Chapter Summaries

Xu Zhi bluntly insulted the match and Dingchan’s coordination as Liuping tried to recover its footing. Dingchan revealed Qiu Jing’s hidden ability, causing Liuping’s injured [Heart] to collapse and leaving the match poised for a decisive fight.

• Xiao Xiao described Liuping’s stronger roster and asked Xu Zhi to assess the battle; Xu Zhi said the match had shown no highlights and provoked the audience.
• Liuping used abilities to break up Dingchan’s ice-and-snow field, but Qiu Jing’s hidden ability caused the already injured [Heart] to collapse when Liuping tried to melt it.
• Xiao Xiao explained how Qiu Jing’s field infected enemies with the power of disappearance, and Xu Zhi suspected Dingchan still had hidden abilities.
• Shu Yushan called Dingchan’s combination ability promising, while Xu Zhi called its coordination cheap and elaborated that it was unimpressive in every respect.
• The audience reacted to Xu Zhi’s remarks, which insulted both Dingchan and Liuping.

Team Dingchan defeated seeded Team Liuping in its first group-stage match after Liuping lost its healer and support. Xu Zhi dismissed the match and said she had no expectations for Dingchan.

• Liuping's healer and Dingchan's secondary carry fell, and Xu Zhi criticized Liuping's frantic fighting and Dingchan's weak main carry.
• Dingchan relied on coordination to hold off Liuping's counterattack while its healer helped recover the team's condition.
• Qiu Jing struck Liuping's support, and Liuping's captain conceded the match.
• Xiao Xiao announced Dingchan's victory, and Shu Yushan praised the team's progress through the qualifiers.
• Xu Zhi called the team and match ordinary and said she had no expectations for Dingchan.

Xu Zhi and her teammates discussed how her arrogant commentary shaped public expectations, while the team followed the group-stage results and prepared for the finals. As the group stage ended, Xi Min began planning the lineup for their first match and agreed to let Tong Zhou and Ji Muge play.

• Xu Zhi, Xi Min, and Chu Xiao Yue discussed how Xu Zhi's commentary and reputation could help the team conceal her abilities from future opponents.
• Xu Zhi said she did not care about negative comments because good performances in the matches would change public opinion.
• The team learned that a Dingchan first-year student had reached Level Seven Insight before the third group-stage round.
• Deer Isle, which included Gods Heavy Industries, finished the group stage undefeated, and Xi Min told the team to rest and prepare for the finals draw.
• Tong Zhou asked to play in the first match, and Xi Min agreed; Ji Muge also volunteered and received Xi Min's approval.

Lotus City Light Institute prepared for the finals as Chu Xiao Yue led the team to the opening ceremony, where Xu Zhi attracted attention from other competitors. The chapter ended with a beautiful, golden-haired girl studying Xu Zhi and Little One.

• Headlines covered the group-stage results, the finals lineup, and the sponsorship opportunities awaiting successful teams.
• Ji Muge asked Chu Xiao Yue to draw a favorable lot, and the Lotus City Light Institute team prepared to attend the opening ceremony.
• Xi Min led the team into the packed venue, where competitors and media focused on Lotus City Light Institute and its captain, Chu Xiao Yue.
• Xu Zhi noticed a beautiful golden-haired girl watching her and saw the girl lower her gaze to Little One on Xu Zhi's wrist.

Xu Zhi learned which academies were considered championship favorites and watched her teammates react to being viewed as a top-ten contender rather than a title contender. Before the finals began, Xi Min assigned Xu Zhi to the team battle as a decoy who would avoid using her abilities, while the others tried to end the match quickly.

• Xu Zhi asked Su Ran about Jiang Qing, a conspicuous Lamp attribute fighter from Lingzhou Light Institute, and learned that her academy was a championship favorite.
• Shu Yushan and the others discussed the strongest teams and the academies expected to reach the top ten, while Xu Zhi listened and learned about their likely opponents.
• The opening ceremony ended with Ji Muge set to compete in the first match, and the finals scheduled several high-profile matches for their opening day.
• At the team meeting, Xi Min assigned Tong Zhou and Shu Yushan to the 1v1 matches and selected Xu Zhi, Ji Muge, Tong Zhou, Shu Yushan, and Qiu Hou for the team battle.
• Xi Min told Xu Zhi to avoid commanding or using her Transcendent abilities so the team could make her appear to be a carried deadweight, while the others attacked quickly.

