Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ling cared for the injured Yun Yun while a horde of magic beasts searched the mountains, then left to refine pills and gather food. When Yun Yun’s bath washed away the powder masking her scent, beasts tracked her to the cave, and Xiao Ling went out to lure them away and kill them before returning disguised as injured.

• Xiao Ling applied medicine to Yun Yun’s wounds and prepared medicinal food while she recovered in the cave.
• Yun Yun warned Xiao Ling that the Magic Beast Mountain Range had become dangerous after magic beasts gathered and a bloody slaughter followed.
• Xiao Ling refined six hundred fourth-grade pills in a nearby cave, killed searching magic beasts for their lifespan, and brought back an elk leg.
• Xiao Ling and Yun Yun prepared medicinal cuisine together, but he sensed that his trap had been triggered as magic beasts roared outside.
• Xiao Ling realized Yun Yun had bathed and washed away the scent-masking powder, so he ordered her to stay inside and went out to draw the beasts away.
• Xiao Ling slaughtered the pursuing beasts, replenished his lifespan, disguised himself as badly injured, and hurried back toward the cave.

After Xiao Ling returned injured, Yun Yun cared for him and tried to make amends for her clumsy treatment and badly seasoned food. Her second attempt at roasting meat used a fourth-grade Desire Demon Pill as seasoning, causing its effects to combine with her suppressed Desire Poison and leaving both of them struggling to resist the resulting heat.

• Yun Yun met the bloodied Xiao Ling at the cave entrance, helped him to bed, and cleaned his wounds while he asked her to make roasted meat.
• Yun Yun accidentally covered the first meal in chili, then spent the afternoon preparing another batch while Xiao Ling slept.
• Xiao Ling ate the new roasted meat and soon felt a wave of heat; Yun Yun also felt the effects and handed him the seasoning bottle.
• Xiao Ling realized Yun Yun had used a fourth-grade Desire Demon Pill, whose medicinal force drove her suppressed Desire Poison toward her lower abdomen.
• Yun Yun's seal broke, and she threw herself into Xiao Ling's arms, warning him not to touch her as he called on the System for help.

Xiao Ling used a costly System technique to draw the Desire Poison and Desire Demon Pill poison out of Yun Yun, despite struggling to form a Poison Pill. Yun Yun’s strength began to recover, and the chapter ended with her asking Xiao Ling to apply medicine to her back.

• Xiao Ling exchanged one hundred years of lifespan for a technique that could draw poison from another person and condense it into a Poison Pill.
• Xiao Ling struggled to condense the poison in his own body, then decided to draw Yun Yun’s poisons into himself to supply more poisonous energy.
• Yun Yun consented to Xiao Ling using his soul force to help remove the poisons, warning him to keep the matter secret.
• Xiao Ling removed both the Desire Poison and Desire Demon Pill poison from Yun Yun, and her Dou Qi began to recover.
• Xiao Ling asked whether Yun Yun needed help changing her medicine, and she turned around and asked him to apply it to her back.

Xiao Ling and Yun Yun grew closer during her recovery, while Xiao Ling realized his feelings were no longer just part of an act. After Yun Yun recovered, she prepared to leave to seek revenge, and Xiao Ling insisted on going with her despite refusing her offer to join the Misty Cloud Sect.

• Xiao Ling teased Yun Yun about their intimacy, and she blasted him into the river before warning him not to speak that way again.
• Yun Yun said her injuries would heal in three to five days, and she and Xiao Ling shared a warm meal as their feelings for each other remained uncertain.
• After Yun Yun recovered, she agreed to stay one more night, while Xiao Ling questioned whether he had become absorbed in his role.
• Xiao Ling offered to accompany Yun Yun to take revenge on the beast, and Yun Yun accepted, confident that her strength had reached three-star Dou Emperor.
• Yun Yun offered to arrange for the Misty Cloud Sect's sect master to take Xiao Ling as a disciple, but he refused and promised to become a top-tier alchemist on his own.
• Yun Yun gave Xiao Ling a Sound Transmission Jade Slip and prepared to fly away, while Xiao Ling asked her not to make him fly there because he might fall to his death.

