Chapter Summaries

Soul Hall avoided an open attack on the Pill Tower but began coercing skilled alchemists into joining as it planned to undermine the Pill Tower at the Pill Gathering. Xiao Yan, hiding under the name Yan Xiao, escaped two Heavenly Guards who were pursuing him, unaware that his true identity connected him to Soul Hall’s plans and grudges.

• Soul Hall refrained from retaliating against Gu He because he was protected in Sacred Pill City, and instead began recruiting alchemists by force.
• Two Soul Hall Heavenly Guards pursued Yan Xiao through a forest and discussed the powerful Pill Tower expert who had killed the Second Heavenly Venerate, dozens of Venerable Elders, and over a hundred Guardians.
• After the Heavenly Guards passed, Yan Xiao waited nearly an hour before escaping in the opposite direction.
• Yan Xiao asked Yao Chen whether he knew the formidable Pill Tower expert, while reflecting on his peak six-star Dou Zong cultivation and peak seventh-tier alchemy.
• The Soul Hall branch had targeted Yan Xiao to recruit him for its plans at the Pill Gathering, unaware that he carried the soul of Yao Chen.

Xiao Yan decided to warn the Pill Tower that the Soul Hall was recruiting alchemists to infiltrate the Pill Gathering, despite fearing that the warning would make the competition harder for him. After returning from training, Gu He learned of Xiao Yan’s warning and asked where he was staying.

• Yao Chen deduced that the Soul Hall planned to use newly recruited alchemists to pursue the Pill Gathering championship, and Xiao Yan considered the risks of informing the Pill Tower.
• Xiao Yan overcame his temptation to keep the information to himself and headed for a city to take a Space Wormhole to the Pill Region.
• Gu He secretly trained at the Void Lightning Pool and raised his strength to the peak of the three-star Dou Saint level.
• Elder Sheng told Gu He that Xiao Yan had visited the Pill Tower, been recognized as Venerable Yao’s disciple, and warned its leaders about the Soul Hall’s movements.
• Gu He asked where Xiao Yan was staying, and Elder Sheng said he lived near the Medicine Realm.

Gu He learned that Soul Hall planned to interfere with the Pill Gathering and agreed with Xuan Kongzi on measures to counter them. After preparing Chen Huo and waiting for the event to begin, Gu He appeared before the gathered alchemists and yielded the opening to Xuan Kongzi.

• Elder Sheng told Gu He that Xiao Yan had reported important news about Soul Hall to the Pill Tower’s leaders.
• Xuan Kongzi told Gu He that Xiao Yan had uncovered Soul Hall’s plan to seize the Pill Gathering championship.
• Gu He proposed guarding against attacks on the participants and loopholes in the rules, and Xuan Kongzi agreed to have the Pill Tower publicly warn Soul Hall.
• Gu He returned to his courtyard, adapted to his increased strength, and gave Chen Huo special training for the Pill Gathering.
• The Pill Gathering began as countless alchemists gathered in Sacred Pill City, and Gu He emerged with Xuan Kongzi and the other judges.
• Gu He stepped back to let Xuan Kongzi address the crowd as the host of the Pill Gathering.

Xuan Kongzi explained the Pill Gathering’s stages and rewards before the contestants entered the Soul Illusion Realm and advanced to the Pill Realm. Gu He sensed Yao Chen in Xiao Yan’s ring, leaving Xiao Yan alarmed as he and Yao Chen realized Gu He might have discovered them.

• Xuan Kongzi explained that contestants had to pass the Soul Illusion Realm and gather ingredients in the Pill Realm before reaching the final alchemy contest, with a Seven-colored Pill Lightning pill formula as the champion’s reward.
• Gu He searched the Soul Illusion Realm with his soul perception and found no unusual interference from Soul Hall.
• Gu He appeared before the contestants, briefly looked at Xiao Yan and the ring on his hand, then announced that they could enter the Pill Realm.
• Xiao Yan entered the Pill Realm and asked Yao Chen how Gu He had risen so quickly from Dou Zong to Dou Saint.
• Yao Chen told Xiao Yan that Gu He might be connected to the Ancient Race and had likely discovered his presence in the ring.

