Chapter Summaries

Ya Fei demonstrated the Foundation-Building Elixir by having Xiao Yan cultivate in it, convincing the auction house of its effects. The first bottle sold to Xiao Zhan for one hundred thousand gold coins, leaving him unsure whether he could afford a second.

• Ya Fei invited Xiao Yan to test the Foundation-Building Elixir, and Xiao Zhan encouraged him to accept.
• Xiao Yan cultivated in the basin as the elixir infused the water with green vapor, then dispersed the vapor through the auction house for everyone to experience.
• Ya Fei advertised the elixir’s cultivation and healing benefits and opened bidding at fifteen thousand gold coins.
• Oba Pa and the owners of Wutan City’s largest weapons and medicinal herb suppliers raised the price as they sought the elixir for their younger relatives.
• Xiao Zhan bid one hundred thousand gold coins, and Jia Lie Bi stopped bidding rather than risk worsening his clan’s finances.
• Xiao Zhan won the first bottle, though its price made his plan to buy two bottles seem unlikely.

The remaining Foundation-Building Elixirs sold for high prices, and Xiao Yan collected the proceeds and medicinal ingredients from Ya Fei. Back at his room, he eagerly tested his new Storage Ring while Medicine Elder watched.

• Xun'er bid one hundred and twenty thousand gold coins for the second bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir, which went to her and Xiao Yan.
• The Oba Clan bought the third bottle, the medicinal herb supplier bought the fourth, and Jia Lie Bi won the last bottle.
• Xiao Yan met Ya Fei in disguise and received a VIP card, a green card with the auction proceeds, and a Storage Ring filled with medicinal ingredients.
• Ya Fei agreed to prepare more batches of ingredients for Medicine Elder to collect at the next auction.
• Xiao Yan returned to his room and repeatedly used his soul perception to take herbs out of the Storage Ring and put them back, unaware Medicine Elder had appeared.

Xiao Yan received two half-bottles of Foundation-Building Elixir from Xiao Zhan and Xun'er, then cultivated while Medicine Elder refined medicinal ingredients. After another brutal training session and medicinal bath, Xiao Yan asked whether the routine could make his physical strength comparable to a magical beast.

• Xiao Zhan gave Xiao Yan half a bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir, but Xiao Yan accepted it only because it was his father's kindness.
• Xun'er gave Xiao Yan her half-bottle of Foundation-Building Elixir, and Xiao Yan's awkward remark made her blush and run away.
• Xiao Yan combined both halves into a full bottle, then cultivated as Medicine Elder refined the medicinal ingredients into a dark-red liquid.
• Medicine Elder whipped Xiao Yan at the back mountain, then placed him in a medicinal bath that strengthened his body and meridians as he cultivated.
• Xiao Yan finished absorbing the vapor, got dressed, and asked Medicine Elder whether daily training could make his physical strength comparable to a magical beast.

Xiao Yan tested his Dragon-Grasping Hand on Xun'er and accidentally grabbed her, after which Medicine Elder punished him with six months of brutal training. Xiao Yan completed his body-tempering and learned that his physical strength now rivaled a mid-level first-tier magical beast.

• Medicine Elder told Xiao Yan that his strength as a Dou Zhe could rival that of a first-tier magical beast, and Xiao Yan eagerly asked him to train him.
• Xiao Yan used Dragon-Grasping Hand to pull Xun'er toward him and accidentally grabbed her; she fled in embarrassment.
• Medicine Elder punished Xiao Yan with six months of harsh training, while Xun'er rarely appeared after the incident.
• Xiao Yan completed his body-tempering, shattered a massive boulder with one punch, and learned from Medicine Elder that his strength rivaled a mid-level first-tier magical beast.

Xiao Yan asked Medicine Elder for help reaching the Dou Zhe level and learning alchemy, so Medicine Elder promised to refine Gathering Qi Powder and gave him pill formulas. After Xiao Yan requested the ingredients at the Mitre Auction House, Gu Ni recognized them as materials for a fourth-grade pill, revealing that Medicine Elder was at least a Fourth-Grade Alchemist.

• Xiao Yan complained that he had not reached the Dou Zhe level, and Medicine Elder reminded him of his rapid progress and formidable strength.
• Medicine Elder agreed to refine Gathering Qi Powder for Xiao Yan after he bought the required herbs and a second-tier water-element Magic Core.
• Xiao Yan asked to begin learning alchemy after his breakthrough, so Medicine Elder told him to buy a medicinal cauldron and transmitted several pill formulas.
• Xiao Yan went to the Mitre Auction House, where Ya Fei welcomed him and agreed to find the requested ingredients.
• Gu Ni identified the ingredients as materials for fourth-grade Gathering Qi Powder, and Ya Fei realized Medicine Elder was at least a Fourth-Grade Alchemist.

