Recaps

Zeng Anmin used the Heavenly Dao Alliance chat to coax Nan into sharing the powerful Eternal Night Three Slashes and offering help with Martial Arts. Nan explained how to advance from the Martial Core Realm to the Visualization Realm and offered locations of rare herbs, then Zeng Anmin asked what changed after reaching the Visualization Realm.

• Zeng Anmin joked that he wanted Phoenix Cry Nine, then pretended not to care when Nan refused to share it.
• Nan offered Eternal Night Three Slashes, explaining that it was powerful but could alter the temperament of someone without firm resolve; Zeng Anmin realized his Golden Finger made him immune to its side effect.
• Zeng Anmin praised Nan’s generosity, prompting her to promise help with his Martial Arts questions.
• Nan explained that advancing from the Martial Core Realm required opening the Heaven and Earth Twin Bridges, using compressed Martial Arts Aura, fresh Demon Race Vital Blood, or rare herbs.
• Nan offered to share locations from Jiang Kingdom’s Record of Strange Herbs, and Zeng Anmin asked about the differences between the Martial Core Realm and Visualization Realm.

Zeng Anmin learned that Visualization Realm martial artists gained combat power through intent, then wondered whether his Dragon Survey Map and dragon-claw transformation meant he had awakened it. At the Governor’s Mansion, Dean Qin arrived with his daughter Qin Wanyue, whose Confucian breakthrough prompted Qin Shouchang to boast—only for Zeng Shilin to laugh instead of praise her.

• Nan explained that visualization diagrams produced intent that strengthened martial artists, and Zeng Anmin questioned whether intent was limited to the Visualization Realm.
• Zeng Anmin transformed his arm into a dragon claw and wondered about the secrets of the Dragon Survey Map and whether he had awakened it.
• Zeng Anmin chose Stone Mountain as a nearby destination for rare herbs and planned to learn the Eternal Night Three Slashes technique.
• Zeng Anmin met Qin Shouchang and his daughter Qin Wanyue at the Governor’s Mansion and learned she had reached the Purple Mansion Realm and found her Confucian direction.
• Qin Shouchang boasted that Qin Wanyue would likely enter the Sixth Rank Gentleman Realm within half a year, but Zeng Shilin answered with hearty laughter instead of praise.

Zeng Shilin and Qin Shouchang sparred through veiled remarks about their children and an old agreement, while Zeng Anmin stayed quiet. Zeng Shilin revealed that Zeng Anmin had reached Sixth Grade, leaving Qin Shouchang and Qin Wanyue stunned.

• Zeng Shilin praised Qin Wanyue briefly, then used Lushan Cloud Mist Tea to hint that her talent needed time to reveal its full value.
• Qin Shouchang asked whether their old agreement still stood, and Zeng Shilin recalled that they had agreed the loser of a contest between their descendants would imitate a donkey.
• Qin Wanyue tried to dismiss the old wager, while Zeng Shilin and Qin Shouchang reminisced about their youth and praised a line of poetry.
• Zeng Shilin revealed that Zeng Anmin had spoken the line after breaking through to Sixth Grade, then Zeng Anmin demonstrated his condensed Vast Righteous Qi.
• Qin Shouchang froze and Qin Wanyue stared at Zeng Anmin in amazement as Zeng Shilin declared that the tea's fragrance was finally rushing to the nose.

After declining Qin Shouchang’s invitation, Zeng Anmin returned to the Xuanjing Division and practiced Nan’s powerful “Eternal Night Three Slashes” in his Purple Mansion. His night ride was interrupted when Wang Deli revealed that Prince Jiang had vanished from custody.

• Zeng Anmin left Qin Shouchang and returned to the Xuanjing Division with Dachun.
• Zeng Anmin studied the three diagrams of “Eternal Night Three Slashes” and used his short axe to practice the first slash in his Purple Mansion.
• The first slash exhausted Zeng Anmin’s Martial Arts True Qi and left his eyes crimson, but his Unyielding Martial God trait protected him from its mental influence.
• While riding through the nearly empty streets, Zeng Anmin saw Wang Deli galloping urgently and caught up with him.
• Wang Deli told Zeng Anmin that Prince Jiang had disappeared despite being watched and surrounded by Xuanjing Division guards.

