Chapter Summaries

Ji Jue prepared for the awards ceremony with Ye Chun’s help while Shang Tong Wen rejected his family’s attempt to make him a scapegoat and ordered a sniper attack. The attempt failed, investigators closed in on Shang Tong Wen, and Isis sent him a greeting.

• Ji Jue stayed awake writing a paper until Ye Chun arrived in Tide City, exhausted from covering his work.
• Ye Chun gave Ji Jue a formal suit and helped him dress for the championship awards ceremony.
• Fourth Uncle told Shang Tong Wen that the family elders had decided he must take responsibility, and Shang Tong Wen shot him.
• Shang Tong Wen ordered a sniper to kill Ji Jue and Ye Chun, but an operative was killed before the shot could be fired, and Ji Jue greeted the camera.
• Investigators surrounded Echo Science and Technology's headquarters as Shang Tong Wen found himself trapped in his office.
• Isis appeared on Shang Tong Wen's screen and sent him her greetings.

Ji Jue accepted congratulations after winning the Wasteland Sea Rally Race and delivered a brief speech as a violent purge of the people behind the chemical plant explosion unfolded across several cities. The purge ended with Shang Tong Wen’s death, while Ji Jue returned to the award ceremony and looked ahead to meeting everyone again on another road.

• Ji Jue arrived at the rally reception, where Tong Shengnian and Lou Guan introduced him to influential guests, and Shi Ran offered him a young entrepreneur nomination and a prosthetics project.
• Ji Jue declined the nomination, agreed to sign the prosthetics authorization, and went backstage before taking the stage to thank those who had supported him.
• As Ji Jue began his speech, Lou Guan dealt with a man in a car crash, Gao Yue died by suicide, Lü Tianhao drank poison, and Lu Feng’s group killed Yin Chao Yang with a bomb.
• Golden Retriever detained a man trying to flee Yacheng, while a wider purge reached the people connected to the chemical plant explosion and the organizations that had backed them.
• Isis told Shang Tong Wen that the deaths were a condition of the reconciliation agreement and that he was the final target; Shang Tong Wen shot himself as his office caught fire.
• Ji Jue finished his speech, thanked the audience again, and returned to the celebration as the award ceremony continued.

After returning to Yacheng, Ji Jue accepted a way to receive Sea Tide shares as dividends converted into materials, then secured the freedom to develop Coast’s tricycle and related projects. He left resolved to keep improving the lives of people those projects could help, even if he could make the world only a little better.

• Ji Jue returned to Yacheng and gave the gifts he had brought to Lu Ma, Lu Feng, Lu Ling, Youngest, and his colleagues at the Security Bureau.
• Lü Yingyue offered Ji Jue a Security Bureau position and urged him to accept his Sea Tide shares; he agreed to let Chen Xingzhou and the Tong Family hold them while his dividends were exchanged for materials.
• Ji Jue asked Lü Yingyue about Sea Tide’s industrial park and explained that he wanted to focus on what remained of Coast beyond automobiles.
• Lü Yingyue understood that Ji Jue wanted to develop Coast’s tricycle business and agreed that he could take it over without objection.
• Ji Jue explained that he wanted to continue improving tricycles, prosthetics, and other projects that might otherwise be abandoned, hoping to make the world a little better.

Ji Jue returned to Tide Sound and showed Ye Xian the reforged Pan Ying, which she approved as a promising Feudal Lord-grade sword once completed. Ye Xian urged him to pursue Chun Jun next and explained that he did not need to master all nine sword types, then demonstrated Pan Ying’s Bloodlight.

• Ji Jue returned home with local specialties and reported to Ye Xian, who teased him about his recent exploits and warned him not to repeat the Federation-wide missile operation.
• Ji Jue presented Pan Ying, and Ye Xian examined its progress, praised its tempering, and judged that its completed form would surpass Commoner rank and reach Feudal Lord grade.
• Ji Jue proposed studying Yuchang or Red Firmament next, but Ye Xian rejected both as too difficult for his current stage and recommended Chun Jun instead.
• Ji Jue worried that he could not learn all nine sword types in his lifetime, so Ye Xian explained that past inheritors had focused on particular paths rather than completing every sword.
• Ye Xian demonstrated a shifting strand of spirit essence that turned into Pan Ying’s Bloodlight.

Ye Xian explained how mastering the nine sword forms led to Scene Tremor, then challenged Ji Jue to decide what kind of person he wanted to become. Ji Jue chose to pursue control over his own destiny, while Lü Yingyue burned a scrapbook containing memories of a disaster and a photograph of the rescue that had saved a child.

