Chapter Summaries

He Piaojian and Fan Daoyi arrived at Dawn Academy to register and were mobbed by seniors after revealing they came from Azure Cloud City. The academy’s leaders clashed at the gate, and Fan Daoyi casually watched the commotion while eating sunflower seeds.

• He Piaojian and Fan Daoyi found the academy’s old campus abandoned, followed its notice to the new campus, and told the sleeping senior they had come to register.
• The senior recognized that only two students from Azure Cloud City had enrolled and summoned the other seniors, who crowded around He Piaojian and Fan Daoyi.
• Principal Zheng arrived, criticized both new students, and tried to restrain He Piaojian with his pressure, but He Piaojian ran toward Principal Fu instead.
• He Piaojian and Principal Fu greeted each other with insults and wrestled at the gate while the students worried about the academy’s reputation.
• Fan Daoyi bought sunflower seeds, offered some to Principal Zheng, and watched as the vice principal spat blood and the crowd rushed to help him.

Fan Daoyi helped welcome new students at Dawnlight Academy after Principal Zheng was taken away, amid the upperclassmen’s chaotic antics. He learned that the new students would face island training and assessment, while later exams were expected to involve combat in Guixu.

• Fan Daoyi watched upperclassmen record Principal Fu being chased and struck by lightning, then recognized the scene as the curse he had reversed.
• A new student arrived at the registration desk, but the upperclassmen rushed off to watch He Piaojian and Principal Fu fight, leaving her bewildered.
• The upperclassmen cheered as the new student landed blows on Principal Fu, and Fan Daoyi wondered whether he had come to the right academy.
• Fan Daoyi helped direct the arriving new students to their colleges, and new students later praised him on the confession wall.
• The upperclassmen treated Fan Daoyi to a meal and told him the entrance assessment would take place on an island, while later exams would likely include combat in Guixu.

He Piaojian and Fan Daoyi entered the island’s secret realm for the freshmen’s combat assessment, but a sudden upheaval herded the students into a circle around eight suspicious figures. After the two found the circle’s center on He Piaojian’s map, a Fusion Realm mud figure trapped them and revealed ties to the Four Fiends Cult, which seemed unaware of recent incidents blamed on it.

• He Piaojian suppressed his cultivation to the Open Source Eighth Tier and entered the secret realm with Fan Daoyi, where they discovered that Teleportation was blocked.
• Mountains shifted and forced the students toward the center, while He Piaojian and Fan Daoyi climbed to a peak and spotted eight people positioned around the crowd.
• Fan Daoyi asked for He Piaojian’s map, and He Piaojian used it to identify the circle’s center as the location of the two missing people.
• A mud figure emerged, pinned He Piaojian and Fan Daoyi with mud, and shrugged off He Piaojian’s darts.
• He Piaojian guessed that the figure belonged to the Four Fiends Cult, and the figure reacted with surprise that the cult’s reputation had endured.

He Piaojian and Fan Daoyi confronted the mud man, who admitted he was Taotie, a high-ranking member of the Four Fiends Cult. He Piaojian exposed Taotie's true body but struggled to attack while Taotie used students as cover.

• Fan Daoyi traced the mountains and ground to find the mud man's weak point, while He Piaojian played a recording of the man claiming to be Taotie.
• The mud man confirmed he was Taotie, and He Piaojian drew a sword from Fan Daoyi's bamboo staff and broke the restrictions sealing his abilities.
• Fan Daoyi told He Piaojian where Taotie's true body lay, and He Piaojian vanished to attack it despite Taotie threatening Fan Daoyi.
• He Piaojian struck Taotie's true body and forced him out of the ground, but Taotie used cultists and possessed students to hinder He Piaojian.
• Taotie mocked He Piaojian for refusing to hurt the students, while He Piaojian questioned whether Taotie was really who he claimed to be.

Fan Daoyi and He Piaojian fought Taotie and the Four Fiends Cult, disrupting their formation and defeating its members. Taotie escaped as mud, unsettled by He Piaojian’s questions about his powers.

• Fan Daoyi kicked Taotie to the ground, then distracted him while prompting He Piaojian to figure out how the mud puppets were controlled.
• He Piaojian sensed the formation’s weakness and attacked one of its eight controllers, but the cultists transformed into paper-like figures and trapped his sword.
• He Piaojian used Sword Control to reclaim his blade and set the figures and mountain ablaze, leaving Taotie surrounded by fire.
• He Piaojian overwhelmed Taotie and taunted him about lacking the legendary Shrinking the Earth to an Inch and an undying trick.
• Taotie turned into mud and escaped, still wondering whether he was truly Taotie.

After Taotie fled, Fan Daoyi stopped He Piaojian’s sword heart from controlling him and the two dealt with the students trapped in the burning secret realm. Principal Fu arrived after the students escaped, apologized for his delayed response, and He Piaojian resumed teasing him.