Lotus City Light Institute began its tournament match against Saigon City College, a much weaker team, with Shu Yushan taking three opponents in a row before handing the 1v1 matches to Tong Zhou. The team battle was about to begin, and spectators wondered whether Lotus City would field its first-year substitutes.

• Xi Min told Lotus City Light Institute's players to rest and focus on Saigon City College, warning them not to underestimate their opponents.
• Xiao Xiao and Peak Bro introduced Lotus City Light Institute's lineup and highlighted its captain's talent and the discussion around its first-year starter.
• Shu Yushan defeated three Saigon City College players in succession, then surrendered and passed the baton to Tong Zhou.
• The commentators and livestream audience remarked on the gulf in strength as Saigon fielded its fifth player while Lotus City had used only two.
• The break ended, and spectators speculated about Lotus City's lineup for the team battle, especially whether its first-year substitutes would play.

Xu Zhi and the Lotus City team entered the match against Saigon, whose defensive formation Qiu Hou disrupted with his [Opening] ability. As Shu Yushan attacked Saigon’s commander, Xu Zhi sensed that something had fixed its gaze on her.

• Xu Zhi picked up her saber and followed her teammates into the arena, where the crowd cheered.
• Tong Zhou declared that the match would end quickly, and the Lotus City team charged Saigon as the match began.
• Xu Zhi avoided using the [Eye of Secrets] so the arena’s surveillance would not reveal her ability.
• Qiu Hou unraveled a supernatural knot and disrupted Saigon’s formation, opening a gap for Shu Yushan’s attack.
• Shu Yushan struck Saigon’s commander, who blocked with [Forge] but suffered a badly fractured arm.
• Xu Zhi watched the fight and sensed that something had fixed its gaze on her.

Xu Zhi countered Saigon’s attempt to switch her out of position and wounded its support player, then overpowered him in a sword fight. The support lost his weapon as Xu Zhi revealed she had been toying with him.

• Saigon’s support used Shifting Forms, Swapping Shadows to switch places with Xu Zhi, but Qiu Hou altered the ability so the support appeared in Qiu Hou’s position instead.
• Xu Zhi stabbed the support through the abdomen while Qiu Hou was attacked by Saigon’s team.
• The support used [Immobilization] and swung at Xu Zhi, but she resisted the effect and dodged before striking his face and arm.
• Xu Zhi repeatedly battered the support’s sword with heavy blows, worsening his wound and forcing him backward.
• Xu Zhi knocked the support’s sword from his hand, and he realized she had deliberately been toying with him.

Lotus City Light Institute defeated Saigon in its opening match and continued winning without fielding Xu Zhi or Chu Xiao Yue. As the finals narrowed to eighty teams, Xi Min prepared Chu Xiao Yue to play against Mijiang City College.

• Xu Zhi feigned exhaustion while Lotus City eliminated Saigon’s remaining fighters and won the match 8:1.
• Lotus City placed thirteenth on the leaderboard but focused on gathering information and preparing tactics rather than chasing points.
• Lotus City won five more matches without fielding Xu Zhi or Chu Xiao Yue as the finals narrowed to eighty teams.
• Xi Min decided Chu Xiao Yue would take the field in the next match, against Mijiang City College.

Xu Zhi watched Lotus City Light Institute face Minjiang, suspecting the matchup was not a coincidence and that Minjiang’s contestants might be connected to [Cup]. Chu Xiao Yue crushed Minjiang’s [Forge] contestant in the opening 1v1, while Xu Zhi remained convinced that trouble had yet to surface.

• Xu Zhi questioned whether Lotus City Light Institute had been deliberately matched against Minjiang, given Lotus City’s suspected role in Minjiang’s crisis and her concerns about [Cup].
• Before the match, Xi Min warned the contestants about Minjiang’s [Heart]-attribute girl and told Chu Xiao Yue to surrender if anything felt seriously wrong.
• Chu Xiao Yue entered her first match as Lotus City Light Institute’s main carry, drawing attention from the spectators and commentators.
• Minjiang sent out a sixth-year [Forge] contestant, but Chu Xiao Yue slowed him with her power and pierced him with her frost-covered sword in a crushing defeat.
• Xu Zhi doubted that Minjiang’s contestants were truly safe and suspected that the match still concealed a problem.

Xu Zhi joined Lotus City Light Institute’s team battle against Minjiang after sensing that something was wrong, and used the [Eye of Secrets] to observe the opposing team. The match began with her teammates targeting Minjiang’s [Heart] users, while Xu Zhi watched for signs of trouble.

