Chapter Summaries

Chen Chuan and the Visiting Delegation arrived in V Asia Central City, where they saw Zen Practitioners restoring ancient pillars and explored the city’s advanced municipal platform. The chapter ended when the city’s active consciousness administrator, Alura, appeared to welcome Chen Chuan.

• Chen Chuan and the Visiting Delegation reached Central City and traveled by sightseeing ferry through the Beaver Dam’s locks toward the inner harbor.
• Chen Chuan watched Chan Practitioners from Small Awakening Temple attempt to restore the Shattered Pillar Riverbank’s ancient pillars, and he sensed that a lingering ritual helped the stones stay aligned.
• The delegation reached the inner harbor and logged in to Central City’s municipal platform using their modified world tokens.
• Chen Chuan felt a power watching him from above, and Alura appeared to introduce herself as Central City’s active consciousness administrator.

Chen Chuan and the Great Shun Delegation arrived in Central City of V Asia, where Joseph Calvin showed them the city and arranged their stay. Meanwhile, a West Bank Party congressman asked Kafudi to draw Chen Chuan into an internal test or the Ascension Ladder, and Chen Chuan prepared to visit Free Stars Academy and seek out an ancient Fighter.

• Chen Chuan blocked the World Tokens’ personalized service recommendations until the delegation’s technicians could inspect the information transmission.
• Joseph Calvin escorted Chen Chuan and the delegation by Airship to their hotel, pointing out Lockdown Hall and other Central City landmarks along the way.
• A West Bank Party congressman told Kafudi that Chen Chuan might be a variable and asked him to invite Chen Chuan to an internal test or the Ascension Ladder.
• Chen Chuan arrived at the Garden Hotel, gave Zhao Ming a Kaki Fruit, and planned to visit Free Stars Academy the next day.
• Chen Chuan considered his assignment to meet an ancient Fighter from Great Shun and persuade him to hand over an item.

Chen Chuan and the Wuyi Academy delegation visited Free Stars Academy, where they were welcomed by its directors and toured the academy’s historic grounds. Joseph introduced the statues on Pioneer Avenue, and Chen Chuan focused on the controversial Federation heroes before recognizing Cui Xuanhui, a Mystic Hall Fighter from the Fu Luo Peninsula.

• Chen Chuan and the delegation traveled to Free Stars Academy, where Joseph explained that they could freely explore the campus.
• Chen Chuan met academy directors Ayrton Kleiver and Viola Castina, and Kleiver described his Macca People ancestry and ties to Jibei Province.
• Chen Chuan accepted Joseph’s recommendation to visit Pioneer Avenue and the Information Hall, where visitors could interact with authorized fighting simulations.
• Joseph introduced the statues of legendary Federation Fighters, while Chen Chuan recalled the atrocities behind the celebrated figures’ reputations.
• Joseph pointed out the statue of Cui Xuanhui, and Chen Chuan fixed his gaze on it.

Chen Chuan learned Cui Xuanhui’s history and entered Free Stars Academy’s Information Hall to fight his simulation. He decisively defeated Cui Xuanhui, but kept advancing after the outcome was settled.

• Chen Chuan learned that Cui Xuanhui had betrayed his teacher, served the Federation, and founded the Non-Body Faction, despite being celebrated as a legendary hero.
• Chen Chuan asked Joseph to arrange an interaction with Cui Xuanhui’s simulation, drawing the attention of Free Stars Academy’s administrators.
• Chen Chuan entered the Domain Field and faced the simulated Cui Xuanhui, who introduced himself and took a fighting stance.
• Cui Xuanhui combined his kick with his Spirit Manifestation, but Chen Chuan met the attack and damaged the manifestation with a physical kick.
• Chen Chuan blocked Cui Xuanhui’s spinning back kick, crushed his lower spine, and struck the back of his head.
• Chen Chuan continued walking toward Cui Xuanhui after the fight’s outcome had been settled.

