Recaps

Bai Fengyao refined the Ancestral Phoenix essence blood, broke through to the Void Return Realm, and received Chen Fan’s guidance. As the Chen Lineage settled into its new routines, two Great Xia Imperial Clan ancestors arrived outside the city and encountered Great Emperor Chiyao.

• Bai Fengyao refined the Ancestral Phoenix essence blood and broke through to the Void Return Realm, earning Chen Fan an emperor-grade pill.
• Chen Fan examined Bai Fengyao’s improved physique and agreed to guide her in cultivating her divine-grade technique.
• Chen Fan distributed cultivation resources, strengthened his relatives and disciples, established a river of time in the Chen Lineage, and spent time with Ling Qingcheng.
• Jun Hongzhao settled into the Chen Lineage, while Great Emperor Chiyao refined Pangu blood and enjoyed the abundant resources there.
• Great Emperor Chiyao sensed newcomers outside the city and went to confront them.
• Two Emperor Realm ancestors of the Great Xia Imperial Clan arrived with their imperial beast, and Great Emperor Chiyao appeared before them.

Great Emperor Chiyao fought the two Great Xia ancestors while Chen Fan secretly used the Law of Time to strike. Chen Fan killed one ancestor, but the surviving Emperor Realm fifth-layer expert broke free and attacked Chiyao before suddenly freezing in place.

• Great Emperor Chiyao refused to withdraw and used the Heavenly Lake Sword Art to hold off a Great Xia ancestor while the other targeted the Chen Lineage.
• Chen Fan secretly used the Law of Time to restrain the Great Xia ancestors, then appeared and killed one with his Primordial Divine Emperor Palm.
• The surviving Great Xia ancestor broke free of Chen Fan's law and unleashed the Law of Sundering against Chiyao.
• Great Emperor Chiyao's treasured sword was torn apart, and she retreated as the Great Xia ancestor's attack closed in.
• The Great Xia ancestor suddenly stopped moving, and the Law of Sundering became ineffective.

Chen Fan used the Law of Time to kill the Great Xia Ancestor, then rejected the Ancient Jun Lineage’s demand to take Jun Hongzhao back and killed its envoys. After sensing a hidden presence, he called it out, and a mature, charming woman appeared.

• Chen Fan restrained the Great Xia Ancestor with the Law of Time and killed him despite the Jun Lineage members’ plea to stop.
• Great Emperor Chiyao intercepted the Jun Lineage members as they arrived to retrieve Jun Hongzhao.
• Chen Fan declared that Jun Hongzhao belonged to the Chen Lineage and sent the Jun Lineage members flying when their leader challenged him.
• Chen Fan killed the Jun Lineage members after they asked to see Jun Hongzhao.
• Chen Fan sensed a hidden figure and called out to them, revealing a mature, charming woman.

Bai Fengrong confronted Chen Fan at the Chen Lineage, tested his age, and asked about his plans for the Great Xia Imperial Clan and the Jun Lineage. The conversation ended when Feng Yao arrived and called Bai Fengrong “Mother.”

• Bai Fengrong appeared before Chen Fan and Great Emperor Chiyao, and Chen Fan used his laws and supreme bone to resist her powers.
• Bai Fengrong touched Chen Fan to confirm that he was twenty-three, then explained she had come to see her younger sister and wanted to speak with him.
• Chen Fan realized Bai Fengrong was a Great Emperor of the Ancient Phoenix Clan and offered to summon Feng Yao, but Bai Fengrong asked to speak with him instead.
• Bai Fengrong asked what Chen Fan planned to do next, and he said he had intended to go to the Great Xia Imperial Clan's palace.
• Bai Fengrong warned Chen Fan that opposing the Jun Lineage over Jun Hongzhao could cost him more than he gained, while Chen Fan said the situation could still benefit him.
• Feng Yao arrived and called Bai Fengrong “Mother.”

Bai Fengrong reunited with Bai Fengyao at the Chen Lineage, learned that her daughter had reached Void Return Realm Third Layer by refining ancestral phoenix essence blood, and agreed to guard the clan while Chen Fan went to confront Great Xia. As Chen Fan departed with Chiyao, Qilin, and Jun Hongzhao, the Great Xia emperor reacted to the deaths of two ancestors and prepared for the Chen Lineage’s arrival.

