Chapter Summaries

Ronan asked Bamboo Pole to analyze what kind of person he was, and their discussion revealed that his physical, social, and psychological circumstances were all troubled. Bamboo Pole offered the Martial Emperor as a model of steady political skill, then began presenting He Yueyin as his second example.

• Ronan realized he had destroyed the monitoring equipment in Gear during his earlier outburst, then agreed to continue Bamboo Pole's class.
• Bamboo Pole noticed Ronan was distracted and stopped the lesson when Ronan admitted he wanted to talk.
• Ronan asked Bamboo Pole how he had studied him, and Bamboo Pole analyzed his question as a search for advice.
• Ronan acknowledged that his body had not recovered and his social circumstances were bad, while Bamboo Pole judged his overall situation serious.
• Bamboo Pole described the Martial Emperor's rise and political methods as a model, then introduced He Yueyin as his second example.

Bamboo Pole compared Ronan’s rigid drive with He Yueyin’s and warned him that pursuing his goals without room to maneuver could leave him crushed by powerful enemies. He urged Ronan to seek the Martial Emperor’s personal backing, revealing that he had become a lobbyist for him.

• Bamboo Pole asked Ronan to compare his teaching with He Yueyin’s, then described them both as tightly driven people who expected others to follow their pace.
• Bamboo Pole warned that Ronan’s direct pursuit of his goals could bring him into conflict with Quantum Corporation, the Justice Cult, and headquarters.
• Ronan admitted he often reached situations where he felt he had no choice, and Bamboo Pole advised him to find someone who could back him and restrain him.
• Ronan guessed that Bamboo Pole meant the Martial Emperor, and Bamboo Pole explained that official protection from the branch or President Ouyang Chen could leave loopholes.
• Bamboo Pole revealed that he had become a lobbyist for Boss Ronan.

Ronan struggled to decide how to respond to the Martial Emperor’s recruitment offer and sought advice from friends. At home, he tried to avoid Luo Shuqing’s questions about Mo Ya, but accidentally revealed that someone had offered him a job.

• Ronan recalled Bamboo Pole’s advice and considered the Martial Emperor’s offer as he rode home.
• Ronan tried to contact He Yueyin, then messaged several friends asking for their opinions.
• Ronan arrived home and dodged Luo Shuqing’s questions about Mo Ya’s return to Xia City.
• Ronan ate dinner with Mo Haihang and Luo Shuqing, then blurted out that a friend’s boss had offered him a job.

Ronan tried to conceal his connection to Wu Zhao from his aunt and uncle, but his improvised explanation left them suspicious. After he fled upstairs and planned to use his psychic perception to hear their discussion, Six Ears told him He Yueyin had called back.

• Ronan told Mo Haihang and Luo Shuqing that a company had approached him about work, then struggled to answer their questions.
• Luo Shuqing searched for Youlan Agency and found Wu Zhao listed as its legal representative.
• Ronan claimed the agency wanted to recruit him for his sketching skills to help with detective work, and said he would refuse later.
• Ronan rushed to his room, worried his explanation would not hold up, and planned to eavesdrop on his aunt and uncle with his psychic perception.
• Six Ears informed Ronan that He Yueyin had called back.

Ronan asked He Yueyin to explain the Martial Emperor’s apparent offer to recruit him into the Youlan Agency. He learned it was both compensation for the Association’s earlier failure to protect him and a public show of support, then returned to studying and training as his cultivation approached a breakthrough.

• Ronan described Bamboo Pole Bro’s recruitment message to He Yueyin and asked what the Martial Emperor intended.
• He Yueyin explained that the lucrative contract Ronan had received through Zhang Yingying was compensation for the Association’s failure to protect him.
• He Yueyin said the recruitment message publicly signaled the Martial Emperor’s goodwill and warned the Association against targeting Ronan again.
• He Yueyin advised Ronan to focus on his studies, train cautiously, and visit Shenyu Dojo; she also cautioned him against strange cultivation theories.
• Ronan completed his homework, worked through Zhai Gong’s physics exercises, and practiced Master Xiu’s Guiding Method.
• Ronan sensed that his liver blood was full and that the right moment for his next breakthrough might come within a few days.

Ronan advanced his Inner Refinement cultivation and discovered that his Eye Aperture had connected to the qi and blood of his liver and gallbladder, expanding his capacity to bear the God Wheel’s power. After secretly overhearing Uncle and Aunt discuss his family’s connections to wilderness drifters and possible threats involving Quantum Corporation, he was left with a new set of troubling questions.

