Chapter Summaries

Hua Yin met his classmate Lin Qingqiu while heading to dinner, but an E-rank Jade-Bladed Mantis emerged from a dark alley and attacked them. Lin Qingqiu fell as they tried to escape, leaving Hua Yin facing the approaching beast.

• Hua Yin ran toward Cloudtop Garden with a handmade butterfly specimen album intended as a gift for his estranged mother.
• Hua Yin encountered Lin Qingqiu at a pastry shop, and she offered him a ride to the restaurant.
• A Jade-Bladed Mantis emerged from a side alley, and Hua Yin recognized it as a dangerous demonic beast.
• Hua Yin and Lin Qingqiu fled toward the alley entrance, but Lin Qingqiu tripped and injured her knee.
• Hua Yin looked back as the mantis emerged with its scythes extended and Lin Qingqiu lay unable to get up.

Hua Yin lured the Jade-Bladed Mantis away from Lin Qingqiu, but the monster cornered and fatally wounded him. His shattered butterfly album awakened his S-tier Pale Bewitching Butterfly ability, and he healed before turning to fight the mantis.

• Hua Yin hid Lin Qingqiu behind construction-waste bags and drew the Jade-Bladed Mantis into a nearby alley.
• Lin Qingqiu waited until the mantis was gone, then called the Special Affairs Bureau's emergency number.
• The Jade-Bladed Mantis cornered Hua Yin, pierced his chest, and shattered the butterfly album he had planned to give his mother.
• Butterfly fragments transformed into motes of light, and spiritual energy flowed into Hua Yin, healing his wound and awakening his Pale Bewitching Butterfly ability.
• Hua Yin summoned pale butterflies and attacked the Jade-Bladed Mantis, vowing to make it try to kill him again.

Hua Yin devoured the Jade-Bladed Mantis with his Pale Bewitching Butterflies and asked Lin Qingquji to keep what she saw secret. After the Special Affairs Bureau tested him, his unknown ability was identified as S-grade, and he was placed under top-secret evaluation and supervision.

• Hua Yin directed his Pale Bewitching Butterflies to overwhelm and kill the Jade-Bladed Mantis, then consumed its remains to replenish his strength and heal his chest.
• Lin Qingquji arrived and witnessed Hua Yin devouring the mantis, so he asked her to pretend she had seen nothing; she agreed and left the alley.
• When Special Affairs Bureau personnel arrived, Hua Yin claimed the mantis had attacked him and that he had awakened an ability to control butterflies that could devour the beast and heal him.
• At the Bureau’s testing center, researchers found that Hua Yin’s ability was an unknown, unstable power whose energy peaks exceeded the A-grade threshold.
• A spiritual core resonance test triggered an alarm and cracked the crystal after it registered Hua Yin’s ability as S-grade.
• Captain Wang told Hua Yin that his file would be top secret and that he would undergo comprehensive evaluation, strict custody, and professional guidance.

Li Xiulin waited for Hua Yin at dinner but left without contacting him, unaware that he had survived a deadly ordeal and awakened an S-rank ability. At the Special Affairs Bureau, headquarters assigned Elder Li to protect and guide Hua Yin, who agreed to join the Bureau on one condition.

• Chen Xu grew impatient waiting for Hua Yin and left Li Xiulin to attend an event with his classmates.
• Li Xiulin ate alone, paid for the meal, and left without calling Hua Yin, who had been fighting for his life nearby and awakened an S-rank ability.
• Captain Wang reported Hua Yin’s S-rank awakening to headquarters, and the Bureau placed him under guard while restricting the researchers involved in his tests.
• Captain Wang introduced Elder Li, who explained Hua Yin’s potential, the cultivation realms, and the danger of growing without protection.
• Captain Wang offered Hua Yin a reserve officer position with resources, training, and protection, and gave him a month to consider the plan.
• Hua Yin accepted the Bureau’s offer but said he had one condition.

Hua Yin signed an agreement with the Special Affairs Bureau, received the codename White Butterfly, and began training under Li Siyuan. He discovered that his Lost Butterfly could incorporate traits from what it devoured, while Lin Qingqiu remained at school wondering why he had disappeared.

• Hua Yin asked the Bureau to protect his family and sought guidance on safely feeding and controlling his hungry ability, so Li Siyuan promised to train him and explained its dangers.
• Hua Yin signed the revised agreement, and Captain Wang assigned him the codename White Butterfly and a provisional A-Rank access level.
• The Ghost City Branch agents noticed White Butterfly's secretive new account and speculated about the identity behind it.
• During training, Hua Yin circulated spiritual energy and tested his Lost Butterfly against various targets, discovering that its wing could cut E-Rank defensive alloy.
• Li Siyuan concluded that Hua Yin's ability could steal and incorporate traits, such as the Jade-Bladed Mantis's sharpness, and warned him not to devour recklessly or use it lightly on intelligent beings.
• At school, Lin Qingqiu worried over Hua Yin's absence until their homeroom teacher summoned her to his office.