Xiao Yan resolved to focus on winning the Pill Gathering after Yao Chen explained that Gu He had spared them because Xiao Yan was beneath his notice. In the Pill Realm, two alchemists summoned a Soul Hall Vice Master's soul fragment, but a massive attack killed them while the Vice Master barely protected himself.

• Yao Chen told Xiao Yan they were likely safe from Gu He and urged him to search nearby valleys for medicinal ingredients.
• Xiao Yan recalled the Pill Gathering, accepted Yao Chen's advice, and vowed to do everything he could to win.
• Two Soul Hall agents joined their pieces of the Hall Master's Soul Jade and summoned the Soul Hall Vice Master's soul fragment.
• The agents gave the Vice Master information about young Pill Tower members and directions to where they had entered the Pill Realm.
• An unseen attacker condemned the agents as traitors and struck the plain with a colossal palm.
• The Vice Master shielded himself with black mist, but the two alchemists and their souls were destroyed.

Gu He sent a Soul Clone to fight the Soul Hall Vice Master's fragment soul, using their clash to learn how a Dou Saint applied energy. As both clones grew faint, the Vice Master claimed he had won, and Gu He realized the fight had been part of a plan.

• Gu He sent a Soul Clone into the Medicine Realm to face the Soul Hall Vice Master's fragment soul.
• The Vice Master unleashed the power stored in the Soul Jades and clashed with Gu He's flaming palm without either gaining an advantage.
• Gu He and the Vice Master exchanged increasingly powerful attacks, shattering the void as Gu He gained combat experience.
• The Vice Master declared that he had won, and Gu He realized the fragment soul's true plan.

Gu He used his fused Heavenly Flame to refine the Soul Hall Vice Master's Death Soul Fighting Qi, but the Vice Master self-destructed to escape. Gu He sensed Xiao Yan and Yao Chen approaching and let Soul Jade fly away after destroying the Vice Master's consciousness within it, leaving their response uncertain.

• Gu He entered the Medicine Realm and spread a vast Heavenly Flame net to find and refine the Vice Master's corrupting energy.
• The Soul Hall Vice Master realized Gu He's fused Heavenly Flame could refine his Death Soul Fighting Qi and learned it was made from five Heavenly Flames.
• The Soul Hall Vice Master self-destructed, blasting a hole through Gu He's net in an attempt to escape through Soul Jade.
• Gu He sensed Xiao Yan and Yao Chen approaching, destroyed the Vice Master's consciousness inside Soul Jade, and let it fly away.

Xiao Yan watched the aftermath of a battle between Dou Saints, escaped a devastating energy eruption with a black jade fragment, and struggled with how far he was from that level of power. He became determined to refine the fragment, but Yao Chen warned him to wait until he reached Dou Zun.

• Xiao Yan persuaded Yao Chen to shield him so he could watch the distant battle from the outskirts.
• A black jade fragment flew toward Xiao Yan as violent energy erupted, and he collected it before fleeing the blast.
• After escaping, Xiao Yan wondered whether humans could wield such power, and Yao Chen encouraged him to aim for Dou Zun.
• Xiao Yan inspected the jade fragment and asked whether Heavenly Flames could neutralize its evil, condensed power.
• Yao Chen refused to help refine the fragment and told Xiao Yan he could try after reaching Dou Zun, when Yao Chen would pass the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to him.

After Gu He defeated the Soul Hall Vice Master, he judged the Pill Gathering’s final round as more than a thousand alchemists began refining pills on platforms above the square. The competition continued for ten days, with many sixth-grade pills completed and signs of seventh-grade pills appearing, but the champion had not yet been decided.

