Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan defeated a Twin-Winged Nether Tiger, revealed himself to Yan Qishang and the other students, and asked to be registered for the Inner Academy selection. He left the Outer Academy early to pursue the wounded tiger, hoping to take its fur, while Medusa discussed visiting the Inner Academy.

• Xiao Yan struck the Twin-Winged Nether Tiger with Eight Extremities Collapse, wounded it, and chased it into the forest.
• Yan Qishang recognized Xiao Yan, but a handsome student dismissed the idea that he could be the Dou Wang expert they had just seen.
• Xiao Yan landed among the students, asked Yan Qishang to register him for the Inner Academy selection, and flew off after the tiger.
• Xiao Yan told Medusa he would not wait to fully reach the Dou Wang realm before entering the Inner Academy, and she mentioned seeing the Ancient Void Dragon hatchling.
• Xiao Yan caught up with the wounded Twin-Winged Nether Tiger near its cave and chased it again, joking that he would borrow its fur.

Xiao Yan returned to Jia Nan Academy to compete in the Inner Academy selection, where the top fifty qualifiers began their final ranking matches. Huang Hao faced Xiao Yan in the opening match between them, leaving the academy leaders watching as the fight began.

• Xiao Yan reunited with Instructor Ruo Lin, who noted that several opponents had forfeited rather than face him.
• Vice Dean Hu Gan announced the final round and its turn-based matches, with the top five earning access to the Library Pavilion.
• Huang Hao and the other Four Talents agreed to fight Xiao Yan if they drew him, despite his strength as a Dou Wang.
• The referee paired Huang Hao with Xiao Yan, and Xiao Yan descended into the arena as Huang Hao nervously followed.
• Hu Gan and the other academy leaders discussed Xiao Yan and watched as the referee started the match.

Xiao Yan defeated Huang Hao in a brief close-quarters match, while Yan Qishang and the other Mystic-Tier contestants forfeited against him. The Inner Academy Selection Tournament ended with Xiao Yan, Yan Qishang, Nan Tian, Bei He, and Dong Yue named the top five, as Huang Hao left the arena in defeat.

• Huang Hao challenged Xiao Yan to close-quarters combat, but Xiao Yan struck him with Mountain Leaning Strike and knocked him off the arena.
• Huang Hao admitted defeat, and the referee awarded the match to Xiao Yan.
• Nan Tian and Bei He forfeited their matches against Xiao Yan, frustrating Huang Hao.
• Yan Qishang began his match against Xiao Yan but immediately forfeited, prompting Hu Gan and Old Man Huo to decide they would train him themselves.
• Hu Gan announced Xiao Yan, Yan Qishang, Nan Tian, Bei He, and Dong Yue as the tournament's top five.
• Huang Hao reflected that he could not hate Xiao Yan, then sighed and left with the crowd.

Xiao Yan went with Instructor Ruo Lin to meet Vice Dean Hu Gan before visiting the Library Pavilion, where Hu Gan teased him about secretly killing a rare beast. The other four Outer Academy talents arrived, and Hu Gan berated them for surrendering during the competition, leaving Yan Qishang feeling betrayed by the Vice Dean’s sudden change of attitude.

• Instructor Ruo Lin took Xiao Yan to report to Vice Dean Hu Gan before their visit to the Library Pavilion.
• Hu Gan questioned Xiao Yan about his absences and the deaths of fifth-rank Magic Beasts near Jia Nan City.
• Xiao Yan nearly admitted that he had killed Old Man Huo’s Twin-Winged Nether Tiger, then claimed its pelt belt had been given to him by a friend.
• The other four Outer Academy talents arrived, and Hu Gan angrily scolded them for surrendering instead of fighting in the Five-Strongest Contest.
• Hu Gan singled out Yan Qishang for answering his question, and Yan Qishang silently lamented the Vice Dean’s fickle encouragement.

Hu Gan led the five finalists to the Library Pavilion, where Yan Qishang disrupted the guardians’ solemn welcome by grabbing Qian Mu. Qian Mu then examined Xiao Yan’s unusual flame and realized he could not identify it.