• Ye Xian demonstrated the nine spirit-essence traits merging into Scene Tremor and told Ji Jue to make his own decisions as an artisan.
• Ye Xian recalled Heavenly Furnace asking her what kind of life she would choose and reflected on the attachments that shaped her, Jianyuan, Heavenly Furnace, and Ji Jue.
• Aboard the Prosperity, Ji Jue joked with Isis before declaring that he wanted to become someone who could control his own destiny.
• Lü Yingyue looked through her scrapbook and found an eleven-year-old newspaper photograph of a rescued child from the Sea Burning Day disaster.
• Lü Yingyue closed the scrapbook, burned it, and recalled the firelight from more than ten years earlier.

Lü Yingyue survived the Calamity Flame disaster in Haizhou and faced a choice between eliminating a lingering threat and saving a child. She secretly carried the child out, whose heartbeat returned, while Ji Jue dreamed of a flame rekindling in the depths of the sea.

• The Artisan told Lü Yingyue that the Sealing Committee and Federation had awakened the Sky Overseer, ending the flames, and explained that a rift between reality and the Vortex had caused the disaster.
• Lü Yingyue heard singing from a wrecked carriage and found a fading figure offering her a recovered treasure; she took it as the figure turned to ash.
• Lü Yingyue carried a dying child out of the carriage and reported that the threat had been eradicated, while the Artisan agreed to record the mission as successful.
• Medical personnel declared the child dead, but the child opened his eyes and his heartbeat resumed as Lü Yingyue questioned whether she had opened the box.
• The Artisan spoke of hope and fate before fading away, and Ji Jue dreamed of a flame emerging from the deep sea and rekindling amid dead ashes.

Lu Feng oversaw the installation of a Coast Industry wind generator at a Wilderness Settlement and collected its first payment in gold. On his return to New Spring Town, Coast Industry’s growing reach across Haizhou was evident, and Lu Feng wondered if he could still make it in time.

• Lu Feng watched workers raise a patched-together wind turbine and restore electricity to the Settlement beside the swamp.
• The Settlement leader paid Coast Industry’s first installment in gold, and Lu Feng’s subordinate checked that it met the contract terms.
• Lu Feng refused the leader’s offer of a meal, accepted another pouch, and departed with his crew after the leader asked him to give Mister Ji his regards.
• On the drive back, Lu Feng saw Coast Industry’s wind generators spreading throughout Haizhou and its influence expanding from New Spring Town into water and vehicle services.
• Lu Feng returned through New Spring Town’s market gate, checked his watch, and wondered whether he could still make it in time.

Ji Jue showed Lu Feng the brutal labor system beneath Coast Industry’s prosperous New Spring operations, then opened a door that transported them to the Prosperity. The chapter left Lu Feng stunned on the ship’s deck amid towering waves.

• New Spring Town expanded under Ji Jue’s influence as Yan Jian managed Coast Industry’s growing operations and Lu Feng returned from collecting payments.
• Lu Feng warned Ji Jue that the company’s rumored gold reserves were attracting danger, but Ji Jue explained that the display helped draw in new workers.
• Ji Jue showed Lu Feng the underground factory, where criminals were forced to labor under harsh conditions until they repaid their debts.
• Lu Feng urged Ji Jue to hurry home for a birthday visit, but Ji Jue opened a door and transported them to the Prosperity.
• Lu Feng stepped onto the deck and stared in shock as waves and sea wind surrounded him.

Ji Jue reunited with Lu Feng and celebrated Lu Ma’s birthday with the family, while helping Lu Ling plan for work during summer vacation. After falling asleep in the afternoon, Ji Jue woke with the image of a crimson flame in the depths of his recurring dream.

• Ji Jue showed Lu Feng how the Doomsday Train linked Quancheng, Yacheng, and the Prosperity, then gave him a keychain that could lead him back to safety.
• Lu Feng returned home with a massage chair for Lu Ma, and Ji Jue joined the family as they celebrated her fiftieth birthday.
• Ji Jue encouraged Lu Ling to seek work experience over summer vacation and offered to arrange a position for her near home rather than at Coast Industry.
• Lu Ling showed Ji Jue her school trophies, and he agreed to arrange a speech at her university through Isis.
• Ji Jue napped with the children and dreamed of falling through darkness until he saw a pulsing crimson flame before waking.

Ji Jue installed a Xihe Fourth-Generation furnace in the Doomsday Train, completing the core of his workshop and boosting its capabilities. After joking with contacts online and consuming metal and oil for nourishment, he entered the furnace for a new round of refinement.

• Ji Jue inspected and accepted the Xihe furnace, which the association delivered to the Prosperity on credit.
• Isis transferred into the new furnace and reported that the workshop was operating normally with its efficiency expected to more than double.
• Ji Jue surveyed his newly completed workshop and posted a melancholy selfie that prompted teasing comments from his contacts.
• Ji Jue blocked Old Tang again and made a list of commenters who had not liked his post so he could target them later.
• Isis served Ji Jue a damaged Alchemical Creation and a cold-pressed alloy ingot with hot liquefied grease, which he consumed.
• Ji Jue entered the furnace, and its doors shut as it roared to life amid a torrent of Spiritual Substance.

