Chapter Summaries

Gunfire threw the Wuyi Academy gathering into chaos as Chen Chuan pursued the attackers and confronted Du Ma. After defeating several opponents, Chen Chuan cornered Du Ma, who handed off the Oak Leaf and prepared to fight.

• Gunmen opened fire at the gathering, and Chen Chuan pushed through the Macca students to pursue them while Zhuang Zhi followed.
• Chen Chuan defeated Shani and evaded Nali, while Du Ma repelled Zhuang Zhi and continued toward the Two-Wheeled Vehicles.
• Chen Chuan disarmed the first gunman, defeated a middle-aged fighter, and dodged shots from a rooftop sniper until Luo Kaiyuan killed the sniper.
• Chen Chuan drove the attackers away from the Two-Wheeled Vehicles as Guan Xinyin and Du Ma clashed, and Du Ma threw her aside without seriously hurting her.
• Chen Chuan told Du Ma he would not escape, and Du Ma passed the Oak Leaf case to a student before preparing to fight Chen Chuan.

Chen Chuan fought Du Ma after the Macca students withdrew, resisting Du Ma’s rhythm-based techniques and gaining the upper hand through his speed and relentless attacks. Du Ma realized he might not escape and prepared to make a final stand so his students could get away.

• Du Ma let the Oak Leaf carriers escape, then used his Karma Pulse Studies to disrupt Guan Xinyin and Luo Kaiyuan’s breathing, though Chen Chuan remained unaffected.
• Chen Chuan and Du Ma exchanged close-range attacks, and Chen Chuan forced Du Ma back in their first direct clash.
• Chen Chuan pressed his advantage with a barrage of strikes, while Du Ma struggled to adapt to the mismatch between what he sensed and Chen Chuan’s actual speed and strength.
• Nali noticed Du Ma was being suppressed and wondered why he was not using his signature Macca Karma Pulse Fist.
• Du Ma decided to draw the blame and give his students a chance to escape, then crossed his hands and transformed as his body reddened and its veins surfaced.

Chen Chuan fought Du Ma after Du Ma stimulated his Mutated Tissue, sacrificing his life force for greater strength. Chen Chuan outlasted and defeated him, and Du Ma died after revealing that his changing body displayed the true records of Karma Pulse Studies and warning that the Macca People had to prepare for a changing world.

• Du Ma transformed by stimulating his Mutated Tissue, and Chen Chuan recognized that the change would drain his life force.
• Du Ma attacked Chen Chuan with overwhelming speed and strength, but Chen Chuan survived the blows and deduced that Du Ma could not use his usual techniques smoothly.
• Chen Chuan evaded and countered Du Ma, forcing him to keep fighting until his strength and reactions declined.
• Chen Chuan knocked Du Ma down repeatedly while Wuyi Academy students restrained the Macca students who tried to intervene.
• Du Ma revealed that his body's patterns were the true records of Karma Pulse Studies, then died after warning that the Macca People needed to claim a place in a changing world.

Chen Chuan and the Wu Yi Academy students returned to school after stopping the Macca attack and recovering the Oak Leaf, while Chen Chuan pondered the Macca teacher’s warning about the World's Echo. Cheng Zitong discussed Chen Chuan’s Defense Certificate plans and supported his effort to reach Central City, leaving him with a contact to consult about departmental evaluations.

• Chen Chuan accepted his coat and hat after defeating Du Ma, while Guan Xinyin praised his strength and agreed they could postpone their match.
• The Patrol Bureau arrived, and Teacher Han warned the students about intervening against armed attackers before escorting them back to school.
• Chen Chuan told Luo Kaiyuan and Feng Xiaoqi what he knew about the attack, then trained and noticed his overlap time had increased to roughly two hours.
• Cheng Zitong discussed the Defense Certificate examination with Chen Chuan, who argued that earning it early might protect him from indirect pressure like Shen Zheng faced.
• Chen Chuan told Cheng Zitong about Du Ma’s warning that the World's Echo was deepening, and they considered whether Chen Chuan should seek an opportunity to go to Central City.
• Cheng Zitong gave Chen Chuan his grand-niece’s business card so he could learn about departmental evaluations, then wondered whether the World's Echo was what an old man had mentioned.

