Chapter Summaries

Matthew Callan struggled to assemble a freshman hunting team for the School Hunting Meet after Sir Friedman tasked him with winning first place and suppressing Sephrano. His preferred classmates had joined or declined other teams, leaving him to consider the transfer students.

• Matthew sought Jiang Yu as a hunter, but she said she was not joining this year's meet and warned him that Dunton was assembling a team.
• Li Meng defended Jiang Yu and argued with her after Matthew left.
• Matthew invited Dunton to be Lead Hunter, but Dunton declined because he was forming his own team.
• Dunton told Matthew that Zhang Jixin and the other male classmates had already organized a hunting team.
• Dunton suggested Matthew approach the transfer students if he wanted hunters with stronger “alpha traits,” and Matthew walked away considering the advice.

Matthew tried to recruit Ilena for his newly formed Karen Hunting Team, enticing her with access to Alpha Castle’s Baroque architecture for her assignment. Zheng Qing interrupted their conversation, and Ilena told him she was close to identifying the mysterious talisman in her notebook.

• Matthew approached the transfer students and invited them to join the freshman hunt, singling out Ilena as a potential roving hunter.
• Ilena declined because she needed to research Baroque architecture for an assignment, but Matthew offered to show her Sir Friedman’s lounge at Alpha Castle.
• Matthew said Ilena could visit as a member of his Karen Hunting Team, and she appeared interested despite having no hunting experience.
• Zheng Qing interrupted Matthew and Ilena, and Matthew left after asking Ilena to send him a Paper Crane.
• Zheng Qing asked what they had discussed, and Ilena showed him her notebook and said she was close to finding the mysterious talisman.

Zheng Qing forgot to recruit a Team Manager after becoming absorbed in discussing a talisman with Ilena, and his friends scolded him over lunch. The group resumed planning for the Hunting Moon before a mysterious, nimble freshman named Omega caught their attention, leaving Zheng Qing surprised to learn he was the son of the burly owner of Yota Restaurant.

• Zheng Qing admitted that he had spent time discussing a troublesome talisman with Ilena and had forgotten to speak with the Team Manager candidates.
• Zhang Jixin, Fatty Xin, and Xiao Xiao criticized Zheng Qing for neglecting his duties, and the group agreed the Knight Order needed rewards and penalties.
• The group teased Zheng Qing about Ilena and warned him that a Vampire might have taken an interest in her.
• Zheng Qing stopped Fatty Xin's singing with a Suppression Talisman and redirected the group to Hunting Team Training.
• A skinny freshman named Omega dashed through the cafeteria, skillfully carrying a loaded tray over a witch's head.
• Xiao Xiao identified Omega as the son of the owner of Yota Restaurant, and Zheng Qing was astonished because he remembered the owner as enormous.

Omega delivered a large order to Andrew’s group at Yota Restaurant and was recruited for their hunting team. Tempted by the chance to use his dangerous spells against Lan Que in the Freshman Hunting Competition, he had not yet answered when his father interrupted to collect payment.

• Omega rushed a pile of Jiuyou Academy cafeteria dishes to Andrew’s table and finished one minute and thirty-one seconds before the deadline.
• Andrew praised Omega’s delivery and invited him to join the team for the Freshman Hunting Competition.
• Andrew listed Zheng Qing, Matthew, Adam, and Lan Que as possible competitors, and Omega grew eager at the prospect of facing Lan Que.
• Omega’s father interrupted the conversation to ask for payment, and Andrew tossed him two Gold Beans.

Andrew tested Omega for a scouting role in the Ouroboros Hunting Team and, impressed by his speed and communication skills, offered him a place. Omega joined after his father agreed, and Andrew began the team’s first full meeting.

• Andrew gave Omega a timed task that tested his speed, search ability, and communication.
• Omega used a talking hummingbird to report the cafeteria menu and returned with the requested food in under a minute.
• Omega's father voiced concerns about the dangers of monster hunting and the family's need for his help at the restaurant.
• After hearing Omega could receive one jade coin each month, the restaurant owner agreed to his joining.
• Omega accepted the offer, and Andrew announced the Ouroboros Hunting Team's first full meeting.

Julian introduced Omega to Andrew and Amber, and the group finalized the roles for their hunting party. Amber demonstrated his divination ability by predicting Omega's father would knock, just before the restaurant owner entered to offer tea.

