Chapter Summaries

Sun Buxiao arrived in Wutan City three years before Xiao Yan’s fall from talent and decided to delay befriending him. Instead, he went to the Mittel Auction House to seek Alchemist Gu Ni’s help refining a second-rank pill, and Gu Ni arrived to meet him.

• Sun Buxiao saw Xiao Yan being praised as a One-Star Dou Zhe and realized he had arrived three years too early to approach him.
• Sun Buxiao recalled his past life, his mother’s death, and his rise to Dou Shi with the Porridge Bowl; at sixteen, he was close to becoming a Da Dou Shi.
• Sun Buxiao asked for directions to the Mittel Auction House, intending to find Gu Ni rather than Mittel Ya Fei.
• Sun Buxiao offered the maid gold coins to report that he wanted Gu Ni to refine a second-rank medicinal pill using his own herbs.
• Gu Ni came to meet Sun Buxiao and looked him over skeptically.

Sun Buxiao arranged for Gu Ni to refine three Pulse-Protecting Pills, then tested the millet porridge produced by his soul-bound bowl and spotted Xiao Yan in the city. He stopped Xiao Yan from touching a flower at his stall, leaving the young cultivator surprised by Sun Buxiao’s strength.

• Sun Buxiao gave Gu Ni three sets of ingredients and six grade-two magic cores to refine three Pulse-Protecting Pills, paying a deposit of ten thousand gold coins.
• Gu Ni declined to investigate Sun Buxiao and prepared to begin refining the pills.
• After three days of cultivation, Sun Buxiao drank the small amount of millet porridge his bowl had gathered and reflected on how its tangible negative energy strengthened his soul.
• Sun Buxiao noticed Xiao Yan walking through the city with two Dou Zhe secretly guarding him and decided to tease him.
• At Sun Buxiao’s flower stall, Xiao Yan reached to touch a flower, but Sun Buxiao caught his wrist and held him fast.

Sun Buxiao sold poisonous plants in Wutan City, startled Xiao Yan with his strength, and spun him a bizarre story about a Central Plains girl band. After collecting his pills from Gu Ni, Sun Buxiao left for Chu Yun to seek the Netherworld Poison Flame.

• Sun Buxiao warned Xiao Yan that the Green-Scaled Flower was poisonous and claimed to be a traveling vendor from the Chu Yun Empire.
• Sun Buxiao told Xiao Yan a fabricated story about a Central Plains girl band whose members included Burning Flame, Pill Ancestor, Hajiyuan, Lao Xuan, and Lao Hun.
• Sun Buxiao used Dou Qi to disappear into the crowd, and Xiao Yan realized he was a Dou Shi.
• Sun Buxiao collected three bottles of pills from Gu Ni at the Mittel Auction House and paid the remaining amount.
• Sun Buxiao set out for Chu Yun's Miasma Swamp to seek the Netherworld Poison Flame.

Sun Buxiao gathered negative energy from Xiao Yan and Xiao Xun'er as he pursued a breakthrough in the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Xiao Xun'er recognized the historical figures hidden in his strange names and sent Ling Ying to investigate him, while Sun Buxiao successfully reached Da Dou Shi.

• Sun Buxiao entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range, gathered a large amount of millet porridge, and began cultivating toward Da Dou Shi.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Xun'er about Sun Buxiao and the Central Plains Girl Band, prompting her to identify the names as references to legendary Central Plains figures.
• Xiao Xun'er questioned Xiao Yan, then ordered Ling Ying to investigate Sun Buxiao and learn where he came from and where he had gone.
• Sun Buxiao received another surge of negative energy, which he attributed to Xiao Xun'er, and continued his breakthrough.
• Sun Buxiao ate a poisonous Green-Scaled Flower, formed Dou Qi Armor, and successfully became a Da Dou Shi.

Sun Buxiao searched the Chu Yun Empire’s swamps for the netherworld poison flame so he could absorb its poison with his porridge bowl. Meanwhile, Xiao Yan lost his Dou Qi Vortex, and a cloaked girl left the Chu Yun Empire for the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

• Sun Buxiao entered a swamp in the Chu Yun Empire to seek the netherworld poison flame and asked a villager about strange happenings.
• Xiao Yan discovered his Dou Qi Vortex had vanished and broke down in despair.
• Xiao Xun'er stopped Ling Ying's search for Sun Buxiao and asked him to check on Xiao Yan instead.
• A cloaked girl resolved to leave the Chu Yun Empire and crossed into the Magical Beast Mountain Range to seek a way to grow stronger.

