Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan used Nihility Devouring Flame to remove the Branding Poison from the dying Nalan Jie. Nalan Jie regained his Dou Wang strength, and Xiao Yan left instructions to watch for any returning symptoms.

• Nalan Su asked Xiao Yan whether he could save Nalan Jie, and Xiao Yan tested a sample of the Branding Poison.
• Xiao Yan explained that using a Heavenly Flame could kill Nalan Jie unless he first drank Ice Spirit Cold Spring.
• Nalan Jie drank the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and Xiao Yan guided Nihility Devouring Flame through his body while keeping him from resisting with Dou Qi.
• After about twenty minutes, Xiao Yan withdrew the flame and told the old butler to monitor Nalan Jie and wait a week to confirm the poison was gone.
• Nalan Jie felt his Dou Wang strength return, and Xiao Yan said the detoxification had been easy.

Xiao Yan cured Nalan Jie’s Branding Poison and received permission to choose medicinal herbs from the Nalan Family’s stores. In the medicinal room, he discovered Seven Illusory Azure Spirit Saliva that could help raise his Soul Power, leaving him eager to use it.

• Xiao Yan told Nalan Jie the Branding Poison was gone, and Nalan Jie got out of bed and walked comfortably for the first time in years.
• Nalan Su offered Xiao Yan a reward for curing Nalan Jie, including access to the family’s precious medicinal herbs and Natural Treasures.
• Nalan Yanran arrived and asked Xiao Yan to save her grandfather, then learned he had already cured him.
• Xiao Yan told Nalan Su he would skip the Alchemist Convention, and he and Nalan Yanran followed Nalan Su to the medicinal room.
• Xiao Yan found the Nalan Family’s Seven Illusory Azure Spirit Saliva and realized it might help him raise his Soul Realm further.

Xiao Yan accepted the Seven Illusory Azure Spirit Saliva, refined pills for Nalan Jie, and later used the treasure to raise his Soul Power to Rank 6 Alchemist. He remained unable to locate the Soul Hall, but his enhanced perception reached across Nalan Mansion and the surrounding streets.

• Nalan Su gave Xiao Yan the Seven Illusory Azure Spirit Saliva and warned him to expose it to sunlight for an hour each day.
• Xiao Yan refined a Second Grade Water Replenishing Pill and a Third Grade Blood Replenishing Pill in the courtyard, while Nalan Yanran insisted she would not yield to him.
• Nalan Su offered to help Xiao Yan enter the Alchemist Convention without preliminary rounds, but Xiao Yan declined to commit and returned to cultivation.
• Xiao Yan searched for the Soul Hall in Jia Ma Holy City without success, then cultivated the Spirit Heart Soul Gathering Art while waiting to use the Seven Illusory Azure Spirit Saliva.
• Xiao Yan melted and absorbed the Seven Illusory Azure Spirit Saliva, raising his Soul Power to Rank 6 Alchemist and expanding his perception tenfold.
• Xiao Yan sensed Elder Ling while surveying Nalan Mansion and wondered why he had not returned.

Xiao Yan discovered that Ling Ying was secretly monitoring him and agreed to let him stay until the duel with Nalan Yanran, while arranging a message for Xun Er. At the Alchemist Association, a strange pulse led Xiao Yan to a broken black jade fragment that stirred a mysterious feeling within him.

• Xiao Yan used his Soul Power to find Ling Ying and silently approached him at the inn.
• Xiao Yan agreed to let Ling Ying monitor him until the duel and asked him to tell Xun Er that he would return after settling his clan.
• Xiao Yan reflected that he needed to search for the Soul Hall after the duel without alerting Ling Ying.
• Xiao Yan told Nalan Jie he was going to the Alchemist Association to find medicinal ingredients, and Nalan Jie informed him about an upcoming internal test for the Alchemist Convention.
• Xiao Yan entered the Alchemist Association and felt a strange pulse that led him to a stall selling a broken black jade fragment.

