Chapter Summaries

Xia Mo and Xiao Yan recovered the Green Lotus Seat after the battle for the Heavenly Flame, and Xiao Yan set off to refine the Green Lotus Core Flame. Xia Mo returned to Stone Desert City after a difficult journey through the desert.

• Old Yao explained that the Seven-Colored Little Snake had interrupted his attack, and he believed Queen Medusa’s soul had been suppressed again.
• Xia Mo uncovered the Green Lotus Seat from beneath the sand and returned it to Xiao Yan intact.
• Xiao Yan headed toward the desert’s outskirts to devour the Heavenly Flame while Xia Mo chose to return to Stone Desert City.
• Xia Mo flew back across the desert, corrected his course after a sandstorm, and reached Stone Desert City.
• Xia Mo landed on a tall building in Stone Desert City, dusty but glad to be home.

Xia Mo arrived at the Iron Mercenary Group and learned the Sand Mercenary Group was attacking to seize Qing Lin. He intervened just as a Sand Mercenary Group Da Dou Shi was about to kill Xiao Li, leaving the attacker pinned beneath his foot.

• Xia Mo noticed Sand Mercenary Group members crowding Stone Desert City and found the Iron Mercenary Group’s banner trampled at its headquarters.
• Fang Yuan told Xia Mo that the Sand Mercenary Group had come for Qing Lin, who was away with Zi Yan, and that the group had grown stronger and attacked after the commanders refused to hand her over.
• Xia Mo learned that Zi Yan and Qing Lin were safe in Stone Desert City and headed to the training ground to stop the fighting.
• The Sand Mercenary Group’s Da Dou Shi defeated Xiao Li and moved to kill him while taunting Xiao Ding to surrender Qing Lin.
• Xia Mo appeared, sent the Da Dou Shi flying, and pinned him beneath his foot as he demanded to know why the Mo Clan dared covet his people.

Xia Mo returned to the Iron Mercenary Group headquarters and rescued Xiao Li by defeating Mo Ran, a one-star Da Dou Shi from the Mo Clan. After learning that the Mo Clan’s Grand Elder was coming to capture Qing Lin, Xia Mo killed Mo Ran and drove the Sand Mercenary Group into a panicked retreat.

• Xia Mo arrived at the training ground and found Xiao Li badly wounded beneath Mo Ran’s foot.
• Xia Mo gave Xiao Li healing pills, then used Dragon Phoenix Flame to burn off Mo Ran’s hands and force him to answer questions.
• Mo Ran admitted that the Mo Clan had sent him to find a mixed-blood snake person and that its Grand Elder was on the way.
• Xia Mo killed Mo Ran with Dragon Phoenix Flame and told Xiao Ding there would be no problem.
• Xia Mo ordered the Sand Mercenary Group members killed, and the terrified mercenaries fled the headquarters.

Xia Mo led the Iron Mercenary Group to the Sand Mercenary Group headquarters after killing Mo Ran. He froze the guards who attacked them and confronted Luo Bu and the outsiders backing him, leaving the hall doors blasted open.

• Xia Mo told Xiao Ding that Little Yanzi had obtained the item and would return in a few days, then learned that the Sand Mercenary Group had eliminated most of Stone Desert City's weaker factions.
• Xia Mo led Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, Zi Yan, Qing Lin, and more than fifty Iron Mercenary Group members toward the Sand Mercenary Group headquarters.
• At the entrance, Xia Mo ordered Xiao Bai to stop the mercenaries who charged for the reward, and Xiao Bai froze them with icy Dou Qi.
• Xia Mo and the Iron Mercenary Group entered the courtyard, where the Sand Mercenary Group's mercenaries retreated before him.
• In the hall, Luo Bu argued with several outsiders about Xia Mo's strength and awaited their family's Grand Elder.
• Xia Mo blasted open the hall doors and appeared before Luo Bu and the others.

Xia Mo confronted Luo Bu at the Sand Mercenary Group’s hall and effortlessly killed the mercenaries who attacked him. He spared Luo Bu after the captain offered to join the Iron Mercenary Group, crediting Brother Xiao Ding with saving the survivors.

• Xia Mo entered the hall with Zi Yan and Qing Lin, challenged Luo Bu, and demanded an explanation from the Sand Mercenary Group.
• Luo Bu summoned his Dou Qi Armor and ordered his elite members to attack Xia Mo.
• Xia Mo used Golden Flame to erase more than a dozen charging mercenaries, leaving the hall stunned.
• Xia Mo approached Luo Bu and melted the Dou Qi Armor around his neck as Luo Bu begged for his life.
• Luo Bu offered to join the Iron Mercenary Group, and Xia Mo spared him and the others after acknowledging Brother Xiao Ding.

