Chapter Summaries

Gu He and Qing Lin took control of the Nine Netherworld Nether Python clan’s leaders, beginning with the Great Elder. With the clan’s upper ranks under their control, Gu He had Yao Xiaotian lead them to inspect the treasury.

• The Great Elder arrived and Yao Xiaotian claimed that Gu He had been testing a newly created Dou Technique.
• Gu He sealed the area, and Yao Xiaotian struck the Great Elder, explaining that he had blocked his Master’s path.
• Qing Lin used her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils to control the injured Great Elder and the elders who had accompanied him.
• Gu He and Qing Lin arranged for the clan’s senior experts and tribe leaders to gather, then controlled them all, leaving only the imprisoned Yao Ming outside their grasp.
• Gu He had the controlled experts return to their territories and then asked Yao Xiaotian to lead him, Xiao Yi Xian, and Qing Lin to the clan’s treasury.

After finding nothing valuable in the Nine Netherworld Nether Python clan’s treasury, Gu He went to the Void Lightning Pool to cultivate. He broke through from Seven-Star to Eight-Star Dou Sheng and continued absorbing lightning to strengthen his cultivation.

• Gu He selected poisons for Xiao Yi Xian, told Yao Xiaotian to keep managing the Nine Netherworld Nether Python clan as before, and left for the Void Lightning Pool.
• Gu He chose to preserve the Nine Profound Golden Lightning, hoping it would eventually gain intelligence and help represent the Pill Tower.
• Gu He used the Devouring Flame to absorb lightning from across the Void Lightning Pool, forming a vast vortex and steadily increasing his aura.
• After more than a month, Gu He triggered a natural energy tide that lasted three days as he advanced from Seven-Star to Eight-Star Dou Sheng.
• Gu He stabilized his greatly increased Dou Qi, then resumed absorbing lightning at an even faster rate.

Gu He drained the Void Lightning Pool while advancing to the peak of Eight-star Dou Sheng, then captured and sealed the weakened Nine Profound Golden Lightning on his arm. He returned to the Nether Snake Vein, strengthened its cultivation environment, and concluded that reaching Nine-star Dou Sheng would require further energy or high-level Dou Techniques.

• Gu He absorbed nearly all the energy in the Void Lightning Pool but stopped just short of advancing to Nine-star Dou Sheng.
• Gu He trapped the Nine Profound Golden Lightning in a flame net, shrank it, and sealed it onto his arm.
• Gu He left the depleted pool and returned to the Nether Snake Vein, where he boosted the surrounding energy to help Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin cultivate.
• Gu He taught Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin and spent less than three months mastering his increased strength and refining Universe in a Finger.
• Gu He considered the remaining paths to Nine-star Dou Sheng and ruled out the Void Lightning Pool and the Heavenly Tomb as practical sources of power.

Gu He entered the Yellow Springs Stone Tablet to seek the Yellow Springs Heavenly Wrath and the Yellow Springs Demon Saint’s essence blood. After passing the tablet’s attacks, he met the Demon Saint’s remnant soul and prepared to challenge its Emperor Realm soul.

• Gu He found the Yellow Springs Stone Tablet in the Nether Snake Vein and sealed the altar against intruders.
• Gu He entered the tablet with his soul and destroyed its lightning, Yellow Springs Finger, and Yellow Springs Palm attacks.
• The Yellow Springs Demon Saint awakened and appeared on a throne above a rising mountain peak.
• Gu He asked the Demon Saint for the Yellow Springs Heavenly Wrath and essence blood, then accepted the challenge to fight his Emperor Realm soul.

Gu He defeated Yellow Springs Demon Saint’s Yellow Springs Heavenly Wrath in a soul-power battle and earned the Demon Saint’s inheritance. Yellow Springs Demon Saint passed him the techniques and Demon Saint Essence Blood, warning him about the despair of reaching the peak of Dou Saint without advancing to Dou Di.

• Yellow Springs Demon Saint attacked Gu He with Yellow Springs Palms and Fingers, but Gu He shattered them with his soul power.
• Yellow Springs Demon Saint used Yellow Springs Heavenly Wrath, and Gu He formed a massive armored soul figure to withstand its sound-wave attack.
• After seeing Gu He survive the technique, Yellow Springs Demon Saint accepted him as worthy and passed on Yellow Springs Heavenly Wrath, Yellow Springs Palm, and Yellow Springs Finger.
• Yellow Springs Demon Saint formed the golden Demon Saint Essence Blood and gave it to Gu He, who hoped it could help him reach Nine-star Dou Sheng.
• Yellow Springs Demon Saint cautioned Gu He that reaching the peak of Dou Saint without becoming Dou Di could bring endless despair.

