Recaps

Xiao Fan defeated Luo Hou and his team in the Fire Energy Hunting Competition, securing the Outer Academy students’ entry into the Inner Academy. After receiving their rewards, Xiao Fan gathered his companions’ Fire Energy onto his card as they followed Elder Su toward the Inner Academy.

• Luo Hou overwhelmed Wu Hao and held off attacks from Hu Jia, Xiao Yan, and Xiao Fan with his strength and combat experience.
• Xiao Fan used his Heavenly Flame and Earth Tier Dou Technique to melt Luo Hou’s ice attack and defeat him.
• Xiao Fan and the others defeated the rest of Luo Hou’s team and collected their Fire Crystal Cards.
• Elder Su declared the competition over, granted the new students Fire Energy rewards, and gave Xiao Fan’s group green Fire Crystal Cards worth three hundred Fire Energy each.
• Xiao Fan transferred the Fire Energy from Xiao Xun'er and Xiao Yan’s cards into his own, bringing their combined total above a thousand as they entered the Inner Academy.

After the fire energy task ended, Xiao Fan claimed its rewards and advanced to the Dou Ling realm, then woke the next morning to a new system task called Moon's Sorrow. He remained uneasy about the system’s strange behavior but resolved to grow stronger.

• Elder Su showed Xiao Fan and the others their dormitory, and they chose separate rooms before Xiao Fan returned to cultivate.
• Xiao Fan claimed the tasks’ rewards for reaching the Inner Academy and collecting 1032 fire energy, gaining Source Coins and enough Dou Qi points to advance.
• Xiao Fan’s Dou Crystal transformed as he broke through to one-star Dou Ling, and soul tempering left him unconscious overnight.
• After waking, Xiao Fan checked his panel and received the new task Moon's Sorrow, which offered Moon Shadow, 500 Dou Qi points, and 7000 Source Coins.
• Xiao Fan considered the cost of helping Xiao Yi Xian and the system’s troubling anomalies, then decided he needed to become stronger.

After advancing to Dou Ling, Xiao Fan received the Nine-Star Radiant Sun Art and a Spirit Puppet, which he shaped into a second identity, Mo Shang. He joined the others downstairs and revealed that he had broken through to Dou Ling, just as an urgent knock sounded at the door.

• The system rewarded Xiao Fan with the high-grade earth-tier Nine-Star Radiant Sun Art and a Spirit Puppet after his advancement to Dou Ling.
• Xiao Fan awakened the Spirit Puppet, changed its appearance to Mo Shang, and transferred Eagle Protector's mark into its body.
• Xiao Fan and Mo Shang joked about their new identities before Xiao Fan absorbed the Spirit Puppet back into himself, postponing the division of his soul origin.
• Xiao Fan found Xiao Yan, Xun'er, Hu Jia, and the others downstairs, where Hu Jia said she and Wu Hao had reached Seven-Star Great Dou Master and Xun'er was nearing Eight-Star Great Dou Master.
• Xun'er guessed that Xiao Fan had surpassed Nine-Star Great Dou Master, and Xiao Fan confirmed that he had reached Dou Ling.
• An urgent knock sounded at the door as Xiao Fan and the others were talking.

Xiao Fan learned that Inner Academy teams had repeatedly charged the new students the New Student Contribution Fee and decided to confront them while considering forming a faction. He faced the senior student collecting the fees and revealed that he had advanced to Dou Ling, rallying the new students behind him.

• A-Tai told Xiao Yan and Xiao Fan that three groups of senior students had already charged the new students for two days of Fire Energy each.
• Xiao Fan proposed forming a team, then sent A-Tai to gather the new students before discussing the idea with his companions.
• Xiao Fan's companions agreed to establish their own faction and followed him to the gathered new students.
• Xiao Fan challenged the senior student collecting fees and argued that the new students would pay the proper fee but resist anyone who used force.
• Xiao Fan released his Dou Ling aura, forced the senior student back, and inspired the new students to release their Dou Qi in support.

Xiao Fan drove off senior students demanding extra Fire Energy and won the new students’ gratitude. He proposed that Xiao Yan lead a new faction, which they established as Pan Gate.

