Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan revealed his identity in Xuan City and resisted Huo Ting’s pressure despite being only a Six-Star Half-Emperor. After driving back those around him, he used the Heavenly Severing Steps to escape, leaving Huo Ting and the crowd stunned.

• Huo Ting challenged Xiao Yan and unleashed the pressure of a Late Three-Star Dou Di, while Huo Yuning dismissed the rumors about Xiao Yan’s strength.
• Lin Zehong and others recognized Xiao Yan as the fighter who had defeated Dou Di experts in the Ancient Ruins, but Huo Yuning claimed the ruins’ formation had done the work.
• Xiao Yan activated the Vajra Glazed Body and combined his physical strength, Dou Qi, and soul power to withstand Huo Ting’s pressure.
• Xiao Yan released a burst of force to drive back those nearby, then used the Heavenly Severing Steps to flee Xuan City.

Xiao Yan fled across the Bai Clan’s territory with Huo Ting and Bai Ying in pursuit, but the two Three-Star Dou Di caught up and blocked his escape. As they prepared to attack, an unseen black-robed figure continued following them through the void.

• Huo Ting tracked Xiao Yan’s exposed presence and led Bai Ying and the others in pursuit.
• Xiao Yan used the Heavenly Severing Steps to flee, but Huo Ting and Bai Ying gradually closed the distance.
• After an hour of pursuit, Huo Ting and Bai Ying cornered Xiao Yan in Bai Clan territory.
• Huo Ting drew a saw-toothed sword and Bai Ying formed a lightning spear as they threatened Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan summoned the Heavy Xuan Ruler and covered himself in Heavenly Flame armor, preparing to fight.

Xiao Yan fought Huo Ting while Bai Ying watched, using the Strength Elephant Art to withstand a Three-Star Dou Di despite his own Six-Star Half-Emperor strength. As Bai Ying joined the battle and Xiao Yan tried to escape, a mysterious black-robed figure appeared to block his pursuers.

• Huo Ting attacked Xiao Yan, whose Sevenfold Heaven-Breaking Ruler strike was shattered by Huo Ting’s sword.
• Xiao Yan activated the Strength Elephant Art, and its phantom blocked Huo Ting’s attack while sending a numbing force through him.
• Huo Ting called on Bai Ying to help capture Xiao Yan, and Bai Ying joined the fight with his spear.
• Together, Huo Ting and Bai Ying pressured Xiao Yan, who realized the damage dealt to the phantom would eventually return to him.
• Xiao Yan forced the two men back and tried to flee, but a black-robed figure appeared to stop Huo Ting and Bai Ying.

After escaping Huo Ting and Bai Ying, Xiao Yan collapsed in the forest and used the Three Thousand Burning Flame and a medicinal pill to heal while staying alert. A black-robed elder held off Huo Ting and Bai Ying, but reinforcements arrived and began preparing to search the mountains for Xiao Yan.

• Xiao Yan’s Strength Elephant Art dissipated, leaving him badly injured and nearly out of Dou Qi as he fell in the forest.
• Xiao Yan fought off unconsciousness with the Three Thousand Burning Flame, swallowed a medicinal pill, and began healing while watching his surroundings with his remaining Spiritual Strength.
• A black-robed elder blocked Huo Ting and Bai Ying, revealing that they could not leave to pursue Xiao Yan.
• Huo Ting suspected the elder belonged to the Space Auction House and accused him of interfering with their jade slips and helping Xiao Yan escape.
• Bai Zhan and Huo Yuning arrived with forces from the Bai Clan and Huo Clan, and Huo Ting ordered them to search the mountains for Xiao Yan.
• Bai Ying questioned whether Xiao Yan had already left the mountains, but Huo Ting insisted he was injured and hiding nearby to recover.

Xiao Yan fled through the forest while Huo Ting and Bai Ying's forces searched for him, but his severe internal injuries left him struggling to stay ahead. He entered a cave belonging to a powerful magical beast as his pursuers closed in.

• Huo Ting and Bai Ying held the black-robed figure in a standoff while their clans and allies spread through the forest to search for Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan stopped to refine a pill, but he fled deeper into the forest when searchers approached his hiding place.
• After a night of evading pursuit, Xiao Yan found himself still injured as the search party drew closer behind him.
• Xiao Yan sensed a Nine-Star Half-Emperor magical beast in a cave ahead and entered its lair.
• The magical beast roared at Xiao Yan and ordered him to leave its territory.

