Recaps

Coast Industry’s efficient shipping network delivered a huge shipment of books and sundials to Tower City’s church, where Elder Longge arranged to distribute the books to settlements across White State. The story ended with the children playing in the twilight as distant gunfire sounded and Tower City settled into night.

• Coast Industry’s cargo ships and Engineering Cats rapidly unloaded supplies in Tower City, while dockworkers discussed the company’s high pay and efficient operations.
• Korela and Mother collected thousands of books ordered for the church, and the foreman assigned Cowpea Tricycles to deliver the shipment.
• Yan Chang gave Elder Longge a batch of sundials for sale and explained that the proceeds would support White State’s charitable education fund.
• Elder Longge asked Sister Ugrina to contact other settlements and send them books, and she found recipients for the surplus.
• The matron watched the children play and went downstairs to join them as night fell over Tower City.

Ji Jue settled into repairing vehicles and helping the White Banner Restoration Army build up its oasis while Inverse Scale described the region’s growing unrest and the army’s quiet expansion. Ji Jue then unexpectedly encountered Yan Fei at the lake and announced that he would give him a lesson.

• An old farmer carried books from Korela to a ruined temple, and monks later transported supplies that concealed ammunition and weapon parts to a lakeside construction site.
• Ji Jue repaired a vehicle, shared practical advice with local mechanics, and received books for the camp as Inverse Scale objected to how casually everyone treated him.
• Ji Jue and Inverse Scale walked through a flourishing oasis while Inverse Scale explained how the White Banner Restoration Army used villages, priests, and tradition to build support in secret.
• Ji Jue encountered Yan Fei swimming at the lake and learned that Yan Fei had nearly finished his assignments.
• Ji Jue told Yan Fei that their branch had another fine tradition and insisted on starting a lesson, leaving Yan Fei dreading what was coming.

Ji Jue put Yan Fei through a brutal Spirit Essence Offense and Defense lesson, teaching him to control and improve his explosive weapons. After class, Ji Jue turned to Inverse Scale and invited him to fight.

• Yan Fei tried to avoid class by promising to do extra homework, but Ji Jue insisted on training him under strict limits.
• Yan Fei ambushed Ji Jue with an explosive punch, but Ji Jue disrupted the blast and threw him back without taking a step.
• Yan Fei attacked with his paired Explosive Guidance Rods, but Ji Jue disarmed him and explained the weapons’ flaws and how to improve them.
• Ji Jue told Yan Fei to repair his creation as an exam, then continued the lesson until Yan Fei was battered and wheeled away in Yan Chang’s old wheelchair.
• Ji Jue finished warming up and invited Inverse Scale to spar.

Ji Jue asked Inayat to spar so he could hone his skills, and Inayat used White Deer techniques to test him. The spar ended with Ji Jue countering Inayat’s attacks and stopping a Scene Tremor strike just short of his chest.

• Inayat protested sparring with Ji Jue, but agreed after Ji Jue threatened to deduct his sponsorship and set a limit of drawing blood.
• Inayat used his malice and aura to mentally torment Ji Jue, who praised the technique and urged him to attack.
• Inayat slashed at Ji Jue’s throat, but Ji Jue casually slapped his hand aside and asked him to continue.
• Inayat advanced with Blood Tremor, but Ji Jue read the technique, stopped his arm, and pointed out a counterattack.
• Inayat launched Blood Tremor at speed, but Ji Jue seized his elbow, redirected the strike, and stopped a Scene Tremor attack just before Inayat’s chest.

Ji Jue pushed Inverse Scale to fight at full strength so he could practice controlling his Realm of Encirclement, then learned from Heavenly Furnace how the Mohist art of Mo Defense could turn an opponent’s attacks back on them. Heavenly Furnace left Ji Jue with the first of three inherited techniques to study.