Xia Mo learned that the Mo Clan had arranged for the Sand Mercenary Group to capture Qing Lin because they wanted her unusual eyes for their experiments. After killing several Mo Clan men, he reassured Qing Lin and promised to handle the clan, leaving her determined to grow strong enough to protect everyone.

• Xia Mo made Luo Bu explain that the Mo Clan had offered the Sand Mercenary Group support in exchange for capturing Qing Lin and killing the Iron Mercenary Group.
• Luo Bu and Xiao Ding explained that Mo Cheng, the Mo Clan's powerful Grand Elder, relied on his ties to the Misty Cloud Sect to intimidate others.
• Xia Mo killed a Mo Clan man who threatened him, then incinerated the remaining men after suspecting they wanted Qing Lin for her unusual eyes.
• Xia Mo explained that a Mo Clan ancestor had experimented on people with unusual organs to strengthen clan members through transplants.
• Xia Mo comforted the frightened Qing Lin and promised to handle the Mo Clan, while Qing Lin vowed to protect him and the others.

Xia Mo arranged for the Sand Mercenary Group to merge into the Iron Mercenary Group and decided to wait in Stone Desert City for Mo Cheng. The next day, he took Zi Yan and Qing Lin shopping, then returned to the headquarters with their purchases.

• Xia Mo and Xiao Ding persuaded Luo Bu to merge the Sand Mercenary Group into the Iron Mercenary Group, dismissing lower-ranked members and retaining stronger ones.
• Xia Mo told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to oversee the merger while the group waited for Mo Cheng to arrive, and estimated that Xiao Yan might return within days.
• Zi Yan broke Xia Mo's door to wake him for the shopping trip he had promised, and the three set out together.
• Xia Mo, Zi Yan, and Qing Lin bought new clothes at a shop whose owner treated Qing Lin kindly.
• The three wandered through Stone Desert City, bought food, and returned to the Iron Mercenary Group at midday.

Mo Cheng confronted Xia Mo at the Iron Mercenary Group headquarters and demanded that Qing Lin be handed over. Xia Mo crushed the Mo Clan’s attack and defeated Mo Cheng, then seized him by the throat as Mo Cheng continued to threaten him with the Misty Cloud Sect.

• Mo Cheng came to the Iron Mercenary Group headquarters seeking Qing Lin and offered his support in exchange for her.
• Xia Mo insulted Mo Cheng and the Mo Clan’s ties to the Misty Cloud Sect, then warned that the clan would die if Mo Cheng did not kill himself.
• Mo Cheng ordered his experts to attack, but Xia Mo’s golden flames melted their blades and burned several Mo Clan members to ash.
• Xia Mo moved behind Mo Cheng and broke his hand with a single punch, sending the five-star Dou Ling crashing across the hall.
• Mo Cheng invoked the Mo Clan and the Misty Cloud Sect and demanded Qing Lin, but Xia Mo grabbed him by the throat.

Xia Mo killed Mo Cheng and the Mo Clan members who accompanied him after discovering their pursuit of Qing Lin, while the clan steward begged for mercy and invoked the Misty Cloud Sect. The chapter left Xia Mo standing amid the aftermath, with only Mo Cheng’s transplanted Mountain Breaking Arm remaining.

• A Mo Clan steward pleaded with Xia Mo to spare Mo Cheng, but Xia Mo demanded to know how Mo Cheng had learned about Qing Lin and severed his right arm when he refused to answer.
• Mo Cheng ordered the Mo Clan disciples to attack, and Xia Mo burned more than a dozen of them to ash with Golden Flame.
• Xia Mo kicked Mo Cheng into a pillar, ordered Xiao Bai to leave no one alive, and Xiao Bai killed the remaining Mo Clan members except the steward.
• Mo Cheng revealed his transplanted Fifth-tier Blazing Mountain Breaker Rhino forelimb and charged Xia Mo with its enhanced strength.
• Xia Mo released an aura comparable to a Dou Wang, stopped Mo Cheng’s attack, and engulfed him in Golden Flame until he vanished, leaving only the Mountain Breaking Arm.

Xia Mo killed the last surviving Mo Clan fighter after defeating Mo Cheng and the clan’s forces, then collected their valuables as the Iron Mercenary Group reacted to his power. Meanwhile, Xiao Yan traveled across the desert border and arrived back in Stone Desert City.

