Chapter Summaries

Zi Yan returned to Jia Nan Academy just as its elders prepared to reseal the escaped Fallen Heart Flame. After learning what had happened, she declared that she would handle it herself.

• Qian Mu and Bai Lie gathered the recovering elders to help Qian Bai Er Lao and Zhu Fang reseal the Fallen Heart Flame.
• A distorted Void Passage opened above the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, and a purple-haired young woman emerged.
• The elders recognized Zi Yan, who had grown older during her seclusion and returned to the academy.
• Qian Mu told Zi Yan that attackers had been driven away and that the Fallen Heart Flame had escaped its tower.
• Zi Yan learned that the Fallen Heart Flame threatened the tower and confidently offered to deal with it herself.

Zi Yan returned to Jia Nan Academy with a powerful escort of Flame Lizardmen and ordered their Half-Saint leader to capture the escaped fallen heart flame. The leader tossed it back into the Underground Magma World as Su Qian and the others hurried to the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, still believing Xiao Lin or Mang Tianchi had returned.

• Zi Yan rejected Qian Bai Er Lao's warnings and summoned roughly thirty Flame Lizardmen, including Dou Zong, Dou Venerable, and Half-Saint experts.
• Zi Yan explained that the Flame Lizardmen obeyed her and that they would handle the fallen heart flame for her.
• Zi Yan ordered the Half-Saint Flame Lizardman leader to seize the fallen heart flame and throw it beneath the tower.
• The Half-Saint leader captured the Fire Python formed by the fallen heart flame despite its attempts to resist.
• Su Qian told Jia Nan Academy's elders to retreat, then headed for the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, thinking Xiao Lin or Mang Tianchi had returned.
• The Flame Lizardman leader tossed the fallen heart flame back into the Underground Magma World while Qian Bai Er Lao watched in shock.

Zi Yan and the Flame Lizardmen returned the Fallen Heart Flame to the Underground Magma World, and Jia Nan Academy’s leaders learned how they had contained the crisis. Nalan Yanran then arrived asking where Xiao Yan was, revealing that he had fought Han Feng and confronted the escaped flame.

• Zi Yan ordered the Half-Saint Flame Lizardman chief to return the Fallen Heart Flame beneath the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, and Qian Bai Er Lao resealed it.
• Zi Yan sent the Flame Lizardmen back to the Underground Magma World after explaining how they could pass through the seal without breaking it.
• Su Qian, Hu Gan, and the other Jia Nan Academy leaders arrived and heard how Zi Yan’s underling had captured and returned the Fallen Heart Flame.
• Nalan Yanran arrived and asked where Xiao Yan was, then explained that he had fought Han Feng and faced the escaped Fallen Heart Flame.
• Su Qian and the others were stunned by Nalan Yanran’s account of Xiao Yan’s actions.

Nalan Yanran told Su Qian and the academy elders that Xiao Yan had killed Han Feng before the Fallen Heart Flame swallowed him, and they prepared to rescue him with Zi Yan's help. Xiao Lin appeared through a space distortion and stopped Zi Yan, knowing Xiao Yan was safe and should remain inside the flame.

• Nalan Yanran returned to Jia Nan Academy and told Su Qian and the others that Xiao Yan had killed Han Feng before the Fallen Heart Flame swallowed him.
• Su Qian and the elders vowed to rescue Xiao Yan, and they asked Zi Yan to summon the Flame Lizardmen.
• Zi Yan prepared to call the Flame Lizardmen back, but an illusory face appeared in the sky and told everyone there was no need.
• The academy elders recognized the face as Xiao Lin, who revealed through his actions that he knew Xiao Yan was safe and wanted him to stay inside the Fallen Heart Flame.

Xiao Lin reassured Jia Nan Academy that Xiao Yan was safe beneath the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower and should remain there to pursue an opportunity. After Xiao Lin vanished, the academy focused on recovering from the invasion and preparing to retaliate against the Black-Corner Region forces.

• Nalan Yanran and Jia Nan Academy's leaders urged Xiao Lin to rescue Xiao Yan, but he said Xiao Yan was safe and had an opportunity waiting for him underground.
• Xiao Lin told Nalan Yanran that Xiao Yan might remain below for a year or two and encouraged her to improve her strength while he was gone.
• Nalan Yanran accepted Xiao Lin's decision and resolved to train so Xiao Yan would not leave her behind.
• Xiao Lin refused to say where he was and disappeared, leaving Su Qian and the others to handle the academy's recovery.
• Su Qian and the academy's senior figures restored the school's operations and prepared to retaliate against the Black-Corner Region invaders and their forces.

