Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou helped several Twilight Years Mansion residents attempt the Seventh Sequence, while Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian weighed the cost and strategic value of expanding access to sequence locks. As turmoil threatened the Aomeijia Alliance, Changkong Yinghao saw a chance for the Scarlet Alliance State to gain resources and intervene, depending on who controlled them.

• Zhong Rang underwent the procedure and developed the Resistance Layer smoothly, though he suffered dry heaving and confusion.
• Song Xianzhong underwent the procedure and, after reaching the Seventh Sequence, wept because he had not forgotten his past.
• Cai Guoli asked Zhang Xuezhou to use a strong dose of medicine, then appeared to succeed in reaching the Seventh Sequence.
• Changkong Yinghao told Changkong Yinglian that treatment, the sequence lock, and medicine raised their odds of reaching the Seventh Sequence to about seventy percent.
• Changkong Yinghao argued that trading research resources for sequence locks was worthwhile because it could help his group advance beyond the Seventh Sequence.
• Changkong Yinghao said the Scarlet Alliance State might trade for Aomeijia Alliance resources at low prices and help quell its unrest, or side with the Anti-Parliament Legion against the Montes Lineage.

Qimeng Haige concluded that only the Scarlet Alliance State could limit the damage of the Aomeijia Alliance’s civil war and decided to intervene in negotiations. He learned that Montes Ganghao was the Alliance’s sole surviving negotiator and pressed him about the Scarlet Alliance State’s demands.

• Qimeng Haige reflected on Mengtesi Badun’s decline and the Aomeijia Alliance’s collapse, concluding that the Scarlet Alliance State was now the only power able to intervene.
• Qimeng Haige considered the Scarlet Alliance State’s growing strength and resource system, then decided to speak with Li Yingbo and the Aomeijia Alliance’s negotiator.
• Qimeng Haige called Li Yingbo and learned that Montes Ganghao was the only Aomeijia Alliance envoy to reach the Scarlet Alliance State alive after rebels sabotaged his airliner.
• Montes Ganghao explained that he had survived the crash with an emergency parachute.
• Qimeng Haige asked Montes Ganghao whether he could accept Li Yingbo’s demands, provide the available goods, and persuade the Scarlet Alliance State to suppress the rebellion.

Qimeng Haige failed to persuade Montes Ganghao to accept the Scarlet Alliance State’s help, then agreed to visit North Rehe with Zhang Xuezhou. Zhang Xuezhou also criticized Li Yingbo for making modest demands of the Aomeijia Alliance.

• Qimeng Haige urged Montes Ganghao to give the Scarlet Alliance State everything, but Ganghao refused and Li Yingbo let the negotiations end without switching sides to the rebels.
• Qimeng Haige warned Zhang Xuezhou that the Montes Lineage’s elite recruitment left it with too few Sequence Holders to withstand a broad defection or modern weapons.
• Zhang Xuezhou invited Qimeng Haige to North Rehe, and Qimeng Haige accepted after considering how empty Twilight Years Mansion might become.
• Zhang Xuezhou read Li Yingbo’s message and complained that he had asked the Aomeijia Alliance for only three thousand doses of blood and fourteen kinds of Ferocious Beast extracts.

Qimeng Haige reflected on the political and resource conflicts driving the Aomeijia Alliance toward crisis as Zhang Xuezhou brought him to North Rehe. Seeing the Scarlet Alliance State’s open, hopeful Sequence system, Qimeng Haige envied its stability but concluded that its path could not be repeated for his own country.

• Qimeng Haige accepted Zhang Xuezhou’s nominal position in North Rehe and asked him to request mercy from Li Yingbo, but Zhang told him to contact Li himself.
• Qimeng Haige explained that developing Sequences and concentrating resources were strategic necessities, while Zhang argued that society needed a system for people to step down and make room for others.
• Qimeng Haige arrived at North Rehe and saw Sequence Holders training and demonstrating for younger people without visible resentment.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that open information, promised future access to perfected Sequence Locks, and institutional changes had given people hope of advancing.
• Qimeng Haige reflected on the Scarlet Alliance State’s unusual history and concluded that its journey could not be replicated as the Aomeijia Alliance neared collapse.