• Bai Fengyao called Bai Fengrong her mother, while Bai Fengrong tried to present herself to Chen Fan as her elder sister.
• Bai Fengrong discovered Bai Fengyao’s Void Return Realm Third Layer cultivation and learned that Chen Fan had given her ancestral phoenix essence blood.
• Bai Fengrong asked Chen Fan to take her as a disciple, but he declined, and she agreed to guard the Chen Lineage as he left for the Great Xia imperial palace.
• Chen Fan set out with Chiyao, Qilin, and Jun Hongzhao to investigate Great Xia’s ties to the Jun Lineage.
• The Great Xia emperor learned that two of his ancestors had died, feared the Chen Lineage’s power, and ordered guards to protect him as he prepared to face Chen Fan.

The Ancient Jun Lineage learned that the Great Xia Ancestor might have fallen and saw a chance to exploit Great Xia’s weakness. Jun Jiudao and the Jun Lineage Ancestor decided to target the Chen Lineage for leverage over Jun Hongzhao, and several Jun ancestors set out.

• The Great Xia Emperor mobilized the imperial family’s reserves, strengthened the capital’s defenses, and sought help from other powers.
• After Chen Lineage experts killed the Jun Lineage’s men sent to retrieve Jun Hongzhao, Jun Jiudao and an ancestor inferred that the Great Xia Ancestor might have been defeated.
• A guard reported Great Xia’s full-scale defensive preparations, convincing Jun Jiudao that the dynasty had lost its top-level strength.
• Jun Jiudao and the Jun Lineage Ancestor planned to use the crisis to pressure Great Xia and make it subordinate to the Jun Lineage, with Jun Hongzhao as the rightful empress.
• The Jun leaders decided to seize leverage over the Chen Lineage while its ancestor might be away, and several Jun Lineage Emperor Realm ancestors set out for the Chen Lineage.

Chen Fan led Great Emperor Chiyao and Jun Hongzhao into Great Xia and confronted the Great Xia Emperor at the imperial palace. After Chen Fan shattered the clan’s emperor-grade defensive formation, he summoned thousands of Saint Realm puppets and ordered them to break the remaining formations.

• The Imperial Qilin cleared the way as Chen Fan and his companions reached Great Xia’s capital before the imperial clan could gather its experts.
• The Great Xia Emperor rallied his people from behind the clan-protecting formation and challenged Chen Fan, who answered that Great Xia had brought the invasion upon itself.
• Chen Fan struck the emperor-grade formation with his Primordial Divine Emperor Palm and used the Law of Time to disrupt its power, shattering it.
• The Great Xia Emperor recognized that Chen Fan was stronger than him and vowed to hold out behind the palace’s remaining defenses.
• Chen Fan summoned thousands of Saint Realm puppets and ordered them to break the formations.

Chen Fan led three thousand Saint Realm puppets to destroy Great Xia’s defenses, kill the Great Xia Emperor and the Eternal Demon Tree Emperor, and seize the imperial palace’s wealth. As the Chen Lineage’s forces carried away their spoils, Emperor Realm experts from the Jun Lineage arrived at the Chen Lineage’s city, preparing to raid it while Chen Fan and the Qilin were away.

• Three thousand Saint Realm puppets battered down Great Xia’s defensive formations while its clansmen deployed killing formations, treasures, and the Eternal Demon Tree Emperor to resist.
• Jun Hongzhao declared that she was leaving Great Xia and the Jun Lineage and identified herself as the Great Emperor’s maidservant, enraging the Great Xia Emperor.
• Chen Fan used the Law of Time to immobilize his foes, then killed the Great Xia Emperor with a palm strike as the puppets broke through the formations.
• Chen Fan destroyed the Eternal Demon Tree Emperor with the Primordial Divine Emperor Palm, and Great Emperor Chiyao, the Imperial Qilin, and the puppets helped eliminate the remaining threats.
• Chen Fan’s forces breached Great Xia’s imperial palace, took its wealth, and received a Primordial Divine Tree as a reward for destroying Great Xia’s fortune.
• Several Emperor Realm experts from the Jun Lineage arrived at the Chen Lineage’s city and decided to attack while Chen Fan and the Qilin were away.

Five Jun Lineage ancestors attacked the Chen Lineage’s city-protecting formation, but Bai Fengrong intervened and overwhelmed them with her laws. The ancestors recognized her as the Grand Matriarch of the Ancient Phoenix Clan and begged for mercy.