• Hu Gan opened a passage and escorted the finalists through a hidden route to the Library Pavilion.
• Hu Gan asked Qian and Bai Elders to open the pavilion, but they remained seated and silent.
• Yan Qishang rushed over, grabbed Qian Mu, and was flung back before Hu Gan caught him.
• Yan Qishang blamed an inner demon and apologized, while Qian Mu scolded him and Hu Gan.
• Qian Mu noticed Xiao Yan’s Heavenly Flame and tried to identify it, but could not recognize the flame.

Qian Mu failed to identify the strange Heavenly Flame inside Xiao Yan, then opened the Library Pavilion for Xiao Yan and the other four top contestants. Inside, Yan Qishang drew a Di-Tier leg technique and threw it back, leaving Bei He lamenting that leg techniques were his specialty.

• Qian Mu probed Xiao Yan’s bluish-gold Fire Crow, which cried out and forced him to cut off his spiritual feeler.
• Xiao Yan claimed his mutated Heavenly Flame was the Green Lotus Core Flame, and Qian Mu pretended he had recognized it.
• Qian Mu and Bai Lie opened a spatial entrance to the Library Pavilion and gave Xiao Yan and the other four one hour to choose an item.
• Xiao Yan proposed that the five contestants split up to search the Pavilion’s energy barriers.
• Yan Qishang drew a Di-Tier Low-Level Heavenly Crippling Leg technique, rejected it, and returned it to its barrier.
• Bei He told Yan Qishang that he specialized in leg techniques.

Xiao Yan obtained an Earth Fire Lingzhi from the ancient building before leaving with Yan Qishang and the others. Three days later, the group flew into the forest behind Jia Nan City for the Fire Energy Hunting Competition and stopped at a mountain stream, where Hu Gan said one final step remained.

• Xiao Yan caught a sound-wave Dou Technique, rejected the Lion-Tiger Gold-Shattering Roar, and asked Yao Lao to find a heavenly treasure.
• Yao Lao located an Earth Fire Lingzhi, which Xiao Yan retrieved and put away.
• Xiao Yan reunited with Yan Qishang and the other three when the trial ended, and they left the ancient building with Hu Gan.
• Three days later, Hu Gan and the Outer Academy elders led ten griffins carrying the students into the forest behind Jia Nan City.
• The griffin formation stopped at a mountain stream, and Hu Gan told Yan Qishang that they still had one final step to complete.

Xiao Yan led the new students into the Inner Academy forest competition and used a purple Fire Phoenix to fly over the older students blocking their path. Two academy elders decided to stop the unauthorized shortcut, and a huge Cyan Energy Finger appeared above the group.

• Hu Gan brought Xiao Yan and the other new students through the spatial gate, where Elder Su gave them black crystal cards and instructions to cross the forest while protecting them.
• Xiao Yan proposed a shortcut, then carried Yan Qishang and the others into the air on a purple Fire Phoenix.
• The older students below protested that Xiao Yan's group was cheating by flying over the competition grounds.
• Two watching elders agreed that the flight broke the spirit of the trial, and the blue-robed elder pressed a finger down toward Xiao Yan's group.
• Yan Qishang urged Xiao Yan to land, but a huge Cyan Energy Finger appeared above them as Xiao Yan objected.

Xiao Yan and his companions were knocked out of the air by an academy expert after the Great Ming King was destroyed, then landed among five older students seeking to rob newcomers of Fire Energy. Xiao Yan turned the ambush around, took their Fire Energy, and questioned their captain about the older students.

• An academy expert destroyed the Great Ming King with a warning strike, and Xiao Yan stopped it from taking its third-stage form to fight back.
• The expert sent Xiao Yan, Yan Qishang, and their three companions toward the ground and urged them to fight their seniors.
• Five older students surrounded Xiao Yan's group and demanded their Fire Energy Cards.
• Xiao Yan knocked down the captain, and his companions defeated the other four older students.
• The captain ordered his team to hand over their cards, and Xiao Yan transferred their Fire Energy until his card showed 59.
• Xiao Yan mocked the captain by comparing his strength to Yan Qishang's and asked how strong the other older students were.

Xiao Yan’s group used a veteran captain’s map and information to hunt older students for Fire Energy. They defeated a team in the forest and took their cards, leaving the captain furious and humiliated.

