Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan passed the third-rank alchemist assessment and prepared for the Alchemist Conference. That night, the owner of the Emperor-Breaking Pill tested Xiao Yan’s strength and, satisfied, offered to continue discussing the commission.

• Xiao Yan passed the third-rank alchemist assessment on his first attempt, and Frank and Otto registered him for the Alchemist Conference.
• Xiao Yan returned to the Nalan Family estate to rest before the competition, which began the next morning.
• At midnight, Xiao Yan detected a powerful intruder and followed him out of the Imperial Capital.
• The intruder revealed himself as the owner of the Emperor-Breaking Pill and attacked Xiao Yan to test his strength.
• Xiao Yan fought back with his Heavenly Flames Greatsword and Flame Beasts, and the man stopped the fight, saying Xiao Yan had passed his test.
• The man explained that he wanted to assess whether Xiao Yan could serve as the master of the Shadow Tower and said they could continue discussing the commission.

Lin Li revealed how the Shadow Tower and Han Feng destroyed his family and offered Xiao Yan an Earth-tier high-grade fire cultivation method to kill them. Xiao Yan accepted the commission, and Lin Li disclosed that Han Feng had stolen his Mysterious Yellow Flame using a technique rumored to devour heavenly flames.

• Lin Li explained that the Shadow Tower slaughtered his family after Han Feng hired them to assassinate him, and that a secret art had reduced his cultivation to peak Dou Wang.
• Lin Li commissioned Xiao Yan to kill Han Feng and the Shadow Tower’s three chief tower masters in exchange for an Earth-tier high-grade fire cultivation method.
• Xiao Yan accepted the difficult commission and told Lin Li to stay alive until he completed it.
• Lin Li revealed that Han Feng had coveted and taken his Mysterious Yellow Flame, and Xiao Yan felt an inexplicable killing intent toward Han Feng.

Xiao Yan arrived at the Alchemist Association headquarters for the Alchemist Conference and learned that he had been entered through Black Rock City's internal recommendation. He prepared to take the tougher preliminary test for recommended candidates, while Frank and Otto hoped his performance would secure more funding for their branch.

• Frank and Otto discussed Xiao Yan's chances and bet on which contestant would win the conference.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the crowded headquarters as Little Princess Yao Yue, an eighteen-year-old third-rank alchemist, arrived in an Imperial Family carriage.
• Frank and Otto welcomed Xiao Yan and told him they had used Black Rock City's internal recommendation slot for him.
• Frank explained that internally recommended alchemists had to pass a preliminary test harder than the conference's first qualifying round.
• Xiao Yan realized he had been summoned for the preliminary test and understood that Black Rock City's funding depended on his results.

Xiao Yan entered the Alchemist Guild’s internal nomination screening, where his refusal to befriend Princess Yao Yue angered her and exposed Liu Ling’s hostility. The refinement test began with ironwood spirit leaf, and Liu Ling prepared to use the challenge to defeat Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan arrived at the screening room and encountered Liu Ling and Princess 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’s overture, explaining that he wanted no part in her agenda, while Liu Ling criticized him and fueled her resentment.
• Yao Yue decided to challenge Xiao Yan through alchemy rather than use the Imperial Family’s power against him.
• Mitchell announced a timed refinement test using ironwood spirit leaf, and Liu Ling resolved to defeat Xiao Yan in the challenge.

The Jia Ma Empire’s young alchemists completed an internal test by refining ironwood spirit leaves, while Xiao Yan’s unusually quick finish puzzled the guild presidents. The results began with Liu Ling scoring seven after six rounds of refining, and Xiao Yan stepped up next, saying he had refined his leaf once.

• The branch presidents predicted Liu Ling would lead the test, while Frank and Otto hinted that Xiao Yan would be a dark horse.
• Xiao Yan emerged less than a minute after entering and said he had already finished refining his ironwood spirit leaf.
• Liu Ling and then Yao Yue came out, and Liu Ling suggested that Xiao Yan’s speed might have come at the expense of purity.
• Vice President Mitchell explained the machine-based scoring rules and said contestants would report how many times they refined their leaves.
• Liu Ling submitted his leaf after six rounds and received a score of seven.
• Xiao Yan submitted his leaf after Liu Ling and said he had refined it once.

