Chapter Summaries

A Resistance Organization leaked intelligence about Diego’s planned attack to Chen Chuan through Luo Kaiyuan, allowing the Visiting Delegation to prepare. As the New Year arrived, Diego’s forces began their operation in the Great Shun district, but their explosives failed, forcing him to order a retreat.

• A Resistance Organization captain explained that his group had passed intelligence about Diego’s operation to the Visiting Delegation through Luo Kaiyuan, despite the risk of retaliation.
• Chen Chuan reviewed the delivered documents, confirmed the intelligence was likely genuine, assigned new tasks to his squad leaders, and told Luo Kaiyuan to remain in contact with the group without asking about its plans.
• Chen Chuan and the Visiting Delegation received New Year greetings and telegrams while waiting in Kavatua, which sent them no greeting.
• Diego led armed operatives to a high-rise in the Great Shun district to trigger explosions and attack officials and Da Shun Company executives at Celebration Square.
• When the explosive devices failed to detonate, Diego recognized that something was wrong and ordered everyone to withdraw.

Chen Chuan’s forces crushed a planned attack on the Great Shun Gathering Area and captured its leader, Diego, while violence erupted nearby in the Tavatiniya Gathering Area. After learning the attackers belonged to an anti-government group, Chen Chuan ordered them executed and prepared to address the growing unrest.

• Diego ordered his team to retreat under a second plan, but Wei Dong and Wu Han intercepted him and the other attackers as they tried to escape.
• Wei Dong defeated one Third Limit Fighter, while Yuan Qiuyuan killed another, and the remaining attackers were killed or captured within fifteen minutes.
• Chen Chuan learned that a separate explosion had sparked deadly clashes between Tavatiniya residents and Eastern Continent Descendants, then spoke with Ryan Kafudi about protecting the Great Shun Gathering Area.
• Interrogators discovered that Diego’s group served an anti-government organization tied to the wanted Fighter Madman Rodovich, and Chen Chuan wrote an order to execute the prisoners after interrogation.

After Chen Chuan left V Asia Central City to investigate Scarlson’s disappearance, “Madman” Rodovich seized the chance to challenge Gui Zihan. The challenge stirred the city, leaving Gui Zihan under public pressure to respond.

• Chen Chuan helped the gathering areas sign a security guarantee agreement with V Asia Central City, then received word that Scarlson had disappeared.
• Chen Chuan learned that Scarlson had gone missing while investigating the New Light Sect matter and left for Seranocha Continent Central City, leaving Gui Zihan in command.
• After learning Chen Chuan had left, Rodovich decided to go to V Asia Central City and avenge the Tavatiniya Descendants’ losses.
• Rodovich issued a Challenge Letter to Gui Zihan, prompting widespread media coverage and excitement throughout Central City.
• A ceremonial-duel host speculated publicly about the challenge and urged the crowd to wait for Gui Zihan’s response.

Gui Zihan accepted Rodovich’s challenge and spent two days studying his school’s sword manual before meeting him at Qiyuan Lake. Gui Zihan struck without warning and walked away as Rodovich shattered, leaving the spectators stunned.

• Gui Zihan told the Great Shun representatives that he would accept Rodovich’s challenge, and they announced the news.
• Gui Zihan studied the sword manual for two days, then rested before heading to Qiyuan Lake with his team.
• Rodovich fired a Spiritual Impact at a V Asia airship and used his strange call to make spectators collapse.
• Gui Zihan approached Rodovich, said he would not give his opponent a chance to make a move, and turned away.
• Rodovich remained motionless as Gui Zihan walked off, then shattered into countless pieces.

After Gui Zihan killed Madman Rodovich with a strike that baffled witnesses and analysts, he returned to the hotel while Chen Chuan received news of the duel. Chen Chuan then investigated Scarlson’s disappearance and, comparing the captain’s hidden materials with a map of the Federation, began to notice a pattern.

