Chapter Summaries

The Shen Monkey Squad sacrificed itself to stop a Calamity Realm monster in Magic City until the Seventh Sequence arrived and killed it. After the battle, Li Chen suspected the disaster was connected to the black door inside him, while Canglan Academy’s Sequence Masters discussed the cult and the need to train new talent.

• Xiaoche and the Shen Monkey captain used a final attack against the monster, but the captain died and the wounded monster survived.
• The Rules Formation shattered, and the Seventh Sequence arrived, healed Xiaoche, declared the mission complete, and killed the monster with one sword strike.
• News reports announced that the cult organization had been wiped out and Magic City was safe, prompting Jianping to leave and train.
• Li Chen wondered whether the Magic City disaster was connected to the black door inside him and decided to focus on training toward the Looking River Realm.
• At Canglan Academy, Faluo, Yu Qingnian, and other Sequence Masters discussed the cult’s resurgence and the need to prepare a new generation of talent.

Cang Lao announced preparations for the Academy Tournament team battle as Canglan Tournament preparations began. Instructor Yu signed Li Chen and his companions up without asking, and they went to draw lots, where rival teams gathered and sized them up.

• Cang Lao told the Sequence Masters that a cult had massacred students' relatives and that they would select participants for the Academy Tournament team battle.
• Li Chen, Jianping, and Su Zhe discussed the upcoming Canglan Tournament and wondered why the senior students were not competing.
• Li Chen and his companions received confirmation that they had been registered, and Instructor Yu told Li Chen to go draw lots for their match.
• Yu Qingnian discussed the roster with Faluo and revealed he had registered the Special Class students, including Li Chen's team.
• Li Chen and his companions entered the Battle Institute and encountered rival teams, including Di Li's and Ji Shao's, as the students prepared to draw lots.

Li Chen’s team entered the Canglan Tournament without preparing and struggled to come up with tactics. Meanwhile, the Ninth Seat punished Blood Charm for losing Pandora’s Box and announced that the God-Binding Cult would release a second Pandora in Shenzhou City.

• Li Chen learned that his team had drawn number eight and told his teammates to prepare for the Canglan Tournament.
• The Ninth Seat questioned Blood Charm about Pandora’s Box, then seized Blood Charm’s Soul Flame as punishment for losing it.
• The Ninth Seat announced that the God-Binding Cult planned to release a second Pandora in Shenzhou City before making its move.
• Li Chen told Meng Xi that Instructor Yu had signed the team up for the tournament, and the team admitted they had no workable tactics.
• Luo Lin suggested they go home and wait for the tournament to begin, and the others agreed.

The Canglan Tournament began as Li Chen’s team prepared to face Team 12, a group of Special Class 2 students. Su Xian watched the early matches and warned A Jin that several teams were hiding their strength.

• Faluo and Yu Qingnian watched students arrive for the tournament and wondered whether Cang Lao would attend.
• Li Chen’s team entered the Battle Institute arena, where five smaller battle areas had been set up for simultaneous matches.
• Su Zhe and Luo Lin told Li Chen that Su Xian was ranked first, had a possible summoning-type ability, and was surrounded by top-twenty teammates.
• The tournament began, and Li Chen learned his team would face Team 12; Jianping revealed that Yu Qingnian had asked them to go easy because the team was trained by Instructor Fa.
• Su Xian told A Jin that five teams had already shown signs of hiding their strength and challenged him to identify them.

Li Chen's team faced team 12 in the Canglan Tournament elimination rounds and overwhelmed them so quickly that they surrendered. Yu Qingnian told Faluo that the real tournament would begin after the weaker teams were weeded out.

• Li Chen, Jianping, Luo Lin, Meng Xi, and Su Zhe went to battlefield 5 to face team 12, a team trained by Instructor Fa.
• Luo Lin's Telekinesis struck the battlefield barrier, and Li Chen formed dozens of energy blades as both teams prepared to fight.
• Li Chen intercepted team 12's icicle attack and sent his blades after them while Jianping charged forward with an iron sword.
• Team 12's captain surrendered after the light blades surrounded them, and the match ended almost immediately.
• At the Battle Institute, Yu Qingnian told Faluo that the elimination rounds were meant to weed out weaker teams before the real tournament began.

The cult launched an operation in Shenzhou City while the Canglan Tournament was underway, prompting the Special Affairs Bureau to mobilize against it. At Canglan Academy, Li Chen sensed a nearby threat and found the seal on the mysterious black door weakening.

