Chapter Summaries

Plot points

• The school holds a Spiritual Root assessment, led by the singing Elder Tree, whose verses describe the different roots and encourage students to follow their own paths.
• Several students’ roots are revealed: Zhang Qiang has metal and poison; Zhang Qiangxiao has a mutated ice root; and Yang Xiaobing has a single water root.
• Xu Yuan’s test leaves sword-like cracks across the stump. Elder Tree identifies him as having metal and darkness roots, warning that he must follow the “righteous path.”
• Yang explains that metal and darkness complement each other but are considered dangerous because their combination favors concealment and lethal attacks. She jokes that Xu Yuan’s tactics in the group battle fit the reputation; his defense of tactics draws wary looks from nearby classmates.
• After testing, university recruiters approach Xu Yuan. Several invite him to qualify for independent admissions by reaching the Qi Refining Third Layer. One offers provisional admission, but it turns out to be from a vocational college’s evening correspondence program, so Xu Yuan backs away.
• Yang introduces Xu Yuan to Lin Weiliang, a recruiter from Luofu, one of the country’s top universities. Lin says she watched his group-stage matches, and the chapter ends as she holds out her hand.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan’s surprise at his unusual roots gives way to curiosity and concern about the stigma attached to them. He rejects the idea that roots determine morality and sees tactical skill as simply a way to win.
• Yang Xiaobing remains supportive and perceptive: she explains the assessment results, teases Xu Yuan, and helps connect him with a prestigious university recruiter.
• Teachers react to Xu Yuan’s roots with mixed wariness and interest, while recruiters’ offers show that his performance has already attracted attention.
• The assessment highlights how classmates’ roots are linked—at least in others’ minds—to temperament and combat style, including the icy reserve of Zhang Qiangxiao.

Significant themes

• Identity versus destiny: Elder Tree insists that a Spiritual Root does not define a person’s fate, even as students and teachers attach moral judgments to particular combinations.
• Prejudice and self-determination: Xu Yuan resists being labeled dangerous or treacherous because of his roots and tactics.
• Opportunity and status: The Qi Refining Third Layer acts as a barrier to elite admissions, while the dubious provisional offer exposes the commercial incentives behind recruitment.

Key plot points and events

• Teacher Lin Weiliang praises Xu Yuan’s performance in the monthly exam and gives him a registration form for the Nine Luminaries–Luofu early-admission training camp. Although Xu Yuan is only at Qi Refining Second Layer, Lin considers him promising enough to sit the assessment.
• Yang Xiaobing celebrates the opportunity and introduces Xu Yuan to Han Chaoshen, a teacher from Nine Luminaries University. Han compliments Xu’s exam but warns him that the test was flawed, that firearms will be ineffective against stronger cultivators, and that Xu should focus on cultivation rather than relying on weapons.
• After Xu leaves, Han tells Yang that she failed early admission, despite her previous A+ results, and says she lacks potential. He also warns her against associating with Xu, whom he considers to be on the wrong path.
• Yang tells Xu what happened, including Han’s disparaging assessment of her and his criticism of Xu. Xu suspects something is wrong: Lin treated them warmly, while Han dismissed them, and Yang’s results seem inconsistent with Han’s judgment.
• Xu recalls Jiang Xueyao’s powerful family and her sudden departure after the exam, and wonders whether the exam may have involved hidden complications. With neither he nor Yang able to rely on influential families, he resolves to stand by her.
• Xu declares Nine Luminaries University his “sworn enemy,” promising to defeat the students it is recruiting and prove that Yang was right to believe in him. He also insists that she has a bright future, despite Han’s verdict.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan remains modest about his achievement but is ambitious and alert to contradictions. Rather than accept Han’s judgment, he draws on his instincts and commits himself to supporting Yang.
• Yang Xiaobing is enthusiastic and proud of Xu, then hurt by her rejection. Even while upset, she tries to reassure him and worries that his promise to challenge Nine Luminaries students could put him in danger.
• Han Chaoshen presents himself as courteous and encouraging at first, but privately delivers blunt, discouraging judgments of Yang and Xu.
• Lin Weiliang acts as a supportive mentor, recognizing Xu’s promise and giving him an unusual opportunity.

Significant themes

• Recognition versus rejection: Two university representatives offer sharply conflicting evaluations, raising doubts about how fair or trustworthy early admission decisions are.
• Potential and self-belief: Xu refuses to let an authority figure define either his or Yang’s prospects.
• Loyalty and encouragement: Yang advocates for Xu, and Xu responds by pledging to prove her faith in him.
• Preparation and adaptation: Han’s critique of Xu’s reliance on firearms highlights the limits of his current approach and the need to grow stronger.
• Hidden forces and uncertainty: Jiang Xueyao’s family background and the conflicting admissions judgments suggest that important circumstances may lie beyond what Xu can yet see.

Character interactions

• Lin praises Xu and gives him the registration form after Yang enthusiastically vouches for him.
• Han advises Xu to stay humble and rely on cultivation, then privately rejects Yang and warns her about Xu.
• Yang conceals her hurt at first and tries to protect Xu from taking Han’s words to heart.
• Xu listens, questions the discrepancy between the teachers’ assessments, and reassures Yang by promising to demonstrate that she was right to believe in him.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan reassures Yang Xiaobing that he can defeat his competitors, insisting his confidence is genuine. She agrees that they should meet at Luofu after next year’s College Entrance Examination, then runs off, still uncertain whether he was boasting.
• Jiang Xueyao returns home after being summoned from school. Finding everything apparently normal, she questions why her father called her back.
• Her father first offers a plausible reason: a half-month sword lecture at Penglai. Jiang refuses to accept this explanation and presses him to reveal what he is hiding.
• He admits that her recent exam results drew the attention of the two Highnesses and even the Sacred Sovereign. He activates the household’s grand array before discussing the real issue: the group’s escape during the disaster ten years earlier may have revealed a better route than the one taken in the city’s final battle.
• Jiang realizes that Xu Yuan’s group may have found a viable escape path while rescuing the Commandery Princess. Their survival could cast doubt on the celebrated account that First Highness’s choices were the only way to save lives.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains boldly self-assured and tries to encourage Yang Xiaobing through his confidence and affection. Yang responds with tentative trust, deciding to match his ambition.
• Jiang Xueyao is perceptive and refuses to be placated by her father’s cover story. Once she grasps the political stakes, her composure gives way to shock and fear.
• Jiang Xueyao’s father is protective but politically cautious. He arranged her proposed trip to keep her away from a dangerous controversy, then explains the situation once she sees through him.
• The father and daughter’s exchange shifts from cool suspicion to grave, confidential warning. Meanwhile, Yang and Xu share a quieter, hopeful moment about their future.