• Gui Zihan’s sword strike killed Madman Rodovich, while witnesses and Fighters debated how he had attacked so quickly.
• Gui Zihan returned to the hotel, and the company representatives praised his victory and arranged for a telegram to Director Chen.
• Chen Chuan received the telegram announcing the duel’s outcome as he arrived outside Seranocha Continent Central City.
• An International Investigation Group member told Chen Chuan that Scarlson had been investigating New Light Sect sacrifices and abnormal rifts before disappearing.
• Chen Chuan retrieved Scarlson’s hidden maps, photographs, and notes from a Wansheng Finance safe-deposit box.
• Chen Chuan compared Scarlson’s marked locations with a large Federation map and began to spot a pattern.

Chen Chuan traced the New Light Sect’s sacrificial sites and suspected Scarlson had deliberately made himself bait to draw attention to the investigation. He led the International Investigation Group to the Black Swamp, where they found evidence Scarlson had passed through and continued into the darkness.

• Chen Chuan mapped the sacrificial sites and noticed they avoided V Asia and Arcana Continent, while the marked locations appeared to converge toward V Asia Central City.
• Chen Chuan identified the latest map marking near the Sanoe and Seranocha Continent boundary and signed the permit to assist the investigation.
• Chen Chuan learned Scarlson had requested international intervention shortly before setting out to investigate, and concluded Scarlson might have used himself as bait.
• Chen Chuan directed the Investigation Group to Kashuo, where they found Scarlson’s secret contact sign near the station.
• Chen Chuan lit the way with points of Spiritual Fire and led the group on foot into the Black Swamp.

Chen Chuan and the Investigation Group reached White Tree Beach, where they found evidence of a recent New Light Sect sacrifice and a Fighter’s arm likely belonging to Scarlson. The group then received a warning that the wanted fugitive Derek Walch was nearby and were told to evacuate.

• Chen Chuan led the Investigation Group through the swamp to White Tree Beach, following Scarlson’s stone cairns, and the team split up to search.
• The team received a telegram from Klofen Smetaora thanking Chen Chuan and asking the Da Shun Delegation to protect the Investigation Group’s remaining members.
• A strange old-code telegram from the vanished Seashell Exploration Team asked for help, but Chen Chuan chose to focus on finding Scarlson.
• The searchers found a sacrificial site used within the past ten days, where at least fifty people had likely been sacrificed by the New Light Sect.
• Chen Chuan uncovered the ash of a Fighter’s arm dissolved by Spiritual Fire and spotted an explosion crater, suspecting the arm belonged to Scarlson.
• The radio operator received a warning that Derek Walch was nearby, and the team leader urged Chen Chuan to evacuate.

Chen Chuan followed a talking vulture to a New Light Sect fortress while searching for the missing Fighter Scarlson, then identified and killed the vulture as a fragment of Walqi. He flew toward the fortress, where Du Luoqiye was interrupted at the piano by a shrill whistle.

• Chen Chuan ordered the Investigation Group to keep searching for clues to Scarlson’s whereabouts despite the warning about the dangerous Fighter Walqi.
• A carrion vulture spoke to Chen Chuan, said two people from the New Light Sect had taken Scarlson, and offered to lead the group to an outpost.
• The vulture led Chen Chuan and the Investigation Group to Greaiani Fortress, an old fortress that the group’s leader recognized.
• When the vulture eagerly asked to watch Chen Chuan meet the New Light Sect, Chen Chuan killed it and told the group it was probably Walqi.
• Chen Chuan flew toward the fortress as Du Luoqiye played piano inside and heard a shrill whistle from above.

Chen Chuan captured Du Luoqiye at Greniya Fortress and learned that Scarlson had likely been taken to a New Light Sect sacrificial site on the Sanoe Continent. As Chen Chuan headed there with the International Investigation Group, officials in Lunovila Central City debated whether his actions would affect negotiations.

