Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan met Queen Medusa and offered to discuss the Heavenly Flame she needed for her evolution, raising the possibility of a safer flame. As Medusa paused their negotiation to deal with Yun Yun’s answer, Xiao Yan wondered whether Gu He had arrived to seek the Heavenly Flame.

• Nalan Yanran heard Yun Yun in the neighboring cell, and the master and disciple realized they had both been imprisoned by Medusa.
• Medusa told Yun Yun to return to the Jia Ma Empire for resources in exchange for lifting her seal, while refusing to release Nalan Yanran.
• A Snake-People guard reported that a Sixth-Rank Alchemist had come seeking Medusa and had mentioned Heavenly Flame evolution.
• Xiao Yan met Medusa in the main hall and explained that he had deduced her plan to use a Heavenly Flame to evolve her bloodline.
• Xiao Yan asked Medusa whether she knew of the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, and she reacted strongly to the flame’s potential.
• A guard told Medusa that Yun Yun had given her answer, prompting Medusa to leave Xiao Yan waiting while she dealt with Yun Yun.

Xiao Yan followed Queen Medusa to the prison, where he overheard Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran discussing Yun Yun’s capture and her secret preparations for someone. When Gu He’s group arrived at the Snake-People Holy City seeking the Heavenly Flames, Xiao Yan watched as Medusa confronted them and Jia Xingtian prepared to challenge her.

• Queen Medusa led Xiao Yan to the prison, where Yun Yun told her she would trade resources for her freedom and the removal of her seal.
• Xiao Yan sensed powerful intruders approaching the Snake-People Holy City, including a peak Dou Emperor.
• Gu He ordered Lion King Yan Shi and Windwalker Feng Li to attack Yue Mei, but Medusa arrived and struck both men down.
• Gu He asked Jia Xingtian to fight Medusa in exchange for a Break-Ancestor Pill, and Jia Xingtian released his peak Dou Emperor aura.
• Xiao Yan watched from the city wall and wondered whether Gu He possessed a Humanoid Transformation Pill.

Gu He failed to obtain Medusa’s Heavenly Flame through force or a proposed pill exchange, so he left with Jia Xingtian. Xiao Yan then revealed that he possessed the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame and struck a deal with Medusa to help her evolve in exchange for the Green Lotus Core Flame, while Medusa planned to deal with Yun Yun.

• Medusa and Jia Xingtian avoided fighting, and Gu He offered a Sixth Tier Dou Ling Pill and a High Seventh Grade Humanoid Transformation Pill for her Heavenly Flame.
• Medusa rejected Gu He’s offer, and he and Jia Xingtian departed with Yan Shi and Feng Li carried by four Dou Ling cultivators.
• Medusa told Xiao Yan that she suspected he possessed the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, and Xiao Yan revealed the flame in his palm.
• Xiao Yan offered to help Medusa evolve with the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame and refine the Snake-People Tribe’s medicinal ingredients in exchange for the Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Medusa accepted the deal, learned Xiao Yan’s identity, and said she would deal with Yun Yun before fulfilling their agreement.

Xiao Yan protected Yun Yun from Queen Medusa’s order to kill her and fought Medusa after she refused to back down. He defeated her giant serpent attack and, after healing his own wound, asked whether she was convinced.

• Medusa ordered Yue Mei to kill Yun Yun, but Xiao Yan stepped in and blocked the attack.
• Xiao Yan admitted that he and Yun Yun were close partners and refused Medusa’s demand to leave her behind.
• Medusa attacked Xiao Yan, who withstood her strikes and countered with the Earth Rank Dou Technique Flame Burst.
• Xiao Yan and Medusa were both injured when his punch shattered her giant serpent form, but Xiao Yan healed quickly with a pill.
• Xiao Yan walked toward Medusa and asked whether she was convinced.

Xiao Yan defeated Queen Medusa but persuaded her to continue their deal for the Green Lotus Core Flame, while Yun Yun was freed from her seal and explained how she had come to the Snake-People Tribe. The chapter ended with Yun Yun asking Xiao Yan to negotiate Nalan Yanran’s release, catching him off guard.

• Xiao Yan defeated Queen Medusa, but explained that he had fought her to prove his strength and protect Yun Yun, not to abandon their deal.
• Queen Medusa agreed to continue the deal and compensated Xiao Yan with one-third of the Snake-People Tribe’s stored medicinal ingredients.
• Xiao Yan reassured Yun Yun that the Snake-People Tribe would remove her seal and told her how he had come to the Tagor Desert.
• Yun Yun revealed her real name and explained why she had come to the desert and how she had been captured.
• Yun Yun asked Xiao Yan to seek Queen Medusa’s release of Nalan Yanran, leaving Xiao Yan startled that he had forgotten her.

