Chapter Summaries

Xiao Bai brought Xiao Xun Er to the cliff, where Xiao Yan was grieving over Nalan Yanran’s humiliation, and revealed that he had known why Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi kept disappearing. Xiao Yan learned that someone had caused the problem, while Yao Lao silently reacted from inside the ring.

• Xiao Bai brought Xiao Xun Er to the cliff to comfort Xiao Yan, who was vowing not to suffer another humiliation like the one from Nalan Yanran.
• Xiao Yan mistook Xiao Bai’s arrival for a gesture of comfort, and the two awkwardly cleared up a misunderstanding about Xiao Yan’s emotional reaction.
• Xiao Bai asked Xiao Yan whether he wanted to solve the problem of his disappearing Dou Qi, then admitted he had known about it for a long time.
• Xiao Yan angrily asked why Xiao Bai had kept the truth from him, and Xiao Bai said he had been unable to defeat the person responsible.
• Xiao Yan realized that someone had caused his Dou Qi to disappear, while Xiao Xun Er and Yao Lao reacted with surprise from outside and inside the ring.

Xiao Bai helped Xiao Yan discover that the Black Ring had been absorbing his Dou Qi, allowing him to cultivate again once he removed it. The ring’s resident, Yao Chen, appeared after Xiao Bai attacked it with crimson lightning, and Xiao Yan confronted him over the three years of lost cultivation.

• Xiao Bai told Xiao Yan to remove the ring and try cultivating, and Xiao Yan found that his Dou Qi no longer disappeared.
• Xiao Bai called for the ring’s occupant, then struck the ring with crimson lightning when no one answered.
• Yao Chen emerged from the ring and greeted Xiao Bai, while Xiao Xun Er watched him warily.
• Xiao Yan accused Yao Chen of ruining his cultivation, and Yao Chen thanked him for three years of nourishment.
• Xiao Yan, furious at Yao Chen’s remark, cursed him from behind Xiao Bai.

Xiao Bai negotiated with Yao Lao for a Rank 8 Alchemist inheritance and the method to revive him in exchange for a Heavenly Flame. Yao Lao accepted but demanded a mature Heavenly Flame already in hand, and Xiao Bai countered with a condition of his own.

• Xiao Bai asked Yao Lao for an alchemist's inheritance, but refused to become his disciple.
• Xiao Bai revealed that he knew of a revival method requiring three Heavenly Flames and offered Yao Lao one in exchange for a Rank 8 Alchemist inheritance and the revival method.
• Yao Lao agreed to the trade after Xiao Bai deduced his Rank 8 Alchemist standing from the quality of his soul.
• Yao Lao demanded a mature Heavenly Flame rather than a map, and Xiao Bai replied that he had a condition too.

Xiao Bai persuaded Yao Lao to join him in retrieving an ownerless, mature Heavenly Flame hidden underground, and Yao Lao agreed to leave in three months. Yao Lao then took Xiao Yan as his disciple and promised that reaching Dou Zhi Qi Level 7 within a year was possible with the right method.

• Yao Lao questioned Xiao Bai's Heavenly Flame offer, then agreed to help retrieve the mature flame after Xiao Bai said it lay in an underground lava region and had not been discovered.
• Xiao Bai arranged for the group to set out in three months so Yao Lao could prepare.
• Yao Lao asked Xiao Yan to become his disciple, and Xiao Bai persuaded the hesitant Xiao Yan to accept.
• Xiao Yan formally kowtowed to Yao Lao and asked for help reaching Dou Zhi Qi Level 7 before his coming-of-age ceremony.
• Yao Lao said Xiao Yan could reach Level 7 with a special method, but warned that his current meridians could not withstand ordinary medicinal pills.

Xiao Yan borrowed money to buy materials for Yao Lao, while Xiao Bai and Xiao Xun Er left to prepare for their departure in three months. Back at their courtyard, Xiao Bai revealed two kinds of lightning to Xun Er as he explained his plan to try alchemy.

• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to gather Purple Orchid Grass, Marrow Cleansing Flowers, and a Rank 1 Wood-type Magic Core, and Xiao Yan borrowed one thousand Gold Coins from Xiao Xun Er.
• Xiao Bai reminded Yao Lao of their plan to set off in three months, then left with Xiao Xun Er while Xiao Yan called after him.
• Xiao Xun Er praised Xiao Bai as they walked, and they exchanged affectionate words before she embraced him.
• Xiao Xun Er asked Xiao Bai whether he planned to learn alchemy after they returned to the courtyard.
• Xiao Bai said he intended to try alchemy and showed Xiao Xun Er azure lightning carrying Yi Wood Qi and violent Crimson Thunder.

Xiao Bai explained his Yi Wood Positive Thunder and Bing Fire Yang Thunder and prepared to test whether they could refine pills. He collected a custom-made cauldron from a blacksmith with Xiao Yan, whose spirits had returned, and grew wary of the shop owner’s unusual enthusiasm.