Xiao Ling accompanied Yun Yun to confront the Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion, while Yun Yun warned him to stay out of the battle. After their fierce fight left the beast badly wounded, it unleashed a secret technique and doubled its strength, forcing Yun Yun to face a much stronger opponent.

• Xiao Ling told Yun Yun he could not fly on his own, so she let him cling to her as she carried him toward the Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion’s cave.
• Yun Yun dropped Xiao Ling behind a boulder and attacked the Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion, which charged out of its collapsed cave and accused her of returning for its horn.
• Yun Yun drove the lion into a mountain wall, then struck again with Extreme Wind: Meteoric Kill as the beast countered with Azure Sea Golden Crystal Shield.
• Yun Yun took a sixth-tier recovery pill from Xiao Ling and prepared to continue when she sensed the lion surviving beneath the collapsed mountain.
• The Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion emerged with its horn badly damaged and pleaded to end the fight, but Yun Yun refused to let it go.
• The Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion used a secret technique that doubled its aura to the equivalent of a seven-star Dou Huang, and Yun Yun recognized the danger.

Yun Yun and the Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion unleashed their strongest attacks, but the beast secretly redirected its poisoned drill toward Xiao Ling. Xiao Ling revealed the Devouring Realm to protect himself and conceal Yun Yun, then helped her kill the beast before it could destroy its Magic Core.

• The Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion formed the Azure Sea Poison Dragon Drill while Yun Yun answered with her Sunset Sword, and their attacks collided in a devastating blast.
• Yun Yun shielded Xiao Ling from the blast, but the beast’s hidden drill shot toward him while she was unable to intervene.
• Xiao Ling unleashed the Devouring Realm, making the drill lose its target and trapping Yun Yun and the beast in darkness; he then let Yun Yun perceive the battlefield within the realm.
• Yun Yun attacked the blinded Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion while Xiao Ling interrupted its attempt to gather Dou Qi and self-destruct its Magic Core.
• Yun Yun’s sword strike killed the Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion before it could destroy its Magic Core.

Xiao Ling and Yun Yun killed the Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion, shared a meal, and parted after Yun Yun failed to persuade him to join the Misty Cloud Sect. Yun Yun watched him leave with the valuable gift he had given her, while Xiao Ling departed carrying her inner armor and two Dou Techniques.

• Yun Yun gave Xiao Ling the Azure Sea Golden Crystal Lion's magic core, and Cloud Sea Flood Dragon revealed he had watched over their fight and recognized Xiao Ling.
• Yun Yun carried Xiao Ling to his cave, where they shared a hotpot meal made with medicinal herbs and the Spring of Life.
• Yun Yun offered to have Xiao Ling trained as the Misty Cloud Sect's next sect master, but he refused because he disliked rules and restrictions.
• Xiao Ling gave Yun Yun a Storage Ring and said goodbye; Yun Yun departed, leaving her inner armor and two Xuan-tier Dou Techniques behind.
• Xiao Ling took the inner armor and Dou Techniques, then flew away as Yun Yun watched from a nearby mountaintop.

Xiao Ling arrived in Heiyan City to take an alchemist examination and trade for Ice Spirit Cold Spring. After Lin Fei was tricked into buying a fake sixth-tier pill, she blamed Xiao Ling when they met again at the assessment, and Otto apologized on her behalf as the examination was about to begin.

• Xiao Ling reached Heiyan City and headed for its Alchemist Guild, dismissing a stall owner’s fake sixth-tier pill as a fraud.
• Lin Fei bought the disguised discarded medicinal pellet for fifty thousand gold coins, and the stall owner fled before Xiao Ling continued to the guild.
• Xiao Ling registered for the examination as Ling Xiao, age seventeen, and told the clerk his teacher was Yao Ling.
• Xiao Ling entered the assessment room, where Lin Fei recognized him and angrily complained that he had not warned her about the fake pill.
• Otto scolded Lin Fei, apologized to Xiao Ling, and gave him a third-tier Huiyuan Pill before announcing that candidates could collect their number plates.

