Chapter Summaries

The Great Heavenly Venerable ordered Ye Yan’s capture, and Venerable Blood River volunteered to bring him back to Soul Hall. After more than a month, Blood River arrived at Boundless City and slaughtered people at the Space Wormhole plaza while injuring the Luo Family ancestor.

• The Great Heavenly Venerable forced the unnamed Dou Zong to become a soul body after he blamed Ye Yan for Soul Hall’s losses.
• The Great Heavenly Venerable and Second Heavenly Venerable decided to send Soul Seizer or Soul Snatcher after Ye Yan, but Venerable Blood River volunteered to capture him and investigate Venerable Qinghai’s death.
• More than a month later, Venerable Blood River emerged from the Space Wormhole in Boundless City and killed a man who spoke disrespectfully of him.
• Venerable Blood River struck the Luo Family ancestor with a blood-red chain, draining his vitality and destroying part of the plaza, killing many bystanders.
• The injured Luo Family ancestor told the Luo Family disciples that an expert had caused the destruction with a single strike.

Ye Yan prepared poison pills for Xiao Yi Xian and decided to replenish the secret realm’s poisonous herbs and insects. He freed Xie Biyan under a soul-control safeguard and ordered him to gather supplies, leaving Xie Biyan regretting that he had turned down the chance to receive pills.

• Ye Yan condensed poison pills for Xiao Yi Xian and judged that the secret realm needed more poisonous herbs and venomous insects.
• Ye Yan visited the imprisoned Xie Biyan and removed the seal on his mouth after mistaking his muffled protests for silence.
• Xie Biyan agreed to obey Ye Yan and let him implant a control safeguard in his soul.
• Ye Yan ordered Xie Biyan to buy as many living venomous insects and plantable poisonous herbs as he could find in the Chu Yun Empire.
• Xie Biyan claimed he had enough resources, then regretted his answer when Ye Yan said he would not give him fifth- and sixth-tier pills.

Xuan Yi and Cailin discovered that Soul Hall agents had been watching Jia Nan City and learned that Fourth Heavenly Venerable Blood River had arrived. Xuan Yi told Cailin that Ye Yan and her Pill Tower disciple Han Li were the same person, leaving Cailin to consider the danger surrounding his two identities.

• Cailin told Xuan Yi that Jia Nan City felt strange and that she sensed someone watching them.
• Soul Hall agents left their hiding place after being summoned to meet Fourth Heavenly Venerable Blood River, who had arrived to question them.
• Xuan Yi and Cailin found traces of Soul Hall in the city, but its agents had already departed.
• Xuan Yi suggested Soul Hall was targeting Ye Yan and told Cailin that Han Li, a top Pill Tower alchemist, could rival him.
• Xuan Yi revealed that Ye Yan and Han Li were the same person and explained how he maintained separate identities in different regions.

Xuan Yi explained to Cailin why Ye Yan used the name Han Li and reassured her that she could protect them from Soul Hall unless a Battle Saint appeared. Meanwhile, Heavenly Venerable Blood River punished his subordinates for losing track of Ye Yan, then headed for Jia Nan Academy to investigate Venerable Qinghai’s death.

• Xuan Yi told Cailin that Soul Hall’s surveillance could connect Ye Yan with Han Li, and Cailin urged her not to confront them unless she was confident.
• Xuan Yi revealed that she had reached the peak of the Battle Sovereign realm and begun walking the path to becoming a Battle Saint, easing Cailin’s fears.
• Heavenly Venerable Blood River arrived among Soul Hall’s black-robed members with Nameless Dou Zong and demanded an account of their investigation.
• Blood River seized the members, but accepted Nameless Dou Zong’s proposal to extract their souls instead of killing them, turning them into soul bodies.
• Blood River demanded accurate intelligence about Ye Yan and Jia Nan Academy’s headmaster, then ordered his subordinates to search for leads.
• Blood River told Nameless Dou Zong that they would go directly to the Heavenly Burning Qi Refining Tower to investigate Venerable Qinghai’s death and kill anyone who resisted.

