Chapter Summaries

Jiang Xiao left Han Jiangxue’s dormitory and hurried to his Support College gathering, where Counselor Zhou Xinghe outlined the rules for cultural classes and team selection for the Black Rock Mountain military training. As students began choosing teams, Jiang Xiao realized that his reputation from the National Competition had made him the center of attention.

• Jiang Xiao took Han Jiangxue’s guidebook and left her dormitory, then retrieved his wet clothes after Han Jiangxue called down to him from the window.
• Jiang Xiao discovered Cai Yao’s messages and the group notice summoning the students to Lecture Room 101, then rushed there before the gathering began.
• Counselor Zhou Xinghe introduced himself and warned the students that skipping cultural classes would cost them forty-one points per absence.
• Zhou Xinghe announced that students would form teams of four for the Black Rock Mountain training, with Practical Course Teachers choosing among challengers according to their preferences.
• As team selection began, Jiang Xiao noticed the other students watching him because of his FMVP performance in the National Competition.

Jiang Xiaopi joined Cai Yao, Le Yue, and Sun Xiaosheng under Teacher Hu for the seven-day military training at Black Rock Mountain. Back at the dormitory, he used his healing skill on Gu Shi'an, leaving Ren Shu convinced that Gu Shi'an was ruthless.

• Cai Yao and Jiang Xiaopi joined Teacher Hu’s team, and Teacher Hu selected Le Yue and Sun Xiaosheng as the other two members.
• The four students introduced themselves, and Jiang Xiaopi impressed Teacher Hu with his knowledge of Black Rock Mountain before being told to gather at the school entrance the next morning.
• Jiang Xiaopi returned to the dormitory and found Gu Shi'an smoking by the window.
• Jiang Xiaopi claimed he could help Gu Shi'an quit smoking and used a Light Pillar on him, causing Gu Shi'an to collapse.
• Ren Shu saw Gu Shi'an on the floor and hurried Han Xin away, then declared that Gu Shi'an was ruthless.

Emperor Capital Star Warrior University’s students prepared to depart for the punishing Black Rock Mountain trial, while Jiang Xiao learned more about the formidable teammates in his group. Teacher Hu summoned Jiang Xiao’s four-person team and offered to drive them there, leaving Jiang Xiao worried they would enter the dangerous trial ahead of everyone else.

• Nearly five hundred students gathered for the Black Rock Mountain trial, while the Politics College students were assigned to campus military training.
• Jiang Xiao borrowed Han Jiangxue’s Steel Great Blade and saw that her group included Ying Xi and Huo Yuhao; Han Jiangxue warned Xia Yan to control her temper.
• The students formed ranks by college, and the small Support College formation boarded vehicles after the Warriors and Mages Colleges departed.
• As Jiang Xiao’s group left the school gate, Teacher Hu summoned them and led them to his seven-seat van.
• Teacher Hu offered to drive the four students to Black Rock Mountain, and Jiang Xiao worried that they would arrive early and enter the trial ahead of the others.

Jiang Xiao and his team entered the scorching Black Rock Mountain training space for a seven-day exercise. Jiang Xiao took command and began the first assignment beside a soldier, while Gu Shi'an arrived and stood in the sun to shield him.

• Sun Xiaosheng complained about wearing training uniforms in the heat as the Four-person Team prepared at the military camp.
• Bald Hu led Jiang Xiao, Cai Yao, Le Yue, and Sun Xiaosheng through the Space Gate into Black Rock Mountain and started a seven-day countdown.
• Bald Hu ordered the team to reach Supply Point One, and Jiang Xiao assigned the formation with himself in front and Cai Yao at the rear.
• At Supply Point One, Bald Hu ordered the team to stand at attention facing the sun for an hour, and Jiang Xiao planted his knife beside a soldier and took his place.
• Gu Shi'an arrived with the shield warriors and stood in front of Jiang Xiao, using his shadow to block the sun.