Sun Buxiao searched a deadly marsh for the netherworld poison flame and discovered the poisonous wasteland it had created. He encountered its guardian, a flame-transformed Heavenblood Sickle Mantis, and declared he would defeat it.

• Sun Buxiao killed a Black Marsh Crocodile while searching the marsh for the netherworld poison flame.
• Sun Buxiao spotted a glowing area and followed it into a barren region filled with poisonous mist and the remains of venomous beasts and herbs.
• Sun Buxiao collected remnants of a nine-section jade-scale flower and inhaled the poisonous mist, which improved his cultivation.
• Sun Buxiao found the path growing hotter and saw flames in the mist as he neared the netherworld poison flame.
• The Heavenblood Sickle Mantis attacked Sun Buxiao, who identified it as a fourth-order magical beast transformed by the flame and announced he would win.

Sun Buxiao adapted to the Heavenblood Sickle Mantis’s deadly venom and defeated it, then found and collected the Netherworld Poison Flame. He left the Millennium Poison Marsh with the flame, an unusual Insect Molt, and the mantis’s venom, heading south toward the Jia Ma Empire.

• Sun Buxiao swallowed a drop of the Heavenblood Sickle Mantis’s venom and endured its effects while circulating his Dou Qi.
• After adapting to the venom, Sun Buxiao cracked the mantis’s sickle with his Ink Poison Kick and killed the beast.
• Sun Buxiao followed the pink and green butterflies to the Netherworld Poison Flame and captured it in his Porridge Bowl.
• Sun Buxiao picked up the Insect Molt and kept the mantis’s remaining venom before leaving the Millennium Poison Marsh.
• Sun Buxiao left Chu Yun and headed toward the southern Jia Ma Empire.

Sun Buxiao met Xiao Yan’s older brothers, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, at an inn near the Magical Beast Mountain Range and learned that Xiao Yan’s cultivation had gone wrong. He offered to hear the details and hinted that he might be able to help.

• Sun Buxiao recognized Xiao Ding and Xiao Li and decided to approach them as they traveled toward the other side of the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• Xiao Li noticed the strange flame in Sun Buxiao’s bowl, while Xiao Ding sensed Sun Buxiao’s sinister aura and kept his guard up.
• Sun Buxiao revealed that he had met Xiao Yan in Wutan City, and Xiao Ding recognized him as the strange man Xiao Yan had mentioned.
• Xiao Ding confirmed that he and Xiao Li were Xiao Yan’s older brothers and grew wary when Sun Buxiao asked about Xiao Yan’s cultivation.
• Xiao Li began explaining that Xiao Yan’s cultivation had gone wrong, but Xiao Ding interrupted him.
• Sun Buxiao assured the brothers he meant no harm and asked what had happened, offering the possibility that he could help Xiao Yan.

Sun Buxiao joined Xiao Ding and Xiao Li on their journey from the Magical Beast Mountain Range toward the Tagor Desert, after reassuring them that Xiao Yan would regain his talent. He demonstrated the deadly power of his netherworld poison flame and continued cultivating, reaching three-star Da Dou Shi.

• Sun Buxiao told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li that he could not solve Xiao Yan's problem but believed Xiao Yan would recover his talent.
• Sun Buxiao proposed traveling with the brothers to the Tagor Desert, and Xiao Ding accepted.
• Sun Buxiao explained that his bowl contained a netherworld poison flame and demonstrated how it burned a large tree to ash in an instant.
• Sun Buxiao continued cultivating with the flame's aura and advanced to three-star Da Dou Shi.
• Sun Buxiao revealed that he cultivated poison-attribute Dou Qi, and Xiao Ding privately recognized his sinister aura.

Sun Buxiao fought a third-rank Wind-Coiling Crane attacking him and the Xiao brothers on their way to Tagor, using his poison to bring the beast down. The chapter ended with Xiao Ding realizing Sun Buxiao had reached Da Dou Shi and seeing the dying crane crash to the ground.

• A wounded Wind-Coiling Crane attacked Sun Buxiao, Xiao Ding, and Xiao Li, forcing the brothers to hide while Sun Buxiao prepared to fight.
• Sun Buxiao used Mist Shadow Step to leap toward the crane, revealing his Da Dou Shi Dou Qi Armor to Xiao Ding.
• The crane dodged Sun Buxiao's kick and retaliated with a hurricane, but he landed safely with his armor protecting him.
• Sun Buxiao explained that his kick had delivered poison into the wind surrounding the crane, and the beast began to lose control of its flight.
• The poisoned Wind-Coiling Crane crashed down, leaving Xiao Ding trembling as he watched Sun Buxiao.

