Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yun defeated and killed Fan Lao in Twilight City, then flew to Peace Town, the gateway to Jia Nan Academy. There, he reunited with Elder Wu, who was delighted to learn he had survived.

• Xiao Yun overwhelmed Fan Lao’s Blood Sea with Heavenly Flames and chased him as he fled Twilight City.
• Xiao Yun pierced Fan Lao’s throat, took his Storage Ring, and burned his body to ashes.
• Xiao Yun flew to Peace Town, where Wu Tianlang stopped him before he could enter.
• Xiao Yun confirmed his identity, and Elder Wu welcomed him back with delight.

Xiao Yun returned to Jia Nan Academy after two and a half years, reuniting with Fire Elder and explaining how he had grown to the Five-Star Dou Emperor level. He promised to help the academy’s elders deal with Han Feng and left Fire Elder pills to dispel his accumulated Fire Poison.

• Elder Wu told Xiao Yun that the academy had feared he was dead after he vanished, and that Fire Elder had cultivated desperately while searching for him.
• Xiao Yun hurried to Jia Nan Academy, where he reunited with Fire Elder and apologized for making him worry.
• Xiao Yun explained that he had spent two and a half years cultivating in the Thunder Formation and had reached the Five-Star Dou Emperor level.
• Xiao Yun revealed that he had killed Fan Lao with the Green Lotus Core Flame and promised to refine Sect-Breaking Pills for Hu Gan and the other elders after dealing with Han Feng.
• Xiao Yun gave Fire Elder pills to dispel his Fire Poison and urged him to stop cultivating for now.

Xiao Yun gathered ingredients in the Inner Academy and refined a Jade Clear Pill to treat Fire Elder’s Fire Poison, deliberately creating a disturbance that would draw Han Feng’s attention. Su Qian went to investigate, while Han Feng mistook the pill’s aura for Yao Lao’s work and prepared against his enemies as he waited to obtain the complete Flame Mantra.

• Xiao Yun received recipes from Yao Lao for a Jade Clear Pill to remove Fire Elder’s Fire Poison and an Earth Core Pill to help him break through to Dou Emperor.
• Xiao Yun collected rare medicinal ingredients from the Medicinal Herb Repository after promising Elder Hao a Dou Ling Pill.
• Xiao Yun began refining the Jade Clear Pill in the back mountains, intending for Han Feng to sense the disturbance and find him.
• Su Qian detected the Sixth-Tier Pill’s energy and rushed toward the back mountains to investigate.
• Han Feng ordered his men to summon the Heavenly Yin Sect, Earth Flame Sect, and Crazy Lion Gang to discuss Xiao Yun’s killing of Fan Lao.
• Han Feng mistook the pill’s aura for Yao Lao’s work, fantasized about taking the Heavenly Flames, and suppressed an eruption of Sea Heart Flame within his body.

After refining a Jade Clear Pill, Xiao Yun secured the Qian-Bai Elders’ promise to intervene if a powerful Dou Zong threatened Jia Nan Academy during the coming battle with Han Feng. In Maple City, Han Feng recruited the Golden-Silver Elders with the promise of Sect-Breaking Pills, setting the attack in motion.

• Xiao Yun met Su Qian after refining the Jade Clear Pill, and Su Qian gave him a token to visit the Library Pavilion.
• Xiao Yun asked the Qian-Bai Elders to help defend Jia Nan Academy and offered them two Venerable-Breaking Pills in exchange.
• The Qian-Bai Elders agreed to intervene only if an enemy appeared whom Xiao Yun and the academy could not defeat.
• Xiao Yun told Hu Gan that he intended to kill Han Feng himself, and Hu Gan warned him about possible retaliation from Venerable Yao’s former allies.
• In Maple City, Han Feng asked the Golden-Silver Elders to help seize Xiao Yun’s Heavenly Flame and offered them two Sect-Breaking Pills.

Xiao Yun and Jia Nan Academy prepared to face Han Feng and his Black-Corner Region forces, who had come to seize him. Their confrontation erupted into battle, and Xiao Yun used his speed and strength to gain the upper hand against Han Feng.