Chen Chuan visited Nian Fuli and learned that the Macca trainees were fugitive convicts, then met He Nan and went to see Director Lei about his son. The chapter ended with Chen Chuan discovering that the child hiding in the room was a puppet.

• Chen Chuan visited Nian Fuli, who explained that the Macca trainees had replaced the real exchange students and that the escaped trainee and Resistance Organization remained under investigation.
• Chen Chuan went to He Nan's Training Hall, where she arranged for him to meet Director Lei about his son's problem.
• Director Lei recognized Chen Chuan as the person who had killed Du Ma and questioned why he had intervened; Chen Chuan said he could not watch innocent people be shot.
• Director Lei initially urged Chen Chuan to leave, fearing the matter could implicate him, but agreed to show him his son after Chen Chuan said Cheng Zitong trusted his ability.
• Chen Chuan entered the room and saw that Director Lei's son curled up in the corner was a puppet.

Chen Chuan told Director Lei that the child in the room was a puppet, helping him realize that an Esoteric Sect Ritual had linked his son to an urban legend. Director Lei broke the ritual by destroying the puppet, and the chapter ended when his team called to confirm they had found his son alive.

• Chen Chuan told Director Lei that the child upstairs was a puppet, and Director Lei realized the ritual had deceived him for two years.
• Director Lei explained that a secret sect had cursed his son and that his ex-wife had died after he failed to make her understand the danger.
• Director Lei revealed that breaking the ritual required him to kill the thing he saw, and asked Chen Chuan to confirm it was only a puppet.
• With Chen Chuan watching, Director Lei struck the puppet with a hammer until it shattered, ending the ritual and stopping the Second Self from fading.
• Director Lei received a call confirming his son had been found alive, though weak from being held with only basic food and water.

Chen Chuan earned Director Lei’s promise of a Secret Sect Review Bureau evaluation and agreed to try to recover the Oak Leaf from the Macca Exchange Group in exchange for a Foreign Affairs Bureau evaluation. After returning to school, he began planning the commission with help from Cheng Zitong and potential allies.

• Director Lei promised Chen Chuan a departmental evaluation after confirming that he had rescued Lei Ying and broken the controlling ritual.
• Director Lei offered to arrange a Foreign Affairs Bureau evaluation if Chen Chuan could retrieve the Oak Leaf, and he reasoned that the Macca criminals would likely leave with the Exchange Group.
• Chen Chuan accepted the attempt, asked Director Lei how he had survived the ritual’s effects, and took the puppet’s remains with him.
• He Nan arrived to comfort Director Lei, and Chen Chuan returned to school in her car.
• Chen Chuan told Cheng Zitong about the evaluations and the Oak Leaf commission, and Cheng Zitong agreed to ask Senior Apprentice Ren for help.
• Chen Chuan planned to recruit Wu Han, Wei Changan, and his dorm mates to join the commission.

Chen Chuan assembled a team and prepared to recover the Oak Leaf from the Macca Exchange Group before they left Yangzhi City. After receiving the Bureau’s intelligence, he mapped out the likely route and considered Feng Xiaoqi’s plan to draw out the people holding the item.

• Director Lei told Chen Chuan the Foreign Affairs Bureau had approved his commission and would help delay the Macca Exchange Group’s departure.
• Chen Chuan recruited Luo Kaiyuan, Feng Xiaoqi, Wei Dong, Wei Changan, and Wu Han to join the operation, and learned Ren Xiaotian would come assist him.
• Director Lei warned that the Exchange Group would leave within five days and suggested Chen Chuan watch the checkpoint leading to the port.
• Chen Chuan received the Bureau’s information and gathered the team to discuss the Exchange Group’s likely route and the Oak Leaf’s whereabouts.
• Feng Xiaoqi proposed announcing that the Oak Leaf had already been recovered to prompt the Macca Exchange Group to contact the people hiding it.

Chen Chuan and his allies investigated where the escaped Macca students might be hiding and identified the Verdigris Gang as their most likely refuge. They decided to raid the gang’s stronghold the day after tomorrow, with weapons, vehicles, and reinforcements being arranged.