Sun Buxiao brought Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to Desert City and tracked down the reclusive Ice Emperor Hai Bodong. He revealed that he knew Hai Bodong’s identity and warned him about the Snake-People Tribe’s sealing technique, leaving Hai Bodong wary and ready to fight.

• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li entered Desert City with Sun Buxiao, and Xiao Li explained that they wanted to train and prepare a safe haven for Xiao Yan.
• Sun Buxiao said he would look someone up and used his soul perception to find Hai Bodong’s shop.
• Xiao Ding examined the desert maps while Sun Buxiao noticed the shop’s unnatural chill and focused on Hai Bodong.
• Sun Buxiao mentioned the Snake-People Tribe’s frightening Sealing Technique, prompting Hai Bodong to open his eyes and demand to know who he was.
• Sun Buxiao identified Hai Bodong as the Ice Emperor and dispelled the chill with his Netherworld Poison Flame as Xiao Ding shielded Xiao Li.

Sun Buxiao met the former Ice Emperor Hai Bodong in Desert City and asked for help selling valuable goods through the Mittel Auction House. When Sun revealed his Netherworld Poison Flame, Hai Bodong realized it might let him break Queen Medusa’s seal.

• Sun Buxiao asked Hai Bodong to speak privately, then sent Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to wait at the inn with two maps.
• Sun Buxiao asked Hai Bodong to connect him with the Mittel Auction House so he could sell valuable goods for a good price.
• Sun Buxiao showed Hai Bodong the Netherworld Poison Flame in his Porridge Bowl.
• Hai Bodong recognized the flame as a Heavenly Flame and grew excited because it could be used to refine the Misfortune-Breaking Pill he needed to break his seal.

Sun Buxiao confronted Hai Bodong over the netherworld poison flame and proposed trading for Hai Bodong’s map fragment. Hai Bodong heard his offer but had not yet agreed, leaving the bargain unresolved.

• Sun Buxiao warned Hai Bodong not to take the netherworld poison flame and surrounded himself with poisonous gas when Hai Bodong demanded it.
• Sun Buxiao revealed that the flame was the netherworld poison flame and that he had the Woeful Poison Body, making Hai Bodong reconsider attacking him.
• Sun Buxiao asked Hai Bodong for the map fragment tied to the purifying lotus demon flame, and Hai Bodong questioned how he knew about it.
• Sun Buxiao offered to provide Hai Bodong with a Barrier-Breaking Pill within five years in exchange for half the map fragment upfront and the remainder when he delivered the pill.

Sun Buxiao tested his millet porridge, which he named Soul Solution, on Hai Bodong and discovered it could temporarily loosen the seal restricting his strength. Hai Bodong gained the power of a Dou Wang but endured terrifying surges of negative emotion, and the two were left with the remaining doses.

• Sun Buxiao offered Hai Bodong a drop of millet porridge, claiming it could strengthen the soul and mind and help his Dou Qi circulate despite the seal.
• Hai Bodong tested the drop for poison, then drank it after Sun Buxiao warned him about its side effects.
• Hai Bodong collapsed as overwhelming negative emotions and surging Dou Qi filled the room, while Sun Buxiao recorded his symptoms.
• The side effects ended, and Hai Bodong found that his Dou Qi flowed more freely and let him wield Dou Wang-level strength.
• Sun Buxiao portioned out the remaining millet porridge and named it Soul Solution.

Sun Buxiao confirmed that Millet Porridge temporarily restored Hai Bodong’s strength and discussed the Xiao brothers’ plans to form a mercenary group. He declined to lead it but offered to back them, then gave them Dou Techniques suited to their attributes.

• Sun Buxiao confirmed that one drop of Millet Porridge restored Hai Bodong’s strength to Dou Wang for about four hours, and Hai Bodong accepted two maps without paying.
• Sun Buxiao told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li that he planned to sell items at an auction before traveling onward, and he discussed their mercenary group plans.
• Sun Buxiao refused to lead the group because he intended to establish a power base in the Black-Corner Region later, but offered to join their roster and help with difficult problems.
• Sun Buxiao gave Xiao Ding Ten Thousand Wood Thrusts and Xiao Li Lightning Net Armor, but the brothers tried to return the Dou Techniques.

Sun Buxiao gave valuable cultivation manuals to Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, who resolved to grow stronger and eventually send one brother to support him in the Black-Corner Region. He then asked Hai Bodong to value and auction his treasures before he and his companions headed deeper into Tagor.

