Chapter Summaries

Jiaren’s plan to expose Inoue Ieyasu as a traitor collapsed when Inoue revealed that he had joined Teruhito’s side and poisoned the gathering. Jiaren tried to rely on Utsunomiya Taro’s support, but Taro’s chilling offer to kill Teruhito left his loyalties unclear.

• Jiaren asked Utsunomiya Taro to help purge the traitor without drawing public attention, and Taro agreed.
• Jiaren gathered Qingchuan, Shion, and Utsunomiya Taro at a private restaurant, suspecting Inoue Ieyasu because he arrived late.
• Inoue Ieyasu said the Fujiwara Family Head had reprimanded him for arousing Jiaren’s suspicions, making Jiaren reconsider whether he was the traitor.
• Jiaren drank from his cup and became weak, then realized the wine was poisoned when his allies failed to respond to his signal.
• Inoue Ieyasu revealed his betrayal as Minamoto no Yorisetsu and Prince Teruhito entered the room.
• Jiaren appealed to Utsunomiya Taro for help, but Taro offered to kill Teruhito and destroy his resurrection site.

Jiaren was reborn in a shrine but was swiftly killed by Teruhito and his allies, leaving Teruhito as the sole Crown Prince. Shion destroyed and burned Jiaren’s corpse to prevent any return.

• Jiaren awoke weakened in a shrine and realized intruders were attacking his rebirth site.
• Teruhito, Qingchuan, Shion, Inoue Ieyasu, and Utsunomiya Taro broke through the chamber’s defenses and overwhelmed Jiaren’s guards.
• Jiaren offered to renounce the throne, but Teruhito killed him with a dagger and took his remaining life force.
• The Great Priest stopped fighting Minamoto no Yorisetsu and acknowledged Teruhito as Crown Prince.
• Shion crushed Jiaren’s head, bound his corpse, and burned it in a special incinerator while Qingchuan and Inoue Ieyasu backed away.

After Jiaren’s death, Muren weighed Teruhito’s rise and suspected Penguin had secretly engineered the upheaval. Hirohito’s warning made Muren realize Teruhito’s audience request concealed an attempt to use a powerful spatial authority item inside the palace, leaving him to ask how many people had entered.

• Muren learned that Jiaren had died and considered how to control Teruhito’s collusion with the Penguin Merchant Guild.
• Hirohito sought Muren’s protection, and Muren revealed Teruhito could not have descendants, preserving Hirohito’s claim to the next generation’s throne.
• Hirohito questioned the sudden defections of Qingchuan, Shion, and Utsunomiya Taro, prompting Muren to suspect Penguin had orchestrated the changes.
• After Hirohito warned that Teruhito had no reason to expose himself so abruptly, Muren ordered Teruhito to wait outside the palace.
• Muren learned Teruhito had already entered the palace and that the National Fortune Grand Formation had stopped a high-authority spatial item from taking effect.
• Muren asked how many people Teruhito had brought into the palace, and the attendant answered that he had brought one.

Muren discovered that Xu Yue and Teruhito had entered the imperial palace and that the Empire’s major families and factions had aligned themselves with the rebels. He invoked the nation’s fortune to resist them, as golden dragons rose above the palace.

• Muren followed the Imperial Grandson to the entrance and found Xu Yue and Teruhito alone in the empty plaza.
• Muren burned communication talismans to summon powerful families and factions, but received only three promises of rescue and a message from the Muto Family asking why he was rebelling.
• The Fujiwara Family Head and elites arrived at the palace and stood behind Xu Yue and Teruhito, followed by nearly every faction Muren had contacted.
• Muren asked whether they had pledged themselves to Penguin or Teruhito, and Teruhito dismissed the question.
• Muren declared that he would defy fate, and golden dragons rose as the nation’s fortune enveloped the imperial palace in pressure.

Muren used Japan’s fortune and Dragon Qi to summon ancestral reinforcements, but the ancestors argued over who would answer and kicked Tsukuyomi down into the palace. Tsukuyomi greeted Xu Yue with a stream of flattery before Xu Yue slapped him to the ground, leaving Muren and Hirohito stunned.

• Muren activated the imperial formation, drawing on Japan’s fortune and Dragon Qi as disasters erupted across the country.
• Muren repeatedly offered his blood essence and called on the ancestors, but the passage initially brought no response.
• The ancestors argued over who had to answer the summons, then kicked Tsukuyomi through the passage into the palace square.
• Hirohito asked whether Tsukuyomi was the summoned reinforcement, while Muren stared in shock.
• Tsukuyomi got up, greeted Xu Yue, and launched into extravagant praise until Xu Yue slapped him to the ground.

