Chapter Summaries

Xiao Tianci accepted Xiao Li’s challenge and borrowed a mercenary’s sword with his Sword Control Technique before the two began their duel. Xiao Li attacked at full strength, while the onlookers debated who would win without reaching a conclusion.

• Xiao Tianci used the Sword Control Technique to pull a mercenary’s longsword from its sheath and take it as his weapon.
• Xiao Li praised Xiao Tianci’s changed appearance and bearing, then announced that the match would begin.
• Xiao Li charged at Xiao Tianci, prompting the mercenaries to pause their melee and watch the duel.
• Qing Lin cheered for Xiao Tianci despite the crowd’s attention, while Xiao Ding and the others discussed the contestants’ chances.
• Xiao Ding said Xiao Li was a four-star Dou Shi but admitted he could not judge Xiao Tianci’s strength or predict the winner.

Xiao Li and Xiao Tianci continued their match, with Xiao Tianci effortlessly neutralizing Xiao Li’s lightning-charged spear attack. Xiao Li escalated the fight with his Three-Stage Lightning Arc Dance, leaving the crowd to wonder whether the technique could put Xiao Tianci at a disadvantage.

• Xiao Li charged Xiao Tianci, but Xiao Tianci deflected his spear thrust and resisted its lightning-attribute Dou Qi without being affected.
• Xiao Li praised Xiao Tianci’s combat instincts, and Xiao Tianci falsely claimed the lightning had briefly numbed him and prevented him from following up.
• Xiao Li warned Xiao Tianci that he would fight seriously, then struck Xiao Tianci’s sword with his spear butt and chipped its blade.
• Xiao Li unleashed his low Xuan-class Three-Stage Lightning Arc Dance, startling the mercenaries who recognized it as one of his killing moves.
• The Desert Iron Mercenary Group’s higher-ups warned that Xiao Tianci might struggle against the technique, while Xue Lan suspected he could still win and Xiao Ding explained why Xiao Li sought a quick victory.

Xiao Tianci appeared to lose when Xiao Li’s lightning shattered his longsword, but he used the broken sword tip to disarm Xiao Li and win. Xiao Li then realized Xiao Tianci had fought him without using Dou Qi.

• Xiao Tianci let Xiao Li’s Three-Stage Lightning Arc Dance destroy his longsword, making the spectators think he was at a disadvantage.
• Xiao Li pressed his attack, but Xiao Tianci sent the broken sword tip flying into Xiao Li’s spear and opened his guard.
• Xiao Tianci held the broken blade to Xiao Li’s throat and declared that Xiao Li had lost.
• Xiao Li accepted the defeat and praised Xiao Tianci’s judgment and combat experience.
• Xiao Li examined the broken sword and realized Xiao Tianci had fought the entire match without using Dou Qi.

Xiao Tianci told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li that he had come to the Tagor Desert to find Azure Cloud Sacred Ice, a rare ingredient he needed. The map placed it near Queen Medusa’s territory, and Xiao Tianci resolved to seek it despite the danger.

• Xiao Li praised Xiao Tianci’s strength, and Xiao Tianci said he had come to the desert for a reason beyond training.
• Xiao Tianci explained that he was searching for a medicinal ingredient, and Xiao Ding guessed it was for his alchemy.
• Xiao Tianci named Azure Cloud Sacred Ice and showed Xiao Ding and Xiao Li an ancient map marking its likely location.
• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li recognized that the marked area lay deep in the desert near Queen Medusa’s domain, where the Snake-People Tribe kept watch.
• Xiao Tianci confirmed that he needed the Azure Cloud Sacred Ice and would try to obtain it, though he would give up if it proved impossible.

Xiao Tianci discussed searching for the Azure Cloud Sacred Ice and Red Water Spirit Root with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, who warned him about the danger near Queen Medusa and questioned his map. Xiao Ding’s description of an oasis’s shifting fire and water elements convinced Xiao Tianci the Red Water Spirit Root was there, and Qing Lin revealed she could sense something strange at the site too.

• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li urged Xiao Tianci to abandon his search for the Azure Cloud Sacred Ice because it would take him into Queen Medusa’s dangerous territory.
• Xiao Tianci set aside the immediate desert expedition and asked about the Red Water Spirit Root marked east of Stone Desert City.
• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li said they had never heard of the ingredient, though they knew the oasis where the map placed it.
• Xiao Ding recalled that the oasis’s fire and water elements shifted between visits, and Xiao Tianci recognized this as a sign of the Red Water Spirit Root.
• Qing Lin said she could also sense something unusual at the oasis, surprising Xiao Tianci.

