Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou met the new emperor, who reclaimed the iron token and asked him to think of a way to curb corruption throughout the court. Zhang Xuezhou requested half a month to consult ancient texts, and the emperor agreed to return then.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the iron token had helped him obtain household registration for the villagers, but he had hoped to sell its privilege to wealthy merchants.
• The new emperor warned Zhang Xuezhou that selling registration privileges was a serious crime and said reclaiming the token prevented its authority from being abused.
• The new emperor considered how corruption and personal gain distorted military payments, procurement, and the wider court, but found no clear solution.
• Zhang Xuezhou connected the emperor's problem to Ren Yisheng's unsuccessful efforts to fix systemic problems at the World-Saving Healthcare Group.
• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou how to solve the problem, and Zhang Xuezhou requested ten days to half a month to consult ancient texts.
• The new emperor agreed to return in half a month.

The new emperor struggled to find trustworthy and qualified officials, and Zhang Xuezhou’s candid admission that he would not serve with integrity left him unsure what role to give him. After summoning Tian Fen for advice, he heard a recommendation for Han Anguo, a former official of the State of Liang, but hesitated over whether accepting such men accorded with Emperor Jing’s idea of loyalty.

• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou whether he could serve with integrity, and Zhang replied that he could not.
• The new emperor considered Zhang’s honesty useful but concluded that his illness and outlook made a major post unsuitable.
• After returning to Weiyang Palace, the new emperor summoned Tian Fen, who arrived demonstrating his improved Flying Leap Technique.
• The new emperor asked Tian Fen to recommend someone capable, rejecting Tian Fen’s offer to serve himself.
• Tian Fen recommended Han Anguo, who had left the State of Liang for Chang'an City after Liu Mai removed him from office.
• The new emperor considered appointing Han Anguo to an important post but hesitated because he had left the King of Liang’s service.

After returning to Chang'an City, Zhang Xuezhou sought Kong Anguo’s advice about the wooden staff he had brought back from Fangzhang Island. He followed a Confucian scholar to the Good Fortune Comes Inn, only to discover that the Anguo in the room was Han Anguo, not Kong Anguo.

• Zhang Xuezhou found that refining the wooden staff had not let him use his Realm Technique’s suppressive force as before, so he decided to ask Kong Anguo for advice.
• Zhang Xuezhou went to Sage Kong Temple and asked Confucian scholar Fang Cheng'an where Kong Anguo lived.
• Fang Cheng'an offered to take Zhang Xuezhou to Kong Anguo and asked him to pay the carriage fare.
• Fang Cheng'an directed Zhang Xuezhou to the Good Fortune Comes Inn, where Kong Anguo was staying in the first room of the A section.
• Zhang Xuezhou knocked and called himself Dongfang Shuo, but the man who opened the door introduced himself as Han Anguo.

Zhang Xuezhou met Han Anguo, a powerful cultivator from the troubled State of Liang who had come to Chang'an City seeking office. After building rapport over Liang Garden and tea, Zhang learned that Han specialized in Technique Methods because he valued preserving his life, and he judged that Han could rise to an important post at court.

• Zhang Xuezhou sensed Han Anguo's formidable cultivation and guessed he had left the State of Liang's troubled royal court for Chang'an City.
• Zhang Xuezhou claimed to have heard of Han Anguo in Liang Garden, and they bonded over having stayed there.
• Han Anguo served Zhang Xuezhou a nourishing tea, and Zhang recognized its value to cultivators.
• Han Anguo explained that he chose Technique Methods over martial arts because he valued his life and wished to avoid deadly head-on combat.
• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that Han Anguo's wealth and cultivation could support a safe rise to an important position at court.

Zhang Xuezhou befriended Han Anguo, a wealthy cultivator seeking a post in the imperial court, and agreed to recommend him to the emperor in exchange for a chest of gold. Han Anguo left hopeful that the emperor would hear of his wish to serve.

