Chapter Summaries

Xu Mutang entered the rear hall and discovered a powerful anomaly tied to a burning Ten Thousand Year Incense. After he extinguished it, Yuwen Yuanqi rose and attacked alongside a living flood dragon, leaving Xu Mutang battered in their assault.

• Xu Mutang broke into the rear hall, found a masked figure in State-Supporting Great General armor beside a black lacquer box, and suspected it was Yuwen Yuanqi.
• When Xu Mutang reached toward the box, the hall’s mental influence showed him divine maidens while Ghostly Creatures crawled from the walls.
• Xu Mutang transformed into the Black-Armored Divine General and snuffed out the Ten Thousand Year Incense, making the Ghostly Creatures vanish and the murals fade.
• Yuwen Yuanqi rose with his Coiled Serpent Long Hammer, and Xu Mutang blocked his opening strike as a living flood dragon smashed through the wall.
• The flood dragon and Yuwen Yuanqi drove Xu Mutang through the hall, struck him with the hammer and tail, then seized him in midair and slammed him into the mountaintop.

Chen Chuan arrived in the Battle Palace ruins and rescued Xu Mutang from Yuwen Yuanqi, whose body might be controlled by Emperor Ying. As Xu Mutang discovered lingering insects contaminating his body, Chen Chuan fought Yuwen Yuanqi and then joined his Second Self to hold back a giant hammer strike.

• Xu Mutang overturned the flood dragon and fought off its attacks, but a short spear and a golden blast drove him back.
• Chen Chuan appeared, blocked the blast, and identified himself as a Fighter from Jibei Province.
• Chen Chuan warned Xu Mutang about the contamination in his body, and Xu Mutang found insects and holes disrupting his Spiritual Fire.
• Chen Chuan stopped the flood dragon with a punch, seized the golden-armored fighter's hammer, and slammed him into the ground and the flood dragon.
• Xu Mutang suspected the fighter was Yuwen Yuanqi being controlled by Emperor Ying, while Chen Chuan noted the man's unusual lack of battle experience.
• Yuwen Yuanqi summoned a giant spiritual manifestation and attacked; Chen Chuan merged with his Second Self and braced against the hammer alongside the tall figure wielding a Long Jian.

Chen Chuan fought Yuwen Yuanqi while their spiritual appearances clashed, and Xu Mutang’s assistance helped create an opening for a decisive strike. Chen Chuan split Yuwen Yuanqi’s helmet and faceplate and drove his blade deep into his skull, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Xu Mutang, unable to fight effectively because of the corruption in his body, scattered a short rod-shaped object and sent Chen Chuan a message through their World Tokens.
• Chen Chuan judged that Yuwen Yuanqi could not use most of his power and charged at him with the Snow Monarch Blade while their spiritual appearances fought overhead.
• Chen Chuan struck Yuwen Yuanqi’s faceplate, but its armor resisted the blow as Yuwen Yuanqi drew out more power and the battle intensified.
• Chen Chuan and Yuwen Yuanqi exchanged attacks while their spiritual appearances fought, and Xu Mutang’s Conical Object briefly distracted Yuwen Yuanqi.
• Xu Mutang used long ropes to restrain Yuwen Yuanqi, allowing Chen Chuan to land a powerful slash that shattered his helmet and faceplate and nearly split his skull.

Chen Chuan defeated Yuwen Yuanqi by combining the Great Bright Light Style and Great Azure Void Style, destroying his body and armor. A luminous wisp escaped the remains and entered a Lacquer Box in the hall, leaving Chen Chuan to investigate.

• Chen Chuan used the Great Bright Light Style to burn Yuwen Yuanqi’s flesh tendrils and weaken the Golden Armor Divine General.
• Chen Chuan’s spiritual form shattered the Golden Armor Divine General with its blade and Long Jian, removing its protection from the fight.
• Chen Chuan dragged Yuwen Yuanqi off balance, pinned him, and thrust the Snow Monarch Blade through his neck while detonating the Great Azure Void Style and Great Bright Light Style.
• A luminous wisp escaped Yuwen Yuanqi’s body and flew into a Lacquer Box in the hall as his Spiritual Fire vanished and his body exploded.
• Chen Chuan watched the remaining tendrils burn to ash, gathered the long hammer and armor, and headed toward the hall.

Chen Chuan defeated Emperor Ying’s remnant and obtained a mysterious pill from the Hidden Treasure. After cleansing some of Xu Mutang’s contamination, he learned that Xu had come to claim the treasure for Longyou Road but now considered Chen Chuan entitled to it.

