Recaps

After Zhang Manqian completed X432 treatment, she concealed how well she had recovered while discussing its benefits and high cost with Zhang Xuezhou and Song Fengying. The family resolved to earn and save more for future treatments, and Zhang Xuezhou received an inquiry from Professor Luo Hui.

• Zhang Xuezhou waited for Zhang Manqian's X432 treatment to finish, then helped her leave the recuperation center with Song Fengying after her examinations.
• Zhang Manqian dropped her weak act once they were away from the center and told Zhang Xuezhou she had advanced to the middle-to-late stage of the third Mental Strengthening Chapter.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that X432 cost millions because its research and production were difficult, and Song Fengying decided the family needed to earn more money.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested Song Fengying and Zhang Weimeng use mental training and martial arts to avoid expensive treatment, prompting Song Fengying to scold Zhang Weimeng.
• Zhang Xuezhou received an inquiry from Professor Luo Hui.

Professor Luo Hui and Luo Tianming sought Zhang Xuezhou’s help learning about mental longevity and the Mental Strengthening Chapter. Zhang Xuezhou repeatedly directed them to Ren Yisheng, leaving Luo Tianming to consider whether he had to join Ren Yisheng in detention to study the subject.

• Professor Luo Hui contacted Zhang Xuezhou after learning Zhang Manqian had left the hospital, hoping to learn about Ren Yisheng’s research into mental longevity.
• Luo Hui explained that Luo Zhong’s words about eternal life had convinced them that great mental strength was essential, and that Zhang Xuezhou might know the basics of Ren Yisheng’s studies.
• Zhang Xuezhou dodged Luo Hui’s questions with talk about loneliness and women, so Luo Tianming took over the communicator and asked about mental longevity.
• Zhang Xuezhou enthusiastically welcomed Luo Tianming’s interest but repeatedly urged him to speak with Ren Yisheng directly.
• Luo Tianming objected that Ren Yisheng was detained and difficult to reach, while Zhang Xuezhou suggested getting into the detention facility would be easy for him.
• Luo Tianming wondered whether he would have to join Ren Yisheng to access the research he wanted.

The Zhang Household discussed buying a home in Western Capital City as Zhang Weimeng’s notorious online feuds made his novels unexpectedly popular and profitable. The chapter left him alarmed after a reader claimed to have practiced the Sunflower Manual and begun hallucinating.

• News spread through the Scions' Back Garden that Luo Tianming had applied to move into Twilight Mansion, surprising Zhang Xuezhou.
• Song Fengying and Zhang Weimeng decided the family should buy a house near Professor Ren’s so Ren Anran could help them if their symptoms returned.
• Zhang Weimeng explained that his online arguments as Dongfang Shuo and Plagiarizing Jin Yong had made both of his novels famous and multiplied his income.
• Zhang Weimeng discovered a reader asking whether the Sunflower Manual was an evil art after practicing it and experiencing hallucinations.

Zhang Xuezhou arranged for Zhang Manqian to train at Jishi Medical Center and reflected on the cultivation and support they would need before the Sequencer Grand Gathering. While practicing Crane Soaring, he discovered that the blood agent had improved his control, and Zhang Manqian realized his specialized technique might already be developing into a distinctive trait.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Zhang Weimeng to keep in touch with Dongfang Sheng and provide occasional instruction after the reader reached Realm Entry.
• Zhang Manqian decided to check herself into Jishi Medical Center, where she could train with Ren Anran and prepare for the Sequencer Grand Gathering.
• Zhang Xuezhou arranged for Zhang Manqian to move to Twilight Mansion after Song Xianzhong and the others were relocated there.
• Zhang Xuezhou practiced Crane Soaring and found that the blood agent let him control his backward flight more precisely.
• Zhang Manqian watched Zhang Xuezhou train and concluded that his specialized Crane Soaring might be a distinctive trait, prompting her to consider what focus her own cultivation should take.

