Recaps

The League of Aberrants learned that spirituality was waning, then witnessed Xuanxuanzi ascend into the Crimson Moon as a Tribulation Immortal. Faced with the upheaval, Quiet Void Child chose to merge the Grand Void Sect into the Medicine King Sect.

• The Willow God, a barefoot woman, and a paper man discussed the Medicine King Sect’s Spirit Transformation cultivator and the declining spirituality in the world.
• A phantom Blood Moon appeared over Xuanxuanzi’s hall, and the aberrant cultivators heard the words “Valley Spirit” and “Mysterious Female.”
• Xuanxuanzi ascended through a pillar of red light into the Crimson Moon, and the League of Aberrants declared him a Tribulation Immortal.
• Qing Yan reported Xuanxuanzi’s ascension to Quiet Void Child, who decided to visit Patriarch Fang and surrender the Grand Void Sect to the Medicine King Sect.

Many years later, youths gathered to seek entry into the Medicine King Sect, whose legendary ancestor and Heaven-Piercing Jade Stele still shaped the cultivation world. As the new recruits began their examinations, they heard how the sect’s rare pills could even grant mortals spiritual roots.

• A cultivator told the youths how the Medicine King Sect had risen to prominence after the Blood Moon Calamity and described the Heaven-Piercing Jade Stele’s role in managing contributions and exchanges.
• A blue-robed Gold Core cultivator let seven youths spend contribution points to skip the entrance examinations and become outer disciples.
• The remaining youths were sent to take the three entrance examinations, while a little girl in red lamented that she had no contribution points.
• A Foundation Establishment cultivator explained that the Gu God had exchanged contributions for a Heaven-Seizing Creation Pill and a Heaven-Mending Creation Pill.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivator said the Heaven-Seizing Creation Pill could give mortals spiritual roots, but its low success rate and costly ingredients had led the ancestor to seal its formula.

Fang Lang failed the Medicine King Sect’s aptitude test, but Aaron recognized him as a distant relative and arranged for him to join the sect as a registered disciple. Aaron gave Fang Lang a way to improve his spirit roots and assigned Shen Wanshui to teach him, leaving Fang Lang poised to receive unusually generous support.

• At the Medicine King Sect’s assessment, Shen Bing revealed an ice-element variant spirit root, while Fang Lang was judged to have four spirit roots and was rejected.
• Aaron discovered a bloodline connection between Fang Lang and Fang Yu, then ordered Sect Master Xue Wuyou to bring Fang Lang into the sect.
• Xue Wuyou brought Fang Lang to Medicine King Peak, where Bai Junqi and other Nascent Soul cultivators gathered and speculated about his connection to the Patriarch.
• Aaron identified Fang Lang as a distant descendant, gave him Heavenly Wood Liquid and a jade slip for the improved Primal Unity Art, and accepted him as a registered disciple.
• Aaron assigned Shen Wanshui to instruct Fang Lang, and Shen promised to prioritize sect resources for his cultivation.

After forming his Golden Core, Fang Lang went with Shen Wanshui to pay his respects to Aaron and witnessed Xiaoqing's advancement through a heavenly tribulation. Xiaoqing survived the final strike and reached the Nascent Soul realm.

• After sixty years of cultivation, Fang Lang formed his Golden Core and received congratulations from Medicine King Sect cultivators.
• Shen Wanshui told Fang Lang to visit Aaron, and Fang Lang followed him toward Aaron's cave abode.
• A powerful heavenly phenomenon revealed that Xiaoqing was advancing from a third-rank demonic beast to a fourth-rank one.
• Xiaoqing's transformation revealed that it had broken beyond the Longlife Turtle bloodline and grown closer to the Black Tortoise.
• Xiaoqing used its Mystic Turtle Shield to withstand the final lightning strike and reached the Nascent Soul realm.

Aaron explained the Five Elements Mystic Light to Fang Lang and sent him to earn contribution points toward a Nascent Soul Pill. Fang Lang became famous for taking opponents’ five-element treasures, but while returning to the Medicine King Sect, he was confronted by a group led by a Nascent Soul cultivator.

