Recaps

The final round of the Pill Gathering began, and the alchemists prepared to refine their pills while revealing their cauldrons and flames. Xiao Yan displayed his fused Heavenly Flame and Luo Heavenly Cauldron, but another eerie flame then drew the arena’s attention.

• The alchemists took their floating platforms and prepared for the final round as Xu Qinghe and Fu Kui wondered at Xiao Yan’s apparent recovery.
• Elder Zhong summoned his silver cauldron and Silver Shard Flame, then began refining his pill.
• Xu Qinghe revealed the Flame of Life, a Child Flame ranked fifth on the Heavenly Flame Ranking, and exchanged a provocative look with Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan released his Fused Heavenly Flame and Luo Heavenly Cauldron, drawing the attention of the arena.
• A strange, densely packed flame rose elsewhere, prompting the onlookers to question whether it could be used for pill refinement.

The Pill Gathering continued as Fu Kui displayed a sinister grayish-white flame and the alchemists spent two months refining pills. As the pills neared completion, a white-robed young man used Spiritual Strength to seize the energy above Xiao Yan.

• Fu Kui revealed his grayish-white flame and summoned a medicinal cauldron made of white bone, alarming the alchemists and spectators.
• Wu Changfu and Chen Xuanling discussed the unknown flame, and Chen Xuanling resolved to watch Fu Kui closely.
• The alchemists began refining pills, and two months passed as Fu Kui, Xu Qinghe, Elder Zhong, and a Qi Clan elder drew attention with their work.
• Xiao Yan recognized the Qi Clan elder from the testing hall and saw him use talismans and Spirit Stones to draw Origin Qi into his pill.
• Chen Xuanling watched a purple-robed woman who still had not begun refining a pill.
• As pill fragrance spread, a white-robed young man formed an invisible hand with Spiritual Strength and seized control of the energy above Xiao Yan.

During the Pill Gathering, Bai Hansheng drained the Origin Qi around Xiao Yan to sabotage his Nascent Pill, but Xiao Yan secretly replenished his cauldron through the Great Dao of the Void. Xiao Yan formed a Tier Eight Nascent Pill while Bai Hansheng’s own nearly completed pill exploded.

• Bai Hansheng used a spiritual hand to draw away the Origin Qi around Xiao Yan, triggering a chaotic struggle among alchemists in the arena.
• Murong Qianqian denounced the sabotage, while Mu Leng explained that the Pill Gathering tested alchemists’ ability to withstand interference.
• Xiao Yan recognized Bai Hansheng’s attack and secretly drew Origin Qi into his cauldron through spatial vortices created by the Great Dao of the Void.
• Elder Zhong formed a Tier Eight Nascent Pill, prompting cheers and speculation about the challenge of completing its Pill Runes.
• Xiao Yan’s cauldron released a Pill Qi dragon, revealing that he had also formed a Tier Eight Nascent Pill.
• Bai Hansheng spotted Xiao Yan’s spatial vortices, but when he looked back at his own cauldron, its flames died and his Nascent Pill exploded.

Fu Kui unleashed grayish-white flames that extinguished the other alchemists’ cauldron fires and caused their nascent pills to explode, eliminating most of the competitors. The Pill Tower leaders restrained their response because Fu Kui claimed the flames had rebounded accidentally, while Yuwen Zong warned him to control them and finish refining his pill.

• Fu Kui broke his bone cauldron and sent grayish-white flames spreading through the arena, extinguishing cauldron fires and causing nascent pills to explode.
• The blasts eliminated seventy to eighty percent of the alchemists, provoking anger from Chen Xuanling, Ji Yao, Wu Changfu, and other faction representatives.
• Yuwen Zong explained that the Pill Tower could not punish Fu Kui without proof of deliberate wrongdoing, while Wu Changfu vented his fury by breaking his chair.
• Wu Tian attacked Fu Kui, but Fu Kui shattered his force and provoked him with accusations until Yuwen Zong stopped him and revealed Fu Kui was from the Ghost Gate.
• Fu Kui claimed his newly subdued flame often rebounded, and Yuwen Zong warned him to control it and finish refining his pill before it was too late.

Fu Kui’s flames drove the Tier Seven Alchemists from the Pill Gathering while the remaining masters completed their Nascent Pills. As the final contest approached, the purple-robed woman trapped the arena and tried to draw the alchemists’ pills into a snake skull, revealing cultivation at Eight-Star Yuan Zun.

• Fu Kui’s grayish-white flames eliminated the Tier Seven Alchemists, while Xiao Yan, Xu Qinghe, Old Freak Zhong, Huoxun Mingcheng, and other masters defended themselves.
• Huoxun Mingcheng controlled the flames and completed a tier eight Nascent Pill, while the other remaining alchemists also formed their pills.
• Chen Xuanling sensed danger, but the purple-robed woman raised a murky gray barrier around the arena before he and Ji Yao could stop her.
• The purple-robed woman used a snake skull to pull at the Nascent Pills, forcing the alchemists to suppress them with Origin Qi.
• Old Freak Zhong unleashed the Silver Shard Flame’s source fire and sent a silver-scaled crocodile at the woman, but she destroyed it with a snake-like tail and revealed herself as an Eight-Star Yuan Zun.

