Chapter Summaries

Luo Yan learned that the laboratory was developing a Heavenly Ghost Radar to detect future descents, easing his concern that Heavenly Ghosts could remain hidden. In Five Rams Underground City, Old Ma met Zuo Ren and Liu Ying to hear about a well-paid job from the Yellow Springs.

• Luo Yan, Qing Lian, and Bai? discussed how Heavenly Ghosts could evade the Primordial Tent and whether a Jambudvipa Gate could let them descend on purpose.
• Bai? warned that Heavenly Ghosts could remain hidden for years, while Luo Yan considered the threat posed by the Heavenly Ghost in the Suo Po Association.
• Qing Lian explained that the laboratory was developing a satellite-linked Heavenly Ghost Radar, expected to be ready for deployment in a few months, and Luo Yan felt reassured.
• Old Ma arrived at Da Sanyuan Restaurant and met Zuo Ren in a private room.
• Liu Ying revealed that the meeting concerned a lucrative job from the Yellow Springs, and Old Ma demanded that the work pay well.

Zuo Ren, Old Ma, and Liu Ying discussed the underworld’s plan to hire them to kill Red Ghost, a powerful Black Witch leader who had driven the underworld out of the Guangfu region. They accepted the job and planned to gather information before Red Ghost returned to the south.

• Zuo Ren handed Old Ma a document identifying Red Ghost as the target of the underworld’s contract.
• Liu Ying warned that Red Ghost might be stronger than Profound Comprehension Great Perfection, and Old Ma urged Zuo Ren to refuse the dangerous job.
• Zuo Ren revealed the underworld had prepaid fifty million merit points and promised them half its future profits in the Guangfu region if they succeeded.
• Zuo Ren explained that Red Ghost was away from the south and that the underworld would provoke an assault to draw him back.
• Zuo Ren recounted Red Ghost’s rise through Qingyang City, Guangling City, Qingmu City, and Langya City before he seized the Guangfu region.
• Liu Ying suggested that Mu Xiu investigate Red Ghost’s past in Guangling City, and Zuo Ren said he had already instructed him.

Luo Yan and Xiao Bai returned to Guangling City, where they learned that City Lord Di Zheng faced a difficult election against businessman Lu Le. After visiting the Hundred Battles Academy, Luo Yan saw Xiao Dao thriving among her classmates.

• Xiao Bai told the alumni group that she and Luo Yan were arriving, and Liu Ruohan offered to meet them and show them around.
• Luo Yan learned that Di Zheng had gone to Pingyao Underground City to visit Jiang Yun Rong and was troubled by the coming City Lord Election, where Lu Le had gained influence and spread rumors against him.
• Luo Yan and Xiao Bai arrived in Guangling City at four in the afternoon, where Liu Ruohan greeted them and drove them to the Hundred Battles Academy.
• Luo Yan watched the students fill the campus and reflected that their hard work on the front lines protected the children’s peaceful lives.
• Luo Yan spotted Xiao Dao chatting happily with her classmates and saw how confident and lively she had become.

Luo Yan reunited with Xiao Dao and the orphans, heard about her third-place finish at the Grand Sports Meet, and promised to take her somewhere the next morning. He then met Yang Lixie at Wind Chime Bar, where he learned Captain Yan had renamed it in memory of Sister Ling.

• Luo Yan visited Xiao Shi and Pan Renfeng before going to Wei Fenghua's former home to see Xiao Dao and the children.
• Xiao Dao and the orphans joyfully welcomed Luo Yan, and he learned that Ye Xiang attended school with help from Xiao Dao and Teacher Li Bohang.
• Du Wei showed Luo Yan Xiao Dao's Grand Sports Meet trophy, and Luo Yan reassured her that her effort mattered more than her third-place ranking.
• Yang Lixie picked Luo Yan up and told him that he and Liu Ruohan planned to marry in winter, asking Luo Yan to be his best man.
• Yang Lixie took Luo Yan to Wind Chime Bar and explained that Captain Yan had renamed it after Sister Ling, who loved wind chimes.

