Recaps

Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian examined an active drop of gray liquid from the No. 1 Sinkhole and discussed its possible connection to the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon. They decided to seek research help from Zhou Yueyan through her livestream, leaving them waiting for her to go online.

• Zhang Xuezhou examined the gray liquid under a microscope and found that it contained active flesh-and-blood tissue.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian considered whether the liquid came from an Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon and whether the Genas Lineage had benefited from studying it.
• Zhang Manqian argued that research on the liquid might help them understand the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, and reminded Zhang Xuezhou that he had defeated it.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian ruled out asking Professor Luo Hui or the Ren, Song, and Wang Households for help.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed contacting Zhou Yueyan through her Flying Entertainment Livestream room, and Zhang Manqian agreed to wait for her to start streaming.

Ren Yisheng, Changkong Luo, Luo Tianming, and Song Xianzhong adjusted to life in the restrictive Twilight Years Mansion while Ren Yisheng called Ren Anran and Changkong Luo sought distractions online. Changkong Luo was banned from Zhou Yueyan’s livestream and began learning how to pay to lift the ban as Zhang Xuezhou discussed Sinkhole No. 2 with Zhou Yueyan.

• Ren Yisheng and the others had been moved into the heavily secured Twilight Years Mansion, where Song Xianzhong teased Changkong Luo and Luo Tianming over the intercom.
• Luo Tianming tried to persuade Ren Yisheng to teach him, but Ren Yisheng and Changkong Luo said they were unhappy about Mental Strengthening.
• Ren Yisheng struggled with modern technology as he called Ren Anran, while Changkong Luo read a novel and watched livestreams.
• Changkong Luo entered Zhou Yueyan’s livestream but was banned after sending a smiley emoji, and he discovered that topping up or sending gifts could reduce the ban.
• Changkong Luo began learning how to link an account and top up as Zhang Xuezhou discussed Sinkhole No. 2 with Zhou Yueyan.

On his third day at the North Rehe Research Institute, Zhang Xuezhou showed Zhou Yueyan a strange gray solution and paid her to help him test it. Changkong Luo then entered the livestream room, interrupting Zhou Yueyan as she tried to explain the research costs.

• Zhang Xuezhou entered Zhou Yueyan’s livestream room and spoke to her directly as its administrator.
• Zhou Yueyan recognized Zhang Xuezhou and asked him about the livestream network’s upgrades and finances.
• Zhang Xuezhou showed Zhou Yueyan a sealed container holding a blob of gray solution he had found in North Rehe.
• Zhou Yueyan declined to study the small sample unless Zhang Xuezhou found more or cultured it, and suggested trying one of her laboratory’s culture media.
• Zhang Xuezhou sent Zhou Yueyan a two-hundred-thousand tip to pay for a portion of culture medium.
• Changkong Luo entered the livestream room, and Zhang Xuezhou allowed him to stay as Zhou Yueyan began explaining the testing process.

Changkong Luo tipped Zhou Yueyan ten million on Flying Entertainment Livestream, drawing a massive audience and giving the platform an unexpected publicity windfall. Zhang Xuezhou recognized the opportunity but warned that the sudden attention would also invite copycats and competitors.

• Changkong Luo sent ten million in tips to Zhou Yueyan's livestream room, hoping to open a channel for conversations with Zhou Xin.
• The huge tipping notices brought viewers flooding into Yueyan Livestream Room, and Changkong Luo's messages were quickly buried in the chat.
• Wang Li saw the tip as the kind of major publicity event he had wanted, while Zhang Xuezhou identified Changkong Luo as the donor.
• Zhang Manqian reacted to the size of the tip, and Zhang Xuezhou explained that the publicity could attract copycat streamers and rival platforms.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned that Flying Entertainment Livestream's sudden exposure could draw competitors before the company had established steady revenue.

The ten-million tip to Zhou Yueyan’s livestream drew nationwide attention, but Zhang Xuezhou reassured Wang Li that the tip was legitimate and could help Flying Entertainment Livestream grow. They also discussed the Zhang Household team’s uncertain lineup for the Sequencer Grand Gathering, and Wang Li prepared to deal with a call from his estranged relative Wang Kaile.

