Chapter Summaries

After returning to Desert City, Xiao Yan refined a Break-Obstacle Pill for Hai Bodong in exchange for the map fragment. With the pill and fragment secured, Xiao Yan considered how Hai Bodong might help protect the Xiao Clan.

• Xiao Yan and Yao Lao realized they were lost in the desert, flew in a random direction, and came upon Desert City.
• Xiao Yan entered the city disguised in an Alchemist robe and found Hai Bodong at the Ancient Map shop.
• Xiao Yan used his Fusion Heavenly Flame to refine a Break-Obstacle Pill and kept the remaining set of medicinal ingredients.
• Hai Bodong gave Xiao Yan the map fragment, and Xiao Yan handed him the pill.
• Hai Bodong asked Xiao Yan his age and invited him to join the Mittel Family, so Xiao Yan removed his mask.

Xiao Yan revealed his identity and age to Hai Bodong, whose shock at discovering the young prodigy was also a Sixth-Rank Alchemist left him questioning reality. Xiao Yan resolved to conceal his talent to avoid drawing the Soul Hall’s attention and worried about his disguise being exposed at the Three-Year Agreement.

• Hai Bodong praised Xiao Yan’s pill and invited him to join the Mittel Family, but Xiao Yan offered cooperation instead and identified himself as the third son of the Xiao Clan of Wutan City.
• Hai Bodong recognized Xiao Yan as the Xiao Clan prodigy whose Heaven-Swallowing Talent had returned three years earlier and whose cultivation had reached Nine-Star Dou Zhe at his coming-of-age ceremony.
• Hai Bodong became overwhelmed by the revelation that Xiao Yan was not yet eighteen, had strength comparable to Hai Bodong’s former level, and was a Sixth-Rank Alchemist more skilled than Gu He.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan that his growth was astonishing, and Xiao Yan decided to conceal his Heaven-Swallowing Talent to avoid attracting the Soul Hall’s attention.
• Xiao Yan considered competing in the Alchemist Conference as Yan Xiao and wondered whether to reveal his identity to Yun Yun and Nalan Yanran before the Three-Year Agreement.

Xiao Yan secured Hai Bodong’s promise to protect the Xiao Clan and returned to the Snake-People Tribe, where Qing Lin completed the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils inheritance. Queen Medusa met Xiao Yan in private and suggested a reward for showing her what he could do.

• Hai Bodong agreed to help sell the Xiao Clan’s medicinal products and protect the clan in exchange for compensation.
• Hai Bodong eagerly offered the Mittel Family’s support, and Xiao Yan entrusted the Xiao Clan to his care while he was away.
• Xiao Yan left Desert City and flew toward the Snake-People Tribe.
• Qing Lin completed all three inheritance trials and received a high-grade Earth Rank cultivation method, a high-grade Earth Rank ocular Dou Skill, and a method to develop her pupils.
• Queen Medusa learned that Xiao Yan had returned, dismissed her attendant, and privately invited him to demonstrate his abilities.

Xiao Yan received Queen Medusa’s heartblood essence as his reward and resolved to grow stronger, while a woman in green and White Fang tracked the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils into Snake-People Tribe territory. They planned to steal the pupils if possible and call on the Heavenly Snake Mansion if necessary.

• Queen Medusa gave Xiao Yan a bottle of her heartblood essence and ordered him to leave her to rest.
• Xiao Yan spoke with Yao Lao, who teased him about his many romantic entanglements and urged him to become stronger.
• Xiao Yan accepted the idea of having several wives and concubines if he became powerful enough, then flew off to absorb the blood essence.
• A woman in green and the Eight-Winged Black Snake Emperor, White Fang, confirmed that the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils were somewhere in the Tagor Desert.
• The woman in green and White Fang decided to try stealing the pupils from the Snake-People Tribe, with force or help from the Heavenly Snake Mansion as a fallback.

Xiao Yan used Queen Medusa’s Heart Blood Essence to strengthen his body while Lu Man infiltrated the Snake-People Holy City to seize Qing Lin. Lu Man escaped Qing Lin’s chamber only to face a young man who effortlessly caught her attack.

