Chapter Summaries

Ji Hong learned that the Demon Clan cultivation technique might be dangerous and chose to keep its secret while killing Six-Tailed Fox and Rui. He returned to Peach Blossom Pool and left Old White Ape wondering what was inside the Divine Ruins.

• Eight-Tailed Fox left after gauging Ji Hong’s reaction to the cultivation technique, and Six-Tailed Fox told Ji Hong what had happened in the Divine Ruins.
• Ji Hong suspected Eight-Tailed Fox had doubts about the technique and decided to delay sharing it rather than risk becoming a scapegoat.
• Ji Hong praised Six-Tailed Fox, then killed him and Rui to keep the technique’s knowledge confined to himself and Eight-Tailed Fox’s family.
• Ji Hong returned to Peach Blossom Pool and told Old White Ape that Eight-Tailed Fox’s son might know what was inside the Divine Ruins.

Old White Ape and Ji Hong traded accusations over their alliance before Old White Ape left to approach the Black Flood Dragon Clan. Yu Sheng and the others emerged from the Divine Ruins, where A Tai’s week of pounding walls had apparently made him dramatically stronger, leaving Sun Wen and Lin Xiaoxiao astonished.

• Old White Ape accused Ji Hong of putting him in danger, and Ji Hong reminded him that Old White Ape had left him uninformed about what he found in the valley.
• Old White Ape said he would visit the Black Flood Dragon Clan and speak with the Red Dragon Clan Chief, then Ji Hong knocked him down with a wisp of demon aura to test his strength.
• Yu Sheng and the cheetahs chose the passage to the Human Race, and Yu Sheng emerged onto the plains outside Ink City as the Divine Ruins vanished.
• Sun Wen reunited with A Tai and Lin Xiaoxiao, who explained that they had spent a week trapped in a dark maze and found no treasures.
• A Tai said he had spent a day and night pounding a wall and felt his body improve, while Lin Xiaoxiao complained that he had ignored her advice.
• Sun Wen demonstrated his own strength by shattering a small stone, but A Tai crushed a huge rock with one punch, astonishing Sun Wen and Lin Xiaoxiao.

After A Tai returned from the Divine Ruins alive and stronger, Xu Yuanqing greeted the students and pretended to praise their success before using their banter as an excuse to confiscate most of their gains. He ordered the group to return to Ink Academy, pay their fines, and hurry to graduate, then sealed Yu Mo’s mouth when he tried to object.

• A Tai told everyone his physical enhancement was useful, while Lin Xiaoxiao worried that gaining muscles might ruin her appearance.
• Xu Yuanqing arrived and was met with exaggerated praise from Sun Wen, who mocked him while pretending to be grateful.
• Xu Yuanqing accused Sun Wen of disrespecting Ink Academy’s principal and deducted eighty percent of Sun Wen’s gains from the Divine Ruins.
• Xu Yuanqing deducted another ten percent after Sun Wen cursed at him, then ordered ninety percent of the other students’ proceeds confiscated for failing to restrain Sun Wen.
• Xu Yuanqing ordered the students to hand over their gains, pay their fines, and focus on graduating, then sealed Yu Mo’s mouth with the Power of Rules when he tried to speak.

Xu Yuanqing helped Ink Academy’s students escape Yu Mo’s attempt to seize their Divine Ruins loot, then argued with them over how to divide it. Yu Mo was left to collect seventy percent from the other students, while Xu Yuanqing faced the threat of Yu Mo’s Fake Ninth Awakening bodyguard.

• Sun Wen and the other Ink Academy students handed over their supplies, while Yu Sheng dumped out a huge pile of demon plants and claimed it was only one percent of his haul.
• Xu Yuanqing threatened the students with credit deductions and menial work, then led Ink Academy away as Yu Mo regained control and demanded seventy percent of the remaining students’ loot.
• After Ink Academy’s group left Yu Mo’s sight, they hurried into a Gold Ingot Group van and escaped down the highway.
• Xu Yuanqing asked Sun Wen how they would split the haul, but Sun Wen offered him only the money from Zhao Zicheng’s secret stash.
• Xu Yuanqing complained that the money was too little and threatened to call Yu Mo, while Zhao Zicheng silently mourned that Xu Yuanqing had already spent the stash.
• Sun Wen warned Xu Yuanqing that Yu Mo had likely called for backup and had a Fake Ninth Awakening bodyguard.