Significant themes

• Confidence and self-belief: Xu Yuan’s certainty may sound like empty boasting to Yang, but he insists that ability must ultimately be demonstrated.
• The cost of truth: A seemingly small discovery about an escape route could overturn a heroic official narrative and endanger those connected to it.
• History, blame, and sacrifice: The father raises the possibility that celebrated sacrifices were not inevitable heroism, but the result of failure to find a better way.
• Protection versus agency: Jiang’s father tries to shield her by sending her away, while she insists on knowing the truth and confronting what it means.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Xueyao’s father tells her to keep attending school and take the next Monthly Exam with her original teammates. If the Border City Battle is tested again, they must fight sincerely and fail naturally—not deliberately—so the Jiang family appears uninvolved. He warns that holding back could bring a catastrophic “Heaven-Drowning Calamity,” but refuses to explain further.
• Xu Yuan finishes his exam paper and leaves school with dinner for the hospital.
• One group of boys threatens him over Jiang Xueyao. Xu Yuan says she has arranged ten fights with him and invites them to take his place; remembering her brutal reputation, they back down.
• Another group accosts him over his childhood friend Yang Xiaobing. Xu Yuan swiftly disarms one boy with his sword, prompting someone to recognize the technique as a flying sword.
• At the hospital, the Six-Armed Man and nine subordinates prepare to kill Xu Chengan’s son, who arrives each evening to bring dinner to Zhao Shulan. The villain orders them to draw lots for who will carry out the killing, then plans to send the victim’s head to Xu Chengan.

Character developments

• Jiang Xueyao shows composure and sound judgment, understanding that an ordinary appearance is safer than making conspicuous moves. She accepts that she and her teammates must give their all, even if they are expected to lose.
• Jiang Father is cautious and deeply alarmed by hidden royal-family matters. His stern warning shows how seriously he views the danger, though he keeps its full cause secret.
• Xu Yuan remains casual and witty when confronted, but his sudden, precise swordsmanship reveals formidable ability. He does not seem to realize how shocking his skill appears to others.
• The Six-Armed Man is confident and cruel, treating the planned murder as routine and taking pleasure in the prospect of tormenting Xu Chengan.

Significant themes and character interactions

• Concealment and suspicion: The Jiang family must avoid actions that could make them appear connected to dangerous events, while still behaving sincerely.
• Power hidden beneath appearances: Xu Yuan’s mild manner conceals impressive sword skill; Jiang Xueyao’s delicate appearance contrasts with her fearsome reputation.
• Courage versus intimidation: Xu Yuan’s first challengers retreat when asked to face Jiang Xueyao themselves, while the second group learns firsthand that Xu Yuan is far more dangerous than they assumed.
• Threats converging on Xu Yuan’s family: Schoolyard confrontations foreshadow the far graver plot against Xu Chengan’s son.

Plot points and events

• The six-armed man confirms that his nine trained subordinates will target Xu Chengan’s son, Xu Yuan, partly to make Xu Chengan suffer and to seize control of the “Netherworld Passage” lineage with Xia Yin, the Medium.
• After the six-armed man leaves, two silent, ordinary-looking guards appear at the hospital rooftop and kill all nine subordinates almost instantly. They identify themselves as Internal Guards and prepare for the arrival of the Commandery Princess.
• Xu Yuan reaches the hospital, where the ward has unexpectedly emptied. He finds his mother, Zhao Shulan, and an unfamiliar girl in a wheelchair arranging flowers.
• Xu Yuan shares a meal and a relaxed conversation with his mother. He hides his concern that he cannot contact his father, who is working in ruins, and reassures Zhao Shulan about his exams.
• Two of his parents’ colleagues, Old Li and Auntie Zhang, bring news of a Bureau talent-selection program. Xu Yuan eagerly agrees to participate, seeing it as a chance to earn real money. The selection is scheduled within three days at the Xingyao Building.
• Xu Yuan believes the opportunity is legitimate and does not notice that the girl in the wheelchair has been listening; she smiles as he accepts.

Character development and interactions

• Xu Yuan is increasingly confident in his enhanced agility and focused on improving his cultivation, but he is also practical and motivated by his family’s financial needs. He conceals worries from his mother to spare her stress.
• Zhao Shulan is loving and proud of her son, though she is cautious about anything that might disrupt his studies. She ultimately trusts his judgment.
• The six-armed man and Xia Yin reveal their mutual hostility toward Xu Chengan and their ambition to control the Netherworld Passage.
• Internal Guard Seventeen and his partner demonstrate formidable ability and disciplined loyalty, dispatching the attackers without visible effort.
• Old Li and Auntie Zhang act as supportive family friends, encouraging Xu Yuan to pursue the selection.
• The wheelchair-bound girl remains mysterious: she does not speak or turn around, but her final smile suggests she knows more than Xu Yuan realizes.

Significant themes

• Family devotion and sacrifice: Xu Yuan and his mother protect one another from worry, while his desire to earn money reflects concern for their circumstances.
• Hidden power and danger: Ordinary appearances conceal both the deadly Internal Guards and the girl’s apparent awareness.
• Ambition and opportunity: Xu Yuan sees the selection as a practical path forward, though its true nature remains uncertain.
• Identity and memory: Xu Yuan reflects on whether he has become the former Xu Yuan or is fulfilling that person’s wish.
• Conflict over legacy and control: The plot’s larger struggle centers on Xu Chengan’s lineage and the power associated with Netherworld Passage.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yuan arrives late at the Archaeology General Bureau’s newcomer selection, where a casually dressed examiner is waiting outside Room 301.
• After some teasing banter, Xu Yuan fills out an application and is asked to demonstrate his Swallow Song Sword Art. The examiner criticizes his textbook performance and asks him to show something original.
• Xu Yuan demonstrates “Swallow’s Return,” then is challenged to compose two poetic lines about it. When he notices a 2,000-yuan excellence prize, he recites a couplet and earns the money.
• Grateful, Xu Yuan buys the examiner milk tea and enters the selection room. Inside, he finds an illusory landscape of sky, clouds, and swallows, with several tense teenage candidates waiting.
• A crying girl emerges from a small house, announces that the selection is about to begin, and heads toward the waiting group. Xu Yuan turns back, suspecting she is an important “story character” and wanting to learn more.

