Recaps

Zuo Xiaoduo reflected on why he had repeatedly exposed his Physiognomy and built up defenses, knowing that his ability to foresee danger would eventually draw suspicion and threaten those close to him. He and Li Chenglong concluded that the failed plot against Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing was designed to redirect the enemy’s attention toward Zuo Xiaoduo.

• Zuo Xiaoduo recalled that his warnings and preparations had helped protect his allies, but each use of Physiognomy also risked exposing his ability to predict the future.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that he had accumulated trump cards and kept his distance from Zuo Xiaonian to protect himself and avoid endangering her.
• Li Chenglong reasoned that the failed attack on Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing would make the enemy investigate how their side had prepared so effectively.
• Zuo Xiaoduo argued that the enemy’s follow-up framing attempt against Vice Principal Xiang was meant to identify him as the source of their countermeasures.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong analyzed why Gao Qiao'er had warned them, concluding that the Gao Lineage was trying to protect itself while the Capital City Gao Lineage targeted Zuo Xiaoduo. They considered how to guard against the danger, but had not yet settled on a plan.

• Li Chenglong suggested that Gao Qiao'er and Gao Chengxiang had come to warn Zuo Xiaoduo because the Gao Lineage suspected him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo reasoned that the Fenghai Gao Lineage wanted to distance itself from his likely death and could benefit from appearing to have warned him.
• Li Chenglong realized that the Gao Lineage's older generation might be planning to profit from Zuo Xiaoduo's death while shielding themselves from blame.
• Zuo Xiaoduo cautioned Li Chenglong not to underestimate the scheming of powerful Lineages, and Li Chenglong promised to stay alert.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that he could not reliably read his own physiognomy and said their best protection was to borrow outside help.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong considered telling Teacher Wen and livestreaming, then kept thinking about ways to prevent blind spots as Li Chenglong checked messages.

Zuo Xiaoduo struggled to find the hidden threat behind Fenghai City's conspiracies while Li Chenglong discovered that Zuo's online handle was Jingjing Cat and that he had been viciously trolling him. The chapter ended with Zuo Xiaoduo still lost in thought, casually eating grapes, unaware that Li Chenglong had uncovered his secret.

• Zuo Xiaoduo considered the conspiracies surrounding Fenghai City and feared the Upper Capital's Gao Lineage would overwhelm his defenses.
• Li Chenglong entered Zuo Xiaoduo's study and found his account logged in under the name Jingjing Cat.
• Li Chenglong read Jingjing Cat's posts and realized Zuo Xiaoduo had been insulting him online while praising the Sword King.
• Li Chenglong left in shock as Zuo Xiaoduo continued pondering and eating Crystal Grapes.

Zuo Xiaoduo bluffed Li Chenglong into feeling guilty after he complained about Zuo Xiaoduo’s online insults, then told Ye Changqing that the Gao Lineage in the Upper Capital was targeting him. Ye Changqing promised Hidden Dragon High Martial would protect him, but Zuo Xiaoduo left still questioning the school’s refusal to use underhanded methods.

• Zuo Xiaoduo accused Li Chenglong of being ungrateful and invading his privacy, diverting him from the online insults until Li Chenglong realized he had been tricked.
• Zuo Xiaoduo visited Ye Changqing and reported that the Gao Lineage in the Upper Capital was coming after him.
• Ye Changqing told Zuo Xiaoduo to ignore the Gao Lineage and assured him that Hidden Dragon High Martial would keep him safe.
• Zuo Xiaoduo questioned Ye Changqing’s rigid stance against underhanded tactics, and Ye Changqing said it came from his outlook on the world, life, and values.

Ye Changqing explained to Zuo Xiaoduo why, as principal of Hidden Dragon High Martial, he refused to use underhanded methods to purge its corrupt newcomers, fearing that his example would erode the school's moral standards. He suggested that Wen Xingtian or Xiang Kuangren could act in his stead and accept punishment, preserving the school's reputation while leaving Ye to shoulder the blame.

