Recaps

Ye Fu decided to open a private school called Three Flavors Study to support himself and Qin Sanyue. After concealing the pear tree’s cultivation from Qin Sanyue, he obtained permission to operate the school, enrolled Hu Zhifu’s child, and began investigating what books were taught in Black Stone City.

• Ye Fu told Qin Sanyue to clear the main hall for a private school and deducted the cost of the dishes she had broken from her wages.
• A Spiritual Qi vortex formed above the pear tree as it cultivated, and Ye Fu shielded it from view while reassuring the tree.
• Qin Sanyue saw Ye Fu interacting with the pear tree, and he told her not to be surprised by strange things he did before sending her to order school furniture.
• Ye Fu carved a sign naming the school Three Flavors Study and asked Hu Zhifu to help him obtain the permit to operate it.
• Hu Zhifu enrolled his child at Ye Fu’s school and paid the tuition, while Ye Fu found that Black Stone City’s schoolbooks mostly covered literature rather than mathematics or physics.

Ye Fu began preparing to teach by studying the world’s Confucian school and activating his max-level reading state. When he read aloud, the Vast Righteous Qi produced a world-spanning celestial spectacle, and people across the Layered Cloud Kingdom welcomed the apparent sage.

• Ye Fu bought primers, arranged for desks and chairs, and had Qin Sanyue post notices to recruit students.
• Ye Fu studied the Confucian school and remembered that his reading skill had once let him cultivate Vast Righteous Qi.
• Ye Fu activated his reading state, and the pear tree entered the Realm of Emptiness and Clarity after absorbing a faint wisp of his presence.
• Ye Fu restrained his Vast Righteous Qi, stopped a book from gaining sentience, and began reading the Classic of Knowledge.
• Ye Fu read only the words "The Master said" before rosy light and a gigantic reading figure appeared in the sky, sending Vast Righteous Qi across the world.
• The white-haired youth in Black Stone City called the figure a sage, bowed, and led people across the Layered Cloud Kingdom in welcoming it.

After Ye Fu’s recitation caused a radiant Sage to appear, Black Stone City’s Forest Guardians suppressed the resulting unrest while outside factions anticipated a struggle over the coming Great Curtain. Ye Fu tried to resume ordinary teaching, but Qin Sanyue arrived and revealed that she had witnessed the Sage phenomenon.

• A youth with a cinnabar mark worried that the new Sage could upset the balance among the Great Sages, then left Black Stone City.
• A white-haired youth and a tall woman concluded that the Forest Guardians had kept the city calm and discussed the karmic fortune expected from the new Sage.
• A Forest Guardian ordered his subordinate to contain unrest, keep ordinary people uninvolved, and prevent the Tree Fellers from criticizing them before the Great Curtain opened.
• Ye Fu reflected on how his uncontrolled Vast Righteous Qi had caused the Sage phenomenon and learned to release and withdraw it without creating further disturbances.
• Qin Sanyue rushed into Three Flavors Study and told Ye Fu she had seen a radiant figure resembling him appear above the city as people welcomed a Sage.

Ye Fu explained his ideas about studying to Qu Hongxiao after she asked to become his student at Three Flavors Study. Though he told her she could no longer recover the heart of a child, Qu Hongxiao remained determined to study both the process of learning and the books themselves.

• Qin Sanyue insisted that her strange experience was real, but Ye Fu advised her not to dwell on it and let her keep the memory.
• Qin Sanyue reported that she had posted enrollment notices and arranged for the carpenter to deliver tables and chairs.
• Qu Hongxiao returned to admire the pear blossoms, then asked Ye Fu to accept her as a student.
• Ye Fu described two approaches to learning and asked Qu Hongxiao what she studied for.
• Qu Hongxiao said she wanted to seek the heart of a child, and Ye Fu explained that studying could not restore it once lost.
• Qu Hongxiao still chose to study at Three Flavors Study, seeking both the meaning of learning and the meaning of books.

Ye Fu accepted Qu Hongxiao as a student and let her remain at the Three Flavors Study under three rules. As dinner began, Qu Hongxiao discovered that the smell of Ye Fu and Qin Sanyue’s ordinary meal made her unable to meditate, and she watched them eat in torment.

