Chapter Summaries

After Xiao Yan lost to Nalan Yanran, Yao Lao revealed that Qin Yu possessed two powerful Heavenly Flames, leaving Xiao Yan stunned by the gap between them. Qin Yu and Yun Yun then discussed Yun Shan and the people who had helped him become a Dou Zong, agreeing to watch for their next move.

• After bidding Qin Yu farewell, Xiao Yan questioned Yao Lao, who said Qin Yu possessed two Heavenly Flames: the Green Lotus Core Flame and the Volcanic Rock Flame.
• Yao Lao's discovery and Qin Yu's rapid progress discouraged Xiao Yan, but Xiao Yan accepted the gap and decided to head to Jia Nan Academy.
• Nalan Jie comforted Nalan Yanran after her defeat, but she said she was fine and accepted that she had lost to Xiao Yan.
• Nalan Yanran teased Yun Yun about her relationship with Qin Yu and left; Qin Yu then pulled Yun Yun into his arms and teased her about admitting her feelings.
• Qin Yu warned Yun Yun to watch whether Yun Shan sent people out or assigned her suspicious tasks, since the people who helped him become a Dou Zong would expect something in return.
• Yun Yun asked about dealing with her master, and Qin Yu said he could likely break the other party's method if given time, though doing so could invite endless trouble.

Qin Yu used Wu Protector as a target to test the Qilin Art techniques he had created, drawing the pursuer beyond the Jia Ma Empire. After eight spatial steps surrounded Wu Protector, Qin Yu prepared a move as Wu Protector launched a massive black handprint at him.

• Yun Yun left after Qin Yu sensed Wu Protector approaching, and Wu Protector attacked Qin Yu with black chains and mist.
• Qin Yu revealed his Qilin-like transformation, struck Wu Protector with a Volcanic Rock Flame punch, and fled to lure him into a fight.
• Wu Protector pursued Qin Yu beyond the Jia Ma Empire while Yun Yun followed at a distance and marveled at Qin Yu's strength.
• Qin Yu used a series of spatial steps to grow stronger and position Wu Protector at the center of eight points.
• Wu Protector realized something was wrong and launched a massive black handprint at Qin Yu as Qin Yu raised his hand to attack.

Qin Yu kept fighting Wu Protector with a secret art sustained by Qilin runes, then interrupted Wu Protector's attempt to consume imprisoned souls. Wu Protector reached Six-Star Dou Zong by sacrificing one soul, but Qin Yu trapped him in a prison of dark golden chains.

• Wu Protector launched his Hundred-Soul Sky-Locking Python at Qin Yu, but Qin Yu's Qilin-enhanced attacks continued to weaken him.
• Wu Protector hoped Qin Yu's secret art would expire, but Qin Yu's Qilin runes and the power of the Earth Sovereign kept its amplification going.
• Wu Protector tried to activate Nine-Forest Hundred Soul Devouring with two imprisoned Dou Emperor-level souls, but Qin Yu's attacks repeatedly disrupted him.
• Wu Protector crushed one soul to release a shockwave, then absorbed the remaining soul and raised his strength from Four-Star Dou Zong to Six-Star Dou Zong.
• Qin Yu summoned dark golden chains from the spots where he had stepped, forming a confinement prison around Wu Protector.

Qin Yu crushed Wu Protector with his Qilin technique, then rested with Yun Yun as they returned toward the Jia Ma Empire. Yun Yun agreed to remove the Hall of Souls' methods from Yun Shan and the two elders, despite the likely loss of Yun Shan's chance to reach Dou Zong.

• Qin Yu gathered the Qilin-patterned chains into a complete Qilin and stomped Wu Protector, crushing his body and soul.
• Yun Yun checked Qin Yu for injuries, and he assured her that he had only used too much power.
• Qin Yu searched Wu Protector's scattered belongings, kept a few items, and burned the rest to prevent the Hall of Souls from tracking them.
• Yun Yun carried Qin Yu toward the Jia Ma Empire until he recovered enough to stand on his own.
• Qin Yu said they would remove the Hall of Souls' methods from Yun Shan and the two elders, warning that Yun Shan's cultivation could fall and he might never advance to Dou Zong.
• Yun Yun agreed, believing that a decline in cultivation was better than Yun Shan becoming an object controlled by the Hall of Souls.

