Chapter Summaries

Ronan fought his way through the Internal Affairs Department to reach its Curio Vault, killing an elite squad and a Crimson Giant Lizard along the way. As he began scanning the vault’s massive alloy door, an elderly vampire appeared behind him, and Ronan challenged him about whether the Yara Church knew he was there.

• Ronan shot the white-robed wizard who had attacked him and hurried toward the Curio Vault.
• Internal Affairs Department steel warriors attacked Ronan with poison gas and gunfire, but he charged through their defenses and killed all twenty with Jenkins's skinning knife.
• A Crimson Giant Lizard burst into the corridor, and Ronan killed it with three alchemical bullets to its forehead and eyes.
• Ronan reached the Curio Vault and used his Psionic Power to scan the locking mechanism of its massive alloy door.
• An elderly bald man with a black flame insignia appeared behind Ronan, and Ronan identified him as a vampire and asked whether the Yara Church knew he was hiding in the Internal Affairs Department.

Ronan fought Magnus Conn, a high-level Blood Clan member, and overcame his Dark Sky Curtain with alchemical bullets and the Skinning Knife. He trapped Magnus with Psionic Storm and stopped his clawed strike, leaving Magnus unable to escape and facing Ronan’s overwhelming strength.

• Magnus Conn revealed his identity and attacked Ronan, but Ronan’s shots missed when Magnus turned into black smoke.
• Magnus unleashed Dark Sky Curtain, but Ronan used alchemical bullets to wound him and then cut him down with the Skinning Knife.
• Magnus healed his wounds, questioned Ronan’s identity, and warned that the Internal Affairs Department headquarters was surrounded by the army.
• Ronan unleashed Psionic Storm, preventing Magnus from entering his smoke-like state and pressing him with crushing force.
• Magnus lunged at Ronan with a black claw, but Ronan caught it and stopped it in midair, frightening Magnus.

Ronan killed Magnus Conn by suppressing his bloodline power, harvesting his Blood Core, and entering the Internal Affairs Curio Vault. Inside, he began examining the sealed Curios and found a beast hide that transformed his arm.

• Ronan trapped Magnus Conn with Psionic Power and suppressed his bloodline, leaving the high-level Blood Clan unable to fight back.
• Ronan skinned Magnus Conn with the Skinning Knife until Magnus’s will broke, then seized his Blood Core as the corpse turned to ash.
• Ronan unlocked the vault, forced open its massive alloy door, and slipped inside before it locked behind him.
• Ronan surveyed the Curio Vault and opened a box containing a blackish-brown beast hide.
• The beast hide wrapped around Ronan’s arm, transforming it into a scaled, clawed limb as violent intent seeped into his body.

Ronan subdued a strange beast-hide Curio and searched the Curio Vault for items containing the Origin of the World while the Internal Affairs Department pursued him. He found thirty-seven valuable Curios before hearing the people outside begin breaking through the door.

• Ronan forced the strange beast-hide Curio to retreat into its box and continued opening the sealed boxes in the vault.
• Koslin Doughton led a group to the Curio Vault, where Irene sensed Ronan inside and demanded that the door be opened.
• The workers failed to unlock the door, and Irene killed one of them before ordering the vault door smashed open.
• Ronan searched the vault and found thirty-seven Curios containing the Origin of the World.
• Ronan heard the door being smashed from outside.

Ronan refined the Origin of the World into the Blood Moon Ring, raising his Psionic Power to the peak of Seven Rings, then emptied the Curio Vault. When the Internal Affairs Department’s forces broke in, Ronan turned their gunfire against them, killing Koslin Dalton and driving Irene to flee.

• Ronan combined the Origins extracted from the curios and refined them into the Blood Moon Ring, reaching the peak of Seven Rings.
• Ronan put on the Blood Moon Ring and stored the Curio Vault’s entire collection inside it.
• The steel warriors opened the vault door and fired alchemical bullets at Ronan.
• Ronan sent the bullets back through the attackers, killing many steel warriors and Koslin Dalton.
• Irene sensed Ronan’s terrifying aura and ran away.

Ronan left the Curio Vault after refining the Blood Moon Ring, killed Irene when she attacked him with the Soul Annihilator Crossbow, and made his way through the Internal Affairs Department headquarters. He emerged to find the Royal Capital Garrison Army and Night Watchmen surrounding the building, and rejected an officer’s demand that he surrender.

