Chapter Summaries

Su Zhe and the others arrived in Canghai City ahead of the Academy Tournament, found a hotel, and explored Antique Street. The chapter left them haggling over a jade pendant that Mu Hen suspected was unusual.

• Faluo's battered van broke down after reaching Canghai City, and he left the group to find their own way around.
• Su Xian led the others to a hotel, where they paid ten thousand for three nights because the city was crowded with tournament visitors.
• The group visited Antique Street, where Jianping identified a stall owner's sword and its supposed sword intent as fake.
• Mu Hen picked up a jade pendant and asked the stall owner its price; after the owner demanded one million, Mu Hen offered fifty thousand.

Mu Hen used his knowledge of antiques and Sequence Users to obtain a jade pendant without buying it, then revealed that it was a key to King Kui’s tomb and showed the group his ability to copy it with dark energy. The group learned that Mu Hen’s family had long sought the key but had never entered the tomb.

• Mu Hen challenged the stall owner’s price for the jade pendant, then used his Sequence User ability to make it float and left without buying it.
• The stall owner realized Mu Hen was a Sequence User, dispersed the crowd, and packed up his stall to move elsewhere.
• At a teahouse, Mu Hen told Su Xian and the others that he recognized the pendant as belonging to a Sequence User his family had dealt with.
• Mu Hen explained that the pendant was a key to King Kui’s tomb, which his family knew the location of but could not enter without the key.
• Mu Hen produced an identical black jade pendant using dark energy, and Li Chen tried to copy it with water energy but made a plain, patternless version.

Mu Hen explained that his family sought King Kui’s tomb for its treasure and the Demon Blade rumored to be inside, while Su Zhe eagerly wanted the blade despite its dangers. At the Chess-Viewing Tower, the Daoist Family’s Holy Son solved every chess problem and confronted the Fox Family’s Holy Maiden over their wager.

• Mu Hen said King Kui had died in battle fifteen years earlier and that his tomb was rumored to contain a Demon Blade and great treasure.
• Su Zhe volunteered to enter the tomb for a Demon Blade, but Li Chen warned him that Demon Blades had side effects.
• Su Xian recognized a pale-haired Daoist playing chess as the Daoist Family’s Holy Son.
• The Holy Son solved all ten chess problems, then asked the Fox Family’s Holy Maiden whether their wager still stood.
• The Holy Maiden called the Holy Son family, but he insisted the wager stood and said he would leave.

The Fox Family saintess invited Li Chen and Su Xian upstairs to probe Canglan Academy’s contestants and needle Su Xian about opposing his brother. Li Chen rejected her attempts to unsettle them and learned that the Imperial Capital families intended to preserve the tournament’s balance; afterward, the saintess wondered about Li Chen’s true power and why Su Xian followed him.

• The Fox Family saintess learned that Canglan Academy’s contestants were in her teahouse and sent someone to invite them upstairs.
• Su Xian explained the Imperial Capital families’ contestants and said he wanted to defeat the person who had always surpassed him.
• Su Xian and Li Chen accepted the invitation, while Su Zhe left with Mu Hen and Jianping stayed behind.
• The saintess taunted Su Xian about his brother, but Li Chen dispelled her alluring aura and refused to withdraw from the Academy Tournament.
• The saintess told Li Chen that Canglan and the Imperial Capital had to preserve the balance by facing each other after eliminating the other academies.
• After Li Chen and Su Xian left, the saintess questioned Li Chen’s ability and wondered why Su Xian followed him.

Sword Elder brought Li Chen and Jianping to Canghai Pass to show them the Eerie Monsters beyond it, then unleashed a powerful slash across the sea. After a pass official warned that the monsters would riot, Sword Elder said they had seen what they came to see and left the path ahead to his disciples.

• Sword Elder examined Li Chen's Demon Blade, confirmed it had recognized Li Chen as its master, and returned it to him.
• Sword Elder explained that he had brought Jianping and Li Chen to see the state of Canghai Pass and the world beyond it.
• Sword Elder split the sea with a slash, killing countless Eerie Monsters and sending their bloodied water cascading into the rift.
• A black-robed man arrived and warned Sword Elder that his attack could make the Eerie Monsters riot again.
• Sword Elder told Jianping and Li Chen that they had seen what they came to see and that they would have to walk their own road ahead.

