Chapter Summaries

Cheng Han foresaw a Snow Beast Bus accident and stopped the sleigh before it could depart, warning that one of the beasts might be contaminated by an Ice Fiend. The passengers got off, but the driver remained skeptical as the students vouched for Cheng Han.

• Cheng Han reflected on how the Flame Giant Anomaly would help Zhang Da Shan and his wife turn their Jianbing Guozi stall into a thriving business known as Lucky Guozi.
• Cheng Han boarded the Snow Beast Bus after two students recognized him as their school proctor.
• The Eye of Omniscience showed Cheng Han a Snow Beast going berserk and overturning the sleigh, so he used Deduction to investigate.
• When the driver began moving the bus despite Cheng Han's warning, Cheng Han used the Magpie Climbing Style to block its path and calmed the Snow Beasts with his Fragmented Imprint of Spirit Control.
• Cheng Han warned the passengers that one Snow Beast might be contaminated by an Ice Fiend, and the passengers got off after students cited his past feats.
• The driver denied that the Snow Beasts were contaminated, while the passengers looked at Cheng Han with awe.

Cheng Han discovered that an Ice Wraith had contaminated a snow beast and lured it away from Shanyi Neighborhood while waiting for Black Armor Army reinforcements. The squad killed the Ice Wraith, and its leader praised Cheng Han for surviving its pursuit.

• Cheng Han sent Tao Zi to notify the nearest Sixth Outpost and ordered the passengers and two girls to take shelter or head to school.
• When his connection to a snow beast broke, Cheng Han used Deduction and urged everyone to enter Shanyi Neighborhood as the beast transformed into an Ice Wraith.
• The Ice Wraith froze nearby snow beasts and attacked Cheng Han, who dodged its charges and icy threads while drawing it toward a less populated area.
• Cheng Han used weak Soul Extinguishing Divine Dark Spears to provoke the Ice Wraith and evaded its attacks with the Magpie Climbing Style.
• A Black Armor Army squad arrived and destroyed the Ice Wraith with short spears, while Cheng Han recorded the scene for Deduction.
• The squad leader praised Cheng Han for surviving an Ice Wraith's pursuit for twelve blocks.

After Cheng Han survived an encounter with an Ice Wraith, the Black Armor Army praised his abilities, while Sentry Chief Liu arranged special accommodations for him at the Sixth Outpost. Resting in his new room, Cheng Han used what he learned from the Ice Wraith to improve his Fragmented Imprint of True Flame and strengthen his skills.

• Cheng Han persuaded Captain Zhang Beishan to take him to Fifteen Middle School, but Zhang instead brought him to the outpost and invited Principal Yan Shan to meet him.
• Gu Jinglong and Yan Dongting discussed Cheng Han's escape from the Ice Wraith and realized that his talent could greatly benefit the Second Battle Group.
• Cheng Han asked Captain Zhang to reward Tao Zi for alerting the Sixth Outpost, earning the warriors' admiration for his loyalty.
• Sentry Chief Liu welcomed Cheng Han to the Sixth Outpost and arranged a private dormitory for him ahead of the Curfew Period.
• Cheng Han used the Ice Wraith's methods of conducting transcendent power to improve his Fragmented Imprint of True Flame, increasing its completeness and strengthening his Light Energy Leap skill.

Cheng Han joined a debate about whether Ice Fiends could remember their opponents and argued that they possessed long-term memories, persuading Yan Shan with his firsthand experience. Captain Zhang then offered him three rewards for his service, and Cheng Han chose a free house in Mingyu Ward, though it would take time to renovate.

• Cheng Han told Yan Shan and Captain Zhang that an Ice Fiend had seemed able to anticipate repeated evasive maneuvers, supporting the idea that Ice Fiends had long-term memories.
• Captain Zhang recalled an Ice Fiend that had survived a winter, mastered hibernation, and grown formidable, convincing Yan Shan that his earlier belief was mistaken.
• Captain Zhang offered Cheng Han a higher stipend, Spirit Wraith Secret Medicine, or a house, and Cheng Han guessed all three options before choosing the house.
• Cheng Han asked for a house in Mingyu Ward with a large courtyard and a stable for a Feathered Beast, and Captain Zhang agreed to arrange one after renovations.

