Chapter Summaries

William visited Todo Style's headquarters to study its swordsmanship as part of Fan Xinglu's plan to help him learn Life Pulse Flow and improve his Grappling Art. Meanwhile, Fan Xinglu traveled by plane with Zhao Hufeng, and William was granted an audience with Todo Style's strongest swordsman.

• Fan Xinglu told William he could not be taught Life Pulse Flow directly, but she had devised a process for him to learn it while testing his skills against other schools.
• William arrived at Todo Style's headquarters in Sendai to study its swordsmanship.
• Fan Xinglu told Zhao Hufeng that she would have to make an effort again so she could enjoy the thrill of battle.
• William asked to see the swordsmanship of Todo Style's strongest swordsman, and a white-haired old woman received him.

William visited the Todo Style dojo to challenge its head family, but Yoshino Wagatsuma explained that arrangements had been made for his visit. The dojo's heir, Toudou Kirin, was away at school, so William could not begin his challenge yet.

• Yoshino Wagatsuma told William that a local official had contacted the dojo the previous night about his visit.
• William realized Fan Xinglu had arranged the meeting and was building up favors he would owe her.
• William explained that he was challenging dojos to improve his skills and asked to begin as soon as possible.
• Yoshino said the Todo Style heir, Toudou Kirin, was at school and could not spar with him immediately.
• Yoshino proudly told William that Kirin had mastered and unified all the Todo Style's combination techniques.

William stayed at the Todo Family’s main dojo after arranging to witness Toudou Kirin’s Folded Crane technique the next day. After dinner and late-night training, he visited the dojo’s natural hot spring.

• Yoshino Wagatsuma agreed to let William see Toudou Kirin’s technique the next day and invited him to stay at the dojo.
• A maid led William to the longhouses reserved for senior Todo Style disciples and gave him her phone number.
• William joined Yoshino Wagatsuma and the dojo’s students for dinner at the main table.
• Around eleven at night, William went to the public bath Yoshino Wagatsuma had recommended.
• William cleared the steam with Star Power, washed quickly, and reached the open-air hot spring.

After training in the Toudou family residence’s outdoor hot spring, William accidentally encountered a girl in the women’s bath and fled in embarrassment. He planned to avoid her the next morning and leave after his private match against Toudou Kirin.

• William soaked and trained in the outdoor hot spring, then decided he would ask Fan Xinglu about building an outdoor bath at his own place.
• As William left the bath, he saw a silver-haired girl and realized he had entered the women’s bathing area by mistake.
• William apologized and used his strength and acceleration magic to rush past the startled girl.
• Back in his room, William worried about whether the girl had seen his face and resolved to skip breakfast and leave after his match against Toudou Kirin.

William prepared for his duel at the Wagatsuma family dojo, where he encountered a silver-haired girl whose appearance filled him with foreboding. The chapter left him facing Kirin as she was urged to raise her head.

• William studied the world on his smart terminal and declined breakfast while waiting for the duel.
• William transformed Orion's Arrow into a straight sword, though he still could not use the weapon-changing technique effectively in combat.
• A maid escorted William to the Wagatsuma family dojo, where Wagatsuma Yoshino waited with a woman and a silver-haired girl.
• Wagatsuma Yoshino told Kirin to lift her head, and Kirin trembled before answering, "Yes, great-aunt."

William met Toudou Kirin and her mother, Kotoha Toudou, at the dojo, where Kotoha discreetly covered up the awkwardness between him and Kirin. William and Kirin then prepared to face each other in a sword demonstration, and he noticed Kirin seemed more confident than before.

• Kirin blushed when she recognized William, and Yoshino Wagatsuma asked whether they knew each other.
• Kotoha Toudou told Yoshino that William had helped Kirin the previous day, sparing them from discussing their embarrassing encounter.
• William introduced himself to Kotoha and Kirin, and Yoshino began the dojo demonstration.
• Kirin drew the Todo Style's Senhagiri while William named his own sword Orion.
• William noticed that Kirin seemed less hesitant as they stood ready to face each other.

Kirin and William fought a sword duel, with William relying on his superior physical abilities to block and suppress her attacks. He warned her that she might lose unless she used Renkaku.

• Kirin declared that her path was her own swordsmanship and attacked William with Senhagiri.
• William blocked Kirin’s opening slash and follow-up thrust with Orion, and they praised each other’s skill.
• Kirin launched a Posa Slash and transformed it into Reverse Posa, but William countered and forced her low.
• William kept pressing Kirin and warned her to use Renkaku before she was pushed into a loss.

William observed Toudou Kirin's Todo Style and held off her Renkaku attacks, studying how she linked sword techniques together. As Kirin continued her forty-ninth-strike sequence, William focused on its principles for his own weapon-switching skills.

