Chapter Summaries

Lu PingAn reviewed the worsening conflict around the demigod legacy while preparing to unlock Tier 2 and strengthen his grafting skill. As factions made their final preparations and Cat Cat advanced with his help, the city’s crisis continued to intensify.

• Cat Cat gave Lu PingAn records showing that Life Church forces, including followers of the King of Harvest and Delicacies and the Lord of the Blood Banquet, had joined the fighting against cultists.
• Lu PingAn learned that the clashes had caused at least a hundred people to go missing and that tensions were likely to rise as the countdown approached.
• Special Task Force Three expanded with students from other universities, while Xia Qin and several captains received powerful weapons on loan.
• Lu PingAn used Life Points to produce items and rapidly improve his grafting skill as he made up his remaining university courses.
• With Big Cat’s help, Cat Cat advanced to Tier 1, awakened Spirit Awakening Art, and raised money for a Spirit Solidifying Potion.

Lu PingAn and Xue En set out on patrol with Officer Zhao driving, but a truck crashed into a divider and transformed into a supernatural threat. As Lu PingAn prepared to fight it, Xue En learned that trial-type superpower batteries were behind a series of incidents.

• Cat Cat rampaged after feeling that Lu PingAn had played her, while Lu PingAn left to begin his patrol with Xue En.
• Lu PingAn buffed Xue En, and the pair recruited Officer Zhao to drive because neither had a license.
• A truck struck the divider near their police car, then pulled itself free and turned toward them with its driver still inside.
• Lu PingAn approached the transformed truck while Xue En contacted headquarters and searched the Intelligence Network.
• Xue En learned that at least a dozen trial-type superpower batteries had entered the market and could power devices for three days without fuel or charging.

Lu PingAn defeated a Mechanical Spirit formed from a dangerous battery during patrol, then learned the batteries had been distributed to civilians. The investigation remained with a neighboring team, while the cultists discovered that the Sophist had stolen their battery stock and fled.

• Lu PingAn restrained the metal beast, exposed its weak points, and destroyed its polluted energy source with his War Scythe.
• Xue En rescued the unconscious driver, and the battle ended before the police station colleagues arrived.
• Xia Qin told the Special Task Force that a dozen dangerous batteries from Original Blue District had reached civilians and were causing incidents.
• Lu PingAn suspected a Mechanical Awakener had made the batteries, but the neighboring team continued handling the case without their help.
• The cultists learned the Sophist had stolen their mass-produced batteries to sell for pocket money and was too afraid to return.
• The television showed battery accidents and urged the public to turn the batteries in, then exploded.

Sophist sabotaged his own colleagues to delay their plan, while Big Cat warned Lu PingAn that the cultists were close to succeeding. Lu PingAn brought Cat Cat into the Secluded Courtyard, where Chris would train her for a week.

• Sophist leaked his colleagues' intelligence to the Special Task Force and arranged for the authorities to seize the energy sources meant for a Mechanical Awakener.
• Big Cat recognized the sabotage and warned Lu PingAn that the infighting meant the cultists were nearing success.
• Cat Cat agreed to a thirty-year Indentured Contract with Lu PingAn, accepting its strict obligations and confidentiality terms.
• Lu PingAn invited Cat Cat into the Secluded Courtyard, where he introduced her to Chris as her future teacher.
• Lu PingAn told Cat Cat that she would train with Chris for a week after he arranged time off with her brother.

Lu PingAn trained Cat Cat in the Lost Garden while she endured brutal combat lessons from Chris, and he worked to improve his Gardener skills. Big Cat suggested that he use Craftsmen and Potion Master methods to process his magical plants, giving Lu PingAn a new approach to his stalled experiments.

• Lu PingAn watched Cat Cat die and revive repeatedly as Chris trained her to fight through harsh real combat.
• Lu PingAn learned that Chris could use her power in the Secret Realm while serving the Life Bank, including as a sparring partner and guard.
• Lu PingAn tracked Cat Cat’s improvement and reconsidered his plan to wait until Rank Three before opening the Secret Realm.
• Lu PingAn experimented with Sleep Factor in a Cherry Tree, but the resulting Sleep Cherries performed poorly and offered little combat value.
• Big Cat advised Lu PingAn to apply Craftsmen and Potion Master methods to process his magical plants, and he realized this could help his experiments.

Lu PingAn learned how craftsmen and potion makers could provide practical functions that he had previously pursued through magical plants, while spending his earnings on equipment and medicine for Cat Cat. After picking up the Spirit Solidifying Potion, he had exhausted his available resources and could only wait for Cat Cat to recover and develop.

