Chapter Summaries

Le Yu fought the Grand Steward after he poisoned and subdued Xianchan Chenchen. Just as Le Yu seemed to win, the Grand Steward triggered Qin Leyin’s buried memories and used a scrap of paper to invoke the Book of Immortality.

• The Grand Steward pinned Xianchan Chenchen to the wall with a poisoned dagger and explained that the poison would paralyze him until morning.
• Le Yu and the Grand Steward discussed their past fights and the importance of learning from experience before the Grand Steward attacked.
• The Grand Steward’s slippery, unorthodox fighting style kept Le Yu from gaining an advantage in their exchange.
• Le Yu used Veil of Discord and Tremor Combat Arts to knock the Grand Steward down, then stabbed him with a poisoned dagger.
• The Grand Steward told Le Yu that no one could bully him anymore, awakening Qin Leyin’s sealed memories.
• The Grand Steward punched Le Yu, pressed a scrap of paper to his hand, and chanted, “Book of Immortality, pray for Radiance!”

While Nieruo kept Ming Shuiyun from leaving the dormitory, the Grand Steward successfully began manifesting Holy Sword Huiyao in the Platinum Tower, causing Holy Sword Imprints to flare across the academy. Le Yu fought the Grand Steward despite Galingen's poison crippling his right arm, and countered one of his attacks with a technique he had learned from the Iron-Masked Man.

• Nieruo used his Killing Intent to keep Ming Shuiyun inside the dormitory and explained that he could not intervene because Qin Leyin had not asked him for help.
• A wave of spiritual power from the Platinum Tower made Holy Sword Imprints burn, and Ming Shuangli sensed that Radiance was excited.
• Ning Xinyuan realized the ritual had succeeded, while an Inferno Dominion operative escaped through a window after helping Qin Leyin once.
• The Grand Steward's chanting produced a half-woven Holy Sword Huiyao, and his spiritual fluctuation sent Le Yu flying.
• Galingen's poison crippled Le Yu's right arm as he fought the Grand Steward, but Le Yu used Cosmic Chant to turn the Grand Steward's Wild Bite into a Yellow Sigh eruption.

Le Yu was stopped from reaching Holy Sword Huiyao when the Sword Bearer intervened and confronted the Grand Steward. After the Sword Bearer left, Le Yu recognized the dying Grand Steward as his former teacher, Qin Xiao.

• Xianchan Chenchen stabbed the Grand Steward, and Le Yu split his body in two with Biting Combat Arts Bite.
• Xianchan Chenchen collapsed after using poison to counter Galingen, while Le Yu tried to reach Holy Sword Huiyao.
• The Sword Bearer appeared, suppressed Le Yu's Ice-Blood Physique, and moved him away from the sword.
• The Sword Bearer and the Grand Steward discussed their wager and the Grand Steward's impending death before the Sword Bearer left them alone.
• Le Yu recognized the Grand Steward as Qin Xiao, his former teacher.

Le Yu recovered Qin Leyin’s memories of his teacher, the Grand Steward, and learned that the man had returned from death under the control of the National Salvation and Relief Society’s president. After the Grand Steward died before him, Le Yu found a warning among the scraps he had left: “Be careful of the Necronomicon.”

• Qin Leyin’s memories showed how his teacher urged him to keep hope, rely on his own methods, and pursue his dreams.
• The Grand Steward confirmed that he had been resurrected and served the president, and that he had volunteered to reach the Platinum Tower to encounter the Holy Sword Radiance.
• The Grand Steward praised Le Yu for pursuing his dreams and shared his cherished saying before rapidly aging and dying.
• Le Yu found yellowed scraps the Grand Steward had pressed into his hand and recalled his final warning about the Necronomicon.

Crane Tear arrived at the ruined residence to confront the injured Cha Huan, but Cha Huan challenged him and easily turned aside his attack. The chapter ended with Cha Huan slamming Crane Tear face-first into the mud.

• Citizens gathered to gossip about the battle as Crane Tear raced toward the shattered moonlight barrier.
• Crane Tear found Cha Huan among the ruins and claimed he had rushed over to help.
• Cha Huan mocked Crane Tear and threatened to make him eat shit if he stayed in Flame Capital.
• Crane Tear attacked Cha Huan with his Silver Bell Stop Killing Combo, but Cha Huan deflected the strike.
• Cha Huan seized Crane Tear by the neck and slammed his head into the dirt and rubble.

Cha Huan faced Crane Tear and the officials who arrived at the ruined site, then gave Mo Yu a list of people he intended to kill before sunrise. The chapter ended with Mo Yu being told he had five hours to act.

