Recaps

After reaching Nine-Star Dou Zong, Xiao Lin secretly left the Heavenly Water Cold Pool and headed for the Heavenly Serpent Empire's imperial palace to take advantage of the conflict. At the pool, Earth Snake betrayed the Heavenly Serpent Mansion, revealing that he had long been an imperial-family spy and using the Crimson Flame Immortal Spirit Liquid to increase his strength.

• Xiao Lin quietly departed the Heavenly Water Cold Pool after breaking through to Nine-Star Dou Zong and made for the imperial palace.
• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor confronted the Former Mansion Lord, whose unstable aura showed that his secluded cultivation had been interrupted.
• Earth Snake attacked the Former Mansion Lord, Golden Snake, and Wood Snake from behind, then drank the half-finished Crimson Flame Immortal Spirit Liquid and rose to Three-Star Dou Zong.
• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor revealed that Earth Snake had been planted in the Heavenly Serpent Mansion as a child and had served the imperial family as a spy.
• Earth Snake celebrated his return to the imperial family while Golden Snake condemned the betrayal and blamed himself for failing to uncover it.

The Heavenly Serpent Emperor’s attack on the Heavenly Serpent Mansion appeared to have failed when the Former Mansion Lord revealed that he had secretly been a One-Star Dou Venerable for more than a decade. With the Water Serene Demon Python kept occupied by the Imperial Family’s allies, the Emperor drew the Son of Heaven Sword and declared that his own strength was his final trump card.

• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor dismissed Golden Snake’s accusation and taunted the Former Mansion Lord as the injured Mansion Lord leaders faced the Imperial Family.
• The Former Mansion Lord compressed the space around the Heavenly Serpent Emperor, revealing that he was a Dou Venerable.
• The Former Mansion Lord explained that he had secretly reached One-Star Dou Venerable years earlier, though his later attempt to advance to Two-Star had failed.
• Golden Snake and Wood Snake fought Earth Serpent, Yellow Serpent, and Earth Snake while the Former Mansion Lord faced the Heavenly Serpent Emperor.
• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor revealed that the Dark Abyss Sect and Gray Wolf Valley were keeping the Water Serene Demon Python occupied.
• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor declared his strength to be his final trump card and drew the Son of Heaven Sword to challenge the Former Mansion Lord.

The Heavenly Serpent Emperor revealed his Sword Dao and wounded the Former Mansion Lord of Heavenly Serpent Mansion, turning their clash into a battle between a Nine-Star Dou Zong and a One-Star Dou Venerable. While the imperial family and Heavenly Serpent Mansion fought, Xiao Lin slipped into the imperial palace to search for treasure.

• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor drew the Son of Heaven Sword and wounded the Former Mansion Lord with Wind's Extremity: Annihilation.
• The Former Mansion Lord recognized the Heavenly Serpent Emperor's Sword Dao, and the two began fighting without restraint.
• Dou Zong experts emerging from the Heavenly Water Cold Pool saw the battle, and one who tried to take advantage of the chaos was killed.
• The Dark Abyss Sect and Gray Wolf Valley experts continued fighting the Water Serene Demon Python while the other Dou Zongs stayed out of the conflict.
• Xiao Lin left the battlefield unseen, evaded the palace guards, and headed toward the imperial palace's deepest chambers to seize its treasures.

Xiao Lin infiltrated the Heavenly Serpent Empire’s imperial palace while its forces were fighting the Heavenly Serpent Mansion, then found and seized control of a guarded treasure hall’s formation. He left the guards trapped inside the formation as it began attacking them.

• Xiao Lin slipped into the imperial palace and identified a heavily guarded hall as his likely target.
• Xiao Lin discovered the Spirit-Transforming Feather Serpent Formation around the hall and studied it for half an hour.
• Xiao Lin used his Spirit Array Master abilities to take control of the fourth-grade formation and activate it against the guards.
• The formation revealed and targeted the guards, killing a Dou Emperor and a Dou Wang with sudden attacks.
• The surviving Dou Emperor commander ordered the guards to move, but Xiao Lin’s formation continued to threaten them.

