Recaps

Huo Dian and four Jia Nan Academy students were ambushed by Jing Gui as they neared Peace Town. Just as Jing Gui unleashed a killing technique, an unknown speaker appeared and vowed to protect them.

• Huo Dian praised the four students for completing their mission and promised them Fire Energy for cultivation at the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
• Jing Gui ambushed the group near Peace Town, wounding all five with a strange gale.
• Huo Dian confronted Jing Gui over his younger brother’s crimes and prepared to hold him back so the students could escape.
• Jing Gui used Ghost Wind Arrow against Huo Dian and the four students, leaving Huo Dian convinced they could not survive.
• An unknown speaker appeared beside Jing Gui and declared that they would protect Huo Dian and the students.

Xiao Lin saved Huo Dian and four Jia Nan Academy students from Jing Gui, then killed Jing Gui after the Dou Emperor threatened him. The five students watched as Xiao Lin demonstrated the gap between Dou Emperor and Dou Zong.

• Xiao Lin blocked Jing Gui's attack with his Star-Devouring Jade technique, protecting Huo Dian and the four Jia Nan Academy students.
• Jing Gui threatened Xiao Lin and tried to bribe him, prompting Xiao Lin to appear and reveal himself as a Dou Zong.
• Huo Dian and the students recognized Xiao Lin's strength and feared making any move that might anger him.
• Jing Gui apologized and tried to flee, but Xiao Lin pursued him with the Starlight Heaven-Suppressing Seal.
• Xiao Lin's seal crushed Jing Gui, killing another Dou Emperor.

After killing Jing Gui, Xiao Lin reassured Huo Dian and the Jia Nan Academy students that he meant them no harm. He revealed that he wanted to work at Jia Nan Academy as an elder, leaving the group stunned.

• Xiao Lin killed Jing Gui and approached Huo Dian and the four students, who watched him warily.
• Huo Dian thanked Xiao Lin for saving them and asked his name, and Xiao Lin introduced himself as Lin Xiao.
• Huo Dian grew suspicious when Xiao Lin said he had business at Jia Nan Academy, so Xiao Lin clarified that he had no ulterior motives.
• Xiao Lin asked whether Jia Nan Academy was recruiting elders and whether his strength qualified him for the position.
• Huo Dian and the four students were shocked that a Dou Zong wanted to become an elder.

Xiao Lin asked to join Jia Nan Academy as an elder so he could cultivate using the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower and its Fallen Heart Flame. Huo Dian sent four students ahead to inform First Elder Su Qian, then walked toward the academy with Xiao Lin, who concealed his background behind the alias Lin Xiao.

• Xiao Lin told Huo Dian that he wanted an elder's position at Jia Nan Academy to access the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
• Xiao Lin suggested that four students return first to tell First Elder Su Qian about his request while he and Huo Dian stayed behind and talked.
• Huo Dian agreed, then sent the four students toward the academy with instructions to report what had happened to Su Qian.
• Xiao Lin and Huo Dian began walking toward Jia Nan Academy, questioning each other along the way.
• Xiao Lin learned that Huo Dian was an academy elder and an Alchemist, and wondered if he was Elder Huo from the original story.
• Huo Dian learned only that Xiao Lin used the alias Lin Xiao and claimed to be an independent cultivator from the Central Plains.

Xiao Lin and Huo Dian entered Peace Town and reached Jia Nan Academy, where First Elder Su Qian welcomed them. After hearing Huo Dian’s account, Su Qian warmed to Xiao Lin but still intended to test the Dou Zong expert’s true intentions.

• Xiao Lin and Huo Dian entered Peace Town and passed the Death Spirit Tree, whose corpses warned Black-Corner Region troublemakers against breaking the peace.
• Peace Town’s law enforcement squad greeted Huo Dian respectfully and kept their distance from Xiao Lin after seeing them arrive together.
• Xiao Lin and Huo Dian toured the town before reaching Jia Nan Academy, where First Elder Su Qian and several Dou Emperor experts awaited them.
• Huo Dian spoke privately with Su Qian, who accepted that Xiao Lin might sincerely wish to join the academy but decided to test his character himself.

