Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan refined an Ice Heart Pulse-Protecting Pill and devoured the Green Lion Demon Flame, causing the Flame Mantra to evolve and his Dou Qi to strengthen. Three days later, he told Yao Chen he was leaving, but Yao Chen insisted on continuing to train him as an alchemist.

• Xiao Yan struggled to refine a fourth-grade pill, then successfully made an Ice Heart Pulse-Protecting Pill after recovering his Dou Qi.
• Xiao Yan swallowed the pill and guided the Green Lion Demon Flame through the Flame Mantra’s cultivation pathways.
• The Flame Mantra absorbed the beast flame, evolving from yellow-tier low grade to yellow-tier high grade and turning Xiao Yan’s Dou Qi green.
• Xiao Yan considered traveling to the Northwest Continent to seek Heavenly Flames and reunite with the women he knew there.
• Three days later, Xiao Yan told Yao Chen he was leaving, but Yao Chen declared that he would make Xiao Yan the continent’s greatest alchemist.

Xiao Yan refused to study alchemy before pursuing heavenly flames, while Yao Lao tried to persuade him with rewards and a request to enter the Pill Tower’s Youth Alchemist Tournament. Xiao Yan agreed after hearing about Cao Ying, though he suspected Yao Lao mainly wanted to impress his old flame Xuan Yi.

• Xiao Yan insisted that he would seek heavenly flames before studying alchemy, but Yao Lao clung to him and offered rewards to make him stay.
• Yao Lao promised Xiao Yan his Bone Spirit Cold Flame if he became a Seventh-Rank Alchemist, and Xiao Yan suggested killing his senior brother to take his Sea Heart Flame.
• Xiao Yan suspected Han Feng might betray Yao Lao and said he would kill him if he got the chance.
• Yao Lao asked Xiao Yan to enter the Pill Tower’s Youth Alchemist Tournament and defeat Cao Ying, but Xiao Yan initially refused.
• Yao Lao described Cao Ying’s talent and revealed that Xuan Yi was her master, prompting Xiao Yan to tease him about his old flame.
• Xiao Yan agreed to enter the tournament and promised Yao Lao he would win him honor.

Xiao Yan trained in Starfall Pavilion while recovering his strength, and Yao Lao prepared him for an upcoming alchemy competition. They arrived in Sacred Pill City, where Yao Lao’s reputation and Xiao Yan’s appearance drew attention.

• Xiao Yan reflected on how the Xiao Realm’s rich energy and bloodline advantages made cultivation there far easier as he recovered to a two-star Dou Emperor.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan that the competition would begin in seven days and praised his ability to refine peak fifth-tier pills without a Heavenly Flame.
• Xiao Yan dressed for the journey, and he and Yao Lao traveled through a spatial passage toward Sacred Pill City while discussing Yao Lao’s perfume.
• Yao Lao and Xiao Yan arrived at a plaza outside Sacred Pill City, where onlookers recognized Yao Lao and wondered about his disciple.
• Young female alchemists argued and began fighting over Xiao Yan after admiring his looks and presence.

Yao Lao brought Xiao Yan to the Pill Tower, where the Three Giants learned that he was the Xiao Clan’s holy son and saw his two Half-Saint guardians. While Xiao Yan explored the Tower’s alchemy library, he bumped into someone and turned to curse at them.

• Yao Lao introduced Xiao Yan to the Pill Tower’s Three Giants as a Xiao Clan holy son, and Wen and Wu revealed themselves as his Half-Saint guardians.
• Xuan Kongzi welcomed Xiao Yan and his guardians, while Xuan Yi privately questioned Yao Lao about how Xiao Yan became his disciple.
• Xuan Yi worried that Xiao Yan could challenge her talented disciple Cao Ying in the upcoming contest, though she doubted his alchemy talent.
• Xiao Yan left the meeting and explored the Pill Tower with Wen and Wu, using a Companion Badge from Xuan Kongzi to access its public floors.
• Xiao Yan read a book of alchemy experiences, stepped backward, bumped into a slender figure, and angrily turned to confront them.

Xiao Yan followed Dan Chen to the Dan Family lounge and used his Starfall Pavilion status to gain entry. Inside, Danyang Zi and the Cao Family patriarch discussed Xiao Yan’s appointment as young pavilion master and compared the potential of Dan Chen and Cao Ying.

• Xiao Yan met Dan Chen, tried to help her up, and noticed spiritual power being drawn toward her when he touched her wrist.
• Xiao Yan followed the anxious Dan Chen to the Dan Family lounge despite her protests.
• Xiao Yan presented his Starfall Pavilion young pavilion master token and entered the Dan Family reception room.
• Danyang Zi and the Cao Family patriarch praised Dan Chen and Cao Ying while wondering whether Xiao Yan’s aptitude surpassed Cao Ying’s.
• Dan Chen entered the reception room with Xiao Yan as the two patriarchs watched.

