Chapter Summaries

Chen Chuan learned that his jade was likely secret-transmission Ming Hill Jade, which might aid cultivation, and received praise from the Purity Faction. At a Visiting Delegation meeting, Head Xie entrusted him with sensitive materials and warned that the Federation might again target Kavatua, leaving the Fighters poised to intervene.

• The appraiser told Chen Chuan that the jade bore a secret talisman linked to the Celestial Mystery Sect and might be Ming Hill Jade that could harmonize mind and body.
• Chen Chuan received a Purity Faction telegram praising his actions and promising to send him items.
• Head Xie entrusted Chen Chuan with sensitive technical materials and rare specimens for safekeeping.
• He Yishan asked Chen Chuan why another powerful opponent had challenged him, and Chen Chuan said Fighters trusted their own strength and could not be treated as identical.
• Head Xie reported that the Federation might again be planning an attack on Kavatua and said the Fighters would need to act if the intelligence was confirmed.

Head Xie discussed the Federation’s pressure on Kavatua and ordered support for its resistance faction, while Gui Zihan was tasked with winning an upcoming academy invitational. Meanwhile, an infiltrator reported that Chen Chuan’s External Implant Body held valuable documents and samples and began planning a theft.

• Chen Chuan asked whether the East Coast and West Coast might cooperate against Kavatua, and Head Xie explained how global competition could bring them together.
• Head Xie revealed that Kavatua was considering Federation incorporation despite harsh demands, then ordered Lu Guangde or He Yishan to support Kavatua’s resistance faction.
• Head Xie assigned Gui Zihan to lead the Da Shun Delegation in the Vault Sword Academy invitational and instructed him to win.
• Chen Chuan stored Head Xie’s Storage Sheath in his External Implant Body and continued cultivating.
• Two days later, an infiltrator told an unknown contact that Xie Xinmin’s important documents and samples were stored in Chen Chuan’s External Implant Body and planned to steal them when Chen Chuan went out.

A suspected mole in the Visiting Delegation passed information through a mail carrier, while Chu Zhixian tried to have Chen Chuan removed from the delegation. As the Federation Capital prepared for an invitational tournament, Chen Chuan continued cultivating until a Purity Faction member sent him a letter requesting an urgent meeting.

• A mail carrier relayed information for a client through his implant body, and Head Xie learned that the mole in the delegation was preparing to act, forcing him to close the net early.
• Chu Zhixian urged Ambassador Ding Long to report his concerns about Chen Chuan to their superiors, then went to meet Councilor Emmons at the Federation Governor Memorial Hall.
• Nobu Goro and Nobu Yūsuke verified their eligibility for the invitational tournament, and Nobu Goro encouraged his son to master Chen Chuan's technique.
• Chen Chuan cultivated at Red Rock Manor and neared the release storage stage, which would let him wield his hidden power even in his normal state.
• A member of the Federation's Purity Faction sent Chen Chuan a letter requesting a meeting about an important matter.

Chen Chuan met Talsis Vegadov of the Federation's Purity Faction to discuss an honorary membership and exchange fighting knowledge. After Vegadov gifted him a Holy War Knight's notes, he asked Chen Chuan for help with a long-existing Rift.

• Chen Chuan arranged a meeting with the Federation's Purity Faction and traveled with Zhao Ming to Ascension Cloud Tower.
• Talsis Vegadov welcomed Chen Chuan, introduced himself, and asked him to autograph a photograph of Krosal.
• Vegadov invited Chen Chuan to become an honorary member, and Chen Chuan said he would consider it.
• Chen Chuan asked to exchange fighting techniques, and Vegadov gave him notes written by a famous Holy War Knight from East Yono.
• Vegadov asked Chen Chuan to help with a long-existing Rift.

Chen Chuan agreed to investigate an old Rift in Misuka Mountain after Vegadov explained the Federation Purity Faction’s repeated failures to contain it. Back at Red Rock Manor, Chen Chuan received cultivation resources from the Purity Faction and found fresh ideas in the Holy War Knight’s account of sanctification.

• Vegadov told Chen Chuan that an Old God had made a comrade its vessel at the Misuka Mountain Rift, and Chen Chuan agreed to go there once travel arrangements were made.
• Vegadov gave Chen Chuan a communications device that revealed the Rift’s location and the Federation Purity Faction’s contacts, facilities, and equipment.
• Chen Chuan asked Vegadov about Federation religious groups, then returned to Red Rock Manor and found a shipment with a letter from Mister Zhuan and Masked Mister.
• Chen Chuan read that the Purity Faction leadership had decided to support his cultivation and inspected the high-quality resources it had sent.
• Chen Chuan studied the Holy War Knight’s cultivation record and drew new ideas from the ascetic’s path of abandoning the self for sanctification.

