Chapter Summaries

Su Chen confronted Zhang Hengyu, learned about the Sage Profession, and invited him to train at the Inspection Branch. Zhang Yunqing arrived the next day to take her brother away, but Zhang Hengyu refused and challenged his family’s plans for him.

• Su Chen told Zhang Hengyu he was already a Tier 2 Professional and pressed him about being delayed a year before Zhang offered him information on the Sage Profession.
• Zhang Hengyu explained Sage’s requirements and how he had forced its initiation with help from his sister; Su Chen agreed to train alongside him.
• Zhang Hengyu arrived at the Inspection Branch the next day with his belongings and potions, while Su Chen wondered whether Sage was connected to Scholar.
• Zhang Yunqing stormed into the Inspection Branch and told Zhang Hengyu that their father planned to use Su Chen as bait for the Cult of the Strange Gods.
• Zhang Hengyu refused to leave with Zhang Yunqing and demanded to know why he had to succeed their father, while she dismissed his ambitions.

Su Chen protected Zhang Hengyu from Zhang Yunqing before an attack on the Internal Affairs Hall drew Zhang Hongbo away. After Xia Hanshi confronted Zhou Xian and the Sage invited Su Chen to teach the Black Pagoda Believers, Su Chen returned to the Inspection Branch with Zhang Hengyu.

• Su Chen blocked Zhang Yunqing from forcing Zhang Hengyu to leave, but an alarm about an attack on the Internal Affairs Hall made them part ways.
• Zhang Hongbo rushed to the burning Internal Affairs Hall, where Xia Hanshi said Zhou Xian had exposed himself and escaped.
• Xia Hanshi rebuked Yang Yan for failing to capture Zhou Xian, then left to pursue him.
• Su Chen hid with Zhang Hengyu near the Inspection Branch, accepted the Sage's invitation to teach the Black Pagoda Believers, and brought Zhang Hengyu back inside.
• Fatty Sun arrived and recognized Zhang Hengyu beside Su Chen.

Su Chen gained the [Sage] profession and accelerated his training while Southwind City faced the threat of a forced sacrifice. As Xia Hanshi investigated the erased [Scholar] records, Su Chen’s [Black Pagoda Believer] profession changed to [Believer].

• Fatty Sun told Su Chen that Xia Hanshi had attacked Zhou Xian, who escaped despite being badly injured, and warned that Xia was feared for his brutality.
• Su Chen took office as a [Sage], gaining [Precise Control], which increased his skill proficiency acquisition rate by 50%.
• Zhou Xian reached a hidden priest, who prepared to sacrifice Southwind City unless Zhou supplied an exact target before the forced sacrifice began.
• Xia Hanshi examined Southwind Academy’s records, found that the [Scholar] mark had been erased, and suspected that Southwind City concealed something significant.
• Su Chen made rapid training progress under [Sage], then his [Black Pagoda Believer] profession abandoned its former master and changed to [Believer].

Su Chen acquired the Believer class, used its disguise ability to track a Black Pagoda relic, and ambushed the believer carrying it. When Zhou Xian appeared to claim the relic, Su Chen attacked him despite his formidable mental defenses.

• Su Chen took the Believer class and discovered he could disguise himself as a Black Pagoda Believer, gaining the ability to sense other believers and related items.
• Su Chen followed the relic’s pull to an outer-city residence, then tipped off Fatty Sun and waited while Inspection Guards raided the area.
• As the Black Pagoda Believers fled, Su Chen followed the one carrying a metal box and killed him after the man mistook him for an ally.
• Zhou Xian arrived with another believer and demanded the box, so Su Chen struck at Zhou Xian with a mental attack and then lashed out with Azure Cord.
• Zhou Xian recovered from the brief daze and unleashed lightning as Su Chen’s attack came at him.

