Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan received two unusual Dou Techniques from Old Man Yao and Hun Ruoruo after defeating a stronger opponent. He began studying them and discovered that Hun Ruoruo’s seemingly modest Soul Piercing Strike was so obscure and painful that he planned to ask his teacher for help.

• Hun Ruoruo healed Xiao Yan’s arm, then called Old Man Yao out to reward him for bringing back supplies.
• Old Man Yao taught Xiao Yan the Xuan-tier advanced Eight Extremes Collapse, a Dou Technique that drew on physical strength.
• Hun Ruoruo transmitted the Soul Force Dou Technique Soul Piercing Strike to Xiao Yan and suggested mastering both skills might let him fight Xun'er.
• Hun Ruoruo deflected Xiao Yan’s question about why she avoided Xun'er, then left the room.
• Xiao Yan studied Soul Piercing Strike, suffered intense pain from its obscure information, and decided to ask Old Man Yao to explain it.

Xiao Yan accompanied Hun Ruoruo shopping in Wutan City while struggling to learn the Soul Dou Technique she had taught him. When Jia Lie Ao blocked their path and became fixated on Hun Ruoruo, she urged Xiao Yan to use the encounter as a chance to learn the technique.

• Xiao Yan had advanced to the Fifth Stage of Dou Qi and made quick progress with Hun Ruoruo's Soul Dou Technique, but he still could not use it.
• Hun Ruoruo revealed herself while shopping, and Xiao Yan hurried them away from the angry, envious onlookers.
• At an intersection in Wutan City, Xiao Yan spotted Jia Lie Ao surrounded by Guards and learned that he was a One-star Fighter.
• Hun Ruoruo told Xiao Yan that Jia Lie Ao was too strong for him but suggested the encounter could help him learn the Soul Dou Technique.
• Xiao Yan confronted Jia Lie Ao, who ignored him and stared at Hun Ruoruo with undisguised desire.

Jia Lie Ao tried to use a false accusation to separate Hun Ruoruo from Xiao Yan, but Hun Ruoruo killed him with a Soul Dou Technique. She revealed that she had used their shopping trip to demonstrate the technique to Xiao Yan, leaving him shaken by the power she had shown.

• Jia Lie Ao approached Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo, pretending to intervene because he thought Xiao Yan had mistreated her.
• Hun Ruoruo claimed she was not from the Xiao Family, prompting Jia Lie Ao to order his Guards to detain her and question her separately.
• Hun Ruoruo counted down and struck Jia Lie Ao between the brows with a faint purple light, killing him instantly.
• Jia Lie Ao's Guards discovered that he was dead and panicked, while Xiao Yan realized Hun Ruoruo had caused his death.
• Hun Ruoruo told Xiao Yan she had taken Jia Lie Ao's soul to demonstrate a Soul Dou Technique, and Xiao Yan was left deeply shaken.

After Jia Lie Ao died, Xiao Yan studied Hun Ruoruo’s Soul Dou Technique and discovered how to experience its attack firsthand, taking his first step toward mastering Soul Piercing Strike. Old Man Yao praised his progress and promised to explain soul ranks after Xiao Yan became a Dou Zhe.

• Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo were questioned by the Guards after Jia Lie Ao died, but witnesses said they had not touched him or used Dou Qi, and his death was treated as possibly natural.
• Xiao Yan worried about Hun Ruoruo’s lethal method and her disregard for life, while Old Man Yao told him Dou Techniques depended on how they were used.
• Xiao Yan repeatedly studied Hun Ruoruo’s imprinting demonstration and realized he needed to experience Soul Piercing Strike himself.
• Xiao Yan stood in Jia Lie Ao’s former position during the imprinting and endured the attack, then recognized that he had begun to understand the Soul Dou Technique.
• Old Man Yao praised Xiao Yan’s progress and said his Soul Force would grow faster after he became a Dou Zhe and learned Alchemy.
• Xiao Yan asked about Hun Ruoruo’s Soul Force and soul ranks, but Old Man Yao promised to explain after Xiao Yan became a Dou Zhe.

After half a month of intense training, Xiao Yan spoke with Xiao Zhan, who suspected he was using an evil cultivation method and keeping a woman outside the family. Xiao Yan explained Hun Ruoruo’s help, but noticed his father seemed to be hiding something about the Jia Lie Family; meanwhile, Xun'er asked Elder Ling for news about a mysterious woman.

• Xiao Yan trained with Hun Ruoruo and experimented with combining Eight Extremes Collapse and Soul Piercing Strike, raising his strength by another level.
• Xiao Zhan visited Xiao Yan and warned him against pursuing quick results through a crooked, evil path.
• Xiao Yan explained that Hun Ruoruo had helped his cultivation, and Xiao Zhan accepted his explanation with lingering doubt.
• Xiao Yan asked whether the Jia Lie Family had made unusual moves and noticed Xiao Zhan’s cold expression when the family was mentioned.
• Xun'er summoned Elder Ling and asked how the investigation into the mysterious woman was going.