• Ye Fu directed Qu Hongxiao to pay Qin Sanyue her tuition, completing her enrollment.
• Qu Hongxiao asked to stay at the Three Flavors Study, and Ye Fu refused to let her sleep there but allowed her to remain under three rules.
• Qu Hongxiao meditated beneath the pear tree and found the courtyard eased her injuries and clarified her soul.
• Ye Fu woke at dinnertime, and Qu Hongxiao was overwhelmed by the aroma of the home-cooked meal.
• Qu Hongxiao watched Ye Fu and Qin Sanyue eat while she sat without food, finding the wait tormenting.

Ye Fu prepared the Three Flavors Study for its new students and planned lessons to address Qu Hongxiao’s shortcomings. That night, Zhou Ruosheng and his servant broke onto Ye Fu’s roof and tried to drug him before sneaking inside.

• The carpenter delivered five sets of desks and chairs, but his ox refused to enter the alley until Ye Fu called it forward.
• After Qu Hongxiao left, Qin Sanyue carefully prepared the desks and chairs while Ye Fu planned to teach Qu Hongxiao about her poor mindset.
• Ye Fu lamented that only two students had enrolled at the Three Flavors Study, then used the Great Dream of Three Thousand Autumns to fall asleep.
• Zhou Ruosheng and his servant removed roof tiles and blew knockout incense into Ye Fu’s room, unaware that Ye Fu had neutralized it.
• Zhou Ruosheng complained that Hua Niang avoided him, then argued with his servant over whether he was a real man and threatened to lift his skirt.

Ye Fu thwarted Zhou Ruosheng and his servant’s plan to pour a bucket of piss on him, turning it back on Zhou Ruosheng instead. After restoring his house, Ye Fu accidentally knocked a sword immortal out of the sky with the discarded bucket.

• Ye Fu made the piss bucket impossible for Zhou Ruosheng to lift, then let the servant pick it up easily.
• Ye Fu took control of the servant’s body, making him pour the bucket over Zhou Ruosheng.
• Zhou Ruosheng screamed, retched, and fled with a sprained leg while the servant hurried after him.
• Ye Fu restored the roof, removed the smell, and tossed the bucket toward the mountains.
• The bucket struck a sword immortal flying toward Black Stone City, sending him crashing into the Dragon-Rearing Mountain Range and inspiring him to seek revenge.

Ye Fu learned that Qu Hongxiao was cultivating beneath the pear tree and welcomed her diligence as his student. Shopkeeper Hu Zhifu then brought his daughter Hu Xiaomei to study, but she declared she wanted to cultivate and practice the sword so she could save the world, leaving Ye Fu to consider the gifted girl’s unusual ambition.

• Ye Fu spoke with the awakened pear tree and asked it to accommodate Qu Hongxiao as she cultivated beside it.
• Qu Hongxiao arrived early to cultivate beneath the pear tree, then left during mealtimes and returned afterward.
• Hu Zhifu brought his daughter Hu Xiaomei to Ye Fu’s school despite her protests that she did not want to study.
• Hu Xiaomei said she wanted to cultivate immortality and practice the sword to right wrongs and save people.
• Hu Zhifu told Ye Fu that Hu Xiaomei had read every book she could find in Black Stone City and asked him to teach her.

Ye Fu challenged Hu Lan’s belief that learning to read was useless, then inspired her with stories of sages and sword immortals until she accepted him as her teacher. In the Three Flavors Study courtyard, Hu Lan met Qin Sanyue and Qu Hongxiao and began to settle in as Ye Fu’s new student.

• Ye Fu questioned Hu Lan’s claim that she could save the world by learning the sword, arguing that she knew too little about the world or the meaning of books and swordsmanship.
• Hu Lan insisted that she would learn the sword and refuse to read, so Ye Fu described how poetry and learning could make a swordswoman more formidable and renowned.
• Hu Lan was captivated by Ye Fu’s accounts of sages and sword immortals, asked where he had learned of them, and paid her respects as his student.
• Hu Zhifu left after telling Ye Fu about Hu Lan, and Hu Lan asked why the pear tree was blooming in the third month.
• Ye Fu introduced Qin Sanyue as his employee and Qu Hongxiao as his first student, and Hu Lan greeted Qu Hongxiao as her eldest senior sister.

Ye Fu began guiding Qu Hongxiao after her Mind of a Clear Mirror shattered, assigning her to contemplate beneath a pear tree for seven days. He then spoke with Hu Lan about her reading, while Qu Hongxiao began her silent practice.

