Chapter Summaries

Zheng Fa shared scarce cured pork with his mother and little sister, then fell asleep and woke in a modern room where he eagerly ate a whole braised chicken. The chapter left him enjoying the food in the changed world.

• Mother Zheng told Zheng Fa and Zheng Shan that Wang Gui had been paddled and sent home after leading Seventh Young Master astray.
• Zheng Shan watched hungrily as Mother Zheng served the two slices of cured pork to Zheng Fa.
• Zheng Fa gave one slice to Zheng Shan and the other to Mother Zheng, choosing not to keep any for himself.
• Zheng Fa fell asleep beneath an old quilt and woke beneath a soft down quilt in a modern room.
• Zheng Fa heated a braised chicken and four steamed buns, then eagerly ate a hot drumstick.

Zheng Fa lived between the impoverished Xuanwei Realm and the modern world, where he attended high school and dreamed of studying physics at Jiangnan University. After Old Chen discussed his university plans with him, the chapter ended with Zheng Fa eating cafeteria food eagerly while Wang Chen struggled to stomach it.

• Zheng Fa recalled how he traveled between worlds every seven days and contrasted his hunger in the Xuanwei Realm with the comforts of his modern life.
• Old Chen asked Zheng Fa what university he hoped to attend, and Zheng Fa said he wanted to study physics at Jiangnan University.
• Old Chen told Zheng Fa that Jiangnan University would be difficult to reach, then praised his steadily improving grades to a fellow teacher.
• At lunch, Wang Chen complained about the cafeteria food and urged Zheng Fa to buy bread with him.
• Zheng Fa happily finished his meal, and Wang Chen tried several bites before retching.

Zheng Fa reflected on how years of rote memorization had helped him catch up in school, then learned that Madam would choose a new page boy after rejecting Wang Gui. Though his mother feared the danger, Zheng Fa was tempted by the pay and chance to learn martial arts, and the chapter ended with news that Madam wanted someone older and steadier—someone like him.

• Zheng Fa explained to himself that he had rebuilt his education through years of memorizing textbooks in both worlds.
• Mother Zheng told Zheng Fa and Zheng Shan that Madam would not let Wang Gui return as a page boy and would choose someone from another family.
• Zheng Shan wished Zheng Fa would become a page boy, while Mother Zheng warned him that Wang Gui had returned home badly injured and she feared for Zheng Fa's safety.
• Zheng Fa admitted to himself that the position appealed to him because it offered pay, status, and a chance to learn martial arts.
• A tenant farmer told Mother Zheng that Madam was choosing an older, steadier page boy and that Zheng Fa was just right.

Zheng Fa traveled from his farmstead to the Zhao Residence to compete for a page boy position, learning about the Zhao Family’s power and the fierce competition for the role. He arrived with Huang Yu as a rival, who realized that his years of schooling gave him little advantage against the city’s candidates.

• Zheng Fa left home after promising Zheng Shan a treat from the city, and Mother Zheng asked the cart driver to look after him.
• The cart driver used a swift Red Pearl Ox and told Zheng Fa that the Zhao Family had connections to an Immortal Sect.
• Huang Yu boarded the cart and revealed that he had attended elementary school for five years, while Zheng Fa had attended for only one.
• The cart driver explained that Seventh Young Master was the family head’s only legitimate son and future successor, and that his elder sister was the Zhao Family’s immortal seed.
• Huang Yu learned that even prominent stewards’ children were competing for the page boy role, and his confidence faded.

Zheng Fa and Huang Yu arrived at the Zhao Residence to compete for a study attendant position, where Huang Yu grew discouraged by the other candidates’ status. The doors opened and the youths were told to enter one at a time for a written test.

• The old cart driver brought Zheng Fa and Huang Yu through Jingzhou City to the Zhao Residence’s back entrance.
• A household servant hurried them toward the Second Study and dismissed them as candidates brought in to make up the numbers.
• Zheng Fa and Huang Yu joined several dozen youths waiting outside the pavilion, most of whom ignored them.
• Huang Yu saw that three candidates held the xiucai qualification and lost confidence in his chances.
• A servant opened the study doors, told the youths to line up and enter one at a time, and Zheng Fa felt reassured by the sight of the examination desks.

