Recaps

After Yu Sheng left, Luo Yun and Liu Qingfeng discussed the assessment and the students’ prospects, then Luo Yun hurried to arrange the rewards. Meanwhile, Wang Wenxuan befriended Yu Sheng and hoped to profit from working with him, while Yu Sheng warned him against breaking rules or killing people.

• Luo Yun emerged after Yu Sheng left and spoke with Liu Qingfeng about their past and the difference between teaching and soldiering.
• Luo Yun judged Du Xu and Zhao Zicheng promising, considered Yu Sheng suited to the Dark Pavilion, and agreed with Liu Qingfeng that the young man needed more observation.
• Liu Qingfeng reminded Luo Yun to deliver the assessment rewards promptly, and Luo Yun drove off to handle them.
• Wang Wenxuan proposed splitting rescue footage to collect twice, but Yu Sheng refused, saying that would break the rules.
• Wang Wenxuan asked Yu Sheng to exchange contact details, and Yu Sheng warned him not to consider killing anyone.
• Wang Wenxuan changed his contact name to “Gentle, Cute Little Bunny,” secured Yu Sheng’s friend request, and imagined getting rich by working with him.

An Xin and the Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion's Third Squad ambushed a truck outside Huaihai City and discovered it was carrying abducted, abused girls. They freed the captives and set off for Baichun City, leaving the driver in the squad’s hands.

• An Xin stopped a truck with her Awakening Object and the Third Squad captured its driver as he tried to escape.
• The squad tied up and beat the driver, then An Xin opened the truck’s cargo compartment.
• An Xin found bound and injured girls inside, reassured them that the Ink Pavilion had not forgotten them, and gave them the squad’s clothes.
• An Xin turned on the driver and allowed the squad to beat him while he remained alive.
• An Xin sat on the truck roof as the squad drove toward Baichun City.

A young man in the Divine Cult blamed the Ink Pavilion for disrupting their plans and urged a Divine Attendant to begin their operation early. After the students survived a terrifying night at the abandoned factory, Du Xu asked Yu Sheng to teach him how to kill, while Zhao Zicheng offered to handle something for Yu Sheng.

• A young man called a Divine Attendant and urged the Divine Cult to start its plan ahead of schedule, then marked Mobei City on a map of Jiangbei Province.
• As the students waited for dawn beside a corpse, Wang Wenxuan questioned Yu Sheng about his killings and life in Sin City, and Yu Sheng warned that people who talked too much died first.
• At daybreak, Wang Wenxuan sent the students home and told them that their fear had helped them see their limits before facing a real crisis.
• Monitor A and Monitor B stayed to handle the corpse and prepare the assessment summary while the shaken students left for Baichun City.
• Zhao Zicheng told Yu Sheng he would take care of something for him, and Yu Sheng called him a true brother.
• Du Xu told Yu Sheng he wanted to follow him and learn how to kill.

Yu Sheng returned to school with Wang Wenxuan and tried to claim first place in the assessment so he could turn in his mission. The principal eagerly courted Wang Wenxuan for funding until he learned that Wang belonged to the Reserve Corps, leaving him to cancel the lavish meal he had ordered.

• Yu Sheng wondered whether his earlier theory about the Dragon-Patterned Staff and the egg was wrong after the staff’s base solidified but the egg showed no reaction.
• Wang Wenxuan followed Yu Sheng and offered to protect him while accompanying him to exchange his money in Baichun City.
• Yu Sheng told the principal he was turning in his mission, then asked Wang Wenxuan to name his assessment rank; Wang declared him first.
• Yu Sheng presented Wang Wenxuan as an official from the provincial office, prompting the principal to warmly welcome him and ask Director Sun to prepare a feast in hopes of securing funding.
• Wang Wenxuan revealed that he was from the Reserve Corps, and the principal withdrew his welcome and rushed to stop Director Sun from arranging the meal.