Xun'er and Ling Ying investigated the mysterious woman behind Jia Lie Ao's death while learning that the Jia Lie Family was plotting against the Xiao Family. Hun Ruoruo secretly tampered with the Jia Lie Family's affairs and watched as its patriarch announced an attack on the Xiao Family.

• Xun'er learned from Ling Ying that Jia Lie Ao's death may have involved a powerful Alchemist, and she considered using her Heavenly Flame to uncover the mysterious woman's identity.
• Ling Ying told Xun'er that the Jia Lie Family seemed to be plotting against the Xiao Family, but Xun'er chose not to interfere unless Xiao Yan was involved.
• Hun Ruoruo planted a bag of Gold Coins at a Jia Lie Family storehouse, prompting Gale Ku to order the accounts changed as he anticipated the family's rise.
• Hun Ruoruo identified the pale green liquid as Rejuvenation Powder and poured it into the courtyard of Jia Lie Ao's residence.
• Hun Ruoruo listened in on a gathering of Jia Lie Family leaders as Jia Lie Bu announced that the family would take a huge piece from the Xiao Family.

Hun Ruoruo worried that her help was changing Xiao Yan’s future and returned to her secluded cottage, where she found him waiting. Xiao Yan asked for her help against the Jia Lie Family’s new Alchemist-backed business, and her response was left hanging as she pressed him with her frightening aura.

• Hun Ruoruo learned that Jia Lie Bu had blamed her and Xiao Yan for Jia Lie Ao’s death and planned to use a first-grade Alchemist’s Rejuvenation Powder to challenge the Xiao Family.
• Hun Ruoruo left Wutan City for her forest cottage, worrying that her actions could disrupt Xiao Yan’s future.
• Hun Ruoruo found Xiao Yan waiting outside her cottage after he deduced where she lived from an earlier conversation.
• Xiao Yan told Hun Ruoruo that the Jia Lie Family had hired a first-grade Alchemist and begun selling healing spiritual liquid that threatened the Xiao Family’s customers.
• Xiao Yan explained that Yao Lao could not be burdened with refining medicine, and Hun Ruoruo confronted him with a chilling display of Soul Force.

Xiao Yan asked Hun Ruoruo to help him eliminate Jia Lie Bu, and she agreed to take him to the Jia Lie Family when the time was right. After Xiao Yan returned to Wutan City, Hun Ruoruo rested and resolved to keep changing the plot while protecting him.

• Hun Ruoruo overwhelmed Xiao Yan with her Soul Force, then withdrew it and heard his explanation that he lacked time to learn alchemy before facing the Alchemist.
• Xiao Yan argued that Jia Lie Bu intended to seize the Xiao Family’s resources and customers, and urged Hun Ruoruo to kill him.
• Hun Ruoruo soothed Xiao Yan’s lingering fear and promised to take him to the Jia Lie Family later, then went into her wooden house to rest.
• Xiao Yan awkwardly told Hun Ruoruo to get some rest, and Old Man Yao pointed out that his remark had misunderstood her strange behavior.
• Hun Ruoruo reflected that she had chosen to stand with Xiao Yan, resolved to help protect him, and settled down to enjoy a rare moment of leisure.

Xiao Yan came to terms with Hun Ruoruo’s contrasting personalities, calmed his mind, and broke through to the Sixth stage of Dou Qi. That night, Hun Ruoruo secretly took him out and used a Soul Dou Technique to hide them from the guards, then joked that learning it required him to cut off his manhood.

• Xiao Yan returned to the Xiao Family worried about Hun Ruoruo, and Old Man Yao told him that her coldness and bewitching manner were both genuine parts of her personality.
• Xiao Yan resumed cultivation, reconsidered his feelings for Hun Ruoruo, and decided he hoped they could become true friends.
• Xiao Yan stopped worrying about the Jia Lie Family and spent several days resting and helping Xiao Zhan, then broke through to the Sixth stage of Dou Qi.
• Hun Ruoruo arrived at Xiao Yan’s door that night and led him out after telling him to put out the lamp.
• Hun Ruoruo used a Soul Dou Technique to conceal Xiao Yan from a guard, then teased him that mastering the Disguise Dou Technique required cutting off his manhood.

Xiao Yan assassinated the Jia Lie Family’s first-grade Alchemist and discovered that his Soul Skill could absorb a small amount of its victim’s Soul Force. He then proposed using the Alchemist’s death to disrupt the family’s Little Green Bottle business, leaving Hun Ruoruo wondering whether he had become a scheming villain.