Old Man Sword brought Li Chen to a mysterious courtyard, where an old man revealed a hidden world and challenged him to a game of Go. The old man opened with a white stone at the board’s center, unleashing an illusion whose aura reminded Li Chen of the Calamity Realm.

• Old Man Sword took Li Chen and Jianping from Canghai Pass, then disappeared with Jianping after leading Li Chen to a courtyard.
• A little girl named Qiuqiu opened the door and brought Li Chen inside after her grandfather called for him.
• Li Chen stepped into the courtyard and found a sunlit paradise with a pond and pavilion, where an old man waited.
• The old man asked Li Chen to play Go, and Li Chen created chairs and bowls of stones with his ability.
• The old man chose white and placed a stone on the center point, producing a fierce human-shaped illusion that shocked Li Chen.

Li Chen learned that the old man had taught Yu Qingnian and had crossed time to see Li Chen as the Human Race’s hope, but Li Chen broke under the pressure of being expected to save humanity. The chapter ended with the old man staking everything on Li Chen as the lone figure who would rise amid the coming battle between dawn and darkness.

• Li Chen conceded the chess game, and the old man revealed that Yu Qingnian had learned to play from him.
• The old man told Li Chen that he knew his secrets and had seen him as a glimmer of hope in a dark future.
• The old man compared Li Chen’s retreat in chess to the Human Race yielding ground to the Eerie Monsters and warned that giving up could doom humanity.
• Li Chen protested that he was an ordinary person and could not bear the burden others had placed on him.
• The old man said the Human Race needed a new beginning and that he could only stake everything on Li Chen.

Li Chen chose to pursue godhood on his own terms after the Lord of Rules revealed that he had become the Weird God of Rules and urged Li Chen to continue his unfinished path. Elder Gu later explained that he had little time left and had forced Li Chen into the conflict to change the future.

• A voice in Li Chen's mind urged him to pursue godhood and confront the Elder Gods, but Li Chen declared that he would choose his own path and become a god.
• The masked man revealed that he was identical to Li Chen and had exhausted the power of the Reincarnation Authority; he warned Li Chen not to enter the final Forbidden Door in the Throne Space before fading away.
• Li Chen told Elder Gu that the Human Race would not be wiped out, even if the world fell into ruin.
• At ten thousand meters in the air, Jianping asked Sword Elder why he had brought Li Chen to meet Elder Gu, and Sword Elder said the plan had been Elder Gu's idea.
• After Li Chen disappeared, Elder Gu summoned Yu Qingnian and explained that the boundary of time would not let him remain in that spacetime much longer.
• Yu Qingnian questioned whether making Li Chen a god was the only way forward, and Elder Gu asked whether a special agent should sacrifice their individual self or fulfill their greater self.

Li Chen absorbed the Forbidden Substance leaking from the Forbidden Door and advanced into the Withered Sea Realm, gaining a glimpse of the world’s monstrous true form. The next morning, he arrived at the Academy Tournament gathering, where the Imperial Capital contestants and a mysterious white-haired woman took notice of him.

• Li Chen absorbed Forbidden Substance from the Forbidden Door and broke through to the Withered Sea Realm, developing an eye in his palm and sensing the world’s true, monster-filled state.
• Li Chen spent the night stabilizing his cultivation in a deserted place, then headed to Canghai City’s center after receiving a call about the Academy Tournament.
• Su Xian, Su Zhe, Ji Shao, Mu Hen, and Jianping gathered at the tournament transfer point and discussed the upcoming matches in a Secret Realm.
• The seven Imperial Capital contestants arrived in the air, including Ji Yuzhao, the Fox Family’s Holy Maiden, and a white-haired woman not listed in the information.
• Li Chen flew into the gathering, and the Imperial Capital leader asked someone to identify him while the white-haired woman recognized his growing aura.

Li Chen and the Canglan team entered the Academy Tournament venue amid tension with Imperial Capital Academy, and the tournament officially began with a spectacular opening display. As the teams awaited the rankings and Miracle Fruits, Mu Hen’s participation drew concern from his family in Sinful Pass.

