Chapter Summaries

Jiang Donghua defeated Lin Yue with one casual strike, revealing to the academy elders that he had reached the Dou Huang realm. After the first round, Ye Tianxing gave Jiang Donghua a bye into the next round, and the remaining matches were scheduled for the afternoon.

• Jiang Donghua shattered Lin Yue’s Immovable Rock Body with one strike and sent him flying out of the arena.
• The elders concluded that Jiang Donghua was a Dou Huang, and Ye Tianxing silently confirmed their suspicion.
• Qin Xiao doubted that Jiang Donghua could have crossed into the Dou Huang realm and resolved to test him in the afternoon match.
• The first round ended with twenty-five victors, and Ye Tianxing announced that the second round would begin at three in the afternoon.
• Ye Tianxing gave Jiang Donghua a direct advance to the next round, and Jiang Donghua left the arena.

The Strong Ranking tournament’s second round ended, and Ye Tianxing announced an arena defense point system to determine the top ten and Origin Heart Flame qualifiers. Jiang Donghua defended the arena the following day and defeated Lei Lie and Liu Qingsi in succession, leaving the remaining contestants reluctant to challenge him.

• Qin Xiao defeated his opponent with his thunder-and-fire battle qi, while Liu Qingsi forced hers to concede with her Poisonous Arts.
• Ye Tianxing announced that thirteen advancing contestants would defend the arena in turn, earning or losing points through challenges to determine the top ten.
• Jiang Donghua volunteered to defend first, and Lei Lie challenged him with his Mountain Splitting Staff Technique.
• Jiang Donghua redirected Lei Lie’s staff and sent him off the stage after roughly a dozen exchanges.
• Liu Qingsi challenged Jiang Donghua next, but he countered her Poisonous Arts and forced her beyond the stage boundary.
• Jiang Donghua asked who would challenge him next as the other contestants hesitated.

Jiang Donghua defeated Qin Xiao’s challenge by effortlessly stopping his strongest attack, revealing that he had reached the Dou Huang realm. He secured a place in the Strong Ranking top ten and prepared for Origin Heart Flame body tempering before leaving Jia Nan Academy for the Northern Region of the Central Continent.

• After Jiang Donghua defeated Liu Qingsi and Lei Lie, Qin Xiao stepped onto the arena to challenge him.
• Qin Xiao unleashed his Earth-tier Low Grade Dou Technique, Thunder-Fire World-Ending Spear, at Jiang Donghua.
• Jiang Donghua stopped the twin thunder-fire dragons with an invisible barrier, leaving Qin Xiao’s attack unable to reach him.
• Qin Xiao realized Jiang Donghua had become a Dou Huang and asked how he could possibly fight him.
• Ye Tianxing asked for more challengers, but the remaining qualifiers refused, and he awarded Jiang Donghua three points and a place in the Strong Ranking top ten.
• Jiang Donghua left the arena as he prepared for Origin Heart Flame body tempering and his future journey to the Northern Region of the Central Continent.

Qin Xiao broke through to Seven-star Battle King after losing to Jiang Donghua and finally let go of his doubts about their earlier defeat. Meanwhile, the Xuan Ming Sect issued a Northern Region Kill Order for Mu Chen, who remained hidden and vowed to uncover the truth about the Hong Family and Hong Ling.

• After the Strong Ranking results were announced, Qin Xiao's aura surged and he broke through from six-star Dou Wang to Seven-star Battle King.
• Qin Xiao thanked Jiang Donghua for helping him overcome his cultivation bottleneck, then joked that Jiang Donghua's victory depended on his higher realm.
• Liu Qingsi reminded Qin Xiao that he had also lost to Jiang Donghua when Jiang Donghua was a Dou Wang, and Lei Lie tried to ease the awkwardness.
• Jiang Donghua offered to treat his companions to celebrate Qin Xiao's breakthrough and bid them farewell.
• The Xuan Ming Sect's Sect Master ordered five Dou Zongs to hunt Jiang Donghua and issued a Northern Region Kill Order with major rewards.
• Mu Chen concealed himself in a secluded cave and vowed to uncover the blood debt of the Hong Family and Hong Ling's whereabouts.

