Chapter Summaries

Lu Zhao, a telekinetic border officer, killed a demonic beast while patrolling Ant Ridge with trainee Liu Qiang. Afterward, Liu Qiang again asked why Lu Zhao had stayed in the mountains despite graduating from Imperial Capital University.

• Lu Zhao warned Liu Qiang to watch his footing as they returned through the rainy mountain terrain.
• Liu Qiang reported that an earth-element fugitive was believed to be hiding nearby, and Lu Zhao said they could claim credit if they found him.
• Lu Zhao spotted a dark shape rushing through the bushes and shot it with a bullet guided by his telekinesis.
• Lu Zhao found that the target was a horned, black-cat-like demonic beast and shot it again to make sure it was dead.
• Liu Qiang asked why Lu Zhao had stayed to guard the mountain after graduating from Imperial Capital University.

Lu Zhao recalled the family he lost in the great cataclysm and why he continued guarding his homeland despite feeling aggrieved about his remote posting. After he and Liu Qiang tracked down and killed a fugitive, Lu Zhao asked Zhang Like to help arrange his transfer to the military.

• Lu Zhao told Liu Qiang that his mental ability caused his insomnia and recalled how the great cataclysm had killed his father, uncles, brother, and cousins.
• Lu Zhao explained that he still believed guarding his homeland mattered because his father's generation had defended it with their lives.
• After the rain stopped, Lu Zhao spotted a fugitive on Ant Ridge and pursued him with Liu Qiang.
• With permission to shoot, Lu Zhao killed the fugitive with two shots, and he chose not to report his suspicion that the man had hidden his belongings.
• Zhang Like offered to seek Lu Zhao's promotion, and Lu Zhao asked him to help arrange a transfer to the military.

The chapter followed Lu Zhao’s life at a remote border post, where his repeated service earned no advancement because of his conflict with Chen Qian’s family. It ended by flashing back to his first year at Imperial Capital University, where he steadily climbed the rankings despite being mocked as Straight Gut.

• Lu Zhao returned from hunting demonic beasts, then learned from Tang Fen that Li Dongxue had donated three hundred thousand to their foster home.
• Tang Fen urged Lu Zhao to leave the border post for teaching and offered to mediate his conflict with the Chen Family, but Lu Zhao refused.
• Zhang Like told Lu Zhao that his latest merit had brought no change to his prospects, and Lu Zhao named Chen Qian as the person he had offended.
• The story flashed back to 3234, when eighteen-year-old Lu Zhao enrolled at Imperial Capital University and ranked near the bottom of his year.
• Lu Zhao worked relentlessly to improve his ranking while living on free cafeteria protein, earning the mocking nickname Straight Gut.

Lu Zhao was repeatedly held back by Chen Qian’s influence, and after her father ignored attempts to resolve the matter, Lu Zhao called to apologize as advised. When Chen Qian barely remembered the incident that had cost him four years, Lu Zhao took out a hidden gun and began planning to kill her.

• Lu Zhao rejected Chen Qian’s advances for years, then slapped her when she grabbed him and tried to attack him.
• After Lu Zhao returned from border rotation, Zhang Like gave him Chen Qian’s number and explained that Marquis Chen had not acted to resolve the matter.
• Lu Zhao learned that his mother needed another hospital stay and borrowed money from Zhang Like to send home.
• Lu Zhao called Chen Qian and apologized, but she said she had forgotten the incident and ended the call.
• Enraged by Chen Qian’s indifference, Lu Zhao retrieved a hidden handgun and lay down to plan how to reach her without being caught.

Lu Zhao crossed into Primordial Unity in the spiritual world and met an old Daoist who gave him a cultivation method. After waking, Lu Zhao used the method to refine qi, gained vitality, and realized he could develop at the same rate as the Yan Federation's greatest recorded genius.

