Chapter Summaries

Zhou Changqing accepted the Mu Family’s apology, took weapon commissions from Imperial Capital factions, and built his reputation as a Grand Weapon Refiner. He watched Xiao Yan win the Alchemist Convention, leaving both men famous throughout the city.

• Mu Ying apologized to Zhou Changqing on the Mu Family’s behalf and offered him soft netherglass iron, and Zhou Changqing agreed to let the matter go.
• Factions across the Imperial Capital visited Zhou Changqing, and he accepted their commissions to forge weapons in exchange for materials and payment.
• Zhou Changqing forged weapons for the factions, and the weapons’ performance spread his reputation among the Imperial Capital’s upper circles.
• Xiao Yan advanced to the Alchemist Convention finals and faced Yan Li, the Chu Yun Kingdom Alchemist Guild’s Vice President.
• Zhou Changqing watched Xiao Yan narrowly refine the Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill and claim the convention championship, making the name Yan Xiao famous in the Imperial Capital.

Zhou Changqing received an invitation to witness the Three-Year Agreement and learned that Xiao Yan had reached Four-Star Da Dou Shi after taking a Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill. Xiao Yan set out for Misty Cloud Mountain to face Nalan Yanran, confident that his allies would protect him if the Misty Cloud Sect retaliated.

• Zhou Changqing received an invitation from the Misty Cloud Sect to witness the Three-Year Agreement and showed it to Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan revealed that he had taken the Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill and advanced to Four-Star Da Dou Shi without suffering backlash.
• Zhou Changqing and Xiao Yan discussed the Misty Cloud Sect's confidence and the support Xiao Yan could rely on, including Medusa and Yao Lao.
• Zhou Changqing teased Xiao Yan before leaving, and Xiao Yan privately reflected on how their friendship reminded him of his past life.
• Xiao Yan changed out of his alchemist's robe, strapped on the Heavy Black Ruler, and headed toward Misty Cloud Mountain for the Three-Year Agreement.

Zhou Changqing and Medusa arrived at the Misty Cloud Sect before Xiao Yan’s three-year agreement, and Zhou Changqing asked Medusa to help if Yun Shan appeared. They joined the guests at the sect’s arena, where the gathered leaders and disciples learned that both visitors were Dou Wang experts.

• Zhou Changqing told Medusa he might need her help against Yun Shan if the Misty Cloud Sect interfered with Xiao Yan.
• Medusa agreed to assist Zhou Changqing despite her displeasure that he had given Xiao Yan the Green Lotus Core Flame she had gifted him.
• Zhou Changqing and Medusa climbed to the Misty Cloud Sect’s summit and surveyed the sect’s arena and assembled members.
• Yun Leng recognized Zhou Changqing, welcomed him to the guest stands, and exchanged polite greetings with him.
• Zhou Changqing and Medusa flew to the guest stands, surprising the sect’s disciples with their Dou Wang strength, and joined Hai Bodong, Nalan Jie, and other faction leaders.

Zhou Changqing attended the Three-Year Agreement as Xiao Yan arrived at the Misty Cloud Sect to face Nalan Yanran. Their duel began, and Zhou Changqing watched as Xiao Yan concealed his true strength.

• Zhou Changqing greeted the gathered experts and sat with Medusa while Mu Zhan trembled at the sight of him.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the square carrying the Heavy Black Ruler, and Nalan Yanran stepped down to meet him.
• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran named themselves and agreed that the duel could end in death.
• Xiao Yan demanded repayment for the humiliation his family had suffered, and Nalan Yanran stood by her decision to break their engagement.
• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran clashed with ruler and sword as the gathered experts watched their seemingly even fight.
• Zhou Changqing recognized that Xiao Yan was concealing his true strength and anticipated the experts' surprise when he revealed it.

Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran fought evenly until both unleashed their ultimate techniques, Flame Splitting Wave Ruler and Extreme Wind: Setting Sun Radiance, which collided in a massive explosion. The shock wave engulfed much of the square, and Yun Leng ordered the Misty Cloud Sect disciples to raise a defensive barrier as the blast erupted.

• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran exchanged more than a hundred blows, forcing Nalan Yanran to reveal that she was a Two-Star Great Dou Master.
• Yun Leng reassured Yun Li that Nalan Yanran could still win by using the Misty Cloud Sect’s advanced Dou Techniques.
• Nalan Yanran used the Flying Catkin Movement Technique and Dou Qi Armor to lessen Xiao Yan’s Eight Extremes Collapse, then launched herself into the air to prepare her ultimate move.
• Nalan Yanran and Xiao Yan simultaneously unleashed Extreme Wind: Setting Sun Radiance and Flame Splitting Wave Ruler, and their attacks collided in a tremendous explosion.
• Yun Leng ordered the Misty Cloud Sect disciples to combine their Dou Qi and raise a defensive barrier around the square.

