Recaps

Gu De led the cultivators out of the Emperor Road while Xu Tianmiao chose to wait and assess the dangers. Lu Changzhi’s group left with the Longwang Clan, and news of the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom’s apparent collapse spread as the powers it had controlled began to challenge its remaining experts.

• Gu De forgave his followers for losing their storage items and urged them to explore the outside world for resources, while Xu Tianmiao advised waiting and watching before venturing out.
• Lu Changzhi led Gu Chen and the others onto the Longwang Clan’s back, and the Longwang Clan thanked him for saving his life and told the beasts they had followed the right person.
• Figures from the four Sacred Beast Races headed toward the Land of Contemplation, and cultivators leaving it realized the Beast Race had entered the Emperor Road as they had.
• People who returned from the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom’s Emperor Road reported the kingdom lord’s party had been wiped out, but the experts who remained dismissed their accounts and called them illusions.
• Some returnees took their families and fled the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom, while subordinate forces began demanding its territory and resources, causing the remaining experts to fear that the reports were true.

Li Baimei used a token from a Jiang Clan expert to disable the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom’s defenses, then led the Li Clan in its invasion. He left the kingdom’s people exposed to slaughter as he considered how much he might grow after going to the Jiang Clan.

• Li Baimei arrived above the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom with the Li Clan and declared that it would be destroyed.
• Li Baimei activated the Jiang Clan token, which erased the kingdom’s defenses and arrays without harming the people directly.
• Li Baimei ordered the Li Clan experts to kill the kingdom’s people and send them to meet Qian Guiyi.
• A Great Qian Ancient Kingdom elder tried to self-destruct, but Li Baimei stabbed him from behind and cut him in two.
• Li Baimei returned to the sky, resolved to eliminate the kingdom completely, and reflected on the power of the Jiang Clan token.

Jiang Tong revealed that he had deliberately confronted the Tai Clan and brought the Jiang Clan back because the young man surnamed Lu had an extraordinary past. He left the Jiang Clan elders wondering whose reincarnation the boy was and what groundwork he had laid in his previous life.

• A Jiang Clan member questioned why Jiang Tong had abruptly brought them back, and Jiang Tong said he had acted deliberately regarding the youngsters.
• Jiang Tong dismissed fears that the Tai Clan would destroy the Jiang Clan over the dispute and explained that he could not let outsiders see the Jiang Clan lose face.
• Jiang Tong sealed the space with layers of barriers and artifacts before telling the others that the young man's background was no simple matter.
• Jiang Tong clarified that he meant the boy himself had been someone important in the past, not that his family or Lineage was extraordinary.
• The Jiang Clan members wondered whether the boy had reincarnated and cultivated anew, then considered the advantages and risks of reincarnation and the previous-life groundwork such people could have prepared.

Jiang Tong reassured the Jiang Clan that a reincarnated figure would eventually approach them and hinted that more ancestors remained. At the Tai Clan, an ancestor tested Tai Jiuling and recognized the presence of Jiang Zu, leaving Tai Jiuling stunned by being hurt again.

• Jiang Tong told the Jiang Clan to wait for the reincarnated figure and help him when he arrived, then hinted that they had more ancestors.
• Tai Jiuling reported Jiang Tong's attack to a middle-aged Tai Clan man and showed him what had happened on the Emperor Road.
• The middle-aged man took Tai Jiuling and the others through a portal to the Tai Clan ancestor's reception place.
• The Tai Clan ancestor pulled Tai Jiuling toward him and hurt him while checking for Jiang Tong's presence.
• The ancestor recognized Jiang Tong as an ancestor of Jiang Zu who was still alive, and Tai Jiuling questioned why he had been hurt again.

The Tai Clan chose to wait for the World in the Painting before confronting the Jiang Clan and ordered Tai Jiuling to have the Cao Clan eliminate witnesses. As the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom fell, Chen Mingxuan hoped Luo Zhen had died, while Luo Zhen remained safely underground and Qin Li questioned her worth to Lu Changzhi.

