Chapter Summaries

Fan Jian and Zhao Jin stopped fighting after the Xiao Clan’s second elder intervened, and Fan Jian joined Xiao Yan’s group. As they headed to the auction, Xiao Yan learned about the formidable Xiao Yitian and the clan’s privileges in Shuyang City, but he lacked an identity jade token.

• Xiao Yitian’s voice halted Fan Jian and Zhao Jin, and both withdrew from their fight.
• Fan Jian bowed toward the stone tower, landed beside Xiao Yan and Ouyang Miao, and warned Zhao Jin with a cold smile.
• An Nan identified the voice as the Xiao Clan’s second elder, Xiao Yitian, and Fan Jian explained that his fearsome reputation deterred enemies.
• An Nan led Xiao Yan, Fan Jian, and Ouyang Miao around the auction queue after they noticed Zhao Jin and his group had already entered.
• An Nan explained that Xiao Clan members could receive special convenience at the auction by presenting an identity jade token, and Xiao Yan realized he had none.

Xiao Yan and his companions entered the auction hall, where Ouyang Miao gave him a jade slip containing a more complete Eight Emperor Seal Techniques. As the auction began, Xiao Yan was left with a powerful new technique and an unexpected favor to repay.

• An Nan led Xiao Yan and his companions to a private room in the Heaven section of the underground auction hall, where they spotted Zhao Jin’s group across the floor.
• Xiao Yan asked Ouyang Miao why he had sought him out, and Ouyang Miao handed him a jade slip from his second uncle, the Orchid Sword Saint.
• Xiao Yan examined the jade slip and discovered it contained the complete Eight Emperor Seal Techniques, including three seals beyond the five he already knew.
• Ouyang Miao urged Xiao Yan to accept the jade slip as a favor between friends, and Xiao Yan considered his offer.
• A bell rang through the auction hall, drawing the crowd’s attention to the platform as the auction was about to begin.

Xiao Kuo opened the Heaven-class Auction House auction in Shuyang City and unveiled the Heaven and Earth Revolving Wheel Mirror, a weapon tied to a Dou Technique comparable to an Intent Class Dou Technique. After Xiao Kuo claimed the mirror had once helped its owner withstand a strike from a Yuan Sheng expert, the crowd grew eager as bidding began.

• Xiao Yan sensed several powerful experts gathered in the auction hall, including a mysterious Yuan Zun expert who appeared on the stage.
• An Nan identified the old man as Xiao Kuo, an elder of the Xiao Clan's inner council who managed Shuyang City and conducted its Heaven-class auctions.
• Xiao Kuo welcomed the attendees, briefly looked toward Xiao Yan's private room, and warned the hall before announcing the auction's start.
• Xiao Kuo presented the Heaven and Earth Revolving Wheel Mirror and explained that it paired with a Dou Technique comparable to an Intent Class Dou Technique.
• Xiao Kuo said the mirror had once helped a Yuan Zun expert withstand a Yuan Sheng's strike, then set its starting bid at one hundred thousand Spirit Stones with minimum increases of fifty thousand.

Xiao Yan watched the auction intensify while Ouyang Miao offered him refuge with the Ouyang Clan, prompting Xiao Yan to question whether the offer was also a test of his loyalty. The auction then reached its next major item, an eighth-tier pill.

• Bidders drove the Heaven and Earth Revolving Wheel Mirror’s price to eight hundred thousand Spirit Stones, and Xiao Kuo sold it.
• Ouyang Miao offered Xiao Yan a place with the Ouyang Clan if Xiao Yan could no longer live peacefully in the Xiao Clan, but Xiao Yan declined.
• The auction continued for over an hour as increasingly valuable items drew fierce competition from powerful factions.
• Xiao Yan asked whether Ouyang Miao would have treated him as an enemy if he had accepted the offer, and he recognized the offer as a test of loyalty.
• Xiao Kuo announced that the next auction item was an eighth-tier pill.

Xiao Kuo auctioned a defective eighth-tier Creation Pill, whose potential to reveal the lost method of making Yuan Zun experts drew Xiao Yan’s interest. Xiao Yan outbid a Pill Tower elder, and the auction continued at seven seventh-tier pills.

• Xiao Kuo displayed a flawed pill that Xiao Yan initially dismissed, but Bai Hua urged him to buy it.
• Xiao Kuo revealed the pill was a defective Creation Pill, and Xiao Yan recognized it might help him rediscover its lost formula.
• A Pill Tower elder dismissed the pill’s value and tried to claim it with a bid of one seventh-tier pill.
• Xiao Yan bid three seventh-tier pills, stopping the elder’s offer and sending the pill back toward the auction platform.
• The elder raised his bid to six seventh-tier pills, and Xiao Yan answered with seven.