Xiao Yan agreed to arrange Nalan Yanran’s release while hiding his identity, then accidentally embarrassed Yun Yun by smelling her after her captivity. Nalan Yanran was freed and mistakenly concluded that Yan Xiao had secretly paid for her release, leaving her grateful and newly fond of him.

• Xiao Yan agreed to ask Medusa to release Nalan Yanran and told Yun Yun to claim she had paid with her own resources, keeping his involvement secret.
• Xiao Yan accidentally pressed his face against Yun Yun’s chest while investigating a scent, and Yun Yun went to bathe in embarrassment.
• Yun Yun privately realized Xiao Yan had smelled her body odor and blushed with shame in the hot spring.
• Xiao Yan visited Nalan Yanran’s cell and told her she would be released and should return to the Misty Cloud Sect with her master.
• Nalan Yanran inferred that Yan Xiao had secured her release, promised to keep his identity secret, and began to feel differently about him.

Xiao Yan refined pills for the Snake-People Tribe while Medusa recovered, then prepared a pill made with his blood to improve her chances of surviving her Heavenly Flame evolution. The chapter ended with Medusa waiting in an Ice Spirit Cold Spring pool as Xiao Yan went to begin the evolution.

• Xiao Yan left Nalan Yanran and visited Medusa, then Yun Yun had her seal removed and regained her strength.
• Yun Yun told Xiao Yan she had collected several Beast Flames for him, and she left with Nalan Yanran.
• Xiao Yan sent word to his brothers in Stone Desert City and spent several days refining pills from the Snake-People Tribe's abundant herbs.
• Xiao Yan completed a Tier 6 pill with Yao Lao's Bone Chilling Flame, using his own blood as its main ingredient to aid Medusa's evolution.
• Xiao Yan left to join Medusa, who waited beside a pool of Ice Spirit Cold Spring for the evolution to begin.

Xiao Yan helped Medusa undergo her evolution with the Myriad Beast Pill and Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, but the process drew an enormous amount of natural energy and left her reborn as a human. After Medusa drank his blood and kissed him, Xiao Yan lost his restraint and the two began an intimate encounter on the island.

• Xiao Yan gave Medusa the Myriad Beast Pill and blindfolded himself while she prepared to evolve.
• Medusa transformed into a massive purple snake and entered the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame as Xiao Yan controlled the flames.
• The Heavenly Flame resonated with Medusa's secret technique, drawing natural energy from the Tagor Great Desert and nearby regions to accelerate her evolution.
• Medusa emerged from the ashes as a weak little snake, bit Xiao Yan's wrist, and drank his blood until she regained human form.
• Medusa kissed Xiao Yan beneath her purple barrier, and he lost control as their encounter began.

After Medusa’s evolution, she and Xiao Yan slept together, then clashed over his reluctance before reaching an uneasy understanding. Medusa recovered from the encounter as a Four-Star Dou Zong with a Nine-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python bloodline, and Xiao Yan prepared to absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame she left behind.

• Medusa completed her evolution into a Nine-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python and became a Dou Zong, then attacked Xiao Yan after he admitted he was unhappy about what had happened.
• Afterward, Xiao Yan asked Medusa for some of her Heart Blood Essence, and she agreed to provide it after a month of recovery.
• Medusa told Xiao Yan that her cultivation had risen from Peak Dou Emperor to Four-Star Dou Zong and that her bloodline had the potential to reach Dou Saint and possibly Dou Emperor.
• Medusa said Xiao Yan did not need to take responsibility for their encounter, then left the Green Lotus Core Flame for him.
• Xiao Yan realized that absorbing the Green Lotus Core Flame could greatly advance his own cultivation.

Xiao Yan absorbed the Green Lotus Core Flame with Yao Lao guarding him, using its energy to strengthen his body, refine his cultivation method, and advance from one-star to four-star Dou Wang. The lotus platform opened after the energy ran out, leaving Xiao Yan to consolidate his newly increased cultivation.

• Xiao Yan sent Qing Lin out of the bedchamber before preparing to absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Yao Lao emerged from Xiao Yan's ring and was surprised that Xiao Yan's soul power had reached Peak Sixth Grade.
• Xiao Yan took a Blood Lotus Pill and swallowed the Green Lotus Core Flame's seed, then circulated it through his meridians with the Flame Mantra.
• Xiao Yan divided the flame's energy among the Spirit Container, his body, and his cultivation as the lotus platform gathered energy from heaven and earth.
• Xiao Yan broke through to two-star, three-star, and then four-star Dou Wang before the energy ran out and the lotus platform opened.

