Chapter Summaries

Shi Tiexin stopped Shi Yuwei from charging past the Reporting Office and helped her complete their academy registration. The freshmen gathered and entered the office, while Sima Liang and another boy examined the faint footprints outside; Shi Tiexin then guided Shi Yuwei across campus with her new map.

• Shi Tiexin repeatedly rooted himself to slow Shi Yuwei's sprint and pointed her toward the nearby Reporting Office.
• Shi Tiexin strained his arm and crushed his sneaker sole while stopping Shi Yuwei, then followed her inside to register.
• Sima Liang, Gao Chongxiao, and the other freshmen arrived, exchanged remarks about their running, and entered the Reporting Office.
• Sima Liang inspected faint footprints outside before the boy next door appeared, examined them too, and entered the office.
• Shi Tiexin completed registration for himself and Shi Yuwei, then showed her how to use the Campus Client map.

Shi Tiexin escorted Shi Yuwei to the Grand Martial Arts Grounds, where new students assembled and the principal began the opening ceremony. The chapter left the principal about to address the students after promising to say only three things.

• Shi Tiexin turned Shi Yuwei around when she headed toward the wrong gate, then led her to the Grand Martial Arts Grounds.
• A crew-cut boy identified Shi Tiexin as the student He Chong had mentioned but decided not to confront him yet.
• When teachers ordered the new students to form ranks, Shi Yuwei rushed to the front and secured herself and Shi Tiexin a place in the central row.
• The teachers arranged the students and introduced the principal, a vigorous white-haired old man who walked with a cane.
• The principal welcomed the new students and announced that he would say only three things.

First Zhengxue Academy’s principal laid out strict school rules, class assignments, and rewards for academic competition, then announced that Chu Feiyan had joined as a special teacher with authority across the school. The students applauded as the principal welcomed her.

• The principal announced that three students who had missed the enrollment deadline were dismissed and warned that anyone who broke the school’s iron rules would receive no exceptions.
• The principal introduced twenty homeroom teachers, all Sharpness cultivators, and told the students they could check their class assignments on their client terminals.
• The principal announced school-wide examinations every six months, with Heavenly Gifted Golden Light for overall winners and class winners.
• The principal warned that students who lacked ambition could be dismissed, and the students cheered when he promised rewards for each class’s winner.
• The principal announced that Chu Feiyan had been hired as a special teacher with school-wide authority, then led the students in welcoming her.

Chu Feiyan arrived to teach the new students and overwhelmed nearly all eight hundred with a mental blockade created by her footsteps. Shi Tiexin and several exceptional students broke free, while Shi Yuwei appeared unaffected, and the chapter ended with Shi Tiexin seeing Chu Feiyan clearly for the first time.

• Sima Liang and Gao Chongxiao recognized Chu Feiyan's name, while Shi Yuwei recalled that her sister had mentioned her.
• Chu Feiyan approached the students, and her footsteps clouded their senses and trapped most of them in a nightmare-like mental blockade.
• Shi Tiexin resisted with his thought energy and broke through by recalling his battle against the Black Samurai.
• Gao Chongxiao, Sima Liang, Gu Shaoqiu, and other strong students also escaped the blockade, while Shi Yuwei seemed entirely unaffected.
• Shi Yuwei called Chu Feiyan pretty, and Shi Tiexin saw the young teacher, whose striking appearance included a humble token offered in apology.

Shi Tiexin watched specially appointed teacher Chu Feiyan silence the freshmen and bluntly condemn Tumubao First Main School’s standards. She announced a Special Advancement Class limited to twenty-six students, then faced an angry objection from a student who had placed fourth in Upper City.

• Chu Feiyan rang her smoking pipe to awaken the freshmen, then silenced them with her voice.
• Chu Feiyan called all the freshmen trash and criticized the school’s poor standards, citing the absent champion, Young Master Shen, as evidence.
• Shi Tiexin noticed the old principal showed no defiance and concluded that Chu Feiyan’s criticism was largely true.
• Chu Feiyan announced a Special Advancement Class for the top three students from each district, excluding the absent champion, and required Heavenly Gifted Golden Light.
• A student who placed fourth in Upper City objected to the selection limit and argued that cross-district examinations would have produced different champions.

Chu Feiyan began a half-hour contest for the twenty-six places in the Special Advancement Class, drawing challengers from the freshmen. Shi Tiexin faced a boy who insulted his claim to the Heavenly Gifted Golden Light, and left him badly injured after crushing his foot.

