Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou used his beast-taming reputation to pose as a researcher of exotic beast psychology while investigating a viper at the farmers' market. He learned his promotion to lecturer had been approved, then began using the Soul-Upsetting Beast Control Technique on the viper.

• People in Western Capital City speculated that Zhang Xuezhou had tamed exotic beasts through psychology or the Kunpeng Combat Technique.
• Qin Wenhan asked Zhang Xuezhou about exotic beast psychology, and Zhang confirmed the research as a cover for his beast-taming method.
• Zhao Anbo called Zhang over to examine a viper and told him his promotion to lecturer had been expedited after Wang Haoran's recommendation.
• Zhang Xuezhou provoked the caged viper with thin iron wire until it spat venom at him.
• Zhang Xuezhou began chanting the Soul-Upsetting Beast Control Technique as the viper lunged at him again.

Zhang Xuezhou earned large sums by using his beast-taming technique and exotic-beast psychology to match buyers with beasts at the market. Zuo Teng and Zhou Tianhao watched in envy and wondered how powerful Zhang Xuezhou could become if he went to Qinmeng.

• Zhang Xuezhou tamed a viper for Zhao Anbo, who paid extra to buy the snake after witnessing the process.
• Buyers offered Zhang Xuezhou high fees to assess whether they were fated with exotic beasts, and he moved on to examine a red tiger.
• Zuo Teng and Zhou Tianhao compared Zhang Xuezhou's earnings with their own hunting profits and felt disheartened.
• Zhou Tianhao asked what Zhang Xuezhou might accomplish in Qinmeng, and Zuo Teng realized he could potentially command beasts without the usual struggle of hunting and transporting them.
• Zhang Xuezhou declined to assess a listless black bear, reassuring Zuo Teng that his ability had limits.
• Zhou Tianhao predicted that Zhang Xuezhou might start raising exotic beasts and that they could end up working for him.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to the institute with five tamed exotic beasts and planned to turn their care and sale into a business. There, Professor Luo Hui collected payment for the beasts and asked whether Zhang could influence vicious people, while Zhang learned that Luo Gaogao was working on a satellite.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian discussed selling or using the five exotic beasts and applying for a business license.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed that raising exotic beasts would be extra income and said they still needed to go to Qinmeng.
• Zhu Liangping and Luo Hui arrived at the institute, and Zhang offered to pay for the exotic beasts.
• Luo Hui set the beasts' base price and asked Zhang to repay the remaining ten million soon; Zhang promised to earn more at the next farmers' market.
• Luo Hui asked whether Zhang could influence a vicious person, but Zhang said he only researched exotic beasts.
• Zhang told Luo Hui that Luo Gaogao was working on a satellite and had received a five-hundred-thousand investment from him.

Zhang Xuezhou explained that his exotic-beast-taming skill was a Technique with demanding cultivation requirements, and Zhu Liangping proposed hiring him to tame beasts for the Zhu Household. Zhang Xuezhou accepted, giving him a steady buyer and Zhu Liangping a chance to make the family’s exotic-beast business profitable.

• Professor Luo Hui collected five exotic beasts and had them transported back to Western Capital City, counting their value against Zhang Xuezhou’s debt.
• Zhu Liangping praised Zhang Xuezhou’s profitable approach to raising exotic beasts and asked about the psychology behind his success.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that his skill was a Technique that required sufficient cultivation and suited only a narrow range of practitioners.
• Zhu Liangping offered Zhang Xuezhou a specially appointed technician position, with the Zhu Household buying every beast he tamed.
• Zhu Liangping promised support for Zhang Xuezhou’s exotic-beast business, and Zhang Xuezhou readily agreed to cooperate.

Zhang Xuezhou agreed to tame Zhu Liangping’s exotic beasts for 200,000 each and demonstrated that his technique could make one docile and able to eat normally. Zhu Liangping admired the results but chose not to cultivate the Realm Technique, and he reflected sadly on Ren Yisheng’s death.

