Chapter Summaries

Kimimaro agreed to fight Yang for his Na Ring and faced him beneath the Jia Nan Academy gatehouse. As their Taijutsu battle began, Hu Jia recognized Kimimaro as her friend, while Nalan Chaoge discussed Xiao Yi Xian’s poison and his plans to kill Mu Zhan; the fight was still underway when Hu Jia wondered why Yang had not used Genjutsu.

• Yang agreed to give Kimimaro his Na Ring if Kimimaro defeated him, and they agreed the fight would end when one admitted defeat.
• Nalan Chaoge reassured Xiao Yi Xian that he would help control her poison body and said he intended to kill Mu Zhan over what happened to Yao Ye.
• Students gathered to watch as Yang drew his ancestral sword, Chengying, and explained its unusual power.
• Hu Jia arrived and declared Kimimaro her friend, but Kimimaro charged Yang before she could stop the fight.
• Kimimaro’s unpredictable Taijutsu unsettled Yang, while Hu Jia warned Nalan Chaoge not to let Yao Ye down and then wondered why Yang had not used Genjutsu.

Kimimaro battled Yang Chao, whose swordsmanship, Genjutsu, and spatial traversal made him a formidable opponent. After Kimimaro countered Yang Chao’s attacks with Shikotsumyaku and nearly pierced him with bone spikes, Yang Chao escaped through space and conceded.

• Nalan Chaoge used his Sharingan to place a triggered Genjutsu on Hu Jia, intending to turn Yang Chao’s Genjutsu against him if he used it on Kimimaro.
• Yang Chao drew Chengying and used spatial traversal to appear behind Kimimaro with his sword at Kimimaro’s neck.
• Kimimaro revealed his Shikotsumyaku and drove Yang Chao back with bone spikes, forcing him to defend against a flurry of attacks.
• Yang Chao used Genjutsu and his One Lineage sword technique to press Chengying against Kimimaro’s neck again.
• Kimimaro grabbed Chengying and attacked Yang Chao with bone spikes, but Yang Chao escaped through a spatial ripple.
• Kimimaro swung at the ripple as Yang Chao surrendered.

Kimimaro defeated Yang Chao and took his waist token, inadvertently exposing Yang Chao’s connection to the mysterious Thousand Mechanisms Sect. Nalan Chaoge and the others learned that Yang Chao was likely the sect master’s son, while Yang Chao feared the revelation would ruin his plans.

• Yang Chao conceded defeat to Kimimaro, handed over his Na Ring, and agreed to serve him for a year.
• Kimimaro chose Yang Chao’s family waist token from the Na Ring despite Yang Chao’s pleas, while Nalan Chaoge returned the Chengying sword after sensing its power.
• Yang Chao spoke with Nalan Chaoge and the others, claiming he would stay in the Outer Academy while they entered the Inner Academy Selection Tournament.
• Kimimaro read the words “Thousand Mechanisms” on the waist token, and Yang Chao panicked as Xun'er explained the sect’s vast intelligence network.
• Nalan Chaoge deduced that Yang Chao was the son of Yang Tianzhong, the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s master, who reportedly had two daughters.

Yang revealed that he had run away from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect to explore the continent, and Nalan Chaoge persuaded him to enter the Inner Academy. After Xun'er thanked Nalan Chaoge for saving her, tension between them rose over Xiao Yan, and the chapter ended with Xun'er confronting Nalan Chaoge.

• Yang admitted that he had left the Thousand Mechanisms Sect because he wanted to travel and investigate the continent for himself.
• Kimimaro, Hu Jia, Xun'er, and Nalan Chaoge mocked Yang's ambitions, though Xiao Yi Xian encouraged him.
• Yang called himself and Nalan Chaoge half-friends, then Nalan Chaoge threatened to expose his Thousand Mechanisms token unless he entered the Inner Academy.
• Xun'er offered Nalan Chaoge a High Mysterious Tier cultivation method to thank him for saving her, but he complained that Hu Jia, Hu Gan, and Wu Tianlang had not thanked him.
• When Nalan Chaoge said he would kill Xiao Yan if he appeared, Xun'er stopped and let golden flames and terrifying energy surge around her.

