Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan and Qing Lin hid from Mo Bass and his Snake-People squad, then learned the group was heading for Stone Desert City. Xiao Yan rushed there to protect the city and reach the nearby heavenly flame, while an alluring woman followed close behind.

• Xiao Yan concealed himself and Qing Lin beneath the sand as Mo Bass searched for humans nearby.
• Mo Bass gave up the search and led his squad toward a human city for amusement.
• After Mo Bass's group left, Xiao Yan and Qing Lin emerged and saw on Hai Bodong's map that Stone Desert City lay along their route.
• Xiao Yan hurried toward Stone Desert City, worried the Snake-People might attack the city and find the heavenly flame first.
• An alluring woman appeared where Xiao Yan and Qing Lin had been and flew after them at comparable speed.

Xiao Yan rescued survivors from a Snake-People massacre near Stone Desert City and left Qing Lin in their care before flying to the city. There, Princess Yao Ye led the defense against a Snake-People invasion as the city prepared for another attack.

• Xiao Yan killed the Snake-People searching a ruined village and found survivors hiding in a cellar.
• Xiao Yan left Qing Lin with the survivors, protecting her with a Soul Imprint and a ring containing the Nine Nether Illusion Demon Flame.
• Xiao Yan flew toward Stone Desert City after spotting flames rising above it.
• Princess Yao Ye directed the city’s soldiers as they held off the Snake-People, then ordered the defenses repaired before the next wave.

Princess Yao Ye used a Qi-Piercing Triple Crossbow to break the Snake-People’s assault, but Mo Bass, a Dou Wang commander, arrived and threatened to destroy Stone Desert City’s defenses. Xiao Yan intervened to stop Mo Bass’s attack, leaving Yao Ye to command the troops while Xiao Yan faced the enemy leader.

• Yao Ye had the Qi-Piercing Triple Crossbow assembled and used it to kill three Snake-People, halting their attack.
• Yao Ye ordered all three bolts fired at the Snake-People’s leader, but a powerful force destroyed them.
• Mo Bass, a Dou Wang commander of the Snake-People Tribe’s Eight Great Tribes, flew toward Stone Desert City and attacked Yao Ye with an energy python.
• Xiao Yan arrived and shattered Mo Bass’s attack, then told Yao Ye to keep commanding her troops.
• Yao Ye agreed to lead the counterattack while Xiao Yan took on Mo Bass.

Xiao Yan defeated and gravely wounded Mo Bass with Eight Extremes Collapse, then moved to kill him. Queen Medusa appeared and stopped Xiao Yan’s final blow, leaving him facing the Snake-People Tribe’s queen.

• Xiao Yan ignored Mo Bass’s attack and struck him with Eight Extremes Collapse, shattering his Dou Qi Armor.
• Xiao Yan detonated the technique’s eight layers of hidden force inside Mo Bass, leaving him grievously injured.
• Mo Bass tried to retreat, but Xiao Yan caught him and knocked him into the ground.
• Xiao Yan swooped down to finish Mo Bass, but a woman stopped his fist and forced him back.
• Yao Ye and the onlookers recognized the woman as Queen Medusa.

Xiao Yan confronted Queen Medusa in Stone Desert City and fought to survive against the vastly stronger Snake-People queen. After using the Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations and breaking through her tracking sword images, he launched a powerful counterattack.

• Queen Medusa recognized Xiao Yan as a growing threat and attacked him, while he prepared to fight back.
• Xiao Yan dodged Medusa’s seven-colored energy attack but was overpowered in a direct clash with her.
• Xiao Yan activated the first transformation of the Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations, raising his strength to Peak Dou Wang.
• Medusa formed a seven-colored sword and sent tracking energy blades after Xiao Yan, who evaded them with the Flame-Treading Sky-Soaring Step.
• Xiao Yan used Mad Lion’s Roar to stall the blades and briefly daze Medusa, then struck her with Flame Splitting Wave Ruler.

Xiao Yan struck Queen Medusa with the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler, but she survived with little injury and revealed her petrification ability. He evaded her counterattack and launched a flaming Eight Extremes Collapse at her from behind.

