Chapter Summaries

Chen Chuan investigated the attack by Ji Xinmin and his companions, resisted pressure to have them released, and prepared to discuss the case with the Purity Faction. The chapter ended with Chang Dong arriving to deliver what Chen Chuan needed and introducing himself as the faction’s new head in Jibei Province Central City.

• Chen Chuan planned to recruit trusted allies and considered who might have sent the mental intrusion that accompanied the attack.
• Chen Chuan reviewed Convergence Boundary’s security footage, advised the company about its overseas venture, and reported Ji Xinmin and his companions to the Handling Bureau.
• The Handling Bureau rejected lawyers’ demands to release the three captives, citing their suspected attack on Chen Chuan and obstruction of An Shield’s investigation.
• Tan Zhi, Pan Xiaode, and other Wuyi Academy contacts relayed pressure to release the captives, but Chen Chuan insisted the case would follow procedure and warned his acquaintances to stay alert.
• Chang Dong contacted Chen Chuan through his World Token and introduced himself as the newly appointed head of the Purity Faction in Jibei Province Central City.

Chen Chuan received Pure Essence and a new assignment from Chang Dong, then used it to train before attending a Handling Bureau meeting. The bureau tasked him with investigating Lianwei Heavy Drive and Green Source Technology, and Director Wu stopped him afterward to discuss the people he had arrested.

• Chang Dong told Chen Chuan that he would rebuild the Purity Faction’s Jibei Province branch and urged him to suppress otherworldly entities and their collaborators.
• Chen Chuan told Chang Dong about the radio and the people who had used it to contact him, and Chang Dong took the device to report the matter to the faction.
• Chen Chuan inspected and consumed the delivered Pure Essence, used it all during two days of training, and requested another two units.
• Director Wu assigned Chen Chuan to investigate Lianwei Heavy Drive and Green Source Technology, while Supervisor Han and Supervisor Wen received other delegation-related duties.
• Director Wu told Chen Chuan that the people he had arrested were claiming he attacked them first and planned to countersue him.

Chen Chuan considered how to handle the faction-backed counterclaim, learned more about Supervisor Han, and signed documents for conscription exemptions and cultivation resources. Meanwhile, Wei Dong sensed danger during a hostage-rescue commission, and he and Wu Han decided to withdraw.

• Director Wu warned Chen Chuan that the Gray Shell Affairs Office and the Municipal Council could drag out the counterclaim, while assuring him that the Handling Bureau would support him.
• Chen Chuan contacted Ni Qianqian and learned that Supervisor Han had once been injured, had a powerful grandfather, and reportedly had connections with company executives and people overseas.
• Director Qiu brought Chen Chuan conscription exemption forms and a cultivation-resource allocation document, which Chen Chuan signed.
• Chen Chuan considered his cultivation goals, his Second Self, and the possibility of finding worthy opponents as diplomatic delegations prepared to arrive in Central City.
• Wei Dong and Wu Han approached an abandoned residential building to rescue a hostage, but Wei Dong sensed danger and convinced Wu Han to withdraw.

Wu Han and Wei Dong were lured into an ambush, but they survived and defeated their attackers with help from Lao Qi and a Combat Mantis. After discovering the supposed hostage was a dummy, they told Chen Chuan, who paused their commissions and checked that Gao Ming was safe while waiting for the Purity Faction's deadline.

• Wu Han and Wei Dong avoided entering the trapped house, then split up as gunmen and Fighters attacked them.
• Wu Han killed the two Fighters pursuing him with a spear and close-combat moves.
• Lao Qi released a Combat Mantis, which killed the gunmen as Wu Han returned to find Wei Dong had defeated the three Fighters surrounding him.
• Wu Han found a dummy in the house instead of a hostage and told Wei Dong and Lao Qi that the commission had been a trap.
• The three contacted Chen Chuan, who told them to stop taking commissions for two days and checked that Gao Ming was staying in the Safe House.
• Chen Chuan waited for the Purity Faction's matter to be resolved by noon, intending to act himself if it was not.