Chen Chuan learned from an old Holy War Knight’s writings and refined ideas for his own cultivation before using a staged departure to expose an infiltrator at Red Rock Manor. He and Wang Tongshan captured He Yishan, whom they identified as the Startled Forest Bird, and notified Head Xie.

• Chen Chuan studied the Holy War Knight’s life and writings, gaining insight into strengthening and using his spirit aspect.
• Chen Chuan planned to test his ideas against Vegadov and later received an approved travel permit as the invitational tournament opened on March 3.
• Head Xie and several Fighters went to the tournament, while Wang Tongshan remained at Red Rock Manor to guard its confidential documents and important items.
• Wang Tongshan left the manor after receiving instructions to deliver a qualification document to the competition venue.
• An infiltrator entered Chen Chuan’s practice room and tried to tamper with the External Implant Body using a ritual rod.
• Chen Chuan revealed that his departure had been a ruse, and he and Wang Tongshan captured He Yishan and reported him to Head Xie.

Head Xie exposed He Yishan’s family history and espionage, then secured his agreement to cooperate. Chen Chuan left the interrogation and joined Vegadov’s Purity Faction delegation for a train journey, while Puppet and the Blood Staff Mercenary Group entered the Convergence Zone on a laboratory’s mission.

• Head Xie revealed that He Yishan had inherited a vendetta against Great Shun and had transmitted intelligence twenty-seven times.
• He Yishan agreed to cooperate after Head Xie and Wang Tongshan addressed his fears for his family.
• Chen Chuan left the estate, used the Lost Object to create a simulacrum at the train station, and met Vegadov’s group, including the sect ritual expert Joam.
• Chen Chuan boarded a train with Vegadov and the Purity Faction members, bound for Duwayne Continent.
• Puppet secured a contract with a biological laboratory after more than half a month of searching for a route into the Convergence Zone.
• On March 3, Puppet and the Blood Staff Mercenary Group entered the Convergence Zone to harvest a rare Mutated Plant in a Fighter’s Hunting Ground.

The Blood Staff Mercenary Group entered a dangerous Hunting Ground to collect rare kekemolai for a laboratory. Puppet knocked out the giant wolf guarding the plants, leaving Mr. Si Wen to harvest them.

• The Blood Staff Mercenary Group and other mercenaries entered the Convergence Zone through an unstable border rift and traveled to the Hunting Ground.
• The Blood Staff Mercenary Group continued deeper into the Hunting Ground as Puppet absorbed nutrient-rich creatures and the other mercenary groups turned back.
• Puppet stopped the group when he spotted a giant wolf asleep beside kekemolai trees, and Mr. Si Wen identified the plants and demanded they be harvested.
• The bald woman warned that the wolf might be a Fighter’s guardian, but Puppet approached it while the mercenaries prepared their third plan.
• Puppet struck the wolf with Blood Staff and the Hand Cane, knocking it unconscious, and Mr. Si Wen hurried over to harvest and seal some kekemolai.

Puppet’s group completed their commission, secured their payment, and agreed to return for more kekemolai after negotiating an advance. Meanwhile, Chen Chuan reached the camp near Misuka Mountain and learned that the Federation’s Purity Faction maintained a large, well-funded operation there.

• Puppet’s group escaped the Hunting Ground with the old man and received their agreed payment at the border outpost.
• The old man offered a second kekemolai commission at triple the price, and Puppet agreed after Xuan Ge negotiated an advance in high-quality high-energy nutrients.
• Puppet ate the nutrients from the first payment while waiting for the second batch to arrive.
• Chen Chuan traveled to Duwayne Continent and judged that the seed had entered the Convergence Zone and was nearing a dangerous breakthrough stage.
• Chen Chuan arrived with Vegadov at a fortified camp near Misuka Mountain, where the World Token introduced the active consciousness entity Wayfarer.

Chen Chuan and Vegadov investigated a mine containing a rift and discovered that the landscape concealed the shape of a reclining figure. Deep underground, Chen Chuan saw traces of an ancient ritual and an eerie apparition, while Vegadov recognized the motionless figure by the rift as Astrid.

