Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi saw the beautiful Vice Dean Xuan at the academy’s opening ceremony and realized she was the woman who had caused him trouble. When classes began, Academic Affairs summoned him and assigned him a mountain of paperwork, leaving him to start sorting it.

• Vice Dean Xuan appeared on the high platform, and Xue Tao introduced her as a brilliant new teacher at the South Academy.
• Xu Yi asked his roommates for an almanac and worried that Vice Dean Xuan’s high rank and influence left him no way to confront or avoid her.
• After the academy’s opening ceremony, Xu Yi received a schedule listing a lesson on the medicinal properties of He Ye Fruit and hoped to focus on studying.
• Supervisor Hong pulled Xu Yi out of his first class and sent him to Academic Affairs Hall Seven, warning him not to cause trouble.
• Four supervisors ordered Xu Yi to sort a mountain of documents and threatened to make him do it every day or leave the academy, and Xu Yi agreed to begin.

Xu Yi returned to Dormitory 137 after spending eleven days sorting paperwork, then learned that Vice Dean Xuan would teach his lab class. When she singled him out to assist with a lesson, Xu Yi realized she was confronting him before he could even attend his first proper class.

• Xu Yi calmed himself, finished sorting paperwork in Hall Seven, and accepted the black-faced middle-aged man's advice to bow his head to whoever he had offended.
• Xu Yi returned to Dormitory 137, reassured his friends that good fortune was coming, and heard that Vice Dean Xuan would teach their lab class the next day.
• Xu Yi entered the overcrowded Room Thirty-Six lecture hall and watched Vice Dean Xuan begin a lesson on separating the medicinal properties of He Ye Fruit.
• Vice Dean Xuan rejected Jiang Fei and Duan Tiandai, pointed to Xu Yi, and called him up to assist her.
• Meng Wanzhou whispered that Xu Yi had been nicknamed Room Thirty-Six's unluckiest student because he had missed more than ten days of classes.

Xu Yi faced a staged humiliation and a Major Demerit from Vice Dean Xuan, who was trying to force him to take a Forgetfulness Pill. He turned the crowd against her with a dramatic accusation of romantic betrayal, leaving her stunned.

• Vice Dean Xuan accused Xu Yi of separating the He Ye Fruit’s medicinal properties incorrectly and gave him a Major Demerit, threatening expulsion and demanding he take a Forgetfulness Pill.
• Xu Yi refused to stand by the door, and the Black-clothed Supervisor approached him as his dormmates rose to defend him.
• Xu Yi accused Vice Dean Xuan of punishing him because he had refused her advances and missed their meeting the previous night.
• Xu Yi revealed a poem he claimed to have written for Vice Dean Xuan and declared their relationship over.
• Vice Dean Xuan stared at Xu Yi in shock as the hall fell silent.

Xu Yi’s public performance about Vice Dean Xuan sparked scandalous rumors and fury across Golden Core Academy, while he calmly hid in Supervisor Hong’s private room. Supervisor Hong returned after verifying the story and confronted Xu Yi over the disaster he had caused.

• The Black-clothed Supervisor ended the lesson as Vice Dean Xuan stormed out, and the students spread wild rumors about her and Xu Yi.
• Tie Dagang and the others searched Dormitory 137 for Xu Yi, but he was gone as an angry crowd gathered to demand his punishment.
• Head of Internal Affairs Xue Tao dispersed the crowd and searched Xu Yi’s room, but the Black-clothed Supervisor found no one.
• Duan Tiandai wondered if Xu Yi had fled to escape punishment, while Xu Yi relaxed in Supervisor Hong’s private room and ate his fruit.
• Supervisor Hong returned after checking the rumors and furiously demanded that Xu Yi get up.

After humiliating Vice-Dean Xuan in public, Xu Yi enlisted Supervisor Hong to arrange a meeting with her so they could resolve their conflict. Vice-Dean Xuan remained furious and trapped by the scandal, while Supervisor Hong realized he had little choice but to help Xu Yi.

• Supervisor Hong found Xu Yi calmly eating fruit in his room and erupted at him for provoking Vice-Dean Xuan.
• Xu Yi told Supervisor Hong that he had deliberately acted recklessly to make Vice-Dean Xuan avoid him, then asked him to invite her over.
• Xu Yi warned that if Supervisor Hong refused, he would reveal the supervisor's role in the affair, so Supervisor Hong reluctantly agreed to help.
• Vice-Dean Xuan ended a call with Uncle Six, wrecked her room, and struggled to calm down after Xu Yi's public humiliation.
• Vice-Dean Xuan recognized that Xu Yi's poem would fuel rumors and that any further action against him could make the scandal seem true.

