Recaps

After surviving the Thorny Road, Zuo Xiaoduo urgently sought more Star Soul Jade to refill his depleted Dantian and disguised himself as a woman to visit Fang Yinuo’s lingerie shop. He confronted Fang in the office, furious about the trouble Fang’s shop had caused him.

• Zuo Xiaoduo recovered from the Thorny Road and absorbed spiritual energy and Star Soul Jade through the night, but his Dantian remained unfilled.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Li Chenglong to request leave for him and hurried to Fang Yinuo’s lingerie shop to find more Star Soul Jade.
• Zuo Xiaoduo disguised himself as a woman, entered the shop, and asked the employees to tell the boss, “Duo Duo Duo.”
• Fang Yinuo recognized Zuo Xiaoduo, stumbled down the stairs, and escorted him upstairs while the employees speculated about their visitor.
• Zuo Xiaoduo sat down in Fang Yinuo’s office and angrily confronted him about the trouble he had caused.

Zuo Xiaoduo received upper-grade star soul jade from Fang Yinuo and warned him to avoid trouble by acting like a coward. He then asked Fang Yinuo to find fresh Star Beasts to recharge his Dragon Blood Flying Knife, leaving Fang Yinuo scrambling to agree.

• Fang Yinuo reported that he had gathered over ten thousand upper-grade star soul jade pieces and suspected someone was manipulating Fenghai City's market.
• Fang Yinuo gave Zuo Xiaoduo seventeen thousand upper-grade pieces, including thirty-five hundred with the yang attribute.
• Zuo Xiaoduo warned Fang Yinuo that his conspicuous spending might attract enemies and advised him to pay off anyone he could not safely offend.
• Fang Yinuo said he could recover any money he gave away by robbing somewhere else later.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Fang Yinuo to find fresh Star Beasts to recharge his Dragon Blood Flying Knife, and Fang Yinuo hurriedly agreed.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Fang Yinuo arranged to store Star Beasts at an estate so Zuo could drain their energy during field training, then Zuo returned to school and got into a comic fight with Xiang Bing and Li Chenglong. Wen Xingtian noticed Zuo’s battered appearance and asked that evening whether he had started suppressing his cultivation level.

• Fang Yinuo offered to buy an estate outside the city where Zuo Xiaoduo could drain the energy of stored Star Beasts, and Zuo agreed.
• Fang Yinuo returned to the shop and called Lili upstairs, prompting the employees to tease her about their earlier gossip.
• At school, Zuo Xiaoduo claimed he had drenched himself in perfume, then provoked Xiang Bing by insulting her appearance.
• Xiang Bing scratched Li Chenglong when she saw him cheering Zuo Xiaoduo’s chase, and Li Chenglong retaliated by beating her before they entered separate Nutrient Pods.
• After training, Wen Xingtian asked Zuo Xiaoduo whether he had begun suppressing his cultivation level.

Zuo Xiaoduo misunderstood Wen Xingtian’s advice and believed his first compression had been insufficient, so he set out to cultivate and attempt a second compression. He left the story determined to compress his true essence harder than before, unaware of how exceptional multiple compressions were.

• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to keep compressing his true essence until he reached his limit, despite the pain.
• Wen Xingtian left the Annihilation Sky Pagoda to train Li Chenglong, while Zuo Xiaoduo resumed his exercises.
• Zuo Xiaoduo absorbed upper-grade star soul jade until his dantian was about four-fifths full.
• Zuo Xiaoduo entered the Annihilation Sky Pagoda with more jade and resolved to complete a second compression before dinner.
• Zuo Xiaoduo decided to endure the pain and compress harder, unaware that Zuo Xiaonian’s eight compressions had been extraordinarily rare.

Zuo Xiaoduo attempted a second journey down the Thorny Road, but believed he could not compress his true essence any farther. Wen Xingtian, convinced Zuo Xiaoduo was failing to meet the training’s demands, prepared to help him try again.

• Zuo Xiaoduo began his second compression in the Annihilation Sky Pagoda and endured four hours of agony to reach slightly beyond the level he had achieved the day before.
• Zuo Xiaoduo pounded his true essence with spiritual energy but could not compress it any farther, leaving him despondent.
• Wen Xingtian arrived, learned of Zuo Xiaoduo’s supposed lack of progress, and urged him to keep trying.
• Zuo Xiaoduo revealed that he had already compressed some of his true essence, so Wen Xingtian ordered him to absorb more until his dantian was full again.
• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to use upper-grade star soul jade and prepared to help him compress his true essence.