• Chen Chuan reviewed records showing that miners and expedition teams had died or vanished after discovering a sealed Mountain Palace beneath the mine.
• On the way to the mine, Chen Chuan noticed that the surrounding mountains resembled a reclining person, and he saw the figure appear to roll beneath blowing sand.
• Chen Chuan and Vegadov entered the mine after hearing unexplained footsteps, then descended into a dark, unmodified passage.
• Chen Chuan saw apparitions reenacting an ancient ritual and an apparent assassination, while Vegadov could sense only scattered mental fragments.
• In a cavern beside a glowing rift, Chen Chuan perceived a hollow human silhouette, and Vegadov cried out that it was Astrid before feeling compelled to approach.

Chen Chuan determined that completing an unfinished Isutal sealing ritual would force the entity hiding in the rift to emerge. After obtaining the needed materials from the Star Spirit's Throat, he led Vegadov and the others into the pit to begin the ritual.

• Chen Chuan explained that the unfinished ritual could be completed to draw the entity out, though several rare materials were missing.
• Chen Chuan requested ritual materials from the Star Spirit's Throat, and Vegadov provided gold to pay for them.
• Tahu delivered three bags of materials through an underground river passage and accepted gold and Federation Currency for Great Shun.
• Chen Chuan gathered the ritual experts and used the camp's active consciousness entity to refine a detailed plan.
• Chen Chuan led the group into the pit the next morning, and they began their assigned ritual tasks while the entity remained hidden beyond the rift.

Chen Chuan oversaw the Purity Faction’s efforts to restore the First People’s ritual while an evil spirit tried to disrupt them. As the ritual neared completion, the spirit emerged and drew Chen Chuan into an isolated space, where he prepared to fight it.

• Chen Chuan watched the ritual specialists work efficiently as Spiritual Light Orbs illuminated the cavern and kept the Rift under observation.
• Chen Chuan detected fierce winds and underground tremors caused by the spirit, but the Purity Faction’s outer rituals kept the mine stable.
• As the ritual repairs approached completion, a cracked young man emerged from the Rift, and Chen Chuan shielded the workers from its mental assault.
• The spirit’s threats and offers failed to sway Chen Chuan, so it spread black smoke and forced him into an isolated space.
• Chen Chuan drew the Snow Monarch Blade as platinum spiritual fire surged around him.

Chen Chuan fought the rift’s enormous black-smoke entity in a distorted space, using his Spirit Manifestation and Two Great Styles to shift the battle toward the material world. He destroyed the entity with a decisive slash, leaving its body reduced to charcoal-like powder in the pit.

• Chen Chuan realized the entity could manipulate distance and attack through the rift, so he held his ground and let the incoming mental energy replenish his strength.
• The entity expanded into a towering smoky form, and Chen Chuan summoned his Spirit Manifestation to fight it.
• Chen Chuan fed more power into his Spirit Manifestation, which gained strength as their clashes fractured the unstable space.
• Chen Chuan spread the Two Great Styles to suppress the mental power and restore the material world’s advantage, weakening the entity.
• Chen Chuan struck through the entity with the Snow Monarch Blade, shattering the black-and-white space and leaving the entity collapsed into powder.

Chen Chuan destroyed the corrupted Nature Spirit and helped Vegadov come to terms with his companion’s death. The group completed the ritual and closed the Rift, then returned to camp to celebrate and discuss how the Purity Faction handled Rifts.

• Chen Chuan’s Spirit Manifestation caught the spirit hiding in the ashes, and he destroyed it with the Snow Monarch Blade.
• Chen Chuan told Vegadov that his companion had already been lost and helped him let go of his guilt.
• The Purity Faction members completed their ritual sections, and a young man activated the ritual that closed the Rift.
• The group inspected the chamber, returned to camp, and celebrated their success over dinner.
• Vegadov offered Chen Chuan gifts and explained why the Purity Faction usually sealed Rifts themselves rather than letting the Federation or cults control them.

Chen Chuan examined the recovered investiture treasures and cultivation supplies, then reflected on the Two Great Styles and began cultivating. Meanwhile, Puppet returned to the Fighter’s hunting ground, where the silver-haired man overwhelmed him and broke Blood Staff.

• Chen Chuan found a Boundary Fusion Armor among the salvaged items and received abundant cultivation resources from the Federation Purity Faction.
• Chen Chuan considered how the Two Great Styles and his spirit form had helped in battle, then resolved to advance to Phase Resolution and began cultivating.
• Puppet led the group back to the Fighter’s hunting ground and continued alone while the others waited outside.
• Puppet encountered the silver-haired man, who demanded to know who had sent him and attacked when Puppet stayed silent.
• The silver-haired man overpowered Puppet, knocked him across the ground, and snapped Blood Staff in half.

