Chapter Summaries

Professor Ye identified Ji Jue’s Miraculous Hands Blessing and recognized how it could power Non-Aggression, then tested his new combat technique. Ji Jue unleashed a dangerous enhancement that let him overwhelm her briefly, but Ye Xian dismantled his Spirit Essence Circuits and prepared a decisive counterattack.

• Ji Jue inferred that Mo Xie's Matrix ability isolated or repelled substances, and Professor Ye confirmed his analysis before throwing him to the ground.
• Professor Ye guessed that Ji Jue’s Blessing was Miraculous Hands and explained how it strengthened his Artisan abilities when combined with Non-Aggression.
• Ye Xian considered the ideal Blessings for Ji Jue and worried that he might draw her back into supporting the Mohists.
• Ji Jue activated a network of Spirit Essence Circuits and emblems, surged forward with extraordinary speed, and launched a series of attacks that forced Ye Xian to take him seriously.
• Ye Xian shattered the emblems and circuits on Ji Jue’s arms and stopped his attacks, then began a Sun Character Thrust Punch.

Ji Jue tested a dangerous self-alchemy technique and Professor Ye rescued him, then assigned him more Spirit Essence Offense and Defense training. After reviewing his design for a powered frame to help a friend with a disabled right leg, she approved it and let him begin building it in the furnace.

• Ji Jue overloaded his body with a self-alchemy technique that pushed him into the Metamorphosis rank, and Professor Ye defeated him and shattered his Heavenly Origin Insignia.
• Professor Ye used a punch to harmonize Ji Jue’s failing organs and gave him medicine, then warned him that his technique could kill him.
• Professor Ye ordered Ji Jue to add two daily class periods in Spirit Essence Offense and Defense until he could control Non-Aggression.
• Ji Jue showed Professor Ye his lightweight powered-frame design, and she revised it into a practical blueprint for a friend whose right leg was impaired.
• Professor Ye let Ji Jue use the furnace and gather materials to make his first independent Alchemy Creation.

Ji Jue returned to find Tong Hua attempting to challenge him but immediately surrendering, while Wen Wen confronted him over Little An’s absurd Rift World report. After Wen Wen warned Ji Jue to keep quiet about what happened and produce a usable report, he brought two large boxes to divide the money.

• Tong Hua waited for Ji Jue, then greeted him by loudly welcoming him and asking him to sit as soon as he arrived.
• Wen Wen showed Ji Jue Little An’s report, which portrayed Ji Jue as the source of nearly every claim, and ordered him to write a proper version.
• Wen Wen told Ji Jue that White Owl and Formless had disappeared during the Rift World incident, White Owl had later killed a prince in the Empire, and the Haizhou Security Bureau was under scrutiny.
• Ji Jue denied knowing anything, and Wen Wen approved his silence, advising him not to acknowledge anything he had not seen.
• Ji Jue set two large boxes on the table so they could divide the money.

After the dungeon expedition, Ji Jue divided the easily valued loot among the group and gave the rest to Wen Wen to manage. He then presented Little An with custom alchemical prosthetics that let him walk and left Ji Jue newly eager to learn alchemy.

• Tong Hua examined an antique clock with her Yesterday Once More Matrix and suffered painful, garbled visions.
• Little An accepted his share of the loot and asked Wen Wen to store it for him.
• Ji Jue revealed a lightweight powered prosthetic he had made for Little An.
• Little An fitted the prosthetic and quickly learned to walk, run, and jump with it.
• Ji Jue gave Little An several more prosthetic designs to test, and Little An hugged him in thanks.
• Lao Zhang praised Ji Jue and offered to help if he ever faced trouble, while Ji Jue reflected on the joy of creating something through alchemy.

Ji Jue endured Ye Chun’s punishing lessons and learned how costly alchemy and Workshop work could be. After his plan to earn money by making prosthetic limbs fell apart, he returned to practicing Disintegration Art on a scrap sword.

• Ye Chun assigned Ji Jue a mountain of books and subjected him to relentless lessons, assessments, and practice.
• Ji Jue used the money from selling materials to pay off his and Lu Ling’s student loans, leaving him with more than seven hundred thousand in his account.
• Ji Jue received purified transmutation mercury and learned from Ye Chun how expensive alchemical materials and training could be.
• Ji Jue proposed opening a studio to make prosthetic limbs, but Ye Chun explained the regulations, costs, and time commitment that made the plan impractical.
• After Ye Chun sent him back to work, Ji Jue focused his Spiritual Substance and struck the scrap longsword with Disintegration Art.

Ji Jue practiced Disintegration Art on a Twisted Longsword until he succeeded for the second time, then struggled to control the technique’s extreme spirit essence shifts. He resumed attacking the sword in hopes of breaking through his stalled progress, ending with a new crack in the blade.