• Gu He cleared away the Soul Hall Vice Master's energy, restoring peace to the Medicine Realm.
• Alchemists who gathered the required ingredients left the Medicine Realm and arrived at the northern district square for the final competition.
• Gu He warned the contestants that he would enforce the rules and judge their pills, then sent them to the platforms in the sky to begin.
• More than a thousand alchemists started refining pills as Gu He watched for rule-breaking and threw contestants who interfered with others off the platforms.
• After three days, cauldrons had exploded and Gu He had removed rule-breakers; another seven days later, many contestants had completed sixth-grade pills, while occasional dark clouds signaled seventh-grade pills still being refined.

As the Pill Gathering narrowed to its final five, Xiao Yan chose not to risk using Spirit Ascension and completed an eighth-grade pill that summoned Two-colored Pill Lightning. Cao Ying and Dan Chen produced Three-colored pills, while Chen Huo and a plain-looking middle-aged alchemist revealed even stronger pills, leaving the championship to be decided between them.

• Pill Lightning appeared repeatedly over the plaza, and Gu He noticed that the middle-aged alchemist was refining a pill comparable to Chen Huo's.
• After three more days, only Xiao Yan, Cao Ying, Dan Chen, Chen Huo, and the middle-aged man remained onstage refining eighth-grade pills.
• Xiao Yan considered using Spirit Ascension to improve his pill but decided against risking its destruction.
• Xiao Yan completed his pill, producing Two-colored Pill Lightning and drawing the crowd's attention.
• Cao Ying and Dan Chen finished their pills with Three-colored Pill Lightning.
• Chen Huo and the middle-aged man released powerful energy pillars from their cauldrons, signaling that the champion would come from between them.

Gu He borrowed Chen Huo’s body and used Spirit Ascension to improve the pill in his Medicine Cauldron, challenging a Soul Hall alchemist whose pill had summoned Five-colored Pill Lightning. As Gu He infused the pill with Spiritual Energy, the Four-colored thunderclouds above Chen Huo began to change.

• The middle-aged man fed his heartblood into his pill, strengthening it until it summoned incomplete Five-colored Pill Lightning.
• Gu He secretly asked Chen Huo to lend him his body, and Chen Huo agreed.
• Gu He took control of Chen Huo’s body and prepared the pill while the middle-aged man claimed the Pill Gathering championship.
• Gu He intensified the flames and guided surrounding Spiritual Energy into the pill using Spirit Ascension, surprising Xiao Yan and Yao Chen.
• The pill’s surface smoothed as the Four-colored thunderclouds churned and gathered more clouds, their colors beginning to change.

Gu He helped Chen Huo win the Pill Gathering by refining a pill that produced unprecedented Six-colored Pill Lightning, while secretly weakening the Soul Hall alchemist’s Pill Lightning. After the lightning trials ended and the middle-aged alchemist died, Gu He declared Chen Huo the champion.

• Chen Huo’s thundercloud gained a faint sixth color, and Sacred Pill City erupted in celebration as the crowd witnessed unprecedented Six-colored Pill Lightning.
• Gu He withdrew from Chen Huo’s body after completing the pill, then secretly merged a trace of his power into the middle-aged Soul Hall alchemist’s Five-colored Pill Lightning.
• Chen Huo used a Sky Demon Puppet to receive his Pill Lightning, while Xiao Yan, Cao Ying, and Dan Chen struggled to withstand theirs.
• The middle-aged alchemist died after a powerful bolt of Pill Lightning struck him, and the remaining alchemists watched their own trials with fear.
• After the thunderclouds dispersed, the alchemists presented their pills, and Gu He named Chen Huo the Pill Gathering champion.

Chen Huo won the Pill Gathering with Gu He's help and sought Gu He's advice on improving his alchemy. A year later, Old Man Mu Gu had risen to become a Great Heavenly Venerate and was summoned to Tiangang Hall as Soul Hall prepared a major operation.

