Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yu struggled to enter Songyang High School, then borrowed heavily to fund his studies and cultivation after being duped by a cram school. After his mother left and his debts spiraled, another-world Zhang Yu awakened in his body in Kunxu and discovered he owed over seven hundred thousand yuan.

• Zhang Yu failed to impress Songyang High School’s interviewers, who put his résumé on the backup list, and he visited other schools that demanded costly surgeries, loans, or bodily sacrifices.
• Zhang Yu joined an Immortal Dao cram school, secretly financed its medicines and fees with online loans, and eventually got into Songyang High School while his mother helped cover the growing costs.
• Zhang Yu’s mother learned that his expenses came from loans, sold their valuables to repay them, and later left after their debts continued to mount.
• Another-world Zhang Yu awakened on a rooftop in Kunxu, learned that he had taken over the indebted student Zhang Yu’s body, and found a strange symbol appearing in his palm.
• Zhang Yu discovered that he owed more than seven hundred thousand yuan, had barely fifty yuan left, and had lost his electricity as the symbol in his palm turned one-tenth black.

Zhang Yu began navigating his new life at Songyang High School, where students’ status and resources depended on exam scores and Immortal Dao cultivation. After discovering that he and Bai Zhenzhen were both deeply in debt, he ended the day with her warning that he might not be suited to cultivation and the mysterious mark on his palm halfway filled with black.

• Zhang Yu woke from a nightmare of endless tests, went to school, and saw that he ranked tenth in his grade at Songyang Advanced Immortal Dao Middle School.
• Bai Zhenzhen summoned Zhang Yu to the school garden, knelt at his feet, and asked him to lend her money to repay her overdue microloan.
• Zhang Yu showed Bai Zhenzhen that he owed more than seven hundred thousand, and they reviewed expenses showing he had spent the money on Immortal Dao cultivation.
• Bai Zhenzhen warned Zhang Yu that without money for cultivation resources his grades could fall, and advised him to drop out and find work.
• Bai Zhenzhen transferred Zhang Yu five hundred yuan for his water and electricity bills, and Zhang Yu noticed the mysterious mark on his palm was half filled with black.

Zhang Yu attended a grueling physical education class in which students relied on enhancement drugs to build strength, while he refused to take more because his body was already under dangerous strain. After training intensely without drugs, he noticed the black patch on his palm had spread until less than a quarter of the unfilled area remained.

• Wang Hai took over the morning classes, tested the students’ Physical Strength, and found Zhang Yu ranked nineteenth at Level 0.82.
• Wang Hai urged Zhang Yu to buy Divine Elephant Strength Enhancer, but Zhang Yu refused because he could not afford it and feared the drugs would damage his body.
• Zhou Tianyi warned Zhang Yu that Wang Hai bullied students who refused to buy his medicine, then offered to lend Zhang Yu some injections, which he also declined.
• Zhang Yu practiced the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms, pushing himself through two hours of painful training as his memories and instincts guided him.
• After class, Zhang Yu collapsed from exhaustion and noticed the black patch on his palm had nearly covered the remaining unfilled area.

After completing the Inviting God Ritual, Zhang Yu faced a Rag Doll Evil God who demanded three wishes and threatened him with ritual backlash. He persuaded her to let him earn money for her antiques by studying and joining a major Sect, then learned that the Ritual had awakened his potential.

• Zhang Yu reviewed his memories and worried about his falling grades, debts, and whether to contact his family.
• Zhang Yu's older sister refused to reconcile with him but sent him 500 and advised him to drop out and find work.
• The black symbol on Zhang Yu's palm filled, and a Rag Doll appeared, revealing that he had to fulfill her wishes or suffer the Ritual's backlash.
• Zhang Yu argued that he needed to survive and become a Sect disciple to fulfill the Rag Doll's wishes, persuading her to let him study before buying the antiques in his shopping cart.
• The Rag Doll departed after warning Zhang Yu not to slack off, and told him that the Ritual had awakened his potential.
• Zhang Yu watched the symbol in his palm begin to change as the Rag Doll wondered how far he would get.

