Chapter Summaries

The Golden Toad Dharma King rescued Jin Wanliang and Zhang Xuezhou from the Tiger Strength Demon King, then sent a warning to the Mottled-Robed Mandarin Fish Woman as the attacker left to pursue her. With the immediate danger past, he cautioned his godsons about powerful demons and asked Zhang Xuezhou how to handle Demon King Luli, who had tripled the price of medicine.

• The Tiger Strength Demon King attacked Jin Wanliang, but the Golden Toad Dharma King raised a protective net, pushed Zhang Xuezhou aside, and pulled Jin Wanliang to safety.
• The Golden Toad Dharma King threatened to join forces with the Mottled-Robed Mandarin Fish Woman, prompting the Tiger Strength Demon King to leave for the Cold Water Pool to kill her first.
• The Golden Toad Dharma King sent a fish demon to warn the Mottled-Robed Mandarin Fish Woman that the Tiger Strength Demon King was coming for her.
• The Golden Toad Dharma King told Zhang Xuezhou and Jin Wanliang about powerful demons they needed to avoid crossing, and they promised not to cause trouble.
• The Golden Toad Dharma King asked Zhang Xuezhou what to do about Demon King Luli, who had tripled the price of medicine.

The Golden Toad Dharma King accepted Demon King Luli’s tripled pill prices and prepared to buy a large supply while he recovered from his injuries. Zhang Xuezhou tested the Drowsiness Technique on Cong Nalilai, confirmed it could affect someone a cultivation realm below him, and considered whether he could use the technique in reality.

• The Golden Toad Dharma King complained that Demon King Luli had tripled his pill prices and asked Zhang Xuezhou for advice.
• Zhang Xuezhou advised the Golden Toad Dharma King to accept the price and buy enough pills at once, and the Golden Toad Dharma King began gathering his belongings to trade for medicine.
• Zhang Xuezhou tried to turn lice into drowsiness bugs, but two escaped or died, and he managed to cast the technique on the third after breaking its legs.
• Zhang Xuezhou named the crippled louse Suicide Squad Number One and used it to test his control over a bug affected by the technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou had Cong Nalilai let the louse crawl into his ear, then activated the Drowsiness Technique and made the little demon groggy.
• The louse died from the Demon Power in Cong Nalilai’s ear canal, and Zhang Xuezhou wondered whether he could master the technique after waking from the dream.

After recovering from practicing the Drowsiness Technique, Zhang Xuezhou argued with his anxious father, then went to Yucai Middle School to take his adult examination. At home, Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying discussed the investigation into their son and the strange effects of an accident eighteen years earlier, while Song noticed a change in Zhang Xuezhou’s diary.

• Zhang Xuezhou returned to his real life and was pinned down by Zhang Weimeng when he sprang out of bed, reopening a wound.
• Zhang Xuezhou complained about his parents’ care, got dressed, and left to buy breakfast before going to Yucai Middle School for his exam.
• Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying worried about their distance from Zhang Xuezhou and discussed the investigation focused on him.
• Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying recalled the meteor accident eighteen years earlier and wondered whether it had affected their children.
• Song Fengying read Zhang Xuezhou’s diary and found that its entries had begun to change.

After his exams, Zhang Xuezhou was mobbed by reporters and onlookers at Yucai Middle School, where the crowd turned into a dangerous crush. Song Fengying pulled him to safety with a lasso, and they helped restore order as injured students were carried away.

• Zhang Xuezhou left school after his exams and found reporters and a crowd waiting to interview him as Bandage Bro.
• Zhang Xuezhou tried to escape the crowd, but the crush grew worse and people began falling and getting hurt.
• Song Fengying used a lasso from the guardhouse roof to pull Zhang Xuezhou out of the crush.
• Zhang Xuezhou, Song Fengying, and the security guard warned people to stop pushing and guided them to clear the school gate.
• Five or six students were injured, and Zhang Xuezhou reflected on how Song Fengying's pull had sent him soaring into the air.

