Chapter Summaries

Luo Yan killed Li Gui and his men when they tried to stop him from leaving Guan Yang’s camp. After Guan Yang explained that a surface group was clashing with Blizzard Base and Tianfu Group, Luo Yan learned why Blizzard Base had become so lively.

• Xiao Li accused Luo Yan of harassing her, and Li Gui ordered his men to attack him.
• Luo Yan summoned vermilion flames that killed Li Gui and his men and destroyed their vehicles.
• Guan Yang thanked Luo Yan and introduced himself, while Luo Yan said he had not acted for the camp’s sake.
• Guan Yang guessed that Luo Yan was traveling to Blizzard Base and explained that a surface group had annexed several bases and companies.
• Guan Yang said the group was negotiating with Blizzard Base and had already clashed with it several times.

Yang Tao attended negotiations between Blizzard Base's Thunder Fire Organization and Jinyang Group, expecting the base to struggle against the larger power. Jinyang Group proposed that Blizzard Base join the group while keeping its internal management under Thunder Fire.

• Yang Tao entered the negotiation hall with an invitation and told Blind Chen that she thought the talks would go poorly.
• Chang Qing introduced Thunder Fire leader Xiao Yi and Jinyang Group's representatives, Su Nan and Lei Zunyi, to the gathered attendees.
• Su Nan described the negotiations as a minor matter, prompting angry protests that Chang Qing quickly silenced.
• Xiao Yi demanded to know Jinyang Group's goal, and Su Nan proposed that Blizzard Base join the group, with only its name changing and Thunder Fire retaining control of internal management.

Su Nan presented Jinyang Group’s demands to Blizzard Base, then used its debts to pressure the base into surrendering assets. After Blizzard Base offered its mines to settle the debt, Lei Zunyi accepted them despite their being valued below the amount owed.

• Su Nan demanded that Blizzard Base give Jinyang Group sixty percent of its annual profits and transfer its mines and water treatment plant to the group’s management.
• When Xiao Yi objected, Su Nan presented bills showing that Blizzard Base owed 320 million work points, then offered to waive 20 million if it paid 300 million or joined Jinyang Group.
• Chang Qing confirmed the debts but challenged the interest and the cancellation of the installment agreements; Su Nan insisted the creditors’ rights had transferred to Jinyang Group.
• After discussing its options, Xiao Yi offered Blizzard Base’s mines to settle the debt, since it could not spare its mechas or water treatment plant.
• Jinyang Group’s accountants valued the mines below the debt, but Lei Zunyi accepted them anyway and declared the debt settled.

Yang Tao joined a mission to reclaim Blizzard Base’s water treatment plant after Jinyang Group seized it, while Sister Xiaodao and Little Rascal stayed behind. Luo Yan returned to the courtyard after half a year and asked where Yang Tao was.

• Sister Xiaodao reassured Little Rascal that Luo Yan still cared about them, then welcomed Yang Tao back from negotiations with Jinyang Group.
• Two days later, Blizzard Base learned that the water treatment plant had been taken over, and Xiao Yi and Chang Qing decided to issue a mission to reclaim it.
• Yang Tao accepted the mission to protect the base and the orphans, then set out under Chang Qing’s command the next day.
• Sister Xiaodao and Little Rascal wished they could grow up and help Yang Tao before Luo Yan arrived at their courtyard.
• Little Rascal rushed to hug Luo Yan, who asked where Yang Tao was.

Mister Luo visited Blizzard Base, learned Yang Tao had gone on a mission to retake the occupied Water Plant, and watched her join Thunderfire’s assault. The attack was still underway when Yang Tao struck down a towering enemy fighter.

• Little Rascal chose the name Du Wei, and Mister Luo reminded the orphans to eat well and keep their supplies safe.
• Xiao Dao told Mister Luo that Yang Tao had gone on a mission and explained the earlier negotiations between Jinyang Group and Blizzard Base.
• Mister Luo suspected a connection between those negotiations and the Water Plant’s occupation, then left to investigate.
• Thunderfire cut the Water Plant’s power, used sniper fire and smoke grenades to overwhelm the guards, and began its assault.
• Mister Luo watched Yang Tao stealthily kill guards with the Dragon Sparrow before several Advanced-level enemies counterattacked.
• A burly fighter sent Blizzard Base prospectors flying, and Yang Tao appeared behind him and slashed between his legs.

