Chapter Summaries

Zhang Chen learned that the Shen family had largely ignored his family, then discussed the Salt Gang’s growing conflict with the Shen family with Jiang Nan. Shen Ling publicly humiliated Zhang Chen by having him served servants’ food and declared she would never marry him.

• Zhang Shi warned Zhang Chen that the Old Madam and Shen family lord had not visited him since his arrival, and Zhang Chen said he understood his distant place in the family.
• Jiang Nan visited Zhang Chen and told him that her father’s crackdown on illicit salt in Guangji Prefecture had badly hurt the Salt Gang, whose allies were challenging the Shen family.
• Jiang Nan asked Zhang Chen about his plans, and he replied that he would drift with the current.
• Shen family servants brought Zhang Chen’s family coarse food intended for stewards, and Zhang Chen recognized that they were being deliberately slighted.
• Shen Ling admitted she had arranged the poor meal, ordered the servants to give Zhang Chen only pickles in the future, and mocked him as she led Jiang Nan away.
• Jiang Nan warned Shen Ling that mistreating Zhang Chen could reach the Old Madam, but Shen Ling said she would never marry him and wanted to marry Zhang Gaoqiu instead.

Zhang Chen investigated the Shen family estate for the mysterious item his mother had left him while trying to avoid alerting the family’s Tenth Rank God. He overheard Shen Qiu and Zhang Gaoqiu plotting against him, then sensed a strange power in the Ancestral Hall that resonated with his Death Authority.

• Jiang Nan explained that she had saved Zhang Chen with medicinal pills, while Shen Ling complained about the trouble he had brought her.
• Zhang Chen told Zhang Shi that he planned to retrieve the things his mother had left behind, then searched the estate for mysterious auras.
• Zhang Chen identified thirteen mysterious auras and suspected the one near the Ancestral Hall might lead to his mother's treasure, but he avoided acting recklessly near the Tenth Rank God.
• Zhang Chen overheard Shen Qiu and Zhang Gaoqiu discuss using him to unlock a sealed treasure and then getting rid of him, but he decided not to use his Blood God Sons against them.
• Unable to approach the guarded Ancestral Hall, Zhang Chen sensed a strange power there that seemed connected to death but also transcended it.

Zhang Chen reunited with Zhang Gaqi in Jinling and learned about Xie Lingyun’s rise, the Zhang Family’s political marriage plans, and a powerful spatial Secret Treasure at Chongzheng Academy. He decided to seek admission to the academy, while Zhang Gaqi offered to introduce him to a cousin in the city.

• Zhang Chen left the Shen Residence and encountered Zhang Gaqi at a tavern in Jinling.
• Zhang Gaqi told Zhang Chen that Xie Lingyun had nearly reached the Yang Spirit realm and had gained the Human King’s attention.
• Zhang Chen confronted Zhang Gaqi about the Zhang Family’s plans to arrange a political marriage and claim what his mother had left him.
• Zhang Gaqi revealed that he was delivering a damaged Twelfth-Order Mystery containing spatial power to Chongzheng Academy, and Zhang Chen resolved to seek the treasure there.
• Zhang Chen refused to let Zhang Gaqi take his younger brother and Little Sister away, and Zhang Gaqi offered to introduce him to a cousin in Jinling.

Zhang Chen and Zhang Gaoqiu met with Zhang Gaqi, where Zhang Gaoqiu pretended to honor Zhang Chen’s marriage agreement and kinship while Zhang Chen answered with pointed insults. After the banquet, Zhang Chen feigned trust in Zhang Gaoqiu and asked him to defend him against the Shen Family’s mistreatment.

• Zhang Gaqi introduced Zhang Chen to Zhang Gaoqiu as his close blood relative and pressed Zhang Gaoqiu to respect Zhang Chen’s arranged marriage to Shen Ling.
• Zhang Gaoqiu claimed he had only sought to reclaim the marriage agreement because he thought Zhang Chen had died, and promised to treat him like a younger brother.
• Zhang Chen mocked Zhang Gaoqiu’s apparent righteousness and hinted that he knew about Zhang Gaoqiu’s plan to harm him.
• Zhang Chen refrained from using the Blood God Sons against Zhang Gaoqiu because Zhang Gaqi could detect unusual auras and a tenth-rank deity might notice.
• On the way back to the Shen Family, Zhang Chen pretended to be grateful for Zhang Gaoqiu’s protection and asked him to seek justice over the poor meals the Shen Family served him.

