Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu traveled with the fifth division, which was charged with protecting the Wanqi Lineage’s children and adolescents during the Gum Cloud Layer Disaster. After Kit rallied the group, the division lost contact with those ahead and became trapped as the Glue Cloud Masses grew denser, while Kit fell ill and the group neared collapse.

• Elder Ba Fu confirmed the fifth division was ready, and Chen Mu saw that it included thousands of children protected by warriors, with Wei'a among them.
• Chen Mu learned that Bo Wen and Cheng Ying had joined the third division, then traveled with Kit, Alfonso, Colin, and the others.
• Kit recounted the Wanqi Lineage’s history of disasters and rallied the frightened adolescents and warriors by declaring that their people would survive again.
• The division traveled for days through the Jungle, finding markers and nameless gravestones before losing all contact with the groups ahead on the twentieth day.
• Denser Glue Cloud Masses made retreat impossible, and Kit fell ill from the arduous journey, leaving the fifth division close to collapse.

After White-Spotted Ants attacked, Colin led the warriors south to draw the swarm away while Chen Mu organized the fleeing youths. Chen Mu took charge of the survivors and led them onward with their supplies, but Kit remained unconscious and the children were still in danger.

• Kit's fever worsened as Colin and Kit's group headed northwest, then Colin spotted a swarm of White-Spotted Ants.
• Wei'a carried Chen Mu and Liduhong into the Jungle while Colin ordered the warriors to lure the ants south and protect the children.
• Colin's warriors fired on the swarm in the glue-cloud zone until their Blue Moon Guns ran out of energy, then fled as the ants pursued them.
• Chen Mu freed himself from Wei'a to carry Alfonso and told Wei'a to carry Kit, then stopped the panicked crowd and formed the youths into squads.
• Chen Mu rallied the survivors, recovered nearly all the Pack Beasts and supplies, and decided to lead everyone forward while hoping Kit would wake up.

After Kit awakened, he entrusted Chen Mu with leading the boys out of the Jungle before dying. Chen Mu continued guiding the group, but Wei'a's warning signal revealed that he had encountered trouble, forcing Chen Mu to prepare to hide his presence.

• Chen Mu questioned why Wei'a had been ordered to stay by his side, then learned that Kit had awakened and went to see him.
• Kit urged Chen Mu to protect the boys and escape the Jungle, and Chen Mu promised to do his best.
• Kit whispered instructions to Wei'a and several older boys before dying; Wei'a confirmed his death.
• Chen Mu buried Kit, found Small Cluster Cannons among the supplies, and had older boys practice using them as the group continued onward.
• Chen Mu sent Wei'a scouting, and Wei'a proved his strength by killing wild beasts along the route.
• Wei'a's warning whistle stopped the group, and Chen Mu immediately tried to enter the Breath-Concealing Method.

Chen Mu flew to Wei'a's aid and found him fighting a giant armored bug whose shell resisted both Wei'a's blows and Chen Mu's Tail-Shedding Shuttles. As Wei'a dodged the bug's attacks, Chen Mu analyzed its movements and discovered a weakness, with only thirty seconds remaining in his breath-concealing state.

• Chen Mu entered the Jungle in his breath-concealing state and quickly found Wei'a facing a giant armored bug.
• Wei'a attacked the bug at tremendous speed, but its hard shell withstood his assault.
• Chen Mu fired three Tail-Shedding Shuttles at the bug, but it dodged them and its shell remained unmarked.
• The bug lunged at Wei'a, who evaded its deadly foreclaws while Chen Mu studied its movements.
• Chen Mu identified the bug's weakness after one minute and twenty seconds, leaving him only thirty seconds in the breath-concealing state.

Chen Mu and Wei'a killed a giant insect by targeting its vulnerable leg joints, but Chen Mu suffered severe side effects from the Breath-Concealing Method. Wei'a pressed him to learn combat skills, and Chen Mu agreed to do so if Wei'a first taught them to the children.

• Chen Mu used the Breath-Concealing Method to calculate a shot at the giant insect's leg joint, and Wei'a followed his lead with a powerful attack.
• Wei'a and Chen Mu broke all six of the giant insect's legs, and Chen Mu finished it by striking its eyes with two Tail-Shedding Shuttles.
• Chen Mu became weak and vomited for ten minutes, prompting Wei'a to warn him that relying on his method was dangerous and urge him to learn combat skills.
• Chen Mu proposed that Wei'a teach the children first and promised to learn the skills himself if they proved learnable; Wei'a agreed.
• Wei'a identified Alfonso as someone who might know what the insect was, then dragged its corpse back with Chen Mu as the children cheered.