Hong Ling learned that the Xuan Ming Sect had destroyed the Hong Family, and the shock and grief triggered her labor. Meanwhile, Jiang Donghua hosted a nourishing feast with his companions in the Jia Nan Inner Court.

• Hong Ling’s maid told her that the Xuan Ming Sect had wiped out the Hong Family two or three months earlier and that her great-grandfather was missing.
• Hong Ling broke down in grief and hatred, then went into labor as the emotional upheaval triggered her blood and Qi.
• In the Jia Nan Inner Court, Jiang Donghua prepared a feast from a Crimson Flame Barbarian Bull he had killed in the back mountain.
• Lei Lie, Liu Qingsi, and Qin Xiao ate Jiang Donghua’s medicinal dishes and praised their taste and restorative effects.

Jiang Donghua and the Strong Ranking students tempered themselves in the Heavenly Incineration Qi Tower, where Jiang found the Heart Flame’s effects limited by his Dou Huang cultivation. After saying goodbye to the students, he left Jia Nan Academy and flew toward the horizon.

• Ye Tianxing led Jiang Donghua, Qin Xiao, Liu Qingsi, Lei Lie, and the other top ten students into the Heavenly Incineration Qi Tower and warned them about the dangers of the Origin Heart Flame.
• The students descended to the tower’s lowest level and began cautiously drawing the Heart Flame into their bodies for tempering.
• The guarding elders were astonished to learn from Ye Tianxing that Jiang Donghua had already reached the Dou Huang level.
• After more than half a day, Jiang Donghua finished tempering with only slight gains, while Qin Xiao, Liu Qingsi, Lei Lie, and the others endured intense pain and gained much more.
• Jiang Donghua said goodbye to the students and left Jia Nan Academy, flying toward the horizon.

Jiang Donghua returned to the Azure Mist Sect to repay Lin Qingyao for a kindness she had shown him years earlier, giving her powerful cultivation treasures before leaving without revealing his name. Decades later, Lin Qingyao had become a Dou Huang known as the Water Empress, but she still searched for the mysterious man who had changed her life.

• Jiang Donghua arrived at the Azure Mist Sect and gave a gatekeeping disciple a precious pill to lead him to Lin Qingyao.
• Jiang Donghua found Lin Qingyao practicing swordsmanship in the Meditation Forest, where she did not recognize him.
• Jiang Donghua explained that Lin Qingyao had once protected him when he was a weak boy and offered her cultivation techniques, Combat Skills, and pills to repay her kindness.
• Lin Qingyao tried to refuse the treasures, but Jiang Donghua left them with her and warned her to keep the gift secret before disappearing without giving his name.
• Several decades later, Lin Qingyao had risen to Dou Huang and become the Water Empress, while continuing to search for Jiang Donghua without knowing who he was or where to find him.

Jiang Donghua reached Tianya City to use its Space Wormhole and bought a Silver Shuttle to travel safely. After paying the fee, he entered the wormhole and began his journey toward the Central Plains.

• Jiang Donghua arrived at Tianya City and concealed most of his Seven-star Dou Huang aura.
• Jiang Donghua discovered he lacked a Space Ship and visited a shop specializing in them.
• Jiang Donghua bought the shop's Silver Shuttle for nine million gold coins.
• Jiang Donghua inspected the Space Wormhole, considered the danger of a Space Storm, and decided to proceed.
• Jiang Donghua paid the fee, activated the Silver Shuttle, and entered the Space Wormhole.

Jiang Donghua spent weeks searching the Northern Region for the Hong Family before stopping in Wanggu City, where he heard that someone with his exact name and strength had attacked the Xuan Ming Sect. He realized that a Three-star Dou Zong had killed a Six-star Dou Zong while impersonating—or coincidentally matching—him, and the story left him wondering who the other Jiang Donghua was.

