Recaps

Zuo Xiaoduo explained how his formation would protect Zuo Xiaonian and link her fortune to the Flame Martial Empire and eventually the Star Soul Continent. He Yuanyue realized the formation would benefit Zuo Xiaoduo as the dragon vein’s bearer, then praised his rapid progress in the Qi-Observing Art.

• He Yuanyue asked how much of the formation’s returned fortune Zuo Xiaoduo had left for Phoenix City, and he explained that the city would receive a limited share.
• Zuo Xiaoduo revealed that the formation would make attacks against Zuo Xiaonian through feng shui, terrain, or curses backfire on the attacker.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said the formation would eventually connect Zuo Xiaonian’s fate to the Flame Martial Empire’s fortune and later to the entire Star Soul Continent.
• He Yuanyue warned that creating the formation might harm Zuo Xiaoduo, but he said he would rely on Zuo Xiaonian’s fortune and his own future good deeds to offset the damage.
• He Yuanyue realized Zuo Xiaoduo was the dragon vein’s bearer and would benefit from the formation without knowing it, avoiding heavenly punishment.
• He Yuanyue asked whether Qin Fangyang had infused Zuo Xiaoduo with the Qi-Observing Art, then praised his progress and asked where he had found the formation in her teachings.

Zuo Xiaoduo told He Yuanyue that Qin Fangyang was burning his spiritual power while teaching, and He Yuanyue reacted with grief before calling a meeting. Qin Fangyang then visited her and revealed that the Meng and Ning Clans had destroyed the Shen Family and two other families and delivered ninety-eight heads to him.

• He Yuanyue praised Zuo Xiaoduo's study of the Qi-Observing Art and urged him to keep strengthening his cultivation and foundation.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told He Yuanyue that Qin Fangyang was using the Fuel Exhausted, Fire Passed On technique while teaching, and He Yuanyue wept after hearing this.
• He Yuanyue summoned more than twenty school officials and teachers, including Qin Fangyang, to a meeting that afternoon.
• Qin Fangyang visited He Yuanyue and said Meng Tianyue and Ning Suifeng had approached him after his identity as an Infant Transformation Peak cultivator was exposed.
• Qin Fangyang told He Yuanyue that the Meng and Ning Clans had wiped out the Shen Family and two other families and presented him with ninety-eight heads, shocking her.

He Yuanyue accepted Qin Fangyang’s plan to distribute the wealth he had extracted from the Meng and Ning families. Zuo Xiaoduo received weighted gear from Teacher Gu and was told to wear it constantly until he could move normally in it.

• He Yuanyue condemned the Meng and Ning families for slaughtering Shen Yushu’s household and the households of the other students involved in the hunt.
• Qin Fangyang explained that Xiaoduo had urged him to demand money and supplies, and He Yuanyue agreed to keep the pills, medicines, jade, and cultivation manual for Second High School.
• Qin Fangyang and He Yuanyue agreed to distribute the ten billion Star Origin Coins among Second High School, Sun Moon Pass soldiers, and three research and veterans’ organizations.
• Zuo Xiaoduo went to the Gravity Room, where Teacher Gu gave him weighted gear prepared in Qin Fangyang’s name.
• Teacher Gu told Zuo Xiaoduo to wear the weights in daily life until he could move freely, but to remove them for life-or-death fights and periodically reassess his strength and speed.

Zuo Xiaoduo trained in the Gravity Room with added weights until exhaustion, then rushed home starving. There, he barged in on Zuo Xiaonian as she emerged from the bathroom and was kicked back outside.

• Zuo Xiaoduo entered the Gravity Room wearing weights and struggled through his training with help from the Flame Sun True Scripture.
• Qin Fangyang found Zuo Xiaoduo collapsed by the door and dragged him out, while Teacher Gu explained that he had supplied the weights.
• Qin Fangyang warned Teacher Gu that Zuo Xiaoduo would likely attract countless enemies as he grew stronger, so Teacher Gu abandoned the idea of sharing in his future glory.
• Teacher Gu noticed that the other young trainees had also brought weights and wondered how Li Changming could sleep deeply in the Gravity Room.
• Zuo Xiaoduo rushed home starving and accidentally barged in on Zuo Xiaonian after her bath; she kicked him out and hurried to her room in embarrassment.