• Lu Zhao crossed the spiritual quagmire and encountered Shao Yuanjie, an old Daoist who said he had entered Primordial Unity five hundred years earlier.
• Shao Yuanjie offered Lu Zhao a book titled Refining Essence into Qi: Breathing Chapter, but Lu Zhao woke before taking it.
• A memory of the cultivation formula surfaced in Lu Zhao's mind, and he began circulating qi through his body.
• Lu Zhao drank three bottles of vitality supplement to quell his sudden hunger, then measured his vitality at 35.5, an increase of 0.1.
• Lu Zhao realized his daily vitality gain matched Wang Shouzheng's pace at the same level, giving him hope of reaching the second rank and leaving the Chen family's influence.

Lu Zhao weighed a deputy regiment-level appointment that would remove him from the front line, but insisted on staying through the rainy season to protect the nearby settlements. After learning that officials planned to investigate the dead Greenwood fugitive, he went to the officers’ quarters and found Zhang Laoniu on guard.

• Lü Jinshan praised Lu Zhao while continuing to hold back his career, and Zhang Like refused to lend him cash but bought him a phone.
• Zhang Like told Lu Zhao that the fugitive belonged to Greenwood and that leadership wanted to transfer him to an assistant director post at a retirement home.
• Lu Zhao decided he could accept the appointment after the rainy season, but would remain at Ant Ridge until the danger from floods and demonic beasts had passed.
• Zhang Like warned Lu Zhao that a prefectural investigation team would examine the fugitive’s death, and Lu Zhao recalled that mental power could read the minds of the dead.
• Lu Zhao visited the guardroom at one in the morning, where Zhang Laoniu relaxed after recognizing him.

Lu Zhao reentered Primordial Unity and asked the old Daoist to accept him as a disciple, but the Daoist said their affinity had not yet ripened. After learning that Great Ming had fallen and the Yan Federation had no emperor, the old Daoist questioned how its elected government could work, leaving Lu Zhao to explain its modern institutions and education system.

• Lu Zhao helped Zhang Laoniu fall asleep, then entered his mental world and reached Primordial Unity by pushing through its chaos.
• The old Daoist praised Lu Zhao's steadfast Dao heart, and Lu Zhao asked to become his disciple; the Daoist said the time was not yet right.
• The old Daoist asked about the current dynasty, and Lu Zhao told him Great Ming had fallen and the Yan Federation had replaced it.
• Lu Zhao explained that the Yan Federation had no emperor and that its leader was elected by the people for a six-year term, prompting the old Daoist to object.
• Lu Zhao described universal education and the selection of officials, and the old Daoist began questioning how the system prevented powerful families from dominating and officials from embezzling.

Lu Zhao learned the principles of qi cultivation from the old Daoist, then faced the cost of developing his vitality and borrowed money for supplements. At the border station, a special task force led by Lin Zhiyan arrived, while Lu Zhao began investigating links between Jiajing, Shao Yuanjie, and immortal cultivation.

• The old Daoist questioned Lu Zhao about the Federation’s society and agricultural productivity, then taught him how to cultivate acquired and innate qi.
• On May 26, Lu Zhao recorded that further qi circulation after increasing his vitality caused pain, calculated his limited supplement allowance, and borrowed ten thousand yuan from Zhang Like.
• Thirteen special-task-force officers arrived at the border station in five armored SUVs, and Lu Zhao recognized their leader, Lin Zhiyan, as a mental-type transcendent.
• Lin Zhiyan noticed Lu Zhao among the onlookers, while Lu Zhao left to continue flood-control work.
• Lu Zhao urged Zhang Zhenghong and Zhang Yanfeng to patrol the mountains, then searched the government database for information connecting Jiajing, Shao Yuanjie, and immortal cultivation.

Lu Zhao found a stolen Fate Bone hidden in Ant Ridge and decided to keep it out of criminal hands until he could turn it in for merit. As the authorities began searching for the fugitive’s missing item, Lin Zhiyan reviewed the case file and recognized Lu Zhao’s name.

