Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Chang'an ahead of his cousin’s group and told Zhang Household Village that forty-two people had survived the journey from Huainan. As the villagers mourned those they had lost and discussed how ordinary people might live better, Zhang Xuezhou shared what he knew about useful Techniques and noticed Sang Hongyang listening at the doorway.

• Zhang Xuezhou flew to Chang'an City, entered without difficulty, and retrieved the Black and White Twin Horses Spirit Artifact from the old house.
• Zhang Xuezhou told the villagers that his cousin was bringing forty-two survivors from Huainan and would arrive near Chang'an in four or five days.
• Zhang Baojia, Zhang Zhong, Zhang Houtu, Lady Yourong, and the other villagers mourned those who had died and reflected on the limits of their lives.
• Lady Yourong asked whether any Technique could improve ordinary people's lives, and Zhang Xuezhou described Turning Water into Flesh, Physiognomy, and medicine as ways to help.
• Zhang Xuezhou discussed the hardships ordinary people faced and began explaining how society might change, while Sang Hongyang listened from the doorway.

Sang Hongyang visited Zhang Xuezhou and learned that private control of key industries had left even court officials needing to rent Pill Furnaces. He also told Zhang Xuezhou that the emperor had ordered an unpopular expedition to Minyue and had been scolded by the Empress Dowager.

• Sang Hongyang found Zhang Xuezhou discussing livelihood and economic matters, then reproached him for not reporting to his post.
• Zhang Xuezhou claimed he was busy moving house and asked Sang Hongyang to recommend an affordable Pill Furnace.
• Sang Hongyang explained that treasured Pill Furnaces were generally rented at great expense and suggested Zhang Xuezhou visit artifact-refining lineages.
• Zhang Xuezhou argued that private monopolies over mining, iron, salt, and other industries had left the court short of resources, prompting Sang Hongyang to recognize the scale of the economic problem.
• Sang Hongyang told Zhang Xuezhou that the emperor had mobilized an army to march on Minyue despite broad opposition, and that the Empress Dowager had scolded him over the cost.

Zhang Xuezhou avoided returning to the palace and told Sang Hongyang that a Long Star had fallen, then headed toward the city gates. When the new emperor learned the news, he realized it might relate to the secret realm at Shanglin Park and considered going there himself.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Sang Hongyang he planned to investigate the Long Star at Shanglin Park instead of visiting the palace.
• Sang Hongyang returned to the Marquis of Pingyang's Household, where the new emperor watched Chen Zhang demonstrate swordsmanship and discussed military training with Huo Qubing.
• Huo Qubing criticized Chen Zhang's defensive swordsmanship and rejected the new emperor's offer to teach him Sunzi's art of war.
• The new emperor learned from Sang Hongyang that Zhang Xuezhou had gone to Shanglin Park to investigate the Long Star.
• The new emperor recalled the secret realm linked to Shanglin Park and weighed going there against the dangers of traveling outside.

Zhang Xuezhou rode the Black and White Twin Horses through Shanglin Park, hoping to exhaust their remaining range before Hongku arrived and searching unsuccessfully for secret grounds. He discovered imprisoned demons and recognized Jin Wanliang, who begged him to help.

• Zhang Xuezhou rode through Shanglin Park to use up the Black and White Twin Horses’ Law Power, but found no secret grounds.
• Zhang Xuezhou discovered six lairs where lesser demons were chained up and raised for their Demon Cores.
• Zhang Xuezhou heard a toad demon complain about being denied meat and found Jin Wanliang imprisoned in a cave.
• Jin Wanliang recognized Zhang Xuezhou as his godfather and explained that he had returned from the Sacred Land before being captured.
• Jin Wanliang begged Zhang Xuezhou to save him after sensing how powerful Zhang had become.

Zhang Xuezhou freed Jin Wanliang from his restraints and healed him, but refused to take him to Chang'an City, where a Demon-Revealing Mirror could expose him. When soldiers returned to question and torment Jin Wanliang, he tried to escape the cave, still hoping Zhang Xuezhou would save him.

• Zhang Xuezhou dissolved Jin Wanliang's chain, removed the spike from his leg, healed him, and told him to leave.
• Jin Wanliang begged Zhang Xuezhou to take him in, but Zhang warned him about the Demon-Revealing Mirror and said he had nowhere safe to send him.
• Hearing approaching soldiers, Zhang Xuezhou slipped out of the cave while Jin Wanliang chained himself back to the stone slab.
• Two officers arrived and discussed Jin Wanliang's abilities and the valuable Toad Skin and toad venom taken from him.
• When an officer questioned Jin Wanliang about recent mysteries, Jin Wanliang formed a hostile thought, and the officer struck him and wounded his groin with a sword.
• Jin Wanliang called for Zhang Xuezhou and bounced out of the cave, trying to escape.

