Chapter Summaries

Xu Zhi suspected her Lamp circuit had developed a trace of independent thought, giving her hope that she might one day restore Moth’s circuit and regain two supernatural attributes. After discovering her healing and Cursed Speech had improved, she began walking again while students on the academy forum speculated about the mysterious transfer student who ranked first in three categories.

• Xu Zhi searched for information about circuits expressing emotions and found that supernatural attributes were not believed to have autonomy.
• Xu Zhi considered repairing Moth’s circuit by separating Lamp again and decided she needed more knowledge, possibly from Gods Heavy Industries.
• Xu Zhi noticed her self-healing had improved and Cursed Speech had risen by two levels, though her supernatural level had not changed.
• Xu Zhi tested her recovery by walking around the room and hoped to leave her wheelchair before the Lost Land selection.
• Students on the academy forum speculated about Xu Zhi’s background after she ranked first in three categories.

Xu Zhi spent a week catching up on her studies before returning to the Light Institute as a transfer student. Her first morning in the special admissions class drew curious attention, and she set firm boundaries with an overly familiar classmate.

• Xu Zhi studied foundational subjects at home and arranged a basic literacy course for Qi Yanxin.
• Xu Zhi visited the infirmary, reviewed the academy forum and inner campus rules, then rested before classes began.
• Xu Zhi entered the special admissions classroom, where her classmates and students from other years watched her arrive.
• A red-haired classmate sat beside Xu Zhi, asked her age, and reacted with surprise when Xu Zhi said she was eighteen, almost nineteen.
• Xu Zhi told the red-haired girl to lower her voice and stop sitting so close, leaving the girl intimidated.

Xu Zhi attended a Circuit Studies practical class that the teacher had moved forward to test the limits of her circuit talent. She immediately identified the functions of the first three projected circuits, while the other students struggled to study them.

• The red-haired girl backed away from Xu Zhi, then told her friend that Xu Zhi seemed hostile and might have the Blade attribute.
• The Circuit Studies teacher entered and introduced a practical class using circuits of increasing difficulty.
• The teacher explained that students had to identify each circuit's approximate type before attempting to crack it for reward credits.
• Xu Zhi recognized the projected circuits as cleaning, communication, and levitation as soon as she saw them.

Xu Zhi watched her classmates solve three simple circuits before quickly identifying and cracking the next, more difficult set herself. She asked the stunned teacher to move on to the next question, leaving the class in awe of her ability.

• A [Winter] student identified the first circuit as a cleansing-type circuit and earned ten credits for cracking it, while two [Opening] students solved the other simple circuits.
• The teacher announced that the next sets of circuits were worth thirty, fifty, and seventy credits per circuit, and Xu Zhi immediately stood up.
• Xu Zhi identified the projected circuits as water conversion, combustion, and crystallization circuits.
• After thinking for only a few seconds, Xu Zhi touched and shattered all three circuits in rapid succession.
• Xu Zhi calmly asked the stunned teacher to move on to the next question.

Xu Zhi stunned her classmates and teacher by solving increasingly difficult circuit problems with extraordinary speed. After she cleared the first three questions and two more in under half a minute, the teacher presented three final, graduation-exam-level challenges.

• Xu Zhi quickly solved the second circuit, leaving her classmates amazed and guessing how many more she could handle.
• Xu Zhi identified the third circuit’s functions as tracking, protection, and guidance, then shattered it before the teacher could finish warning her to take another look.
• Xu Zhi solved the remaining two questions in under half a minute and asked whether there were more.
• The teacher revealed three final questions intended to match graduation-exam difficulty, uncertain whether Xu Zhi could solve them.

Xu Zhi solved all three difficult supernatural circuits in class, stunning her classmates and impressing the teacher. News of her feat spread across the school forum, where upperclassmen began to see her as a potential competitor despite her Level 4 Comprehension.

