Recaps

After Yu Sheng watched classmates grieve their farewells, Liu Qingfeng took him shopping and gave him a new bag bearing a message of hope. Liu Qingfeng brought Yu Sheng home to stay before the exam, where Yu Sheng quietly ate his teacher’s terrible cooking.

• Yu Sheng wondered why people outside Sin City could cry and said goodbye to Liu Qingfeng.
• Liu Qingfeng took Yu Sheng to the mall, bought him clothes and a bag, and wrote, “May you return still young at heart after weathering a thousand voyages,” on it.
• Yu Sheng told Liu Qingfeng that he had money from assessment prize winnings, an act-of-bravery reward, and uniform advertising.
• Liu Qingfeng invited Yu Sheng to stay at his home, promised to take him out the next day, and said he would escort him to the exam.
• Liu Qingfeng’s attempt to cook produced burnt, barely edible food, but Yu Sheng carefully ate it.

Yu Sheng and Liu Qingfeng grew closer as Liu Qingfeng faced being sent to the Veterans' Camp and asked Yu Sheng to become his disciple so he could remain a teacher. As Yu Sheng prepared for the upcoming exam, he cautiously let down his guard around Liu Qingfeng, whose presence had never caused gray gas to appear.

• Yu Sheng and Liu Qingfeng silently ate Yu Sheng’s bitter, burnt cooking, and Liu Qingfeng reflected on how life in Sin City had made him forget the hardship he once knew at the Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Liu Qingfeng told Yu Sheng that the bun seller was leaving for the Veterans' Camp, then explained that the Ink Pavilion was pressuring him to report there as well.
• Liu Qingfeng asked Yu Sheng to become his only disciple so he could claim to have a successor and avoid the Veterans' Camp, and Yu Sheng agreed.
• Liu Qingfeng watched anime with Yu Sheng and encouraged him to aim for first place in Jiangbei City’s exam after taking first place in Mobei City.
• Yu Sheng moved his dagger a little farther away again, trying to let Liu Qingfeng closer, and noted that Liu Qingfeng had never given off gray gas.

Yu Sheng set out with Liu Qingfeng for the exam, while Ink Pavilion agents prepared for a confrontation with the Evil Cult in Mobei City. A young God Servant received orders to disrupt the student crowd but chose to wait instead.

• Liu Qingfeng helped Yu Sheng prepare for the exam, and Yu Sheng packed concealed weapons and other equipment.
• Liu Qingfeng led Yu Sheng toward the exam site as students and their parents gathered in a crowd.
• Luo Han warned his team to protect civilians, and Luo Yun explained why the Evil Cult was unlikely to attack them directly.
• An Xin questioned whether the Evil Cult might risk provoking the Ink Pavilion if the potential gains were great enough.
• A young God Servant received the Divine Attendant’s order to break up the student crowd, but told the waiting cultists to hold back.

A Divine Cult leader sent fanatics to attack Mobei City and target a steamed bun shop owner he identified as the Divine Attendant. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng prepared to enter the Ink Pavilion assessment with Liu Qingfeng as his guardian, but an explosion near the school prompted Liu Qingfeng to leave with deadly resolve.

• A young Divine Cult leader revealed he planned to throw Mobei City into chaos and discovered the Divine Attendant disguised as a steamed bun shop owner.
• The leader ordered the cultists to kill the shop owner, then sent them toward the city gate as the students departed.
• Liu Qingfeng explained the Ink Pavilion assessment to Yu Sheng and accompanied him to register for the test.
• Yu Sheng named Liu Qingfeng as his accompanying guardian after saying his father had not come.
• Rumbling and energy surges from Mobei City unsettled the crowd, and Liu Qingfeng suspected the trouble was near or inside the school.
• Liu Qingfeng told Yu Sheng he would be waiting for him to take first place in the provincial exam, then left with an unmistakable murderous resolve.