Zhang Xuezhou waited for Jin Wanliang while the demon fled from Liu Quji and Xin Zhui, but a wolf pack drove the young generals away and Jin vanished underground. After searching unsuccessfully for Jin, Zhang saw a beam of white light rise from a distant mountain and flew toward it.

• Zhang Xuezhou watched Liu Quji and Xin Zhui chase Jin Wanliang, who escaped by digging into the ground.
• Liu Quji and Xin Zhui waited by Jin Wanliang’s tunnel as night fell, while Zhang Xuezhou listened for the demon.
• A pack of gray wolves attacked Liu Quji and Xin Zhui, forcing them to abandon their armor and retreat from the tunnel.
• Zhang Xuezhou called into Jin Wanliang’s hole but found no sign of him, then searched the area and gave up.
• Zhang Xuezhou spotted a white beam rising from a distant mountain, transformed his Law Power into Demon Power, and flew toward it.

Zhang Xuezhou searched the forest for the source of a white light and found an inexplicable trove of enormous medicinal herbs. As dawn broke, the forest and the herbs vanished, leaving him with only the specimens he had collected.

• Zhang Xuezhou used the Golden Crow Feather to light his way through the dark forest and investigated its unusually massive trees.
• Zhang Xuezhou uncovered a head-sized purple lingzhi and a centuries-old chicken-head Solomon's seal, then found more great medicinal herbs nearby.
• Zhang Xuezhou grew suspicious that the forest was someone else's medicinal garden, covered his digging, and counted at least forty-eight more Solomon's seals beneath the ground.
• When pale light crossed the sky, Zhang Xuezhou saw the great trees shrink, the Solomon's seal shoots disappear, and the forest floor change, though the herbs on his back remained.

Zhang Xuezhou discovered that he had blundered into a concealed secret realm and took three enormous medicinal plants before leaving as his time ran short. In the woods, he encountered Chen Zhang and the new emperor fleeing a wolf pack, but the plants’ pungent smell made them lose their breath control and strength.

• Zhang Xuezhou realized the woodland around him was a secret realm hidden by a natural formation, though he could not find its entrance or understand its layout.
• Zhang Xuezhou left the secret realm carrying two purple lingzhi and a Solomon's seal, whose strong odors troubled him.
• Zhang Xuezhou rode his black horse through the forest and was struck by an arrow fired by Chen Zhang and his companion, who mistook him for a monster.
• Chen Zhang recognized Zhang Xuezhou and asked him for help escaping the wolf pack pursuing him and the new emperor.
• Chen Zhang put the exhausted new emperor on Zhang Xuezhou's horse, but the Solomon's seal's smell made the emperor cough, lose his breath control, and collapse in exhaustion.

Zhang Xuezhou offered the new emperor and Chen Zhang fresh sealwort, whose overwhelming effects left them temporarily unable to control their bodies. The new emperor recovered enough Qi and Blood to kill the attacking wolf pack, then told Zhang Xuezhou to call him Liu Quji while they were outside.

• Zhang Xuezhou offered sealwort to the new emperor and Chen Zhang, and both men ate it despite its harsh taste.
• The sealwort's potent effects overwhelmed the new emperor, who struggled to suppress them as gray wolves attacked.
• The new emperor swept his longsword around himself and killed the wolves while Zhang Xuezhou helped feed wolves into his strikes.
• The new emperor recovered and saw that forty-six gray wolves, including their wolf demon leader, had been killed and the pack had retreated.
• The new emperor told Zhang Xuezhou to call him Liu Quji outside the palace, explaining that he used different names to travel without attracting attention.

After escaping the wolf pack, Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor searched Mount Zhongnan and discussed the hidden place where Zhang had found medicinal plants. The new emperor decided to search for the suspected secret land, but Zhang collapsed before he could help.

• The new emperor praised the wolves’ teamwork as a lesson for the Great Han legions, and Zhang Xuezhou won his approval by agreeing with him.
• As they traveled through Mount Zhongnan, Zhang Xuezhou explained that the three medicinal plants were losing vitality and described finding them near a grove that vanished at dawn.
• The new emperor suspected Zhang Xuezhou had stumbled upon a Grotto-Heaven Secret Land, while Zhang believed the strange place might be part of a formation.
• After the group left the mountains, the new emperor ordered Xin Zhui to gather a hundred Feathered Forest Guards to search for the hidden place.
• The new emperor began to give Zhang Xuezhou a black token, but Zhang collapsed from his recurring illness, so the new emperor resolved to lead the search himself.