Zhang Xuezhou considered how to obtain good luck for catalyst research and decided to try gathering a Karmic Fortune Pearl with an array. He began experimenting with materials for an Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill and enlisted Qimeng Haige to help, leaving Qimeng intrigued by Zhang Xuezhou’s Control of Techniques.

• Luo Burang told Zhang Xuezhou that the Void Furnace had grown unusually close to Ren Anran, but Zhang Xuezhou dismissed the concern.
• Qimeng Haige declined to join Luo Burang’s R34 Catalyst research, explaining that catalyst breakthroughs depended heavily on luck and resources.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered using an array to gather a Karmic Fortune Pearl and decided to order materials for making array flags.
• Zhang Xuezhou invited Qimeng Haige to watch him experiment with materials resembling those in the Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Qimeng Haige to use Control to tumble the materials, then demonstrated the technique himself, impressing Qimeng Haige.

Zhang Xuezhou refined a bottle of red powder for the Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill while Qimeng Haige watched and tried to learn his control of Law Power. After Zhang Xuezhou finished, he let Qimeng Haige continue experimenting and turned to preparing medicines for other cultivation techniques.

• Qimeng Haige asked Zhang Xuezhou how he shaped mineral powder into a sphere, and Zhang explained that Law Power had to guide a fast reaction before the powder scattered into purple dust.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Qimeng Haige tried the experiment again, and Zhang produced red powder that he judged to be a successful backup for making the Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill.
• Qimeng Haige used his power to pull a glass bottle from ten meters away, and Zhang took it to collect the cooled powder.
• Zhang Xuezhou stopped refining after filling one bottle, but allowed Qimeng Haige to keep using the equipment for practice.
• Zhang Xuezhou began considering nutritional medicines for the Fleshly Body Technique and the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique using materials from the Snake Cave and Spirit Jade Marrow.

Zhang Xuezhou used Jingluo Vine and other ingredients to brew a medicine, then drank it as he experimented with Ancient Martial Arts. Qimeng Haige watched Zhang Xuezhou’s body rapidly transform and realized his training was progressing far beyond anything he had seen before.

• Zhang Xuezhou took out Jingluo Vine and stone marrow from the Qinmeng Secret Stone to prepare a medicinal mixture.
• Qimeng Haige returned from a chemistry experiment and warned Zhang Xuezhou about the bitter oak nuts he had added.
• Zhang Xuezhou tasted the bitter mixture and then drank several servings despite Qimeng Haige’s objections.
• Qimeng Haige saw bulges moving beneath Zhang Xuezhou’s skin as Internal Qi gathered in his body.
• Zhang Xuezhou developed the Tiger and Leopard Thunder Sound in minutes, leaving Qimeng Haige astonished by the speed and direction of his Ancient Martial Arts training.

Zhang Xuezhou used medicinal brews to refine his body until blades could no longer hurt him, while Qimeng Haige watched and tested the painful medicine himself. Zhang Xuezhou fell short of reaching the Divine Ability Realm but offered to share his Fleshly Body Technique with Qimeng Haige in exchange for help advancing catalyst research.

• Qimeng Haige watched Zhang Xuezhou's body transform through ten hours of taking medicine and realized he had reached the limits of ancient martial arts.
• Qimeng Haige tasted the pale-green medicinal liquid, suffered severe pain, and drank water to ease its effects.
• Zhang Xuezhou stopped drinking when the medicine proved insufficient to advance his Fleshly Body Technique to the Divine Ability Realm, then sealed the remaining brew for Zhang Manqian and the others.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered to lend Qimeng Haige the Fleshly Body Technique if he worked with Luo Burang to advance catalyst research.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Qimeng Haige agreed to cooperate and exchange knowledge, with Zhang Xuezhou seeking progress beyond reproducing the R-series weak-gene catalysts.

