Chapter Summaries

The Eighth Edition of the Collected Discussions on the Four Foundations of Alchemy passed review and sold briskly, prompting apprentices to leave restrictive workshops. Ji Jue then earned an unprecedented A+ for Three-Phase Alchemy, bringing him close to Master Rank as the Heavenly Furnace called A Yuan about trouble at his organization.

• Jiang Tongguang brought the expanded compilation to Gustav, who approved its publication despite possible backlash.
• Skaterna resigned from his workshop, and his roommate joined him; they set out for Celestial Pivot to seek Hu Jian’s revived Dust Haze Tradition and work on the Coast.
• The Eighth Edition sold widely, while Hu Jian resigned from the Association and left Celestial Pivot to revive Dust Haze.
• Ji Jue submitted a paper on the Method of Quantity Reduction and Quality Enhancement and Three-Phase Alchemy, which reviewers could neither reproduce nor disprove.
• The Carrion Eater confirmed that Ji Jue’s method worked, and the Association awarded the paper an A+, making another Golden Ribbon likely.
• The Heavenly Furnace called A Yuan repeatedly and asked whether things at A Yuan’s organization had gotten out of hand.

Heavenly Furnace spoke with Jianyuan, who warned him that Anvil Elder was stirring up trouble and ordered him to keep himself under control. After Heavenly Furnace wondered why Ji Jue had been mentioned, the scene shifted to Ji Jue being clung to by Major General Minkler, who begged him to save him.

• Jianyuan rejected Heavenly Furnace's attempts to joke and fish for information, then challenged him to a fight to the death.
• Jianyuan warned Heavenly Furnace that Anvil Elder was making moves and threatened to confront Lu Changsheng over goods marked “Jianyuan Handmade.”
• Heavenly Furnace reasoned that Anvil Elder was testing his strength while the Association and Deepdark faced a coming confrontation.
• Heavenly Furnace wondered why Jianyuan had mentioned Ji Jue and laughed at the thought that trouble had found him again.
• Major General Minkler hugged Ji Jue's thigh in public and tearfully begged him to save him.

Ji Jue refused to help Minkler seize power in the Seven Cities, but changed his mind when he learned Minkler feared the coming Harmful Wind Season and promised to protect him from its dangers. Minkler was left bewildered by Ji Jue’s sudden offer.

• Minkler told Ji Jue that his father had died and the Seven Cities’ alliance master had also passed away, leaving Minkler’s family and position in danger.
• Ji Jue offered Minkler weapons, Great Swarm Knights, and help from the Dragon Bone Fleet, but Minkler rejected each option as too risky.
• Minkler asked Ji Jue to persuade the Federation or Haizhou to support his claim to power, but Ji Jue refused to interfere in the Seven Cities’ affairs.
• Minkler explained that the approaching Harmful Wind Season could unleash disaster beasts and leave him blamed for the losses as naval commander.
• Ji Jue realized he could protect Minkler from the season’s dangers and promised to keep him safe, leaving Minkler confused.

Ji Jue and Isis used the Method of Quantity Reduction and Quality Enhancement to forge Juque from Dragon Bone in the Melting furnace, pushing their control past its limits. The furnace exploded, but Juque emerged as a crimson, gravity-manipulating Giant Beast; it silently reproached Ji Jue for forgetting its loudspeaker.

• Ji Jue celebrated Isis’s transformed Dust Haze System, whose mechanical cats could integrate into Blessed Creations such as a giant tunnel-boring machine.
• Ji Jue approved the Juque Engineering blueprints and ordered Isis to begin forging Juque from Dragon Bone in the Melting furnace.
• Ji Jue and Isis drove the forging process through extreme spirit essence control, triggering repeated explosions as the Dragon Bone’s structure broke down and changed.
• The Melting furnace exploded, devastating the volcano while Isis’s design protected Puna Bantu’s factory district from most of the blast.
• Juque rose above the volcano, surrounded by orbiting debris and wielding gravity, and Ji Jue greeted it.
• Juque silently accused Ji Jue of forgetting to give it a loudspeaker.