Chen Chuan repeatedly beat Cui Xuanhui in the simulated battle until Cui Xuanhui’s Mutated Tissue and remaining mental power disintegrated, erasing him from the world. Star Academy’s administrators then removed Cui Xuanhui’s Legendary Hero status and considered giving his statue to Chen Chuan.

• Chen Chuan overwhelmed Cui Xuanhui’s Spirit Manifestation, shattered his body with successive attacks, and kicked him into the lake.
• Cui Xuanhui returned from the lake and fused his Spirit Manifestation with his body, but Chen Chuan intercepted his strike and slammed him headfirst into the ground.
• For more than an hour, Chen Chuan repeatedly injured Cui Xuanhui, let him recover, and beat him down again, causing the Mutated Tissue beneath the Information Hall to tremble and burst.
• Star Academy’s administrators learned that Cui Xuanhui’s Mutated Tissue and mental power had vanished, leaving them unable to reconstruct him accurately.
• The administrators agreed to strip Cui Xuanhui of his titles and designations, and one board member suggested asking Chen Chuan whether he wanted Cui Xuanhui’s statue.

Chen Chuan visited the Information Hall and tested a simulation of Cui Xuanhui, then watched a student sparring match at the academy. After betting Cold Claw against Kleiver’s necklace on the match, Chen Chuan won the Lost Object and Kleiver proposed another wager.

• Chen Chuan told Joseph the Cui Xuanhui simulation lacked the insults, deception, and pleas for mercy that had been part of the fighter’s combat style.
• Chen Chuan and Joseph left the Information Hall and traveled to the academy district, where Chen Chuan watched Guan Fengchun spar with a Federation student.
• Kleiver challenged Chen Chuan to bet on the match, and Chen Chuan wagered Cold Claw while Kleiver put up his necklace.
• Castina told the students that their teachers had wagered Tier 3 Lost Objects, increasing the pressure on both fighters.
• Guan Fengchun and the Federation student charged at each other, and Guan Fengchun remained standing long enough to win the match.
• Kleiver handed Chen Chuan the necklace and, unwilling to accept the loss, challenged him to wager again.

Kleiver wagered a Federation Precision Healthcare Platinum Card against the necklace Chen Chuan had won from him, and the two academies sent lower-level students to compete. Wei Dong defeated a Federation student in a brutal fight, leaving Kleiver’s reaction unfinished as Wei Dong’s injuries began to heal.

• Kleiver offered Chen Chuan a Platinum Card in a new bet, and Chen Chuan agreed to have students from each academy compete.
• Chen Chuan selected Wei Dong for the match, while Kleiver chose a Federation student of similar size.
• The Federation student armed himself with a shield and Pointed Hammer, while Wei Dong brought a lasso to the battleground.
• Wei Dong dragged his opponent down, overpowered his legs and shield, and endured repeated hammer blows while striking the student until he lost consciousness.
• Wei Dong stood with a dented skull as the crowd applauded, and his body began repairing itself while Kleiver tried to speak.

After Wei Dong broke through to the Third Limit during the sparring exchanges, Chen Chuan toured Star Academy and received Cui Xuanhui’s statue as a gift. He learned that an ancient Fighter in Central City held a fragment of the Nine Unifications Jade Tablet and decided to visit him the next day.

• Wei Dong broke through to the Third Limit, and Kleiver conceded his wager to Chen Chuan before leaving the sparring matches.
• The Wuyi Academy and Star Academy students completed their exchanges with roughly equal results, and Joseph showed Chen Chuan the academy’s resources and facilities.
• Joseph gave Chen Chuan a life-sized statue of Cui Xuanhui, and Chen Chuan smashed it, keeping only its head.
• Chen Chuan reviewed the visit on the way back and saw that Cui Xuanhui’s son-in-law, an ancient Fighter in Eastern Valley Area, possessed a fragment of the Nine Unifications Jade Tablet.
• Chen Chuan decided to visit the ancient Fighter the next day and bring the statue head as a gift.

