Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan trained under the Apothecary at a waterfall in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, improving her control and learning the earth-tier Flame Splitting Wave Ruler. The Apothecary planned to leave within a year for the Tagor Desert, while Xiao Yan asked whether there were pills suitable for a Dou Shi.

• The Apothecary took Xiao Yan to a cleared-out waterfall site and began teaching her Flame Splitting Wave Ruler through waterfall and balance training.
• Xiao Yan slipped off the greasy wooden stakes on her first attempt and fell into the water.
• A month later, Xiao Yan completed three hundred swings at the waterfall and earned a grilled fish from the Apothecary.
• The Apothecary said they would stay for at most a year, then go to the Tagor Desert to seek herbs and possibly heavenly flames.
• The Apothecary warned Xiao Yan that she could use Flame Splitting Wave Ruler only twice with her current strength, and Xiao Yan asked about pills for a Dou Shi.

Xiao Yan and Apothecary spent six months gathering ingredients and refining the Earth Spirit Pill while Xiao Yan advanced to five-star Da Dou Shi. When they returned to Xiao Yi Xian’s valley, Xiao Yan found Xiao Yi Xian had white hair and had also reached five-star Da Dou Shi, then questioned what had happened to Xiao Lan.

• Xiao Yan accepted Apothecary’s plan to use pills to advance and practiced alchemy while Apothecary refined pills for her.
• Xiao Yan killed a sixth-tier magical beast guarding the Azure Wood Immortal Vine, collected the ingredient, and reached five-star Da Dou Shi over the following six months.
• Apothecary refined the Earth Spirit Pill after Xiao Yan and Apothecary gathered its remaining ingredients in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.
• Xiao Yan and Apothecary returned to Xiao Yi Xian’s medicinal valley and found Xiao Lan had grown to the third tier.
• Xiao Yan discovered Xiao Yi Xian had turned white-haired and reached five-star Da Dou Shi, scolded her for consuming too much poison, and asked what had happened to Xiao Lan.

Xiao Yan learned how Xiao Yi Xian had raised Xiao Lan to the third rank and gave Xiao Yi Xian a Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill. After Xiao Yi Xian used it to reach Eight-Star Great Dou Master, she chose to visit the Xiao Clan and then attend Jia Nan Academy, while Xiao Yan flew toward the Tagor Desert.

• Xiao Yan learned that Xiao Yi Xian had used the Little Lion King's bone marrow to strengthen Xiao Lan, which helped the eagle gain a fire attribute and reach the third rank.
• Xiao Yan gave Xiao Yi Xian a Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill, while Apothecary warned Xiao Yan to stop using pills to raise her cultivation until she obtained a heavenly flame or reached Dou Ling.
• Xiao Yi Xian refined the pill and broke through to Eight-Star Great Dou Master.
• Xiao Yi Xian chose to visit the Xiao Clan in Wutan City and then enroll at Jia Nan Academy rather than travel alone or seek poisons in the Chu Yun Empire.
• Xiao Yi Xian flew toward Wutan City on Xiao Lan, and Xiao Yan headed toward the Tagor Desert using her Amethyst Wings.

Xiao Yan flew to Stone Desert City and visited her older brothers, Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, at the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. Her arrival impressed the group's guards, who recognized her as a Second-Rank Alchemist and wondered how her presence might affect the city.

• Xiao Yan flew directly to Stone Desert City rather than stopping in Black Rock City to update her alchemist credentials.
• Xiao Yan entered Stone Desert City in an alchemist's robe and mask, then learned where the Desert Iron Mercenary Group was based.
• Xiao Yan told the guards that she was the captains' younger sister, and they sent word to Xiao Ding and Xiao Li.
• Xiao Yan removed her mask and greeted Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, who happily welcomed her into their compound.
• The guards recognized Xiao Yan as the genius captains' younger sister and marveled that she was a Second-Rank Alchemist.

Xiao Yan reunited with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, revealed her strength and alchemy rank, and persuaded them to return to Wutan City with the Desert Iron Mercenary Group. She planned to head to the Tagor Desert to search for heavenly flames, while her brothers prepared to take pills and resources back to their clansmen.

• Xiao Yan told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li that she was a Five-Star Da Dou Shi and a Fourth-Rank Alchemist, then gave them pills that could raise their cultivation.
• Xiao Yan urged her brothers to leave Stone Desert City and build their future in Wutan City, and they agreed to return home.
• Xiao Yan asked Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to sell the Desert Iron Mercenary Group's assets, buy medicinal herbs, and bring the willing mercenaries and a Storage Ring full of pills to Wutan City.
• Xiao Ding asked Xiao Yan whether she would return with them, and she said she was going to the Tagor Desert to search for heavenly flames.
• Xiao Yan reassured her brothers that she had her teacher's trump cards and did not expect to conflict with the Snake-People, then the siblings shared a meal and their conversation turned to a classmate named Nalan.

