Recaps

Zuo Xiaoduo defeated Zhao Wensheng in a fight over a dining table at Hidden Dragon High Martial, then learned how the school’s table challenges worked. He left quickly after eating, while Zhao Wensheng and his classmates vowed to win back their honor.

• Zuo Xiaoduo accidentally struck Zhao Wensheng in the crotch and won the match, while Zhao Wensheng endured the pain and went upstairs to eat standing.
• Zhao Wensheng’s classmates joined him in standing beside the table as they ate, following Hidden Dragon High Martial’s custom for losers in dining-hall fights.
• Xiang Bing explained that seniors could repeatedly challenge Zuo Xiaoduo after he defeated a second-year student, but Zuo Xiaoduo welcomed future challengers.
• Zhao Wensheng and a female classmate promised to bring someone to reclaim their honor and take back the table.
• Zuo Xiaoduo finished his meal quickly and left, sparing Zhao Wensheng and the others from having to stand there longer.

Zuo Xiaoduo met Wu Yunhai, who conveyed the Wu Lineage head’s apology and offered friendship after Wu Yuntian’s death. Zuo Xiaoduo accepted the overture outwardly but remained suspicious, while Wu Yunhai invited him to seek help at Hidden Dragon High Martial.

• Zuo Xiaoduo left the dining hall after finishing his meal, and a burly young man admired him.
• Wu Yunhai approached Zuo Xiaoduo and introduced himself as a member of the Wu Lineage of Fenghai City.
• Wu Yunhai conveyed the lineage head’s apology and said the Wu Lineage wanted to make peace with Zuo Xiaoduo.
• Zuo Xiaoduo suspected the Wu Lineage’s sudden goodwill was a plot, but spoke as if he were grateful and eager to reconcile.
• Wu Yunhai invited Zuo Xiaoduo to come to him for help at Hidden Dragon High Martial and said he would mediate if needed.

Zuo Xiaoduo met Wu Yunhai and the Gao brothers, whose families had been drawn together by the Life-and-Death Arena deaths and the need to protect him. They agreed to cooperate despite their lingering resentment, leaving Zuo Xiaoduo promising to visit the Gao family and apologize.

• Wu Yunhai told Zuo Xiaoduo that his family had once been furious over the Life-and-Death Arena, but the old patriarch later forbade retaliation.
• Gao Chengxiang and Gao Chengyun approached them, and Gao Chengyun admitted that he still resented Zuo Xiaoduo for killing his cousin sisters.
• Gao Chengxiang explained that the Gao Lineage wanted to stay close to Zuo Xiaoduo because his safety affected both their family and the Wu Lineage.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said he did not expect friendship but urged them to cooperate so others could not exploit divisions between them.
• Gao Chengxiang acknowledged Zuo Xiaoduo's difficult position in the arena and blamed Wu Yuntian's aggression and the Wu Lineage's lax discipline for much of the tragedy.

Zuo Xiaoduo suspected that the Wu and Gao Lineages had ulterior motives despite their representatives’ apparent sincerity, and planned to discuss the matter with Li Chenglong. As he and his companions headed back to afternoon training, they encountered the sinister old woman Grandma Yu, who insisted they call her Grandma Shi.

• Wu Yunhai and Gao Chengxiang and Gao Chengyun exchanged contact information with Zuo Xiaoduo and left, while the Wu and Gao Lineages’ younger generations continued feuding over the deaths of the Gao sisters.
• Zuo Xiaoduo judged the three men’s feelings genuine but concluded that the Lineages were either under pressure or preparing to kill him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo decided to discuss the situation with Li Chenglong and arrange a countermeasure.
• Li Chenglong, Xiang Bing, and Xiang Chong caught up with Zuo Xiaoduo, who warned them that Teacher Wen’s afternoon training would likely bring more scolding and punishment.
• Xiang Bing recalled her morning mistakes as an old woman approached, and Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing greeted her as Grandma Yu.
• The old woman insisted that they call her Grandma Shi.

Grandma Shi took Zuo Xiaoduo to her abandoned courtyard, where the portrait of her late husband, Shi Yunfeng, revealed the grief and bitterness left by his wrongful framing and death. Wen Xingtian and Ye Changqing acknowledged their guilt over failing to clear Shi Yunfeng’s name, while Zuo Xiaoduo was left facing Grandma Shi’s painful past.

