Chapter Summaries

Xiang Chong struggled to get Xiang Bing to accept a share of his commission, while Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong negotiated a cut for the customers Li Chenglong had brought him. The chapter ended with Zuo Xiaoduo realizing Li Chenglong had promoted his services before they agreed on payment and angrily vowing to get even.

• Xiang Bing refused to seek a commission from Li Chenglong and left after Xiang Chong agreed to give her half of his earnings.
• Zuo Xiaoduo left the Gravity Room with Li Chenglong, then hurriedly put on his shirt after a teacher called him out over the school loudspeakers.
• Li Chenglong demanded a commission for the customers he had recruited, and he and Zuo Xiaoduo bargained until they settled on five percent.
• Zuo Xiaoduo carefully checked and signed Li Chenglong's prepared agreement, which required them to settle each transaction separately.
• Li Chenglong explained that he had already promoted Zuo Xiaoduo's services, and Zuo Xiaoduo realized he could have kept all the earnings if he had negotiated sooner.
• Zuo Xiaoduo angrily threatened to remember the deal and get even with Li Chenglong.

Li Chenglong asked Zuo Xiaoduo to use his fortune-reading ability to warn Hidden Dragon High Martial’s seniors before they went to battle, hoping to reduce the school’s heavy losses. Zuo Xiaoduo explained that physiognomy could reveal approaching danger by reading signs of weakening fortune, but the chapter ended before he said how much he could do to help.

• Li Chenglong urged Zuo Xiaoduo to read the seniors’ destinies and warn them of danger before they went to the battlefield.
• Li Chenglong described the school’s fallen students and the records teachers visited in the school history hall.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Li Chenglong that his readings would not work like a protective talisman because Li Chenglong misunderstood the nature of physiognomy, fortune, and fate.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that fortune could decline to a low point and that, for martial artists, fortune could affect life and death.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said physiognomy could use facial features and weakening fortune to detect approaching crises and warn people to avoid them.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained to Li Chenglong how fortune-reading and changing a person’s fate could transfer or delay calamity rather than erase it. He left Li Chenglong considering whether Hidden Dragon High Martial’s remaining misfortune could fall on anyone connected to the school, including its hidden enemies.

• Zuo Xiaoduo distinguished between foretelling danger and giving precise instructions to avoid it, explaining that guidance could make the guide share the person’s karma.
• Zuo Xiaoduo told Li Chenglong that calamity might be delayed or redirected, and that fortune-reading practitioners could suffer backlash for revealing too much.
• Zuo Xiaoduo explained that strong fortune could keep misfortune from falling on someone while putting people close to them at risk.
• Zuo Xiaoduo said Hidden Dragon High Martial’s fortune had helped Xiang Chong and Xiang Bing survive, but its misfortune might still need to manifest through someone at the school.
• Li Chenglong asked whether Vice Principal Wei, Vice Principal Wu, and people hiding within Hidden Dragon High Martial counted as members of the school.

Zuo Xiaoduo explained to Li Chenglong that he would only warn people who sought his guidance themselves, then Little Dragon brought him more earth vein qi and earned a promise of a drop once he assembled a complete vein.

• Zuo Xiaoduo told Li Chenglong that people had to believe him and seek his advice willingly before his warnings could help them.
• Grandma Shi called Zuo Xiaoduo and Li Chenglong to dinner, and they raced outside.
• Little Dragon visited Zuo Xiaoduo in his sleep and offered him earth vein qi, claiming it was half a vein.
• Zuo Xiaoduo caught Little Dragon’s attempt to exaggerate the amount, but accepted the qi and promised him a drop after he brought a complete earth vein.
• Little Dragon gratefully praised Zuo Xiaoduo, who warned him not to try such dishonest tricks again.

Zuo Xiaoduo encouraged Little Dragon to gather Earth Vein Qi from several veins, then planned to study how earth veins could be combined. At school, Xiang Chong paid him fifty pieces of upper-grade star soul jade for a reading, and Zuo asked him to write a character.

• Zuo Xiaoduo advised Little Dragon to take small portions of Earth Vein Qi from multiple earth veins instead of draining one dry.
• Little Dragon left eagerly to gather more Earth Vein Qi, while Zuo Xiaoduo imagined combining many veins and growing spirit medicines in the Annihilation Sky Pagoda.
• Zuo Xiaoduo searched his knowledge for information about merging earth veins and decided to visit Hidden Dragon High Martial's library.
• Xiang Chong stopped Zuo Xiaoduo at the school entrance and gave him fifty pieces of upper-grade star soul jade.
• Zuo Xiaoduo accepted the jade and asked Xiang Chong to write a character for him to read, and Xiang Chong wrote the character for affection.