• Cha Huan released Crane Tear when Yu Ke arrived, and Crane Tear retreated in fear.
• Yu Ke and Cha Huan traded remarks about their time at the Imperial Academy while Crane Tear stayed silent.
• Crane Tear gave Cha Huan a bottle of century-old wine, which Cha Huan drank.
• Xie Chenyuan and Mo Yu arrived, and Cha Huan told Mo Yu he believed Mo Yu had known nothing about the incident.
• Cha Huan handed Mo Yu a list, said he had already killed three crossed-off names, and warned that the remaining people would die before sunrise.

After surviving an attack, Cha Huan forced Xie Chenyuan and the others to agree to execute the people marked on his list before dawn. He identified several attackers as men he had killed decades ago, leaving Xie Chenyuan to investigate their return while Cha Huan headed back to the Imperial Academy.

• Cha Huan rejected the officials’ attempt to withdraw their promised compensation and demanded that Xie Chenyuan carry out the names on his list.
• Xie Chenyuan agreed to target those marked by the bloodstain and ordered Mo Yu to gather the Patrol and Punishment Department agents before dawn.
• Cha Huan described the attackers, including three former Martial Pillars he had killed decades earlier who had returned with diminished strength.
• Xie Chenyuan, Yu Ke, and He Lei left to begin the purge and investigate the attackers’ identities, while Nilü vanished into the shadows.
• Cha Huan flew back toward the Imperial Academy, saying he needed to collect the papers.

After the attack on the Platinum Tower, Ming Shuiyun and the others visited the injured Le Yu, Xianchan Chenchen, and Yan Yi in the School Medical Officer Department. The ward’s lively scene ended when Yan Yi called for Teacher Qin, leaving Le Yu visibly irritated.

• Students spread rumors about Cha Huan’s beating and the assault on the Platinum Tower, while the Imperial Academy reopened and the Patrol and Punishment Department cleared the aftermath.
• Ming Shuiyun and the others visited Le Yu, Xianchan Chenchen, and Yan Yi, who were recovering from their injuries.
• Le Yu explained that Xianchan Chenchen had been poisoned and Yan Yi had suffered severe injuries, while Qin Yueyang had returned home and gone to work at the Statistics Department.
• Ming Shuiyun offered to care for Le Yu, but he snatched his meal and ate it himself; Zhaoye Bai then fed a humiliated Xianchan Chenchen.
• Yan Yi quieted the crowd competing to care for her and called out for Teacher Qin, darkening Le Yu’s expression.

In the hospital ward, Le Yu rejected Yan Yi’s attempt to use him as a shield, but she offered him a Heart-Linked Seal in exchange for accepting her public advances. Le Yu agreed, and the two formed an alliance while concealing their own motives.

• Yan Yi asked Le Yu to feed her, but he refused and revealed that he had a fiancée, surprising the ward and drawing Yan Yi’s attention.
• Yan Yi continued questioning Le Yu about his marriage, while Le Yu claimed his fiancée loved someone else and the others speculated about their relationship.
• After the others left, Yan Yi apologized for involving Le Yu and asked him to passively accept her advances so he could help drive away unwanted admirers.
• Yan Yi hinted that she knew Le Yu had used the Soul-Cleansing Demonic Sword and offered to keep his secret in exchange for his cooperation.
• Yan Yi reasoned that joining Le Yu’s faction would help her investigate Ning Xinyuan and the Throne Game, and offered him a Heart-Linked Seal as a reward.
• Le Yu accepted Yan Yi’s arrangement, and they formed an alliance while each planned to use the other for their own ends.

Qin Leyin and Yan Yi discovered that cheap Spirit Condensing Pills circulating at the Imperial Academy were actually the dangerous drug Sea Wave Powder. Meanwhile, Cha Huan blew open three graves in Flame Capital and revealed that the coffins were empty.

• Lai Ya and Shi Wen visited Qin Leyin and brought pastries and Spirit Condensing Pills, but Yan Yi confirmed the pills worked and warned that drugs boosting Mental Power were usually poisonous or addictive.
• Qin Leyin learned that Spirit Condensing Pills had recently begun circulating cheaply among academy students and identified them as Sea Wave Powder.
• An upperclasswoman offered Spirit Condensing Pills to Li Ying and Kui Nianruo, claiming they improved cultivation and mental alertness and inviting them to try a free sample.
• Cha Huan blasted open three graves in Flame Capital while Mo Yu and the families watched, then left without explanation.
• The families demanded answers from Mo Yu, who pointed out that the coffins were empty.

Le Yu attended an Imperial Guard Faction meeting while pretending to be recovering from his injuries, then met Lou Yinhai, who offered him a seat and tried awkwardly to show his gratitude. Yan Yi explained Lou’s good intentions, and Le Yu decided to build a closer relationship with him.

