Chapter Summaries

Su Chen and Zhang Hengyu arrived at the Tribunal headquarters for the public assessment, where Chu Xuan drew attention as the Ink-Jade talent. After Xia Hanshi returned and clashed with Wei Yinshuo over recent events, the combat assessment began with Su Chen, Chu Xuan, and three others placed in the first group.

• Su Chen, Zhang Hengyu, and Du Yu traveled to the Tribunal headquarters, where Du Yu joined the spectators and Su Chen spotted Chu Yunze, Pang Xingwen, and Meng Qi.
• Chu Xuan arrived to a crowd of admirers, and Du Yu and Zhu Mingxu discussed his influence and Su Chen's refusal to join his faction.
• Xia Hanshi returned and traded accusations with Wei Yinshuo over his actions in Southwind and the Cult of the Strange Gods before Chong Jingtian ordered them to stop.
• Chu Yunze urged Chu Xuan to impress the Tribunal Judges during the assessment, while Pang Xingwen mentioned Su Chen's dual Scarlet-Gold Talents.
• Tribunal Guards separated the participants by talent, and the official announced that the combat assessment would begin with Su Chen, Chu Xuan, Pang Xingwen, Chu Yunze, and Meng Qi.

Su Chen crushed his attack assessment by combining wind, lightning, and psychic force to knock Chen Liang unconscious, while Chu Xuan’s Ink Jade talent produced a far less impressive result. The chapter ended with Su Chen and Chu Xuan summoned to meet the chief judge and other Tribunal leaders, whose tense reactions suggested the assessment had stirred conflict.

• Meng Qi barely forced a Bedrock Guardian to retreat and qualified only as an ordinary Inner Court member, while Pang Xingwen and Chu Yunze qualified as Inner Court candidates.
• Su Chen struck Chen Liang with a combined wind-and-lightning attack supported by psychic force, sending him flying and earning the highest available assessment rating.
• Tribunal leaders discussed Su Chen’s top-grade Profession development and his combined abilities, while Xia Hanshi objected to Chen Liang being used as Su Chen’s examiner.
• Chu Xuan pushed his examiner outside the boundary and qualified as an Inner Court Seed, but onlookers compared his performance unfavorably with Su Chen’s.
• The person in charge summoned Su Chen and Chu Xuan to meet the chief, and they entered a room where Chong Jingtian, Xia Hanshi, Yuan Poshan, and other leaders watched them tensely.

Su Chen revealed that he had an Ink-Jade mental talent, changing the chief judges’ debate over whether he and Chu Xuan deserved Core Seed status. Both were named Core Seeds, and Chong Jingtian anticipated upheaval in the Inner Court.

• Xia Hanshi argued that Chu Xuan should become a Core Seed, while Wei Yinshuo objected that Su Chen would also have to qualify.
• Chong Jingtian declined to make an exception immediately but named Su Chen and Chu Xuan reserve candidates who could earn promotion through further accomplishments.
• Su Chen tested the device and revealed an Ink-Jade talent, shocking the chief judges and prompting Chong Jingtian to approve both him and Chu Xuan as Core Seeds.
• Su Chen and Chu Xuan retested and confirmed their Ink-Jade talents, with Su Chen also revealing a Scarlet-Gold physical talent.
• Chong Jingtian sent Su Chen and Chu Xuan away and remarked that three Ink-Jade talents could stir the stagnant Inner Court.

Su Chen and Chu Xuan both received Core Seed status after the Tribunal assessment, and the announcement revealed that Su Chen also had an Ink-Jade Talent. As Su Chen entered the Tribunal, Gu Bing explained that the Core Seeds built factions and that Xia Hanshi’s decision to keep Su Chen’s strength hidden had cost him an early chance to recruit allies.

• Chu Xuan told his companions that the chief had granted him Core Seed status and that Su Chen had become one too.
• Su Chen met Zhang Hengyu and Zhang Yunqing, declined to meet Ming Lin, and waited for the Tribunal assessment to conclude.
• The official announced that Chu Xuan and Su Chen had both been granted Core Seed status, revealing that Su Chen possessed an Ink-Jade Talent.
• Su Chen exchanged contact details with newly admitted Inner Court members before Gu Bing summoned him to meet Xia Hanshi.
• Gu Bing explained that Core Seeds gathered factions around them and said Xia Hanshi’s decision to hide Su Chen’s strength had cost him a chance to recruit allies early.

Su Chen settled into his new life as a Core Seed in Yingfeng, learning about the Tribunal’s power, training benefits, and political rivalries. After Xia Hanshi explained the threats and secrets surrounding Su Chen’s position, Pang Xingwen arrived to invite him to a family banquet, leaving Su Chen suspicious of the offer.

