Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Ye Qiu’s Vast Starry River Diagram can be turned from a defensive formation into an offensive one, alarming the Star Pavilion. In truth, Ye Qiu cannot interpret it himself; Brother Snake helped him.
• When Ling’er asks whether a red-dressed sword-wielding “fairy sister” gave him the diagram, Ye Qiu calls her his sister-in-law and claims the Creation she gave him is far more advanced.
• Lu Li arrives with Nan Qingyue and demands the Grand Pavilion Master choose between her and the Great Dao Academy. He claims neutrality, but Lu Li says she has already told the Academy the Star Pavilion is allied with her—and urges him to make that claim true.
• Nan Qingyue and Lu Li demonstrate that they possess the Star Pavilion’s signature technique, Void Rend, and demand that the Pavilion sign an agreement.
• The Pavilion’s leaders realize the newcomers know its secrets and hold its most valuable assets, making them both powerful allies and a threat.
• Ye Qiu reveals he has mastered an even more complete form of Void Rend. His final strike appears before Ling’er and stops short, terrifying the Grand Pavilion Master while leaving the girl unharmed.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu appears modest about his knowledge of the formation but is confident in the gifts and abilities he has acquired. His successive demonstrations reveal that he has concealed far greater mastery than the others expected.
• Lu Li is forceful and uncompromising, refusing to accept the Star Pavilion’s neutrality. She uses both political pressure and martial power to secure its allegiance.
• Nan Qingyue backs Lu Li with immediate, decisive violence, showing the Pavilion that resistance will be costly.
• The Grand Pavilion Master shifts from guarded neutrality to alarm and fear as the visitors reveal their knowledge and power.
• Ling’er is intrigued by Ye Qiu, sensing an unusual quality in him, but Lu Li’s presence frightens her. Ye Qiu’s final demonstration brings her close to danger without harming her.

Significant themes

• Power as leverage: Possessing a group’s secrets and signature techniques can determine its political choices.
• Hidden strength and incomplete knowledge: The characters repeatedly underestimate what Ye Qiu has learned, while the Star Pavilion’s own techniques prove less complete than his version.
• Alliance versus independence: The Pavilion’s claim of neutrality collapses under Lu Li’s pressure and the practical threat posed by powerful outsiders.
• Restraint amid intimidation: Ye Qiu’s strike demonstrates overwhelming precision: he terrifies the Pavilion without injuring Ling’er.

Key plot points and events

• The Grand Pavilion Master is shaken when Ye Qiu reveals the complete inheritance of Void Rend and a diagram of the Vast Starry River Diagram—treasures unknown in the Mortal World. He concludes Ye Qiu must have powerful ties to the Upper Realm, though he cannot tell exactly what those ties are.
• The White-haired Elder suggests secretly killing Ye Qiu and taking his possessions. The Grand Pavilion Master sharply rejects the idea, fearing retaliation from major factions and the Upper Realm. He is also unnerved by Lu Li’s violet eyes and sense of overwhelming danger.
• Lu Li asks about the Star Pavilion’s inventory, then demands three billion for the inheritance. Ye Qiu gives the Pavilion Master a jade slip containing additional information.
• The Pavilion Master discovers that the slip contains not only Void Rend but also Extinction, a secret art known only through fragments in the Pavilion’s ancient records. Convinced Ye Qiu is connected to the Upper Realm, he gladly agrees to the deal.
• The Pavilion Master grants Ye Qiu access to the Pavilion’s resources, and its leaders formally hand over treasures worth three billion. They consider the exchange an extraordinary bargain.
• Nan Qingyue wants Lu Li to rest so she can speak privately with Ye Qiu. Lu Li refuses, saying he is uneasy. When she promises not to seriously hurt Ye Qiu, Lu Li clarifies that he is worried about her, prompting Nan Qingyue to blush and glare at Ye Qiu.

Character developments and interactions

• The Grand Pavilion Master shifts from cautious suspicion to enthusiastic cooperation after seeing the contents of Ye Qiu’s jade slip. His fear of provoking the Upper Realm—and of Lu Li—outweighs any temptation to seize the inheritance.
• The White-haired Elder is caught concealing the Pavilion’s full inventory, though Lu Li appears to know the exact total anyway. His proposal to attack Ye Qiu is rebuked.
• Ye Qiu demonstrates that he possesses knowledge and techniques far beyond the Mortal World, while casually exchanging them for the Pavilion’s resources. His composure suggests he is withholding even greater secrets.
• Lu Li remains protective and distrustful, especially around Ye Qiu and Nan Qingyue. His concern for his teacher’s behavior rather than Ye Qiu’s safety creates the chapter’s comic ending.
• Nan Qingyue shows an unexpectedly personal or awkward reaction to Lu Li’s concern, blushing before directing a pointed snort at Ye Qiu.

Significant themes

• Power and leverage: Rare knowledge lets Ye Qiu negotiate from a position of strength without resorting to violence.
• Fear of the unknown: The Pavilion’s leaders are forced to reconsider their assumptions about Ye Qiu and the Upper Realm.
• Restraint and political calculation: The Grand Pavilion Master rejects a dangerous grab for power because the possible consequences are too great.
• Secrets and hidden identities: Ye Qiu’s origins and the extent of his abilities remain unclear.
• Comedy amid tension: Lu Li’s protective suspicion and Nan Qingyue’s embarrassed reaction undercut the scene’s high-stakes negotiations.

