Recaps

A gray-clad man interrogated Lin Genggao about how the operation had been exposed and ordered him to eliminate Cheng Yunqi’s family and Zuo Xiaoduo. He then reviewed Seven Killings’ losses and ordered Chen Yuting to flee Phoenix City or die rather than be captured.

• The man in gray struck Lin Genggao for failing to deal with Cheng Yunqi and his son, and gave him until dawn to sever the trail.
• Lin Genggao recounted how the operation had been exposed and dismissed Zuo Xiaoduo’s repeated confrontations as impulsive behavior.
• The man in gray argued that Zuo Xiaoduo’s actions were deliberate and ordered Broken Army to kill Cheng Yunqi’s family, Zuo Xiaoduo, and any compromised operatives, while silencing those already arrested.
• Seven Killings reported losing seven Embryonic Breathing Realm fighters and four Dan Origin Realm fighters, with Chen Yuting at risk of exposure.
• The man in gray ordered Chen Yuting to leave Phoenix City immediately or self-detonate rather than be captured alive.

Li Changjiang and Hu Ruoyun told Zuo Xiaoduo that the school was organizing an award ceremony to celebrate recent student breakthroughs and reassure parents. Zuo Xiaoduo was chosen as the centerpiece, with his parents invited to sit in front, and he left the conversation pleased by the praise.

• A gray-clad envoy reviewed the Seven Killings and Greedy Wolf arrangements, ordered Seven Killings to assist Broken Army, and threatened Pan Yusheng over delays.
• The envoy revealed that the Star Shield Bureau had compromised Lin Genggao, who remained unaware of the danger.
• Li Changjiang and Hu Ruoyun welcomed Zuo Xiaoduo to the principal's office and discussed his rapid cultivation progress.
• Li Changjiang explained that the school would hold an award ceremony featuring gifted students, with Zuo Xiaoduo as its centerpiece and his parents invited.

Zuo Xiaoduo agreed to speak at the school assembly, then persuaded Li Changjiang to refund and waive his tuition by emphasizing his rapid breakthroughs and his family's poverty. He also asked for a scholarship, and Li Changjiang left the amount for the school to discuss.

• Zuo Xiaoduo enthusiastically agreed to give a student representative speech and promised Hu Ruoyun he would show her the draft first.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Li Changjiang to refund his Martial Warrior Class tuition, and Li Changjiang agreed.
• Zuo Xiaoduo pressed for his Martial Master Class tuition to be waived, and Li Changjiang agreed to waive it.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked for a scholarship, and Li Changjiang said the school would discuss the amount and notify him.

Zuo Xiaoduo talked Principal Li into giving him a ten-thousand scholarship, then Li privately asked whether anyone at Director Jiang’s office had seemed connected to the Witch Alliance. Zuo Xiaoduo recalled no one suspicious, leaving Li without an answer.

• Zuo Xiaoduo proposed a million-yuan scholarship, but Li Changjiang settled on ten thousand, which Zuo immediately accepted.
• Hu Ruoyun laughed at Li for giving Zuo several rewards he had not originally planned to offer, and Li realized Zuo had maneuvered him.
• Li Changjiang stopped Zuo from leaving and secured the office before asking what he remembered about the people at Director Jiang’s office.
• Zuo Xiaoduo considered the faces he had seen but could not identify anyone who seemed connected to the Witch Alliance.

Li Changjiang questioned Zuo Xiaoduo about a suspected traitor, and Zuo Xiaoduo recalled an unusually indifferent old man with broom-like eyebrows. To test Zuo Xiaoduo’s face-reading, Li Changjiang asked him to read Hu Ruoyun’s past, and Zuo Xiaoduo finished by offering her a poem about her fate.

