Recaps

Ya Fei brought Xiao Yan to the Mittel Auction House’s Heaven-Tier Auction, which was about to begin. Their progress was interrupted when Lei Le insulted Ya Fei and Xiao Yan challenged him, drawing a response from Lei Le’s grandfather.

• Ya Fei told Xiao Yan that the Heaven-Tier Auction began within minutes and used her authority as Acting Supervisory Elder to bring him into the restricted area.
• Xiao Yan and Ya Fei discussed the Xiao Clan’s growth as they headed upstairs, where Lei Le confronted them.
• Lei Le mocked Ya Fei and made lewd remarks about her and Xiao Yan, prompting Ya Fei to warn him to stop.
• Xiao Yan offered to kill Lei Le in exchange for a discount, then raised his offer to include Lei Le’s grandfather.
• Lei Le’s grandfather answered Xiao Yan’s threat, saying he wanted to see who could kill him.

Xiao Yan killed Lei Le after the young deacon threatened Ya Fei, then defeated Lei Ou when he attacked in revenge. He and Ya Fei headed toward the Heaven-Tier Auction as she warned him the Mittel Family’s Enforcement Team would come after him.

• Lei Le complained to Lei Ou that Ya Fei had scolded him and brought an outsider into the auction house.
• Xiao Yan burned Lei Le to ashes and told Ya Fei she owed him a favor.
• Lei Ou charged Xiao Yan with a spear, but Xiao Yan caught the attack and shattered the spear before throwing him aside.
• Ya Fei stopped Xiao Yan from killing Lei Ou, warning that doing so would mean declaring war on the Mittel Family.
• Ya Fei warned Xiao Yan that the Enforcement Team would pursue him and gave him the auction house’s defense map.

Xiao Yan attended the Mittel Auction House’s Heaven-Tier Auction and watched several powerful treasures sell while he waited for something useful to him. When the Great Flame Heaven-Shattering Fist appeared, he immediately became interested.

• Ya Fei gave Xiao Yan an identification card and left to handle matters related to their recent encounter.
• Xiao Yan entered the fifth floor and chose private box forty-two for the auction.
• Hua Zheng opened the auction, and the Stone Mountain Flame sold for 8.8 million gold coins.
• The Thunderstorm Lion sold for 13.1 million gold coins after a bidding contest.
• Xiao Yan ordered a large spread of free food while the first four auction items passed without attracting his interest.
• Hua Zheng introduced the Great Flame Heaven-Shattering Fist, and Xiao Yan sat upright, eager to obtain the fire-type Dou Technique.

Xiao Yan won the Earth-tier Dou Technique Great Flame Heaven-Shattering Fist at the Mittel Auction House for eighteen million gold coins. He paid with a Green Lotus Seed and most of his remaining funds, leaving with the technique and a renewed sense of how far he still had to go.

• Ya Fei introduced the rare Fire-attribute Earth-tier Dou Technique, and the bidding quickly climbed past fifteen million gold coins.
• Xiao Yan outbid the persistent bidder in private room thirty-three, securing Great Flame Heaven-Shattering Fist for eighteen million.
• Xiao Yan offered a Green Lotus Seed and his Black Card to cover the purchase, while recalling that the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python remained asleep after eating one.
• The Mittel Auction House appraised Xiao Yan's Green Lotus Seed, confirmed its value, and handed him the technique scroll and his Black Card with the payment deducted.
• Xiao Yan felt excited to finally possess an Earth-tier Dou Technique and reflected that he still lacked the strength to match Xun'er.

Xiao Yan learned the Great Flame Heaven-Shattering Fist before the auction presented an Emperor-Breaking Pill whose soul pledge required killing a Shadow Tower chief tower master within ten years. The offer went unanswered until someone in private room forty-two accepted the commission.

