Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ze completed his breakthrough and prepared to host the Alchemist Exchange Conference, where Old Monster Lingyun challenged his status before the Three Presidents arrived to support him. Xiao Ze entered the hall as the gathered alchemists reconsidered his standing.

• Xiao Ze reached the end of the Dou Zong path, and Qing Lin reminded him about the Alchemist Exchange Conference before helping him dress.
• Elder Liu Tian observed the unusually large gathering, while Cao Ying, Song Qing, Dan Chen, and others waited for the conference to begin.
• Old Monster Lingyun arrived and criticized Xiao Ze for keeping the elders waiting, prompting Elder Liu Tian to defend him.
• Xuan Kongzi, Xuan Yi, and Tian Leizi appeared and showed their support for Xiao Ze, surprising the gathered elders.
• Xiao Ze arrived and apologized to the elders for keeping them waiting.

Xiao Ze opened the Alchemist Exchange Conference by explaining how he became an alchemy grandmaster and sharing his knowledge of Blood Qi Alchemy. After answering Old Monster Lingyun’s criticism, he introduced the Primordial Nine Pills, leaving the elders eager to learn more.

• Xiao Ze arrived at the conference with his maid, and the Three Presidents welcomed him and went upstairs to observe.
• Xiao Ze told the audience that he had started learning alchemy only a few years earlier, astonishing the elders and prompting Dan Chen, Cao Ying, Song Qing, and Old Monster Lingyun to reassess him.
• Xiao Ze explained the merits of Blood Qi Alchemy, especially its use in handling magical beast essence blood.
• Old Monster Lingyun criticized Xiao Ze for presenting Unorthodox Alchemy, but Xiao Ze calmly defended sharing any method that could benefit other alchemists.
• Xiao Ze introduced the Primordial Nine Pills, a nine-tier system whose pills could harmonize with earlier tiers and strengthen their medicinal effects.

Xiao Ze presented Unified Alchemy Theory as his third alchemy technique, astonishing the Pill Tower leaders with its potential to transform how alchemy was taught and inherited. As he began demonstrating an elder’s exclusive Smelting Method, the elder objected, while Old Monster Lingyun accused Xiao Ze of merely copying it.

• President Tian Leizi and the other leaders discussed the limits of the Primordial Nine Pills and grew curious about Xiao Ze’s final technique.
• Xiao Ze explained that his lack of a teacher had led him to study many alchemy techniques and introduced his plan to unify them.
• Xuan Kongzi, Xuan Yi, and Tian Leizi realized that Unified Alchemy Theory could make advanced alchemy knowledge accessible through developed academy curricula.
• Xiao Ze began demonstrating the Smelting Method, prompting its elderly creator to stand and shout for him to stop.
• Old Monster Lingyun claimed Xiao Ze had only happened to comprehend the elder’s exclusive technique and challenged his claim to Unified Alchemy Theory.

Xiao Ze defended his vision for Unified Alchemy Theory, but the Three Presidents warned him that sharing it too soon could threaten powerful alchemists’ interests. He learned that his work through the seventh tier already amounted to a complete theory and agreed to wait before revealing it widely.

• Xiao Ze told Old Monster Lingyun that Unified Alchemy Theory could be built upon by future alchemists, even if he could not complete it alone.
• Xuan Kongzi ended the Alchemist Exchange Conference early, and the elders, including Old Monster Lingyun, left after acknowledging Xiao Ze’s performance.
• Xuan Kongzi and Xuan Yi warned Xiao Ze that sharing exclusive techniques could bring trouble, while Tian Leizi urged him to treat the use of souls in alchemy with reverence.
• Xiao Ze revealed that he had organized high-grade pills through the seventh tier and had only begun studying the eighth tier.
• Xuan Kongzi explained that Xiao Ze had effectively completed Unified Alchemy Theory through the seventh tier and advised him to wait until reaching the ninth tier before popularizing it.
• Xiao Ze thanked the Three Presidents and said he understood their advice.

Xiao Ze entered the Pill World with Qing Lin, who subdued snake-type magical beasts along the way. He found the Pill Tower Medicine Pool, whose immense energy might help expand his Origin Tree, and entered it alone after Qing Lin could not withstand its violent energy.

