Chapter Summaries

After recovering physically in the X446 device, Zhang Xuezhou restored his Halt Warfare Formula and learned that Ren Anran had revised the fifth chapter of the Mental Strengthening method. He chose to stay with the Tur Tribe to study it and possibly receive more advanced treatment.

• Zhang Xuezhou recovered his Halt Warfare Formula and practiced other avoidance arts while healing in the X446 device.
• Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou that further X432 treatment was awaiting approval and could take one to two months.
• Ren Anran gave Zhang Xuezhou her revised fifth chapter of the Mental Strengthening method and asked him to review it.
• Zhang Xuezhou welcomed the chance to learn the revised method and decided to remain with the Tur Tribe for further study and medical care.
• Ren Anran resolved to keep developing Mental Strengthening and explain it in accessible terms, while Zhang Xuezhou grew curious about its effects when combined with the Realm Technique.

Ren Anran successfully sent her Yang Corporeal Soul out of her body, revealing that the fifth chapter of the Mental Strengthening Chapter could grant a lower-realm cultivator a Divine Ability Realm skill. She and Zhang Xuezhou planned to investigate underground caverns for Soul Jade while Zhang considered how to gain power and good fortune to protect himself.

• Ren Anran successfully sent her Yang Corporeal Soul out of her body, and Zhang Xuezhou realized the Mental Strengthening Chapter could bring Divine Ability Realm abilities to lower-realm cultivators.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that leaving the body was useful for reconnaissance and that the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique could create a powerful spell body, but Ren Anran decided not to cultivate it.
• Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou that the Tuer people found Soul Jade in underground caverns, and they agreed to visit previously searched sites to look for overlooked deposits.
• Ren Anran said Ren Yisheng was interrogating the Tuer God about his stone implement and its mental attacks, which might be adapted to Gene Fighting Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Ren Yisheng not to kill the Tuer God because he might need his help against an Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, and he reflected on seeking mystical power and good fortune in both worlds.

Ren Anran, Zhang Xuezhou, Tuer Kalanduo, and two holy warriors searched a karst cave for Soul Jade. After Tuer Ruolanya shouted beneath the stalactites, one began to fall, leaving the group in immediate danger.

• Tuer Kalanduo told Zhang Xuezhou she was considering abandoning Divine Spirit Aura to learn a Gene Fighting Technique.
• Ren Anran assured Tuer Kalanduo she would return the Soul Jade after finishing her business with it.
• Tuer Ruolanya and Tuer Dunqiya escorted the group to Kihar Karst Cave and cleared the entrance.
• Tuer Ruolanya pointed out the pool where a searcher had found Soul Jade after it fell from a stalactite.
• Tuer Ruolanya shouted into the cave, and Zhang Xuezhou warned that the noise could cause resonance.
• A sharp crack sounded, and an eroded stalactite fell toward the group.

Stalactites collapsed in the cavern, forcing Zhang Xuezhou and the others to flee while Zhang spotted a gigantic millipede. Suspecting it might be a ferocious beast, Ren Anran used her newly mastered Yang Corporeal Soul Leaving the Body to investigate, and her soul drifted toward the cavern.

• Tuer Ruolanya warned everyone to flee as stalactites crashed down, and Tuer Dunqiya carried Ren Anran while Zhang Xuezhou led Tuer Kalanduo out.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw a washbasin-sized millipede head struggling among the stalagmites and told the others about it after they escaped.
• Tuer Kalanduo suggested the creature might be a ferocious beast, and Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran considered the possibility with alarm.
• After rejecting the idea of smoking the creature out, Ren Anran decided to investigate with her Yang Corporeal Soul.
• Zhang Xuezhou stood guard as Ren Anran sent her Yang Corporeal Soul toward the cavern.

Ren Anran used Yang Corporeal Soul Leaving the Body to scout a cave and found a giant centipede that the group suspected was a Ferocious Beast. When their attack provoked it and it broke free, the group fled, and Zhang Xuezhou and Tuer Kalanduo ended up underwater as rocks fell behind them.

• Ren Anran sent her Yang Corporeal Soul into the cave and reported that a giant centipede was trapped beneath stalactites and stalagmites.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the others decided to approach the creature, hoping to identify whether it was a Ferocious Beast with useful genetic material.
• The group found the centipede and saw its powerful legs gouge the cave formations; Tuer Kalanduo's tranquilizer shot bounced off it.
• Tuer Ruolanya threw a stalactite and Ren Anran attacked with the Dragon Elephant Combat Technique, but the centipede unleashed a piercing mental attack and broke free.
• Tuer Dunqiya carried Ren Anran away while Tuer Ruolanya and Zhang Xuezhou fled; Zhang ran into a deep pool, and Tuer Kalanduo pulled him underwater as rocks fell.

