Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou arranged quick Mental Strengthening treatment for Zhou Yueyan so she could stay conscious during Luo Burang’s experiment, while warning her about its limitations. He also recreated the Death-Creating Fortune Pill with modern laboratory equipment, then found Zhou Yueyan asleep after four hours and thirty-two minutes of training and scheduled two more X432 sessions.

• Zhou Yueyan arrived at the B13 Research Institute, and Zhang Xuezhou explained the drawbacks of quick-fix Mental Strengthening before beginning her treatment.
• Zhou Yueyan entered the X432 device for a twelve-hour crash course, determined to stay awake through the training.
• Zhang Xuezhou used laboratory equipment and substitute ingredients to reproduce the Death-Creating Fortune Pill, then swallowed the small pill he made.
• Zhang Xuezhou checked on Zhou Yueyan and found her asleep after four hours and thirty-two minutes of training.
• Zhang Xuezhou arranged two additional X432 treatment sessions for Zhou Yueyan before turning to his own work.

Zhang Xuezhou used pills to advance the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique and realized he could adapt its method to create a Gene Fighting Technique that guided the Resistance Layer. He turned his attention to observing Zhou Yueyan’s treatment for clues to the human body reaction equation.

• Zhang Xuezhou mass-produced more than ten thousand pills and swallowed them to rapidly advance the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique.
• As he cultivated, Zhang Xuezhou compared the Technique’s body-transforming effects with the Gene Sequence’s Resistance Layer and conceived a way to adapt it using gene loci and genetic drugs.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized that the idea could provide the human body reaction equation that An Ran had discussed, though Luo Burang had doubted the research.
• Zhou Yueyan called Zhang Xuezhou through the monitoring device after he had stopped taking pills for two hours, and he realized his Gene Fighting Technique still had not taken shape.
• With his power of Control nearly restored after four days, Zhang Xuezhou decided to observe Zhou Yueyan’s second round of medication and compare her response with Zhao Tianhua’s.

Zhang Xuezhou and Luo Burang prepared a second-improvement test of Ferocious Beast extract medicine for Zhou Yueyan, whose weak genes and ordinary aptitude required a large dose and a slower process. After enduring one painful injection of Heavenly God General Medicine, Zhou Yueyan entered the solution tank at the A6 Research Institute as the human test began.

• Zhang Xuezhou refused to give Zhou Yueyan more Heavenly God General Medicine until its side effects were reduced, but she insisted and endured one injection's severe pain.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Luo Burang agreed to use compatible Ferocious Beast extracts and track Zhou Yueyan's changing body while testing a Gene Fighting Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou relieved Zhou Yueyan's pain with the Supreme Purity True Technique, and she agreed to continue the experiment.
• Zhang Xuezhou took Zhou Yueyan to the A6 Research Institute, where Luo Burang explained that her treatment would require more medicine and several days because of her weak genes.
• Luo Burang began the human test of the Ferocious Beast extract's second improvement with Zhou Yueyan in the solution tank.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran worked to adapt the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique into a Gene Fighting Technique that could guide Zhou Yueyan through her Seventh Sequence breakthrough. Zhou Yueyan began the experiment and agreed to follow Zhang Xuezhou’s guidance as the drug took effect.

• Researchers restored the laboratory and used specialized equipment to inject the first batch of gene adjustment fluid into Zhou Yueyan.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique to Luo Burang as the basis for a new Gene Fighting Technique.
• Ren Anran arrived in separate incarnations, and they advised Zhang Xuezhou to guide Zhou Yueyan through attempts to adapt the technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed the experiment to Zhou Yueyan, who listened while feeling the first changes from the injected drug.
• Zhou Yueyan agreed to cooperate with Zhang Xuezhou and hoped he could find a formula to guide her breakthrough to the Seventh Sequence.