• Xia Mo rejected the middle-aged man’s warning about the Misty Cloud Sect and burned him to ashes.
• Xia Mo told Xiao Ding to have the hall cleaned while the Iron Mercenary Group and Luo Bu’s men marveled at his strength.
• Xia Mo collected the damaged Mountain Breaking Arm and Mo Cheng’s Storage Ring, which Zi Yan found contained goods worth five million gold coins.
• Xiao Yan traveled toward the edge of the desert, flew for nearly a day, and returned to Stone Desert City.

Xiao Yan returned to Stone Desert City after successfully evolving his cultivation method and learned that Xia Mo and the Iron Mercenary Group had dealt with the Mo Clan’s attack. Xiao Yan and Xia Mo then set out for Desert City to fulfill their agreement with Hai Bodong, while planning safeguards and looking ahead to Xiao Yan’s confrontation with the Misty Cloud Sect.

• Xiao Yan flew to Stone Desert City and noticed that his evolved Flame Mantra let him travel without exhausting his Dou Qi.
• At the Iron Mercenary Group’s headquarters, Xiao Yan found the aftermath of a battle and learned from Xiao Ding that Xia Mo had helped resolve the Mo Clan’s attack.
• Xiao Yan, Xiao Ding, and Xia Mo discussed the Mo Clan’s actions and agreed they could take advantage of the situation when passing through Yan City.
• After resting, Xiao Yan and Xia Mo departed for Desert City on the Tiger Eagle Beast with Zi Yan and Qing Lin.
• As they approached Desert City, Xiao Yan and Xia Mo discussed refining Hai Bodong’s pill, securing his favor and the remaining Fragmented Map, and taking precautions against betrayal.

Xia Mo and Xiao Yan reunited with Hai Bodong at his map shop in Desert City, where a confrontation with the Desert City Lord’s daughter interrupted their visit. Hai Bodong recognized the group and smiled at them, leaving the woman in red surprised by his reaction.

• Xia Mo, Xiao Yan, and their companions entered Hai Bodong’s map shop as it was closing.
• Xia Mo approached Hai Bodong, but the woman in red ordered him to leave and had her guards block his way.
• Xia Mo hurled a map toward the woman in red and told Hai Bodong he would teach her a lesson if asked.
• Hai Bodong froze the map before it could hit the woman in red, then turned toward Xia Mo’s group with a rare smile.

Xia Mo and his companions returned to Hai Bodong with the Sand Mandala, and Hai Bodong recognized Queen Medusa’s aura on Xia Mo. The group began preparing to refine Hai Bodong’s seal-removing pill, with the final Fragmented Map still promised as payment.

• Hai Bodong sensed that Xia Mo had grown stronger and noticed Queen Medusa’s aura on him, astonishing everyone in the shop.
• Xia Mo gave Hai Bodong the Sand Mandala, and Hai Bodong promised an additional Medicinal Herb for the trouble the group had faced.
• Hai Bodong compensated the red-dressed woman with a Xuan-class cultivation method and sent her and the others away.
• Xia Mo reminded Hai Bodong that he still owed them the final Fragmented Map after the pill was refined, and Hai Bodong reaffirmed their agreement.
• Hai Bodong ushered Xia Mo and Xiao Yan into the back room, where he handed over the pill formula and medicinal ingredients for the seal-removing pill.

Xia Mo accepted Hai Bodong’s Po E Dan formula and medicinal ingredients, then arranged a private room for Old Yao to refine the Sixth-grade Pill. After inspecting the room for tricks, Xia Mo and Xiao Yan watched Old Yao prepare his Black Demon Cauldron to begin the refinement.

• Xia Mo examined the Po E Dan formula, learned of its ability to break seals and grant resistance, and stored it in his Storage Ring.
• Hai Bodong provided multiple sets of rare medicinal herbs, and Xia Mo warned him that pill refinement could fail without liability.
• Hai Bodong led Xia Mo and Xiao Yan to a quiet room and promised to guard the corridor.
• Xia Mo and Xiao Yan inspected the room, then Old Yao emerged from Xiao Yan’s ring and confirmed it was safe.
• Old Yao took the formula and ingredients, summoned his Black Demon Cauldron, and prepared to refine the Po E Dan.

Old Yao refined a Po E Dan in the Black Demon Cauldron, using the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to complete the pill. He passed the finished pill to Xia Mo, who then handed it to Xiao Yan for inspection.

• Old Yao brought out the Black Demon Cauldron and began refining the ingredients while Xiao Yan and Xia Mo watched.
• Old Yao formed a pill embryo and compressed the Bone Spirit Cold Flame into a crystal before adding it to the pill.
• Old Yao completed the Po E Dan and contained its energy ripples with a soul barrier.
• Old Yao examined the finished pill and tossed it to Xia Mo, who passed it to Xiao Yan.

