Chapter Summaries

He Wenhao tried to leave the room but found a Stone Fire Ant outside, which broke through the door and attacked the group. As the ant knocked Kong Haochen down and lunged at him, a gleaming white blade swept into view.

• Yan Sheng said Shen Heng could handle the danger, and Kong Haochen and Zhang Danzhen discussed Shen Heng's fighting ability.
• Fan Qimei argued with He Wenhao and drove him toward the door, where he saw the Stone Fire Ant through a crack.
• The Stone Fire Ant broke through the bottom of the door, sending the room into chaos.
• Several boys attacked the ant with their fists, but it wounded them and knocked Kong Haochen through the doorway.
• The Stone Fire Ant lunged at Kong Haochen, and a gleaming white blade suddenly swept across his vision.

Shen Heng rescued Yan Sheng and his classmates from Stone Fire Ants, then helped the Supervision Bureau eliminate the remaining Calamity Beast underground. By Monday, Le Gu Nan had joined the bureau as an official member.

• Shen Heng killed a Stone Fire Ant and rescued Kong Haochen, Yan Sheng, and the others, then told them to bandage the injured and wait to be escorted out.
• Shen Heng informed Han Ling and Wei Leyang about the remaining Stone Fire Ants, then joined Wang Hai and Wu Cheng in the basement to deal with a Calamity Beast underground.
• Wu Cheng used Flame Surge to attack the Calamity Beast, and Shen Heng confirmed that he could no longer hear it moving.
• Wang Hai and the others welcomed Le Gu Nan as an official member of the Supervision Bureau at Monday's meal.

Shen Heng learned that Xu Yuqin was starting a cleaner job at the Ecological Environment Restoration Administration, while Shen Shuning prepared to begin school in August. At Linhai No. 2 High School, Principal Luo Minlin learned Shen Shuning had placed third in the province and started arranging publicity, but his phone rang before he could contact her family.

• Shen Heng returned home and shared dinner with Xu Yuqin and Shen Shuning.
• Xu Yuqin told her children she was starting a better-paying cleaning job at the Ecological Environment Restoration Administration.
• Shen Shuning said her admission letter had arrived and that she had to report to school on August twenty-third.
• The dean of students told Luo Minlin that Le Gu Nan had placed first in the province with 735 points and Shen Shuning had placed third with 721.
• Luo Minlin discovered Le Gu Nan's father was Le Xiangwen and decided to contact Shen Shuning's family first, but his phone rang as he prepared to call.

Shen Heng trained his Origin Power and practiced blade fighting with Yu Jingming while Le Gu Nan and Yu Chunhe watched. After the siblings focused on Yu Jingming’s condition, Shen Heng ended the night’s training.

• Shen Heng’s water balloon burst, and he concluded he needed to master the exercise before he could maintain the full flow of Origin Power through his body.
• Le Gu Nan asked to stay in Shen Heng’s training room while she analyzed a silver cube, explaining that the Supervision Bureau felt too empty.
• Le Gu Nan told Yu Chunhe she was not Shen Heng’s girlfriend and had only come because she had nowhere else to go.
• Shen Heng and Yu Jingming fought with wooden blades, and Shen Heng landed a strike before they paused.
• Yu Chunhe praised Yu Jingming as a rare genius and fussed over him, while Shen Heng watched and then called an end to the training.

Shen Heng completed the preliminary form of a technique that circulated Origin Power through his body and named it Flow. He managed to maintain it for a little over two hours before mental fatigue caused the flow to dissipate.

• Yu Jingming apologized to Shen Heng for staying to talk, then left with Yu Chunhe, who called goodbye to Le Gu Nan.
• Shen Heng completed the first step of his technique by establishing a path for Origin Power to circulate throughout his body.
• He tested how the flow enhanced his limbs and defended his chest, then decided the technique still needed development.
• Shen Heng named the technique Flow and practiced maintaining it while eating breakfast.
• After a little over two hours, Shen Heng's concentration faltered and the Origin Power flow dissipated; someone carrying breakfast sat down beside him, and he greeted them.

Shen Heng took Shen Shuning to the Capital so she could begin university, and learned that he needed to attend a headquarters meeting there. After settling her into her dorm, he left to report to the Supervision Bureau headquarters, while Xiao Bai'er remarked that he seemed different from the dependable younger brother Shen Shuning had described.

