Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan explored Golden Radiance City and sensed the formidable formation masters gathered there, while Qin Yun learned of Xiao Yan’s potential and ordered the Formation Master Association to protect him. Xiao Yan reached the city’s central plaza, where he discovered the pillar powering the city’s golden barrier.

• Xiao Yan headed toward Golden Radiance City’s center and sensed several formation masters whose Spiritual Strength rivaled Chen Zhen’s.
• Qin Yun’s black-robed elder, Yan He, judged Xiao Yan to be a gifted alchemist who could become stronger than Venerable Heavenly Severing.
• Qin Yun decided to befriend Xiao Yan and ordered Yan He to tell Qi Ming that no one was to harm him.
• Qin Yun also told Yan He to bring Chief Steward Shan back, then let his smile fade into a cold expression.
• Xiao Yan reached the central plaza and saw a massive talisman-covered pillar that appeared to power Golden Radiance City’s barrier.

Xiao Yan learned that the Fusang Flower auction had drawn powerful visitors to Golden Radiance City, then was confronted by Liu Quan and six formation masters seeking revenge. The group attacked him outside the auction house, and Xiao Yan faced their Spiritual Strength assault.

• Xiao Yan noticed that formation masters kept their distance from the black stone pillar and watched him with hostility.
• Xiao Yan learned that the upcoming auction would feature a Fusang Flower, attracting at least ten Dou Di experts to Golden Radiance City.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the auction house, where seven formation masters surrounded him, including Liu Quan, whom he had injured at the city gate.
• Xiao Yan admitted that he had injured Liu Quan and calmly faced the group’s threats.
• The burly formation master sent out Spiritual Strength that formed an invisible hand to seize Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan clashed with Liu Meng and six other formation masters after they confronted him, revealing that his soul force and cultivation surpassed Liu Meng’s. As the seven attacked together, Xiao Yan summoned the Fallen Heart Flame and struck at their soul net.

• Xiao Yan’s Soul Storm collided with Liu Meng’s soul hand, forcing Liu Meng back while Xiao Yan stepped back only half a pace.
• Liu Meng asked Xiao Yan about his identity and backing, but Xiao Yan said he had no faction and challenged him to attack.
• Liu Meng attacked with a powerful kick, but Xiao Yan stopped it with one hand and sent him staggering backward.
• Liu Meng rallied the other six formation masters, and all seven combined their soul force into a giant net aimed at Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan released the Fallen Heart Flame, shaped it into an invisible giant fire ruler, and slashed at the descending soul net.

Xiao Yan defeated seven formation masters and killed Liu Meng despite Wu Gang’s attempt to stop him. Wu Gang, the auction house’s Eight-Star Dou Di vice president, escorted Xiao Yan inside as figures in golden robes approached.

• Xiao Yan’s invisible flames overwhelmed the seven formation masters, leaving them injured and terrified.
• Xiao Yan confronted Liu Meng and declared he would kill him despite his status as a formation master.
• Wu Gang called out for Xiao Yan to spare Liu Meng, but Xiao Yan ignored him and struck Liu Meng with ghastly white flames.
• Wu Gang arrived too late to save Liu Meng and introduced himself as the auction house’s vice president.
• Xiao Yan identified himself to Wu Gang, who ushered him into the auction house as golden-robed figures approached.

Wu Gang escorted Xiao Yan into the Golden Radiance City auction house and explained the upcoming auction of the Fusang Flower. Xiao Yan learned that appraisers had identified the unusual six-petaled flower as genuine, though the auction house itself still had doubts.

• Wu Gang assured Xiao Yan that the Formation Master Association members outside would be sent away by the auction house’s people.
• Xiao Yan examined the vast, darkened auction venue as Wu Gang offered to answer his questions.
• Wu Gang guessed that Xiao Yan had received a ring advertising the Fusang Flower auction and explained that the rings were meant to draw wealthy or powerful bidders.
• Xiao Yan asked whether the six-petaled flower was truly a Fusang Flower from the Fusang Ancient Spirit Tree.
• Wu Gang said several master appraisers had identified it as genuine despite the lack of historical records of a six-petaled specimen, and Xiao Yan accepted that the auction would proceed amid the uncertainty.