• Ronan completed more than two hours of Evening Practice, connecting his Eye Aperture to his liver and gallbladder and circulating qi throughout his body.
• After waking around three in the morning, Ronan’s heightened spiritual perception let him hear Uncle and Aunt discussing his name.
• Luo Shuqing and Uncle speculated that someone connected to Luo Yuandao or Luo Zhongheng might have come to Xia City, and they discussed Yan Yongbo and Quantum Corporation.
• Uncle told Luo Shuqing that people from the wilderness had contacted him about altering data and seemed interested in entering the city.
• Luo Shuqing asked whether they had contacted Nannan and whether Wu Zhao was involved, but Uncle said he did not know.
• Ronan withdrew his perception and realized that a group in the wilderness might share a close connection with his grandfather and father.

Ronan decided to resume Astral Projection to advance his Format Theory research, believing his stronger cultivation could now withstand the risks. He traveled through the Sea of Spirit and reached Pingjiang District, where Zhi Xing Institute and Cloud Capital Shuiyi came into view.

• Ronan calmed his muddled thoughts and concluded that becoming an Extraordinary Species was the fastest way to gain strength and solve his problems.
• Ronan decided to rely on Format Theory for further progress while his completed Eye Aperture settled before his next Inner Refinement step.
• Ronan used the Void Chain to separate his Soul Body from his physical body and resumed Astral Projection despite the danger of worsening his Imbalance between body and spirit.
• Ronan explored the city's Life Sketches through the Sea of Spirit and traveled rapidly beyond his residential community.
• Ronan reached Pingjiang District ten minutes after projecting, bringing Zhi Xing Institute and Cloud Capital Shuiyi within his sensing range.

Ronan tested the speed and limits of his Astral Projection, then traveled to Sea Sky Cloud Capital and the Gear to observe them without his material body. He ended the night inside the Gear, where a faint chill arose as his soul lingered.

• Ronan discovered that his Soul Body could fly nearly five hundred kilometers per hour, but it could not activate the Eye Aperture Heart Lamp without a material vessel.
• Ronan traveled to Sea Sky Cloud Capital, where his Soul Power stirred the Devil Fish and triggered alarms; he calmed it before it swallowed nearby creatures.
• Ronan observed the Gear from the Observation Deck but could not perceive its deeper principles without coupling mental and physical perception.
• Ronan flew into the Gear and surveyed all twelve floors with his mental perception.
• As Ronan’s Soul Body remained inside the Gear, he felt a faint chill arise from within.

Ronan used Astral Projection to revisit the Gear Building and investigate the mystery he had encountered there before. He discovered that the building’s circulating energy gathered in the atrium and responded to his Contemplation Graphic, bringing him closer to the strange world linked to his memories.

• Ronan sensed a faint chill moving through the Gear Building alongside its dripping sounds, then traveled to the Central Control Room to recreate his earlier experience.
• Ronan tried to activate the console with his thoughts, but it did not respond, and he realized the External Neuron had likely been the key to his previous vision.
• Ronan noticed that his Soul Body disturbed the chill as he passed through the building, then traced the circulating energy to the atrium.
• Ronan formed his Contemplation Graphic in the atrium, stirring the gathered energy into a more orderly flow and drawing scattered information together into Logic.
• Ronan sensed gray light filling the atrium, the same light connected to his memories of a magical world.

Ronan forced his Soul Power into a rapidly accelerating spin and reached the edge of the Cloud Top World, but an invisible barrier kept him from entering and an unseen force sent him back to the Gear Building atrium. There, his mental senses expanded to a twenty-kilometer radius, and his Soul Body effortlessly absorbed the enormous flood of information.

• Ronan accelerated his Soul Power inside the atrium until his perception collapsed and his Soul Body became light and translucent.
• Ronan perceived the Cloud Top World, but an invisible barrier prevented him from moving into its clouds.
• Ronan was abruptly repelled from his position near the Cloud Top World and returned to the Gear Building atrium.
• Ronan's frustration caused his mental senses to expand beyond fifteen kilometers and reach a radius of about twenty kilometers.
• Ronan absorbed the immense amount of information from the surrounding area without the shock he had expected.

After an astral journey, Ronan found that his Soul Power had grown only modestly, while his psychic perception had expanded dramatically. He safely re-entered his body and began investigating the change, but realized he had no way to take the External Neuron with him to the Gear.