• Chu Feiyan summoned the twenty-six students and announced that freshmen could challenge them for places in the Special Advancement Class, while warning against malicious fighting or ganging up.
• Gu Shaoqiu spoke with Shi Tiexin about the weaker districts becoming targets, and said he would compete for a place too.
• A student challenged the nervous “Soaring” member of the Skyrocketing Duo, and other students began pairing off for secret-realm duels.
• A tall, robust girl challenged Shi Yuwei, who cheerfully accepted and entered a secret realm to fight.
• A boy from North City’s top thirty-two challenged Shi Tiexin and taunted him over receiving the Heavenly Gifted Golden Light.
• Shi Tiexin used the Rooting Technique to pin and crush the boy’s foot, leaving him screaming in pain.

Shi Tiexin dominated the challengers seeking places in the Special Advancement Class, while Tang Tianao won a place before suffering a humiliating defeat. As Chu Feiyan ended the challenge period, Shi Tiexin realized how much stronger he had become and wondered if she viewed the students as he viewed his opponents.

• Shi Tiexin brutally defeated a challenger who insulted him, and Shi Yuwei also defeated her opponents as students were repeatedly eliminated.
• Tang Tianao defeated a third-place student to enter the Special Advancement Class, while Gu Shaoqiu won four matches in a row.
• Shi Tiexin outmaneuvered a grappling specialist and stopped a kick inches from his opponent's face, convincing the remaining challengers not to face him.
• The grappling specialist challenged Tang Tianao and pinned him, leaving Tang Tianao defeated but already searching for another easy opponent.
• Shi Tiexin told Shi Yuwei the challengers were too weak and reflected on how much his training had strengthened him.
• Chu Feiyan announced that time was up.

After ending the opening ceremony, Chu Feiyan explained that the Special Advancement Class offered freedom to choose teachers and the privilege of asking her questions. She left the students with a warning that her advice would cost money, and that every word was worth a thousand gold.

• Chu Feiyan silenced the students who challenged the selection by knocking them down with her mind arts, then dismissed the opening ceremony.
• The selected students gathered in the special classroom, where Chu Feiyan announced that she would not teach regular lessons and forbade lateness.
• Chu Feiyan explained that Special Advancement Class students could freely choose their teachers and ask her questions.
• Chu Feiyan told the students she would charge for answering questions and declared that every word of hers was worth a thousand gold.

Shi Tiexin sought cultivation advice from Chu Feiyan, who assessed his foundation and warned him not to rush breakthroughs. The session ended with Shi Tiexin having received guidance on thought qi, body refinement, and essence qi, while Chu Feiyan hinted that a path beyond the minimum standard existed.

• Chu Feiyan called Shi Tiexin into a private room after giving several other students short consultations.
• Shi Tiexin asked Chu Feiyan for advice about his future cultivation path and described his current essence qi and thought qi.
• Chu Feiyan told Shi Tiexin to build his foundation carefully, perfect all four levels of the Six Fundamental Heart Arts, and cultivate One's Own Strength before advancing to Sharp Qi.
• Shi Tiexin asked whether there was something better than One's Own Strength, but Chu Feiyan counted it as his second question, so he set it aside.
• Chu Feiyan warned Shi Tiexin not to rush from Origin Pellet to Sharp Qi and finished answering his first question.

Shi Tiexin asked Chu Feiyan why wealthy classmates with abundant resources still struggled to cultivate an Origin Pellet. She explained that most people could not perfect their basic Essence Cultivation Technique and needed better food or arts to raise their technique’s realm, while Shi Tiexin had overcome that hurdle unusually easily.

• Shi Tiexin asked Chu Feiyan why his well-resourced former opponent and classmates had weak Essence Nurturing, even though they could afford good food and cultivation arts.
• Chu Feiyan checked Shi Tiexin’s information after learning he had no family elders to explain cultivation to him, then asked which Essence Cultivation Technique he practiced.
• Shi Tiexin said he had perfected the most ordinary Essence Cultivation Technique through practice and a few Heavenly Gifted Golden Light points.
• Chu Feiyan explained that most people could not cultivate an Origin Pellet with a basic technique unless they raised its realm or switched to better Essence Cultivation Arts.
• Chu Feiyan told Shi Tiexin that expensive Body Nourishing Essence Food, especially food produced on Central Star, could accelerate technique cultivation.

Shi Tiexin considered how to earn and use money after Chu Feiyan advised him that wealth was essential to advancement. Chu Feiyan formed a five-person privileged group, and the stern-looking boy decided to repeatedly beat Tang Tianao after overhearing his threats.