Zhou Yueyan underwent repeated trials with Zhang Xuezhou and Luo Burang to adapt her body to a genetic solution made from Ferocious Beast extracts. She successfully broke through to the Seventh Sequence, and her Resistance Layer spread throughout her body.

• Luo Burang worried that the incomplete Ferocious Beast extracts might cause Zhou Yueyan's transformation to go wrong, while the readings showed that sixty percent of the process was complete.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Zhou Yueyan to use the gene locus where she had made a major breakthrough to guide the transformation again.
• Zhou Yueyan stayed calm and continued directing her Gene Power through repeated painful trials, determined to reach the Seventh Sequence while young.
• Zhou Yueyan felt her Sequence Lock scatter as Gene Power and her Resistance Layer spread throughout her body.
• Tortoiseshell-like patterns and mysterious inscriptions appeared on Zhou Yueyan's skin as her Resistance Layer strengthened, marking her breakthrough into the Seventh Sequence.

Zhang Xuezhou and Luo Burang confirmed Zhou Yueyan had successfully entered the Seventh Sequence, though the experiment remained costly and unstable. Zhang recommended Wang Haoran as the next subject and promised the committee members they could eventually undergo the procedure, easing their bitter dispute.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained that Zhou Yueyan's transformation succeeded but that the method varied by person and still needed further study.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Luo Burang outlined the experiment's high costs, limited supplies, and risks, including a possible fifty-percent recovery rate for medical materials.
• Luo Burang called Li Yingbo to report Zhou Yueyan's success, and Zhang told Li to wait before trying the procedure himself.
• Zhang recommended Wang Haoran as the next test subject and said his compatible Ferocious Beast extract gave him a one-hundred-percent chance once they found the right pattern.
• Zhang promised the committee that everyone would eventually have a chance to enter the Seventh Sequence, and the arguing members quickly agreed.

Zhang Xuezhou’s human body reaction equation successfully returned Zhou Yueyan’s body to normal and advanced her to the Seventh Sequence. He and Zhou Yueyan then realized that catalysts could dilute blood serum while preserving its effect, potentially multiplying serum production and expanding genetic transformations.

• Zhang Xuezhou used the human body reaction equation to restore Zhou Yueyan’s body, and she gained the Seventh Sequence’s controllable resistance.
• Zhou Yueyan celebrated her new strength, while Zhang Xuezhou recorded her response and considered how to make the risky advancement process repeatable.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Zhou Yueyan to focus on catalyst research and put off traveling to Qinmeng, noting the Zhou Household could benefit if they developed a Sixth Sequence catalyst.
• Zhou Yueyan explained that catalysts reduced the amount or quality of serum needed, and Zhang Xuezhou suggested diluting serum after adding a catalyst to preserve its original effect.
• Luo Burang helped Zhou Yueyan understand that the diluted, catalyzed serum could increase output tenfold or more, and she realized the Zhou Household had overlooked the research’s potential.

Zhang Xuezhou discussed the costly search for R36 Catalyst and the trapped Sequence Holders’ difficulty advancing toward domains. Remembering the new emperor’s Sword-Guiding Technique, he brought twelve alloy swords into the small world to give Ren Yisheng and the others a possible new path.

• Luo Burang explained that producing R36 Catalyst required repeated cultivation and refinement of large quantities of basic catalysts, making failure costly.
• Zhang Xuezhou hoped helping Mengtesi Badun suppress the spider Ferocious Beasts would lead to a Fortune-offering ceremony and Karmic Fortune.
• Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou that Ren Yisheng had climbed out of the ground after his failed attempt to develop a domain.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested Ren Yisheng build a foundation with Badun and Nagesi's mental cultivation methods while waiting for a transformation.
• Zhang Xuezhou recalled the new emperor’s Sword-Guiding Technique and explained that its sword might act as a catalyst for a Technique Method.
• Zhang Xuezhou returned to the small world with twelve alloy swords and found Ren Yisheng, Qimeng Haige, and Nagesi dispirited after their failed fast.

