Recaps

Ji Jue agreed to protect Chen Yu Bo at the villa while the Wild Bazaar conflict erupted across Yacheng, and he reflected on how ambition drew people into danger. The next day, an alchemical Crystal Ball revealed that at least eleven Aether Chosen Ones were tracking Chen Yu Bo.

• Ji Jue persuaded Chen Yu Bo to stay in the villa under his protection and arranged a week's leave from Professor Ye, who sent him a large stack of reading assignments.
• That night, Ji Jue saw visions of White Deer and Superior Virtue before falling asleep, while Little An wondered why the wilderness aura had appeared and vanished so quickly.
• The next morning, Ji Jue reviewed reports of bloody clashes across Yacheng, including the death of Old Seven, as Lei Yaoxing launched an all-out war against his rivals.
• Uncle Lin returned with an alchemical Crystal Ball that showed at least eleven Aether Chosen Ones were tracking Chen Yu Bo.

Ji Jue attended a meeting with Chen Yu Bo’s remaining allies and used Deus Ex Machina to expose the traitors among them. The chapter ended with Xu Jun holding a gun to Chen Yu Bo’s forehead as Uncle Lin faced the betrayal.

• Uncle Lin explained that the estate’s Mist Ritual blocked most Aether readings, while Ji Jue found that three Aether Chosen were watching him.
• Gold Hair mistakenly approached Ji Jue as a fellow South Mountain Road gang member before joining the meeting about Chen Yu Bo’s condition.
• Uncle Lin offered to release anyone who wanted to leave, and six Chosen Ones and several business managers departed.
• Ji Jue identified two men as traitors after their phones rang, and Uncle Lin killed Seventeen.
• Ji Jue revealed that Deus Ex Machina had let him monitor the villa’s communications and discover the plot to seize Chen Xingzhou’s inheritance.
• Xu Jun drew a gun and pressed it to Chen Yu Bo’s forehead as Uncle Lin looked at him coldly.

Ji Jue helped Old Lin expose and punish the men who betrayed Chen Xingzhou, then watched Old Lin rally the remaining crew and prepare defenses for Chen Yu Bo. Old Lin later revealed that Chen Xingzhou was still alive after receiving the Myriad Spirit Elixir, though he might never recover, and said the coming crisis would test whether Chen Xingzhou could reclaim control of his life.

• Old Lin killed Xu Jun after his gun jammed, then retrieved a camera and phone from a nearby spy and rewarded the crew members who stayed loyal.
• Ji Jue questioned Old Lin’s methods and the crew’s prospects, while Old Lin arranged for the mercenary Old Tang to guard Chen Yu Bo.
• Old Tang recognized Little An as a boy from the An Family, then joined the group and received weapons and equipment along with the other defenders.
• Old Lin gave Ji Jue a fully equipped workshop and promised to keep him out of danger, while Ji Jue pressed him about his motives and Old Lin said he wanted things to have a proper beginning and end.
• Old Lin met a doctor at a remote dock, paid him double, and learned that Chen Xingzhou had survived the Myriad Spirit Elixir but might remain a vegetable.
• Old Lin sent the doctor to Tide City and said Chen Xingzhou had to live long enough to prove he could keep his life in his own hands.

Ji Jue and his allies repelled a gang of attackers targeting Chen Yu Bo, then learned that Lei Yaoxing was watching them. As violence and outside forces engulfed Yacheng, Ji Jue suspected Chen Xingzhou was central to the tangled events and learned that a makeshift Powered Armor had appeared in the city.

• Old Tang buried the attackers killed in earlier raids while Ji Jue warned him that another group, including a Chosen One, was approaching.
• Zhong Naohai led a convoy toward the villa to kidnap Chen Yu Bo, but Ji Jue and Little An used a sniper rifle to kill several attackers and drive the others into retreat.
• Old Tang ambushed the fleeing convoy with his swords, killed the gang, and brought the Chosen One's corpse back at Ji Jue's request.
• Ji Jue discovered that Lei Yaoxing's observer had been transmitting reports and photos from the mountain opposite the villa, but chose not to confront him.
• Ji Jue considered Chen Xingzhou's possible role as Yacheng's factions and foreign Chosen Ones escalated their conflict, and he learned that a makeshift Powered Armor had appeared openly in the city.