Xia Mo and Xiao Yan emerged with the Po E Dan, but Hai Bodong hesitated to hand over the Fragmented Map until Xia Mo threatened to cancel their deal. Hai Bodong ultimately surrendered the map, and Xia Mo confirmed it joined the fragment he already possessed.

• Old Yao explained that he had hidden Bone Spirit Cold Flame crystals in the Po E Dan, while Xia Mo stored the pill, the formula, and Hai Bodong’s remaining medicinal herbs.
• Hai Bodong waited anxiously as Xia Mo and Xiao Yan came out with the successfully refined Po E Dan.
• Hai Bodong asked to test the pill before giving up the Fragmented Map, but Xia Mo insisted their agreement required an immediate exchange and threatened to leave.
• Hai Bodong recalled Xia Mo’s strength and allies, then decided to hand over the Fragmented Map and described his failed attempts to copy it.
• Xia Mo accepted the map and fitted it against the fragment he had obtained earlier, finding that their edges connected without a gap.

Xia Mo accompanied Hai Bodong to an underground ice chamber, where Hai Bodong took the Po E Dan to break his seal. After regaining his strength as a Dou Emperor, Hai Bodong stared at Xia Mo, and tension rose between them.

• Xia Mo warned Hai Bodong about the danger of revealing the Fragmented Map, and Hai Bodong led Xia Mo to his underground chamber.
• Xia Mo told Xiao Yan to find Zi Yan and Xiao Bai while Hai Bodong opened the ice cavern and swallowed the Po E Dan.
• Hai Bodong’s seal manifested as a dark-green snake mark, and the Po E Dan’s purple energy gradually forced it from his forehead.
• Hai Bodong regained his Dou Emperor strength, shattered the chamber’s ice with his aura, and laughed in triumph.
• Hai Bodong fixed a sharp gaze on Xia Mo, who calmly met his stare as the atmosphere grew tense.

After breaking Hai Bodong’s seal, Xia Mo faced the restored Dou Emperor’s brief urge to reclaim the Fragmented Maps, but Hai Bodong chose to remain on good terms with him. Xiao Yan then enlisted Hai Bodong to accompany him to the Misty Cloud Sect in two months, and Xia Mo took Zi Yan and Qing Lin shopping before the group planned to leave the next day.

• Hai Bodong considered taking back the Fragmented Maps but withdrew his hostile aura after deciding not to make an enemy of Xia Mo.
• Xia Mo told Hai Bodong that the Fragmented Maps could lead to a Heavenly Flame, and the group returned to the shop where Xiao Yan, Zi Yan, Qing Lin, and Xiao Bai were waiting.
• Xiao Yan asked Hai Bodong to appear at the Misty Cloud Sect in two months while he settled some grievances, and Hai Bodong agreed to protect him.
• Xia Mo, Zi Yan, and Qing Lin went shopping, then returned to Hai Bodong’s shop after a long time.

Xia Mo and his companions arrived at Yan City, where the Mo Clan's dominance and its ties to the Misty Cloud Sect drew resentment from locals. After hearing that Mo Cheng's birthday celebration would bring many factions to the city, Xia Mo decided to act that night, and the group entered Yan City.

• Xia Mo and his group reached Yan City after traveling for a day and joined the queue at its eastern gate.
• Mercenaries in line discussed the Mo Clan's power and the factions gathering for Mo Cheng's birthday, including people from the Misty Cloud Sect.
• Xia Mo smiled at the news, and Xiao Yan questioned whether the gathered factions would make their move difficult; Zi Yan said they would go that night.
• The Mo Clan's Second Young Lady rode past the queue without regard for the people she angered, prompting them to curse the Mo Clan and its dependence on the Misty Cloud Sect.
• Xia Mo and his companions answered the guards' brief questions and entered Yan City.

Xia Mo and his companions entered Yan City and discovered that the Mo Clan had reserved every inn, then clashed with the Mo Clan’s Second Young Lady, Ling Lin. After the group accepted rooms from a cautious middle-aged man, an elegant woman arrived and addressed the crying Ling Lin.

• Xia Mo and his companions entered Yan City and chose to seek rooms at the Mo Suo Flower Garden inn.
• The maid explained that the Mo Clan had reserved every inn, and Ling Lin struck the counter with her whip after Xia Mo called the clan overbearing.
• Xiao Yan burned Ling Lin’s whip with Azure Flame and nearly struck her before a middle-aged man pulled her to safety.
• The middle-aged man apologized on Ling Lin’s behalf and offered the group several rooms, which Xia Mo accepted.
• As Xia Mo and the others headed upstairs, a woman in a moon-white robe entered and asked Ling Lin who had offended her.