• Xiao Fan threatened the senior students with his spear and forced them to leave after declaring that the new students would pay no more Fire Energy.
• Xiao Fan politely addressed the watching Inner Academy students, then accepted the new students’ thanks for defending them.
• A-Tai explained the benefits of forming a faction and offered to follow Xiao Fan.
• Xiao Fan declined to lead and persuaded the new students to make Xiao Yan their leader, with himself as deputy gate master.
• Xiao Yan named the faction Pan Gate, and the new students cheered their decision to establish it.

Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan explored the Inner Academy and followed its students to the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower. They entered the tower and immediately felt a foreign energy appear inside their bodies.

• Xiao Fan left the Pan Gate gathering, and Xiao Yan caught up with him as they set out to explore the Inner Academy.
• Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan saw students dueling throughout the academy and followed the crowd toward the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower.
• Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan spotted the buried tower, its Space Lock barrier, and a powerful faction claiming places at the front of the crowd.
• The tower doors opened, releasing a scorching aura, and the gathered students rushed inside to secure better cultivation spots.
• Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan entered the tower, sensed an unfamiliar wisp inside their bodies, and Xiao Fan's cheeks turned red as burning coals.

Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan entered the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower and were scorched by its Heart Fire. As Elder Liu and Han Yue watched to see how long they could endure, Xiao Fan discovered that his chaos flame could devour the Heart Fire and strengthen itself while supplying Dou Qi.

• Xiao Fan examined the Heart Fire inside him and realized its effect seemed weaker because his high-grade cultivation method already produced concentrated Dou Qi.
• Xiao Fan discovered his chaos flame could devour strands of the Heart Fire, growing stronger and sending extracted Dou Qi into his Dou Crystal.
• Han Yue silenced the crowd mocking the two freshmen, then told Elder Liu she planned to cultivate on the sixth floor.
• Elder Liu explained that enduring the Heart Fire could build resistance and decided to let Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan continue, identifying them to the crowd.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Fan endured the Heart Fire scorching in the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower, and their Heavenly Flames erupted when Elder Liu tried to draw them out. Xiao Fan broke the tower’s record, and Elder Liu called the two over to meet Han Yue.

• Han Yue and the nearby students stayed to watch Xiao Yan and Xiao Fan endure the Heart Fire scorching.
• When Elder Liu tried to draw out Xiao Yan’s flame, Xiao Yan’s azure Heavenly Flame burst out and burned through Elder Liu’s defenses.
• Xiao Yan woke on his own, and Elder Liu explained the Heart Fire scorching and the precautions for entering the tower.
• Xiao Fan surpassed the twenty-one-minute record, and his Heavenly Flame erupted when Elder Liu tried to draw it out, scorching him again.
• Xiao Fan woke, Elder Liu dispersed the students, and then called Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan over to meet Han Yue.

Elder Liu introduced Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan to Han Yue, who offered to help them despite learning that they had founded Pan Gate for the new students. He then guided them through the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower and explained how its cultivation rooms worked.

• Elder Liu introduced Han Yue to Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan, and Han Yue surprised him by shaking Xiao Fan's hand.
• Han Yue warned Xiao Fan that founding Pan Gate with the new students could bring trouble, then offered to help if he needed it.
• After Han Yue left, Elder Liu teased Xiao Fan about her before leading the two into the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower.
• Elder Liu showed Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan the tower's cultivation rooms and explained that rooms of different grades produced different results for the same amount of fire energy.
• Xiao Yan questioned whether the room system favored strong students, and Elder Liu said pressure could help those who had fallen behind catch up.

Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan encountered the Fallen Heart Flame’s Fire Python in the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower, but Elder Liu pulled them to safety and warned them to keep the incident secret. Afterward, Xiao Fan revealed he had reached one-star Dou Ling, surprising Elder Liu, and the two left the tower.

• Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan peered into the tower’s central shaft, where the Fallen Heart Flame’s invisible distortions began climbing upward.
• Elder Liu pulled Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan away as an enormous Invisible Fire Python surged from the shaft and attacked the spatial barrier before retreating.
• Elder Liu warned Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan not to tell anyone what they had seen, and they agreed to claim they had only felt the temperature rise.
• Xiao Fan and Xiao Yan declined Elder Liu’s offer to cultivate, and Elder Liu explained how factions were ranked by their Dou Ling and Dou Wang experts.
• Xiao Fan revealed his one-star Dou Ling strength, astonishing Elder Liu, and then he and Xiao Yan left the tower.