• Shen Heng told Wang Hai he planned to take leave to bring Shen Shuning to university, and Wang Hai asked him to attend a headquarters meeting in the Capital on the 25th.
• At Linhai International Airport, Shen Heng and Shen Shuning met Xiao Bai'er and boarded their flight to the Capital.
• During the flight, Shen Heng stared at the plains below and slipped into a strange, dazed state until Shen Shuning brought him back to himself.
• Shen Heng helped Shen Shuning settle into her dormitory, then left to register at the Supervision Bureau headquarters.
• After Shen Heng left, Xiao Bai'er asked Shen Shuning whether he was really her younger brother, and Shen Shuning said he had changed a lot over the past six months.

Shen Heng arrived at the Supervision Bureau headquarters in the Capital for a meeting and met Cao Mingyu, a Tier 2 representative from Haizhou City. The next day, Cao Mingyu gathered representatives from Lingnan's cities and invited Shen Heng to join them for a meal.

• Shen Heng registered for the meeting scheduled for the 25th and received a room at the Lakeside Center.
• Shen Heng met Cao Mingyu, a Tier 2 ability user from Haizhou City, and they discussed their abilities and why Shen Heng had been chosen to represent Linhai.
• Shen Heng and Cao Mingyu ate together at the Lakeside Center, then Shen Heng called Xu Yuqin to tell her he had arrived safely before cultivating in his room.
• The following day, Cao Mingyu came to Shen Heng's room with representatives from Lingnan's cities and invited him out to get acquainted.
• Shen Heng joined Cao Mingyu and the other representatives for a meal at a roadside restaurant.

Shen Heng attended a gathering of regional Supervision Bureau members, learned about the Capital’s two fifth-tier experts and their S-rank abilities, then went to the Bureau’s headquarters for the next day’s meeting. The chapter ended as he watched a Capital Bureau member angrily berate a visiting young man over a seat, just as someone slammed a table beside him.

• Cao Mingyu and the other attendees introduced themselves, and Shen Heng learned that Gu Lingxuan was a third-tier ability user with Pressure Deception.
• Hou Zhe said that the Capital’s two fifth-tier experts would attend the next day’s meeting, and Cao Mingyu identified them as Jiang Xingwei and Li Daoyi, with the S-rank abilities Command Thunder and Cloud-Heavens Wind Control.
• Gu Lingxuan explained that Li Daoyi’s ability combined wind, clouds, and water vapor, with rapidly spinning air currents as its main attack.
• The next morning, Shen Heng sat near the front of Mountain and River Hall beside Gu Lingxuan and Cao Mingyu.
• A buzz-cut young man from the Capital Supervision Bureau cursed at a scholarly-looking visitor for taking a seat reserved for Capital members, and someone slammed a table beside Shen Heng.

Cao Mingyu defended a scholarly-looking young man after a member of the Capital Supervision Bureau insulted him and other out-of-towners, triggering a fight that grew into a melee. As Shen Heng and Gu Lingxuan watched from outside, Gu Lingxuan asked Shen Heng to help, but he said he had no desire to get involved.

• Cao Mingyu confronted the buzz-cut young man over his treatment of the scholarly-looking young man and demanded an apology.
• The buzz-cut young man insulted the out-of-towners, and Cao Mingyu and another man objected.
• After the buzz-cut young man swung at him, Cao Mingyu kicked him back, and the young man called for his companions to attack.
• Other people joined the fight, which expanded into a melee involving more than a dozen people from both sides.
• Gu Lingxuan asked Shen Heng to help, but Shen Heng said the insults had not given him enough reason to join the fight.

Shen Heng watched Li Daoyi use his power to stop the chaotic fight, but a crew-cut young man kicked Cao Mingyu and Fang Ran into the clouds’ path. Shen Heng caught Fang Ran, drawing the attention of Li Daoyi and the others onstage.

• Shen Heng and Gu Lingxuan watched Li Daoyi arrive and sit down without intervening in the fight.
• Director Zhao Yonggang brought Jiang Xingwei onto the stage and ordered everyone to stop, then asked Li Daoyi to help when the fighters continued.
• Li Daoyi formed a threatening cloud over the battlefield, causing everyone to stop fighting before the cloud masses struck them.
• The crew-cut young man kicked Cao Mingyu and Fang Ran into the path of the clouds, which blasted them away.
• Shen Heng caught Fang Ran and absorbed the force of his flight, while Li Daoyi watched him with surprise.

Minister Zhao Yonggang punished those who had fought and started the meeting. Li Daoyi then demonstrated a new piece of equipment that projected an Origin Power curtain across the meeting hall, leaving its purpose unexplained.