Key plot points and events

• The Star Pavilion stabilizes and welcomes the Sword Sect, Pill Tower, Beast Valley, and Great Snow Mountain. Its alliance with Ye Qiu and Lu Li leaves the Great Dao Academy worried that its defenses may not withstand the united forces.
• Ye Qiu finishes stabilizing his cultivation: his Qi Sea has reached Zaoji, though his fully developed Sea of Flesh still needs further transformation.
• He finds Lu Li and Nan Qingyue together. Though he has provided Lu Li with the techniques Void Rend and Extinction, Nan Qingyue responds to his generosity with, “Don’t do it again,” leaving him irritated and baffled.
• The Star Pavilion’s abundant, freely available resources ease the resentment of many Beast Valley and Great Snow Mountain disciples who had fought alongside Ye Qiu.
• Two Great Snow Mountain disciples confront Ye Qiu, insisting he is unworthy of Lu Li and blaming him for the realm’s turmoil. They also claim the man’s elder brother is a better match for her.
• Ye Qiu brings them before the Old Madman and the Snow Mountain elders, asking whether they were directed to try to kill him. The Old Madman offers only a perfunctory promise to handle it.
• When the pair continue insulting Ye Qiu and the woman boasts that she is a Divine Fire Fifth Layer cultivator, Ye Qiu knocks her unconscious with one punch. He immediately strikes the man as well; the chapter ends before the result is shown.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu shows restraint at first, avoiding unnecessary conflict because of the looming battle and his ties to Lu Li. But when the Great Snow Mountain disciples persist, he answers their contempt with overwhelming force, revealing the gap between his apparent standing and actual strength.
• Lu Li and Nan Qingyue remain together in Lu Li’s room. Nan Qingyue’s blunt reaction to Ye Qiu’s gifts reinforces his sense that his generosity is being taken for granted.
• The Old Madman appears unwilling to discipline his disciples seriously, and his silence emboldens them.
• The Great Snow Mountain pair move from provocation to open hostility, confident that Ye Qiu is beneath them.

Significant themes

• Strength versus status: The Snow Mountain disciples judge Ye Qiu by his perceived background and suitability for Lu Li; his one-punch victory exposes how unreliable those assumptions are.
• Generosity and entitlement: Ye Qiu’s gifts and the Star Pavilion’s resources are welcomed, but some characters respond with resentment or disrespect rather than gratitude.
• Unity under pressure: The approaching Heaven’s Chosen contest and the Great Dao Academy threat make cooperation valuable, while personal rivalries threaten to create needless division.

Character interactions

• Ye Qiu’s unreciprocated generosity toward Lu Li and Nan Qingyue contrasts with his growing frustration at Nan Qingyue’s response.
• The two Snow Mountain disciples challenge Ye Qiu over Lu Li, and he takes them to the Old Madman to address their hostility directly.
• The Old Madman’s indifference leaves Ye Qiu without a meaningful resolution, prompting the pair to renew their insults.
• Ye Qiu then silences them physically: he floors the woman with a single punch and hits the man as the scene cuts off.

Chapter Summary

• Ye Qiu confronts the Lounge group: When a Divine Fire Sixth Layer man attacks, Ye Qiu overwhelms him with sheer physical force, shattering his face and sternum. He tells the group to pass a warning to their leader: stay away from Lu Li, or face him directly. He also makes clear that he has been showing them consideration—not the other way around—and leaves without acknowledging the others.
• Old Madman restrains the disciples: Though they want to pursue Ye Qiu, Old Madman stops them, saying they are no match for him. Watching Ye Qiu leave, he wonders whether he had underestimated the young man.
• Ye Qiu reflects on his attitude: Outside, Ye Qiu calms down and recognizes that keeping too low a profile has made others underestimate him—and risks weakening his own resolve. He decides he must take that seriously.
• Chen Qianqian gets caught: The frantic fat man runs to Ye Qiu for help, pursued by the Nine Sons of the Pill Tower. They accuse him of courting their sister Lin Sisi, bringing her flowers, and secretly holding her hand. Ye Qiu steps aside and tells them not to kill him. He considers the beating deserved, especially since Chen Qianqian’s unusual constitution lets him grow stronger from being beaten.
• Ye Qiu reunites with allies: He visits Central Province Sword Sect Master Yan Changsheng and the others. An Ling proudly says saving him was worthwhile; Ye Qiu teases her by messing up her hair, prompting her to try to bite him. He also warmly thanks Li Qingfeng and the Thirty-Two Great Bandits, who are deeply conscious of the respect and help Ye Qiu has given them.
• The chapter ends with a new meeting: Ye Qiu greets the Three Bosses of Sin City—Yuan Lanxiu, Smiling Scholar, and, most importantly, the monk-like Buddha Three Burials, whom he had come to find.

Character Development and Themes

Ye Qiu shifts from restraint to openly asserting himself, both to protect Lu Li and to prevent others’ disrespect from eroding his confidence. His interactions also show contrasting sides of him: fierce and intimidating toward adversaries, playful with An Ling, and courteous and grateful toward old allies.
The chapter emphasizes strength and self-respect, suggesting that humility can become harmful when it invites contempt. It also highlights loyalty and reciprocity: Ye Qiu protects Lu Li, honors those who helped him, and does not treat past favors as debts to exploit. Humor comes from Chen Qianqian’s doomed romantic pursuit and his ability to benefit from punishment.

Chapter Summary: “Soundwaves”

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu asks Buddha Three Burials for help understanding soundwave techniques, especially the Azure Dragon Roar he received from Brother Snake.
• Buddha Three Burials teaches him the principles behind both the Buddhist Great Zen Sound Salvation Technique and his own Demonic Sound Three Burials Melody. Soundwaves can be carried by qi, directed by the mind, and amplified to damage the body or mind.
• Their discussion benefits both men: Ye Qiu gains insight into soundwave techniques, while Buddha Three Burials learns from Ye Qiu’s understanding of the Azure Dragon Roar.
• Ye Qiu later reunites with Li Qingfeng and others from Central Province, including Qi Miaochun, the Pill Tower master who had risked much to support him.
• That night, Ye Qiu tests the techniques against Combat Puppets. The Great Zen Sound Salvation Technique has limited offensive effect, while the Demonic Sound Three Burials Melody proves considerably stronger.
• He then combines what he has learned and uses the Azure Dragon Roar against a Divine Fire Fifth Layer puppet. The roar sends the puppet flying, but the recoil also throws Ye Qiu backward, leaving him coughing blood.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu remains humble despite his immense strength and reputation. He shows strong aptitude for learning, grasping and extending Buddha Three Burials’ explanations with unusual speed.
• Buddha Three Burials is impressed by Ye Qiu’s insight and benefits from their exchange as well. His willingness to share his closely guarded knowledge reflects his trust in Ye Qiu.
• Qi Miaochun’s appearance recalls his past sacrifices and unwavering support for Ye Qiu.