Xiao Yan successfully absorbed and refined the Sea Heart Flame inside the Fallen Heart Flame’s Fire Python, reaching five-star Dou Emperor and advancing the Flame Mantra to low Earth tier. With Medusa exhausted but recovering, he prepared to pit the origins of his three heavenly flames against the Fallen Heart Flame.

• Medusa endured the Fallen Heart Flame’s pressure while Xiao Yan absorbed the Sea Heart Flame and grew stronger.
• Xiao Yan refined the Sea Heart Flame, reached five-star Dou Emperor, and advanced the Flame Mantra to low Earth tier.
• Xiao Yan took over their defenses with three heavenly flames after Medusa asked him for help.
• Medusa nearly fell from exhaustion, and Xiao Yan caught her before she recovered and pushed him away.
• Xiao Yan prepared to combine his three heavenly flames and begin the final contest against the Fallen Heart Flame.

After Xiao Yan refined the Sea Heart Flame inside the Fallen Heart Flame, he found the Fallen Heart Flame’s hidden origin core and began a clash of origins with his three Heavenly Flames. Xiao Yan’s flames gained the upper hand, but the Fallen Heart Flame’s conjured Fire Python secretly began influencing them.

• The Fallen Heart Flame realized that Xiao Yan had refined the Sea Heart Flame and raged helplessly inside the sealed Magma World.
• Xiao Yan searched within the Fallen Heart Flame’s Fire Python form and found its hidden origin core.
• Yao Lao warned Xiao Yan that the origin core was dangerous, and Xiao Yan prepared to attack while Medusa watched.
• Xiao Yan surrounded the Fallen Heart Flame’s origin core with the green, red, and blue Heavenly Flames.
• The four origins clashed, and Xiao Yan’s three Heavenly Flames began to overpower the Fallen Heart Flame’s origin as its Fire Python secretly exerted influence on them.

Xiao Yan continued absorbing and refining the Fallen Heart Flame while its Heart Flame quietly built up inside him and Medusa. As Xiao Yan neared success, Medusa began the final fusion of her soul with the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's soul, and the Fallen Heart Flame's manifested Fire Python vanished.

• The Fallen Heart Flame kindled Heart Flame within Xiao Yan and Medusa while they focused on refining it and recovering, and neither noticed.
• As the days passed, Medusa's soul and the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's soul reached the critical point of fusion, so Medusa began their final fusion despite her depleted state.
• Xiao Yan's three Heavenly Flames surrounded the Fallen Heart Flame's origin as he neared the completion of absorbing and refining it.
• Yao Lao watched Xiao Yan's progress and considered sending him to the Central Plains after he graduated from Jia Nan Academy.
• The Fire Python formed by the Fallen Heart Flame roared and then faded away as Xiao Yan's refinement approached its end.

Xiao Yan absorbed the fallen heart flame and struggled to refine it inside his body as it damaged his meridians and resisted having its intelligence erased. Just as he pressed on, the flame triggered a hidden contingency that stirred desire within him and released a strange fragrance.

• Yao Lao explained that Medusa was completing her merger with the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's soul and warned Xiao Yan to focus on refining the fallen heart flame.
• Xiao Yan absorbed the fallen heart flame's essence into his body, where it fled through his meridians while his three heavenly flames pursued it.
• Xiao Yan's flames cornered the essence, and its scorching heat damaged his meridians as he hurried to absorb it into the Naling.
• Xiao Yan used his three flames to erase the fallen heart flame's intelligence, enduring its fierce resistance.
• The fallen heart flame ignited a contingency inside Xiao Yan, stirring desire in him and releasing a strange fragrance.

As Xiao Yan absorbed the fallen heart flame, its counterattack and Medusa’s involuntarily triggered charm left both of them overwhelmed by desire. Yao Lao withdrew to his Storage Ring, leaving Xiao Yan and Medusa alone in the Underground Magma World as he decided they should become each other’s antidote.

• While Medusa merged with the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's soul, the fallen heart flame ignited her desire and triggered her passive charm, releasing an aphrodisiac fragrance.
• The fragrance magnified Xiao Yan’s desire as the fallen heart flame launched a final counterattack to consume him and his Heavenly Flames.
• Yao Lao noticed their predicament and prepared to intervene, but Xiao Yan insisted he could continue refining the flame and asked him to take Medusa away.
• Yao Lao agreed outwardly, then returned to Xiao Yan’s Storage Ring, deciding that separating them would cause bodily harm and that they should become each other’s antidote.

