Recaps

Aaron entered Heavenly Dragon City, arranged to join I Am the Retired Emperor’s wolf hunt, and improved his leg technique during the battle. Meanwhile, Dreaming recruited Feng Ping into Ancient, and Aaron ended the hunt with only worthless wolf meat as his share.

• Aaron entered Heavenly Dragon City, visited a teahouse, and arranged with I Am the Retired Emperor to join a wolf hunt that evening.
• Feng Ping renewed his dedication to martial arts and met Dreaming, who gave him a phone and an invitation code for Ancient.
• Dreaming left the construction site after recruiting Feng Ping, then stumbled near home and discovered a surveillance camera had caught him.
• Aaron joined I Am the Retired Emperor and other players to fight the Wolf King at Black Mountain, evading its attacks and leveling Heavenly Crippled Ghostly Legs to Mastery.
• I Am the Retired Emperor claimed the Wolf King's head, Spare Me, Hero took its pelt and bones, and Aaron received the worthless meat.

Aaron escaped a wolf-pack attack in the game, fled his home to avoid retaliation, and rescued Mu Xinyun and Mu Xinci from a player using hypnosis. After learning Wild Wolf Fist and discovering a regional quest to defeat the Hou, he searched for clues and encountered another player in an alley.

• Aaron extorted I Am the Retired Emperor and Spare Me, Hero after defeating them, but fled when a wolf pack attacked and Spare Me, Hero died.
• I Am the Retired Emperor survived by using a life-saving item and decided to investigate Flying on the Wind’s identity.
• A masked player used Soul-Confusing Art to abduct Mu Xinyun and Mu Xinci, but Aaron intervened and defeated him before leaving the scene.
• Chen Ci questioned the sisters at the Public Security Office and recognized that the incident involved players.
• Aaron moved to an inn, returned to the game, claimed Wild Wolf Fist at Black Wolf Martial Hall, and found a government notice offering a reward for killing the Hou.
• Aaron searched Heavenly Dragon City for information about the Hou and received a dialogue invitation from another player in a dark alley.

Aaron learned about Hou from Widow Qing and joined the Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association after overpowering Chen Ci. He failed to defeat Hou in the game, then left Heavenly Dragon City to train and improve his martial arts.

• Aaron accepted Mysterious Weakling's map and learned from Widow Qing that Hou was a huge red-furred beast whose roar could shake people's souls.
• Aaron waited at an inn until Chen Ci approached him, then defeated him in a brief fight and agreed to join the Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association.
• Chen Ci warned Aaron that Hou's roar caused hallucinations and recommended a skilled team, while Aaron asked for information about the beast.
• Aaron accepted a quest to hunt Hou, resisted its roar with Unfixed Mind Zen, but died after his attacks failed to harm it.
• Aaron declined the quest and began leveling up outside Heavenly Dragon City, improving his fist and movement techniques while fighting beasts and bandits.
• After rescuing a young woman from bandits, Aaron received a choice about whether to accept her offer of marriage.

Aaron joined the Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association, then relentlessly leveled his martial arts until Heavenly Crippled Ghostly Legs reached the pinnacle. He teamed up with Mysterious Weakling to defeat the exotic beast Hou and earned the Bronze Key that could open the third chapter.

• Aaron joined the Forest City branch of the Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association and learned about its members, missions, and ways to improve his martial arts.
• Aaron repeatedly fought beasts and bandits in the game, eventually raising Heavenly Crippled Ghostly Legs to the pinnacle.
• Aaron sent Mysterious Weakling a dispatch and arranged for them to accept the official notice to hunt the Hou together.
• Aaron resisted the Hou's roar, fought it while Mysterious Weakling was incapacitated, and killed the beast.
• Aaron and Mysterious Weakling earned the region's first Hou kill; Aaron announced it anonymously and received a Bronze Key, while Mysterious Weakling obtained the Hou's head as a reward.
• Aaron read that the Bronze Key could open the third chapter and considered whether to use it.

Aaron used a Life-or-Death Pact to challenge Xu Feng in Ancient and killed her, ending her revenge plot before it could reach Forest City University. The chapter left Aaron considering whether to use the bronze key.

• Hong Gouyi used a Mist-Tracing Fog talisman to investigate a disturbance at Forest City University, while Xu Feng kidnapped Mu Xinyun and disposed of two bodies at the cross-river bridge.
• Ancient announced that Anonymous and Mysterious Weakling had achieved the first kill of the exotic beast Hou, prompting Gu Yuan and Xu Feng to seek out the victors and their rewards.
• Mysterious Weakling sent Aaron half of the rewards, including a Cloud-Piercing Arrow and a Life-or-Death Pact, and Aaron trained his martial arts to their peak.
• Chen Ci told Aaron that Xu Feng had come to Forest City to avenge her cousin and had caused trouble at the university and the bridge.
• Aaron wrote his and Xu Feng's game names on the Life-or-Death Pact, and Flying on the Wind defeated Xu Feng in the arena.
• Xu Feng died from the wounds inflicted in the game, and Aaron then faced a choice about whether to use the bronze key.