Ji Jue protected Chen Yu Bo by arranging for him to donate his inheritance, then crafted bullets infused with fiend-mutated Spirit Essence for their visitors. The chapter left Ji Jue preparing for a confrontation while Chen Xingzhou began to stir in the hospital and a nurse’s cart left a trail of crimson marks.

• The military killed the Power Armor rebel under a kill-on-sight order, while Tong Shan and Lu Shenzhou reacted angrily to the escalating shadow war.
• Ji Jue explained to Little An that Chen Yu Bo needed to donate his entire inheritance so no one would suspect he had hidden money, and he promised to help Little An in the future.
• Ji Jue processed a bullet with Spirit Essence and reassured Little An when he said he could no longer help with sword qi.
• Ji Jue used Cousin and Non-Aggression to extract fiend-mutated Spirit Essence from the Chosen One’s remains and refine it into crimson material associated with Mad Slaughter.
• Ji Jue filled bullet heads with the crimson material and called them gifts for their visitors; Little An felt a chill when he examined them.
• Chen Xingzhou’s fingers twitched and slowly clenched in the hospital as a nurse pushed a cart that left crimson tracks on the floor.

Lei Yaoxing broke the remaining rules and ordered the deaths of Chen Xingzhou and everyone connected to him, unleashing violence across the regions. As his forces attacked Ji Jue’s villa, another assassin struck at Chen Xingzhou in the hospital, where the unconscious patient unexpectedly fought back.

• Lei Yaoxing killed Little Ye after learning that the young man blamed him for his father’s death and an old shipwreck.
• Lei Yaoxing identified Chen Xingzhou as a source of the chaos and ordered his men to kill Chen Xingzhou, his younger brother, and their associates.
• Gloria warned Ji Jue that a dangerous force was approaching, and Ji Jue recognized that a teleportation gate was about to open at the villa.
• An emaciated old man led Lei Yaoxing’s attackers through the gate, and they charged into the villa courtyard as a landmine went off.
• At Jici Hospital, Chen Xingzhou seized an assassin disguised as a nurse before she pulled out a dagger and stabbed him repeatedly.

As attackers led by Jin Wujiu stormed Chen Yu Bo’s villa, Ji Jue used traps, a concealed safe room, and improvised weapons to defend the household. After killing a Horde Chosen One and eliminating a special operations squad with automated guns, Ji Jue activated Extermination Mode as the assault continued.

• Jin Wujiu triggered the villa’s mines and led attackers through the ruined defenses while Ji Jue learned that communications were cut and more than forty enemies had entered.
• Old Tang secured Chen Yu Bo and A Yi in a concealed safe room, while Ji Jue encountered a Horde Chosen One in the garage and stairwell.
• Little An ambushed the Horde Chosen One, and Ji Jue killed him with armor-piercing and Calamity Poison bullets before secretly preserving the corpse.
• Ji Jue used automated weapons hidden throughout the villa to kill a masked special operations squad searching the corridors.
• Ji Jue ordered the server to maximize efficiency and activate Extermination Mode.

Ji Jue fought off the invading Chosen Ones with the villa’s hidden weapons, explosives, and the heavily armored Little Cow and Horse, while Jin Wujiu unleashed the Soul Calling Bell. Ji Jue fed the summoned spirits to his machine-beast to sustain its fight against Centaur, but Little An had gone silent in the darkness.

• Ji Jue activated the villa’s concealed gun platforms, killing and injuring the Intruders before Jin Wujiu’s electromagnetic pulse disabled the machinery.
• Centaur transformed and chased Gold Hair Boy through the villa, where Ji Jue used mines and explosives to injure him.
• Little Cow and Horse burst through a wall and attacked Centaur, beginning a brutal struggle as Ji Jue supported it with gunfire.
• Jin Wujiu rang the Soul Calling Bell twice, summoning the dead and driving their spirits into a frenzy throughout the villa.
• Ji Jue captured the spirits and fed their Spiritual Substance to Little Cow and Horse, using Gold Hair Boy as bait to gather more.
• As Little Cow and Horse grew stronger against Centaur, Ji Jue realized Little An had stopped providing support.

