Chapter Summaries

The Second Elder and Great Elder learned that Queen Medusa had privately summoned Su Baichen and suspected she had taken a romantic interest in him. They worried that her lack of experience in love could ruin her attempt, while Medusa began speaking privately with Su Baichen, who assumed she wanted to discuss the Snake-People Tribe’s future.

• The Second Elder dismissed the guards and servants, then heard the maid describe how Queen Medusa had ordered her attendants away before meeting Su Baichen in her bedchamber.
• The Second Elder and Great Elder concluded that Medusa might have taken a liking to Su Baichen, but the Second Elder warned that she had no experience with romance.
• The Great Elder realized he had overlooked Medusa’s lack of romantic instincts, and both elders grew anxious about her private meeting.
• Queen Medusa welcomed Su Baichen into her bedchamber in a pale-purple outfit and asked him to call her Cailin.
• Su Baichen agreed to the intimate form of address and said he already understood what she wanted to discuss, assuming it concerned the Snake-People Tribe’s fate.

Cailin mistook Su Baichen’s agreement to help her break through to Dou Zong for a response to her confession, then realized the misunderstanding and hid her embarrassment. She redirected their conversation to the promised breakthrough, while Su Baichen began to suspect they had been discussing different things.

• Cailin asked Su Baichen whether he agreed, believing he had understood her feelings.
• Su Baichen said he meant their earlier agreement that he would help her reach Dou Zong after they found the Heavenly Flames.
• Cailin realized she had mistaken the cultivation promise for an answer to her confession and became deeply embarrassed.
• Su Baichen asked why Cailin was blushing, but she avoided his touch and struggled to recover.
• Cailin composed herself, claimed she had been excited about the breakthrough, and asked how Su Baichen would help her.
• Su Baichen noticed Cailin’s strange behavior and suspected they had been talking about two different things.

Su Baichen offered Cailin two ways to break through to Dou Zong: a safe Breaking Sect Pill or a perilous Heavenly Flame tempering method with the potential to transform her future. As Cailin weighed the choice, Su Baichen discovered her private courtship plan and realized she liked him, leaving them facing an awkward silence.

• Su Baichen presented Cailin with a Breaking Sect Pill that could raise her chance of breakthrough by fifty percent and described the dangerous but potentially transformative Heavenly Flame method.
• Cailin considered the safer pill against the chance to gain enough power to protect her people and reach Dou Sheng.
• Su Baichen noticed a treasured book on Cailin's shelf and opened it while she remained absorbed in thought.
• Su Baichen found notes recording his habits and a page titled "Courtship Plan," and realized Cailin liked him.
• Cailin looked up and met Su Baichen's gaze, revealing a brief flicker of panic and shyness before an awkward silence settled between them.

Cailin chose the dangerous breakthrough method to gain strength, but her resolve was shaken when she realized Su Baichen was reading her private journal about him. Su Baichen recognized that she truly liked him and began considering whether his own admiration could become love.

• Cailin decided to risk the second breakthrough method, hoping to overcome her bloodline limits and protect her people’s dignity and future.
• Cailin turned to tell Su Baichen her decision and saw him absorbed in reading a book.
• Cailin recognized the book as her secret journal about Su Baichen and blushed with embarrassment and panic.
• Su Baichen looked up and met Cailin’s gaze, while she worried over whether to confess and how he might respond.
• Su Baichen understood that Cailin genuinely liked him and reflected on whether his own attraction could grow into love.

Cailin asked Su Baichen whether he liked her, and he honestly told her that he admired her but did not yet love her. She accepted his answer and resolved to make him fall in love with her, while Su Baichen stayed close, amused by her renewed confidence.