• Ji Jue revealed that his Realm of Encirclement had let him repeatedly deflect Inverse Scale’s attacks, and Inverse Scale finally agreed to fight without holding back.
• Inverse Scale attacked Ji Jue with Blood Vibration, Bone Piercing, and Soul Slaughter while Ji Jue used countless branching possibilities to practice defending, nearly overloading his matrix.
• In a flashback, Old Dog gave Ji Jue a dusty copy of the Ten Treatises, and Ji Jue recognized it as a guide to the foundations of the Mohist inheritance.
• Heavenly Furnace told Ji Jue to punch him, then used the Realm of Encirclement to redirect Ji Jue’s attacks back onto himself.
• Heavenly Furnace explained that the Mohists had mostly used their power for defense and identified the technique he had demonstrated as Mo Defense.

Ji Jue used the stress test against Inverse Scale to develop his Realm of Encirclement, turning the wolf’s attacks aside until Inverse Scale unveiled his Rebirth Form. Their duel escalated into a fierce clash, and Inverse Scale’s Furnace Wolf lineage and Scale Lineage made him a formidable living weapon.

• Ji Jue recalled Heavenly Furnace’s lesson and realized that mastering the Realm of Encirclement depended on choosing the easiest way to deflect, evade, and restrain attacks.
• Ji Jue’s improved defense made Inverse Scale’s blows repeatedly miss or lose their force, until Inverse Scale stopped and apologized to the Wolf Lord.
• Ji Jue invited Inverse Scale to stop holding back, and Inverse Scale revealed his Rebirth Form as a horned wolf with burning metal scales and ceremonial sickle swords.
• Inverse Scale charged head-on, forcing Ji Jue to retreat and counterattack as his blows barely damaged the wolf’s resilient body.
• Ji Jue recognized Inverse Scale’s Scale Lineage and Furnace Wolf talent for consuming objects to strengthen himself, then found his vision darkening as Inverse Scale transformed.

Ji Jue trained against Inayat, interrupting Inverse Scale’s attacks before asking him to unleash Wolf’s Mouth. Ji Jue lost the Realm of Encirclement contest when the giant wolf bit his left hand, but the battle ended in a mutual near-defeat, and he explained that he had created a small opening in Wolf’s Mouth’s lock-on.

• Ji Jue adapted to Inverse Scale’s attacks by interrupting his skills and controlling the pace of their sparring.
• Ji Jue stopped the practice and asked Inayat to become stronger, then requested that he use the Realm of Encirclement.
• Inayat unleashed Wolf’s Mouth, transforming into a giant wolf whose realm drained Ji Jue’s Spiritual Substance and swallowed him.
• The Realm of Encirclement collapsed with Inayat’s wolf biting Ji Jue’s left hand, leaving Ji Jue defeated and Inayat badly exposed to a counterattack.
• Ji Jue told Inayat that Wolf’s Mouth had no flaw of the kind he suspected and said he had created a small opening in its lock-on.

Ji Jue explained how he escaped Inayat’s Wolf’s Mouth by sacrificing his Circle Realm, then met with Dabite, who asked what he wanted from the White State. Ji Jue told him the White State’s future belonged to its people, leaving Dabite relieved and ready to face tomorrow.

• Ji Jue explained that he used the destruction of his Circle Realm to open a gap in Wolf’s Mouth and escape its lock-on effect.
• Dabite stopped the oasis elders from investigating the disturbance and later asked Inayat to arrange a meeting with Ji Jue.
• Ji Jue told Dabite he wanted nothing from the White State and that its people had to decide and build their own future.
• Dabite left Ji Jue’s living room relieved, then told the waiting remnants that he could not measure the Venerable One.
• Dabite dismissed the group and returned to his recliner, where he began considering the future and tomorrow.

Ji Jue returned to Haizhou after Coast Industry linked its operations across the Wilderness, Thousand Isles, and Central Earth, then visited Lou Feng’s workshop. He brought Lou Feng research materials and demanded the progress on their earlier project.

• Ji Jue left the oasis and White State, inspected Coast Industry’s expanding operations, and traveled to Haizhou by freighter.
• Ji Jue arrived in New Spring and found Lou Feng in his workshop, surrounded by many projections created by splitting and extending his spiritual substance.
• Lou Feng berated Ji Jue for leaving him to handle the backlash from Ji Jue’s open-source Three-Phase Source Opening technique, and Ji Jue talked him down.
• Ji Jue examined Lou Feng’s experimental projections and teased him about taking on more work before asking about their earlier project.
• Ji Jue used manuscripts on Master Zhou’s Myriad Sources Convergence, the embers zhi fu decision, and Bei Gong’s workshop theories to persuade Lou Feng to welcome him and accept the materials.
• Ji Jue handed Lou Feng the prepared manuscripts, then demanded the item he had asked him to make.

