Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan began the attempt to absorb the Green Lotus Core Flame under Medicine Elder's guidance, while Xiao Yu watched from the cave. After Xiao Yan extracted the flame seed, he hesitated over swallowing it, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Xiao Yu's rapid breakthrough to Nine-Star Dou Shi shook Xiao Yan, who then turned his attention back to absorbing the Heavenly Flame.
• Medicine Elder explained that Xiao Yan had to extract and swallow the Green Lotus Core Flame's origin seed, then sealed the cave as Xiao Yan took the Blood Lotus Pill.
• Xiao Yan reached into the Green Lotus Core Flame and pulled out its seed, triggering a violent surge that cracked the cave walls.
• Xiao Yan asked Medicine Elder what to do next, and Medicine Elder told him to swallow the seed.
• Xiao Yan stared at the seed and hesitated, while Medicine Elder and Xiao Yu waited without urging him.

Xiao Yan absorbed the Green Lotus Core Flame and successfully evolved the Flame Mantra, leaving him stronger and eager to face Nalan Yanran.

• Xiao Yu encouraged Xiao Yan, who swallowed the Heavenly Flame Seed and drank the Ice Spirit Cold Spring to withstand its heat.
• Xiao Yan repeatedly failed before guiding the Green Lotus Core Flame through the Flame Mantra and storing it within his body.
• Xiao Yu and Medicine Elder waited as the green flame barrier faded, revealing that Xiao Yan had survived and absorbed the Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Yan summoned the Green Lotus Core Flame and told Medicine Elder that the Flame Mantra had evolved, raising his cultivation from two-star Dou Shi to four-star Dou Shi.
• Medicine Elder judged that Xiao Yan's cultivation technique had reached low Xuan Tier, and Xiao Yan set his sights on Nalan Yanran.

Xiao Yu reunited with Xiao Yan and Medicine Elder, then parted from them and headed toward Desert City with Sha Sha. There, he used the system to break through to One-Star Grand Dou Master and began undergoing soul tempering.

• Xiao Yu told Xiao Yan and Medicine Elder about his recent travels, and they sparred without Dou Qi until Xiao Yu knocked Xiao Yan down.
• Xiao Yan asked whether Xiao Yu would leave to cultivate again, and Xiao Yu promised to support him at the Three-Year Agreement.
• Xiao Yu parted from Xiao Yan and Medicine Elder near the Tagor Great Desert and headed toward Desert City with the awakened Sha Sha.
• Xiao Yu tried Companion Amethyst Source and medicinal herbs to gain the last Dou Qi needed for a breakthrough, and the system absorbed poison from one herb.
• Xiao Yu advanced to One-Star Grand Dou Master as the liquid Dou Qi in his vortex formed a Dou Crystal, then the system began tempering his soul.

After reaching Da Dou Shi, Xiao Yu awakened the Chaos Flame and received a new Dou Skill, but a mission to survive a Soul Hall expert’s pursuit forced him to flee. A hunted soul body chased after him, and Xiao Yu tried to escape with his speed and Qi-Recovery Pills.

• Xiao Yu endured the pain of his soul’s sublimation as his Heavenly Flame origins fused into the Chaos Flame.
• Xiao Yu tested the Chaos Flame and watched it silently consume a large tree, then received the Flame Manipulation Art from the system.
• The system triggered a mission for Xiao Yu to survive a Soul Hall expert and offered 5,000 Source Coins and Dou Qi as rewards.
• Xiao Yu spotted a fleeing soul body and used a Dou Ling-level speed card to fly away.
• The soul body followed Xiao Yu, who swallowed Qi-Recovery Pills and continued fleeing at full speed.

Xiao Yu tried to escape a pursuing soul body, then used Chaos Flame to subdue it and bargain for his life. After he appealed to the Soul Hall expert pursuing the soul, the expert appeared behind him.

• Xiao Yu fled through magical beast territories, but the soul body pursued him and killed a Purple-backed Azure-eyed Wolf with a chain.
• Xiao Yu realized his Speed Card and Dou Qi were running low, swallowed Qi Recovery Pills, and stopped to fight the soul body with Eight Extremes Collapse.
• Xiao Yu used Chaos Flame to burn and weaken the soul body, then trapped it inside a sphere of black flames.
• Xiao Yu bowed toward the mountain range and asked the Soul Hall expert to spare him in exchange for subduing the soul body.
• The Soul Hall expert appeared behind Xiao Yu, who turned and respectfully addressed the figure as Senior.

Xiao Yu and a captured soul body joined forces to attack the Soul Hall expert, but he defeated them and captured the soul body. The expert, who called himself Eagle Protector, took Xiao Yu away after noticing that his injuries healed unusually quickly.

