Chapter Summaries

Wei Jiangyuan fought Ling Luo while trying to help Yao Qingyu escape, but Ling Zhuo also sealed the space and captured her. Just as Ling Zhuo reached for Yao Qingyu, an angry voice accompanied by purple-red fire clouds interrupted him.

• Wei Jiangyuan told Yao Qingyu that Ling Luo and Ling Yu were interfering with teleportation and promised to hold off Ling Luo so she could escape.
• After Ling Luo demanded revenge for his brother, Wei Jiangyuan fought him with soul power, Shadow-Riding Thousand Transformations, and emerald flames that drained Ling Luo's Dou Qi.
• Ling Luo used Space Lockdown to trap Wei Jiangyuan, while Ling Zhuo finished treating Ling Yu and sealed the space to prevent Yao Qingyu from teleporting.
• Ling Zhuo pulled Yao Qingyu before him with soul power and prepared to take control of her using the Source Spirit Pattern Crystal.
• As Ling Zhuo touched Yao Qingyu's forehead, an angry roar arrived with purple-red fire clouds.

Xiao Yan arrived at the Pill Convention and fought Ling Zhuo to rescue Yao Qingyu, but Ling Zhuo trapped her and Xiao Yan’s phantom body with Space Imprisonment. As Xiao Yan’s strength began to wane, he prepared to use the strange Black Flame in his right arm to break the deadlock.

• Xiao Yan arrived after Ling Zhuo injured Yao Qingyu and challenged him to a fight.
• Xiao Yan and Ling Zhuo traded attacks, with Ling Zhuo powering his Source Spirit Pattern Crystal using medicinal herbs.
• Xiao Yan rushed Ling Zhuo and detonated a three-flame Buddha Fury Fire Lotus while using the clash to send his Three Thousand Lightning Phantom Body toward Yao Qingyu.
• Ling Zhuo used Space Imprisonment to trap Xiao Yan’s phantom body and Yao Qingyu, preventing their escape.
• As the backlash from the Three Mysterious Changes of Heavenly Fire weakened Xiao Yan, he prepared to use the devouring power and Black Flame in his right arm.

Xiao Yan unleashed the Black Flame to stop Ling Zhuo’s attack, but the uncontrollable flame devoured energy and overwhelmed Ling Zhuo’s Wind Fury Dragon Flame. It then engulfed Ling Zhuo, Ling Yu, and Yao Qingyu as the other fighters watched.

• Xiao Yan summoned the Black Flame from his right arm to counter Ling Zhuo’s green pillar of life energy.
• The Black Flame devoured the pillar and grew stronger before breaking free of Xiao Yan’s control and charging toward Ling Zhuo.
• Ling Zhuo sent his Wind Fury Dragon Flame to fight the Black Flame, which split into black fire pythons and trapped it.
• Ling Zhuo fed another medicinal herb’s life energy to the Black Flame, letting the Wind Fury Dragon Flame escape and return to him.
• The Black Flame attacked Ling Zhuo again, engulfed Ling Yu and Yao Qingyu, and began devouring Ling Zhuo’s Dou Qi barrier.
• The other fighters slowed their battles and turned their attention toward Xiao Yan’s Black Flame.

Xiao Yan rescued Yao Qingyu from Ling Zhuo and Black Flame, comforting her as she grieved over growing up without a father. After her emotions settled, Xiao Yan turned back to Ling Zhuo, who remained trapped under Black Flame’s pursuit.

• Xiao Yan tried to recall Black Flame, but it intensified its devouring and forced Ling Zhuo to flee with Ling Yu.
• Black Flame split apart and moved to devour Yao Qingyu, but Xiao Yan shielded her and drove the smaller mass back with the Flame Mantra’s power.
• Xiao Yan used Red Lotus Core Flame and soul power to remove Ling Zhuo’s restraints from Yao Qingyu and discovered deep claw wounds on her neck.
• Yao Qingyu thanked Xiao Yan and wept as she told him she could not understand why she had to grow up without a father.
• Xiao Yan comforted Yao Qingyu and promised that Yao Lao would stay with her after the Pill Convention, then turned to Ling Zhuo as Black Flame continued pursuing him.