• Gu Bing explained the Tribunal’s authority and the limited training devices and potions available to Core Seeds, while Su Chen learned that his dual Professions complicated his assignments.
• Pang Xingwen’s father ordered him to apologize to Su Chen and invite him to a family banquet, revealing that Pang Qi had been killed; an unknown voice discussed an oracle identifying Su Chen as its target.
• Chong Jingtian told four officials that the Cult of the Strange Gods had coordinated actions involving Black Pagoda, Faceless Ghost, and Crimson Pillar, with an accomplice inside Yingfeng.
• Xia Hanshi promised to arrange Su Chen’s training devices and Profession choices, discussed support for Gu Bing’s family, and revealed that his three previous students were trapped somewhere.
• Su Chen toured his villa with the mechanical puppet Zero and discovered that his Core Seed allotment included fifteen tubes of Glazed Blood.
• Pang Xingwen visited Su Chen, blamed Chu Xuan for their conflict, and invited him to his father’s banquet; Su Chen suspected the invitation might be a trap.

Su Chen accepted Pang Xingwen’s invitation while investigating Strange God activity, then chose two Tier 3 Professions and ordered equipment from the Tribunal. The chapter ended with Pang Xingwen’s father revealing that the invitation had been a display for a faceless Black Pagoda agent, and that he had no intention of harming Su Chen.

• Pang Xingwen invited Su Chen to a banquet, and Su Chen sensed faint Strange Artifact-like fluctuations around Yingfeng after transforming into the Black Pagoda Priest.
• Su Chen heard reports of unrest over the new Core Seeds, and Ming Lin warned him that the Tribunal’s old balance of power was about to change.
• Ming Lin guided Su Chen to the Profession storage area, where Su Chen selected Gale Thunderbolt Envoy and Arcane Weaver and used Strange God's Power to begin upgrading Arcane Weaver.
• Su Chen ordered Shadowveil Wind Boots to improve his speed and concealment.
• Pang Xingwen told his father that Su Chen would likely attend the banquet, and his father told him to build a relationship with Chu Xuan.
• A faceless Black Pagoda agent criticized Pang Xingwen’s father, who revealed that the invitation was only for show and that he would not risk the Pang Family by attacking Su Chen.

Su Chen received new training equipment and a Tier 3 weapon before learning that Xia Hanshi was preparing a Tribunal operation against the Pang Family for suspected ties to the Cult of the Strange Gods. The operation was set to begin at ten that night, while Xia Hanshi ordered Su Chen and Bu Siqi to remain behind.

• The Faceless Man and Pang Xingwen's father discussed why Black Pagoda was pursuing Su Chen, while Xia Hanshi told Su Chen he was nearly certain the Pang Family had ties to the Cult of the Strange Gods.
• Su Chen tested the newly installed gravity chamber and Spirit Realm Instrument, accepted Gu Bing's banquet invitation, and received word that Jiang Xi had been admitted to the Crafting Office.
• Jiang Xi delivered Su Chen's Shadowveil Wind Boots, which concealed him and increased his speed but consumed energy rapidly.
• Su Chen went to Xia Hanshi's address and found Bu Siqi and other adjudicators preparing to attack the Pang Family's stronghold.
• Xia Hanshi explained that intercepted communications and earlier investigations implicated the Pang Family, then ordered Bu Siqi and Su Chen to stay behind while the Tribunal assembled for the ten o'clock operation.

Xia Hanshi led the Tribunal’s Punishment Division in a raid on the Pang Family after the Elders’ Council accused them of colluding with the Cult of the Strange Gods. The battle left Pang Hui exposed, and the chapter ended as another senior official arrived and found him kneeling.

• Xia Hanshi ordered five Punishment Division squads to attack the Pang Family, capture designated targets, and kill the rest.
• The Tribunal stormed the Pang Family building, while Pang Hui sent Pang Xingwen into a hidden passage with the Black Pagoda Believer and another accomplice.
• Pang Kuan fought the judges with his fourth-rank abilities, but Zhao Gang killed him.
• Pang Hui revealed his fifth-rank Black Crow Flame Spirit and fought Teng Liang’s Ancient Spirit Giant until Xia Hanshi intervened.
• Wei Yinshuo arrived and confronted the Tribunal, but Xia Hanshi presented the Elders’ Council’s order to execute the Pang Family for colluding with the Cult of the Strange Gods.
• Wei Yinshuo accused Pang Hui of treachery, and another official arrived, demanding to know what Xia Hanshi and Wei Yinshuo were doing before spotting Pang Hui.

