Chapter Summaries

At Winter Garden’s banquet, Xing Peng hoped to pass Director Cheng’s assessment and join the Patrol Department. Before the test began, Director Cheng exposed and captured an infiltrating Avenger, impressing the guests and strengthening Xing Peng’s resolve.

• Xing Peng attended the banquet with Fan Ancheng, who coached him on how to make a good impression on Director Cheng.
• Director Cheng arrived and announced that young people who passed his assessment could join the Patrol Department.
• Fang Qinghuai instructed the candidates to collect numbered plaques and enter the lounge in groups of ten; Xing Peng received No. 26 among sixty-three participants.
• Director Cheng revealed an infiltrating Avenger who tried to attack him with a weapon that had been replaced by a candy figurine.
• The Avenger tried to flee, but Director Cheng restrained him with vines, and Black Armor Army Warriors escorted him away.
• Xing Peng and Fan Ancheng praised Director Cheng’s skill, and Xing Peng became more eager to join the Patrol Department.

Xing Peng completed Director Cheng’s illusion-based assessment and was selected among fourteen promising young people, while Fan Ancheng raised his marriage dowry offer. Cheng Han learned the banquet had raised 21,400 Gold Coins and ordered publicity to pressure the Hall of Councillors to help commoners.

• Xing Peng entered the assessment corridor, where an illusion made him believe a plant Anomaly was attacking a tall, thin young man.
• Xing Peng noticed the apparent rescue was a trap, then killed the young man to end his suffering before the assessment illusion ended.
• Xing Peng told Fan Ancheng what happened, and Fan Ancheng raised Xiao Qian’s proposed dowry from six hundred to eight hundred Gold Coins.
• Fang Qinghuai announced that Xing Peng was among the fourteen selected candidates, and Fan Ancheng hurried to arrange a meeting with Xing Peng’s parents.
• Fan Ancheng donated five hundred Gold Coins, and the banquet’s donations totaled 21,400 Gold Coins.
• Cheng Han ordered Fang Tingyuan to publicize the donation total and donors’ generosity to pressure the Hall of Councillors.

Cheng Han used new Patrol Officers and a charity supply campaign to win Ningping Neighborhood’s trust and encourage residents to report hidden Dream Masters and avengers. The Third Outpost captured one Dream Master and uncovered fourteen avengers, while Ying Beibei praised Cheng Han’s strategy.

• Cheng Han placed fifteen new Patrol Officers across the outposts and secretly marked them to monitor conditions.
• Cheng Han ordered the Charity Committee to deliver relief supplies to Ningping Neighborhood, and Xing Peng helped draw residents out to collect them.
• Patrol Officers offered rewards for reports and promised to keep informants’ identities confidential, prompting residents to share suspicions.
• Xing Peng and a veteran Patrol Officer followed an old woman’s lead to Old Li’s home, where Black Armor Army Warriors killed Dream Master Li Shichang.
• Ying Beibei reported that the Third Outpost had uncovered one Dream Master and fourteen avengers, and Cheng Han credited public cooperation for the success.

Cheng Han used his life-force abilities to transform the Crimson Flame Fish in the pond outside his office, then suspected the Dream Arising Society was hiding a large-scale blood sacrifice behind its unrest. He ordered the Profound Pavilion and Black Armor Army notified and directed all outposts to investigate missing persons in poor districts.

• Fang Qinghuai added rare Crimson Flame Fish to the pond beside Cheng Han's office to curry favor with him.
• Cheng Han transformed the fish with a method he had deduced for supplying life force while Outpost Captain Zhang reported on the Fifth Outpost's operations.
• Cheng Han connected his life-force deduction to the Dream Arising Society and suspected its unrest was concealing other operations.
• Ying Beibei proposed that the society might be planning a large-scale blood sacrifice, and Cheng Han said the possibility could not be ruled out.
• Cheng Han ordered the Profound Pavilion and Black Armor Army notified and sent all outposts to investigate missing persons in lower-class civilian areas.

