Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan reached Shi Mo City and reunited with his brothers, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, before telling them he had come to find a Heavenly Flame. Xiao Ding revealed that Gu He and Queen Medusa had already fought over one near the city, leaving Xiao Yan to wonder who had obtained it.

• Xiao Yan arrived at Shi Mo City, where the guards greeted him because he wore a second-tier alchemist's robes.
• Xiao Yan visited the Mo Tie Mercenary Group and reunited with Xiao Ding, then Xiao Li joined them.
• Xiao Li asked Xiao Yan about Nalan Yanran breaking off their engagement, and Xiao Yan calmly said he would handle it himself.
• Xiao Yan told his brothers he had come to the Tagor Desert to find a Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Ding explained that Gu He had hired the Sand Mercenary Group to search east of the city, where Queen Medusa and a man suspected to be the Misty Cloud Sect's former leader later fought over a Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Yan learned that Gu He might have died and wondered whether Queen Medusa had taken the Heavenly Flame.

Xiao Yan investigated the magma lake where the Heavenly Flame had been discovered, accompanied by Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and Qing Lin. Qing Lin’s Green Snake Three-Flower Pupils took control of the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake, while Amon observed the ability and grew interested in its bloodline nature.

• Xiao Yan consulted Yao Chen, then agreed with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to inspect the Heavenly Flame site and consider infiltrating the Snake-Person Tribe.
• Xiao Yan, Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and Qing Lin reached the magma lake, where Qing Lin sensed a powerful presence below.
• A Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake emerged from the magma and knocked Xiao Yan aside before Qing Lin’s Green Snake Three-Flower Pupils enveloped it.
• Qing Lin’s pupils created a dark-green snake from the Fire Spirit Snake’s soul, which wrested control from Amon’s Spirit Worms.
• Amon studied the dark-green snake and chose not to experiment destructively on Qing Lin, while Yao Chen explained the pupils’ power to Xiao Yan.
• The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake submitted to Qing Lin, who excitedly told Xiao Yan it had become her pet.

Xiao Yan discovered that the heavenly flame beneath the lava had already been taken and met Hai Bodong, a sealed former Dou Huang who offered him a Purifying Lotus Demon Flame map fragment and information in exchange for help. Xiao Yan agreed to refine Hai Bodong’s pill and retrieve the Sand Mandala, while learning that Queen Medusa planned to use the flame for an evolution.

• Qing Lin learned from the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake that a man wearing a monocle had controlled it, and Xiao Yan found the Lotus Pedestal where the heavenly flame had grown.
• Xiao Yan visited Hai Bodong’s Ice Spring shop for clean water and learned from Yao Chen that Hai Bodong’s Dou Huang-level strength was sealed.
• Hai Bodong offered Xiao Yan a Purifying Lotus Demon Flame map fragment in exchange for help refining a sixth-tier pill and finding the Sand Mandala.
• Xiao Yan agreed to the deal, and Hai Bodong explained that Queen Medusa held the heavenly flame to evolve, leaving Xiao Yan the chance to trade for it or seize it during her vulnerable transformation.
• Xiao Yan revealed his name to Hai Bodong and planned to bring back the Sand Mandala.

Xiao Yan reached the Snake-Person city with help from a mysterious Corpse Dance Crow sent by Lord Ape, then infiltrated the site of the Green Lotus Core Flame. He left the crow outside the poisonous lake and faced Queen Medusa while trying to keep his desire and presence under control.

• Xiao Yan avoided Snake-Person patrols and reached the outskirts of the city, where the Corpse Dance Crow revealed that Lord Ape had sent him supplies and that Lord Ape was near death.
• Xiao Yan grieved for Lord Ape, then learned from the Corpse Dance Crow that Queen Medusa would be weakened after her evolution and agreed to infiltrate with it.
• The Corpse Dance Crow concealed them and carried Xiao Yan into the city, where Yao Chen identified the true Heavenly Flame's location and Hua She'er’s command helped their passage go smoothly.
• The Corpse Dance Crow stopped at the poisonous lake, and Xiao Yan crossed it with Yao Chen’s Bone Chilling Flame to reach the Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Xiao Yan saw Queen Medusa guarding the flame, struggled against her natural charm, and refused Yao Chen’s suggestion that he try to win her over in the future.

Queen Medusa underwent a perilous evolution using the Green Lotus Core Flame while Amon observed the process and learned how it worked. After a powerful aura briefly erupted from the serpent’s charred body, Xiao Yan rushed to steal the Heavenly Flame.

