Recaps

Chen Nan developed a theory for accelerating cultivation by combining his AI System with the Clear Heart Incantation, but he had not yet tested it. Meanwhile, a smear campaign accused Chen Nan Spicy Hot Pot of using addictive poppy husks, leaving the stores shut down and Chen Nan’s reputation in ruins as Shi Lei asked him to compensate his family.

• Chen Nan reasoned that resonance between his cells and external electromagnetic fields might improve cultivation, and he considered combining scientific calculations with a Nature Master's methods.
• Chen Nan noticed that his AI System evolved as his strength improved, which he believed was connected to his brain cells growing stronger.
• Reports accused Chen Nan Spicy Hot Pot of putting addictive poppy husks in its broth and causing cancer and mental illness.
• People smashed the stores' windows, Jiang Lili and the others stayed home, and government departments sealed the shops for investigation.
• Franchise owners demanded compensation, while public outrage damaged Chen Nan's reputation across Wu City.
• Shi Lei visited Chen Nan and tactfully asked him to cover his family's financial losses from the franchise.

Chen Nan sought influential allies to clear his name after his Spicy Hot Pot was accused of containing poppy husks. Surveillance footage showed a recently hired worker tampering with the soup, but his identification was forged and his whereabouts were unknown.

• Chen Nan promised Shi Lei compensation for his losses and said he would sever their business relationship.
• Chen Nan asked Principal Li Nanchao to support him publicly after he proved the food was safe, and Li Nanchao said he needed time to consider.
• Lu Fangliang agreed to arrange an authoritative inspection of Chen Nan’s soup base recipe and asked how Chen Nan would prove the restaurant used the same recipe.
• Chen Nan returned to Jiang Lili’s place and reviewed footage showing a recently hired worker putting something into the soup pot.
• Jiang Lili told Chen Nan that the worker had registered with a forged ID and that the Patrol Bureau could not identify him.

Chen Nan analyzed evidence implicating a young worker in the food-poisoning scandal, then went to an underground casino to draw out its people and challenge Smiling Buddha. The chapter ended as Smiling Buddha began shaking specially made dice for a test of Chen Nan’s hearing.

• Chen Nan identified the powder in the surveillance footage as poppy husk powder and planned to find the young worker through Hualong Prefecture’s identity records.
• Jiang Lili told Chen Nan that the Patrol Bureau had barred her group from leaving town and that public pressure could force them to take the blame.
• Chen Nan left for an underground casino and rapidly won 1.28 million yuan by betting on dice outcomes.
• The casino’s manager, Smiling Buddha, challenged Chen Nan to name every face’s pips on three specially made dice after he shook them.
• Smiling Buddha began shaking the dice amid a noisy crowd, while Chen Nan listened for their overlapping sounds.

Chen Nan used his enhanced hearing, AI System, and vibration sense to beat Smiling Buddha at a dice challenge and prevent him from changing the result. Casino owner Yang Wankun paid Chen Nan five million yuan and treated him as a respected guest.

• Chen Nan analyzed the dice by their sounds and announced the numbers on all six faces of each die.
• Smiling Buddha tried to flip the dice as he lifted the cup, but Chen Nan canceled the vibration with a precisely timed slap on the table.
• The dice matched Chen Nan's announcement, stunning the crowd and forcing Smiling Buddha to admit defeat.
• Yang Wankun arrived, praised Chen Nan, and offered him five million yuan as his winnings.
• A woman brought a gold card to the table, and Chen Nan judged Yang Wankun to be no simple man.

Chen Nan turned down Yang Wankun’s attempt to pay him five million, then secured his help in meeting Yang Wangan to access the Patrol Bureau’s population database and find the person who framed him. Walking home after midnight, Chen Nan sensed an invisible assassin closing in and prepared to strike back.