Xiao Lin used the Heavenly Serpent Imperial Family’s Spirit-Transforming Feather Serpent Formation to kill the palace guards, then discovered the building was an ancestral shrine rather than a treasure vault. He hid as Mystic Serpent arrived to search for a secret treasure of his own, revealing plans to abandon the imperial family and flee.

• Xiao Lin controlled the Spirit-Transforming Feather Serpent Formation and killed the Heavenly Serpent Imperial Palace guards, mastering his first Fourth-Level Spirit Formation in the process.
• Xiao Lin entered the palace and found portraits and memorial tablets instead of treasure, realizing he had broken into the imperial family’s ancestral shrine.
• Hearing someone approach, Xiao Lin concealed himself with Heavenly Realm Soul Power.
• Mystic Serpent entered the shrine, searched for the intruder, and assumed the person who had killed the guards had already left.
• Mystic Serpent came seeking a secret treasure and planned to seize it during the conflict with the Heavenly Serpent Mansion, then leave the empire and live for himself.

Xiao Lin secretly watched Mystic Serpent enter the ancestral shrine and learned that Mystic Serpent had fabricated the deal with Jia Nan Academy. Mystic Serpent uncovered a blood-locked hidden door behind the imperial spirit tablets, leaving Xiao Lin poised to discover what lay beyond it.

• Mystic Serpent cursed the Heavenly Serpent Mansion and the imperial family as he approached the ancestral shrine, while Xiao Lin hid and observed him.
• The chapter revealed that Mystic Serpent had invented the deal with Jia Nan Academy, deceiving both the academy and the Heavenly Serpent Emperor for his own purposes.
• Mystic Serpent swept the ancestral spirit tablets onto the floor, and Xiao Lin resolved to kill him for his disrespectful actions.
• Mystic Serpent found a hidden door behind the tablets and cut his palm, using his blood to activate its bloodline lock.

Xiao Lin followed Mystic Serpent into the hidden chamber of the Heavenly Serpent Imperial Ancestral Shrine and watched him reveal the ten Earth Rank Cultivation Methods and Dou Techniques. Xiao Lin ambushed and killed Mystic Serpent before he could take them, leaving Mystic Serpent’s soul trapped behind a wall of soul power.

• Mystic Serpent opened the hidden door with his blood and waited inside to make sure no one had followed him.
• Mystic Serpent went to the sandalwood boxes and explained his long-standing resentment over Heavenly Serpent’s having chosen the two strongest treasures.
• Mystic Serpent opened all ten boxes, revealing five Earth Rank Cultivation Methods and five Earth Rank Dou Techniques.
• Xiao Lin attacked Mystic Serpent from behind and blasted his head apart before he could store the treasures.
• Mystic Serpent’s soul fled his corpse and tried to reach the treasures, but Xiao Lin stopped it with a wall of soul power.

Xiao Lin trapped Mystic Serpent’s soul and rejected his attempts to bargain, deciding to kill him and make him take the blame. Mystic Serpent was left helpless in Xiao Lin’s grasp.

• Mystic Serpent tried to flee after failing to break Xiao Lin’s soul light wall, but Xiao Lin caught his soul.
• Mystic Serpent threatened that killing him would provoke a war, while Xiao Lin pointed out that the Heavenly Serpent Imperial Family would punish him for his actions.
• Mystic Serpent tried to negotiate and claim he could speak for the imperial family, but Xiao Lin refused to trust him.
• Xiao Lin began crushing Mystic Serpent’s soul, and Mystic Serpent offered him everything in the palace in exchange for his life.
• Xiao Lin said the palace already belonged to him and revealed that he planned to kill Mystic Serpent and make him take the blame.

Xiao Lin killed Mystic Serpent and looted ten Earth Rank Cultivation Methods and Dou Techniques from the hidden chamber. He discovered that several items might have originated with the Misty Cloud Sect and planned to ask Yun Shan about their history after returning to the Jia Ma Empire.