Zhang Xuezhou found two pieces of Spirit Jade in the cavern pool, but the millipede’s toxic fluids poisoned the water and forced him and Tuer Kalanduo to flee. They escaped onto a high stalactite ridge, where the pursuing millipede could not reach them yet, and Zhang Xuezhou began considering a link between the jade, the beast, and the Qinmeng Empire ruins.

• Zhang Xuezhou discovered two warm pieces of Spirit Jade beneath the pool and felt his headache ease, but suspected the millipede was connected to the opportunity.
• The millipede’s leaking fluid contaminated and heated the water, poisoning Tuer Kalanduo as she struggled toward the surface.
• Tuer Ruolanya shouted that the millipede had split in two and was chasing Ren Anran and the others toward the exit, so Zhang Xuezhou took Tuer Kalanduo deeper into the cavern.
• Zhang Xuezhou hauled Tuer Kalanduo out of the pool and led her past the trapped half of the millipede as its black fluid poured from the severed end.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Tuer Kalanduo climbed a high stalactite ridge, where the millipede could not keep its balance or reach them quickly.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered whether the Spirit Jade, the millipede, and the Qinmeng Empire ruins were connected.

Zhang Xuezhou and Tuer Kalanduo fought a giant millipede in Kihar Karst Cave, using the cave’s high ground, Zhang’s Kunpeng Combat Technique, and Tuer’s Divine Spirit Aura to overcome it. They killed the creature and realized their abilities could work together against powerful beasts.

• Tuer Kalanduo called for help but found there was no signal, while she and Zhang Xuezhou faced the millipede with only basic equipment.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Tuer Kalanduo Spirit Jade and used the Infinite Gun to drive the millipede back as it tried to climb toward them.
• Zhang wrapped his head to protect his ears and unleashed the Kunpeng Combat Technique, discovering that the millipede’s cry carried a mental attack.
• After repeated strikes, the millipede tried to flee, but Tuer Kalanduo used Divine Spirit Aura to turn it back toward them.
• Zhang Xuezhou continued attacking until the millipede collapsed, and he and Tuer Kalanduo recognized that their combined abilities could help them kill similar beasts.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran discussed the Spirit Jade he had obtained after he killed the poisonous millipede, and considered how it might advance their cultivation. They left the cavern planning to search for more Spirit Jade, while the mystery of the Qinmeng Ruins’ beast tide remained unresolved.

• Tuer Dunqiya carried the poisoned Tuer Kalanduo out of the cavern to find a pool where she could wash.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran regretted that they could not bring the millipede’s valuable corpse back to Western Capital City.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the Spirit Jade could advance cultivation and that the real world might hold abundant supplies of it.
• Ren Anran said she would send two paladins to search the cavern’s other pools for Spirit Jade.
• Ren Anran asked what had caused the Qinmeng Ruins’ beast tide, and Zhang Xuezhou suggested that powerful cultivators might one day explore the ruins remotely with their Yang Corporeal Souls.

After the poisoned millipede was recovered, Zhang Xuezhou and the others learned that researchers did not consider it a true Ferocious Beast, leaving its research value uncertain until genetic tests were complete. The discovery also raised concerns about other dangerous creatures in the Tuer District.

• Tuer Kalanduo complained that she had suffered the millipede’s poison while Zhang Xuezhou remained unharmed, and Zhang urged her to investigate missing people and livestock in the Tuer District.
• Ren Anran and Zhang reassured Tuer Kalanduo that modern weapons could eliminate any Ferocious Beasts found in the area.
• Paladins hauled the millipede’s twitching corpse from the cave, warning that its venom remained deadly and that two paladins had already been poisoned while handling it.
• A researcher told Ren Anran that the millipede was weaker and less durable than known Ferocious Beasts, though it might qualify as a special venomous type if they had to classify it as one.
• The researcher said genetic tests would take at least twelve hours and warned that the millipede’s venomous genes might be difficult and risky to adapt for human use.

Zhang Xuezhou studied the Spirit Jade and began researching the Tuer people while waiting for technology and training materials in the Thousand Islands Alliance. As he worked on his thesis, Tuer Kelanduo warned him that the millipede he had killed had poisoned several researchers, and they worried that more might be lurking in the caves.

• Ren Yisheng found that Spirit Jade offered him little Spiritual Qi, and Zhang Xuezhou explained how it could improve cultivation over time.
• Zhang Xuezhou kept one of the two pieces of Spirit Jade, while Ren Anran took the other to advance her cultivation.
• Ren Yisheng went to ask Huang about past uses of Soul Jade and what the Tuer people knew about the millipedes.
• Zhang Xuezhou planned to stay in the Thousand Islands Alliance while studying for his research and preparing to return to Western Capital City by July.
• Zhang Xuezhou interviewed Tuer people and photographed them for his thesis, and Tuer Kelanduo told him that the millipede's poison had incapacitated seventeen researchers and nearly killed one.