Zuo Xiaoduo warned Xiang Chong that he faced a romantic calamity and advised him not to fall in love before reaching Guixuan. He then examined Gui Xiaocheng’s recurring dream and revealed that it pointed to a crisis in Gui Xiaocheng’s lineage, leaving Gui Xiaocheng startled by how accurately Zuo Xiaoduo described the situation.

• Zuo Xiaoduo read Xiang Chong’s character for love and warned him of rouge baleful intent, advising him to avoid romance until he reached Guixuan.
• Xiang Bing memorized Zuo Xiaoduo’s warning because she trusted his predictions and worried about her brother.
• Gui Xiaocheng paid Zuo Xiaoduo fifty pieces of upper-grade star soul jade and asked about his repeated dreams of his home’s wall collapsing.
• Zuo Xiaoduo sensed that Gui Xiaocheng’s lineage faced a looming crisis and said he would expect greater payment if it was resolved.
• Zuo Xiaoduo inferred that Gui Xiaocheng’s lineage depended on another lineage whose important patron was about to leave, and Gui Xiaocheng was shocked by his accuracy.

Zuo Xiaoduo gave Gui Xiaocheng advice to protect his family from disaster, then resumed fortune-telling and earned a crowd of paying customers. Meanwhile, Class Three studied recordings of his battles and analyzed his growing strength and adaptable techniques.

• Zuo Xiaoduo advised Gui Xiaocheng to place a Sun Moon Pass Front Stone in the southwest corner of his courtyard and warned him that his family must never waver again.
• Li Chenglong organized a queue and collected fortune-telling fees as more students rushed to sign up.
• Zuo Xiaoduo earned two hundred and fifty pieces of upper-grade star soul jade before class and planned to read fortunes for up to twenty people a day.
• Zuo Xiaoduo wondered why Class Three had not challenged him for a table.
• Class Three's homeroom teacher led the students through three days of battle footage, pointing out Zuo Xiaoduo's increasing strength and varied combat methods.

Zuo Xiaoduo defeated Qu Xiangren with one sword strike, convincing him and Class Three that the gap between them was overwhelming. With Class Two also conceding, anticipation shifted to whether second-year Class One could stop Zuo Xiaoduo’s run.

• Qu Xiangren decided to challenge Zuo Xiaoduo despite his classmates’ warnings, and his friends promised to stand with him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo sent Qu Xiangren thirty meters back with a single sword strike, and Qu Xiangren conceded defeat.
• Qu Xiangren realized Zuo Xiaoduo had mastered the realm of lifting the light as though it were heavy and expressed complete respect.
• Second-year Class Two conceded after learning of Qu Xiangren’s defeat, while students across the second year looked ahead to Class One’s fight.

Tang Qianshou volunteered to challenge Zuo Xiaoduo in hidden weapons and studied the mystery behind Zuo’s technique. Meanwhile, Grandma Shi began teaching Zuo and his classmates through afternoon storytelling, and life at Hidden Dragon High Martial remained peaceful and orderly.

• Tang Qianshou offered to compete with Zuo Xiaoduo in hidden weapons and asked for copies of Zuo’s match videos to study.
• Tang Qianshou concluded that Zuo had activated the hidden weapons during his fight with Xiang Chong using a technique he could not yet understand.
• Zuo Xiaoduo continued his routine of school, fortune-telling, Gravity Room training, and hammer practice in the Annihilation Sky Pagoda.
• Zuo Xiaoduo persuaded Grandma Shi to tell stories, and Xiang Chong, Xiang Bing, Zhen Piaopiao, Yu Yan'er, Meng Changjun, Hao Han, and others joined the afternoon gatherings.
• Grandma Shi began preparing lessons and teaching the students so they would be better equipped to survive future battles.

The Gao Lineage head visited White Cloud Pavilion for guidance after Minister Nan rebuked him. White Cloud Pavilion said the Gao Lineage’s Fortune Eye had been blocked and warned him never to harm others.

• The narration described White Cloud Pavilion’s reputation and his past interventions that helped the Fu, Kong, and Gu Lineages rise.
• The Gao Lineage head visited White Cloud Pavilion, unsure what to do after being berated by Minister Nan.
• White Cloud Pavilion said the Gao Lineage’s Fortune Eye had been blocked and there was nothing to be done about it.
• White Cloud Pavilion warned the Gao Lineage head never to harm others.

