Chapter Summaries

Yu Sheng returned to Ink Academy and was caught in a scheme by Xu Yuanqing to charge him for damaging the gate, but the Vice Principal intervened and docked Xu Yuanqing’s pay. The Vice Principal summoned Yu Sheng to the Back Courtyard, and the freshmen hurried after him to satisfy their curiosity.

• Xu Yuanqing brought refreshments to the dormitory, and the freshmen recognized the crash at the academy gate as Yu Sheng returning.
• Yu Sheng offered two hundred yuan for the gate damage, but Xu Yuanqing tried to extort two hundred thousand from him.
• Yu Sheng threatened to call the Vice Principal, prompting Xu Yuanqing to return the money and offer an extra hundred yuan.
• The Vice Principal used a hidden camera and loudspeaker to dock Xu Yuanqing four months’ pay for extortion and harming the academy’s interests.
• The Vice Principal summoned Yu Sheng to the Back Courtyard, and Sun Wen, A Tai, Lin Xiaoxiao, Big White, and Zhao Zicheng followed to gossip.

Yu Sheng learned that the water from washing a coffin had contained heavenly star diamond, a priceless material he had unknowingly lost, and received a reference book on rare materials. The Vice Principal then became troubled by Yu Sheng’s report of a human corpse in the coffin beneath the Divine Ruins.

• The Vice Principal gave Yu Sheng a list valuing the Demon Beasts and identifying the energy in the washing water as heavenly star diamond.
• Yu Sheng realized the diamond had come from the coffin he had scrubbed and asked the Vice Principal for information on rare materials.
• The Vice Principal explained that heavenly star diamond could be cut with blood bearing a Divine Beast’s aura, then learned Yu Sheng had encountered a coffin-sized amount and lost it.
• Yu Sheng calmly accepted that he had missed the chance to save the diamond, while the Vice Principal regretted the enormous loss.
• The Vice Principal questioned Yu Sheng about the coffin’s occupant, and Yu Sheng confirmed it was a human desiccated corpse.
• The Vice Principal muttered about the third human corpse and the coffin’s appearance in a level-four Divine Ruins, while Yu Sheng stayed silent.

Yu Sheng agreed to trade most of his demon beast spoils for cultivation resources while keeping the Phoenix Tears, and the Vice Principal received a visit from powerful Ink Academy graduates. The chapter ended with the Vice Principal confronting Yuan Qingshan over his past arrogance at the Education Department.

• The Vice Principal proposed exchanging Yu Sheng’s demon beast corpses and supplies for cultivation resources, and Yu Sheng agreed while keeping the Phoenix Tears to sell to Xu Yuanqing.
• The Vice Principal joked with the group, then sent Zhao Zicheng spinning with colorful lights after Zhao tried to enter his room.
• Yu Sheng studied an old book while Sun Yingxiong, Yuan Qingshan, and Qi Changshan arrived at the Ink Academy.
• The Vice Principal teased Yuan Qingshan about his former treatment of him at the Education Department and threatened to take Yu Sheng’s goods to the black market instead.
• Sun Yingxiong knocked Yuan Qingshan to the ground, greeted the Vice Principal respectfully, and watched as the Vice Principal demanded that Yuan Qingshan kowtow.

Yu Mo negotiated with Yu Sheng over the Demon Beast corpses and other supplies, advising him to keep the Young Flood Dragon and Gu Diao for their divine beast blood. The Ink Pavilion's offer for the valuable Heavenly Mountain Pool Water remained unresolved as Yu Mo asked whether Yu Sheng still needed divine beast blood.

• Yuan Qingshan and the Vice Principal traded insults and threats, while Sun Wen and Zhao Zicheng quietly plotted against Yuan Qingshan's grandson.
• Sun Yingxiong redirected the bickering toward the resources, and Yu Mo arrived in a wheelchair to calm the two seniors.
• Yu Mo offered to buy the ordinary Demon Beast corpses for ninety percent of the standard market price, and Yu Sheng accepted.
• Yu Mo advised Yu Sheng to keep the Young Flood Dragon and Gu Diao, since refining their blood could strengthen his companions.
• Yu Mo identified the Heavenly Mountain Pool Water as the Ink Pavilion's main interest and asked whether Yu Sheng still needed divine beast blood; Yu Sheng said he did.

