Chapter Summaries

Wei Jiangyuan clashed with Hua Qingyu, evaded her attacks, and secretly marked her so he could track her to Ling Zhuo. Meanwhile, Xiao Yan found four high-grade medicinal herbs and continued toward the mountain summit.

• Wei Jiangyuan questioned Hua Qingyu about Ling Zhuo, then used his strange movement technique to appear behind her and touch her waist.
• Hua Qingyu attacked Wei Jiangyuan with soul power, but he evaded her barrage and escaped into the mist.
• Hua Qingyu pursued Wei Jiangyuan without finding him and concluded that he was a terrifyingly powerful opponent.
• Wei Jiangyuan revealed that he had secretly left a mark on Hua Qingyu so he could locate Ling Zhuo through her.
• Xiao Yan found four high-grade medicinal herbs and continued toward the summit, wondering what surprises awaited there.

Xiao Yan reached the mountain summit and found nine rare medicinal herbs protected by a powerful restriction that defeated the alchemists gathered there. Chen Xian decided to destroy the herbs rather than leave them for rivals, and the crowd revealed that Xiao Yan might be able to retrieve them.

• Xiao Yan climbed to the summit, where he found more than ten alchemists gathered around rare herbs and the corpse of a slain magical beast.
• Old Huang tried to pull up one herb but exhausted his soul power and failed.
• Chen Xian proposed destroying the herbs so their rivals could not obtain them, despite the other alchemists' objections.
• Old Huang challenged Chen Xian, but Chen Xian insisted and his two elderly guards stepped forward.
• An alchemist said Xiao Yan could retrieve the herbs, and Chen Xian replied that Xiao Yan's presence would make him more determined to destroy them.

Xiao Yan stopped Chen Xian from destroying the herbs, defeated his elders, and forced the trio to surrender their gathered ingredients. He then turned to the mountain’s restriction to reach the remaining herbs, while Chen Xian secretly left to seek revenge.

• Xiao Yan restrained Chen Xian and defeated the two seventh-tier alchemists when they attacked him.
• Chen Xian blamed Ling Zhuo and the Spirit Clan for ordering him to obstruct Xiao Yan, then surrendered his herbs along with the elders’ gains.
• Xiao Yan released Chen Xian but refused his offer to act as an informant, then examined the restriction guarding the herbs.
• Elder Huang explained that only soul power could pass through the restriction, and Xiao Yan began reaching toward the herbs with his soul power.
• Chen Xian and the two old men fled the mountaintop, and Chen Xian vowed to find someone else to deal with Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan retrieved nine herbs from the mountain’s soul-pressure restriction and realized its escalating force could help him cultivate the Shadow Piercing Needle. As he recovered to try again, Chen Xian arranged for a Spirit Clan eighth-grade alchemist to help ambush him.

• Xiao Yan used his Spiritual State Soul to overcome the restriction’s increasing pressure and retrieved nine herbs, leaving the damaged tenth herb untouched.
• After the others left, Xiao Yan sensed that resisting the restriction could strengthen his soul and help him cultivate the Shadow Piercing Needle.
• Xiao Yan tried to move the damaged herb but exhausted his soul power after shifting it only three inches, then took a pill and began recovering.
• An hour later, Xiao Yan resolved to use the rare opportunity to master the Shadow Piercing Needle.
• Chen Xian told an elder that his Spirit Clan Location Jade Slip would summon one of the Spirit Clan’s six eighth-grade alchemists, whom they planned to use against Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan completed the Heaven-Rank Shadow Piercing Needle after months of cultivation and planned to make three in the restriction. When he sensed Mu Gu and the others approaching, Xiao Yan fled, but Mu Gu soon found him on the mountaintop.

• Ling Zhuo explained that the Spirit Clan’s jade slip was meant to draw someone into attacking Xiao Yan and hoped the newcomer would be Ling Zhuo himself.
• Xiao Yan condensed the Shadow Piercing Needle’s final illusory section and completed the technique, which he could store in his mind in groups of three.
• Xiao Yan decided to stay in the restriction and cultivate two more needles after recovering.
• Xiao Yan sensed a Spiritual State Soul approaching, then recognized Chen Xian and two old men among the auras and chose to leave by another route.
• Mu Gu confirmed with Chen Xian that Xiao Yan was on the mountain and hurried to the summit to kill him.
• Mu Gu lost Xiao Yan’s presence at the mountaintop, but a sudden change exposed Xiao Yan’s figure.

Xiao Yan’s dormant devouring power activated and exposed him to Mu Gu, who pursued him on Mist Mountain. A flashback revealed that Mu Gu had been given a Child Flame of the Nihility Devouring Flame in exchange for killing Xiao Yan, while a mysterious figure announced that Xiao Yan faced its first test.