Xiao Yan discovered that a damaged black jade slip resisted his Soul Power and traded healing pills for it, then obtained the Alchemist Convention rules after proving he could summon a real flame. As he considered competing for the Soul Fusion Pill formula, an icy voice demanded that he get it and threatened to kill him otherwise.

• Xiao Yan traded three healing pills to a stall owner for a damaged black jade slip that his Soul Power could not penetrate.
• Xiao Yan searched the market, saw a Peach Blossom Flame seed traded for a Fourth Grade pill formula, and found no other treasures he wanted.
• Xiao Yan showed the receptionist maid his black flame, obtained the Alchemist Convention manual, and removed her address and lip print from it before leaving.
• Xiao Yan read that alchemists under thirty could compete for the Soul Fusion Pill formula, which could restore Soul Power and repair soul injuries.
• An icy voice told Xiao Yan to obtain the Soul Fusion Pill formula and threatened to kill him otherwise.

Xiao Yan decided to enter the Alchemist Convention to obtain the Soul Fusion Pill formula Medusa wanted, then unlocked the Black Jade Slip and discovered it contained the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change. Its incomplete-looking instructions left him wondering how it could match the Heaven Rank High-Level technique he had seen in Soul Hall.

• Xiao Yan dismissed Medusa’s threats and considered using the Soul Fusion Pill as leverage to secure her help once she recovered.
• Xiao Yan decided to enter the Alchemist Convention and told Nalan Jie about his plan after returning to the Nalan Mansion.
• Xiao Yan tried to activate the Black Jade Slip, then burned away its black surface coating with Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Xiao Yan sealed the room against the slip’s brilliant light and recognized the revealed technique as Skyfire Three Mysterious Change.
• Xiao Yan absorbed the technique’s instructions and questioned why its First Change seemed far weaker than the Heaven Rank High-Level technique described by Soul Hall.

Xiao Yan learned to use the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change, which greatly increased his strength but caused severe pain. After he encountered Nalan Yanran and Liu Ling, Liu Ling resolved to challenge him at the Alchemist Convention, while Nalan Yanran foresaw Xiao Yan becoming Liu Ling’s nightmare.

• Xiao Yan tested the Skyfire Three Mysterious Change and found that it could raise his cultivation, though it caused intense pain in his meridians.
• Xiao Yan ran into Nalan Yanran and Liu Ling, who had come to check on Nalan Jie under Gu He's orders.
• Liu Ling questioned Xiao Yan about his Heavenly Flame and learned that Xiao Yan would attend the Alchemist Convention's internal test.
• Liu Ling told Nalan Yanran he hoped to prove himself by defeating Xiao Yan at the Convention, but she said he had not met her standards.
• Nalan Yanran recalled Xiao Yan's victory over her three years earlier and thought he would become Liu Ling's nightmare.

Xiao Yan attended the Alchemist Association’s internal test before the Pill Convention and finished refining the test ingredient in under a minute. His effortless performance shocked the judges, who had assumed he was an inexperienced entrant.

• Liu Ling vowed to make Xiao Yan feel ashamed at the convention and praised himself as the Jia Ma Empire’s most outstanding alchemist.
• Steward Zhao brought Xiao Yan to the crowded Alchemist Association, where Xiao Yan saw the Little Princess Yue Er arrive and learned she was a Tier 3 alchemist and a favorite to win.
• Vice Chairman Chemir explained that the test required entrants to refine medicinal ingredients to the highest purity before the hourglass ran out.
• Xiao Yan identified the ingredient as Black Iron Spirit Leaf and used the Green Lotus Core Flame and his soul strength to extract its medicinal essence in a single pass.
• Xiao Yan returned to the hall in under a minute and told Chemir and Master Otto that he had refined the ingredient once, leaving both judges stunned.

Xiao Yan misunderstood the Black Iron Spirit Leaf assessment and refined the ingredient only once, while the other alchemists repeatedly refined theirs. The purity test revealed Xiao Yan’s powder had the highest possible score, leaving Chemir and Otto astonished and prompting Xiao Yan to question why anyone would refine it ten times.

