Chapter Summaries

Zuo Xiaoduo warned Fang Yinuo that someone was watching him, easing his unease and helping him avoid danger. At school, Xiang Kuangren learned from Wen Xingtian that Vice Principal Wei was formidable, then resolved to face the powerful families he had been provoking.

• Zuo Xiaoduo told Fang Yinuo that someone might be watching him, and Fang Yinuo realized his recent unease had a cause.
• Zuo Xiaoduo trained, bought supplies and prepared meals, then headed to Grandma Shi's courtyard.
• Xiang Kuangren questioned Wen Xingtian about his distracted mood, but Wen Xingtian refused to reveal whom he had noticed.
• Wen Xingtian warned Xiang Kuangren that Vice Principal Wei might match him in cultivation and combat strength.
• Xiang Kuangren reflected that his return had threatened the Wu, Lü, Gao, and other families, and waited for them to make their move.

Zuo Xiaoduo visited Grandma Shi repeatedly, sharing quiet meals with her and bringing some warmth to her lonely courtyard. He told her he would be away for a new-student trial, then stopped when he spotted two people painting slogans on the main street.

• Zuo Xiaoduo brought food and liquor to Grandma Shi and shared a quiet meal, raising a toast to Principal Shi’s portrait.
• Zuo Xiaoduo visited Grandma Shi over the next five days, changing his appearance whenever he entered or left the courtyard.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Grandma Shi that a school trial would take him out of the city for the next two days, and she replied, “All right.”
• Zuo Xiaoduo left the alley and stopped when he saw two people painting slogans on the main street.

Zuo Xiaoduo stopped two men from painting abusive slogans aimed at Grandma Shi and learned that Director Sun had ordered them. He destroyed the remaining slogans and confronted Director Sun at home, demanding payment for a supposed debt.

• Zuo Xiaoduo found two ordinary men painting insults about Grandma Shi and forced them to reveal that Director Sun had sent them.
• Zuo Xiaoduo warned the men to stop, then removed slogans painted elsewhere in the neighborhood.
• Zuo Xiaoduo went to Director Sun’s home, kicked in the door, and demanded payment for a supposed debt involving a girl at Glorious Heaven.

Zuo Xiaoduo confronted Director Sun and learned that someone had paid him to paint insulting slogans targeting Grandma Shi for thirteen years. He seized the family’s valuables and followed the trail of disposable phone numbers, four of which led to the Upper Capital.

• Zuo Xiaoduo broke into Director Sun’s home, threatened him, and demanded to know who had ordered the slogans.
• Director Sun admitted that a tall, thin stranger had paid him ten thousand Star Origin Coins a year to paint at least fifty slogans insulting Grandma Shi.
• Zuo Xiaoduo learned Director Sun knew the slogans could drive Grandma Shi to her death but had continued for the money, and he forced him to promise to stop.
• Zuo Xiaoduo took the valuables, furniture, appliances, and savings from Director Sun’s home despite his pleas.
• Zuo Xiaoduo examined the five disposable phone numbers and found that four were from the Upper Capital, leaving him unsure whether the trail was genuine or a diversion.

Zuo Xiaoduo reflected on the power of public opinion after seeing the damage done to Grandma Shi and decided to build an organization to influence it. As the Star Beast trial approached, he received his mission tracker and discussed cheating with Li Chenglong before Wen Xingtian caught him blaming Li Chenglong for the idea.

• Zuo Xiaoduo saw the scraped wall and paint near Grandma Shi's home and resolved to use public opinion as a weapon.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Fang Yinuo to fund an organization that could influence online public opinion.
• Zuo Xiaoduo practiced with his hammers and absorbed upper-grade star soul jade until he neared the point where he would need to suppress his cultivation.
• Li Chenglong returned with Zuo Xiaoduo's trial badge and explained how Star Beast kills would be recorded and ranked.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether he could rob other contestants, and Li Chenglong warned him that teachers might catch him.
• Wen Xingtian entered and flicked Zuo Xiaoduo on the head after hearing him blame Li Chenglong for the crooked scheme.

Zuo Xiaoduo continued compressing his cultivation while Wen Xingtian pushed him through a punishing workout, and he asked Li Chenglong to investigate clues connected to the plot against Principal Shi. The next morning, Zuo Xiaoduo dragged Li Chenglong out of bed so they could leave for school together.