• Xiao Yan sensed a familiar devouring power atop the mountain, and his right arm’s dormant power activated, revealing his whereabouts to Mu Gu.
• Mu Gu recalled being summoned by the Soul Hall’s master a year earlier to meet a mysterious black figure.
• The black figure showed Mu Gu a Child Flame of the Nihility Devouring Flame and promised it to him if he killed Xiao Yan.
• Mu Gu accepted the mission, absorbed the Child Flame, and rose from a three-star Dou Zun to a five-star Dou Zun.
• The mysterious figure watched from outside Mist Mountain and declared that Xiao Yan had to face its first test or die.

Xiao Yan appeared to flee Mu Gu through Mist Mountain while the two clashed with soul power, but he was secretly waiting for the right moment to use his Heaven-tier soul skill and kill Mu Gu. Chen Xian and two elders watched from a distance, unable to find a safe chance to intervene.

• Xiao Yan tried to suppress the surging devouring power in his right arm as he fled deeper into the mist, and Mu Gu pursued him with black soul chains.
• Xiao Yan shattered Mu Gu’s first chain blockade with his soul power, revealing that his Spiritual State Soul was stronger than Mu Gu had expected.
• Mu Gu launched another chain attack, while Xiao Yan repeatedly broke through the encirclements and kept up the appearance of trying to escape.
• Chen Xian asked two elders for an opportunity to strike, but they warned him that the battle was too dangerous to approach.
• Xiao Yan judged Mu Gu’s soul to be at the mid-stage Spiritual State and resolved to kill him, waiting patiently to use the Shadow Piercing Needle.

Xiao Yan fought Mu Gu with soul attacks, concealing his true strength while waiting for a chance to land a fatal blow. Mu Gu broke free of Xiao Yan’s Soul Flow Black Vortex and pierced Xiao Yan with his right hand, declaring that Xiao Yan had lost.

• Xiao Yan feigned retreat and used his Spiritual State Soul to attack Mu Gu, but Mu Gu’s soul chains blocked his strikes and trapped him.
• Xiao Yan released his full soul power and launched concealed attacks, while Mu Gu used Ten Thousand Souls Heavenly Lock to encircle him.
• Mu Gu unleashed Soul Devour, and Xiao Yan countered by forming the Soul Flow Black Vortex that consumed the attacking souls and briefly restrained Mu Gu.
• Mu Gu escaped the vortex in three breaths, sensed danger behind him, and thrust his right hand through Xiao Yan’s body.
• Mu Gu told the severely wounded Xiao Yan that he had lost and churned soul power inside his body.

Xiao Yan used the Shadow Piercing Needle to kill Mu Gu and then killed Chen Xian and his two companions. After surviving the battle, he turned to investigate what had triggered the devouring ability in his arm, while an unseen observer hinted that the ordeal was not over.

• Xiao Yan revealed that he had deliberately endured his wounds with the help of an earth puppet and unleashed the Shadow Piercing Needle on Mu Gu.
• The Shadow Piercing Needle shredded Mu Gu's soul, and Xiao Yan took Mu Gu's Storage Ring after his body collapsed.
• Chen Xian and the other two arrived, and Xiao Yan killed all three with threads of soul silk when Chen Xian tried to attack him.
• Xiao Yan caught his breath and considered how he had defeated Mu Gu, then focused on the sensation that had drawn his devouring ability toward Mu Gu.
• An unseen figure watched Xiao Yan and said the show had ended too soon.

Xiao Yan fought Mu Gu, who returned from death as a Black Flame being with immense devouring power. Mu Gu swallowed Xiao Yan’s strongest flame attacks and trapped him in a cage, leaving Xiao Yan’s life in danger.

• Mu Gu’s corpse burst into Black Flame, and Xiao Yan recognized its Devouring Power as possibly belonging to the Nihility Devouring Flame.
• Mu Gu re-formed from the flames and declared that he had been reborn, while Xiao Yan restored his strength with the Three Mysterious Changes of Heavenly Fire.
• Xiao Yan attacked with the Red Lotus Core Flame, but Mu Gu devoured the flames and struck at him.
• Xiao Yan used two Wild Desolation Ruler techniques, then unleashed a Buddha Fury Fire Lotus, but Mu Gu swallowed every attack.
• Mu Gu grew into a giant Black Flame form and trapped Xiao Yan in a cage, declaring that Xiao Yan would die.

Xiao Yan defeated Mu Gu by using Void Devours Heaven to consume the Black Flame and the souls trapped within it. He then struggled to contain the Black Flame eating away at his right arm and began absorbing it with the Flame Mantra, while the black figure watching him recognized the technique.