Ji Jue inspected Lou Feng’s External Control Module prototype, which let users control machines through a spiritual link, and praised its breakthrough while demanding faster response times. The chapter ended with Ji Jue activating his super intelligence and pressuring Lou Feng to improve the module’s latency.

• Lou Feng led Ji Jue through the Workshop’s defenses to inspect the External Control Module prototype he had built to Ji Jue’s specifications.
• Ji Jue watched test footage in which a prisoner learned to control mechanical arms, a car, drones, a turret, and an exoskeleton through the prototype.
• Lou Feng revealed that the tests used adapted participants and that the prototype still had a response delay of two to three seconds, which long-term use might reduce to about one second.
• Ji Jue praised Lou Feng’s breakthrough but judged the delay too slow and activated his super intelligence to demand a solution.

Ji Jue persuaded Lou Feng to launch a low-cost rental program for prosthetics and other external modules, using widespread trials to gather data and expand the King of Flies system. After arranging a meeting with Lou Feng’s aunt, Ji Jue asked Lou Feng to punch him, demonstrated Force Conduction, and provoked Lou Feng into unleashing a giant Spiritual Substance beast with Mirroring - Star of Bethlehem.

• Ji Jue convinced Lou Feng to simplify the External Module design and begin with prosthetic rentals, then expand into other equipment while collecting real-world data.
• Lou Feng agreed to join the project after Ji Jue promised him a nomination for the church’s Medal of Benevolence.
• Isis began organizing a charity trial in Haizhou, Seven Cities, and White State, with five thousand places planned for launch in a month.
• Ji Jue asked Lou Feng to arrange a meeting with his aunt, then requested that Lou Feng punch him.
• Lou Feng struck Ji Jue with overwhelming force, but Ji Jue redirected the impact through Force Conduction and sent Lou Feng crashing into the wall.
• Ji Jue challenged Lou Feng to try again, and Lou Feng summoned a giant Spiritual Substance beast while activating Mirroring - Star of Bethlehem.

Ji Jue fought Lou Yanyue to test his newly reached Transcendence and Realm of Encirclement, while Lou Suwen and Tong Yuan watched and discussed his promise for Haizhou. After Ji Jue declared Wen-jie stronger than Lou Yanyue, she unleashed her full power and the battle escalated.

• Ji Jue defeated Lou Feng at Coast Technology, then asked him to email a revised design before discovering Lou Feng had blocked him.
• Lou Yanyue visited Lou Feng, teased him about his injuries, and accepted Ji Jue’s request for a sparring match.
• Lou Yanyue attacked Ji Jue with her Rebirth Form and Bi Fang, while Ji Jue used his Realm of Encirclement and Zhanlu Spirit Essence to withstand and counter her blows.
• Tong Yuan and Lou Suwen watched the fight and discussed Ji Jue’s Mohist nature, his growing standing, and the possibility of Haizhou’s restoration.
• After Lou Yanyue asked him to compare her with Wen Wen, Ji Jue declared Wen-jie number one, enraging Lou Yanyue into opening her Realm of Encirclement and attacking at full power.

Ji Jue endured Lou Yanyue’s Five Buildings Twelve Cities lightning until he awakened a third Spirit Essence Hand and used [Mo Shou] to throw the attack back. He left the sparring session injured but jubilant, while Lou Yanyue grew bashful around him and Heavenly Furnace questioned whether he was really a Matrix Child.