• Chen Nan returned the five-million gold card at first, but Yang Wankun accepted it temporarily and invited him for tea.
• Chen Nan asked Yang Wankun to introduce him to Yang Wangan so he could use the Patrol Bureau’s population information system to find the criminal who framed him.
• Yang Wankun agreed to speak with his elder brother the next day, and Chen Nan left with the gold card and Yang Wankun’s contact information.
• After Chen Nan declined a ride and began walking toward Jiang Lili’s home, he sensed a soul-piercing chill on the empty street.
• Chen Nan used infrared vision to detect an invisible Agility Transcendent assassin approaching him, kept his discovery hidden, and waited with the Thunderclap Art ready.

Chen Nan fought off an assassin sent by Wang Bodan and Zhang Hua, but the stronger opponent nearly killed him before Lu Fangliang intervened. Chen Nan killed the helpless assassin and revealed that he knew who had ordered the attack.

• The assassin launched a surprise attack on Chen Nan, who countered with the Thunderclap Art and severed the assassin’s testicles with his Twin Axes.
• The assassin protected himself with a nuclear-radiation shield and pressed Chen Nan into a prolonged fight, gradually wounding him with his superior speed and strength.
• As Chen Nan continued fighting despite his injuries, Lu Fangliang appeared and struck the assassin down with a flash of sword light.
• Chen Nan ignored Lu Fangliang’s order to spare the assassin and killed him with his axe.
• Chen Nan told Lu Fangliang that he knew who had arranged the assassination, while Lu Fangliang criticized his attitude toward killing.

After Lu Fangliang rescued Chen Nan and helped him return safely to the academy, a video of Chen Nan fighting an Assassin Association member went viral and drew attention from Transcendent factions. Chen Nan then went to the Patrol Bureau to search identity records for the criminal, proposing to identify the suspect himself.

• Lu Fangliang explained that fate had brought him to Chen Nan, then accompanied him to the Patrol Bureau, where Yang Wangan closed the assassination case pending Chen Nan's statement.
• Chen Nan returned to the academy and confirmed to Shen Congyun and the others that he was the fighter in the viral video, asking them to keep it quiet.
• Wang Bodan feared Chen Nan's revenge, while Zhang Hua regretted that Chen Nan had survived and gained attention.
• Transcendent factions and young Transcendents across the country took interest in Chen Nan after watching the video.
• Chen Nan visited Yang Wangan and offered to search Wu City's identity records himself to find the criminal shown in his surveillance footage.

Chen Nan used his extraordinary vision to identify Du Dayu in the population records and expose the plot against his Spicy Hot Pot shop. With Du Dayu arrested and evidence of the shop’s safety gathered, Chen Nan prepared a public campaign to restore its reputation, then learned Lu Fangliang could travel between cities at incredible speed.

• Chen Nan rapidly searched Wu City's and then Hualong Prefecture's population records, finding the suspect, Du Dayu.
• Yang Wangan had Chang Yutian investigate Du Dayu, and patrol officers arrested him at a hotel; Du Dayu confessed to poisoning Chen Nan's Spicy Hot Pot soup at someone else's request.
• Chen Nan asked the Prefecture Office to publicize the evidence, while Lu Fangliang returned with national food-safety certification for the recipe.
• Dean Li Nanchao agreed to cooperate with Chen Nan's plan to restore the shop's reputation through a final public campaign.
• After class, Chen Nan asked how Lu Fangliang had helped save him while handling certification in Luojing, and Lu Fangliang said he could make several round trips between Luojing and Wu City within an hour.

Chen Nan publicly cleared his hot pot business and reopened it to great success, while Wang Bodan, isolated and despairing, died by suicide. Chen Nan returned to the academy, stopped Wang Bodan’s phone video, and took responsibility for arranging his funeral.