• Julian explained to Andrew how he recognized the restaurant owner's unspoken request and introduced Omega to Amber.
• Julian gave Omega a School Hospital sick-leave certificate, and Omega signed it and sent it to his professor.
• Andrew explained that the hunting party had five members, including Iseni, a merman appointed as Assistant Hunter.
• Julian recommended Amber for the right assistant position and offered to serve as the roaming hunter instead.
• Amber predicted three knocks and a tea offer, and the restaurant owner immediately knocked and entered with his offer.

Amber demonstrated his divination abilities to Andrew Taylor and warned that Zheng Qing was surrounded by blood-red color but no visible threads of causality. The group was left wondering whether First University’s Guardian Formation concealed something extraordinary about Zheng Qing.

• Amber explained that his eyes could perceive causal threads and occasional auras, and that daily practice had made divination instinctive for him.
• Amber predicted that a boy would toss a coin into a magician’s hat, crash into a milk tea shop’s banner, and that Andrew would meet an acquaintance; each prediction came true.
• Andrew recognized Zheng Qing outside the milk tea shop, and Amber said a request Zheng Qing made to Jiang Yu would be refused.
• Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu visited Dr. Duzem to have the recovering sprites checked, while Zheng Qing considered finding a manager for the You Zui Hunting Team.
• Andrew told Zheng Qing that Amber had predicted Jiang Yu would reject one of his requests, but Zheng Qing dismissed the claim and left with Jiang Yu.
• Amber warned Andrew and Julian that Zheng Qing was surrounded by blood-red color yet had no causal threads, and suggested First University’s Guardian Formation might suppress signs of his anomaly.

Zheng Qing walked with Jiang Yu through the academy during a lantern-riddle game and asked her to manage his hunting team. Jiang Yu listened to his request, but her answer was interrupted when Li Meng spotted them together with a huge bouquet of roses.

• Jiang Yu solved lantern riddles and collected bouquets of roses while Zheng Qing carried them and she gathered the talismans hidden inside.
• Jiang Yu told Zheng Qing about her family's hunting meets and explained that she planned to enter the School Hunting Meet's Freshman Hunting Competition.
• Jiang Yu asked whose hunting team Zheng Qing had joined, and he explained that he had formed his own team with Zhang Jixin as Lead Hunter and several other members.
• Zheng Qing asked Jiang Yu to become his hunting team's manager, and Jiang Yu finished collecting the talismans and took back the roses.
• Li Meng came upon Zheng Qing and Jiang Yu exchanging the bouquet and demanded to know what they were doing.

Zheng Qing failed to recruit Jiang Yu and Liu Feifei as Team Managers, while Jiang Yu warned Li Meng to stay out of the School Hunting Meet. Back at the dormitory, Zheng Qing learned that the Judgement Hunting Team’s training had been postponed because the school’s ranked teams had to clear the hunting grounds.

• Li Meng questioned Zheng Qing’s explanation for returning Jiang Yu’s bouquet and threatened to write to her Great-Grandma.
• Zheng Qing asked Jiang Yu to manage his hunting team, but she declined because she was too busy.
• Jiang Yu warned Li Meng that she could not participate in the School Hunting Meet, and Li Meng protested about Jiang Yu’s Transformation Spell and Zheng Qing holding her hand.
• Zheng Qing visited Liu Feifei in the library to ask her to be Team Manager, but she declined after Nicholas discouraged her from monster hunting.
• Xiao Xiao told Zheng Qing that the Judgement Hunting Team’s training had been postponed until the weekend because ranked teams had to clear hazards from the hunting grounds before Thursday.
• Dylan told Zheng Qing that the dormitory’s fat cat had been mauling the Little Paper Cranes that tried to fly inside.

As the School Hunting Meet opening ceremony approached, Zheng Qing remained unable to find a suitable Team Manager and planned to ask Jiang Yu again at the Hunting Dance Party. On the way to Hunting Ground No. 1, he ran into Sima Yangyun and abandoned Xiao Xiao with her.

• Xiao Xiao explained that the auspicious Geng Yin Day suited hunting, while Zheng Qing lamented his failure to find a Team Manager.
• Zheng Qing considered Lin Guo and Li Meng as last resorts, then decided to speak with Jiang Yu at the Hunting Dance Party.
• Zheng Qing spotted Sima Yangyun in the crowd and greeted her as Mr. Sima.
• Zheng Qing pretended Xiao Xiao had a history question for Sima Yangyun, then slipped away toward Hunting Ground No. 1.
• Xiao Xiao greeted Sima Yangyun awkwardly with, "Hi, darling..."

Zheng Qing entered Hunting Ground No. 1 and found Xiao Xiao already seated there after taking a staff passage with Darling. Their teasing was interrupted when Fatty Xin and Zhang Jixin arrived, mistaking Zheng Qing’s threat about the Heng Ha Er Jiang for a call to action.