Qin Yu forced Yun Shan to accept the removal of the Hall of Souls’ secret technique, then helped cleanse its marks from him and two elders. Yun Shan lost his Dou Zong cultivation, but Qin Yu gave him a pill to restore his foundation and warned him against dangerous shortcuts.

• Yun Shan rejected Yun Yun’s warning and refused to give up his new cultivation, so Qin Yu offered to beat him until he accepted.
• Yun Yun stood firmly with Qin Yu, and Yun Shan challenged him to a fight.
• Qin Yu returned after beating Yun Shan, whose bruised, heavily made-up face nearly made Yun Yun laugh.
• Yun Shan accepted that Qin Yu would remove the secret technique, and Qin Yu later cleansed its soul marks from Yun Shan and two elders using materials from the Misty Cloud Sect treasury.
• Yun Shan’s cultivation fell back to Peak Dou Emperor, and Qin Yu gave him a Qilin Blood Pill to restore his foundation while warning him not to pursue crooked shortcuts again.

Qin Yu gave Yun Shan a Qilin Blood Pill and learned that Yun Shan had revealed Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran’s duel location to Wu Protector. Qin Yu and Yun Yun grew closer, and days later he gave her three powerful pills before she left to watch over the sect.

• Yun Shan accepted Qin Yu’s Qilin Blood Pill and admitted he had told Wu Protector where Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran would duel.
• Yun Yun visited Qin Yu, and the two kissed before Qin Yu took her somewhere else; afterward, she warned him not to call her Yun-jie again.
• Qin Yu delayed refining Yun Yun’s pills for two days, then gave her three high-grade Qilin Blood Pills suited to her cultivation.
• Yun Yun said her master would watch over the sect while she was away.

Yun Yun asked to travel with Qin Yu, then used a Qilin Blood Pill to break through to the peak of Eight-Star Dou Emperor. As Qin Yu and Yun Yun prepared to leave, Yun Shan saw them off and decided to visit his old acquaintances in Jia Ma Imperial City.

• Yun Yun asked Qin Yu if she could accompany him, and he agreed.
• Yun Yun's Dou Qi surged, so Qin Yu told her to take a Qilin Blood Pill while attempting a breakthrough.
• The Qilin Mark appeared on Yun Yun's forehead, and her cultivation rose from Six-Star to the peak of Eight-Star Dou Emperor.
• Yun Yun told Yun Shan that she and Qin Yu would soon leave, and he encouraged her to go without worry.
• Yun Shan decided to visit Jia Xing Tian and Hai Bo Dong in Jia Ma Imperial City.

Qin Yu brought Yun Yun, Xiao Yi Xian, and Zi Yan to the Black-Corner Region to seek treasures and prepare for the Eight Gates' upcoming auction. After days of searching with Zi Yan, he sensed a powerful treasure in a strange woodland.

• Yun Yun told Zi Yan and Xiao Yi Xian about Qin Yu's hidden abilities, and Zi Yan proposed that their group could dominate the Black-Corner Region.
• Qin Yu and the others crossed into the Black-Corner Region and went to Black Seal City, where he learned the Eight Gates' auction would take place in half a month.
• Qin Yu took Zi Yan treasure hunting while Yun Yun and Xiao Yi Xian stayed behind, and the pair found incomplete Earth Tier Dou Technique scrolls, medicinal pills, and other items.
• On their eleventh day of searching, Qin Yu and Zi Yan reached a strange, scorched-looking woodland, where Qin Yu's Treasure-Seeking Sacred Body sensed a treasure.

Qin Yu and Zi Yan discovered Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva forming inside a dead tree, and Qin Yu extracted and secured it. They left the dead Lin with the valuable treasure safely stored.