Zhang Xuezhou helped Ren Yisheng recover after his failed attempt to reach the Ninth Sequence and offered a fallback way for him to escape the small world by transferring his soul into a new body. As the trapped cultivators focused on surviving and advancing, Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian examined Zhang Xuezhou’s Sword-Guiding Technique and were struck by its potential.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Ren Yisheng about repeating his death-defying seclusion, and Ren Yisheng said he had no chance of trying it again.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed using Tuer Kelanduo’s embryos as new bodies for their Yang Corporeal Souls, and Ren Yisheng felt relieved to have a fallback plan.
• Ren Yisheng took up a sword to practice Mengtesi Badun’s Nurturing Method while recovering from his seclusion.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered to bring useful supplies and introduced the Sword-Guiding Technique, but the others mostly requested food, shelter, and entertainment.
• Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian studied Zhang Xuezhou’s manuscript and recognized the Sword-Guiding Technique’s seemingly limitless potential.

Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian explained how the Sword-Guiding Technique could let swordsmen borrow Zhang Xuezhou’s power of Control. Changkong Yinghao tested the method, attempting to synchronize his body with Zhang Xuezhou and form a temporary false Control.

• Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian interpreted the Sword-Guiding Technique as a way for swordsmen to borrow force and imitate Zhang Xuezhou’s Control.
• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that the technique offered a kind of false Control, while Changkong Yinghao said mastery might let practitioners draw on domains or even Heaven and Earth.
• Li Qi compared the method to using the body as a lightning rod, and Changkong Yinghao agreed with his explanation.
• Changkong Yinghao drew his sword and shifted from fleshly strength to Gene Power and mental strength as Changkong Yinglian counted out a rhythm.
• Changkong Yinghao adjusted his posture and bodily rhythms to match Zhang Xuezhou, trying to create a fleeting false Control of Fast and Slow.

The Changkong siblings tested the Sword-Guiding Technique by borrowing Zhang Xuezhou’s momentum to cross the distortion, and Changkong Yinglian successfully traveled more than fifty meters. Their success offered a way out of the small world and left Zhang Xuezhou considering Liu Xuan’s possible identity and inheritance.

• The group discussed how the Sword-Guiding Technique could imitate human forms and borrow momentum, while Ren Yisheng explained that they had pursued the Ninth Sequence only to confirm it was not a solution.
• Changkong Yinghao gathered everyone to watch as he and Changkong Yinglian prepared to use Zhang Xuezhou’s Control power to cross the distortion.
• Changkong Yinglian borrowed Zhang Xuezhou’s momentum and traveled more than fifty meters, meeting the standard for leaving the small world despite becoming dizzy and disoriented.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the siblings did not need to see clearly as long as they followed his direction, and he was surprised that the Sword-Guiding Technique had worked.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered Liu Xuan’s mysterious inheritance and narrowed his possible identities to a dozen or so imperial relatives recorded in Great Qin’s records.

Zhang Xuezhou recovered from the Cynomorium’s effects with Yi Shuo’s help, then went to Weiyang Palace to discuss the Sword-Guiding Technique with the new emperor. He found the emperor and Wei Qing drinking on the great hall’s roof and joined them.

• Yi Shuo used silver needles to restore Zhang Xuezhou’s Law Power, and his body returned to normal.
• Zhang Xuezhou promised Yi Shuo she could continue studying his body and said he would visit the new emperor to discuss the Sword-Guiding Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou replenished some Law Power by reciting the Vast Righteous Qi Instruction as he walked through the palace.
• The new emperor and Wei Qing invited Zhang Xuezhou to join them for wine on the roof of the great hall.
• Wei Qing poured Zhang Xuezhou a bowl of medicinal rice wine, and Zhang Xuezhou joked that the emperor should remove Wei Qing from his ceremonial office.