Zhang Chen regained his fine meals after Zhang Gaoqiu gave him silver, while Zhang Gaoqiu and Shen Ling plotted to use him to obtain a Secret Treasure and considered framing him with Wang Xifeng. After visiting the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency to find Chen Ping, Zhang Chen unexpectedly encountered Liu Ji and feared his ties to the Yellow Heaven Dao would expose him.

• Zhang Gaoqiu gave Zhang Chen ten thousand taels of silver, and Zhang Chen's meals at the Shen Residence returned to their former quality.
• Wang Xifeng visited Zhang Chen to apologize for the servants, and Zhang Chen agreed that she should punish them with thirty strokes each.
• Zhang Gaoqiu told Shen Ling he planned to use Zhang Chen to obtain the Secret Treasure and proposed framing him with Wang Xifeng, but Shen Ling rejected targeting her mother.
• Zhang Chen went to the Dragon Tiger Escort Agency seeking Chen Ping, but learned Chen Ping had been away on an escort mission for three years.
• Zhang Chen encountered Liu Ji in Jinling City and feared that Liu Ji's connection to the Yellow Heaven Dao would reveal his whereabouts.

Zhang Chen learned from Liu Ji that Yellow Heaven Dao planned to seize World River Transport by destroying the Jinling Shen Family and opening a path for the Sea Race. Though Liu Ji urged him to flee before Zhang Xiaohua arrived, Zhang Chen stayed in Jinling and asked Liu Ji to help him reach the Shen Family’s rear courtyard.

• Liu Ji warned Zhang Chen that Yellow Heaven Dao was hunting him and revealed its plan to destroy the Jinling Shen Family, seize World River Transport, and guide the Sea Race through the pass.
• Liu Ji explained that Zhang Xiaohua held both the Army Breaker and Water Virtue Star Lord positions, had reached the Tenth Order, and would arrive in Jinling in three months.
• Zhang Chen asked Liu Ji about Jinling’s powers, and Liu Ji said the Shen Family’s Old Ancestor was the city’s only true Tenth Order god.
• Zhang Chen asked Liu Ji to lure the Shen Family’s Tenth Order god away for fifteen minutes so he could search the rear courtyard for his mother’s Secret Treasure, but Liu Ji refused.

Zhang Chen traded Liu Ji part of the Ten Directions Defense incantation for help distracting the Shen Family’s Tenth Rank God, then returned to the Shen Family to pursue the treasure his mother had left him. There, Zhang Gaoqiu tried to draw him into a scheme involving Shen Ling, leaving Zhang Chen at their tense dinner gathering.

• Zhang Chen offered Liu Ji the Ten Directions Defense incantation in exchange for luring away the Shen Family’s Tenth Rank God for a quarter of an hour, and Liu Ji agreed to act in three days.
• Liu Ji warned Zhang Chen that the Shen Family was dangerous and suggested waiting until Yellow Heaven Dao attacked Jinling City, but Zhang Chen insisted he had to act first to reclaim what belonged to him.
• Zhang Gaoqiu invited Zhang Chen for drinks and gave him another ten thousand taels of banknotes after Zhang Chen claimed he had lost the money Zhang Gaoqiu had previously given him.
• Zhang Gaoqiu brought Zhang Chen to his guest room and said he had invited Shen Ling to help settle their misunderstanding.
• Shen Ling arrived, insulted Zhang Chen, and declared that she would not sit at the same table as him.

Zhang Chen played along with Shen Ling’s attempt to draw him in, while repeatedly provoking and touching her, and Cheng Yu mistook his actions for shameless harassment. Shen Ling became enraged and wanted Zhang Chen disgraced, but Zhang Gaoqiu told her to wait because they might still need him to open the Secret Treasure.

• Zhang Gaoqiu ended his affair with Shen Ling and told her to accept her marriage contract with Zhang Chen.
• Shen Ling visited Zhang Chen with hangover soup, and Zhang Chen teased her and patted her butt before she left in anger.
• Cheng Yu scolded Zhang Chen for acting like a hooligan, then offered to let him touch her instead; embarrassed, she ran away.
• Shen Ling returned with wine and food, but Zhang Chen touched her butt again while she tidied his room, prompting her to flee.
• Shen Ling smashed furnishings and told Zhang Gaoqiu that Zhang Chen had molested her, demanding revenge.
• Zhang Gaoqiu restrained Shen Ling and urged her to keep drawing Zhang Chen in until they learned whether he could open the Secret Treasure.