Jiang Xiao’s Support team climbed Black Rock Mountain under Bald Hu’s punishing pace, then used Blessing to restore their stamina and disrupt his march. The chapter left the four students racing toward the summit while Bald Hu stood rigid behind them.

• Bald Hu led Jiang Xiao, Cai Yao, Sun Xiaosheng, and Le Yue into Black Rock Mountain and assigned them a task to face a Black Flame creature, then said Jiang Xiao could spar with one.
• Jiang Xiao proposed using Blessing during the climb to keep the team ready, and Bald Hu approved.
• Jiang Xiao gave Sun Xiaosheng and Le Yue Silver Blessings, restoring their stamina, while Bald Hu sped up to keep the drill challenging.
• Jiang Xiao cast Blessing on Bald Hu, stopping him long enough for the whole team to catch up.
• Bald Hu ordered the team to race to the summit, but Jiang Xiao and Cai Yao repeatedly used Blessing and Shadow Bind against him, leaving him rigid as the four Supports passed him.

Jiang Xiao’s team encountered a Black Flame Demon on Black Rock Mountain, and he led the group into battle with Silence and arrows. When Jiang Xiao was struck by the creature’s pain-sharing ability, the team learned why the mountain was known for its suffering.

• Le Yue spotted a Black Flame Demon ahead, and Jiang Xiao ordered the team to approach cautiously while Sun Xiaosheng prepared Black Starfall.
• The Black Flame Demon fled before Sun Xiaosheng could attack, so Jiang Xiao took his bow and arrows from his Marching Pack and led the team onward.
• The Black Flame Demon ambushed the group from behind, and Jiang Xiao used Platinum Voice of Silence before shooting arrows into its hand.
• Jiang Xiao suffered intense pain and used Blessing on himself, while the Black Flame Demon recovered from Silence and continued its attack.
• The Black Flame Demon’s passive Black Flame Fear was revealed to share the agony of its torment with anyone who attacked it.

Jiang Xiao faced the Gold Rank Black Flame Demon while enduring its painful Black Flame Fear and led his team through a coordinated attack. After their blades clashed and both were thrown down the hillside, Jiang Xiao regained his footing and prepared to fight again.

• Jiang Xiao ordered Cai Yao to restrain the Black Flame Demon, Le Yue to strengthen him, and Sun Xiaosheng to use Blue Starfall and strike him if his movements slowed.
• Jiang Xiao charged the Black Flame Demon with his giant blade, supported by Le Yue’s Thorn Halo and Holy Power Seal.
• The Black Flame Demon formed a blade from its own flames, and its clash with Jiang Xiao sent them both tumbling down opposite sides of the hillside.
• Sun Xiaosheng struck Jiang Xiao with her golden club twice, and the second blow made his reactions unusually sharp as he reached the bottom.
• Jiang Xiao and the Black Flame Demon stopped themselves with their blades and faced each other, ready to continue fighting.

Jiang Xiao helped defeat the Black Flame Demon, but his powerful Blessing caused the creature to burn itself away. Bald Hu recognized Jiang Xiao’s ability to overcome Black Rock Mountain’s challenge and decided to make the students’ fake military training real.

• Le Yue backed away as the Black Flame Demon charged, and Jiang Xiao rushed in to confront it.
• Cai Yao’s Silence Domain removed the demon’s weapon, and the shadows restrained it long enough for Jiang Xiao to strike its neck beneath a Light Pillar.
• The Black Flame Demon intensified its flames while experiencing Jiang Xiao’s Blessing, then burned itself to ash and left behind a Star Pearl.
• Bald Hu gave Jiang Xiao the Star Pearl and explained that powerful support skills could make Black Flame Demons destroy themselves.
• Bald Hu decided not to restrict Jiang Xiao’s Blessing and instead planned to turn the fake military training into real military training.

Jiang Xiao considered the dangerous drawbacks of the Black Flame Demon Star Pearl while his team continued its grueling run through Black Rock Mountain. The group encountered playful but scalding Little Fire Muds, and Sun Xiaosheng revealed she had learned the hard way not to sit on them.

