Chapter Summaries

Xia Mo won the Fire Energy Hunt Competition for the new students, earning an Azure Fire Crystal Card and extra Fire Energy. Elder Su led the new students into the Inner Academy, where they arrived above its vast basin city and prepared to begin their new lives there.

• When the old students protested the competition's end, Elder Su rebuked them and offered them a chance to challenge the new students later.
• Elder Su awarded Xia Mo an Azure Fire Crystal Card and thirty extra days of Fire Energy, while the other new students had their Fire Energy replenished to five days.
• Xia Mo collected the old students' Fire Energy Crystal Cards, raising his balance from five points to over twelve hundred.
• Elder Su led Xia Mo and the new students up the hillside staircase, where they saw the enormous basin and city of the Inner Academy.
• Elder Su told the new students he would get them settled, then led them down toward the Inner Academy.

Elder Su explained the Inner Academy’s factional challenges, training resources, and team-based living before arranging a separate courtyard for Xia Mo. Xia Mo settled into and cleaned his new home, then ate and cultivated, leaving his focus on gathering the energy his growing strength required.

• Elder Su assigned Sun Hao, Luo Yan, Mu Yun, Wang Bo, and Li Er Niu a shared courtyard and advised them to stick together in the Inner Academy.
• Xia Mo asked whether they could take another courtyard, so Elder Su promised to arrange a separate one for him and explained the academy’s resources and Fire Energy system.
• Sun Hao and the others agreed to tidy their residence and rely on Xia Mo while they continued improving their strength.
• Elder Su brought Xia Mo to a small loft and urged him to take good care of the place.
• Xia Mo cleaned and tended the courtyard, chose a sunny room, and rested in the sunlight.
• After night fell, Xia Mo roasted and ate magical beast meat, then swallowed two energy pills and began cultivating.

Xia Mo interrupted senior students extorting Fire Energy from freshmen and beat them when they demanded tribute from him. He forced their leader Cheng Hao to pay four hundred Fire Energy to ransom the group, then returned to his courtyard with Sun Hao and the others.

• Xia Mo watched senior students demand two days' worth of Fire Energy from Sun Hao, Wang Bo, and the other freshmen.
• Three senior students searched the residential area and demanded tribute from Xia Mo, who struck them and beat them until they begged for mercy.
• Xia Mo confronted the senior students blocking the road, slapped their leader, and defeated the group when they attacked him.
• Xia Mo demanded ransom for the captured students, and Cheng Hao paid four hundred Fire Energy to take them away.
• Xia Mo warned Cheng Hao to keep his people in line, then led Sun Hao and the other freshmen into his courtyard.

Xia Mo entered the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower and discovered that its Heart Flame could refine and strengthen his Dou Qi. He quickly overcame the flame on his own, astonishing Elder Liu and the students, and left his unusual talent on display.

• Xia Mo followed the Inner Academy students to the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower and watched the crowd gather before its entrance.
• When the tower opened, Xia Mo entered and was struck by an invisible Heart Flame that caused his body to turn red-hot.
• Xia Mo examined the Heart Flame and found that it compressed his Dou Qi into a smaller, more powerful stream.
• Elder Liu arrived to help Xia Mo, but Xia Mo released a surge of flame and overcame the Heart Flame by himself within minutes.
• Elder Liu expressed surprise at Xia Mo's feat, and Xia Mo thanked him for praising his talent.

Xia Mo met Elder Liu and several prominent Inner Academy students at the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower. Han Yue, Lin Xiuyai, and Liu Qing invited him to join their factions, but he declined, saying he had already handled the students who came to cause trouble.

• Elder Liu dismissed the older students and introduced himself to Xia Mo as the first-level tower-guarding elder.
• Elder Liu introduced Han Yue, whose unusual willingness to shake Xia Mo's hand drew jealous stares from the other students.
• Elder Liu introduced Lin Xiuyai, Liu Qing, and Yan Hao, senior students who led powerful Inner Academy factions.
• Lin Xiuyai offered Xia Mo help from Wolf Fang, while Han Yue and Liu Qing invited him to join their factions.
• Xia Mo declined their offers and said he had already dealt with everyone who had come looking for trouble.

