Chapter Summaries

As Zuo Xiaoduo struggled to suppress the surging True Essence Qi inside him, he and his family joked over dinner. Zuo Xiaonian suddenly felt a foreboding panic, and Zuo Xiaoduo saw black aura on both their faces, signaling imminent danger to someone close to them.

• Zuo Changlu and Wu Yuting marveled at Zuo Xiaoduo's extraordinary accumulation of breakthrough power, then joked about his enormous appetite as he ate seventy steamed buns and half a gazelle.
• Zuo Xiaoduo teased Zuo Xiaonian about her admirers treating them to food, and she playfully warned him off.
• Zuo Xiaoduo's strange sensation returned, leaving him stiff and motionless while Zuo Xiaonian laughed at him.
• Zuo Xiaonian's right eyelid began twitching, and she told Zuo Changlu that an unexplained panic had come over her.
• Zuo Changlu urged Zuo Xiaoduo to examine Zuo Xiaonian, and Zuo Xiaoduo saw black aura on her face and recognized it as a sign of danger to someone close.
• Zuo Xiaoduo checked his own reflection and discovered the same nearly solidified black aura on his face.

Zuo Xiaoduo realized Qin Fangyang, Mu Yanyan, and Sister Lan were in mortal danger, but he could not reach them or find help. Zuo Changlu sent Zuo Xiaonian to deliver a note to Uncle Wu, while distant tremors suggested the battle had already begun.

• Zuo Xiaoduo inferred that Qin Fangyang and Mu Yanyan faced a deadly crisis and found that their phones could not connect.
• Zuo Xiaoduo learned from He Yuanyue that Sister Lan had gone with Qin Fangyang, and He Yuanyue collapsed after hearing his warning.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian struggled to find anyone who could rescue the group until Zuo Changlu said he knew someone who could help.
• Zuo Changlu wrote a note for Uncle Wu, and Zuo Xiaonian raced off to deliver it despite Zuo Xiaoduo's warning not to go.
• Zuo Xiaoduo heard distant tremors that suggested experts had already begun fighting.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Changlu worried that Uncle Wu might not reach Teacher Qin in time, while Shang Qingyun and Jiang Changbin’s tavern gathering was interrupted by two insulting intruders. Shang Qingyun injured Yang Yu with a bamboo chopstick, revealing that the confrontation involved an unexpectedly formidable opponent.

• Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether Uncle Wu could help, and Zuo Changlu warned that he might not arrive before the fight was decided.
• Jiang Changbin and Shang Qingyun continued drinking at the tavern as two men arrived and complained about the place being booked.
• Yang Yu entered the room, insulted Jiang Changbin, caught his wrist, and threw him out into the rain.
• Shang Qingyun stood up to Yang Yu, who rushed him with a barrage of slaps.
• Shang Qingyun pierced Yang Yu’s palm with a bamboo chopstick, and Yang Yu recognized that Shang Qingyun was a tough opponent.

Qin Fangyang and twelve experts ambushed Shang Qingyun, who discovered he had been poisoned and used the Ancestral Shaman Golden Body Great Art to resist their attacks. Qin Fangyang pierced Shang Qingyun’s chest with a True Essence sword and detonated it, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Qin Fangyang attacked Shang Qingyun with Body and Sword as One, but Shang Qingyun shattered his sword and sent him flying with a palm strike.
• Twelve experts launched a coordinated assault on Shang Qingyun, who realized Jiang Changbin had poisoned him and shouted his name.
• Shang Qingyun unleashed the Ancestral Shaman Golden Body Great Art, locking the twelve attackers in a stalemate as he tried to force out the poison.
• Han Song urged Qin Fangyang to break the stalemate before Shang Qingyun expelled the poison.
• Qin Fangyang formed a sword from True Essence, drove it into Shang Qingyun’s chest, and detonated it.

Qin Fangyang exhausted himself to wound Shang Qingyun, who retaliated by knocking him away and then turned on the remaining attackers. Shang Qingyun killed two Star Shield Bureau experts and began healing despite his many wounds.

• Qin Fangyang struck Shang Qingyun with a True Essence Sword, but Shang Qingyun hit him with a palm and sent him flying, leaving his fate unknown.
• Shang Qingyun trapped the attackers’ weapons in his body, spun up a powerful suction, and killed two Star Shield Bureau experts, destroying their bodies and spirits.
• Mu Yanyan’s fellow disciples suffered injuries when their life-bound weapons broke, while Han Song, Yang Yu, and Sun Baijiang realized Shang Qingyun was far stronger than they had been told.
• Shang Qingyun pulled the broken weapons from his body as his wounds began to heal, even as Qin Fangyang’s Sword Qi seeped from the wound in his chest.

