Chapter Summaries

Shang Gelush and the other temporary staff were caught up in an investigation that shut down the Frontier Training Ground, and they were sent back to You Chong Star. Tai Yu finally joined them aboard the return ship, where Deputy Inspector Zhe Rong introduced himself as the officer overseeing their fate.

• Shang Gelush learned that police had suspended the Frontier Training Ground and revoked the temporary staff's authorization after uncovering suspected crimes.
• Immigration officers detained Fu Ya and the camp's logistics staff, questioned clients and parents, and ordered the temporary staff to return to You Chong Star.
• Shang Gelush worried that Tai Yu and Fu Ya were missing as the staff waited aboard a cramped return ship.
• Tai Yu arrived bruised and disheveled, told Shang Gelush that he had cleared up a misunderstanding with the officers, and sat beside him and Lady Hai Ling.
• Deputy Inspector Zhe Rong entered the cabin, identified himself as deputy commander of the investigation, and said he would determine the fate of the staff and their families.

Deputy Inspector Zhe Rong urged the passenger-cabin workers to share information and appointed Tai Yu as their temporary team leader. After they returned to Boundary, Zhe Rong explained that a manhunt had broken out at the spaceport and that three Frontier Training Ground instructors were still at large.

• Zhe Rong encouraged the workers to report information and offered cooperative individuals help with authority certifications and professional evaluations.
• Zhe Rong appointed Tai Yu temporary team leader, and Tai Yu accepted the role and agreed to call him Boss.
• The group returned to You Chong Star and noticed repeated flashes near Boundary as they descended.
• Tai Yu competently organized the group after they landed at Boundary Spaceport and reported to Zhe Rong.
• Zhe Rong led the group past armed military police and damaged areas, explaining that a manhunt had erupted at the spaceport.
• Zhe Rong said at least three Frontier Training Ground instructors had escaped capture and remained hidden nearby.

Tai Yu and the other temporary service workers arrived at the Frontier Training Ground, where they planned to build a Safe Zone while explosions and storms shook the mountains. Zhe Rong allowed them to make arrangements, returned Tai Yu’s pendant, and asked him to explain why he wanted to cultivate the Spine Boundary Pattern.

• Tai Yu asked Zhe Rong whether the group would receive protection, and Zhe Rong warned that their protection would be basic while allowing them to make defensive preparations.
• Tai Yu said he wanted to become an indispensable Priest Council auxiliary and cultivate the Spine Boundary Pattern, but he had not obtained its materials.
• Zhe Rong brought the group to the Frontier Training Ground and largely left them to their own devices, with officers guarding the entrance.
• After witnessing distant explosions and rockslides, the fifteen temporary service workers agreed to live together and build a Safe Zone, then sent Tai Yu to report their plans to Zhe Rong.
• Zhe Rong returned Tai Yu’s grayish-white pendant and asked him why he considered strengthening Load Capacity the rational cultivation choice.

Tai Yu discussed the Spine Boundary Pattern and his role as bait with Zhe Rong, who urged him to prove his value to the Black Inspector. Zhe Rong revealed that Mr. Vagero had escaped Star Ring City and warned Tai Yu that he might encounter him while cultivating the pattern.

• Tai Yu suggested that the Spine Boundary Pattern concerned the boundary between specialized and real environments, and Zhe Rong praised his reasoning.
• Zhe Rong told Tai Yu that his failure to attend the prayer room could make him seem like a nonbeliever and urged him to show his value to the Black Inspector.
• Tai Yu questioned why Zhe Rong had brought him away from Star Ring City, and Zhe Rong said they had come to wait for a representative and let the chaos subside.
• Zhe Rong revealed that Mr. Vagero had escaped Star Ring City after disrupting the Sky Abyss Spirit Network's scans and could be hiding on You Chong Star or leaving the Red Silicon Star System.
• Zhe Rong said Mr. Vagero also practiced the Spine Boundary Pattern and advised Tai Yu to seek his guidance if they met, while warning that Vagero might spare his life.