Xiao Yan visited the Dan family, where Danyang Zi reprimanded him for following Dan Chen. Cao Ying challenged Xiao Yan to a flame duel, and Danyang Zi prepared an arena in the hall as they each summoned a flame.

• Dan Chen complained to Danyang Zi that Xiao Yan had been following her, and Danyang Zi ordered Xiao Yan to leave.
• As Xiao Yan headed out, Cao Ying stopped him and asked whether he would compete in the Youth Tournament.
• Xiao Yan recognized Cao Ying and accepted her challenge to determine which of them was better.
• Cao Ying proposed an immediate flame duel, and Danyang Zi reinforced part of the hall to make an arena.
• Cao Ying summoned a blood-red flame, and Xiao Yan answered with a wisp of cyan flame.

Xiao Yan and Cao Ying faced off in a flame duel, where his superior cultivation and control overwhelmed her despite a brief mishap. He stopped her from using a dangerous Secret Art, leaving Cao Ying shaken and promising to compete again at the Alchemy Competition in seven days.

• Cao Ying and Xiao Yan summoned their beast flames, and their flame creatures battled in the Flame Duel Arena.
• Cao Ying revealed that she had reached the Dou Wang realm, but Xiao Yan shocked the onlookers by revealing he was a two-star Dou Emperor.
• Xiao Yan's Green Lion Demon Flame burst apart when his Yellow Tier Cultivation Technique could not sustain his Dou Qi output, and Cao Ying's Demon Flame Gorilla attacked the scattered flames.
• Xiao Yan condensed the Green Lion Demon Flame into a smaller Fire Spirit and used its wing-like blades to batter Cao Ying's Demon Flame Gorilla.
• Cao Ying tried to activate a Secret Art despite the Cao Family Ancestor's warning, but Xiao Yan halted the duel and interrupted her before she could damage her foundation.
• Xiao Yan invited Cao Ying to compete in alchemy at the Alchemy Competition in seven days, leaving her bewildered and deeply impressed.

Xiao Yan left Cao Ying and the Pill Tower disciples stunned after crushing Cao Ying in their contest. He summoned Yao Lao to help him practice alchemy, while Cao Ying went to tell Xuan Yi about her defeat.

• Xiao Yan departed after defeating Cao Ying, leaving her, Dan Chen, Danyang Zi, and the Cao Family Ancestor amazed by his talent.
• Yao Lao and Xuan Yi spent time together before Xiao Yan summoned Yao Lao to help him practice alchemy.
• Yao Lao left Xuan Yi and agreed to meet Xiao Yan, while Xuan Yi wagered that Cao Ying would surpass Xiao Yan at alchemy.
• Cao Ying told Xuan Yi that Xiao Yan had defeated her, shocking her teacher.
• Xiao Yan teased Yao Lao about visiting a woman, then summoned a bronze cauldron and asked for guidance in alchemy.

Xiao Yan trained intensely under Yao Lao’s guidance, successfully refining a sixth-grade Void Spirit Pill before struggling with the Emperor's Extreme Pill. As the Pill Region Youth Alchemy Competition began, Cao Ying and Dan Chen also continued honing their alchemy, while Xiao Yan rested after seven days of exhausting practice.

• Yao Lao gave Xiao Yan several sixth-grade pill recipes and guided him as he successfully refined a Void Spirit Pill on his first attempt.
• Cao Ying refined her first fifth-grade Azure Tortoise Longevity Pill, then continued practicing because she wanted to defeat Xiao Yan.
• Dan Chen continued honing her alchemy in the Dan Family’s rest area.
• Seven days passed, and young alchemical geniuses gathered in Sacred Pill City as the Pill Region Youth Alchemy Competition began.
• Xiao Yan failed to refine the Emperor's Extreme Pill for the third time after completing thirty attempts in seven days, and Yao Lao urged him to rest.
• Xiao Yan took a Spirit Recovery Pill and sat down to recover his exhausted Dou Qi and soul power.

Xiao Yan arrived at the Youth Tournament, where Xuan Kongzi announced that contestants would compete by refining their finest pills for the chance to win an Eighth-Tier Spirit-Nurturing Heavenly Pill. After trading challenges and encouragement with Cao Ying and Dan Chen, Xiao Yan chose to refine the Emperor's Extreme Pill.