• Xiao Yan's Flame Splitting Wave Ruler drove Queen Medusa into the sand, but her rainbow barrier absorbed most of its force.
• Queen Medusa rose with few injuries and recognized Xiao Yan's attack as an Earth Tier Dou Technique.
• Queen Medusa used the Medusa Clan's petrification ability, but Xiao Yan countered it with his Annihilation Flame Eyes.
• Queen Medusa attacked from above, but Xiao Yan evaded with the Flame-Treading Sky-Soaring Step and sent his ruler flying toward her as a distraction.
• Xiao Yan appeared behind Queen Medusa and smashed a purplish-black flame-wreathed fist toward her head with Eight Extremes Collapse.

Xiao Yan fought Queen Medusa in close combat, relying on his skill and Heavenly Flames Armor to withstand her stronger attacks. As Queen Medusa unleashed a massive seven-colored serpent, Xiao Yan answered with the Gu Clan’s Mountain Splitting Seal, leaving their clash unresolved.

• Xiao Yan’s Eight Extremes Collapse failed to penetrate Queen Medusa’s multicolored energy, and she caught his arm and thrust her sword at his throat.
• Xiao Yan blocked the sword with Heavenly Flames Armor, escaped Queen Medusa’s grip, and pressed her with a rapid series of close-combat attacks.
• Queen Medusa regained the advantage with serpent-shaped energy attacks, but their exchange left blood at the corner of her mouth and injured Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan swallowed healing pills while Queen Medusa formed an enormous seven-colored energy serpent.
• Xiao Yan used Mountain Splitting Seal, the first seal of the Gu Clan’s Emperor Seal Art, to confront Queen Medusa’s attack.

Xiao Yan wounded Queen Medusa with the Mountain Splitting Seal, then argued that continuing their fight would hurt them both more than it helped. Queen Medusa did not accept a truce outright, but she stopped challenging his claim that he could escape and retaliate against the Snake-People Tribe.

• Xiao Yan’s Mountain Splitting Seal shattered Queen Medusa’s energy serpent and barrier, struck her, and left her bleeding and injured.
• Xiao Yan, drained by the attack, recovered with pills and asked Queen Medusa to end the battle.
• Queen Medusa pointed out that Xiao Yan’s powerful Dou Technique and strength-enhancing secret art had limits.
• Xiao Yan said he could flee before his secret art wore off, cultivate, and later become strong enough to threaten Queen Medusa and the Snake-People Tribe.
• Queen Medusa did not respond to Xiao Yan’s threat, recognizing that fighting over Stone Desert City could leave them both badly injured.

Xiao Yan forced Queen Medusa to withdraw from Stone Desert City by bluffing that he could unleash a powerful three-colored Fire Lotus. After leaving, he revealed that he was near his limit and resolved to grow stronger before he crossed paths with her again while seeking the Heavenly Flames.

• Xiao Yan offered Queen Medusa a truce, but she threatened to kill him rather than leave a potential threat alive.
• Xiao Yan summoned black and purple flames and implied he could use a stronger Fire Lotus, prompting Queen Medusa to withdraw her Snake-People Tribe.
• Queen Medusa demanded Xiao Yan's name, and he gave her the false name Yan Xiao before she warned him they would meet again.
• Princess Yao Ye invited Xiao Yan to a gathering to thank him, but he refused and flew away to continue his journey.
• Xiao Yan found a secluded spot, revealed his pale, weakened state, and swallowed pills after his secret technique's effects began to wear off.
• Xiao Yan realized Queen Medusa had likely come seeking the Heavenly Flames and resolved to increase his strength quickly before encountering her again.

Xiao Yan decided to strengthen his body so he could withstand the second transformation of the Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations. After creating a simplified body-tempering technique, he detected magma beneath the flame symbol on Hai Bodong’s map and wondered if a Heavenly Flame lay within it.

• Xiao Yan ruled out raising his cultivation or learning a stronger Dou Technique and chose to improve his physical strength instead.
• Xiao Yan adapted the Heaven Rank Low Grade Diamond Glazed Body into the mid-grade Earth Tier Lesser Glazed Golden Body.
• Xiao Yan determined that tempering his body with intense external forces would let him cultivate the Lesser Glazed Golden Body and use the second transformation of the Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations.
• Xiao Yan searched underground with his Soul Force and detected magma beneath the flame symbol on Hai Bodong’s map.
• Xiao Yan wondered whether a Heavenly Flame was hidden in the magma.

Xiao Yan brought Qing Lin to the hidden Magma Sea after discovering signs of a Heavenly Flame, and he advanced to Three-Star Dou Wang while recovering in the village. The Nine Nether Illusion Demon Flame reacted as they entered the underground world, confirming that traces of a Heavenly Flame were nearby.