• Zuo Xiaoduo told Wen Xingtian that he was about to begin his ninth compression, while Li Chenglong said he had started compressing too.
• Wen Xingtian relentlessly pressured Zuo Xiaoduo in training for an hour before leaving to check on the other students.
• Zuo Xiaoduo gave Li Chenglong five abandoned phone numbers and a bank account to investigate as possible clues in the plot against Principal Shi.
• Zuo Xiaoduo offered Li Chenglong a thousand pieces of upper-grade star soul jade as a loan, and Li Chenglong began searching online for information about the numbers.
• Zuo Xiaoduo began his ninth cultivation compression, enduring the pain as he hoped to break through to embryonic breathing.
• The next morning, Zuo Xiaoduo hauled Li Chenglong out of bed so they could set out for school.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong investigated the false leads in the case against Shi Yunfeng, concluding that the people behind it were likely from Upper Capital. Before Class One set out for its trial, Zuo Xiaoduo warned the students to perform well and threatened to reclaim their cafeteria table if they let the class down.

• Zuo Xiaoduo dismissed the little dragon from his dreams whenever it came to beg for Fortune Points.
• Li Chenglong reported that the discarded phone numbers and bank accounts used in the scheme belonged to ordinary people, and he estimated the perpetrators were more than sixty percent likely to be from Upper Capital.
• Zuo Xiaoduo gave Li Chenglong Director Sun's phone numbers and told him to monitor them secretly.
• At five in the morning, Wen Xingtian gathered Class One and prepared to lead the students out for their trial.
• Zuo Xiaoduo addressed the class as its monitor and warned that anyone who dragged the class down would lose their cafeteria table to him.

Zuo Xiaoduo demanded that Class One sweep the trial’s top thirty-six places and handed each student an envelope containing a fortune-based strategy. Wen Xingtian led the class toward the trial grounds, while Li Chenglong urged the others to take Zuo Xiaoduo’s advice seriously.

• Zuo Xiaoduo challenged Class One to claim the top thirty-six places, threatening those who fell short with a month of washing their classmates’ socks.
• Zuo Xiaoduo gave all thirty-five classmates envelopes containing strategies he claimed to have divined for them, then tried to charge for his advice.
• Wen Xingtian kicked Zuo Xiaoduo and ordered the class to move out.
• Class One set out for the trial grounds alongside the other twenty-three freshman classes of Hidden Dragon High Martial.
• Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing questioned Li Chenglong about keeping his envelope, and he defended Zuo Xiaoduo’s advice.

Li Chenglong convinced Xiang Bing, Xiang Chong, and other students that Zuo Xiaoduo’s divinations were valuable, then continued praising him as the group traveled out of the city for their trial. Wen Xingtian led them through the morning fog, where Zuo Xiaoduo’s grandiose performance ended in a sharp rebuke, and the chapter closed with an account of Wen Xingtian and Zhan Xiaofei’s past attack on a criminal gang.

• Li Chenglong told Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong that Zuo Xiaoduo’s divinations had earned wealthy clients’ fees, prompting several students to rush back for envelopes they had discarded.
• Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong secured their envelopes in their Space Rings as Li Chenglong recounted Zuo Xiaoduo’s exploits and urged the students to seek his guidance.
• Wen Xingtian led the students into the fog while Zuo Xiaoduo adopted an immortal’s bearing and recited a boastful verse advertising his divination services.
• Wen Xingtian coughed, dropped through the air, and ordered Zuo Xiaoduo to shut up, while Zuo Xiaoduo continued flying in silence.
• The narration recalled how Wen Xingtian and Zhan Xiaofei had once investigated and destroyed a criminal gang after one of its members insulted Hidden Dragon High Martial.

Hidden Dragon High Martial’s students began a three-day trial outside Fenghai City, where their kills would earn points and school credits. After seeing a sudden deadly omen over Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing, Zuo Xiaoduo ordered the siblings to split up and meet him, warning them to obey him.

• Wen Xingtian explained the trial’s rules, including the three-day limit, the ban on harming fellow students, and the need to earn enough credits for upcoming expenses.
• Xiang Kuangren gathered the students to begin the trial outside Fenghai City.
• Zuo Xiaoduo saw black qi above Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing, signaling a grave danger that had not been present earlier.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Li Chenglong what the siblings had said and learned they planned to follow the instructions in their brocade pouches.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing to split up after leaving the city and meet him at a specified location, warning them about Vice Principal Cheng’s family.