Significant themes

• Mentorship and shared learning: A single hint from an experienced teacher can unlock what solitary study cannot, but genuine mastery still requires personal understanding.
• Talent and opportunity: Ye Qiu’s rapid growth inspires others to risk themselves in hopes of sharing in the rewards of his rise.
• Adaptation over imitation: Ye Qiu must make inherited techniques his own rather than merely reproduce them.
• Power and its cost: The Azure Dragon Roar is formidable, but its recoil shows that wielding a powerful technique also carries danger.

Character interactions

• Ye Qiu approaches Buddha Three Burials respectfully, and the monk responds by sharing the foundations of his techniques. Their conversation becomes a reciprocal exchange rather than a one-sided lesson.
• Ye Qiu’s reunion with Qi Miaochun is marked by mutual recognition and warmth, amid a gathering of their Central Province allies.
• In his final test, Ye Qiu confronts a powerful Combat Puppet and discovers both the force and the physical risk of the Azure Dragon Roar.

Plot points and events

• Ye Qiu tests the Azure Dragon Roar against a Puppet in the Star Tower. At first, the roar’s backlash injures him far more than it damages his opponent, forcing him to retreat.
• After studying the technique and repeatedly trying again through the night, he gradually reduces the backlash. By dawn, a roar destroys one Puppet and nearly cripples a stronger one, though Ye Qiu is still badly hurt.
• The backlash proves unexpectedly beneficial: its vibrations temper his body, speed his absorption of unrefined energy, and improve his hearing tolerance, eyesight, and mental focus. Ye Qiu senses that his mental strength may be nearing the stage of forming a Lesser Origin Soul.
• Leaving the Star Pavilion, he sees that Canglan City’s residents are cautiously returning to the streets now that they believe the Sword Sect and Beast Valley pose no threat to them.
• On his way toward the Great Dao Academy, Ye Qiu briefly encounters Ji Ke and the Protector. Later, a powerful silver-haired elder blocks his path. Ye Qiu recognizes him as Senior Lei Gong, while allies’ auras gather nearby to protect him.

Character development and interactions

• Ye Qiu shows persistence and analytical discipline, refining a dangerous technique through repeated experimentation despite severe injuries. He recognizes both its potential and its risk: a small mistake could make him and his opponent die together.
• His physical and mental abilities improve through the very backlash that harms him, and his growing strength leaves him more confident and perceptive.
• Ye Qiu and the Protector exchange a silent, cordial acknowledgment, reflecting Ye Qiu’s gratitude for the Protector’s earlier help. Ji Ke watches with a complicated expression.
• Ye Qiu calmly faces Senior Lei Gong, while powerful allies stand ready around him.

Significant themes

• Progress through hardship: Painful failure becomes a source of insight and advancement.
• Risk and control: The Azure Dragon Roar is powerful but potentially suicidal unless Ye Qiu can master its backlash.
• Responsibility and restraint: Ye Qiu distinguishes his true enemies—the Divine Race and Great Dao Academy—from ordinary residents, allowing the city to recover.
• The growth of inner power: The chapter links bodily cultivation with sharpening perception and the possible emergence of a higher spiritual form.

Key plot points and events

• Grand Arbiter Lei Gong asks Ye Qiu whether there is any chance of avoiding further conflict. Ye Qiu says no: the struggle has become a fight to the death. Lei Gong admits the Academy was wrong, but says he would still have to kill Ye Qiu if duty gave him the chance.
• Ye Qiu confronts the Great Dao Academy’s heavily fortified entrance. He taunts former Holy Master Lou Bandao from outside the barrier, who is too wary to emerge. Humiliated and enraged, Lou Bandao eventually vomits blood as other Academy members look on.
• After leaving, Ye Qiu walks through a quiet, wooded area to clear his head and think about the severe backlash caused by his Sound Wave technique.
• He meets Ye Xinrou, the Ye Clan’s Young Master. She warns him that the Academy has appealed to the Upper Realm and that a powerful figure may soon descend.
• Ye Xinrou privately tells two elders that Ye Qiu’s bloodline surpasses even her own formidable ancestral blood. She describes him as embodying the Ye Clan’s “new generation”—as if he were a new ancestor.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu remains determined to face the Academy, showing confidence and contempt toward Lou Bandao. His walk reveals a more reflective side: he is also wrestling with the limits of his technique.
• Lei Gong is conflicted, recognizing the Academy’s wrongdoing and Ye Qiu’s merits, yet remaining bound by his role.
• Lou Bandao has lost much of his former confidence. Ye Qiu’s taunts expose his fear and devastate his sense of authority.
• Ye Xinrou proves perceptive and politically astute. Though she approaches Ye Qiu as a clan relative, she recognizes his extraordinary potential and regrets that the Ye Clan did not support him earlier.

Significant themes

• Duty versus personal judgment: Lei Gong believes the Academy was wrong but still feels obligated to oppose Ye Qiu.
• Pride and humiliation: Lou Bandao’s collapse shows how deeply public mockery can wound someone invested in status and authority.
• Power and recognition: Ye Xinrou’s assessment suggests Ye Qiu may represent a transformation of the Ye Clan, not merely an unusually gifted member.
• Escalating conflict: The Academy’s appeal to the Upper Realm signals that the confrontation is likely to intensify.

Character interactions

• Lei Gong and Ye Qiu part with mutual understanding but no possibility of reconciliation.
• Ye Qiu intimidates and humiliates Lou Bandao without crossing the Academy’s barrier.
• Ye Xinrou approaches Ye Qiu as kin, but he rejects the connection; she still warns him about the coming threat.
• Ye Xinrou’s conversation with the elders reveals her awe at Ye Qiu’s bloodline and her regret over the clan’s earlier inaction.