Chen Chuan and Gui Zihan traveled to V Asia’s Eastern Valley, where Gui Zihan visited Senior Mo on his teacher’s behalf. Senior Mo accepted water from the Gai Family Old House and gave Gui Zihan the Returning Origin Sword Manual to take back to Great Shun.

• Chen Chuan examined Kleiver’s Tier 3 defensive Lost Object and found that it could repel attacks but would gradually consume itself.
• Chen Chuan told the delegation to explore Central City in groups, and he arranged with Gui Zihan to visit an ancient Fighter the next day.
• Kafudi ordered his men not to stop Chen Chuan from traveling to the Eastern Valley and told them to retain materials from the madman’s body if possible.
• Chen Chuan and Gui Zihan flew to the Eastern Valley and traveled to Senior Mo’s estate.
• Gui Zihan delivered well water from the Gai Family Old House, and Senior Mo gave him the Returning Origin Sword Manual to bring back to Great Shun.

Chen Chuan visited Mr. Mo before confronting the giant fighter who held an item stolen from Great Shun. After Chen Chuan offered Cui Xuanhui’s stone statue head, the fighter challenged him to take the item by force, while Ryan Cavity watched through a Domain Field screen that was disrupted by Lost Object energy.

• Gui Zihan accepted a sword manual from Mr. Mo, who declined to return to Great Shun and warned Chen Chuan about the fighter on the hill and the Federal People.
• Chen Chuan and Gui Zihan traveled to the hill, identified an ancient Lingnan Boundary Marker, and climbed through a forest of Mutated Iron Bamboo.
• Chen Chuan found the giant fighter and demanded the return of the item held in his safekeeping.
• Chen Chuan offered Cui Xuanhui’s stone statue head, but the fighter smashed it and challenged Chen Chuan to take the item by force.
• The fighter ignited green Spiritual Fire, disrupting the Domain Field screen watched by Ryan Cavity, and Alura reported Lost Object energy interference.

Chen Chuan fought Luo Xiao and studied the powerful, forceful Exotic Power that manifested as blue figures. After discovering how the figures behaved, Chen Chuan gathered pale platinum light along his blade and unleashed a bright attack.

• Chen Chuan and Luo Xiao exchanged blows, and Luo Xiao's blue figures repeatedly blocked and countered Chen Chuan with overwhelming force.
• Chen Chuan recognized that Luo Xiao's blue figures came from his Exotic Power and observed that the power could manifest again after each figure returned to Luo Xiao.
• Luo Xiao revealed that contamination had spread across half his body, while an unseen force around his heart resisted it, and challenged Chen Chuan to take the object there.
• Chen Chuan dodged the blue figures' attacks and determined that they returned to Luo Xiao after making contact with an opponent.
• Chen Chuan raised his blade and released a burst of pale platinum light toward Luo Xiao.

Chen Chuan defeated Luo Xiao in the Bamboo Forest and destroyed his mutated body. Before dying, Luo Xiao told Chen Chuan that he had left something beneath his Bamboo House.

• Chen Chuan followed his Spiritual Impact with an attack, seized Luo Xiao’s blue-green shadow, and destroyed it with spiritual light.
• Chen Chuan used his necklace to deflect a spear attack, then cleaved through Luo Xiao’s mutated body and disrupted the power gathering inside him.
• Chen Chuan destroyed Luo Xiao’s second blue-green shadow, tore away the cleaved half of his body, and cut off his head.
• Luo Xiao accepted his defeat and told Chen Chuan to look beneath the Bamboo House before Chen Chuan obliterated his remains.
• Chen Chuan left the Ring Pommel Long Blade and short spear in the crater and walked toward the Bamboo House.

Chen Chuan killed Luo Xiao, recovered the jade fragment, and destroyed the Bamboo House, prompting Ryan to seek a meeting with him. Meanwhile, members of the Great Shun Visiting Delegation heard a reporter describe the exploitation of Fighters in V Asia, and Wei Dong realized the reporter knew Luo Kaiyuan.

