Recaps

After transmigrating into the cultivation novel as doomed senior brother Chu Zeming, a straight and homophobic stock trader resolved to avoid its gay romance plot. Meeting the protagonist Yue Lian triggered an uncontrollable attraction, and Chu Zeming left to study the world, only to discover he could barely read its script.

• Chu Zeming realized he had taken over the body of the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect's gifted senior brother, whose future involved falling for Yue Lian and meeting a grim fate.
• Chu Zeming ignored the sect disciples who greeted him, then went to his residence and resolved to pursue cultivation rather than romance.
• Ning Weiyu persuaded Chu Zeming to attend the ceremony for Ling Yunzi's new disciple, Yue Lian.
• Chu Zeming and Yue Lian exchanged a gaze, and both felt an overwhelming attraction before Chu Zeming broke away and hurried off.
• Chu Zeming went to the Scripture Pavilion to learn about the cultivation world and discovered he could not read its written language.

After his disastrous first days in the Jīwen World, Chu Zeming trained with his sword, encountered Yue Lian and Ning Weiyu, and struggled against Yue Lian’s irresistible charm. Unable to read, Chu Zeming recruited Xuan Mo to explain books to him, and by the end of the chapter he had made his first underling.

• Chu Zeming withdrew to his residence for two days, then began training with his natal artifact, the Luminous Glaze Sword, in the bamboo forest.
• Chu Zeming nearly struck Yue Lian when he and Ning Weiyu secretly watched his sword practice, but he stopped his blade before it hit Ning Weiyu.
• Yue Lian declared that Chu Zeming had fallen in love with him at first sight and desired his body, prompting Ning Weiyu to drag him away before Chu Zeming attacked.
• Chu Zeming asked Xuan Mo to accompany him to the Scripture Pavilion and explain A Chronological History of the Blackfeather Continent because he could not read.
• Over the following days, Chu Zeming made Xuan Mo explain stacks of books, and Xuan Mo reluctantly agreed to keep reading when Chu Zeming ordered him to explain a basic cultivation manual.

Chu Zeming tried to avoid Yue Lian after Ling Yunzi warned him not to target his junior disciple, but Yue Lian found him and asked for a tour of the back mountain. There, they stumbled upon two men having sex at a waterfall, leaving Chu Zeming horrified and Yue Lian intrigued.

• Ling Yunzi summoned Chu Zeming and warned him that he would be punished if he attacked or deliberately targeted Yue Lian again.
• Chu Zeming spotted Yue Lian waiting outside the Scripture Pavilion and turned away to avoid him.
• Yue Lian found Chu Zeming resting in a meadow and asked him to show him around the sect.
• Chu Zeming took Yue Lian on foot to the back mountain, hoping to find something amusing for him to do.
• Chu Zeming and Yue Lian followed a groan to a waterfall and saw two naked men having sex.
• Yue Lian said the back mountain really was fun, while Chu Zeming reacted with horror.

After a humiliating encounter and a nightmare about Yue Lian, Chu Zeming changed into black robes, mastered Autumn Water Sword Intent, and decided to train his junior brothers more closely. He forced Xuan Mo to study and practice, then invited the startled disciples at the training grounds to join in.

• Chu Zeming dragged Yue Lian back to the sect after finding him watching an intimate scene, then dreamed that he and Yue Lian were in it together.
• Chu Zeming woke in horror, changed into black robes, and vented his feelings by destroying bamboo during sword practice.
• Chu Zeming entered an epiphany and comprehended Autumn Water Sword Intent with the Luminous Glaze Sword.
• Chu Zeming found Xuan Mo trying to sneak into the Scripture Pavilion, made him read the Heart-Calming and Qi-Quieting Art, and took him to the training grounds.
• Chu Zeming made Xuan Mo practice on plum blossom posts and tested his reflexes with Sword Qi, then asked the other disciples if they wanted to train too.

