Chapter Summaries

After Zhang Xuezhou won the Sequencer Grand Gathering, he submitted the Kunpeng Combat Technique for advancement and tried to share the news with Ren Yisheng. Ren Anran then learned from the Twilight Years Mansion that her father’s body was cold and he appeared to have lost his vital signs.

• Zhang Xuezhou used his champion-team reward to submit the Kunpeng Combat Technique for revision, requesting maximum completeness, striking range, and power.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Ren Anran whether Ren Yisheng could use a communicator, and she started a livestream to contact him.
• When Ren Yisheng did not respond to messages or a call, Ren Anran contacted the Twilight Years Mansion’s management for news.
• The management staff told Ren Anran that Ren Yisheng’s body was cold and he seemed to have lost his vital signs, leaving her pale and numb.

Ren Yisheng died after more than half a year in the Twilight Years Mansion, leaving his family and the authorities to deal with the fallout. When Zhang Xuezhou examined the body, he recognized its condition as similar to his own during divine-soul travel and wondered where Ren Yisheng’s three souls and seven spirits had gone.

• Ren Yisheng’s death alarmed Changkong Luo, Song Xianzhong, and Luo Tianming, while Song Xianzhong spiraled into guilt and destruction.
• Doctors failed to revive Ren Yisheng, and Changkong Yinghao and Zhou Yueyan concluded that he was dead and discussed the complications his death would cause.
• Ren Wuyang suspected that Ren Yisheng had been mistreated, while Ren Anran restrained her anger and took the body home with him.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered the sedan carrying Ren Yisheng’s body, recognized its condition, and wondered where the professor’s three souls and seven spirits had gone.

Zhang Xuezhou determined that Ren Yisheng’s body had fallen into a state of apparent death because his three souls and seven spirits had left it, and the family struggled to find a way to bring them back. The chapter leaves them preparing to try X432 Repair Technology while Zhang searches for a soul-collecting method.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Anran and the others that Ren Yisheng’s three souls and seven spirits had left his body and warned that they needed to find them quickly.
• Zhang Xuezhou recalled Daoist Mu’s Corpse Jiao Canon and considered traveling to Hibiscus City to learn its incomplete Soul-Collecting Technique.
• Ren Anran connected Ren Yisheng’s condition to his recent use of his spirit with the Realm Technique and realized he may have attempted something after reaching the True Spirit Realm.
• Ren Wuyang urged everyone to preserve Ren Yisheng’s body, while Ren Anran rejected using the Dragon Elephant Combat Technique because it could harm his spirit.
• Zhang Manqian suggested X432 Repair Technology, and Ren Anran agreed that the family should try it as a safer option.

The Sequence Committee's new acting members debated how to address the Sequencing Grand Gathering livestream leak and the transition of power in Western Capital City. They chose caution over harsh action and considered allowing stable residents of Twilight Years Mansion temporary outings.

• Changkong Yinghao convened an emergency Sequence Committee meeting to discuss reducing risks after Ren Yisheng's death and the livestream leak.
• Zhong Ping'an called for tighter gathering rules, while Zuo Quan proposed investigating Flying Entertainment Livestream and taking over its core software.
• Song Bu'er and Li Yingbo urged the Committee to avoid destabilizing Western Capital City before the Alliance States inspection, and Zhou Yueyan warned that punishing the Zhang Household could provoke the Ren Household.
• Zhong Ping'an cautioned the members that their new authority depended on handling the transition responsibly.
• Professor Luo Hui asked the Committee to let residents of Twilight Years Mansion go outside occasionally, and Changkong Yinglian said it could be considered if their mental states were stable and their Lineages accepted responsibility.
• Zuo Quan welcomed the proposal, hoping to bring good news back to Zuo Lianguang.

Ren Anran and Ren Wuyang sensed Ren Yisheng calling to them after his body’s vital signs nearly vanished. Zhang Xuezhou identified his condition as a Yang Corporeal Soul leaving the body, but he knew no way to communicate with or save him, leaving Ren Yisheng to wait for help or risk searching for a way to survive on his own.

