Chapter Summaries

After Chen Chuan publicly backed the Skyline, his article helped shift public opinion across Great Shun and intensified political conflict over the project. The Fusion Faction decided to block his rise through political means and prepare for the possibility that he might act against them.

• Chen Chuan published an article supporting the Skyline, prompting government factions to argue over whether he should be restricted or held accountable.
• Progressive Faction supporters and media outlets spread Chen Chuan’s article and record, and public support for expanding the Skyline grew across Great Shun.
• At its headquarters, the Fusion Faction assessed the article’s influence and discussed limiting its circulation in Central Cities not yet connected to the Skyline.
• The Fusion Faction learned that Chen Chuan had arrived in Zhongjing to become an Affairs Committee Member and worried he might later join the Highest Security Advisory Group.
• The Fusion Faction confirmed Chen Chuan did not possess the Secret Diagram Bloodline and chose political obstruction over force, while preparing a contingency plan in case he took extreme action.

Chen Chuan took up his post as an Affairs Committee Member at the National Security Affairs Department and learned about its authority and senior Fighters. The chapter left him heading to his office while Vice Minister Ren Xinshan summoned him over a troubling Maoshan anomaly case file.

• Committee Member Xiao escorted Chen Chuan to the National Security Affairs Department, where Shen Yu completed his appointment and granted him temporary Level Two access.
• Chen Chuan reviewed the department's responsibilities, its committee members, and the Fighters serving within it as he headed toward his office.
• Minister He Shugang asked Committee Member Xiao to give Chen Chuan the Maoshan Anomaly case file and seek his opinion.
• Vice Minister Ren Xinshan intercepted the file, kept it in his office, and asked Committee Member Xiao whether he had spoken with Chen Chuan.
• Ren Xinshan contacted Chen Chuan and asked him to come to his office.

Chen Chuan met Ren Xinshan after joining the Affairs Department and accepted a mission to resolve the strange tales plaguing Maoshan. He studied the centuries of incidents in the dossier and suspected they shared a common source.

• Chen Chuan reviewed his new office arrangements, changed into his Affairs Department uniform, and went to meet Deputy Minister Ren Xinshan.
• Ren Xinshan warned Chen Chuan about the political dangers in Zhongjing and gave him an abnormality assistance report concerning Maoshan.
• Chen Chuan agreed that he could resolve the Maoshan abnormality, and Ren Xinshan promised to provide him with Resonators, security personnel, and Zhan Jiyue's assistance.
• Chen Chuan returned to his office and read accounts of Maoshan Strange Tales spanning several dynasties, including the latest disappearances linked to a woman asking people to photograph her.
• Chen Chuan concluded that the different strange tales might share a source and considered finding it as a way to break them.

Chen Chuan traveled toward Maoshan with Zhan Jiyue and Zhao Ming while discussing the Purity Faction’s political plans and his possible appointment to the Highest Security Advisory Group. A sudden downpour and a dangerous road collapse halted their journey just before they reached Maoshan.

• Chen Chuan asked Zhan Jiyue about the Purity Faction’s intelligence network and learned the faction planned to recommend him for a vacancy on the Highest Security Advisory Group.
• Zhan Jiyue explained that the faction was seeking support from the Implant Faction and Nature Faction, with Chen Chuan’s marble game potentially winning over Nature Faction members.
• A sudden, unusually heavy rain weakened the field signal, so Chen Chuan agreed to stop at a Hai Family restaurant before entering the mountains.
• At the restaurant, Chen Chuan questioned the owners about nearby Hai Village, an abandoned hot spring park, and what they had heard about Maoshan.
• Chen Chuan decided the rain would not stop soon, and the group continued toward Maoshan despite finding no patrol team on the road.
• Chen Chuan ordered the driver to stop when he spotted a cracked road ending at a sheer cliff.