Aaron entered the third chapter of Ancient in a real body and learned that he had thirty days to reach Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. At Heavenly Dragon City, he discovered that the game’s timeline had advanced to the tenth year of Xianzong.

• Aaron found himself in the wilderness in the body of a bald young wolf child, with his alms bowl and martial arts skills intact.
• Aaron read the mission to reach Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple within thirty days and realized his cheat had reverted to its original form, suggesting the game world was real.
• Aaron tested his strength by destroying a bluestone with a punch and sent a wild wolf fleeing.
• Aaron reached Heavenly Dragon City and offered Daoist Qinghui three copper coins in exchange for answers.
• Daoist Qinghui told Aaron that it was the tenth year of Xianzong and that rebels were rising across the land, revealing that a year had passed since the game’s introduction.

Aaron learned that Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple would hold a Bathing Buddha Festival to select a Buddha Child and set out there with Ash Gray the Daoist. During a future simulation, Aaron died after accepting a rebel spy, but gained travel memories, a small increase in cultivation, and partial information about an Ancient Six Divine Power.

• Aaron heard Ash Gray describe the turmoil surrounding the Ancient Six Divine Powers and the upcoming Bathing Buddha Festival at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.
• Aaron asked Ash Gray for directions to the temple and agreed to let the Daoist travel with him.
• Aaron bought a carriage, and Ash Gray drove them out of Heavenly Dragon City toward Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.
• Aaron used the Future Simulator and experienced a journey in which war forced them to detour and Qinghui stole a chicken butt.
• Aaron accepted Red Sleeve, who later revealed herself as a Crimson Turban Army member and led a surprise attack that killed him.
• Aaron received the simulation's memories and experience, gained a little cultivation, and wondered why it had revealed information about Dreaming a Thousand Years.

Aaron traveled toward Brahma Heaven Prefecture, killed Red Sleeve when she tried to ambush him, and used simulations to learn that the Crimson Turban Army would target candidates for the Buddhist Son selection. After repeated simulated deaths, he reached a higher martial realm and tested a plan to reach Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple in disguise, but the simulation ended with him missing the selection and dying after ignoring the Ancient game’s mission.

• Aaron asked Qinghui about the land’s strongest martial artists and changed their route to avoid trouble.
• On the seventh day, Aaron recognized Red Sleeve as a threat and fought her after she tried to stop their carriage.
• Aaron used the Demon Heart Art to make Red Sleeve reveal that the Crimson Turban Army was eliminating Buddhist Son candidates, then killed her with the Great Radiance Fist.
• Aaron’s simulation showed that the Crimson Turban Army’s forces would obstruct his path to Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, and he died after being chased by Copper Tiger and Iron Wolf.
• Aaron reached Brahma Heaven Prefecture and simulated another route, but died after defeating the Golden-Eyed Guardian and being pursued by the remaining Four Great Wanderers.
• Aaron’s cultivation broke through a bottleneck, and a new simulation showed him reaching Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple in a wig, missing the Buddhist Son selection, and dying after ignoring the Ancient game’s mission.

Aaron gained two years of cultivation and ancient divine-power information, then used another simulation to acquire the Blood Robe Art. On the road to Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, he slaughtered the Crimson Turban Army leaders blocking monks and declared his rules for the journey.

• Aaron gained cultivation, memories, and partial information on “Dreaming a Thousand Years” from a completed simulation.
• Aaron simulated a rampage through the martial world, died fighting Du Chongshan, and gained the Blood Robe Art and partial information on “Demon Stains the World.”
• Aaron tested his enhanced strength and defenses, then continued toward Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple with the gray-blue-robed old Daoist.
• When the Crimson Turban Army blocked the road and challenged him, Aaron attacked the leaders and broke their Seven Absolute Evil Formation.
• Aaron introduced himself as Fa Huan, proclaimed that evildoers and road-blockers would die, and said those who took refuge in his Buddha would be spared.

Aaron defeated the Crimson Turban Army’s protectors and commander, Du Chongshan, then reached Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple and completed his mission. He was offered the choice to exit the game or continue to the next mission.