Plot points and events

• Ye Qiu returns to the Star Pavilion, where residents have resumed daily life and seem to welcome him. His arrival has made the city feel more orderly: powerful groups that once bullied others are keeping quiet.
• Beast Valley’s master, Huang Laoxie, asks Ye Qiu to intervene in a fight. The fatty is being beaten by disciples of the Pill Tower and Sword Sect after entering the Sword Sect women’s bathing room. Huang admits that the fatty’s master was knocked unconscious while trying to stop the fight.
• Ye Qiu decides not to rescue the fatty, joking that they are not close and that he might become Beast Valley’s heir instead. He is nevertheless confident the attackers will not actually kill the fatty.
• On the way through Beast Valley’s woodland, Ye Qiu encounters the Golden-Furred Ape Clan. He chats with their queen, imitating her calls rather than communicating telepathically.
• Ye Qiu gradually perfects the apes’ distinctive roars. The clan responds to him as if he were issuing commands, and Huang Laoxie realizes Ye Qiu has learned their innate sonic Divine Ability.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu shows his usual playful confidence, but also sharp powers of observation and rapid learning. He notices how people’s behavior has changed since his arrival and quickly masters the ape clan’s vocal technique.
• Huang Laoxie is exasperated by the fatty’s antics and embarrassed by the trouble they cause, yet remains protective enough to ask Ye Qiu for help. He is increasingly astonished by Ye Qiu’s abilities.
• The fatty is revealed to have escalated his earlier misbehavior: what may once have been a misunderstanding is now a second, much worse offense.
• The Golden-Furred Ape queen is presented as powerful, socially dominant, and receptive to Ye Qiu.

Character interactions

• Canglan City residents respond warmly to Ye Qiu, while the once-abusive elites avoid causing trouble.
• Huang Laoxie asks Ye Qiu to stop the beating, but Ye Qiu instead teases him and accepts his offer to become Beast Valley’s heir if needed.
• Ye Qiu and Huang Laoxie visit the ape clan. Ye Qiu’s playful imitation impresses—or confuses—Huang, while the apes mistake his calls for their queen’s commands.

Significant themes

• Power and social order: Ye Qiu’s presence appears to weaken entrenched class privilege and make the city fairer.
• Humor and mischief: The fatty’s punishment and Ye Qiu’s teasing keep the chapter’s tone comic.
• Adaptability and talent: Ye Qiu’s ability to learn the ape clan’s innate skill highlights his extraordinary capacity to observe, imitate, and acquire abilities.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu rapidly masters the Golden-Furred Ape Clan’s sonic attack, then travels with Huang Laoxie through Beast Valley to learn the calls of several Demon Beast clans.
• He wins over the haughty Azure-Eyed Silver Wolf King with successive gifts of Pills and learns the more powerful Silver Wolf Howls at Moon. He also learns the Golden Lion’s roar and, after paying heavily, the black Demon Tiger’s Demon Tiger Howls at the Heavens.
• A Void Fox steals Ye Qiu’s Storage Ring. Huang Laoxie summons the three-tailed Fox King, who retrieves it by forcing a young fox to return the ring.
• Ye Qiu rewards the foxes with some of the recovered treasures, then learns their calls—and even imitates their exceptional speed and concealment, abilities tied to their faint Void Beast Bloodline.
• Alarmed by Ye Qiu’s extraordinary knack for copying abilities and winning over the beasts, Huang Laoxie pulls him away before he can get closer to the foxes.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu proves an astonishingly quick learner, able to reproduce techniques so convincingly that even their original users are fooled. He is also socially resourceful, using gifts to soften the wolf king and Fox King.
• Huang Laoxie shifts from guiding Ye Qiu to worrying about him. He recognizes that Ye Qiu’s imitation could let him gain influence over Beast Valley without force.
• The beast leaders respond differently: the wolf king is initially dismissive but becomes welcoming after receiving Pills; the Fox King is first struck by Huang Laoxie, then won over by Ye Qiu’s generosity and impressed by his abilities.
• Brother Snake, in a brief comic exchange, punctures Ye Qiu’s assumption that Dragon Blood should automatically intimidate the wolves.

Significant themes

• Learning through observation and imitation: Ye Qiu’s talent lets him reproduce even abilities thought to depend on inherited bloodlines.
• Influence through generosity: Gifts help Ye Qiu turn hostility into cooperation.
• Power and control: Beast Valley’s order depends on leaders and authority, but Ye Qiu’s skills could undermine that structure without a fight.
• Humor and suspicion: The chapter pairs Ye Qiu’s casual confidence with Huang Laoxie’s growing fear that he may “steal” the valley’s loyalty.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu leaves the forest with Huang Laoxie after learning Myriad Beast Speech and the sound-wave abilities of several Demon Beasts, hoping one might imitate Brother Snake’s voice and reduce the backlash from his own ability.
• The sky splits open above the city, and a brilliant seven-colored glow descends. The Pill Tower Master recognizes it as unprecedented seven-colored Pill Radiance, signaling the birth of a pill beyond the known limits of the Mortal World.
• The radiance causes pills and pill-related treasures to tremble as though paying homage, and strengthens Lin Sisi’s aura. Ye Qiu remains unsurprised, revealing that he is accustomed to Lu Li’s astonishing feats.
• At the Academy, members of the Jiang Family plead with the Head Dean to save their Clan Leader, who is dying from Pill Toxin. They ask for the Academy’s Destiny Pill, but the Dean claims it has already been used and says he has asked Lou Bandao to help.
• The same seven-colored light appears over the Academy. The Dean’s pendant breaks, releasing the supposedly spent Destiny Pill, which resonates with the radiance. The Jiang Family elders realize the Dean had concealed the pill and turn on him in anger.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu is resourceful and focused on finding a way to manage the backlash of his sound-based ability. His calm response to the extraordinary Pill Radiance contrasts with Huang Laoxie’s astonishment.
• Huang Laoxie is eager to get Ye Qiu away but is repeatedly thwarted until they finally leave; he is then stunned by the celestial event and Ye Qiu’s composure.
• Lin Sisi is vindicated: her grandfather, Lin Cang, now sees that her earlier claim about Lu Li’s alchemy was true.
• The Head Dean appears compassionate toward the Jiang Family but is exposed as having kept the Destiny Pill despite claiming it was gone.
• The Jiang Family elders begin in desperate, humble supplication, then shift to fury when the hidden pill appears.