Cheng Han joined the Sixth Outpost’s patrol team and volunteered to investigate a Weird Shadow incident in Zhengqi Ward. He revealed his mastery of the Soul Shocking Style, winning Long Xingyun’s support as the team prepared to respond.

• Gu Jinglong sent Cheng Han to the Sixth Outpost, where Sentry Chief Liu Yidao treated him with special attention.
• An alarm announced a Weird Shadow incident in Zhengqi Ward, and Cheng Han persuaded his classmates to join the response.
• Cheng Han asked Sentry Chief Liu for permission to help investigate, and Liu assigned Patrol Captain Long Xingyun to lead the students.
• Cheng Han explained the Weird Shadow’s transmission risk and demonstrated Echo Soul Shock, convincing Long Xingyun that he could handle the mission.

Cheng Han joined Long Xingyun’s team as they responded to a Weird Shadow case, then helped screen nearby residents for other transmitters. His keen senses exposed a man who had visited Liu Ying, and Sun Zhonghui arrested him for obstructing the Patrol Department.

• Long Xingyun’s reinforcement team arrived by Spirit Mastiff-drawn sleds and found Liu Ying isolated with a Weird Shadow beneath her feet.
• Cheng Han used the Soul Shocking Style to weaken the Weird Shadow slightly, and Long Xingyun praised his skill.
• Long Xingyun assigned the students and Patrol Officers to screen nearby households for people who might have seen or transmitted the Weird Shadow.
• Sun Zhonghui questioned a young married couple, and Cheng Han recognized the fragrance of Mei Lan on the husband.
• The wife attacked her husband after Cheng Han exposed his visit to Liu Ying, and Sun Zhonghui shackled him for deceiving the Patrol Department and obstructing official duties.

Cheng Han guarded the Weird Shadow, used it to deepen his understanding of Eternal Night Darkness, and learned that it might be a gateway to another world. The chapter ended when Liu Ying woke in terror as her shadow writhed and seemed to pull at her.

• Sun Zhonghui told the Patrol Officers that Cheng Han had outperformed him at patrol work by detecting scents and exposing people who tried to evade screening.
• Cheng Han volunteered to join the Weird Shadow guard rotation, and Long Xingyun praised him as the finest student he had seen.
• While guarding the sleeping Liu Ying, Cheng Han told Long Xingyun about Zhang Da Shan’s hardships and privately analyzed the Weird Shadow.
• Cheng Han learned that the Weird Shadow was formed from Eternal Night Darkness and used that knowledge to raise the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame’s completeness to 14.89%.
• Long Xingyun said earlier victims had been devoured by the Weird Shadow, and Cheng Han realized they might instead have passed through a gateway to another world.
• Liu Ying woke screaming that something was pulling at her as the shadow beneath her feet writhed.

Cheng Han used his Soul Shocking Style and True Flame Power to close the Otherworld Gate hidden inside the Weird Shadow and save Long Xingyun and Miss Liu Ying. His analysis revealed that the Weird Shadow came from the Eternal Darkness Origin, raising the possibility that another Heretical God or a comparable power was watching their world.

• Cheng Han deduced that the Weird Shadow concealed an Otherworld Gate and saw it swallow Long Xingyun and Miss Liu Ying in an illusion.
• Cheng Han struck the Weird Shadow with his Soul Shocking Style, calmed Miss Liu Ying, and used True Flame Power to close the gate.
• Miss Liu Ying recovered, and Long Xingyun assured her that the fading Weird Shadow would likely disappear within a day.
• Cheng Han analyzed the gate and learned that it connected to the Eternal Darkness Origin, a strange world that might be controlled by a power as great as a Heretical God.
• Long Xingyun denied that any Heretical Gods existed beyond the Three, and Cheng Han finished his shift thinking that he deserved more for saving the Patrol Captain's life.

Cheng Han helped the Patrol Officers screen people exposed to Miss Liu Ying’s Weird Shadow, impressed them with his skill operating the Forget Profound Mirror, and was allowed to leave the outpost after sensing the Sheriff nearby. He headed home to investigate the figure, while the other students remained for training.

