Chapter Summaries

Lu Xingshi emerged from the destroyed World Core into a modern city after centuries or millennia had passed, carrying a newly created cursed power system but lacking resources. He left a construction site after learning little about its danger, while an elderly master identified a vicious Dirty Thing beneath the building.

• Lu Xingshi realized that temporal grinding had destroyed the World Core and that the world had advanced into a modern age while he was inside.
• He explained how he had combined remnants of the Heavenly Mandate, Professional System, World Core, and Otherworld Demon Curse to create his fourth-generation Great Saint Body.
• Lu Xingshi found himself at an abandoned construction site, where a boss and an elderly man in a Tang-style shirt questioned him about trespassing.
• The elderly man recognized Lu Xingshi's clothes as garments from the Da Ci Dynasty, but Lu Xingshi left before he could question him further.
• The elderly man led the boss to the building site and discovered that a vicious Dirty Thing was still there beneath the newly built structure.

Lu Xingshi followed Qi Han and a construction crew to confront a Destiny Ghost, then saved Qi Han and devoured the monster with his Curse Power. Afterward, Qi Han explained the Fate Master system and the origins and limits of Destiny Ghosts and Fate Patterns.

• Lu Xingshi sensed a Dirty Thing in a newly topped-out building and watched Qi Han summon his Mottled Tiger Fate Pattern.
• The Destiny Ghost, a spider-like young man, emerged and tore the Mottled Tiger apart, leaving Qi Han badly injured as the others fled.
• Lu Xingshi struck the Destiny Ghost with a stone imbued with Curse Power, then swallowed it with his Star River Kun.
• Qi Han identified Lu Xingshi as a Great Life Master, introduced himself as a Fate Master, and promised to give him eighty percent of the reward.
• Lu Xingshi questioned Qi Han and learned how Fate Masters used Fate Patterns, how Destiny Ghosts formed, and why the system had limited power.

Lu Xingshi studied the history of the twenty-sixth-generation Federation and planned to contact other Fate Masters to learn about his missing Heavenly Mandate and Mandate of Heaven Set. Shi Cheng then asked him to investigate a haunting, and Lu Xingshi agreed to go immediately.

• Lu Xingshi learned that the Federation was in its twenty-sixth generation, and that history remembered him as the first Grand President who died opposing the Da Ci Dynasty.
• Lu Xingshi concluded that Fate Masters had helped reestablish the Federation and resolved to seek out other Fate Masters and reclaim his lost possessions.
• Shi Cheng visited Lu Xingshi and asked him to deal with a Dirty Thing troubling a family with nightly opera singing in their courtyard.
• Lu Xingshi agreed to investigate, warned that he would not refund the fee if the cause was a person rather than a Dirty Thing, and set out with Shi Cheng.

Lu Xingshi investigated the Han family’s nightly opera singing and concluded that a Fate Master, not a Dirty Thing, was tormenting them. When the villa went dark, he caught the red opera costume responsible and prepared to inspect the electrical box.

• Lu Xingshi inspected the Han family’s villa, found no Dirty Thing, and agreed to stay overnight to investigate the nightly disturbance.
• Lu Xingshi warned Han Yuan that the haunting was probably caused by someone he had offended, and Shi Cheng stayed with them.
• At dinner, the opera singing began, and Lu Xingshi identified its source as a Fate Master colleague rather than a Dirty Thing.
• The villa suddenly lost power, and a red opera costume appeared and sang in the darkness.
• Lu Xingshi smashed the costume with a chair, seized it, and used his Curse Power to subdue it.
• Han Yuan’s family and Shi Cheng clung to Lu Xingshi as he agreed to lead them to the electrical box.

Lu Xingshi stopped Ling Zheng’s attack on Han Yuan and learned that Ling Zheng blamed him for his grandfather’s death during a demolition project. After Han Yuan persuaded Ling Zheng to investigate the matter, Lu marked Ling Zheng with Curse Power and later set out to find him.