• Ren Wuyang told Ren Anran that the Sequence Committee had taken no action against her and that the Twilight Years Mansion was preparing tests that could allow elderly Sequence Holders to leave temporarily.
• Zhang Xuezhou searched for Ren Yisheng’s three souls and seven spirits using the Yin Entity Tracking Technique, then tried searching with mental perception.
• Ren Anran heard Ren Yisheng calling her name while sensing, and Ren Wuyang later heard the same call.
• Ren Anran and Ren Wuyang called Zhang Xuezhou back, but he could not hear Ren Yisheng and explained that Ren Yisheng’s Yang Corporeal Soul had left his body.
• Zhang Xuezhou said Ren Yisheng might need to keep his mind firm while awaiting help, or attempt to find a way to survive in his new state at the risk of dissipating sooner.

After Ren Yisheng’s death, Luo Tianming visited the medical center and sought Zhang Xuezhou’s help with mental strengthening. Zhang Xuezhou negotiated two X432 Repair Technology treatments for his parents, and a woman from the Thousand Islands Alliance arrived as he spoke with Ren Anran.

• Sequence Committee members visited Ren Yisheng’s family and examined the X432 repair device’s data, which confirmed that he was no longer alive by normal standards.
• Luo Tianming asked Zhang Xuezhou to teach him mental strengthening, and Zhang directed him to Song Xianzhong while questioning whether Luo’s electronic shackles could restrain him.
• Luo Tianming offered the Luo Household’s assistance, and Zhang negotiated two X432 Repair Technology treatments in exchange for discussing the matter with him.
• Ren Anran began warning Zhang about Luo Tianming, but a woman from the Thousand Islands Alliance arrived, prompting complicated reactions from Ren Anran and Ren Wuyang.

Tuer Kelanduo, Ren Yisheng’s biological mother and a powerful councilor from the Thousand Islands Alliance, visited his body and placed a jade pendant around his neck. When Ren Anran removed it after the repair pod detected a foreign object, Ren Yisheng’s voice came from the pendant, suggesting his Yang Corporeal Soul had entered it.

• Tuer Kelanduo examined Ren Yisheng’s body and medical data, then placed her jade pendant around his neck and left.
• Ren Anran explained that Tuer Kelanduo was Ren Yisheng’s biological mother, while Ren Wuyang said their father had been beaten by people from her Lineage.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Wuyang discussed Zhang’s plans to act in an adaptation of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, and Zhang chose the role of Hou Renying.
• The X432 repair pod alarmed after detecting a foreign object, so Ren Anran removed the pendant from Ren Yisheng’s neck.
• Ren Anran, Ren Wuyang, and Zhang Xuezhou heard Ren Yisheng’s voice coming from the jade, and Zhang suspected his Yang Corporeal Soul had entered it.

Ren Yisheng explained that his souls had become trapped in Soul Jade after he tried combining Mental Strengthening with the Realm Technique. As the others considered how to restore him, he discovered the jade could replenish Law Power, leaving Zhang Xuezhou thinking about how to combine this world's resources with his cultivation.

• Ren Yisheng told Ren Anran, Ren Wuyang, and Zhang Xuezhou that his souls had left his body and he could neither return to it nor escape the Soul Jade.
• Ren Yisheng warned them that Tuer Kelanduo might reclaim the jade and that moving it too far from his body could pull him apart.
• Zhang Xuezhou recalled a tiger ghost resembling Ren Yisheng's condition and admitted he had no way to help immediately.
• Ren Yisheng cast a Technique from inside the jade, felt his Law Power drain, and then sensed the Soul Jade restoring it.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized the jade as a weaker, unpleasant substitute for Spirit Jade and considered using local resources to develop his own cultivation path.