Xiao Yan stunned the Alchemist Guild’s leaders by earning a perfect score after refining an ironwood spirit leaf just once. The preliminary test ended with most contestants passing, and Mitchell planned to support Xiao Yan as the Jia Ma Empire’s champion at the official conference.

• Xiao Yan claimed that he could refine the ironwood spirit leaf only once, drawing disbelief and mockery from Otto and the other Branch Presidents.
• Xiao Yan revealed the leaf’s glowing center, and the device gave him a perfect ten-point score for purity.
• The Alchemists marveled at Xiao Yan’s skill, while Liu Ling resolved to prove that fire control alone would not make Xiao Yan a better alchemist.
• Yao Yue, Xu Ling, Wang Zhao, and the other contestants completed the test, with over seventy percent passing.
• Mitchell announced that the official Alchemist Conference would begin the next day and planned to give Xiao Yan as much support as the rules allowed.

Xiao Yan attended the Nalan Family gathering celebrating Nalan Jie's recovery and reunited with Ya Fei. The arrival of Mu Zhan, Ya Fei's longtime admirer and a powerful young warrior, set up a likely confrontation with Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan arrived at the Nalan Family gathering, where Nalan Su welcomed him and explained that important guests had been waiting.
• Xiao Yan ignored the socializing and enjoyed the banquet until Ya Fei joined him for a drink.
• Yao Yue and Liu Ling discussed Mu Zhan, who had returned from the border near the strength of a Da Dou Shi and had threatened anyone who pursued Ya Fei.
• A squad of armored soldiers arrived, and Mu Zhan strode into the Nalan Family residence as Yao Yue anticipated a spectacle.

At the Nalan Family estate, Mu Zhan attacked Xiao Yan out of jealousy over Ya Fei, prompting Xiao Yan to reveal his overwhelming strength and nearly kill him. Nalan Jie intervened to prevent the fight from bringing trouble to his family, and Xiao Yan let Mu Zhan leave with a deadly warning.

• Mu Zhan hurled a chair at Xiao Yan after finding him talking with Ya Fei, then threatened to kill him for touching his future wife.
• Xiao Yan formed a Heavenly Flames Greatsword and stunned the gathered guests by revealing that he was a Dou Ling.
• Xiao Yan brought the greatsword down at Mu Zhan, but Nalan Jie rescued Mu Zhan and asked Xiao Yan not to kill him on Nalan Family grounds.
• Nalan Jie explained that Mu Zhan's death at the estate could draw the Imperial Family into conflict and endanger the Nalan Family.
• Xiao Yan dismissed his greatsword, gave Mu Zhan one day to get away, and threatened to kill him if they ever met again; Mu Zhan fled.

After confronting Mu Zhan, Xiao Yan attended the Alchemist Conference at the Royal Plaza, where his rapid cultivation and formidable strength drew the attention of Jia Xingtian. The chapter left them facing each other as Jia Xingtian sensed that Xiao Yan had reached the Dou Wang realm.

• Xiao Yan left Mu Zhan's fate unresolved but resolved to kill him if he provoked him again.
• Xiao Yan reflected on his unusually rapid cultivation and returned to the Alchemist General Association for the conference.
• Frank and Otto welcomed Xiao Yan and urged him to defeat Liu Ling at the unprecedented conference, which drew over two thousand alchemists.
• Xiao Yan traveled with Frank and Otto to the crowded Royal Plaza in a Blue-Flame White Horse carriage.
• Jia Xingtian probed Xiao Yan, who met his pressure head-on, and Jia Xingtian was startled to sense Xiao Yan's Dou Wang cultivation.

Jia Xingtian warned Yao Ye not to make an enemy of Xiao Yan after sensing the young alchemist’s extraordinary cultivation. President Fa Ma arrived to greet Xiao Yan and praise him and the other top Internal Prediction contestants as the Alchemist Conference was about to begin.