After Song Fengying rescued Zhang Xuezhou from the school-gate crush, he noticed a strange lightness in his movements and questioned how his dreams could be changing his body. At home, Zhang Weimeng tried to repair their strained relationship with chicken soup, but as Zhang Xuezhou ate, he sensed a familiar reaction like the one caused by Demon Beast meat.

• Song Fengying pulled Zhang Xuezhou from the crowd and kept him talking while livestream viewers praised her and sent tips.
• Zhang Xuezhou eased his injuries with the Supreme Purity True Technique and discovered that he felt unusually buoyant when he jumped down from the security booth.
• Zhang Xuezhou wondered whether his dream had caused physical changes and recalled Ren Anran's advice about understanding his own mind.
• Song Fengying told Zhang Weimeng that Ren Anran had recommended a respected senior, and Zhang Xuezhou identified that person as Ren Yisheng.
• Zhang Weimeng served Zhang Xuezhou chicken soup to make amends, and Zhang Xuezhou sensed that eating the chicken wing might affect him like Demon Beast meat had.

Zhang Xuezhou and the Golden Toad Dharma King prepared for their separate paths after the Dharma King’s costly purchase of healing pills. The Dharma King planned to arrange a master for Zhang Xuezhou at the Yedie River Holy Land before seeking treatment himself, while Zhang Xuezhou struggled to tell whether the dream and its relationships felt any less real than his waking life.

• Zhang Xuezhou restrained his urge to test whether he could fly, deciding that his dream self should master flying and leaping before he tried anything dangerous in reality.
• Zhang Xuezhou looked ahead to finishing the provincial exams and hoped to earn a scholarship and meet Ren Yisheng for treatment.
• The Golden Toad Dharma King reflected on spending the Snow Toad Palace’s wealth on pills and planned to seek further healing, possibly with Zou Bugui’s help.
• The Golden Toad Dharma King told Zhang Xuezhou he would seek treatment in a cold pool and first arrange for him to find a renowned master at the Yedie River Holy Land.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked to stay and protect the Golden Toad Dharma King, but the Dharma King insisted on settling his arrangements before they parted.
• The Golden Toad Dharma King felt genuine affection for Zhang Xuezhou, while Zhang Xuezhou accepted his instructions and wondered whether the dream was as real as waking life.

The Golden Toad Dharma King left the Xieluosi River Holy Land with Zhang Xuezhou and Jin Wanliang, intending to recover his health and pursue revenge. Meanwhile, the three demon kings chose Zou Bugui as their target under His Excellency’s kill order.

• The Golden Toad Dharma King departed for the Yedie River Holy Land with Zhang Xuezhou and Jin Wanliang, determined to restore his body and continue seeking revenge.
• The Goat Strength Demon King, Demon King Luli, and Tiger Strength Demon King discussed the Golden Toad Dharma King’s departure and praised Kong Ning’s strength.
• Kong Ning dismissed the gathering and flew away after declaring that she would accept a suitor who could defeat her.
• The three demon kings considered the targets named in His Excellency’s kill order and settled on Zou Bugui.

Zhang Xuezhou reached the Yedie River Holy Land, where the Golden Toad Dharma King arranged for him to enter under the identity Wu Jin. After the registration, Zhang Xuezhou met the attendant Wu Chao and sensed that his hair was actually venomous snakes.

• The Golden Toad Dharma King explained that the Yedie River Holy Land trained curse-technique talents and arranged for Zhang Xuezhou to pose as a gifted slave person.
• The Golden Toad Dharma King gave Zhang Xuezhou a piece of toad venom to present to Dharma Master Hongyi, while Jin Wanliang prepared to cultivate with the Golden Toad Dharma King.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Dharma Master Hongyi the toad venom and was registered under the name Wu Jin, with instructions to place in the top three among one hundred preliminary candidates.
• The attendant introduced himself as Wu Chao and tried speaking to Zhang Xuezhou in several languages.
• Zhang Xuezhou noticed that Wu Chao’s hair strands had thickened into what he perceived as coiled venomous snakes.

