Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• As everyone waits for the Flood Dragon’s next move, a radio message announces that high-level cultivators are coming and orders the group to protect nearby civilians.
• Yang Xiaobing senses an approaching Qi Refining Middle Stage demon: a Giant Ape. Jiang Xueyao asks for time, then slips into the crowd, suggesting she is preparing something.
• Xu Yuan draws the ape away from the civilians. Zhao Afei attacks with Pill Flame and a metal puppet, but neither can seriously hurt it.
• When the ape turns on Zhao Afei, Xu Yuan wounds it with his sword, then lures it up the station stairs and ambushes it with a second strike.
• Xu Yuan follows with close-range submachine-gun fire, repeatedly reloading until the Giant Ape dies. Golden light rises from the corpse, implying a reward.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan acts quickly and strategically, risking himself to protect the crowd and buy Jiang Xueyao time. He combines swordsmanship, misdirection, and modern weaponry, showing both resourcefulness and ruthless determination.
• Jiang Xueyao remains purposeful but mysterious: she asks Xu Yuan to stall the demon, then disappears from view to prepare.
• Zhao Afei bravely tries to help, first with fire and then his puppet, but is badly outmatched. Xu Yuan intervenes before the ape can kill him.
• Yang Xiaobing uses her perception to identify the danger, though she has already exhausted her spiritual energy.
• The Giant Ape underestimates the students and becomes fixated on Xu Yuan after he wounds it, allowing Xu Yuan to draw it away from the others.

Significant themes

• Protecting others through personal risk: Xu Yuan deliberately becomes the ape’s target to keep the civilians safe.
• Ingenuity over raw strength: The students cannot match the demon’s power directly, so Xu Yuan relies on timing, distraction, and unconventional weapons.
• The cost of combat: The group is outmatched, and Xu Yuan expends his spiritual energy and ammunition to secure the kill.
• Humorous irreverence amid danger: Xu Yuan’s jokes and casual thoughts contrast with the brutality of the fight, giving the scene a darkly comic tone.

Key plot points and events

• After killing a middle-stage Qi Refining Giant Ape, Xu Yuan questions whether the monthly exam has become unusually dangerous. He radios Officer Liu to report the attack, request ammunition, and find out what is happening elsewhere.
• The battle earns Xu Yuan eleven gold coins, bringing his total to forty-four. He spends some of his savings repeatedly refreshing the Combat Prep Room, hoping to improve his gear before the looming nightmare-level match.
• He buys a pair of fine-grade Serpentine Binding Gloves, which speed spiritual-energy recovery and reduce the spiritual-energy cost of talismans by 15%.
• Xu Yuan gives the gloves to Yang Xiaobing, pretending they are an early birthday gift. She is touched and immediately notices their practical benefits.
• Zhao Afei worries that his weak personal strength makes him a liability. Xu Yuan inspects Afei’s enormous ancestral Four-Symbol Eight-Trigram Furnace and discovers it is an exceptionally powerful, nearly indestructible treasure.
• Seeing an opportunity, Xu Yuan proposes a secret combination technique that requires two people. Afei agrees, and Xu Yuan whispers the plan to him, leaving him astonished.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains bold and quick-thinking, but the fight has made him more conscious of how much equipment matters. He prioritizes strengthening the team, gives his best new item to Yang, and begins devising a strategy around Afei’s furnace.
• Jiang Xueyao sulks over Xu Yuan’s reckless charge into battle and the fact that he used her Qiong Jia Sword. She feels frustrated that she could not save everyone, while Xu Yuan recognizes her displeasure but gives her space.
• Yang Xiaobing feels guilty about needing time to recover and fears being a burden. Xu Yuan reminds her how her mushroom brace helped save the group, then gives her the gloves; her quiet reaction suggests she is deeply moved.
• Zhao Afei doubts his usefulness despite bringing his family’s prized furnace. Xu Yuan reassures him—partly through teasing—and turns the furnace’s hidden power into a possible tactical advantage.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and mutual support: Xu Yuan invests in the team’s overall strength rather than keeping useful equipment for himself.
• Resourcefulness under pressure: He turns limited money, unusual gear, and his companions’ abilities into potential advantages.
• Hidden strength and underestimated value: Yang’s support, Afei’s furnace, and Xu Yuan’s tactical thinking prove valuable even when their owners feel weak or overlooked.
• Recklessness versus responsibility: Xu Yuan’s decisive courage saves the group, but it also frustrates Jiang, who worries about his tendency to rush in first.

Key plot points and events

• Jade Balance University contacts Xu Yuan, inviting him to its city-center refuge. Recognizing the invitation as a trap designed to separate and publicly humiliate him, he refuses.
• Xu Yuan rests after exhausting his spiritual energy. During an apparent vision or dream, he sees a gigantic black presence emerge from the Giant Ape’s corpse and race into the subway tunnel. He wakes sweating, convinced the experience may be connected to the Netherworld Passage Art—and unsure whether it is part of the exam or a hidden supernatural secret.
• Hoping to learn what the presence was, Xu Yuan decides to scout the tunnel and check whether it offers a route out of the city. Jiang Xueyao agrees to manage the station and takes the walkie-talkie.
• A Jade Balance search-and-rescue team arrives asking for Xu Yuan. Yang Xiaobing suspects they may be students seeking revenge or favor with the university after Xu Yuan rejected its approach. Jiang Xueyao goes to meet them while Yang and Zhao Afei prepare to defend the station.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shows greater caution than his predecessor, refusing to be lured away by Jade Balance. His ambition to attend a top university is clear, but curiosity about the tunnel’s strange presence ultimately draws him away from the group.
• Jiang Xueyao recognizes Xu Yuan’s intentions and supports his decision while confidently taking responsibility for the shelter. When Jade Balance’s students arrive, she firmly positions herself between them and her teammate.
• Yang Xiaobing understands the politics of university admissions and warns that the visitors may be motivated by status and resentment. She prepares for a possible fight.
• Zhao Afei is initially confused, but quickly joins the preparations once he realizes Xu Yuan could be in danger.
• Jiang Xueyao’s brief exchange with Xu Yuan shows mutual trust: she understands what he wants to do without requiring him to explain, and he leaves her in charge.

