Chapter Summaries

Flame Emperor Xiao Yan refined a Sovereign Emperor Pill and completed his true name on the Firmament Billboard, gaining the Great Thousand World's recognition. Remembering his previous life and another homeland, he sent an Origin avatar into a cosmic vortex to look for it.

• Xiao Yan used the flames of countless planes to refine a peerless Sovereign Emperor Pill.
• The Firmament Billboard appeared and revealed Mu Chen's complete name and the surnames Xiao, Lin, and Ye.
• Xiao Yan consumed the Emperor Pill and used Empyrean Flame to write 'Yan' after 'Xiao' on the Billboard.
• The completed name Xiao Yan earned the Great Thousand World's recognition and filled him with memories of his previous life.
• Xiao Yan sent an Origin avatar into a cosmic vortex to visit his other homeland in his place.

Yan Xiao was released from his vegetative state by a mysterious black-robed man, who sent him away with a flaming mark and the seed of Empyrean Flame. Yan Xiao was reborn as a baby in a new world, where he began adjusting to his new life and his playful father.

• Yan Xiao remained conscious inside an immobile body in a hospital until a black-robed man appeared and caused him to awaken.
• The black-robed man said the place was unsuitable, then sent Yan Xiao away and passed information and a flaming mark into his soul.
• Yan Xiao experienced Chaos and vanished in a blaze of light as the black-robed man reflected on the World Fruit and the seed of Empyrean Flame.
• Yan Xiao awoke as a newborn with his memories intact, cried, and eventually fell asleep and fed.
• After several days, Yan Xiao heard his father arrive with a rattle and reluctantly accepted him despite his constant teasing.

Reborn in 1980 as a newborn, Yan Kuan got his parents to name him after he objected to their other suggestions. He reflected on his new life, his memories of the future, and the supernatural power hinted at by the flame-shaped mark on his forehead.

• Yan Kuan’s mother stopped his father from kissing him because he smelled of smoke, and his father promised to quit smoking tomorrow.
• Yan Kuan’s parents debated his name, and he objected to suggestions like Yan Yan and Huo Huo until they chose Yan Kuan.
• Yan Kuan’s parents played with him, and he silently acknowledged that he had been reborn in 1980.
• Yan Kuan considered his family’s modest home and imagined using his future knowledge and supernatural abilities to succeed.
• Yan Kuan’s mother picked him up again, and he followed his newborn instincts to eat.

Five-year-old Yan Kuan cultivated Dou Qi with a technique inherited from Flame Emperor Xiao Yan, using a gas stove flame to compensate for the world's scarce spiritual energy. After reflecting on his origins and the mysterious traces of an ancient age, he left the kitchen when Ms. Xiao called him to go out.

• Yan Kuan secretly climbed onto the kitchen stove and cultivated by drawing energy from its flame.
• Yan Kuan complained that his progress toward forming a Battle Qi Cyclone was slow and worried about the gas running out.
• Yan Kuan recalled how Xiao Yan's clone had crossed universes, passed on its inheritance, and enabled his rebirth.
• Yan Kuan considered the world's near-absence of spiritual energy and the traces of power he had found in old antiques.
• Ms. Xiao called Yan Kuan to come out, and he hurried to join her.

Yan Kuan helped his parents buy antiques at Panjiayao, where Yan Qiang exposed Wang Xiangdong’s fake family heirloom and bought his other goods. After sorting their finds in the car, Yan Kuan examined a Bagua box that Xiao Lin could not identify.

• Yan Qiang, Xiao Lin, and Yan Kuan visited Panjiayao and bought several old objects, attracting the attention of people looking to exploit their apparent wealth.
• Yan Kuan whispered to Xiao Lin, who told Yan Qiang to inspect the White Jade Buddha hanging around Wang Xiangdong’s neck.
• Yan Qiang examined the Buddha, recognized that it had recently been unearthed, and negotiated to buy Wang Xiangdong’s other goods on Panjiayao Street.
• Yan Qiang and Xiao Lin sorted the antiques in their sedan while Yan Kuan identified their likely dynasties.
• Xiao Lin showed Yan Kuan a three-dimensional Bagua box and said she could not tell which period it came from.

Yan Kuan discovered that the Trigram Treasure Box could gather spiritual energy from moonlight and used it to cultivate. After reaching the Battle Qi Ninth Stage, he successfully formed a Qi Cyclone with the box’s help, but saw that his dantian had become a crimson flame unlike the one described in his inheritance.