Xiao Lin met Jia Nan Academy’s First Elder, Su Qian, and confirmed that he wanted to join the academy as an elder so he could cultivate in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. He revealed that he had created a Spirit-Gathering Formation, and Su Qian realized it could greatly enhance the tower’s benefits for powerful cultivators.

• Su Qian thanked Xiao Lin for saving Huo Dian and four others, then asked whether he wanted to become an elder at Jia Nan Academy.
• Xiao Lin confirmed that he wanted the position so he could cultivate in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
• Su Qian warned Xiao Lin that the tower’s cultivation benefits were limited for Dou Zong and Dou Emperor experts.
• Xiao Lin revealed that he was a Formation Master who had developed the Spirit-Gathering Formation.
• Su Qian understood that combining the formation with the Fallen Heart Flame could boost cultivation for higher-level experts and became overjoyed.

Xiao Lin joined Jia Nan Academy as an elder after demonstrating his ability to set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation, while concealing that he was a Spirit Array Master. He agreed to build a formation in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower in a month and settled into his new residence.

• Su Qian welcomed Xiao Lin into Jia Nan Academy as an elder after learning he was a Dou Zong and Formation Master.
• Xiao Lin and Su Qian flew into the Inner Academy, drawing curiosity from the teachers, students, and elders who saw them.
• Xiao Lin set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation in a pavilion using materials supplied by the academy, and Su Qian urged him to stay.
• Xiao Lin agreed to set up another Spirit-Gathering Formation in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower one month later.
• Xiao Lin received an elder's robe and a spacious pavilion, while keeping his Spirit Array Master identity secret.

Xiao Lin settled into Jia Nan Academy, where eager students repeatedly tried to become his disciples, and prepared to install a Spirit-Gathering Formation in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. With the academy’s students and instructors waiting outside, he entered the tower to begin.

• Su Qian arranged two Dou Ling guards to keep students seeking Xiao Lin as their master away from his pavilion.
• Xiao Lin spent a month adjusting his condition while Jia Nan Academy gathered the materials for his Spirit-Gathering Formation.
• Su Qian cleared the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower so Xiao Lin could work on the formation.
• Students and instructors gathered outside the tower, hoping to cultivate there once the formation was complete.
• Su Qian gave Xiao Lin a Storage Ring containing the needed materials, and Xiao Lin entered the tower.

Xiao Lin set up more than a hundred Spirit-Gathering Formations throughout the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, dividing them by floor and cultivation area. Exhausted, he left the tower after sunset, having secured the right to cultivate there freely and enhanced the academy’s cultivation grounds.

• Xiao Lin experienced the Heart Flame on the tower’s first floor and recognized how it continually refined cultivators’ Dou Qi.
• Xiao Lin began setting up thirteen separate Spirit-Gathering Formations on each floor, following the plan he had agreed on with Su Qian.
• Xiao Lin placed first-tier formations on the first three floors, second-tier formations on the fourth through sixth, and third-tier formations on the seventh through ninth.
• Xiao Lin spent the day setting up more than a hundred formations and abandoned his plan to cultivate because of his mental exhaustion.
• Xiao Lin left the tower after sunset, relieved that the formations were complete and that he could cultivate there in the future without paying Fire Energy.

Xiao Lin completed Spirit-Gathering Formations in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, improving its cultivation benefits across all nine floors. After the academy celebrated and Su Qian tested the tower, Xiao Lin returned to his pavilion and broke through to the Two-Star Dou Zong Realm.

• Xiao Lin emerged from the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower and told Su Qian and the gathered academy members that the formations had been completed successfully.
• Teachers, students, and elders rushed into the tower to test its improved cultivation environment.
• The new formations assigned different floors cultivation benefits suited to ranks ranging from below Dou Ling to High-Rank Dou Zong.
• Su Qian thanked Xiao Lin on behalf of the academy, and Xiao Lin said he wanted to support Jia Nan Academy as one of its members.
• Su Qian entered the tower and confirmed that it benefited even a Dou Zong like him.
• Xiao Lin returned to his pavilion and broke through to the Two-Star Dou Zong Realm.