• Han Anguo described his skill in the Iron Armor Technique and escape techniques, while Zhang Xuezhou praised his political abilities and probed his ambitions.
• Han Anguo explained that he had come to Chang'an City to seek advancement and protection, but his service to the King of Liang had left him with enemies there.
• After learning Zhang Xuezhou could meet the emperor, Han Anguo asked him to recommend him for office and offered him a heavy chest of gold.
• Zhang Xuezhou accepted the gift and promised to bring Han Anguo's name to the emperor when they met again in half a month.
• Han Anguo felt the money was worthwhile because the emperor would at least learn of his desire to serve.

Zhang Xuezhou reasoned that the new emperor needed cultivation resources and planned to use Li Shaojun’s pill to build a closer connection with him. On his way home, Zhang Xuezhou met the Holy Maiden of Kunlun Sacred Land, who had traveled to Chang'an City to find him.

• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that the new emperor sought cultivation resources to strengthen himself and planned to help him through a suitable pill refined by Li Shaojun.
• Zhang Xuezhou spent the day talking and dining with Han Anguo before leaving the Good Fortune Comes Inn with five hundred taels of gold.
• A woman stopped Zhang Xuezhou’s carriage and asked for him by name, surprising him because few people in Chang'an City knew him as Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhang Xuezhou mistook the woman for Holy Mother Wudang, and she rebuked him for addressing an unmarried woman as a mother.
• The woman introduced herself as Cai Ma and revealed that she was the Holy Maiden of Kunlun Sacred Land, who had come to Chang'an City.

Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Cai Ma, Kunlun Sacred Land’s Holy Maiden, who had tracked him to Chang'an City on the emperor’s orders to check his cultivation. After learning he was expected to represent Kunlun in the Centennial Pact as its Holy Son, Zhang Xuezhou grew wary and lost interest in returning to the Sacred Land.

• Cai Ma complained that Zhang Xuezhou had been difficult to track, and he explained that illness and his Evasion Technique had kept him from leaving a trace.
• Cai Ma described how she used Acquired Fate to track him using his birth details or Essence Blood.
• Cai Ma revealed that the emperor had sent her to check Zhang Xuezhou’s cultivation and said Kunlun could supply medicine if he returned.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized Cai Ma cultivated Fate rather than conventional techniques and questioned her limited strength.
• Cai Ma explained that the Centennial Pact brought Holy Sons and Holy Maidens from major Sacred Lands into combat, and that the emperor had named Zhang Xuezhou Kunlun’s Holy Son.
• Zhang Xuezhou rejected the idea that he should compete and abandoned his interest in returning to Kunlun Sacred Land.

Cai Ma found Zhang Xuezhou in Chang'an City and asked him for money and a place to stay, but he refused to spend his savings on her cultivation supplies. She chose to stay with his family, attracted by the city's plentiful goods, while both agreed to keep their Sacred Land titles discreet.

• Cai Ma explained that she had found Zhang Xuezhou through a fortune reading and asked him to host her, give her a thousand gold, or return with her to Kunlun.
• Zhang Xuezhou took Cai Ma to the East Market, but refused to buy her costly cultivation ingredients because he was saving his five hundred gold to treat illnesses and find housing for his people.
• Zhang Xuezhou brought Cai Ma to his crowded home, where his family mistook her for his girlfriend before he introduced her as his senior sister from his sect.
• Cai Ma agreed to stay with Zhang Xuezhou's family after deciding she could save money on food and lodging and find the supplies she needed in Chang'an City.
• Cai Ma warned Zhang Xuezhou to conceal her Holy Maiden status, and he agreed not to call her that or let her give him unwanted nicknames.

Cai Ma settled into the Zhang residence and explained the Green Rock Wooden Staff’s properties, along with the legendary Seven Treasures Wondrous Tree owned by Sect Leader Zhunti. Zhang Xuezhou became more open to entering the Centennial Pact for a chance to have his staff improved, while growing cautious about the possible value of his own Qing Wood.