Gu He received Yellow Springs Demon Saint’s Half-Emperor essence blood and learned that a mysterious energy depleted from the world had once been needed to reach Dou Di. He returned to Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin by the Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs to study the blood, where he gained a brief insight into its power and the lake’s cold aura.

• Gu He asked Yellow Springs Demon Saint why he had failed to become a Dou Di, and the senior recalled that a strange, vanished energy had been necessary for the breakthrough.
• Yellow Springs Demon Saint gave Gu He six drops’ worth of Half-Emperor essence blood before his remnant soul dissipated.
• Gu He returned to his body as the stone tablet revealed the Yellow Springs Heavenly Wrath cultivation method.
• Gu He joined Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin beside the Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs and invited them to study the essence blood with him.
• Gu He examined the blood’s structure and found that its power resonated with the lake’s cold aura, giving him a brief, profound insight.

Gu He used the Yellow Springs Demon Saint's essence blood and blood from the three great magical beast clans to develop a stable new cellular structure, transforming one percent of his body's cells. As he considered leaving to pursue the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, a massive nine-colored pillar of light erupted from the Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs.

• Gu He let Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin study the Demon Saint's insights, then began reconstructing his blood using the essence blood as a model.
• After his first attempt collapsed, Gu He added essence blood from Zi Yan, Yao Xiaotian, and Feng Qing'er as references, stabilizing his design.
• Gu He spent more than four months testing the new cells and transformed roughly one hundred million of his own cells, increasing his physical strength and Dou Qi capacity.
• Gu He decided not to continue reconstructing his cells because the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame would emerge in about a year and he wanted to claim it.
• The Nine Netherworld Yellow Springs grew turbulent, and an immense nine-colored pillar of light burst from the lake toward the sky.

Caiyi emerged from seclusion with greatly increased strength, and Gu He reunited with her before explaining the coming contest for the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. The group left for Sacred Pill City, where Gu He suspected the Hun Clan had spread news of the Flame to conceal its plan against the Stone Clan.

• Caiyi emerged as a Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, and her bloodline pressure drove the Nine Netherworld Nether Python clan to kneel.
• Caiyi transformed back into human form and reunited with Gu He, who assessed her new strength.
• Gu He asked Caiyi to represent the Pill Tower at the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame's emergence and warned her to retreat if she faced danger.
• Gu He explained that the Hun Clan might exploit the Flame's appearance to destroy the Stone Clan and that he could use the distraction to target Soul Hall's Heavenly Flames.
• Gu He and Caiyi left with Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin for Sacred Pill City, where Gu He suspected the Hun Clan had spread the Flame's news as a diversion.

Gu He sent Caiyi to pursue the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame while he went to infiltrate Soul Hall’s Heavenly Flame Space. As the flame descended and powerful factions gathered, Caiyi’s group reached the scorching wasteland, where the arrival of a formidable Dou Saint signaled that the contest was beginning.

• Gu He told the Great Elder that he could not compete for the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame and arranged for Caiyi to go in his stead, leaving a Soul Imprint on her for protection.
• After waiting more than ten days, Gu He witnessed the twin moons and nine aligned stars that heralded the demonic flame’s emergence, then watched Caiyi’s group head northwest while he traveled to Soul Hall’s Heavenly Flame Space.
• Gu He studied the space’s defenses and waited for Tiangang Hall’s guards to thin out, but held back after Soul Qing Saint departed because he feared the Hun Clan might send reinforcements.
• Caiyi and four other Half-Saint-or-stronger members of Pill Tower reached the milky-white desert and felt the demonic flame’s residual heat.
• Dou Zuns, Half-Saints, and then Dou Saints gathered at the site, before a dreadful aura announced the arrival of a powerful figure.

Caiyi and the gathered powers witnessed the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame’s space open, while Gu He attacked the Hun Clan’s Heavenly Flame Space. Gu He killed its two guards, and Hun Tiandi sent only a four-star Dou Saint as support.

• The Soul Hall Master and Caiyi exchanged wary remarks as the Ancient Races gathered near the Demonic Flame’s spatial crack.
• Milky-white flames killed several Dou Zuns, prompting some to flee as the crack widened and a halo formed.
• Caiyi entered the Demonic Flame Space as Gu He destroyed Tiangang Hall and flew toward the Heavenly Flame Space.
• Two Hun Clan Dou Saint guards tried to delay Gu He, but he broke through the barriers and entered the space.
• Gu He recognized the guards’ danger and tore them apart with sword qi.
• After hearing the Heavenly Flame Space was under attack, Hun Tiandi sent a four-star Dou Saint to support it.