• He Piaojian attacked Fan Daoyi while [One Heart of the Sword] overwhelmed his humanity, so Fan Daoyi briefly removed the ability and slapped him back to his senses.
• Fan Daoyi explained that the puppet threads had weakened He Piaojian’s resistance to mental control, and He Piaojian resolved to train against mental abilities in Azure Dragon.
• He Piaojian and Fan Daoyi discussed the mud-covered students as the fire spread, and He Piaojian called them beggar’s chicken.
• The students broke out of their dried mud shells, and Principal Fu arrived with teachers to treat them after confirming nobody had died.
• Fan Daoyi criticized Principal Fu and warned He Piaojian about the danger of his loss of control, prompting Principal Fu to apologize for his negligence.
• He Piaojian cheered up and patted Principal Fu on the shoulder, telling him that correcting a mistake was a virtue.

After the attack on the academies, Fan Daoyi suggested searching Guixu for the Four Fiends Cult, and Kun Earth arranged for Azure Dragon’s team to investigate. At dinner, Fan Daoyi recognized Zhen Thunder as the man who had wished for Feiyin’s resurrection, and he agreed to let the investigators search his home.

• Fan Daoyi and He Piaojian delivered Principal Fu’s report to the Eight Trigrams, where Kun Earth explained that the Four Fiends Cult had targeted heaven’s chosen at the five great academies.
• Fan Daoyi suggested looking for clues in Guixu, and Kun Earth told Azure Dragon to search there within Azure Cloud City.
• Zhen Thunder brought Sister Feiyin’s cooking, and he said he planned to marry her after the Insect Disaster was dealt with.
• Fan Daoyi recognized Zhen Thunder as the person who had wished for his beloved wife Feiyin to be resurrected.
• Azure Dragon asked to search Fan Daoyi’s home, and Fan Daoyi agreed.

The Azure Dragon discovered that flowers in Fan Daoyi’s home carried an illusion and suspected someone was framing him, so he and Fan Daoyi staged an arrest to draw out the culprit. The plan left the Azure Dragon Guards and [Eight Trigrams] members facing off at headquarters over Fan Daoyi’s detention.

• The Azure Dragon found an unused Guixu contract item in Fan Daoyi’s home, then broke an illusion triggered by flowers in a vase.
• The Azure Dragon decided the flowers were part of a frame-up and ordered them removed while arranging to arrest Fan Daoyi as bait.
• Fan Daoyi told the Azure Dragon that someone’s purpose was unclear and that his efforts to uncover the truth were being blocked.
• The Azure Dragon and Fan Daoyi rehearsed their roles, then the Azure Dragon led his guards to [Eight Trigrams] headquarters to arrest him.
• He Piaojian, Kun Earth, Qian Heaven, Gen Mountain, Xun Wind, and Kan Water defended Fan Daoyi, and both sides prepared for a confrontation.

Fan Daoyi and Azure Dragon staged his arrest to fool the mastermind behind the evidence planted against him. At a temporary base, Azure Dragon revealed his governance ninth-rank power by casting Sinking Dream across the country.

• Azure Dragon accused Fan Daoyi of using a vase from Guixu to attack official personnel, and Fan Daoyi admitted bringing the flowers out of Guixu.
• Qian Heaven agreed to let Azure Dragon take Fan Daoyi, while warning him to investigate the case and give [Eight Trigrams] an account.
• Azure Dragon removed Fan Daoyi’s shackle in the car, and they discussed how Fan Daoyi had altered the script to provoke Xun Wind into using Intuition.
• Fan Daoyi explained that the mastermind had likely planted more than one piece of evidence and that the staged accusation would help expose them.
• Azure Dragon brought Fan Daoyi to a temporary base, ordered the guards outside, and used Sinking Dream to halt activity across the country.

Fan Daoyi questioned Azure Dragon about Guixu’s creator and the limits of power, while Azure Dragon prepared a dream trial designed to draw out the mastermind. As the trial accused Fan Daoyi of colluding with Guixu and the Four Fiends Cult, an unknown voice objected.

• Fan Daoyi asked Azure Dragon whether anyone had reached Limit Break and suggested Guixu’s creator might surpass even Heavenless.
• Azure Dragon explained that he wanted Fan Daoyi to succeed him and then prepared an illusion showing a trial taking place in a dream.
• Fan Daoyi asked how the dream trial would lure out the mastermind, and Azure Dragon said dreams revealed people’s truest selves.
• In the dream, Azure Dragon accused Fan Daoyi of colluding with Guixu, attacking official personnel, and working with the Four Fiends Cult.
• An unknown voice interrupted the trial and declared, "I object!"