• Yan Kuan tried blood and Dou Qi to activate the Trigram Treasure Box, but neither worked until moonlight caused it to gather energy.
• Yan Kuan realized the box could draw in spiritual energy from moonlight and used it to aid his cultivation.
• After more than half a year of cultivating, Yan Kuan reached the Battle Qi Ninth Stage and prepared to form a Qi Cyclone.
• Yan Kuan compressed his Dou Qi, and the Trigram Treasure Box sent Spiritual Light into his dantian, removing the resistance.
• Yan Kuan successfully condensed a Qi Cyclone and saw that his dantian had taken the form of scarlet flames.

Yan Kuan’s Bagua Treasure Box opened and taught him the Wheel Sea cultivation method and knowledge of the Shrouding the Heavens universe. He resolved to cultivate and protect his family, while learning that Blue Star’s End of Dharma kept cultivators hidden from ordinary life.

• Yan Kuan sensed the Bagua Treasure Box move, and it opened to send cultivation knowledge into his mind.
• Yan Kuan recognized that he was in the dangerous Shrouding the Heavens universe and planned to grow stronger, relying on his foreknowledge if necessary.
• Yan Kuan decided to focus on cultivating enough to protect himself and his family rather than worry about distant realms and future catastrophes.
• Yan Kuan read the Golden Book Jade Scroll and learned that the Azure Emperor’s lingering influence and Blue Star’s thin spiritual qi had driven cultivation into decline.
• Yan Kuan learned that cultivators remained hidden in remote mountains and spiritual lands, and that they would only appear in greater numbers after the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin incident.

Yan Kuan studied the Trigram Treasure Box and discovered that his dantian showed signs of a special physique, likely linked to the Empyrean Flame that had transformed his body. He weighed whether to pursue the Shrouding the Heavens Method or the Burning Art, uncertain whether forging his own Dao would bring dangerous tribulations.

• Yan Kuan learned that the Trigram Treasure Box was a sentient Great Power Supreme Treasure from the Trigram Esoteric Sect, and promised to help it gain a Deity someday.
• Yan Kuan examined his dantian and triggered a fiery sea phenomenon, then spotted a crimson orb of light within his Sea of Bitterness.
• Yan Kuan connected his unusual physique and Fiery Golden Eyes to the Empyrean Flame Seed that had transformed his body.
• Yan Kuan considered cultivating the Burning Art alongside the Shrouding the Heavens Method and worried that opening his own Dao might provoke a tribulation he could not survive.

Yan Kuan’s first attempt to cultivate the Burning Art fused it with the Wheel Sea cultivation method from Shrouding the Heavens, creating an evolved technique that could turn his energy into flame. After realizing the method could continue to improve, he stored the inherited scroll and began recording his foreknowledge to plan for future opportunities.

• Yan Kuan decided to attempt cultivating the Burning Art rather than abandon it.
• As Yan Kuan circulated the Burning Art, it fused with the Wheel Sea Scroll, and the Trigram Treasure Box concealed a blazing phenomenon that lasted until dusk.
• Yan Kuan awoke with enhanced senses and discovered he could transform his divine power into flame using the evolved Burning Art.
• Yan Kuan concluded that the Burning Art had become a Shrouding the Heavens-based method that could improve by absorbing advanced cultivation techniques.
• Yan Kuan stored the Golden Book Jade Scroll in the Trigram Treasure Box and considered blaming the ruined courtyard on Old Yan.
• Yan Kuan returned to his room and began writing down his foreknowledge memories to plan how to obtain future opportunities.

Yan Kuan chose Mount Ba Ling as his next cultivation destination and traveled there with hired bodyguards to seek the tomb of the Ancient Great Saint Chisongzi. Using the Eight Trigrams Sect’s inheritance and his newly awakened Samsara ability, he began tracing the mountain’s ancient terrain.

• Yan Kuan compared possible cultivation sites and decided Mount Ba Ling was worth exploring for its earth veins and ancient tombs.
• Yan Kuan arranged matters with his parents and prepared for the journey and treasure hunt.
• Yan Kuan arrived at Mount Ba Ling in Jiangling with five bodyguards, who carried him and their equipment toward the mountain.
• Yan Kuan studied the terrain and feng shui with the Trigram Treasure Box, drawing on the Eight Trigrams Sect’s inheritance.
• Yan Kuan used his Samsara ability, gained by refining the Empyrean Flame Seed, to retrace traces of the past and locate the ancient tomb.

Yan Kuan searched Mount Ba Ling for another entrance to the Ancient Tomb and found a hidden cavern leading underground. After reaching white jade steps, he encountered a stone wall that radiated the sound of clashing swords and blocked his way.

