Recaps

Chu Xinghe celebrated as the Formation Spirit Palace’s four thousand new disciples and the Dead Spirit Realm consumed resources, while spirit stones spread across the Four Continents and the Misfortune Compass spun rapidly. Martial Emperor City adopted Zheng Yu’s plan to train its recruits as formation masters, but Chu Xinghe’s celebration ended when the compass suddenly slowed.

• Elder Ling Mou arranged for the Formation Spirit Palace’s four thousand new disciples to study and practice formations, and Chu Xinghe watched the Misfortune Compass spin as they began cultivating.
• Chu Xinghe celebrated the resource consumption and the distribution of forty million spirit stones, convinced that his luck had finally turned bad enough for him to lose.
• Zheng Yu proposed that Martial Emperor City recruit talented disciples without regard to formation aptitude and train them as formation masters, following Ma Liang’s method.
• Cheng Xiaotian and the other leaders agreed to try Zheng Yu’s plan, reasoning that they could switch the disciples to normal cultivation and compensate them with pills if Chu Xinghe’s effort failed.
• Chu Xinghe enjoyed checking on the Dead Spirit Realm, the new disciples, and the Haotian Mirror until he noticed that the Misfortune Compass was spinning more slowly.

Chu Xinghe investigated why the Misfortune Compass had slowed, checking the Dead Spirit Realm, the Formation Spirit Palace, and Ma Liang for trouble. He discovered the Civil Engineering Department blamed him for a flood of resources that had increased its workload, then brought Huang Ritian to confront the Great Elder, who immediately extended Huang Ritian’s confinement by a hundred years.

• Chu Xinghe inspected the Dead Spirit Realm and found that it was consuming resources steadily as instructed.
• Chu Xinghe checked the Formation Spirit Palace and saw that its new disciples were learning formations through ordinary foundational training.
• Chu Xinghe found Ma Liang reprimanding core disciples and confirmed he had not caused any unusual trouble.
• Chu Xinghe entered the Civil Engineering Department, where the disciples glared at him while building treasure vaults at an unexpectedly frantic pace.
• Huang Ritian told Chu Xinghe that the Great Elder had sent resources and credited Chu Xinghe, prompting Chu Xinghe to take him to the Spirit Crane Palace to protest the supposed slander.
• The Great Elder accused Huang Ritian of leaving confinement and extended his sentence by another hundred years.

The Grand Elder explained that the lineages whose disciples joined the Vast Heaven Holy Land had sent resources in return for its help, crediting Chu Xinghe for setting the favors in motion. As word spread that Xinghe had given four thousand formation students Tribulation-Breaking Pills to create temporary bottlenecks, Zheng Yu and others struggled to understand his plan.

• The Grand Elder told Chu Xinghe that the lineages had provided resources through reciprocal favors after sending their disciples to the Vast Heaven Holy Land.
• Huang Ritian accepted his additional hundred years of confinement, saying that Chu Xinghe did not need to defend him.
• Ma Liang explained that even lineages whose disciples had not been accepted had brought resources when asking elders for help.
• Chu Xinghe reasoned that the resources would not outweigh the cost of supporting the thousand new disciples.
• News spread that Chu Xinghe had given four thousand formation students Tribulation-Breaking Pills to seal their spiritual power and create bottlenecks.
• Zheng Yu heard about the plan and could not understand why Chu Xinghe had used the pills that way.

Chu Xinghe watched four thousand disciples train in the Formation Spirit Palace and realized how costly it was to develop formation masters. After seeing a junior sister scolded for her failures, he demanded gentler, more joyful teaching, but Elder Ling Mou argued that the Vast Heaven Holy Land was already unusually lenient.