Significant themes

• Ambition and refusal to settle: Xu Yuan and the two women set their sights on the most prestigious universities rather than accepting a lesser opportunity.
• Power, status, and coercion: The suspected plot illustrates how cultivation and recruitment can become tools for intimidation and social advancement.
• Trust and responsibility: Xu Yuan leaves the civilians and squad in Jiang Xueyao’s care, while she protects both the shelter and his interests.
• The unknown beneath the crisis: Xu Yuan’s vision suggests the monster disaster and the exam may conceal supernatural forces or secrets beyond what the characters understand.

Plot and events

• A group of examinees confronts Jiang Xueyao, claiming they want to punish Xu Yuan for rejecting an invitation from Jade Balance University. Their leader’s companion pretends Jiang attacked first to justify their planned attack.
• Jiang defends Xu Yuan’s choice to aim for a more prestigious university and warns the group away, but they refuse, believing their numbers give them an advantage.
• Jiang summons powerful Battle Armor and draws the Red Sky Sword. She quickly defeats the group: the first girl is badly wounded and expelled from the exam, and Jiang then cuts down the remaining attackers. The exam permits powerful equipment, so the group has no grounds to complain.
• Jiang returns to the subway defenses and tells Zhao Afei the group “turned back,” concealing what happened. Yang Xiaobing recognizes the euphemism but says nothing. Jiang takes a Spirit-Restoring Pill in case more trouble comes.
• A radio message from Liu Shanxing announces that the team’s credentials, supplies, and equipment are arriving.

Character developments

• Jiang Xueyao shows loyalty to Xu Yuan and formidable confidence in combat. Though she initially tries to stop the confrontation, she responds decisively once attacked. Her calm manner and understated account of the fight contrast with her brutality in the arena.
• The attackers are exposed as overconfident and unprepared: they rely on numbers, jealousy, and a staged accusation rather than a sound plan. Their leader is unsettled when Jiang turns his own words against him.
• Yang Xiaobing understands that Jiang’s “turned back” story is a deliberate understatement, while Zhao Afei accepts it with relief.

Themes

• Preparation and resources matter: Battle Armor and a powerful weapon are legitimate advantages, reflecting the practical importance of equipment in cultivation and future battles.
• Consequences of bullying and arrogance: The group’s attempt to gang up on Xu Yuan—and their assumption that Jiang can be overwhelmed—leads to their defeat.
• Justice and reciprocity: Jiang echoes the attackers’ own justification, exposing their double standard.
• Composure and concealment: Jiang’s serene appearance and mild report mask the violence of what she has done.

Key plot points and events

• During the citywide crisis, examiners learn that three scouts from different groups are nearing the incident’s core in the subway tunnels. The exam’s organizers conceal the true identities of two important figures by altering their appearances, then order the second phase to begin early.
• All three scouts encounter the same apparent scenario: a frightened child asks to be taken out of the tunnels.
• The first examinee decides to continue scouting while carrying the child, believing the situation tests how to balance duty with helping civilians.
• Wang Jia’er agrees to help the second child, then receives a radio message identifying him and directing her to take him to a protected station, where his family is waiting. Both examinees reach the station and are teleported out after completing the test.
• Xu Yuan encounters the third child—and notices a towering, many-legged woman on the ceiling, devouring the invisible entity he has been tracking. He is unsure whether the examiners can see the monster, so he tries to respond in a way that will satisfy the test while still returning to his investigation.
• When the child cries, Xu Yuan realizes the tears are genuine terror, not a ploy. The child says everyone pretends not to see the monster, confirming that he can see it too. Xu Yuan is left confronting the possibility that the child is in real danger, not simply part of an exam scenario.

Character developments

• The senior examiner remains composed and authoritative, but privately resents the other officials’ evasiveness. He pushes the exam forward to see how the students respond.
• The first examinee interprets the child’s request as a moral dilemma and prioritizes his scouting mission, promising to help afterward.
• Wang Jia’er shows compassion and practical judgment, but changes course when she learns the child’s family is waiting at a secure station.
• Xu Yuan uses his game-informed social instincts to navigate the encounter, yet his own fear and empathy sharpen his perception. Unlike the other examinees, he recognizes that the child’s distress may be real and that the apparent test could conceal an actual threat.

Significant themes

• Duty versus compassion: The examinees must choose between their mission and helping a vulnerable child.
• Appearance versus reality: What seems like a standard exam scenario may involve a genuine supernatural danger.
• Institutional concealment and uncertainty: The examiners manipulate the scenario and may not share—or even perceive—what Xu Yuan sees.
• Empathy as insight: Xu Yuan’s recognition of the child’s authentic fear helps him understand the situation more accurately than relying on test logic alone.