Cheng Han uncovered that the Dream Arising Society’s disappearances were connected to an Alien God whose voice transformed Wu Lun into a monster. After learning the god’s title was the Serpent of Sin and Life, Cheng Han used the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame to repel its influence and turned his attention to saving Xing Peng.

• Xing Peng and Wu Lun investigated missing households in Ningping Neighborhood and found evidence that several families had left in a hurry.
• Cheng Han used Xing Peng as a pawn to observe the investigation and learned that eight families had vanished from the residential complex in half a month.
• As Wu Lun and Xing Peng left the neighborhood, Wu Lun heard a voice in the wind, transformed into a Sinful Serpent Monster, and attacked Xing Peng.
• Cheng Han deduced that the voice belonged to the partially awakened Serpent of Sin and Life, whose power targeted people through their inner flaws.
• The Alien God's murmur began affecting Cheng Han, but he used the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame to dispel it before turning to check Xing Peng's situation.

Cheng Han used knowledge gained from the Serpent of Sin and Life to awaken Wu Lun’s memories and suppress the pollution, but Wu Lun died after the Power of Sin vanished with his soul. Cheng Han mourned the loss and turned to the three Divine Objects to strengthen himself.

• The serpent monster pursued Xing Peng through the woods, but Cheng Han’s intervention caused it to kneel and shed its scales.
• Cheng Han revealed that he had shown Wu Lun memories of his parents to restore his humanity and help him resist the Heretical God’s pollution.
• Wu Lun regained control long enough to tell Xing Peng that he had never forgotten his parents, then died while reaching for their apparition.
• The Power of Sin disappeared with Wu Lun’s soul, resolving the crisis, and Xing Peng grieved over his colleague’s death.
• Cheng Han reflected on his helplessness before the Heretical Gods and commanded the connection to the Heretical God Blood, the Stone of Divine Soul, and the Fragment of Divine Essence.

Cheng Han used Zhang Laoshi to frame Dream Master Cai Feng and linked three Divine Objects to investigate the Lord of Dark Deceit's identity. The analysis evolved Cheng Han's imprint and puppets, and Zhang Laoshi set out to hunt Serpent Monsters in Qinglin City.

• Zhang Laoshi captured and dismembered Yao Bin, then used Vines on the corpse to make Cai Feng appear responsible and provoke the Grand Dream Master's suspicion.
• Cheng Han summoned three Netherworlds to conduct a Linked Analysis with the Fragment of Divine Essence, Heretical God Blood, and Stone of Divine Soul.
• Zhang Laoshi endured the Divine Object's corruption with Cheng Han's True Flame Power and heard Divine Speech confirm that the Serpent of Sin and Life was the Lord of Dark Deceit's new identity.
• The analysis strengthened Zhang Laoshi's Secret Puppet Thread and gave him the Secret Serpent Body, while Cheng Han's Secret Universe Imprint became a first-rank Profound Imprint and his Spirit Value limit rose to 129.3.
• Zhang Laoshi took his Thick Back Blade and used Netherlight Leap to leave home and hunt Serpent Monsters.

Zhang Laoshi used the Hidden Soul Secret Puppet technique to locate and kill a serpent monster, discovering that fear strengthened the creatures. In Qinglin City, Cai Feng controlled two newly transformed serpent monsters, then learned the Grand Dream Master suspected him after Dream Eleven died in his jurisdiction.

• Zhang Laoshi tapped his Thick Back Blade to send out Hidden Soul Secret Puppet Threads and found a serpent monster hiding in a house in Fuan Ward.
• Zhang Laoshi killed the serpent monster before it could devour the woman, who learned that her husband had been contaminated by a Heretical God.
• Zhang Laoshi tested the Secret Serpent Body against the monster's bite and concluded that fear strengthened the Power of Sin.
• Cai Feng found that two civilians had transformed into serpent monsters and used his Dream Master abilities to command them to stay in their room.
• The Grand Dream Master summoned Cai Feng to a strange Serpent Den dream and told him that Dream Eleven had died in Cai Feng's jurisdiction.