Yu Sheng collected the principal’s Demon Crystals and learned that Zhao Zicheng had arranged for his uncle to face a longer sentence. Meanwhile, the Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion’s Third Squad witnessed the Dark Pavilion’s efficient rescue operation before An Xin led them to the Ink Pavilion to claim a reward.

• Yu Sheng took Wang Wenxuan to the school cafeteria, received three Demon Crystals from the principal, and took three days off.
• Zhao Zicheng told Yu Sheng that his father was reading palms for prison clerks and that he had extended his uncle’s sentence and moved him to a private room.
• Wang Wenxuan drove Yu Sheng toward Baichun City in a military off-road vehicle.
• Dark Pavilion staff processed the rescued girls, while the Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion’s Third Squad admired the organization’s resources and facilities.
• An Xin told her squad she would show them how to make money and led them to the Ink Pavilion to collect a reward.

An Xin’s squad went to the Ink Pavilion to claim a reward for their mission, and she persuaded a clerk to review their request with a tearful story and edited video. Wang Wenxuan tried to imitate her, but Yu Sheng warned him that their injured boss was standing right behind him.

• Wang Wenxuan boasted about the provincial capital’s Ink Pavilion, but the clerks put up “Service suspended” signs when they recognized him.
• An Xin told a clerk that their boss had been badly injured saving people and asked to claim a reward.
• The clerk watched An Xin’s edited mission video, remained unsure it proved what happened, and went to find her supervisor.
• Wang Wenxuan realized An Xin had the same reward scheme and suspected Luo Yun had revealed their idea.
• Wang Wenxuan staged a tearful plea for a reward, then changed his story and praised their boss when Yu Sheng pointed out the boss behind him.

Yu Sheng met Chen Yimo, who learned of his wealth and promised to help him get money, while An Xin and Wang Wenxuan secretly negotiated over the payment. Chen Yimo then blocked a clerk and a suited man, demanding that they handle his claim first.

• Wang Wenxuan tried to flatter Yu Sheng’s boss, but Yu Sheng reminded him of his earlier insults and he struggled to explain himself.
• After Wang Wenxuan whispered to him, Chen Yimo greeted Yu Sheng and promised protection in Baichun City in hopes of earning his future business.
• Yu Sheng said he disliked fighting but liked making money, and Chen Yimo vowed to get the money for him.
• An Xin and her team planned to collect their money and leave, while An Xin and Wang Wenxuan haggled over an undisclosed arrangement.
• Chen Yimo confronted the clerk and a suited man, insisting they process his claim first because he was supposedly reduced to just a head.

Yu Sheng used his knowledge of the law to stop Chen Yimo and the Ink Pavilion manager from fighting, then insisted that the Ink Pavilion process his reward claim. An Xin stayed to watch him, studying him thoughtfully.

• Wang Wenxuan and An Xin demanded that the Ink Pavilion process their business, but the suited manager refused and put them on the reception blacklist.
• Chen Yimo introduced Yu Sheng as his dear little brother and threatened the manager for refusing to pay Yu Sheng his reward.
• The manager and Chen Yimo prepared to fight until Yu Sheng cited the laws and warned them about the penalties for fighting in the city.
• Yu Sheng took a queue number, went to his assigned counter, and asked the clerk to process his business.
• The manager sat beside Chen Yimo while Chen Yimo painfully held him in place, and An Xin watched Yu Sheng without leaving.

Yu Sheng secured approval for a bounty at the Ink Pavilion, where Pavilion Master Lin tried to recruit him and Chen Yimo complained that the Reserve Corps had lost a promising recruit. After Yu Sheng disappeared from An Xin's team, he suspected they had been tailing him and judged their methods amateurish.

• Yu Sheng submitted edited battle footage and explained that he had intervened to save students, and Pavilion Master Lin approved the full standard bounty.
• Pavilion Master Lin offered Yu Sheng a place in the Dark Pavilion, but Yu Sheng declined for now and accepted his business card.
• Chen Yimo berated Pavilion Master Lin for trying to recruit Yu Sheng, kicked Wang Wenxuan, and asked Yu Sheng to consider the Reserve Corps for future work.
• An Xin and her team lamented their lack of money for equipment, dinner, and loan payments before leaving to seek daily-wage work.
• The bounty arrived within two hours, and Yu Sheng slipped away from An Xin and her team's pursuit.
• Yu Sheng watched An Xin's team retreat and concluded that their clumsy tailing could leave evidence after a killing.

