Chapter Summaries

At Ten Thousand Schools Plaza, Fourth Prince Yan Yangyi and academy leaders gathered to commend Qin Yao for his military service. Yan Yangyi named Qin Yao as the honoree, while Qin Yuwei watched him with scorn and continued to hope for the prince’s favor.

• Qin Yuwei admired Yan Yangyi but recalled his cold response to her, then privately resolved to prove her worth to him.
• Qin Yuwei mocked Qin Yao in her thoughts, but Qin Yao met her gaze and returned a cold smile.
• Yan Yangyi concealed his resentment toward Qin Yao and publicly praised him as the Foreign Repelling Spearhead.
• Huo Enting briefly explained the ceremony’s purpose and invited Yan Yangyi to speak.
• Yan Yangyi announced that the royal family was commending Qin Yao for fighting his way out of the Foreign Repelling Camp in Nine Suns Commandery.

Yan Yangyi and Ke Leiyong publicly verified Qin Yao’s battlefield record and awarded him ten thousand taels of gold and a two-courtyard residence in the inner city. Qin Yuwei seethed at his rewards but resolved to gain far greater wealth by staying beside His Highness.

• Yan Yangyi asked Qin Yao to stand and praised his nearly eighteen thousand points of military merit and his role in defending Great Yan’s northern border.
• Ke Leiyong displayed wolf-fang pendants and read the merit ledger documenting Qin Yao’s battles, kills, and rescues.
• The students reacted with astonishment and admiration as they heard details of Qin Yao’s battlefield achievements.
• Yan Yangyi awarded Qin Yao ten thousand taels of gold and a two-courtyard residence in the inner city.
• Qin Yuwei resented Qin Yao’s rewards and told herself she would obtain far more by remaining beside His Highness.

At the Imperial Capital Academy ceremony, Qin Yao ignored the Fourth Prince Yan Yangyi’s warning and publicly brought charges against several people from Red River County, including Qin Yuwei. The chapter ended with Qin Yuwei trembling in fury as Yan Yangyi’s smile stiffened.

• Yan Yangyi announced a reward of ten thousand taels of gold and a two-courtyard residence for Qin Yao, who thanked the royal family.
• Huo Enting offered Qin Yao help with any difficulties, and Qin Yao accepted the invitation to raise a long-standing grievance.
• Yan Yangyi urged Qin Yao to explain, while Qin Yao decided not to reveal Chu Siyou’s threat and instead target Qin Yuwei.
• Qin Yao publicly accused Zhao Muzhi, Fang Wenli, Qin Yongnian, and Qin Yuwei, shocking the academy audience.
• Qin Yuwei turned livid and trembled, while Yan Yangyi’s smile stiffened at Qin Yao’s public accusations.

Qin Yao accused Qin Yuwei and Red River County officials of stealing his examination honors and framing him, then swore a blood oath before Imperial Capital Academy. Qin Yuwei denied the charges but refused to swear an oath herself, leaving the crowd increasingly suspicious of her.

• Qin Yao told Huo Enting that Qin Yuwei, the former county magistrate, and the former chief examiner had altered his examination paper, stolen his Provincial Laureate position, and framed him as a cheater.
• The crowd reacted with shock, while Qin Yuwei panicked and noticed the Fourth Prince looking at her with icy disapproval.
• Qin Yuwei rose and accused Qin Yao of slander, claiming he was jealous and seeking revenge, and the Fourth Prince's gaze softened toward her.
• Huo Enting asked whether Qin Yao had evidence, and Qin Yao swore a blood oath that his accusations were true.
• When students challenged Qin Yuwei to swear a similar oath, she refused and insisted she disdained to follow Qin Yao's example.

Qin Yao challenged Qin Yuwei to a public poetry and prose contest to prove he had won Red River County’s Literary Examination Provincial Laureate title, after Yan Yangyi demanded evidence beyond blood oaths. Qin Yuwei accepted, confident her studies and the examiners’ subjective judgments would keep her from losing.

• Qin Yuwei denied Qin Yao’s accusations and claimed he was jealous, while Qin Yao pressed her to swear a blood oath.
• Yan Yangyi halted the confrontation and said blood oaths were insufficient, demanding direct evidence against Qin Yuwei and the county officials.
• Qin Yao proposed a publicly set and publicly held literary contest with Qin Yuwei to show that he had earned the Provincial Laureate title.
• Qin Yuwei accepted the challenge, relying on months of study and believing she could avoid defeat unless Qin Yao’s talent far surpassed hers.