• Lu Xingshi subdued Ling Zheng after restoring power to Han Yuan’s villa district, then brought him inside to explain why he had attacked Han Yuan.
• Ling Zheng said he sought revenge for his grandfather’s death, but Han Yuan claimed the Federation and outsourced contractors had handled the demolition while he managed construction and compensation.
• Ling Zheng agreed to investigate Han Yuan’s company the next day, and Han Yuan tried to recruit him; Lu Xingshi demanded his payment and left with Shi Cheng.
• Lu Xingshi secretly marked Ling Zheng with Curse Power, then warned Shi Cheng not to worry unless he had committed similar wrongdoing.
• Ling Zheng’s necklace-bound Great Life Master told him about the tracking mark and advised him to discard the marked clothes, which Ling Zheng did before running away.
• Lu Xingshi sensed Ling Zheng moving and headed toward his location after Shi Cheng drove away.

Lu Xingshi tracked Ling Zheng to his rental building and planted a Starving Ghost Curse on a Ferocious-level Long-Neck Life Ghost. The curse transformed it into a threat capable of Evil-level strength, and it attacked Ling Zheng as he tried to escape.

• Lu Xingshi followed the fading curse trail to room 401, where he heard Ling Zheng talking to someone unseen, and decided to return later.
• Lu Xingshi encountered a Long-Neck Life Ghost beneath the stairs, subdued it, and told it that Ling Zheng might know about its child.
• Lu Xingshi planted the Starving Ghost Curse on the Long-Neck Life Ghost and left, triggering a violent hunger that changed its strength and form.
• The transformed Long-Neck Life Ghost smashed through Ling Zheng's window, and the Great Life Master warned him to flee because it could unleash Evil-level strength.
• Ling Zheng dodged the attack and charged out of the room to escape.

Lu Xingshi stole no book but memorized the Five Contemplations and Cessations Manual, then studied how Fate Master cultivation might fit his Great Saint Body and discovered his Fate Pattern was a conflicting fusion of the Heavenly Mandate and the Source Otherworld Demon. Ling Zheng killed the Long-Necked Fate Ghost and began refining it into Life Ink as the Great Life Master explained the ruthless cycle between Fate Masters and Destiny Ghosts.

• Lu Xingshi entered Ling Zheng's apartment, memorized the Five Contemplations and Cessations Manual, and returned it without leaving traces.
• Lu Xingshi studied the manual, considered how Great Life Masters used Fate Patterns, and tried to observe his own Fate Pattern.
• Lu Xingshi found his Fate Pattern was a contradictory fusion of the Kun, Golden Light, the Otherworld Demon, and a curse, and decided to seek more Fate Master cultivation methods to refine it.
• Ling Zheng reported that the Long-Necked Fate Ghost had nearly killed him, and the Great Life Master urged him to have the Big Red Opera Costume devour it and refine it into Life Ink.
• The Great Life Master explained that Fate Masters used Destiny Ghosts to gain Life Ink while Destiny Ghosts grew by devouring Fate Patterns and Fate Diagrams.

Lu Xingshi agreed to investigate a construction worker’s mysterious illness, though he warned Shi Cheng that it might be an ordinary contagious disease rather than a supernatural threat. Meanwhile, Ling Zheng rejected Han Yuan’s recruitment offer and pressed him to help bring the people behind his grandfather’s death to justice.

• Lu Xingshi refused Han Yuan’s banquet invitation, then agreed to investigate a worker at a Friendly Business construction site for thirty percent of the worker’s assets.
• Shi Cheng explained that the unconscious worker had a fever and widespread rash, while fellow workers who had contacted him suffered worsening nightmares and similar symptoms.
• Lu Xingshi noticed a rash on Shi Cheng and warned that the illness might be contagious, telling him that a hospital would have to handle it if no Dirty Thing was involved.
• Lu Xingshi scolded Shi Cheng for failing to investigate the case properly and warned that he would find another partner if Shi Cheng repeated the mistake.
• Han Yuan offered Ling Zheng a salary, benefits, a villa, a luxury car, and other rewards to join his company, but Ling Zheng said he wanted revenge for his grandfather first.
• Ling Zheng told Han Yuan he wanted the people responsible to face legal punishment, and Han Yuan hesitated because he was connected to those protecting them.

Lu Xingshi traced the workers’ illness to a featureless black idol dug up at the construction site, but the site had been paved over and the idol’s buyer remained unknown. Han Yuan agreed to search hospitals, while Ling Zheng joined him, intent on taking the Destiny Ghost for himself.

