Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan received five rare medicinal herbs from Yan Chao in exchange for helping the Flame Clan, bringing him closer to reviving Yao Lao. Yan Chao then led Xiao Yan and two others to the Flame Clan’s hidden sanctuary, where Xiao Yan sensed Huo Zhi and entered a space guarded by a powerful fire-element presence.

• Yan Chao offered Xiao Yan medicinal ingredients, and Xiao Yan requested five exceptionally rare herbs needed to revive Yao Lao.
• Yan Chao gave Xiao Yan the herbs, which Xiao Yan stored while recognizing that he still needed a suitable body for Yao Lao.
• Xiao Yan warned Yan Chao against repeating the earlier incident, then tore open a spatial rift and traveled with Yan Chao and the other two.
• Yan Chao revealed the formation concealing the Flame Clan’s sanctuary and opened a spatial vortex into its independent space.
• Xiao Yan sensed Huo Zhi through the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame, entered the sanctuary, and felt a powerful flame presence guarding its core.

Xiao Yan reached Flame Clan territory with Yan Chao and two children, where he restrained the clan’s fire beasts and reunited with the exhausted Huo Zhi. Huo Zhi welcomed Yan Chao and urged him to come with her to see Elder Huo Zhen.

• Xiao Yan used the Red Lotus Star Flame to trap seven or eight powerful fire beasts after they attacked him.
• Yan Chao explained that the fire beasts were Flame Clan patrols, and Xiao Yan recalled his flame so they could flee.
• Several wounded figures arrived, and Xiao Yan recognized Huo Zhi among them.
• Huo Zhi was surprised to see Xiao Yan, while the others remarked on his strength and flame aura.
• Yan Chao explained how Xiao Yan had escorted them past Soul Hall members, and Huo Zhi invited Yan Chao to meet Elder Huo Zhen.

Xiao Yan followed Huo Zhi to meet the exhausted alchemist Elder Huo Zhen, who prepared to refine a pill to save the Flame Clan chief. When Huo Zhen ordered Huo Zhi to process herbs despite her depleted foundation, Xiao Yan intervened and stopped her.

• Huo Zhi led Yan Chao and Xiao Yan through the Flame Clan’s refuge to Elder Huo Zhen’s courtyard.
• Elder Huo Zhen took the salvaged herbs from Yan Chao and said he would not let the clan chief perish.
• Huo Zhen hurried everyone to an alchemy platform and began preparing ingredients beside the Returning Origin Cauldron.
• Huo Zhen ordered Huo Zhi to refine eight supplementary herbs while warning her to keep the heat steady.
• Xiao Yan recognized that using her flame would further damage Huo Zhi’s depleted foundation, so he snatched the herbs from her hands and told her to stop.

Xiao Yan stopped Huo Zhi from exhausting her source energy and took over refining the herbs needed for the Flame Clan’s pill. After he and Huo Zhen completed their ingredients, Huo Zhen began refining the pill in the Origin Return Medicine Cauldron.

• Xiao Yan used his soul clone and Crimson Lotus Karma Flame energy to soothe Huo Zhi’s meridians, and she collapsed unconscious into his arms.
• Xiao Yan warned Huo Zhen that forcing Huo Zhi to continue would damage her foundation, then offered to refine the herbs himself.
• Xiao Yan demonstrated his alchemy skill by refining a Nine-Leaf Ice Flower cleanly, convincing Huo Zhen to assign him half the herbs.
• Xiao Yan refined his herbs in the Black Demon Cauldron while Huo Zhen worked on the remaining ingredients in the Origin Return Medicine Cauldron.
• Huo Zhen finished before Xiao Yan, gathered Xiao Yan’s refined medicinal liquids, and began the pill refinement.

Xiao Yan watched Huo Zhen refine an eighth-grade pill, learned that he was a ninth-grade alchemist, and continued treating Huo Zhi while studying Huo Zhen’s methods. After recovering, Huo Zhen asked Xiao Yan to help with another pill, promising to teach him in return; he revealed that he planned to refine the Creation Heaven-Returning Pill.

• Huo Zhen finished an eighth-grade pill under pressure, swallowed it to recover, and warned Xiao Yan to stay and help him later.
• Xiao Yan refused to let the Flame Clan take Huo Zhi away, and Yan Chao ordered the clan youths to leave them alone.
• Yan Chao told Xiao Yan that Huo Zhen had become a ninth-grade alchemist three hundred years earlier and was the Flame Clan’s chief alchemy master.
• Xiao Yan’s clone treated Huo Zhi with the power of the Crimson Lotus Karma Flame while Xiao Yan studied Huo Zhen’s pill-refining techniques.
• After recovering, Huo Zhen asked Xiao Yan to help him refine another pill and promised to teach him in return.
• Huo Zhen proposed that Xiao Yan could marry Huo Zhi if she agreed, then revealed that his next pill would be the Creation Heaven-Returning Pill.