• Qing Lin thanked Xiao Ze for changing her life, and he encouraged her to pursue the continent’s peak alongside him.
• Elder Liu Tian took Xiao Ze and Qing Lin through the Pill World’s normal entrance and gave Xiao Ze a map and a key to the Pill Tower Medicine Pool.
• Xiao Ze used Vast Sea Power to suppress a magical beast nest while Qing Lin subdued its snake-type beasts with her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
• Xiao Ze and Qing Lin reached the ruins of the Pill Tower and opened the sealed medicine pool with Elder Liu Tian’s key.
• Qing Lin said the pool’s violent energy was too much for her, so Xiao Ze told her to wait nearby and entered the spatial vortex alone.

Xiao Ze discovered that the hall concealed an enormous medicinal pool whose preserved energy was both potent and corrosive, then used the Origin Tree to absorb it while studying Zhu Yang’s alchemy knowledge. Qing Lin guarded the hall outside and began cultivating as Xiao Ze remained inside.

• Xiao Ze entered the spatial seal and found that the hall’s interior had been expanded and preserved by a powerful spatial technique.
• Xiao Ze examined the medicinal pool, identified an array that had preserved its energy, and concluded that it was originally meant to cultivate something before being repurposed.
• Xiao Ze tested the pool’s corrosive power, then sent over a hundred golden roots from the Origin Tree into it to absorb its energy.
• Xiao Ze sat beside the pool and studied the Dragon-Shaped Jade Tablet containing Zhu Yang’s alchemy experience while the Origin Tree absorbed the energy.
• Qing Lin watched the hall from a rooftop, summoned subdued seventh-tier serpentine magical beasts to guard the area, and began cultivating.

Qing Lin reunited with Zi Yan after her snake-type magical beasts clashed with Xiong Zhan, and the group returned to wait near the medicinal pool for Xiao Ze. Xiao Ze received a hundredfold alchemy reward from Xiao Yan, gaining the Honored Venerable Pill formula, and planned to refine it after finishing his cultivation.

• Xiong Zhan fought off Qing Lin's attacking snake-type magical beasts until Zi Yan sensed a familiar aura and ordered him to stop killing them.
• Qing Lin and Zi Yan recognized each other, ended the misunderstanding, and Qing Lin explained that Xiao Ze was cultivating in the Pill Tower Medicine Pool.
• Zi Yan introduced Qing Lin to Xiong Zhan, then decided to wait near the medicinal pool for Xiao Ze.
• Xiao Ze claimed a hundredfold alchemy feedback reward from Xiao Yan and received the Honored Venerable Pill formula.
• Xiao Ze estimated that he needed about two more days to refine the medicinal pool's energy before gathering ingredients and refining the Honored Venerable Pill.

Xiao Ze broke through the Origin Tree’s hundred-meter bottleneck and developed the Illusion Sea Domain, a powerful technique based on the Illusion Sea Spirit Pearl. He then reunited with Zi Yan and met Xiong Zhan, who learned that Xiao Ze was an eighth-tier Alchemist.

• Xiao Ze stopped fixating on the Origin Tree’s growth, allowing it to pass the hundred-meter bottleneck and awaken his control over pale blue energy.
• Xiao Ze tested his new spatial pressure and created the Illusion Sea Domain, which he believed could eventually rise to Heaven-class as he grew stronger.
• Xiao Ze left the medicinal pool after confirming Qing Lin’s Soul Seal had not been triggered, then reunited with Zi Yan when she threw herself into his arms.
• Zi Yan complained about the food in the Ancient Void Dragon Clan and eagerly ate the pills Xiao Ze gave her.
• Zi Yan introduced Xiao Ze to Xiong Zhan, the boss of the Ten-Thousand-Medicine Mountain Range, and told him to provide Xiao Ze with any medicinal ingredients he wanted.
• Xiong Zhan welcomed Xiao Ze and began to believe Zi Yan’s claim that he was an eighth-tier Alchemist.