Zhang Xuezhou woke aboard a ship bound for Qinmeng with Ren Yisheng, who planned to investigate a snake den and seek permission to use its resources. As they prepared to travel with only the two of them, Ren Yisheng proposed using Ferocious Beast extracts to help Gene Sequence Holders make up for physical weaknesses.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke to find himself aboard a vessel near Qinmeng, and Ren Yisheng explained that Huli Port was overgrown and they were searching for a harbor.
• Ren Yisheng revealed that only he and Zhang Xuezhou had come, intending to investigate the snake den, seek great medicines and other resources, and speak with Huang Snake.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned that his limited waking time could leave them short-handed, so Ren Yisheng suggested finding someone in Qinmeng to help with labor or returning to the Aomeijia Alliance to rest.
• Ren Yisheng asked Zhang Xuezhou to teach him how to fly using the Cloud Soaring Technique, hoping to adapt Realm Techniques for travel through Qinmeng.
• Ren Yisheng explained his theory that Ferocious Beast extracts could help seventh-sequence Gene Holders develop abilities that compensated for bodily weaknesses, while possibly weakening their Resistance Layer.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng rode into the mutated forests near Huli Port while discussing Huang Daoxian and ways to counter Ferocious Beasts. After spotting a truck carrying a hunted Giant Ape, Ren Yisheng considered whether to claim part of the spoils before they continued toward the snake cave.

• Ren Yisheng and Zhang Xuezhou left their ship at Huli Port on Ren Yisheng’s two-wheeler and sped through the crowds of vehicles.
• As they crossed the vast genetic-crop forest, Zhang Xuezhou said Huang Daoxian could no longer pose a serious threat, and the two discussed using Gene Seeds and Puresainuoru’s ability against Ferocious Beasts.
• After nearly two hours, Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng reached a thinner stretch of vines where the road branched.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng spotted a battered truck carrying a hunted Giant Ape, and Ren Yisheng wondered which group had caught it and whether he should claim a share.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng intercepted Mengtesi Badun’s truck to claim the giant ape Ferocious Beast. Ren Yisheng confronted Badun and began destroying the truck’s cage as the standoff escalated.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng blocked the damaged truck and demanded that its hunting team come out.
• Ren Yisheng shattered the windshield with mental force, and an unseen attacker hurled a wrench at them; Ren stopped it.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized the possibility that the driver was Mengtesi Badun, and Badun emerged from the cab after Ren’s attack.
• Ren told Badun he would take the giant ape or kill it, while Badun warned him that doing so would make them bitter enemies.
• Ren cut open the truck and exposed the electrified cage holding the giant ape, then raised his palm to strike it.

Ren Yisheng and Mengtesi Badun fought over the giant ape Ferocious Beast, with Zhang Xuezhou evading Mengtesi Badun by flying high into the sky. Ren Yisheng wounded the beast despite Mengtesi Badun’s attempts to negotiate, leaving both men poised for further conflict in Qinmeng.

• Ren Yisheng attacked the giant ape Ferocious Beast while Mengtesi Badun lunged at Zhang Xuezhou to take him hostage.
• Zhang Xuezhou shot upward beyond Mengtesi Badun’s reach and continued hovering with a personal flying device.
• Mengtesi Badun threatened Zhang Xuezhou and demanded that Ren Yisheng stand aside, but Ren Yisheng refused to accept his terms.
• Ren Yisheng struck the giant ape, gravely wounding it and ruining most of its value to Mengtesi Badun.
• Ren Yisheng taunted Mengtesi Badun and declared that his era was over.

Ren Yisheng drove Mengtesi Badun away by countering his metal-based attacks, then reunited with Zhang Xuezhou and resumed transporting the giant ape Ferocious Beast. Zhang Xuezhou recognized the captive as possibly connected to Hu Hao.

• Ren Yisheng pursued Mengtesi Badun with invisible mental attacks, while Mengtesi Badun’s alloy wire failed to restrain him.
• Mengtesi Badun retreated and ran off after threatening Ren Yisheng, who said he would pursue him after securing the giant ape’s corpse.
• Zhang Xuezhou dropped from the sky and complained that Qinmeng’s powerful people acted like street thugs.
• Ren Yisheng explained that he was following the rules Mengtesi Badun and the others had established, then regained control of the truck.
• Zhang Xuezhou treated the giant ape’s wounds and wondered whether it was one of Hu Hao’s subordinates.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng transported a weakened Giant Ape toward a temporary port, but Montes Badun ambushed them with reinforcements. Montes Arthur urged Badun to negotiate over the Scarlet Alliance State’s Ferocious Beast trade, leaving Badun reconsidering the confrontation and wondering how the Scarlet Alliance State had obtained so many specimens.