Tai Yu investigated Bifur while discussing how Xin Rui’s family had been drawn into a designed scheme involving the Frontier Training Ground. Zhe Rong told him to study Bifur and use his intuition to uncover new clues, leaving Tai Yu wary that the Black Inspector had misunderstood his abilities.

• Tai Yu completed security work at the temporary residence and began searching the news for information about Bifur.
• Shang Gelush and Cohen explained Bifur’s influence as the Great Horn Fleet’s representative and logistics director in the Red Silicon Star System.
• Tai Yu asked Zhe Rong how Ming Fan’s attempt to connect Xin Rui with Bifur fit into the scheme, and Zhe Rong described a plan to create a conflict that would expose clues.
• Tai Yu questioned why Bifur would risk offending the Pantheon, and Zhe Rong suggested Bifur might have been caught between rival factions.
• Zhe Rong told Tai Yu to investigate Bifur and rely on his supposed miraculous intuition to find new clues.

Tai Yu learned how the Black Inspectors classified the Sky Abyss Spirit Network and its Attached Net, while concealing that his own understanding went beyond what Zhe Rong had explained. Zhe Rong began showing him the Attached Net’s levels and subdivisions.

• Tai Yu kept quiet about the Spirit Demon Eye’s limits as Zhe Rong explained that Bifur’s Sky Ladder level eleven made him sensitive to the Sky Abyss Spirit Network’s attention.
• Zhe Rong told Tai Yu that he was Attached Five and explained that Tai Yu had only seen rough manifestations of the Sky Abyss Spirit Network and Gods’ Cape.
• Zhe Rong distinguished the Main Net, reached by Celestials and some priests, from the unstable Attached Nets used by most other people.
• Tai Yu recalled his own vision of the Sky Abyss Spirit Network as a vast Cloak, with Jumping Threads extending along its Edge.
• Zhe Rong described cultivation, understanding, learning, and authority as ways to approach the Main Net, then introduced the Attached Net’s Foundation, Inner Refinement, and Sensory Connection stages.
• Tai Yu asked Zhe Rong to explain the Foundation subdivisions so he could teach them to others, and Zhe Rong remarked that he seemed to take coaching seriously.

Zhe Rong explained the Attached Net’s cultivation stages and how they led toward the Main Net, while Tai Yu compared them with Sky Abyss Empire methods. The chapter ended with Zhe Rong revealing that he had spent nearly five years at the fifth step, Resonance.

• Zhe Rong explained that basic cultivation involved strengthening the body, observing the self and outside world, and identifying personal flaws.
• Zhe Rong described Inner Refinement’s Imitation and Flaw Mending levels, where cultivators used a Heaven-Man Landscape template to expose and repair weaknesses.
• Zhe Rong outlined Sensory Connection’s Non-Self, Resonance, and Transfer levels, which helped cultivators sense the Main Net and Attached Net and work toward transferring to the Main Net.
• Tai Yu compared the cultivation system with Sky Abyss Empire methods and considered how the Central Star Region’s rules might suppress Extraordinary Domains.
• Zhe Rong summarized the six Attached Net steps and said he was at Resonance, the fifth step, where he had been stuck for nearly five years.

Tai Yu questioned Black Inspector’s cultivation rankings and tried to secure training materials, but Zhe Rong made him confront his mounting bail debt. She pressed him to explain his use of Ceremonial Ancient Script, and he claimed the idea had come from a dream.

• Tai Yu challenged the term “resonance” and asked Zhe Rong which cultivation step he had reached; she said Black Inspector rated him at the foundation stage because he had not begun the Heaven-Man Landscape Inner Refinement Method.
• Tai Yu asked Zhe Rong for the Spine Boundary Pattern materials, but she refused to provide them to an informant and calculated his 13-million-fa-coin bail as an internal loan.
• Zhe Rong threatened to deduct Tai Yu’s subsidy unless he explained how he had defeated Hei Sa, and Tai Yu said Hei Sa had lost control rather than been defeated by him.
• Tai Yu admitted that he had used the Ceremonial Ancient Script, and Zhe Rong asked how he had learned it and used it in a curse seal suppression technique.
• Tai Yu said the Large-scale Team Battle in Deep Blue World and Acolyte Priest Xi Fan’s Great Radiance Scripture had inspired him, then suggested the insight might have come from a dream.

