Chapter Summaries

Ji Jue brought his Chengying trial model to Ye Xian for feedback and asked about his Nine Forms studies. After discussing his progress, he noticed that Ye Xian’s work on Gan Jiang and Mo Xie had been made possible by an enhancement to Heavenly Mandate, which she confirmed.

• Ji Jue showed Ye Xian his Chengying trial model, and she judged it not bad for his current level while pointing out its many flaws.
• Ye Xian said Ji Jue could begin studying Gong Bu and Tai'a because his grasp of the Nine Forms was sufficient for Scene Tremor.
• Ye Xian warned Ji Jue not to pursue perfection in every field and cited Jianyuan as a cautionary example.
• Ji Jue asked whether Ye Xian’s ability to simplify the principles behind Gan Jiang and Mo Xie was related to an enhancement of Heavenly Mandate.
• Ye Xian confirmed Ji Jue’s suspicion.

Ye Xian explained that Ji Jue had been chosen by the Path of Revolution and warned him that Heavenly Mandate was a road people chose, not a force that owned them. Ji Jue accepted the path without hesitation, and after leaving Ye Xian’s study, he returned to his routine and planned his next big undertaking.

• Ye Xian demonstrated the Path of Sublimation and explained how its Heavenly Mandate optimized creations by revealing their ideal forms.
• Ye Xian told Ji Jue that Revolution had chosen him, explained its broad empowerment and dangerous demands, and warned that its Edge of Transformation would prevent him from pursuing another Heavenly Mandate.
• Ji Jue wondered whether Revolution had caused his many troubles, but Ye Xian said people—not Heavenly Mandates—were responsible for the paths they walked and the deeds they created.
• When Ye Xian asked whether he would give up everything for Revolution, Ji Jue answered without hesitation, and Ye Xian recalled her teacher’s warning not to treat Heavenly Mandate as something sacred.
• Ji Jue left Ye Xian alone with her memories, met the rice bug in the parking lot, and shared a large meal before returning to his routine and planning to advance the Nine Forms and study Scene Tremor.

Coast’s products and Sirius rapidly expanded across the Federation and beyond, while the Paradise System’s hidden developer features spread through Settlements. As demand strained the system’s Celestial Spirit foundation, Ji Jue considered how to obtain another Celestial Being to support it.

• Coast’s membership network and Sirius’s launch drove sales and helped Coast dominate competitors in the Federation and other regions.
• Sirius and the Paradise System optimized businesses and industrial operations, while cracked versions spread among Garbage Collectors and Settlements.
• Isis warned Ji Jue that rising demand could push the Paradise System to its computational limit within months and urged him to upgrade it.
• Ji Jue realized the system needed more Celestial Spirit capacity and considered capturing a Celestial Being, but the potential candidates were difficult or distasteful to target.
• Ji Jue regretted having made things too thorough after concluding that the obvious candidates were hard to lure out.

Ji Jue investigated signs of a possible Federation- Empire conflict while expanding his covert intelligence-gathering network through commercial goods. The chapter ended with Security Bureau operative An Ran arriving in Nine Mountains Town on a special assignment.

• Ji Jue ordered long-term monitoring of Han Hui, Xu Youquan, and their related factions, then considered what the Leviathan Base debate might signal about a possible war with the Empire.
• Ji Jue learned that the Bedrock City-State Alliance was discussing a ninety-year lease of a large island to the Empire's Lightstone Energy and told Isis to keep monitoring the situation.
• Ji Jue ordered the Paradise System to prepare additional batches of bait and increase their quantity, prompting production changes and a broad distribution of goods.
• Ji Jue's network began tracking spiritual traces left by Great Evils and Secret Rites across regions served by Courier Logistics, with support from the Tong Family.
• An Ran arrived in Nine Mountains Town as a Security Bureau special operation member and entered a fast-food restaurant near Rongxin Mining's warehouse.