• Gu He announced Chen Huo as the Pill Gathering champion and gave him a prescription for a pill that could summon Seven-colored Pill Lightning.
• Chen Huo visited Gu He, who advised him to strengthen his soul power over time and taught him alchemical techniques and the stages of Eighth-grade souls.
• Xiao Yan broke through to high-level Dou Zong, stabilized his cultivation, and left the Pill Tower to train in the Central Continent.
• Old Man Mu Gu returned from the Northwest Continent, earned the Soul Hall Master's regard, and became one of Soul Hall's nine Great Heavenly Venerates.
• The Soul Hall Master summoned Old Man Mu Gu and the other Great Heavenly Venerates to Tiangang Hall to announce an important matter, and Old Man Mu Gu arrived at the enormous bronze hall.

Old Man Mu Gu attended a meeting where the Soul Hall Master announced a plan to lure alchemists into an ambush and cripple the Pill Tower. The Soul Hall Master kept his goal of avoiding a full confrontation with the Pill Tower's Six-Star Dou Sheng in mind, then asked Mu Gu to help choose a Heavenly Flame for the trap.

• Old Man Mu Gu entered the hall and learned from Sixth Heavenly Venerate Tu Long that all Nine Heavenly Venerates and the Deputy Hall Master had been summoned, likely because of the Pill Tower.
• Venerable Xue He offered to seize pill formulas for Mu Gu in exchange for a future Bodhi Pill, and Mu Gu agreed to the arrangement.
• The Soul Hall Master announced that the Soul Hall would retaliate against the Pill Tower by using a collected Heavenly Flame to lure alchemists into repeated ambushes.
• The Soul Hall Master planned to cripple the Pill Tower without provoking its Six-Star Dou Sheng, and the Heavenly Venerates praised his strategy.
• The Soul Hall Master ordered the others to prepare for battle and told Mu Gu to stay behind and help select a Heavenly Flame.

The Soul Hall Master brought Old Man Mu Gu to the Soul Hall’s hidden storehouse and offered him a Heavenly Flame as a reward for his service. After seeing the collection, Mu Gu had to choose one, though the Soul Hall Master ruled out the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

• The Soul Hall Master praised Mu Gu’s service and offered him any Heavenly Flame ranked below the top ten.
• The Soul Hall Master opened a space gate outside Tiangang Hall and took Mu Gu to the Soul Hall’s secret storehouse.
• The Soul Hall Master showed Mu Gu the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, explaining that the previous Third Venerable had died obtaining it.
• Mu Gu spent half a day viewing the collection of thirteen types and fifteen mature Heavenly Flames.
• The Soul Hall Master asked Mu Gu which flame he wanted and told him he could choose any except the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.

Old Man Mu Gu helped the Soul Hall Master choose the Nine Nether Wind Flame for the Soul Hall’s plan, while secretly relaying information about the hidden space to Gu He. Gu He inferred that the Hun Clan’s Dou Saint guarded the space and that the Nihility Devouring Flame was likely collecting Heavenly Flames to grow stronger, leaving him wary of its power.

• Old Man Mu Gu recommended the Nine Nether Wind Flame, and the Soul Hall Master agreed to give it to him after the arrangement was complete.
• The Soul Hall Master released the Nine Nether Wind Flame from its crater and led Old Man Mu Gu out through a spatial gateway.
• Old Man Mu Gu sensed a hidden fluctuation belonging to a Saint as he left the space, then joined the Soul Hall’s plans against the Pill Tower.
• Gu He lost his view of the space but used his connection with Old Man Mu Gu to locate it near the Soul Hall’s Tiangang Hall and suspect that a Hun Clan Dou Saint guarded it.
• Gu He reasoned that the Nihility Devouring Flame was likely consuming Heavenly Flames to advance, and he recognized that its influence within the Hun Clan made it a dangerous force.