Qing Lin told Xiao Tianci that she had sensed an injured, powerful aura near the oasis half a year earlier, which Xiao Tianci suspected belonged to Queen Medusa searching for the Red Water Spirit Root. Xiao Tianci and the others traveled to the oasis, where Qing Lin began sensing its lingering aura.

• Qing Lin described sensing an injured aura near the oasis that was far stronger than the Sand Mercenary Group's leader.
• Xiao Li guessed the aura belonged to Queen Medusa, and Xiao Tianci thought she had been searching for the Red Water Spirit Root.
• Qing Lin said the aura had lingered near the oasis and that she could assess its former state more clearly from nearby.
• Xiao Tianci decided to investigate the oasis the next day with Qing Lin, Xiao Ding, and Xiao Li.
• Xiao Tianci and the Desert Iron Mercenary Group arrived at the oasis, where Qing Lin closed her eyes to probe its aura and then grabbed Xiao Tianci's clothes as everyone watched her.

Xiao Tianci learned that Queen Medusa had likely taken the Red Water Spirit Root and searched the oasis for its hidden source. He and Xiao Ding planned to investigate the lake, while Xiao Ding warned that the Sand Mercenary Group might interfere.

• Qing Lin sensed that a mysterious aura had been injured when it left the oasis, and Xiao Tianci realized Queen Medusa had likely taken the Red Water Spirit Root.
• Xiao Tianci, Xiao Ding, and Xiao Li searched the oasis and found no obvious treasure or hidden entrance.
• Xiao Tianci suspected the shallow lake concealed the place where the Red Water Spirit Root had grown, but his spiritual sense could not penetrate the lakebed.
• Xiao Ding proposed having terrain-surveying specialists investigate the lake for a hidden space beneath it.
• Xiao Tianci said the group could search openly despite attracting attention, but Xiao Ding warned that the Sand Mercenary Group would likely interfere, prompting Xiao Tianci to show killing intent.

Xiao Tianci reassured Xiao Ding and Xiao Li that he could handle interference from the Sand Mercenary Group, and they organized an investigation of the oasis lake. The mercenaries began searching the ground, motivated by promised medicinal pills, as the hunt for the lake’s hidden strangeness got underway.

• Xiao Tianci told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to investigate without restraint and said he would stop the Sand Mercenary Group if it interfered.
• Xiao Ding sent Xue Lan and several mercenaries back to Stone Desert City to gather scouts.
• Xiao Tianci tasted the clear, cool lake water, then proposed investigating the ground around the lake while they waited.
• Xiao Tianci promised each mercenary a second-tier medicinal pill, and Xiao Ding raised the reward to a third-tier pill if they found the hidden space.
• The mercenaries cheered and began searching, while a burly squad captain vowed to turn over every grain of sand.

Xiao Tianci offered the Desert Iron Mercenary Group pills as they searched the oasis for a clue, and Qing Lin helped with the investigation. As more mercenaries gathered outside the cordon and the Sand Mercenary Group seemed likely to intervene, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li prepared to resist them.

• Xiao Tianci thanked the mercenaries and promised Xiao Ding and Xiao Li batches of healing, antidote, and potential-stimulating pills for their group.
• Xue Lan brought over more than forty terrain surveyors, who eagerly searched the oasis and its lake for a third-tier pill reward.
• Xiao Ding sealed off the area as curious mercenaries gathered outside, while the surveyors made slow progress underwater.
• Xiao Ding predicted that the Sand Mercenary Group would soon send people, and Xiao Li readied his Tungsten Steel Spear and vowed to fight back if necessary.
• Xiao Tianci offered Qing Lin a pill reward, but she said helping him was reward enough.

The Desert Iron Mercenary Group confronted Mo Xing and the Sand Mercenary Group as they challenged the group’s work at an oasis. Xiao Li attacked Mo Xing for insulting Xiao Tianci, leaving Mo Xing wounded and frightened while the confrontation continued.