White Cloud Pavilion told the Gao Lineage head that his lineage was doomed to fall, then gave him a walnut as an obscure parting message. On the way home, the head began to suspect the walnut held a clue and returned to a fruit stall to investigate.

• White Cloud Pavilion warned the Gao Lineage head that the Gao Lineage's fortune had run out and that its members would die over the next five months.
• After the head pleaded for help, White Cloud Pavilion gave him a walnut, ended their relationship, and refused to explain further.
• The Gao Lineage head left with the walnut and traveled home in disguise, wondering what White Cloud Pavilion meant.
• The head suddenly ordered his taxi to stop, got out, and ran back toward an intersection where a fruit stall was selling walnuts.

The Gao family head asked a fruit vendor how to eat walnuts and took the vendor’s answer as a revelation, rewarding him with a fortune. In the taxi afterward, he interpreted Master Bai’s walnut as a hint that the Gao Lineage should use force to break through obstacles and obtain its desired benefits.

• The Gao family head asked a walnut vendor whether the walnuts were walnuts and how they should be eaten, confusing the vendor and the customers.
• The vendor told the Gao family head to crack the walnuts open, and he suddenly realized how to eat them.
• The Gao family head thanked the vendor by tossing him tens of thousands of Star Origin Coins and left without buying walnuts.
• The stunned vendor offered the fruit for free, then ran off with the money.
• In the taxi, the Gao family head decided Master Bai’s walnut was a reminder that the Gao Lineage needed to break through its obstacles with force.

The Gao patriarch decided that the Gao Lineage should use overwhelming force against Zuo Xiaoduo, while a young man was warned not to go to Fenghai and seek answers about his defeat. Zuo Xiaoduo remained in Fenghai as his elders worried that their enemies were holding back because he could spot and counter their schemes.

• The Gao patriarch gave his granddaughter a walnut and watched her crack it with a mallet, then laughed as he embraced the idea of the Gao Lineage acting like a sledgehammer.
• The heads of the Capital City's Wu Lineage and the Wei Family visited White Cloud Purple Reed and left without anyone knowing what they had taken away.
• A thin young man asked his Martial Uncle to let him go to Fenghai to investigate his defeat by Zuo Xiaoduo and Fang Yinuo, but his Martial Uncle warned that he would die if he went.
• The Martial Uncle told the young man to abandon the identity of Meng Chentian, settle in Upper Capital, and let others deal with Zuo Xiaoduo for now.
• Zuo Xiaoduo continued stirring up trouble online while Ye Changqing and the others worried that their enemies were avoiding action because Zuo Xiaoduo would see through their plans and trap them.

Ye Changqing, Wen Xingtian, and Xiang Kuangren worried that powerful enemies might target Zuo Xiaoduo, while Zuo’s accurate readings made him famous across Hidden Dragon High Martial. His rising fame brought a line of students seeking predictions, many of them asking about romance.

• Ye Changqing, Wen Xingtian, and Xiang Kuangren discussed the threat to Zuo Xiaoduo and feared an attack by powerful enemies or people from their own side.
• Ye Changqing said Minister Nan was pushing forward in Capital City but seemed unconcerned about Zuo Xiaoduo’s danger.
• After Zuo Xiaoduo’s predictions came true, Gui Xiaocheng brought him two thousand pieces of upper-grade star soul jade, and Zuo’s reputation as a divine physiognomist spread across campus.
• Zuo Xiaoduo raised the price of his readings from fifty to five hundred as dozens of students queued each day, many hoping to learn about their romantic prospects.
• A girl asked Zuo Xiaoduo whether she had a chance with Song Yusheng, but he refused to answer questions involving other people.

Zhan Xuejun confronted Zuo Xiaoduo and Xiang Chong, declaring Xiang Chong her chosen fiancé and challenging him to become stronger than her. Xiang Chong accepted, and they agreed to revisit the engagement after he met her conditions, while Zuo Xiaoduo recognized the danger in her fate.

• Zhan Xuejun arrived and told Zuo Xiaoduo that her lineage had chosen Xiang Chong as her fiancé.
• Zuo Xiaoduo saw deadly signs surrounding Zhan Xuejun and realized she was the calamity tied to Xiang Chong’s fate.
• Zhan Xuejun demanded to know whether Xiang Chong dared to marry her, and Xiang Chong enthusiastically agreed.
• Zhan Xuejun said Xiang Chong had to defeat her, surpass her in battlefield kills, rank, and military merits before he qualified.
• Xiang Chong boasted that he would eventually beat her and carry her home, then mistakenly described his family tradition as beating wives on their wedding night.
• Zuo Xiaoduo corrected Xiang Chong’s misunderstanding, and Zhan Xuejun blushed before leaving with her spear.