Zhe Rong questioned Tai Yu about his dream and Xin Rui, then explained why Xin Rui might recognize flaws in the undercover mission involving her family and Bifur. The conversation ended with Tai Yu asking about Zhe Rong’s religious beliefs, and Zhe Rong claiming he was especially compatible with the Lord of Dawn.

• Zhe Rong ordered Tai Yu to submit a report of at least ten thousand words about his dream within a day.
• Zhe Rong checked Tai Yu’s group chat logs and learned that Xin Rui had not contacted him directly.
• Zhe Rong told Tai Yu that Xin Rui was troubled and explained that Ming Fan and Xin Che had recruited her as a possible future Nightfall Faction member.
• Zhe Rong described how Xin Rui could notice inconsistencies in the mission’s staged investment scheme involving Xin Che, Tabler, and Bifur.
• Tai Yu asked Zhe Rong which god he believed in, and Zhe Rong said he worshipped the Lord of Dawn because he was especially compatible.

Tai Yu and Zhe Rong discussed Xin Rui’s suspiciously calm behavior and the risks surrounding her family’s debt. Xin Rui contacted Tai Yu asking for money in exchange for a quick-learning method for the Spine Boundary Pattern, leaving them to wonder whether the school or the Pantheon had connected her to a new source.

• Zhe Rong argued that Xin Rui’s restraint came from doubt and hope, and that Tai Yu’s actions had likely intensified her suspicions.
• Xin Rui privately messaged Tai Yu asking for money, then offered a way to obtain a quick-learning method for the Spine Boundary Pattern.
• Zhe Rong said neither he nor Ming Fan had the method and urged Tai Yu to stall Xin Rui while they investigated her source.
• Xin Rui asked for ten million, and Tai Yu noted that the amount would not cover her family’s debts; Zhe Rong explained how Tabler had left Ming Fan and her family deeply indebted.
• Xin Rui insisted she needed the money and trusted her source, leading Zhe Rong and Tai Yu to suspect that someone influential at her school or in the Pantheon had approached her.

Tai Yu and Zhe Rong investigated Xin Rui’s offer of a crash-course method for the Spine Boundary Pattern while considering whether the deal was a trap or an opportunity to expose the Pantheon’s network. As Xin Rui weighed a laboratory contract to relieve her family’s debts, Tai Yu learned that detainees would be asked to advise visiting officials on the Frontier Training Ground’s rectification.

• Tai Yu asked Zhe Rong to lend him two million so he could pursue Xin Rui’s offer without appearing financially weak.
• Tai Yu delayed discussing payment with Xin Rui until he could verify the channel and the crash-course method, hoping to draw Tabler’s side into the open.
• Xin Rui learned that Teacher Bai Dan was brokering a laboratory contract that offered money and help resolving her family’s debts in exchange for research cooperation and future employment.
• Xin Rui explained that the laboratory’s ten-million signing bonus would be paid in installments, and Tai Yu joked about being her financial backer.
• Zhe Rong shared his investigation into Da Xin Laboratory and Bai Dan, then told Tai Yu that detained team leaders would advise the visiting Special Zone Management Division.

At a meeting about the Training Ground crackdown, officials and operators pressed Deputy Inspector Zhe Rong to ease the suspension, but he refused to commit and said he would pass their demands to Priest Farul. As the team returned to the Frontier Training Ground, Tai Yu asked Zhe Rong whether he was satisfied that a live fish had surfaced.

• Deputy Director Dai Ke announced that a Celestial-level powerhouse had executed the three fugitive coaches from the Frontier Training Ground, prompting attendees to praise the news.
• Dai Ke asked Zhe Rong to consider the Boundary's unusual operating costs and the burdens on local businesses, but Zhe Rong said he would convey the concerns to Priest Farul.
• Mister Kangs urged the police to let lawful Training Grounds reopen and offered to take over groups displaced from the Frontier Training Ground.
• Zhe Rong declined to give the meeting an immediate answer, and the attendees left frustrated.
• Tai Yu asked Zhe Rong on the ride back whether he was satisfied that a live fish had jumped out of stagnant water.