• Lu Fangliang delivered Chen Nan’s safety certification, and Chen Nan prepared to reopen his flagship store with Li Nanchao’s help.
• At the reopening, Li Nanchao presented evidence that Chen Nan had been framed, displayed the safety certification, and invited people to taste the hot pot.
• Shi Lei regretted withdrawing from Chen Nan’s business, while Wang Bodan felt isolated, blamed Chen Nan, and jumped from the academy rooftop.
• Chen Nan learned of Wang Bodan’s death and returned to the academy with Li Nanchao.
• Chen Nan turned off the video playing on Wang Bodan’s phone and asked Li Nanchao to let him arrange Wang Bodan’s funeral.

After Wang Bodan’s death, Chen Nan arranged his funeral and then returned to the academy, determined to prepare for the annual assessment. He worked to combine Transcendent meditation with Nature Master cultivation, but the two methods resisted each other, leaving him unsure whether to keep experimenting or focus on rapid progress.

• Li Nanchao ordered Wang Bodan’s death concealed, and Jiang Lili transported the body away; Chen Nan paid for the cremation and arranged a cemetery plot and funeral.
• Chen Nan stood alone at Wang Bodan’s grave until dark, then returned with Jiang Lili and the others for a meal.
• At the shop, Chen Nan learned that Sister Li, whose name was Li Yunfeng and who came from Gusu Commandery, often asked about him and his time at the Orphanage.
• Chen Nan returned to the academy and began intensive cultivation, while Li Nanchao provided him with resources to prepare for the September assessment.
• Chen Nan considered combining meditation’s speed with the Nature Master method’s purity, but the two cultivation methods seemed incompatible, and he struggled to choose between further research and faster advancement.

Chen Nan combined the Meditation Method and Clear Heart Incantation into a cultivation path of his own, accepting slower progress in exchange for stronger, purer power. Dean Li Nanchao summoned him to issue an ultimatum, but Chen Nan believed he could still meet the assessment through his new method.

• Chen Nan set aside his vow to follow one cultivation path and resolved to combine Transcendent and Nature Master methods to gain greater freedom and strength.
• Chen Nan spent several months studying both methods and using the AI System to work out how to cultivate them together, slowing his progress to Level Nine of the Zero Rank.
• The AI System found a way to manage both methods at once, allowing Chen Nan to absorb power quickly and optimize it according to the Clear Heart Incantation.
• Chen Nan discovered that his refined power let him rival someone at Level One or Two of the First Rank, and that Nature Master advancement required no instruments.
• Li Nanchao, dissatisfied with Chen Nan's slow progress and with fewer than five months remaining before the assessment, summoned him to his office to give him a final ultimatum.
• Chen Nan sensed Li Nanchao's anger but remained confident that his new cultivation method could help him gain six levels in just over four months.

Li Nanchao reprimanded Chen Nan for neglecting his cultivation just as four Special Grade Teachers from Luojing Transcendent Academy arrived to recruit him. Chen Nan declined their offers for now, choosing to take the academy assessment first and decide afterward.

• Li Nanchao warned Chen Nan to reach Level Fifteen by September or face punishment and repayment for the academy's investment.
• Four Special Grade Teachers from Luojing Transcendent Academy entered and offered Chen Nan admission and cultivation resources in their respective departments.
• The teachers argued over who should recruit Chen Nan, while Li Nanchao protested that they were trying to take his student.
• Chen Nan thanked the teachers but said he would not join any department before taking the Transcendent Academy assessment.
• Li Nanchao privately felt relieved that Chen Nan had kept his promise to the academy.

Chen Nan rejected the Transcendent Academy departments’ recruitment and continued cultivating, reaching Level Ten after about half a month. Lu Fangliang explained that Nature Masters could keep cultivating beyond that point without a stage advancement, while news of Chen Nan’s test result reached Li Nanchao.