• Lou Yanyue unleashed her Five Buildings Twelve Cities lightning at Ji Jue, and he repeatedly reached for it despite his hands being burned away.
• Under the pressure, Ji Jue manifested a third Spirit Essence Hand, completed the Triple Feigong Circle Realm, and threw Lou Yanyue’s lightning back into the phantom of Sky City.
• Ji Jue realized he had crossed the threshold of [Mo Shou] and tried to comfort the stunned Lou Yanyue, who offered to help him practice again.
• Ji Jue invited Lou Yanyue to eat, while Tong Yuan teased Lou Suwen that his daughter had fallen in love with Ji Jue; Lou Yanyue ignored her father’s attempt to summon her home.
• After the damaged Workshop’s sparring session ended, Heavenly Furnace heard Ji Jue had learned [Mo Defense] and touched [Zhibao], then wondered whether he was a fake Matrix Child.

Ji Jue and Lou Feng completed a new External Module, and Coast Technology’s charity event successfully restored mobility and independence to its first recipients. As demand surged and users began modifying their prosthetics into weapons, Ji Jue proposed holding a sports meet to regulate their experiments.

• Ji Jue told Lou Feng he intended to build a Full House Intelligence system, and Lou Feng agreed to continue the project without learning Ji Jue’s other plans.
• Coast Technology performed nearly a hundred successful External Module surgeries, and recipients regained movement and basic independence.
• Ji Jue explained the prosthetics’ remaining flaws to Elder Deng, who refused to let the Church distribute them and promised to help with patents instead.
• Applications for the next phase flooded in, while Lou Feng capped each phase at fewer than two thousand recipients and blocked Ji Jue’s pleas to expand.
• Coast’s Security Team dealt with users illegally modifying their prosthetics into weapons, and Ji Jue proposed holding a sports meet to guide their experiments.

Ji Jue organized a Prosthetic Games and pushed New Spring Town’s development forward, then sought approval to reopen Quancheng Port. Lü Yingyue approved the plan and revealed that Hai Zhou was preparing a large-scale Quancheng waste-clearing project, leaving Ji Jue wondering whether powerful families were positioning him for greater political influence.

• Ji Jue decided to hold the first Coast Prosthetic Games, and Yu Shu took on the added workload while Coast recruited talented prosthetic designers.
• Ji Jue approved Yu Shu’s proposal to reopen Quancheng Port and said he would seek approval from Lü Yingyue.
• Lü Yingyue arrived during the meeting, prompting Ji Jue to reframe the plan as a project to salvage and protect Federation assets.
• Lü Yingyue approved the Quancheng plan and said Hai Zhou Holdings would organize a company to clear the city’s waste, with the first phase expected to begin within the year.
• Ji Jue suspected that the Tong Family and the Lou Family were supporting him as a potential Spokesperson.

Ji Jue learned that Haizhou and Cloud Province were preparing to cooperate over Leviathan Base, making New Spring a valuable labor and logistics hub. As he was about to take a break, Minkler called with news that Wild Bazaar had withheld his final payment.

• Ji Jue reasoned that the Tong Family and Lou Family were backing New Spring because Haizhou needed its workforce and coastal position for Leviathan Base.
• Lü Yingyue told Ji Jue that East City had abandoned its bid for exclusive control and that South City had joined the contest with Cloud Province backing Haizhou.
• Ji Jue agreed to let the preparations unfold without acting, since Haizhou's support gave him and New Spring time to grow.
• Ji Jue accompanied Lü Yingyue on an inspection, secured Wilderness implantation slots from Lou Feng for the Coast Games, and otherwise struggled to stay out of the way.
• Minkler informed Ji Jue that Wild Bazaar had withheld his final payment, prompting Ji Jue to erupt in anger.

Ji Jue learned that Wild Bazaar branches were withholding Coast’s payments to pressure him into negotiating over the Seven Cities, whose illicit markets he had shut down. After he refused to yield, Coast disabled stockpiled goods, and the Wild Bazaar’s allies stirred up a dispute over the Seven Cities’ ownership to justify reviewing the withheld funds.

• Ji Jue confronted Luo Lan about delayed payments, then had Yan Chang assess him as a scapegoat with little confidence.
• Bustaman explained that Wild Bazaar interests were retaliating because Ji Jue had cut off their illicit trade through the Seven Cities.
• Ji Jue refused to negotiate or share profits, insisting that the Seven Cities belonged to him.
• Coast disabled the serial codes on goods stockpiled by chambers that continued delaying their payments.
• A claimant to Ma Island and collateral descendants of other families publicly challenged Ji Jue’s control of the Seven Cities.
• Wild Bazaar branches used the sovereignty dispute to place the sale proceeds and final payments under review.

