Chapter Summaries

Chen Chuan went to the docks with Lao Feng to intercept Luo Qi before he could enter the government, preparing to fight the armed Mo Lan Company supervisor head-on. Their battle began with both men striking at once, and Chen Chuan followed Luo Qi’s deflection with a slash toward his neck.

• Commissioner Cao told Chen Chuan that Luo Qi had to be stopped before officials could shelter him, and Chen Chuan agreed to go with Lao Feng.
• Chen Chuan obtained drugs and protective equipment, then traveled with Lao Feng toward the docks while preparing to face Luo Qi.
• Lao Feng explained that Luo Qi had committed numerous civilian killings, and Chen Chuan promised to deal with him.
• Chen Chuan approached Luo Qi at the docks, where Luo Qi recognized him and guessed that someone intended to kill him before he could enter the government.
• Chen Chuan and Luo Qi drew their swords and attacked; Luo Qi deflected Chen Chuan’s first strike, and Chen Chuan immediately swung toward Luo Qi’s neck.

Chen Chuan fought Luo Qi, who used bursts of speed from his Implant Body to evade and stall, but Chen Chuan overwhelmed him with the Furnace Breathing Method and dragged him into the river. Chen Chuan killed Luo Qi underwater and returned to shore with his body as Lao Feng prepared to take it and the files back.

• Chen Chuan and Luo Qi exchanged rapid attacks until Luo Qi used his modified tendons to evade a fatal slash and decided to stall for time.
• Chen Chuan removed his mask and used the Furnace Breathing Method to unleash the Medicinal Power stored in his body, then attacked faster than Luo Qi could evade.
• Luo Qi deliberately allowed Chen Chuan to stab him in the abdomen so he could counterattack, but Chen Chuan abandoned his blade and knocked them both into the river.
• Chen Chuan used his experience with underwater combat to exhaust Luo Qi and crush his neck.
• Lao Feng watched the river settle, then helped Chen Chuan ashore with Luo Qi's lifeless body.
• Chen Chuan retrieved the Snow Monarch Blade, and Lao Feng told him to bring back Luo Qi's body and the files for Lao Cao.

The Mo Lan Company breached the Iron Chain Gang’s mountain defenses and prepared to flee to the Land of Chaos by airship. Cui Hong’s hidden identity as a General Affairs Bureau agent was revealed when his telegram led to a cannon barrage that destroyed the evacuation site, and Commissioner Cao ordered the troops to advance.

• The Combat Mantises and Blood Ink Guard overwhelmed the Iron Chain Gang’s defenses, allowing the Mo Lan Company’s party to cross the mountains.
• The five directors waited for two large airships and planned to rebuild the Mo Lan Kingdom in the Land of Chaos.
• Commissioner Cao learned of the airships but said there was no need to pursue them.
• Cui Hong sent a telegram to the General Affairs Bureau, then handed the directors a message identifying himself as the agent code-named Lone Goose.
• Fourteen Train Cannons bombarded the airship site, setting off the stored hydrogen and engulfing the area in a massive explosion.
• Commissioner Cao and the General Affairs Bureau members removed their caps, then Cao ordered the troops to advance and eliminate every enemy they encountered.

Chen Chuan and Lao Feng returned to the Patrol Bureau after Chen killed Luo Qi, while the government’s attack on Mo Lan Company succeeded and a team recovered a mysterious object. The chapter ended with Commissioner Cao recognizing it as part of Tianhe Mining’s legacy.

• A masked man arrived at the docks after Chen Chuan and Lao Feng left with Luo Qi’s body and suitcase.
• Lao Feng explained that the government had planned to bombard Mo Lan Company’s withdrawing forces, and artillery fire confirmed the attack had begun.
• Yi Bo realized the government was moving against Mo Lan Company and considered contacting the young lady.
• Chen Chuan brought Luo Qi’s suitcase back to Commissioner Cao, who promised him compensation and told him to remain in Yangzhi.
• Commissioner Cao learned that the bombardment had nearly wiped out Mo Lan Company’s Blood Ink Guard and Combat Creature weapons, while one airship escaped toward the Land of Chaos.
• Lao Hong returned with a metal case and reported that the land at the recovery site had turned red; Commissioner Cao opened the case and identified its contents as part of Tianhe Mining’s legacy.