Zhang Xuezhou finished his thesis, wrote to Professor Wang Haoran about the prospect of healing him, and continued refining his cultivation with Spirit Jade while the cave search dragged on. When Ren Anran returned from the shrine with Huang’s drawings, Tuer Kalanduo identified them as divine inscriptions that could channel Spirit Jade into techniques, but the stone axe that might have contained Spirit Jade had already been destroyed.

• Zhang Xuezhou completed his thesis and asked Tuer Kalanduo to email Professor Wang Haoran, offering hope that he might eventually heal his injuries.
• Zhang Xuezhou discussed Spirit Jade with Tuer Kalanduo and continued slowly refining his cultivation as the cave search remained underway.
• Ren Anran left the shrine with Huang’s drawings after Ren Yisheng failed to get further answers from him.
• Tuer Kalanduo recognized the drawings as divine inscriptions that could produce effects when accurately carved on Soul Jade.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized Huang’s stone axe might have contained Spirit Jade, but Ren Anran told him her mother had crushed it and dissolved it in acid.

Zhang Xuezhou tested inscriptions carved into Spirit Jade and discovered that his Law Power activated them, letting him reshape and control the jade from a distance. Ren Anran’s suggestion helped him realize it could become a Law Treasure resembling the Dao Lord’s flying dagger.

• Zhang Xuezhou confirmed that Spirit Jade formed in caves and agreed to test Huang’s inscriptions despite the risk of losing a piece.
• Ren Anran’s diagram was carved into Spirit Jade, but physical force and mental power failed to activate it.
• Zhang Xuezhou infused the jade with Law Power, causing it to change shape, and Tuer Kalanduo threw it away when it appeared ready to explode.
• Zhang Xuezhou used Law Power to call the jade back, reshape it, and send it flying, discovering he could control it remotely.
• Ren Anran suggested adding a blade, and Zhang Xuezhou realized the jade could form the basis of a Law Treasure.

Zhang Xuezhou practiced the Person-Fixing Technique on ordinary believers while waiting for a new X432 treatment to address his brain injury. As his troubles in the Thousand Islands Alliance eased, he planned to return to Western Capital City with Tuer Kalanduo, though Ren Anran would remain behind.

• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on his ordinary Fortune and continued studying the Person-Fixing Technique, testing it on believers with weak mental strength.
• Tuer Kalanduo asked Zhang Xuezhou to tell her fortune, but he refused because his mastery of the technique was too limited to risk using it on her.
• Tuer Kalanduo asked when Zhang Xuezhou would return to Western Capital City, and he said he would go after his brain injury was treated.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized Ren Anran would stay behind to help Ren Yisheng guard the Soul Jade and defend against Huang, while Tuer Kalanduo planned to accompany him.
• Tuer Kalanduo announced that Zhang Xuezhou's second X432 medical treatment would arrive by aircraft in half an hour, and he judged there was enough time to undergo it.

Zhang Xuezhou underwent treatment and practiced mental cultivation while Tuer Kelanduo reflected on the god behind him and tried to persuade her daughter to return to the role of divine maiden priestess. The chapter ended with Tuer Kalanduo refusing her mother’s demands as Zhang Xuezhou was carried to a departing vehicle.

• Tuer Kelanduo compared the genetic research of the Scarlet Alliance State, Aomeijia Alliance, British Alliance State, and Thousand Islands Alliance, explaining how the British Alliance State had acquired eight Scarlet Alliance experts.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered the X432 device, quickly practiced the fifth chapter of the Mental Strengthening Chapter, and fell asleep after nearly an hour.
• Tuer Kelanduo urged Tuer Kalanduo to resume her place as divine maiden priestess, warning that Ren Anran would leave the Thousand Islands Alliance within three to five years.
• Tuer Kalanduo rejected her mother’s appeals and condemned the Tuer Clan’s rigid religious practices and persecution of dissenters.
• After the treatment ended at dawn, Tuer Kelanduo had Zhang Xuezhou carried to the departing vehicle.

Zhang Xuezhou woke after twelve days of Grain Avoidance and went with Rong Tianding to treat the gravely ill Dong Zhongshu. The treatment stopped Dong Zhongshu from coughing blood, but his crushing defeat in a contest with Shen Peigong had also shown he was unfit to lead the Confucian School.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke, ate the food Rong Tianding brought, and heard that Rong had gained strength from the Demon Power in the dragon blood.
• Rong Tianding told Zhang Xuezhou that Dong Zhongshu was gravely ill and had borrowed money for medicine, so Zhang decided to visit him instead of setting up his stall.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding walked to the Dong Residence, where they found Dong Zhongshu sitting in the sun because he lacked money and help for proper treatment.
• Zhang Xuezhou used the Supreme Purity True Technique on Dong Zhongshu, who soon stopped coughing blood.
• Dong Zhongshu explained that Shen Peigong had challenged him to a contest of ideas and cultivation, where Dong suffered a crushing defeat and proved unfit to lead the Confucian School.

