Chapter Summaries

Xiao Qian and Nalan Yanran continued sparring during their journey to the Imperial Capital, while Xiao Qian struggled with heartbreak. After they arrived, Nalan Yanran announced that she would take him home for a visit, angering her senior brother.

• Xiao Qian returned to his cultivation routine and fought Nalan Yanran, who was left bruised after their hour-long bout.
• Xiao Qian hid his sorrow and spent the following days eating meat and cultivating as the group traveled.
• The flying magical beast reached the Jia Ma Empire's Imperial Capital, where Xiao Qian saw the vast city below.
• Nalan Yanran asked Ge Ye to return to the sect with her senior brother and said she would take Xiao Qian home for a visit.
• Nalan Yanran's senior brother objected, warning that taking another Xiao Clan youth home after breaking off her engagement would damage her reputation.

Nalan Yanran brought Xiao Qian to the Nalan Family Grounds to retrieve three fourth-order magical beast skeletons, while rumors spread that she had brought home a new betrothal partner. Nalan Su learned she was heading to the Family Storage Vault with a boy, flew into a rage, and his outburst reached the old master's room.

• Nalan Yanran rebuked her jealous senior brother, and Xiao Qian agreed to visit the Nalan Family only to collect the promised beast skeletons.
• Nalan Yanran led Xiao Qian through the Imperial Capital to her family estate, where the guards recognized her and she ordered them to inform her father.
• Bystanders gossiped that Nalan Yanran had brought Xiao Qian home after breaking off her engagement and wondered how the Misty Cloud Sect would react.
• Nalan Su heard that Nalan Yanran had returned with a boy and gone to the Family Storage Vault, then smashed his tea table and roared in anger.
• Nalan Su's roar reached the old master's room.

Nalan Yanran took Xiao Qian to the Nalan Family vault and obtained two fourth-order magical beast skeletons, then asked Elder Nan to slaughter the family's Mighty Demon Bull for its skeleton. The chapter left Elder Nan stunned by her request to kill a beast the family had planned to train as a guardian.

• Nalan Yanran asked the vault elder for three fourth-order magical beast skeletons, and he brought out the Gluttonous Ape and Fiercewind Eagle skeletons he had in storage.
• Nalan Yanran decided to seek the final skeleton at the Mittel Auction House, but the elder revealed the family had recently purchased a Mighty Demon Bull.
• Nalan Yanran persuaded the elder to bring them to the Beast-Taming Arena, where Elder Nan was trying to tame the restless Demon Bull.
• The Demon Bull charged Elder Nan when he turned to greet Nalan Yanran, and Elder Nan knocked it to the ground with a powerful palm strike.
• Nalan Yanran asked Elder Nan to slaughter the Demon Bull for its skeleton, leaving him stunned.

Nalan Su confronted Nalan Yanran over her decision to break off her engagement and challenged Xiao Qian’s claim to the Mighty Demon Bull. He agreed to let Yanran take the beast but forbade her from using any help from the Nalan Family to deal with it.

• Nalan Su berated Nalan Yanran for breaking off her engagement without consulting him, and she insisted that her future belonged to her.
• Nalan Su raised his hand to strike Yanran, but lowered it after noticing Xiao Qian watching them.
• Nalan Su pressured Xiao Qian over the demand for the Mighty Demon Bull’s skeleton, but Xiao Qian calmly said the beast was owed to him and told Nalan Su to ask Yanran why.
• Nalan Yanran stepped in front of Xiao Qian to shield him from Nalan Su’s Dou Ling aura and defended her right to pursue independence.
• Nalan Su agreed to let Yanran take the Mighty Demon Bull, but declared that she could not use anyone else’s strength to handle it.

Nalan Yanran defied Nalan Su’s attempt to force her to accept his challenge, and Xiao Qian volunteered to fight the Fourth-Order Demon Bull for its remains. The chapter ended with the Demon Bull charging its anger at Xiao Qian in the Beast-Taming Arena.

• Nalan Yanran confronted Nalan Su over his challenge and promised Xiao Qian she would find another way to obtain the remaining Fourth-Order Magical Beast remains.
• Nalan Yanran took Xiao Qian by the wrist and turned to leave, but Xiao Qian stopped her and briefly held her hand before offering to kill the Demon Bull himself.
• Nalan Su agreed that Xiao Qian could claim the beast’s remains if he killed it through his own abilities.
• Xiao Qian entered the Beast-Taming Arena despite Nalan Yanran’s warning, while Nalan Su and Nalan Nan moved to watch and ensure he did not die.
• The Demon Bull noticed Xiao Qian, roared furiously, and prepared to attack.

