Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan used the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone and the Void Origin Stone fragment to escape the Crimson Sand Desert, but the unstable passage sent him to a frozen wasteland instead of the Northern Region. There he rescued a girl in red from Blood Shadow Cult pursuers, while the cult master's spatial rift continued expanding at Soul-Severing Cliff.

• The Sand Keeper explained that the two stones could open a dangerous temporary passage, and Xiao Yan prepared to leave the desert.
• Under the blood moon, the Sand Keeper activated the stones, and Xiao Yan entered the vortex and was hurled unconscious through space.
• Xiao Yan woke in a snowy wasteland, realized he was not in the Northern Region, and encountered Blood Shadow Cult members chasing a girl in red.
• Xiao Yan killed the pursuers with his flames and Heavy Xuan Ruler, and the exhausted girl fainted after helping block the remaining attackers.
• Xiao Yan wrapped the girl in his robe and carried her toward distant mountains as the Blood Shadow Cult master's rift at Soul-Severing Cliff continued to expand.

Xiao Yan rescued Ling Xue from the snow plains and helped purge the Blood Shadow Cult’s sinister energy from her body. After she revealed that her Ice Spirit Power could help seal the Darkness Node at Soul-Severing Cliff, the two set out together to stop the cult from opening a passage to the Domain of Darkness.

• Xiao Yan carried the injured Ling Xue to an ice cave and used healing pills and the Green Lotus Core Flame to clear most of the Blood Shadow Cult’s sinister energy from her body.
• After waking, Ling Xue told Xiao Yan that the cult had destroyed the Ice Spirit Clan and planned to sacrifice her Ice Spirit Power to open the Gate of Darkness.
• Xiao Yan explained that he had taken the Space Fragment and was heading to Soul-Severing Cliff to stop the Blood Shadow Cult.
• Ling Xue revealed that Soul-Severing Cliff was a Darkness Node and that sealing it required ultimate yang power and ultimate yin power, which Xiao Yan’s Heavenly Flame and her Ice Spirit Power might provide.
• After resting in the cave while Ling Xue recovered, Xiao Yan and Ling Xue left the snow plains together for Soul-Severing Cliff.

Xiao Yan and Ling Xue crossed the snowy region and defeated a Blood Shadow Cult protector and four cultists pursuing them. Xiao Yan learned that the cult planned to open the Gate of Darkness in half a month using a Darkness Core, so they hurried toward Soul-Severing Cliff.

• Xiao Yan and Ling Xue traveled south across the snowy ice plain, fighting its beasts and deciding to bypass Frozen Canyon for Soul-Severing Cliff.
• A Blood Shadow Cult protector tracked Xiao Yan and Ling Xue from the ice cave and pursued them with four cultists.
• After seven days, Xiao Yan sensed the pursuers near the edge of the snowy region, and he and Ling Xue hid before launching a coordinated attack.
• Xiao Yan fought the Initial Origin Emperor protector while Ling Xue restrained the four cultists with her Ice Spirit power, and Xiao Yan defeated the protector with his Heavenly Flames and Heavy Xuan Ruler.
• The captured protector revealed that the Blood Shadow Cult had three thousand members at Soul-Severing Cliff and planned to open the Gate of Darkness in half a month using a Darkness Core; Xiao Yan then killed him and the four cultists.
• Xiao Yan and Ling Xue left for Soul-Severing Cliff, determined to arrive before the cult opened the Gate of Darkness.

Xiao Yan and Ling Xue infiltrated the Blood Shadow Cult’s blockade at Soul-Severing Cliff and joined Zhou Xiaotian’s forces as the cult prepared to open the Gate of Darkness. Xiao Yan drew the Blood Shadow Cult Master and the darkness envoy toward him while Ling Xue prepared to disrupt the ritual, and the final battle began.

