Chapter Summaries

Su Chen accepted Chu Xuan’s challenge after Wei Yufan revealed that he had advanced to Tier 3. Su Chen used a mental attack and a lightning-powered strike to defeat Chu Xuan in one blow, leaving the spectators stunned.

• Chu Xuan defeated Xiong Tao, whose drained biological energy made him weaker as the fight continued.
• Wei Yufan revealed that Su Chen had advanced to Tier 3, and Chu Xuan challenged him to fight.
• Su Chen sprang into the arena and accepted Chu Xuan’s challenge, despite Ming Lin’s suspicions that the event had been arranged to target him.
• Chu Xuan charged Su Chen with his blood-red cleavers, while Su Chen unleashed lightning and used Gaze of Black Pagoda to disorient him.
• Su Chen struck Chu Xuan with a lightning-charged punch, caving in his chest and sending him into the arena barrier.
• The spectators watched in stunned silence as Chu Xuan lay paralyzed and badly injured after a single blow.

Su Chen defeated Chu Xuan in the challenge arena, then talked him down when Chu Xuan begged to be killed. After the fight, Su Chen planted a mental seed in Chu Xuan and received offers of support from several powerful families.

• Su Chen defeated Chu Xuan with a mental attack, prompting Ming Lin and the others to suspect Su Chen had concealed the strength of his Professions.
• The Tribunal’s leaders discussed Su Chen’s unusual abilities, agreed to check for contamination without investigating him without evidence, and planned a screening using the Space Storage User Profession.
• Chu Xuan begged Su Chen to kill him, but Su Chen challenged his resentment and urged him to focus on training; Chu Xuan then collapsed into the medics’ care.
• Su Chen secretly planted a mental seed in Chu Xuan to monitor whether he overcame his fixation, then spoke with Ming Lin, who said Su Chen would eventually become the chief seed.
• Families sent Su Chen invitations and offers of support, and he told Gu Bing to have her grandfather select suitable supporters and manage Su Chen’s share of the Pang Family’s assets.

Su Chen watched Meng Qi betray Chu Xuan and use a strange god’s power to steal his appearance, talent, and Profession. After learning that Meng Qi planned to target him and was searching for Black Pagoda divine blood to retrieve a Stone Tablet, Su Chen decided to investigate and report the conspirators without exposing himself.

• Gu Bing delivered supplies and Su Chen began training with new D-rank methods while monitoring Chu Xuan through his mental seed.
• Meng Qi told Chu Xuan he could help him surpass Su Chen, while Su Chen sensed that something was wrong with Meng Qi.
• Gu Bing briefed Su Chen on possible family allies and business plans, but Su Chen abruptly rushed away when his mental seed began to fail.
• Su Chen witnessed Meng Qi and a Faceless Ghost Believer drain Chu Xuan and transform Meng Qi into his likeness, granting him Chu Xuan’s talent and Profession.
• Meng Qi discussed challenging a Core Seed, finding Black Pagoda divine blood, and extracting a Stone Tablet, then named Su Chen as a possible target.
• After the mental seed was destroyed, Su Chen resolved to report the conspirators cautiously and use his knowledge of the Black Pagoda Believers to find the divine blood.

Su Chen arranged Tribunal protection, hosted faction leaders, and drank with Ming Lin while waiting to hunt Black Pagoda Believers. After Meng Qi became a Core Seed, Chong Jingtian summoned all six Core Seeds, while Su Chen learned that Sang Vast Sea was a respected figure at the Translation Office.

• Su Chen asked Teng Liang for an elite squad, and Wu Yang arrived with fifteen adjudicators to guard him; Su Chen intended to use them to hunt Black Pagoda Believers.
• Su Chen refused to meet Chu Xuan, who returned to apologize, and later invited representatives of several factions to dinner at the Tribunal.
• Su Chen used his Black Pagoda Priest abilities to identify three areas with strong responses, then drank with Ming Lin for several days as they discussed Wei Yufan's plan to advance to Tier 5.
• Zero reported that Meng Qi had defeated Feng Ze, become a Core Seed, and taken the Blood Butcher Profession.
• Chong Jingtian summoned all six Core Seeds, while he and Sang Vast Sea discussed Spatial Crystals and a new Profession; Su Chen and Ming Lin arrived and saw Sang Vast Sea's Translation Office car.

Su Chen attended the Space Storage User induction and secretly completed its final requirement, gaining Spatial Concealment. The gathering ended with Chu Yunze arriving in panic to report that Chu Xuan was dead.

