Chapter Summaries

Chen Nan combined the Meditation Method and Clear Heart Incantation into a cultivation path of his own, accepting slower progress in exchange for stronger, purer power. Dean Li Nanchao summoned him to issue an ultimatum, but Chen Nan believed he could still meet the assessment through his new method.

• Chen Nan set aside his vow to follow one cultivation path and resolved to combine Transcendent and Nature Master methods to gain greater freedom and strength.
• Chen Nan spent several months studying both methods and using the AI System to work out how to cultivate them together, slowing his progress to Level Nine of the Zero Rank.
• The AI System found a way to manage both methods at once, allowing Chen Nan to absorb power quickly and optimize it according to the Clear Heart Incantation.
• Chen Nan discovered that his refined power let him rival someone at Level One or Two of the First Rank, and that Nature Master advancement required no instruments.
• Li Nanchao, dissatisfied with Chen Nan's slow progress and with fewer than five months remaining before the assessment, summoned him to his office to give him a final ultimatum.
• Chen Nan sensed Li Nanchao's anger but remained confident that his new cultivation method could help him gain six levels in just over four months.

Li Nanchao reprimanded Chen Nan for neglecting his cultivation just as four Special Grade Teachers from Luojing Transcendent Academy arrived to recruit him. Chen Nan declined their offers for now, choosing to take the academy assessment first and decide afterward.

• Li Nanchao warned Chen Nan to reach Level Fifteen by September or face punishment and repayment for the academy's investment.
• Four Special Grade Teachers from Luojing Transcendent Academy entered and offered Chen Nan admission and cultivation resources in their respective departments.
• The teachers argued over who should recruit Chen Nan, while Li Nanchao protested that they were trying to take his student.
• Chen Nan thanked the teachers but said he would not join any department before taking the Transcendent Academy assessment.
• Li Nanchao privately felt relieved that Chen Nan had kept his promise to the academy.

Chen Nan rejected the Transcendent Academy departments’ recruitment and continued cultivating, reaching Level Ten after about half a month. Lu Fangliang explained that Nature Masters could keep cultivating beyond that point without a stage advancement, while news of Chen Nan’s test result reached Li Nanchao.

• Chen Nan refused the four Special Grade Teachers’ offers, and Li Nanchao promised to keep supporting his cultivation.
• Su Wenbin explained that the recruitment visit could deter rivals and make Chen Nan more likely to choose their academy later.
• Lu Fangliang declined to take countermeasures, leaving Chen Nan to make his own choice.
• Chen Nan’s diligence influenced his dormmates and spread to other students at the Preparatory Academy.
• About half a month later, Chen Nan reached Level Ten and asked Lu Fangliang how Nature Masters advanced.
• Lu Fangliang told Chen Nan that Nature Masters had no stage advancement and could continue cultivating, and Li Nanchao received the test result.

Li Nanchao arranged a premium stage enhancement for Chen Nan, who checked with Lu Fangliang that it would not interfere with his Nature Master cultivation. Chen Nan entered the Golden Pod and began the enhancement, excited by its effectiveness.

• Li Nanchao reviewed Chen Nan's level-ten test data and ordered a free enhancement ceremony using the academy's best Capacity Expansion Pod.
• Chen Nan discussed the plan with Lu Fangliang, who explained that stage enhancement would not affect his Nature Master cultivation.
• News of Chen Nan's enhancement spread through Wu City Preparatory Academy, where students reacted with envy and Zhang Hua compared him unfavorably to lineage geniuses.
• Chen Nan arrived at the Body Tempering Room, completed the required preparations, and entered the Golden Pod.
• The staff started the pod's program, and Chen Nan felt manageable prickling pain and dizziness as he became excited by the machine's effects.

Chen Nan discovered that his Golden Pod cultivation might let him retain power gained from artificial energy, while the Seven Great Families gathered their young talents for a June social event. The children discussed the coming academy assessment and learned that Chen Nan would be a remarkable outsider competing against them.

• Chen Nan cultivated inside the Golden Pod with a method combining the Meditation Method and the Clear Heart Incantation, and noticed his power increasing with unusual purity and speed.
• Chen Nan wondered whether his Nature Master's cultivation could make the power gained inside the pod permanent, and continued cultivating while awaiting confirmation.
• The Seven Great Families prepared a June 1 gathering for their young members, whose talents and numbers reinforced the families' existing rankings.
• At the gathering, Chen Wan'er challenged Qin Shou's dismissal of children outside the families and hinted at Chen Nan.
• Zhao Yunlong explained that Chen Nan had come from an orphanage, fought an evil force and a professional assassin, and declined an exam-free academy offer so he could take the assessment.

