Chapter Summaries

After waking from an eight-hundred-year burial, Xia Yi frightened Zhou Feng and Zhou Xiaoxian at his opened grave, then revealed that he was the ancestor whose offerings they had come to burn. He learned that the Xia Family bloodline still survived and stood newly returned among the living.

• Zhou Xiaoxian tried to persuade her father, Zhou Feng, to let her visit Lizhu, but he ordered her to return to the Holy Academy and stay away from him.
• Zhou Feng realized he had missed the day for burning offerings and hurried to the communal graveyard, where he found the ancestor's grave broken open and the coffin empty.
• Xia Yi, dressed in a burial robe, appeared behind Zhou Feng and frightened him unconscious; Zhou Xiaoxian arrived and challenged Xia Yi with her sword.
• Xia Yi claimed he had climbed out of the grave to hurry Zhou Feng along for his offerings, then lay back in the coffin while Zhou Xiaoxian burned the yellow paper.
• Zhou Xiaoxian saw Xia Yi still smiling in the coffin, carried her unconscious father away, and fled the graveyard.
• Xia Yi emerged, picked up Zhou Xiaoxian's sword and Zhou Feng's hat, and reflected that eight hundred years had passed and the Xia Family bloodline remained.

After waking from an eight-hundred-year sleep, Xia Yi discovered that the village believed the Demon Race had been extinct for four hundred years. When another burst of Demon Aura sounded nearby, he hurried off to investigate, and Zhou Xiaoxian followed him.

• Xia Yi restored the grave mound, discarded his burial clothes, and sensed Demon Aura as he descended the mountain.
• Zhou Xiaoxian rescued Zhou Quan from his rampaging ox, but Xia Yi stopped the ox's next charge and killed it with one hand.
• Xia Yi warned Zhou Xiaoxian that the ox had nearly become a Demon Soldier, but she told him the Demon Race had been extinct for four hundred years.
• Xia Yi doubted her account and suspected she had never seen the outside world, while Zhou Xiaoxian wondered if he was confused and homeless.
• After hearing another crash and sensing more Demon Aura, Xia Yi rushed toward it, and Zhou Xiaoxian left her recovering father to follow.

Xia Yi experienced repeated reversals of events as Zhou Xiaoxian led him to a yellow ox demon attacking villagers, and he tried to understand why the scene kept changing. He finally killed the demon, but Shi Lai died after Xia Yi's broken sword pierced his throat, and a strange message told him to try again.

• Zhou Xiaoxian chased Xia Yi to an ox demon, where he saw a boy impaled on its horn and a villager lying dead.
• Xia Yi found himself back near Zhou Qin and Old Sun, then returned to the demon to find Shi Lai fighting and the villagers alive.
• After Shi Lai distracted himself and died on the ox's horn, Xia Yi suspected time was reversing and returned to the scene again.
• Xia Yi used his Five-Star Saint Soul, Hat-to-Wings, to fly at the ox demon and stab it in the head.
• The ox demon made one last attack and broke Xia Yi's sword, whose tip pierced Shi Lai's throat; a red message told Shi Lai to try again.

Xia Yi tested the rewind by killing the Ox Demon again and learned that Shi Lai could reload saves, use Detection Art, and accept quests. After hearing Zhou Xiaoxian explain how the Demon Race was defeated, Xia Yi grew suspicious that the world was part of a game and left Shi Lai with a new quest.

• Xia Yi rewound to the moment before the Ox Demon attack and killed the Ox Demon, but Shi Lai died when the broken sword tip struck him and reloaded his save.
• Xia Yi asked Zhou Xiaoxian about the Demon Race, and she explained how Ying Zheng and Xiang Yu led the Human Race to victory and how the Seven Kingdoms formed.
• Xia Yi killed the Ox Demon with a clean sword strike while Shi Lai dodged, then used a quest to offer Shi Lai a reward for helping bury the corpse.
• Shi Lai used Detection Art on Xia Yi, received a warning that his probing had alerted Xia Yi, and accepted the burial quest.
• Xia Yi canceled and reissued the quest after Zhou Xiaoxian arrived, leaving Shi Lai uncertain when the new reward showed only Xia Yi's gratitude.