• Xiao Yan used the Crimson Scroll’s Soul Power to learn the Great Flame Heaven-Shattering Fist, exhausting the scroll’s teaching power.
• Hua Zheng introduced the Emperor-Breaking Pill, which gave a Peak Dou Wang a thirty-percent chance to break through to Dou Emperor.
• Hua Zheng revealed that the pill’s owner demanded a soul pledge to kill a Shadow Tower chief tower master within ten years.
• The guests refused to accept the dangerous commission, but a young voice from private room forty-two agreed to take it.

Xiao Yan won an Emperor-Breaking Pill by accepting a ten-year commission to kill a Shadow Tower master, then learned of an ancient Undersea City revealed by the tides. After the auction, the Mittel Family’s Enforcement Team confronted him over his earlier violence, and an elder arrived to negotiate while Juwa remained at Xiao Yan’s mercy.

• Xiao Yan secured the Emperor-Breaking Pill by accepting the commission to kill a Shadow Tower master within ten years.
• Hua Zheng announced that the auction’s free grand finale was news of an unopened Ancient Undersea City at the confluence of the Endless Sea.
• Xiao Yan considered the distant city as a possible destination for a future journey, and Hua Zheng declared the auction concluded.
• Juwa and the Mittel Family Enforcement Team confronted Xiao Yan over killing a deacon and injuring an elder on their premises.
• Xiao Yan swiftly subdued Juwa with a Heavenly Flames Greatsword and demanded to speak with someone in authority.
• An elderly man in fine robes arrived with a bruised, injured elder and asked Xiao Yan to stay his hand so they could talk.

Xiao Yan settled the conflict at the Mittel Auction House, and Great Elder Mittel Tengshan dismissed Lei Ou rather than punish him. After learning Xiao Yan could kill a Dou Emperor, Mittel Tengshan offered him a commission to find the missing Ice Emperor Hai Bodong.

• Xiao Yan confirmed Mittel Tengshan's authority and agreed to speak with him privately.
• Mittel Tengshan dismissed Lei Ou and ordered the Enforcement Team to remove him from the auction house.
• Mittel Tengshan took Xiao Yan to his Sixth Floor office, where Xiao Yan noticed a preserved ice flower tied to a missing senior from Mittel Tengshan's childhood.
• Xiao Yan apologized for killing a deacon and offered compensation, but Mittel Tengshan refused to hold him responsible.
• Mittel Tengshan asked whether Xiao Yan had reached the Dou Huang realm, and Xiao Yan said he could kill a Dou Emperor using all his means.
• Mittel Tengshan commissioned Xiao Yan to find the former Jia Ma Empire expert Ice Emperor Hai Bodong.

Xiao Yan agreed to help Mittel Tengshan search for Hai Bodong in exchange for a treasure and the Mittel Family’s promise of one unconditional favor if he found him. While choosing his reward from the family treasury, Xiao Yan selected a mysterious embryonic pill that no one had been able to identify.

• Xiao Yan recognized Hai Bodong as the old man he had met in Mo City and listened as Mittel Tengshan explained that Hai Bodong was a founder of the Mittel Family who had vanished in the Tagor Desert.
• Mittel Tengshan offered Xiao Yan a treasure from the family treasury and one unconditional request if he found Hai Bodong, and Xiao Yan agreed to investigate within a year.
• Mittel Tengshan showed Xiao Yan the Heaven-Grade Treasury’s list of forty-four treasures, and Xiao Yan found no Heavenly Flame-related items that interested him.
• Xiao Yan noticed a pitch-black pellet on the list and asked Mittel Tengshan about it.
• Mittel Tengshan said a Dou Emperor-level Alchemist had left the embryonic pill as payment, but neither the Mittel Family nor Gu He had identified it.
• Xiao Yan chose the embryonic pill as his reward, hoping to discover what it could become by refining it.