• Ming Lin told Su Chen that Old Pu had discovered Skyglow and overseen Yingfeng's Defense Spirit Ring, while Su Chen learned more about Old Pu's ties to Sang Vast Sea and the Translation Office.
• Chong Jingtian gathered Su Chen, Ming Lin, Meng Qi, Wei Yufan, and Zhong Ming to induct them as Space Storage Users, and Su Chen realized that passing through a spatial rift would fulfill his last requirement.
• Wei Yufan, Zhong Ming, and Ming Lin failed their inductions, while Su Chen passed through the rift and secretly completed his requirement, acquiring Spatial Concealment.
• Meng Qi suffered an induction backlash and vomited blood after leaving the rift, while Su Chen tried again without success and asked Sang Vast Sea what happened to a user's dimensional space after death.
• After Chong Jingtian questioned Chu Xuan's absence, Chu Yunze rushed in and announced that Chu Xuan was dead.

After Chu Xuan was found dead inside the Tribunal, Chong Jingtian ordered a lockdown and Jiang Shumo launched a citywide investigation, assigning Su Chen and the other Core Seeds to help. Su Chen tested his new ability to hide between layers of space, then led a squadron into Yingfeng to investigate Strange God believers while suspecting Jiang Shumo was using them as bait.

• Chu Yunze reported finding Chu Xuan dead in the gravity training room, so Chong Jingtian locked down the Tribunal and ordered his memories examined.
• Jiang Shumo inspected Chu Xuan's withered body and concluded the murder was likely connected to a Strange God, prompting Chong Jingtian to seek emergency authority from the Elders' Council.
• Jiang Shumo convened Tribunal leaders and ordered the Core Seeds to join the investigation, with Su Chen and the others tasked with mobilizing their connections outside the Tribunal.
• Bu Siqi and Teng Liang warned Su Chen that Jiang Shumo might be using him as bait, and Su Chen revealed that Chu Yunze's memories were being examined.
• Su Chen tested his new spatial concealment ability, discovering it hid him from detection but rapidly drained his mental power and left him unable to move.
• Su Chen took command of a 120-person Punishment Division squadron and led them out to investigate, choosing to keep up appearances before targeting known Black Pagoda Believer locations.

Su Chen led a Tribunal raid on Cloud Sea Pavilion, where he sensed something connected to the control of Divine Blood beneath the building. After Wu Yang cracked the lobby floor, three Tier 3 Professionals ambushed Su Chen, but he quickly defeated them, leaving the suspected hidden structure below still unexplored.

• You Shan reported that the suspected man was innocent and that the Core Seeds were unharmed, while Jiang Shumo arranged to use Wei Yufan and the others as bait.
• A week after Chu Xuan's death, Su Chen and his team surrounded Cloud Sea Pavilion and detained its occupants, including manager Zhou Jun.
• Su Chen searched the building and sensed that the source of the strange pull was very close, while the Inspection Department's Zhu Peng demanded that the Tribunal withdraw.
• Su Chen called Cheng Lang, who ordered Zhu Peng to withdraw, then instructed Wu Yang to smash through the lobby floor.
• Wu Yang's attack cracked the unusually tough floor, and three concealed Tier 3 Professionals ambushed Su Chen as the adjudicators investigated the fissure.
• Su Chen swiftly incapacitated all three attackers and turned his attention back to the fissures beneath the lobby.

Su Chen and Wu Yang confronted Pang Yongliang beneath Cloud Sea Pavilion, where Su Chen ambushed and helped defeat him. A Black Pagoda Priest emerged from the cavern, but You Shan sealed him inside a crystalline array.

• Pang Yongliang revealed himself as a surviving member of the Pang Family and attacked the Tribunal adjudicators, targeting Su Chen.
• Su Chen escaped Pang Yongliang’s strike, then used the spatial interlayer and [Gaze of Black Pagoda] to ambush him and send him into Wu Yang’s flames.
• Wu Yang’s adjudicators captured the badly injured Pang Yongliang and investigated the cavern beneath Cloud Sea Pavilion.
• Black mist surged from the cavern, and Wu Yang warned everyone to flee as a powerful Black Pagoda Priest emerged and trapped them in its mire.
• You Shan appeared and enclosed the Black Pagoda Priest in a crystalline array, making the surrounding darkness recede.

Su Chen’s team captured a Black Pagoda Priest, while Teng Liang tested Meng Qi and exposed his hidden connection to the Strange Gods. Meng Qi appeared to die after Teng Liang struck him, leaving his fate uncertain as Su Chen’s team searched the Black Pagoda base.