Xiao Yan reunited with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, joked about her broken engagement to Nalan Yan, and reassured her brothers about the Three-Year Agreement. The next morning, Apothecary recognized Qing Lin as a girl with extraordinary potential.

• Xiao Yan told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li that neither she nor Nalan Yan had wanted their engagement, and she joked about defeating him at their Three-Year Agreement in six months.
• Xiao Ding and Xiao Li laughed with Xiao Yan and felt relieved that she had not been hurt by the broken engagement.
• Xiao Yan spent the night cultivating in the courtyard her brothers had arranged for her.
• Qing Lin arrived to help Xiao Yan wash up, and Xiao Yan learned the timid young maid's name.
• Apothecary told Xiao Yan that Qing Lin had a special constitution and potential comparable to Xiao Yi Xian's.

Xiao Yan realized Qing Lin possessed the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and decided to earn the girl’s trust and help her. She also wondered whether her own unusual luck pointed to a special identity, and looked forward to entering the desert in search of a heavenly flame.

• Xiao Yan stopped Qing Lin but chose not to question her about her past until she had learned more from Apothecary.
• Apothecary identified Qing Lin as a human-snake hybrid with the Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils.
• Xiao Yan considered Qing Lin’s difficult life and decided to give her a home and nurture her abilities.
• Xiao Yan suspected that her own repeated encounters with extraordinary people might signal a special identity.
• Xiao Yan anticipated her journey into the desert and wondered whether a heavenly flame awaited her there.

Xiao Yan learned Qing Lin’s painful history and decided to take the girl under her care. After sending her brothers to sell the Desert Iron Mercenary Group’s assets, Xiao Yan flew to Desert City to buy supplies and a map for her desert training.

• Xiao Yan learned that Qing Lin’s mother had raised her despite the circumstances of her birth, and that Xiao Ding and Xiao Li had taken Qing Lin in after her mother died.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Ding and Xiao Li that Qing Lin would stay with her, then urged them to sell the Desert Iron Mercenary Group’s assets.
• Xiao Yan declined Xiao Ding’s offer of a carriage and revealed her Flying Dou Technique, leaving for Desert City on her purple wings.
• Stone Desert City mistook Xiao Yan for a Dou Wang, and Xiao Ding and Xiao Li used the rumor to sell the group’s assets without interference.
• Xiao Yan asked Apothecary what to prepare for the desert, and he advised her to buy an accurate Tagor Desert map and carry enough water.

Xiao Yan found a fragment of the mysterious map linked to the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame in a Desert City map shop, making her nearly certain she had a special connection to the novel’s main storyline. The shopkeeper said he had dug the fragment out of the desert, leaving Xiao Yan to decide how to obtain it.

• Xiao Yan entered Desert City and went to the Ancient Map shop to find a detailed map of the Tagor Desert.
• Xiao Yan discovered a tattered fragment resembling the Purifying Lotus Demon Flame map among the shop’s discarded maps.
• Xiao Yan and Apothecary reacted to the discovery, and Xiao Yan reflected on how her unusual circumstances suggested she might have an important identity.
• Xiao Yan asked the scarred shopkeeper whether he had other fragments like it, and he said he had obtained only that one by chance.
• Xiao Yan asked where the shopkeeper had found the fragment, and he replied that he had dug it up in the desert.

Xiao Yan discovered that the map seller was the former Ice Emperor Hai Bodong, a Dou Emperor sealed down to Dou Ling strength. She offered to obtain a Sixth-Grade Pill to remove his seal, but ended by threatening to take the map fragment by force if he refused.

• Xiao Yan offered Hai Bodong a high price and Third-Grade Pills for the map fragment, but he refused and said the other maps were free.
• The Apothecary sensed that Hai Bodong was a Dou Emperor whose strength had been sealed, and Xiao Yan suspected Queen Medusa had sealed the former Ice Emperor.
• Xiao Yan reasoned that Hai Bodong might be using the fragment to attract someone powerful enough to remove his seal, so she decided to negotiate rather than immediately seize it.
• Xiao Yan offered to ask her teacher for a Sixth-Grade Pill that could undo Hai Bodong’s seal, startling him and making him demand to know who she was.
• Xiao Yan explained her sensitivity to energy, then warned Hai Bodong that she would take the fragment by force if he would not sell it.

Xiao Yan negotiated with Hai Bodong over a fragmentary map, offering to have her teacher refine his seal-breaking pill with a heavenly flame. Hai Bodong provided the recipe but lacked one medicinal herb, and he offered information about heavenly flames in exchange for Xiao Yan finding it.