Zhang Xuezhou told Dong Zhongshu how his Tomb Scripture wish had led to a deadly clash involving Emperor Jing, the King of Liang, and the King of Huainan. Dong Zhongshu believed him, explained the secretive Fortune Technique, and began considering its cultivation before a visitor reminded him that his half-month deadline had passed.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Dong Zhongshu why his injuries kept returning, and admitted that his own Tomb Scripture wish had come true.
• Zhang Xuezhou recounted how the wish had brought about the deaths and transformations involving Emperor Jing, the King of Liang, and the King of Huainan, convincing Dong Zhongshu when he described the Red Empyrean Sword.
• Dong Zhongshu warned Zhang Xuezhou to keep the dangerous story secret, then explained that Fortune Technique cultivators could use their control of fortune to kill other practitioners under specific conditions.
• Dong Zhongshu considered seeking the secret record of the Fortune Technique from the imperial vault so he could make his own wish come true.
• Someone outside Dong Zhongshu's residence shouted that his half-month deadline had passed, making his expression turn ugly.

Shen Peigong forced the weakened Dong Zhongshu to leave Chang'an City after defeating him in a spell duel. Dong Zhongshu asked Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding to carry him to the palace, then used Guan Fu’s threat to drive Shen Peigong away from his residence.

• Shen Peigong demanded that Dong Zhongshu leave Chang'an City or face another spell duel, and Dong agreed to go bid Emperor Jing farewell.
• Dong Zhongshu persuaded Zhang Xuezhou to help him reach the palace by promising him a reward, so Zhang and Rong Tianding carried him in his rattan chair.
• Shen Peigong mocked Dong Zhongshu and tossed him a gold ingot, which Dong accepted while offering Shen the residence if he could secure approval to live there.
• Dong Zhongshu mentioned that Guan Fu lived next door, and Guan Fu threatened to beat or stab Shen Peigong if he moved in.
• Shen Peigong refused the residence and ordered Wei Qing to drive away.

Dong Zhongshu visited the new emperor to request time away from court to recover from his injuries and permission to study in the secret library. The emperor granted his request, leaving Dong Zhongshu free to recuperate and prepare to challenge Shen Pei again.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding carried the injured Dong Zhongshu to the imperial palace, where the emperor agreed to receive him.
• Dong Zhongshu entered the palace on Zhang Xuezhou's back and met the new emperor at the Eastern Gate.
• The emperor offered Dong Zhongshu a role teaching at a proposed Imperial Academy, but Dong Zhongshu instead asked for leave to recover.
• Dong Zhongshu requested access to Huang-Lao health-preserving and Legalist techniques so he could heal and eventually defeat Shen Pei.
• The new emperor approved Dong Zhongshu's request to study in the secret library.

Dong Zhongshu brought Zhang Xuezhou into the imperial palace Armory to memorize secret scriptures, hoping to copy and study them later. He chose the Huang-Lao School’s imperial Fortune Technique, Letting Be, as a possible path to reverse his declining fortunes, and insisted its emperor-only requirements could be changed.

• Dong Zhongshu had Zhang Xuezhou memorize original secret scriptures because Zhang could retain texts by rote.
• Zhang Xuezhou questioned the value of memorizing teachings he could not understand, and Dong Zhongshu promised to explain them later.
• Dong Zhongshu found a bronze plate containing Letting Be, a Fortune Technique said to have been studied by the Yellow Emperor.
• Dong Zhongshu explained that he needed Letting Be to seek a new path after Shen Peigong drove him from Chang'an City and cut off his chance to benefit from the new emperor’s fortune.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized that Letting Be’s requirements seemed intended for emperors, but Dong Zhongshu said people could revise those requirements and adapt the Technique.

The new emperor welcomed Shen Peigong and discussed the Confucian School’s place in court, while Shen Peigong sought a position worthy of his status. The emperor indicated that the Confucian School could claim powerful offices if it helped remove Chancellor Wei Wan and Imperial Secretary Zhi Buyi.

• The new emperor heard that Dong Zhongshu had been studying numerous books in the secret archive.
• The new emperor personally welcomed Shen Peigong, who criticized the rhapsodies on his desk and urged him to study more substantial works.
• The new emperor redirected Shen Peigong from teaching to the Confucian School’s affairs, and Shen Peigong asked what court position he could receive.
• The new emperor offered the vacant imperial academy erudite post but said it was too low-ranking for Shen Peigong, then invited the Confucian School to provide candidates for higher offices.
• The new emperor named the chancellor and imperial secretary positions, signaling that the Confucian School would need to displace Wei Wan and Zhi Buyi to rise.