Character development

• Xu Yuan is ambitious but practical: he wants recognition and a better future for himself and his mother, and the prize money matters because their finances are tight. He remains good-humored under the examiner’s criticism, shows skill and creativity, and repays the examiner’s generosity with milk tea.
• The examiner initially seems lazy, teasing, and impossible to please, but he is also perceptive. He recognizes Xu Yuan’s talent and rewards his poetry, while revealing his disillusionment with the cultivation-driven entertainment scene.

Themes

• Talent and creativity: Technical skill alone is not enough; the examiner pushes Xu Yuan to show originality and range.
• Money and opportunity: Even a modest prize has real significance for Xu Yuan and his family, grounding his ambitions in everyday needs.
• Human nature and conflict: Xu Yuan argues that removing supernatural power would not eliminate violence or war; conflict comes from people themselves.
• Performance and deception: The examiner criticizes powerful cultivators who exploit spectacle and fake stunts for attention and profit.
• Curiosity and exploration: Xu Yuan approaches the strange selection environment like a game, looking for clues and significant characters.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan and the examiner trade jokes and challenges, moving from suspicion and criticism toward mutual respect.
• Their conversation about milk tea, poetry, celebrity culture, and human conflict reveals their contrasting temperaments: Xu Yuan is candid and resourceful, while the examiner is cynical but thoughtful.
• Xu Yuan’s brief encounter with the crying girl sparks his curiosity, prompting him to turn back rather than simply follow the other candidates.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yuan consoles a crying girl who says her brother, the selection’s chief examiner, is making her sing and dance to encourage the fighters. Xu Yuan tells her the brother should perform himself; she reveals he is an authority figure and plans to hide in a chicken coop.
• During the selection, Xu Yuan quickly finds a pair of Meteoric Iron Battle Boots and passes the test. The examiner then asks him to find his little sister. Xu Yuan returns claiming he cannot, and the examiner disappears with the simulated setting.
• Xu Yuan is transported to a lavish hall, where a beautiful woman—apparently connected to the girl, Yiyi—rejects him as too young and weak. When he politely asks how to improve, a system announces that he has triggered the special event “Witch’s Heart.”
• The woman gives him another chance: he must propose how to defend a city and escape during an overwhelming demonic invasion. Xu Yuan first asks about civilian numbers and evacuation plans, then says the cultivators should hold off the enemy while the civilians flee.
• After showing him other cultivators’ plans, the woman decides he is too young and weak for a military role, but teaches him a martial technique. When the hall vanishes, the system declares the event cleared and unlocks the hard-mode “Border City Battle” training match, which costs gold to enter and provides no rewards.
• Xu Yuan is astonished that one lesson apparently cleared the event and begins reviewing what happened.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shows empathy toward the girl, curiosity about the examiner, and practical quick-thinking in the selection. He is also eager to learn and willing to ask for criticism rather than take rejection personally.
• His focus on civilians distinguishes him from the displayed plans, which prioritize individual escape, protecting important figures, or exploiting chaos.
• The girl is distressed by her brother’s demands and distrustful that her parents will help, but she trusts Xu Yuan enough to share her hiding place.
• The woman is initially dismissive, then responds to Xu Yuan’s humility by giving him another chance and personally coaching him. Her remark that he may later help ordinary people hints at a deeper purpose behind the test.
• The examiner’s aside suggests concern that Yiyi may become fond of Xu Yuan.

Significant themes

• Empathy and responsibility: Xu Yuan’s first instinct in a crisis is to account for civilians, not merely save himself or the powerful.
• Humility and growth: Asking where he falls short earns Xu Yuan an opportunity despite his obvious limitations.
• Practical judgment versus conventional strategy: His concern for evacuation and civilians contrasts with the cultivators’ self-focused or elite-focused escape plans.
• Gaming, lore, and unexpected consequences: Xu Yuan’s habit of questioning characters and examining situations leads him into a hidden event and an unforeseen training opportunity.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan replays the selection in his mind and realizes he was the only person genuinely taking part: the other “candidates” never spoke, showed emotion, or searched for the required objects. He checks the Archaeology General Bureau’s website and finds that the selection deadline has been changed to that day, suggesting the whole exercise was arranged specifically for him.
• Xu receives a transfer of 9,500 yuan. He concludes that the boy he once helped has returned to repay him, and that his promise to the boy activated the Witch’s Heart, granting him access to Hard Mode training matches for the Border City Battle. He remains puzzled by the identity of the “Uncle.”
• Uncle reflects on Xu’s test. Xu had focused on protecting civilians rather than on how cultivators could save themselves—an answer Uncle considered naïve, but one that matched the beliefs of the woman who had accepted Xu. Uncle also recognizes that Xu may have independently learned two techniques of the secret Flying Sword Art.
• Uncle teleports to a flower-filled garden, where a Beautifying Fruit in his milk tea makes him smile uncontrollably. In this good mood, he decides to end the unusually dangerous National Monthly Exams after students have died under unexplained circumstances.
• A guard reports that the All Things Unity Society and Demon Beasts have been found near Jiangbei Commandery. Uncle dismisses the society’s members as troublemakers, though their presence adds to the sense that larger events are unfolding.
• Lu Qingxuan visits his father, the Emperor, for advice about a dispute with members of Luofu. Uncle reassures him and urges him to take greater responsibility for governing.
• Qingxuan then reveals that Princess Yiyi used the Zhou Tian Instrument to travel to Jiangbei without permission. He has ordered her reprimanded and docked three months’ stipend. Uncle’s cheerful expression conceals his displeasure at Qingxuan’s harsh treatment of his sister.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan is observant and reflective, piecing together the selection’s hidden purpose and interpreting it as repayment from the boy he once helped. His concern for ordinary people distinguishes him from the test’s expected focus on cultivators’ survival.
• Uncle emerges as a powerful, perceptive ruler who values Xu’s compassion and talent. He also shows affection for Yiyi and disapproval of Qingxuan’s decision, though he masks both behind his forced smile.
• Lu Qingxuan appears conscientious and deferential toward his father, but his treatment of Yiyi suggests a strict, rule-bound approach that clashes with Uncle’s warmer view of family.
• Yiyi is absent, but her unsanctioned trip to Jiangbei becomes a point of tension between father and son.

