Recaps

Punk Lü Yuan and Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan discussed Wang Yan, Lin Qi, and the danger posed by the Purple Mansion cultivator in Bright Yang Tower before each committed to pursuing greater strength. Punk Lü Yuan began his first Fetal Breathing cultivation session, while Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan prepared to explore the immortal-cultivation world with Fusang.

• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan learned how Punk Lü Yuan obtained the Cultivation Method and Technique Method and marveled at the unusual people around him, including Wang Yan and Lin Qi.
• Punk Lü Yuan and Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan agreed to watch Wang Yan and remain alert to the Purple Mansion cultivator in Bright Yang Tower, whom Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan vowed to confront if he threatened Punk Lü Yuan.
• Punk Lü Yuan gave Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan supplies, clothes, food, and a magic sword to upgrade, then returned to his bedroom.
• Punk Lü Yuan received his Fetal Breathing permit, Fire Virtue Basic Cultivation Practice Method, and notice that he had been transferred to Class 1, Grade 1.
• Punk Lü Yuan used the Burning Instruction and cultivation medicines to begin his first Fetal Breathing session and resolved to advance so he could control his own fate.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan stood beneath Fusang, the tree he had refined into a Law Artifact, and decided they would explore the immortal-cultivation world.

Han Fei discovered that thousands of starving refugees were trapped in a barren wasteland by an Obstruction of Knowledge and Views, and spent months trying unsuccessfully to save them. As the refugees neared death, a mysterious masked immortal arrived, bringing a path of flowers and grass and food, and began healing them.

• Han Fei traveled through Wei State and found corpses, monsters, and starving refugees trapped along the border.
• Han Fei repeatedly tried to lead refugees to safety, but the obstruction kept them from leaving and the wasteland offered nothing to eat.
• Han Fei pleaded with the heavens and the Southern Dipper to save the refugees, believing they would all die within a month.
• A path of flowers and grass appeared across the barren earth, and Han Fei followed it for a day and a night to a camp beneath a great tree.
• Han Fei found a masked immortal healing refugees and distributing food, and the immortal gave Han Fei a meat pie and told him to eat slowly.

Lü Yuan discovered that thousands of refugees remained stranded in the wilderness and decided to rescue them despite the danger. He gave the camp refugees protective talismans and asked them to spread his name and bring the others to him.

• Lü Yuan returned to the wilderness, buried the dead, and found hundreds of starving survivors whom he treated and supplied with grain.
• Han Fei told Lü Yuan that thousands more refugees were still lost in the wilderness, but concealed the dangerous circumstances behind their plight.
• Lü Yuan and Punk Lü Yuan discussed the risks, and Lü Yuan chose to help despite Punk Lü Yuan's warning about attracting powerful enemies.
• Lü Yuan gathered the refugees, gave them protective talismans, and asked them to find the stranded people and tell them he would lead them to safety.

Punk Lü Yuan investigated why Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan had advanced to the embryonic breathing fifth layer without cultivating, and concluded that saving people might be the cause. The chapter left them wondering whether the Southern Dipper Cultivation Method made this an “Acting Method.”

• Han Jiu volunteered to manage the refugees and kept their growing camp orderly, easing Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan’s workload.
• Punk Lü Yuan used the Spirit Root and medicine to reach the embryonic breathing first layer in two weeks.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan told Punk Lü Yuan he had unexpectedly reached the embryonic breathing fifth layer without a Spirit Root or cultivation.
• Punk Lü Yuan questioned Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan about unusual encounters and activities, then identified saving people as the only known variable.
• Punk Lü Yuan connected the breakthrough to the Southern Dipper lineage and its Cultivation Method, then asked, “Acting Method?”

Punk Lü Yuan learned from Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan that the Immortal Book’s guidance could help him use the Acting Method, then heard its cryptic hints: “Mere” and “Wait.” Those hints foreshadowed a wandering swordsman approaching, while powerful figures wondered whether the Lord of the State had returned.

• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan revealed that the Immortal Book’s method of emulating a Fruit Position’s intent could produce the same effect as the Acting Method, and Punk Lü Yuan agreed to test it for the Fire Virtue Dao lineage.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan told Punk Lü Yuan that the Immortal Book had hinted “Mere” and then “Wait” when he wondered how to get everyone out.
• A young wandering swordsman named Brother Ji changed his route through Wei State after sensing a possible awakened friend from seven hundred years ago nearby.
• Southern Dipper wondered whether the Lord of the State had returned, then turned his attention back to the fiend trapped within the Second Sun and promised its evil would end within a century.
• The Fourth Devil Ancestor studied an old painting of the Lord of the State and worried that the ancient figure might have returned.

Liu Ji crossed the ruined borderlands of Han and Wei, where a calamity had killed nearly everyone, and followed signs of survivors to a camp led by Han Fei. There he recognized Lü Yuan as the figure called an immortal and asked which True Lord stood before him.

• Liu Ji explained that the land was tainted by the Shen Constellation’s deathly power and decided to investigate while Xiahou Ying took the safer road home.
• Liu Ji found traces of recent human activity and hurried onward, fearing his old friend might be trapped or in danger.
• Liu Ji joined a group of refugees and learned they were following a talisman-bearing guide toward an immortal who promised them a way to survive.
• Liu Ji reached Lü Yuan’s camp, where more than ten thousand refugees had gathered, and addressed him as a True Lord of the mountain.
• Lü Yuan was astonished to hear Liu Ji introduce himself as Liu Ji of Pei County.

Lü Yuan was stunned when a wandering swordsman introduced himself as Liu Ji of Pei County, and the Immortal Book suggested Liu Ji might be a Golden Core True Lord. Liu Ji, unable to see through Lü Yuan, wrongly concluded that he was King Zheng of Qin, leaving both men uncertain how to proceed.

• Lü Yuan recognized Liu Ji of Pei County and wondered whether the world had become a xianxia version of the late Warring States period.
• Lü Yuan asked the Immortal Book about Liu Ji’s origins and cultivation, but it answered neither question.
• Liu Ji reasoned that the person before him had to be a True Lord because he could not see through him and because a Golden Core was needed to withstand the Shen Constellation’s deathly force.
• Liu Ji noticed the tree’s talisman-bearing leaves and considered whether Lü Yuan might instead be an Embryonic Breathing cultivator protected by a Law Artifact.
• Liu Ji concluded that Lü Yuan was King Zheng of Qin, while Lü Yuan and Liu Ji both wondered how to end their awkward exchange.

Lü Yuan revealed to Liu Ji that his ability to withstand the Golden Core True Lord came from a great personage’s favor, while admitting he was only at Embryonic Breathing. Liu Ji believed him and became intrigued, leaving Lü Yuan’s unexplained confidence—and whether Liu Ji would help him save the refugees—unresolved.

• Liu Ji manifested a sunlike Dharma manifestation with thirty-six solar halos, and the Immortal Book protected Lü Yuan from its power.
• Lü Yuan decided to speak honestly about his situation rather than pretend to be a mysterious True Lord.
• Lü Yuan told Liu Ji that a great personage had shown him favor and that his own cultivation was only at Embryonic Breathing.
• Liu Ji believed Lü Yuan and wondered whether the Southern Dipper Palace or a Southern Dipper Law Treasure was behind his unusual abilities.
• Liu Ji asked whether Lü Yuan feared he might covet the favor, and Lü Yuan replied that he was not afraid.

Lü Yuan and Liu Ji shared wine in the wilderness, and Liu Ji explained why he believed Southern Dipper had brought him there to help the refugees. The conversation ended with Liu Ji asking Lü Yuan to reveal his true appearance, then reacting to the eight-year-old boy with the words “E Xu?”