Ling Zhuo struggled to escape Black Flame while deciding whether to abandon the unconscious Ling Yu. Ling Luo sacrificed his life to restrain Black Flame and send Ling Zhuo and the others to safety, then was devoured.

• Ling Zhuo used Space Imprisonment to trap Black Flame, but Xiao Yan’s flames pierced its weakest points and broke free.
• As Black Flame closed in, Ling Zhuo hesitated over abandoning the unconscious Ling Yu to preserve the group’s chances in the Pill Convention.
• Ling Luo used Soul Sacrifice, Space Command, to immobilize Black Flame and asked Ling Zhuo to give Ling Yu a chance to live.
• Ling Luo opened a spatial rift and sent Ling Zhuo, Ling Yu, Cao Ying, Dan Chen, and Yi Xu away.
• Ling Luo struck Wei Jiangyuan with his remaining power, then Black Flame broke free and swallowed him.

After Black Flame devoured Ling Luo, Xiao Yan discovered it was digesting a clump of golden Spirit Clan essence blood and took control of the energy it had absorbed. The energy nearly forced Xiao Yan into an early breakthrough, so he burned it off with repeated Dou Skills while Yao Qingyu and Wei Jiangyuan recovered below.

• Black Flame devoured Ling Luo and paused to digest a clump of faintly golden blood, which Xiao Yan recognized as Spirit Clan essence blood.
• Xiao Yan used his devouring power to pull Black Flame aside and then absorbed the immense Dou Qi it had gained from Ling Luo and Ling Zhuo.
• The energy torrent threatened to force Xiao Yan into a premature three-star Dou Zun breakthrough, and he expelled it by unleashing powerful Dou Skills into the sky.
• Yao Qingyu rescued the injured Wei Jiangyuan, who joked about Xiao Yan's strange methods and wondered what he was doing.
• Xiao Yan finally exhausted the surging Dou Qi as Yao Qingyu and Wei Jiangyuan watched.

Xiao Yan examined the Black Flame after it returned to his arm and secured the small amount of Dou Di descendant blood essence it gave him. He then reunited with Yao Qingyu and Wei Jiangyuan, who wondered where Ling Zhuo’s group had gone within the Pill Realm.

• A black figure sensed the Spirit Clan descendant blood essence and treated the events in the Pill Region as a test for Xiao Yan.
• The Black Flame returned to Xiao Yan’s arm, and his Dou Qi rose to the late stage of Three-Star Dou Zun.
• Xiao Yan used the Flame Mantra to make the Black Flame yield a tiny thread of blood essence, which he sealed in a jade bottle.
• Wei Jiangyuan greeted Xiao Yan and credited him for arriving, while Xiao Yan thanked him for helping Yao Qingyu.
• Xiao Yan reasoned that Ling Zhuo and the others had likely been sent elsewhere within the Pill Realm rather than teleported out.
• Someone exclaimed, “I know!”

Xiao Yan, Wei Jiangyuan, and Yao Qingyu planned to intercept Ling Zhuo at the final Mist Mountain and discussed how the Spirit Clan had uncovered Yao Qingyu’s identity. When Yao Qingyu collapsed from her worsening condition, Xiao Yan determined that she needed a thousand-year Nine-Section Azure Bamboo Heart and resolved to search for one in the Pill Realm.

• Yao Qingyu revealed that her jade token contained information about the final Mist Mountain, and the three planned to ambush Ling Zhuo there.
• Wei Jiangyuan suggested the Spirit Clan had either investigated Xuan Yi or received information from a Pill Tower insider about Yao Qingyu’s identity.
• Yao Qingyu collapsed while trying to activate her jade token, and Xiao Yan found that her depleted Qi and blood put her life in danger.
• Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan rejected several pills and sending Yao Qingyu out because each option risked harming her or failing to treat her condition.
• Xiao Yan proposed using a Heart Bamboo Pill and said he had seen Nine-Section Azure Bamboo in the Pill Realm, so he planned to buy the thousand-year ingredient and secure the final Mist Mountain.

