Chapter Summaries

Xiao Lin reunited with Xiao Zhan and Yang Xiyue, met his grandson Xiao Ding, and discovered Yang Xiyue was pregnant with their second child, Xiao Li. He also told her that he had destroyed the Qi Household and avenged her family, leaving Yang Xiyue relieved and ready to move forward as part of the Xiao Household.

• Xiao Lin played with Xiao Ding until the boy fell asleep, and Yang Xiyue carried him inside.
• Xiao Lin learned that Yang Xiyue had been pregnant with Xiao Ding when he left and discovered she was now nearly two months pregnant with their second child, Xiao Li.
• Yang Xiyue told Xiao Lin that Yun Shan had provided medicinal pills during her first pregnancy and that Xiao Zhan planned to ask his master for more.
• Xiao Lin told Yang Xiyue that he had avenged her family and that the Qi Household no longer existed.
• Yang Xiyue thanked Xiao Lin and cried with relief as Xiao Zhan comforted her.

Xiao Lin told Xiao Zhan and Yang Xiyue that he planned to return to the Central Plains after a year because the Xiao Household still lacked the strength to protect itself. After hearing about a caravan’s difficult route through the Tagor Desert, he considered the Snake-People Tribe problem.

• Xiao Lin told Xiao Zhan and Yang Xiyue that he would return to the Central Plains in a year to settle unfinished matters.
• Xiao Zhan accepted that Xiao Lin was keeping some matters secret, and Yang Xiyue promised to help her husband support the Xiao Household.
• Xiao Zhan and Yang Xiyue told Xiao Lin about the household’s recent affairs, including Xiao Ding’s birth and the child in Yang Xiyue’s womb.
• Xiao Zhan explained that the Xiao Household’s caravan needed to cross the Tagor Desert for a medicinal herb deal, but the Snake-People Tribe’s hostility made the route dangerous and alternatives costly.
• Xiao Lin raised an eyebrow when Xiao Zhan mentioned the Tagor Desert and the Snake-People Tribe.

Xiao Lin learned that the Snake-People Tribe had seized the Xiao Household's medicinal caravan and decided to visit Queen Medusa in the Tagor Desert to negotiate. After spending several days with his grandson Xiao Ding, he flew toward the desert, eager to meet Medusa, whom he already considered his future granddaughter-in-law.

• Xiao Zhan explained that the Snake-People Tribe had detained the Xiao Household's medicinal caravan, taken its money, and demanded a ransom for its people.
• Xiao Lin announced that he would travel to the Tagor Desert to speak with Queen Medusa, and Xiao Zhan and Yang Xiyue reluctantly agreed after he assured them he would return safely.
• Xiao Lin spent the next few days playing with his grandson Xiao Ding and taking him flying on his Dou Qi Wings.
• Xiao Lin set off for the Tagor Desert, thinking happily about meeting Medusa as his future granddaughter-in-law.

Xiao Lin entered the Tagor Desert and sought an audience with Queen Medusa to negotiate with the Snake-People Tribe. Yan Ci intercepted him and refused to grant him access, leaving Xiao Lin weighing how to proceed without fighting his way in.

• Xiao Lin traveled to the Tagor Desert, reflecting on why the Snake-People Tribe had settled there and resented humans.
• Xiao Lin flew openly into Snake-People territory to draw the attention of one of the tribe’s commanders.
• Yan Ci intercepted Xiao Lin and threatened him for trespassing.
• Xiao Lin introduced himself as head of the Xiao Household and asked Yan Ci to announce his visit to Queen Medusa.
• Yan Ci distrusted humans and refused to let Xiao Lin meet the queen, so Xiao Lin hesitated to force his way in.

Xiao Lin provoked Yan Ci, then persuaded him that bringing a human to meet Queen Medusa posed little risk and could earn him merit. Yan Ci agreed and escorted Xiao Lin into the Snake-People Tribe's Holy City, where the curious residents watched them as they headed toward the queen.