Zhang Xuezhou continued traveling with Dong Zhongshu and Zhao Liang’s merchant caravan, using Grain Avoidance Powder to endure his periodic unconsciousness. After Dong Zhongshu taught him the Qi Recognition Technique, the caravan reached a welcoming village and found lodging at Tongfu Inn.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke in the carriage, learned the caravan was still approaching Ba Commandery, and joined Dong Zhongshu outside.
• Dong Zhongshu taught Zhang Xuezhou the Yin Yang Nine Heavens Sect’s Qi Recognition Technique as they took a smaller path toward a village.
• Zhao Liang explained that using his Qi and Blood worsened the pain from the two sources of Law Power inside him.
• Zhang Debiao returned from the village with news that an inn could house the caravan and provide food and baths.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the others entered the village and found Tongfu Inn among the warmly welcoming villagers.

After the group stopped at Tongfu Inn, Dong Zhongshu discovered that their food had been poisoned and warned Zhang Xuezhou that the inn was a den of thieves. As villagers entered their room to carry them away, Dong Zhongshu recognized Zhang Xuezhou’s remarkable perception and resistance to the poison.

• Zhang Xuezhou and the others ate at Tongfu Inn, where a coachman complained that the taro had made his mouth numb.
• Unable to sleep, Zhang Xuezhou pestered Dong Zhongshu until Dong Zhongshu detected poison in their food and warned that they might be in danger.
• Zhang Xuezhou questioned why the innkeepers would poison strangers, and Dong Zhongshu told him to stay quiet while he listened for clues.
• Zhang Xuezhou imitated several voices discussing Chang Smoke Poison, a Great King, and plans to smoke or store the captives’ limbs.
• Dong Zhongshu used a spell to identify the speakers as the three gamblers and realized Zhang Xuezhou had keen hearing and seemed unaffected by the poison.
• Villagers quietly entered the occupied rooms and ordered their companions to carry away Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu.

Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu were taken to a village controlled by a tiger demon, where villagers turned travelers into Chang ghosts. Xu Ji of the Agricultural Sect tried to stop the demon, and Dong Zhongshu fought it off, but some of its smoke escaped into the night.

• Villagers carried Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu to the tiger demon, whose aged voice demanded two missing wisps of Chang Smoke from the three middle-aged men.
• Xu Ji of the Agricultural Sect arrived to challenge the tiger demon, but the villagers overpowered him and the youth with him.
• Dong Zhongshu used his Law Treasure fan to free Xu Ji, then dispersed the six martial artists who emerged from the tiger demon's gray smoke.
• The tiger demon attacked with Xu Ji's demon-expelling staff, but Dong Zhongshu dodged its blows and drew the demon outside while it knocked down more than twenty villagers.
• Dong Zhongshu cut the staff in two and struck the tiger demon with his sword, forcing it to escape as gray smoke; some of the smoke got away, and Xu Ji warned it could not have fled far.

Dong Zhongshu and Xu Ji realized that the tiger demon could hide among villagers by using the Chang Ghost Technique, while the demon’s frightened villagers gathered to attack them. As the crowd broke into the ancestral hall, Xu Ji prepared a spell and the group braced for a fight.

• Dong Zhongshu and Xu Ji discussed how the tiger demon could possess villagers and evade detection.
• Villagers armed with farming tools and bows approached the ancestral hall, and one shot an arrow into Xu Ji’s chest as he tried to explain the demon’s crimes.
• Xu Ji urged restraint toward the villagers, while Xu Yuan questioned why they should be spared after helping the tiger demon harm travelers.
• Dong Zhongshu ordered Zhang Xuezhou to stop Xu Ji’s bleeding and asked Xu Ji to wake capable fighters from the caravan.
• Xu Ji prepared the Purple-Gold Vine spell as the villagers broke the ancestral hall’s door bar and rushed inside.