• Chu Xinghe realized that formation masters were difficult and expensive to train, and that the Formation Spirit Palace’s resource consumption far exceeded his expectations.
• Chu Xinghe saw a junior sister scolded until she cried after failing to set up a formation more than two hundred times.
• Chu Xinghe asked Elder Ling Mou to tell the Formation Spirit Palace disciples to teach their junior brothers and sisters more gently and focus on joy.
• Elder Ling Mou explained that other powers treated new disciples far more harshly and said the Vast Heaven Holy Land could afford its harmonious atmosphere because of Chu Xinghe’s interventions.
• Chu Xinghe became furious when Elder Ling Mou’s explanation sounded to him like a rebuke.

Chu Xinghe ordered Elder Ling Mou to use happy teaching for the Formation Spirit Palace’s four thousand new disciples and opened their training to spies from across the Four Continents. The spies and other palace members were baffled by the praise and excuses, but the disciples’ formation skills improved rapidly, leaving Elder Ling Mou impressed by Chu Xinghe’s Innate Formation Mastery.

• Chu Xinghe insisted that Elder Ling Mou prioritize the new disciples’ happiness and stop scolding them for failures.
• Elder Ling Mou followed Chu Xinghe’s instructions, and Formation Spirit Palace members praised the disciples and blamed mistakes on things like poor sleep or salty food.
• Hua Xizhong asked whether spies could observe the Formation Spirit Palace, and Chu Xinghe invited them to watch the training freely.
• Spies crowded around the palace and witnessed instructors comforting disciples after repeated formation failures instead of punishing them.
• The new disciples began mastering formations faster under the happy teaching method, astonishing the spies and Elder Ling Mou.

Elder Ling Mou discovered that Chu Xinghe’s joyful teaching method improved the Formation Spirit Palace’s disciples, while Chu Xinghe grew alarmed as the Misfortune Compass slowed and the method spread through the Vast Heaven Holy Land. Other factions struggled to copy the results, and Zheng Yu learned that his master Cheng Xiaotian had advanced to the Mystic God realm and neared Half-Step Main God after topping up.

• Formation Spirit Clan disciples told Elder Ling Mou that joyful teaching had doubled their success rates and greatly accelerated their improvement.
• Chu Xinghe checked the Formation Spirit Palace and Civil Engineering Department, found no obvious reason for the Misfortune Compass to slow, and worried that his advantage was disappearing.
• Shen Chun told Chu Xinghe that the Grand Elder had spread joyful teaching throughout the Vast Heaven Holy Land, where disciples were breaking through in large numbers.
• Other factions adopted joyful teaching but struggled because they lacked the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s resources, and Zheng Yu explained that their poverty made the method unsustainable.
• Cheng Xiaotian told Zheng Yu that joyful teaching had helped him reach the Mystic God realm and approach Half-Step Main God, prompting Zheng Yu to ask about refunds for his master’s accidental top-ups.

Cheng Xiaotian’s breakthrough prompted a promotion banquet, and Chu Xinghe eagerly took charge of preparing an extravagant gift from the Vast Heaven Holy Land. Azure Dragon Sacred Venerable tried to expel Gui Li from the Civil Engineering Department for suggesting a modest gift, but Gui Li proved he had been following Gu Mingchao’s actual instructions.

• Cheng Xiaotian’s breakthrough spread across the Four Continents, and Martial Emperor City prepared a banquet that deliberately excluded Gu Mingchao.
• The Vast Heaven Holy Land ordered its invited elders and disciples to attend, while the Grand Elder defended Cheng Xiaotian’s Haotian Mirror name, Gu Mingchao Is My Defeated Opponent.
• Chu Xinghe volunteered to prepare congratulatory gifts, then rushed to the Civil Engineering Department to announce the news.
• Gui Li suggested sending City Lord Cheng a single inscribed spirit stone and said Gu Mingchao had instructed him to do so.
• Azure Dragon Sacred Venerable accused Gui Li of falsely conveying Gu Mingchao’s orders and sentenced him to leave the Civil Engineering Department.
• Gui Li displayed his Haotian Token and Gu Mingchao’s message confirming the gift instructions, leaving the department’s disciples wailing.