Yu Sheng negotiated with Yu Mo to trade Divine Beast Blood and Heavenly Mountain Pool Water for energy supplies and equipment, including a sword. The chapter ended with Yu Sheng offering a second bottle of Heavenly Mountain Pool Water for Yu Yongyan’s sword, shocking the elders with how much he possessed.

• Yu Sheng agreed to exchange two pounds of Divine Beast Blood for a fifth of a bottle of Heavenly Mountain Pool Water and asked for plentiful, easy-to-absorb energy items.
• Yu Sheng requested equipment that increased his speed and an extremely sharp weapon, asking whether anything could cut Heavenly Star Diamond.
• Yu Mo offered a sword that could slice through Sixth Level Demon Beast scales, and said it had belonged to his grandfather Yu Yongyan, who had carried it since awakening and slain an Eighth Level Divine Beast with it.
• Yu Sheng placed another bottle of Heavenly Mountain Pool Water on the ground and asked whether it would be enough for the sword.
• The Vice Principal, Sun Yingxiong, Yuan Qingshan, and the other elders were stunned that Yu Sheng had another bottle, while Yu Mo kept his reaction concealed.

Yu Sheng traded Heavenly Mountain Pool Water for Yu Yongyan’s sword and negotiated for driver’s licenses and cars, leaving Yu Mo baffled by his priorities. Yu Mo arranged to deliver the supplies by morning, while Sun Yingxiong watched Sun Wen and Yuan Qingshan traded threats with the Vice Principal.

• Yu Mo admitted he had briefly been tempted by Yu Sheng’s offer but said the two bottles of Heavenly Mountain Pool Water were too much for the sword.
• Yu Sheng asked to exchange the excess water for energy items and two driver’s licenses, prompting Yu Mo to offer licenses and two cars.
• Yu Sheng asked about crash safety and requested a dozen cheap cars, while Yu Mo advised him to drive only in the wilderness.
• Yu Mo extended his hand to seal the deal, but Yu Sheng refused to shake hands because Yu Mo was at the Sixth Awakening.
• Yu Mo arranged for the Ink Pavilion’s supplies to arrive by morning and asked Sun Yingxiong to escort them.
• The Vice Principal threatened Yuan Qingshan with bringing his grandson to visit, and Yuan flew off as the Vice Principal muttered about their old rivalry.

Yu Sheng collected payment from the Vice Principal, then sold Sun Wen Heavenly Mountain Pool Water so he could reroll his skills. Sun Wen’s first two new skills boosted his Fortune in unpredictable ways, leaving him frustrated rather than with the offensive abilities he wanted.

• The Vice Principal used his powers to make Xu Yuanqing agree to pay for the venue and protection, took Yu Sheng’s money, and tore up Xu Yuanqing’s contract.
• After the Vice Principal released his control, Xu Yuanqing attacked him, while Yu Sheng left.
• Sun Wen asked Yu Sheng to sell him Heavenly Mountain Pool Water, and Yu Sheng agreed to sell it for ten million per drop.
• Yu Sheng brought out a huge jug of Heavenly Mountain Pool Water, and Sun Wen used three drops to reroll a skill, gaining Fortune Explosion.
• Sun Wen used three more drops and gained Fortune Pair Collision, a skill that made two strands of Fortune collide and multiplied his Fortune depending on his luck.

Sun Wen repeatedly rerolled his fortune-based awakening skills, then awakened Fortune Tycoon and Fortune Sharing with a Poison Dragon Demon Core. When he tried to share his fortune with Xu Yuanqing, Xu Yuanqing’s Fire Phoenix blocked the skill, and he turned to Yu Sheng to ask about the unsold Phoenix Tears.