• Liu Ji drank the wine Lü Yuan had brought and insisted that Lü Yuan call him big brother.
• Lü Yuan asked why Liu Ji had come, and Liu Ji guessed that Southern Dipper had sent him to help Lü Yuan save the refugees.
• Liu Ji reassured Lü Yuan that the smoothness of his journey was to be expected because he had received Southern Dipper’s favor.
• Liu Ji asked Lü Yuan to dispel his illusion and reveal his true face.
• Lü Yuan revealed that he was an eight-year-old boy, and Liu Ji murmured, “E Xu?”

Lü Yuan and Liu Ji tried to explain Lü Yuan’s uncanny resemblance to E Xu, and Liu Ji concluded that Lü Yuan might be the child of himself and E Xu, born from their fused Residual Positions. The chapter ended with Liu Ji telling Lü Yuan he might be his biological father, while Lü Yuan was left baffled by the contradiction that they were “neither kin nor related.”

• Lü Yuan recognized E Xu as Empress Lü’s childhood name and wondered whether Liu Ji had known her in this life.
• Liu Ji reasoned that Lü Yuan’s resemblance to E Xu and his reaction to their names suggested he was born from the fusion of Liu Ji and E Xu’s Residual Positions.
• Liu Ji asked Lü Yuan whether he had met his parents and where his name came from, and Lü Yuan said he had known his name from birth.
• Liu Ji concluded that Lü Yuan might be his and E Xu’s child and explained that he looked almost exactly like E Xu.
• Lü Yuan asked whether he was related to E Xu, while Liu Ji said he might be Lü Yuan’s biological father despite them being neither kin nor related.

Lü Yuan learned that Liu Bang believed himself to be his father and revealed that Lü Zhi was his mother, then explained the world’s major Dao lineages. The chapter ended with Liu Bang completing his overview of the Three Enclosures, Four Remainders, Seven Governors, Northern and Southern Dippers, and Twelve Stars.

• Lü Yuan questioned Liu Bang’s claim that they were father and son, then accepted it provisionally despite being unable to verify it.
• Liu Bang told Lü Yuan that his real name was Liu Bang and that Lü Yuan’s mother was Lü Zhi.
• Lü Yuan asked about the cultivation world, and Liu Bang began explaining its major Dao lineages during their journey.
• Liu Bang described the Three Enclosures and Four Remainders, including their origins and the four Devil Ancestors’ Fruit Positions.
• Liu Bang explained the Seven Governors, revealing that he cultivated the Sun lineage and Lü Zhi cultivated the Great Yin lineage, and advised Lü Yuan to continue his Southern Dipper Cultivation Method.
• Liu Bang described the strengths of the Southern and Northern Dipper lineages, then explained that the Twelve Zodiacal Stations had forty Fruit Positions and concluded his overview.

Before school started, Lü Yuan slowed his cultivation to avoid standing out and practiced talismans and sword arts instead. Lin Qi visited him for their usual banter and, still broke, followed him home hoping for Spirit Stone Vouchers.

• Lü Yuan found old records showing that Fu Lu had reached Embryonic Breathing First Layer shortly after school began, so he paused his rapid cultivation.
• He failed to make progress in artifact refinement but learned to draw one or two ordinary first-grade talismans each day.
• Lü Yuan practiced the Dipper Handle Turning the Cardinal Points and Ordering the Heavenly Laws Sword Instruction in the activity plaza.
• Lin Qi criticized his sword art and offered to give him a better one in exchange for satisfying her, but Lü Yuan refused and teased her about borrowing money.
• Lin Qi complained that she was too poor to afford clothes, then followed Lü Yuan home in hopes of getting Spirit Stone Vouchers.

Lü Yuan and Lin Qi continued building their popular account as school approached, while Punk Lü Yuan heard about Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan’s unexpected Golden Core patron and suspected family. After comparing the ancient world’s familiar historical figures to a scripted version of the late Warring States period, Punk Lü Yuan concluded that someone had deliberately shaped events, leaving Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan to wonder whether another transmigrator was behind it.

