Chapter Summaries

Si Ming studied the Nation of Valor’s military ranks, strict laws, and disciplined society while Yu Shuying explained the Su State’s relations with the country and what its people were like. After seeing a photograph of an orderly factory meeting, Si Ming asked what their trial assignment would be, leaving the details of their mission unanswered.

• Si Ming learned that he would study abroad in the Nation of Valor with Yu Shuying, accompanied by Thunder King Xing Daozhuang, while Murong Qing remained in seclusion.
• Si Ming read about the Nation of Valor’s twenty military ranks, laws, social rules, and state-arranged marriages.
• Yu Shuying told Si Ming that the Su State and the Nation of Valor were not at war and advised him to be direct and avoid unnecessary small talk.
• Yu Shuying showed Si Ming a photograph of a factory meeting, and he saw how strictly the Nation of Valor’s people observed discipline.
• Si Ming asked Yu Shuying what trial assignment they would have in the Nation of Valor.

Si Ming traveled to the Nation of Valor with Yu Shuying and Xing Daozhuang, then explored the country while considering its rivalry with the Mohist School and Su State. He found that he could pass unnoticed among the locals and left the chapter touring the Nation of Valor’s cities and weighing its military power against its lower standard of living.

• Si Ming and Yu Shuying discussed joining the Martial King Cup, and Xing Daozhuang met them at the harbor before they boarded a ship to the Nation of Valor.
• Si Ming watched a crowd from the Nation of Valor board with practiced efficiency, and Yu Shuying explained their strict punctuality.
• Si Ming considered the Mohist School’s history of aiding countries that fought the Military School and how its arms sales had benefited Su State.
• After entering the Nation of Valor, Si Ming realized locals could not identify him as a Mohist disciple and relaxed enough to admire the scenery.
• Si Ming observed the Nation of Valor’s orderly, minimally fortified cities and noted that its focus on military strength left its economy and public facilities far behind Su State’s.
• Si Ming reflected that the Nation of Valor had accepted tribute from neighboring states and that worsening monster tides had helped bring a rare period of peace to the Northern Continent.

Si Ming reunited with Huang Tu at Sun Wu University, where they agreed to settle their old rivalry in the Martial King Cup Tournament. Huang Tu then took Si Ming to a tavern for a late-night meal, where they began ordering food.

• Xing Daozhuang and the exchange students arrived at Sun Wu University, where Huang Tu welcomed them as the Nation of Valor’s envoy.
• Huang Tu recognized Si Ming and described how he had trained for years to avenge his defeat in their past fight.
• Si Ming proposed that they meet in the Martial King Cup Tournament, and Huang Tu eagerly agreed.
• Huang Tu invited Si Ming to a tavern for a late-night meal, and Si Ming accepted.
• Huang Tu ordered around a dozen dishes after they sat down at the tavern.

Si Ming escaped the tavern with the drunken Huang Tu, only to be ambushed by a Spirit Transformation cultivator who had disguised himself as Huang Tu’s guard. Si Ming defeated the attacker, but a second assailant struck him while he protected Huang Tu, leaving him in pain from a vicious flame force.

• Huang Tu got drunk and sang and stripped alongside the tavern’s other patrons, so Si Ming paid and carried him outside.
• A middle-aged man claiming to be Huang Tu’s guard approached Si Ming, who noticed the man’s unsettled Qi and grew suspicious.
• The man attacked Si Ming with a nine-section whip and flame techniques, but Si Ming broke the whip and battled him while protecting Huang Tu.
• Si Ming broke the attacker’s arm, wounded him with the True Yang Vermilion Blaze Saber, and struck him down with the Blazing Sun Heavenly Saber.
• As Si Ming reached to remove the wounded man’s disguise, another figure attacked Huang Tu, forcing Si Ming to block and suffer a fierce flame force through his meridians.

After an attack on Huang Tu, Si Ming and Yu Shuying considered why someone would target the unremarkable imperial grandson and joked about Si Ming’s reputation for bringing turmoil wherever he went. Si Ming resolved to avoid trouble and stayed in his room, where he refined the Evil-Slaying Sword Art; the chapter ended with his uncontrolled Sword Qi shredding the room.

• Si Ming chose not to pursue the masked attacker who had struck him and fled with the injured middle-aged man, since Huang Tu was asleep on his back.
• Si Ming told Yu Shuying about the attack, and they reasoned that Huang Tu’s weak claim to the throne made a succession struggle an unlikely motive.
• Yu Shuying listed the upheavals that had followed Si Ming across several countries, and Si Ming defended his role while resolving to keep a low profile in the Nation of Valor.
• Si Ming returned to his dormitory to review his gains from the Barbarian Continent and use the Evil-Slaying Sword Art to improve his Blazing Yang Battle Art.
• Si Ming used his Divine Firmament Soul Body and sudden enlightenment talent to advance the Evil-Slaying Sword Technique from major accomplishment to perfection and beyond.
• After Si Ming’s Sword Intent barrier dissolved the following noon, his Sword Qi went out of control and riddled the room’s furniture and walls with holes.

