Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan arranged for Yun Shan to lure Protector Wu into a trap, then teased Yun Yun during a walk through the Misty Cloud Sect. Yun Yun exposed Xiao Yan’s fabricated explanation for knowing the grounds and revealed that she had been playing along with his earlier lies.

• Xiao Yan told Yun Shan to spread word that he would enter death seclusion to break through to Dou Zong and draw Protector Wu into their trap.
• Xiao Yan appeared beside Yun Yun in the Sect Master Hall, startled her, and led her out by the hand.
• Yun Yun stopped Xiao Yan and demanded to know why he knew the Misty Cloud Sect’s layout so well.
• Xiao Yan claimed his lineage had helped build the sect grounds, but Yun Yun countered with a false story about the grounds being relocated.
• Xiao Yan admitted he had made up his explanation, and Yun Yun revealed that she had also invented her story and had seen through his earlier lies.

Xiao Yan and Yun Yun shared a quiet moment before Xiao Yan arranged a trap in the Life and Death Gate secret realm to capture Protector Wu. The bait drew Protector Wu and another Soul Hall protector to the formation, but they stalled outside because Protector Wu did not know how to break it.

• Xiao Yan asked Yun Yun who had supervised construction of the Misty Cloud Sect headquarters, and she took his hand as they walked together.
• Yun Yun asked Xiao Yan to promise that he would not harm the Misty Cloud Sect, and he agreed.
• Xiao Yan arranged for Hai Bo Dong to challenge Yun Shan publicly while Yun Shan pretended to enter seclusion, drawing attention to the Life and Death Gate secret realm.
• Xiao Yan, Yao Lao, and Yun Shan waited inside the secret realm for Protector Wu, with Yun Shan pretending to break through to Dou Zong.
• Protector Wu and another Soul Hall protector found the secret realm, but Protector Wu admitted he did not know how to break the formation.

Xiao Yan and Yao Lao waited inside the Life and Death Gate Secret Realm while Soul Hall’s Protector Wu and Nameless Protector struggled to breach its formation. After hours of delay, Xiao Yan widened the formation’s flaw, while Nameless Protector resolved to keep dismantling it despite Protector Wu’s warning.

• Protector Wu repeatedly asked Nameless Protector how long it would take to break the formation, while Nameless Protector struggled for hours.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Lao waited inside the secret realm, and Xiao Yan told Yun Shan to keep acting as if he were close to breaking through.
• Xiao Yan woke after Yao Lao alerted him that Soul Hall was still outside, then used Yun Shan’s formation plate to widen the flaw in the array.
• Protector Wu declared that they should break the array by force, but Nameless Protector begged for fifteen more minutes.
• Protector Wu warned Nameless Protector about the Hall’s punishments, and Nameless Protector renewed his resolve to dismantle the formation.

Protector Wu and Nameless Protector fought before entering the Life and Death Gate Secret Realm, where Xiao Yan and Yao Lao had lured them into a trap. Yun Shan resumed cultivating as his aura began to break through to Peak Dou Emperor, while Protector Wu secretly planned to devour Nameless Protector after the mission.

• Nameless Protector insisted on fighting Protector Wu, and the two Soul Hall protectors battled for half an hour before calling a truce.
• The formation around the secret realm opened, and Nameless Protector claimed he had opened it before both protectors entered.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Lao revealed that they had let the two enemies through, then Xiao Yan sealed the formation behind them.
• Xiao Yan urged Yun Shan to continue cultivating, and Yun Shan's aura began to loosen as he approached Peak Dou Emperor.
• Protector Wu and Nameless Protector entered the secret realm in disguise, and Protector Wu secretly resolved to devour his companion after finishing the mission.

Xiao Yan and Yao Lao watched as Protector Wu tried to keep Nameless Protector from attacking Yun Shan while Yun Shan pretended to break through. Yun Shan accidentally released his stabilized Dou Zong aura, leaving him to improvise an excuse as the two Soul Hall protectors reacted.

• Nameless Protector urged Protector Wu to attack Yun Shan, but Protector Wu persuaded him to wait and observe.
• Xiao Yan asked Yun Shan to make his breakthrough performance more convincing, and Yun Shan shouted as he absorbed energy.
• Protector Wu continued to hesitate despite Nameless Protector pointing out Yun Shan's apparent effort.
• Yun Shan accidentally released the aura of a stabilized one-star Dou Zong, prompting Xiao Yan and Yao Lao to prepare to act.
• Yun Shan claimed that he had accidentally broken through, and Xiao Yan and Yao Lao criticized how obvious his excuse was.

