Chapter Summaries

Xiao Zhan revealed his breakthrough to Da Dou Shi and asserted his authority while promising to resolve the dispute with the other clans. On the roof, Xiao Ding told Xiao Yan he planned to leave and become a mercenary, but Xiao Zhan caught the brothers discussing it and demanded an explanation.

• The First Elder scolded Xiao Zhan for attacking two shops and risking conflict with rival clans, but Xiao Zhan unleashed his Raging Lion Aura and revealed he had become a Da Dou Shi.
• Xiao Zhan told the elders he would settle the matter and reminded them that he was the clan leader.
• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li joined Xiao Yan on the roof, where Xiao Ding said he planned to leave Wutan City and establish himself as a mercenary before the Coming of Age Ceremony.
• Xiao Yan questioned whether Xiao Ding's poor health made mercenary work dangerous and whether he had told their mother about his plans.
• Xiao Zhan appeared behind the brothers and demanded to know what Xiao Ding meant by becoming a mercenary and why Xiao Yan had brought the Third Elder onto the roof.

Xiao Yan visited his bedridden mother, coaxed her into drinking water, and used his eldest brother’s mercenary plans to make her summon Xiao Ding and Xiao Zhan. The chapter ended with Xiao Yan leaving his brother and father to face his mother while the Xiao Clan Compound buzzed with confusion.

• Xiao Yan shut the door on Xiao Ding being whipped by Xiao Zhan, then went to check on his mother.
• Xiao Yan spoke with his mother about Xiao Ding’s difficult childhood and persuaded her to drink water.
• Xiao Yan hid the severity of his hand injury, and his mother warned him not to overwork his cultivation.
• Xiao Yan told his mother that Xiao Ding might leave to become a mercenary for years, prompting her to summon Xiao Ding and Xiao Zhan.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Ding that their mother wanted to see him, then told Xiao Zhan that she wanted to see him too.
• Xiao Zhan tried to avoid being drawn into the summons, but Xiao Yan told his mother that Xiao Zhan was in charge.

Xiao Yan searched for a way to accelerate his Dou Qi cultivation and began training under a waterfall, determined to endure its impact. Meanwhile, Gu Yuan arrived at the Xiao Manor with Xun Er and prepared to introduce her to Xiao Zhan.

• Xiao Yan reflected on the Xiao Clan’s danger from the Hall of Souls and pushed himself to cultivate faster by repeatedly striking a tree.
• Xiao Yan realized that continuous pressure could help temper his body and meridians, then went to a waterfall to train.
• The waterfall’s irregular force overwhelmed Xiao Yan, but he kept returning to the water and trying again.
• Gu Yuan arrived at the Xiao Manor with Xun Er and told her to call Xiao Zhan Uncle.

Gu Yuan brought Xun Er to the Xiao Clan and asked Xiao Zhan to foster her as a junior of the clan, while Xiao Yan discovered a new way to circulate Dou Qi under the waterfall. The chapter left Xun Er in Xiao Zhan’s care and Xiao Yan’s training newly advanced.

• Gu Yuan brought Xun Er to live with the Xiao Clan, reassuring her that Ling Ying would stay by her side.
• Under the waterfall, Xiao Yan struggled against the crushing current and realized he could circulate Dou Qi through his heart and blood.
• Xiao Yan used the new circulation to steady his breathing and focus, gaining sharper perception of the waterfall’s force.
• Gu Yuan told Xiao Zhan that the Xiao Clan had a hidden Golden Scale and asked him to foster Xun Er under the Xiao surname.
• Xiao Zhan refused at first, but Gu Yuan left him a Qi Gathering Powder and departed, leaving Xun Er in the Main Hall.

Xiao Zhan welcomed Xun Er into the Xiao Clan and tried to make her feel at home, while Xiao Yan advanced to the fifth stage of Dou Qi before the Ring released a brief, deadly chill. Xun Er later suffered a mysterious burst of heat, and Xiao Yan returned to find Xiao Zhan caring for her as she slept.

• Xiao Zhan gave Xun Er a room and promised to show her around, then ordered a maid to give up Third Young Master's room for her.
• Xiao Yan reached the fifth stage of Dou Qi after training and felt the Ring turn icy cold against his chest.
• Xiao Yan recognized the Ring's chill as the Bone Chilling Flame and suspected Xun Er's arrival had triggered it.
• Xun Er's body grew unbearably hot, and Xiao Zhan tried to cool her with water before rescuing her from the tub.
• Xiao Yan returned and joked with Xiao Zhan about whether Xun Er was his new sister or whether Xiao Zhan had given away his three sons.