• Zhu Liangping offered Zhang Xuezhou 200,000 for each exotic beast he tamed, and Zhang agreed to work at the Zhu Household’s research institute.
• Zhu Liangping explained that the company bought exotic beasts from Qinmeng to support hunters, despite the financial losses and the difficulty of keeping the creatures alive.
• Zhang Xuezhou inspected the factory’s exotic beasts and learned that nearly 2,000 were alive while around 70,000 carcasses were frozen there.
• Zhang Xuezhou used a technique on an exotic beast, and researchers observed changes in its nerves and brain region as it became docile and ate normally.
• Zhu Liangping envied Zhang Xuezhou’s abilities but rejected the idea of cultivating the Realm Technique, then mourned Ren Yisheng as he remembered his body in refrigeration at Jishi Medical Center.

Tuer Kalanduo returned home after Zhang Manqian foresaw her mother in danger, but Tuer Kelanduo dismissed the warning as a deception by the supposed divine envoys. She explained her suspicions about Ren Yisheng and asked her daughter to understand who was behind their faith.

• Tuer Kalanduo returned to Tutram City and warned Tuer Kelanduo that Zhang Manqian had seen her in grave danger.
• Tuer Kelanduo rejected the warning, insisting that the other divine envoys were frauds and that only the Tuer God could truly foresee events.
• Tuer Kalanduo showed her mother Zhang Manqian's sketch of the Tuer Clan's scepter and described the woman's powerful mental force and unsettling gaze.
• Tuer Kalanduo challenged her mother to explain the truth she claimed to know, and Tuer Kalanduo named Ren Yisheng as the person behind the divine envoys.
• Tuer Kelanduo recounted her suspicions about Ren Yisheng and asked whether her daughter now understood.

Ren Yisheng explained how he had formed a growing physical body through the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique and Spirit Jade. He offered Huang a way to pursue the same goal by helping Ren Anran or Zhang Xuezhou grow stronger, leaving Huang persuaded to cooperate in hopes of eventually searching for Yu.

• Ren Yisheng examined his new child-sized body and explained that Spirit Jade and continued cultivation could make it more solid, though a larger body would consume more power.
• Huang envied Ren Yisheng's body and complained that Ren Yisheng had used up his Soul Jade, but Ren Yisheng said Huang could not cultivate the technique without a body and a Realm Technique.
• Huang tried to imitate Ren Yisheng's demonstration, but the Soul Jade sheltering him cracked and he could not learn the technique.
• Ren Yisheng proposed that Huang help Ren Anran or Zhang Xuezhou advance their cultivation so one of them could form a body for him.
• Huang worried that nurturing people had repeatedly failed, but Ren Yisheng urged him to keep trying and pointed out that becoming mobile could let him search for Yu.
• Huang was moved by the possibility of finding Yu and considered cooperating with Ren Yisheng and the others.

Tuer Kalanduo confronted Ren Yisheng about his past and his role in the Tuer Clan, but learned that he and her mother had been research partners rather than tragic lovers. When Ren Yisheng and Ren Anran prepared to leave, Kalanduo told them about Zhang Manqian’s vision, making Ren Yisheng reconsider its significance.

• Tuer Kalanduo threatened to throw Ren Yisheng’s Soul Jade into the sea, forcing him to appear before her.
• Ren Yisheng explained that he and Tuer Kelanduo had once liked each other but had rationally parted ways and later used their reproductive genes to cultivate children.
• Tuer Kalanduo felt disappointed by the truth, while Ren Yisheng and Ren Anran offered to leave and return the Holy Maiden Priest’s position, crown, and scepter.
• Tuer Kalanduo grew anxious about their departure and told them about Zhang Manqian’s vision, showing them her sketch.
• Ren Yisheng recognized Zhang Manqian as credible and hesitated to dismiss the vision as a psychological trick.

After Ren Yisheng and the others left, Tuer Kelanduo persuaded Tuer Kalanduo to accept the chief's position so she could pursue genetic research and work toward creating a god. Their discussion of the millipede's unusual white object suggested a new path toward advancing through the higher Sequences.