Muren transferred the throne to Teruhito, killed Hirohito to secure his son’s reign, and ascended with Tsukuyomi after Xu Yue took most of Tsukuyomi’s power. Japan accepted Teruhito as emperor and began supporting Great Xia while redirecting its resources and troops toward development and infiltration of America.

• Muren handed Teruhito the scroll and declared him ready to take the throne, while Tsukuyomi and the assembled ministers blessed and recognized him as the new emperor.
• Muren beheaded Hirohito, then killed him again at the palace resurrection site to remove a threat to Teruhito’s reign.
• Xu Yue demanded ninety percent of Tsukuyomi’s power, took it, and allowed Tsukuyomi to leave with Muren through the passage to the higher realm.
• Xu Yue watched Muren ascend and considered how he might undergo the higher realm’s baptism while avoiding the Deva Path’s restraints.
• Japan quickly accepted Teruhito’s accession, supported his friendly policies toward Great Xia, and focused on missions, resource production, and sending troops to infiltrate America.

Xu Yue arrived in San Francisco and observed America’s industrial efforts and the abuse of Chinese laborers. He arranged to use his group’s resources in the country and learned that many Labor Knights would face Punishment missions in three days.

• Xu Yue arrived at the San Francisco docks and considered how America’s costly scientific research had produced useful industrial technology.
• Xu Yue saw a Chinese laborer beaten and robbed by white stevedores, then remarked that the oppressed had chosen a narrow road.
• Xu Yue’s group left the dock in a luxury convoy, avoiding trouble as their wealth and Japanese connections drew respect.
• Xu Yue asked the Fujiwara Family Head for intelligence about his approaching Punishment mission.
• The Fujiwara Family Head reported that the mission in three days would have the most participants, including many Labor Knights affected by their targeted general strike.

Xu Yue entered a Punishment mission set in The Matrix, where he had ordinary-seeming strength and a powerful hidden identity. He recognized the world’s nature and began planning how to find the Reincarnators and train without provoking the mainframe.

• Xu Yue discussed exploiting the United States’ internal conflicts and decided to begin by dividing and infiltrating California.
• After buying a castle-like villa near Los Angeles, Xu Yue ordered his puppet troops to lie low and entered the Punishment mission.
• Xu Yue arrived before a modern skyscraper and learned that extraordinary powers were locked, though they could be gradually unlocked through payment.
• Xu Yue recognized the setting as The Matrix and identified The Savior as Neo, whose role helped preserve the system’s stability.
• Xu Yue realized he had entered as a high-status financial king among the virtual world’s mortals and considered how to attract Reincarnators with benefits.
• Xu Yue planned to find a way to train outside The Matrix’s scrutiny, avoiding attention from programs such as Agent Smith.

Xu Yue used his powerful identity in the virtual world to have Thomas Anderson brought to him, hoping to reach Morpheus’s team and find a way out. Morpheus learned that Neo had been taken by a faction he recognized, but he could not tell what they intended.

• Xu Yue identified Thomas Anderson as Neo and decided to summon him as a secretary rather than approach Morpheus’s team directly.
• Stephanie went to Neo’s workplace and ordered him to come with her, while his boss eagerly helped her take him away.
• Two men restrained Neo and carried him out under Stephanie’s direction.
• Morpheus received word that Neo had been taken and found that the people responsible were not Agents.
• Morpheus investigated the group’s identity and recognized the faction that had taken Neo.

Xu Yue revealed to Neo that he had sensed the false nature of the world, then joined Neo in the effort to rescue Trinity and uncover the truth. As police and Agents closed in on Trinity, Morpheus's crew contacted Xu Yue and asked for his help.

• Xu Yue brought Neo to his office and claimed he had sensed the false side of the world, prompting Neo to lower his guard.
• Morpheus's crew hacked into Xu Yue's surroundings, confirmed he was human, and decided to recruit him for Neo's rescue.
• Morpheus ordered the extraction team to prepare and asked Trinity to lead the operation.
• Xu Yue used his influence to identify the intelligence targeting Trinity and took Neo by helicopter to watch the police convoy pursuing her.
• Morpheus's crew sent a message through the helicopter display, asking Neo to follow their prompts and promising to bring him the truth.

