Recaps

Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang arrived in a blaze of purple Qi to rescue Gongsun Qiong from a Phantom Organization assassin. They subdued the attacker, and Ma Feifei planned to take him to the Bookstore and wipe out the organization.

• Purple clouds spread across the sky, and Chu Hongyuan told Zhao Xiaodao that an immortal seemed to be roaming the world.
• The system alerted Ma Feifei that Gongsun Qiong was in mortal danger and explained how his innate purple Qi could carry him thirty thousand li.
• Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang arrived above the imperial road, where Yun Qingyang identified the black-clad man as the assassin who had once targeted Ma Feifei.
• The assassin activated a formation and tried to kill Gongsun Qiong, but Yun Qingyang intercepted him and trapped him in her domain.
• Ma Feifei knocked the immobilized assassin unconscious with the Six Secret Teachings and told Yun Qingyang to seal his cultivation so they could take him to the Bookstore for questioning.

Ma Feifei escorted Gongsun Qiong and her companions toward the imperial capital after Yun Qingyang captured an assassin from the Phantom Organization. The prisoner revealed that the organization had received an order to kill Ma Feifei, but not who placed it, and the journey continued with Yun Qingyang apparently taking the assassin’s ring.

• Yun Qingyang sealed the black-clad assassin’s cultivation, and Zhao Xiaodao confirmed that Gongsun Qiong had only fainted from exhaustion after releasing her Righteous Qi.
• Ma Feifei agreed to escort the group to the imperial capital and carried the assassin in Gongsun Qiong’s carriage after Yun Qingyang refused to store him in her spatial ring.
• The assassin woke, admitted that the Phantom Organization had sent him to kill the Chu Kingdom’s Ninth Princess, and said he had also accepted an earlier assignment to assassinate Ma Feifei.
• The assassin explained that Ma Feifei’s order had been placed half a year earlier and had first gone to the Azure Dragon Envoy, but he did not know the client’s identity or the gray-clad swordsman’s identity.
• Ma Feifei knocked the assassin unconscious with Six Secret Teachings, then searched him and accused Yun Qingyang of taking his treasures when he found a second ring on her hand.
• Yun Qingyang claimed she had picked up the ring, and Ma Feifei demanded to split its contents while Zhao Xiaodao watched beside the sleeping Gongsun Qiong.

As King Chu Heng’s madness turned the Chu Imperial Capital into a fearful, unstable place, gate commandant Chen Chong learned that the ruler’s sons were waiting for his death. When King Chu Heng attacked Chen Chong, the commandant unexpectedly blocked his first strike, and their second clash ended with a saber snapping and blood spraying.

• Chen Chong learned that Consort Zhen was trying to escape and ordered his soldiers to escort her back to the palace.
• King Chu Heng killed Consort Zhen and her maid, then accused Chen Chong of failing to guard the north gate.
• Chen Chong approached King Chu Heng, who demanded to know what punishment the gate commandant deserved for allowing a consort to flee.
• King Chu Heng attacked Chen Chong, and Chen Chong instinctively blocked the strike, forcing the king back a step.
• King Chu Heng attacked again, and Chen Chong met his sword with a saber strike, but the clash ended with a snap and a spray of blood.

After Chen Chong assassinated King Chu Heng, Ma Feifei and his companions arrived in the capital amid the succession crisis. Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang kept renegotiating their share of the stolen treasures, and the chapter ended with Yun Qingyang leaving the last eighth-grade artifact behind to avoid paying Ma Feifei the difference.

• Chen Chong stabbed King Chu Heng, who pulled the saber from his chest, mocked Saint Chu, and died as palace attendants rushed to seize the assassin.
• Chen Chong fled the palace while a white-haired elder watched from beneath a distant palace eave.
• Ma Feifei learned of King Chu Heng's death as he entered the capital with Yun Qingyang and Gongsun Qiong, then went with Yun Qingyang to their courtyard while Gongsun Qiong met with the crowd at her manor.
• Yun Qingyang accused Ma Feifei of cheating her in their division of the black-clad man's treasures, so they repeatedly redistributed the spiritual artifacts under shifting rules.
• Ma Feifei maneuvered the final round so Yun Qingyang had to make up the difference for an eighth-grade artifact, and she gathered her seventh-grade artifacts and left the remaining eighth-grade one behind.