• Xiao Yan recovered from his alchemy training and went to the competition grounds.
• Xuan Kongzi welcomed the young alchemists and announced the pill-refining rules and the Spirit-Nurturing Heavenly Pill as the champion's reward.
• Cao Ying vowed to defeat Xiao Yan, and he answered her challenge while encouraging Dan Chen.
• Xiao Yan wrote down Emperor's Extreme Pill as the pill he intended to refine.

Xiao Yan requested ingredients for an Emperor's Extreme Pill, shocking the Pill Tower elders and its Three Giants, then began refining it as the competition started. He purified a sixth-tier beast core and added an emperor's extreme immortal vine, leaving the Three Giants stunned as they realized what he was attempting.

• Xiao Yan requested two sets of ingredients for a sixth-grade Emperor's Extreme Pill, astonishing the Dou Wang experts and a seventh-grade elder.
• Yao Lao watched the competition with the Pill Tower's Three Giants and hinted that Xiao Yan's alchemy was exceptional.
• Xiao Yan inspected his ingredients, and a Pill Tower Elder declared the competition underway as contestants lit their cauldrons.
• Xiao Yan used his azure flames to purify a sixth-tier magical beast's core while Cao Ying refined ingredients for a Dou Ling Pill.
• Xiao Yan added an emperor's extreme immortal vine to his cauldron, prompting the Pill Tower's Three Giants to suspect he was refining an Emperor's Extreme Pill.

At the Pill Tower’s alchemy competition, Xiao Yan attempted to refine an Emperor's Extreme Pill while Cao Ying and the other young alchemists completed their pills. Xiao Yan’s cauldron released a dazzling golden pill, leaving its identity and the outcome of his attempt poised for confirmation.

• Xuan Kongzi praised Xiao Yan’s talent, and Yao Lao concealed his delight until Xuan Yi warned him that a win would mean a month of alchemy study together.
• The spectators recognized Dan Chen’s advanced pill, Cao Ying’s Dou Ling Pill, and Xiao Yan’s attempt at a sixth-grade Emperor's Extreme Pill.
• Dan Chen and the oldest competitor successfully completed their pills, followed by Cao Ying, who challenged Xiao Yan and declared he could not refine a sixth-grade pill.
• Xiao Yan carefully balanced the energies in his cauldron and began the final stage of refining the pill as the experts watched.
• An hour later, a golden pillar of light burst from Xiao Yan’s cauldron, and a dazzling golden pill appeared before the crowd.

Xiao Yan won the Youth Alchemist Tournament after refining a sixth-grade Emperor's Extreme Pill, while Cao Ying collapsed from exhaustion and distress. The tournament ended with Xiao Yan receiving the champion’s reward, and he went to find Yao Lao so he could visit Cao Ying.

• The crowd and alchemists were stunned when Xiao Yan revealed his Emperor's Extreme Pill, and Cao Ying lost consciousness after seeing his victory.
• Xuan Yi took Cao Ying away and confirmed she was safe, though she needed several days of rest.
• Xuan Kongzi ranked the contestants’ pills and announced Xiao Yan as the tournament champion.
• Xuan Kongzi awarded Xiao Yan a Spirit-Nurturing Heavenly Pill, which Xiao Yan stored in a jade bottle, then announced the top ten and closed the tournament.
• Xiao Yan left to find Yao Lao, intending to have him take him to visit Cao Ying.

Xiao Yan visited the recovering Cao Ying, while the Cao Family Ancestor recognized his extraordinary potential and hoped he would become Cao Ying’s partner. Danyang Zi then urged Dan Chen to visit Cao Ying so she could meet Xiao Yan, and Cao Ying began to wake with a determination not to lose.

• Xiao Yan told Xuan Yi he wanted to see Cao Ying, and Xuan Yi left him to stay by her bedside after warning him to help her recover emotionally.
• The Cao Family Ancestor left Xiao Yan alone with Cao Ying and maid Qingcui, then considered how a bond between Xiao Yan and Cao Ying could strengthen the Cao Family.
• Danyang Zi decided to send Dan Chen to visit Cao Ying because he wanted her to meet Xiao Yan before the Cao Family could bring him closer to Cao Ying.
• Dan Chen admitted she was afraid of Xiao Yan, but Danyang Zi insisted she overcome her fear and go that day.
• Cao Ying slowly opened her eyes and murmured that she would not lose as she saw Xiao Yan beside her.

Xiao Yan stayed with Cao Ying while she recovered, teasing her and forcing her to take a Heart-Guarding Pill. He began a story about the Pure Lotus Demon Saint, then sent Cao Ying to sleep as Dan Chen arrived at the doorway.

