Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi and his four roommates argued over who should lead their lodge at Golden Core Academy, trading offers and promises. Xu Yi’s pledge to lead from the front and retreat at the rear caught the others’ attention, but Tie Dagang refused to yield the position.

• Tie Dagang, Jiang Fei, Duan Tiandai, and Meng Wanzhou introduced themselves and boasted about their cultivation, backgrounds, or abilities.
• Xu Yi introduced himself as a forty-nine-year-old Spiritual Root Layer One elder of the Xuanqing Sect and explained that a badge had brought him to the academy.
• Tie Dagang claimed the lodge leader position, while Meng Wanzhou offered each roommate one hundred thousand Origin Pills and Duan Tiandai promoted his long-distance vision.
• Jiang Fei withdrew from the contest, and Tie Dagang offered each roommate two hundred thousand Origin Pills and protection from bullying.
• Xu Yi pledged to lead from the front and guard the rear during retreats, impressing Meng Wanzhou, Jiang Fei, and Duan Tiandai, but Tie Dagang refused to give up the position.

Duan Tiandai revealed Xu Yi’s remarkable rise and his role in the Golden Core Society’s emergence, persuading the others to choose Xu Yi as dorm leader. Xu Yi offered Tie Dagang an arm-wrestling contest to settle the matter, and Tie Dagang agreed to stake his claim on winning.

• Duan Tiandai recognized Xu Yi as a fellow native of Wufeng Country and changed his vote to support him.
• Duan Tiandai recounted how Xu Yi rose from a trial disciple to an Inner Sect Disciple, transformed Guanglong Hall, and helped bring the Golden Core Society into the open.
• Jiang Fei accepted Duan Tiandai’s account, while Tie Dagang challenged its relevance to choosing a dorm leader.
• Meng Wanzhou chose Xu Yi, arguing that his resourcefulness made him the best person to lead the group and gather Orchid Grass.
• Xu Yi proposed an arm-wrestling contest with Tie Dagang, who agreed to accept Xu Yi as dorm leader if he lost.

Xu Yi defeated Tie Dagang in an arm-wrestling match and became the unquestioned leader of Dormitory 137. The group began its Orchid Grass gathering trial, agreeing to share herbs while Meng Wanzhou proposed that individual hunters keep any white Iron Armored Beasts they killed.

• Xu Yi pinned Tie Dagang's arm almost instantly, and Tie Dagang accepted his defeat and addressed him as Shelter Head Xu.
• Xu Yi and the others slept, then woke when the cave gates opened and ate before reading the day's instructions.
• The badges ordered each shelter to gather Orchid Grass worth two hundred merit points, and Xu led Dormitory 137 west to find a quieter area.
• Xu proposed that the shelter gather and divide its spoils together, and Tie Dagang, Duan Tiandai, and Jiang Fei agreed.
• Meng Wanzhou suggested that the group split Orchid Grass evenly but let whoever killed a white Iron Armored Beast keep its fifty merit points.

Xu Yi and his companions searched for Orchid Grass and fought off a pack of Iron Armored Green Beasts, but their harvest remained far short of the required amount. By noon, they had gathered only fourteen stalks and feared they would earn no merit.

• Xu Yi settled the group's rules for hunting alone and asked everyone to suggest how they should search for Orchid Grass.
• Duan Tiandai spotted two stalks, which Xu Yi carefully harvested and handed to Duan Tiandai to carry.
• Meng Wanzhou suggested they seek merit by confronting Iron Armored Beasts as well as gathering Orchid Grass, and Xu Yi agreed to stir up trouble.
• More than thirty Iron Armored Green Beasts erupted from underground, and Tie Dagang destroyed them with a metal storm.
• The group continued searching until noon and gathered only fourteen stalks, leaving them worried they would fail to meet the quota.

Xu Yi used clues from the group’s earlier Orchid Grass finds to guide Dormitory 137 to a site with twenty-one plants. As the group celebrated, Iron Armored Beasts ambushed them, and Tie Dagang charged into the fight.

• Xu Yi called off the group’s search and proposed using patterns from their earlier Orchid Grass finds to change their strategy.
• Meng Wanzhou noticed Jingxuan Wood at every previous site, while Jiang Fei identified a mountain-qi pattern and directed Duan Tiandai to search west.
• Duan Tiandai spotted Jingxuan Wood after the group traveled a hundred li, leading them to twenty-one Orchid Grass plants.
• The group realized the plants would bring them close to the required thirty-six, with time to find the rest.
• Iron Armored Beasts ambushed the group, Xu Yi recognized the danger, and Tie Dagang charged at one of them.