Chen Chuan, Zhan Jiyue, and Driver Lai discovered that Hai Family Restaurant had been a supernatural apparition tied to a couple who died in a mudslide, then investigated the urban legends at Maoshan. After surveying the Fish King Temple and surrounding mountains, Chen Chuan formed an idea about the anomalies and returned to the Affairs Department.

• Chen Chuan explained that Hai Village had been destroyed by a mudslide two years earlier, and he and Zhan Jiyue returned to the restaurant site with Driver Lai.
• They found the restaurant reduced to ruins, and records confirmed that its owners had died in the mudslide while their child had vanished after entering Maoshan to seek a way to bring his family back.
• Zhan Jiyue investigated the couple's history, and Chen Chuan led the group through checkpoints toward Maoshan to investigate the linked urban legend.
• Driver Lai guided Chen Chuan and Zhan Jiyue to the Fish King Temple, where they examined the fish bones and learned the mountain's history.
• Chen Chuan surveyed the surrounding peaks with Zhao Ming, said he had formed an idea, and returned to the Affairs Department with the others.
• Zhan Jiyue asked Chen Chuan to call him on future investigations, and Chen Chuan agreed.

Chen Chuan uncovered how the Hai Village disaster and Maoshan’s urban legend were connected, including the powerful people who concealed the truth. He urged Zhan Jiyue to investigate and arrest those involved, but Zhan warned that doing so could jeopardize Chen Chuan’s bid to join the Supreme Advisory Council.

• Chen Chuan pieced together how the Three Mountains’ altered terrain and a cable-car project had brought the urban legend back.
• Chen Chuan told Zhan Jiyue that explosives used on Little Pond Mountain had caused the destruction of Hai Village, and that the supposed mudslide and weather records had been falsified.
• Chen Chuan explained that many people entered Maoshan hoping to find dead or missing relatives, linking the mountain abnormality to the Hai Village incident.
• Chen Chuan identified Song Shicheng as the organizer of the explosive activity and described how survivors, evidence, and case files had been suppressed.
• Chen Chuan argued that the authorities must investigate and arrest everyone involved in the Hai Village incident, while Zhan Jiyue warned that acting now could threaten Chen Chuan’s council nomination.

Chen Chuan decided to arrest the people tied to the Hai Village incident despite warnings about political pressure, and Ren Xinshan backed his plan. He prepared to use Zhu Mian’s awards banquet as the opportunity, then arranged a force and sought Zhan Jiyue’s help.

• Zhan Jiyue warned Chen Chuan that political struggles might force him to compromise, but Chen Chuan returned to the Affairs Department determined to proceed.
• Chen Chuan gathered evidence and told Ren Xinshan that he planned to arrest everyone on the list; Ren Xinshan approved his judgment and warned him away from suspicious paper archives.
• Chen Chuan proposed arresting most targets at Zhu Mian’s Blue Lake awards banquet, and Ren Xinshan provided the guest list and signed Chen Chuan’s paper arrest-warrant report.
• He Shugang received a report that Chen Chuan had visited Maoshan and made no further moves that evening.
• The next day, Captain Fang Shucheng reported that his 150-person Secret Operations Team would follow Chen Chuan’s orders.
• Chen Chuan contacted Zhan Jiyue for additional help, sent him coded instructions, and prepared the Snow Monarch Blade.

Chen Chuan finalized preparations for an operation at the Azure Lake Award banquet and watched as the gala began at Han Quan Palace. With the primary targets inside and his forces in position, he ordered everyone to stand by for his command.

• Zhan Jiyue assembled fifty elite Purity Faction Fighters, and Chen Chuan had Shen Yu save the revised operational plan at the highest clearance.
• At the gala, Song Shicheng learned about a gigantic Glacial Corpse and his companions discussed destroying it, while Zhu Er arrived with a singer and drew the crowd’s attention.
• Chen Chuan’s operation force grew to thirty Resonators and more than a hundred interns, who took positions around Han Quan Palace.
• A Resonator reported that all primary targets had entered, and Chen Chuan told his team to await his orders.