Ji Jue and Minkler sailed toward Seven Cities aboard the rusted Prosperity, whose apparent ruin concealed extraordinary speed and a hungry Juque Dragon Bone. After Ji Jue revealed that he had leaked Minkler’s route to draw out their pursuers, he forced Minkler to explain why so many people wanted him dead, and Minkler finally agreed to talk.

• Minkler protested the decrepit ship, battered furnaces, and lack of proper weapons, while Ji Jue insisted they depart aboard the Prosperity.
• The ship’s whistle began loudly cursing Minkler, and Ji Jue explained that the Juque Dragon Bone was consuming nearby materials and making the vessel seem ruined.
• After the Prosperity raced into the high seas, Ji Jue identified a suspicious fishing boat as a likely threat and recognized the approaching sea fog as cover for an attack.
• Ji Jue admitted he had leaked Minkler’s route and showed him that the Wild Bazaar had repeatedly sold information about him.
• Ji Jue demanded to know why so many groups were targeting Minkler, and, after a blade stopped at his forehead, Minkler agreed to tell him everything.

Minkler revealed that the Minkler Family God had recognized him as the next family head, but he explained that his father had only made him a disposable decoy. He begged Ji Jue to protect him as attackers summoned vengeful spirits aboard the Prosperity, leaving Ji Jue poised to confront the curse.

• Minkler showed Ji Jue the glowing ring that marked him as the Family God's chosen successor and explained that his father had made him a sacrificial target.
• Minkler told Ji Jue how he had fled his family and pleaded for protection, offering him anything in return for keeping him alive.
• Ji Jue spotted figures in the fog and asked why their attackers were neither advancing nor retreating, just as an explosion erupted.
• A Chosen One recognized Ji Jue through a water mirror, but the old woman beside her ordered the attack to continue.
• The old woman played a bone flute, summoning rotting spirits that swarmed the Prosperity and went after Minkler, while Ji Jue could not see them.

Ji Jue and Minkler fought off assassins sent by the Chopra Family, while Minkler learned that his family had used his deceased loved one in a bloodline curse. After Ji Jue defeated the remaining attacker, Minkler said he could not return home, and Ji Jue asked why he wanted to go home.

• Ji Jue used Pan Ying’s Spirit Essence to drive Minkler into a frenzy, and together they fought the attackers emerging from the fog.
• Ji Jue caught and killed an ambushing dwarf, while a bloodline curse struck Minkler and revealed that the assassins had used his umbilical cord blood and a close relative’s ashes.
• Minkler’s Spirit Essence Sword and Blazing Light destroyed the curse and killed the Ether and the old woman’s accomplice; Ji Jue shot the old woman through the water mirror.
• The Chosen One of Entropy and Waste Ruins unleashed his Realm of Encirclement, but Ji Jue’s airborne Prosperity endured the attack and drove him to flee.
• Ji Jue struck down the fleeing Chosen One, and the Prosperity devoured him before spitting out his head; Minkler identified him as Mintarecha, a subordinate of his sixth sister.
• Minkler told Ji Jue he could not go home even if he returned to Elephant Isle, and Ji Jue asked why he wanted to go home.

Ji Jue pushed Minkler to abandon thoughts of escape and reclaim control of his fleet, then brought him back to Elephant Isle. As Minkler’s ship reached the dock, Butler Xu’s attempt to bring him home ended in a cannon attack.

• Minkler accepted that he had no safe way out, gathered the vengeful spirit’s ashes, and agreed to seek revenge with Ji Jue’s help.
• Ji Jue gave Minkler a box for the ashes, and Minkler put on the ring recognizing him as the Chopra heir.
• Minkler called his fleet contacts and found that fewer than one-third were truly loyal, while the rest remained undecided.
• Boggio learned Minkler was returning and sent Butler Xu to intercept him, ordering that he be treated as missing until the family’s conflict was settled.
• Butler Xu waited at a cleared dock while Minkler sent misleading arrival messages, then prepared to leave after the assistant was killed.
• Minkler’s ship arrived, and he ordered its 381mm main cannon to fire at Butler Xu’s party.