• William used his violet gaze to perceive Toudou Kirin's Star Power pathways, and her trembling legs steadied as she resumed her attack.
• William parried Kirin's successive techniques without using Star Power, while Kotoha Toudou and Yoshino Wagatsuma watched in astonishment.
• Yoshino realized William was holding back, and Kirin understood that he had the advantage but regretted being unable to show Todo Style at its best.
• Kirin flexibly linked Todo Style's Renkaku techniques while William studied their transitions and considered how they related to his Grappling Art.
• Kirin's thirtieth strike targeted William's neck.

Toudou Kirin exhausted herself demonstrating her Todo Style techniques against William, then lost their final exchange when he struck her sword aside. Afterward, William praised her swordsmanship and told her his skilled friend was not as good as Kirin at swordsmanship alone.

• Kirin continued demonstrating the Todo Style techniques while reinforcing her body with Star Power to keep up with William.
• William suggested one final strike, and Kirin agreed because she could no longer maintain Renkaku.
• Kirin attacked with Inazuma, but William blocked her strike with Orion and knocked Senhagiri from her hand.
• Yoshino Wagatsuma asked whether William's swordsmanship came from an ancient martial arts school, and he explained that he had combined it with a friend's techniques.
• Kirin expressed a wish to meet William's friend, and William praised Kirin's swordsmanship while ruffling her hair.

William accepted Kotoha Toudou’s invitation to tea so he could learn Toudou Kirin’s age, and discovered that the twelve-year-old was still in elementary school. He was left astonished by her extraordinary swordsmanship talent.

• Kotoha Toudou invited William to have tea after teasing him about Kirin’s age.
• William went with Kotoha Toudou and Kirin to a traditional Japanese tearoom.
• Kotoha Toudou revealed that Kirin was twelve years old, and Kirin corrected William and asked him to call her Senior William.
• William realized that Kirin’s swordsmanship talent surpassed everyone he had ever encountered.

William visited Kirin and talked with her about challenging martial arts dojos and attending Asterisk. He invited her to cheer him on at the winter Festa, then surprised Kotoha Toudou and Yoshino Wagatsuma by revealing that he was an Asterisk student who had been skipping class.

• Kirin told William she wanted to challenge dojos like he did, but would have to attend Asterisk when she started junior high.
• William explained that Genestella often attended Asterisk and asked if Kirin wanted to compete in the Festas.
• Kirin admitted she wanted to win a Festa to make a wish, and William invited her to cheer him on that winter.
• Kotoha Toudou and Yoshino Wagatsuma were surprised to learn William studied at Asterisk and questioned his absence from class.
• William said he assumed there was no problem because Fan Xinglu had not told him otherwise.

William visited the Toudou family, comforted Kirin, and learned that her wish concerned her father. Yoshino Wagatsuma began explaining Kirin’s wish to him.

• William asked Kirin about her wish, and Yoshino Wagatsuma took Kotoha Toudou out of the room so Kirin and William could talk alone.
• Kirin admitted she was nervous and told William that her father used to pat her head; William comforted her by gently patting her head.
• Kirin accepted William’s invitation to participate in the Phoenix Festa.
• Yoshino Wagatsuma sent Kirin away and bowed to William before revealing that she wanted to discuss Kirin’s wish.
• William guessed that Kirin’s wish concerned her father, and Yoshino praised his perceptiveness.

Wagatsuma Yoshino explained that Kirin wanted to win the Festa to free her father, who had been imprisoned after killing an ordinary person while saving her. As Yoshino worried that another loss would break Kirin, William asked why the family wanted him to look after her, and Kotoha began asking Kirin about competing in the Festa.

• Wagatsuma Yoshino told William that Kirin wanted to win the Festa and save her imprisoned father.
• Wagatsuma Yoshino explained that Kirin blamed herself for freezing in fear when robbers attacked her and her father four years earlier.
• Wagatsuma Yoshino said Kirin had trained relentlessly to free her father and feared another Festa loss would devastate her.
• William asked why Kirin's family wanted him to look after her instead of bringing her to Asterisk themselves.
• Kotoha Toudou asked Kirin to sit with her and asked whether she had truly decided to compete in the Festa.

Kotoha Toudou encouraged Kirin to keep trying to save her father and asked how she felt about William. After teasing out Kirin’s flustered reaction, Kotoha said she would arrange for William to look after Kirin at Asterisk.

• Kirin insisted she would save her father, and Kotoha told her she supported her decision.
• Kotoha asked Kirin what she thought of William, and Kirin called him powerful and gentle while blushing.
• Kotoha asked how Kirin would feel about William looking after her at Asterisk, making Kirin leap away in embarrassment.
• Kirin protested that she could not burden William, and Kotoha said her aunt would handle the arrangements if Kirin did not object.

