Chapter Summaries

Chen Xiao killed Oba Pa and watched as the Xiao Family and other clans destroyed the Oba Family. By morning, the estate lay in ruins, and Chen Xiao reflected on the experience while Xun Er checked for survivors and hidden threats.

• Oba Pa and Gale Bi agreed to unite against the Xiao Family after learning that Xiao Yan had become a Dou Zhe.
• Oba Pa summoned Chen Xiao, a visiting Da Dou Shi, to learn his purpose, and Chen Xiao killed him with a single Dou Skill.
• Chen Xiao met Xun Er outside the estate and learned that she had warned Xiao Zhan, who was gathering the Xiao Family forces.
• Gale Bi heard that Oba Pa was dead and hurried to rally the Gale Family so they would not miss the chance to attack the Oba Family.
• Xiao Zhan, Gale Bi, and other families raided the Oba estate through the night, leaving it in ruins by morning.
• As Xun Er checked for overlooked threats, Chen Xiao said he was learning from the experience.

After revealing his strength by defeating Oba Pa, Chen Xiao thanked the Xiao Family for sheltering him and announced that he would leave Wu Tan City the next day. He spent a quiet afternoon with Xun Er before setting out at dawn, leaving his future reunion with her open.

• Xiao Zhan and the three elders welcomed Chen Xiao and thanked him for helping the Xiao Family benefit from the Oba Family's downfall.
• Chen Xiao declined a new residence, said he had avenged his family and would travel the next day, and offered to help the Xiao Family if he could.
• The elders decided not to press Chen Xiao for a closer relationship and hoped Xiao Yan might connect with him in the future.
• Chen Xiao took Xun Er to the Xiao Family's Back Mountain, where they spoke of meeting again at the summit after he left Wu Tan City.
• The next morning, Chen Xiao left Wu Tan City and bid farewell to the city.

Chen Xiao returned to Green Mountain Town, reunited with Xiao Yi Xian, and prepared for a trip to the Tagor Desert. Meanwhile, Mu She ordered Wang San and ten mercenaries to ambush Chen Xiao, underestimating how much stronger he had become.

• Chen Xiao returned to the Ten Thousand Medicines Pavilion and waited while Xiao Yi Xian treated patients.
• Xiao Yi Xian recognized Chen Xiao, and he told her he had come to see her before traveling to the Tagor Desert.
• Xiao Yi Xian gave Chen Xiao insect-repelling powder, antidote pills, sleeping powder, and other daily-use medicines.
• Chen Xiao considered giving Xiao Yi Xian the Seven-Colored Poison Manual but decided it was too early to help her awaken the Woeful Poison Body.
• A mercenary told Mu She and Mu Li that Chen Xiao had returned to Green Mountain Town.
• Mu She ordered Wang San to lead ten mercenaries in killing Chen Xiao, telling them to wear Mad Lion Mercenary Group badges during the attack.

Chen Xiao traveled to Mo City to find a map shop and prepare for the next stage of his journey. As he entered the shop, the elderly mapmaker stared at him and could not look away.

• Chen Xiao left Green Mountain Town, and Wang San led the mercenaries away from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group to join the Mad Lion Mercenary Group.
• Mu She and Mu Li watched the mercenaries defect, then decided to let Chen Xiao go and return to deal with the traitors.
• Chen Xiao flew to the edge of the Tagor Desert and reached Mo City, where he paid the soldiers five gold coins to enter.
• Chen Xiao found the Ancient Map store and entered, where an old mapmaker looked up at him and could not look away.

Chen Xiao revealed that he suspected Hai Bo Dong was the Ice Emperor and asked to make a deal with him. Hai Bo Dong dismissed the other customers and demanded to know Chen Xiao’s purpose, leaving the two alone to negotiate.

• Chen Xiao entered Hai Bo Dong’s map shop, chose a detailed map, and noticed a fragment map that matched one he had found before, but left it untouched.
• Hai Bo Dong tested Chen Xiao’s familiarity with him, so Chen Xiao showed a third-rank Mitre Auction House VIP Card and claimed he recognized Hai Bo Dong from a portrait.
• Chen Xiao inferred that Hai Bo Dong was the Ice Emperor, prompting Hai Bo Dong to deny his identity and recall the sealing that had left him weakened.
• Hai Bo Dong drove the mercenaries from the shop and confronted Chen Xiao about exposing him.
• Chen Xiao said he wanted to make a deal with the Ice Emperor.

Chen Xiao proposed bargaining with Hai Bo Dong by offering to seek Queen Medusa’s help in lifting his seal in exchange for an escort into the Snake-People Race and two Purple Heart barrier-breaking pills. Hai Bo Dong considered taking Chen Xiao as his disciple, but Chen Xiao refused for now and proposed a half-year bet, leaving his future allegiance dependent on whether he could undo the seal.