• Tuer Kelanduo urged her daughter, Tuer Kalanduo, to take over as chief before the predicted calamity, and Tuer Kalanduo agreed.
• Tuer Kelanduo reflected on the privileges she had relied on and resolved to focus on scientific research instead of religious duties.
• Tuer Kelanduo set her ambition on reaching the Tenth Sequence and creating a god, believing that could end war and protect the Tuer Clan.
• Tuer Kalanduo reported that cave exploration would take at least half a year and that researchers had found a strange white, round object inside the millipede.
• Tuer Kelanduo learned the object might amplify the millipede's abilities and serve as a powerful blood-serum ingredient, potentially opening a route to higher Sequences.

Zhang Xuezhou discussed Tuer Kalanduo’s impending succession as Tuer Clan chief and Ren Anran’s return, then helped Luo Gaogao consider a secure communications satellite project. A mysterious Scion’s Back Garden contact called Good Women Surpass Men asked to chat, and three imposing women arrived with Luo Gaogao at the North Rehe Research Institute.

• Tuer Kalanduo told Zhang Xuezhou she could inherit the Tuer Clan leadership without waiting for her mother to die, and he congratulated her on the chief and councilor positions she did not want.
• Tuer Kalanduo said Ren Anran had returned the crown and scepter and would likely go back to Western Capital City within a dozen days.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Tuer Kalanduo about secure communications satellites, then discussed Luo Gaogao’s plan to build a communications network under the Scarlet Alliance State’s control.
• Luo Gaogao warned Zhang Xuezhou that news of his exotic beast psychology could attract attention from abroad.
• Good Women Surpass Men sent Zhang Xuezhou a friend request and asked to chat, then arrived at the North Rehe Research Institute with Luo Gaogao and three sturdily built women.

Zhang Xuezhou met Zhu Shengnan, Zhen Mei, and Jiang Feng, the powerful women from the Sequencing Grand Gathering’s champion team, and demonstrated that he could overcome Jiang Feng’s strength. He explained his rapid progress by revealing that he had bought dozens of crane-bird blood serums on credit, leaving the team astonished.

• Zhu Shengnan, Zhen Mei, and Jiang Feng introduced themselves to Zhang Xuezhou and tested him through handshakes and challenges.
• Zhang Xuezhou’s strength made Jiang Feng break into a cold sweat, and Zhu Shengnan recognized that he could affect someone at the Third Sequence.
• Zhu Shengnan scolded Luo Gaogao for underestimating Zhang Xuezhou and believing he would struggle to advance.
• Zhang Xuezhou revealed that he had bought twenty mid-grade and five high-grade crane-bird blood serums on credit.
• Zhu Shengnan and the others were stunned that Zhang Xuezhou had used more resources than their team had managed to obtain over several years.

Zhu Shengnan and her companions tried to persuade Zhang Xuezhou to invest more in their satellite project, but his unconventional business outlook left them struggling to make their case. Zhang Xuezhou recognized that their network connections could help his livestreaming business and watched for a chance to approach them.

• Zhu Shengnan asked how Zhang Xuezhou had obtained blood serums on credit, and he showed her Professor Luo Hui's message calling him beautiful.
• Zhu Shengnan learned that Zuo Teng had been sparring constantly with Zhou Tianhao after seeing Zhang Xuezhou earn money taming exotic beasts.
• Zhu Shengnan and Zhen Mei urged Zhang Xuezhou to invest more in satellite technology, arguing that it could protect his family's trade secrets.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the Zhang Household welcomed competitors in livestreaming, leaving Zhu Shengnan unsure how to persuade him.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered how the visitors' connections could benefit his livestreaming business.

Luo Gaogao and the others tried to persuade Zhang Xuezhou to invest in their communications satellite project, but he questioned what control and guarantees he would receive. The group offered future access, alliances, and support, and Zhang Xuezhou began recording Luo Gaogao’s promise as evidence.