Xiao Qian used the Fairy Spirit Puppet to stop the Demon Bull’s attack, then began refining two Fourth-Order Magical Beast skeletons with an Ancient Void Dragon magic core. The puppet cracked after its powerful strike, and the chapter left Xiao Qian’s new refinement underway.

• The Demon Bull charged at Xiao Qian, but the Fairy Spirit Puppet appeared and struck it backward before Nalan Su could reach him.
• Xiao Qian explained that the purple-clad figure was his puppet, and Nalan Su realized it possessed strength comparable to a Dou Ling.
• A crack appeared on the Fairy Spirit Puppet’s arm, which Xiao Qian attributed to the limitations of its construction.
• Xiao Qian brought out two Fourth-Order Magical Beast skeletons and his Ancient Void Dragon magic core.
• Xiao Qian began Spirit-Devouring Puppet Refinement, drawing crystalline essence from the skeletons into the magic core.

While Xiao Qian completed the Fairy Spirit Puppet’s refinement, nine golden flames triggered a spatial rift that pulled his soul away. He arrived in a strange, frozen realm and saw a vast gray-white continent with four glowing places calling to him.

• The Mighty Demon Bull recovered and prepared to charge, but Xiao Qian finished absorbing the two magical beast skeletons into the magic core.
• Xiao Qian fused the magic core into the Fairy Spirit Puppet, restoring it and raising its strength to the Dou Ling level.
• Nine golden flames flowed from Xiao Qian’s Nine Dantians into the puppet, and spatial rifts opened around his soul.
• Xiao Qian’s soul was pulled through a rainbow-colored passage while the Beast-Taming Arena and everyone in it remained frozen.
• Xiao Qian arrived in a motionless realm and saw a vast continent with an ocean, scattered islands, and four brilliant spiritual lights.

Xiao Qian entered a room in another world and encountered Ling Qingzhu, a cultivator preparing to leave her sect and return to her homeland. When he touched her soul, a mysterious force expelled it from her body and dragged them both away together.

• Xiao Qian chose a spiritual light and was transported into Ling Qingzhu's cultivation room.
• Ling Qingzhu's master told her to leave seclusion, and Ling Qingzhu planned to return to her birthplace after ten years away.
• Ling Qingzhu's master warned her that preserving her virginity was essential to cultivating the Supreme Sensing Art.
• Xiao Qian touched Ling Qingzhu, causing her soul to leave her body and become linked to his.
• A mysterious force pulled Xiao Qian and Ling Qingzhu's soul forms back toward Xiao Qian's world.

Xiao Qian returned with Ling Qingzhu to the frozen moment in the Nalan Family's Beast-Taming Arena, where her soul entered the Fairy Spirit Puppet just as the Demon Bull attacked. Unable to channel the puppet's energy through meridians, Ling Qingzhu summoned her Nine Heavens Immortal Lotus and killed the beast, leaving the arena silent.

• Xiao Qian and Ling Qingzhu returned to the spatial rift, where time and everyone in the Beast-Taming Arena were frozen.
• Xiao Qian's soul returned to his body, while Ling Qingzhu entered the Fairy Spirit Puppet as time resumed.
• Ling Qingzhu found that the puppet had no meridians and she could not channel its energy normally.
• Ling Qingzhu summoned her Nine Heavens Immortal Lotus and bore down on the charging Demon Bull.
• Ling Qingzhu's azure beam pierced the Demon Bull and killed it, leaving the Beast-Taming Arena silent.

Xiao Qian’s Fairy Spirit Puppet destroyed the Demon Bull with a powerful attack, astonishing the Nalan family, while Ling Qingzhu explored her new puppet body and realized she was in another world. After Xiao Qian removed the puppet’s magic core and processed the beast’s remains, Nalan Yanran questioned him about the puppet, but he focused on dinner.

• The Fairy Spirit Puppet unleashed an Azure Lotus attack that killed the Demon Bull, leaving Nalan Su and the others stunned.
• Ling Qingzhu examined her surroundings, discovered that she was in another world, and sensed that its Supreme power was separated from her by a barrier.
• Xiao Qian warned Ling Qingzhu to act carefully, removed her magic core, and used it to devour the Demon Bull’s remains.
• Xiao Qian offered Demon Bull meat to the Nalan family, and Nalan Su sent Nalan Nan to have it cooked.
• Nalan Yanran asked Xiao Qian how the puppet had acted and used a Dou Technique, but Xiao Qian asked whether dinner was ready.

Xiao Qian devoured the Nalan Family’s fourth-order magical beast meat, then fought Nalan Yanran while cultivating as he digested it. Ling Qingzhu studied his hidden power, and an ailing old man entered the banquet hall and fixed his attention on Xiao Qian.