Zuo Xiaoduo gave Zuo Xiaonian a jade pendant containing a bloodstained coin and insisted she wear it, then the siblings went to a blacksmith shop to have sturdier accessories made. They arrived at Tiejiang Blacksmith Shop and found their father, Zuo Changlu, there.

• Zuo Xiaoduo gave Zuo Xiaonian a jade pendant with a bloodstained coin inside and told her not to remove it.
• Zuo Xiaonian and Zuo Xiaoduo left for the blacksmith shop after Zuo Xiaonian knocked Zuo Xiaoduo into a wall.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the pendant was fragile and said they should ask the blacksmith to make something sturdier.
• Zuo Xiaonian and Zuo Xiaoduo arrived at Tiejiang Blacksmith Shop beside their family's Changlu Star Soul Stone Shop.
• Zuo Changlu came out of the blacksmith shop, scolded the siblings for waiting outside, and Zuo Xiaoduo asked how skilled the blacksmith was.

Zuo Xiaonian and Zuo Xiaoduo visited Wu Tiejiang to have swords forged, and Zuo Xiaonian insisted on adding cute dog designs to her grand Ice Phoenix Sword. Wu Tiejiang agreed to the design after Zuo Changlu clarified the request, then asked Zuo Xiaoduo what he wanted.

• Zuo Changlu introduced Zuo Xiaonian and Zuo Xiaoduo to the bronze-skinned blacksmith Wu Tiejiang.
• Zuo Xiaonian showed Wu Tiejiang pictures of the sword she wanted, and he judged the design feasible.
• Zuo Xiaonian asked Wu Tiejiang to forge cute little dogs onto the sword's crossguard, leaving him baffled by the request.
• Zuo Changlu suggested keeping the Ice Phoenix design and engraving a dog on either side of the phoenix, which satisfied Zuo Xiaonian.
• Wu Tiejiang asked Zuo Xiaoduo what he wanted, and Zuo Xiaoduo requested a light, thin, durable three-foot sword.

Zuo Xiaoduo worked with Wu Tiejiang to settle on a sword design and began specifying a pair of customized hammers. The hammer design remained unfinished as Zuo Xiaoduo added concealed blades and a retractable chain.

• Zuo Xiaoduo revised his sword requirements after Zuo Changlu explained that his original demands were unrealistic.
• Wu Tiejiang presented several sword designs, and Zuo Xiaoduo chose one to be forged thin.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Wu Tiejiang to make him a pair of hammers and rejected the standard designs.
• Zuo Xiaoduo chose Hundred-Faced Hammers and specified long handles concealing narrow swords.
• Zuo Xiaoduo proposed hollow hammer handles containing chains that could extend for long-range attacks.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained an elaborate, trap-filled hammer design to Wu Tiejiang, who struggled to meet its impossible specifications. The discussion ended with Wu Tiejiang warning that indestructible gold was extremely difficult to obtain.

• Zuo Xiaoduo proposed a hollow hammer handle containing a chain and concealed swords, then described a hammerhead with hidden needle-firing mechanisms.
• Wu Tiejiang was stunned by the design and asked Zuo Changlu whether Zuo Xiaoduo was really his biological son.
• Zuo Xiaoduo sketched the hammer's construction and suggested mechanisms for firing Ox-Hair Needles and cone needles.
• Wu Tiejiang said Ox-Hair Needles could remain lethal only within ten meters, while cone needles could reach fifty meters.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked for indestructible gold striking faces, and Wu Tiejiang explained that producing even a small amount required a large quantity of Thousand Illusions Gold.

Zuo Xiaoduo commissioned Wu Tiejiang to forge a pair of enormous, feature-packed hammers and insisted on decorating them with adorable kitty ornaments. Wu Tiejiang warned that the weapons would be massive and fearsome, but Zuo Xiaoduo refused to compromise on the cats.