• The Tai Clan ancestor decided to observe the Jiang Clan during the World in the Painting and ordered Tai Jiuling to have everyone involved in the incident killed.
• Cultivators gathered outside the ruined Great Qian Ancient Kingdom and speculated that the Desolate Ancient Emperor Stele bearer had died with its people.
• Chen Mingxuan watched the destruction and hoped Luo Zhen had been killed, fearing the newcomer might have gained more than he had.
• Luo Zhen stayed conscious underground and quietly enjoyed a strange, pleasant sensation rather than rushing out.
• Qin Li asked Lu Changzhi whether he had known her circumstances from the start, then wondered why he had chosen her despite her modest strength.

Lu Changzhi encouraged Qin Li to travel beyond Hidden Origin Peak and gave his companions jade bottles that would let them cultivate outside the Land of Contemplation. Meanwhile, Li Baimei prepared to lead the Li Clan into the outside world, but the Jiang Clan instructed him to build up his strength before going to the Huaxia Sect.

• Lu Changzhi told Qin Li to focus on her own cultivation path and offered to let her venture out for experience; Qin Li realized she needed to assess her own strength beyond her master's support.
• Jiang Tong visited Hidden Origin Peak and gave Lu Changzhi jade bottles that would allow the Land of Contemplation's people to continue cultivating outside, advising them to refine the contents before leaving.
• Lu Changzhi shared the bottles with his companions, who took them to their cultivation places and began refining them.
• Li Baimei told the Li Clan that it had gained the Great Qian Ancient Kingdom's resources and urged the clan to prepare for growth beyond the Land of Contemplation.
• Li Baimei left to scout the outside world, and a Jiang Clan expert told him the Huaxia Sect was the right place for the Li Clan to develop but directed him to build up his strength and learn about the outside world first.

Li Baimei learned that he could not refine the outside world's unfamiliar power and discovered a possible lead in the Huaxia Sect's history. He accepted a bowl of the Jiang Clan's treasured medicine, while the attendant urged him to drink it immediately.

• Li Baimei asked his attendant whether a special cultivation method would let him refine the outside world's power, and the attendant said he might master it through continued effort.
• Li Baimei studied the outside world's powers and read that the Huaxia Sect had remained strong for tens of thousands of years.
• Li Baimei focused on Yang Kaizhi, who had come from a resource-poor place and mastered a seemingly impossible power, and considered seeking his method.
• Li Baimei doubted he could reach the Huaxia Sect, but resolved that he might still close the gap with the outside world.
• The attendant brought Li Baimei a basin of black Jiang Clan treasured medicine and urged him to drink it while it was fresh.

Li Baimei received five days of increasingly potent medicinal nourishment from the Jiang Clan, which greatly strengthened his body and established his foundation. Jiang Tong then offered him the chance to compete for selection as Yang Kaizhi’s favored disciple, explaining that the Jiang Clan had chosen him because he met the conditions.

• Li Baimei drank the medicinal liquid and felt it nourish his body far more effectively than the resources in the Land of Contemplation.
• The attendant brought Li Baimei another basin of medicine the next day, and Li Baimei learned that it was provided daily.
• Over five days, the medicine grew more potent and made Li Baimei about twenty percent stronger.
• The attendant told Li Baimei that the medicine had established his foundation and took him to meet Jiang Tong.
• Jiang Tong told Li Baimei that Yang Kaizhi was selecting talented people for a chance to become his favored disciple.
• Li Baimei asked why the Jiang Clan offered him the opportunity, and Jiang Tong said he met the conditions.

Li Baimei learned that the Jiang Clan had selected him for an opportunity to become Yang Kaizhi’s beloved disciple, and took a pill that sharpened his senses before setting out the next day. Meanwhile, two Tai Clan figures confronted the Cao Clan over its failed attempt to use the Tai Clan’s influence against the Jiang Clan.

