Recaps

Lu Yuan accepted a dangerous undercover mission to infiltrate the cult in Jiangzhou City and investigate its plans. After Ji Yin secretly taught him the Body-Protecting Shield technique, Shang Qiyuan briefed him on the operation and ordered him to leave by the next day.

• Ji Yin warned Lu Yuan that the classified mission offered no Bureau support and could end in death, but Lu Yuan accepted after learning his family would receive benefits if he died.
• Ji Yin taught Lu Yuan the Body-Protecting Shield breathing method, which made his True Essence fluctuate, and explained that cultivator knowledge was kept secret.
• Ji Yin led Lu Yuan to the Internal Affairs Bureau's war room, where Shang Qiyuan explained that Zhang Baocheng's cult was part of a larger Jiangzhou organization planning an operation that included kidnapping Lu Youbing.
• Shang Qiyuan told Lu Yuan that a captured high school recruit had been intended for the infiltration, and that Lu Yuan would take his place because the cult did not know the recruit's identity.
• Shang Qiyuan gave Lu Yuan an envelope with the contact method and told him to leave for Jiangzhou City by the next day, warning that the cult would be suspicious of him.

Lu Yuan prepared to infiltrate the Holy Church in Jiangzhou and tried to reassure Xiao Bing before leaving home. After Xiao Bing realized the danger he faced, Lu Yuan told her about a dream of hardship and loneliness, and she agreed to support his ambition on one condition.

• Ji Yin blessed Lu Yuan before he left to undertake the mission in Jiangzhou.
• Lu Yuan studied the Internal Affairs Bureau’s information about the Holy Church, then asked Xiao Bing to register him for the written college entrance exam and entrusted her with his bank card.
• Lu Yuan told Xiao Bing he would be away for a few days and asked her to take care of their parents, making her suspect he might not return.
• Xiao Bing went to Lu Yuan’s room in tears and begged him not to leave.
• Lu Yuan described a dream in which he lost his family, endured years of hardship, and died alone, then said he wanted to enter the Four Greats and give it everything he had.
• Xiao Bing said she supported Lu Yuan but made him promise not to dream of a world without her again.

Lu Yuan used a coded advertisement to contact the Holy Church in Jiangzhou and was taken to a safe house, where its members tested whether he was an Internal Affairs Bureau spy. After accepting his explanation and confirming he was a high school student, Guo Huai introduced himself as a Holy Church guard and took Lu Yuan along.

• Lu Yuan posted a coded advertisement in a Garden Shopping Center restroom and waited in a fast-food restaurant until an unknown caller gave him a meeting place.
• Lu Yuan went to Square Station, where a driver picked him up and took him to a rented apartment.
• The Holy Church men restrained Lu Yuan, stripped him, and checked whether he had formed a Dantian before he fainted.
• After Lu Yuan woke, Guo Huai questioned him about Zhang Baocheng and the canceled mission, then compared his test answers with his study notes.
• Guo Huai accepted that Lu Yuan was not an Internal Affairs Bureau spy, introduced himself as a guard of the Holy Church, and told Lu Yuan to gather his belongings and come along.

Lu Yuan was imprisoned at the Jiangzhou cult’s underground base, where he learned that its members were targeting the college entrance exam. After gaining permission to visit the prayer hall, he left his cell with Brother Cheng, giving him a chance to observe the base.

• Guo Huai took Lu Yuan to a steel cell and collected his exam registration ID number and password.
• Lu Yuan realized the cultists planned to interfere with the college entrance exam and reflected on what he knew about cultivators.
• While confined, Lu Yuan studied and considered the cult’s larger Jiangzhou base, its planned operation, and the details he still needed to uncover.
• Lu Yuan asked to pray at the holy statue, and the food-delivering cultist agreed to seek permission from the guard.
• Brother Cheng brought Lu Yuan out of his cell to visit the prayer hall and told him to wait inside.

Lu Yuan attended a cult prayer and discovered that the bird-shaped statue drained his Divine Sense, while the cultists claimed its divine water cured Twilight Syndrome. After Guo Huai sent a new captive named Xu Wenbin to the room next to Lu Yuan’s, Lu Yuan returned to cultivating the Body-Protecting Shield.

