Chapter Summaries

While waiting for the academy term to begin, Guan Tong planned ways to develop his Shadow Domain and make it more efficient. At the Countermeasure Research Institute, Gao Liangwei and Zhang Minglu discussed the identified mastermind behind the kidnapping case and whether to inform Shadow.

• Guan Tong settled into his academy apartment and learned that the term would start in mid-July, with new students arriving early and the previous class graduating ahead of schedule.
• Guan Tong reviewed how exceeding one hundred million Mind Power had caused overheating and disordered Mind Power, which distorted his Shadows and nearly made the Shadow Domain lose control.
• Guan Tong decided to refine the sixth-page character “domain” and considered using the Shadow Domain for protection, transportation, and absorbing enemies’ Mind Power.
• Gao Liangwei reviewed Guan Tong’s file with Zhang Minglu and confirmed that the mastermind behind the nationwide kidnapping case had been identified but remained at large.
• Zhang Minglu recommended telling Shadow about the mastermind, and Gao Liangwei said he had already submitted an application to their superiors.

On July 15, representatives from the eleven surviving countries met in Pinglu to discuss mutual aid, population relocation, and the aftermath of the earthquake. They agreed to investigate Fahuo Nation’s new king and cultist ties while planning disaster response and immigration trials to Terra.

• Gao Liangwei opened the meeting by urging the eleven remaining countries to cooperate, and representatives discussed relocating populations to North Star and Suoloma.
• Mary reported that Fahuo Nation’s cities had been destroyed and that it had elected Joel I, who called himself the “Spokesperson of God.”
• Gao Liangwei warned that Joel I might lead the Fire Thief Cult, and Mary said Suoloma would investigate and coordinate a joint crackdown if the suspicion was confirmed.
• The representatives turned to disaster relief, including managing volcanic ash in the far south.
• Mary said Suoloma planned to send immigrants to Terra within the year, and Gao Liangwei confirmed North Star would also conduct interstellar immigration trials.

As the academy welcomed a large and increasingly international freshman class, Fang Qian discovered that her former classmate Guan Tong had returned as an acting lecturer. Guan Tong prepared to teach Mind Power Circulation, while Fang Qian resolved to speak with him rather than keep avoiding him.

• Fang Qian and Qin Qing struggled through a busy morning receiving freshmen, including many foreign students who lacked translators.
• Fang Qian hid when Guan Tong arrived, and Qin Qing mistakenly directed him toward the freshman dorms before he explained that he was a teacher.
• Fang Qian and Qin Qing checked the academy faculty list and learned that Guan Tong was the new acting lecturer for Mind Power Circulation.
• Fang Qian admitted that she had harmed Guan Tong through a shameful mistake and told Qin Qing she would talk to him when they next met.
• Guan Tong consulted the recuperating Shi Jingyi, set aside his less widely applicable Body Mind Power Channel theory, and decided to teach her established method.
• Guan Tong exchanged ideas with other lecturers and questioned whether sparring alone could prepare students for real combat.

At the academy’s opening ceremony, Guan Tong faced students’ doubts about replacing Shi Jingyi as their Mind Power Circulation lecturer. At his secluded shelter, he learned Big Sister had been exposed but remained at large, then saw Coal Ball’s transformed body reveal a fierce combat ability.

• New students questioned Guan Tong’s qualifications as Acting Lecturer and worried about the next Apocalypse Rule’s release on August 1st.
• Guan Tong returned to his shelter, where Coal Ball greeted him affectionately despite the Demonic Flesh’s expected aggression.
• Guan Tong read Zhang Minglu’s message saying Big Sister had been identified as an internal traitor, her network dismantled, and her whereabouts still unknown.
• Guan Tong took Coal Ball into the mountain valley surrounding his shelter, where the cat raced through the wilderness.
• A snake attacked Guan Tong, and Coal Ball killed it swiftly with its claws, prompting Guan Tong to consider taking it along as a war beast.

Guan Tong taught his first Mind Power Circulation lesson by guiding each student through a full circulation, winning their confidence with his skill and stamina. After class, Yelyena Novomir Stasia asked him to help her master the technique within two months, and he agreed in exchange for her serving as class monitor.

• Guan Tong arrived shortly before class and introduced himself as the temporary Mind Power Circulation lecturer.
• Guan Tong guided the students through full-body Mind Power circulation, impressing them with his control, abundant reserves, and ability to teach two students at once.
• Guan Tong discovered that the Xisiyan student had already formed the beginnings of a circulation cycle and told her she could continue training on her own.
• After class, Yelyena Novomir Stasia asked Guan Tong to help her master Mind Power Circulation in less than two months.
• Guan Tong agreed to help Yelyena Novomir Stasia if she became class monitor, and she accepted while resolving to master the technique as soon as possible.