Luo Yan reunited with old friends, then visited his mentor Wei Fenghua’s grave with Xiaodao and introduced her to his second mentor, Fang Yao. Fang Yao agreed to help guide Xiaodao while Luo Yan continued teaching her the Blood River Saber.

• Luo Yan hosted his old friends at the Wind Chime Bar, and Yan Wenbo closed the bar so they could spend the night together.
• Luo Yan brought Xiaodao to Wei Fenghua’s grave, where she paid her respects and Luo Yan told his mentor about his recent work and the threat from Yanfu.
• Luo Yan took Xiaodao to visit Fang Yao and introduced her as his student.
• Luo Yan asked Fang Yao to help teach Xiaodao, and Fang Yao agreed to advise her while leaving the Blood River Saber instruction to Luo Yan.
• Xiaodao thanked Fang Yao for agreeing to guide her.

Luo Yan learned that City Lord Di had returned injured and went to the hospital, where he discovered the evidence pointed to a deliberate assassination connected to the City Lord Election. Di Zheng survived surgery, but remained unable to speak with visitors, leaving Luo Yan and Liang Jian waiting for him to wake.

• Luo Yan received Bai?'s message that City Lord Di was injured and went to Guangling Hospital after leaving Xiaodao at the station.
• Bai? and Yang Lixie told Luo Yan that Di Zheng had crashed near the tunnel exit after traveling alone to Pingyao Underground City.
• Liang Jian reported that Di Zheng had stopped at Silver Bay Base, where a recorder captured him saying he was injured, and that the base had been sealed off for investigation.
• Luo Yan and Liang Jian concluded that Di Zheng's phone had been taken and that he had likely been deliberately targeted over the City Lord Election.
• The surgeons announced that Di Zheng's operation had succeeded and he was out of danger, while Liang Jian agreed to notify Luo Yan when he woke.

Luo Yan disguised himself as a corps soldier at the hospital to protect Di Zheng while Bai? stayed nearby to watch for danger. In Guangling City, assassin Mu Xiu quit Blood River after refusing its rules, then demanded the remaining payment from the person who had hired him to kill Di Zheng.

• Luo Yan rejected Liang Jian's offer to stay behind and asked for a corps uniform so he could guard Di Zheng without drawing attention.
• Bai? stayed at the hospital as a patient's family member and arranged for Hei Wu to monitor the building.
• Mu Xiu received a call from Pu Er, who told him to investigate Red Ghost and asked for details about his assassination mission.
• Mu Xiu argued that Blood River's rules prevented him from accepting the jobs he wanted, then quit and destroyed his phone.
• Mu Xiu called his employer from an inn and demanded the rest of his payment, threatening to come after him if he did not pay.

Mu Xiu used Soul Possession to infiltrate Guangling City Hospital while the Undercity Legion investigated the mysterious attack on Di Zheng. Luo Yan discovered signs of Soul Possession in a young nurse as the medical staff arrived to examine Di Zheng.

• Mu Xiu rented a room at Li Jing Hotel and possessed Shu Hui, then transferred his mind through several people toward Guangling City Hospital.
• Mu Xiu possessed a patient's family member and entered the hospital, but a guard prevented him from reaching Di Zheng's floor.
• Jiang Yun Rong visited the unconscious Di Zheng, while Yang Lixie told Luo Yan that a seemingly ordinary boy had stabbed the City Lord and suffered severe internal injuries.
• Yang Lixie left, and Luo Yan examined the doctors and nurses arriving to check Di Zheng.
• Luo Yan spotted a black mass of energy within a young nurse and saw the words "Soul Possession... Host..." in his field of vision.

Luo Yan thwarted Mu Xiu’s attempt to assassinate Di Zheng and discovered that the killer’s Soul Possession ability let them briefly see each other’s surroundings. He identified Mu Xiu’s location at Li Jing Hotel and sent Yang Lixie to capture him, but Mu Xiu escaped into another host.