Yu Sheng returned to Mobei City, transferred most of his prize money to an account, and waited at home as the golden lines spread across his egg. When he returned to school, Zhao Zicheng told him other schools were causing trouble and asked him to help fight back.

• On the coach to Mobei City, Yu Sheng nearly reported an old man selling illicit discs, but the old man stopped him and later escaped the Guard Bureau through a window.
• After getting off the coach, Yu Sheng transferred most of his prize money to an account and briefly showed sadness before returning to his usual calm.
• Yu Sheng spent two days at home, watching the golden lines on his egg grow as his awakening drew closer.
• At school, Zhao Zicheng told Yu Sheng that students from the other two schools had been causing trouble at Second High School while the teachers did nothing.
• Zhao Zicheng urged Yu Sheng to join him in fighting back, and Yu Sheng asked whether Zhao Zicheng would handle the cackling.

Yu Sheng learned that Zhao Zicheng had arranged for Du Xu to transfer to Second High School, while students from First High School were preparing to challenge them. In class, Liu Qingfeng explained Demon Cores and warned that the three schools would merge in a week, making the upcoming entrance assessment crucial for the students’ futures.

• Du Xu joined Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng, saying he wanted to follow Yu Sheng after the schools merged.
• Zhao Zicheng urged Yu Sheng to fight off their challengers and become one of Mobei City’s big bosses, but Yu Sheng warned that big bosses met horrible ends.
• Zhao Zicheng revealed that he had arranged Du Xu’s early transfer from First High School, and Yu Sheng realized why First High School students were coming to fight at Second High School.
• Liu Qingfeng taught the class how Awakening Objects used Demon Cores and warned students to choose compatible cores instead of blindly seeking powerful ones.
• Liu Qingfeng announced that the three schools would merge in a week and warned that poor results in the entrance assessment could leave students without college admission or a chance to choose their futures.

Liu Qingfeng explained how difficult it was to qualify for university assessments and challenged Yu Sheng to consider the Human Race’s dangerous situation. After telling Yu Sheng about the injured veteran who ran the school’s breakfast shop, he asked whether Yu Sheng would save him, and Yu Sheng admitted he did not understand why anyone should protect others.

• Liu Qingfeng explained the university assessment process and warned the students that talent without effort would not earn them a place.
• Liu Qingfeng called Yu Sheng out of class and took him to the steps near the school gate.
• Liu Qingfeng told Yu Sheng that Wang the Cripple had trained in the Reserve Corps, been sent to Dawn Pass, and returned home with a broken leg after surviving a Demon Clan attack.
• Liu Qingfeng asked whether Yu Sheng would save someone like Wang the Cripple if he faced danger.
• Yu Sheng said he did not know, recalling betrayals and deaths in Sin City and questioning why anyone should protect others.

Liu Qingfeng tried to explain to Yu Sheng why people protected others, then took him to the Veterans' Camp beyond the safe zone. Yu Sheng followed without asking where they were going, and the chapter ended with Liu Qingfeng asking the villagers for a meal.

• Liu Qingfeng saw Yu Sheng's fear and understood that the boy's harshness came from trying to survive.
• Liu Qingfeng asked Yu Sheng about his friend in Sin City, and Yu Sheng said he would kill anyone who threatened her.
• Liu Qingfeng compared Yu Sheng's protectiveness of his friend to the middle-aged man's efforts to protect the common people.
• Yu Sheng said he would kill his friend if she tried to kill him, though he trusted his instinct that she would not.
• Liu Qingfeng took Yu Sheng out of the city to the Veterans' Camp, where they met disabled veterans who joked with him.
• Liu Qingfeng said he and Yu Sheng would stay for a couple of days and asked the villagers whose family had dinner ready.

