Chapter Summaries

Wang Chao accompanied Qin Huachang as he tried to drug Big Yellow with meat buns, while they discussed Sun Tianlong's renewed determination to win before retiring. Their attempt ended in a furious confrontation with Sister Fan, who accused Qin Huachang of ruining one of her sons and trying to poison her dog, and Qin Huachang hurried Wang Chao away without explaining the family conflict.

• Qin Huachang and Wang Chao watched the Asian Cup, where Luo Jiu and Sun Tianlong advanced, and Qin explained that Sun planned to fight all-out for another year and a half before retiring.
• Qin Huachang obtained meat buns from Master Liu and planned to drug them to deal with Big Yellow, but Big Yellow refused to eat them.
• Qin Huachang and Wang Chao threw the buns into Sister Fan's courtyard, then found Sister Fan approaching as they prepared to leave.
• Sister Fan accused Qin Huachang of trying to poison Big Yellow and said he had already ruined one of her two sons.
• Sister Fan attacked Qin Huachang and Wang Chao with a broom, then broke down crying, and Qin Huachang pulled Wang Chao away.

Wang Chao entered a stadium to test the young table tennis player Qin Huachang called Little Fatty and found him to be a formidable talent. Their match drew a crowd, and Wang Chao was stunned when Little Fatty unleashed a true Overlord Twist.

• Qin Huachang asked Wang Chao to challenge Little Fatty at a stadium and bring him out to meet Qin without revealing Qin’s name.
• Wang Chao found the chubby, buzz-cut boy and began a match, quickly realizing Little Fatty had exceptional instincts and powerful shots.
• Wang Chao took an early lead by exploiting Little Fatty’s weaknesses in serving and short play, while spectators gathered to watch.
• Wang Chao fed Little Fatty a long ball, and Little Fatty answered with a powerful forehand loop before striking an extraordinary backhand twist.
• Wang Chao failed to return Little Fatty’s backhand and recognized it as a true Overlord Twist.

Wang Chao discovered that Fan Pingnan, Fan Xiaodong’s older brother and one of the Six Little Dragons, supported Qin Huachang’s plan to recruit Fan Xiaodong despite his own past injury. With Fan Pingnan’s help, Wang Chao and Qin Huachang planned to take Fan Xiaodong to the capital for team entry procedures.

• Wang Chao defeated Fan Xiaodong 11:4, then followed him to meet his older brother, Fan Pingnan.
• Fan Pingnan recognized Wang Chao and explained that Qin Huachang had trained both him and Lin Li before his legs were paralyzed by the strain of training.
• Wang Chao realized Qin Huachang’s repeated visits to Liancheng City were attempts to recruit Fan Xiaodong, whom his mother kept away from professional table tennis.
• Fan Pingnan said his mother’s resentment had made her refusal an obsession and urged Wang Chao to act first, explaining that he wanted Fan Xiaodong to pursue his talent and avoid a life of regret.
• Wang Chao told Qin Huachang that Fan Pingnan would help Fan Xiaodong leave home and join the team, and Qin Huachang agreed to the plan despite fearing Sister Fan would call the police.

Luo Jiu reached the Asian Cup final against Sun Tianlong, and his new pips-out style immediately challenged the Dragon Team’s dominance. The chapter ended with Luo Jiu taking the opening point after a fierce rally.

• Luo Jiu swept Mizutori Hato 4–0 and defeated a Peacock Country player to reach the final, while Sun Tianlong won both of his matches 4–0.
• Wang Chao and Qin Huachang watched the Asian Cup, and Qin Huachang predicted Luo Jiu would need two years to have an even chance against Sun Tianlong.
• Luo Jiu entered the court without a racket, and He Jingping tossed one to him from the stands; Luo Jiu caught it and began the match.
• Luo Jiu used a looping hook and a series of changing pips-out drives to disrupt Sun Tianlong’s attack and win the first point.

