Chapter Summaries

At the Freshman Competition, Xu Yuanqing arranged a dramatic entrance for Ink Academy, while the other academies’ leaders waited and discussed the competition. Zhao Zicheng arrived in a wheelchair, but Xu Yuanqing discovered Yu Sheng was missing.

• Academy representatives gathered at the Education Department, where they discussed Ink Academy’s prospects and its reputation at the Freshman Competition.
• Xu Yuanqing and Yu Sheng secretly waited outside the entrance and planned a grand entrance for Ink Academy.
• Xu Yuanqing flew over the field on his Fire Phoenix and called for Ink Academy’s students.
• Zhao Zicheng raced onto the field in his wheelchair, introduced himself, and then noticed that Yu Sheng was nowhere to be seen.

Yu Sheng made a quiet entrance at the academy gathering, then recited dramatic lines that unexpectedly drew energy into the Scroll in his mind. After Xu Yuanqing cut off his attempt to perform more, the freshmen’s fear of Ink Academy faded, while Li Yihan mistook Yu Sheng’s odd behavior for hypnosis.

• Yu Sheng walked through the air and appeared beside Zhao Zicheng, startling the freshmen with his speed.
• Yu Sheng recited an entrance speech he had found on his phone, and gray gas flowed into the Scroll in his mind as the freshmen and teachers watched.
• Yu Sheng offered to sing and asked Zhao Zicheng if he could perform a stone-breaking stunt, but Zhao Zicheng refused in alarm.
• Xu Yuanqing stopped Yu Sheng and encouraged the other academies to challenge Ink Academy, then changed seats after the deputy director hinted the Publicity Department head was arriving.
• The freshmen’s pressure toward Ink Academy eased, while Li Yihan decided Yu Sheng must have been hypnotized and resolved to awaken him.

The deputy director began the elimination round, sending contestants racing toward the north city gate under rules that allowed them to attack fellow students but imposed penalties for being tagged by officials, civilians, or Reserve Corps members. Yu Sheng and Li Yihan escaped the crowded Education Department after Yu Sheng used a bomb to clear the gate, leaving Li Yihan behind briefly as he pondered Yu Sheng’s words.

• The deputy director explained that the first five hundred contestants to reach the north city gate would advance, and that anyone tagged by a Guard Bureau member, civilian, or Reserve Corps member had to remain confined for five minutes.
• Zhao Zicheng sped out of the Education Department in his wheelchair after the deputy director confirmed that wheelchairs did not count as transportation.
• Yu Sheng asked whether he could damage buildings or kill anyone, then threw an apparent bomb into the crowd at the gate to make room to escape.
• Yu Sheng and Li Yihan shut the gate and jammed it with an iron rod, but the bomb exploded inside and shook the titanium-alloy gate.
• Yu Sheng left Li Yihan behind with a cryptic remark, and Li Yihan spent half a minute thinking about it before realizing he had lost time and setting off after him.

The students began a chaotic citywide escape competition, dodging ordinary people, the Guard Bureau, and the Reserve Corps while trying not to be immobilized. The deputy director watched and directed the pursuit, then noticed two students who had not yet been caught.

• Han Jue broke through the Education Department gate, but Wu Qianqiu immobilized him; their academy groups soon started fighting at the entrance.
• The deputy director ordered the students to leave, and the prodigies scattered through Ink City as the Guard Bureau and Reserve Corps hunted them.
• Zhao Zicheng drew attention by racing through the streets in his wheelchair, but a checkpoint and iron nails forced him into a dead end.
• Yu Sheng escaped a Reserve Corps member with a flickering movement, then knocked down several Spirit Martial Academy freshmen who tried to stop him.
• Li Yihan advanced steadily while Han Jue charged straight ahead, and a disguised freshman was immobilized without understanding the tracker.
• The deputy director coordinated the pursuit by radio and spotted two students whose tracking markers showed they had not been immobilized.