• Irene fled the Curio Vault but Ronan used his Psionic Power to drag her back and suppress her.
• After Ronan released her and turned away, Irene aimed the Soul Annihilator Crossbow at him, but he seized it with his Psionic Power.
• Ronan fired the crossbow at Irene, killing her, and discovered that the weapon had lost its Extraordinary attributes.
• Ronan stored the crossbow in the Blood Moon Ring and passed through the headquarters as alarms sounded and its weakened defenses offered little resistance.
• Ronan reached the lobby and found the building deserted while tens of thousands of Royal Capital Garrison Army soldiers and Night Watchmen surrounded it.
• An officer called on Ronan Raymond to surrender, but Ronan refused to negotiate with him and demanded someone more important.

Ronan Raymond stopped the Garrison Army’s gunfire with his Psionic Power and gave the kingdom two hours to send an official negotiator. As Ronan waited inside the Internal Affairs Department, Prime Minister Charles Thornton’s cabinet debated how to respond to his overwhelming strength.

• The officer delivering the Garrison Army’s message ordered the soldiers to open fire, but Ronan stopped every bullet in midair and crushed them into a copper sphere.
• Ronan warned the soldiers to send someone authorized to negotiate within two hours, then returned to the Internal Affairs Department lobby.
• Ronan asked a frightened receptionist to make him coffee and reassured her that he would not hurt her.
• At an emergency cabinet meeting, General Andre urged the kingdom to attack Ronan, while other officials questioned whether the military could stop him.
• A cabinet official estimated that Ronan had reached at least the fifth tier, with the possibility that his strength was even greater.

After Ronan Raymond's destructive power alarmed the Cabinet, Invia sent Gustav Rhine to negotiate with him. The kingdom accepted Ronan's demands for access to the Wang Family's Secret Vault and a new Alchemy Tower in Ceres's East District in exchange for three non-mandatory offers of aid.

• Charles Taunton persuaded the Cabinet to negotiate with Ronan Raymond and recruit him if possible.
• Gustav Rhine met Ronan at the Internal Affairs Department and asked what terms he wanted.
• Ronan demanded permission to visit the Wang Family's Secret Vault and a ten-story Alchemy Tower in Ceres's East District, offering to make three non-mandatory moves for the kingdom.
• Gustav Rhine reported the terms, and the Cabinet and royal family argued over them before agreeing.
• Gustav Rhine returned to tell Ronan that the kingdom would open the secret vault and build him a fourth Alchemy Tower in the East District.

Ronan secured a secret agreement with the royal family and cabinet, ending the immediate danger to Dolores and Janice. After returning to the precinct, he announced that he would resign and hinted that he had a parting gift for Chief Ford Hamilton.

• Ronan signed the confidential agreement allowing him to visit the secret vault, and Gustav Rhine offered him a larger share of Golden Sail Trading Company profits and Rose Sinclair's permanent service.
• Ronan rewarded receptionist Linda with a valuable ruby before leaving the Internal Affairs Department, where the authorities began clearing away evidence of the battle and preparing a purge.
• Ronan returned to his villa and told Dolores and Janice that the crisis was over, then assured Janice she could return to school.
• The next day, Ronan took Janice to school and visited the Old Port District Fourth Precinct, where Ford Hamilton offered to resign and hand over control.
• Ronan told Ford that he had come to resign himself and planned to give the chief a parting gift.

Ronan entered the Kingdom's Secret Vault beneath Nidre Tower to draw the Origin of the World from its treasures. A red dragon named Gregory emerged from a pile of gold, revealing the royal family had concealed a dangerous surprise in the vault.

• Ronan showed the King's authorization to the white-robed guard, who opened the golden gate to the Secret Vault.
• Ronan entered the vault and used the Blood Moon Ring to draw the Origin of the World from its many treasures.
• Gregory, a red dragon hidden beneath a mountain of gold, woke and challenged Ronan.
• Ronan realized the King of Invya had concealed the dragon from him, making it a trap prepared by the royal family.

Ronan entered the Secret Vault under royal permission and confronted its guardian, the red dragon Gregory. After Gregory attacked him, Ronan revealed his power and shaped a golden Dragon Slaying Spear, leaving Gregory enraged and shaken.