• News of the ten-million tip spread rapidly, prompting newspapers, television stations, and reporters to investigate Flying Entertainment Livestream and the people involved.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained to Wang Li that Changkong Luo had made the tip and Zhou Yueyan was its recipient, easing Wang Li’s fears about scrutiny.
• Wang Li predicted that the tip would help Flying Entertainment Livestream expand, while Zhang Xuezhou trusted him to guide the company’s growth.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Wang Li that Song Sijia had joined their team and that either Zhang Weimeng or Song Fengying might be chosen for the competition lineup.
• Wang Li received a call from Wang Kaile, denied knowing about livestreaming, and realized he needed to deal with his estranged relative.

After Wang Kaile beat Wang Li over his refusal to return to the Wang Lineage, Wang Li treated the assault as a way to loosen the Lineage’s hold and strengthen his Black Tortoise Fighting Technique. Zhang Xuezhou discovered that his group could heal Wang Li quickly and cheaply, leaving him excited about the chance to advance his cultivation.

• Reporters at Flying Entertainment Livestream witnessed police take Wang Kaile away after he beat Wang Li.
• Zhang Xuezhou visited the bandaged Wang Li, who explained that the assault could help him break free of the Wang Household and train his Black Tortoise Fighting Technique.
• Wang Li said the technique grew stronger as injuries healed, but training required gradual recovery, time, and medical resources.
• Zhang Xuezhou used Law Power to make Wang Li feel his group's healing abilities and offered their help in treating his injuries.
• Wang Li watched his wounds heal and realized the rapid recovery could help him cultivate the Black Tortoise Fighting Technique to its limits.

Wang Weihan and Wang Xuezhen visited the badly injured Wang Li and offered him medical care, while Zhang Xuezhou secretly continued helping Wang Li train the Black Tortoise Fighting Technique by beating him and healing his injuries. After Wang Li made rapid progress, Zhang Xuezhou grew tired and asked Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying to help.

• Wang Weihan, Wang Xuezhen, and Zhang Xuezhou saw Wang Li's injuries at Flying Entertainment Livestream and questioned how badly he had been beaten.
• Wang Weihan and Wang Xuezhen discussed Wang Li's estrangement from the family and urged him to use medical care at Jishi Medical Center.
• After Wang Weihan and the others left, Wang Li revealed that he had endured their visit in pain and asked Zhang Xuezhou to help him heal.
• Zhang Xuezhou repeatedly healed Wang Li and struck him with a stick, helping him advance his Black Tortoise Fighting Technique from thirty kilograms toward seventy-five kilograms of force.
• Exhausted from beating Wang Li, Zhang Xuezhou messaged Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying to ask them to help with Wang Li's training.

Wang Li endured a brutal beating to rapidly advance his Black Tortoise Fighting Technique, while Zhang Xuezhou healed him and tied his prospects to the Sequencer Grand Gathering. After discussing the limits facing Zhang Weimeng’s novel income, Zhang Xuezhou revealed that he knew the novel website’s boss and contacted Zhu Kuang.

• Wang Li asked Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Weimeng to beat him so his injuries would stimulate his cultivation, and he collapsed before finishing the planned blows.
• Zhang Xuezhou healed Wang Li and explained that obtaining the Zhou Household’s Black Armor Combat Technique at the Sequencer Grand Gathering was crucial to his advancement.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the others discussed their financial dependence on the Ren Household and the constraints on popular novelists’ earnings.
• Zhang Xuezhou predicted that Zhang Weimeng would soon face a harsh second-contract offer, and Zhang Weimeng reacted with surprise.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he had traced the novel website’s ownership to a company under the Zhu Household and messaged Zhu Kuang.