Zhang Xuezhou explained that Wei Qing’s rare Sword-Guiding Technique had drawn on the force of the land and left his body strained, preventing him from repeating it. The imperial physicians confirmed Wei Qing was ill, while the new emperor hoped he could recover and eventually master the technique as a path toward the True Self Realm.

• The new emperor told Zhang Xuezhou that Wei Qing’s sword strike at Shanglin Park had suppressed him for nearly three seconds, but Wei Qing had been unable to repeat it.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized that Wei Qing had drawn on the force of the land and explained that the technique’s physical toll likely kept him from using it again.
• Wei Qing admitted that his body remained tense, though he had mistaken the weakness he felt after the strike for shame at offending the new emperor.
• The new emperor summoned the imperial physicians, and Zhang Xuezhou warned Wei Qing that repeated use of the technique could make his body collapse.
• The imperial physicians examined Wei Qing and determined that he was ill and needed quiet rest, while Zhang Xuezhou said Wei Qing would need to adapt his swordsmanship to different terrain.

Zhang Xuezhou listened to Wei Shao'er explain the Sword-Guiding Technique and recognized that Liu Xuan's understanding resembled Ying Fusu's swordsmanship. He suspected Liu Xuan was the former Great Qin crown prince and considered the valuable knowledge he might possess.

• Zhang Xuezhou returned to his residence, planned to refine pills, and waited for Wei Qing to recover so he could study Wei Qing's swordsmanship.
• Wei Shao'er admitted she had not mastered the Sword-Guiding Technique and asked Zhang Xuezhou to help her understand it.
• Wei Shao'er relayed Liu Xuan's explanation, and Zhang Xuezhou recognized its layered, sustained attacks as a familiar swordsmanship style.
• Zhang Xuezhou connected Liu Xuan's swordsmanship to Ying Fusu's Ten Thousand Swords Break One Method and wondered whether Ying Fusu had survived under a new identity.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered Ying Fusu a possible source of invaluable Great Qin knowledge and reflected on the former crown prince's abilities.

Zhang Xuezhou brought Wei Shao'er along as his bodyguard, but they ended up at the Wei residence, where they met Wei Qing and the new emperor. The new emperor set out with them to study the Sword-Guiding Technique and pursue a breakthrough into the True Self Realm, while renewing his cultivation of the Fortune Technique.

• Zhang Xuezhou finished refining four pills and urged Wei Shao'er to keep learning skills from Liu Xuan, whom he suspected was Ying Fusu.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Wei Shao'er to act as his bodyguard, and she followed him to the Wei residence while calling Huo Qubing to get up for school.
• Wei Shao'er met Wei Qing, who had recently returned to Chang'an City, and criticized him for being absent from home.
• The new emperor joined Zhang Xuezhou and Wei Qing, declined another ride on the Heaven-Riding Shuttle, and encouraged Zhang Xuezhou to learn from Wei Qing and seek the True Self Realm.
• The new emperor planned to share the Sword-Guiding Technique with the others and resumed focusing on his Fortune Technique, hoping it would help him reach the True Self Realm.

The new emperor showed Zhang Xuezhou the reformed Shanglin Park training system and discussed military plans against Xiong State, including the possibility of enlisting Kong Ning. Wei Qing then demonstrated the Sword-Guiding Technique against Wei Shao'er, but the new emperor intervened when Wei Qing’s strike threatened her.

• The new emperor explained how Shanglin Park trained and selected officers to serve across the Great Han armies, and Wei Qing described the army reforms after the battle at Mayi.
• The new emperor vowed to pursue Xiong State and learned from Zhang Xuezhou that Kong Ning was living near Mao Mausoleum, then arranged to help secure her residence permit.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Wei Qing to demonstrate the Sword-Guiding Technique, and the new emperor was pleased that Wei Qing could use it again after taking a Qi and Blood Fortune Pill.
• Wei Qing challenged Wei Shao'er, whose defenses and escape seemed useless against his mountain-like sword strike.
• The new emperor blocked Wei Qing’s sword with his longsword as Zhang Xuezhou hopped aside in pain.