After discovering that Jia Nan Academy had imprisoned the Fallen Heart Flame’s intelligent fire spirit, Xiao Yan and Xiao Fan learned that trouble had come to Pan Gate. Xiao Yan accepted Fu Ao’s challenge to stop the White Gang from taking five students.

• Yao Lao explained that the Invisible Fire Python was the Fallen Heart Flame’s intelligent fire spirit, and Xiao Fan warned that its restraints would eventually fail.
• A Pan Gate member told Xiao Yan and Xiao Fan that people had come to take Pan Gate’s students by force.
• Hu Jia and Xun'er refused Bai Shan and Fu Ao’s demand to join the White Gang, and Xiao Yan arrived to stand with them.
• Fu Ao challenged Xiao Yan to a match, wagering that the White Gang would leave Pan Gate alone for six months if he lost, while demanding five students if he won.
• After seeing Xun'er and Pan Gate’s members trust him, Xiao Yan accepted Fu Ao’s challenge.

Xiao Yan defeated Fu Ao in a duel, forcing the White Gang veterans to honor their wager and allowing the freshmen to cultivate in the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower. Xiao Fan repaid Yue Yao’s fire energy and invited her to join them the next day, while she watched him leave and murmured about destiny.

• Xiao Yan used the Green Lotus Transformation to fight Fu Ao, then disarmed him and knocked him out with a punch.
• Fu Ao agreed to honor the wager and left with the White Gang, as the freshmen cheered.
• Xiao Yan announced that the freshmen would cultivate together in the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower starting the next day.
• Xiao Fan returned Yue Yao’s fire energy and added twenty more, then invited her to cultivate with them.
• Yue Yao agreed to go with Xiao Fan the next day, then watched him leave and murmured, “What bullshit destiny...”

Xiao Yan and his companions assessed the White Gang’s strength and decided to cultivate in the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower while building up Pan Gate. Bai Cheng also chose to give Pan Gate half a year before moving against it.

• A-Tai told Xiao Yan that Bai Cheng was a six-star Dou Ling ranked thirty-fourth on the Strong Ranking, and that the White Gang had three other Dou Ling and thirteen Da Dou Shi.
• Xiao Fan said the White Gang would likely leave Pan Gate alone for now because Fu Ao had agreed to a half-year reprieve.
• Xiao Yan told everyone to enter the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower together the next day and keep a low profile while Pan Gate remained weak.
• Bai Cheng questioned Fu Ao about his defeat, and Fu Ao described Xiao Yan’s strength and powerful flames.
• Bai Shan warned Bai Cheng that Xiao Fan could use two kinds of flame in a devastating lotus, but the others dismissed his claim.
• Bai Cheng agreed to leave Pan Gate alone for half a year, then vowed to make it disappear from the Inner Academy.

Xiao Fan questioned why he wanted to grow stronger, then decided that he wanted to protect what mattered and see more of the world. He brought Yue Yao to an intermediate cultivation room in the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower, where they prepared to cultivate.

• Yue Yao asked Xiao Fan why he wanted to grow stronger, leaving him uncertain about his purpose in cultivating.
• Xiao Fan reflected on his fear of death and his lack of goals, while Yue Yao considered her own reluctance to cultivate and desire to stay beside him.
• Xiao Fan decided he wanted to grow stronger in a world ruled by strength and to see the sights along the way, then encouraged Yue Yao to continue to the tower.
• Xiao Fan explained how to resist heart fire, and Yue Yao quickly overcame the tower's test.
• Xiao Fan found an unused intermediate cultivation room and explained to Yue Yao how a Fire Crystal Card could draw out heart fire for cultivation.

Xiao Fan cultivated in the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower as the Chaos Flame devoured the Heart Fire and increased his strength, but the process made his soul drowsy. Yue Yao watched over him and, worried he would get a headache sleeping on the hard floor, used her Dou Qi to rest his head in her lap.