Zhang Xuezhou arranged for Zhu Kuang to promote Zhang Weimeng’s novels without binding him to an exploitative contract. With the boost from Zhu Kuang and Changkong Luo’s ten-million tip, Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying felt the Zhang Household was entering a period of rapid growth.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Zhu Kuang that Zhang Weimeng had written the two popular novels under different author accounts and proposed working together.
• Zhu Kuang agreed to promote Zhang Weimeng’s books while preserving accurate data and avoiding an exploitative contract.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Zhang Weimeng that promotion might attract hostile readers because his books did not suit the current market.
• Zhang Weimeng accepted the prospect of criticism, encouraged by the possibility of much higher earnings.
• Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying recognized that Zhu Kuang’s support and Changkong Luo’s ten-million tip had opened new opportunities for their household.

After recovering at an inn in Jiangxia City, Zhang Xuezhou asked Dong Zhongshu about a Technique that grew stronger through beatings and learned that none existed. Dong Zhongshu offered to teach him Stone Transformation as an offensive Technique, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed to study it before their journey to Huainan.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Dong Zhongshu whether any Hundred Schools Technique made cultivators stronger by taking beatings, and Dong Zhongshu said there was none.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked whether the group could resume traveling, and Dong Zhongshu said Jiangxia troops were patrolling the area and they would take the main road to Huainan.
• Dong Zhongshu offered to teach Zhang Xuezhou an offensive Technique and introduced Stone Transformation, which could draw earth into stone or turn stone back into loose earth.
• Dong Zhongshu explained that Stone Transformation could supply stones to throw from the air or trap cultivators using Earth Escape, while Zhang Xuezhou remained skeptical.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed to learn Stone Transformation because his other cultivation options had stalled and he needed a Technique he could practice.

Dong Zhongshu explained the strengths and weaknesses of cultivation techniques, then welcomed Zhang Cigong into Confucian study and showed him how demanding its cultivation was. As the travelers entered Huainan, Dong Zhongshu began considering how to learn the Yin-Yang School’s Realm Technique and pursue Huang-Lao thought.

• Dong Zhongshu explained that every technique had a weakness, using the Mountain Moving Sect, Li Guang, close-combat fighters, and the Beast Taming Sect as examples.
• Zhang Cigong asked to study under Dong Zhongshu, who welcomed him and offered to teach him the Confucian School’s six classics.
• Zhang Cigong followed Dong Zhongshu’s recitation for hours, then realized the Confucian path demanded years of reading and study he could barely manage.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zhang Cigong that the Yin-Yang School’s cultivation could bind him to its path and offered little practical combat ability.
• As the group reached Huainan, Dong Zhongshu considered seeking the Yin-Yang Nine People Sect’s Realm Technique and studying Huang-Lao thought.

Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu reached Shouchun and entered the King of Huainan’s Literary Excellence Pavilion, where they received tokens granting them access to its teachings. Zhang Xuezhou was allowed to browse despite contributing no technique, and he entered the pavilion to find something useful.

• Dong Zhongshu explained that the Literary Excellence Pavilion exchanged cultivation teachings for contributions and that visitors could study teachings matching their contribution.
• Zhang Xuezhou, Zhang Cigong, Dong Zhongshu, Zhao Liang, and Accountant Du traveled to Shouchun, where Zhang Xuezhou marveled at the cultivators mingling in the streets.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu joined the queue at the Literary Excellence Pavilion while Zhao Liang stayed behind in the carriage with Zhang Cigong.
• Dong Zhongshu registered under the name Du Gou and demonstrated the Summoning Wind Technique, but the examiner gave him a D token without accepting another copy of the technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou registered as Dongfang Bubai, claimed to know the Yin Entity Tracking Technique, and received a D token without demonstrating it.

Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu visited the Literary Excellence Pavilion to study the Luck Adding Technique, though Zhang Xuezhou’s story about a spirit medium made them question whether its promise was genuine. After learning it, both sensed an unusual, refreshing effect, leaving Dong Zhongshu intrigued but cautious.

• Dong Zhongshu explained that he had contributed only the basic Summoning Wind Technique because he preferred to exchange teachings cautiously.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu entered the Ding section of the Literary Excellence Pavilion and searched its rooms for a technique.
• Dong Zhongshu found the Luck Adding Technique, and Zhang Xuezhou decided to learn it alongside him.
• Zhang Xuezhou compared the technique’s promise to a spirit medium’s fortune-telling scheme, prompting Dong Zhongshu to consider whether its apparent success was an illusion.
• Dong Zhongshu read and explained the Luck Adding Technique, and Zhang Xuezhou memorized it before both men tried it.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu sensed a mysterious freshness after practicing, and Dong Zhongshu studied the scroll for confirmation while remaining wary.