• Cheng Han taught Zhan Bajing how to question civilians by watching their eyes and applying firm psychological pressure.
• The screening identified forty-seven suspected transmitters, and the outpost used the Forget Profound Mirror to erase their memories of the Weird Shadow, which had shrunk and faded.
• Cheng Han quickly learned to operate the Forget Profound Mirror, impressing Liu Yidao and the veteran Patrol Officers.
• After the Zhengqi Ward isolation ended, Cheng Han spotted the Sheriff sitting on a nearby roof and asked Liu Yidao to let him go home.
• Liu Yidao let Cheng Han leave but ordered the other students to train until midnight.

Cheng Han used the Eye of Omniscience to learn that Zhang Da Shan was selling his belongings after the Dark Fist Gang extorted him, and he bought the ancestral Ruin Key from him. After secretly arranging some money for Zhang Tie’s family, Cheng Han decided to take on the gang under the identity of Netherworld and vanished in a cloud of Black Mist.

• Cheng Han stopped an argument at the Vegetable Market by silently pressuring the vendor into refunding a Copper Coin to a middle-aged woman.
• Cheng Han saw Zhang Da Shan preparing to sell his belongings and deduced that the Dark Fist Gang had extorted him.
• Cheng Han realized he had been guided to Zhang Da Shan’s cart, bought the Ruin Key, and learned from the Eye of Omniscience that the ancient ring held great value to a transcendent being.
• Cheng Han secretly arranged for a gold coin to reach Zhang Tie’s family and told the Black Cat that he would help them gradually while avoiding official channels.
• Cheng Han recalled the case of You Ming, who had become known as Netherworld, and decided to use that identity to oppose the Dark Fist Gang.
• Cheng Han declared himself Netherworld and disappeared as Black Mist filled the room.

Cheng Han used Netherlight Leap and Deduction to select Xiang Zhengqi as a weapon against the Zhennan Fist Gang, then forced him to slaughter gang members and sent him through a Weird Shadow into another world. The next morning, Cheng Han arrived at the Sixth Outpost and greeted his colleagues as usual.

• Cheng Han overheard Zhang Da Shan's family discussing their plan to leave Qinglin City because the Dark Fist Gang kept extorting them.
• Cheng Han used Deduction to find Xiang Zhengqi, a corrupt Transportation Bureau official, and secretly marked him with a technique.
• Cheng Han transported Xiang Zhengqi to North Tower Goods Yard, where Xiang Zhengqi slaughtered the gang members gathered in a warehouse.
• Cheng Han took Xiang Zhengqi to a forest and summoned a human-created Weird Shadow that swallowed him and carried him into another world.
• Cheng Han arrived at the Sixth Outpost the next morning, greeted everyone politely, and received extra eggs from the canteen auntie.

Cheng Han attended a Patrol Department case meeting about the North Tower Goods Yard massacre and joined a patrol assignment in Qinglin City's western district. At the Juntai Club, he collected a larger envelope than his veteran companions and unexpectedly ran into Qian Yiqing, Qian Qingqing's father.

• Liu Yidao explained that Xiang Zhengqi had been identified as the killer of twenty-four people, then disappeared, and Headquarters believed someone else had controlled him as a puppet.
• Cheng Han suggested checking past cold cases and privately deduced Xiang Zhengqi's fate, discovering that an invisible life-form had transformed his corpse in the Eternal Darkness Origin.
• Liu Yidao assigned Cheng Han to patrol the western district with Sun Zhonghui and Wu Boqing, an unusually profitable area for a newcomer.
• At the Juntai Club, Cheng Han warned the manager about political scrutiny involving Xiang Zhengqi and received a fifteen-Silver-Coin envelope.
• Cheng Han recognized Qian Yiqing, Qian Qingqing's father, when he approached him at the club.

Cheng Han helped Qian Yiqing and Madam Qian resolve a business rival’s scheme, then used a remote Otherworld passage to plant a monster’s severed head at Snow Tower and implicate Xi Menqing. The experiment succeeded, and the commotion threatened to draw authorities searching for Xiang Zhengqi to Xi Menqing’s territory.