Xu Yi confronted Vice Dean Xuan and proposed a truce, offering to repair the rumors damaging her reputation in exchange for being allowed to continue studying in the Southern Academy. Vice Dean Xuan demanded to hear how he would address the three accusations he had made in class.

• Vice Dean Xuan rushed to meet Supervisor Hong after he said Xu Yi had sent him, while several cloaked figures left her courtyard in different directions.
• Xu Yi woke as Vice Dean Xuan attacked him and threatened to expose their connection if she would not negotiate.
• Xu Yi offered to restore most of Vice Dean Xuan’s reputation and asked her household to make peace with his, so he could remain at the academy.
• Vice Dean Xuan suppressed her anger and asked Xu Yi how he planned to reverse his three accusations about his absences, her anger in class, and the poem on blank paper.

Xu Yi negotiated with Vice Dean Xuan over the scandal, offering an explanation that would let it fade in exchange for a guarantee that she would not expel or trouble him. When she tried to regain control, he threatened to expose their encounter with a portrait and make the rumors worse, leaving her trapped by his leverage.

• Xu Yi proposed blaming Supervisor Hong for the first incident and explaining the other incidents as a classroom misunderstanding and poems he had written for someone he loved.
• Xu Yi explained how his account would help the scandal fade and asked Vice Dean Xuan to guarantee in writing that he could stay at the academy without further trouble.
• Vice Dean Xuan rejected the demand and threatened to make Xu Yi suffer, hoping to regain the initiative in their negotiation.
• Xu Yi opened the window enough to disrupt the soundproofing wards and warned that shouting there would confirm the forbidden-affair rumors.
• Xu Yi showed Vice Dean Xuan a provocative portrait and threatened to circulate pictures depicting what happened on Snowpeak.

Xu Yi and Vice Dean Xuan swore Blood Oaths to end their dispute, but a sudden interruption led to a chaotic escape that left Supervisor Hong as an unwilling witness. Xu Yi returned to Dormitory 137, where Tie Dagang and the others rushed into his room and later emerged supporting two of their companions.

• Vice Dean Xuan and Xu Yi swore Blood Oaths promising to leave their past conflict unsettled and never use it against each other.
• Xu Yi grabbed Vice Dean Xuan as she tried to leave, and she struck him before he dragged her onto Supervisor Hong's bed.
• Supervisor Hong accidentally witnessed them together, and Xu Yi fled through the window to draw the searchers away.
• Vice Dean Xuan threatened Supervisor Hong to keep him silent, then left with the bedsheet from his room.
• Xu Yi evaded the cordons and returned to Dormitory 137 after the academy ordered everyone back to their dorms.
• Tie Dagang, Jiang Fei, Meng Wanzhou, and Duan Tiandai crowded into Xu Yi's room, then left with Tie Dagang supporting Jiang Fei and Meng Wanzhou supporting Duan Tiandai.

Xu Yi received a Major Demerit for his Formal Complaint about Vice Dean Xuan, then gave his roommates an explanation that ended the scandal. Over the next half month, he focused on catching up with his classes by buying lesson recordings and workshop time.

• Tie Dagang and Meng Wanzhou brought Xu Yi breakfast, and Jiang Fei arrived with news that Xu Yi’s Formal Complaint had been posted in South Plaza.
• Duan Tiandai brought the academy’s ruling: Xu Yi received one Major Demerit, and spreading rumors about the scandal was forbidden.
• Xu Yi told Jiang Fei and the others that he had met Vice Dean Xuan during a hunt and accidentally stolen her prey, and they accepted his explanation.
• The dean’s order quieted the rumors, while Xu Yi became widely known across the South Academy.
• Xu Yi spent the next half month attending classes and using merit points to buy lesson recordings and workshop time so he could catch up.

Xu Yi endured Zhang Junyue’s attempt to humiliate him during Room Thirty-Six’s field assignment while quietly preparing to take the dorm head’s position. After Xu Yi gathered food for the group, Su Jianting arrived with a party, setting the stage for the spectacle Xu Yi had anticipated.

• Room Thirty-Six established a Five Spirit Balance Ground, and Zhang Junyue assigned Xu Yi to maintain its formation core.
• Xu Yi pretended to collapse from exhaustion, then asked Tie Dagang whether he wanted to be dorm head and told his allies not to interfere when Zhang Junyue ordered him to gather food.
• Xu Yi gathered fruit and game with ease, then returned to camp and followed Zhang Junyue’s orders to prepare the meal.
• Su Jianting, a prominent Orchid Ranking student and founder of the South Academy, arrived with several others as the group grilled food.

