Chapter Summaries

Lu Zhao welcomed Lin Zhiyan and the special task force to Ant Ridge Border Station, then learned of a mission to intercept tomb robbers who had escaped during the Fate Bones case. The task force prepared to search for fugitives in Fang City and the surrounding border regions, with Lin Zhiyan’s Divine Ability suited to finding them.

• Zhang Like summoned Lu Zhao to the compound gate, where Lu Zhao greeted Lin Zhiyan and welcomed the special task force on behalf of Ant Ridge Border Station.
• Lin Zhiyan and the border station leaders gathered in the conference room, where Lu Zhao was seated beside her.
• Lu Zhao read the task force report about the Mojin Xiaowei gang, who had stolen Fate Bones from the Tomb of the Prince of Jingjiang and scattered while fleeing authorities.
• Lin Zhiyan explained that one injured robber had entered Fang City and another had escaped abroad, while Greenwood’s earlier disruption had opened gaps in Linchen City’s border defenses.
• Lin Zhiyan assigned the task force and Lu Zhao to intercept fugitives, noting that her Divine Ability could help find them and that there would be no penalty for failing.

Lu Zhao used the task force’s authority to seek a way to investigate Lü Jinshan while helping Lin Zhiyan with the robber case. On the convoy ride to Ant Ridge, he described the outpost’s forces and the Greenwood Earth Hall, leaving Lin Zhiyan with a glimpse of his combat experience.

• Lin Zhiyan said the Fang City police were unlikely to find the robbers and authorized Lu Zhao to assist the task force despite his lack of rank to conduct searches himself.
• Lu Zhao told Zhang Like he planned to connect Lü Bowen to the robbers’ escape and use the investigation to pursue Lü Jinshan.
• Lin Zhiyan invited Lu Zhao to ride with her to Ant Ridge so she could ask about the assignment, and he reluctantly agreed.
• Lu Zhao explained the outpost’s deployment and described the Greenwood Earth Hall’s second-tier water-type transcendent, whom he had fought three times.

Lu Zhao showed Lin Zhiyan the frontline outpost and explained the dangers across the border, while their conversation revealed that she was testing his opposition to the surrender faction. He suspected the Lin Family was challenging the Chen Family’s control of the South Sea West Circuit, but returned to his routine without declaring allegiance.

• The convoy reached the frontline outpost, where Lu Zhao completed the entry procedures and introduced Lin Zhiyan to the squad leader on duty.
• Lu Zhao guided Lin Zhiyan around the outpost and described the varied powers across the border, including the relatively human Greenwood.
• Lin Zhiyan raised proposals to open household registration and absorb outsiders, and Lu Zhao called a prominent advocate evil rather than stupid.
• Lin Zhiyan remarked that Lu Zhao was a holdout, and he stayed silent because his family had died fighting in the War of National Defense.
• Back at the border station, Lu Zhao concluded that Lin Zhiyan had been testing his stance and that the Lin Family might be moving against the Chen Family.
• Lu Zhao put away the transfer order bearing Liang Chengyun’s name, returned to work, and later ate and drank with Zhang Like.

Lu Zhao weighed the dangers of getting involved in powerful political conflicts while preparing to leave for the Red Water Army, then received orders to join a mission in Fang City. At the Special Service Response Detachment base, he met Commander Wang Tong and Xu Zhenhua, and Wang began briefing him on the operation.

• Lu Zhao explained to Zhang Like why mental-type transcendents rarely marry and recounted the dangerous political conflict surrounding Lin Zhiyan.
• Zhang Like advised Lu Zhao to stay out of the conflict, while Lu Zhao reconsidered his plan to build a career in the Red Water Army and agreed to be careful.
• Lin Zhiyan called Lu Zhao's private number and ordered him to report to the Fang City Special Service Response Detachment base the next morning with Major Xu Zhenhua.
• On June 18, Lu Zhao requisitioned a military truck, formed a temporary squad of ten first-stage transcendents including Liao Lang, and traveled to Fang City.
• Lu Zhao reported to the detachment base and entered Commander Wang Tong's office, where Xu Zhenhua was waiting.
• Wang Tong introduced himself, returned Lu Zhao's salute, and began briefing him on the mission.

Lu Zhao and Lin Zhiyan joined a covert operation to find an injured fire-type fugitive on Kabuki Street in the Foreign District. As they searched the district, they entered a billiard hall and drew the attention of its staff and a group of bleached-blond punks.

• Wang Tong briefed Lu Zhao and Xu Zhenhua on the fugitive and the plan to search Kabuki Street.
• Lin Zhiyan led the operation meeting, and Lu Zhao urged the team to minimize civilian casualties during the raid.
• Lin Zhiyan recruited Lu Zhao to accompany her into the Foreign District, explaining that his ability could protect them from her indiscriminate mental shock.
• The team split into firepower, assault, and support groups after reaching Kabuki Street, while Lu Zhao and Lin Zhiyan searched on foot.
• Lin Zhiyan took Lu Zhao into a billiard hall, where the front-desk woman, a guard, and a group of bleached-blond punks watched them.