• Lu Xingshi learned that the workers’ symptoms began after a coworker took a black, faceless idol from the construction site and sold it at the East City Black Market.
• Shi Cheng agreed to contact his connections to search hospitals for people with the same symptoms, and Lu Xingshi went with Hu Fei to inspect where the idol had been found.
• Lu Xingshi discovered that reinforced concrete had covered the excavation site, then rejected Wang Ye’s attempt to ingratiate himself and returned toward the workers’ dormitories.
• Han Yuan told Ling Zheng that Lu Xingshi needed help checking hospitals for a Dirty Thing, and Ling Zheng agreed to go with him to seize the Destiny Ghost.

Ling Zheng took on the case of a missing divine statue while Lu Xingshi withdrew, suspecting the Life Ghost was dangerous. The statue revealed itself as a powerful Evil-level entity, and Ling Zheng fled as it pursued him; Lu Xingshi and Shi Cheng left wary of the growing number of encounters with Life Ghosts.

• Lu Xingshi let Ling Zheng handle the case, then left with Shi Cheng while Ling Zheng went with Han Yuan to visit the statue owner's family.
• Ling Zheng learned the divine statue had vanished, and security footage showed it had moved on its own and ended up in the surveillance room.
• The Divine Statue Life Ghost attacked, swallowed one family member, and pursued Ling Zheng as he ran; Han Yuan fled after him.
• Lu Xingshi told Shi Cheng that their encounters with Dirty Things seemed unusually frequent and warned him to stay away from Ling Zheng.

Lu Xingshi refused to treat Shi Cheng with his dangerous curse and told him to wait for the Federation to confront the growing Divine Statue Life Ghost. Ling Zheng then asked Lu Xingshi to help kill it, but Lu Xingshi rejected him and left him responsible for the crisis.

• Lu Xingshi watched reports of the outbreak and concluded that the Divine Statue Life Ghost was growing toward Baleful-Intent Rank.
• Shi Cheng begged Lu Xingshi to save him and his family, but rejected Lu Xingshi’s risky curse treatment and chose to wait for the Federation.
• Shi Cheng left, reconsidering his relationship with Lu Xingshi, who returned to studying the Five Contemplations and Cessations Manual.
• Ling Zheng confronted Lu Xingshi and blamed him for the Divine Statue Life Ghost, but Lu Xingshi argued that Ling Zheng had stopped him and taken over the case.
• Ling Zheng proposed that he and Lu Xingshi kill the Life Ghost, offering Lu Xingshi the reward, but Lu Xingshi refused and told Ling Zheng to handle the disaster himself.

Lu Xingshi reflected on Ling Zheng’s rapid rise after he resolved the infectious disease, then examined the new powers and limitations of his Two-Faced Buddha Life Destiny. Meanwhile, Tao Zhen arrived in Liu City and planned to recruit Ling Zheng while cautiously investigating Lu Xingshi.

• Lu Xingshi suspected Ling Zheng had a special advantage and decided he would kill him if they met again.
• Lu Xingshi reviewed his Two-Faced Buddha Life Destiny, its Wisdom King and Buddha forms, and the enhanced Self-Devouring effect of his Starving Ghost Curse.
• Lu Xingshi planned to use the connection between himself and Two-Faced Buddha to develop powerful recovery abilities.
• Tao Zhen learned that Ling Zheng had resolved the infectious disease and considered recruiting him through the Federation Fate Path.
• Tao Zhen treated Lu Xingshi as a potential troublemaker and decided to probe his attitude toward the Federation.

Tao Zhen tried to recruit Lu Xingshi into the Federation Fate Organization, but Lu refused and suspected the organization had come to Liu City for more than recruitment. Lu feared Ling Zheng might eventually target him, so he began planning a weapon while Ling Zheng prepared to join the Fate Path and pursue its resources.