Liu Qingfeng and other disabled veterans left to help defend Mobei City, while Yu Sheng entered the examination and resolved to take first place as his teacher had asked. Elsewhere, Wang Wenxuan, Zhao Qingyi, An Xin, and the Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion squad fought the Evil Cult until God Servants arrived to confront them.

• Liu Qingfeng declared his duty to protect the human race and his students, then left for Mobei City after telling Yu Sheng to take first place.
• Disabled parents who had served at the passes joined Liu Qingfeng, and Wu Liangzhu watched them depart as he continued the examination.
• Yu Sheng watched the veterans leave, entered through the illusory doorway, and decided to do his best to take first place.
• Wang Wenxuan charged at Evil Cult followers with his axe and a camera, eager to earn money for defeating them.
• Zhao Qingyi, An Xin, and the Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion squad fought the Evil Cult across the streets of Mobei City.
• God Servants from the Myriad Gods Church arrived to intercept the fighters and called for the school to be destroyed.

As the Evil Cult launched an unprecedented assault on the school, Wang Wenxuan ordered a desperate fight until Liu Qingfeng and other retired veterans arrived and took command. They charged toward the school to protect its students, while a young God Servant from Baichun City watched and plotted to benefit from the chaos.

• An Xin urged the fighters to end the battle quickly, and Wang Wenxuan took command for the Reserve Corps and ordered them to fight to the death within five minutes.
• Liu Qingfeng arrived with retired veterans, rebuked Wang Wenxuan, and pinned on his two-pattern medal from Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Liu Qingfeng rescinded the previous orders and led the veterans toward the school, while residents joined them and Wang Wenxuan returned to the fight.
• The young God Servant from Baichun City watched from a rooftop, expecting to gain power from the upheaval and hoping to arrange the death of the Divine Attendant heading toward the school.

Pavilion Master Lin urged Zhong Yushu to return to the front lines as Mobei City and Jiangbei Province faced coordinated attacks, offering him a blood-red pill that could restore his strength. When Wei Le of the Myriad Gods Church warned that taking it would trigger a Demon Clan assault, Zhong Yushu mocked him and moved the pill toward his mouth.

• Zhong Yushu enjoyed the success of Yu Kid's disc-selling scheme until Pavilion Master Lin arrived and asked him to return to Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Zhong Yushu refused, citing his shattered Awakening Object and his age, while Pavilion Master Lin repeatedly appealed to him and presented a wooden box containing a pill.
• Pavilion Master Lin revealed that Evil Cult uprisings had spread through nearby provinces, Jiangbei Province was fighting, and Mobei City had no reinforcements; he had resigned as deputy pavilion master to ask Zhong Yushu for help.
• Zhong Yushu rose in anger when he thought Pavilion Master Lin was using ordinary people's lives to threaten him, as the veterans set off to aid the city themselves.
• Wei Le of the Myriad Gods Church arrived and warned that Zhong Yushu taking the pill would prompt the Demon Clan to attack Demon-Suppressing Pass within three days.
• Zhong Yushu dismissed Wei Le as less than a rat and slowly raised the blood-red pill toward his mouth.

Wei Le threatened Elder Zhong over Jiangbei Province as Zhong Yushu prepared to take a powerful pill, while Pavilion Master Lin stood ready to protect him. Yu Sheng arrived at the grand exam, learned its rules, and prepared to race for first place in the province.

• Wei Le warned Elder Zhong that the Myriad Gods Church might let Jiangbei fall if Zhong Yushu returned to action.
• Pavilion Master Lin stepped in front of Zhong Yushu as Wei Le remained confident and the confrontation grew tense.
• Yu Sheng arrived in the exam space and instinctively aimed his crossbow at an invigilator before lowering it.
• Yu Sheng reunited with Zhao Zicheng and Du Xu, while Li Yihan offered to kill someone to repay his life debt.
• The invigilator explained that students would race through the woods to a central teleportation circle, with provincial rankings based on who arrived first.
• Yu Sheng asked how to take first place in the province, and the invigilator announced that the exam would begin in two minutes.