After Gongsun Qiong was backed by Saint Chu and the court to become Chu’s ruler, Ma Feifei questioned Saint Chu’s role in King Chu Heng’s death. He discovered that Saint Chu belonged to the Phantom Organization and was nearing the end of his lifespan, but the Tianshu Fragment offered no assistance mission.

• Ma Feifei learned that Gongsun Qiong would ascend the throne, and the man in black told him Saint Chu had once been King Chu Heng’s master and may have had a strained relationship with him.
• Zhao Xiaodao invited Ma Feifei to attend Gongsun Qiong’s enthronement ceremony the following day, and he agreed.
• Ma Feifei knocked out the man in black and used a Tianshu Fragment to look up Saint Chu.
• The fragment identified Saint Chu as Feng Yiming, a leader among the Phantom Organization’s five giants, and showed his final lifespan was 3,576 years.
• The fragment’s writing vanished without offering an assistance mission, leaving Ma Feifei to ponder Saint Chu’s impending death.

Ma Feifei attended Gongsun Qiong’s coronation, where the Benevolent Sword accepted her oath and released green rain that granted breakthroughs to those it touched. Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang were unaffected by the rain, while Saint Chu’s trembling suggested he had a reason to fear or anticipate the blessing.

• Ma Feifei, Yun Qingyang, and Zhao Xiaodao arrived at Ancestor Dragon Square for Gongsun Qiong’s coronation and took places near the front among the princes and powerful figures.
• The princes discussed traveling to the Mysterious Bookstore after Gongsun Qiong ascended, while Saint Chu watched her approach with satisfaction.
• Gongsun Qiong received the officials’ and Saint Chu’s assent, then took the throne as the crowd bowed; Yun Qingyang refused to kneel, so she and Ma Feifei squatted instead.
• The Benevolent Sword appeared beside Gongsun Qiong, who swore to defend Great Chu and protect it after death, prompting the divine artifact to release green rain.
• The rain sank into the crowd and triggered cultivation breakthroughs, but it slid off Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang; Ma Feifei noticed Saint Chu trembling as he wondered what he had missed.

After Jing Xing successfully summoned rain, Di Heyu investigated Mysterious Bookstore Branch Two and ordered his men to break in. When Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang arrived, the steward’s attack met Ma Feifei at the open doorway, and the steward was launched into the sky.

• Jing Xing’s successful rain ritual restored his standing with the First Emperor, while reports of his night at Mysterious Bookstore Branch Two drew investigators to the shop.
• Di Heyu watched the closed shop and, after growing impatient, ordered his steward to break down the door.
• Xiong Da and Xiong Er struck the door, were thrown back, and died from the impact.
• The system alerted Ma Feifei that the shop was under attack, so he woke Yun Qingyang and hurried with her toward the portal.
• The steward gathered his Spiritual Power and attacked just as Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang opened the door; Ma Feifei struck back, sending the steward flying into the sky.

Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang confronted Prime Minister Di Heyu after he led guards to break into the bookstore, and Ma Feifei defeated the guards while Yun Qingyang subdued Di Heyu. Ma Feifei robbed the intruders and forced them to attend a lesson from a book, leaving Di Heyu and his servants copying its opening line.

• Ma Feifei questioned Di Heyu about attacking the bookstore, then claimed to be its owner when Di Heyu demanded to meet the master.
• Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang drenched Di Heyu with buckets of water, and Di Heyu ordered his guards to seize them.
• Ma Feifei fought off the guards with a wooden bucket, while Yun Qingyang knocked Di Heyu down when he attacked from behind.
• Ma Feifei took Di Heyu's belt, jade pendant, and spatial ring, then told Yun Qingyang to loot the other guards.
• Ma Feifei brought out a black-covered book, made Di Heyu and his servants take paper and brushes, and began teaching them, starting with “At birth, human nature is inherently good.”