Li Yihan evaded and then escaped the Reserve Corps members who cornered him, while Yu Sheng used energy powder and the sewers to hide from the Deputy Director’s search. Yu Sheng found Zhao Zicheng and pushed him through the filthy tunnels as they continued toward their destination.

• The Deputy Director sent Reserve Corps groups to surround Li Yihan, who escaped their first trap by leaping from a rooftop and teleporting to his shadow below.
• The Reserve Corps members caught Li Yihan with a battle formation, but he objected when they restrained him with a dagger; they then declared they did not represent the Corps and left.
• The Deputy Director searched Ink City for Yu Sheng but found that Yu Sheng had concealed his energy traces and was evading the search in the sewers.
• Yu Sheng stopped beneath a manhole cover, opened it, and found Zhao Zicheng falling into the sewer in his wheelchair.
• Yu Sheng covered Zhao Zicheng with energy powder and pushed his wheelchair at high speed through muddy water, explaining that its motor could give them away.

Yu Sheng carried Zhao Zicheng through the competition while Deputy Director Yuan Qingshan ordered Reserve Corps members to intercept him. Xu Yuanqing pressured Yuan Qingshan into offering Ink Academy bonus points, then argued over a reward for second place.

• Yu Sheng insisted he and Zhao Zicheng were a team and raced along the route with Zhao Zicheng in his wheelchair.
• Yuan Qingshan ordered the Reserve Corps to search for Yu Sheng and drag him out, including through the sewers.
• Xu Yuanqing accused Yuan Qingshan of targeting Ink Academy and made a public scene until Yuan Qingshan promised three extra points if Yu Sheng escaped the Reserve Corps and won the championship.
• Xu Yuanqing announced that over a hundred Reserve Corps members had entered the sewers to intercept Yu Sheng and urged him to defend Ink Academy's honor.
• Xu Yuanqing demanded two academic credits if Ink Academy also took second place, and he and Yuan Qingshan argued over the request.

The freshman elimination round intensified as the academies pushed their students to fight harder, while Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng fled through the sewers with the Reserve Corps close behind. Yu Sheng discovered that small explosive clods could repel their pursuers with foul-smelling mud, and the blur over the Scroll’s second item nearly faded.

• The Spirit Martial teacher urged his students to win first place, while Spirit Mind’s Director of Teaching ordered a charge and the Military Academy teacher called for the Third Battle Formation.
• Yu Sheng raced through the sewers with Zhao Zicheng in his wheelchair, then stood on the handles and told Zhao to speed up while he dealt with those chasing them.
• Zhao Zicheng took control of the wheelchair and accelerated, while Yu Sheng considered ways to stop the Reserve Corps without breaking Ink Pavilion’s laws.
• Yu Sheng fired his crossbow into the muddy water, then lit and tossed small clods that splashed foul-smelling mud onto the pursuing Reserve Corps members.
• The pursuers recoiled from the stench as Yu Sheng kept throwing clods, and the blur obscuring the Scroll’s second item almost disappeared.

Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng crossed the finish line after Zhao used foul-smelling sludge to drive off the Guard Bureau, making Zhao the elimination round’s champion. Wu Qianqiu arrived, fell through a manhole into the sewer, and was trapped as the Reserve Corps began plotting to drop more competitors in with him.

• Yu Sheng gave Zhao Zicheng explosives, and Zhao threw them at the pursuing Reserve Corps while declaring that people would remember his name.
• Yu Sheng lifted Zhao and his wheelchair out of a manhole and pushed him toward the city gate, where Zhao hurled sludge at the Guard Bureau members guarding the finish line.
• The Guard Bureau members retreated, allowing Yu Sheng and Zhao to cross the finish line, and Zhao was deemed the elimination round’s champion.
• Yu Sheng washed his hands while Zhao waited at the gate, proudly declaring himself the champion and planning to show off to the others.
• Wu Qianqiu arrived, stepped onto a manhole cover, and fell into the sewer, where a Reserve Corps member touched him and left him unable to move without being eliminated.
• The Reserve Corps members and Guard Bureau leaders discussed using the manhole trap to drop more competitors into the sewer with Wu Qianqiu.

Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng turned a manhole trap into a robbery when Wu Qianqiu emerged, then persuaded the watching Reserve Corps members and Guard Bureau investigators to help profit from the other contestants. Their scheme left Wu stunned by the shamelessness of the world outside his academy.

• Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng watched the Reserve Corps members test a manhole cover, then prepared to use it to make money.
• The Reserve Corps and Guard Bureau herded a Military Academy prodigy into the manhole, where he was trapped for five minutes.
• When Wu Qianqiu climbed out, Zhao Zicheng knocked him back into the manhole while Yu Sheng politely announced their robbery.
• Zhao Zicheng threatened to delay Wu Qianqiu until he missed the top five hundred, and Wu paid five Demon Crystals.
• Zhao Zicheng offered the watching officials two crystals and pointed out that 497 contestants remained, prompting them to join the scheme.

Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng turned the elimination race into a profitable toll operation, while the Military Academy prodigy took third and Wu Qianqiu fell to fourth. As Yu Sheng reflected on caring for others and continued cultivating, Zhao Zicheng organized the next wave of contestants, leaving Yuan Qingshan wondering whether Xu Yuanqing had taught him.

• Wu Qianqiu left after confronting Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng, and the deputy director agreed to protect their toll operation for thirty percent of the proceeds.
• Zhao Zicheng charged the Military Academy prodigy twenty Demon Crystals after Sun Wen revealed the prodigy's wealthy background, and the prodigy paid with crystals and a valuable ring.
• Zhao Zicheng helped the Military Academy prodigy cross the finish line in third place after Wu Qianqiu had left the course, then charged Wu Qianqiu a discounted second toll when he returned in fourth.
• Yu Sheng spoke with Sun Wen about his recovery, reflected on learning to care for others, and continued cultivating with a Demon Crystal.
• Zhao Zicheng directed the seniors to admit contestants one at a time, prompting Yuan Qingshan to ask Xu Yuanqing if he had taught him.

Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng turned the elimination tournament into a shakedown, collecting payment from competitors and teachers while Yuan Qingshan took a share of the spoils. The Ink Pavilion announced that Zhao Zicheng and Yu Sheng had claimed the tournament’s top two places, leaving the public stunned.

• Yuan Qingshan coordinated a blockade that let Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng collect payment from competitors who reached the finish line.
• Zhao Zicheng charged Li Yihan five Crystal Stones, and Yu Sheng reminded him that Li Yihan had earned a bounty for killing Evil Cult members.
• The other competitors followed the leading students’ example and paid, while Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng amassed Demon Crystals.
• Yuan Qingshan took thirty percent of the goods for the Education Department, and Reserve Corps members intimidated Xu Yuanqing into yielding their share.
• Zhao Zicheng and Yu Sheng turned their attention to the teachers as the Ink Pavilion published the results, listing the two Ink Academy students in first and second place.

Online commenters dismissed Ink Academy’s chances in the Freshman Competition, while Zhao Zicheng and Yu Sheng eyed Xu Yuanqing’s haul of Demon Crystals. At a meeting, Yuan Qingshan deflected criticism over the elimination-round betting scheme with a shameless appeal to his past service and hard luck.

• Forum users argued that Ink Academy would lose despite its elimination-round performance, with many favoring Spirit Martial Academy or Spirit Mind Academy.
• Zhao Zicheng emerged from a difficult shower and joined Yu Sheng at the hotel window.
• Xu Yuanqing returned with a sack of about a hundred Demon Crystals and threatened Zhao Zicheng to keep him away from it.
• The Ink Pavilion Inspection Office confiscated Yuan Qingshan’s Demon Crystals, and he angrily blamed Xu Yuanqing for the report.
• At the Education Department meeting, Elder Sun’s secretary criticized the elimination-round rules, and Yuan Qingshan defended himself by citing his wartime service and misfortunes.