• Lu PingAn learned that novice gardeners faced fierce competition and that his own profits depended on rare research seeds and genetic patents.
• Lu PingAn bought Explosive Sealing Cans and a compression device, then realized craftsmen could turn plant-derived functions into practical tools.
• Lu PingAn recognized how Guan Xinxian combined craftsmanship with magical plants and learned that potion makers could also create combat enhancements.
• Lu PingAn customized venom-grooved Silver Claws for Cat Cat and ordered rope, steel wire, and javelins for her training.
• Lu PingAn bought a Spirit Solidifying Potion for Cat Cat at cost price, spending his remaining resources and hoping she would recover and develop.

Lu PingAn dealt with Xiao Bai’s demands for gifts and discussed Cat Cat’s Beast Tamer training and the paths planned for Xiao Bai. Cat Cat left proud of Chris’s all-encompassing school, while Lu PingAn warned her that the work ahead would be grueling.

• Xiao Bai demanded her share of the gifts Lu PingAn had given Cat Cat, and he distracted her with a cat toy after admitting he had no money for her equipment.
• Cat Cat said she would try to buy Xiao Bai a Return to Antiquity potion later, while Lu PingAn advised her to ask her brother for help with potions.
• Lu PingAn and Cat Cat discussed Xiao Bai’s planned Fighter and Awakened paths and the training and potions those paths would require.
• Cat Cat said Chris’s school taught every major Beast Tamer discipline, and Lu PingAn warned her that Logistics training would consume enormous effort.

Lu PingAn explained how supernatural professions shaped the world’s technology and authority, while training Cat Cat and Xiao Bai in his secret realm. His city search operations uncovered the identities of two wanted criminals, but the pressure on them threatened to force an early showdown.

• Lu PingAn concluded that knowledge-oriented Professionals and entrenched churches had shaped the world’s technology, politics, and reliance on local groups.
• Cat Cat advanced rapidly in combat training, while Xiao Bai revealed the appetite-based teleportation ability called “Cat Is Hungry.”
• Lu PingAn and Chris considered having Xiao Bai teach Lei Shui Yun after its intelligence improved, but recognized that spirit awakening would take time.
• Lu PingAn tested his combat tricks on Cat Cat, whose fierce training impressed him and Chris.
• Lu PingAn joined citywide searches using Voice of Redemption and coordinated with the Butcher Bro Gang.
• The searches identified Fang Wen and Wei Xian Shi as wanted suspects, and investigators realized that cornering them might provoke an early final battle.

Cai Jingjing, secretly Fang Wen, turned Fatty Fei into a mechanical dog at the Gu City television station as Tong Wuyi's task force prepared to arrest her. When the operation began, the Gu City TV Tower grew legs and started hunting through the city.

• Cai Jingjing calmly endured Fatty Fei's insults during the television station's morning meeting, then called him a mortal and transformed him into a camera-equipped Mechanical Dog.
• Tong Wuyi investigated a shipment of contaminated, highly activated batteries and traced it to Fang Wen, who had been working undercover as Cai Jingjing.
• Tong Wuyi gathered elite Special Task Force members and brought in Qi Tian, whose Rule-level Gold Tier Ultimate Weapon could kill even a powerful Fang Wen.
• When the planned assault received no response, Tong Wuyi and Qi Tian rushed out and saw the Gu City TV Tower sprout legs and begin its hunt.

A giant mechanical creature made from Gu City TV Tower rampaged through the city while Fang Wen’s connection to it left more than fifteen hundred people trapped inside. As Xia Qin prepared to fly up and stop it, Lu PingAn joined her by grabbing onto Hua Xueyi’s flight.

• The TV Tower came alive and smashed through the lakeside park, roads, and an overpass as it advanced through Gu City.
• Lu PingAn learned that Fang Wen had turned the tower into her beast and that the response force had avoided attacking because over fifteen hundred people were inside.
• Xia Qin explained that the tower’s hostages made a direct attack difficult, while its mechanical creatures shot down some of the approaching airborne troops.
• Xia Qin decided to use Hua Xueyi’s flight to reach the tower, and Hua Xueyi took off carrying her.
• Lu PingAn caught a ride by wrapping a tentacle around Hua Xueyi’s leg and told her he could use Feather Walk too.

Fang Wen activated the Television Tower to awaken nearby machines and preach mechanical freedom, while Xia Qin and Lu PingAn approached the giant monster with Hua Xueyi. They landed on its leg and faced a new metal army as Xia Qin cleared their way.