Ma Feifei forced Chancellor Di Heyu and his guards to read and copy the Three Character Classic overnight, then charged them tuition with IOUs. After Di Heyu and his men left, Ma Feifei returned to the Mysterious Bookstore with Yun Qingyang, who began dividing their loot and noticed a spatial ring was missing.

• Ma Feifei made Di Heyu and his guards recite and copy the Three Character Classic until dawn, while onlookers reported the scene to other forces.
• Ma Feifei assigned the group reflection essays and made them sign tuition IOUs; Di Heyu secretly altered his five-million-coin debt to fifty-five million Spirit Crystals.
• Di Heyu and his guards left Chang'an Street carrying their copied books, while Ma Feifei planned to teach them the Book of Rites next time.
• Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang returned to the Mysterious Bookstore, where Ma Feifei said she could keep all the spatial bags and hurried into his room.
• Yun Qingyang counted the treasures in the spatial bags and realized the spatial ring was missing.

Ma Feifei met Yuwen Hongdu, Yan State’s former prime minister, who asked whether Han Feizi could teach him the Emperor’s Aura. Suspecting Yuwen Hongdu might want to usurp the throne, Ma Feifei directed him to read The Legend of Flying Swallow, leaving the old man pondering the title while Ma Feifei planned to burn the book afterward.

• Ma Feifei arrived at the Mysterious Bookstore and tried to head to the courtyard with the Tao Te Ching, but Yuwen Hongdu stopped him.
• Zhang Yunji warned Yuwen Hongdu to follow the bookstore’s rules, and Ma Feifei let him speak privately in exchange for a venue fee.
• Yuwen Hongdu told Ma Feifei he wanted to know whether Han Feizi could help him comprehend the Emperor’s Aura, then offered him a spatial bag of Spirit Crystals.
• Ma Feifei suggested that Yuwen Hongdu read the Blue Quality book The Legend of Flying Swallow first, claiming it would make Han Feizi easier to understand.
• Yuwen Hongdu stayed behind to ponder the book’s title while Ma Feifei left, intending to burn The Legend of Flying Swallow after Yuwen Hongdu read it.

Ma Feifei investigated a familiar presence inside Yun Qingyang after she said the plum blossoms had strengthened her Spiritual Power. He found that her blood had changed, and the chapter ended as he drew his own blood to compare it with hers.

• Ma Feifei struggled to comprehend the Tao Te Ching beneath the plum tree while Yun Qingyang picked and ate its blossoms.
• Yun Qingyang said the blossoms had made her Spiritual Power purer and stronger, so Ma Feifei examined her belly and sensed a familiar presence within her.
• Ma Feifei offered Yun Qingyang one million Spirit Crystals for a drop of blood, and she accepted.
• Ma Feifei collected Yun Qingyang's blood and noticed it was half crimson and half gold, unlike the blood he had seen before.
• Ma Feifei drew his own blood to investigate why Yun Qingyang's blood and the presence inside her felt familiar.

Ma Feifei’s golden blood merged with Yun Qingyang’s in a bowl, establishing a blood pact that gave him a Dragon God Arm and triggered a mythical quest. Yun Qingyang collapsed after the pact, and Ma Feifei learned that their abilities could be shared.

• Ma Feifei cut his finger and discovered his blood had turned golden, then let a drop fall into Yun Qingyang’s blood.
• The mixed blood merged, shattered the porcelain bowl, and entered Ma Feifei’s palm, filling his body with painful golden light.
• Yun Qingyang tried to stop the light but was knocked back, while Ma Feifei’s attempt to cut off his arm failed; he punched the ground and the pain subsided.
• Ma Feifei found a golden dragon pattern covering his left arm, and Yun Qingyang collapsed into his arms.
• The system announced that Ma Feifei had formed a blood pact with an ancient frost giant dragon, gained the Dragon God Arm, and received a quest to find Ying Long’s blood.