• Xiao Bai told Xiao Xun Er that his two kinds of thunder carried wood and fire attributes and that he planned to experiment with alchemy.
• Xiao Bai decided to buy medicinal ingredients and use a cheap custom cauldron instead of purchasing an expensive Medicine Cauldron.
• Xiao Yan, newly cheerful, joined Xiao Bai on his way out of the Xiao Clan compound.
• Xiao Bai and Xiao Yan traveled to the West District to collect the cauldron Xiao Bai had ordered from a blacksmith.
• The blacksmith owner greeted Xiao Bai eagerly and said the Ebony Steel cauldron was ready, making Xiao Bai suspect something was amiss.

Xiao Bai and Xiao Yan were lured to the Blacksmith Shop’s rear courtyard, where Ga Lie Bi and the Ga Lie Family elders ambushed them. Xiao Bai killed the attackers with ease, leaving Xiao Yan stunned by the difference in their strength.

• Xiao Bai sensed a trap as the Blacksmith Shop owner led him and Xiao Yan toward the rear courtyard.
• Yao Lao warned Xiao Bai that several powerful fighters were nearby, and Ga Lie Bi and the Ga Lie Family elders appeared to ambush them.
• Ga Lie En revealed that the family had targeted Xiao Bai and had taken advantage of Xiao Yan’s apparent weakness to attack both boys.
• Ga Lie Bi ordered the elders to strike, and the Ga Lie Family members charged Xiao Bai together.
• Xiao Bai stunned the attackers with his Soul Strength, then killed Ga Lie Bi and the elders with lightning-fast strikes.
• Xiao Yan watched Xiao Bai return to his place unharmed and reflected on how easily he had defeated fighters as strong as Xiao Zhan.

Xiao Bai killed the Blacksmith Shop boss after retrieving his cauldron and paying the agreed fee, then reflected on survival and the need to show no excessive pity. As Xiao Bai and Xiao Yan left, Xiao Yan asked whether Xiao Bai would keep a promise if doing so made a future enemy stronger than him.

• Xiao Bai ordered Xiao Yan to collect Ga Lie Bi's and Ga Lie En's Storage Rings while the Blacksmith Shop boss brought out the cauldron.
• Xiao Bai inspected the rings, kept their useful contents, and put on the larger ring.
• The boss tried to waive the cauldron's remaining fee, but Xiao Bai paid him five hundred Gold Coins and then killed him.
• Xiao Bai considered his decision and concluded that survival mattered more than pity when facing a threat.
• Xiao Yan followed Xiao Bai out and asked whether he would fulfill a promise that could give an enemy an advantage.

Xiao Bai and Xiao Yan visited Mittel Auction House, where Xiao Bai bought a large supply of ingredients for Blood Coagulation Powder and revealed he planned to try refining pills with his Lightning attribute. Yao Lao and Xiao Yan doubted the idea, while Xiao Bai kept his real goal—using pill lightning to speed up his breakthrough—to himself.

• Xiao Bai told Xiao Yan that his moral bottom line was flexible, leaving Xiao Yan to realize he meant he had no shame.
• Xiao Bai and Xiao Yan went to Mittel Auction House, where Xiao Yan teased Xiao Bai about visiting to see a seductive auctioneer.
• Xiao Bai ordered two hundred portions each of Purple Yang Fruit, Blood Coagulation Grass, and Jade Flower, while Xiao Yan bought ingredients and a Rank 1 Wood-type Magic Core.
• Xiao Bai said he planned to try refining pills, and Yao Lao doubted that anyone could refine pills using a Lightning attribute.
• Xiao Yan offered to refine pills for Xiao Bai in the future, while Xiao Bai privately hoped pill lightning would help him break through quickly.

Xiao Bai and Xiao Yan bought medicinal herbs from the Mittel Auction House, but Xiao Bai refused the proprietor’s discount and paid the full price. After learning that the buyers were from the Xiao Family, the proprietor realized she had mistaken Xiao Bai for an alchemist and worried that her branch’s profits would not meet her family’s wager.

• Little Sixteen delivered the herbs to Xiao Bai and Xiao Yan and offered them a discounted price on the proprietor’s instructions.
• Xiao Bai checked the herbs, paid the original price, and left the auction house with Xiao Yan.
• The proprietor asked Master Gu Ni to confirm that the herbs were ingredients for Blood Coagulation Powder, then summoned Little Sixteen, A Da, and A San to identify the buyers.
• A Da identified the gray-white-haired young man as Xiao Bai and said he was likely from the Xiao Family.
• The proprietor connected Xiao Bai and his companion to Nalan Yanran’s account of the Xiao Family’s two geniuses and realized they were not the alchemists she had hoped to recruit.
• The proprietor reflected on her wager to double the Wutan City branch’s profits within two years and concluded that the herb purchase would not help her achieve it.