• Queen Medusa released the Green Lotus Core Flame and transformed into a giant purple serpent to begin her evolution.
• The serpent entered Qing Meng’s flames, and Amon sensed that her soul was being reshaped into a new body with the aid of heaven and earth.
• Amon reasoned that Medusa’s evolution used a serpent bloodline template and considered studying related fusion techniques in the Northern Continent.
• Mo Basi, Yue Mei, and Hua She'er worried outside the temple as Medusa’s cries echoed from within.
• After lightning struck the charred serpent, a terrifying aura briefly rose and then faded, leading Yao Chen to tell Xiao Yan to seize the Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Yan rushed toward the Green Lotus Core Flame with the Lotus Pedestal.

Queen Medusa emerged from her evolution as a tiny Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python and attached herself to Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan misunderstood Yao Chen’s teasing about taking her in, while Corpse Dance Crow repeated the joke, and the snake stayed affectionately on Xiao Yan’s shoulder.

• Hua She'er blocked Mo Basi and Yue Mei from entering the temple, while the disguised Hua She'er quietly worked to restrain the commanders for Xiao Yan’s sake.
• Xiao Yan approached the Heavenly Flame, retreated from the bulging charred snake corpse, and called on Yao Chen to shield him from a streak of colored light.
• Yao Chen identified the tiny snake as a likely Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, and Xiao Yan cautiously let it crawl onto his hand.
• Xiao Yan said he wanted to take the snake in as a pet, but Yao Chen and Corpse Dance Crow mistook his words for romantic intentions.
• The Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python climbed onto Xiao Yan’s shoulder, hissed softly, and licked his cheek.

Xiao Yan took the Green Lotus Core Flame from the temple and escaped with Corpse Dance Crow while Medusa’s evolution appeared to have failed. Amon, controlling Hua She’er, convinced the Snake-Person Tribe’s leaders that Medusa had chosen to become a Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python, but the First Elder sealed Hua She’er’s cultivation and ordered her to remain with the tribe.

• Xiao Yan used the Lotus Pedestal to collect the Green Lotus Core Flame, then escaped the temple with Corpse Dance Crow and sought an isolated place to absorb it.
• Yan Ci tried to enter the temple, but Hua She’er blocked him until Yin Shi agreed that the commanders would investigate after three hours.
• The commanders found Medusa’s charred corpse and the Heavenly Flame missing, while the First Elder discovered the corpse of the venomous snake Xiao Yan had killed.
• Amon, controlling Hua She’er, claimed that Medusa was alive and had freely transformed into a Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python.
• The First Elder sealed Hua She’er’s cultivation and required her to stay with the tribe until Medusa returned; Hua She’er requested access to the tribe’s snake-merging art and Northern Continent records.

Xiao Yan subdued the Green Lotus Core Flame and used the Burning Mantra to devour it, narrowly surviving the transformation. Qing Meng sacrificed his source to aid the process, and Xiao Yan’s cultivation method advanced to Xuan-Tier Intermediate.

• Corpse Dance Crow carried Xiao Yan to a cave in the canyon, where Yao Chen sealed the entrance and helped prepare him to subdue the Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Yan endured the Green Lotus Core Flame’s scorching heat, used the Blood Lotus Pill and Ice Spirit Cold Spring, and sealed the flame inside the Spirit Absorber.
• After recovering for a day, Xiao Yan began using the Burning Mantra to devour the Green Lotus Core Flame while Qing Meng surrendered control of his body to the flame’s instincts.
• Qing Meng realized the Burning Mantra was consuming his own source and the parasitizing Spirit Worm, so he chose not to resist and transmitted his insights to Corpse Dance Crow.
• Xiao Yan survived the near-fatal struggle, completed the devouring, and advanced the Burning Mantra to Xuan-Tier Intermediate.

Xiao Yan successfully cultivated the Burning Mantra and discovered that Qing Meng had become a Fire Spirit capable of assisting with alchemy. He chose to keep the spirit and found that it could also circulate his cultivation method, leaving him excited about the prospect of automatic cultivation.

• Xiao Yan successfully circulated the Burning Mantra, and Yao Chen congratulated him on proving the cultivation method could work.
• Xiao Yan named the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python Cailin, then saw Qing Meng emerge as a chibi Fire Spirit formed from the Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Yao Chen explained that Fire Spirits could help alchemists control flames and refine ingredients, and warned that intelligent spirits might eventually rebel against their masters.
• Xiao Yan decided to preserve Qing Meng's intelligence, named it Qing Meng, and considered whether it could assist with cultivation as well as alchemy.
• Xiao Yan tested his idea, and Qing Meng successfully circulated Dou Qi along the Burning Mantra's route.

Xiao Yan discovered that the Burning Mantra could cultivate automatically after he absorbed the Green Lotus Core Flame, but he was left bald with stubborn Heavenly Flame crystals on his head. Meanwhile, Amon investigated the technique by having a clone cultivate it and found that its evolving secrets could only be remembered by its practitioners and their refined Heavenly Flames.