Elder Liu showed Xia Mo the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower and explained how students competed for cultivation rooms. At the tower’s central abyss, Xia Mo’s Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame and bloodline drove a rising fire python back into the depths, and Elder Liu warned him to keep the incident secret.

• Lin Xiuyai said he planned to cultivate on the eighth level, and Liu Qing and Yan Hao decided to go there with him.
• Elder Liu showed Xia Mo the tower’s cultivation rooms and explained their grades, placement, and equal fees within each level.
• Xia Mo approached the central black abyss, and the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame stirred as he sensed its heat.
• A fire python rose from the abyss, but Xia Mo ordered it down, and it plunged back into the depths.
• Elder Liu pulled Xia Mo away and told him not to discuss the incident or return to the tower’s center.

Elder Liu guided Xia Mo through the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower and helped him secure an advanced training room on the fifth floor. After learning how to use the Heart Fire and hearing Elder Liu’s warnings, Xia Mo prepared to begin cultivating.

• Elder Liu explained the tower’s rules as he led Xia Mo through its first floors, and Xia Mo said he intended to train on the fifth floor.
• Xia Mo used his Azure Fire Crystal Card’s access and ample Fire Energy to choose the fifth floor, where Elder Liu accepted that his strength could withstand it.
• An administrator showed Xia Mo an available advanced training room, and Xia Mo released his aura to deter hostile students nearby.
• Elder Liu showed Xia Mo how to use the Black Stone Platform and warned him that Heart Fire’s violent power required him to rest between training sessions.
• Xia Mo thanked Elder Liu, entered the training room, and closed the door to begin cultivating.

Xia Mo refined Azure Ganoderma Fire Spirit Paste and Swift Spirit Wind Pills to accelerate his cultivation, then prepared to enter seclusion in the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower. He began a day’s cultivation on the Black Stone Platform, spending five units of Fire Energy.

• Xia Mo reviewed the formulas for Azure Ganoderma Fire Spirit Paste and Swift Spirit Wind Pill and gathered ingredients for two batches of each.
• Xia Mo refined a batch of Azure Ganoderma Fire Spirit Paste, rested to restore his battle qi, then refined Swift Spirit Wind Pills and energy pills.
• Xia Mo stored his medicines and cauldron, then sat on the Black Stone Platform and inserted his Azure Fire Crystal Card.
• Xia Mo saw that one day of cultivation on the platform cost five units of Fire Energy.

Xia Mo used the Azure Ganoderma Fire Spirit Paste and Swift Spirit Wind Pill to accelerate his cultivation in a high-level room of the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower. After several days, he remained in secluded cultivation, confident he could reach the Dou Ling realm within two months.

• Xia Mo coated his upper body with Azure Ganoderma Fire Spirit Paste, enduring its intense itching as his sensitivity to Fire Elemental Energy increased.
• Xia Mo swallowed a Swift Spirit Wind Pill and began cultivating, drawing dense Fire Elemental Energy into his body and tempering his Dou Qi through the Heart Flame.
• Xia Mo purified the flame poison in his refined Dou Qi with the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame before sending the energy into his Monster Core.
• Xia Mo sensed his Monster Core filling and estimated that he could break through to the Dou Ling realm within two months.
• Students on the fifth floor learned that Xia Mo occupied the cultivation room, but they found its door shut and left without seeing him.

After nearly a month on the fifth floor, Xia Mo’s rapid cultivation outpaced its Heart Fire, so he received permission to enter the sixth floor despite not meeting its usual rank requirement. He joined the sparse gathering of powerful students there and encountered Han Yue.

• Xia Mo reached the peak of the nine-star Da Dou Shi realm after cultivating on the fifth floor for nearly a month, but its Heart Fire could no longer keep up with his cultivation.
• Xia Mo asked the instructors guarding the sixth-floor passage to make an exception, and they let him enter under Elder Liu’s instructions.
• Xia Mo surveyed the sparsely populated sixth floor and entered a resting plaza filled with powerful Strong Ranking students.
• Han Yue recognized Xia Mo, greeted him, and teased him about his privileges and month-long cultivation on the fifth floor.

