Chapter Summaries

Wen Xingtian trained Class One in martial theory and combat, praising Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong for their practical fighting skills while criticizing elegant but wasteful techniques. He abruptly struck Xiang Chong during a match and rebuked him for treating combat like a dance.

• Wen Xingtian offered Zuo Xiaoduo his 1.7 million points if Zuo defeated him, but Zuo stayed silent rather than risk provoking him.
• Wen Xingtian taught martial theory, then took Class One to the Martial Dao Arena for shuffled sparring matches.
• Wen Xingtian observed that Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong fought directly and without wasted movements, while Xiang Chong, Xiang Bing, and Meng Changjun displayed elegant habits.
• Wen Xingtian entered the arena and slapped Xiang Chong several meters away after seeing him add an unnecessary backflip while dodging.
• Wen Xingtian scolded Xiang Chong for posing and wasting movements, and Xiang Chong explained that he had trained that way since childhood.

Wen Xingtian drove Vice Principal Xiang Kuangren away from his class, then gave Zuo Xiaoduo a brutal sparring lesson. After seeing Zuo Xiaoduo’s unusual strength and technique, Wen Xingtian suspected the sword was not his true weapon and planned to question him that night.

• Wen Xingtian rebuked Xiang Chong for acting like a pretty boy and threatened to break his legs if he did it again.
• Xiang Kuangren arrived to watch two people, but Wen Xingtian ordered him to leave until class ended.
• Xiang Kuangren apologized and vanished after Wen Xingtian told him to get out.
• Zuo Xiaoduo praised Wen Xingtian, who called him over and beat him in a sparring match.
• Wen Xingtian noticed Zuo Xiaoduo’s power and technique and decided to find out whether he relied on a heavy axe or sledgehammer.
• Wen Xingtian turned his attention to the other students and set his Space Ring to self-destruct if anyone tampered with it after his death.

Wen Xingtian put Class One through a brutal combat lesson, berating and striking students to correct their bad habits. Class ended with the exhausted students noticeably improved, while Li Chenglong's reputation as the Cult Leader grew even stronger.

• Wen Xingtian scolded the students for flashy, ineffective combat habits and for holding back against female opponents.
• Wen Xingtian sent Yu Yan'er and her opponent to Nutrient Pods after their sword exchange turned into a distracting display.
• Wen Xingtian continued correcting the class with harsh scoldings and blows until the bell rang at eleven fifty.
• Class One collapsed from mental exhaustion and realized their movements had improved significantly.
• Li Chenglong's Cult Leader title became more secure after he had beaten the female students, including the Three Great Beauties, into Nutrient Pods.

Zuo Xiaoduo claimed a dining hall table for his classmates, then challenged a group of second-years who said it was theirs to a fight. The group’s leader accepted, and the dispute moved toward a showdown outside the dining hall.

• Wen Xingtian dismissed Class One from training and reminded his teaching assistant to bring throat-soothing tea for the afternoon.
• Zuo Xiaoduo reached the dining hall first, sat at a newly vacant table, and called his classmates over.
• Several second-years confronted Zuo Xiaoduo, claiming they had already chosen the table and demanding he give it up.
• Zuo Xiaoduo insisted he had sat down first and refused to yield, while Xiang Bing and the others gathered nearby.
• Zuo Xiaoduo proposed settling the dispute with a fight, and the second-year leader accepted.

Zuo Xiaoduo challenged Zhao Wensheng over a dining-hall table, while Wu Yunhai tried to intervene before another senior student told him to stand aside. Zuo Xiaoduo struck Zhao Wensheng first, and their opening exchange left Zhao’s fist badly injured.

• Zuo Xiaoduo jumped down from the dining hall and challenged Zhao Wensheng to fight over the table.
• Wu Yunhai tried to persuade Zhao Wensheng to let Zuo Xiaoduo and his friends have the table, but Zhao refused.
• A senior student with a four-clawed golden dragon ordered Wu Yunhai out of the way, and Wu Yunhai stepped aside.
• Zuo Xiaoduo complained about the delays, rushed Zhao Wensheng, and smashed him with a punch.
• Zhao Wensheng’s fist bones cracked when he met Zuo Xiaoduo’s punch, and Zuo Xiaoduo followed with a Dragon Gate Leg.

Zuo Xiaoduo defeated Zhao Wensheng in a fight over a dining table at Hidden Dragon High Martial, then learned how the school’s table challenges worked. He left quickly after eating, while Zhao Wensheng and his classmates vowed to win back their honor.