Tai Yu received the Spine Boundary Pattern Inner Refinement Method and proposed translating it into Ceremonial Ancient Script with help from Zhe Rong. Back at the Frontier Training Ground, he tried to rally the detainees by organizing study, exercise, and a research project.

• Tai Yu discussed the detainees’ unrest after the on-site meeting and proposed keeping them occupied with study and training.
• Zhe Rong sent Tai Yu the Spine Boundary Pattern Inner Refinement Method text after Tai Yu pressed him about its approval.
• Tai Yu quickly read the method and asked whether it had an original version in Ceremonial Ancient Script, explaining that translating it could make the text easier to understand.
• Zhe Rong offered to seek a remote coach and agreed to help obtain papers about the method and reimburse Tai Yu’s costs.
• Tai Yu addressed the detainees and ordered them to form ranks for study, exercise, and a project analyzing the Spine Boundary Pattern.

Zhe Rong reported Nameless One’s public reconstruction of the Spine Boundary Pattern Inner Refinement Method to his superior, while Qing Wu examined the historical claims in Nameless One’s Dreamland Confession. Qing Wu linked its memories to a secret operation against the Dream Divine Abomination and revealed that the hunt failed after the ultimate demon god arrived.

• Zhe Rong told his superior that Tai Yu had rejected the published translation and begun reconstructing the method, then described Tai Yu’s Life Sketches and instruction.
• Zhe Rong’s superior ordered him to send the recordings and expand Nameless One’s Dreamland Confession.
• Qing Wu identified the confession’s Asteroid Battlefield as the battle at Pupil Ring-28758 and traced its personnel to the Front Committee First Bureau Executive Office.
• Qing Wu explained that Lord of Silent Extinction and Chang Yi Chun had exchanged identities to hunt the Dream Divine Abomination alongside Eunuch Lord.
• Qing Wu said the hunt failed when the ultimate demon god arrived.

Mister Qing Wu recounted the catastrophic Two Star Gate Battle and argued that the Nameless One’s possible memories could clarify its unresolved history. Zhe Rong proposed contacting Great Lord Lu Ande to identify the Nameless One, while his superior warned him to keep the man from becoming too involved.

• Mister Qing Wu explained that the Ultimate Demon Gods’ interference led to a devastating battle in which Eunuch Lord killed Rong Chu, joined forces with the Dream Divine Abomination against the Lord of Silent Extinction, and later died from exhaustion.
• Mister Qing Wu said the battle crippled Hanguang’s remaining Tianyuan forces and left key details about the Calamity Era unresolved.
• Zhe Rong questioned whether firsthand witnesses such as Great Lord Lu Ande could help, and Mister Qing Wu said Lu Ande had not known the battle’s core secrets.
• Mister Qing Wu urged the Black Inspectors to question the Nameless One about his possible dream memories, and Zhe Rong suggested using stimulation to draw out information from him.
• Zhe Rong realized Great Lord Lu Ande might recognize the Nameless One and learned that Lu Ande had served as a Front Committee member, deputy director, and Space Defense Fleet commander.
• Zhe Rong’s superior approved approaching Lu Ande but told Zhe Rong to keep the Nameless One from becoming too involved; Zhe Rong revealed that Xin Rui had already approached him as a financial backer.

Mister Qing Wu and Zhe Rong debated how Black Inspector should handle Nameless One and the possible value of the Illegal Organization in the Red Silicon Star System. Zhe Rong then joined Tai Yu’s project team, where Tai Yu used Zhe Rong’s Life Sketch to explain three references for observing the world during cultivation.