Minkler returned to the Allied Defense Fleet with Ji Jue and seized control of the corrupt, disorganized base through a violent purge. With the Patriarch's Token establishing his authority, Minkler mobilized the fleet to suppress the bandits.

• Minkler and Ji Jue arrived at the Ya Men Islands and found the Allied Defense Fleet's base neglected, with guards absent and equipment and supplies misused.
• Minkler reunited with his veterans, learned Hilemi was dead, and put the group under Ji Jue's command as Ji Jue distributed weapons and gear.
• Minkler called an emergency meeting while Ji Jue cut off outside communications and prepared armed forces to take control of the base.
• Minkler killed officers who resisted and used the Patriarch's Token to silence the logistics Supervisor and establish his authority over the assembled commanders.
• Within fifteen minutes, the Allied Defense Fleet was prepared for deployment to suppress the bandits.

Minkler used the Allied Defense Fleet to devastate Elephant Isle, kill Butler Xu, and seize the fleet’s loyalty before turning toward Luocheng. The chapter left Minkler leading an attack on the Soekarno Family’s elite soldiers under the pretext of suppressing pirates.

• Minkler ordered the fleet to bombard Elephant Isle, and Butler Xu was fatally wounded before Ji Jue recovered his soul and consciousness.
• Ji Jue destroyed the Chopra Family’s golden clock tower, awakening the family god, but Minkler’s family-head ring confused it into returning to the island.
• Minkler secured the fleet’s loyalty by reminding its officers and soldiers that they would face the Chopra Family’s retaliation if they failed together.
• Minkler chose Luocheng as the fleet’s next target and promised the crew all spoils from the battle.
• The fleet announced that it had found wanted pirates and charged toward the Soekarno Family’s elite private soldiers.

Renut’s fleet intercepted a smuggling ship, but the battered cargo vessel revealed itself as a monster that swallowed an escort ship whole. As Renut’s flagship, the Ivory, came under a long-range attack from the Seven Cities Allied Defense, he realized his fleet was facing an enemy assault.

• Renut dismissed complaints about losses among the people he had captured and continued his violent golf game aboard the Ivory.
• Renut ordered his fleet to stop a smuggling ship that invoked Ling Liu’s name, then had its crew attacked and the vessel disabled.
• The cargo ship opened a steel maw and swallowed one of Renut’s escort ships before spitting out smoke and fragments.
• Minkler ordered the Seven Cities Allied Defense to fire, and an alchemical shell struck the Ivory through its barrier.
• Renut shouted that the Ivory was under enemy attack.

Seven Cities Allied Defense ambushed Renut's Venom Fleet with Ji Jue's aid, but Renut unleashed the Curtain and Sacrificial Aunt to disrupt their attack. Minkler rallied the fleet with the Mycelium's blessing, while Ji Jue recognized the enemy's weapons as specialized creations for naval warfare.

• After Ji Jue signaled, Seven Cities Allied Defense emerged from radio silence and hit Renut's fleet with extraordinarily accurate long-range cannon fire.
• A sailor accidentally broadcast a routine inspection warning, revealing Seven Cities Allied Defense's identity and provoking Renut's forces.
• Renut ordered the Curtain and Sacrificial Aunt released, and thick fog spread across the sea, weakening the Allied Defense Fleet's weapons and obstructing movement.
• Minkler ordered the fleet forward under suppressive fire, while the sight of the Curtain and Sacrificial Aunt plunged the sailors into panic.
• Minkler's trusted men used their wristwatches to spread Blood Flame, and the Mycelium's blessing turned fear into renewed fighting spirit across the fleet.
• Ji Jue recognized the Curtain and Sacrificial Aunt as specialized Sin Corruption Disordered Objects designed to disrupt naval firepower and movement.