Tong Hua warned Li Yuqing that the warehouse hideout might contain an orthodox Evil Transformation Cult inheritance, but the operation began only after the cult detected the agents and triggered mass madness. The strike uncovered a powerful Original Vow sanctuary that trapped the team in illusions, until Tong Hua’s lightning records began burning through the darkness; she said reinforcements were plentiful.

• Tong Hua warned Li Yuqing that Spiritual Substance traces suggested a Great Evil sacrifice and a possible Class A contamination zone, so Li Yuqing suspended the operation and called for reinforcements.
• An Ran sensed the agents had been noticed, and the town’s residents and undercover agents began screaming and attacking one another as he reported an Unending presence and more than eleven Fiendified Ones.
• Li Yuqing froze Seven Mountains Town, severed the controller’s hold over the maddened residents, and sent three teams to assault the warehouse district.
• Zhou Richang charged into the sanctuary and slaughtered what he believed were cultists, then realized he had been trapped in an illusion and had attacked his own teammates.
• The Original Vow’s darkness and illusions overwhelmed the warehouse compound, but Tong Hua’s lightning records ignited the darkness and helped the trapped agents regain their senses.
• Tong Hua told Li Yuqing her records were exhausted, then said there were as many reinforcements as he wanted.

An Ran and the Security Bureau fought the High Priest and an Unending Sin Demon during a Secret Rite, while a mysterious figure intervened. The Sin Demon escaped through a strange fissure, and the Kunwu guardian witnessed Superior Virtue bless the wounded An Ran.

• Tong Hua ordered An Ran to unleash the mechanical beasts hidden in the coal trucks, and they overwhelmed the wax demons and worshippers around the warehouse.
• An Ran followed the pack's spiritual link to the High Priest and attacked with Shenren Chang, while Zhou Richang restrained an Unending Fiendified One and an ascended Chosen One used [Halt].
• A blurred figure disrupted An Ran's sword energy and shattered Li Yuqing's Celestial Origin seal, but An Ran's Lihen pierced and killed the High Priest.
• The Kunwu guardian froze the Security Bureau members and smashed the Unending Sin Demon with a massive fist, but the demon escaped with the sacrificial offerings through a concealed fissure.
• The Kunwu guardian exposed the fissure's traces, then watched Superior Virtue descend and bless the wounded An Ran.

Beiling argued with Residual Worm, which consumed the Kunwu branch’s sacrifices and demanded better offerings as the Evil Transformation Cult stirred up chaos across the Federation. Ji Jue distributed leads to the Security Bureau and his contacts, but the chapter ended with a Level One Alert: Old Third and Youngest had gone missing.

• Beiling confronted Residual Worm over its delay, the destruction of the Kunwu branch, and its demand for more sacrifices.
• Ji Jue gave Tong Hua sixteen Evil Transformation Cult leads and sent additional leads to Tong Shan and Lou Yanyue.
• Ji Jue’s alert network uncovered repeated Evil Transformation Cult disturbances in Kunwu, Huangzhou, and elsewhere, prompting the Security Bureau and Central City to respond.
• Ji Jue received a Level One Alert stating that targets A006 and A007 had gone missing, and recognized them as Old Third and Youngest.

Lu Cai and Lu Xing entered a fog-bound anomaly after finding a warehouse full of melted victims, and Lu Xing vanished while protecting his sister. Ji Jue traced the incident to an unregistered, out-of-control station and set out to pursue it within the two-hour window.

• Lu Cai and Lu Xing went to confront Shao Yucheng’s group, but Lu Xing sensed that everyone in the warehouse had melted and that a Black Shadow was consuming them.
• Lu Xing led Lu Cai through mist that distorted the alleys, then stopped her from walking into a hidden threat as a man approached and taunted them about Lu Xing’s primal stone potential.
• Lu Cai attacked the man with a stun baton and a gun loaded with a hidden explosive round, destroying him with Blood Flame, but Lu Xing pushed her away and was swallowed by the mist.
• Lu Cai reappeared at home and told her mother that Youngest was gone, while Ji Jue and Tong Ting used a map and tortoise-shell divination to trace the incident back to the warehouse.
• Ji Jue reconstructed the past, discovered that Lu Xing had awakened as the Eternal Gate, and learned that Veiled Taint had corrupted the trail before the tortoise shell broke.
• Ji Jue identified an unregistered, out-of-control station through the Doomsday Train’s warning system and began pursuing it, with two hours remaining to find Lu Xing.