Gu He planned to steal the Heavenly Flames sealed in the Nihility Devouring Flame’s space and went to the Void Lightning Pool to raise his strength before the confrontation. After returning to Sacred Pill City, he learned that the Nine Nether Wind Flame might emerge in the Western Region and that the Soul Hall was already investigating it.

• Gu He resolved to locate the sealed Heavenly Flames and grow strong enough to seize them before the Nihility Devouring Flame discovered him.
• Gu He entered the Void Lightning Pool and spent more than a month absorbing Black Demon Lightning to advance from peak Three-star Dou Sheng to Five-Star Dou Sheng.
• Gu He returned to Sacred Pill City and brought Xuan Kongzi and the other two to meet the Great Elder.
• Xuan Kongzi told Gu He that pale azure flames and strange winds had appeared over the Endless Abyss, prompting rumors that the Nine Nether Wind Flame was emerging.
• Xuan Kongzi said the Soul Hall had sent people to investigate, while he and the other two planned to go there to keep the Heavenly Flame from falling into its hands.

Gu He warned the Pill Tower elders that the Soul Hall had staged the Nine Nether Wind Flame rumors as a trap in the Extreme Yin Land. He proposed turning the ambush against the Soul Hall, and the group waited for the Pill Tower Ancestor to decide their response.

• Gu He interrupted the Great Elder's pill refinement and revealed that the Nine Nether Wind Flame rumors were part of a Soul Hall conspiracy.
• Gu He told the Great Elder and Xuan Kongzi's group that his Soul Hall informant had reported the Soul Hall's preparations and likely planted Heavenly Flame.
• The Great Elder left to summon the Pill Tower Ancestor, intending to turn the Soul Hall's scheme against it.
• Xuan Kongzi and the other two thanked Gu He for warning them and asked how the Pill Tower should respond.
• Gu He proposed keeping the warning secret, limiting high-ranking alchemists from going to the Extreme Yin Land, and waiting for the Ancestor before striking the Soul Hall there.

Gu He and the Pill Tower leaders finalized a plan to strike the Soul Hall, while factions gathered in the Extreme Yin Land to seek the approaching Nine Nether Wind Flame. Old Man Mu Gu secretly entered a Space Channel beneath the Endless Abyss, planning how to coordinate with the Pill Tower and sacrifice Soul Hall forces to delay the Nihility Devouring Flame’s progress.

• The Pill Tower Ancestor arrived at the Small Pill Tower, heard Gu He’s plan from Xuan Kongzi, and approved it.
• The Pill Tower leaders rallied the Eighth-grade Alchemists in the Pill Region and prepared to attack the Soul Hall forces at the Extreme Yin Land.
• Xiao Yan learned that the Nine Nether Wind Flame might emerge nearby and left his cultivation site to head for the Extreme Yin Land.
• Old Man Mu Gu led the Black and White Heavenly Venerates and ten Protectors into the Extreme Yin Land, then sent them to search for the Heavenly Flame.
• Old Man Mu Gu flew into the Endless Abyss, crushed a jade pendant to open a Space Channel, and entered it while considering how to use the coming battle to weaken the Soul Hall and buy time for his true body.

Old Man Mu Gu helped the Soul Hall prepare for an ambush while Gu He secretly exposed their plans to the Pill Tower. The Pill Tower launched its attack on the Soul Hall’s forces outside the Abyss, where a white-haired elder killed the Black and White Heavenly Venerates.

• Old Man Mu Gu gathered Soul Hall members and agreed to guard the Abyss while waiting for the Pill Tower’s renowned alchemists to arrive.
• Gu He learned the Soul Hall’s arrangements through Mu Gu, located the hidden space, and left without confronting its occupants.
• The Pill Tower approached the Abyss in an encircling formation and caught the Soul Hall’s outer guards off guard.
• The Black and White Heavenly Venerates attacked the Pill Tower’s forces, but a white-haired elder stopped their strikes and killed them.