Lin Zhiyan and Lu Zhao toured Kabuki Street while watching for signs of trouble, then clashed over Lu Zhao’s refusal to break the law by eating beef. Lin Zhiyan treated him to a cheaper meal and later took him to an evening dinner gathering on the east side of the city.

• Lu Zhao secretly incapacitated a New Gang leader as Lin Zhiyan played pool, and the two continued through increasingly dangerous venues without being challenged.
• Lü Bowen worried about the unconscious Greenwood robber, while Lü Jinshan told him to keep the man and the item in his possession until help arrived.
• Lu Zhao left a restaurant after seeing illegal beef on the menu, and Lin Zhiyan followed him outside.
• Lu Zhao explained that he would not accept wrongdoing as normal, prompting Lin Zhiyan to recognize a quality she associated with her late father, Lin Youmin.
• Lin Zhiyan agreed to treat Lu Zhao at a small restaurant, then brought him to a dinner gathering on the east side of the city that evening.

Lin Zhiyan and Lu Zhao met Fang City Executive Zhao De and challenged his secretary over Lu Zhao’s overlooked merits before confronting Zhao De about easing restrictions on Federation subjects in the Chinese District. Afterward, Lin Zhiyan explained Zhao De’s political ties and investigated the missing robbers, while Lu Zhao remained in Fang City despite the danger.

• Lin Zhiyan introduced Lu Zhao to Zhao De and Liu Zhihui, then criticized Liu Zhihui’s rapid rise by contrasting it with Lu Zhao’s service.
• Lu Zhao joined Lin Zhiyan in mocking Liu Zhihui’s résumé, and Zhao De defused the tension before the group sat down to eat.
• Zhao De asked Lin Zhiyan about a policy easing restrictions on Federation subjects working in the Chinese District, and she condemned the idea of merging Hua and foreigners.
• Lin Zhiyan told Lu Zhao that Zhao De’s backer was a major obstacle in the South Sea West Circuit and suggested Lu Zhao should not stay in Fang City, but Lu Zhao only thanked her.
• Lin Zhiyan learned that the Public Security Office had mobilized informants to find the robbers and suspected that Lü Jinshan had let the fugitive pass through the border station.

Lin Zhiyan confronted Fang City's officials over their obstruction of the task force, while Lu Zhao refused a transfer offer from the Special Response Detachment. A call with his family sparked a new insight: his divine sense could touch and perceive the world beyond his body.

• Lin Zhiyan explained to Xu Fang that Fang City's resistance reflected political leverage, then demanded City Executive Zhao cooperate and recover the stolen goods.
• Wang Tong offered Lu Zhao a company commander's post in the Special Response Detachment, but Lu Zhao declined and reaffirmed that the border station suited him.
• Lu Zhao spoke with his mother, Luo Xiuhua, and niece Lu Xiaotong, whose lively conversation eased his tension.
• As he listened to Lu Xiaotong, Lu Zhao's thoughts spread outward and let him feel the ground, grass, wind, and clouds through his divine sense.

Lu Zhao discussed his progress with the Visualization Method, and the old Daoist helped him understand sight as recognizing the external world. Lu Zhao then sought advice about navigating the conflict between the Lin and Chen families, and his teacher began guiding him through a historical question about loyalty.

• Lu Zhao entered Primordial Unity to ask the old Daoist whether his understanding of the five senses was correct.
• Lu Zhao explained that taste, smell, and touch corresponded to food, time, and other people's existence, and said he had not understood sight.
• The old Daoist prompted Lu Zhao to connect sight with form, and Lu Zhao concluded that it involved understanding and transforming the world.
• The old Daoist struck Lu Zhao with a ruler when he sensed his student was rushing, then invited him to raise doubts beyond cultivation.
• Lu Zhao described his wish to benefit from the Lin and Chen families' conflict without joining either side, and the old Daoist asked whether Hai Rui or Yan Song had been a loyal minister of Great Ming.

Lu Zhao accepted his teacher’s advice to work with the Lin Family only through proper procedures and use political turmoil to expand his influence. The old Daoist granted him three chances to survive, while foreseeing a future shaped by both supreme fortune and terrible danger.

• The old Daoist argued that Lu Zhao should follow a ruler’s path rather than imitate Hai Rui or Yan Song, and Lu Zhao resolved to favor the Lin Family only when they followed procedure.
• The old Daoist advised Lu Zhao to use the Lin Family’s influence to stir up the Foreign District and create opportunities for the Chen Family’s opponents.
• Lu Zhao declared that he would command the realm’s Martial Marquises and safeguard peace in the Divine Land, surprising the old Daoist with his ambition.
• The old Daoist marked Lu Zhao’s palm with the character for three and gave him three chances to save his life.
• The old Daoist foresaw Lu Zhao’s fate as one of supreme nobility and terrible misfortune, with six of nine deadly trials remaining.