Significant themes

• Extraordinary talent and escalation: Seven-colored Pill Radiance signals an alchemical achievement beyond the Mortal World’s established limits.
• Trust and concealment: The Dean’s claim that the Destiny Pill was gone clashes with its sudden appearance, undermining his assurances.
• Power’s far-reaching effects: The pill’s radiance affects the whole city, influences pill treasures, and even strengthens Lin Sisi.
• Preparation and adaptability: Ye Qiu’s study of Demon Beast sounds shows his habit of seeking alternatives when a technique carries risks.

Plot points and events

• The Jiang Family, once one of the Academy’s most influential clans, is furious that the Head Dean is reluctant to give them the Academy’s sole Destiny Pill to save their dying Clan Leader. They believe their long service and contributions deserve better treatment.
• The Dean admits the Pill is too valuable to surrender easily, especially as it is resonating with mysterious Seven-Color Radiance and appears to be growing more powerful. He says the Academy’s honor and a matter involving Heaven’s Chosen leave him with no choice.
• He argues that Lou Bandao’s recently improved Pill Dao may offer another way to save the Jiang Clan Leader. A messenger then announces that Lou has completed a forty-nine-day batch of Pills, accompanied by Seven-Color Radiance.
• The Dean, the Jiang Family, and others rush to Lou’s Courtyard, where powerful Pill fragrance and light signal the batch’s extraordinary quality. The Dean assures the Jiang Family that Lou’s Pills can resolve their crisis.
• The Dean identifies the Pills as Xuanxuan Life-Creation Pills, made from an Upper Realm formula. They can temporarily raise combat strength by a full grade, improve the odds of a successful breakthrough, and rapidly restore vitality after severe injury.

Character developments and interactions

• The Jiang Family members move from outrage to guarded skepticism. Their anger reflects both fear for their Clan Leader and resentment at years of being undervalued by the Academy.
• The Head Dean is torn between compassion for the Jiang Family and his reluctance to give up the Destiny Pill. He defends his decision by emphasizing the Academy’s interests and Lou’s new Pills.
• Lou Bandao is absent from the scene, but his successful furnace opening and apparent leap in skill transform him into the focus of the Academy’s hopes.
• The Dean and the Jiang elders confront one another over the Destiny Pill and the credibility of Lou’s achievement; the Jiang elders remain doubtful despite the Dean’s confidence.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and recognition: The Jiang Family’s decades of service contrast with their feeling that the Academy takes them for granted.
• Duty versus self-interest: The Dean’s choice is presented as a conflict between helping an endangered clan and preserving a rare resource for the Academy.
• Power and advancement: The unprecedented radiance and Upper Realm Pills suggest that breakthroughs can overturn established hierarchies and reshape the balance of power.
• Trust and doubt: The Jiang Family’s skepticism highlights the tension between extraordinary claims and the evidence before them.

Key plot points and events

• Lou Bandao emerges after the long pill-refining process with three jade-green pills, confirmed as successful Xuanxuan Life-Creation Pills.
• Tests show the pills can produce dramatic results: one cultivator advances a realm, another advances two, and a Divine Spirit’s aura grows greatly without a breakthrough. The elder also appears rejuvenated.
• The Head Dean realizes the pills could help the ailing Jiang Clan Leader and asks how many were made. Lou says only three, initially causing dismay because all three were given to Lou Family members.
• Lou then reveals he has mastered the formula and can make more in an hour if supplied with ingredients, while simplifying the recipe to reduce costs.
• After dismissing onlookers, the Head Dean asks whether Lou caused the spectacular Seven-Colored Pill Glow. Lou answers ambiguously, enjoying the prestige even though he is unsure.
• The Head Dean tells the Jiang Family that Lou can treat their Clan Leader. But Lou refuses to help that night, citing exhaustion, and retreats inside.
• Once the others leave, Lou secretly gives the Lou Family Leader a bottle containing ten pills. Lou and the elder conclude that the family’s fortunes have changed and envision becoming powerful enough to dominate the Mortal World.

Character developments

• Lou Bandao gains confidence and status after the successful refinement. He embraces the honor of the Seven-Colored Pill Glow, keeps the Jiang Family waiting, and recognizes the pills’ strategic value to his clan.
• The Head Dean shifts from anxious anticipation to triumph, then must manage the Jiang Family’s disappointment and Lou’s growing independence.
• The Jiang Family moves from skepticism to astonishment and hope, then frustration when Lou delays treating their Clan Leader.
• The Lou Family Leader becomes convinced the family is on the verge of surpassing its rivals.

Significant themes

• Ambition and power: The pills promise not only healing and cultivation gains but also a dramatic shift in the balance of influence between the Lou Family and the Academy.
• Prestige and self-interest: Lou values the fame attached to the unprecedented pill radiance and uses his new standing to assert control.
• Scarcity and dependence: The initial shortage creates tension, while Lou’s claim that he can make more turns the Academy and Jiang Family into potential dependents.
• Hope and frustration: The Jiang Family sees a possible cure for its Clan Leader, but must wait on Lou’s terms.