• Zuo Xiaoduo accidentally struck Zhao Wensheng in the crotch and won the match, while Zhao Wensheng endured the pain and went upstairs to eat standing.
• Zhao Wensheng’s classmates joined him in standing beside the table as they ate, following Hidden Dragon High Martial’s custom for losers in dining-hall fights.
• Xiang Bing explained that seniors could repeatedly challenge Zuo Xiaoduo after he defeated a second-year student, but Zuo Xiaoduo welcomed future challengers.
• Zhao Wensheng and a female classmate promised to bring someone to reclaim their honor and take back the table.
• Zuo Xiaoduo finished his meal quickly and left, sparing Zhao Wensheng and the others from having to stand there longer.

Zuo Xiaoduo met Wu Yunhai, who conveyed the Wu Lineage head’s apology and offered friendship after Wu Yuntian’s death. Zuo Xiaoduo accepted the overture outwardly but remained suspicious, while Wu Yunhai invited him to seek help at Hidden Dragon High Martial.

• Zuo Xiaoduo left the dining hall after finishing his meal, and a burly young man admired him.
• Wu Yunhai approached Zuo Xiaoduo and introduced himself as a member of the Wu Lineage of Fenghai City.
• Wu Yunhai conveyed the lineage head’s apology and said the Wu Lineage wanted to make peace with Zuo Xiaoduo.
• Zuo Xiaoduo suspected the Wu Lineage’s sudden goodwill was a plot, but spoke as if he were grateful and eager to reconcile.
• Wu Yunhai invited Zuo Xiaoduo to come to him for help at Hidden Dragon High Martial and said he would mediate if needed.

Zuo Xiaoduo met Wu Yunhai and the Gao brothers, whose families had been drawn together by the Life-and-Death Arena deaths and the need to protect him. They agreed to cooperate despite their lingering resentment, leaving Zuo Xiaoduo promising to visit the Gao family and apologize.

• Wu Yunhai told Zuo Xiaoduo that his family had once been furious over the Life-and-Death Arena, but the old patriarch later forbade retaliation.
• Gao Chengxiang and Gao Chengyun approached them, and Gao Chengyun admitted that he still resented Zuo Xiaoduo for killing his cousin sisters.
• Gao Chengxiang explained that the Gao Lineage wanted to stay close to Zuo Xiaoduo because his safety affected both their family and the Wu Lineage.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said he did not expect friendship but urged them to cooperate so others could not exploit divisions between them.
• Gao Chengxiang acknowledged Zuo Xiaoduo's difficult position in the arena and blamed Wu Yuntian's aggression and the Wu Lineage's lax discipline for much of the tragedy.

Zuo Xiaoduo suspected that the Wu and Gao Lineages had ulterior motives despite their representatives’ apparent sincerity, and planned to discuss the matter with Li Chenglong. As he and his companions headed back to afternoon training, they encountered the sinister old woman Grandma Yu, who insisted they call her Grandma Shi.

• Wu Yunhai and Gao Chengxiang and Gao Chengyun exchanged contact information with Zuo Xiaoduo and left, while the Wu and Gao Lineages’ younger generations continued feuding over the deaths of the Gao sisters.
• Zuo Xiaoduo judged the three men’s feelings genuine but concluded that the Lineages were either under pressure or preparing to kill him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo decided to discuss the situation with Li Chenglong and arrange a countermeasure.
• Li Chenglong, Xiang Bing, and Xiang Chong caught up with Zuo Xiaoduo, who warned them that Teacher Wen’s afternoon training would likely bring more scolding and punishment.
• Xiang Bing recalled her morning mistakes as an old woman approached, and Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing greeted her as Grandma Yu.
• The old woman insisted that they call her Grandma Shi.

Grandma Shi took Zuo Xiaoduo to her abandoned courtyard, where the portrait of her late husband, Shi Yunfeng, revealed the grief and bitterness left by his wrongful framing and death. Wen Xingtian and Ye Changqing acknowledged their guilt over failing to clear Shi Yunfeng’s name, while Zuo Xiaoduo was left facing Grandma Shi’s painful past.