• Chemir explained that the Black Iron Spirit Leaf grew harder to refine each time, and Xiao Yan spent the assessment trying to understand how it could be refined more than once.
• Liu Ling and the Little Princess Yue Er emerged before time ran out, while Xiao Yan remained in the room until Chemir called time.
• Xiao Yan came out with his powder still refined only once, drawing laughter from the alchemists, though Liu Ling suspected Xiao Yan was more skilled than he claimed.
• Liu Ling scored seven points after refining six times, and Yue Er also refined six times but scored slightly lower.
• Xiao Yan placed his pure white powder in the measuring instrument and received a score of ten, then asked Chemir why anyone would refine the ingredient ten times if its medicinal properties could be extracted at once.

Xiao Yan astonished the Alchemist Convention judges by refining Black Iron Spirit Leaf powder to nearly perfect purity, then agreed to attend a gathering celebrating Nalan Jie's recovery. At the gathering, Ya Fei drew everyone’s attention to Xiao Yan as that day’s top scorer.

• Xiao Yan learned that other alchemists needed repeated refinements to remove impurities, while his single refinement produced nearly pure powder.
• Liu Ling recognized Xiao Yan’s Heavenly Flames as the reason for his result, and Chemir and Otto let him leave the assessment.
• Steward Zhao drove Xiao Yan away from the Alchemist Convention and invited him to the estate gathering celebrating Nalan Jie's recovery.
• Xiao Yan agreed to attend the gathering, viewing it as a chance to meet the younger generation of Jia Ma Holy City.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the gathering and saw Liu Ling, Yue Er, Ya Fei, and Nalan Yanran among the guests.
• Ya Fei greeted Xiao Yan as the Alchemist Convention internal test’s first-place winner, causing everyone in the hall to look at him.

At a gathering before the Alchemist Convention, Xiao Yan met Ya Fei and Mittel Tengshan, using his growing reputation to strengthen ties with the Mittel Family. The chapter ended with Nalan Su comparing Xiao Yan favorably to Liu Ling while Nalan Yanran listened.

• Xiao Yan flirted with Ya Fei, asked after Hai Bodong, and said he would seek medicinal ingredients from other countries after the convention.
• Ya Fei persuaded Xiao Yan to meet Mittel Tengshan, and she led him through the hall as onlookers watched jealously.
• Xiao Yan greeted Mittel Tengshan and credited the Mittel Family’s gifted medicinal ingredients for helping him place first in the internal test.
• Mittel Tengshan offered to have Ya Fei help Xiao Yan obtain ingredients, while Ya Fei blushed at his suggestive remarks.
• Nalan Su told Nalan Yanran that Liu Ling was far inferior to Xiao Yan, and Nalan Yanran considered the difference between their achievements.

At the Nalan Family gathering, Mu Zhan attacked Xiao Yan out of jealousy over Ya Fei, but Xiao Yan effortlessly subdued him. When Mu Xiao tried to protect Mu Zhan by invoking the Mu Family, Xiao Yan refused to give them face and crushed Mu Zhan’s fist.

• Nalan Su warned Nalan Yanran that Liu Ling might make trouble for Xiao Yan, while Nalan Yanran remained frustrated by her father’s suggestion that she reconsider the engagement.
• Liu Ling listened as other guests disparaged Xiao Yan and predicted he would fail the Alchemist Convention, while Little Princess hinted that something interesting would happen that night.
• Mu Zhan charged into the Nalan Mansion and attacked Xiao Yan, who stopped his punch with chopsticks and learned from Ya Fei that Mu Zhan was jealous and possessive of her.
• Xiao Yan caught Mu Zhan’s next punch, broke his wrist, and pinned him down with Soul Power as Mu Xiao arrived and asked him to stop.
• Xiao Yan rejected Mu Xiao’s appeal to the Mu Family’s status and crushed Mu Zhan’s fist despite the threat of family retaliation.

Xiao Yan left the banquet after crippling Mu Zhan’s hand, then ignored a clash between Hai Bodong and Jia Xing Tian to prepare for the Alchemist Convention. The next day, he arrived at the Royal Plaza and met Guild Leader Fa Ma in the VIP section.