• Jiang Tao told Li Baimei that his opportunity depended on the Jiang Clan’s recommendation and that he would represent both the Jiang Clan and his own clan.
• Li Baimei suspected that his qualifications were related to his physical body, and Jiang Tao gave him a pill to prepare for the trials.
• Li Baimei swallowed the pill, felt his perception sharpen throughout his body, and concluded that Yang Kaizhi’s test would involve reaction speed.
• Two Tai Clan figures arrived above Cao Clan territory and demanded that the Cao Clan answer for its failed scheme against the Jiang Clan.
• The Cao Clan experts recalled that they had discovered someone wielding untouchable power in the secret realm and had hoped the Tai Clan would take interest in the Jiang Clan’s methods.

The Tai Clan forced the Cao Clan to accept a Tai Coin and ordered them to kill everyone who had been in the secret realm. As the Cao Clan debated how to handle the Jiang Clan, reports surfaced that the Jiang Clan had made a move involving the Huaxia Sect and Yang Kaizhi.

• The Tai Clan expert told the Cao Clan to kill everyone present in the secret realm and tossed them a Tai Coin, making the assignment a matter of life and death.
• The Tai Clan members announced they would stay at the Cao Clan until the job was done, and Cao Tian agreed to arrange lodging and carry out the task.
• Cao Tian summoned the Cao Clan experts, who weighed the dangers of confronting the Tai Clan against dealing with their longtime rivals, the Jiang Clan.
• A Cao Clan member reported that the Jiang Clan had made another move, and the others examined images linking the Jiang Clan with the Huaxia Sect and Yang Kaizhi.
• The Cao Clan members debated whether the Jiang Clan had gained Yang Kaizhi's support, while others dismissed the connection as an underhanded attempt to borrow his influence.

The Cao Clan decided to send Cao Qianyu to the Huaxia Sect to investigate the Jiang Clan’s connection to Yang Kaizhi, while Tai Jiuling prepared to pursue the Jiang Clan himself. Gu De learned that Li Baimei had gone to the Jiang Clan and weighed the value of seeking support from a powerful faction.

• Cao Tian assigned Cao Qianyu to find someone and investigate Yang Kaizhi, promising him three years in the ancestral grounds if he returned with useful information.
• Tai Jiuling told a Tai Clan middle-aged man that the Jiang Clan might be hiding a secret and asked for help stopping them from sending away someone who controlled untouchable power.
• The middle-aged man let Tai Jiuling take people and go after the Jiang Clan, warning him not to act rashly if their business was already settled.
• A messenger told Gu De that Li Baimei had gone to the Jiang Clan, prompting Gu De to consider whether to seek support from a powerful faction like the Tai Clan.

Gu De decided to seek Yang Kaizhi’s backing at the Huaxia Sect after learning that Li Baimei had gone there, while Chu Ping'an discovered the danger and followed to turn Gu De into a new target for his system. Chu Ping'an set out expecting the trip to help him improve the system and eventually plant Li Baimei.

• Gu De learned that the Jiang Clan had taken Li Baimei to the Huaxia Sect to recommend him to Yang Kaizhi.
• Gu De rejected advice to stay behind and chose to leave immediately to find Yang Kaizhi.
• A local man told Gu De that Yang Kaizhi had unusual preferences and that cultivating with him could be fatal if things went wrong.
• Chu Ping'an paid the man for information, learned Gu De did not know the danger, and hurried after him.
• Chu Ping'an looked forward to using the trip to plant Gu De as a new leek and improve his system, while noting that Li Baimei should have reached the Jiang Clan.

Jiang Tao brought Li Baimei to the Huaxia Sect for Yang Kaizhi’s disciple selection, where Li received number sixteen and learned later candidates might face greater pressure. Gu De then arrived with attendants, declaring himself the recommending party and the others participants.