Yun Shan trapped Protector Wu with the formation, while Xiao Yan intercepted the Nameless Protector at the secret realm’s entrance and battered him with the Bone Chilling Flame. Protector Wu remained captured, and the Nameless Protector was left screaming beneath Xiao Yan’s continuing assault.

• Nameless Protector sent Protector Wu out to confront Yun Shan, then left for the secret realm’s entrance, convinced his colleague had fallen into a trap.
• Yun Shan activated the thirty-four azure pillars, caught Protector Wu in an energy cocoon, and greeted him as an old acquaintance.
• Xiao Yan appeared at the entrance and blocked the Nameless Protector, who mistook him for an easy target because he sensed only three-star Dou Ling cultivation.
• Xiao Yan struck the Nameless Protector with his ghastly-white flaming hand, breaking apart his black fog and exposing his soul body.
• The Nameless Protector begged Xiao Yan to stop, but Xiao Yan continued pounding him with the Bone Chilling Flame.

Xiao Yan and Yao Lao subdued the Nameless Protector, then joined Yun Shan, who had captured Protector Wu in a cyan energy cocoon. Protector Wu failed twice to break free and was left muttering that he had not used his full strength.

• Xiao Yan battered the Nameless Protector until Yao Lao stopped him, and Xiao Yan spared the Soul Hall captive.
• Xiao Yan changed into fresh clothes, picked up the Nameless Protector, and went to join Yun Shan.
• Yun Shan showed Xiao Yan the trapped Protector Wu, and Xiao Yan tossed the Nameless Protector beside him.
• Protector Wu tried to burst the cyan cocoon but failed while Xiao Yan praised Yun Shan and promised him Dou Zong-level medicinal pills.
• Protector Wu made a second attempt, failed again, and sank into defeat as Xiao Yan and Yun Shan wondered what was wrong with him.

Xiao Yan confronted Protector Wu while the captured Soul Hall protectors argued over whether to surrender. Protector Wu refused and began charging a self-destructive secret art, leaving the attack still building.

• Xiao Yan asked which captive was Protector Wu, and Protector Wu identified himself while threatening them with the Soul Hall’s revenge.
• Nameless Protector mocked and slapped the immobilized Protector Wu, then urged him to surrender and threw down a Soul Chain.
• Protector Wu rejected Nameless Protector’s advice, warning that the Soul Hall would never spare him and cursing everyone present.
• Protector Wu began gathering soul power inside the giant azure cocoon to unleash a self-destruction technique, but the move had not yet finished charging.

Xiao Yan and Yun Shan watched Protector Wu’s forbidden move fail inside the Misty Cloud Sect’s trapping formation. Xiao Yan then offered to spare one of the two Soul Hall protectors and teased the Nameless Protector, who sat down and pleaded for his life.

• The Nameless Protector alerted Xiao Yan and Yun Shan that Protector Wu was preparing to self-destruct, but they ignored him as Protector Wu spent three minutes chanting.
• Protector Wu unleashed his forbidden move, but the formation drained his power and kept him trapped.
• Yun Shan boasted about the formation’s strength, and Xiao Yan pointed out that no one had escaped because no one had ever broken in.
• Xiao Yan said that only one protector could live and asked who should die; the Nameless Protector eagerly volunteered to be spared.
• Xiao Yan pretended he would kill the Nameless Protector because he lacked a surname, and the Nameless Protector sat down and protested while Yao Lao mocked Xiao Yan’s act.

Xiao Yan mocked Protector Wu and discovered that the Nameless Protector was named Wang Qinian, then chose to keep him. After Yun Shan crushed Protector Wu, the Great Ming King swallowed and expelled the dead protector’s poisonous counterattack, remaining nestled in Xiao Yan’s chest.

• The Nameless Protector explained that Protector Wu and Protector Zhi were nicknames for slow promotions, and Xiao Yan teased them about their records.
• The Nameless Protector revealed his name was Wang Qinian, and Xiao Yan excitedly decided to keep him.
• Xiao Yan had Yun Shan crush Protector Wu inside the cyan cocoon, while Wang Qinian regretted losing the chance to consume his soul.
• Protector Wu’s hidden black attack shot toward Xiao Yan, but the Great Ming King swallowed it and spat out its toxic black mist.
• The Great Ming King settled back against Xiao Yan’s chest as Xiao Yan stroked its head.