• Grandma Shi summoned Zuo Xiaoduo, and Wen Xingtian reluctantly let her take him after she challenged him over the unresolved injustice against Shi Yunfeng.
• Wen Xingtian told Ye Changqing that Grandma Shi had taken Zuo Xiaoduo, and Ye Changqing decided to go see what was happening.
• Grandma Shi carried Zuo Xiaoduo through the air to her neglected courtyard and led him into a spotless sitting room.
• Zuo Xiaoduo saw Shi Yunfeng’s portrait and the couplet Grandma Shi had written, and felt sorrow over how Shi Yunfeng had been framed and driven to his death.

Zuo Xiaoduo visited Grandma Shi and learned how public slander drove Principal Shi Yunfeng to his death despite his students’ faith in him. Grandma Shi ended by explaining that Shi Yunfeng’s former students still wrote to him and sent him their military medals.

• Grandma Shi brought Zuo Xiaoduo into the room filled with Shi Yunfeng’s medals and letters and spoke to her late husband as if he were alive.
• Zuo Xiaoduo bowed to Shi Yunfeng’s photograph and praised him, prompting Grandma Shi to ask whether he believed the accusations that Shi Yunfeng had frequented brothels.
• Grandma Shi denounced the public for believing the accusations and described how decades of slander had forced Shi Yunfeng to hide his identity and left him with nowhere to live.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Grandma Shi that the world was always filthy and questioned whether a person should keep sacrificing himself for people who would ultimately abandon him.
• Grandma Shi revealed that Shi Yunfeng’s former students still sent him letters about their lives and military medals to show their continued faith in him.

Grandma Shi told Zuo Xiaoduo how she preserved her husband Old Shi’s memory and endured the abuse surrounding his unjust death. She revealed that Qin Fangyang had recommended Zuo Xiaoduo’s fortune-telling abilities, and asked him to help her find a lead.

• Grandma Shi explained that she read Old Shi’s students’ letters to him each evening and lived to see his injustice redressed.
• Grandma Shi said she hated the ordinary people who had condemned Old Shi without knowing the truth, and questioned whether ignorance excused their actions.
• Grandma Shi told Zuo Xiaoduo that Qin Fangyang had visited her and praised his ability to divine fate and fortune.
• Grandma Shi revealed that Qin Fangyang had suggested Zuo Xiaoduo might help her find another path to uncovering what she sought.

Zuo Xiaoduo interpreted Principal Shi’s written character as a sign that the injustice against him could soon be cleared, giving Grandma Shi long-awaited hope. Ye Changqing arrived, but Grandma Shi remained cold toward him and dismissed his efforts.

• Grandma Shi told Zuo Xiaoduo how much she loathed the mortal world and asked when the injustice would be cleared.
• Zuo Xiaoduo examined the character Feng and said the injustice could be exposed once the blade above the mountain was shifted.
• Grandma Shi trembled with joy when Zuo Xiaoduo affirmed that the truth was nearing discovery.
• Ye Changqing entered and promised that Principal Shi’s name would eventually be cleared.
• Grandma Shi rebuked Ye Changqing’s claim that he had kept working on the case and refused to accept his address of her as sister-in-law.

After visiting Grandma Shi, Zuo Xiaoduo heard two young men slander Shi Yunfeng and attacked them under the pretense that they had spat on his trousers. He threatened to extort them until Grandma Shi intervened, but he refused to back down.

• Grandma Shi angrily drove Ye Changqing away, then told Zuo Xiaoduo that his words had given her strength to wait a few more years.
• Zuo Xiaoduo promised to visit Grandma Shi again and do what he could for her before leaving the courtyard.
• Two young men passed by and mocked Shi Yunfeng, repeating rumors that had ruined his reputation.
• Zuo Xiaoduo slapped the men and demanded ten thousand Star Origin Coins for his supposedly stained trousers.
• Zuo Xiaoduo intimidated the young men by kicking a boulder, but Grandma Shi ordered him to let them go.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Grandma Shi to stay out of it and continued demanding payment.

Zuo Xiaoduo extorted two young men who had spat on his trousers, then donated the money to disabled veterans, while Ye Changqing began considering the appeal of Zuo’s rough methods. Back at Hidden Dragon High Martial, Xiang Kuangren returned from seclusion and attacked the man occupying his former vice principal’s seat.

• Zuo Xiaoduo dragged the two young men to gather ten thousand Star Yuan, beat them, and let them go after warning them not to spit carelessly.
• Zuo Xiaoduo donated the ten thousand Star Yuan to a Disabled Veterans Affairs Office, and Ye Changqing watched and considered using similar tactics.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Ye Changqing returned to Hidden Dragon High Martial and noticed signs of a battle overhead.
• Xiang Kuangren knocked the current occupant of his former first vice principal’s seat into a crater and demanded to know why he had taken the position.