• Jiang Tao made the Jiang Clan’s arrival conspicuous before taking Li Baimei through shifting space to the Huaxia Sect.
• Jiang Tao introduced the Jiang Clan at the gate, and a young attendant used an artifact to open a passage into the sect’s hall.
• Li Baimei observed the gathered candidates and received token number sixteen; Jiang Tao explained that later candidates might need to show greater ability to satisfy Yang Kaizhi’s thirst for talent.
• Gu De arrived at the Huaxia Sect with attendants and said he would be the recommending party while they all participated.
• A young attendant opened a gate for Gu De and his group to enter.

Gu De and Li Baimei met at the Huaxia Sect as they prepared to seek Yang Kaizhi’s tutelage, and Li Baimei’s pointed remarks pushed Gu De to join the selection. The chapter ended with Chu Ping'an arriving with token seventeen and wondering whether the numbering had a trick.

• Li Baimei greeted Gu De as the Human Emperor, drawing the hall’s attention and angering Gu De.
• Gu De received token twenty-one, while Li Baimei said he had token sixteen and encouraged them both to seek Yang Kaizhi’s tutelage.
• Gu De took token six from one of his followers and claimed the earlier place as a shortcut.
• Jiang Tao told Li Baimei that Yang Kaizhi generally took only one person each time and explained that Gu De would still be behind him in line.
• Chu Ping'an arrived holding token seventeen and wondered how he had received that number despite the crowd.

Chu Ping'an watched the selection at the Huaxia Sect and learned that candidates were chosen according to Yang Kaizhi’s personal preference. As Li Baimei’s turn drew near, Cao Tian and Cao Qianyu confronted Jiang Tong, who accused them of acting like clowns out of fear.

• Chu Ping'an spotted Li Baimei at the Huaxia Sect and wondered why he had come, then decided the selection was likely a good opportunity because Li Baimei had a protagonist’s fortune.
• A speaker explained that candidates could not back out, would be transported in turn by their tokens, and would be judged according to whether they caught Lord Yang’s eye.
• The selection began, and candidates were transported away one after another, often after only a brief time inside.
• Li Baimei asked Jiang Tao why the candidates’ turns passed so quickly, and Jiang Tao explained that Lord Yang’s first impression usually decided their fate.
• Cao Tian and Cao Qianyu approached Li Baimei and Jiang Tong, and Jiang Tong challenged them for coming to make a spectacle and asked whether they were afraid.

Cao Qianyu warned the participants that the Jiang Clan wanted to make Li Baimei a desire slave, but Jiang Tao dismissed the claim as an attempt to disrupt Li Baimei's Dao heart. As the warning made Gu De and others fear they were trapped, Li Baimei was suddenly transported away, and Chu Ping'an remarked that he had thrown himself into the game.

• Cao Qianyu tried to tell Li Baimei that the Jiang Clan intended to use him, but Jiang Tao blocked Li Baimei from hearing the rest and dismissed the warning as enemy gossip.
• Gu De realized Cao Qianyu had alleged that the Jiang Clan wanted to turn Li Baimei into a desire slave, and he worried that the participants could not safely leave.
• Cao Qianyu denied that outsiders should take his accusations seriously, while Jiang Tao challenged him for frightening the participants and slandering Yang Kaizhi.
• Gu De wrote Li Baimei a note urging him to believe he could become the one Yang Kaizhi favored, and Li Baimei was immediately transported away by his number token.
• Chu Ping'an saw Li Baimei disappear and remarked that he had thrown himself into the game.

Li Baimei was summoned before Yang Kaizhi, whose body contained two souls, and endured an electric test that revived the strange sensation he had felt on the Emperor Road. The two souls argued over who would take him next, leaving Li Baimei pinned between their opposing forces.

• Li Baimei met Yang Kaizhi and realized that a second soul, speaking with a woman's voice, shared his body.
• Yang Kaizhi's original body stripped Li Baimei with a wave of force to inspect him, prompting Li Baimei to suspect that Yang Kaizhi desired his body.
• Yang Kaizhi's separated figure struck Li Baimei with lightning, causing him to relive the strange sensation he had experienced in the water on the Emperor Road.
• The two souls argued over Li Baimei, with one calling him a talent worth cultivating and the other insisting on having him next.
• The two souls used opposing forces to hold Li Baimei in place as the woman threatened the separated figure.