• Xiao Yun teased Zi Yan about leaving, then told her Han Feng had arrived with a large group; Su Qian and Jia Nan Academy's elders gathered to defend him.
• Su Qian confirmed the students had been evacuated, and the academy's elders flew out to confront Han Feng and his forces.
• Han Feng demanded that Jia Nan Academy hand over Xiao Yun, while Old Fire and Su Qian rejected him and vowed to protect Xiao Yun.
• The Golden-Silver Elders blocked Su Qian as the other Black-Corner Region experts engaged Jia Nan Academy's elders.
• Han Feng attacked Xiao Yun with a flame trident, and Xiao Yun countered with his spear and green flames before using lightning-fast movement to send Han Feng flying.

Xiao Yun fought Han Feng above Jia Nan Academy, first gaining the advantage with his speed before Han Feng used a Berserk Qi Pill to reach Half-Step Dou Zong and suppress him. As Xiao Yun endured the battle until the pill’s effects began to fade, Han Feng crushed a jade pendant and called for Hai Protector to save him.

• Xiao Yun killed Yan with a surprise spear attack, then sent Yao Lao and Xian'er to help the other elders before charging Han Feng.
• Xiao Yun evaded Han Feng’s Radiant Seal and struck him with Mad Lion Devours Flame, sending him crashing into the forest.
• Han Feng swallowed several pills, reached Half-Step Dou Zong strength, and forced Xiao Yun into a desperate defense.
• Yao Lao offered to transfer his Soul Power, but Xiao Yun refused because Yao Lao had little power left.
• Xiao Yun realized Han Feng’s pill would soon lose its effect, while Han Feng stopped fighting and tried to bargain for Yao Lao’s soul.
• Han Feng crushed a jade pendant and shouted for Hai Protector to save him.

Xiao Yun confronted Han Feng and the Hall of Souls Protector who came to seize Yao Chen, while the Qian-Bai Elders revealed their strength and intervened. With the Protector trapped and the Black-Corner Region forces losing heart, Xiao Yun killed Han Feng, captured his soul for Yao Lao, and joined the elders in battle.

• Hai Protector appeared and attacked Xiao Yun with black chains, but the Qian-Bai Elders caught them.
• The Qian-Bai Elders revealed themselves as powerful Dou Zongs and blocked Hai Protector when he tried to flee.
• Su Qian led Jia Nan Academy's fighters against the retreating Black-Corner Region forces.
• Xiao Yun caught the weakened Han Feng, killed him, and extracted his soul.
• Xiao Yun sealed Han Feng's soul in a jade bottle and gave it to Yao Lao before joining the fight.

Xiao Yun and Jia Nan Academy defeated Han Feng’s forces, and Xiao Yun claimed Han Feng’s valuable Nethersea Ring. After learning how to resolve Xiao Yi Xian’s Woeful Poison Body, he prepared to help the academy’s elders and left with the remaining ingredients needed for the Poison Pill still to find.

• Xiao Yun killed Golden Elder, while Qian-Bai Elders defeated Hai Protector and handed his sealed soul body to Xiao Yun.
• Su Qian ordered the elders to clean up the battlefield and planned to destroy the Black-Corner Region factions’ strongholds; Xiao Yun returned to the Inner Academy to recover.
• Xiao Yun erased Han Feng’s soul imprint from the Nethersea Ring and discovered its wealth of treasures, pill formulas, and alchemist inheritances.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yun that he would keep Han Feng alive and discussed the Heavenly Flames needed to cultivate Thunderfire Flame.
• Xiao Yun asked Yao Lao about Xiao Yi Xian’s Woeful Poison Body and received the Poison Pill Method, which required three Heavenly Flames, a Seventh Order Heavenly Poison Scorpion Dragon Beast magic core, and Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva.
• With his condition recovered, Xiao Yun left to fulfill his promise to refine pills for Jia Nan Academy’s elders.

After three months of refining pills for Jia Nan Academy, Xiao Yun gave Wu Tianlang a Sect-Breaking Pill and offered Fire Elder the Sea Heart Flame. He secured the flame seed from Han Feng and stored it safely for Fire Elder to absorb after reaching Dou Emperor.