Qin Shou and the other young geniuses learned that Chen Nan had reached Level Ten without the body-nurturing advantages they had enjoyed, though they doubted he would appear in the assessment. After leaving the Golden Pod on June 5, Chen Nan confirmed that his rapid gains were real and began preparing for the upcoming assessment.

• Qin Shou called Li Guodong, who revealed that Chen Nan had reached Level Ten in under a year and was undergoing advancement in a Capacity Expansion Pod.
• Qin Shou dismissed Chen Nan as unlikely to reach Level Fifteen in time, while the other children wondered how much farther Chen Nan could have progressed with their privileged resources.
• Chen Nan realized he could cultivate inside the Golden Pod and had risen three levels to Level Thirteen during a little over a month there.
• Li Nanchao released Chen Nan from the pod on June 5, and Chen Nan confirmed that his gained strength had not dissipated.
• Chen Nan kept his discovery about cultivating in the pod secret and considered choosing another skill for the upcoming combat assessment.

Chen Nan chose Mist Concealment Technique and trained discreetly as he prepared to apply to Luojing Transcendent Academy. He arrived in Luojing with Jiang Lili and Li Nanchao for the on-site application assessment.

• Chen Nan selected Mist Concealment Technique from the academy library and registered it, seeing how the AI System could adapt its effects.
• Chen Nan told Li Nanchao he would train privately until the application assessment, and Li Nanchao approved.
• Chen Nan kept his cultivation restrained to avoid drawing excessive attention as he trained.
• Lu Fangliang prepared to return to Luojing Transcendent Academy, where Yang Yugan and the other departments closely watched Chen Nan's prospects.
• Chen Nan arrived in Luojing with Jiang Lili and Li Nanchao for the August 15 application process; Luojing Transcendent Academy required applicants to be no older than thirteen and at least Level Fifteen.

Chen Nan reviewed information on the Seven Great Families’ exam candidates and realized their equipment could make them far stronger than the roster suggested. As he prepared for the test the next morning, Jiang Lili found some questionable items in the hotel room and packed them away to ask her friends about.

• Li Nanchao took Chen Nan and Jiang Lili around Luojing, where Jiang Lili vowed to open a Spicy Hot Pot shop and Li Nanchao offered to join the franchise.
• Li Nanchao sent Chen Nan a roster of more than forty Seven Great Families’ exam candidates, including Zhao Yunlong, Chu Yu, Qin Shou, and Chen Wan'er.
• Chen Nan learned the candidates’ listed abilities represented only about half their true strength because of hidden techniques and powerful equipment, and he worried that he was outmatched.
• Jiang Lili brought Chen Nan strange clothes, a mask, ropes, and a whip she had found in the hotel cabinet, then packed them away to ask Feng Wu and the others what they were for.
• Chen Nan showered and went to bed, thinking about how some things had remained unchanged after he crossed over.

Chen Nan and Jiang Lili went with Li Nanchao to the Luojing Transcendent Association for the academy assessment, where a confrontation with a group of famed young geniuses began. Zhao Yunlong and the others withdrew for now, warning that they would meet Chen Nan again during the assessment.

• Jiang Lili arrived exhausted with Chen Nan and Li Nanchao at the crowded assessment site, where Li Nanchao went to find an acquaintance to move them closer to the front.
• A guard shoved Jiang Lili and tried to slap her, but Chen Nan struck him and pulled Jiang Lili behind him.
• A young Jiang family genius named Jiang Wenming attacked Chen Nan, who redirected his force and tripped him to the ground.
• Zhao Yunlong, Chu Yu, Qin Shou, and the other young geniuses arrived, and the crowd recognized Chen Nan for his past feats.
• Chen Nan exchanged sharp words with Qin Shou, while Zhao Yunlong called the clash a misunderstanding and suggested they settle matters during the assessment.
• Li Nanchao led Chen Nan and Jiang Lili away as Zhao Yunlong's group let them go under the watch of hidden observers.

Chen Nan refused Li Nanchao and Jiang Lili’s plan to smooth things over with the Chosen Ones, then completed his on-site review and received approval despite their mockery of his test result. With the review settled, he returned to his lodgings with Li Nanchao and Jiang Lili to wait for the entrance examination.

• Li Nanchao warned Chen Nan that offending the Chosen Ones could bring trouble later and proposed hosting a banquet, but Chen Nan refused to apologize or appease them.
• Chen Nan explained that acting worldly and submissive would harm his Nature Master cultivation, then agreed to be careful while declining to change his stance.
• After a long wait for his review, Chen Nan entered the testing hall as Zhao Yunlong and the others watched and bet on his result.
• Chen Nan’s test showed 15.53 QE, and Zhao Yunlong’s group mocked him before he collected his approval certificate and left.
• Li Nanchao was relieved when Chen Nan showed him the certificate, treated Chen Nan and Jiang Lili to lunch, and planned to stay with Chen Nan until the examination.