Medicine Elder arranged for Ya Fei to prepare a cauldron and large quantities of ingredients, then returned with Xiao Yan to a hidden cliff platform to refine Gathering Qi Powder. As Medicine Elder demonstrated his Heavenly Flames and explained their danger, Xiao Yan resolved to pursue them himself.

• Medicine Elder asked Ya Fei to prepare a Medicinal Cauldron, one thousand Blood-Coagulating Grass plants, one thousand Vitality Fruits, and two thousand Poppy Flowers, and Ya Fei agreed.
• Ya Fei and Gu Ni concluded that Medicine Elder was preparing supplies for an apprentice to practice alchemy.
• Xiao Yan returned to the Xiao Clan, climbed down to his concealed platform, and laid out the ingredients for Gathering Qi Powder.
• Medicine Elder raised his white Heavenly Flames and explained their origins, alchemical benefits, and deadly danger.
• Xiao Yan declared that he wanted to possess Heavenly Flames, and Medicine Elder deferred his question about an opportunity before beginning the refinement.

Medicine Elder refined a Gathering Qi Powder for Xiao Yan, who used it to break through to Dou Zhe. The chapter ended with Xiao Yan successfully condensing a tightly compressed Dou Qi Vortex.

• Medicine Elder used the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to refine the ingredients into a Gathering Qi Powder.
• Xiao Yan swallowed the pill and began cultivating, gathering more Dou Qi than his body could comfortably contain.
• Xiao Yan used his soul perception to compress his swollen body and keep refining the pill's energy.
• After regaining movement, Xiao Yan formed the hand seal to condense a Dou Qi Vortex in his lower abdomen.
• Xiao Yan compressed the Dou Qi Vortex until he was exhausted and became a Dou Zhe.

After becoming a Dou Zhe, Xiao Yan discovered the Yin-Yang Twin Flame inside his Qi vortex and learned from Medicine Elder that it was a rare Heavenly Flame with powers of life and death. He quickly gained control over it, leaving Medicine Elder astonished.

• Xiao Yan inspected his Qi vortex and found a tiny black-and-white sphere surrounded by matching Qi.
• Medicine Elder identified the sphere as the Yin-Yang Twin Flame, the twenty-first-ranked Heavenly Flame, and explained its origins and powers.
• Xiao Yan summoned the flame in his palm and accidentally hurled it at the cliff, burning away part of the platform.
• Xiao Yan controlled the flame's temperature and shape, then separated it into white Yang Fire and black Yin Fire.
• Xiao Yan used Yang Fire to revive a plant and Yin Fire to reduce another to dust.

Xiao Yan chose the Flame Mantra over an Earth Tier cultivation method, but the black scroll vanished as he touched it. He discovered the Heavenly Flame had caused the Flame Mantra to evolve and begin cultivating automatically, then headed to the mountaintop to practice Dou techniques.

• Medicine Elder warned Xiao Yan that the Flame Mantra required devouring Heavenly Flames and carried only a thirty percent chance of success, but Xiao Yan eagerly accepted the risk.
• Medicine Elder offered Xiao Yan the Flame Mantra and an Earth Tier method, explaining the Flame Mantra's dangers and its potential to revive him.
• Xiao Yan reached for the black scroll, which vanished, and he collapsed in despair until Medicine Elder urged him to inspect his body.
• Xiao Yan found his flame seed and Dou Qi vortex circulating automatically, refining natural energy into Dou Qi.
• Medicine Elder examined Xiao Yan and found that the Flame Mantra had evolved from a low-level Yellow Tier method to at least a low-level Profound Rank method and could operate on its own.
• Xiao Yan climbed to the mountaintop to practice his Dou techniques as dawn broke.

Xiao Yan tested his combat techniques after reaching the Dou Zhe realm and learned from Medicine Elder that his Heavenly Flame might have devoured and mutated the Flame Mantra. As the clan test began without him, Xiao Yan was still away training in the mountains.

• Xiao Yan used Blazing Fire Palm, Eight Extremes Collapse, and Cloud-Discharging Palm, then found that his Dou Qi recovered rapidly after each technique.
• Medicine Elder suggested that Xiao Yan's Heavenly Flame had likely devoured the Flame Mantra and gained the ability to absorb energy, possibly allowing the cultivation method to grow stronger.
• Medicine Elder reassured Xiao Yan that a stronger Heavenly Flame could help him revive, then returned to the ring to rest.
• Xiao Zhan and the elders began the annual clan test while Xiao Yan remained missing, and a young woman in a pale purple dress quietly hoped to see him.