He Piaojian and the other members of [Eight Trigrams] challenged Azure Dragon’s accusation against Fan Daoyi, while Xun Wind rejected his Intuition’s verdict and declared that Guixu was influencing it. Watching their loyalty in the illusion, Fan Daoyi said he understood the Four Fiends Cult’s objective.

• He Piaojian confronted Azure Dragon and fought through an illusion showing the evidence against Fan Daoyi, refusing to abandon his belief that the case was suspicious.
• Li Fire brought Gen Mountain and Zhen Thunder to the platform, where Zhen Thunder accidentally set his hair on fire and Kan Water healed him.
• Azure Dragon challenged Xun Wind to trust his Intuition, but Xun Wind questioned his ability and accused Guixu of influencing its feedback.
• He Piaojian, Zhen Thunder, Li Fire, Gen Mountain, and Kan Water stood with Xun Wind as he declared his doubts before Azure Dragon.
• Azure Dragon told Fan Daoyi that the illusion showed how indispensable he was to [Eight Trigrams], and Fan Daoyi said he understood the Four Fiends Cult’s objective.

Fan Daoyi watched Azure Dragon push He Piaojian and the others to the brink in the Illusion Realm to draw out their potential, then left the trial unfinished. Walking alone through the Present World, Fan Daoyi pondered his lack of belonging and the forces binding him to Guixu, while his bamboo staff changed into a light dagger.

• Fan Daoyi told Azure Dragon to intensify the fight against He Piaojian and the others so they would be forced to develop their potential.
• He Piaojian broke free of Azure Dragon's maze and surrendered control to his Sword Heart to continue fighting.
• Fan Daoyi suggested that he lacked a sense of belonging, then left Azure Dragon to continue the trial and arrange for the fighters to be taken away after their defeat.
• Azure Dragon asked Qian Heaven to cooperate and put Fan Daoyi's trial on hold until another day.
• Fan Daoyi influenced the Illusion Realm by sketching in a nonexistent person, then walked alone among unconscious people and questioned why Guixu sought to bind him to the Present World.
• Fan Daoyi reached a bridge as the bamboo staff in his hand transformed into a light dagger.

Azure Dragon showed that Guixu had arranged Fan Daoyi’s apparent betrayal, while Fan Daoyi decided his possessed body needed to die. As [Eight Trigrams] reunited with him on the bridge, a masked assailant stabbed him and escaped, claiming to be Taowu of the Four Fiends Cult.

• Azure Dragon recorded an illusion of a Four Fiends Cult member inviting Fan Daoyi to join Guixu, then saw the truth of Fan Daoyi’s actions in Guixu.
• Fan Daoyi decided to stage his death as a murder by the Four Fiends Cult, but hid his dagger when the people from [Eight Trigrams] arrived.
• He Piaojian, Zhen Thunder, and Li Fire greeted Fan Daoyi on the bridge, while Qian Heaven and Kun Earth approached them.
• A masked assailant suddenly stabbed Fan Daoyi through the heart, and Kan Water tried to treat him as Qian Heaven and Kun Earth steadied his falling body.
• He Piaojian, Zhen Thunder, and Li Fire chased the assailant, who revealed a black-and-white smiling mask and said he was Taowu of the Four Fiends Cult before escaping through a crimson door.

Fan Daoyi woke in the hospital after Kan Water’s breakthrough saved his life, and he sensed that part of his cognition was missing before deciding to put on a show. He then vanished from his hospital room, and surveillance footage showed him falling backward from the sixth-floor window.

• Dao Er told Fan Daoyi that Kan Water had entered the Governance Realm and revived him, while Azure Dragon’s illusion had also contributed to the breakthrough.
• Fan Daoyi realized his cognition felt incomplete and told Dao Er that they should put on a show.
• Xuan Miao said that every road led straight ahead and that the arrangements were proceeding smoothly, then left Guixu.
• He Piaojian entered Fan Daoyi’s hospital room with dumplings, found him missing, and alerted Kan Water.
• Kan Water reviewed the surveillance footage with [Eight Trigrams], which showed Fan Daoyi looking at the camera before falling backward from the window.

Fan Daoyi created a remote Guixu entrance on a snowy mountain and entered it, triggering a ripple that sealed every Guixu entrance. The Guixu bosses prepared for his arrival as Xuan Miao warned them he had reached Changgui.

• Fan Daoyi used a jammer and an illusion to secure a snowy mountain, then created a new Guixu entrance and stepped through it.
• Azure Dragon ordered all Guixu entrances sealed, while Qian Heaven questioned whether humanity still had hope and discussed the Five Disadvantages and Three Deficiencies.
• The ripple turned every Guixu entrance grayish white and stopped its vortices.
• Xuan Miao warned Apothecary and the other Guixu bosses that Fan Daoyi was coming, and they worried they would not survive until the insect disaster was complete.
• Puppet opened a crimson door to delay Fan Daoyi while the bosses prepared their explanations, and Xuan Miao said the deception served balance.