Chu Xinghe and the Civil Engineering Department failed to expel Gui Li after the Holy Lord’s order appeared on the Haotian Token, then competed to take the blame for defying it. After the Great Elder punished the department by withholding resources for a year, Chu Xinghe steered their gift plans away from giving away the Vast Heaven Divine Domain and toward ordinary offerings for City Lord Cheng.

• Chu Xinghe encouraged the Civil Engineering Department to defy the Holy Lord’s order, and its disciples argued over who should be demoted to the outer sect to take responsibility.
• The Great Elder silenced the department and punished everyone by withholding their resources for a year; when Huang Ritian complained, the Great Elder added confinement for talking back.
• After the Great Elder left, Chu Xinghe rallied the department to prepare gifts for City Lord Cheng, hoping to leave Gui Li with nothing to do.
• Azure Dragon Sacred Venerable proposed giving away the Vast Heaven Divine Domain, and the department enthusiastically praised his idea.
• Chu Xinghe warned that the domain belonged to the Beast God and could not safely be given away, then urged everyone to stick to ordinary gifts like divine weapons and spirit stones.

Chu Xinghe brought five hundred carts of valuable gifts from the Vast Heaven Holy Land to Cheng Xiaotian’s promotion banquet, despite Martial Emperor City announcing it would not give return gifts. The lavish gifts prompted the other factions to prepare more, and Zheng Yu concluded that Chu Xinghe had come to support him as a trusted confidant.

• Azure Dragon Sacred Venerable and the Civil Engineering Department backed Chu Xinghe’s plan to avoid mistakes and prepare gifts to give away, while Zheng Yu explained that Martial Emperor City had announced it would give no return gifts because its treasury was depleted.
• Major figures from across the Four Continents arrived for Cheng Xiaotian’s promotion banquet, and Wu Qiushui and Zheng Yu welcomed the guests at Martial Emperor City’s gates.
• White Tiger Holy Venerable set up a teleportation formation for the Vast Heaven Holy Land, whose first elder arrived with its major figures to congratulate Cheng Xiaotian.
• Chu Xinghe ordered Ma Liang to present more than five hundred carts of gifts, rejecting Huang Ritian’s unsuitable betrothal gift lists and insisting they give actual goods instead.
• As Martial Emperor City counted and announced the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s gifts, guests from other factions ordered their subordinates to prepare more valuable gifts.
• Zheng Yu was moved by Chu Xinghe’s gesture and declared himself Chu Xinghe’s third trusted confidant.

Chu Xinghe’s five hundred cartloads of gifts prompted other factions to send more resources to Martial Emperor City, while he remained unconcerned about the chain reaction. As Zheng Yu showed him through the city, onlookers argued over whether Chu Xinghe’s splendid outfit proved the Splendid Faction right about his appearance.

• Zheng Yu welcomed the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s five hundred cartloads of gifts, which encouraged other factions to replace their modest offerings with resources.
• Chu Xinghe stayed calm, reasoning that gifts sent to Martial Emperor City would not affect the Vast Heaven Holy Land.
• Zheng Yu and Wu Qiushui escorted the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s guests into the inner city, while Zheng Yu led Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang through the outer city.
• Onlookers recognized Chu Xinghe and renewed the dispute between the Splendid Faction and the Plain Faction over how he should look.
• The Splendid Faction pointed to Chu Xinghe’s legendary Spirit God Cloth outfit as proof that he was splendid, then challenged the Plain Faction to respond.

Chu Xinghe attended a formal gathering in Martial Emperor City wearing the one-of-a-kind Moonlight Illusion Garment Xinghe, designed by Sacred Venerable Vermilion Bird. After Zheng Yu toured him through two favorite shops, Chu Xinghe’s visit brought a flood of customers, revealing that Zheng Yu owned most of both businesses.