Significant themes

• Compassion versus self-preservation: Xu’s instinct to protect civilians is treated as unconventional, yet it reflects the values Uncle respects.
• Misunderstanding and hidden motives: Xu, the boy who repaid him, the Bureau’s employees, and Uncle each possess only part of the truth.
• Power and responsibility: The Emperor weighs public safety, political stability, and the conduct of his children.
• Family loyalty versus rigid authority: Qingxuan enforces rules against Yiyi, while Uncle questions whether family members should stand by and care for one another.
• Masks and appearances: Uncle’s smile—caused by a harmless fruit—leads Qingxuan to misread his feelings, illustrating how outward expressions can obscure the truth.

Chapter Summary

• The emperor reconsiders the Border City Battle. A boy’s unusual concern for civilians prompts the emperor to question what really happened ten years ago—and whether Lu Yiyi’s supposed childishness had been misunderstood. He wonders whether cultivators had ignored ordinary people during the disaster, and whether this helps explain why Yiyi’s mother left.
• The emperor tightens protection around Yiyi. He orders additional guards and forbids officials and powerful families from approaching her without permission. He then commands the slaughter of underground groups and demon beasts across the region, along with a sweeping purge of surrounding territory and anyone deemed suspicious. He threatens severe punishment for criticism or resistance.
• The emperor confronts the sects. When a black-clad cultivator arrives on behalf of sects asking him to end the controversial exam on the Border City Battle, the emperor refuses. He orders the sect leaders to appear before him—or face the destruction of their secluded strongholds. The visitor submits, recognizing that the emperor’s friendly manner conceals a lethal threat.
• Yiyi meets Xu Yuan’s mother. At the hospital, Zhao Shulan chats warmly with Lu Yiyi, complimenting her name and appearance. Yiyi invites her to call her by her nickname.
• Xu Yuan gains a week and returns to ordinary concerns. A system-like message says his performance was not decisive, but his actions may create ripples in history. His survival competition and resurrection match are delayed by at least a week. Xu Yuan suspects his favorable treatment is connected to the mysterious child he met, then resolves to use the time to grow stronger.
• Xu Yuan handles practical matters. He receives compensation for the police damage to his door, goes shopping, installs a new warning-and-isolation formation disc, stocks up on food, and tries unsuccessfully to reach his archaeologist father. After studying, he practices the Netherworld Passage Art at midnight, intending to investigate the dried corpse inside.

Character Developments and Interactions

• The emperor shifts from indifference toward the past to suspicion and anger. His concern for Yiyi becomes evident through his protective orders, though his methods are ruthless and authoritarian. In conversation, his playful fishing metaphor and constant smile mask intimidation.
• The black-clad cultivator begins as a messenger trying to persuade the emperor, then quickly changes his stance when he realizes the danger and agrees to carry out the emperor’s demands.
• Xu Yuan remains practical and self-reliant: he treats the extra week as an opportunity to train, uses his compensation carefully, and returns to studying and investigating his supernatural technique.
• Zhao Shulan and Yiyi share a gentle, friendly exchange at the hospital, offering a brief contrast to the chapter’s political menace.

Significant Themes

• The value of ordinary people: The chapter questions whether cultivators considered civilians’ lives during the Border City disaster.
• Unresolved history and unintended consequences: A small, seemingly insignificant question may unsettle the accepted account of the past and reshape future events.
• Power, loyalty, and fear: The emperor’s protection of Yiyi is inseparable from threats and mass violence; those around him obey because dissent is dangerous.
• Parallel worlds and everyday life: The coexistence of flying cultivators and modern traffic frames Xu Yuan’s supernatural challenges alongside mundane concerns like shopping, studying, and repairing his door.

Key plot points and events

• After an exhausting day, Xu Yuan pushes himself to continue cultivating. He is determined to grow stronger, meet Yang Xiaobing at Luofu, reach the heights of the cultivation world, and prepare for the Nightmare-Level Competition.
• He reopens the Netherworld Passage and finds that the Dried Corpse has disappeared from where he left it. Following its footprints, he discovers a ruined town hidden in a desert oasis.
• Xu Yuan confronts the Dried Corpse, which has become a living monster. A system-like message explains the distinctions between demons, fiends, ghosts, and monsters.
• The Dried Corpse attacks and proves unusually resilient. Xu Yuan drives it off with a sword technique, then activates the Truth Soul Art, Azure Heaven Draws Yellow Springs, using the ring and pendant at the ruins.
• The art reveals a cloaked cultivator’s recorded memory. The cultivator explains that ghosts are difficult to kill, and that killing ghost monsters only temporarily relieves disasters: the dead have nowhere to go, so their souls consume one another and eventually form powerful Ghost Entities.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan’s fatigue gives way to renewed resolve. He sees strength not merely as an ambition but as necessary protection against the harsh realities of his society.
• He is cautious and practical in danger—trying to question the Dried Corpse, monitoring his limited Spiritual Power, and retreating from the encounter when appropriate—yet he also takes risks when the Truth Set reacts.
• The Dried Corpse is revealed as both intelligent and hostile. It can speak, heal quickly, and attack with startling speed, but it flees after Xu Yuan’s counterattack.
• The cloaked cultivator emerges as a past figure whose warning reframes the ghost problem as a systemic consequence of how the dead are treated.