• Zheng Qing passed through the crowded entrance to Hunting Ground No. 1 and found Xiao Xiao waiting in the stands.
• Xiao Xiao explained that he had followed Darling through the professors’ exclusive passage, while Zheng Qing teased him about her.
• Xiao Xiao and Zheng Qing traded barbs about romance and who was more likely to end up alone.
• Zheng Qing threatened to summon the Heng Ha Er Jiang, and Fatty Xin and Zhang Jixin appeared behind him, ready to fight.
• Xiao Xiao asked whether Fatty Xin and Zhang Jixin were the Heng Ha Er Jiang, and Zheng Qing denied knowing what they had taken it to mean.

Zheng Qing learned that Fatty Xin and Zhang Jixin had gotten drunk after a potion-making contest, then discussed the risks of using Fortune Potion and Transfiguration Potion with Xiao Xiao. As the Hunting Moon opening ceremony approached, he searched the crowded venue’s dais for the First University headmaster.

• Fatty Xin and Zhang Jixin explained that Fatty Xin had won an Alpha club powder-making contest and that they had celebrated with Amber Light, liqueur chocolates, and roast meat.
• Zheng Qing told Xiao Xiao that his recent plans had gone wrong and considered drinking Fortune Potion to improve his luck.
• Xiao Xiao warned Zheng Qing that excessive Fortune Potion could drain his future luck, and Zheng Qing guessed it might leave him unlucky for decades.
• Zheng Qing asked whether Transfiguration Potion could be used in the hunting ground, and Xiao Xiao pointed out that transforming into a harmless animal would be dangerous there.
• Zheng Qing examined the packed Hunting Ground No. 1 and searched the dais for the First University headmaster as the opening ceremony drew near.

Zheng Qing watched the School Hunting Meet ceremony and studied the important guests seated on the dais while trying to keep his friends from getting into trouble. The university’s top leaders had not arrived yet, and Zhang Jixin fell asleep after joking with Fatty Xin and Xiao Xiao.

• Zheng Qing examined the empty seats reserved for First University's President and the two council speakers, then looked over the guests who had arrived.
• Zheng Qing searched the dais for Su Shijun but failed to find her, and he recognized the Multi-armed People's ambassador among the guests.
• Zhang Jixin and Fatty Xin talked about climbing onto the dais to ask famous hunters for autographs, and Zheng Qing warned them about its protective runes.
• Zheng Qing teased Zhang Jixin about replacing him as Lead Hunter if he ended up in the hospital, prompting Fatty Xin to volunteer for the position.
• Xiao Xiao cited a hunting-team regulation about ghosts, and Zhang Jixin inspected it before falling asleep in Fatty Xin's arms.

Zheng Qing and the other students watched a great fish emerge from the mist, transform toward a Kunpeng, and get swallowed by a Qiu Dragon. The three black-robed leaders, including First University's principal, appeared on the dais, but Zheng Qing could not see their faces clearly.

• Zheng Qing watched the mist creatures devour one another until a colossal fish remained.
• Zheng Qing, Duan Xiaojian, Li Meng, and Jiang Yu saw different landscapes beneath the thinning mist before it covered the hunting ground again.
• Zheng Qing questioned whether the hunting ground was large enough for a demon-hunting competition, and Xiao Xiao suggested they wait to learn more.
• A gust sent the great fish soaring from the mist, and the students identified it as a Kun transforming into a Peng.
• A massive Qiu Dragon lunged from the mist and swallowed the transforming creature, leaving the stands silent.
• Xiao Xiao pointed out the three black-robed figures on the dais, and Zheng Qing failed to see their faces through his telescope.

At Jiuyou Academy’s School Hunting Meet opening ceremony, Professor Yao performed a ritual and began the Hunting Incantation, which stirred the mist at the hunting ground’s center and revealed glimpses of a vast world beneath it. The chapter ended as a fierce wind scattered the mist and exposed that distant world.

• Professor Yao presided over the ceremony in Jiuyou Academy’s ceremonial robe and burned incense after bowing three times toward the sky.
• Zheng Qing questioned what Professor Yao had worshipped, and Xiao Xiao said the authorities had never explained the ritual.
• Professor Yao opened a jeweled spellbook and invoked the Hunting Incantation, silencing the hunting ground with a powerful Qi Mechanism.
• The mist churned and revealed shifting scenes of deserts, lakes, insect clouds, meadows, and marshlands beneath it.
• Professor Yao recited the incantation’s commands, and a fierce wind scattered the mist to reveal a vast distant world.

