Chapter Summaries

Trapped in the King of Liang's tomb, Zhang Xuezhou contacted Hongku through the inheritance jade and asked for help learning the Acupoint-Fixing Technique. Their conversation revealed that Hongku was suffering from the effects of the Nine Treasures Wine, and Zhang Xuezhou offered him some of his remaining supply in exchange for help.

• Zhang Xuezhou discovered that Hongku had tampered with the inheritance jade and told him he was trapped in the King of Liang's tomb.
• Hongku offered to explain the Acupoint-Fixing Technique if Zhang Xuezhou begged, and Zhang Xuezhou pretended to kowtow using a skull.
• Zhang Xuezhou guessed that Hongku's lingering problems came from taking too much of the Nine Treasures Wine, and Hongku admitted he was dizzy, vomited, and could barely advance his cultivation.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered Hongku the remaining third of his bottle of Nine Treasures Wine to ease his symptoms.
• Hongku continued channeling Law Power into the spellcasting altar in the Ostentatious Palace, growing anxious about Zhang Xuezhou's safety.

Trapped in the Mountains and Rivers Everlasting Grand Formation, Zhang Xuezhou sought Hongku’s help to escape and began studying the Acupoint-Fixing Technique. After consulting the Dao Lord, Hongku gained permission to search for Fuxi’s Ancient Method to help him learn physiognomy.

• Zhang Xuezhou pressed Hongku for a way to break the formation, and Hongku told him to study the Acupoint-Fixing Technique while promising to contact him again in a day.
• Hongku ended the spell, suffered the aftereffects of his forced breakthrough, and searched the Ostentatious Palace for information.
• Hongku asked the Dao Lord how his friend could escape the newly built tomb, and the Dao Lord explained that obstructing an earth vein could briefly disrupt the formation.
• Hongku revealed that the trapped True Spirit Realm cultivator was Wu Jin, a student he had expelled, and the Dao Lord judged that the Physiognomy School’s techniques alone could not save him.
• Hongku pleaded for help teaching Zhang Xuezhou physiognomy, and the Dao Lord invited him to seek Fuxi’s Ancient Method in the Sacred Mountain.

Inside the King of Liang’s tomb, Zhang Xuezhou prepared to use the Acupoint-Fixing Technique to disrupt the tomb’s formation while avoiding the danger in its inheritance jade. Above ground, Ning Cheng and the others searched for the tomb entrance, unaware that Zhang Xuezhou was inside and suspecting he had been buried as a living sacrifice.

• Zhang Xuezhou recognized the dangers of the Acupoint-Fixing Technique inheritance jade and threw it into the King of Liang’s coffin, planning to memorize it and make a safer backup.
• Zhang Xuezhou practiced the Acupoint-Fixing Technique, hoping his True Spirit Realm cultivation would let him interrupt the Mountains and Rivers Everlasting Grand Formation for several minutes.
• Ning Cheng and the three pursuers found that the tracking mark led beneath a layer of bluish rock, so General Lang ordered them to search for a tomb entrance.
• The pursuers spotted horses belonging to the Prince of Liang’s Residence and followed their tracks toward the tomb.
• Ning Cheng found a mound of yellow earth sealing the tomb and suspected the King of Liang had sacrificed people alive; the military officer surnamed Lu wondered if Zhang Xuezhou had been one of them.

Hongku sensed Zhang Xuezhou trapped in the Tomb of the King of Liang, reconsidered the limits of the Dao Lord’s Incantation Techniques, and decided to leave the Yedie River Holy Land to find Zhang. His departure left Hongyi and Hongnong speculating that more venerables might die and open a path to promotion.

• Hongku sensed Zhang Xuezhou inside the Tomb of the King of Liang and warned him to escape, then lost contact when the incantation medium vanished.
• Hongku questioned the Dao Lord’s supremacy after sensing a powerful Incantation Technique, and considered how Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao might use the Fuxi Physiognomy School’s legacy.
• Hongku retrieved the Book of Changes, the final part of the Fuxi Physiognomy School’s legacy that he had withheld from Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao.
• Hongku decided to travel to the Southern Jambudvipa Continent to demand an antidote from Zhang Xuezhou or search his corpse if he was dead.
• Hongku descended the mountain, while Hongyi and Hongnong speculated that his departure might lead to the deaths of other venerables and make their positions easier to obtain.