Ji Jue weighed how to respond to Wild Bazaar withholding payment and chose to rely on himself rather than seek outside mediation. The chapter ended with Ling Shuo kneeling before him overnight and confessing that he desperately wanted to become the boss.

• Chen Xingzhou warned Ji Jue that Wild Bazaar would not pay without pressure and advised him to find a powerful mediator or fight within limits.
• Ji Jue rejected the idea of asking Ling Liu for help, and Chen Xingzhou hinted at a solution while asking Ji Jue to help him in the future.
• Ji Jue summoned Ling Shuo and Golden Retriever, discussed the dispute, and told Ling Shuo that people had to rely on themselves.
• Ji Jue slept while Ling Shuo knelt outside through the night, then asked whether Ling Shuo wanted to be the boss.
• Ling Shuo admitted that he dreamed of becoming the boss every night.

Ling Shuo submitted himself to Ji Jue and won permission to build a Wild Gathering branch in Seven Cities, promising to keep its criminal operations away from ordinary people and Ji Jue. Gold Hair Boy rejected his underlings’ plan to attack Bald Old Man, while he and Old Fisherman sensed that Ji Jue was preparing a major move.

• Ling Shuo pledged to take responsibility for the branch’s illicit work in return for a chance to become its boss, and Ji Jue told him to smooth things over with Minkler.
• Ji Jue invited Ling Shuo inside for tea, and Ling Shuo realized he had gained Ji Jue’s support.
• Gold Hair Boy’s underlings reported that Ling Shuo had ridden in Ji Jue’s private car after kneeling at Ji Jue’s door overnight.
• Gold Hair Boy stopped his underlings from interpreting Ling Shuo’s favor as permission to kill Bald Old Man, and ordered them to obey the rules.
• Gold Hair Boy told Old Fisherman that he sensed Ji Jue was about to make a major move, and Old Fisherman recalled sensing the same cold malice from Ji Jue.
• Gold Hair Boy received a call marked [Eldest Brother] and was overjoyed.

Ji Jue sent Gold Hair Boy back to New Spring with a protective Blessed Creation, then gave Ling Shuo a dark-gold ring as an opportunity to lead Seven Cities. Ling Shuo met the mysterious An Ran, whose presence made him instinctively afraid.

• Chen Xingzhou told Gold Hair Boy that Ji Jue wanted him to stay in New Spring, and Gold Hair Boy agreed to return.
• Ji Jue gave Gold Hair Boy a Folding Knife that purified his body and could protect his life.
• Gold Hair Boy left for New Spring, leaving his territory and profits for Ling Shuo to manage.
• A young man delivered Ji Jue's dark-gold ring to Ling Shuo, who understood it as a gift for the Seven Cities Dragon Head.
• Ling Shuo asked the young man his name, and he introduced himself as An Ran.

Ji Jue reunited with An Ran, gave him the Blade Tooth inheritance and a sword that became Lihen, and arranged for him to stay in Seven Cities while others covered his work in Yacheng. The chapter ended with An Ran hearing Ling Shuo’s explanation and deciding that he simply needed to kill everyone on the list.

• An Ran arrived on Luo Island, reunited with Ji Jue, and accepted his offer to help with troublesome matters.
• Ji Jue gave An Ran damaged Blade Tooth lineage texts and a custom Sword Cry sword, which An Ran named Lihen.
• An Ran instinctively mastered Sword Qi Transformation, then worried about how his sister would react to him learning another lineage.
• Ji Jue reassured An Ran and arranged for the Coast Industry Security Department’s Yacheng Special Action Group to assist Tong Hua while An Ran stayed away.
• Tong Hua read Ji Jue’s note saying he had borrowed An Ran and vowed to kill him.
• Ling Shuo finished explaining a long list of targets, and An Ran concluded that he needed to kill them all.

