Recaps

Fang Cheng defeated an invading fragment of the Lord of Slaughter in his Inner Scenery World, and his believers’ mental energy helped purify and strengthen the realm. He claimed the Feast of Slaughter mask and began testing its powers, but an anxious call from Lin Chuqiao drew him back to the real world.

• The Lord of Slaughter’s fragment attacked Fang Cheng’s Inner Scenery World with blood rain and a demon army, but Fang Cheng resisted its corrupting words and summoned his believers’ mental energy.
• Fang Cheng used the Solar True Fire to defeat and trap the invading fragment, which severed its link to its main self and abandoned the battle.
• Fang Cheng’s Inner Scenery World absorbed the enemy’s Mental Energy, grew larger, and recovered, while he received Qi Gong and Visualization experience.
• A mask identified as Feast of Slaughter came to Fang Cheng, and he recognized its life-draining ability as bait from the Lord of Slaughter.
• Fang Cheng turned the mask’s soul fragment into a Blood Moon and explored how he could change his Inner Scenery World at will.
• Fang Cheng sensed Lin Chuqiao’s anxious call, left the Inner Scenery World, and saw her name flashing on his vibrating phone.

After surviving a mental assault from the Lord of Slaughter, Fang Cheng reassured Lin Chuqiao and learned that Fire Dragon was near death. He examined the transformed Crimson Evil Spirit Mask and concluded that he could control it, vowing to defeat the Lord of Slaughter.

• Fang Cheng answered Lin Chuqiao's call, reassured her that he had repelled a mental ambush, and learned that she had sensed the battle through their mental link.
• Lin Chuqiao complained about managing the Illumination Society's new bases, and Fang Cheng promised her a vacation after the busy period.
• Lin Chuqiao told Fang Cheng that Fire Dragon was suffering from multiple organ failure, and Fang Cheng ordered the doctors to use the best treatment and promised to guarantee their safety if they saved him.
• After ending the call, Fang Cheng examined the Crimson Evil Spirit Mask and considered whether it had come from ancient ruins beneath the Trench off Yong'an Island.
• Fang Cheng recalled that the mask had connected him to the Lord of Slaughter, but believed he had mastered it rather than become its puppet.
• Fang Cheng put on the mask and vowed that his fists would crush every enemy who stood in his way, including the Lord of Slaughter.

Fang Cheng encountered a military checkpoint using a monster and pupil tests to identify aberrants, then passed the inspection by concealing his abnormal eyes. The hound’s violent reaction triggered a level-one alert as soldiers sealed the intersection, leaving Fang Cheng at risk of being discovered.

• Fang Cheng found the expressway blocked by soldiers searching for White Owl and realized the military was screening vehicles for aberrants.
• Fang Cheng used his enhanced senses to discover a chained blood-clan search hound inside an armored vehicle and overheard soldiers explain the hound and pupil-test methods.
• The search hound sensed Fang Cheng and began struggling violently, prompting Lao Xie to warn the other units that their target might be nearby.
• Fang Cheng put on gold-rimmed glasses and passed a female officer’s pupil test without showing any mutation.
• The hound roared at the checkpoint, and the soldiers declared a level-one alert and ordered the intersection sealed.

Fang Cheng realized the Evil Spirit Mask had provoked the checkpoint’s hound, so he suppressed its aura in his Inner Scenery World. The hound fell quiet, and as soldiers pursued a fleeing Aberrant, Fang Cheng passed through the checkpoint and drove on.

• Fang Cheng deduced that the hound had sensed the Evil Spirit Mask in his car rather than his own aura.
• Fang Cheng entered the Inner Scenery World and subdued the mask, sealing its aura so it could no longer be detected.
• The hound stopped reacting, and Lao Xie reported that it had fallen asleep as the soldiers questioned him.
• A man in a black jacket fled the traffic jam with superhuman speed, prompting soldiers and gunships to pursue him as an Aberrant.
• The female officer returned Fang Cheng’s identification and apologized, and he drove through the reopened checkpoint.