Xiao Ze enlisted Zi Yan to search the Pill World for medicinal treasures and agreed to help Xiong Zhan break through to the Dou Venerate realm by refining an Honored Venerable Pill. After gathering ingredients at Xiong Zhan’s mountain stronghold, Xiao Ze began refining the pill while Qing Lin and the others stood guard.

• Xiao Ze asked Zi Yan to find medicinal treasures in the Pill World, and she agreed in exchange for pills to eat.
• Xiao Ze recognized that Xiong Zhan was close to a breakthrough and offered to refine an Honored Venerable Pill for him.
• Xiong Zhan brought Xiao Ze, Zi Yan, and Qing Lin to his dwelling in the Ten-Thousand-Medicine Mountain Range and offered them his medicinal ingredients.
• Xiao Ze gathered two sets of ingredients for the Honored Venerable Pill from Xiong Zhan’s herb plaza.
• Xiao Ze entered a stone chamber to refine the pill while Xiong Zhan guarded the area, Zi Yan ate pill pellets, and Qing Lin cultivated.

Xiao Ze completed an eighth-tier pill that summoned brilliant five-colored pill lightning, while Elder Liu Tian watched from outside the Ten-Thousand-Medicine Mountain Range. The lightning subsided, and Xiao Ze took the golden pill from the Spirit-Nurturing Cauldron’s restraints.

• Elder Liu Tian traced Xiao Ze’s Elder Token to the Ten-Thousand-Medicine Mountain Range and concluded that Xiao Ze had chosen to work with its magical beasts to gather medicinal ingredients.
• Elder Liu Tian sensed Xiao Ze’s pill refinement and watched a five-colored thundercloud gather, marveling at the brilliant purple lightning.
• Xiao Ze used the Spirit-Nurturing Cauldron to enhance the pill’s spirituality and summoned two Heavenly Demon Phoenix Puppets to withstand the pill lightning.
• Xiong Zhan anxiously waited outside the stone chamber while Zi Yan and Qing Lin trusted that Xiao Ze could handle the lightning.
• After the pill lightning subsided, Xiao Ze put away the puppets and golden tree roots, then took the golden pill from the Illusion Sea Domain’s restraints.

Xiao Ze broke through to the late Spirit Realm while refining the Honored Venerable Pill, then gave it to Xiong Zhan to aid his breakthrough. As Xiong Zhan entered the Dou Venerate realm, Xiao Ze returned Zhu Yang’s remains and belongings to Zi Yan, who gave Xiao Ze the violet-gold ring and promised the clan would thank him.

• Xiao Ze’s soul power surged into the late Spirit Realm, qualifying him to refine high-tier eighth-grade pills.
• Xiao Ze gave Xiong Zhan the Honored Venerable Pill, and Xiong Zhan secluded himself in a stone chamber to attempt a breakthrough.
• Xiao Ze made blood-red pills for Zi Yan while they waited for Xiong Zhan.
• Xiao Ze told Zi Yan that he had found Zhu Yang’s remains in Ancient Ruins and returned them and Zhu Yang’s belongings to her.
• Zi Yan mourned Zhu Yang, accepted his remains for burial in the Ancient Void Dragon Clan’s ancestral land, and gave Xiao Ze the violet-gold ring while promising a gift from the clan.
• Xiong Zhan’s aura erupted from the stone chamber as he successfully entered the Dou Venerate realm.

After helping Xiong Zhan become a Dou Venerate, Xiao Ze used his new ally’s resources to gather medicinal herbs and began refining eighth-tier pills in the Pill World. As pill lightning repeatedly struck the Ten-Thousand-Medicine Mountain Range, Elder Liu Tian realized Xiao Ze’s alchemy had likely surpassed his own.

• Xiong Zhan thanked Xiao Ze for helping him advance and agreed to let him use the herb plaza’s medicinal herbs.
• Xiong Zhan took Zi Yan and Qing Lin to search for treasures and high-tier snake-type magical beasts.
• Xiao Ze subdued two seventh-tier magical beasts with his magical beast pressure and selected herbs from the herb plaza.
• Xiao Ze returned to the stone chamber and repeatedly refined eighth-tier pills, producing pill clouds and lightning across the mountain range.
• Elder Liu Tian sensed the repeated eighth-tier pill lightning and concluded that Xiao Ze’s alchemy skills had probably surpassed his own.

