Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan traveled to Qingshan Town with Yao Lao, where he learned that Xiao Yi Xian possessed a Woeful Poison Body capable of rapid growth but burdened by a fatal drawback. He decided to befriend her and help her, leaving Yao Lao amused by his plan to take advantage of the town’s brewing conflicts.

• Xiao Yan reflected on leaving Wutan City, his unresolved feelings about Xiao Xun'er, and Yao Lao’s mischievous teasing as they traveled through the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan that his first trial was to understand people’s hearts, and they headed to Qingshan Town to observe its mercenaries and gather information.
• After exploring Qingshan Town, Xiao Yan identified the Wolf Head Mercenary Group as a looming threat to Xiao Yi Xian and noted dangers involving her employer, her maid Li Fei, and her searches outside town.
• Yao Lao revealed that Xiao Yi Xian had a Woeful Poison Body that could let her reach Dou Zun in under ten years, though accumulated poison would eventually kill her.
• Yao Lao explained that a Poison Pill refined with Heavenly Flames might cure Xiao Yi Xian’s condition, and Xiao Yan eagerly decided to befriend her and help her grow stronger.
• Xiao Yan planned to use the town’s existing conflicts to help Xiao Yi Xian, while Yao Lao privately anticipated that their time together might lead to romance.

Xiao Yan spread rumors to turn the Wolf Head Mercenary Group against Xiao Yi Xian, then staged a masked rescue when Mu Li ambushed her. He escaped with Xiao Yi Xian, who learned his name was Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan arranged for rumors about Xiao Yi Xian forming a mercenary group and owning a treasure to reach Mu She and Mu Li.
• Mu She ordered Mu Li to capture Xiao Yi Xian within two days and force her to reveal the treasure’s secrets.
• Mu Li and more than a dozen men surrounded Xiao Yi Xian on her way home, citing rumors and information from her maid, Li Fei.
• Xiao Yan appeared in disguise and scattered powdered lime to blind Mu Li’s men, then whisked Xiao Yi Xian away.
• After they ran several kilometers, Xiao Yi Xian thanked Xiao Yan and learned his name.

Xiao Yan offered Xiao Yi Xian a place in the Xiao Clan, but she distrusted his motives and tested him by asking for help retrieving a cave’s treasure. After Xiao Yan helped her reach the cave, Xiao Yi Xian brought several boxes back to the cliff, where they prepared to open them.

• Xiao Yi Xian told Xiao Yan that she was an orphan and had named herself after the nickname people gave her for treating minor illnesses.
• Xiao Yan invited Xiao Yi Xian to join his clan in Wutan City, but she declined to decide immediately because she suspected he might want her treasure map.
• Xiao Yi Xian led Xiao Yan to a secluded valley, secretly investigated the treasure, and later asked him to help retrieve it from a cliffside cave guarded by Rock Snakes.
• Xiao Yi Xian secretly poisoned Xiao Yan as a precaution, but he had already discovered and neutralized the poison.
• Xiao Yan lured the Rock Snakes away while Xiao Yi Xian climbed into the cave and retrieved several boxes.
• Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian returned to the cliff, and Xiao Yi Xian began opening the boxes.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian divided the treasures, and Xiao Yan bought the Flying Dou Technique and Map Fragment with bottles of Tier Three Pills. Xiao Yi Xian became convinced he was not after her treasure and wondered whether he was interested in her, while Yao Lao identified the fragment as a clue to the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame.

• Xiao Yi Xian claimed the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture, and Xiao Yan agreed to take the Purple Cloud Twin Wings after she offered it to him.
• Xiao Yi Xian tested Xiao Yan by watching whether greed would make him attack her, but Xiao Yan offered a bottle of Tier Three Pills to buy the Flying Dou Technique.
• Xiao Yan revealed that he was an Alchemist and offered to refine pills for Xiao Yi Xian, convincing her that he genuinely treated her as a friend.
• Xiao Yan secretly asked Yao Lao about the final treasure, and Yao Lao identified it as an incomplete Map Fragment pointing toward the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame.
• Xiao Yan bought the Map Fragment with another bottle of Tier Three Pills, leaving Xiao Yi Xian blushing and wondering whether he wanted her.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian cultivated together in a secluded valley, where she rapidly advanced using the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture but feared her Woeful Poison Body would harm him. After a dangerous poisoning incident, Xiao Yan reassured her that he knew about her condition and could help control it, and she agreed to travel and train with him.