Su Chen tracked the escaped Pang Xingwen to a hidden meeting with Strange God believers and used his Black Pagoda Priest disguise to uncover their plans. After killing the believers and Pang Xingwen, he took their Strange Artifacts and discovered that the final item was a Black Pagoda God Egg made from divine blood.

• Wei Yinshuo killed Pang Hui, and Xia Hanshi revealed the Elders' Council token to justify the Tribunal operation.
• Su Chen learned that Pang Xingwen had escaped and followed a strange pull to a construction site, where he found Pang Xingwen and two Strange God believers.
• Su Chen revealed himself as a Black Pagoda Priest, learned that the cult planned to block news of a large blood sacrifice across the Ten Southern Border Cities, and ordered the Black Pagoda Believer to kill the Faceless Ghost Believer.
• Su Chen killed the Black Pagoda Believer and Pang Xingwen, then took their bodies and opened the two Strange Artifact cases.
• Su Chen found separate Black Pagoda and Faceless Ghost powers, along with a Black Pagoda God Egg made from divine blood that could extend lifespan but contained the seed of a god.

Su Chen discovered that the Faceless Ghost's power could erase a Profession advancement requirement, while the destruction of the Pang Family reshaped alliances around the Tribunal. After Gu Zhengyang warned him that the Inner Court was headed for upheaval, Su Chen learned that the chief judge had replaced the fixed Core Seed positions with a challenge system.

• Su Chen used the Faceless Ghost's power on [Gale Thunderbolt Envoy], erasing its third advancement requirement, then used Black Pagoda's influence to learn that upgrading it required three types of thunder cores.
• Bu Siqi reported that the Tribunal had nearly finished dealing with the Pang Family, but Pang Xingwen had escaped through a secret passage and Inspection Guards had obstructed the search.
• Chu Xuan's group discussed the fallout from the Pang Family's collusion with the Cult of the Strange Gods, and Meng Qi guessed that the chief judge was allowing unrest to build for a larger plan.
• Su Chen attended a family dinner at the Gu estate, where Gu Zhengyang warned him that the Inner Court's four-Core-Seed structure was due for major change and promised the Gu Family's support.
• Zero told Su Chen that the chief judge had announced a challenge system, ending the six fixed Core Seed positions and giving others a chance to challenge the current Core Seeds.

Su Chen visited the Translation Office to ask Sang Vast Sea about upgrading his weapons and unexpectedly resonated with a Holy Word Stone, revealing a new Profession. Sang Vast Sea sent him away after warning him to keep the discovery secret, then sought out a senior colleague struggling with Divine Language.

• Su Chen visited Sang Vast Sea and learned that an Armament Master could upgrade weapons by transforming them with materials and mental energy.
• Su Chen saw a Holy Word Stone and discovered that he could resonate with it, identifying a Profession requirement involving auxiliary potions and the word “digest.”
• Sang Vast Sea dismissed Jin Yunxuan and warned the Translation Office staff to keep Su Chen’s discovery confidential.
• Sang Vast Sea told Su Chen to keep his resonance ability secret, and Su Chen asked whether he could exchange the deciphered Profession for Armament Master.
• After Su Chen left, Sang Vast Sea went to meet an old senior colleague who was struggling to decipher Divine Language.

Sang Vast Sea and his senior brother discussed Su Chen’s resonance with Divine Language and the risks of involving him in their research. Meanwhile, the Tribunal introduced the Challenger Arena and prepared a Core Seed ranking system, while Su Chen trained and learned that the new rules would force the established Seeds to compete.

• Sang Vast Sea told his senior brother that Su Chen had resonated with a second Holy Word Stone, and they discussed recruiting him to study Divine Language despite his ties to Xia Hanshi and the Tribunal.
• Su Chen returned to the Tribunal, where Bai Fengxi discussed the Challenger Arena announcement, which would equalize combatants’ Profession tiers and delay challenges against Su Chen and Chu Xuan until they reached tier three.
• Gu Bing delivered potions to Su Chen, who acquired the Drug Tester Profession and gained Potent Metabolism, increasing the effects of potions on him by 25%.
• Su Chen trained through the night with Ghost-Lost Essence, Black Water, and Glazed Blood, used them rapidly, and realized he would need additional funding for his training costs.
• Ming Lin told Su Chen that the chief judge planned to rank the Core Seeds and name the winner of a series of matches the First Seed, a move intended to make the established factions compete against one another.
• Ming Lin said Chu Xuan’s supporters had already begun to desert him, while Su Chen predicted the challenge system would eventually extend to ordinary members and Inner Court Seeds.