• Ji Jue failed repeatedly to use Disintegration Art on the Twisted Longsword but kept practicing and finally cracked it for the second time.
• Ji Jue practiced switching his spirit essence between extreme stillness and motion, but lost control and exhausted himself.
• Ji Jue recalled the complex principles behind Disintegration Art and realized how demanding its control requirements were, even with Non-Aggression and Miraculous Hands.
• Ji Jue became frustrated that Professor Ye had forbidden him from practicing on alchemical scrap and that his progress had stalled.
• Ji Jue attacked the Twisted Longsword again, roared for it to break, and made another crack appear.

Ji Jue absorbed the sword’s essence after destroying it with Disintegration Art, then joined Ye Chun at a concert hall to meet someone who might offer him work. He discovered that Chen Yu Bo, the man Ye Chun disliked being stared at by, treated her like a close girlfriend rather than a romantic interest.

• Ji Jue shattered his sword with repeated Disintegration Art impacts and absorbed the light released from it, making a small advance along the Path of Embers.
• Ye Chun woke Ji Jue and invited him to meet a potential employer, and he drove them to the concert hall at Bright Moon Plaza.
• Ji Jue and Ye Chun watched the Radiance Theater Troupe perform while they waited for Ye Chun’s contact to arrive.
• Chen Yu Bo arrived late, greeted Ji Jue warmly, and introduced himself as an import-export businessman.
• Chen Yu Bo sat beside Ye Chun and shared pet videos while chatting about cosmetics and television dramas, leading Ji Jue to realize he was her gay best friend.

Ji Jue agreed to help Chen Yu Bo win a mountain road race, expecting to use his ability to control Chen’s sports car. The plan faltered when the Kunpeng, furious at being neglected and driven slowly, refused to race and vowed to stall.

• Chen Yu Bo asked Ji Jue to help him beat an arrogant newcomer in a Lotus Mountain race, offering a fee of three hundred ten-thousands.
• Ji Jue learned Chen had almost no driving experience, then agreed to help him win by using his ability on the car.
• Ji Jue received a million-unit transfer from Chen overnight, and Lu Feng called about a new Kunpeng A7 Chen had brought to Continent Auto Repair Shop for maintenance.
• Ji Jue inspected the Kunpeng and discussed the rival’s racing background and the dangerous Lotus Mountain route with Chen.
• The Kunpeng angrily complained that Chen had left it unused for a year and a half, and refused to race for him.

Ji Jue placated Kunpeng and reinforced it for Chen Yu Bo’s race against Mu Jiang, then accompanied Chen to Lotus Mountain, where he sensed that Mu Jiang’s companion was also using Spiritual Substance. The chapter left Ji Jue and the woman in red silently warning each other not to interfere.

• Ji Jue persuaded the resentful Kunpeng to cooperate by promising regular races and a tune-up, then had Chen Yu Bo pray to the car so it would accept him as its driver.
• Kunpeng startled Chen Yu Bo by lunging forward and stopping inches from him, and Ji Jue convinced him to book regular track time to keep the car’s spirit satisfied.
• Ji Jue used Deus Ex Machina and Fluid Alchemy to strengthen Kunpeng before taking Chen Yu Bo to the Lotus Mountain race.
• Chen Yu Bo confronted Mu Jiang at the race gathering and vowed to defeat him, while Ji Jue sensed a hidden Spiritual Substance fluctuation nearby.
• Ji Jue recognized Mu Jiang’s companion in the red dress as someone from the same line of work, and she warned him not to interfere.

Ji Jue helped Chen Yu Bo race Mu Jiang by using Fluid Alchemy to unleash the Kunpeng’s full speed and protect it from Cheng Shuang’s interference. Kunpeng took the lead, but Cheng Shuang locked onto it with a strange kaleidoscope, leaving the race’s outcome uncertain.

• Ji Jue presented his safety credentials while Chen Yu Bo mocked Mu Jiang and his passenger before the race began.
• Ji Jue urged Kunpeng to run, and it surged ahead so quickly that Chen Yu Bo screamed while Ji Jue kept him on the accelerator.
• Mu Jiang caught up through the first turns, but Chen Yu Bo’s strange grin unnerved him and Kunpeng pulled ahead again.
• Cheng Shuang discovered that Ji Jue had reinforced the entire Kunpeng with Fluid Alchemy, preventing her from taking control of it.
• Cheng Shuang used an antique kaleidoscope to lock onto Kunpeng, and a faint light flashed from the device as it drained her Spiritual Substance.

Ji Jue helped Chen Yu Bo win the mountain race after Cheng Shuang’s illusion attack backfired, and the Mustang crashed. As the celebration began, Ji Jue spotted a sniper aiming at them and threw himself and Chen Yu Bo to the ground.