Si Ming recovered after his battle with the Anye Beast King and advanced his Blazing Yang Battle Art, then declined Huang Tu’s invitation to visit the imperial palace. He joined Xing Daozhuang and Yu Shuying at the Martial King Cup venue, where Yu Shuying questioned how little he knew about the competition.

• Si Ming realized his Evil-Slaying Sword Art could now break the Anye Beast King’s Unity of the Sacred and Evil, and used its principles to raise the Blazing Yang Battle Art’s level cap to sixteen.
• Si Ming exhausted himself after twelve hours of cultivation, while Huang Tu broke into his room, assumed he was injured, and renounced his revenge in gratitude for being saved.
• Si Ming awoke to find Huang Tu standing guard and fussing over him, then declined Huang Tu’s invitation to tour the imperial palace.
• After another day, Xing Daozhuang took Si Ming and Yu Shuying to register for the Martial King Cup at the West Garden Military Camp.
• Si Ming arrived early with Xing Daozhuang, considered how to observe the other competitors, and asked why a training-ground competition would have so few spectators.
• Yu Shuying asked Si Ming whether he had looked into the nature of the Martial King Cup, and Si Ming admitted he had been too busy cultivating to gather information.

Si Ming learned about the elite Martial King Cup before Ba Shenhuang arrived and attacked Xing Daozhuang. After their clash revealed Ba Shenhuang’s overwhelming strength, Si Ming considered how difficult it would be to defeat him without activating the Buddha formation.

• Yu Shuying explained that the Martial King Cup was a little-known competition for young martial artists recommended by Spirit Transformation Grandmasters.
• Si Ming compared the competition to an upper-class gathering where powerful families displayed and connected their rising talents.
• Ba Shenhuang entered the camp, insulted Xing Daozhuang, and struck him with a palm attack.
• Xing Daozhuang met Ba Shenhuang’s strike with Five Thunder Profound Qi, but he staggered back three steps while Ba Shenhuang retreated only half a step.
• Ba Shenhuang dismissed Xing Daozhuang and left, and Huang Tu apologized to Si Ming for his master’s behavior.
• Si Ming judged that Ba Shenhuang was likely stronger than him unless he activated the Buddha formation.

Si Ming met Xing Daozhuang, learned that he practiced the Blazing Yang Battle Art alongside another Internal Cultivation technique, and offered to share his new insights. At the military camp, Si Huaruo joined him, a jealous Qiu Ze left after she rejected him, and Huyan Lie’s hostility suggested the Martial King Cup would bring conflict.

• Si Ming asked Xing Daozhuang about his Blazing Yang Battle Art, and Xing gave him a manual of his cultivation insights.
• Xing Daozhuang revealed that he practiced a second Internal Cultivation technique, and Si Ming offered to share his own discoveries about advancing the Blazing Yang Battle Art.
• Si Huaruo arrived and told Si Ming she had entered the Martial King Cup because she expected him to compete.
• Qiu Ze criticized Si Ming, but Si Huaruo linked arms with Si Ming and told Qiu Ze to leave, so he departed after glaring at Si Ming.
• Huyan Lie gave Si Ming a threatening look, and Si Ming anticipated that the Martial King Cup would not be boring.

Xing Daozhuang considered whether to use Si Ming’s improved Blazing Yang Battle Art to conceal his Monster Race identity and unite the holy and the evil, but decided to wait for the Moth Emperor’s plan. Meanwhile, Si Ming took Si Huaruo to watch a military ball match, where the Dragon and Snake Rise on Land Team’s skilled newcomer began to lead an attack.

• Xing Daozhuang examined Si Ming’s improved Blazing Yang Battle Art and recognized that it could raise the art’s limit to level sixteen.
• Xing Daozhuang reflected on his Monster Race identity, the Remote Heaven Society’s blackmail, and the dangers of uniting the holy and the evil or turning evil into holy.
• Xing Daozhuang decided to keep his identity concealed and wait to see whether the Moth Emperor’s operation succeeded, then put the notebook away.
• Si Ming, Si Huaruo, and Huang Tu watched the Soldier King Cup semifinal between the Wind Forest Fire Mountain Team and the Dragon and Snake Rise on Land Team.
• The Dragon and Snake Rise on Land Team’s ace evaded the red team’s tackles and advanced through coordinated play with his teammates.