Xia Mo watched the Inner Academy factions and experts compete for ten high-level training rooms on the sixth floor. Seven rooms were claimed, and when Mu Men moved for the eighth, Shi Tang arrived to challenge them.

• Han Yue told Xia Mo that the sixth-floor training rooms were allocated through contests among factions and Strong Ranking experts, and warned him to be careful.
• Hu Bin of Wolf Fang claimed the first room without opposition, while Xia Mo watched the plaza.
• Li Wei claimed a room after Kun Gang's six-star Dou Ling, Kun Gang, threatened anyone who objected.
• Three more people and two peak six-star Dou Lings claimed rooms, leaving only three unoccupied.
• Mu Men arrived to claim the eighth room, but Shi Tang appeared, bringing three Dou Ling experts, including a peak five-star Dou Ling.

Xia Mo challenged the students gathered at the plaza for the ninth advanced training room, declaring that he would claim it by force. Liu Lin and more than a dozen members of Shi Wu Gang confronted him over the Fire Energy he had taken from them.

• Mu Men defeated Shi Tang’s three experts and claimed the eighth advanced training room.
• Xia Mo rose and announced that he would take the ninth room, daring anyone who objected to challenge him.
• Han Yue and others reacted to Xia Mo’s forceful declaration as the plaza erupted in hostile murmurs.
• Liu Lin and more than a dozen Shi Wu Gang members rushed over, accusing Xia Mo of threatening their faction.
• Xia Mo told Liu Lin to leave, and Liu Lin vowed that Shi Wu Gang would teach him a lesson.

Xia Mo defeated Liu Lin and the Shi Wu Gang’s combined attack while claiming the ninth high-grade cultivation room. The Kun Gang then challenged him, and Xia Mo stood ready to fight them.

• Liu Lin ordered the Shi Wu Gang to join him in attacking Xia Mo with their combined Sky Splitting Slash.
• Xia Mo formed a purple-gold Dragon Phoenix Phantom and shattered the blade phantom, leaving Liu Lin and the Shi Wu Gang experts injured.
• Xia Mo asked if anyone else would challenge him and declared he would take the ninth high-grade cultivation room when no one answered.
• A six-star Dou Ling from the Kun Gang stood up with other members and demanded that Xia Mo give up the room.
• Xia Mo questioned why the Kun Gang was stopping him, then calmly told them to make their move.

Xia Mo defeated Chen Hao and overwhelmed Kun Gang, securing the ninth advanced cultivation room. After the remaining room was claimed and the competition ended, Elder Hao spoke with Xia Mo, who entered his room to cultivate.

• Chen Hao ordered Kun Gang's experts to attack Xia Mo, but Xia Mo broke through their combined Dou Skills and defeated Chen Hao with a single strike.
• Xia Mo seized Li Wei and asked whether anyone still objected to his claim on the ninth cultivation room; the plaza fell silent.
• Xia Mo released Li Wei, and Kun Gang withdrew rather than risk further losses as Chen Hao tended to his injuries.
• The Medicine Gang claimed the tenth advanced cultivation room after further challenges, completing the room assignments.
• Elder Hao ended the competition, praised Xia Mo, and invited him to seek help if needed.
• Xia Mo thanked Elder Hao and entered the ninth cultivation room to cultivate.

Xia Mo continued cultivating in the sixth-floor advanced room and broke through from the peak of Nine-Star Da Dou Shi to Dou Ling. The chapter left him newly advanced, while students outside the room watched with curiosity and awe.

• Xia Mo ate, refined new Azure Ganoderma Fire Spirit Paste and Wind Speed Spirit Pills, then resumed seclusion in the sixth-floor advanced cultivation room.
• News of Xia Mo defeating Chen Hao and intimidating Kun Gang spread through the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower as he cultivated undisturbed.
• Xia Mo reached the peak of Nine-Star Da Dou Shi and continued cultivating until his Dou Qi was full and he touched the boundary of Dou Ling.
• Xia Mo swallowed the Spirit Vermillion Fruit, triggering a powerful surge of suction that drew energy into his body and formed a vortex in the cultivation room.
• Xia Mo completed his breakthrough to Dou Ling, and students passing the occupied room looked toward it with curiosity and awe.