• The Sand Mercenary Group arrived at the cordoned-off oasis, led by Mo Xing, and Xiao Ding and Xiao Li sent Desert Iron mercenaries to block them.
• Mo Xing questioned the Desert Iron Mercenary Group’s claim that it was carrying out a mission and said the oasis did not belong solely to them.
• Xiao Li mocked Mo Xing over his previous defeat, and Xiao Tianci ordered him to leave before he lost patience.
• Mo Xing insulted Xiao Tianci, and Xiao Li immediately lunged at him with his spear.
• Mo Xing fell while retreating, and Xiao Li stopped his spear just short of his throat but struck him with its force, leaving a small wound.

Xiao Li drove Mo Xing and the Sand Mercenary Group away, making a clash with Sha Luo likely. Xiao Tianci left to deal with the threat, promising to return soon.

• Mo Xing fled with the Sand Mercenary Group after Xiao Li spared him, then threatened to report the incident to Sha Luo.
• Xiao Li warned Xiao Tianci that Sha Luo would likely retaliate and seize their territory by force.
• Xiao Tianci asked Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to continue searching while he went to confront the Sand Mercenary Group.
• Xiao Tianci reassured Qing Lin and rode away on the green ox as Xiao Ding and Xiao Li expressed confidence in him.

Mo Xing urged Sha Luo to challenge the Desert Iron Mercenary Group over its search at an oasis outside Stone Desert City. Wary of the rival group's strength, Sha Luo ultimately agreed to seize the land by force the next day.

• At the Sand Mercenary Group headquarters, Mo Xing complained to Sha Luo that Xiao Li had attacked him and that the Desert Iron Mercenary Group was acting arrogantly.
• Mo Xing admitted he had not learned what the rival group was searching for, but argued that its activity at the oasis gave the Sand Mercenary Group grounds to intervene.
• Sha Luo weighed the Desert Iron Mercenary Group's greater numbers and strength against the risk that it might uncover valuable techniques.
• Mo Xing warned that the rival group could surpass them if it found powerful Qi Methods or Dou Techniques, and Sha Luo agreed to gather his men and seize the oasis the next day.

Xiao Tianci confronted Sha Luo and Mo Xing after overhearing their plan to target the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. He killed Mo Xing and made Sha Luo promise to keep his mercenaries away from the oasis, then vanished.

• Mo Xing persuaded Sha Luo to act against Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, but Xiao Tianci appeared in their room unnoticed.
• Xiao Tianci ordered Sha Luo to keep his mercenaries from disturbing Xiao Ding and Xiao Li while they handled their business.
• Mo Xing shouted at Xiao Tianci, whose sword killed Mo Xing without Xiao Tianci leaving his chair.
• Sha Luo denied any objection to Mo Xing's death and agreed to keep the Sand Mercenary Group away from the oasis.
• Xiao Tianci vanished, leaving Sha Luo alone in the room.

Xiao Tianci left Sha Luo a Golden Light Pill after warning him not to retaliate against the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. The next day, the search of the oasis uncovered a cave that might lead to the hidden space where the Red Water Spirit Root lay.

• Xiao Tianci threatened Sha Luo against taking revenge and left him a Golden Light Pill, which Sha Luo gladly accepted.
• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li noticed the Sand Mercenary Group had largely vanished and heard that Mo Xing had been killed, while Sha Luo appeared pleased.
• A mercenary reported that the third squad had found signs of a passage beneath the oasis lake.
• Xiao Tianci followed the mercenary to the site, where the group had uncovered a dark, bubble-filled cave entrance that Qing Lin had helped them detect.

Xiao Tianci confirmed that the cave opening beneath the lake led into dry, air-filled passages and prepared to explore them with Qing Lin and members of the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. The group entered the cave and found solid ground inside.

• Xiao Tianci tossed a Moonlight Stone into the cave opening and discovered that it fell through water-free passages.
• A mercenary explained that the underground area had fresh air but many winding, complicated passages, and Xiao Tianci agreed not to risk the mercenaries searching them alone.
• Xiao Tianci upgraded the promised rewards to third-tier pills, and Xiao Ding chose mercenaries to accompany him.
• Qing Lin offered to help sense the passages, and Xiao Tianci warned her to stay close as they prepared to descend.
• Xiao Ding secured a rope for the group, and Xiao Tianci carried Qing Lin through the lake water into the cave, where he stepped onto solid ground.

Xiao Tianci, Qing Lin, Xiao Ding, and the mercenaries entered a dry underground passage beneath the desert and found more than a dozen branching tunnels. Qing Lin sensed that one passage held the strongest lingering aura, and as Ham began scouting it, Xiao Tianci recognized his rare sand attribute.