• Le Yu arrived at the meeting in a formal suit and scarf, claiming he was still suffering from Mental Power damage after the battle at the Platinum Tower.
• Lou Yinhai offered Le Yu his seat, and Le Yu realized he meant the chair beside him rather than his position as Scourge Faction instructor.
• Lou Yinhai complimented Le Yu’s clothes and scarf, then joined Le Yu and Yan Yi’s planned meal after Yan Yi warmly invited him.
• Yan Yi quietly told Le Yu that Lou Yinhai wanted to repay them for protecting the Platinum Tower but was clumsy at expressing his gratitude.
• Le Yu accepted that Lou Yinhai was sincere and considered building a closer relationship with him, while also thinking about bringing Qing Lan to Flame Capital.

At an Imperial Academy meeting, Inspector Jiu Jiujiu and Ling Qingyu reported that Spirit Condensing Pills resembled the National Salvation and Relief Society’s Sea Wave Powder, but they could not find the source. They argued that the court depended on the Society’s tax revenue and could not afford to move against it, leaving Cha Huan facing the political cost of the investigation.

• Cha Huan arrived in a glittering golden robe, asked the teachers how he looked, and began the meeting once Jiu Jiujiu and Ling Qingyu arrived.
• Jiu Jiujiu explained that Spirit Condensing Pills boosted alertness and reduced pain, were not currently considered addictive, and had not been traced to a seller.
• Cha Huan pressed Jiu Jiujiu about the pills’ connection to Sea Wave Powder and demanded that the Statistics Department explain its failure to identify the supplier.
• Jiu Jiujiu said the pills were probably made using the National Salvation and Relief Society’s methods, but the Society was too powerful to investigate through force.
• Ling Qingyu and Jiu Jiujiu described how much the court relied on the Society’s taxes and argued that its financial support made it dangerous to oppose.

The teachers discussed how Sea Wave Powder served as an intelligence tax that let the imperial court weaken wealthy clans while keeping its distribution controlled. Jiu Jiujiu then revealed that the Spirit Condensing Pill had prompted an investigation into whether Sea Wave Powder’s effects came from a Divine Weapon.

• Wei Weiwei criticized the idea that the authorities should expect others to expose themselves to Sea Wave Powder while investigating it.
• Jiu Jiujiu said investigators had failed to uncover Sea Wave Powder’s production, transport, or source, and reported Director Xie’s warning about the National Salvation and Relief Society.
• Cha Huan denied knowing how to make Sea Wave Powder and explained that the imperial court tolerated its restricted circulation because it drained wealthy clans without empowering ordinary people.
• Le Yu’s investigation showed that Sea Wave Powder could ruin users by raising their pleasure threshold, while the imperial court treated its victims as the price of financing its efforts to conquer the Eight Districts.
• Jiu Jiujiu said Sea Wave Powder’s unexplained benefits suggested a Divine Weapon, naming the Sun Bottle and the Blood Essence Stone as suspects.

Jiu Jiujiu revealed that Spirit Condensing Pills were likely being produced inside the Imperial Academy with a divine weapon carried by a student, prompting the teachers to debate how to respond. Cha Huan rejected the Statistics Department’s offer to station agents and, after weighing the academy’s options, wondered whether she could fight her way through the opposition.

• Jiu Jiujiu explained that Spirit Condensing Pills were being sold almost exclusively inside the Imperial Academy and concluded that a student was likely using a divine weapon there to produce them.
• Ling Qingyu relayed her uncle’s ultimatum to Cha Huan, while Jiu Jiujiu offered the Statistics Department’s help and Cha Huan refused to let its agents enter the academy.
• Zhu Yan proposed rewarding reports and expelling students who sold or took the pills, but Yan Yi objected that harsh rules would drive the practice underground.
• Le Yu argued that the pills might become accepted in the future and that expelling students for taking them now could unfairly damage their lives, leaving the teachers uncertain about what to do.
• Cha Huan asked Lou Yinhai how many Martial Pillars he could fight, then concluded she would need to be strong enough to face seven and lamented that she could not win.

Cha Huan decided to openly disclose the Spirit Condensing Pill and enlist Imperial Academy students in searching for its producer, while Le Yu reported Qin Xiao’s warning about the Book of the Dead and the likely link between the pills and the Blood Essence Stone. The chapter ended with Ming Shuiyun telling Le Yu that the second round of the game had begun, with the Blood Essence Stone as its target.

• Le Yu concluded that the court had tempted Cha Huan with the chance to control Spirit Condensing Pill production and build a new political power base.
• Cha Huan ordered the academy to inform students about the pills, organize night patrols, and announce a bounty for the divine weapon that produced them.
• Cha Huan rejected proposals to conceal or restrict the pills, arguing that students deserved full information and should be trusted to make their own decisions.
• After the meeting, Le Yu told Cha Huan that Qin Xiao had warned him to beware the Book of the Dead and that the divine weapon behind the pills was likely the Blood Essence Stone.
• Cha Huan reminded Le Yu that he remained Acting Principal and had to protect students from criminals.
• Ming Shuiyun told Le Yu that the second round of the game had begun and that its target was the Blood Essence Stone.