Xiao Yan secured the Creation Pill and several other gains at the Shuyang City auction, while clashing with a Pill Tower bidder over medicinal ingredients. As the auction neared its end, Xiao Kuo strengthened the stage’s barrier for the anticipated Intent Class Dou Technique scroll.

• Xiao Yan kept the Creation Pill after defeating a Pill Tower bidder with seven seventh-tier medicinal pills, then traded taunts and bids with the man over later treasures.
• Xiao Yan obtained rare medicinal ingredients, Sumeru Grass, and the Creation Pill, and planned to refine an Ancestor Transformation Pill for Xiao Xuan.
• Xiao Yan considered how the Eight Emperor Seal Techniques would help him at the clan gathering and wondered why Bai Hua had wanted the Creation Pill.
• Xiao Kuo sold another item to Zhao Jin's group for several million Spirit Stones, and Xiao Yan recognized them with disdain.
• Xiao Kuo summoned formation masters to reinforce the auction-stage barrier, and Xiao Yan realized the finale was about to begin with the Intent Class Dou Technique scroll.

Xiao Kuo unveiled the High Intent Grade Dou Technique, Thousand Seal Ruler, and Xiao Yan wanted it but had spent nearly all his resources at the auction. An Nan offered the An Clan’s support, and Xiao Yan accepted as the bidding was about to begin.

• Xiao Kuo revealed the Thousand Seal Ruler scroll, triggering excitement among the auction attendees before his Yuan Zun pressure restored order.
• Ouyang Miao asked Xiao Yan how confident he was of obtaining the ruler technique, and Xiao Yan admitted he had almost no funds left.
• An Nan offered the An Clan’s help to Xiao Yan, seeking his support for the clan against the Zhao Clan’s growing influence.
• Xiao Yan accepted An Nan’s offer, and Xiao Kuo announced that bids had to be made with items of comparable value or High-Grade Spirit Stones.

Xiao Yan and An Nan competed for the Thousand Seal Ruler, a High Intent Grade Dou Technique, until Zhao Jin outbid them at the last moment. When An Nan objected, Xiao Kuo ruled that bidding could continue until the gavel fell, leaving Ouyang Miao to handle the dispute.

• A black-robed bidder opened the bidding at ten High-Grade Spirit Stones, and competing offers drove the price toward a hundred.
• An Nan bid one hundred and fifty High-Grade Spirit Stones, and the hall fell silent as Xiao Kuo waited for a higher offer.
• Just as Xiao Kuo prepared to end the auction, Zhao Jin bid two hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones from the opposite private room.
• An Nan challenged Xiao Kuo, arguing that the earlier bid had already been settled.
• Xiao Kuo explained that bidding remained open until the gavel fell, and Ouyang Miao pressed Xiao Yan down and told him to leave the matter to him.

At the auction, Ouyang Miao and Zhao Jin drove up the price of the Thousand Seal Ruler as they competed against each other, while Xiao Yan’s group considered how to respond. The bidding ended with Zhao Jin raising his offer to one thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones after an unexpected bid of nine hundred and fifty.

• Zhao Jin expected his two-hundred-stone bid to secure the Thousand Seal Ruler and gloated over his apparent victory.
• Ouyang Miao bid three hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones, restarting the competition and drawing Zhao Jin into a bidding war.
• Zhao Jin raised his bids to six hundred and then eight hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones, while Ouyang Miao stopped at his clan’s limit of seven hundred.
• An Nan offered the An Clan’s two hundred and fifty High-Grade Spirit Stones to help Xiao Yan, who thanked An Nan and Ouyang Miao for their support.
• As Xiao Kuo prepared to close the auction, someone bid nine hundred and fifty High-Grade Spirit Stones, prompting Zhao Jin to destroy the chairs and bid one thousand.

After Zhao Jin won the Thousand Seal Ruler scroll, Xiao Yan refused Ouyang Miao’s offer to seize it and returned to the Xiao Clan with the Sumeru Grass. Xiao Xuan praised his gains and explained how powerful factions traded resources for permission to establish branches, while Xiao Tian’s warning left Xiao Yan and Bai Hua puzzled.

• Ouyang Miao offered to help Xiao Yan take the Thousand Seal Ruler scroll from Zhao Jin, but Xiao Yan refused to involve him and invited Ouyang Miao to visit the Xiao Clan instead.
• Ouyang Miao declined the invitation and told Xiao Yan they were as close as brothers, promising he would take him in if the Xiao Clan could not keep him.
• Xiao Yan and his companions parted from Ouyang Miao and the An Clan party, then encountered Xiao Tian at the Xiao Clan archway, where Xiao Tian warned Xiao Yan to prepare himself.
• Xiao Yan told Xiao Xuan about the day's events and returned with the Sumeru Grass and the Emperor Seal Art, while Xiao Xuan urged him not to dwell on losing the Dou Technique scroll.
• Xiao Yan asked why the Cloud-Hidden Pavilion could operate in Xiao Clan territory, and Xiao Xuan explained that factions gained permission by offering valuable resources and services.

