Chapter Summaries

Sun Wen and Zhao Zicheng watched the examinees and discussed Qi Tian and Wang Youcai, while Mu Yu unexpectedly admitted she liked Qi Tian because he would make a satisfying target to beat. Sun Wen critiqued Wang Youcai’s judgment and business sense, then asked Zhao Zicheng what he thought of Shi Guang.

• Sun Wen and Zhao Zicheng criticized the examinees’ weak tactics and Yuan Zhong’s revenge-driven response to an ambush.
• Mu Yu said she liked Qi Tian, explaining that his defiant nature made him especially satisfying to beat up.
• Zhao Zicheng decided to imitate Qi Tian’s defiance so others would want to hit him, horrifying Mu Yu.
• Sun Wen assessed Wang Youcai as clever but hasty, citing his failure to learn that Su Mo was a teacher and his misjudgment of Xu Yuanqing and Ink Academy’s Heavenly Prides.
• Sun Wen told Zhao Zicheng that Wang Youcai still needed practice, though he looked forward to seeing how the boy developed.
• Sun Wen teasingly asked Zhao Zicheng what he thought of Shi Guang.

Sun Wen fled Jiangcheng to avoid being beaten, leaving Zhao Zicheng and the others to watch the examinees. In the Demon Domain, Ji Hong learned that Zeshan would rest and reorganize instead of attacking Ghost Gate, raising suspicions about its loyalty to Eagle Ravine Mountain.

• Zhao Zicheng claimed he could kill Shi Guang in a real fight, while Mu Yu insisted Shi Guang was stronger than him.
• Sun Wen left Jiangcheng on a half-month mission to avoid the people waiting to beat him and asked his companions to tell Teacher Su Mo which examinees advanced.
• A Demon God's envoy announced that Eagle Ravine Mountain would lead this year's assault on Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Ji Hong bribed the envoy with a white flower and learned that Zeshan would be resting and reorganizing.
• Fei wanted to confront Xiangliu, but Ji Hong warned that Skyvault Ravine might be sowing discord and urged caution.
• Ji Hong began preparing Eagle Ravine Mountain for war, while Fei stayed on the mountaintop and brooded over Skyvault Ravine, Zeshan, and Xiangliu.

Qi Tian, Yuan Zhong, and the twin-tailed girl reached Ink Academy after the assessment, battered from the ordeal while the girl remained unharmed. Xu Yuanqing announced the 141st Cohort in a spectacular display, and Qi Tian and Yuan Zhong entered the academy with renewed resolve, ending up in a scuffle at the gates.

• Zhao Zicheng found Qi Tian and Yuan Zhong barely standing and the twin-tailed girl unharmed, then welcomed the new juniors into Ink Academy.
• Senior students questioned Zhao Zicheng about Sun Wen, but he claimed ignorance and said he had secretly planted a tracking device on him.
• Xu Yuanqing filled the sky above Ink Academy with flames and announced the 141st Cohort, including Shi Guang, Wang Youcai, Shen Feng, Qi Tian, Yuan Zhong, and Li Zi.
• Qi Tian and Yuan Zhong were moved by the ceremony, and Yuan Zhong declared that joining Ink Academy might have been the best choice of his life.
• Qi Tian vowed to follow the path of the Qi Tian Great Sage, but after Yuan Zhong mentioned the monkey being trapped beneath Five-Finger Mountain, Qi Tian fell on top of him and told him to talk less.

Zhao Zicheng watched Xu Yuanqing boast about the credits he had earned, only for Xu to turn humble when he realized he had no money yet. Later, Su Mo met his new students and assigned three of them to ambush and challenge the returning students for credits, drawing the older students’ hostile attention.