• Spider carried Blood Charm's soul fire as cult members gathered in southern Shenzhou City and prepared to attack near Canglan.
• Boss Ren learned of the cult's arrival, ordered a level-two alert to be prepared, and summoned Horse Squad while choosing not to notify Canglan Academy yet.
• Li Chen felt the burning sensation in his chest during the tournament and asked Luo Lin when the day's events would end.
• Li Chen's consciousness entered the strange space, where he saw the seal on the pitch-black door fading and suspected a cult might be about to appear in Shenzhou.

Li Chen entered the darkness beyond the pitch-black Door, protected by a barrier of white light, while cults and the Special Affairs Bureau clashed across Shenzhou City. Outside, Jianping and the others realized Li Chen might be communicating with an evil god and waited to see if he would wake.

• The Puppeteer appeared in Shenzhou City, where a red-haired Special Affairs Bureau woman identified him and led her team onward without fighting.
• Cult members in the shadows discussed Pandora's Box, the God-Binding Cult, and the arrival of Black Mist.
• In his consciousness space, Li Chen watched the Black Mist overwhelm the Door's red runes, then entered through its narrow opening behind a protective white barrier.
• Jianping's companion warned him that Li Chen's runes suggested he was communicating with an evil god and could suffer severe mental harm.
• Su Zhe prepared to contact Yu Qingnian, but Luo Lin and Jianping stopped him and decided to wait for Li Chen to wake.
• Li Chen walked through the Black Mist as a mysterious force urged him to move faster.

Li Chen encountered a chained masked man and a shattered monster statue inside the black mist before returning to find his companions had restrained him, fearing he was possessed by the Evil God. Meanwhile, the Special Affairs Bureau battled cultists in Shenzhou City as Blood Charm faced pressure to open Pandora's Box, with Horse Squad arriving to confront the group.

• Li Chen followed a force down a black staircase, met a chained masked man among monster statues, and was expelled from the strange space after being warned to leave.
• Li Chen woke up bound by Jianping and Su Zhe, who questioned whether he was the Evil God, and he explained that he had not been possessed.
• The Special Affairs Bureau fought a cult organization in Shenzhou City while the Puppeteer controlled corpses to attack its agents.
• Spider pressured Blood Charm to open Pandora's Box, while he considered that opening it or refusing would both likely lead to his death.
• Horse Squad arrived by helicopter, and Spider urged Blood Charm to open Pandora's Box.

The Wuma Team attacked cultists in Shenzhou City as Blood Charm hesitated to open Pandora’s Box, while Canglan Academy suspended its tournament after learning of the invasion. Li Chen felt the force inside him grow more agitated and decided to investigate what was drawing him.

• Captain Wuma led the Wuma Team into battle, and a saber-wielding member severed Spider’s head and pursued Blood Charm and the burly man as they fled with Pandora’s Box still unopened.
• Cang Lao told Yu Qingnian to end the Canglan Tournament and let the students witness the cult invasion rather than keep them inside the academy.
• Jianping told Li Chen and Su Zhe what he knew about Evil Gods and their followers’ worship.
• Canglan Academy announced that Shenzhou City was under attack by a cult organization and temporarily suspended the tournament.
• Li Chen sensed the scorching agitation inside him growing stronger and decided not to sit back as he wondered what was drawing him.

Kui Xing brought Ji Mumu and Qi Hong from Ruined City to Shenzhou City so they could study, but they found its streets deserted after a cult invasion. At Canglan Academy, Li Chen and two fellow students joined the Special Affairs Bureau’s response and headed for the Neon District to address unrest.

• Kui Xing explained that he had brought Ji Mumu and Qi Hong inland to get an education, though Qi Hong objected to studying there.
• Kui Xing, Ji Mumu, and Qi Hong found Shenzhou City’s streets empty, then saw a red flare appear in the sky.
• Canglan Academy authorized students who passed a strength test to support the Shenzhou City Special Affairs Bureau, and Li Chen, Su Zhe, and Jianping left with temporary officer badges.
• Li Chen chose to head to the Neon District, expecting disorder and illicit dealings while the Bureau’s personnel were occupied elsewhere.

Li Chen and his companions began taking Special Affairs Bureau assignments in Neon District while Blood Charm fled there with Pandora’s Box. The chapter left Blood Charm hiding in the district as Li Chen told Su Zhe that changing its rules would require enough strength to break them.