Trinity escaped a police raid and joined Xu Yue and Neo in a helicopter while three Agents pursued her. Xu Yue forced Agent Smith to back down by threatening to trigger a global nuclear bombardment, and Smith reverted to Xu Yue’s driver.

• Trinity learned that the Stealth Route had been exposed and that Agents had arrived, then subdued the police officers who raided her hideout.
• Trinity fled across rooftops as three Agents pursued her, and Xu Yue brought his helicopter to pick her up with Neo aboard.
• Trinity tried to take control of the helicopter, but Xu Yue restrained her and refused to abandon his pilot.
• An Agent replaced the pilot and demanded that Xu Yue hand over Trinity and Neo.
• Xu Yue threatened to activate a global nuclear bombardment unless Smith returned his driver and left, so Smith reverted to the driver.

As Morpheus’s team tried to free Xu Yue and Neo from the Matrix, the Agents found their hideout and threatened to stop the escape. Xu Yue realized the Matrix had accounted for him and went to confront the Agents, aiming to buy the others five minutes.

• Xu Yue explained to Trinity that an Agent had spared her driver because it judged his value, then urged her team to hurry with the rescue.
• Reincarnators from the Labor Knights gathered to discuss the mission and complained about competition from Hua laborers.
• After Tank reported that Agents had found their line, Xu Yue took the Red Pill to begin locating and disconnecting his true body.
• Xu Yue deduced that the Matrix had incorporated him into its plans, then left the safe room to delay the approaching Agents.
• Xu Yue confronted Agent Smith and two other Agents in the stairwell and set his watch for a five-minute countdown.

Xu Yue confronted and defeated Agent Smith and two other Agents in a stairwell, buying Morpheus's crew time to escape the Matrix. He and Neo were then extracted from their cultivation pods, and Morpheus's hovercraft rescued them from the sewers.

• Xu Yue dodged Agent Smith's gunfire and fought all three Agents while Tank watched in disbelief.
• Morpheus sent Apoc and Switch to support Xu Yue, but they arrived just after he had thrown the Agents down the stairwell.
• Xu Yue explained that his combat skills let him overcome the Agents within the Matrix's limits, then returned to the Chamber of Secrets with the others.
• Morpheus's crew escaped through the dedicated telephone line as Xu Yue and Neo were swallowed by a silvery membrane.
• Xu Yue woke in a cultivation pod, freed himself, and was carried through a waste pipe into the sewers.
• The Nebuchadnezzar arrived and rescued Neo first, then picked up Xu Yue.

After being rescued from the Matrix, Xu Yue quickly adapted to the real world and began training to surpass the Matrix’s rules while keeping Neo’s role as the Savior intact. As Neo struggled to accept reality, Xu Yue invited him to train, hoping to learn how to break the world’s restraints.

• Xu Yue recovered quickly after being rescued, questioned Morpheus about Zion and the machines, and learned that the Matrix deliberately allowed Zion to survive.
• Morpheus’s crew recognized Xu Yue as an exceptional fighter and agreed to provide him with a high-fidelity Matrix simulation for training.
• Xu Yue began practicing how to exceed program limits and connect to or disconnect from the Matrix without an operator, while hiding any success from Morpheus.
• Neo finished recovering, and Morpheus brought him into the virtual world to explain the truth, which Neo struggled to accept.
• Regan tried to persuade Xu Yue and Neo that life in the Matrix was preferable, but Xu Yue dismissed his regrets and treated the virtual world as entertainment.
• Xu Yue invited Neo to train so he could study what made the Savior special and learn how to break the Matrix’s restraints.

Xu Yue trained Neo in the Matrix, pushing him to challenge the limits imposed by its rules, while Morpheus remained certain that Neo was the Savior. Meanwhile, Regan bargained with Agent Smith for wealth and status, and Smith prepared to target Morpheus and kill Xu Yue if he returned.

• Xu Yue easily blocked Neo's attacks during a training session and urged him to forget learned techniques and break free of his perceived limits.
• After a full day of training, Neo emerged exhausted and doubted that he was the right person, but Morpheus insisted that his rapid progress proved he was special.
• Xu Yue noticed unusual green data around Neo and suggested that a visit to the Oracle might help him break through his limits, so Morpheus began making preparations.
• Regan offered Agent Smith a way to obtain Zion's access code through Morpheus and asked to take Xu Yue's place in the Matrix.
• Agent Smith refused to replace Xu Yue, explained that Xu Yue retained some remote influence over his financial empire, and vowed that an upgraded system would kill him if he returned.