Fang Cheng attended a family lunch with Shi Chengyi and Wei Zheng, who had arranged the visit to recruit him into the Special Search Team. Shi Chengyi offered him an entrance exam for the Logistics Department’s Medical Team, and Fang Cheng agreed to take it on the condition that they first accept three requirements.

• Fang Cheng arrived at Li Zhenhua’s home and found Shi Chengyi and Wei Zheng waiting as guests.
• Fang Cheng joined the family meal, where Shi Chengyi offered his protection and the family encouraged Fang Cheng to call him Uncle Shi.
• Li Dingjian told Fang Cheng that joining the Special Search Team could benefit both Fang Cheng and the Illumination Society by giving them access and intelligence.
• Fang Cheng played Go with Shi Chengyi, saw through his distraction, and asked what he wanted to discuss.
• Shi Chengyi and Wei Zheng offered Fang Cheng an entrance exam for the Logistics Department’s special Medical Team, and Fang Cheng agreed while setting three conditions.

Fang Cheng agreed to join the Special Search Team as a flexible, nonpolitical medical expert and secured Shi Chengyi’s promise to assist if he found evidence related to the Guangwu Gate shooting. He told his family he would take the team’s final recruitment exam, leaving them hopeful, while privately recognizing Shi’s influence could also help him pursue his father’s case.

• Fang Cheng asked to serve as a Traditional Martial Artist focused on medical work, with flexible hours and assistance investigating the Guangwu Gate shooting; Shi Chengyi accepted his conditions and promised to support a future evidence-based inquiry.
• Shi Chengyi instructed Wei Zheng to fast-track Fang Cheng’s registration and prepare him for the final recruitment round on the fifth of the next month.
• After Li Zhenhua returned with tea, Fang Cheng helped him win a game against Shi Chengyi, and the group shared tea before Shi Chengyi and Wei Zheng departed.
• Fang Cheng told Li Zhenhua, Li Biyun, and Li Dingjian that he had agreed to take the Special Search Team’s final exam, and the family celebrated.
• Fang Cheng revealed that he had failed the East Capital Law School interview, then privately considered that Shi Chengyi’s support might help with both his background check and his father’s case.

Fang Cheng joined the Special Search Team, gaining a safe position to develop his strength and access to patients for training his medical skills. Shi Chengyi explained that Fang Cheng’s future power could make him a symbol and force for change, while a red-haired man arrived at a mysterious tower and asked whether his lord had emerged from seclusion.

• Fang Cheng considered how membership in the Special Search Team would protect his identity and help him improve his medical skills and Qi Gong.
• Fang Cheng joined his family inside and shared in their cheerful celebration.
• Wei Zheng questioned why Fang Cheng would serve in the Medical Team instead of opposing the Technological Reformation Faction, and Shi Chengyi explained that Fang Cheng’s growing strength could itself become a powerful deterrent and rallying symbol.
• A red-haired man approached the Skyscraper Giant Tower, where a man in white stopped him, and asked whether his lord had emerged from seclusion.

Claude and the White-Clad Man argued over the failed Eastern Capital operation and whether Fang Shijie had survived, until their lord’s overwhelming power silenced them. Claude then set out for the Eastern Capital, while Fang Cheng received his Special Search Team exam materials and prepared to study for the upcoming recruitment final.

• Claude reported that the Eastern Capital operation had failed and claimed Fang Shijie had faked his death and become a Special Search Team asset, but the White-Clad Man doubted his evidence.
• Claude and the White-Clad Man nearly fought until their lord’s terrifying will descended from the Skyscraper Giant Tower, forcing both men to bow and abandon their quarrel.
• The White-Clad Man told Claude to wait for their lord to emerge from seclusion, but Claude decided to go to the Eastern Capital and deal with White Owl himself.
• Fang Cheng completed his Special Search Team application procedures at headquarters and received a stack of previous recruitment exam papers from Wei Zheng.
• Fang Cheng resolved to study for the June 5 final and earn strong but reasonable results to secure influence and freedom within the Special Search Team.