• Xiao Yan advanced to Seven-Star Great Dou Master while Xiao Yi Xian studied the Seven-Colored Poison Scripture and rose from One-Star to Three-Star Dou Practitioner.
• Xiao Yi Xian worried that her Woeful Poison Body made her unworthy of Xiao Yan's affection, while Xiao Yan hoped to support her and benefit from her talent.
• Xiao Yi Xian absorbed diluted Three-Leaf Poison Dragon Grass, exceeded her tolerance, and fell unconscious as the poison erupted inside her.
• Xiao Yan watched over Xiao Yi Xian until she woke, then she confessed that she had the Woeful Poison Body and feared he would hate her.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Yi Xian that he knew about her condition and could help control its poison, eventually making special antidote pills with Heavenly Flames.
• Xiao Yan proposed that they travel and train together, and Xiao Yi Xian tearfully accepted his guidance.

Xiao Yan left Xiao Yi Xian to cultivate in seclusion and trained in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, where he witnessed a Dou Emperor battle. After rescuing the defeated woman, he carried her to his cave and stole her Storage Ring before leaving to find a new hiding place.

• Xiao Yan bought enough poison in Qingshan Town for Xiao Yi Xian to cultivate in seclusion, then promised to visit her every three months and headed deeper into the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• Xiao Yan fought powerful magical beasts to improve his combat skills and chose an ordinary longsword instead of Yao Lao's Heavy Xuan Ruler.
• Xiao Yan watched the Amethyst Winged Lion King fight a mysterious Dou Emperor woman, who vanished after being struck down.
• Xiao Yan found the gravely injured woman unconscious near his cave, treated her wound, gave her a healing pill, and carried her inside.
• Xiao Yan took the woman's Storage Ring and left the cave to find another place to stay.

After looting Yun Yun’s Storage Ring, Xiao Yan trained in the Magical Beast Mountain Range until she tracked him down by scent and demanded it back. As Yun Yun confronted him while weakened, Xiao Yan lured a Demonic Lust Ape into the area, leaving her in immediate danger.

• Xiao Yan concealed the Storage Ring’s aura, transferred its wealth and treasures into his own ring, and resumed training in the mountains.
• Xiao Yan defeated a peak third-order Ironclad Rhino and, exhausted, prepared to recover while Yao Lao warned that a Dou Ling-level person was approaching.
• Yun Yun found Xiao Yan by following his scent, identified him as the person who had stolen her ring, and pressured him with her Dou Ling-level aura.
• Xiao Yan secretly scattered broken magic cores to draw beasts and create a chance to escape.
• An early fourth-order Demonic Lust Ape charged at Yun Yun, who was too injured to fight it.

Xiao Yan helped Yun Yun fight the Demonic Lust Ape, but its poison mist overcame them both. He carried the unconscious Yun Yun to his cave before losing control, recalling a similar encounter with Nangong Wan.

• Yun Yun, weakened by her injuries and depleted Dou Qi, fought the Demonic Lust Ape while Xiao Yan recovered nearby.
• Xiao Yan intervened but only distracted the beast until he urged Yun Yun to use her strongest attack.
• Yun Yun wounded the Demonic Lust Ape with Extreme Wind, Meteor Kill, and Xiao Yan finished it with Eight Extremes Collapse.
• The dying Demonic Lust Ape released its Aphrodisiac Poison Mist, and Yun Yun struck Xiao Yan as he tried to pull her to safety.
• The poison mist engulfed Xiao Yan and Yun Yun, and Xiao Yan carried her to his cave before losing control and remembering Nangong Wan.