Chu Zeming went to the Spirit Realm Platform at night to seize the azure dragon egg intended for Yue Lian, but after surviving a swarm of giant snakes, he bonded with a different egg. The chapter ended when he saw Yue Lian holding a glowing egg of his own and realized he might have taken the wrong one.

• Chu Zeming forced Xuan Mo through exhausting sword practice and warned him not to make excuses to avoid training again.
• Chu Zeming entered the Spirit Realm Platform at night to find the dragon egg before Yue Lian could claim it.
• Chu Zeming fought off a giant snake, fled from more than ten others, and found a red-glowing egg on an island in a lake.
• Chu Zeming made the egg accept his blood and bonded with it before preparing to leave the secret realm.
• Yue Lian appeared at the lakeshore holding a gently glowing egg, and Chu Zeming suspected he had claimed the wrong one.

Chu Zeming watched Yue Lian hatch a green dragon, then saw his own red-glowing egg hatch into a strange three-headed black creature whose species he could not identify. After searching the Scripture Pavilion for answers, he remembered that he had to lead morning lessons and used Xiao Hei to choose what to teach.

• Yue Lian hatched a Little Azure Dragon and revealed that he had contracted it, leaving Chu Zeming resentful that Yue Lian had found the real dragon egg.
• Chu Zeming's red-glowing egg hatched into Xiao Hei, a three-headed black creature that flicked its tongues instead of breathing dragon breath.
• Chu Zeming asked Xuan Mo and Yue Lian whether Xiao Hei was a dragon, then made Xuan Mo endure punishing cultivation drills after Xuan Mo said Xiao Hei looked like a deformed snake.
• Chu Zeming searched the Scripture Pavilion's illustrated guides for a creature like Xiao Hei but found no match.
• A Hall of Ritual Instruction disciple reminded Chu Zeming that he had to lead morning lessons for half a month, and Chu Zeming tossed Xiao Hei into the air to decide whether to teach practical combat or sword intent.

Chu Zeming began teaching practical combat and trained his small class harshly, then discovered Ling Tian had beaten Xuan Mo and tried to take his residence. Chu Zeming retaliated by beating Ling Tian and left with Xuan Mo, who began to understand the need to become strong enough to protect himself.

• Chu Zeming tossed Xiao Hei repeatedly to check its tail, then decided to teach practical combat.
• Chu Zeming led six junior disciples to the training grounds and put them through an exhausting lesson, warning them not to quit.
• Chu Zeming visited Xuan Mo and learned that Ling Tian had beaten him and was trying to take his residence near a newly emerged spiritual vein.
• Chu Zeming claimed Xuan Mo's residence as his own and went to Ling Tian's home, where he beat him until he apologized.
• Chu Zeming told Xuan Mo to gain the strength to protect himself, and Xuan Mo followed him away while Ling Tian cursed and admired his appearance.

Chu Zeming prepared to lead the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect’s team into the Extreme Sea Secret Realm, where he hoped to claim a treasure he had once given to Yue Lian. After disciples confessed to him, Yue Lian disguised himself as a beautiful woman and posed as Chu Zeming’s lover to drive off a rival.

• Xuan Mo and Ling Tian joined Chu Zeming’s morning training, and Xuan Mo endured the exercises with new resolve.
• Yue Lian told Chu Zeming that the Extreme Sea Secret Realm would open next month and that Master had assigned Chu Zeming to lead the sect’s team.
• Chu Zeming recalled that the original owner had given Yue Lian a broken sword from the secret realm and decided he would keep it this time.
• Ling Tian persisted in attending Chu Zeming’s training but left early after watching his senior brother.
• A female disciple confessed to Chu Zeming, followed by a burly male disciple, whom Chu Zeming ordered to leave.
• Yue Lian disguised himself as a beautiful woman and told the female disciple that Chu Zeming had asked him to wait, driving her away before watching Chu Zeming train.

Chu Zeming discovered that the sect’s rumored fairy maiden was actually Yue Lian, then suppressed gossip by having Xuan Mo beat up the rumor-spreaders. As the disciples departed for the Extreme Sea Secret Realm, Yue Lian was ordered to stay beside Chu Zeming and was once again dragged through the air by his sword.