• The teacher warned the class that the final three circuits were difficult and that students should stop if analyzing them made them dizzy.
• Xu Zhi identified the first complex circuit as an offensive corrosion circuit after several minutes of analysis.
• Xu Zhi solved all three circuits before class ended and reminded the teacher to award her credits.
• The teacher added Xu Zhi's contact information, and students flooded the school forum with reactions to her performance.
• The forum spread news that Xu Zhi had solved three graduation-exam-level circuit questions, prompting upperclassmen to worry she might take competition slots and credits.

After consuming her newly purchased cores, Xu Zhi reached Level Six, Comprehension, and considered preparing for the coming Mist Season. She went to afternoon classes, where classmates treated her with new enthusiasm and her potion teacher gave her a set of equipment.

• Xu Zhi exchanged all her credits for [Lamp] Attribute Cores and consumed them in her dormitory.
• The cores transformed her circuits, raised her to Level Six, Comprehension, and strengthened Cursed Speech; Little One also showed faint golden specks in his eyes.
• Xu Zhi sensed she could create a Spirit Vessel that would last around two hours, but decided to focus on constructing [Moth] circuits before the Mist Season.
• Xu Zhi headed to afternoon classes and noticed her classmates greeting her more warmly than before.
• The potion teacher gave Xu Zhi basic potion-making equipment, and Xu Zhi agreed to study the subject.

Xu Zhi attended potion-making class and learned that the Lost Land was the source of most extraordinary materials. She then joined mysticism class, where the teacher explained that the strong attracted others and influenced their paths of destiny.

• Xu Zhi easily memorized potion-making material while noticing that most extraordinary plants and creatures came from the Lost Land.
• The potion-making teacher gave Xu Zhi a set of equipment but did not test her or award her credits.
• Xu Zhi kept up a friendly act as classmates gathered around her on the way to mysticism class.
• Xu Zhi arrived at the open-air classroom and saw that classmates had gathered around her.
• The elderly mysticism teacher acknowledged Xu Zhi's influence over her classmates and taught that strong extraordinary individuals had brighter star fortune and broader destinies.

Xu Zhi attended Teacher Qin’s lesson on a star chart that foretold a hidden disaster, trying to connect it to recent events in the real world. Teacher Qin explained that the chart’s heavenly mist obscured the fate stars and indicated something secret that was about to happen or had already begun.

• Teacher Qin asked the class what they had concluded from the star chart, but the students offered only that it foretold a disaster that might already have begun.
• Xu Zhi studied the projected photograph and reasoned that it was probably recent, since she could find no disaster in the latest headlines.
• Xu Zhi recalled the Great Cataclysm, the Lost Land, and theories about the source of the world’s growing supernatural powers.
• Teacher Qin explained the chart’s possible meanings and said the mist concealing the fate stars was extremely rare and signaled a secret event.

Xu Zhi listened as an old man explained a recent star chart that concealed an unknown event and showed the ominous Kill Star, warning of calamity and a fiendish god’s descent. The teacher urged the students to train for a possible disaster, while Xu Zhi suspected the chart foretold the Federation’s destruction and [Cup]’s return.

• Xu Zhi reasoned that the star chart’s hidden fate must involve a powerful, unnatural force beyond the Archbishop’s reach.
• The old man explained that the Kill Star at the end of the chart signaled calamity and possibly a fiendish god’s descent.
• The old man revealed that a top-level Stargazer had seen the chart only days earlier, shocking the students.
• Xu Zhi connected the chart to the Federation’s destruction and [Cup], and assumed the Kill Star referred to [Cup]’s Archbishop.
• The old man calmed the students, said the Named Ones were investigating, and urged them to strengthen themselves for a possible disaster.

Xu Zhi learned that fate calculation used transcendent energy to gather information, and she found that studying increased the amount of [Lamp]-attribute energy she could draw. Meanwhile, a violent incident in Mijiang City spread alarming rumors across the cities.