After returning from the Divine Ruins, Yu Sheng and his companions settled back into life at Ink Academy while Yu Mo searched for the escaped Xu Yuanqing and kept the newly acquired cultivation technique secret. Over the next half month, the group recovered and resumed their separate routines, leaving their lives calm and orderly.

• Xu Yuanqing took Sun Wen’s 1,834,000 startup fund and fled the car to avoid Yu Mo, but Yu Mo soon arrived at Ink Academy and stayed to search for him.
• Yu Mo questioned Yu Sheng about the ancient cultivation technique but did not distribute it, while leaving the students’ Divine Ruins supplies alone.
• Yu Sheng rented space at Ink Academy, gave the poisoned cheetahs antidotes in the correct order, and settled all seventy-four false sixth awakening demon beasts into the pet room.
• Sun Wen hired a construction crew to repair the space’s buildings and scolded Zhao Zicheng for dismantling wooden planks; Mu Yu shut herself in her dormitory with Zhao Zicheng after receiving the new cultivation technique.
• A Tai grew stronger, while Yu Sheng spent half a month resting and caring for the cheetahs, and Shi Guang returned to the Demon Plain to train.
• The Divine Ruins storyline ended, and life at Ink Academy settled into an unusually peaceful routine.

Xu Yuanqing returned to Ink Academy looking destitute and was dragged away by the Confucian Scholar, while Sun Wen’s staged account of a sparring victory boosted his public reputation. After Yu Mo left with the Confucian Scholar and the campus wails stopped, Ink Academy’s other strange happenings inspired a set of survival rules on the campus forum.

• Xu Yuanqing returned to Ink Academy after his business venture failed, and the Confucian Scholar grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away.
• Sun Wen publicized his victory over a Second Awakening opponent, and Gold Ingot Group’s public relations team turned it into a widely praised story.
• Yu Mo’s actions continued to benefit the Human Race and the businesses he had wronged, whose sales and reputations rose.
• Yu Mo left Ink Academy with the Confucian Scholar, after which the mysterious wails around campus ceased and the vice principal wandered around looking dazed.
• Ink Academy students posted a list of rules on the campus forum warning newcomers about strange incidents and seniors, including Yu Sheng, Sun Wen, and Xu Bighead.

Sun Wen and Xu Yuanqing turned Ink Academy visits and special-edition diplomas into a lucrative sensation until the principal returned and shut down the scheme. After recovering from losing his earnings, Xu Yuanqing set the class a goal of graduating within a year with zero deaths.

• Sun Wen sold Ink Academy tour packages and special-edition diplomas with Xu Bighead, while Xu Yuanqing profited from signing them and posing for photos.
• Scalpers drove ticket prices higher as the diplomas became a prized status symbol, until the principal returned and ended the operation.
• The principal confiscated Xu Yuanqing's earnings, and Xu Yuanqing's attempts to protest failed; afterward, he fined students who made money and punished those who resisted.
• After half a month, Xu Yuanqing recovered and held the class's fourth meeting, setting a goal for everyone to complete their graduation missions and graduate within one year with zero deaths.

Xu Yuanqing urged the students to graduate within a year, while Yu Sheng tried to learn how to make people happy by testing expressions on him. As the students worked toward graduation, Bai Haitang graduated and broke down crying on the Graduation Platform.

• Xu Yuanqing gave a long speech urging the students to graduate within a year, but they left without reacting.
• Yu Sheng asked Xu Yuanqing whether he felt happy, then followed him all day while trying different expressions.
• Ink Academy determined that Yu Sheng already had enough strength and merit to graduate, though he had never applied.
• The students resumed their assignments, while Mu Yu and Zhao Zicheng finished theirs and Mu Yu exchanged his credits for cultivation resources.
• Bai Haitang graduated and cried alone on the Graduation Platform.