A purple-robed woman disrupted the Pill Gathering by using a snake skull to pull at the alchemists’ Nascent Pills, and Chen Xuanling halted his attack after she claimed her actions were part of her clan’s Pill Fusion and Potency Transformation Art. She intensified the pill-sucking technique, leaving Xiao Yan and the other contestants in danger as Chen Xuanling realized the Pill Tower had to stop her quickly.

• The purple-robed woman’s cultivation alarmed the contestants and spectators while the snake skull disturbed the Tier Eight Nascent Pills in their cauldrons.
• Chen Xuanling prepared to break the barrier and capture the woman, while Yuwen Zong and the Pill Tower Elders surrounded it.
• The woman challenged the Pill Tower’s judgment and said her actions were a pill-refining method, making Chen Xuanling recall his cauldron and demand an explanation.
• Chen Xuanling recognized the woman’s method and suspected her origins, but the woman declared she would demonstrate her clan’s Pill Fusion and Potency Transformation Art.
• The woman fed black Qi into the snake skull, strengthening its pull on the Nascent Pills and putting Xiao Yan, Huoxun Mingcheng, and the other alchemists at risk of failing.

The purple-robed woman’s Pill Fusion and Potency Transformation Art drew attention to her possible Beast Region origins as she stole Old Freak Zhong’s nascent pill. Zhong Yin attacked her in rage, but she stopped his cauldron with one of seven pythons that emerged from beneath her skin, revealing a Nine Netherworld Python.

• The purple-robed woman’s pill-refining method astonished the crowd, and Fang Yue challenged Chen Xuanling over whether she had broken the Pill Gathering’s rules.
• Chen Xuanling explained that the rules allowed actions taken to refine a pill unless someone was injured or a pill was deliberately seized.
• The purple-robed woman intensified her pull on Old Freak Zhong’s nascent Heavenly Mystery Pill and swallowed it through the serpent skull in her hand.
• Zhong Yin hurled his cauldron at the purple-robed woman and summoned a silver bell with the Power of the Great Dao, ignoring Yuwen Zong’s warning.
• The purple-robed woman drew blood from her wrist and released seven enormous pythons; one stopped Zhong Yin’s cauldron, and onlookers recognized a Nine Netherworld Python.

A purple-robed woman from the Nine Netherworld Python Clan used black mist and the Dragon Beckoning Technique to seize Nascent Pills from the alchemists at the Pill Gathering. Xiao Yan resisted her assault with his Heavenly Flames, but only eight Tier Eight Alchemists remained as she continued stealing their pills.

• Zhong Yin identified the purple-robed woman as a member of the Nine Netherworld Python Clan and tried to turn the alchemists against her, but she dismissed his threat and sent pythons to attack him.
• The purple-robed woman spread black mist over the medicinal cauldrons, causing the Nascent Pills to struggle, while Xiao Yan held the mist back with his Heavenly Flames.
• Xiao Yan recognized her seal as the Dragon Beckoning Technique, which made the Nascent Pills across the arena go berserk again.
• Huoxun Mingcheng lost control of his Nascent Pill, which flew into the serpent skull and eliminated him and the other Pill Tower alchemists.
• The purple-robed woman used the Dragon Beckoning Technique to tear another Nascent Pill from its cauldron, leaving only eight Tier Eight Alchemists, including Xiao Yan, in the arena.

The purple-robed woman intensified her attack on Xiao Yan, prompting the alchemists to accept a masked elder’s plan to break the barrier by detonating one of her captured Nascent Pills. The alchemists cleared the black Qi from their cauldrons, and the woman vowed to take all their pills at once.

• The purple-robed woman surrounded Xiao Yan and his cauldron with denser black Qi after studying his Heavenly Flames.
• The masked elder proposed detonating one of the purple-robed woman’s captured Nascent Pills to break the barrier, and the alchemists agreed to cooperate.
• The plump elder swallowed three pills, summoned a stone gate, and used its suction to clear the black Qi from his cauldron.
• The other alchemists used their own methods to free their Nascent Pills from the black Qi.
• The purple-robed woman noticed their resistance and declared that she would take all their Nascent Pills at once.

The woman failed to break the arena barrier with a Tier Eight Nascent Pill explosion, losing her five giant pythons and much of her strength. She then unleashed Devour Heaven and Consume Earth, pulling Xiao Yan and the other alchemists toward her snake head, until a sudden crash interrupted the assault.

• The woman made the five giant pythons swallow the exploding Nascent Pill, but the blast destroyed them and left the gray-white barrier intact.
• The woman blamed Fu Kui for the crisis, then poured snake tomb Yin Qi and two drops of blood from her eyes into the snake skull.
• The black Qi withdrew from Xiao Yan, revealing that he remained unharmed and had protected his Nascent Pill with six Heavenly Flames.
• The woman used Devour Heaven and Consume Earth to devour the void and the arena's power, overwhelming Xu Qinghe and the other alchemists.
• Xiao Yan resisted briefly with the Great Dao of the Void before he and his cauldron were pulled toward the snake head.
• A violent shattering sound rang through the venue, drawing everyone's attention.