Chapter Summaries

Li Chen and his team climbed the Heart-Questioning Road at Dawn Pass, enduring the Calamity Realm’s pressure and reaching a bloodstained gate. Beyond it, they witnessed a battlefield where Sequence Users fought a tide of monsters, and the chapter left them facing the reality of the border war.

• Li Chen recognized the stairs as an illusion of Dawn Pass, one of humanity’s four great passes against the monsters.
• Su Xian used his ability to advance, and Ji Shao told Xiaowan that the Heart-Questioning Road had only begun.
• Li Chen carried the pressure for most of the climb until Jianping took his place, and the team reached the end of the stairs ahead of many others.
• Li Chen opened the bloodstained gate, revealing a battlefield where Sequence Users and monsters fought around a distant, glowing gate.
• Li Chen and his teammates watched the human fighters charge into the monster tide and understood what the border defenders were protecting.

After witnessing an illusion of Sequence Users sacrificing themselves at the border, Li Chen and his team entered the third checkpoint, where illusion-born monstrosities attacked. Li Chen began gathering energy for a bomb as Yu Qingnian worried he might damage Cang Lao’s illusion, and Ji Shao’s team spotted the growing energy mass.

• Li Chen and his companions watched Sequence Users die fighting monstrosities, and Li Chen resolved to visit the border they had defended.
• Li Chen’s group passed through the Door to the third checkpoint, where an aged voice announced that a second wave of monstrosities was preparing to attack.
• Li Chen’s blades passed through the phantom monstrosities, while Meng Xi summoned dreamlike knights to block them.
• Li Chen began compressing energy in his palm to create a bomb, and Yu Qingnian contacted Cang Lao with concerns that it might damage the illusion.
• The little loli warned Ji Shao that a mass of energy was gathering nearby and seemed likely to explode.

Li Chen’s explosive attack nearly damaged Cang Lao’s illusion, while Su Xian’s magic dispelled the lingering black mist. As the third wave began, Yu Qingnian explained that the Heart-Questioning Road was meant to expose students to the harsh realities facing the human race, and Li Chen discovered how to harm the illusionary creatures by gathering the energy around them.

• Li Chen blasted the strange creatures and dispersed the black mist, but Yu Qingnian warned him that his attack nearly damaged the illusion and could hinder the teams behind him.
• Su Xian used his magic to break the illusion’s lingering darkness, drawing the attention and resentment of the other teams.
• The aged voice announced the third wave, and black mist filled the space again as new illusionary creatures appeared.
• Yu Qingnian told Cang Lao that he had opened the Heart-Questioning Road to show students the border’s dangers and strengthen their understanding of their responsibilities.
• When Su Zhe’s attacks failed to hit an illusionary creature, Li Chen shot it with gathered energy and began drawing in the energy surrounding them.

Li Chen and his teammates cleared the illusion trial and reached the top of the Heart-Questioning Road, where a barrier stopped them from advancing. Su Xian then appeared and openly asked Li Chen to help his team compete for first place.

• Li Chen used blades of light to destroy the illusion monsters, while Meng Xi's summoned knights helped clear the remaining enemies.
• After Instructor Yu told them they had passed, Li Chen led his team through the black mist and back to the torchlit staircase.
• Li Chen found an invisible barrier blocking the opening at the top of the staircase, and Su Zhe failed to break it with his hammer.
• Su Xian and his teammates emerged through a nearby door, and Su Xian introduced himself to Li Chen.
• Su Xian asked Li Chen to lend his team a hand in competing for first place, and Li Chen questioned him about it.

Su Xian offered Li Chen a Forbidden Object and Study Points to join his team in the fight for first place, but Ji Shao's arrival exposed their rivalry over the Academy Tournament spot. After learning the tournament rewards, Li Chen began considering competing for the spot himself, though Su Xian raised his offer and left Li Chen weighing a safer deal against his own plan.

• Su Xian offered Li Chen Study Points and Forbidden Objects in exchange for helping him win first place, and Li Chen's teammates left the decision to him.
• Li Chen agreed to consider Su Xian's offer and asked about the Forbidden Object, so Su Xian offered Revival, which healed injuries but needed daily morning dew.
• Ji Shao emerged with her teammates and accused Su Xian of recruiting Li Chen; A Jin attacked her, but she melted his spear before Su Xian ordered him to stop.
• Su Xian and Ji Shao argued over first place, and Luo Lin explained that the rewards included the Academy Tournament team-battle spot, 50,000 Study Points, and the Forbidden Object Lunar Eclipse.
• Li Chen realized both teams wanted the Academy Tournament spot and considered winning it himself, then selling it to one of them while keeping the other rewards.
• Su Xian raised his offer to include a Forbidden Object and 50,000 Study Points, leaving Li Chen to choose between joining him and pursuing his own plan.