• Chen Chuan heard proposals for tracking the Macca Exchange Group, including monitoring the road to the port and searching its checkpoints.
• Ren Xiaotian arrived with information about the Verdigris Gang, a Macca-linked group operating in the wilderness, and identified its stronghold about 150 kilometers southeast near the Huo River.
• Ren Xiaotian reported that the gang had around forty or fifty members, several firearms and vehicles, and possibly experts connected to the Macca Government.
• Chen Chuan decided to attack the gang soon, and Wei Changan offered to gather trusted reinforcements, firearms, protective vests, and Smoke Bombs.
• Lin Xiaodi gave Chen Chuan a prepaid vehicle convoy rental agreement from Senior Apprentice He.
• Chen Chuan and the others agreed to prepare the next day and set out at one o’clock the day after tomorrow to resolve the matter within a day.

Chen Chuan and his allies traveled through the wilderness to the Verdigris Gang’s camp and began a stealth assault. Chen Chuan killed the northern watchtower guard, leaving the team poised to infiltrate the camp.

• Chen Chuan’s group gathered with Wei Changan’s team and Ren Xiaotian, while Lin Xiaodi stayed in Yangzhi City to monitor the Exchange Group.
• The convoy avoided National Avenue and traveled through the wilderness, with Ren Xiaotian leading them toward the Verdigris Gang’s camp.
• Chen Chuan reviewed information about Mi Tai and his deputies, including the powerful Ya Tan, and considered whether Macca was supporting the gang.
• The team parked out of sight, surveyed the camp, and decided Chen Chuan, Ren Xiaotian, Wei Changan, and Cai Si would infiltrate first.
• Chen Chuan crossed the camp’s defenses, entered the northern watchtower, and killed its guard before he could fire.

Chen Chuan and his companions infiltrated Wild Eagle Mi Tai’s camp, but Qi Sai Du Ma discovered them and Mi Tai raised the alarm, turning the raid into a firefight. As Wei Changan faced Qi Sai’s whip, Chen Chuan approached with the Snow Monarch Blade drawn.

• Chen Chuan and Ren Xiaotian signaled that they had dealt with the outer sentries, and Wei Changan and Cai Si let the others enter the camp.
• Chen Chuan assigned Ren Xiaotian to guard the rear while the group silently subdued bandits inside the tents.
• Mi Tai and You An discussed a telegram ordering them to meet the Exchange Group a day early, while Qi Sai Du Ma warned that intruders had entered.
• Mi Tai blew a whistle to rouse the camp, and Chen Chuan’s group threw Smoke Bombs as both sides began firing in the smoke.
• Qi Sai Du Ma attacked Wei Changan with his whip, but Chen Chuan arrived and drew the Snow Monarch Blade.

Chen Chuan defeated Qi Sai after Wei Changan’s team shot and crippled him, then joined the effort to clear the bandit camp. With the remaining bandits surrounded and low on firearms, Mi Tai planned a breakout from the rear while Ya Tan held the front.

• Chen Chuan caught Qi Sai’s whip, disarmed his attacks, and toppled him, while Wei Changan shot him in the leg as he fell.
• Chen Chuan tracked Qi Sai into a tent and killed him with a slash to the neck, then took a bone bracelet and joined the fight against the remaining bandits.
• Mi Tai counted fourteen defenders and learned from You An that the enemy had blocked the road behind the camp.
• Mi Tai and You An decided to escape from the rear while Ya Tan stayed to defend the front.
• Ren Xiaotian and three members of Wei Changan’s team placed tire spikes across the only route out behind the camp.

Mi Tai and You An tried to escape the camp with two Macca trainees and the Oak Leaf, but Chen Chuan and Ren Xiaotian intercepted them. After recovering the Oak Leaf, Chen Chuan returned to help defeat the remaining bandits and prepare to leave the camp.