Xiao Yan clearly gained the upper hand over Nalan Yanran, but she refused to concede because she could not afford to lose as the Misty Cloud Sect’s young sect master. She drew a Demonic Weapon bought from Zhou Changqing, leaving Xiao Yan bemused as she prepared to use its power.

• Zhou Changqing recognized the Misty Cloud Sect disciples’ defensive barrier as a sophisticated Combined Attack Formation and considered how its principles might improve his artifact patterns.
• After the shock waves faded, the crowd and elders saw that Xiao Yan had suppressed Nalan Yanran’s Dou Technique and still had strength to spare.
• Nalan Yanran admitted Xiao Yan was stronger, then said she could not lose and put away her sword.
• Nalan Yanran drew a pale blue-and-white Demonic Weapon, which Xiao Yan recognized as a Magic Core Armament and connected to Zhou Changqing.
• Xiao Yan told Nalan Yanran that weapons were part of one’s strength, and she activated the sword’s magic core, gathering violent wind-attribute energy along its blade.

Nalan Yanran unleashed the full power of her Demonic Weapon while Xiao Yan prepared and launched the Buddha's Wrath Fire Lotus. Xiao Yan's flames revealed that he was Yan Xiao, and the two attacks collided in a devastating explosion that shattered the Misty Cloud Sect disciples' shield.

• Nalan Yanran gathered the energy in her Demonic Weapon for an all-out strike as Xiao Yan assessed the danger.
• Xiao Yan swallowed two pills, summoned purple and green flames, and revealed his identity as Yan Xiao to the stunned spectators.
• Xiao Yan fused the flames into a crystalline Fire Lotus while Nalan Yanran's weapon reached full power.
• Nalan Yanran fired a deep green Sword Qi crescent, and Xiao Yan sent the Buddha's Wrath Fire Lotus to meet it.
• The attacks collided over the plaza, creating a massive explosion that cracked the ground and shattered the Misty Cloud Sect disciples' shield.

Xiao Yan defeated Nalan Yanran but released her from their agreement, only to be stopped by Yun Ling over the investigation into Mo Cheng’s death. Zhou Changqing intervened as the Misty Cloud Sect prepared to detain Xiao Yan and offered a compromise.

• Xiao Yan defeated the badly injured Nalan Yanran, then declared their grievances settled and freed her from the agreement to become his servant.
• Yun Ling stopped Xiao Yan and said the Misty Cloud Sect needed to question him about Mo Cheng’s death, with Ge Ye called to testify against him.
• Xiao Yan prepared to leave rather than risk being detained, while Yun Ling readied his men to stop him.
• Zhou Changqing flashed into the square and proposed a solution to prevent the Misty Cloud Sect and Xiao Yan from coming to blows.

Zhou Changqing intervened in the Misty Cloud Sect’s confrontation with Xiao Yan and proposed accompanying him while he cooperated with an investigation into Mo Cheng’s death. Yun Ling recognized that accepting would obstruct his real plans, but Zhou Changqing’s pointed challenge left him cornered.

• Zhou Changqing admitted that Xiao Yan was his close friend from Wutan City and offered to mediate despite Yun Ling’s threats.
• Zhou Changqing proposed that Xiao Yan stay and cooperate with the investigation, with Zhou Changqing accompanying him as a witness.
• Yun Ling realized Zhou Changqing’s presence would hinder his plan to target Xiao Yan and could expose the Mo Family’s human-beast transplantation practices.
• Zhou Changqing implied that rejecting his proposal would make the Misty Cloud Sect look unable to control a Dou Wang, putting Yun Ling under public pressure.
• Yun Ling rejected the proposal, saying he did not think much of it.

Zhou Changqing fought the Misty Cloud Sect elders to help Xiao Yan escape, but the sect raised its mist formation and trapped him on the summit. After Zhou Changqing’s powerful strike only shook the barrier, Yun Ling sent three elders after Xiao Yan while confronting Zhou Changqing himself.

• Yun Ling refused Zhou Changqing’s request to let Xiao Yan go, so Zhou Changqing chose to fight while Xiao Yan fled with his Purple Cloud Wings.
• Yun Ling ordered three elders to pursue Xiao Yan, but Zhou Changqing intercepted them and drove all three back with a few blows.
• The Misty Cloud Sect’s disciples and deacons formed a dome over the summit, stopping Xiao Yan from escaping.
• Zhou Changqing struck the dome with Ten Thousand Jun Force, making it ripple and staggering the people maintaining the formation, but it held.
• Yun Ling sent Yun Li and the other elders to capture Xiao Yan while he flew toward Zhou Changqing to hold him back.