Kotoha Toudou persuaded Kirin to accept her plan to rely on William, while Wagatsuma Yoshino negotiated with William to take Kirin under his care and compete with her in the Gryps Festa. William agreed after Yoshino offered half the Toudou Family’s liquid assets and its complete collection of Todo Style sword forms.

• Kirin accepted Kotoha Toudou’s arrangement but told her mother she could manage on her own if William refused.
• Kotoha asked Kirin whether she had run into William in the bathroom the night before, making Kirin shriek in embarrassment.
• Wagatsuma Yoshino learned that William was connected to Ten Thousand Radiant Heavens and had been taken to Jielong as her new disciple.
• Yoshino explained that Kirin had little chance of winning the Phoenix Festa or Gryps Festa without help and asked William to compete with her in the Gryps Festa.
• William agreed after Yoshino offered half of the Toudou Family’s liquid assets and the complete collection of Todo Style sword forms.

Fan Xinglu asked her disciples whether they would enter the Phoenix Festa, but none volunteered. She then summoned an unexpected man to Huangchen Hall, where he revealed himself after briefly resisting her technique.

• Fan Xinglu asked Cecily Wang, Wu Xiaohui, and Zhao Hufeng to participate in the Phoenix Festa.
• Cecily declined, Wu Xiaohui said he would follow Fan Xinglu's orders, and Zhao Hufeng refused because he wanted more time to train.
• Fan Xinglu was disappointed that none of her disciples wanted to compete, and Wu Xiaohui nearly volunteered.
• Fan Xinglu used her Earth-Shrinking Technique to summon someone, but no one appeared at first.
• A golden-haired man emerged from distorted space and said he had resisted the technique because he knew Fan Xinglu was the only one using it.

William Spengler visited Fan Xinglu and revealed that his crescent moon mark caused an uncontrollable enchantment that made women lose themselves in admiration of him. Fan Xinglu arranged for him to stay at Jielong and join Zhao Hufeng’s year once he could control the effect.

• Fan Xinglu sensed William’s growing power and challenged him to spar, but he asked to rest before fighting her.
• William’s crescent moon mark faded as he released Star Power, and Cecily regained focus after Fan Xinglu placed a talisman on her.
• Fan Xinglu reassured Cecily that William’s face caused a mental enchantment, and William explained that it was a side effect of his training with the Moon Primordial Stone.
• Fan Xinglu gave William a room and asked Zhao Hufeng to look after him, explaining that William would join Jielong in Hufeng’s year.
• William introduced himself as William Spengler and said he had met Fan Xinglu a little over six months earlier.

William spoke privately with Fan Xinglu about his martial arts progress and the Phoenix Festa, which he had agreed to enter despite seeing little point in it. He asked her to arrange a temporary pass so he could enter and leave Jielong.

• William told Zhao Hufeng that he was about the same age as him, then Fan Xinglu dismissed Zhao Hufeng, Wu Xiaohui, and Cecily so she could speak with William alone.
• Fan Xinglu asked William about his progress with the martial arts plan she had given him, and he said she would see his results in a few days.
• William discussed the Lone Poison Witch’s Star Power with Fan Xinglu and noted that her young body limited her strength.
• William questioned the point of entering the Phoenix Festa, and Fan Xinglu said she wanted to participate because it was fun.
• William agreed to take part in the Phoenix Festa and asked Fan Xinglu for a temporary pass to enter and leave Jielong.

William told Fan Xinglu that Kirin, a young girl from the Todo Style main family, would attend Jielong and asked her to assess the girl’s potential. Fan Xinglu sent William to a room she had designed for him, and he called her to ask about its unusual transparent ceiling.

• William said Kirin would come to the Phoenix Festa with her mother and attend Jielong after he had recommended the academy.
• Fan Xinglu agreed to meet Kirin and consider her potential, then transported William to his room using the Earth-Shrinking Technique.
• William admired Fan Xinglu’s technique and reflected that he had made little progress learning it despite six months of study.
• William explored the room and appreciated its bedroom and transparent ceiling, then called Fan Xinglu to ask about the room she had designed for him.

After regaining control of his powers, William decided to test them on Cecily and invited her over under the pretense of apologizing and sharing lunch. He greeted Zhao Hufeng at the door and spotted Cecily hiding behind him, eyes shut and gripping his clothes.

• Fan Xinglu told William to cultivate in his new room until he could control his power, then challenged him to a proper fight afterward.
• William cultivated through the night and regained control of his abilities by morning.
• William called Zhao Hufeng and claimed he wanted to apologize to Cecily, though he intended to use her as a test subject.
• William invited Zhao Hufeng to lunch and prepared a meal while waiting for him to bring Cecily.
• Zhao Hufeng arrived with Cecily hiding behind him, her eyes tightly shut and her hands clutching his clothes.