Chapter Summaries

After two and a half years of cultivation, Xiao Ling reached Three-star Dou King and decided to leave Jia Nan Academy to train and seek the Green Lotus Core Flame. Zi Yan persuaded him to take her along, pending First Elder Su Qian’s approval.

• Xiao Ling broke through to Three-star Dou King and found that the Heavenly Flame Refining Qi Tower could no longer help his cultivation much.
• Xiao Ling told his companions he would leave for training and advised them to stay at Jia Nan Academy until they reached Dou King.
• Zi Yan begged Xiao Ling to take her with him, saying the academy could no longer help her and she wanted to find medicinal herbs.
• Xiao Ling agreed to take Zi Yan if First Elder Su Qian approved and told her she would have to follow his arrangements.
• Zi Yan dragged Xiao Ling toward First Elder Su Qian’s office to ask for permission.

Xiao Ling asked First Elder Su Qian for permission to leave Jia Nan Academy and train in the Jia Ma Empire and Tagor Desert, and Su Qian approved while making him an Inner Academy elder. Zi Yan joined Xiao Ling for the journey, and they planned to leave the next morning.

• Xiao Ling told Su Qian that his cultivation and alchemy had stalled at the academy and explained his plan to return to his clan before training in the Jia Ma Empire and Tagor Desert.
• Su Qian warned Xiao Ling about powerful enemies in the Black Corner Region and the dangers posed by Jia Xing Tian and Queen Medusa, then agreed that Xiao Ling could leave.
• Su Qian asked Xiao Ling to graduate early and serve as an Inner Academy elder, and Xiao Ling affirmed that Jia Nan Academy would always be his home.
• Zi Yan asked to train alongside Xiao Ling so she could keep eating medicinal pills, and Su Qian entrusted her safety to him.
• Xiao Ling promised to refine a Form Transformation Pill for Zi Yan once he gathered the ingredients and reached Peak Seventh-grade alchemy, and they agreed to leave the next morning.

Xiao Ling reviewed how his cultivation and soul power had advanced, then used ten system draws before a training trip. He acquired resources for Qing Lin and himself and headed to visit Han Yue and Xiao Xun'er to say goodbye before their temporary separation.

• Xiao Ling checked his Personal Panel and reflected on reaching Three-star Dou Wang and Spirit Realm Initial Stage after tempering himself with the Fallen Heart Flame origin.
• Xiao Ling used ten draws and received Gold Coins, two Sect Breaking Pills, the Sky Serpent Manual, the Mind Splitting Control Method, and a Bone Regenerating Blood Melting Pill.
• Xiao Ling decided the Sky Serpent Manual would help Qing Lin develop her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and planned to use the Mind Splitting Control Method to improve his pill refining and combat abilities.
• Xiao Ling examined the Grade 8 Bone Regenerating Blood Melting Pill, recognized its danger, and stored it safely in the System Space.
• Xiao Ling went to Han Yue and Xiao Xun'er's dormitory to talk and say goodbye before leaving for training the next day.

Xiao Ling secretly visited Han Yue, and they shared an intimate moment while discussing her plans to return to her clan after reaching Dou Wang. He promised to escort and protect her, leaving Han Yue reassured about their future together.

• Xiao Ling concealed his aura and slipped past Ling Ying to enter Han Yue's room with a spare key.
• Xiao Ling embraced Han Yue and told her he had come to spend time with her before leaving for training.
• Han Yue said she would likely return to her clan after reaching Dou Wang because she missed her younger sister.
• Xiao Ling promised to escort Han Yue to Tianya City after his training and vowed to protect her for life.
• Han Yue accepted Xiao Ling's promise and kissed him.

Before leaving to train, Xiao Ling visited Xiao Xun'er, who gave him a sub-flame of her clan’s Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame. Xiao Ling accepted it after learning that separating it had only exhausted Xiao Xun’er’s Soul Power, and the flame could grow stronger alongside him.

• Xiao Ling left Han Yue’s room and went to spend time with Xiao Xun'er before departing to train.
• Xiao Xun'er revealed that she had separated a Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame sub-flame as a farewell gift for Xiao Ling.
• Xiao Xun'er explained that creating the sub-flame had overused her Soul Power but had caused few other side effects.
• Xiao Ling urged Xiao Xun'er to protect her health, then accepted the sub-flame in its porcelain bottle.
• Xiao Xun'er explained that the sub-flame contained some Origin Power and would grow stronger as Xiao Ling's strength increased, up to its limit.

Xiao Xun'er gave Xiao Ling the first two forms of the Ancient Clan’s Emperor Seal Art and warned him to hide it in the Central Plains. Meanwhile, Gu Yuan decided that Xun'er would return to the Ancient Clan in two years and wondered whether the Xiao Clan could rise again.