Zeng Anmin entered Prince Jiang's Estate to investigate how Prince Jiang had vanished from a heavily guarded room. After considering an Instantaneous Movement Array, he heard from Zeng Shilin that such an array could be deployed without its usual materials by a Fourth-Rank Vein Gathering Master.

• Zeng Anmin rode to Prince Jiang's Estate with Dachun and persuaded Lin Rong to let him enter.
• Lin Rong explained that Prince Jiang had disappeared between inspections despite constant guards, and that the estate's secret passage did not lead to the room where he was held.
• Zeng Anmin inspected the foul, ransacked room and considered whether an Instantaneous Movement Array had been used.
• Lin Rong said an array normally required materials absent from the room, but Zeng Anmin asked whether it could be deployed without them.
• Zeng Shilin arrived and said a Fourth-Rank Vein Gathering Master from the Profound Formation Division could deploy the array without those materials.

After Prince Jiang vanished from a sealed room, Zeng Anmin and his father suspected a hidden passage and used Heart Inquiry to investigate who had arranged the room. Their interrogation revealed the passage was triggered by moving a book, but Li Fu died before he could explain further.

• Zeng Anmin and his father ruled out an array and suspected Prince Jiang had escaped through a hidden passage, possibly to join a secret rebel army.
• Zeng Anmin proposed using Heart Inquiry on whoever had arranged Prince Jiang's room, and his father ordered the investigation.
• Zeng Anmin used Heart Inquiry on Cheng Li, who revealed that Prince Jiang's Estate's steward had arranged the room before confessing to numerous crimes.
• Zeng Anmin's Heart Inquiry failed on Li Fu, and his father recognized that the steward was also a Confucian Dao cultivator.
• Zeng Shilin used Heart Inquiry to ask how to find the passage, and Li Fu answered, "Move the book," before his head exploded.

Zeng Anmin and Father uncovered a secret passage beneath a bookshelf and sent Lin Rong and the Red-robed Guards after Prince Jiang. Before Zeng Anmin could join the pursuit, he learned that Wang Deli had died in prison, and Father left for the Xuanjing Division while entrusting the chase to him.

• After the old man's Purple Mansion exploded to prevent a Heart Inquiry, Zeng Anmin realized his last words meant they should move the bookshelf.
• Lin Rong moved the bookshelf and found a hollow section beneath the surrounding floor; he broke through the bricks to reveal a narrow passage.
• Zeng Anmin ordered the Red-robed Guards to widen the hole, and Lin Rong led a group into the passage to pursue Prince Jiang.
• A messenger reported that Wang Deli had died in prison after a tremendous blast.
• Father left for the Xuanjing Division and told Zeng Anmin to stop Prince Jiang from escaping.

Zeng Anmin deduced that Prince Jiang’s secret passage exited underwater and raced to intercept him. He discovered Prince Jiang could transform into a fish demon, then followed him toward the villages outside Liangjiang Prefecture City.

• Zeng Anmin realized the secret passage might open into the river and left to intercept Prince Jiang.
• Zeng Anmin rode out of the city, put on a black cat-shaped hood, and dived into the river to find the cave entrance.
• Zeng Anmin located the underwater exit and waited there, mistaking a passing fish for an approaching person before Prince Jiang emerged.
• Zeng Anmin recognized Prince Jiang but froze when he watched him transform into a fish-tailed creature and swim away.
• Zeng Anmin followed Prince Jiang until he returned to human form and surfaced near villages outside Liangjiang Prefecture City.

Zeng Anmin confronted Prince Jiang on the riverbank, expecting to kill him, but was driven back by Prince Jiang’s relentless attacks. Prince Jiang revealed his Visualization Realm strength as Zeng Anmin began to draw on the dragon power within his sea of consciousness.

• Zeng Anmin approached Prince Jiang in his Black Cat Hood and declared that he had come to kill him.
• Prince Jiang attacked first, forcing Zeng Anmin to dodge until he was trapped at the riverbank.
• Zeng Anmin countered with his short axe, whose seven-colored light forced Prince Jiang to retreat.
• Prince Jiang revealed shining scales and Water Intent, then advanced while boasting that he had reached the Visualization Realm.
• Zeng Anmin calmly took a stance and channeled Martial Arts Aura into his sea of consciousness, where the dragon on the Dragon Survey Map roared as his right arm began to change.