• Jia Xingtian told Yao Ye that Xiao Yan might possess the strength of a Dou Wang and warned her never to make an enemy of him.
• Xiao Yan sensed Jia Xingtian withdraw his powerful gaze and considered the threat he could pose if pushed too far.
• President Fa Ma arrived at the alchemists’ seating area, where the assembled alchemists respectfully greeted him.
• Fa Ma praised Xiao Yan, Liu Ling, and Yao Yue and encouraged them before the conference began.
• Representatives of the Jia Ma Empire’s Three Great Families arrived, while Mu Zhan and Nalan Yanran were absent.

The Jia Ma Empire Alchemist Conference began as Xiao Yan and the other leading contestants made dramatic entrances. The chapter ended with Fa Ma officially opening the competition.

• Nalan Jie and Mu Chen discussed Mu Zhan's absence and Nalan Yanran's worsening condition at the Misty Cloud Sect.
• Xiao Yan and the spectators noticed Mu Zhan was missing, and the contestants prepared to enter the Royal Plaza.
• Liu Ling descended onto his platform with pillars of flame, while Yao Yue drifted down using the Flying Floss Movement Technique.
• At Frank and Otto's urging, Xiao Yan formed a blood-red Heavenly Flames Greatsword and ran up a staircase of fire to his platform.
• Fa Ma called the contestants to their positions and declared the seventh Jia Ma Empire Alchemist Conference open.

Xiao Yan began the Alchemist Conference’s first round, where contestants had to deduce and refine a pill from an incomplete formula. When he revealed the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, it suppressed the other flames and astonished the judges and contestants.

• The conference organizers gave each contestant two attempts and a time limit to refine a pill from the sparse formula.
• Xiao Yan recognized that the ingredients treated injuries and mended bones, then began refining a healing pill using the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame.
• The Myriad Beast Spirit Flame suppressed the other contestants’ flames, including Liu Ling’s Stone Mountain Flame and Yao Yue’s flame.
• Fa Ma identified Xiao Yan’s blood-red flame as the Myriad Beast Spirit Flame, ranked twenty-second on the Heavenly Flame Ranking.
• Frank told the branch presidents that the Black Rock City Alchemist Guild had a strand of False Flame resembling Xiao Yan’s heavenly flame.

Frank displayed his false Myriad Beast Spirit Flame to the branch presidents, who then turned their attention to Xiao Yan for a chance to obtain one. During the competition, Xiao Yan used a daring method to refine six ingredients at once and completed a second-grade Bone-Regenerating Pill before the other contestants.

• Frank showed the branch presidents a Recording Jade containing his false flame and explained how he had obtained it from Xiao Yan.
• The branch presidents offered Frank recipes and pills for the false flame, but he refused to sell it, so they planned to approach Xiao Yan instead.
• As impatient contestants failed and were eliminated, Xiao Yan put all six medicinal ingredients into his Medicine Cauldron at once.
• President Fa Ma realized Xiao Yan was controlling six different temperatures with immense soul power and Dou Qi, while Liu Ling dismissed his method.
• Xiao Yan extracted the ingredients to over ninety-five percent purity, fused their essences, compressed the pill, and completed its final shaping.
• With only a third of the sand left in the hourglass, Xiao Yan announced that his second-grade Bone-Regenerating Pill was complete.

Xiao Yan finished the first round of the Alchemist Conference far ahead of the other contestants, then watched the remaining alchemists complete their pills before time ran out. Afterward, Liu Ling pointed out a provocative young foreign alchemist whose strange aura caught Xiao Yan's attention.

• Xiao Yan completed his pill in less than a third of the allotted time, astonishing the contestants and spectators.
• Xiao Yan withdrew his flame and meditated while dozens of alchemists failed, and Liu Ling entered the pill-forming stage as the hourglass ran down.
• A pale, thin young alchemist finished before Liu Ling, who completed his pill shortly afterward; Yao Yue and other contestants followed.
• Fa Ma called time, eliminating unfinished contestants, while Xue Mei and Lin Fei passed at the last moment.
• Liu Ling congratulated Xiao Yan and pointed out a young foreign alchemist, who provoked them with a thumbs-down gesture.
• Xiao Yan sensed something strange about the young alchemist but chose to focus on the competition and ignore him for now.