• Mi Tai and You An’s vehicle was stopped by a tire spike strip, so they escaped through a ravine while Chen Chuan and Ren Xiaotian pursued them.
• A watchtower gunman shot both Macca trainees as they fled, while You An and Mi Tai ran toward vehicles guarded by Wei Changan’s team.
• You An was shot, and Mi Tai held up the Oak Leaf to bargain for a vehicle, but Ren Xiaotian shot him after Chen Chuan stalled him.
• You An sprang up to attack Chen Chuan, but Chen Chuan killed him and recovered the Oak Leaf, which caused his Second Self to flicker briefly when he touched it.
• Chen Chuan returned to the camp and attacked the remaining bandits, while Gunman Ding shot the armored bandit charging him.
• Chen Chuan told everyone to clear the camp and try to leave before noon.

Chen Chuan’s group recovered the Oak Leaf, looted the Verdigris Gang’s camp, and returned safely to Yangzhi City. He delivered the Oak Leaf to the Foreign Affairs Bureau, where Liu Zhan offered to repay his favor, and Chen Chuan began asking for help with a matter.

• Chen Chuan’s group searched the camp, rescued an injured Macca trainee, collected money and valuables, and destroyed the sealed human organs.
• The group found an experimental Bio-Implant Body and decided to take it with them, then gathered weapons, vehicles, and evidence before leaving the camp.
• Chen Chuan’s group returned to Wuyi Academy, handed off the vehicles and injured trainee, and Chen Chuan examined the Oak Leaf before calling Director Lei.
• Director Lei arranged a ride for Chen Chuan, and they took the recovered Oak Leaf to the Foreign Affairs Bureau.
• Liu Zhan thanked Chen Chuan and offered help in return, and Chen Chuan said he had a matter he wanted the bureau to assist with.

Chen Chuan secured a year of secrecy for his recommendation and learned that higher limits could develop together, while preparing to pursue the Second Limit when his progress stalled. After discovering that Qi Sai’s bone beads stimulated Mutated Tissue at a possible cost to the user, he arranged to distribute the operation’s proceeds among his team.

• Chen Chuan asked Liu Zhan and Director Lei to keep his recommendation confidential for a year, and they agreed.
• On the drive back, Director Lei explained Anomalous Entanglement and encouraged Chen Chuan to seek answers in Central City; Chen Chuan then told Cheng Zitong he planned to apply for the Infinite Defense Certificate.
• Cheng Zitong gave Chen Chuan He Xiaoxing’s reply and advised him to wait for the remaining file on his younger male cousin before deciding; Chen Chuan also reported the Copper Embroidery Troupe raid and handed over the Implant Body.
• He Xiaoxing’s letter confirmed that the First, Second, and Third Limits could complement one another, so Chen Chuan decided to enter the Second Limit when his progress reached a bottleneck.
• Chen Chuan crushed a bone bead and realized it could strongly stimulate Mutated Tissue, possibly at the cost of the user’s life.
• After Feng Xiaoqi, Ren Xiaotian, and Wei Changan reported the operation’s proceeds, Chen Chuan booked a private room at the Duyi Hotel to distribute the rewards to the team.

After sharing the operation’s rewards with his partners, Chen Chuan began handling the company’s Strange Tale Commissions and helped resolve the Never-Ending Corn case. At the end of the month, Gao Ming told him he had investigated the earlier case and would explain in person next month, while Ren Shu asked him to take a commission from the Jia County Government Affairs Office, which Chen Chuan agreed to handle.

• Chen Chuan distributed the operation’s rewards at a meal with his partners, and Wei Changan offered him a ride back to school.
• Chen Chuan used one of his Bone Beads and began taking easier Strange Tale Commissions while waiting for news from Gao Ming.
• Chen Chuan investigated the Never-Ending Corn case, learned how to resolve it, and asked Ren Shu to arrange workers and livestock to handle it.
• Chen Chuan suggested that the company offer consultation to help ordinary people prevent manageable strange tales, and Ren Shu agreed.
• Chen Chuan resolved several other minor commissions, though some strange tales had already disappeared, and the company still counted those cases as completed.
• Gao Ming called to say he had thoroughly investigated the case and would discuss it in person next month; Ren Shu then offered Chen Chuan a Jia County Government Affairs Office commission, which he accepted.