Fang Cheng tested whether he could use supersonic speed, airflow, and the lake’s surface to simulate flight. He managed to glide several kilometers across YuLong Lake before losing momentum and crashing into the water.

• Fang Cheng abandoned a supersonic run along the lakeside road because his footfalls had damaged the asphalt and attracted rumors.
• Fang Cheng decided to use YuLong Lake as a surface to practice flight and slipped away to prepare for a supersonic sprint.
• Fang Cheng accelerated across the mudflat, broke the sound barrier, and stepped onto the lake without sinking.
• Fang Cheng spread his arms to shape the airflow and used lift, along with brief taps on the water, to glide across the lake.
• Fang Cheng lost speed and lift after traveling several kilometers, tumbled across the water, and plunged into the lake.

Fang Cheng refined his plan to learn flight after running five kilometers across YuLong Lake, then went to the Special Search Team headquarters to collect his admission ticket and review the final exam procedures. The chapter ended when he saw that the key physical fitness test would take place in the Western Mountains.

• Fang Cheng emerged in the middle of YuLong Lake after covering five kilometers on its surface and concluded that repeated practice could help him master flight.
• Fang Cheng returned to shore and headed to the Special Search Team headquarters to prepare for the final round.
• Ma Donghe welcomed Fang Cheng, introduced him to several acquaintances, and described the competition between public candidates and Special Police School students.
• Wei Zheng gave Fang Cheng and Ma Donghe their admission cards and explained the written exam, interview, and physical fitness test schedule.
• Fang Cheng read that the main physical fitness test would be held in the Western Mountains.

Fang Cheng learned that the Special Search Team had moved its physical assessment to the dangerous Western Mountains, then prepared for the recruitment exams while investigating his secret base and training. At home, he began meditating to examine changes in his Inner Scenery World after subduing the Evil Spirit Mask.

• Fang Cheng, Ma Donghe, and Wei Zheng learned that the physical assessment would be a cross-country survival test in the Western Mountains, a change ordered by Ling Shaofeng amid a secret military operation.
• Wei Zheng warned Fang Cheng that the Western Mountains exam could be dangerous and advised him to stay near Ma Donghe; a suspicious candidate eavesdropped before disappearing into the crowd.
• Fang Cheng returned home, reassured Li Zhenhua and Li Biyun about his upcoming exams, and went upstairs to rest.
• Fang Cheng recalled finalizing security arrangements for his secret base at Jinshui Fish Market and practicing combat techniques at his apartment before returning home.
• Fang Cheng dismissed the written exam as easy and meditated to investigate changes in his Inner Scenery World after subduing the Evil Spirit Mask.

Fang Cheng discovered that the Evil Spirit Mask’s Feast of Slaughter was nurturing life in his Inner Scenery World, and he considered using his growing mental power to claim control over his followers. He chose Fire Dragon as the first target for a forced invasion of his subconscious.

• Fang Cheng explored his Inner Scenery World and found microorganisms in its river, which he realized had grown from life energy absorbed by the Evil Spirit Mask.
• Fang Cheng used the mask’s accumulated energy to create blood-tinged rain that spread the microorganisms across the world and nourished its land.
• Fang Cheng examined the mental coordinates of his followers and resolved to erase the imprints of higher-dimensional beings and bind their consciousnesses to himself.
• Fang Cheng focused on Fire Dragon, weighing the risks of releasing or killing him before deciding to invade his weakened subconscious and claim ownership of him.

Fang Cheng battled the higher-dimensional being controlling Fire Dragon and rescued Fire Dragon’s consciousness by bringing it into his Inner Scenery World. Fire Dragon pledged loyalty to Fang Cheng and revealed that his real name was Shanks, though he asked for shelter until he could settle a personal score.