• Li Changjiang told Zuo Xiaoduo that Jiang Changbin suspected a traitor among the higher-ups after several operations failed.
• Zuo Xiaoduo recalled that a gray-robed old man with broom-like eyebrows had shown no reaction when Qin approached him and seemed to regard him with hostility.
• Li Changjiang reacted with alarm to Zuo Xiaoduo’s description but received no proof that the old man was involved.
• Li Changjiang asked Zuo Xiaoduo to read Hu Ruoyun’s face, and Zuo Xiaoduo identified past injuries that had hindered her cultivation.
• Zuo Xiaoduo declined to read Hu Ruoyun’s future and instead recited a poem predicting that her fortune would return and she would rise again.

Li Changjiang learned that his friend Liao had brought a Pill Cloud-quality Star Soul Flame Pill and a nineteen-hundred-year-old Star Spirit Grass to help Hu Ruoyun recover. He celebrated wildly and embraced Hu Ruoyun, who wept with relief in his arms.

• Li Changjiang answered Liao’s call and learned that Liao had obtained a Pill Cloud-quality Star Soul Flame Pill for Hu Ruoyun.
• Liao revealed he had also secured a nineteen-hundred-year-old Star Spirit Grass to nourish Hu Ruoyun’s cultivation.
• Liao told Li Changjiang he was already waiting at the school gate with the medicine and grass.
• Li Changjiang leaped and danced with joy, then lifted Hu Ruoyun and spun her through the air as he celebrated her chance to recover.
• Hu Ruoyun stopped struggling, nestled in Li Changjiang’s arms, and silently cried with relief.

Li Changjiang and Hu Ruoyun learned that her internal injuries could be healed and celebrated their renewed hope together. After Zuo Xiaoduo gave Hu Ruoyun a recording of the moment, Li Changjiang confiscated his phone and arranged his upcoming evaluation and advancement.

• Li Changjiang and Hu Ruoyun rejoiced after receiving hope that her internal injuries could be healed, while Liao waited outside the school gates.
• Hu Ruoyun reminded Li Changjiang to thank Zuo Xiaoduo for reading her face and making accurate predictions.
• Li Changjiang panicked when he realized Zuo Xiaoduo had recorded his celebration, but Zuo Xiaoduo gave Hu Ruoyun a copy and deleted the file from his own phone.
• Hu Ruoyun treasured the recording, and Li Changjiang confiscated Zuo Xiaoduo's phone after checking that it was deleted.
• Li Changjiang told Zuo Xiaoduo to keep the face-reading secret, attend the second touch of the Three Touches, Five Evaluations the next day, and bring his parents to the school-wide assembly on Monday for his advancement.

Zuo Xiaoduo returned home thrilled by good news but tried to hide it behind a gloomy act, only for his family to ignore him. The chapter left him genuinely sulking at dinner while his family ate without him.

• Li Changjiang rushed out of the office to find Old Liao, leaving Hu Ruoyun smiling through tears.
• Qin Fangyang told Zuo Xiaoduo to spend the afternoon consolidating before entering the Star Soul Tower for the second touch of the Three Touches, Five Evaluations.
• Zuo Xiaoduo returned home grinning, then composed himself and entered with a gloomy expression.
• Zuo Xiaonian and Wu Yuting saw through Zuo Xiaoduo's act and agreed to ignore him, then arranged for Zuo Changlu to join in.
• Zuo Xiaoduo sighed and posed for attention, but Wu Yuting put him to work peeling garlic and the family ignored him through dinner.
• Zuo Xiaoduo finally set down his chopsticks and said he would not eat, and Wu Yuting told him to go rest or cultivate.

Zuo Xiaoduo announced that he would advance to the second touch of the Three Touches, Five Evaluations, enter the Martial Master Class, and receive refunded fees and a scholarship. His family celebrated and promised to attend the school awards assembly, while he remained deflated because they had not reacted to his news the way he had imagined.