• Chen Nan refused the four Special Grade Teachers’ offers, and Li Nanchao promised to keep supporting his cultivation.
• Su Wenbin explained that the recruitment visit could deter rivals and make Chen Nan more likely to choose their academy later.
• Lu Fangliang declined to take countermeasures, leaving Chen Nan to make his own choice.
• Chen Nan’s diligence influenced his dormmates and spread to other students at the Preparatory Academy.
• About half a month later, Chen Nan reached Level Ten and asked Lu Fangliang how Nature Masters advanced.
• Lu Fangliang told Chen Nan that Nature Masters had no stage advancement and could continue cultivating, and Li Nanchao received the test result.

Li Nanchao arranged a premium stage enhancement for Chen Nan, who checked with Lu Fangliang that it would not interfere with his Nature Master cultivation. Chen Nan entered the Golden Pod and began the enhancement, excited by its effectiveness.

• Li Nanchao reviewed Chen Nan's level-ten test data and ordered a free enhancement ceremony using the academy's best Capacity Expansion Pod.
• Chen Nan discussed the plan with Lu Fangliang, who explained that stage enhancement would not affect his Nature Master cultivation.
• News of Chen Nan's enhancement spread through Wu City Preparatory Academy, where students reacted with envy and Zhang Hua compared him unfavorably to lineage geniuses.
• Chen Nan arrived at the Body Tempering Room, completed the required preparations, and entered the Golden Pod.
• The staff started the pod's program, and Chen Nan felt manageable prickling pain and dizziness as he became excited by the machine's effects.

Chen Nan discovered that his Golden Pod cultivation might let him retain power gained from artificial energy, while the Seven Great Families gathered their young talents for a June social event. The children discussed the coming academy assessment and learned that Chen Nan would be a remarkable outsider competing against them.

• Chen Nan cultivated inside the Golden Pod with a method combining the Meditation Method and the Clear Heart Incantation, and noticed his power increasing with unusual purity and speed.
• Chen Nan wondered whether his Nature Master's cultivation could make the power gained inside the pod permanent, and continued cultivating while awaiting confirmation.
• The Seven Great Families prepared a June 1 gathering for their young members, whose talents and numbers reinforced the families' existing rankings.
• At the gathering, Chen Wan'er challenged Qin Shou's dismissal of children outside the families and hinted at Chen Nan.
• Zhao Yunlong explained that Chen Nan had come from an orphanage, fought an evil force and a professional assassin, and declined an exam-free academy offer so he could take the assessment.

Qin Shou and the other young geniuses learned that Chen Nan had reached Level Ten without the body-nurturing advantages they had enjoyed, though they doubted he would appear in the assessment. After leaving the Golden Pod on June 5, Chen Nan confirmed that his rapid gains were real and began preparing for the upcoming assessment.

• Qin Shou called Li Guodong, who revealed that Chen Nan had reached Level Ten in under a year and was undergoing advancement in a Capacity Expansion Pod.
• Qin Shou dismissed Chen Nan as unlikely to reach Level Fifteen in time, while the other children wondered how much farther Chen Nan could have progressed with their privileged resources.
• Chen Nan realized he could cultivate inside the Golden Pod and had risen three levels to Level Thirteen during a little over a month there.
• Li Nanchao released Chen Nan from the pod on June 5, and Chen Nan confirmed that his gained strength had not dissipated.
• Chen Nan kept his discovery about cultivating in the pod secret and considered choosing another skill for the upcoming combat assessment.

Chen Nan chose Mist Concealment Technique and trained discreetly as he prepared to apply to Luojing Transcendent Academy. He arrived in Luojing with Jiang Lili and Li Nanchao for the on-site application assessment.

• Chen Nan selected Mist Concealment Technique from the academy library and registered it, seeing how the AI System could adapt its effects.
• Chen Nan told Li Nanchao he would train privately until the application assessment, and Li Nanchao approved.
• Chen Nan kept his cultivation restrained to avoid drawing excessive attention as he trained.
• Lu Fangliang prepared to return to Luojing Transcendent Academy, where Yang Yugan and the other departments closely watched Chen Nan's prospects.
• Chen Nan arrived in Luojing with Jiang Lili and Li Nanchao for the August 15 application process; Luojing Transcendent Academy required applicants to be no older than thirteen and at least Level Fifteen.