• Tao Zhen invited Lu Xingshi to join the Fate Path, but Lu declined and challenged Tao’s warnings about the risks of remaining unaffiliated.
• Tao left Lu his contact card, which Lu threw away after deciding the Federation was unlikely to openly target independent Fate Masters.
• Lu suspected Tao had come to Liu City to deal with the Divine Statue Life Ghost and worried Ling Zheng might become his future adversary.
• Lu decided to postpone his pursuit of immortality and build a nuclear weapon powered by the Starving Ghost Curse to use against Ling Zheng if necessary.
• The Ancient Federation Great Life Master warned Ling Zheng that the Fate Path was no kindhearted organization but advised him to join and use it to gather resources.
• The Great Life Master hinted that the Fate Path possessed a powerful Life Destiny Technique, and Ling Zheng agreed to complete the assessment before learning more.

Lu Xingshi tested his immortality, then went searching for Destiny Ghosts and encountered an Evil-Grade Human-faced Crocodile. He cursed and devoured it before it could grow into a threat to Liu City.

• Lu Xingshi tested his regeneration and discovered that he could survive having his head and heart destroyed, though his recovery remained slow.
• Lu Xingshi left to find Destiny Ghosts and spotted a homeless man whose malicious presence led him to a dark alley.
• The alley revealed itself as the Human-faced Crocodile Destiny Ghost, which attacked Lu Xingshi with its tentacles.
• Lu Xingshi repelled the Human-faced Crocodile with a chain of Rising Dragon Fists and used Curse Power Devour Ghost on it.
• The curse drove the Human-faced Crocodile into a frenzy, but it withered and died before it could develop enough power to threaten Liu City.

Lu Xingshi returned home after killing an Evil-Grade Fate Ghost and confronted Federation investigator Ruan Heng, who had come to hold him accountable. After exposing the Federation’s plan to recruit him, Ruan Heng got Lu Xingshi to join the Fate Organization as extra-establishment personnel.

• Lu Xingshi concluded that Fate Ghosts faced a deadly chasm when crossing grades, then left the Human-faced Crocodile’s remains for the Federation to handle.
• Ruan Heng confronted Lu Xingshi over the incident and demanded compensation, fines, and detention while dismissing Lu Xingshi’s merit for killing the Evil-Grade Fate Ghost.
• Lu Xingshi crushed Ruan Heng’s recording device, disarmed him when he drew a gun, and challenged him over his attempt to intimidate a Fate Master.
• Ruan Heng admitted that his superior had ordered him to pressure Lu Xingshi before recruiting him into the Fate Organization.
• Lu Xingshi filled out a membership form as an extra-establishment Fate Master, and Ruan Heng left after welcoming him to Fate.
• Ruan Heng discovered that Lu Xingshi had disabled his handgun and wondered whether his superior would approve his request for leave.

Lu Xingshi examined the Fate Organization’s key, uncovered its use of Destiny Ghost flesh, and continued refining his Two-Faced Buddha system. He accepted Fang Tong’s request to investigate a supernatural disturbance at her home and rushed there with her after the Dirty Thing appeared.

• Lu Xingshi received the tracking key and discovered that its power source was living flesh from a Destiny Ghost, leading him to suspect the Federation used biotechnology to manage Destiny Ghosts.
• Lu Xingshi considered whether Great Life Masters were the source of Federation biotechnology, then returned to refining Two-Faced Buddha, his curse-based system.
• Fang Tong told Lu Xingshi that her family had heard a crying baby and found blood-red footprints appearing throughout their home, and Lu Xingshi agreed to investigate.
• Lu Xingshi told Fang Tong his fee would depend on the danger and bluntly warned that failure could mean death; Fang Tong then received word that the Dirty Thing had revealed itself.
• Fang Tong drove Lu Xingshi toward her home, and he urged her to drive steadily so they would not lose time to an accident.

Lu Xingshi defeated a conjoined Destiny Ghost formed from Fang Tong’s husband, his former lover, and their unborn child, then accepted Fang Tong’s payment and refused to train her daughter, Bi Qing. Elsewhere, Ling Zheng learned that his Fate Master assessment had been deliberately made more dangerous and that a powerful Fate Organization figure had taken notice of him, but he remained unimpressed.

