Chapter Summaries

Secretary Jin apologized to Luo Yan on behalf of Penglai City and tried to get information about the Forbidden Land and the Heavenly Insect Pill, but he refused. After reporting to the City Lord that the Surface Corps had begun searching the Forbidden Land, Jin Qian learned that Zhu Qinggui's steward wanted to see her.

• Liu Zheng defended the Surface Corps' decision to take Luo Yan and search the Forbidden Land when Secretary Jin challenged him.
• Jin Qian apologized to Luo Yan for the Surface Corps and tried to persuade him to reveal what happened in the Forbidden Land and whether he had the Heavenly Insect Pill.
• Luo Yan refused to comment, and Jin Qian left after saying she would return the next day.
• Jin Qian told the City Lord that Luo Yan had refused to talk and that the Surface Corps had entered the Forbidden Land to search for the Heavenly Insect Pill.
• A male assistant told Jin Qian that Zhu Qinggui's steward wanted to see her.

Luo Yan exposed the Zhu Family’s betrayals and revealed that he had let himself be captured to question Zhu Qinggui. After breaking free, he killed Yang Shuangfeng, Zhang Changan, and Zhu Zian, while Zhu Qinggui shot Zhu Zixian.

• Zhu Zian and Zhu Zixian threatened Luo Yan for information about the Heavenly Insect Pill, while Luo Yan learned their names and hidden motives through their thoughts.
• Luo Yan revealed that Yang Shuangfeng was involved with Zhang Changan, who loved Xia Jia, and exposed Zhu Zixian for poisoning Zhu Zian through his weekly ginseng soup.
• Zhu Zian attacked Zhu Zixian, and Zhu Qinggui stopped the fight before demanding that Luo Yan reveal where the Heavenly Insect Pill was.
• Luo Yan broke apart his handcuffs, restored his Primal Energy, and killed Yang Shuangfeng with a sword shadow before revealing that the Heavenly Insect Pill was gone and that he had allowed himself to be captured.
• Luo Yan killed Zhang Changan as he tried to flee, then slammed Zhu Zian’s head into a wall.
• Zhu Qinggui drew a gun hidden in his cane and fired at Luo Yan, who pulled Zhu Zixian in front of the shot, leaving Zhu Zixian wounded.

Luo Yan escaped Zhu Qinggui’s kidnapping, killed him, and exposed Jin Qian’s role in helping the Zhu family reach Judicial Island. Liu Zheng took Luo Yan into the corps’s protection, while the recording threatened to force a confrontation with the City Lord’s Office.

• Zhu Qinggui admitted that he had bribed Jin Qian to help his people enter Judicial Island in search of the Heavenly Insect Pill, and Luo Yan recorded the confession.
• Luo Yan told Zhu Qinggui that no Heavenly Insect Pills remained, then killed him and sent the recording to Wei Fenghua.
• Liu Zheng learned that Luo Yan had been taken by force and suspected Zhu Qinggui, but warned Chen Lu that the corps could not yet openly confront the City Lord’s Office.
• Liu Zheng found Luo Yan washing blood from his hands at the burning Zhu Mansion, and Luo Yan gave him Zhang Changan’s phone and recording.
• Luo Yan revealed that he had sent a copy of the confession to his mentor, then agreed to leave Judicial Island and stay at a hotel guarded by the corps.

After the Zhu Mansion burned and Zhu Qinggui and several relatives died, Wei Fenghua arrived in Penglai to secure support for Luo Yan. At the Xianhai Hotel, the Surface Legion tried to arrest Luo Yan over the massacre, leaving him caught between rival factions in the Undercity.

• Wei Fenghua showed Yuan Mingde a recording of the Undercity endangering students, and Yuan Mingde pledged Yingzhou Academy's unconditional support.
• Wei Fenghua and Wang Ying found Surface Legion soldiers surrounding the Xianhai Hotel and entered to find Liu Zheng's group confronting them.
• Liu Ruohan told Wei Fenghua that the Surface Legion had sealed the hotel and tried to arrest Luo Yan, prompting Liu Zheng to intervene.
• Wang Ying said the City Lord's Office had likely ordered the arrest to keep the Mecha Legion from learning of it, and Wei Fenghua suspected Luo Yan was being used in a factional struggle.
• A Surface Legion officer presented a City Lord's Office arrest warrant and demanded that Luo Yan cooperate with the Zhu Mansion massacre investigation.