• Yan Kuan confirmed that the sealed earth covered the Ancient Tomb and told his bodyguards to stay at the campsite while he searched for another entrance.
• Yan Kuan explored a harsh valley, where he saw an abnormal bat attack a wildcat and followed the bat to a hidden cavern.
• Yan Kuan entered the cavern with the Trigram Treasure Box and followed it underground, protected from a wave of cold aura by his crimson flames.
• Yan Kuan recognized ancient Great Seal Script on the cavern walls and followed celestial music to a flight of white jade steps.
• Yan Kuan climbed the steps until sword cries from a marked stone wall overwhelmed him, forcing him to retreat and consider another route.

Yan Kuan explored the underground palace, collecting Bat Monsters and discovering powerful Sword Intent and the tomb’s Solar Trueflame burial chamber. He reached the limits of what he could safely cross and identified the cremation site, its ancient Firevine, and the Sword Intent as treasures he hoped to claim.

• Yan Kuan realized he had taken the wrong path, changed direction, and entered a vast underground palace.
• Yan Kuan killed a Bat Monster with the Trigram Treasure Box, stored it as a cultivation resource, and collected dozens more when a swarm attacked.
• Yan Kuan descended to a deeper level, heard the Chime Bells, and stopped before the dangerous Sword Intent left by an Ancient Saint.
• Yan Kuan saw seven decaying Sword Sheaths in a Stone Chamber and decided not to risk destroying them because they preserved the Sword Intent.
• Yan Kuan looked beyond the Stone Chamber and discovered a Coffin surrounded by Solar Trueflame and an ancient Firevine.

Yan Kuan began cultivating in the Ancient Sage Tomb at Mount Ba Ling, using the Solar Trueflame and his Burning Art to seek a shortcut to rapid growth. After drawing a trace of the flame into his Sea of Bitterness, he was left struggling to control its eruption.

• Yan Kuan chose Mount Ba Ling over Mount Lu because the Sage's tomb posed less danger to intruders.
• Yan Kuan decided that he had to become powerful rather than wait for events from the original plot, and resolved to use his advantages to cheat.
• Yan Kuan guided Flame Divine Power through his Sea of Bitterness and opened a tiny hollow at its center.
• Yan Kuan sent two streaks of flame into the Solar Trueflame, causing its power to surge through the tomb.
• Yan Kuan used the Trigram Treasure Box as a safeguard and drew a trace of Solar Trueflame power into his Sea of Bitterness.
• Yan Kuan's Sea of Bitterness began boiling as the foreign flame erupted, and he mobilized his strength to suppress it.

Yan Kuan refined a wisp of Solar Trueflame, strengthening and transforming his Burning Art divine power. He broke through to the Life Spring Realm and tested his new ability to fly and his Fiery Golden Eyes.

• Yan Kuan's Burning Art devoured the Solar Trueflame, adding golden patterns to his Flame Divine Power and greatly increasing its might.
• Yan Kuan contemplated the Wheel of Life, the Sea of Bitterness, and the path to forming a Life Spring.
• Yan Kuan absorbed the surrounding flame energy as his Sea of Bitterness erupted and life essence nourished his body.
• Yan Kuan broke through to the Life Spring Realm, forming a crimson-gold Divine Spring connected to his Wheel of Life.
• Yan Kuan rose into the air and used his Fiery Golden Eyes to scorch the underground palace walls, noting the power of the Shrouding the Heavens Method.

Yan Kuan used his Reincarnation Ability on Grand Sage Red Pine’s chime bells and gained insights into his cultivation and a music-based profound art. After storing the bells and deciding not to risk exploring deeper, Yan Kuan approached the Great Sage’s Sword Sharpening Stone, hoping to learn a sword art from it.

• Yan Kuan used his Empyrean Flame’s Reincarnation Ability on the chime bells and witnessed scenes of Grand Sage Red Pine demonstrating the Dao.
• Yan Kuan gained cultivation insights and the Sword Cleansing Heart Refining Melody, Celestial Music Divine Chapter, while refining the spiritual imprint that had made the bells produce celestial music.
• Yan Kuan stored the chime bells in his Sea of Bitterness and chose not to venture deeper into the Ancient Tomb because his strength was insufficient.
• Yan Kuan approached the Sword Sharpening Stone, intending to use it as a medium to obtain a profound art of Sword Intent.

Yan Kuan left the ancient tomb beneath Mount Ba Ling after failing to claim the Sword Sharpening Stone and reunited with his bodyguards, learning that his parents had come to Baling Town. He traveled to Jiujiang to study Mount Lu’s earth veins and seek independent cultivators, but avoided the powerful Dragon Finch Clan and its underground palace.