• Chen Chuan opened the Lacquer Box and found Emperor Ying’s remnant trapped with a golden pill; after rejecting its demand to possess him, he destroyed it with the Snow Monarch Blade.
• Radiance from the pill absorbed Emperor Ying’s remnant, and a mysterious voice declared the pill complete and left it behind as a gift.
• Chen Chuan recognized the weightless, empty-feeling pill as possibly a vessel made from essences beyond the heavens and stored it in his spiritual aspect.
• Chen Chuan used the Great Bright Light Style to cleanse some of Xu Mutang’s contamination and woke him.
• Xu Mutang learned that Chen Chuan had dealt with Yuwen Yuanqi and admitted he had come on Longyou Road’s behalf to claim the Hidden Treasure, but said Chen Chuan was the one qualified to take it.

Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang set aside the question of ownership and descended beneath the hall to investigate the Hidden Treasure. They discovered a vast cavern filled with statues of Profound Sect Immortals and Gods, some made of gold and silver, while Chen Chuan noticed that not all were.

• Chen Chuan asked which side Xu Mutang represented, and Xu Mutang revealed that he belonged to the Implant Faction and supported the Skyline Project.
• Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang agreed to explore the Hidden Treasure together before deciding who owned it.
• Xu Mutang explained Longyou Road's research into the Non-Action Profound Scholar and the Emperor Ying's mysterious disappearance.
• Xu Mutang moved the carved stone slab beneath the throne, revealing stairs to an underground Elixir Cellar.
• Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang descended into a cavern lined with more than a hundred statues, and Xu Mutang found that some were cast from gold and silver.

Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang explored the hidden storerooms beneath the site, finding ancient supplies, research materials, and a Rift that might have served as the imperial household’s escape route. They returned to the surface, where Chen Chuan offered Xu Mutang a say in how the discoveries would be divided.

• Xu Mutang recognized the lifelike statues as meritorious subjects honored by Emperor Gao on the Dew-Collecting Terrace.
• Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang found Azure Delicacy Jars and jars marked with Flying Dragons, which Xu Mutang identified as sources of old dragon-serpent breeding medicines and formulas.
• They explored storerooms containing prescriptions, unused mutated weapons, Lianshan Branches bearing rare medicines and tissues, historical records, ritual vessels, and scriptures.
• At the end of the passage, an eye-covered wall opened a cleft revealing a Rift, which Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang decided not to enter.
• Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang returned to the surface, and Chen Chuan invited Xu Mutang to consult the Government Affairs Hall before they discussed dividing the discoveries.

After Emperor Ying vanished, Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang found the Hidden Treasure’s rituals dissolving and rescued the people trapped inside. Xu Mutang returned to Longyou Road Central City, where he reported the missing treasure and discussed building ties with Chen Chuan and preparing for the Skyline Project.

• Chen Chuan and Xu Mutang followed Xiao Ye and Zhao Ming through the forest to find nearly two hundred unconscious people bound to bronze execution pillars.
• Xu Mutang freed the captives, ensured they had medicine, and left to report to the Government Affairs Hall while Chen Chuan stayed behind.
• Xu Mutang reunited with Young Master Xu, Mister Qiao, and Teacher Fan, then learned that Chen Chuan had saved his grandnephew.
• At Cloud Tower, Xu Mutang told his contact that the Hidden Treasure contained no trace of the item they sought, though he recalled an empty Lacquer Box.
• Xu Mutang recommended prioritizing ties with Chen Chuan and Jibei Province, and his contact urged him to support the Skyline Project and prepare for resistance to its reforms.

Chen Chuan returned from Longyou Road with rewards from the Hidden Treasure and negotiated a favorable division of its remaining contents with Xu Mutang. Back in Jibei Province, he learned that Skyline was moving forward and that the Linax Federation had invited him to visit.

• Chen Chuan toured Longyou Road, watched its lantern festival, and learned the Ghost Bride legend before returning to the airship with Zhao Ming.
• Chen Chuan purified the Flood Dragon Snake Egg, then gave it to Zhao Ming to eat while the Racoon Cat Rumor crunched on its shell.
• Xu Mutang brought Chen Chuan an inventory and proposed division of the Hidden Treasure, and Chen Chuan revised several shares to give Longyou Road more.
• Chen Chuan left Longyou Road with medicines and one Lianshan Branch plant after the allocation was settled.
• Qi Weizhao told Chen Chuan that representatives were advancing Skyline and that the Linax Federation had invited him to visit; Chen Chuan agreed to consider the invitation.

After returning from Longyou Road, Chen Chuan distributed gifts, resources, and rare texts while making plans to strengthen the Purity Faction's Branch Office. He entered the Rift to cultivate with his new supplies, and the chapter ended as he swallowed potent Mutated Tissue and a Nine Aperture Lotus Seed.