Cai Feng escaped the dream and used the Spirit Vine to kill two serpent monsters, while Sheriff watched the Master's script steer him through each crisis. The Spirit Vine gained a new ability to control serpent monsters, and Cai Feng prepared to attack the Grand Dream Master when the Dream Arising Society began its operation.

• Cai Feng used the Spirit Vine to force himself out of the dream, but realized the Grand Dream Master had been testing him and now suspected his guilt.
• Cai Feng used the Spirit Vine to kill two serpent monsters and began feeding their corpses to it while Sheriff observed the Master's script.
• A Patrol Officer and Spirit Mastiff nearly discovered Cai Feng, but a secret puppet-controlled civilian called the officer away.
• The Spirit Vine devoured the serpent monsters, grew stronger, and revealed it could implant Spirit Puppet Seeds to control them.
• Cai Feng fooled the Patrol Officer during an inspection and planned to attack the Grand Dream Master in two hours.

Cheng Han foresaw a Dream Arising Society attack on Anhua City and ordered the Patrol Department to prepare for it. After a Serpent Monster appeared at Third Outpost, he turned Winter Garden’s flowers into Seeds to use as weapons against the coming assault.

• Cheng Han’s Eye of Omniscience showed him a vision of mass bloodshed and warned that the Dream Arising Society would launch a decapitation strike in about two hours.
• Cheng Han summoned Duan Zhuohui and ordered the Patrol Department and the Black Armor Army to prepare for martial law, citing his unease as a warning.
• Tao Hongming reported that Patrol Officer Wu Lun had become a Serpent Monster, and Cheng Han confirmed that more contaminated people would appear.
• Cheng Han ordered Duan Zhuohui to enact martial law and alert the Hall of Councillors and the Grand Governor, while Ying Beibei agreed to remain with him in Winter Garden.
• Cheng Han told Ying Beibei that Winter Garden’s plants would serve as weapons, then transformed the greenhouse flowers into Seeds.

Cheng Han used his powers to show Ying Beibei an illusion of Winter Garden and prove that he had killed the monsters threatening it. He left her shaken after wiping out a much larger monster force with a storm of petals.

• Ying Beibei worried that monsters were outside, and Cheng Han told her he had already killed the first three that approached Winter Garden.
• Cheng Han warmed the sweet tea with True Flame Power, then used Vines to pour it for Ying Beibei and guide her into a dream that copied reality.
• Cheng Han showed Ying Beibei the three blood-painted flowers marking the first monsters' deaths and led her toward a new group of monsters.
• Ying Beibei saw six black figures and over thirty lizard-like monsters gather near a greenhouse, then followed Cheng Han as they charged.
• Cheng Han unleashed a torrent of petals that shredded the attackers, leaving Ying Beibei horrified by the bloody scene.

Cheng Han fought three Dream Arising Society Grand Dream Masters in a dream and annihilated their souls with the Golden Crow. After the battle ended, Ying Beibei fled the Garden Office, unable to hold her bladder any longer.

• Cheng Han warned Ying Beibei that the Grand Dream Masters were the enemy’s main force and kept her inside his dream for protection.
• Cheng Han transformed the scene into Winter Garden’s Snowy Forest, where the Grand Dream Masters attacked with Lava Giants and a barrage of Lava Balls.
• Cheng Han summoned the Three-Legged Giant Bird, which became a flaming Golden Crow and destroyed the Lava Giants with Flame Arrows.
• The Golden Crow shattered the Grand Dream Masters’ Dream Shields and burned the three Lava Crocodiles to ash, annihilating their souls in reality.
• Cheng Han ended the dream and returned to the Garden Office, and Ying Beibei hurried away to relieve herself.

As Serpent Monsters and Avengers attacked Anhua City, Xing Peng helped defend the Third Outpost with Sharp Spear Seeds and saved a colleague from an Avengers’ life-draining attack. The Profound Pavilion marked Avengers in red across the city, prompting Cheng Han to recognize that its method closely resembled one he had invented.

