Chapter Summaries

Le Yu explained that several groups planned to attack Cha Huan and learned that the National Salvation and Relief Society distributed Sea Wave Powder, which protected it from Yantong’s crackdown. He proposed using Yantong as monsters to weaken the attackers before they reached him, leaving Linu to join his plan.

• Le Yu questioned Linu about Yantong’s relationship with Cha Huan, and Linu explained how the Statistics Department purged powerful enemies under the pretext of fighting the Anti-Light Faction.
• Le Yu named the Grass Cutter Emissary, Three-Gun Gate, the Brotherhood, the Curse Hunter, and the National Salvation and Relief Society as groups targeting Cha Huan.
• Linu explained that the National Salvation and Relief Society’s Sea Wave Powder drew powerful customers and donations, making it difficult for Yantong to act against the group.
• Le Yu proposed an Adventure Clearance Game in which Yantong would weaken the attackers before they reached him, and Linu agreed to work with him.

Le Yu visited the Platinum Tower to meet Cha Huan, where he encountered a parrot that claimed Cha Huan had transformed it. His tense reunion with the principal ended in mutual laughter after they traded barbs.

• Le Yu tested the Platinum Tower's steel doors with his fists, then entered with Steward Xie, who explained his history as Cha Huan's longtime follower.
• Steward Xie sent Le Yu up to the seventh floor in the Mechanical Lift and said he and Cha Huan were both unwilling to compromise with the world.
• Le Yu heard a parrot beg for rescue and realized Cha Huan had taught it to repeat the claim that it had once been human.
• Cha Huan explained the parrot's limited speech and joked that turning a person into one would be a cruel punishment, though he agreed it was impossible.
• Cha Huan offered Le Yu his chair, snatched it away as Le Yu sat, and the two exchanged insults before laughing together.

Le Yu urged Principal Cha Huan to wipe out anyone who might threaten him, and Cha Huan recounted his own clan extermination and the events that led him to become principal. The story left Cha Huan lamenting that what was meant to be a ten-year post had kept him at the academy for thirty years.

• Le Yu encouraged Cha Huan to strike first against anyone who might try to kill him.
• Cha Huan revealed that his left hand had once been torn off by three martial pillars after he exterminated a powerful family in Flame Capital.
• Cha Huan explained that the family had obstructed his future, tried to assassinate him, and harmed his friends, including Xie Liting.
• Cha Huan described escaping to the Azure District, becoming its top hunter, and recovering after the three martial pillars stopped pursuing him.
• Cha Huan said his mentor Dou Jinchen offered him shelter and a cleared name in exchange for serving as principal for ten years and training a successor.
• Cha Huan lamented that he had remained principal for thirty years.

Le Yu asked Cha Huan to make him Acting Principal, then explained his plan to use the Royal Academy to trap the assassins targeting them. Cha Huan agreed to let him take charge of the Platinum Tower and revealed his thirty-year promise with the Empress Dowager.

• Cha Huan rejected Le Yu as a potential principal and explained that he had never found a suitable successor.
• Le Yu told Cha Huan about the gathering and his plan to draw the assassins to the Platinum Tower, and admitted he wanted to try being principal.
• Cha Huan agreed to let Le Yu use the Platinum Tower but refused to lend him the Mental Sea before he officially became principal.
• Cha Huan said he would return to the academy and borrow a divine weapon from the Imperial Court to face the waiting experts.
• Cha Huan revealed that he and the Empress Dowager had promised to get together if they were both single thirty years after graduation, and that they were both single now.

Le Yu discussed Cha Huan’s past love and counter-killing plan, then received a martial arts manual from him. Later, Cha Huan found a strange newspaper announcement about Jing Zhengwei and Qin Leyin and speculated about Qin Leyin and Yan Yi.

• Le Yu realized that the factions had targeted Cha Huan because his relationship with the Empress Dowager threatened both imperial loyalists and their rivals.
• Cha Huan explained to Le Yu that he and the Empress Dowager hoped to resume a research project they had begun as students, and Le Yu described the woman he liked.
• Cha Huan outlined a counter-killing plan and gave Le Yu a manual combining the Blood-Drinking Eight Rice Flow with the Blood-Thorn Eight Rice Flow.
• Le Yu wondered whether the parrot might contain a human soul after Cha Huan said human flesh could not become a parrot’s body.
• Cha Huan read an announcement denying a special relationship between Jing Zhengwei and Qin Leyin, then speculated that Qin Leyin and Yan Yi might both dislike the opposite sex.