• The Jun Lineage’s First Ancestor led four other ancestors in an attack on the Chen Lineage’s city-protecting formation, hoping to seize its resources.
• Bai Fengrong learned from Bai Fengyao that the Chen Lineage possessed a Divine Crystal Vein and decided to stay with her daughter.
• The five ancestors failed to damage the formation and sensed a powerful expert approaching.
• Bai Fengrong used the laws of ice, devouring, and charm to overpower the Jun Lineage ancestors.
• The Jun Lineage ancestors recognized Bai Fengrong and begged the Grand Matriarch of the Ancient Phoenix Clan for mercy.

Bai Fengrong killed the Jun Lineage’s five Emperor Realm ancestors to protect Bai Fengyao and support Chen Fan, while Chen Fan finished plundering Great Xia and set course for the Jun Lineage. On the way, the system detected an otherworldly prodigy and prompted Chen Fan to take an otherworldly disciple.

• Bai Fengrong revealed her connection to Bai Fengyao and used the Law of Light to obliterate the Jun Lineage’s five Emperor Realm ancestors.
• Bai Fengrong asked Bai Fengyao to carry her, then explained that she had acted to protect her daughter and give Chen Fan a first-meeting gift.
• Chen Fan and his companions wiped out Great Xia’s imperial palace and spent over an hour collecting its treasures and resources.
• Chen Fan told Great Emperor Chiyao that they would head to the Jun Lineage to resolve Jun Hongzhao’s matter and learn the lineage’s stance.
• The system detected an otherworldly prodigy with top-tier power of providence and offered Chen Fan three Emperor Realm puppets for taking an otherworldly disciple.
• Chen Fan extended his perception and discovered several figures watching them from the shadows.

Chen Fan met Ling Zhouxue and her clan elder, two refugees from the Eternal Realm, and accepted her as his third disciple. Meanwhile, the Jun Lineage learned that all five of its dispatched Emperor Realm ancestors had died.

• Ling Zhouxue and her Emperor Realm Ninth Layer clan elder decided to settle in the lower-ranked world and cautiously approached the warship that had spotted them.
• Chen Fan questioned the pair about their origins, suspected they came from another world, and offered to take Ling Zhouxue as his disciple.
• Ling Zhouxue knelt and declared herself Chen Fan’s disciple, hoping to recruit him for the Eternal Realm; Chen Fan accepted her and received three Emperor Realm puppets as a reward.
• The clan elder warned Chen Fan that Ling Zhouxue was of noble status, and Chen Fan invited her and the elder to the Jun Lineage.
• The Jun Lineage discovered that all five Emperor Realm ancestors who had left had perished, and Jun Jiudao collapsed in shock.

After losing its Great Emperor ancestors and the Great Xia Dynasty, the Jun Lineage faced Chen Fan’s arrival with its survival at stake. Jun Hongzhao confronted Jun Jiudao over how the lineage had used her as a pawn.

• Jun Jiudao learned that the Jun Lineage’s five Great Emperor ancestors had fallen and that the Chen Lineage’s warship was heading toward its territory.
• Aboard the Star Warship, Chen Fan considered his unexpected gains while Ling Zhouxue told her lineage elder to support her master if trouble arose.
• Chen Fan arrived at the Jun Lineage with Ling Zhouxue, the elder, and Jun Hongzhao, and Jun Jiudao asked why he had come.
• Chen Fan said he had killed Jun Lineage experts and had come to settle accounts, prompting Jun Jiudao to plead for a pause and accuse Jun Hongzhao of betraying her lineage.
• Jun Hongzhao rejected Jun Jiudao’s accusation, saying the Jun Lineage had forced her into Great Xia and treated her as a chess piece.

Jun Hongzhao rejected Jun Jiudao and joined the Chen Lineage, prompting Chen Fan and his followers to destroy the Jun Lineage. Afterward, Chen Fan declared the Chen Lineage an ancient lineage and planted a Primordial Divine Tree, shocking Ling Zhouxue.

