Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan learned that the Dan Clan had defected to the Spirit Clan and prepared for the dangers awaiting him at the Pill Convention. After Xiao Yi Xian urged him to be cautious, she gave him tea whose ingredients made him realize she might be pregnant.

• Haika finished shaping the Heavy Profound Ruler and ordered Tang Zhen to nurture it with flames for forty-nine days.
• Pill Tower elders told Xuan Kongzi that the Dan Clan had left, and he urged Xiao Yan to stay within the Pill Tower before the Pill Convention.
• Xiao Yan resolved to cultivate the Shadow Piercing Needle so he could defend himself during the trials.
• Xiao Yi Xian explained why the Dan Clan had sided with the Spirit Clan and made Xiao Yan promise to put caution first.
• Xiao Yi Xian offered Xiao Yan tea, and he recognized its ingredients as things consumed during pregnancy.

Xiao Yan learned that Xiao Yi Xian was pregnant, and she urged him to stay alert during the approaching Pill Convention because of the Spirit Clan’s strange behavior. Meanwhile, Wei Jiangyuan completed his training in the Shadow Piercing Needle and prepared for the contest as the Spirit Clan and Dan Clan strengthened their position.

• Xiao Yi Xian revealed her pregnancy to Xiao Yan and explained that Aunt Xuan’s pill had resolved the danger posed by her Woeful Poison Body.
• Xiao Yan celebrated becoming a father and offered to arrange pregnancy-stabilizing pills, but Xiao Yi Xian asked him to remain for the Pill Convention and warned him about the Spirit Clan.
• Wei Jiangyuan emerged from seclusion after successfully condensing the Shadow Piercing Needle, a Heaven-tier soul skill.
• Venerable Mingshui told Wei Jiangyuan that the Dan Clan had joined the Spirit Clan and that more than five eighth-tier alchemists would support Ling Zhuo at the Pill Convention.
• Wei Jiangyuan said he still considered Xiao Yan his main rival, then returned to training and ordered Venerable Mingshui to watch the Spirit Clan’s movements.

Ling Haonan met with Ling Zhuo and ordered him to win the Pill Convention for the Spirit Clan, despite warning him about the strength of his opponents. The chapter ended with Ling Haonan revealing Xuan Leizi as his contingency inside the Pill Tower.

• Ling Zhuo reported that absorbing the Source Spirit Pattern Crystal had advanced his soul to the late Spiritual State Soul realm.
• Ling Haonan criticized Ling Zhuo’s superficial arrogance and warned that the Spirit Clan was declining compared with the other clans.
• Ling Haonan absolved Ling Zhuo of blame for his previous defeat but ordered him to win the Pill Convention cleanly.
• Ling Zhuo claimed he was ninety percent confident with the Dan Clan’s help, and Ling Haonan gave him a Storage Ring.
• Ling Haonan revealed that the Pill Tower had hidden Wei Jiangyuan, a strong alchemist and rival to Ling Zhuo, who lacked Heavenly Flames.
• Ling Haonan pointed out his contingency within the Pill Tower, and Xuan Leizi entered the hall.

Xuan Leizi joined Ling Haonan’s plan to bring the Pill Tower closer to the Spirit Clan in exchange for a chance to become a Ninth-grade Alchemist. He warned that Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan threatened Ling Zhuo’s chances of winning the Pill Convention, then began outlining a plan to deal with them.

• Ling Zhuo and Ling He were shocked to learn that Xuan Leizi had sided with the Spirit Clan.
• Ling Haonan welcomed Xuan Leizi and offered him Dou Di blood to support the Spirit Clan’s research and help him advance as an alchemist.
• Xuan Leizi accepted the alliance, though he said he would kill himself afterward to atone for betraying the Pill Tower.
• Xuan Leizi said that Ling Zhuo would struggle to beat Xiao Yan or Wei Jiangyuan under fair conditions at the Pill Convention.
• Ling Haonan revealed that Ling Zhuo was at the late Spiritual State Soul stage and believed he could defeat Wei Jiangyuan without Old Man Shennong’s backup.
• Xuan Leizi began proposing a plan to secure Ling Zhuo’s victory, starting with the second stage of selection qualifications.

Xiao Yan and the others witnessed Qing Lin emerge from seclusion at the peak of the nine-star Dou Zun realm. With the Pill Convention approaching, Xiao Yan entrusted pregnant Xiao Yi Xian’s safety to Qing Lin, then received another summons from Xuan Kongzi.