Zhang Xuezhou, Dong Zhongshu, and Jin Chang learned the Luck Adding Technique and debated whether it truly changed fortune or merely encouraged belief. Jin Chang suspected the technique might affect lifespan or point toward a genuine higher-level secret preserved by the imperial household.

• Dong Zhongshu questioned how the Luck Adding Technique could be judged when its successes could be credited to fortune and its failures blamed on insufficient cultivation.
• Jin Chang and Zhang Xuezhou recognized each other, and Jin Chang explained that an old monk had taken Wu Chao to join the Western Sect.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Jin Chang recounted their recent hardships and said they had come to learn the Huang-Lao Technique to improve their luck.
• Jin Chang read the Luck Adding Technique and felt a subtle change, then listened as Dong Zhongshu explained Zhang Xuezhou's spirit medium theory.
• Jin Chang proposed that the technique might affect their allotted lifespan and that higher Huang-Lao teachings could contain a real secret about fortune.

Zhang Xuezhou, Dong Zhongshu, and Jin Chang discussed whether the Literary Excellence Pavilion held a genuine Huang-Lao luck Technique and learned that entering its Jia room required a valuable offering or service. They left without a solution, while Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu both felt their misfortunes were closing in.

• Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang suspected the Luck Adding Technique had mostly psychological effects, and Jin Chang said the Yi room held no Huang-Lao Techniques.
• Jin Chang explained that the Jia room required a verified high-grade Technique or a demanding assignment for the King of Huainan's Household.
• Dong Zhongshu proposed checking the Jia room for a Huang-Lao luck Technique, but Jin Chang warned that gaining court honors or entering the imperial secret repository would also be difficult.
• Jin Chang asked Zhang Xuezhou to have his godfather remove the Golden Toad Poison, but Zhang said the Golden Toad Dharma King was trapped in Western Kunlun.
• Dong Zhongshu learned that the King of Huainan's Household did not accept Confucian Realm Techniques, leaving him without a way to obtain a Jia token.

Zhang Xuezhou, Jin Chang, and Dong Zhongshu left the D-character room without finding an A-grade Technique for Jin Chang to contribute. They were swept into a crowd watching Lei Bei challenge the King of Huainan's Household's guest elders, where Mo Shengqi's sword attacks failed to touch Lei Bei.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Jin Chang discussed which Techniques qualified as A-grade, and Jin Chang admitted the Yin-Yang School had no suitable Technique to offer.
• Zhang Xuezhou, Jin Chang, and Dong Zhongshu left the D-character room and were carried along with spectators rushing to watch Lei Bei challenge an A-grade guest elder.
• The crowd explained that Lei Bei had passed a mechanism formation, and Jin Chang identified the three swordsmen testing candidates as Duan Sheli, Ning Yu, and Mo Shengqi.
• Mo Shengqi launched the Pingyang Sword Sect's Flying Flower Sword Technique at Lei Bei, but his sword strikes circled Lei Bei without landing a hit.

Lei Bei defeated Mo Shengqi and Duan Sheli with his seemingly crude but powerful swordsmanship, earning a path toward the King of Huainan's Household's top three guest retainers. The chapter ended with Duan Sheli recognizing Lei Bei's Horizontal Sword Technique as he died from a broken blade.

• Lei Bei blocked Mo Shengqi's Flying Flower Sword Technique and injured his hand, taking his ninth-place swordsmanship rank among the King of Huainan's Household's guest retainers.
• Lei Bei said he wanted to reach the top three to enter the Literary Excellence Pavilion and find a Realm Technique, then challenged Duan Sheli.
• Dong Zhongshu identified Duan Sheli as Nine Palaces True Person Chen Fengcheng, whose Nine Palaces Sword Technique unleashed nine successive blows.
• Lei Bei used his defensive swordsmanship to withstand Duan Sheli's attacks, while Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu suspected he wielded the Horizontal Sword Technique.
• Lei Bei's sword snapped, and a broken piece pierced Duan Sheli's throat; Duan Sheli recognized the Horizontal Sword Technique before he died.

