Chapter Summaries

Ronan encountered Hu Huaying and Liu Tao at Frost River Reality and exchanged wristband contacts with both of them. After Ronan left, Liu Tao struggled with his strange reaction to him and answered Huang Bingzhen’s call.

• Ronan politely declined Hu Huaying’s invitation to join the drunken group and entered the elevator.
• Liu Tao pulled a drunk away from Ronan, then watched him leave and prepared to contact someone.
• Ronan returned the elevator to exchange contact information with Hu Huaying and Liu Tao.
• Liu Tao froze when Hu Huaying asked whether he and Ronan knew each other, then tried to dismiss his unease about Ronan.
• Liu Tao answered Huang Bingzhen’s call, and Huang Bingzhen shouted for everyone to come see his supernatural power.

Ronan met Mo Qiu and learned that Mo Peng, Mo Tao, Tian Qi, and others had been arrested after a clash at Frost River Reality escalated into a brawl. As the group gathered details and sought help, Ronan suspected Liu Tao might have engineered the conflict and doubted Huang Bingzhen was behind it alone.

• Ronan used a small psychological suggestion on Liu Tao after discerning his malice.
• Ronan found Mo Qiu waiting alone and guessed that Mo Peng and the others had gotten into trouble.
• Mo Qiu explained that a provocation during competitive practice had escalated into a brawl, and the police had taken the participants away.
• Mo Rui, Mo Han, and Chen Xiaolin joined them, and Mo Han blamed Huang Bingzhen for arranging revenge.
• Mo Qiu learned the arrested group had been taken to the Fu Dong Branch Bureau, and Chen Xiaolin called Xue Lei for help.

Liu Tao found Huang Bingzhen conducting a bizarre experiment in the Luxury Suite, where a projection of mystical symbols enclosed him and the others. Huang Bingzhen called it a small displacement experiment, and his Ronan-like eyes left Liu Tao shaken.

• Liu Tao entered the Luxury Suite and found Huang Bingzhen naked except for a Tactical Helmet, behaving erratically.
• Huang Bingzhen showed Liu Tao footage of the earlier confrontation and complained that the people involved were stubborn.
• Hu Huaying and the others barged into the suite, and Huang Bingzhen excitedly challenged them to witness his power.
• Huang Bingzhen carried two drugged women to specific positions and projected a vast, layered array of symbols around the group.
• Huang Bingzhen called the display a small displacement experiment, and Liu Tao noticed that his crimson eyes looked Ronan-like.

Huang Bingzhen revealed that he believed a seed taken from the earlier brawl had created a Sacred Space, and he demanded an exchange from the Balance of Truth. The artifact appeared, and one of the men attacking Huang Bingzhen was pierced by a strange limb.

• Liu Tao secretly recorded Huang Bingzhen as he explained that a seed could build a Sacred Space for housing a sacred artifact.
• Huang Bingzhen showed footage of the earlier brawl and claimed Liu Tao had helped obtain the seed, while Liu Tao avoided explaining what had happened.
• Hu Huaying tried to stop Huang Bingzhen, but Huang shoved him down and the drunken men rushed to restrain Huang.
• Huang Bingzhen shouted for the sacred artifact, and the Balance of Truth formed at the center of the Magic Array.
• Huang Bingzhen demanded an exchange, and after one of the men slapped and was bitten by him, a sharp jointed limb protruded from the man's chest.

Ronan encountered Xue Weilun, the SWAT officer who was also Xue Lei’s father, while trying to learn more about the brawl. After hearing Liu Tao’s recording reveal a frightening shout of “Spider,” Ronan rushed back inside, with Xue Weilun following him.

• Chen Xiaolin told Ronan that Xue Lei’s father had been dispatched to the disturbance, and Ronan headed toward the police vehicles to investigate the brawl.
• Xue Weilun stopped Ronan, recognized him from his earlier arrest, and questioned him about his friendship with Xue Lei.
• Ronan played Liu Tao’s audio message and heard Huang Bingzhen discuss the Sacred Space, sacred relics, and the Justice Cult’s Balance of Truth.
• A terrified voice shouted “Spider” before the recording ended, and Ronan’s calls to Liu Tao and Hu Huaying went unanswered.
• Ronan rushed back inside, and Xue Weilun followed after hesitating to stop him.

Ronan and Xue Weilun traced a suspected Human-Faced Spider incident to a private suite in Frost River Reality and led a police response there. They found Hu Huaying and the others unconscious, but no sign of the spider or the suspected artifacts.

