Chapter Summaries

After the Xiao Clan consolidated its control of the Jia Ma Empire, Xiao Yan crossed the Black Domain Great Plains in search of a settlement and supplies. He entered a tribal settlement after paying a passage tribute, only to be ambushed by the gatekeeper and several men.

• The Xiao Clan took over the Imperial Family's troops, reassigned independent experts and officers, and brought the Jia Ma Empire under control within half a month.
• Xiao Yan traveled across the Black Domain Great Plains on foot while Yao Lao warned him not to show mercy in the Black-Corner Region.
• Xiao Yan found a settlement of tents and paid a gatekeeper five hundred gold coins to enter.
• After Xiao Yan passed through the gate, three armed men blocked his path while the gatekeeper aimed his bow at him and demanded all his belongings.
• Xiao Yan dismissed the attackers as insignificant, while Yao Lao warned him that no one in the settlement would help.

Xiao Yan crossed the Black Domain Great Plains with the merchant Doma and reached Black Seal City, where he planned to explore ahead of its auction. After entering the city, he witnessed repeated violent brawls and saw how dangerous the Black-Corner Region was.

• Xiao Yan killed four men who attacked him in the settlement, then bought supplies but could not find a suitable map.
• Doma offered to guide Xiao Yan across the Black Domain Great Plains in exchange for his help guarding the caravan, and Xiao Yan accepted.
• Xiao Yan traveled with Doma's caravan and reached Black Seal City, where an auction was due to begin in three days.
• Xiao Yan entered Black Seal City with the caravan, parted from Doma, and saw more than ten violent brawls on a short stretch of street.

Xiao Yan prepared to obtain the ingredients for an Earth Spirit Pill so he could safely devour the fallen heart flame, then brought pills to the Black Seal Auction House to sell. There, Fan Ling sensed something unsettling about Xiao Yan, and both sides ordered inquiries into the other's identity.

• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to prepare an Earth Spirit Pill and listed its four main ingredients, which Xiao Yan could not find at the Thousand Herb Workshop.
• Yao Lao refined fourth- and fifth-grade pills for Xiao Yan to sell, and Xiao Yan brought them to the Black Seal Auction House the next day.
• An aged voice at the auction house ordered someone to find out who Xiao Yan was after seeing the pills he submitted.
• Xiao Yan heard people identify the arriving Fan Ling as the Blood Sect's young sect master and the son of a powerful Black List figure.
• Fan Ling sensed a strange dread from Xiao Yan, then told his people to investigate who Xiao Yan was and where he came from.

Xiao Yan attended the Black Seal City Auction, earned nearly four million gold coins from the sale of his Fourth-Rank Pills, and set his sights on the Flying Dou Technique Thunder Bat Sky Wings. Fan Ling also wanted the technique, but planned to save his money because his father had prepared a way to obtain the final item regardless of the auction’s outcome.

• Fan Ling learned Xiao Yan was new to the Black-Corner Region and dismissed him as a rookie.
• The Eight Gates host began the Black Seal City Auction, and bidders bought a series of weapons, treasures, and other items.
• Xiao Yan’s Fourth-Rank Pills sold for nearly four million gold coins, leaving him more confident about bidding on later items.
• The auctioneer presented the Flying Dou Technique Thunder Bat Sky Wings, drawing Xiao Yan’s interest and stirring the powerful factions in the front rows.
• Fan Ling decided not to spend extravagantly on the wings because he expected his father’s preparations to secure the final item for the Blood Sect.

Xiao Yan won Thunder Bat Sky Wings at auction, then bid on an Ancient Cloth Fragment that he recognized as part of a map connected to the purifying lotus demon flame. When Fan Ling raised the price, Yao Lao told Xiao Yan he could help him take the fragment by force, leaving Xiao Yan ready to act.

• Xiao Yan bid one million five hundred thousand for Thunder Bat Sky Wings and won the Flying Dou Technique.
• The auctioneer presented an Ancient Cloth Fragment, and Xiao Yan recognized it as a piece connected to the purifying lotus demon flame.
• Xiao Yan bid one hundred and ten thousand for the fragment, drawing attention from the hall and Fan Ling.
• Fan Ling raised the bid to two hundred thousand taels, and Yao Lao told Xiao Yan he could help him rob the fragment.

Xiao Yan attended the auction and won the earth core fire ganoderma, one of the ingredients needed for the Earth Spirit Pill. As an Earth Tier movement technique went up for auction, he wondered what even greater treasure would be saved for the finale.