• Zhao Yonggang announced point deductions for those who started or joined the fight, and Jiang Xingwei ordered Yang Xu to lose an additional 500 points for attacking after the order to stop.
• Yang Xu glared at Shen Heng, who had helped stop the fight, while Gu Lingxuan joked that Yang Xu hated him.
• Zhao Yonggang told the participants to sit on the floor because they had broken the tables and chairs, and Shen Heng invited Fang Ran to sit beside them.
• Zhao Yonggang opened the meeting and handed the first agenda item to Li Daoyi, who showed the attendees a folding metal rod.
• Li Daoyi extended the rod into a staff and planted it in the floor, releasing an invisible Origin Power curtain that spread through the meeting hall.

Li Daoyi introduced the Realm-Suppressing Stake and Spirit-Gathering Array, while Zhao Yonggang explained how branches would receive and use them. Zhao then raised objections to headquarters concentrating resources on a few fifth-tier ability users and began defending the policy.

• Li Daoyi demonstrated the Realm-Suppressing Stake, which used Origin Power Crystals to maintain a barrier capable of containing even fifth-tier Calamity Beasts.
• Zhao Yonggang said local branches would receive some Origin Power Crystals, but their cost would be deducted from mission points when the stakes were used.
• Li Daoyi demonstrated the Spirit-Gathering Array, which gathered surrounding Origin Power, and Zhao Yonggang told attendees to learn it and teach their captains.
• Zhao Yonggang said headquarters would provide crystals for arrays at local Supervision Bureaus, lifting the attendees’ spirits.
• Zhao Yonggang asked about objections to concentrating resources on a handful of fifth-tier ability users and described the arguments for changing the policy before trailing off at “But...”

Zhao Yonggang warned that the accelerating overlap between worlds was driving a sharp rise in Calamity Beast incidents, while announcing a training camp for talented ability users. Shen Heng declined to attend because he needed to earn points, then joined Li Daoyi’s lesson on setting up a Spirit-Gathering Array.

• Zhao Yonggang described the growing number of Calamity Beast incidents and said headquarters would continue prioritizing high-tier ability users.
• Zhao Yonggang announced a three-month training camp for local ability users, with Li Daoyi and Jiang Xingwei helping to teach.
• Fang Ran thanked Cao Mingyu and the others, and Cao Mingyu said he had acted by his own choice.
• Shen Heng told Gu Lingxuan he probably would not attend the camp because it would not help him earn enough points.
• Shen Heng went to Li Daoyi’s lesson, where Li Daoyi explained how six Origin Power Crystals formed a Spirit-Gathering Array.

Li Daoyi taught the inspectors to use Drooping Willow branches to preserve Origin Power and guide it through the Spirit-Gathering Array. As Shen Heng and the others practiced, Wang Jin realized Li Daoyi had asked someone to cut off an array circuit that appeared to be working perfectly.

• Li Daoyi explained that Drooping Willow bark slowed Origin Power loss and instructed everyone to bind willow branches around the six Origin Crystals.
• Li Daoyi demonstrated how to channel Origin Power through the crystals in an outer and inner circuit, then told everyone to practice.
• Shen Heng attempted to guide Origin Power through the array, but the flow broke off when his pull was too weak.
• Li Daoyi corrected the inspectors as they practiced and showed Wang Jin how to keep one strand of Origin Power moving while guiding the other crystals.
• Wang Jin watched Li Daoyi ask another inspector to cut off and reconnect the Origin Power, then wondered whether the inspector had already formed both circuits.

Shen Heng demonstrated that he had mastered the Spirit-Gathering Array in minutes, impressing Li Daoyi and shocking the other learners. Back at Lakeside Center, Shen Heng failed to create an array inside his body and reflected on how the body confines Origin Power.

• Li Daoyi had Shen Heng reactivate the Spirit-Gathering Array and tested how much Origin Power he could guide through it.
• After Shen Heng showed a stable flow suitable for keeping the array running for a year, Li Daoyi declared that he had learned it and gave him Origin Crystals for his own array.
• The learners, including Cao Mingyu, watched Shen Heng leave in disbelief, while Li Daoyi urged them to continue studying and Gu Lingxuan practiced the outer circulation.
• Shen Heng returned to his room at Lakeside Center and wondered whether he could use Flow to build a miniature Spirit-Gathering Array inside his body.
• Shen Heng's experiment failed because his body obstructed Origin Power from affecting the outside, and he reconsidered how the body trapped Origin Power within itself.