Xiao Xun'er became a one-star Dou Zhe during the clan test while Xiao Yan remained absent, prompting the examiner and clan youths to wonder about his strength. On the back mountain, Xiao Yan continued experimenting with Heavenly Shift and Heavenly Flame, preparing another attempt after repeated failures.

• The youths at Blue Stone Square discussed Xiao Yan's absence and speculated about his cultivation.
• Xiao Mei scored seventh Duan Dou Qi with a high grade, but the crowd quickly returned to talking about Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Xun'er tested as a one-star Dou Zhe and said she had not seen Brother Xiao Yan for half a year.
• On the back mountain, Xiao Yan repeatedly failed to use Heavenly Flame to improve Heavenly Shift as Medicine Elder attacked him.
• Xiao Yan recovered his Dou Qi and began another attempt, summoning black flame in his left hand and white flame in his right.

Xiao Yan completed a powerful Earth-tier battle skill that reflected attacks, then rushed to the clan test after missing most of it. He reunited with Xun'er and stunned the clan by testing as a one-star Dou Zhe, having broken through in a year.

• Xiao Yan fused the black and white flames into a Tai Chi diagram that absorbed and reflected Medicine Elder’s attack with greater force.
• Xiao Yan exhausted his Dou Qi and collapsed, while Medicine Elder praised the skill’s Earth-tier power and warned that it consumed too much energy.
• Xiao Yan hurried to the clan test, eager to see Xun'er, while the examiner repeatedly called his name and Xiao Zhan waited for him.
• Xiao Yan barely recognized the grown-up Xun'er, then awkwardly left her to take the test, leaving her worried that he was becoming distant.
• Xiao Yan touched the Black Stone Stele, which announced that he was a one-star Dou Zhe and had broken through in one year.

After Xiao Yan revealed that he had become a Dou Zhe, Xun'er confessed her feelings and embraced him. The next morning, the Misty Cloud Sect arrived with Nalan Yanran, and Xiao Yan prepared to end his engagement on his own terms.

• Xiao Yan's breakthrough stunned the Xiao Clan, and Xun'er and Xiao Mei reflected on his strength.
• Xun'er apologized for avoiding Xiao Yan, confessed that she had missed him, and embraced him before the crowd.
• Xiao Yan embraced Xun'er in return, then took her to the back mountain as the clan members watched.
• The next morning, Xiao Zhan and the three elders received a Seven-star Great Dou Master and two young Misty Cloud Sect disciples.
• Xun'er identified the guests as members of the Misty Cloud Sect, while Xiao Yan recognized that they had come to address his engagement to Nalan Yanran.
• Xiao Yan decided he wanted the engagement dissolved, but resolved that the Xiao Clan would be the one to break it off.

Nalan Yanran and Ge Ye came to the Xiao Clan to dissolve her engagement to Xiao Yan, believing his weak cultivation made him unworthy of her. The revelation that Xiao Yan had recovered his talent and become a Dou Zhe left Ge Ye shocked and regretful as the engagement dispute unfolded.

• The narration explained that the Nalan Clan had regretted the engagement after Xiao Yan lost his cultivation talent, while Nalan Jie had refused to break his promise.
• Ge Ye told Xiao Zhan that the Misty Cloud Sect wanted Nalan Yanran's engagement to Xiao Yan dissolved so she could focus on cultivation.
• Nalan Yanran said Xiao Yan's strength made him unqualified to be with her, and Xiao Yan interrupted Xiao Zhan before he could explain that his talent had recovered.
• Ge Ye sensed Xiao Yan's aura and realized he had advanced from Third Duan Dou Qi to Dou Zhe in a year.
• Ge Ye marveled at Xiao Yan's rare talent and regretted coming to annul the engagement without first checking the news.

Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran agreed to settle their engagement dispute with a match at the Xiao Clan training ground. Xiao Yan’s first strike sent Nalan Yanran flying and wounded her, but she rose and prepared to continue fighting.

• Nalan Yanran insisted on ending the engagement, and Xiao Yan proposed that the winner of a match decide what happened to the engagement agreement.
• Nalan Yanran accepted Xiao Yan’s challenge, and Xiao Zhan and Ge Ye followed them to the training ground as the clan gathered to watch.
• The Great Elder announced the match as an exchange of pointers, while the spectators recognized the reputational stakes for the Xiao Clan and Misty Cloud Sect.
• Xiao Yan drew a broadsword from the weapon rack with precise Dou Qi control, astonishing the crowd and making Ge Ye more concerned.
• Nalan Yanran charged with her sword, but Xiao Yan knocked it aside and struck her hard enough to send her backward with blood at her lips.
• Nalan Yanran claimed she had used only thirty percent of her strength; Xiao Yan said he had used barely twenty percent, and she angrily threatened to kill him.