• The giant monster advanced through the city, shrugging off gunfire and bombs while destroying buildings and bringing down an airship.
• Fang Wen forced the operation’s organizer to move the plan forward and began broadcasting the Mechanical Spirit Awakening Art from the Television Tower.
• Fang Wen’s broadcast awakened nearby machines, which attacked the hostages and called her Mother through the psychic web.
• Xia Qin flew toward the monster with Lu PingAn riding beneath her, and Lu PingAn used Tyranny to pull Hua Xueyi back into the air when she began to fall.
• Hua Xueyi landed them on a platform on the monster’s leg, where Xia Qin cut down the surrounding metal army.

Lu PingAn warned Xia Qin that a late Tier 6 enemy controlled the tower and split the team’s efforts to rescue hostages and investigate the lower levels. As a Rule-level Taboo Item trapped a metal monster, the entire city was suddenly forced to recognize the moment as 2:03 a.m. on July 8, 1998.

• Xia Qin destroyed more than twenty mechanical beasts with a single slash, and Lu PingAn recognized the danger of confronting her directly.
• Lu PingAn identified the enemy as a late Tier 6 Mechanical Awakener and proposed that Xia Qin and Hua Xueyi rescue the hostages while he investigated the lower section.
• Xia Qin accepted Lu PingAn’s plan and flew upward with Hua Xueyi, leaving him to head toward the tower’s lower levels.
• A Rule-level Taboo Item called Heberon’s Metal Birdcage trapped a giant metal monster and forced it into a duel with a metal parrot.
• The sky turned black, and everyone in the city perceived the time as 2:03 a.m. on July 8, 1998, as a secret pendulum clock replaced the city’s normal time.

Lu PingAn reasoned that the sudden time shift and new secret realms were part of the infiltrators’ plan to overwhelm the city’s defenders, then fought his way to Fang Wen’s workshop. Xia Qin trusted him and continued upward with Hua Xueyi, while Lu PingAn entered the workshop and offered to negotiate.

• A Rule-level item abruptly changed the sky and time, and Big Cat told Lu PingAn that the infiltrators likely had no Rule-level being among them.
• At least eleven wild secret realms appeared in Ancient City, forcing the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs to mobilize forces to stop them from transforming into otherworldly realms.
• Lu PingAn concluded that the infiltrators were using traps to scatter the Special Task Force, then smashed his way through the mechanical creatures toward Fang Wen’s workshop.
• Lu PingAn reached the workshop, passed its open gates, and faced two powerful beasts guarding the entrance.
• Xia Qin and Hua Xueyi climbed through the Administrative District, where a woman’s glance made Xia Qin sense imminent death before the woman turned away.
• Xia Qin told Hua Xueyi to trust Lu PingAn, then Lu PingAn addressed a camera and told Fang Wen he had come to negotiate.

With the ritual about to begin and powerful enemies closing in, Lu PingAn negotiated with Fang Wen, a Tier 6 believer in the Mother Goddess Church, hoping to turn her against the other threats. He offered her a path toward Tier 7 and a chance to escape, and Fang Wen accepted the deal in the name of Life Bank.

• Lu PingAn concluded that the Special Task Force and Bureau of Anomalous Affairs had been infiltrated and that his information had been exposed to the Mother Goddess Church.
• He considered his limited options and decided to eliminate future threats by bargaining with one of the Church’s powerful figures.
• Lu PingAn asked Big Cat about Wei Xian Shi and Fang Wen, learning that Fang Wen was a devout Tier 6 Beast Tamer.
• As the ritual neared, Lu PingAn told Fang Wen she had been abandoned by her companions and offered her a path to Tier 7 and help escaping.
• Fang Wen accepted the proposed transaction in the name of Life Bank.

Lu PingAn fought through the metal monsters while Xia Qin led the rescue of the hostages and uncovered signs of a hidden threat inside the tower. As two Tier Six bishops confronted Fang Wen, the battle escalated, and Lu PingAn searched the workshop for anything valuable.

• Lu PingAn charged into the monster horde after the deal was completed, while Xia Qin realized the enemies on the upper level were unusually weak.
• Xia Qin learned that three additional cultists had been identified, and the metal parrot began gaining the upper hand against the giant beast.
• Xia Qin ordered Lei Huo Ren to send out the intelligence and directed the others to evacuate the hostages as explosions shook the tower from below.
• Liu Zibei and a Tier Six chef confronted Fang Wen, who challenged their motives and hinted at a past connection between their churches.
• An explosion destroyed the conference room and its hostages, roots and trunks burst through the windows, and two metal war beasts appeared to block the bishops.
• Lu PingAn searched the workshop below and took everything valuable.