Xu Yi's group encountered two powerful Iron Armored White Beasts, and Xu Yi rescued the badly wounded Meng Wanzhou after a devastating battle. Though the others urged retreat, Xu Yi used the Ruyi Pearl to reveal that the beasts had concealed their color and been nearby all along.

• The Iron Armored White Beasts overwhelmed Tie Dagang and Meng Wanzhou with powerful tentacles and pure-white flames, forcing Xu Yi to order a retreat.
• Tie Dagang and Meng Wanzhou summoned their spiritual roots, unleashing a storm that devastated the forest but left the Orchid Grass protected by the beasts.
• The beasts seized the gravely wounded Meng Wanzhou, but Xu Yi tore off their tentacles, carried Meng Wanzhou away, and escaped despite being struck by flames.
• The group ran more than thirty li before collapsing, and Meng Wanzhou regained consciousness while the others recovered from their injuries.
• Tie Dagang and the others urged the group to avoid another fight, but Xu Yi showed them an image from the Ruyi Pearl revealing that the beasts had concealed their color and hidden nearby.

After reviewing his recording of the fight with the Iron Armored White Beasts, Xu Yi convinced his companions to face the beasts again and shared a dangerous plan. He left the group and watched the twenty-one stalks of Orchid Grass from high above, while his companions set out to follow his instructions.

• Xu Yi showed the group his recording, revealing that six Iron Armored White Beasts had ambushed them and that he had saved Meng Wanzhou.
• Meng Wanzhou thanked Xu Yi, and Tie Dagang acknowledged Xu Yi’s strength after seeing him fight the beasts.
• Xu Yi argued that the group should not abandon the Orchid Grass and persuaded everyone to risk fighting the beasts again.
• Xu Yi explained his plan, but Meng Wanzhou, Jiang Fei, and Duan Tiandai warned him that it was too dangerous; Xu Yi told them to follow his instructions.
• Xu Yi asked Duan Tiandai for an item, vanished, and raced three hundred zhang away to watch the Orchid Grass from high above.
• Tie Dagang and the others set off to carry out Xu Yi’s plan.

Xu Yi destroyed the Orchid Grass to lure the six Iron Armored Beasts away, then led their combined armored form into a cave near a snowy mountain. Meng Wanzhou, Jiang Fei, Tie Dagang, and Duan Tiandai sprang the next part of the plan by flooding the cave and collapsing the peaks.

• Xu Yi confirmed that Duan Tiandai and the others had found the planned location, then attacked the six Iron Armored Beasts guarding the Orchid Grass with four Hun Tian Swords.
• Xu Yi destroyed the Orchid Grass and fled, drawing the enraged beasts after him as they combined into a faster armored monster.
• Xu Yi evaded the monster for more than an hour, then used additional Orchid Grass to provoke it into a renewed charge.
• Xu Yi led the monster into a cave beneath a snowy mountain, where Meng Wanzhou and Jiang Fei emerged nearby and Meng Wanzhou called for Tie Dagang to act.
• Xu Yi blasted the cave ceiling, bringing a torrent of water inside, while Tie Dagang and Duan Tiandai opened a hole and collapsed the snowy peaks.

Xu Yi and his companions used a flood to break apart the Iron Armored Beasts’ formation and defeat them. After killing all six Iron Armored White Beasts, Xu Yi was left utterly drained.

• Tie Dagang, Meng Wanzhou, Duan Tiandai, and Jiang Fei sealed the cavern entrance as Xu Yi’s gourd formation flooded the cavern with snowmelt.
• Xu Yi waited underwater until the Iron Armored Beasts split apart, then seized and crushed two Iron Armored White Beasts, taking their merit-bearing armor plates.
• The four companions sealed the cavern entrance and repeatedly suppressed the remaining beasts’ attempts to escape, despite suffering injuries and straining their spiritual roots.
• Xu Yi emerged from the water, crushed two more Iron Armored White Beasts, and chased down the final two as they fled underwater.
• After all six Iron Armored White Beasts were dead, Xu Yi’s mountain-sized body was utterly drained.

Xu Yi returned after killing all six Iron Armored White Beasts, and Dormitory 137 completed its mission. The group shared the merit points and celebrated on a concealed platform outside their cramped dormitory.

• Xu Yi emerged from the flooded cave after collecting the six strange armors, and Tie Dagang and the others pulled him from the water.
• Xu Yi explained that the Iron Armored Beasts had been weakened in the water and said he had defeated them one at a time.
• Xu Yi gave Duan Tiandai the six armors and Orchid Grass, then persuaded the group to split the mission merit points evenly.
• The group returned to Dormitory 137, where Xu Yi spent merit points on a metal platform and a concealment array.
• Dormitory 137 gathered on the hidden platform to eat, drink, and sing while watching the sun set.