• Li Zi helped two new students inside while Zhao Zicheng confronted Xu Yuanqing about staging a grand display for Sun Wen.
• Xu Yuanqing bragged that five of the six new students owed him credits and boasted about his future salary, then quickly flattered Zhao Zicheng when he realized he could not afford dinner.
• The new students gathered on the field in the afternoon, and Su Mo introduced himself as their teacher.
• Su Mo dismissed Shi Guang, Li Zi, and Shen Feng, then assigned Wang Youcai, Yuan Zhong, and Qi Tian extra training.
• Su Mo ordered the three students to ambush returning students and earn credits by hurting them, prompting the returning students to stare at them coldly.

Su Mo assigned the students credit-earning missions, but Shi Guang and Li Zi’s attempt to ambush Yu Sheng failed badly. Yu Sheng left the dormitory while Qi Tian was carried toward Ink Academy’s gates, tied to a bamboo pole.

• Su Mo ordered Shi Guang to ambush Yu Sheng and Li Zi to target Zhao Zicheng, while Shen Feng chose to challenge senior students; Wang Youcai and Yuan Zhong chose to severely injure Sun Wen, and Qi Tian declared that he would challenge the students.
• Shi Guang refused to ambush Yu Sheng because she judged her chances of success to be less than one percent, so Li Zi offered to help her in exchange for help against Zhao Zicheng.
• Li Zi entered the 140th Cohort dormitory building and emerged injured after Yu Sheng countered her ambush; Shi Guang called off their deal and left her on a bench.
• Li Zi reflected on the gap in their strength, then limped toward the cafeteria, where Zhao Zicheng and Xu Yuanqing were eating breakfast.
• Shi Guang saw Yu Sheng leave with his backpack, then returned to her room to cultivate after a video call with her partner at the Driving School.
• Two senior students carried Qi Tian toward Ink Academy’s gates with him tied to a bamboo pole.

Qi Tian endured being beaten and hung from a tree by two senior students, then escaped and returned to Ink Academy determined to surpass them. Li Zi tried to approach Zhao Zicheng, but he saw through her apparent innocence and kicked her away, leaving her to demand an explanation.

• Two senior students beat Qi Tian, stripped off his golden armor, and hung him from a tree while passersby photographed and mocked him.
• After an hour, Qi Tian broke free, put his armor back on, and charged back into Ink Academy, vowing to make everyone submit.
• Li Zi appeared before Zhao Zicheng with a missing back molar, and Xu Yuanqing offered to connect her with a dentist who charged three credits.
• Zhao Zicheng suspected Li Zi had taken a task from Su Mo, but she insisted she had come to thank him for looking after her.
• Xu Yuanqing warned Li Zi that her tricks would not work at Ink Academy, while Zhao Zicheng kicked her away instead of catching her as she fell.
• Li Zi struggled to sit up and asked Zhao Zicheng whether he was going to say something.

Zhao Zicheng stopped Li Zi’s ambush and demanded repayment, while Yuan Zhong and Wang Youcai received Sun Wen’s location in Qingshan City. Yu Sheng then struck Yuan Zhong with his car at Ink Academy’s entrance, leaving him hanging from a tree as residents admired the compensation they expected him to receive.

• Zhao Zicheng spared Li Zi from being stripped and hung up but warned her to repay the credits she owed him.
• Li Zi regained her fighting spirit after Zhao Zicheng walked away, though she blushed as she remembered being hit by him.
• Yuan Zhong and Wang Youcai received Sun Wen’s moving location from Zhao Zicheng and learned he had reached Qingshan City.
• Wang Youcai went to get tools for sweeping while Yuan Zhong stayed at the entrance and considered how far Sun Wen had fled.
• Yu Sheng drove through Ink Academy’s entrance, hit Yuan Zhong, and sent him hanging from a tree as onlookers discussed Yu Sheng’s generous compensation and driving subsidies.

Bai Haitang publicly humiliated Qi Tian by hanging him from Ink Academy’s plaque, while Yuan Zhong photographed and mocked him. At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Chu Yu greeted the arriving reserve forces and sketched them before an unexpected vehicle arrived beneath the pass.