Chen Chuan learned that Mo Lan Company had fallen and that his teacher had arranged for him to seek a place in Central City. He then reunited with Yu Gang, who was leaving Yangzhi City for Implant Body surgery after losing three limbs while helping the Iron Chain Gang fight Mo Lan Company.

• Chen Chuan visited Ren Shu and the others, warned them to be careful, and learned their families had pressured them to cut ties with him.
• The radio reported that powerful Yangzhi City families had colluded with Mo Lan Company to seize water sources and threaten the public, and Cheng Zitong told Chen Chuan his application to go to Central City was ready.
• Lu Ke called Chen Chuan to Fist Home, where Chen Chuan found Yu Gang badly injured and missing both legs and one arm.
• Yu Gang explained that he had helped the Iron Chain Gang hold back Mo Lan Company and was leaving for Central City to receive Implant Body surgery.
• Yu Gang gave Chen Chuan a booklet on channeling and releasing force, and Chen Chuan offered to see him off.

After seeing Yu Gang and Lu Ke off, Chen Chuan returned to Wu Yi Academy as his reputation rose following the collapse of the Mutual Aid Society. As the new term began, he prepared an application to go to Central City and told Cheng Zitong that the Mutual Aid Society had found Shen Zheng's younger sister.

• Chen Chuan helped Yu Gang and Lu Ke leave, and Yu Gang advised him to consult the Handling Bureau's archives for information about throwing techniques.
• Chen Chuan returned to Wu Yi Academy, where students and staff greeted him as his actions against the Mutual Aid Society earned him widespread respect.
• Zhuang Zhi and the former Mutual Aid Society members considered forming their own society after Fenxin Society refused to accept them.
• At the start of the new term, Cheng Zitong gave Chen Chuan a résumé of his accomplishments and helped him submit an application to go to Central City.
• Chen Chuan told Cheng Zitong that the Mutual Aid Society had found Shen Zheng's younger sister and taken her to Central City.

Chen Chuan received a letter and evidence from Min Lan after she disappeared while investigating a company, then brought the materials to Director Lei, who suspected they concerned an Esoteric Sect Ritual. Director Lei sent Lao Gao to investigate Green Heron Company, leaving Chen Chuan’s role in the case unresolved.

• Cheng Zitong said he would discuss Shen Zheng’s murder with Old He, while Chen Chuan continued training and practiced the throwing method Yu Gang had given him.
• Fang Zhiming delivered Min Lan’s letter to Chen Chuan, explaining that she had gone to investigate leads and instructed him to pass it on if she did not return within half a month.
• Chen Chuan read Min Lan’s letter, failed to reach her by phone, and retrieved the materials she had mailed to the post office.
• Chen Chuan gave the materials to Director Lei, who suspected they concerned a cult supported by Mo Lan Company and an Esoteric Sect Ritual.
• Director Lei ordered Lao Gao to investigate Green Heron Company and the black pillars near its building by checking which employees were absent.

Director Lei and Chen Chuan uncovered Green Heron Company's role in using Life Sect rituals to abduct employees and began a rescue operation. When armed cultists threatened hostages inside an office building, Chen Chuan entered alone to confront them.

• Review Bureau officers found that eight Green Heron Company employees had vanished from reality while their coworkers still believed they were present, and Chen Chuan confirmed Min Lan was among them.
• Director Lei identified the scheme as a Life Sect ritual that used fake commissions to capture employees and transfer their Vital Energy.
• A captured suspect revealed that the company's executives were behind the abductions and disclosed where the missing people were held.
• When armed guards at the site threatened hostages and resisted the Bureau, Director Lei commissioned Chen Chuan to help rescue them.
• Chen Chuan used his Second Self to leap to the fifth floor, grabbed an armed man's wrist, and pulled him out through the window as he entered the building.

