Chapter Summaries

The Black Knights, led by Marshall, launched a drone missile attack on the convoy carrying the Heavenly Fire Squad and Merlion officials. The survivors scattered into three groups, leaving the Black Knights to pursue them.

• Marshall warned the Black Knights that Bai could be connected to the darkness Jane Foster and Pulle had encountered, while Morton and Rune discussed the danger.
• Marshall cautioned Rune about a Strategic Affairs Department weapon that could disrupt their connection to the gods, then ordered the Black Knights to begin their attack.
• Morton sent a drone swarm to lock onto the two military jeeps, and the drones fired missiles that engulfed them in flames.
• The survivors escaped the wrecked jeeps and split into three groups: Shen Zhixin fled with a senior officer, Yao Kai headed toward a nearby town with a Heavenly Fire Squad member, and the rest moved in another direction.

Morton, Marshall, and Rune pursued the apparent Merlion escapees, suspecting the groups were a trap but choosing to investigate. Morton discovered that Shen Zhixin was actually Luo Yan, and he unleashed his animal puppets against him.

• Morton, Marshall, and Rune divided the pursuit, with Morton targeting the apparent Merlion commander and Rune going after Yao Kai.
• Marshall promised her attendants rewards for killing members of the Heavenly Fire Squad, then led them forward at full speed.
• Morton summoned his Holy Projection and turned nearby animals into puppets to attack Shen Zhixin and his companion.
• Luo Yan appeared, killed Morton's wolf puppet, and revealed that he had been disguised as Shen Zhixin.
• Morton realized the other Merlion higher-up had vanished, then unleashed his puppets and their abilities against Luo Yan.

Luo Yan fought off Morton's supernatural animal puppets and survived the Black Knight's ambush with Fire Yang True Lord's help, but Morton escaped and called on a deity for power. Elsewhere, Yao Kai and Yang Kui stopped fleeing and prepared to face Rune after Li Yuqing revealed herself and equipped them with battle armor.

• Luo Yan burned away Morton's animal puppets and countered a destructive sound-wave attack with Blazing Flame.
• Morton ambushed Luo Yan, but Fire Yang True Lord seized him and burned his face with Crimson Essence Fire before he escaped.
• Morton offered his eyes as a sacrifice and invoked a deity, while Luo Yan identified him as belonging to the Black Knight Unit.
• Rune chased Yao Kai and Yang Kui along the highway and summoned a giant winged serpent with an aged human face.
• Yang Kui destroyed Rune's motorcycle with a lamppost and prepared to fight as Yao Kai transformed back into Li Yuqing.
• Li Yuqing activated Divine Steel: Extreme Armor Garment, equipping herself and Yang Kui with silver-white battle armor.

Yang Kui and Li Yuqing fought Rune on the highway, weakening his connection to the Feathered Serpent before Rune mutated and attacked again. As the battle continued, Blazing Flame spread through a distant mountain forest, burning its wildlife alive.

• Rune charged Yang Kui, and the two traded blows as Rune’s Cold Qi slowed Yang Kui and coated his fists in White Frost.
• Li Yuqing attacked Rune with Three-legged Firebirds and vines, then used a Psionic Interference Grenade to weaken his connection to the Feathered Serpent.
• Yang Kui struck Rune with a golden Suanni attack, knocked him down, and battered him into the road.
• Rune bit a chunk of flesh from Yang Kui’s wrist, then absorbed the Feathered Serpent Phantom and began transforming.
• Rune’s transformed body lunged at Yang Kui with renewed speed as flames spread through a distant mountain forest and killed its animals.

Zhang Tianyi, Murong Xuan, and Bai? stayed behind to hold off the Black Knight Unit while Shen Zhixin and the other Merlion executives escaped. Marshall summoned Venus, whose power turned the attackers—and then Zhang Tianyi and Murong Xuan—into devoted lovers, leaving the two allies poised to fight over her.

• Zhang Tianyi warned the group about incendiary bombs, and Murong Xuan drew a crane that destroyed the drone swarm.
• Bai? ordered Shen Zhixin and the others to hide with Black Cloak while she, Zhang Tianyi, and Murong Xuan prepared to stand their ground.
• Marshall realized the three Heavenly Fire Squad members were protecting the real Merlion executives and summoned Venus to make her attendants attack them in a frenzy of love.
• Zhang Tianyi used Divine Speed Draw, Buzhou Wind to tear the bloody giants apart, while Murong Xuan dispelled his crane after Marshall turned it against him.
• Venus's music slowed Zhang Tianyi and Murong Xuan and filled them with love for Marshall, who urged them to duel for her.
• Zhang Tianyi glared at Murong Xuan and declared that Marshall was his.