• Chen Chuan retrieved documents, weapons, and the Nine Unifications Jade Tablet fragment from the Bamboo House, then destroyed the building and left with Gui Zihan.
• Ryan learned that Chen Chuan had killed Luo Xiao in under ten seconds and asked Alura to arrange a meeting with him.
• Mr. Mo watched Chen Chuan and Gui Zihan depart and felt relieved that Luo Xiao was gone.
• Chai Lai told Wu Han and the delegation members that V Asia's fighting venues trapped Fighters in debt and exploited their bodies through Implant Bodies.
• Wei Dong told Luo Kaiyuan that Chai Lai knew him, but the reporter had already disappeared.

Chai Lai met with his underground team leader, who ordered him to expose Central City's secrets through newspaper reports, while Chen Chuan settled the delegation's affairs and examined Luo Xiao's possessions. Chen Chuan identified the map hidden in Luo Xiao's box as a map of V Asia Central City, with its marked destination at the Ancient Museum.

• Chai Lai reported that he had approached Fighters from the Da Shun Delegation, and his team leader told him to wait for another chance to contact Luo Qiming's younger brother.
• A messenger reported that Luo Xiao had been killed and Director Chen had probably taken the Nine Unifications Jade Tablet fragments, prompting the team leader to order Chai Lai to publish reports exposing Central City's secrets.
• Chen Chuan declined invitations to become a combat instructor, reviewed the delegation members' activity records, and accepted a meeting with Ryan Cavity.
• Chen Chuan checked on the sleeping Zhao Ming, then read Luo Xiao's notebook and learned that Luo Xiao sought a great treasure in V Asia.
• Chen Chuan recognized the hide map from Luo Xiao's box as depicting V Asia Central City and identified the red cross as the location of the Ancient Museum.

Chen Chuan considered the museum and the seeds he had sent out, then chose to leave both matters alone for now and continued cultivating. Meanwhile, Puppet joined Chengshui Entrusted Company with a new team and proved his strength on a rescue commission, while the company’s supervisor continued to observe him.

• Chen Chuan reasoned that Luo Xiao’s target might be connected to the V Asia Ancient Museum, but set the mystery aside because there was no chance to retrieve it.
• Chen Chuan checked his two seeds, decided not to recall the one that was still growing, and entered cultivation.
• Puppet joined Chengshui Entrusted Company with Xin Old Four, Xuan Ge, and the rest of the team after signing the agreement.
• Company staff investigated Puppet’s identity and suspected he might be an Origin Company product, but the supervisor chose to observe him rather than confront him.
• Puppet led the team in raiding a human-trafficking camp, defeating its leaders and rescuing a wealthy merchant’s kidnapped child.
• After reviewing the mission report and a psychological assessment that gave a low chance of Puppet being an artificial Combat Weapon, the supervisor raised the team’s rating and ordered continued observation.

Chen Chuan toured V Asia’s Lockdown Hall with Ryan Cafferty, who highlighted its elaborate safeguards and powerful prisoners. Chen Chuan declined to meet Emperor Caliophates and asked to speak with the entity from the Other Side, despite the mental contamination it caused.

• Ryan welcomed Chen Chuan to the Lockdown Hall and explained its security systems and ritual safeguards.
• Ryan showed Chen Chuan the Amber Hall, where dangerous Superlimit Creatures were sealed and used to support the rituals.
• Ryan led Chen Chuan through the Wanderer's Corridor and described how parasites helped restrain the living Sloane Monster esophagus.
• Ryan warned Chen Chuan that Emperor Caliophates could win visitors over through speech, but Chen Chuan said he did not want to meet him.
• Chen Chuan asked to speak with the entity from the Other Side, and Ryan warned that its mental contamination had deterred previous visitors.

Chen Chuan visited Lockdown Hall and chose to communicate with an existence on the other side, enduring its chaotic mental transmission without suffering detectable contamination. Ryan showed him the rest of the facility and hosted him for dinner, leaving Chen Chuan to consider the Hall’s elaborate ritual and the natural rules Ryan described.