Xiao Yan mastered the Fallen Heart Flame, which boosted his cultivation and Flame Mantra, but losing control of his desires led to an intimate encounter with Medusa. After they woke and remembered what happened, Medusa confronted Xiao Yan in anger while Yao Lao stayed silent.

• Xiao Yan erased the Fallen Heart Flame's intelligence and absorbed its core into his Naling, gaining control of his fourth Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Yan's cultivation rose beyond Five-Star Battle Emperor and his Flame Mantra advanced to Mid-Tier Earth Rank.
• Medusa approached Xiao Yan as desire overwhelmed them both, and they spent an unknown time together in the Underground Magma World.
• Xiao Yan woke beside Medusa, and they both recalled what had happened while they had been without reason.
• Medusa angrily addressed Xiao Yan, who tried to explain and silently blamed Yao Lao, but Yao Lao gave no response.

After the heart fire forced Xiao Yan and Medusa to couple, Xiao Yan struggled with what it meant for their relationship while Yao Lao explained the danger they had faced. Medusa returned dressed and asked Xiao Yan how he wanted to die.

• Medusa pulled away from Xiao Yan and fled to get dressed after noticing his renewed desire.
• Xiao Yan blamed Yao Lao for failing to keep Medusa away, while Yao Lao teased him about enjoying what happened.
• Xiao Yan worried about his fiancée Nalan Yanran and his other close relationships, but Yao Lao argued that the heart fire had endangered both him and Medusa.
• Yao Lao explained that Medusa's soul had been vulnerable during her merger with the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, and that resisting the heart fire could have caused severe injury or death.
• Medusa returned fully dressed and asked Xiao Yan how he wanted to die.

Medusa confronted Xiao Yan after their accidental intimacy and threatened to kill him to erase the shame, while Xiao Yan tried to calm her and realized she was holding back. When Medusa seized his throat, Xiao Yan accepted his apparent fate and pleaded that she spare the Xiao Household and preserve its alliance with the Snake-People Tribe.

• Medusa approached Xiao Yan and said she would kill him to bury the memory of their accidental intimacy.
• Xiao Yan questioned whether killing him would help Medusa forget, but she insisted she would rather hide the memory than see him again.
• Xiao Yan recalled that Medusa had taken the initiative during their encounter, enraging her and making her more determined to silence him.
• Medusa rushed at Xiao Yan and grabbed him by the throat, then wondered why he had not dodged despite her deliberate pause.
• Xiao Yan said he would not be able to evade Medusa forever and asked her not to punish the Xiao Household or destroy its friendship with the Snake-People Tribe.

Medusa struggled to kill Xiao Yan after their unexpected intimacy and offered to spare him if they both pretended it had never happened. Xiao Yan rejected her terms, and he stopped treating her as a queen above him.

• Medusa could not bring herself to kill Xiao Yan because of the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python's feelings, her gratitude, and their intimacy.
• Medusa struck Xiao Yan in the chest and then decided to spare his life.
• Medusa offered to treat the incident as a dog bite, end their personal connection, and preserve relations between the Snake-People Tribe and the Xiao Household.
• Xiao Yan refused Medusa's terms, despite her warning that his pride could cost him his life.
• Xiao Yan met Medusa's gaze and stopped treating her as a queen above him.

Xiao Yan endured Medusa’s blows and spoke honestly about their unexpected intimacy, easing her anger and changing her view of him. Medusa departed for the Tagor Desert after breaking through to Dou Zun, leaving Xiao Yan feeling empty.

• Medusa repeatedly struck Xiao Yan, but her blows gradually softened as she restrained herself.
• Xiao Yan told Medusa that killing him would not undo what happened and admitted he did not know how they should resolve it.
• Medusa believed Xiao Yan’s sincerity and began to regard him as a friend rather than merely an ally.
• Medusa opened a Spatial Passage, revealing she had reached the Dou Zun Realm, and left for the Tagor Desert.
• Medusa told Xiao Yan not to seek her out unless he needed something, and Xiao Yan felt a sense of emptiness after she left.

After Medusa left, Xiao Yan resolved to pursue her while Yao Lao advised him to focus on mastering his new strength. Once he had mastered his power, Xiao Yan sensed something drawing him deeper into the Underground Magma World and went to investigate.