Bai Haitang’s Graduation Ceremony left the students reflecting on loss and companionship. Zhao Zicheng, Sun Wen, and their friends visited Xu Wenxuan’s grave, shared news of the years since his death, and left to resume their responsibilities as seniors.

• Bai Haitang tearfully urged the freshmen to cherish their companions before bowing and leaving the Graduation Ceremony.
• A Tai, Xiao Xiao, Yu Sheng, and the others joined Zhao Zicheng, Sun Wen, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Mu Yu at Xu Wenxuan’s grave in Bianye.
• Zhao Zicheng and Sun Wen thanked Xu Wenxuan for teaching their cohort and told him that Ink Academy had restored his student records.
• Sun Wen told Xu Wenxuan that Chu Yu had grown old and that they still could not find a way to restore her.
• The group bid farewell to Xu Wenxuan and walked away beneath the setting sun, ready to shoulder their duties again.

As rumors about an ancient cultivation technique spread, the Ink Pavilion confirmed it would be shared with the human race under strict rules. Yu Mo told Yu Sheng that his role in obtaining it would remain secret for now, then honored him as the standard-bearer of the human race’s fifth generation.

• Yu Sheng and his classmates continued their training and missions while rumors spread that both humans and demons had obtained ancient cultivation techniques, and that the human technique could suppress the demonic one.
• The Ink Pavilion announced that the human technique would be available to applicants who passed review, with strict penalties for unauthorized teaching and special rules for practitioners sent to Sin City.
• Yu Mo visited Yu Sheng and explained that the Ink Pavilion would conceal his contribution until he reached the eighth awakening or died, to avoid drawing the Demon Domain’s attention.
• Yu Mo bowed to Yu Sheng on behalf of the human race and named him the standard-bearer of the fifth generation, promising that history would remember his debt of gratitude for passing on the technique.

Yu Mo told Yu Sheng how much the cultivation technique meant to the Human Race and praised him as the Fifth-Generation Pillar. He then realized Yu Sheng was beginning to value his friends and step away from his guarded way of life, leaving Yu Mo quietly relieved.

• Yu Mo recalled losing both legs while searching the Divine Ruins for cultivation techniques and told Yu Sheng the Human Race owed him for obtaining one.
• Yu Mo joked that his new status meant he could throw his weight around, while Yu Sheng silently watched him and reflected on how Yu Mo and their friends had kept his secrets.
• Yu Mo noticed Yu Sheng seemed less cold and questioned him about the memories passed down with the cultivation techniques.
• Yu Sheng explained that the memories had faded, but seeing a happy life in them and having friends worth taking seriously had made him want to do something for those friends.
• Yu Mo realized Yu Sheng was beginning to open his heart and felt relieved that he had taken that first step.

The Demon Domain’s factions increasingly challenged the Eight-Tailed Fox as the region recovered from the battle. Near New Year, Zhao Zicheng and Mu Yu emerged from cultivation and learned that A Tai might already have sensed the power of rules, leaving them stunned.

• Yu Mo left after speaking with Yu Sheng and had the Confucian Scholar beat Xu Yuanqing, who then docked two freshmen’s credits.
• Sun Wen developed the small space into the Mountains and Seas Realm, while Ink Academy students competed for merit points by hunting criminals.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox kept the Ancient Cultivation Technique secret as Ji Hong and Old White Ape moved against him, and several God Race clans united to oppose his rule.
• Zhao Zicheng and Mu Yu left their Cultivation Rooms near New Year and discussed Sun Wen delaying graduation to accumulate energy.
• A Tai emerged from secluded cultivation with rapidly increased strength and said he might have sensed the power of rules, stunning Zhao Zicheng and Mu Yu.