The Evil Cult launched a coordinated assault on Mobei City's school, where the principal and teachers fought to protect their students. Liu Qingfeng arrived with veteran forces and turned back the attackers, but the veterans’ damaged bodies left their ability to hold the line uncertain.

• Thousands of Evil Cult followers, who had blended into Mobei City, attacked the Guard Bureau and the school.
• The principal rallied the teachers to defend the school, then charged the cultists and led the teachers into battle.
• Students watched from the classrooms as the teachers fought and fell, leaving them anguished at their inability to help.
• Liu Qingfeng arrived with a reserve corps of veterans and organized coordinated aerial, physical, and support attacks that scattered the cultists.
• Liu Qingfeng bound his sword to his hand despite his incomplete little finger and joined the fight, while the veterans continued attacking despite their broken bodies.

The Evil Cult attacked Mobei City, and Liu Qingfeng joined the school’s defenders as a Divine Attendant arrived to lead the cultists. At the same time, Wei Le revealed the Demon Clan’s coordinated assault plans, but Zhong Yushu unveiled his eighth awakening and prepared to fight back.

• A student watched his veteran father die while holding an Evil Cult member, then vowed to fight the cult for the rest of his life.
• Liu Qingfeng joined the principal and the Director of Teaching in battle as they held out for the Guard Bureau to win at the city gates.
• A middle-aged Divine Attendant arrived at the school, rallied the cultists with his sermon, and faced Liu Qingfeng.
• Wei Le told Zhong Yushu that six Six-Star Demon Kings were hidden in Jiangbei Province and that an Eight-Star Demon Lord would attack Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Zhong Yushu revealed a blood-red spear with eight crystals and an eighth awakening, shocking Wei Le.

The entrance exam began as students entered a forest filled with Demon Beasts, while Yu Sheng quietly advanced and Li Yihan tried to follow his example. Elsewhere, Luo Yun’s group and the principal’s forces continued fighting the God Servants, and the Divine Attendant pressed his attack on the wounded Liu Qingfeng.

• At the exam countdown’s end, the students charged into the woods, where Demon Beasts drove many of them back.
• Zhao Zicheng and Du Xu pushed deeper by enduring the beasts’ attacks, while Yu Sheng moved stealthily and Li Yihan followed until he lost sight of him.
• Luo Yun cursed a fallen squad member and attacked recklessly as Wang Wenxuan, Zhao Qingyi, and An Xin struggled against their opponents.
• The wounded Liu Qingfeng refused to yield his position to the principal, citing battlefield orders and his two Cloud Patterns.
• The Divine Attendant decided to speed up the fight and charged Liu Qingfeng again.

Yu Sheng awakened the Dragon-Patterned Staff’s power and fought through the Demon Beasts to reach the finish, driven by his promise to Liu Qingfeng and his need to see what happened outside. He killed a level-one Tiger Demon and vanished through the red ring, leaving the proctor astonished that he might have taken first place.

• Yu Sheng found the woods blocked by Demon Beasts and decided to push on so he could see Liu Qingfeng.
• Yu Sheng’s Dragon-Patterned Staff awakened, giving him the ability to confuse nearby Demon Beasts, and he named it “Sucker Punch.”
• Yu Sheng dodged and fought through the woods while the proctor tracked his rapid progress and recognized him as a possible prodigy.
• Yu Sheng reached the red ring but found a level-one Tiger Demon blocking his way.
• Yu Sheng killed the Tiger Demon with a coordinated attack and left through the red ring, while the proctor reacted in disbelief.

Yu Sheng took first place in the assessment and headed for Mobei City despite the clerk’s warnings. Meanwhile, Zhong Yushu killed Wei Le, ordered Chen Yimo to close the net, and departed to begin the final purge of the Evil Cult in Jiangbei Province.