• Luo Yan stopped Xiao Zhang from entering Di Zheng’s ward and followed her to an examination room, while Mu Xiu planned to possess Luo Yan through physical contact.
• Mu Xiu entered Luo Yan’s body but was violently repelled by the powerful beings within him, creating a brief resonance that showed Luo Yan the Li Jing Hotel and Times Department Store.
• Mu Xiu returned to Xiao Zhang, and Luo Yan called Yang Lixie with Mu Xiu’s location and a warning about the danger of physical contact.
• Luo Yan kept the hospital sealed and pursued Xiao Zhang, but the black energy vanished from her body, revealing that Mu Xiu had transferred to another host.

Luo Yan tracked Mu Xiu’s Soul Possession through the hospital as the killer shifted between patients and staff. Mu Xiu took Doctor Liu hostage in an operating room and demanded Di Zheng, while Luo Yan tried to buy time by claiming their forces had reached the Li Jing Hotel.

• Luo Yan identified Mu Xiu possessing an old woman in the gastroenterology corridor and tried to stop him from escaping by holding her hand.
• Mu Xiu transferred into the old woman’s granddaughter, then into a bearded man after White Bone Weirdness intercepted the girl.
• Luo Yan pursued the bearded man to the seventh floor, where Mu Xiu shifted into Doctor Liu and held a scalpel to his neck.
• Mu Xiu demanded that Luo Yan hand over Di Zheng, and Luo Yan refused.
• After seeing a bone hand signal from Bai?, Luo Yan pretended to agree and warned Mu Xiu that their people had reached the Li Jing Hotel.

Luo Yan helped stop Mu Xiu’s possession of Doctor Liu, but Mu Xiu escaped before Liang Jian’s team reached the hotel. The investigation led to Lu Le, whom Luo Yan and Liang Jian confronted at Security Department headquarters.

• Luo Yan used Mu Xiu’s lapse after hearing “Li Jing Hotel” to help Bai? restrain Doctor Liu, then knocked the doctor unconscious and forced Mu Xiu out of his host.
• Mu Xiu woke at Li Jing Hotel and fled through a window as Liang Jian and his assistants broke into his room; Liang Jian obtained Mu Xiu’s registration details and ordered a citywide search.
• Luo Yan visited the recovering Di Zheng and explained that the assassin used the Divine Treasure Soul Possession to control other people.
• Liang Jian told Luo Yan and Di Zheng that the killer had escaped but had been identified and had contacted Lu Le; the Security Department then captured Lu Le.
• Luo Yan and Liang Jian confronted Lu Le with the contact records, and the red-eyed man slashed Lu Le’s arm and threatened him until he revealed what he knew.

Luo Yan and Liang Jian investigated Mu Xiu, the assassin Lu Le had hired, and pursued separate leads to find him. Mu Xiu planned to confront Lu Le before leaving Guangling, but a masked attacker ambushed him at the Red Maple Hotel and left him severely injured.

• Lu Le told Luo Yan and Liang Jian that he had hired Mu Xiu of Blood River, and Liang Jian arranged to protect Lu Le after learning Mu Xiu might come to see him.
• Luo Yan went to Li Jing Hotel to track Mu Xiu and called someone for help, while Liang Jian took Lu Le home under protection.
• Mu Xiu moved between hosts, reached the Red Maple Hotel, and decided to settle accounts with Lu Le before leaving Guangling.
• Mu Xiu opened his door to a supposed dinner delivery, but a masked man burst in and struck him so hard that he could barely speak or move.

Luo Yan ambushed Mu Xiu at a hotel and killed him after revealing his Dragon Transformation form. Afterward, Guan Qi asked whether Luo Yan would be interested in expanding 'Nine Phoenixes' operations to the south.

