Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou asked Li Shaojun about the Mohists' Mechanism City and persuaded him to join a search for it at sea. Li Shaojun revealed he had a Mohist Mechanism Bird that might lead them to the city, leaving the three travelers with a possible guide for their voyage.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Li Shaojun about the Mechanism City, and Li Shaojun explained that it had been seen in a mirage amid reefs in the Eastern Sea.
• Li Shaojun admitted he had seen the mirage but had never found the rocky beach where the city was said to appear.
• Zhang Xuezhou said a Divine Ability Realm fisherman familiar with the Eastern Sea was willing to take him to search for the city.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Li Shaojun to join the trip, and Li Shaojun produced a Mohist Mechanism Bird that could return to the city if it came within five li.
• Li Shaojun admitted he had picked up the bird, and Zhang Xuezhou realized it might still be reclaimed by the Mechanism City.

Zhang Xuezhou brought Li Shaojun and Gongsun Hong together to plan an expedition to find the Mohists' Mechanism City, but the two immediately competed for his support and control of the venture. They remained at odds over the team and its profits, leaving their cooperation unsettled.

• Zhang Xuezhou introduced Li Shaojun to Gongsun Hong, who questioned the usefulness of Li Shaojun's mechanical bird and Li Shaojun criticized Gongsun Hong's limited contribution.
• Li Shaojun urged Zhang Xuezhou to search for Mechanism City with him and offered to split anything they found equally, while Gongsun Hong tried to keep Zhang in his own team.
• Zhang Xuezhou encouraged the two to work together and realized their rivalry could prevent either man from controlling the expedition outright.
• Li Shaojun and Gongsun Hong each claimed a closer friendship and stronger alliance with Zhang Xuezhou, then traded insults about their prospects in the imperial court.
• Li Shaojun continued trying to draw Zhang Xuezhou away, while Gongsun Hong recognized that Li's arrival threatened his control of the team.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to mediate between Li Shaojun and Gongsun Hong as they argued over how to divide the gains from finding Mechanism City. He threatened to leave, but they persuaded him to stay because his connection to the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea could help them return safely.

• Zhang Xuezhou threatened to end the partnership and return to Chang'an City after Li Shaojun and Gongsun Hong traded accusations.
• Gongsun Hong offered to find agarwood if they failed to locate Mechanism City, while Li Shaojun challenged his intentions.
• Gongsun Hong explained that Zhang Xuezhou's connection to the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea could protect the group on the voyage back.
• Li Shaojun questioned Gongsun Hong about whether he would covet treasures beyond their ability to use, and Gongsun Hong agreed to leave such items alone.
• Li Shaojun accepted Gongsun Hong's terms and urged Zhang Xuezhou to join them, even if he could only lie down.

After waking from a twelve-day transition between worlds, Zhang Xuezhou found Zuo Teng waiting for him with news that Zuo Quan might be involved in a plot against the Sequence Committee. Zuo Teng suspected the imperial mausoleums and gladiolus grass had changed his father, and warned that Song Fengying’s investigation could draw both their households into the turmoil.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke in the real world and agreed to let Zuo Teng arrange a large supply of R32 Catalyst.
• Zuo Teng told Zhang Xuezhou that Zuo Quan had thrown him out and appeared to be conspiring with people outside the province against the Sequence Committee.
• Zuo Teng asked Zhang Xuezhou whether gladiolus grass from the imperial mausoleums might have altered Zuo Quan’s personality.
• Zuo Teng warned that Song Fengying’s livestream from the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums could make her investigation the fuse of the alleged plot and entangle both households.
• Zhang Xuezhou finally understood Zuo Teng’s concern and began taking the threat seriously.