Ji Jue infiltrated a blood-soaked train carriage and slaughtered the Original Vow cultists and Fiendified Ones inside. He learned the train was carrying sacrificial materials toward a station and discovered that its engine was made of twisted flesh.

• Ji Jue disguised himself in a black robe and golden mask, then used the Myriad Manifestations Engine to infiltrate the shifting coordinates.
• Ji Jue killed the Human-faced Serpents and a gray-robed Original Vow cultist in the first carriage.
• Ji Jue burned the crying statues, killed the cultists processing them, and confronted the Assistant Priest.
• Ji Jue questioned the Assistant Priest, who revealed that the train was headed for a station as part of the Holy Lords' plan.
• Ji Jue reached the front of the train and found that its engine and power source consisted of twisting strands of flesh.

Ji Jue arrived at the abnormal Ruyue Station and destroyed its multiplying curses with a knockoff of the One Foot Rod. He confronted the Evil Transformation Cult's High Priest and revealed a Deepdark Token, leaving the gathered figures frozen in shock.

• Ji Jue recognized the station's engine as crude Deepdark technology and arrived at Ruyue Station, where the train's curses tried to ensnare him.
• Ji Jue ignored the curses and burned away the head, corpse, and hostile spirits left behind by the train.
• Plastic mannequins multiplied around Ji Jue and drained his Spiritual Substance and lifespan, so he used the One Foot Rod to shred them and the surrounding fog.
• Ji Jue demanded that the Evil Transformation Cult's High Priest appear, and the fog parted to reveal a strange city and an emaciated four-eyed High Priest.
• Ji Jue tossed a coin before the High Priest, revealing a Deepdark Token that froze the surrounding figures in shock.

Ji Jue posed as a Deepdark envoy to confront the Myriad Spirits Society and stalled while his system traced a signal inside their hidden station. He reached the sect’s ritual hall, where the priests tried to seat him at the center of their rite, and demanded to know where Jianyuan’s people were.

• Ji Jue claimed to be Anvil Elder’s direct disciple and accused the Myriad Spirits Society of having its subordinates attack a Deepdark envoy.
• Motu and the other priests invited Ji Jue inside after he demanded that someone with authority speak to him.
• Ji Jue let Motu lead him through the station’s shifting maze while his system analyzed the coordinates and traced a relay signal.
• Motu brought Ji Jue to the station’s core, where hundreds of believers had prepared a Secret Rite before a statue of the Great Evil.
• Motu seated Ji Jue in the ritual’s offering position, but Ji Jue ignored the trap and demanded to know where Jianyuan’s people were.

Ji Jue accused the Myriad Spirits Society's High Priests of stealing Deepdark technology and demanded payment to Anvil Elder, then launched a sudden attack. As he overwhelmed the High Priests, the Society's Secret Rite activated and an Abomination descended, leaving the surviving attackers confused about who had summoned it.

• Ji Jue confronted the three High Priests with the flesh-and-blood engine and accused them of using Deepdark technology without Anvil Elder's authorization.
• Ji Jue demanded that the Society pay Anvil Elder his due, and the High Priests said they could not decide until Holy Lord Beiling returned.
• Ji Jue unleashed Purple Electric Black Flame on the youthful High Priest, then attacked Motu and the old woman with thunder, fire, and chaotic flame.
• The old woman was consumed by the chaotic flame, while the youthful High Priest and Motu suffered severe damage to their mind bodies.
• The surviving High Priests gathered their power as the long-prepared Secret Rite activated, the Vortex resounded, and an Abomination descended.
• The attackers exchanged bewildered glances because each had assumed the other had activated the Secret Rite.