Su Chen escaped Zhou Xian after stealing power from a Strange Artifact, while Xia Hanshi investigated the Southwind City operation and the priest suspected Su Chen of being a Strange God believer. The priest ruled him out as the “delicious soul,” leaving Zhou Xian to consider using the mystery to test Yuan Chenyang.

• Su Chen was struck by Zhou Xian’s lightning but used the impact to escape.
• Xia Hanshi questioned Zhang Hongbo about the operation, Yuan Chenyang, and Su Chen, then ordered a deeper investigation of Southwind City.
• The priest confronted Zhou Xian over the missing holy artifact and demanded that he worship Black Pagoda.
• The priest sensed that his lord’s aura had disappeared and suspected another group of Strange God believers had devoured its power.
• Zhou Xian suspected Su Chen might be a Strange God believer, but the priest said such believers could not be the “delicious soul.”
• Su Chen returned injured, extracted power from the Strange Artifact, and used it to bring the Arcane Scholar close to advancing.

Su Chen recovered, trained, and received a gift of Miasma Potions from Fatty Sun after the Inspection Department destroyed a Cult of the Strange Gods nest. When officials from three departments arrived to investigate him, Su Chen sensed a Black Pagoda Believer among them.

• Fatty Sun thanked Su Chen for his help in uncovering a Cult of the Strange Gods nest and gave him five Miasma Potions.
• Su Chen trained while recovering, then ate with Zhang Hengyu, who said he was close to advancing to Tier 2 and warned Su Chen to balance training with rest.
• Hou Xu told Su Chen that officials from the Patrol Division, Patrol Department, and Exploration Department had arrived to question him.
• After showering, Su Chen transformed into a Black Pagoda Believer and sensed another believer nearby.
• A civilian inspector told Su Chen the visitors had arrived, and he realized the believer was likely among them and might have sensed him too.

Su Chen completed the Whispering Trial and advanced from Mystic Artificer to Arcane Scholar, gaining new abilities as his spiritual power surged. Yu Xuan left believing Su Chen was a Strange God believer, while Su Chen remained unaware of the suspicion.

• Yu Xuan questioned Su Chen about Hu Xiang during an investigation into Pan Yu’s disappearance, then privately concluded that Su Chen was a Strange God believer.
• Su Chen grew more focused on training after the visit and raised the Ethereal Meditation Method to Master Level.
• Su Chen entered the Whispering Trial, heard a voice urging someone to strike, and saw a colossal four-headed creature with scarlet wings and lightning.
• Su Chen completed the advancement requirements and became an Arcane Scholar, gaining Mystic Artifact Master, Mental Interference, and Scarlet Thunderstrike.
• Su Chen struggled to control his greatly increased spiritual power as his new abilities merged into his spirit.

After his promotion, Su Chen tested his new abilities and learned more about the team investigating Pan Yu’s disappearance. Yu Xuan later accused him of stealing the Cult of the Strange Gods’ power and Spatial Crystal, then Su Chen tracked him to the factory district and called in the Inspection Department.

• Su Chen discovered his new mental power could control the Azure-Scale Armor and strengthen it with Gale Barrier, while his new ability, “Steal,” produced a powerful burst of pale red lightning.
• Fatty Sun told Su Chen that the City Lord had formed a team to investigate Pan Yu’s disappearance, including Zhou Mingguang, Yu Xuan, and Qin Cheng.
• Yu Xuan confronted Su Chen and demanded the power he had devoured, the Spatial Crystal, and help corrupting Yuan Chenyang.
• Su Chen secretly followed Yu Xuan to the factory district after marking him with his mental power.
• Su Chen contacted Fatty Sun and insisted Du Jingming lead a larger team, then watched patrol airships arrive in the distance.

Su Chen tracked Yu Xuan to a factory meeting with Zhou Xian, then ambushed and killed him as the Inspection Department raided the area. He returned home with the black crystal Zhou Xian had given Yu Xuan, while anticipating that the Black Pagoda Believers would suspect him.

