Chapter Summaries

Mu Chen emerged from the secret room cured and revealed that he had become a Three-star Dou Zong after absorbing Venerate Huanhai’s residual soul energy with Jiang Donghua. Great Elder Ye Tianxing reacted with shock, then tried to persuade Mu Chen to take over his position.

• Ye Tianxing arrived outside the secret room and asked Lei Lie whether Mu Chen was inside after sensing the Dou Zong aura.
• Jiang Donghua and Mu Chen came out, and Ye Tianxing sensed Jiang Donghua’s unfathomable soul aura and Mu Chen’s Three-star Dou Zong cultivation.
• Mu Chen told Ye Tianxing and Lei Lie that Jiang Donghua had investigated his curse, uncovered Venerate Huanhai’s residual soul recording, and helped him absorb the energy released when the soul self-destructed.
• Ye Tianxing learned that Mu Chen was cured and that the two had gained an inheritance, and he called it a heaven-sent opportunity.
• Ye Tianxing praised Mu Chen and asked him to take over as great elder of the Inner Academy.

Mu Chen declined Ye Tianxing’s offer to become Jia Nan Academy’s Inner Academy great elder because he had promised Jiang Donghua to go to the Northern Region and look after Hong Ling. After Mu Chen’s Dou Zong breakthrough became public, the Inner Academy was stunned, and Jiang Donghua and Donghua Pavilion gained even greater renown.

• Mu Chen politely refused Ye Tianxing’s offer, explaining that he had promised Jiang Donghua to go to the Northern Region to look after Hong Ling.
• Ye Tianxing accepted Mu Chen’s decision, offered Jia Nan Academy’s support, and departed dejectedly.
• Lei Lie teased Jiang Donghua and Mu Chen for upsetting the Great Elder.
• News of Mu Chen’s Dou Zong breakthrough spread through the Inner and Outer Courts, and students confirmed his strength when they could not approach him.
• Students were left stunned by Mu Chen’s rise, while attention turned to Jiang Donghua and Donghua Pavilion, whose reputations soared.

Hong Ling longed for her absent husband, Jiang Donghua, while Qin Xiao broke through to Dou Wang and returned to the Inner Academy expecting admiration. His dramatic arrival did not draw the reaction he had anticipated.

• Hong Ling stroked her belly and worried about Jiang Donghua, who was away in the Black Corner Region.
• Qin Xiao absorbed the volcano’s Fire attribute energy as he cultivated for dozens of days to break through the Dou Wang bottleneck.
• Qin Xiao shattered the bottleneck, reached Dou Wang, and formed Battle Qi Wings infused with lightning and fire.
• Qin Xiao flew back to Jia Nan Academy’s Inner Academy, eager to show off his strength and claim the title of its true number one.
• Qin Xiao landed in the central plaza and displayed his wings, but the expected cries of amazement and admiration did not come.

After emerging from seclusion as a Dou Wang, Qin Xiao learned that Jiang Donghua had already reached Dou Wang and Mu Chen had become a three-star Dou Zong. Skeptical of the reports, Qin Xiao went to Medicine Spirit Pavilion, where his attempt to sense Mu Chen’s cultivation failed completely.

• Qin Xiao broke through to Dou Wang and expected the Inner Academy students to celebrate his achievement.
• Students told Qin Xiao that Jiang Donghua was a Dou Wang and Mu Chen had become a three-star Dou Zong.
• Qin Xiao doubted the rumors about Mu Chen and decided to verify them at Medicine Spirit Pavilion.
• Qin Xiao found Mu Chen preparing the corpse of a powerful magical beast in the courtyard.
• Qin Xiao tried to probe Mu Chen’s cultivation, but his soul perception vanished before reaching him.

Qin Xiao discovered that Mu Chen had recovered, become a Dou Zong, and casually hunted a powerful Earth Flame Rhinoceros. Mu Chen credited Jiang Donghua for lifting his curse, leaving Qin Xiao eager and uneasy to meet the mysterious new student.

• Qin Xiao arrived and was stunned to find Mu Chen healthy, his Dou Qi undetectable, and a sixth-order Earth Flame Rhinoceros lying dead nearby.
• Mu Chen congratulated Qin Xiao on reaching Dou Wang and invited him to share the beast's meat.
• Qin Xiao recognized the beast's overwhelming strength and felt his own recent breakthrough was insignificant beside Mu Chen's power.
• Mu Chen explained that Jiang Donghua had found and resolved the curse behind his illness, restoring his health and cultivation.
• Mu Chen prepared the rhinoceros meat while Qin Xiao wondered about Jiang Donghua's abilities and waited for him to arrive.