Xiao Lin unexpectedly advanced to Two-Star Dou Zong after setting up Spirit-Gathering Formations in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, then slept for a full day and night to recover his mental energy. Refreshed, he returned to the tower at night and headed for its ninth floor to cultivate.

• Xiao Lin realized that his cultivation had naturally advanced to Two-Star Dou Zong after his recent work setting up formations.
• Xiao Lin assessed that his cultivation now surpassed Su Qian’s, while Qian Bai Er Lao might still be stronger in Dou Qi.
• Xiao Lin chose to sleep rather than cultivate, and woke after a full day and night feeling refreshed.
• Xiao Lin went to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower at night, where the guards let him enter without charging Fire Energy under Su Qian’s promise.
• Xiao Lin headed straight to the ninth floor to experience the tower’s cultivation boost alongside its Third-Level Spirit-Gathering Formation.

Xiao Lin cultivated in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, discovered that its Heart Flame exhausted the mind more severely on higher floors, and adjusted his training to the seventh floor. After nearly two months there, he broke through from Two-Star Dou Zong to Three-Star Dou Zong with stable Dou Qi.

• Xiao Lin passed Su Qian on the seventh floor and saw Qian Bai Er Lao cultivating on the eighth before settling into the ninth-floor Training Room One.
• After nearly a month on the ninth floor, Xiao Lin left to rest when mental exhaustion set in and realized the tower’s Heart Flame caused the strain, especially on higher floors.
• Xiao Lin rested for a day, then returned to cultivate on the seventh floor instead of the ninth, finding Su Qian had already left.
• After nearly two months of cultivation, Xiao Lin absorbed the turbulent spiritual energy and broke through from Two-Star Dou Zong to Three-Star Dou Zong without unstable Dou Qi.

After reaching Three-Star Dou Zong, Xiao Lin left the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to recover his fatigued mind. First Elder Su Qian used Xiao Lin’s trust and promise to ask him to look after children, leaving Xiao Lin stunned.

• Xiao Lin returned to his residence after breaking through to Three-Star Dou Zong and rested for a day to recover from mental fatigue.
• First Elder Su Qian blocked Xiao Lin outside his pavilion before he could return to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
• Su Qian asked whether Xiao Lin was busy and requested a small favor, while avoiding his eyes.
• Xiao Lin agreed to help Su Qian, believing the request would be simple.
• Su Qian thanked Xiao Lin for agreeing to help look after children, and Xiao Lin was shocked by the request.

First Elder Su Qian tricked Xiao Lin into agreeing to look after his eight- or nine-year-old granddaughter, whom he described as unusually lively. Xiao Lin resigned himself to the task and planned to help her advance one minor realm quickly so he could return to cultivating.

• Su Qian revealed that he had a young granddaughter and insisted Xiao Lin take responsibility for her care.
• Xiao Lin realized Su Qian had deliberately trapped him, but he accepted that he could not back out of his promise.
• Su Qian said Xiao Lin only needed to look after the girl until she advanced one minor realm and assured him she cultivated on her own.
• Xiao Lin asked when Su Qian would bring his granddaughter over and expected helping her advance to be quick.

Xiao Lin agreed to look after First Elder Su Qian’s granddaughter and recognized the unusually powerful little girl as Zi Yan. He welcomed the task, while Zi Yan decided she would escape as soon as she got the chance.

• Xiao Lin stayed at his residence after agreeing to watch First Elder Su Qian’s granddaughter.
• First Elder Su Qian brought a reluctant purple-haired little girl to meet Xiao Lin.
• Xiao Lin sensed the girl’s remarkable cultivation and suspected she was Zi Yan.
• First Elder Su Qian introduced the girl as Zi Yan and asked Xiao Lin to take care of her.
• Xiao Lin agreed, while Zi Yan insisted nobody could stop her from leaving and planned to escape.

Xiao Lin accepted responsibility for looking after Zi Yan, partly because her innate mastery of spatial power could help him advance toward the Dou Venerable realm. After Su Qian left, Zi Yan complained that Xiao Lin had no medicinal herbs or pills, while Xiao Lin pretended to be an ordinary Formation Master and planned how to enlist her help.