Guan Tong reflected on his teaching routine, growing influence, and the people connected to him while waiting for the next Apocalypse Rule. The Twelfth Apocalypse Rule was announced as Digital Abstinence, banning the use of network-connected devices for 30 days.

• Guan Tong read students' comments praising his teaching while calling him cold and quiet.
• Guan Tong considered his growing Mind Power, the favors owed to Suoloma's Original Person, and the missing Serpent Pupil woman from Yingqi.
• Guan Tong waited at his shelter for the new rule to be announced.
• Fire Thief announced that Digital Abstinence would prohibit network-connected devices for 30 days, with 500 Ascension Coins as the reward and Mind Power Cap decay as the penalty.

Guan Tong discovered that Hidden Rule Twelve let Ascendants use Mind Power to create a network for direct communication, then set aside his phone to obey the month-long ban on internet-enabled devices. At the Countermeasure Research Institute, officials planned how to keep essential work running and discussed ways to entertain the public without networked technology.

• Guan Tong realized locals on Tianshui Star were far more dependent on smart devices than he was, though he thought the abstinence rule was manageable.
• Guan Tong revealed Hidden Rule Twelve, which allowed Ascendants to spend Mind Power to establish a Mind Network for long-distance communication.
• Guan Tong put his phone away and decided to investigate how the Mind Network worked rather than risk revealing the Hidden Rule online.
• Gao Liangwei and the Countermeasure Research Institute agreed to suspend nonessential work, rehire ordinary people for vital jobs, and recruit volunteers when necessary.
• Gao Liangwei ordered ordinary people to monitor Ascendant's Home for hidden information while the institute considered books, face-to-face conversation, and television as alternatives for public entertainment.
• An elderly professor recalled that old televisions receiving analog signals might work without internet access.

After Rule Twelve banned Ascendants from using internet-connected devices for a month, Guan Tong continued teaching and arranged combat training to help Yelena Stasia master Mind Power Circulation. Their departure together from the gymnasium sparked rumors among the students.

• Students across the academy accidentally failed Rule Twelve by using internet-connected smart devices, while the academy urged them to make a list of safe, non-smart items.
• Guan Tong continued his class, collected smart devices from students who had already failed the Rule, and began teaching as usual.
• After class, Guan Tong told Yelena Stasia that combat training could help her master Mind Power Circulation faster, and they agreed to meet at the gymnasium.
• Yelena arrived at the gymnasium, declined a student's invitation to play badminton, and left with Guan Tong.
• Students at the gymnasium gossiped that Guan Tong might be giving Yelena private lessons or pursuing her.

Guan Tong trained Yelena to use Mind Power while fighting, then investigated how to form a Mind Network. At the academy, Dean Zhou Qinfeng confronted him about giving Yelena private lessons, but Guan Tong refused to change his approach and left.

• Guan Tong had Yelena attack him while defending with a Mind Power shield, and she struggled to coordinate her circulation with her movements.
• After their training, Yelena recognized that Guan Tong had an extraordinarily high Mind Power Cap and resolved to improve quickly.
• Guan Tong failed to figure out how to construct a Mind Network and considered having Shadow reveal the Hidden Rules to the authorities.
• Dean Zhou Qinfeng summoned Guan Tong and raised concerns about his private combat lessons with Yelena.
• Guan Tong insisted that Yelena needed advanced instruction, then left Zhou Qinfeng's office when the dean warned him about rumors and fairness.

The Countermeasure Research Institute tested the rumored Mind Connection and confirmed that Ascendants could communicate telepathically. The chapter ended with Zhang Minglu explaining that the resulting Mind Network was decentralized, with every connected Ascendant able to address the entire network.

• Ordinary people discussed rumors that Ascendants could communicate telepathically and feared being excluded from a separate Ascendant communication channel.
• Zhang Minglu gathered Dragon Soul, Silver Fox, Chen Na, and Bai Xuewu to test whether they could connect their Mind Power.
• Dragon Soul and Silver Fox, and Chen Na and Bai Xuewu, successfully established Mind Connections and communicated silently with their partners.
• The team tested group connections, distance, and other properties, finding that connections had no distance or participant limit and users could address everyone at once.
• Gao Liangwei asked whether the Mind Network had a central point, and Zhang Minglu explained that every connected Ascendant was an independent node and could act as the center.