• The Soul Hall expert used black chains to attack the soul body, and Xiao Yu agreed to help it fight back.
• Xiao Yu and the soul body launched a combined attack, but the expert blocked Xiao Yu's strike and left him badly injured.
• The expert pierced the soul body with a chain, captured it, and then asked Xiao Yu whether he wanted to live or die.
• Xiao Yu said he wanted to live, and the expert bound him with a chain and carried him away.
• Xiao Yu asked the expert's name, and Eagle Protector remarked on Xiao Yu's rapid recovery and the strangeness of his body.

Eagle Protector carried Xiao Yu from the Jia Ma Empire to the Black-Corner Region, where he brought him to Blackheart Elder’s eerie, lifeless mountain stronghold. Xiao Yu realized the Soul Hall had a hidden sect and feared its experiments, while Eagle Protector insisted that he had other plans for him.

• Xiao Yu spent more than ten days traveling with Eagle Protector, who captured several souls along the way, and reached the Black-Corner Region.
• Eagle Protector flew with Xiao Yu across the region for two more days before stopping at a mountain range devoid of life.
• Blackheart Elder appeared and used Soul Sucking on Xiao Yu, but Xiao Yu broke free from its effect.
• Eagle Protector warned Blackheart Elder not to harm Xiao Yu, then brought him underground with Blackheart Elder.
• Xiao Yu saw the pale-faced disciples and realized the underground stronghold was likely a Soul Hall subordinate sect conducting human experiments.

Eagle Protector revealed that he had brought Xiao Yu to the Black-Corner Region for his exceptional soul, strange flame, and unusual physique, then tried to force him to hand over the secrets behind them. Unable to find anything he could take from Xiao Yu, Eagle Protector began considering him a way back to the Central Plains and asked his name, to which Xiao Yu replied, “Mo Shang.”

• Xiao Yu followed Eagle Protector into a stone chamber and wondered why the powerful Soul Hall envoy had captured him.
• Eagle Protector explained that Xiao Yu's young age, strong soul, and strange black flame had drawn his attention, and offered to spare him and recommend him to a powerful sect if he revealed their secrets.
• Xiao Yu claimed he did not understand his own abilities, but Eagle Protector seized and injured his arms, accusing him of lying.
• Eagle Protector searched Xiao Yu with his soul power but found no clue beyond the Chaos Flame, which he could not detect inside its separate space.
• Seeing Xiao Yu's wounds heal and finding nothing he could extract, Eagle Protector reconsidered his plans and asked Xiao Yu's name.
• Xiao Yu introduced himself to Eagle Protector as Mo Shang.

Xiao Yu submitted to Eagle Protector and was brought to the Black-Corner Region, where he learned that he had joined Soul Hall and was staying at its subordinate Black Skeleton Tomb. After settling into a cave, he claimed his mission reward and advanced to Two-Star Da Dou Shi.

• Xiao Yu accepted Eagle Protector's demand to serve him, and Eagle Protector planted a soul mark in his mind.
• Eagle Protector gave Xiao Yu a Soul Hall identity token and explained that they were in the Black-Corner Region at the Black Skeleton Tomb.
• Eagle Protector warned Xiao Yu that the Black-Corner Region had no rules beyond strength and arranged an empty cave for him.
• Xiao Yu considered what he knew about the Black Skeleton Tomb, then claimed his mission reward and reached Two-Star Da Dou Shi.
• Xiao Yu reflected that his Mo Shang appearance might prove useful in the future.

Xiao Yu spent a month posing as a diligent Black Skeleton Tomb disciple while learning about the sect and waiting for Protector Ying to leave. When Protector Ying announced a new mission that would take him away, Xiao Yu prepared to use the opening to reach Jia Nan Academy.

• Xiao Yu completed another Black Skeleton Tomb mission and reviewed what he had learned about the sect, its territory, and its powerful leaders.
• Xiao Yu continued acting loyal while Protector Ying secretly watched him, though he still could not remove the soul imprint or leave while Protector Ying remained nearby.
• Protector Ying told Xiao Yu that he would leave on a new mission and assured him that his identity token would protect him in the Black Skeleton Tomb.
• Xiao Yu returned to his room and received a system mission to travel to Jia Nan Academy, with a Void-Breaking Blade, 3,000 Source Coins, 100 experience, and 100 Dou Qi points as rewards.
• Xiao Yu planned to use an assignment as cover to leave the sect and travel to Peace Town, where Jia Nan Academy was located.

The Alchemist Grand Meeting began in the Jia Ma Empire, but a sabotaged pill formula caused many contestants, including Xiao Yan, to fail the second round. Xiao Yan identified the flaw and challenged a gray-robed Izumo Empire contestant who claimed the round’s victory was already his.