• Yu Sheng emerged from the illusory doorway, learned he had placed first in Mobei City, and set off toward the city despite his injuries.
• Yu Sheng threatened the Ink Pavilion clerk with his crossbow, fired a bolt at his feet, and rushed toward Mobei City.
• Zhong Yushu killed Wei Le and the two old men accompanying him, then told Pavilion Master Lin to call Chen Yimo and close the net.
• Pavilion Master Lin realized Zhong Yushu had been fishing for enemies and revealed that he had resigned from his post that morning.
• Zhong Yushu packed his worn bundle and left as veterans called out their support, beginning the final purge of the Evil Cult in Jiangbei Province.

Liu Qingfeng held the Divine Attendant at bay while the teachers and veterans of Mobei City Second High School fought to protect their students. Yu Sheng entered the city seeking someone at the school, and Zhao Qingyi killed her opponent before making her way there, badly wounded.

• Liu Qingfeng stood his ground against the Divine Attendant, buying time for the defenders despite his severe wounds.
• The students watched the veterans risk their lives to shield them and understood the cost of their protection.
• Yu Sheng ignored Wang Wenxuan's warning and hurried toward the school, focused on finding someone.
• Wang Wenxuan and the other defenders fought more fiercely after seeing Yu Sheng head toward the battlefield.
• Zhao Qingyi killed the God Servant with an ice knife, suffered wounds from his exploding Awakening Object, and set off toward the school.

An Xin killed a wounded God Servant while the defenders continued fighting, and Liu Qingfeng used his final sword strike to kill a Divine Attendant at the cost of a mortal wound. Yu Sheng arrived after taking first place in Mobei City and spoke with Liu Qingfeng as he lay dying.

• An Xin stopped short of the God Servant and crushed him with the power of her book, then pursued Zhao Qingyi despite her own injuries.
• Wang Wenxuan cursed the fighters as both sides continued their desperate battle.
• Liu Qingfeng lured the Divine Attendant into close combat and unleashed the sword’s final strike, killing him as his wings pierced Liu Qingfeng’s abdomen.
• Yu Sheng arrived and told Liu Qingfeng that he had taken first place in Mobei City.
• Liu Qingfeng praised Yu Sheng and confessed that he hated being a teacher while Yu Sheng watched in silence, struggling with his imminent death.

Liu Qingfeng died after giving Yu Sheng his Cloud Pattern Medal and urging him to live by his own convictions and find reasons to smile. Enraged, Yu Sheng attacked the Evil Cult members at the school, but an old man with a goatee arrived and ended the fight, leaving the sports field strewn with the dead and wounded.

• Liu Qingfeng gave Yu Sheng the bloodied Cloud Pattern Medal and asked him to protect what mattered to him and live brightly.
• Yu Sheng accepted Liu Qingfeng's final touch before Liu Qingfeng died with a smile.
• Yu Sheng placed the medal in his schoolbag, then charged the Evil Cult members with poisoned daggers.
• An Xin and Zhao Qingyi joined Yu Sheng, turning the battle into a rout.
• An old man with a goatee appeared, killed the remaining Evil Cult members with a spear, and surveyed the dead and wounded in silence.

After the massacre at Mobei Second High School, Yu Sheng helped honor the dead and buried Liu Qingfeng, while the wider Human Race celebrated a brief victory before suffering another devastating attack. Having ranked first in the province, Yu Sheng faced university offers but was unsure what to do because Ink Academy had not invited him.

• The principal asked Zhong Yushu to protect Second High School and its teachers’ descendants, then called the students to clear the battlefield before fainting.
• The students laid out the dead and cleaned the sports field, while Yu Sheng carried Liu Qingfeng away and reminded Zhong Yushu to pay him for killing twenty-three Evil Cultists.
• A young God Servant from Baichun City realized the attack had targeted Zhong Yushu, changed into a school uniform, and left.
• News of Zhong Yushu’s recovery and victories against the Evil Cult and Demon Clan briefly lifted Human Race morale, but two Level Eight Demon Lords later attacked Dawn City and caused heavy casualties.
• Yu Sheng held a solitary funeral for Liu Qingfeng, buried his ashes, and left the headstone bearing only Liu Qingfeng’s name.
• After ranking first in the province, Yu Sheng received assessment invitations from the Three Major Universities, including a strong offer from the Military Academy, but wondered why Ink Academy had not invited him.