Ya Fei lamented that her family valued her looks more than her business talent, while Xiao Bai warned Xiao Yan to keep the Jia Lie Family’s downfall quiet until the Three-Year Agreement. Xiao Yan kept the Storage Ring Xiao Bai gave him, then asked whether Xiao Bai would attend Ya Fei’s upcoming auction.

• Ya Fei wondered whether she had to accept being treated as a marriage asset because she lacked cultivation talent.
• Xiao Bai noticed Ya Fei and Gu Ni watching him from the top floor of Mittel Auction House, and Xiao Yan teased him about meeting Ya Fei.
• Xiao Bai told Xiao Yan not to reveal what happened at the Blacksmith Shop, warning that the Xiao Clan should avoid drawing attention before the Three-Year Agreement.
• Xiao Bai gave Xiao Yan the low-grade Storage Ring containing the medicinal ingredients, and Xiao Yan happily accepted it.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Bai that Ya Fei would host an auction in a couple of days and asked whether he would attend.

Xiao Bai attempted to refine pills with Bing Fire Yang Thunder but found its power charred the medicinal herbs, so he experimented with controlling its fire and lightning separately. When he wondered whether the thunder could maintain that arrangement on its own, the Bing Fire Yang Thunder in his heart began changing.

• Xiao Bai prepared his cauldron and herbs, then burned a Purple Yang Fruit to charcoal with Bing Fire Yang Thunder.
• Xiao Bai tried adding Yi Wood Positive Thunder, but it intensified the fire, so he dispersed the lightning before it reached the cauldron.
• Xiao Bai used his Soul Strength to arrange Bing Fire Yang Thunder with its lightning at the center and fire around it, but maintaining the state consumed too much mental energy.
• Xiao Bai wondered whether Bing Fire Yang Thunder could sustain that state by itself, and the thunder in his heart began to change.

Xiao Bai discovered he could change both Thunder Seeds between their lightning and mist or flame forms, then used Yi Wood Positive Thunder to protect a Purple Yang Fruit from Bing Fire Yang Thunder while refining it. He successfully extracted the fruit’s medicinal essence, though the resulting powder differed from the description in Yao Lao’s pill formula.

• Xiao Bai changed Bing Fire Yang Thunder between flame and lightning forms, then found he could control Yi Wood Positive Thunder as cyan mist or lightning.
• Xiao Bai tested refining Purple Yang Fruits with Bing Fire Yang Thunder, but its lightning repeatedly charred them.
• Xiao Bai nourished a Purple Yang Fruit with Yi Wood Positive Thunder, making it plump and able to withstand Bing Fire Yang Thunder.
• Xiao Bai used Bing Fire Yang Thunder to refine the nourished fruit and extracted pale purple medicinal powder.
• Xiao Bai noticed the powder differed from the description in Yao Lao’s pill formula.

Xiao Bai experimented with extracting and combining medicinal essences to refine Blood Coagulation Powder. After repeated failures, he successfully produced his first pill and became a First Grade Alchemist.

• Xiao Bai found that his extracted Purple Yang Fruit essence differed from the pill formula and decided he would need to test the finished pill before using it himself.
• Xiao Bai adjusted his extraction methods for Blood Coagulation Grass and Jade Flower, then failed when he tried fusing their essences with Purple Yang Fruit.
• Xiao Bai analyzed the failed fusion, recorded how to balance the ingredients’ medicinal properties and flame temperature, and spent ten days extracting one hundred portions of each essence.
• On his thirty-sixth attempt, Xiao Bai fused the three medicinal essences and condensed them into a purplish-red Blood Coagulation Powder.
• Xiao Bai stored the pill in a jade bottle and celebrated becoming a First Grade Alchemist.

After reaching Eight Star Dou Shi and resolving the remaining Bing Fire Yang Thunder, Xiao Bai spent a quiet day with Xiao Xun Er before preparing to leave with Yao Lao. Xiao Yan interrupted their farewell and tried to pretend he had seen nothing.

• Xiao Bai relaxed beneath the Gold Fire Peach Tree after months of alchemy and cultivation, having reached Eight Star Dou Shi and finished refining the Bing Fire Yang Thunder.
• Xiao Xun Er visited Xiao Bai, teased him for staying away, and accepted his promise to spend the next few days with her.
• Xiao Xun Er grew sad when Xiao Bai confirmed he would leave in a few days, and Xiao Bai comforted her by saying the moon and mountain breeze could remind her of him.
• Xiao Yan entered the courtyard, saw Xiao Bai and Xiao Xun Er together, and tried to sneak away while pretending Xiao Bai was not there.
• Xiao Bai threatened Xiao Yan, who turned around and claimed that training had made him mistake what he saw.