After learning that powerful factions had gathered in Golden Radiance City to bid on the Fusang Flower, Xiao Yan planned to refine a fourth-tier Spirit Awakening Pill to compete for it. He intended to use a Spirit Ascension Pill to boost his Spiritual Strength enough for the refinement, then began meditating to prepare.

• Wu Gang invited Xiao Yan to stay in guest pavilions behind the auction house, warning that members of the Formation Master Association might cause him trouble elsewhere.
• Xiao Yan sensed the immense formation above Golden Radiance City and reflected on the powerful factions seeking the Fusang Flower.
• Xiao Yan decided that he needed a valuable pill to compete for the Fusang Flower and chose the fourth-tier Spirit Awakening Pill, which could purge medicinal impurities from a cultivator's body.
• Xiao Yan realized his Spiritual Strength was not yet sufficient to refine a fourth-tier pill, but planned to take a Spirit Ascension Pill he had seized to raise it enough.
• Xiao Yan sat atop the pavilion and began circulating the Flame Mantra to prepare for refining the Spirit Awakening Pill.

While cultivating at night, Xiao Yan endured the yin wind and discovered that it carried an elusive force from heaven and earth. He realized he could capture it only when his mind was completely still, and successfully drew the force into his body.

• Xiao Yan recovered his Dou Qi through an hour of cultivation and returned to his peak condition.
• A fierce yin wind struck Xiao Yan’s soul with intense pain, forcing him to flee as it followed his movements.
• Xiao Yan sensed a brief, strange force within the yin wind and tried repeatedly to capture it, but failed over a hundred times.
• Xiao Yan realized the yin wind responded to his thoughts and that he needed to clear his mind to catch the force.
• Xiao Yan stilled his thoughts, reached into the passing wind, and successfully drew an invisible force into his body.

Xiao Yan drew the strange current into his body and refined it with the Bone Spirit Cold Flame, but it escaped into his cyclone and began devouring his Dou Qi. With his cyclone expanding toward rupture and his cultivation at risk, Xiao Yan feared he had brought about his own destruction.

• Xiao Yan discovered that the strange current reacted to his emotions and calmed it by steadying his mind.
• Xiao Yan used the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to refine the current for half an hour.
• After Xiao Yan withdrew his soul power, the current rushed into his cyclone space.
• The current devoured all the Dou Qi in Xiao Yan’s cyclone and expanded until the cyclone itself began to swell toward bursting.
• Xiao Yan watched helplessly as his cultivation faced destruction and wondered if everything was over.

Xiao Yan feared that his swelling Qi Cyclone Space would burst and destroy his cultivation, but it expanded instead, giving him strength comparable to a Mid-Stage Six-Star Dou Di. A barrier within him then broke, drawing energy from the Endless Void as he sat through a storm, and he awoke at dawn.

• Xiao Yan believed his Qi Cyclone Space had burst and lamented that he had failed Ancestor Xiao Xuan.
• A tide of Dou Qi filled the expanded Qi Cyclone Space, raising its size to that of a Mid-Stage Six-Star Dou Di expert’s and strengthening Xiao Yan’s combat ability.
• An unknown barrier inside Xiao Yan shattered, and a fierce gale formed around him, disturbing the formation above Golden Radiance City.
• Three old men in a hall noticed a brief golden flicker on a stone pillar and dismissed it as someone touching the barrier again.
• The gale shattered space into the Endless Void, and black energy motes flowed into Xiao Yan’s forehead.
• Xiao Yan’s storm subsided, and he awoke as dawn arrived.

After a night of cultivation, Xiao Yan discovered that Heavenly Severing Steps had advanced to the Cloud-Soaring Grand Realm and that his cyclone space had expanded. He turned his attention to preparing to refine the Spirit Awakening Pill in Golden Radiance City, with the Northern King summoned to help protect him.

• Xiao Yan found that the flowing wind had vanished from his body, while his cyclone space had grown larger.
• Xiao Yan accidentally unleashed extraordinary speed with Heavenly Severing Steps and realized it had reached the Cloud-Soaring Grand Realm.
• Xiao Yan considered how his enhanced speed and expanded cyclone space had increased his strength and confidence against powerful opponents.
• Xiao Yan returned to his room, sealed it with Spiritual Strength, and summoned the Northern King to handle trouble during the pill refinement.
• Xiao Yan brought out the Myriad Beast Cauldron to begin preparing the Spirit Awakening Pill.