Dong Zhongshu fought through the villagers and confronted the tiger demon, which had been coercing the village into cooperating. He cut apart the demon’s body, but its broken core released a tiger-headed ghost that escaped into the darkness as the villagers screamed.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu fled and fought through the villagers, while Zhang Debiao struggled to restrain them without killing them.
• Dong Zhongshu escaped the ancestral hall and argued with an old woman, who accused the authorities of abandoning the village to the tiger demon.
• Dong Zhongshu ran toward the village outskirts, where the tiger demon attacked him in the form of the old woman.
• Dong Zhongshu countered with his sword and Law Treasure fan, cutting the tiger demon into pieces with a wind blade.
• The tiger demon’s Chang ghosts were drawn into its red demon core, which cracked and released a little tiger-headed ghost that fled into the darkness.

Dong Zhongshu and Zhang Xuezhou struggled to contain the tiger demon’s Yin Soul as villagers and members of the merchant group began becoming Chang Ghosts. Just as Dong Zhongshu weighed two grim ways to stop the demon, Zhang Xuezhou’s tracking technique revealed a powerful presence near the shrine.

• Dong Zhongshu returned to find villagers dying as the tiger demon’s Yin Soul created Chang Ghosts, and he warned those familiar with the demon to hide in water.
• Zhang Xuezhou fought off villagers at the ancestral hall while Dong Zhongshu explained that the tiger demon could grow stronger by devouring Chang Ghosts.
• Dong Zhongshu urged Xu Ji to drive Chang Smoke from the merchant group, and Xu Ji’s drizzle slowed the ghosts’ emergence and helped Zhao Liang wake.
• Dong Zhongshu, Zhang Xuezhou, and Xu Ji discussed how to stop the tiger demon, while Xu Yuan criticized the Great Han court for wiping out the Shijiao School.
• Zhang Xuezhou’s Yin Entity Tracking Technique detected twenty-three ghosts and pointed toward the Buddhist shrine, which shone with the presence of a powerful ghost.

Zhang Xuezhou tracked the tiger demon’s yin entity, and Xu Ji gave Dong Zhongshu a Shijiao School scroll containing the Southern Brightness Fire Technique. Dong Zhongshu used the technique to burn the tiger demon to death, but the fight left several members of the merchant group dead; Zhang Xuezhou then found a tiger pelt covered in ancient writing and drawings.

• Zhang Xuezhou used the Yin Entity Tracking Technique to locate the tiger demon while Dong Zhongshu confirmed that it had returned and was producing more Chang ghosts.
• Xu Yuan asked why the Chang ghosts had not possessed people to kill them, and Xu Ji explained that the tiger demon had already used its power to make the villagers attack.
• Xu Ji gave Dong Zhongshu a Shijiao School scroll containing the Southern Brightness Fire Technique, which was especially effective against yin entities.
• Dong Zhongshu learned the technique and burned the tiger-headed ghost until the tiger demon disappeared, while its Chang ghosts tried to protect it and attack the group.
• The group found that several people had died, and Dong Zhongshu worried that the deaths would bring trouble during his journey to seek treatment from General Li Guang.
• Zhang Xuezhou searched the ancestral hall and brought Dong Zhongshu a tiger pelt marked with ancient writing and crude drawings.

After the tiger demon’s defeat, Zhang Xuezhou kept watch while talking with the troubled Xu Yuan about agriculture’s power to change society. Their conversation left Xu Yuan considering high-yield crops, while Zhang Xuezhou learned that Xu Yuan cultivated medicinal herbs he needed for the Spirit-Forging Pill.

• Zhang Xuezhou collected the tiger skin and stored it, while Dong Zhongshu and the others envied his storage pouch.
• Dong Zhongshu reassured the merchant group that Zhang Xuezhou could stay awake as their lookout, and the group left the ancestral hall for the inn.
• While Zhang Xuezhou cultivated through the night, Xu Yuan voiced his despair about the Agricultural Sect, the court, and society.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed with Xu Yuan’s concerns and argued that plentiful food could prevent war and even keep dangerous demons from attacking people.
• Xu Yuan realized that agriculture could transform the world and began considering ways to cultivate high-yield grain.
• Xu Yuan named medicinal herbs he cultivated, and Zhang Xuezhou recognized that several were ingredients he needed for the Spirit-Forging Pill.