Chen Chuan led a Security Affairs Department raid on Zhu Mian’s banquet at Han Quan Palace, where powerful guests and Fighters had gathered. After the force sealed the palace and entered the hall, Zhu Mian approached them to learn what was happening.

• Zhu Mian welcomed influential guests, including Elder Du, who secretly met with a representative of The Great King to discuss negotiations.
• Chen Chuan learned that Cheng Gao from Norland was attending the banquet and ordered the operation to begin.
• Chen Chuan, Zhan Jiyue, and Purity Faction Fighters advanced on Han Quan Palace as media reporters photographed them and communications were cut off.
• Security Affairs Department personnel and Wuyi Academy students sealed the palace’s entrances and routes, while Zhan Jiyue’s mental power incapacitated the guards inside.
• Chen Chuan entered the banquet hall with his force, prompting the assembled guests and security Fighters to react with alarm.
• Zhu Mian recognized that the raid might involve the National Security Affairs Department, then approached Chen Chuan’s group with Ying Bailu at his side.

National Security Affairs Department Affairs Committee Member Chen Chuan arrested the people implicated in a national security incident at Zhu Mian’s banquet, despite Zhu Mian’s attempts to interfere. When Profound Cave Observation Fighter Liang Qin challenged him, Chen Chuan killed him in a single exchange.

• Zhu Mian tried to stall Chen Chuan and restore outside communications, but the venue remained sealed off by a Mental Field Domain.
• Chen Chuan identified himself and ordered Fang Shucheng’s team to arrest Song Shicheng and the other suspects, who were subdued and taken away.
• Zhu Mian asked Elder Chai and Chen Chuan to stop the arrests, but both refused, and Chen Chuan also ordered Zhu Mian arrested.
• The security director of Giant Shell Defense Security Company tried to block Chen Chuan, who incapacitated him with his field power.
• Liang Qin charged at Chen Chuan, and Chen Chuan used a Lost Object to isolate their fight before cutting Liang Qin down with the Snow Monarch Blade.

Chen Chuan’s team arrested Zhu Mian and the other targets at Han Quan Palace after Chen Chuan defeated Liang Qin in a single exchange. As the arrests sent shockwaves through Zhongjing, Chen Chuan’s returning avatar merged with him at the National Security Affairs Department.

• Chen Chuan defeated Liang Qin, and Fang Shucheng’s team handcuffed Zhu Mian and reported that the targets had been apprehended.
• Zhan Jiyue told Chen Chuan that someone connected to the Old Imperial Household was in a private room, but Chen Chuan found no identity record and ordered the team to withdraw.
• After the arrests, Ying Bailu privately recognized that her plan had failed, while the ancient-clothed man in Elder Du’s room turned into a paper effigy.
• Elder Du warned Old Zhu to get his son out of the country, and news of the arrests spread through Zhongjing.
• Liang Qin lay injured beneath an abandoned tower, delighted by his battle with Chen Chuan despite the agreement’s painful backlash.
• At the National Security Affairs Department, Chen Chuan’s other self returned with the Snow Monarch Blade, transformed into Purple Qi, and merged with him.

After Chen Chuan arrested Song Shicheng and the others, senior officials pressured the Security Affairs Department to release them, while Minister He Shugang and a hidden faction plotted to ensure their deaths. Two days later, Fan Zhentong contacted Chen Chuan and asked to meet him at Heaven Return Bridge.

• Chen Chuan confirmed that the suspects had been detained and told Shen Yu to block outside visitors without his permission.
• Ren Xinshan warned Chen Chuan that officials were intervening and promised to shield him while he pursued a way to resolve the anomalies.
• Minister He Shugang urged Chen Chuan to release the suspects, but Chen Chuan rejected his proposal and left.
• A hidden figure told He Shugang that the suspects must die to protect the faction's plans, and He Shugang agreed to smooth the procedures.
• Chen Chuan ignored a flood of appeals and invitations while training for two days, then agreed to meet Fan Zhentong at Heaven Return Bridge.