• Ronan reported the suspected Human-Faced Spider incident to the Association, and He Yueyin dispatched a team to his location.
• Ronan and Xue Weilun learned that Hu Huaying and his companions had gone to A Zone, then Xue Weilun secured Yin Le’s cooperation by invoking police authority.
• Xue Weilun’s team used Frost River Reality’s surveillance system to locate a Luxury Suite and assembled outside it.
• The special police breached the suite, and Ronan rushed inside despite being held back.
• Ronan sensed eight unconscious people, including Hu Huaying and Huang Bingzhen, but found no Human-Faced Spider, Sacred Space, or Balance of Truth.

Ronan investigated the unconscious people in the Luxury Suite while secretly using Soul Power to call out Huang Bingzhen’s name. His call drew Cat’s Eye and a Human-Faced Spider through the suite wall, leaving Ronan facing the creature’s arrival.

• Ronan used his spiritual perception to inspect the unconscious people and suspected Huang Bingzhen was in a shallow, peaceful coma rather than suffering an ordinary overdose.
• Officer Xue stopped Ronan from approaching the group and told him to wait for investigators and the ambulance.
• Ronan told Xue Weilun that Huang Bingzhen had clashed with him earlier and deliberately broadcast Huang’s name across the Mental Layer.
• Cat’s Eye answered Ronan through Six Ears's Spirit Wave Network and rebuked him for broadcasting so loudly.
• A Human-Faced Spider seeped through the suite wall, revealing a spider-like creature fused to a hunched human body.

Ronan tried to draw Huang Bingzhen back with Soul Power, but a Human-Faced Spider appeared and attacked him inside the operations room. After Cat's Eye knocked Ronan out of its path and the spider's strike passed harmlessly through Xue Weilun, Ronan realized the creature was trying to force its way from the Mental Layer into the Material Layer; the room's projection devices then activated on their own.

• Ronan sensed the Human-Faced Spider and warned the special police to leave the room.
• The Human-Faced Spider charged Ronan, and Cat's Eye shoved him out of its path.
• The spider's blade-like leg passed through Xue Weilun without harming him, leaving Ronan and Cat's Eye confused.
• Ronan recognized that the spider was using the Mental Layer to interfere with the Material Layer, making it visible to Cat's Eye.
• The projection devices in the operations area switched on by themselves and filled the room with colored light.

A malfunctioning projection cloaked the operating area and helped the Human-Faced Spider escape from view, while Cat's Eye criticized Ronan for failing to take command. Ronan tracked the creature through the mist and discovered a discordant component inside its energy-information structure, leaving him to question what The Other Side had put inside it.

• The Human-Faced Spider charged into the Projection Light Mist as Xue Weilun ordered everyone out and demanded an explanation from the technicians.
• Cat's Eye called Ronan an idiot for surrendering command authority, then stepped out with him to negotiate with Xue Weilun.
• Ronan ignored the negotiation and used his perception to track the Human-Faced Spider through the mist, whose structure he could see clearly.
• Ronan observed the mist correcting the Human-Faced Spider's energy-information structure and found a discordant component inside it.
• Ronan realized the defective component came from within the Human-Faced Spider and wondered if The Other Side had placed it there.

Ronan realized that the Human-Faced Spider was a mass-producible mental-layer exoskeleton controlled by Huang Bingzhen, and wondered whether it explained Secret Cults’ Supernatural Manifestation. Director Guo arrived with police and robots to clear the suite, while the military prepared to take over the Darkside Creature situation.

• Ronan determined that the Human-Faced Spider was a shallow simulation model whose flawed component let Huang Bingzhen control it through Astral Projection.
• Ronan recognized that the exoskeleton could let ordinary people enter the Mental Layer and suspected it was the secret behind a Secret Cult’s Supernatural Manifestation.
• Director Guo entered the suite and told Xue Weilun that the military would take over the Darkside Creature incident.
• Director Guo sent Multi-Purpose Robots into the suite to clear civilians and ordered Xue Weilun’s team to withdraw.

As Guo Ju cleared the Luxury Suite, Ronan discovered that the Multi-Purpose Robots were extracting the Human-Faced Spider Exoskeleton Armor’s energy-information structure. The process exposed Huang Bingzhen’s soul, which fled toward his body before Cat's Eye’s psychic perception struck it.