• Teacher Qin explained that transcendents could use their sensitivity to fate and transcendent energy to calculate likely outcomes.
• Xu Zhi realized fate calculation worked like information gathering and decided to study harder after noticing her [Lamp]-attribute energy increase with her knowledge.
• The council confiscated the horizontal saber after [Gods Heavy Industries] finished testing it.
• A dozen feral-looking killers appeared during a festival livestream in Mijiang City, and the footage quickly spread before the stream was cut off.
• People across the cities speculated that the killers were linked to cults, Moth, Gods Heavy Industries, or Blade, while rumors claimed a major revelation was coming.

Xu Zhi suspected that the publicized appearance of [Cup] was part of a conspiracy and continued preparing for the upcoming Lost Land selection while caring for Little Aberration. When Meng Chuanling invited her to sneak off and earn credits, Xu Zhi sensed that her classmate had something unusual planned.

• Xu Zhi watched a news report about Fanatics appearing in Minjiang and suspected that someone, possibly Lotus City, had arranged the incident to expose [Cup].
• Xu Zhi reviewed her progress toward Level Seven Comprehension, noted that Cursed Speech had reached Level 20, and prepared for the Lost Land selection.
• Xu Zhi placed Little Aberration in a special flowerpot with extraordinary soil, hoping the seed would soon sprout after being fed her blood.
• Xu Zhi considered asking the principal for money to visit a doctor from Gods Heavy Industries and planned to earn credits for more [Moth] Attribute Cores.
• Meng Chuanling, with Tan Ning following behind, asked Xu Zhi to sneak away with them during the break and earn credits.

Xu Zhi learned that she could earn credits by fighting in arena battles, and Meng Chuanling proposed betting on Xu Zhi to defeat an upperclassman. Xu Zhi agreed in exchange for seventy percent of the winnings, and Meng Chuanling revealed that she and Red Hair had prepared six thousand credits to wager.

• Meng Chuanling explained that first-years rarely fought in arena battles, making their appearances tempting betting opportunities for upperclassmen and the bookmaker.
• Meng Chuanling asked Xu Zhi to challenge a second-year student, saying her Insight suggested Xu Zhi was stronger than ordinary upperclassmen.
• Xu Zhi agreed to fight but demanded seventy percent of Meng Chuanling and Red Hair's earnings because she had no credits to bet herself.
• Meng Chuanling accepted Xu Zhi's terms and said she and Red Hair would borrow more credits using their student IDs as collateral.
• Meng Chuanling told Xu Zhi that they had prepared six thousand credits for the wager.

Meng Chuanling explained the academy’s major competitions and convinced Xu Zhi to join her plan to earn credits by betting on a match during the off-season. Xu Zhi agreed to meet her at the dorm on Saturday, while considering whether the arena might also help her find rivals for the Lost Land slots.

• Meng Chuanling told Xu Zhi that upperclassmen would barely notice a six-thousand-credit bet on a first-year, and Xu Zhi decided to borrow credits to contribute.
• Meng Chuanling explained the Light Institute Ranking Battle, the Intercollegiate League, and the City Ranking Tournament, including how their schedules created the off-season.
• Meng Chuanling said the Light Institute had earned the fourth seed for the Intercollegiate League and guessed that the Lost Land selection would help determine the league team.
• Meng Chuanling arranged to meet Xu Zhi outside their dorm on Saturday at four so they could go to the arena and bet on Xu Zhi’s match.
• Xu Zhi agreed to pursue the credits and privately considered whether she could encounter competitors for the Lost Land slots at the arena.

Xu Zhi borrowed three thousand credits from the Inner Academy and met Meng Chuanling and Red Hair to visit the arena for their planned bet. She agreed to let Meng Chuanling place her wager, making clear that she relied on fear of her strength rather than trust.

• Xu Zhi applied for a new-student loan and received the full three thousand credits available to her.
• Xu Zhi postponed her clinic appointment until the next monthly break and agreed to undergo a full-body examination on her next visit.
• Xu Zhi met Meng Chuanling and Red Hair, and Meng Chuanling reacted with envy and surprise when she learned Xu Zhi's loan limit.
• Meng Chuanling explained that the Student Union ran the arena and described its influence and career opportunities.
• Meng Chuanling led Xu Zhi to the arena and offered to place her bet, and Xu Zhi agreed because she knew Meng Chuanling would not dare betray her.