Zeng Anmin defeated Prince Jiang with a dragon-infused axe, then learned Prince Jiang had not known Emperor Jianhong was traveling incognito and was likely not behind the Dragon Survey Map Theft Case. As he pieced together Prince Jiang’s ties to a mysterious Fish Demon and discovered the map had given him a dragon claw, Zeng Anmin concluded the Demon Race’s true objective might be the Dragon Survey Map.

• Zeng Anmin’s Dragon Survey Map transformation emerged as scales and claws, and he struck Prince Jiang with the first of the Eternal Night Three Slashes, severing his arm and leaving him gravely wounded.
• Zeng Anmin used Heart Inquiry to ask who had told Prince Jiang about Emperor Jianhong’s secret journey, but Prince Jiang said he did not know before his body exploded.
• Zeng Anmin realized Prince Jiang could not have masterminded the theft case if he had not known the emperor was coming, and recalled that Prince Jiang had used fresh Demon Race Vital Blood to advance.
• Zeng Anmin reasoned that a Fish Demon could have reached the prefecture through connected waterways and wondered what it sought by cooperating with Prince Jiang.
• Zeng Anmin discovered that the Dragon Survey Map could transform his right hand into a powerful dragon claw and suspected the Demon Race’s objective was the map.

Zeng Anmin pieced together a theory linking Zhang Tongyu’s death, the Dragon Survey Map theft, and Courtesan Shiyi, then told his father his suspicions. He discovered Zeng Shilin had already captured An Shiyi after tracking demon aura from Wang Deli’s death, and his father confronted him about being at the Jiaofang Division last night.

• Zeng Anmin reasoned that Zhang Tongyu may have witnessed a meeting between An Shiyi and a Xuanjing Division constable, connecting the murder to the Dragon Survey Map conspiracy.
• Zeng Anmin spent the night outside Liangjiang Prefecture City, then recalled the hidden clues in Zhang Tongyu’s study verse and suspected An Shiyi was involved with Prince Jiang’s Estate.
• Zeng Anmin returned to the city at dawn, changed clothes, and went to the Xuanjing Division to report his suspicions to Zeng Shilin.
• Zeng Anmin found An Shiyi trembling in his father’s office, and Zeng Shilin explained that he had tracked demon aura from Wang Deli’s death to the Jiaofang Division.
• Zeng Shilin revealed that his agent had learned Prince Jiang dealt with An Shiyi and asked Zeng Anmin whether he had also been at the Jiaofang Division last night.

Zeng Anmin learned that Lin Rong had found Prince Jiang’s corpse and that his father suspected the unregistered Black Cat Martial Artist was responsible, leaving Zeng assigned to investigate himself. At the Clerk’s Office, Dachun called An Shiyi a clam spirit, and Zeng realized his father might have mistaken her identity.

• Zeng Anmin’s father explained that An Shiyi’s broken forbidden curse had exposed her demonic aura.
• Lin Rong reported finding Prince Jiang’s corpse in a forest fifty li outside the city and said a peak Visualization Realm martial artist had killed him.
• Zeng Shilin suspected the unregistered Black Cat Martial Artist and told Lin Rong to seek Zeng Anmin’s advice on the case.
• Dachun arrived, and Zeng Anmin brought him to see An Shiyi before they left for the Clerk’s Office.
• Concubine Lin brought food to Zeng Shilin and Huzi, hinting that the food at home was cleaner than what they had eaten outside.
• At the Clerk’s Office, Dachun described Zeng Shilin catching a clam spirit, and Zeng Anmin realized he had thought An Shiyi was a fish spirit.

Zeng Anmin learned that An Shiyi had sacrificed herself to seal Zeng Shilin’s Vast Righteous Qi, while Zeng Shilin suspected the Demon Race was pursuing a larger goal. Before Zeng Anmin could explain his suspicions, a rebel army and demons attacked Liangjiang Prefecture City.