Ming Shuiyun grew more confident through her work on Peerless Kill and learned that Qin Leyin had become acting principal of the evening academy. After Qian Yuya warned her that enemies planned to assassinate him to strike at her, Ming Shuiyun resolved to protect him.

• Ming Shuiyun helped design Peerless Kill cards, and the association's trial game became popular at the Imperial Academy.
• Ming Shuiyun learned that Qin Leyin had become acting principal and tried to hide her excitement and frustration that he had not told her.
• Qian Yuya told Ming Shuiyun that Qin Leyin was in danger because enemies planned to assassinate him and use his death to target her.
• Ming Shuiyun declared that it was her turn to protect Qin Leyin.

Le Yu tested Cha Huan’s enormous gear-driven typewriter while refining his counterattack plan, then received a visit from his students on the Platinum Tower’s sixth floor. The chapter ended with Kui Nianruo teasing him about how clearly she could see his happiness.

• Le Yu operated Cha Huan’s typewriter and admired its ability to print a line of text.
• Le Yu reflected on his limited authority as Acting Principal and hurried to complete his plan before an expected assassination.
• Li Ying, Lin Xue, Qian Yuya, Kui Nianruo, Ming Shuiyun, and Qin Yueshi arrived on the sixth floor to visit him.
• Kui Nianruo offered to help Le Yu, and he explained that the Acting Principal position brought no real duties.
• Kui Nianruo told Le Yu she could see his happiness, and he sarcastically praised her observation skills.

Le Yu reorganized the Peerless Kill research society and proposed ways to promote and sell the game. After the others left, Ming Shuiyun revealed that she wanted to sleep with him so she could protect him from an assassin, even if it meant dying with him.

• Qin Yueshi reported that the research society had received over one thousand Gold Coins in loans, while Lin Xue described its Design and Testing Departments.
• Le Yu proposed creating Operations and Planning Departments to publicize Peerless Kill, run design contests and tournaments, and encourage people to buy the game.
• Li Ying took charge of Operations, Lin Xue took charge of Planning, and Qian Yuya continued overseeing Design and Testing.
• After the others left, Ming Shuiyun told Le Yu she wanted to protect him and proposed sleeping with him that night.
• Ming Shuiyun said she could provoke the Sword Bearer by being attacked, then declared that if the Sword Bearer failed to appear, she would die with Le Yu.

Le Yu tried to dissuade Ming Shuiyun from proposing that they die together by describing what happens to a corpse and reminding her of everything she still wanted to live for. When she broke down and explained that she wanted to do something for him in return, Le Yu gently patted her head and told her not to squander the life she only got once.

• Le Yu explained the physical effects of death to Ming Shuiyun and asked whether she would be satisfied if she died now.
• Le Yu pointed out Ming Shuiyun's ambitions, her chance to become emperor, her friends, and the life she could still build.
• Ming Shuiyun confronted Le Yu, admitting she had come because she wanted to do something for him after he had helped her so much.
• Ming Shuiyun broke down in tears and clung to Le Yu's wrist as she said she knew her plan was childish but still wanted him to understand.
• Le Yu gently patted Ming Shuiyun's head and told her she could not squander the one life she had.

Le Yu tried to manage Ming Shuiyun’s growing affection while keeping her away from his dangerous plans, but she demanded his praise and made her feelings clear. Their conversation was interrupted when Yan Yi arrived to assist him, leaving Le Yu wary and Ming Shuiyun visibly displeased.

• Le Yu returned with a chair and realized Ming Shuiyun had become more open and affectionate toward him, though he resolved not to return her feelings.
• Le Yu told Ming Shuiyun to focus on her studies and stay out of his assassination plan, and she reluctantly accepted that she had already helped him.
• Ming Shuiyun asked Le Yu to praise her accomplishments, insisting that other people’s approval did not matter because they were not him.
• Yan Yi arrived at the sixth floor, saying Principal Cha had assigned her to assist Le Yu and that she welcomed the chance to work with him.
• Ming Shuiyun stepped between Yan Yi and Le Yu, while Le Yu wondered why Yan Yi had approached him so eagerly.

Yan Yi discovered that Qin Leyin had been intimate with Ning Xinyuan in Yan Yi’s research room, but decided to conceal her jealousy and cooperate with him after receiving a letter from Cha Huan about defending the Platinum Tower. She approached Qin Leyin under the pretense of discussing the defense, then attacked him with lightning.