Nalan Chaoge intervened when Xun'er’s golden emperor burning heaven flame engulfed Kimimaro, then sealed the flame in a scroll. Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang arrived afterward, leaving Nalan Chaoge concerned that his return to Jia Nan Academy would be blocked.

• Xun'er and Nalan Chaoge argued, and Kimimaro attacked Xun'er before she burned his bone spike and engulfed him in the golden emperor burning heaven flame.
• Xiao Yi Xian attacked Xun'er to protect Kimimaro, but Xun'er burned away her poison gas before Nalan Chaoge repelled her with Shinra Tensei.
• Nalan Chaoge protected Kimimaro with the green lotus core flame, warned him against reckless attacks, and used a Flame Seal scroll to capture Xun'er's heavenly flame.
• Xiao Yi Xian checked on Kimimaro, who recovered enough to promise he understood Nalan Chaoge's advice.
• Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang arrived, and Hu Gan thanked Nalan Chaoge for coming to the Academy's rescue, prompting Nalan Chaoge to suspect he would not be allowed to return.

Nalan Chaoge secured Xiao Yi Xian and Kimimaro’s enrollment and entry onto the Inner Academy selection list, while Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang could not resolve his expulsion or his conflict with Mu Zhan. As Nalan Chaoge prepared to leave, Yang Chao arrived at the dean’s office.

• Hu Gan welcomed Nalan Chaoge, Xiao Yi Xian, and Kimimaro, and agreed to enroll Xiao Yi Xian and Kimimaro.
• Nalan Chaoge asked Hu Gan to reconsider his expulsion and challenged the Academy’s differing treatment of Mu Zhan and Xiao Yan; Hu Gan said only the Dean could overturn the decision.
• Wu Tianlang told Hu Gan that Mu Zhan had provoked Nalan Chaoge by assaulting Yao Ye, and Hu Gan warned Nalan Chaoge not to attack Mu Zhan in Jia Nan City.
• Nalan Chaoge asked Ruo Lin to add Xiao Yi Xian and Kimimaro to the Inner Academy selection list, and Wu Tianlang approved the request because Xiao Yan was allowed to participate.
• Wu Tianlang promised Mu Zhan would not leave the Black-Corner Region alive, and Yang Chao arrived at Hu Gan’s office.

Yang signed up for the Inner Academy Selection Tournament and found a way for Nalan Chaoge to return to Jia Nan Academy as an elder rather than a student. Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang accepted the solution, leaving Nalan Chaoge recognized as an academy elder.

• Yang signed himself and fifty followers up for the Inner Academy Selection Tournament, and Hu Gan agreed to let Ruo Lin add their names.
• Yang argued that Nalan Chaoge could return to Jia Nan Academy as an elder because the rules barred expelled students from studying there but did not forbid them from serving as elders.
• Yang left after proposing the solution, while Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang considered the benefits of hiring Nalan Chaoge.
• Hu Gan called Nalan Chaoge Elder Nalan and asked him for a pill, confirming that the two officials had accepted his appointment.
• Nalan Chaoge thanked Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang for resolving his problem.

The Inner Academy Selection Tournament began as Su Qian arrived with the Inner Academy experts, including Mu Zhan, whose presence alarmed Hu Gan. Hu Gan explained Nalan Chaoge’s history with Mu Zhan and his ability to seal Heavenly Flames, leaving Su Qian eager to recruit him while the conflict between the two remained unresolved.

• Su Qian arrived at the tournament with Inner Academy experts, and Hu Gan noticed Mu Zhan among them.
• Hu Gan told Su Qian that Mu Zhan had arranged an attack on Nalan Chaoge and that Nalan Chaoge had returned after saving the Outer Academy and confronting the Black Emperor Sect.
• Hu Gan warned Su Qian that Nalan Chaoge might attack Mu Zhan, so Su Qian considered sending Mu Zhan back to the Inner Academy.
• Hu Gan revealed that Nalan Chaoge had been invited to become an Outer Academy elder and could seal Heavenly Flames.
• Su Qian decided he wanted Nalan Chaoge in the Inner Academy, while Hu Gan raised the unresolved conflict between Nalan Chaoge and Mu Zhan.