• Chen Chuan blasted Du Luoqiye out of his underground hiding place, wounded him as he fled, and captured him.
• Du Luoqiye revealed that Samaruga had taken Scarlson and might have brought him to a public sacrificial site on the Sanoe Continent.
• Chen Chuan questioned Du Luoqiye, incapacitated the fortress soldiers, and returned to the International Investigation Group with his prisoner.
• Chen Chuan and the group set out for the sacrificial site, which their leader said was two days away.
• At a meeting in Lunovila Central City, Chu Zhixian questioned Chen Chuan's private meeting with Ryan, while Jiang Hongzhi said the Second Visiting Delegation should handle its own affairs.
• After receiving intelligence that Chen Chuan was heading to a New Light Sect site, Chu Zhixian raised concerns about the negotiations, and Fan Zhentong offered to go there.

Jiang Hongzhi authorized Chen Chuan to act to rescue the Investigation Group’s people while urging restraint, and the International Investigation Group granted Chen Chuan the highest operational authority. Chen Chuan reached the New Light Sect’s sacrificial site at Karupotu Mountain with his team, where the sect’s ritual and its desire for Kavatua’s sacred tree came into view.

• Jiang Hongzhi received Mataiola’s telegram and approved Chen Chuan’s rescue operation, warning him not to let the confrontation with the New Light Sect escalate.
• Jiang Hongzhi and the delegation turned their attention to the second round of negotiations.
• Chen Chuan received Mataiola’s message granting the Investigation Group’s team the highest operational authority and promising that the organization would bear the consequences.
• At Karupotu Mountain, New Light Sect believers performed a ritual around the Light of Truth, and one believer willingly jumped into the fire pit.
• The chapter revealed that the sect wanted Kavatua’s sacred tree as a sacrifice and that Samaruga guarded the site.
• Chen Chuan arrived at the foot of the mountain with Duruqiye and the International Investigation Group, then led them up the path as spectators watched.

Samaruga confronted Chen Chuan at the New Light Sect’s mountain sacrificial site, where Chen Chuan had come to rescue the imprisoned Scarlson. Chen Chuan overwhelmed Samaruga’s transformed Takru Lion and struck him with a close-range Spiritual Impact.

• Samaruga learned that Chen Chuan and the International Investigation Group had reached the New Light Sect’s territory, then went to meet them at the Sacrificial Site.
• Samaruga denied knowing where Scarlson was and refused Chen Chuan’s demand to hand him over, while Du Luoyeqi identified Samaruga as the man who had taken Scarlson.
• Chen Chuan and Samaruga prepared to fight as the believers cleared the area.
• Chen Chuan struck Samaruga before he could finish transforming, then sent him flying with a forceful shove.
• Samaruga transformed into a three-eyed Takru Lion whose Exotic Power dissolved Spiritual Fire, but Chen Chuan restrained him and unleashed a close-range Spiritual Impact.

Chen Chuan defeated Samaruga and went beneath the palace to investigate the ritual site. He found Scarlson alive in an obsidian box and told him he had been imprisoned for about twelve days.

• Chen Chuan's spiritual impact broke through Samaruga's defenses, and Purity Spirit Light dissolved the mutated tissue in his body until he collapsed.
• Chen Chuan told the Investigation Group to wait while he went to inspect the space below the palace, and Du Luye Qi stayed behind.
• Chen Chuan ignored the Light of Truth after recalling Head Jiang's request for restraint, then encountered Walqi's spiritual aspect in a robin and dismissed the threat of the New Light Sect's pontiff.
• Chen Chuan opened a passage beneath the palace and found twelve obsidian boxes, including the one holding Scarlson.
• Chen Chuan broke the nutrient ointment sealing Scarlson, who woke and asked about the investigation; Chen Chuan told him about his twelve-day imprisonment.