• Fa Ma opened the seventh Alchemist Grand Meeting, and more than two thousand contestants began the first round by refining the Bone Regeneration Pill from an incomplete prescription.
• The first round eliminated one-third of the contestants, and the second round’s apparently simple formula caused many alchemists, including Xiao Yan, Liu Ling, and the little princess, to fail.
• Fa Ma noticed the gray-robed Izumo Empire contestant’s exceptional refining skill and warned Xiao Yu and the others not to lower their guard.
• Nalan Yanran and Yao Ye observed the contestants’ failures and suspected the second-round question concealed a trick.
• Xiao Yan reviewed his failed refinement and discovered that conflicting medicinal properties in the formula had caused the pill to fail.
• The gray-robed contestant mocked the Jia Ma Empire’s alchemists and claimed first place, while Xiao Yan answered confidently that the result was not yet decided.

Xiao Yan used his Heavenly Flame to win the second round of the alchemy competition, while Xiao Yu prepared to leave the Black Skeleton Tomb after improving his pill-refining skills. The chapter left Xiao Yu planning to raise his strength with Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pills once Eagle Protector departed.

• Xiao Yan revealed his Heavenly Flame, accelerated his refinement, and used it to finish a pill he had removed from his cauldron before it fully formed.
• Xiao Yan tossed aside the Thick Earth Zhi, prompting the other alchemists to resume their stalled refinement.
• Eagle Protector ordered Xiao Yu to remain at the Black Skeleton Tomb while he left to deal with matters concerning his position.
• Xiao Yu accepted an assassination mission in Black Seal City, returned to his room, and checked his plans before taking out two Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pills.
• Xiao Yu recalled his earlier failed attempts to refine the pills and how refining for Black Skeleton Tomb disciples had improved his alchemy skills and earned him ingredients.
• Xiao Yu planned to use the pills to increase his strength and leave the Black Skeleton Tomb under the pretext of carrying out a mission after Eagle Protector departed.

After reaching four-star Da Dou Shi, Xiao Yu used a system item to warn Han Jue to protect Xiao Zhan and guide Xiao Yan if he vanished. In the Black-Corner Region, Medusa confronted Xiao Yu after he kissed her, and he began explaining how her new strength and the Heaven Swallowing Python’s soul affected her.

• Xiao Yu swallowed two Purple Heart Barrier-Breaking Pills and advanced to four-star Da Dou Shi.
• Xiao Yu contacted Han Jue through a soul imprint and ordered him to protect Xiao Zhan and direct Xiao Yan to Jia Nan Academy if Xiao Zhan disappeared.
• Xiao Yu accidentally blasted through his inn room’s wall and pretended to be dead to avoid Medusa’s anger after kissing her.
• Medusa demanded to know where she was, and Xiao Yu told her they were in the Black-Corner Region.
• Xiao Yu asked Medusa whether she wanted to return to normal and explained that the Heaven Swallowing Python’s soul restricted her ability to use her strength.

Xiao Yu traded the Spirit Fusion Pill formula to Medusa for a future favor, and she decided to keep traveling with him rather than return to the Jia Ma Empire. At the auction, Xiao Yu found little of interest and secretly gave the maid an additional instruction while asking her to check for Medusa’s needed ingredients.

• Xiao Yu offered Medusa the Spirit Fusion Pill formula in exchange for a future favor, including his help during her tribulation, and she agreed.
• Medusa took the formula and told Xiao Yu she would not return to the Jia Ma Empire yet, but would continue following him and seek medicinal ingredients at the auction.
• Xiao Yu and Medusa attended the weekly auction, where a muscular man bought a suit of earth-attributed armor and Xiao Yu ignored the other offerings.
• Xiao Yu suggested asking the auction house’s manager about the ingredients, then gave the maid a list and quietly added another instruction.
• The maid went backstage to inform Qing Yin, while Xiao Yu returned to watching the auction with Medusa.

Xiao Yu bought the Void Blade at auction and gave Medusa a finely crafted pair of shoes, which she accepted and wore. After the auction, Medusa asked him to accompany her for a walk through Black Seal City, where two men began a suspicious staged fight near them.

• Xiao Yu bid against the crowd and bought the Void Blade for five hundred thousand.
• Medusa asked whether Xiao Yu had gathered all the medicinal ingredients, and he gave her a decorated pair of shoes as a gift.
• Medusa admired the shoes, put them on, and joined Xiao Yu for a walk after the auction ended.
• Xiao Yu and Medusa wandered through Black Seal City, where two men staged a fight that gradually moved toward them.

Xiao Yu reached Jia Nan Academy after receiving his identification badge and a Griffin ride to Canaan City. At Xun'er's secluded cultivation place, Bai Shan attacked him, but Xiao Yu blocked the strike and sent him flying.