Zuo Xiaoduo warned Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing that someone planned to attack them during the Trial to strike at their great-grandfather, and he arranged for them to meet him after leaving the city. He secretly informed Wen Xingtian, who agreed to stay calm and help avoid alerting the attackers while they tried to capture someone alive.

• Zuo Xiaoduo saw ominous changes in Xiang Chong's and Xiang Bing's physiognomies and warned them that enemies might target them during the individual Trial.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing to split up after leaving the city and meet him at eleven o'clock, while keeping their expressions natural.
• Zuo Xiaoduo pulled Wen Xingtian aside and asked him to create a Barrier so he could explain the danger privately.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Wen Xingtian that an attack on Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing might repeat the methods used against Vice Principal Cheng's family.
• Wen Xingtian controlled his anger and agreed not to act rashly, while Zuo Xiaoduo hoped they could capture one of the attackers alive.

Zuo Xiaoduo arranged an emergency contact with Wen Xingtian, who warned Xiang Kuangren to stay outside the trial area. During the trial, Zuo Xiaoduo swept through the area hunting Star Beasts and shot to first place on the points leaderboard.

• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Wen Xingtian for an instant way to contact him, and Wen Xingtian bound his soul power to a piece of star soul jade.
• Wen Xingtian told Zuo Xiaoduo to keep his ability secret and warned Xiang Kuangren not to enter the trial area.
• Xiang Kuangren waited outside the barrier, suspecting that Wen Xingtian had discovered a danger involving his great-grandchildren.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and his classmates scattered into the trial area, while Zuo Xiaoduo hunted Embryonic Breath Realm Star Beasts with his Little Gourds.
• Zuo Xiaoduo collected seventeen Star Beasts and cleared them from a wide stretch of territory, earning over seven hundred points and taking first place.

Zuo Xiaoduo swept through the trial grounds, collecting Star Beasts so quickly that students behind him found their routes stripped clean. After racking up a huge lead, he entered the territory of Dan Origin Realm Star Beasts and found a valuable python colony.

• A teacher monitoring the trial marveled at Zuo Xiaoduo’s rapidly rising Star Beast tally, while students on his route found nothing and realized he had cleared the area ahead of them.
• The students identified Zuo Xiaoduo as the Sword King, changed routes, and complained that his sweep had cost them an hour.
• Zuo Xiaoduo cleared Embryonic Breath Realm Star Beasts across a three-hundred-li stretch and ranged into other students’ areas to collect more.
• The monitoring room saw Xiang Chong reach 327 Star Beasts, while Zuo Xiaoduo’s tally climbed past 9,500.
• Zuo Xiaoduo entered Dan Origin Realm territory, killed three giant pythons with the Dragon Blood Flying Knife, then recognized the python colony as a source of valuable meat and skins.

Zuo Xiaoduo slaughtered and collected the snakes and other Star Beasts in his path before meeting Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing. The three shared food and liquor on a hill, while five hidden people watched and worried about the unexpected newcomer.

• Zuo Xiaoduo killed more than five hundred giant pythons, pursued their two snake kings, and collected them for their valuable skins.
• Zuo Xiaoduo searched the area for an hour, then hurried toward eleven o'clock while gathering every Star Beast along the way.
• Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing met up and advanced separately, using their Overlord Halberds to fight Star Beasts.
• Zuo Xiaoduo came upon Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing on a hillside, surprising five people hiding in nearby bushes and pits.
• Zuo Xiaoduo, Xiang Chong, and Xiang Bing spread out food and drank liquor while the five hidden people watched.

Zuo Xiaoduo, Xiang Chong, and Xiang Bing rested on a hill before planning to hunt dan origin realm Star Beasts, while five hidden attackers waited in a pit below. After the trio left, the five decided to begin their operation around ten that night.

• Zuo Xiaoduo and Xiang Chong compared their Star Beast tallies with Xiang Bing and agreed that hunting embryonic breath realm beasts had become less worthwhile.
• Zuo Xiaoduo planned for the trio to enter dan origin realm territory together, with Xiang Bing between him and Xiang Chong for protection.
• The five attackers overheard the plan and stayed concealed in the pit while the trio rested on the hillside for seven hours.
• Zuo Xiaoduo led Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing off the hill toward the dan origin realm hunting grounds.
• After waiting for the trio to leave, the five Hidden Dragon High Martial students decided to rest and begin their operation around ten that night.