• Ryan agreed to let Chen Chuan speak with an existence on the other side after warning him about Lockdown Hall’s safety rules.
• Chen Chuan entered the Hall of Discernment alone and received chaotic mental information from the existence, while his Great Bright Light Style cleared away the contamination.
• Chen Chuan asked the existence further questions, but it stopped responding; Lockdown Hall’s equipment detected no abnormalities when he left.
• Ryan guided Chen Chuan through the remaining areas, and Chen Chuan inferred that Lockdown Hall’s layout and imprisoned creatures formed a vast ritual that restrained one another.
• Ryan treated Chen Chuan to dinner, where Chen Chuan tasted Snow Velvet Mushroom and praised the meal.
• Ryan told Chen Chuan that those with ability ought to enjoy such things, describing this as a natural rule of the world.

Ryan Kafudi invited Chen Chuan to join the transnational Ascension Ladder, but Chen Chuan refused and left the Lockdown Hall. Ryan decided Chen Chuan would eventually have to be eliminated, while Chen Chuan suspected the group might be connected to Hahkokshuth and prepared to cultivate more quickly.

• Ryan argued that elites should absorb the weak as nourishment and invited Chen Chuan to join the Ascension Ladder, promising advancement methods and cultivation resources.
• Chen Chuan questioned Ryan about the Great Collision, rejected the invitation, and left the Lockdown Hall with an attendant.
• After Chen Chuan departed, Ryan reported his refusal and decided he would eventually need to be eliminated, though the Federation's plan took priority for now.
• Chen Chuan suspected Ryan's organization was connected to Hahkokshuth and resolved to stay alert and accelerate his cultivation.
• Chen Chuan collected high-quality Cultivation Medicine from Wansheng Finance and passed through the festive Great Shun residential district, where people on a distant high-rise watched his car.

Chen Chuan trained in Central City and discovered that the ring-shaped Lost Object could store items inside a Domain Field accessed through a rift. A telegram warned of planned sabotage against the Great Shun Settlement during New Year's, and Chen Chuan ordered security and armed personnel back to the hotel.

• Observers watched Chen Chuan's motorcade and recorded security patterns around the streets before leaving when their captain grew uneasy.
• Chen Chuan cultivated with medicines and personalized Strength Stakes, then spent the next day visiting Da Shun Companies and viewing the Pearl Fir Trees in the Great Wei Forest.
• Chen Chuan tested the ring-shaped Lost Object through a rift and found that it marked a fixed location and could store objects within its concealed Domain Field.
• Chen Chuan received a secure telegram warning that someone might sabotage the Great Shun Settlement during New Year's celebrations.
• Chen Chuan ordered his security and armed personnel to return to the hotel within one hour and await orders.

Chen Chuan sent his team to investigate the attackers in Great Shun Enclave without alerting local forces, while Luo Kaiyuan and Feng Xiaoqi watched a suspected surveillance site. Luo Kaiyuan fought a stranger who claimed to be his brother’s friend and offered intelligence, then agreed with Feng Xiaoqi to take the stranger’s message back to Chen Chuan.

• Chen Chuan briefed his team, assigned them an investigation plan, and sent them out in plain clothes to avoid alerting anyone involved.
• Luo Kaiyuan noticed that Hai Xing Report had been shut down and discussed its reporting, the limits of reform, and the Great Collision with Feng Xiaoqi.
• Luo Kaiyuan spotted a suspicious figure on a rooftop and went after him while Feng Xiaoqi noticed another person watching nearby.
• The rooftop stranger claimed he and his associates were friends of Luo Kaiyuan’s brother and could provide intelligence about the attackers, then revealed grenades and tossed Luo Kaiyuan a paper tube.
• The stranger escaped under cover of a rifle shot, and Luo Kaiyuan found that a nearby Resonator had disrupted the records; Feng Xiaoqi checked the tube and proposed taking it to Chen Chuan.