With the Bai Clan and Huo Clan searching for him, injured Xiao Yan entered a beast’s cave and used the Northern King to overpower its Nine-Star Half-Emperor master. Xiao Yan secured the cave as a refuge and began refining a pill to recover while the Northern King protected him.

• Xiao Yan entered the cave despite the Nine-Star Half-Emperor’s warnings, and the beast attacked him.
• Xiao Yan summoned the Northern King, who punched the Nine-Star Half-Emperor into a wall.
• Xiao Yan revealed that the Northern King was a puppet and asked the frightened beast to lend him the cave and drive away his pursuers in exchange for a tier-three pill.
• Xiao Yan settled in the cave’s deepest chamber, ordered the beast to guard the entrance, and began refining the pill under the Northern King’s protection.

Xiao Yan continued healing inside the cave while Huo Clan experts searched the surrounding mountains for him. When Huo Yun and two companions approached the cave, its middle-aged owner drove them away by claiming the mountain range belonged to the Bai Clan.

• Xiao Yan focused on refining the medicinal pill inside him as the search for him spread toward the cave.
• Huo Yun and two other Huo Clan Half-Emperors reached the cave, hoping to find Xiao Yan and claim Huo Ting's reward.
• The middle-aged man inside the cave used a roar and his powerful presence to force the three men back from the entrance.
• The middle-aged man declared that the cave was in Bai Clan territory and threatened the Huo Clan men until they bowed and retreated.
• After the three men left, the middle-aged man watched other searchers avoid his cave and wondered who Xiao Yan was to draw such a large force.

After recovering in the cave, Xiao Yan waited for the Bai and Huo Clans to withdraw and prepared to use the Jade Bone Fruit to raise his strength. He paid A Bao with pills to keep guarding the cave while he focused on the fruit.

• The Bai and Huo Clans searched the mountain range for Xiao Yan for a week before recalling their experts, while Huo Ting remained determined to find him.
• Xiao Yan detected that both clans had withdrawn but decided to stay hidden in the cave in case their retreat was a trap.
• Xiao Yan took out the Jade Bone Fruit and considered how it might raise him from Middle Six-Star to Late Six-Star Half-Emperor.
• Xiao Yan summoned A Bao and gave him a third-tier pill as payment for guarding the cave during the past week.
• Xiao Yan offered A Bao three more third-tier pills to keep anyone from disturbing him, then prepared to focus on the Jade Bone Fruit.

Huo Ting learned that his men had left A Bao’s cave residence unsearched, allowing Xiao Yan to escape. Furious, he punished Huo Yun and the other stewards, then ordered Lin Zehong to bring Xiao Yan back to him.

• Huo Ting demanded that the Huo Clan stewards explain why they had failed to find Xiao Yan.
• Huo Ting questioned Huo Feng and Huo Yun, who revealed that they had not searched A Bao’s cave residence because a Nine-Star Half-Emperor had stopped them.
• Huo Ting stripped Huo Yun of his steward position and punished him and the other two men who had gone to the cave.
• Huo Ting threw Huo Yun through several walls when he begged for mercy.
• Huo Ting ordered someone to Xuan City to tell Lin Zehong to bring Xiao Yan back.

Lin Zehong reluctantly followed Huo Ting’s order to capture a king beast in Bai Clan territory, despite the risk of provoking the Bai Clan. After Bai Zhan passed nearby, Lin Zehong avoided him and continued through the forest while Bai Zhan stopped and turned cold-eyed.

• Lin Zehong learned that Huo Ting demanded he capture a king beast in Bai Clan territory and threatened to double the Lin Clan’s tribute if he failed.
• Lin Zehong decided to risk entering Bai Clan territory and set out alone from Xuan City, while a young man in white followed him.
• Lin Zehong sensed someone trailing him, hid in the forest, and waited to confront the pursuer.
• Bai Zhan flew past Lin Zehong without recognizing him, then continued deeper into the mountain range.
• Lin Zehong avoided taking to the air and moved through the forest, while Bai Zhan later stopped and narrowed his eyes.

Lin Zehong found A Bao’s lair and tried to force him to reveal whether Xiao Yan was there. Xiao Yan intervened, rescued A Bao, and confronted Lin Zehong.