• Tao Hongming prepared the Third Outpost for an attack with barricades, armed watchtowers, Black Armor Army reinforcements, and Cheng Han’s Sharp Spear Seeds.
• Xing Peng and the defenders used the seeds and short spears to kill Serpent Monsters that had driven civilians toward the outpost as human shields.
• After Xing Peng sensed Avengers among the civilians, three infiltrators unleashed Black Qi; Xing Peng severed a colleague’s arm to prevent the corruption from spreading further.
• The Profound Pavilion’s power swept across the city, marking Avengers red, and a watchtower warrior killed a revealed red woman with a short spear.
• Cheng Han recognized that the Profound Pavilion’s marking method was nearly identical to his own technique and accused it of plagiarizing his invention.

After advancing the Eye of Omniscience to Level 7 and gaining a Time-Space Beacon, Cheng Han discovered the Dream Arising Society’s flying monsters and used his improved dream techniques to kill them. He left the Garden Office with the threat from the third wave eliminated, while Ying Beibei was startled in the restroom.

• Cheng Han checked the Patrol Stations and found they had repelled the attacks, though seven officers and eleven Spirit Mastiffs had died and many others were injured.
• Cheng Han deduced from the Grand Dream Master’s techniques, advancing the Eye of Omniscience to Level 7 and gaining a Time-Space Beacon.
• Ying Beibei rushed into the Garden Office after spotting strange shapes in the sky, and Cheng Han explained that they were the Dream Arising Society’s third wave of attackers.
• Cheng Han realized the flying monsters had likely transported the missing civilians out of Anhua City, then drew the monsters into a dream as they flew away.
• Cheng Han used Dream within a Dream repeatedly to kill the Sin Bat-Serpents, and their bodies fell into the snow as the dream ended.
• Ying Beibei was startled by the crashing bodies while in the restroom and accidentally wet herself.

In Anhua City, two Mystic Adepts watched Cheng Han effortlessly suppress the Bat Snakes and keep the city stable. In Qinglin City, Cai Feng used the Spirit Vine to kill the Grand Dream Master—or so he believed—and seized control of his Serpent Wraiths, while the Black Cat’s updated script revealed that the Grand Dream Master could return through Dream Reincarnation.

• Two Mystic Adepts saw the Bat Snakes fall in Winter Garden and praised Cheng Han for holding Anhua City steady, while Beiting City activated its Spirit Suppression Killing Array.
• Cai Feng used Spirit Vine Sentinels to locate the Grand Dream Master in Wenzheng Ward and followed him after he slipped out of his residence.
• Cai Feng sent Puppet Tree Wraiths into the residence, where they killed one woman and terrorized another to provoke the Grand Dream Master.
• Cai Feng showed the Grand Dream Master the killing through Dream Entry, then used Serpent Wraith Control to make one Serpent Wraith slash his neck.
• Cai Feng ordered the Serpent Wraiths to devour the Grand Dream Master and decided to keep the surviving woman, while the Black Cat learned from its master’s script that the Grand Dream Master had Dream Reincarnation and had not truly died.
• Cai Feng took the Serpent Wraiths for himself and prepared a story to explain their disappearance, while the Black Cat watched his ambition grow.

Cheng Han and Ying Beibei rode through Anhua City, where he killed a Serpent Monster that had massacred a family and ended a dying woman's suffering. After seeing the civilian deaths, Cheng Han abandoned his other plans and set out to give the Serpent of Sin and Life a harsh lesson.

• Cheng Han gathered the battle spoils at Winter Garden and decided to use the Time-Space Beacon to locate Madam Snake, while first seeking more connection from Serpent Monsters.
• Cheng Han let Ying Beibei follow him and had Gua Gua bring her a Feathered Beast mount.
• Cheng Han found a dead civilian and followed cries to a residence, where a Spirit Mastiff led him to a Serpent Monster holding a wounded woman hostage.
• Cheng Han told the woman she had been poisoned beyond saving, then killed her painlessly and defeated the Serpent Monster in a dream.
• Cheng Han promised the woman her family would be buried together, instructed the Spirit Mastiff to guard the scene, and decided to teach Madam Snake a harsh lesson.