• Xiao Yan threatened Hai Bodong with her supposed backing and agreed to discuss trading a sixth-grade pill for his map fragment.
• Xiao Yan and the Apothecary decided to accept Hai Bodong's offer because it could earn them a new pill recipe and medicinal herbs.
• Xiao Yan displayed her multicolored beast flame, convincing Hai Bodong that her teacher possessed a heavenly flame.
• Hai Bodong handed Xiao Yan the pill recipe and promised the smaller map fragment and a favor if the pill was refined.
• Hai Bodong admitted he was missing sand mandala, and Xiao Yan demanded extra payment if she had to search the Snake-People Tribe territory.
• Hai Bodong offered information about heavenly flames in exchange for Xiao Yan finding the herb, and Xiao Yan reacted with sudden interest.

Xiao Yan received Hai Bodong’s map of possible heavenly flame locations and learned how he obtained the Fragmentary Map and was cursed by Queen Medusa. She left to search near Stone Desert City first, while privately considering Medusa as a potential romantic interest before deciding to focus on the search.

• Hai Bodong gave Xiao Yan a map marking three possible heavenly flame locations and warned her to avoid the western site near Queen Medusa’s domain.
• Xiao Yan promised to find the sand mandala that would help Hai Bodong lift his seal, and he gave her three sets of medicinal ingredients.
• Hai Bodong explained that Queen Medusa had cursed him with the Snake Seal Curse after he obtained the Fragmentary Map.
• Xiao Yan asked Apothecary whether the map was reliable, and Apothecary said buried heavenly flames might escape their notice.
• Xiao Yan decided to search the location near Stone Desert City before seeking out Queen Medusa, while considering whether Medusa might suit her romantically.

Xiao Yan learned that Queen Medusa had visited an area east of Stone Desert City while searching for Heavenly Flames, and Qing Lin offered to guide her there. Apothecary explained that Medusa might be seeking a Heavenly Flame to undergo an evolution that could raise her to Dou Zong, prompting Xiao Yan to hurry toward the site.

• Xiao Yan asked Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to search a mapped area outside Stone Desert City for traces of Heavenly Flames, but they had found nothing unusual there before.
• Qing Lin said she had sensed a powerful aura like part of her bloodline in the area southeast of Stone Desert City half a year earlier, and believed Queen Medusa had stayed there for a night and left injured.
• Qing Lin offered to use the lingering trace of Medusa's aura to guide Xiao Yan to the location.
• Xiao Yan asked Apothecary why Medusa would seek Heavenly Flames, and Apothecary explained that a Peak Dou Emperor Medusa could evolve to Dou Zong with Heavenly Flames.
• Xiao Yan realized Medusa might be trying to evolve and decided they needed to reach the area quickly.

Xiao Yan waited while Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and Qing Lin searched for the place Medusa might have visited, then prepared to investigate a newly discovered underground entrance. Qing Lin offered to help her locate the tunnel bearing traces of the person’s aura from six months earlier.

• Apothecary reassured Xiao Yan that there was no need to rush and advised her to explore the heavenly flame’s birthplace for useful finds.
• Xiao Yan processed the Desert Iron Mercenary Group’s herbs while Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and Qing Lin searched the desert for the site Queen Medusa might have visited.
• After five days, Xiao Li told Xiao Yan that they had found an entrance beneath a sunken patch of sand, which Qing Lin had located by sensing lingering aura.
• Xiao Yan probed the entrance and found numerous winding tunnels that seemed to have been made by a snake-like magical beast.
• Xiao Yan used a pill to raise her aura and persuaded Xiao Ding and Xiao Li to let her descend alone.
• Qing Lin told Xiao Yan that she could help find the right tunnel by following traces of the person’s aura from six months earlier.

Xiao Yan and Qing Lin reached a magma cavern while searching for a Heavenly Flame, where Qing Lin’s Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils sensed a hidden Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake. Xiao Yan defeated the beast, but Qing Lin said she might be able to control it.

• Xiao Yan carried Qing Lin through a passage where the Fire-Attribute Energy grew denser, and they found a vast magma cavern.
• Xiao Yan discovered that Qing Lin’s cold, sinister energy protected her from the cavern’s heat, while Apothecary explained that a Heavenly Flame might lie in the magma.
• Qing Lin sensed a living creature concealed in the magma, and Apothecary identified it as a fourth-order Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake.
• The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake lunged at Xiao Yan, who struck it with her Heavy Xuan Ruler and knocked it down.
• As Xiao Yan prepared to finish off the snake, Qing Lin asked her to wait because she felt she could control it.