• Su Qian sternly told Zi Yan not to trouble Xiao Lin, then asked Xiao Lin to look after her.
• Xiao Lin agreed to care for Zi Yan, seeing both a chance to build ties with the Ancient Void Dragons and an opportunity to learn about spatial power.
• Su Qian left Xiao Lin's courtyard, leaving Xiao Lin and Zi Yan alone.
• Zi Yan mocked Xiao Lin for having no medicinal-herb scent and called him a poor elder.
• Xiao Lin claimed he had no herbs or pills, and Zi Yan asked whether he had anything delicious to eat.

Xiao Lin persuaded Zi Yan to team up with him to steal the elders’ hidden pills and medicinal ingredients. The newly formed pair set off to begin their scheme at Jia Nan Academy.

• Zi Yan questioned whether Xiao Lin could take care of her when he had no pills or medicinal ingredients.
• Xiao Lin told Zi Yan that other people had the supplies she needed, and she complained that the elders hid them from her.
• Xiao Lin suggested that he and Zi Yan join forces to steal the elders’ pills and medicinal ingredients.
• Zi Yan agreed to Xiao Lin’s plan, and they decided to set off immediately.

Xiao Lin helped Zi Yan raid Huo Dian’s residence, using his Heavenly Realm Soul Power to conceal their movements while she stole his medicinal ingredients. They escaped unnoticed, and Huo Dian later discovered the theft and recognized Zi Yan as the culprit.

• Zi Yan chose Huo Dian as her first target because the Alchemist kept many medicinal ingredients and pills.
• Zi Yan opened a spatial passage, and Xiao Lin followed her through it, quickly adjusting to the journey.
• Xiao Lin concealed their disturbances while Zi Yan looted the ingredients in Huo Dian’s residence, leaving the room where he was staying untouched.
• Xiao Lin and Zi Yan left without being noticed, and Huo Dian later found his ingredients gone and roared Zi Yan’s name.
• Huo Dian accepted the loss and praised Zi Yan’s growing mastery of spatial power.

Xiao Lin realized Su Qian had entrusted Zi Yan to him to help her train, using the academy elders’ medicinal herbs as practice targets. Their raids had also improved Xiao Lin’s spatial mastery, and he considered seeking more challenging training before Zi Yan mistook his gaze for hunger and offered him an herb.

• Zi Yan and Xiao Lin continued raiding the elders’ residences, leaving Jia Nan Academy’s elders wary and frustrated while the students took the blame for their anger.
• Xiao Lin inferred that the elders had deliberately left medicinal herbs in their homes as training targets for Zi Yan, with Su Qian’s approval.
• Xiao Lin realized Su Qian had assigned him to help Zi Yan grow and acknowledged that accompanying her had greatly improved his own spatial mastery.
• Xiao Lin thought Zi Yan’s training was not challenging enough and looked toward her, prompting her to offer him a fourth-grade medicinal herb.

Xiao Lin considered how Zi Yan’s raw consumption of medicinal herbs had built up energy in her body and proposed finding higher-grade supplies beyond Jia Nan Academy. Zi Yan hesitated at the risks of entering the Black-Corner Region, and Xiao Lin revealed that he was a Three-Star Dou Zong.

• Xiao Lin refused Zi Yan’s offer of medicinal herbs, and she happily kept them for herself.
• Xiao Lin wondered whether Zi Yan could absorb the energy accumulated from eating herbs and pills, and suspected Grand Elder Su Qian had allowed her to do so as a form of tempering.
• Xiao Lin asked whether Zi Yan wanted higher-grade herbs and pills, and she explained that the academy’s best supplies were inaccessible or carried by its elders.
• Xiao Lin suggested they look beyond Jia Nan Academy, and Zi Yan realized he meant the Black-Corner Region but hesitated over the danger.
• Xiao Lin revealed his Three-Star Dou Zong cultivation to Zi Yan.

Xiao Lin revealed his Dou Zong strength to Zi Yan and persuaded her to travel with him to the Black-Corner Region. When he told First Elder Su Qian they planned to go, he argued that Jia Nan Academy should periodically curb the region’s power to protect its students, leaving Su Qian interested in the proposal.