Ji Jue took control of the curtain and its mutated Tower's Shadow while the Prosperity devoured the Venom Fleet's ships and Sacrificial Aunt. After repairing the curtain, he tested its power on a pirate aboard the Venom Fleet, leaving Hanafia transformed and terrifying his companion.

• The Prosperity halted the Venom Fleet's attack, revealing itself to be empty, while Sacrificial Aunt turned on the fleet's sailors and Renut's weapons systems failed.
• The Prosperity swallowed an escort ship, then used Storm Inhalation to consume Sacrificial Aunt's hair, causing the witches who controlled it to wither.
• Ji Jue used Solid Alchemy to gather the curtain, seized the usurper's Spirit Contract, and took control of the mutated Tower's Shadow.
• Ji Jue cleansed and repaired the curtain, then extended his senses across the sea and tested its power on Hanafia.
• Hanafia convulsed, changed into a metallic-boned monster, and turned toward his frightened companion with a smile.

Ji Jue’s altered curtain turned the Venom Fleet’s crew into mechanical monsters, plunging the fleet into chaos as Renut sacrificed his forces and fought Prosperity. Renut’s attack was turned back, and he awoke aboard Ivory in the Artisan’s infirmary, where he was selected for experimentation.

• Hanafia mutated and attacked a crewmate, and the transformation spread through the Venom Fleet as the infected became metal-framed monsters.
• Second Mate Shamska fled the Pine, while Renut watched the contagion and communications failures overwhelm the fleet.
• Renut sacrificed contracted crew to the Sacrificial Master Devouring Life, transforming the fleet and driving Ivory into pursuit of Prosperity.
• Renut unleashed the Blood Bone Sword against Prosperity, but Juque Dragon Bone returned his attack and silver strands bound him to the cargo ship.
• Prosperity struck Ivory and defeated Renut, who later wandered through the ship’s labyrinthine corridors before being captured by its Living Corpses.
• The Artisan examined Renut in the infirmary, classified him as a valuable specimen, and began discussing experiments on converting living bodies into materials.

Minkler’s victory over the Venom Fleet made him a celebrated rising general and threw the Seven Cities into political turmoil. The council meeting ended without agreement, and Minkler’s family arrived at the fleet base to demand an explanation.

• The news of Minkler’s destruction of the Venom Fleet spread across the Eastern Sea, and reporters and soldiers praised him as a brilliant commander.
• At the Seven Cities Council meeting, the families praised Minkler’s victory while Madik denied that the Chopra Family had supported his actions.
• Bomasan and the other representatives suspected the Chopra Family had backed Minkler and used the attack to strike at the Soekarno Family.
• Fernan failed to persuade the representatives to prioritize the greater good, and the council meeting ended without agreement.
• Representatives from Xi City and Ma City discussed Pu City’s waning influence as the Soekarno Family’s vehicle drove away.
• At the Ya Men Islands garrison, Minkler celebrated the fleet’s victory until his family arrived to demand an explanation.

After Minkler defied the Chopra Family, Boggio offered him supplies and Holy Oil while secretly planning to use him to buy time for the family. Minkler saw through Boggio’s intentions, and a massive explosion struck the sea where the family members had departed.

• Minkler confronted the Chopra elders and Madik, insisting that he had defended the family’s honor and daring them to expel him.
• Minkler secured Sixth Sister’s and Boggio’s public support, and Boggio gave him weapons, supplies, Hydra Matrices, and a dose of Holy Oil.
• After leaving, Boggio told Madik he intended to launch the Family God Selection early and use Minkler to absorb the Soekarno Family’s retaliation while the Chopra Family regrouped.
• Minkler told Ji Jue that Boggio planned to betray him once the family was consolidated, then said he had already sold out sooner.
• A thunderous explosion erupted over the sea where the departing family members were traveling.

The Soekarno Family retaliated against the Chopra Family after a video exposed its crimes, forcing Boggio and the other Chopra descendants to flee as the Bloodstained Holy Mother turned toward the Seven Cities Allied Defense fleet base. Ji Jue left the approaching creature to Lou Feng, who unleashed a crystal pillar that pierced it through the head.