Chen Mu's group escaped the Glue Cloud Layer and established a defensible camp, where they were unexpectedly reunited with two hundred villagers led by Bo Wen. The reunion brought many experienced warriors, but Chen Mu feared Bo Wen's arrival would threaten his position, until Liduhong stepped forward.

• Chen Mu continued teaching the children the Body-Strengthening Exercise while Wei'a began teaching them his techniques.
• The group pressed on despite dwindling supplies, reaching a defensible valley campsite on the twenty-fourth day of their march.
• Wei'a cleared the valley of dangerous beasts, the children built a palisade, and Alfonso directed them to dig for nearby ore.
• Wei'a spotted an approaching group, and Chen Mu ordered the children to prepare their Cluster Cannons.
• Wei'a brought Bo Wen and roughly two hundred bedraggled villagers into the valley, reuniting them with their loved ones.
• Chen Mu realized the newcomers were all warriors and feared Bo Wen's influence, but Liduhong suddenly emerged from the crowd.

Xivide reunited with Liduhong and learned that Chen Mu had led more than two thousand children safely through the Jungle. Alfonso declared Chen Mu their leader until the Clan Leader arrived and Liduhong the future Clan Leader, and Xivide’s acceptance secured the warriors’ obedience despite Bo Wen’s anger.

• Xivide reunited with Liduhong, mourned Elder Kit’s death and Colin’s disappearance, and promised to protect the boy.
• Liduhong told Xivide that Chen Mu had led the children through the Jungle, leaving Xivide astonished by Chen Mu’s achievement.
• Xivide welcomed Alfonso and recognized that the Clan Leader had entrusted several important figures to Chen Mu’s group.
• Alfonso declared Chen Mu the group’s leader until the Clan Leader arrived and named Liduhong the future Clan Leader.
• Xivide accepted Alfonso’s decision, and the warriors followed, while Bo Wen seethed and considered killing Chen Mu before Wei’a’s stare stopped him.

Chen Mu's camp secured a food supply with ash vine, found energy-rich mineral deposits, and rapidly expanded its production and training. The chapter ended when a warrior brought Chen Mu an ancient Card Fragment bearing an unfamiliar pattern, and his next words heightened Chen Mu's alarm.

• Xivide and the arriving warriors planted ash vine seeds across the camp's trees, and three days later the vines produced a huge harvest of edible fruit.
• Alfonso upgraded his laboratory with the camp's resources and began producing Laser Tools, greatly increasing production efficiency.
• Chen Mu's children continued their Body-Strengthening Exercise, while Wei'a increased their training and Liduhong and others developed their Perception.
• A warrior found a damaged Card Fragment, and Chen Mu, Bo Wen, and Cheng Ying recognized it as a card.
• Chen Mu saw that the ancient fragment had an unfamiliar structure that might belong to a high-grade card, but the warrior's next words made his expression change.

Chen Mu’s group found a vast field of ancient card fragments and uncovered a metal apparatus whose engraved lines might be card structures. Chen Mu asked Alfonso to search the engravings for their starting and ending strokes, and Alfonso began tracing them.

• A warrior led Chen Mu and the others to a treeless field where ancient card fragments lay scattered through the soil.
• The group uncovered a round metal apparatus, and Alfonso identified it as a cold-phase ternary alloy.
• Chen Mu recognized several engraved loops as structures used in card patterns but could not determine whether the other lines formed a pattern.
• Chen Mu reasoned that Alfonso could detect traces left by engraving and asked him to find the lines’ starting and ending strokes.
• Alfonso agreed and began tracing the grooves as everyone watched in silence.

Chen Mu connected the Blue Moon Gun to the ancient metal disc and used his perception to try to activate it. As Bo Wen recognized Chen Mu's extraordinary talent and briefly considered killing him, Chen Mu found that the disc's energy supply needed to be linked through perception.

• Chen Mu considered whether the grass-covered site and scattered card fragments were the ruins of an ancient religion.
• Alfonso identified two unusual marks on the disc, and Chen Mu dismantled the Blue Moon Gun to build an energy connection to it.
• When the energy supply alone failed to activate the disc, Chen Mu pressed his hands against it and focused his perception.
• Bo Wen sensed Chen Mu's level-four perception and realized his talent rivaled Tang Hanpei's, then briefly considered killing him.
• Chen Mu traced the energy flow with his perception and found the two marked spots that could link the energy supply to the disc.