Xia Yi used the Deception Scripture to make the villagers worship a dragon-shaped cloud after they tried to guilt him over the dead bull demon. He ordered Shi Lai to bury the corpse and promised swordsmanship pointers, but then demanded Shi Lai use his Detection Art a thousand times.

• Zhou Yi and his wife thanked Xia Yi for saving them, then complained that he had killed their family's bull and lamented their losses.
• Xia Yi claimed the clouds formed a rare dragon-shaped phenomenon and urged everyone to kowtow; the villagers obeyed under the Deception Scripture's effect.
• Xia Yi led Shi Lai and Zhou Xiaoxian away with the bull demon's head and asked Shi Lai whether he had seen the bull turn into a demon.
• Xia Yi told Shi Lai to dig a pit and bury the bull demon, saying its meat could cause trouble if people or livestock ate it.
• After Shi Lai apologized and used his Detection Art on Xia Yi, Xia Yi asked him to use it another thousand times and promised swordsmanship pointers if he finished burying the corpse.

Shi Lai’s failed marriage proposal for Zhou Lizhu triggered the young blacksmith’s demonic transformation and revealed a quest tied to the Demon God Kui. As Zhou Xiaoxian rushed to find Lizhu, Xia Yi confronted a greater bull demon, but his first move sent Shi Lai flying.

• Shi Lai finished digging the pit, completed his quest, and persuaded Xia Yi to teach him swordsmanship at Zhou Xiaoxian’s house the next morning.
• Earlier, Shi Lai told Zhou Lizhu that Zhou Xiaoxian would not be happy marrying him, provoking a system warning and revealing that Lizhu’s faction had changed to demon.
• Zhou Lizhu transformed under a black aura, shouted Zhou Xiaoxian’s name, and ran into the mountains as Shi Lai unlocked the main quest Demon God Uprising and a side quest to kill two cattle turning into bull demons.
• Shi Lai told Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian about Lizhu’s transformation, and Zhou Xiaoxian hurried toward the smithy after its owner arrived looking for him.
• Xia Yi reasoned that a greater bull demon had awakened the cattle’s bloodlines from a distance, then called for Zhou Lizhu to reveal himself.
• A booming voice asked Xia Yi to arrange a marriage with Zhou Xiaoxian, and Xia Yi hurled Shi Lai at the speaker, triggering a defeat message.

Xia Yi fought Zhou Lizhu, who was possessed by a demon god’s remnant soul, and nearly killed him after weakening his strength with Minks-Banishing. Shi Lai tried to steal the final blow, but Zhou Lizhu recognized him and demanded to know why he wanted to kill him.

• Xia Yi accepted a quest to help Zhou Xiaoxian find Zhou Lizhu, then confronted Zhou Lizhu and rejected his request to marry her.
• Zhou Lizhu charged Xia Yi, and their exchange sent Shi Lai fleeing for cover as Xia Yi realized Zhou Lizhu was a demon god’s remnant soul.
• Xia Yi used his wings and Martial Arts Compendium to wound Zhou Lizhu, but Zhou Lizhu’s innate regeneration healed him rapidly.
• Xia Yi used Minks-Banishing to drain most of Zhou Lizhu’s strength, then punched through his chest and brought him down.
• Shi Lai rushed in and tried to stab Zhou Lizhu, but his sword broke against Zhou Lizhu’s head.
• Zhou Lizhu recognized Shi Lai and tearfully asked why he wanted to kill him.

Xia Yi confronted Zhou Lizhu’s apparently indestructible transformation and learned that Shi Lai’s repeated deaths had locked him out of the game for twelve hours. As Xia Yi wondered whether he too was a player, he remained convinced that the world and its past were real.