Character interactions

• The senior examiner prompts his colleagues for input, but they avoid taking a position until he issues an order.
• The first examinee reassures the child while carrying him deeper into the tunnel.
• Wang Jia’er comforts the child, consults her radio, and attempts to reunite him with his family.
• Xu Yuan questions the child gently, trying to determine what happened. The child’s plea and confession that “everyone” pretends not to see the monster transform their exchange from an apparent exam prompt into a potentially urgent encounter.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yuan realizes the little boy can see the terrifying woman, but conceals that he can see her too. He pretends to believe the boy’s claim that his family abuses him, hoping to justify taking him back toward safety.
• The woman roars, “Set me free,” unleashing horrifying visions. As something races beneath the ground, Xu Yuan kills an attacking creature with his sword, then escapes with the boy and the talisman-formed hound.
• The woman learns that a group is gathered underground and turns away, sending a swarm of snake-shaped shadows deeper into the tunnels. She warns that they will either devour others or be devoured, and that all will become her. The city begins to shake.
• Xu Yuan and the hound are soon surrounded by black worms. Xu knocks the boy unconscious to keep him from jumping off the hound, then uses a controlled sword technique to push the creatures aside without wasting spiritual energy.
• Their escape impresses four examiners, who praise Xu Yuan’s composure, precision, and tactical ingenuity.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan stays calm despite his terror, carefully hiding his ability to see the supernatural. He shifts from desperate flight to measured defense, showing remarkable combat instinct and resourcefulness.
• The boy understands Xu Yuan’s pretense and cooperates, but panics when their escape seems hopeless. Xu ultimately renders him unconscious to protect him.
• The terrifying woman remains focused on being freed and appears to command or embody the snakes. Her attention turns toward the underground gathering.
• The hound follows Xu Yuan’s instructions and helps carry them through the tunnel.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan gently questions the boy about his family and offers to take him somewhere safe; the boy urges him to turn back.
• Xu Yuan and the hound coordinate their escape, with the hound carrying the unconscious boy while Xu Yuan clears a path.
• The woman speaks through a chorus of snake voices, linking her demand for freedom to the creatures spreading through the tunnels.

Significant themes

• Concealment and survival: Xu Yuan hides what he can see to avoid exposing himself.
• Calm under pressure: His restraint and tactical thinking matter as much as sword skill.
• Freedom and transformation: The woman’s repeated plea and threat that others will “become” her suggest that liberation and assimilation are intertwined.
• Recognition and judgment: The examiners interpret Xu Yuan’s survival skills as evidence of exceptional combat talent.

Key plot points and events

• After four consecutive light-ups, Xu Yuan unlocks a chance to raise his special reward to Rare grade with another light-up. He ignores the prompt while the battle continues, confident in his fast, efficient strategy of bypassing lesser monsters.
• At Xinzhou District Subway Station, Xu Yuan rejoins his team, collects his ID and firearms, and reports that the group is ready. He notices the rescued boy matches a radio description of a missing child whose family is waiting elsewhere.
• Xu Yuan alone hears anguished voices calling to be laid to rest from the tunnel. The boy begs not to be returned, and Xu Yuan suspects the danger is much greater than an ordinary exam: the terrifying woman has reappeared, while the Divine Artifact prevents cultivators above Golden Core from entering.
• Choosing to protect the boy rather than return him to his family, Xu Yuan tells the team the child is being abused. They accept his reasoning; Yang Xiaobing comforts the boy, while Jiang Xueyao suggests the team leave the city by car now that the Flood Dragon is gone.
• Xu Yuan’s decision earns another light-up and triggers five consecutive perfect scores, upgrading his reward to Rare grade. At the same time, the exam changes from the Eight-School Joint Examination to the Nationwide Joint Examination, with its difficulty set to Hard (variable).
• The new objective is to keep the rescued child alive for half an hour. First place is no longer required; survival is now the priority. The rewards include a Blank Historical Branch, a delay to a Nightmare-grade competition, and a shop appearing through a random event.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains tactically confident, but his focus shifts from optimizing performance to escaping a potentially lethal situation and protecting the boy. He hides his altruistic intent behind a practical explanation, while his fear of the tunnel’s supernatural presence exposes the limits of his composure.
• The boy is terrified of returning to his family and directly pleads with Xu Yuan for help.
• Yang Xiaobing responds compassionately, taking the boy aside, covering him, and giving him food. Zhao Afei initially doubts the child, but quickly accepts Xu Yuan’s argument. Jiang Xueyao looks ahead to the group’s escape and proposes driving out of the city.
• The unidentified spectator who awards Xu Yuan a perfect score appears to recognize his clear-headedness and alludes to a painful past.

Significant themes

• Compassion versus competition: Xu Yuan’s choice to help the boy becomes more consequential than pursuing rank or rewards.
• False security and hidden danger: What appears to be a supervised school exam may be far more deadly, especially with powerful cultivators barred from entering.
• Isolation and unseen threats: Xu Yuan alone hears the voices, leaving him to carry the warning without evidence others can perceive.
• The cost of doing the right thing: Saving the boy raises the competition’s difficulty, turning an act of kindness into a new survival challenge.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yuan learns that surviving the Nightmare-Level Competition will earn valuable rewards, including a Historical Side Quest and a delay before his next competition. The challenge has shifted to hard mode: he must keep a little boy alive for half an hour.
• An earthquake warning sends civilians out of the subway. Xu senses danger in the tunnel, and a radio message directs emergency forces toward the station; he deliberately crushes the radio, deciding that following orders no longer matters.
• The boy sees a presence on the stairs that the others cannot. Xu investigates and encounters a faceless shadow, which possesses the dead Giant Ape and brings it back to life.
• Xu attacks before the Ape can finish its declaration, but the resurrected monster is far faster and tougher. Yang Xiaobing shields Xu with a Wind Talisman; Xu retreats and lands a sniper shot, then Yang and Zhao Afei combine wind and fire while Jiang Xueyao delivers the finishing sword strike.
• The team defeats the Ape together. Xu congratulates his companions on their growth; they object to his patronizing remark.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shifts from weighing rewards to focusing on the immediate survival objective. He takes charge, hides the supernatural threat from the others at first, and uses improvisation and humor to manage danger.
• The boy is frightened but perceptive: he can see the shadow when the others cannot, and his warning reveals the threat.
• Yang Xiaobing, Zhao Afei, and Jiang Xueyao each contribute to the fight, showing coordination and trust in one another. Yang protects Xu, Zhao adds firepower, and Jiang lands the decisive blow.
• The group’s exchanges mix tension with comedy, especially Xu’s feigned guilt over the broken radio and his interruption of the Giant Ape’s speech with gunfire.