• Ren Yisheng drove Zhang Xuezhou and the weakened Giant Ape toward the temporary port while staying alert for Montes Badun’s return.
• Zhang Xuezhou tried and failed to control the Giant Ape with the Soul-Upsetting Beast Control Technique.
• Montes Badun ambushed the truck near the port with Montes Arthur’s team, and Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng leaped out to face them.
• Ren Yisheng warned Badun that he could kill Montes Arthur with a mental attack, making Badun hesitate to fight.
• Montes Arthur told Badun that the Scarlet Alliance State had signed a Ferocious Beast materials exchange agreement and could help the Aomeijia Alliance pursue higher Sequences.
• Montes Badun considered the proposed gamble and wondered whether the Scarlet Alliance State had obtained its many Ferocious Beasts by picking up a bargain in Qinmeng.

Ren Yisheng confronted Mengtesi Badun over the Giant Ape Ferocious Beast, while Montes Arthur tried to broker a deal for its extract. Zhang Xuezhou helped Ren Yisheng negotiate, and Montes Arthur ended by proposing that the Aomeijia Alliance take over the processing for half the proceeds.

• Montes Arthur offered Ren Yisheng thirty percent of the Giant Ape’s proceeds if the Aomeijia Alliance could use it, but Ren Yisheng demanded they retreat three hundred meters.
• Ren Yisheng admitted he meant to challenge Mengtesi Badun’s authority and prevent future high Sequence Holders from testing him.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested the parties share the proceeds and reminded Montes Arthur that Ren Yisheng’s group needed to leave Qinmeng’s waters.
• Zhang Xuezhou revealed his identity to Montes Arthur, who greeted him with respect and explained his reputation to Mengtesi Badun.
• Montes Arthur proposed a fifty-fifty split in exchange for the Aomeijia Alliance taking responsibility for processing the Giant Ape, prompting Mengtesi Badun to grumble.

Zhang Xuezhou and Montes Arthur agreed to divide the Giant Ape Ferocious Beast’s materials, provided it reached the Aomeijia Alliance alive. After confirming the beast was still alive, Montes Arthur invited Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng to help hunt a dangerous giant white snake, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed.

• Zhang Xuezhou proposed that his side take sixty percent of the Giant Ape Ferocious Beast’s materials and Montes Arthur’s side take forty percent, with no share for Zhang’s side if the beast was dead.
• Montes Arthur accepted the conditional split, and Zhang Xuezhou and Montes Arthur drew up a contract while their teams prepared to load the beast onto a freighter.
• Linna and Montes Arthur discovered that the Giant Ape Ferocious Beast was alive and strong enough to pry at its alloy cage.
• Ren Yisheng and Mengtesi Badun exchanged barbs but did not resume their fight as the contract was signed.
• Montes Arthur offered Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng a fifty-fifty share to join a hunt for a giant white snake that could attack the brain domain, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed.

Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Ren Yisheng to cooperate with Mengtesi Badun’s team, despite the risks, as they prepared to hunt Ferocious Beasts in Qinmeng. After Ren Yisheng explained how he reached the Eighth Sequence, Mengtesi Badun treated him as an equal, opening a new exchange among the world’s Eighth Sequence Holders.

• Zhang Xuezhou convinced Ren Yisheng that they could cooperate with Mengtesi Badun and flee if the plan went wrong.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Mengtesi Badun’s team transferred the Giant Ape Ferocious Beast to the freighter and negotiated cooperation in battle.
• Mengtesi Badun explained to Montes Arthur that high Sequence Holders had to train their bodies to adapt without relying on sleep or conditioning fluids.
• Mengtesi Badun asked Ren Yisheng how he reached the Eighth Sequence, and Ren Yisheng described surviving a confrontation that gave him the power of Control.
• Mengtesi Badun and Ren Yisheng spoke as equals, widening the circle of Eighth Sequence Holders who exchanged questions and answers.

Zhang Xuezhou and Montes Arthur exchanged information about Ferocious Beast gear and a dangerous white snake while Ren Yisheng considered how its extract might aid his mental abilities. As the group traveled through Qinmeng, the white snake spotted their convoy and flew toward them.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he and his companions had traveled light and could borrow whatever they needed, while Montes Arthur questioned their equipment and purpose in Qinmeng.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Montes Arthur traded details about the big-billed bird's feathers and the white snake Ferocious Beast; Arthur said the snake was over thirty meters long and attacked the brain region.
• Ren Yisheng asked about the white snake and considered whether pills made from its extract could benefit the mind, since his mental suppression abilities had stopped advancing against higher Sequences.
• Mengtesi Badun discussed how the five Fire Meteors and gene crops had disrupted Qinmeng's Ferocious Beasts, then spotted the white snake approaching their convoy.
• The white snake flew toward the heavy trucks before the group could launch a sneak attack or hunt it.