• Cao Ying woke to find Xiao Yan in her bedroom and accused him of visiting to gloat over his victory.
• Xiao Yan helped Cao Ying sit up and forced a sixth-grade Heart-Guarding Pill into her mouth despite her refusal.
• Xiao Yan told Cao Ying a story about the Pure Lotus Demon Saint, and she became eager to hear how it ended.
• When Dan Chen called from outside, Xiao Yan tucked Cao Ying in and ordered her to keep her eyes closed.
• Xiao Yan went to the doorway to greet Dan Chen, who told him not to come closer.

Xiao Yan teased Dan Chen as he walked her home, then declared her his little wife and left her flustered at the Dan Family gate. Meanwhile, Cao Ying lay awake thinking about Xiao Yan before the Heart-Guarding Pill lulled her to sleep.

• Xiao Yan sent Dan Chen away from Cao Ying’s room, and Cao Ying privately wondered what kind of person Xiao Yan was as the pill took effect.
• Xiao Yan followed Dan Chen, caught her when they collided, and teased her until she began to cry.
• Xiao Yan offered Dan Chen a handkerchief and confessed that he liked her, then placed a rare star-illusion purple jasmine in her hair and called her his little wife.
• Dan Chen sat in a daze before asking to go home, and Xiao Yan escorted her to the Dan Family gate.
• Xiao Yan watched Dan Chen disappear, reflected that he had made progress, and hummed as he walked through an alley beneath the Pill Tower.

Xiao Yan spent the night reflecting on his homesickness and his need to find another heavenly flame, while Yao Lao and Xuan Yi discussed the Pill Tower’s Youth Class and Xiao Yan’s prospects there. The chapter ended with Yao Lao returning to Xiao Yan looking exhausted, prompting his disciple to cry out in alarm.

• Xiao Yan gazed at the moon and drank alone on a Pill Tower roof.
• Yao Lao declined Xuan Yi’s offer to become the Pill Tower’s Fourth Giant, but she pressed him to help guide its Youth Class and expose Xiao Yan to its alchemy knowledge.
• Dan Chen worried that Xiao Yan might bully her, while Cao Ying lay awake thinking about him.
• Xiao Yan returned to Starfall Pavilion, found Yao Lao absent, and decided that he needed a heavenly flame to improve his cultivation and alchemy.
• Yao Lao returned looking kidney-deficient, and Xiao Yan asked what had happened to him.

Yao Lao persuaded Xiao Yan to join the Pill Tower’s junior class, and Xiao Yan eagerly agreed after learning Cao Ying and Dan Chen would attend. At the class’s opening, Xiao Yan declined the monitor position in favor of Ye Zhong, then continued pursuing the girls around him, leaving Dan Chen fearful and resentful.

• Yao Lao described the junior class’s alchemy instruction and mentioned that Cao Ying and Dan Chen would attend, prompting Xiao Yan to agree to join.
• Danyang Zi found Dan Chen brooding in her courtyard after Xiao Yan had asked her to be his concubine, and he wondered whether Xiao Yan planned to take a principal wife too.
• Three days later, Xuan Kongzi introduced the junior class’s students and instructors, then offered Xiao Yan the class monitor position.
• Xiao Yan declined the position and recommended Ye Zhong, whom Xuan Kongzi named monitor.
• Ye Zhong thanked Xiao Yan, who asked him to introduce any pretty sisters; Cao Ying called Xiao Yan a lecher, and Dan Chen watched him with fear and resentment.

Xiao Yan escorted Dan Chen home after discussing alchemy with her, and their growing affection showed in her shy farewell. The next morning, he arrived at the Pill Tower’s class, where Cao Ying sat beside him and teaching assistant Song Qing fixed him with an icy gaze.

• Xiao Yan teased Dan Chen and walked her home, then discussed alchemy with her along the way.
• Dan Chen suggested using snow moon clear in the Emperor's Extreme Pill, and Xiao Yan explained its high cost before leaving her at the Dan Residence.
• The youths gathered for class at the Pill Tower, where Song Qing, a peak sixth-grade alchemist, handled attendance as the teaching assistant.
• Xiao Yan arrived after Ye Zhong called his name and chose a seat in the classroom.
• Cao Ying sat beside Xiao Yan, and Song Qing watched him with an icy gaze.

Xiao Yan provoked Cao Ying and Song Qing during the Youth Class before being asked to lecture on alchemy’s history. He explained how ancient traditions declined and alchemy became one of the continent’s most prestigious paths.

• Xiao Yan coaxed Dan Chen into sitting beside him and called her his little wife, angering Cao Ying.
• Xiao Yan taunted Cao Ying, and she flirted back until Song Qing angrily ordered them to be quiet.
• Song Qing challenged Xiao Yan to explain the history of alchemy, hoping to humiliate him and discourage Cao Ying’s interest.
• Xiao Yan discreetly patted Cao Ying before standing and delivering a confident account of alchemy’s ancient origins and rise.