• Zuo Xiaoduo complained that his family had ignored his unusual behavior, but they teased him for overacting.
• Zuo Xiaoduo announced his advancement to the second touch, his move to the Martial Master Class, and his tuition refund and scholarship.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said the school would honor him and other students at an awards assembly on Monday and asked his family to attend.
• Zuo Changlu, Wu Yuting, and Zuo Xiaonian eagerly agreed to go, while Zuo Xiaoduo stayed listless.
• Zuo Changlu told Zuo Xiaoduo that his success made him feel as proud and content as when his son was born and first called him Dad.

Zuo Xiaoduo’s family celebrated his achievements over dinner, and his enormous appetite left the table completely bare. After Zuo Xiaonian took him out for more food and training, he asked her to fund more hidden weapons and loudly declared that he loved living off a woman, drawing curious stares from passersby.

• Zuo Xiaoduo’s parents and Zuo Xiaonian proudly praised him, and he offered to explain his accomplishments again before they laughingly told him to stop.
• Zuo Xiaoduo ate everything at dinner, including the marrow from a wild beast’s thighbone, while his family laughed at his appetite.
• Zuo Xiaonian said she would take Zuo Xiaoduo out for more food and put him through his paces, while Zuo Changlu and Wu Yuting discussed the school event.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Zuo Xiaonian that he had almost used up his hidden weapons and asked to borrow money from her.
• Zuo Xiaonian agreed to fund him, and Zuo Xiaoduo loudly proclaimed that he loved living off a woman, attracting the attention of people nearby.

Zuo Xiaoduo ate enormous meals while Zuo Xiaonian took him home and teased him about the Space Ring he could not yet use. The next morning, his appetite left Wu Yuting furious, while Liu Jiansheng and his brothers overheard Zuo Xiaoduo singing about finding wives to earn money for him.

• Zuo Xiaonian bought Zuo Xiaoduo a bucket of rice and two large bowls of beef soup, which he finished completely.
• At two in the morning, Zuo Xiaonian gave Zuo Xiaoduo a One-Horned Deer hind leg and told him he would have to reach the Embryonic Breath Realm before asking Wu Yuting for Uncle Nan's Space Ring.
• Zuo Xiaoduo ate the prepared breakfast and left for school, prompting Wu Yuting to tell Zuo Changlu he needed to earn more money.
• Zuo Changlu joked about Zuo Xiaoduo eating them out of house and home, then hurried back into the bathroom when Wu Yuting realized what he meant.
• Zuo Xiaoduo sang about finding several wives who would work and give him their earnings, while Liu Jiansheng and his brothers listened in confusion.

Zuo Xiaoduo collected his new phone and joined his classmates as they prepared for the second touch of the Three Touches, Five Evaluations. Meanwhile, Hu Ruoyun urged Li Changjiang to give the Former Principal a rare pill, but he remained torn over risking their own future for an uncertain chance at her recovery.

• Zuo Xiaoduo went to Li Changjiang's office, collected his new phone, and headed to class.
• Zuo Xiaoduo found Long Yusheng, Wan Lixiu, Yu Moyan, Li Changming, and Li Chenglong awaiting the second touch, which Qin Fangyang said would begin at nine.
• Hu Ruoyun visited Li Changjiang and pressed him to give the Former Principal the Star Soul Flame Pill.
• Li Changjiang hesitated because the pill might fail and giving it up could cost him and Hu Ruoyun a rare opportunity.
• Hu Ruoyun reminded Li Changjiang of the Former Principal's past sacrifices and insisted that even ten more years of her life would be worth the risk.

Li Changjiang agreed to Hu Ruoyun’s decision to give the Star Soul Flame Pill and Star Spirit Grass to the old principal, then watched the Star Soul Tower trial with her. Inside the tower, Zuo Xiaoduo faced an illusion of himself grown up and confronting a choice among four marriage candidates.