• Xiao Qian ignored Nalan Yanran’s complaints and ate nearly all the magical beast meat served at the banquet.
• Xiao Qian mistakenly offered food to the Fairy Spirit Puppet, prompting Nalan Yanran to challenge him to a fight.
• Ling Qingzhu watched Xiao Qian closely, suspecting his power and his secrets might determine whether she could return to her original world.
• Xiao Qian and Nalan Yanran fought in the square as Xiao Qian cultivated by digesting the meat, a process Nalan Su recognized.
• An ailing old man entered the banquet hall with the help of two maidservants and watched Xiao Qian fight.

After Xiao Qian defeated Nalan Yanran, Nalan Jie demanded she honor the engagement with the Xiao Clan, but she refused and declared she would only consider marrying Xiao Qian. Her defiance moved Ling Qingzhu and sparked a shift in her understanding of her master's teachings.

• Xiao Qian continued breaking through the stages of Dou Qi as the stunned onlookers watched, while Nalan Jie rose and rebuked the Nalan Family for the trouble they had caused.
• Nalan Jie ordered Nalan Yanran to honor his agreement with Xiao Lin and marry into the Xiao Clan, but she insisted that her life and choices belonged to her.
• Nalan Yanran declared that if she had to marry someone from the Xiao Clan, she would choose Xiao Qian rather than Xiao Yan.
• Nalan Yanran explained that Xiao Qian was the Xiao Clan member she knew best, then left the hall, insisting she wanted to choose someone she herself liked.
• Ling Qingzhu watched Nalan Yanran leave and felt her sealed state of mind begin to thaw as she reconsidered her master's teachings.

After all nine of his dantians reached ninth-stage dou qi, Xiao Qian discovered they had formed a golden membrane that transformed his dark-element dou qi into powerful golden true fire. He named the flame the Heaven-Burning Flame, thinking of Xun'er, while Nalan Jie and Nalan Su reconsidered what Xiao Qian’s abilities meant.

• Xiao Qian reached ninth-stage dou qi in all nine dantians and began to withdraw from cultivation.
• Xiao Qian’s dantians shifted into mysterious positions and formed a golden halo that transformed his dark dou qi into golden flames.
• Xiao Qian summoned the true fire around his hand, startling Nalan Jie and Nalan Su.
• Nalan Jie wondered about Xiao Qian’s many secrets, while Nalan Su suggested Yanran might have made the right choice.
• Xiao Qian tested the flames’ control and power, then named them the Heaven-Burning Flame because he felt they were connected to Xun'er.

Xiao Qian exhausted himself summoning True Fire, then negotiated with Ling Qingzhu over exchanging Dou Techniques before her soul was pulled back to her own world. As Xiao Qian prepared to leave the Nalan Family, Nalan Jie asked him to become engaged to Yanran.

• Xiao Qian’s True Fire burned out after less than a minute, leaving him weak and convinced he should save the ability for emergencies.
• Xiao Qian asked Ling Qingzhu to teach him her technique, and she offered to exchange Supreme Purity Sky Roaming Steps for a Dou Technique of similar grade.
• Ling Qingzhu explained that the Nine Heavens Immortal Lotus was a top-tier Spiritual Martial Art, then suffered soul pain and vanished in a flash of spiritual light.
• Xiao Qian found Nalan Jie and Nalan Su waiting and said he intended to leave the Nalan Family after collecting the skeletal remains.
• Xiao Qian secretly tested Nalan Jie’s poison and realized his Dou Qi could neutralize it only over several years.
• Nalan Jie asked Xiao Qian whether he was willing to become engaged to Yanran.

Xiao Qian rejected Nalan Jie’s proposed marriage contract between Nalan Yanran and Xiao Yan, then parted ways with the angry old man. In another world, Ling Qingzhu discovered a mysterious spiritual light that might let her return to Xiao Qian’s world, while Xiao Qian could not summon her and was met by Nalan Yanran the next morning.

• Xiao Qian refused Nalan Jie’s marriage proposal, saying Xiao Yan was his good brother and the true grandson of Xiao Lin.
• Nalan Jie became furious at Xiao Qian’s criticism of the elders’ control over Nalan Yanran and left with Nalan Su.
• Xiao Qian also left, declaring that he would walk his own path even if it was difficult.
• Ling Qingzhu awakened in the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace exhausted from her journey and found a speck of spiritual light between her brows that might be a key to returning to the other world.
• Xiao Qian failed to find a way to summon Ling Qingzhu again and set the matter aside.
• The next morning, Nalan Yanran appeared outside Xiao Qian’s door and challenged him to fight.