Zhou Changqing shattered Yun Leng's signature Dou Technique and defeated him with one strike, while Xiao Yan remained cornered by Yun Li and another Dou Wang. The chapter left Xiao Yan calling for Zhou Changqing to take over the fight.

• Zhou Changqing prepared to reinforce his attack with his physical strength, but Yun Leng charged him with a powerful Gray Stone Sword Stele.
• Zhou Changqing shattered the Sword Stele with a punch and sent a giant golden Thunder Flood Dragon crashing into Yun Leng.
• The attack blasted a crater into the plaza and left Yun Leng severely injured and unable to move.
• Xiao Yan used the Azure-Red Flame Python Bow to injure one of his three pursuers and interrupt their coordinated technique.
• Xiao Yan struggled to evade Yun Li and the remaining Dou Wang with ordinary bow attacks, then called for Zhou Changqing to take over.

Zhou Changqing shattered the Misty Cloud Sect’s protective formation while Hai Bodong rescued Xiao Yan and defeated Yun Li and his companion. As they prepared to leave, Yun Leng summoned Yun Shan, whose arrival forced Zhou Changqing’s group to face the sect’s returning powerhouse.

• Yun Li and his companion attacked Xiao Yan with a wind-and-fire tornado, but Hai Bodong arrived, rescued him, and overwhelmed the pair with ice techniques.
• Hai Bodong’s ice dragon hurled Yun Li and his companion to the ground, leaving both severely injured.
• Zhou Changqing broke the Misty Cloud Sect’s mist formation with a single strike, stunning the onlookers and Xiao Yan.
• As Zhou Changqing’s group prepared to leave, Yun Leng played a jade flute and declared that none of them would escape.
• A vast aura descended on Misty Cloud Mountain, and Yun Shan appeared in the sky.

Former Sect Master Yun Shan arrived at the Misty Cloud Sect and heard both Yun Leng’s and Xiao Yan’s accounts of the conflict. He proposed that Zhou Changqing, Xiao Yan, and Hai Bodong endure seven and a half minutes against him, but Zhou Changqing called on his mysterious friend, addressing her as “Your Majesty.”

• Yun Shan appeared above the square, and the Misty Cloud Sect disciples and elders paid their respects to him.
• Yun Leng told Yun Shan his version of events, while Yun Shan greeted Jia Xingtian, Fa Ma, and Hai Bodong and questioned Zhou Changqing and Xiao Yan.
• Yun Shan listened as Xiao Yan gave an unbiased account, then became displeased with Yun Leng’s conduct.
• Yun Shan proposed a seven-and-a-half-minute trial against himself to settle the matter, and Hai Bodong and Xiao Yan recognized the danger.
• Zhou Changqing declined the challenge on their behalf and called to the graceful figure in the stands, asking what “Your Majesty” thought.

Medusa revealed herself to defend Zhou Changqing and challenged Yun Shan to a fight, so the two Dou Zong experts left the Misty Cloud Sect grounds to battle. As Zhou Changqing and Xiao Yan waited for her return, Yun Leng blamed them for the trouble and dreaded the punishment ahead.

• Medusa appeared beside Zhou Changqing and warned Yun Shan not to harm someone under her protection.
• Yun Shan recognized Medusa as Queen Medusa, and she challenged him to a fight to test her evolved strength.
• Yun Shan accepted, and he and Medusa vanished to battle elsewhere rather than risk damaging Misty Cloud Mountain.
• Xiao Yan thanked Zhou Changqing, and the two joked about their adoptive-father relationship before Hai Bodong joined them.
• Hai Bodong withdrew to the stands, while Yun Leng brooded over his responsibility for the confrontation and vowed revenge on Zhou Changqing and Xiao Yan.

After Zhou Changqing and Xiao Yan left Misty Cloud Mountain, they discussed their separate plans before Zhou told Ya Fei he would seek her hand when he returned. The chapter ended with Ya Fei flustered by his proposal.

• Yun Shan ended the confrontation and ordered Yun Leng to let the matter go, while Zhou Changqing and Xiao Yan departed Misty Cloud Mountain with Medusa.
• At the Mittel clan, Xiao Yan planned to attend Jia Nan Academy, while Zhou Changqing decided to leave the Jia Ma Empire and seek his own path.
• Zhou Changqing teased Xiao Yan about his interest in a woman and denied that his relationship with Medusa was anything but transactional.
• Zhou Changqing told Ya Fei he was leaving because the Jia Ma Empire could not support his cultivation, and she urged him to be careful.
• Zhou Changqing embraced Ya Fei and said that when he returned, he would ask the Mittel clan for her hand, leaving her flustered.