• Li Chen arrived beside Su Zhe, and the Canglan team entered the venue after an encounter with the Imperial Capital team.
• Su Xian explained that the tournament was jointly hosted by major organizations and families, while the teams took their assigned positions in the arena.
• Cang Lao and the other officials announced the tournament’s start, and Cang Lao’s illusion revealed a real tree bearing Miracle Fruits for participants to claim after the rankings were settled.
• Ji Mumu and Su Zhe admired the Miracle Fruits, while Jianping focused on winning first place and Su Xian watched Mu Hen.
• Elders near Sinful Pass questioned Mu Hen’s father about letting him compete, and his father warned that he would retaliate if the older generation’s affairs endangered his son.

At the Academy Tournament, the rules commentator revealed that the teams would compete in the deadly Golden Peak Secret Realm, where they had to fight for maps and survive Eerie Monsters before holding the summit for a day. Li Chen and the other contestants understood the danger but stayed, fired up to fight for their academies and futures.

• Spectators celebrated the Miracle Fruit, which could awaken latent potential and might turn an ordinary person into a Sequence User.
• The rules commentator announced that teams would enter Golden Peak, where they had to survive and hold the summit for one day to win the championship.
• Su Xian explained that teams would face Eerie Monsters, fight over six maps, and risk death, with only one rescue Forbidden Object per team.
• Li Chen realized that he could not withdraw because of his promise and his responsibility to Canglan Academy.
• The rules commentator challenged the contestants to stay, and the teams steeled themselves to fight for their academies and futures.

Li Chen’s team entered the Golden Peak stage of the Academy Tournament and quickly captured a group of students who had ambushed them. The captives revealed that teams had entered at staggered times and that earlier entrants had already suffered deaths and losses.

• The tournament official explained the distress tokens, watches, and stages before teleporting the teams into Golden Peak.
• Ji Shao lit the sealed, enormous chamber where Li Chen’s team arrived, and Su Xian noticed that no other teams were nearby.
• Several men in black uniforms attacked with a dagger, but Li Chen stopped it and seized them with an energy hand.
• Su Xian questioned the attackers and learned that they had entered three hours earlier, lost teammates and their distress token, and wanted to steal Li Chen’s token to withdraw.

Su Xian's team searched Golden Peak for the map and encountered a conscious skeleton Eerie Monster gathering bones around itself. A white-robed man stopped Li Chen from attacking, and his teammate suspected the monster carried the map.

• Su Xian learned that another team had the map, knocked their members unconscious, and led his group toward the direction they had indicated.
• At the tournament venue, Wei Laoda and Cang Lao watched the teams and remarked on the deadly conditions as Li Chen's team explored Golden Peak.
• Li Chen's team followed a ruined road, and Su Zhe accidentally detonated a bomb he had mistaken for a brick.
• Li Chen spotted a conscious skeleton among a field of bones and attacked before it could assemble bone armor around itself.
• A white-robed man threw a spear that blocked Li Chen's blades, while a scantily clad woman told her captain the Eerie Monster likely had the map.

Li Chen fought a powerful skeleton Eerie Monster while Mu Hen realized he might be able to tame it. Meanwhile, Jianping confronted the captain and woman whose teammates he had apparently defeated, leaving the two groups on the verge of a fight.

• Mu Hen told Li Chen that the skeleton's Soul Flame remained and that he could try to tame it, while warning that it had reached the Withered Sea Realm.
• The skeleton charged, and Li Chen blocked its strike with Vermilion, revealing overwhelming strength to a nearby team.
• The nearby captain ordered his team to withdraw, deciding their safety mattered more than pursuing the possible map drop.
• Jianping stopped the captain and woman from leaving and revealed that their five teammates were no longer responding through their headsets.
• The captain raised his spear against Jianping as the woman tried in vain to contact the missing teammates.

Li Chen weakened the skeletal Eerie Monster without killing it so Mu Hen could try to tame it. Elsewhere, Jianping mocked a spear-wielding Academy Tournament opponent, who launched one last attack as Jianping's teammates approached.

• Li Chen defended against the skeletal Eerie Monster, then struck it with a compressed black sphere until its soul flame was nearly extinguished.
• Mu Hen found the Eerie Monster alive and prepared to subdue it while Li Chen stepped aside.
• Jianping told the spear-wielding man that his technique was weak and inferior to someone Jianping had known.
• The humiliated man resolved to defeat Jianping before his teammates arrived and charged with Unstoppable force.