• Chen Chuan gave his aunt and uncle health products and presented Nian Mo and Nian Lu with a large wooden building model kit to assemble.
• Chen Chuan sent rare sect texts to Director Lei and valuable manuscripts to Senior Brother Cao, then inspected the Lianshan Branch and set aside its materials for Mister Zhuan, Masked Mister, and Teacher Xue.
• Chen Chuan decided to invest personal funds in the Purity Faction's Branch Office and keep mutated weapons as future rewards for his squad members.
• Chen Chuan went to the underground Meditation Room, entered the Rift, and summoned his strengthened Spirit Manifestation to cultivate.
• Chen Chuan examined the pulsing Body Abode Pill but chose not to venture deeper into the Rift, then swallowed Su Su and a Nine Aperture Lotus Seed to support his cultivation.

Chen Chuan used potent medicines to strengthen his mutated tissue and Spirit Manifestation, then helped plan security for the skyline connection between Jibei Province and Haidong Province. He later met Cheng Zitong at the checkpoint and drove him toward Central City with records of anomalous incidents.

• Chen Chuan took Su Su and then dan drum, accelerating the growth of his mutated tissue and enlarging his Spirit Manifestation.
• Chen Chuan reflected that Emperor Ying had likely relied on resources instead of diligent cultivation and pursued a shortcut to immortality.
• Chen Chuan, Qi Weizhao, and their team planned armed security for the skyline cooperation between Jibei Province and Haidong Province.
• Chen Chuan met Cheng Zitong at the National Avenue checkpoint and handed him collected records of anomalous incidents.
• Chen Chuan drove Cheng Zitong through the checkpoint toward his former home in Central City.

Cheng Zitong revisited places in Central City tied to his youth and told Chen Chuan how he left martial arts, built a career handling urban legends, and once fell in love. At an old meeting place, he reunited with Flathead and said he had returned to stay for a while and settle matters from the past.

• Cheng Zitong showed Chen Chuan the rooftop where he used to practice boxing alone and recalled leaving his martial arts school as a teenager after feeling he could not meet his father's expectations.
• Cheng Zitong described finding success solving urban legends and organizing logistics, then returning to repay his father for his tuition.
• Cheng Zitong recalled trying to open a Fighting Hall with former fellow disciples before his father and senior brothers shut it down.
• Cheng Zitong told Chen Chuan about meeting his first love while working as an urban-legend investigator, fighting with her after learning she came from a wealthy family, and leaving Central City after she did not return.
• Cheng Zitong reunited with Flathead at the old gray-brick building and said he had come back to see people from his past and sort through old matters.

Cheng Zitong returned to Central City to visit his family and prepare a surprise for his grandfather’s eightieth birthday, while Chen Chuan continued overseeing the Skyline Project. As opposition to the project gathered in the Convergence Zone and the Linax Federation, Kazama Eiko was asked to intervene.

• Cheng Zitong arrived at his old home, told Xiao Ke that Chen Chuan was his only student, and asked him to keep his return secret until his grandfather’s birthday.
• Cheng Zitong looked through old family photographs and went with Xiao Ke to eat at the Shen Family Shop.
• Chen Chuan reviewed the Skyline Project’s security preparations and arranged for the Covert Department to provide intelligence support for the sea route.
• Zhao Zhenye told a woman that the Skyline Project was inevitable and said someone would act, promising to take responsibility if his judgment proved wrong.
• Two New Light Sect men agreed to delay and sabotage Skyline communications to protect West Coast interests, then asked Kazama Eiko to help stop the project.

New Light Sect leaders recruited Kazama Eiko, Ian, and a First People Sacred Land Warrior to sabotage Great Shun’s Skyline Project. The chosen recruit, Takoda, learned that the State Government had answered his application to bring his tribe into the Federation, though his efforts remained opposed by traditionalists such as Awan.

• Kazama Eiko warned that Chen Chuan could threaten the Skyline mission, but agreed to go with Ian and prepare for departure.
• New Light Sect leaders decided to add Takoda to the sabotage team and planned to hire additional help while keeping the sect’s involvement hidden.
• Takoda failed to persuade the tribal elders to join the Federation because he no longer bore his War Tattoos.
• Awan urged Takoda to fight the Federation and reclaim tribal land, but Takoda argued that integration was the tribe’s only path to survival.
• Takoda’s assistant arrived with a reply from the State Government to their application, giving hope for the tribe.

Takoda accepted Escaroma’s offer to support local resistance against Great Shun in exchange for a promise to advance his tribe’s Federation citizenship. Later, Chen Chuan received detailed intelligence about a plot to sabotage the Skyline Project and prepared to intercept the conspirators at sea.

