Recaps

Jiang Han fought Dinesha in the semifinal, using her preparation and taunts to gain an early advantage. She won the first two rounds, but remained wary of being reverse-swept.

• Jiang Han prepared to use Sanctified Cat Lamps and the wind and snow against Dinesha, while taunting her about Angelite and her past losses.
• Dinesha opened the match with a devastating ghostly barrage, but Jiang Han endured it and summoned Sanctified Cat Lamps to disrupt her; Dinesha lost the first round.
• Dinesha transformed into a Ghost Cat Lamp Milk-Club Totem in the second round, but Jiang Han's summoned Giant Cat Lamp and Zhang Luer's Mammoth Giant Cat overwhelmed her.
• Jiang Han took a 2:0 lead but remained cautious about losing the remaining rounds.

Eve Harkins advised Dinesha to counter Jiang Han’s Cat Lamp Style by trading damage and pressing forward. Dinesha’s aggressive strategy won three straight games, leaving Jiang Han behind 2:3 in the pivotal match.

• Eve Harkins explained that Dinesha should abandon trying to counter Jiang Han’s summons and instead attack her directly with empowered rays.
• Dinesha recognized that Jiang Han relied on raw strength and tactics to cover weaknesses in her fundamentals, and she entered the arena determined to trade damage.
• Dinesha’s relentless pressure disrupted Jiang Han’s Cat Lamp Style, and Dinesha won two games to tie the score at 2:2.
• Jiang Han grew hesitant in the fifth game and stopped trading damage, allowing Dinesha to overwhelm her and take the lead 3:2.

Jiang Han adjusted her tactics against Dinesha, using Evil-Warding Slash and Cat Gernis to force the match into a deciding game. She then gambled on Angelite's Flash Dust and won the final round with three super cats, taking the match 4:3.

• Cat Dula told Jiang Han to summon a reliable giant cat, and Cat Gernis advised her to force Dinesha into unfavorable trades.
• Jiang Han used Evil-Warding Slash in the sixth game, summoned Cat Gernis and Cat Doyastin, and won to tie the match at 3:3.
• Jiang Han entered the deciding game confident and prepared Angelite's Flash Dust instead of following the coaching staff's disciplined opening advice.
• Dinesha pressed forward aggressively, and Jiang Han used Angelite's Flash Dust to crush her momentum.
• Jiang Han summoned Cat Doyastin, Cat Yeta, and Cat Nesting to defeat Dinesha and win the match 4:3.

Jiang Han, Olivia, and Chen Ligu visited the Ghost Castle Cat Lamp corridor, where Dragon Castle Giant Cat Lamp Cat Tricia welcomed Jiang Han after her victory over Dinesha. Cat Tricia offered Jiang Han Ghost Cat Lamp contracts, and the chapter ended as Jiang Han asked her to explain the offer.

• Jiang Han and her companions traveled through the Ghost Castle corridor, where Olivia explained the unpredictable nature of castle-type Cat Lamps.
• Jiang Han saw Cat Tricia in her enormous cat form, devouring a cart of watermelon and greeting the visitors.
• Cat Tricia’s leyline power nearly knocked Jiang Han and Chen Ligu off their feet, so Olivia told her to change into her Cat Lamp girl form.
• Cat Tricia transformed and appeared before Jiang Han in a layered black-and-white outfit.
• Jiang Han reminded Cat Tricia that she had invited her to receive Ghost Cat Lamp contracts.

Jiang Han brought three Dragonfort Cat Lamps aboard her Sky Island floating boat and learned they could help develop Cat Lamp spells, addressing a major weakness in her fighting style. She began choosing spells for them to modify, while Olivia recommended an ultra-long-range Anywhere Door.

• Jiang Han introduced the three Dragonfort Cat Lamps she had contracted and watched them compete for food and space aboard her boat.
• Olivia punished the three little cats for talking back, and Jiang Han rescued them before asking how they could help her.
• The Dragonfort Cat Lamps explained that they could develop Cat Lamp spells after Cat Tricia saw Jiang Han's match and recognized weaknesses in her Cat Lamp Style.
• Jiang Han realized Cat Lamp spells could store disparity for use in duels and considered which spells to prioritize.
• Olivia advised Jiang Han to have the cats create an ultra-long-range Anywhere Door for long-distance mobility.

Jiang Han woke up to Du Lingxuan demanding credit, then ate the food Du Lingxuan had prepared and went with her to find more. As they discussed the competition, Du Lingxuan expected Jiang Han to finish as runner-up to Alice Vanderk, while Jiang Han insisted Teacher Ji could still reach the finals.

• Jiang Han woke up in the afternoon and sat on Mao Philia, who accepted her excuse that she had been mistaken for a sofa.
• Jiang Han ate from Du Lingxuan's lunch, and Cat Dula took food from the freezer and paid Du Lingxuan 8.5 Witch Gold coins.
• Du Lingxuan took Jiang Han out to buy food after the lunch ran out, and Jiang Han questioned why Du Lingxuan had called her the runner-up.
• Du Lingxuan said Jiang Han was unlikely to beat Alice Vanderk and considered Teacher Ji's chances of reaching the finals about equal to Jiang Han's.
• Jiang Han argued that Teacher Ji might still make the finals, and Du Lingxuan told her to prepare to fight him if she believed that.