Liu Zheng and Wang Ying challenged the Surface Legion’s attempt to arrest Luo Yan, arguing that he killed the Zhu family in self-defense after they abducted him and threatened his life. Jin Qian arrived and denied colluding with Zhu Qinggui, demanding evidence as she insisted Luo Yan’s killings were indisputable.

• Liu Zheng admitted that Luo Yan killed sixteen people at the Zhu Mansion, but explained that Luo Yan had been abducted and acted in self-defense.
• Liu Zheng revealed that Jin Qian had helped Zhu Qinggui’s men infiltrate Judicial Island and played Luo Yan’s recording as evidence.
• Officer Zhou insisted that the Surface Legion would arrest Luo Yan and accused Liu Zheng of obstructing law enforcement.
• Wang Ying said Yingzhou Academy’s principal considered Luo Yan’s actions understandable and demanded a fair investigation involving the academy, the Mecha Legion, and the City Lord’s Office, with Jin Qian investigated first.
• Jin Qian arrived at the hotel, denied colluding with Zhu Qinggui, demanded direct evidence, and maintained that Luo Yan had killed the Zhu family.

The Giant Beast Strategy Department intervened in the hotel standoff and took Luo Yan away to answer Dr. Jia Miao’s questions, temporarily removing him from the fight over the Zhu family case. Wei Fenghua and Wang Ying stayed in Penglai, preparing to demand an explanation once Colonel Liang Jian arrived.

• Jin Qian and Liu Zheng argued over Luo Yan’s arrest as the Giant Beast Strategy Department arrived at the hotel.
• Shen Feng said Dr. Jia Miao wanted to question Luo Yan and invoked the Civilization Preservation Law to override Jin Qian’s objections.
• Luo Yan agreed to leave with Shen Feng after Wei Fenghua told him not to worry about what happened afterward.
• Jin Qian left the hotel, and the Surface Legion withdrew; Liu Zheng returned to the Mecha Legion and offered Wei Fenghua help if needed.
• Wei Fenghua and Wang Ying decided to remain in Penglai until Colonel Liang Jian arrived and promised to demand an explanation from the City Lord’s Office.

Luo Yan learned from Shen Feng that Penglai City's factions were turning against one another despite the giant-beast threat, and heard how the Civilization Preservation Law guarded against selfish interests. They arrived at Jinge City, where Shen Feng brought him to the Guixu Civilization Research Institute to learn about its excavations and Dr. Jia Miao's search for a way to close the Jambu Realm Space.

• Luo Yan concluded that the City Lord's Office had used him and the Zhu Mansion incident as pretexts to target the Mecha Legion, and Shen Feng confirmed the factions' longstanding conflict.
• Shen Feng explained that Penglai City's peaceful years had let power and desire fuel factional strife, and described how the Civilization Preservation Law and strict assessments protected the effort to repel giant beasts.
• Shen Feng and Luo Yan arrived in Jinge City and traveled to the Giant Beast Strategy Department's Zhaoshuang District.
• Shen Feng took Luo Yan through the Guixu Civilization Research Institute, where he showed him replicas of artifacts unearthed from Guixu.
• Shen Feng told Luo Yan that Dr. Jia Miao believed Guixu held a way to close the Jambu Realm Space and had continued researching it.

Luo Yan met Jia Miao, who explained the translated Ruins of Return characters and questioned him about where he found them. After he described a mural inside Kun, Jia Miao and Lin Wei showed him images identifying the woman as Mei Ba, also known as the Mother of All Beasts, possibly the creator of the giant beasts.

• Jia Miao told Luo Yan that the characters he had asked Lin Wei to translate seemed to mean, “Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they treat all things as straw dogs.”
• Jia Miao asked where Luo Yan had found the characters, and he said he had seen them reflected on a lake inside Kun and had deleted his recording.
• Luo Yan described the temple and mural inside Kun, including a woman standing on the beast, two indistinct men, and a towering tree containing a universe.
• Lin Wei projected images from the Ruins of Return and explained that the woman was called Mei Ba or the Mother of All Beasts, while the two men remained unidentified.
• Lin Wei said Mei Ba might have created the giant beasts in the Jambu Realm, and Luo Yan recognized her name as that of the Black Witches’ Witch God.