Zhang Chen discovered that the Shen Family was suppressing the innate treasure his mother had left behind and learned Zhang Gaoqiu was trying to claim it. He set the Shen Family ablaze to draw away its experts, immobilized Zhang Gaoqiu, and approached the treasure.

• Zhang Gaoqiu suppressed his anger toward Zhang Chen and told Shen Ling to keep him fooled until the family no longer needed him.
• After the Shen Family's Tenth Rank deity departed, Zhang Chen used an Invisibility Talisman to enter the Ancestral Shrine and saw the family deities and Zhang Gaoqiu trying to subdue an innate treasure.
• Zhang Chen set much of the Shen Family estate ablaze with Sun Charcoal Fire, drawing most of its experts away from the shrine.
• Zhang Chen returned to the shrine and overheard Zhang Gaoqiu wonder whether Zhang Chen's bloodline was needed to control the treasure, confirming it was Shen Lian's legacy.
• Zhang Chen immobilized Zhang Gaoqiu with a talisman, covered his eyes with his belt, and turned toward the treasure.

Zhang Chen discovered that the treasure behind the barrier was the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and the Great Sovereign Demon King explained how to draw its power into the Yin Yang Millstone. Zhang Chen touched the opened barrier and nearly suffered reincarnation, but the Heaven Reaching Jianmu protected him, leaving him shaken by the power he had encountered.

• Zhang Chen failed to break the treasure's barrier and learned from the Great Sovereign Demon King that it was the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King taught Zhang Chen to use Innate Qi and the Yin Yang Millstone to lure the reincarnation rules into a vessel.
• Zhang Chen poured Innate Qi into the Yin Yang Millstone, and its Yin-Yang pattern opened a breach in the Six Paths of Reincarnation's barrier.
• Zhang Chen touched the breach despite the Great Sovereign Demon King's warning, and the Six Paths of Reincarnation's power invaded him.
• The Heaven Reaching Jianmu shielded Zhang Chen from the invading power, allowing him to retreat and realize his Golden Light of the Righteous God could not resist it.

Zhang Chen acquired Reincarnation Authority and gained control over the Human Path, transforming the Yin Yang Millstone into an incomplete Twelfth Order treasure. He learned that the destruction of the Six Paths had filled the world with soul fragments and hastened the Dharma Ending Age, while the Great Sovereign Demon King suggested the ancient powers had been fleeing an even worse tribulation.

• Zhang Chen resisted the Six Paths of Reincarnation with his Innate Jianmu and collected the Reincarnation Authority skill.
• The Six Paths merged with the Yin Yang Millstone, creating a Human Path vortex that Zhang Chen could use to reincarnate souls as humans.
• The Yin Yang Reincarnation Millstone advanced to the Twelfth Order, though it contained only one of the Six Paths.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King explained that souls now scattered after death, while Zhang Chen realized their fragments clogged the laws of Heaven and Earth and accelerated the Dharma Ending Age.
• Zhang Chen asked why the ancient powers had dismantled reincarnation, and the Great Sovereign Demon King said they must have been avoiding a tribulation worse than the Dharma Ending Age.

Zhang Chen took the human path of reincarnation from the Shen Family’s Ancestral Shrine and set off a fire that devastated their estate. The Shen Family discovered the Six Paths of Reincarnation was missing and focused their suspicions on Zhang Gaoqiu.

• Zhang Chen reflected on the ancient gods’ catastrophic tribulation, retrieved the Yin Yang Millstone, and escaped the Ancestral Shrine after freeing Zhang Gaoqiu’s eyes.
• Zhang Chen returned to Litchi Fragrance Garden as Shen Family gods used water to contain the Sun Ember fire spreading through their estate.
• Zhang Fei noticed that the blaze resembled Zhang Chen’s brazier fire, but Zhang Chen denied any connection and Zhang Shi warned Zhang Fei to stay quiet.
• The Shen Family’s tenth-rank god extinguished the flames, but Wang Xifeng learned that the fire had destroyed much of the family’s wealth and antiques.
• Servants reported seeing a spark rise near the Ancestral Shrine, and Shen Family elders found the Six Paths of Reincarnation missing.
• The Shen Family asked who had left the Ancestral Shrine last, and everyone turned to Zhang Gaoqiu.