Zhang Xuezhou pointed Zuo Teng toward clues about his father’s tumor, then focused on using Song Sijia’s Realm Technique breakthrough to study Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity. Song Sijia unexpectedly entered that state while training, leaving Zhang Xuezhou baffled by how quickly she had done so.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Zuo Teng to ask Zuo Jin about the unusual sound at Emperor Fu of Luo’s Mausoleum and to examine the slash in Zuo Quan’s protective suit.
• After Zuo Teng left, Zhang Xuezhou prepared Potent Spirit-Forging Pills and decided to seek Song Sijia’s help in understanding Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity.
• Zhang Xuezhou invited Song Sijia to the research institute and guided her through the Dragon Might Combat Technique, making exaggerated claims about how quickly she could advance.
• Song Sijia entered Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity while training, despite being distracted, and Zhang Xuezhou wondered how she had reached the state so quickly.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to use Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity to advance his Realm Technique, but could not achieve it and instead fused his Yin and Yang Law Power with pills. As the fusion pushed him toward the Divine Ability Realm, he began testing which Technique Method his Law Power would choose to become his Divine Ability.

• Zhang Xuezhou assessed Song Sijia's pill-assisted breakthroughs and concluded that drug resistance and increasing cultivation difficulty would limit her future progress.
• Zhang Xuezhou swallowed a Spirit-Forging Pill and tried to cultivate the Yin Yang Great Joy Nine People Incantation while imitating Song Sijia's Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity.
• Zhang Xuezhou failed to draw upon the resonance, so he used pills to bring his two Realm Techniques' Law Power into balance and fuse them, restoring his cultivation to major completion in the Body Transformation Realm.
• Zhang Xuezhou took a Potent Spirit-Forging Pill as his surging Law Power expanded through his acupoints and began searching for a Technique to awaken as his Divine Ability.
• Zhang Xuezhou tested the Sand Transformation Technique, the Supreme Purity True Technique, and other Techniques, while feeling relieved that his Law Power showed little interest in the Yin Entity Tracking Technique.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to break through to the Divine Ability Realm but could not guide his Law Power into any technique. Facing a painful, possibly dangerous failure, he flew to Twilight Years Mansion, while Song Sijia and Ren Wuyang wondered what was happening.

• Zhang Xuezhou tested his learned techniques one by one but could not condense a Divine Ability technique or begin transforming his Law Power.
• Zhang Xuezhou called Zhou Yueyan for an aircraft to take him to Twilight Years Mansion, fearing the consequences of failing his breakthrough attempt.
• Zhou Yueyan arranged a Changkong Household aircraft from North Rehe, and Zhang Xuezhou boarded it with a case as blue light covered him.
• Song Sijia compared her Law Power with Zhang Xuezhou's and noticed that the Realm Gene Fighting Technique he taught her let her perform the Dragon Might Combat Technique one more time.
• Song Sijia told Ren Wuyang that Zhang Xuezhou had flown toward Western Capital City, and Ren Wuyang promised to explain later.

At the Luofu Imperial Palace, Zhang Xuezhou used Tomb Scripture while trying to break through to the Divine Ability Realm. Ren Wuyang accidentally fulfilled a wish that healed him, and the resulting golden light gave Zhang Xuezhou another chance to attempt the breakthrough, leading him to choose the Poison Avoidance Art as his Lesser Divine Ability.

• Zhang Xuezhou went to the Luofu Imperial Palace and tried using Fortune Techniques before chanting Tomb Scripture to help him reach the Divine Ability Realm.
• Ren Wuyang arrived, repeated Tomb Scripture after Zhang Xuezhou, and unexpectedly recovered from his illness when golden light appeared.
• Zhang Xuezhou gathered the golden light and used it to strengthen his Law Power, giving himself another chance to break through.
• Zhang Xuezhou swallowed two Potent Spirit-Forging Pills and tested his Technique Methods, finding that the Poison Avoidance Art had become unusually prominent.
• Zhang Xuezhou chose the Poison Avoidance Art and continued condensing his Lesser Divine Ability.