• Lu Yuan knelt before the statue, found that it made him drowsy, and checked the system to discover his Divine Sense had fallen to 22/24.
• The prayer ended, and cultists said the divine lord had cured their Twilight Syndrome; Lu Yuan doubted their claims because the cult had kidnapped his younger sister.
• The prayer leader handed out bottles of divine water, but he withheld one from Lu Yuan.
• Guo Huai caught Zhang Cheng escorting Lu Yuan and ordered him to keep newcomers locked up until the protector arrived, then assigned Xu Wenbin to the room next to Lu Yuan.
• Zhang Cheng reassured Lu Yuan that he might take him to pray again, and Lu Yuan later found his Divine Sense restored to 24/24.
• Lu Yuan went to bed and practiced cultivating the Body-Protecting Shield to protect himself from danger.

Ji Yin told Zuo Ling that he had sent Lu Yuan undercover in the Jiangzhou cult, only to learn that the cult’s Holy Descent Ceremony could mentally warp ordinary people. While Ji Yin feared Lu Yuan was doomed, Lu Yuan remained imprisoned and learned that the cult was recruiting young people with promises of spirit arts.

• Ji Yin called Zuo Ling and explained that he had sent Lu Yuan undercover to gather intelligence on the cult.
• Zuo Ling scolded Ji Yin for sending a civilian into danger and explained that the Holy Descent Ceremony could warp minds, likely requiring at least twenty units of Divine Sense to resist.
• Ji Yin realized Lu Yuan might be vulnerable to the ceremony, and Zuo Ling said she would report his unauthorized mission to headquarters.
• Lu Yuan worried about escaping before the college entrance exam while continuing to study and practice the Body-Protecting Shield in confinement.
• Lu Yuan learned from Xu Wenbin that the cult promised its followers spirit arts and claimed devotion mattered more than True Essence.
• Lu Yuan concluded that the cult attracted not only the seriously ill but also young people seeking the powers of cultivators.

While imprisoned by the Holy Church, Lu Yuan learned that its guards planned to use expendable believers in an upcoming operation and suspected him of being a spy. Xu Wenbin was beaten after demanding to leave, then confided in Lu Yuan; Lu Yuan continued studying and cultivating as he waited for a chance to escape.

• Guo Huai killed a cultist whose Twilight Syndrome had returned, and he and Sheng Hong discussed using weak believers as cannon fodder in an upcoming operation.
• Guo Huai and Sheng Hong discussed recruiting more young believers and suspected that Zhang Baocheng had sent Lu Yuan as a spy for the Internal Affairs Bureau.
• Lu Yuan worried about his family and his inability to contact the Internal Affairs Bureau, but stayed calm and continued studying in his cell.
• Xu Wenbin shouted for the guards to let him go, and Guo Huai beat him after Xu accused the cult of lying about teaching him spiritual arts.
• Lu Yuan checked on Xu Wenbin, who later told him about his troubles at home and school and thanked him for listening.
• Lu Yuan discovered that studying came much more easily than before and had nearly finished reviewing math and science, though the chapter ended before his discovery about the system was revealed.

Lu Yuan discovered that he could temporarily raise his True Essence above its limit, strengthening his Body-Protecting Shield, and later saw his Spiritual Pressure increase for an unknown reason. When the Protector of the Faith arrived to perform a ritual, Lu Yuan recognized him as Doctor Li Tailai of Jiangzhou First Hospital and realized the cult’s secret treatment had drawn in patients with Twilight Syndrome.

• Lu Yuan spent Merit Points to raise his True Essence above its limit, temporarily increasing his defense before the excess True Essence gradually vanished.
• Lu Yuan found that his True Essence limit had returned and his Spiritual Pressure had risen from twelve seals to thirteen.
• Zhang Cheng brought Lu Yuan and the three other students to the prayer hall, where the Protector of the Faith prepared a ritual for them.
• Lu Yuan recognized the masked Protector of the Faith as Doctor Li Tailai and connected the cult’s recruitment to Li Tailai’s secret treatment for Twilight Syndrome patients.

During Li Tailai’s ritual, a dreamlike hummingbird drained Lu Yuan’s Divine Sense and entered the sleepers’ ears. Lu Yuan briefly resisted before passing out, while a distant middle-aged man sensed a problem with the Dream-Knowing Bird but ordered the operation in Jiangzhou to continue.