After the Shen Family’s Secret Treasure disappeared, Shen Xu accused Zhang Gaoqiu of stealing it, while Zhang Gaoqiu shifted suspicion to Zhang Chen. The Shen Family inspected everyone, but Zhang Chen used the Power of Reincarnation and other powers to conceal his family’s cultivation, and they were cleared.

• A Shen Family disciple pointed out that Zhang Gaoqiu had been the last person inside the Ancestral Shrine, prompting the family to suspect him.
• Zhang Gaoqiu claimed a thief had restrained and blindfolded him before taking the Secret Treasure, but Shen Xu accused him of plotting to steal it.
• Zhang Gaoqiu redirected suspicion toward Zhang Chen, who denied involvement and appealed to the old madam to recover his mother’s keepsake.
• Shen Xu ordered the Tenth Order deity to inspect Zhang Gaoqiu and every member of the Shen Family; the deity found nothing on Zhang Gaoqiu.
• Zhang Chen secretly used the Suppression Talisman, the Power of Reincarnation, and the Six-Word Mantra to hide his family’s power during the inspection.
• The Shen Family deity found no unusual aura in Zhang Chen’s family, clearing them of suspicion.

Zhang Chen discovered Shen Ling was pregnant with Zhang Gaoqiu’s child while they plotted against him, and he resolved to end his engagement when he could do so safely. He met Liu Ji to complete their bargain and learned that the Yellow Heaven Dao threatened the Shen family, while Chongzheng Academy might offer protection and held a treasure Zhang Chen still intended to seize.

• Shen Ling pretended to worry over Zhang Chen, then went to Zhang Gaoqiu and demanded to know when he would kill Zhang Chen.
• Zhang Gaoqiu promised to deal with Zhang Chen before Shen Ling began showing, and Zhang Chen realized she was pregnant with Zhang Gaoqiu’s child.
• Zhang Shi warned Zhang Chen that Shen Ling was a poor match, and Zhang Chen said he would break off the engagement when the timing was right.
• Zhang Chen met the injured Liu Ji and taught him the incantation for controlling the mysterious treasure.
• Liu Ji said Zhang Xiaohua had driven off the Shen family’s tenth-order expert and warned that the Yellow Heaven Dao planned to strike the Shen family.
• Liu Ji told Zhang Chen that Chongzheng Academy was protected by powerful imperial Mysteries, while Zhang Chen remembered that he needed to obtain its treasure.

Zhang Chen pursued a way into Chongzheng Academy while Zhou Qiucheng traced the unusual ginseng that had temporarily stabilized his son’s soul injury. After returning to the Shen residence, Zhang Chen was confronted by Shen Qiu, who threatened him over his connection to Jiang Nan.

• Liu Ji told Zhang Chen that connections were crucial for entering Chongzheng Academy and suggested winning Dean Zhou Qiucheng’s favor by helping his injured son.
• Zhou Qiucheng learned that unusual ginseng had eased his son’s condition and began searching for the northern stranger who had sold it to Shangjia Medical Clinic.
• Zhang Chen considered asking the Shen family to use its influence to help him enter Chongzheng Academy and planned to gather Experience Points by targeting the Yellow Heaven Dao’s incense offerings.
• Liu Ji gave Zhang Chen a slip of paper with an address and warned him to avoid the Yellow Heaven Dao’s informants.
• Shen Qiu blocked Zhang Chen at the Shen residence’s gate and threatened him to stay away from Jiang Nan.

After Shen Qiu threatened him, Zhang Chen learned that Shen Qiu held the Shen Family’s sole Chongzheng Academy Inner Courtyard quota and sought a way to strike back. He persuaded the Old Madam to transfer the quota to him as compensation for his lost keepsake, leaving Shen Xu worried about the trouble this would cause.

• Shen Qiu threatened Zhang Chen in private, then pretended to be warmly concerned when Shen Xu approached.
• Shen Xu told Zhang Chen that the Shen Family would recover or compensate him for his lost treasure, and Zhang Chen learned that Shen Qiu held the family’s only Inner Courtyard quota.
• Zhang Chen visited the Old Madam and pressed her to uphold the Shen Family’s obligation over his mother’s lost keepsake.
• Zhang Chen asked to study in the Inner Courtyard in place of the missing keepsake, and the Old Madam ordered Shen Xu to give him Shen Qiu’s quota.
• Shen Xu accepted the Old Madam’s decision but warned Zhang Chen that he had caused a huge disaster.

