Why can't Li Huowang teach his 'supernatural ability' to others?

His power is tied to unique circumstances (being a Heart-Element, having Danyangzi inside him) and isn't a transferable skill or technique.

What is the Purple-Tassel Sword?

It's a powerful, unnamed weapon given to Li Huowang by a nun from Anci Nunnery. It's noted for its strong killing intent, which Lyu Xiucai cannot handle.

Will Lyu Xiucai become a major threat later?

His desire for power and his humiliation at being beaten are strong motivators. The way the author frames his resentment suggests he may not stay a harmless background character for long.

Why is Lyu Xiucai's title as a 'Scholar' important?

It represents a class of educated, ambitious men in feudal China who were often left powerless and resentful. His frustration is a personal and a social commentary.

The Scholar

1,185 words

The group had a few rare days of peace. No more traveling against wind and rain. Aside from eating, drinking, and watching the opera, even the haggard faces of the Lü troupe began to recover.

But after four days, they had to move on. Li Huowang would have liked to stay longer, but the Qingqiu sheep were starting to lose weight from lack of pasture. If they kept losing flesh, there'd be nothing left.

The bedding and the iron pot were loaded back onto the oxcart, and they set out for the bustling county town the wheat-harvesters had described.

"What happened to your face?" Li Huowang asked, looking at the purple-black bruise around Lü Zhuangyuan's right eye.

"Ah, nothing, nothing. Tumbled in the privy last night. Slipped." Lü Zhuangyuan forced an awkward smile.

"Heh, that's not from a fall," Dogwa cut in. "He snuck backstage at another troupe trying to steal their techniques, and the manager caught him and gave him a beating."

Lü Zhuangyuan's face flushed with shame, but he still tried to defend himself. "I wasn't... I wasn't stealing. I was just looking."

Even he didn't sound convinced.

To change the subject, Lü Zhuangyuan promptly threw his son under the cart.

"Little Daoist, I've heard about that matter with Scholar Lyu. I've given him a proper scolding. Please, be magnanimous and don't hold it against him."

"What matter?" Li Huowang was confused for a moment, then quickly understood. "Oh, you mean the apprenticeship thing? It's fine. I'd forgotten about it long ago."

"This supernatural ability of mine really can't be taught. If I could, wouldn't I have already taught all my other martial brothers? I'd have a few more helpers by my side, wouldn't I?"

"That's good, that's good." Lü Zhuangyuan, hunched over, kept nodding with a smile beside Li Huowang.

"Troupe Master Lü, those wheat-harvesters said it's about how long to the county seat from this village?"

"About four days."

Li Huowang nodded and quickened his pace a little. Let's hope this county town is big enough to buy a map marked with Ox-Heart Mountain.

He wished he could get there instantly, but the road had to be walked step by step. Especially since they had an oxcart. The ox could carry a heavy load, but when it came to speed, it couldn't compare to a horse cart, or even a donkey cart.

As the sun set, the oxcart and the flock of sheep formed a wall, and the others sat inside it to eat dinner.

Tonight, it was knife-cut noodles with cornmeal. Yang Xiaohai, who had grown a bit taller, skillfully kneaded the dough, holding a knife in his left hand and the dough in his right.

Blades of light flashed as strips of noodle were sliced into the rolling pot. He hadn't improved much at swordsmanship, but his knife skills were getting better by the day.

With some tender bamboo shoots thrown in, a bowl of lamb-fat knife-cut noodles with bamboo shoots was ready.

"Martial Brother Yang, your cooking is really getting good. One of these days, you could become a chef," Dogwa said, then took a bowl with Hong'er and headed toward the oxcart.

Before they even reached it, they were already feeding each other, having a grand old time.

Lyu Xiucai, with a large lump on his head from his father's tobacco pipe, came to the pot and resentfully scooped up some noodles. "What's so great about it? Once my dad buys the opera house..."

"Scholar Lyu, what are you saying?"

Lyu Xiucai looked up at the speaker, Yang Xiaohai, and the round-faced woman standing behind him. His face went cold, and he walked back with his bowl.