Yan Yangyi backed Qin Yao’s public scholarly challenge, then raised the stakes by claiming he would take the case before the emperor and warning Qin Yao he could face a charge of deceiving the emperor if he lost. He hoped the threat would make Qin Yao withdraw, while secretly planning to use the time before any imperial examination to help Qin Yuwei; the crowd waited for Qin Yao’s answer.

• Headmaster Huo Enting agreed that Qin Yao’s proposal to compete in scholarship was fair, and Yan Yangyi publicly supported it.
• Yan Yangyi announced that he would report the matter to the emperor and give Qin Yao a chance to prove his innocence before the imperial court and academy.
• Yan Yangyi warned that Qin Yao could be charged with deceiving the emperor if he failed to defeat Qin Yuwei, alarming the crowd and encouraging her.
• Su Muzhi and Liu Qingqing urged Qin Yao not to risk his life, while Murong Qingquan told him to follow his heart.
• Yan Yangyi privately intended to pressure Qin Yao into dropping his accusation and use the delay before an imperial examination to help Qin Yuwei.
• The crowd fixed their attention on Qin Yao as he prepared to answer.

Qin Yao accepted Yan Yangyi’s proposal for a public literary contest against Qin Yuwei in three days, wagering his life to prove his innocence. Before the gathering dispersed, he forced Yan Yangyi to hand over the promised gold and residence deed, then left to focus on obtaining materials to repair his meridians.

• Qin Yao agreed to compete with Qin Yuwei before the imperial court and academy in three days, with the loser’s life left to fate.
• Yan Yangyi announced that he would report the contest to the emperor and arrange for it to take place three days later.
• Qin Yao publicly demanded the ten thousand taels of gold and residence deed Yan Yangyi had promised, and Yan Yangyi handed them over.
• Headmaster Huo Enting dismissed the gathering, and the officials and academy leaders left without offering Qin Yao support.
• Qin Yao departed to pursue the materials needed to turn his false meridians into true ones as the crowd debated the upcoming contest.

Qin Yao accepted the Fourth Prince's challenge to face Qin Yuwei in a literary contest three days later, while Yan Yangyi planned to rig the examination. Qin Yao went to the Alchemy Pavilion to find materials for cleansing his body, only to learn that none of the eight materials on his list seemed to exist.

• Liu Qingqing, Murong Qingquan, Su Muzhi, and Lu Ciwu worried about Qin Yao's upcoming contest and the possibility of interference.
• Qin Yuwei denied Qin Yao's accusations to Zhang Xiaoqi, who said she believed her and urged her to win the contest.
• Yan Yangyi plotted to obtain the examination questions in advance and have Qin Yuwei memorize prepared literary works, then vowed to kill Qin Yao after three days.
• Qin Yao considered how to protect his grandfather and little sister, then went to the Alchemy Pavilion to search for eight precious medicinal materials.
• The middle-aged instructor told Qin Yao he had never heard of the listed materials and warned him not to make up names to mock an instructor.

Qin Yao abandoned his search for rare medicinal ingredients and went to the Imperial Capital Academy's Alchemy Pavilion to study alchemy. Huo Qiwang let him read unsupervised for three days while Qin Yao and Qin Yuwei's dispute remained unresolved, and Qin Yao rapidly devoured dozens of books using his Literacy skill.

• Qin Yao failed to find the ingredients he needed at the Alchemy Pavilion and decided to learn alchemy instead.
• Liu Qingqing and Murong Qingquan joined Qin Yao as Huo Qiwang led them into the Alchemy Pavilion.
• Huo Qiwang explained that he would keep his distance until Qin Yao's dispute with Qin Yuwei was settled, but allowed Qin Yao to study alone in his private room.
• Qin Yao used his consummate Literacy skill to memorize alchemy texts and medicinal guides at extraordinary speed.
• Alchemy Pavilion students gathered at the window, recognized Qin Yao, and questioned why he was reading so quickly.
• Liu Qingqing defended Qin Yao, noting that he had passed the Alchemy Pavilion selection and become an apprentice alchemist.

Qin Yao studied alchemy theory at the Alchemy Pavilion while senior apprentices mocked him, then learned that Liu Qingqing and Murong Qingquan trusted him and joined them for dinner. As the Fourth Prince ordered Qin Yao watched and prepared to influence the exam, Qin Yao had only three days before their confrontation.

• Senior alchemy apprentices mocked Qin Yao for passing the Pavilion's assessment and skimming through books, but he ignored them and continued studying.
• In class, Huo Qiwang taught the Eighteen Incompatibilities and Nineteen Aversions, while Yan Hechu recited the rules in hopes of impressing Liu Qingqing and Murong Qingquan.
• Qin Yao finished more than half the alchemy books, absorbed their theoretical knowledge, and decided to seek a chance to practice, though he believed no one at Imperial Capital Academy would help him.
• Liu Qingqing and Murong Qingquan told Qin Yao they believed his account of being wronged, and he treated them to dinner at the academy communal kitchen.
• Senior apprentices saw Qin Yao dining with Liu Qingqing and Murong Qingquan and grew jealous, while the Fourth Prince ordered his informant to monitor Qin Yao and reported that contact had been made with the Vice Minister of Rites about the exam questions.