• Xiao Yan and Yao Chen celebrated the Burning Mantra’s new ability to cultivate on its own, then Xiao Yan discovered that the Heavenly Flame had burned off all his hair and eyebrows.
• Yao Chen warned that crystals of Heavenly Flame energy on Xiao Yan’s scalp would likely prevent his hair from growing back before the three-year agreement, and Qing Meng accidentally made the crystals thicker.
• The Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python settled on Xiao Yan’s head to rest among the crystals, while Yao Chen told him that Crow had flown away after the Burning Mantra evolved.
• Amon learned from Crow that Xiao Yan had absorbed the Green Lotus Core Flame and that Qing Meng thought the Burning Mantra was worth studying.
• Amon used a clone to refine the Green Lotus Core Flame and advance the Burning Mantra, then discovered that only its practitioners and their refined Heavenly Flames could remember its evolved circulation route.

Amon reached the Black-Corner Region after breaking through to Dou Huang and set out for Jianan Academy to claim the Fallen Heart Flame. At the entrance to a town, he was attacked by a local patrol, but his Corpse Dance Crow killed the men who tried to rob him.

• Amon failed to record the evolved Burning Mantra's circulation route, kept his Burning Mantra avatar, and restored Flame Amon's spirituality with a pure Spirit Worm.
• Amon flew toward Jianan Academy on Corpse Dance Crow and broke through to Dou Huang after refining two Spirit Worms.
• After more than ten days of flight, Amon reached the Black Domain Great Plain, the gateway to the Black-Corner Region, and continued toward a nearby town on foot.
• A bowman shot arrows at Amon and demanded an entry fee, then lowered it after Amon claimed to be a Jianan Academy student.
• The bowman tried to rob Amon, but Corpse Dance Crow and two identical figures stabbed him, and Amon remarked that killing the attackers would end his newcomer status.

Amon traveled into the Black-Corner Region, bought maps, and sheltered from a Black Windstorm. After spotting a Jie Jie Monster in the storm, he sent a clone to approach it and try to join the Soul Hall; the clone caught up and faced the monster.

• Amon killed a woman who refused to answer his questions, then intimidated her companions and learned where to find a map shop.
• Amon bought the shop's maps and ignored the Boss's advice to travel with a merchant caravan.
• Amon and the Corpse Dance Crow hid in a cave as a Black Windstorm swept across the plain.
• Amon spotted a Jie Jie Monster in the storm and created a Dou Wang-level clone to make contact and seek entry into the Soul Hall.
• Clone Amon caught up with the Jie Jie Monster, which demanded to know why he had followed it and threatened to claim his soul.

Amon persuaded Soul Hall Protector Xiao to take him on as a temporary soul collector, paying with a sixth-tier Magic Core and receiving a Soul Bag and Xiao’s tracking mark. Xiao arranged to deliver the Soul Detention Technique to Amon in Black Wind City in a month.

• Amon asked Protector Xiao to let him join Soul Hall as a temporary worker, and Xiao agreed to take him on after Amon offered to collect souls.
• Amon paid for the Soul Bag with a sixth-tier Magic Core, and Protector Xiao gave him the bag and explained its limits and purpose.
• Protector Xiao placed a tracking and protective mark on Amon and said the Soul Detention Technique scroll had to be collected from a branch hall.
• Amon told Protector Xiao he would be near Jianan Academy in Peace Town, so they arranged to meet in Black Wind City in a month.

Amon entered the Black-Corner Region and headed toward Peace Town, using a disguised identity as he pursued the young Fallen Heart Flame beneath Jianan Academy. After the Enforcement Team’s pill exposed his immense killing intent, he made the red light fade and introduced himself as Zhou Mingrui.

• The Amon Avatar reported that Protector Xiao used the Black Windstorm to disguise killings, and the Main Body told Soul Hall Amon to handle Protector Xiao while keeping his distance from him.
• Amon and Corpse Dance Crow traveled into the Black-Corner Region, while Xiao Meng sensed the Main Body approaching Jianan Academy’s Inner Court.
• Amon chose to go through Peace Town and prepared to search for the young Fallen Heart Flame, with a plan to target the mature flame if he could not find it.
• Amon entered Peace Town and faced Jianan Academy’s Enforcement Team, whose Killing Intent Sensing Pill revealed his overwhelming killing intent.
• Amon suppressed the pill’s red glow, politely apologized, and told the Enforcement Team that his name was Zhou Mingrui.

Amon reached Peace Town seeking admission to Jianan Academy, and his Dou Ling strength impressed the Enforcement Team captain, Nide. Nide offered him a special recruitment slot and arranged for him to wait in Jianan City until they could complete enrollment.

• Amon convinced Nide that he had come to join Jianan Academy after revealing his Dou Ling aura and claiming to be in his teens.
• Nide explained that instructors could use special recruitment slots to admit students outside the regular admissions period.
• Nide offered Amon his unused slot and asked him to join his class, while Amon joked that Nide should offer him something in return.
• Amon accepted Nide's offer and agreed to wait in Jianan City while Nide finished his duties.
• Nide sent two students to escort Amon to Jianan City and promised to take him to complete enrollment the next day.