• Zuo Xiaoduo told Wu Tiejiang that materials were plentiful, and Zuo Changlu backed him up by mentioning Xiao Nan had sent some over.
• Wu Tiejiang warned that the dense materials and elaborate designs would make the hammers difficult to wield, and Zuo Xiaoduo said he could lift nearly ten thousand jin at full strength despite being at the peak of the Martial Master realm.
• Zuo Xiaoduo settled on hammers weighing 9,999 jin each and asked for detachable mechanisms, hidden weapons, sturdy chains, and a kitty ornament on each handle.
• Zuo Xiaoduo named them the Nine-Nine Kitty Hammers, while Zuo Xiaonian objected and Zuo Changlu stopped her from attacking him.
• Wu Tiejiang estimated that the hollow hammers would still need to be at least a meter in diameter, and Zuo Xiaoduo insisted the kitty decorations were nonnegotiable.

Zuo Changlu arranged for Wu Tiejiang to forge weapons for Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian, pressuring him to supply the missing materials and accept payment later. After sending the two children away, Zuo Changlu returned to the forge and told Wu Tiejiang not to sign the weapons.

• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Wu Tiejiang to forge Dark-patterned Phoenix designs onto his heavy iron hammers, and Zuo Xiaonian handed over the available materials.
• Zuo Changlu persuaded Wu Tiejiang to supply the missing materials and forge the weapons, promising to settle the bill afterward.
• Wu Tiejiang estimated that the swords would take three days and that the hammers would be more troublesome.
• Zuo Changlu sent Zuo Xiaoduo back to school and Zuo Xiaonian to find her master, then left Wu Tiejiang to work.
• Zuo Changlu returned to the forge and told Wu Tiejiang to leave his signature off the weapons.

Zuo Changlu explained to Wu Tiejiang that leaving his name on the weapons would entangle him in the karma surrounding Zuo Changlu’s children and their coming tribulations. He revealed that an enemy would return decades before he and his wife could act, and asked Wu Tiejiang for a Life-Prolonging Pill to help preserve the balance.

• Zuo Changlu persuaded Wu Tiejiang not to sign the weapons because the children’s dangerous fates could drag the weaponsmith into their karma.
• Wu Tiejiang asked whether Zuo Changlu’s children could survive their tribulations, and Zuo Changlu admitted he did not know and could not intervene.
• Zuo Changlu told Wu Tiejiang that an enemy had discarded his memories and used the Qi-Observing Art to accelerate his return, while the Heavenly Dao kept both sides from acting.
• Zuo Changlu said the enemy might be free within a year or two, decades before he and his wife, and proposed having Tiger maintain the balance.
• Zuo Changlu said the enemy would be blind for his first ten years back and asked Wu Tiejiang for one Life-Prolonging Pill, which Wu Tiejiang had brought.

Zuo Changlu and Wu Tiejiang discussed the limits of extending Blind Hong’s life and the dangers facing Zuo Changlu’s children in the Phoenix Tribulation. Blind Hong arrived at Zuo Changlu’s shop to collect Star Soul Jade, while Wu Tiejiang returned to smithing to avoid him.

• Zuo Changlu explained that a Life-Prolonging Pill might give Blind Hong only a few years because his qi-observing art consumed his lifespan.
• Wu Tiejiang worried about Zuo Changlu’s children facing the Phoenix Tribulation, and Zuo Changlu said outsiders could not interfere with the Heavenly Dao’s configuration.
• Wu Tiejiang expressed disbelief that Zuo Xiaoduo was Zuo Changlu’s biological son, and Zuo Changlu angrily insisted that he was.
• Blind Hong approached the smithy, so Wu Tiejiang shut himself inside while Zuo Changlu went out to greet him.
• Zuo Changlu helped Blind Hong into the Star Soul Stone shop, where Blind Hong asked about the Star Soul Jade he had ordered.

Zuo Changlu treated Blind Hong to life-restoring ginseng tea, and Blind Hong offered to read Zuo’s son’s fortune and help him avoid danger. Blind Hong revealed that people were watching him and intended to exploit the vitality he had regained.