Bai? used his strange house to free Zhang Tianyi and Murong Xuan from Marshall’s ability and helped them attack her. Marshall escaped their first assault and weakened Zhang Tianyi with a Nether Titanium Grenade, but Bai?’s anomaly saved him from her gunshot.

• Marshall’s influence made Zhang Tianyi and Murong Xuan fight over her until Bai? summoned his strange house and brought them inside, breaking her control.
• Bai? explained that Marshall’s ability had affected all three of them and coordinated with Zhang Tianyi and Murong Xuan to counter her.
• Marshall fired a Rocket launcher at the strange house, but it emerged from the flames unharmed before Bai? and the others appeared outside.
• Bai? immobilized Marshall with White Bone Hands, but her Goddess Phantom’s Zither Music affected Guandi Wusheng and let him free her.
• Marshall threw Nether Titanium Grenades, weakening Zhang Tianyi with one cloud of Nether Particles, then shot him in the head.
• Bai?’s anomaly revealed that Marshall had shot a Paper Figure, and Zhang Tianyi appeared unharmed beneath a large tree.

Marshall used her divine powers to control Zhang Tianyi and turn him against Bai?, but the Headless General proved immune to her abilities and drove her back. Zhang Tianyi recovered from Marshall’s control and suspected that Bai? was her bane.

• Marshall used a sacred zither to overcome the Brainwave Jamming Grenade and controlled Zhang Tianyi’s knife hand with Gaze of Love.
• Bai? blocked Marshall’s line of sight, but Marshall used Blind Love to make Zhang Tianyi attack Bai?, who escaped by transforming into a Paper Figure.
• Murong Xuan sent a fierce general to fight Zhang Tianyi while Bai? summoned the Headless General, who formed and rode a giant Fire Dragon.
• Marshall’s Slave of Love failed to affect the Headless General, which struck her and sent Zhang Tianyi flying, breaking Marshall’s control over him.
• Zhang Tianyi recovered, saw the Headless General chasing Marshall, and wondered whether Bai? was the woman’s bane.

Luo Yan fought Morton, a puppet wielding a Holy Projection, and discovered the Black Knight Unit could partially contain their projections to gain a saint’s abilities. After Morton tried to escape Luo Yan’s containment network, Luo Yan burned him and his Holy Projection, then beheaded him.

• Luo Yan realized Morton was a puppet and focused on damaging the Holy Projection behind him.
• Morton partially contained his Holy Projection, gaining a saint’s physique and abilities at the risk of losing himself or collapsing.
• Morton attacked Luo Yan with short blades and a cutting ripple, but struck an illusion.
• Luo Yan trapped Morton in the Heavenly Fire Seal Tent, preventing him from escaping with Darkness Jump.
• Morton’s Dark Tide failed to weaken the seal, and Fire Yang True Lord’s Crimson Gold Flame burned him and his Holy Projection.
• Luo Yan pierced Morton’s throat with a heavy sword, severed his head, and burned it to ash.

The real Morton recovered after Luo Yan destroyed his puppet, but General Morton ordered him and the Black Knights to withdraw. Luo Yan regrouped with Commander Bai’s team, identified the Black Knights’ Holy Projection technology, and led everyone into White Elephant Group territory.

• The real Morton awoke in the hospital after his puppet was destroyed and demanded a spare so he could keep fighting.
• General Morton appeared on a screen, ordered Morton to rest, and said Marshall and Rune had been told to withdraw.
• Luo Yan rejoined Commander Bai and the others, who reported that their opponents had retreated and described their difficult fight.
• Luo Yan explained that the Black Knights used technology to contain part of a Holy Projection, and Li Yuqing confirmed their opponents had shown signs of it.
• After resting, Luo Yan and the team used abandoned vehicles to follow the Strategic Affairs Department’s route and entered White Elephant Group territory the next afternoon.

After completing the rescue mission, Luo Yan returned to the consulate in White Elephant Group territory and learned that the allied forces were preparing a counterattack against Freedom Wings. While analyzing Ancient Sword Shadow in his room, he uncovered a mysterious phrase: “Nine Kowtows to the Heavenly Gate.”

• Shen Zhixin thanked Luo Yan and departed with Yao Kai and the others for a safe location.
• Luo Yan returned to the consulate, where Dong Tiejun praised the rescue mission and invited him to attend General Yatan Manawa’s banquet.
• Dong Tiejun outlined plans for a counterattack, with Luo Yan and Captain Bai expected to join forces against Freedom Wings’ Silver Giant.
• Luo Yan reviewed the battlefield map and learned that Tianjian Squad was holding the line in Pattaya against Freedom Wings.
• Luo Yan analyzed a symbol in Ancient Sword Shadow, suffered a brief disturbance as he glimpsed profound information, and then murmured, “Nine Kowtows to the Heavenly Gate?”