• Fan Ling ignored the old man's warning and paid two hundred thousand gold coins for the Map Fragment after Xiao Yan stopped bidding.
• Xiao Yan recognized the earth core fire ganoderma as a rare ingredient for the Earth Spirit Pill after Yao Lao identified it.
• Xiao Yan bid one million and two hundred thousand for the earth core fire ganoderma and won it when no one raised the price.
• The auctioneer presented the Earth Tier Low Grade movement Dou Technique Three Thousand Lightning Movement, and Yao Lao explained that it had likely been obtained illicitly from the Wind Lightning Pavilion.
• Xiao Yan accepted that powerful factions would compete for the technique and anticipated the auction's final showpiece.

The auction’s final contests ended with the Black Skull Tomb winning Three Thousand Lightning Movement, before the Eight Gates unveiled a mysterious pill. Yao Lao recognized it as the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill he had created and concluded that his treacherous disciple Han Feng was in the Black-Corner Region.

• The Black Skull Tomb offered ten million two hundred thousand for Three Thousand Lightning Movement, outbidding the Blood Sect and the other factions.
• Xiao Yan wondered why an Earth Tier Dou Technique was worth so much, and Yao Lao explained the expenses major factions faced in cultivating and supporting their people.
• The auctioneer raised a cold-iron barrier and brought out a Cold Jade Box as concealed experts watched over the auction hall.
• The auctioneer opened the box to reveal a golden pill whose energy formed two tiny dragons, stunning Xiao Yan and the assembled factions.
• Yao Lao identified the pill as the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill he had created, and Xiao Yan realized that Han Feng was likely in the Black-Corner Region.

Xiao Yan learned about the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill and collected the proceeds and purchases from the auction. After discovering that the Heavenly Snake Mansion had won the pill, he left, while a burly middle-aged man asked Manager Hu whether Xiao Yan’s background had been uncovered.

• The auctioneer revealed the seventh-grade Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill and explained its chance to let a gravely injured person rise anew, while Yao Lao told Xiao Yan about its risks and his gift of one to Venerable Feng, Gu Ling.
• Xiao Yan left the auction before the bidding ended because he could not afford the pill.
• Manager Hu gave Xiao Yan his net proceeds of two million four hundred thousand and the Storage Ring containing his purchases.
• Xiao Yan asked who had won the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill, learned it was the Heavenly Snake Mansion, and departed.
• A burly middle-aged man appeared in Xiao Yan’s seat and asked Manager Hu whether he had uncovered Xiao Yan’s background.

After escaping the Eight Gates’ surveillance, Xiao Yan tracked Fan Ling out of Black Seal City to steal the Map Fragment. He discovered that the Blood Sect had led Fan Ling’s party into an ambush, where a Dou Huang expert was waiting to seize the auctioned goods.

• The Eight Gates’ Sect Master ordered Steward Hu to investigate Xiao Yan, recruit him if possible, and kill him if they could not secure his loyalty.
• Yao Lao warned Xiao Yan that the Eight Gates were following him, so Xiao Yan lost his pursuers and sought out Fan Ling’s lodging.
• Xiao Yan followed Fan Ling and his entourage out of Black Seal City, intending to take the Map Fragment.
• Fan Ling’s group changed course, and Yao Lao sensed a hidden Blood Sect force ahead, including a Dou Huang expert.
• Yao Lao explained that the Blood Sect was likely planning to seize the auctioned items, and reassured Xiao Yan that he could escape if needed.

Xiao Yan watched Fan Lao and the Blood Sect ambush Elder Qing and the Heavenly Snake Mansion party for the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill. After Fan Lao pursued the fleeing Elder Qing, Xiao Yan saw an opening to act.

• Xiao Yan spotted Elder Qing leading the Heavenly Snake Mansion riders toward the Small Forest and learned from Yao Lao that Fan Lao intended to kill them for the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill.
• Elder Qing discovered the ambush, but Fan Lao and nearly a hundred Blood Sect warriors surrounded her party and demanded the pill.
• Elder Qing ordered her people to scatter and report the attack, but the Blood Sect forced them back into an encirclement.
• Elder Qing fought the Blood Sect as her companions were killed, then tried to flee when Fan Lao attacked her.
• Elder Qing split into energy snakes to escape, and Fan Lao pursued one of them away from the battlefield.
• Xiao Yan told Yao Lao that Fan Lao's departure gave them their chance.