• Aaron praised Xiaoqing for reaching the fourth tier, then taught Fang Lang that his Five Elements Golden Core could cultivate the Five Elements Mystic Light.
• Aaron ordered Fang Lang to master the divine ability, complete missions, and gather twenty-five million contribution points before seeking him again.
• Shen Wanshui explained that the Primal Unity Nascent Soul Pill cost fifty million contribution points and offered to introduce Fang Lang to a Shen Family genius with a variant ice spiritual root.
• After mastering the Five Elements Mystic Light, Fang Lang defeated Golden Core cultivators and became known across the Central Region as Treasure-Seizing True Person.
• While returning to the Medicine King Sect after killing a Core Formation cultivator, Fang Lang sensed an ambush and confronted a group led by a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Fang Lang received a Primal Unity Nascent Soul Pill from Aaron, who then disguised him as a Foundation Establishment cultivator and sent him to lead a poor clan as a heart-tempering trial. After ten years of running the Li Family, Fang Lang gambled its future on relocating near the Medicine King Sect as the Jade Flute Gentleman prepared to attack it.

• Fu Zhen brought his son Fu Shen to seek Fang Lang as a master and gave him intelligence that Tu Yao, the Jade Flute Scholar, was about to achieve Spirit Transformation.
• Aaron rejected a proposal to kill Tu Yao, and a hundred years later Fang Lang learned that Tu Yao had successfully achieved Spirit Transformation.
• Fang Lang presented his contribution points to Aaron, who gave him a Primal Unity Nascent Soul Pill and assigned him a mortal-world heart-tempering trial.
• Aaron disguised himself as Li Ruhe and made Fang Lang, under the identity Li Huojia, the head of the impoverished Li Family, restricting his power to Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
• After ten years of managing the Li Family's meager finances and work raising Black Mountain Pigs, Fang Lang ordered the clan to borrow money and relocate near the Medicine King Sect.
• The Li Family bought a spirit vein near the Medicine King Sect, while a white-robed cultivator with a jade flute declared that the sect's time had come to end.

Jade Flute Gentleman Tu Yao attacked the Medicine King Sect, blaming it for the destruction of his former sect, and challenged Aaron. Aaron countered Tu Yao’s powerful music attack with the Black Jade Seal, but Tu Yao then revealed an immortal formation and a damaged immortal artifact.

• Tu Yao played his jade flute, killing and injuring Medicine King Sect disciples before the sect activated its fifth-rank protective formation.
• Tu Yao confronted Xue Wuyou over the Medicine King Sect’s past destruction of the Immortal Sound Sect, and his piercing note wounded Xue Wuyou despite the formation.
• Aaron appeared on Xiaoqing and invited Tu Yao to make his move rather than continue arguing about the past.
• Tu Yao summoned a phoenix with his Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix tune, but Aaron’s Black Jade Seal manifested a Black Tortoise that tore the phoenix apart.
• Tu Yao revealed a detachable immortal formation that fired Immortal Realm Purifying Fire and then brought out the damaged Nine Dragon Guillotine.

Aaron defeated Jade Flute Recluse, who revealed that he had become a Blood Demon cultivator to pursue Ascension, and pursued him to the Eastern Sea. There, Aaron learned that the local Spirit Transformation cultivators had arranged Jade Flute Recluse’s capture to test the path to the upper realm, while Aaron chose to remain in the mortal world.

• Aaron used the Moon-Inviting Hook and Formless Sword to kill Jade Flute Recluse’s body, but Jade Flute Recluse revived as a Blood Demon and escaped after Aaron’s demonic fire wounded him.
• Aaron rode Xiaoqing in pursuit of Jade Flute Recluse to the Eastern Sea.
• Jade Flute Recluse called on the Black Nightmare King, Gu God, and Northern Spirit Venerable for help, but they trapped him in a formation and greeted Aaron as their Patriarch.
• Gu God and Northern Spirit Venerable explained that they had let Jade Flute Recluse find the Blood Demon Scripture so he could test whether the path to the upper realm remained open.
• Aaron declined to take part in their search for another route to immortality, saying he wanted to stay in the mortal world.