• Xu Zhi asked Xi Min to let her compete in the team battle, and Xi Min agreed after Xu Zhi attributed her concern to her [Lamp] instinct.
• Xu Zhi chose to replace Tong Zhou, then learned that Xi Min wanted the team to attack Minjiang if anything unusual happened.
• Lotus City Light Institute sent Xu Zhi onto the arena, surprising Minjiang’s contestants, the commentators, and the audience.
• Xu Zhi activated the [Eye of Secrets] as the team battle began and assessed Minjiang’s double-[Heart], double-support lineup.
• Chu Xiao Yue and Qiu Hou moved to disrupt and attack a Minjiang [Heart] user, while Shu Yushan and Su Ran supported the opening assault.

Minjiang’s support disrupted Lotus City’s senses, but Chu Xiao Yue’s domain turned the match in Lotus City’s favor. As Minjiang’s team bled, Xu Zhi recognized signs of [Cup]’s influence and ordered her team to retreat, leaving the players transforming into believers in front of the cameras.

• Minjiang’s support blurred the arena and disrupted the opponents’ senses, while Xu Zhi warned Qiu Hou of the enemy carry’s dive.
• Chu Xiao Yue released her domain, boosting Lotus City’s team and weakening Minjiang until its competitors were badly wounded.
• Xu Zhi sensed something wrong with Minjiang’s blood and ordered her teammates to seek decisive strikes rather than inflict more wounds.
• Red tendrils spread from the Minjiang players’ hearts through their bodies, prompting Xu Zhi to order an immediate retreat and Chu Xiao Yue to withdraw her domain.
• The Minjiang players realized they were becoming [Cup] believers and suspected someone had colluded with [Cup] to transform them in public.

Xu Zhi and her teammates faced five Mijiang players transformed by [Cup] during a league match, while the organizers let the confrontation continue and the broadcast fueled public suspicion. As the Lotus City team struggled against their opponents’ regeneration, Xu Zhi identified their circuit cores as the quickest way to stop them.

• Xu Zhi warned her teammates to avoid the transformed players’ blood and recognized that the Mijiang team had become powerful [Cup] believers.
• The five believers attacked, and Xu Zhi fought back while concluding that [Cup] had exposed its influence through the live match.
• The commentators continued the broadcast as viewers noticed the Mijiang players’ strange abilities and began accusing them of being connected to [Cup].
• Shu Yushan kicked away a believer charging Xu Zhi, but it recovered immediately and attacked again.
• Shu Yushan asked Xu Zhi how to fight the regenerating believers, and she told him to destroy their circuit cores.

Xu Zhi guided her teammates in targeting the circuits of the Cup believers, while Lotus City fought to subdue them and demonstrated Lamp’s power against Cup. As the battle continued, Xu Zhi deliberately held back her strongest abilities to show Lamp’s restraint over Cup and avoid drawing suspicion to herself.

• Xu Zhi identified the Cup believers’ circuits and directed her teammates to shatter them instead of relying on decapitation.
• Chu Xiao Yue froze a believer’s circuit with her sword and moved on to attack another, though she found the Cup’s vitality unusually difficult to overcome.
• Shu Yushan, Su Ran, and Qiu Hou fought the other believers, while Xu Zhi used Lamp’s aura to disrupt the attacker facing her.
• Xu Zhi chose not to use Cursed Speech or release Little One, aiming to demonstrate Lamp’s power over Cup without disturbing her plans or attracting suspicion.

Xu Zhi and the Lotus City's Light Institute defeated Mijiang City College’s Cup believers, after which tournament officials executed the surviving believers and outside forces took control of Mijiang. The incident spread worship of Cup, while powerful figures discussed finding a traitor and preventing Cup’s return.

• Xu Zhi pierced a believer with her blade and used Lamp energy to destroy his circuit, which caused his body to burn from within until he died.
• A tournament referee apprehended the two surviving believers, announced Mijiang’s collusion with Cup, and executed them before the broadcast cameras.
• The referee praised the Lotus City's Light Institute, and Xu Zhi suspected Lotus City had helped arrange the incident.
• Xu Zhi learned that Lotus City and Lingzhou had seized political power in Mijiang under the pretext of purging Cup.
• Secret sects of desperate people began worshipping Cup after the match was broadcast.
• Powerful figures on a tower blamed a worm within their ranks, discussed Cup’s return, and questioned whether the escaped Examiner was dead.

After the match, Xu Zhi’s actions convinced observers that she was a [Lamp] transcendent and could not be connected to [Cup], while Lotus City’s Chair quietly advanced her own plans. As the league’s top forty teams emerged, [Dingchan]’s rapid growth drew suspicion from Xu Zhi.