After Qingyan led the Dragon and Snake Rise on Land Team to a semifinal victory, Hongyi tried to persuade him to become a military ball agent, but Qingyan remained committed to becoming a legendary assassin. When Qingyan considered changing his name to escape his reputation, Hongyi warned that the assassin world already knew who he was.

• Qingyan led the Dragon and Snake Rise on Land Team to defeat the Wind Forest Fire Mountain Team 10:8 in the Soldier King Cup semifinals.
• Qingyan recalled that his employers kept dying, leaving him blacklisted from assassin jobs and forcing him to earn money as a military ball player.
• Hongyi proposed that Qingyan become a professional military ball agent and told him the Six Secret Teachings Team had offered him fifty million a year.
• Qingyan rejected the offer because he valued his dream of becoming a legendary assassin more than wealth, and offered Hongyi money from his account if needed.
• Hongyi explained that Qingyan's reputation had spread throughout the assassin business, so changing his name would not make clients trust him.

Si Ming's counselor, Xin Jia, visited his dorm to urge him to attend classes and meet his classmates. He agreed to go to class, then pressed her to explain a disturbing incident she had hinted at.

• Xin Jia introduced herself as Si Ming's counselor and criticized him for staying in his dorm and skipping classes.
• Si Ming explained that he had been cultivating and had recently broken through a martial arts bottleneck.
• Xin Jia suggested a welcome party, but Si Ming warned that it could backfire because his classmates might dislike him.
• Si Ming agreed to attend classes and greet his classmates, easing Xin Jia's concern.
• Xin Jia mentioned a past incident that had frightened someone who opened a student's dorm room, and Si Ming pressed her for details.

Xin Jia explained why she had worried Si Ming might be secretly cultivating the Transformation Canon, then escorted him to class and discussed the Nation of Valor’s laws with him. Qiu Ze confronted them with a false accusation, and Si Ming told Xin Jia she needed to be tougher.

• Xin Jia told Si Ming about a student who transformed himself into a woman by secretly practicing the Transformation Canon, explaining why she had checked on him.
• Si Ming agreed to attend class, and Xin Jia accompanied him while promising to handle any trouble at school.
• Si Ming and Xin Jia discussed the Nation of Valor’s policy of killing children born with disabilities and the possibility of changing the law.
• Qiu Ze accused Si Ming of pursuing Si Huaruo while involved with Xin Jia, and Xin Jia offered to take the matter to the academic affairs office.
• Xin Jia privately told Si Ming that the director of academic affairs was her uncle, but Si Ming said she should respond more forcefully.

Si Ming drove Qiu Ze away by pretending that Si Huaruo preferred crude, uninhibited men, then accompanied Xin Jia to a class meeting where she introduced him as a trial exchange student. The students reacted to his looks with admiration and jealousy, and the boys began mocking him.

• Si Ming insulted Qiu Ze and claimed Si Huaruo preferred men like him, causing Qiu Ze to leave wondering whether he should change his image.
• Xin Jia asked whether Si Ming's claims were true, and he admitted he had been manipulating Qiu Ze.
• Si Ming suspected someone had arranged for Qiu Ze to watch for him, but decided that university trouble was beneath his concern.
• Xin Jia took Si Ming to a class meeting and introduced him to the students as an exchange student attending on a trial basis.
• The girls praised Si Ming's appearance, while the boys grew jealous and mocked his looks and late arrival.

Si Ming confronted Fu Feng’s provocations over Su State’s intervention in the Northern Continent and defended the Mohist School’s position before his new classmates. The meeting ended without a fight, but Fu Feng’s hostility remained, and the class did not accept Si Ming.

• Xin Jia introduced Si Ming to the class, and Fu Feng provoked him after learning he belonged to the Mohist School.
• Fu Feng challenged Si Ming to explain Su State’s interference in the Nation of Valor’s efforts to unify the Northern Continent.
• Si Ming argued that Su State had been asked by the Su Kingdom and Rui State to help stop unjust wars, and the two students exchanged accusations about their schools and nations.
• The class meeting ended on bad terms as the other students stayed silent rather than oppose Fu Feng.
• Fu Feng told his followers that avoiding a physical fight had protected them from serious consequences, since Si Ming had a powerful Spirit Transformation master.

Fu Feng used a secretly recorded class debate to stir up anger against Si Ming, who agreed to answer the controversy through the campus broadcast. Si Ming and Xin Jia reached the broadcast room, where he began testing the microphone.

• Fu Feng told his followers to get the school broadcasting station to air the recording without letting its staff review it.
• Si Ming practiced Shennong's Three Fists in his dorm, reached major accomplishment, and caused a brief building-wide tremor.
• Xin Jia warned Si Ming that the recording had aired and students were calling for him to be punished.
• Si Ming rejected Xin Jia's offer to hide him and agreed to explain the dispute over the campus broadcast.
• Xin Jia took Si Ming to the broadcast room, where he tested the microphone and drew students' attention.

