Chapter Summaries

He Ao confronted Jenos in the garden atop the Stars Pharmaceutical Building and rejected his plan to merge Limen City’s people into an angel. Jenos attacked with the Fountain of Youth’s power, but He Ao rose under the crushing pressure and began explaining how he uncovered Jenos’s past.

• He Ao entered the garden, cut down a flower containing a finger joint, and met Jenos beside the Fountain of Youth.
• Jenos offered He Ao wine and defended his plan to fuse the city’s souls, while He Ao argued that the poor were being exploited and said the city should not be like this.
• Jenos revealed that he knew He Ao had killed Reed and challenged his motives, then used angel-level pressure to pin him down.
• Jenos sent a sharp vine toward He Ao’s heart, but He Ao caught it and struggled back to his feet.
• Jenos summoned hundreds of vines and asked how He Ao had discovered his identity and past, and He Ao began explaining that Jenos’s father had resisted drinking from the Fountain of Youth.

Nock activated the citywide emergency shelter alarm before succumbing to the fog anomaly, while He Ao confronted Jenos with his deductions about the Fountain of Youth and the sacrifice that had made Jenos its second Master. Jenos attacked, but the alarm distracted him as a radiant light burst from the building, revealing that He Ao’s contingency may already have taken effect.

• Nock fought through the life-draining fog to reach the director’s office and pressed the Emergency Shelter Button before collapsing.
• He Ao explained how he traced the Fountain of Youth to the old senator and deduced that the senator had sacrificed Jenos in a ritual forty years earlier.
• Jenos confirmed that he and his father had loved each other, then threatened He Ao for uncovering the story.
• Jenos realized He Ao had been stalling for a contingency and sent vines after him, piercing his injured shoulder and trapping the surrounding shadows.
• The citywide shelter alarm distracted Jenos, and He Ao asked how Jenos knew his contingency was not ready before radiant light exploded from the building.

He Ao explained his theory that the Fountain of Youth was the corrupted lake water surrounding the fallen angel Andaweier, and revealed that the city itself was inside the Fountain of Youth. As the Goddess of Life descended and restrained it, He Ao stabbed Jenos and exposed how he had lured Jenos into revealing the Fountain.

• He Ao and Eve used the Enhancement Drug area to complete a Sacrifice Array, summoning the Goddess of Life’s power while He Ao kept Jenos occupied.
• Jenos attacked He Ao with vines as He Ao connected the Andawei Family’s murals and the Life Codex to the fallen angel Andaweier.
• He Ao deduced that the Fountain of Youth was not a physical spring but the city-sized entity surrounding them, with springs appearing wherever it condensed into physical form.
• The Goddess of Life’s green leaf appeared through a rift in the sky and dragged the exposed Fountain of Youth’s fog toward it, suppressing its power.
• He Ao stabbed Jenos through the chest and explained that he had engineered the opportunity to make Jenos summon and reveal the Fountain of Youth.

He Ao killed Jenos’s dragon vessel and completed the mission, then returned home to find Annie’s birthday cake and leave her a message before disappearing back to his original world. Annie woke to his farewell and faced the future with grief and hope.

• He Ao fought Jenos’s Rank B dragon vessel, endured its lightning, and searched its body for the Energy Convergence Point while the Goddess of Life suppressed the Fountain of Youth.
• He Ao used Thought Alteration to divert Jenos from destroying the ritual array, then used Mental Interference to freeze it long enough to pierce its Energy Convergence Point.
• Jenos died, the laboratory robots shielded the World Tree pattern from its final lightning attack, and the Goddess of Life drained the controlled beast outside the city.
• He Ao returned to his apartment, found Annie’s birthday cake, ate it, and received the mission-complete notice that would return him to his original world.
• Annie woke alone and read He Ao’s message telling her that hope remained, then cried as she watched the city beginning its day.

After surviving the fog in Limen City, Nock learned that his alarm had saved many people and received a cloud drive of evidence from Pete, while Solin urged him to keep uncovering the truth. The evidence fueled a campaign against Stars Pharmaceutical, and the chapter ended with Dawn City Mayor Christos preparing to address the scandal.

• Nock awoke in the FBI headquarters and learned from Solin that Pete had apparently controlled a cleaning robot to rescue him during the fog.
• Nock discovered Pete’s automatic email reply contained a cloud drive about the Fountain of Youth and the Mars Project, and Solin told him Senator Jenos had died and a Goddess of Life’s Sacrifice Array had been found at Stars Pharmaceutical Building.
• Roger and Ek discussed a Divine Revelation from the Goddess of Life and suspected that K had made some kind of deal with her.
• The Federation focused on Limen City’s disaster, while a Dawn City newspaper began publishing evidence of Stars Pharmaceutical’s human experiments and the Mars Project.
• Stars Pharmaceutical’s stock initially weathered the disclosures, but new evidence of deaths, abuse, organ sales, and a connection to the Limen City fog sent its stock plunging and sparked protests across the Federation.
• Dawn City Mayor Christos held a press conference on October 9.

