Chapter Summaries

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.

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.