• Hu Lan asked Qin Sanyue to style her hair, and Ye Fu encouraged Qin Sanyue to do it herself.
• Ye Fu told Qu Hongxiao that her lesson had already begun and assigned her to cultivate beneath the pear tree for seven days.
• Ye Fu explained that Qu Hongxiao had misunderstood the Mind of a Clear Mirror and asked her to consider how it should respond to distractions.
• Qu Hongxiao accepted the assignment and sat silently beneath the pear tree to contemplate how to set her conduct upright and clarify her mind.
• Hu Lan emerged with her hair styled like Qin Sanyue's, and Ye Fu asked whether she had read all the books in Black Stone City.

Ye Fu began teaching Hu Lan the principles of the Book of Saving the World while Qu Hongxiao reflected on her new teacher and Qin Sanyue watched the peaceful courtyard. After Hu Lan sampled Ye Fu’s cooking, the students left, and Ye Fu used his Divine Ability to replay a movie in his mind before bed.

• Ye Fu accepted Hu Lan as his student and promised to teach her the principles of the Book of Saving the World.
• Qu Hongxiao overheard Ye Fu’s promise, resolved to study diligently under him, and remembered her late master’s wish for her to find guidance.
• Ye Fu taught Hu Lan through examples, but she spent much of the lesson arguing that tofu pudding should be savory.
• Ye Fu agreed to cook for Hu Lan after she pleaded with him, and her enjoyment of the meal convinced him that she would keep eating with the household.
• Ye Fu refused Hu Lan’s request to live at the Three Flavors Study, and Qin Sanyue escorted her home while Qu Hongxiao later took her leave.
• Ye Fu used Return to the Root and Trace the Source to replay a classic movie in his mind before sleeping.

Qu Hongxiao fought a masked tree chopper in Black Stone City while the Great Curtain sealed her cultivation, leaving her badly wounded and apparently unable to use her trump-card Divine Ability. After she seemed to collapse, she stood again, startling her opponent as the chapter ended.

• The man in the conical hat ambushed Qu Hongxiao and wounded her as she tried to flee.
• The forest keeper appeared, and the man told Qu Hongxiao that only one of the two tree choppers could remain.
• Qu Hongxiao declared herself Camel Bell Mountain’s human-world walker and used Spirit Rhinoceros to break the man’s attack, exhausting herself.
• The man in the conical hat judged Qu Hongxiao defeated and began to leave after she fell.
• Qu Hongxiao stood upright again, shocking the man in the conical hat.

Qu Hongxiao survived the conical-hatted man’s attack after her Dharma Idol slew him, while the Forest Guardian concealed the incident to protect his organization. Ye Fu decided to help her become a sage, and Qu Hongxiao later woke with no memory of who had saved her.

• Qu Hongxiao’s Dharma Idol commanded the conical-hatted man to die, and his fleeing Nascent Soul perished as well.
• The Forest Guardian realized Qu Hongxiao’s Dharma Idol resembled the sage’s form and feared her emergence could make the Forest Guardians enemies of the cultivation world.
• The Forest Guardian repeatedly shielded the event from detection, removed the man’s body, erased the traces of the fight, and left without noticing Ye Fu.
• Ye Fu appeared beside the unconscious Qu Hongxiao, promised to make her a sage, and departed to watch the rest of the Kung Fu.
• Qu Hongxiao woke unharmed, found the men gone, and wondered who had rescued her as she headed home.

Qu Hongxiao recovered her composure after her injuries, while the Forest Guardians learned that she might be a new saint and a childlike Daoist spread the secret. At the Three Flavors Study, Ye Fu saw her diligence and began changing his lessons to help her protect herself.

• Qu Hongxiao recalled Ye Fu’s advice and walked forward with her dignity intact.
• Ding reported the events surrounding Qu Hongxiao to his lord, who warned him not to interfere unless she proved to be the new saint.
• A childlike Daoist uncovered the Forest Guardians’ secret and removed Ding’s restrictions, unaware that Ye Fu had placed another restriction over them.
• Ye Fu saw Qu Hongxiao studying beneath the pear tree and regretted not protecting her sooner after seeing her injuries.
• Ye Fu decided to teach Qu Hongxiao and Hu Lan self-defense as well as reading, then asked Qu Hongxiao whether she was satisfied with the Three Flavors Study.

Ye Fu sent Qu Hongxiao to a secluded valley for five days of painful training through a revised copy of “Clear Breeze,” hoping to restore her strength before Black Stone City’s grand event. Qu Hongxiao accepted the task and began exploring the place where she would study.