• Xiao Lin showed Zi Yan his Dou Zong cultivation, surprising her and giving her confidence to enter the Black-Corner Region with him.
• Zi Yan agreed to travel with Xiao Lin after learning he was stronger than First Elder Su Qian.
• Xiao Lin and Zi Yan went to Su Qian’s office and announced their plan to visit the Black-Corner Region.
• Su Qian worried about Zi Yan’s safety, but Xiao Lin promised to bring her back unharmed.
• Xiao Lin argued that Jia Nan Academy should periodically weaken the Black-Corner Region to protect students, and Su Qian became interested in the suggestion.

Xiao Lin persuaded First Elder Su Qian to approve a covert plan to weaken the Black-Corner Region’s factions, with Zi Yan’s innate ability at its core. After making preparations, Xiao Lin and Zi Yan left Jia Nan Academy and entered the Black-Corner Region to carry out the plan.

• Xiao Lin assured First Elder Su Qian that his plan would avoid implicating Jia Nan Academy in the Black-Corner Region’s retaliation.
• Xiao Lin explained the plan, and First Elder Su Qian agreed to let him and Zi Yan attempt it while warning them to retreat if things became dangerous.
• Xiao Lin promised to protect Zi Yan, then left Su Qian to meet her outside.
• Xiao Lin told Zi Yan that Su Qian had approved the plan, and she eagerly prepared to show what she could do.
• Xiao Lin and Zi Yan departed Jia Nan Academy and Peace Town and entered the Black-Corner Region.

Xiao Lin reviewed Jia Nan Academy’s intelligence on the Black-Corner Region and planned to weaken its powerful factions, especially the ambitious Black Hell Alliance. Zi Yan randomly chose their first target, and Xiao Lin decided to leave the Black Hell Alliance for last—until she happened to draw it.

• Xiao Lin read the faction reports First Elder Su Qian had prepared and learned that the Black-Corner Region’s many Dou Emperor factions could threaten Jia Nan Academy if united.
• Zi Yan complained that Xiao Lin was delaying their search for medicinal herbs and pills, so he let her choose a faction from the reports.
• Xiao Lin identified the Black Hell Alliance as the greatest threat because it had a Dou Zong expert and secretly sought to unite the Black-Corner Region.
• Xiao Lin considered whether Han Feng had reached the region yet, learned he had not, and decided to leave the Black Hell Alliance for last.
• Zi Yan randomly selected a report and chose the Black Hell Alliance as their first target.

Xiao Lin and Zi Yan chose the Blood Sect as their first target after Zi Yan drew its file, while Xiao Lin reserved the Black Hell Alliance for last. They secretly entered the Blood Sect, emptied its medicinal-materials storehouse, and Xiao Lin left a message claiming Jia Nan Academy was responsible.

• Zi Yan drew the Black Hell Alliance's file, but Xiao Lin set it aside and had her choose again.
• Zi Yan drew the Blood Sect's file, and Xiao Lin agreed to target it.
• Xiao Lin and Zi Yan entered the Blood Sect headquarters through a spatial passage, concealed by Xiao Lin's Heavenly Realm Soul Power.
• Zi Yan collected every medicinal material in the Blood Sect's storehouse, including its Tier 7 Earthheart Water-Fire Grass.
• Xiao Lin left the words "Jia Nan Academy Did It!" in the emptied storehouse.

Xiao Lin and Zi Yan emptied the Blood Sect’s herb storeroom, and Xiao Lin explained that he had left a message blaming Jia Nan Academy to divert suspicion. After Zi Yan chose the Ghost Emperor Hall as their next target, Fan Lao discovered the theft and concluded that Jia Nan Academy had been framed, leaving the culprit unidentified.

• Xiao Lin told Zi Yan that the message he left in the Blood Sect’s herb storeroom would make Fan Lao less likely to suspect Jia Nan Academy.
• Zi Yan chose the Ghost Emperor Hall, another Dou Emperor-level faction, as their next target.
• A Blood Sect elder discovered the empty herb storeroom and reported the theft to sect master Fan Lao.
• Fan Lao saw the message blaming Jia Nan Academy and slapped the elder when he assumed the academy was responsible.
• Fan Lao reasoned that Jia Nan Academy would not leave such an obvious accusation and concluded that another faction had tried to frame it.