Chapter Summaries

Xiao Linye heard that White Owl had taken the Crimson Eye and learned that the masked fighter was the same person who had ruined his Golden Benba Vase scheme. After sensing a connection to that person, Xiao Linye cast a blood-tracing spell, while Fang Cheng meditated in Haitian Garden.

• Xiao Yuanwang, Xiao Chenghuan, and Xiao Ming reported that White Owl had defeated them and taken the Crimson Eye from Noah Pharmaceuticals.
• Xiao Linye decided to help Feng Jincai stabilize the Eastern Capital situation and wait for the Crimson Eye's trail to emerge.
• Xiao Ming recognized White Owl as the masked man who had destroyed the Golden Benba Vase at Lu Family Manor.
• Xiao Linye vowed to kill White Owl if he came to the Western Mountains Ancestral Temple and cited the Xiao family's secluded Kirin Son and the Lord as sources of confidence.
• Xiao Linye sensed a connection to the man who had absorbed the Golden Benba Vase's spirituality and used a blood-tracing spell to pursue him.
• Fang Cheng meditated in a room in Haitian Garden, engaged in a battle on the level of consciousness.

Fang Cheng defeated the Crimson Eye again in the blood-colored space, then discovered that his senses and Spirit had strengthened, bringing three of his four attributes past the 60-point threshold. Xiao Linye’s attempt to curse White Owl instead struck the Crimson Eye and backfired, leaving him convinced the artifact remained intact and determined to search for it in the Eastern Capital.

• Fang Cheng battered the Giant Eyeball with a storm of punches until an unknown red spear struck it, the blood-colored space vanished, and his consciousness returned to his living room.
• Fang Cheng realized the Crimson Eye’s lingering corruption emerged during meditation, and he drank cola to ease the persistent heat and thirst caused by its negative effects.
• Fang Cheng noticed his heightened senses, viewed distant details without Eagle Eye Vision, and found that his Strength, Agility, and Spirit had reached 60 while Constitution remained at 59.
• Fang Cheng saw that the battle had awarded him 30 Boxing Experience and considered fighting the Crimson Eye again to improve his skills.
• Xiao Linye’s Blood Curse Spear struck the Crimson Eye instead of White Owl, causing his secret art to backfire and injure him.
• Xiao Linye concluded that the Crimson Eye had devoured White Owl and decided to send people to search for the artifact in the Eastern Capital.

Fang Cheng stayed isolated at home while the Crimson Eye’s flesh continued to transform his body, and he worried that he might become a source of pollution. After learning that Ma Jianguo planned to teach him the Visualization Method, Fang Cheng agreed to visit, hoping it might help with the danger inside him.

• Fang Cheng cleaned and exercised at home while monitoring the Crimson Eye’s effects and keeping away from other people.
• Fang Cheng concluded that he probably had not become a Walking Pollution Source because nearby plants and fish showed no signs of corruption.
• Fang Cheng saw that his Strength and Agility had risen to 62 as the Crimson Eye’s flesh continued to be digested.
• Fang Cheng watched a report about Cheng Jiashu’s return and learned that the Noah Organization had suffered a major setback after the police and Special Search Team intervened.
• Ma Jianguo called Fang Cheng and insisted he come over before two to learn the sect’s Visualization Method on an auspicious day.
• Fang Cheng decided to visit Ma Jianguo, hoping the method could help resolve the Crimson Eye’s lingering effects.

Fang Cheng formally became Ma Jianguo’s disciple and Orthodox Inheritor of the Ma Family Tai Chi, then learned the three stages of the Visualization Method. Ma Jianguo explained the origins of the family’s Thunder Fire Cauldron intent, leaving Fang Cheng poised to begin his own cultivation.