After Qin Yao told Qin Dashan and Qin Lan about his public accusation of Qin Yuwei and the literary contest in three days, they backed his decision and agreed to stay at the inn for safety. The next morning, Qin Yao went to the Library Tower, hoping to find a path toward cultivation.

• At the academy kitchen, Murong Qingquan and Liu Qingqing encouraged Qin Yao about the literary contest, and he treated them to a meal.
• Qin Yao told Qin Dashan and Qin Lan about his reward, his blood oath against Qin Yuwei, and the contest, and Qin Dashan praised him for seeking public justice rather than private revenge.
• Qin Yao gave Qin Dashan the ten thousand taels of gold and the residence deed, then warned him and Qin Lan to remain at the inn in case Qin Yuwei or the Fourth Prince caused trouble.
• The next morning, Qin Yao decided to seek cultivation resources and headed to the Library Tower.

Qin Yao learned the Library Tower’s borrowing and reading fees from its guardian, Wang Chonghua, and decided to use his credits to study books inside rather than borrow them. After Wang Chonghua searched him, Qin Yao entered the Library Tower.

• Qin Yao met Wang Chonghua, the Library Tower’s guardian deacon, who recognized him as the student who had challenged the Fourth Prince.
• Wang Chonghua explained the fees for borrowing cultivation techniques and martial skills, including the high cost of upper profound-rank books and instructor guidance.
• Qin Yao decided that his Grind Emperor System made self-study more useful than paying for instructors, and asked about reading books inside the tower.
• Wang Chonghua told Qin Yao the hourly reading fees and required a 50-credit pre-deposit and a search for copying tools.
• Wang Chonghua searched Qin Yao, confirmed he carried nothing for copying, and let him enter the Library Tower.

Qin Yao explored the Library Tower and checked whether the Cloud-Soaring Spear Art he had learned matched the original manual. After confirming it did, he presented his credits to enter the fourth floor, where he said he would quickly head even higher.

• Qin Yao passed through the empty first and second floors, where instructors dismissed him as a freshman hoping to find a treasure.
• Outer academy students recognized Qin Yao on the third floor and kept their distance because they feared being implicated in his upcoming literary duel.
• Qin Yao rapidly read the Cloud-Soaring Spear Art and confirmed it matched the version he had completed through System Coupons.
• Qin Yao showed the fourth-floor instructors his identity plaque and prepaid academic credits, gaining permission to enter the profound-tier collection.
• Qin Yao told the instructors he would leave the fourth floor in less than an incense stick's time to head upstairs, and they sneered at his ambition.

Qin Yao visited the Library Tower’s fourth floor and headed for the top floor to borrow an Upper Profound Rank manual. He left the inner courtyard students who mocked him stunned after the instructors confirmed he had three hundred academic credits.

• Qin Yao noticed that Mountain-Shaking Five Yang Palm had been borrowed and was glad he had not spent System Coupons upgrading another technique into it.
• Zhao Heng mocked Qin Yao for visiting the Library Tower before his literary contest, and Qin Yao insulted him with a remark about salt in his crotch.
• Zhao Heng and his companions laughed at Qin Yao for trying to enter the top floor, claiming students needed two hundred academic credits to go upstairs.
• The instructors checked Qin Yao’s identity plaque and confirmed he had three hundred academic credits earned from five consecutive wins in the special admissions martial combat assessment.
• The instructors explained the top floor’s credit charges, and Qin Yao went upstairs while Zhao Heng and the others tried to dismiss his ability to learn an Upper Profound Rank manual without a tutor.

Qin Yao reached the Library Tower’s fifth floor and began reading Upper Profound Rank techniques, using his Perfection Realm Literacy skill to memorize them instead of borrowing them. He stayed past the free hundred breaths, accepting the academic-credit charge as he continued studying Scarlet Sun Palm.

• Qin Yao found the fifth floor’s Upper Profound Rank manuals and techniques locked beneath glazed covers and asked the sleeping duty instructor how to read them.
• The instructor explained that levers and buttons beneath the covers turned the pages, then gave Qin Yao a hundred breaths to choose a manual before charging five academic credits per hour.
• Qin Yao decided to read and memorize the manuals on the spot rather than pay the far higher cost of borrowing one.
• Qin Yao used the mechanisms to study Scarlet Sun Palm, relying on his Perfection Realm Literacy skill to understand and retain its text and diagrams.
• The instructor warned Qin Yao that the free time had ended and deducted five academic credits, while Qin Yao continued reading and the instructor privately dismissed him as an overconfident freshman.

