Chapter Summaries

Zuo Xiaoduo examined Vice Principal Gao’s unhealing wound as Ye Changqing challenged the Gao Lineage over its accusations against the Xiang Family. Zuo concluded that someone had manipulated the Gao Lineage’s Feng Shui, leaving the entire lineage at risk of destruction.

• Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong greeted Gao Shimu as their teacher’s wife, then entered the chamber where Vice Principal Gao lay unconscious in a Nutrient Pod.
• Gao Shimu identified the wound’s force as Overlord Force and suggested the Xiang Family was responsible.
• Ye Changqing warned that many lineages could wield similar force and pointed out that Xiang Kuangren had already proven his innocence.
• A young Gao Lineage member vowed to investigate the other suspected lineages, but Gao Shimu silenced him and apologized to Ye Changqing.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said the Gao Lineage had been set up and warned that someone had trapped its Feng Shui, potentially putting the entire lineage in danger.

Zuo Xiaoduo questioned the Feng Shui of the Gao Lineage’s residence and summoned Master Pang to verify his concerns. After exposing a flaw in the pond’s placement, he challenged the wisdom behind the fix that Principal Gao and Master Pang had used.

• Madam Gao dismissed the younger generation and their wives, then allowed the second generation to remain while warning them to stay quiet.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether the Gao household employed a Qi-Reading Adept, and Madam Gao summoned Master Pang.
• Master Pang defended his Feng Shui arrangements and said he and Principal Gao had placed a Sun-Moon Stone north of the pond to suppress the terrain.
• Zuo Xiaoduo pointed out that the pond sat in a direction where the original terrain was not low and asked whether digging the pit had created a new problem.

Zuo Xiaoduo exposed serious flaws in Master Pang’s feng shui arrangement, convincing him that the Gao family had been trapped by its own design for eighteen years. Madam Gao revealed that an ancestral tablet’s divided spirit and an heirloom jade ruyi had helped suppress the backlash, leaving the source and extent of the danger unresolved.

• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the Sun-Moon Stone and the constructed Sun Moon Pass opposed the terrain instead of suppressing it, and Master Pang admitted the stone had blood on it.
• Master Pang said Principal Gao had bought the stone from a master who claimed to have performed rites over it, but he knew nothing about whose blood it bore or where it came from.
• Zuo Xiaoduo challenged Master Pang’s claims about the Dragon-Controlling Pool and asked whom the heroic souls were protecting; Master Pang admitted they were protecting the pool.
• Zuo Xiaoduo used the spirit ginseng’s age to establish that the pool had been dug eighteen years earlier, not seventeen, and said the Gao Lineage had been trapped in a pit since then.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked whether anything in the house had anchored the family’s fortune, and Madam Gao revealed that a divided spirit of the ancestral tablet and an ancestral jade ruyi had received offerings there.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained that Vice Principal Gao’s Feng Shui troubles stemmed largely from his own actions and identified the Sun-Moon Stone and Hidden Dragon Pool as part of the problem. He refused to intervene further, leaving the Gao Lineage to rely on Master Pang to undo the formation.

• Zuo Xiaoduo said Gao Shimu’s years of offering incense had helped preserve the Gao Lineage’s peace and stability.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the Hidden Dragon Pool contained Vice Principal Gao’s belongings and that the household’s Feng Shui had been disrupted by the Sun-Moon Stone and other deliberate arrangements.
• Zuo Xiaoduo dismissed Master Pang, warning him that his future with the Gao Lineage depended on surviving the ordeal and explaining that Vice Principal Gao bore much of the blame.
• Madam Gao accepted that Master Pang would be needed to repair the Feng Shui formation, while Zuo Xiaoduo refused to take on its karmic burden.

Zuo Xiaoduo warned Madam Gao that the Gao Lineage’s weakening fortune foretold more deaths and that Principal Gao might still be targeted before he woke. His warning proved immediate when three young members of the Gao Lineage were brought back dead.