• Hun Ruoruo led Xiao Yan through the Jia Lie Family’s guards to the Alchemist’s courtyard and told him he had to act personally.
• Xiao Yan entered the Alchemist’s room, concealed his aura, and killed him with his Soul Skill while the man was distracted.
• Xiao Yan noticed that killing the Alchemist had slightly strengthened his Soul Force, and he struggled with his feelings about taking a life.
• Xiao Yan told Hun Ruoruo that killing the Alchemist was only the first step and proposed exploiting the family’s inability to fulfill a flood of Little Green Bottle orders.

Xiao Yan declined Hun Ruoruo’s offer to help him deal with the Jia Lie Family and returned to the Xiao Family to set his own plan in motion. At a midnight meeting, Xiao Zhan told the family elders that the Jia Lie Family’s Alchemist was already dead.

• Hun Ruoruo offered to help Xiao Yan, but he refused and said he needed to handle the matter himself.
• Xiao Yan left the Jia Lie Family and hurried back to the Xiao Family while his Disguise Dou Technique remained active.
• Xiao Zhan summoned the Three Elders and other senior Xiao Family members to his residence before dawn.
• The Third Elder and First Elder described how the Jia Lie Family’s customer theft had damaged the Xiao Family’s profits and how they lacked an Alchemist’s support.
• Xiao Zhan claimed the Xiao Family could turn the situation around because the Jia Lie Family’s Alchemist was already dead.

Xiao Zhan told the Xiao Family elders that the Jia Lie Family's Alchemist had died and revealed a plan to trap the Jia Lie Family with a massive order for Rejuvenation Powder. The plan succeeded, but Gale Ku learned of Liu Xi's death after signing the contract and fainted when he realized the consequences.

• Xiao Zhan presented the Alchemist's badge as proof of Liu Xi's death and proposed using a fake Merchant Caravan to lure the Jia Lie Family into a large contract.
• The Third Elder abandoned his opposition to Xiao Zhan, while Xiao Yan listened outside and then slipped away into the shadows.
• Gale Ku raised the price of Rejuvenation Powder and hurried to the Mittel Auction House after hearing a Merchant Caravan wanted a large supply of healing medicinal liquid.
• Gale Ku signed a contract for nearly two hundred thousand Gold Coins with the Caravan's representative, believing the Jia Lie Family could fulfill the order.
• The tall, thin man told Gale Ku that Liu Xi had died, and Gale Ku collapsed after realizing the Jia Lie Family would face triple compensation for breaking the contract.

After the Jia Lie Family lost its Rejuvenation Powder business, Xiao Yan continued his demanding training and struggled with the limits of his Dou Techniques. Old Man Yao encouraged him to stop measuring himself against Hun Ruoruo, and Xiao Yan regained his composure before returning to cultivation.

• The Jia Lie Family lost customers and fell into decline after Rejuvenation Powder was pulled from sale, while Patriarch Jia Lie Bu ordered Gale Ku's cultivation crippled and gathered compensation money.
• Xiao Yan trained daily, steadily increasing his cultivation through practice with Old Man Yao and Hun Ruoruo.
• Xiao Yan used Eight Extremes, Break to topple an ancient tree, then treated the painful injury to his arm.
• Old Man Yao offered Xiao Yan a Profound Tier Low Grade Dou Technique and reminded him that his Dou Qi had grown stronger.
• Old Man Yao pointed out that Xiao Yan was anxious because he viewed Ruoruo as someone he had to catch up to, and Xiao Yan understood the lesson and thanked his Teacher.

Hun Ruoruo met Xun'er after helping Xiao Yan, then explained that she had assisted him because she believed he was weary of the world. Xun'er accepted her explanation, while Hun Ruoruo concealed that Xiao Yan had never actually spoken about her.

• Hun Ruoruo left Xiao Yan exhausted after helping him and encountered Xun'er waiting near the courtyard.
• Xun'er challenged Hun Ruoruo for hiding her aura, and Hun Ruoruo invited her to talk elsewhere.
• Hun Ruoruo falsely claimed Xiao Yan often praised Xun'er's temperament, kindness, and humility, flustering Xun'er.
• Xun'er asked why Hun Ruoruo had helped Xiao Yan, and Hun Ruoruo said she had acted after hearing him declare that the world did not belong to him.
• Xun'er relaxed after hearing Hun Ruoruo's explanation, while Hun Ruoruo privately noted that she had not told a single lie.

Hun Ruoruo deceived Xun'er into believing she was a Sound Valley successor, then returned to her room and revealed her scars from the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame. With Old Man Yao's help, she arranged to pass Xun'er's apology gift to Xiao Yan in secret.

• Xun'er apologized to Hun Ruoruo for her earlier suspicion and gave her a Storage Ring as compensation.
• After Hun Ruoruo left, Xun'er and Ling Ying concluded that she was not an Alchemist or a Soul Clan member and guessed she was a Sound Valley successor.
• Hun Ruoruo returned to her room and examined the scars left by the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame.
• Old Man Yao appeared and offered to teach Hun Ruoruo about cultivating Water attribute Dou Qi.
• Hun Ruoruo gave Old Man Yao Xun'er's gift for Xiao Yan and asked him to keep its source secret.