• Xiao Yan unleashed Void Devours Heaven and overcame Mu Gu's devouring attack.
• Mu Gu sacrificed his ruined body and unleashed a net of Black Flame and the souls of the Alchemists he had devoured.
• Xiao Yan's vortex swallowed Mu Gu, the Black Flame, and the trapped souls before Xiao Yan escaped the turbulent void.
• Xiao Yan returned to the Cloud Mist Mountain Range and found the Black Flame consuming the flesh of his right arm.
• Xiao Yan tried to counter the Black Flame with the Red Lotus Core Flame but stopped when the clash injured him.
• Xiao Yan released the Black Flame into his body and activated the Flame Mantra, prompting the watching black figure to recognize the technique.

Xiao Yan fused with the Black Flame and advanced to a three-star Dou Zun, but the flame’s identity and its connection to the strange events surrounding Mu Gu remained unclear. He examined the power now residing in his right arm and turned to Mu Gu’s Storage Ring for answers.

• The Black Flame fled into Xiao Yan’s right arm, merged with his bones, and restored the arm with fresh flesh.
• A surge of Dou Qi triggered Xiao Yan’s advancement, while a mysterious black figure concealed the commotion and revealed that it planned to devour him once his body could bear its power.
• Xiao Yan awoke and discovered that the excess Dou Qi had advanced him to a three-star Dou Zun.
• Xiao Yan tested his right arm’s strengthened devouring power and found that its Black Flame could consume part of a mountain and even space.
• Xiao Yan questioned the Black Flame’s identity and the unexplained changes in the mist’s Dou Qi confinement, then took Mu Gu’s Storage Ring to search for information.

Xiao Yan found a jade token in Mu Gu's Storage Ring and followed its signal, while Ling Zhuo gathered herbs and planned to eliminate two rivals. Ling Zhuo decided to use someone Xiao Yan trusted—and threaten his teacher's daughter—to draw him out.

• Xiao Yan broke Mu Gu's soul seal, collected the herbs in his nearly empty Storage Ring, and found a jade token whose scarlet light pointed south.
• Xiao Yan destroyed Mu Gu's Storage Ring and traveled through Mist Mountains, finding that other alchemists had stripped the herbs from them.
• Ling Zhuo received herbs from Ling Luo and Ling Yu and heard reports about Dan Chen, Qinghua Old Monster, Hua Qingyu, Wei Jiangyuan, and Mu Gu.
• Ling Zhuo decided to eliminate two opponents and dismissed Ling Luo's warning that Xiao Yan was cautious.
• Ling Zhuo proposed luring Xiao Yan with a message from someone he trusted and the threat of mortal danger to his teacher's only daughter.

Xiao Yan discovered that Mu Gu’s jade token caused Mist Mountain to reappear and raced toward its summit to claim the guarded herbs. He reached the Red-Eyed Demon Ape King, an eighth-tier magical beast whose Dou Qi remained unsuppressed.

• Ling Zhuo ordered the others to gather and told Yao Qingyu to call Xiao Yan over, while leaving Mu Gu alone.
• Xiao Yan searched the empty area, traded herbs, and heard that Lei Jingxiao was stalling at the summit of another Mist Mountain.
• As Xiao Yan condensed Shadow Piercing Needles, Mist Mountain emerged from a spatial rift nearby, and alchemists rushed inside.
• Xiao Yan used his soul strength and physical speed to race toward the summit, killing five Red-Eyed Demon Apes and taking their guarded herbs.
• Xiao Yan sensed Dou Zun-level Dou Qi and found the summit guarded by the eighth-tier Red-Eyed Demon Ape King.

Xiao Yan killed the Red-Eyed Demon Ape King on Mist Mountain and collected its essence blood and most of the guarded herbs. Meanwhile, Ling Zhuo’s group cornered Hua Qingyu and demanded that she summon Xiao Yan or surrender her Storage Ring.

• Xiao Yan used his soul power and Shadow Piercing Needle to kill the Red-Eyed Demon Ape King, then sealed its essence blood in a jade bottle.
• Xiao Yan collected the herbs guarded by the mountain’s ten runes, leaving one large sand-red flower behind.
• A yellow-robed elder reached the summit, realized Xiao Yan had arrived first, and lamented how far the young alchemists surpassed him.
• Hua Qingyu followed Ling Zhuo’s instructions to another Mist Mountain, worried that his precise knowledge threatened the Pill Tower’s plan.
• Ling Zhuo, Yi Xu, Cao Ying, Dan Chen, and two unfamiliar people surrounded Hua Qingyu, and Ling Zhuo demanded that she contact Xiao Yan or let him search her Storage Ring.

Ling Zhuo exposed Yao Qingyu's identity and tried to force her to help the Spirit Clan by threatening Xiao Yan and Xuan Yi. After resisting and refusing to summon Xiao Yan, Yao Qingyu faced the fading protection of Xuan Yi's jade talisman as an unseen needle-like object flew toward Ling Zhuo.