Chen Chuan rescued Min Lan and other captives from a Life Sect site, then learned that the cult’s likely Vital Energy recipient was still hiding in Yangzhi. After the city’s turmoil subsided, he completed his National Conscription paperwork and was released from service, with Lao Feng taking him to collect his supplies.

• Chen Chuan defeated the four men guarding the captives and found Min Lan alive among the victims.
• Patrol Bureau and Secret Sect Review Bureau members arrested the perpetrators and sent the victims for medical treatment; Director Lei said the Life Sect’s recipient was likely still in Yangzhi.
• Chen Chuan offered to assist with future arrests, then heard that Liu Zhan had returned to the Foreign Affairs Bureau as its director.
• More than twenty days later, Lao Feng collected Chen Chuan and reviewed his application for medicines and a Protective Suit, adding further requests.
• Commissioner Cao approved Chen Chuan’s application, signed and stamped his conscription notice, and told him the operation had concluded.
• Lao Feng told Chen Chuan not to linger and took him to the warehouse to collect his things.

After receiving his rewards from the Action Team, Chen Chuan updated his school record and applied for an Armored Certificate while waiting to transfer to the Head Institute. As Yangzhi City prepared for Mo Lan Company's aftermath, the incoming Civil Affairs Director Zhu Xian faced corporate pressure and delayed Chen Chuan's Central City placement application before an unknown visitor appeared.

• Lao Feng gave Chen Chuan confiscation proceeds, commission bonuses, and a contact number, then drove him back to Wu Yi Academy.
• Chen Chuan updated his personal record with his National Conscription experience and applied for an Armored Certificate; Cheng Zitong expected him to reach the Head Institute after the New Year.
• Chen Chuan received Director Lei's Secret Sect materials and learned about rituals, their patterns, and how they could be conducted or disrupted.
• Chen Chuan heard that the railway at Xie Mountain had reopened after repairs.
• A company representative urged Zhu Xian to allow its Implant Bodies into Yangzhi City and offered to support him, while Zhu Xian weighed the city's tangled political situation.
• Zhu Xian put Wu Yi Academy's Central City placement application at the bottom of his papers, then noticed an unannounced person sitting across from him.

Chen Chuan received a package containing damaged notes that his mother had left for him, prompting him to return to his parents’ old house. He entered the house, where the chapter left him beginning to investigate his family’s past.

• Wen Tong told Zhu Xian that he had removed company spies from Zhu Xian’s security team, then vanished as Zhu Xian discovered the guards had been killed by the Skull-Cracking Demon.
• Zhu Xian signed Chen Chuan’s application, and Cheng Zitong learned that it had been approved while Cheng Shang urged him to consider returning to Central City.
• Old Lady Ni told Chen Chuan that his mother, Yu Zhen, had entrusted a package for him to her junior sister, and she gave him the package containing a damaged notebook.
• Chen Chuan recognized that the notebook might match something at his parents’ old house and decided to investigate when he could travel safely.
• On a Rest Day, Chen Chuan rode to his parents’ remote old house, unlocked the door, and went inside.

Chen Chuan uncovered a hidden address among his parents’ old papers and considered what it might reveal about his past. After returning to campus, he accepted a Secret Sect Review Bureau commission to deal with Han Chang and Life Sect cultists hiding outside the city.

• Chen Chuan pieced together his parents’ cut-up papers and found a Central City address and a string of numbers that might be connected to a black card.
• Chen Chuan cleaned his childhood home, found his father’s tea and a working algae-oil generator, then returned to campus.
• Chen Chuan trained with government-provided medicines and studied Esoteric Sect Rituals, especially those used to restrain oddities.
• Director Lei told Chen Chuan that Han Chang, a Blood Scar Gang veteran known as Uncle Han, was hiding outside the city with Life Sect members, and Chen Chuan accepted the commission through Ren Shu’s company.
• Chen Chuan read the Bureau’s report and recognized that Han Chang’s hideout was near Caijia Village, where he had previously pursued Fang Dawei’s group.