• Sun Wen wasted six drops of Heavenly Mountain Pool Water rerolling fortune skills, then decided to complete his Fifth Awakening.
• Sun Wen merged a fifth-level Poison Dragon Demon Core with his Gold Yuanbao, and the Gold Yuanbao’s influence transformed the Demon Core’s black aura into gold.
• Sun Wen awakened Fortune Tycoon, which doubled his overall fortune, then used his final three drops of Heavenly Mountain Pool Water to reroll and gained Fortune Sharing.
• Xu Yuanqing rushed into the dorm room and begged Sun Wen to share his fortune, but Xu Yuanqing’s Fire Phoenix blocked the golden light.
• Xu Yuanqing asked Yu Sheng whether he had sold his Phoenix Tears.

Yu Sheng gave Xu Yuanqing the Phoenix Tears in exchange for a favor, while Yu Mo considered whether Yu Sheng had multiple Awakening Objects. Yu Mo concluded that Yu Sheng might become humanity’s new hope and said his unusual abilities should be concealed while he was still vulnerable.

• Yu Sheng refused Xu Yuanqing’s offer of work and instead asked him for a favor in exchange for the Phoenix Tears, which Xu Yuanqing accepted.
• Zhao Zicheng and Sun Wen discussed combining their awakening skills, and Sun Wen considered how his skill might support Yu Sheng in the Demon Domain.
• Yu Mo questioned whether Yu Sheng’s abilities and energy needs indicated that he had more than one Awakening Object.
• Sun Yingxiong doubted Yu Mo’s theory, but Yu Mo argued that the unknown nature of awakenings left such possibilities open.
• Yu Mo told Sun Yingxiong that they should erase traces of Yu Sheng’s abilities because Yu Sheng might be humanity’s new hope and was still too fragile.

Yu Mo explained how false intelligence about a spatial storage experiment could divert the Evil Cult’s attention from Yu Sheng and Chu Yu, while Sun Yingxiong’s response made Yu Mo reconsider his plans. At Ink Academy, Chu Yu’s experiment was suspended pending moonlight grass, and the academy settled into an uneasy quiet during Xu Yuanqing’s absence.

• Yu Mo proposed leaking details of a supposedly successful spatial storage experiment to draw the Evil Cult’s attention away from Yu Sheng and Chu Yu and expose spies within the Ink Pavilion.
• Sun Yingxiong agreed that Yuan Qingshan should eventually lead the Ink Pavilion and said he would step down once Yuan reached the eighth awakening, prompting Yu Mo to reconsider his one-year plan.
• An old researcher told Chu Yu that her experiment was suspended until moonlight grass arrived to improve its chances and reduce the risk to her life.
• Chu Yu quietly looked toward the archway and artificial hill, then returned to her book after remembering a boy who had once sat there.
• After Xu Yuanqing had been absent for ten days, Zhao Zicheng and others speculated about his whereabouts while Ink Academy briefly became quieter and students pursued missions and traded for cultivation resources.

With missions scarce, Ink Academy's students struggled to earn points and afford cultivation resources. Yu Sheng celebrated getting his driver's license and mailed Shi Guang the other one, while Shi Guang's arena match revealed how closely her grim methods resembled his.

• Light Group's dominance reduced available missions, and Ink Academy's students began struggling with dwindling points and resources.
• Yu Sheng received his driver's license, called the driving school to share the news, and got his tuition refunded.
• Yu Sheng mailed the driver's license bearing Shi Guang's name, but she replied that she had already passed her driving test.
• In Mobei City, Shi Guang defeated a student in the arena, prompting the principal to ask why she had not pulled his teeth.
• Shi Guang explained that she handled digging holes and burying bodies while Yu Sheng handled interrogations, and the student panicked at the thought of being buried.

After Shi Guang’s match, the Principal tried to recruit her by offering care, lodging, and a trip, but she drew weapons and sent him running. Meanwhile, Sun Wen dressed the 140th Cohort in custom uniforms for the senior students’ graduation ceremony, prompting Zhao Zicheng to attack him over the word embroidered on his uniform.