• Ronan flew home after noticing that his perception had expanded far beyond what his increase in Soul Power could explain.
• He hesitated above his sleeping body, then returned to it through the External Neuron and watched the God Wheel and Body Wheel handle the pressure without causing Imbalance.
• Ronan found that his improved liver qi helped regulate his cultivation and that his Soul Power increase remained within a controllable range.
• He wrote down theories about how a change in the Soul Body's structure or essence might explain his enlarged perception, but could not reach a conclusion.
• Ronan decided to return to the Gear to test the External Neuron, then realized he could not manipulate objects with his soul to bring it along.

Ronan experimented with using the Eye Aperture Heart Lamp to influence the External Neuron, but stopped to keep his morning routine and avoid disrupting the security arrangements. After dealing with Mo Peng’s invitation to a group outing, Ronan received a sensitive report from Zhang Yingying about Peony’s plan to search for the Aberrant Species.

• Ronan used the Eye Aperture Heart Lamp inside his Brain Palace to refine and study the External Neuron, finding that its form changed while its essential nature remained stable.
• Ronan abandoned his plan to make a second attempt at Gear when morning practice began, then completed his usual practice and run.
• Aunt told Ronan that Uncle had to leave early, while Mo Peng complained that Ronan had been neglecting him and invited him to a Cloud Capital Shuiyi outing.
• Ronan refused Mo Peng’s invitation and shut him out so he could shower.
• Zhang Yingying sent Ronan a brief admonition and an internal report Peony had prepared, outlining a feasible plan to search for the Aberrant Species and evaluating the firm’s partners.

Ronan struggled to balance his desire for quiet with the need to grow through teamwork, while Uncle Mo Haihang urged him to accept mistakes and learn from them. As Ronan reached Zhi Xing Institute, Crow and Ink tracked him from afar.

• Ronan rode to school with Mo Haihang and asked how to earn respect and work with a team.
• Ronan reconsidered Peony's assessment, suspecting her proposed negotiation was meant to prepare for recruiting him later.
• Mo Haihang shared advice from the Dao De Jing, then urged Ronan to accept the mistakes and setbacks that came with being a student.
• Ronan recognized that the Martial Emperor's group had changed his circumstances, and he would have to adapt; Mo Haihang lightened the mood by pretending to slap him.
• Crow took flight from a park in He Wu District with a Rubber Band transmitting information, and Ink reached Pingjiang District and plunged into a parked civilian SUV as Ronan entered Zhi Xing Institute.

Ronan and the team traveled to the Three Gates District to inspect Aberrant Species infiltration and establish surveillance. After hearing that the area had become a poorly governed residential zone with possible Black Gang activity, Long Qi—actually Snake Seven—asked whether the gang was rampant there.

• Peony proposed staying with Ink and setting up round-the-clock surveillance in He Wu District while the team investigated the infiltration.
• The team left Xia City's main urban area and drove through the neglected residential edge of the Three Gates District.
• E Tu guided them to a reservoir observation point, where Three Gates Security had established a mobile command center.
• E Tu explained that the district's residents included people relocated from the Recycling Layer and that the area had become a Three-No-Care Zone.
• A boy asked whether the visitors had come to crack down on the Black Gang, but his companions pulled him away.
• Snake Seven returned from the reservoir and asked E Tu whether the Black Gang was rampant in the area.

As Ronan grew frustrated with the slow, meeting-heavy scouting job, Xue Lei urged him to take the initiative and trust his own abilities. The chapter ended with Ronan agreeing that Zhang Yingying had a point, while Xue Lei revealed he had been acting as her lobbyist.

• E Tu explained that the Black Gang was spreading around an abandoned highway leading to the Recycling Layer in He Wu District.
• Ronan left the scouting discussions and met Xue Lei for lunch, then talked about opening his Eye Aperture and seeking his Master's guidance on further cultivation.
• Xue Lei praised Ronan's progress and advised him not to keep following professional coursework he could not understand, but to seize the initiative.
• Xue Lei told Ronan that his Pure Perception ability had influenced Cat's Eye to focus on Super-Distance Perception and abandon All-domain Perception.
• Ronan realized Zhang Yingying had sent Xue Lei to persuade him, and agreed that her advice made sense.

Ronan used Ink to test its sensing abilities and scan the old highway, then spotted a child he recognized riding a modified electric scooter alone. He followed Little Monkey along the road, worried the child might encounter trouble.