Ling Xiao impressed the Alchemy Association during the First-grade Alchemist assessment by refining three Energy Accumulation Pills at once, while his display disrupted the other examinees. He passed the assessment, accepted apologies from Lin Fei, and gave pills to her and Xue Mei before turning toward Otto and Frank.

• Otto handed Ling Xiao the final number tag and made Lin Fei apologize for her earlier behavior.
• Ling Xiao entered his examination room beside Lin Fei and Xue Mei as the First-grade Alchemist assessment began.
• Ling Xiao warmed his cauldron with a Black Tortoise flame beast, and its cries ruined Lin Fei's, Xue Mei's, and five other examinees' attempts.
• Ling Xiao refined three Energy Accumulation Pills at once and successfully caught them in Jade Bottles, shocking Otto and Frank.
• Lin Fei apologized to Ling Xiao, and he gave pills to both her and Xue Mei; Xue Mei introduced herself, and Ling Xiao gave his name as Ling Xiao.

Ling Xiao passed the Third-grade Alchemist assessment after Otto arranged an exception to the guild’s usual rules, impressing the guild leaders with his alchemy and a new pill formula. He received his Third-Grade Alchemist robe and badge, then went upstairs with Otto while Xue Mei and Lin Fei watched him leave.

• Otto and Frank confirmed that Ling Xiao’s Energy Accumulation Pills were exceptionally potent and invited him to exchange alchemy insights.
• Ling Xiao asked to take the Third-grade Alchemist assessment, revealed that he was a one-star Da Dou Shi, and persuaded Otto to arrange an immediate assessment despite guild rules.
• Otto and Frank led Ling Xiao into a separate assessment room while Lin Fei and Xue Mei waited outside.
• Ling Xiao passed the assessment, and Otto praised his techniques and the new pill formula he had introduced.
• Otto presented Ling Xiao with a Third-Grade Alchemist robe and badge, then invited him upstairs to discuss the benefits of his new rank.

Xiao Ling sought Ice Spirit Cold Spring to prepare for collecting a Heavenly Flame, and Otto identified Gute, Gu He's brother, as its owner. Xiao Ling went to Gute's home with a trade offer, but the chapter ended before Gute saw the treasure.

• Otto explained the benefits of Xiao Ling's Third-grade Alchemist badge, and Frank checked the guild's records but found no Ice Spirit Cold Spring.
• Otto remembered that Gute owned Ice Spirit Cold Spring, so Xiao Ling asked him to lead the way and said he would pay any price.
• Lin Fei and Xue Mei secretly followed Otto and Xiao Ling to Gute's residence.
• Otto introduced Xiao Ling to Gute, who demanded to inspect a treasure before considering a trade.
• Xiao Ling told Gute that he had a cave-dwelling treasure sufficient to trade for the Ice Spirit Cold Spring.

Xiao Ling traded one bottle of Amethyst Origin for the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, then Otto invited him to represent the Heiyan City Alchemist Guild in the Alchemist Tournament. After Frank and Otto agreed to consider Xiao Ling’s demand for access to the guild’s stored texts, Xiao Ling examined the prayer mat from Dao Chenzi’s cave dwelling and began wondering how to use it.

• Xiao Ling refused Gute’s attempts to demand extra Amethyst Origin, and Gute finally accepted the single bottle in exchange for the Ice Spirit Cold Spring.
• Gute handed Xiao Ling the Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and Xiao Ling left with Otto after confirming the trade had succeeded.
• Otto invited Xiao Ling to represent the Heiyan City Alchemist Guild in the Alchemist Tournament, and Xiao Ling asked to copy all of its stored texts in return for guaranteeing victory.
• Otto brought Xiao Ling back to the Alchemist Guild, where Frank and Otto agreed to gamble on his request because they believed he could win and the prize might improve their soul power.
• Xiao Ling examined the ruined-looking prayer mat he had taken from Dao Chenzi’s cave dwelling and began searching for an idea about its purpose.