After the poisonous mist led Xiao Yan and Yun Yun to become intimate, Xiao Yan offered to take responsibility, but Yun Yun said she would marry him only if he agreed. When he seemed unwilling, she chose to leave and face the consequences alone.

• Xiao Yan awoke beside Yun Yun, covered her with a robe, and told Yao Lao he intended to take responsibility for what had happened.
• Yun Yun woke, asked Xiao Yan to return her sect's ring, and gave him some pills and gold coins as thanks for saving her.
• Yun Yun asked to see Xiao Yan's face and learn his name; he refused to remove his mask and introduced himself as Li Feiyu.
• Yun Yun said she would marry Mister Li if he would not kill her, but Xiao Yan's troubled reaction made her offer to part ways instead.
• Yun Yun said she would relinquish her sect position and retreat to a secluded valley, where she would either overcome her distress or take her own life.

Xiao Yan and Yun Yun agreed to spend two years together before deciding whether to become Dao companions, balancing their feelings against their cultivation and responsibilities. Yun Yun asked him to reveal his face, but Xiao Yan kept his identities separate and concealed it.

• Xiao Yan proposed that he and Yun Yun become cultivation companions, and Yun Yun welcomed the idea.
• Yun Yun invited Xiao Yan to cultivate at the Misty Cloud Sect, but he said he could not leave the Jia Ma Empire's affairs behind or join her there.
• Xiao Yan proposed spending two years together before deciding whether to formally become Dao companions, and Yun Yun agreed while planning for Nalan Yanran to succeed her as Sect Master.
• Yun Yun asked Xiao Yan to show his face, but he refused and said he was too ugly, preserving the separation between his Xiao Yan and Li Feiyu identities.
• Yao Lao accused Xiao Yan of planning to destroy the Misty Cloud Sect so Yun Yun could leave her post, but Xiao Yan denied scheming and said he only wanted to treat her fairly without compromising his Dao heart.

While Yun Yun distracted the Amethyst Winged Lion King, Xiao Yan infiltrated its lair and stole Purple Spirit Crystals, a companion amethyst source, and the sleeping cub. He escaped the cave just as the enraged Lion King returned and demanded that he release its child.

• Xiao Yan and Yun Yun agreed that she would keep the Amethyst Winged Lion King occupied while he entered its lair to steal Purple Spirit Crystal.
• Yun Yun challenged the Lion King and drew it into a battle in the sky while Xiao Yan used a Concealment Breath Pill to slip past its guards.
• Xiao Yan collected the lair’s Purple Spirit Crystals, found a companion amethyst source and its crystal pool, and knocked out the Lion King’s cub.
• Xiao Yan used the bone spirit cold flame and Eight Extremes Collapse to break the crystal pool free, then stored it and the companion amethyst source in his Storage Ring.
• The Lion King returned in a rage as Xiao Yan rushed out carrying its unconscious cub, then stopped and demanded that he release its child.

Xiao Yan forced the wounded Amethyst Winged Lion King to surrender the Purple Spirit Crystals covering his body in exchange for his child, then returned to the cave with Yun Yun to divide the stolen treasure. Yun Yun accepted crystals and companion amethyst source from Xiao Yan, while their partnership grew closer.

• Xiao Yan held the Little Lion King hostage as Yun Yun joined him and warned the Amethyst Winged Lion King that he could not defeat her while wounded.
• Xiao Yan demanded the crystals covering the Lion King's body as an additional bargaining chip, and the Lion King reluctantly stripped them off and handed them over.
• Xiao Yan returned the unconscious Little Lion King, and the Amethyst Winged Lion King carried his child away from the area.
• Xiao Yan showed Yun Yun the cave's hoard, including a vast pool of Purple Spirit Crystals and a large sphere of companion amethyst source.
• Yun Yun took only one small Purple Spirit Crystal at first, but Xiao Yan gave her several more crystals and five bottles of companion amethyst source, which she accepted.