Xiao Yan examined the damaged eighth-tier Creation Pill he had won at auction and found its medicinal properties too disordered to restore. Bai Hua used his own blood to revive the pill’s essence, giving Xiao Yan a chance to analyze its effects and reconstruct its formula.

• Xiao Yan cultivated in his room and examined the Creation Pill, discovering that someone had already probed it.
• Xiao Yan carefully investigated the pill and concluded that its medicinal power was weak and its properties could not be separated.
• Xiao Yan told Bai Hua that the pill had been intended as a ninth-tier pill before an accident ruined it.
• Bai Hua confirmed the pill was damaged, then used a drop of his blood to dissolve and restore some of its medicinal effects.
• The pill absorbed Bai Hua's blood, its medicinal power surged, and its tangled properties began to separate.

Xiao Yan’s Creation Pill transformed into a violent humanoid monster that attacked Bai Hua and shattered the residence. Xiao Yan contained it briefly with a Pill Transformation Ring, but the ring burst apart, leaving Bai Hua gravely weakened and the monster even stronger.

• Bai Hua warned Xiao Yan that the Creation Pill’s energy was surging, and Xiao Xuan arrived as it absorbed natural energy and transformed into a grotesque humanoid creature.
• The monster attacked Bai Hua, but the Northern King intercepted its punch and was blasted into the courtyard with his body badly damaged.
• Xiao Yan used a Pill Transformation Ring to shrink the monster back to its original form and stop its attack.
• The Pill Transformation Ring burst apart, and its energy blast sent Bai Hua crashing into the ground with his presence greatly diminished.
• The monster re-formed with greater strength, and the Heavenly Flames of the broken ring fused with its skin.

Xiao Yan, Xiao Xuan, and the Northern King fought the Creation Pill monster while Xiao Xuan prepared a formation to contain it. The monster kept regenerating, and with dawn approaching, Xiao Yan pressed on to suppress it before the battle drew attention.

• The Creation Pill monster attacked Xiao Yan, but Xiao Xuan severed its wrist and Xiao Yan drove it back; its hand quickly regenerated.
• Xiao Yan summoned the Northern King after confirming Bai Hua was safe, and explained that the monster’s excess energy had to be suppressed before the Pill Transformation Ring could subdue it.
• Xiao Xuan placed Formation Plates around the battlefield to seal the area, while Xiao Yan and the Northern King charged the monster.
• Xiao Yan used the Giant Elephant Art to blast apart the monster’s arm and send it flying, but the arm began regenerating again.
• Xiao Yan noticed dawn approaching and realized they had to suppress the monster before the fight was exposed.

Xiao Yan and Xiao Xuan nearly completed their formation to suppress the monster, but the beast destroyed a Formation Plate and regained its strength. Bai Hua then bound himself to the monster to give Xiao Yan a chance to use the Pill Transformation Ring, leaving Xiao Yan to make a painful choice.

• Xiao Yan sent the Northern King to attack the monster and unleashed the Sevenfold Heaven-Breaking Ruler as Xiao Xuan completed the formation.
• Xiao Xuan activated the formation and trapped the monster beneath its golden pressure, allowing Xiao Yan to enter and attack it with seven ruler strikes and repeated Flame Splitting Tsunami blows.
• The monster fired a pillar of power that destroyed a Formation Plate, weakening the formation and restoring much of its strength.
• Bai Hua rushed in and bound himself to the monster with a net of milky-white light, urging Xiao Yan to use the Pill Transformation Ring before he could no longer hold it.
• Xiao Xuan told Xiao Yan to act, and Xiao Yan met Bai Hua's gaze, closed his eyes, and formed the seal that summoned the Pill Transformation Ring.

Xiao Yan condensed Bai Hua into a pill that might allow him to revive, then collapsed from exhaustion and began recovering in solitude. As the Xiao Clan’s leaders discussed the destruction of the Stone Clan, they feared that a powerful enemy was targeting ancient remnant clans.

• Xiao Yan and Xiao Xuan fused the two forces into a black-and-white pill that might give Bai Hua a chance to revive.
• Xiao Yan intimidated bystanders with an icy glare, then fell to the ground and began refining pills while Xiao Xuan guarded him.
• Xiao Yan remained seated for several days as Xiao Xuan kept others away.
• Xiao Yuheng told Xiao Qian that Xiao Xuan’s identity as a Seventh-Tier Formation Master had needed to remain secret.
• Xiao Yuheng revealed that the Stone Clan had been slaughtered and its members’ Soul Origins drained, prompting him and Xiao Qian to suspect the Ghost Gate or another powerful attacker.