• Hu Ruoyun told Li Changjiang she had already given the Star Soul Flame Pill and Star Spirit Grass to the old principal, and he reluctantly agreed.
• Li Changjiang berated Hu Ruoyun over the cost of her choice, then held her as his anger and grief subsided.
• Hu Ruoyun brought the Star Soul Tower trial onto the screen, and Zuo Xiaoduo led five other students inside.
• Zuo Xiaoduo walked through the tower’s mist and emerged in a school setting, grown into his twenties.
• Zuo Xiaoduo’s illusion presented him with a marriage choice among four women, beginning with his childhood sweetheart, Li Xiaomei.

Zuo Xiaoduo faced an illusion that offered him four beautiful women and the wealth, status, and martial advantages of their families, but an icy vision jolted him out of his fantasies. He fled the women and ended the trial, leaving Hu Ruoyun to realize he had been calculating their family fortunes rather than succumbing to their beauty.

• Zuo Xiaoduo imagined marrying all four women so he could gain their families' money, political influence, and martial resources.
• Zuo Xiaoduo saw an icy woman glaring at him and immediately lost interest in the illusion.
• Zuo Xiaoduo dismissed the four pleading women as illusions and ran away, ending the trial.
• Hu Ruoyun watched Zuo Xiaoduo leave the illusion and concluded that he had been coveting the women's family wealth.

Zuo Xiaoduo’s strange trial result baffled Hu Ruoyun and Li Changjiang, while the other students’ choices produced a range of evaluations. Li Chenglong received the highest marks despite hesitating the longest, and the chapter ended with former principal He Yuanyue arriving at the office.

• Zuo Xiaoduo ran from his trial without choosing anyone and was evaluated as “Chaste, Suspected Eunuch,” alarming Hu Ruoyun and Li Changjiang.
• Long Yusheng chose his childhood sweetheart after hesitating, while Wan Lixiu chose the man she had always loved without hesitation; both received Grade A evaluations.
• Yu Moyan chose the marshal’s daughter after ten minutes of hesitation and received a Grade B evaluation.
• Li Changming woke from a nap, chose his childhood sweetheart, and received outstanding marks.
• Li Chenglong wavered for forty minutes before choosing his childhood sweetheart, then received supreme marks in every category.
• He Yuanyue arrived at Li Changjiang’s office with Sister Lan behind her.

He Yuanyue reviewed the assessment results for Zuo Xiaoduo and the other students, explaining why some judgments could be misleading and discussing the students’ prospects. She ended by telling Li Changjiang that Li Chenglong’s hesitation during the test did not contradict his excellent character.

• He Yuanyue said Zuo Xiaoduo’s assessment was inaccurate and rejected its comment that he had scant desire, while advising Hu Ruoyun to let him face the evaluation for now.
• He Yuanyue revealed that Long Yusheng and Wan Lixiu had been betrothed as children, and warned that Yu Moyan’s obsession with power might limit his future.
• He Yuanyue learned that Qin Fangyang had taught all six students and asked Li Changjiang to move him with them into the Martial Master Class.
• He Yuanyue praised Li Chenglong’s cultivation and criticized the second touch of the Three Touches, Five Evaluations for using romantic attachment to test character.
• He Yuanyue assured Li Changjiang that Li Chenglong was neither fickle nor indecisive, despite his hesitation during the assessment.

He Yuanyue gave Hu Ruoyun the medicines and instructions needed to heal her, then urged Li Changjiang to guide his students with compassion. Meanwhile, Zuo Xiaoduo and five others left the Star Soul Tower together after completing their tests.

• He Yuanyue explained that Li Chenglong had chosen the woman he loved after considering which choice best served the greater good.
• He Yuanyue gave Hu Ruoyun two jade bottles and a Life-Soul Pill, explaining that the medicine could not restore her own exhausted lifespan but could cure Hu Ruoyun's affliction.
• He Yuanyue asked Sister Lan to guard Hu Ruoyun during her treatment so Li Changjiang's worry would not disrupt the process.
• He Yuanyue counseled Li Changjiang to judge students by their fundamental right and wrong and to guide them patiently, then waited outside as Hu Ruoyun began healing.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and five others emerged from the Star Soul Tower after spending the same amount of actual time taking their tests.