Little An and Blood Slaughter began a sacred duel while the villa’s defenders fought for survival. Ji Jue subdued the centaur and stopped his self-destruction by seizing his heart and suppressing the Spiritual Substance within him.

• Little An struck Blood Slaughter with the Edge of Flying Light, then removed his prosthetic and challenged him to a sacred hunt in the White Deer’s name.
• Old Tang struggled against the Ghoul Brothers’ endless clones until he summoned Fourth Grand Uncle, who joined him through Matrix: Asura and launched a counterattack.
• A Yi’s illusion briefly failed as lingering spirits entered the safe room, but the shadows of Chen Yu Bo’s cats erased them.
• Ji Jue and Little Cow and Horse battered the centaur, whose regeneration slowed as the machine consumed his blood and transformed further.
• Ji Jue pinned the centaur down as he tried to turn himself into a bomb, then reached into his body and stopped the impending explosion by gripping his heart.

Ji Jue destroyed the centaur’s Matrix and fed its heart to Little Cow and Horse before his battle against Jin Wujiu unleashed Minerva’s overwhelming power. The villa’s attackers were wiped out, and Gold Hair Boy unexpectedly received a Superior Virtue Blessing.

• Ji Jue used Disintegration Art and Non-Aggression to shatter the centaur’s Matrix, harvest its essence, and give its heart to Little Cow and Horse.
• Asura and Fourth Grand Uncle killed the Ghoul Brothers, while Jin Wujiu summoned a vast storm of lightning to destroy the villa.
• Ji Jue tried to stop Jin Wujiu by unsealing Minerva’s blessing, but he became a crystalline statue as its power awakened.
• Minerva’s power froze the storm and disintegrated Jin Wujiu and his forces, leaving the villa’s attackers dead.
• Gold Hair Boy celebrated and received a Superior Virtue Blessing, shocking Ji Jue.

After the villa battle, Ji Jue collected the attackers’ remains and checked on Little An, only to reveal that he suspected the boy was an impostor. The impostor escaped his restraint and effortlessly stopped Ji Jue’s bullets, then asked how he had been exposed.

• The White Deer’s phantom appeared after the battle, approached Ji Jue, and left without giving him a Blessing.
• Old Tang scolded Ji Jue for showing no interest in the White Deer, while Little An agreed with him.
• Ji Jue salvaged useful alchemical materials and a battered bell from the villa, then left Chen Yu Bo in the safehouse until dawn.
• Ji Jue treated Little An’s neck wound, restrained him, and demanded to know who he was and what he had done to his friend.
• The impostor broke free, dodged Ji Jue’s attack, and caught all eight bullets before asking how Ji Jue had recognized him.

Ji Jue exposed the person impersonating Little An as her older sister, An Ning, who revealed that she had grown fond of him before leaving. After confirming the real Little An was safe, Ji Jue was left stunned by the night's revelations.

• Ji Jue identified the corpse in the pond as Blood Slaughter and realized the person posing as Little An had never used a Matrix.
• Ji Jue confronted the impostor, revealed that he had trapped the room with explosives, and demanded to know where Little An had gone.
• The impostor kissed Ji Jue, then revealed herself as An Ning, Little An's older sister, and confessed that she was starting to like him.
• An Ning explained that she had taken An Ran's appearance while visiting her younger brother, then left through the moonlit night.
• Ji Jue messaged Lao Zhang and learned he had known about An Ning, then contacted Little An and confirmed she was safe.

An Ning returned and tried to win Ji Jue over with money, prompting An Ran to resolve to protect him from her sister’s plans. Meanwhile, Chen Xingzhou survived the hospital battle and left with his subordinates as Lei Wuye died, bringing the Long Night to an end at dawn.