Zhang Xuezhou revealed that he was a cultivator and pill refiner from the Nine Heavens Sect, then persuaded Xu Yuan of the Agricultural Sect to cooperate with him. They agreed to meet within two years, leaving Zhang with a promising connection for sourcing medicinal ingredients and refining pills.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Xu Yuan he belonged to the Nine Heavens Sect and demonstrated his Three-Day Grain Avoidance Powder.
• Xu Yuan realized the powder could be valuable on long journeys and praised its usefulness, while Zhang reflected on how much he already had.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed refining pills with Agricultural Sect cultivators and sharing the results, and told Xu Yuan how to find him in Chang'an City.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Xu Yuan agreed to meet within two years and sealed their promise by striking palms.
• Xu Yuan left encouraged by the prospect of helping the common people through the Agricultural Sect, while Zhang hoped he would introduce more cultivators for future cooperation.

After surviving the tiger demon, the caravan mourned its dead and debated whether to travel by minor roads or the main road to the Northern Border Military Region. Zhao Liang chose the main road, but sixteen days after leaving Ba Commandery the caravan encountered trouble again.

• The caravan members recovered from the attack, gathered their belongings, and loaded the dead drivers onto the wagons.
• Dong Zhongshu reflected on his misfortune and on Xu Yuan’s new willingness to meet Zhang Xuezhou in Chang'an City.
• Xu Ji and Xu Yuan said farewell, and the caravan departed as the villagers watched in fear and gratitude.
• Zhao Liang asked whether the caravan should take minor roads to arrive sooner or the main road to travel more slowly, and Zhang Xuezhou refused to decide for them.
• Zhao Liang chose the main road, and the caravan encountered trouble after traveling for sixteen days from Ba Commandery.

Zhao Liang’s merchant party encountered water bandits while traveling downriver, and Dong Zhongshu recognized their leader as Su Fang, the sect master of the Beast Taming Sect. The bandits threatened the boat, leaving the party facing a dangerous confrontation.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu discussed the Yin-Yang School’s cultivation techniques and the flaws that may have caused the school’s decline.
• The boat struck a violent obstruction, and the party discovered sharpened bamboo poles blocking the river and armed men approaching on rafts.
• Zhao Liang identified the party as official merchants from Shu Commandery City, but the bandits reacted by demanding that they be killed.
• Dong Zhongshu emerged from the cabin and recognized the bandit leader as Iron-Backed Gray Ape, Su Fang.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked whether Su Fang was a yao, and Dong Zhongshu explained that he was human and the sect master of the Beast Taming Sect.

Dong Zhongshu and his companions were forced off their boat by Su Fang and the Beast Taming Sect, who seized their cargo. As their raft neared shore, Dong Zhongshu launched a counterattack, and the Beast Taming Sect sent water monkeys and hunting dogs after them.

• Su Fang recognized Dong Zhongshu’s party as targets for a river robbery, but failed to recognize Dong Zhongshu in disguise.
• Zhao Liang offered ten strings of banliang coins for safe passage, but Su Fang demanded that the party leave the boat and surrender its cargo.
• Zhao Liang, Dong Zhongshu, Zhang Xuezhou, Zhang Debiao, and three others boarded a bamboo raft while the Beast Taming Sect took over their boat and goods.
• Dong Zhongshu reminded the party how Dongfang Shuo had fought in the ancestral hall, then stabbed the disciple poling their raft.
• Zhang Debiao kicked the disciple into the river, Zhao Liang took the pole, and Zhang Debiao shot an arrow as they pushed toward shore.
• The Beast Taming Sect called water monkeys and hunting dogs to attack the raft.

Dong Zhongshu fought off the Beast Taming Sect’s hounds and arrows while leading Zhao Liang and the others toward the riverbank. Su Fei summoned the Great Sage Water Ape, who attacked the group with powerful Water Ball Techniques.