• Chu Zeming examined a portrait advertised as his secret beloved, recognized Yue Lian in it, and scolded Xuan Mo for mistaking him for a woman.
• Chu Zeming sent Xuan Mo to silence rumors about him and Yue Lian, and Xuan Mo’s methods inspired the junior brothers to become a band of thieves.
• Ling Yunzi summoned the disciples to prepare for the Extreme Sea Secret Realm, while Chu Zeming resolved to deal with Ling Tian during the journey.
• Qin Elder questioned Yue Lian’s fitness for the expedition, but Ling Yunzi insisted he go and ordered him to remain beside Chu Zeming.
• Yue Lian asked Chu Zeming to carry him because he could not fly for long, so Chu Zeming used his sword to hang him up and tow him through the air.

Chu Zeming led the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples into the Extreme Sea Secret Realm, warning them to rely on themselves and offering strange advice about finding opportunities. He sought the Azure-Blue Pearl in a cold pool but found it guarded by a hostile merfolk.

• Chu Zeming told the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples to meditate, gave them Teleportation Jade Tokens, and warned them to protect themselves inside the secret realm.
• When the secret realm opened, Chu Zeming made the disciples listen to his unusual survival advice before they entered, while Yue Lian chose to go in alone.
• Chu Zeming entered late and searched the forest for a cold pool where the Azure-Blue Pearl was hidden.
• Chu Zeming reached for the Azure-Blue Pearl, but a spiked merfolk appeared and attacked him.

Chu Zeming defeated a merman guarding the Azure-Blue Pearl, then tricked Ling Tian into entering the dangerous pool. Later, Xiao Hei rushed into a river and led Chu Zeming to a cave with an ancient dragon and a small silver dragon, where a nine-headed shadow appeared behind him.

• Chu Zeming used the Luminous Glaze Sword and his protected mind to escape the merman’s attack, while Xiao Hei retrieved the Azure-Blue Pearl.
• Chu Zeming taunted the merman from the shore, praised Xiao Hei, and told Ling Tian that treasure lay in the pool, prompting Ling Tian to dive in.
• Chu Zeming continued through the secret realm, then made camp by a river after nightfall.
• When a disturbance stirred the river, Xiao Hei broke free and plunged into the water, and Chu Zeming followed him into a cave.
• Chu Zeming found an ancient silver dragon coiled around a pillar and a small silver dragon facing Xiao Hei.
• As Chu Zeming drew the Luminous Glaze Sword to protect Xiao Hei, a huge shadow with nine heads rose behind Xiao Hei.

Chu Zeming escaped the collapsing cave after Xiao Hei’s shadow consumed the silver dragon, but treasure hunters forced him to flee into a mysterious area of the Extreme Sea Secret Realm. A moving stone-statue formation trapped him underground, where he found a strange gate and a terrifying young man in white at the center of a formation.

• Xiao Hei’s black shadow swallowed the silver dragon spirit, and Xiao Hei gained a fourth head before the cave collapsed.
• Chu Zeming escaped the cave, fought off a disciple’s divine-sense attack, and evaded more than twenty treasure hunters pursuing him.
• After losing his pursuers, Chu Zeming wandered into a region of giant stone statues whose movements triggered a vortex that swallowed him and Xiao Hei.
• Chu Zeming awoke injured in an underground palace and followed fresh footprints toward a massive stone gate.
• When Chu Zeming touched the gate, it vanished and revealed a strange formation with a terrifying young man in white seated at its center.

Chu Zeming escaped the underground palace after stabbing a powerful madman who looked like Yue Lian, then secured the broken sword and returned to the sect with the other disciples. He suspected the madman was Yue Lian’s elder brother, but Yue Lian revealed that Chu Zeming was the brother he meant, and later exposed the deep sword wound on his abdomen.