Chen Chuan met with Fan Zhentong, who confirmed his support and discussed the Progressive Faction’s plans to confront the Old Imperial Household before the Great Collision. After returning to the Security Affairs Department, Chen Chuan published a new article attacking the Conservative Faction and its ties to the Old Imperial Household, reigniting public controversy.

• Fan Zhentong told Chen Chuan that he had become an official member of the Supreme Advisory Council and would support Chen Chuan’s candidacy.
• Fan Zhentong argued that the Old Imperial Household should be eradicated before the Great Collision, while Chen Chuan agreed that the government needed to act more aggressively.
• Fan Zhentong offered to help Chen Chuan and let him keep the Lost Object, then invited him to dine at Ziyang Tower.
• After returning to the Security Affairs Department, Chen Chuan decided to fuel the political conflict by writing an article attacking the Conservative Faction’s ties to the Old Imperial Household.
• Chen Chuan sent the article to the media under his official identity, and it immediately stirred up public uproar.

Chen Chuan’s article intensified the political struggle over the Old Imperial Household, while his department prepared to punish Song Shicheng and the others. After reading the article, Song Haiying decided to travel to Zhongjing and meet Chen Chuan in hopes of finding a way to help his son.

• The Progressive and Conservative Factions clashed over Chen Chuan’s article, and the government temporarily halted negotiations with the Old Imperial Household’s delegation.
• Prince Chunxuan Yuanyong read a censored copy of the article, asked whether its author could kill his imperial elder brother, and tore up the Great Domain Map and other items to burn them.
• Chen Chuan reviewed interrogation findings about Song Shicheng and the others and planned to eliminate the anomaly after they had been punished.
• Song Haiying failed to find influential allies willing to help free Song Shicheng, and he rejected Madam Song’s suggestion to offer their Hidden Treasure to others.
• After reading Chen Chuan’s article, Song Haiying ordered an airship to Zhongjing so he could meet Chen Chuan and discuss whether he could help.

Chen Chuan met Song Haiying, who offered the Security Affairs Department a map of an escape route leading from the Nether Capital to Haixi Province in exchange for a sample of his imprisoned son’s tissue and blood. Chen Chuan accepted the map and granted the request, leaving Song Haiying to choose how he would face the approaching era.

• Chen Chuan reviewed Affairs Department records on the Old Imperial Household and its Ancient Deities while preparing for a future confrontation.
• Qi Weizhao told Chen Chuan that Song Haiying had important intelligence about the Old Imperial Household, and Chen Chuan agreed to meet him.
• Song Haiying gave Chen Chuan a detailed map of a route from the Nether Capital through Haixi Province to the Western Continent, which might bypass the Old Imperial Household’s defenses.
• Song Haiying admitted he had initially hoped to trade the map for his son’s life, then asked only for a sample of Xiao Cheng’s Mutated Tissue and blood as a keepsake.
• Chen Chuan accepted the map and granted Song Haiying’s request, then left the meeting.

Song Haiying chose to seek the Implant Faction’s help after learning Song Shicheng could not be saved, while Chen Chuan handled the fallout from the Maoshan anomaly and prepared to resolve it. At the chapter’s end, Chen Chuan revisited the Hai Family Restaurant, which vanished into ruins after he left, and continued toward Maoshan.

• Song Haiying decided to have Song Shicheng recreated through the Implant Faction’s technology and went to its Zhongjing headquarters to declare his political alignment.
• Families of the detained young people hired an international team to investigate Maoshan, but the team concluded that Hai Village’s anomaly had to be resolved first and warned that other approaches could take years.
• When one family tried to open a rift near Zhongjing, Chen Chuan received intelligence of the plan and ordered Fang Shucheng to arrest those involved.
• On November 1, Chen Chuan and the other Affairs Committee Members approved the executions, and Song Shicheng and the other detained people were shot at noon.
• Chen Chuan told Ren Xinshan he would address the anomaly soon, then drove toward Maoshan with Zhan Jiyue.
• During a rainstorm, Chen Chuan returned to the Hai Family Restaurant, spoke with the student-looking young man, and left as the rain stopped and the restaurant became ruins.