Wu Chao watched Zhang Xuezhou sleep, cultivated his Snake Head Incantation to the Nineteenth Realm, and hoped the newcomer would become his friend and junior brother. The next morning, he confronted Wu Ti, whose scorpions had surrounded the cave, and drove them off with his Incantation.

• Zhang Xuezhou settled into a stone cave, while Wu Chao wondered why he showed no fear of the Snake Head Incantation.
• Wu Chao hoped Zhang Xuezhou would become his friend and junior brother, then practiced his Incantation through the night.
• Wu Chao advanced his Snake Head Incantation to the Nineteenth Realm, nearing the Consciousness Creation Realm.
• After waking, Wu Chao saw Zhang Xuezhou fend off a group of scorpions at the cave entrance.
• Wu Chao recognized that Wu Ti had sent the scorpions and challenged him, then used his hair and Law Power to stop the scorpions as Wu Ti begged for mercy.

After completing the coming-of-age test, Zhang Xuezhou followed Wu Chao through the Yedie River Holy Land as Wu Chao helped him find food and begin settling in. At the dining hall, Zhang Xuezhou invoked the Golden Toad Dharma King as his adoptive father, earning warmer treatment from the holy land’s elders despite their noticing feathers on his arm.

• Wu Chao gave Zhang Xuezhou a recorder that could repel poisonous insects when infused with Law Power.
• Wu Chao explained the differences between inner and outer disciples and took Zhang Xuezhou to the dining hall.
• Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou greeted Hongyi, Hongquan, Honghua, Honggui, and Hongyuan, who asked about Zhang Xuezhou’s connection to the Golden Toad Dharma King.
• Zhang Xuezhou said the Golden Toad Dharma King was his adoptive father, prompting the elders to treat him more warmly.
• Zhang Xuezhou insisted he was human by birth, but the others noticed feathers showing from his sleeve.

Zhang Xuezhou secured admission to Yedie River Holy Land and learned that cultivation depended on methods, wealth, companions, and a suitable place rather than innate aptitude. He worried that he could not afford the materials for most incantations, then drew a bamboo lot to determine which master would take him as a disciple.

• Zhang Xuezhou received an inner disciple's pass signed by all five examiners after meeting Dharma Master Hongyi and the others.
• Dharma Master Hongyi explained the four conditions for cultivation and said the Holy Land chose robust, good-looking recruits when those conditions could not be provided.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized that he was penniless and could not afford the costly materials needed for most incantations.
• Wu Chao described the materials required for his Snake Head Incantation, while Zhang Xuezhou concluded that he would likely have to keep cultivating the inexpensive Drowsiness Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou picked up a bamboo lot in the black stone building, and Wu Chao reacted strangely when he saw the name on it.

Zhang Xuezhou drew Hongku as his master and began learning the holy land’s language, only to find that his senior brother Wu Ti had died from scorpion venom. Hongku blamed Wu Ti’s failed attempt to train a venomous scorpion, while Zhang Xuezhou recognized that the insect-repelling flute Hongku had given Wu Ti was the one he had in his pocket.

• Wu Chao told Zhang Xuezhou that Hongku was his master and that Wu Ti was also Hongku’s disciple, warning that many of Hongku’s students had died.
• Hongku arrived after the token’s Guidance Incantation led him to Zhang Xuezhou, whom he called Wu Jin and accepted as a new student.
• Hongku said Zhang Xuezhou was hard to kill because the Golden Toad Dharma King had taken an interest in him, then ordered him to learn 150 holy-language characters each day.
• Hongku and Wu Chao brought Zhang Xuezhou to Hongku’s mansion, where they found Wu Ti dead from scorpion venom.
• Hongku said Wu Ti had died after losing control of a venomous scorpion, despite having been given an insect-repelling flute; Zhang Xuezhou realized that flute was in his pocket.