Luo Yan learned more about the Ruins and the Ancient People, then returned to Guangling after Penglai reduced his charges and compensated him with the Ultimate Skill 'Ten Steps, One Kill.' Back at Hundred Battles Academy, he reunited with his classmates and discovered that two Primordial Stone Fragments attracted each other and merged.

• Jia Miao and Lin Wei explained that the Ancient People revered two men more than Mei Ba and called Mei Ba the 'Great Enemy of Heaven,' while the Ruins' origins remained unknown.
• Lin Wei showed Luo Yan the original Foundation Establishment Art and described how scholars and pioneers adapted it into the cultivation methods used today.
• Wei Fenghua told Luo Yan that Penglai had reduced his charge to 'Excessive Defense,' blacklisted him from the city, and awarded him 'Ten Steps, One Kill' and cultivation potions.
• Luo Yan returned to Hundred Battles Academy, where Bai ?, Yang Lixie, Zeng Shan, and the others welcomed him; he learned Tao Yu and her son were living safely at the academy.
• Luo Yan placed his Primordial Stone Fragment beside the one from Ghost Lantern, and the two fragments glowed, vibrated, and converged in his hand.

Luo Yan completed the transformation of his Divine Treasure into Insightful Silver Eyes and discovered that it could reveal the Dao underlying things. After Yu Qiushui called to announce an all-out war against Huangquan, Luo Yan began preparing Red Gate and the other organizations for the conflict.

• The two Primordial Stone Fragments fused, and their Tai-Su Pattern struck Luo Yan's brow as a beam of light.
• Wei Fenghua returned with Essence Augmentation Potions, and Luo Yan advanced his cultivation, reaching the third layer of the Blood Transformation Scripture and mastering Ten Steps, One Kill.
• Luo Yan's Divine Treasure transformed into Insightful Silver Eyes, which revealed silver patterns representing the Dao of a training puppet.
• Luo Yan practiced with his new Divine Treasure and combat techniques, then received Yu Qiushui's call to meet on the surface and prepare for war with Huangquan.
• At Jude Tower, Luo Yan ordered Wen Zou to prepare Li Yu, the Red Gate forces, and other organizations, and arranged a banquet for the following night.

Luo Yan gathered the old city’s factions at Jude Tower and ordered them to send half their people to support Red Gate’s major operation. Xiao Yi of Red Scarf challenged the demand, and Wen Zou confronted him as Luo Yan left the matter in his hands.

• Luo Yan reviewed the arriving guests and learned that Red Scarf had come uninvited, apparently looking to provoke Red Gate.
• Luo Yan instructed Wen Zou to bring Nine Phoenix’s representative to the quiet room when they arrived.
• At the banquet, Luo Yan announced that every organization must send half its people to join Red Gate’s operation, with profits divided by contribution.
• Uncle Ya, Ding Ding'ao, Yue Zun, and the other guests agreed to support Red Gate.
• Xiao Yi objected to Luo Yan’s demand, and Wen Zou approached Red Scarf’s table and warned Xiao Yi to leave or face consequences.

Luo Yan hired Nine Phoenix to support Red Gate’s coming operation against its surface opponents, hoping to earn enough merit in the war against Yellow Springs to become a branch chief and access information about Charm Demon. The chapter left him with his forces assembled and the operation nearing readiness.

• Xiao Yi brought Red Scarf to Jude Tower to make a name for himself, but Wen Zou ordered him out and declared that Red Scarf would be gone by the next day.
• Luo Yan told Wen Zou that one red streak in the old city was enough, and Wen Zou understood that Red Gate would eliminate Red Scarf.
• Wen Zou informed Luo Yan that Guan Qi of Nine Phoenix had arrived, and Luo Yan met with her in a quiet room.
• Luo Yan hired Nine Phoenix for assassination and intelligence support, promising a ten-million merit-point deposit and at least twenty million more after the operation.
• After Guan Qi left, Luo Yan revealed that he wanted to rise to branch chief rank so he could access records about Charm Demon and seek a way to close Jambu Realm Space.