Jiang Changbin revealed that he had poisoned Shang Qingyun with Cloud-Dispersing Powder, but Shang remained powerful enough to overwhelm the group fighting him. The battle left Teacher Qiu gravely injured, and Han Song urged Jiang Changbin to flee.

• Shang Qingyun recognized Jiang Changbin as the one who had poisoned him and demanded to know when it happened.
• Jiang Changbin revealed that he had used a mixture of Cloud-Dispersing Powder, Plum Blossom Drunk, and Orchid Fragrance Liquid to poison Shang Qingyun.
• Shang Qingyun lunged at Jiang Changbin, and Han Song, Yang Yu, Teacher Qiu, Sun Baijiang, Sister Lan, Mu Yanyan, and her four fellow disciples surrounded him.
• Shang Qingyun fought off the ten attackers and tore off Teacher Qiu's shoulder and arm, leaving him badly wounded.
• Shang Qingyun's battle destroyed the nearby buildings and snapped the two persimmon trees, while Han Song told Jiang Changbin to get away.

Shang Qingyun pursued Jiang Changbin after Jiang escaped, using the Ancestral Witch Heaven-Burning Art to attack him and destroy the former Long Family Manor. As Han Song and the others kept Shang Qingyun at bay, he summoned starlight that began healing his wounds and purging the Cloud-Dissolving Powder.

• Jiang Changbin fled, and Shang Qingyun broke away from Mu Yanyan, Han Song, and Yang Yu to chase him.
• Han Song and Yang Yu intercepted Shang Qingyun, but he used the Ancestral Witch Heaven-Burning Art to drive them back and resume the pursuit.
• Han Song warned Jiang Changbin of an incoming attack, and Jiang dodged the blast but was caught in its aftermath and lost consciousness.
• Shang Qingyun's strike obliterated the former Long Family Manor and left a vast crater.
• Shang Qingyun summoned starlight from the sky, which began healing his wounds and purging the Cloud-Dissolving Powder.

Shang Qingyun revived himself with the Star Constellation Borrowed Life Art, and Duan Tianyu betrayed Yang Yu with a fatal sword strike. After Yang Yu avenged himself by killing Duan Tianyu, he burned his life and Primordial Spirit to confront Shang Qingyun and give Han Song and the others a chance to survive.

• Shang Qingyun revealed the power of the Star Constellation Borrowed Life Art and attacked Yang Yu.
• Duan Tianyu stabbed Yang Yu through the heart, then revealed that Shang Qingyun was his lord.
• Yang Yu killed Duan Tianyu, destroying his body and Primordial Spirit, while Shang Qingyun watched without intervening.
• Yang Yu refused Han Song's plea to flee and prepared to sacrifice himself against Shang Qingyun.
• Yang Yu burned his life and Primordial Spirit, then charged Shang Qingyun and caught him in combat.

Yang Yu sacrificed himself to cripple Shang Qingyun, but the Star Constellation Borrowed Life Art gradually restored Shang Qingyun and turned the battle against the exhausted defenders. Qin Fangyang and Qiu Yunshang prepared to die standing, resigned to Shang Qingyun's survival and the danger he posed to Phoenix City.

• Yang Yu grabbed Shang Qingyun and detonated his life origin soul essence, blasting him with a devastating explosion.
• Han Song, Mu Yanyan, Qin Fangyang, Qiu Yunshang, and the others attacked Shang Qingyun before he could recover, but the starlight continued healing him.
• Shang Qingyun regained strength and knocked Qin Fangyang and Qiu Yunshang out of the sky, leaving the remaining fighters increasingly battered.
• Shang Qingyun struck Mu Yanyan's eldest martial brother down as Han Song and the others struggled to hold him back.
• Qin Fangyang and Qiu Yunshang stood together and exchanged names, accepting that they would likely die while regretting they could not kill Shang Qingyun.

Shang Qingyun recovered his full strength and unleashed the Great Star Transformation Art, but a mysterious senior froze his starlight dragon and crushed him with a single hammer blow. As the Heavenly Dao's backlash gathered in the sky, Han Song led the survivors and wounded in a desperate escape.

• Shang Qingyun used the Great Star Transformation Art to recover his strength and summoned a colossal dragon of starlight to attack everyone.
• Sister Lan, Mu Yanyan, Sun Baijiang, Han Song, and the others accepted that they were about to die, while Qin Fangyang laughed from below.
• A mysterious voice dismissed Shang Qingyun as a trivial opponent, froze the starlight dragon, and struck Shang Qingyun dead with a massive hammer.
• Han Song thanked the unseen senior, who warned that the Heavenly Dao's backlash was coming and ordered everyone to flee.
• Han Song led the others and their wounded companions away as immense black clouds gathered and an enormous eyeball appeared in the sky.