Zhang Xuezhou searched the tomb for a way out and found the earth-vein mechanism powering the Mountains and Rivers Everlasting Grand Formation. After using the Acupoint-Fixing Technique to interrupt it, he tried to cut through the tomb’s stone wall, but the wall began repairing itself and he realized he had overlooked something.

• Zhang Xuezhou used the Technique of Feng Shui Site Surveying to locate the formation beneath the five Scarlet Bird Flags.
• He pulled up the flags, uncovered 108 golden half-liang coins, and dug up three clattering skulls before finding the Dragon-Subduing Wood beneath the floor.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided not to pull out the Dragon-Subduing Wood and used the Acupoint-Fixing Technique to temporarily interrupt the formation.
• He carried a Scarlet Bird Flag to the tomb entrance and used the Stone Transformation Technique and Deer-Slaying Blade to cut into the stone wall.
• When the wall began growing back, Zhang Xuezhou hurried toward the main hall to cast the Acupoint-Fixing Technique again, suspecting he had overlooked something.

Ning Cheng and three military officers searched Fengxi Marsh for the tomb entrance, following his Technique Method mark until they uncovered a dragon-sealing stone. They found Zhang Xuezhou trapped behind it and began helping him escape.

• Ning Cheng directed the group to dig several pits, but they repeatedly struck thick bluestone and failed to find the tomb entrance.
• Following the mark, Ning Cheng led them to another spot, where they heard sounds beneath the earth and used rain to wash dirt from the gaps between the stones.
• The three officers and Ning Cheng forced the bluestone aside, exposing the tomb entrance as Evil Qi and a freezing chill poured out.
• Zhang Xuezhou appeared with his head wedged in the gap and begged them to move the dragon-sealing stone farther because stones were still falling behind him.
• As Zhang Xuezhou squeezed toward freedom, the chill surrounding the group rapidly receded.

Zhang Xuezhou escaped the collapsing Tomb of the King of Liang with help from Ning Cheng and the Northern Frontier Legion, then recognized General Li Jiao among his rescuers. Li Jiao confirmed that his old promise to give Zhang Xuezhou a scroll of the Supreme Purity True Technique still stood, while remaining unsure whether Zhang could guide him through the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.

• Zhang Xuezhou surrendered to Ning Cheng and the generals, who moved the Dragon-Sealing Stone far enough for him to squeeze out of the tomb.
• Zhang Xuezhou told the soldiers that the tomb belonged to Liu Wu, the King of Liang, and they agreed to keep their grave-robbery secret.
• The Dragon-Sealing Stone reset itself and sealed the tomb entrance after Zhang Xuezhou escaped.
• While answering questions, Zhang Xuezhou recognized Li Jiao and reminded him of his promise at the Nine-Foot Daoist Temple four years earlier.
• Li Jiao reaffirmed that Zhang Xuezhou could claim the Supreme Purity True Technique once his cultivation qualified, and Zhang explained that his threatening words in Shanggu Commandery City had been meant to find Li Jiao.

Li Jiao explained why he had been hiding from the Xieluosi River Holy Land’s execution order and asked Zhang Xuezhou to help the Northern Frontier Legion navigate the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. Zhang Xuezhou agreed in exchange for Li Jiao teaching him the Supreme Purity True Technique, and the group set off for Fuping County to free his friends.

• Li Jiao told Zhang Xuezhou that the execution order had forced him to hide his face and take on logistics duties, making him nearly impossible to find.
• Li Jiao asked Zhang Xuezhou to guide the Northern Frontier Legion through the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed to share what he knew.
• Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Li Jiao to teach him the Supreme Purity True Technique, while the group agreed to head to Fuping County and free Zhang Xuezhou’s friends from jail.
• Ning Cheng removed the tracking mark from Zhang Xuezhou and warned him that learning tracking Techniques could bring dangerous enemies.
• Ning Cheng explained that the Formless School was outmatched by the Physiognomy School, and Zhang Xuezhou decided to rely on the skills he had already learned instead.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Fuping County with Ning Cheng and confronted the officers who had imprisoned Dong Zhongshu’s merchant group. After Dong Zhongshu and the others were rescued, Zhang asked him for protection as he prepared to return to the real world.