Scarlson was rescued from the New Light Sect’s underground palace, and Chen Chuan helped him escape with evidence and a witness for the investigation. The sect’s Pontiff Ilosser agreed to suspend sacrificial activities temporarily, confident that the coming Great Collision would soon shift attention away from them.

• Scarlson confirmed that he had used himself as bait, and Chen Chuan promised that the Da Shun Delegation would support the investigation.
• Chen Chuan rescued Scarlson, obliterated Samaruga, and subdued the New Light Sect followers who tried to attack him.
• Du Luye Qi joined the Investigation Group as a witness against the sect, and Chen Chuan led the group away before the nearby military could intervene.
• A day later, the sect’s assistant ceremonial officer told Pontiff Ilosser that the International Investigation Group and the Da Shun Delegation had demanded answers.
• Ilosser ordered the sect to halt sacrificial activities for now and said that the coming of truth could not be stopped.

Chen Chuan returned Scarlson safely, and the New Light Sect publicly halted sacrifices while blaming Samaruga for the attack. As Chen Chuan headed back toward V Asia and anticipated negotiations with the Origin Company, Luo Weina met a masked visitor at the Non-Body Faction Dojo.

• An Investigation Group expert warned Scarlson that three ritual stars would soon converge, and Scarlson said the group still had to stop the New Light Sect’s sacrifices and prepare for the Great Collision.
• Chen Chuan and Scarlson returned to Serranoza, where newspapers reported that the New Light Sect had blamed Samaruga and promised to halt private sacrifices.
• Chen Chuan received a telegram from Head Xie praising his rescue of Scarlson and announcing that the visiting delegation would soon join him before meeting the First Visiting Delegation.
• Chen Chuan considered the coming negotiations with the Origin Company as he traveled toward V Asia.
• Luo Weina received company representatives’ proposal at the Non-Body Faction Dojo, then spoke with a masked man who came to visit her.

Luo Weina discussed her lack of affection for her family with a visitor, then reflected on the unusual mental ability that had changed her life. In a hidden base, Commissioner Qu ordered Team Leader Lu to attack the Tavatiniya Visiting Delegation to provoke conflict with the Da Shun Delegation.

• Luo Weina told the man in the protective gown that she had little affection for her father and asked him to stop visiting so often.
• After the man left, Luo Weina spoke to her shadow and wondered whether the long-awaited day was approaching.
• Team Leader Lu studied a star chart and prepared defenses when Commissioner Qu arrived at the hidden base.
• Commissioner Qu told Team Leader Lu that their preparations had to avoid detection by Alura and demanded the V Asia Team's full cooperation.
• Commissioner Qu ordered Team Leader Lu to disguise his people as people from Great Shun and inflict substantial casualties on the Tavatiniya Visiting Delegation.
• Team Leader Lu objected to the plan but agreed to obey Commissioner Qu's order.

Team Leader Lu agreed to help the Resistance Front’s Spring Dawn Operation by attacking the Tavatiniya Visiting Delegation and provoking conflict with the Da Shun Delegation. The raid succeeded, but the survivors blamed the Eastern Continent, setting up the dispute the Resistance wanted.

• Commissioner Qu explained that Team Leader Lu’s mission was to create conflict between the delegations while the Resistance pursued the Spring Dawn Operation’s larger objective.
• Team Leader Lu assigned tasks, and thirty-two elite Resistance members gathered near the delegation’s expected route, waiting through delays caused by the visitors’ changing plans.
• The Tavatiniya Visiting Delegation arrived at the Mooring Tower with lax security, and the Resistance captain ordered an attack after a signal.
• A Resistance fighter intercepted the delegation’s fighter while a disguised resonator disrupted the visitors’ implant bodies, allowing the assault squad to rout their security.
• The Resistance squad withdrew before Federation combat airships arrived, leaving five security personnel dead and more than twenty injured.
• The Tavatiniya delegation members blamed the Eastern Continent for the attack when questioned by the Federation.