• Xiao Yan pressured a veteran captain into revealing the hunting teams’ numbers and locations, then took his map and two days of Fire Energy.
• Xiao Yan told Yan Qishang, Bei He, and the others to target veterans at an intelligence exchange point in the forest.
• Xiao Yan approached a veteran team while his companions subdued its four members.
• Xiao Yan convinced the captain and his teammates to hand over their Fire Energy Cards, then laughed at the captain’s card showing fifty-two days of Fire Energy.

After bidding farewell to Xiao Yan, Huang Hao led his team through the forest and fought off an ambush by older students. With his teammates captured and most of his Dou Qi spent, he faced four more opponents while hiding his panic behind a calm expression.

• Xiao Yan and his teammates said an emotional goodbye to the captain, who secretly vowed never to see them again.
• Huang Hao led his four teammates through the forest, determined to guide them through the assessment.
• A tall older student ambushed Huang Hao, but Huang Hao defeated him with his iron fists and body-refinement strength.
• Four more older students surrounded Huang Hao after capturing his teammates.
• Huang Hao unwrapped his bandages to stall for time, concealing that he had little Dou Qi left as the four opponents prepared to attack.

Huang Hao tried to escape the four senior students but was beaten and captured with his teammates. Just as they demanded the group’s Fire Energy Cards, Xiao Yan made a dramatic entrance and announced that he was robbing them first.

• Huang Hao pretended to prepare for a fight, then charged at the senior student in the northeast corner to escape, but the martial arts fanatic knocked him down.
• The senior students captured Huang Hao and his teammates, and their captain demanded their Fire Energy Cards.
• Xiao Yan revealed that he had been watching from a tree and dropped his enormous black Iron Sword into the clearing, narrowly missing Huang Hao.
• Xiao Yan stood atop the weapon and told everyone to hand over their Fire Energy Cards because he was robbing them.

Xiao Yan’s team defeated a group of veteran students and set out to challenge all ten teams, while Huang Hao chose to stay with his own teammates and gather other groups. Three days later, Xiao Yan and his companions had finished another fight in the competition forest.

• Xiao Yan’s four hidden teammates surrounded the veteran students, and the veterans handed over their Fire Energy Cards.
• Huang Hao suggested merging teams, but Xiao Yan questioned whether he and his teammates would be useful in a fight.
• Huang Hao decided to stay with his team, and Xiao Yan revealed that he planned to defeat all ten veteran teams before heading for the finish line.
• Xiao Yan led his companions into the forest while Huang Hao resolved to join forces with other teams.
• Three days later, Xiao Yan’s group defeated their opponents, and Yan Qishang reported that his side had dealt with everyone.

Xiao Yan led his team to draw the remaining veteran students into a final confrontation and blocked the Black and White Fiend Teams. He defeated Bai Cheng with a single strike, leaving Yao Sheng and the other students facing him.

• Xiao Yan decided to stop hiding and gather the remaining veteran student teams for a decisive fight.
• Xiao Yan's team faced Fu Ao's team while the Black and White Fiend Teams rushed to help.
• Xiao Yan intercepted Bai Cheng and Yao Sheng, then demanded that they hand over their Fire Energy Cards.
• Bai Cheng boasted about his and Yao Sheng's strength, and Xiao Yan struck him with the Black Iron Heavy Ruler, breaking his breastbone and knocking him onto a tree branch.

Xiao Yan defeated Yao Sheng’s White Fiend Team and forced the supervising elders to end the Fire Energy Hunting Competition. Elsewhere, Fu Ao and Yan Qishang learned the contest was over, while Huang Hao rallied Outer Academy students to resist the older students.

• Xiao Yan took out the White Fiend Team members one by one, leaving only Yao Sheng standing.
• Xiao Yan unleashed Flame Splitting Wave-Severing Ruler at Yao Sheng, but an elder rescued him and announced Xiao Yan had passed the competition.
• The gray-robed elder sent up the academy’s summoning seal, prompting Fu Ao and Yan Qishang to stop fighting and head toward the elders.
• Huang Hao proposed that the Outer Academy students form an alliance against the older students, and the gathered students agreed.