Xu Yi defied South Academy’s demand for Room Thirty-Six’s Five Spirit Balance Ground, destroyed the site, and knocked Dorm Leader Zhang Junyue into the pit. His dormmates rallied behind him as the confrontation escalated.

• Su Jianting asked Zhang Junyue to give South Academy the spirit ground, and Zhang agreed after receiving resources and pressure from the vice dorm leaders.
• Xu Yi ignored Zhang’s order to leave and headed for the array flags, then used the attackers’ light balls to destroy the flags and the spirit ground.
• Su Jianting condemned Xu Yi, and Xu slapped Zhang Junyue before kicking him into the pit.
• Qi Hui ordered Room Thirty-Six to seize Xu Yi, but nobody moved, and Jiang Fei praised him.
• A Room Thirty-Six student denounced Zhang and the vice dorm leaders for giving away their work and praised Xu Yi.

Xu Yi turned Room Thirty-Six against Zhang Junyue by accusing him of betraying their interests, while Supervisor Hong tried to avoid intervening. The chapter left Xu Yi presenting Zhang’s storage ring as evidence of a deal with the South Academy.

• Duan Tiandai rallied Room Thirty-Six against Zhang Junyue and the South Academy’s attempt to seize the Five Spirit Balance Ground.
• Long Gang called Supervisor Hong, who arrived but tried to leave the dispute to the students.
• Zhang Junyue demanded that Supervisor Hong punish Xu Yi, while Supervisor Hong privately warned Xu Yi that he risked expulsion.
• Xu Yi accused Zhang Junyue of abusing his authority and asked how the South Academy had found their ground at the moment construction ended.
• Xu Yi showed Zhang Junyue’s storage ring, saying Su Jianting had given it to Zhang as payment for Room Thirty-Six’s work.

Xu Yi exposed Zhang Junyue’s betrayal of Room Thirty-Six and his deal with Su Jianting, turning the students against them. Room Thirty-Six beat the South Academy group and left Zhang Junyue facing the Discipline Hall’s judgment.

• Xu Yi revealed that the storage ring contained only one hundred origin pills, and Room Thirty-Six students demanded a new room chief.
• Su Jianting tried to leave with the South Academy group, but Xu Yi and the students surrounded them.
• Zhang Junyue proposed bringing in the Discipline Hall, while Xu Yi played a recording of Zhang Junyue negotiating with Su Jianting over a Five Spirit Balance Ground and a storage ring.
• Zhang Junyue called the recording fake, and Su Jianting accused Xu Yi of framing them before the furious students subdued and beat the South Academy group.
• Xu Yi stopped the beating and told Zhang Junyue he could call the Discipline Hall to verify the recording.

After Xu Yi helped Tie Dagang become the new dorm leader of Room Thirty-Six, he focused on his studies and cultivation, opening ninety-one hidden apertures in ten months. Jiang Fei then told him that Wang Minglun’s Ding Wen had been published in the Gold Register and earned Wang a Green Quality Badge, leaving Xu Yi asking what the Gold Register was.

• Supervisor Hong ordered Room Thirty-Six to choose a dorm leader and demanded Zhang Junyue submit a transfer application.
• Xu Yi nominated Tie Dagang as dorm leader, and Room Thirty-Six accepted him while choosing its vice dorm leaders.
• Su Jianting and the South Academy group completed the Five Spirit Balance Ground and guarded it overnight under Xu Yi’s pressure.
• Xu Yi spent ten months studying alchemy and cultivating, opening ninety-one of his one hundred and eight hidden apertures.
• Jiang Fei told Xu Yi that Wang Minglun’s Ding Wen had appeared in the Gold Register and won him a Green Quality Badge.
• Xu Yi asked Jiang Fei what the Gold Register was, and Jiang Fei teased him for being out of the loop.

After learning that publishing in the Gold Register could help him join the Golden Core Society, Xu Yi sought Vice Dean Xuan’s help with an article. He persuaded Supervisor Hong to invite her, and Vice Dean Xuan decided to face Xu Yi despite her unease.

• Jiang Fei told Xu Yi that Wang Minglun earned a Green Quality Badge and many merit points by publishing his He Ye Fruit research in the Gold Register.
• Xu Yi realized that publishing in the Gold Register might advance his standing in the Golden Core Society and decided to ask Vice Dean Xuan for help.
• Xu Yi asked Supervisor Hong to invite Vice Dean Xuan, but Supervisor Hong mistook his request for a scheme to arrange another intimate meeting.
• Xu Yi persuaded Supervisor Hong that arranging the meeting could win Vice Dean Xuan’s trust, and Supervisor Hong agreed to invite her.
• Vice Dean Xuan guessed Xu Yi was behind the invitation, felt an unfamiliar trace of fear, and decided to see what he wanted.