Hu Gan and Su Qian discussed how to handle the feud between Nalan Chaoge and Mu Zhan while preparing for the Inner Academy Selection Tournament. At the tournament gathering, Nalan Chaoge confronted Mu Zhan with killing intent, and Yan Hao recognized him as the man he had once challenged.

• Hu Gan and Su Qian agreed to take Mu Zhan to the Inner Academy, ask him to apologize to Nalan Chaoge, and consider sending him away if the feud could not be settled.
• Hu Gan and Su Qian decided to hold a friendly match between Inner and Outer Academy students after the tournament, with Yan Hao among the possible participants.
• Lin Xiuya and Liu Qing discussed recruiting talented Outer Academy students, especially Wu Hao, as the Inner Academy group crossed the square.
• Mu Zhan and Nalan Chaoge sensed each other and sent clashing killing intent across the square; Nalan Chaoge told Xiao Yi Xian and Kimimaro to focus on cultivating while he pursued his own objective.
• Yan Hao identified Nalan Chaoge to Lin Xiuya and Liu Qing, recalling their postponed challenge, while Lin Xiuya warned that Nalan Chaoge seemed dangerous.

Xiao Yi Xian replaced Kimimaro in the first-round match of Jia Nan Academy's Inner Academy Selection Tournament and defeated Leo with poison before the other arenas had begun their bouts. Her effortless victory revealed her formidable skill to the gathered students.

• Hu Gan opened the Inner Academy Selection Tournament, announcing that 197 contestants would compete for 50 places through a two-round elimination format.
• Kimimaro told Nalan Chaoge that he had drawn lot one and Xiao Yi Xian had received a bye, but Xiao Yi Xian chose to take his match so she would not accidentally injure an opponent.
• Xiao Yi Xian entered arena one and faced Leo, who urged her to forfeit because he did not want to fight a woman.
• After shaking Leo's hand, Xiao Yi Xian turned away, and Leo collapsed unconscious from her poison.
• Xiao Yi Xian poisoned five of Leo's classmates when they threatened her, then asked the referee to declare the result.
• The referee announced Xiao Yi Xian as the winner while matches in the neighboring arenas were still reading their rules.

Xiao Yi Xian defeated Leo in one move at the Selection Competition, drawing attention to her and Nalan Chaoge. Mu Zhan then approached Nalan Chaoge and provoked him, leaving Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang fearing that the encounter would turn deadly.

• Xiao Yi Xian's victory over Leo spread through the Academy, and she revived the six people she had poisoned before returning to Nalan Chaoge's side.
• Ruo Lin learned that Xiao Yi Xian had taken Kimimaro's place, allowing both students to advance to the second round.
• Ruo Lin told Nalan Chaoge about Leo's experience in the Black-Corner Region and warned that the Academy's training trips often cost students their lives.
• Mu Zhan accused Xiao Yi Xian of winning unfairly, then walked over and spoke to Nalan Chaoge with a smile.
• Hu Gan, Su Qian, and Wu Tianlang watched Mu Zhan approach Nalan Chaoge, and Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang feared Mu Zhan was about to repeat his earlier fatal mistake.

Nalan Chaoge killed Mu Zhan by disguising the attack as self-defense and using sealed heavenly flames to implicate Xun'er. Hu Gan, Wu Tianlang, and Su Qian decided to cover up the incident and reward Chaoge and Xun'er with access to the Library Pavilion.

• Mu Zhan approached Nalan Chaoge and threatened to have him expelled from the Academy.
• Nalan Chaoge used genjutsu and a feigned injury to make Mu Zhan appear to attack him, then killed him with a sealed wisp of golden emperor burning heaven flame.
• Xiao Yi Xian and Kimimaro helped the apparently injured Nalan Chaoge while Ruo Lin panicked over the killing.
• Hu Gan and Wu Tianlang realized that Nalan Chaoge had engineered the incident and used Xun'er as a shield to deter punishment.
• Hu Gan declared Mu Zhan responsible for the attack and arranged Library Pavilion opportunities for Nalan Chaoge and Xun'er.