Li Chen refused Su Xian’s proposal to use him to secure an advantage, then wondered whether he should compete for first place in the Canglan Tournament. Meanwhile, Dean Gu learned that Dawn Pass was failing and sent Jian En back to hold it, while Jian En rejected the call to return home.

• Li Chen declined Su Xian’s proposal, and Su Xian accepted his decision and left to meet him at the summit.
• Ji Shao listened quietly and relaxed after Li Chen spoke, while Li Chen wondered whether he should try for first place.
• Jian En told Dean Gu that gaps had appeared at Dawn Pass and dozens of Withered Sea Realm experts had died trying to seal them.
• Dean Gu promised to send the Fifth Sequence to suppress the threat and asked Jian En to hold on for a few more days.
• Dean Gu asked Jian En whether he would return to his family, but Jian En left, saying he would see the path of the sword through to the end.

Li Chen’s team won the Canglan Tournament by realizing the Heart-Questioning Road’s summit was an illusion and tearing a way out. Afterward, Li Chen tried to transfer their Academy Tournament qualification, but Cang Lao required him to compete individually and place in the top ten.

• The five remaining teams began climbing toward the summit, but Li Chen suspected the final stage was another illusion.
• Li Chen tore open the illusion, and his team emerged in the arena as Yu Qingnian confirmed they had won the championship.
• Li Chen asked Yu Qingnian whether the team could transfer its Academy Tournament qualification, and Yu Qingnian explained the conditions.
• Cang Lao pressured Li Chen to choose between transferring the qualification and competing, then required him to enter the individual competition and place in the top ten.
• Li Chen agreed to compete individually, and Cang Lao told Yu Qingnian to register him.

After the Canglan Tournament ended, Li Chen considered selling his Academy Tournament spot while the academy’s students prepared to train harder. A month later, he learned that the Special Class had been summoned for special training and wondered what the academy was planning.

• Cang Lao registered Jianping for an Academy Tournament spot and warned Su Zhe that the tournament carried a risk of death.
• Su Xian and Ji Shao emerged after the tournament, and Su Zhe celebrated receiving ten thousand Study Points.
• Li Chen considered selling his tournament spot to Su Xian or Ji Shao and expected the academy to enter a period of intense cultivation.
• At Dawn Pass, defenders fought off an attack by Great Wilderness Eerie Monsters, while two comrades worried about a crack at the foot of the pass.
• A month later, Su Zhe told Li Chen that Instructor Yu was taking the Special Class for training that required them to sign an agreement, and Li Chen wondered what the academy intended.

Yu Qingnian took Li Chen and the Special Class outside Shenzhou City for a training exercise, where a Special Affairs Bureau agent mistook them for suspicious cult members. Li Chen attacked the agent before Yu Qingnian arrived and cleared up the misunderstanding.

• Yu Qingnian sent the Special Class to a training location outside Shenzhou City, and an inspector noticed that several groups were heading there.
• The inspector suspected a cult gathering and requested the Special Affairs Bureau's intervention while Li Chen and the others continued on foot.
• A Special Affairs Bureau agent watched the students, and Jianping and Li Chen sensed that someone was following them.
• Li Chen attacked the hidden agent with a blade of light, forcing him to reveal himself and reach for his Ghost-God Needle.
• Yu Qingnian arrived, recognized the agent as Xiao Lin, and explained that the group was his students on a training exercise.
• Xiao Lin filed the notification and hurried away after Yu Qingnian let him go.

Yu Qingnian gathered the students for an unexplained training and waited for a mysterious ride to arrive. The students boarded a futuristic bus called the Silver Flash, and Su Xian remarked that Yu Qingnian was no ordinary man.

• Yu Qingnian told the students they would learn the purpose of their training when they reached their destination and had them rest while they waited for someone to arrive.
• Li Chen and Su Zhe discussed Yu Qingnian, while Su Zhe warned Li Chen to conduct himself properly.
• Su Xian and Ji Shao joined Li Chen’s group and continued vying for his Academy Tournament qualification.
• Yu Qingnian noticed a vehicle approaching, and a silver bus arrived at the students’ camp.
• Yu Qingnian led the students aboard the high-tech bus, and Su Xian identified it as the Silver Flash.

Li Chen and the other students traveled by Silver Flash to Ruined City, where Yu Qingnian announced their month of training would begin by clearing out nearby monsters. As grotesque creatures attacked the buses’ defenses, the students prepared to fight.