• Bai Haitang hung Qi Tian from Ink Academy’s plaque with a sign branding him a sneak attacker.
• Yuan Zhong took photos of Qi Tian and posted them in the Ink City group chat before leaving.
• At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Chu Yu received word that reserve forces from two provinces were arriving.
• The reservists climbed the pass, wrote their names on its walls, and set up camp under orders from a sixth-awakening commander.
• Chu Yu sketched the soldiers and wrote a wish for the mountains and rivers to remain unharmed and for everyone to stay safe.
• A vehicle stopped on the wall at the foot of Demon-Suppressing Pass with a sudden thud.

Yu Sheng was denied entry into the Demon Domain at Demon-Suppressing Pass, so he borrowed Cong Yunfeng’s car and drove away. At Ink Academy, Su Mo punished the new students for failing their first assignment, then gave them death waivers to sign for the enrollment ceremony, and Shi Guang signed first.

• Yu Sheng displayed his Four-Pattern Cloud Merit medal, and Cong Yunfeng respectfully greeted him at Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Cong Yunfeng refused to let Yu Sheng enter the Demon Domain during wartime, so Yu Sheng borrowed his car and drove away.
• Su Mo told the 141st Cohort that they had failed their assignment and deducted ten credits from each student.
• Su Mo handed the students death waivers for Ink Academy’s enrollment ceremony and asked them to sign.
• Shi Guang read the agreement and signed it, while Li Zi asked if she would reconsider.

After signing their agreements to join Ink Academy, Su Mo and the new students set out in a battered minivan, but Shi Guang arranged learner cars to spare them the long, uncomfortable ride. The convoy raced into the wilderness with Yuan Zhong—who had failed his driving test four times—at the wheel and Qi Tian screaming beside him.

• Qi Tian and Yuan Zhong competed to prove their resolve by smearing blood on their agreements, and Yuan Zhong soaked his copy until its writing became unreadable.
• Li Zi and Shen Feng signed their agreements, and Su Mo welcomed the new students to Ink Academy, though Yuan Zhong had to sign a replacement agreement.
• Su Mo led the group away in a battered minivan that could barely manage thirty miles an hour.
• Shi Guang called for three learner cars, and she, Su Mo, and Li Zi took one while Yuan Zhong drove another with Qi Tian as his passenger.
• Yuan Zhong revealed that he had failed the second driving test four times, then sped into the wilderness with Qi Tian screaming beside him.

Yu Sheng returned to the mountain and learned that Zhong Yushu had left Demon-Suppressing Pass, then entered the Thousand-Li Demon Plain disguised as a White Ape. His disguise drew hostile attention from the local Demon Beasts, and he approached a wary wild horse.

• Yu Sheng told the old man that Zhong Yushu was no longer at Demon-Suppressing Pass, and the old man lamented losing his backer and warned Yu Sheng not to provoke anything above the seventh awakening.
• The old man resumed cursing Zhong Yushu, then sat beside an Azure Bird egg and fed it energy.
• Yu Sheng put on a realistic White Ape suit made by a Gold Ingot Group artisan and entered the Thousand-Li Demon Plain.
• Two sixth-level Demon Beasts discussed whether the White Ape was a scout from the Ten Thousand Demon Forest, but decided not to attack him.
• Yu Sheng walked toward a hostile wild horse with his Iron Rod, and the horse backed away without taking its eyes off him.

Yu Sheng rode a wild horse across the Thousand-Li Demon Plain after provoking its Demon Beasts and discovering that they feared harming the White Ape Clan. At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Cong Yunfeng spotted the monkey on horseback and reported it, then received strange intelligence that left him questioning what he had seen.

• Yu Sheng struck a wild horse with his Iron Rod, drawing gray aura from it as nearby Demon Beasts prepared to attack.
• Two sixth-level Demon Beasts warned Yu Sheng to give notice before entering the Thousand-Li Demon Plain, but they left without harming him because they feared the White Ape Clan's influence.
• After the remaining Demon Beasts backed down from Yu Sheng, he climbed onto the wild horse and subdued it with a punch.
• Yu Sheng rode freely across the Thousand-Li Demon Plain for the first time without being hunted.
• A Reserve Corps member spotted the monkey riding a horse from Demon-Suppressing Pass, and Cong Yunfeng reported it by phone before reacting with disbelief to the intelligence he received.