• Cailin feared Su Baichen's hesitation meant he did not like her and directly asked him how he felt.
• Su Baichen comforted Cailin with an embrace and explained that he liked and admired her but could not call those feelings love.
• Cailin felt both disappointed and relieved, then decided she would win Su Baichen's love over time.
• Cailin hugged Su Baichen and declared that she would make him fall in love with her.
• Su Baichen chuckled and remained beside Cailin, looking at her with teasing curiosity.

Su Baichen teased Cailin about wearing a youthful dress, then reassured her that she did not need to change herself to please him. Cailin accepted his reassurance and settled into his embrace.

• Cailin opened her eyes to find Su Baichen admiring her in a light-purple dress and teasing her about borrowing Caidie's clothes.
• Cailin denied borrowing the dress and explained that she had worn it long ago.
• Su Baichen praised the dress on her but then told Cailin to wear her own clothes and remain herself.
• Cailin relaxed in Su Baichen's arms and softly agreed that she understood.

Cailin prepared to undergo a dangerous evolution with Su Baichen’s Liuli Burning Heaven Flame, while he resolved to guide the process and spare her unnecessary suffering. Elsewhere, Cao Ying discovered that Su Baichen had another woman and urged a stunned Caidie to pursue him.

• Cailin devoted herself to cultivation as she prepared to temper her bloodline with a Heavenly Flame and evolve.
• Su Baichen chose his controllable Liuli Burning Heaven Flame to assist Cailin and make her evolution safer than using the Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Cao Ying complained to Caidie that Su Baichen had not visited her, and Caidie explained that he had been accompanying Cailin.
• Cao Ying revealed that Xuanyi was already Su Baichen’s mistress, stunning Caidie.
• Cao Ying told Caidie that Su Baichen would have more than one confidante and urged her to take the initiative.

Cao Ying exposed Caidie's feelings for Su Baichen and encouraged her to pursue him, leaving Caidie embarrassed but newly determined to try. Meanwhile, Su Baichen finished preparing for Cailin's Heavenly Flame tempering and heard that the Second Elder had news about a matter he had assigned.

• Caidie denied liking Su Baichen, but Cao Ying pointed out that she had secretly drawn his portrait and kept it beneath her pillow.
• Cao Ying told Caidie that status did not have to prevent her from pursuing Su Baichen, citing Cailin and Xuanyi as examples.
• Caidie hid beneath her quilt and reflected on her affection for Su Baichen, then began to consider striving for a place at his side.
• Su Baichen finished preparing medicinal supplies and formation runes for Cailin's Heavenly Flame tempering.
• As Su Baichen prepared to visit Cao Ying, the Snake-People Tribe's Second Elder arrived with news about a matter Su Baichen had assigned him.

Su Baichen remembered the ransom operation and rewarded the Second Elder with two Tier 5 Medicinal Pills. While reviewing the prisoner list, he discovered that Yun Yun had been captured and began considering her place in the timeline and her potential.

• The Second Elder reminded Su Baichen that captured spies and experts were being held for ransom and presented him with the prisoner list.
• Su Baichen remembered ordering the ransom demands and gave the Second Elder two medicinal pills as a reward for handling the matter well.
• The Second Elder gratefully accepted the pills and left, promising to report any changes or ransom payments.
• Su Baichen reviewed the list and noticed that Yun Yun, a Five-Star Dou Wang from the Misty Cloud Sect, had been captured at the eastern edge of the Tagor Desert.
• Su Baichen considered Yun Yun's future and compared her talent and cultivation prospects with those of his disciple, Cao Ying.

Su Baichen investigated why Yun Yun had become a Snake-People prisoner and learned that Yun Shan had abandoned her while fleeing Queen Medusa. He went to the dungeon to see Yun Yun, who remained devastated by her master's betrayal.

• Su Baichen questioned a maid about Yun Yun and ordered her to investigate Yun Yun's capture and current condition.
• Su Baichen read a dossier explaining that Yun Shan had left Yun Yun behind when Queen Medusa approached during his fight with two Snake-People Elders.
• Su Baichen asked where Yun Yun was being held and ordered the maid to take him to the dungeon.
• Yun Yun sat alone in her cell, reliving how Yun Shan had fled after asking her to hold off their attackers.