• Xiao Yan stopped cultivating the Shadow Piercing Needle to prepare for the Pill Convention, though his soul strength had neared a breakthrough and his control had improved.
• Qing Lin’s rising aura drew Xiao Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, Lei Jingxiao, and Mu Qingluan to wait for her emergence.
• Xiao Yi Xian explained that Lei Jingxiao would accompany Xiao Yan to the Pill Convention as his bodyguard, and Lei Jingxiao asked Xiao Yan to find him a Heavenly Flame someday.
• Qing Lin emerged with a changed appearance and revealed that she had reached the peak of the nine-star Dou Zun realm.
• Xiao Yan told Qing Lin that Xiao Yi Xian was pregnant and asked her to protect her while he attended the Pill Convention; Qing Lin agreed.
• A day later, Xuan Kongzi summoned Xiao Yan again to discuss the Pill Convention.

Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan learned how the Pill Tower had altered the Pill Convention to hinder the Spirit Clan, but both refused the offered shortcut and chose to compete fairly. After the meeting, Xuan Yi took Xiao Yan to meet someone in private.

• Wei Jiangyuan questioned why the Pill Tower had summoned only him and Xiao Yan, and Xuan Kongzi explained that the Dan Clan and Cao Clan had sided with the Spirit Clan.
• Xuan Kongzi described the Pill Tower's changes to the second-stage trial, which required contestants to gather their own pill materials in a specially designed small world.
• Xiao Yan refused the secret shortcut because he wanted to win the championship fairly, and Wei Jiangyuan agreed to compete without using it.
• Xuan Kongzi returned the jade tablets containing trial information, and Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan reaffirmed their intention to do their best at the Pill Convention.
• Xuan Yi led Xiao Yan to her residence to meet someone, but she did not reveal who it was.

Xuan Yi brought Xiao Yan to her residence and revealed her deep connection to Yao Chen before asking him to protect a person during the Pill Convention. She introduced that person as Hua Qingyu and revealed that her true name was Yao Qingyu, the biological daughter of Yao Chen and Xuan Yi.

• Xuan Yi led Xiao Yan into her residence, where he saw a portrait of Yao Chen and learned how deeply she had cherished him.
• Xuan Yi warned Xiao Yan that the Spirit Clan’s plans for the Pill Convention worried her and asked him to protect someone while the Pill Tower’s leaders could not interfere.
• A black-robed woman arrived, and Xuan Yi asked Xiao Yan to work with her against the Spirit Clan.
• The woman revealed herself as Hua Qingyu, the third-ranked person on the Heavenly Secrets Talents Ranking.
• Xuan Yi disclosed that Hua Qingyu’s real name was Yao Qingyu and that she was the biological daughter of Yao Chen and Xuan Yi.

Xiao Yan learned that Hua Qingyu was Yao Chen and Xuan Yi’s daughter, and that she had been raised by the Flower Sect after being born frail. As Hua Qingyu returned to her mission against the Spirit Clan, Xuan Yi revealed that she had hidden another part of Qingyu’s past from her.

• Xuan Yi told Xiao Yan that Hua Qingyu was her daughter with Yao Chen, whom she had not told about the pregnancy before he disappeared.
• Xuan Yi explained that Qingyu was born with congenital deficiencies and was kept asleep by the Flower Sect until a miraculous item allowed her to awaken more than twenty years earlier.
• Yao Qingyu said she would continue the Flower Sect’s mission against the Spirit Clan and left after accepting a Storage Ring from Xuan Yi.
• Xuan Yi asked Xiao Yan to protect Qingyu, and Xiao Yan promised he would not let anyone harm her.
• Xiao Yan questioned how Qingyu had become an eighth-tier alchemist despite her frail birth, and Xuan Yi asked him to keep the full truth from Qingyu.

Xiao Yan learned why Xuan Yi had kept Yao Qingyu in suspended growth and what dangers still threatened her. He promised to protect Qingyu at the Pill Convention, rescue his teacher, and reunite Xuan Yi’s family.

• Xuan Yi explained that she had given Yao Qingyu her blood for centuries to preserve her life, sacrificing her chance to reach the ninth tier.
• Xuan Yi said Elder Yuan Chen had created a special pill that allowed Qingyu to grow, but Qingyu remained frail and would live only about a hundred years without a treasure to restore her innate origin.
• Xiao Yan offered to keep Qingyu from attending the Pill Convention, but Xuan Yi explained that Qingyu intended to carry out her task and that the Flower Sect’s choice depended on the convention’s outcome.
• Xuan Yi gave Xiao Yan a jade slip and asked him to aid Qingyu if she faced danger in the small space.
• Xiao Yan vowed to protect Qingyu, bring his teacher back safely, and punish those who had harmed Xuan Yi’s family, bringing Xuan Yi to tears.

Xiao Yan told Xiao Yi Xian that Hua Qingyu was Yao Qingyu, his teacher’s daughter, and they discussed her role in the Pill Convention. Xiao Yan voiced his worries about becoming a father, but Xiao Yi Xian reassured him, and the chapter ended as the long-delayed Pill Convention began.