• Xiao Yun refined pills at the Inner Academy while Jia Nan Academy’s elders raided factions whose leaders had been defeated and hung from the Death Spirit Tree.
• News of Han Feng’s defeat spread through the Black-Corner Region, and rival factions fought to claim the territories he and his allies had controlled.
• Xiao Yun completed a Peak Sixth-Tier Sect-Breaking Pill and handed it to Wu Tianlang, who hoped to use it to break through to Dou Zong.
• Xiao Yun gave Fire Elder Earth Core Pills and revealed that he had prepared Han Feng’s Sea Heart Flame for his teacher.
• Han Feng resisted Xiao Yun’s demand for the Sea Heart Flame, but Xiao Yun burned his soul until he surrendered its flame seed and then handed Han Feng’s soul to Yao Lao.
• Xiao Yun sealed the Sea Heart Flame in the Green Lotus Platform for Fire Elder to absorb after reaching Dou Emperor.

Xiao Yun was appointed an elder of Jia Nan Academy and asked Su Qian to take him to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower for Heart Flame Body Tempering. He endured the Origin Heart Flame entering his body while secretly preparing to pursue the sealed Falling Heart Flame.

• Fire Elder accepted the Green Lotus Platform and flew back to prepare for a breakthrough, while Wu Tianlang followed to use his Sect-Breaking Pill.
• Su Qian appointed Xiao Yun an elder of Jia Nan Academy, and Xiao Yun returned the pills he had refined for Zi Yan.
• Xiao Yun asked Su Qian for Heart Flame Body Tempering, and Su Qian agreed to take him into the tower's deepest level.
• Su Qian revealed a wisp of the Falling Heart Flame's Origin Heart Flame and sent it into Xiao Yun's body.
• Two guardians checked on Xiao Yun, confirmed that the Falling Heart Flame remained sealed, and stayed behind as Su Qian left.

Xiao Yun began cultivating the Thunderfire Flame technique by drawing the Blood Thunder into his body and fusing it with the Green Lotus Core Flame. As the dangerous fusion continued, Su Qian left to gather the Elders and reinforce the tower’s seals against the Falling Heart Flame.

• Xiao Yun chose to refine the Thunderfire Flame without waiting for stronger Pill Lightning, and two hidden Elders agreed to let him cultivate inside the Ancient Pagoda Space.
• Xiao Yun summoned the Blood Thunder, which seemed weaker than before, and pulled it into his body as the two Elders fled to warn Su Qian.
• Yao Lao urged Xiao Yun to circulate the Thunderfire Flame and fuse the Blood Thunder with the Green Lotus Core Flame; the Golden Scroll released energy that helped the two powers begin merging.
• Xiao Yun endured the fusion’s intense pain as the Heavenly Flame and lightning tempered his body, while the power spreading through the space alarmed the Elders.
• Su Qian tried to approach Xiao Yun but was driven back by the lightning and flame, so he left to gather the Elders and reinforce the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’s seals.

After fusing with the Green Lotus Core Flame, Xiao Yun emerged as an Eight-Star Dou Emperor with a devastating Thunderfire Flame. The Falling Heart Flame broke free of its seals, and Xiao Yun began subduing it while Su Qian evacuated the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.

• Xiao Yun emerged from his cocoon of black debris and checked his Status Panel, discovering that his cultivation had reached Eight-Star Dou Emperor.
• Yao Lao explained that Xiao Yun had absorbed energy from the Green Lotus Core Flame, and Xiao Yun revealed that his Thunderfire Flame could unleash power comparable to a Dou Zun's strike.
• Xiao Yun and Yao Lao saw the intelligent Falling Heart Flame approach through the Fire Well and break through the spatial seals.
• Su Qian sensed the seals failing, received Xiao Yun's assurance that he would handle the flame, and ordered the students evacuated from the tower.
• The Falling Heart Flame burst into the Ancient Tower Space, and Xiao Yun struck its head, knocking it back into the Fire Well.

Xiao Yun fought Falling Heart Flame in its magma lair and deliberately feigned exhaustion to draw out its hidden Source Heart Flame. After capturing the flame snake, he began the devouring process.