Qin Fangyang led the six students who passed the assessment toward the principal’s office while secretly planting seeds of Sword Heart in them. They met Former Principal He Yuanyue standing guard outside, and she began speaking with Qin Fangyang and the students about their evaluation and choices.

• Qin Fangyang told the six students they had passed and would officially move up a class.
• Qin Fangyang used his Sword Heart to inspire the students as he led them toward the principal’s office.
• Qin Fangyang and the students found He Yuanyue waiting in the corridor, standing guard outside the office.
• He Yuanyue told Qin Fangyang she knew the students’ assessment results and proposed they talk while they waited.
• He Yuanyue praised Li Chenglong and Li Changming, then reminded Long Yusheng and Wan Lixiu not to forget the choice they had made.

He Yuanyue gave Wan Lixiu and Long Yusheng her blessing, then entrusted Yu Moyan with her hopes for protecting his home and country. She warmly spoke with Zuo Xiaoduo about his older sister and asked whether he could really read faces.

• He Yuanyue gave Wan Lixiu and Long Yusheng jade pendants and promised her support for their relationship.
• He Yuanyue urged Yu Moyan to use his strength to protect his loved ones, home, and country, then gave him her engraved tag.
• Yu Moyan swore to pursue He Yuanyue's hopes for the rest of his life, moving her and Qin Fangyang.
• He Yuanyue told Zuo Xiaoduo that he reminded her of his older sister and asked if he could truly read faces.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether his older sister had told He Yuanyue about his ability, and Qin Fangyang abruptly turned from the window.

Zuo Xiaoduo impressed He Yuanyue with a poem that revealed his deep physiognomy skills, and she invited him to learn her Qi-Viewing Technique. He Yuanyue also arranged for Qin Fangyang to keep teaching Zuo Xiaoduo and his classmates through graduation, leaving Zuo Xiaoduo poised to become her successor.

• He Yuanyue invited Zuo Xiaoduo to study the Qi-Viewing Technique with her and asked him to call her Grandma He.
• Qin Fangyang revealed that Zuo Xiaoduo had tricked him into giving him Star Soul Jade with a story about a sister with cerebral palsy.
• He Yuanyue asked Zuo Xiaoduo to read her face, and he recited a poem honoring her life and accomplishments.
• He Yuanyue said the poem was the best gift she had received and that it could be inscribed on her gravestone.
• He Yuanyue asked Qin Fangyang to continue teaching Zuo Xiaoduo and his classmates through graduation.
• He Yuanyue called Zuo Xiaoduo bound to her by fate and asked him to visit her office each afternoon as a possible successor to her Qi-Viewing Technique.

Qin Fangyang was delighted that He Yuanyue had arranged daily meetings with Qianqian, but Zuo Xiaoduo soon discovered that he had been summoned for grueling hidden-weapons training. He Yuanyue and Sister Lan pushed him to increase his speed, while Sister Lan explained why his hard-jade weapons could prove useful against the Witch Alliance’s Profound Heaven Body.

• Qin Fangyang thanked He Yuanyue and celebrated his chance to see Qianqian every day, then accidentally knocked Zuo Xiaoduo to the ground with an overenthusiastic slap.
• He Yuanyue began seven days of hidden-weapons training for Zuo Xiaoduo, demanding greater speed while Qin Fangyang regulated his meridians.
• Qin Fangyang and Sister Lan repeatedly beat Zuo Xiaoduo during practice, and Sister Lan told him to master a one-strike kill against her.
• Sister Lan praised Zuo Xiaoduo’s hard-jade hidden weapons, explaining that they could resist the Witch Alliance’s ability to assimilate and control many other weapons.

He Yuanyue taught Zuo Xiaoduo and Qin Fangyang the Qi-Viewing Technique after a day of punishing hidden-weapon practice. Zuo Xiaoduo returned home healed and improved, only to find Zuo Xiaonian had bought him two million hidden weapons to train with.