Significant themes

• Perseverance and ambition: Xu Yuan refuses to settle for comfort because he fears what may come if he remains weak.
• The limits of force: Defeating individual supernatural threats cannot solve the deeper cause of recurring disasters.
• Death and social responsibility: The cultivator’s account suggests that humanity’s survival is tied to what happens to its dead.
• Truth and hidden history: The ring and pendant unlock a past testimony, hinting that understanding the world’s underlying rules may matter as much as fighting its monsters.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan tries to reason with the Dried Corpse and asks who killed it, but its desire to make him “one of its kind” turns the conversation into a fight.
• Their exchanges mix menace with dark humor, especially when the creature attacks Xu Yuan while he is trying to relieve himself.
• Xu Yuan then witnesses the cloaked cultivator’s memory. Though Xu Yuan asks who the speaker is, the cultivator ignores him and delivers a warning about ghosts and the fate of human souls.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan watches a vision of an ancient cultivator teaching Azure Heaven Draws Yellow Springs, a technique that converts a human’s Spiritual Power into Ghost Qi, briefly turning them into a Ghost Entity. It could let humans imitate Ghost Monsters’ ability to grow stronger by devouring others.
• The lesson abruptly ends. A message explains that only about half the technique survived the passage of ten thousand years. Xu Yuan retains its principles and opening steps but not the complete method.
• With his Spiritual Power exhausted, Xu Yuan is expelled from Netherworld Passage and reappears in the present near a barbecue restaurant. He realizes that movement in the historical world corresponds to movement in reality.
• Xu Yuan invites Yang Xiaobing to share a late-night meal. They discuss cultivation, ruins, and the arts world while watching a livestream of cultivator Tang Yunyu fighting zombies.
• Several troublesome young men approach. Yang Xiaobing warns them off, and Xu Yuan backs her up. They leave without a fight.
• Over dinner, Yang Xiaobing urges Xu Yuan to choose a supplementary cultivation discipline. He reflects on whether to continue with swordsmanship and body cultivation or pursue Soul Art instead.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shows patience and intense focus while learning the ancient technique, but is frustrated by its incompleteness. He also begins thinking more seriously about how to direct his cultivation.
• Yang Xiaobing is confident and protective, yet sympathetic toward the aimless young men, believing they might still turn their lives around. She plans to enter Luofu and imagines supporting Xu Yuan if he does not get in.
• Their friendship is warm and comfortable: Xu Yuan treats her to barbecue, they tease and advise each other, and they share an easy evening together.
• The restaurant owner appreciates their presence after Yang Xiaobing scares off the men.

Significant themes

• Knowledge lost to time: Even powerful ancient teachings may survive only in fragments.
• Cultivation’s costs and limits: Xu Yuan’s low realm and depleted Spiritual Power cut short his exploration.
• Choice and specialization: Cultivators must decide how to invest limited time and energy in their disciplines.
• Hope and second chances: Yang Xiaobing resists writing off people whose lives are currently adrift.
• Everyday companionship amid ambition: The quiet meal offers a glimpse of ordinary happiness alongside the characters’ demanding pursuit of cultivation.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Xiaobing tells Xu Yuan that Jiang Xueyao has been sought by two major cultivation institutions, but chose to stay with her family a little longer. She will take the written exam before leaving on a study trip.
• Xueyao goes to a railway bridge and confronts four young men who plan to prey on schoolchildren. She draws them into an alley and defeats them, crippling their meridians and tendons. She orders her family’s attendants to take them to work at a mine.
• Xu Yuan returns home exhausted and falls asleep. Before dawn, his body begins practicing the Witch’s Heart punch while he remains asleep, and glowing messages indicate that a mysterious legacy is unfolding through the movements.
• Wang Jia’er grows uneasy about the unusually heavy security around her at school. A white-haired, snake-bodied old man enters her dormitory and kills her.
• In the Imperial Capital, officials discuss the Demon Race’s sudden offer to negotiate peace. Two demon cities have been destroyed in a manner resembling the destruction of Yanmen ten years earlier. The Emperor then learns that Wang Jia’er is the second of three students from the underground tunnel exploration to die.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Xueyao acts on her own judgment rather than trusting someone else’s account. Haunted by a previous mistake involving Xu Yuan, she carefully waits until the men reveal their intentions before striking. Her actions show both a strong sense of responsibility toward her family’s city and a ruthless approach to protecting it.
• Xu Yuan remains unaware of the danger around him, focused on resting after an exhausting day. His sleepwalking practice suggests that his newly acquired legacy is beginning to take effect.
• Wang Jia’er senses that something is wrong but cannot identify the threat before it reaches her.
• The Emperor and Crown Prince respond to the deaths and the possible connection between the demon cities and Yanmen. The Crown Prince accepts responsibility for failing to protect the students, while the Emperor insists the tragedy is no one’s fault and considers meeting the Demon Race.

Significant themes

• Justice and vigilant protection: Xueyao takes direct action against those who threaten vulnerable people.
• Hidden forces and growing danger: Xu Yuan’s unexplained legacy, the dormitory intruder, and the destroyed demon cities point to threats beyond the characters’ awareness.
• The limits of protection: Despite guards and official oversight, Wang Jia’er is killed, prompting questions about the safety of the students.
• Consequences of past events: The destruction of Yanmen resurfaces as a possible clue to current events, linking old mysteries to the escalating conflict.