• Li Tailai began the ritual, and its pink spiritual light sent the cultists, guards, and students to sleep while sharply lowering Lu Yuan’s Divine Sense.
• A translucent hummingbird emerged from Li Tailai’s ear and scattered sleep-inducing spiritual dust over everyone in the prayer hall.
• The hummingbird entered Xu Wenbin’s ear and then those of the other students before approaching Lu Yuan.
• When his Divine Sense fell to 5, Lu Yuan activated his Body-Protecting Shield and tried to grab the hummingbird, which fled to Li Tailai and entered his ear.
• Lu Yuan passed out as a middle-aged man in a distant dark room sensed something had gone wrong with the Dream-Knowing Bird and ordered Li Tailai’s group to continue the operation under close watch.

Lu Yuan learned that the strange bird had turned Xu Wenbin into a fanatical cultist and discovered that the cult planned to bomb two college entrance exam sites and attack the students’ families. The cult chose Lu Yuan and the other three examinees as the key to smuggling bombs into the sites, leaving Lu Yuan trapped in a deadly plan.

• Lu Yuan found that his Divine Sense had recovered and feared the bird might reveal that he was an undercover agent.
• Zhang Cheng brought Lu Yuan and the other three to eat with the cultists, where Xu Wenbin praised the Divine Lord, knelt, and prostrated himself; Lu Yuan copied him to avoid suspicion.
• Lu Yuan realized the bird had transformed Xu Wenbin and worried about what it might have done to his own mind.
• Zhang Cheng let the four examinees move around the underground base, and Lu Yuan assessed the guarded exit while considering escape plans.
• Guo Huai announced that the cult would attack the college entrance exam in two days, and Sheng Hong assigned a plan to bomb Jiangzhou No. 2 High School and Guanghua School and attack waiting families.
• Sheng Hong’s plan relied on Lu Yuan and the other three examinees to get bombs into the exam sites.

Lu Yuan went with Guo Huai and other cultists to scout the college entrance exam site at Guanghua School in Jiangzhou City, where he discovered their hidden base was Jiangzhou City Psychiatric Hospital. Meanwhile, Xiao Bing realized Lu Yuan had printed his admission ticket and deduced that he might be at the exam site in Jiangzhou City.

• Guo Huai took Lu Yuan's review materials and instructed him and the other candidates to pose as students while scouting the exam site.
• Lu Yuan traveled with Guo Huai, Xu Wenbin, and several cultists to Jiangzhou City Psychiatric Hospital and learned it was the cult's base.
• Guo Huai gave Lu Yuan and Xu Wenbin their admission tickets and identity cards, and Lu Yuan saw that his exam site was Guanghua School.
• Xiao Bing remained distressed over Lu Yuan's month-long disappearance while classmates admired her newfound online fame.
• Ma Jin told Xiao Bing that Lu Yuan's teacher had asked her to pass on the reminder to print and bring his admission ticket.
• Xiao Bing checked Lu Yuan's exam registration, saw that his ticket had been printed for Guanghua School, and concluded he might be in Jiangzhou City.

Lu Yuan used Xiao Bing’s unexpected arrival at Guanghua School to pass her a warning about the cult’s planned exam attacks. Xiao Bing escaped with the note after the van carrying Lu Yuan and the cultists drove away.

• Guo Huai kept Lu Yuan under close watch as the cultists inspected Guanghua School’s security arrangements and prepared to leave.
• Lu Yuan spotted Xiao Bing at the school gate and stopped himself from acting when Guo Huai was watching.
• Xiao Bing pretended to be desperate to enter the school, then covered the siblings’ handoff of Lu Yuan’s note with her performance.
• After the van left, Xiao Bing read Lu Yuan’s report identifying Dr. Li Tailai as a suspected cult leader and warning of attacks on two exam sites during the college entrance exam.

As Lu Yuan waited for the Internal Affairs Bureau to stop the cult’s planned attack on the college entrance exam, Guo Huai sent the cultists out with explosives hidden in their shoes. At Jiangzhou First Hospital, Li Tailai headed upstairs to watch the attack, but became trapped on an endless staircase and lost consciousness.