After killing Mu Zhan and making it appear that Xun'er had helped, Nalan Chaoge negotiated with her over the fallout. The academy cleared him, rewarded both of them with Library Pavilion access, and appointed him an Inner Academy Elder, while Xun'er refused to give him her reward.

• Kimimaro and Xiao Yi Xian took Nalan Chaoge to Kimimaro's room, where he admitted he had faked his injuries to create a pretext for killing Mu Zhan.
• Xun'er confronted Nalan Chaoge for implicating her, and he promised to take responsibility for the consequences while claiming any benefits should belong to him.
• Ruo Lin arrived and announced that the academy had ruled Mu Zhan attacked Nalan Chaoge, cleared Nalan Chaoge of wrongdoing, and awarded him and Xun'er each a chance to enter the Library Pavilion.
• Ruo Lin announced that Nalan Chaoge would formally become an Inner Academy Elder in Mu Zhan's place.
• Xun'er rejected Nalan Chaoge's attempt to claim her Library Pavilion opportunity and accused him of leaving her with the blame for Mu Zhan's death.

Nalan Chaoge went to the Selection Competition with Xun'er while pretending to be gravely injured, and Yang revealed his plan to use his many followers to dominate the Inner Academy. The chapter ended with Yang inviting Xiao Yi Xian and Kimimaro to join his faction.

• Xun'er supported Nalan Chaoge to the academy after agreeing to help him in exchange for access to the Library Pavilion.
• Yang teased Nalan Chaoge and Xun'er, then told Xun'er that her match would start in ten minutes.
• Yang explained that he had altered draw slips to keep his ninety-seven followers from facing one another, and that thirty-five of the first fifty had advanced.
• Yang said he expected sixty-six of his people to reach the next stage and planned to take over the Inner Academy.
• Yang invited Xiao Yi Xian and Kimimaro to join forces with him.

Nalan Chaoge and his companions watched Xun'er defeat her opponent with a single strike, while rumors spread that she was romantically involved with him. Yang Chao offered to help Nalan Chaoge obtain a marriage contract from Xun'er's father, and the chapter ended with the two considering the scheme.

• Yang Chao led Nalan Chaoge, Xiao Yi Xian, and Kimimaro through the crowd to watch Xun'er's match.
• Xun'er defeated her opponent with a single palm strike after he tried to explain his technique.
• Spectators speculated that Xun'er had feelings for Nalan Chaoge and had helped him kill Mu Zhan.
• Yang Chao suggested keeping Xiao Yan from returning in time so Nalan Chaoge could grow closer to Xun'er, but Nalan Chaoge rejected that plan.
• Yang Chao offered to help Nalan Chaoge obtain a marriage contract from Gu Yuan, and Nalan Chaoge considered using it to win his wager with Xun'er.

Xiao Yan arrived at Jia Nan Academy just before he would have forfeited his selection match, then stunned the crowd by stopping Xue Beng’s spear attack with one hand. He appeared beside Xue Beng and launched Eight Extremes Collapse, leaving the match unresolved.

• The selection tournament determined ninety-seven qualifiers, but Xiao Yan missed his scheduled match against Xue Beng until the final minute.
• As the crowd mocked Xiao Yan’s absence and Xun'er worried, she sensed him arriving at the academy.
• Xiao Yan crashed into the plaza, introduced himself, and challenged Xue Beng after Xue Beng compared him unfavorably to Elder Nalan.
• Xue Beng attacked with Stacking Waves, but Xiao Yan caught the spear and prevented it from reaching his throat.
• Xiao Yan vanished and reappeared beside Xue Beng, launching Eight Extremes Collapse.

