Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan gave Hai Bodong the Pill of Breaking Affliction, and Hai Bodong broke his seal and regained his Dou Emperor strength. Hai Bodong considered attacking Xiao Yan for the map fragment but hesitated, wary of Xiao Yan’s abilities and powerful backers.

• Xiao Yan gave Hai Bodong the Pill of Breaking Affliction and warned him not to keep delaying the map fragment.
• Hai Bodong took the pill to the basement while Xiao Yan stayed with Qing Lin and secretly monitored the building with his Soul Force.
• Hai Bodong broke the seal and returned with his Dou Emperor strength restored.
• Hai Bodong considered seizing Xiao Yan’s map fragment, but remembered Xiao Yan’s strength, his escape from Queen Medusa, and his potential allies, so he hesitated to attack.

After recovering his strength, Hai Bodong handed Xiao Yan the rest of the map fragment, and Xiao Yan asked him to accompany him to the Black-Corner Region. Hai Bodong refused, so Xiao Yan offered him a powerful pill as additional payment, leaving him to consider the deal.

• Hai Bodong apologized for alarming Xiao Yan, who teased him about nearly turning against them and asked for the remaining map fragment.
• Hai Bodong gave Xiao Yan the fragment, and Xiao Yan joined it with his own pieces before claiming it was a bedsheet his cousin had wet as a child.
• Xiao Yan reminded Hai Bodong that their second agreement remained unfulfilled and asked him to travel with him to the Black-Corner Region.
• Hai Bodong refused, arguing that the dangerous journey exceeded what he had agreed to do.
• Xiao Yan offered Hai Bodong a Purple Spirit Recovery Pill, explaining that it could restore strength lost through a seal, injury, or other mishap.

Xiao Yan persuaded Hai Bodong to accompany him to the Black-Corner Region by promising to refine a Purple Spirit Recovery Pill that would restore Hai Bodong's strength. After a day of preparation, Xiao Yan, Hai Bodong, and Qing Lin set out, with Hai Bodong realizing that Xiao Yan's speed and power were greater than he had expected.

• Hai Bodong agreed to accompany Xiao Yan to the Black-Corner Region in exchange for a Purple Spirit Recovery Pill.
• After resting for a day, Hai Bodong left his map shop with Xiao Yan and Qing Lin.
• Xiao Yan insisted that Qing Lin travel with them, and Hai Bodong reluctantly accepted.
• Hai Bodong and Xiao Yan unfurled their wings and flew toward the Black-Corner Region with Qing Lin in Xiao Yan's arms.
• Hai Bodong was startled when Xiao Yan, even carrying Qing Lin, flew faster than he could without giving his full effort.

After nearly three months of travel, Xiao Yan, Hai Bodong, and Qing Lin reached the Black Domain Great Plains at the edge of the Black-Corner Region. Xiao Yan recalled the region’s darker history from his previous life and considered Qing Lin’s rapid growth, while Hai Bodong admired both their cultivation progress.

• Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong crossed the Jia Ma Empire and several small countries, stopping along the way to care for Qing Lin and gather medicinal ingredients.
• Xiao Yan, Hai Bodong, and Qing Lin arrived at the Black Domain Great Plains after nearly three months of travel.
• Xiao Yan remembered how brutal the Black-Corner Region had been in his previous life, though he understood that it was less terrible in this life and opposed to Jia Nan Academy.
• Hai Bodong sensed that Xiao Yan had reached Seven-Star Dou Wang and was nearing a breakthrough, while Qing Lin had advanced to Dou Zhe during the journey.
• Xiao Yan explained to himself that Qing Lin’s Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils absorbed the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake’s power, and he planned to find more snake-type magical beasts for her.

Xiao Yan brought Hai Bodong and Qing Lin into the Black-Corner Region under disguises and explained that he planned to establish a power there. He left Hai Bodong with a map of the local factions and declared that their city would become their territory.

• Xiao Yan disguised himself and his companions with Illusion Beast Hides, and they adopted false names to travel through the Black-Corner Region unnoticed.
• Qing Lin became sick after witnessing the region’s brutal street violence, while Hai Bodong effortlessly drove off several attackers.
• After resting at an inn, Xiao Yan told Hai Bodong that he had come to find bodhi body-transforming saliva.
• Xiao Yan said they would establish a power to gather people and resources, then showed Hai Bodong a map of the local factions.
• Xiao Yan proposed uniting the city’s third-rate powers and declared that the city would be their territory.

Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong established control over a city in the Black-Corner Region by forcing its factions to submit, and Xiao Yan named their new faction Xiao Gate. Xiao Yan left the survivors poisoned but promised rewards for obedience, while Hai Bodong learned that Xiao Yan’s threats were entirely serious.