Zhang Yu discovered that the Feather Scroll could track his attributes and let him advance a martial art by practicing it ten times. When he tried to stop training, the Ritual Agreement’s backlash forced him to continue fulfilling Wa Wa’s wish.

• Zhang Yu opened the Feather Scroll and found his attributes, learned skills, and a portrait of himself, but its other pages were still unavailable.
• Zhang Yu dragged Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms onto his portrait, causing the skill to gain a plus sign and a ten-practice upgrade requirement.
• Zhang Yu began practicing in his rented room but stopped after neighbors complained about the noise, so he went to an Unfinished Building.
• After completing one round, Zhang Yu saw his progress reach 1/10, but exhaustion left him unable to continue.
• A countdown and an intensifying dread warned Zhang Yu to abide by the Ritual Agreement and not delay fulfilling the wish.
• Zhang Yu realized that stopping could trigger the ritual’s backlash, then resumed practicing Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms and the countdown vanished.

Zhang Yu endured the Ritual Power’s relentless demands to train and work toward his wish, discovering that it punished even thoughts of resting. He resolved to become strong enough to remove the Ritual Power and reclaim his freedom.

• Zhang Yu completed ten rounds of the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms under the Ritual Power’s threats, raising the technique to Level 2.
• Zhang Yu woke sore at five in the morning and realized the Ritual Power would force him to work whenever he considered slacking on anything tied to his wish.
• Zhang Yu practiced the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms at the bus stop after the Ritual Power interrupted his attempt to rest.
• Zhang Yu was forced to practice the Basic Breathing Technique on the bus and feared that the Ritual Power would consume all his free time.
• Zhang Yu resolved to become strong enough to remove the Ritual Power and win his freedom.

Zhang Yu discovered the Feather Scroll could rapidly improve only one specialized skill at a time, while the Ritual Power pushed him to train until he was exhausted. After witnessing the pressures facing poor students, he clashed with Physical Education Teacher Wang Hai, who threatened to report him for resting and training outside class.

• On the bus, Zhang Yu learned that the Feather Scroll's Specialization could improve only one skill at a time and decided to keep focusing on the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms.
• At breakfast, Bai Zhenzhen teased Zhang Yu about being the only student who had not undergone sterilization surgery, and Zhou Tianyi joined them.
• Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, and Zhou Tianyi saw senior Lu Chao injured after jumping from the teaching building, and Bai Zhenzhen explained how poor students struggled to compete for elite universities.
• During physical education class, the Ritual Power drove Zhang Yu to train until he reached his limit and advanced the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms to Level 2.
• Wang Hai confronted Zhang Yu for resting, dismissed his progress, and threatened to report him to his homeroom teacher for refusing to follow school instruction.

After Wang Hai isolated Zhang Yu in physical education, Zhang Yu went to lunch with Zhou Tianyi and Bai Zhenzhen, then learned that homeroom teacher Su Haifeng had called him in over his school performance and debts. Su offered him a debt restructuring contract disguised as financial aid, but Zhang Yu rejected it and left, while Su planned to try again later.

• Wang Hai ignored Zhang Yu for the rest of physical education, and the other students kept their distance from him.
• Zhang Yu told Zhou Tianyi that his cultivation and grades would improve, then joined Zhou and Bai Zhenzhen for lunch.
• Bai Zhenzhen went upstairs for a nourishing meal, leaving Zhang Yu to wonder how she could afford it.
• Su Haifeng summoned Zhang Yu, asked about his family troubles, and revealed that loan collectors had contacted the school.
• Su Haifeng offered Zhang Yu a contract that bundled his debts into a school loan, but Zhang Yu spotted the terms and refused to sign.
• After Zhang Yu left, Su Haifeng told someone by phone that he would try again later.