After Yun Shan’s betrayal left Yun Yun on the brink of collapse in a Snake-People Tribe cell, Su Baichen decided to make himself her source of hope and support. His attempts at gentle comfort failed, so he began probing her about the ransom letters as his demeanor turned cold and unsettling.

• Yun Yun languished without food or water, haunted by Yun Shan’s betrayal and barely sustained by her battle aura.
• Su Baichen assessed Yun Yun’s despair and calculated that winning her trust could make her a loyal future asset.
• Su Baichen entered Yun Yun’s cell and tried to draw her out with gentle conversation, but she barely responded.
• Su Baichen’s spiritual chill made Yun Yun look up and ask what had happened to him.
• Su Baichen asked whether Yun Yun knew who he was, then reminded her that captives could send ransom letters to their sect or family.

Su Baichen claimed Yun Yun as his maidservant and took her from the prison after feeding her. He restored her cultivation while placing a new restriction on her, and Yun Yun accepted her changed status and agreed to obey him.

• Su Baichen declared that Yun Yun belonged to him and ordered her to eat the meal he brought.
• Yun Yun overcame her humiliation and hunger, ate the food, and followed Su Baichen out of the prison.
• Su Baichen told Yun Yun to leave her identity as the Young Sect Master of the Misty Cloud Sect behind and live as his maidservant, and she accepted.
• Su Baichen broke the Snake-People Tribe's seal, restoring Yun Yun's cultivation to Five-Star Dou Wang, then placed a restriction in her Dou Qi source.
• Yun Yun accepted the restriction and promised Su Baichen that she would obey him.

Yun Yun received comfortable quarters arranged by Su Baichen and fell asleep, grateful for his kindness. Days later, the Second Elder presented Su Baichen with a large gift from the Snake-People Tribe and secured his promise to call on him if he needed anything.

• Yun Yun discovered that Su Baichen had arranged an elegant room for her and thanked him through the snake-woman who escorted her.
• Yun Yun rested in the room and gradually fell asleep with gratitude toward Su Baichen.
• The Second Elder delivered ransom money from two empires and several sects to Su Baichen, then offered him an additional gift from the tribe.
• Su Baichen accepted the extra gold card and offered the Second Elder medicinal pills, but the Second Elder firmly declined them.
• Su Baichen told the Second Elder he would seek him out if anything came up, satisfying the elder's effort to earn his future favor.

Cailin began tempering herself with Su Baichen’s Liuli Burning Heaven Flame in hopes of evolving, while Caidie and the elders watched from behind the island’s barriers. As Cailin endured the flames’ agony, Su Baichen and Caidie could only hope she survived.

• Cailin reminded Caidie that she would inherit the throne if the evolution failed, then asked Su Baichen whether he would accept her love if she succeeded; he could not answer.
• Cailin transformed into her Purple Flame Snake form and told Su Baichen she was ready to begin.
• Su Baichen activated the island’s formations and sent his Liuli Burning Heaven Flame toward Cailin.
• Cailin charged into the Heavenly Flame, and it began burning away her scales as she screamed in agony.
• Caidie watched through her tears while Su Baichen and the elders waited for Cailin to survive the tempering.

Su Baichen tried to guide Cailin through a perilous evolution in the Liuli Burning Heaven Flame, but her body appeared to die before the ritual could revive her. The chapter ended with the life energy failing to awaken her, leaving Su Baichen convinced that the evolution had failed.

• Su Baichen focused on controlling the Heavenly Flames as Cailin endured the deadly evolution, while Caidie watched in terror.
• Cailin's scales and flesh burned away, and her charred body fell from the flames without any sign of life.
• Su Baichen activated the Gathering Spirit and Transforming Life formation and directed its emerald life energy into Cailin's body.
• The life energy produced no heartbeat, soul response, or sign of revival, and Su Baichen realized Cailin's evolution had failed.

