Chapter Summaries

Ronan and An Dongsheng discussed whether the Balance of Truth and the Thirteenth District were connected, and An Dongsheng warned Ronan about the possible Gate of Truth. Their conversation about the first High Priest’s view of the true world was interrupted when the Martial Emperor arrived.

• Ronan showed An Dongsheng forum posts about the Anxia Line and argued that they needed to look beyond the Wilderness and its power struggles to deeper problems.
• An Dongsheng said he had a close connection to the Balance of Truth but had never experienced the Thirteenth District directly, leading Ronan to judge that the two were likely separate.
• An Dongsheng warned Ronan that the Balance of Truth might create a Gate of Truth in exchange for something suitable.
• An Dongsheng explained that he had collected clues about the Thirteenth District to understand the world as the first High Priest had seen it, describing an endless Wilderness, warships that never landed, mining zones, and fleeing slaves.
• The Martial Emperor joined Ronan and An Dongsheng and remarked that the first High Priest had turned E City into a Divine Kingdom on Earth.

Ronan discussed the Gate of Truth, the Bleeding Season, and the Anxia Line with Martial Emperor and An Dongsheng, then used Great Comprehension to calm Local Time-Space after it reacted to his thoughts about what lay outside the Tattered God Cape. At a Huai City reception, Deputy Yu began recounting his experiences in the Deep Blue World and the Thirteenth District, including the metal Inlay Plate used for modifications.

• Martial Emperor joined Ronan and An Dongsheng, and Ronan asked her about Lanier's Gate of Truth experiment and the Relay Station in the Mist Labyrinth.
• Martial Emperor questioned An Dongsheng about his search for the Bleeding Season's origin in An City and explained that the Justice Cult's leaders had considered interactions among multiple planes.
• Ronan's thoughts about the Three Cats Under the Cape and the influence beyond it triggered Local Time-Space's distress, which he soothed through Great Comprehension.
• Wu Zhao's unannounced arrival forced Huai City's organizers to turn the official banquet into a buffet reception, while online observers speculated about the Anxia Line.
• Ronan, Martial Emperor, An Dongsheng, He Yueyin, Cat's Eye, and Deputy Yu gathered to hear Deputy Yu describe his path from the Deep Blue World into the Thirteenth District.
• Ronan asked Deputy Yu about the metal implant used in the Deep Blue World, and Deputy Yu identified it as an Inlay Plate that formed the basis for later modifications.

Ronan questioned Deputy Yu about the Inlay Plate and the Fugitives’ experiences in the Thirteenth District, then arranged to use his memories for the Dreamscape Game. In private, the Martial Emperor warned Ronan that his position as the Fulcrum made his curiosity dangerous, and she refused to reveal more about what lay beyond the Tattered Divine Cloak.

• Ronan questioned Deputy Yu about the Inlay Plate, its differences from Machine Cores, and the Fugitives’ inability to fight their pursuers.
• Ronan asked Deputy Yu to help design the Dreamscape Game and agreed to visit An City to meet other Fugitives.
• Ronan dismissed He Yueyin, Cat Eye, and the others, then privately asked the Martial Emperor about Wu Kui and the Blood Prison King.
• Ronan pressed the Martial Emperor to explain the Tattered Divine Cloak and what lay beyond it, while she warned him against disturbing its fragile balance.
• The Martial Emperor refused to reveal what she knew, explaining that Ronan’s curiosity and clear-mindedness could expose Earth Local Time-Space to powerful beings.

Ronan questioned the Martial Emperor about the Tattered Divine Cloak and the deeper nature of the world, while she offered him Jin Buhuan as a driver and warned him about the Balance of Truth and the Gate of Truth. After suspecting she had orchestrated a hidden parallel within the Justice Cult, Ronan left the banquet with An Dongsheng to talk.