Zhang Yu tried to find extra work to cover his heavy debt, but tutoring centers rejected him and he learned that even temporary jobs for cultivators were difficult to secure. He registered with an agent and waited for work, hoping some jobs would specifically seek current high school students.

• Zhou Tianyi noticed Zhang Yu's cheap meal and offered to lend him money, but Zhang Yu refused; Bai Zhenzhen later gave him much of her untouched food.
• Zhang Yu checked his Feather Scroll and saw that High School Basic Swordplay had appeared at Level 0.
• Zhang Yu contacted several tutoring centers, but they rejected him because of his elementary and middle school credentials or lack of a high school diploma.
• Zhang Yu visited a temporary-work agency and learned from Old Wang that jobs paid well but were scarce, with high school graduates competing for them to repay loans and maintain their cultivation.
• Old Wang registered Zhang Yu and told him to wait, assuring him that some jobs specifically sought current high school students.

Zhang Yu waited for work in the square while training, then reached Level 3 in the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms and discovered that it circulated Magical Power to strengthen and restore his body. Unable to find a suitable job, he asked Old Wang about a high-paying technique-testing position and decided to try it despite the risk of internal injury.

• Zhang Yu refined Magical Power while waiting for work and learned that most jobs hiring Qi Refining Stage Immortal Cultivators involved heavy labor.
• Zhang Yu trained the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms as employers recruited workers, but he missed a sparring job and refused to apply for medicine testing.
• Zhang Yu raised the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms to Level 3, which circulated Magical Power through his body and increased his Physical Strength from Level 0.84 to Level 0.85.
• Zhang Yu found no suitable work as the evening wore on, so he asked Old Wang about other jobs and examined a list of long-term positions.
• Old Wang explained that Xianyun Corporation was paying ten thousand per session for first-year students to test a new Martial Arts technique, warning that one student had suffered internal injuries.
• Zhang Yu said he urgently needed money and decided to try the technique-testing job despite the danger.

Zhang Yu joined Xianyun Corporation’s dangerous test of Experimental Technique No. 113, the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method, and used the Feather Scroll to master it after one attempt. Though the experiment left him injured, he bargained for extra compensation before the company disclaimed responsibility for his future injuries.

• Zhang Yu went to Xianyun Corporation and joined a technique test after signing a contract and completing an examination.
• An instructor explained that beginners would use Yuan Magnetic Needles and detection patches to attempt Experimental Technique No. 113, with payment based on how much of its circulation route they completed.
• As students suffered injuries and were carried out, the researcher known as Teacher let Zhang Yu continue because his errors could provide useful data.
• Zhang Yu completed the circulation route, and the Feather Scroll raised the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method from Level 0 to Level 1, flooding his mind with memories of practicing it.
• Zhang Yu refused to go straight to the infirmary and negotiated for extra pay; Immortal Rhythm Company added three thousand on the condition that it would not be responsible for his future injuries.

After mastering the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method with the Feather Scroll, Zhang Yu focused on leveling it while keeping his achievement secret from Xianyun Corporation. He left his teacher’s training group and cultivated relentlessly, raising the technique to Level 4 and his Magical Power to 8.3.

• Zhang Yu used the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method to bring his out-of-control Magical Power back under control and decided to keep his mastery secret.
• Zhang Yu received thirteen thousand yuan from Xianyun Corporation and used ten thousand to repay loans, then discovered the technique had continued circulating passively overnight.
• Wang Hai accused Zhang Yu of secretly using potent medicine, worried about losing sales, and sent Zhao Tianxing to tell him to train alone in a small room.
• Zhang Yu accepted the isolation and practiced the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method until it reached Level 2, improving both its active and passive circulation.
• Zhang Yu devoted nearly every available moment to cultivation over three days, raising the technique to Level 4 (5/80) and his Magical Power from 7.8 to 8.3.