Luo Yan watched Yang Tao fight her way toward the Water Plant administration building, then witnessed Alger, a foreign Third Order transcendent with the Annihilation Barrier talent, kill two Blizzard Base hunters. He identified a possible weakness beneath Alger’s feet but did not know whether the defenders would discover it.

• Yang Tao killed a giant with a slash between his legs, then cut his neck and continued toward the Water Plant administration building.
• Luo Yan observed that Yang Tao’s companions were fighting the enemy cultivators while she focused on reaching the enemy leader.
• Alger crashed through the administration building wall, and his purple barrier made bullets, blades, and some Primal Energy vanish on contact.
• Alger killed two Blizzard Base hunters with punches that annihilated sections of their bodies.
• Luo Yan used Golden Eyes of Enlightenment to identify Alger’s Annihilation Barrier talent and reasoned that the soles of his feet might be unprotected.

Luo Yan watched Yang Tao confront Alger, a transcendent whose Annihilation Barrier made him nearly invulnerable. Yang Tao exposed the barrier’s limits and killed Alger, while Luo Yan’s thoughts about foreign organizations infiltrating the country remained unresolved.

• Alger charged into the Blizzard Base personnel, killing several people despite their attacks.
• Yang Tao used A Strip of Rainbow to dispel Alger’s Annihilation Barrier, but he restored it and resumed his assault.
• Yang Tao drew Alger into a chase, using Dragon Sparrow and Shocking Void Strength to plant blade auras in the ground.
• Yang Tao detonated the hidden blade auras beneath Alger, damaging his feet and trapping him in the ground.
• Yang Tao cut Alger’s throat with Dragon Sparrow, killing him.

After the Water Plant battle, Luo Yan gave Dragon Sparrow to Yang Tao and went alone to the Jinyang Group’s headquarters to persuade its leaders to abandon their plans against Blizzard Base. He forced his way through the town’s defenses, prompting Leo to learn that a single intruder had caused the escalating commotion.

• Luo Yan returned to Blizzard Base, praised Yang Tao for her conduct at the Water Plant, and gave her Dragon Sparrow.
• Luo Yan left the base alone for the Jinyang Group’s headquarters, planning to make its leaders give up on Blizzard Base.
• A guard fired at Luo Yan when he approached the town, but Luo Yan struck the wall with his sheathed saber and brought down part of it.
• Luo Yan entered through the breach as the guards raised the alarm, and fighting broke out across the town.
• Leo discussed the Jinyang Group’s failed plan at the Water Plant with his secretary before an explosion shook the skyscraper.
• Leo learned from Shen Ying that there was only one intruder and wondered whether the person had reached the Advanced level or the Profound Comprehension Realm.

Luo Yan fought his way through Jinyang Group’s defenses without killing anyone to force the group to negotiate. Leo recognized the pressure tactic and arranged for Jinyang Group’s president to demonstrate his strength before inviting Luo Yan to the negotiating table.

• Luo Yan knocked out the soldiers defending the town and avoided killing them so Jinyang Group would still consider negotiations.
• Shen Bing coordinated Jinyang Group’s defenses, but their weapons, snipers, and minefield failed to stop Luo Yan.
• Leo learned that Luo Yan had asked to negotiate before entering the town and understood that his advance was meant to pressure Jinyang Group.
• Leo ordered the president to display his strength without fighting Luo Yan, then invited Luo Yan to negotiate.

Luo Yan subdued the guards at the Jinyang Group headquarters and persuaded its president, Ding Boyang, to leave Blizzard Base alone. He returned to the base and found the children playing in his courtyard, reaffirming what he wanted to protect.

• Luo Yan knocked out the guards and an Advanced level expert waiting outside the building.
• Luo Yan faced Ding Boyang's Aura outside the Jinyang Group headquarters, and Ding Boyang withdrew his own Aura rather than fight.
• Luo Yan asked Ding Boyang to spare Blizzard Base and let it remain neutral, then left before the president gave an answer.
• Luo Yan returned to Blizzard Base and heard the children laughing and playing in his courtyard.

McCleary explained to Belle and Jack that Qiao Mai Xun’s reports lacked useful details, so the Wings of Nature would conduct its own covert exploration while avoiding the Strategic Affairs Department. At Blizzard Base, Xiao Yi and Chang Qing discussed the Jinyang Group’s silence and learned that Mister Luo had arrived.