Xu Yi’s group improved their Orchid Grass hunts and began discussing the academy’s rumored ranking and the importance of influence as classes approached. Xu Yi reconsidered his indifference to competition, but Jiang Fei stopped him from drinking the remaining wine alone.

• Xu Yi shared redeemed supplies with the residents of Dormitory 137 and spent the night cultivating before sleeping outside.
• Duan Tiandai and Jiang Fei located Orchid Grass, and Xu Yi’s group stole plants and defeated two Iron Armored White Beasts through coordinated teamwork.
• On the third day, the group gained enough confidence to lure out and kill four Iron Armored White Beasts, while other hunting groups also became more effective.
• Jiang Fei and Duan Tiandai told Xu Yi that the academy’s Orchid Ranking, upcoming classes, and possible room assignments could affect students’ status and access to resources.
• Xu Yi thanked his companions and began punishing himself by drinking wine, but Jiang Fei stopped him from taking a second jar for himself.

Xu Yi and his companions discussed the Orchid Ranking and debated how outsiders might judge Xu Yi’s achievements. Their gathering was interrupted when their badges announced that the final day of collecting Orchid Grass would become an individual competition with unclear rewards, apparently intended to identify powerful cultivators before room assignments.

• Jiang Fei and Duan Tiandai explained the Orchid Ranking and shared stories about outstanding students listed on it.
• Tie Dagang asked how Xu Yi’s deeds would fare on the ranking, and Jiang Fei and Duan Tiandai argued before Meng Wanzhou pointed out that outsiders might doubt Xu Yi’s accomplishments.
• Meng Wanzhou said Xu Yi’s ability could rival the strongest Spiritual Root Layer Two cultivators, and Tie Dagang asked whether Xu Yi could defeat the Southern Four Wonders.
• Xu Yi and the others’ badges lit up with new rules announcing an individual Orchid Grass competition for the final day, with unspecified winners and rewards.
• Duan Tiandai concluded that the individual competition was meant to identify powerful cultivators ahead of the upcoming room assignments.

Xu Yi prepared for the academy’s final solo trial, then left the designated hunting grounds to seek Orchid Grass and Essence Armor beyond the safer area. He ambushed four Iron Armored White Beasts and began breaking through their defenses.

• Xu Yi urged Tie Dagang and the others to prioritize surviving the final trial, and Dormitory 137’s members parted after the academy warned that its teleportation array would repel Ruyi Pearls.
• The array sent Xu Yi alone into a dense forest, where he used his knowledge of the hunting grounds to travel east.
• Xu Yi crossed the boundary into the riskier area, intending to gather more resources than he could find inside the designated hunting grounds.
• Xu Yi located Jingxuan trees and used them to find thirteen stalks of Orchid Grass guarded by four Iron Armored White Beasts.
• Xu Yi attacked the beasts with Hun Tian Sword and Light Smoke Steps, destroyed their vital red flesh, and turned his assault toward their Essence Armor.

Xu Yi used his newly released spirit root to defeat groups of Iron Armored White Beasts and gathered a large haul, but his exhaustion forced him to stop and rest. While he slept in a secluded pool, an unseen attacker struck him, and the chapter also showed a young woman collecting a Love Flower and speaking with someone through a Ruyi Pearl.

• Xu Yi defeated four Iron Armored White Beasts, collected their Essence Armor, and continued searching for prey.
• Xu Yi attacked a clearing with more than forty stalks of Orchid Grass, using his spirit root to control the beasts’ flames before his Hun Tian Sword obliterated seventeen Iron Armored White Beasts.
• Xu Yi gathered the scattered Essence Armor, hid in a pool to recover, and resumed hunting, fighting four more battles before stopping from exhaustion.
• Xu Yi rested in another pool and decided to sleep until evening before returning from the contest.
• A young woman collected a seven-petaled Love Flower, activated a Ruyi Pearl, and complained to someone about being unable to find him.
• As Xu Yi slept, darkness engulfed him and a sudden attack caused him severe pain.

Hao Xuanyuan found a spirit spring on a snowy peak, fought off a Cloud Eagle Beast, and bathed there. A giant white eagle then seized Xu Yi and dropped him into the spring, where his attempt to flee ended with a powerful attack cracking his body as he escaped into the snow.

• Xu Zijun teased Hao Xuanyuan about Tao Baiyi before pointing out five-colored mist rising from a distant snowy peak.
• Hao Xuanyuan reached the peak, wounded the Cloud Eagle Beast when it attacked, and hid herself behind a barrier to bathe in the spirit spring.
• A giant white eagle carried Xu Yi away from the water while he slept, squeezing him in its talons despite his protective art.
• The eagle dropped Xu Yi into the spring near Hao Xuanyuan, and he splashed water onto her before fleeing.
• Hao Xuanyuan struck Xu Yi with spiritual energy, cracking his body, and Xu Yi gritted his teeth and escaped through the deep snow.