• Zeng Anmin realized that another Fish spirit was in the city and hurried to find his father.
• Outside Liangjiang Prefecture City, Xu Tong and a scholar discussed attacking on November 20th if Prince Jiang remained missing, then the Demon King and five fish-headed monsters emerged from the river and headed toward the city.
• Zeng Anmin found that An Shiyi had reverted to her clam form, and Zeng Shilin explained that she had sacrificed her life and cultivation to seal his Vast Righteous Qi for half an incense stick.
• Zeng Shilin questioned what the Demon Race wanted and suggested Prince Jiang could not have made them submit willingly, while Zeng Anmin suspected his father was close to the truth.
• A clerk reported that three thousand armored rebels had joined the Demon Race in attacking the city and that Prefect Qi had gone to the gate to organize defenses.

Zeng Shilin remained calm as Prince Jiang's rebel forces entered Two Rivers Prefecture, revealing that he had anticipated the rebellion and arranged a defense. When a powerful Fish spirit and its lesser demons attacked the Xuanjing Division, Qin Shouchang restrained them while Zeng Shilin dismissed the threat and carried Huzi inside.

• A clerk reported that Prince Jiang's remnants had rebelled, and Zeng Shilin calmly told the gathered family to wait.
• Another clerk announced that Governor Qi Xiande had opened the city gates, and Zeng Shilin declared that the rebellion would end there.
• Xu Tong led the Rebel Army toward the Xuanjing Division, where Lin Rong and nearly five thousand soldiers blocked their way under Governor Zeng's orders.
• A Fish spirit and five lesser demons broke into the Xuanjing Division courtyard and attacked Zeng Shilin's group.
• Qin Shouchang entered and used the Sage's words to immobilize the lesser demons, while Zeng Shilin dismissed the Fish spirit and carried Huzi inside without waking him.

Qin Shouchang demonstrated the power of the Confucian Path by effortlessly killing a Fourth Rank fish monster. Zeng Anmin was inspired to pursue the Confucian Path and went to speak with his father.

• The Fourth Rank fish monster confronted Qin Shouchang and attacked him with a gigantic bubble.
• Qin Shouchang used Righteous Qi to dissolve the bubble and summoned his Confucian Dharma Aspect.
• Qin Shouchang’s Suppress character pinned and slowly destroyed the fish monster, leaving Zeng Anmin stunned by the display.
• Qin Wanyue explained that the Confucian Dharma Aspect was available to cultivators of the Fifth Rank and above.
• Qin Shouchang declared that Confucian Dao cultivators swore to suppress demons and bring peace to the people, inspiring Zeng Anmin to pursue the Confucian Path.
• Huzi called out sleepily that he was hungry, and Zeng Anmin addressed his father to discuss something.

Zeng Shilin revealed how he had manipulated Prince Jiang’s rebellion and uncovered the Dragon Survey Map’s secret. He vowed to help Zeng Anmin awaken it as the Fifth Heavenly Dao Diagram, leaving Zeng Anmin stunned by his father’s plans.

• Zeng Shilin told Zeng Anmin that he had known Prince Jiang intended to rebel and had used hidden pawns Jin Taiping and Shen Liu to shape events.
• Zeng Shilin explained that Prince Jiang had conspired with the Demon Race to obtain the Dragon Survey Map, while believing he could frame Zeng Shilin for rebellion.
• Zeng Shilin revealed that he discovered a secret in the Qin family’s Confucian Sage’s Manuscript and learned the Dragon Survey Map was the Fifth Heavenly Dao Diagram.
• Zeng Shilin declared that he would do everything he could to help Zeng Anmin awaken the Dragon Survey Map and become its Awakener.
• Zeng Anmin asked why Zeng Shilin would not awaken it himself, and Zeng Shilin replied that what belonged to him belonged to his son.

Zeng Shilin and Zeng Anmin watched Xu Tong and Qi Xiande attack the Xuanjing Division and accuse Zeng Shilin of treason. As the soldiers charged into the courtyard, Uncle Qi and Dachun stood to face them.