• Xiao Yan absorbed Queen Medusa’s Heart Blood Essence in a bath to temper and strengthen his body.
• Lu Man left White Fang outside the Snake-People Holy City and slipped inside to find Qing Lin, the bearer of the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
• Lu Man defeated Yue Mei and the guards, found Qing Lin in a secret chamber, and knocked her unconscious when she refused to leave.
• Lu Man discovered that someone had restored the guards while she was inside and fled the side hall carrying Qing Lin.
• A young man blocked Lu Man’s path and caught her energy attack with one hand, then challenged her to fight seriously.

After Xiao Yan’s second physical evolution left him at Half-step Seventh Rank, he confronted Lv Man, who had abducted Qing Lin from the Snake-People Holy City. He recognized her and absorbed her attack with his newly awakened Heaven-Swallowing ability, then challenged her to attack seriously.

• Xiao Yan’s body evolved to Half-step Seventh Rank after absorbing the Nine-Colored Heaven-Swallowing Python’s heart’s blood essence, though he said he needed more blood essence to complete the evolution.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Lao sensed an unfamiliar Dou Emperor aura near Medusa’s sleeping palace, and Xiao Yan went to investigate while Medusa recuperated.
• Xiao Yan found the Snake-People guards and Yue Mei injured, learned that someone had taken Qing Lin, and gave Yue Mei a healing pill before entering the side hall.
• Lv Man emerged carrying the unconscious Qing Lin, and Xiao Yan recognized her as an elder of Heavenly Snake Mansion who had abducted Qing Lin in the original story.
• Xiao Yan activated Heaven-Swallowing to absorb Lv Man’s Dou Qi attack, then asked her to get serious.

Xiao Yan used his Heaven-Swallowing Talent and overwhelming physical strength to defeat Lu Man and the Eight-Winged Black Snake Emperor, then rescued Qing Lin. When Lu Man threatened the Snake-People Tribe with the Heavenly Snake Mansion’s retaliation, a Dou Zong appeared behind her.

• Xiao Yan endured Lu Man’s attack and challenged her to hurt him, prompting her to summon the Eight-Winged Black Snake Emperor.
• Xiao Yan knocked the Eight-Winged Black Snake Emperor from the sky and blocked attacks from both opponents with his fists.
• Lu Man fled with Qing Lin while Xiao Yan trapped White Fang in the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.
• Xiao Yan used Flash Step to catch Lu Man, struck her down, and caught Qing Lin as she fell.
• Lu Man threatened Xiao Yan with the Heavenly Snake Mansion, but a Dou Zong appeared behind her and demanded to know who would threaten the Snake-People Tribe.

Xiao Yan subdued Lu Man and White Fang, gave Qing Lin the Eight-Winged Black Snake Emperor for her cultivation, and forced Lu Man to serve the Snake-People Tribe with a pill that placed her life under his control. He spent the next month refining pills for the tribe, while Queen Medusa repeatedly rewarded him before his departure.

• Medusa revealed her Four-Star Dou Zong strength and dismissed Yue Mei's fear of the Heavenly Snake Mansion.
• Xiao Yan assigned the Eight-Winged Black Snake Emperor to Qing Lin and gave Lu Man a top-quality Tier 5 pill that let him control her life.
• Xiao Yan ordered Yue Mei to make Lu Man work for the Snake-People Tribe, then took Qing Lin to rest and went to Medusa's bedchamber.
• Xiao Yan spent a month refining pills of various tiers, using the tribe's herbs to improve its strength.
• Queen Medusa frequently rewarded Xiao Yan, who was preparing to leave.

After leaving the Snake-People Tribe, Xiao Yan visited his brothers, seized the Mo Clan’s Transplantation Technique, and returned toward the Jia Ma Empire. There, he learned that the Xiao Clan had survived the Mu Clan’s threat through Hai Bodong’s alliance, and he left the restaurant thinking about the Mu Clan.