Zuo Xiaoduo learned that the Xiang Family had arranged Xiang Chong’s engagement to Zhan Xuejun after misinterpreting his warning, and he feared their relationship was tied to a dangerous calamity. The chapter left Xiang Chong infatuated with Zhan Xuejun while Zuo Xiaoduo tried to stay out of their fate and argued over dividing the spoils.

• Xiang Bing explained that the Xiang Family had arranged Xiang Chong and Zhan Xuejun’s engagement to prevent him from choosing his own romance.
• Zuo Xiaoduo realized the Xiang Family had misunderstood his prediction and worried that Xiang Chong and Zhan Xuejun’s fate involved a heaven-and-earth calamity.
• Zuo Xiaoduo decided not to interfere, fearing the calamity could consume him and leave Zuo Xiaonian alone.
• Xiang Chong joked about Zhan Xuejun’s spear after watching her leave, and Li Chenglong understood the suggestive remark.
• Zuo Xiaoduo, Xiang Chong, and Li Chenglong argued over their spoils on the way home, with Zuo Xiaoduo insisting Li Chenglong’s share was only five percent.

Li Chenglong and Xiang Chong divided the bribes, while Xiang Bing left in anger after Li Chenglong declared he never wanted a wife. That evening, Grandma Shi taught Zuo Xiaoduo and the others how to survive when a blade could no longer be dodged.

• Li Chenglong split fourteen hundred and sixty in extra perks with Xiang Chong, who gave Xiang Bing three hundred.
• Xiang Bing asked Li Chenglong whether he would favor a future wife, then dragged Xiang Chong away after Li Chenglong praised staying single.
• Li Chenglong reminded Zuo Xiaoduo to check on the Marshal Zuo Company and proposed sparring with him that night.
• Zuo Xiaoduo insisted that he had a wife who was the most beautiful woman in the world, but Li Chenglong laughed and did not believe him.
• Grandma Shi demonstrated emergency techniques for surviving an unavoidable sword strike and told the students to remember them.
• Grandma Shi explained that clenching the teeth or swallowing could shift the throat enough to help avoid a fatal wound.

Grandma Shi taught Zuo Xiaoduo, Li Chenglong, and the other children how conviction and quick thinking could keep them alive against stronger opponents. As online attention around Hidden Dragon High Martial continued to build, a first-person account of a tragic romance between a martial artist and an ordinary woman began spreading.

• Grandma Shi taught the children life-preserving methods and urged them to hold on to the belief that they could survive.
• Ye Changqing and Wen Xingtian recalled surviving the Flood Great Shaman's hammer because they refused to give up, while General Fu died after accepting his fate.
• Wen Xingtian and Ye Changqing discussed Zuo Xiaoduo's Hammer Technique and the Flame Sun True Scripture he had inherited.
• Online attention around Hidden Dragon High Martial spread toward Vice Principal Shi through a carefully staged campaign.
• A first-person post about a martial artist and an ordinary woman whose love ended in tragedy began circulating online.

Marshal Zuo Company's promoters turned the debate over martial artists and ordinary people into a public reckoning over Vice Principal Shi, whose past accomplishments and the ordinary status of the woman involved convinced the public that he had been falsely accused. The public then turned its anger toward those who had promoted the old accusation, demanding that they be investigated and exposed.

• Marshal Zuo Company's promoters drove a discussion about martial artists and ordinary people across the internet and beyond.
• Netizens circulated accounts of Vice Principal Shi's military service, martial arts, teaching, and extraordinary feats.
• People uncovered the woman's identity and background, establishing that she had been an ordinary person rather than a martial artist.
• Netizens concluded that Vice Principal Shi had been falsely accused and began defending his reputation.
• The public accused the old slanderers and called for investigations and doxxing to settle the score.

Dongfang Zhengyang launched a public campaign to clear Vice Principal Shi’s name, prompting a sweeping investigation and mass apologies for the online abuse that drove Shi Yunfeng to his death. The public demanded that those who participated face consequences beyond apologizing.

• Dongfang Zhengyang published a signed and sealed post calling for justice for Vice Principal Shi and asked people to gather their old posts as evidence.
• The public flooded the site with accusations and demands for apologies, while official bureaus arrested instigators and shut down involved internet companies.
• More than fifty thousand people were arrested, and over ten million people posted apologies beneath a tribute to Vice Principal Shi and his final letter.
• People condemned the public’s role in the smear campaign and questioned whether apologies alone could make those who joined in pay for their actions.