Chapter Summaries

Qin Yao mastered the Upper Profound Rank Falling Sunset Sword Art in Martial Arts Arena No. 11 while Qi Huansu secretly watched. When he sensed her, he fled using Mountain-Crossing Flowing Clouds, leaving her unable to identify or catch him.

• Qi Huansu entered Martial Arts Arena No. 11 and watched a masked-by-darkness figure practice swordsmanship.
• Qi Huansu recognized Qin Yao's technique as the Falling Sunset Sword Art and saw him master it.
• Qin Yao received a system notification recording the Falling Sunset Sword Art at Beginner Realm, then sensed Qi Huansu hiding nearby.
• Qin Yao fled toward the eastern wall using Mountain-Crossing Flowing Clouds, stunning Qi Huansu by revealing he knew the Upper Profound Rank movement technique too.
• Qi Huansu chased Qin Yao over the wall but lost him in the alleys and wondered why he had run.

After mastering nine Upper Profound Rank arts overnight, Qin Yao recovered with a long sleep and returned to the Library Tower to study more. Book-sunning day forced him out before he could continue, and he learned he would have to wait until after his literary duel with Qin Yuwei to return.

• Qin Yao used his perfected Stealth skill to return to his dormitory, washed away the impurities from his cultivation, and slept after mastering nine Upper Profound Rank arts.
• Qin Yao woke near the end of the Snake hour, recovered from his exhaustion, and ate eight hundred taels' worth of mystical food.
• Qin Yao returned to the Library Tower and memorized the Upper Profound Rank Torrential Rain Pear Blossom Needles art.
• The top-floor instructor ordered Qin Yao and the other students out for the academy's monthly book-sunning day.
• Qin Yao remembered that his literary duel with Qin Yuwei was the next day and marveled at the Library Tower's unfolding mechanisms as he left.

Qin Yao left the Library Tower after considering the academy’s guarded Profound Rank arts and went to Chen Ironworks to buy premium iron for a weapon suited to Torrential Rain Pear Blossom Needles. The shopkeeper agreed to let him use the forge after Qin Yao said he would finish in four to six hours.

• Qin Yao watched the deans and instructors guard the Library Tower’s books, then left with a clear conscience about mastering ten Upper Profound Rank arts and martial techniques.
• Qin Yao went to Chen Ironworks and rejected the shopkeeper’s ordinary refined iron as insufficiently good.
• Qin Yao paid nine thousand taels for three pounds of High-Density Quenched Iron Essence.
• Qin Yao asked to borrow the forge so he could make a weapon for Torrential Rain Pear Blossom Needles, and the shopkeeper agreed after hearing the work would take four to six hours.

Qin Yao forged a hidden weapon case and eighteen hundred hair-fine needles, then tested the Torrential Rain Pear Blossom Needles technique by shattering ironwood stakes. The system recorded the technique and unlocked the Trade In the Old for the New function after triggering a hidden achievement.

• Qin Yao carved a nanmu brush holder and forged iron into eighteen hundred soft needles.
• The Chen Family shopkeeper praised Qin Yao's forging skill and warned his apprentices not to spy on him.
• Qin Yao inserted the needles into the brush holder and tested them, shattering the ironwood stakes with a volley.
• The system recorded Torrential Rain Pear Blossom Needles as a Mystic Rank, High Grade technique at Beginner Realm.
• The system triggered the Draw Upon Many Strengths, Comprehend by Analogy achievement and unlocked the Trade In the Old for the New function.

Qin Yao discovered that the Trade-In achievement could transfer skill proficiency, but decided to hide his rapid cultivation gains until after his literary duel with Qin Yuwei. After dining with Qin Dashan and Qin Lan, he faced urgent knocking at their inn-room door.

• Qin Yao realized that nine mastered skills matched nine Upper Profound Rank techniques and discovered that Trade-In could transfer proficiency between skills of the same category.
• Qin Yao saw that trading in his Perfection Realm Cloud-Soaring Spear Art would grant 10,000 proficiency to Startled Phoenix Nine Transformations Spear, but chose not to use it before the literary duel.
• Qin Yao returned to the inn, reunited with Qin Dashan and Qin Lan, and told them he expected to break through to Mystic Gathering Realm soon.
• Qin Yao shared a meal with his family and assured Qin Dashan and Qin Lan that he was confident about the next day's literary duel.
• Someone urgently knocked on the door and demanded that Qin Yao's relatives open it.