• Xiao Yan said goodbye to Medusa and Qing Lin, then visited Xiao Ding and Xiao Li in Stone Desert City and left them pills and a way to seek Medusa’s help.
• Xiao Yan went to Salt City, killed Mo Lan after he escaped with the Blood Escape Secret Art, took the Mo Clan’s Transplantation Technique, and plundered the clan’s estate.
• Families in Salt City joined forces to purge and absorb the weakened Mo Clan after Mo Cheng’s death and Mo Lan’s confirmed death became known.
• The Xiao Clan grew wealthy through sales of its medicinal products, but the Mu Clan threatened it until Hai Bodong returned and pledged the Mittel Family’s support.
• Xiao Yan overheard a restaurant conversation about Hai Bodong’s alliance with the Xiao Clan and left while murmuring about the Mu Clan.

Xiao Yan visited the Mittal Auction House in the Imperial Capital and asked Ya Fei to contact Hai Bodong. After Ya Fei left, Mu Zhan burst into the reception room, accusing Xiao Yan of pursuing his future wife.

• Nalan Yanran worried that no Alchemist had found a way to help Nalan Jie recover and hoped Master Yan Xiao would arrive soon.
• Xiao Yan explored the auction house, found no treasures he wanted, and decided to ask Hai Bodong to protect the Xiao Clan in exchange for a Spirit Recovery Purple Pill.
• Xiao Yan recognized Ya Fei and spoke with her privately, learning that she had become a supervising elder of the Mittel Family.
• Xiao Yan asked Ya Fei to contact Hai Bodong, and she agreed before leaving him alone in the reception room.
• Mu Zhan accused Xiao Yan of seducing his future wife, kicked down the reception-room door, and confronted the masked Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan paid the Mittal Auction House guards with medicinal pills to sever Mu Zhan’s hamstrings, then revealed enough power to make them fear him. Mu Chen arrived to avenge Mu Zhan, but Hai Bodong stepped forward to challenge him.

• Xiao Yan offered the guards a Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pill to sever Mu Zhan’s hamstrings, prompting them to attack him.
• The guards overpowered Mu Zhan, severed his hamstrings, and received medicinal pills from Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan burned Mu Zhan’s severed hamstrings to ashes, and the guards realized he was far stronger than they had assumed.
• Mu Chen arrived, saw Mu Zhan’s injuries, and threatened Xiao Yan and the guards.
• Hai Bodong confronted Mu Chen and challenged him to fight instead.

Hai Bodong fought Mu Chen after Xiao Yan promised him a Spirit Recovery Purple Pill, while Xiao Yan had Mu Zhan crippled. The chapter left Ya Fei asking what had happened as Xiao Yan declared that the Mu Clan no longer needed to exist.

• Hai Bodong entered the reception room and challenged Mu Chen for targeting Xiao Yan, forcing Mu Chen to order his clan to take Mu Zhan away.
• Xiao Yan stopped the Mu Clan members and demanded that Mu Zhan's limbs and meridians be crippled, then ordered the guards to carry it out.
• Hai Bodong warned Xiao Yan that the Mu Clan had powerful allies, so Xiao Yan offered to refine him a Spirit Recovery Purple Pill that could restore his lost cultivation.
• Hai Bodong attacked Mu Chen with a Mystic Ice Spear, and the two clashed outside the reception room while Xiao Yan had Mu Zhan completely crippled.
• Xiao Yan gave the guards several Tier 3 Medicinal Pills, and Ya Fei arrived and asked what had happened.
• Xiao Yan told Ya Fei that he felt the Mu Clan had no need to continue existing.

Ya Fei learned how Xiao Yan had ordered Mu Zhan crippled, while Nalan Jie urged Nalan Yanran to reconcile with Xiao Yan and revealed his suspicions about her feelings for Master Yan Xiao. Across the capital, Hai Bodong nearly killed Mu Chen before Jia Xingtian and Fama arrived, and Hai Bodong warned Jia Xingtian not to interfere.

• Ya Fei heard a guard recount how Xiao Yan gave out pills and ordered Mu Zhan's tendons severed and then his body crippled, leaving her confused by Xiao Yan's power and her ancestor's support for him.
• Nalan Jie urged Nalan Yanran to apologize to Xiao Yan and suggested she spend time with Master Yan Xiao, whom he suspected she loved; she denied it but listened quietly.
• Nalan Jie and Nalan Yanran sensed the battle between Mu Chen and Hai Bodong, and Nalan Yanran left to investigate.
• Jia Xingtian and Fama lamented that Gu He could not refine the Break-Ancestor Pill, then sensed the battle and hurried toward the Mittal Auction House.
• Mittel Teng Shan intervened as Hai Bodong battered Mu Chen, and Mu Chen fled behind him while Hai Bodong demanded room to finish the fight.
• Jia Xingtian and Fama arrived, and Hai Bodong warned Jia Xingtian that he would regret stopping him.