• Lu Yuan prayed for a rescue, knowing the note he had passed to Xiao Bing did not identify the cult’s base at Jiangzhou City Psychiatric Hospital.
• Guo Huai told the cultists that the Divine Lord had answered their prayers and explained how Xu Wenbin and the others would use explosive shoes to attack the exam venue.
• Guo Huai and Sheng Hong gave the cultists their assignments, including attacking students’ parents, and the group left the hospital in three vans.
• Li Tailai celebrated the coming attack and went upstairs at Jiangzhou First Hospital to watch the exam venue.
• Li Tailai found himself climbing an endless staircase in darkness, grew exhausted, and lost consciousness.

Zuo Ling failed to capture Li Tailai intact after a hidden restriction damaged his brain, while Ji Yin helped lead an Internal Affairs Bureau operation to intercept Lu Yuan’s cult escort. The operation ended with Xu Wenbin’s suicide bombing, which destroyed the van and killed the cultists, but an azure bead shielded nearby civilians from the blast.

• Zuo Ling trapped Li Tailai in a Spiral Illusion Realm, but a restriction inside him erupted; she suppressed it and ordered him sent to headquarters despite his brain being ruined.
• Zuo Ling called Ji Yin to report her failure and warned him not to fail his own operation.
• Ji Yin disguised himself as a traffic officer near the examination site, while Internal Affairs Bureau forces prepared to rescue Lu Yuan from the cult.
• On Linchun Road, Lu Yuan recognized the traffic officers as Internal Affairs Bureau cultivators and prepared his Body-Protecting Shield as they approached the van.
• The disguised cultivators attacked the van, killing the driver and subduing the cultists, while Xu Wenbin detonated explosives hidden in his shoe to help Guo Huai escape.
• An Internal Affairs Bureau cultivator used an azure bead to shield civilians from the blast, but the van was torn apart and the cultists were killed.

After Ji Yin killed Guo Huai and saved Lu Yuan with an Essence Restoration Pill, Lu Yuan insisted on taking the college entrance exam despite his severe injuries. At Guanghua School, Li Tao confidently told reporters she planned to become New Capital Cultivation University's chief ace and champion.

• Guo Huai recognized Lu Yuan as the mole, stabbed him, and prepared to torture him before detonating a bomb.
• Ji Yin broke the sound barrier to kill Guo Huai and gave Lu Yuan an Essence Restoration Pill to stabilize his injuries.
• Lu Yuan refused to go straight to the hospital and asked Ji Yin to take him to the college entrance exam.
• Internal Affairs Bureau personnel reported that the cultists had been captured and the attack thwarted, though the bureau had suffered casualties.
• At Guanghua School, Li Tao told reporters she expected to place first in the exam and become New Capital Cultivation University's chief ace.

Lu Yuan arrived at the Guanghua School exam with a knife still in his chest, and Ji Yin used his authority to get him inside with two agents. After Ji Yin revealed that Lu Yuan had helped stop a cult attack, the crowd applauded him, while Li Tao became furious and vowed to remember him.

• Ji Yin supported the bloodied Lu Yuan through the crowd toward the examination venue, where Li Tao tried to block their way and Ji Yin shoved her aside.
• Lu Yuan presented his bloodstained admission ticket and identity card, and Ji Yin took responsibility for allowing him to enter with the knife still in his chest.
• Ji Yin sent two subordinates into the venue to accompany Lu Yuan, prompting parents and reporter Ding Lin to accuse him of violating the exam's fairness.
• Ji Yin told the crowd that Lu Yuan had infiltrated a cult, uncovered its plan to attack the exam, and helped the Internal Affairs Bureau destroy its Jiangzhou City stronghold.
• The crowd applauded Lu Yuan and the Internal Affairs Bureau, while Li Tao burned with anger and set herself against Lu Yuan.

After surviving surgery, Lu Yuan took the common language exam by marking C for every answer, then reunited with his worried family. The Internal Affairs Bureau arranged luxurious hotel suites for them, and the family settled in Jiangzhou City before Lu Yuan’s remaining exams the next day.