Yuan Qingshan and the officials debated the Arena Tournament’s scoring and publicity, then clashed over whether the freshmen should visit the Demon Domain after the competition. The meeting ended with the officials divided over how to prepare the young competitors for future dangers.

• Yuan Qingshan pressured the middle-aged secretary into agreeing that the Reserve Corps would keep its money.
• The middle-aged secretary outlined the Arena Tournament’s point system, and Yuan Qingshan dismissed it as simple arithmetic.
• The publicity director proposed holding the tournament in Central Square, broadcasting it live, extending its schedule, and offering rewards for correct public predictions.
• Yuan Qingshan and the Reserve Corps’ deputy general warned that excessive publicity could make the freshmen arrogant, and Elder Qi withdrew his proposal.
• Yuan Qingshan proposed taking the freshmen to the Demon Domain under protection, but Elder Qi and the Deputy Commissioner of the Guard Bureau opposed the idea.
• Yuan Qingshan and Elder Qi argued over whether the freshmen should face the Demon Domain early, then stood and glared at each other across the table.

Yuan Qingshan and Elder Qi secretly agreed to send the freshmen to the Demon Domain, hoping the tournament would help prepare them and expose trouble within the Human Race. As the arena tournament went viral, Xu Yuanqing tried to take back his insults about the vice principal while Yu Sheng’s phone call was still connected.

• Yuan Qingshan and Elder Qi argued over whether the students should go to the Demon Domain, then pressured the middle-aged secretary into accepting the decision.
• After leaving the meeting, Yuan Qingshan and Elder Qi revealed they had staged their feud to settle the matter and planned to use the tournament to build momentum and root out enemies within the Human Race.
• The tournament announcement went viral, naming May 1 as its start date and listing Wu Qianqiu, Han Jue, and Li Yihan among the top-ranked freshmen while Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng barely made the top ten.
• Xu Yuanqing entered Yu Sheng's room and criticized the vice principal, then noticed Yu Sheng’s phone was still connected to the Ink Academy worker and hurriedly praised the vice principal instead.
• The voice on the phone told Yu Sheng to remember their earlier conversation before ending the call.

Xu Yuanqing and the others prepared for the arena tournament as Zhao Zicheng received a heavily armed, high-speed wheelchair. In the Demon Domain, Ji Hong was appointed deputy mountain lord of Eagle Ravine Mountain, while Xiangliu secretly placed a spy mark on him; the chapter ended with Zhao Zicheng racing through the streets and making drivers question whether the trend had changed.

• Yu Sheng told Xu Yuanqing that the old principal had relented because Xu had brought Ink Academy glory, but predicted the principal would change his mind.
• Yu Sheng and Zhao Zicheng described Sun Wen's new battle-chariot wheelchair and its equipment, which included crossbows, smoke grenades, explosives, and a phone-linked smartwatch.
• Xu Yuanqing left with a cloth bag to resume his delivery venture as preparations for the arena tournament and its security were completed.
• Xiangliu told Ji Hong that he had secured him the deputy mountain lord position at Eagle Ravine Mountain and urged him to prove himself.
• After Ji Hong departed, Xiangliu sent a small snake that secretly marked Ji Hong's back, while questioning whether Ji Hong had been behind the intelligence leaks.
• Xu Yuanqing returned with a backpack, and Zhao Zicheng tested his new wheelchair by speeding through the streets with Yu Sheng standing on its rear footplate.

Zhao Zicheng and Yu Sheng used a wheelchair and a deliberately broken leg to bypass the contestant line, while Yu Sheng provoked the students outside. At the Freshman Competition, host Xu Yuanqing introduced the officials, advertised his delivery company, and began the drawing of lots.

• Zhao Zicheng entered through disabled access with Yu Sheng, then broke his plaster-bound leg to justify having a caregiver accompany him.
• Li Yihan tried to claim disabled access by saying he was mentally disabled, but the teacher sent him to the back of the line.
• Yu Sheng taunted the waiting students with a speech about defeat, causing some of them to emit gray aura.
• Xu Yuanqing descended into the arena with the Fire Phoenix and introduced Yuan Qingshan, Qi Changshan, and Qian Shu as competition officials.
• Xu Yuanqing announced himself as the final judge and promoted Old Xu Delivery before starting the drawing of lots with students from the Spirit Martial Academy.