After the Blood Pact left Yun Qingyang weakened, Ma Feifei helped her recover with Plum Blossoms and resumed reciting the Tao Te Ching. The plum tree blossomed again, while Zhang Yunji felt something stir within him as he listened.

• Ma Feifei fed Yun Qingyang Plum Blossoms, and she recovered without gaining any noticeable abilities from the Blood Pact.
• Ma Feifei tested Yun Qingyang with a trading problem, praised her answer, and called Zhang Yunji over to fill the enormous pit he had made.
• Ma Feifei recited the Tao Te Ching beneath the bare plum tree, and new buds began to appear as Yun Qingyang watched.
• Zhang Yunji returned with soil and stones, began filling the pit, and felt as though something inside him was about to break through while listening to Ma Feifei recite.
• Ma Feifei entered a self-forgetful state as Plum Blossoms bloomed, and Yun Qingyang tasted one and told him it was sweet.

Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang ate most of the plum buds, and Ma Feifei tried reciting the Tao Te Ching again to grow more. When no buds appeared, Yun Qingyang realized they had to eat all the existing buds first, so Ma Feifei turned to Zhang Yunji for help.

• Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang ate two-thirds of the plum buds, then Yun Qingyang collected the rest in her spatial ring.
• Ma Feifei recited the Tao Te Ching again while Zhang Yunji watched and felt a growing, puzzling sensation.
• When no new buds appeared, Yun Qingyang pointed out that the previous growth had happened only after all the buds were eaten.
• Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang admitted they were too full to eat the remaining buds, so Ma Feifei called to Zhang Yunji.
• Zhang Yunji spun around at Ma Feifei's call, stepped into the hole he was filling, and fell in.

Ma Feifei tried to use the plum blossoms to strengthen Zhang Yunji, who ate until he was painfully full, then brought Luan Feng and the Bookstore’s readers in to finish the remaining buds. The chapter ended with Ma Feifei offering the blossoms as a free benefit to everyone reading in the Mysterious Bookstore.

• Ma Feifei gave Zhang Yunji a plum blossom bud, and Zhang Yunji felt a warm current and renewed vigor after eating it.
• Ma Feifei had Yun Qingyang bring out the remaining buds, but Zhang Yunji became painfully full after eating fewer than twenty.
• Zhang Yunji suggested that Ma Feifei call Luan Feng, who ate about a tenth of the buds before she was too full to continue.
• Ma Feifei carried the remaining buds into the Bookstore and offered them to every reader as a free benefit.

Ma Feifei distributed plum flower buds to cultivators in the Mysterious Bookstore, then returned to reciting the Tao Te Ching to make more grow. After several rounds, the buds developed a second petal, but Ma Feifei kept feeding them to the readers until all 400 were incapacitated with swollen bellies.

• Ma Feifei handed out the first bowl of flower buds, and cultivators ate them while speculating about their effects.
• A cultivator tried to release his Spiritual Power inside the Bookstore, but its presence forced him to his knees and dispersed it.
• Ma Feifei recited the Tao Te Ching in the courtyard and grew another crop of buds, each still bearing one petal.
• Ma Feifei repeatedly distributed new buds to the readers, and the buds eventually developed a second petal.
• Ma Feifei continued stuffing buds into the cultivators despite their protests until all 400 were sprawled across the floor with swollen bellies.

Ma Feifei completed the Tao Te Ching stocking quest by distributing Plum Blossoms to a crowd, earning the Sound of the Great Dao and a new cultivation quest. The chapter ended with him rushing to investigate after a low-level cultivator collapsed from eating a bud.

• Ma Feifei decided to organize a free Plum Blossom giveaway after he failed to finish the stocking quest before the Bookstore closed.
• Zhou Wuji returned home bloated from eating buds, and Zhou Zhuling told him the swelling should fade overnight.
• The next day, Ma Feifei distributed buds to a huge crowd until the Plum Tree grew a five-petaled blossom and the system completed his quest.
• Ma Feifei received the Sound of the Great Dao and the side quest Everyone Cultivate Immortality Together, which required him to teach readers to cultivate and comprehend Dharma Power.
• After learning that readers could gain Dharma Power by reciting the Tao Te Ching, Ma Feifei planned a sermon but was interrupted by Zhang Yunji, who reported that a Spirit Master had collapsed after eating a bud.
• Ma Feifei went with Zhang Yunji to inspect the unconscious cultivator.