Students rapidly formed Mind Networks, while Guan Tong studied their workings and worried about Fire Thief’s motives. At an academy staff meeting, Zhou Qinfeng asked a counselor to infiltrate the students’ network, and Fang Qian volunteered.

• Guan Tong learned that Mind Networks spread rapidly, merged when members met, allowed anonymous public speech, and could overwhelm members with noise.
• Guan Tong considered whether Fire Thief had introduced Mind Connections to divide humanity and enable unregulated groups to communicate.
• Zhou Qinfeng summoned academy lecturers to a Mind Network notice and reminded them to attend the staff meeting in person.
• At the meeting, Zhou Qinfeng argued that staff needed access to the students’ Mind Network to monitor their conversations.
• The counselors looked to Fang Qian, and she reluctantly agreed to connect to the students’ network.

After Guan Tong dismissed Fang Qian’s apology and finished training Yelena, Yelena received a threatening call from someone who planned to perform a grand ritual in October. Yelena renewed her determination to improve before then.

• Guan Tong told Fang Qian he no longer blamed her, and she realized they could not return to their former friendship.
• Fang Qian decided to ask younger schoolmates to join the students’ Mind Network so she could monitor their messages.
• Guan Tong praised Yelena’s progress, learned she had not joined the students’ Mind Network, and advised her to ignore any rumors about her training.
• After Guan Tong left, Yelena felt more confident that she could reach her goal before October.
• Someone contacted Yelena with a Communication Scroll, mocked her efforts, and threatened to complete a grand ritual in October; Yelena resolved to keep striving.

On August 12, Guan Tong reunited with Xu Xiaotian at the Materials Distribution Department and learned about his exhausting work and the department’s hot meals. As they discussed Guan Tong’s future and a proposed space migration plan, they considered whether Apocalypse Rules could affect people beyond Tianshui Star.

• Guan Tong met Xu Xiaotian at the Materials Distribution Department, where Xu explained that his Instant Noodles item had helped him get assigned there.
• Xu Xiaotian showed Guan Tong the crowded department building and described the heavy workload, good pay, and priority protection employees received.
• Xu Xiaotian brought Guan Tong hot dishes and rice from the department cafeteria, and they discussed how rare hot meals had become since the Fire Thief’s actions.
• Xu Xiaotian asked about Guan Tong’s role as an Acting Lecturer and urged him to remain at the academy, but Guan Tong said he planned to leave when Shi Jingyi returned.
• Xu Xiaotian told Guan Tong that officials were considering moving people to Terra, and they discussed whether different Apocalypse Rules could affect people in space.

Guan Tong learned that the kidnapping case had supposedly been closed despite the mastermind still being at large, and he remained determined to find her. After returning to the academy, he found a death threat ordering him to stop tutoring Yelena Stasia and a severed bear’s head on his bed, then prepared to use his Shadow Domain ability against the culprit.

• Guan Tong and Xu Xiaotian discussed possible interplanetary travel and whether the First Ascendant Challenge had taken place on another planet.
• Xu Xiaotian told Guan Tong that Li Meng had said the kidnapping case was basically closed, though Guan Tong knew the ringleader had not been caught.
• Guan Tong decided to keep pursuing the chief culprit himself because he could not accept the authorities’ handling of the case.
• Guan Tong found a red-ink death threat ordering him to stop giving Yelena Stasia private lessons.
• Guan Tong discovered a severed black bear’s head on his bed and realized the threat came from someone more dangerous than a jealous student.
• Guan Tong welcomed the chance to test his developing Shadow Domain ability on the person who had threatened him.

After a death threat was delivered to Guan Tong, Dean Zhou Qinfeng warned him that Yelena Stasia might belong to the powerful Konia Family of Xisiya. Yelena revealed that her brother had ordered the threat, and Guan Tong decided to deal with the people he had sent to Pinglu.

• Guan Tong showed Dean Zhou Qinfeng the bear's head and threatening note, and Zhou arranged guards while warning him to stop teaching Yelena.
• Zhou Qinfeng guessed that Yelena might belong to the Konia Family, which could explain her special treatment and the danger of getting close to her.
• Guan Tong told Yelena about the threat and said their lessons would end unless she identified who was responsible.
• Yelena admitted that her brother had ordered the threat because he feared her gaining power to compete with him.
• Guan Tong rejected Yelena's promise to resolve the matter and decided to deal with her brother's people still in Pinglu himself.

Guan Tong investigated the Xisiya gathering places after learning Yelena’s brother had threatened his life, then used Shadows to watch them. Three would-be attackers headed for the academy that night and were trapped in darkness as their Mind Power began to drain.