• Ma Jianguo explained that the unusual celestial conditions made the ancestral hall an auspicious place for Fang Cheng to begin the Visualization Method, and Fang Cheng bowed to accept him as his master.
• Ma Jianguo accepted Fang Cheng as the Orthodox Inheritor of the Ma Family Tai Chi and held an ancestral ceremony asking the ancestors to protect his cultivation.
• Fang Cheng and Ma Donghe discussed Donghe’s grueling secluded cultivation, and Ma Jianguo said Donghe had only touched the threshold of the Visualization Method.
• Ma Jianguo taught Fang Cheng the Visualization Method’s three stages: Establishing Intent, Shaping the Realm, and True Self.
• Ma Jianguo recounted how an ancestor discovered the Thunder Fire Cauldron intent through a vision of lightning and fire, founded the Ma Family Tai Chi lineage, and gained the family its standing among the Four Great Dragon Protection Families.

Fang Cheng learned how the Ma Family’s Visualization Method differed from ordinary Meditation and was warned about its risks. Ma Jianguo left him to begin secluded cultivation in the family’s Water Prison, where Fang Cheng prepared to test his skills.

• Ma Jianguo explained the Visualization Method’s three levels and contrasted its inward cultivation with methods that rely on external targets.
• Fang Cheng asked about shaping an Inner Scenery and a True Self, and Ma Jianguo warned him about deviation, Inner Demons, and the dangers of Heaven-Man Resonance.
• Ma Jianguo led Fang Cheng to the hidden Water Prison in the Back Mountain and showed him the ancestral cultivation inscriptions and the bell for calling for help.
• Ma Jianguo sealed Fang Cheng inside for seven days, and Fang Cheng sat on the stone platform, ready to test his skills.

Fang Cheng practiced Ma Jianguo’s Visualization Method in the Water Prison, confronting illusions born from his inner demons and refining his Martial Path will. After facing the Crimson Eye and Blue Will, he drew strength from the Ma Family ancestors’ inscriptions and broke free to counterattack.

• Fang Cheng used his Spirituality Fire as the foundation of his intent and began suppressing his True Qi to confront his inner demons through pure Mental Power.
• Fang Cheng defeated illusions of an ancient behemoth, treasure hunters, and imperial temptations, earning Meditation EXP and strengthening his spirit.
• Fang Cheng faced the Crimson Eye and Blue Will, which joined forces to restrain his body and corrode his soul.
• The Ma Family ancestors’ inscriptions lit up and sent their Will resonance into Fang Cheng’s consciousness, breaking the Blue Will’s hold.
• Fang Cheng broke the Crimson Eye’s tentacles and attacked both powers with renewed strength, earning further Meditation EXP and spirit growth.

Fang Cheng defeated the Crimson Eye in his consciousness and synthesized Meditation and Speed Reading into the Grandmaster-level Visualization skill, gaining Solar True Fire and the Inner Scenery World. He began shaping the realm by expanding his inner world and refining the Crimson Eye’s flesh, while a golden pupil opened within the Solar True Fire.

• Fang Cheng destroyed the Crimson Eye with his final punch, purified his Spirituality Fire, and established intent.
• Fang Cheng summoned his Memory Palace into his Domain of Light and synthesized Meditation with Speed Reading to master Visualization at lv3.
• Fang Cheng gained the Solar True Fire and Inner Scenery World effects, then fused the Golden Orb with his Spirituality Fire.
• Fang Cheng began shaping the realm, using True Qi and Solar True Fire to expand the land around his Memory Palace and purify the Crimson Eye’s flesh.
• The purified life essence replenished Fang Cheng’s Sea of Qi and strengthened his body as a golden pupil opened within the Solar True Fire.

Fang Cheng consumed the Crimson Eye’s life essence and Wish Power to reshape his body, cross the 60-point Constitution threshold, and complete the creation of his Inner Scenery World. As his cultivation triggered a dramatic weather change over Back Mountain, Ma Jianguo was interrupted by Lao Wang’s urgent call.

• Fang Cheng’s body and Inner Scenery World evolved together as the Crimson Eye’s life essence raised his Constitution to 60 and expanded his True Qi reserves.
• Fang Cheng realized that his cultivation reenacted the stages of inner alchemy and used Wish Power from people linked to the Golden Orb to fuel the final expansion of his Inner Scenery World.
• Fang Cheng completed Shaping the Realm and refined his True Self, forming a connection between his inner world and the greater world.
• The Water Prison’s force field withdrew, releasing a towering column of vapor that drew dark clouds over Back Mountain.
• Ma Jianguo waited for Fang Cheng to finish his secluded cultivation when Lao Wang knocked and called him outside to see smoke rising from his ancestral grave.