• Grandma Shi summoned Zuo Xiaoduo, and Wen Xingtian reluctantly let her take him after she challenged him over the unresolved injustice against Shi Yunfeng.
• Wen Xingtian told Ye Changqing that Grandma Shi had taken Zuo Xiaoduo, and Ye Changqing decided to go see what was happening.
• Grandma Shi carried Zuo Xiaoduo through the air to her neglected courtyard and led him into a spotless sitting room.
• Zuo Xiaoduo saw Shi Yunfeng’s portrait and the couplet Grandma Shi had written, and felt sorrow over how Shi Yunfeng had been framed and driven to his death.

Zuo Xiaoduo visited Grandma Shi and learned how public slander drove Principal Shi Yunfeng to his death despite his students’ faith in him. Grandma Shi ended by explaining that Shi Yunfeng’s former students still wrote to him and sent him their military medals.

• Grandma Shi brought Zuo Xiaoduo into the room filled with Shi Yunfeng’s medals and letters and spoke to her late husband as if he were alive.
• Zuo Xiaoduo bowed to Shi Yunfeng’s photograph and praised him, prompting Grandma Shi to ask whether he believed the accusations that Shi Yunfeng had frequented brothels.
• Grandma Shi denounced the public for believing the accusations and described how decades of slander had forced Shi Yunfeng to hide his identity and left him with nowhere to live.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Grandma Shi that the world was always filthy and questioned whether a person should keep sacrificing himself for people who would ultimately abandon him.
• Grandma Shi revealed that Shi Yunfeng’s former students still sent him letters about their lives and military medals to show their continued faith in him.

Grandma Shi told Zuo Xiaoduo how she preserved her husband Old Shi’s memory and endured the abuse surrounding his unjust death. She revealed that Qin Fangyang had recommended Zuo Xiaoduo’s fortune-telling abilities, and asked him to help her find a lead.

• Grandma Shi explained that she read Old Shi’s students’ letters to him each evening and lived to see his injustice redressed.
• Grandma Shi said she hated the ordinary people who had condemned Old Shi without knowing the truth, and questioned whether ignorance excused their actions.
• Grandma Shi told Zuo Xiaoduo that Qin Fangyang had visited her and praised his ability to divine fate and fortune.
• Grandma Shi revealed that Qin Fangyang had suggested Zuo Xiaoduo might help her find another path to uncovering what she sought.

Zuo Xiaoduo interpreted Principal Shi’s written character as a sign that the injustice against him could soon be cleared, giving Grandma Shi long-awaited hope. Ye Changqing arrived, but Grandma Shi remained cold toward him and dismissed his efforts.

• Grandma Shi told Zuo Xiaoduo how much she loathed the mortal world and asked when the injustice would be cleared.
• Zuo Xiaoduo examined the character Feng and said the injustice could be exposed once the blade above the mountain was shifted.
• Grandma Shi trembled with joy when Zuo Xiaoduo affirmed that the truth was nearing discovery.
• Ye Changqing entered and promised that Principal Shi’s name would eventually be cleared.
• Grandma Shi rebuked Ye Changqing’s claim that he had kept working on the case and refused to accept his address of her as sister-in-law.

After visiting Grandma Shi, Zuo Xiaoduo heard two young men slander Shi Yunfeng and attacked them under the pretense that they had spat on his trousers. He threatened to extort them until Grandma Shi intervened, but he refused to back down.

• Grandma Shi angrily drove Ye Changqing away, then told Zuo Xiaoduo that his words had given her strength to wait a few more years.
• Zuo Xiaoduo promised to visit Grandma Shi again and do what he could for her before leaving the courtyard.
• Two young men passed by and mocked Shi Yunfeng, repeating rumors that had ruined his reputation.
• Zuo Xiaoduo slapped the men and demanded ten thousand Star Origin Coins for his supposedly stained trousers.
• Zuo Xiaoduo intimidated the young men by kicking a boulder, but Grandma Shi ordered him to let them go.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Grandma Shi to stay out of it and continued demanding payment.

Zuo Xiaoduo extorted two young men who had spat on his trousers, then donated the money to disabled veterans, while Ye Changqing began considering the appeal of Zuo’s rough methods. Back at Hidden Dragon High Martial, Xiang Kuangren returned from seclusion and attacked the man occupying his former vice principal’s seat.

• Zuo Xiaoduo dragged the two young men to gather ten thousand Star Yuan, beat them, and let them go after warning them not to spit carelessly.
• Zuo Xiaoduo donated the ten thousand Star Yuan to a Disabled Veterans Affairs Office, and Ye Changqing watched and considered using similar tactics.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Ye Changqing returned to Hidden Dragon High Martial and noticed signs of a battle overhead.
• Xiang Kuangren knocked the current occupant of his former first vice principal’s seat into a crater and demanded to know why he had taken the position.