• Xiao Yan and Ling Xue reached Black Wind Town, learned that City Lord Zhou and other factions were fighting the Blood Shadow Cult at Soul-Severing Cliff, and continued toward the cliff.
• Xiao Yan silently defeated a patrol and used the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone to help himself and Ling Xue pass through the cult’s blockade.
• Xiao Yan and Ling Xue found the spatial rift, the Darkness Core, the captives bound to nine altars, and Zhou Xiaotian’s forces battling the cultists.
• Xiao Yan attacked the blood-robed protector fighting Zhou Xiaotian, while Ling Xue joined the battle and helped turn its tide.
• Xiao Yan told Zhou Xiaotian and the others to hold off the cult while he destroyed the Darkness Core and rift, then charged the Blood Shadow Cult Master as Ling Xue prepared to freeze the altars.

Xiao Yan defeated the Blood Shadow Cult Master and destroyed the Darkness Core, closing the Gate of Darkness and ending the crisis in the Northern Region. After recovering, he and Ling Xue parted ways as he set out to explore the Great Thousand World and seek his friends.

• Xiao Yan used the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone and Void Origin Stone Fragment to destroy the Darkness Core, erase the Dark Envoy, and close the spatial rift.
• Zhou Xiaotian led the others against the fleeing Blood Shadow Cult followers, while Ling Xue killed the Blood Shadow Cult Master as he charged at Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan collapsed from his injuries, and Ling Xue and the others gathered around him after the battle ended.
• Three days later, Zhou Xiaotian thanked the recovering Xiao Yan and told him that investigators were searching the Snow Region Ice Plains for Ling Xue's people.
• Li Xuantong gave Xiao Yan a token found on the Blood Shadow Cult Master, and Xiao Yan kept it in his Storage Ring in case it helped track the cult's remnants.
• Xiao Yan and Ling Xue left Soul-Severing Cliff, parted ways so she could search for her people, and he continued onward with the Void Origin Stone Fragment.

After arriving in Li Fire City, Xiao Yan accepted Qin Yan’s offer to explore the Earth Fire Abyss and claim the Netherworld Core Flame. At the abyss’s bottom, Qin Yan revealed his plan to steal Xiao Yan’s Heavenly Flames, and the two sides began fighting.

• Xiao Yan traveled south to Li Fire City, where the fire-rich surroundings stirred his Heavenly Flames.
• Qin Yan, master of the Burning Heaven Pavilion, invited Xiao Yan to retrieve the Netherworld Core Flame from the Earth Fire Abyss, offering the flame and a hundred thousand Middle-Grade Origin Qi Pills.
• Xiao Yan accepted despite suspecting Qin Yan was hiding something, prepared his supplies, and set out the next morning with Qin Yan and two disciples.
• The group descended into the abyss and found the Netherworld Core Flame beside a sleeping Lava Hell Lion.
• Qin Yan and the two disciples surrounded Xiao Yan; Qin Yan admitted they wanted his Heavenly Flames and revealed his strength as an Intermediate Origin Emperor.
• The disciples and Qin Yan attacked Xiao Yan, starting a battle at the bottom of the Earth Fire Abyss.

Xiao Yan defeated Qin Yan in the Earth Fire Abyss and seized the Netherworld Core Flame despite being attacked by the Lava Hell Lion. He escaped toward Li Fire City, having gained a powerful new flame and glimpsed the threshold of the Origin Emperor realm.

• Xiao Yan killed one Burning Heaven Pavilion disciple and knocked the other unconscious while fighting Qin Yan.
• Qin Yan unleashed Burning Heaven Lion's Roar, but Xiao Yan blocked it with the spatial powers of the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone and Void Origin Stone Fragment.
• Xiao Yan used his new Heavenly Flames: Realm Breaking technique to fatally wound Qin Yan.
• The awakened Lava Hell Lion attacked Xiao Yan, who subdued the Netherworld Core Flame and used the strange stones to shield himself from its paw.
• Xiao Yan escaped toward Li Fire City with the Netherworld Core Flame, reflecting that he had approached the Origin Emperor realm.