• The Bloodstained Holy Mother struck Boggio’s yacht with lightning, and Boggio used Reality Revision to erase the attack at the cost of destroying his ring.
• The Seven Cities Allied Defense Fleet released a video of Renut’s execution, in which Renut confessed to crimes committed for the Soekarno Family, and the video made the Chopra Family’s declaration of war public.
• Boggio tried to deny the Chopra Family’s responsibility, but the Bloodstained Holy Mother crushed his yacht and killed his subordinates; the family god then carried Boggio and the other descendants away.
• The Bloodstained Holy Mother turned toward the Seven Cities Allied Defense fleet base, while Ji Jue and Minkler watched and discussed the Chopra Family’s Hydra Matrix.
• Ji Jue called on Lou Feng to handle the Bloodstained Holy Mother, and Lou Feng answered with a crystal pillar that pierced the creature’s central face and head.

Lou Feng used his Secret Rites and Spirit Essence Shaping to trap the Bloodstained Holy Mother and withstand its attacks while Ji Jue protected the base’s survivors. The creature broke through the crystalline cage and flooded the base, then emerged in a smaller, more dangerous form as an illusory infant cried from its swaddling cloth.

• Lou Feng activated the spirit crystals beneath the base, impaling the Bloodstained Holy Mother and pinning it in place.
• The Bloodstained Holy Mother unleashed lightning against the base, but Lou Feng’s Dragon Scale Armor blocked the strikes, and he blasted half of its middle head away.
• Lou Feng transformed the crystalline sword into a cage that sealed the base, while observers from the Seven Cities and Five Families debated whether the Lou Family would intervene.
• The Bloodstained Holy Mother’s reflected Abyssal Tidal Wave struck it, and it then disintegrated into a blood tide that corroded the cage and swept through the base.
• The blood tide found no living victims because Ji Jue maintained the sealed underground command center, and the Bloodstained Holy Mother re-formed as a smaller, more dangerous figure.
• An illusory infant’s cry sounded from the bundle in the Bloodstained Holy Mother’s arms.

Lou Feng used the Giant Tree and his Embers Lineage resources to unleash the Star of Bethlehem, devastating the base and breaking apart the Bloodstained Holy Mother. The creature revealed a half-human, half-fish infant that invoked the Abyss Lord, but Ji Jue unexpectedly reached out and covered its face.

• The Bloodstained Holy Mother’s crying attack struck at Lou Feng’s spirit, but Lou Feng activated the Giant Tree and used Mirroring—Star of Bethlehem to bombard the base with lightning and fire.
• Lou Feng’s attack overwhelmed the Bloodstained Holy Mother, while its controller suffered the backlash of controlling the evil thing.
• The damaged Bloodstained Holy Mother shed its stitched-together form, revealing a scaled monster and a half-human, half-fish infant.
• The infant’s appearance unleashed darkness and caused Lou Feng to hear the name Abyss Lord as its power took hold of the arena.
• Ji Jue reached out and covered the infant’s face, stunning it and drawing shocked cries from the spectators.

Ji Jue and Lou Feng destroyed the Usurper’s manifested offspring, cut its connection to the deep sea, and harvested the remains while observers watched. After the battle, Ji Jue planned to take Minkler to Elephant Isle the next day and install him as family head.

• Ji Jue used Lou Feng’s flames and his own alchemy to suppress the aberrant infant and block the Usurper’s power from breaking through.
• The Usurper’s Abyss Lord tried to target Ji Jue, but Feiming Flame burned the black threads reaching toward his soul and damaged the strange book’s authority.
• Ji Jue forced the infant’s mouth open and unleashed a barrage of Scene Tremors, destroying it and sending the damage back through its connection to the Usurper.
• Ji Jue and Lou Feng severed the connection, finished off the creature, and harvested its remains as the Usurper watched helplessly.
• After Ji Jue ended the broadcast, he and Lou Feng discussed their next move, and Ji Jue proposed taking Minkler to Elephant Isle to assume the family head’s position.