• Xiao Yan asked Yao Lao whether Medusa had feelings for him, and Yao Lao urged him to consider whether he could accept another man beside her.
• Xiao Yan declared that he would not let another man be with Medusa and decided to visit her in the Tagor Desert after settling matters there.
• Yao Lao reminded Xiao Yan to examine his gains from refining the Fallen Heart Flame, and Xiao Yan found that he had reached Nine-Star Dou Emperor.
• Xiao Yan spent an indeterminate time mastering his increased strength and control over four Heavenly Flames.
• Xiao Yan sensed something attracting him deeper into the Underground Magma World, and he set off to investigate with Yao Lao's encouragement.

Nearly two years after Xiao Yan was sealed beneath the Blazing Sky Qi Refining Tower, Jia Nan Academy remained peaceful while Medusa and Nalan Yanran left to pursue their own paths. The chapter ended as Venerable Qing Hai went to the Northwest Continent to investigate the missing Protector Wu.

• Medusa stayed at Jia Nan Academy, reassured Su Qian and the senior staff that Xiao Yan was safe, befriended Zi Yan, and later returned to the Tagor Desert.
• Nalan Yanran left Jia Nan Academy for two years of training so she could grow strong enough to stand beside Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Lin continued cultivating without breaking through to Six-Star Dou Sheng and checked that Xiao Yan was progressing safely beneath the academy.
• Venerable E Yuan and Venerable Qing Hai discussed the poor quality of the souls collected for the Soul Hall and Protector Wu's failure to return from the Northwest Continent.
• Venerable Qing Hai left the Earth Fiend Hall to investigate who had trapped Protector Wu, while E Yuan told him to report any unexpected trouble.

Yun Shan celebrated his breakthrough to the Dou Venerable Realm, drawing envoys from across the Northwest Continent to the Misty Cloud Sect. As the gathering awaited him at Misty Cloud Plaza, Yun Shan and Yun Yun prepared to announce the sect’s renewed strength.

• Venerable Qing Hai set off for the Northwest Continent after Protector Wu failed to report back for four years.
• Envoys and factions gathered at the Misty Cloud Sect to congratulate Yun Shan on breaking through to the Dou Venerable Realm.
• Yun Shan recalled how his breakthrough fulfilled his long-held wish to restore the Misty Cloud Sect and agreed to publicize his new strength.
• Yun Yun told Yun Shan that nearly all the guests had arrived at Misty Cloud Plaza.
• Yun Shan and Yun Yun left the ancestral hall together as the gathered factions awaited the Dou Venerable.

Yun Shan appeared at Misty Cloud Mountain after breaking through to the Dou Zun Realm, and his strength reshaped the balance of power across the Northwest Continent. He declared that he would protect the Jia Ma Empire without acting against other factions unless they encroached on it, leaving the empire newly established as a regional hegemon.

• Yun Shan and Yun Yun arrived through a Spatial Passage, confirming his Dou Zun breakthrough to the gathered experts.
• Jia Xing Tian, Fa Ma, and Hai Bodong discussed Yun Shan’s rise and concluded that it would strengthen the Jia Ma Empire and reduce the risk of internal conflict.
• Fire Snake and envoys from other powerful empires observed Yun Shan’s appearance and abandoned their doubts about his breakthrough.
• Yun Shan thanked the guests and promised not to act against them unless they encroached upon the Jia Ma Empire.
• The gathered envoys praised Yun Shan, and the Jia Ma Empire’s new hegemonic position on the Northwest Continent took shape.

At Misty Cloud Sect’s celebration, Yun Shan’s speech filled Misty Cloud Plaza with pride, while Xiao Zhan and Yang Xiyue shared an affectionate moment. The festivities turned tense when Venerable Qing Hai of the Soul Hall emerged from a Spatial Passage, leaving Yun Shan and the sect facing a dangerous visitor.

• Yun Shan’s appearance and speech stirred pride among the Misty Cloud Sect, the Jia Ma Empire’s guests, and the Xiao Household.
• Xiao Zhan felt ashamed of his Five-Star Battle King strength, but Yang Xiyue reassured him, and the couple drew teasing disapproval from the Xiao Household elders and clansmen.
• As Yun Shan prepared to descend with Yun Yun, a Spatial Passage opened nearby, revealing the arrival of another Dou Zun expert.
• Yun Shan sent Yun Yun down to reassure the gathered guests and cautiously addressed the unknown visitor.
• Venerable Qing Hai stepped out of the passage, identified himself as a member of the Soul Hall, and left Yun Shan fearing the hostile arrival.