Xiao Yan recovered from his injuries and used a Sect Breaking Pill to break through to the Origin Emperor Realm. After learning that the Blood Shadow Cult served the Lord of Darkness, he left for the Southern Region, where the Ten Thousand Medicines Gathering offered a chance to seek news of Xun'er and Cai Lin.

• Xiao Yan recovered in a secluded forest outside Li Fire City and swallowed a Sect Breaking Pill to attempt a breakthrough.
• Xiao Yan shattered the Origin Emperor barrier with the pill's energy and the power of his three Heavenly Flames, entering the Origin Emperor Realm.
• Xiao Yan activated the black token taken from the Blood Shadow Cult Master, and its guardian dharma king revealed that the Lord of Darkness stood behind the cult.
• Xiao Yan burned the remnant soul with his Heavenly Flames and resolved to prepare for the threat posed by the Lord of Darkness.
• Xiao Yan heard that the Southern Region's Ten Thousand Medicines Gathering would offer a Nine Revolutions Soul Return Pill and decided to attend while seeking news of Xun'er and Cai Lin.
• Xiao Yan bought supplies in Li Fire City and set out for the Southern Region.

Xiao Yan arrived in Green Wind City and learned that the Ten Thousand Medicines Gathering would take place in the Ten Thousand Medicines Valley. After rescuing Su Xiaoxiao from Hundred Herbs Hall cultivators, he agreed to let her guide him through the valley, and they set out together.

• Xiao Yan reached Green Wind City and heard that the Ten Thousand Medicines Gathering would begin in twenty-seven days, with a Nine Revolutions Soul Return Pill as its top prize.
• Liu Chengfeng of Hundred Herbs Hall arrived with an escort, and Xiao Yan sensed powerful spiritual strength from the woman inside his sedan chair.
• Xiao Yan investigated the gathering and Ten Thousand Medicines Valley while searching for clues about the Lord of Darkness.
• Xiao Yan stopped two Hundred Herbs Hall cultivators from taking Su Xiaoxiao's Soul-Congealing Grass and gave her Heart-Clearing Pills for her sick brother.
• Su Xiaoxiao offered to guide Xiao Yan through Ten Thousand Medicines Valley, and he agreed to take her with him.
• Xiao Yan and Su Xiaoxiao left Green Wind City and traveled south toward the valley.

Xiao Yan and Su Xiaoxiao entered Ten Thousand Medicines Valley and registered for the Ten Thousand Medicines Gathering, despite Xiao Yan lacking an invitation. After Liu Chengfeng provoked them over a spirit herb, Xiao Yan anticipated a confrontation at the gathering as they headed deeper into the valley.

• On the journey to Ten Thousand Medicines Valley, Xiao Yan drove off an Ironback Bear and gave Su Xiaoxiao Chi Xue Fruits.
• Xiao Yan and Su Xiaoxiao passed through the Hundred Herbs Barrier without invitations and registered after Mo Chen persuaded Elder Li to let them stay.
• At a stream, Xiao Yan stopped a youth from stealing the Ice Blue Grass Su Xiaoxiao had found, but Liu Chengfeng took the herb and challenged Xiao Yan to settle things at the gathering.
• Xiao Yan and Su Xiaoxiao continued toward the Soul-Congealing Flower Sea, while Xiao Yan grew wary of Liu Chengfeng and wondered what treasures lay in the core area.

Xiao Yan defended Wang Hu from a Hundred Herbs Hall disciple and then defeated Liu Chengfeng in a fight at the Soul-Congealing Flower Sea. Lin Qingxue invited Xiao Yan to an alchemy exchange in three days, leaving him anticipating the Ten Thousand Medicines Gathering despite his growing feud with the Hundred Herbs Hall.