• Xiao Lin called Yan Ci timid and mocked the Snake-People Tribe's eight great commanders until Yan Ci grew furious but hesitated to attack.
• Xiao Lin praised Queen Medusa and argued that an audience could benefit the Snake-People Tribe, convincing Yan Ci to take him to her.
• Yan Ci warned Xiao Lin that the Snake-People Tribe would take revenge on the Xiao Household if his claims proved false, then led him toward the Holy City.
• Xiao Lin entered the Snake-People Tribe's Holy City with Yan Ci and calmly observed its inhabitants as they whispered about the human visitor.

Xiao Lin accompanied Yan Ci to the Snake-People Tribe's palace and met Queen Medusa. Medusa was impressed by his respectful gaze, while Xiao Lin privately considered her his future granddaughter-in-law.

• Yan Ci brought Xiao Lin to the royal palace and went inside to ask whether Queen Medusa would receive him.
• Yan Ci returned and led Xiao Lin into the palace, asking his name again along the way.
• Xiao Lin greeted Queen Medusa in the throne hall and admired her beauty while maintaining a respectful demeanor.
• Medusa warned Xiao Lin that she would have taken his eyes if he had looked at her disrespectfully.
• Medusa thought more favorably of Xiao Lin because he had shown no lecherous intent, while Xiao Lin privately imagined Xiao Yan teaching her a lesson after she married into the Xiao Household.

Xiao Lin proposed that the Xiao Household share half its caravan profits with the Snake-People Tribe in exchange for safe passage through the Tagor Desert. Medusa was tempted by the offer but remained wary because humans had repeatedly deceived her people.

• Medusa questioned what Xiao Lin wanted and doubted a human could offer meaningful cooperation.
• Xiao Lin explained that his Xiao Household caravan had been captured before and that rerouting it would cost the household time and profit.
• Xiao Lin offered the Snake-People Tribe half the profits in exchange for allowing the caravan to cross the Tagor Desert freely.
• Medusa considered the proposal favorable but asked how the Snake-People Tribe could trust Xiao Lin.
• Xiao Lin argued that both sides needed repeated cooperation and had little to gain from cheating each other.

Xiao Lin persuaded Medusa to let the Snake-People Tribe cooperate with the Xiao Household’s caravan by sharing half its profits and having the tribe provide protection. Medusa agreed on the condition that her people participate in the caravan’s affairs throughout the process, and Xiao Lin accepted.

• Medusa questioned why Xiao Lin was offering the Snake-People Tribe half the caravan’s profits just to use a route through its territory.
• Xiao Lin said the Xiao Household sought the Snake-People Tribe’s friendship and explained that he wanted its experts to guard the caravan.
• Medusa accepted that the Snake-People Tribe would provide guards but required her people to participate in the caravan’s affairs throughout the process.
• Xiao Lin agreed to Medusa’s condition, bringing the cooperation between the two sides close to completion.

Xiao Lin and Medusa agreed to cooperate, though his inexplicable fatherly affection left her irritated and confused. When she asked what happy thing he had been thinking about, Xiao Lin said his daughter-in-law was about to have her second child.

• Xiao Lin asked Medusa whether their cooperation could be fruitful, and she agreed after reviewing his proposal.
• Xiao Lin looked at Medusa with fatherly affection, which made her uncomfortable and irritated.
• Medusa pressed Xiao Lin to explain what happy thing he had been thinking about.
• Xiao Lin said his daughter-in-law was about to have her second child, leaving Medusa bewildered.

Xiao Lin returned from negotiating an alliance between the Xiao Household and the Snake-People Tribe, then the two sides established a profitable trade route. Back at the Xiao Household, he began making high-level Formation Disks to trade at the upcoming Space Trading Assembly.

• Yan Ci warned Xiao Lin to honor his agreement with the Snake-People Tribe, and Xiao Lin invited Yan Ci to visit the Xiao Household.
• Xiao Lin returned safely, and Xiao Zhan, Yang Xiyue, and the Xiao Household elders welcomed him with concern for his safety.
• Xiao Lin assigned Xiao Li to finalize cooperation, and the Snake-People Tribe later agreed to guard the Xiao Household's caravans in exchange for half their net profits.
• After the first trading run, the Snake-People Tribe's complaints about the alliance subsided, and cooperation entered a stable phase.
• Xiao Lin began crafting fourth-level and fifth-level Formation Disks to use as trade goods at the Space Trading Assembly.