• Ye Changqing told Zuo Xiaoduo that using schemes or assassination would teach the faculty and students that despicable methods were acceptable when they produced desired results.
• Ye Changqing said he would rather endure the school's frustration than set an example that could corrupt Hidden Dragon High Martial for generations.
• Ye Changqing declared that he would still deal with those who needed to be removed, but implied that others could use forbidden methods instead.
• Ye Changqing explained that he could punish Wen Xingtian and Xiang Kuangren internally after they drove the corrupt people out, taking public blame while protecting the school's name.
• Ye Changqing admitted that his younger self at Sun Moon Pass might have assassinated the intruders himself.

Ye Changqing explained why he had to remain restrained as Hidden Dragon High Martial's principal, while Zuo Xiaoduo reflected on his inexperience. The chapter followed Class One through the life-defining process of choosing cultivation methods and weapon disciplines, which continued into the evening.

• Ye Changqing told Zuo Xiaoduo that he could not cast aside his responsibilities as principal to settle grudges freely.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said that passively responding to each move seemed too passive, and Ye Changqing hinted that there was a reason for their approach.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and his classmates used school credits to obtain martial arts, cultivation methods, and insights as the school prepared students to choose their paths.
• Wen Xingtian assessed each Class One student and guided them through selecting a suitable primary cultivation method at the Martial Arts Repository.
• After the class finished choosing cultivation methods, Wen Xingtian took the students to select primary weapon disciplines suited to their cultivation methods.

Wen Xingtian completed Class One’s weapon and specialty assignments, dividing the students for secret professional training. Seven students accepted roles that would cut them off from their families and ordinary lives, leaving Wen Xingtian to urge their classmates to know and cherish them in case they ever needed help.

• Wen Xingtian assessed the students and divided Class One’s thirty-six members into twenty-seven specialty groups.
• Specialist teachers led the students in rare professions away for separate, secret training while they remained members of Class One.
• Wen Xingtian told the seven students in special professions they could still refuse and become ordinary warriors, but none withdrew.
• Wen Xingtian warned the seven that after one final chance to contact their families, they would have no further contact with them.
• The seven saluted Wen Xingtian and departed with their specialist teachers, and Wen Xingtian urged the remaining students to know and cherish them so they might recognize and help them in danger.

Class One’s students chose their weapon specialties and special professions, beginning separate paths despite their close bonds. Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong reflected on the choices, and Zuo Xiaoduo asked why Li Chenglong had chosen combat and combat support instead of becoming a military strategist.

• Wen Xingtian told seven students who had chosen special professions that they could take extra leave to visit their families, but still had to cultivate.
• The students were separated among specialist teachers according to their chosen professions, while Wen Xingtian remained responsible for observing and teaching swordsmanship.
• Over three days, Class One’s thirty-six students watched one another depart for different specialties, grieving the end of their shared path while resolving to keep ambushing one another at night.
• Upper-year students watched the first-years make their choices and remembered classmates whose special professions had made them seem increasingly distant and unfamiliar.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong discussed Pi Yibao’s suitability for espionage, and Zuo Xiaoduo asked Li Chenglong why he had chosen combat and combat support rather than military strategy.

Zuo Xiaoduo told Wen Xingtian that he had suppressed his cultivation twenty-four times and lamented that he could not match his sister, the Spirit Thought Heavenly Maiden. The chapter left Wen Xingtian calculating whether Zuo Xiaoduo might eventually surpass her.

• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that Li Chenglong had suppressed his cultivation seven times and might manage one more before breaking through.
• Wen Xingtian arrived and asked Zuo Xiaoduo how many times he had suppressed his cultivation.
• Zuo Xiaoduo revealed that he had suppressed it twenty-four times, prompting Li Chenglong to leave because he felt overwhelmed.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said his sister had suppressed her cultivation forty or fifty times and admitted that he wanted to beat her in a fight.
• Wen Xingtian began calculating whether Zuo Xiaoduo could catch up with the Spirit Thought Heavenly Maiden.

