Yan Ci angrily challenged Yue Mei’s claim that the Queen was dead and accused her and Yin Shi of abandoning Medusa.
• Yue Mei said Medusa had been fatally injured near Stone Desert City and that the retreat had been Medusa’s own order.
• One of the leaders asked how the Gamma humans had learned where Medusa would be, since even the tribal leaders had not known about her plan.