Chu Siyou tried to take Qin Yao’s grandfather and sister to the Fourth Prince’s residence, but Qin Yao used Imperial Capital Academy’s rules and public attention to stop him. Qin Yao planned to bring them to the literary duel the next day, which he needed to win to clear his injustice.

• Chu Siyou arrived with four armed men and claimed the Fourth Prince wanted Qin Yao’s grandfather and sister brought to his residence for etiquette lessons before the duel.
• Qin Yao realized the invitation was an attempt to seize control of his relatives, but avoided a direct confrontation because of the Fourth Prince’s influence.
• Qin Yao invoked Imperial Capital Academy’s rules and said he had to report the matter to Teacher Qi and the headmaster before his relatives could leave.
• Qin Yao loudly drew the inn’s guests’ attention to the Fourth Prince’s attempt to take his relatives, prompting Chu Siyou to leave without them.
• Qin Yao reassured Qin Lan that she and their grandfather would attend the duel with him, and vowed to win and clear his injustice.

At the Fourth Prince’s residence, Chu Siyou reported that he had failed to seize Qin Yao’s grandfather and younger sister, while Yan Yangyi prepared Qin Yuwei to defeat Qin Yao in the next day’s literary contest. The chapter ended with Chu Siyou confirming that Yan Yangyi’s plans for tomorrow were arranged and being dismissed.

• Chu Siyou returned and told Yan Yangyi that Qin Yao had stopped him from taking his grandfather and younger sister by citing academy rules and threatening to raise an alarm.
• Yan Yangyi ordered Chu Siyou to accept a punishment for his failure, then warned him not to ruin another plan.
• Qin Yuwei reassured Yan Yangyi that Qin Yao’s relatives would suffer once he was convicted of deceiving the sovereign.
• Yan Yangyi tested Qin Yuwei’s memorization and told her to reproduce his essays in the next day’s literary contest.
• Yan Yangyi asked whether everything for tomorrow had been arranged, and Chu Siyou confirmed it before leaving.

Qin Yao brought Qin Dashan and Qin Lan to Imperial Capital Academy so he would not leave them vulnerable while he faced Qin Yuwei in a literary duel before the emperor. With Qi Huansu’s help, they entered the academy and joined the gathering, where a chilling gaze fixed on them.

• Qin Yao woke Qin Dashan and Qin Lan and took them from the inn, unwilling to leave them exposed to the Fourth Prince’s men.
• Guards at Imperial Capital Academy blocked Qin Dashan and Qin Lan from entering without identity badges.
• Qi Huansu found Qin Yao and urged him to hurry to the palace for his literary duel with Qin Yuwei.
• Qin Yao asked Qi Huansu to bring his family along, and she signed a guarantee after making them promise to stay by her side and behave.
• Qin Yao, Qin Dashan, and Qin Lan crossed the academy and reached a crowded square, where they felt a cold gaze watching them.

Qin Yao joined Imperial Capital Academy’s procession to the palace for his literary duel with Qin Yuwei, who threatened him while they waited for the Fourth Prince and Eunuch Nur. The chapter ended as the procession reached the imperial palace’s Flame Heaven Gate.

• Qin Yao noticed Qin Yuwei watching his family with hostility and joined her on the platform while Qin Dashan and Qin Lan stayed with Qi Huansu.
• Qin Yuwei mocked Qin Yao and threatened that the literary duel would cost him his head, but he insulted her in return.
• The Fourth Prince Yan Yangyi arrived and asked Eunuch Nur to announce the arrangements for entering the palace.
• Eunuch Nur delivered the Emperor’s decree permitting Imperial Capital Academy’s teachers and students to enter the palace without the usual formalities.
• Yan Yangyi led the academy’s procession through the streets, where onlookers discussed Qin Yao and Qin Yuwei’s literary duel.
• The procession reached the imperial palace gates, where the plaque above the entrance read Flame Heaven Gate.

Qin Yao entered Flame Heaven Hall to plead his grievance before Yan Qinyu, sovereign of the Great Yan Kingdom. Yan Qinyu granted him a chance to prove his innocence, leaving the outcome dependent on Qin Yao’s performance.

• Eunuch Nur led the procession through Flame Heaven Gate and across the palace grounds to Flame Heaven Hall.
• Eunuch Nur allowed Qin Yao, Qin Yuwei, Yan Yangyi, Huo Enting, the two deans, and the four head instructors to enter the hall while the others waited outside.
• Qin Yuwei knelt before Yan Qinyu and announced her name, while Qin Yao remained standing.
• Yan Qinyu recognized Qin Yao as this year’s Foreign Repelling Spearhead and said the title entitled him to show respect without kneeling at his first royal audience.
• Yan Qinyu said he had granted Qin Yao a chance to plead his grievance and prove his innocence, and left the result to Qin Yao’s performance.