Xiao Yan used the Spirit Ascension Pill, his Clan Mark, and the Bone Spirit Cold Flame to begin refining the fourth-tier Spirit Awakening Pill before his deadline. After two months of work, the pill reached its final nurturing stage as experts gathered in Golden Radiance City ahead of the auction.

• Xiao Yan swallowed the Spirit Ascension Pill and temporarily raised his Spiritual Strength to the level of a Fourth-Tier Intermediate Alchemist.
• Xiao Yan activated his Clan Mark, boosted his cultivation, and began refining hundreds of medicinal ingredients in the Myriad Beast Cauldron.
• Xiao Yan spent half a month extracting the ingredients, losing some to mistakes during the process.
• More than twenty Dou Di experts arrived in Golden Radiance City as factions gathered ahead of the auction.
• Two months passed, Han Dong arrived in the city, and the fragrance of Xiao Yan's pill signaled that it had entered the final Pill Nurturing step.

With the auction a week away, Xiao Yan used Spirit Ascension to improve the Spirit Awakening Pill while his strength was nearly exhausted. Pill Lightning gathered over Golden Radiance City, drawing the Formation Master Association to his building just as a dazzling pillar of light burst toward the clouds.

• Xiao Yan kept the Spirit Awakening Pill in the Pill Nurturing state and prepared to use Spirit Ascension to raise its quality.
• Black thunderclouds gathered over Golden Radiance City, and the city's residents recognized them as Pill Lightning.
• Cheng Zhihui led members of the Formation Master Association toward Xiao Yan's building, while experts from other factions gathered and speculated about the pill.
• Xiao Yan took the finished pill from the cauldron and touched it with his finger to begin Spirit Ascension.
• A huge pillar of light shot from Xiao Yan's building toward the thunderclouds as Cheng Zhihui arrived.

Xiao Yan completed the Spirit Awakening Pill and began recovering as Pill Lightning gathered above Golden Radiance City. The city’s formation blocked the first strike before disappearing, and the Northern King appeared above Xiao Yan’s pavilion.

• Xiao Yan used his remaining soul power and Heavenly Flames to raise the Spirit Awakening Pill’s quality, then swallowed pills to recover.
• Cheng Zhihui decided to wait until Xiao Yan endured the Pill Lightning before attacking him and taking the pill.
• Han Dong, Qin Yun, and Yan He watched the pavilion as a massive bolt of Pill Lightning descended.
• The city’s formation blocked the first lightning strike, then gradually disappeared.
• Qin Yun noticed the Northern King materializing above Xiao Yan’s pavilion.

Xiao Yan's Northern King absorbed the Pill Lightning and grew stronger, alarming the gathered factions. When Cheng Zhihui led the Formation Master Association in an attack, Qin Yun appeared with a white-robed figure and stopped them.

• The Northern King appeared above Xiao Yan's pavilion, and the gathered experts recognized him as a formidable puppet.
• The Northern King plunged into the descending Pill Lightning and absorbed it, swelling in size as his strength rose to the Five-Star Dou Di level.
• The Northern King's lightning dragon drew power from the thunderclouds, frightening and injuring people nearby.
• Cheng Zhihui ordered the Formation Master Association to attack the Northern King before he could absorb more lightning.
• Qin Yun and a white-robed figure appeared in front of the Northern King, and Qin Yun stopped Cheng Zhihui's group.

Qin Yun stopped the Formation Master Association from interfering with Xiao Yan’s pill refinement, while the association’s leaders wondered who the mysterious alchemist was. After a day of Pill Lightning, the black pillar vanished and Xiao Yan opened his eyes.

• Qin Yun ordered Cheng Zhihui and the Formation Master Association members to stay away from Xiao Yan, and Qi Ming arrived to call them off.
• Qin Yun watched the Northern King absorb Pill Lightning and realized it might grow from Mid Five-Star Dou Di to Six-Star Dou Di.
• Han Dong wondered why Qin Yun had intervened on behalf of the person refining pills in the attic.
• Qi Ming told two elders in the Formation Master Association’s underground hall that the alchemist’s Spiritual Strength had blocked his probing.
• After a day, the black pillar and thunderclouds vanished, and Xiao Yan opened his eyes in the attic.