• Zuo Changlu welcomed Blind Hong into his shop and served him rare ginseng tea, which restored much of his vitality.
• Blind Hong offered to examine Zuo Changlu’s children, saying Zuo’s son faced repeated tribulations and he could help him avoid them.
• Zuo Changlu reluctantly agreed to have Blind Hong read his son’s fortune the next time the boy visited.
• Blind Hong said others had long exploited his fortune-telling abilities and were still watching him, so he wanted to spend his restored vitality protecting Zuo’s son.

Zuo Xiaoduo encountered four powerful Qi-Reading Adepts on his way to Second High School, and one warned him of an impending bloody calamity. He left the encounter unconvinced, while the adepts showed interest in his extraordinary bearing and fortune.

• Blind Hong told Zuo Changlu he feared refusing another request because doing so might cost him his life, then stayed to talk with him at the shop.
• Zuo Xiaoduo left Zuo Xiaonian and headed toward Second High School through the crowded pedestrian street.
• Zuo Xiaoduo spotted four Daoists whose faces were surrounded by dense death qi and recognized them as Qi-Reading Adepts.
• One of the adepts stopped Zuo Xiaoduo, and he gave the false name Teng Hao and said he attended First High School.
• The adept warned Zuo Xiaoduo that a bloody calamity might befall him soon, but Zuo Xiaoduo dismissed him as a swindler and prepared to leave.

Zuo Xiaoduo met four Qi-Reading Adepts, rejected Brother Feng’s prediction of a bloody calamity, and resolved to use a Breath Concealment Technique to hide his aura. Meanwhile, Former Principal He Yuanyue called Second High School’s senior staff to a meeting and began announcing an important matter.

• Brother Feng gave Zuo Xiaoduo his business card and predicted he would suffer a bloody calamity, while the other adepts praised Zuo Xiaoduo’s prospects.
• After Zuo Xiaoduo ran off, Brother Feng explained that his prediction was a calculated bluff intended to make Zuo Xiaoduo seek him out after getting injured.
• Zuo Xiaoduo dismissed the prediction but worried that the adepts could see his flourishing aura, so he remembered the Breath Concealment Technique book in his ring.
• Zuo Xiaoduo headed to Second High School, planning to train in the Gravity Room and talk with his classmates about Contribution Points.
• He Yuanyue convened Second High School’s senior staff and said she had an important matter to announce.

He Yuanyue explained that her health was failing and entrusted Second High School’s future to its staff before revealing four lifelong regrets. She left her colleagues with wishes tied to the Witch Alliance Continent, her missing brother, and enemies she could not kill herself.

• He Yuanyue said she might have at most another year of clarity and asked everyone to hear her arrangements.
• He Yuanyue entrusted Second High School to Li Changjiang, named Hu Ruoyun as her successor, and urged the staff to prevent Witch Alliance infiltration, support poor students, and prepare students more rigorously.
• He Yuanyue asked others to help fulfill her personal wishes if they had the opportunity.
• He Yuanyue described her regret at never entering the Witch Alliance heartland to fight its forces.
• He Yuanyue said two of the three enemies who had crippled her cultivation remained at large, and she regretted being unable to kill them herself.
• He Yuanyue revealed that her brother He Yijian vanished on the Witch Alliance Continent after leading soldiers there to find a cure, and that she regretted being unable to search for him.

He Yuanyue urged Second High School’s leaders to nurture a peerless talent, while Qin Fangyang realized she was trying to keep him from following her and dying. Meanwhile, Zuo Xiaoduo restrained an imminent breakthrough as his cultivation surged, leaving him stronger but under mounting pressure.