Fang Lang advanced to Spirit Transformation and took over Aaron’s supposed duty guarding the aberrant realm passage, while Aaron left to continue his work across worlds. After waking from his long slumber, Aaron sought a new world whose Imprint could accelerate his plans to regain the Creator’s throne.

• Fang Lang reached Nascent Soul, thanked Aaron for helping him overcome the heart demon tribulation, and became Aaron’s true personal disciple.
• Aaron offered Fang Lang Spirit-Transforming Paste in exchange for eventually taking over the duty of guarding the aberrant realm passage, then secretly planned to use the arrangement as an excuse to travel.
• Five hundred years later, Fang Lang advanced to Spirit Transformation and took responsibility for the Medicine King Sect and the passage as Aaron departed on Xiaoqing.
• Over the following centuries, the passage weakened and closed while Aaron remained away, leaving Fang Lang to grow old and fear that his master would never return.
• In Green Forest City, Lilliat observed the changing world of Secrecy as the fallen Fate Controllers’ worshippers dwindled and Aaron’s flower fairies helped with her work.
• Aaron awoke, assessed his progress digesting Mother Tree of Flesh, and divined a world that could accelerate his ongoing Imprint ritual.

Aaron awakened at twenty-seven in Great Xin, inhabiting the life of an impoverished, debt-ridden man with no stable job. After finding no sign of the supernatural in the technologically advanced world, he used his limited spiritual resources to activate a future simulator.

• Aaron woke in a filthy, cramped room and recalled his avatar's history of debt, impulsive spending, and odd jobs.
• Aaron asked a Magic Sound streamer for a refund for the five hundred yuan he had tipped the previous night.
• Aaron searched Great Xin's news and discovered that the world appeared to have no genuine supernatural phenomena.
• Aaron sensed that his avatar had brought only four points of Tower spirituality and three points of Yao spirituality, with reinforcements arriving slowly from the main body.
• Aaron activated the future simulator, and a flood of text appeared on his private light screen.

Aaron used the simulator to test possible futures and learned that conspicuous lottery winnings led to robbery or kidnapping, while divined numbers could change. After confirming the simulator’s accuracy, he went to the lottery shop to discuss an investment and asked Old Liu for a stack of scratch-offs.

• Aaron’s first simulation ended with him being robbed and stabbed after winning ten scratch-off prizes.
• Aaron’s second simulation ended with him kidnapped by creditors after his divined lottery numbers failed to match the drawing.
• Aaron reasoned that the future could change and that flaunting sudden wealth could put him in danger.
• Aaron spent the day at home and used the Magic Sound girl’s continued silence to confirm the simulator’s predictions were credible.
• Aaron went downstairs the next morning and told lottery shop owner Old Liu he had loftier ambitions before asking for a stack of scratch-offs.

Aaron used Yao’s spirituality to win a small scratch-off prize, then went to the Great Library and used Tower’s spirituality to rapidly study in search of ways to make money before his creditors caught up with him. He left with a plan to solve a mathematical problem for money, while Mu Xinyun mistakenly imagined his nosebleed meant he liked her.

• Aaron used Yao’s spirituality to choose scratch-offs, won two thousand yuan, and left Old Liu’s shop with the cash.
• Aaron recalled his debts and the private loan companies that threatened him, including Brother Dog’s operation and Golden Lisa Investment Company.
• Aaron went to the Great Library, used Tower’s spirituality to absorb information at extraordinary speed, and searched for ways to earn money.
• Mu Xinyun introduced herself to Aaron, but he asked her not to disturb his studies and continued researching ways to profit from his knowledge.
• Aaron developed a plan to solve a difficult mathematical problem and sell the result, then suffered a nosebleed and left the library.
• Mu Xinyun mistook Aaron’s nosebleed for a reaction to her, then regretted not exchanging contact information before he left.