After Liu Qingfeng’s death, Yu Sheng returned to his solitary routine while Zhong Yushu explained that he had recommended him to Ink Academy. Li Yihan and Zhao Zicheng then arrived with news of their school prospects, leaving Li reconsidering his career and Zhao celebrating his admission to Spirit Martial High School.

• Zhong Yushu asked Yu Sheng whether he blamed him for Liu Qingfeng’s death, then said he had recommended Yu Sheng to Ink Academy and urged him to live up to Liu’s medal of merit.
• Yu Sheng resumed cultivating alone, until Li Yihan visited and announced that he had been invited to the military academy’s assessment.
• Yu Sheng asked Li Yihan to kill Evil Cult members and give him the bounty money, prompting Li to look up the reward and decide to become a hero who hunted cultists for profit.
• Zhao Zicheng arrived the next day and showed Yu Sheng his exam-free admission letter to Spirit Martial High School.
• Yu Sheng imagined that Zhao’s awakened ability would make him a popular punching bag among the school’s body-training students.

Zhao Zicheng celebrated receiving an assessment invitation from Ink Academy, then fled when Yu Sanshui revealed himself as the man Zhao had reported. After Yu Sheng received a message and left to take care of something, Yu Sanshui called Xiaoli and got ready to meet her.

• Zhao Zicheng celebrated his Ink Academy assessment invitation and smashed his phone against the coffee table.
• Yu Sanshui confronted Zhao Zicheng over reporting him, and Zhao fled while Yu Sanshui chased him with a mop.
• Yu Sanshui learned that Zhao Zicheng's father was the Head of the Guard Department and awkwardly asked Yu Sheng about his exams.
• Yu Sheng received a message, picked up his schoolbag, and left to take care of something.
• Yu Sanshui called Xiaoli, arranged to meet her, and changed into a tracksuit before heading out.

Yu Sheng reflected on Liu Qingfeng, continued cultivating, and prepared to attend Second High School’s graduation ceremony. There, the principal honored the 56 dead students and explained how generations of awakened humans had sacrificed themselves to protect humanity, leaving the graduates with the weight of that legacy.

• Yu Sheng cultivated at Liu Qingfeng’s house, noticed a faint second shadow beside Sucker Punch, and recalled that Ink Pavilion’s assessment was scheduled for half a month later.
• Yu Sheng set traps and slept with a dagger in hand, then dismantled the traps and checked his equipment before going out the next morning.
• Second High School held a solemn graduation ceremony surrounded by 56 photographs of the dead.
• The principal urged the students to remember those who died protecting them and to become strong enough to protect others.
• The principal recounted how the first three patriarchs and other awakened humans had sacrificed themselves to defend the Human Race.
• The principal said no sixth-awakening human had died of old age in 149 years and explained that eight of Ink Pavilion’s Ten Elders remained hidden so they could strike the Demon Clan if necessary.

At Liu Qingfeng’s memorial, Yu Sheng reflected on the medal and chose to pursue medals of his own by hunting the Evil Cult. He asked an unnamed contact for information, then planned a route from Mobei City to Jiangcheng to earn enough merit before school began.

• At the graduation ceremony, the principal honored the Human Race’s silent protectors and urged the students to become pillars of humanity.
• After the students left, Yu Sheng placed wildflowers before Liu Qingfeng’s portrait and wondered what had made the Cloud Pattern Medal a source of pride.
• Yu Sheng decided to earn medals and called an unnamed contact, spending a favor to learn where the Evil Cult’s people were; the contact promised information by seven that evening.
• Yu Sheng planned to travel from Mobei City to Ink Academy in Jiangcheng, hoping to earn enough merit before school started.
• As Yu Sheng considered how to arrange transportation, his phone rang.