• Xiao Tianci and the others reached the bottom of the pit and found an air-filled passage with smooth walls and no water.
• Xiao Tianci saw more than a dozen dark passages ahead and asked Qing Lin to sense which one held the strongest aura.
• Qing Lin sensed several lingering auras and pointed out the passage where the mysterious person had stayed longest half a year earlier.
• Xiao Ding stopped Xiao Tianci from entering the passage and sent Ham to scout it.
• Ham used his sand attribute to examine the ground, and Xiao Tianci recognized his rare variant earth attribute.

Ham discovered that the passage’s deeper section lacked earth-attributed energy and instead held dense fire and water energy together, leading Xiao Tianci and Xiao Ding to suspect the Red Water Spirit Root was there. Xiao Tianci entered the passage with Qing Lin and the Desert Iron Mercenary Group, and they continued cautiously toward its depths.

• Xiao Tianci explained that Ham was using sand to detect hidden auras, earning the mercenaries’ respect for his knowledge.
• Ham reported probing nearly five hundred meters before finding that earth-attributed energy vanished and fire and water energy coexisted farther down.
• Xiao Ding and Xiao Tianci suspected the unusual energies marked the location of the Red Water Spirit Root, and Xiao Ding advised retreating if they found danger.
• Xiao Tianci led Qing Lin and the Desert Iron Mercenary Group into the cold passage, using a wisp of Sun True Fire to warm Qing Lin.
• Xiao Ding instructed the mercenaries to place a Moonlight Stone on the wall every fifty meters as they advanced.

Xiao Tianci and his group advanced through the dark passage, where fire and water energy grew increasingly dense and oppressive. As the mercenaries withdrew one by one, only Xiao Tianci, Xiao Ding, and Qing Lin remained, and Xiao Ding insisted on continuing.

• The group walked through the pitch-black passage by Moonlight Stones without encountering anything unexpected.
• Xiao Tianci sensed the passage grow hot and humid, protected Qing Lin with the Cold Sky Sword's aura, and discussed the unusually dense fire and water energy with Xiao Ding.
• Xiao Tianci warned the mercenaries that the rising fire energy could burn them and told them to turn back if they could not endure it.
• As the fire energy grew more violent, Xiao Ding sent the struggling mercenaries back to the entrance, and the group continued onward.
• Xiao Tianci asked Xiao Ding to return, but Xiao Ding refused to quit when they seemed close to their destination.

Xiao Tianci gave Xiao Ding the Cold Sky Sword’s aura so he could endure the fiery passage and recover without exhausting his Dou Qi. Xiao Ding reluctantly accepted Xiao Tianci’s Qi Recovery Pills, and the two prepared to continue onward once he had recovered.

• Xiao Tianci infused Xiao Ding with the Cold Sky Sword’s aura, cooling him in the scorching passage.
• Xiao Ding complained that Xiao Tianci had not given him the aura earlier, and Xiao Tianci explained he had wanted to discourage him from continuing before they knew the danger ahead.
• Xiao Tianci gave Xiao Ding six bottles of Qi Recovery Pills and told him to use them, including later when he or Xiao Li needed them.
• Xiao Ding hesitated to use the precious third-grade pills, but Xiao Tianci said he could replenish his stock with materials from the Desert Iron Mercenary Group.
• Xiao Ding accepted the pills and swallowed one so he could recover his Dou Qi before they continued through the passage.

Xiao Tianci, Xiao Ding, and Qing Lin reached a vast underground magma cavern beneath Stone Desert City, where Xiao Tianci spotted a separate expanse of water and suspected the Red Water Spirit Root was there. Xiao Ding warned him not to enter after demonstrating that the magma melted steel, and resolved to stop him.

• Xiao Ding took Xiao Tianci's Qi Recovery Pill and quickly recovered his Dou Qi, then accepted Xiao Tianci's offer to refine more pills for him.
• Xiao Tianci, Xiao Ding, and Qing Lin followed the passage to a huge underground cavern filled with magma.
• Xiao Ding explained that his wood-attribute cultivation method made the magma especially dangerous and asked Xiao Tianci where they should go next.
• Qing Lin spotted an unusual transparent expanse, and Xiao Tianci recognized it as water and suspected the Red Water Spirit Root was there.
• Xiao Tianci declared that he would go in, but Xiao Ding tossed a steel sword into the magma and watched it melt, then resolved to prevent Xiao Tianci from entering.