Qin Yao spent the day rapidly reading Upper Profound Rank techniques on the Library Tower’s top floor, convinced he had mastered what he studied. As dusk fell, a new instructor took over and criticized Qin Yao for wasting his credits, unaware of his ability to absorb the books.

• Qin Yao finished reading Scarlet Sun Palm and silently declared it mastered.
• Qin Yao read Falling Sunset Sword Art, then argued with the middle-aged instructor about how much time had passed.
• Qin Yao continued through Mountain-Crossing Flowing Clouds and Whirlwind Thousand Shadows Kick before moving on to Army-Breaking Blade.
• Qin Yao studied Army-Breaking Blade and Startled Phoenix Nine Transformations Spear as the day passed from noon to dusk.
• The middle-aged instructor left at shift change, and the burly instructor with a scar criticized Qin Yao for spending his credits on a day of reading.

Qin Yao spent the day memorizing Upper Profound Rank cultivation arts and martial skills in the Library Tower while others assumed he was wasting time. Yan Yangyi learned of Qin Yao’s visit and remained confident he would win the literary contest, unaware of what Qin Yao had actually been studying.

• Huo Qiwang noticed Qin Yao was absent from the Alchemy Pavilion, and Yan Hechu and the other senior students mocked him for supposedly giving up.
• Qin Yao memorized the Ninefold Body Refinement Art and Shadow Jade-Shattering Finger on the Library Tower’s top floor, bringing his total to eight books.
• The instructor deducted thirty academic points from Qin Yao and teased him for not understanding the books, while Qin Yao pretended to be embarrassed.
• An informant reported to Yan Yangyi that Qin Yao had spent six hours in the Library Tower and likely visited its top floor to read cultivation arts and martial skills.
• Yan Yangyi laughed at Qin Yao’s preparations and boasted that leaked test questions and answers from his literary retainers would secure his victory in the contest.

Qin Yao used the Library Tower’s final minutes to memorize and understand its martial arts manuals, then sneaked into Martial Practice Arena Number Eleven to begin practicing. He registered Scarlet Sun Palm as a beginner-level skill and started practicing Whirlwind Thousand Shadows Kick.

• Qin Yao finished reading Hundred Poisons Averting Art, and the burly instructor warned him that the technique was of limited practical use.
• Qin Yao avoided returning to his dormitory or his family’s inn and went to the normally closed Martial Practice Arena Number Eleven.
• Qin Yao used his Perfection Realm Stealth skill to climb over the arena’s locked gate.
• Qin Yao practiced Scarlet Sun Palm until the system registered it at Beginner Realm, while deciding to conceal any breakthrough in his cultivation.
• Qin Yao began practicing Whirlwind Thousand Shadows Kick, and his increasingly rapid kicks stirred dust into a vortex.

Qin Yao cultivated several Upper Profound Rank arts and skills, enduring intense pain as he strengthened his body and mastered new techniques. After generating the Shadow Jade-Shattering Finger, he prepared to cultivate the Hundred Poisons Averting Art.

• Qin Yao mastered Mountain-Crossing Flowing Clouds at the Beginner Realm after adjusting his inner-force circulation and racing through the training ground.
• Qin Yao cultivated the first two folds of the Ninefold Body Refinement Art, enduring severe itching and pain as his skin and muscles grew stronger and expelled impurities.
• Qin Yao completed all nine folds of the Ninefold Body Refinement Art at the Beginner Realm, strengthening his body and replenishing his spent strength.
• Qin Yao mastered the Shadow Jade-Shattering Finger at the Beginner Realm and pierced the air, leaving a small dent in a wall.
• Qin Yao decided to cultivate the Hundred Poisons Averting Art next.

Qin Yao cultivated several Upper Profound Rank arts and martial skills through repeated practice, pushing his exhausted body to finish all nine before dawn. As he worked on the final sword art, a passing woman heard him training in the closed Training Ground Number Eleven.

• Qin Yao formed the Hundred Poisons Averting Art after circulating his inner force through his body thirty-six times.
• Qin Yao practiced the Army-Breaking Blade until he generated the art at Beginner Realm.
• Qin Yao repeated the Startled Phoenix Nine Transformations Spear fifty-eight times before generating it at Beginner Realm.
• Qin Yao, exhausted after cultivating eight arts, began practicing the Falling Sunset Sword Art.
• A woman passing the training ground heard the sounds of Qin Yao's practice and wondered who was inside.