• Xiao Xun'er gave Xiao Ling the Emperor Seal Art and explained its five forms, warning him not to reveal it in the Central Plains.
• Xiao Ling promised to prove himself to Xiao Xun'er's family, and the two shared a quiet evening before falling asleep together.
• Gu Nanhai urged Gu Yuan to bring Xun'er back because her coming-of-age ceremony was approaching and she had not obtained the Xiao Clan's Tou She Ancient God Jade.
• Gu Yuan ordered the elders to tell Xun'er that she would return to the Ancient Clan in two years.
• After the elders departed, Gu Yuan wondered whether Xiao Xuan would regret his decision and whether the fallen Xiao Clan could rise again.

Xiao Ling quietly left Xiao Xun'er and began refining her Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame Sub-flame in his dormitory. After using a Blood Lotus Pill, Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and Spirit Absorption Stone, he successfully refined the flame and emerged with its power contained within him.

• Xiao Ling left Xiao Xun'er asleep on the sofa with a Fire Fox Fur blanket, and she revealed she had been awake and promised to wait for his return.
• Xiao Ling prepared the Blood Lotus Pill, Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and Spirit Absorption Stone before beginning to absorb the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame Sub-flame.
• Xiao Ling used the Blood Lotus Pill to protect himself as he seized the flame seed, then drank the Ice Spirit Cold Spring to counter its heat.
• Xiao Ling circulated the flame through the Fen Jue and guided it into the Spirit Absorption Stone, whose space the obedient sub-flame entered without resisting.
• The golden energy barrier around Xiao Ling cracked and burst, and he opened his eyes with golden flames in his pupils.

Xiao Ling tested the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame after refining its subsidiary flame, then prepared to leave Jia Nan Academy with Zi Yan and return to the Jia Ma Empire. He said farewell to Hu Gan, gave him two Sect Breaking Pills, and set out with Zi Yan to train beyond the academy.

• Xiao Ling discovered that refining the subsidiary flame had raised his cultivation to Four-star Dou King and advanced Fen Jue to Intermediate Black Tier, then summoned the Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame.
• Xiao Ling told Lin Xiuyai he was leaving once Zi Yan arrived and asked him to arrange repairs to the damaged Training Room.
• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan obtained a Griffin at the Inner Academy's spatial gate and flew to the Outer Academy, where Xiao Ling visited Hu Gan to say goodbye.
• Xiao Ling gave Hu Gan two Sect Breaking Pills, and Hu Gan gifted Xiao Ling a Storage Ring filled with Cultivation Techniques and Dou Techniques.
• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan left Hu Gan's office and flew away from Jia Nan Academy to begin their journey.

Xiao Ling and Zi Yan traveled by Griffin from Jia Nan Academy toward the Jia Ma Empire while Xiao Ling trained a soul-control technique and refined pills. As they neared Zhen Gui Pass, Xiao Ling planned to move the Xiao Family to the Imperial Capital and seek help protecting them.

• Xiao Ling thanked the Flight Station instructor with a Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill, then flew with Zi Yan on the Griffin toward the Jia Ma Empire.
• During the journey, Zi Yan took pills to cultivate while Xiao Ling practiced the Mind Splitting Control Method and learned to control three flames at once.
• Xiao Ling spent the following days practicing, refining pills, and keeping company with Zi Yan and Rayquaza.
• After half a month, Xiao Ling refined pills for Zi Yan, who praised how quickly his new technique let him work.
• Xiao Ling checked the map and planned to send word to the Xiao Family to relocate to the Imperial Capital, where he hoped his status and an old man in the Tagor Desert could help protect them.

Xiao Ling and Zi Yan reached the Jia Ma Empire through Zhen Gui Pass, where Xiao Ling arranged for the Royal Family to escort his family to the capital in exchange for helping them obtain a Sect Breaking Pill. After Mu Tie agreed to carry out his requests, Xiao Ling and Zi Yan headed toward the Tagor Desert to find Hai Bodong.

• Mu Tie and the soldiers at Zhen Gui Pass prepared to defend against a Griffin, then were shocked when Xiao Ling and Zi Yan revealed themselves as young Dou Wang experts.
• Xiao Ling introduced himself to Mu Tie and asked him to deliver a letter to the Xiao Family, arrange for the Royal Family to move them to the Imperial Capital, and gather ingredients for three Sect Breaking Pills.
• Mu Tie recognized Xiao Ling as the empire's famed genius and was astonished to learn that he was a Sixth-grade Alchemist who possessed a Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Ling promised to refine a Dou Spirit Pill for Mu Tie if he handled the arrangements well, and Mu Tie accepted the letter and pledged to help.
• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan flew toward the Tagor Desert, while Mu Tie sent a guard to Wutan City and went to report to the Royal Family.