• Wang Hu and a Hundred Herbs Hall disciple argued over the thousand-year Soul-Congealing Flower King, and the disciple kicked Wang Hu down before Xiao Yan intervened.
• Xiao Yan defeated the disciple with one palm, let Wang Hu keep the flower king, and accepted Wang Hu's Illustrated Guide to Medicinal Herbs for Su Xiaoxiao.
• Liu Chengfeng arrived with other disciples and challenged Xiao Yan, but Xiao Yan held his own and then overcame Liu Chengfeng's Hundred Herbs Ruler with the Heavy Xuan Ruler and flames.
• Lin Qingxue arrived, stopped the conflict, apologized for Liu Chengfeng, and invited Xiao Yan to attend the alchemy exchange in three days; Xiao Yan accepted.
• Liu Chengfeng left with Lin Qingxue as word of Xiao Yan's victory spread, and Xiao Yan looked toward the clouded core region with anticipation.

Xiao Yan won the Pill Dao Exchange Gathering by identifying herbs, purifying medicinal liquid to one hundred percent, and refining supreme-quality pills with Pill Patterns. As he received the thousand-year-old Purple Heart Lotus, Old Freak Blood Fiend attacked and demanded it, leaving Xiao Yan facing a dangerous new opponent.

• Lin Qingxue opened the gathering and announced three rounds, with a thousand-year-old Purple Heart Lotus as the prize.
• Xiao Yan, Mo Chen, and Liu Chengfeng earned full marks in the medicinal herb identification round.
• Xiao Yan purified the Nine-Curved Spirit Ginseng's medicinal liquid to one hundred percent and won the second round.
• Xiao Yan refined five supreme-quality Qi Recovery Pills with Pill Patterns, won the gathering, and received the Purple Heart Lotus from Lin Qingxue.
• Old Freak Blood Fiend appeared, demanded the Purple Heart Lotus, and poisoned Liu Chengfeng with blood mist.
• Xiao Yan sensed that Old Freak Blood Fiend had High-Grade Origin Emperor strength and prepared to fight him.

Xiao Yan defeated Old Freak Blood Fiend after the fiend unleashed a dark energy that threatened the surrounding cultivators. Learning that the Lord of Darkness’s forces might be infiltrating the Great Thousand World, Xiao Yan agreed to investigate further and set out for the core area of Ten Thousand Medicines Valley to seek a ten-thousand-year soul-restoring grass.

• Old Freak Blood Fiend attacked Xiao Yan for the Purple Heart Lotus, but Xiao Yan countered his blood spear and destroyed his Blood Hell Descent with Heavenly Flames.
• Lin Qingxue and Mo Chen protected the cultivators as Xiao Yan used spatial powers and three Heavenly Flames to kill Old Freak Blood Fiend after he sacrificed his life force for dark energy.
• Mo Chen and Lin Qingxue warned Xiao Yan that Old Freak Blood Fiend’s energy resembled the Domain of Darkness, and Mo Chen invited him to report the threat to the Pill King after the Ten Thousand Medicines Gathering.
• A Hundred Herbs Hall disciple told Lin Qingxue that a ten-thousand-year soul-restoring grass had been found in the valley’s core area, guarded by a powerful beast.
• Xiao Yan, Su Xiaoxiao, Lin Qingxue, Mo Chen, and Liu Chengfeng headed toward the core area to seek the herb and investigate the dangers ahead.

Xiao Yan and his companions fought through dark-energy-corrupted guardian beasts to reach Falling Sunset Gorge, where Xiao Yan killed the Shadow Vine King and saved the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul-Restoring Grass. As the gathered factions celebrated, a far more powerful dark presence awakened deep in the gorge, threatening the entire core area.