Foreign Beastkin and Demonkin spies discussed Luojing Transcendent Academy’s admissions, assessing Chen Nan and planning for the Qingyang Kingdom’s eventual destruction. Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlong and the other Chosen Ones decided to take the first aptitude assessment to surpass Chen Nan, and the candidates set out for the academy.

• Five Beastkin and Demonkin discussed the Qingyang Kingdom’s admissions and mocked its young geniuses for lacking combat experience and willpower.
• Beastkin B found Chen Nan’s file, and the group acknowledged his resolve while dismissing his talent and discussing Kroya Kingdom’s ambition to conquer the world.
• Zhao Yunlong and the other Chosen Ones chose to take the first assessment so they could outperform Chen Nan.
• The candidates boarded academy buses and traveled along cleared roads toward Luojing Transcendent Academy, feeling the pressure of the examination ahead.

Chen Nan entered Luojing Transcendent Academy’s televised entrance examination, where elite family heirs mocked him before the first test began. As the difficult Meditation Qi Yin Art assessment wore on, unfamiliar students began dropping out, while Chen Nan’s performance remained unresolved.

• Chen Nan avoided Liu Mingtao’s eager attention and arrived at Luojing Transcendent Academy for the examination.
• Academy personnel divided the candidates into groups, and Chen Nan was assigned to Testing Hall One among the top family heirs.
• Zhao Yunlong, Qin Shou, and other candidates mocked and insulted Chen Nan, but he calmly waited for the examination to begin.
• The chief examiner started the unfamiliar Meditation Qi Yin Art recording, putting Chen Nan at a disadvantage compared with candidates who regularly practiced it.
• After about forty minutes, students began withdrawing from the assessment as they struggled to endure the pressure.

Chen Nan endured the Meditation Sound Awakening Art by using the Clear Heart Incantation to overcome its worsening effects, outlasting the Seven Great Families’ descendants. The assessment ended with Zhao Yunlong collapsing before he could beat his personal record, while Chen Nan remained standing.

• Chen Nan used the AI System to understand the Meditation Sound Awakening Art, then activated the Clear Heart Incantation to ease his nausea and palpitations.
• As the assessment passed an hour, descendants of the Seven Great Families began withdrawing, unable to match Chen Nan’s endurance.
• Qin Shou and several others withdrew after an hour and a half, leaving Zhao Yunlong, Chen Wan'er, and Chen Nan in the hall.
• Chen Wan'er withdrew after suffering bleeding from her body and nose, while the proctors watched Zhao Yunlong and Chen Nan continue.
• At one hour and thirty-five minutes, Zhao Yunlong swayed, spat blood, and fell backward before reaching his record of one hour and forty-one minutes.

After Chen Nan’s meditation examination ended with Zhao Yunlong injured, Chen Nan returned to the hotel and learned that Jiang Lili planned to open a Spicy Hot Pot shop in Luojing. The chapter left Chen Nan puzzling over signs in Jiang Lili’s bedroom that suggested she had been with someone.

• Zhao Yunlong collapsed after the Meditation Qi Yin Art stopped, and the examiner gave him medicine before sending him for an examination.
• Chen Wan'er warned Chen Nan that two examinations remained, while Chen Nan believed he had placed at the top of the first round.
• Chen Nan avoided Liu Mingtao on the bus back to the hotel, where the other children treated him as a representative of the wildlings.
• Jiang Lili decided to sell her Wu City buildings and savings to open a Spicy Hot Pot shop in Luojing, and Li Nanchao offered to help find a storefront and lend her money.
• Chen Nan noticed used tissues, a red string, and signs of smoking in Jiang Lili's bedroom, then tried to stop himself from making assumptions.

Luojing Transcendent Academy’s leaders met to plan how to train Chen Nan, whose Meditation Qi Yin Art record had impressed them. Meanwhile, Zhao Yunlong and the Seven Great Families’ young geniuses struggled with their defeat and resolved not to lose the second assessment.

• Qiu Daqiang learned that Chen Nan endured the Meditation Qi Yin Art for one hour, thirty-six minutes, and fifty-eight seconds before Zhao Yunlong’s collapse forced the test to stop.
• Qiu Daqiang and the department heads discussed Chen Nan’s talent and agreed that Dongfang Liang, Chang Lai'an, and Liu Meie should train him in magic, sorcery, and agility.
• Chu Yubo accepted Zhao Yunlong as a Strength Department student after the others said they would not compete for him.
• Zhao Yunlong and the other young geniuses gathered by his sickbed, dejected because the first assessment largely determined admission to Luojing Transcendent Academy.
• Chen Wan'er urged the group to regain their confidence and said they must not lose the second assessment.