Zuo Xiaoduo absorbed enormous quantities of upper-grade star soul jade to fill his Dantian before attempting a third compression of his cultivation. Wen Xingtian watched in disbelief as the compression began causing Zuo Xiaoduo severe pain.

• Zuo Xiaoduo cultivated for hours, consuming piece after piece of upper-grade star soul jade while Wen Xingtian wondered why his Dantian had not filled.
• At two in the morning, Zuo Xiaoduo's Dantian was bursting, and he absorbed two more pieces before declaring himself ready.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked to compress his cultivation inside the Annihilation Sky Pagoda, but Wen Xingtian insisted he do it outside.
• Zuo Xiaoduo began compressing his true essence with the Ice Heart Jade Pot Heart Method and silently endured the growing pain as it spread through his meridians.

Zuo Xiaoduo endured an agonizing attempt to compress his true essence while Wen Xingtian judged his perseverance and then intervened to help. Wen Xingtian’s power spread through most of Zuo Xiaoduo’s dantian without meeting the resistance he expected, leaving him puzzled.

• Zuo Xiaoduo groaned and howled through an hour of compression, prompting Wen Xingtian to create a soundproof barrier and cover his ears.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said he could compress his true essence no further, and Wen Xingtian told him to hold steady while he helped.
• Wen Xingtian filled Zuo Xiaoduo’s empty meridians with his own origin qi and prepared to compress the dantian.
• Wen Xingtian’s true qi passed through more than half of the dantian without resistance, and he briefly praised Zuo Xiaoduo’s progress.
• Wen Xingtian spread his true essence through two-thirds of the dantian but still found it strangely empty.

Wen Xingtian examined Zuo Xiaoduo’s dantian and discovered that he had compressed his true essence qi to an astonishing degree, despite believing he had failed. Zuo Xiaoduo explained his hammering method and revealed that Qin Fangyang and Zuo Xiaonian had both urged him to compress it as much as possible.

• Wen Xingtian pressed his origin qi into Zuo Xiaoduo’s dantian and found the true essence compressed so far that it could not be reduced further.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said he had used a spiritual-qi hammer to pound down the last stubborn layer, and asked Wen Xingtian how to compress it more.
• Wen Xingtian struggled to hide his shock as he realized Zuo Xiaoduo genuinely believed his cultivation had not met the standard.
• Zuo Xiaoduo credited Qin Fangyang with teaching him to compress his cultivation as much as possible.
• Zuo Xiaoduo added that Zuo Xiaonian had given him the same advice.

Wen Xingtian learned that Zuo Xiaoduo had hammered his True Essence into an unprecedentedly compressed state and was already on his third compression cycle. He reassured Zuo Xiaoduo that his progress was acceptable, though he remained stunned by its scale.

• Wen Xingtian was shocked to learn Zuo Xiaoduo had hammered his True Essence inside his Dantian to compress it further.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that he had compressed his True Essence to about a tenth of its size before using a hammer when it stopped shrinking.
• Wen Xingtian realized Zuo Xiaoduo had already compressed his True Essence three times, not just once.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said he might manage only twenty-something more compressions and recalled doing thirty-something when he advanced to Innate.
• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to continue as he had been and accept that everyone had limits.

After Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to remain in the villa and consolidate his cultivation, Zuo kept suppressing his power and absorbing star soul jade. He arranged for Fang Yinuo to gather more resources and investigate an old teacher, while warning Fang to avoid the west.

• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to stay in the villa, suppress his cultivation, and skip school until the trial.
• Zuo Xiaoduo absorbed star soul jade through the night, then threw the resulting powder into the Shard-Dregs Pool and ate stored mutton.
• Zuo Xiaoduo summoned Fang Yinuo, who brought him ten thousand pieces of upper-grade jade and reported progress on acquiring star beasts.
• Fang Yinuo told Zuo Xiaoduo that the Wu Lineage and Gao Lineage had made no recent moves against him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Fang Yinuo to find Li Chengqiu and gather materials, then warned him to avoid going west because of an ominous sign.