Significant themes

• Survival over obedience or achievement: once the rules change, Xu prioritizes keeping the boy alive over orders and exam ranking.
• Perception and hidden danger: the boy sees what the others cannot, while Xu must respond without revealing too much.
• Teamwork and growth: the victory depends on the group combining their abilities.
• Humor amid peril: Xu’s irreverence and the team’s banter provide comic relief during a life-threatening encounter.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan rejects the apparently “correct” exam strategy—gathering at Drum Tower Street Subway Station and defeating the Demon, even though the city is destroyed. Instead, he proposes trying a new solution: saving the Commandery Princess and searching for another way to protect the city.
• Jiang Xueyao questions him about the risks of failing or dying. Xu Yuan insists that trying matters more than following an answer that has already led to catastrophe.
• Their base is soon threatened by a mass of crawling human skins. Yang Xiaobing scouts with a Talisman-made hunting dog and reports the approaching enemy.
• Jiang Xueyao powers the group’s formation with Spirit Stones. Xu Yuan arms himself with an assault rifle, machine gun, and shotgun, while Yang Xiaobing and Zhao Afei prepare to fight at close range.
• The human skins prove difficult to stop with bullets, but Xu Yuan’s machine-gun fire pins them down. Jiang Xueyao then unleashes a giant spectral hammer through the formation, collapsing the tunnel entrance and trapping the attackers.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shows initiative and compassion, choosing to pursue a way to save the princess rather than accept a strategy that sacrifices the city. He also reveals confidence under pressure, though he masks his nerves with humor.
• Jiang Xueyao uses her knowledge of the previous exam to guide Xu Yuan, while carefully avoiding revealing the boy’s identity. His decision reassures her that he is acting sincerely. In battle, she demonstrates the value of her formation skills and Spirit Stones.
• Yang Xiaobing contributes by scouting with her Talisman and joins the planned close-combat defense.
• Zhao Afei is newly convinced of firearms’ usefulness and agrees to support Xu Yuan in close combat.
• The group works cooperatively: Xu Yuan assigns roles, Jiang Xueyao provides magical support, and the others prepare to defend their position.

Significant themes

• Choice versus prescribed answers: Xu Yuan rejects unquestioning obedience to an “official” solution and argues that people should seek new possibilities.
• Hope, agency, and growth: Failure is treated as recoverable; even the possibility of death does not erase the value of choosing and trying.
• Compassion and responsibility: Xu Yuan’s determination is grounded in the desire to save someone, not personal gain.
• Teamwork and adaptability: The group combines firearms, scouting, and formation magic to survive an unexpected threat.

Plot points

• Xu Yuan and his team fight a Human-Skin Monster in a subway station. The creature absorbs additional human skins, grows stronger, and rapidly assembles itself into a giant.
• Realizing the subway stations are being prepared for a larger final battle, Xu Yuan decides the team should flee rather than stay in the station. He covers their retreat while Yang Xiaobing uses her mushroom’s growth to collapse the ceiling and trap the monster. Xu Yuan shoots off its head and escapes.
• Outside, the group discovers none of the students can drive, so Xu Yuan takes the wheel. He deliberately heads away from Drum Tower Street Station, hoping to avoid the coming battle.
• The headless monster survives and regenerates, pursuing them. Jiang Xueyao estimates it has reached the Eighth Layer of Qi Refinement and is still getting faster.
• Xu Yuan drives onto an overpass, but the monster climbs the pillars and gets ahead of them. Jiang Xueyao’s formation-plate hammer knocks it toward the edge; Xu Yuan then rams it with the police car, sending it crashing to the ground below.
• The monster survives the fall and threatens to eat the group. Xu Yuan answers with a crude joke, remaining defiant.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan acts as the team’s quick-thinking leader: he recognizes the danger, organizes the retreat, improvises ways to slow the monster, and uses the car as a weapon. His dry humor persists even in dire circumstances.
• Jiang Xueyao provides clear assessments of the monster’s strength and uses her formation plate first in the subway and again on the overpass. She understands Xu Yuan’s plan and supports it without hesitation.
• Yang Xiaobing assists with her unusual abilities, first causing the mushroom to collapse the ceiling and later sending a paper crane to scout the monster’s position.
• Zhao Afei helps protect the child and voices the group’s alarm as the monster closes in. The child remains under the group’s protection.
• The team relies on one another under pressure, though the brief discovery that no one but Xu Yuan can drive adds a moment of humor and exposes their inexperience.