• Lü Yuan’s account with Lin Qi gained a million followers, and Lin Qi earned Spirit Stone Vouchers through videos and advertisements.
• Lü Yuan received a call from Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan and heard that a generous Golden Core True Lord had appeared, possibly as his biological father, while his suspected biological mother was also a Golden Core.
• Punk Lü Yuan grew jealous of Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan’s good fortune but then considered his report about the cultivation world.
• Punk Lü Yuan argued that the world was not simply a xianxia version of history, but that someone had pushed events into following a late Warring States script.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan asked whether another transmigrator had arrived before him and shaped the events to achieve a goal.

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan and Punk Lü Yuan considered whether the immortal directing events in the ancient cultivation world was a fellow transmigrator, with Southern Dipper as their leading suspect. After agreeing to wait for more evidence, they caught up on Punk Lü Yuan’s cultivation and his relationship with Lin Qi.

• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan and Punk Lü Yuan speculated that Southern Dipper might be a transmigrator behind the changes in the cultivation world.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan reasoned that Southern Dipper probably did not know he was a transmigrator, while Punk Lü Yuan pointed out that the immortal’s book bestowal might have deterred any action against him.
• Punk Lü Yuan urged Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan not to jump to conclusions, and Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan decided to investigate further when his cultivation was higher.
• Punk Lü Yuan described his cultivation progress and his plan to make Lin Qi financially dependent on him, prompting Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan to ask about their romantic progress.
• Punk Lü Yuan objected that they were only eight, and Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan joked that their mental ages made that claim dubious.

Punk Lü Yuan learned that Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan might reach Purple Mansion in eight years and reach Qi Refinement in as little as two months, but he still refused to stop cultivating. Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan left him the Spirit Root for now, then turned his attention to Great Marsh Mountain.

• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan told Punk Lü Yuan that Liu Bang had predicted he could reach Purple Mansion within eight years by following the Great Yin or Sun lineage.
• Punk Lü Yuan learned that Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan might reach Qi Refinement in one or two months after earning merit by helping Liu Bang rescue people.
• Punk Lü Yuan rejected the suggestion to leave cultivation to Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan and vowed not to let him get two major realms ahead.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan said Punk Lü Yuan could use the Spirit Root for now and vanished from the consciousness space.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan looked toward the rising Sun and repeated the destination Liu Bang had given him: Great Marsh Mountain.

Lü Yuan prepared to enter Mingyang City No. 1 Technical Primary School while resolving to pursue his ambitions, and his ancient counterpart led tens of thousands of displaced people toward a new home at Great Marsh Mountain. As the people agreed to follow him, Han Fei mysteriously forgot why he had been with them and returned to Xinzheng, while Liu Bang watched without concern.

• Lü Yuan began his first day in Ten Directions Bright's Lower City education system, recalling his years of factory work and welcoming the future with the words, "It's just a little wind and frost."
• In the ancient world, Lü Yuan addressed the tens of thousands he had gathered and told them he had found a safe place for them at Great Marsh Mountain.
• Han Fei answered for the crowd, and the displaced people enthusiastically agreed to follow Lü Yuan.
• Han Fei later found himself in Xinzheng, unable to remember what he had intended to do or why he had been elsewhere.
• Liu Bang said it was not yet time and questioned why he was being dragged along while Liu Bang took his child on a trip.

Lü Yuan, Wang Yan, and Lin Qi met before heading to their separate schools, discussing Wang Yan’s rapid cultivation and warning him to hide abilities that crossed the adults’ red lines. They parted at a crossroads, with Wang Yan vowing to catch up to both of them and Lü Yuan accepting the challenge.