Xiao Yan and Yao Lao ambushed Fan Ling, killed him, and recovered the Demonic Flame Remnant Map, but Fan Lao quickly caught up with them. Yao Lao fought Fan Lao using Xiao Yan’s body and the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, and the battle continued with Fan Lao protected by his Blood-Devouring Armor.

• Xiao Yan and Yao Lao struck Fan Ling and his Blood Guards with the Heavy Black Ruler, killing them all in one blow.
• Xiao Yan recovered the Demonic Flame Remnant Map from Fan Ling’s Storage Ring, and Yao Lao took control to escape before Fan Lao arrived.
• Fan Lao found Fan Ling dead, learned the killer’s direction from an injured Blood Guard, and pursued Xiao Yan.
• Fan Lao caught up with Xiao Yan and attacked to avenge his son, while Yao Lao fought back with the Heavy Black Ruler and Bone Spirit Cold Flame.
• Fan Lao’s bloody threads and spear failed against Xiao Yan’s flames and ruler, so Fan Lao formed his Blood-Devouring Armor.

Yao Lao, controlling Xiao Yan’s body, battled Fan Lao and used bone spirit cold flame to overwhelm the Blood Sea. Fan Lao transformed himself to escape the flames and launched a desperate spear attack at Xiao Yan.

• Fan Lao summoned a Blood Sea to strengthen and conceal himself, but Yao Lao burned away its bloody haze with bone spirit cold flame.
• Yao Lao enclosed Fan Lao’s Blood Sea in a sea of fire, rapidly shrinking it with intense heat.
• Fan Lao used Blood Transformation to absorb the remaining blood energy, altering his appearance and increasing his speed.
• Fan Lao escaped the flames and formed a Blood Spear, then charged toward Xiao Yan and thrust at his heart.

Yao Lao battled Fan Lao, withstood his Great Blood Bodhi Devour, and overpowered him with the Heavy Black Ruler and Flame Splitting Wave Ruler. Fan Lao remained suppressed and his blood membrane shattered, leaving him wounded and unable to avenge his son easily.

• Yao Lao blocked Fan Lao's attacks with the Heavy Black Ruler and scorched him with eerie white flames.
• Fan Lao gathered his Dou Qi into his blood spear and launched Great Blood Bodhi Devour at Yao Lao.
• Yao Lao countered with Flame Splitting Wave Ruler, and the two attacks collided in a devastating energy storm.
• Fan Lao saw that Yao Lao had survived his strongest technique and remained reluctant to continue fighting.
• Yao Lao struck Fan Lao with the Heavy Black Ruler and shattered the blood membrane surrounding his body.

Yao Lao defeated Fan Lao and drove him into a desperate retreat before returning Xiao Yan control of his body. Xiao Yan then took the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill, but it produced no apparent reaction, leaving him confused.

• Yao Lao shattered Fan Lao’s defenses and struck him into the ruins, but Fan Lao burned his blood to escape with severe injuries and a missing arm.
• Fan Lao used another burst of self-inflicted blood mist to flee, and Yao Lao abandoned the pursuit.
• Yao Lao traveled to a secluded mountain range and returned control of the body to Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan inspected the Demonic Flame Remnant Map and Fan Lao’s Storage Ring, then opened the Cold Jade Box containing the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill.
• Xiao Yan swallowed the pill, but when no effect appeared, he asked Yao Lao whether it was fake.

Xiao Yan inherited the faint dragon qi from the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill and unleashed a soul-shaking roar. The story then shifted to the Chu Yun Empire, where its Imperial Family worried over the Jia Ma Empire's encroachment and struggled to respond.

• Yao Lao explained that circulating Dou Qi could reveal whether Xiao Yan had inherited the Yin-Yang Profound Dragon Pill's dragon qi.
• Xiao Yan endured painful circulation of his Dou Qi until the dragon qi burst from his throat in a powerful roar.
• Yao Lao recognized that Xiao Yan had inherited the dragon qi, which could help him use sonic-attack Dou Techniques.
• The chapter described the Chu Yun Empire's widespread Poison Masters, dangerous poison Dou Qi, and fragmented political power.
• A yellow-robed Imperial Family leader denounced the Jia Ma Empire's encroachment, but the gathered royals fell silent when he asked for a solution.

After Xiao Zhan’s forces captured more than thirty cities in the Chu Yun Empire, the Chu Yun emperor enlisted three major sects to defend Poison Bee Pass. The sect leaders were shaken by the Jia Ma army’s overwhelming aerial force and considered negotiating, while the Second Prince urged them to fight on.