• Mister Qing Wu urged his superior to move Nameless One to the Boundary Curtain, while Zhe Rong argued that the chaotic Red Silicon Star System might better reveal his value.
• The superior said Nameless One should be treated as bait and told Mister Qing Wu they would consider his request to go to the Red Silicon Star System.
• After the communication ended, Zhe Rong asked his superior how to handle Tai Yu, but she warned him not to interfere and reminded him about the one hundred thousand words.
• Zhe Rong went to the Tai Yu Project Team, where Tai Yu projected a Life Sketch of Zhe Rong and used it to illustrate his ideas.
• Tai Yu explained that the Inner Refinement Method should account for the Self, Deity, and their periodic relationship, and advised students to take notes and solve present obstacles without dwelling on past distortions.

Tai Yu pushed Zhe Rong to seek a transfer and argued that he deserved more intelligence about their investigation. Zhe Rong finally contacted his superior, who arranged guidance for him at the Boundary Pantheon and sent him a script to follow about Tai Yu’s request for greater authority.

• During the project course break, Zhe Rong criticized Tai Yu’s lecture, and Tai Yu explained why teaching the broader direction mattered before advanced cultivation methods.
• Tai Yu told Zhe Rong that they should understand what they were investigating and urged him to seek a better role, prompting Zhe Rong to call his superior.
• Zhe Rong told his superior he had felt the gods’ guidance and asked when he could transfer; his superior said Launo Priest at the Boundary Pantheon would guide him within half an hour.
• Zhe Rong suggested granting Tai Yu partial right to know, and his superior sent him a document and ordered him to memorize its wording.

Zhe Rong discussed the sensitive Deep Blue World investigation with Tai Yu, whose abstract questions unsettled him and pushed him to seek a higher level of discussion. Back with the project team, Tai Yu tried to resume work, but Lou Xiang challenged his leadership and accused him of keeping everyone confined to curry favor with Zhe Rong.

• Zhe Rong hurried toward the Pantheon after forwarding documents to Tai Yu, who called to discuss the investigation into Bifur and the Deep Blue World.
• Tai Yu questioned how ownership rights, Myriad Transformation Deep Blue, and the Abyssal Sea True God's fall related to broader changes in the Central Star Region and the All Heavens Divine Kingdom.
• Zhe Rong ended the call after telling Tai Yu to sort through public information, then resolved to raise their next discussion to a higher level.
• Tai Yu gathered the project team again and said they should shift from abstract theory toward practical work.
• Lou Xiang confronted Tai Yu, demanded that the team be allowed to leave, and accused him of prolonging their confinement to gain favor with Zhe Rong.

Tai Yu kept the Frontier Training Ground team focused on the Spine Boundary Pattern Inner Refinement Method by promising subsidies, then pressed Zhe Rong about his return and the project’s future. Zhe Rong announced that the second phase of the investigation would begin in Week 32, and Tai Yu hurried the team back to work.

• Tai Yu silenced Lou Xiang’s complaints by pointing out that the team could learn a rare Inner Refinement Method for free and promised to advance him money from an incoming subsidy.
• Zhe Rong returned late on Day 7 of Week 31 and questioned Tai Yu’s confidence that he could find a financial backer.
• Tai Yu asked which god Zhe Rong worshipped, and Zhe Rong solemnly named the Light-Bearing Monarch.
• Tai Yu argued that the Frontier Training Ground could become a place of opportunity and asked Zhe Rong when operations would resume.
• Zhe Rong said the second phase of the investigation would begin in Week 32, and Tai Yu gathered the team to continue preliminary preparations.

Xin Rui and the other trainees arrived at the Boundary Training Ground, where a chaotic dispute over luggage transfers revealed that the service staff were also temporary Peace Officers. Tai Yu introduced the arrangements and called over Senior Detective Lan Da as the Dimension Training Ground team leader challenged their authority.

• Xin Rui and the trainees flew into the Boundary, where Ling Ji described the dangers and a rescue craft headed into the mountains.
• Xin Rui, Ran Ran, and the other Boundary Training Ground trainees disembarked and joined the group waiting for their service staff.
• A disturbance broke out among the service staff, and Xin Rui pulled Ran Ran back from the crowd.
• Tai Yu emerged, said the service staff were temporary Peace Officers, and explained that they were maintaining order during the inspection period.
• The Dimension Training Ground team leader questioned their law enforcement authority, so Tai Yu called Officer Lan, who came over and greeted him.