• Zhang Xuezhou and the others reached the camp in Fuping County and questioned Colonel Bodang about the merchant group he had jailed.
• Wang Yanchong claimed the merchants had plotted to assassinate Governor Li, but Ning Cheng challenged him and ordered him to bring them from the jail.
• Wang Yanchong returned with Dong Zhongshu and the others alive, carried on stretchers after days in confinement.
• Dong Zhongshu told Zhang Xuezhou that Gongsun Ao had recognized him, but he had stayed in jail rather than reveal that he had left his jurisdiction without permission.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Dong Zhongshu to protect his body for seven days while he returned to the real world.

After returning from the ancient world, Zhang Xuezhou recorded the Techniques he had learned and learned that the Sequence Committee had prepared his Sequencing Grand Gathering prize. The Kunpeng Combat Technique document met his theoretical demands, but its enormous resource requirements made it impossible for him to cultivate in practice.

• Zhang Xuezhou returned to his home in Western Capital City, where Tuer Kalanduo watched him with awe.
• Zhang Xuezhou wrote down the Acupoint-Fixing, Person-Fixing, Soul-Summoning, and Return to the Aperture Techniques, while Tuer Kalanduo secretly photographed his notes.
• Zhang Xuezhou learned that Zhang Manqian had gone to collect the champion group's Sequencing Grand Gathering rewards, including his Kunpeng Combat Technique document.
• Zhang Manqian returned with the theoretical Kunpeng Combat Technique document, and Zhang Xuezhou found that its escalating genetic and blood serum requirements made it impractical to learn.

Zhang Xuezhou learned that researchers considered the Kunpeng Combat Technique impossible to develop further because of his weak genes, and the Sequence Committee offered him a firearm as compensation. He left to consult Ren Yisheng, while Zhang Manqian sent him information suggesting that the Tuer District might help the Zhang Household investigate their strange experiences.

• Zhang Xuezhou questioned the research document, and the Sequence Committee administrator explained that the Kunpeng Combat Technique had reached the limits imposed by his genes.
• The Sequence Committee offered Zhang Xuezhou a latest-model firearm as compensation, provided he obtained a gun ownership permit; he said he would collect it the next day.
• Zhang Manqian remained angry about the reward, but Zhang Xuezhou accepted the explanation and decided he would need to ask Ren Yisheng about further developing the technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou ate synthetic nutritional paste, drove off to visit Ren Yisheng in the jade, and left before Tuer Kalanduo could get into the car.
• Zhang Manqian sent Zhang Xuezhou details and her conjectures about visiting the Tuer District, which she believed could be easier to approach than the Genas Lineage.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to use the Soul-Collecting Technique to help Ren Yisheng escape the Soul Jade, but neither it nor Ren Yisheng’s Return to the Aperture Technique worked. After studying Zhang Xuezhou’s Kunpeng Combat Technique research, Ren Yisheng resolved to find a way to build himself a body while helping Zhang advance the technique.

• Zhang Xuezhou practiced the Soul-Collecting Technique for hours, but Ren Yisheng felt no change, and his Return to the Aperture Technique also failed.
• Ren Yisheng explained that the Soul Jade had become like his body and that his connection to his original body was weakening.
• Zhang Xuezhou showed Ren Yisheng the Sequence Committee’s research on the Kunpeng Combat Technique, and Ren Yisheng recognized how difficult their path would be.
• Ren Yisheng vowed to keep fighting and proposed cultivating a body for himself using a technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou named the Puppet Technique, Yin Soul Possession, and Technique Method Mimicry as possible methods, and promised to seek them out.

Professor Luo Hui urged Zhang Xuezhou to visit Tangshan Recuperation Center and warned him that Zhou Yueyan’s theory of strengthening crane genes could make his family’s business dependent on the Zhou Household. Zhang recognized that both the Luo and Zhou Households had a stake in Flying Entertainment Livestream’s success and treated the Luo Household as a potential supplier.