• Xiao Yan, Lin Qingxue, Mo Chen, and Liu Chengfeng joined forces to kill a dark-energy-corrupted Black Qilin Beast and found dark threads in its blood.
• The group continued toward Falling Sunset Gorge, fighting more corrupted guardian beasts as the dark presence grew stronger.
• At the gorge, Xiao Yan sensed the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul-Restoring Grass being corrupted and charged into the black mist to confront the Half-Step Origin Venerate Shadow Vine King.
• Xiao Yan used his three Heavenly Flames to destroy the Shadow Vine King, freed the Soul-Restoring Grass, and gave the jade box to Lin Qingxue for the factions to divide.
• A terrifying dark presence erupted from deep within Falling Sunset Gorge, and Xiao Yan warned that something even more dangerous had appeared.

Xiao Yan fought a Shadow of Darkness in Falling Sunset Gorge and collapsed after unleashing his strongest Heavenly Flame attack. Elder Bai rescued him and revealed that the creature was tied to a weakening seal in the Fallen Immortal Abyss, then asked Xiao Yan to help reinforce it.

• A Shadow of Darkness emerged in Falling Sunset Gorge, and Xiao Yan stayed behind to fight it while Mo Chen, Lin Qingxue, Su Xiaoxiao, and the others fled for reinforcements.
• The Shadow of Darkness restrained and overwhelmed Xiao Yan, but he burned his life’s potential to unleash Heavenly Flames: World Burning and injure it before losing consciousness.
• Elder Bai, keeper of the Fallen Immortal Abyss, told Xiao Yan he had driven the Shadow of Darkness away and explained that the weakening seal contained an avatar of a Lord of Darkness.
• Elder Bai asked Xiao Yan to use his spatial treasures and Heavenly Flames to reinforce the seal, and Xiao Yan agreed.
• Xiao Yan began channeling his spatial treasures and Heavenly Flames into the Realm-Sealing Crystal while Elder Bai prepared to protect him.

Xiao Yan and Elder Bai purified the Realm-Sealing Crystal, reinforced its seal, and awakened a new power in Xiao Yan’s Heavenly Flames through his bloodline. After recovering in the Fallen Immortal Abyss, Xiao Yan received an ancient jade slip and reunited with his waiting friends, while the threat of the Lord of Darkness remained.

• Xiao Yan used the Origin Stabilizing Divine Stone, the Void Origin Stone Fragment, and his Heavenly Flames to repair and purify the Realm-Sealing Crystal while Elder Bai protected him.
• When the Lord of Darkness’s avatar unleashed a surge of dark energy, Elder Bai and Xiao Yan used their essence blood to strengthen their defenses, and Xiao Yan’s bloodline gave his Heavenly Flames a golden, purifying power.
• A wisp of dark energy attacked Xiao Yan’s sea of consciousness, but his memories and Heavenly Flames destroyed it, completing the purification and restoring the seal for at least a hundred years.
• Elder Bai explained that Xiao Yan’s bloodline had transformed the origins of his three Heavenly Flames, then brought him to a cultivation chamber to recover while he dealt with the Shadow of Darkness.
• After three days, Xiao Yan had recovered and received a jade slip from Elder Bai containing secrets about the Domain of Darkness and the ancient war.
• Xiao Yan left the Fallen Immortal Abyss and reunited with Su Xiaoxiao, Lin Qingxue, Mo Chen, and the others outside Ten Thousand Medicines Valley.

Xiao Yan returned safely, won the Ten Thousand Medicines Gathering, and took Su Xiaoxiao home before meeting Mo Chen in Green Wind City. They set off for the Pill Region, where dark energy was corrupting pill masters and an Ancient Pill Hall guarded by dark creatures had been discovered.

• Xiao Yan returned to the camp, reassured Su Xiaoxiao and the others, and recounted how a reclusive senior had helped drive back the Shadow of Darkness.
• Xiao Yan refined three supreme-grade Nine Revolutions Life-Prolonging Pills with Pill Patterns, won the gathering, and received the Nine Revolutions Soul Return Pill.
• Xiao Yan agreed to meet Mo Chen in Green Wind City in three days, accepted a communication pendant from Lin Qingxue, and forgave Liu Chengfeng.
• Xiao Yan took Su Xiaoxiao to Su Family Village, stayed with her family for two days, and left her medicine and a note before departing for Green Wind City.
• Mo Chen told Xiao Yan that dark energy was corrupting pill masters in the Pill Region and that Lord Pill King was gathering experts to explore the Ancient Pill Hall.
• Xiao Yan and Mo Chen left Green Wind City together and flew toward the Pill Region.