Lei Bei killed Duan Sheli in a platform duel and earned promotion to a grade-A guest elder, gaining access to the Literary Excellence Pavilion. As Lei Bei headed there to study, Zhang Xuezhou considered whether to recruit him as an escort or have him search for the Huang-Lao Technique.

• Lei Bei defeated Duan Sheli when a broken blade struck and killed the King of Huainan's Household's third-ranked swordsman.
• A servant gave Lei Bei purple robes and a token, told him the King would summon him in three days, and confirmed he could enter the grade-A room of the Literary Excellence Pavilion.
• Lei Bei cleared a path through the crowd and pulled Zhang Xuezhou, Dong Zhongshu, and Jin Chang out of the crush.
• Lei Bei said he wanted to study for at least two days and asked about Grain Avoidance Powder, admitting he had no money because he had lost it gambling at shefu.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang whether Lei Bei should escort them or check the grade-A room for the Huang-Lao Technique.

Lei Bei negotiated with Zhang Xuezhou, Jin Chang, and Dong Zhongshu over searching the Literary Excellence Pavilion and escorting them north, eventually agreeing to search for the Huang-Lao Technique in exchange for Grain Avoidance Powder. Zhang Xuezhou also secured their promise to let him study the technique, and Lei Bei entered the pavilion to begin searching.

• Lei Bei resisted Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang's request to search the Literary Excellence Pavilion and escort them to the Northern Border unless he received a fair exchange.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Lei Bei pointed out that Zhang Xuezhou was providing the goods while Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu were negotiating the terms, prompting Jin Chang to compromise.
• Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu agreed to have Lei Bei record bamboo-slip titles containing the characters for fortune, Qi, or Dao in the pavilion's first-ranked room.
• Lei Bei accepted a portion of Grain Avoidance Powder as payment and carried it into the Literary Excellence Pavilion to search.
• Jin Chang agreed to escort Dong Zhongshu and the others to the Northern Border, while Zhang Xuezhou asked to study the Huang-Lao Technique if they obtained it.
• Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu agreed to let Zhang Xuezhou study the technique, leaving him delighted.

During the group’s stay in Shouchun City, Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Cigong tried to study in the Literary Excellence Pavilion while Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu grew suspicious of each other’s hidden identities. Zhang Xuezhou devised a jar-drawing game to keep them from pressing him for answers, but the chapter ended as both men saw what they had drawn.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Cigong visited the Literary Excellence Pavilion, where Zhang Cigong realized how much his illiteracy hindered his cultivation and asked Dong Zhongshu to teach them to read.
• Jin Chang asked Zhang Xuezhou about Dong Zhongshu, and Zhang Xuezhou revealed that Dong Zhongshu was Su Fang, the Beast Taming School’s sect master, injured when the court destroyed his sect.
• Dong Zhongshu questioned Zhang Xuezhou about Jin Chang, but Zhang Xuezhou only said Jin Chang was wanted by the imperial court, and neither man agreed to disclose his identity.
• As Lei Bei’s seven-day stay in the Literary Excellence Pavilion neared its end, Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu continued probing each other while Zhang Xuezhou worried about what would happen next.
• Zhang Xuezhou placed identity clues and blank slips in four covered jars, shuffled them, and let Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu each draw one; both men’s expressions changed when they read their slips.

Zhang Xuezhou used a guessing game to shift blame away from himself while Lei Bei returned with the names of the scriptures Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu needed. Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu remained unable to agree on how to reach the Grade A room, while Zhang Xuezhou’s illness worsened and Zhang Cigong wondered whether the Fortune Technique could change his fate.

• Zhang Xuezhou scraped the bamboo slips clean after the guessing game left Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu exchanging awkward, meaningful looks.
• Lei Bei returned after five days and listed the five scriptures involving fortune, Qi, and Dao that Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu had requested.
• Jin Chang warned that escorting them out could implicate Lei Bei, who rushed off after realizing he had kept the King of Huainan waiting.
• Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu discussed their inability to obtain the Fortune Technique, since neither could fight their way into the Grade A room or offer a Grade A Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou studied characters with Zhang Cigong, then collapsed into another sleeping spell; Zhang Cigong wondered whether fortune could change his fate.