Xu Yuanqing hosted an academy entrance showcase that exposed the spectacle of Spirit Mind Academy and Military Academy. The chapter ended with Li Yihan and the Military Academy students making a disciplined, forceful entrance and proclaiming their battle record.

• Xu Yuanqing noticed that Gold Ingot Group had sponsored the entire event and realized its influence dwarfed his own publicity efforts.
• Spirit Martial Academy students drew numbers and registered, after which Spirit Mind Academy staged elaborate entrances with Azure Luan, flames, and Wu Qianqiu.
• Zhao Zicheng complained about the competitive displays, prompting the other students to remind him that Ink Academy had started the trend.
• The Military Academy students planned their entrance and followed Li Yihan’s lead, forming battle formations and tossing their sabers into the air.
• Li Yihan crossed the sabers, recited Military Academy’s history and casualty figures, and led the students in a unified shout of “Kill!”

Ink Academy made its entrance at the competition, with Zhao Zicheng using an embarrassing video of the other academies to claim the spotlight before Yu Sheng finally stepped forward. The chapter left Yu Sheng poised to address the crowd.

• Xu Yuanqing introduced Ink Academy, but an aged voice silenced him and ordered that another host take over.
• Qian Shu replaced Xu Yuanqing as host, then stopped taunting Ink Academy when he noticed that three of the four judges belonged to it.
• Zhao Zicheng rolled into the arena with a tablet playing edited footage of rival students climbing out of a manhole, then ended it on a group photo that presented him as the class's top rookie.
• At Ink Academy, Sun Wen and the other injured students watched the broadcast and cursed Zhao Zicheng for secretly taking and using the photo.
• Yu Sheng stood unnoticed beside Zhao Zicheng, then stepped forward after looking over the crowd.

Yu Sheng’s strange quotes failed to affect anyone beyond Zhao Zicheng and Xu Yuanqing, while Ink Academy’s judges secretly arranged the first match. Wu Qianqiu faced a Spirit Martial Academy fighter, who charged just as Wu summoned his Awakening Object.

• Yu Sheng realized his quotes were losing their effect and considered how to make them work better.
• Yu Sheng proposed chest-boulder breaking and crosstalk to Zhao Zicheng, who nervously suggested solo crosstalk instead.
• Yuan Qingshan and Qi Changshan secretly selected Wu Qianqiu and contestant number 85 for the opening match, while Qian Shu listened and silently cursed them.
• The numbers appeared on the screen, and Wu Qianqiu entered the arena, glaring toward Zhao Zicheng as Yu Sheng recorded a lesson about provoking hatred.
• Wu Qianqiu advised his opponent from Spirit Martial Academy to surrender, but the man summoned a bull and charged before Wu had fully summoned his Awakening Object.

Wu Qianqiu narrowly won his match, prompting Yuan Qingshan to reprimand Spirit Mind Academy for prioritizing flashy publicity over combat training and impose a harsh assignment. The following matches exposed the academy’s students’ poor fighting habits, while Wu left determined to prove himself at the tournament in two days.

• Wu Qianqiu survived a powerful opening attack, used his paper’s Slash and Bind abilities, and defeated the burly Spirit Martial Academy student.
• Yuan Qingshan scolded Qian Shu for Spirit Mind Academy’s staged hype and showmanship, ordered him to defend Demon-Suppressing Pass next year, and demanded the academy kill a level-seven Demon Beast within a year.
• Wu Qianqiu left amid boos, then resolved to return in two days and prove he was not useless.
• The later matches proceeded randomly, and Spirit Mind Academy students were frequently eliminated because they favored flashy moves over effective combat.
• Lower-tier academies scored four upsets, while most winners relied on superior awakening levels and talent rather than real combat skill.