• Madam Gao thanked Ye Changqing for setting aside past grievances and asked Zuo Xiaoduo how to resolve the Gao Lineage’s predicament.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the Hidden Dragon Pool and Sun-Moon Stone formed a dangerous scheme that was draining the Gao Lineage’s fortune and could bring sudden deaths.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Principal Gao would likely wake in seven days to half a month, warned that he might have been used in a plot against Vice Principal Xiang, and urged the Gao Lineage to stay home and guard Principal Gao.
• A servant reported that the thirty-fifth young master, the thirty-ninth, and Young Master Pingyun had all died, and Madam Gao recalled Zuo Xiaoduo’s warning.

Madam Gao learned that three Gao Lineage young masters had been killed and tightened security while seeking Zuo Xiaoduo’s advice. After the Gao Lineage rewarded Zuo Xiaoduo, Ye Changqing, and Li Chenglong, the three returned to the villa, where Ye Changqing asked what they thought of the lineage and the crisis.

• Madam Gao ordered the Gao Lineage members confined to the old residence after hearing that three young masters had been killed at First Splendor.
• A wounded witness said two outsiders had killed the three young masters and beaten the others before escaping.
• Madam Gao ordered the lineage’s absent members to return and asked Zuo Xiaoduo for guidance; he advised her to hold her ground and await reliable reinforcements.
• Madam Gao gave Ye Changqing, Zuo Xiaoduo, and Li Chenglong valuable gifts for their help.
• At Zuo Xiaoduo’s villa, Ye Changqing asked Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong what they made of the Gao Lineage and its troubles.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained that Gao Zhiyun’s family had avoided ruin because his wife’s good fortune and the Ximen Lineage’s fortune protected him. The discussion left off with Zuo Xiaoduo wondering how Gao Zhiyun had dared to take so many concubines despite marrying a daughter of the Ximen Lineage.

• Li Chenglong asked Zuo Xiaoduo to share his findings first so he could analyze them more deeply.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Gao Zhiyun was fortunate because his wife’s lineage had helped avert the calamity threatening the Gao Lineage.
• Ye Changqing explained that Madam Gao was a daughter of the legitimate line of the Ximen Lineage and recalled a teasing poem about the lineage having many daughters.
• Ye Changqing mentioned that the Sky-Patrolling Imperial Seat had added a line to the poem, then refused to reveal what it said.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Gao Zhiyun’s wife and her lineage’s fortune had kept his household from ruin, despite his injuries and dwindling luck.
• Zuo Xiaoduo wondered how Gao Zhiyun had dared to take so many concubines after marrying a daughter of the Ximen Lineage.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained that Vice Principal Gao had been injured while serving as a pawn in a scheme to frame Vice Principal Xiang, and that the Gao Lineage’s Feng Shui formation concealed a sophisticated trap. He concluded that the lineage had no intention of betraying Star Soul, though its fortunes were entangled in someone else’s design.

• Zuo Xiaoduo explained how Vice Principal Gao had lost favorable timing, terrain, and human support, while his virtuous wife helped preserve a chance of survival for him and the Gao Lineage.
• Zuo Xiaoduo confirmed that Vice Principal Gao’s injuries were genuine and that his attackers had intended to kill him as part of a scheme.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Vice Principal Gao had conspired with someone without realizing he was a disposable pawn in a plan to bring down Vice Principal Xiang.
• Li Chenglong identified two possible hidden hands behind the plot: the Feng Shui Master from eighteen years ago and the person who arranged the trap.
• Zuo Xiaoduo judged that Vice Principal Gao and the Gao Lineage sought greater influence, but that the lineage’s Feng Shui formation was a sophisticated trap rather than evidence of treason.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained how the Feng Shui Formation was draining Gao Zhiyun’s family’s fortune by turning its actions against Star Soul Humans, and warned that Vice Principal Gao could still avert disaster by destroying it. He then argued that the Star Soul, Witch Alliance, and Dao Alliance continents had developed separate Heavenly Dao fortunes, leaving Ye Changqing and Li Chenglong puzzling over how returning continents could reunite with the Star Soul Continent.

• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the Feng Shui Formation made the Gao Lineage’s actions harm Star Soul Humans, even when they meant to help Hidden Dragon.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said the formation was consuming Gao Zhiyun’s family fortune and Madam Gao’s Ximen Lineage fortune, and that Vice Principal Gao might survive if he broke the formation.
• Zuo Xiaoduo clarified that his warning concerned Gao Zhiyun’s branch, not the Gao Lineages of Fenghai City or the Upper Capital.
• Ye Changqing asked whether differing fortunes meant there were multiple Heavenly Daos, and Zuo Xiaoduo answered that different continents could have their own.
• Zuo Xiaoduo used an earthworm analogy to explain how the Star Soul Continent and the separated continents had each developed separately, then asked whether returning continents could be the same as the original.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained that the three continents’ Heavenly Daos were fighting through human wars to devour one another’s fortune, and predicted that conflict would continue until the continents were unified. Ye Changqing confirmed that Hidden Dragon High Martial was being used to lure out its enemies, leaving the school to endure heavy losses while he held on.

• Zuo Xiaoduo compared the three continents to separate earthworm segments and said their Heavenly Daos used war to seize one another’s fortune.
• Zuo Xiaoduo predicted that the conflict could last for ages, that other continents would return, and that the nine continents would eventually unify.
• Li Chenglong teased Zuo Xiaoduo for talking about descendants despite not having a wife, and Zuo Xiaoduo privately thought the joke was absurd.
• Zuo Xiaoduo accused Ye Changqing of hiding the truth about Hidden Dragon High Martial’s danger, and Ye Changqing admitted the school was being used to draw enemies out.
• Ye Changqing said Hidden Dragon High Martial would have to make great sacrifices, that a successor had been chosen to replace him, and that similar incidents had happened at Cloud High Martial and other institutions.

Ye Changqing explained why he was waiting to expose the enemy at Hidden Dragon High Martial and why Fenghai City attracted few powerful Qi-Reading Adepts. He also clarified that the city could nurture talented people but could not produce true dragon geniuses, leaving Zuo Xiaoduo to consider the value of the Top-Grade Star Soul Jade he had given Ye Changqing.

• Ye Changqing said he would wait for the enemy to reveal a major target rather than remove a few vice principals, and named Gu Qianfan as the intended replacement principal.
• Ye Changqing explained that Top-Grade Star Soul Jade could help a cultivator break through above Guixuan, while Zuo Xiaoduo insisted Ye Changqing must not give away the jade he had received.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked why Fenghai City had so few Qi-Reading Adepts, and Ye Changqing said its eight dragon veins had departed and could not reform for tens of thousands of years.
• Ye Changqing explained that Fenghai's lingering fortune could nurture many talents, but Hidden Dragon High Martial's students would have to leave the city to encounter opportunities and become dragons.

Ye Changqing explained why Fenghai had few powerful Qi-Reading Adepts, while Li Chenglong used Zuo Xiaoduo’s insights to analyze how internal struggles among Star Soul’s great lineages gave the Witch Alliance room to act. Li Chenglong began explaining how the Cloud End Lineages’ rivalry arose and why it was a survival struggle.

• Ye Changqing told Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong that the Upper Capital and Guandong had the densest dragon veins, while Fenghai lacked the powerful Qi-Reading Adepts Zuo Xiaoduo sought.
• Zuo Xiaoduo wondered how Fenghai could have no dragon veins when a little dragon had come from there.
• Li Chenglong sketched and reasoned through the situation, then argued that the Witch Alliance’s conspiracy depended on powerful lineages fighting among themselves and neglecting the nation’s peril.
• Ye Changqing agreed that internal disorder gave foreign enemies opportunities to exploit.
• Li Chenglong explained that the Cloud End Lineages had once earned their standing through contributions, but generations of competition had made rivalry necessary for their survival.