• Ronan introduced himself to Gregory and showed the royal permit, but Gregory rejected it and demanded Ronan's ring before ordering him to leave.
• Ronan taunted Gregory, provoking the red dragon to unleash its Dragon Domain, but Ronan blocked it with his own Domain.
• Gregory tried to negotiate after realizing Ronan was a Legend, but Ronan drew his revolver and shot Gregory six times in the head.
• Gregory took to the air and blasted Ronan with dragon breath, but Ronan stopped the flames with Psionic Power and melted gold coins into liquid metal.
• Ronan shaped the molten gold into a rune-covered spear, and Gregory recognized it as a Dragon Slaying Spear and reacted with rage and fear.

Ronan forced the red dragon Gregory to request a truce under the Legendary Treaty, then negotiated a ten-year payment of dragon materials instead of taking treasures from the vault. Gregory paid the first year's share, and Ronan left with a continuing source of valuable alchemical materials.

• Ronan formed and threw a Golden Spear, grazing Gregory's tail and demonstrating the weapon's power.
• Gregory requested a truce under the Legendary Treaty and explained that Legends could end a conflict by paying an agreed price.
• Ronan refused Gregory's offers of vault treasures and demanded Dragon Blood, dragon scales, and Dragon Teeth instead.
• Ronan and Gregory haggled over the terms and signed a truce agreement requiring Gregory to make payments over ten years.
• Gregory gave Ronan fifty kilograms of blood and one hundred scales as the first year's payment.

Ronan moved into his seventeen-story Alchemy Tower and prepared to establish an avatar in the Blood Moon Realm. He successfully used Red Dragon Potions to awaken Dolores and Janice as Extraordinary beings.

• Ronan moved into the completed Alchemy Tower in Ceres and outfitted it with a massive laboratory for researching alchemy and potions.
• Ronan decided to construct an avatar in the Blood Moon Realm, carefully considering the risk of dividing his Divine Soul again.
• Five years after arriving in the Blood Moon Realm, Ronan gave Dolores and Janice Red Dragon Potions he had developed from Gregory's blood.
• Janice breathed fire while Dolores began to transform with dark-red scales, showing that the potions had awakened their Extraordinary Strength.
• Ronan determined that Dolores had awakened as an Extraordinary warrior and Janice as a spellcaster, then congratulated and embraced them.

Ronan divided his soul and transferred it into the dragon-infused clone, leaving the Blood Moon Realm as his original body returned to the Haotian Realm. Wang Chen recovered in the Immortal Alliance Cave Mansion, advanced to the peak of Nascent Soul, and emerged to meet the relieved Xiong Liangpeng.

• Ronan entered his hidden laboratory and prepared to transfer his soul into the perfect clone he had created.
• Ronan endured the pain of splitting his Divine Soul, activated the Blood Moon Ring, and sent his main soul through a spatial vortex into the clone.
• The newly awakened Ronan shattered the glass vessel and emerged from the torrent of water with a crimson ring on his left hand.
• Wang Chen's consciousness returned in the Immortal Alliance Cave Mansion, where he spent nearly half a month stabilizing his Divine Soul.
• Wang Chen used the Origin of the World to reach the peak of Nascent Soul, then spent two more months consolidating his cultivation.
• Wang Chen left the Cave Mansion and reassured Xiong Liangpeng, who had waited for him for two years.

Wang Chen traded Origin of the World for the Myriad Transformation Sword Seed, helped the Xiong clan protect Xiong Zhaoyuan as he formed a Nascent Soul, and returned to the Xuan You Immortal Mansion. Bai Susu explained that Wang Chen needed to refine his mortal heart before advancing to Spirit Transformation, leaving him to consider returning to the Mountain Sea Realm for that cultivation.

• Wang Chen exchanged one shu of Origin of the World for Xiong Liangpeng's Myriad Transformation Sword Seed and accepted the Xiong clan's hospitality in Yan Mountain City.
• On Wang Chen's seventh day in the city, Xiong Zhaoyuan successfully formed a Nascent Soul, and Wang Chen stayed through the clan's Ascension Ceremony before returning home.
• Wang Chen reunited with Bai Susu, Xu Xinlan, and Su Ziling, then gave Bai Susu a shu of Origin of the World that she refined during seven days of dual cultivation.
• Bai Susu told Wang Chen that heart refining was the final step before Spirit Transformation and advised him to do it in his birthplace.
• Wang Chen decided the Mountain Sea Realm was the likely place for heart refining, spent time with his companions, and fused the Myriad Transformation Sword Seed into the Dragon Abyss Sword to raise it to Tier 5.

Three years after leaving Yan Mountain City, Wang Chen asked Xiong Liangpeng to help him reach the Mountain Sea Realm for Mortal Realm Heart Refining. After learning that the realm was sealed amid a prolonged calamity, Wang Chen pursued a risky alternative, and five years later Zhang Sihai offered him a World-Crossing Pearl that could be used once more.