After barely escaping a mysterious woman's attack, Xu Yi returned to camp exhausted and recovered overnight with help from his dormmates. The academy assigned Xu Yi and the others to Room Thirty-Six, where they found a large hall prepared for instruction.

• Xu Yi fled the snowy mountain and reached camp just before the deadline, then collapsed from his injuries and exhaustion.
• Tie Dagang and the others gave Xu Yi healing medicine, and he recovered through a night's rest.
• Xu Yi awoke before the others and stayed quiet until the bell opened the Stone Gates at dawn.
• The dormmates ate breakfast while Jiang Fei and Duan Tiandai argued, then learned their assigned room numbers.
• Xu Yi, Tie Dagang, Meng Wanzhou, Jiang Fei, and Duan Tiandai discovered they had all been assigned Room Thirty-Six.
• The five members of Dormitory 137 found Room Thirty-Six, a spacious hall furnished with eighty desks and meditation cushions.

Room Thirty-Six began choosing a dorm leader when an academy official summoned Xu Yi to the Internal Affairs Hall. Xu Yi arrived to find a powerful, unidentified figure waiting for him.

• Supervisor Hong told Room Thirty-Six to choose a dorm leader by submitting Essence Armor and select three vice dorm leaders from the top ten contributors.
• The other members of Dormitory 137 looked to Xu Yi for clues about his chances, but he stayed silent.
• An official named Old Qin spoke privately with Supervisor Hong, who then summoned Xu Yi to Hall Three of Internal Affairs Hall.
• Xu Yi reluctantly left the assembly hall and went to Hall Three, where the door shut behind him as he approached a robed figure.
• Xu Yi wondered if Kong Qi had arranged for him to meet someone influential.

Xu Yi was confronted by the woman he had accidentally seen bathing, who tried to force him to take a Forgetfulness Pill before he could compete for class representative. Their battle wrecked the reception hall, and Xu Yi escaped the barrier only after provoking her into blasting him through its wall, badly injured.

• Xu Yi recognized the woman from the bathing pool and tried to deny knowing her, but she demanded that he take a Forgetfulness Pill.
• The woman attacked Xu Yi when he refused, and he used his shifting pressure points and Hun Tian Sword to resist her.
• Xu Yi and the woman traded attacks that damaged the reception hall while neither could overpower the other.
• Xu Yi taunted the woman about their encounter, and she struck him with red light, blasting him through the barrier and leaving him severely injured.

Xu Yi returned to Room Thirty-Six after a humiliating encounter with the Vice-Dean, only to discover that his dormmates had finished hunting and the room-chief selection was over. After the five members of Dormitory 137 moved into new quarters, they headed to South Plaza for the dean’s opening address, where Xu Yi’s hope that Zhang Junyue would behave reasonably was soon disproved.

• The Vice-Dean ordered black-clad men to tear down and rebuild a hall after Xu Yi escaped her.
• Xu Yi found Tie Dagang, Jiang Fei, Meng Wanzhou, and Duan Tiandai waiting in Room Thirty-Six, then dropped thirty-seven Essence Armors before them.
• Xu Yi told his dormmates that an old enemy had caused his troubles and dismissed the lost chance to become Room Chief.
• The five members of Dormitory 137 accepted their new quarters, and Xu Yi rested while his injuries healed.
• After receiving a summons to South Plaza, Xu Yi and his dormmates set out for the dean’s opening address.
• Xu Yi told the others that Room Chief Zhang Junyue would not push his luck, but the mostly arranged formation at South Plaza soon shattered his prediction.

Xu Yi and the other students attended the Southern Campus’s opening gathering, where Dean Old Fire spoke about the meaning of being fellow students and the academy’s efforts to build a sense of belonging. After the speech, Xue Tao began introducing the campus administrators, and the students listened eagerly.

• Zhang Junyue ordered Dormitory 137 to join the formation, and Xu Yi stepped forward and led his roommates into line.
• Jiang Fei and Duan Tiandai discussed helping Xu Yi reclaim the room leader position, but their voice transmissions stopped when Dean Old Fire appeared.
• Old Fire gave a humorous speech about fellowship that encouraged the students to look forward to their time at the academy.
• Xu Yi recognized the Golden Core Society’s efforts to build loyalty and belonging, and he applauded along with the other students.
• Xue Tao introduced himself as Head of Internal Affairs and began presenting the Southern Campus administrators, starting with First Vice Dean Immortal Tong Qifeng.