Luo Yan improved his combat skills and learned to wield more of Blood Executioner’s power before heading to a surface meeting about the operation against Huangquan. As he approached the meeting point, a sniper fired at him.

• Luo Yan expanded Ten Steps, One Kill’s strongest killing range to three and a half steps and became confident he could make Gao Lin suffer a loss using only Blood Executioner and the skill.
• Luo Yan mastered Blood Offering, which could form a pagoda that boosted his combat abilities but consumed too much Primal Energy for him to sustain beyond its fourth level.
• Luo Yan awkwardly held little Cai Tong in the cafeteria while Bai? and Tao Yu helped care for the child, and he watched reports of resource conflicts on the surface.
• Luo Yan traveled to a surface city on June 21 to meet Yu Qiushui and several captains about their plan against Huangquan.
• A sniper fired at Luo Yan as he neared the city, and he ducked to avoid the shot.

Luo Yan was ambushed by a sniper on the way to Yu Qiushui’s gathering, but Red Luan and White Egret rescued him and reported that Huangquan had attacked the captains. When a large armed force blocked their escape route, Luo Yan decided the city was a trap and led the armored vehicle in a breakout.

• A sniper destroyed Luo Yan’s motorcycle, but Luo Yan armored himself with Dragon Scales and charged toward the shooter.
• Red Luan arrived in an armored vehicle and killed the sniper with its Gatling gun before taking Luo Yan aboard.
• Red Luan told Luo Yan that Huangquan had learned of the captains’ meeting and attacked everyone who attended; the other captains had already been evacuated toward Lone Smoke Base.
• White Egret spotted hundreds of armed attackers blocking the highway, and Luo Yan concluded that the enemy was driving them toward a trap in the city.
• Luo Yan took control of the Gatling gun, cut down the attackers, and enabled the armored vehicle to charge toward the gap.

Luo Yan survived the attack on the armored vehicle and cut through the Yellow Springs forces with his dual sabers. As he and the vehicle threatened to break the interception, Xu Yong released a Ghost Man and sent it after Luo Yan.

• Xu Yong ordered a rocket attack that destroyed the armored vehicle’s rapid-fire machine gun and blasted Luo Yan onto the road, but Luo Yan rose largely unharmed.
• The armored vehicle opened fire from its side ports as Luo Yan advanced into the Yellow Springs forces under the protection of his Golden Armor.
• Luo Yan used the third layer of the Blood Transformation Scripture and his dual sabers to slaughter soldiers, absorbing their blood qi to replenish his strength.
• Red Luan joined White Egret in the armored vehicle’s driving compartment and helped fire its front-mounted guns into the interception net.
• Xu Yong ordered every Ghost Man in the cargo truck released and had a gunman mark Luo Yan with a beam of light.
• A bluish-white Ghost Man leaped from the truck, spotted the light on Luo Yan, and charged toward him.

Luo Yan slaughtered the Yellow Springs Organization’s Ghost Persons and reached Lone Smoke Base with Yu Qiushui’s team. He wondered what the organization possessed of the Shebi Shi, whose living cells had been used to create the biological weapons.

• The Dragon Dragon Blood Essence reacted to the Ghost Persons, but Luo Yan calmly killed all nine with his Dual Sabers and absorbed some of their blood energy.
• Luo Yan gained Ghost Person Essence Blood, which could grant him a poisonous, enhanced Ghostly Fiend State when burned with Boiling Blood.
• Xu Yong’s forces retreated, and Yu Qiushui’s subordinates came to respect Luo Yan after witnessing his fight.
• Two days later, Luo Yan arrived at Lone Smoke Base and settled into a room after Red Luan left to report to the captain.
• Luo Yan recalled that the Ghost Persons were made from Shebi Shi cells and wondered whether Yellow Springs possessed the creature or only some of its tissue.