Ji Jue used the Xihe Melting Furnace and Isis’s help to accelerate his body’s Metamorphosis, then tested his new strength. While he recovered, he learned the Association had restricted Fluid Plastic Steel, banned his popular patent names, and awarded his new blood-sacrifice purification research an A-grade evaluation.

• Ji Jue entered the Xihe Melting Furnace, where Isis used Spirit Essence Circuits and controlled heat to catalyze the union of his body and soul.
• Ji Jue emerged badly burned but rapidly healing, found his physical transformation had advanced, and blocked six bullets with hardened skin.
• Ji Jue decided to wait a week before another furnace session so his body and consciousness could adapt to their changes.
• The Association prohibited Ji Jue from selling Fluid Plastic Steel through ordinary channels, while allowing sales through designated buyers and other approved channels.
• The Association banned Ji Jue’s popular ex-wife-and-stepmother patent after a disciplinary campaign, but awarded his new blood-sacrifice purification paper an A-grade evaluation and listed it for 5,000 Contribution Points.

Ji Jue struggled to forge Chun Jun, suffering more than 240 failed prototypes and realizing that his lack of progress might stem from his own understanding. After Isis monitored his recurring nightmare and detected no outside Spiritual Substance, Ji Jue suspected he was sick.

• Ji Jue decided that Heaven-Granted Spirit required a Masterwork-level achievement and chose Elephant Sword Type 9 as his best path forward.
• Ji Jue repeatedly failed to forge Chun Jun, and his seventh batch of thirty prototypes all shattered or proved unusable.
• Ji Jue questioned his talent, then reasoned that the problem lay in his understanding of Chun Jun and that Ether had never answered him.
• Ji Jue asked Isis to schedule a visit with Tong Zhiwu and agreed to undergo sleep protection and nightmare analysis.
• Ji Jue woke from his recurring nightmare, learned Isis had detected no external Spiritual Substance, and realized that he might be sick.

Ji Jue sought help for recurring nightmares, but Wen Wen, Lao Zhang, and Tong Ting found no illness or curse and suspected the dreams were tied to his Aether and Ascension studies. Tong Ting suggested the dreams might be prophetic, but warned that the future was uncertain and advised Ji Jue to wait and see.

• Ji Jue visited Wen Wen and the North Mountain District residents to ask about his repeated nightmares, and Lao Zhang found that he was healthy and nearing Rank Six.
• Ji Jue learned that Wen Wen had reached the Rebirth Rank within five or six months, leaving Tong Hua stunned by their rapid advancement.
• Ji Jue visited the Tong Family to consult Old Grandpa, but Tong Ting examined him in his absence and found no abnormality in his body, mind, soul, or Blessings.
• Tong Ting connected Ji Jue's dreams to his study of Chun Jun and the Blessing of Sudden Inspiration, and suggested they might be prophetic dreams.
• Tong Ting told Ji Jue that prophetic dreams were usually vague and that fate could change, advising him to wait and see.

Ji Jue asked Tong Ting for help understanding the Aether Path so he could solve a problem in his Chun Jun experiments. Tong Ting explained that the path’s crucial foundation was naming, and Ji Jue grasped the idea from a single hint.

• Tong Ting advised Ji Jue not to resist or obsess over his precognitive dream, suggesting it might be another trial from Embers.
• Ji Jue asked Tong Ting to teach him about the Aether Path, but Tong Ting struggled to explain Chun Jun’s principles and learned Ji Jue needed a blank record to carry the sublimation of Spiritual Substance.
• Tong Ting said an absolutely blank record could not exist, comparing it to the unattainable purity of the Philosopher’s Stone.
• Tong Ting used a mangosteen to guide Ji Jue from observing and understanding toward identifying what he saw.
• Ji Jue realized Tong Ting meant naming, and Tong Ting explained that naming was the foundation of the Aether Path’s operations.

Ji Jue realized Chun Jun depended on the swordsmith’s name and directives, then used that insight to forge a prototype from his own blood, Spiritual Substance, and records. The prototype briefly took shape as mirror-like fragments before burning away, but Ji Jue declared the attempt a success.

• Tong Ting explained the problem with defining a completely blank phenomenon, prompting Ji Jue to recognize that Chun Jun depended on referentiality and the name bestowed by its swordsmith.
• Ji Jue rushed back to Tong Ting for record books, then left with Little Cow and Horse carrying bags and boxes of materials.
• At the Workshop of the Doomsday Train, Ji Jue repeatedly attempted to forge Chun Jun, but fourteen tries failed, including one Sin Corrupted by the White Hall.
• Ji Jue added his blood, unpurified Spiritual Substance, and a Tong Family record booklet bearing his name and directives to the furnace.
• The next attempt produced mirror-like fragments that briefly reflected Ji Jue and revealed burning shadows before collapsing into ashes.
• Ji Jue laughed and declared the Elephant Sword Type 9 · Chun Jun prototype complete.