Significant themes

• Improvisation and teamwork: The group survives through fast decisions and by combining their different abilities.
• Escalating danger: The monster absorbs more skins, regenerates, and grows stronger, turning each apparent victory into only a temporary reprieve.
• Defiance under threat: Xu Yuan meets terror with sarcasm, while the group continues resisting despite being badly outmatched.
• The larger conflict: The evacuation and movement of forces toward Drum Tower Street suggest that the subway encounters are part of a wider, imminent battle.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• The Human-Skin Monster grows stronger as it regenerates with fresh skins, and Xu Yuan decides the group must fight rather than keep running.
• Xu Yuan’s explosive anti-materiel rounds knock the monster down and damage it, but it recovers quickly. It then attacks the elevated bridge supports, threatening to bring the structure down.
• Yang Xiaobing uses five linked Talismans to create a giant turtle. The group rides it away, but the monster overtakes them and blocks the road.
• The team jumps off as the turtle charges the monster. Yang Xiaobing detonates the construct, setting the monster’s skins ablaze, while Xu Yuan fires another shot.
• Realizing their strength is no match for the rapidly advancing monster, Xu Yuan signals Zhao Afei. Afei summons his enormous Eight Trigrams Furnace, and the others shelter inside while Xu Yuan stays outside to draw the monster’s attention.
• Xu Yuan’s dramatic declaration earns him a “lamp” from an approving examiner, granting him another chance to accumulate lamps toward an upgrade.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains cool, tactical, and theatrically confident. He coordinates the group’s improvised escape-and-combat plans and volunteers to keep the monster occupied.
• Yang Xiaobing demonstrates skill and creativity with her Five-Link Talisman technique, transforming the Talismans into a turtle and using it as an explosive weapon.
• Zhao Afei moves from frightened bystander to active teammate. Inspired by Xu Yuan’s encouragement, he summons his furnace and helps protect the group.
• Jiang Xueyao supports the decision to fight, recognizes the monster’s escalating strength, and remains ready with her sword despite the unfavorable odds.
• The little boy is frightened throughout and depends on the group for protection. The examiners, watching remotely, expect the students to be overwhelmed and prepare to calm them afterward.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and improvisation: The group combines different abilities to escape, attack, and protect one another.
• Courage and self-worth: Afei’s choice to contribute reflects his desire to be more than a passenger or follower.
• Composure under pressure: Xu Yuan’s confidence and showmanship help direct the team even when their chances look bleak.
• Escalating danger: The monster’s rapid growth and regeneration make ordinary attacks and escape increasingly ineffective, setting up the next confrontation.

Key events

• Xu Yuan uses the Four-Symbol Eight-Trigram Furnace as an indestructible barrier, turning the fight into a chase around it—his improvised technique, “King of Qin Circling the Pillar.”
• The furnace’s hidden occupants—Zhao Afei, Yang Xiaobing, and Jiang Xueyao—attack through openings in its sides. Lightning and fire disrupt the Human-Skin Monster, while Xu Yuan’s rifle and a vine trap help wound him.
• The monster regenerates by drawing on human skins, making ordinary damage temporary. When he climbs the furnace and lifts its lid, the group counters with a formation-powered hammer, fire, and lightning.
• Jiang Xueyao then confronts him in midair with “Swan Song of Yan” and her twin-blade fire technique, blasting him apart. He quickly reforms, however, and dives into the furnace, expecting to slaughter its occupants.
• Inside, he finds only darkness and empty air: the people have disappeared, leaving the scene on a cliffhanger.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows quick thinking and confidence, using the furnace’s size, durability, and cramped surroundings to keep the stronger monster from gaining a clear advantage.
• Jiang Xueyao embraces the challenge of fighting a far more powerful opponent. Her excitement and skill culminate in a direct aerial attack.
• Zhao Afei and Yang Xiaobing, along with Jiang, demonstrate coordinated support from inside the furnace.
• The Human-Skin Monster remains dangerous because he can rapidly rebuild himself, but his arrogance leads him to underestimate the group and enter their trap.

Themes and interactions

• Teamwork and ingenuity: The group combines defensive positioning, magic, traps, and ranged attacks rather than relying on strength alone.
• Adaptation against overwhelming power: Xu Yuan turns the furnace into both shield and battlefield, repeatedly exploiting the monster’s size and momentum.
• Limits of brute force: The monster’s regeneration lets him survive heavy damage, but it does not make him immune to clever tactics.
• Mockery and baiting: Xu Yuan taunts the monster into pursuing him, while the monster repeatedly boasts of his superiority—an exchange that helps draw him into the final, unexplained trap.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan and his three companions lure the regenerative human-skin monster into the Eight Trigrams Furnace. While it was distracted, they escaped with the child and activated the furnace’s Pillfire.
• The monster repeatedly tries to break out. Xu Yuan holds it back with a series of firearms, then uses the Qiong Jia Sword to sever its grip and force it back into the flames.
• Reading the furnace’s vibrations, Xu Yuan times a sword strike to the monster’s next escape attempt. His sword technique, Divine Might: Blowing Snow, shreds the weakened creature and sends it back into the furnace.
• As the monster burns, Xu Yuan reviews its mistakes: despite its superior strength, it pursued too recklessly instead of wearing the group down. The monster reflects on his advice and asks how much strength Xu Yuan used, but dies before hearing the answer.
• Xu Yuan offers the monster praise for its effort and intimidation tactics, then claims he won only with difficulty—“I even broke a sweat”—and bids it farewell.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows quick thinking, adaptability, and composure under pressure, shifting between traps, firearms, swordplay, and observation. Even at the end, he treats the fight as both a tactical lesson and a worthy challenge.
• Jiang Xueyao remains calm and focused, reminding the others that the monster fears fire and that they must keep the furnace burning.
• Yang Xiaobing and Zhao Ajiu push themselves to exhaustion to sustain the spell, demonstrating their commitment to the group.
• The monster moves from furious confidence to desperation, then briefly listens and reflects on Xu Yuan’s tactical criticism before dying.