Zhao Yunlong, Chen Wan'er, and their allies cheated on the written examination to suppress Chen Nan, while Chen Nan relied on his AI System and deliberately paced himself. The examination ended with Zhao Yunlong's group convinced their plan had worked, though Chen Nan had finished every question.

• Chen Wan'er proposed cheating, and Zhao Yunlong and the others agreed to obtain the examination questions and answers.
• Chu Yu and Qin Shou used the children's allowance and New Year's gift money to procure the papers, and the group memorized them overnight while planning varied high scores.
• Chen Nan slept soundly, then went to the examination site with the other candidates as Jiang Lili left him a note saying she had gone to breakfast.
• During the written examination, Chen Nan used his AI System to answer the questions but slowed down and showed his calculations to avoid attracting attention.
• Zhao Yunlong and the others finished early and mistook Chen Nan's careful pacing for difficulty; the bell rang just after Chen Nan completed his final answer.

Chen Nan learned that he had ranked first in every examination, while Zhao Yunlong and his companions discovered that Chen Nan’s 99 had beaten their expected result. The chapter ended with Zhao Yunlong smashing Qin Shou’s phone in anger.

• Chen Nan considered whether to warn Jiang Lili about marrying Li Nanchao, then decided to protect her happiness by becoming stronger.
• Chen Nan checked Luojing Transcendent Academy’s official rankings and found himself first in every category, with a 99 on the written examination.
• Zhao Yunlong hosted a lavish meal with Qin Shou, Chen Wan'er, and the others, expecting his group’s results to surpass Chen Nan’s.
• Qin Shou showed the group the results, and they saw Chen Nan’s name at the top with a score of 99.
• Zhao Yunlong suspected Chen Nan had cheated, then crushed Qin Shou’s phone as the group struggled to accept Chen Nan’s achievement.

After Chen Nan considered the danger Zhao Yunlong’s group posed in the third assessment, he decided he would fight only as far as safety allowed. He later reunited with Li Nanchao and Jiang Lili, who agreed he should withdraw rather than risk serious injury, while sharing their plans to inspect storefronts.

• Zhao Yunlong and the other descendants of great Lineages planned to severely injure or cripple Chen Nan during the third assessment, trusting their families to shield them from punishment.
• Chen Nan weighed the danger of the assessment and decided he would admit defeat if the fight became too dangerous, despite his agreement with Li Nanchao to give it his all.
• Chen Nan received new Bitel sneakers from Jiang Lili and joined her and Li Nanchao for dinner after they returned from shopping and looking at storefronts.
• Chen Nan told Li Nanchao and Jiang Lili that he had placed first in both assessments and feared Zhao Yunlong’s group would target him in the third.
• Jiang Lili and Li Nanchao urged Chen Nan to withdraw if necessary rather than risk his future, easing his concerns about their agreement.

Chen Nan entered Luojing Transcendent Academy’s third examination, where he was matched against four opponents he had hoped to avoid. He began his first battle against Qin Shou, drawing the attention of the academy’s leaders with his lightning-enhanced axes.

• Jiang Lili left with Li Nanchao to discuss buying a storefront, while Chen Nan went to the examination alone.
• Chen Nan learned that the third examination would consist of four judged one-on-one matches and that his opponents were Qin Shou, Chu Yu, Chen Wan'er, and Zhao Yunlong.
• Chen Nan faced Qin Shou, activated Thunderclap Art, and coated his Meridian Mandarin Duck Axes with lightning.
• The academy president, department heads, Yang Yugan, and Lu Fangliang watched Chen Nan and praised his apparent combat talent and comprehension.
• Qin Shou attacked with his speed and Burning Blade, but Chen Nan used lightning as a barrier to defend against the thermal radiation.

Chen Nan defeated Qin Shou by neutralizing his attacks, using lightning, and forcing him out of the ring. After the battle, the academy’s leaders praised Chen Nan’s tactical skill and ran into Yang Yugan and Lu Fangliang, whose Nature Master Department remained marginalized.

• Chen Nan used his Twin Axes and Tai Chi Eight Trigrams techniques to wear down Qin Shou and lock his twin swords.
• Chen Nan struck Qin Shou with the Thunderclap Art, then released the weapon lock so Qin Shou stumbled out of the ring.
• Chen Nan left the arena as Qin Shou accepted his defeat, and the academy’s leaders praised Chen Nan’s battle wisdom.
• The dean spoke with Yang Yugan about staffing the Nature Master Department while the other department directors sneered.
• Yang Yugan and Lu Fangliang faced the academy’s entrenched hostility toward the Nature Master Department, which had been squeezed for territory and resources.