• Qin Yu and Zi Yan entered the dead Lin after sensing something unusual and followed the signs deeper into the woods.
• Qin Yu sensed an unformed energy gathering inside an enormous tree, while Zi Yan suggested smashing it open.
• Qin Yu used Volcanic Rock Flame to heat the tree, causing the scattered energy inside to converge.
• Qin Yu cut a small opening in the trunk, and Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva flowed out and hovered in the air.
• Qin Yu sealed the Bodhisattva Body Transformation Saliva in a jade box, and he and Zi Yan left the Lin.

Qin Yu returned to Black Seal City and learned that Xiao Yi Xian’s Woeful Poison Body had flared up, though the Yin-Yang Suppression of Calamity Pill had stabilized her. Yun Yun confronted Xiao Yi Xian about her habit of seeing herself as a burden, and Xiao Yi Xian appeared more confident when the group met for the auction the next day.

• Qin Yu returned to Black Seal City with Zi Yan and discovered that Xiao Yi Xian and Yun Yun were away from the inn.
• Qin Yu heard that a thief had fought with someone wielding a huge iron ruler and suspected the owner was Xiao Yan.
• Qin Yu learned that Xiao Yi Xian’s Woeful Poison Body had flared up, but the Yin-Yang Suppression of Calamity Pill had kept her safe.
• Yun Yun told Xiao Yi Xian that Qin Yu helped her because he wanted to and challenged her belief that she was a burden.
• Qin Yu, Yun Yun, Xiao Yi Xian, and Zi Yan went to the auction house, where Qin Yu noticed Xiao Yi Xian seemed more composed and confident.

Qin Yu attended the Black Mark Auction House and bought an unidentified map fragment for five hundred thousand gold while Xiao Yan watched from another private room. The auction ended without the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill appearing, and Qin Yu encountered Fan Ling as they went to collect their purchases.

• Qin Yu sensed the Sky Serpent Mansion, Black Skull Tomb, and Blood Sect at the auction, while Yao Lao concealed Xiao Yan's aura from him.
• Qin Yu bid five hundred thousand gold for a mysterious map fragment, and no one challenged his offer.
• Xiao Yan wondered at the fragment's price, and Yao Lao noted its ancient aura but said it had nothing to do with Xiao Yan.
• Black Skull Tomb won the bidding for Three Thousand Lightning Movement, while Qin Yu passed on the technique.
• The auction ended without the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill appearing, and Qin Yu ran into Fan Ling on his way to collect his item.

Qin Yu studied sealing techniques to contain Xiao Yi Xian’s Woeful Poison Body while she prepared to break through to Dou Emperor. A battle between Fan Ling’s Blood Sect and Black Skull Tomb interrupted him, and Fan Ling’s forces suffered another major loss.

• Fan Ling learned that Black Skull Tomb and Sky Serpent Mansion had left, then pursued them with his people to avenge their earlier scheme.
• Qin Yu obtained the third fragment of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame map and left the city with Xiao Yi Xian.
• Qin Yu explained that he could not fully resolve Xiao Yi Xian’s Woeful Poison Body without a suitable poison-attributed magic core, so he planned to develop a sealing method from techniques Su Qian had given him.
• Qin Yu set up a barrier around Xiao Yi Xian as she began cultivating for her breakthrough, then went to investigate a nearby fight.
• Qin Yu found Fan Ling’s Blood Sect close to defeating Black Skull Tomb, told Fan Ling to finish the fight and leave, and returned to his study.
• Black Skull Tomb launched a desperate counterattack that nearly killed Fan Ling and killed the Blood Sect’s accompanying Dou Wang.

Qin Yu helped Xiao Yi Xian control her Woeful Poison Body with a Golden Hoop forged from Heavenly Flames and Qilin Power. Soon afterward, he and Xiao Yi Xian joined Yun Yun in a confrontation with two pursuers, leaving one enemy down and the other outnumbered.