Chen Chuan accepted a commission to investigate butterfly tattoos that spread across people’s bodies before turning into butterflies and killing them. He traced the reported cases through Jia County and spotted a bald man whose presence briefly made his Second Self turn ethereal.

• Secretary Wang told Chen Chuan that butterfly tattoos were appearing on people in Jia County, multiplying until they became butterflies and left victims dead.
• Chen Chuan found no matching cases in Cheng Zitong’s records, decided to take the commission, and sought Cheng Zitong’s advice before setting out for Jia County.
• Chen Chuan studied the reported locations on a map and asked Secretary Wang to arrange a search route through the affected streets.
• Chen Chuan and the officials searched the streets without finding clues, then narrowed their route as the Skill God Festival approached.
• Chen Chuan saw his Second Self turn briefly ethereal near a bald man and ordered the car to stop so they could hold him.

Chen Chuan traced the Butterfly Tattoos to Lover’s Knots linked to the night market and found a corpse in a manhole that had died before the knot could become a tattoo. After counting the known deaths, he concluded that one more victim might remain and said he had a possible way to deal with the strange tale.

• Chen Chuan directed Secretary Wang and the Public Security Department officers to detain people whose appearances matched changes in Second Self, and they found Butterfly Tattoos on the bald man.
• Chen Chuan followed the suspects’ overlapping routes toward the train station, then sensed another presence and identified a manhole as the source of the fading.
• Municipal workers recovered a swollen corpse from the manhole, and Chen Chuan found a Lover’s Knot in its clothes that Secretary Wang recognized as an old festival token.
• The two detained men said they had found similar knots in their pockets after visiting the night market, and one had given his knot to someone else.
• Secretary Wang’s inquiries showed that everyone with a Butterfly Tattoo had encountered and then lost or given away a Lover’s Knot; Chen Chuan deduced the knots became tattoos and that one death might remain undiscovered.
• Chen Chuan explained that the corpse had died before its Lover’s Knot transformed, then said he might know how to handle the strange tale.

Chen Chuan used himself and Second Self to endure the Lover’s Knot’s invasion and test whether he could stop the butterfly-tattoo deaths in Jia County. After surviving the Skill God Festival, he confirmed the strange tale had been resolved and prepared to return to Yangzhi with a book of local legends.

• Chen Chuan warned Secretary Wang and the officers to buy something at the night market, then discovered the old Lover’s Knot had appeared in his pocket.
• Chen Chuan told Secretary Wang to watch for more butterfly-tattoo deaths and explained his plan to Cheng Zitong: let Second Self bear the tale’s invasion and see whether the deaths stopped.
• Secretary Wang reported skeletal remains with an old butterfly-tattoo death, but no new matching deaths occurred over the following days as Chen Chuan endured the growing invasion.
• During the Skill God Festival, the invasion intensified, then weakened after midnight; by sunrise the Lover’s Knot had crumbled and only a faint trace of fading remained on Second Self.
• Secretary Wang confirmed the detained people’s butterfly tattoos had disappeared, and Chen Chuan accepted Three Mountains Legends before leaving Jia County for Yangzhi.

Chen Chuan returned to Yangzhi after completing the Jia County commission, then reviewed Gao Ming’s findings about a former student’s path to Central City. The information strengthened Chen Chuan’s resolve to compete for a place there, and he told Cheng Zitong he would apply this month and take the Infinite Defense Certificate exam.

• Chen Chuan escaped the Two-Wheeled Vehicles pursuing his car, returned to Yangzhi, and filed a report on the completed commission with Ren Shu.
• Chen Chuan returned to the academy, resumed training, and met Gao Ming on the first Rest Day of the month.
• Gao Ming gave Chen Chuan records showing that a former student had entered Central City, later become implicated in a company explosion, and faced scrutiny as a result.
• Gao Ming explained that higher-ups had recently favored civilian students, which might give Chen Chuan a chance despite resistance from local powers.
• Chen Chuan asked Gao Ming to investigate several matters and took the materials to Cheng Zitong.
• Chen Chuan told Cheng Zitong that he would submit his application this month and take the Infinite Defense Certificate exam.