Zhang Xuezhou used his Divine Ability Realm Poison Avoidance Art to withstand stronger pills while drawing Fortune through the Tomb Scripture. A pill made from Puresainuoru’s Inner Core caused severe symptoms but also strengthened Zhang’s body and raised his Realm Technique, leaving him wondering what unusual properties the Inner Core contained.

• Zhang Xuezhou realized his advanced Poison Avoidance Art could erase the hallucinogenic effects of Potent Spirit-Forging Pills, though too many pills could still overwhelm him.
• Zhang Xuezhou recited the Tomb Scripture as Ren Wuyang joined him, drawing golden lights of Fortune in the Luofu royal palace.
• Zhang Xuezhou swallowed four moth-core pills and then eight more, but the larger dose failed to push his Law Power higher.
• Zhang Xuezhou swallowed a pill made from Puresainuoru’s Inner Core and developed pustule-like spots, bluish-black skin, and intense itching.
• Zhang Xuezhou’s body hardened and grew stronger as his Poison Avoidance Art neutralized the toxin and his Realm Technique advanced, while the green-headed duck sensed an effect on his Gene Power.
• Zhang Xuezhou suspected Puresainuoru had been poisoned and wondered whether Nagesi or Qimeng Haige had been responsible.

After Zhang Xuezhou suffered a violent reaction while taking a Spirit-Forging Pill, Ren Yisheng flew to the Luofu Imperial Palace to help him. As Ren arrived, hostile high-Sequence Holders attacked the palace’s guard post and rushed toward the Twilight Years Mansion.

• Ren Wuyang saw Zhang Xuezhou turn dark blue-black and develop poisonous sores after they recited the same thing.
• Ren Yisheng took Soul Jade and Spirit-Forging Pills, then flew alone to the Luofu Imperial Palace despite the risks of leaving the medical center.
• Two special task force members escorted Ren Yisheng to the palace, then realized they had lost part of their memories and reported the encounter to their superiors.
• Four unregistered aircraft arrived, and their passengers jumped from fifty meters before a sniper killed guards at the landing site.
• The hostile visitors raced toward the Twilight Years Mansion, aiming to trap its residents, while one aircraft took gunfire and began to fall.

Zhang Xuezhou swallowed a dangerous dose of Spirit-Forging Pills, endured a hallucination, and broke through to the Divine Ability Realm. After gaining control of his new Law Power, he heard a gunshot near the Luofu Imperial Palace with Ren Yisheng.

• Zhang Xuezhou noticed that the pills had made his body stronger but left his genes altered and his skin tougher than his bones could support.
• Zhang Xuezhou swallowed five more Potent Spirit-Forging Pills to build enough Law Power to break through, despite the risk of hallucinations and losing control.
• Zhang Xuezhou hallucinated Emperor Luo Ke berating him while he lay on the ground, and then saw giant feet crush the soldiers and Emperor Luo Ke.
• Ren Yisheng called Zhang Xuezhou back to his senses, and Zhang Xuezhou realized he had entered the Divine Ability Realm while lying down.
• Zhang Xuezhou used his Divine Ability to turn his Law Power pale purple, then heard a gunshot as Ren Yisheng asked whether it had come from the Luofu Imperial Palace area.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng were caught in an armed assault on Luofu Imperial Palace after Zhang completed a breakthrough in merging Realm Techniques. Both were shot while pretending to be dead, and they waited for a chance to respond as the attackers searched for the entrance to Twilight Years Mansion.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng hid on the ground as masked sequence holders stormed Luofu Imperial Palace and demanded to know how to reach Twilight Years Mansion.
• The intruders spotted Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng and shot them; Zhang used the Supreme Purity True Technique to treat Ren Yisheng’s wound, though the bullet remained lodged.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that his Realm Technique could suppress nearby sequence holders, while Ren Yisheng described the limits of his own attack range, and they waited for an opportunity to retaliate.
• Ren Yisheng asked what had happened to Zhang Xuezhou, who explained that a mishap during his Realm Technique breakthrough had left him hallucinating until Ren rescued him.
• After hearing how events had brought Ren Yisheng to the palace, Zhang Xuezhou realized the Tomb Scripture’s influence had reached far and feared that fortune’s backlash was beginning.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng waited beneath a column as aircraft converged on the Luofu Imperial Palace amid Zuo Quan’s rebellion. Zhang Xuezhou revealed that medicine had made his skin resist bullets, and they concluded the palace had become an assault site and negotiating ground.