• Wang Chen returned to Yan Mountain City and told Xiong Liangpeng he wanted a lower-realm quota to visit the Mountain Sea Realm for Mortal Realm Heart Refining.
• Xiong Liangpeng traveled to Nine Provinces Immortal City and returned with information that the Mountain Sea Realm was suffering a calamity and its teleportation array was closed.
• Xiong Liangpeng told Wang Chen that smuggling into the realm with a linked treasure was the only alternative, and Wang Chen agreed to wait while his friend searched for one.
• Five years later, Wang Chen met Xiong Liangpeng, Zhao Xinfang, and Zhang Sihai in Nine Provinces Immortal City.
• Zhang Sihai offered Wang Chen his World-Crossing Pearl, which was linked to the Mountain Sea Realm and had one use remaining, and asked what Wang Chen would pay for it.

Wang Chen returned to the Mountain Sea Realm as a mortal to undergo Mortal Realm Heart Refining and settled in Qing'an County. He opened the Wang Clan School and began teaching seven young students.

• Wang Chen arrived in Qing'an County after traveling south through the Mountain Sea Realm, with his cultivation and Nascent Soul sealed in his Qi Sea Dantian.
• Wang Chen bought a residence with help from the innkeeper and completed the paperwork to settle in the county.
• Wang Chen told the innkeeper he planned to open a private school and agreed to teach the innkeeper's five-year-old son.
• The innkeeper arranged for a room in Wang Chen's home to be converted into a classroom and helped recruit seven students.
• Wang Chen opened the Wang Clan School and taught the children the Thousand Character Classic.

Wang Chen opened Wang Clan School to poor children in Tongluo Alley, accepting Chen Ergou as a student and renaming him Chen Yijian. After the school filled with students, a Qing'an County tax clerk demanded payment, and Wang Chen paid ten taels for the year.

• Wang Chen taught his students characters and the Thousand Character Classic, then accepted Chen Ergou after the boy offered three copper coins for tuition.
• Wang Chen renamed Chen Ergou Chen Yijian, recognizing the boy's unusual potential and fate.
• News that Wang Clan School accepted poor students spread, and Wang Chen enrolled children from Tongluo Alley and nearby streets until the classroom filled.
• A Qing'an County tax clerk accused Wang Chen of operating an untaxed school and rejected his Xiucai certificate as insufficient for an outsider.
• Wang Chen paid the clerk ten taels in annual taxes and watched him leave.

Li Jin died with Madam Li in a fire after greedily extorting silver from an outsider scholar, while Wang Chen’s school grew into a haven for poor children despite local teachers’ hostility. A year passed, and an uninvited guest arrived at the Wang Clan School.

• Li Jin returned home drunk with food and wine, boasted to Madam Li that he had extorted ten taels of silver from an outsider scholar, and planned to exploit him further.
• Li Jin knocked over an oil lamp, and the fire killed him and Madam Li; the county yamen ruled their deaths accidental and closed the case.
• After Li Jin and Madam Li’s daughters fought over the inheritance, the county yamen’s adviser settled the funeral arrangements, leaving both daughters poorer and estranged.
• Wang Chen accepted fifty more students at the Wang Clan School, then closed enrollment because the small school had reached its limit.
• Wang Chen’s reputation spread as he taught poor children cheaply, provided free lunches, and taught basic martial arts, while hostile academy teachers mocked his students as “Wang students.”
• Another year passed, and an uninvited guest arrived at the school in Tongluo Alley.

Wang Chen turned down several marriage proposals before learning that the county magistrate’s praise had made him a desirable match. Accepting the innkeeper’s offer to find him a suitable wife, he went fishing as usual to provide food for his students.

• Granny Wang offered Wang Chen a wealthy man’s daughter as a bride, but he sent her away, and Chen Yijian warned him that she was known as Chen Bachi.
• Wang Chen reflected on Chen Yijian’s talent and leadership among the fifty students at the Wang Clan School.
• Grannies Zhang and Sun also came to propose matches, and the innkeeper explained that Yu Heqian’s praise had made Wang Chen seem like a promising prospect.
• Wang Chen asked the innkeeper to find him a gentle and virtuous wife because completing Mortal Realm Heart Refining required him to marry and have children.
• Wang Chen mounted his donkey and went to the Clear Water River to fish for the students’ next meal.