• Xia Yi attacked Zhou Lizhu, but a black domain swallowed the area and Zhou Lizhu survived wounds that should have killed him; Shi Lai did not revive after being caught in it.
• Zhou Lizhu recognized Xia Yi, then panicked when Zhou Xiaoxian arrived and fled into the forest after seeing his monstrous injuries.
• Xia Yi warned Zhou Xiaoxian that Zhou Lizhu had become dangerous, but she rushed after him; when Xia Yi pretended to fall, she returned to help him.
• Shi Lai learned that his seventh reload barred him from logging in for twelve hours and wondered whether the world was really just a game.
• Xia Yi used his Detection Art on Zhou Xiaoxian, saw her details, and considered whether he might also be a player, though he believed the world and its history were real.

Xia Yi returned to Zhou Xiaoxian’s home, discussed Zhou Lizhu’s dangerous transformation, and learned that Kings had vanished to explore another world. He discovered Zhou Feng’s hidden spirit tablet and revealed that he was Xia Yi, Zhou Xiaoxian’s ancestor, leaving Zhou Feng unconscious.

• Xia Yi reassured Zhou Xiaoxian that Zhou Lizhu was unlikely to be killed, but warned that demonic desires might make him lose control and harm people.
• Zhou Feng advised reporting Zhou Lizhu to the authorities before he caused serious trouble, and Zhou Xiaoxian decided to tell Master Wang.
• Xia Yi found the spirit tablet for Zhou Feng’s wife, Xia Lan, and questioned Zhou Feng about her death and his fear of the tablet being discovered.
• Zhou Feng suspected Xia Yi worked for King Zheng, but Xia Yi said he was Xia Lan’s relative and had escaped from the Xia family ancestor’s coffin.
• Xia Yi displayed his Saint Soul Phantom and revealed himself as Ancestor Xia Yi, causing Zhou Feng to faint.

Xia Yi recalled his past life and assessed his lingering soul injuries after waking from an eight-hundred-year sleep. He grew closer to Zhou Feng and asked Zhou Xiaoxian to become his disciple.

• Xia Yi remembered how his brother Xia Shun had awakened the five-star Saint Soul Hat-to-Wings and helped the Xia Family prosper.
• Xia Yi examined his six stars and found that his Jade Balance and Kaiyang stars had not fully recovered from his injuries.
• Zhou Xiaoxian returned and learned from Zhou Feng that Xia Yi was at least a five-star Jade Balance expert.
• Xia Yi changed into the inexpensive clothes Zhou Xiaoxian had bought and told Zhou Feng that family and friends mattered more to him than wealth or luxury.
• Zhou Feng spoke with Xia Yi late into the night, then told Zhou Xiaoxian that Xia Yi wanted to take her as his disciple.

Xia Yi took Zhou Xiaoxian toward Lieyang City, using his Railroad Speed Saint Soul to travel far faster than an ordinary walk. Shi Lai logged in to claim his promised swordsmanship reward, discovered they had already left, and began chasing them along the road.

• Zhou Feng sent Zhou Xiaoxian to Lieyang City with Xia Yi and urged Xia Yi to protect her from those seeking the Xia family’s legacy.
• Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian chose to walk instead of paying for a rail carriage, and Xia Yi used Railroad Speed to make their journey unusually fast.
• Shi Lai logged in, searched for Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian, and learned from Zhou Feng that they had left half an hour earlier.
• Shi Lai sprinted after them but found no one on the road and complained that the game had denied him his quest reward.
• Xia Yi explained to himself that Railroad Speed had not yet advanced to seven stars and that building a train might help it evolve.

Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian arrived in Lieyang City, where she asked Song Ziyu to pass news about Zhou Lizhu to his father, the marquis. Xia Yi then offered Song Ziyu one of Zhou Xiaoxian’s books for a hundred taels, leaving her stunned as Song Ziyu eagerly accepted.

• Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian entered Lieyang City, and Zhou Xiaoxian explained that she planned to tell her classmate Song Ziyu about Zhou Lizhu rather than report him directly to the authorities.
• On the way to the marquis’s residence, Zhou Xiaoxian told Xia Yi about Song Ziyu’s family, his class position, and the sacred soul Chisel the Wall to Steal Light.
• Song Ziyu welcomed Zhou Xiaoxian at the residence and learned that her teacher was Xia Yi; he promised to tell his absent father about Zhou Lizhu.
• Xia Yi offered Song Ziyu a book from Zhou Xiaoxian’s bundle for a hundred taels, and Song Ziyu reacted with delight while Zhou Xiaoxian realized the book was hers.