• Xiao Yan burned away Mu Zhan’s blood with black flame and left after warning him, while Nalan Jie and Mittel Tengshan publicly defended Xiao Yan against the Mu Family.
• Ya Fei escorted Xiao Yan from the banquet, and Xiao Yan sensed two Dou Emperor auras before identifying the fighters as Hai Bodong and Jia Xing Tian.
• Xiao Yan returned to his room instead of watching the fight and prepared for the Alchemist Convention with the Sixth Grade Pill Formula in mind.
• Xiao Yan rode to the Royal Plaza with Hai Bodong and took his seat in the VIP section as the convention began.
• Hai Bodong introduced Xiao Yan to Guild Leader Fa Ma, who praised Xiao Yan’s skill at producing exceptionally pure medicinal essence.

Xiao Yan joined the VIP guests as the Alchemist Convention began and watched Liu Ling and Yue Er descend dramatically into the arena. When the crowd turned to him, he manifested enormous blood-red Fire Wings, shocking everyone with the apparent strength they implied.

• Jia Xing Tian introduced Xiao Yan to Princess Yao Ye, Yue Er’s elder sister and the commander of the troops protecting the convention.
• Ya Fei and Nalan Yanran arrived, and Ya Fei teased Xiao Yan about his promise to win first place.
• Fa Ma announced the start of the 7th Alchemist Convention before a cheering crowd.
• Liu Ling leaped into the arena using Dou Qi pillars, and Yue Er followed with the Flying Floss movement technique.
• Xiao Yan conjured a pair of enormous blood-red Fire Wings, prompting the crowd to exclaim that he was a Dou Wang.

Xiao Yan stunned the alchemists at the convention by arriving with enormous Fire Wings and then refining the Bone Growing Pill with an unconventional technique. He finished the first round with three pills from one cauldron, leaving the spectators astonished.

• Xiao Yan flew into the arena on his enormous Fire Wings and drew cheers from the crowd.
• Mu Chen recognized Xiao Yan as the one who had injured Mu Zhan and warned Mu Zhan not to provoke him or pursue Ya Fei.
• Fa Ma announced the first-round test, requiring the alchemists to refine a pill from an incomplete formula with only two sets of ingredients.
• Xiao Yan chose a five-vent pill furnace and used a black flame instead of his Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Yan put all the ingredients into the furnace at once, using precise Flame Control and Soul Power to refine them together.
• Xiao Yan collected three Bone Growing Pills from one cauldron, astonishing the spectators.

Xiao Yan finished the first round of the Alchemist Convention with a pill matching the mysterious black-robed contestant, then confronted a sabotaged second-round formula. He identified the faulty ingredient and refined two Wind Walk Pills, leaving the Alchemist Association officials stunned.

• Xiao Yan refined a high-quality Bone Growing Pill faster than the other contestants, drawing accusations that he had known the test in advance.
• A mysterious black-robed alchemist finished nearly as quickly as Xiao Yan, prompting Fa Ma to investigate him and discover he was listed as a Second Grade alchemist from the hostile Chuyun Empire.
• About three hundred contestants advanced to the second round, where they were given ingredients and a formula for the Third Grade Wind Walk Pill.
• Alchemists' furnaces began exploding during the second round, including those of Liu Ling, the Little Princess, and the black-robed man.
• Xiao Yan used Mao Wu to swallow the unstable medicinal essence, removed the Profound Earth Fungus, and refined two Wind Walk Pills.
• Xiao Yan announced that the Profound Earth Fungus should not be used, shocking Fa Ma and the other Alchemist Association officials.

Xiao Yan easily passed the Alchemist Convention’s second round after identifying a flaw in the pill formula, leaving only about thirty contestants for the final round. On the way back to Nalan Mansion, Nalan Yanran asked him to join the Misty Cloud Sect and then requested that their duel be postponed.