The chapter humorously recast Hai Bodong as a shrewd investor who repeatedly bet on Xiao Yan and protected him, framing their partnership as the source of Hai Bodong’s rise. It ended with Hai Bodong freed from his seal but facing a bittersweet fate tied to Xiao Yan.

• Hai Bodong accidentally entered the Snake People Race’s territory, where Queen Medusa sealed his strength, and later met Xiao Yan, who removed the seal and hired him as a guard.
• At the Alchemist Tournament, Jia Xingtian teased Hai Bodong about his cowardly friend, and Hai Bodong recalled Xiao Yan’s habit of turning into a commentator or an injured patient when trouble came.
• Hai Bodong stood in front of Xiao Yan when the Misty Cloud Sect hunted him and saved him three times at the Misty Cloud Sect.
• Three years later, as the Misty Cloud Sect attacked the Mittel Family, Hai Bodong was trapped in a formation and Xiao Yan arrived with a Spirit Replenishing Purple Pill.
• Hai Bodong realized the pill would free him from his seal, while General MacArthur described Hai Bodong and Xiao Yan as brothers-in-law and called Xiao Yan both a blessing and a calamity.

Xiao Ling and Zi Yan reached Desert City and followed a soldier’s directions to the Ancient Map shop. Xiao Ling recognized the shopkeeper as Hai Bodong, whom he had been seeking.

• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan rode Rayquaza to Desert City, and Xiao Ling told Zi Yan not to steal medicinal ingredients.
• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan entered the city after Xiao Ling displayed his Third Grade Alchemist badge and gave a First-grade Pill to a gate soldier for directions.
• The soldier directed Xiao Ling and Zi Yan to the Ancient Map shop.
• Xiao Ling entered the shop and recognized the old shopkeeper as Hai Bodong.

Xiao Ling found a fragment of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame map in Hai Bodong’s shop and discovered that Hai Bodong held the other half. After revealing his identity as a Sixth-grade Alchemist with a heavenly flame, Xiao Ling agreed to refine a Breaking Calamity Pill in exchange for the remaining fragment.

• Xiao Ling searched Hai Bodong’s shop with Soul Perception and found the Fragmented Map of Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame among damaged maps.
• Xiao Ling took the fragment and asked Hai Bodong to sell him the other half, prompting Hai Bodong to question him about it.
• Hai Bodong flared his icy Dou Qi after Zi Yan insulted him, but Xiao Ling calmed the situation by revealing his Sixth-grade Alchemist badge and Golden Emperor Burning Heaven Flame.
• Hai Bodong introduced himself as the former Ice Emperor and explained that Queen Medusa had sealed his Dou Qi and that he had hidden the map’s other half.
• Hai Bodong offered the other map fragment in exchange for Xiao Ling refining a Breaking Calamity Pill, and Xiao Ling accepted.

Xiao Ling agreed to find Hai Bodong a Sand Mandala in exchange for the ingredients needed to refine the Breaking Calamity Pill, and received Hai Bodong’s map of likely Heavenly Flame locations. He and Zi Yan then set out into the Tagor Desert, with Xiao Ling counting on her help to obtain the rare plant.

• Hai Bodong admitted he still needed a Sand Mandala to prepare the ingredients for three batches of the Breaking Calamity Pill, and Xiao Ling agreed to find one.
• Xiao Ling asked Hai Bodong to look after the Xiao Family after recovering his strength, and Hai Bodong promised to do so.
• Hai Bodong gave Xiao Ling a detailed map marking three places in the Tagor Desert that might contain a Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Ling told Hai Bodong that he and Zi Yan would first search for the Sand Mandala, then left the map shop with her.
• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan flew toward the desert’s depths, and he woke Rayquaza and asked Zi Yan to help find the Sand Mandala.

Xiao Ling and Zi Yan traveled across the Tagor Desert toward Queen Medusa, hoping to trade for a Sand Mandala. They reached the Charming Snake Tribe, where Commander Yue Mei came out to meet them.

• Xiao Ling persuaded Zi Yan to help negotiate with Queen Medusa by promising her a medicinal ingredient as a reward.
• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan flew across the desert on Rayquaza, and Xiao Ling used his map to identify the tribes blocking their route.
• Xiao Ling decided to seek a Sand Mandala from Queen Medusa rather than search the desert himself, and he planned to rely on Zi Yan's friendship with her.
• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan arrived outside the Charming Snake Tribe and drew the guards' attention as human Dou Wang experts.
• Xiao Ling sensed an aura he believed belonged to Yue Mei, and a snake woman flew out from the tribe's tallest building to meet them.