Chen Nan reviewed information on the Seven Great Families’ exam candidates and realized their equipment could make them far stronger than the roster suggested. As he prepared for the test the next morning, Jiang Lili found some questionable items in the hotel room and packed them away to ask her friends about.

• Li Nanchao took Chen Nan and Jiang Lili around Luojing, where Jiang Lili vowed to open a Spicy Hot Pot shop and Li Nanchao offered to join the franchise.
• Li Nanchao sent Chen Nan a roster of more than forty Seven Great Families’ exam candidates, including Zhao Yunlong, Chu Yu, Qin Shou, and Chen Wan'er.
• Chen Nan learned the candidates’ listed abilities represented only about half their true strength because of hidden techniques and powerful equipment, and he worried that he was outmatched.
• Jiang Lili brought Chen Nan strange clothes, a mask, ropes, and a whip she had found in the hotel cabinet, then packed them away to ask Feng Wu and the others what they were for.
• Chen Nan showered and went to bed, thinking about how some things had remained unchanged after he crossed over.

Chen Nan and Jiang Lili went with Li Nanchao to the Luojing Transcendent Association for the academy assessment, where a confrontation with a group of famed young geniuses began. Zhao Yunlong and the others withdrew for now, warning that they would meet Chen Nan again during the assessment.

• Jiang Lili arrived exhausted with Chen Nan and Li Nanchao at the crowded assessment site, where Li Nanchao went to find an acquaintance to move them closer to the front.
• A guard shoved Jiang Lili and tried to slap her, but Chen Nan struck him and pulled Jiang Lili behind him.
• A young Jiang family genius named Jiang Wenming attacked Chen Nan, who redirected his force and tripped him to the ground.
• Zhao Yunlong, Chu Yu, Qin Shou, and the other young geniuses arrived, and the crowd recognized Chen Nan for his past feats.
• Chen Nan exchanged sharp words with Qin Shou, while Zhao Yunlong called the clash a misunderstanding and suggested they settle matters during the assessment.
• Li Nanchao led Chen Nan and Jiang Lili away as Zhao Yunlong's group let them go under the watch of hidden observers.

Chen Nan refused Li Nanchao and Jiang Lili’s plan to smooth things over with the Chosen Ones, then completed his on-site review and received approval despite their mockery of his test result. With the review settled, he returned to his lodgings with Li Nanchao and Jiang Lili to wait for the entrance examination.

• Li Nanchao warned Chen Nan that offending the Chosen Ones could bring trouble later and proposed hosting a banquet, but Chen Nan refused to apologize or appease them.
• Chen Nan explained that acting worldly and submissive would harm his Nature Master cultivation, then agreed to be careful while declining to change his stance.
• After a long wait for his review, Chen Nan entered the testing hall as Zhao Yunlong and the others watched and bet on his result.
• Chen Nan’s test showed 15.53 QE, and Zhao Yunlong’s group mocked him before he collected his approval certificate and left.
• Li Nanchao was relieved when Chen Nan showed him the certificate, treated Chen Nan and Jiang Lili to lunch, and planned to stay with Chen Nan until the examination.

Foreign Beastkin and Demonkin spies discussed Luojing Transcendent Academy’s admissions, assessing Chen Nan and planning for the Qingyang Kingdom’s eventual destruction. Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlong and the other Chosen Ones decided to take the first aptitude assessment to surpass Chen Nan, and the candidates set out for the academy.

• Five Beastkin and Demonkin discussed the Qingyang Kingdom’s admissions and mocked its young geniuses for lacking combat experience and willpower.
• Beastkin B found Chen Nan’s file, and the group acknowledged his resolve while dismissing his talent and discussing Kroya Kingdom’s ambition to conquer the world.
• Zhao Yunlong and the other Chosen Ones chose to take the first assessment so they could outperform Chen Nan.
• The candidates boarded academy buses and traveled along cleared roads toward Luojing Transcendent Academy, feeling the pressure of the examination ahead.