The aftermath of the Limen City anomaly damaged Stars Pharmaceutical, reshaped politics and medical policy, and helped the Nolanka Group expand its influence. Months later, Annie began her studies at Pete-Qiming Medical College, where she saw a statue of her father and looked toward a hopeful future.

• Christos condemned the medical conglomerates, and Dawn City authorities restricted Stars Pharmaceutical's operations while investigating its alleged crimes.
• Solin presented evidence linking Stars Pharmaceutical and the late Senator Jenos to illegal experiments, credited an unnamed former agent with saving Limen City, and resigned to run for senator.
• Lina told Annie that her father's investment had grown to around thirteen million Federal currency, and Annie accepted a new dress while grieving her father.
• Stars Pharmaceutical's stock fell, Solin won a Senate seat, and Dawn City passed a law limiting medical price increases and requiring companies to disclose their costs.
• The Nolanka Group established Pete-Qiming Medical College and hospitals in four cities, and Roger and Lina saw Annie off as she entered the college.
• Annie noticed her father's statue outside the teaching building as the bell rang for class.

He Ao examined the newly revealed Saint Character Card and reasoned about its connection to the Goddess of Life, then reviewed the upgraded mission evaluations and rewards. The settlement awarded him four Exchange Stars, and the system began settling the mission reward.

• He Ao considered whether Character Card cooldowns limited repeated use to avoid attracting dangerous attention to souls.
• A new Saint Character Card appeared, suggesting Pete had survived through the Goddess of Life’s power and might now be one of her favored ones.
• The system evaluated the Main Mission and Side Mission at three and a half stars each, and the Hidden Mission at five stars.
• He Ao inferred that accumulated effects from earlier missions may have contributed to the Hidden Mission’s top rating and that the Main Mission likely weighed most heavily in the overall score.
• The system gave He Ao an overall three-and-a-half-star evaluation and four Exchange Stars, then began settling his mission reward.

After completing the mission, He Ao chose the False Master's Bracelet, a Rank B-strength-granting item whose cognitive interference could not affect him because he was both a martial artist and a Talent Sequence Transcendent. The Super Exchanger Mission activated at 5/12, and as He Ao began assessing his gains, the Research Institute app sent him a sensational push notification.

• He Ao chose to upgrade his mission reward and received three options: the Imitation World Tree Branch, the False Master's Bracelet, and a Hypersonic Air Combat Aircraft.
• He Ao rejected the branch because it absorbed life to produce healing dew and the aircraft because it was impractical, then selected the bracelet.
• The bracelet appeared on He Ao's wrist and attempted to distort his perception, but he resisted by recognizing that he was both a martial artist and a Talent Sequence Transcendent.
• The bracelet's information revealed that it granted Rank B strength for three minutes, left He Ao weakened afterward, and required seven days to recharge.
• The system activated the Super Exchanger Mission at 5/12 and displayed a countdown of 158:19:15 until the next Copy World.
• As He Ao began reviewing his gains, the Research Institute app pushed him a sensational headline about an eighteen-year-old girl and a mysterious uncle on a Rank B Transcendent train.

He Ao reviewed Lin Chichi’s popular account of the Vinola incident and discussed with the Overseas Department how much of his identity was known. Yang De proposed that He Ao travel to a newly discovered ruin in the Jordan Republic, and He Ao paused after finding that Jin Ya had once been the kingdom’s princess and the Boss’s confidant.

• Lin Chichi posted a dramatic account of the Vinola incident, and He Ao read it on the forum.
• He Ao recognized Lin Chichi’s story as part of the Research Institute’s plan to warn people about the Vinola while signaling goodwill toward Hao Yi.
• He Ao exposed Wu Lan’s forum account, and the ministers discussed who knew He Ao’s true identity.
• Yang De told He Ao that a ruin entrance would soon appear in Elun, the capital of the Jordan Republic, and invited him to join the mission.
• He Ao checked Jin Ya’s background report and learned that she was the former princess of the Jodan Kingdom and the Boss’s confidant.

He Ao traveled secretly to the Jordan Republic, where Li Le met him at the airport as his local contact. Suspecting Boss had arranged a trap around a newly opened ruin, He Ao let Li Le drive them along the original route while he rested, as several vehicles began following them.