• Jun Hongzhao confronted Jun Jiudao over forcing her into a political marriage and declared that she had severed ties with the Jun Lineage and Great Xia.
• Chen Fan claimed Jun Hongzhao as a member of the Chen Lineage and demanded that the Jun Lineage's ancestors come to see him.
• An old man serving Chen Fan shattered the Jun Lineage's protective formations, seized Jun Jiudao, and summoned the lineage's ancestor.
• Chen Fan ordered his puppets to level the Jun Lineage, while the old man killed Jun Jiudao and the lineage's sole remaining ancestor.
• The Chen Lineage's destruction of Great Xia and the Jun Lineage shook the Desolate Ancient Continent, and Chen Fan announced that his lineage had joined the ancient lineages.
• Chen Fan planted the Primordial Divine Tree to shelter the Chen Lineage, leaving Ling Zhouxue stunned by its presence.

Chen Fan welcomed Ling Zhouxue into the Chen Lineage, gave her a complete divine cultivation art, and began planning the lineage’s rise as he settled into retirement. Great Emperor Chiyao abruptly declared that she wanted to bear his children, while the Chen Lineage’s sudden power drew attention across the Desolate Ancient Continent.

• Ling Zhouxue revealed that she and the clan elder had fled the destroyed divine dynasty in the Eternal Realm, and Chen Fan let them remain with the Chen Lineage.
• Chen Fan gave Ling Zhouxue the complete Order Heavenly Dao Art and set out to nurture her as a disciple.
• Chen Fan planned for the Chen Lineage to claim territory after the fall of the Great Xia Dynasty and the Jun Lineage, then Great Emperor Chiyao told him she wanted to bear his children.
• Bai Fengyao and Bai Fengrong discussed Chen Fan’s hidden treasures and agreed that something was unusual about him.
• The Desolate Ancient Continent’s ancient lineages and dynasties watched the Chen Lineage’s rise, and the Ancient Phoenix Clan heard that it had destroyed Great Xia and the Jun Lineage.

The Ancient Phoenix Clan and the Central Continent’s leading powers reacted to the Chen Lineage’s destruction of the Great Xia Dynasty and the Jun Lineage. The Wang Lineage planned to guard its position at an upcoming gathering, while the Dilo Sacred Dynasty began considering whether the Chen Lineage might seek to become an imperial clan.

• The Ancient Phoenix Clan’s patriarchs dismissed the Chen Lineage’s foundations but worried that its rise and the Divine Maiden’s connection to it could make their clan a laughingstock.
• Wang Teng and the Wang Lineage’s ancestor judged the Chen Lineage’s visible strength to be among the top four ancient lineages and agreed to keep watch on it.
• Wang Teng praised his infant son Wang Xiaoteng’s potential and said the Wang Lineage would rank first among the younger generation.
• Wang Teng told the Sixth Ancestor to prepare for the upcoming grand gathering, where the Wang Lineage could assert its position against the Chen Lineage.
• Great Emperor Dilo paid little attention to the Chen Lineage’s conflict but considered whether it might use the Great Xia Dynasty’s destruction to claim territory and become an imperial clan.

Great Emperor Dilo considered how the Dilo Sacred Dynasty should respond to the Chen Lineage’s rapid rise and decided to invite it to the Dynasty Contest. Meanwhile, Great Emperor Chiyao offered to have a child with Chen Fan, and he carried her into his hall.

• Great Emperor Dilo heard her ministers debate whether the Chen Lineage posed a threat to the Dilo Sacred Dynasty.
• A minister proposed inviting the Chen Lineage to the Dynasty Contest, and Great Emperor Dilo approved the plan.
• Great Emperor Chiyao told Chen Fan she would give him a child, and he agreed to proceed with her.
• Great Emperor Chiyao asked Chen Fan to help hold off Great Emperor Xuanji if she discovered their relationship.
• Chen Fan carried Great Emperor Chiyao into his hall, surprising her with how quickly he moved.

Chen Fan married Chiyao and Ling Qingcheng after Chiyao became pregnant, while Xiao Yu successfully refined ancestral dragon essence blood and transformed her bloodline. Xiao Yu reunited with Chen Fan, who checked her condition, as Bai Fengrong went to offer to train him.

• Chen Fan and Chiyao agreed to marry alongside Ling Qingcheng, and Chen Fan received the Heaven-Questioning Ladder through a check-in.
• Chiyao became pregnant, and the Chen Lineage held a grand wedding attended by factions from across its administered Dao domains.
• Xiao Yu refined ancestral dragon essence blood, prompting Chen Fan to receive a divine pill reward.
• Ling Zhouxue recognized the power of Xiao Yu's new bloodline, while Bai Fengrong decided to become Chen Fan's teacher and went to find him.
• Xiao Yu knelt before Chen Fan and declared that she had fulfilled her duty; he examined her for lingering problems and told her she had earned her transformation.
• Xiao Yu learned that Chen Fan had already married and lamented missing the ceremony, just as Bai Fengrong arrived.