Xiao Yan and Huo Zhen began refining the ninth-tier Creation Heaven-Returning Pill, a process they had to complete within thirty days. Xiao Yan carefully refined his assigned ingredients alongside Huo Zhen, while Yan Chao guarded them and Huo Zhi as the work began.

• Huo Zhen gave Xiao Yan the pill formula and explained that they had thirty days to refine the Creation Heaven-Returning Pill.
• Xiao Yan studied the formula, accepted Huo Zhen's plan to divide the ingredients, and agreed to help refine the ninth-tier pill.
• Huo Zhen divided the herbs between them and began refining with his crimson flames.
• Xiao Yan summoned the Red Lotus Star Flame and began carefully refining a phoenix-shaped herb in his medicinal cauldron.
• Yan Chao guarded the refining pair and Huo Zhi as the two alchemists continued working in silence.

Huo Zhi awoke to find Xiao Yan alive and learned he had returned after surviving the Spirit Clan’s attack, though he did not know how. She then told him the Soul Clan had targeted the Flame Clan, possibly to become Dou Di, and recounted the deaths of her clansmen and Aunt Huo Ling.

• Huo Zhi woke after several days and was overwhelmed to see Xiao Yan alive.
• Xiao Yan told Huo Zhi he had awakened back in the Central Plains after what felt like a long dream, but could not explain how he survived.
• Huo Zhi noticed Elder Yan Chao had witnessed their reunion and became embarrassed.
• Huo Zhi told Xiao Yan that the Soul Clan had ambushed the Flame Clan, perhaps in pursuit of becoming Dou Di.
• Huo Zhi recalled her clansmen being killed and described Aunt Huo Ling sacrificing herself to protect the younger members.

Huo Zhi grieved over the Flame Clan’s destruction while Xiao Yan comforted her, and the survivors faced the need to rebuild their clan. As Huo Zhen’s ninth-tier pill refinement entered its final stage, his weakening condition left Xiao Yan and the others fearing he might not be able to finish.

• Huo Zhi broke down over her inability to save Uncle Di or her clansmen, and Xiao Yan stayed by her side to comfort her.
• Huo Zhi, Yan Chao, and Xiao Yan waited as Huo Zhen continued refining the ninth-tier pill for twenty-three days.
• Xiao Yan worried that Huo Zhen’s earlier battle and nonstop work had left him too exhausted to complete the refinement.
• Three days later, Huo Zhen’s aura began to waver, but the Flame Clan continued to rely on the pill despite the risk of failure.
• The Returning Origin Cauldron roared and released a powerful medicinal fragrance as the pill entered its final stage, while Huo Zhen strained to control its energies.

As Huo Zhen neared collapse while refining a ninth-tier Creation Heaven-Returning Pill, Xiao Yan took over the process and stabilized it. Xiao Yan continued advancing the pill’s formation while Huo Zhen watched from a safe distance.

• Huo Zhen spat out essence blood and lost control as the pill’s energy began to run wild inside the cauldron.
• Xiao Yan stepped in, using Red Lotus Star Flame and his Heavenly State Soul power to take control of the cauldron.
• Xiao Yan restrained the chaotic energy and restored the pill refinement, relying on his knowledge of the formula and his observations over more than twenty days.
• Xiao Yan pushed the pill formation forward as Huo Zhen recovered and recognized how dangerous Xiao Yan’s intervention had been.
• Huo Zhen moved away from Xiao Yan so he would not disturb the ongoing refinement.

Xiao Yan took over the final condensation of Huo Zhen’s ninth-tier pill and maintained precise control for several days. As the pill emerged, nine-colored thunderclouds formed and gave way to Black Demon Lightning, confirming its completion.

• Huo Zhen decided not to retake control and urged Xiao Yan to finish refining the pill.
• Huo Zhi watched Xiao Yan with confidence as he focused on stabilizing the pill.
• Xiao Yan carefully controlled the flames and drew in heaven and earth energy while the pill gradually solidified over several days.
• The pill released a powerful medicinal fragrance, alerting the Flame Clan members that a ninth-tier pill had been completed.
• Nine-colored thunderclouds gathered above the small world, and Black Demon Lightning appeared at their core.
• Huo Zhen recognized the Black Demon Lightning as proof that the pill had truly been completed.