• Lu Yuan woke after surgery shortly before the common language exam and went to take it despite still recovering.
• Lu Yuan marked C for every multiple-choice answer and finished the exam before the listening section ended.
• Lu Yuan reunited with Lu Wenkai, Xu Yongmei, and Xiao Bing outside the exam room, and hugged them after seeing how worried they were.
• Lu Yuan called Ji Yin for help finding a place to stay, and Ji Yin sent an assistant to collect the family.
• The assistant drove Lu Yuan’s family to an Internal Affairs Bureau-designated hotel and arranged four suites at the Bureau’s expense.
• Lu Wenkai questioned the expense, and Lu Yuan teased the assistant while reassuring his father.

Lu Yuan and his family settled into a luxurious hotel suite, where Xiao Bing kept watch over her injured brother through the night. Meanwhile, Zuo Ling and Ji Yin investigated the cult’s Holy Descent Ceremony and concluded its dream-based technique likely involved a mysterious bird, prompting them to send the case to headquarters.

• Hotel attendants brought Lu Yuan’s family and luggage to their suites and arranged a replacement phone and SIM card for him.
• Lu Yuan fell asleep from exhaustion, and Xiao Bing stayed awake beside him, worried about his chest wound.
• The Internal Affairs Bureau launched an overnight operation against Li Tailai’s cult, while Zuo Ling and Ji Yin reviewed Lu Yuan’s account of the Holy Descent Ceremony.
• Zuo Ling and Ji Yin reasoned that the ceremony’s mental technique had been projected through dreams and suspected the hummingbird was its key.
• Ji Yin judged the matter beyond the local bureau’s capabilities, and Zuo Ling prepared to report it to headquarters.

After returning home from the college entrance exams, Lu Yuan reviewed his rewards for helping destroy the Jiangzhou cult and investigated the changes to his system. He clarified the rules for allocating Merit Points, while Return Progress and his newly advanced Body-Protecting Shield left him with further questions.

• Lu Yuan completed the math and comprehensive science exams, then traveled home with his family after the hotel arranged their ride to the station.
• Lu Yuan confirmed that his military merit would earn him 200 exam bonus points and learned that the Internal Affairs Bureau had given him the codename “Fucking Daredevil.”
• Zuo Ling called Lu Yuan and promised that he could claim a favor from the Internal Affairs Bureau when he needed one.
• Lu Yuan examined his system and established the Merit Point costs and conditions for Restoration, Upper Limit, and Beyond-Limit Point Allocation.
• Lu Yuan noticed Return Progress had risen to 11.18% and wondered whether he himself had caused the previous 11.17%.
• Lu Yuan saw that his Body-Protecting Shield had advanced to beginner after withstanding the explosion during the battle.

Lu Yuan checked his college entrance exam answers, recovered at home, and reflected on how traditional food could bring people comfort. He offered to teach Jia Shengnan hundreds of dishes for free on the condition that the Food Flavor Pavilion help revive Hua People's food culture, and Jia Shengnan set out to discuss the plan in person.

• Lu Yuan estimated strong scores in math and science but poor results in foreign language and Chinese after his essay about Qu Yuan went off topic.
• Lu Yuan enjoyed his mother's home cooking and remembered how the taste of home had comforted him in his previous life.
• After recovering, Lu Yuan called Jia Shengnan to ask for kitchen assistants for a family banquet.
• Lu Yuan offered Jia Shengnan hundreds of traditional dishes for free, asking only that the Food Flavor Pavilion promote the dishes without restricting others from learning or using them.
• Lu Yuan explained that the dishes belonged to the Hua People's shared heritage, and Jia Shengnan agreed to return to Ning City to discuss the undertaking in person.

Lu Yuan prepared an elaborate family banquet with Chef Wang while teaching the Food Flavor Pavilion’s staff his cooking techniques. After tasting the meal, Jia Shengnan planned to secure Lu Yuan’s cooperation and arranged an easier, better-paid job for Lu Wenkai.

• Jia Shengnan sent a team of kitchen staff to Lu Yuan’s small home, where Lu Yuan and Chef Wang prepared a banquet while a cameraman recorded his instructions.
• Jia Shengnan arrived and watched Lu Yuan slice tofu into fine strands for Wensi tofu.
• Lu Yuan’s family returned home and was stunned by the lavish banquet, and Lu Wenkai invited Jia Shengnan and the staff to eat with them.
• The guests were amazed by the dishes, and Jia Shengnan decided the Food Flavor Pavilion needed to hold on to Lu Yuan.
• Jia Shengnan befriended Lu Wenkai over dinner and offered him work repairing exhaust ducts, while Lu Yuan realized his father might gain an easier job and a higher salary.