Li Chenglong explained how rival lineages, Hidden Dragon’s forces, and the Witch Alliance became entangled in a struggle over positions and influence, then assessed the plots surrounding Vice Principal Gao’s attack. He concluded that Gao’s survival would suggest he had been manipulated rather than knowingly conspired, while the feng-shui adviser would likely disappear before Gao could find him.

• Li Chenglong described how powerful lineages sought positions at Hidden Dragon and how their maneuvering intertwined with the Witch Alliance’s interference.
• Li Chenglong said Vice Principal Xiang’s return and aggressive push to remove the other vice principals had intensified the conflict.
• Li Chenglong proposed that Vice Principal Gao either conspired against Vice Principal Xiang and was betrayed, or was manipulated by others using an impersonator.
• Li Chenglong reasoned that if Vice Principal Gao woke safely, it would indicate that he had not known about the plot and had merely played along for personal advantage.
• Li Chenglong identified the Qi-Reading Adept who advised Gao’s household as another likely target, but predicted that the man would vanish before Gao could find him.

Li Chenglong and Ye Changqing decided to wait for Vice Principal Gao to wake and for Minister Nan’s investigation to reveal who had arranged the attack. Meanwhile, the Gao Lineage suffered a succession of deaths and business disasters despite changing its feng shui, and Madam Gao told the family that their own reckless actions had brought the misfortune.

• Li Chenglong reasoned that the people behind Lei Datou’s operation feared exposure, so the group should wait and watch the lineages involved for further moves.
• Ye Changqing said Minister Nan was secretly investigating, but warned that confronting powerful lineages would be difficult because of their extensive connections.
• Madam Gao and Master Pang dismantled the Dragon-Controlling Pool, buried the Sun-Moon Stone with blood from Vice Principal Gao’s sons, and erected a stele bearing the Gao ancestor’s patriotic instructions.
• Over the following days, Gao descendants died in fights, accidents, and an encounter with an expert, while the lineage’s businesses faced financial and legal crises.
• The Gao Lineage’s advisers concluded that many disasters stemmed from its own members provoking trouble, and Madam Gao announced that no enemy had targeted them and that they had brought the misfortune upon themselves.

Madam Gao confronted the Gao Lineage’s complacency and ordered its men to reflect on their conduct after their relatives died in the rear rather than fighting at Sun Moon Pass. Though Vice Principal Gao awakened, she recognized that the lineage faced ruin unless he made major changes, while Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong kept to their school-and-home routine.

• Madam Gao compared the Gao Lineage’s many surviving men with other families’ losses at Sun Moon Pass and condemned their deaths in nightclubs, gambling dens, and drinking establishments.
• Madam Gao rebuked her eldest grandson for demanding revenge and ordered every male in the family to kneel before the Ancestral Instructions Stele.
• Madam Gao blamed the women of the household for spoiling the men and threatened Second Madam with expulsion once Old Gao recovered.
• Vice Principal Gao woke in his Nutrient Pod, but Madam Gao told the household to leave him to recover and sent everyone to the Ancestral Instructions Stele.
• Madam Gao realized that the Gao Lineage’s accumulated problems could lead to its destruction if Old Gao failed to make substantial changes.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong mostly went between school and home, with Zuo Xiaoduo occasionally visiting Grandma Shi for lunch.

Li Chenglong broke through to the Embryonic Breath Realm but was easily defeated by Zuo Xiaoduo, who planned to break through himself the following night. While cultivating in the Annihilation Sky Pagoda, Zuo Xiaoduo discovered that his discarded Star Soul Jade powder had vanished and faint green growth had appeared on the ground.

