Recaps

Ma Feifei learned that Yun Qingyang had lived for over ten thousand years and once reached Spirit Saint Stage Eight, though an injury had reduced her to Spirit Master Stage Five. He let her stay in his home, then spent the night worrying that she planned to take over his body.

• Ma Feifei questioned Yun Qingyang and was shocked when she said she had lived for over ten thousand years.
• Yun Qingyang explained that her peak cultivation was Spirit Saint Stage Eight and that an injury had reduced her current cultivation to Spirit Master Stage Five.
• Ma Feifei invited Yun Qingyang to stay and offered her any medicinal herbs that might help her recover.
• Ma Feifei settled Yun Qingyang in his late father's bedroom and returned to his own room.
• Ma Feifei imagined that Yun Qingyang intended to steal his body and slept poorly, waking with panda eyes.

Ma Feifei discovered that Yun Qingyang had become a bookstore employee, taken his Spirit Crystals with his permission, and was a dragon descended from an ancient Frost Giant Dragon. As he considered how to keep her as the bookstore’s bodyguard, two cultivators arrived and confronted Yang Chengzhi.

• Ma Feifei found that frost from Yun Qingyang had frozen his courtyard tree and well, then opened the bookstore to Yang Chengzhi and Zhou Zhuling.
• Ma Feifei discovered that 1,125 Spirit Crystals had vanished and found a system log showing Yun Qingyang had taken them as an employee.
• Ma Feifei recalled telling Yun Qingyang to take whatever she needed to recover, realizing that the system counted this as permission.
• Ma Feifei learned that Yun Qingyang was a dragon descended directly from an ancient Frost Giant Dragon and began thinking of keeping her as the bookstore’s bodyguard.
• Two young cultivators entered the bookstore, spotted Yang Chengzhi, and taunted him for not knowing his limits.

Yang Chengzhi endured taunts from fellow Zhenguan Academy students as they learned the Qin State had withdrawn and explored Ma Feifei’s mysterious Bookstore. After the newcomers sat down to provoke Yang Chengzhi, he stood and challenged them to fight.

• Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang mocked Yang Chengzhi, then told him the Qin State had withdrawn after Qin Shi Huang changed his mind.
• Ma Feifei warned the newcomers not to harass Zhou Zhuling, and they held back because they suspected the shopkeeper was powerful.
• Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang paid to read and chose Andersen's Fairy Tales and Half a Mu of Flower Fields.
• Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang sat opposite Yang Chengzhi to provoke him, and Yang Chengzhi rose and challenged them to fight.

Yang Chengzhi challenged the Wu Zhang brothers to fight him together, and Ma Feifei arranged the courtyard bout and accepted their wagers. As the fight was about to begin, Ma Feifei and Zhou Zhuling grew bashful around each other while Yun Qingyang watched, puzzled.

• Yang Chengzhi challenged the Wu Zhang brothers to fight him together, and they mocked his Spirit Master Sixth Stage cultivation before accepting.
• Ma Feifei offered the shop’s courtyard for a ten-Spirit-Crystal fee, and Senior Brother Zhang wagered a thousand Spirit Crystals against Yang Chengzhi’s Heart-Questioning Ruler.
• Ma Feifei set rules against damaging the courtyard or house, then watched the fighters with Zhou Zhuling and Yun Qingyang.
• Zhou Zhuling predicted Yang Chengzhi would lose unless something unexpected happened, while Ma Feifei privately believed he would win because of the book he had read.
• Ma Feifei invited Zhou Zhuling to wager, but she offered him her Spirit Crystals instead, and their mutual bashfulness left Yun Qingyang confused.

Yang Chengzhi used the Art of Mutual Combat to fight Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang, but their higher cultivation gradually overwhelmed him. As the two prepared to strike decisively, Yang Chengzhi summoned Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy with a strange hand sign, leaving them startled.