Fa Ma suspected the black-robed youth had disguised his age to enter the Alchemist Conference, but decided to let the competition proceed. Xiao Yan’s pill earned a perfect-quality result alongside the youth’s, and Xiao Yan revealed he had refined both sets of ingredients together.

• Fa Ma told Jia Xingtian that the black-robed youth’s settled aura and powerful soul suggested he was an old alchemist in disguise, and they agreed to wait until the second round before acting.
• Fa Ma explained the pill-testing devices, which eliminated contestants whose pill-shaped lumps failed the test.
• Xiao Yan, Liu Ling, and Yao Yue tested their pills, and Xiao Yan’s received the purest emerald light.
• The black-robed youth’s pill also showed perfect quality, and he mocked the Jia Ma Empire’s alchemists.
• Xiao Yan challenged the youth by placing another pill in the tester, revealing that he had used both sets of ingredients in a single refining attempt.

Xiao Yan passed the first round by refining two Bone-Regenerating Pills, then discovered that the Windwalk Pill formula in the second round had a flaw. After identifying the troublesome ingredient, he used his myriad beast spirit flame to refine at remarkable speed and finished before the black-robed youth.

• Xiao Yan stunned the conference by refining two Bone-Regenerating Pills at once, and Fa Ma began the second round.
• The contestants received a Windwalk Pill formula, but Xiao Yan and several others failed when the medicinal essences collapsed during fusion.
• Xiao Yan traced the failed fusion to the thick earth ganoderma and began a second attempt as the black-robed youth prepared to refine again.
• Xiao Yan summoned eight Flame Beasts, whose flames processed ingredients simultaneously while he fused and condensed the pill.
• Xiao Yan formed and caught his pill while the black-robed youth had only just begun condensing his, and Xiao Yan taunted him for being slow.

Xiao Yan dominated the second round of the Alchemist Conference, and five hundred and thirteen contestants advanced to the decisive round. As the finalists prepared to compete for the championship the next day, Jia Xingtian and Fa Ma suspected the black-robed youth and planned to investigate him while secretly helping Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan quickly refined a pill, impressed Fa Ma and the spectators, then revealed a way to complete the second round by discarding the thick earth ganoderma.
• The black-robed youth finished second, while many contestants followed Xiao Yan's hint and refined their pills; Xue Mei and Lin Fei failed to advance.
• Fa Ma announced that five hundred and thirteen contestants had passed and ended the day's contest, with the decisive round scheduled for the following morning.
• Liu Ling acknowledged Xiao Yan as a formidable rival, and Yao Yue joined them in declaring her intention to compete for the championship.
• The black-robed youth vowed to defeat the Jia Ma Empire's Alchemist World, while Jia Xingtian and Fa Ma agreed to watch him and secretly help Xiao Yan claim the title.

After the Alchemist Conference’s semifinals, Xiao Yan attended a celebratory banquet at the Nalan residence before President Fa Ma secretly revealed that a disguised Chu Yun Empire vice president planned to steal the championship. Fa Ma told Xiao Yan the final round’s rules and gave him a Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill formula, leaving him with a possible way to compete despite lacking ingredients for his own recipes.

• Xiao Yan returned to the Nalan residence, where Nalan Jie and the family celebrated his performance at the Alchemist Conference over a feast.
• A carriage from the Alchemist General Association took Xiao Yan to meet President Fa Ma late that night.
• Fa Ma told Xiao Yan that the black-robed youth was Yan Li, vice president of the Chu Yun Empire’s Alchemist General Association, who had used a pill to disguise himself and enter the competition.
• Fa Ma explained that the final round would have Alchemists refine pills from their own formulas and ingredients, with scores based on difficulty, value, and quality.
• Xiao Yan realized that he lacked complete ingredients for his powerful pill formulas, so Fa Ma handed him a scroll containing the Three-Pattern Green Spirit Pill formula.