Zhen Ping brought weapons and Fighter support to Caijia Village as the Blood Scar Gang prepared to seize it under Uncle Han. Chen Chuan arrived during the attack, and Du Mian retreated after spotting him.

• Zhen Ping delivered firearms and several Fighters to Guan Xiaohui, and they discussed the Resistance Organization and Zhen Ping's possible transfer to Central City.
• Uncle Han planned to take Caijia Village, capture its villagers for an Esoteric Sect Ritual, and ordered Du Mian to lead the attack.
• The Blood Scar Gang advanced on Caijia Village as its villagers took positions with guns.
• Chen Chuan arrived near the village wearing protective gear and carrying the Snow Monarch Blade, prompting Uncle Han to order Du Mian back.
• Du Mian broke through the village defenses and fought two Resistance members, but he retreated after a whistle when he saw Chen Chuan approaching.

Chen Chuan attacked the Blood Scar Gang stronghold, killed its fighters and leader Han Chang, and searched for evidence of Esoteric Sect members. The villagers recognized the possibility that he was Chen Chuan, while Zhen Ping's team prepared to evacuate Caijia Village because they suspected he wore a General Affairs Bureau suit.

• Chen Chuan killed Du Mian and two men who tried to flank him, then charged the sentry post and slaughtered the armed Blood Scar Gang members.
• Han Chang fled, but Chen Chuan identified him as the man behind the Esoteric Sect Ritual and beheaded him.
• Chen Chuan photographed the scene, searched the bodies, found two suspected Esoteric Sect members with superficial records, and left with Han Chang's leather case.
• Guan Xiaohui recognized Chen Chuan's Snow Monarch Blade, and Zhen Ping concluded that he was likely the one who had wiped out the Blood Scar Gang.
• A senior Fighter told Zhen Ping's team to evacuate Caijia Village temporarily because Chen Chuan appeared to wear a General Affairs Bureau Stab-Proof Suit.

Chen Chuan reported his mission to Director Lei, who linked Esoteric Sect Ritual diagrams across several cases to a hidden artist still pursuing perfection in Yangzhi City. Chen Chuan suspected the artist might be connected to the Resistance Organization, then learned that the Armored Certificate Review Committee would assess him at the academy the next day.

• Chen Chuan handed Han Chang's leather case to Director Lei, who examined its ritual diagrams and materials with him.
• Chen Chuan and Director Lei compared ritual patterns and concluded that the same hidden artist had drawn diagrams for the Life Sect and the old factory ritual.
• Director Lei suspected the artist might use the Resistance Organization to create chaos and gain time to complete a larger ritual.
• Chen Chuan recalled unidentified people among the Blood Scar Gang corpses and wondered whether they belonged to the Resistance Organization.
• The dormitory supervisor told Chen Chuan that Director Cheng wanted him to call, and Cheng Zitong informed him the Armored Certificate Review Committee would assess him at the academy the next day.

Chen Chuan obtained his Armored Certificate and visited the blood-red soil at Zhang Mountain, where he sensed a faint blur on his Second Self. He traced red marks from the former Mo Lan Building along the river and called Director Lei to report that he had figured out what someone was trying to do.

• The Review Committee issued Chen Chuan an Armored Certificate after Cheng Zitong prevented departments from recruiting him for internships.
• Cheng Zitong advised Chen Chuan to save money for Central City, and Chen decided to take commissions to earn money and accumulate overlap time.
• Chen Chuan, Feng Xiaoqi, and Luo Kaiyuan visited Zhang Mountain and saw crowds selling its seemingly endless blood-red soil.
• Chen Chuan noticed a faint blur on his Second Self while looking at the red soil and recalled blood-bead-like objects collected near Jiao Mountain.
• Chen Chuan followed faint red traces from the former Mo Lan Building through the river toward White River, then called Director Lei and said he knew what someone was trying to do.