• Yang Chengzhi fought Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang with two swords, and Ma Feifei recognized his technique as the Art of Mutual Combat from The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
• Ma Feifei concluded that the book could reward readers with cultivation techniques and recorded his observation.
• Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang adapted to Yang Chengzhi’s fighting style and gained the advantage through their superior cultivation.
• Ma Feifei offered Yun Qingyang Spirit Crystals in exchange for her protection and help watching the shop, and she called him a broke wretch.
• After Yang Chengzhi was struck and began to falter, he dropped his swords and gathered Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy at his fingertips, forcing his opponents to retreat.

Yang Chengzhi defeated Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang by manipulating Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy and secretly draining their spiritual power with the Nine Yin Manual. Zhou Zhuling realized Ma Feifei’s books had helped Yang Chengzhi improve, and she wondered what kind of person Ma Feifei was.

• Yang Chengzhi used Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy to defend against Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang, who answered with the Spirit Gathering Banner and a strengthened sword strike.
• Yang Chengzhi defeated the pair and revealed that their spiritual power had been drained; he collected his bet and confirmed to Ma Feifei that he had used the Soul Seizing Great Method from the Nine Yin Manual.
• Yang Chengzhi thanked Ma Feifei, believing he had deliberately taught him the techniques through his books, while Ma Feifei recorded the books’ hidden effects.
• Junior Brother Wu and Senior Brother Zhang feared Yang Chengzhi had entered the Devil Dao and left the Bookstore without confronting him.
• Yang Chengzhi returned to reading The Legend of the Condor Heroes, while Zhou Zhuling concluded that Ma Feifei’s books had helped him and wondered about Ma Feifei.

Ma Feifei put Yun Qingyang to work at the Mysterious Bookstore while the Qin-Chu war ended without a battle. As Dubian Town revived and Zhenguan Academy students returned for the Dragon Ranking tournament, Yang Chengzhi broke through again.

• Ma Feifei assigned Yun Qingyang to collect reading fees, keep books from leaving the store, and protect him when he went out.
• Qin and Chu withdrew their armies, with rumors saying turmoil in Qin had forced Qin Shi Huang to abandon his invasion.
• Adventurers and merchants returned to Dubian Town as the threat of war receded.
• Zhenguan Academy's students began returning to the Imperial Capital for the Dragon Ranking tournament.
• Yang Chengzhi broke through again.

Yang Chengzhi advanced rapidly through The Legend of the Condor Heroes and planned to return to Zhenguan Academy for the Dragon Ranking tournament. Ma Feifei arranged for Yun Qingyang to fly them to the capital, while Zhou Zhuling and Zhou Guanyu continued reading My Fair Princess.

• Yang Chengzhi told Ma Feifei he had advanced to the ninth level of Spirit Master and planned to finish The Legend of the Condor Heroes before the Dragon Ranking tournament.
• Ma Feifei decided to travel to the capital to pursue his quests and asked Yun Qingyang to save Spirit Crystals for the trip.
• Yun Qingyang offered to fly Ma Feifei and the others to the capital within two days, then agreed to take extra passengers for eighty percent of their earnings.
• Yang Chengzhi paid Ma Feifei a hundred and fifty Spirit Crystals for a two-day trip to the capital.
• Zhou Guanyu urged Zhou Zhuling to finish her page of My Fair Princess, but she ignored him and continued reading.

Ma Feifei agreed to travel to the Dragon Ranking competition with Zhou Zhuling, while Xiaoyaozi ordered Yang Chengzhi killed when the opportunity arose. At the Mysterious Bookstore, Ma Feifei tried to persuade Yang Chengzhi to wear a promotional cape to the competition.

• Zhou Guanyu teased Zhou Zhuling about her feelings for Ma Feifei and took My Fair Princess to read by himself.
• Ma Feifei asked Zhou Zhuling about the Dragon Ranking competition, and she decided to attend despite her poor health.
• Zhou Zhuling asked to travel to the imperial capital with Ma Feifei, and he agreed before Yun Qingyang demanded payment.
• Xiaoyaozi learned that Yang Chengzhi had not returned to the academy and ordered the Wu Zhang brothers to kill him if they got the chance.
• Ma Feifei showed Yang Chengzhi a red cape he had commissioned, but Yang Chengzhi objected to the bookstore advertisement printed on it.