Xiao Yan defeated Nalan Yanran in their duel, despite her powerful Misty Cloud Sect techniques. After Ge Ye intervened to save her, Xiao Yan demanded that she honor their wager, but Xiao Zhan urged him to let the matter go because of the Misty Cloud Sect.

• Nalan Yanran used Flying Catkin Movement and Wind Spirit Splitting Sword to press Xiao Yan, but he countered with Cloud-Discharging Palm and wounded her.
• Nalan Yanran refused to accept defeat and unleashed Extreme Wind: Sun-Setting Splendor, risking severe internal injuries.
• Xiao Yan used Heavenly Shift to swallow Nalan Yanran's sword aura and send it back toward her.
• Ge Ye intercepted the returning attack, and Xiao Zhan shielded Xiao Yan from the resulting blast.
• Ge Ye admitted defeat and tried to take the exhausted Nalan Yanran away, but Xiao Yan demanded that she honor the wager.
• Ge Ye invoked the Misty Cloud Sect, and Xiao Zhan asked Xiao Yan to let Nalan Yanran go.

After Nalan Yanran signed an annulment agreement, she challenged Xiao Yan to meet her at the Misty Cloud Sect in three years, and he accepted. Xiao Yan then went to the Mitel Auction House to collect medicine-making supplies and arrange preparations for a wilderness journey.

• Xiao Xun'er warned Ge Ye that he would not leave Wutan City if he failed to honor the wager, and Nalan Yanran wrote and blood-sealed Xiao Yan's demanded annulment agreement.
• Nalan Yanran challenged Xiao Yan to a duel at the Misty Cloud Sect in three years, and he accepted while warning her not to make excuses if she lost.
• Xiao Yan decided to prepare healing medicine for the Xiao Clan before leaving to gain experience, fearing the Jia Lie Clan might make a desperate move.
• Xiao Yan, disguised in a black cloak, visited the Mitel Auction House to collect a medicinal cauldron and ingredients for Blood-Coagulating Powder.
• Ya Fei gave Xiao Yan a Storage Ring, and Medicine Elder asked her to prepare wilderness survival supplies for collection in a few days.
• Gu Ni told Ya Fei that the black-robed Fourth-Grade Alchemist might have accepted a Wutan City disciple, and they speculated that the disciple would soon leave the city.

Xiao Yan began learning alchemy under Medicine Elder’s guidance and refined his first batch of Blood-Coagulating Powder. The chapter ended with him successfully producing a mass of deep-red paste.

• Xiao Yan went to a hidden platform in the Back Mountain and brought out his medicinal cauldron.
• Medicine Elder explained the cauldron’s ports and taught Xiao Yan to use the white flame of his Yin-Yang Twin Flame for alchemy.
• Xiao Yan repeatedly adjusted the flame temperature until he learned how to refine Blood-Coagulating Grass, Vitality Fruit, and Poppy Flowers.
• Xiao Yan refined the three ingredients separately, then fused their products into deep-red Blood-Coagulating Powder.
• Xiao Yan extinguished the flames, opened the cauldron, and removed his first batch of Blood-Coagulating Powder.

Xiao Yan spent ten days refining healing medicine and prepared to leave for outdoor training. After an embarrassing encounter with Xun'er while he slept, he resumed work and ended the chapter eager to set out with Medicine Elder.

• Xiao Yan refined Blood-Coagulating Powder through the day and night, then went to sleep exhausted.
• Xun'er visited Xiao Yan, and he pulled her into his arms and kissed her while dreaming; she escaped when his hands began to wander.
• Xiao Yan woke, realized Xun'er might have been there, and decided not to chase after her before returning to alchemy.
• Xiao Yan finished refining all one thousand portions of medicinal ingredients on the tenth day and asked Medicine Elder to begin their training journey.
• Medicine Elder warned Xiao Yan that outdoor training would be difficult, and Xiao Yan packed his belongings and hurried toward his father's study.

Xiao Yan left the Xiao Clan to train alone in the Warcraft Mountains, believing that real combat would help him grow. He entered the mountains despite mercenaries’ warnings, leaving his true test ahead.

• Xiao Yan persuaded Xiao Zhan to let him train in the Warcraft Mountains and promised to return before his coming-of-age ceremony.
• Xiao Yan reminded Xiao Zhan that he had left useful supplies beneath his bed in case the clan faced trouble, though Xiao Zhan dismissed the warning.
• Xiao Yan set out from Wutan City with his survival supplies and medicinal pills prepared, reaching the Warcraft Mountains in two hours.
• Mercenaries warned Xiao Yan that the mountains were dangerous and urged him to join a team, but he showed his strength, gave them money for wine, and continued alone.
• The mercenaries recognized Xiao Yan as the Xiao Clan’s young master and discussed rumors about his broken engagement before he entered the mountains.