• Xiao Yun entered Falling Heart Flame's lair and used Azure Lightning to withstand its attacks and strike back.
• Xiao Yun and Yao Lao concluded that Falling Heart Flame's Source Heart Flame was hidden in the magma and would emerge when Xiao Yun seemed depleted.
• Xiao Yun pretended to run out of Dou Qi, repeatedly restoring it with Qi Recovery Pills until the pills became less effective.
• Falling Heart Flame struck Xiao Yun down, and its Source Heart Flame emerged from the magma to join it.
• Xiao Yun revealed his trap, seized and knocked unconscious the Source Heart Flame, then swallowed it with the Earth Spirit Pill to begin devouring it.

Xiao Yun subdued Falling Heart Flame without erasing its intelligence, then followed its call through the lava to a hidden space containing a juvenile Falling Heart Flame and the residual soul of Skyfire Venerable. Xiao Yun and Yao Lao offered to restore Yao Tian Huo and help him leave in exchange for the young flame, with Yao Lao adding a method of resurrection.

• Xiao Yun used Azure Lightning to restrain Falling Heart Flame until it submitted, then guided it through his meridians and into his Naling.
• Xiao Yun confirmed that he remained a Nine-Star Dou Emperor and explained to Yao Lao that he planned to stabilize his cultivation before advancing to Dou Zong.
• Falling Heart Flame sensed a call beneath the lava, so Xiao Yun and Yao Lao followed it, evaded two Lizardmen, and entered a space beyond a transparent barrier.
• Xiao Yun and Yao Lao found a juvenile Falling Heart Flame atop a mysterious skeleton, where the residual soul introduced himself as Yao Tian Huo, also known as Skyfire Venerable.
• Xiao Yun offered to restore Yao Tian Huo's soul and take him away in exchange for the juvenile flame, and Yao Lao promised to share a method of resurrection.

Xiao Yun gained Yao Tian Huo’s trust by promising to revive him, and received the Five-Wheel Flame Separation Technique and the juvenile Falling Heart Flame. He returned from the Underground Magma World to Jia Nan Academy, where he learned he had been gone nearly a year and the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’s effects had declined.

• Yao Tian Huo agreed to let Xiao Yun revive him and gave him the Five-Wheel Flame Separation Technique in exchange for Xiao Yun’s promise to protect him after his revival.
• Yao Tian Huo warned Xiao Yun not to fuse the two Falling Heart Flames, then entrusted him with the juvenile flame and explained how a Dou Zun-strength Lizardman had attacked him.
• Xiao Yun collected Yao Tian Huo’s remains and left the magma world with Yao Lao and Fire Elder in their Storage Rings.
• Xiao Yun emerged from the magma river and entered the Fire Well leading to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
• Elder Liu and Elder Hao told Xiao Yun he had been underground for nearly a year and that the tower’s effects had weakened; they recognized the Falling Heart Flame he carried.
• Xiao Yun admitted he had taken the flame, then departed to deliver it to the First Elder.

Xiao Yun returned the juvenile Falling Heart Flame to the Inner Academy and took charge of the Outer Academy’s Alchemy Department. He found the Sea Heart Flame sealed beneath the department and began refining a pill to restore Yao Tian Huo’s soul.

• Xiao Yun gave Su Qian the juvenile Falling Heart Flame, and Su Qian stored it in a container and confirmed that its cultivation effect was only slightly weaker than the original flame’s.
• Su Qian told Xiao Yun that his teachers were still in seclusion, then sent him to manage the Alchemy Department as Fire Elder had instructed.
• Xiao Yun became head of the Alchemy Department and asked an instructor to gather herbs for him, including the ingredients for Soul-Nourishing Saliva.
• Xiao Yun discovered the Sea Heart Flame sealed in the department’s magma pool and learned from Yao Lao that it had belonged to Han Feng.
• Yao Tian Huo judged that the seals could contain the unintelligent Sea Heart Flame for at least two more years, and Xiao Yun began refining a pill to restore his soul.

Xiao Yan attended class after receiving personal alchemy instruction, then learned that Xiao Yun was refining a Seventh-Tier Pill. Xiao Yun successfully created the Venerable-Breaking Pill but collapsed from exhaustion, and another heavenly phenomenon appeared twenty days later.