• Medusa killed two men who had been about to beg for mercy, while Xiao Yu told the onlookers his survival was just luck.
• Huo De verified Xiao Yu's identity, gave him an academy badge, and arranged for Enforcement Team members to take him by Griffin to Canaan City.
• Xiao Yu arrived at Jia Nan Academy and headed toward Xun'er's secluded cultivation place.
• Bai Shan challenged Xiao Yu and attacked him, but Xiao Yu blocked the blow and knocked Bai Shan back.

Xiao Yu reunited with Xun'er at Jia Nan Academy and asked for help registering for the Inner Academy Selection Tournament as a Specially Invited Student. On the way to see Mentor Ruolin, he was interrupted by Xiao Ning, and their awkward scuffle ended with her asking why he was there.

• Xiao Yu blocked Bai Shan's attack, then greeted Xun'er when she arrived and teased her about looking for Xiao Yan.
• Bai Shan tried to learn who Xiao Yu was, but Xun'er rebuked him for calling her by name; Xiao Yu mocked Bai Shan as he left.
• Xiao Yu told Xun'er he wanted to register for the Inner Academy Selection Tournament, and she offered to take him to Mentor Ruolin because he had no mentor.
• Xun'er led Xiao Yu toward the mentors' resting area while he told her about his time with Xiao Yan and said his arrival in the Black-Corner Region had been an accident.
• Xiao Ning attacked Xiao Yu, but they both fell during the struggle; after getting up, Xiao Yu explained he had not been the one who touched her thigh.
• Xiao Ning asked why Xiao Yu was there, and he said Xun'er had brought him to register with Mentor Ruolin.

Xiao Yu met Instructor Ruolin and secured a place in the Inner Academy Selection Tournament after arriving at Jia Nan Academy. Ruolin also agreed to register Xiao Yan at Xun'er's request, and Xiao Ning took Xiao Yu to register for a dormitory.

• Xun'er brought Xiao Yu to meet Instructor Ruolin, who agreed to become his instructor and submit his name for the Inner Academy Selection Tournament.
• The system rewarded Xiao Yu for completing the mission to arrive at Jia Nan Academy, and he claimed the rewards except for the Dou Qi Points.
• Xun'er asked Ruolin to register her and Xiao Yan for the tournament, and Ruolin agreed after Xun'er promised Xiao Yan would come.
• Xiao Yu told Ruolin he was an eighteen-year-old five-star Da Dou Shi, surprising Ruolin, Xun'er, and Xiao Ning.
• Ruolin asked Xiao Ning to take Xiao Yu to register and show him to the dormitory, while Xun'er said goodbye and left.

Xiao Yu settled into his Jia Nan Academy dormitory while, a thousand miles away, Xiao Yan defeated Nalan Yanran in their Three-Year Agreement. After stopping Nalan Yanran from taking her own life and burning their marriage contract, Xiao Yan left the Misty Cloud Sect plaza, where Yun Leng called for him to wait.

• Xiao Yu followed Xiao Ning to his assigned dormitory, entered his room, and claimed his system reward for arriving at Jia Nan Academy.
• Xiao Yan defeated Nalan Yanran at the Misty Cloud Sect, and Jia Xing Tian explained that Xiao Yan had obtained the Ganlan Water Flame through a deal with the imperial family.
• Nalan Yanran accused Xiao Yan of shattering her dream, then attempted to kill herself after declaring that she would not honor the agreement to serve him.
• Xiao Yan knocked away Nalan Yanran's sword, rejected her offer to serve him, and burned their marriage contract, ending the tie between her and the Xiao Clan.
• Xiao Yan left the plaza, but Yun Leng called out for him to wait.

After Xiao Yan defeated Nalan Yanran, Yun Leng accused him of murdering Mo Cheng and tried to keep him at the Misty Cloud Sect for questioning. Yun Yun stopped Yun Leng for lack of clear evidence, leaving the accusation unresolved as Xiao Yan prepared to leave.

• Jia Xing Tian and Fa Ma discussed whether Yun Leng was trying to retaliate against Xiao Yan, while Hai Bo Dong worried that Xiao Yan's identity might be exposed.
• Yun Leng accused Xiao Yan of killing Mo Cheng, citing Ge Ye's identification, and Xiao Yan challenged the accusation as implausible.
• Yun Yun ordered Yun Leng to drop the matter because he had no concrete evidence, and Xiao Yan prepared to leave.
• Ge Ye recalled that the murderer had used a white flame, prompting Yun Leng to demand that Xiao Yan stay for an investigation.
• Yun Yun again forbade Yun Leng from detaining Xiao Yan and used her Dou Emperor pressure to compel him to stand down.