• Yan Yi used her Eavesdropping Telescope to hear Ming Shuangli reveal that Qin Leyin had been intimate with his fiancée, whose clothes and hairstyle identified her as Ning Xinyuan.
• Yan Yi tricked Ming Shuangli into confirming that Qin Leyin had met her on the third floor, realizing that Qin Leyin and Ning Xinyuan had used Yan Yi’s research room.
• Yan Yi grieved over Ning Xinyuan’s betrayal, then received Cha Huan’s letter urging her to help Qin Leyin defend the Platinum Tower and suggesting they discuss a fake marriage.
• Yan Yi decided to pretend to cooperate with Qin Leyin while seeking a chance to kill him.
• Yan Yi waited with Qin Leyin on the sixth floor of the Platinum Tower, then struck at the back of his neck with a lightning arc.

Le Yu and Yan Yi fought fiercely on the sixth floor of the Platinum Tower, each using powerful combat arts while Yan Yi insisted he had wronged her. Their battle paused after their clothes tore and exposed embarrassing belongings, leaving them to agree to discuss the tower’s protection plan instead.

• Le Yu blocked Yan Yi’s lightning-fast attack and fought back with close-combat techniques as she used Demon Hunting Combat Arts to counter him.
• Yan Yi’s electric attacks failed to stop Le Yu, who demanded to know why she was trying to kill him.
• Yan Yi and Le Yu exchanged attacks after the class bell rang, injuring each other and damaging their clothes.
• Le Yu’s pocket spilled milk candies, while a vibrating toy fell from Yan Yi’s clothing, abruptly easing the tension.
• Le Yu and Yan Yi picked up their belongings and agreed to discuss the Platinum Tower’s protection plan.

After Yan Yi and Le Yu settled their fight, she explained her Divine Sub-Armament and apologized after assuming Le Yu was unaware of her sister’s relationship with him. Le Yu realized the Mu Family might be targeted as part of an ambush against the principal, while Cha Huan arrived at the Senluo Merchant Guild with murder as his stated purpose.

• Le Yu and Yan Yi agreed on revisions to the Platinum Tower’s defense plan, and Yan Yi showed him her lightning-generating Divine Sub-Armament, Vortex.
• Yan Yi mistakenly decided her sister was using Le Yu as a shield to end their relationship, then apologized to him for attacking him.
• Yan Yi explained that the principal had gone to the Mu Family to settle a dispute over her tutoring, and Le Yu warned her that the Mu Family would be attacked while someone ambushed the principal.
• An old man in red entered the Senluo Merchant Guild and registered his name as Cha Huan, listing his purpose as murder.

Cha Huan confronted Mu Poluo about a plot to assassinate him and used the Holy Sword Emblem to claim authority to interrogate him. After Mu Poluo and four guards attacked, Cha Huan killed all five and left to visit six other powerful figures in Flame Capital.

• Mu Poluo welcomed Cha Huan with Azure Blackhorn Green Tea, and Cha Huan laid out a list of Flame Capital’s powerful figures with Mu Poluo’s name crossed out.
• Cha Huan accused Mu Poluo of helping arrange Yan Yi’s late-night departure and demanded information about the assassination plot, while Mu Poluo denied knowing anything.
• Cha Huan revealed the Holy Sword Emblem and threatened to interrogate Mu Poluo, but Mu Poluo and four armed guards attacked him.
• Cha Huan killed Mu Poluo and the four guards, then treated the blood on the list as Mu Poluo’s identification.
• Cha Huan asked the guild steward for public bus directions to visit the six people marked on his list.

Ming Shuiyun told her friends that Yan Yi might like Qin Leyin and tried to delay their relationship until after the battle for the throne. At the school gate, Lin Xue and Qian Yuya recognized the man who had arrived with Cha Huan as Xie Chenyuan, Director of the Statistics Department in Yanjing.

• Ming Shuiyun told her friends about Yan Yi’s apparent interest in Qin Leyin and urged them to keep it secret.
• Ming Shuiyun argued that Yan Yi could be a spy and proposed postponing any romance with Qin Leyin until the battle for the throne ended in half a year.
• Qin Yueshi agreed to speak with Qin Leyin the next day, while Ming Shuiyun went to meet him for dinner.
• Cha Huan returned to the Imperial Academy with a long-haired man in a purple-and-blue uniform, then left for the Platinum Tower.
• Lin Xue and Qian Yuya identified Cha Huan’s companion as Xie Chenyuan, Director of the Statistics Department in Yanjing.

Cha Huan explained that his attacks on Yanjing’s powerful figures were meant to provoke the conspirators into exposing themselves, while Le Yu questioned whether Yan Command could be trusted to help defend the Platinum Tower. Meanwhile, Xianchan Chenchen received a bribe and a one-use spirit-attacking ring before declaring his intent to kill without distinction.