As the new year approached, Mu Yu, Zhao Zicheng, A Tai, and Lin Xiaoxiao left Ink Academy to pursue their own paths, while Yu Sheng and Sun Wen stayed behind. In the Wilderness, Yu Sanshui continued pursuing Black Robe, who remained determined to get away from him.

• Mu Yu said they could not comprehend the Power of Rules at Ink Academy and left that night with Gravestone; Zhao Zicheng and A Tai followed.
• A week later, Lin Xiaoxiao emerged from seclusion and left with Big White, leaving Yu Sheng and Sun Wen as Ink Academy’s most idle residents.
• Chu Huai found no new leads on the inactive Soul Hunt, but celebrated when one of his subordinates left Sin City and took him to work for the Light Group.
• Yu Sanshui reminded Black Robe that he had pursued her for a year and proposed that she join him, but she called him shameless and told him to stop harassing her.
• Black Robe walked away from Yu Sanshui, who followed at a carefully managed distance, while she worried that Soul Hunt might disband in her absence.

Sun Wen tried to celebrate the New Year with Yu Sheng, but his disastrous cooking and drunken reflections turned the evening toward grief over his father and Senior Xu Wenxuan. After fireworks, Yu Sheng carried the sleeping Sun Wen back to the Small Space and wondered why Sun Wen had not eaten his own food.

• Sun Wen insisted on cooking a New Year's meal for Yu Sheng, producing a table of badly ruined dishes.
• Sun Wen declared that they would set aside cultivation and responsibility, then left the Small Space to watch the night sky and set off fireworks.
• Sun Wen asked Yu Sheng what Xu Wenxuan had thought about as he watched others surpass him, and lamented his own former helplessness and inability to avenge his father.
• Sun Wen thanked Yu Sheng for giving him the chance to face and kill Bifang and Zhu Yan, then recited lines about youth, time, and why the years could not turn back.
• Sun Wen fell asleep beneath the fireworks, and Yu Sheng carried him to bed before returning to eat the untouched meal and wondering why Sun Wen had made it so terribly.

Yu Sheng quietly celebrated his first meaningful Spring Festival with Sun Wen, then returned to his routines at Ink Academy. A month later, Shi Guang neared graduation, while Yu Sheng left the academy on foot to wander through Jiangcheng and observe the world.

• Yu Sheng watched the New Year fireworks and welcomed the new year alone after sharing the holiday with Sun Wen.
• Sun Wen woke with a hangover, tasted the food he had cooked, and joined Yu Sheng in eating it despite its awful taste.
• A month after the Spring Festival, Shi Guang broke Ink Academy’s mission-completion record and reached the fifth awakening, putting graduation within reach.
• Sun Wen practiced an ancient cultivation technique while Yu Sheng cared for the cheetahs and their cubs at Ink Academy.
• Yu Sheng left Ink Academy on foot, carrying a canvas bag as he traveled through Jiangcheng and took in its countryside and city life.

Yu Sheng spent half a year wandering through human territory, revisiting places and people from his past before arriving at Demon-Suppressing Pass. With the human race beginning a counteroffensive into the Demon Domain, he returned to the deep mountain, spoke with Zhong Yushu, and departed at night without seeing the Mountain-Guarding Old Man.

• Yu Sheng watched a grieving elderly pancake seller for five days, accepted a pancake from her, and returned briefly to his dusty home in Mobei City.
• Yu Sheng visited Mobei Second High School, saw his and his friends’ names on the honor board, and spotted the Old Principal boasting about Shi Guang.
• Yu Sheng stayed a week at the Veterans' Camp, where the veterans welcomed him and teased him about his teachers, then resumed wandering through human territory.
• Over the next six months, Yu Sheng visited cities and towns across human territory and grew more mature, while Ink Academy began a new admissions year and he became twenty-two.
• Yu Sheng reached Demon-Suppressing Pass after Ink Pavilion announced that humans could freely enter the Demon Domain and launch a counteroffensive.
• Yu Sheng returned to the deep mountain, talked at length with Zhong Yushu, and left under cover of night without meeting the Mountain-Guarding Old Man.