• Yan Kuan gave up approaching the Sword Sharpening Stone and left the tomb after learning he had been gone for more than half a month.
• Yan Kuan learned that his bodyguards had contacted Old Yan and Ms. Xiao, who had arrived in Baling Town, and he planned to ask them for help with his Mount Ba Ling base.
• Yan Kuan traveled to Jiujiang and discovered that a secluded Dragon Finch Clan occupied a spiritual villa district near Mount Lu.
• Yan Kuan saw that violet essence flowed into the Underground Palace beneath the villa district, but decided not to provoke the Dragon Finch Clan.
• Yan Kuan followed the earth vein into Mount Lu, hoping to locate the Underground Palace and meet independent cultivators.

Yan Kuan explored Mount Lu’s dying Violet Dragon Vein, discovered Dragon Marrow in an underground palace, and overheard independent cultivators discussing the Dragon Finch Clan’s control of local spiritual energy. He learned about a gathering at Mount Sanqing in three months, while the Dragon Marrow remained safely stored in his Treasure Box.

• Yan Kuan found an Ancient Cave beneath Mount Lu and sensed a dead Sage Realm expert trapped in its underground palace.
• A strange flame shot from the Heart of Mount Lu into Yan Kuan’s Trigram Treasure Box, where he found Earth Vein Dragon Marrow within it.
• Yan Kuan gathered essence from Mount Lu’s earth veins and spotted several cultivators speaking nearby without revealing himself.
• Daoist Qingfeng and the other cultivators said the Jiujiang Dragon Finch Clan had seized most of Mount Lu’s earth vein essence.
• The cultivators agreed to travel together to the Mount Sanqing Cultivator Gathering in three months.

Disguised as a dwarf, Yan Kuan attended a gathering of the Orthodox Unity Dao sects at Mount Sanqing and learned about the Ancestral Star’s declining spiritual energy and the old generation’s approaching twilight. He entered the Three Pure Peaks blessed land, where reclusive Daoist masters might accept disciples.

• Yan Kuan arrived at Nine Dragons Pass and observed young Daoists praising their Eldest Senior Brother for reaching the Life Spring realm.
• The Eldest Senior Brother announced that the gathering would include Daoist figures expounding the Dao and that the ancestral sect’s spiritual land would admit several disciples into its true lineage.
• Yan Kuan listened to cultivators discuss the fading spiritual energy, aging leaders, and the coming selection for the next Heavenly Master of Tianshi Manor.
• Yan Kuan realized that spiritual energy would not return until after the Nine Dragons Pulling a Coffin incident in 2008.
• Daoist attendants led Yan Kuan and the other cultivators through an Ancient Formation into the Three Pure Peaks blessed land.
• Yan Kuan learned that reclusive Daoist masters might attend the gathering to accept disciples.

Yan Kuan attended a major cultivator gathering at Three Pure Palace, left a Dao lecture he found elementary, and visited the temporary marketplace to seek Wheel Sea Realm texts he could use to improve his cultivation method. The chapter ended with him setting up a stall to trade several porcelain bottles.

• Cultivators from major sects and clans gathered at Mount Sanqing, where a Four Extremities Realm expert preached the Dao.
• Yan Kuan listened to the lecture at Three Purities Dao Palace but left after deciding its teachings were too basic for him.
• Yan Kuan explored the marketplace and learned that many stalls sold genuine but incomplete Wheel Sea Realm texts.
• Yan Kuan decided to collect Wheel Sea Realm cultivation books and optimize them with his ability to develop a method suited to himself.
• Yan Kuan disguised himself as a short black-robed man and set up a stall with several small porcelain bottles.

Yan Kuan set up a stall outside the Three Purities Dao Palace to trade Blood Origin Pills for scriptures, cultivation techniques, and resources. After a Daoist from a major sect tested a pill and was astonished by its quality, Yan Kuan clarified his terms and left the crowd eager to trade.

• Yan Kuan displayed low-, mid-, and high-grade Blood Origin Pills, drawing a crowd of cultivators unfamiliar with pills.
• A middle-aged Daoist from a major sect offered a Daoist scripture to inspect Yan Kuan's pills.
• The Daoist examined a low-grade pill and was shocked that it surpassed what his sect considered mid-grade.
• After testing the pill's effects, the Daoist asked how many Yan Kuan had available.
• Yan Kuan refused to sell them all to one person and set a scripture-or-classical-text plus resource requirement for each pill, with higher-level techniques required for the three high-grade pills.