Yu Sheng visited Liu Qingfeng’s veterans’ camp, where Elder Zhong praised him as a prodigy and privately confronted him about the discs he had sold. The chapter left Elder Zhong arguing over Yu Sheng’s price to keep his embarrassing fake-disc scheme secret.

• Liu Qingfeng brought Yu Sheng to the veterans’ camp, where the veterans watched the unfamiliar student with interest.
• Elder Zhong recognized Yu Sheng from their encounter on the coach, praised him before the veterans, and tried to pull him aside for private instruction.
• Yu Sheng silently held up three fingers, and Elder Zhong agreed before leading him to a secluded corner.
• Elder Zhong complained that Yu Sheng was charging thirty yuan, but Yu Sheng clarified that he meant three hundred.
• Yu Sheng calculated Elder Zhong’s profit from selling fifteen discs, while Elder Zhong suppressed his anger to keep the fake discs’ true nature secret.

Yu Sheng pressured Elder Zhong into paying him 300 yuan by threatening to report his counterfeit and pornographic sales. The veterans then discussed Zhong Yushu’s sacrifices and his refusal to accept a rare cure for his injuries, while he prepared to spend his remaining years in his hometown.

• Yu Sheng called the Guard Bureau to threaten Elder Zhong with a report, and Zhong grabbed the phone but accidentally let the call connect.
• After denying his identity to the person on the line, Zhong agreed to pay Yu Sheng 300 yuan, which Yu Sheng took despite Zhong’s pleas.
• The retired veterans watched Zhong bargain with Yu Sheng and praised Yu Sheng, while several criticized Liu Qingfeng and claimed they should teach him instead.
• The veterans recalled that Zhong had returned to Mobei after a lifetime at Demon-Suppressing Pass, leaving behind only his name and his service.
• Liu Qingfeng asked whether Zhong could recover, and the veterans explained that Zhong had refused a cure made from a slain divine beast because he did not want to use resources meant for a future Human Race expert.

Yu Sheng refused to return Elder Zhong’s 300 yuan, then advised him to turn his scam business into a legal company. Elder Zhong grew impressed with Yu Sheng and asked about his impending awakening and markings.

• Elder Zhong tried to guilt Yu Sheng into giving back the 300 yuan, but Yu Sheng refused and said he could earn more by reporting him.
• Elder Zhong scolded the veterans at the meal while they smiled and listened, and they assumed he favored Yu Sheng.
• Yu Sheng proposed that Elder Zhong replace his discs’ illicit content with anti-fraud and Ink Pavilion messaging, obtain a business license, and hire employees to expand legally.
• Elder Zhong recognized Yu Sheng’s skill at making money and asked whether he had awakened and how many markings he had.
• Yu Sheng said he would probably awaken within a week and stayed silent about his markings, so Elder Zhong urged him not to worry about them and to trust people more.

Liu Qingfeng told Yu Sheng about Zhong Yushu’s heroic past and urged him to see the wider world and help protect the Human Race. As the two lingered by Zhong Yushu’s home, the old man angrily shouted at them from inside.

• Elder Zhong advised Yu Sheng to open his heart to people before leaving him to reflect on the Veterans' Camp.
• Liu Qingfeng led Yu Sheng through the camp, and Yu Sheng admitted that watching the veterans made him feel a faint envy.
• At the lakeside, Liu Qingfeng showed Yu Sheng the graves beside Elder Zhong’s hut and explained that Zhong Yushu had reserved one grave for himself.
• Liu Qingfeng recounted Zhong Yushu’s reputation, his battle against the Demon Clan and Evil Cult, and the destruction of his Awakening Object.
• Liu Qingfeng urged Yu Sheng to experience the wider Human Race and perhaps become someone who could protect it; Yu Sheng gave only a quiet reply.
• Zhong Yushu shouted from his hut, asking whether they thought he was a zoo animal, and Liu Qingfeng instinctively told Yu Sheng to run.