Amon arrived in Jianan City, encountered Xiao Ning bullying Ma Yan, and learned that the Witch Xiao Meng had forced her way into the Inner Court by defeating a Dou Wang elder. He went with Instructor Nide to meet the vice dean, intrigued by Xiao Meng’s strength and the trouble awaiting Xiao Yan.

• Amon arrived in Jianan City, landed safely, and wandered through the city after the senior students left for Peace Town.
• Amon recognized Xiao Ning leading a group of stronger students as they beat Ma Yan, who refused to give up on Xiao Mei.
• Amon hired a carriage to Jianan Academy, where Instructor Nide met him and escorted him toward the vice dean’s office.
• Amon asked Nide about ways to enter the Inner Court, and Nide explained that Xiao Meng had beaten every Outer Court student and a Dou Wang elder before being sent there.
• Amon was surprised that Xiao Meng had defeated a Dou Wang elder while only a Dou Ling and decided he was impressed by her fighting ability.

Amon followed Nide to Hu Gan’s office, where tests revealed that Amon was a twelve-year-old eight-star Dou Ling. After Amon explained that his rapid growth came from a Magical Beast bloodline, Hu Gan encouraged him, and Amon resolved to grow stronger while he still could.

• Nide brought Amon to Hu Gan for the special-admission tests, and Hu Gan agreed to record his cultivation level and age.
• Amon poured Dou Qi into the testing crystal, which identified him as an eight-star Dou Ling and astonished Hu Gan and Nide.
• Hu Gan tested Amon’s age with a black stone, which showed that Amon was twelve years old.
• Amon explained that his Magical Beast bloodline caused rapid growth during youth, and Hu Gan mistakenly believed his cultivation would slow after adulthood.
• Hu Gan encouraged Amon to keep striving, and Amon vowed to improve as quickly as possible despite his limited growth period.

Hu Gan offered Amon a chance to enter Jianan Academy’s Inner Court early by defeating three elite students, while Su Qian recruited Xiao Meng to test the newcomer. Xiao Meng eagerly accepted for the reward until she learned the newcomer was Zhou Mingrui.

• Hu Gan explained the difference between the Outer and Inner Courts and offered Amon an early-entry test against three Inner Court elites, with rewards based on his victories.
• Nide asked whether Amon would count as a student of Yellow Grade Class 7, and Hu Gan promised the class a Mystic Grade rating if Amon entered the Inner Court.
• Su Qian visited Xiao Meng and asked her to serve as an examiner for an exceptional new student, offering her five hundred Heavenly Fire Energy.
• Xiao Meng accepted the assignment for the reward, which she planned to save for Xiao Yan.
• Su Qian revealed that the newcomer was Zhou Mingrui, and Xiao Meng froze at the prospect of fighting him.

Amon arrived at Jianan Academy and drew the attention of Xun’er’s dangerous guardian, who offered him a chance to become his disciple if he protected a special girl at the academy. Amon then went to his Inner Court trial, where Xiao Meng recognized him as the Main Body and he smiled at her.

• Xiao Meng worried that Zhou Mingrui was Amon and regretted having no chance to return the five hundred Fire Energy points.
• Amon stayed at an inn near Jianan Academy, where he recognized Xun’er’s guardian from Wutan City and sensed his danger.
• The Ancient Clan elder offered Amon a possible stroke of fortune and told him to find and protect a special girl in the academy.
• Amon accepted the elder’s test and privately considered the offer an opportunity to infiltrate the Ancient Eight Clans.
• Amon arrived at the arena for his trial, where Hu Jia, Bai Shan, Wu Hao, Xun’er, and Xiao Meng had gathered to watch.
• Xiao Meng recognized Amon as the Main Body, and Amon adjusted his Monocle with a sinister smile.

Amon defeated Yao Sheng during the trial and then faced Liu Qing, the fourth-ranked Inner Court student. Their opening exchange ended with Liu Qing wary of Amon’s unusual movement technique.

• Hu Gan and Su Qian began the trial as Amon and Yao Sheng met in the arena.
• Yao Sheng tried to recruit Amon into Liu Qing’s group, but Amon criticized Liu Qing’s fourth-place ranking before agreeing to join.
• Amon used Ten Thousand Wind Entanglement and Great Wind Hand Seal to defeat Yao Sheng, who left the arena vowing revenge.
• Liu Qing challenged Amon and questioned why he had used a trick against Yao Sheng.
• Amon evaded Liu Qing’s spear with his movement technique, and Liu Qing grew serious as Xun'er noticed its resemblance to Xiao Meng’s.