• Jiang Xiao reviewed the Black Flame Demon Star Pearl’s skills and concluded that its passive drawbacks made it a poor choice to absorb.
• The team caught up with Bald Hu at a Muddy Swamp on the route to Supply Point No. 7 and chose to continue along the nearest path.
• Jiang Xiao and the others watched two Little Fire Muds play until a Big Fire Mud swallowed them and then spat them back out.
• The Little Fire Muds hopped toward the group, so Sun Xiaosheng blasted them apart with Black Starfall.
• Sun Xiaosheng protested that the Little Fire Muds were dangerously hot and covered her butt, prompting Jiang Xiao to tell her to tell her story.

Jiang Xiao and the team fought their way past Little Fire Mud and Great Fire Mud near the Muddy Swamp, and Jiang Xiao discovered that the Little Fire Mud could be absorbed as Star Pets. After defeating a Great Fire Mud and taking its Star Bead, he left the team laughing and covered in red mud, having smeared some on Cai Yao.

• Sun Xiaosheng destroyed two Little Fire Mud with repeated Black Starfall, but Great Fire Mud emerged from the Muddy Swamp and attacked the group with scalding mud.
• Jiang Xiao knocked aside the Little Fire Mud spat out by the Great Fire Mud and learned from the Inner Star Map that each hatchling could be tamed as a pet.
• Jiang Xiao used Dawn Blessing and Yearning to destroy several Great Fire Mud until he obtained a Star Bead.
• Jiang Xiao returned to the team covered in red mud, used Blessing on Cai Yao, and smeared mud on her nose.
• Cai Yao angrily called Jiang Xiao's name, then forced herself to smile and wink back at him.

Jiang Xiao reached Supply Point 7 and was ordered to stand at attention for an hour, where he spotted soldiers feeding a Little Fire Mud a foil-wrapped roast chicken. He befriended the young guard Li Xiya and tried to arrange a future visit to pet the creature.

• Jiang Xiao and the others arrived at Supply Point 7, where Bald Hu ordered Jiang Xiao to stand at attention for an hour because he had arrived last.
• Jiang Xiao asked permission to serve his punishment on Watchtower No. 2 and surveyed the surrounding terrain.
• Jiang Xiao watched soldiers feed foil-wrapped chicken to a Little Fire Mud, which cooked the food and spat it back out for them.
• Jiang Xiao asked the young guard Li Xiya about his army service and learned that Li Xiya recognized him as the National League champion.
• Jiang Xiao invited Li Xiya to share foil-wrapped roast chicken and asked to pet the Little Fire Mud on a future visit, and Li Xiya told him to bring suitable dishes first.

After five days of brutal training on Black Rock Mountain, Jiang Xiao and his exhausted team encountered Xia Yan and three other close-combat fighters, who had been driven nearly feral by the conditions. Jiang Xiao calmed Xia Yan and decided to help her before returning to the others.

• Sun Xiaosheng struggled with hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and despair, and quietly cried while the others pretended not to notice.
• Le Yue spotted a fleeing Gold Rank Black Flame Ghost, pursued by Xia Yan and three other battle-crazed Star Warriors.
• Jiang Xiao used Light Pillars to daze the Black Flame Ghost, and the four fighters rushed in and dismembered it.
• Xia Yan approached Jiang Xiao with her greatsword, then embraced him and buried her face in his shoulder.
• Jiang Xiao used Bell Chime and Blessing to comfort Xia Yan, who urged him to leave Black Rock Mountain.
• Jiang Xiao told Xia Yan he would take her to see Little Fire Mud and stay with her after sending his team back.

Jiang Xiaopi learned that Xia Yan’s team still had a demanding monster-hunting task to finish, so he sought permission to join them. Teacher Ye Hua agreed, and Bald Hu disbanded Jiang Xiaopi’s team and joined Xia Yan’s group as its captain for the journey to Resource Point 27.