• Xiao Yan visited Xiao Yi Xian and learned she was eating green plum fruit; he wiped the juice from her toes.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Yi Xian that Hua Qingyu was Yao Qingyu, his teacher’s daughter, and explained that she planned to enter the Pill Convention.
• Xiao Yi Xian agreed that Yao Qingyu should participate, reasoning that she might help them and that Aunt Xuan’s arrangements would protect her.
• Xiao Yan worried that his unsettled life would keep him from being a good father, but Xiao Yi Xian reassured him that she trusted him and would wait with their child.
• Xiao Yan spent the final two days accompanying Xiao Yi Xian, and the Pill Convention began in Holy Pill City two days later.

Xiao Yan and Lei Jingxiao arrived at the Pill Convention as the gathered contestants and powerful factions prepared to compete. The Pill Tower announced a new rule requiring contestants to obtain all pill ingredients in the second-round small world, and Ling He objected.

• Lei Jingxiao and Xiao Yan dressed in Alchemist robes and set out for the Pill Convention with their companions.
• Xiao Yan's group reached the crowded venue and saw the floating platforms reserved for the final contestants.
• Ling Zhuo arrived with talents from the Soul Hall, Pill Tower, Heavenly Nether Sect, and Flower Sect, drawing an enthusiastic reaction from the crowd.
• Xuan Kongzi opened the Pill Convention and announced that the first and third rounds would remain unchanged.
• Xuan Kongzi declared that contestants had to gather all ingredients in the second-round small world, prompting Ling He to object.

The Pill Tower upheld its new rule requiring contestants to gather their own medicinal ingredients, despite Ling He’s objections on the Spirit Clan’s behalf. Lei Jingxiao, Xiao Yan, and the other contestants entered the Soul Illusion Realm, officially beginning the Pill Convention.

• Ling He challenged Xuan Kongzi’s new ingredient-gathering rule and questioned whether the pocket realm contained enough materials for the contestants.
• Xuan Kongzi said the Pill Tower had provided sufficient ingredients and that obtaining them was part of the test, but Ling He accused the Tower of potentially manipulating the results.
• Lei Jingxiao insulted Ling He, challenged Ling Zhuo, and entered the Soul Illusion Realm without being stopped.
• Xiao Yan and a self-proclaimed Black Soul Venerable rushed into the trial, prompting the other contestants to follow.
• Ling Zhuo ordered his group to enter and promised to make their rivals pay, and the Pill Convention officially began.

Ling Haonan warned Ling He against retaliating against Lei Jingxiao and explained that the Spirit Clan had to submit to stronger clans to survive. During the Pill Convention’s first trial, Xiao Yan navigated the spatial distortions with his soul power, while Lei Jingxiao confronted an illusion of his parents.

• Ling He returned to the Ye Clan residence and complained to Ling Haonan about being humiliated by Lei Jingxiao.
• Ling Haonan cautioned Ling He that Jiang Yunyan could kill her and said the Spirit Clan needed to accept humiliation rather than resist stronger clans.
• Xiao Yan used his Spiritual State Soul to map a safe route through the first trial and raced ahead of the other contestants.
• Xiao Yan spotted a path where someone had destroyed the spatial distortions and suspected Lei Jingxiao had made it.
• Lei Jingxiao stopped before an illusion of his parents, and the blurred figure of his mother approached and comforted him.

Jiang Yunyan refused to send Thunder Clan support to Lei Jingxiao at the Pill Tower, insisting he face the Spirit Clan’s threat on his own. Lei Jingxiao broke through the first trial, though he emerged trembling and bloodied.

• Zhou Fang told Jiang Yunyan that Spirit Clan supreme elder Ling Haonan had left the clan while Lei Jingxiao remained at the Pill Convention.
• Zhou Fang pleaded to send support, but Jiang Yunyan forbade anyone from going to Holy Pill City and said Lei Jingxiao must handle the trouble himself.
• Jiang Yunyan warned that she alone would bear responsibility if anything happened to Lei Jingxiao and threatened anyone who challenged her order.
• After Zhou Fang left, Jiang Yunyan murmured that her sister should understand why she was treating Lei Jingxiao this way.
• Lei Jingxiao shattered the illusion in the Pill Tower’s first trial, but he trembled, reddened his eyes, and bled from between his clenched teeth.

Xiao Yan passed the Pill Convention’s first trial and encountered Cao Ying, who claimed she had no intention of fighting him. He entered the second trial after sensing that Huo Zhi and her Crimson Lotus Karma Flame might be nearby.