At dinner, Xiao Bing announced that she had accepted an invitation to become Ning City's ambassador, while Lu Yuan and Jia Xuanxuan reconciled during a walk and discussed their plans for Cultivation University. On the day of the True Essence test, Lu Yuan reunited with Zhou Xiyun and Chen Shihe on the bus to Jiangzhou, where an unexpected passenger appeared.

• Xiao Bing told her family she had accepted the cultural bureau's invitation to become Ning City's ambassador.
• Jia Xuanxuan left dinner, and Lu Yuan caught up with her and admitted he had once planned to kidnap her for ransom.
• Lu Yuan and Jia Xuanxuan laughed away their rift, then revealed they planned to apply to New Capital Cultivation University and Azure Nascent Soul, respectively.
• On June 9, Lu Yuan boarded the bus for the True Essence test and reunited with Zhou Xiyun and Chen Shihe.
• Lu Yuan joked that he had been locked in a cell to study, and Zhou Xiyun and Chen Shihe teased him about attending a cram course.
• An unexpected person boarded the bus as the three friends prepared to travel to Jiangzhou.

Lu Yuan and his classmates waited at the Jiangzhou Education Bureau for the Cultivator University Qualification Test, while Ma Jin insisted his True Essence would make the scanner go wild and Jia Xuanxuan gave Lu Yuan Spirit-Raising Water. As the testing batches proceeded, an announcement about Shuangqiao Town Middle School caught Lu Yuan’s attention.

• Ma Jin joined Lu Yuan, Zhou Xiyun, and Chen Shihe, explaining that he had paid to take the True Essence test despite expecting his high True Essence to make the machine alarms go off.
• Jia Xuanxuan gave Lu Yuan Spirit-Raising Water, which raised his temporary True Essence cap by one point.
• Lu Yuan’s friends teased him about Jia Xuanxuan, and he explained that their families had been visiting because their fathers had business dealings.
• Lu Yuan reflected that Jia Xuanxuan was using him to get back at Xiao Bing, while he intended to act oblivious rather than encourage her feelings.
• The students waited as schools completed testing batches, and Lu Yuan reacted when an official announced that Shuangqiao Town Middle School had finished its test.

Lu Yuan sought out Xu Wenbin’s old classmates and learned about the difficult life Xu had left behind. He told Zhou Wenwen that Xu had died as a brave comrade and passed along a message of farewell, keeping the truth of Xu’s fate secret.

• Lu Yuan asked students from Shuangqiao Town Middle School whether they knew Xu Wenbin, but none recognized the name.
• Zhou Wenwen introduced herself as Xu Wenbin’s former neighbor and explained his troubled family life and that he had disappeared after saying he would do something big.
• Lu Yuan told Zhou Wenwen that he and Xu had investigated a cult for the Internal Affairs Bureau and that Xu had sacrificed his life.
• Lu Yuan said Xu had missed a girl named Wenwen and hoped she would live well, and Zhou Wenwen wept as she confirmed she was that girl.
• After Zhou Wenwen thanked him and left, Lu Yuan watched her go and resolved to keep the truth about Xu’s death to himself.

While Lu Yuan and his friends watched Guanghua School’s top examinees announce their scores, Li Tao set a new record with 192 Spirit. As she passed, she stopped before Lu Yuan and smiled at him with an icy gaze, turning him into the focus of everyone’s curiosity.

• Chen Shihe returned with a watermelon, and Lu Yuan split it with a chop of his hand so he and his friends could watch the results announcements while eating.
• Zuo Wenxuan scored 154 Spirit and Zhang Huchen scored 156, then the two joked about competing for second place because Li Tao always took first.
• The cultivator announced that Li Tao had scored 192 Spirit, a new record for the Cultivation University exams, and the crowd chanted her name.
• Lu Yuan told his friends that Li Tao had smiled at him during an earlier visit to Jiangzhou First Hospital and bragged about her 180 Spirit score there.
• Li Tao stopped in front of Lu Yuan and smiled at him coldly, leaving him under the silent, curious stare of the square.