• Hai Bodong warned Xiao Yan that absorbed factions might betray him, but Xiao Yan planned to subdue them by force and poison the survivors.
• Hai Bodong suggested changing Xiao Yan’s hairstyle for his new identity, but Xiao Yan rejected his absurd design and threatened to withhold the Purple Spirit Recovery Pill.
• Xiao Yan and Hai Bodong subdued the city’s factions in less than a day, with Xiao Yan killing a third of the resisters and forcing the rest to submit.
• Xiao Yan poisoned the surviving faction members and offered pills and Dou Techniques as rewards for cooperation.
• Hai Bodong praised Xiao Yan’s convincing good-cop, bad-cop routine, but Xiao Yan said he would truly have killed everyone if they resisted.
• Xiao Yan named the newly established faction Xiao Gate.

Xiao Yan secured Xiao Gate’s control of its city, renamed it Xiao City, and built its wealth and influence by selling pills and rewarding loyal followers. The chapter left Xiao Gate established as a rising faction in the Black-Corner Region, with Hai Bodong managing its affairs and Xiao Yan concealing the organization’s brutal methods from Qing Lin.

• A second-rate faction invaded Xiao Gate’s city, but Xiao Gate killed its Five-Star Dou Wang leader and wiped out most of his men, prompting the survivors to surrender.
• Xiao Yan consolidated control of the city and renamed it Xiao City, causing rival factions to hold back while they gathered intelligence.
• Xiao Yan sold fourth- and fifth-grade pills as a Fifth-Rank Alchemist, bringing Xiao Gate substantial profits and attracting requests from other factions.
• Hai Bodong arranged intelligence gathering and the purchase of medicinal ingredients while grumbling about being made Xiao Yan’s steward.
• Xiao Yan rewarded subordinates with pills, and two hunted Dou Wang experts joined Xiao Gate before Hai Bodong’s Dou Emperor strength forced them to submit.
• Xiao Yan executed dishonest followers and kept Xiao Gate’s bloody discipline hidden from Qing Lin, who believed it resembled a Mercenary Corps.

After reaching Peak Dou Wang, Xiao Yan emerged from seclusion and discovered that a thief had stolen the medicinal herbs Hai Bodong had stored behind powerful energy screens. Xiao Yan ruled out a Dou Zong and planned to catch the unusual culprit that night.

• Xiao Yan spent six months cultivating but reached only Peak Dou Wang, still short of breaking through to Dou Emperor.
• Xiao Yan emerged from seclusion and headed to the herb storehouse to arrange for another batch of pills.
• Hai Bodong and Xiao Yan found the storehouse’s medicinal herbs missing, though the energy screens remained intact.
• Xiao Yan identified a bitten herb fragment and ruled out a Dou Zong expert, then told Hai Bodong to prepare for a trap that night.

Xiao Yan and his companions caught the medicinal-herb thief, a little girl who was actually a powerful magical beast. After learning she was Zi Yan from Jia Nan Academy, Xiao Yan tricked her by revealing that “Yan Xiao” was not his real name.

• Xiao Yan used rare herbs as bait and trapped the thief in a net made from high-tier magical beast sinews.
• Xiao Yan revealed that the little girl was a Dou Wang expert and likely a magical beast, while Hai Bodong learned she had eaten all his medicinal herbs.
• Xiao Yan promised to gather the ingredients for Hai Bodong’s Purple Spirit Recovery Pill and asked the girl who she was.
• The girl said her name was Zi Yan and that she came from Jia Nan Academy.
• Xiao Yan admitted his real name was Xiao Yan, and Zi Yan realized he had tricked her.

Xiao Yan questioned Zi Yan after trapping her, learned she could sense heavenly treasures and had eaten transformation grass, and offered to refine medicinal ingredients into pills for her. Zi Yan remained wary but agreed to answer him, while Hai Bodong resented Xiao Yan for offering to forgive the loss of Hai Bodong’s ingredients.

• Hai Bodong suspected Xiao Yan was unusually fond of little girls, and Xiao Yan denied having improper intentions toward them.
• Xiao Yan confronted Zi Yan about eating his medicinal ingredients, and she admitted she could locate heavenly treasures even when they were hidden.
• Xiao Yan recognized Zi Yan’s abilities as those of an Ancient Void Dragon and asked her to answer questions in exchange for letting her out and overlooking the ingredients she had eaten.
• Zi Yan explained that eating transformation grass had left her unable to change back from human form, and Xiao Yan inferred that she ate medicinal ingredients to grow and regain control of her form.
• Xiao Yan offered to refine medicinal ingredients into pills so they would taste better, and Zi Yan listened warily.