Key plot points

• Xu Yuan wakes from what he thinks was a dream and realizes he received a powerful inheritance: the incomplete sword art Night Rain, which lets him form Spiritual Thought Threads and control objects or blades from a distance. He tests it by pulling a pen into his schoolbag, but the technique quickly drains his Spiritual Power.
• At the hospital, Xu Yuan brings breakfast to his mother, Zhao Shulan, and tells her he passed his workplace selection and earned 9,500 yuan. He also helps a hospitalized girl, Yiyi, by buying her food and exchanging contact details.
• After Xu Yuan leaves, Yiyi unexpectedly reveals that she can move despite claiming she cannot walk. She uses a Miniature Teleportation Array to disappear, taking the breakfast with her.
• At school, Xu Yuan sits the Monthly Exam under an illusion array that turns classmates into animals to prevent cheating. The difficult paper slows everyone down.
• Classmates Jiang Xueyao and Yang Xiaobing finish early and pass the classroom window, prompting a commotion. Their differing gestures toward Xu Yuan—Jiang’s teasing look and Yang’s encouragement—make him wonder how they completed the exam so quickly.
• Xu Yuan concludes that cultivation improves memory and mental speed as well as physical abilities, and resolves to reach the Qi Refining Third Layer.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan gains a major new technique, shows kindness by helping Yiyi, and remains attentive to his mother’s needs. He also begins to see cultivation as a way to improve his academic performance.
• Zhao Shulan is proud of her son and encourages him not to overwork himself financially, while acknowledging the strain of her illness on the family.
• Yiyi appears frail and dependent, but her sudden escape reveals that she has concealed significant abilities and circumstances. She shares a warm rapport with Zhao Shulan.
• Jiang Xueyao and Yang Xiaobing stand out as exceptionally capable students: both have completed the exam early, and each communicates with Xu Yuan in her own way.
• Liu Mingdao manages the exam by reassuring students about its difficulty and activating the anti-cheating and surveillance arrays.

Significant themes

• Inheritance and responsibility: Xu Yuan’s new power comes with a sense of gratitude and obligation toward Little Boy.
• Kindness and family devotion: Xu Yuan cares for his mother and helps a stranger without hesitation.
• Hidden appearances: Yiyi’s supposed helplessness masks an ability to teleport, while the exam’s illusion transforms classmates into animals.
• Cultivation as broader growth: Xu Yuan recognizes that spiritual advancement can strengthen memory and reasoning, not just physical power.

Key plot points and events

• In the Imperial Capital, Lu Yiyi brings the Emperor breakfast and quietly reveals that she gave Xu Yuan a fragment from his collection of rare-book fragments. The fragment appears to contain the foundational source method of the Sword-Flight Art.
• The Emperor first worries about the valuable fragment, then accepts the gift after learning that giving it to Xu Yuan made Yiyi happy. He orders his shadows to keep monitoring Xu Yuan, despite believing that Xu Yuan is probably safe.
• After finishing his morning exam, Xu Yuan decides to focus on cultivation once the Monthly Exam is over. His teammate Zhao Afei reports that their combat team likely ranked in the national top three, and offers to treat Xu Yuan to lunch.
• On the way to the cafeteria, Xu Yuan senses a supernatural presence. He leaves Zhao Afei and follows the stench of decay to the rooftop, where he finds a black crow that is actually a Ghost Entity.
• The encounter triggers a compulsory survival competition called “Hardcore Exorcism,” set at Nightmare difficulty. Xu Yuan must defeat three Ghost Entities in separate fights, each within a half-hour flashback cycle. Failure means the destruction of both his soul and body; success will remove the hidden danger and strengthen his ability, Competition.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Yiyi acts on her own judgment, giving Xu Yuan the fragment because it makes her happy. Her playful, affectionate exchange with the Emperor shows she can influence him while remaining candid about her motives.
• The Emperor shifts from concern over his treasured fragment to prioritizing Yiyi’s happiness. Still protective and suspicious of threats, he orders continued surveillance of Xu Yuan.
• Xu Yuan is focused on improving his cultivation and exam performance, but the real-world ghost encounter forces him to confront the death he experienced in his previous life. He recovers from his moment of panic and faces the immediate danger.
• Zhao Afei celebrates the team’s apparent success and offers Xu Yuan a meal, providing a brief moment of ordinary camaraderie before the supernatural crisis.

Significant themes

• Personal happiness over material value: The Emperor accepts that the fragment’s worth is secondary to the happiness it brought Yiyi.
• Protection and uncertainty: The Emperor’s surveillance reflects concern for Xu Yuan, while the sudden ghost attack shows that danger can reach him beyond the controlled exam setting.
• Survival and confronting death: Xu Yuan’s past-life memories intensify the stakes of the new trial, which demands that he prove he can survive.
• Ordinary life interrupted: School, exams, and friendship give way abruptly to a deadly supernatural contest.

Key plot points and events

• The competition’s countdown begins, and Xu Yuan realizes he must survive a sequence of Ghost Entity attacks to earn additional protection.
• A crow-like Ghost attacks him. Xu Yuan defeats it in under a minute with the Qiong Jia Sword and the Flying Sword Art, using spiritual threads to control the blade and briefly restrain the creature.
• Before dying, the crow reveals that Xu Yuan bears a Predation Mark from a Greater Ghost—apparently the many-legged woman he encountered earlier. It dies before explaining how to remove the mark.
• Xu Yuan spends most of the remaining time restoring his Spiritual Power. Before the next encounter, he uses the competition’s half-hour flashback to prepare a battlefield in the gymnasium equipment storeroom, scattering blunt training swords across the floor.
• A far more powerful black python appears. Ordinary Sword Qi and the Flying Swallow Chain barely injure it.
• Xu Yuan unleashes Night Rain, a newly devised technique that uses spiritual threads and extraordinary finger speed to control hundreds of swords at once. The swords overwhelm and kill the python, but the effort leaves his hands unusable.
• With another round still to come and only half an hour before the next flashback, Xu Yuan is nearly unable to fight.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows strategic discipline: he prioritizes quick victories, uses recovery time carefully, and chooses a location that can turn the environment into a weapon.
• He expands his abilities beyond conventional swordsmanship, drawing on his gaming reflexes and spiritual control to create Night Rain.
• His growing power is matched by increasing vulnerability. Though he survives two formidable enemies, the second battle exhausts him so completely that he may not be capable of facing the next one.

Significant themes

• Survival through strategy and adaptation: Xu Yuan wins not through strength alone, but by managing time, resources, and terrain.
• Power at a cost: His most devastating technique also leaves him physically incapacitated.
• Escalating danger: Each Ghost is more threatening, and surviving one encounter does not guarantee survival in the next.
• Skill transformed into art: Xu Yuan’s hand speed and control culminate in Night Rain, a technique described as a manifestation of skill approaching the Dao.

Character interactions

• The crow taunts Xu Yuan as a “monster,” while he insists he is human. Their combat becomes a contest of speed, strength, and technique.
• Xu Yuan interrogates the defeated crow about its attack and the Predation Mark, but kills it before learning how to remove the mark.
• He has no meaningful exchange with the python; their encounter is a desperate battle, ending with Xu Yuan’s improvised sword barrage.