• The black-lotus-marked young man seized Chu Zeming, kissed and bit him, and was stabbed in the abdomen when Chu Zeming fought back and escaped.
• Chu Zeming left the underground palace, found the broken sword in an ancient cultivator’s residence, and used a teleportation talisman to leave the closing Extreme Sea Secret Realm.
• Chu Zeming gave Ling Tian a magical hammer, then waited for Yue Lian, who emerged from the realm injured but alive.
• After returning to the sect, Chu Zeming visited Yue Lian and asked whether he had an elder brother; Yue Lian said he meant Chu Zeming himself, prompting Chu Zeming to punch him and leave.
• Yue Lian set up a barrier and revealed a deep sword wound across his abdomen.

Chu Zeming broke through to middle Golden Core, reforged the Luminous Glaze Sword, and learned that the formation he had seen sealed an ancient immortal. As he grew wary of the powerful man he had wounded in the secret realm, the sect prepared to send him to the Joint Grand Tournament, where he focused on winning an ancient secret treasure.

• Chu Zeming broke through to middle Golden Core without using the Azure-Blue Pearl, then left Xiao Hei sleeping behind a barrier.
• Ling Yunzi congratulated Chu Zeming and pressed him to give Yue Lian a treasure; Chu Zeming refused and suspected Ling Yunzi was ingratiating himself with Yue Lian for another reason.
• Chu Zeming reforged the Luminous Glaze Sword with the broken sword, and Elder Han identified his drawing as an ancient sealing formation used to bind immortal great powers.
• Chu Zeming realized the sealed man might be an ancient immortal and worried about retaliation after he had stabbed him in the secret realm.
• Chu Zeming and Xuan Mo discussed the upcoming Joint Grand Tournament at Returning Origin Sect, and Chu Zeming fixed on its ancient secret treasure as a prize he wanted to obtain.

Chu Zeming and nine other disciples set out from Nine-Clear Haoran Sect for the Joint Grand Tournament in Cangzhou, with Yue Lian added to the team to represent the sect’s appearance. On the journey, Chu Zeming made Yue Lian sleep in the carriage hall, and Yue Lian was left there alone until they arrived in Cangzhou.

• Chu Zeming encouraged Xuan Mo to enter the Joint Grand Tournament despite his doubts about placing.
• Chu Zeming learned the elders had chosen Yue Lian to fill Lou Ying’s vacant tournament spot because he best represented the sect’s image.
• The ten disciples boarded a luxurious spirit beast carriage and departed for Cangzhou.
• Qin Elder criticized Ling Yunzi’s favoritism toward Yue Lian, but Ling Yunzi defended his decision based on a divination.
• Yue Lian refused to share a room with Senior Brother Wu and asked to room with Chu Zeming instead.
• Chu Zeming made Yue Lian sleep on chairs in the carriage hall, where he remained alone until they reached Cangzhou.

Chu Zeming took his junior brothers shopping in Cangzhou City, where he outmaneuvered Lu Benxiong into buying a fortune’s worth of goods and then spent his own money on street-stall treasures. The Joint Grand Tournament began five days later, and the disciples drew lots for the preliminary round, with one of them receiving a bye.

• Chu Zeming led his junior brothers through Cangzhou City’s upscale shops, where Lu Benxiong tried to outbuy him and ended up facing a bill of nine million five hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones.
• Chu Zeming took his junior brothers to the street stalls and bought treasures, then distributed them at the inn while Yue Lian wondered why he had received none.
• Yue Lian watched Chu Zeming from across the inn, while Ling Tian grew flustered after receiving another gift from his senior brother.
• Five days later, Chu Zeming led the disciples to the Joint Grand Tournament, whose prize was a contract with an Immortal Residence secret treasure.
• Chu Zeming drew lot number 1, Xuan Mo drew 296, and another disciple announced that he had received a bye.

Chu Zeming faced the formidable Chang Wei in the Joint Grand Tournament’s first arena match and won by persuading him to hold back in exchange for advice about Yue Lian. The match ended with Chang Wei pretending to be badly injured, while Chu Zeming declared his victory hard-won.