• Professor Luo Hui met Zhang Xuezhou at Jishi Medical Center and pressed him to arrange X432 repair treatments at Tangshan Recuperation Center and speak with Luo Tianming.
• Zhang explained that he had been busy and that his family needed approvals to raise money, then agreed to visit and contact Luo Tianming.
• Professor Luo Hui warned Zhang that Zhou Yueyan’s crane-gene theory could leave his family dependent on expensive blood serum, and offered the Luo Household’s serum at a reduced price.
• Zhang asked to buy fifty doses on credit, but Professor Luo Hui advised him to begin with one or two doses a month and cautioned against excessive injections.
• Zhang considered the financial and medical risks, concluded that the Luo and Zhou Households benefited from Flying Entertainment Livestream’s continued success, and warmed to the Luo Household as a supplier.

Zhang Xuezhou collected his shooting certificate and went to the research center to claim the firearm awarded as compensation, with Tuer Kalanduo following him. There, Zhou Yueyan confronted Tuer Kalanduo about the Tuer Clan’s intelligence gathering.

• Tuer Kalanduo tracked Zhang Xuezhou to the Song Household using satellite positioning and accompanied him inside.
• Song Sijia gave Zhang Xuezhou his shooting certificate and invited him to breakfast, while barely noticing Tuer Kalanduo.
• Tuer Kalanduo offered to teach Zhang Xuezhou her clan’s ability if he visited the Tuer District, but he declined because of the Soul Jade affair.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Tuer Kalanduo entered the research center, where he discussed her cultivation through resisting his presence and the Tuer Clan deity.
• Zhou Yueyan stopped Zhang Xuezhou and challenged Tuer Kalanduo over the Tuer Clan’s intelligence gathering.

Zhang Xuezhou learned why Zhou Yueyan considered Tuer Kalanduo a dangerous spy and negotiated blood-dose supplies for himself and Zhang Manqian. Zhou Yueyan then gave him an Infinite Gun, whose resemblance to Wang Yi'an’s genetic weapon left him wondering whether it was a weakened version.

• Task force members detained Tuer Kalanduo at the High-Tech Agricultural Products Research Center after Zhou Yueyan recognized her and warned Zhang Xuezhou about the Tuer Clan.
• Zhou Yueyan asked Zhang Xuezhou whether he disliked her research, and he revealed that Professor Luo Hui had offered him crane blood doses for 1.5 million each.
• Zhou Yueyan offered Zhang Xuezhou high-grade crane blood doses and secured verbal orders for five doses for him and future supplies for Zhang Manqian.
• Zhou Yueyan took Zhang Xuezhou to a shooting range and showed him the arm-mounted Infinite Gun, which held 300 rounds and had three firing ranges.
• Zhang Xuezhou compared the Infinite Gun to Wang Yi'an’s genetic weapon and asked Zhou Yueyan whether it was a weakened version.

Zhang Xuezhou tested the Infinite Gun and discussed its strengths and weaknesses with its designer, Professor Gao Qiang, and Pei Jinghong. Pei worried that genetic advancement could let powerful Sequence Holders dominate humanity, while Zhou Yueyan argued that evolution would benefit everyone and suggested Zhang might one day complete the Theoretical Development of the Kunpeng Combat Technique.

• Zhang Xuezhou tested the Infinite Gun and complained that its weak firepower made it difficult to use effectively.
• Professor Gao Qiang defended the gun's large ammunition capacity and usefulness in the wild, but Zhang's pebble comparison angered him, and he stormed off.
• Zhang Xuezhou examined Pei Jinghong's automatic-aiming rifle, and Pei asked about Song Xianzhong's ability to reflect attacks aimed at him.
• Pei Jinghong warned that advanced Gene Fighting Techniques could create immortal Sequence Holders who might rule nations or civilizations.
• Zhou Yueyan argued that genetic evolution would benefit humanity collectively and pointed to Luo Zhong as an example.
• Zhou Yueyan suggested Zhang Xuezhou might complete the Theoretical Development of the Kunpeng Combat Technique and recreate Luo Zhong's power.