Xiao Yan captured the newly refined Tier 9 Creation Heaven-Returning Pill as it tried to flee, and the Black Demon Lightning Tribulation descended. A powerful Flame Clan expert shielded Xiao Yan and the pill from the devastating lightning while Huo Zhi watched with joy and admiration.

• The Tier 9 Medicinal Pill tried to escape, but Xiao Yan caught it with his Red Lotus Star Flame.
• The Flame Clan crowd realized Xiao Yan had refined the pill, and Huo Zhi rejoiced at his success.
• The Black Demon Lightning Tribulation struck at Xiao Yan and the pill.
• A powerful Flame Clan expert raised a barrier that withstood the lightning and protected Xiao Yan and everyone below.
• Huo Zhi watched Xiao Yan holding the pill and reflected that he had made the impossible possible.

Xiao Yan completed Huo Zhen’s medicinal pill and prepared to leave the Flame Clan to bring his family home, but agreed to stay for one day and receive Huo Zhen’s alchemy instruction. Huo Zhen began assessing Xiao Yan’s path toward ninth-tier alchemy, warning that his progress had been too fast and smooth.

• Xiao Yan thanked Huo Zhen after completing the pill, then explained that he needed to leave the Flame Clan and return to his family.
• Huo Zhen offered to teach Xiao Yan his centuries of alchemy insights, and Xiao Yan agreed to stay for one day as his temporary disciple.
• Huo Zhen asked who had taught Xiao Yan, and Xiao Yan credited Yao Chen with his achievements.
• Huo Zhen warned Xiao Yan that his rapid achievements had created problems that could hinder his chance of reaching the ninth tier.
• Huo Zhen identified Xiao Yan’s greatest flaw as having advanced too quickly and too smoothly in alchemy.

Huo Zhen explained that Xiao Yan’s rapid advancement and reliance on powerful Heavenly Flames had kept him from building the deep foundation needed for Ninth-grade alchemy. He urged Xiao Yan to study medicinal ingredients through repeated practice with an ordinary Dou Qi flame, leaving him newly aware of the work ahead.

• Huo Zhen praised Xiao Yan’s soul power, flame, cauldron, and talent, then warned that his rapid progress had left gaps in his foundations.
• Xiao Yan recalled how extraordinary opportunities and last-minute strength had carried him through nearly every important refinement, and he recognized Huo Zhen’s criticism.
• Huo Zhen explained that Ninth-grade pills demanded absolute flawlessness, unlike lower-grade formulas that allowed an Alchemist to correct mistakes.
• Huo Zhen told Xiao Yan that relying on his Heavenly Flames could distort his understanding of medicinal ingredients and that experience came from refining herbs repeatedly.
• Xiao Yan asked whether he should stop using his Heavenly Flames, and Huo Zhen advised him to use an ordinary Dou Qi flame while studying ingredients until he approached the ninth-grade threshold.

Huo Zhen taught Xiao Yan how to build a proper foundation for reaching the ninth tier of alchemy, and Xiao Yan prepared to leave the recovering Flame Clan. As Huo Zhi said goodbye, she gave him her jade pendant for good fortune.

• Huo Zhen explained the stages of ninth-tier pills and urged Xiao Yan to refine without relying on his medicinal cauldron or skipping the fundamentals.
• Xiao Yan understood Huo Zhen's advice, bowed in gratitude, and promised to visit again if the Flame Clan recovered.
• Yan Chao and the Flame Clan members thanked Xiao Yan as he prepared to leave, then gave him and Huo Zhi a moment alone.
• Huo Zhi asked when Xiao Yan would return and mentioned their unfinished study of combining Heavenly Flames.
• Huo Zhi gave Xiao Yan the jade pendant she had worn since childhood and wished him safety and good fortune.

Xiao Yan left after accepting Huo Zhi’s jade pendant, while a letter from him reached Xiao Yi Xian in Medical Poison Valley. After learning that Xiao Yan was safe but staying in the Eastern Region, Xiao Yi Xian welcomed Wang Linger and decided to wait for Xiao Yan to return on his own.

• Huo Zhi pressed her warm jade pendant into Xiao Yan’s hand, and Xiao Yan stored it before entering the spatial passage.
• A maid told Xiao Yi Xian that Wang Zhuang and Wang Linger had arrived with a letter, and Xiao Yi Xian urgently ordered them brought to her.
• Wang Zhuang recounted how Xiao Yan had helped their caravan and sent them to Medical Poison Valley, and Xiao Yi Xian confirmed that Xiao Yan was safe and had stayed in the Eastern Region.
• Xiao Yi Xian welcomed Wang Zhuang and Wang Linger, promised to teach Wang Linger, and then decided not to leave the valley because she wanted Xiao Yan to return himself.