• Cheng Shuang’s ability caused Chen Yu Bo and Ji Jue to fall into illusions, but Ji Jue broke free and Cheng Shuang was overwhelmed by a terrifying vision and passed out.
• Kunpeng overtook Mu Jiang’s Mustang with a leap across the S-curve and a two-wheel stunt, then raced backward to taunt him before speeding away.
• Mu Jiang’s Mustang exploded and crashed into the woods, and Kunpeng crossed the finish line to win the race.
• At the finish line, Ji Jue used a drone to survey the mountain and spotted a sniper, then kicked Chen Yu Bo down and hit the ground as a shot struck a streetlamp.

Ji Jue and Chen Yu Bo were trapped under sniper fire after an ambush at the racing venue, and Ji Jue learned Chen Yu Bo was the brother of powerful underworld figure Chen Xingzhou. As armed attackers were killed, Ji Jue remained pinned in the drainage ditch by the sniper until Little Cow and Horse finally approached.

• A sniper shot Chen Yu Bo, so Ji Jue cut the lights and hid with him in a drainage ditch while an empty sports car exploded as a decoy.
• Ji Jue spotted the sniper targeting their hiding place and questioned Chen Yu Bo, who revealed that his brother was Chen Xingzhou, a major figure in Yacheng's underworld.
• Ji Jue demanded more money for protecting Chen Yu Bo, but five masked gunmen arrived before Little Cow and Horse could reach them.
• Ji Jue shot the first gunman, and nearby sports cars ran down several more attackers while the sniper continued covering the drainage ditch.
• Ji Jue realized the sniper had sealed off their escape and held his gaze from the ditch until Little Cow and Horse roared closer.

Ji Jue rescued Chen Yu Bo from an ambush, defeated the sniper in a long-range duel, and earned thanks from Chen Xingzhou and Chen Yu Bo. Later, Wen Wen told Tong Hua that Yacheng’s underworld was nearing open conflict as Lei Wuye lay close to death.

• Gloria delivered Ji Jue’s suitcase, allowing him to retrieve his lever-action rifle and duel the sniper from the drainage ditch.
• Ji Jue shot the sniper’s weapon and wounded him until his ammunition ran out, then learned that Deus Ex Machina had completed the shooting mission.
• Uncle Lin thanked Ji Jue on Chen Xingzhou’s behalf, recovered the dead sniper, and learned that Mu Jiang had been captured while a woman had escaped.
• Chen Yu Bo thanked Ji Jue and invited him to visit his cats, and Ji Jue agreed to come by when he next serviced Chen Yu Bo’s car.
• Wen Wen told Tong Hua that Lei Yaoxing’s people had attacked Chen Xingzhou’s younger brother and that Chen Xingzhou’s side had retaliated against Lei Yaoxing’s accountant and driver.
• Wen Wen revealed that Lei Wuye was close to death as both sides gathered their people and Yacheng’s underworld teetered on the edge of conflict.

As Lei Wuye lay in intensive care, Wen Wen anticipated the chaos his collapsing underworld empire would unleash across Yai City. Ji Jue received funding from Chen Xingzhou and a flawed alchemical pendant, which Professor Ye assigned him to dismantle before beginning his first true alchemical creation.

• Wen Wen learned that Lei Wuye was in intensive care and worried that his divided organization would plunge Yai City into chaos.
• Professor Ye directed Ji Jue to focus his studies on Extraction Metamorphosis and explained how costly its experiments could be.
• Professor Ye gave Ji Jue a twenty-million Libra Conglomerate membership card sent by Chen Xingzhou to fund his alchemical training.
• Ji Jue examined a pendant containing the Transcendent Vision Blessing and learned that its craftsmanship was badly flawed.
• Professor Ye assigned Ji Jue to dismantle the pendant, preserve and extract its Blessing with Ghost Artisan's help, and then begin his first true alchemical creation.

Ji Jue finished dismantling the pendant’s spirit essence circuits and unexpectedly touched a Blessing while absorbing its essence. Ye Xian ordered Masterwork to erase the record of his contact with Superior Virtue’s blessing, leaving the nature of Ji Jue’s ability uncertain.

• After three days of practicing Disintegration Art, Ji Jue finished stripping the pendant’s outer circuits, then swaggered into the Living Room and made Ye Chun massage him, bring snacks, and cook for him.
• Ye Chun endured Ji Jue’s taunts and served him a bowl of painfully spicy, undercooked noodles, which he obediently finished.
• Ji Jue followed Ghost Artisan’s instructions and rapidly dismantled the pendant’s final four Spirit Essence Circuits without damaging its core.
• Ji Jue’s Deus Ex Machina absorbed and rejected the Supreme Goodness Essence, but he thought he had also briefly touched a Blessing.
• Ye Xian ordered Masterwork to erase all records of Ji Jue’s contact with Superior Virtue’s blessing, and Masterwork confirmed the record’s destruction.