• You Shan captured the Black Pagoda Priest and told Su Chen’s team to finish their search before returning to the Tribunal.
• Bu Siqi and Teng Liang watched Meng Qi’s team lose a confrontation with the Inspection Guard, and Teng Liang decided to test Meng Qi by taking Jiang Shumo’s place.
• A sandstorm swept Meng Qi into the underground black market, where he revealed his Strange God power to stop an apparent Corrupt Blood Giant.
• Teng Liang transformed into an Ancient Spirit Giant and attacked Meng Qi, who collapsed after the punch stopped short of him.
• Su Chen sent his adjudicators to map the cavern, listened to Yang Yan’s suspicions about the clues they had found, and waited above the fissure for evidence of a divine-blood control method.

Su Chen’s team uncovered a Black Pagoda hideout and a chant that granted him the ability to manipulate Black Pagoda’s divine blood, raising fears that divine blood remained in Yingfeng City. Bu Siqi then told Su Chen that Teng Liang had killed Meng Qi, and Su Chen sent him to contact their teacher while preparing to return to the Tribunal with evidence from the raid.

• Su Chen and Wu Yang searched the underground cavern, found restrained Black Pagoda Believers, and discovered three empty Strange Artifact boxes; Su Chen secretly absorbed the power from two artifacts.
• The adjudicators found a half-destroyed incantation scroll, and Zhang Yunqing translated its surviving text.
• Su Chen’s panel recognized the chant as incomplete Black Pagoda knowledge and gave him the ability Chant-Blood Manipulation, which could command Black Pagoda’s divine blood.
• Wu Yang ordered the discovery reported and suspended the handover of the site after Zhang Yunqing warned that divine blood might still be in Yingfeng City.
• Bu Siqi arrived and told Su Chen that Teng Liang had killed Meng Qi; Su Chen calmed him and heard that the Tribunal had begun an internal investigation.
• Su Chen instructed Bu Siqi to contact their teacher, then decided to finish handling the Black Pagoda discoveries before returning to the Tribunal.

Su Chen brought a translated spell scroll to the Tribunal as Teng Liang faced accusations of murdering Meng Qi without evidence. A Black Pagoda Believer then exposed signs that Meng Qi had been compromised, but the timing and circumstances left the Tribunal suspicious.

• Su Chen left the Black Pagoda Priest’s lair with the spell scroll and translation, leaving Wu Yang and the others behind as he headed to the Tribunal.
• At Teng Liang’s hearing, Lei Tieyan demanded evidence that Meng Qi belonged to the Cult of the Strange Gods, while Jiang Shumo proposed examining Teng Liang’s memories.
• Su Chen presented the translated scroll, which revealed information connected to the Black Pagoda Priest’s lair and earned Chong Jingtian’s praise, but Su Chen’s claim that Meng Qi was tied to the Strange Gods was dismissed.
• A restrained Black Pagoda Believer arrived claiming there was a Faceless Ghost mole in the Tribunal and began chanting to the Faceless Ghost.
• Gray-white chains appeared around Meng Qi’s corpse, and a physical aptitude test revealed an inky pillar of light; the believer then killed himself, leaving the Tribunal to suspect Meng Qi had been compromised.

The Tribunal postponed its decision on Teng Liang after Xia Hanshi threatened anyone who harmed him, while doubts about Meng Qi grew. Bu Siqi then told Su Chen that Xia Hanshi had uncovered widespread Strange God activity and traces of Yuandu’s Church, leaving Su Chen with new questions about the four cities’ uneasy peace.

• The Tribunal debated whether Teng Liang had killed Chu Xuan and whether Meng Qi was compromised, until Bu Siqi delivered Xia Hanshi’s threat against anyone who harmed Teng Liang.
• Chong Jingtian ordered further investigation into Meng Qi, and Jiang Shumo took charge while Teng Liang and the Black Pagoda Believer’s body were removed.
• Ming Lin and Su Chen discussed the evidence against Meng Qi, and Su Chen waited for Bu Siqi to return from meeting Chong Jingtian.
• Bu Siqi told Su Chen that Xia Hanshi had uncovered large-scale Strange God activity in several southern cities, killed three City Lords and thousands of administrators, and reported two cities sacrificed and Wei Yinshuo missing.
• Bu Siqi revealed that Xia Hanshi had also found traces of Yuandu’s Church, then explained that the four cities’ apparent cooperation had followed a long history of conflict and a sudden ceasefire ten years earlier.