• After months of preparation, Qin Yu used an array to suppress Xiao Yi Xian's Poison Dou Qi and fitted a Golden Hoop to her Woeful Poison Body.
• Xiao Yi Xian stabilized her Dou Emperor cultivation and found the procedure painless.
• Qin Yu and Xiao Yi Xian spotted Yun Yun being pursued by Fang Yan and Xie Zhen, both of whom were injured.
• Qin Yu attacked the pursuers with dark crimson flames as Yun Yun engaged them, while Xiao Yi Xian struck Fang Yan down with a purple palm imprint.
• The red-haired old man, Xie Zhen, saw Qin Yu and Xiao Yi Xian join Yun Yun and accused her of setting a trap.

Qin Yu, Yun Yun, and Xiao Yi Xian killed Demon Flame Valley elders Xie Zhen and Fang Yan after they attacked Yun Yun and pursued Zi Yan. Once Zi Yan explained that she had stumbled upon Demon Flame Valley’s treasure trove, Qin Yu and Xiao Yi Xian reassured her that they would protect her.

• Qin Yu blocked Fang Yan while Yun Yun trapped him with the Four-Sided Wind Wall and Xiao Yi Xian joined the attack.
• Zi Yan and Su Qian arrived, and Zi Yan killed Fang Yan with a needle-thin thread of green Dou Qi.
• Su Qian returned to Jia Nan Academy, and Qin Yu asked Yun Yun and Zi Yan what had happened.
• Zi Yan explained that she had accidentally found Demon Flame Valley’s treasure trove, and Xie Zhen had pursued her before Yun Yun intervened.
• Qin Yu and Xiao Yi Xian comforted Zi Yan and said they would handle anyone who blamed or punished her.

Qin Yu killed Demon Flame Valley elders Fang Yan and Xie Zhen, then concealed the evidence while Yun Yun suggested wiping out the valley. At Demon Flame Valley, Earth Demon Old Ghost learned of their deaths and ordered an investigation and tighter restrictions on his people.

• Zi Yan recovered her spirits and persuaded Qin Yu to give her two drops of blood essence, which she began refining.
• Yun Yun asked Qin Yu what he planned to do about Demon Flame Valley and proposed destroying it, but Qin Yu said there was no rush.
• Qin Yu took Fang Yan and Xie Zhen's Storage Rings, burned their bodies with Heavenly Flames, and erased the lingering traces of Dou Qi.
• Demon Flame Valley's Second Elder reported to Earth Demon Old Ghost that Fang Yan and Xie Zhen's Soul Tablets had shattered.
• Earth Demon Old Ghost ordered an investigation into newcomers and Jia Nan Academy, and forbade anyone above Dou Wang from leaving the valley alone without his orders.

After Zi Yan grew taller, Qin Yu returned with her and Yun Yun to Jia Nan Academy, where Su Qian asked him to help reinforce the Seal holding back the Fallen Heart Flame. Su Qian also hinted that the academy might have an incomplete Formation manual.

• Zi Yan finished her growth and pointed Qin Yu toward the hidden treasure site in Demon Flame Valley.
• Qin Yu took Zi Yan and Yun Yun back to Jia Nan Academy after agreeing to help with a matter there.
• Su Qian explained that the Fallen Heart Flame was striking the Seal beneath the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower more frequently and asked Qin Yu to help reinforce it.
• Qin Yu agreed to help with Yun Yun and gave Su Qian a list of materials he needed for his Formation experiments.
• Su Qian recalled that Jia Nan Academy might possess an incomplete Formation manual.

Qin Yu and Yun Yun joined Su Qian and the academy elders to reinforce the Seal containing the Fallen Heart Flame beneath the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower, giving Qin Yu a chance to study its spatial Formation. As the tower closed, Yao Lao suspected the Fallen Heart Flame was involved and sent Xiao Yan to get close enough to sense what was happening.