Tie Zhenmei and Liu Zibei fought Fang Wen’s three Tier 6 War Machines while Lu PingAn looted Fang Wen’s storerooms below. The Special Task Force ordered a retreat with the hostages as the Television Tower began to collapse.

• Tie Zhenmei used Rainbow Candies to strengthen himself while Liu Zibei held back Fang Wen’s machines with a forest of magical plants.
• Fang Wen’s War Machines burned, drained, and cut through Liu Zibei’s defenses, but the delay let Tie Zhenmei gain a powerful golden-candy boost and attack the golden skeleton.
• Liu Zibei summoned the forest’s creatures as the fight escalated into a chaotic battle around the War Machines.
• Lu PingAn looted contaminated items and books from Fang Wen’s rooms, then refused to carry her cellphone as a trusted keepsake.
• Fang Wen agreed that Lu PingAn could take the cellphone outside, but Xia Qin’s walkie-talkie rang with an urgent order to retreat with the hostages because the Television Tower was about to collapse.

After escaping the ruined district, Lu PingAn went underground and used Cat Cat to keep him informed about the Special Task Force. With the factions closing in and his safety uncertain, he prepared to collect on an investment and advance to Tier 2.

• Lu PingAn abandoned his phone and walkie-talkie, then recruited Lei Shui Yun to pass him intelligence from the Special Task Force.
• Lu PingAn disguised himself as a refugee with a fragment of Fang Wen’s War Machine and entered the Steam Factory Secret Realm.
• Lu PingAn checked into a crowded hotel and considered bringing his parents into his Courtyard if he had to flee the authorities.
• Cat Cat told Lu PingAn that the Special Task Force had identified three infiltrating cultists, but its leaders clashed with two powerful outsiders over the spoils.
• Lu PingAn assessed the competing factions and learned that Cat Cat and Xia-jie were heading to a dangerous wild Secret Realm west of the city.
• Lu PingAn confirmed that no one had declared him dead and prepared to collect on his investment to meet the requirements for Tier 2.

Lu PingAn unlocked Life Affinity and raced to raise his Grafting skill so he could reach Tier 2 before time ran out. After using branches from a ruined Tier 4 magical plant in risky experiments, he met the requirements for his final transformation.

• Lu PingAn settled his Life Bank investments, raised Planting to level 7, and awakened the passive ability Life Affinity.
• Lu PingAn realized he had to break through to Tier 2 that day and burned more Life Points on Grafting experiments, despite many magical plants dying.
• Lu PingAn received Elvin Lightwood Branch Remnants, potions, a pistol, and Special Task Force intelligence from Cat Cat, who said Sister Xia Qin had provided the branches.
• Lu PingAn planted the lightwood branches in the Secluded Courtyard, burned the fast-growing trees into fertilizer, and used it in a series of successful grafting experiments.
• Lu PingAn raised Grafting to level 7, met all the conditions for Tier 2, and began his final transformation.

Lu PingAn completed the ritual to advance to Gardener in the Palm, presenting a bleak painting to Immortal in the Pavilion. After encountering the god and enduring a dangerous transformation, he successfully reached Tier 2, though the god’s evaluation questioned his mental health.

• Lu PingAn prepared the divine portrait, his painting, and seven candles for the advancement ritual.
• Lu PingAn recited Immortal in the Pavilion’s prayer and entered the world inside the portrait, where a cloaked figure took and examined his painting.
• Big Cat’s cry woke Lu PingAn from his encounter as the deity’s voice praised the painting and his surroundings warped.
• Lu PingAn endured a prolonged, dangerous transformation that cleansed and reassembled his body.
• Lu PingAn regained consciousness and checked the notifications confirming his advancement and relaying the god’s mixed evaluation of his work.

Lu PingAn completed his Tier 2 job change with a perfect evaluation and received a divine blessing after forming an unusually deep link with a deity’s avatar. He unlocked new Gardener abilities, while the Secluded Courtyard began an evolution whose results remained pending.

• Big Cat explained that Lu PingAn’s unusual resistance and abilities had let him endure a deep connection to a deity’s avatar, which could have left him bedridden.
• Lu PingAn inspected his job-change results: his Gardener skills were renamed, his spirit greatly increased, and he received Divine Grace.
• Lu PingAn unlocked Bonsai Creation and Landscape Restoration, then considered reorganizing his magic plants and developing combat-oriented ones.
• Lu PingAn received the Giant in the Palm blessing, which let him temporarily enlarge a magic plant in his landscape, and began revising his plans.
• The Secluded Courtyard entered an evolution and adjustment period that would unlock new Life Bank functions once complete.