• Chen Xiao explained that Hai Bo Dong’s weakened aura resembled the effects of Queen Medusa’s sealing technique and offered to seek her help in exchange for protection in the Tagor Desert.
• Chen Xiao said he knew something Queen Medusa wanted and requested two Purple Heart barrier-breaking pills from the Mittel Family as payment.
• Hai Bo Dong remained wary of Chen Xiao’s motives, then suggested taking him as a disciple and promised the Mittel Family would support him.
• Chen Xiao declined to join a faction or take a master for now and proposed that the Mittel Family cooperate for half a year while he tried to lift Hai Bo Dong’s seal.
• Chen Xiao agreed that if he failed within half a year, Hai Bo Dong could decide whether he became his disciple or joined the Mittel Family.

Chen Xiao agreed to Hai Bo Dong’s bet and accepted his invitation to spar, hoping to improve his combat skills. Their first fight ended after ninety-nine moves, with Hai Bo Dong impressed by Chen Xiao’s resilience and both agreeing to meet again the next day.

• Hai Bo Dong agreed to contact Teng Shan and arrange for a strong expert to be invited within ten days.
• Chen Xiao prepared to leave Desert City, but Hai Bo Dong advised him to stay and proposed a sparring match.
• Chen Xiao accepted, and the two went outside the city, where Hai Bo Dong lent him a fine magic-core saber.
• Chen Xiao and Hai Bo Dong exchanged attacks, with Chen Xiao defending against Hai Bo Dong’s ice techniques and countering with his own Dou Skills.
• After ninety-nine moves, Hai Bo Dong stopped the spar before risking serious injury to Chen Xiao, and they arranged to meet again the next day.

Chen Xiao reached Stone Desert City and found Qing Lin, a young girl with human and Snake People blood who lived alone and struggled to get by. He offered her work and a place where she could eat her fill, and Qing Lin agreed to go with him to Desert City.

• Chen Xiao entered Stone Desert City and asked a mercenary to help him find Qing Lin, offering him one hundred gold coins.
• The mercenary told Chen Xiao that Qing Lin had been born after a Snake People attack and had survived despite being shunned and forced to support herself.
• The mercenary led Chen Xiao to Qing Lin's shabby home, where she was washing clothes and had only two hard steamed buns to eat.
• Chen Xiao offered Qing Lin work handling daily chores in Desert City and promised she would have enough to eat.
• Qing Lin agreed to follow Chen Xiao to Desert City.

Chen Xiao brought Qing Lin from Stone Desert City to Desert City, reassured her about her green scales, and arranged food, clothes, and lodging for her. The next day, he took her outside the city and offered to teach her cultivation.

• Chen Xiao asked Qing Lin to pack her belongings and took her from Stone Desert City toward Desert City.
• When Qing Lin worried that he would hate her green scales, Chen Xiao reassured her and encouraged her to ignore others' judgments.
• Chen Xiao carried Qing Lin the rest of the way with his Purple Cloud Wings and arranged food, new clothes, and two rooms at an inn.
• The following morning, Qing Lin brought Chen Xiao water to wash, and he continued cultivating before taking her out of the city.
• Chen Xiao asked Qing Lin if she wanted to cultivate and told her he would teach her how to draw in qi.

Chen Xiao trained with Hai Bo Dong and fought mercenaries in the desert while waiting for Teng Shan. When Teng Shan arrived in Mo City with four powerful experts, they discovered that he had mistaken Hai Bo Dong’s request for help as a sign of danger.

• Hai Bo Dong defeated Chen Xiao in their sparring match and arranged daily training, urging him to temper himself in the desert.
• Chen Xiao agreed to train in the desert, then introduced himself to Qing Lin and began teaching her to draw in qi.
• Over the next three days, Chen Xiao fought mercenaries who targeted him, suppressing his strength to gain experience.
• On the fourth morning, Hai Bo Dong saw Teng Shan arrive with Yun Yun, Nalan Jie, Yan Shi, and Feng Li.
• Teng Shan showed Hai Bo Dong the letter asking him to bring a strong expert to Mo City, and realized he had misunderstood it as a plea for rescue.
• Hai Bo Dong invited Teng Shan and the four experts to make the trip with him when the time came.

Hai Bo Dong explained how Queen Medusa’s Serpent Sealing Curse weakened him and described his wager with Chen Xiao, who promised to find a way to undo the seal. When Chen Xiao arrived, the others sensed that he was a Seven Star Da Dou Shi, leaving Yun Yun and Teng Shan astonished and Nalan Jie embarrassed.