• An Ning defeated An Ran in their apartment and declared that she would win Ji Jue over by giving him money, but their father refused to fund her plan to buy a sports car factory.
• An Ran decided to work and earn money to protect Brother Ji Jue from An Ning’s wealthy advances.
• Old Lin reached Jici Hospital and found Chen Xingzhou alive after his surgery, though both men were badly injured and the hospital corridor was strewn with corpses.
• Old Lin gave Chen Xingzhou medicine, and Chen Xingzhou recovered enough to leave in a wheelchair with his waiting subordinates to visit old friends.
• Lei Yaoxing learned that Jin Wujiu’s and Li Wentong’s teams had been wiped out and Chen Xingzhou had disappeared, then received Lei Wuye’s death certificate and ordered the funeral.
• After a sudden storm, dawn broke over the bloodstained city, ending the long night.

Ji Jue and Chen Yu Bo attended Lei Wuye’s funeral, which brought together factions from Yacheng’s Wild Bazaar. The arrival of a Chongguang Church elder who chose to stay suggested the church might become involved in the struggle.

• Old Tang received Lei Yaoxing’s funeral notice for Lei Wuye, and Ji Jue realized the funeral could decide the future of Yacheng’s Wild Bazaar.
• Wen Wen told Ji Jue that the conflict was already over and suggested he bring Chen Yu Bo to the funeral.
• Ji Jue, Chen Yu Bo, and Old Tang arrived at the funeral, where Lei Yaoxing greeted Chen Yu Bo without acknowledging Ji Jue or Old Tang.
• Ji Jue watched Wild Bazaar factions gather while many prominent guests paid their respects and left.
• Ji Jue spotted a Chongguang Church vehicle, and an elder from the church arrived, paid his respects, and chose to sit among the gathered factions.

A procession of Yacheng’s powerful figures attended Lei Wuye’s funeral, turning it into a gathering that seemed to foreshadow a reckoning over the shadow war. Chen Xingzhou arrived last and calmly confronted Lei Yaoxing, while the hall fell silent.

• Tong Shengnian, representatives of the Taiyi Ring, and other Yacheng officials and organizations arrived to pay their respects and took seats at the back of the hall.
• Tong Shan introduced himself to Ji Jue, offered him a place in the Security Bureau, and gave him a business card after Ji Jue declined for the time being.
• Tong Ting arrived as a representative of Yacheng’s Aether Chosen and greeted Ji Jue, while the growing crowd filled the Farewell Hall.
• Lei Yaoxing signaled that no more guests would be received as the final visitor arrived.
• Chen Xingzhou arrived in a wheelchair with an elderly one-armed man, and he greeted Lei Yaoxing as Chen Yu Bo watched from the back.

At Lei Wuye’s funeral, Chen Xingzhou confronted Lei Yaoxing as former allies and enforcers abandoned Lei Yaoxing, threatening to split the Wild Bazaar. Chen revealed that he had wagered with the Chieftain that he would survive and bring order to Yacheng, and declared that he had won.

• Chen Xingzhou arrived at Lei Wuye’s funeral in a wheelchair and challenged Lei Yaoxing, who demanded to know when Chen’s plan had begun.
• Chen recalled his long struggle for power and his promise to his younger brother Yubo that no one would look down on them again.
• Chen said the outsiders had come as witnesses, and Lei Wuye’s former sworn daughters, aides, and other enforcers rose to stand behind him.
• As the hall teetered on the edge of civil war, Chen revealed that he had met the Chieftain on Yingtai Mountain and secured permission to restore order in the Wild Bazaar.
• Chen explained that he had wagered he would survive and control events in Yacheng after his supposed death, then declared that he had won.

Chen Xingzhou’s faction prevailed in the struggle for Yacheng when An Ning delivered the Chieftain’s judgment and ordered Lei Yaoxing to leave the Wilderness. Lei Yaoxing rejected the offered lifeline and died after a shard of his shattered bowl pierced his throat, leaving Yacheng’s old order behind.

• Chen Xingzhou told Lei Yaoxing that he had lost the support needed to become Spokesperson and urged him to leave Yacheng.
• Lei Yaoxing attacked Chen Xingzhou, but Old Lin blocked his Formless blade as his supporters prepared to fight.
• Chen Xingzhou left the confrontation to Ji Jue, and An Ning revealed herself as the White Deer Hunter and declared the Chieftain’s judgment.
• An Ning ordered the incompetent expelled and asked whether the gathered beasts intended to rebel; Lei Yaoxing’s supporters withdrew or bowed.
• An Ning offered Lei Yaoxing a porcelain rooster bowl and a chance to leave the Wilderness, but he smashed it and a shard pierced his throat, killing him.
• Far away, an old man reflected on Lei Yaoxing’s fate and wondered whether the rising flood dragon would become a dragon or a snake.