Zhang Yu learned that the city’s Magic Competition offered a 100,000-yuan prize and decided to raise his magical power enough to qualify, while Bai Zhenzhen worried he would be outmatched. After dinner, Zhao Tianxing followed Zhang Yu to a stationery shop, wondering what he was doing there.

• Teacher Yan praised Zhang Yu for four consecutive days of 0% Distraction Rate and announced that the school would select its ten strongest first-year students for the Magic Competition next Friday.
• Zhang Yu told Bai Zhenzhen he wanted to enter the citywide competition for its prize money, and calculated that he needed to raise his magical power from 8.3 to 10.0 in eight days.
• Bai Zhenzhen demonstrated her skill with High School Basic Swordplay while stealing meat from Zhang Yu’s bowl, then left him the rest of her meal.
• Zhao Tianxing followed Zhang Yu from the cafeteria and watched him enter a stationery shop across the street.

Zhang Yu bought Nerve Filler and tried to cultivate while earning money, with Zhao Tianxing following him on Wang Hai’s orders. The two were recruited for a security job at Li Xuelian’s art exhibition, where Zhang Yu learned she was the daughter of a Golden Core True Person.

• Zhang Yu bought Nerve Filler and free painkillers, then caught Zhao Tianxing following him and let him tag along in exchange for fried chicken.
• Zhang Yu ate fried chicken and cultivated at a job plaza while Zhao Tianxing watched and eventually practiced Breath Circulation beside him.
• Zhang Yu advanced the Heavenly Cycle Qi Gathering Method to level 4, but a security recruiter chose Zhao Tianxing over him for his physique and appearance.
• Zhang Yu claimed he and Zhao Tianxing were blood brothers and persuaded the recruiter to hire them both, at different hourly rates.
• The driver explained that they would guard Li Xuelian’s art exhibition at the Hall in the Clouds and warned them not to offend her.
• Zhang Yu learned that Li Xuelian was the daughter of a Golden Core True Person.

Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing patrolled an exhibition at Songyang Central Building, where a Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram by Spark True Person was set to be unveiled. They discovered Bai Zhenzhen was working as an attendant, and she learned that security guards earned more per hour than she did.

• The driver explained that Li Xuelian and her father, Spark True Person, were coming to Songyang for an exhibition featuring a martial arts diagram he had painted.
• Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing began patrolling the exhibition as temporary security guards at the Central Building.
• While inspecting the buffet, Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing discussed the rare seafood on display and its high price.
• Bai Zhenzhen criticized the two for working as security guards, and Zhang Yu told her they earned 800 an hour.
• Bai Zhenzhen revealed she was working as an attendant for 500 an hour, then went to carry dishes when a coworker called her.

Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing patrolled Li Xuelian’s art exhibition, where they learned that visitors had come to study a martial arts diagram painted by Starfire Senior. After Zhao Tianxing spotted classmates among the guests, he tried to keep them from noticing him in his security uniform.

• Zhang Yu took a break with Zhao Tianxing and told him that security guards should make time to cultivate, leaving Zhao to wonder if Zhang Yu had seen through his information-gathering for Teacher Wang Hai.
• When the exhibition began, Zhao Tianxing explained that a golden guest was Xianyun Corporation’s Songyang director, a Foundation Establishment cultivator with a full-body Dharma Skeleton.
• Zhang Yu overheard guests discuss the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram and learned that Starfire Senior would accept a talented youth under twenty who mastered its martial arts as a disciple.
• Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing mistook Lian Tianji’s Soul Cultivator friend Li Xingyu for an urn before Li Xingyu’s container unfolded propellers and flew away.
• Zhang Yu spotted Qian Shen and other students from their school, and Zhao Tianxing hurriedly pulled him away so their classmates would not see them in security uniforms.

At an art exhibition, Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing worked security while Qian Shen judged classmates by their exam scores and dismissed their ability to comprehend the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram. Zhou Tianyi shared why Spark True Person had planned to return to the Kunxu First Layer, just as Ms. Li arrived to unveil the diagram.