Xiao Yan secured Mittel Tengshan’s help, recommended Ya Fei for a full Supervisory Elder position, and left the auction house with Nalan Yanran to visit her family about her grandfather’s illness. At the Nalan household, Liu Ling learned Yanran had returned with an unfamiliar young man in black robes and grew suspicious.

• Xiao Yan accepted Mittel Tengshan’s request and promised to bring back an answer within a year, then suggested Ya Fei become a full Supervisory Elder.
• Mittel Tengshan agreed, gave Xiao Yan a platinum card containing ten million gold coins, and Xiao Yan left the auction house with a map of the Imperial Capital.
• Xiao Yan found Nalan Yanran at the auction house and explained to Ya Fei that they were going to see whether he could help with Nalan Jie’s illness.
• Liu Ling waited at the Nalan household, hoping to see Nalan Yanran, when a servant announced that she had returned with an unfamiliar young man in black robes.

Nalan Yanran returned to the Nalan Family estate with Xiao Yan, who offered to treat Nalan Jie’s strange poison. After Liu Ling challenged Xiao Yan’s ability as a first-rank alchemist, Xiao Yan revealed a Heavenly Flame, leaving Liu Ling stunned.

• Nalan Yanran reunited with Nalan Su and introduced Xiao Yan, while she failed to recognize Liu Ling.
• Liu Ling told Nalan Yanran that Yun Yun had returned to the Misty Cloud Sect and ordered her to come back.
• Xiao Yan offered to treat Nalan Jie’s poison, saying he could use his powerful flame but could not promise success.
• Liu Ling disparaged Xiao Yan’s first-rank alchemist status and warned that his attempt might injure Nalan Jie.
• Xiao Yan challenged Liu Ling’s confidence in alchemy and revealed a blood-red Heavenly Flame.

Xiao Yan used the myriad beast spirit flame to begin treating Nalan Jie's long-standing poison, but the treatment proved too dangerous to finish in one session. After clearing a third of the poison, Xiao Yan planned three sessions, while Nalan Su offered Nalan Yanran in marriage as payment.

• Xiao Yan revealed the myriad beast spirit flame, drawing the Alchemists' attention before he entered Nalan Jie's room with Nalan Yanran.
• Nalan Jie recognized Xiao Yan and welcomed him as his grandson-in-law, then agreed to endure the painful treatment.
• Xiao Yan channeled the Heavenly Flame through Nalan Jie's body and discovered that the poison had penetrated deeply into his bones.
• After an hour, Xiao Yan had removed a third of the poison and withdrew the flame, leaving Nalan Jie in improved condition.
• Xiao Yan told Nalan Su that the treatment would require three sessions, and Nalan Su offered Nalan Yanran's hand in marriage as payment.

Xiao Yan stayed with the Nalan Family and agreed to enter the Alchemist Conference after learning its prize was the Spirit Fusion Pill, which might interest the Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python. After a month of alchemy practice, he left for the Alchemist Guild General Association on the eve of the conference.

• Nalan Su set aside the betrothal discussion until Nalan Yanran recovered and invited Xiao Yan to stay with the Nalan Family.
• Xiao Yan said he planned to take the Third-Rank Alchemist examination and might leave the Jia Ma Empire afterward.
• Liu Ling invited Xiao Yan to the Alchemist Conference, but Xiao Yan initially refused to join.
• Nalan Su and Liu Ling explained that the conference offered practice and a sixth-grade pill recipe, the Spirit Fusion Pill, as a prize.
• The Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python twitched at the mention of the Spirit Fusion Pill, and Xiao Yan agreed to compete for it.
• Xiao Yan practiced alchemy at the Nalan Family for a month, then left for the Alchemist Guild General Association the day before the conference.

Xiao Yan visited the Alchemist General Association to find ingredients for the Nether Crystal Pill and traded valuable materials for a corroding bone orchid. While browsing farther west, he spotted Xue Mei staring at a peach blossom flame.