Chen Mu and Alfonso were separated into a puzzle-solving trial, while Bo Wen and Wei'a faced a deadly combat trial. Wei'a sabotaged Bo Wen, then killed him on the grounds that Elder Kit had ordered it.

• An illusion activated when Chen Mu touched a floating light, and a system announced an authorization assessment before separating the group.
• Chen Mu and Alfonso landed together in a chamber ringed by screens displaying puzzles, while Bo Wen and Wei'a were sent into a rocky terrain under attack from flying machines.
• Bo Wen struggled to evade the beams as Wei'a moved among the rocks unharmed.
• When Bo Wen rushed toward cover, Wei'a flicked a stone at him, disrupting his Perception and leaving him exposed to the beams.
• After the trial ended, Wei'a told the dying Bo Wen that Elder Kit had ordered him to kill Bo Wen, then struck Bo Wen's heart wound and killed him.

Chen Mu explored the strange system controlling the underground base and learned that his maintenance score gave him the highest access, though it was limited. He discovered the base was enormous but badly damaged, with only five days of power remaining, and the group was safe for now.

• Chen Mu studied an unfamiliar structural pattern before the system announced that its initial access assessment was complete.
• The system gave Chen Mu a maintenance score of fifteen and the highest available access, and told him that Bo Wen had died while the others were unharmed.
• Chen Mu learned that Wei'a had the highest score, over 65 in combat, while Alfonso scored nine and Cheng Ying was categorized as logistics.
• Chen Mu questioned the system and learned that the group was inside a seven-level underground base with only about twenty percent of its top level intact and five days of power left.
• Chen Mu saw that the first level contained roughly sixteen hundred rooms and realized the base was vast enough to resemble a small town.

The Federation was captivated by a televised clash between the Desert Camp's Twin Stars and Frostmoon Cold Isle, which ended with Su Wei's death in an ambush and heightened tensions between the academies. Meanwhile, Chen Mu restored the underground base to five percent power and followed Alfonso to inspect a mysterious object in Warehouse 12.

• The Low-Level Illusion Card Club's Viewing Illusion Card and Low Illusion Platform became popular, while the official Federation platform drew viewers with a live broadcast of the Twin Stars challenging Frostmoon Cold Isle.
• Su Wei defeated ten Frostmoon Cold Isle students before an icy young woman defeated him by one move, after which Su Hu left with his injured brother.
• An ambush killed Su Wei and seriously wounded Su Hu, prompting the Desert Camp to accuse Frostmoon Cold Isle and worsening relations between the academies.
• Chen Mu finished relocating the remaining Wanqi Clan members into the underground base and restored its energy system to five percent.
• Alfonso led Chen Mu to Warehouse 12 and pointed out a dust-covered object among the decaying, rusted contents.

Chen Mu and Alfonso explored the possibility of building an aircraft that could escape the Jungle, and Chen Mu repaired the base to earn access to its plans. Over two months, Chen Mu trained and helped improve life for the children, while changes began unfolding across the Federation.

• Chen Mu learned from Alfonso that the rusted aircraft might be replicated and could potentially break through the glue cloud layer.
• The system said Chen Mu needed fifteen contribution points to access the aircraft information, and he began searching its repair list for suitable tasks.
• Wei'a watched the youths train and concluded that Chen Mu still had the strongest overall physical capabilities among them.
• Chen Mu repaired the base, earning enough contribution points to access the aircraft data, which he handed to Alfonso.
• Chen Mu continued training and teaching Liduhong and the others while his repairs improved the children's living conditions.
• After two peaceful months in the base, Chen Mu learned that the situation in the Federation had changed.

As conflict between the Qin Family and Isolde House heightened tensions among the Federation’s great academies, Chen Mu prepared to leave the Jungle after building an aircraft and restoring long-range communications. He departed with Wei'a, while Cheng Ying chose to remain at the base and Liduhong was named the next clan leader.

• The Qin Family and Isolde House’s escalating conflict alarmed the Federation as people worried about the influence of their affiliated academies.
• At Star Academy, Qingqing wondered whether chaos was coming, and the headmaster shared her concern.
• Chen Mu and Alfonso completed a two-seat aircraft and developed the [Thousand Miles] communication card, which could work with the base’s repaired signal transmitter.
• Cheng Ying declined Chen Mu’s invitation to leave, choosing to stay at the base to study and grow stronger.
• Chen Mu designated Liduhong as the next clan leader, but Little Ghost’s request to accompany him was rejected by the others.
• Wei'a asked to go with Chen Mu, and Chen Mu agreed to take him as a bodyguard before leaving the Jungle.