Xun Er woke after a painful night and met Xiao Yan when he came to collect his belongings. Their awkward conversation ended with Xiao Zhan catching Xiao Yan comforting a crying Xun Er and preparing to confront him.

• Xun Er woke and learned from Ling Ying that the Blazing Gold Flame had settled inside her body.
• Xiao Yan came to Xun Er's room to pack away the belongings he had left there and found her difficult to approach.
• Xiao Yan learned that Xun Er had not been shown around the house and suspected she often suffered pain.
• Xiao Yan placed a hand on Xun Er's head, and she began to cry.
• Xiao Zhan entered with gifts for Xun Er, saw Xiao Yan beside her, and approached him with a tree branch.

Xiao Yan toured Xun Er around the Xiao Clan residence and then examined her body by sending Dou Qi into her arm. The heat within Xun Er flowed into Xiao Yan’s ring and disappeared, though he remained unsure whether it had any connection to the Dou Venerate inside.

• Xiao Yan showed Xun Er the medicine room and explained that his brothers were gentle, while Xun Er worried that she had gotten him scolded.
• In a desert, bandits surrounded a goods convoy, but a young man pretending to surrender sprang a trap that sent their Dou Zhe leader flying.
• Xun Er said she preferred the Xiao Clan’s atmosphere to her distant family relationships, and Xiao Yan offered to check her condition.
• Xun Er warned Xiao Yan that her internal flame could burn him, but he took her wrist and sent Dou Qi through her arm.
• Xiao Yan felt the flame’s heat spreading toward his chest and watched it vanish into his ring through his soul’s vision.

Xiao Yan discovered that the Bone Chilling Flame had absorbed the Heavenly Flames energy from Xun Er and likely awakened Yao Lao, then helped her settle into her room. Xun Er’s generous stipend and Ling Ying’s explanation of her duties left her confronting the burden of her status in the Ancient Clan.

• Xiao Yan realized that the Bone Chilling Flame had drawn the dangerous energy out of Xun Er and concluded that this had forcibly awakened Yao Lao.
• Xiao Yan checked Xun Er’s condition, teased her when she tried to hide her discomfort, and explained the room’s supplies and services.
• Xiao Yan found that Xun Er’s stipend was twice his and that her accommodation had been paid for months in advance.
• Xun Er read the household booklet, and Ling Ying explained that the Ancient Clan used Merit Points but treated her differently because she was its Miss.
• Ling Ying told Xun Er that she was expected to cultivate, marry, and bear children to preserve the Ancient Clan’s lineage.

Xiao Yan explained to Xun Er why he accepted the Xiao Clan members’ resentment and discussed how Xiao Ding and Xiao Li were preparing to leave the clan. He and Xun Er set out to visit Xiao Li before the Coming of Age Ceremony.

• Xun Er teased Xiao Yan about his fishing and admitted she had learned the teasing from Xiao Mei, prompting Xiao Yan to ask about their strained relationship.
• Xun Er complained that clan members slandered Xiao Yan and Xiao Zhan, but Xiao Yan said their resentment was understandable and did not make them enemies.
• Xiao Yan told Xun Er that the clan members’ private hostility showed they recognized his talent, and he argued that their family disputes should stay within the family.
• Xun Er reminded Xiao Yan that the Coming of Age Ceremony was approaching and that Xiao Li had decided to leave home and follow Xiao Ding.
• Xiao Yan considered why Xiao Ding and Xiao Li might step aside for the clan’s sake, then invited Xun Er to visit Xiao Li.

Xiao Li reached the Ninth Stage at the Coming of Age Ceremony, but the Xiao Clan focused on Xiao Yan, who had advanced to the Sixth Stage. Xiao Zhan chose to give Xiao Yan the Qi Gathering Powder, leaving Xiao Li's future uncertain.

• Xiao Li displayed Ninth Stage Dou Qi, then joked with Xiao Yan while the field's attention remained on his younger brother.
• The elders said Xiao Li would not be included in the competition and reflected that the clan had already decided to support Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan collected his salary and revealed that he had advanced to the Sixth Stage, prompting the Steward and elders to celebrate and test him.
• Xiao Zhan considered giving the Qi Gathering Powder to Xiao Li but put it away for Xiao Yan, believing the clan's resources had to go to its strongest prospect.
• Xiao Li sensed Xiao Zhan's gaze from the pavilion and waved to his father.

Xiao Li prepared to flee the Xiao clan with a group of young men, but Xiao Zhan caught him and made him face his punishment. Meanwhile, Xiao Yan reflected on his Ninth Stage Dou Qi and the risks of advancing to Dou Zhe.