Morpheus’s crew visited the Oracle, whose predictions and guidance had been altered by Xu Yue’s presence. The Oracle tried to make Xu Yue believe he was the Savior, while Neo remained on the path toward his transformation.

• Morpheus confirmed that Tank had created a new secure route, and the crew plugged into The Matrix to visit the Oracle.
• Morpheus assigned Mouse to guard their connection while he led Xu Yue, Trinity, and Neo toward the Oracle’s home.
• Xu Yue sensed that The Matrix’s rules prevented him from freely accessing its code, so he decided to focus on Neo’s transformation.
• The Oracle initially mistook Xu Yue for Neo, then took Neo aside and told him that Xu Yue seemed more like the Savior.
• Xu Yue overheard the Oracle’s words and realized she was trying to influence his confidence, but he suspected the Agents had upgraded their defenses.

After Oracle reassured Neo that he was not the Savior, Xu Yue anticipated the Agents’ response and escaped with Morpheus’s crew. SFG reincarnators helped the Agents pursue them, forcing the group to abandon its safe house while Mouse escaped.

• Oracle told Neo to forget his worries and return to being himself, leaving Neo relieved and convinced Xu Yue was the more likely Savior.
• Tank warned Morpheus’s crew that Agents were arriving, so they fled while Morpheus continued insisting Neo was the Savior.
• Police and SFG special operations squads arrived, and Xu Yue recognized the unusually capable soldiers as reincarnators.
• Xu Yue warned the others about the SFG personnel and joined the rooftop escape, but the squads coordinated well enough to keep up and encircle them alongside three Agents.
• Morpheus ordered the crew to abandon the safe house and told Mouse to leave first, allowing Mouse to escape.
• The reincarnators pursued the group, hoping to capture them and uncover powerful abilities in the world.

Xu Yue held off Agents Kaspersky and Gold Mountain while Morpheus’s team tried to buy Neo time, and the Reincarnators gathered intelligence on the hackers’ strength. The upgraded Agents proved tougher than before, leaving Xu Yue locked in a destructive alley fight.

• After Trinity defeated three Reincarnators, their squad leader said they had been sent to stall the hackers and gather intelligence about the world and its rewards.
• Morpheus asked Xu Yue to hold off the Agents while Neo gained time, and Xu Yue agreed.
• Xu Yue dodged a barrage of gunfire in an alley and disabled the pursuing Reincarnators with nonfatal shots.
• When their magazines ran empty, Agents Kaspersky and Gold Mountain charged Xu Yue, who used Tai Chi and Baji Quan to throw them back.
• Xu Yue realized the Agents’ bodies had been upgraded to withstand more impact, and the three began fighting amid the shattered alley walls and paving.

Xu Yue subdued two Agents and warned Tank that a traitor might return to the ship first. Meanwhile, Morpheus was captured and Neo’s group agreed to reveal the truth of the Matrix to the Reincarnators in exchange for safe passage, leaving them dependent on Xu Yue to rescue them.

• Morpheus stayed behind to hold off Agent Smith while Neo, Trinity, and the others fled toward the second escape point.
• Howard and the Labor Knights’ Reincarnators cornered Neo’s group and offered to let them go if they revealed the truth about their abilities and the world.
• Xu Yue defeated Agent Gold Mountain and Agent Kaspersky, then used a passerby’s phone to contact Tank.
• Xu Yue told Tank to reveal the truth to the Reincarnators and warned him to watch whoever returned to the ship first, suspecting an insider.
• Neo’s group revealed the truth to the Reincarnators, who agreed to escort them to their exit point and demanded that they be rescued soon.

After returning from the Matrix, the hackers debated whether to rescue Morpheus, while Xu Yue and the crew grew suspicious of Regan. The group decided to attempt a rescue, setting the stage for Neo’s transformation.

• Xu Yue returned through the ringing telephone after killing two Agents, while the Reincarnators paid a B-Rank Plot point to dispel the Agents’ suspicions.
• Regan secretly worried that he could no longer ambush Tank, Dozer, and Mouse before they returned.
• Tank argued that Morpheus would eventually submit to interrogation and that protecting Zion required pulling the plug, but Regan urgently opposed abandoning him.
• Tank and Dozer recognized Regan’s behavior as suspicious, while Neo proposed turning the special forces and using them to help rescue Morpheus.
• Xu Yue agreed that the crew should attempt the rescue.