Xiao Bai brought Yao Lao a Rank 1 Blood Coagulation Powder after discovering its unexpected effects, and Yao Lao found that the pill carried unusual energy. He realized Xiao Bai might have refined it himself, challenging his belief that a Lightning attribute could not be used for alchemy.

• Xiao Bai asked Yao Lao to appraise a pill he had brought in a porcelain bottle.
• Yao Lao recognized the pill as Rank 1 Blood Coagulation Powder and was annoyed that he had expected something extraordinary.
• Xiao Bai recalled testing the pill on an injured rabbit, whose wound healed quickly and whose energy surged afterward.
• Yao Lao examined the pill more closely and detected mixed Thunder Qi and Wood Spirit Qi within it.
• Yao Lao recognized Xiao Bai's Crimson Thunder in the pill and asked whether Xiao Bai had refined it himself.

Xiao Bai revealed that he had refined a pill using the Thunder Method, prompting Yao Lao to warn him about the danger of exposing the technique. After Xiao Bai privately explained the pill’s unusual effect, Yao Lao advised him on its medicinal properties, while Xiao Xun Er grew suspicious about what they were discussing.

• Xiao Bai confirmed that he had successfully refined a pill, astonishing Yao Lao, Xiao Xun Er, and Xiao Yan.
• Yao Lao warned Xiao Bai that alchemists and Thunder Cultivators might target him for his Thunder Method Pill Refining, and urged him to keep it secret.
• Xiao Bai thanked Yao Lao, having revealed his success partly to test Yao Lao’s reaction and secure his alchemy inheritance.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to keep Xiao Bai’s achievement secret, and Xiao Yan promised not to reveal it.
• Xiao Bai privately described the pill’s effect to Yao Lao, who teased him and then explained the medicinal properties behind it.
• Xiao Xun Er noticed Xiao Bai’s soul transmission and wondered what he and Yao Lao were hiding from her.

After discovering the effects of the pill he had tested on a rabbit, Xiao Bai agreed to use his special method to refine Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid for Xiao Yan. Yao Lao provided the formula and Xiao Yan supplied the ingredients, leaving Xiao Bai ready to begin refining.

• Xiao Bai learned from Yao Lao that Purple Yang Fruit caused the rabbit’s excess heart-fire and sudden vigor, while the pill’s Thunder Qi and Wood Spirit Qi explained its collapse and healing.
• Yao Lao suggested that Xiao Bai develop an aphrodisiac pill, but Xiao Bai rejected the idea to avoid gaining a lasting reputation for selling such medicine.
• Yao Lao asked Xiao Bai to refine Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid for Xiao Yan, explaining that the pill’s Thunder Fire Qi and Wood Spirit Qi could help temper and repair Xiao Yan’s meridians.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Bai that he had reached the fourth stage of Dou Zhi Qi and expected to reach the fifth before Xiao Bai and Yao Lao left.
• Xiao Bai requested the formula, studied it, and agreed to refine the liquid after teasing Yao Lao about alchemists’ rules.
• Xiao Yan took about a dozen sets of medicinal ingredients from his Storage Ring and handed them over to Xiao Bai.

Xiao Bai spent several days refining Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid while Xiao Xun Er kept him company, and he successfully made seven portions. After Xun Er bought him new clothes, Xiao Bai teased her with a domineering act that left her flustered and clinging to him.

• Xiao Bai promised Xun Er she could stay with him while he refined medicine, reassuring her that he trusted her most.
• Xun Er visited Xiao Bai daily as he repeatedly refined Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, laughing after his magic core experiments caused explosions.
• Xiao Bai completed seven portions from twelve sets of ingredients and prepared to deliver them to Yao Lao before their departure the next day.
• Xun Er gave Xiao Bai several new black outfits because she had noticed his old clothes were worn out.
• Xiao Bai changed into a black robe and teased Xun Er with a domineering line, prompting her to embrace him and admit she liked his new manner.

Xiao Bai prepared to leave the Xiao Clan, said goodbye to Xun Er and Xiao Yan, and set out on a journey to grow stronger. He took Xiao Yan’s ring and left after promising to return before Xiao Yan’s coming-of-age ceremony.

• Xun Er waited outside Xiao Bai’s courtyard and embraced him before accompanying him to the Xiao Clan’s gate.
• Xiao Yan wished Xiao Bai a safe journey and asked him to return for his coming-of-age ceremony next year.
• Xiao Bai encouraged Xiao Yan to cultivate and hoped he would pass the clan test.
• Xun Er warned Xiao Bai to avoid dangerous enemies and other girls, then embraced him and asked him to return soon.
• Xiao Yan handed Xiao Bai his ring, which trembled slightly in Xiao Bai’s hand, and Xiao Bai said goodbye to him and Xun Er.