Lin Qingqiu signed a state secrecy agreement about the Qilu Alley incident, cutting off her remaining chance at an ordinary friendship with Hua Yin. Meanwhile, the Special Affairs Bureau investigated how the monster entered the city, and Hua Yin rapidly advanced in cultivation before being assigned to observe an inspection.

• Lin Qingqiu signed a lifelong confidentiality agreement after a Special Affairs Bureau officer explained her legal duties and protections.
• Liu Zhenguo reprimanded Captain Wang over the Jade-Bladed Mantis’s infiltration and ordered a citywide inspection of security systems and possible entry routes.
• Liu Zhenguo assigned White Butterfly to Captain Wang’s unit as a protected observer on the inspection, while warning him not to act or use his ability recklessly.
• Hua Yin cultivated under Li Siyuan’s guidance and was found to have reached the Late Meridian-Opening Realm after only a day of awakening.
• Li Siyuan warned Hua Yin to strengthen his control and discipline, and Hua Yin agreed to observe during the upcoming inspection.

Hua Yin joined Captain Wang’s squad on an inspection of perimeter security facilities and discovered that a sensor stake had been deliberately sabotaged, allowing several groups of beasts to enter Youcheng. Captain Wang escalated the alert and sent the team to respond, taking Hua Yin with him to the next site.

• Captain Wang introduced Hua Yin, codename White Butterfly, to the Third Operations Squad before leading them to inspect perimeter facilities.
• The team found the District Seven watchtower functioning normally, then discovered that the Leyline Sensor Stake in District Nine had been deliberately damaged.
• Sun Haoran found fresh tracks from several kinds of beasts, confirming that they had passed through the sensor’s blind spot and entered Youcheng.
• Captain Wang alerted headquarters, requested a Level Two alert and emergency inspections, then assigned Zhou Mingyu to repair the stake, Sun Haoran to track the beasts, and Zhao Tiezhu to guard the site.
• Captain Wang took Hua Yin to the next inspection site as the squad’s mission shifted to an urgent response.

After investigators found destroyed spirit-pattern stakes and demonic beast traces, the Youcheng Special Administration Bureau launched a citywide search. Sun Haoran and Hua Yin began inspecting underground pipelines, entering the darkness beneath an old industrial district.

• Liu Zhenguo ordered SkyNet surveillance, intensified patrols, and underground reconnaissance after reviewing Captain Wang's findings.
• Captain Wang assigned Sun Haoran and Hua Yin to investigate together, instructing Hua Yin to observe and follow Sun Haoran's commands.
• The Operations Division split into teams and set out to scan Youcheng for hidden demonic beasts and abnormal energy.
• Sun Haoran explained the risks of hidden demonic beast nests and the importance of the Bureau's preventive work as they drove to the northeast industrial district.
• Sun Haoran climbed into a pipeline entrance first, and Hua Yin followed with a spirit-energy sniffer as his spiritual energy stirred in the darkness.

Hua Yin and Sun Haoran encountered a massive swarm of Rotten-Toothed Rats in the District Nine C-12 underground pipes and raced for the surface. Hua Yin cleared civilians away with warning shots and stayed by the shaft, weighing whether to return below as Sun Haoran fought alone and backup was on its way.

• Hua Yin and Sun Haoran explored the underground pipes until Hua Yin's detector turned scarlet and Sun Haoran warned him that a swarm of Rotten-Toothed Rats was approaching.
• Sun Haoran and Hua Yin fled toward the shaft while Sun Haoran reported the attack and requested emergency backup.
• At the shaft, Sun Haoran sent Hua Yin up first and stayed below to hold off the rats with his baton.
• Hua Yin emerged and tried to evacuate nearby pedestrians, but they gathered to watch instead.
• Hua Yin fired three shots into the unpopulated sky, scattering the crowd, while Sun Haoran fought off the rats below.
• Hua Yin stayed at the shaft with his handgun, assessing Sun Haoran's condition and waiting for backup.

Hua Yin saved Sun Haoran from the Rotten-Toothed Rats by unleashing a swarm of Pale Bewitching Butterflies that slaughtered the creatures in the well. The danger ended, but Hua Yin was left badly weakened as help arrived.

• Hua Yin shot the Rotten-Toothed Rats attacking Sun Haoran, allowing him to climb out of the well.
• Sun Haoran warned that more rats were climbing the ladder and suggested blocking the well with the van.
• After his pistol ran out of ammunition, Hua Yin summoned a vast swarm of Pale Bewitching Butterflies and sent them into the well.
• The butterflies killed the rats in the shaft and pipes, then returned to Hua Yin and disappeared into his body.
• Hua Yin nearly collapsed from exhaustion as brakes squealed and hurried footsteps approached.