• Su Xian identified the bus as the Silver Flash, and it sped toward Ruined City while Yu Qingnian remarked that its creator had improved it.
• At Ruined City, Lord Main Brain ordered the southern gate opened and monsters lured into the city as a gift for Yu Qingnian.
• The Silver Flash reached Ruined City, and Yu Qingnian explained that the students would train there for a month near Ruined Pass.
• Yu Qingnian spotted monsters outside, then told the students to clear them out and retreat behind the buses’ light screens if they were in danger.
• Li Chen, Su Zhe, Jianping, and the other students left the buses as monsters surrounded the defenses and attacked the light screen.

Li Chen and the Canglan Academy students fought off the Eerie Monsters outside the curtain of light, but a Withered Sea Realm monster emerged and began breaking through their defenses. As Ji Shao and the others defended students from a renewed swarm, Li Chen and Su Xian confronted the powerful monster, and Su Xian struck it with a fireball.

• Jianping and the other students attacked the Eerie Monsters while Li Chen held back, and Yu Qingnian watched from the carriage despite noticing a Withered Sea Realm monster among them.
• After the students cleared the first wave, Su Xian used Purification to clean the blood from them.
• A huge Eerie Monster attacked the curtain of light, and Li Chen, Su Xian, and Ji Shao moved to confront it as Su Xian raised a second protective barrier.
• When other teams called for help against returning Eerie Monsters, Ji Shao, Jianping, and the students went to their aid while Li Chen and Su Xian went outside to face the huge monster.
• Li Chen pierced one of the monster’s claws with concentrated energy, and Su Xian followed with Spell Ignite, sending a fireball crashing into it.

Li Chen, Su Xian, and Jianping fought an Eerie Monster that absorbed nearby corpses and rapidly regenerated. They destroyed its remains, but Yu Qingnian watched from the carriage and noted that Li Chen had not yet used his full strength.

• Li Chen sensed that the fallen Eerie Monster was still alive, and Su Xian realized it was absorbing the corpses of other Eerie Monsters.
• Li Chen asked Su Xian to stall the monster, but Jianping volunteered and charged in while Su Xian froze the monster's feet.
• Jianping severed one of the monster's arms but was struck away, and Su Xian slowed his fall as Li Chen prepared a powerful attack.
• Li Chen's blade blasted the monster apart, but he sensed its energy gathering again and sent Micro-Energy Bombs at its remains.
• Su Xian burned the writhing flesh, and Jianping hacked apart the remaining arms while the Demon Blade spoke to him.
• Yu Qingnian watched from inside the carriage and remarked that Li Chen had not used his full strength.

Blood Charm challenged the Godless Cult’s members after they rejected him, while the Seventh Seat chose not to attack Ruined City directly. Li Chen’s Special Class finished fighting an unusually powerful Eerie Monster, leaving him wondering how Lin Hua had managed to grow a plant in the desert.

• Blood Charm told the Godless Cult that he had brought them information and that their cult leader had agreed to accept him, but the masked members still rejected him as a traitor.
• Blood Charm left the Godless Cult and reflected that he trusted himself rather than a god who had never protected him.
• The Seventh Seat refused to launch a direct assault near Ruined Pass, citing the danger of new abilities and the many powerful humans gathered at the border, then disappeared into the yellow sand.
• Su Zhe celebrated the Special Class’s victory over the Eerie Monsters, while Li Chen noted that the defeated monster had seemed to be in the Withered Sea Realm.
• Su Xian said he was exhausted from using too much mental energy to purify the group, and Li Chen told him to rest.
• Li Chen wondered how Lin Hua had grown a plant beneath the sand to strangle an Eerie Monster.

Li Chen climbed farther up the white staircase in his strange inner space and received something called King's Power, which left a wing-and-sword mark on his hand and changed how he saw the world. After arriving in Ruined City, he and the other students learned they had to find their own lodging and await training missions.

• Li Chen climbed four hundred steps on the white staircase, where the masked man on the shattered throne declared that King's Power was his.
• A white wing-and-sword mark appeared on Li Chen's right hand, and he began seeing white bandage-like lines on people and objects; a voice urged him to reach into Su Xian's body, but he resisted.
• Yu Qingnian announced that the bus had reached Ruined City, where robots inspected and verified the students as they disembarked.
• Li Chen noticed the strange white lines on Su Zhe and wondered what King's Power did, while Yu Qingnian disappeared.
• The students received Yu Qingnian's message saying they had to find their own accommodations because ordinary currency was not accepted, and that she would send training missions through their Student Badges.
• Li Chen, Su Zhe, Jianping, and the newly awakened Su Xian were left unsure where to go in Ruined City.