Su Mo led Ink Academy’s 141st Cohort to Demon-Suppressing Pass for their enrollment ceremony, where Shi Guang’s pass revealed that Yu Sheng’s Four-Pattern Cloud Merit came with real privileges. After struggling with the thought of saluting his student, Su Mo set aside his pride and prepared the group to ascend the pass and walk Hero Road.

• Su Mo led the new students to the checkpoint, where he asked the soldiers to skip Shi Guang’s inspection, then suggested they let her hold a dagger to an officer’s neck during it.
• Shi Guang presented a pass issued by Yu Sheng, and the soldiers verified it and saluted, leaving Su Mo stunned that Yu Sheng’s merit carried privileges.
• Su Mo tried to reassure himself that Yu Sheng was still his student inside the academy, but Qi Tian reminded him they were not at the academy.
• Su Mo waited beneath Demon-Suppressing Pass until morning, then accepted that saluting Yu Sheng would not compromise his scholarly integrity.
• Su Mo announced the enrollment ceremony and invited the students to ascend the pass and walk Hero Road; Shi Guang wondered what Yu Sheng had thought when he walked it.

Yu Sheng hid his White Ape coat and continued through the Thousand-Li Demon Plain in human form, waiting for night near a flower on a rocky hill. In the Ten Thousand Demon Forest, Old White Ape faced angry clan chiefs over his plan to send them to the vanguard, then used a threat to make Black Tiger King swear loyalty to the White Ape Clan.

• Yu Sheng found that his White Ape appearance made it impossible to ambush Demon Beasts, so he removed the coat and resumed his journey in human form.
• Yu Sheng concealed himself near a flower atop a rocky hill and waited for nightfall.
• Several sixth-level Demon Beast chiefs protested Old White Ape's plan to make them the vanguard against Demon-Suppressing Pass, while Black Tiger King threatened him.
• Fire Fox joined Old White Ape, and Black Tiger King considered attacking them with his clan.
• Old White Ape suggested assigning the Black Tiger Clan to hold the flank, prompting Black Tiger King to swear that his clan would support the White Ape Clan for life.

Old White Ape secured control of the Ten Thousand Demon Forest by forcing its other clans to serve as vanguard under Skyvault Ravine’s orders, then promised to protect their descendants. He also selected White Ape Clan elders who had opposed him to die in the campaign, hoping their sacrifice would satisfy Skyvault Ravine.

• After Black Tiger surrendered, Old White Ape refused the other chiefs’ offers of vassalage and ordered their clans to remain the vanguard.
• The chiefs bowed and asked Old White Ape to protect their young, and he promised their descendants would remain under the White Ape Clan’s protection.
• Old White Ape told Black Tiger and Fire Fox to oversee preparations so the Ten Thousand Demon Forest would not delay Skyvault Ravine’s military orders.
• Old White Ape declared that White Ape Clan members would charge at the front of the battlefield and die in the campaign.
• Old White Ape named the Grand Elder, Third Elder, and Fifth Elder for the mission because they had supported Gu Diao and tried to remove him.
• The Grand Elder’s son begged him to go to his death, and Old White Ape privately said the White Ape Clan needed casualties to give Skyvault Ravine an accounting.

Dragon Python punished a vulture for mistreating a White Ape by making it command the Thousand-Li Demon Plain’s forces during the coming attack on Demon-Suppressing Pass. After the vulture killed a White Ape and discovered it was a protected Messenger, it realized its odds of survival were nearly zero and fled.

• Dragon Python scolded the vulture for turning away a White Ape and ordered it to serve as Commander when the Ten Thousand Demon Forest passed through.
• The vulture blamed the White Ape for its punishment and killed one that crossed its territory.
• The vulture found a letter identifying the dead White Ape as a Messenger, whose killing violated Skyvault Ravine’s rules.
• The vulture panicked over the consequences and fled the Thousand-Li Demon Plain.