Fang Cheng completed his secluded cultivation in the Ma family's Water Prison, refining his body and spirit and forming the Visualization skill as his Inner Scenery World took shape. His breakthrough stirred strange signs across the world and drew the attention of a mysterious man in the Permafrost Land, while Fang Cheng emerged stronger and more confident in his power.

• Ma Jianguo and Lao Wang saw a towering column of smoke rise from Back Mountain as dark clouds gathered and rain began to fall.
• A man fishing in the Permafrost Land sensed a powerful new radiance in the Eastern Continent and recognized the Ma Family Tai Chi aura within it.
• Fang Cheng awoke in the Water Prison after completing his cultivation, with Empty Room Sparks illuminating the cavern and his body transformed.
• Fang Cheng read the poem carved into the Water Prison wall and realized he had reached the realm once attained by his predecessor, perhaps surpassing it.
• Fang Cheng checked his gains on the Panel, confirming that Visualization had become an Exclusive Skill and that his attributes, True Qi, and Inner Scenery World had greatly improved.
• Fang Cheng concluded that his increased strength and True Qi endurance meant he would no longer need to rely on Potential Activation except in dire circumstances.

Fang Cheng completed his secluded cultivation and formed a vast Inner Scenery World, condensing his True Self and understanding the path of martial cultivation. He woke in the Water Prison hungry and thirsty, then remembered the clothes and supplies in his satchel as he prepared to leave.

• Fang Cheng explored his Inner Scenery World, shaping its land and weather and discovering that his Memory Palace, bedroom, and Water Prison had become part of it.
• Fang Cheng sat on the palace throne and felt connected to the entire world and the thoughts of his Believers.
• Fang Cheng realized that his secluded cultivation had unified his essence, qi, and spirit, formed his True Self, and established a self-sustaining cycle that could steadily strengthen him.
• Fang Cheng clarified the stages of the Martial Path and recognized the road ahead as one belonging to Martial Artists.
• Fang Cheng woke in the Water Prison, thirsty and starving after several days of cultivation, and decided to leave for food and drink.
• Fang Cheng noticed that his clothes had burned away and found the Blue Canvas Satchel he had left by the prison entrance.

Fang Cheng left the Ma Family’s Water Prison after condensing the True Self and emerged into strange rain over Tianxin Village. Meanwhile, Ma Donghe brought Senior Brother Wei to meet the martial arts genius, and Wei spotted Fang Cheng walking down from the mountain.

• Fang Cheng found his clothes burned to ash, put on his fire-resistant red underwear, and carved a message on the Water Prison wall before leaving.
• Fang Cheng sealed the Ma Family’s cultivation ground, destroyed his charred satchel and ruined clothes, and walked into the rain.
• Ma Donghe and Wei Zheng drove to Tianxin Village as Wei advised Ma Donghe to stay cautious if he joined the Special Search Team.
• Ma Donghe went to buy liquor while Wei Zheng waited in the jeep and reflected on a failed mission that had killed one teammate and injured another.
• Wei Zheng spotted a bare-chested Fang Cheng walking barefoot down the path from Back Mountain.

After emerging from five days of secluded cultivation, Fang Cheng startled Wei Zheng with his strength and enormous appetite, then revealed that he had begun shaping his inner scenery and touched the threshold of Condensing the True Self. Wei Zheng invited him to join the Special Search Team, but Fang Cheng declined, and Ma Jianguo urged him to reconsider before the chapter ended.