Cheng Han used his Dream Entry Art to locate the Dream Master behind the attack on the Fourth Outpost and captured him to use as the main ingredient for saving Li Zhong. His level 7 Eye of Omniscience revealed that the Serpent of Sin and Life was hiding beyond a World Barrier in another world, and he prepared to treat Li Zhong after the Dream Master was brought in.

• Cheng Han arrived at the Fourth Outpost and learned that Patrol Captain Gu Lin and a Spirit Mastiff had died, while Li Zhong was gravely injured by snake venom.
• Cheng Han pulled the outpost’s people into a dream, found the concealed Dream Master, and used the Dream Entry Art to help Patrol Captain Zhao locate him.
• Cheng Han used his level 7 Eye of Omniscience to trace the Serpent of Sin and Life and discovered that its true divine body was in another world beyond a World Barrier.
• Patrol Captain Zhao returned with the captured Dream Master, and Cheng Han ordered him to bring Li Zhong over for treatment.

Cheng Han used the Blood Vine Detoxification Art to save Li Zhong and boost the Patrol Station's morale, then addressed the Patrol Department in a dream theater. After ordering Ying Beibei to oversee headquarters, he left to begin a dangerous Deity-related Deduction.

• Cheng Han forced the Dream Master to produce a Blood Vine, which drew most of the poison from Li Zhong and healed his neck, but drained the Dream Master until he died.
• Cheng Han inspected every Patrol Station, rooted out seven hidden Dream Masters, and delivered a brief Dream Speech to more than a thousand Patrol Department staff.
• Cheng Han told Ying Beibei to remain at headquarters and supervise its work while he prepared for a dangerous Deduction involving a Deity.
• Cheng Han gave the two Deputy Directors instructions, mounted Gua Gua, and left.

Cheng Han used his Level 7 Eye of Omniscience and Time-Space Beacon to trace the Serpent of Sin and Life to the Abyssal Mist Realm, discovering Madam Snake’s sanctuary and the God Language Array. He glimpsed the Heretical God’s Divine Patterns, suffered severe backlash, and drew its attention as one eye opened.

• Cheng Han experimented with sending information and extraordinary power through stars, giving Gua Gua a Spirit Wind Imprint that let it fly for the first time.
• Cheng Han vowed to claim justice for the family killed by the Serpent Monster and began a deduction using correlations gathered from Patrol Stations.
• Cheng Han used the Time-Space Beacon to break through the World Barrier and identified the other world as the Abyssal Mist Realm.
• Cheng Han discovered Madam Snake’s hiding place, the Vortex of Tranquility, and learned that over a thousand statues formed the God Language Array that spread the Heretical God’s Words.
• Cheng Han observed the Serpent of Sin and Life’s Divine Patterns, suffering painful backlash, while the Heretical God sensed him and opened one eye.

Cheng Han used the Gluttonous Big Shot to devour Madam Snake’s attack during the Deduction, then received a mysterious gift from the Big Shot. The Deduction ended with a huge Proficiency gain, and Cheng Han was left with the pitch-black object it had given him.

• Madam Snake attacked Cheng Han through the World Barrier, destroying his Secret Puppets and striking him with a curse that threatened to turn him into a Serpent Monster.
• The Gluttonous Big Shot answered Cheng Han’s message, swallowed him along with Madam Snake’s attack, and consumed the three little snakes and the invading Divine Power.
• Cheng Han thanked the Big Shot, which said it wanted to eat more snakes before leaving the world.
• The Halo dispersed, ending the Deduction and granting Cheng Han 28,485 Proficiency.
• The Gluttonous Big Shot returned briefly and dropped a pitch-black object for Cheng Han before departing again.