Xiao Yan confronted Mu Chen after Jia Xingtian sided with the Mu Clan and demanded compensation from Hai Bodong’s Mittel Family. Nalan Yanran recognized Xiao Yan as Yan Xiao, prompting Fama to ask whether he was the renowned Sixth-Rank Alchemist.

• Jia Xingtian stopped Hai Bodong from attacking Mu Chen and ordered the Mittel Family to compensate the Mu Clan.
• Xiao Yan slapped Mu Chen and rejected Jia Xingtian’s attempt to end the dispute, declaring he would settle accounts with the Mu Clan.
• Xiao Yan openly claimed he wanted Mu Chen and the Mu Clan dead, while Hai Bodong understood that the Mu Clan had targeted the Xiao Clan.
• Nalan Su and Nalan Yanran arrived, and Nalan Yanran recognized Xiao Yan as Master Yan Xiao.
• Fama asked Xiao Yan whether he was the Sixth-Rank Alchemist who had refined a Dou Ling Pill in Black Rock City.

Xiao Yan revealed his standing as a Sixth-Rank Alchemist, prompting Mu Chen to fear for the Mu Clan and offer him half its businesses and resources. Hai Bodong then revealed Xiao Yan's exceptional skill with high-grade pills, leaving Jia Xingtian bitterly regretting that he had offended a potential source of the Break-Ancestor Pill.

• Fama praised Xiao Yan's alchemy and asked to observe him refining a pill at the upcoming Alchemist Conference, and Xiao Yan agreed but refused to teach him.
• Mu Chen realized Xiao Yan was a Sixth-Rank Alchemist and feared the consequences of offending him, then blamed Mu Zhan for provoking the dispute.
• Mu Chen apologized to Xiao Yan and offered half the Mu Clan's businesses and resources as compensation.
• Hai Bodong told Jia Xingtian that Xiao Yan had refined a high-quality Break-Obstacle Pill in less than half a day and could likely handle difficult Tier 6 pills.
• Xiao Yan said he had an Imperial Extreme Pill available to trade, and Jia Xingtian realized Xiao Yan might be able to refine the Break-Ancestor Pill he desperately wanted.
• Jia Xingtian regretted offending Xiao Yan because of Mu Chen and wished he could strangle Mu Chen.

Jia Xingtian learned that Xiao Yan was willing to reconcile and refine pills for him, but Xiao Yan demanded the Mu Clan disband or face his retaliation. Xiao Yan then offered medicinal rewards for crippling Mu Clan members, leaving the crowd eager to act and Mu Chen unconscious.

• Jia Xingtian feared the Jia Ma Empire would be divided by its stronger neighbors unless it gained a Dou Zong, and he pleaded with Xiao Yan for another chance.
• Xiao Yan agreed to refine pills for Jia Xingtian if he offered something worthwhile, and Jia Xingtian gratefully bowed to him.
• Xiao Yan gave Mu Chen the choice of disbanding the Mu Clan and crippling his own cultivation or facing Xiao Yan's methods, but Mu Chen refused and threatened him.
• Xiao Yan offered medicinal rewards to anyone who crippled a Mu Clan member's meridians, with higher rewards for stronger members.
• The crowd turned greedy gazes toward the Mu Clan, and Mu Chen spat blood and fainted.

Xiao Yan left with Nalan Su and Nalan Yanran for the Nalan Clan after publicly associating himself with them and promising Hai Bodong a Spirit Recovery Purple Pill. Meanwhile, Yun Yun learned that the Misty Cloud Sect had gathered five Beast Flames and decided to stop collecting them as she awaited Xiao Yan's arrival.

