Chapter Summaries

Shen Ye invited Xiao Mengyu to attend a banquet with him and asked her to join the Human Martial Arts Group, while she faced pressure from her family to marry into a powerful family. After receiving sword techniques from her grandfather, Xiao Mengyu returned to Shen Ye and agreed to go to the banquet together.

• Shen Ye watched Xiao Mengyu practice swordsmanship and learned that Skinner had once been involved in an expedition where a seal was broken.
• Xiao Mengyu told Shen Ye that her family was preparing betrothal gifts for a marriage she did not want, and Shen Ye invited her to dinner and offered to help her join the Human Martial Arts Group.
• Xiao Mengyu received a message telling her to head east, where her grandfather sent her the Luo River Goddess Sword Art.
• Xiao Mengyu returned to Shen Ye and explained that both of them had to attend the exam banquet, then invited him to go together.

Shen Ye, Xiao Mengyu, and Qian Rushan climbed to the floating palace for the newcomers’ welcome banquet, where Shen Ye learned about the powerful institutions and the danger of being challenged by Aristocratic Family youngsters. They arrived at the palace entrance as the banquet began, with Shen Ye still unaware of who planned to target him.

• Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu flew to the Human World Martial Arts Tower, where Qian Rushan warned that Aristocratic Family newcomers might try to establish their authority by challenging them.
• Qian Rushan led Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu up the floating staircase toward the palace and warned Shen Ye that he could not simply refuse a formal challenge.
• As they climbed, Qian Rushan and Xiao Mengyu explained the influence of the Aristocratic Families, the Three Great Organizations, and other groups.
• When Shen Ye asked who was targeting him, Qian Rushan said he had caused the trouble himself but told him not to worry and to enjoy the banquet.
• The three reached the palace entrance, where Shen Ye asked what would happen if he killed someone, prompting Qian Rushan to insist that such a thing could not happen.

Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu attended a banquet for the Newcomer Deck, where Qian Rushan kept Shen Ye away from potential challengers and warned him not to risk his condition before the exam. After reporters interviewed them, Shen Ye offered a string of exam slogans, and he ended the chapter sneaking candy from the table.

• Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu reviewed the Newcomer Deck rankings, and Xiao Mengyu swiftly discouraged Wang Jiuyan from challenging her.
• Shen Ye suspected the Skinner might be disguised as one of the Archaeological Association's candidates because Zhao Yibing was missing.
• Qian Rushan steered Shen Ye through the banquet, using help from Xiao Mengyu and Wenna to avoid guests who wanted to approach him.
• Qian Rushan stopped Shen Ye from eating cake, saying he wanted to keep him safe before the exam, and reporters arrived to interview the group.
• Shen Ye told the reporter he was nervous about his first interview, then gave a long list of exam tips and motivational slogans.
• Shen Ye quietly took a piece of candy while the reporters prepared to interview Xiao Mengyu.

At a banquet, Shen Ye faced Madam An’s attempt to discredit him and separate him from Song Qingyun, but he denied remembering Qingyun and refused to trade his independence for a recommendation admission. He then asked Madam An to investigate the deaths of people close to him and help obtain justice.

• After two aristocratic newcomers destroyed the private room during a spar, Xiao Mengyu said no one else could interfere in her combat with Shen Ye, and Qian Rushan told Shen Ye to conserve his energy for the exam.
• Madam An confronted Shen Ye about an old claim that he had trained dogs to bite Song Qingyun, and Shen Ye challenged her account by pointing out that she knew nothing about his recent illness.
• Madam An offered Shen Ye a recommendation admission and financial support if he stayed away from Qingyun, and Shen Ye agreed before revealing that he did not know who Qingyun was.
• Shen Ye refused to claim any connection to Song Qingyun or accept the recommendation admission, then asked Madam An to investigate why Chief Luo and his best friend had died and to get them justice.

At a banquet, Xiao Mengyu defied her family’s arranged engagement, defeated Luo Erlang, and claimed the Luo Family’s divine sword. She then told Shen Ye that jealous aristocratic scions had hired assassins whose killings included her brother, his best friend, and tens of thousands of others.

• Madam An questioned Xiao Mengyu about her supposed engagement, while Shen Ye challenged her rumors and redirected the conversation toward the investigation.
• Luo Erlang arrived and ordered Xiao Mengyu to leave with him for her arranged engagement, but she refused because her grandfather and father had not approved it.
• Xiao Mengyu’s Sword Saint entry appeared, and she defeated Luo Erlang with one strike, then claimed the Luo Water Sword as it acknowledged her.
• The rankings shifted, placing Xiao Mengyu in a tie for first with Nangong Sirui, while Shen Ye considered how equipment and resources affected the rankings.
• Xiao Mengyu told Shen Ye that assassins hired by jealous aristocratic scions had killed her brother, his best friend, and tens of thousands of people.