Luo Jiu used his contrasting forehand loops and backhand punches to take the first game against Sun Tianlong, but Sun adapted in the second game and drew level at 9–9. The chapter ended with Sun set to serve and holding a slight advantage.

• Luo Jiu flicked Sun Tianlong’s short-backspin serve toward the baseline, but Sun declined the risky attack and returned the ball short.
• After seven short-ball exchanges, Sun’s loop clipped the net, and Luo Jiu recovered the ball before winning a long rally with powerful forehand loops.
• Luo Jiu’s unusual mix of heavy forehand loops and fast backhand punches unsettled Sun, and Luo took the first game 11–7.
• Sun Tianlong adapted to Luo Jiu’s variations in the second game, fought back to 9–9, and reached his service turn.

Luo Jiu read Sun Tianlong’s two Sneak Long Serves at 9:9 and won the second game 11:9, bringing the match level and pushing Sun Tianlong toward his limit. As the next game approached, both players’ reasons for needing victory became clear, and Luo Jiu resolved to defeat Sun Tianlong and claim the championship.

• At 9:9, Luo Jiu anticipated Sun Tianlong’s Sneak Long Serve, attacked with an extreme rising-ball shot, and took the lead 10:9.
• Sun Tianlong tried another Sneak Long Serve, but Luo Jiu read it again and won the game 11:9.
• Sun Tianlong calmly accepted the loss, but Wang Chao recognized the sharp look that signaled Sun Tianlong’s anger and recalled how he had crushed Lin Zijun after a setback.
• Wang Chao and Qin Huachang moved closer to the television as they anticipated the next game.
• Sun Tianlong remained determined to win the Double Grand Slam before injuries ended his career, while Luo Jiu wanted to overcome years of disappointing results and defeat him.
• Luo Jiu resolved to win the Asian Cup final, defeat Sun Tianlong, and prove himself after completing his technical reform.

Sun Tianlong awakened his ferocious attacking game to take the third game, then overcame Luo Jiu in a tense fourth game to level the match at two games apiece. The final became a best-of-three, with Luo Jiu needing to recover his touch and composure.

• Sun Tianlong attacked relentlessly in the third game, exploiting risky flicks and unusual shots to build a 7:2 lead over Luo Jiu.
• Sun Tianlong won the third game 11:4, while Wang Chao and Qin Huachang recognized that he had reached an exceptional state of play.
• Wang Chao understood that Luo Jiu had reached the same level earlier but was less able to sustain it, while Sun Tianlong had more weapons and experience.
• Luo Jiu varied his blocks, slices, chops, rips, and pushes to counter Sun Tianlong's attacks, and the fourth game remained tied through 12:12.
• Sun Tianlong won the fourth game 14:12 after Luo Jiu faltered under pressure, tying the match and turning it into a best-of-three.

Wang Chao watched Sun Tianlong and Luo Jiu battle through the fifth game, while Qin Huachang struggled with fatigue and emotion. As the sixth game began, Sun Tianlong weighed the cost of continuing to fight at full intensity, and Luo Jiu quickly sensed that he had slackened.

• Qin Huachang asked Wang Chao for water, then rested after admitting that the match had absorbed him and drained his energy.
• Sun Tianlong and Luo Jiu fought an even fifth game, which Sun Tianlong won 11–9 to take a 3–2 lead.
• Qin Huachang returned to bed and asked Wang Chao to narrate the sixth game while he rested.
• Sun Tianlong considered how his injuries and Luo Jiu's strength could make future battles unsustainable, and wondered whether winning today was worth the cost.
• Luo Jiu took the first two points of the sixth game and sensed that Sun Tianlong was no longer playing at his limits.

Luo Jiu won the Asian Cup after Sun Tianlong’s performance collapsed, but Wang Chao helped him understand that Sun had been pushed to his physical limit rather than deliberately conceding. Luo Jiu regained his confidence, celebrated his victory, and invited Wang Chao to visit him in the capital before Wang ended their awkward call.

