Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Palworld launches to enormous success, drawing hundreds of thousands of cultivators. Its mix of genres keeps players engaged, and it overtakes even the popular Immortal Abyss Continent Operation as the Forum’s main topic.
• Players share tips, jokes, complaints, and stories about their Pals. Lu Ze enjoys the cheerful discussions but expects the mood to change once players start killing and dismantling Pals, which will advance his hidden tasks.
• Zhong Yi, Zhou Yue, Mu Yawen, and Zhou Qiaoling return to their shared base. They find most of their Pals starving, injured, or near death, with only a Flopie still working.
• Zhong Yi uses what the group jokingly calls “Campfire Therapy” to revive the Pals. The group repairs the base and prepares food and supplies for further exploration.
• As night falls, Zhou Qiaoling wonders why Pals need to sleep when cultivators do not—hinting that she may try to keep them awake.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze is pleased by the game’s success and calmly anticipates that players’ affection for Pals will give way to more ruthless behavior.
• Zhong Yi treats the Pals’ suffering as a practical problem to solve, then considers automating his improvised treatment. His approach reminds Mu Yawen of his earlier interest in making Minecraft villagers reproduce.
• Zhou Yue objects to Zhong Yi’s flippant attitude but still helps care for the base’s Pals.
• Mu Yawen recognizes Zhong Yi’s familiar, overly pragmatic enthusiasm and points it out.
• Zhou Qiaoling is distressed by the neglected Pals, then turns her curiosity about their sleep into a potentially ominous question.

Significant themes

• Playful cruelty and moral rationalization: The players care for their Pals, yet neglect them and joke about harsh treatment; Lu Ze expects that affection to erode further.
• The contrast between cultivators and game creatures: Zhou Qiaoling’s final question exposes how casually the group applies cultivator logic to Pals.
• Humor through misplaced practicality: Zhong Yi’s “Campfire Therapy” and plan to automate it turn a troubling situation into comedy.

Key events

• Zhou Qiaoling tries to keep the base productive at night by swapping sleeping Pals for Dark-type Pals, which don’t need sleep.
• Zhong Yi builds an enclosed, stair-accessed room containing food and campfires. His plan is to lure hungry Pals inside and trap them in the flames—what he jokingly calls automated “Campfire therapy.”
• Zhou Yue is horrified by their schemes and appeals to the sect’s Grand Elder, only to learn that the elder is also trying to force a lazy Pal to work.
• The narration explains that players commonly progress from enjoying Pals as companions to treating them as tools and exploiting them for greater output. This trend is accelerating, and Lu Ze’s mission progress rises with it.
• Lu Ze tells He Muye that the Evil Soul’s resentment is beginning to merge with the world. As the story advances, the Evil Soul is identifying as Quivern, and the spell and Heavenly Dao fragment are helping the fusion take hold.
• Once the Evil Soul becomes Quivern, Berserk Pals will be its manifestations. The starter island remains safe, but players venturing beyond it will face more dangerous Berserk Pals.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Qiaoling becomes increasingly ruthless and industrious, proposing round-the-clock labor through Pal rotation. She enthusiastically praises Zhong Yi’s trap.
• Zhong Yi reveals a similarly exploitative streak, turning Pal behavior into a way to trap them in flames. The two encourage one another’s schemes.
• Zhou Yue acts as the exasperated voice of concern, but his warnings go unheeded. His attempt to seek help from the Grand Elder backfires when he discovers the elder shares the same attitude toward overworking Pals.
• Lu Ze calmly explains the Evil Soul’s transformation to He Muye, who responds with overwhelming hope and excitement.

Significant themes

• The chapter satirizes how efficiency and resource demands can turn affection for companions into exploitation.
• It contrasts the players’ comic cruelty toward Pals with the genuinely ominous transformation of the Evil Soul.
• The escalating exploitation of Pals also drives Lu Ze’s mission forward, linking everyday gameplay behavior to the larger supernatural threat.