• Xiao Lin crushed Mystic Serpent's soul and erased the remains, leaving the Heavenly Serpent Imperial Family unlikely to suspect him.
• Xiao Lin examined five Earth Rank Dou Techniques and five Cultivation Methods in the chamber.
• Xiao Lin recognized the Cloud Mist Sword Canon and Wind's Extremity: Earth Rank Chapter as possibly connected to the Misty Cloud Sect.
• Xiao Lin stored all ten treasures and Mystic Serpent's Storage Ring.
• Xiao Lin speculated that the Xun Wind Art, Sword Aura Treasure Record, and Heaven-Raising Nine Swords might also have belonged to the Misty Cloud Sect, and planned to ask Yun Shan about them.

The Former Mansion Lord of Heavenly Serpent Mansion defeated the Heavenly Serpent Emperor after the Son of Heaven Sword broke, leaving the emperor trapped in a spatial storm and mortally defeated. The Heavenly Serpent Emperor accepted Heavenly Serpent Mansion’s rule and named Xiao Lin and Jia Nan Academy as witnesses to the transfer of power.

• The Son of Heaven Sword broke during the clash, and the Former Mansion Lord of Heavenly Serpent Mansion survived the Heavenly Serpent Emperor’s final strike with a severe chest wound.
• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor admitted defeat and asked the Former Mansion Lord of Heavenly Serpent Mansion to spare the other members of the imperial family.
• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor said Earth Serpent, Yellow Serpent, and the others would accept Heavenly Serpent Mansion’s rule, and the Former Mansion Lord promised the empire would not decline under its leadership.
• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor declared that Heavenly Serpent Mansion would rule the empire and asked Xiao Lin to let Jia Nan Academy witness the change of power.
• Xiao Lin accepted the role and declared that he bore witness.

Xiao Lin returned to the Heavenly Water Cold Pool and watched the former Mansion Lord of the Heavenly Serpent Mansion and the Heavenly Serpent Emperor unleash their strongest attacks. The Heavenly Serpent Emperor forced the clash toward a deadly conclusion, and his Son of Heaven Sword broke.

• Xiao Lin left the Heavenly Serpent Imperial Palace and returned quietly to the Heavenly Water Cold Pool.
• Xiao Lin and the surrounding Dou Zong powerhouses watched the former Mansion Lord of the Heavenly Serpent Mansion and the Heavenly Serpent Emperor prepare for a final clash.
• The former Mansion Lord unleashed Void Realm Vortex as the Heavenly Serpent Emperor answered with the seventh sword of the Heaven-Raising Nine Swords, Severing the Star River.
• The Heavenly Serpent Emperor poured his remaining Dou Qi into his attack despite a crack forming in the Son of Heaven Sword.
• The former Mansion Lord, realizing the Heavenly Serpent Emperor was risking his life, committed his remaining Dou Qi as well, and the Son of Heaven Sword broke.

Xiao Lin witnessed the Heavenly Serpent Mansion take control of the empire, then left for Jia Nan Academy after securing permission for it to recruit students there. On his way home, he decided it was time to find an opportunity to return to his own home.

• Xiao Lin agreed to serve as a witness as the Former Mansion Lord killed the Heavenly Serpent Emperor, ending the imperial family's rule over the Heavenly Serpent Empire.
• Earth Serpent, Yellow Serpent, and Earth Snake submitted to the Heavenly Serpent Mansion, which killed the Dark Abyss Sect and Gray Wolf Valley Dou Zong experts who had backed the imperial family.
• The Former Mansion Lord promised Xiao Lin that the Heavenly Serpent Mansion would stop blocking Jia Nan Academy from recruiting students in the empire, and Xiao Lin departed for the academy.
• Golden Snake told the Former Mansion Lord that Mystic Serpent and the imperial family's Earth Rank techniques had vanished, and the Former Mansion Lord accepted the explanation before entering seclusion to heal.
• Xiao Lin flew toward Jia Nan Academy and thought that, after nearly six years away, he should find a chance to return home.