• McCleary showed Belle and Jack Qiao Mai Xun’s reports and said they contained little specific intelligence about the Sky Ghosts and the Nameless Void.
• McCleary explained that Qiao Mai Xun could not access the Strategic Affairs Department’s classified information because its members underwent strict screening.
• McCleary said the Wings of Nature would secretly explore former Sky Ghost battle sites and use local groups as cover, while Jack agreed to avoid attracting attention.
• Chang Qing told Xiao Yi that the Water Plant’s facilities and water supply had been restored, and they wondered why the Jinyang Group had not retaliated.
• Chang Qing told Xiao Yi that Mister Luo had arrived and that Xiaodao had reached Primary Level Five after learning cultivation from him.

Xiaodao reached the Intermediate level, and Luo Yan encouraged the children to cultivate so they could help others before leaving with Yang Tao. Back in Jinge City, Luo Yan told Bai Shaotang about an Awakened in the Jinyang Group, prompting concern that foreign countries might be plotting against them.

• Xiaodao broke through to the Intermediate level and celebrated by beating Du Wei in a spar.
• Luo Yan told the children he would leave the next day, sent Yang Tao to Black Mountain to help Yang Hao, and urged the children to study and help others.
• After Luo Yan and Yang Tao departed, Du Wei challenged Xiaodao to cheer her up, and she resolved to cultivate and help more people.
• In Jinge City, Luo Yan told Bai Shaotang that he had encountered an Awakened with the Jinyang Group in the Fenshui Region and had heard Westerners were among its members.
• Bai Shaotang suspected foreign countries might be plotting to exploit the damage caused by the Giant Beast Calamity.

Luo Yan returned to the base, learned his mecha would be ready by the end of his leave, and found Bai Qixue waiting to practice swordsmanship with him. He also encountered a squad sent to investigate the expanding City of Bewilderment and ended the chapter at the barracks as Bai? proudly told him about her breakthrough.

• Bai Shaotang told Luo Yan that his mecha upgrade would take time and that Bai Qixue wanted to see him for sword practice.
• Bai Shaotang called Yin Feng and said Project Owl could be put to use because the rat had entered the house.
• Luo Yan saw Yang Ziqi knock down a deserter who refused to investigate the expanding City of Bewilderment, and he urged her to be careful.
• Luo Yan returned to the barracks and found Bai Qixue and Qing Lian waiting; Bai Qixue invited him to practice swordsmanship the next day.
• Bai? giggled after Luo Yan removed Bai Qixue's hand from his arm, then told him she had made a breakthrough while he was away.

Bai Qixue took Luo Yan outside Jinge City to test their primordial spirits, and the two began a fierce contest. As True Lord Hidden Sword’s sword-light torrent overwhelmed Yan Bo, Luo Yan’s primordial spirit transformed its flood serpents into heavenly dragons and gathered Crimson Essence Fire.

• Bai Qixue and Luo Yan left the city with Qing Lian to spar, while Li Musen, Dong Yuan, and Xia Yan stayed behind near the Training Hall.
• Bai Qixue summoned True Lord Hidden Sword and explained that she wanted to test Luo Yan’s primordial spirit.
• True Lord Hidden Sword’s first sword lights were caught and refined by Yan Bo’s purple-red flood serpent.
• Bai Qixue sent a torrent of sword lights at Yan Bo, overwhelming his Vermilion Sword Light.
• Yan Bo transformed the two flood serpents into heavenly dragons, which gathered flames above him into Crimson Essence Fire.

Bai Qixue gave Luo Yan three pieces of advice: avoid the Edge Opening Stance, improve his divinity, and forge a path of his own. She told him she hoped he would become her evenly matched opponent, and the chapter ended with Bai? anxiously checking him after he returned to Jinge City.

• Bai Qixue and Luo Yan briefly compared their primordial spirits, and their attacks ended in a draw.
• Bai Qixue warned Luo Yan that the Edge Opening Stance consumed its user's potential, even when used with a Limiter Device.
• Bai Qixue advised Luo Yan to improve his divinity and learn to choose and combine his abilities into a path of his own.
• Bai Qixue said she had waited for Luo Yan to become her opponent and urged him to catch up so they could challenge each other.
• Luo Yan returned to Jinge City, where Bai? hurried over and checked whether he had been hurt.

Luo Yan received martial arts advice from Bai Qixue, while Xiao Bai sought advice from Wang Meng and passed it on to him. Later, Luo Yan and Xiao Bai left for Guangling, where they read about the Western Cult and the Strategic Affairs Department’s concerns about its resources and followers.