Ye Qiong fled a battle and reported to a hidden Venerable that the Cloud Rain Sect had stolen a map fragment of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. Xiao Yan revealed he had controlled Ye Qiong to learn this, and decided to visit the Cloud Rain Sect to obtain the fragment.

• Ye Qiong encountered a hidden Soul Hall Venerable and claimed that a peak Dou Zun from the Cloud Rain Sect had stolen a map fragment from Venerable Ye Guang.
• The Venerable asked Ye Qiong for the Cloud Rain Sect’s location, and Ye Qiong provided the details before suddenly finding himself on an unfamiliar mountain ridge.
• After Ye Qiong fled again, Xiao Yan emerged and reflected on how his Soul Puppet Control Technique had made Ye Qiong reveal the information.
• Xiao Yan realized the fragment was the final piece he needed to learn about the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame, of which he already possessed three pieces.
• Xiao Yan decided to visit the Cloud Rain Sect and risk confronting its members to obtain the fragment.

Venerable Ye Qiong led Venerable Black Intent and Venerable Hun Wei to Cloud Rain Sect to seize the Fragmented Map of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame and earn favor with Hun Yu. The two Soul Hall Venerables confronted the Three Scorpion Demons, and the chapter ended as both sides launched into battle.

• Venerable Black Intent and Venerable Hun Wei decided to attack Cloud Rain Sect with six other Dou Zun Venerables, hoping to claim the merit and the sect's furnace cauldrons for themselves.
• Venerable Black Intent and Venerable Hun Wei discussed how to divide the fight against the Three Scorpion Demons, with Black Intent assigned to hold off Heavenly Scorpion.
• Venerable Hun Wei attacked Cloud Rain Sect and called out the Three Scorpion Demons after the Soul Hall group confirmed they were still inside.
• Heavenly Scorpion, Earth Scorpion, and Human Scorpion emerged and traded threats with Venerable Black Intent and Venerable Hun Wei.
• Venerable Hun Wei and Heavenly Scorpion ordered their sides to attack, beginning the battle between Soul Hall and Cloud Rain Sect.

The Soul Hall Venerables attacked the three Scorpion Brothers to seize the Fragmented Map of the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame. Hun Wei used blood essence and a horde of vengeful souls to overwhelm Earth Scorpion, then joined the attack on Human Scorpion, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Six Soul Hall Venerables ensnared Human Scorpion with black chains while Black Intent Venerable fought Heavenly Scorpion.
• Hun Wei Venerable struck Earth Scorpion with overwhelming force and summoned a powerful vengeful soul using a strange black flag.
• Hun Wei filled the area with black mist and sent his blood-strengthened vengeful souls to devour Earth Scorpion.
• Earth Scorpion's defenses broke, and his cries for help weakened as Heavenly Scorpion and Human Scorpion failed to reach him.
• Human Scorpion burned his blood essence to escape, but Hun Wei appeared behind him and the Soul Hall Venerables bound him with chains.
• Hun Wei raised a dark-gold palm to strike the crown of Human Scorpion's head.

After Hun Wei captured Human Scorpion’s soul, Heavenly Scorpion tried to escape the Soul Hall’s ambush but found himself trapped by a Half-Saint. Choosing to avenge his brothers, he self-destructed and devastated the pursuing Soul Hall forces, just as a multicolored fire lotus arrived beside them.

• Hun Wei captured Human Scorpion’s soul, while Heavenly Scorpion fled the valley and Hun Wei and Black Intent pursued him.
• A Soul Hall Half-Saint blocked Heavenly Scorpion’s escape, leaving him surrounded by Soul Hall forces.
• Heavenly Scorpion remembered his brothers and charged Hun Wei and Black Intent, swelling his body as if preparing to self-destruct.
• Heavenly Scorpion detonated his body and soul, killing three ordinary Soul Hall Dou Zuns and severely injuring Hun Wei, Black Intent, and others.
• A spinning multicolored fire lotus quietly arrived beside the battered Soul Hall members.

Xiao Yan annihilated Soul Hall’s forces and obtained the final fragment of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame map. After freeing the Cloud Rain Sect’s captives, he sensed a familiar aura and stopped before leaving.

• Xiao Yan used the Buddha Fury Fire Lotus to finish off Soul Hall’s remaining fighters after Heavenly Scorpion’s self-destruction had devastated them.
• Xiao Yan searched the survivors’ Storage Rings and found the final fragment of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame map.
• Xiao Yan returned to the Cloud Rain Sect, freed its imprisoned captives, and told them the Three Scorpion Demons were dead.
• Xiao Yan sensed a familiar aura as he prepared to leave and froze in midair.