• Ronan sent Ink flying and discovered that their connection transmitted information without the expected loss, letting him scan a broad stretch of the old highway.
• Ronan used Life Sketch to reveal the surrounding Starry Sky, but his search found no Aberrant Species and instead exposed a middle-aged man leading a religious sermon.
• Ronan recognized a child from the reservoir that morning among the sermon attendees and decided to turn Ink back toward the operation team.
• The child left alone on a modified electric scooter and raced west along the old highway, so Ronan followed overhead and nicknamed him Little Monkey.

Ronan searched for unusual figures in Xia City's Starry Sky while keeping watch over Little Monkey, then turned his attention back to cultivation and visited Shenyu Dojo with Xue Lei. He froze when he saw Master Xiu in the practice grounds.

• Ronan used Ink to observe the Starry Sky while following Little Monkey, but the vast population made unusual targets difficult to distinguish.
• Little Monkey met his companions, and Ronan watched them closely to compare their Life Sketches.
• The children tried to catch Ink, so Ronan used a mild Mental Layer impact to daze them and escape.
• Ronan reflected on his fruitless search and realized he cared more about Format Theory and cultivation.
• Ronan handed Ink to Peony and went with Xue Lei to Shenyu Dojo, where he saw Master Xiu and froze.

Ronan learned from Xiu Shenyu how Root Potential, Root Nature, and Root Opportunity helped cultivators understand people and choose suitable methods. The chapter ended with Xiu Shenyu teaching Ronan to study the remaining Aperture Eyes and six roots while warning him not to rush.

• Ronan reported his cultivation progress, and Xiu Shenyu confirmed that he had completed cultivating his Eye Aperture on a solid foundation.
• Xiu Shenyu explained Root Potential, Root Nature, and Root Opportunity as ways to assess a person's aptitude, disposition, and circumstances.
• Xiu Shenyu used Xue Lei as an example, describing his substantial potential, honest nature, and enduring opportunity before sending him to coach the children.
• Xiu Shenyu taught Ronan practical methods for discerning the three roots, connecting the lesson to Ronan's recent questions and circumstances.
• Xiu Shenyu began teaching Ronan how to memorize the other Aperture Eyes and understand the six roots, urging him to observe steadily and avoid rushing.

Xiu Shenyu guided Ronan through the Crouching Tiger Stance, using thunderous instruction to help his Body Wheel and God Wheel resonate and nourish his body. After the children interrupted his insight, Xiu Shenyu declared him ready to practice boxing and told Xue Lei to spar with him starting the next day; Ronan remained fascinated by the newly clarified theories of Root Potential, Root Nature, and Root Opportunity.

• Xue Lei worried that Ronan would struggle to absorb so much instruction, but Xiu Shenyu said Ronan’s cultivation of nature had advanced and he should press ahead with cultivation of life.
• Xiu Shenyu placed Ronan in the Crouching Tiger Stance and transmitted instruction through vibrations that resonated through Ronan’s head and body.
• Ronan felt his viscera, Qi and Blood, and bodily fluids circulate and understood that he was opening the heart and spleen systems connected to his mouth and tongue.
• Children piled onto Ronan while he was absorbed in his insight, and he shook them off harmlessly before joining their play until Xiu Shenyu stopped them.
• Xiu Shenyu said Ronan’s tendons, veins, and muscles were nourished enough for boxing, and ordered Xue Lei to spar with him starting the next day.
• Ronan reflected that Xiu Shenyu’s theories of Root Potential, Root Nature, and Root Opportunity had made a new field of knowledge feel clear and tangible.

After studying Master Xiu’s lessons, Ronan planned to spend the weekend practicing his new insights at home and canceled his other plans. Mo Ya then called to remind him that he had promised to let her use his place for a party, leaving him arguing over when he could clean it out.

• Ronan left the martial arts hall with Xue Lei and arranged with He Yueyin to stay home and study over the weekend.
• Ronan planned to practice the Nine Orifices Six Roots, experiment with Root Potential, Root Nature, and Root Opportunity, and refine the External Neuron.
• Mo Ya called Ronan and reminded him that he had promised to let her use his place for a celebration party.
• Ronan agreed to clear out his place but refused to do it that weekend, and Mo Ya guessed he had a date.
• Driver Qin gestured to Ronan as he tried to explain himself to Mo Ya.