• Xiao Yan pointed out that the Profound Earth Fungus caused the pill formula’s failure, allowing other alchemists to correct their refining and pass the test.
• Xiao Yan, the black-robed man, the Little Princess, and Liu Ling completed their pills; Liu Ling realized he had been utterly outclassed by Xiao Yan.
• Fa Ma ended the day’s assessment and announced that the final round would take place the next day, leaving a little over thirty contestants.
• Yao Ye invited Xiao Yan to the imperial family’s banquet, but Xiao Yan declined and accepted Nalan Yanran’s offer to escort him back.
• Nalan Yanran asked Xiao Yan to join the Misty Cloud Sect, and he refused; she then asked to postpone their duel because she would soon enter a sect training ground.

Xiao Yan learned that Nalan Yanran planned to enter the Misty Cloud Sect’s Gate of Life and Death to prepare for their duel, and he chose the sect as the duel location. Hai Bodong revealed that Yan Li, a peak Fourth Grade alchemist from the Chuyun Empire, threatened the Jia Ma Empire Alchemist Association’s standing, so Fa Ma summoned Xiao Yan to offer him help before the Alchemist Convention.

• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran discussed their upcoming duel, and she said she would defeat him after passing the Gate of Life and Death.
• Nalan Yanran explained that the Gate of Life and Death held the Misty Cloud Sect’s ancestral tombs and a trial left by its founder, Yun Potian.
• Xiao Yan chose the Misty Cloud Sect as the duel location, hoping to see the Jia Ma Empire’s leading sect for himself.
• Hai Bodong told Xiao Yan that the black-robed man was Yan Li, a peak Fourth Grade alchemist from the Chuyun Empire, and that political risks prevented them from killing him immediately.
• Xiao Yan deduced that neighboring empires hoped to use the Alchemist Convention to undermine the Jia Ma Empire, while Hai Bodong explained that Fa Ma wanted to prepare Xiao Yan to challenge Yan Li.
• Xiao Yan went to the Alchemist Association late at night, where Fa Ma welcomed him and began discussing the situation.

Fa Ma offered Xiao Yan a pill formula and ingredients if he risked refining a powerful pill to help stop Yan Li from winning the championship. Xiao Yan chose the Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill formula and left, claiming he already knew its refining method better than Fa Ma did.

• Fa Ma explained that the championship’s final round would let alchemists refine any pill using ingredients they provided themselves, and Xiao Yan revealed he was a peak Fourth Grade alchemist.
• Fa Ma offered Xiao Yan a pill formula from the Alchemist Association’s collection, along with the ingredients needed to refine it.
• Xiao Yan chose the Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill formula after Fa Ma recounted how a mysterious elder had taught him alchemy.
• Fa Ma warned Xiao Yan that the pill could boost a Da Dou Shi’s strength but required three kinds of Flame and carried a risk of backlash.
• Xiao Yan assured Fa Ma that he had three kinds of Flame and left with the formula, saying he knew the pill’s refining method better than Fa Ma did.

Xiao Yan entered the Alchemist Convention's final round against Yan Li, who threatened to claim the championship. As the contest began, Xiao Yan revealed his Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Flame, leaving Yan Li shaken and strengthening the crowd's hopes that Xiao Yan would win.

• Fa Ma gave Xiao Yan ingredients for three attempts at refining the Three-Pattern Azure Spirit Pill, while the officials discussed delaying the contest or exposing Yan Li.
• Xiao Yan refused to alter the plan and warned that Yan Li would not survive the day; Hai Bodong promised to keep Yan Li from leaving Jia Ma Holy City and retrieve his Storage Ring.
• Yan Li taunted Xiao Yan before the final round, and Xiao Yan told him not to seek him out in the afterlife.
• Liu Ling and Yue Er brought out their prized Pill Furnaces and sixth-tier Beast Flames as the contestants began refining their pills.
• Yan Li displayed a black Flame to challenge Xiao Yan, who summoned five Pill Furnaces and revealed the blood-red Ten Thousand Beast Spirit Flame.
• The Heavenly Flame's beast roar caused the other Flames to shrink, and Yan Li realized he might die in Jia Ma Empire.