• Zeng Shilin told Zeng Anmin to send a message to the Black Cat Martial Artist and warned that he would not forgive further lawbreaking.
• Xu Tong smashed through the Xuanjing Division’s gates, displayed Lin Rong’s severed head, and demanded Zeng Shilin’s execution.
• Zeng Anmin recognized that Xu Tong had reached the seventh rank through Demonic Blood Martial Arts, while Zeng Shilin realized Wang Deli’s death had cleared the way for the attack.
• Qi Xiande accused Zeng Shilin of colluding with the Demon Race, but Qin Shouchang denounced Qi Xiande for turning the accusation around.
• Xu Tong ordered his armored soldiers to charge into the courtyard, and Uncle Qi and Dachun stepped forward to fight them.

Qi Xiande and Xu Tong cornered Zeng Shilin and his allies at the Xuanjing Division, forcing Zeng Anmin to reveal his awakened Dragon Survey Map and step out to protect his family. Just as Xu Tong moved against him, a white-robed young man appeared and killed Xu Tong.

• Xu Tong defeated Uncle Qi and Dachun, while Qi Xiande threatened the courtyard officials and demanded they kill the supposed traitors.
• An official pointed out that Zeng Shilin's family was still inside, and Qi Xiande praised him for speaking up.
• Zeng Shilin urged Zeng Anmin to flee and gave him money, but Zeng Anmin revealed that the Dragon Survey Map had awakened and made him the Black Cat Martial Artist.
• Zeng Anmin left Huzi with Concubine Lin and walked toward Xu Tong, reciting a half-verse about battle and death.
• Before Zeng Anmin could speak, Xu Tong's throat was cut, and a white-robed young man appeared on the courtyard wall.

After Bai Ziqing arrived, Father punished Prince Jiang's accomplices and the rebellion case was settled. In the capital, Sai Chuxue returned to Master Xu with Qi Linxian, whose account of Zeng Anmin's Confucian-Martial Dual Cultivation shocked his former master.

• Bai Ziqing arrived three days late and explained that trouble on the road had delayed him.
• Father slapped Qi Xiande and the official who had invoked family dependents, then ordered both sent to the Imperial Prison for interrogation.
• The court confirmed Qi Xiande and Prince Jiang's collusion with the Demon Race and rebellion, leading to the removal of at least a dozen Two Rivers Prefecture officials.
• Sai Chuxue returned to the Profound Formation Division and presented the captured Qi Linxian to Master Xu.
• Qi Linxian recounted meeting Prince Jiang and told Master Xu that his Ask the Heavens Formation had revealed Zeng Anmin as a Seventh Rank Confucian cultivator and at least an Eighth Rank Body Cultivator.

Emperor Jianhong questioned whether Prince Jiang’s rebellion had been engineered by Zeng Shilin, but Sai Chuxue’s report that the Profound Formation Division had captured Qi Linxian changed his response. Meanwhile, Zeng Anmin gave Bai Ziqing a striking new hairstyle and began probing his skills.

• Qi Linxian complained about the Instantaneous Movement Array until Master Xu silenced him and sent Sai Chuxue to tell Emperor Jianhong that Qi Linxian had colluded with Prince Jiang.
• Emperor Jianhong read Zeng Shilin’s memorial, questioned whether Zeng Shilin had framed Prince Jiang to monopolize power, and drafted an order promoting Zeng Anmin to Censor-in-Chief of Jingzhao Prefecture.
• Sai Chuxue told Emperor Jianhong that the Profound Formation Division had captured Qi Linxian and would handle him, and Jianhong burned the response he had written.
• Zeng Anmin dyed and curled Bai Ziqing’s hair, persuading him that the golden curls would make him stand out.
• Zeng Anmin asked Bai Ziqing whether he was skilled at archery and hidden weapons.

The author reflected on years of writing struggles, family hardship, and the eventual success of “My Father is a Confucian Saint, Yet the System Insists I Become a Crude Martial Artist.” He explained the novel’s Confucian Path setting, thanked supporters, and left readers with his gratitude and recommendations.

