Chapter Summaries

After the second examination, Headmaster Nico discovered that Ram’s extraordinary luck had helped him pass and that Jia Xiu had guided candidates through loopholes. Nico decided to revise the Phantom World before the next batch, while suspecting Jia Xiu was challenging Saint Delro Academy’s examinations.

• The team leader woke after fainting, and Headmaster Nico told him the two candidates had passed despite exploiting flaws in the Phantom World.
• Nico and the team leader questioned Ram, who said pursuers had accidentally run into things and that his rooftop jump had been unplanned.
• Nico tested Ram’s luck with dice and confirmed that Ram guessed the result correctly repeatedly, then declared that he had passed.
• Nico read Ram’s thoughts and learned that Jia Xiu had devised Ram’s commission strategy and was also connected to Mia.
• Nico concluded that Jia Xiu was using examination loopholes to challenge the academy and decided to patch the Phantom World before the next batch.

Jia Xiu entered the final exam batch and discovered the academy had revised Phantom World’s systems and rules. He used a loophole in the Caster Association’s regulations to register as the Lord of the Sun, then demanded a share of the Sun Temple Dungeon’s rewards.

• Jia Xiu dismissed the exam as easy and decided to study the revised Phantom World regulations after learning the rules had changed.
• Margaret watched Principal Nico Hohenheim and the exhausted question-setting team gather around Jia Xiu’s projection.
• Jia Xiu sold his academy coat, bought a mask, and registered as the Lord of the Sun at the Caster Association.
• Principal Nico realized the association’s regulations barred nations and organizations, but not individuals, from owning the sun.
• Jia Xiu went to the Adventurer Association and invoked the dungeon commission rules to demand five percent of the Sun Temple Dungeon’s rewards.

Jia Xiu exploited the examination’s rules by declaring himself the Sun Lord and taking a cut of other examinees’ earnings, provoking Headmaster Nico’s amusement and the examinees’ fury. When Ben confronted him, Jia Xiu began revealing an absurdly grand identity, leaving Margaret choking in disbelief.

• Margaret worried that Headmaster Nico would disqualify Jia Xiu, but Nico laughed at his scheme and ordered the graders to ignore the five-percent deduction while keeping the decision secret.
• Ben earned fifteen goblin ears and learned that the Sun Lord’s share had reduced his commission, forcing him to hunt more goblins to reach the passing line.
• Ben confronted Jia Xiu at the Adventurer Association, accused him of cheating, and challenged him to a duel.
• Jia Xiu warned Ben that the city guards would prevent him from fleeing, then began reciting an extravagant introduction to his identity.
• Margaret choked on her water when Jia Xiu announced the start of his name, Hannash.

Thomas learned that Jia Xiu had taken first place in the second examination and planned to make him a laughingstock in the final round. At Saint Delro Academy, the grouping golem failed to assign Mia, Ram, and Jia Xiu, so Headmaster Nico grouped them together and Gudrian volunteered to examine them.

• Thomas received Gudrian’s letter reporting that Ram had broken the speed record and Jia Xiu had achieved the highest overall score.
• Thomas resolved to write back and turn Jia Xiu into a joke during the final examination.
• The grouping golem failed while trying to assign Mia, Ram, and Jia Xiu to teams.
• Headmaster Nico ordered Mia, Ram, and Jia Xiu to be placed in one group and asked a mentor to take responsibility for their final examination.
• Gudrian volunteered to examine the trio.

Margaret tried to protect Jia Xiu from Gudrian’s harsh spell selection for the final examination, but Headmaster Nico urged her to trust him. Meanwhile, a newspaper report linked the baron’s son Hannas to the Larven examination and left the baron wondering who was targeting his family.

• Margaret learned that Jia Xiu, Mia, and Ram would face Gudrian, so she asked to see his spell list and give Jia Xiu more preparation time.
• Margaret found that Gudrian had chosen only powerful fourth-circle spells and suspected he was targeting Jia Xiu because Jia Xiu had outranked Thomas Reinhardt.
• Margaret warned Headmaster Nico that Gudrian might endanger Jia Xiu’s group, but Nico said Gudrian had broken no rules and told her to trust Jia Xiu.
• After Margaret left, Nico inspected his shattered divination crystal balls and reflected that Jia Xiu might be a variable in the future.
• At the lord’s manor in Creekwood Town, the baron read that candidates had complained about Hannas’s behavior during the Larven examination and was alarmed that his son had attracted attention.