• Qian Shen criticized Bai Zhenzhen for working instead of joining the Student Union, but she silenced him by pointing out her 650-point score compared with his score of just over 600.
• Qian Shen addressed Zhang Yu and Zhao Tianxing by their exam scores, then looked down on them for thinking they could comprehend the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram.
• Bai Zhenzhen shared seafood with Zhang Yu, who was patrolling with Zhao Tianxing, and Zhou Tianyi joined them with gossip about Spark True Person.
• Zhou Tianyi said Spark True Person had been optimized out by the Myriad Laws Sect at age 350 and had half his cultivation reclaimed when he resigned.
• A stir went through the crowd as guests announced that Ms. Li had arrived and the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram was about to be unveiled.

Li Xuelian unveiled Spark True Person’s Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram and invited young cultivators to test themselves against its Martial Dao Intent. As Zhang Yu, Bai Zhenzhen, Zhou Tianyi, and Zhao Tianxing approached, the painting confronted them with their fears, and Bai Zhenzhen faced a supernatural threat over her debt.

• Li Xuelian revealed that anyone under twenty who mastered the martial arts in the painting could become Spark True Person’s disciple, then warned that its Martial Dao Intent could harm viewers.
• Lian Tianji approached the diagram and became absorbed in a vision of his exam results, while Qian Shen and other youths stepped forward to contemplate it.
• Zhang Yu encouraged Bai Zhenzhen to try the painting without committing to discipleship, and Zhou Tianyi agreed to join them while Zhao Tianxing initially refused.
• The security captain ordered Zhao Tianxing back to his post, but Zhao approached the painting and saw the crowd mocking him.
• The diagram confronted Bai Zhenzhen with increasingly abusive debt-collection messages and an automated call threatening a Lightning Tribulation, as thunder and lightning appeared overhead.

Li Xuelian explained that the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram tested students’ Dao Hearts by forcing them to confront their deepest fears, and several students overcame those trials by changing how they viewed pressure. As students began comprehending the diagram, Zhang Yu discovered that two separate Ritual Power countdowns were threatening him.

• Li Xuelian explained to the Xianyun Corporation director that the diagram tested students’ instinctive responses to their inner fears and that adapting their mindsets could strengthen their Dao Hearts.
• Lian Tianji overcame his fear of being the worst student by deciding to start over and aim for first place, while Qian Shen stopped comparing himself to students with higher scores and accepted that cultivating immortality was enough.
• Bai Zhenzhen confronted her enormous loan debt by daring the heavenly thunder to strike her or help her find work, and the thunder dispersed as the diagram reappeared.
• Li Xuelian explained that passing the fear trial was only the first stage before comprehending and mastering the Martial Arts, and said few students were likely to succeed.
• Zhang Yu received a Ritual Power countdown while studying the diagram, stopped it by circulating his breath, then discovered that another countdown continued alongside it.

Zhang Yu struggled with two conflicting countdowns while trying to comprehend the Heavenly Human Martial Arts Diagram, eventually eating as he studied it. As students demonstrated nine different martial arts without success, Bai Zhenzhen performed them all, and the figure in the diagram finally responded with “Not bad.”

• Zhang Yu alternated between circulating qi and contemplating the diagram, then combined contemplation with practicing martial arts and reviewing textbooks as he tested what the countdowns demanded.
• Zhang Yu realized he could eat while comprehending the diagram, so he brought seafood from the buffet and continued studying as Li Xuelian watched.
• Zhang Yu began to make out a fist technique in the diagram, while students including Lian Tianji, Qian Shen, and Bai Zhenzhen disagreed about what martial art it contained.
• Lian Tianji and Qian Shen demonstrated their palm and leg techniques, but the diagram did not react; ten more students then demonstrated techniques, also without success.
• Bai Zhenzhen demonstrated the sword technique and then the other martial arts the students had performed, prompting the figure in the diagram to smile and display the words “Not bad.”