Xiao Ling and Zi Yan met Yue Mei at the Charming Snake Tribe’s city and asked to trade for a Sand Mandala. When Yue Mei said the ingredient was kept in the Snake People Holy City, Xiao Ling promised to refine a Dou Spirit Pill for her in exchange for arranging an audience with Queen Medusa, and they set off for the Holy City.

• Yue Mei confronted Xiao Ling and Zi Yan, then let them enter the city after Xiao Ling showed his Jia Nan Academy Elder Token and explained their peaceful purpose.
• Xiao Ling asked Yue Mei to exchange a Sand Mandala, and Zi Yan revealed that he was a Sixth-grade Alchemist.
• Yue Mei explained that the Charming Snake Tribe had no Sand Mandala and that Queen Medusa kept the supply in the Holy City.
• Xiao Ling offered to refine a Dou Spirit Pill for Yue Mei if she arranged their meeting with Queen Medusa and the ingredients for the pill.
• Yue Mei accepted the offer and led Xiao Ling and Zi Yan toward the Snake People Holy City.

Xiao Ling, Zi Yan, and Yue Mei reached the Snake People Holy City and gained entry after Yue Mei explained their purpose to the guards. Queen Medusa had already arrived at the Council Hall to meet them, and Xiao Ling saw her for the first time.

• Xiao Ling studied the desert map as he and Zi Yan followed Yue Mei toward the Snake People Holy City.
• Yue Mei warned Xiao Ling that the city guards might attack human intruders, then led him and Zi Yan to the guarded gates.
• A Guard Captain questioned Yue Mei about the two visitors, and she explained that Xiao Ling was a Sixth-grade Alchemist seeking a beneficial deal with Queen Medusa.
• The Guard Captain accepted Yue Mei's assurance and allowed the group to enter the city.
• Yue Mei brought Xiao Ling and Zi Yan through the palace guards to the Council Hall, where Queen Medusa and Hua She'er awaited them.
• Xiao Ling examined Queen Medusa and was struck by her bewitching appearance.

Xiao Ling asked Queen Medusa to trade Sand Mandala, while Zi Yan quickly befriended Medusa and persuaded her to consider the deal. Medusa remained open to negotiating but asked Xiao Ling what he could offer in return.

• Xiao Ling introduced himself as a Jia Nan Academy elder and asked Queen Medusa to trade Sand Mandala for a pill ingredient.
• Zi Yan praised Xiao Ling as a Sixth-grade Alchemist and told Medusa about her lonely past as a transformed magical beast.
• Feeling sorry for Zi Yan, Medusa asked her to become her younger sister, and Zi Yan agreed on the condition that Medusa gave her medicinal ingredients to eat.
• Zi Yan urged Medusa to trade Sand Mandala to Xiao Ling and praised the quality of his pills.
• Medusa explained that Sand Mandala was precious to the Snake People Race and asked Xiao Ling what compensation he could offer.

Xiao Ling struck a deal with Queen Medusa to refine a Sect Breaking Pill in exchange for the Sand Mandala and gathered the required ingredients from the Snake People Race’s treasury. After completing the exchange, he gave Medusa a Sect Breaking Pill and prepared to leave with Zi Yan.

• Xiao Ling offered to refine a Sect Breaking Pill for Queen Medusa in exchange for the Sand Mandala, and Medusa accepted.
• Medusa explained that the Snake People Race lacked enough ingredients for three pills, so she offered treasures of equal value to make up the shortage.
• Medusa led Xiao Ling and Zi Yan to the treasury, where Xiao Ling selected medicinal ingredients and Zi Yan took ingredients for candy pills.
• Xiao Ling returned to the hall and handed Medusa a Sect Breaking Pill before saying that he and Zi Yan had to leave.

Xiao Ling gave Medusa a Sect Breaking Pill in exchange for medicinal materials, then left the Snake People Holy City with Zi Yan and Yue Mei. Medusa prepared to enter seclusion and pursue a breakthrough to Dou Zong, while Xiao Ling began their journey by preparing to refine Yue Mei’s Dou Spirit Pills on the road.

• Medusa accepted Xiao Ling’s Sect Breaking Pill and promised to keep their transaction confidential, then ordered Hua She'er to conceal what happened and announced that she would enter seclusion.
• Xiao Ling and Zi Yan said goodbye to Medusa and left the hall, followed by Yue Mei, who asked him to refine three sets of Dou Spirit Pills.
• Xiao Ling agreed to refine Yue Mei’s pills while traveling and took the three sets of ingredients from her.
• After the group left the Snake People Holy City, Xiao Ling woke Rayquaza, fed it a Fourth-grade Pill, and had it grow large enough to carry him.