Wen Xingtian warned Zuo Xiaoduo about suspicious experts in Fenghai City and asked him to examine the gravely injured Vice Principal Gao. Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong went with Ye Changqing to the Gao Lineage Estate, where the immense family gathered to receive them.

• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo that Vice Principal Gao had been unconscious for four or five days and that the Gao Lineage wanted him to investigate.
• Zuo Xiaoduo agreed to examine Vice Principal Gao, and Li Chenglong chose to accompany him.
• Wen Xingtian warned Zuo Xiaoduo not to cultivate in the Gravity Room while compressing his true essence.
• Ye Changqing took Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong to the Gao Lineage Estate the next morning.
• The Gao Lineage family welcomed the visitors in overwhelming numbers.

Zuo Xiaoduo examined Vice Principal Gao’s unhealing wound as Ye Changqing challenged the Gao Lineage over its accusations against the Xiang Family. Zuo concluded that someone had manipulated the Gao Lineage’s Feng Shui, leaving the entire lineage at risk of destruction.

• Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong greeted Gao Shimu as their teacher’s wife, then entered the chamber where Vice Principal Gao lay unconscious in a Nutrient Pod.
• Gao Shimu identified the wound’s force as Overlord Force and suggested the Xiang Family was responsible.
• Ye Changqing warned that many lineages could wield similar force and pointed out that Xiang Kuangren had already proven his innocence.
• A young Gao Lineage member vowed to investigate the other suspected lineages, but Gao Shimu silenced him and apologized to Ye Changqing.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said the Gao Lineage had been set up and warned that someone had trapped its Feng Shui, potentially putting the entire lineage in danger.

Zuo Xiaoduo questioned the Feng Shui of the Gao Lineage’s residence and summoned Master Pang to verify his concerns. After exposing a flaw in the pond’s placement, he challenged the wisdom behind the fix that Principal Gao and Master Pang had used.

• Madam Gao dismissed the younger generation and their wives, then allowed the second generation to remain while warning them to stay quiet.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether the Gao household employed a Qi-Reading Adept, and Madam Gao summoned Master Pang.
• Master Pang defended his Feng Shui arrangements and said he and Principal Gao had placed a Sun-Moon Stone north of the pond to suppress the terrain.
• Zuo Xiaoduo pointed out that the pond sat in a direction where the original terrain was not low and asked whether digging the pit had created a new problem.

Zuo Xiaoduo exposed serious flaws in Master Pang’s feng shui arrangement, convincing him that the Gao family had been trapped by its own design for eighteen years. Madam Gao revealed that an ancestral tablet’s divided spirit and an heirloom jade ruyi had helped suppress the backlash, leaving the source and extent of the danger unresolved.

• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the Sun-Moon Stone and the constructed Sun Moon Pass opposed the terrain instead of suppressing it, and Master Pang admitted the stone had blood on it.
• Master Pang said Principal Gao had bought the stone from a master who claimed to have performed rites over it, but he knew nothing about whose blood it bore or where it came from.
• Zuo Xiaoduo challenged Master Pang’s claims about the Dragon-Controlling Pool and asked whom the heroic souls were protecting; Master Pang admitted they were protecting the pool.
• Zuo Xiaoduo used the spirit ginseng’s age to establish that the pool had been dug eighteen years earlier, not seventeen, and said the Gao Lineage had been trapped in a pit since then.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether anything in the house had anchored the family’s fortune, and Madam Gao revealed that a divided spirit of the ancestral tablet and an ancestral jade ruyi had received offerings there.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained that Vice Principal Gao’s Feng Shui troubles stemmed largely from his own actions and identified the Sun-Moon Stone and Hidden Dragon Pool as part of the problem. He refused to intervene further, leaving the Gao Lineage to rely on Master Pang to undo the formation.