Xiao Yan found Lei Jingxiao on a Mist Mountain and recruited him to help search for the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart needed to save Yao Qingyu. He gave Lei Jingxiao a Soul Technique to improve his soul control, then the two left together.

• Xiao Yan suspected that the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart might be in Ling Zhuo's possession and vowed to obtain it for Yao Qingyu.
• Lei Jingxiao struggled to retrieve the Blood Jade Marrow from a Mist Mountain's rune formation and failed to break the runes with lightning or force.
• Xiao Yan arrived, caught Lei Jingxiao, and retrieved the Blood Jade Marrow himself, but Lei Jingxiao's other herbs did not include the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart.
• Xiao Yan asked Lei Jingxiao to join him because he and Wei Jiangyuan needed help caring for Yao Qingyu and searching for the herb.
• Xiao Yan gave Lei Jingxiao a Soul Technique from the Spirit Clan to improve his control over soul power, and Lei Jingxiao agreed to help him fight Ling Zhuo next time.

Xiao Yan, Wei Jiangyuan, Lei Jingxiao, and Yao Qingyu agreed to seek the ingredients for a Heart Bamboo Pill so Yao Qingyu could recover during the Pill Convention. After resting, they headed to the alchemists’ trading grounds to begin searching for the ingredients.

• Xiao Yan introduced Lei Jingxiao to Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu, and the group discussed treating Yao Qingyu inside the Pill Realm.
• Yao Qingyu approved the Heart Bamboo Pill treatment plan, and Lei Jingxiao agreed to help them obtain its ingredients.
• Xiao Yan proposed trading with alchemists, while Lei Jingxiao offered to take the ingredients by force if necessary.
• Wei Jiangyuan asked everyone’s age, and the group revealed that Lei Jingxiao was twenty, Wei Jiangyuan was twenty-four, and Xiao Yan was twenty-five; Yao Qingyu joked that she was centuries older.
• Xiao Yan, Wei Jiangyuan, Lei Jingxiao, and Yao Qingyu rested briefly, then set out for the alchemists’ trading grounds.

Xiao Yan told Yao Qingyu about his history with Yao Lao, explaining how his teacher had guided and supported him. Wei Jiangyuan and Lei Jingxiao returned with news that Yi Xu of the Heavenly Nether Sect had taken the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart from Mist Mountain.

• Xiao Yan stayed behind with Yao Qingyu while Wei Jiangyuan and Lei Jingxiao went to gather information.
• Yao Qingyu asked Xiao Yan what Yao Lao was like, and Xiao Yan recounted how they met and how Yao Lao had helped him grow stronger.
• Xiao Yan described his adventures with Yao Lao, including finding the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame and confronting Han Feng and Soul Hall.
• Wei Jiangyuan and Lei Jingxiao returned and reported that someone had seen the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart being taken from Mist Mountain.
• Lei Jingxiao identified Yi Xu of the Heavenly Nether Sect as the person who took it.

Xiao Yan and his companions negotiated with Cao Ying to exchange all the medicinal herbs in the final Mist Mountain for Ling Zhuo’s thousand-year-old Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart. As they prepared to enter the mountain, Cao Ying spoke with Yao Qingyu about the men who cared for them.

• Xiao Yan and his companions decided to wait near Mist Mountain for Ling Zhuo’s group and prepare to trade for the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart.
• Cao Ying arrived alone and confirmed that Ling Zhuo had the thousand-year-old herb, then demanded all the medicinal herbs in the final Mist Mountain in exchange.
• Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan agreed to the trade, provided Xiao Yan could verify the herb was genuine and unaltered.
• Cao Ying stayed as a witness while Wei Jiangyuan joked about deceiving Ling Zhuo and promised to help Cao Ying if she ever needed him.
• Cao Ying told Yao Qingyu that Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan were willing to pay dearly for her sake, then reflected that admirers who valued her appearance and family power lacked genuine feelings.