Qin Yao and Qin Yuwei faced off in a literary contest before the Great Yan King, drawing a spring-poetry question about the Three-Bend Huaiyang River. Qin Yuwei drew first and believed victory was assured, while Qin Yao recognized the scene from a poem he knew and calmly prepared to compete.

• Yan Qinyu ordered the literary contest to begin after Eunuch Nur confirmed the officials and Imperial Capital Academy students had gathered.
• The Minister of Rites revealed the question: write a five-character regulated verse of six rhymes and twelve lines about spring at the Three-Bend Huaiyang River.
• Qin Yuwei realized the question matched a poem she had memorized and hid her excitement as she prepared to write.
• Qin Yao recalled descriptions of the river from books and recognized that its scenery matched a poem he had memorized in his previous life.
• Qin Yuwei drew the first turn and smugly displayed her slip, while Qin Yao drew second and remained calm.
• Yan Qinyu signaled for the contest to begin.

Qin Yuwei presented a polished poem before the court, and the officials praised its technique before one challenged its lines about aging. When he learned she was only sixteen, Qin Yuwei’s composure faltered as the poem’s flaw was exposed.

• Qin Yuwei wrote and recited her poem while the Fourth Prince watched with growing confidence.
• Several civil officials and a military general praised the poem’s imagery, structure, and stirring conclusion.
• An elderly civil official questioned the poem’s references to frosted temples and advancing years.
• Qin Yuwei admitted she had just turned sixteen, and the official pointed out that the lines did not fit her age.
• Qin Yuwei’s smile froze as she realized the flaw had been exposed.

Qin Yuwei’s poem impressed many at Imperial Capital Academy, but its mature voice raised suspicions that she had not written it herself. Yan Qinyu then called on Qin Yao to present his poem, leaving the literary duel’s outcome undecided.

• An old civil official questioned how Qin Yuwei could write about frost on her temples and unspent ambitions at her age, and she claimed her tutors had shaped her style.
• Yan Qinyu ordered Eunuch Nur to display Qin Yuwei’s poem for the teachers and students of Imperial Capital Academy to judge.
• The crowd praised Qin Yuwei’s poem, while some students questioned whether its voice fit a seventeen-year-old and suspected it had been plagiarized.
• Qi Huansu recalled Qin Yao’s claim that Qin Yuwei had stolen his work, while Murong Qingquan judged the poem exceptional and Liu Qingqing worried Qin Yao might lose.
• Yan Qinyu turned to Qin Yao and called on him to present his poem.

Qin Yao wrote a poem about the Three-Bend Huaiyang River that the officials judged superior to Qin Yuwei’s, especially for its confident final couplet. Qin Yuwei was left shaken, while Fourth Prince Yan Yangyi’s smile stiffened with anger.

• Qin Yao waited until he had formed a clear image of the Huaiyang River before writing his poem swiftly on the silk.
• The Minister of Rites read Qin Yao’s poem aloud, including its final line about spring winds filling the city despite the coming twilight.
• The officials praised Qin Yao’s imagery and argued that his poem surpassed Qin Yuwei’s in spirit and vision.
• Qin Yuwei trembled in disbelief as the officials favored Qin Yao, and Yan Yangyi’s smile stiffened as fury rose in him.

Yan Qinyu praised Qin Yao’s poem, and the crowd outside Imperial Capital Academy overwhelmingly declared him the likely winner of the literary contest. As Yan Yangyi argued that victory was still premature, the contest’s verdict remained in Yan Qinyu’s hands.

• Yan Qinyu praised Qin Yao’s poem and ordered it displayed outside for the teachers and students to read.
• The crowd acclaimed Qin Yao’s poem, and Murong Qingquan declared that her father could not match its spirit and that Qin Yao was certain to win.
• Qi Huansu recalled Qin Yao’s wish to clear his family’s name, while Qin Lan and Qin Dashan reacted with pride and hope.
• Qin Yuwei despaired, and Yan Yangyi privately resolved that Qin Yao’s talent would not save him.
• Yan Qinyu asked Yan Yangyi to give his opinion of Qin Yao’s poem, and Yan Yangyi said it was extraordinary but that declaring Qin Yao the victor was premature.