Xu Yi asked Vice Dean Xuan to help break the seal on his Starry Sky Ring so he could free his trapped niece, but she rejected his offer of a treasure. As he prepared to leave, Vice Dean Xuan called him back, leaving him wondering what she wanted.

• Vice Dean Xuan entered Xu Yi's room in disguise and found him reading an illustrated book, which they briefly argued about.
• Xu Yi persuaded Vice Dean Xuan that they were close enough for him to ask a favor, then requested her help breaking the seal on his Starry Sky Ring.
• Xu Yi offered Vice Dean Xuan a treasure, intending to give her a Black Origin Bead, but she scolded him for trying to bribe her and refused.
• Vice Dean Xuan complained that Xu Yi had been using Supervisor Hong to summon her, while Xu Yi remained baffled that she could not be swayed by profit.
• Xu Yi took his leave, but Vice Dean Xuan called him back, and he wondered why Xuan Lengyan was acting strangely.

Xu Yi agreed to owe Vice Dean Xuan a favor in exchange for unlocking his Starry Sky Ring and rescuing Qiu Wa. After helping Qiu Wa stabilize and hide her aura, Vice Dean Xuan demanded that Xu Yi walk naked between the South Plaza and North Plaza at lunchtime the next day.

• Vice Dean Xuan offered to unlock Xu Yi's Starry Sky Ring if he promised her a future favor, assuring him that she would not ask him to risk his life or harm innocents.
• Xu Yi agreed, and Vice Dean Xuan used a Black Quality Badge to temporarily remove the ring's restrictions.
• Xu Yi summoned Qiu Wa, who was asleep and nearing an advancement, and Vice Dean Xuan gave him a Replenishing Spirit Pill and Breeze Potion to help her.
• Xu Yi refined a Blood Oath promising Vice Dean Xuan a favor, then she revealed that she wanted him to walk naked between the South Plaza and North Plaza during mealtime the next day.

Vice Dean Xuan schemed to make Xu Yi swear a Blood Oath so she could humiliate him, then left to watch him face its consequences. She found him devouring food in the dining hall and wondered whether he intended to honor the oath.

• Vice Dean Xuan revealed that she had tricked Xu Yi into swearing a Blood Oath as revenge for their earlier humiliation.
• Xu Yi threatened to fight her, but backed down when she warned that he would be expelled and the oath would take effect.
• Vice Dean Xuan found an illustrated booklet Xu Yi had dropped, hid it in her Starry Sky Ring, and slipped away before Supervisor Hong entered.
• Vice Dean Xuan left for the dining hall, eager to watch Xu Yi obey the Blood Oath.
• Vice Dean Xuan spotted Xu Yi feasting noisily with a group and wondered whether he had given up or doubted the oath.

Yuan Pan and his South Academy companions confronted Xu Yi and Dormitory 137 in the dining hall, then used a claim about Wang Minglun’s new fixed treatise to turn Supervisor Cai against Xu Yi. Xu Yi calmly agreed to leave and walked out, while Jiang Fei spotted Vice Dean Xuan nearby.

• Vice Dean Xuan lingered outside the dining hall, curious about Xu Yi, as Yuan Pan and several South Academy members crowded onto Dormitory 137’s bench.
• Yuan Pan provoked Tie Dagang and Xu Yi, and Xu Yi injured Yuan Pan’s foot after Yuan Pan grabbed his shoulder.
• Yuan Pan told Supervisor Cai that Wang Minglun and Instructor Xu were preparing a fixed treatise for the Dan Book, then accused Xu Yi of disrespecting Wang Minglun.
• Supervisor Cai ordered Xu Yi to leave, and Xu Yi’s Killing Intent made the supervisor step back before Xu Yi calmly walked out.
• Jiang Fei noticed Vice Dean Xuan as Xu Yi left the dining hall.

Xu Yi met Vice Dean Xuan beneath the snowflake trees and tried to persuade her to change the terms of his Blood Oath. He left her stunned by revealing that he had mastered the Manifestation Marvelous Technique.

• Yuan Pan and Supervisor Cai accused Xu Yi before Vice Dean Xuan and asked her to punish him, but she ordered them to leave.
• Xu Yi invited Vice Dean Xuan to sit with him and said he was confident he could persuade her to change one of her demands.
• Xu Yi described the Blood Oath's conditions as time, place, and nudity, prompting Vice Dean Xuan to suspect he was seeking a loophole.
• Xu Yi transformed one finger at will, and Vice Dean Xuan recognized the feat as the Manifestation Marvelous Technique.