• Xiao Yan found a corroding bone orchid at an alchemist's stall, but the third-rank alchemist demanded an exorbitant price.
• Xiao Yan offered a sand mandala and a forgetfulness river lotus, and the stallholder accepted both in exchange for the corroding bone orchid.
• Xiao Yan continued toward the western area and saw several people gathered around an elderly man's stall, where a peach blossom flame was displayed.
• Xiao Yan recognized the silver-haired girl watching the flame as Xue Mei, the eldest young lady of Black Rock City's Xue Family.

Xiao Yan stopped Xue Mei from trading a valuable pill formula for the Peach Blossom Flame alone and helped her obtain a Medicine Fragrance Stone as well. After explaining the stone’s benefits, he accompanied Xue Mei toward Masters Otto and Frank.

• Xue Mei agreed to exchange a clear fourth-grade pill formula for the old man’s Peach Blossom Flame.
• Xiao Yan intervened, negotiated for an extra stall item, and chose a pitch-black stone for Xue Mei.
• Xiao Yan explained that the stone was a Medicine Fragrance Stone made from the dung of a Thousand Illusion Butterfly, and Xue Mei thanked him for the bargain.
• Xue Mei asked Xiao Yan what alchemist grade he had reached, and he said he was First grade without giving her a direct answer.
• Xiao Yan headed toward the Western District with Xue Mei to see Masters Otto and Frank.

Xiao Yan entered the Alchemist General Association’s Western District, where he reunited with Frank, Otto, Xue Mei, and Lin Fei. He revealed that he planned to take the Third-Rank Alchemist assessment, and Frank and Otto offered to examine him ahead of the Alchemist Conference.

• Frank scolded Xue Mei for trading a complete fourth-grade pill formula for a clump of peach blossom flame, but Xiao Yan persuaded him that the flame could help her improve faster.
• Lin Fei teased Xue Mei about Xiao Yan being her boyfriend, and Lin Fei froze when she recognized him.
• Otto asked Xiao Yan whether he had found Gu He, and Xiao Yan said he had instead studied under a wandering alchemist for three months.
• Xiao Yan told Frank and Otto he intended to take the Third-Rank Alchemist assessment and enter the Alchemist Conference.
• Frank and Otto offered to serve as Xiao Yan’s examiners, and he thanked them.

Xiao Yan passed the Third-Rank Alchemist assessment and prepared for the Alchemist Conference, but a mysterious powerful man lured him out of the Nalan Family to test his strength. The man revealed that he had given Xiao Yan the Emperor-Breaking Pill as payment for killing the Shadow Tower's Tower Lord, and they began discussing the commission.

• Xiao Yan passed the Third-Rank Alchemist assessment on his first attempt, and Frank and Otto urged him to rest before the Alchemist Conference.
• Xiao Yan returned to the Nalan Family and spent the night restoring his soul power ahead of the competition.
• A powerful figure entered the Nalan Family unnoticed and led Xiao Yan to the outskirts south of the Imperial Capital.
• The Mysterious Man identified himself as the owner of the Emperor-Breaking Pill and attacked Xiao Yan to test his abilities.
• Xiao Yan countered the Mysterious Man with his Heavenly Flames, and the man stopped the fight after deciding Xiao Yan had passed his test.
• The Mysterious Man explained that he wanted Xiao Yan to kill the Shadow Tower's Tower Lord and said they could continue discussing the commission.

Lin Li told Xiao Yan how Han Feng and the Shadow Tower destroyed his family and offered a high-grade Earth-tier fire cultivation method for killing Han Feng and the tower’s three chief masters. Xiao Yan accepted the commission, then learned Han Feng had stolen Lin Li’s Mysterious Yellow Flame and possessed a method for devouring heavenly flames, stirring an unexplained killing intent in him.