• Yue Lian received a first-round bye, and Xuan Mo rallied the disciples to support Chu Zeming in his opening match.
• Chu Zeming discovered that his opponent was Chang Wei, a powerful Heavenly Remnant Sect cultivator whom Lu Benxiong urged to cripple him.
• Chang Wei became captivated by Yue Lian, and Chu Zeming offered to share details about him if Chang Wei held back.
• Chu Zeming and Chang Wei turned their fight into an obvious farce, trading staged blows while the spectators watched in disbelief.
• Chang Wei lay on the arena coughing blood, and the gong declared Chu Zeming the winner.

Chu Zeming left the tournament to train in Devil Forest while Yue Lian dealt with a flower-thieving bandit in Cangzhou City. On the fourth day, Chu Zeming returned to the arena badly wounded just before his match was about to be forfeited.

• After healing his superficial wounds, Chu Zeming advised Chang Wei on how to pursue Yue Lian and told him to change his rough style.
• Chu Zeming took Xiao Hei into Devil Forest to train, leaving a message for Xuan Mo.
• Yue Lian bought trinkets at the night market, then defeated Chu Linfeng when the flower-thieving bandit tried to abduct him.
• Xuan Mo found Chu Zeming's message and urged the disciples to devote their leisure time to cultivation, while allowing Yue Lian to do as he pleased.
• On the fourth day, Chu Zeming's match was about to be forfeited when he arrived at the arena in bloodied, tattered clothes.

Chu Zeming defeated Dai Shanghu, then fled to a barren mountain and broke through to the Golden Core peak under tribulation lightning. After returning to the arena, he watched his junior brothers compete as Yue Lian advanced when his opponent failed to appear, while Chang Wei arrived in an awkwardly refined outfit to impress him.

• Chu Zeming defeated Dai Shanghu with one sword strike and hurried away before his spiritual power could break through on the arena stage.
• Chu Zeming secluded himself in a cave, survived tribulation lightning, and emerged at the Golden Core peak as Xuan Mo and the other disciples watched.
• Chu Zeming returned to the arena with his junior brothers and comforted a disciple who had lost his match.
• Xuan Mo reminded the group that Yue Lian's match was next, and Yue Lian slowly made his way toward the arena stage.
• Chang Wei appeared beside Chu Zeming in elaborate white robes and asked whether Yue Lian would like his refined new look.
• Yue Lian advanced after his opponent failed to appear within the three-incense-stick time limit.

Xuan Mo attained enlightenment after Chu Zeming spoke openly about jealousy, while Chang Wei sought Chu Zeming’s help to become more attractive for Yue Lian. Chu Zeming later found an ancient male dual-cultivation manual at his door and wrestled with whether to use it.

• Chu Zeming admitted he was jealous of Yue Lian, prompting Xuan Mo to reflect on jealousy and attain enlightenment beneath the arena.
• Chu Zeming protected Xuan Mo with a barrier as the gathered cultivators marveled at the Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples.
• Chang Wei approached Yue Lian, who called him ugly and told him to stay away.
• Chang Wei visited Chu Zeming that evening and recorded his advice about bathing in milk, cucumber slices, and scrubbing his face.
• Chu Zeming found a jeweled box outside his room, discovered an ancient dual-cultivation manual inside, and became conflicted after realizing it was meant for two men.

Chu Zeming finished reading the suspicious ancient secret art and led his disciples through the tournament’s second round, where the rules changed to a dangerous Divine Tree trial. As the disciples prepared for the new challenge, Yue Lian tried to leave another box at Chu Zeming’s door and was caught in the act.

• Chu Zeming asked his disciples whether anyone suspicious had approached his room, then watched their matches and coached them from the sidelines.
• The tournament announced that five Nine-Clear Haoran Sect disciples had advanced to the top two hundred and fifty, and He Wuwei replaced the next arena matches with a Divine Tree trial opening in five days.
• Chu Zeming encouraged his disciples to use intelligence, opportunities, and strategy in the trial, and Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, and Wu began to understand his advice.
• The disciples spent the next five days preparing, while Yue Lian visited nearby stalls and shops instead of cultivating.
• Yue Lian tried to leave an incense-scented box at Chu Zeming’s door, but Chu Zeming opened it before he could get away.