Shen Heng ate breakfast at Lakeside Center and met Li Daoyi, who wanted to learn how he had caught Fang Ran the day before. Shen Heng agreed to show him his technique, Flow, and Li Daoyi placed a hand on his arm to feel it.

• Shen Heng tried fermented mung bean juice after the chef persuaded him, then ate breakfast with it.
• Li Daoyi joined Shen Heng and asked how he had caught Fang Ran the day before.
• Shen Heng explained that he had not had time to strengthen his arms with Origin Power and refused to reveal his method until Li Daoyi swore he would not trick him.
• Shen Heng named the technique Flow and invited Li Daoyi to feel it.
• Li Daoyi misunderstood Shen Heng's invitation, then placed a hand on his arm after Shen Heng clarified.

Shen Heng explained his Origin Power circulation technique, Flow, to Li Daoyi, who concluded that it was best suited to fourth-tier cultivators. After learning how Shen Heng’s Hearing Enhancement helped him practice it, Li Daoyi agreed that Shen Heng could have Flow appraised as a fourth-tier technique and offered him a combat technique in return.

• Li Daoyi examined Shen Heng’s body and tried to understand how his Origin Power circulation worked.
• Li Daoyi explained that keeping Origin Power flowing continuously required mental power, which cultivators began using at the fourth tier.
• Shen Heng told Li Daoyi that his Hearing Enhancement let him detect abnormal Origin Power vibrations and stabilize Flow, though he could only maintain it for two or three hours.
• Li Daoyi realized Shen Heng had delayed Flow’s appraisal while trying to make it learnable by lower-tier cultivators, and told him to submit it as a fourth-tier technique.
• Li Daoyi offered Shen Heng an equivalent combat technique from Clear Wind Temple and asked what kind he wanted.

Shen Heng asked Li Daoyi about learning Cloud Force and a mental cultivation method, then had his Flow technique assessed and uploaded to Martial World Easy Exchange. As he flew away, he received Li Daoyi’s A-grade Mysterious Gate Visualization Method.

• Shen Heng asked Li Daoyi to teach him Cloud Force, but Li Daoyi refused because it was an S-grade technique, and Shen Heng asked whether lower-tier cultivators could train their mental power.
• Shen Heng went to the Supervision Bureau headquarters to have Flow assessed and submitted it for Martial World Easy Exchange, explaining that most people needed to reach the fourth tier to practice it.
• A Supervision Bureau staff member told Shen Heng that Flow’s assessment results would be available that day and that he would receive 60% of the points if others redeemed it.
• Shen Heng saw that Flow had been rated B-grade, required the fourth tier to practice, and cost 3,500 points to redeem.
• Li Daoyi sent Shen Heng an A-grade mental cultivation method, and Shen Heng opened the file titled Mysterious Gate Visualization Method.

Shen Heng set up a Spirit-Gathering Array at the Linhai City Supervision Bureau, and the team discussed its effects and the upcoming training camp. Han Ling revealed that she was nearing Tier 3, while Shen Heng expected to reach Tier 2 by the end of the next month.

• Shen Heng completed the Spirit-Gathering Array and explained that it would gather surrounding Origin Power gradually rather than generate it.
• Wu Cheng complained that many items developed by the R&D department, including goofy bombs, were useless outside specific situations.
• Wang Hai asked who would attend the training camp, and Shen Heng declined while Han Ling asked about its timing and eligibility.
• Le Gu Nan realized Han Ling was close to breaking through to Tier 3, and Han Ling confirmed she expected to advance sooner with the array's help.
• Wang Hai asked when Shen Heng would reach Tier 2, and Shen Heng estimated he would break through by the end of the next month.

Shen Heng studied the stages of spiritual cultivation and began visualizing the Mountains, Rivers, and the Realm Diagram. The next month, he and Wang Hai went to investigate a second police officer’s apparent suicide in Haiguang District, which might have been caused by a Calamity Beast.

• Wang Hai learned that Wu Cheng, Wei Leyang, and Le Gu Nan would not attend the training camp, then Shen Heng taught him to set up the Spirit-Gathering Array.
• Shen Heng read about the three spiritual realms and their effects, including the mysterious third realm described as “divine understanding.”
• Shen Heng chose the Mountains, Rivers, and the Realm Diagram and began constructing its image in his mind.
• In October, Wang Hai told Shen Heng that two Haiguang District police officers had died by suicide within half a month, with neither showing any apparent psychological or other problems.
• Shen Heng and Wang Hai traveled to the Haiguang District Public Security Sub-Bureau to investigate the latest death and determine whether a Calamity Beast was involved.