Xiao Yan defeated Xue Beng in one move during the Inner Academy Selection Tournament, then nearly caused a fatal injury before Nalan Chaoge and Su Qian contained his attack. Though the academy students shunned him, Xun'er embraced him, and the first round ended with the next round set for three days later.

• Xiao Yan shattered Xue Beng's Dou Qi Armor with Eight Extremes Collapse and sent him flying.
• Xiao Yan unleashed a follow-up attack, but Nalan Chaoge restrained its force around Xue Beng before Su Qian reached the arena.
• Xue Beng thanked Nalan Chaoge for saving his life, admitted defeat, and left the arena.
• The students criticized Xiao Yan's excessive attack and dispersed without celebrating his victory.
• Xun'er embraced Xiao Yan, and he apologized for arriving late while she told him he was right on time.
• Su Qian welcomed Nalan Chaoge to Jia Nan Academy, and the first round concluded with the second round scheduled for three days later.

Xiao Yan confronted Nalan Chaoge at Jia Nan Academy over the Xiao Family’s destruction, while Xun'er tried to stop their feud from breaking academy rules. Xiao Yan attacked anyway, but Nalan Chaoge intervened to keep Kimimaro back as a wall of golden fire split the fighters apart.

• Xun'er embraced Xiao Yan, and he soon faced Nalan Chaoge with hatred as they recalled their past conflict.
• Xiao Yan shielded Xun'er and accused Nalan Chaoge of destroying the Xiao Family, while Xiao Yu learned that her relatives had been killed and collapsed in grief.
• Xun'er urged both men to put aside their grievances and obey Jia Nan Academy’s rules, but Xiao Yan and Nalan Chaoge traded accusations and refused to reconcile.
• Xiao Yan hurled his Black Heavy Ruler at Nalan Chaoge and charged, prompting Kimimaro to rush forward before Nalan Chaoge pulled him back.
• A wall of golden fire rose between Xiao Yan and Kimimaro, preventing their clash and separating them.

Xiao Yu begged Nalan Chaoge to spare Xiao Yan, and Nalan Chaoge agreed after demanding an apology, though he still considered killing Xiao Yan later. Xiao Yu tried to trade her life for Xiao Yan’s, but Nalan Chaoge stopped her and she resolved to become stronger; the next morning, Xun’er arrived at his hotel room to discuss something.

• Kimimaro called Xiao Yan a bad person, while Xun’er warned Nalan Chaoge not to attack him and explained that a Soul Body had controlled the force behind the Xiao Family’s destruction.
• Xiao Yu knelt before Nalan Chaoge and begged him to spare Xiao Yan, offering to become his slave or maid, and Xun’er offered him a favor in return.
• Nalan Chaoge agreed to spare Xiao Yan if he apologized to Nalan Chaoge and Nalan Yanran, and Xiao Yan apologized before leaving with Xun’er.
• Xiao Yu stabbed herself to bind Nalan Chaoge to his promise, but he knocked away her dagger, gave her pills, and warned that Xiao Yan would die if she tried again.
• Xiao Yu recalled Nalan Chaoge’s offer to help Wu Hao grow stronger and resolved to seek strength and keep her promise.
• The next morning, Xun’er visited Nalan Chaoge at his hotel, and he hurriedly dressed before asking why she had come.

Xun'er insisted that Nalan Chaoge accompany her to the Library Pavilion, though she refused to explain why. After Hu Gan led them through a hidden passage, they emerged before a colossal pavilion in an immense enclosed clearing.

• Xun'er asked Nalan Chaoge to visit the Library Pavilion with her, and he refused until she threatened him with a golden fireball.
• Xun'er and Nalan Chaoge walked to the academy together, drawing attention while Xiao Yan watched them with a dark expression.
• Hu Gan told Nalan Chaoge there was no rule requiring two people to enter the Library Pavilion, but hinted that he would understand later.
• Hu Gan opened a hidden passage in his office and led Xun'er and Nalan Chaoge through a dark tunnel for about an hour.
• Xun'er and Nalan Chaoge emerged into a vast clearing enclosed by towering cliffs and saw the enormous Library Pavilion.