Xiao Qian and Nalan Yanran reached the Misty Cloud Sect’s entrance test, where Xiao Qian set off up the mountain after learning of Nalan Yanran’s record. The finish-line stele lit up with Xiao Qian’s test details, leaving the two gate guards stunned as he raced toward the summit.

• Nalan Yanran told Xiao Qian not to take her grandfather’s words seriously and insisted she had no interest in marrying him.
• At the foot of Misty Cloud Mountain, Nalan Yanran explained the entrance test’s age, Dou Qi, and four-hour requirements.
• Nalan Yanran revealed that her record was reaching the summit at fourteen as a One-Star Dou Zhe in two hours plus the time for an incense stick to burn.
• Xiao Qian pressed his hand to the starting stele, which recorded his age as fifteen and his strength as the ninth stage of Dou Qi, then he sprinted up the mountain.
• Nalan Yanran chased after Xiao Qian, while two youths at the mountain gate discussed his arrival and expected him to be turned away.
• The finish-line stele lit up with Xiao Qian’s test details, and the two gate guards stared at it in disbelief.

The Misty Cloud Sect learned that Xiao Qian had arrived to take the Entrance Test, and disciples gathered at the mountain gate to watch. Ling Feng ordered the disciples to block Xiao Qian from climbing the mountain for six hours.

• A gatekeeper saw that someone with fifteen-year-old bones and ninth-stage dou qi had reached the Finish Stone, and he suspected the visitor was Xiao Qian.
• The gatekeeper rushed into the Disciple Courtyard and announced that Xiao Qian had come to challenge the mountain gate.
• Liu Ling urged Lin Ye, the Inner Sect's head disciple, to defend Nalan Yanran, but Lin Ye privately welcomed the possibility of her losing face.
• Disciples gathered outside the mountain gate and learned that Xiao Qian had been taking the test for only one incense stick's time.
• Ling Feng ordered everyone to go down the mountain and prevent Xiao Qian from climbing up for six hours, while Su Yao declined to join him.

Ling Feng incited Misty Cloud Sect disciples to block Xiao Qian’s entrance test while Su Yao warned them that interfering violated sect rules. Xiao Qian reached the halfway point at startling speed, where the disciples formed a blockade to stop him from breaking the test record.

• Ling Feng persuaded several dozen disciples to descend the mountain and obstruct Xiao Qian under the pretense of simply walking down the path.
• Su Yao reminded the disciples that sect rules forbade helping or obstructing test participants, while Ling Feng stayed behind and predicted Xiao Qian would take five hours.
• The descending disciples stopped halfway up the mountain and began planning how to block the narrow path.
• Xiao Qian raced up the mountain toward them and ordered everyone to clear the way for his test.
• The disciples recognized Xiao Qian and formed a blockade across the path to keep him from reaching the mountain gate.

Xiao Qian smashed through the Misty Cloud Sect disciples who tried to block his way as he pushed on to break the record. Nalan Yanran arrived afterward, scolded the disciples for attacking him, and rejected their excuses.

• Misty Cloud Sect disciples staged a battle formation drill to obstruct Xiao Qian, but he sent their front line flying with a burst of force.
• Xiao Qian charged through the ninth-stage Dou Qi leaders and defeated them with his physical strength.
• A Three-Star Dou Zhe attacked Xiao Qian with Iron Bull Fist, but Xiao Qian's punch tore up his arm and sent him flying.
• Nalan Yanran found the injured disciples and demanded to know what had happened.
• The disciples claimed Xiao Qian had attacked them during their drill, but Nalan Yanran accused them of maliciously blocking his path and scolded them.

Xiao Qian reached the Misty Cloud Sect’s mountain gate at astonishing speed, prompting Ling Feng and the disciples to try to stop him from breaking the ascent record. He blasted through their blockade, and Su Yao refused Ling Feng’s demand that they intervene, leaving Xiao Qian’s arrival at the gate imminent.

• Ling Feng and Su Yao waited at the mountain gate, while Su Yao’s group prepared to leave after hours of uncertainty.
• Xiao Qian appeared on the mountain path and announced his arrival, shocking the disciples with how quickly he had climbed.
• Ling Feng claimed Senior Sister Nalan must have helped Xiao Qian and urged the disciples to stop him before he could break the record.
• Dozens of disciples charged downhill, but Xiao Qian unleashed his dou qi and swept them aside with a powerful attack.
• Ling Feng asked Su Yao to help defend the Sect’s reputation, but she refused to violate sect rules and told him to act on his own.