Xiao Yan met Qin Yun after finishing the Spirit Awakening Pill, while Han Dong recognized him and grew wary of Qin Yun. After resting for three days to recover his depleted strength, Xiao Yan woke with his presence fully restored.

• Qin Yun waited for Xiao Yan to appear, and Han Dong suspected that he was the Xiao Yan he had met in Shahepu.
• Xiao Yan left his bedroom, tested the Northern King's hardened body, and thanked Qin Yun for his help.
• Qin Yun chatted with Xiao Yan and probed him about the fourth-tier pill, while Han Dong watched them from nearby.
• Qin Yun left with Yan He, who then kept watch over Xiao Yan's pavilion and forced Han Dong to retreat.
• Xiao Yan slept for three days as his soul power and strength recovered, then woke fully restored.

After waking from a three-day sleep, Xiao Yan discovered that Xiao Xuan’s remnant soul was still dormant, though it released a powerful soul storm when he touched it. Qin Yun visited Xiao Yan to discuss the auction and offer protection from the Formation Master Association.

• Xiao Yan awoke after three days and found that Xiao Xuan’s remnant soul had not awakened despite absorbing the seven Dou Di experts’ Soul Origins.
• Xiao Yan touched Xiao Xuan’s Soul Origin after seeing it flash, unleashing a soul storm that shattered his barrier and forced Yan He back in shock.
• Xiao Yan put away the now-still Soul Origin and greeted Qin Yun, who had come to visit after repeatedly finding the door unanswered.
• Qin Yun offered to protect Xiao Yan from the Formation Master Association, and Xiao Yan invited him inside.
• Qin Yun asked whether Xiao Yan had refined a fourth-tier pill for the auction and confirmed that Xiao Yan had an entry ring.

Xiao Yan and Qin Yun discussed the mysterious six-petaled Fusang Flower, while Qin Yun secretly investigated Xiao Yan and planned to stop another alchemist from interfering with his plans. Xiao Yan overheard Qin Yun’s suspicions, recovered, and stepped out on the day the auction began, determined to obtain the flower.

• Qin Yun warned Xiao Yan that the six-petaled Fusang Flower might be defective, and the two spent the day discussing it without reaching a conclusion.
• Yan He told Qin Yun that an unknown person had driven him back with soul power, which Qin Yun believed did not belong to Xiao Yan.
• Qin Yun ordered Yan He to watch Xiao Yan and prevent the unknown alchemist from interfering with his plans.
• Xiao Yan watched Qin Yun leave and resolved to kill him if he proved to have sinister intentions.
• Xiao Yan recovered to peak condition and left his room on auction day, declaring that he would claim the Fusang Flower.

Xiao Yan accompanied Wu Gang into the auction house through a restricted entrance after explaining that he had used a Spirit Ascension Pill to temporarily boost his Spiritual Strength. Outside, Qin Yun and Yan He watched him enter, and Yan He sensed Qin Yun’s icy anger.

• Wu Gang invited Xiao Yan to the auction and praised his skill as a Fourth-Tier Alchemist.
• Xiao Yan explained that a Spirit Ascension Pill had temporarily increased his Spiritual Strength, easing Wu Gang’s suspicion that he had used a Blood Soul Pill.
• Wu Gang led Xiao Yan through a special entrance guarded by two Two-Star Dou Di experts.
• The guards wondered who Xiao Yan was, noting that even Qin Yun had never used that entrance.
• Qin Yun and Yan He watched Xiao Yan enter, while Yan He sensed a chilling aura from Qin Yun.

Xiao Yan entered the auction house’s luxurious VIP room, where he was distracted by the valuable Magic Cores decorating the seats rather than the maid sent to attend him. As the invited factions gathered, the auction began with Lü Zhongtian appearing as its chief auctioneer.

• Wu Gang escorted Xiao Yan to the auction house’s most luxurious private room, drawing envious looks from the experts in the corridor.
• Xiao Yan admired the room’s Magic Cores and nearly tried to take them before noticing the maid’s mocking smile.
• Xiao Yan sent the maid away and sat down, reluctantly leaving the Magic Cores where they were.
• Nearly a thousand people from factions bearing milky-white rings gathered in the auction house, while those without rings were forced to leave.
• The auction platform opened and maids carried out covered trays as the crowd watched.
• Lü Zhongtian appeared at the center of the hall and introduced himself as the auction house’s president and chief auctioneer.