Xiang Kuangren confronted Vice Principal Wei and demanded his former position as first vice principal, refusing to listen to Wei’s explanations. After Ye Changqing slipped away, Xiang ordered Wei’s secretary to restore his office and bring back his own secretary, while Zuo Xiaoduo headed to Class One after considering what had happened.

• Xiang Kuangren accused Vice Principal Wei of taking his position and demanded that Wei resign or move down a rank.
• Vice Principal Wei insisted he had received transfer orders and had nothing to do with Xiang’s demotion, but Xiang threatened to beat him if he did not regain his position.
• Vice Principal Wei called for Principal Ye Changqing to intervene, but discovered Ye had already disappeared.
• Xiang Kuangren ordered Wei’s secretary to clear out his office and bring back his own secretary by the next morning, threatening the staff if they failed.
• Zuo Xiaoduo headed toward first-year Class One, while Xiang Kuangren carried the secretary away and ignored Wei’s angry threats.

Xiang Kuangren explained to Ye Changqing why he had attacked Vice Principal Wei without evidence, arguing that their enemies had used underhanded methods to destroy them and that they should stop relying on gentlemanly rules. Ye Changqing was shaken by his reasoning, and Xiang Kuangren planned to provoke the newly appointed vice principals into revealing themselves.

• Students across Hidden Dragon High Martial discussed Xiang Kuangren’s fight with Vice Principal Wei and marveled at his fierce, unreasonable conduct.
• Ye Changqing questioned Xiang Kuangren about attacking Wei without evidence.
• Xiang Kuangren argued that the Witch Alliance had framed and ruined their allies through covert methods, and that insisting on evidence had prevented them from taking revenge.
• Ye Changqing admitted Xiang Kuangren was right but asked how they could identify their enemies.
• Xiang Kuangren said he would beat the vice principals who had filled the vacancies until they came after him and exposed themselves.

Ye Changqing reflected on Xiang Kuangren’s determination to uncover the truth, while Zuo Xiaoduo continued training under Wen Xingtian’s watch. Wen discovered Zuo’s thirty-thousand-jin arm weights and set him a new training goal.

• Xiang Kuangren told Ye Changqing he would risk his life to answer his sworn brothers and urged him to heal his heart meridians soon.
• After Xiang Kuangren left, Ye Changqing reconsidered Zuo Xiaoduo’s physiognomy and said that things had to change.
• During training, Zuo Xiaoduo planned to replenish his Star Soul Jade and Dragon Blood Flying Knife and gather more resources.
• Wen Xingtian inspected Zuo Xiaoduo’s armguards and learned that each concealed a Gravity Space and weighed thirty thousand jin.
• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to return when he could move effortlessly in the weights, promising to give him something even heavier.

Wen Xingtian put Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong through exhausting evening training, sparring with them to improve their combat skills. He decided to return regularly to train Zuo Xiaoduo and assign evening homework to the other students.

• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to wait at home because he planned to make a home visit.
• Wen Xingtian trained Zuo Xiaoduo with his hammers for three grueling hours, pushing him until he collapsed from exhaustion.
• Wen Xingtian checked Zuo Xiaoduo's meridians and said he would return the next night, then went downstairs to train Li Chenglong.
• Wen Xingtian left Li Chenglong asleep from exhaustion and decided to supervise evening training for the other students as well.

After enduring an exhausting training session with Wen Xingtian, Zuo Xiaoduo called Fang Yinuo to discuss his preparations in Fenghai. Fang Yinuo had opened a lingerie shop across from Hidden Dragon High Martial and promised to arrange a private meeting place and obtain upper-grade star soul jade.

• Zuo Xiaoduo woke before dawn, recovered by circulating his energy, and dreaded another training session with Wen Xingtian.
• Zuo Xiaoduo called Fang Yinuo, who explained that he had opened a women's lingerie shop opposite Hidden Dragon High Martial.
• Zuo Xiaoduo complained that visiting the lingerie shop regularly would draw attention, so Fang Yinuo offered to take over the neighboring storefront and add a café with private rooms.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Fang Yinuo not to cause the neighboring shop's owner to lose money, then asked him to obtain upper-grade star soul jade.
• Fang Yinuo agreed to get the jade, and Zuo Xiaoduo said he wanted as much as possible.

Zuo Xiaoduo spoke with Fang Yinuo, who offered him vast sums of money, then went through combat practice without a teacher’s guidance. At lunch, Zhao Wensheng and his second-year classmates confronted him to reclaim the dining hall table they had lost, while a refined man watched nearby.

