Chapter Summaries

Zuo Xiaoduo realized his home occupied the Phoenix Dance Garden’s most concentrated qi-vein location, then joined He Yuanyue and the others in sensing a deadly presence approaching from the south. The group unexpectedly encountered Wan Pingyuan and Wan Lixiu, and He Yuanyue concealed Zuo Xiaoduo’s role by claiming she had come to read the qi.

• Zuo Xiaoduo concluded that his home, especially Zuo Xiaonian’s room, lay at the heart of a powerful feng shui arrangement, and wondered why his parents had allowed the Witch Alliance’s forces to remain nearby.
• He Yuanyue and Zuo Xiaoduo sensed killing intent charging toward Phoenix Looking Back, prompting Qin Fangyang, Mu Yanyan, and Sister Lan to prepare for danger.
• A group of more than thirty people arrived, and both groups were startled to recognize each other, including Wan Lixiu among the newcomers.
• Wan Pingyuan greeted He Yuanyue and asked why she was there, and she said she had come to observe the winds and read the qi before the Phoenix Vein Soul Impact.
• He Yuanyue’s companions understood that she was hiding Zuo Xiaoduo’s involvement, and Zuo Xiaoduo played along by teasing Wan Lixiu about eating steamed buns.
• Wan Pingyuan laughed and asked Zuo Xiaoduo whether he had come to read the qi, and Zuo Xiaoduo replied that he could only smell qi.

Zuo Xiaoduo and the others met Governor Wan and his daughter on the mountain, where Wan Pingyuan apologized to He Yuanyue for previously dismissing her concerns about Phoenix City. As the group examined the city's feng shui, Zuo Xiaoduo noticed that Gu Luoyan was surrounded by three distinct auras, suggesting two hidden experts were guarding her.

• Wan Pingyuan warmly invited Zuo Xiaoduo to his home, and Zuo Xiaoduo said he would visit that night.
• Gu Luoyan reunited with Mu Yanyan and met Zuo Xiaonian, and the two young women quickly became friendly.
• Wan Pingyuan apologized to He Yuanyue for failing to take her earlier warnings about Phoenix City's Phoenix Vein seriously.
• Wan Pingyuan introduced Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu as Qi-Reading Adepts invited to investigate the city's feng shui.
• Zuo Xiaoduo examined those present and detected two hidden experts guarding Gu Luoyan by their distinct auras.

Zuo Xiaoduo secretly watched Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu assess Phoenix City's fortune while Qin Fangyang concealed him. The two qi-reading masters warned He Yuanyue that Phoenix City faced a Double Kill Break Wolf Configuration and said strengthening the Phoenix Vein would be extremely difficult.

• Zuo Xiaoduo wondered whether he could persuade a qi-reading master to guard Nian Nian Cat, then watched Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu from behind Qin Fangyang.
• He Yuanyue asked Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu to assess Phoenix City's fortune, and the two examined the city for more than ten minutes.
• Gao Wencheng said the Phoenix Vein was close to rising but that the Yin-Yang Reversal Formation diverted its fortune and left it vulnerable.
• Gao Wencheng described a Double Kill Break Wolf Configuration in which heavenly fortune was insufficient, earthly fortune deficient, and human fortune unable to flourish; Wang Shiyu agreed and warned the Phoenix Vein could perish.
• He Yuanyue asked how to turn the crisis around, and Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu said it was possible but extremely difficult.

Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu proposed ways to strengthen Phoenix City's defenses against the Phoenix Vein Soul Impact, while concealing their intentions from He Yuanyue. Wan Pingyuan agreed to consult others, and Qin Fangyang remained confused by the exchange.

• Gao Wencheng suggested connecting the Meng Family and Ning Family's artificial lakes and creating reverse circulation with the Wenshui.
• Wang Shiyu proposed building a Heavenly Fire Altar to channel the sun's true fire into the Phoenix Vein, but warned that Witch Alliance agents might exploit it.
• He Yuanyue recognized that Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu were putting on an act and grew furious at their hidden intentions.
• Gao Wencheng urged Wang Shiyu to accept the risk for humanity and offered to share responsibility for the proposal.
• Wan Pingyuan thanked them but said he would consult others before deciding, while Qin Fangyang struggled to understand their conversation.

After Zuo Xiaoduo warned Qin Fangyang that Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu were Witch Alliance agents undermining Phoenix City's defenses, Qin attacked Wang during a meeting. Gao then accused Qin of betraying humanity, while Zuo watched and admired his rhetoric.