At the Misty Cloud Sect, Ye Yan and Yun Yun reunited while Xiao Yi Xian told Nalan Yanran about her powerful breakthrough and Yun Yun’s plans to leave. In Wangbei City, Ya Fei waited for news of Ye Yan until he suddenly appeared before her.

• Nalan Yanran greeted Xiao Yi Xian at the Misty Cloud Sect and led her away to talk while Ye Yan and Yun Yun stayed together.
• Xiao Yi Xian and Nalan Yanran discussed their relationships with Ye Yan and Yun Yun’s departure plans, and Xiao Yi Xian revealed she had reached five-star Battle Emperor.
• A day later, Ya Fei asked Hai Bodong about Ye Yan at the Mite'er Auction House in Wangbei City, while Hai Bodong urged her to pursue him.
• Ye Yan found Ya Fei and Hai Bodong with his soul force and appeared before them, and Ya Fei touched his face in disbelief before realizing he was real.

Ye Yan visited Ya Fei before leaving for the Central Plains, warned Hai Bodong about a possible calamity, and gave him resources to grow stronger. He then offered to improve Ya Fei’s aptitude through a special method, leaving her surprised and blushing in his arms.

• Ya Fei reached for Ye Yan’s face, and he revealed that he had come to see her before leaving for the Central Plains.
• Ye Yan warned Hai Bodong that he might be caught in the aftermath of a future threat and gave him a Break Sect Pill and other resources.
• Hai Bodong left Ye Yan and Ya Fei alone, and Ye Yan told her that he valued her business and management abilities and wanted her as an assistant in his future faction.
• Ya Fei worried that her poor aptitude made her unworthy of Ye Yan, but he promised he could improve her cultivation.
• Ye Yan pulled Ya Fei into his arms and explained that his special talent could gradually improve her aptitude through a method between a man and a woman.

Ya Fei broke through to Dou Shi after Ye Yan improved her aptitude, and he assigned her to manage several of his forces. Meanwhile, Heavenly Venerable Blood River arrived at Green Mountain Courtyard, where Xuan Yi confronted him as Cailin and the academy’s experts prepared to respond.

• Hai Bodong found the room empty, secured Ye Yan’s pills, and looked forward to breaking through to Dou Zong.
• Ya Fei shattered her Dou Shi barrier after Ye Yan improved her aptitude, then agreed to oversee the Black Seal Auction House, the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect, and Jia Nan Academy’s alchemy department.
• Xuan Yi sensed Heavenly Venerable Blood River approaching Green Mountain Courtyard and sent word to Cailin, Su Qian, and several Dou Zong experts.
• Cailin brought Qing Lin to the mountaintop while Xuan Yi disguised herself and flew out to confront Heavenly Venerable Blood River.
• Heavenly Venerable Blood River appeared before Xuan Yi and questioned whether she could stop him.

Xuan Yi confronted Blood River Heavenly Venerable at Jia Nan Academy after he demanded that she hand over Ye Yan. She separated him from the academy and began fighting him with spatial power and the Fallen Heart Flame, while the Soul Hall’s other attackers engaged Cailin and the academy’s defenders.

• Su Qian asked Cailin to prevent the Battle Sovereigns from fighting at Jia Nan Academy, while Cailin warned that Soul Hall members were also present.
• Blood River Heavenly Venerable accused Xuan Yi of killing a Soul Hall Battle Sovereign and demanded that she surrender Ye Yan, but Xuan Yi refused.
• Blood River and Xuan Yi clashed with spatial power and flames as Blood River sent seven or eight black shadows to attack Cailin, Su Qian, Elder Huo, and Hu Gan.
• Xuan Yi protected the crowded area with a spatial barrier, then forcibly carried Blood River about eight hundred li away from Jia Nan Academy.
• Xuan Yi attacked Blood River with the Fallen Heart Flame and formed a Spatial Barrier around the battlefield as he wondered whether she was an old acquaintance.