• Lü Yuan met Wang Yan and learned he had entered Embryonic Breathing in thirteen days after gaining a fortuitous encounter.
• Lü Yuan warned Wang Yan to conceal the methods and abilities that crossed the adults’ red lines, and Wang Yan said he had a way to cover them up.
• Lin Qi arrived, and the three friends walked and talked together before reaching a crossroads.
• Wang Yan shouted that he would catch up to Lü Yuan and Lin Qi, and Lü Yuan waved without turning around and said he would be waiting.

At Mingyang City No. 1 Technical Primary School’s opening ceremony, students and staff reacted to Lü Yuan’s Top-Grade Pseudo Spirit Root and the prospect that he would receive most of the city’s cultivation resources. The ceremony became a grand welcome for Lü Yuan as he entered the hall.

• Sima Mingli lamented that Lü Yuan’s Top-Grade Pseudo Spirit Root threatened his ambitions despite Sima Mingli having cultivated for three years longer.
• Students with Pseudo Spirit Roots feared Lü Yuan would draw away the resources they needed to advance.
• A factory-recommended student praised Lü Yuan’s arrival, and a fifth-grade Pseudo Spirit Root holder rebuked Sima Mingli’s follower for mocking factory-recommended students.
• A commotion at the hall entrance announced Lü Yuan’s arrival, and students and teachers formed an orderly path for him.
• The dean of students and principal waited to greet Lü Yuan as he entered beside Lin Qi.

At the school assembly, Lü Yuan abandoned his prepared speech and, following an instruction from the Bright Yang Tower, openly mocked the students and challenged them to defeat him for a share of his resources. The Bright Yang Tower promised to visit in three months, leaving Lü Yuan with a deadline to prove himself.

• The principal welcomed Lü Yuan as the freshman representative and first-year head student, while Sima Mingli envied the attention he received.
• Just before Lü Yuan began his prepared speech, the Bright Yang Tower instructed him to be more arrogant, and he immediately changed what he planned to say.
• Lü Yuan insulted the students’ cultivation and talent, declaring that none of them apart from Lin Qi deserved his notice.
• Lü Yuan challenged the students to make him lose an exam or competition within two years, promising to give the winner twice the resources from his share.
• Lü Yuan told the students they could instead become his dogs and beg him for resources, then ended his speech.
• The Bright Yang Tower praised Lü Yuan’s performance and said she would come see him in three months.

After winning his third consecutive monthly exam, Lü Yuan tested Sima Mingli’s strength and easily blocked his full-force attack, then made him his sparring partner. Lü Yuan reflected on his own slower progress compared with Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan before returning home to Lin Qi.

• Sima Mingli attacked Lü Yuan with his strongest Embryonic Breathing Fifth Layer strike and was stunned when Lü Yuan stopped it without budging.
• Lü Yuan named Sima Mingli his sparring partner for the next six months and offered to double his school loan quota if he satisfied him.
• Sima Mingli accepted his role as Lü Yuan’s follower and hoped the increased loan quota would improve his cultivation prospects.
• Lü Yuan reviewed his progress and compared his Embryonic Breathing Third Layer cultivation with Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan’s near-completion of the Twelfth Layer.
• Lü Yuan returned to apartment 412, where Lin Qi teased him about his exam victories, and he asked her to lick the medicinal sweat on his fingertips.

Lü Yuan discussed Lin Qi and Wang Yan’s prospects and promised them access to the profitable Dark Air Realm after he met the person in the Bright Yang Tower. That night, he was summoned there and prepared to meet Li Yelan, the master of Mingyang City.

• Lin Qi told Lü Yuan that Wang Yan had taken first place in his school’s monthly exam, and Lü Yuan maintained that he had only lent Wang Yan startup capital.
• Lin Qi asked Lü Yuan to raise her commission, but he refused direct support and promised her and Wang Yan a Dark Air Realm supply channel after confirming there was no risk.
• Lin Qi tried to learn how Lü Yuan had obtained the supply channel, but he declined to reveal his methods and teased her instead.
• Lü Yuan went to sleep while waiting for the Bright Yang Tower’s summons, and the Immortal Book blocked an attempt to inspect his memories.
• Lü Yuan was summoned to the Bright Yang Tower and realized he was about to meet its master, Li Yelan.