After absorbing the Green Lotus Core Flame, Xiao Yan discussed his improvements with Yao Lao, including his cultivation, physique, and newly awakened talent. He revealed that his soul power had reached Mortal Realm Perfection and prepared to attempt refining a Tier 7 Medicinal Pill.

• Xiao Yan told Yao Lao that he had advanced from One-Star to Four-Star Dou Wang and that the Flame Mantra had become comparable to a top-tier High Xuan Rank technique.
• Xiao Yan reassured Yao Lao that he valued him as his master regardless of how much power Yao Lao could lend him.
• Xiao Yan explained that the Green Lotus Core Flame had greatly strengthened his physique and awakened the Flame Burning talent.
• Xiao Yan said that combining Flame Burning with Flame Burst Fist and two flames could let him kill Queen Medusa with one punch.
• Xiao Yan asked to resume alchemy lessons and revealed that absorbing the Green Lotus Core Flame had raised his soul power to Mortal Realm Perfection.

Xiao Yan devised and refined his own seventh-tier pill formula using herbs from the Snake-People Tribe's treasury. His pill survived the refinement process and triggered pill lightning, confirming it had reached Tier 7.

• Yao Lao discovered that Xiao Yan's spiritual strength had reached the peak of the mortal realm and praised his potential.
• After learning that no available low seventh-tier formula had all its ingredients, Xiao Yan decided to create a formula of his own.
• Xiao Yan developed a workable formula in three days, while Yao Lao guided him without taking over.
• Xiao Yan began refining the pill in his courtyard as Qing Lin watched and worried that he might leave her behind someday.
• After two days of refining, Xiao Yan condensed the ingredients into a pill, and thunder announced that it had become a Tier 7 Medicinal Pill.

Xiao Yan refined a Tier 7 Yin-Birth Yang-Death Pill and used the Thunder Swallowing Method to absorb its Pill Lightning, strengthening his body despite nearly being destroyed. Medusa feared he would die but let him continue, and Xiao Yan ended by giving her the completed pill.

• Pill Lightning gathered above the Snake-People Holy City, and Medusa and Qing Lin rushed to Xiao Yan’s courtyard.
• Xiao Yan refused Medusa’s offer of help and flew into the sky to use the Thunder Swallowing Method on the lightning.
• Xiao Yan swallowed repeated bolts of Pill Lightning, while Medusa and Qing Lin watched in alarm.
• The final bolt nearly obliterated Xiao Yan, but the lightning restored his body and strengthened him.
• Medusa scolded Xiao Yan for risking his life, and he gave her the completed Tier 7 Yin-Birth Yang-Death Pill.

Xiao Yan completed his first Tier 7 Medicinal Pill, earning Medusa’s admiration and deepening her feelings for him despite his denial that he had romantic intentions. After dressing and reuniting with Qing Lin, Xiao Yan asked Medusa whether she knew about the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.

• Medusa was shocked to learn Xiao Yan had become a Seventh-Rank Alchemist, and Xiao Yan explained that he had created the Yin-Birth Yang-Death Pill for her.
• Xiao Yan said the pill could strengthen yin-aspected people and magical beasts and help Medusa’s soul power catch up with her cultivation.
• Medusa asked how many women Xiao Yan cared for and why he had made her such a precious pill; Xiao Yan said he needed a favor from her.
• Medusa decided Xiao Yan’s denial hid his true feelings, while Xiao Yan landed and put on clothes as Qing Lin offered to help him dress.
• Xiao Yan teased Qing Lin for her curiosity, and Medusa privately resolved to separate the maid from him.
• Xiao Yan asked Medusa if she knew about the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.

Xiao Yan traded an Yin-Birth Yang-Death Pill for the Snake-People Tribe’s legacy to awaken Qing Lin’s Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils. Medusa also revealed where scouts had spotted the Wind Fury Dragon Flame, and the chapter ended with her taunting Qing Lin after a private encounter with Xiao Yan.

• Medusa realized Qing Lin possessed the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and agreed to teach her the Snake-People Tribe’s legacy in exchange for an Yin-Birth Yang-Death Pill.
• Qing Lin reluctantly agreed to stay with the Snake-People Tribe to grow stronger, while Medusa took charge of her training.
• Medusa told Xiao Yan that scouts had seen an ocher tornado-like flame appearing across the desert, which Xiao Yan identified as the Wind Fury Dragon Flame.
• Medusa dismissed Qing Lin and privately fought with Xiao Yan in the courtyard, then gave him the information he needed about the heavenly flame.
• Medusa found Qing Lin waiting outside and whispered, “Did it sound good?”

Qing Lin awakened the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils while trying to affect Medusa, then fainted, and Xiao Yan left Snake-People Holy City with Yao Lao to seek the Wind Fury Dragon Flame. In Salt City, Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran prepared to attend Mo Cheng’s birthday celebration, unaware that Mo Cheng planned to drug them and seize control of their clans.