Luo Yan attended a Xuanming Department captains’ meeting where Yu Qiushui took responsibility for the leak that exposed their gathering to Yellow Springs. The captains agreed to continue after Yu promised an investigation, compensation, and segmented management of the operation, while Luo Yan warned them about Yellow Springs’ Ghostmen.

• Luo Yan reflected on the Gou Mang Department’s Qiongqi Blood Essence and the secrets held by Yellow Springs and the Black Witch before Red Luan escorted him to the captains’ meeting.
• Chen Ling asked Luo Yan about the interception, while Huang Yu arrived and provoked him before the other Xuanming Department captains gathered.
• Yu Qiushui apologized and accepted responsibility for the leak, but Huang Yu and He Dong demanded an explanation and questioned whether Team 1 could prevent further leaks.
• Luo Yan described Yellow Springs’ Ghostmen as fast, agile, highly poisonous biological weapons and warned that a large supply could threaten the war effort.
• Yu Qiushui promised to investigate the leak, provide cultivation resources, and share plans separately with each captain; she also said Team 1 had captured a Ghostman for study and doubted Yellow Springs could mass-produce them in the Northern Lands.
• Huang Yu and He Dong accepted Yu Qiushui’s response and allowed the meeting to continue.

Yu Qiushui gathered the Xuanming Department captains to coordinate their forces for the Yellow Springs war, then announced that the Gou Mang Department would join the operation. After the meeting, Luo Yan encountered a fleeing Ghost Soldier, and He Dong confronted it as it sprayed him with liquid.

• Zheng Huan, He Dong, Chen Ling, Luo Yan, and Huang Yu reported the forces they could commit, with Luo Yan revealing that Team 7 had five hundred combat personnel, thirty main-force members, and three mechs.
• Yu Qiushui gave the captains phones containing their assignments and announced that the Gou Mang Department would participate in the war.
• Luo Yan suspected Lin Yuanfang had survived the Valley of Grief and was bringing the Gou Mang Department into the operation to recover from its losses.
• After the meeting, Luo Yan identified a one-horned fugitive as a Ghost Soldier created by the Yellow Springs Ghoul project.
• He Dong crushed the Ghost Soldier's wrist, but it sprayed blue-green liquid at him.

He Dong subdued a Ghost Soldier, which researchers took away as a specimen, while Luo Yan studied Yu Qiushui’s plan to capture Yellow Springs’ Spring Feather Base. After returning to Coyote Camp and assembling his forces, Luo Yan met with Luo Zi to learn about the base’s formidable director, Li Guanghe.

• He Dong broke the Ghost Soldier’s spine, then let researchers take it away as a research specimen.
• Luo Yan reviewed Yu Qiushui’s plan to capture Spring Feather Base and decided to gather more intelligence through his planted agent, Luo Zi.
• Luo Yan returned to Coyote Camp, reviewed his assembled forces with Li Yu, and arranged how Red Gate, Iron Horse, and the old-city organizations would be deployed.
• Luo Zi arrived at Coyote Camp, and Luo Yan asked what he knew about Spring Feather Base.
• Luo Zi identified Li Guanghe as the base’s director and warned that he was stronger than Luo Zi and Chu Yuan, possibly beyond Luo Yan’s ability to defeat.

Luo Yan learned about the Yellow Springs Ghoul project and planned an attack on Spring Feather Base, then infiltrated the abandoned city to assassinate Li Guanghe and investigate the laboratory. He discovered that the base had once occupied a ruined area and spotted a figure with no biological gray light inside a building, suggesting a Yellow Springs Ghoul was nearby.

• Luo Zi told Luo Yan about Spring Feather Base's defenses, the Yellow Springs Ghoul project, and an additional mech destined for the base.
• Luo Yan gave Luo Zi a temporary antidote and warned him to seek Luo Yan at Spring Feather Base if trouble arose.
• Luo Yan and the camp's core members planned an assault, then Luo Yan left Coyote Camp alone while Yang Hao led a group away.
• Luo Yan entered the abandoned city using Nether Gate Opening and Insightful Silver Eyes, intending to kill Li Guanghe and investigate the laboratory.
• Luo Yan found ruins, wrecked vehicles, and soldiers' skeletons at Spring Feather Base's former location, then saw a figure without biological gray light inside a building.