Lu Fang and his senior apprentices faced a government order to close the Fighting Hall, while Chen Chuan anticipated the pressure would soon end. A Purity Faction airship arrived outside Central City, and Ji Xinmin and two others learned their faction would sacrifice them to avert a wider conflict.

• Lu Fang learned the Fighting Hall had received an official eviction notice and asked Shi Yi to verify it; she confirmed it was genuine and targeted only the hall.
• Senior Apprentice Guo reported that someone had tried to hire Boss Hao to wreck the Fighting Hall, and Lu Fang sent Chen Chuan a voice message asking for help.
• Chen Chuan told Lu Fang the matter should be resolved after noon as a massive airship arrived outside Central City and prompted an emergency response.
• Central City officials freed Ji Xinmin and two others from the Handling Bureau and presented them with documents to sign.
• Mr. Lin told Ji Xinmin and the others that they had acted without authorization and that the faction would sacrifice them because the Purity Faction had evidence and two Fighters aboard the airship.

Mr. Lin forced three officials to sign confessions and die, allowing the authorities to settle Chen Chuan’s case and send the white airship away. Chen Chuan then learned the World Ring was nearly sealed and was asked to help find another entity hiding in Central City, possibly inside a senior official.

• Mr. Lin pressured Ji Xinmin and two other men to sign confessions before they killed themselves, then killed the final man when he refused and arranged a confession in his handwriting.
• The authorities told Chen Chuan that the three men had admitted to attacking and falsely accusing him, withdrew the accusations, and offered compensation; other officials sent apologies and compensation offers as well.
• The white airship departed Central City at noon after the Purity Faction and local authorities exchanged messages.
• Counselor Pei told Chen Chuan that the World Ring was nearly sealed but that another entity from the other side had appeared and vanished in Central City.
• Counselor Pei said the Defense Department suspected the entity might be hiding inside a senior official and asked Chen Chuan to watch for it; Chen Chuan requested advance authority to act, and Counselor Pei agreed to seek authorization.

Chen Chuan considered how to investigate Green Source Technology and strengthen his team in Central City, then met Chang Dong, who explained why the Essence Refinement School had targeted him and brought him Pure Essence. Chang Dong planned to establish the Purity Faction’s branch while Chen Chuan focused on his own work, and asked him to recommend a suitable base.

• Chen Chuan reviewed investigations into Lianwei Heavy Drive and Green Source Technology, focusing on the latter’s suspected biological experiments and ties to the Plague Cult and mutated flying insects.
• Chen Chuan contacted his assigned investigators, submitted a request to transfer several teammates, and arranged to meet Wei Changan, Feng Xiaoqi, Luo Kaiyuan, and others.
• Chang Dong told Chen Chuan that two Fighters had helped resolve the dispute with the Essence Refinement School, using the radio and recording as evidence of mental assault against the Purity Faction.
• Chang Dong explained that the attacker might have wanted Chen Chuan’s Mutated Tissue and blood for company research and to recruit him into the Essence Refinement School.
• Chang Dong brought Chen Chuan three units of Pure Essence and said he would establish the faction’s branch with an assistant while Chen Chuan handled his own work.
• Chang Dong asked Chen Chuan to recommend a secluded site for the branch’s base, and Chen Chuan began listing suitable places.

Chen Chuan and Chang Dong searched for a base for the Purity Faction and chose a contaminated, abandoned hill in Hongsheng District. Chang Dong also tasked Chen Chuan with finding Tian Rui, a missing member connected to the faction’s disastrous Central City Branch Office massacre.

• Chen Chuan and Chang Dong inspected Mo God Temple, where Chang Dong sensed that an entity once worshipped there had been taken away after people used Spirit Focusing Incense.
• They examined Teacher Wu’s hill in Hongsheng District, and Chang Dong identified underground traces of a large plant whose contamination still lingered.
• Chang Dong chose the hill as the Purity Faction’s base because it was remote, spacious, and likely inexpensive.
• Chang Dong explained that a promising Purity Faction member had nearly wiped out the Central City Branch Office and its reinforcements, then asked Chen Chuan to find the missing witness, Tian Rui.
• Chen Chuan returned home with a case of pure essence, considered options for mental cultivation, and looked toward the sleeping Snow Monarch Blade.