• Li Chenglong officially broke through to the Embryonic Breath Realm after days of cultivation.
• Li Chenglong challenged Zuo Xiaoduo and was swiftly beaten despite his new strength.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said he would suppress his cultivation once more and break through the following night.
• Zuo Xiaoduo noticed that the Star Soul Jade powder he had discarded inside the Annihilation Sky Pagoda had disappeared.
• Zuo Xiaoduo found soft ground and faint green specks where the powder had accumulated.

Zuo Xiaoduo discovered that Star Soul Jade powder turned into soil inside the Annihilation Sky Pagoda, while intact jade did not, and realized plants could grow there. He arranged to collect Hidden Dragon High Martial's discarded cultivation powder so he could keep testing the space.

• Zuo Xiaoduo saw that grass seeds had sprouted in the Annihilation Sky Pagoda after Star Soul Jade powder accumulated inside it.
• Zuo Xiaoduo placed two thousand pieces of upper-grade Star Soul Jade in the space and found them unchanged the next morning, while the powder had become soil.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked Xiang Chong, Xiang Bing, and others how cultivators disposed of Star Soul Jade powder and learned the school collected it as trash.
• Zuo Xiaoduo approached the foreman responsible for Hidden Dragon High Martial's trash collection and asked to take all the discarded cultivation powder.
• The business owner agreed to give Zuo Xiaoduo the powder, which had little recycling value.

Zuo Xiaoduo arranged to collect star soul jade powder for the Annihilation Sky Pagoda and spent the night inside it before his planned breakthrough. In a dream, Little Dragon claimed it had used Earth Dragon Qi from the Dragon Vein in East Four to transform the pagoda’s space.

• Zuo Xiaoduo discovered that the city dumped star soul jade powder into a sinkhole, so he paid a scrap-shop owner to collect it from depots instead.
• Zuo Xiaoduo put three truckloads of star soul jade powder into the Annihilation Sky Pagoda and scattered it across the space.
• Zuo Xiaoduo went to sleep inside the pagoda to rest before suppressing his cultivation one last time and breaking through to the Embryonic Breathing Realm.
• Little Dragon appeared in Zuo Xiaoduo’s dream and said it had transformed the space by channeling the remaining Earth Dragon Qi from the Dragon Vein in East Four into it.

Zuo Xiaoduo learned that the little dragon had guided earth dragon qi into the Annihilation Sky Pagoda and knew where valuable mineral deposits were. Their attempt to negotiate a share of the treasure ended with the little dragon demanding proof of Zuo Xiaoduo’s sincerity.

• The little dragon claimed it had guided earth dragon qi into the Annihilation Sky Pagoda, and Zuo Xiaoduo challenged its claim to the increase in vitality.
• Zuo Xiaoduo asked the little dragon for treasures and learned that it knew where large deposits of Top-Grade Star Soul Jade were but could not retrieve them.
• The little dragon admitted that its glittering mountain of gold had been imaginary, leaving Zuo Xiaoduo to mock its lack of possessions.
• Zuo Xiaoduo offered to dig up the minerals and share something in return, but the little dragon demanded an advance drop because it suspected him of scheming.

After four Fortune Points expanded his meridians and Dantian, Zuo Xiaoduo broke through into the Embryonic Breath Realm. Ye Changqing watched as the breakthrough produced a vast patch of lotus leaves and rising flower buds above Zuo Xiaoduo’s head.

• In a dream, Little Dragon bargained with Zuo Xiaoduo over leading him to black stones, but Zuo Xiaoduo woke before they reached an agreement.
• Four Fortune Points descended, and Zuo Xiaoduo realized that his readings for the Gao Lineage had come true and Vice Principal Gao had likely acknowledged them.
• Zuo Xiaoduo compressed his innate true qi once more, walked the Thorny Road an additional time, and began breaking through at five thirty in the morning.
• Zuo Xiaoduo’s surging spiritual qi broke through the Embryonic Breath barrier, cleansing his meridians and marrow as black impurities left his body.
• Mist gathered above Zuo Xiaoduo and formed a huge patch of lotus leaves, followed by growing stems and flower buds, leaving Ye Changqing astonished.