Qing Lin used her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils to subdue the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake and learned that the Heavenly Flame lay beneath the magma. Xiao Yan rode the frightened snake back toward the magma while Qing Lin stayed with the others, who learned how she had gained control of it.

• Qing Lin formed a connection with the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake using her Triple Jade-Green Snake Flower Pupils and sensed its thoughts.
• Qing Lin learned that the Heavenly Flame was beneath the magma, and Xiao Yan decided to take her back to safety first.
• Xiao Yan and Qing Lin emerged riding the Fire Spirit Snake, startling Xiao Ding, Xiao Li, and the Desert Iron Mercenary Group.
• Qing Lin ordered the Fire Spirit Snake to guide Xiao Yan to the Heavenly Flame, and Xiao Yan threatened it if it failed to find the way.
• Qing Lin told Xiao Ding and the others that she could control the Fire Spirit Snake, and they learned Xiao Yan had wounded its head.

Xiao Yan followed the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake through the magma and discovered the Green Lotus Core Flame’s hiding place, only to find that Medusa had already taken its flame seed. Xiao Yan collected the remaining treasures and returned toward the surface with the snake.

• The Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake guided Xiao Yan deeper through the magma while the Apothecary protected her with the bone spirit cold flame.
• Xiao Yan and the Apothecary discovered an enormous azure lotus and identified it as the Green Lotus Core Flame.
• Xiao Yan entered the azure glow and found an empty hole where the flame seed had been, along with a seven-colored scale left by Medusa.
• The Apothecary explained that Medusa had taken only the flame seed, so Xiao Yan collected the Lotus Platform and its earth fire lotus seeds.
• Xiao Yan left the azure glow and followed the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake back along their route.

Xiao Yan returned to the Desert Iron Mercenary Group with Qing Lin and the obedient Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake, then pretended she had found a heavenly flame to keep her brothers from interfering with her plans. After arranging to leave for a quiet place to refine the flame, Xiao Yan waited for Qing Lin to finish cultivating so she could talk with her about her painful past.

• Xiao Yan returned from underground, and Qing Lin made the Two-Headed Fire Spirit Snake shrink into her sleeve.
• Xiao Ding asked whether Xiao Yan had found the heavenly flame, and she said they should discuss it after returning.
• Xiao Yan showed Xiao Ding and Xiao Li the Green Lotus Platform and claimed it contained the nineteenth-ranked green lotus core flame.
• Xiao Yan persuaded her brothers to prepare to move the Desert Iron Mercenary Group to Wutan City while she refined the heavenly flame somewhere secluded.
• Xiao Yan returned to her courtyard, where Qing Lin cultivated, and waited to speak with her about her childhood scars.

Xiao Yan gave Qing Lin a seven-colored snake scale pendant and gently encouraged her to accept her scales and choose her own future. After taking Qing Lin back to her room, Xiao Yan resolved to keep supporting her and have Xiao Yi Xian befriend her in Wutan City.

• Xiao Yan gave Qing Lin a pendant made from Medusa's seven-colored snake scale and asked her to call her Big Sister.
• Xiao Yan encouraged Qing Lin to see the scales on her body as beautiful and accepted, and began calling her Little Qing.
• Qing Lin admitted that people feared and hated her scales, so Xiao Yan took her for a walk and shared how she had once lost her Dou Qi.
• Xiao Yan told Qing Lin that she had done nothing wrong and could choose her future, regardless of how others saw her.
• Xiao Yan returned Qing Lin to her room and decided to keep an eye on her and have Xiao Yi Xian befriend her in Wutan City.

Xiao Yan cultivated on the Green Lotus Platform and advanced to six-star Da Dou Shi, then prepared to refine an earth fire lotus seed to evolve the Flame Mantra. After the Desert Iron Mercenary Group left for Wutan City, she secluded herself in a mountain cave and swallowed the seed, beginning to guide its scorching energy through her meridians.

• Xiao Yan used the Green Lotus Platform to cultivate overnight, absorbing its purified azure energy and reaching six-star Da Dou Shi.
• Xiao Yan asked Apothecary whether refining azure fire made from an earth fire lotus seed could evolve the Flame Mantra, and Apothecary agreed to consider the idea.
• Xiao Yan gave Qing Lin a Storage Ring, Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, and other items before attending to the Desert Iron Mercenary Group's medicinal herbs.
• After the Desert Iron Mercenary Group set out for Wutan City, Xiao Yan entered the desert alone and made a secluded mountain cave her temporary base.
• Following Apothecary's plan, Xiao Yan sat on the Lotus Platform and swallowed an earth fire lotus seed, then guided its scorching energy through the Melt Flame Mantra as azure flames ignited around her.