• He Ao learned that Boss had sent three C-class members toward West Land and inferred that a new ruin had appeared there.
• He Ao reasoned that Boss expected Hao Yi to pursue the ruin and might be setting a trap, so he traveled to the Jordan Republic to find Boss.
• At Eren Airport, He Ao met Li Le, the Research Institute’s intelligence officer, and agreed to pose as his distant young nephew.
• He Ao noticed signs of a possible ambush and told Li Le to keep to the original route while he took a nap.
• Several vehicles started up and followed Li Le’s car as it left the airport.

Li Le drove He Ao through an ambush on the mountain road, where He Ao killed or drove off the attackers before two Rank C enemies blocked their escape. As the Black Suit Man prepared to kill Li Le, He Ao appeared behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

• Li Le drove He Ao through the forest while worrying that enemies might be following them, and gunfire suddenly shattered the car windows.
• He Ao shot down pursuing attackers from the back seat, then killed a supernatural who leaped onto the car and took his submachine gun.
• Li Le sped down the mountain as He Ao used the captured gun to shoot the remaining pursuers, and they agreed they had shaken them off.
• Li Le found a silver sedan blocking the road, with a Silver Suit and a Black Suit Man waiting beside it; he turned the car around, but the Black Suit Man immobilized him.
• The Black Suit Man told Li Le his companion had gone after He Ao and raised a dagger to Li Le's throat, but He Ao silently appeared behind him and touched his shoulder.

He Ao killed two C-rank attackers who ambushed him and Li Le, then learned the attackers were from Moonlight and that Li Le had likely been exposed. After Li Le arranged a temporary place for He Ao to stay in Eren, He Ao reached Chengde Martial Arts School and found a fight underway.

• Black Suit Man attacked He Ao, but He Ao killed him with his Bone Sword after defeating Silver Suit Man.
• He Ao and Li Le packed the bodies, and He Ao concluded that the attackers had targeted Li Le and were likely from Moonlight.
• Yang De confirmed that the attackers were from Moonlight and that Li Le had probably been exposed.
• Li Le offered to send He Ao to stay with a friend who ran a martial arts school in Eren, while he planned to flee Jordan and investigate a suspected traitor.
• He Ao crossed Eren and reached Chengde Martial Arts School, where a Youth was thrown through the gate and someone inside shouted, "Who else?!"

He Ao arrived at Chengde Martial Arts School and killed Alelo when the violent challenger attacked him. After Hong Long was taken to the hospital, He Ao stayed to watch over the school, only to learn that another challenger had arrived.

• Alelo beat Hong Long and his disciples, threatened to kill them, and stopped them from calling the gendarmes.
• He Ao arrived seeking directions, shot Alelo dead when he attacked, and learned he had reached Chengde Martial Arts School.
• Hong Long recognized He Ao as Ye Cheng’s nephew, explained the school’s troubles with local challengers, and arranged for him to stay there.
• The gendarmes questioned witnesses, accepted Hong Long’s private payment, and gave He Ao a verbal warning about getting a firearm permit.
• Hong Long and the injured disciples left for the hospital, and Hong Long asked He Ao to look after the school.
• A disciple told He Ao that another challenger had arrived and described the person as quite good-looking.

He Ao met Elifia, a martial artist searching for strong opponents to help her break through the limits of ordinary humanity, and learned that Main World martial arts could cultivate energy. As he searched Eren City for a Space-Time Anchor Point, he investigated a homicide scene and translated a message left in the victim’s blood: “It’s Here.”

• He Ao met Elifia, who came to spar with Hong Long but learned he was recovering in the hospital; she said she would return another day.
• Elifia told He Ao she was seeking powerful martial artists because her cultivation had stalled at the limits of an ordinary person.
• After Elifia left, He Ao considered gathering information about Main World martial arts and went out to search for the Space-Time Anchor Point in southern Eren City.
• He Ao assessed that Moonlight had probably not found the Space-Time Anchor Point yet, though several other supernatural organizations were searching for it.
• He Ao visited a cordoned-off alley, noticed irregular traces in the victim’s blood, and used a translator to read the message: “It’s Here.”

He Ao investigated a series of extraordinary killings across Eren City’s southern district and tracked a concealed man through the crowds. His pursuit led him to Elifia, who was threatened by gangsters, and the chapter ended with He Ao catching and flicking a bullet back at the man he was chasing.

• He Ao surveyed the first crime scene from a rooftop, found a faint footprint, and suspected its owner was connected to the killings.
• He Ao found more crime scenes across the southern district and discovered a mangled, five-legged stray dog in an abandoned courtyard.
• He Ao used Super Memory and divine consciousness to locate the concealed man watching him, then pursued him through the city.
• Elifia fought off a gangster who tried to intimidate her at her food stall, and the crowd applauded her.
• The gangster returned with Scarface and armed companions, but the fleeing man He Ao pursued knocked them down and took Scarface’s gun.
• The man fired at He Ao, who caught the bullet between his fingers and flicked it back at him as Elifia watched in disbelief.