After two days of sitting in meditation, Xiao Yan remained unresponsive while Xiao Xuan and Lian'er worried that grief might overwhelm him. Zhao Jin broke into the sealed courtyard, and Xiao Dingtian arrived to demand that Xiao Yan be brought to see him.

• Xiao Xuan told Lian'er that no one knew what Xiao Yan was experiencing and that they could only hope he did not sink too deeply into grief.
• Xiao Xuan allowed Lian'er to approach Xiao Yan, but Zhao Jin shattered the formation before she could reach him.
• Xiao Xuan blocked Zhao Jin and ordered him to leave the courtyard, while Lian'er recognized the danger he posed.
• Zhao Jin revealed that an inner council elder had come to see Xiao Yan, and Xiao Dingtian emerged from the crowd.
• Xiao Dingtian ordered Xiao Xuan to bring Xiao Yan to him.

Xiao Xuan fought to protect Xiao Yan from Zhao Jin, who was trying to break the formation shielding him. As the formation neared collapse, Xiao Xuan summoned an invisible sword and warned Zhao Jin that he would kill him if he broke through.

• Xiao Xuan refused Xiao Dingtian's order to bring Xiao Yan over and raised a powerful formation around him.
• Zhao Jin attacked the formation while dodging Xiao Xuan's sword strikes, then knocked Xiao Xuan back and resumed his assault.
• Xiao Mingyuan urged Xiao Yuheng to intervene, but Xiao Yuheng asked him to wait, believing Xiao Xuan had not yet used his full strength.
• With the formation close to breaking, Xiao Xuan gathered the wind and invisible sword Qi into a longsword.
• Xiao Xuan warned Zhao Jin that he would kill him if he broke the formation.

Xiao Xuan and Zhao Jin prepared to fight after Zhao Jin shattered the formation, but Xiao Yan awakened amid their clash and began gathering energy for a breakthrough. Zhao Jin rushed to attack him, prompting Xiao Dingtian to condemn him as Zhao Jin accused Xiao Yan of colluding with the Ouyang Clan.

• Zhao Jin broke the formation, and Xiao Xuan unleashed a sword technique against him.
• As dust and energy filled the arena, Xiao Yan appeared sitting cross-legged at its center.
• Xiao Xuan sensed Xiao Yan's presence growing stronger and recognized that he was about to break through.
• Zhao Jin charged at Xiao Yan, and Xiao Dingtian shouted at him but could not reach him in time.
• Zhao Jin claimed that Xiao Yan had colluded with the Ouyang Clan and that he was removing a threat to the Xiao Clan.

Xiao Yan completed his breakthrough to Three-Star Yuan Zong after Xiao Mingyuan blocked Zhao Jin’s attack. Zhao Jin tried to turn the Xiao Clan against Xiao Yan with accusations of secret dealings with the Ouyang Clan, but Xiao Yan’s reply left Xiao Mingyuan stunned.

• Zhao Jin attacked Xiao Yan as he broke through, but Xiao Mingyuan intercepted the blow and protected him.
• Xiao Mingyuan condemned Zhao Jin for attacking a Xiao Clan member, prompting Zhao Jin to claim Xiao Yan had secretly met Ouyang Miao and ordered Fan Jian to attack him.
• Lian'er tried to explain what had happened, but Zhao Jin twisted her words and fueled suspicion against Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan finished breaking through to Three-Star Yuan Zong and thanked Xiao Mingyuan for protecting him.
• Xiao Yan said he intended to surprise the Xiao Clan because Bai Hua had risked his life for him, leaving Xiao Mingyuan stunned.

Xiao Yan returned to face accusations that he had betrayed the Xiao Clan by colluding with outsiders, while Zhao Jin pushed for him to be punished and expelled. Xiao Yan remained calm and challenged Zhao Jin by citing a clan rule that could turn the accusation back on him.

• Xiao Yan reassured Xiao Xuan and Lian'er, then identified Xiao Dingtian as an opponent behind their recent troubles.
• Zhao Jin demanded that Xiao Yan be convicted of treason and have his cultivation destroyed, while Xiao Mingyuan worried that the crowd was accepting the accusations.
• Xiao Clan members jeered at Xiao Yan, but he stayed composed and exchanged laughter with Zhao Jin.
• Xiao Yan addressed Xiao Dingtian and asked whether the clan forbade attacks on the two great clans outside wartime.
• Xiao Yan's question made Zhao Jin turn deathly pale as Xiao Yan looked toward him.