• Chu Feiyan told Shi Tiexin that money was crucial for better cultivation arts, body-tempering techniques, and manuals, then sent him away until classes resumed next month.
• Shi Tiexin returned to the classroom and began planning how much money to earn and how to spend it.
• Chu Feiyan created a five-member privileged group with control over its members’ schedules and selected Shi Yuwei, Gao Chongxiao, Sima Liang, Shu Wangzhou, and Shi Tiexin.
• Chu Feiyan said students could join the group by publicly defeating one of its members, while warning the chosen five that they had to defend their places.
• Tang Tianao threatened to undermine Shu Wangzhou, and the stern-looking boy followed him into a restroom and beat him, deciding to keep doing so whenever they met.

Shi Tiexin calculated the costs of cultivation, sought a way to make money, and decided to keep growing his Bright Corps business while pursuing Essence Cultivation Arts through Worldline travel. Meanwhile, a mysterious boy arranged to increase his cultivation allowance and pressed Old Tang to deliver a divine art aimed at Shi Tiexin.

• Shi Tiexin estimated that covering all five cultivation paths would cost 150,000 Value Points a month, then lowered his target to about 60,000 by choosing cheaper goods.
• Shi Tiexin concluded that Worldline travel offered his best chance to obtain rare Essence Cultivation Arts and fretted over the 980,000 Value Point price of the Rising Sun Yang Nourishing Art.
• Shi Tiexin considered the illicit shortcuts used by Dispersed Literature protagonists, rejected them, and continued expanding Bright Corps while training and studying.
• A mysterious boy learned that Chu Feiyan had left and discussed her progress in the Mind System and her approach to the Talent Domain.
• The boy ordered an associate to promote an office director so his monthly cultivation allotment would exceed 80,000 Value Points.
• The boy told his associate to hurry Old Tang and send out his divine art against Shi Tiexin.

Shi Tiexin rescued Shi Yuwei from the underground pipelines, and she invited him to a feast before promptly disappearing again. He teamed up with Old Tang to deliver a large order of Body Nourishing Essence Food to a shabby residential complex, while a mysterious youth ordered Shi Tiexin pressured into accepting a divine cultivation technique.

• A mysterious youth ordered his subordinate to warn Old Tang to hurry Shi Tiexin along, threatening to use Dan Xin Zhi force if Shi Tiexin delayed.
• The youth decided that Shi Tiexin’s ambition would make him try the divine technique, and named Shu Wangzhou and Tang Tianao as possible replacements while ruling out the short girl because of her sister and the Scholar Union.
• Shi Tiexin climbed out of the underground pipelines with Shi Yuwei, who explained that she had been lost underground for three days on her way to school.
• Shi Yuwei invited Shi Tiexin to her home for a feast, then ran off despite his offer to escort her.
• When Shi Yuwei failed to call by noon, Shi Tiexin assumed she had gotten lost again and continued taking delivery orders.
• Shi Tiexin called Old Tang to help deliver a large order, and they brought six boxes of Body Nourishing Essence Food to a shabby residential complex.

Shi Tiexin and Old Tang hauled a huge food order up thirty-eight flights of stairs because the building’s elevators were broken. At the door, Shi Tiexin reunited with Shi Yulei, who explained that the food was for an emergency treatment and said she had saved the patients.

• Shi Tiexin called Shi Yuhui, who confirmed there was no way upstairs except carrying the food and urged him to hurry because someone was dying.
• Shi Tiexin and Old Tang carried six heavy boxes up the stairs, with Shi Tiexin using Gale Leg to climb more efficiently while Old Tang complained.
• At the thirty-eighth floor, Shi Yulei opened the door and offered to pay extra for the difficult delivery.
• Shi Yulei took a serving of Body Nourishing Essence Food and tossed it into the room, where a frightening, mechanical-sounding treatment followed.
• Shi Yulei told Shi Tiexin that the emergency treatment was finished and that she had saved the patients.

Shi Yuhui caught Old Tang using an eye technique to stare at the sisters and brutally defeated him, while Shi Tiexin was caught in the crossfire. After the mystic realm ended, she saved Old Tang from dying and turned her attention to Shi Tiexin.

• Shi Yuhui brushed Shi Tiexin aside and confronted Old Tang for secretly using an eye technique.
• Shi Yuhui wounded Old Tang with her Sharp Steel Extreme aura, then hurled him into the elevator doors.
• Shi Yuhui struck Old Tang with a powerful punch that reduced him to blood and shredded flesh inside the mystic realm.
• The mystic realm shattered, revealing Old Tang alive but catastrophically injured, and Shi Yuhui used disposable chopsticks to stop his bleeding.
• Shi Yuhui threatened to cripple Old Tang's martial arts and eye technique, then turned on Shi Tiexin as he insisted he had not been looking.

Shi Tiexin watched the three Shi sisters devour an enormous meal at astonishing speed while he barely touched his food. After Shi Yulei finished eating, she lost her memory again, and Shi Tiexin went to speak with Shi Yuhui about serious business.