Fan Daoyi confronted the bosses over the Insect Disaster, killing or disabling several when they failed to give him a satisfactory reason. Xuan Miao revealed that ■ was behind the scheme and that Fan Daoyi’s awareness had been altered, leaving Fan Daoyi to demand a perfect explanation after the Insect Disaster.

• Fan Daoyi beheaded Puppet when she could not give him a reason, but Apothecary revived her and arrived with the other bosses to plead for a chance.
• Fan Daoyi chopped Apothecary into pieces after he began an answer, then dismembered him again when he regenerated and attacked Vase Woman after she pointed out that Apothecary was still alive.
• Fan Daoyi killed Flower Tender after they tried to say the group would not harm him, then demanded a reason from Sculptor.
• Xuan Miao told Fan Daoyi that ■ was behind the events and confirmed that something had been stripped from his awareness.
• Fan Daoyi left through the gray-white door after warning that the Insect Disaster had to provide a perfect answer, or he would sweep the cards off the table and start over.

After the Apothecary and Xuan Miao discussed how to intensify their deception of Fan Daoyi, Fan Daoyi walked down a snowy mountain, reflected on humanity, and met Azure Dragon and his companions. He teleported away after they found him, leaving them to complain that he had not taken them along.

• After Fan Daoyi left, Xuan Miao and the Apothecary celebrated their convincing performance, then agreed they needed to push events forward and prepare another gift for him.
• Fan Daoyi descended the snowy mountain on foot, saw people trapped in an illusion, and reflected on humanity’s past efforts to reach Guixu.
• At the mountain’s foot, Fan Daoyi met Azure Dragon, who said he would rescue the juniors trapped in the illusion array.
• Xun Wind and the others arrived and told Fan Daoyi they had searched for him across the country.
• Fan Daoyi asked whether Azure Dragon had said their search was a prank, and He Piaojian joked that they had come to beat him for causing trouble.
• Fan Daoyi teleported away without the others, who complained about the cost of traveling back.

Fan Daoyi and He Piaojian prepared to enter the exhibition match, and Fan Daoyi regained a clue to his lost understanding of the world. After clashing with Olivia Clark at the venue, they signed up, while Olivia urged her students to kill Fan Daoyi.

• Qian Heaven told the returned [Eight Trigrams] members that the university competition began in three days and invited them to enter the exhibition match the next day.
• Kun Earth’s remarks about humanity’s small place in a vast, unexplored world helped Fan Daoyi realize he had wrongly believed there was only one world, and he agreed to compete.
• Fan Daoyi and He Piaojian encountered Olivia Clark, who invited Fan Daoyi to join her team and offered him a reward.
• He Piaojian verbally attacked Olivia, then demanded compensation for emotional distress and accepted her payment.
• Fan Daoyi dragged He Piaojian away to sign up, while Olivia told her students to kill Fan Daoyi in the match.

Fan Daoyi and He Piaojian registered for the international exhibition match under misleading names and tiers, then met Mu Qing, a Lingxiao Academy student who mocked Fan Daoyi. He Piaojian attacked her for insulting Fan, but Fan stopped him and memorized Mu Qing’s contestant number as the match draw machine awaited.

• Principal Fu tossed snacks to He Piaojian, who caught them while Fan Daoyi led him to registration.
• Fan Daoyi registered as Dao Yi at Open Source seventh tier, while He Piaojian registered as Sword One at Condensation fifth tier.
• Mu Qing introduced herself to He Piaojian and praised his registered tier while looking down on Fan Daoyi.
• Mu Qing insulted Fan Daoyi, and He Piaojian grabbed her by the throat and rebuked her.
• Fan Daoyi told He Piaojian to let go because contestants from other countries were watching, then memorized Mu Qing’s number tag.

He Piaojian won his exhibition match against Tilde Monte with martial arts and taunts, while Fan Daoyi also defeated several opponents using Teleportation. Fan Daoyi then faced an exhausted Mu Qing and used his newly comprehended spatial ability to cut and reassemble her body, leaving her unable to surrender.

• He Piaojian taunted Tilde Monte into a rage, then used martial arts to knock him off the arena and win.
• Fan Daoyi praised He Piaojian’s self-taught martial arts and later used Teleportation to knock several opponents off the arena.
• Mu Qing was drawn to face Fan Daoyi after several exhausting matches and threatened to teach him a lesson.
• Fan Daoyi claimed he had reached the Condensation Realm and comprehended a new ability, then snapped his fingers and divided Mu Qing’s body into pieces.
• Fan Daoyi clumsily reassembled Mu Qing and blocked her ability to speak, while she realized he was deliberately tormenting her.