Character interactions

• The Head Dean eagerly questions Lou about the pills, their effects, and whether he caused the radiance.
• Lou demonstrates the pills’ power by giving them to Lou Family members, impressing the assembled crowd.
• The Jiang Family humbly asks Lou to treat its Clan Leader, but he refuses and ignores the Head Dean’s appeal.
• In private, Lou gives the Lou Family Leader ten pills, sharing his conviction that their clan is poised for greatness.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• A spectacular Seven-Colored Pill Glow appears over Canglan City, visible even from Mount Mei. Mei Xianzhi suspects Lou Bandao may be responsible but refuses to go investigate: if Lou made the pill, Mei fears being humiliated after years of looking down on him; if he did not, Mei sees no reason to go.
• Mei orders his followers to focus on cultivation and prepare to head to Heaven’s Chosen. When Wu Xiaokai suggests sneaking away to see Ye Qiu, Mei strikes him unconscious with lightning. Yuan Gang is also knocked down after peeking into the plum grove. Li Zhenzhen and Chen Luolan drag him away, despite his protests that he is still conscious.
• At the Star Pavilion, the glow is revealed to be the work of the powerful young woman whom Bai Ling’er identifies as the “scary big sister.” Lin Sisi, who is being treated as a living pill, grows stronger and senses her Heavenly Fragrance Body advancing.
• The Star Pavilion’s leaders, together with Nie Chong and Lin Cang, persuade the Grand Pavilion Master to join forces. They seal the alliance with a blood oath, recognizing how much they need one another.
• Zheng Qiankun maneuvers his Divine Alliance into the coalition for added protection. Old Madman refuses to join, confident that he knows more than the others and prefers the chance to claim the rewards for himself.

Character developments and interactions

• Mei Xianzhi reveals that pride and fear of public embarrassment outweigh his curiosity about the pill miracle. He remains determined to keep his followers away from Canglan City.
• Wu Xiaokai and Yuan Gang show their impatience to follow Ye Qiu, but their impulsiveness earns them another beating from Mei. Li Zhenzhen and Chen Luolan silently help remove Yuan Gang.
• Ye Qiu remains completely unfazed by the extraordinary pill glow, saying he is “used to it.” When Huang Laoxie praises him for having such a wife, Ye Qiu takes the remark as an insult and walks away, leaving Huang confused.
• Huang Laoxie, Nie Chong, and Lin Cang work together to secure the Grand Pavilion Master’s cooperation. Their practical arguments overcome his hesitation, and the blood oath makes the alliance binding.
• Old Madman stands apart from the newly formed coalition, confident and self-interested.

Significant themes

• Pride and insecurity: Mei avoids the city because he cannot bear the possibility that Lou Bandao has surpassed him.
• The consequences of recklessness: Wu Xiaokai and Yuan Gang repeatedly suffer for acting or speaking without caution.
• Cooperation versus self-interest: Most of the leaders unite against a looming danger, while Old Madman chooses to rely on his own knowledge and pursue the spoils alone.
• The extraordinary treated as ordinary: Ye Qiu’s calm response suggests that miracles are familiar to him, underscoring the remarkable power of the people around him.

Key events

• Ye Qiu is stunned by the Seven-Colored Pill Glow over the Star Tower, an extraordinary sign that the pill being refined is far beyond the ordinary.
• He retreats to train his Sound Wave ability, experimenting with Demon Beast vocal techniques to channel the Azure Dragon Roar. Repeated backlash strengthens his body and spirit, confirming the method works.
• Outside, Ye Qiu practices mimicry on people and everyday sounds. Bai Ling’er joins in, copying him with unsettling enthusiasm; after she imitates sounds from a private room, Ye Qiu quickly steers her away.
• Ye Qiu visits the Mysterious Gate’s quarters, where he beats Xiao Sanzi and later mimics Qin An’s wails, prompting Qin An to seek revenge and get beaten again.
• In town, Ye Qiu studies an even wider range of sounds. Near dusk, a veiled woman’s zither performance draws him into an illusion of war and devastation. He instinctively reproduces the melody with his voice, shatters the illusion, then reverses it on the woman.
• The woman attacks, but Ye Qiu catches her and kills her. Several figures flee from behind the pavilion; he recognizes one as Jiang Tao of the Divine Race’s Jiang Family.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu grows stronger through painful, persistent training and develops extraordinary vocal mimicry, capable of reproducing not only voices but instruments and environmental sounds. His playful, observant side contrasts with his sudden ruthlessness in killing the attacker.
• Brother Snake praises their bond but immediately asks Ye Qiu to introduce him to Lu Li so he can become her guardian. Ye Qiu silently ignores the request.
• Bai Ling’er eagerly learns mimicry from Ye Qiu, showing how quickly she copies what she hears. Her innocent curiosity nearly causes an awkward misunderstanding with the Grand Pavilion Master.
• Qin An and Xiao Sanzi are caught up in comic squabbling, with Ye Qiu’s teasing and beatings adding to the humiliation.
• The veiled zither player, confident in a melody she has studied for ten years, is shocked when Ye Qiu reproduces and turns its illusionary power against her.

Significant themes

• Learning through observation and imitation: Ye Qiu’s breakthrough comes from listening closely and adapting other beings’ sounds and techniques.
• Persistence and transformation: Repeated backlash becomes a means of tempering Ye Qiu’s strength.
• The power of sound and perception: A melody can create vivid illusions, while Ye Qiu’s mimicry can disrupt and reverse them.
• Comedy beside danger: Playful misunderstandings and pranks give way abruptly to lethal violence, ending with a clue that the confrontation may connect to the Divine Race.

Plot points

• Ye Qiu detects hidden killing intent when he enters a pavilion, proving the woman’s zither music has not bewitched him. He suspects the attack was deliberately arranged and leaves without investigating further, resolving instead to remember the people involved.
• As dusk falls, the Eastern Heaven’s Gate opens wider and the strange Seven-Colored Radiance continues to spread over Canglan City.
• At the Academy, Jiang Shen, leader of the declining Jiang Family, asks Lou Bandao to treat his severe Pill Toxin. Lou agrees only if the family gives him the Tai Xuan Sacred Canon, the clan’s Divine Furnace, and 300 million Divine Crystals.
• Though the canon and furnace are essential to the Jiang Family’s legacy and power, Jiang Shen accepts the first two demands. Lou’s final demand nearly consumes the clan’s entire fortune. When Jiang Shen objects, his condition worsens; the Head Dean remains silent, leaving the family without support.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu is shown to be perceptive and composed: his powerful spirit lets him detect danger, and he avoids being drawn into a trap.
• Lou Bandao has grown confident and proud after his recent success. He uses the Jiang Family’s desperation to exact revenge for past slights and to strip them of their most valuable assets.
• Jiang Shen is humble and willing to sacrifice almost everything to survive, but Lou’s escalating demands push him toward anger and despair. The Jiang Family’s members share his humiliation and fury.
• The Head Dean is present but does not intervene, deepening the Jiang Family’s sense of betrayal.