At the admissions banquet, Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu confronted Madam An and the Aristocratic Families over their crimes, then faced a hidden threat from a youth in white. Shen Ye began fighting the youth’s invisible black snake, and the important figures realized he could see it with the Dharma Eye.

• Xiao Mengyu offered evidence against Song Qingyun, but Madam An called it fabricated and the gathered scions defended Song Qingyun.
• Shen Ye condemned the Aristocratic Families, and Zhao Qianjun attacked him before Xiao Mengyu drove the youth back with her sword.
• Madam An tried to have Kunlun suppress the incident, but Kunlun refused because the admissions selection had to remain unaffected.
• A youth in white challenged Xiao Mengyu, but Shen Ye stopped her after noticing a black snake coiled around him.
• Shen Ye conceded their battle so Xiao Mengyu could win, then challenged the youth in white himself.
• Shen Ye struck at the invisible black snake, prompting the important figures to realize he had awakened the Dharma Eye.

Shen Ye defeated the white-shirted youth and his invisible black snake by using his newly awakened Dharma Eye, overwhelming strength, and boosted Beidong Divine Fist. He held the youth at the end of the chapter, threatening to kill him as the frightened opponent screamed for help.

• Shen Ye saw and fought the black snake, then drove it away while clashing with the white-shirted youth.
• Shen Ye endured the youth's staff and punches without injury, caught him, and boosted his Beidong Divine Fist during the beating.
• Shen Ye used the white-shirted youth as cover to evade the black snake and continued overpowering him with punches.
• Shen Ye knocked the black snake aside, seized the youth by the neck, and stopped the snake from attacking by threatening to kill its master.
• Shen Ye taunted the youth about challenging Xiao Mengyu and demanded his name, prompting the youth to scream for help.

Shen Ye exposed the boy in white’s allies’ willingness to let him die, but an examiner stopped their sparring before it could turn fatal. As the three-academy examination prepared to begin, Shen Ye discovered that an examinee had stolen his Candle Flame, leaving him unable to see in the examination grounds.

• Shen Ye waited as the boy in white realized Madam An’s allies wanted him killed, then struck at him until a Jialan Academy examiner intervened and saved him.
• Madam An comforted the boy in white, who threatened Shen Ye and insisted their different social classes would determine their futures.
• The Divine Artifact gave Xiao Mengyu the Team Leader evaluation and Shen Ye the Unyielding One evaluation, and both received a Candle Flame for the examination.
• Shen Ye’s card revealed that an examinee with the exploitation evaluation had stolen his Candle Flame, while the aristocratic scions and chief examiner watched knowingly.

At the banquet, Shen Ye exposed the Aristocratic Families’ persecution of ordinary candidates and publicly challenged them to face him during the exam. As the exam began, he was transported with the other examinees, while Dragon King Cang Nanyan urged him to stay alive.

• The boy in white mocked Shen Ye and attacked an ordinary candidate, but Shen Ye stopped Xiao Mengyu from retaliating and told her the situation was expected.
• Shen Ye addressed the candidates, condemned the Aristocratic Families, and declared that he would never kill himself or let them finish him off during the exam.
• Shen Ye asked the Exam Proctor whether he could defend himself against exam-time attacks, received permission, and challenged the scions to come after him.
• Nangong Sirui introduced himself as the top-ranked candidate and invited Shen Ye to discuss their Dharma Eyes later.
• Cang Nanyan praised Qian Rushan and encouraged Shen Ye to prioritize surviving the exam, then the examiners transported all the candidates away as the exam began.

The first exam task began, requiring examinees to reach a floating island, and Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu teamed up and rode his Ghostfire Motorcycle down to it. As Zhao Yibing began hunting Shen Ye, Xiao Mengyu explained that his ability to see hidden beings might mean he had awakened a Dharma Eye.

• When the exam transported everyone into darkness, Xiao Mengyu escaped the crowd and jumped from the Temple toward the floating island after Shen Ye told her to jump.
• Shen Ye tried to summon Calamity Skull to bluff his attackers, took a hit, and successfully formed a team with Xiao Mengyu, boosting their strength by two hundred percent.
• Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu rode the Ghostfire Motorcycle to the floating island as the cards announced the first task and warned that failure meant elimination.
• Nangong Sirui descended toward the island in a sedan chair carried by four Beautiful Maidservants, while Guo Yunye transformed into a small animal and Zhang Xiaoyi reacted in shock.
• Zhao Yibing recognized the awakened Evil Ghost Power in Shen Ye and began hunting him with the ordinary-looking boy, descending toward the island on fine threads.
• While they rode, Xiao Mengyu explained the Dharma Realm and told Shen Ye that seeing hidden beings might indicate he had awakened a Dharma Eye.

Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu searched the island for a deity statue that could protect them from the Wailing Tide, but their search brought them into conflict with Zhao Yibing and an unfamiliar boy. The exam’s noncombat rule forced their enemies away, while a spellcraft mark on Shen Ye warned that Zhao Yibing could find and teleport to him again.

• Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu learned that their team had to find a deity statue, fulfill its commands, and obtain its promise to survive the Wailing Tide.
• They asked a fallen God of Evil Dance for protection, but Shen Ye attacked it after it demanded his blood and Xiao Mengyu’s undressing and dance.
• Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu questioned a war deity’s mount about its rider, but the horse’s head was struck away before it could answer.
• Zhao Yibing and an unfamiliar junior high school student confronted Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu, and Zhao Yibing revealed that she was already dead after Shen Ye’s Dark Whisper made her speak.
• The exam expelled Zhao Yibing with a powerful force for attempting unauthorized combat, while the boy retreated and Shen Ye discovered a spellcraft mark that could let Zhao Yibing sense and teleport to him.

Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu realized that finding a suitable deity statue depended on resonance, then discovered a Sword Spirit in a greatsword that answered Xiao Mengyu’s swordsmanship. After Xiao Mengyu bonded with the sword through practice, it agreed to help them face the Tide of Wailing.

• Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu concluded that their best chance was to seek statues compatible with their resonance, with Xiao Mengyu looking for sword-related ones and Shen Ye searching for Moonlit System statues.
• Shen Ye kicked away a deity’s head after it demanded the arms of two examinees as an offering, then raced off with Xiao Mengyu.
• Xiao Mengyu found a damaged pottery figurine holding a greatsword, and Shen Ye noticed that the sword—not the figurine—had an evaluation tag identifying a Sword Spirit.
• The greatsword asked Xiao Mengyu to perform ten slashes, ten thrusts, and ten sword dances, and she fulfilled its request with her techniques.
• Xiao Mengyu understood the sword’s loneliness and continued practicing with it until it flew freely and bowed to her.
• Shen Ye realized the trial was teaching examinees about resonance, and Xiao Mengyu told him the greatsword was willing to help them.

Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu gained sword techniques from the greatsword and searched for another divine statue before the Wailing Tide erupted. When they learned the tide would arrive in ten minutes, they set out together to find a stream, hoping it would lead them to a statue connected to Shen Ye’s Flowing Moon resonance.

• The greatsword taught Xiao Mengyu sword-control techniques and passed Shen Ye the lethal finishing move Great White.
• The boy in white and several aristocratic scions attacked Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu, but the stage’s rules repelled them.
• Zhao Yibing used a ritual to absorb the souls of arranged corpses and began casting a spell that would change the examination.
• Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu searched for a moon-related statue until their Ghostfire Motorcycle ran out of power, then the greatsword suggested that the moon was connected to streams.
• The Cards announced that the Wailing Tide would erupt in ten minutes and that Candle Flame illumination was no longer needed.
• Xiao Mengyu refused to let Shen Ye investigate the stream alone, and the two set off together.

Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu found the Moonlit System Sacred Tree Woodcarving while searching for shelter from the Wailing Tide, then fled into a cliff fissure as monstrous creatures emerged from the black mist. The wood came to life and offered to protect them if they supplied water, sunlight, and fertilizer, but Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu had only managed to satisfy its water requirement when the chapter ended.

• Shen Ye followed a faint sensation underwater while Xiao Mengyu and the greatsword defended the deep pool from a giant centipede and an enormous hand covered in eyeballs.
• Shen Ye found a piece of wood identified as a Moonlit System Sacred Tree Woodcarving, and he and Xiao Mengyu escaped the approaching Wailing Tide by hiding in a fissure Xiao Mengyu cut into a cliff.
• As the Wailing Tide filled the woods with bloody mist and powerful monsters, the wood grew roots, branches, and leaves and said it would protect them if they supplied water, sunlight, and fertilizer.
• Shen Ye poured soda onto the wood's roots, satisfying its water requirement, while Xiao Mengyu shone the Candle Flame on it; the wood indicated that the light was not sunny enough.

Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu used their offerings to gain the protection of the Moonlit System’s wood, then fought off a Dark Red Centipede and the Blood-Colored Giant. They killed the giant with a coordinated sword strike, while Big Skeleton asked Shen Ye to bring it giant meat.

• Shen Ye completed the wood’s offerings by praising it and reciting a moon poem, and it declared that it would protect him.
• The Blood-Colored Giant and a Dark Red Centipede attacked the mountain crevice, and the greatsword revealed that the giant’s head was its weakness.
• The wood drew the centipede’s attacks, allowing Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu to kill it, while Big Skeleton asked Shen Ye for a piece of its flesh.
• The giant targeted Xiao Mengyu, but Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu passed the wood back and forth to distract it and create an opening.
• Xiao Mengyu struck the giant’s head, and the greatsword followed her cut to finish it off.
• Big Skeleton cheered and asked Shen Ye to bring it a piece of the giant to eat.