• Lin Zhiyan examined the dead Greenwood bandit’s memories and learned he had obtained a deep-blue jade, but she could not determine where he had hidden the Fate Bone.
• Lu Zhao found the Fate Bone in a shoulder bag hidden in a rock crevice and rejected the idea of selling it on the black market.
• Lu Zhao buried the bag and continued patrolling Ant Ridge, setting markers and traps before returning toward the border station.
• Liu Qiang told Lu Zhao that their superiors wanted them to search for the fugitive’s hidden item, but Lu Zhao refused to look for it that day.
• Lu Zhao learned that Liu Qiang’s report had already mentioned the fugitive might have hidden something, and inferred that Lü Jinshan was under pressure to recover it.
• Lin Zhiyan opened the case file at the border station and recognized Lu Zhao’s name in the report about Tian Er’s death.

Lin Zhiyan discovered that Lu Zhao was an outstanding Imperial Capital Academy graduate and reprimanded Lü Jinshan for failing to search for the fugitive’s hidden item. Lu Zhao avoided Lü Jinshan’s attempts to question him, then learned from Zhang Like that the task force had sharply criticized the station chief.

• Lin Zhiyan recognized Lu Zhao’s academy record and ordered a subordinate to investigate why he was stationed at the border.
• Lin Zhiyan summoned Lü Jinshan and ordered him to find the fugitive’s hidden item within three days, accusing him of dereliction of duty.
• Lü Jinshan tried to confront Lu Zhao and Liu Qiang, but Lu Zhao evaded him, and Liu Qiang denied seeing anything the fugitive carried.
• Lü Jinshan tried to make Liu Qiang implicate Lu Zhao, but Liu Qiang stayed loyal and later warned Lu Zhao by phone.
• Lu Zhao met Zhang Like for drinks, and Zhang Like told him that Lin Zhiyan had berated Lü Jinshan over the missed search.

Lu Zhao discussed how to keep the Fate Bone’s discovery from helping Lü Jinshan evade blame, then studied nature cultivation with the old Daoist. The old Daoist argued that modern Life Development could not lead to immortality and urged Lu Zhao to abandon bodily desires and worldly pursuits, leaving him to question how that advice fit his convictions.

• Zhang Like advised Lu Zhao to keep quiet if he found the Fate Bone first, so Lü Jinshan might be blamed for negligence or disciplined.
• Lu Zhao met the old Daoist in the Realm of Primordial Unity, who sensed a disturbance in his Spirit Aperture and approved of his taking the Fate Bone.
• The old Daoist taught Lu Zhao about nature cultivation, and Lu Zhao admitted he understood only part of the lesson.
• Lu Zhao challenged the old Daoist’s claim that modern cultivation was wrong by pointing to the Federation’s strength and its many Life Developers.
• The old Daoist argued that modern Life Development could not produce immortals and told Lu Zhao that freedom required abandoning bodily desires and worldly pursuits.
• Lu Zhao considered the old Daoist’s advice against the convictions and attachment to the Federation that sustained him as a psychic transcendent.

Lu Zhao learned Spirit Refining from the old Daoist, gaining a mental attack ability, and secretly transferred the Fate Bone into Primordial Unity during a search of Ant Ridge. The mountain search ended after three fruitless days, leaving the fugitive and the Fate Bone undiscovered by the authorities.

• Lu Zhao refused to cultivate the Dao but offered the old Daoist his Fate Bone, and the old Daoist gave him the Spirit Refining technique and a transfer formula.
• Lu Zhao practiced Spirit Refining and gained a white worm that could launch mental attacks.
• After Liu Qiang called an emergency assembly, Lu Zhao joined the officers searching Ant Ridge and transferred the Fate Bone into Primordial Unity.
• Lu Zhao suggested searching the unpatrolled back of the mountain, but Zhang Like said the unit lacked the funding and personnel to expand the search.
• The task force searched Ant Ridge for three days without success, and the officers withdrew early after Lü Jinshan berated them.