Wei Qing demonstrated his Sword-Guiding Technique in Shanglin Park, and Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor discussed how it worked. The chapter ended with Zhang Xuezhou realizing that his own location-dependent Favor Technique might also offer a path toward a domain.

• Wei Qing's sword overwhelmed Wei Shao'er and nearly struck the new emperor, but he stopped in time and apologized for failing to control its force.
• The new emperor praised Wei Qing's improved control, gave him a pill, and discussed how repeated exposure might help him learn the Sword-Guiding Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou took two pills, then prompted Wei Shao'er to share her thoughts on the technique with the new emperor.
• Wei Qing explained that his sword drew on the force of a mountain collapse in Shanglin Park's secret land, and the new emperor encouraged him to challenge Cheng Bushi once he mastered it.
• Zhang Xuezhou connected Wei Qing's terrain-dependent sword technique to his own Favor Technique and saw both as possible steps toward gaining a domain.

Zhang Xuezhou discussed the Sword-Guiding Technique and the path to cultivating a personal domain with the new emperor and Wei Shao'er. As the group left the secret place, they learned that black stone and black soil had been found in Shanglin Park, and Zhang Xuezhou realized the discovery could support an industry requiring intense heat.

• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on how Bai's Favor Technique depended on Bai's domain and shared his insights about drawing on people and terrain to guide a sword.
• The new emperor grasped that a cultivator's domain, rather than their particular Technique Methods, set apart the strongest cultivators, and he planned to test the palace's force.
• Wei Shao'er said she had no home in Chang'an because the Marquis of Quni had driven her family out, and the new emperor promised to speak to him.
• The group tested their sword techniques in the secret place at Shanglin Park and left when geomagnetic light appeared at dusk.
• Deputy commander Wuqiu Shouwang reported that cultivators from the Princess of Guantao's Household had found large quantities of black stone and black soil in Shanglin Park.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw the discovery as a source of heat for pill refining and thought of another industry that needed high-temperature flames.

The new emperor inspected a coal deposit discovered by the Princess of Guantao's Household and realized its coal could improve smelting and weapons. While waiting for the coal to be dug up, he questioned Zhang Xuezhou about Karmic Fortune and reconsidered how to replace Li Guang in the Northern Lands.

• The new emperor ordered coal-bearing soil removed from the open-pit mine and tested at a safe distance, where it burned and revealed a substantial deposit beneath the surface.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned that the coal must not be lit inside the mine, and an elderly cultivator explained that black stones lay beneath a layer of soil.
• The new emperor ordered workers to dig out the black stones and issued them a special permit to enter Chang'an City, planning to test the coal in the Marquis of Pingyang's Household forge.
• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou about his first experience with Karmic Fortune, and Zhang recounted the journey with Master Dong that led to the Tomb Scripture.
• The new emperor reflected on disorder in the Northern Lands and concluded that Han Anguo was not suited to replace Li Guang, whose narrow military approach had failed to control the region.

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor returned to Chang'an City, where the emperor arranged for Dongfang Shuo’s mine records to be registered. As they rode through the Imperial City District, they were caught in a violent clash between the Chancellor’s residence and the Marquis of Weiqi’s residence, and escaped after the Feathered Forest Guards cleared their path.

• The new emperor used his authority to reopen Chang'an City’s gates and ordered Shen Chong to register Dongfang Shuo’s account of the coal mine.
• Shen Chong arranged for the tally to be brought to Zhang Xuezhou’s residence, while the county magistrate warned that Dongfang Shuo’s conduct could bring trouble.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor heard a large fight between the Chancellor’s residence and the Marquis of Weiqi’s residence and criticized the households for causing disorder.
• Several men stretched a trip rope across the party’s path, and the Feathered Forest Guards fired arrows as stones and iron caltrops struck their horses.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged the party to target the men holding the rope, and the riders charged through after the men dropped it and fled.