Gu He seized all thirteen Heavenly Flames from the Heavenly Flame Space, erased the evidence, and hid in a shattered space to refine his strongest flames and pursue Nine-star Dou Sheng. Meanwhile, Caiyi remained protected from the Nightmare Heavenly Mist in the Demonic Flame Space by Gu He's Soul Imprint.

• Gu He provoked volcanic eruptions, drew out twelve Heavenly Flames, and sealed each one with the Devouring Flame before locating and taking the Red Lotus Karmic Fire.
• After confirming that all thirteen Heavenly Flames were gone, Gu He erased his traces and left, while a Hun Clan Dou Saint arrived and found the guards dead and the flames missing.
• Gu He hid in a shattered space at the Central Continent's edge, found a secluded magma lake, and began refining the Red Lotus Karmic Fire, Nine Nether Wind Flame, and Bone Spirit Cold Flame together.
• As Gu He refined the flames, his cultivation and bloodline transformation slowly advanced, though reaching Nine-star Dou Sheng would take a long time.
• In the Demonic Flame Space, most people remained trapped in the Nightmare Heavenly Mist's illusions, but Caiyi was protected by Gu He's Soul Imprint.

Gu He guided Caiyi through the Nightmare Heavenly Mist and identified the energy node sustaining it. As Caiyi attacked the node, Gu He emerged from his Soul Imprint and unleashed Yellow Springs Heavenly Wrath against the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, who countered with the Demonic Flame Divine Statue.

• Gu He blocked the Nightmare Heavenly Mist's influence on Caiyi and directed her to test the surrounding space for weak points.
• Caiyi summoned the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Pythons, whose remnant souls resisted the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame's influence.
• Gu He identified the Nightmare Heavenly Mist's energy core and told Caiyi to attack it while ignoring the flame's apparent attacks.
• Caiyi transformed into a Nine-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python and struck the energy node with power from Gu He's Soul Imprint.
• Gu He emerged from the imprint and unleashed Yellow Springs Heavenly Wrath, shattering the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame's flaming spear and sending a soul ripple toward him.
• The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame formed the Demonic Flame Divine Statue and swung its massive fist at the incoming soul ripple.

Caiyi broke the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame’s illusion, freeing the trapped experts and revealing Gu He’s Soul Imprint. The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame activated the Heaven Refining Ancient Array, and Gu He’s attempt to evacuate the others ended when the array destroyed the Space Channel.

• Caiyi shattered the illusion’s main energy node, freeing the experts trapped inside it.
• Gu He’s Soul Imprint returned to Caiyi, and the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame exposed his presence.
• The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame summoned the Heaven Refining Ancient Array, sealing the Demonic Flame Space.
• Gu He enveloped Caiyi, the Great Elder, and the Pill Tower members and fled toward the Space Channel.
• Gu He sent Caiyi, the Great Elder, and others into the passage, but the Heaven Refining Ancient Array’s ring struck and destroyed the Space Channel.

Gu He and the remaining Ancient Races were trapped inside the Heaven Refining Ancient Array, where Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame tried to refine them into fire slaves. Soul Clones of Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi emerged to shield the survivors, leaving Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame facing two formidable opponents.

• The last Pill Tower Half-Saint gave Gu He his essence blood and soul power, explaining that he had no descendants and wished to help the Pill Tower before his death.
• The Soul Hall Master and Gu Nanhai organized the trapped Ancient Races to attack the Heaven Refining Ancient Array, but Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame strengthened it and sent a destructive pillar of light toward them.
• Gu He led the last Pill Tower member toward the Ancient Races, hoping their young members had Soul Imprints that could protect them.
• Soul Clones of Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi emerged from Gu Xun'er and Hun Feng, shielding those nearby from the array's attack.
• Gu Yuan welcomed Gu He, while Hun Tiandi invited him to join the Hun Clan; Gu He politely declined, and Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame regarded the two Soul Clones warily.

Gu He marked the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame with a durable Soul Imprint, then continued transforming his bloodline beneath the magma. As his transformation finished, he stood only a trace away from becoming a Nine-star Dou Sheng, and a blood-colored radiance burst through the shattered space.

• Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi let the Ancient Races leave, while Gu He asked Gu Yuan to take the last Pill Tower member with him.
• Gu He turned his soul remnant into a Soul Imprint and embedded it in the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, resisting the flame's attempts to burn it away.
• Gu Yuan and Hun Tiandi departed, and Gu He returned his consciousness to his body to focus on transforming his bloodline.
• News of Gu He's Eight-star Dou Sheng cultivation spread, prompting the Ancient Races to reassess the Pill Tower and the Yao, Yan, and Lei Clans to form the Three-Clan Alliance early.
• Gu He absorbed nearly all the energy from the three Heavenly Flames and completed his bloodline transformation, releasing a dazzling blood-colored radiance.