Zuo Xiaoduo warned Fang Yinuo that someone was watching him, easing his unease and helping him avoid danger. At school, Xiang Kuangren learned from Wen Xingtian that Vice Principal Wei was formidable, then resolved to face the powerful families he had been provoking.

• Zuo Xiaoduo told Fang Yinuo that someone might be watching him, and Fang Yinuo realized his recent unease had a cause.
• Zuo Xiaoduo trained, bought supplies and prepared meals, then headed to Grandma Shi's courtyard.
• Xiang Kuangren questioned Wen Xingtian about his distracted mood, but Wen Xingtian refused to reveal whom he had noticed.
• Wen Xingtian warned Xiang Kuangren that Vice Principal Wei might match him in cultivation and combat strength.
• Xiang Kuangren reflected that his return had threatened the Wu, Lü, Gao, and other families, and waited for them to make their move.

Zuo Xiaoduo visited Grandma Shi repeatedly, sharing quiet meals with her and bringing some warmth to her lonely courtyard. He told her he would be away for a new-student trial, then stopped when he spotted two people painting slogans on the main street.

• Zuo Xiaoduo brought food and liquor to Grandma Shi and shared a quiet meal, raising a toast to Principal Shi’s portrait.
• Zuo Xiaoduo visited Grandma Shi over the next five days, changing his appearance whenever he entered or left the courtyard.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Grandma Shi that a school trial would take him out of the city for the next two days, and she replied, “All right.”
• Zuo Xiaoduo left the alley and stopped when he saw two people painting slogans on the main street.

Zuo Xiaoduo stopped two men from painting abusive slogans aimed at Grandma Shi and learned that Director Sun had ordered them. He destroyed the remaining slogans and confronted Director Sun at home, demanding payment for a supposed debt.

• Zuo Xiaoduo found two ordinary men painting insults about Grandma Shi and forced them to reveal that Director Sun had sent them.
• Zuo Xiaoduo warned the men to stop, then removed slogans painted elsewhere in the neighborhood.
• Zuo Xiaoduo went to Director Sun’s home, kicked in the door, and demanded payment for a supposed debt involving a girl at Glorious Heaven.

Zuo Xiaoduo confronted Director Sun and learned that someone had paid him to paint insulting slogans targeting Grandma Shi for thirteen years. He seized the family’s valuables and followed the trail of disposable phone numbers, four of which led to the Upper Capital.

• Zuo Xiaoduo broke into Director Sun’s home, threatened him, and demanded to know who had ordered the slogans.
• Director Sun admitted that a tall, thin stranger had paid him ten thousand Star Origin Coins a year to paint at least fifty slogans insulting Grandma Shi.
• Zuo Xiaoduo learned Director Sun knew the slogans could drive Grandma Shi to her death but had continued for the money, and he forced him to promise to stop.
• Zuo Xiaoduo took the valuables, furniture, appliances, and savings from Director Sun’s home despite his pleas.
• Zuo Xiaoduo examined the five disposable phone numbers and found that four were from the Upper Capital, leaving him unsure whether the trail was genuine or a diversion.

Zuo Xiaoduo reflected on the power of public opinion after seeing the damage done to Grandma Shi and decided to build an organization to influence it. As the Star Beast trial approached, he received his mission tracker and discussed cheating with Li Chenglong before Wen Xingtian caught him blaming Li Chenglong for the idea.

• Zuo Xiaoduo saw the scraped wall and paint near Grandma Shi's home and resolved to use public opinion as a weapon.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Fang Yinuo to fund an organization that could influence online public opinion.
• Zuo Xiaoduo practiced with his hammers and absorbed upper-grade star soul jade until he neared the point where he would need to suppress his cultivation.
• Li Chenglong returned with Zuo Xiaoduo's trial badge and explained how Star Beast kills would be recorded and ranked.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether he could rob other contestants, and Li Chenglong warned him that teachers might catch him.
• Wen Xingtian entered and flicked Zuo Xiaoduo on the head after hearing him blame Li Chenglong for the crooked scheme.

Zuo Xiaoduo continued compressing his cultivation while Wen Xingtian pushed him through a punishing workout, and he asked Li Chenglong to investigate clues connected to the plot against Principal Shi. The next morning, Zuo Xiaoduo dragged Li Chenglong out of bed so they could leave for school together.

