Chapter Summaries

Chen Chuan began Operation Ebb Tide after Chairman Quan was abducted and hidden in the Lower District, while he continued pursuing a path toward the Longevity Observation Realm. When official and factional sources failed to offer the cultivation knowledge he needed, he contacted Wan Song Entrusted Agency Company and learned it might provide methods and instructors.

• Chen Chuan added the demon ghost’s giant hammer to his collection and fitted the Long Jian into its handle.
• Chen Chuan reviewed reports linking Green Source Ecology Company to the Plague Gang and suspected the company was involved with dangerous forces in the Lower District.
• Chairman Quan was abducted during a transfer to the Emergency Care Center, and Chen Chuan ordered the passages between the Upper and Lower Districts sealed.
• Chen Chuan instructed key groups to follow the plan and declared Operation Ebb Tide underway.
• Chen Chuan searched for cultivation knowledge on the Fighter Council platform but found that he lacked the required protocol level and considered the Purity Faction an unlikely short-term source.
• Chen Chuan contacted Wan Song Entrusted Agency Company, whose representative said it could provide mainstream Cultivation Methods and instructors.

Chen Chuan exchanged rare materials from the Convergence Zone for Platform Coins and bought Longevity Observation Cultivation Methods. Meanwhile, a Wan Song Company boss learned of his purchase and chose to wait before contacting him.

• Chen Chuan reviewed the platform's payment options and offered his Convergence Zone materials for appraisal in exchange for cultivation methods.
• Wansong Entrusted Company appraisers valued Chen Chuan's goods, especially the Silver Frost, at fourteen Platform Coins.
• Chen Chuan accepted the valuation and received fourteen Platform Coins after signing the agreement.
• Chen Chuan spent four Platform Coins on Longevity Observation Cultivation Methods without hiring an instructor.
• The Female Secretary told her boss that Chen Chuan had bought an advanced cultivation method, and the boss decided not to contact him yet.

Chen Chuan studied cultivation methods for stabilizing his breath and preparing to condense an Outer Appearance, then requested two sect techniques to begin training. Meanwhile, Chairman Quan was taken to a hidden Lower District location, where he reunited with his youngest son and was told he would need to cooperate when the International Investigation Group arrived.

• Chen Chuan studied the cultivation method and its references, learning that he needed to subdue his fluctuating breath before attempting the Connecting Heaven Bridge and the Longevity Observation Realm.
• Chen Chuan chose to rely mainly on his own efforts while requesting the Xuan Sect's Ten Thousand Longevity Golden Secret and the Zen Sect's Settling Heart Lotus Mantra.
• Chen Chuan learned that an Outer Appearance could strengthen cultivation and combat ability, and recalled Feng He Shou displaying one during their fight.
• Chairman Quan traveled through the Lower District in an armored vehicle as his escort explained that the Government Affairs Hall would struggle to search the vast area.
• Chairman Quan arrived at a hidden location and reunited with his youngest son, whom the escort claimed they had brought there for his safety.
• The middle-aged man told Chairman Quan that he would need to cooperate and step forward when the International Investigation Group arrived.

Chairman Quan toured the Plague Cult’s research institute and promised support for its legal recognition if the Municipal Council was reestablished. Xu Chan followed the fugitives’ trail into Plague Gang territory, while Chen Chuan made rapid progress in cultivation.

• Chairman Quan left the safe zone with Quan Yu and toured the Plague Cult’s artificial ecosystem and research institute.
• The middle-aged man described the institute’s experiments and its creator’s violent retaliation after the company stole his work.
• Chairman Quan promised to help secure a public vote to legalize the institute if the Council was reestablished.
• Xu Chan’s convoy followed the fugitives’ trail deep into the Lower District until Lutong Logistics stopped at Plague Gang territory.
• Chen Chuan used his understanding of the Xuan Sect and Zen Sect methods to guide his cultivation and progress faster than expected.

Xu Chan led the Handling Bureau’s convoy through dangerous tunnels while Chen Chuan cultivated and coordinated support from the surface. As the team prepared to break Old National Religion rituals, Chen Chuan arranged for Mr. Lan and another person to join them.

• Xu Chan led the convoy along a deliberately obstructed route, using Combat Creatures and engineering teams to clear the way while maintaining communications with the scattered squads.
• Xu Chan’s team survived a massive insect tide by using an insect-repelling sound wave, then protected themselves from the insects’ flames and toxic smoke.
• After six days and nights of cultivation, Chen Chuan subdued his aura and saw that the investigators had sealed off an area overlapping with the Plague Gang’s location.
• Chen Chuan learned that Green Source Ecology Company showed no unusual activity and arranged more Combat Creatures, equipment, and biological experts for Xu Chan’s team.
• Director Lei identified the rituals near Xu Chan’s route as belonging to the Old National Religion and warned Chen Chuan that breaking them alone would take too long.
• Chen Chuan avoided intervening personally and called Liao Donghai to arrange for Mr. Lan and another person to come over by airship.