Bai Fengrong offered to guide Chen Fan in comprehending laws, and he quickly mastered the Law of Speed through idle mode. She then challenged him with the intertwined Laws of Light and Devouring, and Chen Fan opened his eyes with the Law of Light.

• Bai Fengrong offered to guide Chen Fan's cultivation and explained that her many laws could help him grow stronger.
• Chen Fan accepted and promised Bai Fengrong a drop of ancestral phoenix essence blood to aid her breakthrough.
• Bai Fengrong used the Law of Speed to create a special environment, and Chen Fan quickly comprehended the law through idle mode.
• Bai Fengrong tested Chen Fan with the combined Laws of Light and Devouring, explaining their properties as he entered idle mode.
• Chen Fan opened his eyes with light shining from them, showing that he had comprehended the Law of Light.

Chen Fan rapidly mastered multiple laws under Bai Fengrong's tutelage, received the Creation Puppet Technique, and began preparing to strengthen himself before investigating his father's disappearance. Meanwhile, the Chen Lineage opened recruitment to outsiders, drawing hopeful disciples and undercover agents, including a boy whose Supreme Bone had been stolen.

• Chen Fan mastered several law powers with Bai Fengrong's guidance and gave her a drop of Ancestral Phoenix Essence Blood in return.
• Chen Fan received the Creation Puppet Technique and considered using it to empower people through Emperor Realm puppets.
• Chen Fan began controlling the origin power of the Law of Space as he prepared for his journey to Desolate Province.
• Bai Fengrong told Bai Fengyao that she had finished instructing Chen Fan because he learned too quickly.
• The Chen Lineage began recruiting disciples of other surnames, attracting a huge crowd and undercover agents from rival factions.
• An old man urged Hao'er, whose Supreme Bone had been stolen, to join the Chen Lineage and seek a chance to resolve his predicament.

Ye Gu brought Ye Hao to the Chen Lineage, hoping its ancestor could help after Ye Hao’s Supreme Bone was stolen, while the Chen Lineage recruited disciples using the Heaven-Questioning Ladder. Chen Fan broke through to the Emperor Realm fifth layer and headed toward Ye Hao as the ladder exposed spies among the applicants, leaving them surrounded.

• Ye Gu and Ye Hao traveled to the Chen Lineage to seek help restoring Ye Hao’s stolen Supreme Bone, and Ye Gu urged him to earn a chance to meet the ancestor by passing the recruitment test.
• Xiao Yu announced the age limit and rules for climbing the ten-thousand-step Heaven-Questioning Ladder, and applicants—including spies from several major powers—began the test.
• Chen Fan fused with the source power of spatial laws, advanced to the Emperor Realm fifth layer, and learned that an individual of great fortune had had their Supreme Bone dug out.
• Ye Hao approached the Heaven-Questioning Ladder at Ye Gu’s urging as other applicants began falling from it.
• The Heaven-Questioning Ladder revealed applicants’ states of mind, exposing spies from the Dilo Sacred Dynasty and several other powers, who found themselves surrounded.

Xiao Yu ordered the execution of infiltrators from the great dynasties and ancient clans, sparing only spies who revealed their Chen Lineage blood ties. After Ye Hao passed the disciple trials, Chen Fan agreed to meet him and hinted that his stolen Supreme Bone could be restored, prompting the boy to ask to become his disciple.

• Xiao Yu ordered the Chen Lineage guards to kill the infiltrators, and several spies revealed their Chen Lineage identities to avoid being killed.
• Xiao Yu spared the Chen Lineage members and ordered the other faction representatives slain, while Chen Fan watched and searched the Heaven-Questioning Ladder trial for a boy whose Supreme Bone had been stolen.
• Nearly fifty thousand cultivators passed the disciple screening, including Ye Hao, who worried that joining the Chen Lineage meant leaving the Ye Clan.
• Ye Gu told Xiao Yu about Ye Hao's stolen Supreme Bone and asked to meet Chen Fan, who agreed to receive them.
• Chen Fan told Ye Hao, “Without breaking, there can be no rebuilding. Rebuild after breaking, and the Supreme may be reborn,” and Ye Hao knelt and asked to become his disciple.