Significant themes

• Strategy over raw strength: The monster is stronger, but impatience and poor use of its advantage cost it the fight.
• Teamwork and sacrifice: The companions’ combined spellwork creates the opening Xu Yuan needs, despite their dwindling strength.
• Professionalism and respect: Xu Yuan insists that even a vastly stronger opponent should fight carefully, and he acknowledges the monster’s effort at the end.
• Humor amid danger: Xu Yuan’s playful disappointment that the monster has no “second phase,” along with his understated farewell, contrasts with the lethal battle.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan coordinates with his exhausted teammates, relying on them to keep the furnace fire active while he prevents the monster’s escape.
• Jiang Xueyao questions Xu Yuan’s unusual vigilance as he listens for movement inside the furnace.
• Xu Yuan and the dying monster exchange a final tactical debrief: the monster challenges his advice and asks about his true strength, while Xu Yuan offers both criticism and praise.

Key plot points and events

• After defeating the fused human-skin monster, Xu Yuan concludes that the repeated attacks were deliberate: the many-legged woman has been trying to kill them all along. Since cautious escape has failed, he resolves to fight back if necessary.
• The group recovers while Xu Yuan searches for transport. He finds a damaged convertible, discovers its engine and a spare tire are usable, and has Zhao Afei lift the car while he changes the wheel.
• They set off toward the city’s outskirts, with the little boy giving directions. The group settles into coordinated roles: Xu Yuan drives, Yang Xiaobing sends out White Crane, Jiang Xueyao keeps watch, and Zhao Afei replenishes his strength.
• A featureless, many-eyed demon appears in the clouds and pursues them. Jiang Xueyao identifies it as a Foundation Establishment–level demon, far beyond the exam’s intended difficulty. Xu Yuan speeds up and flees.
• At the Examination Institute, officials admit that the temporary exam world has slipped out of their control. They end the monthly exam to protect the students and begin grading.
• In the imperial capital, the Emperor learns that the students have taken the Commandery Princess out of the underground and are nearing the city’s edge. When he hears that she has taken the Zhou Tian Instrument south, he realizes she is still troubled by an event from ten years ago. He decides to go after her and see the situation through himself.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shifts from evasive survival tactics to a more defiant, adaptable mindset. His confidence grows after proving he can defeat Qi Refining–level monsters, though he still prioritizes escape from the overwhelming demon.
• Jiang Xueyao enjoys the combat and sees dangerous encounters as valuable training. She jokes with Xu Yuan, while he points out that she is eagerly recovering to fight again.
• Zhao Afei contributes by lifting the car and later eating to restore his energy, showing greater willingness to take part despite his hesitation.
• The little boy has calmed down and begins actively helping the group with directions, suggesting growing trust and composure.
• The examiners unanimously accept ending the exam once its dangers exceed the intended limits.
• The Emperor initially treats the students’ ordeal as an opportunity to test their spirit, but his attitude changes when he learns the Commandery Princess is involved. His concern for her past—and his decision to intervene—becomes clear.

Significant themes

• Adaptability and teamwork: The group survives by changing tactics, sharing responsibilities, and using whatever resources they find.
• Courage balanced with prudence: Xu Yuan is willing to face danger, but recognizes the difference between a manageable fight and a Foundation Establishment–level threat.
• The limits of control: The exam’s artificial world escapes its organizers’ control, turning a test into a real crisis.
• Unresolved history: The Commandery Princess’s actions are tied to an event from ten years earlier, hinting at a personal conflict still shaping the present.

Key events

• The group exam ends just as Xu Yuan’s team has faced a Foundation Establishment demon. The examiners unanimously reward Xu Yuan, praising his leadership, tactics, and ability to help a low-level team defeat a vastly stronger enemy.
• His special reward is upgraded to Spirit Treasure grade, and he completes the Nationwide Joint Examination on Hard Mode. The students return to their school sports field.
• As the group prepares to eat and recover, Xu Yuan sees the little boy again. Their clasped hands appear to connect two worlds: the peaceful school and a burning city under attack by monsters.
• The boy begs Xu Yuan to protect him. Xu Yuan receives an invitation to either enter the dangerous Border City Battle immediately or promise to return later through the special event Witch’s Heart.
• Xu Yuan chooses to promise to help the boy rather than disappear into the battle at once. Zhao Afei’s interruption makes the vision vanish; no one else seems to have witnessed it. A final message confirms Xu Yuan will eventually enter Witch’s Heart and try to qualify for the training match.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan is publicly recognized as an exceptional tactician and leader. Privately, his concern for the boy reveals a growing sense of responsibility toward others who can see monsters. He balances that compassion with caution, choosing a future opportunity over an immediate, likely lethal risk.
• The boy appears isolated and desperate, living amid a city’s destruction. His plea suggests Xu Yuan’s earlier actions have made him a meaningful source of hope.
• Zhao Afei returns to his joking, practical manner after the exam and interrupts Xu Yuan’s vision without realizing it. Jiang Xueyao is reluctant for the battle to end, while Yang Xiaobing emphasizes the need to restore spiritual energy.
• The classmates regroup after the ordeal, but Xu Yuan keeps the encounter to himself because they apparently saw nothing.

Significant themes

• Recognition and achievement: Xu Yuan’s unconventional teamwork earns universal acclaim.
• Compassion versus self-preservation: He wants to save the boy but avoids an impulsive plunge into an extreme-risk battle.
• Isolation and hidden realities: Xu Yuan may not be the only person who can perceive monsters, yet the boy’s experience remains invisible to everyone around him.
• Promises and future responsibility: Xu Yuan’s vow commits him to return, setting up the next stage of the story.