• Xiao Li told Xiao Yan he planned to recruit young men eliminated from the Coming of Age Ceremony and leave with them.
• Xiao Mei excitedly told Xiao Yan she had reached the third stage after following his advice, while Xun Er bristled at her closeness to him.
• Xiao Li met Xiao Ding in the woods and reported that he had recruited twenty-three people, but Xiao Ding fled when he learned their number.
• Xiao Zhan revealed he had noticed Xiao Li's secret preparations, and Xiao Li asked him not to let Xiao Ding escape.
• Xiao Yan considered the risks of forming a Dou Qi vortex and advancing from the Ninth Stage to Dou Zhe without a Qi Gathering Powder.

Xiao Yan strengthened his soul and refined his Dou Qi through an unusual cultivation method, but his body’s dispersed energy triggered an unstable breakthrough. He tested himself at the Xiao Clan’s training grounds and discovered the Magic Stone Tablet could not reliably measure his cultivation.

• Xiao Yan used the Nameless Incantation to strengthen his soul and sense Spiritual Qi, which drifted into the ring on his chest.
• Xiao Yan circulated fine threads of Dou Qi through his body, gradually increasing his capacity while the energy leaked out as mist and returned.
• Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi gathered in his dantian and formed a vortex, forcing him to replenish it to keep the unstable breakthrough from collapsing.
• Xiao Yan entered the Testing Room at night and saw the Magic Stone Tablet’s readings flicker wildly between different Dou Zhe star levels.

Nalan Yanran endured brutal training from her grandfather before Yun Yun arranged for the Misty Cloud Sect to take her away. As the sect’s delegation arrived, they declared they would bring back “Yun Yanran,” while Xun Er learned that Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi and hidden strength were difficult to interpret.

• Nalan Yanran continued fighting Nalan Jie until she collapsed, and Yun Yun told him the Misty Cloud Sect would fetch her in three days.
• Yun Yun left without allowing Nalan Jie to prepare anything for Yanran, and he warned Nalan Su that she would no longer be his daughter after three days.
• Yun Leng arrived at the Nalan Family with a large Misty Cloud Sect force and announced that they had come to bring Yanran back as “Yun Yanran.”
• Xiao Yan worried that he lacked a cultivation method while Xun Er questioned Ling Ying about his strange Dou Qi, which showed no signs of a cultivated method.

Xun Er kept Xiao Yan’s unusual abilities secret from the Gu Clan, while Nalan Yanran arrived at the Misty Cloud Sect and reunited with Yun Yun. Their meeting left Nalan discussing talent and her certainty that she would never lose.

• Xun Er ordered Ling Ying not to tell the clan about Xiao Yan, and he agreed to keep the matter between them.
• Yun Leng escorted Nalan Yanran to the Misty Cloud Sect’s great hall, where Yun Yun waited for her.
• Nalan Yanran recognized Yun Yun as the big sister she had met before, and Yun Yun greeted her warmly.
• Nalan Yanran argued that she had no problem admitting defeat but insisted she would not lose to anyone.

Nalan Yanran argued that determination and resourcefulness could let her surpass anyone, while Yun Yun invited her to see Misty Cloud Sect. Yun Yun tested whether Nalan would give up her family to join the sect, but Nalan insisted she could value the best things without abandoning her roots, catching Yun Yun’s interest as a potential disciple.

• Nalan Yanran declared she would work harder, take risks, and fight for Misty Cloud Sect’s best resources to become number one.
• Yun Yun learned Nalan’s family would not let her join Misty Cloud Sect and invited her to see the Apprentice Recruitment Ceremony.
• While waiting in the sect hall, Nalan sat on the Sect Master’s seat as Yun Yun asked whether she would abandon the Nalan Family and change her surname to Yun.
• Nalan Yanran rejected the demand, saying she was both a daughter of the Nalan Family and a disciple of Misty Cloud Sect, then became upset over the choice.
• Yun Yun urged Nalan to accept the price of her choices, but Nalan argued that abandoning her family would make Misty Cloud Sect no different.
• Nalan Yanran said she liked better things only within reach, and Yun Yun became interested in taking her as a disciple.

Nalan Yanran rejected the Misty Cloud Sect's succession token, while Xiao Yan's dwindling Dou Qi suddenly recovered and advanced him to Dou Master. Xiao Yan confronted Yao Lao over secretly draining his Dou Qi, and Yao Lao began to explain his intentions.