• Zuo Xiaoduo secretly told Qin Fangyang that Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu were from the Witch Alliance and were pushing plans that would weaken Phoenix City's defenses.
• He Yuanyue questioned how quickly Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu had surveyed the terrain, and Wang Shiyu replied that studying each place was a basic skill for Qi-Reading Adepts.
• Qin Fangyang seized Wang Shiyu and slapped him dozens of times, leaving him bloodied and badly injured.
• Gu Luoyan stopped two companions from acting against Qin Fangyang and watched Wang Shiyu with suspicion.
• Gao Wencheng denounced Qin Fangyang and accused him of wanting the Witch Alliance's plot to succeed and the phoenix vein to fall into its hands.
• Zuo Xiaoduo retreated to a corner and admired Gao Wencheng's attempt to brand Qin as a traitor.

Qin Fangyang beat Gao Wencheng after Gao accused him of being a Witch Alliance spy, then defended his actions to Wei Chong. The confrontation remained tense as Wei Chong called Qin’s punishment excessive.

• Qin Fangyang struck Gao Wencheng repeatedly for accusing him of being a spy, while Zuo Xiaoduo recognized the danger of using such tactics against a stronger opponent.
• Wan Pingyuan tried to stop Qin Fangyang, and Wei Chong stepped between Qin and Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu.
• Qin Fangyang challenged Wei Chong’s defense of his companions and argued that Gao’s accusation had dishonored his service at Sun Moon Pass.
• Wei Chong admitted Qin Fangyang had reason to retaliate but maintained that his punishment had been too severe.
• Qin Fangyang said he had shown restraint and warned Wei Chong that Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu might have been killed if no one else had been present.

Qin Fangyang accepted Cheng Yindao’s challenge and began a fierce aerial duel while Gao Wencheng provoked He Yuanyue and was struck repeatedly by Sister Lan. As Cheng Yindao unleashed a full-power saber attack, Qin Fangyang finally drew his sword and produced four sword-wielding doubles.

• Gu Luoyan tried to intervene, but Mu Yanyan refused to mediate, and Cheng Yindao challenged Qin Fangyang to settle the dispute by fighting.
• Zuo Xiaoduo handed Qin Fangyang his sword, and Qin Fangyang and Cheng Yindao charged into battle in midair.
• Gao Wencheng taunted He Yuanyue, prompting Sister Lan to slap him repeatedly and Mu Yanyan to warn the onlookers against taking his side.
• Gu Luoyan questioned why Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu were behaving so unusually and deliberately provoking He Yuanyue’s side.
• Cheng Yindao unleashed a mountain of saber light, and Qin Fangyang drew his sword and summoned four sword-wielding images of himself.

Qin Fangyang revealed that he was the Five Directions Sword, an East Army veteran whose death could provoke Marshal Dongfang’s wrath. He defeated Cheng Yindao while sparing his life, and Cheng accepted the outcome as Qin explained that the Marshal had given him his sword.

• Wei Chong recognized Qin Fangyang’s signature Five Directions Sword technique and shouted for Cheng Yindao to stop, while Gu Luoyan and He Yuanyue realized Qin’s identity.
• Qin Fangyang’s sword river overwhelmed Cheng Yindao’s blade mountain and sent him falling, badly wounded but alive.
• Qin Fangyang landed before Cheng Yindao and asked whether he had any objections to the result.
• Cheng Yindao accepted his defeat and asked about Qin Fangyang’s sword.
• Qin Fangyang identified the sword as Spirit Cat, a gift from Marshal Dongfang, and lamented using it against the Star Soul Human Race.

After Qin Fangyang protected Zuo Xiaoduo and silenced Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu, He Yuanyue warned that the two were likely Witch Alliance agents plotting to endanger Phoenix City. As He Yuanyue’s health continued to fail, she urged Zuo Xiaoduo to inspect Gu Luoyan’s home and asked Qin Fangyang about his future, leaving him resolved to keep searching for his wife.

• Qin Fangyang handed his sword to Zuo Xiaoduo and warned Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu not to provoke anyone again.
• Wei Chong told Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu about Qin Fangyang’s past and Marshal Dongfang’s protection, and the two accepted their punishment while urging Governor Wan to consider the feng shui matter.
• He Yuanyue told Qin Fangyang, Sister Lan, and Mu Yanyan that she suspected Gao Wencheng and Wang Shiyu belonged to the Witch Alliance and ordered them to find a way to eliminate the threat.
• He Yuanyue explained that the proposed Heavenly Fire Altar could let Great Shaman Liehuo’s descendants turn Phoenix City into a deadly trap and establish a hidden Witch Alliance foothold.
• He Yuanyue asked Zuo Xiaoduo to inspect the feng shui of Gu Luoyan’s home if he went to the Upper Capital, especially its hidden places.
• When He Yuanyue asked about his future, Qin Fangyang said he would keep searching for his wife and would ask to marry her again if she were reborn.