Chu Zeming entered the Divine Wood Realm and fought through its dangerous first level to reach an underground passage leading onward. At a cold pool, he encountered Fu Hongchen and Lu Benxiong, who prepared to attack him.

• Chu Zeming repeatedly beat Yue Lian after discovering the bedroom secret arts, until five days passed and the Divine Wood Realm opened.
• He Wuwei gave the gathered cultivators jade talismans that could teleport them to safety, and Fu Hongchen entered the realm first.
• The entrance scattered the cultivators, leaving Chu Zeming alone with Xiao Hei as he crossed the glowing forest and poisonous swamp.
• Chu Zeming found an opened graveyard, killed the monster inside, covered the dead disciple, and used the coffin to reach a cold pool.
• When Chu Zeming approached the Scarlet Scale Fruit, Fu Hongchen attacked him with a Soul-Piercing Cone while Lu Benxiong threatened him.

Chu Zeming drove Fu Hongchen and the other disciples from the second level, then harvested the Scarlet Scale Fruits with the Crimson Serpent Python’s help and rode it to the third level. There, an illusion tried to seduce him, but he attacked the apparent beauty instead.

• Chu Zeming crushed Fu Hongchen’s Teleportation Jade Token and forced Lu Benxiong and the other disciples to teleport away.
• Chu Zeming picked the Scarlet Scale Fruits while the Crimson Serpent Python nudged him, then rode the python to the third level with Xiao Hei.
• Chu Zeming searched the Ancient Battlefield for the fourth-level entrance while avoiding its ghosts and corpses.
• An illusion transformed the battlefield into a peach-blossom paradise and sent a veiled woman to seduce Chu Zeming.
• Chu Zeming punched the woman, knocked her nose crooked, and slammed her to the ground.

Chu Zeming forced a walking corpse to reveal the entrance to the fourth level, then fought Fu Hongchen while ancient battlefield corpses surrounded them. They escaped through the teleportation array and arrived among the elves, where Yue Lian appeared as their Holy Son.

• Chu Zeming beat the walking corpse until it revealed the hidden entrance to the fourth level and forced it to accompany him.
• Fu Hongchen arrived and attacked Chu Zeming, but they stopped fighting when powerful corpses and resentful spirits surrounded them.
• Fu Hongchen and Chu Zeming rushed toward the teleportation array together and activated it just before a Spirit Severing Realm ghost hand struck them.
• Inside the array, Fu Hongchen and Chu Zeming grappled and tore at each other until they reached the fourth level.
• An old elf told the watching elves that the pair's scuffle was human male mating behavior, and Yue Lian appeared as the elves' Holy Son.

Yue Lian convinced the elves that Chu Zeming was their holy maiden so they could use the Spirit of the Divine Wood to reach the secret realm's summit. As the Elf Tree's restoration ritual began, Chu Zeming found Yue Lian joining him in the Sacred Spring, with the elves insisting that he accept the holy son's blessing.

• Yue Lian had Fu Hongchen bound and imprisoned in a tree cage, then introduced Chu Zeming to the elves as their holy maiden.
• Yue Lian explained to Chu Zeming that he had invented the holy son and holy maiden story to persuade the elves to let them approach the sleeping Spirit of the Divine Wood.
• Xuan Mo, Ling Tian, and Junior Brother Wu watched other cultivators fight over treasures at the Ancient Battlefield while Ling Tian worried about Chu Zeming.
• Fu Hongchen remained imprisoned and blamed Chu Zeming for destroying his jade talisman as Chu Zeming meditated through the night.
• An elf attendant brought Chu Zeming to the Sacred Spring to bathe before the restoration ritual, and Yue Lian entered the spring with him.
• When Chu Zeming threatened to hurt Yue Lian if he came closer, more than twenty elves emerged and urged Chu Zeming to accept the holy son's blessing.