Qin Xiao met the mysterious new student Jiang Donghua, who challenged him to a sparring match. After sharing Sixth-order Demonic Beast meat with Mu Chen and Lei Lie, Qin Xiao and Jiang Donghua headed to the Inner Academy arena to fight.

• Lei Lie arrived with Jiang Donghua, whose unfathomable aura surprised Qin Xiao.
• Jiang Donghua praised Qin Xiao and challenged him to a match, which Qin Xiao accepted.
• Jiang Donghua roasted Earth Flame Rhinoceros meat, and Qin Xiao was impressed by its flavor and energizing effects.
• After eating, Qin Xiao urged Jiang Donghua to go to the arena, and the two flew there to spar.

Qin Xiao hesitated to spar with Jiang Donghua after realizing Mu Chen might retaliate if Jiang was hurt, but he regained his fighting spirit after elders agreed to supervise the match. The Inner Academy gathered to watch the Strong Ranking first face third, and the elders started the duel with a protective barrier in place.

• Qin Xiao stopped Jiang Donghua before the arena and asked him to swear that neither would hold a grudge after their spar.
• The guarding elder summoned reinforcements to witness and protect the match between the two Dou Wang students.
• News of the duel spread through the Inner Academy, and students packed the arena to watch.
• Three elders arrived, ordered Qin Xiao and Jiang Donghua to avoid lethal blows, and formed a barrier around the platform.
• The Seven-star Battle King elder declared the match underway as Qin Xiao unleashed his aura and Jiang Donghua's eyes flashed with light.

Jiang Donghua and Qin Xiao tested each other in the arena, then clashed with powerful high-grade Combat Skills. Both emerged unharmed and abandoned their underestimation of each other, ready to fight seriously.

• Qin Xiao and Jiang Donghua exchanged punches, with Qin Xiao's Thunder-Fire Battle Qi giving him a slight advantage.
• Qin Xiao urged Jiang Donghua to use a Combat Skill, but Jiang Donghua dissolved the invading energy and revealed that his warm-up was over.
• Jiang Donghua's speed surged, prompting Qin Xiao to unleash the Mysterious Tier High-grade Combat Skill Thunder-Fire Burning Heaven.
• Jiang Donghua countered with the Mysterious Tier High-grade Combat Skill Heavenly Gang Overlord Fist, and the collision shook the arena and its energy barrier.
• Both fighters survived the clash without serious injury, recognized each other's strength, and declared they would now fight seriously.

Jiang Donghua defeated Qin Xiao in an aerial battle after dodging Qin Xiao’s devastating Earth-tier attack with Lightning Shadow Step. The match ended with Qin Xiao conceding, while the spectators and elders were left stunned by the duel’s power.

• Qin Xiao unleashed Thunder-Fire Thousand-Arrow Barrage, but Jiang Donghua blocked most of the arrows with Fire Shield as they fought through the air.
• The three elders reinforced the barrier against the fighters’ impacts while the Inner Academy students watched in awe at their strength.
• Qin Xiao formed the Earth-tier Thunder-Fire World-Ending Spear and launched it at Jiang Donghua, forcing the elders to pour their strength into the barrier.
• Jiang Donghua used Earth-tier Mid Grade Lightning Shadow Step to evade the spear, which struck the arena and blasted a huge crater into its floor.
• Nearly exhausted, Qin Xiao acknowledged that he had lost to Jiang Donghua, and the arena fell silent.

Jiang Donghua defeated Qin Xiao in the Strong Ranking contest, leaving Qin Xiao determined to challenge him again. Months later, the Strong Ranking Tournament began, with Jiang Donghua, Qin Xiao, and Liu Qingsi still holding the top three places.

• Qin Xiao exhausted his battle qi after unleashing his strongest attacks, while Jiang Donghua evaded his Earth-tier spear technique and remained steady.
• Inner Academy students speculated that Jiang Donghua possessed an Earth-grade cultivation technique and came from a powerful Central Plains force.
• Qin Xiao admitted defeat and vowed to challenge Jiang Donghua again, and Jiang Donghua acknowledged him without turning back.
• Mu Chen encouraged Qin Xiao, then departed Jia Nan Academy to travel to the Northern Region of the Central Continent and look after Hong Ling.
• Several months later, the Strong Ranking Tournament began, and Liu Qingsi, Qin Xiao, and Jiang Donghua remained third, second, and first respectively.

Jiang Donghua stabilized his Dou Huang cultivation, entered the Spirit Realm, and refined a high-quality Emperor Pill while training in a remote mountain valley. He left for Jia Nan Academy to obtain a stronger cultivation method and temper himself with the Origin Heart Flame before heading to the Central Continent’s Northern Region to reunite with Hong Ling.