• Teng Shan asked Hai Bo Dong to explain his condition, and Hai Bo Dong revealed that Queen Medusa had cursed him after he ruined one of her opportunities.
• Hai Bo Dong explained that Chen Xiao had deduced his identity and wagered that, if the Mittel Family protected him on a trip into the desert to meet Queen Medusa, he would find a way to undo the seal.
• Hai Bo Dong praised Chen Xiao’s talent, while Nalan Jie compared him with his eleven-year-old future son-in-law, Xiao Yan.
• Hai Bo Dong spotted Chen Xiao outside the inn and called him over to meet the others.
• The group sensed Chen Xiao’s Seven Star Da Dou Shi aura, astonishing Yun Yun and Teng Shan and leaving Nalan Jie red-faced.

Chen Xiao met the five renowned experts hired to guard him and prepared to enter the Tagor Desert to seek Queen Medusa. The next morning, he set out with the experts, while Hai Bo Dong stayed behind in Mo City.

• Hai Bo Dong introduced Chen Xiao to Yun Yun, Yan Shi, Feng Li, Nalan Jie, and Teng Shan, who agreed to protect him.
• Chen Xiao arranged to enter the desert the following morning, and Hai Bo Dong told Teng Shan to follow Chen Xiao's instructions.
• Qing Lin told Chen Xiao she had reached the first stage of Dou Zhi Li, but he said he was leaving for the desert and would return late.
• Chen Xiao met the five experts at Hai Bo Dong's Map Store, and Teng Shan carried him into the sky as the group departed for the Tagor Desert.
• Hai Bo Dong watched them leave and considered returning the Fragment Map to Queen Medusa.

Chen Xiao and five powerful companions reached the Snake-People Race Holy City and secured an audience with Queen Medusa. Hua She'er led them to the Medusa Shrine, where they faced the queen on her throne.

• Feng Li concealed the group from snake-people patrols as they approached the Holy City.
• Chen Xiao decided the group would openly request an audience with Queen Medusa, and Teng Shan agreed to follow his arrangements.
• Teng Shan asked Commander Hua She'er to pass on their request to meet the queen.
• Queen Medusa agreed to receive the six humans and ordered them to enter the city on foot.
• Hua She'er escorted the group through the city to the Medusa Shrine, where they saw Queen Medusa seated on her throne.

Chen Xiao met Queen Medusa and offered information about Heavenly Flames in exchange for her undoing Hai Bo Dong’s Serpent Sealing Curse. After sending Teng Shan and the others outside and setting up a soundproof barrier, Queen Medusa asked Chen Xiao what he knew.

• Queen Medusa questioned Teng Shan and Chen Xiao about why they had come to see her.
• Chen Xiao said he was not a member of the Mittel Family, explained that Hai Bo Dong had offered to take him as a disciple, and revealed that he was twelve years old.
• Chen Xiao told Queen Medusa that he had bet with Hai Bo Dong that he could persuade her to remove the Serpent Sealing Curse.
• Chen Xiao showed Queen Medusa a paper bearing the words “Heavenly Flames,” and she recognized them as a possible path toward her breakthrough.
• Queen Medusa ordered Teng Shan and the others out of the temple, created a soundproof barrier, and demanded that Chen Xiao explain what he knew.

Chen Xiao tried to persuade Queen Medusa to trade Hai Bo Dong’s release for the location of a Heavenly Flame, using a fabricated tale about a youth’s Three-Year Agreement to explain his motives. Queen Medusa accepted the deal conditionally, leaving Hai Bo Dong’s seal in place until she found the Heavenly Flame herself.

• Queen Medusa weighed the risks of harming Chen Xiao because of the powerful people protecting him and his mysterious background.
• Chen Xiao offered the location of a Heavenly Flame in exchange for Queen Medusa lifting Hai Bo Dong’s seal, arguing that it could help her advance to Dou Zong.
• Queen Medusa questioned the dangers of her race’s secret technique and why Chen Xiao would want Hai Bo Dong’s promised reward.
• Chen Xiao told Queen Medusa a story about a declining clan, a broken engagement, and a youth striving to fulfill a Three-Year Agreement, presenting it as the reason he sought strength.
• Queen Medusa asked Chen Xiao to promise to do his best to protect the Snake-People Race if she fell, and he agreed without guaranteeing success.
• Queen Medusa accepted the deal but said she would find the Heavenly Flame herself before lifting Hai Bo Dong’s seal.

Chen Xiao negotiated with Queen Medusa over the Green Lotus Core Flame and secured a promise to lift Hai Bo Dong’s Serpent Sealing Curse within ten days. After returning to Desert City, the group discussed the deal and parted ways, while Hai Bo Dong and Teng Shan made plans to obtain the pills needed to break the seal.