Ye Yan returned to Jia Nan Academy and joined Xuan Yi against Blood River Heavenly Venerable, whose Blood Sea temporarily slowed the Heaven-Burning Cauldron. As the battle continued, Cailin and the academy’s fighters held off the Soul Hall Dou Zongs, and Xiao Xun’er learned that the academy had suffered few casualties.

• Xiao Xun’er and Ling Ying sensed the Soul Hall’s attack and worried that Ye Yan’s identity might be exposed while he was away.
• Ye Yan returned and hurled the Heaven-Burning Cauldron at Blood River Heavenly Venerable, coordinating with Xuan Yi’s spatial power.
• Blood River Heavenly Venerable blocked the cauldron with his Blood Sea and fed it corpses, but Xuan Yi sent a Heartless Flame Python after him while Ye Yan kept attacking.
• Cailin and the other fighters battled the Soul Hall Dou Zongs, and Cailin killed one of them.
• Ling Ying reported that Jia Nan Academy had evacuated its students before the fight, leaving few casualties.

Ye Yan and Xuan Yi killed Blood River and the other invaders, while Jia Nan Academy concealed its role in the battle and rumors spread about Ye Yan’s supposed Battle Sovereign ally. After a month of arranging his forces and helping Ya Fei improve, Ye Yan watched Zi Yan’s cocoon crack as she neared her breakthrough to Dou Emperor.

• Ye Yan and Xuan Yi defeated Blood River and killed the other Dou Zong invaders, and Ye Yan urged Su Qian to blame the Central Plains Ye Family to protect Jia Nan Academy.
• Xuan Yi praised Xiao Yi Xian’s progress after she reached five-star Dou Emperor, and the group returned to the Inner Academy.
• Rumors across the Black Corner Region credited Ye Yan and an unknown Battle Sovereign with defeating the invaders, while the Black Seal Auction House and Jia Nan Academy controlled the story to keep the academy out of it.
• Ye Yan agreed with Yuan Yi that Ya Fei would oversee his forces, then raised Ya Fei’s cultivation to eight-star Dou Shi by improving her talent.
• After another month, Zi Yan’s purple cocoon cracked and released beams of light as Ye Yan and Su Qian gathered to witness her approaching breakthrough.

Zi Yan broke through to Dou Emperor and briefly transformed into a beautiful adult, delighting Ye Yan and alarming Su Qian. Her body soon shrank back into a child, leaving her to keep cultivating until she could grow up naturally.

• Ye Yan sealed off the area around Zi Yan's breakthrough and sent Su Qian and the others outside so they would not witness her transformation.
• When the light faded, Cailin and Xuan Yi saw Zi Yan in a mature adult form, while Ye Yan stayed outside with Su Qian.
• Zi Yan emerged in a purple dress, showed off her new appearance to Ye Yan, and playfully offered him a kiss, drawing disapproving reactions from the others.
• Zi Yan's body suddenly shrank back into a little girl, and Ye Yan teased her that she was not ready to remain an adult.
• Ye Yan told Zi Yan to cultivate properly and keep working hard, since Xiao Yi Xian had already broken through to Dou Emperor.

Xiao Yi Xian and Zi Yan prepared to leave Jia Nan Academy for the Central Plains, while the Pill Tower worried about Xuan Yi and Ye Yan’s long absence and awaited their return. In the Cao Family’s medicinal garden, Cao Ying continued studying herbs and refining pills as she hoped to become Xuan Yi’s disciple.

• Xiao Yi Xian told Zi Yan she had reached five-star Dou Emperor and said they would head to the Central Plains after Zi Yan said goodbye to Jia Nan Academy.
• At the Pill Tower, Xuan Kongzi and Tian Leizi discussed Xuan Yi and Ye Yan’s year-long absence and reports that Soul Hall experts were heading toward Xuan Yi.
• Xuan Kongzi considered Ye Yan’s rapid progress and the growing ties between the Pill Tower and the Ancient Clan, and hoped Ye Yan’s return would help them obtain pills needed to advance.
• In the Cao Family medicinal garden, Cao Yuan found Cao Ying tasting herbs, and she said she could steadily refine third-tier pills and was attempting fourth-tier pills.
• Cao Ying asked Cao Yuan for ingredients to refine Qi Gathering Powder and Beast Strength Pills, then reflected on Ye Yan’s herb-tasting method and wondered whether it could harm her.