• Jiang Donghua traveled through the Northern Region, repeatedly asking about the Hong Family but finding no reliable information.
• Jiang Donghua arrived in Wanggu City and listened to conversations in the Lei Ge tavern with his Soul Force.
• Mercenaries reported that Jiang Donghua had ambushed a Xuan Ming Sect team in the Black Wind Mountain Range and killed Black Snake in front of Chen Ming.
• The mercenaries said the Xuan Ming Sect had issued a kill-on-sight order and was searching for the badly injured Jiang Donghua.
• Jiang Donghua realized he had not fought the battle and wondered whether someone with his name and exact strength was impersonating him.

Jiang Donghua learned that rumors described another Jiang Donghua with Three-star Dou Zong strength and rare, violent Wood-attribute Battle Qi, so he sought more reliable information at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. The pavilion’s maid told him that intelligence purchases required a VIP card and asked him to prove his strength.

• Jiang Donghua questioned three men about the rumored Jiang Donghua, learning about his Wood-attribute Battle Qi and the Hundred Treasures Pavilion’s intelligence services.
• Jiang Donghua gave the men a Fifth-grade Wood-attribute Demonic Core as thanks and headed to the city center.
• Jiang Donghua arrived at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and found its goods and premises more impressive than those in Tianya City.
• A maid informed Jiang Donghua that guests without VIP cards could not access intelligence services and asked about his strength.

Jiang Donghua visited the Hundred Treasures Pavilion in Wanggu City to buy intelligence about the man using his name and learned that he was Mu Chen, who had fought for the destroyed Hong Family. After learning Mu Chen was being hunted near the chaotic region south of the Black Wind Mountain Range, Jiang Donghua left to find him.

• Jiang Donghua revealed his Dou Zong strength to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion maid and was escorted to Pavilion Master Su on the seventh floor.
• Jiang Donghua asked Pavilion Master Su for information about the man who ambushed the Xuan Ming Sect.
• Pavilion Master Su told Jiang Donghua that the Xuan Ming Sect had exterminated the Hong Family and that Jiang Donghua had fought for Hong Ling, its surviving eldest daughter.
• Jiang Donghua bought the intelligence and recognized from the man's Wood-attribute Battle Qi and aura that he was Mu Chen.
• Jiang Donghua paid for Mu Chen's latest general location, learned he was near the chaotic region south of the Black Wind Mountain Range, and hurried out to find him.

Mu Chen hid in the Black Wind Mountain Range, gravely wounded after escaping the Xuan Ming Sect’s ambush, and believed he would soon die without treatment. Jiang Donghua entered the mountain range to find him, learned where the sect was searching, and headed south to search before they could find Mu Chen.

• Mu Chen recalled killing Black Snake with Jiang Donghua’s jade slip and escaping Chen Ming, but his injuries left him with only days to live.
• Jiang Donghua slipped past the Xuan Ming Sect’s perimeter and abducted four Dou Wang disciples from a checkpoint.
• Jiang Donghua tortured the leader with his dark blue flames and forced the disciples to reveal that the sect was searching the Withered Wood Forest and Crimson Flame Valley.
• Jiang Donghua killed the four disciples and set off toward the southern mountain range to find Mu Chen before the Xuan Ming Sect did.

Xiao Zhen arrived in the Black Wind Mountain Range with Xiao Han to search for Jiang Donghua, warning that the Xiao Family could not risk a fatal fight with the Xuan Ming Sect. Meanwhile, Chen Ming and two elders searched the southern reaches for the wounded Jiang Donghua, determined to find him before he could escape.

• Xiao Zhen told Xiao Han that the Xuan Ming Sect had several Dou Zongs in the range and warned him they might have to retreat without saving Jiang Donghua.
• Xiao Zhen rebuked Xiao Han for giving Jiang Donghua the life-saving jade slip, then agreed to search the southern range with him.
• Chen Ming led the Seventh Elder and Eighth Elder through the Dry Bone Forest, searching for Jiang Donghua under the Sect Master's death order.
• Chen Ming said Jiang Donghua's injuries from the Xuan Ming Cold Palm would worsen and that he was likely suppressing them with Wood attribute vitality or Earth Fire Yang Energy.
• The Seventh Elder killed a Tier 4 Bloodthirsty Demonic Leopard with a flick of black Dou Qi while the elders continued searching.