• Fang Cheng asked Wei Zheng to move his jeep, and Wei Zheng mistook him for a dangerous stranger until Ma Donghe recognized him as the martial arts genius from Ma Jianguo's family.
• Fang Cheng devoured a lavish meal after five days without food, astonishing Wei Zheng with his appetite and apparent ability to digest immense amounts of food.
• Fang Cheng told Ma Jianguo, Ma Donghe, and Wei Zheng that he had established his intent, begun constructing his Inner Scenery World, and nearly reached Condensing the True Self.
• Ma Jianguo explained how to develop Inner Scenery External Manifestation, while Wei Zheng and Ma Donghe praised Fang Cheng's abilities and invited him to take the Special Search Team's selection exam.
• Fang Cheng declined the invitation, and Ma Donghe revealed that Fang Cheng might not pass the background check because of his family situation; Wei Zheng left soon afterward.
• Ma Donghe apologized for mentioning Fang Cheng's family, and Ma Jianguo encouraged Fang Cheng to reconsider joining the Special Search Team.

Ma Jianguo explained why he had once opposed the Special Search Team, then urged Fang Cheng to apply after witnessing his extraordinary martial arts talent. Fang Cheng remained undecided and drove home, resolved to rely on his own strength rather than the team’s resources or protection.

• Ma Jianguo recounted his family’s history with the Special Search Team and said its changing policies might welcome traditional martial artists again.
• Ma Donghe teased his father, while Ma Jianguo and Ma Donghe listed the Special Search Team’s resources, status, and family protections to persuade Fang Cheng to apply.
• Fang Cheng declined to make a decision, and Ma Jianguo sent him off with soup and valuable medicinal ingredients to restore his Vitality.
• After Fang Cheng left, Ma Jianguo realized Ma Donghe had brought Wei Zheng to encourage Fang Cheng to join and admitted Fang Cheng must choose for himself.
• Fang Cheng weighed the team’s benefits against its internal conflicts and decided that his own strength would remain his true reliance.

Shi Chengyi urged Wei Zheng to avoid the Special Search Team’s internal competition, but reconsidered the martial arts lineage’s prospects after hearing of Fang Cheng’s extraordinary talent. Wei Zheng revealed that Fang Cheng’s father had been implicated in the Guangwu Gate shooting, leaving Shi Chengyi to confront the connection to a major unsolved case from seventeen years earlier.

• Shi Chengyi advised Wei Zheng to remain in Action Division 3 and avoid competing for a Level 1 Officer or Senior Investigator position.
• Shi Chengyi lamented the decline of traditional martial arts, and Wei Zheng told him about Fang Cheng’s rapid cultivation and celestial phenomenon.
• Shi Chengyi saw Fang Cheng as a possible rallying figure for the martial artist faction and demanded that Wei Zheng bring him in.
• Wei Zheng explained that Fang Cheng had not applied to the Special Search Team and that his father had been suspected in a serial murder case before dying in a fire.
• Wei Zheng revealed that the case was tied to the Guangwu Gate shooting, and Shi Chengyi recognized its significance in the Republic’s history.

Shi Chengyi recalled how the Guangwu Gate shooting case had been politically covered up and decided to protect Fang Cheng despite the risks. He set out for Tianxin Village to meet Jianguo, while Fang Cheng’s sneeze scattered a chess game with his maternal grandfather.

• Shi Chengyi remembered how his investigation of the Guangwu Gate shooting case uncovered an Ability User linked to Utopia before Ling Shaofeng took over and closed the case with scapegoats.
• Wei Zheng told Shi Chengyi that Fang Cheng’s Father had only been suspected of suspicious dealings and murders, with no conclusive evidence tying him to the shooting.
• Shi Chengyi decided to help Fang Cheng pass review and ordered Lao Zhang to prepare a car for Tianxin Village.
• Shi Chengyi told Wei Zheng to keep the matter secret until he met Jianguo in person.
• Fang Cheng sneezed during a chess game with his maternal grandfather, scattering the pieces across the board.

Fang Cheng reunited with his family in Wanghu Town, then reviewed the new abilities granted by his Visualization skill’s advancement. He entered his Inner Scenery World and appeared on the throne in its Golden Palace, ready to test his expanded powers.

• Fang Cheng shared a warm family meal with Li Biyun and Li Zhenhua, and stopped his grandfather from drinking more after the doctor advised him to quit.
• Fang Cheng cleaned the house, then recalled using two pieces of Ancient Remains to replenish his True Qi after his cultivation had depleted his reserves.
• Fang Cheng examined his upgraded Visualization effects, including the Solar Mental Network’s ability to detect hostile emotions, perceive linked targets, refine Wish Power, and draw multiple consciousnesses into his Inner Scenery World.
• Fang Cheng crossed into his Inner Scenery World and appeared on the Golden Palace’s throne.