Xiao Ze learned that Elder Liu Tian had been watching the Pill World while he refined pills, so he returned to the Sanctuary with Qing Lin and prepared a gift for the elder. Zi Yan and Xiong Zhan left the Pill World, and Elder Liu Tian arrived at the Sanctuary.

• Xiong Zhan sensed a powerful aura near the Ten-Thousand-Medicine Mountain Range, and Qing Lin identified it as Elder Liu Tian’s.
• Xiao Ze realized he had neglected his duty to guard the Pill World and decided to return to the Sanctuary.
• Xiong Zhan said he would leave the Pill World with Zi Yan, who gave Xiao Ze a mark to help her find him later.
• Zi Yan gave Xiao Ze the treasures and medicinal ingredients she had collected, while Qing Lin told him about the serpent-type magical beasts she had subdued.
• Xiao Ze and Qing Lin returned to the Sanctuary, found that Elder Liu Tian was inspecting the Pill World, and prepared medicinal ingredients as a gift for him.
• Elder Liu Tian arrived at the Sanctuary and greeted Xiao Ze.

Xiao Ze and Elder Liu Tian exchanged pill formulas after Xiao Ze gave him a precious Soul Heart Grass. Xiao Ze began studying the Profound Clarity Pill formula, while Elder Liu Tian examined the Primordial Nine Pills.

• Xiao Ze apologized to Elder Liu Tian for neglecting his duties in Pill World and offered him rare treasures.
• Elder Liu Tian accepted Xiao Ze's Soul Heart Grass after learning how precious it was.
• Elder Liu Tian offered Xiao Ze his Profound Clarity Pill formula, and Xiao Ze proposed exchanging it for access to the Primordial Nine Pills.
• Xiao Ze showed Elder Liu Tian the Dragon-Shaped Jade Tablet, and Elder Liu Tian discovered its extensive records of the Primordial Nine Pills.
• Elder Liu Tian explained that the eighth-tier Profound Clarity Pill aided alchemists and could treat soul injuries and lingering effects.
• Xiao Ze and Elder Liu Tian studied their new pill formulas in separate quiet rooms.

After his garrison duty in Pill World ended, Xiao Ze returned to the Pill Tower and went to the Elder Pavilion to repay merit points for the Xuanqing Soul Method. The Grand Elder said that the matter required a president’s approval and offered to contact one.

• Xiao Ze patrolled Pill World with Qing Lin until their garrison duty ended, then met Elder Sheng and Elder Lei at the sanctuary.
• Elder Lei and Elder Sheng told Xiao Ze that the Soul Hall attacked Pill Tower disciples to collect their souls, and Elder Liu Tian advised Xiao Ze to travel with Pill Tower experts.
• Xiao Ze told the elders that he could face a low-star Dou Venerate with confidence, then left the sanctuary with Qing Lin and Elder Liu Tian.
• Xiao Ze went to the Elder Pavilion to exchange merit points and was directed to the Grand Elder.
• The Grand Elder explained that repaying the merit points for the Xuanqing Soul Method required a president’s approval and offered to contact one.

Xiao Ze repaid the merit points he had spent on the Xuanqing Soul Method with eighth-tier medicinal pills, and Xuan Yi confirmed that his soul power was unharmed and had advanced to the late Spirit Realm. After receiving additional merit points for defending the Pill World, Xiao Ze examined the Pill Tower’s extensive collection of eighth-tier formulas and realized its resources far exceeded his expectations.

• Xiao Ze asked the Grand Elder to contact President Xuan Yi, who arrived after learning he wanted to repay the merit points he had spent on the Xuanqing Soul Method.
• Xiao Ze presented the eighth-tier medicinal pills he had refined, and Xuan Yi examined his soul power and discovered it had reached the late Spirit Realm without damage.
• Xuan Yi accepted the pills as repayment, added merit points for Xiao Ze’s defense of the Pill World, and left the formula exchange to the Grand Elder.
• The Grand Elder gave Xiao Ze a jade tablet listing the Pill Tower’s eighth-tier pill formulas, and Xiao Ze found more than fifteen formulas, including ones associated with Yao Lao.
• Xiao Ze recognized that the Pill Tower’s alchemical reserves were far greater than he had expected and resolved that developing within the organization would benefit his alchemy.