Ma Feifei persuaded Yang Chengzhi to promote the Mysterious Bookstore at the Dragon Ranking Tournament, then set out for Zhenguan Academy with Yun Qingyang and the others. Outside Dubian Town, Yun Qingyang transformed into an Ancient Frost Dragon and carried the group’s attention—and Ma Feifei’s curiosity—before reacting angrily when he touched her scales.

• Ma Feifei convinced Yang Chengzhi to wear a cape advertising the Mysterious Bookstore at the Dragon Ranking Tournament, and Yang Chengzhi agreed.
• As the tournament approached, Ma Feifei, Yun Qingyang, Yang Chengzhi, Zhou Guanyu, and Zhou Zhuling prepared to leave for Zhenguan Academy.
• Yun Qingyang led the group ten miles outside Dubian Town, transformed into a giant dragon, and invited them to climb aboard.
• Ma Feifei climbed onto Yun Qingyang’s wing and touched one of her scales, prompting her to flap him off.
• After Ma Feifei fell and tossed grass at her face, Yun Qingyang brought her enormous dragon head close while he awkwardly apologized.

As Yun Qingyang carried Ma Feifei and the others toward the Imperial Capital, Yang Chengzhi reached a new cultivation stage after a moment of enlightenment. Outside the capital, Gongsun Qiong encouraged Zhao Xiaodao to believe that her humble beginnings did not determine her future.

• Yun Qingyang’s bite left Ma Feifei nursing his wounds as Zhou Guanyu and Yang Chengzhi admired the dragon’s speed.
• Yang Chengzhi broke through from Spirit Sect First Stage to Spirit Sect Second Stage, and Zhou Zhuling realized his talent went beyond what he had gained from reading.
• Ma Feifei told Zhou Zhuling that everyone had secrets, then wondered whether his life in this world was real or a dream.
• Zhao Xiaodao arrived outside the Imperial Capital with Gongsun Qiong and marveled at the ancient city.
• Gongsun Qiong reminded Zhao Xiaodao that Emperor Chu the Conqueror had begun as a beggar and urged her not to underestimate herself.

Ma Feifei and his companions attended Zhenguan Academy’s Dragon Ranking Tournament, where Zhou Guanyu praised King Saint Chu’s famous state banquet. The tournament was about to begin as Zhou Wuji welcomed the crowd and started introducing the distinguished guests.

• Ma Feifei, Zhou Zhuling, Yun Qingyang, and Zhou Guanyu took seats near the front of Jiaolong Plain to watch the Dragon Ranking Tournament.
• Zhou Guanyu praised King Saint Chu’s five-yearly state banquet, while Ma Feifei privately doubted that it was a wise use of the kingdom’s resources.
• Zhou Zhuling noticed Ma Feifei’s reaction and asked whether he disagreed about the state banquet.
• Zhou Wuji appeared above the platforms, and Zhou Zhuling identified him as her father and Zhenguan Academy’s deputy dean.
• Zhou Wuji welcomed the spectators and began introducing the tournament’s distinguished guests, including King Saint Chu and King Yan Heng.

Yang Chengzhi’s sudden breakthrough to the Spirit Sect Realm made him the focus of the Dragon Ranking Tournament, and no one initially dared challenge his platform. The chapter ended when Wang Dong stepped forward to face him, while Xiaoyaozi watched to see whether Yang Chengzhi could defend his place.