• Xiao Fan and Yue Yao inserted their Fire Crystal Cards into the Cultivation Room’s slots, and Xiao Fan began cultivating as the Chaos Flame absorbed the Heart Fire.
• The Chaos Flame repeatedly devoured the Heart Fire and absorbed its energy, while Xiao Fan’s Dou Qi and strength gradually increased.
• Yue Yao noticed Xiao Fan had fallen asleep and woke him, and Xiao Fan realized his soul was tired from sustaining the Chaos Flame.
• Xiao Fan lay down to sleep, and Yue Yao lifted his head onto her lap, telling herself she was preventing him from getting a headache.

Xiao Fan left Yue Yao and met Medusa in the mountains near Jia Nan Academy. Medusa asked him to find the remaining ingredients for the Spirit Fusion Pill, and he agreed to check the academy’s exchange for them.

• After the academy bell rang, Xiao Fan and Yue Yao left the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower together.
• Xiao Fan stopped on the way back and sent Yue Yao to the dorms alone.
• Xiao Fan went into the mountains, where Medusa emerged and asked where they were.
• Xiao Fan told Medusa he was a fifth-tier Alchemist and was still missing green wood immortal vine and mountain essence for the Spirit Fusion Pill.
• Medusa told Xiao Fan to check Jia Nan Academy’s exchange for the two ingredients.

Xiao Fan entered the Inner Academy marketplace with Medusa hidden in his sleeve to find the medicinal ingredients she needed. He found them at a stall run by a notoriously hot-tempered young man, but could not meet the seller’s demands, leaving the trade unresolved.

• Xiao Fan agreed to let Medusa hide as the Seven-Colored Little Snake and took her into the Inner Academy marketplace.
• Xiao Fan searched the East District for nearly half an hour, traded for several materials, and considered selling pills there.
• Xiao Fan spotted a gray-clad young man’s stall and recognized the Green Wood Immortal Vine and Black Ghost Vine Medusa needed.
• The stall owner struck at Xiao Fan when he reached for the vines, then demanded four hundred days of Fire Energy for the Black Ghost Vine.
• The stall owner asked for an Earth Tier Dou Technique instead, but Xiao Fan said he had none, and the young man ended the conversation.

Xiao Fan struck a deal with Lin Yan to treat his fire poison in exchange for Lin Yan’s black ghost vine. After giving Lin Yan medicine and instructions, Xiao Fan agreed to continue treating him, and Lin Yan offered his protection.

• Xiao Fan offered to clear Lin Yan’s fire poison in exchange for the black ghost vine, stopping Lin Yan’s attack.
• Xiao Fan revealed that he was a Fifth-Rank Alchemist, and Lin Yan agreed to the deal after demanding an extra hundred days of fire energy; Xiao Fan refused the extra payment.
• Xiao Fan took Lin Yan to his living quarters, where Xiao Yan gave him two bottles of Ice Spirit Pills.
• Xiao Fan explained that Lin Yan’s fire poison could not be removed at once, then made Marrow-Washing Cold Spirit Liquid and told Lin Yan how to use it.
• Lin Yan agreed to avoid the Heavenly Flame Qi Refining Tower during treatment and offered Xiao Fan a favor and protection.

Xiao Fan discovered that Eagle Protector was tracking the Brand inside him and received a five-day mission to take control of the powerful Hall of Souls protector. Unable to face Eagle Protector alone, he asked Medusa for help, and she offered to consider it if he acknowledged her as his superior for three years.

• Medusa appeared in Xiao Fan's room, and Xiao Fan explained that he still could not find mountain essence.
• Xiao Fan noticed that the Brand left by Eagle Protector had grown hot, signaling that Eagle Protector was sensing his location.
• The system assigned Xiao Fan a five-day mission to take control of Eagle Protector, with severe penalties for failure.
• Xiao Fan considered his limited options and told Medusa that he had to deal with an enemy who was a high-level or Peak Dou Emperor.
• Medusa agreed to consider helping Xiao Fan if he promised to acknowledge her as his superior for three years.

Xiao Fan persuaded Medusa to help him deal with Eagle Protector in exchange for three conditions, then bought a formation to prevent Eagle Protector from escaping. With Medusa’s help secured and the Five-Direction Space-Sealing Formation in hand, Xiao Fan began preparing for the confrontation.