Chen Xingzhou ended the struggle for Wild Bazaar by becoming its Spokesperson, while a month-earlier conversation revealed his ambition to control its cruel cycle in pursuit of freedom. The chapter left him holding a black chess piece as he faced future challenges and watched Ji Jue leave.

• An Ning's Absolute Punishment Execution killed Lei Yaoxing, and Tong Shan explained the White Deer Hunter technique to Ji Jue.
• Chen Xingzhou spared Lei Yaoxing's followers, ordered them to settle the funeral arrangements, and invited them to stay or leave Yacheng.
• Chen Xingzhou won unanimous support to become Wild Bazaar's Spokesperson and declared that he would control it for the next ten years.
• A month earlier, Chen Xingzhou told the Hermit that he wanted the freedom to choose whether to advance, and the Hermit warned him to crawl out of hell first.
• After the funeral, Chen Xingzhou wondered whether he was free as Old Lin reminded him that future challengers could still stand in his way.
• Chen Xingzhou clenched the black chess piece and watched Ji Jue depart.

After the Yacheng unrest ended, Ji Jue received recognition from the Chongguang Church for donating Chen Xingzhou’s wealth to charity and left without joining Wild Bazaar. As he said goodbye to the wilderness, he awakened the power of Ascension, leaving his next path newly opened.

• Ji Jue prepared to leave, briefly recognized a mysterious woman by her perfume, and declined Chen Xingzhou’s offer to join Wild Bazaar.
• Chen Xingzhou gave Ji Jue documents showing that billions in cash and company shares had been donated to charity in Ji Jue’s name, along with the Chongguang Church’s Badge of Supreme Goodness.
• Ji Jue accepted the badge but refused to enter Wild Bazaar, then left the cemetery while wondering about the unresolved mysteries behind the unrest.
• Ji Jue said goodbye to the White Deer and saw a vast presence watching him from above.
• Ji Jue grasped the descending radiance and awakened [Ascension], while those gathered at the cemetery recognized the manifestation as Superior Virtue Summoning.

Ji Jue showed off his new Badge of Supreme Goodness to Ye Chun, only for her to reveal her own superior badge and put him to work. He then discovered that his Deus Ex Machina had gained greatly increased duration and efficiency from the Ascension Blessing, Foundation of Ascension · [Primacy of Spirit].

• Ji Jue finished disintegrating his salvaged alchemical scraps, gained little essence, and noted his progress studying alchemy.
• Ji Jue teased Ye Chun about his Badge of Supreme Goodness, but Ye Chun revealed her own badge and ordered him to cook and clean.
• Ji Jue made dinner while Ye Chun and Professor Ye discussed his work, and Professor Ye reminded him to submit his revised argument.
• Ji Jue’s alarm clock reported that Deus Ex Machina had lasted seventeen hours and forty-one minutes, a new record, and he considered using the ability to seize howitzers.
• Professor Ye explained that Ji Jue’s new Foundation of Ascension · [Primacy of Spirit] had doubled Deus Ex Machina’s duration and improved his Spiritual Substance capacity and recovery.

Ji Jue learned how Primacy of Spirit could strengthen his Spiritual Substance and chose to specialize Miraculous Hands in manipulating it. Professor Ye gave him a pocket watch as a training target, but his Spiritual Substance destroyed its fragile consciousness before he could begin extracting it.

• Professor Ye explained that Ji Jue needed to choose a direction for developing Miraculous Hands.
• Ji Jue realized he should focus on manipulating Spiritual Substance, and Professor Ye agreed that his abilities made it a promising specialty.
• Professor Ye gave Ji Jue an ordinary pocket watch and ordered him to use Miraculous Hands to extract its Spiritual Substance without harming its consciousness.
• Ji Jue accidentally crushed the watch's fragile spiritual response with a slight fluctuation of his own Spiritual Substance.
• Professor Ye set extracting the watch's consciousness intact as Ji Jue's next training objective.