Key plot points and events

• After two back-to-back battles, Xu Yuan is badly exhausted, with injured hands and only half his Spiritual Power restored. One Ghost Entity remains, due to arrive when the countdown reaches zero.
• He calls his friend Zhao Afei to the gym and borrows Afei’s family furnace and storage satchel, claiming he needs them to practice a secret art. He keeps the danger from Afei, who cannot see Ghosts.
• Xu Yuan rests, then enters the furnace and painfully forces his injured fingers into the hand seal for the Netherworld Passage Art—even breaking a bone to complete it.
• The art succeeds: the furnace’s interior connects to the Underworld, while Xu Yuan remains in the living world as part of the furnace. He binds his sword to his hand so it cannot slip during the coming fight.
• A huge, human-headed centipede Ghost arrives. Its venom corrodes the room but cannot reach Xu Yuan. Believing its prey is hidden in the Underworld, it enters the furnace twice to investigate.
• On its second entry, Xu Yuan catches it off guard and thrusts his sword upward with all his remaining strength. The strike lands, though its result is not yet shown.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows ingenuity and resolve, turning his exhaustion and the furnace’s unusual properties into a trap. His willingness to endure severe pain—and even break a finger—to prepare underscores his desperation and determination.
• Zhao Afei is established as a loyal, generous friend. He lends Xu Yuan valuable equipment without pressing him about the secret art, while remaining unaware of the danger.
• The centipede Ghost is powerful and predatory, but its confidence leads it to misread Xu Yuan’s hiding place and enter his trap.

Significant themes

• Resourcefulness under pressure: Xu Yuan uses limited strength, borrowed tools, and the Ghost’s assumptions to create an opening.
• Endurance and sacrifice: His physical injuries deepen as he pushes onward rather than retreating.
• Deception and perception: The art creates a confusing boundary between the living world and the Underworld, letting Xu Yuan conceal himself in plain sight.
• Friendship and trust: Afei’s uncomplicated help contrasts with Xu Yuan’s decision to protect him by keeping him uninvolved.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan asks Afei for the furnace and satchel, disguising his purpose as secret cultivation training. Their exchange is playful and teasing, revealing easy familiarity and trust.
• Xu Yuan avoids involving Afei directly because Afei cannot see the Ghosts and would be vulnerable.
• The centipede taunts Xu Yuan and searches for him, while Xu Yuan stays silent and waits. Its repeated entry into the furnace gives him the chance to attack.

Key plot points and events

• The centipede hunts Xu Yuan but cannot reach him because the Pill Furnace’s mouth connects the Mortal Realm and the Underworld in a way Xu Yuan has learned to exploit. Hidden inside, he repeatedly wounds it with the Qiong Jia Sword whenever it crosses the opening.
• The centipede flees, but its Predation Mark forces it back when it strays too far. It attacks the Pill Furnace, only to discover the furnace itself cannot be damaged.
• A Dried Corpse appears at the furnace entrance and challenges the centipede. The two are pulled into the Underworld and fight; the centipede wins, but the struggle leaves it badly injured.
• As the centipede returns to the Mortal Realm, Xu Yuan attacks from within the Pill Furnace with a full sword-technique combination. Unable to use his injured hand, he controls the Flying Sword with his toes, killing the centipede.
• Xu Yuan receives confirmation that he has won a Nightmare-Level Competition. A mysterious, godlike figure appears, reveals that Xu Yuan is the only person to survive such a trial, and transfers a power that transforms Xu Yuan’s ability into a Fundamental Source Power Seed. The figure also leaves him a Shrine, then fades away, calling himself the last remnant of the Three Realms’ true power.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan demonstrates strategic ingenuity, patience, and adaptability. Rather than risk leaving his safe position, he uses the furnace’s spatial rules and ultimately finds a way to fight despite his injured arm.
• The centipede shifts from confident predator to frustrated, wounded prey. It misunderstands the furnace’s mechanics and is ultimately undone by its own retreat and Xu Yuan’s concealed attacks.
• The mysterious figure reveals himself as a fading survivor from an earlier era who brought powerful outsiders into this realm. He recognizes Xu Yuan’s exceptional combat talent and entrusts him with his remaining power.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity over strength: Xu Yuan wins by understanding the battlefield and adapting, not by overpowering the centipede.
• Survival through patience: Staying hidden is more effective than pursuing a risky finishing blow.
• Potential under pressure: Xu Yuan’s desperate circumstances lead him to improvise a way to wield his sword with his toes.
• Isolation and legacy: Xu Yuan is the only survivor among the figure’s chosen fighters, and the figure passes on the burden of an older generation’s power.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan and the centipede engage in a tactical contest, with the centipede’s threats and attacks countered by Xu Yuan’s concealment and spatial strategy.
• The centipede’s fight with the Dried Corpse distracts and exhausts it, indirectly creating an opening for Xu Yuan.
• The mysterious figure speaks with Xu Yuan, explains his significance, gives him power and a Shrine, then disappears before Xu Yuan can learn more.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan survives the Nightmare-Level Hardcore Exorcism and receives three rewards: the curse mark is erased, Three Realms True Power is infused into him, and he gains a mysterious Shrine he is not yet qualified to understand.
• He realizes the being he encountered was likely right that he has died three times: in a plane crash, when the original Xu Yuan was struck by a Flying Sword, and when he himself was pinned on the bridge. He worries that the dangers hinted at by the past may threaten him again.
• The dried corpse returns through the pill furnace. Xu Yuan cannot fight, but the corpse sees the dead centipede, assumes the human world is too dangerous, and retreats to the Underworld.
• Xu Yuan uses his last strength to call Yang Xiaobing, then passes out. She takes him to the infirmary, where a Spirit-Draw Array treats his exhaustion and damaged meridians.
• As he recovers, a message announces that his personal power seed, “Competition,” is evolving for the second time and asks him to name it. Xu Yuan chooses “Peerless Hero.”
• Meanwhile, Lu Yiyi learns that two of the three students who entered the tunnel after the Monthly Exam have died mysteriously. She discovers Xu Yuan has been training intensely and decides his recovery must be accelerated. Rather than risk his refusing medicine, she secretly replaces the infirmary’s array with a much more powerful one.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan is shaken by the possibility that he has died three times and that unseen threats are closing in, but he remains determined to grow stronger. He hides the supernatural danger from Yang Xiaobing, telling her he merely overtrained.
• Yang Xiaobing is frightened by Xu Yuan’s condition and openly urges him not to sacrifice himself for success. She has brought his mother lunch in his place and stays to care for him, massaging his injured arm despite his protests.
• Lu Yiyi reveals a practical, protective side: she respects Xu Yuan’s instinct to push himself but discreetly intervenes to help him recover faster. Her concern is restrained and strategic rather than openly expressed.
• Xu Yuan and Yang Xiaobing share a warm, trusting bond, while her scolding and hands-on care provide comic relief amid the chapter’s danger.