• Zhang Xuezhou let Cai Ma stay in his study and checked her travel pass, learning she could remain at the residence as long as no one inspected it.
• Cai Ma recognized Zhang Xuezhou’s Green Rock Wooden Staff as a rare, high-grade spirit wood Law Treasure suited to Earth Techniques.
• Cai Ma described the Seven Treasures Wondrous Tree, which could brush away treasures, and revealed that Sect Leader Zhunti owned it and had subdued the Peacock Great Wisdom King.
• Cai Ma told Zhang Xuezhou that placing well in the Centennial Pact could earn him a reward such as having Sect Leader Zhunti reforge his staff.
• Cai Ma mentioned that Great God Willow Wood had also studied such treasures, and Zhang Xuezhou wondered whether his Qing Wood was a Chaos Spirit Root and whether possessing it was dangerous.

Zhang Xuezhou read Genas's warning about Huang Daoxian and its plea for help with the Descenders in Qinmeng, but chose to focus on threats and opportunities in the Scarlet Alliance State. He arranged further treatment with the Changkong Household, confirmed the R32 Catalyst was ready, and learned Zhou Yueyan's trial of a pill had badly injured her throat.

• Zhang Xuezhou read Genas's message explaining that fire was effective against Huang Daoxian and asking him to help eliminate dangerous Descenders in Qinmeng.
• Zhang Xuezhou declined to commit to searching Qinmeng and focused instead on Huang Daoxian, the Sequence Committee, and his own advancement.
• Zhang Xuezhou contacted Changkong Yinghao to arrange another round of Divine Grace treatment for their injuries and told him to build up its power.
• Zhou Yueyan told Zhang Xuezhou that the R32 Catalyst was ready, though producing twenty doses would cost ten million.
• Zhou Yueyan asked whether Zhang Xuezhou's Divine Grace could heal her throat after a pill made her voice painfully loud and then left her unable to speak.

Zhang Xuezhou used Egret Bird blood serum to invoke the Tuer God’s Divine Grace and heal Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian’s hidden injuries. The siblings left hoping the treatment would improve their chances of reaching the Seventh Sequence, while Zhang warned that repeated Divine Grace might require more next time.

• Zhang Xuezhou prepared for a possible breakthrough to the Third Sequence and injected himself with Egret Bird blood serum.
• Zhang Xuezhou prayed to the Tuer God and used Divine Grace to ease Changkong Yinghao’s hidden injuries.
• Changkong Yinghao chose to give the remaining Divine Grace to Changkong Yinglian, despite her offering it back to him.
• Zhang Xuezhou treated Changkong Yinglian, reducing her injuries from severe to light and then close to healed.
• Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian discussed how Divine Grace might help them attempt the Seventh Sequence and agreed to continue treatment if possible.

After Zhou Yueyan’s hidden injuries were healed, she entered the Fifth Sequence, while Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian saw Divine Grace treatment as a way to reach the Seventh Sequence and planned to expand research in North Rehe. Zhang Xuezhou treated Zhou Yueyan’s damaged throat, but her restored voice unleashed a powerful sound that left him dizzy.

• Zhou Yueyan entered the Fifth Sequence after Zhang Xuezhou eliminated her hidden injuries, and Zhou Rihui and the Changkong siblings gained hope of advancing further.
• Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian discussed how Divine Grace could help them reach the Seventh Sequence and restore stability to the Scarlet Alliance State.
• Changkong Yinglian proposed developing the A1 Research Institute in North Rehe to support ongoing Divine Grace research, and Changkong Yinghao agreed to provide the lineage’s resources.
• After the Changkong siblings left, Zhou Yueyan asked Zhang Xuezhou for help with her damaged throat.
• Zhang Xuezhou used his Supreme Purity True Technique to heal Zhou Yueyan, but her voice carried destructive force that briefly overwhelmed him.