Plot points and events

• Zhong Yi, Zhou Qiaoling, Mu Yawen, and Zhou Yue explore a new island in Palworld. They enjoy relatively easy catches and encounters, though Zhou Yue continues to die frequently.
• Zhou Qiaoling catches a level 30 Elphidran with one sphere and finds a Shiny Robinquill, while Zhou Yue spots an unusually large Relaxaurus and mistakes its red glow for a rare shiny.
• The Relaxaurus is actually a level 33 Berserk Relaxaurus. It kills Zhou Yue’s Flame Demon Ram, then attacks the group’s hilltop base. Its powerful area attack wipes out all their worker Pals and destroys much of the base.
• The creature keeps pursuing them even after they respawn. With their supplies trapped in the ruins and no safe way to fight it, the group decides Zhou Yue must lure it away. He rides off on Mu Yawen’s Cloud Sea Deer with the Relaxaurus chasing him.
• Elsewhere, Li Moran emerges from failed secluded cultivation, still unable to break through to the Refining Void Realm. She enters her Illusion Tower and asks Lu Ze for an illusion realm where she can suppress her cultivation and refine her swordsmanship.
• Lu Ze suggests she try clearing Palworld without using Pals, turning it into a Soulslike challenge.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Yue remains unlucky and accustomed to dying, but his overconfidence leads him to mistake the Berserk Relaxaurus for a desirable shiny. His teammates make him the designated bait, and he reluctantly accepts the role.
• Zhou Qiaoling enjoys a streak of remarkable luck, catching both a powerful Elphidran and a useful Shiny Robinquill. She is devastated when the base’s stored supplies are lost.
• Zhong Yi and Mu Yawen are deeply invested in the base they built and despair as the Berserk Relaxaurus destroys it. Zhong Yi urges Zhou Yue to redeem himself by drawing the creature away.
• The group’s banter and encouragement are comically grim: they tell Zhou Yue to run, promise him a gravestone, and send him off despite his protests.
• Li Moran is frustrated by her stalled cultivation and turns to Lu Ze for help. Lu Ze responds casually and creatively, designing a difficult combat challenge within Palworld.

Significant themes

• Comedic misfortune and recurring disaster: The group’s base has been destroyed for the third time, and Zhou Yue’s repeated deaths are treated as routine.
• Luck versus overconfidence: Zhou Qiaoling’s good fortune contrasts with Zhou Yue’s disastrous misreading of danger.
• Teamwork through sacrifice: Unable to defeat the Relaxaurus, the group relies on Zhou Yue to lure it away and protect what remains of the base.
• Games as training and growth: Lu Ze adapts Palworld into a restrictive swordsmanship trial, linking virtual challenges to real cultivation and skill development.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ze returns to the World Tree’s deepest chamber, where the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao has taken the form of Zoe and is still tormenting Quivern. The Fragment zaps Lu Ze when it senses him mocking its appearance.
• Quivern, the Evil Soul’s incarnation, has been tamed and can send avatars into the world through red threads. Its influence fuels the Rampaging Pals, which spread corruption and resentment, hastening the Evil Soul’s fusion with the Illusion Realm.
• Lu Ze uses the administrator console to watch one such avatar pursue Zhou Yue as a Rampaging Relaxaurus. Back in the game, the beast wrecks Zhong Yi’s group’s base, forcing them to rebuild.
• After rebuilding, the group becomes more cautious and works to level up and upgrade. They reach level 37, acquire Refined Metal Armor and stronger weapons, make Cloud Sea Deer their standard mounts, and defeat the Forest Mammoth near the beginner village.
• Zhou Yue remains determined to find and take revenge on the Relaxaurus. Zhou Qiaoling then reports that Li Moran wants to join them in catching Pals, though she plans to explore on her own rather than rely on their help.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze reacts with amusement to the Fragment’s theatrical female form and investigates Quivern’s activity, anticipating how the Evil Soul will respond to the Pals’ future treatment by players.
• The Fragment of the Heavenly Dao remains powerful, capricious, and easily offended; it dismisses Quivern’s activity even as it controls it.
• Quivern appears to enjoy its treatment by the Fragment and has begun acting on instinct, connecting itself to Pals and spreading its influence.
• Zhou Yue casts himself as the group’s heroic decoy after drawing the Relaxaurus away, while Zhou Qiaoling privately sees him as the cause of their trouble. He later pursues revenge against the beast.
• Zhong Yi focuses on rebuilding and efficiency, then pushes the Pals to work at maximum intensity to compensate for lost time.
• Zhou Qiaoling and Mu Yawen share the group’s effort to recover and progress; Qiaoling also facilitates Li Moran’s possible entry into the game.

Significant themes

• Game and reality overlap: Quivern’s corruption mirrors the Illusion Realm’s lore and accelerates the Evil Soul’s integration with it.
• Survival through adaptation: The base’s destruction forces the players to rebuild, improve their gear, and change their priorities.
• Comic contrast: The Fragment’s grand, dramatic persona and Zhou Yue’s self-image clash humorously with the practical chaos around them.
• Control and exploitation: The Fragment dominates Quivern, while Zhong Yi responds to danger by making the Pals work under harsher settings.