Zhang Xuezhou watched news of genetic technology and the Sequencer Grand Gathering spread while the public debated the adaptation of The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. After Zhou Yueyan invited him to her laboratory, she explained that she had shielded his family from further investigations and asked him to provide updated bodily data for the committee.

• Zhang Xuezhou browsed the Sequencing Grand Gathering website, now being used for The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, and read the public's criticism of his team's appearance.
• Zhang Xuezhou watched Gene Fighting Technique performance streams and reviewed how advancing from Sequencer to Sequence Holder could grant stronger bodies and extraordinary Gene Power.
• Zhou Yueyan messaged Zhang Xuezhou and invited him to her laboratory, explaining that the committee wanted updated data on his body.
• Zhang Xuezhou visited Zhou Yueyan's laboratory at Canglan Academy, where she told him she had helped prevent repeated investigations of his family.
• Zhou Yueyan explained that her influence had grown after the older generation withdrew from public life, and Zhang Xuezhou thanked her for her protection.

Zhang Xuezhou learned that his genetic aptitude remained below average despite having two percent crane genes, and Zhou Yueyan urged him to buy more serum while struggling to explain his unusual fighting ability. After he left, Zhou Yueyan decided to test the Kunpeng Combat Technique herself and consider whether Sinkhole No. 2 had affected him.

• Zhou Yueyan reviewed Zhang Xuezhou’s examination results, found his genetic level below average, and recommended crane blood serum at five million per injection.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed that gene enhancement might have limited value, mentioned ordering two high-end X432 treatments for his parents, and negotiated the serum price before promising to return when his current supply ran out.
• After Zhang Xuezhou left, Zhou Yueyan wondered how he had led the Sequencing Grand Gathering champion group and defeated stronger competitors despite his modest genetic data.
• Zhou Yueyan tried to reproduce Zhang Xuezhou’s backward glide and found she could not match his ability, so she decided to test the Kunpeng Combat Technique and investigate the influence of Sinkhole No. 2.

After leaving Zhou Yueyan's laboratory, Zhang Xuezhou encountered Tuer Kelanduo, who wanted him to take her to a place where Ren Yisheng had lived. He discovered that her naturally emitted Divine Spirit Aura could influence his behavior, but he broke free of it, leaving their conversation uneasy.

• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on the dangers facing the Zhang Household amid political upheaval in Western Capital City and decided it was temporarily safe.
• Tuer Kelanduo called to Zhang Xuezhou outside the Xuanshi Building and asked him to take her to Ren Yisheng's residence.
• Zhang Xuezhou pointed out several places where Ren Yisheng had lived, but Tuer Kelanduo said she wanted to find a home where he had spent more time.
• Tuer Kelanduo's presence made Zhang Xuezhou say he believed her and agree to help, but he quickly regained control and challenged her influence.
• Tuer Kelanduo explained that her clan naturally emitted a Divine Spirit Aura, and she was surprised that Zhang Xuezhou had resisted it.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked whether she would use the aura to control him if he refused, leaving both of them uncomfortable with their interaction.

Zhang Xuezhou challenged Tuer Kelanduo to prove her claimed ability to foresee the future, but her attempt left her convulsing and needing emergency care. Ren Anran then revealed that Tuer Kelanduo was seeking Ren Yisheng’s notes and gave Zhang instructions for negotiating an exchange.

• Tuer Kelanduo tried to persuade Zhang Xuezhou to take her into Xuanshi Building, claiming she had come because a divine prophecy foretold Ren’s death.
• Zhang Xuezhou demanded that Tuer Kelanduo predict his future before he would help her enter.
• Tuer Kelanduo used her jeweled bracelets and unusual gaze to lock onto Zhang Xuezhou, then began convulsing and foaming at the mouth.
• Zhang Xuezhou arranged for Tuer Kelanduo to receive emergency care and told Ren Anran and Ren Wuyang what had happened.
• Ren Anran said Tuer Kelanduo was likely seeking Ren Yisheng’s notes on the Mental Strengthening Chapter and instructed Zhang to negotiate by keeping her Soul Jade in exchange for four passages in Xuanshi Building.