• Aaron killed Copper Tiger and Iron Wolf when they ambushed his carriage.
• Aaron left Qinghui behind and lured Du Chongshan and his followers into the forest.
• Aaron killed the Five Elements Wanderers and protectors with the Great Radiance Fist.
• Aaron broke Du Chongshan’s Azure Dragon in Sleeve technique and killed him.
• Aaron arrived at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple and received notice that his mission was complete.

Aaron returned to Ancient, where a two-year mission required him to obtain one of the Ancient Six Divine Powers, while his simulation showed that he would fail and die. Before logging in, he recruited Hong Gouyi and learned of Feng Ping’s plans to revive ancient martial arts.

• Aaron researched Great Liang and visited Professor Zhou Dunlin, who shared inscriptions linking the Crimson Turban Army’s collapse to its leader’s sudden death and a lost book by Clear Radiance Master.
• Aaron met Hong Gouyi at Forest City University, recognized her in-game name, and survived her attack before she agreed to join the Association.
• Feng Ping mastered a qi martial art and resolved to reveal the path of ancient martial arts to the world.
• Aaron returned to Ancient and received a mission to obtain any one of the Ancient Six Divine Powers within two years or die.
• Aaron’s simulation showed him becoming a Brahman Gate enforcer, battling rebel king Li Qiankun, then losing to Great Passage and dying after the mission deadline.

Aaron used a simulation to obtain half of Great Passage’s Brahman-Self Unity and resisted its attempt to assimilate him, reshaping it into his own version, Brahman-Self Nonduality. Though he had already gained a Six Divine Power before the Bathing Buddha Festival began, he entered Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple intending to keep stirring things up.

• Aaron simulated a confrontation at Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, where he pursued Great Passage and seized half of the Brahman-Self Unity before they later killed each other.
• Aaron absorbed the simulation’s memories and experienced the vast consciousness called Brahman trying to merge with him.
• Aaron used purifying light to resist Brahman’s influence and realized he could manipulate his body and mind with its computational power.
• Aaron made the Brahman-Self Unity his own, calling it Brahman-Self Nonduality, and suppressed the Headless Buddha’s consciousness.
• Aaron entered Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple despite already possessing the divine power, intending to cause trouble at the Bathing Buddha Festival.

Aaron attended the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple’s Bathing the Buddha Festival, where monks and martial artists gathered to choose a Buddha Son and pass down one of the Six Divine Powers. After the Four Holy Monks challenged his past killings and authority, Aaron openly defied them and began to unleash a divine power.

• Players from the Ghost organization discussed the festival, the Six Divine Powers, and Fa Huan’s role in killing Du Chongshan and destroying the Crimson Turban Army.
• Aaron arrived in moon-white robes, and his presence and Buddhist understanding quieted the crowd and inspired the monks’ reverence.
• Aaron introduced himself to the Four Holy Monks as Fa Huan of Rotten Buddha Temple.
• The Dragon Elephant Holy Monk challenged Aaron over slaughtering the Crimson Turban Army, and the Holy Monk of Wisdom urged him to repent.
• Aaron rejected the Four Holy Monks’ authority, raised his alms bowl, and began chanting, “Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon...”

Aaron overwhelmed the Four Great Holy Monks at the Bathing Buddha Festival and used the Great Sun Tathagata Palm to destroy Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. After the monks hailed him as their Buddha Lord, he pursued Monk Great Passage into the underground palace.

• Aaron struck Holy Monk Wisdom with an alms bowl, then withstood the Vajra Monks’ formation and defeated them with the Golden Bell Shield and Earth-Touching Demon-Subduing Seal.
• Aaron accused the Four Great Holy Monks of manipulating the Buddhist Child selection and revealed that he had mastered Brahman-Self Nonduality.
• Venerable Indra, Master Xin Chan, and the Dragon-Elephant Holy Monk attacked Aaron, but he gravely wounded them and shattered their assault.
• Aaron unleashed the Great Sun Tathagata Palm, destroying the Four Great Holy Monks, the warrior monks, and much of Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.
• The surviving monks begged Aaron to become the Buddha Lord, while he entered the exposed underground palace to pursue Monk Great Passage and the Brahman-Self Unity inheritance.

Aaron obtained the power of Brahman-Self Unity in the underground palace and returned to the real world, where he sensed that Brahman existed there too. Meanwhile, Feng Ping challenged the Huo Family Martial Arts School and struck down its coach in the ring.

• Aaron used the White Bone Relic to navigate the underground palace and found Monk Great Passage climbing toward the empty lotus dais while losing his mind.
• Aaron knocked Great Passage unconscious with his alms bowl, absorbed part of the power of Brahman-Self Unity, and completed his mission.
• Aaron exited the game, sensed Brahman in the real world, and relaxed at home while reading the news.
• Feng Ping entered the Huo Family Martial Arts School, leapt into the air, and split its signboard with a kick.
• Feng Ping challenged the school, fought its middle-aged coach, and sent him flying with a single strike.