Xiao Lin returned to Jia Nan Academy intending to report to Su Qian before going home for his son Xiao Zhan’s Coming-of-Age Ceremony, but discovered the academy was battling a riot in the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. He joined the effort and found that even Qian Bai Er Lao had failed to suppress the Fallen Heart Flame, revealing that the crisis was worse than expected.

• Xiao Lin sensed a strange change in the sky above Jia Nan Academy as he entered the Black-Corner Region and hurried toward the academy.
• Xiao Lin found students evacuating to Peace Town, where they told him that the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower had erupted in a riot three days earlier.
• Xiao Lin learned that Su Qian and the other elders had stayed behind to suppress the riot while the students took shelter outside the academy.
• Xiao Lin entered the academy and rushed to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, where he found Su Qian, other elders, and Qian Bai Er Lao attempting to contain the crisis.
• Xiao Lin realized that the Fallen Heart Flame’s riot was far more serious than the one in the original story because Qian Bai Er Lao had already intervened without success.

Xiao Lin returned to Jia Nan Academy during the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’s upheaval and learned that the Spirit-Gathering Formation he had installed had strengthened the Fallen Heart Flame, causing it to erupt years early. He reassured the elders that he had a contingency plan and prepared to use it to resolve the crisis.

• Xiao Lin arrived as First Elder Su Qian, Qian Mu, and Bai Lie struggled to contain the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’s upheaval without destroying the tower.
• First Elder Su Qian explained that the elders might have to let Qian Mu and Bai Lie forcibly suppress the Fallen Heart Flame to save Jia Nan Academy.
• Qian Mu told Xiao Lin that Headmaster Mang Tianchi had predicted the upheaval would occur years later, but Xiao Lin’s intervention had brought it forward.
• Xiao Lin realized that the Spirit-Gathering Formation he had installed had helped the Fallen Heart Flame grow stronger, and the elders confirmed his suspicion.
• Xiao Lin told the elders he had a contingency plan for the Fallen Heart Flame and would use it early to save Jia Nan Academy.

Xiao Lin entered the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower to contain the rampaging Fallen Heart Flame and discovered that the Spirit-Gathering Formation was helping it grow stronger. After clearing the flames on the tower’s lowest level, he opened the seal and entered the magma world, where he found the Fallen Heart Flame’s true body.

• Xiao Lin entered the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower while Su Qian and the elders held the seal against the Fallen Heart Flame.
• Xiao Lin discovered that the Spirit-Gathering Formations were feeding the Fallen Heart Flame, but chose not to stop them.
• Xiao Lin descended to the ninth level and scattered the milky-white flames attacking him with his starlit hand.
• Xiao Lin realized he could not suppress the Fallen Heart Flame with Dou Qi without damaging the tower.
• Xiao Lin opened the seal beneath the ninth level and entered the magma world, where he saw the Fallen Heart Flame’s fire-python true body.

Xiao Lin confronted Fallen Heart Flame in the magma world and used his control of the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower’s Fire-Sealing Formation to withstand every attack. He confirmed that the formation was extraordinarily effective against Heavenly Flames, leaving Fallen Heart Flame unable to reach him.

• Fallen Heart Flame excitedly charged Xiao Lin after he opened the seal and entered the magma world.
• A barrier of special runes repelled Fallen Heart Flame’s charge and blocked its milky-white sea of fire, while Xiao Lin’s Astral Dou Qi extinguished its Heart Flame effect.
• Fallen Heart Flame tried ramming, biting, breathing fire, swinging its tail, and attacking from every direction, but the barrier stopped every attack.
• Xiao Lin judged the formation’s defensive strength and revealed that he had secretly taken control of the Fire-Sealing Formation beneath the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower.
• Xiao Lin explained that Bu Tianchi had commissioned the formation to seal Fallen Heart Flame and that its fire-specific power was greatly increased under a Spirit Array Master’s control.