Su Chen trained while the Tribunal’s new challenge system unsettled its Core Seeds, and Xia Hanshi warned him that at least five Strange Gods were conspiring across several cities. After more than half a month of challenges and training, Su Chen was approached by Inner Court candidate He Kang.

• Chu Xuan decided to risk advancing to the top-tier Night Butcher profession because he was determined to surpass Su Chen.
• Strange God believers agreed to investigate Yingfeng’s guards and accelerate their plans after the Pang Family’s destruction and the loss of the Black Pagoda’s Divine Blood.
• Xia Hanshi told Su Chen that at least five Strange Gods were working together, then read Su Chen’s letter naming cities that might be targeted and left Yingfeng with several judges, including Wei Yinshuo.
• Fang Yan and the other eligible Core Seeds defended their rankings against challengers, while Su Chen continued training and helping decipher the Holy Word Stone.
• He Kang waited outside Su Chen’s room and told him he had been there most of the day.

Su Chen received Wei Yufan’s invitation and learned that the Tribunal and the Inspection Department were clashing over an adjudicator’s death. At the Translation Office, Sang Vast Sea revealed the Armament Master requirements, which the Crimson-Flame Thunder-Responding Great Venerable’s influence dramatically reduced, and told Su Chen that another Holy Word Stone had been found.

• He Kang delivered Wei Yufan’s invitation and offered to help Su Chen settle his feud with Chu Xuan and conceal his advancement.
• Su Chen watched a duel at the challenge arena, where spectators discussed the Core Seeds and the threats facing Su Chen and Chu Xuan.
• Yang Yan told Su Chen that an adjudicator had died and the Inspection Guard had taken the body, while other adjudicators suspected foul play.
• Sang Vast Sea told Su Chen that the Drug Tester Profession had been deciphered and gave it a D-rank rating.
• Sang Vast Sea revealed the Armament Master requirements, and Su Chen’s panel reduced the metal-refining requirement to ten tons, completed the study requirement, and promised an extra reward.
• Sang Vast Sea told Su Chen that a Holy Word Stone had been found near Panku City and would eventually reach the Translation Office.

Su Chen learned from Sang Vast Sea that Morning Star Rank was Ninth Rank, then was recruited by Cheng Lang of the Inspection Department with promises of advancement and power. Su Chen reported the offer to Chong Jingtian, who urged him to exploit the Security Department’s resources cautiously, and Su Chen left determined to advance to third rank soon.

• Sang Vast Sea suggested that Su Chen might understand Divine Language in a special state and explained that Morning Star Rank was Ninth Rank.
• Cheng Lang offered Su Chen a guaranteed top-tier Profession, support in becoming chief adjudicator, and the security director position as a fallback in exchange for curbing Chong Jingtian’s reforms.
• Su Chen told Cheng Lang he would consider the offer, then reported the recruitment attempt to Chong Jingtian.
• Chong Jingtian encouraged Su Chen to engage with the Security Department for resources but warned him to avoid its top-tier Profession because it carried hidden dangers.
• Su Chen left Chong Jingtian’s office thinking that many people were watching him and that he should advance to third rank soon.

Su Chen fulfilled the Armament Master requirement by personally refining crispgold ore while training, then gained the profession and an ability that could upgrade his weapons using fewer materials. After months of upheaval among the Core Seeds, Du Yu arrived with Cheng Lang’s invitation for Su Chen to meet him at the Translation Office.

• Su Chen consulted Li Zhe and Ruan Yuntao, who identified his special Profession as Armament Master and arranged for the Crafting Office to provide materials and a forge.
• At the Crafting Office, Su Chen insisted on refining the crispgold ore himself, met Jiang Xi, and moved a forge and the first batch of ore to his Tribunal residence so he could smith under gravity training.
• Su Chen’s smithing continued as Core Seed Feng Zi defeated Liang Jingcheng, while other Inner Court seeds challenged the remaining Core Seeds and Su Chen ignored the turmoil.
• Su Chen advanced his Burning-Heart Meditation Method, completed the refining requirement, and acquired the Armament Master Profession and its Armament Nurturing ability, along with a reward that halved its material costs.
• After discovering his Mystic Artifacts were already fully nurtured, Su Chen stopped smithing and heard from Zero that several Core Seed positions remained under threat.
• Du Yu visited Su Chen and conveyed Cheng Lang’s invitation to meet at the Translation Office, which Su Chen accepted.