Feng Ping exposed the Huo Family Martial Arts School’s false claims about ancient martial arts, while Great Xin’s authorities began preparing to disclose supernatural powers. Aaron watched an official archaeology program introduce the Buddhist Lord Fa Huan, realizing the disclosure had begun.

• Old Guan and another member of the Folk Enthusiasts Association watched Feng Ping fight at the Huo Family Martial Arts School and decided to wait for official guidance.
• Feng Ping defeated the school’s coaches, disarmed Coach Han, and snapped a dagger with his bare hands before leaving.
• A video of Feng Ping’s feat spread on Magic Sound, and Aaron recognized him and suspected Great Xin had begun warming the public up to supernatural powers.
• Hong Gouyi complained to Aaron that the Association had few strong members, then sent out notice of an official archaeology program about supernatural powers.
• Aaron watched the program as its host introduced Fa Huan, the Buddhist Lord of Great Liang, and his expression twisted.

Aaron watched Great Xin’s media reveal archaeological evidence of Fa Huan and Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, accelerating his Imprint ritual. He returned to Ancient, where simulations led him to Three Realms Mountain and helped him complete the divine power Dreaming a Thousand Years.

• Aaron watched a television report about the Great Liang ruins of Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple, whose pagodas formed a palm and whose inscriptions linked Fa Huan to the Great Sun Tathagata Palm.
• Aaron observed Great Xin’s growing public revelations about supernatural powers and waited before returning to Ancient.
• Aaron received a quest to travel to Three Realms Mountain and used his simulator to explore seven years of Great Liang’s history, where he killed rebel king Li Qiankun before dying on the mountain.
• Aaron realized repeated simulations could help him assemble divine powers and began another simulation focused on ascending Three Realms Mountain.
• Aaron died again on Three Realms Mountain but obtained partial information that completed the divine power Dreaming a Thousand Years.

Aaron used the simulator to uncover the truth behind the Ancient game: Xu Fu sought to resurrect Great Liang, but the six divine abilities would turn their strongest pursuer into the Demon Star and destroy the real world. After gaining the game’s administrative authority, Aaron left the simulated world and arrived at Three Realms Mountain to confront Xu Fu.

• Aaron simulated meeting Xu Fu, who claimed Ancient was created to save the world, and learned that Xu Fu could revive through Nine Deaths Underworld.
• Aaron repeatedly killed Xu Fu in a simulation until he exhausted all nine revivals and gained administrative authority over Ancient.
• Aaron learned that Xu Fu intended to resurrect Great Liang by bringing its people back to life in reality.
• Aaron discovered that gathering the divine abilities altered a player's fate into that of the Demon Star, causing Ancient to invade reality and the player to lose their consciousness.
• Aaron concluded that Xu Fu was a fragment of a soul who had chosen an agent to become the Demon Star, then leaped to Three Realms Mountain.

Within Three Realms Mountain, Aaron confronted Xu Fu, a remnant soul trying to change Great Liang’s fate through the demon star’s power. After defeating and trapping Xu Fu, Aaron summoned his true body and proposed that everyone play tabletop RPGs instead of Ancient.

• Aaron recognized Xu Fu’s scholar disguise and explained that Xu Fu planned to use Defy Heaven and Change Fate to alter Great Liang’s fate.
• Xu Fu attacked Aaron with the Sword of All People, but Aaron countered with the Great Sun Tathagata Palm and reduced Xu Fu’s body to ashes.
• Aaron used his alms bowl to capture Xu Fu’s remnant soul and revealed that gathering the Five Divine Powers would stir the demon star to alter fate.
• A black hole appeared in the data stream, and Aaron summoned his true body, terrifying Xu Fu with its presence.
• Aaron told everyone to leave Ancient and play tabletop RPGs.

The Ancient game’s second-generation update erased Feng Ping’s and other players’ Qi, introduced Sanity, and caused bizarre, dangerous changes to gameplay. The Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association learned that the Great Xin government had suspended its plan to absorb the players, and Old Vegetable Gang ordered members to find the source of the mutations.