Xiao Lin used the Fire-Sealing Formation to trap the Fallen Heart Flame and prevent it from escaping or returning to the Magma World. He restrained it and began devouring the origin it had strengthened with the Spirit-Gathering Formation, while his own Dou Qi started to grow.

• The Fallen Heart Flame failed to attack Xiao Lin or escape the Fire-Sealing Formation, and Xiao Lin explained that the formation still enclosed it.
• The Fallen Heart Flame tried to return to the Magma World, but Xiao Lin blocked it and demanded interest for its use of his Spirit-Gathering Formation.
• Xiao Lin activated the Fire-Sealing Formation's rune chains and bound the Fallen Heart Flame.
• Xiao Lin pressed his hand against the fire python's head and began devouring its origin, causing it to shrink as his Dou Qi grew.

Xiao Lin devoured part of the Fallen Heart Flame’s origin, then spent three months cultivating beneath the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower. He broke through to the Dou Venerable realm and emerged powerful enough to dominate the Northwest Continent.

• Xiao Lin stopped absorbing the Fallen Heart Flame’s origin and released the fire python, which fled into the Magma World.
• Xiao Lin began breaking through after the devoured origin strengthened his cultivation beyond the Nine-Star Dou Zong realm.
• Su Qian worried about Xiao Lin while the Fire-Sealing Formation remained active, showing that Xiao Lin was still safe.
• After three months of cultivation, Xiao Lin released a powerful surge of Dou Qi and gained control over spatial power.
• Xiao Lin declared that he had succeeded in reaching the Dou Venerable realm.

After reaching One-Star Dou Venerable, Xiao Lin tested his new spatial abilities and discovered that his Soul Power had risen to the Mid-Heavenly Realm. He left the Magma World to return to the Xiao Household, while the Fallen Heart Flame vowed to lie low and rebuild its origin.

• Xiao Lin opened a spatial passage but stopped constructing a Spatial Wormhole when the Fire-Sealing Formation began to tremble.
• Xiao Lin realized that his breakthrough had also raised his Soul Power from the Early Heavenly Realm to the Mid-Heavenly Realm, and he considered whether he could lead the Xiao Household to rise.
• After spending three more days familiarizing himself with his strength, Xiao Lin decided to leave Jia Nan Academy and return to the Xiao Household before Zhan'er's coming-of-age ceremony.
• Xiao Lin passed through the Fire-Sealing Formation, and the Fallen Heart Flame emerged from the Magma World and roared after him.
• The Fallen Heart Flame returned to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower's Spirit-Gathering Formation and resolved to strengthen its origin and avoid provoking Xiao Lin again.

After calming First Elder Su Qian about Fallen Heart Flame, Xiao Lin prepared to leave Jia Nan Academy and return to the Xiao Household. He gathered cultivation resources for his family, fortified the Trial Grounds with arrays, and advanced to Five-Rank Spirit Array Master before departing.

• Xiao Lin reassured First Elder Su Qian that Fallen Heart Flame would need years to recover and would not dare riot again while he was around.
• Xiao Lin decided to leave Jia Nan Academy after settling his affairs, and Su Qian reluctantly gave him his blessing.
• Over two months, Xiao Lin spent his Fire Energy on cultivation methods and Dou Techniques for the Xiao Household, then bought the Earth Rank Low-Level Myriad Manifestations Art at an auction in the Black-Corner Region.
• Xiao Lin chose wind-attributed cultivation methods for his son Xiao Zhan and gathered more than ten formation diagrams for the Trial Grounds.
• Xiao Lin set up nearly twenty arrays around his pavilion and broke through to the rank of Five-Rank Spirit Array Master.

Xiao Lin said goodbye to Jia Nan Academy and left the Black-Corner Region, still troubled that Zi Yan remained asleep. Once he was airborne, he stopped to test an ability made possible by his new Dou Venerable strength.