Si Ming answered Fu Feng’s smear campaign over the radio by admitting he meant the recorded words and challenging the Military School to a seven-day arena contest. After the broadcast, he reassured Xin Jia and Cheng Xin that he had prepared a strategy, but did not reveal it.

• Si Ming introduced himself on the radio and accused Fu Feng of framing him, while Fu Feng dismissed the explanation and expected students to turn against him.
• Fu Feng and his followers discussed how they could exploit either a public apology or Si Ming’s refusal to apologize.
• Si Ming declared that he meant everything in the recording, denounced Fu Feng’s tactics, and challenged the Military School to a seven-day arena contest.
• Si Ming added that everyone at the university was trash, provoking angry reactions across campus while Fu Feng believed the outburst had made Si Ming’s position worse.
• Si Ming turned off the broadcast and released Xin Jia and Cheng Xin from their acupoints; he assured them he had a plan but kept its details secret.

Si Ming planned an open challenge to humiliate Fu Feng and the Military School without revealing his hidden strength. On the first day, he carried Cheng Xin’s flashy banner to the martial arts hall, where Yu Shuying, Hualiu, and Si Huaruo met him.

• Si Ming explained that he would preserve his hidden strength and use Fu Feng’s reputation against him rather than attack him directly.
• Cheng Xin agreed to support Si Ming, and he asked her to make a banner welcoming Fu Feng and the Military School sissies to be humiliated.
• Cheng Xin and Xin Jia met Si Ming on the first day of the challenge and gave him the glowing banner she had made.
• Si Ming carried the banner through campus, drawing curious students eager to watch his challenge unfold.
• Si Ming arrived at the martial arts hall and told Yu Shuying, Hualiu, and Si Huaruo that he had challenged Sun Wu University to build his renown.

Si Ming entered the Sun Wu University Martial Arts Club intending to provoke its members into fighting him, while keeping most of his strength hidden. He declared that he was commandeering the training ground and challenged the club’s experts, leaving the onlookers convinced that he had made himself a target.

• Si Ming told Yu Shuying he would display strength and stamina near Spirit Transformation without revealing his full abilities, and Si Huaruo offered to intervene if needed.
• Cheng Xin photographed Si Ming with Yu Shuying, Hualiu, and Si Huaruo, then agreed to take a triumphant-return picture after his fights.
• Xin Jia denied having romantic feelings for Si Ming and said she helped him because she felt responsible for his troubles.
• The Martial Arts Club president refused to lend Si Ming a training ground, while Fu Feng expected the obstacle to make him rely on Yan Jinghong’s status.
• Si Ming announced that he was commandeering the central training ground, then used Dragon-Elephant Stomp to send four club members flying and called for the club’s experts to face him.
• The onlookers warned that the Martial Arts Club would retaliate and that Si Ming’s exchange-student status would not protect him.

Si Ming overwhelmed the Martial Arts Club’s fighters, then battled a crowd of students who attacked him together. He continued driving them back with his fists, palms, and coat as a whip while Cheng Xin photographed the fight.

• Zong Yutong charged Si Ming with Dragon-Tiger Thunder Strike, but Si Ming sent him crashing into the wall with one move.
• A blade-wielding student and a twin-sword fighter challenged Si Ming in turn, and he sent both to the same spot on the wall while holding the banner board in one hand.
• Fu Feng realized Si Ming’s strength and secretly urged students to attack him, prompting most of the crowd to rush onto the training ground.
• Si Ming invited them to attack together, fought them with Wild Ball Fist and Ethereal Cloud and Mist Palm, and kept the falling banner aloft with his strikes.
• Si Ming took off his coat and used it as a whip to break weapons and drive back the crowd while Cheng Xin took photographs.

Si Ming defeated the students who attacked him and announced that he would continue his challenge, while Sun Wu University’s team assessed his strength and planned their response. Hou Fei volunteered to face him next.

• Si Ming sent roughly two hundred attackers flying, broke through the crowd, and left Fu Feng humiliated after ignoring him.
• Si Ming declared that he would wait for stronger challengers and left the training ground with the banner still hanging overhead.
• Gaoyang Wuji questioned You Bin about the martial arts club’s failure and learned that Si Ming had defeated Zong Yutong with one palm strike.
• Gaoyang Wuji judged Si Ming to be exceptionally powerful and ordered the team to investigate his background and prepare carefully rather than rely on a wheel battle.
• Hou Fei volunteered to scout Si Ming in a fight, and Gaoyang Wuji agreed.