Jia Xiu learned that Gudrian would be the mentor opposing his team in the final exam and began planning how to exploit Gudrian’s poor health. Margaret warned him about the danger, then discovered that Jia Xiu had inspired Ram and Mia’s schemes; the chapter ended with Jia Xiu asking Mia for disease-causing fungi over hotpot.

• Jia Xiu tested a copper pot over a modified Flame Arrow while preparing hotpot, and Margaret arrived disguised as an old granny to warn him that someone had set him up for the final exam.
• Margaret told Jia Xiu that Ram and Mia were his teammates, then realized that Jia Xiu had inspired their outrageous exam ideas and that she would have to worry about them too.
• Jia Xiu, Margaret, Ram, and Mia ate hotpot while Jia Xiu explained how Ram and Mia could contribute to his laboratory plans.
• Margaret explained that Gudrian was a skilled Arcane Archer with powerful spells, and advised the team to hide and disrupt his aim rather than fight him head-on.
• Jia Xiu asked Mia whether she knew fungi that could make Gudrian sick, prompting Ram to complain that they were discussing it during dinner.

Jia Xiu planned how to defeat Gudrian and discovered that Mia could observe and control microscopic organisms with her druid magic. After helping her identify bacteria, Jia Xiu set out to find a place where she could gather them for use against Gudrian.

• Jia Xiu assigned Ram to train with Bubu so he could fight Gudrian, while Mia described the poisons and poisonous mushrooms she knew how to make.
• Mia explained that her Microscopic Vision let her see spores individually and that she could quickly learn to control them.
• Jia Xiu realized Mia might be able to observe bacteria by combining Microscopic Vision with a magnifying lens.
• Jia Xiu shaped heated glass rods into tiny lenses, and Ram made a frame for testing them with a skin sample.
• Mia observed bacteria and said she could control them within five meters, so Jia Xiu headed out to find somewhere with many sick people.

Jia Xiu and Mia gathered infectious samples from Larven’s slums to prepare for Gudrian’s exam, while Ram and Bubu trained at Emilia’s estate and revealed the source of the samples. The chapter left Emilia wondering how Jia Xiu would handle the Reinhardt family’s targeting.

• Jia Xiu and Mia entered Larven’s largest slum and offered sick residents five Hel and a Basic Healing Spell in exchange for participating in an experiment.
• Mia collected samples from the patients, and Jia Xiu said he could modify the Activation Spell to make the bacteria cause illness within minutes.
• Jia Xiu and Mia agreed to adjust their plan depending on Gudrian’s behavior, with Jia Xiu threatening to increase the dosage if Gudrian acted badly.
• Ram and Bubu sparred in Emilia’s estate, and Ram said Jia Xiu was being targeted by the Reinhardt family.
• Ram told Emilia that Jia Xiu and Mia were extracting invisible substances from rotten wounds, pustules, and poop.

Jia Xiu and his teammates watched Thomas Reinhardt survive his examination round before preparing to face Gudrian. Gudrian tried to provoke them with insults in the Phantom World, and Jia Xiu and Mia began discussing how much of their prepared dose to use.

• Jia Xiu read a booklet that praised Thomas Reinhardt as the Kingdom's Blazing Flame Dragon while describing him only as a mysterious man who submitted his written test early.
• Jia Xiu's group watched Thomas Reinhardt remain standing until his examination ended, then left the crowd to prepare for their own turn.
• Gudrian reviewed detailed files on Jia Xiu's team and planned to provoke them before defeating them in the examination.
• Gudrian entered the Phantom World and insulted Jia Xiu, Ram, and Mia to try to make them lose control.
• Ram answered Gudrian's insult literally, and Mia asked Jia Xiu how much of their dose they should use.

Headmaster Nico watched Jia Xiu’s entrance examination, expecting Instructor Gudrian to suffer the defeat foretold by his prophecy. Jia Xiu blinded Gudrian with a modified Darkvision spell and then interrupted his explosive arrow by placing Mage Armor on Gudrian’s tongue.

• Headmaster Nico joined Margaret at the viewing window to watch Jia Xiu’s group face Gudrian.
• Jia Xiu cast a version of Darkvision that left Gudrian unable to see in normal light, and Gudrian’s Purification spell failed to remove it.
• Gudrian tried to use an explosive arrow against the charging Ram, while Jia Xiu began casting another spell.
• Jia Xiu attached Mage Armor to Gudrian’s tongue, preventing him from pronouncing the incantation and interrupting the arrow’s enchantment.