Li Chen and the other Canglan Academy students struggled to understand Ruined City’s merit system and found that walking through the city drained their stamina and mental power. They met Wei Laoda, who explained that Lord Main Brain had assigned them accommodations and converted their Student Badges into Ruined City phones.

• Li Chen and the others searched Ruined City for a way to earn merit and find lodging, but encountered no living people.
• Su Zhe and Jianping became exhausted as each step drained their stamina and stirred sword force around Jianping, while Li Chen realized the city consumed mental power.
• Wei Laoda approached the group and introduced himself as one of the few humans left in Ruined City.
• Li Chen told Wei Laoda that they were Canglan Academy students on a training trip and asked where they could stay.
• Wei Laoda said Lord Main Brain had assigned them accommodations, then used his device to convert their Student Badges into Ruined City phones.

Li Chen and his companions learned how Ruined City’s Merit system and energy-absorbing streets worked before heading to their accommodations for training. In Ruined Pass, Yu Qingnian and a lab-coated man discussed the Eerie Monsters’ growing intelligence and the rising threats at the border and inland.

• Wei Laoda explained that residents earned Merit by killing Eerie Monsters and that Ruined City’s special metal roads absorbed and returned energy.
• Li Chen checked his upgraded Student Badge, found the group’s accommodations on its map, and led them toward them to rest before training.
• In a Ruined Pass laboratory, Yu Qingnian praised the man in a lab coat for transforming Ruined City, while the man reported that the students had supplied over one trillion units of energy.
• The man showed Yu Qingnian footage of Eerie Monsters combining into massive creatures and said their increasingly intelligent attacks had breached Dawn Pass.
• Yu Qingnian warned that cult organizations were spreading inland, and the man vowed to destroy anyone who caused the pass to fall.

Li Chen tested the mysterious King's Power and joined the Special Class for training in Ruined City. After students complained about their difficult arrival, Instructor Yu Qingnian challenged them to decide whether to stay or return inland.

• Li Chen found that the King's Power let him reach into his own body, though he felt only emptiness, and vowed to uncover the secrets of the strange space and masked man.
• Li Chen, Su Zhe, and Jianping traveled north through Ruined City, where the city drained their energy; Li Chen dragged the exhausted Su Zhe with a cloud of energy while Jianping studied sword force.
• Li Chen met Su Xian and A Jin at the training site, where they speculated that the group might eventually go to Ruined Pass but probably would not go that day.
• Yu Qingnian addressed the students' complaints about their lack of lodging and difficult training, then offered them vehicles and told them they could leave if they could not endure it.
• The students fell silent after Yu Qingnian told them that staying or returning inland was their choice.

Yu Qingnian led the students into a training facility inside Ruined Pass, where they were tasked with fighting Eerie Monsters alongside robots. As the gate prepared to open, Li Chen held back to assess the danger and reflected on the difficulty of advancing in the Looking River Realm.

• Yu Qingnian opened an illusory door and led the students through a passage displaying recorded Eerie Monsters and information about their weaknesses.
• Su Zhe asked whether evolving Eerie Monsters could gain intelligence, and Jianping and Li Chen warned that an intelligent species would threaten humanity.
• The students entered a hall filled with turrets, robots, and a bloodstained gate that Li Chen guessed led outside the pass.
• Yu Qingnian told the students to clear out the Eerie Monsters alongside the robots and explained that their kills would be recorded on their Student Badges.
• Su Zhe rushed toward the training while Jianping sat down to comprehend force, and Li Chen stayed back to gauge the threat and ponder his progress in the Looking River Realm.
• Roars sounded, the robots gathered behind the students, and the gate was about to open.

Li Chen fought the Eerie Monster horde and discovered that absorbing a black substance from the creatures made them treat him as one of their own. He suspected this power could change the world order, but decided to keep it secret until he was strong enough to protect himself.

• Le Yi played her zither while Ji Shao charged into the Eerie Monsters, inspiring the students to fight.
• Li Chen joined the battle with his light blades and saw the monsters' flesh regenerate around black bandages only he could see.
• Li Chen pulled a writhing black substance from an Eerie Monster, and it seeped into his hand, leaving a fading pattern beneath his tattoo.
• The Eerie Monsters grew calm toward Li Chen, and he confirmed that absorbing more of the substance extended the pattern and made them more docile.
• Li Chen wondered whether his ability could let people move among the Eerie Monsters, but chose to conceal it until he had enough strength.