Ling Shuo used An Ran’s support to begin consolidating control over Seven Cities, killing rival leaders and demanding higher dues. As Wild Bazaar representatives gathered to unite against him and Ji Jue, an unfamiliar young man appeared in a corridor strewn with corpses.

• Ling Shuo explained that he would keep the listed troublemakers alive until he could gather them together and wipe them out, and An Ran gave him authority to handle the operation.
• Ling Shuo had Deliya'er Radan and his sons killed, took over Gold Hair Boy’s remaining assets, and launched a purge on Elephant Isle before demanding triple dues from gangs across Seven Cities.
• Ling Zan challenged Ling Shuo over the new demands, but Ling Shuo rejected his authority, and Ling Liu told the other elders that they could deal with Ling Shuo themselves.
• De Luntuo rallied gang leaders and representatives from other Wild Bazaars to unite against Ling Shuo and Ji Jue, calling for Ling Shuo to be taken down.
• An unfamiliar young man appeared at the meeting-room door, apologizing for laughing as the attendees saw a corridor piled with corpses behind him.

An Ran stormed the Wild Bazaar’s meeting site and slaughtered the guards and gathered factions, but Feng Mo and Bo Ge’er struck him down. At the brink of death, An Ran summoned the White Deer, broke through his boundary, and manifested his Rebirth Form, [Lihen Form].

• Ling Shuo sent An Ran into the secure clubhouse alone, and An Ran killed the lobby guards before the receptionist directed him upstairs.
• An Ran used one sword strike to kill the Wild Bazaar attendants gathered in the corridor, then entered the meeting room and demanded that everyone kneel or die.
• An Ran unleashed [Wind and Thunder Summoning], while the Mirror System trapped the meeting room in an endless reflected corridor and prevented Advisor Li from escaping.
• De Luntuo, Belg, Feng Mo, Gerber, and Bo Ge’er attacked An Ran, who switched to [Dragon Shuo Technique] and cut down opponents until Bo Ge’er pierced his heart from the shadows.
• Feng Mo grabbed the mortally wounded An Ran, who offered his prey to the White Deer and broke through his boundary as the White Deer’s power entered him.
• An Ran severed Feng Mo’s arm, revealed his Rebirth Form, and summoned [Lihen Form] from the sword qi of Lihen.

An Ran unleashed his Blade Tooth sword arts against Feng Mo, Bo Ge'er, and their allies, surviving through his sword-qi transformation and Ji Jue’s custom Masterwork. After defeating the attackers, he left the club and was met by Ji Jue, who took him home through the rain.

• An Ran used Sword Cry Chapter · [Shenren Chang] to slaughter the surrounding attackers, then re-formed himself from sword qi after Feng Mo pierced his apparent body.
• An Ran’s sword qi wounded Bo Ge'er, and An Ran explained that his life and soul remained connected to his sword qi.
• An Ran used his projection technique to attack De Luntuo, but Belg blocked the strike and helped the others try to restrain him.
• An Ran activated [Masterwork: Lihen], escaped every restraint for one second, and killed Bo Ge'er before later killing Ling Zan and Feng Mo.
• An Ran left the bloodied club and met Ji Jue outside, who sheltered him from the rain and walked with him to a vehicle.

After Little An’s massacre destroyed the Seven Cities rebels, Ling Shuo seized the remaining five cities and prepared to establish his authority as kingpin. The chapter ended with rival kingpins recognizing that Ji Jue had turned Ling Shuo’s birthday banquet into a public challenge to their power.

• Ling Shuo and Elder Chu inspected the massacre at the clubhouse, where Elder Chu marveled at the purity of Little An’s killing and Ling Shuo realized he had won his gamble.
• After rooting out the rebels, Ling Shuo rapidly took control of the remaining five cities, while Little An killed those who resisted.
• Satria, Caruso, and William discussed the An Family attacker, the danger of Ji Jue’s retaliation, and whether to fight back.
• Satria showed the others invitations for Ling Shuo’s thirtieth-birthday banquet at Guili Building on Luo Island, scheduled for two days later.
• Caruso recognized that the banquet was meant to establish Ling Shuo’s authority over Seven Cities’ illicit businesses and publicly challenge the other kingpins.