After nearly half a year of training under Old Man Yao and Hun Ruoruo, Xiao Yan broke through from the peak of the 9th Duan of Dou Qi to Dou Zhe with an unusually large, dense Dou Qi Vortex. He celebrated his return to Dou Zhe and credited his strength to their guidance.

• Old Man Yao pushed Xiao Yan to build up and refine true Dou Qi until he reached the peak of the 9th Duan.
• Old Man Yao gave Xiao Yan Qi Gathering Powder as his breakthrough began.
• Xiao Yan directed the surging Dou Qi into his dantian and condensed it into a Dou Qi Vortex.
• Xiao Yan broke through to Dou Zhe and marveled at how much stronger his new vortex was than his former one.
• Old Man Yao praised Xiao Yan's strength, and Xiao Yan credited Old Man Yao and Hun Ruoruo for helping him improve.

After breaking through to Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan chose the dangerous Fierce Heaven Art to pursue greater strength and uncover Hun Ruoruo’s secrets. The chapter leaves him tempted by Ruoruo’s proposal to leave Wutan City together in search of a Heavenly Flame.

• Xiao Yan asked Old Man Yao about Hun Ruoruo, then chose the Fierce Heaven Art despite its low chance of success and deadly risks.
• Old Man Yao admitted he had hoped Xiao Yan would cultivate the Fierce Heaven Art so its Heavenly Flame fusion could give his Soul Body a chance at rebirth.
• The day before his Coming-of-Age Ceremony preliminary test, Xiao Yan met Hun Ruoruo and revealed his pale-yellow cultivation technique.
• Hun Ruoruo guessed the technique could evolve and revealed that Old Man Yao had told her about it.
• Hun Ruoruo invited Xiao Yan to leave Wutan City with her and seek a Heavenly Flame, leaving him flustered and tempted.

Xiao Yan attended the Xiao Family’s Dou Qi test with Hun Ruoruo and was surprised when Xun’er could see her. As Xun’er went up to take her test, Xiao Yan pressed Ruoruo to explain how she knew her.

• Xiao Yan dressed and headed to the Azure Stone Training Ground with Hun Ruoruo, hearing rumors about his supposed ability to communicate with ghosts along the way.
• At the training ground, Hun Ruoruo acted like an aloof beauty, and Xun’er greeted both her and Xiao Yan as if she could see Ruoruo.
• Xiao Yan tried to ask his teacher about Xun’er seeing Ruoruo, but received no answer and watched the test in boredom.
• Xiao Mei scored advanced Eight-Stage Dou Qi and regretted how she had treated Xiao Yan before walking off without celebrating.
• After most of the next test-takers performed poorly, Xun’er went to take her test, and Xiao Yan asked Ruoruo how she knew her.
• Hun Ruoruo told Xiao Yan that men and women should keep their distance when he leaned close to her.

Xiao Yan spoke with Hun Ruoruo about Xun'er tracking her, then reunited with Xun'er after her test and reflected on the secrets and goals that drove him to become stronger. As the family testing continued, he secretly eyed Hun Ruoruo and imagined getting even with both women once he surpassed them.

• Hun Ruoruo claimed Xun'er had sent an old man to track her, forcing her to disguise herself and flee.
• Xiao Yan realized he had missed Xun'er's test and saw that she had already returned to the crowd.
• Xun'er asked Xiao Yan whether she had impressed him, and he praised her while hiding his guilt about not watching.
• Xun'er hinted that she could see through Xiao Yan's cultivation but refused to explain how.
• As the tests continued, Xiao Yan resolved to turn his resentment into motivation and imagined surpassing Xun'er and Hun Ruoruo.

Xiao Yan took the Xiao Family’s final cultivation test and stunned everyone by revealing he had become a One-Star Dou Zhe. The crowd erupted as Xiao Yan left the stage, while Xiao Zhan and Third Elder struggled to process the result.

• Third Elder asked Xiao Zhan why Xiao Yan had been placed last on the test list, and Xiao Zhan said Yan'er’s previous result had determined his ranking.
• After Xiao Sheng failed the test, the tester called Xiao Yan, and Xun'er and Hun Ruoruo offered him encouragement.
• Xiao Yan walked unusually slowly to the testing stele, making the crowd and Xiao Zhan fear that he had not reached the Seventh stage of Dou Qi.
• Xiao Yan pressed his palm to the stele, which revealed that he was a One-Star Dou Zhe and left the tester struggling to announce the result.
• Xiao Yan stepped off the platform as the crowd roared, Xiao Zhan crushed his teacup, and Third Elder was left in shock.