• The chapter described how Moonlight Illusion Garments became wildly popular, with legendary outfits Dragon Soars Across the Four Seas and Phoenix Dances in the Nine Heavens prized by cultivators.
• Chu Xinghe wore Xinghe, a unique garment that left a trail of stars forming a galaxy behind him, and onlookers admired it while joking about impossible ways to obtain it.
• Black Sha watched the Haotian Mirror broadcast and argued that Chu Xinghe’s elegant formal appearances differed from the thrifty, easily flustered person people remembered.
• Zheng Yu showed Chu Xinghe around Martial Emperor City’s outer city and took him into two shops he particularly liked.
• After Chu Xinghe left, both shops drew crowds hoping to follow his route, and their owners celebrated the sudden surge in business.
• Zheng Yu revealed that he owned nine tenths of each shop’s equity and had deliberately chosen them because Chu Xinghe brought good fortune wherever he went.

Zheng Yu explained why Rogue Cultivators sought homes in powerful cities, prompting Chu Xinghe to abolish Haotian’s limits on how long they could cultivate there. He left for Martial Emperor City’s inner city delighted by the plan to draw in Rogue Cultivators, while the city’s disciples gathered to see him.

• Zheng Yu explained that Rogue Cultivators rarely kept discovered blessed lands or grotto-heavens, and that Martial Emperor City’s outer city offered them a safer place to cultivate if they owned or rented property.
• Chu Xinghe learned that Haotian City expelled Rogue Cultivators who stayed too long and ordered Ma Liang to let them cultivate freely throughout the Haotian Mountain Range outside the Vast Heaven Sect’s grounds.
• Zheng Yu warned that the new policy would bring many Rogue Cultivators and greatly increase resource consumption, making Chu Xinghe enthusiastic about the plan.
• Ma Liang contacted Feng Fei, who managed the Vast Heaven Holy Land while its senior figures were away, to put Chu Xinghe’s order into effect.
• Chu Xinghe entered Martial Emperor City’s inner city with Zheng Yu, and crowds of disciples gathered to see him.
• Zheng Yu scolded the gathered disciples for neglecting their cultivation, and they fled in fright.

Chu Xinghe arrived in Martial Emperor City, where Zheng Yu arranged lavish accommodations and a banquet for him. When Bai Yu toasted Chu Xinghe with a curse about his future defeat, Chu Xinghe enthusiastically returned the toast, prompting the guests to conclude that Bai Yu had switched sides.

• Zheng Yu escorted Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang to private accommodations and arranged a personal rocking chair and male attendants for Chu Xinghe.
• Zheng Yu received the arriving guests and noted that Chu Xinghe's lavish gifts had encouraged them to bring more valuable gifts to Martial Emperor City.
• Cheng Xiaotian hosted a banquet where Chu Xinghe accepted toasts from the Four Continents' geniuses with small sips.
• Bai Yu toasted Chu Xinghe by predicting that he would eventually suffer a crushing defeat, and Chu Xinghe drained his cup and returned the toast.
• The guests recognized Bai Yu as Leader Bai of the Xinghe Haters' Group and concluded that rumors he had switched sides were true.

At the banquet, everyone mistook Bai Yu’s threats against Chu Xinghe for proof that he was a hidden defector, while Chu Xinghe sincerely admired him as a kindred spirit. Meanwhile, Chu Xinghe asked Feng Fei to launch a costly plan at Vast Heaven Holy Land, and Feng Fei assigned Shen Chun to carry it out.

• The banquet guests concluded that Bai Yu had secretly been helping Chu Xinghe and treated his toast as evidence that he was a hidden defector.
• Bai Yu blamed Chu Xinghe for turning the crowd and the Evil Lords against him, then vowed to make Chu Xinghe lose everything before leaving without giving his name.
• Chu Xinghe misunderstood Bai Yu’s threat as heartfelt support and wished he could keep drinking with his new kindred spirit.
• Chu Xinghe contacted Feng Fei and insisted that he fully open a plan despite Feng Fei’s concerns about the expense and influx of people.
• Feng Fei assigned Shen Chun to carry out Chu Xinghe’s plan, and Shen Chun agreed after hearing that Chu Xinghe considered it foolproof.