• Guo Ju ordered the unconscious people removed and everyone else cleared from the Luxury Suite, but Xue Weilun challenged the order and vouched for Ronan and Cat's Eye as authorized experts.
• Cat's Eye pushed aside an officer who tried to remove Ronan, while the police reached for their weapons and Xue Weilun stopped them from escalating.
• Ronan watched a Multi-Purpose Robot absorb energy-information from the Human-Faced Spider Exoskeleton Armor and realized Guo Ju’s team was recovering it after a field test.
• The recovery process exposed Huang Bingzhen’s protected soul, which left the armor and rushed toward his body.
• Cat's Eye’s psychic perception locked onto Huang Bingzhen’s fragile soul and struck it as it neared the Material Layer.

Cat's Eye and Ronan faced a powerful psychic assault from The Other Side after Huang Bingzhen's scream drew the enemy to the Luxury Suite. Cat's Eye's dormant chains shielded her from the attack, but a Dark Heavy Chain struck Huang Bingzhen's scattered soul as the threat closed in.

• Cat's Eye's perception injured Huang Bingzhen's protective shell, and his scream alerted The Other Side to their location.
• The Other Side swept into the Luxury Suite with a powerful psychic assault, overwhelming Cat's Eye's perception as its physical body approached.
• The assault shattered Huang Bingzhen's soul protection and dispersed his soul, while Cat's Eye struggled to defend herself with Ronan beside her.
• A tremor activated invisible chains within Cat's Eye, protecting her from the backlash and allowing her sensory range to recover.
• Cat's Eye warned Captain Xue that the killer was nearby, and a Dark Heavy Chain struck Huang Bingzhen's nearly dispersed soul-smoke.

Ronan used his Dark Heavy Chains to stabilize Huang Bingzhen’s soul and force it back into his body, resisting the mental assault from The Other Side. As the robots carrying Huang Bingzhen were smashed aside, a white-robed Visitor entered the Luxury Suite, leaving Director Guo alarmed.

• Ronan’s Dark Heavy Chains held their pattern against The Other Side’s Mental Storm and drew Huang Bingzhen’s scattered soul-smoke back into his body.
• Cat’s Eye praised Ronan’s Soul-Suppressing Art, and the weakening Mental Storm continued to probe him without breaking through.
• Xue Weilun arranged security and an investigation while Director Guo focused on the robots carrying the bodies out.
• An immense force struck the three robots, sending them crashing together and throwing Huang Bingzhen and his stretcher to the ground.
• Huang Bingzhen groaned after the stretcher landed on his face, and a white-robed Visitor entered through the doorway.
• Director Guo recognized the significance of the Visitor’s dazzling white robe and could barely breathe.

Child arrived and incapacitated the special police, revealing himself as a feared executioner of the Justice Cult’s Truth Side. He confronted Guo Ju over his role in blaspheming truth, while Ronan and Cat’s Eye recognized the danger his arrival posed.

• Guo Ju recognized Child by his missing ears and trembled, while Xue Weilun tried to question the stranger.
• Child incapacitated the special police and Xue Weilun with attacks on the Mental Layer, then entered the room.
• Cat’s Eye identified Child as the Ear of Truth, a Fanatical Believer who carried out the Truth Side’s Purification Project.
• Ronan understood that Child had intended for Huang Bingzhen to die through the destruction of his soul.
• Child told Guo Ju he was not currently at fault for his secular achievements but condemned him for participating in blaspheming truth.
• Cat’s Eye wondered what had brought the Ear of Truth to them and regretted that Ronan had stopped Huang Bingzhen’s death.

Child interrogated Guo Ju while Ronan and Cat's Eye recovered, and the Association debated how to handle the powerful Justice Cult executioner. The chapter ended with Child breaking his silence to comment on Ronan's chains.

• Ronan confirmed that Xue Weilun had suffered a shock to his Mental Layer but was not in mortal danger, then checked the damaged robots and their Faith Products.
• Child forced Guo Ju to answer his questions, while Cat's Eye and Ronan used the reprieve to catch their breath.
• Red Fox and Bamboo Pole warned that Child was too dangerous to confront, and He Yueyin ordered other operatives to regroup at Hai Pu Hotel while the Association prepared reinforcements and negotiations.
• After Child released him, Guo Ju collapsed unconscious, and the operatives realized Child was staring at Ronan.
• Cat's Eye showed the channel Ronan standing rigidly with his gaze locked on Child, who finally said, "Chains... not bad."