Aaron used money from investments to repay his debts and retrieve the compromising negatives from Sister He, then confronted Flower Dog over another loan. He refused to sign a voluntary organ donation agreement and left after agreeing to exchange the cash for his contract the next day, while Flower Dog planned to pursue him for a kidney transplant match.

• Aaron paid Sister He and recovered his loan contract and film negatives from Golden Lisa Investment Company.
• Sister He warned Aaron that Flower Dog had been looking for him and offered to lend him more money.
• Aaron called Flower Dog and arranged to meet him downtown to repay his debt.
• Flower Dog tried to get Aaron to sign a voluntary organ donation agreement, but Aaron offered cash and demanded his contract in return.
• Flower Dog claimed he had not brought the contract and told Aaron to come to an address the next day to exchange them.
• Flower Dog sent a lackey to follow Aaron and revealed that a wealthy kidney patient had offered five million for a suitable match.

Aaron hid from Flower Dog’s gang after realizing they were tracking him, then used the arriving Yao and Tower spiritualities to start another simulation. The simulation followed his training, revenge, rise to fame, and eventual death as a fugitive.

• Aaron escaped Flower Dog’s underling, bought supplies with cash, and hid at a campsite to avoid being kidnapped.
• After midnight, Aaron felt Yao and Tower spiritualities appear and launched the Future Simulator.
• Aaron trained at martial arts schools, fused Iron Garment Fist with local techniques, and created Eagle Claw Iron Shirt.
• Aaron discovered that Ye Rongtian had targeted him for a kidney transplant, then killed Flower Dog and Ye Rongtian.
• Aaron became a wanted fugitive after Ye Rongtian’s murder, reached Great Mastery, and escaped repeated manhunts.
• Aaron’s simulation ended when a shell killed him after he was surrounded on Day 300.

Aaron used online martial arts manuals and spirituality to create three Secret Martial Arts, then simulated a life in which he built a powerful company and confirmed the supernatural before being killed. After the simulation, he used the Demon Heart Art to erase Feng Ping’s martial arts obsession when Feng Ping followed him.

• Aaron bought access to every secret manual on the Ancient Martial Arts Forum and studied the materials to develop his martial arts.
• Aaron cultivated the Eagle Claw Iron Shirt and created the Demon Heart Art and Great Radiance Fist by incorporating spirituality.
• Feng Ping recognized Aaron as a martial artist, but Aaron denied it and left him uncertain.
• In the simulation, Aaron built a company, investigated mysterious events, confirmed supernatural powers, and died in an attack at age 64.
• Aaron concluded that money and revenge had not fulfilled his purpose and wondered whether his Secret Martial Arts had limits against powerful enemies.
• Feng Ping followed Aaron, and Aaron unknowingly used the Demon Heart Art to drain Feng Ping’s joy and obsession, leaving him uninterested in martial arts.

After learning from the simulator that players gained extraordinary abilities through the dangerous Ancient game, Aaron returned to Forest City to investigate and draw out his enemies. He settled near a university district and began building connections in the local gaming scene, hoping to find a lead on the game.

• Aaron restarted the simulator and learned that he would discover the Ancient game, whose players died in reality if their game characters died.
• Aaron searched online for information about Ancient, found the term blocked, and concluded that he needed to investigate the gaming scene in Forest City.
• Aaron rented a room near the university district and used his identification, expecting Flower Dog and Ye Rongtian to track him down.
• Aaron bought supplies, cleaned his room, and entered the Blue Sea internet café to explore its popular games.

Aaron dominated Desperate Gun God matches at Blue Sea Internet Cafe until players reported him for cheating. Returning home late, he discovered that Mu Xinyun and Mu Xinci were his neighbors, and Mu Xinci grew suspicious of him.