Xiang Kuangren confronted Vice Principal Wei and demanded his former position as first vice principal, refusing to listen to Wei’s explanations. After Ye Changqing slipped away, Xiang ordered Wei’s secretary to restore his office and bring back his own secretary, while Zuo Xiaoduo headed to Class One after considering what had happened.

• Xiang Kuangren accused Vice Principal Wei of taking his position and demanded that Wei resign or move down a rank.
• Vice Principal Wei insisted he had received transfer orders and had nothing to do with Xiang’s demotion, but Xiang threatened to beat him if he did not regain his position.
• Vice Principal Wei called for Principal Ye Changqing to intervene, but discovered Ye had already disappeared.
• Xiang Kuangren ordered Wei’s secretary to clear out his office and bring back his own secretary by the next morning, threatening the staff if they failed.
• Zuo Xiaoduo headed toward first-year Class One, while Xiang Kuangren carried the secretary away and ignored Wei’s angry threats.

Xiang Kuangren explained to Ye Changqing why he had attacked Vice Principal Wei without evidence, arguing that their enemies had used underhanded methods to destroy them and that they should stop relying on gentlemanly rules. Ye Changqing was shaken by his reasoning, and Xiang Kuangren planned to provoke the newly appointed vice principals into revealing themselves.

• Students across Hidden Dragon High Martial discussed Xiang Kuangren’s fight with Vice Principal Wei and marveled at his fierce, unreasonable conduct.
• Ye Changqing questioned Xiang Kuangren about attacking Wei without evidence.
• Xiang Kuangren argued that the Witch Alliance had framed and ruined their allies through covert methods, and that insisting on evidence had prevented them from taking revenge.
• Ye Changqing admitted Xiang Kuangren was right but asked how they could identify their enemies.
• Xiang Kuangren said he would beat the vice principals who had filled the vacancies until they came after him and exposed themselves.

Ye Changqing reflected on Xiang Kuangren’s determination to uncover the truth, while Zuo Xiaoduo continued training under Wen Xingtian’s watch. Wen discovered Zuo’s thirty-thousand-jin arm weights and set him a new training goal.

• Xiang Kuangren told Ye Changqing he would risk his life to answer his sworn brothers and urged him to heal his heart meridians soon.
• After Xiang Kuangren left, Ye Changqing reconsidered Zuo Xiaoduo’s physiognomy and said that things had to change.
• During training, Zuo Xiaoduo planned to replenish his Star Soul Jade and Dragon Blood Flying Knife and gather more resources.
• Wen Xingtian inspected Zuo Xiaoduo’s armguards and learned that each concealed a Gravity Space and weighed thirty thousand jin.
• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to return when he could move effortlessly in the weights, promising to give him something even heavier.

Wen Xingtian put Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong through exhausting evening training, sparring with them to improve their combat skills. He decided to return regularly to train Zuo Xiaoduo and assign evening homework to the other students.

• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to wait at home because he planned to make a home visit.
• Wen Xingtian trained Zuo Xiaoduo with his hammers for three grueling hours, pushing him until he collapsed from exhaustion.
• Wen Xingtian checked Zuo Xiaoduo's meridians and said he would return the next night, then went downstairs to train Li Chenglong.
• Wen Xingtian left Li Chenglong asleep from exhaustion and decided to supervise evening training for the other students as well.

After enduring an exhausting training session with Wen Xingtian, Zuo Xiaoduo called Fang Yinuo to discuss his preparations in Fenghai. Fang Yinuo had opened a lingerie shop across from Hidden Dragon High Martial and promised to arrange a private meeting place and obtain upper-grade star soul jade.

• Zuo Xiaoduo woke before dawn, recovered by circulating his energy, and dreaded another training session with Wen Xingtian.
• Zuo Xiaoduo called Fang Yinuo, who explained that he had opened a women's lingerie shop opposite Hidden Dragon High Martial.
• Zuo Xiaoduo complained that visiting the lingerie shop regularly would draw attention, so Fang Yinuo offered to take over the neighboring storefront and add a café with private rooms.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Fang Yinuo not to cause the neighboring shop's owner to lose money, then asked him to obtain upper-grade star soul jade.
• Fang Yinuo agreed to get the jade, and Zuo Xiaoduo said he wanted as much as possible.