• Instructor Lin demonstrated how to refine a second-tier Qi Recovery Pill for Xiao Yan, who arrived late to Instructor Ruo Lin's class.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Ning, and Xiao Yu that Nalan Yanran had privately sought to break off their engagement, but he had not yet told Xiao Yun.
• Xiao Yun's Seventh-Tier Pill refinement unleashed a powerful energy surge and Pill Lightning, which a Qian-Bai Elder blocked.
• Xiao Yun captured the pill after it tried to escape and promised Bai Lao he would refine another Venerable-Breaking Pill after recovering.
• Xiao Yun admitted his exhaustion to Hu Gan and the other elders, then fell asleep in his resting room.
• Twenty days later, another heavenly phenomenon appeared above the Alchemy Department building.

Xiao Yun broke through to One-Star Dou Zong in the Magma World and prepared to leave Jia Nan Academy for the Central Plains with Xiao Yi Xian and Zi Yan. Before departing, he advised Xiao Yan to focus on becoming stronger rather than seeking revenge over Nalan Yanran’s broken engagement, and told him about a coming alchemist route into the Inner Academy.

• Xiao Yun swallowed an Emperor's Extreme Pill and broke through from Peak Dou Emperor to One-Star Dou Zong, while Su Qian shielded the tower from the released energy.
• Xiao Yun told Su Qian he planned to return to his clan before heading to the Central Plains, and Su Qian gave him Mang Tian Chi's token and asked him to take Zi Yan to find her people.
• Xiao Yun told Xiao Yi Xian and Zi Yan he would travel to the Central Plains, then gave them cultivation resources for Qing Lin and said she would remain behind for now.
• Xiao Yun found Xiao Yan waiting at his office after Nalan Yanran went to the Xiao Clan to annul their engagement, and persuaded Xiao Yan to focus on surpassing her instead of retaliating.
• Xiao Yun told Xiao Yan that reaching Third-Tier Alchemist would let him enter the Inner Academy through a new alchemist channel, which Xiao Yan believed his cousin had arranged through his influence.

Xiao Yun went to Black Emperor City to find Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva for Xiao Yi Xian and learned that Mo Tianxing possessed some. Mo Tianxing demanded more than Xiao Yun’s offer of two pills, so Xiao Yun left the Black Emperor Pavilion without making a deal.

• Xiao Yun brought Xiao Yi Xian and Zi Yan to Black Emperor City to seek information about Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva.
• A gate elder recognized Xiao Yun and reported his arrival to Mo Tianxing, who welcomed the group at Black Emperor Pavilion.
• Xiao Yun offered Mo Tianxing a Sect-Breaking Pill in exchange for the Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva, and Mo Ya and Mo Tianxing coveted the pill.
• Mo Tianxing admitted that he possessed the saliva but claimed it was worth more because it might reveal information about the Bodhi Heart.
• Xiao Yun raised his offer to two pills, but Mo Tianxing still refused; Zi Yan protested, and Xiao Yun left with Xiao Yi Xian and Zi Yan.

Xiao Yun negotiated with Mo Tianxing for the Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva, and Mo Tianxing ultimately agreed to trade it for two pills and an apology gift. Xiao Yun left Black Emperor City with Xiao Yi Xian and Zi Yan, while Zi Yan remained baffled by the humans’ bargaining.

• Mo Ya suggested ambushing Xiao Yun for the Sect-Breaking Pill, but Mo Tianxing warned that Xiao Yun’s strength and connections made the plan too dangerous.
• Mo Tianxing decided to wait and prepared a Fifth-Tier Medicinal Material as an apology while Xiao Yun’s group flew away from Black Emperor City.
• Mo Tianxing caught up with Xiao Yun and invited him back to complete the trade, leaving Zi Yan confused by his change of heart.
• Mo Ya presented Xiao Yun with the medicinal material, and Xiao Yun exchanged a Sect-Breaking Pill and an Emperor's Extreme Pill for the Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva.
• Xiao Yun, Xiao Yi Xian, and Zi Yan left the Black Emperor Pavilion, and Zi Yan wondered why Mo Tianxing had changed his mind.