• Ronan questioned the Martial Emperor about the Blood Prison King’s place in the Tattered Divine Cloak and reflected on the risks of probing the world’s deeper reality.
• The Martial Emperor offered to transfer Jin Buhuan to Ronan as a driver and asked him to include Jin in his life-extension work because of his declining health and nightmares.
• The Martial Emperor warned Ronan to be cautious around the Balance of Truth and the Gate of Truth, and explained the Truth Side’s distance from them as devotion to the ideal of just truth.
• Ronan recognized similarities between the Justice Cult and the Blood Flame Cult and asked whether the Martial Emperor had arranged a similar scheme; she invited him to join forces but said she had not investigated the Thirteenth District.
• The Martial Emperor’s parting remark drew attention to Ronan and exposed his concealed Extraordinary Domain, so Ronan invited An Dongsheng to continue their conversation outside.
• Cat Eye and He Yueyin observed the Martial Emperor at the banquet, and He Yueyin confirmed that her domain interference had no effect on her.

Ronan and An Dongsheng spoke in the night sky about the Gate of Truth, their families’ records of madness, and the Balance of Truth. An Dongsheng explained what he knew, while Ronan pressed him about how the Balance had guided his cultivation.

• Ronan and An Dongsheng flew to six thousand meters and discussed the Martial Emperor, the Gate of Truth, and the loosening of secrecy around Extraordinary Power.
• Ronan summoned the Demon Rune and told An Dongsheng that he wanted to study the ravings of An Dongsheng’s uncle, the first chief priest of the Justice Cult.
• Ronan showed An Dongsheng his grandfather’s packed diary, and An Dongsheng confirmed that he had suggested Liu Jia return a page from it.
• An Dongsheng said he might visit An City to investigate the first chief priest’s memories, provided it did not interfere with the city’s situation.
• An Dongsheng explained that the Balance of Truth lay behind the Gate of Truth and appeared on Earth only as a projection through special rituals.
• Ronan questioned how the Balance of Truth had guided An Dongsheng’s cultivation, arguing that its corrections were necessary to preserve such a pure Form and Spirit Framework amid high-energy radiation and aberrant contamination.

An Dongsheng told Ronan how he escaped the Justice Cult, survived in the Wilderness, and relied on the Balance of Truth as he rose to power. He revealed that the Balance’s growing closeness to the world had filled him with dread, ending with his uncle’s warning about the Gate of Truth.

• An Dongsheng recounted escaping the cult at seventeen and surviving by sacrificing Aberrant Species to the Balance of Truth.
• An Dongsheng described joining the Wilderness Combat Troops and building his military career until around 2079, when the Balance’s exchanges became easier.
• An Dongsheng recalled refusing warnings from Gao Wenfu and others because he relied on the Balance of Truth.
• An Dongsheng told Ronan that the Balance helped him become an Extraordinary Species, but its increasing closeness to the world troubled him.
• An Dongsheng quoted his uncle’s warning that the Gate of Truth would come looking for them, and that reality and dreams would be examined and completed.

Ronan questioned An Dongsheng about the Balance of Truth, its connection to the Bleeding Season, and Luo Yuan’s knowledge of his plans. An Dongsheng also revealed that he had met Ronan’s grandfather Yan Hong and Yan Yongbo in 79 Year, when they sought investment for an early version of Format Theory.

• An Dongsheng explained that the Balance of Truth had shaped his life and that he suspected its connection led toward the Gate of Truth and the Reality and Dream Examination.
• An Dongsheng said his connection to the Balance of Truth grew less stable when he left An City, and that exchanges during the Bleeding Season came with greater discounts.
• Ronan asked about Luo Yuan, and An Dongsheng said Luo Yuan had secretly collected Aberration Genes in An City for more than a decade and probably learned of his conservative plan through the Balance of Truth.
• Ronan wondered why Luo Yuan seemed to know more about An Dongsheng than An Dongsheng knew about Luo Yuan, and asked whether An Dongsheng had known Ronan’s grandfather.
• An Dongsheng said he had met Yan Hong and Yan Yongbo in 79 Year, when they sought investment for a scientific training plan that Ronan recognized as an early form of Format Theory.

Ronan and An Dongsheng reviewed Yan Yongbo’s early cultivation plan and discussed how Yan later became the world’s first Burner. The records led Ronan to suspect that the computer Cloak, which generated cultivation plans, might have been connected to—or even replaced by—the Balance of Truth.