Xiao Lin waited with Xiao Zhan and Xiao Ding as Yang Xiyue gave birth to a boy, Xiao Li. After Xiao Zhan rushed inside to check on his wife, Xiao Lin held the newborn while Xiao Ding met his younger brother.

• Xiao Lin reflected on the Xiao Household’s growing friendship with the Snake-People Tribe and his preparations for the Space Trading Assembly.
• Xiao Zhan, Xiao Lin, and Xiao Ding waited anxiously in the courtyard while Yang Xiyue gave birth.
• A woman announced that Yang Xiyue had given birth to a boy, and Xiao Zhan rushed into the room to see his wife.
• Xiao Lin held the newborn Xiao Li and introduced him to Xiao Ding.
• Xiao Ding gently poked Xiao Li’s cheek, and the baby grasped his elder brother’s finger before letting go.

Xiao Li was born, and Xiao Lin spent time with his family before secretly returning to the Central Plains for the upcoming Space Trading Assembly. He headed toward the gathering’s entrance in a northeastern desert as experts across the continent converged there.

• Xiao Zhan told Xiao Lin and Xiao Ding that Yang Xiyue was well and asleep after giving birth to Xiao Li.
• Xiao Zhan explained that he and Yang Xiyue had chosen the name Xiao Li before Xiao Lin returned from the Central Plains, while Xiao Lin anticipated Xiao Yan’s future birth.
• After Yang Xiyue recovered, Xiao Lin spent more time with his family and then announced another long period of seclusion before leaving.
• Xiao Lin secretly opened a spatial passage and returned to the Central Plains, hoping Soul Hall would not seek him out again.
• Experts of Peak Dou Zong and above began traveling toward the northeastern desert where the Space Trading Assembly would be held, and Xiao Lin flew there too.

Xiao Lin entered the Space Trading Assembly through its desert gateway and explored the vast marketplace in its Subspace. With the core auction still more than ten days away, he began browsing the outer stalls for treasures.

• Xiao Lin arrived in the Desolate Desert and noticed numerous powerful Dou Venerables gathering there.
• Xiao Lin followed the spatial power to the vortex entrance and entered the Space Trading Assembly.
• Xiao Lin inspected the venue and concluded that a Half-Saint had created and maintained its Subspace.
• Xiao Lin decided not to enter the core area yet because the auction was more than ten days away.
• Xiao Lin explored the outer marketplace, where experts sold and traded rare techniques, pills, monster cores, and treasure maps.

Xiao Lin encountered Ji Li, a mysterious Nine-Star Dou Venerable selling array diagrams, and sensed that he was a formidable rival. They exchanged introductions, and Xiao Lin proposed sparring with him in the future.

• Xiao Lin browsed the stalls but rejected the overpriced goods and items that did not suit his needs.
• Xiao Lin noticed Ji Li’s array diagrams and sensed a threat from the Nine-Star Dou Venerable.
• Xiao Lin and Ji Li introduced themselves, and Ji Li recognized Xiao Lin as the man who had attacked Yellow Springs Pavilion.
• Ji Li claimed he was a little stronger than Xiao Lin, and Xiao Lin suggested they spar if they got the chance.

Xiao Lin and Ji Li agreed to spar and discovered a mutual interest in formations. Ji Li hoped Xiao Lin might be the Formation Grandmaster he needed for a future undertaking, while Xiao Lin began examining the diagrams at Ji Li’s stall.

• Ji Li agreed to spar with Xiao Lin, and the two set aside discussing when they would meet.
• Xiao Lin examined the formation diagrams at Ji Li’s stall, prompting Ji Li to ask whether he studied formations.
• Xiao Lin said he could read, set up, and repair formations, and Ji Li concluded that this skill helped explain why Xiao Lin threatened him.
• Ji Li invited Xiao Lin to inspect the diagrams, hoping to attract a Formation Grandmaster for his future undertaking.
• Xiao Lin eagerly accepted, explaining that he collected formation diagrams while traveling.

Xiao Lin distrusted Ji Li’s offer of free formation diagrams, but Ji Li explained that he needed nine Formation Grandmasters to investigate a sealed place. He revealed that the search was connected to a clue about the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, leaving Xiao Lin stunned.