Le Yu discovered that Qin Xiao’s withered page had been a Book of the Dead Fragment and learned how its Undeath ability worked. He realized the fragment had empowered Qin Xiao and the Iron-Masked Man, while the academy announcement about Spirit Condensing Pills had attracted little attention.

• The Imperial Academy students focused more on the Peerless Kill test version than the Spirit Condensing Pill announcement, and most quickly forgot about the pills when they could not find a source.
• Cha Huan’s announcement drew little interest because most students valued careers in fields other than combat arts and did not need the pills’ learning benefits.
• Le Yu recalled Qin Xiao pressing a withered yellow page against his Holy Sword Imprint and used the Saint’s Relic to recreate it as a Book of the Dead Fragment.
• Le Yu read that the fragment could keep its holder and their followers alive in an Undeath state for up to fifteen minutes, unless the brain was damaged.
• Le Yu concluded that the Book of the Dead’s power had let the Iron-Masked Man reconnect his head and Qin Xiao survive after being cut in half.

Le Yu considered the Book of the Dead and searched Records of Emperor Gaozu for clues about the three younger brothers and the other Absolute Divine Weapons. Ming Shuiyun announced the Blood Essence Stone as the second round’s target, and Le Yu explained that the contest was a game between the Sword Bearer and the National Salvation and Relief Society, while Li Ying reacted fearfully to a painting.

• Le Yu reviewed the Book of the Dead’s power and studied a myth about Emperor Gaozu and his three brothers, whose wishes were dismissed by the immortals.
• Ming Shuiyun arrived and announced that the second round of the game targeted the Blood Essence Stone.
• Le Yu explained to Qin Yueshi and Qian Yuya that the Blood Essence Stone was bait in a contest between the Sword Bearer and the National Salvation and Relief Society.
• Li Ying noticed the painting on the wall, became frightened, and hid behind Qian Yuya.

Le Yu persuaded Ming Shuiyun and the others to pursue the Blood Essence Stone while building their influence, believing its advantages could help them win Sword Quest for Succession. Li Ying revealed that she had bought Spirit Condensing Pills and become a sub-distributor, giving the group a possible way to approach the relic.

• Le Yu explained that the Sword Bearer might end Sword Quest for Succession early if one Sword Master gained a decisive lead, and recommended developing influence while searching for the Blood Essence Stone.
• Le Yu demonstrated how to use the Overlord role in a card game, tricking Li Ying into killing loyal subject Lin Xue before eliminating Li Ying and winning.
• Ming Shuiyun, Lin Xue, Li Ying, Qian Yuya, and Kui Nianruo agreed that they should search for the Blood Essence Stone and prevent another Sword Master from obtaining it.
• Le Yu admitted that he wanted the Blood Essence Stone because it could enhance his recovery and combat ability without exposing the Saint's Relic.
• Li Ying revealed that she had secretly bought Spirit Condensing Pills and was now a sub-distributor.

Li Ying went undercover at a secret gathering in the Imperial Academy, where she found the Blood Essence Stone and learned the group’s purpose. Smile welcomed her into the Immortal Palace Project, which declared that immortal cultivation would replace martial arts.

• Li Ying disguised herself, contacted Zero through her metal badge, and crossed the academy at night on a secret mission for Radiance.
• Li Ying reached the abandoned classroom ruins and followed an evil-ghost-masked member into a concealed basement.
• Li Ying saw a glowing triangle she suspected was the Blood Essence Stone and joined the masked gathering under the code name Demoness.
• Smile explained that the Spirit Condensing Pill selected people for the group’s plan, then used the triangle to reveal visions of immense power.
• Smile announced that martial arts had perished, declared immortal cultivation the future, and welcomed the newcomers to the Immortal Palace Project.

Weixiao revealed the Immortal Palace Project to Li Ying and the other newcomers, demonstrating powers beyond martial arts and killing Mountain Bear for his attempted attack. After Feixue advanced and displayed her new ability, Weixiao invited the newcomers to pursue immortality through the project.

• Mountain Bear attacked Weixiao and tried to seize the Blood Essence Stone, but his strikes passed through Weixiao and the tetrahedron.
• Weixiao bound Mountain Bear with golden chains, then killed him after telling a joke and dragged his body into the darkness.
• Weixiao learned that the newcomers answered to Chen Zhou and Feixue, then promoted Feixue to Fourth-level Disciple.
• Feixue touched the tetrahedron with Weixiao and afterward shattered a brick from ten meters away without touching it.
• Weixiao told the newcomers that the Immortal Palace Project offered them a chance to transcend their mortal bodies and become immortals.