Significant themes

• Power and revenge: Lou turns a former imbalance of status into an opportunity to humiliate and exploit his rivals.
• Desperation and sacrifice: Jiang Shen must weigh his survival against the clan’s future.
• Betrayal and institutional failure: The Academy’s silence suggests that the Jiang Family cannot rely on the authority it once served.
• Legacy and decline: The Sacred Canon and Divine Furnace represent the family’s inheritance, identity, and prospects; surrendering them threatens its standing as a Divine Race.

Summary

• Lou Bandao treats Jiang Shen: With the Jiang Family’s elders’ consent, Lou uses five needles to perform the supposedly lost Five Yang Baleful-Breaking technique, claiming it can turn life and death. Jiang Shen endures severe pain without complaint until the treatment is complete.
• The Head Dean’s silence wounds the Jiang Family: He does nothing to stop Lou, leading the family to believe he has long intended to replace them. They suspect he has concealed Upper Realm techniques and knowledge from them.
• The treatment appears to fail catastrophically: After Lou declares the procedure finished and tells the family to return in a few days, Jiang Shen suddenly spits black blood from all seven orifices. His teeth shatter, his body convulses, and black qi rises toward his brow. The chapter ends with the Jiang Family identifying the ominous condition as “Dark Cloud Overhead.”

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Shen shows extraordinary resolve, bearing unbearable agony in silence until the treatment overwhelms him.
• Lou Bandao acts with confidence and apparent control, but Jiang Shen’s sudden deterioration visibly shocks him; he clenches his fist as the procedure’s outcome becomes uncertain.
• The Jiang Family elders reluctantly allow Lou to proceed, prioritizing their Clan Leader’s survival despite their distrust and grief.
• The Head Dean remains conspicuously silent. The family’s disappointment turns into suspicion that he is deliberately undermining their position.
• Lou and the Jiang family maintain a tense, transactional relationship: the family accepts his treatment, while Lou reminds them of a promise they owe him.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and institutional abandonment: The family feels forsaken by the leader they once supported.
• Power and dependence: Their weakened position leaves them with little choice but to trust a rival.
• The danger of concealed knowledge and desperate cures: A legendary technique offers hope, but its outcome is terrifyingly uncertain.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Shen is struck by a severe backlash from Lou Bandao’s supposedly reliable Five Yang Baleful-Breaking method. Black poison gathers into baleful intent, and he rapidly approaches death.
• Lou Bandao admits he does not know what went wrong. He suggests a Destiny Pill, but the Head Dean says he has already used his; a Xuanxuan Life-Creation Pill might help, though its ingredients are missing.
• The Head Dean leaves to find a solution but has not returned by the next evening. The Jiang Family uses rare herbs and sacrifices its members’ life force to sustain Jiang Shen, with little effect.
• Jiang Qing urges the family to seek Ye Qiu, who once gave them the Tai Xuan Breathing Technique. Jiang Tao dismisses him, but others recognize that the technique may still offer hope. Jiang Shen insists they act for the sake of the Great Dao Academy—the institution that underpins the Jiang Family’s status—not merely out of loyalty to its Head Dean.
• Elsewhere, Ye Qiu completes a period of intense Sound Wave training. His backlash from using the technique drops sharply, his Qi Sea reaches completion, and his qi and blood rise to 3,380,000. He shatters a strength-testing stele and realizes he has developed a new Soundwave Divine Ability from the foundation of Azure Dragon Roar.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Shen remains committed to the Jiang Family’s duty to the Academy even as he nears death.
• Jiang Qing shows practical judgment and courage by advocating for Ye Qiu despite the family’s past rejection of him.
• Jiang Tao remains arrogant and dismissive, reflecting the family’s lingering prejudice against Ye Qiu.
• Lou Bandao is exposed as less capable than he claimed, yet shows no remorse for Jiang Shen’s crisis.
• The Head Dean fails to provide timely help, deepening the Jiang Family’s frustration.
• Ye Qiu advances dramatically through patient experimentation. Brother Snake’s silence—and unusual expression—suggests reluctant respect for Ye Qiu’s achievement.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence and accountability: Lou Bandao’s certainty proves hollow, while Jiang Shen pays the price.
• Duty versus resentment: The Jiang Family must choose between anger at the Academy’s leadership and loyalty to the institution that raised them.
• Prejudice versus practical wisdom: Jiang Tao’s contempt contrasts with Jiang Qing’s willingness to seek help from someone the family once rejected.
• Innovation through persistence: Ye Qiu transforms an existing technique through experimentation, turning its limitations into the basis for a new ability.