After breaking through to Nine-star Dou Sheng, Gu He repaired the shattered space and traveled to a remote wasteland to refine his remaining Heavenly Flames. He revealed an Emperor Flame Prototype formed from eight Heavenly Flames, then set out to find lava while erasing the traces of his arrival.

• Gu He emerged from the lava with his breakthrough aura, shattering the space around him.
• Gu He restored the broken space and left before approaching Dou Zuns could reach it.
• Gu He traveled tens of thousands of miles to a remote wasteland with thin heaven-and-earth energy.
• Gu He revealed a multicolored Emperor Flame Prototype formed from eight Heavenly Flames, whose heat scorched the surrounding land.
• Gu He used the flame to locate nearby lava, then created a tornado to erase the traces he had left behind.

Gu He refined eleven Heavenly Flames beneath the magma, reaching the late stage of the Nine-star Dou Sheng realm. He then released the Nine Profound Golden Lightning and began trying to gather a spirit for it, leaving the enormous lightning dragon wary of him.

• Gu He descended into the magma and refined eleven Heavenly Flames at once, drawing energy from the flames and the magma vortex he created.
• After more than a month of cultivation, Gu He reached the late stage of the Nine-star Dou Sheng realm.
• Gu He entered the boundless void and decided to try gathering a spirit for the Nine Profound Golden Lightning.
• Gu He released the Nine Profound Golden Lightning from his arm, and it expanded into a thousand-zhang dragon that sensed his power and grew wary.

Gu He helped the Nine Profound Golden Lightning overcome the backlash of gathering spirit and develop intelligence, then named it Lei Ying. They returned to the Small Pill Tower, where Elder Shen Nong and the Great Elder welcomed them, unaware that Gu He had advanced to Nine-star Dou Sheng.

• Gu He soothed the Nine Profound Golden Lightning and encouraged it to gather spirit, promising to help it withstand the backlash.
• Gu He repaired the Nine Profound Golden Lightning's body and gathered spiritual energy until it developed intelligence and its backlash vanished.
• The Nine Profound Golden Lightning transformed into a human man, called Gu He “Big brother,” and accepted the name Lei Ying.
• Gu He and Lei Ying flew back to the Small Pill Tower after traveling for about a day.
• Elder Shen Nong and the Great Elder welcomed Gu He, still believing he was an Eight-star Dou Sheng.

Gu He returned to the Pill Tower with Lei Ying and told Elder Shen Nong he would stay out of the Ancient Races’ conflicts while focusing on cultivation. He obtained ingredients for Ninth-grade Profound Pills and Golden Pills and prepared to begin refining them.

• Elder Shen Nong learned that Gu He had named the sentient Nine Profound Golden Lightning Lei Ying and warned that the name might anger the Lei Clan’s patriarch, but Gu He refused to change it.
• At the Small Pill Tower, Elder Shen Nong asked Gu He what he planned to do now that his strength could affect the continent’s balance, and Gu He said he would avoid the Ancient Races’ conflicts for the time being.
• Gu He told Elder Shen Nong he wanted ingredients to refine Ninth-grade Profound Pills and prepare for Ninth-grade Golden Pills.
• Elder Shen Nong gave Gu He a Ring containing ingredients for five batches of Ninth-grade Profound Pills and two batches of Ninth-grade Golden Pills.

Gu He began refining a Ninth-grade Profound Pill in the fragile Medicine Realm, using his fused Heavenly Flame to process thousands of ingredients and gather the power of heaven and earth. As an energy storm fed the flame cauldron, Elder Shen Nong and the Great Elder sensed that Gu He's strength rivaled the strongest clan leaders.

• Gu He chose the Medicine Realm for the pill refinement and brought Lei Ying along to absorb any lightning that might appear.
• Elder Shen Nong and the Great Elder entered the Medicine Realm to observe Gu He's attempt to refine a Ninth-grade Profound Pill.
• Gu He formed a massive colorful flame cauldron whose residual heat shattered the surrounding space, astonishing the two observers.
• Gu He refined several thousand medicinal ingredients and gathered their essences at the center of the cauldron.
• Gu He drew the power of heaven and earth from ten thousand li into an energy storm, and Elder Shen Nong and the Great Elder sensed his formidable Dou Sheng aura.