Chen Nan entered Luojing Transcendent Academy’s televised entrance examination, where elite family heirs mocked him before the first test began. As the difficult Meditation Qi Yin Art assessment wore on, unfamiliar students began dropping out, while Chen Nan’s performance remained unresolved.

• Chen Nan avoided Liu Mingtao’s eager attention and arrived at Luojing Transcendent Academy for the examination.
• Academy personnel divided the candidates into groups, and Chen Nan was assigned to Testing Hall One among the top family heirs.
• Zhao Yunlong, Qin Shou, and other candidates mocked and insulted Chen Nan, but he calmly waited for the examination to begin.
• The chief examiner started the unfamiliar Meditation Qi Yin Art recording, putting Chen Nan at a disadvantage compared with candidates who regularly practiced it.
• After about forty minutes, students began withdrawing from the assessment as they struggled to endure the pressure.

Chen Nan endured the Meditation Sound Awakening Art by using the Clear Heart Incantation to overcome its worsening effects, outlasting the Seven Great Families’ descendants. The assessment ended with Zhao Yunlong collapsing before he could beat his personal record, while Chen Nan remained standing.

• Chen Nan used the AI System to understand the Meditation Sound Awakening Art, then activated the Clear Heart Incantation to ease his nausea and palpitations.
• As the assessment passed an hour, descendants of the Seven Great Families began withdrawing, unable to match Chen Nan’s endurance.
• Qin Shou and several others withdrew after an hour and a half, leaving Zhao Yunlong, Chen Wan'er, and Chen Nan in the hall.
• Chen Wan'er withdrew after suffering bleeding from her body and nose, while the proctors watched Zhao Yunlong and Chen Nan continue.
• At one hour and thirty-five minutes, Zhao Yunlong swayed, spat blood, and fell backward before reaching his record of one hour and forty-one minutes.

After Chen Nan’s meditation examination ended with Zhao Yunlong injured, Chen Nan returned to the hotel and learned that Jiang Lili planned to open a Spicy Hot Pot shop in Luojing. The chapter left Chen Nan puzzling over signs in Jiang Lili’s bedroom that suggested she had been with someone.

• Zhao Yunlong collapsed after the Meditation Qi Yin Art stopped, and the examiner gave him medicine before sending him for an examination.
• Chen Wan'er warned Chen Nan that two examinations remained, while Chen Nan believed he had placed at the top of the first round.
• Chen Nan avoided Liu Mingtao on the bus back to the hotel, where the other children treated him as a representative of the wildlings.
• Jiang Lili decided to sell her Wu City buildings and savings to open a Spicy Hot Pot shop in Luojing, and Li Nanchao offered to help find a storefront and lend her money.
• Chen Nan noticed used tissues, a red string, and signs of smoking in Jiang Lili's bedroom, then tried to stop himself from making assumptions.

Luojing Transcendent Academy’s leaders met to plan how to train Chen Nan, whose Meditation Qi Yin Art record had impressed them. Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlong and the Seven Great Families’ young geniuses struggled with their defeat and resolved not to lose the second assessment.

• Qiu Daqiang learned that Chen Nan endured the Meditation Qi Yin Art for one hour, thirty-six minutes, and fifty-eight seconds before Zhao Yunlong’s collapse forced the test to stop.
• Qiu Daqiang and the department heads discussed Chen Nan’s talent and agreed that Dongfang Liang, Chang Lai'an, and Liu Meie should train him in magic, sorcery, and agility.
• Chu Yubo accepted Zhao Yunlong as a Strength Department student after the others said they would not compete for him.
• Zhao Yunlong and the other young geniuses gathered by his sickbed, dejected because the first assessment largely determined admission to Luojing Transcendent Academy.
• Chen Wan'er urged the group to regain their confidence and said they must not lose the second assessment.