Su Chen learned that Yuandu worshipped the Crimson Thunder Great Venerable and discovered that Yuandu was sending visitors to Yingfeng, deepening his suspicions about the deity’s connection to the Crimson-Flame Thunder-Responding Great Venerable. The chapter ended with him returning from seeing Sang Vast Sea off, pondering what the name meant.

• Bu Siqi told Su Chen about the four cities and warned him to avoid going out after the Black Pagoda Priest’s attempted ambush.
• The Tribunal ordered the investigation in Yingfeng City to end, while the Divine Son learned that the Tribunal suspected his vessel and that a Black Pagoda Believer had identified him.
• Jiang Shumo told Chong Jingtian that Meng Qi and Chu Xuan had nearly identical flesh structures, confirming that something was wrong with Meng Qi.
• Chong Jingtian learned that Yuandu planned to send visitors to Yingfeng under the pretext of an exchange and sparring visit.
• Su Chen persuaded Sang Vast Sea to leave the Tribunal and learned that Yuandu worshipped the Crimson Thunder Great Venerable.
• Su Chen returned, wondering whether Yuandu’s deity was connected to the Crimson-Flame Thunder-Responding Great Venerable.

Su Chen learned how Xia Hanshi’s search for talented people began with a sealed ruin and an old tragedy involving Ji Rou, then resonated with a new Holy Word Stone and discovered the Armored Bone Profession. Qin Qiyuan recommended the Inverse Originist Profession, but its severe limitations left Su Chen to weigh its apparent power against the cost.

• Sang Vast Sea told Su Chen that Xia Hanshi, Pu Zhenghong, and Chong Jingtian had once been close friends, until a ruin expedition left Ji Rou sealed away and changed Xia Hanshi’s personality.
• Sang Vast Sea brought Su Chen to Qin Qiyuan’s laboratory, where Su Chen resonated with the newly arrived Holy Word Stone and discovered the Armored Bone Profession, whose attack requirement had been reduced for him.
• Qin Qiyuan verified Su Chen’s resonance and asked about his talents and Professions before recommending the Inverse Originist Profession.
• Qin Qiyuan explained that Inverse Originist converted mental power into stamina and stamina into mental power, but forced both talents to the same level and only worked when the linked Professions matched in tier and level.

Su Chen chose to pursue the Inverse Originist Profession and learned that a stone tablet from the ruins powered the Defense Spirit Ring, while Pu Zhenghong and Sang Vast Sea discussed his ability to resonate with Holy Word Stones and Yuandu’s growing influence. Back at the Tribunal, Su Chen heard that Wei Yufan had advanced to fifth tier and that Yuandu’s delegation, including its Son of the Church, was coming soon.

• Su Chen decided to acquire the A-rated Inverse Originist Profession, trading [Wind-Thunder Envoy] for it after Qin Qiyuan explained its requirements and the Great Venerable reduced the exhaustion requirement.
• Sang Vast Sea told Su Chen that symbols copied from a stone tablet found in the ruins enabled the Defense Spirit Ring to repel mutants, but warned that only fourth-tier professionals could safely view the tablet.
• Sang Vast Sea reported to Pu Zhenghong that Su Chen could probably resonate with every Holy Word Stone, and the two discussed the tablet, Yuandu’s ambitions, and the arrival of Tang Chen with another Holy Word Stone.
• Su Chen returned to the Tribunal and learned from Ming Lin that Wei Yufan had advanced to an upper-grade fifth-tier Profession, blocking the chief-seed position.
• Ming Lin told Su Chen that the Tribunal would hold a selection tournament for two vacant Core Seed positions before Yuandu’s delegation arrived, including its mysterious Son of the Church.

Su Chen investigated the materials needed for two special Professions and arranged to redeem a Life-Forging Ore Vein core through Jiang Shumo. Jiang also revealed that Su Chen had been born in the destroyed Cliff Mountain City, while Xue Fei and Wei Yufan began discussing whether to take the core before Su Chen could claim it.

• Su Chen and Ming Lin discussed special Professions, and Ming Lin offered to trade information about [Glutton] for one of Su Chen's Professions.
• Su Chen questioned Tie Feng about Life-Forging Ore Vein cores and Void Stars, then asked Gu Bing to have the Iron Family watch for a Void Star fragment.
• Su Chen went to the Internal Affairs Office but left after encountering Xue Fei, then asked Jiang Shumo to arrange the Life-Forging Ore Vein core using his merits.
• Jiang Shumo told Su Chen that he had been born in Cliff Mountain City, a city that had been destroyed, but Su Chen said he did not remember it.
• Xue Fei received an order to deliver the core to Su Chen, and Wei Yufan asked whether he could redeem it first.