• Yu Xuan told Zhou Xian that Su Chen had agreed to help, and Zhou Xian ordered him to kill Su Chen after obtaining the Spatial Crystal and the Black Pagoda's extracted power.
• Zhou Xian gave Yu Xuan a black diamond-shaped crystal, then warned him that he had been followed as explosions sounded outside.
• Su Chen monitored the factory from a distance while the Inspection Department's airships surrounded it, and Yu Xuan escaped through the chaos.
• Su Chen ambushed Yu Xuan with his Azure Cable Iron Whip and crimson lightning, killing him in a single attack.
• Su Chen searched Yu Xuan's corpse and returned home with the black crystal, worrying that the Black Pagoda Believers would target him.

Su Chen concealed his role in the latest raid while Zhang Hongbo summoned him to answer a report accusing him of being a Strange God Believer. Special envoys Yang Yan and Gu Bing objected to the accusation, and Su Chen challenged Zhang Hongbo for taking the baseless report seriously.

• Su Chen stored Yu Xuan's Black Pagoda Prism Eye and drank a Miasma Potion, noting that he needed stronger meditation supplies.
• Zhou Xian blamed Su Chen for Yu Xuan's disappearance, while the priest ordered him to oversee the sacred statue's transport and keep Su Chen distracted.
• Su Chen heard that the Inspection Department had raided a Strange God Believer hideout and toasted Zhang Hengyu, who was nearing his Tier 2 advancement.
• Fatty Sun told Su Chen that investigators had found a charred corpse near the raid and that Zhang Hongbo wanted to see him.
• Zhang Hongbo introduced Yang Yan and Gu Bing, then revealed that someone had reported Su Chen as a Strange God Believer.
• Yang Yan and Gu Bing criticized Zhang Hongbo for entertaining the report, and Su Chen demanded to know whether he would investigate anyone accused on the same basis.

Su Chen faced an accusation of being a Strange God believer, but Gu Bing’s examination cleared him and revealed his Red Gold mental talent. The revelation changed Zhang Hongbo’s attitude, and Su Chen was left free to go as the City Lord tried to make amends.

• Zhang Hongbo summoned Huang Peng, who accused Su Chen of strange behavior and being a Strange God believer.
• Yang Yan and Gu Bing proposed testing Su Chen’s mental power, and Su Chen reluctantly agreed to let Gu Bing take a sample.
• Gu Bing discovered that Su Chen was a Tier 2 mental-oriented Professional and found no Strange God aura in his mental sample.
• Su Chen admitted that his mental talent was Red Gold, stunning Yang Yan and troubling Zhang Hongbo.
• Gu Bing cleared Su Chen to leave, while Zhang Hongbo apologized and offered to provide anything Su Chen needed.

Su Chen leveraged Zhang Hongbo’s attempt to make amends to obtain second-tier profession information and supplies, while his Arcane Scholar began contesting the Telekinetic Manipulator. Xia Hanshi arrived at the City Lord’s office, and Su Chen left with Gu Bing as the evolution remained unresolved.

• Zhang Hongbo offered to help Su Chen, who requested information on the Telekinetic Manipulator and learned its profession requirements.
• Su Chen asked Zhang Hongbo for Illusion Essence and an E-rank meditation technique, and Zhang Hongbo agreed to provide them.
• Yang Yan and Gu Bing recorded Zhang Hongbo’s disclosure of profession information while Su Chen’s Arcane Scholar began fighting to evolve into the Telekinetic Manipulator.
• Xia Hanshi burst into Zhang Hongbo’s office and questioned the group, while Zhang Hongbo, Yang Yan, and Gu Bing concealed their concerns about Su Chen.
• Gu Bing escorted Su Chen downstairs, where he confirmed that the atmosphere had been strange and checked his panel, which still showed no result.

Su Chen learned why Zhang Hongbo had suppressed him and discovered that his [Arcane Scholar] profession had evolved into [Mystic Mind Adept]. After testing his new Psychokinesis and receiving improved resources, he prepared to focus on Zhou Xian and the Cult of the Strange Gods.