• The academy distributed old-model televisions and discs, and Guan Tong began watching Decisive Battle Ascendants before turning it off to handle more important matters.
• Xu Xiaotian gave Guan Tong a list of Xisiya gathering places in Pinglu City.
• Guan Tong deployed Shadows to monitor the listed areas, expecting Yelena’s brother to send people after him.
• Three Xisiya people left their gathering spot after 11:30 p.m. and headed for the academy, discussing their plan to kill Guan Tong.
• A barrier of darkness trapped the three, and an unseen voice challenged their complaints as their Mind Power started decreasing.

Guan Tong killed the three Xisiya assassins who had tried to murder him, then continued teaching combat-focused classes at the academy. When Fang Qian discovered students planning to sneak outside the city to explore, she warned Dean Zhou Qinfeng, who began planning how to stop them.

• Guan Tong questioned the trapped Xisiya assassins about their academy contact, then crushed them to death by shrinking the Shadow Domain.
• Guan Tong hid the assassins’ bodies and resolved to settle accounts with Yelena’s brother and his other enemies after Shi Jingyi returned.
• Guan Tong taught practical combat while students complained about his aggressive methods in their Mind Network.
• Fang Qian, secretly listening in the student network, heard students plan a Sunday trip beyond the city and reported it to Zhou Qinfeng.
• Zhou Qinfeng considered having city-entry staff inspect the students at their planned departure time so he could stop them without revealing Fang Qian’s source.

Yelena ordered Sigaqin to find and kill the people her brother had sent to threaten Guan Tong, while continuing to value Guan Tong’s guidance at the academy. At a staff meeting, Guan Tong and another lecturer were assigned to stop students from leaving the city to search for wilderness survivor camps on Sunday.

• Yelena told Sigaqin to investigate the Xisiya settlement and kill her brother’s people, who were threatening Guan Tong.
• Yelena reflected that Guan Tong’s instruction had accelerated her progress and wished she could remain at the academy longer, though she had to leave by October.
• Students praised the variety show Decisive Battle Ascendants and debated its celebrity contestants, including White Snow Seamless, Fire God, and Good God.
• Principal Zhou Qinfeng told the lecturers that students planned to search for wilderness survivor camps on Sunday and arranged city checkpoints and teacher supervision.
• Zhou Qinfeng told Guan Tong that the Security Department had found no evidence in the death-threat case and advised him to ask Yelena for information.
• Zhou Qinfeng assigned Guan Tong and Teacher Chen to keep the students from slipping out of the city.

Researchers concluded that ordinary people could not join the Mind Network, raising fears that it would deepen hostility between them and Ascendants. At the city gates, Guan Tong and Teacher Chen waited to monitor academy students, and Guan Tong questioned why the dean had chosen to infiltrate their network through Fang Qian rather than pay a student to help.

• Zhang Minglu reported that the Mind Network could not be breached, concealed speakers’ identities and locations, and had no known way to admit ordinary people.
• Gao Liangwei and other officials discussed how the Mind Network and growing Ascendant strength were intensifying ordinary people’s fears, while experts urged the country to give ordinary people a stronger role in society.
• Guan Tong and Teacher Chen waited at the city entry and exit administration office to watch for students who might try to leave Pinglu.
• Teacher Chen worried that Fang Qian would be ostracized if the students discovered she had infiltrated their Mind Network.
• Guan Tong told Teacher Chen that a student could likely have been paid a few hundred Ascension Coins to grant access, and Teacher Chen grew uneasy about the dean’s choice.
• Teacher Chen spotted several academy students arriving at the gates.

Several Academy Students left Pinglu by a mountain trail and traveled to Cangying Ridge, where they encountered a hostile camp of ordinary people. The camp residents armed themselves after one student insulted them, leaving a confrontation about to begin.

• Teacher Chen stopped several students trying to leave Pinglu through the main gate, while Dean Zhou Qinfeng revealed that others had escaped by a mountain trail.
• Guan Tong left Pinglu alone to find the students who had taken the mountain path, while Teacher Chen returned to the academy to learn how many had escaped.
• Shen Yun led five students south to Cangying Ridge, where they explored the abandoned tourist attraction and approached a group of camp buildings.
• Around forty or fifty camp residents emerged and reacted with hostility when they learned the visitors were Academy Students and Ascendants.
• Shen Yun tried to leave peacefully, but a tall student disparaged the ordinary people, prompting the bearded camp leader to order his followers to fetch weapons.