Luo Yan learned that the Nine Kowtows to the Heavenly Gate could not be written down or shared, then cultivated its first gate before a report revealed that Freedom Wings had attacked the Cherno Fortress and was advancing toward Amur State. The Strategic Affairs Department ordered Luo Yan and the Heavenly Fire Squad to return to Jinge City to respond to the threat.

• Luo Yan tried to write down the Tai Xiao Heavenly Gate method so Bai? could practice it, but found the secret art could only be understood intuitively and gave up.
• Luo Yan cultivated the secret art until an assistant summoned him to a banquet with Consul General Dong Tiejun.
• Bai? showed Luo Yan footage of the Silver Giant destroying two mechs and setting fire to a Cherno Fortress military base.
• Bai? told Luo Yan that Freedom Wings had used a passage opened by the Virtues to cross Cherno Fortress territory and was advancing toward Blagoveshchensk.
• Luo Yan received orders from the Strategic Affairs Department to lead the Heavenly Fire Squad back to Jinge City, and he told Bai? to inform Yang Kui and the others.

Colonel Luo returned to Jinge City during a strict martial-law lockdown and joined a Strategic Affairs Department war-room meeting. Bai Shaotang briefed the gathered officials on the military standoff between Cherno Fortress and the Strategic Affairs Department.

• Colonel Luo and Deputy Commander Bai arrived in Jinge City and saw that the city was under martial law, with civilians ordered to stay home.
• Colonel Luo went to Strategic Affairs Department headquarters, where officials angrily debated Freedom Wings’ rejection of the Dongfeng Island investigation and called for retaliation.
• Bai Shaotang told Colonel Luo that Puler knew little about the Black Knight Unit, which was outside Freedom Wings’ official organization.
• Zhao Ruifeng welcomed Colonel Luo, and Bai Shaotang began presenting the border situation on a holographic sand table.

Bai Shaotang argued that the prepared defenses could hold Freedom Wings, but the Silver Giant’s mobility made him a dangerous threat who had to be forced into battle. He proposed feigning an attack on Freedom City while the Heavenly Fire Squad and Tianjian Squad struck Freedom Wings’ headquarters in Blagoveshchensk, leaving the officers to consider how to make the deception convincing.

• Bai Shaotang explained that the Great Wall Base project had concealed a tactical system that let them mobilize before Freedom Wings reached Amur State.
• Bai Shaotang warned that the Silver Giant’s strength and mobility could overturn battles and said they had to kill him before counterattacking.
• Senior officers questioned whether they could defeat or contain the Silver Giant, citing his ability to evade them and strike elsewhere.
• Bai Shaotang proposed attacking Freedom Wings’ vital point to force the Silver Giant to fight.
• Bai Shaotang revealed a feint: they would appear to prepare a cross-sea attack on Freedom City while the Heavenly Fire Squad and Tianjian Squad crossed the river to strike Freedom Wings’ headquarters in Blagoveshchensk.

After the operation plan was approved in outline, Luo Yan moved his mother and Xu Xiuying into the Dragon Rider family building. He then went to check on Bai Qixue as she attempted a breakthrough, but arrived to find commotion near her cultivation room.

• Bai Shaotang approved Luo Yan's application to bring Zhou Lijuan and Xu Xiuying to the Dragon Rider dormitory.
• Luo Yan collected the two women from Sunshine Convenience Store and settled them into the family building.
• Li Yuqing told Luo Yan that Bai Qixue was attempting to break through to the Mystic Womb Realm.
• Luo Yan encountered the disgraced Ye Wusheng on his way to the cultivation zone and continued to Bai Qixue's cultivation room.
• Luo Yan reached the passage near Bai Qixue's room and saw people shouting and moving around as if something had happened.

Vice Captain Bai advanced to the Mystic Womb Realm, gaining greater control over her Weirdnesses, while Luo Yan learned that Zhurong’s upgrade let it enter the Holy Descent form. The chapter ended with Luo Yan and Vice Captain Bai at the docking bay, where she remarked that the divine mech looked unchanged.

• Luo Yan found Vice Captain Bai’s Weirdnesses out of control, but the Headless General subdued them before Bai ordered them to behave.
• Vice Captain Bai explained that her advancement let her control more fully liberated Weirdnesses over greater distances and for longer periods.
• Luo Yan told Vice Captain Bai about Bai Shaotang’s plan, and she bought gifts to visit Luo Yan’s mother, Zhou Lijuan.
• Two days later, Luo Yan learned that Zhurong’s upgrade was complete and read the instructions for its Fictional Divine Soul system and Holy Descent form.
• Luo Yan went to the docking bay with Vice Captain Bai to inspect Zhurong, and Bai said its armor looked no different.