• Xiao Yan saw through the illusions of people dear to him and reached the spatial passage to the second trial.
• Xiao Yan met Cao Ying, learned that the contestants had been separated, and questioned why she had joined the Spirit Clan’s camp.
• Cao Ying thanked Xiao Yan for sparing her life and warned him against opposing the Spirit Clan, but Xiao Yan remained wary of her.
• Xiao Yan entered the spatial passage after deciding there was no reason to wait for the other contestants.
• Near the passage’s exit, Xiao Yan sensed a brief reaction from his Crimson Lotus Karma Flame and suspected Huo Zhi was nearby.

After Cao Ying avoided confronting Xiao Yan, Chen Xian entered the Pill Convention space hoping to kill him and win Cao Ying as a reward. Xiao Yan examined the space, survived a sand python attack nearby, and confirmed that the Pill Tower had secretly marked the medicinal herbs contestants were gathering.

• Cao Ying told Chen Xian that Xiao Yan was a Dou Zun expert and left through the spatial passage, while Chen Xian resolved to seize an opportunity to kill Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan entered a desolate plain and received a spatial stone that would let him withdraw from the competition.
• Xiao Yan sensed that the space’s abundant Dou Qi was violent and that the space had likely been created or altered by a Dou Sheng expert.
• Contestants arriving in the plain scattered after seeing Xiao Yan, while others stayed to collect medicinal herbs and one contestant killed a sand python guarding them.
• Xiao Yan inspected a Sand Mark Sunflower and discovered that the Pill Tower had embedded a faint trace of Dou Qi in each herb to identify genuine ingredients.

Xiao Yan uncovered Earth Core Jade Mother beneath a thousand-year Earth Yellow Essence, then fought off a two-star Dou Zong who tried to steal it. After recovering the treasure, Xiao Yan discovered something unexpected inside the jade.

• Xiao Yan noticed a man hiding a thousand-year Earth Yellow Essence and let him keep it, but claimed whatever lay beneath it.
• Xiao Yan dug beneath the man and uncovered a clump of earth containing Earth Core Jade Mother and Earth Core Soul Marrow.
• The man threw several alchemists at Xiao Yan, stole the clump, and tried to escape with a transmission stone.
• Xiao Yan struck the man with soul force, intercepted the clump, and left the man badly injured as he teleported away.
• Xiao Yan stripped away the soil and was surprised by what he found inside the jade.

Xiao Yan found that the Earth Core Soul Marrow was missing from the Earth Core Jade Mother and set off to gather medicinal herbs. Meanwhile, Wei Jiangyuan learned that high-grade herbs appeared throughout the small world only once every fifteen days, and began plotting how to use the coming clashes to his advantage.

• Xiao Yan confirmed that the Earth Core Jade Mother contained no Earth Core Soul Marrow and stored it in his Storage Ring.
• Xiao Yan hurried deeper into the small world, using his Spiritual State Soul to search for areas rich in Dou Qi.
• Wei Jiangyuan subdued a Blazing Prairie Fire Wolf and questioned it after it refused the Transformation Pill he offered.
• The Blazing Prairie Fire Wolf told Wei Jiangyuan that high-grade herbs appeared across the space every fifteen days.
• Wei Jiangyuan let the wolf go with a Transformation Pill tied to its tail and planned to gather ingredients while waiting ten more days.

Xiao Yan traded medicinal ingredients fairly with other alchemists and confirmed that nobody had found the small world’s top-grade herbs. A massive mountain then appeared and crashed into the small world, drawing Xiao Yan and Ling Zhuo toward it.

• Xiao Yan went to a trading ground to exchange herbs and hoped to learn news about Yao Qingyu.
• Xiao Yan reassured the wary alchemists that he wanted to trade fairly, then exchanged his herbs for ingredients he needed.
• Xiao Yan surveyed the market and confirmed that the alchemists had not found the highest-grade medicinal ingredients.
• A mountain emerged from unseen space and crashed into the earth, prompting Xiao Yan and nearby alchemists to rush toward it.
• Ling Zhuo watched the mountain descend, then told Ling Luo and Ling Yu to follow him inside.

Xiao Yan entered a strange mountain in the Pill Realm where mist suppressed Dou Qi and restricted soul perception, then claimed an Emerging Water Immortal Orchid after killing the Water Marsh Beast. As he searched for more ingredients, Wei Jiangyuan encountered someone in another mountain.

• Xiao Yan entered the newly appeared mountain and found that its mist suppressed Dou Qi and limited soul perception.
• Xiao Yan found two alchemists fighting a Water Marsh Beast over an Emerging Water Immortal Orchid.
• Xiao Yan trapped and killed the Water Marsh Beast with his soul power, then took its magical core and the orchid.
• Xiao Yan left, pleased with his growing soul power, and continued searching the mountain for medicinal ingredients.
• Wei Jiangyuan stopped in another mountain after encountering someone.