• Fang Cheng attacked the gray imprint in Fire Dragon’s soul, provoking a powerful demonic entity that fought him across Fire Dragon’s subconscious.
• Fang Cheng urged Fire Dragon to call his name, then used Heart of Steel to shield him and pull his consciousness into the Inner Scenery World.
• Fire Dragon awoke in Fang Cheng’s hall, learned that Fang Cheng had rescued him from the entity, and agreed to join the Illumination Society.
• Fang Cheng demanded more than a verbal pledge, and Fire Dragon revealed that his real name was Shanks and that his current face was a disguise.
• Shanks explained that he had fled Eastern Europe and joined the Blood Thorn Mercenary Group under a false identity to settle a personal score, and offered his life and soul in exchange for Fang Cheng’s protection until he finished the task.

Shanks recounted how his family was slaughtered and traced the crime to Utopia, then pledged himself to Fang Cheng, who promised to protect him and the Illumination Society. After Shanks left to recover, Fang Cheng saw Shanks’s star move close to his own in the Inner Scenery World.

• Fang Cheng asked Shanks to explain his history, and Shanks described his loving family and his brother’s transformation after meeting a man in a gray trench coat.
• Shanks recounted finding his family dead, including his sister Emily, and swore he would find the killer and his brother.
• Shanks revealed that his brother’s diary named Utopia and linked it to secret operations in the Eastern Capital and a dangerous project with Xia Country’s military.
• Shanks explained that he had joined the Blood Thorn Mercenary Group to investigate Utopia, but Fang Cheng’s destruction of the group had ended his trail.
• Fang Cheng declared that Shanks’s enemies were now his enemies, and Shanks pledged to serve him as his only liege and sun.
• Fang Cheng sent the injured Shanks back to rest, then watched Shanks’s star move close to his own in the Inner Scenery World.

Fang Cheng examined how his solar mental network had drawn Shanks closer while old-god influences still tugged at Shanks, Lin Chuqiao, and the professor. After returning to his bedroom, he recognized Heart of Steel’s value in resisting high-dimensional attacks, while Shanks awoke and resolved to rely on the Illumination Society.

• Fang Cheng observed that Shanks’s consciousness had moved near the network’s core, but that old-god imprints were slowly pulling Shanks, Lin Chuqiao, and the professor away from his influence.
• Fang Cheng concluded that controlling aberrants would require a prolonged contest against the old gods, then left his Divine Kingdom and returned to his bedroom.
• Fang Cheng saw that his cross-dimensional struggle had earned Focus and Visualization experience, and realized Heart of Steel’s doubled willpower had helped him withstand the attack.
• Fang Cheng went to bed before the Special Search Team’s written exam, while Shanks awoke bandaged in the basement and remembered Fang Cheng driving back the demon within him.
• Shanks murmured the name of the Illumination Society and decided he had found someone powerful enough to rely on.

Shanks sensed that his bond with the President was healing his body and mind, and vowed to avenge Emily. Meanwhile, a red-haired man at sea felt a mysterious bloodline tremor, while Fang Cheng calmly took the Special Police Academy’s written exam.

• Shanks formed a powerful bond with the President and sensed a golden network channeling warmth into him, easing his wounds and mental affliction.
• Shanks resolved to follow the President and avenge Emily, even as his reopened wounds bled.
• A red-haired man on a storm-tossed ship felt a violent tremor in his bloodline, dismissed it as an affliction, and vowed to unmask White Owl.
• A proctor caught a wiry examinee using a concealed electronic screen and had armed guards remove him from the exam hall.
• Fang Cheng swiftly filled out his exam paper, while the proctor suspected he had received the questions in advance.

Fang Cheng finished the Special Search Team’s written exam early and met Ma Donghe outside, where they discussed the upcoming wilderness survival test and psychological assessment. Ma Donghe warned him to control his killing intent during the interview, and the two went to South Luoguo Alley to eat before the afternoon exams.