• Zhu Shengnan warned Zhang Xuezhou that a satellite could expose him to danger in Qinmeng, but he said he had no plans to go there.
• Zhen Mei offered the sisters as sparring partners, but Jiang Feng admitted she could not face Zhang Xuezhou again without restorative treatment.
• Luo Gaogao asked Zhang Xuezhou what the group could offer him, and Zhang pointed out that they could not grant him primary satellite control.
• Jiang Feng promised that reaching the fifth sequence would let her grant Zhang Xuezhou access to satellite communications.
• Zhen Mei and Zhu Shengnan offered friendship and future support, while Luo Gaogao pledged that his Household would become a steadfast ally.
• Zhang Xuezhou recorded Luo Gaogao’s promise, signaling that he was beginning to accept the investment proposal.

Zhang Xuezhou and the younger generation of Western Capital City rallied support for a satellite venture, turning contributions into a show of alliance and commitment. The group raised 273.5 million and received Ren Anran’s communications technology data, but the project still required company formation, negotiations, and further cost estimates.

• Luo Gaogao announced Zhang Xuezhou’s ten-million investment, prompting Zhu Shengnan, Zhen Mei, Jiang Feng, and Luo Gaogao to declare their contributions in the group chat.
• Zuo Teng recognized the investment drive as a way for Western Capital City’s younger generations to form an alliance, then contributed three million; Zhou Tianhao and Zhu Kuang followed with their own investments.
• Ding Hao asked how much outsiders should contribute and then put in 3.5 million to join the circle.
• Ren Anran contributed communications technology data codenamed 44687 and said she wanted the same terms as Zhang Xuezhou.
• Jiang Feng and Zhu Shengnan calculated that 496 people had contributed 273.5 million, but Jiang Feng said the group still needed to establish a company, allocate shares, and determine the project’s costs.

Zhang Xuezhou arranged for Zhang Manqian to spar with Zhu Shengnan and her companions while he sidestepped Changkong Shenguang’s request to discuss medicine. Changkong Weiguang recognized that Zhang Xuezhou had manipulated her brother and reminded him that their generation could not make decisions for the Changkong Lineage’s leaders.

• Zhang Xuezhou introduced Zhang Manqian to Zhu Shengnan and her companions, then left them to visit the institute’s training area.
• Zhu Shengnan agreed to test Zhang Manqian, while Zhen Mei asked Luo Gaogao about her background and Jiang Feng followed reluctantly.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Changkong Shenguang that he had helped Professor Wang Haoran through psychological treatment rather than medical treatment.
• Changkong Weiguang told Changkong Shenguang that Zhang Xuezhou had used persuasion on him and questioned his claim that Zhang Xuezhou had no reason to lie.
• Changkong Weiguang reminded Changkong Shenguang that only Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian could make decisions for the Changkong Lineage, and said they should focus on advancing the Gene Fighting Technique.

Zhang Xuezhou wrote a psychology paper blending exotic-beast control with Tuer God theology, while considering his finances, Zhang Manqian’s progress, and his lack of a foothold in the other world. He left the paper with Zhang Manqian, who doubted it would be accepted in the Scarlet Alliance State.

• Zhang Xuezhou decided to use the Tuer God as a smokescreen and began writing a paper called Tuer God and Whispers with Exotic Beasts.
• Zhu Shengnan and the others left the institute, and Zhang Xuezhou joked with them about returning for their money next month.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Zhang Manqian about her fight, and she said she had barely held her own against Jiang Feng.
• Zhang Xuezhou reassured Zhang Manqian that he could keep buying resources on credit and reflected on his difficulty establishing himself in the other world.
• Zhang Xuezhou completed forty-seven pages of his paper and made arrangements with Zhang Manqian before falling asleep.
• Zhang Manqian read the paper and concluded that its mix of psychology and theology did not fit the Scarlet Alliance State’s rules.

After waking in Dong Zhongshu’s guesthouse, Zhang Xuezhou learned that a sword fight had erupted into a brawl and that Wu Chao’s words had caused a misunderstanding. He secured Zhang Cigong a place to cultivate under the King of Huainan’s Household and learned that becoming a palace attendant could let him approach the emperor, though the easiest qualifying post required castration.