• An Dongsheng sent Ronan a copy of Yan Hong and Yan Yongbo’s 79 Year cultivation plan and their old chat records, explaining that the plan had been too costly to fund.
• Ronan and An Dongsheng compared Yan Yongbo’s early cultivation framework with his later Prototype Format, noting that he had changed paths despite beginning cultivation in 79 Year.
• Ronan ended the discussion and declined to return to the banquet, leaving An Dongsheng to go back alone.
• While contemplating the plan, Ronan connected it to Cloak, the dedicated computer used to formulate cultivation plans and support the Human Body Format and Data Structure project.
• Ronan wondered whether Cloak had produced Yan Yongbo’s original plan and whether the Balance of Truth had secretly connected to, or replaced, Cloak.

Ronan weighed the Balance of Truth’s possible connection to Luo Yuandao’s research team and examined the Trump Card’s role in Luo Yuan’s rise, but found too many gaps to draw firm conclusions. He chose to prepare for future threats by building a vast information and memory network, focusing its resources on key dates and people while waiting for Luo Yuan to act.

• Ronan considered whether the Balance of Truth had been involved with Luo Yuandao’s team and concluded that he lacked enough information to resolve the contradictions.
• Ronan connected Tu Ge’s shattered Trump Card to Luo Yuan’s rise, the Plane Crossbow, and the Balance of Truth’s power of Replacement, while judging that the Trump Card must have been powerful enough to threaten Liang Lu.
• Ronan decided not to pursue Luo Yuan at any cost, reasoning that An Dongsheng’s stance might prompt Luo Yuan to act and create an opportunity to capture his secrets.
• Ronan began building additional safeguards by mapping the memories and thoughts of Earth’s living beings and combining them with records preserved in Local Time-Space.
• Ronan directed computing resources toward key dates and people so the network could alert him when important figures passed through, then decided to wait a little longer.

Ronan handled family plans for the Mid-Autumn Festival while attending a Huai City meeting about the Anxia Line project. He also coordinated High Priest Lanier’s arrival at the Relay Station and planned to visit him there.

• Aunt Luo Shuqing asked Ronan to bring Raven to a family gathering, and Ronan agreed to attend but could not promise Raven would return from the Mist Labyrinth.
• Ronan contacted Raven, who told him to wait, and he warned her not to enter the Core Radiation Zone.
• At the Huai City meeting, Cat's Eye discussed ways opponents could obstruct the Anxia Line project, while Ronan said he would respond to major threats as needed.
• Cat's Eye told Ronan she planned to leave with Fris to earn extra money, and Ronan accepted her decision.
• High Priest Lanier reached Three Peaks Top to study the Relay Station, so Ronan reassured Snake Tongue and suggested giving Lanier a tour while Ronan finished the meeting.

Ronan negotiated with An City over Spirit Wave Network equipment and proposed moving talks to the Relay Station to meet High Priest Lanier and the Martial Emperor. The group agreed to travel there through Dream Game, a domain under Ronan’s control, while all sides continued testing one another’s trust.

• Ronan asked Zhang Yingying about public opinion, and she warned that people were focused on his apparent closeness with the Martial Emperor.
• Ronan used the Memory Network to answer An City’s questions and proposed that regions pool resources to fund and build Spirit Wave Network equipment.
• Ronan suggested moving the discussion to the Relay Station to meet High Priest Lanier and invite the Martial Emperor, and An Dongsheng and He Yueyin agreed while Cat's Eye declined.
• The Martial Emperor agreed to join them at the Relay Station after meeting Ronan in Huai City.
• Ronan and the others chose to use Dream Game to reach the Relay Station, despite knowing that it was a domain controlled entirely by Ronan.

Ronan showed the Martial Emperor, High Priest Lanier, An Dongsheng, and the others around the Relay Station and explained how it connected to the Dream Game and the Mist Labyrinth. As the visitors watched a bright presence approach through the sandstorm, Ronan identified the area as connected to Hundred Peaks Monarch and received Raven’s message to wait.