• Zhou Wuji opened the Dragon Ranking Tournament and called on last year’s ranked students to defend their platforms.
• Spectators noticed the advertisement on Yang Chengzhi’s cape, while academy students realized they could no longer see through his cultivation and suspected he had reached the Spirit Sect Realm.
• Challengers avoided Yang Chengzhi’s platform as the top ten platforms also remained unchallenged.
• Ma Feifei urged Yang Chengzhi to turn and run around so the crowd could see his cape, but Zhou Zhuling pointed out that everyone was watching Ma Feifei.
• Feng Xinglie remarked on Yang Chengzhi’s breakthrough and hinted at his feud with Xiaoyaozi, who said Yang Chengzhi would have to prove he could defend his platform.
• Wang Dong stepped onto Yang Chengzhi’s platform and asked him for a lesson.

Yang Chengzhi defended his three-hundredth place on the Dragon Ranking by defeating freshman Wang Dong in a single move. Wang Dong accepted his loss and left, while the other students reconsidered challenging Yang Chengzhi.

• Wang Dong challenged Yang Chengzhi, confident that he could use the match to make a name for himself, and the referee opened the fight.
• Wang Dong attacked with a formation-engraved spear, but Yang Chengzhi caught its point between two fingers.
• Yang Chengzhi flicked the spear and threw Wang Dong from the ring, successfully defending his Dragon Ranking spot.
• Wang Dong protested the result but ultimately admitted defeat and left Jiaolong Plain.
• Yang Chengzhi declined a rest, and no one challenged him for some time after his display of strength.

The first stage of the Dragon Ranking Tournament saw freshmen challenge the top-ranked students, with Jiang Yibei defeating Li Chen to claim tenth place. By the end of the stage, four of the previous year’s top ten had lost, signaling a dramatic change in the academy’s rankings.

• Yan Xun attended the tournament to seek an alliance with Chu, while Sage Yan predicted that Chu would eventually fall after Saint Chu died.
• Jiang Yibei challenged Li Chen for a top-ten Dragon Ranking spot and began a fierce sword fight with him.
• Jiang Yibei and Li Chen revealed that both had reached the second stage of the Spirit Sect realm, and Jiang Yibei unleashed the sixth-tier Star Sword Art against Li Chen’s Netherflame Art.
• Jiang Yibei defeated Li Chen and became the first challenger in a thousand years to take a top-ten spot in the tournament’s first stage.
• Other students challenged the top ten, and four of the previous year’s top ten defenders had been defeated by the end of the first stage.

After the Dragon Ranking’s opening battles, spectators discussed Yang Chengzhi’s sudden rise as Ma Feifei and his companions met Lin Wuchi and Li Beiguo at a tavern. Lin Wuchi and Li Beiguo stormed off to fight, while Ma Feifei gave Zhou Zhuling a Spirit Artifact and left Zhou Guanyu exasperated.

• Spectators in the Imperial Capital discussed Yang Chengzhi’s rapid breakthrough and his chances in the Dragon Ranking competition.
• Ma Feifei teased a cultivator whose talk of relying on hard work contradicted his earlier envy of Yang Chengzhi’s opportunity.
• Lin Wuchi pretended to sever ties with Li Beiguo, then tried to impress Zhou Zhuling by offering her a Youthful Appearance Pearl.
• Li Beiguo accused Lin Wuchi of secretly taking the pearl from a tomb, and the two argued before leaving to fight.
• Ma Feifei gave the pearl to Zhou Zhuling, and Zhou Guanyu walked out in exasperation.

The second stage of the Dragon Ranking Tournament began, with students challenging one another for better positions while Yang Chengzhi waited unchallenged at last place. Ma Feifei continued writing Yang Chengzhi’s story until Yun Chang, ranked fifteenth, headed for his platform.

• Vice Dean Zhou Wuji opened the second-stage Ranking Challenge and explained its rules after a long speech.
• Students declared their challenges, and the unrestricted matches turned the tournament into a chaotic series of contests.
• Yang Chengzhi lounged on his platform because no one had reason to challenge the student ranked three hundredth.
• Ma Feifei wrote Yang Chengzhi’s Revenge Chronicle and told Zhou Zhuling that Yang Chengzhi inspired his protagonist.
• Yun Chang, a fellow-year student ranked fifteenth, approached Yang Chengzhi’s platform to challenge him.