Yu Sheng joined Zhao Zicheng on a drive toward Ink Academy after Zhao escaped his father’s attempt to steer him elsewhere. They barely made it beyond the city before Zhao’s antique vehicle broke down, leaving Yu Sheng determined to avoid anyone connected to the Reserve Corps.

• Zhao Zicheng told Yu Sheng that his father opposed his plan to attend Ink Academy, and Yu Sheng suggested his father might doubt his ability to pass the entrance assessment.
• Zhao arrived bruised after his father learned about his Awakening Object, which let him supply energy to an opponent and increase his own output when allies beat him.
• Yu Sheng photographed Zhao’s shifting expressions, then climbed into Zhao’s old vehicle with him as they set out toward the outskirts of the city.
• At the Guard Bureau, Zhao’s father learned that Zhao had left the city and decided not to send anyone after him, though he was angry that Zhao had driven without a license in an uninspected vehicle.
• Less than ten li beyond the city, Zhao’s vehicle slowed to a stop and broke down, and Yu Sheng resolved to avoid people from the Reserve Corps and their relatives.

Yu Sheng negotiated with a black-market contact for a car after Zhao Zicheng’s plan to buy one failed because he did not know the bankbook PIN. The contact agreed to provide a Tiger XS for free in exchange for Yu Sheng answering one future information request, and Yu Sheng accepted.

• Zhao Zicheng suggested using his bankbook to buy a car, but Yu Sheng asked whether he knew the PIN and Zhao Zicheng froze.
• Yu Sheng called the black-market contact and proposed reporting his businesses unless he provided a car.
• Yu Sheng offered information about who would next leave Sin City, but the contact dismissed it as obvious and Yu Sheng hung up.
• The contact repeatedly called Yu Sheng back as Yu Sheng kept hanging up and walking away with Zhao Zicheng.
• The contact offered Yu Sheng a free Tiger XS in exchange for answering one future information request that did not harm Yu Sheng’s interests, and Yu Sheng agreed.

Yu Sheng collected a car from the man whose wife he had killed, then found and removed a tracking device before Zhao Zicheng drove them away. In Baichun City, a God Servant reported what had happened to a woman who demanded to know why he had not died in place of her older brother.

• Yu Sheng reassured the man on the phone that he had not planned to report him, then sent him his location to collect the car.
• Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng hid nearby while the man arrived in a heavily armored off-road vehicle and left after failing to find them.
• Yu Sheng explained that the man was proud and unlikely to kill him secretly, then searched beneath the car and found a flashing tracking device.
• Yu Sheng let Zhao Zicheng drive, and they set off together despite neither of them having a license.
• A God Servant from Baichun City told a woman that he had been badly injured while escaping, and she coldly asked why he had not died in her older brother's place.

A Myriad Gods Church operative accepted a mission to kill two Ink Academy students in Jiangcheng in exchange for promotion. Meanwhile, An Xin and Zhao Qingyi left their companions behind, each hiding how much the farewells hurt.

• The Goddess ordered a young fourth-awakening God Servant to go to Jiangcheng and kill two Ink Academy students, promising to seek his promotion to Divine Attendant if he succeeded.
• The young man accepted the mission, burned his documents, and left his shabby room for Jiangcheng.
• An Xin told Luo Yun that the academy had assigned her a new trial in Jiangcheng, then left Baichun City after saying goodbye to her surviving squadmates.
• After leaving the Dark Pavilion, Zhao Qingyi crouched out of sight and cried because she would miss everyone, then put on sunglasses when footsteps approached.
• Pavilion Master Lin approached Zhao Qingyi and remarked that her tear tracks were too obvious.