Xiao Ling discovered that the Soul-Melting Meditation Cushion could absorb his powers and store three kinds of fused energy, then emerged from seclusion after three days. He shared a meal with Xue Mei and went to meet Frank, who agreed to his terms for the Alchemist Tournament.

• Xiao Ling failed to damage the meditation cushion, learned its name from Pill Spirit, and began testing it with his soul power and Dou Qi.
• The being watching Xiao Ling realized the cushion’s true purpose was to devour power and restore itself, and chose to let him use it.
• Xue Mei waited outside Xiao Ling’s room with food while Lin Fei teased her, and Frank asked her to bring Xiao Ling to his office when he emerged.
• Xiao Ling spent three days cultivating, discovered the cushion had moved into his dantian, and created and stored three kinds of fused energy.
• Xue Mei shared a meal with Xiao Ling, then led him to Frank’s office, where Frank offered him copies of the Heiyan City Alchemist Guild’s pill formulas in exchange for his help at the Alchemist Tournament.

Xiao Ling left the Alchemist Guild after gently turning down Frank’s attempt to pair him with Xue Mei, who gave him a jade pendant and received a rare pill in return. As he traveled toward Mo City, Xiao Ling traded lifespan for Spirit Gathering Stone and a Blood Lotus Pill, preparing for his next task.

• Frank asked Xiao Ling how he felt about Xue Mei, and Xiao Ling said he was not seeking romance, though he left open the possibility of a future relationship.
• Xue Mei followed Xiao Ling and gave him a jade pendant; he gave her a Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill and promised to visit again.
• Xue Mei kissed Xiao Ling, and he embraced her and said they would meet again at the Alchemist Tournament before departing.
• Xiao Ling boarded a Lion-Tiger Beast bound for Mo City after receiving special treatment as a Third-Grade Alchemist.
• Xiao Ling traded thirty years and two months of lifespan for Spirit Gathering Stone and a Blood Lotus Pill, then asked the System to divide the stone into small pieces.

Xiao Ling reached the map shop in Mo City just as the Snake-People Tribe launched an attack, then stepped in when its warriors threatened to abduct him and harm the city’s people. After saving survivors and killing the squad that confronted him, he advanced toward the city gates to slay more snake-people despite risking Medusa’s enmity.

• Xiao Ling arrived in Mo City seeking a Fragmented Map and learned from Yuan Xin that the Snake-People Tribe was preparing to attack the Jia Ma Empire.
• The Snake-People Tribe’s sandstorm assault overwhelmed Mo City’s defenses, and its warriors began slaughtering and capturing people.
• A Snake-People Tribe squad captain tried to seize Xiao Ling, but Xiao Ling killed him and his surrounding warriors with overwhelming force.
• Xiao Ling gave medicine to a rescued woman and her injured daughter, then headed toward the city gates to attack the retreating snake-people.
• Xiao Ling used his soul power to kill numerous Snake-People Tribe warriors as one of them cursed him.

Xiao Ling defeated the Snake-People Tribe’s junior commander in one move and forced him to release the captive women and withdraw from Mo City. He left without revealing his name, still intent on reaching the Heavenly Flames before Medusa.

• The junior commander challenged Xiao Ling to a match, and Xiao Ling demanded that the loser kneel and withdraw.
• The commander unleashed his Ten Thousand Snakes Worshiping the Ancestor technique, but Xiao Ling erased the energy snakes with his Layered Waves soul technique.
• Xiao Ling’s soul attack shattered the commander’s Snake Shadow Wall and sent him flying, winning the match.
• The commander tried to withdraw without honoring the terms, so Xiao Ling ordered him to release the captive women before leaving.
• The commander released the women and retreated with his warriors after Xiao Ling refused to give his name.
• As Xiao Ling turned to leave, someone called out to him: “My lord, please wait.”

After helping Mo City repel the Snake-People Tribe, Xiao Ling turned down City Lord Zhou’s request to take charge and headed to Hai Podong’s map shop. There he took the map fragment for the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame and provoked Hai Podong into a confrontation.