The Heavenly Dao unleashed a massive lightning tribulation on Wu Tiejiang’s ownerless hammer after it killed Shang Qingyun, shaking Phoenix City and nearly killing everyone nearby. Wu Tiejiang survived, but his hammer’s handle melted away, leaving only the hammerhead.

• A giant eye appeared in the sky and focused on Wu Tiejiang’s hammer, drawing down millions of bolts of lightning.
• Han Song, Mu Yanyan, Sister Lan, and the others were knocked unconscious by the thunder and tremors, while Wu Tiejiang hid in a pit and realized the Heavenly Dao had intervened.
• The lightning shook Phoenix City, making high-rise buildings sway so violently that many residents later avoided buying apartments in them.
• After an hour, the lightning stopped, the clouds cleared, and the giant eye disappeared.
• Wu Tiejiang climbed out, cursed Zuo Changlu for putting his life at risk, and found that the hammer’s handle had melted away while its hammerhead remained intact.

Wu Tiejiang survived the strange heavenly upheaval but was terrified by the danger and begged Zuo Changlu to stop involving him in risky favors. As Zuo Changlu and Zuo Xiaoduo headed home, Zuo Xiaoduo continued wondering whether his parents were powerful experts in hiding.

• Wu Tiejiang fled to his blacksmith shop after seeing Eternal Iron ground bright silver, then sent Zuo Xiaonian to check on her master and the others.
• A lone eye appeared in the sky as lightning and thunder shook Phoenix City, prompting Zuo Changlu to panic and go investigate with Zuo Xiaoduo.
• The storm stopped while Zuo Changlu and Zuo Xiaoduo were on their way to the shop, where they found Wu Tiejiang alive and badly shaken.
• Wu Tiejiang pleaded to be released from Zuo Changlu's favors, but Zuo Changlu reminded him that the hammers were unfinished before promising not to call on him again.
• On their way home, Zuo Xiaoduo wondered whether his parents were powerful experts living in seclusion.

Zuo Xiaonian searched the ruined battlefield and rescued the surviving experts, while Zuo Xiaoduo arranged transport for them. The wounded were brought to the Star Shield Bureau for treatment, and Zuo Xiaoduo continued to suspect that his parents had once been powerful cultivators whose past remained hidden.

• Zuo Xiaoduo reasoned that his parents might have lost or sealed their cultivation and resolved to investigate secretly.
• Zuo Xiaonian found Qin Fangyang unconscious and critically injured, gave him a Healing Medicinal Pill, and searched the battlefield for survivors.
• Zuo Xiaonian rescued Mu Yanyan, Sister Lan, the Three Senior and Junior Brothers, Teacher Qiu, Sun Baijiang, Han Song, and Jiang Changbin, then collected three Space Rings from the central pit.
• Zuo Xiaonian called Zuo Xiaoduo for cars, and he coerced several drivers into transporting the wounded.
• Sister Lan and Han Song woke up, contacted Second High School and the Star Shield Bureau, and helped organize care for the survivors.
• The Star Shield Bureau received the injured and supplied Healing Medicine and Nutrient Pods.

Jiang Changbin recounted the battle against Shang Qingyun to Phoenix City’s leaders after they gathered at the Star Shield Bureau. The meeting confirmed Shang Qingyun was a Witch Alliance Star Lord, while Sun Fenghou pressed for news of his brother.

• Jiang Changbin tried to avoid the gathering by pretending to be unconscious, but Jiang Wenzhou woke him and brought him to the conference room.
• Jiang Changbin dismissed everyone except Wan Pingyuan, He Yuanyue, Sun Fenghou, and headquarters leaders, then sealed the room and began explaining the battle.
• Jiang Changbin reported that Han Song and Yang Yu had been sent to help, but Yang Yu was dead and Han Song was gravely wounded.
• Han Song confirmed that Shang Qingyun was a Witch Alliance Star Lord, though his specific celestial star remained unknown.
• Wan Pingyuan mourned the betrayal by his longtime friend Shang Qingyun and learned that two veteran Star Shield experts had also been killed.
• Sun Fenghou demanded news of his elder brother, and Jiang Changbin told him that he was still alive.

Han Song recounted the battle against Shang Qingyun, including Yang Yu’s sacrifice and the intervention of a mysterious hammer-wielding powerhouse. As the authorities began investigating the infiltrators and the strange lightning, Zuo Xiaonian returned home and kept Wu Tiejiang’s presence secret.

• Han Song described how a Witch Alliance spy wounded Yang Yu, who then sacrificed himself to attack Shang Qingyun.
• Han Song said a hidden powerhouse killed Shang Qingyun with one hammer blow, after which a Tribulation Eye appeared and lightning knocked everyone unconscious.
• He Yuanyue berated Jiang Changbin for forgetting to have Zuo Xiaoduo examine their fortunes before the battle.
• Jiang Wenzhou took charge of the aftermath and asked Wan Pingyuan to support an investigation into possible infiltrators in the Governor's Residence.
• Zuo Xiaonian returned home, kept Wu Tiejiang’s presence secret, and explained that she had gone to check on Mu Yanyan after the fighting stopped.