• Shi Guang left the arena with her shovel, and the Principal decided to mentor her like Liu Qingfeng had mentored Yu Sheng.
• The Principal offered Shi Guang a place to stay, then suggested becoming her goddaughter and taking a trip together; Shi Guang drew a dagger and a large Crossbow, making him flee.
• Sun Wen gave Yu Sheng a set of custom uniforms for the 140th Cohort to wear at the senior students’ graduation ceremony.
• Zhao Zicheng saw that his uniform read “Quack quack” and charged at Sun Wen, who was soon sobbing as Zhao forced his fist to strike him.

Yu Sheng and his friends joked about eating the dormant egg while its bird struggled to wake inside. At Ink Academy, the Vice Principal tried to prepare graduating seniors Su Mo and Bai Yu for the ceremony, but their insults turned into a contest over who could wear more layers in the summer.

• Zhao Zicheng, Sun Wen, Lin Xiaoxiao, Mu Yu, A Tai, and Yu Sheng discussed whether the egg had gone bad and joked about roasting it after it hatched.
• The bird inside the egg absorbed the Mountain-Guarding Old Man's energy and repeatedly fell back asleep, comforted by the voices outside.
• The Vice Principal warned Su Mo and Bai Yu to behave at the graduation ceremony, where they were the only graduates that year.
• Su Mo and Bai Yu traded embarrassing stories from their student days until they prepared to fight.
• The Vice Principal pointed out that Su Mo's robe and Bai Yu's jacket would be unbearably hot, prompting them to challenge each other to add more layers.
• Su Mo left to prepare thicker clothes, then returned about half a minute later and sat down smiling while waving his fan.

Su Mo returned to the Vice Principal’s office, where the Vice Principal extorted twenty thousand from him to keep quiet. As Ink Academy’s graduation ceremony began, Xu Yuanqing arrived with newly strengthened phoenix flames, while the academy’s eccentric inner-courtyard residents gathered in solemn silence.

• Su Mo altered his clothes to cope with the heat, but the Vice Principal demanded ten thousand to keep his secret and threatened to tell Bai Yu.
• After reading Xu Yuanqing’s messages about needing money for clothes, Su Mo remembered the Vice Principal’s past treatment of others and raised his transfer to twenty thousand.
• The Vice Principal reflected that absorbing the Phoenix Tears had paved Xu Yuanqing’s path toward the seventh awakening, then lent him 200 for clothes and charged 1,000 interest against his salary.
• At two o’clock, the Principal announced the graduation ceremony, and the teachers assembled in formation on the high platform.
• Xu Yuanqing arrived with denser, hotter phoenix flames and took his place on the platform as the students entered the field.
• A usually drunken vagrant cleaned himself up and joined the other eccentric inner-courtyard residents, who watched the high platform solemnly.

At Ink Academy’s 140th Graduation Ceremony, Su Mo accepted his honors as the 135th Cohort’s sole surviving graduate and remembered the classmates and teacher he had lost. After the teachers and students saluted him, he bowed and stepped away from the platform, carrying their hopes into the future.

• Chu Yu left the crowd and watched the ceremony from atop the rockery as the academy’s teachers and students gathered.
• The Principal announced that Su Mo and Bai Yu were graduating, and the Vice Principal recited Su Mo’s achievements as he ascended the platform.
• Su Mo recalled the classmates and teacher who had once shared his ambitions, then declared that the entire 135th Cohort had no regrets about entering Ink Academy.
• The teachers revealed their Awakening Objects and formed a radiant path for Su Mo as the students saluted him.
• Su Mo bowed in thanks, then withdrew to a corner of the platform.

Bai Yu graduated from Ink Academy after years of fighting and loss, and his quiet ceremony left the new students reflecting on their own futures. Afterward, he suffered heatstroke in his heavy jacket, and Su Mo helped him only after charging him ten thousand.

• Bai Yu joined Su Mo on the platform for his graduation, stood silently through the ceremony, and hummed a tune with the drunk before bowing to him.
• Zhao Zicheng, Sun Wen, Lin Xiaoxiao, Mu Yu, and A Tai discussed their ambitions and imagined a more extravagant graduation ceremony for the 140th Cohort.
• The ceremony ended, the students dispersed, and the drunk took a swig of liquor before falling asleep by the archway.
• Bai Yu asked Su Mo for help because he had heatstroke, and Su Mo demanded ten thousand before assisting him.
• After Bai Yu transferred the money, Su Mo thanked him for his guidance and bowed, and Bai Yu warmly took his hand.