• Fang Yinuo told Zuo Xiaoduo he could provide him with tens of thousands of high-grade stones and even hundreds of millions, and invited him to visit.
• Wen Xingtian sent Zuo Xiaoduo to practice on his own because his strength far exceeded the other students’ and Wen could not teach his fighting style.
• Zuo Xiaoduo entered the dining hall and saw Zhao Wensheng and more than thirty second-year classmates waiting for him.
• Zhao Wensheng explained that his homeroom teacher had beaten him for losing a fight over the table to a freshman and ordered the class to win it back.
• A cultured-looking middle-aged man sat by the window, quietly watching the confrontation as Zhao Wensheng and his classmates avoided looking at him.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Class One faced Second-Year Class Seven in a formal fight over a dining table after the upperclassmen challenged them. The whole of Class One sat together to back Zuo Xiaoduo, and the chapter left him and Wu Qing heading outside to fight.

• Teacher Tian ordered his students to challenge Zuo Xiaoduo after the first-year had taken a table from upperclassmen.
• Zhao Wensheng challenged Zuo Xiaoduo to claim an empty table, and Zuo Xiaoduo led all thirty-six members of Class One to sit together.
• Wu Qing, the monitor of Second-Year Class Seven, stepped forward to demand that Class One give up the table.
• Wu Qing said Wu Yuntian was his younger paternal cousin but insisted he was representing only Class Seven.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Wu Qing flew out through a window as the crowd rushed to watch their fight.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Wu Qing fought to a standstill, impressing the students with their swordsmanship and combat skill. Their duel continued as Zuo Xiaoduo’s Light Rain Sword grew stronger and Wu Qing struggled to understand his opponent’s power.

• Students from both classes gathered to watch Zuo Xiaoduo and Wu Qing battle, and the two traded blows evenly.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Wu Qing drew their swords and exchanged attacks, matching each other’s Sword Qi and kicks.
• Zuo Xiaoduo enjoyed meeting a worthy opponent and found his swordsmanship improving during the fight.
• Wu Qing was alarmed that Zuo Xiaoduo could match his strength despite being a newly enrolled junior.
• The spectators watched as Zuo Xiaoduo’s rain-and-mist swordplay and Wu Qing’s Dragon-like Sword Qi clashed without either gaining the advantage.

Zuo Xiaoduo defeated Wu Qing in a sword match, winning the meal table for Class One. Teacher Tian shared Second-Year Class Seven’s penalty meal with his students and challenged them to win the table back, while Class One quietly showed him respect before leaving.

• Zuo Xiaoduo unleashed a surging Sword Qi Tide that overwhelmed Wu Qing’s Sword Qi Dragon and decided their match.
• Wu Qing conceded defeat, and Zuo Xiaoduo joked about being the Sword King as the students laughed.
• Teacher Tian told Wu Qing that the loss was no disgrace and promised to stand and eat with Class Seven while urging them to win the table back within three months.
• Teacher Tian and Class Seven ate standing while Class One ate seated in silence, and several students cried as they watched their teacher share their punishment.
• After finishing their meal, Zuo Xiaoduo and Class One bowed to Teacher Tian and left quietly.
• A Class Seven student called for the class to return to training and win the table back.

Wu Qing led Second-Year Class Seven away, determined to train harder and win back their table from Zuo Xiaoduo. Wen Xingtian praised Zuo Xiaoduo’s conduct after his victory, assigned the class homework, and later pushed Zuo Xiaoduo through an hour of brutal training while advising him to hone every skill into a potential trump card.

• Wu Qing led Second-Year Class Seven away, and the students resolved to train harder and reclaim their table from Zuo Xiaoduo.
• Wen Xingtian praised Zuo Xiaoduo’s restraint and manners after his victory, then told the class to reflect on proper conduct and submit their thoughts.
• Wen Xingtian used Zuo Xiaoduo’s supposed reminder about homework to assign the class an assignment, drawing the classmates’ resentment toward Zuo Xiaoduo.
• Wen Xingtian returned to the villa and put Zuo Xiaoduo through an hour of extreme sparring inside the Annihilation Sky Pagoda.
• Wen Xingtian advised Zuo Xiaoduo to train all his methods until they could serve as trump cards, then left to train Li Chenglong.

Zuo Xiaoduo followed Wen Xingtian’s advice by refining all his techniques through an all-night training session, which brought him to the Innate Peak and close to a breakthrough. He asked Wen Xingtian how to suppress his cultivation so he could strengthen his foundations before entering the Embryonic Breathing Realm.