Zhou Changqing warned Xiao Yan that Yun Leng might attack the Xiao Clan, then returned with him to Wutan City to protect the family. Yun Leng’s forces stormed the Xiao Residence, and Xiao Yan arrived as the assault began.

• Zhou Changqing told Ya Fei he wanted her to be his woman, and she said they would talk when he returned.
• Yun Leng learned Zhou Changqing remained in the Imperial Capital and vowed to make him and Xiao Yan pay for their humiliation.
• Zhou Changqing brought Xiao Yan back to Wutan City, where they waited near the Xiao Clan estate for Yun Leng to make a move.
• Xiao Yan sensed Yun Leng’s arrival at the Xiao Residence and rushed over while Zhou Changqing went to fetch Medusa.
• A masked Dou Wang ordered his men to wipe out the Xiao Clan except for Xiao Zhan, and the attackers charged as Xiao Yan shouted a furious warning.

Xiao Yan returned to the Xiao Clan in time to stop Yun Leng’s attack, and Zhou Changqing swiftly defeated Yun Leng and the Misty Cloud Sect deacons. The Xiao Clan’s main hall and courtyard lay in ruins, but Xiao Zhan welcomed Zhou Changqing’s intervention.

• Xiao Yan rushed into the Xiao Clan courtyard and confronted Yun Leng, who threatened to kill everyone in the clan.
• Zhou Changqing appeared behind Yun Leng, startling him and mocking his fear.
• Zhou Changqing struck Yun Leng with a lightning-coated punch, sending him into the main hall and burying him beneath its collapsed ruins.
• Zhou Changqing swiftly knocked the Misty Cloud Sect deacons through the courtyard walls.
• Zhou Changqing apologized to Xiao Zhan for the damage, and Xiao Zhan assured him that he did not mind.

After Xiao Yan explained Yun Leng’s attack on the Xiao Clan, he killed the wounded First Elder, and Zhou Changqing destroyed both his corpse and soul. A sinister voice then revealed that Yun Leng had served a mysterious Protector who had been pursuing Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan told Xiao Zhan how Yun Leng had attacked the Xiao Clan, and Xiao Zhan worried that the Misty Cloud Sect would retaliate.
• Xiao Yan and Zhou Changqing agreed that Yun Leng had to die, and Xiao Yan crushed his head with the Heavy Black Ruler.
• Zhou Changqing incinerated Yun Leng’s corpse, seized his lingering soul, and destroyed it with lightning.
• Xiao Yan realized Yun Leng had possessed hidden backing, while Zhou Changqing suspected someone had let him die deliberately.
• An unseen Protector laughed that Yun Leng was expendable and revealed that Xiao Yan was the target Our Hall had been pursuing.

Protector Wu appeared at the Xiao Clan estate and revealed his overwhelming strength, targeting Zhou Changqing and the Xiao Clan. Medusa challenged him and their clash sent dangerous shockwaves toward Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yan, and the others, whom Zhou Changqing shielded.

• Protector Wu formed from black mist above the Xiao Clan estate and overwhelmed Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yan, and the others with his aura, while Zhou Changqing resisted it.
• Protector Wu recognized Zhou Changqing and revealed his interest in Xiao Yan, whose unusual rise and bone-white flame had drawn his attention.
• Zhou Changqing asked Medusa whether she was confident against Protector Wu, and she appeared beside him with a grave expression.
• Protector Wu urged Medusa to withdraw, but she rose to face him and attacked with red Sting Swords.
• Medusa and Protector Wu exchanged powerful blows, unleashing shockwaves that Zhou Changqing blocked with a golden barrier around Xiao Zhan, Xiao Yan, and the others.

As Protector Wu battled Medusa over Wutan City, Zhou Changqing and Xiao Yan stayed behind to help while Xiao Zhan led the Xiao Clan to safety. Zhou Changqing attacked Protector Wu from the sidelines, and the chapter ended as Protector Wu sent a black iron chain toward his Thunder Flood Dragon.

• Zhou Changqing told Xiao Yan to evacuate Xiao Zhan and the Xiao Clan, while Medusa kept fighting Protector Wu.
• The battle shook Wutan City, prompting residents to flee as shock waves flattened homes and killed some people.
• Xiao Yan returned his clan to the Third Elder, then decided to go back and aid Zhou Changqing with Yao Chen's help.
• Xiao Zhan led the clan members away while Xiao Yan sped back toward the battlefield with Yao Chen controlling his body.
• Zhou Changqing flew into the fight and struck Protector Wu with Flood Dragon Thunder, Ten Thousand Jun.
• Protector Wu knocked Medusa back and launched a black iron chain at Zhou Changqing's Thunder Flood Dragon.