• Zuo Xiaoduo told Wen Xingtian that he was about to begin his ninth compression, while Li Chenglong said he had started compressing too.
• Wen Xingtian relentlessly pressured Zuo Xiaoduo in training for an hour before leaving to check on the other students.
• Zuo Xiaoduo gave Li Chenglong five abandoned phone numbers and a bank account to investigate as possible clues in the plot against Principal Shi.
• Zuo Xiaoduo offered Li Chenglong a thousand pieces of upper-grade star soul jade as a loan, and Li Chenglong began searching online for information about the numbers.
• Zuo Xiaoduo began his ninth cultivation compression, enduring the pain as he hoped to break through to embryonic breathing.
• The next morning, Zuo Xiaoduo hauled Li Chenglong out of bed so they could set out for school.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong investigated the false leads in the case against Shi Yunfeng, concluding that the people behind it were likely from Upper Capital. Before Class One set out for its trial, Zuo Xiaoduo warned the students to perform well and threatened to reclaim their cafeteria table if they let the class down.

• Zuo Xiaoduo dismissed the little dragon from his dreams whenever it came to beg for Fortune Points.
• Li Chenglong reported that the discarded phone numbers and bank accounts used in the scheme belonged to ordinary people, and he estimated the perpetrators were more than sixty percent likely to be from Upper Capital.
• Zuo Xiaoduo gave Li Chenglong Director Sun's phone numbers and told him to monitor them secretly.
• At five in the morning, Wen Xingtian gathered Class One and prepared to lead the students out for their trial.
• Zuo Xiaoduo addressed the class as its monitor and warned that anyone who dragged the class down would lose their cafeteria table to him.

Zuo Xiaoduo demanded that Class One sweep the trial’s top thirty-six places and handed each student an envelope containing a fortune-based strategy. Wen Xingtian led the class toward the trial grounds, while Li Chenglong urged the others to take Zuo Xiaoduo’s advice seriously.

• Zuo Xiaoduo challenged Class One to claim the top thirty-six places, threatening those who fell short with a month of washing their classmates’ socks.
• Zuo Xiaoduo gave all thirty-five classmates envelopes containing strategies he claimed to have divined for them, then tried to charge for his advice.
• Wen Xingtian kicked Zuo Xiaoduo and ordered the class to move out.
• Class One set out for the trial grounds alongside the other twenty-three freshman classes of Hidden Dragon High Martial.
• Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing questioned Li Chenglong about keeping his envelope, and he defended Zuo Xiaoduo’s advice.

Li Chenglong convinced Xiang Bing, Xiang Chong, and other students that Zuo Xiaoduo’s divinations were valuable, then continued praising him as the group traveled out of the city for their trial. Wen Xingtian led them through the morning fog, where Zuo Xiaoduo’s grandiose performance ended in a sharp rebuke, and the chapter closed with an account of Wen Xingtian and Zhan Xiaofei’s past attack on a criminal gang.

• Li Chenglong told Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong that Zuo Xiaoduo’s divinations had earned wealthy clients’ fees, prompting several students to rush back for envelopes they had discarded.
• Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong secured their envelopes in their Space Rings as Li Chenglong recounted Zuo Xiaoduo’s exploits and urged the students to seek his guidance.
• Wen Xingtian led the students into the fog while Zuo Xiaoduo adopted an immortal’s bearing and recited a boastful verse advertising his divination services.
• Wen Xingtian coughed, dropped through the air, and ordered Zuo Xiaoduo to shut up, while Zuo Xiaoduo continued flying in silence.
• The narration recalled how Wen Xingtian and Zhan Xiaofei had once investigated and destroyed a criminal gang after one of its members insulted Hidden Dragon High Martial.

Hidden Dragon High Martial’s students began a three-day trial outside Fenghai City, where their kills would earn points and school credits. After seeing a sudden deadly omen over Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing, Zuo Xiaoduo ordered the siblings to split up and meet him, warning them to obey him.

• Wen Xingtian explained the trial’s rules, including the three-day limit, the ban on harming fellow students, and the need to earn enough credits for upcoming expenses.
• Xiang Kuangren gathered the students to begin the trial outside Fenghai City.
• Zuo Xiaoduo saw black qi above Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing, signaling a grave danger that had not been present earlier.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Li Chenglong what the siblings had said and learned they planned to follow the instructions in their brocade pouches.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing to split up after leaving the city and meet him at a specified location, warning them about Vice Principal Cheng’s family.