Zhou Yueyan's throat was damaged by the power of Moulan in the Spirit-Forging Pill, leaving her unable to speak without injury. Zhang Xuezhou could not cure the underlying problem, but taught her the Ventriloquism Fake Technique as another way to produce a voice.

• Zhou Yueyan asked whether her damaged throat could be cured, and Zhang Xuezhou admitted he could not find a reliable solution.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested that Zhou Yueyan might adapt to Moulan's power by reaching a higher Sequence, but she despaired at the prospect of losing her voice.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Zhou Yueyan not to shout and suggested vocal training or a sound-based Gene Fighting Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou demonstrated the Ventriloquism Fake Technique and taught Zhou Yueyan how to produce sound without using her damaged throat.
• Zhou Yueyan realized the confusing voice could give Zhang Xuezhou an advantage in a gunfight.

Zhang Xuezhou advanced to the Third Sequence and discovered that his changing bird gene had become a sparrowhawk gene, likely influenced by the invasive Red Rat R25 gene. He sent Ren Yisheng the genetic chart and sought advice about revising his combat technique and addressing corruption in the hierarchy.

• Zhang Xuezhou used R32 Catalyst and Egret Bird blood agent to raise his Sequence, reaching the Third Sequence after three days of intensive training.
• Zhang Xuezhou sensed his bird gene transforming and considered how the change could make his blood agents and Kunpeng Combat Technique ineffective.
• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on how Sequence advancement strengthened his mental resistance and decided to keep asbestos helmets at the research institute to guard against mental attacks.
• Zhang Xuezhou sequenced his genes and identified the new genetic map as a sparrowhawk gene.
• Zhang Xuezhou connected the changes in his bird genes to the invasive Red Rat R25 gene and considered the risks of directly using Red Rat genes.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Changkong Yinghao and the others that his Divine Grace requirements had changed, then sent Ren Yisheng the sparrowhawk gene chart and asked for advice.

Zhang Xuezhou learned how Ren Yisheng’s political maneuvering strengthened his influence over the Sequence Committee, then sought his help revising the Third Sequence Kunpeng Combat Technique. Ren Yisheng improved the technique but warned that Zhang Xuezhou’s genes might change again at the Fourth Sequence.

• Ren Yisheng told Zhang Xuezhou that the Sequence Committee’s expanding membership and reserve alternate members helped consolidate Western Capital City’s power.
• Ren Yisheng explained that he had become more cautious because of Huang Daoxian and was seeking a Ferocious Beast to help him reach the Seventh Sequence.
• Ren Yisheng assessed Zhang Xuezhou’s sparrowhawk gene and revised his Third Sequence Kunpeng Combat Technique, making it at least fifteen percent more powerful.
• Ren Yisheng warned Zhang Xuezhou that further genetic changes at the Fourth Sequence could make revising the technique difficult.
• Zhang Xuezhou suspected the Red Rat R25 Gene fragment affected his changing genes, and Ren Yisheng considered the idea but could not study it further.

After Ren Yisheng finished revising Zhang Xuezhou’s Kunpeng Combat Technique, Zhang asked how to limit abuses caused by unwritten rules and learned why reforming entrenched interests was difficult. He then revealed plans to seek an appointment overseeing the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums, where he suspected Huang Daoxian was pursuing a cultivation method tied to emperors and their remains.

• Ren Yisheng completed revisions to Zhang Xuezhou’s Kunpeng Combat Technique, and Zhang asked how to reduce the harm caused by people pursuing their own interests.
• Ren Yisheng recounted his failed reforms at the World-Saving Healthcare Group and advised Zhang to study his books and proceed cautiously.
• Zhang Xuezhou read Ren Yisheng’s books and concluded that changing entrenched systems would provoke opposition, though their underlying causes could be understood.
• Ren Yisheng asked what Zhang planned to do as an Alternate Sequence Committee Member, and Zhang said he wanted to oversee the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums rather than manage the network sector.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Yisheng that Huang Daoxian might be connected to the mausoleums and could cultivate by drawing on emperors’ lives or using their corpses.