• Fang Cheng completed the written exam with ease and handed in his paper more than an hour early.
• Fang Cheng met Ma Donghe, who admitted he had guessed at answers and filled the essay spaces with large handwriting.
• Ma Donghe told Fang Cheng that the Western Mountains survival test could involve mutated beasts, and offered to guide him through the terrain.
• Ma Donghe described the preliminary test’s Abyss Echo illusion and said his reaction had cost him forty points.
• Ma Donghe warned Fang Cheng that the final psychological assessment might expose candidates’ fears and urged him to control his temper and killing intent.
• Fang Cheng and Ma Donghe left campus, ate in South Luoguo Alley, and prepared for the afternoon language exams.

Fang Cheng and Ma Donghe waited for their Special Search Team interviews as they watched candidates emerge shaken from the interrogation rooms. Ma Donghe was called in first, and Fang Cheng later entered Room Six, where an interviewer and the eerie Ancient Bronze Bell awaited him.

• Fang Cheng observed that clerical applicants had brief interviews while special operations candidates spent longer inside and often emerged frightened.
• Hou Peng approached Fang Cheng and Ma Donghe, and Ma Donghe warned him that the psychological assessment exposed candidates’ fears and true nature.
• A staff member called Ma Donghe into Room Three, and he entered the interview room.
• Fang Cheng calmed himself by circulating his true qi, and Hou Peng sensed a terrifying pressure when he tried to approach him.
• A staff member called Fang Cheng into Room Six, where he found a shadowy interviewer and an Ancient Bronze Bell covered in green corrosion.

Fang Cheng passed a hostile interview with Chen Bingzhong by giving composed, pragmatic answers, then entered the Special Search Team’s Abyss Echo stress test. He held out for ten seconds before yielding to the Bronze Bell’s illusion, earning a Grade A for dream entry as Chen Bingzhong prepared to judge what he revealed inside.

• Fang Cheng concealed his unusual vision and introduced himself as candidate 263 while Chen Bingzhong and a young examiner began the recorded interview.
• Fang Cheng answered Chen Bingzhong’s questions about his motives, triage priorities, following orders, and the possibility of arresting a criminal relative.
• Chen Bingzhong approved of Fang Cheng’s answers and awarded him an excellent rating for the interview.
• The young examiner fitted Fang Cheng with a Metal Helmet, and Chen Bingzhong rang the Ancient Bronze Bell to begin the Abyss Echo test.
• Fang Cheng pretended to resist the mental pull for ten seconds before allowing himself to enter the illusion, and Chen Bingzhong gave him Grade A for dream entry.

Fang Cheng awoke in a frail teenage body with a family and school life that felt familiar yet wrong, and he began noticing signs of something unnatural in his county town. After unexpectedly solving an advanced geometry problem, he discovered that the rain falling outside his home was black.

• Fang Cheng woke in his teenage body, ate breakfast with his family, and headed to school carrying an umbrella.
• On the way, Fang Cheng glimpsed a grotesque figure beneath a bridge, but it vanished when he looked again.
• Zhou Ming invited Fang Cheng to join the Supernatural Phenomena Research Society, but Fang Cheng refused.
• When Fang Cheng was called to solve a difficult geometry problem, a flash of insight let him explain the solution perfectly.
• That night, Fang Cheng found murky, foul-smelling black droplets on his hand and realized the rain was black.

Fang Cheng fought a grotesque figure in what seemed to be his home, only to discover that he had beaten his ordinary grandfather. Meanwhile, Chen Bingzhong monitored Fang Cheng’s examination and revealed that the Bronze Bell projected candidates’ consciousnesses into an incomplete world inside a colossal Sealed Object.

• Fang Cheng developed a painful, unnatural swelling on his hand after touching foul-smelling black tissue, then noticed the house had gone silent and filled with the stench of decay.
• Fang Cheng found a hunched figure resembling Grandfather and was attacked by it, but struck back with a toy car and kicked it away.
• The lights came on, revealing that Fang Cheng had injured his grandfather, while his parents rushed to help and call an ambulance.
• Chen Bingzhong observed Fang Cheng’s steady brainwaves during the examination and explained that the headquarters had been built above a dangerous Sealed Object.
• Chen Bingzhong revealed that the Bronze Bell did not create a false realm but projected candidates’ consciousnesses into an incomplete world within the Sealed Object.