Jia Xiu and Ram overwhelmed Gudrian with unconventional spells and hammer attacks during the exam, leaving him blinded, unable to speak, and finally trapped in his own vomit. As Gudrian began to wonder where Mia had gone, he heard her cast a spell from nearby.

• Jia Xiu's Mage Armor bound Gudrian's tongue while Darkvision left him unable to see clearly, and the spectators laughed at his humiliating appearance.
• Ram charged Gudrian with his hammer, dodging his Confusion, Black Tentacles, and Feeblemind spells as Gudrian struggled to defend himself.
• Jia Xiu used Mage Armor to trap Gudrian's vomit around his head, and the spectators recoiled in disgust.
• Gudrian realized he had not seen or heard Mia during the exam, then heard her begin casting a spell less than five meters away.

Gudrian broke the examination rules to attack Jia Xiu’s group, but Mia’s bacteria triggered severe symptoms before he could strike. The chapter left Gudrian struggling to hold in his bowels as Jia Xiu threatened to cast Activation Spell on his large intestine.

• Gudrian regained consciousness after Bacteria Surround took effect, then mistook Jia Xiu’s Activation Spell for a humiliating challenge and decided to keep fighting.
• Jia Xiu, Mia, and Ram watched Gudrian recover, while Mia looked forward to studying his symptoms.
• Gudrian used the undeclared spell Dispel to remove Darkvision, prompting Margaret to demand that the test be stopped; Principal Nico let it continue because Jia Xiu’s group had already passed.
• Gudrian prepared to attack the Jia Xiu Squad with Tracking Enchantment, but the bacteria caused itching, blisters, throat and chest pain, coughing, and severe stomach cramps.
• Jia Xiu announced that he was about to cast Activation Spell on Gudrian’s large intestine as Gudrian struggled to hold in his bowels.

Jia Xiu used a combination of spells and Mia’s spores to make Gudrian lose control during the entrance exam, then ignited the gas he had trapped around him. Gudrian collapsed after the explosion, while Ram, Margaret, and a reporter reacted to the bizarre defeat.

• Jia Xiu’s Activation Spell intensified Gudrian’s need to relieve himself, and the commentator struggled to explain the strange magic to the spectators.
• Jia Xiu cast Ring Ascension, and Gudrian declared that he would endure no more humiliation and fight to the death.
• Gudrian relaxed and lost control, but Jia Xiu used Mage Armor to contain the gas around him.
• Jia Xiu explained that Mia’s spores and enhanced methanogens had produced methane, then dispelled Mage Armor and struck Gudrian with Flame Arrow.
• The methane ignited and engulfed Gudrian, who collapsed as Ram, Margaret, and a reporter reacted to the explosion.

After Jia Xiu defeated Gudrian in the Saint Dero entrance exam, news of the victory and Jia Xiu’s Mage Armor patents spread rapidly. Jia Xiu escaped the reporters and received a notification that his paper’s influence had increased.

• Thomas learned that Jia Xiu and his team had defeated Gudrian in eight minutes, and he struggled to accept the news.
• Juan went to the Caster Association to borrow Jia Xiu’s tongue-restraining Mage Armor patent, but found that copies were unavailable because so many people wanted it.
• Jia Xiu, Mia, and Ram fled the reporters who surrounded them after the exam.
• Jia Xiu received a notification that his paper’s influence had increased by five and gained fifty experience.

Jia Xiu worked on earning academy credits while Mia prepared their groundbreaking paper on microorganisms, but the Sect Master refused to count the research toward spellcraft influence. Jia Xiu vowed to test magic on bacteria and uncover the Sect Master’s identity, while a lonely phantom watched him from an ancient temple.

• Jia Xiu planned to earn practical credits quickly so he could devote more time to research.
• Mia completed the microorganism research paper, with Jia Xiu as co-first author and Ram as second author, and named the bacteria they had discovered.
• Jia Xiu asked the Sect Master to recognize the paper as spellcraft research, but the Sect Master refused and denied that citations would earn him influence experience.
• Jia Xiu vowed to test how the Activation Spell affected bacteria and challenged the Sect Master to reveal their identity.
• A phantom in an ancient temple watched Jia Xiu celebrate his guess about who the Sect Master was and smiled at him.

Margaret introduced Jia Xiu to the rivalry between Saint Delro and Vita Sage Academy, where he clashed with Vita mage Lambert. After learning the Grand Five-Academy Tournament awarded a replica Primordial Crystal, Jia Xiu decided to compete and defeat Lambert’s students; he would first need to earn credits and pass junior spellcaster certification.