Xu Zhi registered to fight Chun Ming, a second-year student, while Meng Chuanling and the student council spread word of the match to attract bets. The betting pools grew enormous, and Meng Chuanling eagerly wondered who had placed the huge wagers.

• Meng Chuanling asked Xu Zhi to confirm she was certain she could win, and Xu Zhi reassured her.
• Xu Zhi considered her strength and concluded she could easily defeat a second-year student.
• Xu Zhi registered to challenge Chun Ming from Second-Year Class Three, with their match set for Arena B16 in ten minutes.
• A student council member publicized the match on the academy forum, and students placed bets heavily on Chun Ming's side.
• A gambler placed one hundred thousand credits on Chun Ming, pushing the odds beyond twenty and forcing the student council to add funds to Xu Zhi's pool.
• Meng Chuanling saw the huge wager and called the bettor a sucker, hoping to meet them.

Xu Zhi entered the arena to face Chun Ming, a second-year fighter whose flame ability and gun made him a dangerous opponent. As Chun Ming fired three shots at her, Xu Zhi used Cursed Speech to freeze the bullets in midair.

• Xu Zhi read forum discussions about Chun Ming's [Blade] attribute, corrosive flames, and special gun.
• Xu Zhi entered the arena and faced Chun Ming as spectators expected her to be overwhelmed by his flames.
• Chun Ming drew his gun and fired three bullets at Xu Zhi's vital points.
• Xu Zhi said, "Stop," and her Cursed Speech froze the three bullets in midair.

Xu Zhi tested the limits of her Cursed Speech against Chun Ming, stopping his bullets, extinguishing his flames, and making him surrender. Chun Ming’s defeat stunned the arena as Xu Zhi became the first first-year to defeat an upperclassman.

• Xu Zhi stopped Chun Ming’s bullets in midair and realized her ability had also prevented him from firing more.
• Chun Ming rushed Xu Zhi and ignited his body, but she dodged his attacks with ease.
• Xu Zhi touched Chun Ming’s flames, then said “Extinguish,” putting out the fire on her fingertip and his body.
• Chun Ming failed to reignite his flames and attacked again, but Xu Zhi dodged and ordered him to surrender.
• Chun Ming surrendered, and the crowd erupted at his defeat by a first-year.

After defeating Chun Ming, Xu Zhi collected her betting winnings and spent them on a handgun and supernatural cores. She advanced to the [Immortal] stage, returned from the Great Dream, and regained [Authority].

• Xu Zhi’s victory over Chun Ming shocked the spectators, drew attention from student teams, and earned her the reputation of a monster.
• Meng Chuanling transferred Xu Zhi 120,000 points in winnings, which Xu Zhi used to buy a handgun and [Lamp] and [Moth] cores.
• Xu Zhi returned to her dormitory and consumed [Lamp] cores while Little One stood guard, advancing to level seven Proficient.
• Xu Zhi entered a vibrant forest she recognized as the true land of Mansus, walked through it without encountering danger, and returned to her bedroom.
• Xu Zhi found that she had reached the [Immortal] stage and that [Authority] had returned to her supernatural circuit.

After reaching the [Immortal] stage, Xu Zhi recovered much of her strength and examined her [Authority] ability. She began taking in a [Moth] Attribute Core to build a new circuit, and the relatively mild clash with [Lamp] gave her hope that it might work.

• Xu Zhi's hidden injuries began healing after her level rose, and her physical strength and speed increased dramatically.
• Xu Zhi tested her renewed strength and realized her body still had untapped potential, though her old injuries had not fully healed.
• Xu Zhi examined [Authority] and recognized that it could connect and control things, including fragmented rules, though she lacked the level and energy to reach true rules.
• Xu Zhi took out a low-level [Moth] Attribute Core and swallowed it to begin constructing a [Moth] circuit.
• The [Moth] energy caused Xu Zhi pain as it clashed with [Lamp], but [Lamp] resisted only where the energies overlapped and its circuit remained stable.