After Zhang Like suspended the dangerous mountain search despite Lü Jinshan’s orders, the operation was called off and Lü Jinshan was censured. Lu Zhao’s powers continued to grow, and when Lin Zhiyan came to question him about the stolen life bone, he revealed nothing beyond his report.

• Zhang Like suspended the search during heavy rain despite Lü Jinshan’s order, and Lu Zhao sensed that something was watching the team as they left the mountain.
• After four days of complaints, Lü Jinshan called off the operation and was formally censured for dereliction of duty.
• Lu Zhao tested his growing powers, finding that his vitality had reached 36.2 and his telekinesis could lift 41.5 grams.
• Lin Zhiyan introduced herself to Lu Zhao and tried to charm him, then asked whether he had found anything related to the stolen life bone.
• Lu Zhao told Lin Zhiyan to read his report, and she left without getting more information from him.

Lu Zhao went into Ant Ridge’s back mountain with Liu Qiang to hunt demonic beasts for money, but found evidence of a long-used smuggling route. He reported the discovery after leaving the mountain and explained to Liu Qiang that people still lived beyond the South Sea despite the Great Cataclysm.

• Lu Zhao persuaded Liu Qiang to accompany him into the back mountain, promising him thirty percent of the hunting reward.
• Lu Zhao shot and killed a horned mountain leopard and a smaller demonic beast, earning money for their carcasses.
• Lu Zhao found an old can and a well-traveled path, leading him and Liu Qiang to suspect that smugglers were using the back mountain.
• Lu Zhao told Liu Qiang to keep quiet until they could warn Zhang Like and plan a response, then the two left the mountain and reported the discovery.
• Lu Zhao told Liu Qiang that people had survived in the lands south of the South Sea and that they were the source of smuggled drugs.

Lu Zhao investigated the deaths of two border patrol officers and identified a suspicious vehicle that might belong to Greenwood operatives. After returning to the border station, he intervened when Mo Kun tried to delay Liu Qiang’s payment for a demonic beast carcass.

• Lu Zhao and Liu Qiang responded to an emergency call and found two murdered border patrol officers in Ant Ridge Zone Three.
• Lu Zhao examined the scene, identified signs of divine powers, and told Zhang Like that three people had traveled through the area, including earth- and metal-attribute extraordinary beings.
• Lu Zhao recalled seeing a suspicious overloaded van and explained why its occupants might be connected to the murders.
• The police identified the suspect vehicle, and Zhang Like warned Lu Zhao that Greenwood might have exposed him and advised him to stay in.
• Lu Zhao returned to the border station and confronted Mo Kun after he refused to pay Liu Qiang for delivering a demonic beast carcass.

Lu Zhao learned that two border defense soldiers had been killed rather than reveal who killed Lamefoot Seven, and he joined Zhang Like’s hunt for the escaped criminals. Before Zhang Like left, Lu Zhao revealed a six-month-old smuggling route behind the station, leaving him to face a possible investigation for neglecting it.

• Lu Zhao divided the money from the corpse with Liu Qiang, gave three thousand yuan to his sister-in-law, and spent the rest on life supplements.
• Zhang Like told Lu Zhao that a firefight had left one criminal dead and three escaped, including metal- and earth-attribute transcendents, and showed him a video of two border defense soldiers being executed without giving up information.
• Lu Zhao reacted with anger and respect to the soldiers’ sacrifice, then agreed to join Zhang Like and the special task force in a second operation to find the criminals.
• Zhang Like explained that the operation was part of a nationwide Fate Bone theft investigation and could bring Lu Zhao major merit.
• Lu Zhao told Zhang Like he had found a smuggling route behind the station that had been used for six months, and warned him that customary neglect would count as evidence of dereliction of duty.