Ye Yan returned to Ye City after years away and reunited with Ye Zhong and Ye Jingheng. He brought Cailin, Xiao Yi Xian, Zi Yan, and Qing Lin to meet the Ye Family, leaving Ye Zhong surprised by the unexpected guests.

• Ye Zhong worried that Ye Yan had been missing for years while Ye Jingheng and Ye Xinlan tried to reassure him.
• Ye Yan appeared in the Ye Family main hall and reunited with Ye Zhong, who tested his strength and learned he had become a Battle Sovereign.
• Ye Zhong welcomed Ye Yan back, then urged him to bring in the woman he had mentioned.
• Ye Yan brought four women into the hall, and Ye Zhong sensed danger from Cailin before Ye Yan introduced her, Xiao Yi Xian, Zi Yan, and Qing Lin.

Ye Yan returned to the Ye Family with Cailin, Xiao Yi Xian, and Qing Lin, settled them in his old courtyard, and found his family altar table still intact. He then introduced Sky Fire Venerable to Ye Zhong and asked the elder to guard the Ye Family for ten years in exchange for restoring his physical body.

• Ye Yan greeted Ye Zhong and teased him about his cultivation before leading Cailin, Xiao Yi Xian, Qing Lin, and Ye Xinlan to his old courtyard.
• Qing Lin explored the spacious courtyard and suggested planting flowers and medicinal herbs, while Cailin recognized Ye Yan's peachwood altar table.
• Ye Yan rested in his childhood room, then went to Ye Zhong to discuss restoring Sky Fire Venerable's physical body.
• Ye Yan summoned Sky Fire Venerable from his white Storage Ring and introduced him to Ye Zhong as his grandfather and the Ye Family's Great Elder.
• Ye Yan told Sky Fire Venerable that he must guard the Ye Family for ten years after his physical body was restored.

Ye Yan received the materials needed to restore Sky Fire Venerable’s body and spoke with Xuan Yi about the Pill Tower, Cao Ying, and the Soul Hall. Cailin announced that her spatial power and soul had both reached the requirements for her to break through to Battle Sovereign.

• Ye Yan reassured Sky Fire Venerable that he would restore his physical body once the materials were gathered.
• Xuan Yi brought Ye Yan the required materials, and Ye Zhong stayed behind to talk with Sky Fire Venerable.
• Ye Yan and Xuan Yi discussed Cao Ying’s progress after following Ye Yan’s advice to taste medicinal herbs, and learned she had become a third-tier alchemist at twelve.
• Ye Yan told Xuan Yi that he had publicized his return and planned to send a clone named Han Li with her to the Pill Tower.
• Cailin arrived and told Ye Yan that her spatial power and soul had reached the requirements for a Battle Sovereign breakthrough.

Ye Yan helped Sky Fire Venerable restore his physical body outside Ye City while Cao Ying prepared to visit the Ye Family. Sky Fire Venerable began regrowing flesh over a peak Battle Sovereign skeleton as Ye Lin and Ye Yan discussed gruesome torture methods.

• Ye Yan left with Cailin after promising to set up restrictions to help her gather energy and break through.
• Cao Yuan told Cao Ying that Ye Yan had returned, and she eagerly prepared gifts to visit him and seek alchemy guidance.
• Ye Yan and Ye Lin took Sky Fire Venerable to an isolated mountain peak and prepared a peak Battle Sovereign skeleton with eighth-tier magical beast blood essence.
• Sky Fire Venerable swallowed the Bone-Forging Blood-Melting Pill and sent his soul into the prepared skeleton, where flesh began to grow.
• Ye Lin described increasingly gruesome torture methods, and Ye Yan suggested using a wooden saw instead of a wooden knife.