After Wu Ti died during incantation cultivation, Hongku took Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao into his residence as disciples and warned them about the deadly risks of inheriting his techniques. He began a month of instruction, leaving Zhang Xuezhou determined to master the lessons quickly despite his unease about Hongku’s curse.

• Hongku refused to explain how Wu Ti died, and the other mages agreed to treat it as an accident caused by incantation cultivation.
• Hongku summoned Zhang Xuezhou and Wu Chao, named Wu Chao his eldest disciple, and sealed the residence against the mourners outside.
• Hongku warned Wu Chao and Zhang Xuezhou not to rush their cultivation of the Snake Head Incantation and said their fates were already entangled with his.
• Hongku explained that disciples who inherited his incantations faced grave dangers, then began a required month of instruction using bamboo slips.
• Zhang Xuezhou resolved to study hard and finish Hongku’s lessons ahead of time.

After the adult examination, Zhang Xuezhou focused on learning the Holy Land’s language so he could survive in the Yedie River Holy Land, while his parents worried about his unusual behavior. Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying decided that Zhang Manqian should look after him, but settled on having Zhang Xuezhou take a leave of absence instead.

• Zhang Xuezhou studied the Holy Land characters intensively, hoping to meet Hongku’s requirements and avoid becoming another student who died mysteriously.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered how studying psychology might help him judge other people and survive in the Yedie River Holy Land.
• Song Fengying worried that Zhang Xuezhou was becoming abnormal as she watched him shut himself in and write incomprehensible characters.
• Zhang Weimeng explained that he and Song Fengying also experienced disturbing dream aftereffects that could disrupt their memories and sense of identity.
• Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying considered having Zhang Manqian care for Zhang Xuezhou, then agreed that Zhang Xuezhou should take a leave of absence.
• Zhang Weimeng and Song Fengying realized they were nearing another episode of observing someone else’s life and kept their distance to avoid conflict.

Zhang Xuezhou woke in the Western Capital after Zhang Weimeng brought him to live with Zhang Manqian, who attended Shengteng Academy. He ended up handing over his money to his sister and learned she was training in cold-weapon combat while pursuing a future in high-risk biological genetics fields.

• Zhang Weimeng told Zhang Xuezhou he had brought him from Sudong City to the Western Capital, where Zhang Manqian lived.
• Zhang Manqian greeted Zhang Xuezhou, teased him about his low weight, and urged him to buy fresh food.
• Zhang Weimeng gave Zhang Xuezhou five thousand yuan from Zhang Xuezhou's mother's livestream earnings, then left after Zhang Manqian lifted him.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked about renting his own place, but Zhang Manqian took the cash in his pocket and explained she had rejected Shengteng Academy's shared dormitory.
• Zhang Manqian said she was studying cold-weapon combat, and Zhang Xuezhou challenged her choice while she explained that training with guns was too expensive.
• Zhang Manqian hoped her biological genetics studies and future work in high-risk fields would bring in enough money to support the family and cure Zhang Xuezhou's illness.

Zhang Manqian explained Gene Armory Secret Keys and gene adaptation to Zhang Xuezhou, including her plan to earn enough keys to qualify for the procedure. Zhang Xuezhou warned her about the risks, then Zhang Manqian noticed his unusual writing and worried his illness was worsening.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Zhang Manqian what a Gene Armory Secret Key was, and she described gene matching and adaptation that could grant people special abilities.
• Zhang Manqian said gene repair might eventually cure Zhang Xuezhou's schizophrenia, based on what Unrivaled Hunk had told her.
• Zhang Manqian explained that she had won three Gene Armory Secret Keys and needed ten to qualify for gene adaptation and specialized training.
• Zhang Xuezhou cautioned Zhang Manqian that gene adaptation could be dangerous, but she remained confident in her abilities.
• Zhang Manqian saw Zhang Xuezhou creating another writing system and suspected that his illness was becoming more severe.