Key events

• After defeating a ninth-level Qi Refining monster, Xu Yuan and his classmates recover their spiritual energy and discuss their likely exam results. Jiang Xueyao explains that disobeying an order could cost them marks, though they may rank first in the Eight-School Joint Examination if the order was not military.
• Zhao Afei celebrates the possibility of earning a cash reward and offers to treat everyone, but soon leaves with another girl. Xu Yuan and Yang Xiaobing head to the cafeteria without him.
• A white-haired elder arrives aboard a rare flying vessel to summon Jiang Xueyao home for an emergency. She leaves before she can discuss the battle with Xu Yuan.
• At lunch, Xu Yuan receives a system notification: his performance has postponed a future “Nightmare”-level match, though the duration depends on how well he performs tonight.
• He spends his special spirit-treasure-grade reward on the Swallow Song Sword Art. It gains a powerful new sixth move, Three Questions, which delivers three increasingly strong strikes and lets him recall his sword. His fifth move, Swallow’s Departure, also improves into Swallow’s Return, now allowing him to retrieve the flying sword.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows concern for his teammates, practical curiosity, and growing ambition as a swordsman. He recognizes the potential in his unusual sword art and chooses to develop it despite its earlier drawbacks.
• Jiang Xueyao reveals that her family is influential enough to command a high-end flying vessel. She leaves reluctantly but takes the emergency seriously.
• Zhao Afei is excited by the prospect of a reward but proves easily distracted by a romantic opportunity.
• Yang Xiaobing remains upbeat and sociable, tending to her and Jiang Xueyao’s appearance with homemade talismans.

Relationships and interactions

• Xu Yuan discreetly stops Yang Xiaobing from stretching in a way that draws unwanted attention; she accepts his concern.
• Jiang Xueyao discusses the exam’s possible consequences with the group and expresses interest in Xu Yuan’s tactical choices and final sword strike.
• The classmates part amicably when Jiang Xueyao is summoned, though Zhao Afei’s sudden departure leaves Xu Yuan and Yang Xiaobing joking about his lack of loyalty.
• Xu Yuan’s brief phone call to his mother shows his continuing connection to family life amid the supernatural danger.

Significant themes

• Danger and uncertainty: The students face real mortal threats in an exam setting, while the future Nightmare match remains unpredictable.
• Growth through combat: Xu Yuan’s battle experience and reward transform a flawed technique into a more capable flying-sword art.
• Duty and ambition: Jiang Xueyao prioritizes a family emergency, while the group weighs obedience against the merit of their victory.
• Humor amid tension: Banter about grades, food, romance, and everyday objects balances the chapter’s ominous supernatural developments.

Plot points and events

• After winning the group battle, Xu Yuan realizes his Swallow Song Sword Art has grown from four forms to six. The two new forms, Swallow’s Return and Three Questions, are secret flying-sword techniques.
• At lunch, Yang Xiaobing encourages him to keep studying so his written-exam score will be high enough for an elite university. Xu Yuan agrees, recognizing that practical combat skills alone are not enough.
• Xu Yuan checks his rewards from the match. His shop has been deployed to the City Annihilation War from ten years ago, meaning items and objects from that event may appear for sale. He has 444 gold coins.
• He refreshes the shop and sees two expensive spatial-storage backpacks and a Rare-grade item, the Unknown Note, priced at 100 coins.
• Yang Xiaobing tells him that instructors spent eight days discussing the City Annihilation War test during her Nine Luminaries entrance exam, even though students experienced only a short segment of the battle. She suspects the test may be part of a much larger scenario.
• Xu Yuan considers whether future exams might continue the Border City Battle, with increasingly dangerous monsters. He decides the note could contain important intelligence and buys it.
• The note turns out to contain a mother’s message to her child, Yiyi: “Remember to check the things you treasure most. Mom left you a parting gift.” Xu Yuan is disappointed that its connection to the war is unclear and that finding Yiyi in a destroyed city would be nearly impossible.

Character development and interactions

• Xu Yuan is exhilarated by his new sword techniques and rewards, but also shows growing caution and strategic thinking. He weighs the note’s possible significance against its cost, then accepts the risk and buys it.
• Yang Xiaobing acts as both a supportive friend and a discreet source of information. She reminds Xu Yuan to study, shares her observations about the exam instructors, and signals that her theory about the test is only a possibility.
• Their lunch exchange is warm and familiar: Xu Yuan gives her fish, and she trades him beef. Their quiet conversation shows trust, especially when Yang lowers her voice to share what she learned.

Significant themes

• Preparation and responsibility: Success requires both combat ability and academic knowledge; Xu Yuan understands that ignorance could be dangerous in the field.
• Secrecy and incomplete knowledge: The war’s history is concealed, and students have seen only fragments of a potentially larger event.
• Risk, value, and sincerity: Xu Yuan’s reflections on the price of rare items connect money with sincerity, while his purchase of the note is a gamble on information that might matter later.
• Personal tragedy amid large events: The note’s intimate message from a mother to her child contrasts with the scale of the city’s destruction, suggesting that private lives and losses are embedded in the broader conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan receives a Blank Historical Branch tied to an item and connects it to his Final Enlightenment Ring. The ring is one half of a set that promises a set effect and an “Identity Legacy,” so he resolves to find its missing piece.
• After lunch, Wang Minggang approaches Xu Yuan with an expensive drink, hoping to join his team for the next monthly exam. When Xu Yuan refuses, Wang asks him to recommend Yang Xiaobing instead. Xu Yuan firmly refuses, saying she is staying on his team.
• The chapter shifts to Jiangyuan High School in Nanjiang City, where a top-ranked student is looking ahead to the written exam and possible university admission. An enormous centipede demon suddenly kills him, taking his head. The student initially mistakes his detachment and the scene for an illusion, but the demon reveals itself and consumes him.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains focused on strengthening himself, while showing loyalty to Yang Xiaobing and refusing to treat teammates as interchangeable assets.
• Wang Minggang reveals that his interest in joining Xu Yuan’s team is driven by the team’s promising members—especially Jiang Xueyao and Yang Xiaobing. He disparages Zhao Afei and tries to recruit Yang after Xu Yuan turns him down.
• Yang Xiaobing is absent from the conversation, but her effectiveness in the exam is emphasized: she protected the team and provided aerial scouting.
• The unnamed top student is confident and ambitious, expecting strong exam results, but his confidence and rationalizations fail to protect him from the demon.