Significant themes

• Survival and the cost of ambition: Xu Yuan’s drive to improve leaves him physically broken, raising questions about how far he should push himself.
• Hidden danger and uncertain history: The truth about Xu Yuan’s deaths and the mysterious threats connected to the past remains unresolved.
• Care expressed through action: Yang Xiaobing’s devotion and Lu Yiyi’s covert intervention show different forms of protection.
• Power through competition: Xu Yuan’s naming of his evolving power seed signals a new stage in his development, though its full nature is still unknown.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Yiyi reflects on how Xu Yuan was targeted despite acting heroically in an illusory exam. Frustrated by her powerlessness and the palace’s injustices, she rejects her former passivity.
• When Lu Chenzhou calls to explain that he reassigned her guards, Lu Yiyi openly denounces him as a hypocrite and incompetent, then hangs up.
• She contacts Jiang Xueyao and warns that Lu Chenzhou has proposed adding her to a list of prospective consorts. Jiang, who has fled overseas, asks Lu Yiyi to save her as well as Xu Yuan and the other students. Lu Yiyi agrees, and Jiang chooses to seek her help.
• Two days later, Xu Yuan has recovered and cultivates at home, hoping to advance from Qi Refining Second Layer. Zhao Afei visits with a rare Celestial Star Cycle Grand Array, a costly Formation Disc given as thanks to Xu Yuan.
• The two cultivate with the array. Xu Yuan breaks through to Qi Refining Third Layer and secretly uses a thread of Dark Spirit to tap Zhao Afei. Alarmed by the unexplained sensation, Zhao asks whether anything supernatural has happened in Xu Yuan’s home.

Character developments

• Lu Yiyi shifts from constrained resignation to bold defiance, deciding to act according to her own will and protect those in danger.
• Jiang Xueyao demonstrates resolve by asking Lu Yiyi for help directly and choosing to cooperate despite her family’s powerful position.
• Xu Yuan remains focused on cultivation and his future goals; his breakthrough marks a significant increase in ability.
• Zhao Afei shows growing confidence as his family’s regard for him improves, and his generosity toward Xu Yuan strengthens their friendship.

Significant themes

• Agency and rebellion: Lu Yiyi’s choice to speak openly signals a break from passive endurance.
• Power, privilege, and injustice: Xu Yuan’s targeting and Lu Yiyi’s memories expose the unequal consequences of political influence.
• Growth through cooperation: Lu Yiyi and Jiang form an alliance, while Zhao’s gift helps Xu Yuan progress.
• Ambition and preparation: Xu Yuan’s cultivation reflects the effort required to meet looming academic and supernatural challenges.

Character interactions

• Lu Yiyi confronts Lu Chenzhou over his treatment of her, then offers Jiang Xueyao protection and support.
• Jiang entrusts Lu Yiyi with helping her and the endangered students, while insisting that the moment to act is now.
• Zhao brings Xu Yuan a rare cultivation array as a thank-you, and they cultivate together.
• Xu Yuan’s secret pranks unsettle Zhao, ending the chapter on a comic note.

Key events

• While Zhao Afei helps operate the Formation Disc, Xu Yuan demonstrates a new use of Metal Spirit: he forms sharp, blade-like threads that can cut through a flower stem.
• The pair cultivate for three hours. The Disc consumes valuable Spirit Stones, but Xu Yuan reaches the peak of Qi Refining Third Layer and nears another breakthrough; Zhao Afei also feels close to advancing.
• After Afei leaves, Xu Yuan worries about the cost and safe storage of Spirit Stones and the Formation Disc. He decides Training Matches might let him gather supplies while improving his combat skills, and plans to try one after visiting his mother.
• At the hospital, Xu Yuan notices the lonely girl in the neighboring bed, Lu Yiyi, has not eaten. He takes her out in a wheelchair to find dinner.
• Yiyi says she plans to leave that night and calls it a meal before they part. Xu Yuan suspects something is seriously wrong and tries to encourage her, but she rejects his belief that life is beautiful. He eventually suggests cooking for her at his home after she rejects two crowded—or apparently not crowded—restaurants.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan grows more confident in his cultivation and inventive with Metal Spirit, but remains cautious about money, powerful observers, and protecting his belongings. His concern for his mother extends to Yiyi, whom he treats with patience and practical kindness.
• Zhao Afei is impressed by Xu Yuan’s technique and eager to advance himself. Their cooperative cultivation strengthens their friendship.
• Lu Yiyi is withdrawn and disillusioned, suggesting severe personal distress. She accepts Xu Yuan’s help but remains guarded about her circumstances.
• Xu Yuan and Yiyi misunderstand each other: he interprets her talk of leaving and a “last meal” as signs she may intend to harm herself, while she means to say goodbye and keep him out of danger. Unknown to him, her many concealed Golden Core guards are nearby, making the seemingly ordinary outing anything but private.

Significant themes

• Cultivation has a cost: rapid progress depends on rare, expensive resources, creating practical and security problems.
• Compassion amid isolation: Xu Yuan notices Yiyi’s loneliness and responds with care, even as she has lost faith in life.
• Appearance versus reality: Xu Yuan sees an ordinary, vulnerable patient, while Yiyi’s hidden entourage and grim experience of power and violence reveal a far more dangerous reality.