Zhang Bin, a rejected Rogue Cultivator, secretly cultivated in the Haotian Mountain Range to benefit from the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s Spiritual Qi. He learned that Senior Brother Xinghe had changed the rules to let Rogue Cultivators cultivate on the mountain’s outskirts without a time limit, and he joined others in praising the Vast Heaven Holy Land.

• Zhang Bin recalled how sects had rejected him and how another Rogue Cultivator taught him to cultivate near powerful factions to benefit from Spiritual Qi leaking out of their grounds.
• Zhang Bin cultivated in the Haotian Mountain Range, hoping to reach the fourth rank before his permitted stay ended.
• Two Bear Clan patrol disciples arrived, and Zhang Bin prepared to leave when he thought his time in the mountains was up.
• The patrol disciples told Zhang Bin that Senior Brother Xinghe had removed the time limit for cultivation on the mountain’s outskirts, while forbidding entry to inner areas and damage to the grounds.
• Zhang Bin confirmed that cultivation was free, then praised Lord Xinghe as Rogue Cultivators across the Haotian Mountain Range celebrated the new rules.

Chu Xinghe’s order allowed Rogue Cultivators to cultivate in the outer Haotian Mountain Range as long as they followed the rules, astonishing people across the Four Continents. After learning how easily the Vast Heaven Holy Land accepted his decisions, visiting prodigies recognized the extraordinary authority he held there.

• Zhang Bin learned that Bear Clan disciples would let Rogue Cultivators cultivate in the Haotian Mountain Range if they obeyed the rules.
• The Vast Heaven Holy Land announced across the Four Continents that Rogue Cultivators could cultivate in the mountain range’s outer areas without being driven away for staying long-term.
• Prodigies in Martial Emperor City questioned whether Chu Xinghe had authorized the order, and Ma Liang confirmed that he had.
• Zheng Yu explained that Chu Xinghe had made the decision on the spur of the moment and had not needed to report it or hold a meeting.
• The grand elder said he had not known about the order but considered it a small matter Chu Xinghe or Ma Liang could handle.
• Zheng Yu explained Chu Xinghe’s standing to the visiting prodigies, who realized that his authority in the Vast Heaven Holy Land surpassed their own status in their sects.

Chu Xinghe opened the Haotian Mountain Range to Rogue Cultivators, drawing criticism over the resources they would consume, and claimed he simply wanted to use up the Vast Heaven Holy Land’s resources. The crowd interpreted his words as a hidden plan and a pointed response to Bai Yu, while Zheng Yu mistook Chu Xinghe’s question about Bai Yu for another deliberate insult.

• Young prodigies and senior figures questioned Chu Xinghe’s decision to let Rogue Cultivators freely absorb spiritual power in the Haotian Mountain Range and worried about the cost to the Vast Heaven Holy Land.
• Chu Xinghe declared that he wanted to consume the sect’s resources, and the gathered big shots assumed he was concealing a deeper purpose.
• The crowd connected Chu Xinghe’s statement to Bai Yu’s article accusing him of wanting to consume sect resources, while Bai Yu took the remark as a personal attack and stormed away.
• Chu Xinghe wondered aloud who Bai Yu was, hoping to learn the identity of the person who had wished him such auspicious success.
• Zheng Yu stopped others from naming Bai Yu and answered that he was probably a nameless nobody, interpreting Chu Xinghe’s question as a calculated slight.

At Cheng Xiaotian’s promotion banquet, Chu Xinghe redirected the crowd’s questions from the Vast Heaven Holy Land to Cheng’s breakthrough. Cheng credited Xinghe’s Happy Cultivation Method with helping him open his state of mind, revealing his Dao of Happiness and leaving Zheng Yu privately unconvinced that his master’s disciple was happy.