Zuo Xiaoduo traveled deeper into the trial grounds with Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing, hiding how capable he was while the siblings fought increasingly dangerous Star Beasts. Meanwhile, five attackers prepared to ambush them at two in the morning, and the chapter ended with Xiang Chong asking the time.

• Five attackers planned to ambush Zuo Xiaoduo, Xiang Chong, and Xiang Bing at two in the morning, with the boss assigning targets and promising each man an equal share of the payment.
• The attackers discussed their escape plan: they would leave Fenghai, hide under new identities, and wait for the money to arrive.
• Staff in Hidden Dragon High Martial's monitoring room noticed Zuo Xiaoduo's gains had slowed and considered alerting Teacher Wen Xingtian if his progress continued to decline.
• Zuo Xiaoduo, Xiang Chong, and Xiang Bing ventured deeper, where the Star Beasts were too strong for the siblings to handle easily without injury.
• Zuo Xiaoduo pretended to be exhausted and called for help while the three fought their way onward, and Xiang Chong eventually asked what time it was.

Zuo Xiaoduo anticipated an attack on the trial grounds and drew close to Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong while waiting for the assailants. When two attackers ambushed him after midnight, he countered with his hammers, captured one, and incapacitated the other.

• Xiang Bing encouraged Xiang Chong to keep gathering credits as they aimed for a top-three ranking.
• Zuo Xiaoduo reasoned that an enemy would likely strike between midnight and three in the morning, when students were exhausted and less alert.
• At around one thirty, Zuo Xiaoduo noticed signs that someone had approached and pretended to mistake the attackers for Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong.
• Two attackers with middle-stage Core Origin Realm cultivation launched a surprise sword attack on Zuo Xiaoduo.
• Zuo Xiaoduo blocked them with his hammers, sent one attacker into the Annihilation Sky Pagoda, and knocked the other unconscious.

Zuo Xiaoduo fought off the attackers, captured two alive, and rushed to save Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing. He arrived just as Xiang Chong collapsed, then launched a full-strength hammer assault against the two men surrounding him while Wen Xingtian raced toward the scene.

• Zuo Xiaoduo knocked an attacker unconscious and stored him in the Annihilation Sky Pagoda, where he also knocked out the first man to keep him alive.
• Zuo Xiaoduo saw a man in black carrying off Xiang Bing and crushed the star soul jade Wen Xingtian had given him.
• Wen Xingtian sped toward the battle, while two attackers gravely wounded Xiang Chong.
• Zuo Xiaoduo reached Xiang Chong, who told him to save Xiang Bing before fainting.
• Zuo Xiaoduo blocked the attackers' swords with his hammers and battered them with a series of powerful blows.

Zuo Xiaoduo and Wen Xingtian rescued Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing from the attackers, capturing one enemy alive while the others died. Wen Xingtian treated the siblings and ordered them to withdraw from the trial so the enemy would not learn that their plan had failed.

• Zuo Xiaoduo defeated the two men attacking Xiang Chong and rushed to rescue Xiang Bing.
• Wen Xingtian arrived, took Xiang Bing from the last attacker, and knocked the man unconscious before securing him alive.
• Wen Xingtian checked Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong, revived them, and treated Xiang Chong's injuries.
• Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong thanked Wen Xingtian, but he reminded them that Zuo Xiaoduo had saved them.
• Wen Xingtian ordered Xiang Bing and Xiang Chong to withdraw from the trial to keep the enemy unaware that their plan had failed.

Wen Xingtian took Zuo Xiaoduo’s captives and learned that Zuo could recognize anyone facing a great calamity. He returned to Xiang Kuangren with three captives alive and two dead, then revealed that the attackers had planned to do to Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing what had happened to Vice Principal Cheng’s family.

• Wen Xingtian collected Zuo Xiaoduo’s two unconscious captives and used Spring Return Water to keep them alive.
• Zuo Xiaoduo confirmed that face-reading let him identify anyone facing a great calamity, and Wen Xingtian considered how valuable that ability was.
• Wen Xingtian borrowed the Annihilation Sky Pagoda to hide the three living captives and carefully returned to the barrier.
• Xiang Kuangren rushed to meet Wen Xingtian, who showed him the five attackers and stopped him from charging at them.
• Wen Xingtian told Xiang Kuangren that the attackers had intended to repeat the tragedy that befell Vice Principal Cheng’s family, and restrained him when he erupted in anger.