Ren Yisheng and Zhang Xuezhou discussed Zhang Xuezhou’s upcoming youth challenge tournament and the future expansion of the Sequence Committee. The chapter left them recognizing that sharing power and opening genetic technology to more people were necessary to prepare the Scarlet Alliance State for coming dangers.

• Ren Yisheng asked Zhang Xuezhou which province he wanted to compete in, and Zhang Xuezhou said he could fight anywhere without relying on his Realm Technique.
• Ren Yisheng suggested Wanping Province or Qing'an Province, where Zhang Xuezhou could challenge the arrogant young contenders.
• Ren Yisheng advised Zhang Xuezhou to divide the Zhang Household into two branches if he and Manqian wanted separate Sequence Committee seats in the future.
• Ren Yisheng said An Ran might establish her own Lineage and asked Zhang Xuezhou to look after her.
• Ren Yisheng predicted that the Sequence Committee would expand, spreading power among more people to ease social tensions and prepare for threats including Huang Daoxian, fire-meteor creatures, and exotic beasts.

Zhang Xuezhou agreed to compete in Wanping Province for an Alternate Sequence Committee Member position and traveled toward Fengdu City. After learning about Zhao Tianhua and Wanping's independent, formidable factions, he prepared for the challenge ahead.

• Ren Yisheng recommended Wanping and Qing'an Provinces as difficult places for Zhang Xuezhou to compete, and Zhang chose Wanping.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Wang Haoran to arrange a weaker province for An Ran and learned that he should head to Fengdu City.
• Zhang Xuezhou struggled to arrange connecting flights, then traveled by airliner toward Wanping Province.
• After discovering that Wanping lacked a large civilian airport, Zhang Xuezhou researched the province and its powerful regional factions.
• Zhang Xuezhou studied Zhao Tianhua's background and fighting style and considered how winning Wanping's Alternate Sequence Committee Member position could affect relations with Western Capital City.

Zhang Xuezhou was attacked by toll-collecting thugs in Wanping Province, recorded the confrontation, and was later rescued by Wang Haoran. Wang Haoran warned him about the dangers of the tournament and brought him to an arena whose chaotic, locally designed setup ignored official specifications.

• Two knife-wielding men demanded road fees from Zhang Xuezhou on a bus, and he livestreamed as they attacked him and other armed men boarded.
• Zhang Xuezhou subdued the attackers, but public security personnel detained him; they later went into convulsions, and he escaped in a public security vehicle.
• Wang Haoran picked up Zhang Xuezhou, reviewed his recording, sealed the evidence, and warned him to show Zhao Tianhua and his group no deference during the tournament.
• Zhang Xuezhou joined Wang Haoran, Zhong Zhenzhen, and Qin Wenhan on their way to inspect the tournament venue, where they discussed past disputes and Song Bu'er's deterrent presence.
• At the arena, Zhang Xuezhou and the others saw obstacles, horses, and motorcycles, and Wang Haoran realized Wanping Province had disregarded the committee's official arrangements.

Zhang Xuezhou accompanied Wang Haoran and the others to the Wanping Youth Challenge, where they confronted local power brokers over Wanping Province’s Sequence Committee seat. Zhao Tianhua arrived with eight appointed contestants and challenged Western Capital City’s champion to begin, leaving the competition poised to start.

• Wang Haoran questioned Zhou Bo and Zhao Meng about the Western Capital City Sequence Committee seat, and Qin Wenhan mocked them by proposing that they decide it through their finger-guessing game.
• Zhong Zhenzhen called Zhou Bo and Zhao Meng cowards after they backed down, while Wang Haoran explained Wanping Province’s regional isolation and uneven development to Zhang Xuezhou.
• Song Fengying announced the arrival of Wanping Province’s athletes, led by the eighty-five-year-old Zhao Tianhua.
• Zhao Tianhua took Song Fengying’s microphone, showed the eight contestants he had brought, and called for Western Capital City’s champion to come down and compete.