• Zuo Xiaoduo said Gao Shimu’s years of offering incense had helped preserve the Gao Lineage’s peace and stability.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the Hidden Dragon Pool contained Vice Principal Gao’s belongings and that the household’s Feng Shui had been disrupted by the Sun-Moon Stone and other deliberate arrangements.
• Zuo Xiaoduo dismissed Master Pang, warning him that his future with the Gao Lineage depended on surviving the ordeal and explaining that Vice Principal Gao bore much of the blame.
• Madam Gao accepted that Master Pang would be needed to repair the Feng Shui formation, while Zuo Xiaoduo refused to take on its karmic burden.

Zuo Xiaoduo warned Madam Gao that the Gao Lineage’s weakening fortune foretold more deaths and that Principal Gao might still be targeted before he woke. His warning proved immediate when three young members of the Gao Lineage were brought back dead.

• Madam Gao thanked Ye Changqing for setting aside past grievances and asked Zuo Xiaoduo how to resolve the Gao Lineage’s predicament.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the Hidden Dragon Pool and Sun-Moon Stone formed a dangerous scheme that was draining the Gao Lineage’s fortune and could bring sudden deaths.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Principal Gao would likely wake in seven days to half a month, warned that he might have been used in a plot against Vice Principal Xiang, and urged the Gao Lineage to stay home and guard Principal Gao.
• A servant reported that the thirty-fifth young master, the thirty-ninth, and Young Master Pingyun had all died, and Madam Gao recalled Zuo Xiaoduo’s warning.

Madam Gao learned that three Gao Lineage young masters had been killed and tightened security while seeking Zuo Xiaoduo’s advice. After the Gao Lineage rewarded Zuo Xiaoduo, Ye Changqing, and Li Chenglong, the three returned to the villa, where Ye Changqing asked what they thought of the lineage and the crisis.

• Madam Gao ordered the Gao Lineage members confined to the old residence after hearing that three young masters had been killed at First Splendor.
• A wounded witness said two outsiders had killed the three young masters and beaten the others before escaping.
• Madam Gao ordered the lineage’s absent members to return and asked Zuo Xiaoduo for guidance; he advised her to hold her ground and await reliable reinforcements.
• Madam Gao gave Ye Changqing, Zuo Xiaoduo, and Li Chenglong valuable gifts for their help.
• At Zuo Xiaoduo’s villa, Ye Changqing asked Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong what they made of the Gao Lineage and its troubles.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained that Gao Zhiyun’s family had avoided ruin because his wife’s good fortune and the Ximen Lineage’s fortune protected him. The discussion left off with Zuo Xiaoduo wondering how Gao Zhiyun had dared to take so many concubines despite marrying a daughter of the Ximen Lineage.

• Li Chenglong asked Zuo Xiaoduo to share his findings first so he could analyze them more deeply.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Gao Zhiyun was fortunate because his wife’s lineage had helped avert the calamity threatening the Gao Lineage.
• Ye Changqing explained that Madam Gao was a daughter of the legitimate line of the Ximen Lineage and recalled a teasing poem about the lineage having many daughters.
• Ye Changqing mentioned that the Sky-Patrolling Imperial Seat had added a line to the poem, then refused to reveal what it said.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Gao Zhiyun’s wife and her lineage’s fortune had kept his household from ruin, despite his injuries and dwindling luck.
• Zuo Xiaoduo wondered how Gao Zhiyun had dared to take so many concubines after marrying a daughter of the Ximen Lineage.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained that Vice Principal Gao had been injured while serving as a pawn in a scheme to frame Vice Principal Xiang, and that the Gao Lineage’s Feng Shui formation concealed a sophisticated trap. He concluded that the lineage had no intention of betraying Star Soul, though its fortunes were entangled in someone else’s design.