After Tuer Kelanduo collapsed from failing to summon a god, Zhang Xuezhou took her to the hospital and realized her uncontrolled presence ability left her with poor social skills. He agreed to bring her to Ren Yisheng’s former residence, while bargaining for her jewelry in exchange for access to the Mental Strengthening materials she wanted to inspect.

• The hospital doctor diagnosed Tuer Kelanduo with epilepsy, prescribed sedatives, and instructed Zhang Xuezhou to make sure she took them.
• Zhang Xuezhou learned that Tuer Kelanduo’s presence ability came out on its own and suspected it had impaired her social skills.
• Tuer Kelanduo asked to visit Ren Yisheng’s former residence, and Zhang Xuezhou suspected she wanted to see the Mental Strengthening materials.
• Tuer Kelanduo mistook Zhang Xuezhou’s comments about a wedding feast and her appearance as a proposal, but he instead asked her for several pieces of jewelry.
• Zhang Xuezhou threatened to sort through and possibly burn Ren Yisheng’s belongings, so Tuer Kelanduo gave him her jade bracelets, pendant, and hairpin while keeping the Soul Jade.

Zhang Xuezhou searched Ren Yisheng’s residence for his Mental Strengthening notes and used them to pressure Tuer Kelanduo into trading her jade. He discovered too late that she was actually Tuer Kalanduo, the daughter of Ren Yisheng’s former flame, who mistook his bargain for a marriage proposal.

• Zhang Xuezhou returned to Ren Yisheng’s residence with Tuer Kelanduo and found Ren’s old notes and genetic data while she cleaned.
• Tuer Kelanduo searched for Ren’s Mental Strengthening material, and Zhang Xuezhou revealed that he had kept the papers.
• Zhang Xuezhou demanded Tuer Kelanduo’s jade in exchange for the notes and threatened to burn them until she agreed.
• Tuer Kelanduo offered to give up her place as the sixty-eighth heir to the Tuer Lineage, marry Zhang Xuezhou, and have children with him.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized the woman was Tuer Kalanduo, Ren Yisheng’s former flame’s daughter, and feared that he had earned the enmity of the Tuer Lineage.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to end his dealings with Tuer Kalanduo after obtaining the Mental Strengthening Chapter and borrowing her Soul Jade, but her influence kept her following him. Tuer Kalanduo recalled a divine presence she had glimpsed when she used the Tur Tribe's ancient Law Technique on him.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Tuer Kalanduo he only wanted to borrow her jade, and she accused him of seducing and abandoning her.
• Zhang Xuezhou insisted Tuer Kalanduo follow the Scarlet Alliance State's rules, and she agreed to obey local customs while there.
• Tuer Kalanduo refused to leave without her jade, so Zhang Xuezhou let her trail him while he handled matters at Building Six of the Xuanshi Building.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Tuer Kalanduo not to influence his parents and suggested she stay at the Ren Household's villa, but she refused.
• Tuer Kalanduo remembered that a flame had stopped her prying eye when she used the Tur Tribe's ancient Law Technique on Zhang Xuezhou, and recognized the presence as divine.

Zhang Xuezhou prepared to cross over to another world while Tuer Kalanduo stayed close, convinced that he was her fiancé until he returned her jewelry. When he became unconscious, Tuer Kalanduo realized he had gone to another world, and Zhang Manqian began asking how she had discovered his secret.

• Zhang Manqian urged Zhang Xuezhou to return Tuer Kalanduo's jewelry and warned him that the Tuer Clan's customs could bring him trouble.
• Zhang Xuezhou returned the bracelets, pendant, and hairpin, but Tuer Kalanduo remained attached to him while she waited for her Soul Jade.
• As Zhang Xuezhou's crossing time approached, Zhang Manqian arranged for his needs and watched him lie down before he became unconscious.
• Tuer Kalanduo recognized that Zhang Xuezhou had gone to another world and called him a living god or divine messenger.
• Zhang Manqian questioned Tuer Kalanduo about how she had discovered Zhang Xuezhou's origins.