• First Elder Su Qian thanked Xiao Lin for his work at Jia Nan Academy and urged him to visit again.
• Su Qian told Xiao Lin that Zi Yan would likely sleep another year or two while digesting the medicinal herbs she had eaten.
• Xiao Lin asked Su Qian to pass his goodbye to Zi Yan when she woke up, then exchanged farewells with the academy elders.
• Xiao Lin flew away from the Black-Corner Region as Su Qian and the others watched him depart.
• Xiao Lin stopped in midair and unleashed spatial power and his Dou Venerable cultivation to test an ability.

After six years away, Xiao Lin constructed his first Spatial Wormhole and returned to the Jia Ma Empire, disguising his appearance and cultivation along the way. He arrived in the Jia Ma Imperial Capital openly, where his return reassured the Xiao Household and its allies and discouraged its opponents.

• Xiao Lin repeatedly failed before successfully constructing a crude Spatial Wormhole and used it to travel from the Black-Corner Region to the Jia Ma Empire’s border.
• Xiao Lin erased the one-use wormhole, changed back to his original appearance, and concealed his One-Star Dou Venerable cultivation as a Four-Star Battle King.
• Xiao Lin entered the Jia Ma Empire openly, and news of his return reached the empire’s factions and Xiao Dongcheng.
• Xiao Dongcheng celebrated Xiao Lin’s safe return in the Xiao Household’s ancestral shrine, while the household’s allies rejoiced and its opponents dropped their plans.
• Xiao Lin returned to the Jia Ma Imperial Capital and sighed that he had finally come home.

Xiao Lin returned to the Xiao Household after six years away, restoring the clan members’ confidence amid rumors that he had died. He reunited with his son, Xiao Zhan, and spent time with the aged clan leader, Xiao Dongcheng, sharing stories of his travels.

• Xiao Lin received an enthusiastic welcome from Xiao Household members who had worried that he might have perished and complained about other forces taking advantage of his absence.
• Xiao Lin reunited with Xiao Zhan and saw how much older the clan leader, Xiao Dongcheng, had become.
• Xiao Zhan left Xiao Lin and Xiao Dongcheng alone so they could talk.
• Xiao Dongcheng praised Xiao Lin’s return, and the two joked together before sitting down for tea.
• Xiao Lin recounted his travels to Xiao Dongcheng, who listened intently.

Xiao Lin spent the day telling Clan Chief Xiao Dongcheng about his experiences and agreed to answer his questions honestly. When Xiao Dongcheng asked about Xiao Lin’s true strength, Xiao Lin revealed he was a One-Star Dou Venerable, leaving the Clan Chief stunned.

• Xiao Lin offered to take Xiao Dongcheng on a safe tour of the continent, but Xiao Dongcheng declined, saying he was too old to travel.
• Xiao Lin promised to answer Xiao Dongcheng’s questions truthfully after realizing the Clan Chief’s life might end within three to five years.
• Xiao Dongcheng asked Xiao Lin to reveal his true cultivation level, having inferred from his past deeds that he was stronger than a Dou King.
• Xiao Lin said he had been a One-Star Dou Zong when he left six years earlier and was now a One-Star Dou Venerable.
• Xiao Dongcheng was shocked and checked that he had heard Xiao Lin correctly.

Xiao Lin told Clan Chief Xiao Dongcheng that he had become a One-Star Dou Venerable with Mid-Heavenly Realm Soul Power, leaving Xiao Dongcheng overwhelmed by the news. Xiao Lin reassured him of his loyalty to the Xiao Household and offered to protect it from then on.

• Xiao Lin confirmed that he had advanced from Dou Ling to Dou Venerable after returning to the Xiao Household.
• Xiao Dongcheng pressed Xiao Lin for an explanation, and Xiao Lin said he had simply kept cultivating.
• Xiao Lin revealed that he had Mid-Heavenly Realm Soul Power and could fight Mid-Level Dou Venerables, shocking Xiao Dongcheng.
• Xiao Lin withheld the fact that he was a Five-Rank Spirit Array Master to avoid overwhelming Xiao Dongcheng further.
• Xiao Lin told Xiao Dongcheng that he would protect the Xiao Household from then on, and Xiao Dongcheng reacted with joy.