• Zuo Xiaoduo explained how Vice Principal Gao had lost favorable timing, terrain, and human support, while his virtuous wife helped preserve a chance of survival for him and the Gao Lineage.
• Zuo Xiaoduo confirmed that Vice Principal Gao’s injuries were genuine and that his attackers had intended to kill him as part of a scheme.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Vice Principal Gao had conspired with someone without realizing he was a disposable pawn in a plan to bring down Vice Principal Xiang.
• Li Chenglong identified two possible hidden hands behind the plot: the Feng Shui Master from eighteen years ago and the person who arranged the trap.
• Zuo Xiaoduo judged that Vice Principal Gao and the Gao Lineage sought greater influence, but that the lineage’s Feng Shui formation was a sophisticated trap rather than evidence of treason.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained how the Feng Shui Formation was draining Gao Zhiyun’s family’s fortune by turning its actions against Star Soul Humans, and warned that Vice Principal Gao could still avert disaster by destroying it. He then argued that the Star Soul, Witch Alliance, and Dao Alliance continents had developed separate Heavenly Dao fortunes, leaving Ye Changqing and Li Chenglong puzzling over how returning continents could reunite with the Star Soul Continent.

• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the Feng Shui Formation made the Gao Lineage’s actions harm Star Soul Humans, even when they meant to help Hidden Dragon.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said the formation was consuming Gao Zhiyun’s family fortune and Madam Gao’s Ximen Lineage fortune, and that Vice Principal Gao might survive if he broke the formation.
• Zuo Xiaoduo clarified that his warning concerned Gao Zhiyun’s branch, not the Gao Lineages of Fenghai City or the Upper Capital.
• Ye Changqing asked whether differing fortunes meant there were multiple Heavenly Daos, and Zuo Xiaoduo answered that different continents could have their own.
• Zuo Xiaoduo used an earthworm analogy to explain how the Star Soul Continent and the separated continents had each developed separately, then asked whether returning continents could be the same as the original.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the three continents’ Heavenly Daos were fighting through human wars to devour one another’s fortune, and predicted that conflict would continue until the continents were unified. Ye Changqing confirmed that Hidden Dragon High Martial was being used to lure out its enemies, leaving the school to endure heavy losses while he held on.

• Zuo Xiaoduo compared the three continents to separate earthworm segments and said their Heavenly Daos used war to seize one another’s fortune.
• Zuo Xiaoduo predicted that the conflict could last for ages, that other continents would return, and that the nine continents would eventually unify.
• Li Chenglong teased Zuo Xiaoduo for talking about descendants despite not having a wife, and Zuo Xiaoduo privately thought the joke was absurd.
• Zuo Xiaoduo accused Ye Changqing of hiding the truth about Hidden Dragon High Martial’s danger, and Ye Changqing admitted the school was being used to draw enemies out.
• Ye Changqing said Hidden Dragon High Martial would have to make great sacrifices, that a successor had been chosen to replace him, and that similar incidents had happened at Cloud High Martial and other institutions.

Ye Changqing explained why he was waiting to expose the enemy at Hidden Dragon High Martial and why Fenghai City attracted few powerful Qi-Reading Adepts. He also clarified that the city could nurture talented people but could not produce true dragon geniuses, leaving Zuo Xiaoduo to consider the value of the Top-Grade Star Soul Jade he had given Ye Changqing.

• Ye Changqing said he would wait for the enemy to reveal a major target rather than remove a few vice principals, and named Gu Qianfan as the intended replacement principal.
• Ye Changqing explained that Top-Grade Star Soul Jade could help a cultivator break through above Guixuan, while Zuo Xiaoduo insisted Ye Changqing must not give away the jade he had received.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked why Fenghai City had so few Qi-Reading Adepts, and Ye Changqing said its eight dragon veins had departed and could not reform for tens of thousands of years.
• Ye Changqing explained that Fenghai's lingering fortune could nurture many talents, but Hidden Dragon High Martial's students would have to leave the city to encounter opportunities and become dragons.

Ye Changqing explained why Fenghai had few powerful Qi-Reading Adepts, while Li Chenglong used Zuo Xiaoduo’s insights to analyze how internal struggles among Star Soul’s great lineages gave the Witch Alliance room to act. Li Chenglong began explaining how the Cloud End Lineages’ rivalry arose and why it was a survival struggle.

