Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yi and Xiao Yan fought in the mud, stumbled into a pit of snakes, and returned to the Xiao Clan covered in mud. Xun'er reminded Xiao Yan that the clan test was the next day, and Xiao Yan ended the chapter panicking over his weak cultivation.

• Xiao Yi and Xiao Yan grappled in a muddy field and rolled into a pit filled with snakes.
• The brothers escaped the snake pit and returned to the Xiao Clan with snakes piled in the Tricycle's cargo bed.
• Xun'er asked Xiao Yan whether he was ready for the clan test scheduled for the next day.
• Xiao Yan fled with Xiao Yi to his secluded courtyard and confessed that he was still only at the third stage of Dou Qi.

Xiao Yan hoped Yao Lao could use the ring to make his clan test show sixth-stage dou qi, but a new rule forced him to remove it. His result remained third-stage dou qi, leaving him exposed to the clan’s judgment.

• Xiao Yan panicked over his low dou qi, and Yao Lao reassured him that he could make the testing stone display a higher stage through the ring.
• Xiao Yan worried that he would be humiliated in the required spar, and Yao Lao had no solution beyond telling him to face the test first.
• Xiao Yan arrived at the Xiao Clan’s training grounds for the test, where the steward announced that all accessories had to be removed.
• Xiao Yan reluctantly handed his ring to the steward and pressed his palm to the testing stone.
• The administering elder announced that Xiao Yan had third-stage dou qi, rank low.

At the Xiao Clan test, Xiao Yan scored three-stage Dou Qi and Xiao Yi scored only stage two, deepening Xiao Zhan’s humiliation and anger. Xiao Zhan ordered both sons to be beaten with the clan discipline rod in front of everyone.

• Xiao Yan left the testing platform in shame after receiving his result, while Xiao Zhan silently watched him.
• Xiao Yi casually tested at the Magic Stone Tablet and received a stage-two Dou Qi result, leaving the clan stunned.
• Xiao Zhan smashed an armrest and publicly rebuked Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi for neglecting cultivation and disgracing the clan.
• Xiao Zhan ordered the clan discipline rod brought out and commanded that both sons be beaten before the clan.

Xiao Zhan ordered Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi to receive twenty strokes each for neglecting their cultivation, humiliating them before the Xiao Clan. After the beating, he warned the clan’s youths to keep striving, while the injured pair were left as examples.

• Xiao Zhan ordered the guards to pin Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi down and strike them twenty times each.
• Xiao Yan endured the public beating in terror and pain, while Xiao Yi complained theatrically and tried to lessen the blows.
• Xiao Ning mocked the pair, Xiao Mei watched uneasily, and Xun'er worried over Xiao Yan as the clan members witnessed the punishment.
• The guards finished the strokes and helped the pale, sweating Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi up from the benches.
• Xiao Zhan warned the Xiao Clan youths that anyone who neglected cultivation or disgraced the clan would face the same punishment, then left the training ground.

Xiao Yan endured punishment while Xun'er was kept from visiting him, and Xiao Zhan learned that rumors of hauntings around Xiao Yan's Old Courtyard were spreading through the Xiao Clan. He considered using his peculiar adopted son, Xiao Yi, to divert attention and give Xiao Yan room to grow.

• Ling Ying blocked Xun'er from entering Xiao Yan's room, following the Clan Head's order to let the punishment temper Xiao Yan.
• Yao Lao applied cooling ointment to Xiao Yan's injured bottom while Xiao Yan complained that he had been wronged.
• Xiao Zhan left his study and overheard clan juniors claim that ghosts haunted Xiao Yan's Old Courtyard and had caused Xiao Yi's Dou Qi to fall.
• Xiao Zhan demanded that the juniors recount the rumors, then sent them away after hearing their account.
• Xiao Zhan reflected on the Xiao Clan's decline, Xun'er's possible connection to the Gu Clan's interest in the Ancient Jade, and the possibility of using Xiao Yi to muddy the waters around Xiao Yan.

Xiao Zhan found Xiao Yi doing mysterious star-chart calculations and asked whether the ghost haunting Xiao Yan had truly been driven away. Xiao Yi devised a new plan for Xiao Yan, while Xiao Yan and Yao Lao sensed that something bad was coming.