Ma Feifei used his Innate Purple Qi to calm the flower-bud energy raging inside an unconscious cultivator and draw it into himself. The cultivator recovered, while Ma Feifei wondered whether the energy in everyone who ate a bud could be removed in the same way.

• A young Spirit Master collapsed near the Mysterious Bookstore after eating a flower bud, alarming the cultivators who had eaten one too.
• Ma Feifei examined the young man and placed a hand on his swollen belly, sensing that the flower-bud energy had made his Qi run wild.
• Ma Feifei circulated his Innate Purple Qi, calming the energy and driving the surrounding cultivators back with its powerful presence.
• The flower-bud energy flowed into Ma Feifei as the young man's belly returned to normal.
• The young cultivator woke and thanked Ma Feifei, who wondered whether the flower-bud energy was temporary and could be drawn out of others.

Ma Feifei announced a lecture on the Taoist Method, promising cultivators a way past the Azure Dragon Continent’s thirty-thousand-year barrier to immortality. As powerful figures flocked to register, he revealed that the event would also help him repay his debt, while attendees would still need to cultivate their way toward immortality themselves.

• Ma Feifei spent the afternoon pondering beneath the plum tree, then went to the trading market the next morning and announced a lecture based on the "Tao Te Ching."
• The announcement spread across Dubian Town and beyond, drawing attention because it offered a chance to break the Azure Dragon Continent’s thirty-thousand-year barrier to immortality.
• Yuwen Hongdu rushed to register, while Zhou Wuji, Chang Kong, and Luan Feng eagerly sought permission to attend.
• Ma Feifei told his employees they could listen without registering and privately reasoned that the lecture would help cultivators comprehend Taoist arts, not make them immortals overnight.
• Ma Feifei set the limit at three thousand participants and the fee at two million Spirit Crystals to preserve exclusivity and pay down his six-billion debt, while requiring attendees to have eaten a plum blossom bud.

Empress Gongsun Qiong summoned the heads and deputy heads of Chu’s academies and presented them with nine books she called the Four Books and Five Classics. Their unfamiliar titles puzzled the gathered leaders, while Zhou Wuji and others wondered how the books related to The Analects at the Mysterious Bookstore.

• Zhou Wuji waited with Saint Chu and academy leaders from across Chu for Empress Gongsun Qiong to receive them.
• Gongsun Qiong entered the hall and announced that she had summoned the academy leaders to tell them something significant but beneficial to their academies.
• Gongsun Qiong ordered palace maids to distribute books to the academy leaders.
• Gongsun Qiong named the nine books the Four Books and Five Classics, leaving the leaders confused by their unfamiliar titles.
• Zhou Wuji recognized The Analects as a title used by the Mysterious Bookstore and wondered why this copy was different.

Gongsun Qiong ordered every academy in Great Chu to establish a Confucian Dao Academy teaching the Four Books and Five Classics, with an Imperial Examination to follow. As news spread of Ma Feifei’s coming sermon promising an opportunity to become immortal, cultivators across the Azure Dragon Continent headed for Dubian Town, while Ma Feifei faced a troubling problem.

• Gongsun Qiong decreed that every academy in Great Chu establish a Confucian Dao Academy and announced a triennial Imperial Examination based on the Four Books and Five Classics.
• Gongsun Qiong assigned Saint Chu to lead preparations, and Saint Chu told the deans to study the books before discussing the details.
• Saint Chu asked Zhou Wuji about the Mysterious Bookstore’s event, and Zhou Wuji revealed that he had signed up.
• An announcement spread across Great Chu that academies would teach the nine books from the Mysterious Bookstore, while Ma Feifei would give a sermon in Dubian Town on the fifteenth of the seventh month.
• Cultivators across the Azure Dragon Continent, including Spirit Venerables and reclusive ancestors, traveled to Dubian Town to seek the promised opportunity to become immortal.
• Ma Feifei dealt with a matter that gave him a terrible headache.