There was nothing to do after dinner, so everyone went to sleep early. The first half of the night watch was Lyu Xiucai and his brother.

Li Huowang slept well for the first half of the night, but just before the third watch, he was jolted awake by a surge of killing intent.

Throwing off the blanket and shoving the sleeping Bai Lingmiao deeper inside, he rolled over and reached for his weapons on the oxcart.

But he only found the Bronze Coin Sword. The Purple-Tassel Sword that the nun had given him was gone!

"Yaowazi!! What are you doing! Put the sword down!" Lü Zhuangyuan's shout woke everyone up.

Li Huowang immediately turned and ran toward the campfire. Among the gathered Lü troupe members, he finally saw his weapon.

Lyu Xiucai was holding the Purple-Tassel Sword. He was clearly struggling under the sword's killing intent. His body kept leaning backward, his face twisted in a grimace as he gasped for air.

The panicked Lü Zhuangyuan hurried to Li Huowang's side. "Little Daoist, what's going on? Why has my boy turned out like this?"

"Hahaha! I have supernatural powers now! I can kill whoever I want!" Lyu Xiucai started laughing wildly.

When he saw Li Huowang walking toward him, Lyu Xiucai instinctively pointed the sword tip at him.

Li Huowang reached out, grabbing the blade with one hand. Then he raised his right foot and kicked the youth hard in the soft belly.

"Uuuaaagh!" Lyu Xiucai fell to his knees, clutching his stomach, and vomited all the bamboo-shoot noodles he'd eaten that night.

Li Huowang slid the sword back into its sheath, glanced at his bloody, cut-open palm, flicked the blood off casually, and said to Lyu Xiucai, "I'll say it one more time. I don't have any supernatural ability. And I can't teach you one. This is the first and last time. If there's a next time, you can all leave."

"Why won't you teach me! Even Dogwa gets to do it! Why not me! I want to be a master too! I don't want to be a commoner!"

"When you actually have what I have, you won't think that way. If I had a choice, I'd rather be a normal person like you."

"Stop standing around. Go back to sleep. We still have to travel tomorrow."

Having dealt with this insignificant incident, Li Huowang turned and left with the Purple-Tassel Sword in hand.

Seeing it was all over, Lü Zhuangyuan, throwing a coat over his shoulders, rushed over to Lyu Xiucai with his eldest son.

"Look at the stupid thing you've done! What are you still lying on the ground for! Get up!"

As he reached out to pull Lyu Xiucai to his feet, Lyu Xiucai slapped him across the face, leaving Lü Zhuangyuan stunned.

"Stay away from me, you old bag of bones! I don't need you to meddle in my business!"

But the night's events didn't end there. When Li Huowang woke up the next morning, he saw Lyu Xiucai hanging upside down from a tree, being whipped with a rattan cane by Lü Zhuangyuan.

Even though his face was covered in raised, bloody welts, Lyu Xiucai refused to admit defeat, cursing his father and his older brother at the top of his lungs.

"Just you wait! How dare you hit me! If you've got the guts, kill me! Otherwise, I'll kill every one of you!!"

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Reading Guide Decoding

The Poison of Ambition and a Brutal Lesson

Cultural / Xianxia Notes

The "Scholar" (秀才, Xiucai): Lyu Xiucai's name and title are crucial. In imperial China, a xiucai was the lowest level of successful candidate in the civil service examinations. It was a title that granted some social status but often came with the bitter reality of being an educated man with no real power or wealth. Lyu Xiucai embodies this frustrated class—too smart and proud to be a common laborer, but not successful enough to escape poverty. His desire for Li Huowang's "supernatural power" is a twisted version of the traditional scholar's ambition for advancement through merit. He doesn't want to study to become powerful; he wants the shortcut, the cheat code. Knife-Cut Noodles (刀削面, Dao Xiao Mian): A classic dish from Shanxi province, known for its method of preparation: a chef holds a block of dough and uses a sharp knife to slice it directly into a pot of boiling water. Yang Xiaohai's skill with this technique is a neat parallel to his own lack of swordsmanship—he can't use a sword in battle, but he can slice noodles with expert precision. It's a small, human detail against a backdrop of horror.