Plot points and events

• Li Moran enters the Illusion Realm on Windrise Island. Though she is expected to fight, she cannot bring herself to harm the cute Tombat, Peckipeck, and Lamball, so she levels up by chopping trees and gathering resources instead.
• Lu Ze notices her slow progress and realizes she has taken his restriction against relying on Pals too literally. He clarifies that she may catch and use them for travel and support—just not summon them during fights.
• Lu Ze secretly watches Li Moran’s base and discovers her relaxing against a giant Shiny Lamball while three Lamballs craft by hand. When she looks suspiciously toward the sky, he quickly cuts the view, worried she will learn he was watching.
• With the rules clarified, Li Moran explores farther and witnesses Zhou Yue effortlessly fighting the Level 37 Forest Mammoth. Zhou Yue explains that he is farming its materials, then invites her to see the group’s base.
• Zhou Yue and Li Moran fly to the base on their respective mounts. As Zhou Yue begins to show it off, they find Zhou Qiaoling whipping the air and threatening the Pals with, “If you won’t do it, there are plenty of Palworld creatures who will!”

Character developments and interactions

• Li Moran shows a softer side beneath her reputation for being cold: she loves cute animals and refuses to kill harmless Pals. Once she learns she can capture and use them, her curiosity and enthusiasm for the world grow.
• Lu Ze is amused and mildly concerned by Li Moran’s overly strict interpretation of his rules. He also reveals a mischievous, secretly curious side by monitoring her Illusion Realm.
• Zhou Yue acts as Li Moran’s guide, sharing stories about the island and proudly boasting about the group’s rapidly developed base. He conceals the real reason the group has been defeating Forest Mammoth near the entrance: to prevent Li Moran from getting stuck there.
• Zhou Qiaoling’s forceful treatment of the Pals provides a comic contrast to Li Moran’s affection for them. Her behavior surprises Zhou Yue just as he is introducing the base.

Significant themes

• Rules and interpretation: Lu Ze’s vague restriction has unintended consequences because Li Moran follows it more strictly than he intended.
• Compassion versus efficiency: Li Moran prioritizes her affection for harmless creatures, choosing a slower route to progress rather than killing them.
• Hidden sides and secrecy: Li Moran’s tenderness contrasts with her cold public image, while Lu Ze hides his surveillance and Zhou Yue hides the group’s protective motive.
• Different approaches to the Pals: Li Moran treats them affectionately, while Zhou Qiaoling sees them as workers to be pushed into action.

Key plot points and events

• Li Moran visits the sect’s base and finds it running like a brutal Pal sweatshop. Pals toil on assembly lines, in mines, and at logging sites, while Zhou Qiaoling wears a work-speed-boosting “Capitalist Outfit” that drains their sanity.
• She sees other bizarre operations: Zhong Yi is breeding Pals, and he calls burning severely injured Pals to death “treatment.” Li Moran is unsettled, though she reminds herself the world is an Illusion Realm.
• The group has built their base three times already. Zhou Qiaoling blames the difficulty of construction, while Zhou Yue points out she was busy fighting over the hot spring. Zhong Yi insists the latest base is indestructible—provided Zhou Yue stays away.
• Mu Yawen reports that the Pal Expedition has returned with enough slab fragments to craft a Summoning Slab. The group decides to summon and fight a level-35 Outer Realm Great Demon.
• Zhong Yi invites Li Moran to join them, but she declines, wanting to test herself with her sword. Zhou Qiaoling gives her an Iron Sword, and Li Moran stays to watch.
• The summoned demon, Bella Nova, has 330,000 HP. It immediately unleashes a shock wave that destroys the entire base, prompting the group to flee and argue over whose fault it is.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Moran is shocked by the sect’s treatment of Pals but remains curious about the base. She shows independence by choosing to rely on her own sword rather than level up through the group’s help.
• Zhou Qiaoling proudly oversees the harsh workplace and playfully welcomes Li Moran, while her earlier hot-spring obsession is blamed for delaying construction.
• Zhong Yi treats Pals in disturbing ways, boasts about the base’s durability, and confidently underestimates the Great Demon. His claim is quickly disproved.
• Zhou Yue acts as the voice of exasperation, calling out Qiaoling and later blaming Zhong Yi for the disaster; Zhong Yi counters that Zhou Yue prevented him from finishing his warning.
• Li Moran and Zhou Qiaoling share a friendly moment when Qiaoling lends her the Iron Sword. The group’s confidence and teasing collapse into panic when Bella Nova attacks.