Xiao Ze exchanged merit points for the Lightning Tribulation Pill formula after learning why the Bodhi Pill formula would be difficult to use. He then joined the Grand Elder on a mission to find Song Qing and several missing Pill Tower disciples.

• The Grand Elder warned Xiao Ze that the rare Bodhi Seed made the Bodhi Pill formula impractical, but Xiao Ze still intended to use it when the Bodhi Ancient Tree appeared.
• Xiao Ze chose the Lightning Tribulation Pill formula, and the Grand Elder exchanged it for his merit points.
• A young woman reported that Song Qing and several Pill Tower disciples had gone missing after Song Qing's soul tablet dimmed.
• The Grand Elder learned the group had gone to the southern Pill Region and set out to find them.
• Xiao Ze offered to help, and he traveled south with the Grand Elder and the young woman.

The Soul Hall Venerable Elder captured Song Qing while searching for Xiao Ze and forced him to betray the Pill Tower in exchange for his life. Song Qing left under Soul Hall’s control, while the Venerable Elder and the Ghost Cry Mountain Range Branch Hall’s Vice Hall Master watched him go.

• The Soul Hall Venerable Elder defeated Song Qing and prepared to extract his soul after failing to find Xiao Ze.
• Song Qing offered to give Soul Hall information on Xiao Ze and revealed that he was the Pill Tower Grand Elder’s disciple.
• The Venerable Elder forced Song Qing to declare his cooperation before the souls of slain Pill Tower disciples, who cursed him for betraying them.
• The Venerable Elder threatened to use the captured souls to control Song Qing, then wounded him and gave him a Storage Ring containing a Space Jade Slip.
• Song Qing took healing pills and fled the mountain range, and the Venerable Elder reappeared beside the Ghost Cry Mountain Range Branch Hall’s Vice Hall Master.

The Soul Hall elders discussed using Song Qing to target the Pill Tower Grand Elder and recalled Han Feng’s rise within the Soul Hall. While searching the Pill Region for missing disciples, Xiao Ze found Pill Tower corpses and recognized signs of Soul Hall’s involvement; the Grand Elder then contacted him through his Elder Token.

• The purple-robed elder and red-robed elder decided that Song Qing’s captured disciples could keep him obedient and considered using him to lure out the Pill Tower Grand Elder.
• The elders discussed asking a Heavenly Venerable to capture the Grand Elder and recalled that Han Feng had joined the Soul Hall after killing his teacher, Yao Chen.
• Xiao Ze, Qing Lin, and the Grand Elder searched the southern Pill Region, with the Grand Elder heading deeper into the mountains to look for Song Qing.
• Xiao Ze found magical beasts feeding on Pill Tower disciples’ bodies and destroyed the beasts before the delicate young woman recognized the victims.
• Xiao Ze identified Soul Hall iron-chain wounds and sensed two lingering Venerable Elders’ auras, then received a message from the Grand Elder through his Elder Token.

Xiao Ze and the Grand Elder reunited after Soul Hall killed Pill Tower disciples, while Qing Lin sensed something drawing her toward the area. Song Qing concealed details of his encounter with Soul Hall, and Xiao Ze grew suspicious as the Grand Elder prepared to leave.

• Xiao Ze gave the Grand Elder the bodies of the fallen Pill Tower disciples and reported that Soul Hall had killed them.
• Qing Lin told Xiao Ze that her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils sensed something nearby, and Xiao Ze agreed to search the area with her.
• Song Qing woke and claimed Soul Hall Protectors had attacked his group, killed the disciples, and been driven off by his secret technique.
• Xiao Ze noticed that Song Qing's account conflicted with the battle traces and his own findings, then tested him by mentioning the Soul Hall Protectors.
• The Grand Elder took Song Qing and the others away while Xiao Ze stayed behind, and Song Qing planned to inform Soul Hall about him.