Captain Wang confirmed that Hua Yin had destroyed the Rotten-Toothed Rat swarm, and the Special Affairs Bureau contained the remaining demon-beast incursions in Youcheng. The crisis seemed over, but a giant scaled creature and its eggs remained hidden in an unsearched underground passage.

• Captain Wang inspected the well and found the rat swarm reduced to a mass of blood, fur, bones, and tissue.
• Hua Yin confirmed that he had used his ability to defeat the rats, and Captain Wang ordered the scene cleaned and Hua Yin and Sun Haoran taken back.
• The Special Affairs Bureau purged Youcheng's underground pipelines, eliminated or drove away more demon beasts, and gave Hua Yin a warning instead of substantive punishment.
• Elder Li revised his estimate of Pale Bewitching Butterfly's power after hearing about Hua Yin's mission.
• A giant dark green scaled creature entered a remote flood-discharge passage, coiled around dozens of eggs, and waited in the darkness.

Huayin settled into a demanding routine of training, patrols, and cultivation, and Li Siyuan rewarded his progress with a storage ring packed with supplies. Meanwhile, newly hatched snakes spread through Youcheng’s sewers, and some entered the city’s water system near Youcheng No. 3 Middle School.

• Huayin spent half a month training with Li Siyuan, joining Operations Department patrols, and steadily improving his spiritual power control and combat skills.
• Li Siyuan gave Huayin a Sumeru Mustard Ring and told him to recognize it as its master.
• Huayin discovered the ring held thousands of spirit stones, potions, clothes, food, and water, and resolved to repay Li Siyuan through his future actions.
• In an abandoned flood channel, the dark-green serpent’s eggs hatched, and the mother snake sent its offspring into the underground passages to hunt.
• As food became scarce, several young snakes followed pipes into an inadequately guarded branch of Youcheng’s water supply.
• At Youcheng No. 3 Middle School, students noticed a faint fishy smell from a sink, while small snakes slipped through the pipe beneath it.

Dark green, white-banded snakes invaded Youcheng No. 3 Middle School through its pipes, devouring the cafeteria’s meat and gathering in a rooftop water tank. After the tank was opened, the snakes began spreading across campus as Lin Qingqiu headed to school, unaware of the danger.

• Several small snakes emerged from the cafeteria faucet, ate eggs and ribs, then hid when Master Liu returned.
• The snakes raided the kitchen overnight, grew larger, and summoned more snakes through the campus pipes.
• Master Liu discovered that most of the cafeteria’s meat had disappeared, while students speculated about the theft and complained that the water smelled fishy.
• Lin Qingqiu connected the strange incidents to her earlier encounter with a monster but kept her suspicions to herself.
• A repairman and the logistics director found countless snakes inside the teaching building’s rooftop water tank and fled without sealing its lid.
• Snakes escaped from the tank and spread through the school as Lin Qingqiu walked toward campus, unaware of the invasion.

Hua Yin responded to a demonic beast invasion at his former school, Youcheng No. 3 Middle School, with the Special Affairs Bureau’s Operations Department. After seeing Lin Qingqiu outside the cordon and narrowly going unnoticed by Li Xiulin, he entered the campus as the mission began.

• Hua Yin geared up and joined Captain Wang’s squad after an emergency alarm reported Nether-Ring Snakes invading Youcheng No. 3 Middle School.
• Captain Wang briefed the team on the snake threat and ordered them to contain the campus, eliminate the beasts, search for their source, and rescue trapped people.
• Hua Yin saw Lin Qingqiu among the onlookers, but looked away, leaving her to recognize how far his life had changed.
• Li Xiulin spotted a figure resembling Hua Yin near the school but dismissed the possibility, declined to call him, and left to get Chen Xu to his activity on time.
• Hua Yin followed Captain Wang through the spiritual-energy barrier and entered the eerily quiet campus as the mission began.

Hua Yin cleared a swarm of Nether-Ring Snakes from the activity center and rescued the students hiding inside. As he prepared to resume his search, the mother snake charged toward the school, and he sensed a powerful presence approaching.

• Hua Yin found students' corpses amid a swarm of Nether-Ring Snakes outside the activity center and killed many of the snakes with his Tang Blade.
• Hua Yin entered the activity center and found seven or eight students hiding behind a barricade.
• Hua Yin identified himself as a member of the Special Affairs Bureau and led the students toward the assembly point at the school gate.
• The pale green spiritual light from the dead snakes reached their mother underground, which rushed toward Youcheng No. 3 Middle School.
• Hua Yin escorted the first group of students near the assembly point, sensed the magnetic field shift, and realized something powerful was coming.