Puppet endured the middle-aged man's attacks until his Mutated Tissue completed its transformation, then gained the strength to fight back. He defeated and killed the man, and left the clearing.

• The middle-aged man repeatedly struck Puppet, who used his Mutated Tissue to survive and buy time for his transformation.
• The Giant Wolf tried to attack Puppet, but Puppet recovered, drove it away, and rose with his injuries rapidly healing.
• Puppet caught the middle-aged man's punch, hurled him away, and began evading his attacks after breaking through as a Fighter.
• Puppet disrupted the middle-aged man's balance, battered him with precise strikes, and crushed both of his legs.
• Puppet broke the middle-aged man's throat and skull, then left with his hands in his pockets.

Puppet returned after killing the Fighter Sai Mai Ao Te La and revealed that he had become a Fighter himself. The old man recognized Ao Te La as the man who had destroyed his family and career, while Puppet focused on controlling the strange energy entering his body.

• Puppet returned to the Mercenary Group in torn clothes, said he had killed the Fighter, and confirmed that he had become a Fighter.
• Puppet led the group to the battlefield, where they found Ao Te La's split corpse and the old man recognized him.
• The old man explained that Ao Te La and Hei Sai Laboratory had ruined his life, including causing his son's brain damage and dissection.
• The old man offered Puppet Ao Te La's position and holdings at Hei Sai Laboratory, but Puppet told him to gather the Mutated Plants and pay the remaining money.
• Puppet sensed active Mutated Tissue and a thread of purple mist replenishing his reserves, and struggled to maintain his balance and sense of self.

After the seed reached Fighter level, Chen Chuan traveled with Vegadov to Weishu Continent to find a place to cultivate. A divination at Chongming Prefecture pointed him toward East Forgetting Rock, while a returning Profound Scholar revealed tensions within the Celestial Mystery Sect over its role in Federation politics.

• Chen Chuan sensed that his seed had reached Fighter level and decided to let it continue developing on its own.
• Vegadov recommended that Chen Chuan visit Weishu Continent, and they traveled there by train.
• Chen Chuan and his group arrived at Aduri and learned that the Celestial Mystery Sect shaped the region's religious and civic life.
• Ritual Master Hai performed a Celestial Mystery Rite and gave Chen Chuan a sealed bamboo tube containing a marked map.
• Golden Hairpin Profound Scholar returned to Chongming Prefecture, criticized Fuming's faction for meddling in politics, and praised the Purity and Implant Factions.
• Chen Chuan opened the tube, identified the marked Scenic Wonder as East Forgetting Rock, and set out for it with Vegadov.

Chen Chuan discovered a hidden Profound Temple in the Cave at East Forgetting Rock and studied its demon-subduing murals. He settled in the temple and began cultivating in a rift, aiming to complete Phase Resolution within a month.

• Chen Chuan followed Celestial Guidance to East Forgetting Rock and found a hollow temple inside the upper boulder.
• Chen Chuan used the pill from the Non-Action Profound Scholar to reveal murals, sensing mental impressions in the Profound Spirit Subduing Demons Diagram.
• Chen Chuan inspected the temple’s rituals and decided it was a suitable place to cultivate.
• Chen Chuan told Vegadov and the guards he would stay, then watched them leave after they wished him success.
• Chen Chuan set up a ritual, opened a rift with the Snow Monarch Blade, and retrieved cultivation supplies from his Lost Object.
• Chen Chuan entered the rift, used the Two Great Styles to resist contamination, and began cultivating toward Phase Resolution.

Chen Chuan cultivated in the Rift and studied the mural for more than half a month before passing the Phase Resolution hurdle. Afterward, he prepared to attempt Profound Cave Observation and noticed that one of his scattered seeds had begun moving.

• Chen Chuan checked that nothing had emerged from the Rift, then ate and caught up on outside news while Zhao Ming kept him company.
• For more than half a month, Chen Chuan cultivated in the Rift at night and studied the mural during the day, steadily strengthening his Spirit Manifestation.
• Chen Chuan passed Phase Resolution, gaining a more refined Spirit Manifestation, greater resistance to mutating influence, and the ability to wield purple qi through it.
• Chen Chuan gathered the golden motes into a ring-shaped object and considered seeking a strong opponent to help him reach Profound Cave Observation.
• Chen Chuan studied the mural's depictions of the Xuan Sect patriarchs and sensed useful impressions from the crowned Profound Scholar in blue robes.
• Chen Chuan noticed that one of the seeds he had scattered, which had been stationary, had started moving.