After breaking through to Dou Ling, Xia Mo judged his strength and relaxed at home while the Kun Gang prepared to confront him. Wang Kun let Li Qiang go after Xia Mo as he wrestled with the faction’s decline and considered leaving its problems behind.

• Xia Mo met Elder Hao after leaving the high-level cultivation room, then returned to his residence and assessed his strength.
• Xia Mo concluded that his tempered body and techniques could let him handle powerful opponents, but he preferred easy victories over desperate fights.
• Li Qiang learned that Xia Mo had broken through to Dou Ling and asked Wang Kun for permission to seek revenge for Li Wei.
• Wang Kun allowed Li Qiang to go after Xia Mo, while the Kun Gang’s members discussed the faction’s internal troubles and looming collapse.
• Wang Kun reflected on the Kun Gang’s failure to fulfill his ambitions and decided to let go and focus on his own breakthrough to Dou Wang.

Xia Mo visited the Inner Academy's Medicinal Herb Repository to find ingredients for a pill, using a jade token to enter its heavily guarded collection. He found the Ice Spirit Leaf and Three Flower Grass he needed, while resisting the temptation to take the repository's rare herbs.

• Xia Mo avoided the people watching the new student district and flew to the Medicinal Herb Repository.
• Elder Hao allowed Xia Mo to search for herbs and gave him a jade token to enter the rare-herb section.
• Xia Mo passed through the repository's barrier and explored its white-jade corridors filled with precious medicinal herbs.
• Xia Mo spotted a Blood Python Branch, a key ingredient for the Dou Ling Pill, and admired the rare collection without taking anything.
• Xia Mo found the Ice Spirit Leaf and Three Flower Grass he needed for a third-grade pill.

Xia Mo encountered Zi Yan in the Inner Academy’s medicinal-herb collection after she took the Snow Infant Ginseng he had intended to grab. Zi Yan mistook him for a fellow member of her clan and asked him to become her little brother, but Xia Mo refused and pointed out that she had stolen the herbs.

• Xia Mo found Snow Infant Ginseng and reached for it, but Zi Yan appeared and took it first.
• Zi Yan ate part of a Vajra Bodhi as Xia Mo watched in amazement.
• Zi Yan accused Xia Mo of trying to steal herbs, while Xia Mo denied it and told her his name.
• Zi Yan offered to protect Xia Mo if he became her little brother, believing they shared a clan bloodline.
• Xia Mo refused, explained that he was an Inner Academy student, and warned Zi Yan that Elder Hao might confront her for taking the herbs.

Xia Mo met Zi Yan in the herb storehouse and won her over by offering tasty energy pills and promising to refine herbs for her. He left with her to settle his herb account with Elder Hao, who warned him to keep Zi Yan happy.

• Zi Yan complained about the taste of raw medicinal herbs, and Xia Mo offered her his flavored energy pills in exchange for her name.
• Zi Yan introduced herself, devoured more than ten of Xia Mo's energy pills, and agreed to bring him herbs to refine.
• Zi Yan stored the Snow Infant Ginseng and followed Xia Mo out of the herb storehouse, passing through its energy barrier with ease.
• Elder Hao angrily confronted Zi Yan for eating the Vajra Bodhi, but she threatened him and urged Xia Mo to hurry.
• Xia Mo paid Elder Hao one hundred days of Fire Energy for the herbs he had taken, and Elder Hao warned him to serve Zi Yan carefully.

Xia Mo and Zi Yan bonded over barbecue, and Zi Yan moved into the room beside his in the Inner Academy. Xia Mo refined pills from her medicinal ingredients, and Zi Yan promised to protect him as the Strong Ranking’s first-place holder.

• Xia Mo taught Zi Yan how to grill meat, and she ate her fill before choosing the room beside his.
• Zi Yan asked Xia Mo to refine the Vajra Bodhi and Snow Infant Ginseng she had brought from her Storage Ring.
• Xia Mo used his Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame to refine both ingredients into pills, which Zi Yan eagerly tasted.
• Zi Yan insisted Xia Mo keep some pills as payment, and he warned her that humans could not safely consume them.
• Zi Yan promised to stand up for Xia Mo and revealed that she ranked first on the Inner Academy’s Strong Ranking.