• Ye Changqing told Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong that the Upper Capital and Guandong had the densest dragon veins, while Fenghai lacked the powerful Qi-Reading Adepts Zuo Xiaoduo sought.
• Zuo Xiaoduo wondered how Fenghai could have no dragon veins when a little dragon had come from there.
• Li Chenglong sketched and reasoned through the situation, then argued that the Witch Alliance’s conspiracy depended on powerful lineages fighting among themselves and neglecting the nation’s peril.
• Ye Changqing agreed that internal disorder gave foreign enemies opportunities to exploit.
• Li Chenglong explained that the Cloud End Lineages had once earned their standing through contributions, but generations of competition had made rivalry necessary for their survival.

Li Chenglong explained how rival lineages, Hidden Dragon’s forces, and the Witch Alliance became entangled in a struggle over positions and influence, then assessed the plots surrounding Vice Principal Gao’s attack. He concluded that Gao’s survival would suggest he had been manipulated rather than knowingly conspired, while the feng-shui adviser would likely disappear before Gao could find him.

• Li Chenglong described how powerful lineages sought positions at Hidden Dragon and how their maneuvering intertwined with the Witch Alliance’s interference.
• Li Chenglong said Vice Principal Xiang’s return and aggressive push to remove the other vice principals had intensified the conflict.
• Li Chenglong proposed that Vice Principal Gao either conspired against Vice Principal Xiang and was betrayed, or was manipulated by others using an impersonator.
• Li Chenglong reasoned that if Vice Principal Gao woke safely, it would indicate that he had not known about the plot and had merely played along for personal advantage.
• Li Chenglong identified the Qi-Reading Adept who advised Gao’s household as another likely target, but predicted that the man would vanish before Gao could find him.

Li Chenglong and Ye Changqing decided to wait for Vice Principal Gao to wake and for Minister Nan’s investigation to reveal who had arranged the attack. Meanwhile, the Gao Lineage suffered a succession of deaths and business disasters despite changing its feng shui, and Madam Gao told the family that their own reckless actions had brought the misfortune.

• Li Chenglong reasoned that the people behind Lei Datou’s operation feared exposure, so the group should wait and watch the lineages involved for further moves.
• Ye Changqing said Minister Nan was secretly investigating, but warned that confronting powerful lineages would be difficult because of their extensive connections.
• Madam Gao and Master Pang dismantled the Dragon-Controlling Pool, buried the Sun-Moon Stone with blood from Vice Principal Gao’s sons, and erected a stele bearing the Gao ancestor’s patriotic instructions.
• Over the following days, Gao descendants died in fights, accidents, and an encounter with an expert, while the lineage’s businesses faced financial and legal crises.
• The Gao Lineage’s advisers concluded that many disasters stemmed from its own members provoking trouble, and Madam Gao announced that no enemy had targeted them and that they had brought the misfortune upon themselves.

Madam Gao confronted the Gao Lineage’s complacency and ordered its men to reflect on their conduct after their relatives died in the rear rather than fighting at Sun Moon Pass. Though Vice Principal Gao awakened, she recognized that the lineage faced ruin unless he made major changes, while Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong kept to their school-and-home routine.

• Madam Gao compared the Gao Lineage’s many surviving men with other families’ losses at Sun Moon Pass and condemned their deaths in nightclubs, gambling dens, and drinking establishments.
• Madam Gao rebuked her eldest grandson for demanding revenge and ordered every male in the family to kneel before the Ancestral Instructions Stele.
• Madam Gao blamed the women of the household for spoiling the men and threatened Second Madam with expulsion once Old Gao recovered.
• Vice Principal Gao woke in his Nutrient Pod, but Madam Gao told the household to leave him to recover and sent everyone to the Ancestral Instructions Stele.
• Madam Gao realized that the Gao Lineage’s accumulated problems could lead to its destruction if Old Gao failed to make substantial changes.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong mostly went between school and home, with Zuo Xiaoduo occasionally visiting Grandma Shi for lunch.