Yu Sheng recovered Old White Ape’s letter and secretly manipulated events so a Demon Beast would carry it toward Dragon Python. At Demon-Suppressing Pass, the 141st Cohort reported for Pass Ascension, only to be asked whether they could cook.

• After the Demon Beasts devoured White Ape’s corpse, Yu Sheng retrieved Old White Ape’s letter and read that the Ten Thousand Demon Forest planned to cross Dragon Python’s territory as the vanguard.
• Yu Sheng photographed the letter, practiced copying Old White Ape’s handwriting, and later returned an altered letter to the bones.
• Yu Sheng harvested a Chinese redbud and stored it with energy fluid, recalling its effects and the need to protect it from dust.
• A sixth-level Demon Beast found the envelope and, after reading it, beat a noisy fifth-level Demon Beast before carrying the letter toward Dragon Python.
• At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Su Mo led the 141st Cohort in reporting for Pass Ascension, and the general asked whether the students could cook.

Qi Tian was punished by the general for boasting about the Reserve Corps and ended up hanging from the Demon-Suppressing Pass plaque, where he spun an elaborate tale of his future heroism. As Su Mo and Chu Yu reflected on stories and their endings, Chu Yu sketched Qi Tian’s scene while they wondered what fate awaited them.

• Qi Tian mocked the Reserve Corps, but the general silenced him and dragged him away for an assignment.
• The general stripped Qi Tian down to his underwear and hung him from the Demon-Suppressing Pass plaque.
• Su Mo reminisced with Chu Yu about her early days at Ink Academy and the ways they had both changed.
• Hanging from the plaque, Qi Tian proclaimed that he would one day destroy Skyvault Ravine and become a remembered hero of the human race.
• Su Mo and Chu Yu discussed whether stories had fixed endings, while Chu Yu sketched Qi Tian hanging from the wall.

At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Chu Yu prepared a speech and made another mosaic painting while Yuan Zhong was punished for insulting the Reserve Corps. Meanwhile, Old White Ape sent the Golden Leopard Clan to stage an early probe of the pass, hoping the Ten Thousand Demon Forest would be blameless if the coming battle went badly.

• Chu Yu showed Su Mo a mosaic painting of Qi Tian and wondered whether to salute the troops instead of giving a speech.
• Yuan Zhong reported Wang Youcai’s insults to the general, who revealed he had heard everything and hung Yuan Zhong beside Qi Tian.
• Chu Yu added a mosaic portrait of Yuan Zhong to her painting.
• Old White Ape ordered the Golden Leopard King to lead a stealthy attack on Demon-Suppressing Pass, make a show of force for ten minutes, and retreat.
• Old White Ape reasoned that the early probe would keep the Human Race’s anger in check and leave the Ten Thousand Demon Forest blameless if the first battle ended in defeat.

Dragon Python learned that Vulture had killed the White Ape Clan’s messenger and ordered a hunt while sending a Myriad Phenomena Fruit to the clan’s junior. Yu Sheng spotted golden leopards rushing toward Demon-Suppressing Pass and approached the porcupine carrying the fruit, pretending to be a passing white ape.

• Dragon Python read Old White Ape’s letter requesting passage through the Thousand-Li Demon Plain and a Myriad Phenomena Fruit for a White Ape Clan junior.
• The porcupine reported that the messenger was dead and that it had sensed King Vulture’s aura on the corpse, prompting Dragon Python to order Vulture hunted and send the fruit west.
• Old White Ape heard Dragon Python’s roar from the Ten Thousand Demon Forest and wondered why he was angry despite the promised gifts.
• Golden Leopard King led six fifth-level clan elders and more than forty fourth-level golden leopards toward Demon-Suppressing Pass while Yu Sheng watched them pass his tree hollow.
• Yu Sheng put on his white ape suit, approached the porcupine carrying the Myriad Phenomena Fruit, and drew its attention.