• Chen Xiao told Queen Medusa that the Green Lotus Core Flame lay beneath the magma east of Stone Desert City, and she agreed to investigate and personally search for it.
• Queen Medusa ordered Hua She'er to have the snake guards watch Desert City discreetly and avoid conflict with humans.
• Chen Xiao told Hai Bo Dong and the others that Queen Medusa had preliminarily agreed to lift the seal within ten days in exchange for his future help if the Snake-People Race faced trouble.
• Chen Xiao left to check on Qing Lin and agreed to continue combat training with Hai Bo Dong the next morning.
• Feng Li, Yan Shi, Yun Yun, and Nalan Jie departed, while Teng Shan told Hai Bo Dong he had asked the clan to arrange two Purple Heart barrier Breaking Pills.

After Queen Medusa settled her old grievance with Hai Bo Dong, Chen Xiao witnessed the Ice Emperor’s seal break and received a generous inheritance and gifts from the Mittel Family. The chapter left Chen Xiao with new cultivation resources and one unused pre-pay available.

• Chen Xiao returned to the inn and shared a meal with Qing Lin, then spent the next several days cultivating, sparring with Hai Bo Dong, and training in the desert.
• Queen Medusa appeared during Chen Xiao and Hai Bo Dong’s sparring, acknowledged her gains, and declared their past grudges settled before sending purple Dou Qi into Hai Bo Dong.
• Queen Medusa left, and Chen Xiao noticed that she was injured after obtaining the Green Lotus Core Flame; he also saw that his next pre-pay had become available.
• Hai Bo Dong’s seal broke, restoring his strength, and he demonstrated his Mystic Ice Dragon Flight technique by destroying a distant mountain peak.
• Hai Bo Dong gave Chen Xiao a collection of cultivation methods and Dou Techniques, while Teng Shan arrived and presented two Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pills and a top-grade VIP card on behalf of the Mittel Family.

Chen Xiao asked Hai Bo Dong to help retrieve Earth Fire Lotus Seeds from the underground magma and gave him the Fragment Maps, which Chen Xiao knew pointed toward a powerful Heavenly Flame. The chapter ended with Chen Xiao splitting the maps into smaller pieces and heading back to Qing Lin, while Hai Bo Dong agreed to join him underground that night.

• Hai Bo Dong said he planned to leave Mo City within three to five days because people were beginning to suspect his identity.
• Chen Xiao asked Hai Bo Dong to search Queen Medusa's underground route for Earth Fire Lotus Seeds and invited him to bring Chen Xiao along.
• Chen Xiao explained that Hai Bo Dong's Fragment Map was one-eighth of a map leading to a powerful Heavenly Flame, and Hai Bo Dong gave him the other half.
• Hai Bo Dong showed Chen Xiao and Teng Shan the Black Stone Ore that could cut the otherwise indestructible Fragment Map.
• Chen Xiao used the Black Stone Ore to split the two map pieces into four smaller pieces, then left to return to Qing Lin.

After using two Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pills to reach Nine-Star Da Dou Shi, Chen Xiao tested the limits of Pre-pay and discovered that his increased strength had raised its ceiling to Earth Rank Low-Level techniques and Sixth Grade pills. He ended by considering Earth Core Body Tempering Milk.

• Chen Xiao used two Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pills to advance from Seven-Star Da Dou Shi to Nine-Star Da Dou Shi.
• Chen Xiao tested Pre-pay on various treasures and found that it generally could not handle items tied to Dou Zong-level power, though it could reveal information about some Heavenly Flames.
• Chen Xiao discovered that Three Thousand Lightning Movement could be pre-paid, but its follow-up required him to kill one thousand people in the Black-Corner Region, so he declined for now.
• Chen Xiao confirmed that several Earth Rank Low-Level techniques and flight skills could be pre-paid, as could Sixth Grade pills such as the Sect Breaking Pill.
• Chen Xiao noted that the Sect Breaking Pill's follow-up involved using information about Yao Chen and Heavenly Flames in dealings with Han Feng, the Dan Tower, and Starfall Pavilion, then began testing Earth Core Body Tempering Milk.

Chen Xiao, Hai Bo Dong, Teng Shan, and Qing Lin searched beneath Stone Desert City for Queen Medusa’s trail and discovered a vast magma field. Qing Lin sensed a powerful creature within it, which suddenly burst out of the magma.

• Chen Xiao set aside the long-term pre-payment task to find the Snow Demon Sky Ape and decided to ask Hai Bo Dong for useful information.
• Hai Bo Dong led Chen Xiao, Qing Lin, and Teng Shan out of the city to follow Queen Medusa’s lingering aura, and Chen Xiao revealed his Purple Cloud Wings.
• Hai Bo Dong tracked the aura to a hidden opening beneath a sand dune, and the four entered the winding underground passages.
• The group reached a cavern filled with magma, where Hai Bo Dong could no longer sense Queen Medusa’s aura.
• Qing Lin sensed a very powerful presence in the magma, and an enormous mysterious creature suddenly shot up from it.