• Su Qian remembered that the academy had once acquired a fragmentary Formation scroll, but he could not recall where he had stored it, so Qin Yu agreed to wait while he searched.
• Su Qian gathered the academy elders and introduced Qin Yu and Yun Yun before explaining how they would reinforce Mang Tianchi's Seal with spatial chains and their Dou Qi.
• Qin Yu anticipated learning about the power of space as the elders prepared to begin reinforcing the Seal and the academy closed the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower.
• Xiao Yan asked Xiao Yu about the sudden closure, but she had no explanation; Hu Jia urged him to take responsibility for Pan's Gate.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to approach the tower so his soul power could sense what was happening, suspecting the closure was related to the Fallen Heart Flame.
• Xiao Yan agreed to investigate and left, while Hu Jia complained about his sudden departure.

Jia Nan Academy’s elders reinforced the seal holding the Fallen Heart Flame while Qin Yu glimpsed the power of space within the formation. Xiao Yan learned the seal was complete and left, accepting that he would have to wait longer to claim the Heavenly Flame.

• Yao Lao confirmed that Jia Nan Academy’s elders were reinforcing the seal on the Fallen Heart Flame and told Xiao Yan that two of his old acquaintances were inside.
• Su Qian led the elders in powering the formation as Qin Yu tried to comprehend the spatial power in its silver chains.
• The Fallen Heart Flame struck the formation and interrupted Qin Yu’s insight, but Qin Yu increased his Dou Qi output and helped stabilize the seal.
• Su Qian and the elders completed the reinforcement, and Qin Yu told Yun Yun that he had gained a slight understanding of spatial power.
• Su Qian asked the elders to search for an incomplete formation scroll recovered from the Gan Mountain Sect, but none could recall where it was.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan the seal had been reinforced, and Xiao Yan left the tower, deciding to wait before pursuing the Fallen Heart Flame.

Earth Demon Old Ghost struggled to learn how Fang Yan and Xie Zhen had died, while Qin Yu received an old formation fragment from Su Qian at Jia Nan Academy. The fragment described the Taiyi Yin-Yang Formation only in part, leaving Qin Yu to consider how he and Xiao Yi Xian might serve as its cores.

• Earth Demon Old Ghost learned that his subordinates had found no clear evidence about Fang Yan and Xie Zhen's deaths, and ordered them to investigate newcomers in the Black-Corner Region.
• The Third Elder reported that Jia Nan Academy had closed the Sky Burning Qi Refining Tower and that the Blood Sect had lost several Dou Wang elders.
• Su Qian gave Qin Yu a formation fragment seized from the Gan Mountain Sect and explained how the sect had once fought Jia Nan Academy.
• Qin Yu studied the fragment's Taiyi Yin-Yang Formation, which required two Dou Emperor cultivators aligned with yin and yang, but lacked details about how it worked.
• Qin Yu concluded that he and Xiao Yi Xian could be the formation's cores and wondered where to find the complete formation.

Qin Yu tested a formation-enhanced secret art that raised his strength far beyond the Dou Zong level, then learned that Demon Flame Valley was searching for him. He and Su Qian considered striking first, but the risk of uniting the Black-Corner Region’s factions left the plan uncertain.

• Qin Yu used eight carefully arranged steps and blood essence to activate a formation that boosted his Nine-Star Dou Emperor strength beyond Su Qian’s Three-Star Dou Zong level.
• Su Qian arrived and warned Qin Yu that Earth Demon Old Ghost had emerged and Demon Flame Valley was searching the Black-Corner Region for him.
• Su Qian suggested that the academy and its allies could attack Demon Flame Valley, and Zi Yan eagerly volunteered before Xiao Yi Xian stopped her.
• Qin Yu revealed that he had also improved a sealing formation that could trap Earth Demon Old Ghost, prompting Su Qian to consider proposing an attack to the academy elders.
• Qin Yu cautioned that destroying Demon Flame Valley might unite the Black-Corner Region’s hidden powerhouses, especially if the conflict spread beyond the valley.