After graduation, Su Mo and Bai Yu discussed their futures before the vice principal tried to persuade Su Mo to teach at Ink Academy. Bai Yu was tricked into declaring he would teach too, but backed out and fled, while Su Mo remained undecided.

• Su Mo sold ice to heat-stricken Bai Yu, and the two joked before settling beneath a tree to discuss their plans after graduation.
• Su Mo said he might serve as a deputy general training newcomers at Demon-Suppressing Pass, while Bai Yu admitted he feared staying at Ink Academy as a teacher.
• The vice principal urged Su Mo over the loudspeaker to teach incoming students and suggested he might someday become vice principal.
• Bai Yu returned to retrieve his luggage and overheard the vice principal insulting him while praising Su Mo, so he angrily declared that he would teach too.
• When the vice principal made Bai Yu promise not to back out, Bai Yu barked, grabbed his luggage, and ran out of Ink Academy.

Su Mo agreed to stay at Ink Academy on a three-year contract, while his friends ended Summer Vacation with boisterous teasing. In the Demon Domain, Old White Ape secured Black Flood Dragon’s promise of support for his bid to rule the Ten Thousand Demon Forest and then summoned Ji Hong down from Eagle Ravine Mountain.

• Su Mo accepted a three-year contract after the Vice Principal promised not to dock his pay, and the Vice Principal muttered that he had tricked another recruit.
• Zhao Zicheng and Sun Wen discussed the academy’s graduation requirements and Sun Wen bragged about his rapid awakening, prompting Mu Yu to start bullying him with the Gravestone.
• Old White Ape asked Black Flood Dragon to back his plan to kill Gu Diao and rule the Ten Thousand Demon Forest, promising to serve as the Flood Dragon Clan’s loyal informant.
• Black Flood Dragon agreed to announce that Old White Ape was his subordinate if Eagle Ravine Mountain helped kill Gu Diao, but warned that the ape would die if he lacked the strength to match his ambition.
• Old White Ape traveled to Eagle Ravine Mountain and asked Deputy Mountain Lord Ji to come down for a talk, and Ji Hong descended after studying him.

Old White Ape tried to bargain with Ji Hong for help killing Gu Diao, offering to keep Ji Hong’s secret in exchange for help taking over Ten Thousand Demon Forest. After testing Ji Hong’s willingness to die and panicking when he seemed ready to, Old White Ape offered further concessions, and Ji Hong agreed to hear his plan for eliminating Gu Diao.

• Old White Ape told Ji Hong he knew why Ji Hong had come to the Demon Domain and offered to keep his secret if Ji Hong helped him kill Gu Diao.
• Ji Hong refused to acknowledge the threat, and Old White Ape walked away before turning back to admit he was afraid to die.
• Ji Hong said he might die alongside Old White Ape, prompting Old White Ape to frantically urge him to value his life.
• Old White Ape offered to serve Ji Hong and provide resources and help in exchange for staying alive.
• Ji Hong said he welcomed a reason to wipe out the Gu Diao Clan and asked Old White Ape to explain his plan.

Ji Hong watched Old White Ape leave after a cryptic exchange, while the balding principal persuaded Shi Guang to travel with him to the Veterans' Camp. At Ink Academy, the first half of the semester ended and Zhao Zicheng admitted he had spent all his credits on training resources.

• Old White Ape whispered to Ji Hong, then left the wilderness after saying he still had to put on an act.
• The balding principal tried to lure Shi Guang to the Veterans' Camp with promises of scenic views, while Shi Guang posted suspicious questions about his intentions on a forum.
• After reading the replies, Shi Guang agreed to go with the principal, took a dagger from her backpack, and searched her phone for information about the law as they drove away.
• Xu Yuanqing announced that Ink Academy students could do as they pleased during the first week of the second half of the semester.
• Zhao Zicheng told Sun Wen that he had spent all his credits on Beast Blood, demon plants, and food, though the resources had improved his strength.