• Zhang Xuezhou realized Zuo Quan’s rebellion had moved far faster than he expected, while Ren Yisheng suggested Zhang Qiao'en might be acting recklessly because his time was nearly up.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Ren Yisheng to contribute more effort but admitted he could not heal him if he were badly shot.
• Ren Yisheng examined Zhang Xuezhou’s bullet resistance, and Zhang Xuezhou explained that medicine had thickened his skin and caused it to turn bluish.
• Ren Yisheng declined Zhang Xuezhou’s offer of another pill, and Zhang Xuezhou said the Poison Avoidance Art had calmed the resulting toxic sores.
• After aircraft gathered over the Luofu Imperial Palace, Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng discussed how control of the Twilight Years Mansion could neutralize the Scarlet Alliance State’s top Sequence Holders.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng watched the revolt at the Luofu Imperial Palace while Zhang sent his Yang Corporeal Soul to observe Zuo Quan. The Sequence Committee’s forces clashed with the rioters near the Twilight Years Mansion, and both sides began taking casualties.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng discussed Zuo Quan’s strange behavior and the possibility that he was involved in the revolt.
• Zhang Xuezhou sent his Yang Corporeal Soul to watch Zuo Quan, who was positioned with a sniper rifle beside a gray-brick wall.
• The rioters opened fire on Zhou Yueyan’s first wave near the Twilight Years Mansion, and Wang Yi'an was wounded when he intervened against their grenades.
• Zhou Rihui charged forward with a steel shield as gunfire and explosions erupted, and a rioter warned that the attack had been prepared for Zhou Xin.
• Song Bu'er fired back and changed position as retaliatory shots suggested that someone important among the rioters had been seriously injured.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng stayed hidden near Jianing Hall as fighting between the Sequence Committee and rioters spread through Luofu Imperial Palace. Unable to safely join the battle, Zhang messaged Zhu Shengnan, Zhen Mei, Jiang Feng, and the third generation, hoping to draw enemies toward them.

• Zhang Xuezhou's Yang Corporeal Soul surveyed the battle and found a dead young man, while gunfire and explosions kept him and Ren Yisheng from entering the fighting.
• Ren Yisheng explained that he had killed a rioter who approached their hiding place, and he and Zhang discussed why they could not openly join the Sequence Committee.
• Zhang and Ren considered finding a gun or luring rioters to them, since their condition and the crossfire made direct involvement too dangerous.
• Zhang messaged Zhu Shengnan, Zhen Mei, and Jiang Feng, then sent a group message to the third generation, inviting them to seek help at Jianing Hall.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng stayed hidden during the palace battle and lured Jiang Feng to their ambush after her companions were separated. They killed her pursuer, but Ren admitted that his weakened body prevented him from taking control of the fight.