• Gu Bing told Su Chen that Xia Hanshi was the Tribunal's Sixth Presiding Judge, warned him about Xia's treatment of talented people, and explained Zhang Hongbo's motives for suppressing him.
• Xia Hanshi told Zhang Hongbo and Yang Yan that Southwind City's deep roots suggested it might conceal something important, potentially threatening the city's future.
• During the ride back, Su Chen's [Arcane Scholar] devoured [Telekinetic Manipulator] and evolved into [Mystic Mind Adept], gaining enhanced abilities and Psychokinesis as his Storage Space expanded.
• Sun Tai told Su Chen that his Miasma Potion and Illusion Essence quotas had increased and that he would receive an E-rank meditation method.
• Su Chen tested Psychokinesis in his room, found it stronger and more flexible than his previous Scarlet Thunderstrike, and decided to concentrate on Zhou Xian and the Cult of the Strange Gods.

Su Chen used Illusion Essence and the Void Star Meditation Art to improve his mental development, then sensed a newly arrived Strange Artifact in the inner city and went to investigate. As he watched the building where it was located, a vast flaming dragon appeared in the sky and a Black Pagoda figure emerged from the building.

• Sun Tai delivered Su Chen Illusion Essence and the E-Grade Void Star Meditation Art, which Su Chen used to meditate after inhaling a full bottle without hallucinating.
• The priest learned Su Chen had returned safely, set aside his doubts, and focused on finding Xia Hanshi before the sacred statue plan proceeded.
• Zhang Hengyu visited Su Chen after advancing to Tier 2 and told him he would no longer be able to train in the fivefold gravity room.
• Su Chen sensed a moving Strange Artifact to the northeast, waited for it to settle, and traveled at night to investigate an ordinary residential building.
• As Su Chen prepared to contact Fatty Sun, a colossal flaming dragon appeared in the sky and a withered Black Pagoda figure emerged from a room below.

Su Chen killed the fleeing Strange God believer and discovered an immense supernatural presence entering Southwind City, while Xia Hanshi and the others tried to understand the night’s events. The chapter left Su Chen suspecting the Strange Artifact had been bait for something far more dangerous.

• Su Chen followed the fleeing Strange God believer and killed him with a strengthened Scarlet Thunderstrike, then took the corpse and metal case into Storage Space.
• Xia Hanshi found the alley where the believer had died and concluded that another unseen actor had taken the suspected Strange Artifact.
• Zhang Hongbo, Yang Yan, and Gu Bing questioned Xia Hanshi about the priest in Southwind City, but none of them knew what the Cult of the Strange Gods was seeking.
• Su Chen checked his Black Pagoda Believer identity and sensed an attraction far stronger than that of a Strange Artifact, coming from something newly brought into the city.
• Su Chen realized the earlier Strange Artifact might have been bait to help the more dangerous object enter Southwind City safely.

Su Chen completed the [Path of Slaughter] and transformed into a Wind-Thunder Envoy, gaining mutated and fused abilities powered by wind and thunder. He anonymously warned Sun Tai about Strange God cultists near the Trade General Warehouse, but Sun Tai hesitated to investigate the politically sensitive site.

• Su Chen completed the [Path of Slaughter] and endured a painful physical transformation into a Wind-Thunder Envoy.
• Su Chen tested his enhanced abilities and found that his powerful Wind-Thunder Envoy state could last only one or two minutes.
• Su Chen left an anonymous warning at Sun Tai's home about Strange God cultists near the Trade General Warehouse.
• Sun Tai found the letter, checked the neighborhood surveillance, and concluded its sender was at least a Tier 2 Professional.
• At breakfast, Sun Tai showed Su Chen the warning, and Su Chen feigned surprise while urging him to investigate.
• Sun Tai explained that investigating the Trade General Warehouse was not simple.