• Cheng Han used a Deduction and the Spirit Universe Imprint to calm Madam Qian and help her realize that a business partner had manipulated her against Qian Yiqing.
• Qian Yiqing and Madam Qian later discovered Xie Changhua had been negotiating with An Hua Company behind their backs and credited Cheng Han with helping them.
• Cheng Han gathered classmates to play War Wraith Chess as an alibi while he used the Eye of Omniscience to investigate Xi Menqing.
• At Snow Tower, a Jumping Spider secretly put powder in a drink, and Xi Menqing drank it before rushing to the restroom with stomach trouble.
• Cheng Han remotely opened an Otherworld passage inside Snow Tower’s toilet and sent a grotesque creature’s severed head through it, terrifying Xi Menqing and the Streetwalkers.
• Cheng Han won the chess game and concluded that the head’s resemblance to Xiang Zhengqi would bring scrutiny to Xi Menqing’s territory.

Cheng Han uncovered evidence that the Ruin Key came from the ancient Sartre People and could open a remnant of the destroyed Ancient Continent. His deductions suggested the Divine Banyan was an invader and left him wondering where his own ancestors had come from.

• Cheng Han heard rumors that Xi Menqing had been detained and removed from the Staff Bulletin Board, while Liu Yidao ordered everyone to stop spreading gossip.
• At Black Mountain Camp, three Black-Robed Mystic Adepts examined the Monster Head and suspected Netherworld was a powerful Otherworld traveler.
• Cheng Han deduced that the Ruin Key had belonged to the Sartre People for more than twenty thousand years and connected their Land of the Ancestors to the Ancient Continent.
• Cheng Han used the Heretical God Blood as a connection and saw the Ancient Continent shatter before a Black Cloud swallowed a fragment of it.
• Cheng Han concluded that the Ruin Key was likely a token for entering a remnant of the Ancient Continent, and wondered where his ancestors had originated.

Cheng Han hosted Qian Qingqing’s family at Yuntai Manor, impressing them with a martial arts display, a handmade gift, and an excellent barbecue. The visit ended with the Qian couple presenting him with a voucher for half-price purchase of a high-grade Feathered Beast, while Qingqing objected that the discount was only half price.

• Qian Yiqing drove his family through the snow while Qian Qingqing coached Qian Changyun on how to behave around Cheng Han.
• Cheng Han welcomed the Qian family to Yuntai Manor, greeted them warmly, and impressed Qian Changyun by launching snow into the air with the Bell Holding Stance.
• Cheng Han gave Qian Changyun a Silver Coin he had shaped into a plum blossom, and Qian Qingqing caught it when her brother failed to react.
• Cheng Han cooked a barbecue meal for the family, who praised his cooking as they enjoyed lunch in the greenhouse.
• Qian Yiqing and Yongqing gave Cheng Han a Spirit Feather Commerce voucher for half-price purchase of a high-grade Feathered Beast, and Qian Qingqing exclaimed that the discount was only half price.

Cheng Han visited Lin Xuebin with Qian Qingqing to learn about ancient history and investigate a mysterious symbol tied to the Ruin Key. Lin Xuebin agreed to search his records, and Cheng Han left with books to study as he pursued clues to the Fragmented Imprint of True Flame.

• Qian Yiqing watched Qian Qingqing and Cheng Han walk away together and worried that their relationship might lead to an early pregnancy.
• Lin Xuebin teased Qian Qingqing about Cheng Han being her future husband, then explained the history of the Hill King and the Three Heretical Gods.
• Cheng Han recognized that Lin Xuebin's account contradicted what he had learned about the Nether Soil Heretical God and suspected that ancient history had been rewritten.
• Cheng Han showed Lin Xuebin a symbol linked to the Ruin Key, and Lin Xuebin speculated that it belonged to a Subordinate God and promised to search historical records.
• Qian Qingqing invited Lin Xuebin to visit her family, and Cheng Han left with books on ancient history and resolved to study them and seek out Lin Xuebin's artifacts.