• Lin Li revealed that he had been exiled from a great clan, lost his family to the Shadow Tower, and been reduced from Dou Emperor to peak Dou Wang after escaping with a secret art.
• Lin Li asked Xiao Yan to kill Han Feng and the Shadow Tower’s three chief tower masters, offering a high-grade Earth-tier fire cultivation method as payment.
• Xiao Yan judged the targets too powerful for him now but accepted the commission, agreeing that Lin Li might have to wait several years.
• Lin Li promised to cling to life until Xiao Yan fulfilled the commission and explained that Han Feng had coveted and seized his Mysterious Yellow Flame.
• Xiao Yan learned that Han Feng supposedly possessed a cultivation method capable of devouring heavenly flames and felt an instinctive killing intent toward him.

Xiao Yan arrived in the imperial capital for the Alchemist Conference and learned that Black Rock City had entered him in a special prediction test for its recommended contestant. He joined Frank and Otto at the association as Little Princess Yao Yue and the other competitors gathered, leaving him to face an unexpectedly difficult preliminary round.

• Frank predicted that Xiao Yan would win the conference, while Otto warned him that Liu Ling and Little Princess Yao Yue were also strong contenders.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the Alchemist General Association and saw the crowds of alchemists gathered for the conference.
• Little Princess Yao Yue arrived in a carriage bearing the Jia Ma Imperial Family emblem and drew the crowd's attention.
• Xiao Yan met Frank and Otto in the Western District, where Frank explained that Black Rock City's recommendation slot required a difficult prediction test before the main competition.
• Xiao Yan realized that the prediction test was taking place that day and that the branch's funding depended on his performance.

Xiao Yan entered the internal recommendation prediction and rejected Yao Yue’s attempt to befriend him, angering her and easing Liu Ling’s jealousy. The extraction test began with ironwood spirit leaf, and Liu Ling prepared to challenge Xiao Yan’s alchemy.

• Xiao Yan arrived at the prediction room and met Liu Ling and Yao Yue among the young alchemists.
• Liu Ling introduced Xiao Yan as the alchemist who had cured Nalan Jie’s Brand Poison, and Yao Yue offered to befriend him.
• Xiao Yan rejected Yao Yue, saying he did not want to respond to her goodwill because it came with an agenda.
• Yao Yue decided to defeat Xiao Yan through alchemy, while Liu Ling encouraged her resentment and planned to outperform him.
• Mitchell announced an extraction test using ironwood spirit leaf, requiring contestants to score above four points before the hourglass ran out.

Xiao Yan finished refining the ironwood spirit leaves almost immediately, while Liu Ling later earned a score of seven after six rounds. When Xiao Yan submitted his leaves and said he had refined them once, the chapter ended before the machine displayed his score.

• The branch presidents predicted Liu Ling would lead the internal test, while Frank and Otto hinted that a dark horse would appear.
• Xiao Yan emerged less than a minute after entering and said he had already finished refining the leaves, while Frank and Otto assumed he was hiding his strength.
• Liu Ling and Little Princess Yao Yue came out after Xiao Yan, and the contestants later gathered for Vice President Mitchell’s machine-based assessment.
• Liu Ling submitted leaves he had refined six times and received a score of seven, then watched as Xiao Yan stepped forward.
• Xiao Yan told Vice President Mitchell that he had refined his ironwood spirit leaves once.

Xiao Yan stunned the Alchemist Guild with a perfect ten-point refinement score after refining an ironwood spirit leaf just once. The preliminary prediction ended, and Mitchell resolved to help Xiao Yan become champion at the official conference beginning the next day.

• Xiao Yan claimed he had refined the ironwood spirit leaf only once because it was too fragile, drawing mockery and doubt from the guild presidents.
• Xiao Yan tapped the leaf’s shell away to reveal its brilliance, and the device awarded him ten points for purity above ninety-five percent.
• The alchemists and guild presidents marveled at Xiao Yan’s skill, while Liu Ling dismissed his result as dependent on heavenly flames and vowed to prove himself in pill refinement.
• Yao Yue admired Xiao Yan, while Liu Ling insisted that he could still match him in actual pill refinement.
• Mitchell announced that the official Alchemist Conference would begin the next day and decided to seek the General Association president’s support to help Xiao Yan win the championship.