After defeating Protector Wu, Xiao Yan recruited Wang Qinian into an organization he planned to form against the Soul Hall, naming it Wangtian. The organization had only Xiao Yan and its first member, Wang Qinian, and Xiao Yan appointed him its first elder.

• Xiao Yan explained that using a third-rank Great Ming King could make his body and soul collapse, while Wang Qinian feared the little bird's power.
• The Cyan Giant Cocoon devoured what remained inside it, then burst into cyan motes that scattered across the land.
• Xiao Yan invited Wang Qinian to join a revolution against the Soul Hall, and Wang Qinian accepted in hopes of escaping its control.
• Xiao Yan proposed the name Wangtian and assured Wang Qinian that the organization was powerful because the Son of the Plane supported it.
• Xiao Yan revealed that Wangtian consisted of himself and Wang Qinian, then appointed Wang Qinian its first elder.

Xiao Yan made Wang Qinian the first elder of Wangtian and tasked him with opposing the Soul Hall, prompting Wang Qinian to reveal the organization's hierarchy and his own past. The chapter ended with Wang Qinian continuing to describe the Soul Hall's ranks and power.

• Xiao Yan appointed Wang Qinian as Wangtian's first elder and told him to begin the organization's mission against the Soul Hall.
• Wang Qinian panicked at the prospect of fighting the Soul Hall alone, but agreed to comply when Xiao Yan reminded him that he had joined voluntarily.
• Wang Qinian described the Soul Hall's widespread influence, powerful leaders, and hierarchy of Heavenly Sovereigns, Protectors, and deacons.
• Wang Qinian explained that the Soul Hall transformed many captured experts' souls into its servants, and revealed that he had once been a sixth-tier Alchemist before his soul was seized.
• Xiao Yan privately agreed with Yao Lao that Wang Qinian might be exaggerating his remorse to stay alive, then let him continue explaining the Soul Hall's ranks.

Wang Qinian explained Soul Hall’s structure and missions, giving Yao Lao a clearer sense of the organization’s strength. Xiao Yan recruited Wang Qinian into his “Wangtian” organization and pressed Yun Shan to use the same title, leaving Wang Qinian hopeful that Yun Shan would join too.

• Wang Qinian described Soul Hall’s halls, ranks, and its missions to gather powerful soul bodies and search for the Xiao Tribe’s descendants.
• Yao Lao realized Soul Hall’s strength exceeded his expectations, and Xiao Yan comforted him by saying they would return to the Central Plains someday.
• Xiao Yan introduced himself only as Xiao Yan when Wang Qinian asked him to reciprocate, frustrating Wang Qinian.
• Xiao Yan told Wang Qinian to address him as “my lord Wangtian,” then instructed Yun Shan to do the same.
• Wang Qinian hoped Yun Shan would join the organization so he would have company.

Xiao Yan had Yao Lao remove the Soul Hall’s lethal restriction from Wang Qinian’s Consciousness Sea before formally binding him to Wangtian. Yao Lao melted the deeply rooted chain with bone-white flame, but Wang Qinian endured agonizing pain as the final step began.

• Xiao Yan told Wang Qinian he would not recruit Yun Shan into Wangtian yet and asked Wang Qinian to accept a safeguard.
• Yao Lao entered Wang Qinian’s Consciousness Sea and found a black Soul Hall chain embedded in its inner wall.
• Yao Lao tried to pull the chain free, but it was rooted too deeply, and Wang Qinian screamed in pain.
• Yao Lao used bone-white flame to melt the chain while Xiao Yan tried to comfort Wang Qinian.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to stop distracting him as he focused on the restriction’s final critical step.

Xiao Yan removed the Soul Hall’s restriction on Wang Qinian, then recruited him as a Wangtian undercover agent codenamed Deep Sea. Wang Qinian returned to the outside world, where Yun Shan mistook him for an idle person loitering near the school.

• Yao Lao extracted the Soul Hall’s restriction from Wang Qinian and burned away the escaping black light.
• Xiao Yan planted a green-gold flame lotus in Wang Qinian’s Consciousness Sea and named him the Wangtian organization’s undercover agent, codenamed Deep Sea.
• Wang Qinian pledged himself to the mission and left immediately, despite wanting time to recover.
• Wang Qinian found he could not open the secret-realm door, so Yun Shan escorted him outside.
• Wang Qinian restored his black mist covering and declared that the Nameless Protector had returned, but Yun Shan told him not to scare the school’s disciples.