Xiao Yan’s group climbed the final Mist Mountain, where the rarest medicinal herbs and two Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboos awaited. As Lei Jingxiao rushed toward the herb garden, a powerful dragon’s aura erupted from the summit.

• The final Mist Mountain descended, and Xiao Yan’s group entered it together to search for herbs.
• Wei Jiangyuan teased Cao Ying about the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart, and Cao Ying said Ling Zhuo’s plans would be the ones at risk.
• Xiao Yan noticed the climb was unusually quiet, so he went ahead with Lei Jingxiao and Cao Ying while Wei Jiangyuan stayed behind with Yao Qingyu.
• Xiao Yan, Lei Jingxiao, and Cao Ying found a vast herb garden protected by a formation of sixty-four runes, including two Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboos with golden hearts.
• Lei Jingxiao charged toward the herbs, triggering the eruption of a dragon’s aura from the mountaintop.

Xiao Yan, Lei Jingxiao, and Cao Ying reached Mist Mountain’s summit and clashed with Xiong Zhan, the Pill Realm’s strongest magical beast. Xiong Zhan revealed that he had quit guarding the herbs, leaving Xiao Yan’s group free to collect them as other Alchemists approached.

• Lei Jingxiao attacked the tower-like Xiong Zhan, and Xiao Yan joined him in blocking the beast’s powerful punch.
• Wei Jiangyuan and Yao Qingyu sensed the clash halfway up Mist Mountain and discussed Cao Ying’s safety.
• Xiong Zhan stopped the fight and offered the herbs, explaining that the Pill Tower had scattered his collection and he could no longer gather herbs himself.
• Cao Ying identified Xiong Zhan as a magical beast with Ancient Dragon Bear blood and explained that the mist did not restrict him.
• Xiong Zhan told Xiao Yan and his companions that he had kept the mountain’s beasts from attacking them, then returned to his cave.
• Xiao Yan urged Lei Jingxiao to collect the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart before the other Alchemists reached the summit.

Xiao Yan and Lei Jingxiao took the two Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboos from the rune formation with Cao Ying’s help, then left the herb garden to meet Wei Jiangyuan. On the way down, Xiao Yan encouraged Cao Ying to consider leaving the Spirit Clan and returning to the Pill Tower.

• Lei Jingxiao failed to overcome the rune formation protecting a Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo, so Cao Ying carefully extracted it for him.
• Xiao Yan steadily pulled the thicker Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo from the formation and secured it.
• Xiao Yan told the gathered alchemists they could take the other herbs, but left before they could overcome the formation.
• Xiao Yan, Cao Ying, and Lei Jingxiao descended the mountain to meet Wei Jiangyuan.
• Xiao Yan thanked Cao Ying for her help and asked whether she had considered returning to the Pill Tower.
• Cao Ying admitted she hoped to regain control of her fate and freedom from the Spirit Clan.

After securing two portions of the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart, Xiao Yan, Wei Jiangyuan, and Yao Qingyu planned to refine the Heart Bamboo Pill while changing its formula. Cao Ying stayed to observe and join the discussion, which left her recognizing Wei Jiangyuan’s expansive ideas and Xiao Yan’s remarkable comprehension.

• Xiao Yan told Yao Qingyu that they had obtained two portions of the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart, so they no longer needed to trade with Ling Zhuo.
• When Cao Ying prepared to leave, Xiao Yan asked her to stay as a precaution in case the pill refinement failed.
• Xiao Yan explained that they would use one set of ingredients to test changes to the Heart Bamboo Pill formula, and Cao Ying chose to witness the attempt.
• The group moved to a quiet place and discussed how to increase the age of one secondary main ingredient and two supplementary ingredients.
• Cao Ying observed Wei Jiangyuan lead much of the formula discussion and Xiao Yan quickly grasp the group’s ideas, while everyone gained new insights.