Zheng Fa took a memory test to become the Seventh Young Master's bookboy, and Steward Wu thought his composure made him a promising candidate. Zheng Fa remembered much of the scripture but struggled to write it, leaving Teacher Shen amused by his crooked, incorrect characters.

• Teacher Shen tested the candidates by reciting passages from the unfamiliar Scripture of Clarity and Stillness and asking them to write from memory.
• Steward Wu pointed out Zheng Fa's calmness and suggested he might have knowledge, while Teacher Shen expected the best results from the three licentiates.
• Zheng Fa recalled most of the scripture after hearing Teacher Shen recite it once, but he struggled to grind ink and hold the brush.
• Zheng Fa realized he could not write the world's characters and began filling the page in simplified characters.
• Teacher Shen watched Zheng Fa's crooked, error-filled writing, and Steward Wu admitted his judgment had been wrong.

Teacher Shen and Steward Wu recognized Zheng Fa’s extraordinary memory despite his inability to write the characters correctly, and Wu brought his answer sheet to Madame as a candidate to serve as Seventh Young Master’s book boy. Madame received the selected answer sheets, but her choice was not yet revealed.

• Teacher Shen and Steward Wu reviewed the boys’ answers and found that most remembered little of the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness.
• Teacher Shen realized Zheng Fa had reproduced nearly ninety percent of the text, though he had written each character incorrectly, and judged him the most talented candidate.
• Steward Wu argued that Madame valued talent more than family circumstances or schooling and predicted she would choose Zheng Fa.
• Steward Wu carried several selected answer sheets to Madame, who accepted them through a young maiden.

The Zhao Family tested young hereditary servants for a book attendant position, and Madam chose Zheng Fa, Gao Yuan, and Han Cheng for further review by Xu Zheng. Zheng Fa was summoned with the other two while the remaining youths were sent home.

• Steward Wu reported that forty-seven eligible youths had taken the dictation exam and that Teacher Shen considered Zheng Fa the most gifted.
• Madam questioned Steward Wu about his assessment and recognized Gao Yuan's family connection before sending Zheng Fa's, Gao Yuan's, and Han Cheng's papers to Xu Zheng.
• Gao Yuan's companions praised him and planned a feast, while Huang Yu left the group and spoke with Zheng Fa about lacking money to join them.
• Huang Yu encouraged Zheng Fa, assuming he had performed poorly, but Zheng Fa declined to discuss his answers.
• Steward Wu arrived and called Gao Yuan, Han Cheng, and Zheng Fa to come with him while the other youths left.

Zheng Fa was summoned with Gao Yuan and Han Cheng to be assessed for the Seventh Young Master's bookboy position. Instructor Xu judged Han Cheng to have poor martial talent and explained that talent depended on physical constitution and access to food, while Steward Wu appeared to be using Zheng Fa to keep him in line.

• After Zheng Fa was called away, Huang Yu's companions began currying favor with him because they believed Zheng Fa might become influential.
• Steward Wu led Zheng Fa, Gao Yuan, and Han Cheng to the training courtyard, where Instructor Xu demonstrated his archery and charged them on horseback.
• Instructor Xu examined Han Cheng and declared that he had the lowest aptitude for martial arts.
• Han Cheng challenged Instructor Xu's judgment, but Instructor Xu correctly guessed that Han Cheng disliked eating, especially meat and greasy food.
• Instructor Xu explained that martial talent depended on one's birth and ability to eat well, while Steward Wu repeatedly watched Zheng Fa and privately understood the assessment as a way to keep him in line.

Instructor Xu examined Han Cheng, Gao Yuan, and Zheng Fa, discovering that Zheng Fa had the best bone structure despite his poor background. Steward Wu left to ask the Madam how to proceed.

• Instructor Xu judged Han Cheng's bone structure below average and warned him to eat properly.
• Instructor Xu found Gao Yuan had middle-high bone structure and learned his father’s rewards had helped nourish him.
• Instructor Xu measured Zheng Fa’s bone age at seventeen years and six months and found his Precelestial bone structure was top-top.
• Instructor Xu noted that Zheng Fa had been nourished unusually well despite his father having died five years earlier.
• Steward Wu, unsure how to report Zheng Fa’s exceptional aptitude to the Madam, told the group to wait while he consulted her.

Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan were chosen as Seventh Young Master's book attendants, and Gao Yuan explained the dangers of the position and the Immortal Sect's dominance. Zheng Fa returned to the estate with food for his sister, only to hear Zheng Shan sound upset beneath the village elm tree.

• Steward Wu announced that Madam had chosen both Gao Yuan and Zheng Fa as Seventh Young Master's book attendants, leaving Han Cheng unselected.
• Gao Yuan told Zheng Fa that five previous book attendants had been driven away and explained that even jinshi graduates served as clerks under the Immortal Sect's rule.
• An old cart driver gave Zheng Fa a food box from Gathering Star Tower to take home for Zheng Shan.
• Zheng Fa returned to the estate and heard Zheng Shan call out that someone had bullied her.

Zheng Fa found Wang Gui and two boys bullying Zheng Shan over her flatbread, but he comforted her with treats and food from the city. As Wang Gui prepared to confront him, Huang Yu arrived by carriage to visit Zheng Fa.

• Zheng Fa saw Wang Gui and two boys taunting Zheng Shan and had taken half her flatbread.
• Zheng Shan cried to Zheng Fa that the boys had stolen her food, and he comforted her with a food box from Gathering Star Tower.
• Zheng Shan delighted in the pastries, meat, and roast chicken, and said she would share them with Zheng Fa and their mother.
• Wang Gui resented Zheng Fa's calm dismissal and stepped forward to speak to him.
• Huang Yu arrived in a carriage and called out to Zheng Fa, accompanied by a smiling portly middle-aged man.

Huang Yu’s father visited Zheng Fa with gifts of cloth and study supplies, hoping to build a friendship that might protect his son in the future. After Zheng Fa and Huang Yu discussed his father’s motives, Steward Wang decided to take his own money to Zheng Fa’s home.

• Steward Huang brought Huang Yu to Zheng Fa and presented him with bolts of cloth and a set of brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone.
• Steward Huang left Huang Yu behind, and Zheng Fa and Huang Yu carried the gifts into the Zheng Family home.
• Huang Yu told Zheng Fa that his father had sent him to make useful connections because he feared no one would protect him after his death.
• Zheng Fa called Huang Yu’s father a good father and said people were snobbish, prompting Huang Yu to wonder whether Zheng Fa would bring trouble to his family.
• Steward Wang revealed that he had borrowed money to secure Wang Gui’s bookboy position, then announced he would take the remaining bundle of money to Zheng Fa’s home.

Zheng Fa rejected Steward Wang’s conspicuous silver, said goodbye to his family, and returned to Zhao Residence as a study companion. Seventh Young Master welcomed Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan warmly, then turned threatening when Gao Yuan mentioned his previous study companion’s fate.

• Zheng Fa refused Steward Wang’s silver and asked Mother Zheng to use the cloth from the Huang Family to make clothes for the family.
• Zheng Fa left home for Zhao Residence, comforted Zheng Shan, and shared Mother Zheng’s flatbread with the old ox-cart driver.
• Gao Yuan met Zheng Fa at Zhao Residence, and they went together to Seventh Young Master’s courtyard.
• Seventh Young Master greeted Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan enthusiastically and proposed welcoming them with a feast at Mist and Rain Pavilion.
• Gao Yuan reminded Seventh Young Master that his previous study companion had been beaten and sent away after suggesting a visit to Mist and Rain Pavilion, and Seventh Young Master threatened them as he smashed Gao Yuan’s bookcase.

Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan endured the Seventh Young Master’s cold treatment and were assigned poor lodgings, but Zheng Fa realized the young master had not actually harmed them. The chapter ended when they were summoned to Instructor Xu, and Gao Yuan eagerly anticipated learning the Zhao Residence’s martial arts.

• The Seventh Young Master mocked Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan, ordered them to wait outside, and read while they stood in the sun.
• A maid brought grapes into the cool study, where Zheng Fa noticed a glowing formation producing a breeze.
• The Seventh Young Master finally dismissed them, and the maid led them to a bare house with two beds.
• Gao Yuan worried that the Seventh Young Master would send them away, but Zheng Fa said they could make do since the young master had not harmed them.
• A man told Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan that Instructor Xu was looking for them, and Gao Yuan said he was eager to learn the residence’s martial arts.