• Feng Ping knocked Hong Xing out of the ring, then opened the Ancient game when his phone prompted him to return.
• The game update removed Activity, Exploration, and Qi, added Sanity and new maps, and left Feng Ping’s game character injured, confused, and near death after a chaotic fight with a wild wolf.
• Feng Ping lost his Qi and became confused after losing Sanity, then woke in a restroom after a sanitation worker doused him with cold water.
• Hong Gouyi discovered that her game record described her escape from Yellow Plum Village and learned that all players had lost their Qi.
• Old Vegetable Gang told the association that the government had suspended plans to bring players into official service and ordered them to investigate the Ancient game’s mutations.

Aaron decided to make a spectacle that would lead players into the game to save its world, while the Special Bureau prepared a global operation to arrest suspected players connected to the game's sudden mutation. The bureau commandeered the Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association as its command center, and Gu Yuan was told not to interfere.

• Aaron said he wanted to lead reality's players into the game to save the world, insisting he did not want to be a villain.
• Special agents sealed off the Forest City Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association, threatened Chen Ci at gunpoint, and forced him to leave.
• Hong Gouyi suspected that the bureau's crackdown was retaliation against players who had gained supernatural powers and lost them overnight.
• Soroa told Gu Yuan that Aaron was likely the player who cleared the Rotten Buddha Temple instance and became Buddha Lord Fa Huan, one of the Six Divine Powers.
• Soroa announced a coordinated global operation to arrest suspected players and requisitioned the association as his command center.
• Gu Yuan asked how he could help, and Soroa told him that the best cooperation was to stay out of the operation.

The Special Bureau launched a coordinated operation to capture players who had opened the third chapter, but Aaron evaded the hotel raid and used the Demon Heart Art to pass through the agents unseen. When Soroa confronted him with an armored force, Aaron prepared to strike back with the Great Sun Tathagata Palm.

• Soroa ordered Special Operations teams to arrest third-chapter players, and agents captured targets including Fire God.
• Special Bureau agents raided Aaron’s hotel, but their search failed to find him.
• Aaron knocked out an agent, evaded a tranquilizer shot, and used the Demon Heart Art to make the surrounding agents unable to see or touch him.
• Aaron walked out of the encirclement and waited atop a tower as Soroa arrived with armored vehicles and helicopters.
• Soroa claimed specially made glasses would counter Aaron’s illusion-type qi art, and Aaron raised his palm and invoked the Great Sun Tathagata Palm.

Yi Xiaochuan survived the Buddha’s palm striking Forest City and learned that the disaster was linked to Ancient players, including the mysterious Aaron. As the authorities and the Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association scrambled to respond, Aaron became the focus of a worldwide investigation.

• Yi Xiaochuan and Lin Su watched a gigantic Buddha appear over Forest City and unleash a palm strike that devastated the city.
• A falling chandelier struck Yi Xiaochuan as he pushed Lin Su out of danger, and he later woke in the hospital with fractures but his hands unharmed.
• Yi Xiaochuan learned from the news and online videos that the palm print matched one associated with Fa Huan, and that the mysterious game Ancient had players with supernatural powers.
• Old Vegetable Gang told the Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association that the Special Bureau had mishandled the player crisis and ordered them to find Aaron and investigate his connections.
• The Great Xin authorities formed a task force to analyze Aaron, and his name spread around the world.

After destroying Soroa, Aaron met with Great Xin’s representatives to negotiate, warning them that the Ancient game was changing and could threaten reality. He offered to share a quest to uncover the game’s truth, leaving the representatives to consider his proposal as the game’s influence deepened.

• Aaron waited in a Forest City café while the city panicked over revelations about the Ancient game and its players.
• Chen Ci and Hong Gouyi met Aaron on behalf of the Folk Customs Enthusiasts Association to discuss reaching an understanding.
• Aaron warned them that players would gain spirituality and could eventually recover or exceed their former powers, while the game’s strangeness might invade reality.
• Aaron offered to share a main quest to uncover the truth of the game and asked other players to help him.
• Chen Ci said the Association would consider the proposal, and Aaron urged them to act quickly because the game was eroding reality.

The Folk Customs Association shelved its plan to capture Buddha Lord and secretly prepared to cooperate with Aaron, while Old Vegetable Gang warned Gu Yuan that the game’s invasion of reality was real. Elsewhere, a player used a ritual to regain power from spirituality tainted by corruption and transformed into a beast.

• Anthony and Sun Yinghong rejected Aaron’s proposal, but the association’s meeting decided to prioritize public order and explore the new game version while shelving the operation against Buddha Lord.
• Old Vegetable Gang privately told Gu Yuan that the game’s invasion of reality was likely true and that association players might need to cooperate with Aaron.
• A Radiance City player received a ritual dagger and candles as a mission reward and performed a ritual after recalling mystical knowledge from the game.
• The player sensed spirituality, then grew black bristles, howled, smashed through a window, and jumped outside.