Zhang Xuezhou demonstrated the strength of his Fleshly Body Technique, secured Qimeng Haige’s interest in working with him, and prepared formation flags to gather Fortune for the Aomeijia Alliance. He arranged to travel there by boat to conduct an experiment.

• Zhang Xuezhou sparred with Qimeng Haige, who was impressed by his Fleshly Body Technique and agreed to approach Luo Burang about the R-Series Catalyst in exchange for a sample of the medicinal liquid.
• After Qimeng Haige left, Zhang Xuezhou collected twelve custom beechwood flags from Xu Shengzhi and explained that he planned to use them in a Fortune-gathering formation.
• Zhang Xuezhou assessed the Aomeijia Alliance’s rebellion and decided to prepare the flags according to Xuanming’s Seizing Fortune Technique, hoping to find a new Grand Council President.
• Zhang Xuezhou threaded gold through the flags, added his blood, and arranged them into forward and reverse formations to gather Fortune and collect Karmic Fortune Pearls.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Ren Yisheng for a detailed map and permission to travel to the Aomeijia Alliance by boat for an experiment, and Ren Yisheng agreed.

Zhang Xuezhou and a team of Scarlet Alliance State experts and technical specialists prepared to enter the war-torn Aomeijia Alliance for an experiment involving planting flagpoles. The group set out knowing their overwhelming strength could let them influence the conflict, though Zhang framed their plans as seeking benefits rather than starting a war.

• Ren Yisheng assembled a traveling party that included Ren Anran, Zhang Manqian, several high-sequence holders, four technical specialists, and Void Furnace.
• The group planned to approach the Aomeijia Alliance by airbus and make a low-altitude drop outside its airspace.
• Zhong Rang questioned Zhang Xuezhou about the flagpoles, and Zhang explained that he intended to conduct an experiment and take advantage of the situation.
• Ren Yisheng proposed helping the rebels first and letting them suffer setbacks before negotiating for assistance.
• Zhong Rang realized the gathered Seventh Sequence Holders and their support abilities could threaten the Montes Lineage and potentially sway the Aomeijia Alliance's government.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others parachuted from an Airbus into the Aomeijia Alliance while carrying twelve flagpoles, but the Void Furnace accidentally set his parachute on fire and crashed. Zhang Xuezhou landed safely and found the unconscious, badly injured Void Furnace.

• Luo Gaogao reported that the Aomeijia Alliance was interfering with the Airbus’s communications and instruments as it approached.
• Zhang Xuezhou lifted the twelve flagpoles with ease and jumped from the Airbus without opening his parachute.
• Ren Yisheng and the others jumped after Zhang Xuezhou, most of them opening their parachutes as they fell.
• The Void Furnace ignited his parachute while trying to recall how to fly, then fell and crashed into the grass.
• Zhang Xuezhou landed safely with the flagpoles and found the Void Furnace unconscious and injured.

Zhang Xuezhou treated the badly injured Void Furnace after he fell from the sky, while Ren Anran explained that their combat-technique experiments had contributed to the accident. After the Void Furnace recovered and praised parachuting, Zhang Xuezhou realized he might have forgotten something too.

• The Void Furnace crashed near Zhang Xuezhou in his giant ape form, and Zhang Xuezhou used the Supreme Purity True Technique to treat his injuries.
• Zhong Rang, Song Xianzhong, Zhu Bufan, and the others arrived and reacted to the Void Furnace's Ferocious Beast form.
• Ren Anran said she and the Void Furnace had sparred while exploring the Dragon Elephant Combat Technique, and she revealed that he had taken Zhang Xuezhou's Second-Generation Heavenly God General Medicine.
• Ren Anran used the Dragon Elephant Combat Technique to calm the Void Furnace, while Zhang Xuezhou set his bones and stopped his internal bleeding.
• The Void Furnace recovered, changed back into human form, and praised the Alliance States' parachuting technology; Zhang Xuezhou then felt that he too had forgotten something.