• He Yuanyue recalled He Yijian’s legendary deeds and called on Second High School to produce a defining talent, clarifying that Ling Nian belonged to the Kunlun Dao Sect.
• After the meeting, Qin Fangyang understood that He Yuanyue had invoked his regrets and hopes to keep him from following her, and he stood watching the sunset in silence.
• Lanlan saw Qin Fangyang’s bleakness, and he did not go outside the Gravity Room to wait for his students that afternoon.
• Zuo Xiaoduo trained in the Gravity Room, consumed twenty-seven pieces of middle-grade star soul jade, and repeatedly forced his surging spiritual energy back from the Innate barrier.
• As Zuo Xiaoduo suppressed his breakthrough and continued training, his dantian stretched larger while replenished true essence rapidly filled it again.

Zuo Xiaoduo struggled to suppress his rapidly recovering True Qi in the Gravity Room and learned from Teacher Gu to relax instead of tensing his body. After the exhausted group emerged, Zuo Xiaoduo revived them with cold water, then noticed something unusual about Long Yusheng.

• Zuo Xiaoduo held back his approaching breakthrough five times during cultivation and left the Gravity Room drenched in sweat.
• Teacher Gu questioned Zuo Xiaoduo’s tense posture and told him to relax so he could control his True Qi.
• Teacher Gu dragged Wan Lixiu and the others out, noting that they were close to breaking through, then kicked Li Changming awake when he kept sleeping.
• Zuo Xiaoduo dunked the exhausted group in cold water, and they recovered enough to stand and laugh together.
• Zuo Xiaoduo scrutinized the group and frowned when he looked at Long Yusheng.

Zuo Xiaoduo warned Long Yusheng that his family faced a place-bound calamity and urged him to get them away from their ancestral home for four days, but they refused to believe the warning. He proposed that Wan Lixiu use her ties to the Long Family to arrange a gathering that would draw both families away, and the chapter ended before she acted.

• Zuo Xiaoduo sent Li Changming, Li Chenglong, and Yu Moyan away so he could speak privately with Long Yusheng and Wan Lixiu.
• Long Yusheng told Zuo Xiaoduo that his family had dismissed his warning and would not leave their ancestral home.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Long Yusheng’s growing black qi foretold a calamity within four days and insisted that his family stay away from home.
• Zuo Xiaoduo suggested that Wan Lixiu persuade her father to arrange a gathering for both families, giving the Long Family a reason to leave home.

Zuo Xiaoduo used his Celestial Person Eye and discovered that Long Yusheng's Lineage would be destroyed in a battle tomorrow night, so he rushed to find a way to get the whole family to safety. He brought Long Yusheng and Wan Lixiu to Zuo Changlu's shop to ask for a piece of dragon skin.

• Wan Lixiu explained that it would be difficult to get Long Yusheng's entire family away from home because her father, the governor, was too busy to arrange an outing.
• Zuo Xiaoduo used his Celestial Person Eye and saw that Long Yusheng's Lineage would be destroyed tomorrow night in the fallout of a great battle.
• Long Yusheng told Zuo Xiaoduo about the Silver Dragon Heart Method and its twelve levels, and Zuo Xiaoduo assured him he would reach the Innate stage.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Long Yusheng that his family had to leave home before dinner the next day and stay away until the following morning.
• Zuo Xiaoduo brought Long Yusheng and Wan Lixiu to Zuo Changlu's Star Soul Stone shop and asked for a piece of dragon skin.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Changlu planned to destroy the Long Family’s house to keep the family away from danger overnight. Zuo Changlu then persuaded Wu Tiejiang to contribute rare materials for Xiao Duo’s hammers and chain, leaving Wu Tiejiang aghast at the loss of his treasured Jiaolong Tendon.

• Zuo Changlu rejected Zuo Xiaoduo’s idea of luring the Long Family away with a false dragon treasure and suggested destroying their house instead.
• Zuo Xiaoduo agreed and left with the others to find Qin Fangyang’s help, asking Zuo Changlu to save him dinner.
• Zuo Changlu visited Wu Tiejiang and invited him to dinner, saying Yu Ting wanted to discuss materials for Xiao Duo’s hammers.
• Wu Tiejiang agreed to provide eternal iron for the hammer faces, despite privately grieving over the valuable material.
• Zuo Changlu proposed using Wu Tiejiang’s Jiaolong Tendon with the eternal iron for the hammer chain, and Wu Tiejiang pleaded against giving up the treasure.