Chen Chuan investigated the anomaly at Fish King Temple and uncovered a deliberately constructed trap with its true source hidden among the fish bones. He removed the source and dispelled the anomaly, but stopped at the entrance after sensing something amiss.

• Chen Chuan told Zhan Jiyue to wait while he went alone up Maoshan to investigate Fish King Temple.
• Chen Chuan ignored and passed through the long-haired woman, then entered the temple and sensed that the fish bones held the anomaly’s true source.
• Chen Chuan detected two misleading anomalous points on nearby mountains and learned that the fish spine’s changing vertebrae concealed the crux.
• Chen Chuan asked Red Dust to calculate the crux’s location, which she identified as the fish spine’s ninety-fourth vertebra.
• Chen Chuan stripped the anomalous energy from the fish bones, removed the vertebra, and caused the anomaly to dissipate.
• Chen Chuan confirmed the anomaly was gone, pocketed the vertebra, and stopped at the temple entrance when he sensed something amiss.

Chen Chuan ended the Fish King Temple anomaly and gained a rare Lost Object before returning to cultivation. Later, he met with Qi Weizhao, Sun Yangde, and Xue Shou, who revealed that the Skyline Project had secured Hedong Province and planned to use a battle in Anbei Province to advance their cause.

• Chen Chuan returned the two fish eyes to the fish bones, ending the ritual and uncovering a silk message from San Jian San Ren.
• Chen Chuan took the transformed spine, resolved the anomaly, and reported the matter to the Security Affairs Department.
• Chen Chuan met Qi Weizhao, Sun Yangde, and Xue Shou at Jade Sea Golden Pond.
• Sun Yangde told Chen Chuan that Hedong Province would join the Skyline Project and that Chuanxi Path might follow.
• Qi Weizhao explained that winning Anbei Province would surround Zhongjing with Skyline-aligned territory.
• Xue Shou said their faction planned to settle the Anbei Province conflict through a battle in the Convergence Zone.

Chen Chuan agreed to support the Progressive Faction’s planned offensive against the Old Imperial Household in Anbei Province, where victory could shift the balance of power. He shared a map that might reveal a secret route to Nether Capital, giving the military planners another possible path to attack.

• Sun Yangde, Qi Weizhao, and Xue Shou asked Chen Chuan to support a December offensive in Anbei Province, and he agreed to attend.
• Sun Yangde explained that the operation would target the Dinghai Army and could be followed by a purge of Anbei Province’s local council.
• Chen Chuan learned that two local Fighters had emerged in Anbei Province within the past two years, aided by the availability of Pure Essence.
• Sun Yangde showed Chen Chuan the Progressive Faction’s map and plans for the offensive, including efforts to draw the Old Imperial Household’s forces away from other fronts.
• Chen Chuan shared a map said to show a secret route to Nether Capital, and Sun Yangde recognized its potential value to the military campaign.

Chen Chuan supported the planned campaign against the Old Imperial Household and returned to his duties in Zhongjing as war approached. At a Security Affairs Department meeting, a dispute erupted over who had suppressed an earlier report that could have prevented the Han Family’s security breach.

• Qi Weizhao outlined plans to advance the Skyline Project and target Anxi Province after a successful battle in Anbei Province, while Chen Chuan agreed to act once the route was verified.
• Chen Chuan returned to the Affairs Department and resumed cultivation while waiting for war to begin in December.
• At the year-end meeting, He Shugang introduced Chen Chuan and praised his role in the Maoshan arrests.
• The committee approved enforcement against the Han Family for hiring a foreign anomaly-handling team to open a rift near Zhongjing.
• Ren Xinshan and Affairs Officer Tan revealed that someone had sealed an earlier report about the danger, and Tan demanded an investigation despite colleagues’ objections.