Xiao Yan attended a gathering at the Nalan Family to celebrate Nalan Jie's recovery and spent the evening talking with Ya Fei. The arrival of Mu Zhan, who had long been jealous of Ya Fei's suitors, set the stage for a possible confrontation with Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan arrived at the Nalan Family gathering, where Nalan Su welcomed him and explained that the event celebrated Nalan Jie's recovery.
• Xiao Yan ignored the other guests and enjoyed the banquet until Ya Fei joined him for a drink.
• Yao Yue told Liu Ling that Mu Zhan was returning to the Imperial Capital and was near advancing to Da Dou Shi.
• Yao Yue explained that Mu Zhan had long loved Ya Fei and had threatened anyone who approached her, leading Liu Ling to expect trouble for Xiao Yan.
• Mu Zhan arrived at the Nalan Family residence with an armored squad, and Yao Yue remarked that he had appeared just as they discussed him.

Mu Zhan attacked Xiao Yan out of jealousy over Ya Fei, prompting Xiao Yan to nearly kill him before Nalan Jie intervened. Xiao Yan let Mu Zhan leave out of respect for Nalan Jie, but gave him one day before he would kill him if they met again.

• Mu Zhan saw Ya Fei talking with Xiao Yan and hurled a Dou Qi-infused chair at Xiao Yan's back.
• Xiao Yan challenged Mu Zhan and formed a Heavenly Flames Greatsword, shocking the guests by revealing he was a Dou Ling.
• Xiao Yan's strike nearly killed Mu Zhan, but Nalan Jie intervened and saved him.
• Nalan Jie asked Xiao Yan to spare Mu Zhan on the Nalan Family's grounds to avoid political conflict and endangering the family.
• Xiao Yan warned Mu Zhan that he would kill him if they met after one day, and Mu Zhan fled.

After leaving the conflict with Mu Zhan behind, Xiao Yan attended the Alchemist Conference in the imperial capital. At Royal Plaza, Jia Xingtian probed Xiao Yan and was shocked to sense that he had reached the Dou Wang Realm.

• Xiao Yan reflected on his rapid cultivation and attributed it to his technique and the tempering of his Dou Qi by heavenly flames.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the Alchemist General Association, where Frank and Otto urged him to try to win the conference for Black Rock City.
• Xiao Yan learned that more than two thousand alchemists would compete at Royal Plaza and traveled there with Frank and Otto in an imperial carriage.
• As Xiao Yan entered the packed plaza, Jia Xingtian fixed his gaze on him and probed his strength.
• Xiao Yan forcefully resisted Jia Xingtian's intimidation, and the elder was startled to sense that Xiao Yan had reached the Dou Wang Realm.

Jia Xingtian warned Yao Ye not to antagonize Xiao Yan after sensing his extraordinary strength, while the Alchemist Conference began with President Fa Ma praising the top contestants. The Jia Ma Empire’s prominent families gathered to watch, though Mu Zhan and Nalan Yanran were absent.

• Jia Xingtian told Yao Ye that Xiao Yan’s cultivation was remarkable and warned her never to make an enemy of him.
• Xiao Yan sensed Jia Xingtian withdraw his powerful presence and judged that the elder was near the peak of Dou Emperor strength.
• President Fa Ma arrived, praised Xiao Yan’s perfect score in the Internal Prediction, and encouraged him, Liu Ling, and Yao Yue to perform well.
• Liu Ling and Yao Yue confidently promised to do their best at the Alchemist Conference.
• Nalan Jie, Nalan Su, Mittel Tengshan, Ya Fei, and Mu Chen took seats in the stands, while Mu Zhan and Nalan Yanran did not appear.