As the Wailing Tide combat assessment began, Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu fought monsters in the disorienting fog and found a way to stay together. They encountered Zhang Xiaoyi and Guo Yunye, who had fled from a powerful Aristocratic Family member, and learned that Guo Yunye had transformed into a wolf but believed he was a dog.

• Big Skeleton told Shen Ye he was preparing to help fight, while Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu returned toward the cave as the fog swallowed the mountain.
• The exam card announced that the combat assessment had begun, and the fog separated Shen Ye from Xiao Mengyu while monsters attacked them.
• Shen Ye accepted Xiao Mengyu's party invitation and teleported to her; he hid in her shadow while Xiao Mengyu and Wooden Block fought alongside him.
• The group killed the One-Horned Black Python, then continued through the fog searching for shelter and followed the sound of a dog barking.
• Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu met Zhang Xiaoyi and an injured wolf, and Zhang Xiaoyi explained that the wolf was Guo Yunye, who thought he was a dog after transforming.

Shen Ye, Xiao Mengyu, and Zhang Xiaoyi encountered He Xisi after the exam’s rules suddenly changed to permit candidates to hunt and kill one another for power enhancements. He Xisi ambushed Xiao Mengyu, but she wounded him with her hidden sword technique while Shen Ye remained concealed in her shadow.

• Zhang Xiaoyi explained that Guo Yunye transformed into a different working dog each day and that he had risked being bitten to help him escape.
• He Xisi returned, revealed he was hunting candidates, and threatened to kill Shen Ye and Zhang Xiaoyi, but Xiao Mengyu stood in his way.
• The candidates’ cards announced new hunting rules, including that deaths would be erased after the exam and victors could gain power enhancements.
• Xiao Mengyu learned that He Xisi had already killed someone and vowed to report him, but he ambushed her from behind.
• Shen Ye blocked He Xisi’s attack from Xiao Mengyu’s shadow, and Xiao Mengyu wounded He Xisi with her Snow Cloud Returns to the Shadow sword technique.

Shen Ye killed He Xisi after ambushing him and refused to spare him for murdering other examinees. The Wailing Tide receded in some areas, and the survivors were given one hour to escape its reach before the next trial.

• He Xisi fled from Xiao Mengyu, then hid by a stream and treated his wound while planning to find allies.
• Shen Ye attacked He Xisi from the shadows, froze him with a Frost Bite kick, and stabbed him with the Nightfall Short Sword.
• He Xisi offered Shen Ye his belongings and life-support equipment in exchange for help, but Shen Ye killed him and took some of his supplies.
• Shen Ye's card announced that his blessing had advanced from meat to meat shield, letting him withstand at least four hits before losing the ability to fight.
• Xiao Mengyu, Zhang Xiaoyi, and Gouzi found Shen Ye beside He Xisi's corpse, and Shen Ye denied killing him.
• The cards announced that the Wailing Tide was receding in some areas and ordered everyone to escape within one hour or be eliminated.

Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu were ambushed by examinees who planned to kill Shen Ye, but Xiao Mengyu wiped them out with one sword strike. Shen Ye learned that a mysterious guide on the island was overseeing the plot against him.

• Zhang Xiaoyi fed the dog, which led the group across a misty plain toward a way out of the Wailing Tide.
• Wang Dingzhou and Li Yinghuai confronted Shen Ye and Xiao Mengyu, while two boys chased Zhang Xiaoyi and the dog.
• Xiao Mengyu used the Luo Water Sword and the first move of the Luo River Goddess Sword Art to kill the attackers in a single strike, then fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Shen Ye questioned the dead boys' souls and learned that an examinee with a search blessing had tracked him down.
• Wang Dingzhou and Li Yinghuai revealed that upperclassmen from great aristocratic families had ordered Shen Ye's elimination and that an older-sounding guide on the island was overseeing the operation.

After the exam entered its three-day Wilderness Survival stage, Shen Ye separated from the weakened Xiao Mengyu and used Big Skeleton’s tracking ability to confront two pursuers. He killed both examinees and continued his hunt for the people targeting him.

• Shen Ye learned that the hunt for him continued as the exam shifted to three days of survival on the Floating Island.
• Shen Ye carried Xiao Mengyu away, then met up with Zhang Xiaoyi, who had escaped his pursuers with the dog.
• Xiao Mengyu recovered with Zhang Xiaoyi while Shen Ye secretly watched over them before leaving alone.
• Shen Ye asked Big Skeleton to sense nearby life-forms and discovered two examinees were tracking him.
• Shen Ye raised his agility to 16.1, rushed the two pursuers, and caused their attacks to make them strike each other.
• Shen Ye killed the surviving examinee with his Nightfall Short Sword.