Hua Yin sensed a powerful hostile beast approaching and helped search for survivors as Captain Wang ordered an evacuation. The Nether-Ring Viper Queen emerged on campus, forcing the team to hold out for reinforcements while Hua Yin’s Pale Core reacted with fear and hunger.

• Hua Yin warned Captain Wang that a powerful creature was approaching, then sent his Pale Bewitching Butterflies to search for survivors and clear a path.
• Captain Wang confirmed the threat and ordered the teams to evacuate survivors to the school gate.
• Hua Yin discovered that Nether-Ring Snakes devoured one another to grow stronger and warned Captain Wang of their rapid evolution.
• A massive serpent emerged from a crater in the field, and Captain Wang identified it as the peak C-rank Nether-Ring Viper Queen, possibly nearing B-rank.
• Captain Wang ordered the teams to protect civilians and hold out for reinforcements, while Hua Yin’s Pale Core warned him of danger and stirred with hunger.

Captain Wang tried to restrain the Nether-Ring Viper Queen while the team evacuated survivors, as Hua Yin’s hunger overwhelmed his reason and turned his Pale Bewitching Butterflies into a slaughtering swarm. The Queen began breaking free just as Hua Yin descended further into his bestial nature.

• Captain Wang unleashed Ghostwood Vines to bind the Nether-Ring Viper Queen and buy time for the team to evacuate the survivors.
• The team carried and dragged the remaining survivors toward the school gate while Hua Yin guarded the entrance hall and cut down attacking snakes.
• Hua Yin’s hunger intensified as he sensed the snakes’ life force, and the Pale Bewitching Butterflies fed energy back to him from the corpses.
• Hua Yin lost control and sent the butterflies swarming through the snakes, shredding them as his Pale Core throbbed and his appetite grew.
• Captain Wang coughed up blood as the Queen’s struggle snapped the vines, while Hua Yin chuckled amid the slaughter and fixated on stronger prey.

Hua Yin fought a newly evolved D-rank snake demon until the Nether-Ring Viper Queen transferred its consciousness into the demon’s body. The Queen confronted Hua Yin while its offspring took control of its weakened C-rank body, breaking Captain Wang’s restraints.

• Hua Yin and his pale butterfly swarm battled the D-rank snake demon, whose venom and attacks wounded him.
• Hua Yin abandoned defense and fought with increased ferocity as the butterflies covered his Tang saber and right arm.
• The Nether-Ring Viper Queen secretly used Thought Sharing Transposition to exchange consciousnesses with the D-rank snake demon.
• The Queen’s consciousness took over the D-rank demon and spoke to Hua Yin, recognizing his unusual power.
• The D-rank offspring, controlling the Queen’s C-rank body, broke Captain Wang’s Ghostwood Vine and blasted him away.
• Hua Yin sensed the Queen’s presence in his opponent and regained enough clarity to take a combat stance.

Hua Yin battled the Nether-Ring Snake swarm and drew the Snake Mother into a rooftop fight, hoping to reach a breakthrough. With his Pale Core cracking and the Snake Mother poised to finish him, a clear voice shouted from the sky.

• Hua Yin slaughtered the attacking Nether-Ring Snakes while his Pale Bewitching Butterflies absorbed their energy, bringing him close to a breakthrough.
• The Nether-Ring Viper Queen took direct control of a D-rank snake demon and charged Hua Yin, who fled upward through the main building toward the rooftop.
• The Snake Mother chased Hua Yin to the rooftop and attacked him with fangs, poison, tail strikes, and psychic force.
• Hua Yin's Pale Core developed cracks, disrupting his powers and leaving him badly wounded and hanging over the rooftop edge.
• As the Snake Mother prepared to deliver a final blow, an unseen speaker shouted at the beast from the sky.

Hua Yin devoured the Snake Mother’s consciousness and the D-rank snake demon’s life force, breaking through to a higher level and awakening butterfly wings. After eliminating the rooftop threat, he reported in as White Butterfly while Lin Qingqiu watched from outside the school.

• Two flaming spears from the Ghost City Branch’s elite combatants killed the giant snake and badly wounded the Snake Mother’s avatar, leaving it unable to use [Consciousness Exchange].
• Hua Yin severed the D-rank snake demon’s head and sent his Pale Bewitching Butterflies to devour its remains and the Snake Mother’s consciousness.
• Hua Yin’s Pale Core shattered and re-formed as a little phantom butterfly, awakening his ability and causing enormous pale wings to unfurl from his back.
• Hua Yin lifted into the air, seized the severed snake head, and descended as the new power filled him.
• Hua Yin handed the demon’s head to the arriving team members and reported that the rooftop threat had been eliminated.
• Lin Qingqiu watched Hua Yin from outside the school and accepted that they now belonged to different worlds.