Mu Chen was discovered and overwhelmed by the Xuan Ming Sect elders, but Jiang Donghua arrived just as Chen Ming prepared to cripple him. Jiang Donghua faced two Five-star Dou Zongs while Mu Chen desperately urged him to flee.

• You Quan and Ghost Shadow found Mu Chen hiding in a buried nest after You Quan’s attack exposed the hollow ground.
• Mu Chen tried to stop Ghost Shadow with Myriad Woods Facing Spring, but Ghost Shadow broke through and left him unable to resist.
• Chen Ming appeared and threatened Mu Chen, drawing the attention of Jiang Donghua and the Xiao family nearby.
• Jiang Donghua attacked Chen Ming with blue flames, but Chen Ming blocked the strike and ordered You Quan and Ghost Shadow to capture him.
• Mu Chen recognized Jiang Donghua and begged him to run, but Jiang Donghua stood his ground and challenged the elders for harming one of his people.

Xiao Zhen and Xiao Han arrived during Jiang Donghua’s battle with two Xuan Ming Sect elders, and Xiao Zhen chose to intervene despite the danger of making an enemy of the sect. After Xiao Zhen killed Elder You Quan with one strike, Chen Ming and Elder Ghost Shadow joined forces to attack him.

• Xiao Han recognized Jiang Donghua fighting Elder You Quan and Elder Ghost Shadow and begged Xiao Zhen to save him.
• Xiao Zhen realized the wounded Mu Chen in the crater was the Xuan Ming Sect’s target, but agreed to help Jiang Donghua after Xiao Han insisted.
• Xiao Zhen unleashed his Peak Dou Zong aura and killed Elder You Quan with the Heaven-Splitting Golden Gang Palm.
• Chen Ming rushed out of the cave, abandoned the paralyzed Mu Chen, and vowed to kill Xiao Zhen.
• Elder Ghost Shadow joined Chen Ming in a pincer attack against Xiao Zhen.

Jiang Donghua and Xiao Han joined forces with Xiao Zhen to escape with the gravely injured Mu Chen, but Jiang persuaded them to turn back and confront their pursuers. Jiang’s devastating soul attack killed Elder Ghost Shadow and left Chen Ming helpless, and Xiao Zhen launched a finishing strike at Chen Ming.

• A black-robed man rescued the unconscious Mu Chen while Xiao Zhen held Chen Ming and Elder Ghost Shadow at bay, and Jiang Donghua followed the rescuer.
• The rescuer revealed himself as Xiao Han, and Jiang Donghua persuaded him to signal Xiao Zhen and bring him back instead of fleeing.
• Xiao Zhen broke away from Chen Ming and Elder Ghost Shadow and reunited with Jiang Donghua, Xiao Han, and Mu Chen.
• Jiang Donghua unleashed a powerful soul attack that killed Elder Ghost Shadow and left Chen Ming severely dazed.
• Xiao Zhen seized the opening and struck Chen Ming with his Earth-tier Mid Grade Dou Technique, Great Rift Hand.

Jiang Donghua defeated Chen Ming with a soul attack, captured his soul, and fled with Xiao Zhen and the injured Mu Chen to a hidden Xiao Family stronghold. After Mu Chen revealed that Hong Ling remained missing and his injuries were life-threatening, Jiang Donghua entered a protected healing chamber to treat him.