Lü Yuan went to the summit of the Bright Yang Tower for an audience with Radiant Heavenly Sun, Li Yelan, and wondered why she valued him so highly. He discovered that the many figures working there were her prosthetic bodies, then knelt and paid his respects.

• Lü Yuan waited at the top of the Bright Yang Tower, puzzled that Li Yelan had summoned a low-level cultivator like him for an audience.
• Li Yelan called Lü Yuan over, and he walked through the vast office filled with busy figures.
• Lü Yuan realized that every figure shared Li Yelan's face, though their ages and bodies differed.
• Li Yelan explained that the figures were her prosthetic bodies, and Lü Yuan knelt and paid his respects.

Lü Yuan met Li Yelan, Mingyang City's powerful ruler, and struggled to answer her unexpected questions about whether he liked her appearance or any of her prosthetic bodies. Li Yelan stopped teasing him and gently pinched his cheek, privately reflecting on how different he was from the person she remembered from the future.

• Lü Yuan recalled that Lin Qi could not explain how Fire Virtue's associations worked in Mingyang City, but he trusted the Immortal Book's choice to pursue the cultivation method.
• Lü Yuan tried to kneel before Li Yelan, but she told him not to, and he straightened up obediently.
• Li Yelan asked whether Lü Yuan liked her appearance or any of the prosthetic bodies, leaving him flustered as the bodies turned to watch him.
• Lü Yuan denied disliking the bodies or finding Li Yelan unattractive, but he could not explain why he would not answer directly.
• Li Yelan approached, held his chin, and pressed him for an answer before saying she would stop teasing him and pinching his cheek.
• Li Yelan privately remembered Lü Yuan as someone who had once shown burning passion and courage, qualities he had not yet developed.

Li Yelan recalled the fall of the [Bright Yang] lineage and the future she had glimpsed, in which Lü Yuan became her husband and the lineage’s hope. After their puzzling first encounter at [Bright Yang Tower], she invited him to ask why his pseudo spirit root had earned her attention.

• Li Yelan remembered her great-great-grandfather’s rise and how corporate war rendered the mass-produced “Bright Yang Children” unable to foresee the power of Golden Core and Dao Embryo True Lords.
• Li Yelan recalled losing her family and spending a century alone in the Lower City as the last remnant of the [Bright Yang] Dao lineage.
• A restored extrapolation six months earlier showed Li Yelan that Lü Yuan would become her student, subordinate, husband, and the lineage’s hope unless a Golden Core True Lord interfered.
• Li Yelan admitted to herself that she had missed Lü Yuan and wanted to meet him sooner than the future she had seen allowed.
• Li Yelan asked Lü Yuan why he had come with questions, then offered to explain why his pseudo spirit root had made her receive him.

Li Yelan explained to Lü Yuan why top-grade pseudo spirit roots received special treatment and revealed that his choice of the fire of the Five Virtues made him especially valuable. The chapter ended with her saying Fire Virtue would soon rise within the megacorporation.

• Li Yelan asked Lü Yuan to guess why a top-grade pseudo spirit root guaranteed admission to junior college, then explained that ordinary pseudo spirit roots could almost never transfer to a bachelor's program.
• Li Yelan told Lü Yuan that ordinary pseudo spirit roots could only support the lowest-grade artificial spirit roots, while top-grade ones could cultivate an implanted root from acquired to innate.
• Lü Yuan asked why Li Yelan had made time to see him, despite his being only at Embryonic Breathing.
• Li Yelan told Lü Yuan that his value came from choosing the fire of the Five Virtues and that Fire Virtue would soon rise within the megacorporation.