Fang Cheng explored the expanded Solar Mental Network and tested Mind Manifestation by summoning two Noah Tower witnesses into his Inner Scenery World. After sending them back with stronger links, he considered using the ability to create trials for his allies, leaving experiments with Xu Hao and Xiaosa for later.

• Fang Cheng surveyed the Solar Mental Network, sensed its new believers, and found that links to Ability Users were harder to establish because their powers had other sources.
• Fang Cheng checked on Wen Xin, Xu Hao, and Xiaosa, then chose two ordinary Noah Tower witnesses to test Mind Manifestation.
• Fang Cheng summoned Zhang Wei and Li Ming into his golden hall, where they recognized him as the figure who had defeated the monster at Noah Tower.
• Fang Cheng showed Zhang Wei and Li Ming a replay of the battle, offered them a Divine Grace Seed, and sent them back after they kowtowed to him.
• Fang Cheng saw that their stars had brightened and considered using Mind Manifestation to create training trials, but postponed testing it on Xu Hao and Xiaosa until night.

Xu Hao and Xiaosa woke in an abandoned psychiatric hospital and received a Nightmare Trial mission to retrieve the Patient Zero File from the Dean’s Office before dawn. After Xu Hao’s noise drew hostile patients, they fought them off and set out to find the emergency stairs to the fourth floor.

• Xu Hao woke in the Eastern Capital Seventh Psychiatric Hospital, where gray fog surrounded the grounds, and encountered Xiaosa in the lobby.
• A message announced the Nightmare Trial’s objective and rules, including retrieving the Patient Zero File before dawn and staying quiet around the patients.
• Xu Hao ignored the warning and kicked the iron door, drawing several twisted patients into the lobby.
• Xu Hao fought off three patients, then rescued Xiaosa from another and helped defeat the remaining attackers.
• Xiaosa examined a patient and concluded that attacks to the head could stop them, then planned for them to find the emergency stairs while following the rules.

Xu Hao and Xiaosa encountered a deadly reflection and a hall full of patients before splitting up to search for a way to the fourth floor. Xu Hao fought through patients, but a nurse overwhelmed him on the second floor and pierced the iron door behind which he had taken refuge.

• Xiaosa pulled Xu Hao away from a mirror after its reflection tried to lure him through a supposed secret passage, and the two escaped a flashing-light trap that revealed a hall packed with patients.
• Xu Hao and Xiaosa argued over whether to fight or explore cautiously, then split up, with Xu Hao heading toward the Registration Hall and Xiaosa taking another route.
• Xu Hao fought several waves of patients and reached the second floor, where he discovered that the stairs to the third floor were missing and the corridors formed a strange maze.
• Xu Hao confronted a nurse whose mental attack recalled his past at Noah Laboratory, and she slashed his chest before he fled.
• Xu Hao took refuge in an iron-doored room during another siren, but the nurse thrust her enormous scalpel through the door until its tip stopped near his nose.

Xu Hao and Xiaosa survived the nurse by using an oxygen blast, then joined forces to explore the third floor, where the Attending Doctor attacked them. After they cracked his mask but were badly wounded, the world abruptly fell silent as the Doctor approached to finish them.

• Xu Hao’s Iron Door gave way, but Xiaosa jumped down from the ventilation duct and helped him destroy the nurse with an oxygen tank and an ignited alcohol lamp.
• Xu Hao agreed to follow Xiaosa’s lead, and together they searched the second floor and found the stairs to the third floor.
• On the third floor, the Attending Doctor trapped Xu Hao and Xiaosa with his green lantern and injected Xu Hao with a syringe.
• Xiaosa struck the Attending Doctor’s Beak Mask with a bone saw, and Xu Hao restrained the monster long enough for the mask to crack.
• The Attending Doctor threw Xu Hao and Xiaosa into a wall and approached them with the syringe, but the world suddenly fell silent.