• Luo Jiu beat Sun Tianlong 11:5 in the deciding game to win the Asian Cup, while commentators Yi Jing and Grasshopper covered the match.
• Sun Tianlong praised Luo Jiu in an interview and said he would adjust his tournament schedule because of Luo Jiu’s rise.
• Luo Jiu told Wang Chao that Sun Tianlong had deliberately let him win and worried about facing him again.
• Wang Chao explained that Sun Tianlong had been forced to retreat because sustaining that level of play would strain him across future tournaments.
• Luo Jiu accepted Wang Chao’s explanation, cheered up, and invited him to hotpot and other outings in the capital.
• Wang Chao called Luo Jiu slutty and hung up after Luo Jiu made suggestive remarks.

After Dragon Team’s defeat, Qin Huachang told Wang Chao how He Jingping had helped him stop Sun Tianlong from being demoted to a full-time sparring partner. Qin then recalled how he and Sun trained relentlessly for a year and a half, leaving Sun’s rise as a champion still rooted in their shared work.

• Qin Huachang recalled that sixteen-year-old Sun Tianlong performed poorly in team tests, and the head coach proposed training him as a sparring partner.
• He Jingping rallied more than ten coaches to sign a protest letter against the decision, and the head coach ultimately abandoned the plan after publicly criticizing He and Qin.
• Qin asked Sun whether he accepted the decision, and they agreed to train harder so they could prove the coaches wrong.
• Sun insisted on training fourteen hours a day, and Qin agreed to train alongside him; they kept it up for a year and a half, even through Spring Festival.
• When Sun still did not rank first in any technical assessment, he systematically improved his footwork, strength, reactions, touch, and tactics, developing the mathematical analysis for which he and Qin later became known.

Qin Huachang recounted how Sun Tianlong endured years of training and repeated defeats by Wang Wendong before finally overcoming him and becoming dominant. He explained that story to Wang Chao to show how unfairly quickly Luo Jiu and Wang Chao seemed to reach heights that had taken Sun Tianlong fifteen years to attain, then left Wang Chao wondering what he meant to say.

• Qin Huachang described Sun Tianlong’s rise from an overlooked player, his victories at the France Open and Swiss Open, and his repeated defeats by Wang Wendong in major tournaments.
• Sun Tianlong lost to Wang Wendong in the Olympic final, suffered a mental collapse, and later told Qin Huachang he wanted to retire.
• Qin Huachang urged Sun Tianlong to try one last time at the World Cup, where Sun defeated Wang Wendong 4–0 before Wang Wendong retired.
• Wang Chao inferred that Wang Wendong had deliberately lost the match to help Sun Tianlong stand tall before the next era of Chinese table tennis.
• Qin Huachang said he resented how quickly Luo Jiu and Wang Chao seemed to reach a level that Sun Tianlong had taken fifteen years to achieve, then Wang Chao asked what he was trying to say.

Qin Huachang admitted that guilt over ruining Fan Pingnan’s career had changed his coaching philosophy, then realized Fan Pingnan had arranged for his younger brother, Fan Xiaodong, to become his disciple. After Qin brought Fan Xiaodong and Wang Chao toward the national team, Wang Chao stayed behind only briefly in Jiangcheng City before setting off with Qin for the capital.

• Qin Huachang told Wang Chao that his arrogance and belief in hard training had led him to damage Fan Pingnan, and admitted he had come to Jiangcheng City specifically to recruit Wang Chao.
• Wang Chao met Fan Xiaodong at the station, learned that Fan Pingnan had opened a table tennis club with money Qin had secretly provided, and deduced that Fan Pingnan had arranged for his brother to join Qin.
• Qin Huachang realized Fan Pingnan did not hate him and broke down crying on the train as he understood that Fan Pingnan had entrusted his younger brother to him.
• Qin Huachang presented Fan Xiaoxian with a national team call-up for Wang Chao to compete in the Sakura Country T2 Diamond event, and she agreed to let him go.
• Fan Xiaodong played the Spade Q trainees Lu Jia, Gao Ming, and Tian Zhengguang, overwhelming them before Wang Chao left with Qin Huachang for the capital.