• Zhang Xuezhou sent a message to his contacts, hoping to lure rioters into an ambush, but nobody had responded yet.
• Jiang Feng fled through the palace while an attacker pursued her with flying stones, and she chose to seek Ren Yisheng’s protection after receiving Zhang Xuezhou’s message.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng ambushed Jiang Feng’s pursuer, and Jiang Feng killed him with a dart through the temple.
• Jiang Feng asked how they would fight, and Ren Yisheng explained that his weakened body left him unable to dodge attacks or defeat the rioters alone.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng used Jianing Hall as a trap, with Jiang Feng luring a hidden sniper into Ren Yisheng’s range. Zhen Mei then fled to them from a higher-sequence attacker and killed him after Ren Yisheng stopped his assault.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng stayed prone at Jianing Hall while Jiang Feng drew out a sniper, and Ren Yisheng struck down the Fourth Sequence Holder who attacked her.
• Jiang Feng asked whether Ren Yisheng could support the committee’s side, but he refused because the fighting made it impossible to distinguish allies from enemies.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Jiang Feng to keep luring enemies toward Jianing Hall, and Ren Yisheng agreed to handle threats within his range while Zhang Xuezhou backed him up.
• Zhen Mei ran toward Jianing Hall as a middle-aged man in white used Shuttle Assault to pursue her, and Ren Yisheng stopped the attacker within his range.
• Zhen Mei kicked the immobilized man to death and drove his own blade into his crotch; Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng identified him as Ding Changhe from Pengding City and discussed whether he was Ding Hao’s father.

Jiang Chao fled from Zhang Li’s overwhelming attacks and reached Jianing Hall, where Zhang Li followed and prepared to finish him. Jiang Feng’s group turned the fight around, and Zhang Li was struck down after mistaking his death for a sparring match with Zhang Qiao'en.

• Jiang Feng and Zhu Shengnan drew enemies toward Jianing Hall, where fighters and corpses accumulated around the entrance.
• Zhang Li severely wounded Jiang Chao, who used Jiang Feng’s message as his only hope and fled toward Jianing Hall.
• Zhang Li pursued Jiang Chao, tore flesh from him, and knocked him down with a thrown trash can.
• As Zhang Li moved in to kill Jiang Chao, he hallucinated a sparring match with Zhang Qiao'en and failed to recognize the attack that struck his heart.
• Jiang Chao shouted that Zhang Li had fallen into Grandpa Jiang’s hands as Zhang Li struggled to understand what had happened.

Jiang Chao tried to force Zhang Qiao'en to surrender by holding Zhang Li hostage, but Zhang Qiao'en killed him with a long-range blade strike. Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng realized they might be next and debated whether to flee or confront Zhang Qiao'en, with no reliable plan in sight.

• Jiang Chao called for Zhang Qiao'en to come to Jianing Hall and threatened Zhang Li's life, but Zhang Qiao'en refused to negotiate and declared he would avenge his son.
• Jiang Chao drove the spike in Zhang Li's heart deeper and prepared to kill him, but Zhang Qiao'en's brilliant flying slash beheaded Jiang Chao from more than three hundred meters away.
• Ren Yisheng recognized the strike as powerful enough to threaten even a Seventh Sequence Holder, while Zhang Xuezhou asked whether Zhang Qiao'en had reached that rank.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered retreating, but Ren Yisheng warned that their earlier interference might be discovered and that they had nowhere safe to go.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng failed to find a reliable way to hide or fight Zhang Qiao'en, leaving them afraid that a confrontation would end in their deaths.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng witnessed a rocket barrage devastate the area around the Twilight Years Mansion, leaving the Sequence Committee and rioters alike unsure who had ordered the strike. Zhou Rihui carried the badly injured Zhou Yueyan to Jianing Hall, where he found Zhang Xuezhou alive.

• Zhang Xuezhou considered Zhang Qiao'en's combat abilities as screams and fighting broke out near the Twilight Years Mansion.
• Ren Yisheng and Zhang Xuezhou questioned whether Zhou Yueyan had ordered a rocket strike before rockets hit the mansion grounds.
• Zhu Shengnan cursed the person who ordered the attack and feared for her father, Zhu Wei, who was in the strike zone.
• Zhou Rihui escaped the smoke carrying the badly wounded Zhou Yueyan and made his way toward Jianing Hall.
• Zhou Rihui found Zhang Xuezhou lying among the bodies, then saw him roll over and wave.