• Jiang Donghua broke through to the Dou Huang realm and entered the Spirit Realm after refining Venerate Huanhai’s residual soul energy.
• He studied Venerate Huanhai’s alchemy knowledge and refined a high-quality Sixth-grade Emperor Pill.
• Jiang Donghua decided to return to Jia Nan Academy to exchange Fire Energy for a High-grade Earth Tier fire attribute cultivation method and use the Origin Heart Flame for body tempering.
• He sealed his Medicine Garden and packed his pills, herbs, and medicinal cauldron before leaving his Cave Mansion.
• Jiang Donghua displayed his Four-star Dou Huang power, frightened the valley’s powerful magical beasts, and flew toward Jia Nan Academy.

Mu Chen learned that the Hong Family had been destroyed by the Xuan Ming Sect and that Hong Ling’s fate was unknown. Despite the sect’s Dou Zun expert and the danger, he headed east to investigate.

• Mu Chen reached the city where the Hong Family had lived and found that people were afraid to discuss them.
• Mu Chen offered the shopkeeper a Fifth-grade Demonic Core in exchange for information about the Hong Family.
• The shopkeeper told Mu Chen that the Xuan Ming Sect had massacred the Hong Family two or three months earlier and taken over its territory.
• The shopkeeper revealed that the Xuan Ming Sect had a Dou Zun expert and warned Mu Chen not to challenge it.
• Mu Chen concealed his strength and headed toward the eastern part of the city to find out whether Hong Ling was alive.

Mu Chen found the Hong Family estate destroyed and attacked the Xuan Ming Sect forces guarding it to force them to reveal what happened. After overwhelming their fighters and restraining two elders, he demanded to know whether Hong Ling and the other survivors were alive.

• Mu Chen reached the ruined Hong Family estate and decided to confront the Xuan Ming Sect openly to find the survivors.
• When Xuan Ming Sect disciples at the gates mocked and threatened him, Mu Chen killed them with a burst of Battle Qi.
• Hundreds of Xuan Ming Sect fighters gathered, including two elders at the Six-star and Seven-star Dou Huang levels, and surrounded Mu Chen.
• Mu Chen restrained the elders with spatial power and used green vines to crush several Dou Wang fighters and dozens of disciples.
• Mu Chen asked the captured elders what had happened to the Hong Family and whether Hong Ling was alive.

Mu Chen escaped the Hong Family Ruins with two Xuan Ming Sect elders and tortured them with Life-Devouring Parasitic Vine seeds until they agreed to answer his questions. He demanded everything they knew about the Hong Family and Hong Ling, leaving their fate dependent on what they revealed.

• Mu Chen restrained and abducted two Xuan Ming Sect elders, then fled hundreds of miles to a secluded valley as the sect’s forces arrived too late.
• Mu Chen sealed the valley with a barrier and planted Life-Devouring Parasitic Vine seeds in the elders’ wounds.
• Mu Chen activated the seeds, causing the vines to drain the elders’ Dou Qi and life essence while inflicting severe pain.
• The Six-star and Seven-star Dou Huang elders begged Mu Chen to stop and promised to reveal the Xuan Ming Sect’s and Hong Family’s secrets.
• Mu Chen demanded that the elders tell him everything they knew about the Hong Family and Hong Ling, threatening to prolong their torment if they lied.

Mu Chen learned that the Xuan Ming Sect destroyed the Hong Family because its Young Sect Master was enraged that Hong Ling had taken up with someone else, but the elders knew nothing about her fate. He headed to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to buy information about the sect and continue searching for her.

• Mu Chen interrogated two Xuan Ming Sect elders separately and learned that the Young Sect Master had ordered the Hong Family exterminated over Hong Ling.
• The elders said they did not know whether Hong Ling survived and that only the sect's Dou Zong core figures or the Young Sect Master's confidants might know.
• Mu Chen let the parasitic vines devour the elders, burned their remains, and took the valuables from their Storage Rings.
• Mu Chen disguised his appearance and aura, then went to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to seek intelligence about the Xuan Ming Sect.
• A maid recognized Mu Chen's Silver Card and escorted him to the Pavilion's VIP area.

Mu Chen learned that Hong Ling and the Hong Family’s Great Elder had likely survived, though both were missing, and decided to provoke the Xuan Ming Sect to draw out any remaining members of the Hong Family. He adopted Jiang Donghua’s name and killed four of the sect’s Peak Dou Huang elders, making the Northern Region erupt with rumors.