• Lin Zehong arrived at A Bao’s lair and demanded to know whether a wounded human had entered it.
• A Bao tried to deny knowing what Lin Zehong meant, but Lin Zehong subdued him with a Dou Qi barrier.
• A Bao cried out for help, prompting Lin Zehong to suspect that Xiao Yan was still nearby.
• Lin Zehong moved to seize A Bao and use him as leverage, but Xiao Yan’s Spiritual Strength shattered the barrier and pulled A Bao into the cave.
• Xiao Yan appeared and mocked Lin Zehong for trying to threaten him, warning him that he had been too slow.

Xiao Yan confronted Lin Zehong outside A Bao's cave, but their standoff was interrupted by Bai Zhan's arrival. As Lin Zehong tried to manipulate Bai Zhan into helping him escape, Bai Zhan suddenly severed Lin Zehong's head.

• Xiao Yan appeared beside Lin Zehong, who prepared to fight him.
• Bai Zhan arrived, surprising Xiao Yan and A Bao.
• Lin Zehong pretended to serve Bai Zhan while secretly planning to use him as a distraction and flee.
• Lin Zehong urged Bai Zhan to attack Xiao Yan, and Bai Zhan grinned at Xiao Yan.
• Bai Zhan severed Lin Zehong's head beside him.

Bai Zhan revealed his strength and killed Lin Zehong, then Xiao Yan used the threat of the Lin and Huo Clans to demand Bai Zhan’s Five-Star Dou Di-level Magic Core. Bai Zhan handed it over, and Xiao Yan left with A Bao while Bai Zhan burned Lin Zehong’s remains.

• Bai Zhan killed Lin Zehong and seized his intact Soul Origin, revealing that he was stronger than a Nine-Star Half-Emperor.
• Bai Zhan explained that Lin Zehong had planned to make the Bai Clan and Xiao Yan fight so the Lin Clan could take their place, then crushed Lin Zehong’s Soul Origin.
• Xiao Yan suspected Bai Zhan planned to blame Lin Zehong’s death on him, and demanded Bai Zhan’s Five-Star Dou Di-level Magic Core in exchange for taking the blame.
• Bai Zhan gave Xiao Yan the Magic Core, and Xiao Yan flew south with A Bao.
• Bai Zhan burned Lin Zehong’s corpse and head to ashes.

Xiao Yan returned to the Xilin Mountain Range with A Bao after gathering the ingredients for the Bodhi Restoration Pill, while confronting his sadness over eventually devouring Gu You's Bone Spirit Cold Flame. He reunited with Tian Ying, Yan Shi, and Xiong Gang and said he had come to fulfill their agreement.

• Xiao Yan left the Bai Clan's territory with A Bao and headed for the Xilin Mountain Range to refine the Bodhi Restoration Pill and pursue the Ice Spirit Pill.
• Gu You reassured Xiao Yan that devouring the Bone Spirit Cold Flame would release him from his long confinement, easing Xiao Yan's sadness.
• After a month of travel, Xiao Yan and A Bao reached the Xilin Mountain Range, where A Bao asked whether Xiao Yan was human; Xiao Yan replied that he was not.
• Xiao Yan used his Spiritual Strength to contact Tian Ying, Yan Shi, and Xiong Gang in their underground magma dwelling, and they came out to greet him.
• Xiao Yan told the three king beasts about what had happened in the Bai Clan's territory, then said he had returned to fulfill their agreement.

Xiao Yan returned to Tian Ying’s cave dwelling with the ingredients for the Bodhi Restoration Pill, then asked Gu You about the damaged Saint Class cultivation method he had bought. Gu You identified it as the Origin Return Art and explained its connection to Xiao Xuan, leaving Xiao Yan with questions about the limits of the version his ancestor had cultivated.

• Xiao Yan told Tian Ying he had gathered the ingredients for the Bodhi Restoration Pill but had not yet refined it, and Tian Ying invited him to rest in the cave dwelling.
• Tian Ying noticed Xiao Yan had reached Late Six-Star Half-Emperor and left him alone in the main hall.
• Xiao Yan took out the damaged cultivation-method scroll and Xiao Xuan’s remnant-soul jade bottle, whose reaction prompted Gu You to appear.
• Gu You identified the scroll as a fragment of the Origin Return Art, a Saint Class cultivation method said to guarantee its practitioners reached Yuan Zun.
• Gu You told Xiao Yan that Xiao Xuan had cultivated the Origin Return Art and that the two items shared a subtle connection.
• Gu You explained that Xiao Xuan’s version was complete but could only take him to Nine-Star Dou Sheng.