Significant themes

• Ambition and competition: Students seek strong teams and high exam scores as paths to future opportunities.
• Loyalty versus opportunism: Xu Yuan’s refusal to give up Yang contrasts with Wang’s strategic pursuit of powerful teammates.
• False security: The student assumes the school’s protections and the absence of alarms mean he must be dreaming or undergoing a test, but the danger is real.
• Sudden, indifferent violence: The abrupt attack undercuts the orderly world of exams and cultivation with the threat of demons.

Plot points

• After lunch, Xu Yuan experiments with a Historical Side Quest, which only accepts events that could plausibly happen. He writes that the Final Enlightenment Ring guided him to a matching item in the shop, and the quest is successfully established.
• The quest creates memories of him repeatedly refreshing the shop until he finds and buys a rust-covered pendant for 244 gold. The pendant is the Final Truth Emblem, whose effect grants +1 agility each time his cultivation rises a level in the Qi Refining Realm.
• Wearing it gives him +2 agility and completes the Truth Set. The set grants him the identity Apostle of Truth and an inherited Soul Art, Azure Heaven Draws Yellow Springs, which requires a particular ritual site to activate.
• With most of his preparations complete and only 50 gold left, Xu Yuan spends the remaining time before class meditating. His cultivation advances quickly, and he feels close to reaching Qi Refining Third Layer.
• Li Tao is absent after being sent to the infirmary when he could not withstand Jiang Xueyao’s warm-up attack. As class begins, Xu Yuan discovers his pen is missing and asks Wen Xiaoning about it.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shows ingenuity in finding a plausible way to make the Historical Side Quest work. He is thrilled by the set’s rewards, especially the Soul Art, and reframes the emblem’s realm-limited benefit as a substantial advantage.
• His growing strength and calm dedication draw the attention of several girls. Zhao Afei arrives eager to speak with him but waits while he meditates.
• Fan Yan’s elaborate scheme for sleeping unnoticed—using talismans to silence his snoring and create an attentive appearance—continues to fool the teachers. Xu Yuan avoids waking him and turns to Wen Xiaoning instead.

Significant themes

• Possibility constrained by reality: The Historical Side Quest can reshape personal history only through events that could genuinely have happened.
• Luck, preparation, and opportunity: Xu Yuan’s shop refresh is a long shot, but he recognizes that an unlikely possibility can still be plausible.
• Progress and resourcefulness: He evaluates the set’s limitations strategically, manages his remaining money, and uses quiet time to improve his cultivation.

Plot points and events

• Wen Xiaoning offers Xu Yuan a spare pen and invites him to team with her for the next monthly exam, citing his performance against Jiang Xueyao. Xu Yuan declines indirectly, explaining that he had been the one who ignored the team’s orders.
• A message from Zhao Afei reveals that Wen Xiaoning secretly used a Transposition Talisman to take Xu Yuan’s pen before giving him a replacement. Xu Yuan suspects she did it to start a conversation.
• The class receives a comprehensive practice exam for the next day’s written test. Xu Yuan works steadily for nearly two hours before teacher Liu Mingdao calls him out.
• Liu tells Xu Yuan that the university admissions officers were impressed by his use of the Flying Swallow Chain and invites him to join a Spiritual Root demonstration in the auditorium.
• Yang Xiaobing explains that students who have reached the Qi Refining Third Layer display their Spiritual Roots after monthly exams. A Spiritual Root lets Spiritual Power remain in the body, and its nature can alter techniques. She gives Jiang Xueyao’s Thunder-Fire Root and her own Water Root as examples.
• Yang demonstrates a new skincare Talisman on Xu Yuan. He asks whether Jiang’s “Flame Spirit, Twin Flying Swallows” attack drew power from her Spiritual Root; Yang confirms it did. Xu Yuan wonders what his own Root is and how it might enhance his sword techniques.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan is cautious about claiming success, avoids committing to a new team, and remains focused on learning. His strong performance is beginning to attract attention from classmates and university recruiters, though he still lacks basic knowledge about Spiritual Roots.
• Wen Xiaoning shows personal interest in Xu Yuan, both by engineering a reason to speak with him and by proposing they team up. Her usual role as class monitor is interrupted when she is asked to supervise the exam.
• Zhao Afei teases Xu Yuan through Message-Passing Talismans, especially about his promise to buy lunch and Afei’s apparent interest in a girl. Their joking exchange also shows their easy friendship.
• Yang Xiaobing warmly welcomes Xu Yuan and explains the Spiritual Root system, while playfully testing her new Talisman on him.
• Liu Mingdao recognizes Xu Yuan’s skill and helps connect him with the university admissions officers.

Significant themes

• Power and recognition: Xu Yuan’s combat ability is earning notice, opening opportunities he did not previously have.
• Knowledge and growth: He is still catching up on cultivation fundamentals, and learning how Spiritual Roots influence techniques gives him a new direction for improvement.
• Teamwork and social bonds: Classmates’ interest in partnering with Xu Yuan contrasts with his existing trust in his current teammates.
• Humor and everyday life: The pen trick, Afei’s teasing, and Yang’s skincare Talisman balance the chapter’s cultivation and competitive elements.