Huang Hao abandoned his attempt to organize an alliance after learning the competition had ended, while Xiao Yan collected Yao Sheng’s Fire Energy Card. At the forest exit, Elder Su punished the defeated veterans and rewarded the new students, crediting Xiao Yan’s team with their victory.

• The rookie captain told Huang Hao that the elders’ tower-shaped signal meant the competition was over, so Huang Hao followed him toward the exit.
• Xiao Yan claimed Yao Sheng’s Fire Energy Card, and the Blue-Robed Elder ordered Yao Sheng to hand it over.
• The Blue-Robed Elder sent the students to the exit and left with the Grey-Robed Elder, while Xiao Yan’s team asked Yao Sheng to guide them.
• Elder Su ordered Bai Cheng and Yao Sheng to sweep the tower for a month and announced fire-energy rewards for the new students, with extra rewards for Xiao Yan’s team.
• Elder Su urged the new students to thank Xiao Yan, and they did.

Xiao Yan and the other new students entered the Inner Academy and settled into their dormitory. After Huang Hao was beaten for opposing Qingshan’s protection fees, he asked Xiao Yan for help, and Xiao Yan decided they would confront the group directly.

• Elder Su led Xiao Yan and the others into the Inner Academy and showed them their dormitories.
• Huang Hao vowed to become independent, but later came to Xiao Yan bruised after Qingshan beat him for standing up to their protection fees.
• Huang Hao admitted that he had returned to Xiao Yan because he could not think of anyone else to ask for help.
• Xiao Yan agreed to help Huang Hao and decided they would go straight to Qingshan’s door instead of waiting for the group to come collect fees.

Xiao Yan brought Huang Hao to Qingshan’s base, claiming he had come to collect protection fees, and attacked when the organization misunderstood him. After smashing the pavilion and striking Wu Xiangyang, he fought Qingshan’s members and insisted he was teaching them how to understand his sentence.

• Xiao Yan told Huang Hao they were going to Qingshan’s base, and Huang Hao admitted he did not know the way.
• At the entrance, a guard mistook Xiao Yan’s words for an offer to pay protection fees and directed them to Wu Xiangyang’s room.
• Xiao Yan clarified that he was a new student collecting protection fees, then attacked with his Black Iron Heavy Ruler after Qingshan’s members threatened him.
• Xiao Yan’s Flame Splitting Wave-Severing Ruler destroyed the pavilion, and he struck Wu Xiangyang in the waist.
• When Qingshan’s members charged together, Xiao Yan knocked one Da Dou Shi away and rushed toward the others.

Xiao Yan beat Wu Xiangyang and the Qingshan group, then forced them to hand over their Fire Energy under the pretense of teaching them proper phrasing. He left with Huang Hao after making the seniors agree to monthly lessons and thanking the guard who had guided him there.

• Xiao Yan defeated the people on the field and repeatedly hit Wu Xiangyang while making him say, “Freshmen, pay protection money.”
• Wu Xiangyang handed Xiao Yan Qingshan’s stored Fire Energy, and Xiao Yan emptied the crystal cards.
• Xiao Yan required Wu Xiangyang and his subordinates to attend monthly lessons and pay sixty Fire Energy points each.
• Xiao Yan called Huang Hao down from a loquat tree, and Huang Hao taunted the nine-star Da Dou Shi from Qingshan.
• Xiao Yan and Huang Hao left, and Xiao Yan thanked the two-star Da Dou Shi who had shown him the way.

Xiao Yan and Yan Qishang recruited Huang Hao as a Deputy Elder of their new Wangtian Organization, which soon made a name for itself in the Inner Academy. Xiao Yan then headed to the Heaven Burning Qi Refining Tower to cultivate and test the Fallen Heart Flame.

• Xiao Yan rescued Huang Hao and listened as Huang Hao proposed forming an organization to protect the freshmen.
• Yan Qishang reminded Xiao Yan of their Wangtian plan, and Xiao Yan revealed their goal of dominating the Inner Academy.
• Xiao Yan named Huang Hao a Deputy Elder, gave him badges, and told him to recruit new students while the other members trained toward Dou Ling.
• News spread that Wangtian had beaten the Qingshan Organization and made it an affiliated force.
• Xiao Yan joined the queue at the Heaven Burning Qi Refining Tower, intending to see how far the Fallen Heart Flame had grown.