After the group returned home, Zuo Xiaoduo confirmed that the two Qi-Reading Adepts were tied to the Witch Alliance and praised Gu Luoyan’s integrity. Zuo Xiaonian grew jealous of his praise, but he reassured her by declaring her far more beautiful than anyone else.

• He Yuanyue and Qin Fangyang parted after Qin said he would not let go until death.
• Mu Yanyan escorted Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian home, where they arrived at three in the morning.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Zuo Xiaonian that the two Qi-Reading Adepts were members of or collaborators with the Witch Alliance, while the others seemed trustworthy.
• Zuo Xiaoduo praised Gu Luoyan’s patriotism, integrity, and beauty, making Zuo Xiaonian jealous.
• Zuo Xiaoduo flattered Zuo Xiaonian by insisting that Gu Luoyan and other women could not compare to her.

Mo Xuanyi prepared to seek a divination, while Fang Yinuo weighed how to stay safe in Phoenix City. Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian continued adjusting to Zuo Changlu’s intense daily martial arts instruction.

• Fang Yinuo slipped out of the Meng Group employees’ neighborhood and worried that revealing himself would make him a vanguard for the Star Envoy.
• Fang Yinuo suggested that Mo Xuanyi visit Master Zuo for a reading, then agreed they should go separately to avoid attracting attention.
• Zuo Xiaoduo left for school while Zuo Xiaonian went to see Mu Yanyan.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Zuo Xiaonian struggled to digest the many techniques Zuo Changlu imparted each day, and Zuo Changlu said sorting them out would strengthen their spiritual senses.
• Zuo Xiaonian told Zuo Xiaoduo to call if anything came up, and he left while privately recalling their recent tumble into a human stack.

Zuo Xiaoduo noticed a sign of fortune and misfortune on his own face, then resumed reading clients’ physiognomies for money. Mo Xuanyi approached him seeking her lost family, and the Greedy Wolf Soul connected her to the Greedy Wolf’s Heart he carried.

• Zuo Xiaoduo saw an ominous sign in his reflection but set aside his worries when he reached the school gates and began reading faces for money.
• Zuo Xiaoduo sensed the Greedy Wolf’s Heart grow hot when Mo Xuanyi approached him.
• Mo Xuanyi felt the Greedy Wolf Soul react and recognized that Zuo Xiaoduo carried the Greedy Wolf’s Heart left by her other self.
• Mo Xuanyi asked Zuo Xiaoduo to divine whether her family was alive and how she could find them.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Mo Xuanyi that she had likely been separated from her family by an unforeseen incident rather than deliberately abandoned.

Zuo Xiaoduo told Mo Xuanyi that her parents were alive and, after she paid him two million, read her Phoenix Destiny and said her missing family was in Phoenix City. He left her asking for a direction to find them.

• Zuo Xiaoduo read Mo Xuanyi's face and reassured her that her parents were still alive.
• Mo Xuanyi transferred Zuo Xiaoduo two million, half of her current wealth, for his reading.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Mo Xuanyi that she had a Phoenix Destiny and could become a regional ruler or a king's queen.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Mo Xuanyi's parents were within a hundred miles, likely in Phoenix City.
• Mo Xuanyi asked Zuo Xiaoduo to point her toward her parents, while an onlooker suggested she put out an advertisement.

Zuo Xiaoduo gave Mo Xuanyi a divination that pointed her toward her parents beneath the eastern city wall, then was suddenly abducted by a powerful stranger. He awakened in an abandoned room and began sizing up his captor, who revealed himself as a refined middle-aged man.

• Mo Xuanyi wrote the character “Gratitude,” and Zuo Xiaoduo gave her prophetic lines directing her to seek her parents beneath the eastern city wall.
• Zuo Xiaoduo offered Mo Xuanyi further advice to keep her kindness, follow the righteous path, and refuse to serve evil.
• As a middle-aged man approached for his turn, a streak of sword light swept Zuo Xiaoduo away, and someone inside the school roared and pursued the attacker.
• Zuo Xiaoduo awoke in a derelict room and discovered that his cultivation had not been restrained, which made him fear how powerful his captor was.
• A short, plump man transformed into an elegant middle-aged man, and Zuo Xiaoduo greeted him with a smile and suggested that the captor needed something from him.

Zuo Xiaoduo deduced that Fang Yinuo had abducted him to seek a fortune reading and used the man's fear of danger to deter him from killing him. Fang Yinuo was left uncertain whether to trust Zuo Xiaoduo or abandon the reading altogether.

• Zuo Xiaoduo reasoned that Fang Yinuo had treated him gently because he needed his face-reading abilities and did not dare offend him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo identified Fang Yinuo as a member of the Witch Alliance and explained why Fang Yinuo could not trust his predictions anymore.
• Fang Yinuo considered killing Zuo Xiaoduo to avoid the dilemma, but Zuo Xiaoduo claimed he alone could guide Fang Yinuo through an imminent death calamity.
• Fang Yinuo wavered, unsure whether Zuo Xiaoduo was manipulating him or telling the truth.