• The Chu Yun emperor agreed to summon the Ten Thousand Poison Gate, the Demon Poison Sect, and the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect to help repel the invasion.
• Liu Laoguai, Hua An, Xie Shan, and their forces gathered with the imperial army at Poison Bee Pass, where they prepared a poisoned zone against the Jia Ma army.
• Liu Laoguai told Hua An and Xie Shan that the Xiao Clan had more than thirty fifth-rank Griffins, but no Dou Huang experts had yet appeared on the battlefield.
• Nearly fifty Griffins carrying Dou Wang experts arrived above Poison Bee Pass, startling the defenders and making the three sect leaders consider negotiating.
• The Second Prince appealed to Xie Shan, Hua An, and Liu Laoguai, warning that their sects could lose their legacies if the Chu Yun Empire fell.

The Chu Yun Empire’s sect leaders committed their forces to battle the Jia Ma Empire at Poison Bee Pass, only for a peak seventh-rank magical beast to arrive as Jia Ma’s reinforcement. The beast killed the leaders of the three great sects and then charged at the remaining Dou Wang experts.

• Hua An, Liu Laoguai, and Xie Shan agreed to fight the Jia Ma Empire and led the Chu Yun Empire’s Dou Huang and Dou Wang experts into the sky.
• A Xiao Clan member crushed a jade tube, summoning a gigantic silver magical beast from the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• Xie Shan ordered an attack after Liu Laoguai suspected Jia Ma was waiting for reinforcements, and the two armies exchanged attacks outside Poison Bee Pass.
• A silver eagle with a seventh-rank aura appeared behind the Xiao Clan’s griffins, prompting the Chu Yun Empire’s fighters to retreat.
• The silver magical beast tore Liu Laoguai apart, blasted Xie Shan and Hua An to ash, and charged at the remaining Dou Wang experts.

At Poison Bee Pass, the Griffin army overwhelmed the Chu Yun Empire’s defenders while the Second Prince fled. Xiao Yan learned the Thunder Bat Sky Wings and flew toward Jia Nan Academy, where Yao Lao warned him to land before entering its protected airspace.

• The Second Prince and a black-robed Dou Wang escaped Poison Bee Pass as the Griffin army stormed the walls and massacred the defenders.
• Xiao Yan examined the Thunder Bat Sky Wings Scroll and sensed the brutal, unconscious soul inside its wings.
• Yao Lao explained how the flying technique had been made and reassured Xiao Yan that careful use should cause no trouble.
• Xiao Yan practiced the technique, formed wings from the tattoos on his back, and quickly learned to fly with them.
• Xiao Yan traveled toward Jia Nan Academy for four days, then landed after Yao Lao warned him that unauthorized flight within a hundred li could draw an attack.

Xiao Yan entered Peace Town, the gateway to Jia Nan Academy, and learned that visitors from the Black-Corner Region had to follow strict rules enforced by the academy’s Law Enforcement Team. After Xiao Yan asked to join the academy, the team’s instructor discovered he was a Da Dou Shi and offered to take him to register.

• Xiao Yan reached Peace Town and saw corpses hanging from the Death Spirit Tree outside its gate.
• A Law Enforcement Team led by a middle-aged instructor required entrants to give their identities and swallow pills that detected killing intent.
• Xiao Yan followed Yao Lao’s advice and swallowed a pill before asking whether Jia Nan Academy was accepting students.
• The instructor sensed Xiao Yan’s Da Dou Shi cultivation, reacted with astonishment, and offered to escort him to register at the academy.

Xiao Yan entered Jia Nan Academy with Sain’s help and learned from Yao Lao that a heavenly flame was likely hidden near the Inner Academy, giving him a reason to pursue entry. Meanwhile, academy elders verified Xiao Yan’s origins and discussed the Xiao Clan’s expanding power, though Xiao Yan remained unaware of their findings.

• Sain took Xiao Yan by Griffin to Jia Nan City and arranged his enrollment at Jia Nan Academy.
• After half a month of exploring, Xiao Yan learned from Yao Lao that a heavenly flame was likely near the Inner Academy, outside Jia Nan City.
• Yao Lao urged Xiao Yan to cultivate toward four-star Da Dou Shi so he could enter the Inner Academy and search for the flame.
• Academy elders verified Xiao Yan’s identity and discussed the Xiao Clan’s control of the Jia Ma Empire and its invasion of the Chu Yun Empire.
• The head elder said Xiao Yan’s powerful family background was not unusual among Inner Academy students, while the others praised Sain for recruiting him.