Significant themes

• Dark comedy and hypocrisy: The sect’s grand motto, “The Heavenly Dao rewards diligence,” hangs over a sweatshop-like operation, while cruelty is passed off as care.
• Power and exploitation: Pals are treated as laborers and resources rather than companions.
• Overconfidence and consequences: The group’s casual confidence about the boss—and the base’s supposed invulnerability—ends in immediate destruction.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lu Ze enjoys a steady stream of demonic value notifications, realizing they come from Li Moran repeatedly dying or challenging dangerous opponents.
• Curious about her behavior, he secretly enters Zhong Yi’s Palworld world and finds Li Moran, only level 9, fighting the level 37 Forest Mammoth near Starter Village.
• Li Moran understands that Zhou Yue placed—or came to deal with—the Mammoth partly to discourage her reckless persistence. However, her pride and competitive nature prevent her from backing down.
• Despite dealing only one point of damage per strike, Li Moran calmly dodges the Mammoth’s attacks and continues fighting, interpreting the impossible battle as a deliberate test from Lu Ze.
• Lu Ze is stunned by her determination and internally admits that he placed the Mammoth there merely to annoy everyone, not to test Li Moran.
• The chapter then shifts to a broader discussion of Palworld’s design after players reach around level forty. New content becomes less mechanically innovative, with progression relying increasingly on upgraded versions of familiar resources and equipment.
• Unlike many grind-heavy games, Palworld allows players to continue using lower-tier tools and equipment, making resource farming optional rather than mandatory. Nevertheless, the game’s visible improvements to base production motivate players to gather resources willingly.
• As players optimize their bases and exploit their Pals for labor, cultivators gradually become ruthless “capitalists.” Zhong Yi’s promotion of Campfire Therapy accelerates this moral decline.
• Forum discussions reveal players recommending increasingly cruel treatment of sick or unproductive Pals: selling them, abandoning them, or slaughtering them with the Meat Cleaver for food.
• One player recounts accidentally chopping up their first Pal, Tombat, after crafting the Meat Cleaver without understanding its purpose, highlighting the game’s dark humor.

Character Developments

• Lu Ze: Shows amusement at Li Moran’s stubbornness and derives demonic value from her repeated struggles. He is also surprised that she interprets his arbitrary placement of the Forest Mammoth as a meaningful trial, revealing the gap between his intentions and players’ perceptions.
• Li Moran: Demonstrates extreme perseverance, pride, and competitive spirit. Even while massively outmatched, she remains calm, analytical, and convinced that the battle carries significance.
• Zhou Yue: Appears indirectly as someone who tried to stop Li Moran’s reckless challenge by dealing with the Forest Mammoth, though Li Moran refuses to yield.
• Zhong Yi: Becomes an important influence on the player community by popularizing Campfire Therapy, unintentionally—or perhaps indifferently—helping strip away players’ remaining compassion toward their Pals.
• The cultivator players: Undergo a collective transformation from morally conscious newcomers into pragmatic, exploitative managers who treat Pals as replaceable labor and resources.

Significant Themes

• Misinterpretation and projection: Li Moran believes Lu Ze’s placement of the Mammoth is a test, while he admits it was simply meant to irritate people. Players assign deep meaning to the creator’s arbitrary actions.
• Perseverance and competitive pride: Li Moran’s refusal to retreat despite overwhelming odds emphasizes determination taken to an almost absurd extreme.
• Game progression and resource cycles: Palworld follows the familiar pattern of increasingly powerful materials and enemies, but makes grinding feel rewarding by tying resources to tangible improvements in base productivity.
• Moral corruption through systems: The game’s mechanics gradually normalize exploitation. Once players see Pals primarily as labor, damaged or unproductive Pals become disposable.
• Capitalism and instrumentalization: The cultivators adopt ruthless economic logic, valuing Pals according to their usefulness and replacing them when they fail to perform.
• Dark comedy: The chapter contrasts the wholesome appearance of a game world with increasingly disturbing player behavior, especially through the Meat Cleaver and the accidental slaughter of Tombat.