• Xiao Yan returned to the village to collect Qing Lin, then advanced to Three-Star Dou Wang while cultivating overnight.
• Xiao Yan and Qing Lin left at dawn and traveled to a stretch of desert near Stone Desert City, where he sensed heat beneath the sand.
• Xiao Yan used his Heavenly Flame to burn a passage underground and carried Qing Lin down to the Magma Sea.
• Xiao Yan flew Qing Lin to a nearby rock and sensed that the dense fire energy would aid his cultivation and Lesser Glazed Golden Body.
• Xiao Yan felt the Nine Nether Illusion Demon Flame pulse, indicating that traces of a Heavenly Flame were present in the Magma World.

Xiao Yan lured a Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake out of the magma and overpowered it, intending to subdue it for Qing Lin. He sent the wounded beast crashing onto the ground near her.

• Xiao Yan reassured Qing Lin and flew over the magma to draw out the hidden magical beast.
• A Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake attacked Xiao Yan, who recognized it and used the Flame-Treading Sky-Soaring Step to stand on the magma.
• Xiao Yan blocked the snake's tail, struck its head, and collected its blood in a jade bottle.
• The snake unleashed its beast flame and columns of magma light, but Xiao Yan suppressed its flame with the nine nether illusion demon flame and dodged its attacks.
• Xiao Yan struck the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake with his ruler and blasted it out of the magma in front of Qing Lin.

Xiao Yan helped Qing Lin awaken her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and use them to tame the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake. After the snake revealed that it knew the heavenly flame’s location, Xiao Yan sensed Queen Medusa watching nearby and called her out.

• Xiao Yan defeated the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake and offered it to Qing Lin as a pet.
• At Xiao Yan’s urging, Qing Lin activated her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and established a contract with the snake.
• Qing Lin collapsed from exhausting her soul power, and Xiao Yan gave her a medicinal pill that helped her recover.
• Qing Lin learned that her eyes could control snake magical beasts and said she would protect Xiao Yan.
• Qing Lin said the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake knew where the heavenly flame was, but Xiao Yan stopped her and called out Queen Medusa, who had been watching.

Xiao Yan encountered Queen Medusa while searching for the Heavenly Flame, and Qing Lin stopped her from attacking by explaining that Xiao Yan had saved her rather than enslaved her. Xiao Yan and Queen Medusa agreed to cooperate, with Medusa using the Heavenly Flame for her evolution before it ultimately belonged to him.

• Queen Medusa recognized Xiao Yan from their battle in Stone Desert City and weighed whether to kill him despite her lingering injuries.
• Queen Medusa saw Qing Lin and accused Xiao Yan of enslaving a Snake-People woman, then prepared to attack him.
• Qing Lin defended Xiao Yan, explaining that he had saved her and treated her like a little sister, so she had chosen to serve him.
• Queen Medusa withdrew her weapon after hearing Qing Lin's explanation and recognized that Xiao Yan had used the alias Yan Xiao.
• Xiao Yan proposed that Queen Medusa use the Heavenly Flame for her evolution and then give it to him, arguing that neither could defeat the other without suffering heavy losses.
• Queen Medusa accepted Xiao Yan's proposal and agreed to cooperate with him.

Xiao Yan, Queen Medusa, Qing Lin, and the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake descended through the magma to find the Heavenly Flame. They reached a green lotus at the magma’s heart, and Xiao Yan recognized the flame within it as the nineteenth-ranked green lotus core flame.

• Xiao Yan asked Qing Lin whether the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake knew the Heavenly Flame’s location, and she said it was beneath the magma.
• Queen Medusa ordered the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake to lead them down, then entered the magma herself despite Xiao Yan suggesting she wait above.
• Xiao Yan told Qing Lin to stay behind with a ring for emergencies, then followed Queen Medusa into the magma protected by nine nether illusion demon flame.
• As they descended, Xiao Yan discovered that the magma’s energy helped cultivate the Lesser Glazed Golden Body, while the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake guided them around hidden currents.
• After an hour of descent, Xiao Yan and the others found a green lotus at the magma’s heart, and Xiao Yan identified it as the source of the green lotus core flame.

Xiao Yan helped Queen Medusa obtain the Green Lotus Core Flame, but kept its accompanying lotus seat for himself. Queen Medusa planned to wait five years before evolving, and Xiao Yan agreed to return to the Snake-People Tribe then to retrieve the flame.