Fang Yinuo could neither release nor kill Zuo Xiaoduo without risking his own survival, leaving them trapped in a stalemate. Zuo Xiaoduo exploited Fang Yinuo’s fear of death to demand food, while Fang Yinuo rejected his offer to let him go.

• Fang Yinuo agonized over whether to release, kill, or consult Zuo Xiaoduo, but distrusted every option.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Fang Yinuo paced and complained as neither found a way out of their stalemate.
• Fang Yinuo suggested handing Zuo Xiaoduo over to the Witch Alliance’s local overseer, but Zuo Xiaoduo warned that doing so could get them both killed.
• Zuo Xiaoduo threatened to kill himself unless Fang Yinuo bought him steamed buns, then specified the filling and ingredients he wanted.
• Zuo Xiaoduo offered to leave and buy the buns himself if Fang Yinuo let him go, but Fang Yinuo refused.

Fang Yinuo realized that Zuo Xiaoduo’s disappearance had drawn a massive search through Phoenix City, while Zuo tried to escape by attacking him with the Dragon Blood Flying Knife. Fang Yinuo recognized the knife and was horrified by what its origins could mean.

• Fang Yinuo refused to release Zuo Xiaoduo as powerful cultivators searched Phoenix City, including a Cloud Transformation master from the Witch Alliance.
• Zuo Xiaoduo secretly stabbed Fang Yinuo with the Dragon Blood Flying Knife, but Fang pinned him down and demanded to know what weapon he had used.
• Zuo Xiaoduo warned Fang Yinuo that an important person would come after him if he took the knife.
• Fang Yinuo examined the Dragon Blood Flying Knife, recognized it as resembling a weapon belonging to a powerful figure, and was left terrified.

Fang Yinuo recognized Zuo Xiaoduo’s Dragon Blood Flying Knife and was terrified after it drained a rat dry. He realized Zuo Xiaoduo was Uncle Nan’s nephew and feared the consequences of the promises tying him to Uncle Nan.

• Fang Yinuo tested the Dragon Blood Flying Knife on a rat, and the blade drained the rat’s flesh and blood until its corpse crumbled.
• Zuo Xiaoduo accused Fang Yinuo of insulting the knife, and Fang Yinuo hurriedly returned it and begged him to take it back.
• Fang Yinuo admitted he knew the knife well, while Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether he also knew Uncle Nan.
• Fang Yinuo recognized Zuo Xiaoduo as Uncle Nan’s nephew and lamented that fate had brought him into their hands again.
• Zuo Xiaoduo praised Fang Yinuo’s name as a promise worth a thousand gold, and Fang Yinuo took the words as a warning to keep his oath.

Zuo Xiaoduo pressured Fang Yinuo into helping protect the Spirit Thought Heavenly Maiden during the Final Operation and promised to guide him through his crisis. Fang Yinuo agreed to gather information, then used a small boiler-like object to seal off the outside world.

• Zuo Xiaoduo learned that Fang Yinuo had come to Phoenix City for the Phoenix Vein Soul Impact and that Fang was an advanced Cloud Transformation cultivator.
• Zuo Xiaoduo recruited Fang Yinuo to help ensure the Spirit Thought Heavenly Maiden stayed safe and completed her breakthrough during the Final Operation.
• Fang Yinuo explained that he had not yet contacted the local leaders or learned the operation’s plans, and Zuo Xiaoduo gave him time to gather details.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Fang Yinuo exchanged phone numbers, and Zuo promised to help Fang escape a life-and-death crisis and find a prosperous future.
• Fang Yinuo grabbed a small boiler-like object that sealed off the outside world, and Zuo Xiaoduo noticed its effect.

After Zuo Xiaoduo returned safely from his mysterious disappearance, he gave the gathered experts a misleading account of what happened and was sent off to train. Qin Fangyang then assembled allies and warned Mu Yanyan to keep away from the Meng Group as its building was about to collapse.

• Qin Fangyang and the other experts found Zuo Xiaoduo unharmed and brought him back to Second High School.
• Zuo Xiaoduo claimed an unknown expert had abducted him but let him go after feeling inferior to his handsome face.
• Qin Fangyang kicked Zuo Xiaoduo out of his office and sent him to make up his training in the Gravity Room.
• Qin Fangyang told Qiu Yunshang that he needed help with a task that might require Sun Baijiang as well.
• Qin Fangyang warned Mu Yanyan to keep away from the Meng Group because its building was likely to collapse within two days.
• Han Song returned from the Star Shield Bureau and asked Qin Fangyang whether they were going to make a move.