• Jiang Xiaopi and Xia Yan watched the other team recover from the effects of Black Flame Fear while discussing the Star Pearls he had collected for her.
• Xia Yan explained that her team still needed to kill one Black Flame Ghost and four Black Flame Demons to complete its task, and that the result would affect their practical-course assessment.
• Jiang Xiaopi learned that Teacher Ye Hua, a strict lecturer temporarily assigned to lead the team, had been chosen for the job by drawing lots.
• Jiang Xiaopi asked Bald Hu whether the teams would disband after their tasks, then joked about being separated from Xia Yan until Teacher Ye Hua agreed to let him join her team.
• Bald Hu declared Jiang Xiaopi’s military-training assessment passed with excellent results, disbanded his team, and joined Xia Yan’s group as a student captain headed for Resource Point 27.

Jiang Xiao joined Xia Yan’s Agility Warrior team and showed them how his Blessing could overwhelm even a Black Flame Demon. After seeing his power, Teacher Ye Hua realized he was far more than an ordinary support.

• Xia Yan introduced Jiang Xiao to teammates Zhao Qi, Zhang Feng, and Bai Ye, who welcomed him and gave him the Black Flame Ghost’s Star Pearl.
• Teacher Ye Hua discussed her daughter’s relationship with Jiang Xiao, who suggested that an ordinary, caring partner could still support a Star Warrior.
• Zhang Feng spotted a Black Flame Demon, and Jiang Xiao told the team to leave it to him.
• Xia Yan struck at the Black Flame Demon as Jiang Xiao’s Blessing repeatedly trapped and burned it until it became ashes.
• The Agility Warriors stared at Jiang Xiao in disbelief, and Teacher Ye Hua understood why Bald Hu had tried to keep him off the team.

After the Black Rock Mountain training, Jiang Xiao showered, inspected the Black Flame Ghost Star Pearl, and posted a selfie celebrating his return. He left for school with Xia Yan as Bai Ye argued with Ten'an in the comments.

• Jiang Xiao thanked Zhang Feng and the other students, then headed to the Support College changing room while Xia Yan arranged to ride back with him.
• In the shower, Jiang Xiao reviewed the Black Flame Ghost Star Pearl’s skills and considered building his alternate account into a powerful combat-focused character.
• Jiang Xiao left the training grounds with his medicine and bag, took a selfie, and posted a joking Weibo caption about the seven-day training.
• Xia Yan joined Jiang Xiao for another selfie before they boarded the bus, and commenters teased him about her and asked to meet him.
• Bai Ye commented angrily on Jiang Xiao’s post, and Ten'an responded by quoting lessons about good conduct.

After returning from military training, Jiang Xiao, Xia Yan, Han Jiangxue, and Zhao Qi ate at the cafeteria, where they discovered the chef uncle was a powerful Star Warrior who could infuse food with healing energy. Jiang Xiao learned the chef was Tian Yu, who ran the stall because his wife wanted him close, and left after Tian Yu said he only hired Star River Stage workers.

• Jiang Xiao saw verified instructor Hu Hu ask him on Weibo to request her WeChat, then sent her a private message before his phone battery died.
• The students returned to Imperial Capital Star Warrior University, and Jiang Xiao, Xia Yan, Han Jiangxue, and Zhao Qi met for lunch after washing up.
• At the Jiangxi cuisine stall, Tian Yu recommended restorative food and added glowing green energy to the four students’ meals.
• Tian Yu revealed a cooking-pot Star Map with twenty-four Star Slots, sixteen of them lit, and identified himself as a Star River Stage or stronger Star Warrior.
• Tian Yu explained that he had worked in the cafeteria for nineteen years because his wife, a lecturer, did not want him running a shop elsewhere.
• Jiang Xiao asked for a waiter job, but Tian Yu said applicants had to be at least Star River Stage, so Jiang Xiao left.