Ji Jue practiced extracting the spirits created by Deus Ex Machina and learned that mastering the technique could transform his alchemy. Professor Ye revealed her Spiritual Substance creation, Black Swan, and challenged Ji Jue to surpass it someday; he said he wanted to try, and she told him to earn his Artisan License first.

• Ji Jue repeatedly failed to extract a spirit essence he had created, while Professor Ye explained that a cooperative creation's spirit should be possible for him to remove and transfer.
• Ji Jue realized that extracting and containing the spirits of his creations could greatly expand Deus Ex Machina's abilities, but Professor Ye said he would need to master that skill before attempting alchemical construction from Spiritual Substance alone.
• Professor Ye led Ji Jue to A Fu, whose shadow separated and expanded into the terrifying Black Swan before she recalled it.
• Professor Ye described Black Swan as her first creation after becoming a master, later registered with the Association as a Masterwork and named part of the Omen Sequence.
• Professor Ye asked whether Ji Jue could create something greater than Black Swan, and Ji Jue said he wanted to try.
• Ye Xian praised Ji Jue's fighting spirit but told him to earn his Artisan License before entertaining such ambitions.

Ye Chun woke from a nightmare as Professor Ye met with an association visitor, and Ji Jue returned the next morning with a new method for handling a pocket watch’s fragile intelligence. Professor Ye appraised an ancient bell he had recovered, whose sound summoned countless red-eyed figures beyond the Workshop gates.

• Ye Chun woke from a nightmare, found Professor Ye speaking with an association visitor, and returned to bed after asking whether her aunt was leaving.
• Ji Jue showed Professor Ye how he used stasis-like Spiritual Substance control and Feigong’s Formless Hand to grasp the pocket watch’s fragile intelligence.
• Professor Ye praised Ji Jue’s insight but warned that his stasis approach was unsuitable for him and advised him to seek a solution through Primacy of Spirit.
• Professor Ye returned the ancient bell after examining it, and its ringing brought hundreds or thousands of scarlet-eyed figures out of the rain beyond the Workshop gates.

Professor Ye demonstrated the Soul Calling Bell, modified it for Ji Jue, and sent him on an unexpected holiday. Unsure what to do with his free time, Ji Jue went to Lu Ma’s home with groceries and reunited with Lu Ling and Youngest, who were astonished by his transformed vehicle.

• Professor Ye summoned a towering remnant-spirit construct with the Soul Calling Bell, explained its powers and flaws, then added a limiter so Ji Jue could use it to make small spiritual creatures.
• Ji Jue practiced shaping spiritual substance, created a bizarre spider-like creature, and was teased by Ye Chun about his aesthetics.
• Professor Ye declared Ji Jue was on leave for several days and sent him out of the workshop with his belongings.
• Ji Jue wandered to the market near Lu Ma’s home, bought groceries, and ran into Lu Ling and Youngest.
• Ji Jue and Youngest shopped together, and Ji Jue bought Youngest a quarter’s worth of math lessons after hearing about his test score.
• Ji Jue brought Lu Ling and Youngest home in the expanded Little Cow and Horse, and reassured Lu Ling that the traffic police could not catch up with them.

Ji Jue brought Er Niu and Lu Ling home in a reckless drive, then spent the evening with his family and checked Lu Feng’s spinal interface. Lu Feng was left confronting his buried regret over his military past as an armored convoy arrived outside Yacheng.

• Ji Jue demonstrated Little Cow and Horse’s agility on the drive home, leaving Youngest and Lu Ling sick and frightened.
• Lu Feng arrived with groceries and cauliflower, then joked with Ji Jue about the new Security Company and the work Laila had given him.
• Ji Jue checked the Powered Armor interface at the back of Lu Feng’s neck and asked whether he still regretted his past.
• After dinner was called, Lu Feng admitted to himself that he hated the wars and killings he had been part of, but wondered why he smiled when he woke from nightmares.
• As Lu Feng went inside, an armored convoy arrived through the storm on the highway beyond Yacheng.