Xiao Yan learned from Gu You that the Origin Return Art had three volumes, each needed to reach Yuan Zun, and that its fragments could help restore Xiao Xuan’s strength after resurrection. Xiao Yan decided to seek the remaining fragments and gather enough Soul Origin to repair Xiao Xuan’s soul, unaware that the jade bottle briefly glimmered as he left.

• Gu You explained that the first volume of the Origin Return Art could raise a cultivator to Nine-Star Dou Sheng without ordinary bottlenecks.
• Gu You said the second and third volumes were needed to advance further, though breakthroughs between the volumes took much longer and were harder.
• Gu You recounted how a cultivator who obtained the complete art had become a renowned expert within a hundred years.
• Xiao Yan asked Gu You which volume his fragment came from, but Gu You could not identify it and said Xiao Yan would need to find more fragments.
• Xiao Yan resolved to keep searching for the fragments and gather Soul Origin to repair Xiao Xuan’s soul, then left the cave with the jade bottle.
• The jade bottle gave off a faint glimmer as Xiao Yan put it into his Storage Ring, but he did not notice.

Xiao Yan prepared to refine the Bodhi Restoration Pill, which Leng Bingshuang urgently needed to suppress the cold currents threatening the Xilin Mountain Range. After spending the day calming his mind and reviewing the pill’s formula, he finally ignited the medicinal cauldron as Tian Ying and the others watched.

• Tian Ying explained that Leng Bingshuang’s worsening injuries had left her unable to hold back the cold currents spreading through the Xilin Mountain Range.
• Xiao Yan asked Tian Ying to evacuate the nearby mountains and announced that he would refine the Bodhi Restoration Pill.
• Tian Ying and his brothers cleared the magical beasts from their territory, leaving only themselves, Xiao Yan, and A Bao nearby.
• Xiao Yan spent several hours meditating and reviewing the pill formula and ingredients before beginning the refinement at sunset.
• Yan Shi and the others saw Xiao Yan’s flames rise from the cauldron and felt relieved that he had finally started refining the pill.

Xiao Yan spent months refining ingredients for a tier-three pill, while powerful magical beasts gathered around the Xilin Mountain Range and kept outsiders away. After one batch failed, his second attempt reached the crucial Pill Fusion stage, where the outcome remained uncertain.

• Xiao Yan spent half a month refining hundreds of medicinal ingredients in his cauldron as Tian Ying, the other two, and A Bao guarded the area.
• High-tier magical beasts gathered on the outskirts of the Xilin Mountain Range, driving away human cultivators and making the range a forbidden land.
• Xiao Yan spent weeks fusing the refined ingredients, but the first batch suddenly turned to ash before Pill Fusion.
• Xiao Yan restarted the process and, after more than two months, brought the second batch into Pill Fusion.
• Xiao Yan began the decisive Pill Fusion stage, and cold sweat trickled down his forehead as he worked.

After completing Pill Fusion for the Bodhi Restoration Pill, Xiao Yan recovered for three days and prepared to begin Pill Condensation. As Xiao Yan resumed refining, Tian Ying and the others kept a wary watch on A Bao, whose intentions they did not know.

• After five months of work and one failed attempt, Xiao Yan completed Pill Fusion without another mishap, though the effort left him nearly drained of soul power and Dou Qi.
• Xiao Yan circulated the Flame Mantra for three days to recover enough strength to continue refining the pill.
• A Bao remained isolated from Tian Ying and the other two king beasts while watching Xiao Yan from a nearby peak.
• Yan Shi warned Tian Ying that A Bao might be plotting against Xiao Yan, and Tian Ying ordered them to watch him closely.
• Xiao Yan began the next stage, Pill Condensation, which would fuse the medicinal properties into the pill’s true form.

Xiao Yan completed the Pill Condensation and Pill Nurturing stages of refining the Bodhi Restoration Pill, exhausting nearly all his strength. Pill Lightning gathered overhead, and he summoned Northern King to face it.

• Xiao Yan spent nearly half a year condensing the Bodhi Restoration Pill while Tian Ying, Yan Shi, and Xiong Gang watched and kept A Bao under guard.
• The pill fragrance spread from Xiao Yan’s cauldron, signaling that Pill Condensation was complete and the refining process was nearing its final stage.
• Xiao Yan continued into Pill Nurturing, draining his Dou Qi and Soul Bead to improve the pill’s quality.
• Xiao Yan finished nurturing the pill, and black clouds gathered over the mountain as Pill Lightning appeared.
• Xiao Yan smiled at the thunderclouds and called for Northern King to come out.