Instructor Xu began teaching Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan the Zhao Family martial art Pine Crane Stance, explaining its origins and promised benefits. The two struggled through the training and learned it could improve health and lightness skills, though mastering it would take decades.

• Instructor Xu explained that the Zhao Family allowed its bookboys to study martial arts and that its inheritance had been refined by generations of immortal cultivators.
• Instructor Xu revealed that Seventh Young Master had an immortal bearing, then hastily told Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan to keep quiet about it.
• Instructor Xu taught Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan the Pine Crane Stance, correcting their postures and breathing as they practiced.
• Instructor Xu demonstrated the stance's lightness skill by leaping five or six zhang, then said it could extend life and improve health.
• Gao Yuan calculated that if mastering the stance took thirty years and added twenty years of life, he would lose ten years for nothing.

Zheng Fa trained in the Pine Crane Stance and settled into a demanding routine, while Gao Yuan secretly studied strange drawings. Gao Yuan revealed that the drawings were talismans from the legendary Immortal Sect, the same kind Seventh Young Master read.

• Instructor Xu taught Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan the Pine Crane Stance, praised Zheng Fa’s quick progress, and warned them not to rush.
• Zheng Fa grew desperately hungry after training, and Gao Yuan retrieved their meal after discovering the kitchen had withheld their allowance.
• Over the next two days, Zheng Fa studied and practiced regularly while Gao Yuan secretly examined sheets covered in complicated lines.
• Gao Yuan collapsed after studying the sheets and declared that he would rather stop being a pageboy than keep looking at them.
• Gao Yuan told Zheng Fa that the drawings were talismans from the legendary Immortal Sect, like those in Seventh Young Master’s book.

Zheng Fa memorized the strange talisman patterns Gao Yuan had obtained and discovered he could practice the Pine Crane Stance in the Modern World. Back at school, Wang Chen suggested the patterns looked like geometry from Mathematics competitions.

• Gao Yuan told Zheng Fa that the patterns had been copied by a former bookboy of Seventh Young Master, who had been expelled after Madam found out.
• Zheng Fa memorized the patterns and returned to the Modern World, where he successfully practiced the Pine Crane Stance in a park.
• An old man criticized Zheng Fa’s exercise and urged him to believe in science, so Zheng Fa left the park.
• Zheng Fa recreated the talisman patterns from memory and studied them discreetly at school.
• Wang Chen saw Zheng Fa’s drawings and said they resembled geometric figures from Mathematics competitions.

After Tang Lingwu agreed to take Zheng Fa to her competition tutor, he focused on secretly practicing the Pine Crane Stance and finally mastered its circulating warm current. His first jump sent him through a tree canopy, where he startled the curly-haired old man from the park.

• Zheng Fa asked Tang Lingwu whether his geometric patterns related to mathematics competitions, and she said she would take him to her tutor on the weekend.
• Wang Chen and nearby classmates teased Zheng Fa about speaking with Tang Lingwu, while Old Chen watched him sternly from the doorway.
• Zheng Fa practiced the Pine Crane Stance before school for several days in a hidden spot behind the staff housing.
• Zheng Fa felt the warm current circulate through his waist, abdomen, and hips, realizing that he had truly begun the Pine Crane Stance.
• Zheng Fa jumped with all his strength, burst through the tree canopy, and startled the curly-haired old man from the park.

Zheng Fa met an eccentric old man who mistook his high-jump practice for kung fu and asked to become his disciple. Later, Tang Lingwu took Zheng Fa to meet her retired teacher, leaving them on their way to see him after she secretly finished her milk tea.

• An old man recognized Zheng Fa, mistook his practice for kung fu, and asked to learn his skills, but Zheng Fa refused.
• Wang Chen invited Zheng Fa to play basketball, then urged him to pursue Tang Lingwu after hearing they had plans together.
• Zheng Fa bought Tang Lingwu milk tea as thanks, but she initially refused because her mother was watching from a car.
• Tang Lingwu secretly drank the milk tea in a school corridor and told Zheng Fa that her competition coach was a retired university professor and former Olympiad problem-setting committee member.
• Tang Lingwu led Zheng Fa toward the retired teacher, whose daughter worked at Qingshui Middle School.