Ji Jue received rare Ascension Lineage materials from the Chongguang Church, advancing preparations for Chun Jun. Later, settlement miners brought him the missing Blessing for Little Cow and Horse’s defensive sequence, but their urgency was driven by the approaching rainy season.

• The presiding elder of Yacheng’s Chongguang Church gave Ji Jue a case containing Ascension to Truth and other valuable Ascension Lineage materials.
• The elder explained that the church was entrusting the donated materials to Ji Jue because his work helped people in need, then departed by helicopter.
• Half a month later, Ji Jue learned that settlement miners had brought him a stone containing Spring Flow Vein Circulation, the final Blessing needed for Little Cow and Horse’s immovable as a mountain sequence.
• The miners’ leader refused to haggle, explaining that his settlement could not safely keep the valuable stone and that they had come to the Coast because they trusted Ji Jue.
• The leader revealed that the rainy season was coming soon.

During the rainy season, Ji Jue considered the danger facing Wilderness settlements and negotiated with a leader who had uncovered valuable ore. Ji Jue accepted the ore in exchange for bringing the leader and his people into Coast Industry, then appointed him to manage the factory shantytown.

• Ji Jue explained how summer storms and rising seas brought pirates and other dangers to Wilderness settlements.
• The settlement leader offered his people for Coast Industry recruitment, and Ji Jue proposed contracts with six months of training and ten years of work.
• Ji Jue valued the rough stone at four million credits in factory products, but the leader revealed he had already signed it over to Coast Industry for free.
• Ji Jue learned the leader's name was Gou Er and appointed him administrator of the factory shantytown.
• Yan Jian accepted Gou Er's discreet pouch and showed him a list of money and goods available for collection.

Gou Er built up Coast Industry’s workforce and helped renovate New Spring, then prepared for the chaos caused by the rainy season flooding nearby settlements. As crowds surged against the town’s secured perimeter, he armed A Nao and led him toward the mob to handle matters the boss could not.

• Gou Er ordered his men to recruit workers from nearby villages and warned them to obey Factory Director Ji.
• Gou Er brought workers to New Spring, where they renovated the shantytown district and helped expand the night market as extreme heat emptied the streets by day.
• After torrential rain flooded the nearby settlement, Gou Er ordered tighter security and arranged fences, barbed wire, and armed guards around New Spring.
• Displaced people crowded the town’s entrances, and Yan Jian saw the threat of unrest as someone appeared to be stirring up the crowd.
• Gou Er asked A Nao to take initiative, put a gun in his hand, and led him toward the surging crowd.

Gou Er’s attempt to control a crowd outside New Spring turned into a violent clash when Lu Feng’s exoskeleton team crushed the agitators and captured their commander. Ji Jue approved Gou Er’s plans to recruit and resettle the displaced, then learned Isis had located the hidden instigator inside New Spring and prepared to investigate after dark.

• Gou Er tried to calm the crowd at New Spring’s roadblock, then identified A Nao as the agitator after he received orders to open the fence.
• Lu Feng and sixteen security guards in exoskeletons charged into the crowd, dispersed it with shields, electric batons, and water cannons, and killed the commander.
• Lu Feng offered Li Nao a place in the Security Department, and Gou Er agreed to send him there.
• Ji Jue reviewed Gou Er’s proposal to recruit workers and resettle selected newcomers, then approved it and ordered him to coordinate the plan with Yan Craftsman.
• Isis located the suspected Heart Pivot behind the unrest, who was hiding inside New Spring, and Ji Jue asked Lu Feng to help deal with the target after dark.

Ji Jue and Lu Feng ambushed the conspirators hiding in New Spring Restaurant, killing Wan Wu and Wisdom Tooth and capturing the fleeing Tie Bo. Afterward, Ji Jue prepared to investigate the larger plot with Gold Hair Boy.

• New Spring’s night market thrived as vendors began accepting Coast meal tickets, while Tie Bo and his associates discussed the Coast’s business practices and their plan.
• Wisdom Tooth used hypnosis to order a bribed local to keep quiet and later hang himself, then Tie Bo warned Wisdom Tooth not to act without permission.
• Lu Feng’s Powered Armor crashed into the hotel, gravely injuring Wan Wu and overwhelming Wisdom Tooth with an artificial evil spirit.
• Tie Bo fled the hotel but encountered Ji Jue, who killed him with concealed mercury threads and recovered his remaining Blessings.
• Gold Hair Boy told Ji Jue that the others had arrived, and Ji Jue went to find out what was happening.