• Ronan brought the visiting group to the Relay Station and explained its mapping process, virtual-reality modes, and plans for training instances in the Dream Game.
• High Priest Lanier joined the tour, praised the Relay Station, and discussed its war machines and the hidden Mist Labyrinth with Ronan and the visitors.
• Ronan asked He Yueyin to help choose props for the Aerospace Force’s Practice Field, while the Martial Emperor questioned him about confusion between dreams and reality.
• High Priest Lanier and An Dongsheng looked toward the Mist Labyrinth, where Ronan explained the Active Stars and the history of the concealed Gate of Truth.
• An Dongsheng noticed a cluster of glimmers growing brighter beyond the glass wall, and Ronan used Great Comprehension to identify the active area as connected to Hundred Peaks Monarch.
• Ronan received a message from Raven, confirmed her location, and asked what was happening; Raven replied, “Wait a moment.”

Ronan learned that Raven had found and was bringing Hundred Peaks Monarch’s enormous “bait” toward the Relay Station, so he evacuated the base and prepared to contain its arrival. He reshaped the Relay Station into a half-formed Harbinger Bird to draw in the approaching mass of rule fragments, while observers realized the time-space itself was moving.

• Raven sent Ronan a detailed description confirming she had found Hundred Peaks Monarch’s enormous “bait” and was moving it toward the Relay Station.
• Ronan ordered Auntie Kui to evacuate the base and told He Yueyin to lead the Visiting Group to safety.
• Ronan powered up Magneto-Optical Mica and used the Mirror of Appraisal to study Raven’s information about the bait and its surrounding rule fragments.
• Ronan released the Harbinger Bird, transforming the Relay Station’s structure into a vast framework meant to attract and contain the approaching bait.
• The Martial Emperor, High Priest Lanier, An Dongsheng, Long Qi, and Yuan Wuwei watched from vehicles as the Harbinger Bird’s transformation stalled halfway.
• Yuan Wuwei told Long Qi that the time-space was moving.

Ronan drove the Harbinger Bird through a violent collision with The Other Side, a massive Deformed Planet assembled from conflicting rules. Raven opened a fissure in its crust, and Ronan charged inside as it began to close, heading toward her.

• Yuan Wuwei explained that the Space-Time Structure was moving, and Long Qi saw the Harbinger Bird and Relay Station struck by a burst of light and a meteor shower.
• The damaged Harbinger Bird and Relay Station rebuilt themselves with Light Glue as the bird carried them toward the remains of the stars.
• Ronan ignored the meteors and continued toward The Other Side, while Auntie Kui sent a warning to the group near the Tree Hole Space.
• Ronan sensed that The Other Side was a massive, irregular Deformed Planet whose contradictory rules let the Harbinger Bird approach it.
• Raven split the planet's crust with Blazing White Light, and the Harbinger Bird plunged through the fissure.
• Ronan followed the fading light deeper into the Deformed Planet as its crust began closing behind him, intent on reaching Raven.

Long Qi and the others were swept through a collapsing space as He Yueyin used Format Fire to link and reinforce their vehicles. They reached Raven, where Ronan recognized the powerful fire ahead as the Purifying Fire and found evidence that it had once been Tu Ge’s Trump Card.

• Long Qi noticed Format Fire embers entering his vehicle as the surrounding crust closed in and strange watchers seemed to observe them.
• He Yueyin used the Standard Array to reverse-enhance the vehicles, linking them together so they could withstand the pressure.
• The Harbinger Bird carried the Relay Station space-time through a narrowing fissure into a broader space, where Raven stood in its path.
• The Harbinger Bird disintegrated into debris before striking Raven, who appeared beside Ronan and called him Brother.
• Ronan identified the fire as the Purifying Fire, an advanced Sky Abyss Empire power, and connected it to the Trump Card Tu Ge had used.

Ronan and Raven entered the Rule Flames surrounding the Hundred Peaks Monarch's bait, which Ronan suspected was a Trump Card fragment. Ronan took the bait—a small, flame-wreathed skull—and the External Neuron detected it as an analyzable item.

• Ronan concluded that the Rule Flames were Blessing Power and that the bait might be a fragment of Tu Ge's Trump Card.
• Ronan considered how taking the bait could disrupt the ecosystem of God Rule Fragments and warned the people on the Observation Deck.
• Ronan and Raven entered the Rule Flames inside the Death Announcer Bird's Space-Time Architecture as nearby fragments began to react.
• Ronan saw that the source of the flames was a small, nearly complete skull floating in space.
• Ronan coated his hand in Rule Flames, picked up the skull without resistance, and received an External Neuron prompt asking whether to load it.