Lu Zhao advised Zhang Like to investigate Lü Jinshan and report the border patrol failures, while Greenwood operatives called for reinforcements after discovering that Lord Lu of the Mountain was active near Ant Ridge. As counterterrorism preparations began, Lü Jinshan blocked Lu Zhao from joining the operation, and Zhang Like challenged the decision before considering whether Team Leader Lin might help.

• Lu Zhao told Zhang Like to gather old patrol rosters and meeting records to implicate Lü Jinshan, and Zhang Like decided to search for evidence before reporting the failures.
• Shan Yong and Lao Gao identified Lord Lu of the Mountain as the powerful figure disrupting their branch near Ant Ridge and decided to call in backup.
• On June 2, soldiers at the border station received counterterrorism assignments, but Lu Zhao was not notified because his superiors excluded him from the operation.
• Zhang Like confronted the personnel department and Lü Jinshan over the refusal to assign Lu Zhao, then was taken away by disciplinary officers.
• Lu Zhao advised Zhang Like to wait for an emergency dispatch, and Zhang Like proposed asking Team Leader Lin for help.

Lin Zhiyan sought to recruit Lu Zhao for the impending operation, but he refused to humble himself to gain a place on the team. As the special investigation team prepared to move against the Greenwood bandits, Lu Zhao’s expertise was recognized as potentially indispensable.

• Lin Zhiyan told her deputy that Lu Zhao could be recruited but should have to approach her himself, then kept Zhang Like waiting when he asked her to include Lu Zhao in the operation.
• Zhang Like urged Lu Zhao to meet Lin Zhiyan and seek her help, but Lu Zhao refused, saying he would accept any assignment the country gave him without begging for favor.
• Lu Zhao declared that he would never bow his head again and believed he would eventually have the last laugh; Zhang Like reflected on his youthful conviction.
• Lin Zhiyan and her team prepared for the joint operation Thunderbolt 021, reviewing the abilities and records of Greenwood operatives Shan Yong and Lao Gao.
• The assistant suggested using Lu Zhao as a temporary adviser because he knew the outpost well and could be invaluable if the team clashed with Miye Three Rivers.

Zhang Like’s border defense team was reassigned to join an assault on two criminals with Divine Abilities after the Special Response Brigade sent some personnel elsewhere. As the operation began, Zhang Like’s unease led him to seek Lu Zhao’s help, and his team agreed to support the decision.

• Lin Zhiyan waited for Lu Zhao to arrive, but he did not show up before she left in anger at midnight.
• On June 3, the special task force launched an operation with the border station, traffic police, and Internet Supervision to capture fleeing terrorists.
• Lu Zhao stayed behind during the operation and practiced Spirit Refining and qi cultivation during his three days of leave.
• The command center ordered Zhang Like’s team to join the assault because the Special Response Brigade had sent some of its personnel to Ruinan.
• At the operation site, Zhang Like learned that only three teams remained and asked his soldiers to keep quiet while he contacted Lu Zhao.
• A team member backed Zhang Like, saying Lu Zhao’s abilities would make them safer, and the others quickly agreed.

Zhang Like’s team was denied Lu Zhao’s temporary deployment, then the operation at the internet café turned into a deadly ambush when the intelligence proved wrong. As casualties mounted, Liang Chengyun ordered Lu Zhao deployed to support the operation.

• Zhang Like requested Lu Zhao’s temporary deployment, but Lin Zhiyan initially approved it and the Ant Ridge Border Station rejected the request.
• Zhang Like and six border soldiers took up positions as the operation began, then an explosion and fire erupted at the internet café.
• The assault team reported buried soldiers and an enemy fire-attribute divine power user, so Lin Zhiyan ordered reinforcements, a retreat option, and emergency measures.
• Lin Zhiyan tried to go to the front line, but the deputy and other task force members blocked the way.
• Liang Chengyun learned that the Fang City task force was under attack and ordered Lu Zhao deployed under a level-one emergency order.