• Zuo Xiaoduo practiced hidden weapons, swordsmanship, movement techniques, and other skills in the Annihilation Sky Pagoda, integrating new insights from Wen Xingtian’s advice.
• After training through the night, Zuo Xiaoduo discovered that his cultivation had reached the Innate Peak and his Origin Qi was nearly saturated.
• Li Chenglong called for Zuo Xiaoduo to go to school, and Zuo Xiaoduo visited Wen Xingtian before classes.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Wen Xingtian for a technique to suppress his surging True Essence Qi and prevent an early breakthrough.
• Wen Xingtian examined Zuo Xiaoduo, learned that his overnight progress came from training and reflection, and felt gratified by his student’s willingness to apply his advice.

Zuo Xiaoduo asked Wen Xingtian how to suppress his impending breakthrough, and Wen Xingtian taught him about the Ice Heart Jade Pot Heart Method and the stages of Origin Qi. The chapter left Wen Xingtian stunned by Zuo Xiaoduo’s report that his Dantian held dense, churning red fog with no vapor remaining.

• Wen Xingtian explained that suppressing a breakthrough depended on personal endurance and taught Zuo Xiaoduo the Ice Heart Jade Pot Heart Method.
• Wen Xingtian asked Zuo Xiaoduo to inspect the state of his Origin Qi.
• Wen Xingtian described how Origin Qi changed from vapor to mist, clouds, liquid, and solid as martial artists advanced.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said his Origin Qi was red and formed dense fog that churned like a tide.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Wen Xingtian that the fog was so thick he could not see his hand and that he believed no vapor remained.

Zuo Xiaoduo sparred with seven classmates chosen by Wen Xingtian, then learned that the first student trial would begin in a week and that Wen expected him to win first place. He followed Wen Xingtian after class, planning to hunt Star Beasts and replenish supplies for his Dragon Blood Flying Knife.

• Wen Xingtian questioned Zuo Xiaoduo about his cultivation, then left in a fury after hearing his description of his qi.
• Wen Xingtian selected seven classmates with nearly flawless techniques to spar with Zuo Xiaoduo, who beat them while recognizing their strengths.
• Wen Xingtian announced that the first trial would begin in a week and usually took place at the Falling Star Plains, where students hunted Star Beasts for credits and rankings.
• Wen Xingtian warned Class One to claim at least three of the top ten places and singled out Zuo Xiaoduo, demanding that he take first place.
• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to come with him, while Zuo Xiaoduo considered using the trial to replenish his Dragon Blood Flying Knife supplies.

Zuo Xiaoduo began compressing his Innate origin qi and endured the agonizing Thorny Road until he completed his first suppression. He left his qi reduced to one-third of its former volume, with his rapid cultivation fueled by abundant resources.

• Wen Xingtian gave Zuo Xiaoduo the Ice Heart Jade Pot Heart Method and told him to return it the next morning.
• Over three days, Zuo Xiaoduo followed his routine and reached his first self-imposed restraint on his breakthrough.
• Zuo Xiaoduo began compressing his Innate origin qi, enduring severe pain as he recalled that Zuo Xiaonian had survived eight suppressions.
• Zuo Xiaoduo persisted through the agony and compressed the origin qi in his Dantian until it occupied one-third of its space.
• Zuo Xiaoduo's rapid progress came from absorbing spiritual qi with the Ice Heart Jade Divine Art, upper-grade star soul jade, and the Dragon Blood Flying Knife.

Zuo Xiaoduo recklessly compressed the True Essence in his Dantian far beyond the safe limit, unaware of the danger, and used Fortune Points to repair the damage. He finally stopped after hammering it into a pancake roughly one twenty-fourth of his Dantian's capacity, satisfied that it surpassed Nian Nian Cat's compression by a wide margin.

• Zuo Xiaoduo kept compressing his True Essence past one-third, one-quarter, and one-seventh despite excruciating pain.
• Zuo Xiaoduo spat blood when his meridians began to crack, then used half a Fortune Point to repair them and continued compressing.
• Zuo Xiaoduo compressed his True Essence to one-seventeenth of its original volume, then formed an Origin Qi hammer in his Dantian.
• Zuo Xiaoduo repeatedly hammered the compressed True Essence, using the Ice Heart Jade Pot Heart Method and Fortune Points to endure the pain and repair his meridians.
• Zuo Xiaoduo stopped when the True Essence reached roughly one twenty-fourth of his Dantian's capacity and decided the result was good enough.