• Shi Yuwei ate five bowls of food at once using both hands and several rapid-fire eating streams.
• Shi Yulei devoured the food in front of Shi Tiexin, leaving his chopsticks untouched.
• Shi Yuhui poured down bowl after bowl of food while casually talking to Shi Tiexin.
• When Shi Yulei could not eat another bite, Shi Yuhui punched her head into her bowl and ordered her to waste no soup; Shi Yulei sucked the splashed broth back in.
• Shi Yulei raised her head and asked who Shi Tiexin was, having lost her memory again.
• After the sisters finished eating, Shi Tiexin sought out Shi Yuhui to discuss serious business.

Shi Tiexin proposed taking over takeout deliveries for Central Hospital, and Shi Yuhui agreed to back the scheme in exchange for a larger share and extra support. As they parted, Shi Yuhui advised Shi Tiexin to cultivate Dragon Essence before breaking through Sharpness.

• Shi Tiexin congratulated Shi Yuhui on becoming Deputy Director of Nursing, and she joked that he had borrowed one hundred thousand points from her.
• Shi Tiexin discussed Shi Yuhui's costs of raising her two younger sisters and learned that she needed at least fifteen hundred thousand points to make ends meet.
• Shi Tiexin proposed managing takeout deliveries for Central Hospital patients and offered Shi Yuhui a twenty percent commission.
• Shi Yuhui demanded forty percent and suggested requiring patients to order from designated restaurants, with rebates from the restaurants boosting profits.
• Shi Yuhui promised to handle resistance from Liang Tuan and the hospital leadership, and she and Shi Tiexin sealed their alliance with three high-fives.
• Shi Yuhui asked Shi Tiexin to look after her third younger sister at First Zhengxue Academy and advised him to cultivate Dragon Essence before breaking through Sharpness.

Old Tang woke after Shi Yuhui had crushed him, only to learn that his false core had been dissolved while Shi Tiexin saved his life. As Old Tang mourned his ruined cultivation and tried to sell Shi Tiexin an Essence Nurturing divine art, Shi Tiexin revealed that he had already found a cultivation method.

• Old Tang woke in pain and panicked when he realized his false core and cultivated essence energy were gone.
• Shi Tiexin told Old Tang that Shi Yuhui had punched him into mush and that he had dissolved Old Tang’s false core to save his life.
• Old Tang explained that Shi Yuhui’s Extremely Sharp Energy had been near the Talent Domain and lamented that he had not reached Dragon Essence.
• Old Tang advised Shi Tiexin to cultivate Dragon Essence and then break through into Extremely Sharp Energy.
• Old Tang tried to sell Shi Tiexin an Essence Nurturing divine art, but Shi Tiexin said he had already resolved the cultivation-method issue.

Shi Tiexin told Teacher Tang he had bought the expensive Rising Sun Yang Nourishing Art and was ready to leave, prompting Teacher Tang to reveal the advantages of divine arts and Dragon Essence. Teacher Tang finally offered to pass Shi Tiexin an unparalleled divine art.

• Shi Tiexin told Teacher Tang he had borrowed money to buy the Rising Sun Yang Nourishing Art and prepared to leave.
• Teacher Tang tried to stop Shi Tiexin by warning that the market's best arts were still inferior to secret divine arts.
• Teacher Tang explained that Dragon Essence could enable a cultivator to ring the Bell of Heaven's Chime during Burning Core Breakthrough and potentially ring it up to nine times.
• Teacher Tang claimed that cultivating a divine art could help support more chimes and urged Shi Tiexin not to miss the opportunity.
• Teacher Tang decided to pass his own unparalleled divine art to Shi Tiexin.

Old Tang persuaded Shi Tiexin to accept a cultivation art, which he claimed came from the Pure Clarity Sect. Elsewhere, a mysterious young master revealed that the art was the Freedom Minor Method, an introductory method of his sect’s Fate-Guiding Divine Art, and that practicing it without its master formula would cripple Shi Tiexin.

• Shi Tiexin suspected Old Tang’s offer of a free divine art and asked what it would cost.
• Old Tang insisted the art was free repayment for Shi Tiexin saving his life, and Shi Tiexin agreed to accept it.
• In a secret room, Old Tang explained that the art came from the Pure Clarity Sect’s Great Tome of Pure Clarity and had five levels of Essence cultivation.
• A mysterious voice told the young master that Old Tang had begun introducing Shi Tiexin to the art.
• The young master revealed that the art was the Freedom Minor Method and planned to let Shi Tiexin rise while secretly gaining strength behind him.
• The young master explained that without the method’s master formula, the Freedom Minor Method became an Evil Path that would cripple its practitioner, as it had Old Tang.