• Li Chen, Su Zhe, and Jianping arrived in Neon District, reviewed the Bureau’s assignments, and decided to start with local tasks.
• Wounded Blood Charm fled a masked Horse Squad member while carrying Pandora’s Box, and the pursuer clashed with the Ninth Seat of the God-Binding Cult.
• Blood Charm avoided opening Pandora’s Box, chose to preserve his life, and realized he had reached Neon District.
• Li Chen and his companions watched a street fight without intervening, and Li Chen explained to Su Zhe that changing the district’s rules would require greater strength.

Li Chen, Jianping, and Su Zhe confronted Blood Charm when he attacked a crowd with Pandora's Box. As Blood Charm tried to awaken the box, it triggered Li Chen's violent heartbeat and agitation, and Li Chen and Jianping rushed to stop it from opening.

• Li Chen and his companions watched a street brawl until Blood Charm appeared and revealed his skeletal hands, prompting them to prepare for a fight.
• Blood Charm seized a bystander and killed him, then slaughtered fleeing civilians while Li Chen and Jianping attacked and Su Zhe evacuated the crowd.
• Li Chen's light blades and Jianping's Demon Blade forced Blood Charm to take the three young Sequence Users seriously.
• Blood Charm brought out Pandora's Box, causing Li Chen to hear a whisper and feel his heart pound violently.
• Blood Charm used the victims' blood to try to open Pandora, and Li Chen shouted that they had to stop it as Jianping charged.

Blood Charm opened Pandora’s Box, which connected to the pitch-black Door inside Li Chen and released a terrifying creature. Li Chen sent Jianping away and approached Pandora, resisting the whispers that urged him to get someone as Su Baozi found the wounded Jianping.

• Blood Charm used smoke and his bone blade to stall Li Chen and Jianping while his blood opened Pandora’s Box.
• Li Chen and Jianping unleashed a barrage of attacks, but Blood Charm survived inside armor formed from his bones.
• Pandora opened, and Li Chen realized it was connected to the pitch-black Door inside him; he warned Jianping to flee because a creature was coming through.
• Li Chen pierced Jianping with blades of light and sent him flying away from Pandora, then Blood Charm abandoned the opened box and escaped.
• Li Chen resisted the whispers and walked toward Pandora, wondering why the voice wanted him to get someone.
• Su Baozi found the wounded Jianping after the blades of light carried him away from Li Chen.

As Shenzhou City burned in the battle with the God-Binding Cult, Pandora pulled Li Chen into an endless darkness where a masked figure told him to keep searching for his road. Li Chen returned as the Black Mist receded, while Jianping and Su Zhe charged inside to find him.

• The Ninth Seat extinguished the Horse Squad member’s blue flames, then reacted excitedly when a black pillar of light appeared and announced that the Cult Leader had succeeded and Pandora had found the child of destiny.
• Li Chen wandered through endless darkness after touching Pandora, then met the white figure he had seen before, who told him to leave and continue looking for his road.
• The white figure said that one of fate’s shackles had broken and wondered whether humanity could still resist the Elder Gods now that the Reincarnation Authority’s power was exhausted.
• The white figure revealed Pandora’s Box in the shape of a strange key after Li Chen disappeared.
• As the Black Mist began to recede on Neon Street, Jianping charged into it to search for Li Chen, and Su Zhe followed him.

Jianping and Su Zhe fought through grotesques inside the shrinking Black Mist and found Li Chen lying in a crater as the mist flowed into him. Outside, the cult retreated and the Special Affairs Bureau and Canglan Academy converged on the site while the Ninth Seat sent a report to the sect master.

• Jianping and Su Zhe encountered grotesques formed from people killed by the cult, and fought them as they followed the retreating Black Mist.
• The cult organization withdrew after the black pillar of light appeared, leaving the Special Affairs Bureau to confront the dead and the many civilian casualties.
• A Wuma Team member called Wuxie confirmed that the captain had arrived and learned the Ninth Seat was heading toward him, prompting preparations to close the net.
• Cang Lao and Yu Qingnian searched for students still inside the Black Mist while the Ninth Seat sent an illusory paper crane to report events to the sect master.
• Jianping found Li Chen lying in a crater as the Black Mist flowed into his body, but Li Chen showed no reaction.

After finding his resolve to become stronger, Li Chen absorbed the Black Mist and used it to destroy the monsters around him. He and his companions escaped the mist, answered the Special Affairs Bureau’s questions, and left for hot pot.