Ji Jue altered the Secret Rite to summon the Turning Wheel Saint King, then used its power to battle the Original Vow Lineage and reach Lu Xing before the ritual could transform him into a subordinate of Shadow Sun. After rescuing Lu Xing and connecting the Sky Rail route, Ji Jue commanded the Saint King to blow itself up.

• Ji Jue secretly rewrote the Secret Rite, making himself its offering and summoning the Turning Wheel Saint King instead of the intended Abominations.
• The Turning Wheel Saint King overwhelmed High Priest Ji Jue with revelations, absorbed him, and followed Ji Jue's commands to attack Motu and the station's believers.
• Motu and the other High Priests returned through Unending's power, while the Saint King's attacks and Black Flame spread destruction across the station.
• Ji Jue slipped away from the battle, followed the Sky Rail's signal, and broke into the Secret Rite where Lu Xing was being prepared as a subordinate of Shadow Sun.
• Ji Jue interrupted the ritual, sealed Lu Xing with Spiritual Substance shackles, and carried him away as the Sky Rail connected its route.
• Ji Jue faced the battling Turning Wheel Saint King and used the True Word on his hand to command it to blow itself up.

Ji Jue escaped the collapsing station with Youngest, but the Residual Difference trapped him in a time-warping maze and began reversing his powers. A mysterious black doglike savior rescued him, though Ji Jue mistook it for CEO before realizing it was a Doberman.

• The Turning Wheel Saint King resisted Ji Jue’s command, triggering the hidden contract with the Tower of the Great Fiend and forcing the Abomination to self-destruct.
• The explosion erased the station, and Ji Jue fled onto the Doomsday Train transport with Youngest before the station reversed time and swallowed him.
• The Residual Difference appeared in a yellow maze and demanded Youngest, whom it called the Primordial Stone, while reversing Ji Jue’s time and draining his powers.
• Ji Jue used his Realm of Encirclement to protect Youngest as the Worm closed in, then spotted a shadow approaching through the maze.
• A mysterious savior tore through the maze and devoured the Worm, and Ji Jue mistook the black Doberman for CEO before it bit him.

Ji Jue and Doberman joined forces with an Eternal Gate Celestial Being and countless Chosen Ones to restrain and destroy the Worm before it could seize Youngest. With the station wreckage sealed and the evacuation route restored, Ji Jue contacted Lu Ma and decided he might have to take a job.

• Doberman attacked the Worm across multiple points in time, while Ji Jue realized its scrambled selves were dropping frames and that Youngest was its true target.
• The Worm split into a third body and nearly reached Youngest, but an Illusory Light Sash appeared and stopped it at the last moment.
• The sash and Doberman restrained the Worm as the Star Core Association's Chosen Ones sealed the station and stripped away the Worm's twisted restoration.
• The Worm's three bodies detonated inside the barrier, and the Celestial Being gathered its severed limbs before thanking Doberman for guiding the rescuers.
• The Doomsday Train reconnected its route, and Ji Jue told the Workshop Spirit to inform Lu Ma that Youngest was safe and to clear his emergency schedule.
• Ji Jue stopped trying to evade Doberman's unspoken expectation and concluded that he might have to go get a job.

Ji Jue woke at Sky Rail Central Dispatch Center after the lamplighter explained that he and Lu Xing had been rescued and treated. As Lu Xing recovered and Ji Jue met Sky Rail’s dog staff, Doberman escorted him to meet the CEO.