Chen Chuan returned to V Asia Central City and prepared to resolve the escalating conflict with the Tawatiniya Visiting Delegation through a Fighter confrontation. As the delegations exchanged challenges and Dayer Rosad was expected to arrive, an armored convoy delivered an unidentified case to the Central City Ancient Museum.

• Chen Chuan returned to V Asia Central City, where the Da Shun Delegation welcomed him and explained the crisis.
• Chen Chuan concluded that finding the attackers would not resolve the conflict, then learned from Ryan that Central City supported settling disputes through its Fighter traditions.
• Chen Chuan identified Dayer Rosad among the Tawatiniya Fighters and sent messages welcoming his arrival and challenging the Tawatiniya Visiting Delegation.
• Chen Chuan dismissed the others and kept Gui Zihan behind to discuss the situation.
• An armored convoy bearing the Central City Ancient Museum emblem entered the museum, and a gloved man carried a case into an independent warehouse.

V Asia stored the newly discovered Paparu skull in its heavily defended Lockdown Hall while the Resistance Organization prepared to seize an unidentified item during the coming Three Stars Convergence. Head Xie’s delegation arrived in Central City and joined Chen Chuan’s team, with Head Xie deciding to address the tensions between the visiting delegations before traveling onward.

• V Asia managers watched the Paparu skull being sealed in the Lockdown Hall and discussed researching it for technological advances.
• Commissioner Qu learned that V Asia had received the item the Resistance planned to take and ordered his members to remain ready for the Three Stars Convergence.
• Commissioner Qu discussed the stalled duel between Viero and Mr. Gui and learned that Dayer Rosad might arrive to fight Director Chen.
• Head Xie’s delegation arrived in V Asia Central City on January eighteenth and regrouped with Chen Chuan’s team.
• Head Xie told Director Chen that they should resolve the long-running conflict between the delegations before continuing to the East Coast.

Dayer Rosad arrived near V Asia Central City and challenged Chen Chuan to a private match intended to prevent the conflict between Great Shun and Tawatiniya from escalating. Meanwhile, Luo Weina offered to transfer the Non-Body Faction Dojo to Chen Chuan and planned to return to her mother's homeland.

• Dayer Rosad arrived outside V Asia Central City and sent Chen Chuan a letter challenging him to a match three days later.
• Chen Chuan accepted Rosad's challenge, and he and Head Xie arranged a discreet response to the fight.
• Companies gathered outside the Non-Body Faction Dojo as Luo Weina faced pressure to decide its ownership.
• Luo Weina visited Chen Chuan and offered to transfer the dojo to him, on the condition that she and her mother remained its founders.
• Chen Chuan agreed to her condition and asked Luo Weina to wait while the transfer was arranged.

Chen Chuan and Head Xie accepted Luo Weina’s offer to transfer the Non-Body Faction’s training hall while negotiations proceeded. As the three ritual stars converged, the Blood-Colored Skull resonated with Central City’s rituals, weakening the restraints in the Lockdown Hall as Alura reported an unknown error.

• Chen Chuan told Head Xie that Luo Weina might have another motive, and they agreed to proceed with taking over the training hall while Chen Chuan handled security.
• Luo Weina and the delegation’s negotiators worked through the transfer agreement, with the premises to be registered under Chen Chuan’s name.
• Team Leader Lu’s observers spotted the three stars converging, and Commissioner Qu gave the exact time and ordered the Resistance Organization’s operation to begin.
• Central City’s Esoteric Ritual team observed the Star Orbit drifting from its predicted timing, but decided to keep recording before reporting the discrepancy.
• Two young visitors entered the Ancient Museum as the Blood-Colored Skull began resonating with the converging stars, causing the rituals and prisoners’ domain fields to fall into alignment.
• Lockdown Hall wardens noticed that the prisoners’ restraints were weakening, but Alura returned an unknown-error message when they requested help restoring the rituals.