• Chu Xinghe praised a nobody’s auspicious words while the gathering’s prodigies interpreted his sincerity as him saying the opposite of what he meant.
• The Grand Elder deflected questions about Chu Xinghe and the Vast Heaven Holy Land, and Chu Xinghe steered the gathering’s attention toward Cheng Xiaotian.
• The gathered big shots asked Cheng Xiaotian how he had reached the Half-Step Main God realm, and Cheng said he had to thank Chu Xinghe.
• Cheng Xiaotian explained that Xinghe’s Happy Cultivation Method cultivated the heart and that happiness opened one’s state of mind, which he called his Dao of Happiness.
• Zheng Yu privately thought Cheng Xiaotian’s Dao of Happiness had made his master happy but had not made Zheng Yu happy.

Cheng Xiaotian explained that his Dao of Happiness came from topping up in the Haotian Mirror and realizing he could defeat Gu Mingchao there, which broke his Heart Demon and triggered his breakthrough to the Half-Step Main God realm. Gu Mingchao arrived to protect his old friend as Cheng Xiaotian began the dangerous breakthrough.

• Cheng Xiaotian described how he found happiness by topping up and used his victories over Gu Mingchao in the Haotian Mirror to overcome his Heart Demon.
• Cheng Xiaotian gained a sudden insight and began breaking through to the Half-Step Main God realm.
• The Grand Elder and Martial Emperor City directed everyone to retreat as Spiritual Qi gathered around Cheng Xiaotian.
• Gu Mingchao arrived from the Vast Heaven Holy Land and used his Flame Divinity to guard Cheng Xiaotian during the breakthrough.

Gu Mingchao guarded Cheng Xiaotian through his breakthrough to Half-Step Main God, then celebrated with him at the resumed banquet. As the faction leaders pressed Cheng Xiaotian about whether top-ups could make them stronger, Chu Xinghe worried that the Haotian Mirror would tempt them to spend their resources.

• Gu Mingchao arrived at Martial Emperor City and protected Cheng Xiaotian while he broke through to Half-Step Main God.
• Cheng Xiaotian completed his breakthrough, and he and Gu Mingchao traded old nicknames and jokes before celebrating as old friends.
• The gathered factions congratulated Cheng Xiaotian, whose advancement gave Martial Emperor City new standing and a chance to pursue the Main God realm.
• At the banquet, Cheng Xiaotian claimed top-ups had made him stronger and told leaders he had spent more than half a Martial Emperor City's worth.
• Chu Xinghe grew alarmed as leaders asked about top-ups and Gu Mingchao also discussed wanting to become stronger.

After a banquet, Chu Xinghe hoped the Four Continents’ leaders would not believe Cheng Xiaotian’s claims about topping up, but Zheng Yu’s promise to repay him triggered a frenzy on the Haotian Mirror rankings. As major figures and factions competed for rank, Chu Xinghe realized his plans had collapsed.

• Cheng Xiaotian and Gu Mingchao drank late into the night, then reminisced noisily together in Cheng Xiaotian’s room.
• Chu Xinghe checked the Haotian Mirror and saw that the top-up rankings had not changed, but Zheng Yu visited and promised to repay Chu Xinghe’s kindness with a big surprise.
• Undefeated Legend Xing Yushen appeared in the top ten, and the rankings quickly became a fierce contest among figures from across the Four Continents.
• Wang Daoquan, Ming Clan, Hua Clan, Cui Clan, and Earth Sha contestants battled for places near the top of the rankings as Evil Lords claimed several top-ten spots.
• Wu Xingyun, King of the Night Road, surged to second place for the Blazing Sun Continent, while Lord of the Ape School and his rival fought over Demon Star Continent’s standing.
• The Haotian Mirror’s trending topics filled with the top-up competition, and Chu Xinghe realized that everything had gone wrong.

Zheng Yu’s schemes sparked a top-up spending battle among the Four Continents’ faction leaders, who kept charging to defend their pride and hoped the Haotian Mirror might help them grow stronger. Lu Chengqing reported the leaderboard surge to Ma Liang, who credited Chu Xinghe’s planning, while Chu Xinghe insisted the affair had nothing to do with him or the Vast Heaven Holy Land.