Xiao Yan, Wei Jiangyuan, Cao Ying, and Yao Qingyu completed a revised Heart Bamboo Pill formula, but they lacked enough materials for repeated trials. Yao Qingyu chose to trust Wei Jiangyuan’s plan to perfect it in one attempt so she could continue in the Pill Convention, while Xiao Yan agreed and promised to guard her.

• Lei Jingxiao guarded the group and hoped Ling Zhuo would appear so they could fight, but Ling Zhuo never came.
• Cao Ying recorded their revised Heart Bamboo Pill formula, and the group recognized that further changes required trials they lacked materials to conduct.
• Yao Qingyu offered to take the original Bamboo Heart Pill and withdraw from the Pill Convention to avoid risking her health.
• Wei Jiangyuan insisted that their two sets of materials were enough to alter the formula in one attempt and let Yao Qingyu attend the final convention.
• Xiao Yan yielded to Wei Jiangyuan’s plan, promised to guard Yao Qingyu, and watched Wei Jiangyuan raise his emerald-green flames.

Wei Jiangyuan used his exceptional alchemy skills to extract the ingredients for a new pill, impressing Xiao Yan with the spiritual energy he infused into them. After four days and one failed attempt, he successfully prepared the materials and began fusing them into a pill.

• Xiao Yan recognized Wei Jiangyuan's jade-green flames and Jade Mountain cauldron as extraordinary, while Cao Ying noted the resources available to Old Man Shennong's chief disciple.
• Wei Jiangyuan precisely extracted the herbs, and Xiao Yan acknowledged that Wei Jiangyuan's personal alchemy skill surpassed his own.
• After one failed attempt, Wei Jiangyuan successfully extracted all the materials, including the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart, and prepared to fuse them.
• Wei Jiangyuan drew encouragement from Yao Qingyu and focused his soul power on combining the medicinal liquids inside the cauldron.

Wei Jiangyuan’s attempt to refine the Heart Bamboo Pill failed at the final stage, leaving Yao Qingyu’s treatment unresolved. Xiao Yan arranged a third attempt and summoned Ling Zhuo to negotiate for the herbs they needed.

• After three days of refining, Wei Jiangyuan’s Heart Bamboo Pill developed violent medicinal fluctuations and exploded into charred residue.
• Wei Jiangyuan apologized to Yao Qingyu and prepared to use a spatial jade slip to get her safely out of the valley.
• Xiao Yan urged Wei Jiangyuan to try a third time and said they would use Wei Jiangyuan’s method if it failed again.
• Xiao Yan asked Cao Ying to summon Ling Zhuo, offering to retrieve Mist Mountain’s herbs in exchange for the last Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo Heart.
• Cao Ying sent a location signal, and Ling Zhuo arrived alone two hours later.

Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan collected medicinal herbs from Mist Mountain’s summit garden to secure the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo from Ling Zhuo. Ling Zhuo claimed the harvested herbs and left the other alchemists unable to interfere as Xiao Yan continued the exchange.

• Ling Zhuo arrived with the Nine-Jointed Jade Bamboo and demanded that Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan collect as many herbs as they could from the final Mist Mountain.
• Xiao Yan, Ling Zhuo, Cao Ying, and Wei Jiangyuan appeared together at the summit garden, shocking the gathered alchemists.
• Ling Zhuo declared that the Pill Tower had claimed the garden, and Xiao Yan told Wei Jiangyuan to begin collecting herbs.
• Xiao Yan and Wei Jiangyuan extracted herbs through the garden’s restrictions and handed them to Ling Zhuo as the restrictions grew stronger.
• Ling Zhuo offered the pair pills to restore their soul power and warned that they would be responsible if anyone else took herbs.
• Lei Jingxiao challenged Ling Zhuo, but Xiao Yan restrained him and continued collecting herbs.