Xiao Yan traveled with Mo Chen to Pill City, where Xuan Kongzi recruited him to explore the Ancient Pill Hall and find a purification pill formula that could counter dark energy. After the group entered the hall and discovered the Nine Revolutions Purification Pill formula, a powerful Darkness Guardian attacked them.

• Mo Chen guided Xiao Yan through the Pill Region to Pill City and introduced him to Xuan Kongzi, who warned that dark energy was spreading across the Great Thousand World.
• Xuan Kongzi invited Xiao Yan to join an expedition to the Ancient Pill Hall, and Xiao Yan studied the region’s history and received alchemy guidance during the next three days.
• Xuan Kongzi led ten Pill Venerates and a hundred elite disciples to the Fallen Pill Mountain Range, where they defeated Three-Headed Shadow Wolves and Xiao Yan helped open the hall’s sealed doors.
• The group found a mural recording the Nine Revolutions Purification Pill formula, but Xuan Kongzi suspected a trap when heavy footsteps approached.
• A twenty-zhang Darkness Guardian at the Initial Origin Venerate level emerged and attacked Xuan Kongzi with its stone axe.

Xiao Yan and the Pill Venerates defeated the Darkness Guardian but lost Senior Brother Zhang, then encountered the Lord of Darkness's avatar in the Pill God's hall. The Pill God's remnant will destroyed the avatar, revealed Xiao Yan's bloodline and passed on Pill Dao knowledge and the Burning Heaven Cauldron; Xiao Yan left resolved to face the approaching threat.

• Xuan Kongzi led the Pill Venerates in the Nine Revolutions Burning Heaven Array, and Xiao Yan struck the Darkness Guardian's chest so they could destroy it, though Senior Brother Zhang died in the fight.
• The group entered the Pill God's pill-refining hall, where a barrier trapped them and the Lord of Darkness's avatar emerged from the statue's cauldron.
• The Pill God's remnant will appeared and purified the avatar with golden flames, then gave Xiao Yan Pill Dao insights and the ultimate profundity of the purifying pill formula.
• The Pill God's remnant will identified Xiao Yan as a descendant of his bloodline and entrusted the future to him before fading away.
• Xiao Yan received the Burning Heaven Cauldron, and the group left the Ancient Pill Hall with the Lord of Darkness's true body nearing the Great Thousand World.

After learning that the Lord of Darkness's true body would soon descend, Xiao Yan studied the Burning Heaven Cauldron and prepared to seek the Heavenly Flames needed for the Primordial Purification Pill. He and Mo Chen set out for the Eastern Region to find the Netherworld Ghost Flame and investigate the Pill Realm, while the factions began preparing for war.

• Xiao Yan learned that the Primordial Purification Pill required nine Heavenly Flames, Water of the Nine Heavens Star River, and Primordial Purple Qi, and discovered that the Burning Heaven Cauldron could aid cultivation and strengthen Heavenly Flames.
• Xuan Kongzi convened Pill Region leaders and representatives from other factions, who agreed to refine purification pills, form the Great Thousand Alliance, and search for ancient ruins.
• Lin Qingxue offered support for gathering rare herbs, while other leaders volunteered to contact factions across the regions.
• Xuan Kongzi sent Xiao Yan and Mo Chen to Burning Heaven Cliff to seek the Netherworld Ghost Flame and investigate an ancient teleportation array said to lead to the Pill Realm.
• Lin Qingxue gave Xiao Yan Spirit-Cleansing Grass seeds and communication talismans, and Xiao Yan and Mo Chen departed by pill boat for the Eastern Region.