Su Chen discussed a suspicious message concerning the Trade General Warehouse with Sun Tai, while Xia Hanshi uncovered signs that Black Pagoda was preparing to summon a Strange God vessel in Southwind City. The chapter left Xia Hanshi investigating Sun Tai’s informant and Su Chen considering making trouble near the warehouse.

• Sun Tai told Su Chen that Zhang Feng controlled Southwind City’s trade and worried that acting on the suspicious message might trigger a political struggle.
• Zhou Xian delivered a black statue to the priest, then received three Tier 2 believers to help him investigate and act on his own score.
• Xia Hanshi explained that Black Pagoda had stayed in Southwind City because it might be waiting for a Strange God vessel, and ordered the officials to search for signs of its arrival.
• Xia Hanshi examined Yu Xuan’s charred body and learned that Sun Tai’s informant had supplied intelligence about the previous operation.
• Xia Hanshi asked who the informant was, then left without revealing his suspicions.
• After Sun Tai left, Su Chen considered causing trouble near the Trade General Warehouse.

Su Chen sensed two Strange God cultists entering the Inspection Branch and killed one when they attacked him in the gravity room. Xia Hanshi watched the incident through surveillance equipment as Su Chen emerged into the lobby, leaving the guards to handle the aftermath.

• Su Chen detected two Tier 2 intruders near the gravity room, put on his azure scales, and warned Old Sun while Zhou Xian waited outside the branch.
• The cultists broke through the gravity room wall, but Su Chen had hidden himself and killed the first attacker with the Azure Cord.
• Xia Hanshi stopped Lu Sheng from sending support and watched the intruders’ heat signatures through the surveillance equipment.
• During a shift change, Su Chen fell through the damaged ceiling into the lobby and told Liu Cheng that someone had tried to assassinate him.
• Su Chen left the guards to follow procedure, and they gathered around the cultist’s charred corpse.

Su Chen defeated two Strange God believers at the Inspection Branch before Xia Hanshi confronted him and questioned him about his abilities and past. After learning that Su Chen was a refugee with a Brilliant Silver physique and Red Gold spirit, Xia Hanshi reacted with chilling certainty.

• Zhou Xian watched two people die at the Inspection Branch and decided to wait rather than enter.
• Su Chen killed the two attackers with Azure Cord, then discovered that Xia Hanshi had been watching him.
• Xia Hanshi questioned Su Chen about Yuan Chenyang, Yu Xuan’s death, and his hunt for Strange God believers.
• Su Chen revealed that he had the Storm Hunter and Arcane Scholar Professions, and explained that he had begun accumulating experience as a refugee.
• Xia Hanshi revealed that he was also a refugee and asked about Su Chen’s talent.
• Su Chen disclosed his Brilliant Silver physique and Red Gold spirit, and Xia Hanshi reacted as if his suspicion had been confirmed.

Su Chen accepted Xia Hanshi as his teacher after Xia explained the advantages of becoming an Inner Court seed and promised not to force him into anything. Xia then asked about Su Chen’s knowledge of the Strange God believers, confirmed Su Chen had no ties to the Strange Gods, and offered to deal with the City Lord’s people watching outside.

• Xia Hanshi told Su Chen he would make him an Inner Court seed immediately and could help him act more freely within the Tribunal.
• Su Chen accepted Xia Hanshi as his teacher, partly because Xia had treated him with patience and promised not to force him into his pursuit.
• Xia Hanshi asked how Su Chen had found the Strange God believers and whether he had discovered a Strange Artifact, but Su Chen offered no explanation.
• Su Chen reminded Xia that Yingfeng’s envoys had already tested him and found no connection to the Strange Gods.
• Xia confirmed that the City Lord had sent third-rank people to watch Su Chen, and Su Chen declined Xia’s offer to give them a taste of his overbearing ways.
• Xia took Su Chen back to test his talent again, while Su Chen wondered how the Sage’s enhancement would affect the result.