• Medusa praised Xiao Fan’s rapid growth and offered to help him, while Xiao Fan weighed the risks of confronting Eagle Protector and the Hall of Souls.
• Xiao Fan agreed to Medusa’s three conditions, and she named refining the Spirit Fusion Pill as the first.
• Xiao Fan planned to lure Eagle Protector to a secluded location but worried that he might flee if the fight turned against him.
• Xiao Fan consulted the system’s Shop and chose the Five-Direction Space-Sealing Formation as an affordable way to lock down the battlefield.
• Xiao Fan spent more than half his Source Coins and received five formation flags in his System Space.

Xiao Fan and Medusa prepared to capture the Eagle Protector by setting up the Five-Direction Space-Sealing Formation in a secluded valley. They concealed the completed formation and left it ready for the coming confrontation.

• Xiao Fan learned that Medusa could control the Eagle Protector and satisfy the system's mission if she made him obey Xiao Fan's commands.
• Xiao Fan left the Inner Academy with Medusa, keeping Yao Lao and Xiao Yan uninformed about their plan.
• Medusa opened a passage through the formation surrounding Jia Nan Academy, and she and Xiao Fan traveled to a secluded valley.
• Xiao Fan planted the five formation flags around the valley and connected them to the green lotus core flame as the formation's hub.
• Xiao Fan concealed the flags, completing the formation intended to prevent the Eagle Protector from escaping.

Xiao Fan prepared to make Mo Shang an independent person by splitting his soul origin, despite Medusa’s objections. He began the process and was overwhelmed by the extreme pain of dividing the core of his soul.

• Medusa agreed to help lure Eagle Protector, and Xiao Fan separated the Spirit Puppet from his body as a backup plan.
• Xiao Fan told Medusa he intended to split his soul origin, but she warned him of the risks and stood guard when he refused to stop.
• Xiao Fan entered his soul space and found his fist-sized soul origin, strengthened by the system’s repeated tempering.
• The system instructed Xiao Fan to divide his soul origin with his consciousness and inject one portion into the Spirit Puppet.
• Xiao Fan began splitting his soul origin, but the pain was so intense that he instinctively stopped.

Xiao Fan struggled to split his soul origin while Medusa watched, torn between concern and reluctance to intervene. Pressured by the little purple snake, Medusa entered Xiao Fan’s consciousness to help, where she found his soul origin only barely beginning to separate.

• Xiao Fan endured intense pain as he tried to divide his soul origin, losing awareness of the outside world.
• Medusa argued with the little purple snake, which urged her to save Xiao Fan, and finally agreed to intervene.
• Medusa set up a protective barrier and sent her soul form into Xiao Fan’s consciousness.
• Medusa found Xiao Fan’s powerful sea of consciousness and discovered that his soul aura had begun clinging to her scales.
• Medusa reached Xiao Fan’s soul origin, saw that it was only faintly starting to separate, and heard him cry out in pain.

Xiao Fan tried to split his soul origin, enduring unbearable pain while Medusa watched from inside his consciousness space. He lost consciousness just before finishing, and his soul origin began to draw back together.

• Medusa entered Xiao Fan’s consciousness space after Shasha forced her to come and asked how she could help.
• Xiao Fan explained that Medusa could not intervene without risking their souls becoming entangled, then continued pulling his soul origin apart.
• Medusa watched helplessly as Xiao Fan endured the pain and gradually shaped his soul origin into two nearly separated spheres.
• Xiao Fan’s consciousness faded before he could complete the split, and the force guiding his soul origin vanished.
• Medusa saw Xiao Fan’s hourglass-shaped soul origin slowly drawing back together without his control.

Medusa entered Xiao Fan’s consciousness and split his Soul Origin after he fell unconscious, enduring the pain and seeing fragments of his memories. Their souls became inseparably entwined, so Medusa made a Symbiotic Contract with Xiao Fan; she then woke beside him, exhausted, and touched the rune on his forehead.

• Medusa approached Xiao Fan’s Soul Origin and used her soul power to divide it, experiencing the pain he had endured.
• As their Soul Origins touched, Medusa saw fragments of Xiao Fan’s memories, including his time with Yun Yun and his help during her tribulation.
• After splitting the Soul Origin, Medusa realized their soul auras had become inseparably entwined.
• Medusa invoked her full name, You Ruo Medusa, and willingly formed a Symbiotic Contract with Xiao Fan.
• Medusa infused both Soul Origins with soul power, then returned to her body and found a contract rune on Xiao Fan’s forehead.