Wang Chao arrived at the National Team training base, where He Jingping welcomed him as a disciple and Zhu Zeshi gave him a key to an apartment. The coaches then required Wang Chao to defeat one of the team’s main players to earn a place on the First Team and represent China at the T2 Diamond Series, and he chose Bai Feng.

• Wang Chao reunited with He Jingping, who gave him his coaching notes, while Luo Jiu presented him with his Asian Cup gold medal.
• Zhu Zeshi thanked Wang Chao for helping his family by giving him a key to an Imperial Capital apartment.
• Wang Chao ate with the group and entered the training hall, where Cai Guodong and the National Team’s main players awaited him.
• Cai Guodong announced that Wang Chao had to beat one of the main players to join the First Team and compete in Sakura Country; a loss would place him on the Second Team.
• Wang Chao considered the five players and chose Bai Feng for the assessment match.

Wang Chao chose Bai Feng for a match, and Bai Feng prepared for the challenge by studying his playing style and predicting his opening serve. As the match began, Bai Feng correctly anticipated Wang Chao’s Sneak Long Serve and was ready to counter it.

• Wang Chao selected Bai Feng as his opponent, and the national team gathered to watch their match.
• Bai Feng recalled his path from a young penhold player to a national team main player after helping develop the Penhold Backhand Loop.
• Bai Feng explained that he hoped to defeat Lin Li and become the leading figure of the new generation of Chinese penhold players.
• After Coach Wang Lu warned him that Wang Chao might choose him, Bai Feng studied recordings of Wang Chao’s matches and predicted his first serve.
• Qin Huachang refereed as Bai Feng let Wang Chao serve first, and Wang Chao opened with a Sneak Long Serve to Bai Feng’s backhand.

Wang Chao exploited Bai Feng’s unstable footwork and predictable power attacks to take a 4:0 lead during their training match. Bai Feng remained unaware of the coaches’ disappointment as Wang Chao surprised him with an over-the-table attack.

• Wang Chao returned Bai Feng’s opening attacks until Bai Feng’s footwork failed, winning the first point.
• Wang Chao controlled the next rally with changing placements and a short drop, taking a 2:0 lead.
• Wang Chao read Bai Feng’s serve and attacked, while Bai Feng’s repeated blasts ended with him launching the ball into the air and nearly falling into the table.
• Bai Feng paused to compose himself, then served long again, expecting Wang Chao to rally patiently.
• Wang Chao stepped over the table and flicked Bai Feng’s serve past him, bringing his lead to 4:0.

Wang Chao defeated Bai Feng 11:7 after testing his fundamentals against the national-team mainstay. Bai Feng could not understand how he had lost, and Wang Lu told him that Wang Chao had figured him out.

• Wang Chao traded long rallies with Bai Feng, showing that his fundamentals were nearly on par with the experienced player.
• Wang Chao won points by drawing Bai Feng into rallies and using his short game and baseline placement to set up attacks.
• Bai Feng repeatedly unleashed powerful loops, but Wang Chao kept returning them and won several points through placement and Bai Feng’s loss of balance.
• Bai Feng came alive during the close exchange of points, but Wang Chao ultimately won the game 11:7.
• Bai Feng asked Wang Lu why he had lost, and Wang Lu explained that Wang Chao had completely figured him out.

Wang Chao defeated Bai Feng by predicting and exploiting his stubborn, impulsive tactics, then impressed the coaches with his match reading and broader strategic insight. The coaches named Wang Chao’s exceptional talent “Unrivaled,” leaving him recognized as a new kind of talent in Chinese table tennis.