• Luo Yan worked with Guan Qi and 'Nine Phoenixes' to clear the hotel floor and monitor Mu Xiu before ambushing him as he opened his door.
• Mu Xiu injected emergency drugs, fought back, and attempted to control Luo Yan with Soul Possession.
• Inside Luo Yan's mind, Mu Xiu recognized the Fierce Beast figure from the corps soldier he had possessed the previous day and realized Luo Yan was that soldier.
• Luo Yan transformed into his Dragon Transformation form, cut off Mu Xiu's arm, and killed him with a black sickle after dispelling Mu Xiu's green-cloud attack.
• Guan Qi met Luo Yan in the corridor, thanked him for recognizing 'Nine Phoenixes' work, and asked whether he would consider expanding their operations to the south.

Luo Yan proposed expanding his southern influence with Guan Qi’s help, then returned to Guangling City and supported Di Zheng’s decision to retire. After Luo Yan left for Jinge City, Liu Ying’s failed inquiries into Mu Xiu’s killer and the Red Ghost led Zuo Ren to prepare for Huang Yuanlong’s coming move.

• Luo Yan told Guan Qi he planned to expand south from Guangfu and warned her that cooperating with him would make Nine Phoenix an enemy of Huangquan; Guan Qi promised to consider the proposal.
• Di Zheng returned home from the hospital, learned that Luo Yan had killed the assassin and Lu Le had been captured, and decided to retire so he could focus on Jiang Yun Rong and his family.
• Luo Yan and his companion shared dinner at Di Zheng’s home, then formally said farewell and took the Undercity train to Jinge City the next day.
• After Luo Yan left, Guan Qi refused Liu Ying’s requests to identify Mu Xiu’s killer and provide information about the Red Ghost.
• Liu Ying reported Nine Phoenix’s refusals to Zuo Ren, who said Huang Yuanlong was about to act and ordered Liu Ying to return while Pu Er gathered intelligence.

Luo Yan welcomed Jing Yu as the Heavenly Fire Squad’s new member and assigned the squad’s two Spirit Suits to Duoduo and Zhang Tianyi. The next day, Luo Yan and the squad gathered for another Raven Project experiment, where they met Wang Meng and his muscular squad members.

• Bai Shaotang told Luo Yan that the Strategic Affairs Department had distributed two Spirit Suits, and Luo Yan assigned the Mirror Armor to Duoduo and the longsword to Zhang Tianyi.
• Luo Yan told the Heavenly Fire Squad that a new member was joining, and Jing Yu arrived to report for duty.
• Luo Yan welcomed Jing Yu with a squad dinner, where Li Yuqing promised to look after him and Zhang Tianyi offered to spar with him.
• The next day, Luo Yan and the Heavenly Fire Squad arrived for another Raven Project experiment, but Li Yuqing was still asleep after drinking the night before.
• Wang Meng greeted Luo Yan at the venue and introduced his large, muscular squad members, who saluted Luo Yan.

Luo Yan watched the Raven Project’s eighth trial send a rhesus macaque into Yanfu, where a giant snake swallowed it. The creature then approached the Jambudvipa Rift, and the lab barely shut the portal before it could break through.

• Bai Shaotang announced that the Raven Project would send a living creature into Yanfu and began the eighth trial with a suited rhesus macaque.
• The project team activated the Drill Machine and sent the monkey and its cage through the Jambudvipa Rift, where the monkey emerged into a grassland.
• The monkey climbed a giant tree, but a huge snake appeared, chased it, and swallowed it, cutting off the camera signal.
• The laboratory tried to close Jambu Realm Space, but a system failure left the rift open as a giant beast approached from the other side.
• The lab pulled the plug, and the rift vanished before the shadow could break through; Bai Shaotang ended the trial and adjourned the meeting.

After a dangerous experiment, Luo Yan learned that Yellow Springs was gathering forces in Yong City to retake its lost King Chu Jiang Branch. He decided to target Jiang Chengxuan, whose defeat could disrupt Huang Yuanlong’s influence and Yellow Springs’s planned attack.