• By five in the afternoon, Zuo Xiaoduo had been beaten until he was swollen and barely fit in his chair, and He Yuanyue told Qin Fangyang and Sister Lan to avoid hitting his eyes.
• He Yuanyue began teaching Zuo Xiaoduo and Qin Fangyang the Qi-Viewing Technique, explaining its foundations in qi and the five elements and its uses in reading fortune, land, and the rise and fall of nations.
• He Yuanyue shared her knowledge openly with Qin Fangyang, and her lesson immersed all four people in dense spiritual mist that healed Zuo Xiaoduo and slightly improved him.
• He Yuanyue told Zuo Xiaoduo to practice until he was swollen at least three times that night, or six times if Zuo Xiaonian could help him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo returned home and found ten burlap sacks of hidden weapons that Zuo Xiaonian had bought for two million, then she excitedly praised him for catching He Yuanyue's discerning eye.

Zuo Xiaoduo celebrated his family’s happiness, then pushed himself through a grueling hidden-weapon training session to grow strong enough to protect Zuo Xiaonian. Meanwhile, Zuo Changlu told Wu Yuting that he suspected the predecessors had misunderstood the mortal-world incarnation tribulation.

• Zuo Xiaoduo ate with his family as they happily discussed the next day’s school assembly, though he sensed he had forgotten something.
• Zuo Xiaoduo trained past He Yuanyue’s requirement until two thirty in the morning, determined to improve his hidden-weapon speed and power.
• Zuo Xiaonian watched Zuo Xiaoduo train and realized he was driven by his desire to protect their family and help her survive her coming Death Calamity.
• Zuo Changlu reassured Wu Yuting that they had already done what they could for their children and explained why they could not risk interrupting their incarnation tribulation.
• Zuo Changlu revealed that he suspected the predecessors’ experience with the mortal-world incarnation tribulation had been wrong, leaving Wu Yuting shocked.

Zuo Changlu and Wu Yuting concluded that raising Xiaoduo had completed their mortal-world tribulation, then joked about having another child. Meanwhile, the Witch Alliance’s attack on Cheng Fangzhi’s family and the Cheng Group caused widespread deaths and destruction in Phoenix City.

• Zuo Changlu told Wu Yuting that having and raising children had brought their mortal-world tribulation closer to completion.
• Zuo Changlu and Wu Yuting agreed to live naturally and hoped Xiaoduo and Xiao Nian would grow up safe, then joked about having another child.
• At Second High School, many students who had passed through Crystal Pass and Clearheart Lake returned with their families, while Zheng Deyi and Cheng Fangzhi remained dead in Star Shield Bureau Prison.
• After Cheng Fangzhi’s death, Director Jiang Changbin imprisoned the guards on duty and put Cheng Fangzhi’s family under surveillance.
• Witch Alliance experts attacked Cheng Fangzhi’s family, killed them and seven Star Shield Bureau experts, and escaped after setting fires across Phoenix City and destroying the Cheng Group Medicinal Materials Company headquarters.

Governor Wan and Director Jiang warned their superiors that the Witch Alliance had deeply infiltrated Phoenix City and was preparing a major operation connected to the Phoenix Vein. As the city braced for further upheaval, Zuo Changlu, Wu Yuting, and Zuo Xiaoduo arrived at Second High School’s commendation ceremony.

• Wan Pingyuan reported the Witch Alliance’s attacks and urged his superiors to investigate He Yuanyue’s Phoenix Vein theory and prepare for a major crisis.
• Director Jiang told the higher-level Star Shield Bureau that he trusted no one in Phoenix City and requested expert reinforcements, including the Dragon Blood Team.
• Director Sun visited He Yuanyue and recounted the latest events, prompting her to wonder whether the situation she had long anticipated was finally unfolding.
• Zuo Changlu and Wu Yuting arrived at Second High School with Zuo Xiaonian, drawing attention with their striking appearance.