The Handling Bureau’s forces advanced into the Plague Gang’s stronghold, where Lan Shengu identified a ritual structure and Xiao Yi sensed extreme danger. Inside, Chairman Quan learned that the middle-aged man had a backup plan and took medicine before ordering Quan Yu to stay beside him and claim ignorance.

• Chen Chuan authorized the assault on the Plague Gang’s final stronghold and monitored the operation from an airship.
• Xu Chan led the team through the Lower District and advanced to a massive insect-covered hive structure.
• Lan Shengu identified the hive as a ritual cage, and Xiao Yi warned him that the danger inside was extreme.
• Lan Shengu urged Director Lei to find and destroy the ritual’s source, while Director Lei arranged for Xiao Yi to be taken to the surface.
• After an explosion signaled that the attackers had reached the hive, the middle-aged man told Chairman Quan that Humus Spores and a backup plan would delay them.
• Chairman Quan took a pill and told Quan Yu to remain with him and say he knew nothing.

Xu Chan’s team fought through a spore-filled, heavily defended area while Director Lei’s pendant led him and Lan Shengu to a hidden tunnel containing a Secret Demon Feast Ritual. Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque carried them deeper into the tunnels, where they encountered a pale, long-haired man preparing something in the dark.

• Xu Chan led the Fighters into the mist, where spores interfered with their equipment and enemy gunfire met their advance.
• Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque worked together to repel a spear-wielding attacker, and Xu Chan killed him with his flexible sword.
• Director Lei used his pendant to locate a concealed tunnel, where Lan Shengu identified the wall markings as a Secret Demon Feast Ritual that had been painted over an earlier layer.
• Director Lei and Lan Shengu urged the group to hurry deeper into the tunnels, and Qin Qingque sent a squad member back to report what they had found.
• Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque carried Director Lei and Lan Shengu through the tunnels until they found a crouching, long-haired man, who welcomed them as guests.

Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque fought an apparently unkillable man while Lan Shengu and Director Lei broke the ritual’s connecting node. They escaped the tunnel and reported that an entity was about to emerge, leaving Chen Chuan prepared to face it.

• Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque repeatedly struck and impaled the man while Lan Shengu realized his body was a vessel empowered by the ritual.
• Lan Shengu identified the Double Overlapping Mountain Grid, and he and Director Lei used a chime to locate and break its two layers of connecting nodes.
• The man collapsed when the node was destroyed, but yellow light and a violent breathing sound revealed that an entity was already inside him.
• Director Lei warned that the ritual had completed its purpose, so Yuan Qiuyuan and Qin Qingque carried him and Lan Shengu out as the man’s spreading shadow weakened their protections.
• Director Lei contacted Chen Chuan and explained that the two-stage ritual had nourished an Evil God before drawing in something to devour it; Chen Chuan said he was not afraid of the entity emerging.

Chen Chuan’s team lured the Evil God out of the tunnel and fought to exhaust its power, hoping to draw out the hidden entity in Central City. As the Evil God opened a Rift, an unseen hand seized it, and Chen Chuan plunged from the Airship toward the disturbance.

• Chen Chuan ordered Xu Chan to gather his forces and eliminate the Evil God, while Director Lei advised them on how to draw it out.
• Xu Chan’s team surrounded the tunnel as the Long-Haired Man emerged, protected by a barrier that swallowed their bullets.
• Xu Chan and four other Third Limit Fighters kept the Long-Haired Man confined and wore down his power while Chen Chuan monitored the battle from the Airship.
• The Long-Haired Man tore open his chest to reveal a Rift, but a long arm reached from the tunnel and dragged him inside.
• Chen Chuan took up the Snow Monarch Blade and leaped from the Airship in a blazing pillar of light.

A high-level creature emerged from the tunnel and overwhelmed the team until Chen Chuan struck it and dragged it into the open. After crushing its first form, he faced a towering shadow that emerged from its remains and prepared to fight with the Snow Monarch Blade.

• The creature's appearance paralyzed Xu Chan, Lan Shengu, the Handling Bureau employees, and nearby field creatures.
• Chen Chuan crashed through the tunnel ceiling, broke the creature's arm, and dragged its body out of the tunnel.
• Chen Chuan hurled the creature away and battered its grotesque body until its heads were smashed and its dim light vanished.
• A glowing diamond-shaped object struck the middle-aged man, destroying half his body as he tried to flee.
• A huge shadow emerged from the creature's remains, and Chen Chuan summoned the Snow Monarch Blade and ignited its platinum-white flames.