• Jiang Donghua used his Spiritual Realm Soul perception to trap Chen Ming's escaping soul and seal it in a jade bottle.
• Jiang Donghua gave healing pills to the unconscious Mu Chen, then escaped with Xiao Zhen and Xiao Han as Xiao Zhen marveled at his destructive soul attack.
• Xiao Zhen led Jiang Donghua and the others to a hidden valley where two Xiao Family Dou Zong experts awaited them.
• Mu Chen briefly regained consciousness, told Jiang Donghua that his meridians and organs were ruined, and apologized for failing to find Hong Ling before collapsing again.
• Jiang Donghua found Mu Chen's injuries were worsening and asked Xiao Zhen for a secluded place to treat him.
• Xiao Zhen led Jiang Donghua, Xiao Han, and Mu Chen into a concealed mountain stronghold, where Jiang Donghua entered a healing chamber as Xiao Zhen promised to guard it.

After Jiang Donghua sealed himself in with the dying Mu Chen, Xiao Zhen concluded Jiang might be a Seventh-grade Alchemy Grandmaster and ordered the Xiao Family to support him. At the Xuan Ming Sect, Sect Master Venerable Ming Gu traced the battlefield and mistook Jiang’s residual Soul Force for that of an Eighth-grade Alchemist Grandmaster, leaving him torn between revenge and fear.

• Xiao Zhen questioned Xiao Han about Jiang Donghua’s abilities and concluded that Jiang might be a Seventh-grade Alchemy Grandmaster.
• Xiao Zhen declared Jiang an honored guest and ally of the Xiao Family, then took Xiao Han to retrieve rare medicinal herbs for him.
• The Xuan Ming Sect learned that Chen Ming, Elder You Quan, and Elder Ghost Shadow had died, and fear spread through the sect.
• Venerable Ming Gu awakened from seclusion, reached the battlefield, and traced the auras left by the fighters.
• Venerable Ming Gu sensed Jiang’s residual Soul Force and concluded that an Eighth-grade Alchemist Grandmaster had intervened.
• Venerable Ming Gu hesitated over whether to pursue the matter, fearing the sect’s destruction while struggling to accept its losses.

Venerable Ming Gu ordered the Xuan Ming Sect to conceal the Black Wind Mountain Range incident, then abandoned the sect and fled rather than risk confronting the power he imagined stood behind Jiang Donghua. As witnesses and details spread, rumors of Jiang Donghua’s victory over three Dou Zong elders gained credibility, and his reputation swept across the Central Plains.

• Venerable Ming Gu ordered the Xuan Ming Sect elders to keep the deaths of its elders and the Black Wind Mountain Range incident secret.
• Ming Gu appointed the Great Elder to handle sect affairs, claimed he was leaving to seek a breakthrough, and fled from the sect.
• Rumors that Jiang Donghua had killed three Xuan Ming Sect Dou Zong elders were initially dismissed as unbelievable.
• Witness accounts and Ming Gu’s retreat convinced factions that Jiang Donghua might have a terrifying power behind him.
• Jiang Donghua’s name and reputation spread across the Central Plains, prompting factions to avoid provoking him and seek information about him.

Jiang Donghua stabilized Mu Chen’s life-threatening injuries and learned that Mu Chen had impersonated him to attack the Xuan Ming Sect after failing to find out what happened to the Hong Family and Hong Ling. He resolved to heal Mu Chen with a High-grade Seventh-rank Primordial Creation Pill, but first had to gather its rare ingredients.

• Jiang Donghua spent three hours guiding his Dou Qi and Soul Force through Mu Chen’s damaged body, stabilizing his breathing but leaving him gravely weak.
• Mu Chen awoke, apologized to Jiang Donghua, and explained that he had impersonated him to kill members of the Xuan Ming Sect after he could not learn what had happened to the Hong Family.
• Jiang Donghua promised to repay the blood debt and find Hong Ling if she was still alive, while telling Mu Chen to focus on recovery.
• Jiang Donghua determined that only a Seventh-grade Pill could repair Mu Chen’s meridians and chose the Primordial Creation Pill, a High-grade Seventh-rank recipe requiring extremely rare ingredients.
• Mu Chen protested that the pill was too precious, but Jiang Donghua promised to gather the ingredients and told him to rest; Mu Chen silently vowed his life to Jiang Donghua if he recovered.