• Takoda left his tribe despite Awan’s threats and met Escaroma to discuss citizenship for his people.
• Escaroma asked Takoda to help resist Great Shun’s actions overseas, and Takoda reviewed intelligence about Chen Chuan before agreeing to take on the mission.
• Escaroma promised to push for the tribe’s admission into the Federation if Takoda succeeded, then departed after privately wiping his hand.
• Chen Chuan reviewed the Skyline Project schedule and learned from Lao Feng that operatives planned to sabotage it.
• Chen Chuan identified an island where the conspirators would rendezvous and asked the Government Affairs Hall to arrange a naval vessel.

Chen Chuan traveled by cruise ship to Haidong Province Central City while studying the New Light Sect and weighing the threats facing the world. After locating three approaching airships, he left the ship to intercept them at sea.

• Chen Chuan read an account of the New Light Sect deceiving a First People tribe and sending its members to organ factories.
• Chen Chuan received Central City updates and Scarlson’s letter about the dwindling number of fighters, then rejected Scarlson’s appeal for restraint and burned the correspondence.
• Chen Chuan arrived near the An Ying Islands and surveyed Haidong Province Central City’s rapid construction without leaving the ship.
• Two young people from Central City applied for authorization to send birthday greetings through the newly connected domain fields.
• Chen Chuan identified the location where three airships were gathering, donned his mask, took up the Snow Monarch Blade, and raced across the sea to intercept them.

Mister Zhuan learned that Zhao Zhenye had emerged and set out to pursue him, while Chen Chuan waited on a remote island to intercept three fighters planning an attack on the Skyline Project. Chen Chuan approached the island as the three men gathered, bringing the confrontation to a head.

• Zhao Zhenye emerged from the Rift and headed out to sea after rejecting the female voice's suggestion that he kill Zhuan Liang.
• Mister Zhuan's Pocket Watch detected Zhao Zhenye, so he put on the Mask, sent telegrams to officials, and departed to pursue him.
• Chen Chuan reached the island where he expected three fighters to gather and arranged for Feng He Shou and Zhao Ming to stay ready.
• Ian and Kazama Eiko arrived on separate airships, followed by Takoda, who surfaced from the water.
• Chen Chuan left his reef and walked across the sea toward the island, where Ian, Kazama Eiko, and Takoda noticed him.

Chen Chuan confronted Takoda, Ian, and Kazama Eiko on the shore, overwhelming Ian’s Spirit Manifestation with a single punch linked by successive waves of force. The chapter left Chen Chuan closing in on Ian while the Red-Clothed Woman intercepted a blade attack aimed at him.

• Takoda stopped Ian from attacking Zhao Ming, then identified Chen Chuan as their sole nearby opponent.
• Chen Chuan approached the shore as Kazama Eiko invoked the Sutian Ghost and Ian formed his Chan Practitioner Spirit Manifestation.
• Ian attacked Chen Chuan with a massive palm, but Chen Chuan met it with a punch and shattered the manifestation with repeated waves of force.
• Chen Chuan rushed toward the immobilized Ian and drove a flaming fist at his face.
• A blade flashed toward Chen Chuan, and the Red-Clothed Woman appeared to block it with the Wild Goose Feather Blade.

Chen Chuan killed Ian and forced Kazama Eiko to fight after rejecting his attempt to escape. Kazama Eiko’s foresight helped him anticipate Chen Chuan’s moves, but Chen Chuan exploited the brief flaw in his attack and pierced his neck.

• Chen Chuan killed Ian with a single punch while Kazama Eiko and Takoda watched.
• Kazama Eiko used his Sutian Ghost’s vision of possible futures to test an offer to surrender, then realized Chen Chuan intended to kill him.
• Kazama Eiko burned his Mutated Tissue to strengthen himself and launched a series of deadly sword strikes at Chen Chuan.
• Chen Chuan noticed a break in Kazama Eiko’s attack momentum, knocked aside his blade, and thrust forward.
• Red Dust’s apparent movement distracted Kazama Eiko, allowing Chen Chuan’s blade to pierce his neck.

Chen Chuan killed Kazama Eiko and prepared to fight Takoda, who revealed his Raging River inheritance and used gathered water to keep Chen Chuan at a distance. Takoda merged into the water to draw out the battle, leaving Chen Chuan and Red Dust facing his immense watery form.

• Chen Chuan sensed Kazama Eiko's concealed attack, severed his head and arm, and walked away as Kazama's giant body collapsed.
• Takoda identified Chen Chuan as Director Chen Chuan of Jibei Province, explained his cause, and revealed that his name was Senpar and that he was a Federal People.
• Takoda summoned a half-human, half-serpent figure from the Raging River inheritance, gathering water from the ground to enlarge it.
• Red Dust split and deflected the watery figure with her Wild Goose Feather Blade, while Takoda's returning Battle Axe and Chen Chuan's diamond-shaped weapon clashed nearby.
• Chen Chuan advanced with Red Dust opening a path through the water, but Takoda fell backward and merged into the mass of water to avoid close combat.