Liu Qingfeng stopped trying to shape Yu Sheng into a particular person and instead helped him experience simple pleasures, leading Yu Sheng to smile genuinely for the first time he could remember. Meanwhile, Zhong Yushu reflected on his lingering life, and a young man learned that the Divine Envoy was personally overseeing a plan in Jiangbei Province.

• Liu Qingfeng told Yu Sheng he hoped he could live happily without regrets, then showed him his cracked seven-mark sword and spoke of his old injury.
• Yu Sheng lay in the field, fell asleep with a hand near his dagger, and woke feeling a trace of joy.
• Zhong Yushu sat by a gravestone, wondered whether he had become afraid and tired, then fell asleep beside it.
• A young man apologized to the Divine Attendant after objecting to advancing a plan during Jiangbei Province's exams, then suspected the Divine Envoy had an unknown plan centered on Mobei City.
• Liu Qingfeng took Yu Sheng fishing, gathering eggs, and catching butterflies, and Yu Sheng smiled genuinely while grilling their fish.

Yu Sheng left the Veterans' Camp with Liu Qingfeng and returned to school as students prepared for their graduation exam and began awakening. After Yu Sheng revealed his own awakening, the principal summoned him and asked what it would take for him to place in the provincial top ten.

• Liu Qingfeng asked what Yu Sheng would do if someone threatened the village or tried to kill him, and Yu Sheng struggled to answer the second question.
• Zhao Zicheng bragged about awakening his Sandbag, while Du Xu revealed that he had awakened a Tiger.
• Yu Sheng said he had awakened a staff after energy surged through him while he was fishing; his strength and speed had increased, and he recognized the staff as the one in the scroll in his mind.
• Students continued awakening, and the three schools began merging at Second High School ahead of the national exam.
• The principal summoned Yu Sheng and asked whether he could make the provincial top ten, telling him to name his price.

Yu Sheng negotiated with the principal over a reward for improving the school’s exam ranking and proposed selling sponsorship space on the school uniforms. The principal agreed to the plan and a seventy-thirty split, while Yu Sheng left with a recording of their deal and the principal gleefully calculated the potential earnings.

• The principal offered Yu Sheng money for climbing the provincial rankings, but Yu Sheng initially tried to leave because he did not know what ranking he could achieve.
• The principal proposed sharing resources won from the Education Department, and Yu Sheng developed a plan to sell sponsorships printed on the school uniforms.
• Yu Sheng explained how high exam rankings and public attention could make the uniform sponsorships valuable, and the principal agreed to pursue the plan.
• The principal bargained over the split until he offered Yu Sheng thirty percent and a place on the school's list of outstanding graduates.
• Yu Sheng revealed that he had recorded their conversation and left, while the principal stayed behind calculating profits and laughing about getting rich.

Yu Sheng’s uniform-advertising scheme earned the school money and reduced students’ resentment, while the principal planned to expand it. An Xin’s team received a dangerous, high-paying mission, and Luo Yun questioned whether she should join because she was still a student.

• New uniforms with transparent pockets prompted students to display advertising placards, sending much of their resentment into Yu Sheng’s scroll and strengthening the Dragon-Patterned Staff.
• The school announced exam prizes, lifting students’ spirits and leaving Yu Sheng frustrated by their diminished resentment as the principal sought more advertising sponsors.
• An Xin persuaded a teammate to keep handing out flyers, then summoned the advertising bears after receiving a mission alert.
• An Xin told the team that the Ink Pavilion would lead a mission paying one hundred thousand per person, with a high death rate and a five-hundred-thousand death benefit.
• The team agreed to take the mission, and An Xin advised them to prepare for a week’s wait, make wills, and inform their families about survivor benefits.
• After the team dispersed, Luo Yun asked An Xin whether she was sure she wanted to join the dangerous mission as a student.

As the Human Race's major exam approached, Yu Sheng trained by beating Zhao Zicheng and worried that an assessment requiring combat might force him to kill. Liu Qingfeng tried to reassure him, but Yu Sheng asked why killing was against the law.