• Xiao Zhan entered Xiao Yi's courtyard and found scattered star charts, calculations, and a strange tube.
• Xiao Yi tried to keep Xiao Zhan away from his work and asked why he had come so late.
• Xiao Zhan asked whether the ghost haunting Xiao Yan had been completely driven away.
• Xiao Yi formed a new plan for Xiao Yan and warned Xiao Zhan that the ghost was not easily driven away.
• Xiao Yan felt a chill and heard an ominous laugh while cultivating, and Yao Lao wondered what was wrong.

Xiao Yi persuaded Xiao Yan and Yao Lao to stage a ritual that would convince Xiao Zhan the cause of Xiao Yan’s declining Dou Qi was a malevolent spirit. On the full-moon night, the Xiao Clan gathered in the council hall as the performance was about to begin.

• Xiao Yi told Xiao Yan and Yao Lao about his plan to explain Xiao Yan’s condition as a ghostly entity and stage its suppression.
• Yao Lao agreed that the scheme could reassure Xiao Zhan and give Xiao Yan a stable place to recover, and Xiao Yan reluctantly accepted.
• Xiao Yi set the ritual for the next full-moon night and promised to pretend to drive Yao Lao out of Xiao Yan.
• The full-moon night arrived, and Xiao Zhan, the elders, and the Xiao Clan’s younger members gathered in the council hall while Xiao Yi stood before Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yi performed an elaborate exorcism ritual in the courtyard while Xiao Yan pretended to be possessed. The ritual continued with Xiao Yi spraying red liquid over Xiao Yan, leaving the watching Xiao Clan members frightened and Xiao Yan furious.

• Xiao Zhan led the Xiao Clan members into the moonlit courtyard, where they found a ritual altar prepared for Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yi dressed in a Daoist robe, chanted and danced with a Peachwood Sword, and claimed to drive demons from the Xiao Clan.
• Xiao Yi lashed Xiao Yan with a whisk and flashed a Bagua Mirror at his face while Xiao Yan maintained his weakened act.
• Xiao Yi drank red liquid and sprayed it over Xiao Yan before circling him with bells, talismans, and the Peachwood Sword.
• The Xiao Clan members feared that a powerful ghost was tormenting Xiao Yan, while Xiao Zhan worried and Xiao Yan vowed to deal with Xiao Yi afterward.

Xiao Yi stabbed Xiao Yan during a staged exorcism, provoking him into a furious outburst that convinced the Xiao Clan the ghost was fighting back. As Xiao Yi continued the performance, Ling Ying stopped Xiao Xun'er from approaching, while Xiao Ning spotted the shadowy figure behind her.

• Xiao Yi whispered that he was avenging his burned hair, then stabbed Xiao Yan in the backside with the Peachwood Sword.
• Xiao Yan sprang up screaming and cursed Xiao Yi in an unfamiliar language, while Xiao Yi claimed a ghost had possessed him.
• Xiao Yan chased Xiao Yi around the courtyard, and Xiao Zhan ordered the clan members to stay back and support the exorcism.
• Xiao Xun'er tried to approach Xiao Yan, but Ling Ying held her back, easing her anxiety with his presence.
• Xiao Yu and Xiao Mei sensed a sinister presence, and Xiao Ning saw a tall, indistinct black figure standing behind Xiao Xun'er.

Xiao Yi ended his staged fight with Xiao Yan using a flaming fist, prompting Yao Lao to reveal himself and Xiao Zhan to realize he was Xiao Yan’s powerful master. The scene left Xiao Yan humiliated on the ground while Xiao Zhan tried to hide what he had understood.

• Xiao Yi ignited the talismans and wrapped his fist in flames before striking Xiao Yan with a shouted “Hadou-ken.”
• Xiao Yan flew across the courtyard and lay motionless, leaving the Xiao Clan members stunned and Ling Ying pleased.
• Yao Lao emerged from Xiao Yan’s ring in a ghostly form to bring the spectacle to an end.
• Xiao Zhan recognized Yao Lao as a powerful Alchemist and silently decided not to reveal that he had worked it out.
• Xiao Zhan accidentally muttered that Xiao Yi would survive anywhere through his tricks, then claimed Xiao Yi had beaten a long-tongued ghost.
• Xiao Yan remained facedown on the ground, hiding his humiliation and anger.

Xiao Yi staged the expulsion of Yao Lao, convincing the Xiao Clan that he had driven away the White Ghost and saved Xiao Yan. He then claimed Xiao Yan's Dou Qi had been recovered and sealed in a Qi-Nourishing Talisman, leaving the clan in awe while Xiao Yan silently nursed his grudge.