Li Baimei was forced to choose between Yang Kaizhi’s phantom and original body, so he proposed facing them both and was pushed beyond his limits. Meanwhile, the people waiting in the hall speculated about his delay, and Gu De realized his attendants’ remarks had made them liabilities.

• Yang Kaizhi’s phantom and original body argued over Li Baimei, then agreed to let him choose between them.
• Li Baimei sensed danger from either choice and offered to face both figures rather than offend one.
• Yang Kaizhi’s original body revealed her imposing form, and Li Baimei realized the situation was not what he had expected.
• The two figures pushed Li Baimei past his limits until he called out, "Ancestor, Aid Me!"
• In the hall, the Cao Clan expert and others worried that Li Baimei’s long absence signaled failure, while Gu De felt relieved.
• Gu De overheard two attendants hoping Li Baimei would fail so the Great Emperor could take the opportunity, and decided they could not remain by his side.

Li Baimei emerged from Yang Kaizhi’s selection and won the Huaxia Sect’s protection plaque for the Jiang Clan. Jiang Tao celebrated his success and taunted Cao Qianyu, while Chu Ping'an reflected on Li Baimei’s ordeal and returned to Gu De.

• Li Baimei appeared beside Yang Kaizhi after spending a long time inside, and the crowd greeted Yang Kaizhi.
• Yang Kaizhi praised the Jiang Clan’s recommendation and gave Jiang Tao a wooden plaque representing the Huaxia Sect’s protection.
• Gu De learned that the plaque could protect its holder or their faction once, though it required substantial resources.
• Yang Kaizhi ended the pet selection and said others could receive the same reward if they found someone he liked.
• Jiang Tao taunted Cao Qianyu about the Tai Clan, and Cao Qianyu warned that Li Baimei might resent the Jiang Clan for bringing him there.
• Chu Ping'an concluded that Li Baimei had survived the ordeal, then returned to Gu De.

Yang Kaizhi gave Li Baimei a place to rest and precious cultivation resources, while Li Baimei insisted he could still fight. The Jiang Clan’s wooden token left the Cao Clan and Tai Jiuling unable to act against them, though Tai Jiuling resolved not to let the matter rest.

• Yang Kaizhi brought Li Baimei to a better room and gave him valuable cultivation resources to recover.
• Li Baimei told Yang Kaizhi he could still fight, and a woman urged Yang Kaizhi to let him continue while warning him not to overwork him.
• Cao Qianyu returned safely to the Cao Clan and told its members that the Jiang Clan had obtained the Huaxia Sect’s wooden token.
• The Cao Clan struggled to decide how to answer the Tai Clan’s task without provoking the Jiang Clan or risking the wooden token.
• Tai Jiuling decided he could not attack Jiang Tao while the token was in his hands and left, determined to pursue the matter later.

Jiang Tong decided to give Lu Changzhi the Jiang Clan’s Huaxia Sect token as thanks for indirectly helping them discover Li Baimei’s appeal to Yang Kaizhi. He then offered Lu Changzhi a chance to enter the World in the Painting, a valuable secret realm.

• Jiang Tao reported that Li Baimei had won Yang Kaizhi’s favor and obtained the Huaxia Sect’s wooden token.
• Jiang Tong arrived and said the Jiang Clan should return the favor to Lu Changzhi by giving him the token.
• Jiang Tong dismissed concerns about giving away the token and said the Jiang Clan would pursue opportunities in the World in the Painting.
• Jiang Tong appeared on Hidden Origin Peak, where Lu Changzhi asked whether something was waiting for him.
• Jiang Tong explained that the World in the Painting was a resource-rich secret realm and invited Lu Changzhi to visit.

Lu Changzhi learned that the world in the painting was an artifact called the Scroll of the Falling Brush and agreed to try to subdue it while taking Gu Chen along. Jiang Tong equipped him with a strange melon and a Huaxia Sect token, and Lu Changzhi left Gu Chen eager to explore the world in the painting.