Su Baichen believed Cailin had died after her evolution failed and realized through his grief that he loved her. As he confessed his feelings and begged her to return, the charred snake body trembled and began to glow with seven-colored light.

• Su Baichen saw Cailin's charred remains and was overwhelmed by regret and memories of their time together.
• Su Baichen realized he had fallen in love with Cailin and regretted avoiding her confession.
• Su Baichen held Cailin's body, apologized, confessed his love, and begged her to come back to life.
• Cailin's charred body trembled, and cracks revealed a faint seven-colored glow.

Cailin emerged from her charred remains after completing her evolution, and heaven and earth sent Tribulation Lightning to test her. Su Baichen and Caidie watched as Cailin used the lightning to temper her new body and strengthen her power.

• Su Baichen saw rainbow light shine through cracks in Cailin's charred remains as she began to emerge anew.
• Dark clouds gathered as Cailin completed her evolution, and Su Baichen activated his formation to channel life energy into her.
• The first Tribulation Lightning bolt shattered Su Baichen's formation and struck Cailin's charred shell, reaching the new life within.
• Caidie tried to rush to Cailin, but Su Baichen stopped her and warned that interference would intensify the tribulation.
• Su Baichen sensed Cailin's aura growing stronger as she used the lightning to purify and temper her evolved body.

After Cailin survived the lightning tribulation, Su Baichen discovered that her original soul was asleep and a newborn soul controlled her evolved body. The newborn had become an Eight-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python, and Caidie began treating it like a toy.

• Caidie believed the lifeless-looking charred mass meant Cailin had died, but Su Baichen sensed that its life force had grown stronger.
• Su Baichen realized the creature inside was pretending to be dead because it feared him, and he reassured Caidie that her sister was safe.
• Su Baichen drew a small eight-colored snake from the charred mass and discovered it was an Eight-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python.
• Su Baichen sensed two souls within the snake: Cailin's sleeping soul and a fearful newborn soul controlling the body.
• Caidie learned that Cailin was unharmed, then poked the frightened little snake, which shut its eyes and stiffened.

Su Baichen fed the Eight-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python two Fire Lotus Seeds, named it Xiao Cai, and left the island with Caidie as the snake people gathered outside. The crowd watched the island's exit after its energy fluctuations subsided, still uncertain about Queen Medusa's fate.

• Su Baichen protected the frightened Eight-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python from Caidie's teasing and fed it a Fire Lotus Seed.
• Caidie grabbed the little snake by its tail and claimed it should call her Big Sister, while Su Baichen joked that she defied the natural order.
• Su Baichen fed the snake another Fire Lotus Seed, named it Xiao Cai, and let it sleep inside his sleeve.
• Su Baichen knocked Caidie on the head and led her out, saying the commotion would have drawn people to the island.
• Snake people gathered outside the island, worried about Queen Medusa's evolution, and fell silent when the energy fluctuations subsided.

Su Baichen concealed Cailin’s successful evolution from the Snake-People Tribe, while Caidie staged a prank that briefly made the elders fear the Queen had died. The elders agreed to keep Cailin’s condition secret, and Su Baichen left them reassured that she was safe and recovering.

• Su Baichen told the gathered snake-people that a lightning tribulation had come from refining a seventh-grade pill, and the elders helped disperse the crowd.
• Caidie pretended to collapse in grief, making the Great Elder fear that Cailin had perished during her evolution.
• Caidie revealed that Cailin’s evolution had succeeded and admitted she had cried from happiness, relieving the elders.
• Su Baichen explained that Cailin was asleep and recuperating after exhausting too much energy, then ordered the elders to keep the matter secret.
• Caidie teased the Great Elder about falling for her act, and Su Baichen departed after assuring the elders that Cailin was safe.