Zhang Chen confronted Wang Xifeng after she abused and attacked his family, and used the clash as an opportunity to leave the Shen Family Residence. The chapter ended with Zhang Gaoqiu trying to stop him and demanding that Wang Xifeng answer for the Seventh Order god’s actions.

• Shen Xu warned Zhang Chen that Shen Qiu and Wang Xifeng might retaliate, but Zhang Chen stood by his decision to claim the academy spot.
• Wang Xifeng arrived at the Shen Family Residence, accused Zhang Fei of stealing a jade pendant, and had her guards beat and pin down the Three Little Ones.
• Zhang Chen returned, froze the six guards who had restrained his family, and challenged the Seventh Order god who admitted ordering the attack.
• Zhang Gaoqiu intervened and pressured Wang Xifeng, who ordered the maid and Martial Warriors to kill themselves, but Zhang Chen said the punishment was not enough.
• Zhang Chen announced that his family would leave the Shen Residence, prompting Zhang Gaoqiu to stop him and confront Wang Xifeng about the Seventh Order god.

Zhang Gaoqiu pretended to defend Zhang Chen while secretly plotting with Wang Xifeng and Shen Ling to reclaim an academy slot. The next morning, Zhang Chen joined Zhang Gaoqiu’s banquet cautiously, unaware of the contingency Zhang Gaoqiu had prepared.

• Zhang Gaoqiu persuaded Wang Xifeng to make a Seventh Order deity kill himself, then urged Zhang Chen to let the matter go.
• Zhang Gaoqiu soothed Zhang Chen and promised to explain the Shen family’s affairs, while Zhang Shi warned that he and Wang Xifeng seemed to be plotting together.
• Zhang Gaoqiu and Shen Ling planned to use Wang Xifeng in a scheme against Zhang Chen the following day.
• Zhang Chen declined Zhang Gaoqiu’s invitation to drink, so Zhang Gaoqiu went to his courtyard and convinced him the banquet would reconcile him with Wang Xifeng and Shen Ling.
• At the banquet, Zhang Chen watched Zhang Gaoqiu closely and copied his choices of wine and food, while Zhang Gaoqiu privately trusted his hidden contingency.

Zhang Gaoqiu and Shen Ling tried to trap Zhang Chen with drugged smoke, but Jiang Nan wandered into the courtyard and Wang Xifeng arrived to find them caught in the scheme. Meanwhile, the Shen Family used a Zhuge Family mirror to investigate the theft of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, but the intruder remained hidden by mysterious light.

• Zhang Gaoqiu left Zhang Chen waiting and met Shen Ling and Wang Xifeng, who planned to use drugged smoke to incapacitate him.
• Green smoke from a stove drifted into Zhang Chen's courtyard, and Jiang Nan entered while looking for him and was affected by it.
• Wang Xifeng found Zhang Chen and Jiang Nan tangled together, then Zhang Chen immobilized her with a Body Immobilization Talisman.
• Zhang Gaoqiu and Shen Ling set off to bring the Old Madam and Great Lord to witness the scene, but a Ninth-Order Shen Family god knocked them unconscious and took them away.
• The Shen Family's Tenth-Order god used a broken mirror fragment to review the theft of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, but Time Power concealed the thief's identity.

After the drugged encounter in Zhang Gaoqiu’s courtyard, Jiang Nan realized she had been caught in a scheme, while Zhang Chen and Wang Xifeng negotiated to keep the scandal hidden. Zhang Chen agreed to Wang Xifeng’s demands, then went to see Jiang Nan, who finally agreed to receive him.

• Jiang Nan awoke to find Zhang Chen and Wang Xifeng together, realized she had been ensnared by a plot, and fled the courtyard.
• Zhang Chen regained his senses and concluded that Wang Xifeng had sacrificed herself to trap him for the sake of her son’s academy slot.
• Zhang Chen warned Wang Xifeng that exposing the scandal would ruin them both, and she demanded that he restore her son’s slot and end his engagement to Shen Ling.
• Zhang Chen agreed to both conditions, and Wang Xifeng left the room.
• Zhang Chen recalled that Jiang Nan had arrived first and went to her residence, where Mi Gao initially told him Jiang Nan was unwell.
• Zhang Chen insisted he needed to speak with Jiang Nan, and Mi Gao returned to say that she would receive him.