• Margaret showed Jia Xiu Vita Sage Academy and warned him that its students were Saint Delro’s rivals.
• Lambert mocked Margaret and Jia Xiu, but Jia Xiu countered his insults before Lambert walked away.
• Margaret told Jia Xiu about the Grand Five-Academy Tournament and explained the properties of its Primordial Crystal prize.
• Jia Xiu decided to enter the tournament, defeat Lambert’s students, and win the championship after earning credits and passing certification.

Jia Xiu arrived at Saint Delro Academy with Margaret, saw the grand-mentor’s Mage Tower, and settled into the academy’s comfortable dorms before visiting Margaret’s lab. There, he learned about the Association’s New Era Spell Problems and recognized that his Fairy Rune Analysis quest could contribute to Margaret’s Magic Completeness Hypothesis, though Margaret admitted she was still researching other forms of magic.

• Jia Xiu and his group reached Saint Delro, where Margaret showed them the grand-mentor’s Mage Tower and explained that their lab occupied one room in a nearby building.
• Jia Xiu, Mia, and Ram dropped their luggage in their dorm, and Jia Xiu was surprised to find private rooms equipped with a free constant temperature array.
• Margaret took the group to the lab, where Jia Xiu saw the Association’s New Era Spell Problems displayed by an illusion spell.
• Margaret explained that she was researching the Magic Completeness Hypothesis, which proposed that the magic of different races belonged to one unified system.
• Jia Xiu connected his Fairy Rune Analysis quest to Margaret’s hypothesis, while Margaret nervously said she was studying Dragon Language Magic and Blood Clan Magic and suggested they meet the senior students.

Jia Xiu met Juan, a struggling upperclassman who hoped to benefit from his research, and asked how to earn credits quickly for the Grand Five-Academy Tournament. The chapter left Jia Xiu preparing to enter a dangerous Phantom World trial with Ram and Mia, while suspecting Juan’s work involved an unusual service industry.

• Juan ingratiated himself with Jia Xiu, gave him and his companions jeweled pocket watches, and explained the lab’s routines.
• Juan told Jia Xiu that a Phantom World trial could earn up to twenty credits, though it was dangerous and required signing a liability waiver.
• Jia Xiu recruited Ram and Mia for the trial and refused to join the Brotherhood because of its humiliating initiation rites.
• Juan warned that Brotherhood members might target outsiders during a trial, but Jia Xiu said he could handle them.
• Juan proposed using Mage Armor on a bumpy cylinder or a tongue for his service-industry work, prompting Jia Xiu to suspect the pocket watch came from a client.

Jia Xiu began his first day of classes at Saint Dero, then registered with Ram and Mia for the Phantom World trial. After learning that spells used on other participants counted as experimental data without liability, he eagerly eyed the Brotherhood groups joining the trial.

• Jia Xiu finished his two weeks of lab work, and Bubu began helping care for Margaret's Sub-Dragons as his squire and an outside-hire keeper.
• Jia Xiu attended his first Elemental Control Theory class and ignored Karlov's offer to join the Algma Brotherhood.
• Jia Xiu met Ram and Mia at the trial registration desk, where Ram had collected the forms and rules.
• Jia Xiu learned from a staff member that spells cast on other trial participants could be used as recognized research data without liability.
• Jia Xiu looked eagerly at the Brotherhood groups preparing to enter the Phantom World trial.

The Algma Brotherhood and other student groups prepared to play the Demonfolk in the trial Phantom World, while Jia Xiu chose to lead his team as the school's forces. He planned to attract the Demonfolk by posing as an especially promising evil recruit, leaving Ram to wonder whether Jia Xiu's team was more like the Demonfolk than the school's defenders.

• The Algma Brotherhood's president reviewed the Bjork Caster Academy uprising trial and heard Karlov argue that they should choose the Demonfolk side.
• The Tatu Brotherhood and Kappa Sorority also decided to play as Demonfolk and dismissed Jia Xiu as an inexperienced first-year.
• Jia Xiu told Ram and Mia that their team would choose the school's side to secure all available points by capturing Demonfolk for experiments.
• Jia Xiu planned to attract the Demonfolk factions by acting evil enough to gain the trust of their Archdevil superior.
• Ram listened to Jia Xiu deny that his research involved tormenting people and wondered whether their team was more like the Demonfolk.