Zhou Yueyan encouraged Zhang Xuezhou to invest in his Intimidation Combat Technique and promoted the Infinite Gun as a tool for hunting mutated creatures and earning money. Zhang Xuezhou took the gun and ammunition, while Zhou Yueyan reflected on how both he and Wang Li would need vast resources to advance their combat techniques.

• Zhou Yueyan explained that she had supported Zhang Xuezhou to bind their interests together and hoped he would become a powerful talent for the Scarlet Alliance State and the Zhou Household.
• Zhang Xuezhou said he would not devote all his resources to the Gene Fighting Technique while he focused on his Realm Technique, awaited Ren Yisheng's help, and planned to improve his genes with Black-Tipped Chickens.
• Zhou Yueyan told Zhang Xuezhou that laboratories paid well for intact mutated creatures and argued that the Infinite Gun would help him hunt them in the Qinmeng Empire's ruins.
• Zhang Xuezhou tested the Infinite Gun, accepted two boxes of fine-hair bullets, and left in good spirits.
• Zhou Yueyan considered the difficult paths available to Zhang Xuezhou and reflected that Wang Li's pursuit of the Black Armor Combat Technique, like the Zhou Household's own training, required piling up resources.

Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Li discussed the costly blood agents needed to advance the Black Armor Combat Technique and the possibility of starting a laboratory. Zhang Xuezhou rejected an immediate investment but became interested in the gene-eroding creatures of the Qinmeng Ruins.

• Wang Li celebrated obtaining the complete Black Armor Combat Technique but told Zhang Xuezhou that he could not afford the blood agents needed to advance through its stages.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he had spent heavily reserving twenty-five doses of crane blood agent, while Wang Li lamented that the Zhou Household would not sell him the high-grade Black Tortoise agents he needed.
• Wang Li proposed that he and Zhang Xuezhou develop a laboratory, but Zhang Xuezhou refused for now because it would be expensive and they lacked equipment, researchers, and materials.
• Wang Li said his brothers and their livestream students could buy low-grade blood agents, prompting Zhang Xuezhou to agree to think the idea over.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked whether local cranes could supply genes for blood agents, and Wang Li explained that only creatures from the Qinmeng Ruins had the erosive genes needed to alter human genes.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested that they explore the Qinmeng Ruins and possibly supply the Zhou Household with mutated creatures.

Zhang Xuezhou shared the Person-Fixing Technique and other Realm Techniques with Zhang Manqian, who became eager to learn them. After discussing their abilities and plans to travel abroad, Zhang Manqian noticed that Duoduo was missing.

• Zhang Manqian explained that her Tiger and Crane Dual Forms required expensive high-grade blood serums, while Zhang Xuezhou said their family could not afford to spend freely.
• Zhang Xuezhou introduced the Person-Fixing Technique, and Zhang Manqian compared it to An Ran's pseudopsychology and decided she wanted to master it.
• Zhang Xuezhou described how the Person-Fixing Technique could predict which abilities an opponent would use, though its accuracy depended on experience and cultivation.
• Zhang Xuezhou listed his nine avoidance Techniques, and Zhang Manqian realized they could greatly improve their ability to fight and survive in the wild.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested that they travel abroad together once they had learned more abilities, and Zhang Manqian asked where Duoduo was.

After Tuer Kalanduo was released from detention, Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian proposed that she invest in their businesses and supply research materials from the Thousand Islands Alliance. Tuer agreed, hoping cooperation would make her a member of the Zhang family, while Zhang Xuezhou saw the partnership as a chance to expand abroad.

• Tuer Kalanduo returned to the Zhang Household villa less than three days after being detained and complained that her clan had paid a ransom for her release.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Tuer to bring technology to the Scarlet Alliance State and invest in his businesses, while Zhang Manqian suggested that joining their family would help her gain his trust.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that they would accept ordinary research materials, including low- and mid-grade blood serum information, rather than demanding cutting-edge technology.
• Tuer agreed to provide any unclassified materials she could obtain because she hoped to become a member of the Zhang family and follow Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhang Xuezhou welcomed their cooperation and looked toward expanding overseas as a way for the family to escape its limited opportunities at home.