Su Chen bargained with Cheng Lang for arcane energy crystals, learned that Liu Chen had taken lightning cores reserved by the Gu Family, and prepared to advance to Tier 3. After surviving a terrifying encounter with Black Pagoda in the Nether Domain, he advanced to Arcane Grandmaster and gained powerful new abilities, leaving him ready to confront Liu Chen.

• Du Yu told Su Chen that the Inspection Department remained furious with the Tribunal after the Pang Family's destruction, while Su Chen wondered why his share of the reward had not arrived.
• Cheng Lang offered Su Chen a place with the Security Department, and Su Chen negotiated three arcane energy crystals in exchange for considering the offer.
• Gu Bing told Su Chen that someone inside the Tribunal had taken the lightning cores the Gu Family had reserved, and Liu Chen admitted he had taken them for his younger brother.
• Su Chen reached master level in Cloud-Breath Meditation, fulfilled Arcane Grandmaster's requirements, and entered the Whispering Trial, where he discovered he was standing on Black Pagoda's head before Zero's light pulled him back.
• Su Chen advanced to Tier 3 as an Arcane Grandmaster, gained Gaze of Black Pagoda and several enhanced abilities, and looked toward the fading daylight with Liu Chen in mind.

Su Chen upgraded his weapons, ambushed and killed Liu Chen, and stole three arcane energy crystals that advanced his Azure Thunder Overlord Profession. The Tribunal mobilized after Liu Chen’s death, and Su Chen used a mental seed to spy on the surviving woman’s interrogation, where she identified the killer as a Black Pagoda Believer.

• Su Chen upgraded Azure Cord into the Liquid Metal Phantom Blade and reinforced his scale armor to Tier 3.
• Su Chen ambushed Liu Chen at a hotel, used a mental attack to stop his elemental transformation, and killed him with a lightning-charged axe.
• Su Chen searched Liu Chen’s room and car, took a metal case containing three arcane energy crystals, and unlocked the Azure Thunder Overlord Profession.
• The Tribunal mobilized after Liu Chen’s death, and Bu Siqi told Su Chen that the Liu Family was pressuring the Inspection Department amid a series of judge killings.
• Su Chen installed a new body for Zero, then used the mental seed on Liu Chen’s girlfriend to observe her interrogation by Inspection Guards.

Su Chen advanced to the third tier and gained powerful Azure Thunder abilities while the Tribunal’s investigation into Liu Chen’s death stirred conflict in Yingfeng. Ming Lin then brought Su Chen to watch Chu Xuan’s challenge, where the crowd treated them as sworn rivals.

• The Tribunal and Inspection Department clashed over Liu Chen’s body and the investigation, which Chong Jingtian later allowed the Tribunal to join; the ensuing crackdown led to thousands of arrests before the unrest subsided.
• Strange God cultists argued over Liu Chen’s killing, and the Faceless Ghost Believer ordered the Black Pagoda Believers to lie low and stop watching Su Chen.
• Su Chen mastered the Black-Iron Body Tempering Method, advanced to a third-tier top-grade Profession, and gained Azure Thunder Cloudbreaker, Indestructible Gang-Thunder Armor, Azure Thunder Divine Movement, and Azure Thunder Overlord.
• Su Chen asked Gu Bing to prepare third-tier support potions, then learned from Ming Lin that Chu Xuan had advanced to a third-tier top-grade Profession and was facing a fourth-tier challenger named Xiong Tao.
• Ming Lin took Su Chen to the crowded Challenge Hall, where the audience called him Chu Xuan’s sworn rival.

Su Chen attended Chu Xuan’s tier-three challenge, where the gathered core seeds and chief judges discussed their rivalry and the Tribunal’s growing factional tensions. Chu Xuan began fighting Xiong Tao, while Wei Yufan’s remarks left Su Chen and Ming Lin suspicious of his intentions.

• Su Chen and Ming Lin arrived at the packed Challenge Hall, where spectators compared Su Chen and Chu Xuan and the core seeds gathered to watch.
• Wei Yufan and He Kang discussed Su Chen, Chu Xuan, Liu Chen, and the power struggles among the core seeds, while Feng Ze considered targeting his former superior Liang Jingcheng.
• Chu Xuan entered the arena, spotted Su Chen, and renewed his resolve to erase his humiliation as chief judges Chong Jingtian and Jiang Shumo discussed the two rivals and the Tribunal’s factions.
• Xiong Tao, a tier-four professional suppressed to tier three, entered the arena, and Chu Xuan transformed into a Blood Butcher to face him.
• Wei Yufan said reconciliation had come too late, prompting Su Chen and Ming Lin to doubt him, as Chu Xuan and Xiong Tao exchanged their first attacks.