• Wang Chao predicted Bai Feng’s opening attack, weathered his fierce early shots, and built an initial four-point lead.
• Wang Chao changed tactics throughout the match, drawing Bai Feng into short-ball exchanges and winner-takes-all shots that suited Wang Chao’s plans.
• Bai Feng followed Wang Chao’s provocations and failed to recover the gap, losing the match in frustration.
• Cai Guodong praised Wang Chao’s strength, tactical execution, and mental resilience, while warning that Bai Feng held grudges.
• The coaches debated how to describe Wang Chao’s talents, citing his precision, insight, foresight, and ability to read players.
• Cai Guodong named Wang Chao’s talent “Unrivaled,” and He Jingping praised the name.

Wang Chao traveled to Sakura Country for the T2 Diamond Match and discovered that other players were watching and challenging him because the tournament booklet had inflated his profile and named him a favorite. Zhang Benkuang warned him that someone may have deliberately made him a target of public criticism, leaving Wang Chao suspicious of a setup.

• Ge Miao led the Chinese delegation to Sakura Country, where Wang Chao learned that Zhu Ding had taken the spot originally meant for Liu Shu and that Lu Feiyang wanted to challenge him on Liu Shu's behalf.
• After arriving, Wang Chao met a blond European player with an unusual but high-quality paddle, then received a wordless challenge from a Kimchi Country player.
• Wang Chao noticed competitors watching him, while Lin Zijun glanced his way but left without speaking to him.
• Zhang Benkuang introduced himself in Chinese and explained that he had been born in China before his father moved to Sakura Country and chose Sakura Country nationality for him.
• Zhang Benkuang told Wang Chao that the tournament booklet gave him a five-page profile, dubbed him the Unrivaled Divine Dragon, and listed him among the favorites; he warned that someone might be targeting Wang Chao through exaggerated praise.

Wang Chao studied the T2 Diamond Match booklet, which introduced the tournament’s unusual rules and heavily promoted him as the leader of China’s new Six Little Dragons. After judging the field and reflecting on future rivals, he concluded that only Wu Li and Fan Xiaodong seemed truly formidable, leaving the tournament matches to begin the next day.

• Wang Chao, Zhu Ding, and Lu Feiyang read the T2 booklet and learned that most of the world’s top-ranked players had skipped the tournament.
• The booklet ranked Wang Chao first among China’s new Six Little Dragons and named Mizutori Hato and Lin Zijun as leading title favorites.
• Wang Chao identified Morad, Li Zhengzhi, Christian Hart, and Yoshikawa Hiroshi among the other tournament participants.
• Wang Chao dismissed most of the Six Little Dragons as unimpressive and judged Wu Li and Fan Xiaodong to be the only players he had encountered with exceptional future potential.
• Zhu Ding asked Wang Chao what he thought of the Six Little Dragons, and Wang Chao kept his opinions to himself.

The T2 Diamond Match began with an explanation of its unusual rules and a draw that set the opening matchups. Wang Chao was paired with Zhu Shixian, while Lu Feiyang and Zhu Ding drew their own opponents ahead of the afternoon’s competition.

• Yoshikawa Dai Moku introduced T2’s Eagle Eye replay system and its time limit, which forced unfinished matches into the unpredictable Fast 5 format.
• Lu Feiyang asked Wang Chao to play quickly if they met, after Coach Ge Miao had previously stopped him from holding a practice match against Wang Chao.
• Mizuhara Koai and Hayakawa Junko drew the first players for each quarter: Lin Zijun, Zhu Shixian, Zhuang Huishen, and Zhu Ding.
• Hayakawa Junko drew Wang Chao for Quarter 2, pairing him with veteran defender Zhu Shixian and delighting Zhu Shixian.
• Lu Feiyang drew into Quarter 3 against Zhuang Huishen, while Mizutori Hato drew Zhu Ding for Quarter 4, exciting the Sakura Country crowd.
• The remaining draws placed Zhang Benkuang, Yoshikawa Hiroshi, Christian Hart, Sissifield, and Morad into the bracket, and the players prepared for the afternoon matches.