Ma Feifei struggled to control the Dragon God Arm, which kept smashing anything he touched, while Yun Qingyang entered the world inside the Tao Te Ching. Ma Feifei discovered he could communicate with her telepathically and guided her into the hall.

• Ma Feifei crushed a bowl and broke a rocking chair and its armrest because he could not control the Dragon God Arm.
• Ma Feifei gave Yun Qingyang the Tao Te Ching, and she recited it beneath the bare plum tree.
• Yun Qingyang vanished beneath the tree and appeared inside the book’s world, where she found Laozi waiting in a great hall.
• Yun Qingyang looked toward Ma Feifei, who silently told her to enter and answer Laozi honestly.
• Yun Qingyang seemed to hear Ma Feifei telepathically, nodded, and walked into the hall.

Yun Qingyang entered the Tao Te Ching and gained the ability to summon clouds and bring rain, along with a way to use Dharma Power. As Dubian Town filled with powerful latecomers seeking the Mysterious Bookstore’s sermon, cultivators wondered what they would do after learning all three thousand registration spots were gone.

• Yun Qingyang told Laozi she wanted to become an immortal, but grew annoyed by his questions and left the hall.
• Yun Qingyang transformed into a Frost Giant Dragon and brought rain to a drought-stricken land, then returned having learned to convert Spiritual Power into stronger Dharma Power.
• Yun Qingyang tested her new rainmaking ability over Dubian Town, where a falling object struck Zhang Yunji and knocked him unconscious.
• Cultivators in Dubian Town discussed Saint Chu, a palace master of the Hidden Heaven Palace, and other powerful figures arriving to seek an opportunity to become immortals.
• Cultivators learned that all three thousand sermon registration spots had been filled, leaving them unsure what the late-arriving big figures would do.

Ma Feifei tested the Sound of the Great Dao by reciting “Ode to the Poplar” to a tree, and his voice spread across Dubian Town and the surrounding land. It left countless plum trees blooming between the town and the lecture venue, while the assembled experts listened in astonishment.

• Zhang Yunji welcomed powerful cultivators who crowded the Mysterious Bookstore, hoping Ma Feifei would add places to his lecture.
• Luan Feng told Ma Feifei that the visitors were reclusive experts seeking an opportunity to become immortals, and Ma Feifei decided to leave their request unanswered for now.
• Ma Feifei asked the system for a Blue Quality book praising trees and received an eighth-grade Chinese textbook containing “Ode to the Poplar.”
• Ma Feifei first recited the passage without using the Sound of the Great Dao, then recited it again with the Daoist Magic as Yun Qingyang and the bookstore visitors listened.
• Ma Feifei’s voice spread throughout Dubian Town and beyond, causing countless plum trees to sprout and bloom across the twenty li to the Pokémon Championship venue.

After Ma Feifei recited Ode to the Poplar, a shower of ordinary Plum Blossoms appeared across Dubian Town, sparking confusion but leaving his profitable blossoms unaffected. Ma Feifei headed north to investigate, while Shen Wansan considered earning his favor by revealing a shareholder’s role in a past assassination plot.

• Ma Feifei and Yun Qingyang tasted the falling Plum Blossoms and confirmed they did not grant Qi like the blossoms sold at his shop.
• Zhang Yunji told Ma Feifei that plum trees had appeared from the north of town to the Pokémon competition venue, and Ma Feifei went to investigate.
• Cultivators complained about the blossoms’ lack of effects and joked about Ma Feifei’s high prices, prompting him to agree with Shen Wansan’s remark about his reputation as the King of Unscrupulous Merchants.
• Ma Feifei learned Shen Wansan was a steward at the Yunteng Chamber of Commerce and invited him to join the Wantong Trading Market if he ever left.
• Shen Wansan suspected Ma Feifei might have been recruiting him and considered disclosing a shareholder’s connection to the Phantom Organization’s assassination attempt as a pledge of loyalty.