Xia Yi treated Zhou Xiaoxian to medicinal cuisine at Wangjiang Tower and taught her to think instead of reacting with constant worry. Repeated time rewinds caused by Shi Lai’s deaths left Xia Yi eating the same meal over and over, until he spotted something outside and decided to investigate.

• Xia Yi ordered an expensive spread of soul-nourishing dishes and explained to Zhou Xiaoxian that he had genuinely given her senior brother an opportunity through the Deception Scripture.
• Xia Yi used the rumors about a boy rescued from the moat to realize Shi Lai had followed them, while Zhou Xiaoxian calmly suggested they look for him after dinner.
• Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian eagerly ate lamb with green soul ginger, but time rewound whenever Shi Lai apparently died, restoring the untouched meal.
• After enduring repeated plates of lamb, Xia Yi looked out the window, recognized that the place he sought was nearby, and prepared to go there.

Shi Lai tried to save a young woman from Feng Mo but escaped by jumping into the river after Xia Yi knocked down Feng Mo’s guard and struck Feng Mo with cups. Feng Mo recognized Zhou Xiaoxian as his junior sister, then ordered his guards to investigate Xia Yi’s background after realizing he was a powerful expert.

• Shi Lai struggled against Feng Mo and his guards, then jumped into the river after Xia Yi’s thrown cup tripped a pursuing guard.
• Xia Yi and Zhou Xiaoxian ate at Wangjiang Tower, where Feng Mo recognized Xiaoxian and offered to cover their meal.
• Xiaoxian told Xia Yi that Feng Mo’s bad reputation concealed a good person burdened by his father’s position as military governor.
• Chen Guang told Feng Mo he had comprehended Yi Yin Tangye, and Feng Mo agreed to tell his father about it.
• Feng Mo inferred that Xia Yi was likely a Four-Star Tianquan expert and ordered Ding Shan and Ding Yun to investigate his background.

Xia Yi helped Zhou Xiaoxian use nourishing dishes and his insight to begin condensing Tianxuan Star through Chisel the Wall to Steal Light. Song Ziyu also comprehended the method from Xia Yi’s book, and Song Qu decided to visit Xia Yi to thank him.

• Shi Lai climbed out of the river, wandered to the General's Residence, and was ordered by Feng Mo to have his leg broken and be thrown far away.
• Xia Yi explained that Zhou Xiaoxian had consumed too many dishes that nourished the Three Souls, then guided her to focus on condensing Tianxuan Star.
• Xia Yi sent Zhou Xiaoxian an image of his younger self and told her to comprehend Chisel the Wall to Steal Light.
• Ruo Jun told Song Qu that she suspected Zhou Xiaoxian’s elderly master was a fraud, while Song Qu wondered if the book was the Scripture of Deception.
• Song Ziyu interrupted Song Qu and Ruo Jun, then comprehended Chisel the Wall to Steal Light and condensed Tianxuan Star.
• Song Qu told Song Ziyu to stabilize his Tianxuan Star and take him to thank the senior who sold him the book.

Xia Yi revealed his six-star Saint Soul mastery and helped Zhou Xiaoxian advance to two-star Merak, then sensed another person had taken the bait. In Zhou Family Village, Ding Shan fell under a strange influence that made him see a dragon in the sky and bow to it, and the same compulsion began affecting Feng Mo.

• Zhou Xiaoxian awakened as a two-star Merak, and Xia Yi offered to plan how she would use her soul apertures.
• Xia Yi explained that his six-star Sowing mastery let him pass Saint Souls on and strike from afar, then sensed a second fish had taken the bait.
• Ding Shan arrived in Zhou Family Village and questioned Zhou Yi about the collapsed house and his injury.
• Zhou Yi saw a dragon-shaped cloud that Ding Shan could not see, then compelled him to kneel and kowtow to it.
• Ding Shan returned to Feng Mo with blood on his forehead, but began describing the same dragon-shaped cloud and persuaded Feng Mo to kneel and kowtow too.