Su Chen trained himself to exhaustion and endured repeated beatings to fulfill the requirements for the Armored Bone Profession. After acquiring it, he fused his Purple-Gold Scale Armor with his skin and discovered he could still apply Indestructible Gang-Thunder Armor to it.

• Su Chen trained in the gravity room until exhausted, then had Bu Siqi and later Bai Fengxi attack him while the Medical Office monitored his injuries and recovery.
• Bai Fengxi told Su Chen about the Core Seed selection tournament, where Feng Ze, Liang Jingcheng, and Bai Fengxi were among the leading contenders.
• After dozens of days of training and beatings, Su Chen completed the requirements and acquired the Armored Bone Profession using the Life-Forging Ore Vein core delivered on Jiang Shumo's orders.
• Su Chen gained Living Armor, which let him fuse defensive armor with his body and repair its damage.
• Su Chen fused his Purple-Gold Scale Armor with his skin and confirmed that he could apply Indestructible Gang-Thunder Armor to it, combining his body toughness, armor, and ability into layered defense.

Su Chen finished strengthening his defenses, consoled Bai Fengxi after her loss to Liang Jingcheng, and exchanged guarded information with Cheng Lang. Meanwhile, Gu Bing and Tie Feng attended the Resource Repository bidding to buy a Void Star fragment for Su Chen, but the bidding was still underway.

• Su Chen confirmed that [Armored Bone] had greatly improved his defenses, then began studying the Mystic Ice Soul-Cleansing Meditation.
• Bai Fengxi told Su Chen she had lost to Liang Jingcheng in the selection tournament, and she left to train after he encouraged her.
• At the Translation Office, Qin Qiyuan provisionally graded Su Chen's newly translated Profession information as B-grade and discussed its likely requirements and effects.
• Cheng Lang questioned Su Chen about Meng Qi and the Black Pagoda Believers, and Su Chen admitted that something had been wrong with Meng Qi but said he knew no more.
• Gu Bing and Tie Feng arrived at the Resource Repository with 130 million prepared to bid for a Void Star fragment, while Xiao Ying and He Kang discussed their own bidding plans.
• The Resource Repository's auction began with Jade flesh from Jinbi City, and representatives from the Pharmacy Department and Crafting Office bid against each other.

Gu Bing secured the Void Star fragment for Su Chen with help from the Inspection Department, and Su Chen offered the three families access to its business in exchange for their willingness to withdraw when he asked. After exchanging Professions with Ming Lin, Su Chen acquired the requirements for Glutton, and a mysterious influence erased one of its more repellent requirements.

• Gu Bing and Xiao Ying competed for the Void Star fragment until Zhou Honglang bid 170 million and secured it for the Inspection Department.
• Zhou Honglang handed the fragment to Gu Bing, who delivered it to Su Chen, and Su Chen agreed to help the three families with their business interests and offer them a share of the Inspection Department's contracts.
• Gu Bing told Su Chen that Xiao Ying, one of Wei Yufan's men, had tried to outbid her, and Su Chen wondered why Xiao Ying had bought the Jade Veiled Radiance potion.
• Ming Lin and Su Chen signed a concealed contract and exchanged Professions, giving Su Chen the newly deciphered [Armored Bone] and Ming Lin the Glutton Profession.
• Su Chen read Glutton's requirements, and the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable's presence caused its requirement to eat various kinds of matter to be erased.

Su Chen pursued the Glutton profession by eating mutant beast meat while training, and Ming Lin delivered the rare Abyssal Stomach needed for his advancement. After completing the requirements, Su Chen began the profession advancement, but the transformation caused severe pain in his stomach.

• Su Chen discussed the Glutton requirements with Ming Lin, who promised to give him an Abyssal Stomach he had acquired.
• Su Chen arranged for Gu Bing to deliver and cook mutant beast meat, then trained and ate regularly to fulfill the Glutton requirements.
• A Faceless Ghost Believer reported that the Divine Son’s vessel was being studied in a Tribunal laboratory, and the Divine Son ordered them to explore ways to recover it.
• Su Chen mastered the Crouching Tiger Body Tempering Method, then began practicing the Thunder Qi Body Tempering Method.
• Ming Lin told Su Chen that Yuandu’s delegation had been attacked by Church rebels and delivered the Abyssal Stomach.
• Su Chen completed the Glutton requirements and began advancing with the Abyssal Stomach, whose transformation into his body made his stomach burn with pain.