• Ji Jue woke after three minutes of treatment, learned that Lu Xing was safe but needed further care, and was told his delayed job interview awaited him.
• Ji Jue entered the Arrival Hall at Sky Rail Central Dispatch Center and found Lu Xing healed, newly awakened as a Chosen One, and happily surrounded by dogs.
• Ji Jue questioned the St. Bernard chief physician, who summoned Doberman through a door of shadow after Doberman returned from rescuing them.
• Doberman introduced himself as the Defense and Security Department Minister, rejected Ji Jue’s attempt to befriend him, and told him to follow to the CEO.
• A tool-laden Corgi invited Ji Jue to pet it in the elevator, but Doberman bared his teeth at him.

Ji Jue visited the CEO and received the Blessing [Anchor] after the CEO arranged for the lamp-bearer to reveal the Eternal Gate to him. As he prepared to leave, Ji Jue asked the CEO for an internship so he could keep working with the dogs.

• Ji Jue toured the bustling dispatch room, met its dog employees, and reunited with the CEO in the office.
• The CEO used an oil painting to summon the lamp-bearer, who exposed Ji Jue to the Eternal Gate and its manifestation as the sun.
• Ji Jue gained the Blessing [Anchor], which gave him a stable reference point in time, and returned to his body after only a second had passed.
• Doberman led Ji Jue back to the platform, where Lu Xing showed him a locomotive gift and asked if he could visit again.
• Ji Jue said farewell to the dogs, then asked the CEO for an internship so he could keep working there.

Ji Jue completed his onboarding with the Lamplighter, who explained that he dispatched time and that Sky Rail Group now upheld the Established Law. The Lamplighter showed Ji Jue the imprisoned Shadow Sun and revealed that Sky Rail had been only a tool in the seal, whose true form was the Eternal Gate.

• Ji Jue challenged the Lamplighter over the shabby onboarding process and learned that the Lamplighter was a Dispatcher responsible for keeping time continuous.
• The Lamplighter explained that Sky Rail Group’s remaining purpose was to preserve the Established Law after its role in creating the Shadow Sun seal had ended.
• The Lamplighter led Ji Jue into the Central Dispatch Control Room, where Ji Jue petted the teacup dogs before the Lamplighter revealed the Shadow Sun’s projection.
• Ji Jue nearly succumbed to visions of past and future, but his Anchor stabilized him and let him recognize the Shadow Sun.
• The Lamplighter explained that Sky Rail had served as a mere tool and sacrifice in the sealing plan, then revealed the star paths forming the Eternal Gate.

Ji Jue learned that Sky Rail had created the Established Law by using itself as an anchor to make the Eternal Gate and Shadow Sun seal each other across time. The dispatcher explained that the law both constrained Sky Rail and selected temporary workers to handle its loopholes, then sent Ji Jue to work.

• Ji Jue examined the Seal of Shadow Sun and asked the dispatcher to explain the Established Law.
• The dispatcher revealed that Sky Rail had sacrificed itself as an anchor, making the seal an irreversible outcome that linked past, present, and future.
• Ji Jue realized Sky Rail had provoked a clash between Superior Virtue and Great Evil and used Shadow Sun's chaos to establish the seal through reversed causality.
• The dispatcher admitted that the Established Law was limited to Sky Rail and required ongoing maintenance, which was the duty of temporary workers.
• The dispatcher said the Established Law had selected Ji Jue to answer unforeseen incidents, then told him to get to work.

Ji Jue learned that forged stations threatened the Central Dispatch Center and was assigned a dog-like partner and cleaning tools as a temporary worker. The elevator opened onto the Border Purgatory Level as darkness surged toward them.

• Dispatcher Buabu explained that Established Law had recruited Ji Jue to stop worms forging stations and infiltrating the Central Dispatch Center.
• Ji Jue connected the scheme to the Original Vow Lineage and the Foul Corruption Demon, then asked when and where he should kill the conspirators.
• Dispatcher Buabu introduced a foul-mouthed dog-like creature as Ji Jue's required partner, and Ji Jue taped its mouth shut.
• Dispatcher Buabu gave Ji Jue a rag, mop, broom, bucket, and dustpan, assigning him the cleaning work.
• The elevator reached the Border Purgatory Level, where the dog began howling and darkness rolled in.