Yu Sheng returned to Ink Academy, where Qi Tian worried that Yu Sheng might demand repayment of his debt but learned he would not be pressed. After rumors about Yu Sheng spread, a hooded man called Black Robe arrived carrying a chained coffin and challenged him to fight, leaving them facing off at the academy gates.

• Yu Sheng returned to Ink Academy and found that few students recognized him, while Yuan Zhong and Qi Tian had become notorious for collecting freshmen’s debts.
• Qi Tian asked Yu Sheng for more time to repay his credits, and Yu Sheng told him to forget it before entering the Mountains and Seas Realm.
• Qi Tian followed Yu Sheng inside and came back out satisfied, convinced Yu Sheng had let the debt go.
• Rumors about Yu Sheng spread through Ink Academy, including speculation about why he had not graduated despite meeting the requirements.
• Half a month later, Black Robe arrived at Ink Academy carrying a chained coffin, and Yu Sheng emerged from the Mountains and Seas Realm to face him.
• Black Robe challenged Yu Sheng to try fighting, Yu Sheng agreed, and the pressure of their standoff made the watching freshmen retreat.

Mu Yu confronted Yu Sheng after reaching the Sixth Awakening, using black mist and a series of skills to conceal and attack him. Yu Sheng countered Mu Yu’s assault and ended the fight with a sword at his neck, judging that Mu Yu’s Fourth Skill would not have been enough to win.

• Mu Yu revealed that he had reached the Sixth Awakening and enveloped himself in black mist.
• Mu Yu used Soul Seizing to daze Yu Sheng and sent his gravestone attacking him, but Yu Sheng blocked it with the Phoenix Hammer.
• Mu Yu used Bone Erosion and Tendon Rending as Yu Sheng pursued him through the mist, but Yu Sheng anticipated his position and struck back.
• Yu Sheng pinned Mu Yu’s gravestone with the Giant Hammer, followed its chain, and stopped Mu Yu’s Fourth Skill with a sword at his neck.
• Mu Yu admitted that physical attacks were the wrong choice and wondered whether his Fourth Skill could have won; Yu Sheng said it would not, but stacking skills through the Sixth would kill him.

Mu Yu returned to the Mountains and Seas Realm after learning that Sun Wen and A Tai had reached the sixth awakening before her. Zhao Zicheng then came back to Ink Academy, knocked Sun Wen down, and reunited with A Tai, who carried the injured Sun Wen away.

• Mu Yu returned the Gravestone to Xiaoting’s coffin and learned from Yu Sheng that Sun Wen and A Tai had already reached the sixth awakening.
• Mu Yu grew dejected after hearing that A Tai had also become smarter through ancient cultivation and beaten Lin Xiaoxiao at gomoku twenty-eight times in a row.
• Four days after Mu Yu returned, Zhao Zicheng arrived at Ink Academy and found Sun Wen posing as an aloof expert outside the gates.
• Zhao Zicheng knocked Sun Wen to the ground with one move, then entered the Academy while Sun Wen shouted after him.
• A Tai returned, lifted Sun Wen onto his back, and carried him away as Sun Wen cried out in pain.

Yu Sheng and his friends gathered in the Mountains and Seas Realm and faced the bittersweet prospect of graduating and parting ways. They decided to apply that night, shared one final meal and reminisced, and Yu Sheng told Xu Yuanqing they were ready to leave.

• Lin Xiaoxiao rode Big White across the campus, and Big White swept his tail across Sun Wen as he passed.
• Zhao Zicheng asked whether they could graduate, and the group fell quiet as they considered how graduation would separate them.
• Sun Wen ordered everyone to apply to graduate that night and hold the ceremony the next day.
• Yu Sheng cooked their final meal together, and Zhao Zicheng broke the somber mood by joking that graduation was not the same as dying.
• The friends reminisced until they fell asleep, and Yu Sheng carried them to their rooms before going to see Xu Yuanqing.
• Yu Sheng told Xu Yuanqing they would apply to graduate, and Xu Yuanqing teased them before closing the door.