He Ao killed a shadow creature that tried to sacrifice Elifia, then investigated Jordan’s history and prepared for his mission there. After falling asleep at the martial arts school, he awoke in a silent, gray world and found a strange black shadow waiting outside.

• He Ao protected Elifia from the Black Shadow and destroyed it with his Bone Sword after it transformed and attacked her with supernatural power.
• He Ao concluded the Black Shadow had been seeking sacrifices for an unknown being associated with the night.
• Yang De sent He Ao information about Jordan’s Last King, and He Ao suspected the king’s vanished wealth might have funded a hidden transcendent force.
• Yang De told He Ao that he and Li Le had narrowed down the traitors and might need He Ao’s help in Jordan.
• He Ao studied the materials and memorized much of a Ruodan-Tiya dictionary before sleeping at the martial arts school.
• He Ao woke in a silent gray world and saw a motionless black shadow at the courtyard entrance.

He Ao investigated strange dreams spreading among people near the passage and concluded that an unknown god might be preparing to reach the Main World. After receiving evidence of a Research Institute operative’s betrayal, He Ao went to confront him, while Elifia joined Chengde Martial Arts School as a worker and hoped to become He Ao’s disciple.

• Elifia returned to Chengde Martial Arts School and asked He Ao to accept her as a disciple, but he told her to go back; she took a job doing odd tasks at the school instead.
• He Ao questioned the school’s staff and learned that many people living near the passage had dreamed of familiar, silent places beneath a gray sky, while people outside its region had not.
• He Ao reasoned that the dreams might be extensions of an unknown god’s power and that it could be arranging a ritual to descend into the Main World.
• Yang De sent He Ao evidence that Nick had betrayed Li Le and the Research Institute to Moonlight, and He Ao said he would persuade the operatives to turn themselves in.
• He Ao visited Nick’s Safehouse disguised as a law popularization officer and told him he was suspected of aiding and abetting murder; Nick pulled out an axe and threatened him.

He Ao killed gang-linked informants who attacked him, then discussed the mysterious murders with the Military Police Captain and identified a possible connection between a victim’s hidden income and Ika. The cases were transferred to a higher-level department, while the captain secretly gave He Ao the files and offered his help.

• He Ao killed an axe-wielding man and a woman who tried to shoot him, then called the military police.
• The Military Police Captain took He Ao to the station, where He Ao inferred that a murder victim’s lavish spending pointed to an undisclosed source of income and a possible Ika connection.
• The Military Police Captain received notice that a higher-level department had taken over the murder cases.
• The Military Police Captain gave He Ao the case files and his private number, warning him to avoid the officials arriving from above.
• He Ao left through a back exit, and the Military Police Captain told Du Na that he had done what his position required.

He Ao reasoned that a hidden Primitive Sect in Eren City might be preparing a ritual to bring an unknown god into the Main World, and he sought intelligence to find its members. At the martial arts school, he recognized Elifia’s accumulated energy and guided her through a breakthrough, then asked about her family.

• He Ao concluded that World Tree may have first observed the unknown god through dreams and that a hidden Primitive Sect in Eren City could be arranging the god’s descent.
• He Ao asked Yang De to identify powerful Transcendents linked to Ruodan and asked Li Le to investigate newly active hidden sects in Eren City.
• He Ao returned to the martial arts school and ordered stir-fried rice noodles from Elifia, who was serving the school’s disciples.
• He Ao observed the energy trapped in Elifia’s body and gave her precise movements that opened its circulation and helped her break through her training bottleneck.
• Elifia thanked He Ao, and he asked whether she had Ruodan relatives because she spoke the local dialect so well.

Elifia told He Ao about her Central Land family and her missing father, while He Ao investigated whether her father was Prince Luoni and traced the Last King's possible ties to Transcendent groups. After reconsidering how Primitive Sects might recruit in Eren City, He Ao investigated Alelo's recent movements and received a lead: the Shedding Shadow Club.

• Elifia told He Ao that her father was a Ruodan fighter who married into her Central Land family, then vanished five years earlier after returning to Ruodan.
• He Ao found records suggesting Elifia's father might be Prince Luoni, and linked the Last King's missing wealth and Jin Ya's history to Transcendent activity, though he lacked proof.
• He Ao agreed that Elifia could move into the east-side suite, then reviewed Li Le's report on thirty-five suspected Transcendent churches in Eren City.
• He Ao reconsidered his assumptions about Primitive Sects and asked Li Le to investigate suspected Transcendent activity, especially World Tree and Moonlight figures in the southern district.
• He Ao asked the Military Police Captain to investigate Alelo's recent movements, and the captain reported that Alelo had been active around the Shedding Shadow Club.