At the Hunting Meet’s opening ceremony, Professor Yao’s incantation revealed a living Small World inside the mist, astonishing the audience. Xiao Xiao explained what made a Small World different from wizard-made Phantasmal Space as Professor Yao continued the ceremony.

• The raging sand and floodwaters subsided as the barren world regained mountains, grasslands, and signs of life.
• The hunting-ground mist formed a vast eye-like vortex through which the audience saw the world within it.
• Xiao Xiao explained to Zheng Qing that a true Small World could sustain and develop life, unlike Phantasmal Space.
• Xiao Xiao speculated that the school had recently captured the ruined Small World and opened it to the audience before cleaning it up.
• Professor Yao turned a page in his spellbook and resumed the ceremony with the Hunting Song.

As the spectators sang the Hunting Song, the Eye of the Vortex revealed the terrain and wildlife of the Small World, and Zheng Qing learned how observing it affected his vision. The chapter ended as the hunting teams prepared to enter Hunting Ground No. 1.

• Professor Yao led the crowd in chanting the Hunting Song, making the vortex at the Center of the Hunting Ground grow more solid and revealing the Small World.
• Zheng Qing experimented with the Eye of the Vortex and learned that staring too long made him feel as if he were falling.
• Duan Xiaojian caught Zheng Qing when the illusion made him lurch forward, and Xiao Xiao explained how to avoid the effect.
• Zheng Qing observed the Small World's wildlife and asked where the demons were; Xiao Xiao explained that the prey had not yet been released.
• The crowd heard the song "To the Hunting Ground," and Xiao Xiao announced that the hunting teams were about to enter.

The opening ceremony of the School Hunting Meet stirred the stands as the academies competed to outdo one another with songs, drums, magic, and displays of wealth. The ceremony ended with all twenty Official Hunting Teams assembled beneath the flags, ready to face the presidium.

• Lark Witch's singing roused the young wizards, and Zheng Qing joined Jiuyou Academy's crowd in waving a red flag.
• Starry Sky Academy's drummers drowned out the other academies' cheers when their hunting team entered.
• Atlas Academy countered the drums with its choir, scripture recitations, blessings, and sacred displays.
• Alpha Academy used sirens, Minotaur performers, and Alchemy Props to overshadow the other academies, angering Zhang Jixin and Zheng Qing.
• All twenty Official Hunting Teams assembled beneath the flags, drawing the crowd's attention as the ceremony neared its end.

Zheng Qing learned how official, reserve, and newly formed hunting teams qualified for the Academy Cup and realized Youzui would have to survive a year before entering the round-robin matches. A sudden broadcast interruption was followed by Dunton taking over as commentator, while Xiao Xiao noticed that Old Yao looked ashen.

• Zhang Jixin and Fatty Xin explained that twenty teams had qualified directly for the Academy Cup, while reserve teams had to compete in round-robin matches for the remaining places.
• Fatty Xin and Zhang Jixin told Zheng Qing that Youzui was a newly formed team on a one-year observation period and could only seek round-robin qualification next year if it survived and earned enough points.
• Zheng Qing doubted Youzui could win the Academy Cup against hunters such as Lei Zhe and Augustus, and Zhang Jixin explained that contestants were not qualified to use Forbidden Curses.
• Xiao Xiao explained that Official Hunting Teams received valuable rights, including an annual chance to enter and leave the New World, before a piercing noise interrupted the broadcast.
• The commentator announced the end of the blessing ceremony and the start of the oath-taking stage, and the students recognized Dunton's voice.
• Xiao Xiao suspected the Student Union's Publicity Department had caused the broadcast error and told the others to look at Old Yao's ashen expression.

Zheng Qing searched the rostrum for Su Shijun and heard rumors about her confrontation with Duke Milton Callan and Prince Talbot. As the hunting teams took their oath, Dunton’s commentary lavished praise on Lei Zhe, amusing Zheng Qing’s classmates.

• Zheng Qing repeatedly scanned the rostrum with his telescope but could not find Su Shijun.
• Li Meng said Su Shijun was delayed after going to mediate a dispute between Duke Milton Callan and Prince Talbot, and Xiao Xiao explained the Callan family’s lineage.
• Jiang Yu rebuked Li Meng for making unsupported claims about Su Shijun and the two nobles.
• Dunton announced the hunting teams’ oath ceremony and praised Lei Zhe and his teams at length.
• Dunton moved on to briefly introduce the remaining teams, prompting cheers from Jiu You Academy and laughter from Class Eight.