• Jiang Tong explained that entry to the world in the painting was limited and offered Lu Changzhi a spot; Lu Changzhi asked for a second spot for Gu Chen.
• Jiang Tong revealed that the world in the painting was inside the Scroll of the Falling Brush and urged Lu Changzhi to try to subdue the artifact.
• Jiang Tong gave Lu Changzhi a Forcibly Twisted Melon for the Artifact Spirit, a storage ring full of stolen melons, and a token earned through Li Baimei's recognition by the Huaxia Sect.
• Jiang Tong said the Jiang Clan's critics would quiet down if Lu Changzhi settled the Scroll of the Falling Brush matter, then left.
• Lu Changzhi shared melons with the others, and Gu Chen asked him about the world in the painting.
• Lu Changzhi told Gu Chen he could take him there, and Gu Chen thanked his master.

The Tai Clan planned to target the Jiang Clan’s juniors in the World in the Painting and force them to use the Huaxia Sect’s wooden token. Meanwhile, Jiang Tong announced that the Jiang Clan would send only one junior into the World in the Painting and give the other two slots to someone else, leaving the gathered elders stunned.

• A Tai Clan man warned Tai Jiuling not to let his hatred of the Jiang Clan cloud his judgment, then identified the World in the Painting as an opportunity to strike at the clan’s juniors.
• Tai Jiuling agreed with the plan to force the Jiang Clan’s juniors to use their wooden token, and the man ordered him to choose one of the Tai Clan’s five entrants for the task.
• The Jiang Clan received a stream of visitors seeking to learn how it had obtained the Huaxia Sect’s wooden token, and the clan sent them away with polite evasions.
• Jiang Tong summoned the Jiang Clan’s influential experts and said they should select only one junior for the World in the Painting instead of the usual three.
• Jiang Tong revealed that he had given the other two slots to someone else, prompting the gathered experts to fall silent in surprise.

Jiang Tong persuaded the Jiang Clan to give a reincarnated newcomer two slots in the World in the Painting, staking his position as ancestor on the promise that it would benefit the clan. Meanwhile, Gu De reflected on Li Baimei’s success with the Huaxia Sect before an attendant told him about the World in the Painting, suggesting it might be his chance.

• Jiang Clan members argued that giving away two World in the Painting slots would deprive their younger generation of a valuable cultivation opportunity.
• Jiang Tong invoked Gu De’s unusual knowledge from the Land of Contemplation and insisted that giving the newcomer two slots would benefit the Jiang Clan.
• Jiang Tong promised to stop being the Jiang Clan’s ancestor if he failed to secure enough benefits, and the clan reluctantly accepted the loss of the slots.
• People around Gu De complained that Li Baimei had gained ties with the Huaxia Sect, while Gu De privately reconsidered his earlier actions and his concern for reputation.
• An attendant told Gu De that people in a nearby city were discussing the World in the Painting and suggested it might be his chance.

Gu De learned that the World in the Painting was generally restricted to juniors and grew resentful when he thought Li Baimei might enter. Chu Ping'an sent him a warning that Li Baimei had outside help, while Yang Kaizhi later granted Li Baimei entry to the World in the Painting.

• Gu De asked how to enter the World in the Painting and learned that major factions could make exceptions to the junior-only restriction.
• Gu De worried that Li Baimei might be allowed into the World in the Painting, while attendants tried to reassure him that Li Baimei would not get the chance.
• Chu Ping'an noticed Gu De's growing fixation on Li Baimei and decided to help him.
• An attendant delivered a scroll to Gu De warning that Li Baimei had help from an external source and that Gu De could not compete with him; Gu De destroyed the scroll.
• Chu Ping'an left, reflecting that Li Baimei had a system and that Gu De should not be led astray.
• At the Huaxia Sect, Yang Kaizhi told Li Baimei that he could enter the World in the Painting.