Ye Yan and Ye Lin watched Sky Fire Venerable complete his body restoration, then returned to the Ye Family with a new five-star Battle Sovereign to guard it. Ye Yan turned his attention to Cailin’s ongoing breakthrough and the resources she would need for her evolution, but Ye Jingheng arrived with a summons from the Great Elder.

• Ye Yan and Ye Lin discussed expanding their wooden-saw punishment to affect soul bodies, while Sky Fire Venerable secretly covered himself as his body regenerated.
• Sky Fire Venerable finished restoring his body, regained the appearance of an old man, and revealed that he had recovered to five-star Battle Sovereign.
• Ye Yan, Ye Lin, and Sky Fire Venerable returned to the Ye Family, where Ye Lin planned to research wooden saws and Ye Yan went to check on Cailin’s breakthrough.
• Ye Yan considered seeking the Ancient Clan for the Nine-Colored Primordial Stone and taking Zi Yan and Cailin to the Southern Region for Cailin’s evolution.
• Ye Jingheng arrived outside Ye Yan’s courtyard and told him that the Great Elder wanted to see him.

Ye Yan met representatives of the Five Great Families at Ye Family Hall, where they praised his talent and learned he had reached late Dou Zong. He warned Cao Yuan that Cao Ying might have hidden toxins from tasting herbs and said a friend could remove them, leaving Cao Ying and her father at the Ye Family for now.

• Representatives of the Five Great Families gathered at Ye Family Hall and discussed Ye Yan’s reputation and past alchemy competition with Han Li.
• Ye Yan arrived, greeted Cao Yuan and Cao Ying, and revealed he had reached late Dou Zong, astonishing the gathered elders.
• Ye Yan teased Cao Ying about tasting a hundred herbs, then warned that consuming poison could leave hidden toxins in her body.
• Ye Yan told Cao Yuan he sensed little toxicity in Cao Ying and that a friend could remove the residual toxins.
• After the gathering ended, Cao Ying decided to stay at the Ye Family with Cao Yuan for a while.

Ye Yan secured the Nine-Colored Primordial Stone from Gu Yuan and developed a Bodhi Great Return Pill formula to prepare for Cailin’s evolution and his companions’ breakthroughs. After several days in Sacred Pill City with Xuan Yi, he looked ahead to the feedback from his twentieth birthday.

• Ye Yan left Cao Ying with Xiao Yi Xian, who quickly expelled the toxins from Cao Ying’s body.
• Gu Yuan delivered the Nine-Colored Primordial Stone, and he and Ye Yan agreed to pursue the opportunity in Tou She Ancient God's Cave Mansion on their own merits.
• Ye Yan considered how to prepare for Cailin’s evolution and decided to develop a Bodhi Great Return Pill formula from the Bodhi Pill formula.
• Ye Yan went to Sacred Pill City to consult Xuan Yi, improve the pill formula, and consider obtaining the Three Thousand Burning Flame.
• After several days, Ye Yan completed his Bodhi Great Return Pill formula, and Xuan Yi noted that his twentieth birthday was the next day and asked about his expected feedback.

Ye Yan traveled to 1921 Foshan with most of his powers sealed and joined Hong Sheng Hall’s contest against Japanese fighters. After helping Master Huang recover enough to fight and watching him and Young Ye win their matches, Ye Yan challenged the four remaining Japanese fighters at once.

• Ye Yan entered a Republican-era world, discovered his Dou Qi and most of his soul power were sealed, and confronted Funagami Muri and his men outside Hong Sheng Hall.
• Ye Yan learned that Funagami Muri had demanded a contest whose stakes included humiliating Foshan’s martial arts schools, and he offered to treat Master Huang’s hidden injuries.
• Ye Yan gave Master Huang a medicinal liquid that restored his strength, and Master Huang agreed to compete after negotiating counterterms with the Japanese side.
• Master Huang defeated his first opponent, and Young Ye knocked out a much larger Japanese fighter after a ten-minute match.
• Ye Yan entered the ring, taunted the four remaining Japanese fighters, and invited them to attack him together.