Chen Chuan destroyed the being that had emerged through a rift in the World Ring and helped the Action Team finish securing the Lower District. He then recognized the unconscious Long-Haired Man from the Yangzhi City ritual and reported to Qi Weizhao that the operation was nearly over.

• Chen Chuan merged with his Second Self and repeatedly struck the being, using Red Dust to target the energy gathering inside it and keeping it from stabilizing.
• Chen Chuan used the Heaven and Earth Furnace Breathing Method to reveal the being’s central consciousness, then cut it in two with the Snow Monarch Blade and sealed what the blade had absorbed with Spiritual Fire.
• The being dissolved under the World Ring’s suppression, its rift closed, and Chen Chuan confirmed that the Action Team had suffered no casualties.
• Chen Chuan ordered Xu Chan to take the last stronghold while he went to inspect the unconscious Long-Haired Man, whom he recognized as the ritualist who had escaped in Yangzhi City.
• Chen Chuan contacted Qi Weizhao and reported that the being was gone and the final sweep was underway.

The task force captured the Plague Gang leaders and rescued Chairman Quan after the entity’s mental pressure crippled the hive-like building’s defenses. Chen Chuan examined the entity’s Lost Object and investigated the ritual’s origins with Director Lei, while Lan Shengu and Xiao Yi prepared to leave after receiving a message.

• The task force breached the weakened building, captured several Plague Gang leaders, and found Chairman Quan and his younger son.
• Chen Chuan identified the entity’s piece of soft skin as a Lost Object and suspected someone had prepared for the entity’s arrival.
• Director Lei’s team sealed the Evil God’s remaining power, and he explained that the Esoteric Sect Bureau was burdened by entrenched practitioners and outdated customs.
• Chen Chuan asked Director Lei to report on the bureau’s problems so he could raise them at a decision-making meeting.
• Director Lei found that the lower ritual was more than ten years old and may have fed an entity that devoured the Evil God worshiped above it.
• Lan Shengu reassured Xiao Yi, decided they should stay until he received the rest of his payment, and paused after reading a message on his World Token.

After the Lower District operation, Chen Chuan returned to Central City and reported recommendations for preventing further trouble. At the Swamp Training Camp, Zhao Zhenye learned that the Ritualist’s presence had vanished, and his allies decided Zhuan Liang was a threat they should eliminate.

• After contamination screenings, Lan Shengu and the other operatives left the Plague Gang’s territory through the opening Chen Chuan had made, and Chen Chuan departed once everyone had withdrawn.
• Chen Chuan sent the Government Affairs Hall recommendations for addressing problems in the Lower District and identified the Convergence Zone as Central City’s remaining concern.
• A woman told Zhao Zhenye that she could no longer sense the Ritualist, and they concluded that the Ritualist’s power had been purged and their plans would need to change.
• Zhao Zhenye and the woman agreed that Zhuan Liang posed too great a threat and should be eliminated before they acted.
• Back at his villa, Chen Chuan received confirmation that his hunting ground was legally exclusive and resolved to cultivate in Central City and condense his Outer Aspect.

Chen Chuan began cultivating Longevity Observation by preparing the mutated tissue between his brows and refining six yang gold to form a Spirit Manifestation. He discovered that the two pieces he had obtained were far from enough, leaving him to consider where he could acquire more.

• Chen Chuan reviewed the method for condensing an Outer Aspect and prepared to strengthen the mutated tissue between his brows.
• Chen Chuan lit the Lost Object Incense Burner and spent about a day adjusting his Heavenly Eye tissue in preparation for contemplation.
• Chen Chuan received two pieces of six yang gold from the platform and returned to the Meditation Room to refine them.
• Chen Chuan used his mental power to dissolve the first piece of six yang gold into golden vapor and gather it between his brows.
• Chen Chuan refined the second piece and found that both pieces together were insufficient to construct a complete Spirit Manifestation.

Chen Chuan asked Mister Zhuan about Six Yang Gold as he prepared for Longevity Observation and learned how it appeared on the Other Side. The Purity Faction offered him an award and a route to obtain the material, while Mister Zhuan resolved to settle an old mistake within the year.

• Mister Zhuan gave Chen Chuan a Purity Faction letter naming him a Special Appraiser, along with internal publications recognizing his achievements in Jibei Province.
• Mister Zhuan advised Chen Chuan to apply for Six Yang Gold but delay applying for the Longevity Observation training method to avoid a potentially disadvantageous review.
• Mister Zhuan explained that Six Yang Gold appeared throughout the Other Side and was collected by powerful Fighters, while people from the Other Side also sought it.
• Mister Zhuan promised to submit Chen Chuan's application for Six Yang Gold, which should arrive within half a month.
• After Chen Chuan left, Mister Zhuan and the mask discussed his rapid progress, and Mister Zhuan vowed to resolve an old mistake within the year.