Zuo Xiaoduo warned Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing that someone planned to attack them during the Trial to strike at their great-grandfather, and he arranged for them to meet him after leaving the city. He secretly informed Wen Xingtian, who agreed to stay calm and help avoid alerting the attackers while they tried to capture someone alive.

• Zuo Xiaoduo saw ominous changes in Xiang Chong's and Xiang Bing's physiognomies and warned them that enemies might target them during the individual Trial.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing to split up after leaving the city and meet him at eleven o'clock, while keeping their expressions natural.
• Zuo Xiaoduo pulled Wen Xingtian aside and asked him to create a Barrier so he could explain the danger privately.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Wen Xingtian that an attack on Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing might repeat the methods used against Vice Principal Cheng's family.
• Wen Xingtian controlled his anger and agreed not to act rashly, while Zuo Xiaoduo hoped they could capture one of the attackers alive.

Zuo Xiaoduo arranged an emergency contact with Wen Xingtian, who warned Xiang Kuangren to stay outside the trial area. During the trial, Zuo Xiaoduo swept through the area hunting Star Beasts and shot to first place on the points leaderboard.

• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Wen Xingtian for an instant way to contact him, and Wen Xingtian bound his soul power to a piece of star soul jade.
• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to keep his ability secret and warned Xiang Kuangren not to enter the trial area.
• Xiang Kuangren waited outside the barrier, suspecting that Wen Xingtian had discovered a danger involving his great-grandchildren.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and his classmates scattered into the trial area, while Zuo Xiaoduo hunted Embryonic Breath Realm Star Beasts with his Little Gourds.
• Zuo Xiaoduo collected seventeen Star Beasts and cleared them from a wide stretch of territory, earning over seven hundred points and taking first place.

Zuo Xiaoduo swept through the trial grounds, collecting Star Beasts so quickly that students behind him found their routes stripped clean. After racking up a huge lead, he entered the territory of Dan Origin Realm Star Beasts and found a valuable python colony.

• A teacher monitoring the trial marveled at Zuo Xiaoduo’s rapidly rising Star Beast tally, while students on his route found nothing and realized he had cleared the area ahead of them.
• The students identified Zuo Xiaoduo as the Sword King, changed routes, and complained that his sweep had cost them an hour.
• Zuo Xiaoduo cleared Embryonic Breath Realm Star Beasts across a three-hundred-li stretch and ranged into other students’ areas to collect more.
• The monitoring room saw Xiang Chong reach 327 Star Beasts, while Zuo Xiaoduo’s tally climbed past 9,500.
• Zuo Xiaoduo entered Dan Origin Realm territory, killed three giant pythons with the Dragon Blood Flying Knife, then recognized the python colony as a source of valuable meat and skins.

Zuo Xiaoduo slaughtered and collected the snakes and other Star Beasts in his path before meeting Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing. The three shared food and liquor on a hill, while five hidden people watched and worried about the unexpected newcomer.

• Zuo Xiaoduo killed more than five hundred giant pythons, pursued their two snake kings, and collected them for their valuable skins.
• Zuo Xiaoduo searched the area for an hour, then hurried toward eleven o'clock while gathering every Star Beast along the way.
• Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing met up and advanced separately, using their Overlord Halberds to fight Star Beasts.
• Zuo Xiaoduo came upon Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing on a hillside, surprising five people hiding in nearby bushes and pits.
• Zuo Xiaoduo, Xiang Chong, and Xiang Bing spread out food and drank liquor while the five hidden people watched.

Zuo Xiaoduo, Xiang Chong, and Xiang Bing rested on a hill before planning to hunt dan origin realm Star Beasts, while five hidden attackers waited in a pit below. After the trio left, the five decided to begin their operation around ten that night.

• Zuo Xiaoduo and Xiang Chong compared their Star Beast tallies with Xiang Bing and agreed that hunting embryonic breath realm beasts had become less worthwhile.
• Zuo Xiaoduo planned for the trio to enter dan origin realm territory together, with Xiang Bing between him and Xiang Chong for protection.
• The five attackers overheard the plan and stayed concealed in the pit while the trio rested on the hillside for seven hours.
• Zuo Xiaoduo led Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing off the hill toward the dan origin realm hunting grounds.
• After waiting for the trio to leave, the five Hidden Dragon High Martial students decided to rest and begin their operation around ten that night.