• Xiao Li asked Xiao Ding who Sun Buxiao was, and Xiao Ding said he believed Sun Buxiao genuinely regarded them as friends.
• Xiao Ding proposed that one brother stay to manage the Mercenary Group for Xiao Yan while the other went to the Black-Corner Region to support Sun Buxiao, and Xiao Li agreed.
• Sun Buxiao brought magical beast materials and cultivation manuals to Hai Bodong's shop and asked him to estimate their value.
• Hai Bodong valued Sun Buxiao's treasures at a minimum of eight hundred thousand gold coins, with the total potentially exceeding two million.
• Sun Buxiao left Hai Bodong to arrange the auction and said his group planned to travel farther into Tagor and establish a Mercenary Group.

Sun Buxiao and Xiao Ding attended an auction in Desert City, where Xiao Ding discussed the Snake-People Tribe and his plans to establish a mercenary group. Sun Buxiao sold the Heavenblood Sickle Mantis blades for a handsome profit, leaving Luo Bu with the first sickle and another auction still to come.

• Xiao Ding warned Sun Buxiao about magical beasts and the Snake-People Tribe in the desert, while Sun Buxiao reflected on the tribe and the uses of his Netherworld Poison Flame Insect Molt.
• Sun Buxiao urged Xiao Ding to stop studying the map and look around the Mittel Auction House, but Xiao Ding said they had little money and no need to buy anything.
• The auctioneer presented two Heavenblood Sickle Mantis sickles, and Xiao Ding identified Luo Bu, a Da Dou Shi and leader of Stone Desert City's Sand Mercenary Group, as a local power.
• The bidders competed for the first sickle until Luo Bu offered 150,000 gold coins, winning it after no one raised the bid.
• Sun Buxiao pocketed 100,000 gold coins from the sale.

Sun Buxiao and the Xiao brothers reached Stone Desert City, where Xiao Ding and Xiao Li saw the harsh lives of its mercenaries. Sun Buxiao spotted what might have been green hair in a set of cages and went to investigate while the brothers looked for lodging and information about forming a mercenary group.

• Sun Buxiao complained that Hai Bodong’s fees and kickback had left him with only seven hundred thousand from the auction proceeds, then explained Hai Bodong’s past as a Dou Emperor to Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.
• Sun Buxiao accepted Hai Bodong’s map of possible Green Lotus Core Flame locations and traveled with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li for about a week to Stone Desert City.
• Xiao Li described Stone Desert City’s mercenary groups, while Sun Buxiao and the Xiao brothers saw crippled mercenaries begging and dying in the streets.
• Sun Buxiao told the Xiao brothers to find lodging and investigate starting a mercenary group, then headed toward cages after he thought he saw a lock of green hair.

Sun Buxiao bought Qing Lin from a slave dealer and secretly poisoned the dealer in revenge. He reunited with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, who had founded the Desert Iron Mercenary Group, and joined it as a Da Dou Shi.

• Sun Buxiao recognized the caged girl as possibly Qing Lin and paid the slave dealer three thousand gold coins for her.
• Sun Buxiao poisoned the slave dealer with a slow-acting toxin and took Qing Lin with him.
• Sun Buxiao told Qing Lin to stay by his side, and she agreed nervously.
• Sun Buxiao found Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, who had rented land and established the Desert Iron Mercenary Group.
• Sun Buxiao joined the Desert Iron Mercenary Group as a Da Dou Shi, exciting the Xiao Clan brothers.

Sun Buxiao secured a proper base for the Desert Iron Mercenary Group and told the Xiao brothers about Hai Bodong’s history with Queen Medusa. He planned to help the brothers run the group for about half a year before leaving for the Black-Corner Region.

• Sun Buxiao rejected the Rundown Courtyard and returned with a deed to the largest courtyard in the Eastern District after confronting the Mercenary Alliance receptionist.
• Xiao Li asked Sun Buxiao about Hai Bodong, and Sun Buxiao explained that the Ice Emperor was a Five-Star Dou Emperor of the Mittel Family.
• Sun Buxiao claimed Queen Medusa had sealed Hai Bodong’s strength after catching him trespassing in the Snake-People Tribe’s camp.
• Sun Buxiao glanced at the Fragment Map in his Storage Ring, which he suspected was connected to Hai Bodong’s flight from the desert.
• Sun Buxiao named the new courtyard as the Desert Iron Mercenary Group’s base and told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to learn to run the group before he left for the Black-Corner Region in about half a year.