• The author recalled being rejected nearly twenty times while revising manuscripts amid financial hardship after his family business failed and his child was born.
• The author’s manuscript for “My Father is a Confucian Saint” was accepted after he switched editors to Good Fortune, and he developed it into “My Father is a Confucian Saint, Yet the System Insists I Become a Crude Martial Artist.”
• The author promised to update at least ten thousand words a day after the book went premium for his readers, wife, and child.
• The author explained that Confucian cultivators sacrificed physical strength so their Vast Righteous Qi could devastate foreign enemies without harming human Martial Artists.
• The author named his favorite characters and thanked editor Good Fortune and his mentor, who wrote under the pen names Loves Drinking Aged Vinegar and Hermit Seeking Fortune.

Zeng Anmin saw Bai Ziqing off and received the Falling Jade Plate archery manual before returning to the Governor's Mansion. There, Qin Wanyue asked him for guidance, and he welcomed her into the main hall.

• Bai Ziqing gave Zeng Anmin the Falling Jade Plate manual and boarded the Long Ship, promising to meet again.
• Zeng Anmin watched the ship depart, tucked the manual into his robes, and headed back to the mansion with Qi Dachun.
• A servant told Zeng Anmin that a guest had come to see him, and he learned it was Qin Wanyue.
• Qin Wanyue asked Zeng Anmin to explain lessons she had struggled to understand, and he invited her into the main hall for tea.
• Zeng Anmin offered to answer Qin Wanyue's questions or consult his father, and she felt a strange sense of familiarity with him.

Zeng Anmin and Qin Wanyue discussed the Six Arts and her cultivation of the pipa, then shared Western Flow Fine Wine sent by Shen Jun. Qin Wanyue asked Zeng Anmin for the rest of the half-verse he had recited, and he recognized the line as a poem about drinking wine on the battlefield.

• Qin Wanyue explained that cultivating the Six Arts could help Quanfu break through to the Fifth Rank, and told him she chiefly practiced music and played the pipa.
• Zeng Anmin praised Qin Wanyue for cultivating the pipa, and she was moved by his sincere acceptance of the instrument.
• A servant delivered Shen Jun's gift of Western Flow Fine Wine and jade cups, and Qin Wanyue explained the wine's rarity.
• Zeng Anmin invited Qin Wanyue to taste the wine, described its flavor, and listened as she asked about the rest of the half-verse he had recited at the Xuanjing Division.
• Zeng Anmin remembered that he had recited, “Drunk on the battlefield, do not laugh; since ancient times, how many have returned from war?” and wondered at the coincidence of discussing wine.

Zeng Anmin completed his poem while Qin Wanyue played the pipa, and Zeng Shilin overheard the performance on returning home. After praising the poem, Zeng Shilin confronted his son about risking his life during the rebellion and asked why he had not used the item he had given him.

• Zeng Anmin asked Qin Wanyue to play the pipa so he could finish his half-verse, and she agreed.
• Zeng Shilin returned to the Governor's Mansion and heard Zeng Anmin recite the completed poem as Qin Wanyue played.
• Zeng Shilin was deeply moved by the poem and called it a masterpiece passed down through generations.
• Qin Wanyue asked Zeng Anmin whether he had already resolved to die when he faced the rebels, and he said he had stepped forward to protect his family.
• Zeng Shilin angrily called Zeng Anmin an idiot and demanded to know why he had not carried or used the item he had given him.

Zeng Anmin explained to Zeng Shilin why he had not used the Firearm during the rebellion, and his father warned him to keep his trump cards secret before praising his poetry. At Shuidu Academy, Qin Wanyue recited Zeng Anmin’s poem to answer students challenging Princess Wencheng’s literary reputation, then revealed who had written it.

• Zeng Anmin told Zeng Shilin he had withheld the Firearm during the fight with Xu Tong to avoid exposing his identity, and Zeng Shilin warned him that others could see through his secrets.
• Zeng Shilin praised Zeng Anmin’s poem and suggested naming it Two Rivers Rhapsody.
• At Shuidu Academy, students asked Qin Shouchang to produce a poem to rival Princess Wencheng’s celebrated quatrain.
• Qin Wanyue offered to recite a poem she believed could contend with Princess Wencheng’s, and the students eagerly urged her to perform it.
• Qin Wanyue recited “Grapes and fine wine in a Night-Shining Cup” and revealed that Zeng Anmin had written it, surprising the students and troubling Qin Shouchang.