Chen Chuan collected six yang gold, checked on the rebuilding Branch Office, and promised Lan Shengu support against anomalies and entities from the other side. Lan Shengu accepted Chen Chuan’s invitation to stay in Central City and help resist them.

• Chen Chuan received five pieces of six yang gold from Mister Zhuan and visited the nearly completed Branch Office, where Chang Dong warned that the Fusion Faction and Essence Refinement School might still cause trouble.
• Chen Chuan gave Chang Dong supplies from the Convergence Zone and learned that Chang Dong had found a promising psychic prospect who was Tu Nai’s wife, but Chen Chuan asked him not to disturb her.
• Lan Shengu asked to meet Chen Chuan in Yinglu District and raised concerns that companies and governments might be making deals with entities from the other side.
• Chen Chuan told Lan Shengu and Mo Xiaoyi that he had destroyed the Ferris Wheel Company’s landmark after an entity possessed one of its directors, and promised to support them and protect them in Central City.
• Lan Shengu accepted Chen Chuan’s invitation to stay in Jibei Province and help train people and clear anomalies.

Chen Chuan opened a Rift with the Snow Monarch Blade and explored the Other Side World, searching for six yang gold. After realizing its strange materials might be sustained by tiny domain fields, he returned through the Rift and tested whether his own piece of six yang gold would reveal something there.

• Chen Chuan absorbed some six yang gold but stopped with two pieces left because they could not fill the gap within him.
• Chen Chuan used the Snow Monarch Blade to open a large Rift and entered the Other Side World, where his Second Self began fading under its encroachment.
• Chen Chuan changed how he observed the Other Side World and saw luminous, unstable objects and unusual beings, but found no six yang gold before returning.
• Chen Chuan purified the strange insects that had leaked through the Rift and reasoned that objects in the Other Side World might persist within tiny domain fields.
• Chen Chuan carried a piece of six yang gold through a newly opened Rift, and it vanished as the light at his brow faintly flickered.

Chen Chuan entered the domain field of six yang gold, collected fourteen pieces, and refined thirteen before dawn. After checking on his family and reviewing the interrogation results from Chairman Quan’s abduction, he suspected the Fusion Faction and Essence Refinement School were behind the events.

• Chen Chuan used the Snow Monarch Blade to breach a barrier and gather six yang gold, then severed the arm of a being that tried to take the gold.
• A transparent tabby cat emerged from Chen Chuan’s stone token, grabbed one piece of six yang gold, and followed him out as he withdrew from the domain field.
• Chen Chuan closed the Rift, purified the Meditation Room, and refined thirteen pieces of six yang gold before daybreak.
• Chen Chuan checked on Zhao Ming, ate breakfast with Yu Wan and Nian Fuli, and reviewed the Defense Department’s interrogation results about Chairman Quan’s abductors.
• Chen Chuan learned that a mysterious intermediary called Chu Han had been involved and suspected the Fusion Faction and Essence Refinement School were directing events behind the scenes.

Chen Chuan investigated the Plague Cult’s failed god-making ritual and its mysterious officiant, then returned to the other side to gather six yang gold. After absorbing enough gold and completing an extended visualization, he manifested a towering radiant figure with three golden eyes.

• Chen Chuan read the report on the Plague Cult’s ritual, learning about the missing first operator Red Phoenix and the officiant Painter, whose real name was Ji Yueshan.
• Chen Chuan ordered the Handling Bureau to track down Painter’s original client and cooperate with the Esoteric Sect Bureau’s investigation.
• Chen Chuan entered the other side and used the Snow Monarch Blade to collect pieces of six yang gold, driving off an approaching shadow with the Great Bright Light Style.
• Chen Chuan absorbed nineteen pieces of six yang gold and prepared his body with a month’s worth of stored nutrients before beginning the next cultivation stage.
• Chen Chuan spent more than ten days visualizing until a towering platinum figure formed around him and opened its eyes, including a glowing vertical eye between its brows.

Chen Chuan formed his Spirit Manifestation and began cultivating with it in the Rift, using the invasive force as nourishment. Meanwhile, the International Joint Investigation Group arrived in Jibei Province Central City to assess its governance and World Ring security.

• Chen Chuan tested his newly condensed Spirit Manifestation, learned its limits, and withdrew it into his Domain Field.
• Chen Chuan replenished his energy, entered a Rift with the Snow Monarch Blade, and used his Spirit Manifestation to absorb the invasive force.
• Chen Chuan cultivated undisturbed as the month passed, while the International Joint Investigation Group traveled from Ring Lock Island toward Great Shun.
• The International Joint Investigation Group prepared to assess whether Jibei Province Central City could maintain effective governance and protect the World Ring, with international supervision or trusteeship possible if it could not.
• On August 2, the group's two Airships descended onto the Mooring Tower in Weiguang District.