Jianping defeated a spear-wielding opponent but spared him, and Li Chen forced the man to reveal that the Academy Tournament had become a struggle to collect map fragments. Li Chen and Jianping left the man behind as the teams’ fight for the maps began.

• Jianping defeated the spear-wielding man, spared him, and advised him not to rely on an ability to improve his spear skills.
• Li Chen pressured the man into revealing that Eerie Monsters carried incomplete map fragments needed to reach the top of Golden Peak.
• Li Chen realized the tournament had turned into a battle to seize and combine maps, then left the man behind.
• The man fled, while Jianping told Li Chen he had spared the opponent because he respected his spear skills.

Li Chen and his team used a transformed bone map to understand the shifting maze, then realized they could ignore the tournament’s intended route and break through by reaching the top. Outside the Secret Realm, Cang Lao praised their insight while Wei Laoda reflected on the tournament’s purpose.

• Mu Hen emerged from the skeletal Eerie Monster and revealed that it had given him a bone map.
• Su Xian used a transformation spell to turn the bone into a shifting map, and Li Chen worked out how the pyramid’s rotating sections concealed the exit.
• Jianping questioned why the team had to follow the map, prompting Li Chen to decide they should use their own strengths and break the rules to reach the top.
• Su Xian kept the map, saying it could help them leave sooner and reveal a way to clear the next level through entrapment.
• Cang Lao praised Li Chen’s team for figuring out the tournament’s deception, while Wei Laoda considered how the Secret Realm gave weaker teams a chance to compete.

The Imperial Capital team used the Daoist Family's Holy Son’s power to break into the next stage, while Li Chen’s team reached the extreme-cold realm with their map and planned to wait for other teams. A nearby group led by Bing-jie recognized Canglan’s strength and decided to seek allies before approaching them.

• The Daoist Family's Holy Son used a black Go stone to break open the Secret Realm and carried the Imperial Capital team into the next stage.
• Li Chen’s team used their map to reach the extreme-cold realm, where Su Xian explained the three environments and how teams could earn points by killing Eerie Monsters.
• Su Xian proposed using their score counter’s map coordinates to lure other teams into a sting operation, and Li Chen agreed they could wait by the fire.
• Seven women watched Li Chen’s team from a snowy mountain, and Bing-jie identified them as Canglan’s team.
• Bing-jie decided her group should wait and seek allies to oppose Canglan rather than risk approaching them alone.

Su Xian explained that the maps were bait and that the teams could reach the next Secret Realm by breaking through its boundaries, while the summit remained specially reinforced. As Li Chen and his team fought a wolf pack, Li Chen unleashed the Demon Eye and transformed his Demon Blade against the Withered Sea Realm wolf king.

• Su Xian showed the group a model of the Ice and Snow Secret Realm and explained how its boundaries could be broken, but not the reinforced summit.
• Hundreds of Eerie Wolves approached, and Li Chen identified their gray leader as a Withered Sea Realm wolf king.
• Fan Bing’s team decided to watch the Canglan team fight the wolves, while the injured team that had lured the pack hoped to claim the map afterward.
• Li Chen fought the wolf king as his teammates battled the other wolves, slowing the leader and dodging its approach.
• Li Chen activated Mutation, opened the Demon Eye on his hand, and transformed Vermilion into an eye-covered flesh longsword that made the wolf king retreat in fear.

Su Xian and the others fought the demon wolves while Li Chen struggled with the memory loss and madness caused by the Demon Eye’s Mutation. After Fan Bing’s team attacked him, Li Chen emerged unharmed and killed Xiao Wen with a single sword strike.

• Su Xian sealed the battlefield with Spell Regulation as Ji Mumu melted the snow, allowing Su Zhe to slow the wolves and Ji Shao to attack them with flames.
• Li Chen realized that using the Demon Eye’s Mutation was altering his consciousness and erasing some of his memories.
• The injured Wolf King began retreating as Fan Bing and several women arrived and turned their attention to Li Chen.
• The ponytailed woman trapped Li Chen in a White Sand Gathering attack, but he emerged unharmed, and Fan Bing ordered her team to run.
• Li Chen cut Xiao Wen in two with a black sword beam and turned his blade toward another attacker.