Jiang Xiao and his friends ate dinner while he joked with old classmates online, then a Student Union vice president and Mi Yan tried to dissuade Han Jiangxue from teaming with Song Chunxi. Jiang Xiao challenged Dai Lun’s warning by declaring that wherever he went became his territory.

• Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan bickered over food while Jiang Xiao replied to comments from former classmates and promoted his old coach, Lei Jin.
• Jiang Xiao and Gu Shi'an flooded Bai Ye’s Weibo comments with a copy of Standards for Being a Good Pupil and Child.
• Dai Lun and Mi Yan approached Han Jiangxue, warned her against joining Song Chunxi’s team, and offered her other teammates and Student Union connections.
• Han Jiangxue questioned whether Mi Yan was threatening her, while Mi Yan warned that world championship opponents would show no mercy.
• Jiang Xiao teased Mi Yan, then told Dai Lun that wherever he went became his territory.

Jiang Xiao backed Han Jiangxue’s decision to join Song Chunxi’s team and openly challenged Dai Lun’s attempts to intimidate them. Song Chunxi welcomed Jiang Xiao and explained why her team needed Han Jiangxue, while He Xu revealed that he had already recruited Ying Xi.

• Jiang Xiao questioned Mi Yan about her role and taunted Dai Lun by suggesting he might compete for the team’s remaining spots.
• Dai Lun told Han Jiangxue to seek him out after considering his offer, then greeted Song Chunxi and He Xu when they arrived.
• Jiang Xiao told Han Jiangxue he would oppose any schemes to block her from competing, and she apologized for involving him.
• Song Chunxi sat beside Jiang Xiao and fed him black chicken soup, prompting him to praise her Student Union manners.
• He Xu explained that his team had lost its Magic System player and needed suitable teammates, and Song Chunxi said Han Jiangxue and Ying Xi had caught their attention at the National Competition.
• He Xu said he had moved into Ying Xi’s dormitory when school began, explaining why Song Chunxi’s team had chosen Han Jiangxue instead.

After Dai Lun’s failed attempt to recruit Han Jiangxue, online debate shifted toward whether she should compete in the World Cup as a freshman, while Jiang Xiao became a target of gossip after Song Chunxi fed him soup. Jiang Xiao struggled through his packed university schedule and ended up regretting an elective course when counselor Zhou Xinghe caught him passing a note.

• Song Chunxi and He Xu intervened, and Dai Lun and Mi Yan left after failing to persuade Han Jiangxue.
• Students spread competing accounts of Dai Lun’s intentions online, turning the dispute into a trending debate over Han Jiangxue competing in the World Cup as a freshman.
• Jiang Xiao and Song Chunxi became the subject of teasing gossip after she fed him soup in the cafeteria.
• Jiang Xiao examined his packed university schedule and added the elective course “Youthful Life” to fill his lone Friday afternoon gap.
• During the elective’s first class, Jiang Xiao received a note from his classmate suggesting they play cards with the teacher.
• Zhou Xinghe inspected the classroom and scolded Jiang Xiao for passing notes.

Jiang Xiao arrived at the team’s meeting in the Martial Arts Arena and found Xia Yan recovering from a spar with Song Chunxi, whose Black Flame Fear had caused her severe pain. The chapter ended with Xia Yan urging Jiang Xiao to challenge Song Chunxi and demonstrate the Xia Family Blade Art.

• Jiang Xiao left his elective class after learning Wang Wang had taken it hoping to meet a female classmate, and promised to return the following week to play cards.
• Jiang Xiao hurried to the Martial Arts Arena for his team’s first official meeting and found Xia Yan being overwhelmed by Song Chunxi’s black flames.
• Song Chunxi absorbed the flames from Xia Yan and revealed that she had absorbed the Black Flame Demon’s Star Pearl, which made its user suffer the pain of Black Flame Fear.
• Jiang Xiao asked what had happened, and Xia Yan explained that she had been sparring with Song Chunxi.
• Xia Yan urged Jiang Xiao to fight Song Chunxi and show her the Xia Family Blade Art.