Ronan discovered that the Miniature Skull belonged to Liang Lu and found a concealed, highly dangerous component embedded in it. The component, named Abyssal Radiance, was a Great Lord-level bomb, but Ronan still did not understand why Liang Lu had left it behind.

• Ronan saw the Miniature Skull appear as a third satellite in the Brain of Emptiness APP and recognized its reconstructed face as possibly Liang Lu's.
• Ronan loaded the Dynamic Time-Space Map data and watched the skull undergo rapid analysis.
• Ronan found that the skull was classified as Great Monarch Decaying Skull (Liang Lu) and that it contained an unidentified, high-risk component.
• Ronan learned that the component could turn the skull into a Great Lord-level bomb and identified it as Abyssal Radiance.
• Ronan connected Abyssal Radiance to Lord Yuan Zhao, Zhan Cheng, but remained unsure why Liang Lu had set the mechanism.

Ronan examined Liang Lu’s skull and considered how he might have died, then focused on finding the rest of his remains before choosing how to control the Deformed Planet. He learned that Abyssal Illumination’s second component was made from re-sintered Xuanjing Array remnants, whose completed shape the assembly interface revealed.

• Ronan considered whether Liang Lu had died in 2080, uploaded himself into the External Neuron, or found another way to survive, but judged that uploading into Ronan was increasingly unlikely.
• Ronan wondered whether Liang Lu’s other remains were hidden in the Deformed Planet and decided that preserving them could rule out a direct escape route.
• Ronan told Raven he planned to control the Deformed Planet and surrounding area using the Relay Station’s Space-Time Architecture, while keeping the local ecosystem balanced.
• Ronan recorded Raven’s information about the God Rule Fragments and their ecosystems in the Inner Universe Simulator as Mirror Appraisal searched for matches in the Tomb of Hundred Gods.
• Auntie Kui reported that Abyssal Illumination’s second component was a fragment made from re-sintered Xuanjing Array remnants, and the assembly interface showed its complete Four Corner Star shape.

Ronan examined Liang Lu’s Skull and learned that its embedded fragment could store energy but could not unleash the full destructive power of Rotten Bone Star. As the Relay Station’s space-time structure came under attack from the surrounding ecology, Ronan concealed the skull in the Mirror of Appraisal and received a map showing traces left by other Empire arrivals.

• Ronan concluded that Tu Ge had used Rotten Bone Star to grievously wound Liang Lu, and that the weapon’s long charging period helped explain the gaps between their clashes.
• Ronan studied Liang Lu’s Skull, identified its fragment as a likely energy-storage component, and considered how it might support the Relay Station.
• Rubble and hostile entities began attacking the Relay Station’s space-time structure after Ronan disturbed its balance, so he and Raven set out to find a way to evacuate those who followed them.
• Ronan found that he could not store Liang Lu’s Skull in the Space Fault, but successfully hid it within the Mirror of Appraisal.
• Auntie Kui reported that the Dynamic Time-Space Map had revealed markings left by other Empire arrivals, and Ronan ordered her to read one.

Ronan examined the Dynamic Time-Space Map, uncovering markers that connected the Mist Labyrinth and Earth’s known regions to a mysterious place in Dark Seclusion. He returned to the Viewing Platform aboard the endangered Harbinger Bird and told the gathered group their delay would not prevent them from getting home for Mid-Autumn Festival.

• Ronan explored the map, identified the Sun Wheel Absolute Prison and his own External Neuron as marked locations, and found a marker for Rotten Bone Star.
• Ronan opened the marker list and saw entries for the Rebirth Divine Artifact, Gate of Rebirth (Existing), and Gate of Rebirth (Abandoned).
• Ronan selected Gate of Rebirth (Existing) and found it aligned with the Active Star he suspected was the Balance of Truth or Gate of Truth.
• Ronan selected the Rebirth Divine Artifact and briefly saw a tilted-balance marker deep in Dark Seclusion, surrounded by shadows that streamed toward it and never returned.
• As the Harbinger Bird faced hostile manifestations, Ronan appeared on the Viewing Platform with a slender figure and the Mirror of Appraisal, then assured everyone they could still get home for Mid-Autumn Festival.