Chen Chuan and Director Lei deduced that a vast Esoteric Sect Ritual might target Xie Mountain and the newly repaired railway, prompting Director Lei to investigate. In Shangbu City, Bao Yuan prepared to return to Yangzhi City with weapons and funds, while Mr. Painter confirmed the painting would be delivered on time.

• Chen Chuan told Director Lei that Mo Lan Company and Yangzhi City's waterways might have been used to build a citywide Esoteric Sect Ritual, and Director Lei connected its nodes to earlier ritual sites.
• Chen Chuan realized the ritual might extend beyond the waterways toward Xie Mountain and warned Director Lei that the railway there could be targeted when it reopened.
• Director Lei said he would secretly verify the danger and might call on Chen Chuan for a commission.
• Bao Yuan persuaded Supervisor Han to send weapons and funds, then told his team that they would return to Yangzhi City once the goods arrived.
• Bao Yuan asked a telegraph operator to contact Mr. Painter, who replied that the painting would be delivered on time.

Chen Chuan learned that the Resistance Organization had planted bombs around Yangzhi City and agreed to attend a government meeting about a suspected Esoteric Sect operation. He also met Civil Affairs Director Zhu Xian, whose attempt to maintain political distance left him uneasy about Chen Chuan.

• Nian Fuli warned Chen Chuan and Yu Wan that bombs had been found near Duyi Hotel and other places in the city center, and Chen Chuan decided to avoid the area.
• Chen Chuan trained at Wuyi Academy, sparring with a senior student before practicing his Throwing Method alone.
• Director Lei Guangcheng told Chen Chuan that searches of Xie Mountain had found nothing, explained that modern materials could support Esoteric Sect rituals, and invited him to an interdepartmental meeting.
• Cheng Zitong drove Chen Chuan to meet Civil Affairs Director Zhu Xian, who asked about student life and offered encouragement without discussing the suspected operation.
• After Chen Chuan left, Zhu Xian considered how the operation could affect his standing and felt uneasy about Chen Chuan's calm presence.

Chen Chuan agreed to serve as the main force in an operation against the Resistance Organization and an Esoteric Sect expert, with his own team and support from the Patrol Bureau. Director Lei began preparing him to face the unfamiliar ritual expected at Xie Mountain, where he suspected the enemy would exploit ancient rituals.

• Director Wang and Guan Yuming told Chen Chuan that intercepted messages and planted explosives suggested the Resistance Organization was preparing to attack a major transportation route.
• Chen Chuan agreed to lead the operation, requested a trusted team and equipment support, and accepted that protecting everyone might not be possible.
• Guan Yuming arranged for Chen Chuan and his team to leave Yangzhi City under the pretext of hunting armed groups, while Director Lei offered to teach him ways to counter Esoteric Sect rituals.
• Director Lei told Chen Chuan that the enemy might use ancient rituals at Xie Mountain as nodes, and Chen Chuan described the Head-Worshipping ritual he had encountered before.
• Director Lei explained the difference between the Head-Worshipping Esoteric Sect and the Flying Head Sect, then said they had another way to target the hidden enemy that might put Chen Chuan at risk.

Director Lei taught Chen Chuan how to identify and counter prepared Esoteric Sect Rituals as he prepared for a coming commission against an armed group. Chen Chuan mastered the basic training, then asked about extending life through the Life Sect and learned that its vital-energy transfer was temporary, potentially addictive, and burdened with side effects.

• Director Lei explained that the Esoteric Sect Ritual was assembled from separate Old Era rituals, and Chen Chuan would need to endure its attacks while the team searched for its core.
• Chen Chuan arranged a confidential commission against an armed group with his former teammates and asked Gao Ming to handle the arrangements.
• Director Lei trained Chen Chuan to recognize ritual effects and quickly choose prepared counter-ritual cards, and Chen Chuan mastered the exercise that afternoon.
• Chen Chuan asked whether the Life Sect's vital-energy transfer could extend someone's lifespan, and Director Lei said it only offered brief, weak replenishment while risking addiction and other side effects.