• Cha Huan told Le Yu and Yan Yi that he had killed three powerful figures to frighten the conspirators or draw their own agents into the open.
• Cha Huan revealed that the Tread White Army and Storm Army were closing in on the capital, and said Xie Chenyuan had promised to publicize the victims’ crimes so Cha Huan could kill without consequence.
• Cha Huan warned Le Yu that allowing Yan Command into the Platinum Tower would place his life in their hands, then asked whether Le Yu truly trusted them.
• A messenger delivered pastries and Gold Coins to Xianchan Chenchen, who demanded that Qilin Alley receive a larger payment.
• The messenger gave Xianchan Chenchen the one-use Divine Sub-Armament Death’s Finger and relayed that others wanted him to do his utmost to witness Holy Sword Huiyao’s radiance.
• Xianchan Chenchen said he could guarantee only one thing: “Kill no Qin Dog, leave no heads!”

Le Yu prepared for the coming attack on the Platinum Tower while teaching Shi Wen and Lai Ya, then gathered a crowded class full of potential allies and enemies. He began a lesson on Qin Leyin, setting the stage for what might be his final class.

• Le Yu suspected Nieruo had come to warn him about the attack, and he decided not to recruit the sword sheaths because they were likely to betray him.
• Le Yu teased Lai Ya and Shi Wen about their cooking, then punished Shi Wen for provoking students by making him train with a Fishbone Bracer on each hand.
• Le Yu told Lai Ya that his role as her teacher had largely ended, though he would continue protecting and supervising her and Shi Wen.
• Le Yu took Shi Wen to a packed class attended by Ming Shuiyun, Nieruo, Xianchan Chenchen, and others who might be involved in the night's attack.
• Le Yu wrote Qin Leyin's name on the blackboard and announced that the lesson would cover the Silver Blood Three Wonders, Qin Leyin.

Le Yu learned that Cha Huan’s allies had been drawn away from the Imperial Academy before an expected assassination, then read Qing Lan’s letter explaining that she had deliberately fueled rumors about his romantic interests because she missed him. The chapter left Le Yu with Qing Lan urging him to return or let her visit him in Yanjing.

• Yin reported that Lou Yinhai and Zhu Yan had left the Imperial Academy for family emergencies, leaving Cha Huan increasingly isolated ahead of the night’s crisis.
• Le Yu told Yin that Cha Huan was likely to be ambushed, and Yin concluded the attackers would gather overwhelming forces to kill him.
• Le Yu refused Yin’s offer of help and joked that he would handle the night’s guests with his own plan.
• Le Yu read Qing Lan’s letter, in which she admitted she had deliberately published a statement that encouraged rumors about him liking men.
• Qing Lan challenged Le Yu to return or give her an address so she could visit him, explaining that she had acted this way because she missed him.

Ning Xinyuan wrestled with whether to help Qin Leyin and Cha Huan, then agreed to join Yan Yi at the Platinum Tower after Yan Yi said their work there was dangerous. Meanwhile, Le Yu prepared a disguise and sent Qin Yueyang to impersonate him at the tower.

• Ning Xinyuan examined Overlord Butterfly and considered whether to intervene in the coming conflict involving Qin Leyin and Cha Huan.
• Yan Yi visited Ning Xinyuan, praised Qin Leyin, and explained that they were working together to protect the Platinum Tower.
• Ning Xinyuan asked whether Yan Yi's work was dangerous and decided to accompany her to the Platinum Tower.
• Le Yu and Qin Yueyang dressed in disguises, and Le Yu told Qin Yueyang to hold the Platinum Tower's sixth floor while pretending to be him.

Le Yu arrived at a secret gathering of factions preparing to attack Qin Leyin and learned that the Ugly and Nagging Grand Steward had taken command. The operation was about to begin when Cha Huan’s footsteps shook the air, revealing that he was walking through the sky.

• Le Yu slipped into a noisy courtyard where Nuga defeated Bone-Stinger in a brawl, while hidden onlookers jeered.
• The Ugly and Nagging Grand Steward explained the factions’ code names and announced that the gathering had grown to nearly twice its expected size.
• The Ugly and Nagging Grand Steward claimed command of the operation because he had paid for the support of two-thirds of the gathered fighters.
• The group learned that Qin Leyin had gone to the Platinum Tower after nine that night.
• Cha Huan’s footsteps boomed through the air, and a watcher spotted him walking through the sky.