• Aaron entered a ranked Desperate Gun God match, killed two inexperienced players, and provoked the chubby boy and his friend to seek revenge.
• Aaron used his extraordinary hand speed and marksmanship to win match after match and earn the Gun God glory.
• Players gathered to watch Aaron shoot opponents from extreme distances, while the blond young man defended him from accusations of cheating.
• After Aaron was reported for cheating, he left the internet cafe and returned to his apartment late at night.
• Mu Xinyun recognized Aaron as the man from the library, and Mu Xinci worried that he might be following them and considered buying pepper spray and a stun gun.

Aaron used the Demon Heart Art to make Flower Dog abandon his attempt to abduct him, but Flower Dog later killed Ye Rongtian after becoming convinced he was about to be replaced. Aaron then dominated a high-level Champion Glory match and considered taking Yi Xiaochuan as a disciple by creating a martial art for esports players.

• Flower Dog and his lackeys cornered Aaron outside the internet café, but Aaron manipulated Flower Dog into giving him three more days and leaving.
• Mu Xinci admitted she had lied about calling the Public Security Bureau, then took Mu Xinyun away and told Aaron to stay away from them.
• Ye Rongtian fired Flower Dog, who returned in a rage, attacked Ye Rongtian, and stabbed him to death.
• Aaron saw a news report about Ye Rongtian's killing, then crushed opponents in Champion Glory and impressed Tiger Brother with his performance in a Peak King match.
• Yi Xiaochuan begged Aaron to train him as a professional gamer, and Aaron considered designing a martial art to improve esports players' hand speed and protect their hands.

Aaron used the simulator’s clues to teach Yi Xiaochuan and Chong Hu a qigong method, hoping they would lead him to the Ancient game. After Chong Hu found him an invitation, Aaron learned that Ancient was a text-based game rather than the action game his skills prepared him for.

• Aaron concluded that Yi Xiaochuan and Chong Hu could help him find Ancient, then taught Yi Xiaochuan breathing exercises and hand seals while secretly giving him a trace of spirituality.
• Yi Xiaochuan practiced for hours, awakened a cool current in his hands, and dramatically improved his gaming hand speed over the following week.
• Chong Hu invited Aaron to dinner and asked him to heal his injured hands; Aaron restored them temporarily and agreed to teach him qigong in exchange for information about Ancient.
• After a month, Chong Hu gave Aaron an Ancient invitation code and warned that the game could be deadly; Aaron passed on the rest of Chong Hu’s qigong and downloaded the game.
• Chong Hu explained that Ancient was a text-based adventure game, leaving Aaron shocked that his gaming skills would be useless.

Aaron merged the Ancient death-game interface with his simulator, which let him create saves, but he drew only harmful talents and chose Fate of Great Misfortune. He began the Rotten Buddha Temple scenario with no spirituality left for another save and faced a choice between opening his door at midnight or going back to sleep.

• Aaron activated the simulator’s compatibility with Ancient and learned he could spend Yao and Tower points to create saves.
• Aaron repeatedly rerolled Ancient’s harmful starting talents, then chose Fate of Great Misfortune over Spirit Sense.
• Aaron joined a player chat group and learned that players could die in real life if their game characters died or failed to meet the game’s activity requirements.
• Aaron began Chapter One at Rotten Buddha Temple, where his character woke at midnight and had to choose whether to open the door or return to sleep.
• Aaron found he could leave the game only in a safe location and had thirty days to meet its activity and exploration requirements.

Aaron explored the Rotten Buddha Temple in the game Ancient, learning that its daytime paths were safe but offered little progress and that nighttime exploration could be deadly. After dying triggered a curse that vanished when he reloaded a save, he began another run and found three secret manuals in the Sutra Repository, leaving him to choose one to copy.

• Aaron explored the temple’s daytime locations, gained small amounts of Activity and Exploration, and found no way to leave.
• Aaron eavesdropped on monks at night, then died after attacking the guest-receiving monk and being thrown into the Great Ominous Treasure Hall.
• Aaron reloaded his save and reasoned that ghosts or monsters were active in the temple at night, then died exploring the training ground.
• Aaron used roasted birds to distract the novice and sneak into the Sutra Repository, where he found secret Fist, Palm, and Leg manuals and had to choose one.