• The Xuan Ming Sect’s Fifth Elder discovered that two elders’ Soul Tablets had shattered and sent Disciplinary Hall experts to investigate their deaths near the Hong Family Ruins.
• A Hundred Treasures Pavilion steward told Mu Chen that the Hong Family’s Great Elder had escaped the massacre and Hong Ling was likely alive but had left the Northern Region.
• Mu Chen decided not to alert Jiang Donghua and instead planned to attack the Xuan Ming Sect to attract any surviving Hong Family members.
• Mu Chen chose to use Jiang Donghua’s name and relied on the life-saving jade slip Jiang Donghua had given him.
• Three days later, Mu Chen ambushed a Xuan Ming Sect squad led by four Peak Dou Huang elders and killed them with his Wood attribute combat skill.
• News of the killings spread throughout the Northern Region, earning Jiang Donghua a fearsome reputation and provoking the Xuan Ming Sect.

Jiang Donghua returned to Jia Nan Academy and encountered Liu Qingsi and Lei Lie, who speculated about his cultivation and discussed the upcoming Strong Ranking Tournament. When he visited Ye Tianxing to arrange an exchange and entry into the Heavenly Incineration Qi Tower, the Great Elder discovered that Jiang Donghua had reached roughly Four-star Dou Huang.

• Jiang Donghua met Liu Qingsi and Lei Lie in the Inner Academy garden, where Liu Qingsi asked about his cultivation progress.
• Lei Lie told Jiang Donghua that Qin Xiao planned to defeat him in the Strong Ranking Tournament and claimed his previous loss had been due to inexperience.
• Jiang Donghua left to find Ye Tianxing and complete procedures for exchanging a High-grade Earth-tier cultivation method and entering the Heavenly Incineration Qi Tower.
• Ye Tianxing sensed Jiang Donghua's strength and realized he had advanced from Dou Wang to around Four-star Dou Huang.
• Ye Tianxing marveled at Jiang Donghua's rapid progress and anticipated that his return would dramatically affect the Strong Ranking Tournament.

Jiang Donghua exchanged his accumulated Fire Energy for a high-grade Earth Tier cultivation method and chose the Purple Fire Phantom Spirit Art, which suited his Spiritual Realm Soul Force. He planned to temper his body once more with the Origin Heart Flame before setting out for the Northern Region of the Central Continent.

• Jiang Donghua insisted on exchanging all his Fire Energy for a high-grade Earth Tier cultivation method, and Ye Tianxing agreed to take him to the Cultivation Method Pavilion.
• Jiang Donghua sensed no living aura around the pavilion and suspected its hidden guardian was at least a Dou Zong.
• Ye Tianxing revealed the Inner Academy's four high-grade Earth Tier Fire-attribute cultivation methods and explained their traits.
• Jiang Donghua chose the Purple Fire Phantom Spirit Art for its blend of flame and illusion, which could work well with his powerful Soul Force.
• Ye Tianxing warned Jiang Donghua to keep the cultivation method secret, and Jiang Donghua prepared to temper his body with the Origin Heart Flame before leaving for the Northern Region of the Central Continent.

Jiang Donghua learned where he might find clues to a Heaven Tier Fire-attribute cultivation method and accepted Ye Tianxing’s warning not to pursue one recklessly. As the Inner Academy Strong Ranking Tournament approached, Ye Tianxing told him to hold back, and Jiang Donghua left promising to do so.

• Jiang Donghua asked Ye Tianxing whether he knew of any Heaven Tier Fire-attribute cultivation methods, and Ye Tianxing warned him about the powerful forces that possessed them.
• Ye Tianxing named the Central Plains Pill Tower, Fire Dragon Gate, and Blazing Flame Valley as possible sources of clues, while cautioning Jiang Donghua not to inquire recklessly.
• Jiang Donghua considered advancing through the Pill Tower as a relatively independent path toward obtaining a Heaven Tier method and mentally retained the Purple Fire Phantom Spirit Art’s contents.
• Ye Tianxing reminded Jiang Donghua that the Inner Academy Strong Ranking Tournament began the next day and urged him to restrain his Four-star Dou Huang strength.
• Jiang Donghua promised to go easy on the other students, and Ye Tianxing privately worried for Qin Xiao and the challengers who would face him.

The Inner Academy’s Strong Ranking tournament began, and Jiang Donghua faced Qin Xiao’s challenge before their potential later-round clash. Liu Qingsi swiftly defeated Han Li with her poisonous arts, leaving the tournament underway.

• Ye Tianxing announced the tournament rules and warned contestants not to seriously injure one another.
• Qin Xiao confronted Jiang Donghua, boasting of his progress and new Battle Skill; Jiang Donghua calmly acknowledged Qin Xiao’s strength.
• The draw placed Jiang Donghua and Qin Xiao in different first-round matches, raising hopes they would meet later.
• Liu Qingsi faced Han Li and dissolved his wind attacks with poisonous airflow before forcing him off the arena in seconds.
• Jiang Donghua noted that Liu Qingsi’s poisonous arts were formidable and would require careful handling.