Xiao Yan used five bottles of companion amethyst source to reach Three-Star Dou Ling, then challenged Yao Lao’s conventional method of devouring flames. He proposed refining a flame’s violent nature with soul power before absorbing it, and Yao Lao successfully tested the new method, leaving Xiao Yan ready to refine his purple flame.

• Xiao Yan entered seclusion and drank five bottles of companion amethyst source, breaking through from Eight-Star Great Dou Master to Three-Star Dou Ling after one month.
• Yun Yun explained that she had stood guard through the month, and Xiao Yan asked her to wait outside while he prepared to devour the purple flame.
• Xiao Yan questioned Yao Lao’s method of absorbing flames and suggested taming a flame’s violent spiritual nature with soul power before drawing it into the body.
• Yao Lao extracted a wisp of purple flame from the companion amethyst source and used soul power to refine away its violent nature within a few breaths.
• Yao Lao celebrated the safer method and urged Xiao Yan to refine his purple flame so they could see how much of its original power it retained.

Xiao Yan refined the purple flame and discovered that another power had secretly controlled its true spirit, so he severed the connection before absorbing it. Far away, Tou She Ancient God realized his control had been cut and returned to sleep, confident his Flame Mantra scheme remained beyond anyone’s control.

• Xiao Yan used his powerful soul to tame the purple flame and refined it smoothly into his meridians.
• Xiao Yan’s soul perception revealed that a mysterious force still controlled the flame’s true spirit, so he severed its connection and absorbed the spirit himself.
• Tou She Ancient God noticed that his control over the Amethyst Winged Lion King's beast flame had been severed, but dismissed the loss as insignificant.
• Tou She Ancient God explained that he had created the Flame Mantra to use a human Flame Emperor as a host and escape the Dou Qi Continent.
• Tou She Ancient God decided to sleep and open his eyes once every fifty years, believing no genius could disrupt his plan in that time.

After refining the Purple Flame, Xiao Yan evolved the Flame Mantra and decided to leave the Magical Beast Mountain Range for Black Rock City to pursue fifth-tier alchemy and certification. Yun Yun agreed to meet him there in five days while Xiao Yan returned to Qingshan Town to handle private business involving Xiao Yi Xian.

• Yao Lao praised Xiao Yan’s safe flame-refining method, and Xiao Yan offered to trade it to the Pill Tower for suitable benefits.
• Yao Lao determined that Xiao Yan’s Purple Flame retained at least seventy percent of its original power, far more than traditional flame devouring usually preserved.
• Xiao Yan circulated the Flame Mantra with the Purple Flame, causing the technique to evolve from Yellow Tier Low Grade to Profound Tier Low Grade.
• Xiao Yan decided to seek fifth-tier alchemy ingredients and take the Alchemist qualification exam in Black Rock City, and Yao Lao agreed.
• Xiao Yan told Yun Yun he needed to handle private matters in Qingshan Town and arranged to meet her in Black Rock City in five days.
• Yun Yun asked Xiao Yan to promise he would come, and he privately worried that meeting her and Xiao Yi Xian in the same city could cause romantic complications.

Xiao Yan returned to Xiao Yi Xian and discovered that she had advanced to Nine-Star Dou Shi, then traveled with her to Black Rock City. Yun Yun mistook Xiao Yan for someone familiar at the city gate, let him pass, and then realized he might have concealed his scent and went searching for him.

• Xiao Yan returned to the valley and found that Xiao Yi Xian had advanced from One-Star Dou Zhe to Nine-Star Dou Shi in three months.
• Xiao Yan checked Xiao Yi Xian's accumulated toxins and told her he had reached Six-Star Dou Zhe, then planned to refine stronger Detoxification Pills as she advanced.
• Xiao Yi Xian agreed to accompany Xiao Yan to Black Rock City, and they arrived there five days later on her Blue Giant Eagle.
• Yun Yun flew down from the city wall and approached Xiao Yan, but Xiao Yi Xian stepped in front of him as Yun Yun mistook him for someone else and let them enter.
• Yun Yun realized that Xiao Yan had no scent and might have concealed it, recalled a face from their night together, and flew down to search for him and Xiao Yi Xian.