• Xiao Ling declined City Lord Zhou’s invitation to lead Mo City and leave the celebration, then accepted the gratitude of the rescued women and civilians.
• Yuan Xin followed Xiao Ling toward Hai Podong’s shop, accepted a Storage Ring containing pills, and gave him her first kiss before leaving.
• Xiao Ling entered Hai Podong’s shop, saw two frozen Snake-People warriors, and picked up the map fragment from the shelf.
• Hai Podong demanded that Xiao Ling return the fragment, but Xiao Ling mocked his weakened state and challenged him.
• Hai Podong shut the shop’s front door, formed ice crystals in the room, and threatened Xiao Ling.

Xiao Ling negotiated with Hai Podong to restore his strength in exchange for the map fragment and three years of service, then used the System to obtain and secretly modify a Break-Eruption Pill. He began preparing the pill so Hai Podong would believe he had refined it himself.

• Xiao Ling revealed his soul power and persuaded Hai Podong to offer the other map fragment and a favor in exchange for a pill that would restore his strength.
• Xiao Ling demanded ten years of service, and Hai Podong negotiated the term down to three years.
• Xiao Ling noticed the missing sand mandala in Hai Podong's ingredients and pretended to leave until Hai Podong offered a lead on heavenly flames and one extra year of service for obtaining it.
• Xiao Ling used the System to obtain two sand mandala plants, then followed Hai Podong to a secluded room to prepare the Break-Eruption Pill.
• Xiao Ling traded four months of lifespan for a Break-Eruption Pill and one year for the System to add a concealed effect that would let him subdue Hai Podong.
• Xiao Ling began fusing his three types of energy to make his preparations convincing and guard against trouble.

Xiao Ling refined the Break-Eruption Pill for Hai Podong, then faced the Ice Emperor’s attempt to test him after breaking the seal. Hai Podong handed over the other half of the Fragmented Map, but Xiao Ling reminded him that he still owed four years of service.

• Xiao Ling gave Hai Podong the freshly refined Break-Eruption Pill and challenged him when Hai Podong tried to delay handing over the Fragmented Map until he tested it.
• Hai Podong led Xiao Ling to a hidden underground chamber and swallowed the pill, which loosened the seal around his energy core.
• As Hai Podong broke through the seal, Xiao Ling secretly took a Dou Huang Pill and prepared for the old man to turn against him.
• Hai Podong tested Xiao Ling with a clash of wills, then tossed him the other half of the Fragmented Map with the force of an all-out strike.
• Xiao Ling caught the map without difficulty, put it away, and reminded Hai Podong to honor his remaining promise.

Xiao Ling secured Hai Podong’s cooperation by promising him a fifth-tier pill that could restore his peak strength, then learned that a black-robed Dou Zong had visited the Tagor Desert before the Snake-People Tribe’s attack. Xiao Ling and Hai Podong left Mo City to seek the Green Lotus Core Flame, while Hai Podong came to respect Xiao Ling after witnessing his speed and learning he was only seventeen.

• Xiao Ling reminded Hai Podong of their four-year agreement, then promised him a Recovery Spirit Purple Pill in exchange for help at critical moments.
• Hai Podong told Xiao Ling that a black-robed Dou Zong had entered the Tagor Desert about a month earlier and that Medusa and another powerful aura had risen from its depths afterward.
• Xiao Ling decided to seek the Green Lotus Core Flame and left Mo City with Hai Podong, while Yuan Xin kept his departure secret to prevent panic.
• Xiao Ling hunted desert creatures along the way and gained nearly a thousand years of lifespan, while Hai Podong noticed his aura had returned to that of a one-star Da Dou Shi.
• Hai Podong accelerated to test Xiao Ling, but Xiao Ling used his Heavenly Domain Thunder Wings to catch up, earning Hai Podong’s respect.
• Xiao Ling told Hai Podong he was seventeen, and Hai Podong resolved to build a good relationship with him.