Wang Qinian returned to the Soul Hall and fretted over how to contact Wangtian, while Xiao Yan broke through in the Life and Death Gate Secret Realm after the seven-day hunt. Xiao Yan left to visit his senior sister, and Yun Shan realized where he was headed.

• Wang Qinian reached the Soul Hall, where he worried that he had no way to contact Wangtian and decided he needed to accomplish something significant.
• Yun Shan returned to Xiao Yan after Wang Qinian disappeared, but Xiao Yan told him to wait while he finished breaking through.
• Xiao Yan explained that the Life and Death Gate Secret Realm had helped him advance, then asked Yun Shan how the Misty Cloud Sect had opened it.
• Xiao Yan left the secret realm in a hurry to see his senior sister, and Yun Shan slowed down after guessing his destination.

Xiao Yan said goodbye to Yun Yun and returned to the Xiao Tribe, assuring Xiao Zhan that outside forces would not disrupt the clan’s development for years. The chapter ended with Xiao Yan confident that the Xiao Tribe could use the favorable conditions to grow stronger.

• Xiao Yan told Yun Yun he was leaving to return to his clan, and she promised to wait for him as they parted.
• Xiao Yan asked Yun Shan to take good care of Yun Yun before leaving Great Snow Mountain.
• Xiao Yan returned to Wutan City and greeted Xiao Zhan, who asked how things had gone.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Zhan that the Xiao Tribe would be free from outside interference for at least ten years and could develop under favorable conditions.
• Xiao Yan reflected that the Soul Hall would likely leave the Xiao Tribe undiscovered for decades and resolved to crush any force that challenged its revival.

Xiao Yan told Xiao Zhan he planned to leave for Jia Nan Academy in the Black-Corner Region in about half a year and asked him to keep it secret. After Xiao Xun'er learned of the plan and Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin also confronted him, Xiao Yan agreed to spend the next half year with them before departing.

• Xiao Yan sensed Xiao Zhan had advanced to five-star Dou Wang and asked how he had improved so quickly.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Zhan he planned to travel to Jia Nan Academy in about half a year, retrieve something from its Inner Academy, and help Yao Lao kill someone in the Black-Corner Region.
• Xiao Yan asked Xiao Zhan to keep his plans from Xun'er and the others, but Xiao Xun'er soon confronted him after hearing the news from Xiao Zhan.
• Xiao Xun'er offered to travel with Xiao Yan, but he refused because the journey was dangerous and agreed to stay with her every day until he left.
• Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin arrived, and Xiao Yan tried to find out who had told them he was leaving.

Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin tried to convince Xiao Yan to take them along, but their playful antics left him feeling ignored and defeated. After he walked away, they recalled the different fates they might have had without him and realized they could not go with him this time.

• Xiao Yi Xian asked Xiao Yan to take her and Qing Lin along while he trained, but he refused because it was dangerous.
• Xiao Yi Xian tried to get Qing Lin to cry to pressure Xiao Yan, but Qing Lin could not cry and the two girls began playing together instead.
• Xiao Yan left after the girls ignored him, lamenting that he had fallen out of favor and wanted peace.
• Xiao Yi Xian told Qing Lin that their test had failed and they could not go with Xiao Yan this time.
• Xiao Yi Xian and Qing Lin recalled the stories Xiao Yan had told them about their possible lives without him: Xiao Yi Xian becoming the Heavenly Poison Maiden and Qing Lin becoming the Heavenly Snake Mansion's heir.

Xiao Yi Xian persuaded Qing Lin to travel with her to the Chu Yun Empire and the Heavenly Snake Empire to train, hoping they could eventually help Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan fled his brothers and confronted Xiao Zhan, drawing his sword to make his father spar with him.

• Xiao Yi Xian teased Qing Lin, then suggested they travel together to the Chu Yun Empire and the Heavenly Snake Empire while Xiao Yan trained.
• Qing Lin worried Xiao Yan would be angry, but Xiao Yi Xian persuaded her to agree to the trip.
• Xiao Yan avoided Xiao Ding and Xiao Li by flying off to speak with Xiao Zhan.
• Xiao Yan reminded Xiao Zhan of their earlier discussion, drew Wind Chaser, and challenged him to spar.
• Xiao Yan unleashed the Earth-Class Dou Technique: Gale Swift Sword at Xiao Zhan.