Feng Shuhu discovered that Xia Yi had used the Scripture of Deception to make Feng Mo kneel, while Lin Gong went to spy on Zhou Xiaoxian and encountered Xia Yi and Song Qu. Lin Gong escaped Xia Yi by using Replace the Beams with Rotten Timber, but a burly young man confronted him over peeping at Xiaoxian.

• Feng Shuhu resisted Xia Yi's six-star Scripture of Deception and learned that Feng Mo had provoked a six-star Kaiyang cultivator.
• Feng Mo realized Lin Gong might be in danger after recognizing Xia Yi as the powerful cultivator.
• Lin Gong peeped at Zhou Xiaoxian, then encountered Xia Yi and Song Qu in the inn corridor.
• Song Qu used the Record of Redressing Injustice to perceive Lin Gong's vulnerabilities, but showed respect to Xia Yi, whom he could not read.
• Xia Yi reached for Lin Gong, who escaped by transforming into a wooden stake with Replace the Beams with Rotten Timber.
• A burly young man confronted Lin Gong for peeping at Xiaoxian and threatened to beat him.

Xia Yi met Song Qu and secured his goodwill while discussing his plans to remain in Lieyang City. After a thunderous crash, Xia Yi recognized Zhou Lizhu’s involvement and led Song Qu to investigate Lin Gong’s fate, while news arrived that Lin Gong had been beaten to death in the street.

• Xia Yi explained that he had learned Chisel the Wall to Steal Light in Great Wei, and Song Qu realized the technique was not exclusive to his family.
• Xia Yi assessed Song Qu’s Saint Soul mastery, earning Song Qu’s sincere apology and agreement to help him avoid trouble in Lieyang City.
• A thunderous crash shook the inn, and Xia Yi identified Zhou Lizhu as the likely cause before setting out with Song Qu.
• Xia Yi sent Song Ziyu to stay at the inn and exchange insights with Zhou Xiaoxian, then led Song Qu toward the scene where Lin Gong had died.
• Feng Shuhu learned that Lin Gong had been beaten to death in the street and angrily slammed his halberd into the floor.

Xia Yi found Lin Gong’s gruesomely battered corpse and discovered that Zhou Lizhu’s strength had surpassed six-star Kaiyang. After Feng Shuhu attacked him with the Shooting the Halberd at the Camp Gate Saint Soul, Xia Yi knocked him into a tavern and left, believing he had identified the person coveting the Xia Family’s legacy.

• Song Qu examined Lin Gong’s corpse and concluded that its killer had used sheer strength greater than six-star Kaiyang.
• Xia Yi detected Feng Shuhu’s Saint Soul attack and blocked the Fang Tian Hua Ji phantom with his Turtle Lives Long barrier.
• Xia Yi countered with the same Saint Soul and kicked Feng Shuhu into a tavern, while Feng Mo and the soldiers watched.
• Xia Yi left Song Qu to handle the aftermath and walked beside the Min River, where he spat blood and coughed.
• A young servant in a blue hooded garment watched Xia Yi and withdrew, and Xia Yi decided he had likely found the person pursuing the Xia Family’s legacy.

Xia Yi used his five-star Beauty Register Saint Soul to bestow flower names on ten girls at the Pitying Lord Pavilion and earned ten thousand taels. On his way back to the inn, he met the injured Shi Lai again and took him to the Hu Clinic, where Physician Hu mistook Shi Lai's broken leg for an attempt to become his disciple.

• Xia Yi visited the Pitying Lord Pavilion and persuaded Master Dong to pay him for bestowing flower names on ten girls.
• Xia Yi refused to give flower names to two girls who had mocked him, then left with ten thousand taels.
• Xia Yi encountered Shi Lai, who was hopping on a broken leg and complained that it had not healed after he loaded a save.
• Xia Yi brought Shi Lai to the Hu Clinic, where Physician Hu thought Shi Lai had broken his own leg to become his disciple.
• Shi Lai enthusiastically asked Physician Hu to take him as a disciple, while Xia Yi was embarrassed by his behavior.