Zuo Changlu pressured Wu Tiejiang into forging weapons for his children, claiming materials and labor as favors owed to family. Wu Tiejiang agreed to the requests and resolved to finish quickly and flee before Zuo Changlu could ask for anything else.

• Zuo Changlu claimed the Dragon Tendon belonged to him and negotiated with Wu Tiejiang to use a hundred meters of it for two hammers, leaving the rest with the smith.
• Wu Tiejiang agreed to make a scabbard for his niece from the Black Ice Vermilion Bird hide and feathers he had acquired.
• Zuo Changlu said the scabbard should be discreet so others would not recognize it and steal it from his niece.
• Zuo Changlu then claimed Wu Tiejiang had agreed to coat the scabbard with Dark Demon Silver, and Wu Tiejiang protested before pleading with him not to involve his sister-in-law in the shop.

Zuo Changlu secured Wu Tiejiang’s promise to coat the swords with Dark Demon Silver, then Zuo Xiaoduo persuaded Qin Fangyang to demolish Long Yusheng’s family home to prevent a disaster. Afterward, Zuo Xiaoduo continued suppressing his Innate True Qi without knowing how many times would be enough.

• Zuo Changlu gave Wu Tiejiang a bottle of ordinary erguotou after arranging for the swords to be coated with Dark Demon Silver, Jiaolong Tendon, Ice Phoenix Wing, and Eternal Iron.
• Wu Tiejiang drank the liquor and returned to work on the two nearly formed swords.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and the others asked Qin Fangyang to demolish Long Yusheng’s old family home, including its basement, because lives were at stake.
• Long Yusheng knelt and begged Qin Fangyang to help, and Qin Fangyang agreed after questioning Zuo Xiaoduo’s warning.
• Zuo Xiaoduo went home for dinner, then suppressed his Innate True Qi repeatedly during evening cultivation, unsure how many repetitions he needed.

Mu Yanyan reunited with four fellow disciples, but Zuo Xiaonian urgently warned her that a new calamity was approaching. Zuo Xiaoduo’s divination pointed to White Tiger Baleful Intent striking from the southeast, with Mu Yanyan bearing the first danger.

• Mu Yanyan welcomed Eldest Senior Brother, Second Senior Brother, Fifth Junior Brother, and Seventh Junior Brother to Chen Yu Tower and invited them to dinner.
• Meng Chenyu met the four martial uncles, then hurried off to tell Zuo Xiaonian about their promised gifts.
• Mu Yanyan received a message from Zuo Xiaonian, grew concerned, and stepped away from dinner to call her.
• Zuo Xiaonian warned Mu Yanyan that Zuo Xiaoduo had divined White Tiger Baleful Intent approaching from the southeast and that Mu Yanyan would face the calamity first.

Mu Yanyan told her senior and junior brothers that Zuo Lingnian’s dangerous breakthrough might coincide with the Phoenix Vein Soul Impact, and they agreed to help defend her from the Witch Alliance. Meanwhile, Meng Chentian and a group of Qi-Reading Adepts examined a map of Phoenix City after someone secretly altered its peaks and the Wenshui’s course.

• Mu Yanyan concealed her fear after learning that the White Tiger’s baleful intent would strike in the southeast, where the Kunlun Dao Sect stood.
• At a welcoming feast, Mu Yanyan told Fang Zheng and her other fellow disciples about Ling Nian’s innate phoenix physique, the approaching Phoenix Vein Soul Impact, and the Witch Alliance’s presence in Phoenix City.
• Mu Yanyan’s fellow disciples agreed that protecting Ling Nian’s breakthrough would be a hard battle and pledged to help her.
• Ning Suifeng and Meng Tianyue met at Meng Group Headquarters to study a projection of Phoenix City with Meng Chentian and a dozen Qi-Reading Adepts.
• Meng Chentian pointed out that someone had secretly changed two peaks and reversed the Wenshui’s flow, and the adepts began investigating the alteration.