Zuo Xiaonian questioned whether Zuo Xiaoduo’s parents were reclusive masters, citing the powerful figures around them and their unusual behavior. Zuo Xiaoduo admitted he had similar suspicions and began explaining that his investigation into rare materials had revealed more strange clues.

• Jiang Wenzhou investigated the hammer and Tribulation Eye incidents under a strict order from the Star Shield Department to keep the Tribulation Eye secret.
• Zuo Xiaonian asked Zuo Xiaoduo whether their parents might be reclusive masters, pointing to Uncle Nan’s and Uncle Wu’s power and apparent deference toward them.
• Zuo Xiaoduo denied knowing anything, so Zuo Xiaonian grabbed his ears and demanded a confession.
• Zuo Xiaoduo accidentally bumped into Zuo Xiaonian while she held him, and she chased and beat him as he fled.
• Zuo Xiaoduo admitted he shared her suspicions but said he had verified that their parents currently had no cultivation.
• Zuo Xiaoduo began describing his investigation into Thousand Illusions Gold, Heavenly Shaman Copper, and Immortal Gold, then asked whether they should discuss it there.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian realized that the opportunities and resources they had received were arranged by their parents through Uncle Nan and Uncle Wu. Zuo Xiaoduo concluded their parents were once powerful figures forced into hiding, and that helping their children may have exposed them to danger.

• Zuo Xiaoduo explained the rarity and forging properties of thousand illusions gold, heavenly shaman copper, and immortal gold to Zuo Xiaonian.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian reasoned that their parents had arranged for Uncle Nan and Uncle Wu to bring cultivation manuals, materials, and weaponsmithing help.
• Zuo Xiaoduo pointed out that their father seemed to have little cultivation despite Uncle Nan and Uncle Wu treating him with great respect, and recalled that he had examined a Space Ring.
• Zuo Xiaoduo noted that their parents had no known relatives and that Uncle Nan and Uncle Wu had come only after being summoned.
• Zuo Xiaoduo concluded that their parents had once been powerful but were now weakened or sealed and hiding in Phoenix City, and that summoning help for their children had put them at risk.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian realized their parents were powerful but injured and agreed to keep their secret while finding a way to help them recover. At school, Zuo Xiaoduo was swarmed by wealthy people seeking fortune readings, and he eagerly prepared to earn a fortune.

• Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian agreed not to tell anyone about their parents’ identities or call anyone else for help, and resolved to protect and heal them.
• Zuo Xiaonian kicked Zuo Xiaoduo out the door so he would stop skipping school, and he headed off while imagining his future cultivation and mischief.
• Zuo Xiaoduo found a crowd of wealthy people waiting outside Second High School and realized they had gathered for his fortune readings.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told the crowd to line up and take turns, then spotted Li Chenglong approaching under the weight of a three-thousand-jin iron block.

Zuo Xiaoduo held a fortune-telling session outside the school while his friends went inside to cultivate under heavy weights. He warned contractor Liu Jianzhu that his money, people, and efforts were being spread thin, leaving Liu to decide how to handle the family matter.

• Li Chenglong brought Zuo Xiaoduo a table and chair, while Wan Lixiu, Li Changming, Long Yusheng, and Yu Moyan arrived carrying heavy loads and went to cultivate.
• Zuo Xiaoduo set up as a fortune-teller and told the gathered men that readings required a bond of fate and a payment of their choosing.
• Liu Jianzhu transferred Zuo Xiaoduo one thousand yuan and asked for a reading about his shrinking income and troubled marriage.
• Zuo Xiaoduo sent Liu Jianzhu to fetch a willow twig and used its forked branches to suggest that Liu's money, people, and efforts were being diverted.
• Liu Jianzhu asked how to resolve the problem, but Zuo Xiaoduo said it was a family matter and left him to weigh his choices.

Zuo Xiaoduo earned a large fee from Qiao Zhongshan’s reading, then comforted an elderly couple by telling them their long-lost daughter was alive and would soon return. His reputation continued to draw a growing crowd of people seeking readings.

• Liu Jianzhu left angrily and called a private detective agency after being driven away.
• Qiao Zhongshan asked Zuo Xiaoduo about a business deal, and Zuo advised him to act decisively; Qiao transferred him two hundred thousand.
• An elderly couple told Zuo Xiaoduo that their daughter Nannan had been abducted more than thirty years earlier, and he assured them she was alive and coming to find them.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told the couple to settle down and wait, and they left weeping with joy.
• More people gathered to seek readings, praising Zuo Xiaoduo’s prediction about the Long Family’s destruction.