Ronan and Child continued their confrontation on the Mental Layer while Cat's Eye and the others tried to manage the tense encounter. Ronan eventually spoke directly with Child about their abilities, ending the chapter by asking why Child's Mental Storm lacked order and rhythm.

• Child praised Ronan's chains as an orderly prison, but Ronan stayed silent while the two continued their unseen contest on the Mental Layer.
• Cat's Eye tried to explain that they had come to stop the Mundane Displacement, but Child dismissed her and she sensed the hidden struggle between him and Ronan.
• Bamboo Pole urged Ronan to speak plainly, and Ronan thanked Child before explaining that his chains, which he called “My Heart is a Prison,” came from his Grandfather's Format Theory.
• Child criticized the physical training behind Ronan's technique, and Ronan replied that Child's Mental Storm lacked order and rhythm.
• Ronan asked Child why his Mental Storm lacked order and rhythm.

Ronan and Child communicated through their Mental Layer confrontation, and Child revealed the powerful unity of his body and mind. Ronan defended his grandfather’s Format Theory while explaining how his own choices had left his body and soul imbalanced, as Child listened without attacking.

• Child stepped forward and released the Shield of Truth, shaking the Luxury Suite and illuminating every corner.
• Ronan studied Child’s energy structure and realized his body and mind formed a stable, immensely powerful framework.
• Ronan recognized that their Mental Layer clashes had allowed them to communicate intentions more clearly than ordinary speech.
• Ronan apologized for misjudging Child’s Mental Storm but insisted that his grandfather’s Format Theory was systematic.
• Ronan gestured toward his body and described how different training and a deeper understanding might have prevented his physical and mental imbalance.
• The Kind Souls watching the encrypted channel were baffled by Ronan’s gestures, while Child remained focused and did not attack.

Bamboo Pole and Red Fox monitored Frost River Reality after Child unleashed the Shield of Truth, discovering that the Justice Cult’s Fair Knights were moving into position. The operation grew more tense as Zhang Yingying arrived with a mysterious woman and He Yueyin descended onto the complex.

• Bamboo Pole met Red Fox at the Yulan Hotel and connected to Frost River Reality’s surveillance feeds.
• Bamboo Pole explained that Child’s Shield of Truth had a wider resonance range than its control range, but warned that Child’s display likely served another purpose.
• Bamboo Pole spotted at least two Fair Knights Order squads entering the area and alerted the operation team.
• He Yueyin ordered Bamboo Pole to monitor the Yulan Hotel and avoid direct conflict with the Justice Cult’s people.
• Red Fox spotted Zhang Yingying entering Frost River Reality with a beautiful woman whose sharp Soul Sense detected the surveillance camera.
• He Yueyin arrived above Frost River Reality in a low-altitude shuttle and descended onto its rooftop.

Zhang Yingying and Bai Xinyan joined the response to the escalating conflict involving Ronan, Child, and the Justice Cult, while members of the association began questioning the mission. News of an attack on SWAT officers at Frost River Reality sent Xue Lei charging into the hall.

• Zhang Yingying and Bai Xinyan entered Frost River Reality as visitors fled after the earthquakes, fights, and police operations.
• He Yueyin told Zhang Yingying that Ronan was confronting Child and asked her to provide support; Bai Xinyan agreed to help and urged the team to identify allies and enemies.
• Red Fox and Iron Box objected to the association's involvement in the Justice Cult's conflict, and other members began wavering.
• A report spread that SWAT officers in the A Zone Luxury Suite had been attacked, prompting Xue Lei to rush into the hall as a young woman called after him.

Ronan and Child discussed the structure and interaction of the Mental and Material Layers, helping Ronan clarify his ideas while revealing the limits of Child’s cultivation system. The chapter left them questioning whether Child could overcome the narrow reach of his highly ordered Self Format.

• Cat's Eye grew frustrated as Ronan and Child continued an intense discussion in the A Zone Luxury Suite.
• Ronan and Child exchanged ideas about Format Theory, Soul Breathing, Form-Spirit Blending, and the order of the Mental and Material Layers, sharpening each other’s understanding.
• Ronan recognized that Child’s powerful Shield of Truth structure was rooted in the Material Layer and limited his development and observation in the Mental Layer.
• Child explained that his cultivation had brought his exploration close to its limit, and he sought a way to expand his ability to observe the world.
• Ronan argued that Child’s Self Format disturbed the external environment and repurposed its waste heat rather than breaking free of its limits.