Xiao Yan struck a bargain with Zi Yan to refine her medicinal ingredients in exchange for her help finding more, while reassuring Qing Lin that he would not replace her. After preparing Zi Yan's energy pellets and notifying Jia Nan Academy of her whereabouts, Xiao Yan returned to seclusion to use an earth fire lotus seed in his attempt to break through to Dou Emperor.

• Xiao Yan showed Zi Yan his alchemy skills and agreed to make her energy pellets if she supplied ingredients, took him along to find more, and stopped stealing from his place.
• Xiao Yan reassured Qing Lin that he would not abandon her, then helped her train as she reached the Dou Shi realm and restored the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake's strength with pills.
• Xiao Yan refined six months' worth of medicine and made energy pellets for Zi Yan.
• Xiao Yan sent Jia Nan Academy a letter explaining that Zi Yan was with him, then returned to his seclusion chamber.
• Xiao Yan prepared to break through to Dou Emperor by drawing on the energy of an earth fire lotus seed.

Xiao Yan refined an earth fire lotus seed and broke through to Dou Emperor, then settled into a comfortable routine while managing the Xiao Gate indirectly. A report that a heavenly flame might have appeared in the Ruins of Return stirred his excitement.

• Xiao Yan refined the earth fire lotus seed and forced his way past the bottleneck into Dou Emperor.
• Xiao Yan concealed his breakthrough from Hai Bodong and claimed his attempt had failed.
• Xiao Yan refined pills, practiced Dou Techniques, and spent time with Qing Lin and Zi Yan while Hai Bodong handled the Xiao Gate's affairs.
• Xiao Yan gave Hai Bodong a Purple Spirit Recovery Pill and began refining sixth-grade pills in quantity.
• Xiao Yan received a report suggesting a heavenly flame had appeared in the Ruins of Return.

Xiao Yan learned that the Ruins of Return were approaching the Black-Corner Region and might contain a Heavenly Flame, then heard that Medicine Emperor Han Feng may have betrayed his master, Venerable Yao. He asked Hai Bodong to investigate Han Feng and Venerable Yao, and decided that the group would visit the ruins.

• Xiao Yan read intelligence about the Ruins of Return and learned that they appeared near the Black-Corner Region once every fifty years, with rumors of a Heavenly Flame inside.
• Hai Bodong named Earth Demon Old Ghost and Medicine Emperor Han Feng as powerful fire-attribute cultivators who might pursue the Heavenly Flame.
• Zi Yan said Han Feng had been the disciple of Venerable Yao, a famous Dou Zun and Alchemist who died under mysterious circumstances.
• Xiao Yan suspected Han Feng had betrayed Venerable Yao and asked Hai Bodong to investigate them both.
• Xiao Yan decided to take the group to the Ruins of Return to look for benefits, warning everyone to stay cautious.

Xiao Yan arrived in Dark Sea City with Zi Yan and Qing Lin to await the Ruins of Return and used the fire-attribute magical beast blood they had collected to create the blood demon flame. With the flame successfully formed, he was ready to bring another trump card into the ruins.

• Xiao Yan reached Dark Sea City with Zi Yan and Qing Lin and settled into a residence while they waited for the Ruins of Return to appear.
• Qing Lin gave Xiao Yan the collected essence blood from fire-attribute magical beasts, completing the materials he needed.
• Xiao Yan told Zi Yan and Qing Lin to stay at the residence while he secluded himself to prepare for the ruins.
• Xiao Yan compressed the blood from nearly a thousand magical beasts and infused it with fire-attribute energy to create the blood demon flame.

Xiao Yan began cultivating the Nine Revolutions Soul Refining Art he had created in his previous life, hoping to advance his soul from the peak of the mortal realm to the spirit realm. He recalled how he developed the dangerous art and prepared to condense its soul flame, a process he believed he alone could complete.

• Xiao Yan found the Nameless Mantra too slow to help his soul reach the spirit realm and recalled the Nine Revolutions Soul Refining Art from his previous life.
• Xiao Yan remembered using the Soul Devouring Technique, nearly losing his mind to the hatred held by the souls he had devoured, and creating a soul flame to purify his soul force.
• Xiao Yan used the soul flame to refine spiritual energy and developed the Nine Revolutions Soul Refining Art, which he later relied on to reach the emperor realm.
• Xiao Yan began cultivating the art and considered its soul flame's power to attack enemies by scorching their soul origins.
• Xiao Yan prepared to condense a soul flame seed, knowing the dangerous and intricate process was based on his own experience and that he alone could successfully cultivate the art.