Chen Chuan returned to Wuyi Academy, retrieved his teacher privileges, and opened courses in unarmed combat while considering how the Snow Monarch Blade might help him access rifts. His former classmates Fan Cheng and Kong Yao noticed his new listing and decided to try his classes.

• Chen Chuan concluded that the Snow Monarch Blade had absorbed something connected to Fu Mu's Split Sub-entities and might eventually help him open a rift, though it still needed time to awaken.
• Chen Chuan drank Pure Essence and returned to Wuyi Academy to retrieve his physical Teacher Certificate and resume training with Red Dust.
• Chen Chuan activated his teacher profile, listed courses in every unarmed category, and accepted Jiang Xin's enrollment for a class scheduled for the day after tomorrow.
• Fan Cheng and Kong Yao saw Chen Chuan's teacher listing and discussed how his instruction might help them overcome their stalled progress.
• Fan Cheng and Kong Yao agreed to purchase Chen Chuan's classes and try studying under him.

Chen Chuan taught Fan Cheng and Kong Yao, identifying that their adaptable but thinly spread mutated tissue caused them to stagnate when specializing. After they committed to two months of his integrated training, their first practice showed promise, and Chen Chuan noticed that the satisfaction of teaching deepened the overlap with his Second Self.

• Chen Chuan scheduled a lesson with Fan Cheng and Kong Yao after they purchased his course.
• After observing their paired drills, Chen Chuan explained that their mutated tissue made them quick to learn varied techniques but hindered deep specialization.
• Chen Chuan offered to help them integrate and correct their mutated tissue over one or two months, and Fan Cheng and Kong Yao agreed to pause their other courses and study with him.
• Chen Chuan tailored breathing methods and strength stake postures to them, and Fan Cheng and Kong Yao felt their mutated tissue working throughout their bodies as they trained.
• Chen Chuan ended the lesson with limits on their daily training and instructions to return after their soreness and numbness passed.
• After Fan Cheng and Kong Yao left, Chen Chuan noticed that the overlap between himself and his Second Self had deepened and considered giving detailed guidance to his other friends and classmates.

Chen Chuan settled into his new apartment at Wuyi Academy and trained with Red Dust before preparing to teach Jiang Xin. Assistant Ling discussed recruiting Chen Chuan and hinted at an alternative plan, while Chen Chuan’s first meeting with Jiang Xin ended with the student expressing his admiration.

• Chen Chuan explored his apartment, reviewed Central City’s map, and marked the Lianwei Heavy Drive outpost and Green Source Ecology Company Branch Office.
• Chen Chuan trained with Red Dust for most of the day, then cultivated with Pure Essence in his apartment.
• Assistant Ling discussed Chen Chuan’s potential recruitment with an unseen person and said he would speak with Chen Chuan before considering another plan.
• Chen Chuan welcomed Zhao Ming to the apartment the next morning and prepared to teach Jiang Xin.
• Jiang Xin arrived for class, introduced himself to Chen Chuan, and excitedly said that he and his classmates admired him.

Chen Chuan trained Jiang Xin, identified the gaps in his inherited techniques, and taught him how to continue them. After exhausting his remaining Pure Essence, Chen Chuan met his old friends in Central City and arranged temporary Handling Bureau status for them.

• Chen Chuan tested Jiang Xin's skills and recognized his strong fundamentals and Second Limit cultivation.
• After Jiang Xin trained for an hour, Chen Chuan deduced that his former teacher's instruction had been interrupted and completed the next stages of his techniques.
• Chen Chuan guided Jiang Xin through the improved methods, and Jiang Xin left grateful but shaken by his teacher's presence.
• Chen Chuan used up his remaining Pure Essence, further refining his spirit and deciding to focus on improving his mental power.
• Chen Chuan reunited with his old classmates at the Stretch the World Hotel and provided forms for them to become temporary Handling Bureau employees.