• Yun Leng and the Misty Cloud Sect's elders and disciples welcomed Nalan Yanran and offered her the successor token bearing Yun Yanran's name.
• Nalan Yanran returned the token and refused the succession, saying the sword was no longer in her hand.
• Yun Yun returned and offered Nalan Yanran another token bearing her own name, insisting Nalan would regret refusing; Nalan called her Master.
• Xiao Yan's Dou Qi vortex surged back to life, and he realized he had become an eleven-year-old Dou Master without a Qi Method.
• Ling Ying hurried off to report Xiao Yan's breakthrough, while Xiao Yan met Yao Lao and demanded to know why he had drained his Dou Qi.
• Yao Lao said he had wanted to temper Xiao Yan, then reflected on Xiao Yan's calm and restrained nature.

Yao Lao apologized to Xiao Yan and offered him a technique, then proposed a deal involving the unusual Fen Jue and a Heavenly Flame. Xiao Yan learned what the technique required, but the chapter ended before he accepted or refused the deal.

• Yao Lao apologized for nearly disrupting Xiao Yan's cultivation and gave him a Profound Rank Technique, which Xiao Yan accepted for the Xiao Clan.
• Yao Lao questioned Xiao Yan about his unusual cultivation and strong Soul Power, and Xiao Yan said he had no master and had avoided the Xiao Clan's low-rank techniques.
• Yao Lao offered Xiao Yan a supposedly world-shocking technique, and Xiao Yan calmly reasoned that its low rank concealed something extraordinary.
• Yao Lao revealed Fen Jue, a Yellow Rank Low Level technique that could evolve by devouring and fusing with Heavenly Flames.
• Yao Lao showed Xiao Yan a Heavenly Flame, whose terrifying power left Xiao Yan stiff with fear as the chapter ended.

Xiao Yan accepted the Flame Mantra after Yao Lao revealed that its chance of success was nearly zero, agreeing to gamble on reviving him. Yao Lao then examined Xiao Yan’s unusual Dou Qi and suspected its golden energy resembled a Dou Di Bloodline.

• Xiao Yan sensed that Heavenly Flames could destroy Spiritual Qi and learned that their true nature was a frenzied aura of destruction.
• Yao Lao offered the Bone Chilling Flame and the Flame Mantra in exchange for Xiao Yan reviving him, but admitted the chance of cultivating the method successfully was under twenty percent and the overall odds were effectively zero.
• Xiao Yan accepted the Flame Mantra despite the risks, and Yao Lao tossed him the scroll.
• Yao Lao examined Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi, identifying the red energy as blood and vitality and the golden energy as life force fused with his body.
• Yao Lao suspected the golden energy resembled a Dou Di Bloodline and said it could gradually improve Xiao Yan’s talent and potential.

Yao Lao assessed the strengths and limits of Xiao Yan’s three types of Dou Qi and helped him experiment with combining them and the Nameless Incantation. The chapter ended with Xiao Yan attempting to coordinate his Dou Qi, qi and blood, and internal organs under Yao Lao’s guidance.

• Yao Lao explained that Xiao Yan’s three types of Dou Qi could replenish one another, but warned him that the Flame Mantra’s fire attribute demanded careful control and quick battles.
• Xiao Yan combined his three clusters of Dou Qi, briefly reaching Seven Star Dou Shi before his strength rapidly fell as the energy drained away.
• Yao Lao identified Xiao Yan’s weaknesses in control, recovery, efficient use of energy, and soul techniques, then suggested linking his special cultivation art with the Flame Mantra.
• Xiao Yan recited the Nameless Incantation, and Yao Lao discovered that it could strengthen the soul despite its low efficiency and simple requirements.
• Yao Lao recalled Han Feng’s betrayal and wondered whether Xiao Yan might become like him, but decided to continue trusting the youth.
• Following Yao Lao’s instructions, Xiao Yan tried to circulate his Dou Qi in coordination with his qi and blood, starting with the Small Intestine Meridian.

Yao Lao helped Xiao Yan correct his chaotic Dou Qi circulation and began teaching him a body-tempering method. He then offered to teach Xiao Yan alchemy, and Xiao Yan finally became his disciple.

• Yao Lao explained that Xiao Yan's blood and qi were disrupting his meridian circulation and taught him how to guide them alongside Fen Jue.
• Xiao Yan adjusted his cultivation, calmed his aura, and condensed Dou Qi into a gauze-like form.
• Xiao Yan thanked Yao Lao, but Yao Lao insisted he was only fulfilling their agreement and teased him about becoming his disciple.
• Yao Lao revealed his past as a renowned alchemist and offered to teach Xiao Yan alchemy.
• Xiao Yan accepted Yao Lao as his master and bowed before laughing at the old man's reaction.