Yang Chengzhi defeated Yun Chang after she tried to stop him from challenging Xiaoyaozi. He then challenged the Dragon Ranking’s top-ranked student, leaving Jiaolong Plain in stunned silence as the fight was about to begin.

• Spectators discussed rumors that Yun Chang and Yang Chengzhi had once been childhood sweethearts, while Zhou Guanyu explained that the story was unconfirmed.
• Yun Chang congratulated Yang Chengzhi on reaching the Spirit Sect realm and offered him her ranking if he would agree not to challenge Xiaoyaozi.
• Yang Chengzhi refused to abandon his plan to fight Xiaoyaozi, and Yun Chang attacked him to keep him from going after her current partner.
• Yang Chengzhi defended himself without counterattacking until his superior cultivation became clear, then knocked Yun Chang off the arena and won.
• Yang Chengzhi challenged Dragon Ranking number one Xiaoyaozi from his own position at number three hundred, shocking the crowd and drawing the attention of the academy’s powerful figures.

At Jiaolong Plain, Yang Chengzhi challenged top-ranked Xiaoyaozi and signed a life-and-death agreement, turning their Dragon Ranking match into a fight with no consequences for either side. Yang Chengzhi revealed that reading a book from the Mysterious Bookstore had helped him reach the Spirit Sect realm, spreading the store’s name as the duel approached.

• Yang Chengzhi challenged Xiaoyaozi, and Xiaoyaozi warned that he might kill him.
• Yang Chengzhi and Xiaoyaozi signed a life-and-death agreement, allowing either fighter to die without legal or academy repercussions.
• Yang Chengzhi told Xiaoyaozi that reading a book from the Mysterious Bookstore had helped him break through to the Spirit Sect realm.
• Spectators spread the Mysterious Bookstore’s name across Jiaolong Plain, completing Ma Feifei’s 10,000-point popularity quest.
• Ma Feifei told Zhou Zhuling that he was not worried about Yang Chengzhi’s fight because he had nothing to gain or lose from its outcome.

Xiaoyaozi dominated Yang Chengzhi with the seventh-tier Spirit Sword Red Sickle, but Yang Chengzhi revealed the Six Meridian Divine Sword and stopped his attack. The spectators realized the martial art he had learned from The Legend of the Condor Heroes might be far more powerful than they had expected.

• Xiaoyaozi summoned the seventh-tier Spirit Sword Red Sickle and attacked Yang Chengzhi with overwhelming force.
• Yang Chengzhi's third-tier sword snapped, and Xiaoyaozi's sword aura struck him in the chest, making him stagger and spit blood.
• Xiaoyaozi pressed his advantage and charged again as Yang Chengzhi discarded his broken sword.
• Yang Chengzhi channeled spiritual energy through his right ring finger and fired a beam that forced Xiaoyaozi back and broke his attack's momentum.
• Ma Feifei identified Yang Chengzhi's technique as the Six Meridian Divine Sword, while Zhou Guanyu and the spectators marveled at its power.

Yang Chengzhi held Xiaoyaozi at a stalemate with the Six Meridian Divine Sword, even after Xiaoyaozi unleashed the War God Art. As Xiaoyaozi transformed, golden spiritual energy gathered around Yang Chengzhi and became a dragon that carried him toward the top of the Ascension Stele.

• Yang Chengzhi used the Six Meridian Divine Sword to block Xiaoyaozi’s Afterimage Rainbow and Red Sickle, astonishing the spectators.
• Xiaoyaozi tried to exhaust Yang Chengzhi’s spiritual power, but Yang Chengzhi maintained his strength and wounded Xiaoyaozi with a beam from his finger.
• Xiaoyaozi activated the War God Art, causing a shock wave to sweep across Jiaolong Plain as his body grew into a giant.
• Yang Chengzhi gathered Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy around himself, forming a golden line that alarmed the Three Saints of Chu, Yan, and Zhao.
• A golden dragon coiled around Yang Chengzhi and carried him toward the top of the Ascension Stele.