• Queen Medusa burned her hand trying to take the green lotus, and Xiao Yan warned her against touching it directly.
• Xiao Yan forged a pure-jade dagger, cut the lotus seat free, and stored it and the Green Lotus Core Flame in an empty Storage Ring.
• Xiao Yan left the lotus's root stalk intact so another heavenly flame could form there.
• After they emerged from the magma, Xiao Yan handed the Green Lotus Core Flame to Queen Medusa but refused to give her the lotus seat.
• Queen Medusa said she would need five years to prepare for her evolution, and Xiao Yan agreed to return for the heavenly flame then.

After Queen Medusa left with the green lotus core flame, Xiao Yan prepared for five years of cultivation in the magma while arranging for Qing Lin to stay with the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. He began using the green lotus seat to temper his body with purified fire energy.

• Xiao Yan agreed to meet Queen Medusa at the Medusa Temple in five years, while secretly placing a Heavenly Flames Imprint on the green lotus core flame.
• Xiao Yan harvested the eleven earth fire lotus seeds and asked Qing Lin to deliver scrolls and a letter to the Desert Iron Mercenary Group.
• Xiao Yan escorted Qing Lin outside, then returned to the magma and coated himself with Burning Blood before descending under the protection of the nine nether illusion demon flame.
• Xiao Yan used the green lotus seat to refine the magma's violent energy and began Fire-Attracting Body Tempering, enduring its intense pain.

After three months cultivating in the Magma World, Xiao Yan reached minor mastery of the Lesser Glazed Golden Body and advanced to the peak of Five-Star Dou Wang. He left the magma with a new idea for improving Eight Extremes Collapse and prepared to depart the Tagor Desert to fulfill his agreement with a Dou Huang expert.

• Xiao Yan completed three months of training in the magma and manifested the Lesser Glazed Golden Body at minor mastery.
• Xiao Yan found that his physical strength could contend with a Dou Huang expert and his Dou Qi had reached the peak of Five-Star Dou Wang.
• Xiao Yan noticed the hidden magma currents and conceived a way to make Eight Extremes Collapse's hidden force more concealed and sudden.
• Xiao Yan left the magma lake using the Flame-Treading Sky-Soaring Step, whose movements had taken on the magma's flowing quality.
• Xiao Yan dressed and prepared to leave the Tagor Desert to fulfill his agreement with a Dou Huang expert connected to his plans for the Black-Corner Region.

Xiao Yan returned to Ancient Map with the sand mandala Hai Bodong needed and began refining the seal-breaking pill in exchange for the other half of the map fragment. He also reminded Hai Bodong of his promise to carry out one task for him.

• Hai Bodong worried that Xiao Yan might have died after leaving and dismissed a little girl who came to summon him.
• Xiao Yan suddenly appeared in the shop, gave Hai Bodong the sand mandala, and said he had fought Queen Medusa in Stone Desert City.
• Hai Bodong admitted he could not yet hand over the other half of the map fragment because the pill had not been refined.
• Xiao Yan agreed to refine the pill and reminded Hai Bodong that he owed him one task for finding the sand mandala.
• Hai Bodong led Xiao Yan to a quiet room and gave him the Sixth-Grade Pill formula and ingredients.

Xiao Yan refined the Calamity-Breaking Pill despite his inadequate medicine cauldron, proving his skill as a sixth-rank alchemist. After breaking through to six-star Dou Wang, he kept the remaining ingredients and revealed he had secretly added an extra ingredient to the pill as insurance against Hai Bodong betraying him.

• Xiao Yan asked Hai Bodong to guard the room and look after Qing Lin while he studied the Calamity-Breaking Pill formula.
• Xiao Yan began refining the pill with his low-quality cauldron, failed his first attempt, then corrected his technique and continued.
• Hai Bodong checked on Xiao Yan, saw his precise ingredient extraction, and withdrew without disturbing him.
• After three days, Xiao Yan successfully refined the purple Calamity-Breaking Pill and concluded that he had become a true sixth-rank alchemist.
• Xiao Yan replenished his Dou Qi, broke through to six-star Dou Wang, and stored the remaining valuable ingredients instead of returning them to Hai Bodong.
• Xiao Yan revealed that he had secretly added an extra ingredient to the pill in case Hai Bodong regained his strength and turned against him.