• Ling Zhuo told Yao Qingyu he knew Xuan Yi had saved her with her blood and demanded her cooperation, threatening to use her against Xiao Yan and Xuan Yi.
• Yao Qingyu attacked Yi Xu and then all six Spirit Clan soul wielders, but Ling Luo, Ling Yu, and Ling Zhuo overwhelmed her and left her badly injured.
• Yao Qingyu used Xuan Yi's jade talisman to unleash a soul storm that forced Ling Zhuo and the others back.
• Yao Qingyu chose not to use the talisman to contact Xiao Yan, fearing he would be drawn into danger and lose his chance at the Pill Convention.
• As the soul storm faded, Ling Luo and Ling Yu moved to seize Yao Qingyu while an undetectable needle-like object shot toward Ling Zhuo.

Wei Jiangyuan appeared to rescue Yao Qingyu from Ling Zhuo and the others, using Shadow Piercing Needles and black-smoke decoys to break through their defenses. He escaped with Yao Qingyu into Mist Mountain as Ling Luo and Ling Yu prepared one last attack.

• Yao Qingyu's Shadow Piercing Needle injured Yi Xu and forced the others to defend themselves as Ling Zhuo ordered them to stop her escape.
• Wei Jiangyuan emerged from the black smoke, revealed the concealed soul mark on Yao Qingyu, and carried her away.
• Wei Jiangyuan used a second Shadow Piercing Needle against Ling Zhuo, who countered it with life force drawn into the Source Spirit Pattern Crystal.
• Wei Jiangyuan blasted the injured Yi Xu aside and tried to escape, but Ling Luo and Ling Yu blocked his path.
• Wei Jiangyuan used black smoke and three false auras to deceive Ling Luo, Ling Yu, and Ling Zhuo, then emerged beyond them with Yao Qingyu and rushed into Mist Mountain.
• Ling Luo and Ling Yu realized they had one final chance to attack Wei Jiangyuan.

Wei Jiangyuan rescued Yao Qingyu from Ling Zhuo’s group and fled into Mist Mountain, while Xiao Yan refined a pill that was beginning to draw pill lightning. The chapter left Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu hiding as they awaited possible help, and Xiao Yan’s first trial of his self-created eighth-tier pill formula nearing success.

• Wei Jiangyuan evaded Ling Luo and Ling Yu with afterimages and escaped into the mist while carrying Yao Qingyu.
• Ling Zhuo ordered Ling Luo and Ling Yu to block the mountain’s exits, healed Yi Xu with the Source Spirit Pattern Crystal, and led the others in pursuit.
• Wei Jiangyuan told Yao Qingyu he had removed her tracking mark and urged her to contact Xiao Yan; Yao Qingyu sent Xiao Yan their location.
• Wei Jiangyuan teased Yao Qingyu about his injuries, then told her they needed to hide before their pursuers found them.
• Xiao Yan refined a pill in the Black Demon Cauldron as ink-black pill lightning gathered overhead.

Xiao Yan abandoned his pill refinement after Yao Qingyu sent an emergency message and raced toward Mist Mountain, where Ling Zhuo was hunting Yao Qingyu and Wei Jiangyuan. As the pair tried to escape, Wei Jiangyuan saw Yao Qingyu’s true appearance, but a new figure appeared in their path.

• Xiao Yan received Yao Qingyu’s four-word emergency message, cut off the Red Lotus Core Flame, and hurried toward Mist Mountain.
• Ling Zhuo used the Source Spirit Pattern Crystal to drain life energy and destroy parts of Mist Mountain while searching for Yao Qingyu and Wei Jiangyuan.
• Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu hid from Ling Zhuo, and Wei Jiangyuan said he would take her with him if they had to escape.
• Yao Qingyu revealed her true face to Wei Jiangyuan and told him not to die; he smiled and said her Flower Sect secret art could make people dizzy.
• Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu slipped beyond Ling Zhuo’s soul perception, but a figure suddenly appeared ahead of them.

Cao Ying briefly helped Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu escape, but the pair were surrounded again after Wei Jiangyuan wounded Ling Yu. With Ling Luo and the others closing in, Yao Qingyu offered herself as a hostage to save Wei Jiangyuan, but Ling Zhuo refused.

• Cao Ying let Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu pass, then signaled Ling Zhuo and bought them only a brief head start.
• Wei Jiangyuan carried Yao Qingyu out of Mist Mountain and confronted Ling Yu, using an afterimage and Ling Yu's own flames to land a Shadow Piercing Needle in his eye.
• Wei Jiangyuan was forced back by Ling Yu's counterattack, then fled with Yao Qingyu as Ling Yu lost his combat strength.
• Ling Luo arrived and attacked Wei Jiangyuan, while Ling Zhuo, Cao Ying, and the others regrouped to surround Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu.
• Yao Qingyu offered to become Ling Zhuo's hostage if he let Wei Jiangyuan go, but Ling Zhuo rejected her offer and threatened them both.