Chen Chuan recruited his old classmates and companions into his team, assigned them an investigation, and began training them. After learning that Yuan Qiuyuan, Qin Qingque, and Su Wei would soon return to Central City, he discovered the Snow Monarch Blade was finally awakening.

• Chen Chuan welcomed Wei Changan's team and other former companions into his employment, then assigned them to investigate two companies and said trusted Third Limit Fighters would join their squad.
• Chen Chuan told everyone he had become a teacher at Central City Wu Yi and offered to train them, which they eagerly accepted.
• At a Training Hall, Chen Chuan assessed each person's abilities, gave them tailored Breathing Methods and power stances, and promised to lend them cultivation medicines.
• Chen Chuan received approval to transfer Yuan Qiuyuan, Qin Qingque, and Su Wei back to Central City after their current mission.
• Chen Chuan found the Snow Monarch Blade humming and glowing on its stand, realized it had awakened, and picked it up.

Chen Chuan used the Snow Monarch Blade to open a Rift and cultivate from the essence beyond it, then met Assistant Ling to discuss Wuyi Academy’s planned exchange with the Linax delegation. He agreed to participate if his duties allowed, while Assistant Ling hinted he wanted to discuss matters with Chen Chuan personally.

• Chen Chuan traveled beyond Central City and tested the Snow Monarch Blade, discovering that it could cut open a Rift to another world.
• Chen Chuan absorbed essence from the Rift for a little over an hour before it closed, and he concluded the blade would need time to recover.
• Chen Chuan returned toward Central City, then changed course for the Mystic Palace Building after Assistant Ling called him about Academy affairs.
• Assistant Ling told Chen Chuan that the Linax diplomatic delegation would visit soon and asked him to join the teachers for a friendly exchange.
• Chen Chuan said he would participate if his Handling Bureau duties permitted, reviewed the proposed student list, and then heard Assistant Ling say he had personal matters to discuss.

Assistant Ling tried to recruit Chen Chuan to a path where they could make their own rules, but Chen Chuan remained wary and asked to see proof of what supported it. After Chen Chuan left, Assistant Ling and an unseen ally discussed using him to complete a remaining piece of their plan.

• Assistant Ling warned Chen Chuan that powerful groups controlled the rules and invited him to join a path to become a maker of rules.
• Chen Chuan asked what supported Assistant Ling's promises, and Assistant Ling offered to show him later.
• Chen Chuan asked whether Teacher Wu had joined Assistant Ling, who confirmed that he had before disappearing.
• After Chen Chuan left, Assistant Ling told an unseen contact that Chen Chuan seemed uninterested, then said he might help complete their remaining puzzle.
• Chen Chuan returned to his apartment and recalled Teacher Wu's warning and the hidden costs behind gaining power.

Chen Chuan considered how to strengthen the Snow Monarch Blade before learning that Lianwei Re-Control Company’s advance team had arrived in Central City. The company’s young leader established her branch’s position and brought an embryonic active consciousness entity, just as the Handling Bureau arrived to inspect them.

• Chen Chuan let Zhao Ming exercise, observed his orderly growth, and considered using High-Energy Nutrient Solution or absorbing entities and anomalous urban legends to strengthen the Snow Monarch Blade.
• An Shield told Chen Chuan that an advance team from Lian Wei Re-Control Company was expected in Central City within an hour.
• The company’s young leader traveled to Central City with her staff and security officers while an assistant briefed her on competitors, including the Wrap Up Company, Banyan Heart Company, and Fusion Boundary Corporation.
• The girl authorized activation of the convoy’s domain field interference organisms and said the Union and Linax diplomatic delegations’ visits would give the company a golden opportunity to establish itself.
• The convoy reached Lianwei Heavy Drive’s branch office, where the girl inspected a ceramic container holding an embryonic active consciousness entity.
• A message informed the girl that people from the Handling Bureau had arrived to inspect the company for prohibited items.