Zhang Xuezhou began setting up the Seizing Fortune Technique’s formation across the Aomeijia Alliance, planting a flag near Wodila City and leaving Zhu Bufan to guard it. As the group flew toward Pangdewosi City to continue their work, Wodila City’s aircraft pursued them and opened fire.

• Zhang Xuezhou planted a formation flag in the mountains near Wodila City, adapting Xuanming's Seizing Fortune Technique with his own cultivation methods.
• Zhu Bufan agreed to stay behind and guard the flag while Zhang Xuezhou and the others continued to Pangdewosi City.
• The group flew in four aircraft with their Feixun systems disconnected, and Ren Anran reflected on Zhang Xuezhou's advice that simplicity was practical.
• Wodila City's flying squadron pursued the group and opened fire, so Zhang Xuezhou and the others fired rifles back at their aircraft.

Zhang Xuezhou and his companions reached Pangdewosi City after forcing down a patrol aircraft, then planted flags to demonstrate their precision-strike capabilities and attract influential negotiators. As they prepared to travel north toward the Fala Region, Teleila revealed that she was loyal to the Montes Lineage and connected to Montes Arthur, despite appearing to represent the rebels.

• Zhang Xuezhou and his companions landed near Pangdewosi City and watched another aircraft approach without firing on it.
• Ren Anran identified the woman approaching them as Teleila, a powerful Sequence Holder who had once competed with Montes Clark.
• Zhang Xuezhou said they needed to reach the Fala Region, and Ren Anran suggested traveling by truck because the northern region was a no-fly zone.
• Zhao Tianhua agreed to remain behind and guard the flags in exchange for the bear-type Ferocious Beast extracts Zhang Xuezhou promised to obtain.
• Teleila recognized Zhang Xuezhou, showed him a photo on her communicator, and said Montes Arthur had told her that Zhang's words carried weight.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng realized that Teleila was loyal to the Montes Lineage, despite having appeared to negotiate on behalf of the rebels.

Teleila connected Zhang Xuezhou with Montes Arthur, who asked for help treating Montes Badun. Zhang agreed in exchange for a huge supply of blood serum and Ferocious Beast extracts, and Arthur arranged to bring Badun and the resources to Western Capital City.

• Teleila told Zhang Xuezhou that Montes Arthur had asked her to find him and gave him Arthur’s communications number.
• Zhang called Montes Arthur and learned that Arthur wanted help treating Montes Badun, whose body had suffered severe deterioration.
• Zhang demanded thirty thousand doses of blood serum and five portions each of fourteen Ferocious Beast extracts, and Montes Arthur immediately agreed.
• Zhang warned that he could only show Montes Badun the method that had helped him recover and made no guarantee that it would work.
• Montes Arthur arranged to bring Badun and the promised supplies to Western Capital City within a few days.

Zhang Xuezhou’s group traveled north through the Aomeijia Alliance amid limited but persistent fighting, while he and Montes Arthur discussed their separate plans. After reaching the Fala Region, Zhang still had to plant his third formation flag and meet Arthur, and Ren Yisheng arranged for the group to safeguard their valuable cargo and wait through Zhang’s coming unconsciousness.

• Teleila openly supported Montes Arthur, helping Zhang Xuezhou’s group obtain an aircraft escort and a truck through legitimate paperwork.
• Ren Anran asked Zhang Xuezhou which faction would take control of the Aomeijia Alliance, and he said he planned to help the rebels after planting his flag.
• As the group drove north, they saw ordinary people watching the violence and discussed how the Alliance’s unrest compared with the Scarlet Alliance State.
• After three days of travel, the group entered the Fala Region, where Montes Arthur contacted Zhang and asked about their location and travel plans.
• Zhang warned Montes Arthur about aircraft safety, and Arthur described his plan to leave through Tengteng Country before continuing toward Western Capital City.
• Ren Yisheng insisted that Luo Gaogao and the other technical personnel accompany them to protect the transaction’s cargo, then told Ren Anran and the others to stay safe while Zhang was unconscious for twelve days.