Chen Bingzhong reflected on the Black Rain World and suspected Ling Shaofeng was using the candidates to trigger a hidden mechanism. After spotting another shadow, Fang Cheng asked Zhou Ming about humanlike monsters and agreed to investigate an abandoned water plant with the Supernatural Research Society.

• Chen Bingzhong recalled how the Black Rain World erased outsiders’ memories and suppressed their powers, and suspected Ling Shaofeng had a hidden reason for sending candidates there.
• Fang Cheng left the hospital, saw a fleeting black shadow, and decided to seek Zhou Ming’s advice rather than dismiss his experience as madness.
• Fang Cheng asked Zhou Ming about people turning into monsters, and Zhou Ming described several kinds of Mimic Memory Bodies, especially Mimic Evil Entities.
• Zhou Ming invited Fang Cheng to join the Supernatural Research Society and investigate reports of black shadows and a rotten smell at an abandoned water plant.
• Fang Cheng accepted the invitation, hoping the expedition would reveal what had happened to his grandfather and explain the shadows.

Fang Cheng and the Supernatural Research Society searched the abandoned Water Plant for ghosts, but their first alarming discovery turned out to be canvas and magnetic interference. After Zhou Ming revealed that his uncle had seen black rain, Li Dazhuang disappeared, leaving the group worried that a real supernatural threat might be nearby.

• Wang Lan led Fang Cheng, Zhou Ming, Lin Xue, and Li Dazhuang into the abandoned Water Plant and split them into two search groups.
• While searching with Fang Cheng, Zhou Ming described his uncle’s encounter with a faceless shadow and said black rain had fallen that night.
• Fang Cheng asked Zhou Ming about the black rain, connecting it to the corrosive rain Fang Cheng had seen himself.
• Fang Cheng and Zhou Ming rushed to the Pump Room after hearing Wang Lan scream and found the group confronting a shadow that proved to be hanging canvas.
• Fang Cheng explained that the Water Pumps’ Permanent Magnets had triggered Lin Xue’s Detector, but then the group realized Li Dazhuang was missing and began searching for him.

Fang Cheng and the Supernatural Research Society searched the Water Plant for Li Dazhuang, only to be attacked by monsters and trapped inside an illusion. Cornered by a host of shadows, Fang Cheng awakened a surge of power and discovered that his fists could destroy them.

• Fang Cheng warned Zhou Ming that Li Dazhuang seemed possessed, but Zhou Ming approached him and was infected by black liquid.
• Wang Lan and Fang Cheng fired talisman water at Li Dazhuang and Zhou Ming, but it had no effect, and the two turned into monsters.
• Lin Xue fell behind as Wang Lan and Fang Cheng fled, and Wang Lan was possessed by a shadow near the Water Plant gate.
• Fang Cheng realized the apparent exit was an illusion and found himself surrounded by countless shadows inside the plant.
• Fang Cheng awakened a fierce power, charged the shadows, and destroyed one with his fist.

Fang Cheng awakened a blazing power and drove the black silhouettes from the Water Plant, then freed Wang Lan and the rest of the possessed society members. After a spirit warned him that he was not from this world and would draw the Holy Lord’s attention, Fang Cheng continued searching the plant for his classmates.

• Fang Cheng fought through the black silhouettes, whose attacks faltered when his body began radiating golden heat.
• Fang Cheng unleashed a roar that sent the remaining silhouettes fleeing and realized his power might save the possessed society members.
• Fang Cheng subdued Wang Lan without killing her, and the possessing entity warned that he was not from this world and would draw the Holy Lord’s attention.
• The entity left Wang Lan’s body, and Fang Cheng told her he had found a way to deal with the possessions.
• Fang Cheng found Zhou Ming, Li Dazhuang, and Lin Xue around the Water Reservoir and Generator Set, and beat the possessing shadows out of them.