During a curfew patrol, Cheng Han sensed a dangerous Anomaly in Hua An Ward and helped the Black Armor Army confront the Black Hair Woman before it could kill his team. He used the Anomaly to complete the Dark Spirit Secret Puppet imprint, then a nearby woman briefly repeated the Anomaly’s strange phrase.

• Cheng Han warned Long Xingyun that Hua An Ward held a dangerous Anomaly, and Long Xingyun sent Bai Ding for help while keeping the patrol team nearby.
• Zhang Beishan arrived with the Black Armor Army and led them into Hua An Ward after receiving additional information.
• Cheng Han’s Deduction revealed the Black Hair Woman killing a bound man, and the patrol officers heard the ensuing battle as the Black Armor Army engaged her.
• Zhang Beishan reported that Xiang Tianlong had been infected by the Strange Hair, and the Black Hair Woman’s corpse was brought out after the battle.
• Cheng Han used the Black Hair Woman’s imprint and the Heretical God Blood to complete the Dark Spirit Secret Puppet, raising the Spirit Universe Imprint’s Completeness to 36.74%.
• A middle-aged woman nearby suddenly said, “Now, the bride may kiss the groom,” before snapping out of her bewilderment.

Cheng Han tested his Dark Spirit Secret Puppet and added layers of concealment before learning that a woman abused by Xiang Zhengqi bore the same Heretical God emblem he had found in a book. The discovery left him suspecting that the abuse victim was connected to a Heretical God.

• Cheng Han controlled a Gray Toe Rat with a Dark Spirit Secret Puppet doll, then used the Weird Shadow to send the doll into the otherworld and add another layer of protection.
• At the Patrol Station Canteen, Cheng Han heard that the Black Hair Woman had become an Anomaly after being abandoned and consumed by resentment.
• Tang Jing and Zuo Ling separately asked Cheng Han to warn them of future danger; Zuo Ling paid him fifteen Silver Coins, while Jiang Man joked that she could be one of the pretty girls he liked.
• At home, Cheng Han used Deduction to see a woman being abused and recognized the partly buried tattoo on her chest as the same Evil Emblem he had encountered before.
• Cheng Han realized the woman was Xiang Zhengqi's abused mistress and that she bore the symbol of a Heretical God.

Cheng Han used the Dark Spirit Secret Puppet to contact imprisoned Xie You, intimidate her lecherous guard, and arrange to investigate the cult in her circle. He also secretly helped Zhang Da Shan and his wife attract customers to their new stall, remaining hidden behind his puppet techniques.

• Cheng Han discussed Xie You with Sheriff and decided to use her as a lead to uncover the Heretical God cult in her circle.
• Cheng Han remotely controlled Xie You's guard through a Dark Persona, offered her freedom in exchange for handling a matter, and caused the guard to suffer a gruesome injury.
• Xie You realized the Eternal Night Walker knew her secret and felt awe at his supernatural power.
• Cheng Han deduced that investigators would blame the guard's injury on an excessive dose of Night Mist Root, leaving no evidence of supernatural interference.
• Cheng Han used Memory Implantation to send performers, promoters, and customers to Zhang Da Shan and his wife's Jianbing Guozi stall.

At the Sixth Outpost, Cheng Han received a Second-Grade Secret Medicine and used it to strengthen his body before leading the night patrol. He discovered and destroyed a Weird Tree, leaving Liu Yidao’s outpost with another major achievement.

• Yan Dongting praised Cheng Han’s contributions and raised the school’s first-place reward to six Gold Coins before giving him a Luan Mountain Secret Medicine and a Molten Flame Potion.
• Kang Ziyan revealed that he had mastered the sixth stance of the Nine Elements Strengthening Body Technique, while Cheng Han digested half of the Molten Flame Secret Medicine and raised his Spirit Value limit to 38.0.
• Long Xingyun and the patrol group pressured Cheng Han to lead the night patrol, and he reluctantly walked ahead after Long Xingyun suggested they each pay him a Silver Coin.
• Cheng Han found a Weird Tree and destroyed its crown with an Air Cutting Stance, astonishing Long Xingyun and the other Patrol Officers.
• Cheng Han warned that nearby trees had been contaminated, so Long Xingyun organized a large-scale tree-cutting effort while Liu Yidao oversaw the worksite.