• Ye Fu warned Qu Hongxiao that she would face hardship and told her to work harder before the upcoming event.
• Ye Fu gave Qu Hongxiao a rewritten copy of “Clear Breeze” and a pear-tree branch, then sent her to a safe valley with a strand of his divine sense attached to the branch.
• Ye Fu revealed that reading the book would expose Qu Hongxiao to Vast Righteous Qi, painfully rebuilding her meridians without draining her foundation.
• Qu Hongxiao woke in the valley, heard Ye Fu’s message explaining her five-day assignment, and decided to stop questioning his identity.
• Qu Hongxiao found a wooden cabin by a stream and, after entering to begin reading, noticed a red hair ribbon on the windowsill.

Qu Hongxiao began reading Clear Breeze and struggled against the Vast Righteous Qi within it, while Ye Fu spent the day teaching Hu Lan and tending to ordinary household matters. The chapter ended with Qin Sanyue carefully storing Hu Zhifu’s meal payment, which she treasured as a sign of Ye Fu’s trust and of her new life.

• Qu Hongxiao was struck by the Vast Righteous Qi in Clear Breeze and realized that Sir was a sage before the pear branch warned her not to let her mind wander.
• Ye Fu sensed that Qu Hongxiao was holding up in the little world, then shared breakfast with Hu Lan, who had skipped her meal to eat at his home.
• Ye Fu took Hu Lan to her lesson while Qin Sanyue planted flower seeds according to his instructions, though she had wanted to grow vegetables instead.
• Hu Zhifu visited the book house, paid double for Hu Lan’s meals, and told Qin Sanyue not to spoil his daughter and to give her chores.
• Qin Sanyue hid the meal money in her locked box, and Ye Fu understood that she treasured it as proof of his trust and of her present life.

Qu Hongxiao turned the final page of “Clear Breeze” and read a question that triggered a devastating collapse of her body and cultivation. As she disappeared into darkness, Ye Fu stood beneath the pear tree, unable to tell what had happened to her.

• Qu Hongxiao sensed the final page’s immense pressure, feared she might die, and decided to face it without asking Ye Fu to intervene.
• Qu Hongxiao turned the page and read, “The mortal world holds ten thousand upon ten thousand affairs. Where among them are you?”
• A robin reappeared, entered Qu Hongxiao’s body, and vanished as blood poured from her eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
• Qu Hongxiao lost awareness and moved through darkness until she could no longer perceive her own existence.
• Ye Fu stood silently beneath the pear tree as it comforted him, and he sighed over Qu Hongxiao’s fate.

Qu Hongxiao reflected on what she had learned during five days of reading "Clear Breeze" in the wooden cabin and on how she had awakened after her consciousness collapsed. Wearing Qin Sanyue’s clothes, she remained in the courtyard, contemplating her new understanding.

• Qu Hongxiao stood in the courtyard and watched the moon sink, staying long past the time she should have left.
• Qu Hongxiao wore one of Qin Sanyue’s two sets of clothes and learned that Ye Fu had made them to aid cultivation and clear the mind.
• Qu Hongxiao realized that reading "Clear Breeze" had revealed why her heart had shattered, why she had not reached Spirit Severing, and what her master on Camel Bell Mountain had said she lacked.
• Qu Hongxiao recalled how light, sound, speech, movement, and understanding had led her to form answers to the teacher’s question in the dark void.

Qu Hongxiao returned from five days of reading with her cultivation restored, sage aptitude, and a new golden bird in her Dantian, then reunited with Ye Fu. As celestial signs gathered over Black Stone City, dormant presences throughout the city began to awaken.

• Qu Hongxiao returned beneath the pear tree with her seal undone, her cultivation restored, and a lotus blooming on her Golden Core.
• Ye Fu welcomed Qu Hongxiao back, and she thanked him before asking why he kept his hair short; he said it was easy to wash.
• A white-haired youth atop Black Stone City's gate discussed the celestial signs and the disappearance of two fate stars with a woman.
• As night fell, dormant presences stirred across Black Stone City, and unusual changes appeared in trees, a deity statue, animals, objects, and Zhou Ruosheng's jade pendant.

After the grand curtain opened and restricted spiritual power, Qu Hongxiao walked through Black Stone City toward the Three Flavors Study and encountered many tree cutters seeking opportunities. She met Qin Sanyue in the rain and shared her umbrella with her.