• Jia Xingtian let Mu Chen's clansman take him away, while Xiao Yan relied on the Heavenly Flame he had secretly planted in Mu Chen to ensure Mu Chen would eventually die.
• Xiao Yan declined Jia Xingtian's offer of lodging and revealed that he had come to the Imperial Capital for an appointment, prompting onlookers to reconsider their plans against the Nalan Clan.
• Nalan Yanran mistakenly believed Xiao Yan had come early because he cared about her, while Xiao Yan focused on treating Nalan Jie's Brand Poison and obtaining the Seven Illusion Green Spirit Saliva.
• Xiao Yan promised Hai Bodong that he would refine a Spirit Recovery Purple Pill and encouraged Hai Bodong to cultivate Ya Fei's management talent.
• Xiao Yan left for the Nalan Clan with Nalan Su and Nalan Yanran as the crowd dispersed, aware that his bounty on the Mu Clan and his influence would continue to affect the Empire.
• Elder Yun Jing reported that the Misty Cloud Sect had gathered five Beast Flames, and Yun Yun told him to stop collecting them while she awaited Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan visited the Nalan Clan to remove Nalan Jie’s Brand Poison with his Heavenly Flame. As the poison became pure energy and entered Xiao Yan, his seven-star Dou Wang cultivation began to loosen toward a breakthrough.

• Yun Jing told Yun Yun about Xiao Yan’s bounty on the Mu Clan, and Yun Yun decided to learn more about Master Yan Xiao through Yanran.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the Nalan Clan with Nalan Su and Nalan Yanran to fulfill his agreement to treat Nalan Jie.
• Nalan Yanran offered to become Xiao Yan’s maid again if he would save her grandfather, while Xiao Yan kept his distance because of their past broken engagement.
• Xiao Yan warned that Nalan Jie had less than a month to live, then began cleansing the Brand Poison from his bones with the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.
• Xiao Yan burned the Brand Poison into pure energy, which entered his body and caused his seven-star Dou Wang cultivation to loosen.

Xiao Yan paused Nalan Jie's Brand Poison treatment and arranged a secluded place to refine medicine at the Mittel Family estate. There, Hai Bodong and Mittel Teng Shan offered him a chance to meet Jia Xingtian, whose knowledge of Heavenly Flames caught Xiao Yan's interest.

• Xiao Yan stopped treating Nalan Jie when his frail body could not endure more, and promised to return the next day.
• Nalan Jie advised Nalan Yanran to resolve her grievances with Xiao Yan, and she regretted how rashly she had handled their engagement.
• Xiao Yan went to the Mittal Auction House and asked Ya Fei to arrange a secluded courtyard for him.
• Mittel Teng Shan revealed that he had deduced Xiao Yan's identity, and Xiao Yan allowed him to keep it private for now.
• Hai Bodong gave Xiao Yan resources from Jia Xingtian as an intermediary offer for a meeting, explaining that Jia Xingtian might know about Heavenly Flames.
• Xiao Yan asked whether Jia Xingtian wanted a Break-Ancestor Pill and showed keen interest when Hai Bodong mentioned Heavenly Flames.

Xiao Yan refined a Spirit Recovery Purple Pill for Hai Bodong, whose cultivation recovered and whose bottleneck loosened. The next day, Xiao Yan met Jia Xingtian, who offered Imperial Family resources for a Break-Ancestor Pill and revealed information about the poison-attributed Nether Poison Flame.

• Xiao Yan declined Hai Bodong's offered resources and asked Mittel Teng Shan to arrange a meeting with Jia Xingtian while Hai Bodong guarded his pill refinement.
• Xiao Yan refined the Spirit Recovery Purple Pill, which underwent a transformation as energy surged into the Medicine Cauldron, then gave the pill to Hai Bodong.
• Hai Bodong took the pill and recovered to Five-Star Dou Emperor, with a chance to break through to Six-Star, so he entered seclusion.
• Xiao Yan and Mittel Teng Shan flew to the Mittal Auction House, where Xiao Yan met Jia Xingtian in a private reception room.
• Jia Xingtian offered Imperial Family treasures if Xiao Yan refined a Break-Ancestor Pill and revealed that his genuine Heavenly Flame information concerned a poison-attributed flame.
• Xiao Yan recognized the unusual Heavenly Flame as the Nether Poison Flame.