While planting the Fortune Condensing Flags in the Fala Region, Zhang Xuezhou and his companions discovered vast swarms of predatory black spiders and suspected they might have come from Qinmeng. Zhang Xuezhou notified Montes Arthur, but the Aomeijia Alliance’s internal strife left it unclear whether the government could respond.

• Cai Guoli showed Zhang Xuezhou a black-shelled spider and reported that tens of thousands or more were swarming nearby.
• Zhang Xuezhou hurried to the area and found that the spiders covered vast stretches of land.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the spiders hunted living creatures in groups and reproduced rapidly, prompting the group to consider whether they were mutated.
• The group discussed the danger to nearby residents and concluded that the spiders were unlikely to damage the formation flags.
• Zhang Xuezhou suspected the spiders had come from Qinmeng and, at Ren Anran’s suggestion, messaged Montes Arthur about the outbreak.

The Void Furnace discovered that the black-armored spiders reproduced rapidly and realized he had grown old and was losing his instincts. After Zhang Xuezhou left him and Cai Guoli to guard a formation flag, the Void Furnace learned to ride an off-road motorcycle and went off alone to pursue an opportunity.

• The Void Furnace examined a spider, tested its rapid reproduction by placing it in a mole's corpse, then killed the newborn spiders.
• Zhang Xuezhou told the group they would travel to the Bisili Region and then Bulanpeida City to finish the formation, and agreed to leave the Void Furnace and Cai Guoli behind to guard the flag.
• Cai Guoli described how age had slowed his reactions, prompting the Void Furnace to realize that he too had grown old and was losing his instincts.
• The Void Furnace decided he needed more resources and asked Cai Guoli to teach him to ride the off-road motorcycle.
• After practicing for a little over ten minutes, the Void Furnace rode into the mountains alone, and Cai Guoli waited without seeing him return.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran discussed the Void Furnace, their experimental medicine, and how to advance their cultivation by accumulating resources. They concluded that their Yin-Yang Realm Technique could endure far greater accumulation than other techniques, leaving them determined to keep pushing along that path toward the Sole Self Realm.

• Zhang Xuezhou took Cai Guoli’s call and told Ren Anran that the Void Furnace would scout the Qinmeng situation while they continued toward the Bisili Region.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran discussed the Heavenly God General Second-Generation Medicine’s flaws and the possibility that it could help them forget their techniques to obtain a Divine Ability choice.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran concluded that reaching the Sole Self Realm required extensive accumulation and thorough refinement of their acupoints.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran agreed that their Yin-Yang Realm Technique could bear greater cultivation-resource accumulation than other techniques, despite its enormous cost.
• Ren Anran said that improving the Infant Transformation Technique with Qinmeng Secret Stones could bring her close to the Sole Self Realm, while Zhang Xuezhou continued seeking ways to improve resource efficiency.

Zhang Xuezhou, Ren Anran, and Zhang Manqian drove toward Bulanpeida City after Zhong Rang secured a position in Bisili, discussing their plan and the struggle with the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon inside Zhang Xuezhou. A fleeing Sequence Holder pulled Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran onto the truck roof, and a pursuer’s call for Daniel revealed a promising new lead.

• Zhong Rang used his influence to plant a friendship tree near Bisili city hall and stayed in the region for three months.
• Zhang Xuezhou, Ren Anran, and Zhang Manqian continued toward Bulanpeida City and discussed whether their plans risked making them like Huang Daoxian.
• Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon had recently tried and failed to take control of his body, and she suggested eroding its memories to help him return to normal.
• A low-level Sequence Holder hitching a ride on the truck roof dragged Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran up and threatened them into staying quiet.
• A pursuer called out for Daniel and threatened Daniel’s father, catching Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran’s interest.