Chapter Overview

Buckle up, fellow travelers, because after a few chapters of (relative) calm, the tension in Li Huowang's rag-tag group finally boils over. And the source? Not a Flesh Buddha, not a Zuowandao trickster, but the simmering resentment of a frustrated teenager. Lyu Xiucai, the scholar who desperately wants to escape his "mortal" fate, finally makes a move, and it's exactly as stupid and dangerous as you'd expect. This chapter is a masterclass in quiet horror—the kind that doesn't come from a monster, but from the ugly, all-too-human emotions of envy, ambition, and the desperate need to be special. Li Huowang's response is brutal, pragmatic, and heartbreakingly honest. Get ready for a character study wrapped in noodles and bruised egos.

Key Plot Points

The chapter opens with a group quietly recovering. Li Huowang gifts Chun Xiaoman the sword of the late Changming, a symbolic passing of the torch. Yang Xiaohai's cooking skills are on full display, providing a moment of domestic warmth. But this peace is fragile. Lü Zhuangyuan's bruised face reveals his failed attempt to steal techniques from another troupe, a petty act that foreshadows the main conflict. The real storm comes that night. Lyu Xiucai, driven by envy and a twisted sense of entitlement, steals Li Huowang's Purple-Tassel Sword, overwhelmed by its killing intent but deluded into believing he has gained a "supernatural ability." He confronts his father and Li Huowang, only to be swiftly disarmed and humiliated. The aftermath is the most disturbing part: Lyu Xiucai is hung from a tree and brutally whipped by his father, screaming death threats at his own family. The cycle of resentment and violence is laid bare.

Reading Guide

This chapter is a crucial turning point for the group's internal dynamics. Li Huowang's refusal to teach his "ability" isn't about selfishness; it's a grim, hard-won piece of wisdom delivered in the most painful way possible: "If I had a choice, I'd rather be a normal person like you." This is a key moment for his character, showing the immense burden he carries. The real horror here isn't supernatural. It's the ugliness of Lyu Xiucai's ambition, the desperation of a father trying to beat sense into his son, and the chilling prophecy of violence that ends the chapter. "Otherwise, I'll kill every one of you!!" — this isn't just a bratty tantrum. In the Dao-Twisted World, where resentment and desire can literally reshape reality, words like this have weight. Keep an eye on Scholar Lyu. Ambition is a poison that often finds its own cure in this world.

The Weight of a Title

The term "Xiucai" isn't just a name; it's a social straitjacket. For a deep dive into how the imperial examination system created a whole class of brilliant, bitter, and often dangerous men, check out the history of the Keju (科举) system. In the Dao-Twisted World, this historical resentment is supercharged. Lyu Xiucai isn't just poor; he's a symbol of thwarted ambition in a world where that ambition can literally mutate you into a monster. His cry of "I don't want to be a commoner!" isn't just teenage angst. It's the cry of a whole class of men who were promised glory through study but were handed only bitterness.

Quick Q&A

Lore recap (TL;DR) drawn from this chapter's Cultural / Xianxia Notes — same text as the FAQ structured data on this page.

Why can't Li Huowang teach his 'supernatural ability' to others?: His power is tied to unique circumstances (being a Heart-Element, having Danyangzi inside him) and isn't a transferable skill or technique.
What is the Purple-Tassel Sword?: It's a powerful, unnamed weapon given to Li Huowang by a nun from Anci Nunnery. It's noted for its strong killing intent, which Lyu Xiucai cannot handle.
Will Lyu Xiucai become a major threat later?: His desire for power and his humiliation at being beaten are strong motivators. The way the author frames his resentment suggests he may not stay a harmless background character for long.
Why is Lyu Xiucai's title as a 'Scholar' important?: It represents a class of educated, ambitious men in feudal China who were often left powerless and resentful. His frustration is a personal and a social commentary.