• Xiao Yi threatened the White Ghost with the Peachwood Sword, and Yao Lao pretended to flee in terror.
• Xiao Yi feigned exhaustion after the White Ghost disappeared, while Xiao Yan lay unconscious and vowed revenge against him.
• Xiao Zhan ordered servants to carry Xiao Yan back to his room, and they used Family Discipline Boards as a makeshift stretcher.
• Xiao Yi told Xiao Zhan and the clansmen that Xiao Yan was safe and that his lost Dou Qi had been recovered.
• Xiao Yi claimed Xiao Yan's Dou Qi was too powerful to restore all at once, so he had sealed it in a Qi-Nourishing Talisman.

Xiao Yi convinced the Xiao Clan that Xiao Yan needed to remain at Three-Star Dou Qi until he turned fifteen, and the elders accepted the explanation as a face-saving cover for his lost power. Xiao Yan recognized the practical benefits of the ruse but ended the night furious at Xiao Yi for punching him.

• Xiao Yi explained that Xiao Yan had to wait until fifteen for the talisman to restore his Dou Qi and remain at Three-Star Dou Qi until then.
• Xiao Zhan agreed to the plan and told Xiao Yi to live with Xiao Yan so he could care for him and cultivate alongside him.
• The First Elder and the other elders praised Xiao Yi and chose not to question the staged ghost story or the talisman.
• Yao Lao discarded the ghost garments after recalling that Xiao Yi had promised him freedom in exchange for playing the ghost.
• Xiao Yan saw how the story would protect him from gossip, then imagined revenge on Xiao Yi before snapping awake and shouting at his fantasy.

After Yao Lao startled Xiao Yan by appearing through the wall, the two argued over whether Xiao Yi’s plan was mere trickery or a clever solution that benefited everyone. Xiao Yan tried to defend his world with a game analogy, but Yao Lao did not understand, leaving them in awkward silence.

• Xiao Yan screamed when Yao Lao suddenly appeared in his room, then protested that the old man had frightened him.
• Yao Lao dismissed the Taoist arts and talismans as tricks that meant nothing before absolute power.
• Xiao Yan realized Xiao Yi’s story had reframed his fall from genius as a chance to lie low, protecting the clan and giving Xiao Yan hope of rising again.
• Xiao Yan defended Xiao Yi’s strategy as a win-win solution, but Yao Lao scoffed that such dreams were worthless on the Dou Qi Continent.
• Xiao Yan called Xiao Yi a mechanics monster who could exploit or ignore rules, but Yao Lao’s confusion stopped his explanation and left them staring awkwardly at each other.

After Xiao Yi’s exorcism stunt made him famous, rumors frightened the Xiao Clan and disrupted Ling Ying’s stealth work. Xiao Yan enjoyed Xun’er’s visits but remained tormented by Xiao Yi’s noisy presence next door.

• Xiao Yi’s reputation spread through Wutan City, drawing crowds to his fortune-telling stall as the Xiao Clan grew afraid of ghosts and spirits.
• Ling Ying was repeatedly mistaken for a ghost by ordinary clansmen, so he intensified his stealth training and neglected his protection of Xun’er.
• Xun’er visited Xiao Yan more often, and Xiao Yan welcomed her beneath the moonlight.
• Xiao Yi sang an off-key mantra next door and teased Xiao Yan for pestering Xun’er, leaving Xiao Yan furious while Xun’er giggled.
• Xiao Yan continued enjoying Xun’er’s company while enduring Xiao Yi’s racket and looking for chances to dote on her among the spring flowers.

Xiao Yan and Xun'er sneezed after smelling a rose, prompting Yao Lao to explain that Xiao Yan was suffering from discomfort caused by spring’s rising yang energy. That night, Yao Lao gave Xiao Yan a medicinal paste that soothed his throat.

• Xiao Yan gave Xun'er a rose, and both of them sneezed from its pollen.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan that his body was too weak to adapt to spring’s rising yang energy.
• Xun'er noticed Xiao Yan muttering to himself, but accepted his excuse and suggested they sit in the pavilion.
• Yao Lao appeared in Xiao Yan’s room and gave him Snake Gall Clear Dew Paste made from the snakes Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi had caught.
• Xiao Yan tasted the paste, and its cooling effect quickly relieved the burning dryness in his throat.