Ye Hao became Chen Fan’s fourth disciple and awakened the Desolate Ancient Domain Holy Body with emperor spirit jade bone liquid. As Great Emperor Dilo arrived to meet Chen Fan, he left Ye Hao to familiarize himself with his new physique and went to confront her.

• Chen Fan accepted Ye Hao as his disciple and received one hundred tons of emperor spirit jade bone liquid as a reward.
• Bai Fengrong reached the peak of the Emperor Realm after refining ancestral phoenix essence blood, while Bai Fengyao looked forward to ordering her new junior brother around.
• The ancient clans and great dynasties discussed the Chen Lineage’s killing of their envoys and decided to wait for the grand gathering of clans to assess its strength.
• Chen Fan gave Ye Hao emperor spirit jade bone liquid to help awaken his physique and stood guard while he refined it.
• Ye Hao awakened the Desolate Ancient Domain Holy Body, and Chen Fan received the Desolate Ancient Domain Holy Sword as a reward.
• Great Emperor Dilo appeared outside the city, and Chen Fan went to ask why she had come to the Chen Lineage.

Great Emperor Dilo visited the Chen Lineage to assess Chen Fan but left after Xu Zu appeared and warned her off. Over the following months the lineage grew formidable, and the chapter ended as Chen Fan’s wife was about to give birth.

• Great Emperor Dilo met Chen Fan, gauged his strength, and proposed a fight, but Xu Zu’s sudden arrival made her retreat after announcing a grand gathering of lineages in one year.
• Great Emperor Dilo concluded the Chen Lineage was a serious threat and left, relieved she had investigated in person.
• Over seven or eight months, Chen Fan’s disciples advanced in cultivation, Chen Luoyu became a saint alchemist, and the Chen Lineage expanded its forces and businesses.
• Chen Fan’s cultivation reached the Emperor Realm Seventh Layer, while the Gods and Devils Pavilion’s pavilion masters all broke through to the Emperor Realm.
• Jun Hongzhao told Chen Fan that his wife was about to give birth, and Chen Fan hurried inside to see her.

Chen Fan stayed beside Ling Qingcheng as she gave birth to their daughter, whose arrival triggered extraordinary heavenly phenomena. The newborn displayed astonishing gifts, while Ling Qingcheng’s strength was greatly depleted; Chen Fan was left with his wife and child as Ling Qingcheng called him a “rebellious disciple.”

• Chen Fan comforted Ling Qingcheng as her labor began, and the midwives hurried in to help her give birth.
• The Chen Lineage prepared to protect the birth, while Bai Fengyao and Ye Hao prayed in the ancestral hall and Yang Lingqing waited anxiously outside.
• Heavenly phenomena gathered over the Chen Lineage, prompting Bai Fengrong, Xu Zu, and the Gods and Devils Pavilion masters to suppress them.
• The heavenly phenomena turned into nine-colored divine light, auspicious beasts, and countless divine weapon phantoms as surrounding factions recognized the ancestor’s child was being born.
• Ling Qingcheng gave birth to a daughter with Double Pupils, a Supreme Bone, a Chaos Dao Body, an innate divine weapon, and Spirit Transformation Realm cultivation, while her strength weakened greatly.
• Chen Fan looked at Ling Qingcheng and their daughter as Ling Qingcheng called him a “rebellious disciple.”

Ling Qingcheng gave birth to Chen Fan’s daughter, and the newborn’s arrival awakened Ling Qingcheng’s memories and mastery of the Law of Reincarnation. Ling Qingcheng confronted Chen Fan over his behavior as her disciple, while their family waited outside and finally burst into the room.

• Chen Fan sent the midwives away and bowed to Ling Qingcheng as his master after realizing her memories had awakened.
• Ling Qingcheng soothed their newborn daughter, then demanded that Chen Fan accept punishment for being a rebellious disciple.
• Chen Fan suggested a washboard, keyboard, durian, and acupressure mat before Ling Qingcheng pointed him toward a meditation cushion.
• Yang Lingqing and the others waited outside, puzzled that no midwife had announced the birth.
• The group pushed open the door, saw what was happening, apologized, and hurriedly shut it again.