Ji Jue crafted his first Blessed Creation, a ring, under Ye Xian’s supervision. During the difficult forging, he grasped the essence of Non-Aggression and completed a purified ring containing the blessing and its Tri-Phase Knot structure.

• Ji Jue planned a practical blessed ring using a Tri-Phase Knot, affordable materials, and Fluid Alchemy, and Ye Xian agreed to supervise its creation.
• Ji Jue began processing the materials in the Workshop despite his numb hands, using Non-Aggression to precisely control the furnace.
• As he combined the materials and blessing, Ji Jue entered a state of deep perception and realized what Non-Aggression meant to him.
• Ji Jue extended his hand and used a Formless Hand to control the forging, applying Disintegration Art and Fluid Alchemy to cleanse the blessing and complete the ring’s Tri-Phase Knot.
• Ji Jue infused the finished ring with Spiritual Substance, heard it chime, and delighted in his creation.

An Ran reflected on the senseless gang violence after finding forty-one people dead, then sensed and attacked a distant watcher. At Sheng He Investment, Wen Wen confronted Zhou Cheng over the bloodshed and threatened to take on Lei Yaoxing herself unless he arranged a meeting.

• An Ran reported forty-one deaths and eleven other people caught in the bar massacre to Wen Jie.
• An Ran sensed a distant gaze and fired an iron shard across the city, piercing a rooftop door before leaving.
• Wen Wen accused Zhou Cheng of Sheng He's role in the violence and demanded to see Lei Yaoxing.
• Zhou Cheng refused, warned Wen Wen against Security Bureau interference, and said Brother Xing would not meet her.
• Wen Wen placed a resignation letter on the table and threatened to kill Lei Yaoxing and his allies unless Zhou Cheng gambled Lei Yaoxing's life against hers.

Wen Wen secured Lei Yaoxing’s refusal to claim responsibility for the attacks and ordered Tong Hua to hunt down the perpetrators. Tong Hua lost their trail in a shantytown, then apparently found another lead when Ji Jue arrived.

• Zhou Cheng collapsed under Wen Wen’s pressure, and Lei Yaoxing arrived to defend him and deny involvement in the Bai Tiao Bang incident.
• Lei Yaoxing told Wen Wen that senior figures had arranged negotiations at Bright Moon Pavilion, but Wen Wen rejected his overture and left with the statement she wanted.
• Wen Wen ordered Tong Hua to capture and kill the attackers, while Tong Shan told Tong Hua to follow orders and avoid acting independently.
• Tong Hua struggled to trace the perpetrators through Ether records in the shantytown, and Lao Zhang pointed out the surveillance cameras as another way to search.
• Ji Jue arrived on his Little Cow and Horse and heard Tong Hua call out to him.

Ji Jue helped Tong Hua, Lao Zhang, and Little An track a group of mercenaries who had attacked people in Yacheng, using camera footage and Ether records to find their hideout. After identifying the five Imperial mercenaries, Lao Zhang and Little An entered the apartment building to confront them.

• Ji Jue left Ye Chun to answer Tong Hua’s call, then boasted that he had created an A-grade Blessing before learning about the attack.
• Ji Jue checked nearby cameras, found that the attackers had used jamming equipment, and traced their route through the shantytown district.
• Ji Jue used camera footage and photographs from local businesses to identify the mercenaries’ hideout and determine that five men were staying in apartment 101.
• Tong Hua and Lao Zhang matched the group to former Mountain Land Dragon Army members from the Empire, while the team confirmed their Chosen One roles and ties to a Wild Bazaar job.
• Lao Zhang put his belongings in a bag and entered the apartment building with Little An as thunder shook the ground.

Herbert lost control to Sin Corruption and slaughtered his companions before fleeing, leaving Lao Zhang and Little An to investigate. Lao Zhang confronted a Wild Bazaar Chosen One trying to silence the sole survivor and, after learning of the attack, unleashed his Indestructible Golden Body against him.

• Herbert exhausted his inhibitors, succumbed to Sin Corruption, and fled after massacring his companions.
• Lao Zhang broke through the Mirror System’s disguise and found a wounded survivor, who identified Herbert as the attacker.
• Little An raced after Herbert while a Wild Bazaar Chosen One emerged from the shadows and tried to kill the survivor with a poisoned blade.
• Lao Zhang handed over the survivor but demanded that the Wild Bazaar Chosen One help him vent his anger.
• The Wild Bazaar Chosen One attacked Lao Zhang, who revealed his Indestructible Golden Body and struck back with a devastating blow.