• Rong Tianding told Zhang Xuezhou that Zhang Qian and Wu Chao had been escorted back to Chang'an City after a monk injured Lei Bei, beat Tian Jiu, and tried to seize Crown Prince Liu Qian.
• Dong Zhongshu translated Wu Chao’s shouted words as a claim that their past killings at the Yin-Yang Sect had been exposed, which had helped fuel the confusion.
• Zhang Cigong thanked Zhang Xuezhou for arranging his training at the King of Huainan’s Household and a chance to cultivate the Beast Taming Sect’s Realm Technique.
• Dong Zhongshu explained that the easiest court post suited to Zhang Xuezhou’s wish for little work was a favorite of the emperor, but the role required castration.
• Dong Zhongshu told Zhang Xuezhou that he needed the additional title of palace attendant to enter the palace freely and regularly attend the emperor, and Zhang Xuezhou asked how to obtain it.

Zhang Xuezhou prepared to return to Chang'an City and seek an official appointment, while Jin Chang caught up with him to trade for the Yin-Yang School’s inheritance. Hearing that Zhang Xuezhou needed abundant Spiritual Qi to break through, Jin Chang proposed guiding him to the Yin-Yang School’s former Sacred Land.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Dong Zhongshu he planned to seek office in Chang'an City and wanted the additional appointment of Gentleman Attendant, then left with Rong Tianding.
• Dong Zhongshu warned Zhang Cigong against tying himself to the King of Huainan's Household, and Zhang Cigong admitted he feared becoming a burden to Zhang Xuezhou.
• Dong Zhongshu began teaching Zhang Cigong the early stages of the Beast Taming Sect's inheritance.
• Jin Chang appeared in Zhang Xuezhou's carriage and asked to exchange bamboo slips for the Divine Ability Realm content of the Yin-Yang School's inheritance.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that his blocked acupoints required a place rich in Spiritual Qi for him to break through, and Jin Chang proposed the Yin-Yang School's former Sacred Land.

Zhang Xuezhou escaped Jin Chang’s pursuit and continued riding toward Chang’an with Rong Tianding. On the road, he encountered Li Shaojun and a gravely weakened Senior Brother Rulai, whom Li Shaojun had been following.

• Zhang Xuezhou dismissed the idea of searching Mount Tai for the Yin-Yang School’s Sacred Land and left with Rong Tianding on the black and white horses.
• Jin Chang realized Zhang Xuezhou possessed Venerable White Bone and Venerable Black Mountain’s horses, then abandoned his pursuit and turned to cultivating the Realm Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou sensed Jin Chang was gone and rode onward, hoping to improve his fortune before seeking the Yin-Yang Sacred Land.
• A hand reached from the ground and seized Zhang Xuezhou’s horse, but he recalled the Spirit Artifact and recognized the buried figure as Li Shaojun.
• Li Shaojun emerged with Senior Brother Rulai, explaining that he had followed Rulai because Rulai had obtained something he could use against him.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw that Senior Brother Rulai was pale and barely breathing.

Zhang Xuezhou and Li Shaojun debated whether to pursue their respective leads while Senior Brother Rulai recovered from his injuries and asked them for help. Rulai offered information about Li Shaojun’s ancestor and a Yin-Yang Secret Land, leaving Zhang intrigued by the latter.

• Li Shaojun explained that Senior Brother Rulai had been badly injured while escaping a large group of pursuers, and Zhang Xuezhou asked what hold Rulai had over him.
• Li Shaojun said he hoped to find his ancestor in West Ox Hezhou, while Zhang Xuezhou proposed searching Mount Tai for a Yin-Yang School Sacred Land; each dismissed the other’s lead as unreliable.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Li Shaojun prepared to leave, but Senior Brother Rulai woke and asked them to lend him a horse so he could escape the Huainan pursuers.
• Senior Brother Rulai explained that he had been injured in a fight with a water monkey and ambushed by more than a hundred people, while his junior brother Wu Chao had been seized by soldiers.
• Senior Brother Rulai told Li Shaojun that Wu Chao could help locate his ancestor’s secret retreat, then offered Zhang Xuezhou directions to a Yin-Yang Secret Land between the Immortal Court and the Underworld.