• An Xin left after reminding the old man about the Ink Pavilion conference in a week and saying she would not let Zhao Qingyi outdo her.
• Zhao Qingyi received a call at the Dark Pavilion, hid her candy when she heard someone approaching, and resumed her composed demeanor.
• A young man confirmed an operation with his contacts, promised to throw Mobei City into chaos after the exam, and studied a map marking the Guard Bureau and the school.
• As the exam neared, Yu Sheng beat Zhao Zicheng with his punching bag ability, drawing Du Xu into the training and fueling rumors that the principal protected him.
• With five days left before the exam, Liu Qingfeng advised his students to stay calm, then spoke privately with Yu Sheng about his fear of a combat assessment.
• Yu Sheng refused to weaken his weapons and asked Liu Qingfeng why killing was against the law.

Yu Sheng reflected on his discomfort with the Ink Pavilion’s rules as Liu Qingfeng encouraged him to grow stronger and promised the Pavilion would stand by him if he was betrayed. Meanwhile, An Xin questioned Pavilion Master Lin about the Mobei City operation, asking whether the assembled forces would be treated as expendable.

• Liu Qingfeng reassured Yu Sheng that he believed in his future and wanted him to become a great warrior.
• Liu Qingfeng told Yu Sheng to be kind but to kill anyone who stabbed him in the back, promising that the Ink Pavilion would uphold justice for him.
• Yu Sheng said he would give the Ink Pavilion a try if he had the chance, partly because he needed to earn money.
• Liu Qingfeng invited Yu Sheng to dinner, and Yu Sheng teased him for looking silly.
• Pavilion Master Lin briefed the Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion’s Third Squad, Zhao Qingyi, Wang Wenxuan, and Guard Bureau members about the operation.
• An Xin challenged Pavilion Master Lin over the Evil Cult’s motives and asked whether their group would be expendable.

Pavilion Master Lin reassured the team that the Ink Pavilion’s secret arrangements would not endanger them, then asked them to surrender their phones and wished them well before the operation. As the team prepared to leave, Wang Wenxuan’s remarks provoked Zhao Qingyi, while Luo Yun tried to keep his teammates confident.

• Pavilion Master Lin swore that the Ink Pavilion would not sacrifice or harm them and asked everyone to trust its additional plan.
• An Xin accepted Lin’s explanation, while Zhao Qingyi secretly reacted with fervor to his speech.
• Pavilion Master Lin ordered everyone to hand over their phones, promised them food and lodging for three days, and bowed before leaving.
• Wang Wenxuan mocked the solemn pre-operation ritual, prompting Zhao Qingyi to glare at him until he sat upright under her pressure.
• The Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion team joked about the free meals, then discussed how they had spent or saved their 200,000 in case they died.
• Luo Yun insisted An Xin would lead them to success, and An Xin teased him as a blockhead before exchanging a defiant look with Zhao Qingyi.

An Xin and Zhao Qingyi traded barbs in the conference room before Zhao Qingyi secretly celebrated winning their argument. Pavilion Master Lin watched the footage and stayed in the surveillance room to look for threats, while Liu Qingfeng said goodbye to his students before their exam, leaving Yu Sheng unable to understand their sadness.

• Wang Wenxuan and Luo Yun left the conference room with the others after An Xin and Zhao Qingyi silenced their teasing.
• An Xin mocked Zhao Qingyi, who repeatedly answered that she was 175 centimeters tall, until An Xin fled in frustration.
• Zhao Qingyi celebrated alone, then resumed her cold demeanor and headed to the cafeteria.
• Pavilion Master Lin reviewed the hidden camera footage, asked about possible problems, and decided to remain in the surveillance room to monitor the Ink Pavilion.
• Liu Qingfeng told his students to rest before their exam and spoke of his hopes for them, prompting the class to bow and thank him.
• Yu Sheng sat apart, unable to understand why the students felt sad as they left their classroom.