Chapter Summaries

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.

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.