• Zheng Yu arranged for disciples to spread rumors that topping up could make people stronger, prompting Wang Daoquan and other faction leaders to join the Haotian Mirror leaderboard and compete for status.
• Clan Head Hua confirmed through Hua Xichen’s divination that Cheng Xiaotian had truly comprehended the Dao of Happiness, while he and the Evil Shadow Continent’s lords remained eager to reach the Half-Step Main God realm.
• Lu Chengqing noticed the leaderboard’s explosive growth and contacted Ma Liang, who told him that Chu Xinghe had anticipated and controlled the situation.
• Ma Liang praised Chu Xinghe’s calculated influence and found him calmly reclining with his Haotian Mirror set aside.
• Chu Xinghe denied having anything to do with the spending frenzy, and Ma Liang agreed that it had absolutely nothing to do with Chu Xinghe or the Vast Heaven Holy Land.

Chu Xinghe tried to stop the Four Continents' big shots from losing more spirit stones through the Haotian Mirror, but small recharges and rumors that recharging made people stronger sparked an even bigger wave of spending. It left Chu Xinghe sprawled beneath his broken rocking chair, still composed as he declared himself beaten.

• Chu Xinghe told Zheng Yu to explain the events truthfully on the Haotian Mirror and urge the big shots to stop recharging.
• Chu Xinghe ordered Lu Chengqing to disable large recharges, and Lu Chengqing carried out the order while Zheng Yu posted his account.
• Zheng Yu's post explained that Cheng Xiaotian's breakthrough came from his unique Dao, but Haotian Mirror users began arguing over whether recharging could make people stronger.
• People who had made small recharges falsely claimed they had grown stronger so they would not be the only ones fooled, and their posts encouraged others to recharge.
• Small recharges surged across the Four Continents, leaving Lu Chengqing excited by the growing income and Chu Xinghe lying beneath his shattered rocking chair.

Chu Xinghe’s broken rocking chair gave him a moment to reflect on how people who had topped up their Haotian Mirror accounts were persuading others to do the same to protect their own pride. Lu Chengqing realized that Chu Xinghe had stopped large top-ups to calm the wealthy cultivators while drawing small payments from across the Four Continents, leaving the Vast Heaven Holy Land with vast earnings and little blame.

• Chu Xinghe’s rocking chair broke, and Zheng Yu mistakenly threatened Martial Emperor City’s stewards before Ma Liang explained that he had brought the chair.
• Chu Xinghe reasoned that cultivators who regretted topping up were urging others to do it so they would not be mocked alone.
• Small Haotian Mirror top-ups spread across the Four Continents as cultivators misled friends into joining in, while large top-ups remained restricted.
• Lu Chengqing saw the growing stream of small payments and understood that Chu Xinghe’s plan could earn more from ordinary cultivators than from the few wealthy big shots.
• Lu Chengqing realized that stopping large top-ups had also prevented the big shots from overspending and made them grateful to the Vast Heaven Holy Land.

Chu Xinghe’s scheme turned his master’s breakthrough into a Four Continents-wide spending frenzy, earning the Vast Heaven Holy Land a fortune while keeping the powerful from retaliating. Zheng Yu recognized the depth of Chu Xinghe’s planning, and the affair ended with everyone denying they had been fooled except Erlüzi, who was branded Duped Erlüzi.

• Lu Chengqing received thanks from major factions for Chu Xinghe’s decision to disable large top-ups and limit their losses.
• Erlüzi accused the Vast Heaven Holy Land of cheating people, but commenters mocked him for admitting he had been duped and gave him the nickname Duped Erlüzi.
• Bai Yu denied being fooled and explained that anyone admitting to it would be cursed by the crowd, even though many people had topped up.
• Zheng Yu realized Chu Xinghe had used the tide of his master’s breakthrough to harvest the Four Continents while keeping the powerful calm and ordinary people satisfied.
• Chu Xinghe sighed that he had been wrong, and Zheng Yu understood that Chu Xinghe was already examining the plan’s flaws rather than celebrating.
• The next morning, everyone claimed they had not been fooled, while the final tally named only Erlüzi as a victim, for one spirit stone.