Xiao Yan went to Xiao Yi’s courtyard with medicine, intending to leave it at the door, but discovered strange inventions and a trench. He found Xiao Yi feverish and delirious in the pit and dragged him out, still uncertain what Xiao Yi was preparing for.

• Yao Lao suggested Xiao Yan share the ointment with Xiao Yi, and Xiao Yan set off for the neighboring courtyard despite his protests.
• Xiao Yan found unusual chemicals, an astronomical telescope, and a crude gun in Xiao Yi’s courtyard.
• Xiao Yan stumbled into a carefully dug trench and realized it resembled a soldier’s foxhole.
• Xiao Yan found Xiao Yi lying in the trench with a high fever and babbling in Chinese, English, and German.
• Xiao Yan pulled the delirious Xiao Yi out of the trench.

Xiao Yan cared for the feverish Xiao Yi and wondered whether his memories of attending an MJ concert meant he had survived long enough to see peace. After Xiao Yi settled into a peaceful sleep, Yao Lao teased Xiao Yan, then went to inspect Xiao Yi’s strange inventions in the courtyard.

• Xiao Yan carried the unconscious Xiao Yi to his room and mixed Snake Gall Clear Dew Paste with hot water.
• Yao Lao suggested Xiao Yan take revenge on Xiao Yi, but Xiao Yan instead fed him the medicine.
• Xiao Yi murmured English lyrics in his sleep, prompting Xiao Yan to hope he had lived to old age and witnessed peace.
• Xiao Yan finished feeding Xiao Yi, made a bed on the floor, and stayed in the room while Xiao Yi slept.
• Yao Lao teased the embarrassed Xiao Yan, then went outside to examine Xiao Yi’s unusual devices.

Yao Lao inspected Xiao Yi’s telescope, star charts, and homemade firearms, recognizing the unfamiliar principles behind them and wondering why Xiao Yi had made weapons powerful enough to threaten a Da Dou Shi. He left suspecting the devices might be less a plot against anyone than a way for Xiao Yi to feel secure.

• Yao Lao looked through Xiao Yi’s telescope and saw a bright sphere encircled by a ring, then examined the annotated star charts beside it.
• Yao Lao inspected Xiao Yi’s iron-pipe weapon and a metal cartridge, deducing that an explosive substance propelled the pellet without Dou Qi.
• Yao Lao judged the small bullets ineffective against powerful fighters, but realized the larger cartridges might threaten a Da Dou Shi’s Dou Qi Armor.
• Yao Lao wondered whether Xiao Yi intended to kill Xiao Zhan or prepare a weapon against the Jia Lie Family or the Ao Ba Family.
• Yao Lao recalled Xiao Yi’s battlefield past and concluded that the weapons might simply give him a sense of security.

After recovering from his illness, Xiao Yi fought with Xiao Yan over putting Easter eggs on an ancestral offering table, then thanked him for caring for him without conceding the argument. Xiao Yan turned his attention to finding a special birthday gift for Xun'er and ended the chapter eyeing the Black Ring on his finger.

• Xiao Yan and Xiao Yi wrestled and traded insults over Xiao Yi placing Easter eggs on an ancestral offering table.
• Yao Lao watched their argument briefly before drifting away from the courtyard.
• Xiao Yan warned Xiao Yi not to use the eggs as offerings, and Xiao Yi thanked him for helping him recover before they resumed fighting.
• Xiao Yan began imagining a birthday celebration where Xun'er cherished a kiss from him more than any gift, then dismissed the fantasy.
• Xiao Yan wondered what gift would make Xun'er happy and glanced at the Black Ring on his finger.

Xiao Yan asked Yao Lao to refine a pill as a birthday gift for Xun'er, but Yao Lao refused and scolded him for neglecting cultivation. Xiao Yan decided to write Xun'er a poem instead, but embarrassment over the love verses he remembered kept him from putting brush to paper.

• Xiao Yan summoned Yao Lao and asked him to refine a pill for Xun'er's birthday.
• Yao Lao struck Xiao Yan with a backscratcher, rebuked him for pursuing a young girl, and refused to make the pill.
• Yao Lao returned to the ring, leaving Xiao Yan to complain that Yao Lao had drained his Dou Qi before criticizing his effort.
• Xiao Yan considered asking Xiao Yi or his father for gift ideas, then decided to give Xun'er a poem from his memories of Another World.
• Xiao Yan hesitated over several love poems and became too embarrassed to write anything.