• Dong Zhongshu killed the water monkeys beneath the raft, then used his sword and Law Treasure fan to counter the Beast Taming Sect’s hounds and arrows.
• Zhang Debiao, Zhao Liang, Xu Man, Zhang Xuezhou, and the coachmen fought the hounds on the riverbank as Dong Zhongshu protected them.
• Su Fei recognized Dong Zhongshu’s sword techniques and Law Treasure fan, then played a flute to summon a water monster from the river.
• The Great Sage Water Ape emerged from the river and agreed to help Su Fei twice more before attacking Dong Zhongshu and the others with a massive Water Ball Technique.

After Great Sage Water Ape overwhelmed Zhao Liang’s group, Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu fled, but the ninth-grade Demon Saint pursued them. With their escape faltering, Dong Zhongshu decided to force a breakthrough to the Sole Self Realm and fight back.

• Great Sage Water Ape’s water attack knocked Zhao Liang and his guards down, while Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu escaped the impact.
• Dong Zhongshu recognized Great Sage Water Ape as a ninth-grade Demon Saint, and he and Zhang Xuezhou fled as Su Fei urged the demon to pursue them.
• Great Sage Water Ape charged after the pair on land, throwing a small tree and a boulder at them as they flew away.
• Zhang Xuezhou used demon wings, while Dong Zhongshu’s Law Treasure fan helped him borrow wind to stay aloft.
• Dong Zhongshu decided to force a breakthrough to the Sole Self Realm, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed to keep him flying while he attempted it.

Zhang Xuezhou carried Dong Zhongshu through Great Sage Water Ape’s pursuit while Dong Zhongshu broke through to the Sole Self Realm under dangerous conditions. After realizing they had missed a chance to attack Su Fang during the breakthrough, Dong Zhongshu struck the water demon and ordered Zhang Xuezhou to kill Su Fang.

• Zhang Xuezhou dodged Great Sage Water Ape’s attacks while carrying Dong Zhongshu through the air as Dong Zhongshu absorbed righteous Qi to break through.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized they could have turned back and attacked Su Fang while Dong Zhongshu was breaking through.
• Dong Zhongshu entered the Early Stage of the Sole Self Realm, but his martial arts remained at the Body Integration Realm and the unstable breakthrough damaged his future prospects.
• Dong Zhongshu regretted missing the chance to kill Su Fang and blamed fate for forcing his breakthrough.
• Dong Zhongshu wounded Great Sage Water Ape with a wind blade and pointed Zhang Xuezhou toward the river, ordering him to kill Su Fang.

Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu returned to the ship, where Dong Zhongshu killed Beast Taming Sect leader Su Fang and drove off the Great Sage Water Ape. Dong Zhongshu then collapsed from his injuries, and Zhang Xuezhou escaped to shore with him, where he discovered Zhao Liang had survived.

• Zhang Xuezhou flew back to the riverbank and saw that Beast Taming Sect disciples had killed Zhang Debiao and Xu Man.
• Dong Zhongshu attacked the disciples with wind blades, then flew to the ship and killed Su Fang.
• Dong Zhongshu drove the fleeing disciples into the river and battled the Great Sage Water Ape, who healed in the water and departed after Su Fang's death.
• Dong Zhongshu collapsed after the fight, and Zhang Xuezhou fed him Grain Avoidance Powder before carrying him off the sinking ship.
• Zhang Xuezhou reached shore on a bamboo raft and found Zhao Liang alive among the corpses.

Zhang Xuezhou led the injured survivors to shelter near Jiangxia and discovered the Beast Taming Sect collapsing into infighting. After taking the sect’s inheritance jade, he recognized Zhang Cigong among the survivors, and Zhang Cigong recognized him too.

• Zhao Liang agreed to stay with Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Bayang while the group recovered before continuing toward Jiangxia.
• Zhang Xuezhou found a secluded hillside hollow, settled the group there, and went scouting alone by flying over the mountains.
• Zhang Xuezhou discovered the Beast Taming Sect’s new mountain gate, where its disciples fought over the spoils after Su Fang’s death.
• A poisoned dart killed a middle-aged disciple who claimed the Beast Taming Canon, and Zhang Xuezhou took the inheritance jade from him.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw a young man fighting a hunting dog, recognized him as Zhang Cigong, and Zhang Cigong recognized Zhang Xuezhou.

Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Zhang Cigong, who had remained a menial servant in the Beast Taming Sect, and helped him leave after killing Bai Datong. With both men unable to travel far or return to Zhang Household Village, they considered seeking the Beast Taming Sect’s hidden treasure vault and its Beast Taming Canon.

• Zhang Cigong explained that he had attacked Bai Datong in revenge for years of abuse, and Zhang Xuezhou finished Bai Datong off.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zhang Cigong how he had reached the area and learned that the river journey to Jiangxia City was too long for their injured group to make in time.
• Zhang Cigong explained that his status as a wanted former Beast Taming Sect servant kept him from returning to Zhang Household Village or traveling freely between cities.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Zhang Cigong the dragon-shaped jade, but testing showed it was a key rather than an inheritance jade.
• Zhang Cigong revealed that the key might open a treasure vault at the Beast Taming Sect’s old site on Ox Head Mountain in Huaibei, but the long and dangerous journey discouraged him.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested waiting for Dong Zhongshu’s advice, and Zhang Cigong was relieved to discover that the fearsome man was unconscious.

Dong Zhongshu arranged for Zhang Cigong to travel under a dead coachman’s identity, while admitting that his breakthrough had left his powers in conflict. He realized that only the Yin-Yang School’s teachings might let him reconcile them, and his hope depended on whether Zhang Xuezhou’s incomplete techniques could help.

• Dong Zhongshu wondered why Zhang Xuezhou repeatedly gained benefits despite falling into danger, then Zhang Xuezhou asked how Zhang Cigong could continue the journey.
• Dong Zhongshu proposed that Zhang Cigong use the dead coachman Ruan Qigong’s identity and travel pass, and Zhang Cigong accepted the plan.
• Dong Zhongshu explained that his Sole Self Realm breakthrough had made his Law Power and martial cultivation clash, leaving him unable to use either power for long.
• Dong Zhongshu warned Zhang Xuezhou that cultivating Demon Power toward the Divine Ability or Sole Self Realm could cause similar trouble, and Zhang Xuezhou rejected the idea of reaching those realms.
• Dong Zhongshu concluded that joining the Yin-Yang School and completing its teachings might let him merge his conflicting cultivation, so he worried that Zhang Xuezhou’s Realm Techniques were incomplete.

Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian traveled to the North Rehe Research Institute while Zuo Teng investigated their condition and decided they were no longer suitable for his team. Zuo Teng abandoned his plans to recruit them and turned to reconsidering other teammates for the approaching Sequencer Grand Gathering.

• Zhang Xuezhou returned to his real-world routine and met Zhang Manqian, who had prepared for their visit to the North Rehe Research Institute.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian discussed her need to maintain the appearance of being ill and traveled to the institute together.
• Zuo Teng learned that Zhang Xuezhou slept for seven days at a time and that Zhang Manqian still seemed dazed from her injuries.
• Zuo Teng concluded that the Zhang siblings could not compete normally and gave up on recruiting them, despite his leverage over Flying Entertainment Livestream.
• Zuo Teng failed to reach Song Sijia and decided to approach her and others again while considering prospective teammates.

Zhang Xuezhou arrived at the North Rehe Research Center and assigned the B13 Research Institute to breed Black-Tipped Chickens to investigate a radiation source linked to the sinkhole. While inspecting the lab, he discovered a strange gray liquid inside a meteorite-like specimen and suspected it might help him escape a future predicament.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian reached the North Rehe Research Center, where researcher Xu Shengzhi met them.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Xu Shengzhi to breed Black-Tipped Chickens and search for a mutagenic radiation source, while also planning future medicinal-herb research.
• Xu Shengzhi, Huang Xiaoya, Zhu Feng, and Cai Li accepted the chicken-breeding project after Zhang Xuezhou offered support and the option to resign after finding other work.
• Zhang Manqian suggested hiring a professional manager, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed that the institute needed help with management.
• Zhang Xuezhou examined a meteorite-like specimen and found a living-seeming drop of gray liquid, which he broke apart with the Kunpeng Combat Technique.