• Li Yuqing accidentally exposed herself when Luo Yan and the others returned to the Heavenly Fire Squad dormitory, and Luo Yan assigned her a month of cleaning as punishment.
• Luo Yan and his squad discussed the danger of Heavenly Ghosts escaping from a Jambudvipa Rift and concluded that a weakened Sixth-Level Heavenly Ghost could be defeated.
• After receiving Han Xu’s report that Yellow Springs was gathering forces in Yong City, Luo Yan traveled south to meet him in Five Rams Underground City.
• Han Xu told Luo Yan that Liu Rui, Zhu Dai, Yang Jing, and Jiang Chengxuan were among Yellow Springs’s notable branch chiefs, and that Huang Yuanlong might be leading the gathering.
• Luo Yan learned that Jiang Chengxuan was closely tied to Huang Yuanlong and decided to kill him to weaken Yellow Springs’s forces.

Luo Yan planned to target Jiang Chengxuan and arranged to meet Zheng Liangcai, while Zuo Ren prepared an assassination attempt against Mister Red Ghost. The chapter ended with Luo Yan and Han Xu seeing Zheng Liangcai’s campaign platform as his election prospects looked strong.

• Han Xu argued that killing Jiang Chengxuan would weaken the King Zhuan Lun branch and help persuade Yang Jing and Zhu Dai to join them, and Luo Yan agreed to make Jiang their target.
• Luo Yan told Han Xu to arrange a meeting with Zheng Liangcai that night.
• Zuo Ren told Old Ma and Liu Ying that Han Xu had arranged to meet Zheng Liangcai and Mister Red Ghost at Da Sanyuan Restaurant.
• Zuo Ren assigned Old Ma to attack Mister Red Ghost with his Divine Treasure, Spirit Platform Martial Arts Performance, and Old Ma demanded half the payment if they succeeded.
• Luo Yan and Han Xu passed Zheng Liangcai’s campaign platform, and Han Xu said Zheng was likely to become Yang City’s next City Lord.

Luo Yan met Zheng Liangcai to secure protection for his businesses while the Underworld prepared to attack, then Old Ma trapped him in a world of consciousness and declared he would destroy Luo Yan’s will. There, Luo Yan learned that people’s consciousness bodies revealed their True Forms.

• Han Xu told Luo Yan that Zheng Liangcai’s election campaign was doing well and that he was leading the vote count.
• Luo Yan met Zheng Liangcai at Da Sanyuan Restaurant, where Zheng thanked him for helping the campaign.
• Luo Yan warned Zheng Liangcai that the Underworld was gathering in Yong City and asked him to protect Luo Yan’s businesses when their main forces left Yang City.
• After the banquet, Luo Yan sensed someone watching him and saw a grinning middle-aged man whose strange gaze transported him out of Five Rams Underground City.
• Old Ma appeared in his younger True Form inside a world of consciousness and told Luo Yan he intended to destroy his will.

Luo Yan was drawn into Old Ma’s world of consciousness, where his True Form transformed into a fusion of his own power, Xuanqiu’s, and Fire Yang True Lord’s. After Luo Yan overwhelmed him, Old Ma ended his ability and quietly left Da Sanyuan Restaurant.

• Old Ma dismissed Luo Yan’s ordinary appearance as possibly belonging to a substitute, then attacked him with giant swords of light.
• Luo Yan’s True Form transformed, revealing black scales, coiled horns, crimson claws, and a flame wheel, and Old Ma recognized him as the Crimson Ghost.
• Luo Yan and Old Ma exchanged attacks in the world of consciousness, and Luo Yan’s flames destroyed Old Ma’s golden swords while his claw strike wounded him.
• Old Ma realized Luo Yan’s mental strength surpassed his own and ended Spirit Platform Martial Arts Performance to escape.
• Back in Da Sanyuan Restaurant, Old Ma quietly left as Luo Yan stood dazed and Zheng Liangcai looked on in confusion.