• Lu Xingshi subdued the Fetus Life Ghost at Fang Tong’s villa and discovered that its mother was approaching.
• The Sewn Female Life Ghost attacked Fang Tong’s husband, and Lu Xingshi saved Fang Tong’s daughter while the ghosts combined into a conjoined being.
• Fang Tong recognized the female ghost as her husband’s former lover, and Lu Xingshi inferred that her husband had killed her after she became pregnant.
• Lu Xingshi crushed the Fetus Life Ghost, defeated the conjoined ghost, and absorbed its curse essence after it tried to merge with the fetus.
• Fang Tong paid Lu Xingshi twenty million and asked him to train Bi Qing, but he refused and left.
• Tao Zhen told Ling Zheng that an examiner had raised the difficulty of his assessment and that a major Fate Organization figure had noticed him; Ling Zheng dismissed the promised favor.

Lu Xingshi explored the Fate Organization’s forum, bought seven Fate Codices, and found a bounty for a suspected Half-Malevolent-level Destiny Ghost in an Abandoned Village. He chose to clear easier Liu City bounties first and left to hunt a nearby Grievance-level Destiny Ghost.

• Lu Xingshi logged into Fate Path and learned how the Fate Organization posted bounties and sold resources to extra-establishment personnel.
• Lu Xingshi reviewed Liu City's unresolved Destiny Ghost cases and bought Fate Codices with most of his available money.
• Lu Xingshi discovered a new one-and-a-half-billion bounty for a suspected Half-Malevolent-level Destiny Ghost in an Abandoned Village, where several Fate Masters had disappeared.
• Lu Xingshi received his seven Fate Codices and judged that completing the difficult bounty could help him afford the forum's most expensive offerings.
• Lu Xingshi chose a nearby Grievance-level Destiny Ghost as his first target and left with his key to claim the bounty.

Lu Xingshi accepted a job to clear the Evil-level Destiny Ghost at Chen Bei Welfare Institute in exchange for a private payment, then discussed selling Huangfu Song the bounty for the Half-Baleful-Grade Destiny Ghost at the Abandoned Village. Huangfu Song offered money and a choice of valuable Fate Codices, but Lu Xingshi postponed negotiations as they arrived at the welfare institute and received a file of intelligence.

• Lu Xingshi finished clearing most of Liu City’s Destiny Ghosts, earned a ten-percent bounty increase from the Fate Organization, and refused its invitation to join its official ranks.
• The Fate Organization offered Lu Xingshi five hundred million to bring Huangfu Song along to Chen Bei Welfare Institute, and Lu Xingshi agreed on the condition that he would not guarantee Huangfu Song’s safety or take orders from him.
• Huangfu Song picked Lu Xingshi up on his motorcycle, and Lu Xingshi agreed to deal with the welfare institute’s Evil-level Destiny Ghost.
• Huangfu Song asked to buy the bounty for the Half-Baleful-Grade Destiny Ghost at the Abandoned Village, and Lu Xingshi requested a complete Fate Codex that included the path to becoming a Great Life Master.
• Huangfu Song refused to provide a complete Fate Codex and offered money or a choice of three valuable Codices instead, so Lu Xingshi postponed the discussion until after their job.
• Lu Xingshi and Huangfu Song arrived at the abandoned Chen Bei Welfare Institute, where Huangfu Song offered him a file of intelligence before he went inside.

Lu Xingshi entered the Chen Bei Welfare Institute, killed its former director, the Dried Corpse Ghost, and learned that the site hid a major scandal involving Destiny Ghosts. Huangfu Song warned him to stop investigating, but Lu Xingshi planned to watch the institute that night for anyone trying to destroy evidence.

• Lu Xingshi entered the sealed Chen Bei Welfare Institute and confronted the Dried Corpse Ghost, which revealed it had been a Fate Master before voluntarily transforming.
• Lu Xingshi overpowered the Dried Corpse Ghost with the Starving Ghost Curse and killed it, while the ghost warned that uncovering the institute’s scandal could bring trouble from the Federation.
• After customer service confirmed the bounty was complete, Lu Xingshi suspected the Welfare Institute had been a biological experiment site for creating Destiny Ghosts.
• Huangfu Song arrived, agreed to raise Lu Xingshi’s payment from five hundred million to one billion, and warned him not to ask about the Chen Bei Welfare Institute.
• Lu Xingshi left with Huangfu Song while planning to return that night and watch for people destroying evidence.