Zhang Xuezhou studied the holy land language while confined to his room and planned to improve his health by eating poultry. Zhang Manqian accepted his request to buy chicken and duck, though she doubted his belief that eating them could help him leap or fly.

• Zhang Manqian locked Zhang Xuezhou in their apartment before leaving for vacation training, and he resigned himself to studying until his examination results arrived.
• Zhang Xuezhou recited holy land characters to stabilize his brain and avoid a life-threatening risk, while Zhang Manqian returned from classes and found him quietly absorbed in his studies.
• Zhang Manqian cooked dinner with premium beef after receiving extra living expenses, and Zhang Xuezhou asked for free-range chicken or duck instead.
• Zhang Xuezhou argued that poultry's genes for flying and leaping made it suitable nourishment for him, and Zhang Manqian agreed to buy it despite doubting his reasoning.

Zhang Xuezhou studied the Heart Incantation and learned from Wu Chao that a stronger cultivation method could replace an earlier one. He prepared to memorize the technique so he could replace his flawed entry method and begin cultivating normally.

• Wu Chao listened as Zhang Xuezhou recited the Snake Head Incantation and worried that mistakes could endanger his own cultivation.
• Wu Chao explained that fixed cultivation was difficult to correct, but a stronger method could cover and replace an older one.
• Zhang Xuezhou received Hongku's Heart Incantation and resolved to study the Holy Land's writing thoroughly so he would not mislead Wu Chao.
• Zhang Xuezhou memorized the Heart Incantation and learned it could guide him through four great realms and replace his Yin Yang Great Compassion Nine Heavens Incantation entry method.
• Zhang Xuezhou planned to use the Heart Incantation to make his body suited to incantations and eventually improve his Drowsiness Technique.

Zhang Xuezhou struggled to make progress with the Heart Incantation while focusing on learning the sacred land’s script. Zhang Manqian discovered that he had placed third in the province and expected a large reward, but Zhang Xuezhou planned to spend it on free-range chickens as his dream’s Demon Power neared its final surge.

• Zhang Xuezhou tried cultivating the Heart Incantation but made little progress, so he focused on learning the sacred land’s script for Hongku’s assignments.
• Zhang Manqian showed Zhang Xuezhou news that a Yucai Middle School student named Zhang Xuezhou had placed third in the province, and he confirmed it was him.
• Zhang Manqian celebrated the expected thirty to fifty thousand yuan reward and compared it with her own sixty-ninth-place result, which had brought no provincial prize money.
• Zhang Xuezhou said he would use the reward to buy fifteen hundred free-range chickens, refusing Zhang Manqian’s request to lend her twenty thousand yuan.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered eating large quantities of poultry to satisfy his craving for bird food without absorbing Demon Power, while the Demon Power in his dream approached its final surge into essence form.

Zhang Xuezhou’s third-place finish in Jidu Province’s adult examination drew widespread attention and brought Song Fengying’s livestreaming app millions of new registrations. Song Fengying realized the app had to adapt to the limitations of the era and resolved to keep pursuing a new path, while looking to Zhang Xuezhou’s success for lessons.

• Zhang Xuezhou’s third-place provincial result drew public attention, and people discussed his injuries and his bold claims from Song Fengying’s livestream.
• Song Fengying’s interview video spread, and her app’s registrations rapidly passed three million as new users began sharing videos and livestreaming.
• Song Fengying recognized that limited hardware and infrastructure, not merely poor promotion, constrained livestreaming in the current era.
• Song Fengying decided to update her ideas and app rather than keep imitating the past, and resolved not to give up.
• Song Fengying concluded that Zhang Xuezhou had succeeded at quietly growing stronger and considered what she could learn from him.