After Yan Yangyi argued that Qin Yao’s first poem had only narrowly beaten Qin Yuwei’s, Qin Yao agreed to compete again and wrote a poem that stunned the hall. The old civil official declared the new poem far superior, leaving Qin Yao’s victory beyond dispute.

• Yan Yangyi argued that Qin Yao’s first poem and Qin Yuwei’s were evenly matched and that Qin Yao had won through clever means.
• Yan Qinyu asked Qin Yao to respond, and Qin Yao agreed with Yan Yangyi before proposing another poetry contest.
• Qin Yao composed a second poem on the spot while the officials doubted that he could surpass his earlier work.
• The old civil official praised Qin Yao’s new poem as a masterwork that expressed his ambition to serve the country.
• Qin Yao recalled that Li Cheng had won top scholar with the same poem in his previous life.

Qin Yao’s poems won overwhelming praise, and Qin Yuwei admitted defeat before Yan Qinyu could declare the contest’s result. A Ministry of Rites official then confessed that he had been coerced into leaking the contest questions, abruptly casting suspicion over the victory.

• Qin Yuwei realized she could not match Qin Yao’s second poem, while Yan Yangyi silently signaled a middle-aged official at the end of the civil officials’ ranks.
• Yan Qinyu ordered Eunuch Nur to display Qin Yao’s poem, and officials and spectators praised it as even stronger than his first.
• Liu Qingqing, Murong Qingquan, Qi Huansu, Qin Lan, and Qin Dashan celebrated Qin Yao’s work as the crowd declared him certain to win.
• Yan Qinyu asked Qin Yuwei to judge the poems, and she admitted defeat before he praised Qin Yao’s two poems.
• Zhao Bingwen, a supervising official in the Ministry of Rites Examination Office, interrupted Yan Qinyu and confessed that he had been coerced into leaking the literary contest questions.

At the literary contest, Zhao Bingwen accused Qin Yao of threatening him into leaking the exam questions, then killed himself with a hidden poison pill. Qin Yao concluded that Fourth Prince Yan Yangyi had arranged the accusation and suicide to frame him.

• Zhao Bingwen claimed Qin Yao had threatened his family and forced him to reveal the Ministry of Rites' exam questions.
• Qin Yuwei realized Zhao Bingwen had accused Qin Yao rather than her, while Yan Yangyi secretly felt reassured.
• Zhao Bingwen bit down on a hidden poison pill and died in the great hall before the ruler could question him further.
• The chief eunuch confirmed Zhao Bingwen had taken poison, and the officials suspected Qin Yao was responsible.
• Qin Yao reasoned that Qin Yuwei lacked the power to arrange the scheme and identified Yan Yangyi as the likely mastermind.

After Zhao Bingwen killed himself while accusing Qin Yao of coercing him to leak examination questions, Qin Yao denied knowing him and faced a divided court. Yan Qinyu asked Yan Yangyi how the case should be handled, leaving the Fourth Prince poised to answer.

• Qin Yao recognized Yan Yangyi's hidden satisfaction but held back from accusing him without proof.
• Yan Qinyu questioned Qin Yao, who denied knowing Zhao Bingwen or coercing him to leak the examination questions.
• The Minister of Rites called for Qin Yao to be detained, while Ke Leiyong argued that Zhao's accusation alone was insufficient.
• Ke Leiyong and Jin Mengyuan argued over whether Zhao Bingwen had been driven to suicide or had framed Qin Yao.
• Yan Qinyu asked Yan Yangyi how to handle the case, and the Fourth Prince prepared to respond.

Qin Yao challenged the accusation against him by exposing inconsistencies in Zhao Bingwen’s suicide and redirecting suspicion toward Qin Yuwei and the Fourth Prince. As the ruler ordered both Qin Yao and Qin Yuwei detained, Qin Yao announced that he could prove his innocence immediately.

• Yan Yangyi proposed placing Qin Yao under house arrest while the accusation was investigated, rather than sending him to prison.
• Qin Yao questioned why Zhao Bingwen had waited until the literary duel was nearly lost to kill himself, and argued that Qin Yuwei had had time to arrange the plot.
• Qin Yuwei denied knowing Zhao Bingwen and pleaded her innocence, while her glance toward the Fourth Prince aroused suspicion.
• The ruler ordered Qin Yao and Qin Yuwei detained until the truth was uncovered, and Qin Yao stepped forward to offer an instant way to prove his innocence.