• Jianping stopped Su Zhe from rushing toward Li Chen and told him they had to wait for the Black Mist to disperse.
• Inside his Spirit World, Li Chen decided that gaining strength was the only way to uncover the mysteries around him and control his own life.
• Li Chen absorbed the Black Mist, returned to consciousness, and used swirling black blades to kill the approaching monsters.
• Li Chen apologized to Jianping for carrying him away earlier, and the three of them left the Black Mist together.
• Yu Qingnian and the Special Affairs Bureau questioned Li Chen about the monsters and the cultist who had spread the Black Mist.
• After giving their statements, Li Chen, Su Zhe, and Jianping left the Bureau, with Su Zhe urging them to get hot pot.

After the cult organization brought Black Mist into Shenzhou, Elder Wei arrived to clear it while the Cult Leader praised the Ninth Seat and discussed finding the Forbidden Door. A month later, the Canglan Tournament resumed, and Li Chen and his teammates prepared to continue competing.

• At Special Affairs Bureau headquarters, Wuxie met Elder Wei, who agreed to eliminate the Black Mist that day and noted the Twelve Zodiac was holding the inland regions against the cult organization.
• In Imperial Capital City, the Cult Leader praised the Ninth Seat and said Pandora's Box had found the child of destiny who could lead them to the Forbidden Door.
• A month later at Canglan Academy, Li Chen defeated a student with a swift blade attack as Su Zhe and Jianping watched.
• Jianping told Li Chen and Su Zhe that the Canglan Tournament would resume where it had stopped, with teams having had a month to improve.
• Li Chen and his teammates watched the ongoing ranking battles until their Student Badges beeped, and Li Chen declared that the competition had only just begun.

Yu Qingnian changed the resumed Canglan Tournament so teams with Looking River Realm students would face multiple Dripping Water Realm teams, arguing that the academy needed to raise its standards and prepare students for a dangerous world. Li Chen’s team received their match assignment and waited as the revised competition began.

• Yu Qingnian proposed eliminating Dripping Water Realm students from the tournament, but Cang Lao and the dean agreed instead to let them experience the gap in strength through a revised format.
• Three days later, the Canglan Tournament resumed at the Battle Institute before a large crowd, and Yu Qingnian announced that teams with Looking River Realm students would face two or three Dripping Water Realm teams.
• Li Chen’s team received number five and learned they would face three teams; Li Chen dismissed the challenge, while Jianping told Su Zhe to stand aside and cheer.
• A woman watching with Ji Shao called the new arrangement unfair to Dripping Water Realm students, and Ji Shao silently reflected that fairness favored the strong.

Li Chen single-handedly defeated three Dripping Water Realm teams in the tournament, leaving spectators and rival teams shocked by his power. As his team advanced, Su Xian learned that Li Chen’s ability was only B-rank and prepared for his own match.

• Li Chen and his teammates entered the arena to face three Dripping Water Realm teams on mountainous terrain.
• Li Chen sent green blades after the opposing teams, piercing their protective gear and forcing several students to surrender.
• Li Chen crushed all three teams without his teammates needing to fight, while Ji Shao and Qingyu watched and reassessed his strength.
• Su Xian’s informant reported that Li Chen’s ability was B-rank, and Su Xian told his group to prepare for their upcoming match.
• Li Chen left the arena after the final opponent surrendered, while Su Zhe remarked that winning without fighting felt great.

The competition’s final stage began with all twenty remaining teams entering the Heart-Questioning Road, a staircase that tested them with Calamity Realm pressure. Li Chen discovered he could take on much of the pressure for his teammates as they started climbing toward the summit.

• Li Chen noticed that one team made up entirely of Dripping Water Realm students had advanced, while Yu Qingnian announced that the competition’s final stage would be the Heart-Questioning Road.
• Luo Lin explained that the teams would enter an illusion and compete in a free-for-all focused on teamwork, then the arena revealed a black staircase built into a wall marked “Dawn Pass.”
• Cang Lao and the dean watched as Yu Qingnian ordered the twenty teams to enter and declared that the first team to reach the summit would win.
• Li Chen and his teammates stepped onto the staircase and felt Calamity Realm pressure weighing them down as other teams struggled to climb.
• Li Chen began climbing, and much of the pressure on Su Zhe and the others eased; Jianping urged Su Zhe to keep moving.