Xiao Yan tried to keep Yun Yun from discovering that he was Li Feiyu, but he convinced her that Li Feiyu was his master. Yun Yun accepted the explanation, gave Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian greeting gifts, and revealed that she was Li Feiyu’s cultivation partner, leaving Xiao Yan to address her as his mistress.

• Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian fled Yun Yun, but Yun Yun tracked them by following Xiao Yi Xian’s scent.
• Yun Yun approached Xiao Yan to confirm whether he was Li Feiyu, and she caught a trace of Li Feiyu’s scent.
• Xiao Yan claimed Li Feiyu was his master, and Yun Yun believed the scent came from their teacher-disciple relationship.
• Yun Yun gave Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi Xian purple spirit crystals as greeting gifts.
• Xiao Yi Xian asked about Yun Yun’s relationship with Li Feiyu, and Yun Yun said she was his cultivation partner and Xiao Yan’s mistress.
• Xiao Yan bowed and addressed Yun Yun as his mistress while Yao Lao laughed at the tangled situation.

After learning that Xiao Yan was the man whose engagement to Nalan Yanran had been broken, Yun Yun offered compensation, and he asked her to help the Xiao Clan return to the imperial capital. Yun Yun agreed, then discovered Xiao Yi Xian was a Nine-Star Dou Shi and asked whether she had a master.

• Yun Yun recognized Xiao Yan as the man betrothed to Yanran and apologized for how the engagement had ended.
• Xiao Yan decided to use Yun Yun's offer to secure the Xiao Clan a legitimate place in the imperial capital and eventually help it take control of the Misty Cloud Sect.
• Xiao Yan asked Yun Yun to use the Misty Cloud Sect's name to help his clan relocate, and she promised to arrange it.
• Yun Yun sensed Xiao Yi Xian's Nine-Star Dou Shi cultivation and, impressed by her talent, asked her age and whether she had taken a master.

Xiao Yan arranged for Yun Yun to accept Xiao Yi Xian as her disciple while keeping her with him for two years, then used Yao Lao’s possession to leave Black Rock City and meet Yun Yun as Li Feiyu. He arrived at the city gate, where Yun Yun greeted him.

• Xiao Yan persuaded Yun Yun to accept Xiao Yi Xian as her disciple while allowing Xiao Yi Xian to travel with his teacher and study alchemy for two years.
• Xiao Yi Xian formally took Yun Yun as her master, and Yun Yun gave her several precious Tier Four pills as an apprenticeship gift.
• Xiao Yan left Xiao Yi Xian at an inn and changed into his Li Feiyu disguise to meet Yun Yun, but found she was waiting outside the city.
• Xiao Yan asked Yao Lao to possess him and sneak him over the city wall so he could return to Black Rock City without being noticed.
• Yun Yun spotted Li Feiyu at the city gate, flew down to greet him, and Xiao Yan answered in his disguised voice.

Xiao Yan went to the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild to certify as a fourth-tier alchemist, but the guild president and others doubted his claim. Fearing that showing off would draw the attention of two beautiful women and entangle him in more romantic karma, he left without taking the assessment.

• Yun Yun followed Xiao Yan to the Alchemist Guild after setting aside her romantic feelings for the moment.
• Xiao Yan registered as Li Feiyu, listing Yao Chen as his teacher and applying for fourth-tier alchemist certification.
• President Foklan and Vice President Otto brought their disciples Lin Fei and Xue Mei to the guild as the two young women prepared for first-tier certification.
• Foklan questioned Xiao Yan's application, and the other applicants accused him of making a mockery of the certification.
• Xiao Yan nearly revealed his purple flame to prove himself, but he noticed Lin Fei and Xue Mei and left the guild without taking the assessment.