• Luo Yan told Xiao Bai that Bai Qixue had advised him about martial arts, easing Xiao Bai’s worries about the advice being romantic.
• Xiao Bai asked Wang Meng for martial arts advice and later told Luo Yan to exercise his body, which Luo Yan recognized as Wang Meng’s advice.
• Luo Yan invited Li Musen and Dong Yuan to join him on his trip to Guangling, but they declined and Xia Yan forced them to go train after he and Xiao Bai left.
• On the underground train, Xiao Bai showed Luo Yan a report about new religious groups on the surface, including the well-funded Western Cult.
• Luo Yan learned that the Strategic Affairs Department was watching the Western Cult because its relief work suggested it had ample resources and might foster fanatical followers.

Luo Yan and Bai Qixue returned to Guangling and reunited with Li Zi and Lin Cheng, learning how the legion and their friends had changed during their absence. After hearing of three classmates’ deaths in battle, Luo Yan visited his teacher’s grave and reflected on the advice he still wished he could ask for.

• Li Zi and Lin Cheng welcomed Luo Yan and Bai Qixue at the station, where Luo Yan learned that Lin Cheng had lost an arm to an Upper-tier Giant Beast but now trained new recruits.
• Lin Cheng told Luo Yan that Liang Jian had replaced Di Zheng as regiment commander, while Li Zi shared that Yang Lixie was expected to become chief of staff and that Yang Lixie and Liu had become engaged.
• Li Zi told Luo Yan and Bai Qixue that Xia Yun, Xiao Nan, and Zhou Feng had died in battle over the past year, and Lin Cheng reminded them that the three had died as heroes.
• Li Zi explained that she had retired from the legion after Lin Cheng’s injury and had returned to teaching as Xie Guangyao’s assistant.
• Luo Yan cleaned his teacher’s grave, recounted his past year, and wished he could ask his teacher where to begin with Bai Qixue’s three suggestions.

Luo Yan reunited with Zeng Shan and visited his family before joining Yang Lixie and Lin Cheng at a bathhouse. After a playful water fight, Yang Lixie and Zeng Shan told him his portrait had been displayed at the Academy for its anniversary.

• Luo Yan met Zeng Shan at Wei Fenghua's grave, and Zeng Shan invited him to his new home.
• Luo Yan visited Zeng Shan's parents, ate Mother Zeng's jianbing guozi, and heard that A Bao had married and had a child.
• Yang Lixie called Zeng Shan and Luo Yan to Sunshine Bathhouse, where he and Lin Cheng ambushed Luo Yan with buckets of water.
• Luo Yan, Yang Lixie, Lin Cheng, and Zeng Shan traded buckets of water before relaxing beside the pool.
• Yang Lixie and Zeng Shan told Luo Yan that his portrait had been placed in the Academy auditorium to celebrate his rise to captain within a year of joining the Dragonriders.

Luo Yan returned to Hundred Battles Academy for its anniversary, where he was honored as the school’s Campus Star and asked to judge an upcoming tournament. After escaping an embarrassing public introduction, he overheard visiting foreign students comparing his achievements with their Senior Student Bain’s.

• Pan Renfeng and Xiao Shi named Luo Yan the Campus Star of Hundred Battles Academy and told him his portrait and achievements would be displayed.
• Xiao Shi explained that the anniversary would include a tournament modeled on Yingtian Academy’s Sword Debate, with Luo Yan judging and commentating on the finals.
• Luo Yan joined the alumni in the packed auditorium, where Yang Lixie teased him about a pretty student and Bai? told him He Hao would not arrive until that night.
• Pan Renfeng praised Luo Yan to the visiting academies and called him out, but Luo Yan slipped away rather than face the crowd.
• As Luo Yan wandered the campus, he overheard foreign students discussing his accomplishments and comparing him with their Senior Student Bain.

Luo Yan encountered exchange students from South Phoenix Academy, then watched them challenge Hundred Battles Academy students in the Training Hall. After the matches ended, a South Phoenix Academy representative asked whether graduating students were present and whether Luo Yan had come.

• Luo Yan gave six South Phoenix Academy students directions to the grand auditorium and later wondered about foreign extraordinary beings.
• Bai? called Luo Yan to the Training Hall, where Bart, a first-order extraordinary being, challenged Hundred Battles Academy.
• Sun Xiao Hu lost to Bart after Bart's strange evasive ability disrupted his attack, but a girl wielding twin swords defeated Bart in the next match.
• Students from both Academies took turns fighting, and both sides won some matches.
• Xiao Ming ended the competition and invited South Phoenix Academy to join the martial arts tournament the next day.
• A South Phoenix Academy representative asked whether Mr. Luo Yan was present.