The Handling Bureau inspected Lian Wei Re-Control Company under Chen Chuan’s watch, finding no prohibited items but detaining a security guard whose missing itinerary gave them a pretext to pressure the company. After Captain Bao met the company’s young lady, Chen Chuan judged the inspection team’s conduct and decided to give Xu Changfeng a chance.

• Captain Bao led over a hundred Handling Bureau members into Lian Wei Re-Control Company to inspect its building, equipment, and personnel.
• The inspection team found an Active Consciousness Entity Embryo in the basement and examined it without opening its ceramic vessel.
• Captain Bao detained a third limit Security Captain for failing to register his itinerary, and the company’s assistant agreed to compensate the guard.
• The bureau identified two black steel grade guards, Raptor and Eel, and the assistant refused Captain Bao’s request to inspect the young lady unless he met her alone.
• Captain Bao returned from the top-floor meeting and withdrew his team after reporting that a biological entity had blocked Domain Field transmissions.
• Chen Chuan criticized Captain Bao’s lack of initiative and decided to give squad leader Xu Changfeng a chance.

Yang Ling received Lianwei Heavy Drive’s secret orders for its Central City operations, while Chen Chuan investigated her identity and arranged surveillance of the company. The next day, he went into the wilderness to test whether a lost object could nourish the Snow Monarch Blade, where he killed a bandit convoy and then made contact with the object.

• Yang Ling absorbed the active consciousness entity’s directives to search the Convergence Zone for lost objects, continue implant body experiments, and protect any discoveries.
• Chen Chuan suspected Yang Ling was the special talent Zhao Qian had once found and ordered An Shield and Wu Bei to monitor Lianwei Heavy Drive.
• Chen Chuan traveled north of Central City with the Snow Monarch Blade and Taru’s long-bone lost object to test whether it could nourish the blade.
• A convoy of wasteland bandits approached Chen Chuan’s tent and opened fire, but he knocked aside the bullets and killed everyone inside with an invisible force.
• Chen Chuan returned to the tent and touched the long bone, finding his hand on the gray, wrinkled hide of an enormous creature.

Chen Chuan’s experiments with the Snow Monarch Blade made his mental connection to the creatures increasingly real, and he found that the blade could absorb something from them and keep a rift open longer. He arranged to use Pan Xiaode’s airship for safer cultivation and arrived at the airship facility the next morning.

• Chen Chuan repeatedly entered the black-water realm and killed its creatures, allowing the Snow Monarch Blade to absorb more of their substance.
• After a difficult fight, Chen Chuan found scales on the tent floor and suspected that the creatures and the danger of the mental exchange were real.
• Chen Chuan opened a rift with the Snow Monarch Blade and cultivated with the essence flowing through it; the rift stayed open longer than before.
• Chen Chuan decided to change locations for future cultivation and asked Pan Xiaode for an airship.
• Pan Xiaode offered Chen Chuan his older brother’s small airship, and Chen Chuan agreed to collect it the next day.
• Chen Chuan arrived at Pan Xiaode’s airship facility and saw a small silver airship moored outside its hangar.

Chen Chuan spotted the Union’s enormous delegation fleet while traveling by airship and used the journey to enter a dangerous rift. Meanwhile, the Municipal Council welcomed the Union delegation, and Spiral Deep Sea and Bolun agreed to cooperate in exploring the Convergence Zone.

• Chen Chuan gave Pan Xiaode personalized training advice aboard the Snow Goose and earned resonance feedback.
• Chen Chuan recognized the approaching fleet as the Union delegation and learned that the Handling Bureau suspected it had come for Lost Objects in the Convergence Zone.
• After the Snow Goose passed the fleet, Chen Chuan entered a rift using the long bone and emerged with a severed tentacle, having suffered damage to his clothes.
• The Municipal Council welcomed the Union delegates with a public reception and banquet, hoping their presence would counter the Government Affairs Hall’s influence.
• Thaddeus Merriweather and Sven Lindenberg confirmed cooperation between Spiral Deep Sea and Bolun, and Thaddeus said the Thunder Child siblings would lead his company’s exploration team.