After their aircraft crashed, Chen Mu and Wei'a headed toward a city, where they rescued Cleo Raven and his bodyguard from a pack of frenzied Sisnia Wolves. They agreed to escort the pair back, but Wei'a sensed danger ahead as they traveled through the Jungle.

• Wei'a told Chen Mu he had left the Jungle because the Clan Leader had died and he wanted to recover his memories.
• Chen Mu and Wei'a heard cries for help and found Cleo Raven and his bodyguard surrounded by eight Sisnia Wolves.
• Chen Mu killed the wolves with his Tail-Shedding Shuttle Card, and Wei'a identified a sachet that had attracted and enraged them.
• Cleo blamed Fanny for the sachet and hired Chen Mu and Wei'a to escort him and his bodyguard to the city.
• As the group traveled onward, Wei'a sensed something ahead and put Chen Mu on alert.

After Chen Mu and Wei'a helped Clio return to the Raven family, Clio arranged for them to receive the Raven family's struggling Skywing company instead of Abai Garden. Morse revealed that he knew Clio had discovered his schemes and planned to watch his younger brother's resistance unfold.

• Chen Mu and Wei'a reunited Clio with his men, and Clio confronted Lisbon before returning to the Raven family.
• Clover thanked Chen Mu and Wei'a, while Morse persuaded him to give them the money-losing Skywing company instead of Abai Garden.
• Clio asked to manage Skywing himself, and Clover agreed; Morse concealed his hostility behind a smile.
• Clio led Chen Mu and Wei'a to Skywing, while Chen Mu recalled his past and remained wary of the Raven family.
• Morse learned that Lisbon and his family were gone, Fanny was hospitalized, and a fire had killed her family, then inferred that Clio had uncovered the sachet scheme.
• Morse heard that Cao Dong had killed eight Sisnia Wolves with one strike and dismissed Clio's attempt to resist him as futile.

After taking over Skywing, Chen Mu discovered that most of its employees were idle relatives draining the company’s funds. He violently subdued those who challenged him and left the rest frozen in fear, wondering what he intended to do.

• Clio explained to his bodyguard that Skywing’s troublesome employees were relatives who behaved only around the Raven family, and he expected Chen Mu and Wei'a to need his help.
• Chen Mu reviewed Skywing’s finances and realized that inflated salaries for its mostly idle employees consumed nearly all of the company’s income.
• Chen Mu ordered several smoking employees to put out their cigarettes, then struck one man through a row of desks when he mouthed off.
• When a yellow-haired employee led a group against him, Chen Mu used the Tail-Shedding Shuttle to pierce three men’s thighs and send the others fleeing.
• Chen Mu shot a hole through the office door and ordered the employees to stop, leaving them terrified and wondering what he would do.

Chen Mu took control of Skywing by dismissing most of its employees and warning the survivors against retaliation. Elsewhere, Clio received news that made him admit they had underestimated Cao Dong.

• Chen Mu identified Bu Qiangdong as Skywing’s key employee and ordered him to process the termination of everyone not marked to stay.
• Chen Mu consulted Wei’a about how long the three injured men could survive, frightening the employees into obeying without protest.
• Bu Qiangdong completed the paperwork in about forty minutes, reducing Skywing’s staff to twenty-five employees.
• Chen Mu warned the dismissed employees not to retaliate, and they left carrying the three unconscious men.
• Clio answered a call, became astonished and grave, then told his bodyguard that they had underestimated Cao Dong.

After taking over the Skywing building, Chen Mu and Wei'a settled in for the night and contacted Alfonso from their new headquarters. When three Card Adepts broke in, Wei'a detected them, but Anna's powerful [Water Wave] could not locate Chen Mu and Wei'a as the intruders advanced through the dark building.

• Clio dismissed the Skywing incident as something to watch, expecting his older brother to rely on force.
• Chen Mu kept the employees' salaries unchanged, and he and Wei'a remained in the mostly empty Skywing building after work.
• Chen Mu unfolded his miniature signal transmitter, contacted Alfonso, and reported that he and Wei'a had reached Luoyou City safely.
• Wei'a sensed three intruders entering the building, so Chen Mu shut off the lights and hid with him.
• Anna, the red-haired Card Adept, and their unibrowed leader advanced upstairs, but Anna could not detect Chen Mu and Wei'a with [Water Wave].
• The three intruders reached the fifth floor, where the unibrowed leader suddenly stopped.