Key plot points and events

• After spending two days in the Star Tower, Ye Qiu emerges with greatly strengthened cultivation, Qi and Blood, and spiritual perception. He can sense minute details over a wide area and appears able to anticipate others’ movements.
• He finds the fatty being beaten by Pill Tower and Sword Sect disciples. Ye Qiu feeds him Healing Pills, then tells the others to keep beating him, believing the ordeal is making the fatty stronger.
• The Pill Glow surrounding Lu Li’s location finally disappears, prompting the Star Pavilion’s leaders and other powerful figures to turn their attention toward him. A curious crowd follows Ye Qiu to Lu Li’s room.
• Before Ye Qiu can knock, Nan Qingyue bursts out and attacks him with her Golden Long Sword. He blocks her first strike and escapes with an improved movement technique that combines Dragon’s Passage with a technique learned from the Three-Tailed Fox King.
• Ye Qiu calls on the onlookers for help, but they abandon him. Nan Qingyue attacks again, revealing her newly mastered Void Rend, deeper understanding of Extinction, and powerful Sword Domain.
• Ye Qiu imitates Lu Li’s voice, making Nan Qingyue pause. When she realizes the deception, Ye Qiu has escaped.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu has become markedly more powerful and perceptive, with improved combat awareness and speed. He is confident, quick-thinking, and mischievous—even using Lu Li’s voice to get away.
• The fatty is badly hurt but apparently stronger than before; Ye Qiu sees the beating as beneficial, despite the fatty’s furious protests.
• Nan Qingyue has made major progress with her sword techniques and is surprised that Ye Qiu withstands an attack she expected to defeat a Divine Flame cultivator.

Character interactions

• Ye Qiu treats the battered fatty with healing pills but deliberately leaves him to continue being beaten.
• The curious crowd follows Ye Qiu toward Lu Li’s room, then refuses to help when Nan Qingyue attacks.
• Nan Qingyue’s assault turns into a brief contest with Ye Qiu, ending when his imitation of Lu Li’s voice distracts her long enough for him to flee.

Significant themes

• Growth through hardship: Ye Qiu believes the fatty’s beating has made him stronger.
• Power and perception: Ye Qiu’s enhanced awareness and Nan Qingyue’s refined sword arts show how small advantages can shape combat.
• Self-preservation and humor: The onlookers flee rather than intervene, while Ye Qiu relies on speed and deception to escape.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu is shaken by Nan Qingyue’s extraordinary progress: she has become dramatically stronger in only a few days and has already grasped the essence of Void Rend. He suspects she may possess a hidden constitution and heads to Beast Valley to train against Demon Beasts rather than face people.
• The crowd outside the Rest Area disperses, still eager to learn about Lu Li’s pill but too wary of the Old Madman to disturb him.
• The Jiang Family’s crisis worsens as their clan leader, Jiang Shen, nears death. The Head Dean returns with rare materials, and Lou Bandao finally agrees to refine the Xuanxuan Life-Creation Pill.
• Lou Bandao uses his Landscape Furnace and Qilin Flowing Heart Flame, displaying superb alchemical skill. He secretly keeps most of the precious Dragon Head Horn, while the Head Dean hides the Destiny Pill in his mouth to avoid another embarrassing exposure.
• After an hour, the pill appears to be successfully formed. The Head Dean expects the familiar rosy glow—but the furnace begins shaking. The pill explodes, black smoke pours out, the sky darkens, and Lou Bandao collapses after coughing blood.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu is impressed and unsettled by Nan Qingyue, recognizing that her talent may exceed even the greatest family prodigies. His frustration with the people who previously humiliated him also remains.
• Nan Qingyue is absent, but her rapid advancement becomes the chapter’s central mystery.
• The Head Dean acts as the Jiang Family’s last hope, though his self-serving habits remain evident: he boasts about gathering the ingredients and secretly protects his own pill.
• Lou Bandao is revealed as a brilliant, highly skilled alchemist, but also as greedy and indifferent to the Jiang Family’s desperation. His apparent success ends in disaster.
• The Jiang Family suppresses its anger toward both men, pleading and waiting because Jiang Shen’s survival matters more than their pride. They admire Lou Bandao’s skill even while resenting him.

Significant themes

• Unnatural talent and mystery: Nan Qingyue’s rapid growth raises questions about hidden abilities and the limits of ordinary cultivation.
• Skill versus character: Lou Bandao’s artistry inspires admiration, but his selfishness makes him difficult to respect.
• Desperation and dependence: The Jiang Family must rely on people they distrust, highlighting how crisis can force uneasy cooperation.
• Uncertainty and reversal: The apparent success of the pill-making process turns abruptly into catastrophe, undercutting confidence and hope.

Plot points and events

• Lou Bandao’s alchemy fails spectacularly: his furnace explodes three times, no Pill Radiance appears, and the backlash leaves him badly injured.
• The crowd concludes that Lou did not create the earlier Seven-Colored Pill Glow; rather, the glow may have enabled his previous success. He cannot refine the Xuanxuan Life-Creation Pill.
• Jiang Shen’s condition worsens, with the poison turning into baleful intent. The Head Dean abandons hope of saving him and orders the Jiang Family to leave, prioritizing the Academy’s resources and the valuable Destiny Pill over Jiang Shen.
• Furious and desperate, the Jiang Family carries Jiang Shen out of the Academy’s formation. Their Great Elder decides the Pill Tower’s Master, Lin Cang, must have produced the glow and resolves to seek his help at the Star Pavilion.
• When a young man warns that approaching Lin Cang could permanently alienate the Jiang Family from the Academy, the Great Elder strikes him down before he can finish.

Character developments and interactions

• Lou Bandao shifts from celebrated authority to a discredited, injured failure. His repeated attempts expose the limits of his reputation.
• The Head Dean reveals that institutional priorities outweigh personal loyalty: he views Jiang Shen as expendable and the Destiny Pill as more valuable than the Jiang Family.
• The Jiang Family moves from hope to outrage and desperation. Its members appeal to the Head Dean, but, rejected, they turn to Lin Cang as their last chance.
• The Great Elder chooses Jiang Shen’s possible survival over preserving ties with the Academy, and responds violently to opposition.
• The crowd revises its understanding of the Pill Radiance, suspecting it aided Lou Bandao rather than being produced by him.

Significant themes

• Reputation versus ability: Lou Bandao’s status cannot conceal his inability to reproduce his apparent success.
• Power and self-interest: The Head Dean’s decision exposes how institutional resources and political calculations can eclipse compassion.
• Desperation and loyalty: The Jiang Family risks its standing with the Academy to pursue one final hope for its Clan Leader.
• The cost of failure: Lou’s alchemical backlash and the Academy’s refusal leave Jiang Shen near death, with the family facing an agonizing choice.