• Qing Lin’s strange eyes made Medusa nauseous but failed to bind her, and Qing Lin fainted after awakening the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
• Xiao Yan removed the soul force confining Yao Lao, told him he had learned about the Wind Fury Dragon Flame, and set off with him to find it.
• Nalan Yanran questioned Yun Yun about attending Mo Cheng’s birthday and her interest in collecting special flames, and Yun Yun explained that Mo Cheng had promised information about a flame.
• Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran agreed to go to Mo Cheng’s birthday celebration after a Mo Clan attendant summoned them.
• Mo Cheng gave Mo Lan an inherited aphrodisiac and ordered him to secretly put it in Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran’s food so he could use them and their clans to empower the Mo Clan.

Mo Cheng’s scheme to drug Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran was exposed when Yun Yun revealed she had anticipated the aphrodisiac and confronted him in the desert. Xiao Yan separately followed a growing concentration of fire-element energy, while Yun Yun prepared to subdue the special flames.

• At Mo Cheng’s birthday banquet, Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran drank wine that Mo Lan had secretly drugged, and Mo Cheng explained that he planned to exploit the medicine after leading them toward the flames.
• The next morning, Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran each woke from a shameful dream and changed their clothes before setting out with Mo Cheng to find the special flames.
• Xiao Yan sensed denser fire-element energy in one direction, and Yao Lao encouraged him to trust his instincts as he flew into the desert.
• Mo Cheng led Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran deeper into the desert while the drug’s effects made them feel feverish, weak, and itchy.
• Mo Cheng entered their tent and revealed that he had drugged them, but Yun Yun took a medicinal pill, drew her sword, and overwhelmed him with her Dou Emperor aura.

Xiao Yan found and collected the Wind Fury Dragon Flame before Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran arrived. He absorbed its flame seed in a secluded cave, evolving the Burning Mantra into an Earth Rank cultivation technique.

• Yun Yun killed Mo Cheng after he tried to drug her, and she and Nalan Yanran set out to find the Wind Fury Dragon Flame.
• Xiao Yan overheard them and decided to visit the Mo Clan later to learn about its beast-transplanting secret technique.
• Xiao Yan located the Wind Fury Dragon Flame and used the Earth Fire Lotus Platform and his Fire Spirit Body to lure it inside and seal it.
• Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran reached the sea of fire after Xiao Yan had taken the flame, and Yun Yun decided to abandon the search.
• Xiao Yan secluded himself in a cave, absorbed the Wind Fury Dragon Flame's seed, and evolved the Burning Mantra to Earth Rank.

Xiao Yan absorbed the Wind Fury Dragon Flame and advanced to seven-star Dou Wang, while discussing his growing strength and future plans with Yao Lao. He revealed that he had not used the flame to awaken a Heaven-Swallowing Talent, surprising Yao Lao.

• Xiao Yan absorbed part of the Wind Fury Dragon Flame and broke through from four-star to seven-star Dou Wang.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Lao discussed his cultivation, physical strength, alchemy, and the possibility of reaching Dou Emperor before leaving the Jia Ma Empire.
• Yao Lao estimated that Xiao Yan could fight a high-star Dou Zong with his Earth Rank techniques and Yao Lao's possession.
• Xiao Yan resolved to eliminate the Soul Hall Protector in the Misty Cloud Sect before leaving the Jia Ma Empire.
• Yao Lao asked what Heaven-Swallowing Talent Xiao Yan had awakened, and Xiao Yan admitted he had not used the Wind Fury Dragon Flame to awaken one.

After absorbing the Wind Fury Dragon Flame, Xiao Yan explained to Yao Lao why he chose not to use it for a Heaven-Swallowing Talent. He outlined his plans for the ten slots and left with his sights set on awakening a talent from Medusa's Nine-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python bloodline.

• Yao Lao questioned why Xiao Yan gave up using the Wind Fury Dragon Flame to awaken a Heaven-Swallowing Talent.
• Xiao Yan told Yao Lao he hoped to obtain more of the twenty-three Heavenly Flames and pursue the continent's peak.
• Yao Lao encouraged Xiao Yan and offered his Bone Chilling Flame, but Xiao Yan said he might not use it for a talent.
• Xiao Yan planned slots for the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, Green Lotus Core Flame, Nine Profound Golden Lightning, Medusa's bloodline, Zi Yan's Dragon-Phoenix Bloodline, and several powerful Heavenly Flames.
• Xiao Yan considered the Life Spirit Flame but judged it too difficult to obtain or locate, then agreed with Yao Lao to leave.
• Xiao Yan looked forward to obtaining Medusa's Nine-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python blood essence and awakening a powerful talent from it.