After recovering, Zhang Xuezhou found Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang still deadlocked over how to obtain a Grade A Technique. Their negotiation was interrupted when the wounded Lei Bei fled into the inn, pursued by Qinglingzi, a powerful guest elder who claimed he had the right to kill him.

• Zhang Xuezhou joined Zhao Liang and the others as Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang continued bargaining over their Techniques and the price of access to the Grade A chamber.
• Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang admitted they could not provide a Grade A Technique and asked Zhang Xuezhou to confirm their circumstances.
• Dong Zhongshu suggested the Mohists' drifting mechanism city as a source of a Grade A Technique, but Jin Chang rejected the distant and dangerous journey.
• Lei Bei stumbled into the inn covered in blood, and Qinglingzi followed with his sword drawn.
• Qinglingzi declared that Lei Bei had fled a fighting platform and that the King of Huainan had tacitly allowed him to kill him.

Qinglingzi pursued Lei Bei and demanded the School of Diplomacy's Horizontal Sword Technique, while Dong Zhongshu, Jin Chang, and Zhang Xuezhou watched. Lei Bei bargained for his life and revealed the technique carved on an animal hide, leaving the others tempted by its value.

• Qinglingzi pressured Lei Bei to surrender the Horizontal Sword Technique and threatened to kill him or cut off his right hand.
• Dong Zhongshu recognized Qinglingzi as the wanted swordsman Qing Luoheng, who had killed 139 people in Hanzhong.
• Lei Bei agreed to hand over the technique if Qinglingzi spared his life and right hand, claiming that he had found only a damaged copy.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang whether the Horizontal Sword was a grade-A technique, and Jin Chang confirmed it.
• Lei Bei took an animal-hide garment from beneath his robe, revealing the grade-A Horizontal Sword Technique carved into it.

Lei Bei used the Horizontal Sword Technique to fend off Qinglingzi, while Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu joined the fight to help him. Their combined attack killed Qinglingzi, and Dong Zhongshu declared Lei Bei the King of Huainan's Household's second guest elder.

• Lei Bei refused to hand over the Horizontal Sword Technique unless Qinglingzi swore not to kill him or cut off his right hand.
• Jin Chang blocked Qinglingzi and demanded the Horizontal Sword Technique, while Dong Zhongshu proposed they take it to the Literary Excellence Pavilion together.
• Dong Zhongshu passed Lei Bei a longsword, and Jin Chang secretly restrained Qinglingzi's legs with Puppet Control Threads.
• Lei Bei blocked Qinglingzi's attack and used a Wind Blade Technique, while Jin Chang's threads and Dong Zhongshu's attack left Qinglingzi vulnerable.
• Lei Bei killed Qinglingzi with the broken sword, and Dong Zhongshu named him the King of Huainan's Household's second guest elder.

After Lei Bei killed Qinglingzi and took his token, Dong Zhongshu, Jin Chang, and Zhang Xuezhou debated how to deal with the Horizontal Sword Technique and the danger of Tian Jiu. Distrusting each other, Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang agreed that Zhang Xuezhou should memorize the secret texts, while Lei Bei hurried them to act before Tian Jiu arrived.

• Lei Bei took Qinglingzi's token, and Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang warned that Tian Jiu would come after him for the Horizontal Sword Technique.
• Lei Bei explained that he needed the King of Huainan's Household to access material that could complete his inherited technique, while Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang sought entry to the grade-A room.
• Dong Zhongshu and Jin Chang distrusted each other and agreed to split what they learned rather than let either obtain the complete text.
• Lei Bei offered to memorize the secret texts for them, but Dong Zhongshu pointed out that he had previously failed to remember a Realm Technique in full.
• Zhang Xuezhou quietly answered Lei Bei's questions, prompting Jin Chang and Dong Zhongshu to propose that Zhang memorize the texts because of his strong memory.