Jiang Han went with Du Lingxuan to prepare a championship theme song and fan reward packs, learning that a theme song was required for a winner of the prestigious Eileen Cup. She left the musical decisions to Du Lingxuan and went looking for desserts while the Ghost Witches began trying out arrangements.

• Jiang Han questioned whether she really needed a theme song, and Du Lingxuan explained that the Eileen Cup's standing made one essential.
• Du Lingxuan took Jiang Han to Ghost Castle Music, Culture and Entertainment Company to discuss the song with the Ghost Witches.
• Du Lingxuan directed the Ghost Witches to make the music more cheerful, but Xuan Bao rejected their pastoral tune as too light and unlikely to last.
• Jiang Han decided to leave the song to Du Lingxuan and searched the studio for desserts while holding the Cat Cup.

Jiang Han and Du Lingxuan settled a deal with the Ghost Witches, raided their desserts, and discussed the approaching Spring Festival. Meanwhile, Ji Haijun defeated Alice Vanderk to reach the Eileen Cup finals, where she would face Jiang Han.

• Jiang Han and Du Lingxuan ate the Ghost Witches' food, paid for the desserts, and were thrown out with Xuan Bao.
• Jiang Han gave Du Lingxuan a box of Sticky-Slippery Snails as they headed back to the Cat Book House.
• Jiang Han and Du Lingxuan overheard witches discussing Spring Festival, while Du Lingxuan pretended not to be interested.
• Witches considered Angelite's prediction of a Year of Absurdity as several startling events unfolded, including Eileen's corporate-law push, a Frost Demon marriage alliance, and Olivia's Cat Lamp Vision Control Act.
• Ji Haijun used tactics against Alice Vanderk's summons, won the seventh game 4:3, and advanced to the Eileen Cup finals against Jiang Han.

Jiang Han and Ji Haijun began their Eileen Cup final, each sacrificing heavily to summon a giant cat and unleash their strongest tactics. Ji Haijun countered Jiang Han’s advance and took the first point, leaving Jiang Han trailing 0:1.

• Jiang Han and Ji Haijun entered the final as the two unexpected contenders for the Eileen Cup championship.
• Jiang Han told Ji Haijun that her dream of winning foretold her victory, and the match began.
• Jiang Han sacrificed her vitality to summon the Star Cluster Cat Lamp while Ji Haijun sacrificed her eyes to summon the Grand Scholar Giant Cat Lamp.
• Ji Haijun used the Noble Cat’s Six Arts, but the Star Cluster Cat Lamp endured the attack and Jiang Han sent her forward.
• Ji Haijun blocked the Star Cluster Cat Lamp with a rain curtain and struck her with lightning, putting Jiang Han behind 0:1.

Jiang Han changed tactics in the Eileen Cup final against Ji Haijun, winning the second round with a decisive burst before losing the third to Ji Haijun’s four-giant-cat lineup. Ji Haijun led 2:1 as both finalists continued fighting without holding back.

• Jiang Han abandoned the Star Cluster Cat Lamp strategy and pressured Ji Haijun, then used Evil-Warding Slash and Cat Lamp Edict Spell: Panic to defeat a Grand Scholar Giant Cat Lamp and claim the second round, tying the score at 1:1.
• Jiang Han pressed forward again in the third round, but Ji Haijun countered with Forcefield Wall and summoned giant cats while protecting them from Jiang Han’s delayed curse.
• Jiang Han summoned her Star Cluster Cat Lamp and teleported in to attack, while Ji Haijun spent nearly 70% of her mana to push it back and protect her giant-cat lineup.
• Ji Haijun’s Grand Scholar and weather giant cats overwhelmed Jiang Han’s defenses, and the Star Cluster Cat Lamp fled, leaving Jiang Han outnumbered and beaten.
• Ji Haijun won the third round and took a 2:1 lead in the final.

Jiang Han adapted her tactics against Ji Haijun’s Grand Scholar Giant Cats, winning the fourth and sixth rounds but losing the fifth. The score reached 3:3, leaving the championship to be decided in the final round.

• Jiang Han used an Anywhere Door to get close to Ji Haijun, then leaped over her force-field wall and dragged her into a demiplane beneath Black Lake, where she killed her with a Catshark to tie the score at 2:2.
• Ji Haijun used Dimensional Anchor to disrupt Jiang Han in the fifth round, then silenced her spells and won, taking a 3:2 lead and reaching match point.
• Jiang Han changed to a weather-fog strategy in the sixth round and summoned the Saint-Venerating Giant Cat Lamp to strike her own back, forming wings of holy light.
• Jiang Han used Liszt's Rainstorm to defeat Ji Haijun and tie the score at 3:3, forcing the championship into a final round.

Jiang Han defeated Ji Haijun in the final and won the 1996–1997 New Year's Eve Eileen Cup. After celebrating and receiving the trophy, she declared that this unexpected championship would not be her last.

• Jiang Han entered the final exhausted but resolved to fight with everything she had.
• Jiang Han stopped Ji Haijun from teleporting, then traded her hand and her life for a fatal strike through Ji Haijun's spinal cord.
• Jiang Han collapsed after Ji Haijun died, and the arena announced her as the Eileen Cup champion.
• Jiang Han celebrated with Cat Dula and received the trophy on the awards platform.
• Jiang Han said she had given everything for her first championship and would not let it be her last.