Luo Yan tested Zhurong after its software upgrade and successfully activated its Holy Descent posture with 75% empathy with the Fictional Divine Soul. The chapter then shifted to Anatoly leading an Alpha squad toward a town occupied by Freedom Wings to rescue residents and prepare for the liberation of Blagoveshchensk.

• Luo Yan entered Zhurong and completed its routine tests, earning an Excellent rating in every item.
• Luo Yan activated the Fictional Divine Soul system and endured the visions it produced while keeping his mind calm.
• Luo Yan reached 75% empathy with the Fictional Divine Soul and successfully activated the Holy Descent posture.
• Anatoly led his Alpha squad toward a town on the outskirts of Blagoveshchensk to rescue residents and, if possible, eliminate the Freedom Wings forces there.

Anatoly led Alpha Squad into a town occupied by Freedom Wings to rescue its residents, but an explosion struck the team while they searched. At Jinge City Command Headquarters, Bai Shaotang tasked Luo Yan and Heavenly Fire Squad with finding Anatoly after Cherno Fortress lost contact with him and could not mount a rescue.

• Anatoly briefed Alpha Squad that rescuing the residents was their priority before eliminating Freedom Wings' forces.
• Anatoly led the team through a storm and entered the town through a sewage outlet to avoid the tank guarding the highway.
• Anatoly sent drones to search the silent town for residents, but the drones found no one.
• An explosion hit the warehouse, throwing one of Anatoly's team members into the air and blowing him apart.
• Bai Shaotang told Luo Yan that Cherno Fortress had lost contact with Anatoly and requested help searching for him.

Luo Yan and Heavenly Fire Squad were sent to Blagoveshchensk to locate and rescue Anatoly while their deployment served as a feint against Freedom Wings. After arriving, Luo Yan learned that Anatoly and his team were alive but near an enemy mecha unit, and he led Heavenly Fire Squad out to rescue them.

• Bai Shaotang explained that Heavenly Fire Squad would search for Anatoly and secretly help mislead Freedom Wings about Strategic Affairs Department’s plans for Freedom City.
• Luo Yan reviewed reports on the fighting at White Elephant Group and Blagoveshchensk, then resolved to stop Freedom Wings from crossing the river.
• Luo Yan and Heavenly Fire Squad flew to a ground base near the riverbank, where Strategic Affairs Department’s engineers had completed a satellite search program.
• The satellite located Anatoly and his team outside the town, with a Freedom Wings mecha unit led by a Great Knight nearby.
• Luo Yan ordered Heavenly Fire Squad into their mecha and set out to rescue Anatoly and his allies.

Colonel Anatoly and his exhausted Alpha Squad fought to escape Freedom Wings through an abandoned city, but enemy forces and a Great Knight mech cornered them. Just as they prepared to make a final stand, distant explosions sent a shockwave crashing into their pursuers.

• Freedom Wings trapped Anatoly’s squad during a rescue mission, forcing them to flee on foot after their vehicle was destroyed.
• Anatoly ordered his team to move and left a wounded soldier behind when the young man refused to be carried and threatened to kill himself.
• Freedom Wings caught up with the squad, and Anatoly used his supernatural ability and energy shield to cover their retreat from soldiers and a tank.
• A Great Knight mech cornered Anatoly and demanded his surrender, but Anatoly and his team prepared to fight to the death.
• Distant explosions unleashed a shockwave that scattered the Freedom Wings soldiers blocking the squad’s path.

Luo Yan and the Giant Beast Strategy Department’s forces rescued Anatoly and Alpha Squad from Freedom Wings in Blagoveshchensk. Major General Kate Jenny heard that the pursuit had failed after a Divine General mecha intervened.

• A silver-white Divine General mecha cut down a knight-class mecha, while a heavy mecha attacked the colonel’s Great Knight and drove it into a building.
• Anatoly led Alpha Squad across the street as a snow-white crane distracted a pursuing knight-class mecha and a metallic stone wall blocked Freedom Wings’ ground forces.
• Luo Yan introduced himself as a member of the Tiangang Dragon Riders’ Heavenly Fire Squad and offered Anatoly a way out in the Divine General mecha Zhurong.
• Anatoly and Alpha Squad boarded Strategic Affairs Department armored vehicles and left the city under escort.
• The colonel reported the failed pursuit to Freedom Wings commander Major General Kate Jenny at the command center in Blagoveshchensk.