• Qu Hongxiao discovered she could no longer circulate Spiritual Qi, but sensed a faint stream of Vast Righteous Qi moving through her meridians.
• Qu Hongxiao walked openly through the city as tree cutters gathered to seek fortuitous opportunities, and people recognized her and made way.
• Qu Hongxiao observed the stars forming the grand curtain’s formation and considered how competition would intensify as the restraints weakened.
• Qu Hongxiao met Qin Sanyue, who had gone out to buy soy sauce without an umbrella, and sheltered her from the rain.

Hu Lan’s teacher, Ye Fu, removed an ancient consciousness from the mark on her forehead before it could possess her, prompting its followers to send for help. At the Cloth Robe Workshop, Zhong Suihua faced an alluring young woman who insisted on buying a piece of cloth used to cover merchandise.

• Hu Lan discovered a black mark between her eyebrows and covered it with a silk scarf before going to Ye Fu’s school for breakfast.
• Ye Fu recognized that an ancient consciousness inside the mark planned to seize Hu Lan’s body.
• Ye Fu wiped away the mark and destroyed the consciousness, and Hu Lan excitedly confirmed it was gone.
• A robed man sensed the old ancestor’s presence disappear and sent a metal bird to summon help.
• Zhong Suihua tried to dissuade a young woman from buying a rough piece of cloth, but the woman insisted.

In Black Stone City, a youth and a tall woman sought a bolt of gray cloth, but the youth became fixated on Zhong Suihua’s handkerchief, which he recognized as an object of extraordinary craftsmanship. Zhong Suihua refused to sell it, and the youth left the shop wondering about its significance.

• A loose-haired woman and the youth both asked Zhong Suihua for the gray cloth, but the youth persuaded the woman to give way by telling her where to find a hairpin she wanted.
• The youth noticed Zhong Suihua’s red handkerchief and urgently offered to buy it, but she refused because it was precious to her.
• The tall woman stopped the youth from offering pills and other rewards, warning him that the Forest Guardians could kill him.
• Zhong Suihua closed her shop early, while the youth told the tall woman that the handkerchief’s heavenly craftsmanship had made the gray cloth seem worthless.

After being rescued by Qin Sanyue, the white-haired young man woke in the Three Flavors Study and recognized Qu Hongxiao, prompting him to try to flee despite his injuries. Ye Fu told Qin Sanyue to let him decide whether he wanted help, leaving the young man kneeling on the floor as Qin Sanyue questioned him.

• Qin Sanyue explained that she had found the unconscious young man in the rain and brought him to the Three Flavors Study.
• The young man woke, thanked Qin Sanyue, and saw Ye Fu working in the doorway.
• The young man recognized Qu Hongxiao beneath the pear tree and feared facing her while injured.
• The young man tried to leave but collapsed from dizziness, and Qin Sanyue caught him.
• Ye Fu told Qin Sanyue to ask whether the young man wanted her help.

Qu Hongxiao drove away the white-haired young man, while Ye Fu reassured Qin Sanyue and sent her to buy a carving knife. Zhong Suihua left her shop early, convinced that unusual cultivators had come to Black Stone City and that Ye Fu’s handkerchief held magical power.

• Qu Hongxiao warned the white-haired young man to stay away from the Three Flavors Study, and he left feeling humiliated.
• Qu Hongxiao returned to the pear tree while Qin Sanyue apologized to Ye Fu for her earlier kindness to the young man.
• Ye Fu told Qin Sanyue to make sure people needed help before assisting them, then asked her to buy a carving knife.
• Zhong Suihua closed the Cloth Robe Workshop early after suspecting the strangers in Black Stone City were Immortal cultivators.
• Zhong Suihua clutched Ye Fu’s handkerchief, which she believed had magical qualities, and hurried home.

Qin Sanyue found Zhong Suihua dead in an alley and realized the tall woman beside her had murdered her. The killer turned toward Qin Sanyue as she cried out for help.

• Zhong Suihua avoided strangers as she walked home through the rain, but the tall woman from the shop appeared in the alley and strangled her.
• The tall woman took Zhong Suihua’s red handkerchief, then dropped her body and wondered whether the Forest Guardians would retaliate.
• Qin Sanyue found an expensive umbrella blown into her path and went around the wall to return it.
• Qin Sanyue saw Zhong Suihua’s corpse beside the tall woman and screamed, “Murder!”