Yang Chengzhi and Xiaoyaozi unleashed powerful techniques in a spectacular clash that destroyed the arena’s protective barriers. Both fell afterward, and Yun Qingyang declared that Yang Chengzhi had survived while the other fighter had died; Yang Chengzhi then began to rise.

• Yang Chengzhi summoned a golden dragon with Flying Dragon in the Sky while Xiaoyaozi transformed and fused with Spirit Sword Red Sickle using the War God Art.
• The fighters charged at each other, and their golden and crimson attacks collided in midair.
• The clash shattered the arena’s protective barriers, but a powerful figure stopped the ensuing wave before it reached the spectators.
• Yang Chengzhi and Xiaoyaozi fell onto the arena, and Yun Qingyang said Yang Chengzhi was alive and the other fighter was dead.
• Yang Chengzhi’s bloodied hand twitched, then pressed against the ground to lift him up.

Yang Chengzhi defeated Xiaoyaozi but was nearly killed by Xiaoyao Zizai before Zhou Wuji intervened. Back in Dubian Town, Ma Feifei completed one quest and received a new challenge to sell ten thousand copies of My Fair Princess within three months.

• Yang Chengzhi reflected on how he had sacrificed for Yun Chang, then mourned that she had turned away from him.
• Xiaoyao Zizai attacked Yang Chengzhi to avenge his son, but Zhou Wuji blocked him and had instructors carry Yang Chengzhi away.
• The Dragon Ranking matches continued, while news of Yang Chengzhi's victory and the Mysterious Bookstore spread across the Azure Dragon Continent.
• Ma Feifei completed Yang Chengzhi's Revenge Chronicle and received Thousand Gold Formulas, then triggered the Cultural Outreach quest to sell ten thousand copies of My Fair Princess.
• Ma Feifei returned to Dubian Town with Yun Qingyang and found the ten thousand books waiting in the bookstore's backyard storeroom, uncertain whether anyone would pay ten Spirit Crystals per copy.

Ma Feifei began copying the Yellow Quality Thousand Gold Formulas and discovered that the Ballpoint Pen consumed Spirit Crystals as ink. After using up his personal supply, he continued writing carefully to conserve the bookstore’s resources.

• Zhou Guanyu arrived early to read The Legend of the Condor Heroes and told Ma Feifei that his mother had taken Zhou Zhuling to see a living Buddha from Leiyin Temple.
• Ma Feifei began copying the Thousand Gold Formulas, but the writing faded after four characters.
• Ma Feifei noticed the pen required Spirit Crystals to copy books of Yellow Quality or higher.
• Ma Feifei’s Spirit Crystals streamed into the pen and disappeared, allowing him to write clearly.
• Ma Feifei used up all the Spirit Crystals in his bag and copied the Thousand Gold Formulas in small, careful characters to save more.

Ma Feifei, short of the Spirit Crystals needed to copy the Thousand Gold Formulas, decided to promote My Fair Princess and left Yun Qingyang to mind the bookstore. A wealthy-looking visitor arrived and introduced himself as Zhang Yunji from the Imperial Capital, mistaking Yun Qingyang for the shopkeeper.

• Ma Feifei calculated that he needed nearly a hundred thousand Spirit Crystals to finish copying the Thousand Gold Formulas and despaired over the bookstore's poor business.
• Zhou Guanyu broke through to Spirit Master Stage Five while reading The Legend of the Condor Heroes, but had not finished the first chapter or comprehended any techniques or martial skills.
• Ma Feifei decided to promote My Fair Princess to earn Spirit Crystals and told Yun Qingyang to welcome any customers while he was away.
• A middle-aged man entered the Mysterious Bookstore, praised its books, and said that reading cost one Spirit Crystal per hour was reasonable.
• The visitor approached Yun Qingyang, mistook her for the shopkeeper, and introduced himself as Zhang Yunji from the Imperial Capital.