• Observers concluded that Xu Zhi was not connected to [Cup] because [Lamp] remained its natural enemy and she had killed a believer in the arena.
• Lotus City rapidly attacked Minjiang, while public opinion turned against Minjiang and supported Lotus City.
• The Chair dismissed suspicions that she was connected to [Cup] and ordered low-grade prosthetics sold cheaply in the lower districts so residents could resist believers.
• Xi Min warned her teammates that killing [Cup] on livestream might expose them to retaliation, while Xu Zhi suspected that the league’s next round of scrutiny would not stop [Cup] from causing trouble.
• After several days of competition, [Dingchan] advanced to the top forty, and Xu Zhi questioned how its members had improved so quickly despite passing the organizers’ tests.

Xu Zhi watched Dingchan face Deer Isle in the round of 40 to 20 and grew suspicious of the team's rapid advancement. Deer Isle dominated the 1v1 matches, but during the team battle Xu Zhi noticed they seemed intent on making Dingchan bleed rather than ending the fight.

• Lotus City Light Institute's students gathered to watch Dingchan face Deer Isle, another dark horse backed by Gods Heavy Industries.
• Chu Xiao Yue predicted that Deer Isle would win based on paper strength, while noting that Dingchan's repeated upsets suggested something was amiss.
• Deer Isle won the 1v1 round overwhelmingly with five Forges.
• Xu Zhi reviewed Dingchan's records and noticed that its members mastered new abilities and maintained coordination unusually quickly after ranking up.
• Deer Isle charged Dingchan head-on in the team battle, and Xu Zhi used the Eye of Secrets to observe the fight.
• Xu Zhi noticed Deer Isle deliberately inflicting wounds on Dingchan instead of taking chances to finish the match.

Xu Zhi deduced that Deer Isle, backed by [Gods Heavy Industries], had deliberately collected Dingchan students’ flesh and blood during their match before conceding. As the league continued, she prepared for the unrest ahead and anticipated a revealing clash between Council Academy and Dingchan Academy.

• Xu Zhi concluded Deer Isle had staged its apparent collapse to gather Dingchan students’ flesh and blood, and suspected [Gods Heavy Industries] knew something about Dingchan’s secret.
• Dingchan won after Deer Isle retreated, and the team’s reputation surged as Xu Zhi prepared to strengthen Little Aberration and secure the resources she needed.
• Xu Zhi learned her team would face Qi City next, while Dingchan Academy had drawn Lotus City College again.
• Xu Zhi predicted Council Academy would field its hidden main carry against Dingchan Academy, believing both teams would reveal something in their next match.

Xu Zhi watched the Council Academy’s previously unseen [Moth]-attribute main carry dominate the 1v1 match with strange, lethal abilities. The Council Academy won easily, while Xi Min and Tong Zhou began analyzing how to counter her.

• Xu Zhi saw the Council Academy’s delicate, easily overlooked main carry and recognized her [Moth] attribute.
• The commentators explained that [Moth] users were rare in the league and seldom served as main carries, especially in 1v1 matches.
• The Council Academy main carry used an ability that distorted the Dingchan contestant’s perception, making him mistake her for safety and expose his back.
• The [Moth] pierced the Dingchan contestant’s chest with her glowing fingertips, disrupting his control of his body and energy until he collapsed.
• Tong Zhou called the abilities troublesome, and Xi Min analyzed how the main carry’s perception-altering and contact-based attacks worked together.

Lotus City Academy’s Chu Minghe used a domain ability to pressure Dingchan in a team fight, then accused a Dingchan player of an impossible mid-battle breakthrough. Xu Zhi realized the accusation was a staged attempt to turn public outrage against the league organizers and ultimately target the Executor.

• Chu Minghe secured four kills in a 1v1 match but deliberately left before completing a five-man streak, prompting Xu Zhi to suspect Lotus City wanted a team fight with Dingchan.
• Chu Minghe used her moth-shaped domain to force eye contact and overwhelm Dingchan’s players with hallucinogenic, toxic scale powder.
• A first-year Dingchan player broke through during the battle, shocking viewers and prompting suspicions that something was wrong with him.
• Chu Minghe publicly accused the player of cheating and claimed Dingchan had deceived the league, while Xu Zhi recognized that her speech had been prepared to exploit the incident.
• Xu Zhi saw trending topics blaming the organizers and questioning the Executor, realizing that the scheme’s real target was the Executor.