Aaron learned Heavenly Crippled Ghostly Legs through the game, gained real-world qi when the technique reached Novice, and trained it to Adept. On the full moon, he uncovered Rotten Buddha Temple’s underground palace and defeated the guest-receiving monk, but the Bone Monk was closing in as he faced a choice between killing the monk and abandoning his escape.

• Aaron learned that practicing Heavenly Crippled Ghostly Legs in the game could eventually grant him martial arts and qi in reality, then trained until the technique reached Novice.
• Aaron tested the Great Ominous Treasure Hall and was defeated by Ghost Abbot, then continued training and failed to overcome him.
• Aaron threatened the little novice, entered the Scripture Repository, and learned that Ghost Abbot hid the sealed object in the Great Ominous Treasure Hall and left on full-moon nights.
• Aaron explored the Great Ominous Treasure Hall while Ghost Abbot was away, found the underground palace, read part of the Underworld Buddha Secret Record, and swallowed a damaged Lesser Restoration Pill.
• Aaron sneaked out through the main gate and defeated the guest-receiving monk, but hesitated over whether to kill him as the Bone Monk approached.

Aaron perfectly cleared the Rotten Buddha Temple chapter in Ancient, resisting the Buddha Head and gaining new abilities and a White Bone Relic. The temple appeared in the real world, and Aaron began a new life with a choice of weapons awaiting him.

• Aaron secretly returned to Rotten Buddha Temple, found Ghost Abbot dead and Bone Monk dying, and learned that the monks had been driven mad by the burning Buddha statue.
• Aaron chose to collapse the underground palace around himself, where he recovered memories of the Buddha Head controlling him and discovered it wanted to use his body.
• Aaron resisted the Buddha Head in reality, passed the game’s judgment, reached the Eighth Ground Immovable Bodhisattva Realm, and learned Unfixed Mind Zen.
• Aaron anonymously announced his perfect clear, prompting players across Ancient to search for the mystery player.
• Aaron received the White Bone Relic as Rotten Buddha Temple was permanently removed from player trials, while the temple appeared in the real world near Forest City.
• Aaron crawled out of the underground palace and faced a choice of weapons for his new life.

Archaeologists uncovered an ancient underground palace whose strange carvings and Great Liang inscription described Wolf's Child resisting Buddha and escaping. After Aaron realized his game achievements could create lasting traces in modern reality, he returned to the game to continue influencing history.

• Zhou Dunlin and Old Xie investigated a collapsed underground palace and found palm prints that appeared to have been pressed into granite by a young person.
• The archaeologists excavated a finger-scratched inscription, and Zhou Dunlin had Hong Gouyi translate its account of Wolf's Child, Buddha, and an escape from the palace.
• A mysterious intruder read the translation, defeated three guards while fleeing, and left the artifacts untouched.
• Aaron recognized that the White Bone Relic Necklace had reacted to the ancient site and concluded that perfect-clear game achievements could affect reality across time.
• Aaron returned to Ancient, where Flying on the Wind reached a fork in the road and faced three route choices.

Aaron advanced through Ancient, defeated and extorted another player, and sent him to find Feng Ping with an invitation code. He reached Heavenly Dragon City but lacked the entry fee, leaving him outside the gates with a choice about how to approach a young maiden.

• Aaron revived after dying to a Savage Beast Bear and decided to make a name for himself in Ancient to strengthen the imprint ritual.
• At the archaeological camp, Chen Ci arrived with an appointment order and took control of the ruins, identifying them as Rotten Buddha Temple.
• Aaron defeated Dreaming in a player battle, extorted supplies from him, and ordered him to deliver an invitation code to Feng Ping in Golden City.
• The game enforced Aaron's request as a three-day contract, prompting Dreaming to rush toward Golden City to find Feng Ping.
• Aaron reached Heavenly Dragon City, learned that entry cost ten copper coins, and chose to wander outside the gates.
• When a young maiden approached, Aaron was offered the choices of speaking to her, robbing her, or begging for alms.