After waking from seven days of unconsciousness in Fuping County, Zhang Xuezhou decided to return to Hibiscus City to address Ren Yisheng’s Yang Corporeal Soul. He flew there and found Rong Tianding at Daoist Mu’s rebuilt temple, dressed as a Daoist priest.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke in the freezing guest room and opened the window to clear the air from the brazier.
• Zhao Liang told Zhang Xuezhou that Accountant Du and Ruan Qigong had gone to make connections in hopes of meeting General Li.
• Zhang Xuezhou left Fuping County under the pretense of hunting, then spread his wings and flew toward Hibiscus City.
• Zhang Xuezhou passed Dragon Gate Village and saw that Daoist Mu’s temple had been rebuilt.
• Rong Tianding opened the temple door, recognized Zhang Xuezhou, and pulled him inside; they were both surprised to see each other.

Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Rong Tianding at Daoist Mu’s temple and learned how his cousin had begun cultivating. After discovering that his parents had not returned to Hibiscus City in years, Zhang Xuezhou resolved to investigate their disappearance and seek help from his connections.

• Rong Tianding told Zhang Xuezhou how Rong Li had grieved after his disappearance and how Daoist Mu had guided him into cultivation before dying and leaving him the temple.
• Rong Tianding showed Zhang Xuezhou the Corpse Jiao Canon, and Zhang Xuezhou recognized that his cousin had entered the realm through the Shijiao School’s teachings.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Rong Tianding that the Shijiao School had been wiped out and explained that its legacy was with Xu Ji, whom he might meet through Xu Yuan in Chang’an City.
• Rong Tianding told Zhang Xuezhou that Zhang Zhong and Lady Yourong had not returned to Hibiscus City or sent word for over three years.
• Zhang Xuezhou worried that his parents might be connected to the disappearances from Zhang Household Village and decided to ask the parties involved for clues, starting with Master Dong.

Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Rong Li and Rong Tianding in Hibiscus City, reflecting on how deeply family ties shaped life in this world. After demonstrating several magical feathers and techniques that Rong Li mistook for Jianghu tricks, he decided to return to Fuping County to seek help finding his parents and recovering Ren Yisheng’s Yang Corporeal Soul.

• Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Rong Li, who embraced him and urged him to settle down and live properly.
• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on his family ties and resolved to help his relatives find paths to a better life.
• Zhang Xuezhou showed Rong Li and Rong Tianding two magical feathers and used a technique to gather dust into a stone, but Rong Li dismissed the displays as Jianghu tricks.
• Zhang Xuezhou said he needed to return to Fuping County to find Zhang Cigong and Dong Zhongshu and seek help with his parents and Ren Yisheng.
• Rong Tianding offered to accompany Zhang Xuezhou, who decided to go alone but considered whether Dong Zhongshu might teach Rong Tianding the Southern Brightness Fire Technique.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Fuping County and lent Zhao Liang and Dong Zhongshu his remaining coins to help them seek an audience with Li Guang. When Flying Feather Army officer Bodang arrived and accused the group of being assassins from Xiong State, he arrested them, while Zhang Xuezhou slipped away and followed.

• Zhang Xuezhou flew back to Fuping County and found Dong Zhongshu, Zhao Liang, Zhang Cigong, and the others at their inn.
• Dong Zhongshu explained that the group had run short of money while trying to make connections to see Li Guang.
• Zhang Xuezhou lent Zhao Liang the four strings of coins in his storage pouch, and Zhao Liang promised to repay him tenfold.
• Bodang entered the inn with soldiers after a scholar accused the group of trying to bribe their way near the governor and being spies from Xiong State.
• Bodang ordered the soldiers to shackle Dong Zhongshu, Zhao Liang, and the others, then whipped them out of the inn.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned the innkeeper to keep the group's rooms and followed the arrested party into the darkness.