• Ji Li offered Xiao Lin the formation diagrams for free if he could set up their formations, but Xiao Lin turned to leave, suspecting a trap.
• Ji Li called Xiao Lin back and admitted that he was searching for nine Formation Grandmasters to open a sealed place; he had already found eight.
• Xiao Lin said he could set up every formation on the diagrams except one above the fifth tier, and Ji Li deemed him qualified to learn more.
• Ji Li secretly told Xiao Lin that he was investigating a clue concerning the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, shocking Xiao Lin.

Ji Li invited Xiao Lin to join eight other Formation Grandmasters in an attempt to break a formation that might conceal clues about the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix. Xiao Lin accepted, received Ji Li’s formation diagrams and a Voice Transmission Stone, and awaited notice of the gathering.

• Xiao Lin questioned Ji Li’s claim about the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix, and Ji Li said he believed there was an eighty percent chance his ancestral clues were connected to it.
• Ji Li explained that nine Formation Grandmasters would try to break an enormous formation when it was weakest, though their chances were only fifty percent even with Xiao Lin’s help.
• Xiao Lin accepted Ji Li’s invitation, eager to investigate the clues and exchange formation knowledge with the other eight Formation Grandmasters.
• Ji Li gave Xiao Lin all the formation diagrams at his stall, including the Myriad Lightning Demon-Slaying Formation, which Xiao Lin could not yet set up.
• Ji Li gave Xiao Lin a Voice Transmission Stone so he could notify him when the preparations were complete.

Xiao Lin and Ji Li became friends while exploring the Space Trading Assembly, each secretly trying to learn more about the other. When the assembly began, they entered its guarded core area in disguise, ready to attend the trading event.

• Ji Li closed his stall after giving Xiao Lin the formation diagrams, and Xiao Lin asked what he planned to do next.
• Ji Li agreed to explore the assembly with Xiao Lin, and they spent several days shopping and testing each other’s secrets.
• Xiao Lin learned that Ji Li had inherited treasures and clues about the Ancient Heavenly Phoenix from a powerful ancestor, but Ji Li kept the ancestor’s identity secret.
• When the Space Trading Assembly officially began, Ji Li offered to guide Xiao Lin, but Xiao Lin headed for the core area on his own.
• Xiao Lin and Ji Li showed their tokens to the Six-Star Dou Venerable guards, entered the core area, and concealed their identities with cloaks and masks.

Xiao Lin and Ji Li entered the Space Trading Assembly’s final auction hall, took precautions to conceal their identities, and waited among more than a hundred Dou Venerables. The auction began when Old Man Baoshan, a powerful Nine-Transformation Peak Dou Venerable and master of Treasure Mirror Mountain, appeared.

• A gray-robed elder led Xiao Lin and Ji Li through the bronze hall to the ancient auction hall.
• Ji Li shielded them from prying eyes, and Xiao Lin and Ji Li declared themselves friends.
• Xiao Lin and Ji Li observed the gathering as more attendees arrived, including over a hundred Dou Venerables.
• A bell rang, and Old Man Baoshan emerged from distorted space at the center of the hall.
• Ji Li told Xiao Lin that Old Man Baoshan was a renowned treasure appraiser who stood close to reaching the Half-Saint realm.

Xiao Lin and Ji Li attended the Space Trading Assembly hosted by Old Man Baoshan, where rare treasures were exchanged. After the first item sold, Xiao Lin became eager to bid on an Earth-Rank High-Grade Soul Dou Technique.

• Old Man Baoshan began the Space Trading Assembly and enclosed himself in a spatial cage before presenting the first item.
• Old Man Baoshan offered an eighth-tier Nine Netherworld Python Monster Core in exchange for an eighth-tier Pill Recipe.
• A cloaked bidder traded a Pill Recipe for the Monster Core, while Xiao Lin and Ji Li chose not to bid.
• Old Man Baoshan presented the Three Transformations of the Returning Soul, an Earth-Rank High-Grade Soul Dou Technique.
• Xiao Lin recognized the technique as a rare opportunity to improve his use of soul power and prepared to bid.