Xiao Yan finished condensing a reserve soul flame and learned that Zi Yan and Qing Lin had bought an unusual stone at auction for over ten million gold coins. Inspecting it, he realized it might be the Spirit of the Deep Sea, a Heavenly Cauldron ranked tenth, leaving him excited by its possible identity.

• Xiao Yan condensed a small soul flame and stepped outside to find Zi Yan carrying a large blue-gray stone with Qing Lin following her.
• Zi Yan told Xiao Yan that she and Qing Lin had attended an auction for treasures related to the Ruins of Return and bought the stone after a rival drove its price above ten million gold coins.
• Xiao Yan examined the stone, noted its abundant water-attribute energy and unusual shape, and questioned why Zi Yan had bought it without knowing its purpose.
• As Xiao Yan prepared to refine medicinal pills for Zi Yan, he recognized that the stone resembled a Medicine Cauldron and suspected it was the Spirit of the Deep Sea, ranked tenth on the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking.

Xiao Yan discovered that the stone Zi Yan had bought was the Spirit of the Deep Sea, a Heavenly Cauldron that made pill refinement easier. When the Ruins of Return appeared, Xiao Yan disguised himself and set out with Zi Yan and Qing Lin to investigate.

• Xiao Yan used the stone to refine energy pellets and realized it was the Spirit of the Deep Sea from the Heavenly Cauldron Ranking.
• Xiao Yan decided to kill the person who had made Zi Yan pay extra for the cauldron, then thanked Zi Yan by giving her the pellets he had refined.
• A huge pillar of light appeared over the Ruins of Return, and Xiao Yan sensed that the ruins occupied a hidden space beneath the sea.
• Zi Yan urged Xiao Yan to hurry to the ruins, and Xiao Yan reminded her to call him Mo Yanxiao outside.
• Xiao Yan put on an Illusion Beast Hide disguise and set out with Zi Yan and Qing Lin.

Xiao Yan and his companions reached the shore before the Ruins of Return, where he recognized the young man Zi Yan had beaten at the auction. After the young man threatened the Xiao Gate, Xiao Yan secretly burned away his soul with Annihilation Flame Eyes, leaving his body to die as the ruins drew a wary crowd.

• Xiao Yan, Zi Yan, and Qing Lin arrived at the shore and surveyed the gathered factions and the hovering Ruins of Return.
• Zi Yan identified the hostile young man as the auction bidder who had driven up prices and bullied them.
• The young man learned that Xiao Yan’s group belonged to the Xiao Gate and vowed to have his father cripple them.
• Xiao Yan used Annihilation Flame Eyes to burn away the young man’s soul, and the young man collapsed in agony.
• Zi Yan realized what Xiao Yan had done, briefly felt wary of him, then dismissed her fear and continued eating Energy Pills.

Xiao Yan discovered that the Medicine Emperor Han Feng was also pursuing the heavenly flame in the Ruins of Return, making them destined enemies. After tracing Han Feng’s soul probe and recognizing him as Yao Lao’s treacherous disciple, Xiao Yan prepared to take both the flame and Han Feng’s life.

• Zi Yan urged Xiao Yan to enter the Ruins of Return, but Xiao Yan told her to wait for the energy pillar to disperse.
• Xiao Yan traced a soul probe to Han Feng, who mistook Xiao Yan for a powerful Fifth-Rank Alchemist and secretly resolved to kill him.
• Han Feng planned to seize the heavenly flame, believing Xiao Yan and his companions would be manageable opponents.
• Xiao Yan recalled that Han Feng was Yao Lao’s disciple and suspected him of being involved in Yao Lao’s death.
• Han Feng and Xiao Yan met each other’s gaze, and Xiao Yan silently vowed to take the heavenly flame and Han Feng’s life.

Xiao Yan, Qing Lin, and Zi Yan entered the Ruins of Return and overcame its powerful gravity before following Zi Yan to a valley rich in rare medicinal herbs. They reached a lake island where Xiao Yan discovered dragon saliva fire spirit grass, which Zi Yan eagerly wanted.

• After waiting for the first arrivals to enter safely, Xiao Yan brought Qing Lin and Zi Yan into the Ruins of Return, where intense gravity slowed their bodies and Dou Qi.
• Xiao Yan carried Qing Lin and Zi Yan forward with Burst Step, passing through the gravity-bound area until the oppressive force disappeared.
• Xiao Yan asked Zi Yan to lead them, and she guided them to a valley filled with rare medicinal herbs that Xiao Yan gathered along their route.
• Zi Yan led the group through another passage to a lake island covered in valuable herbs, where Xiao Yan recognized several stalks of dragon saliva fire spirit grass.
• Zi Yan excitedly told Xiao Yan that she wanted the dragon saliva fire spirit grass.