Character Interactions

• Li Moran’s confrontation with the Forest Mammoth reflects her rivalry and implicit conflict with Zhou Yue, who wants her to stop taking the challenge so seriously.
• Lu Ze observes Li Moran in secret, amused by how seriously she treats a situation he created for trivial reasons.
• The forum posts show players influencing one another, sharing increasingly cruel strategies and normalizing them through jokes and peer approval.
• The Tombat anecdote adds an ironic emotional counterpoint: although players generally treat Pals as disposable, one player still mourns the first Pal they accidentally butchered.

Plot points and events

• The Spirit Cloud Sect’s base reopens after being rebuilt for the fourth time. Following Lu Ze’s suggestion, Zhong Yi renames it Spirit Cloud Sect Park, while Zhou Yue mocks the name.
• The three have settled into their own pursuits: Zhong Yi studies Pal breeding, Zhou Yue explores and fights, and Zhou Qiaoling trades and experiments.
• Zhong Yi runs out of Eggs after forgetting to revive a Pal assigned to “Campfire therapy,” so he visits the Small Village to buy more. There he notices the village chief has vanished.
• Back at the base, Zhong Yi finds the chief captured and making Pal Spheres on the production line. Zhou Qiaoling explains that she discovered humans can be captured like Syndicate members.
• Zhong Yi and Qiaoling discuss capturing the Wandering Merchant as well, hoping to keep buying and selling at the base. Zhou Yue is appalled by their increasingly unscrupulous ideas.
• The Guard Corps arrives because Qiaoling’s capture of the chief triggered a wanted alert. The trio let themselves be killed, since dying clears the alert—but the chief remains at the base.
• After inspecting the chief’s weak stats and “Chronic Slacker” trait, Zhong Yi and Qiaoling consider selling him back to the village. Zhou Yue leaves before their influence turns him “demonic.”
• They learn Mu Yawen is searching for the Stormshock Bear in the deep-sea First No-Hunting Zone. Hearing that Zoe, the first Tower Master, is at the Ruined Taoist Temple, Qiaoling eagerly invites her brother to go capture Zoe.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi remains absorbed in breeding research and shows a growing willingness to exploit game mechanics for convenience and profit.
• Zhou Yue continues adventuring, but acts as the group’s moral and practical counterweight, repeatedly criticizing Zhong Yi and Qiaoling.
• Zhou Qiaoling proudly tests the ability to capture humans and quickly proposes further schemes, including capturing or reselling important NPCs.
• Mu Yawen is absent but is pursuing the Stormshock Bear after receiving information from Zoe.
• The trio’s banter highlights their contrasting attitudes: Zhong Yi’s curiosity, Qiaoling’s opportunism, and Zhou Yue’s exasperation.

Significant themes

• Sandbox freedom and emergent play: The characters pursue personal goals rather than rushing through progression.
• Escalating moral absurdity: Treating people as capturable Pals blurs the line between game mechanics and ethical behavior.
• Comedy through consequences: The group’s outrageous schemes provoke a massive Guard Corps response, yet death only clears the wanted status—not the captured chief.

Key events

• Zhong Yi and the Zhou siblings try to capture Tower Master Zoe at the Ruined Taoist Temple. The Master Pal Spheres fail, but Zhong Yi’s lower-tier Superior Pal Sphere unexpectedly captures her.
• Zoe appears in Zhong Yi’s party and angrily protests being treated like a Pal. Whenever he summons her, she launches into more insults before he recalls her.
• Lu Ze watches Zhong Yi’s stream and realizes Zoe’s unusual, personal dialogue is tied to their bond. He suspects she already has a high Bond Level with Zhong Yi and enjoys their combative chemistry.
• Meanwhile, Li Moran’s repeated battles with the Forest Mammoth have been steadily increasing Lu Ze’s Demonic Value. Lu Ze finds her standing over the defeated boss: she has killed it by landing thousands of unavoidable one-point hits without being struck.
• Li Moran explains her realization: if an enemy has a health bar and her attacks can reduce it, then her sword is effectively invincible. Lu Ze pretends this insight was what he meant to teach her.
• Li Moran recalls that Lu Ze may have watched her while she slept cuddling Shiny Lamball, draws her sword, and warns him to keep quiet.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi and Zoe: Their exchange is sharper and more personal than Zoe’s usual scripted dialogue. Their antagonistic banter leaves the stream’s viewers—and Lu Ze—wondering whether Zoe has feelings for Zhong Yi.
• Li Moran: She turns a punishing game challenge into a martial insight, showing extraordinary patience and ability to learn through combat.
• Lu Ze: Amused by Zhong Yi and Zoe, he is then genuinely shocked by Li Moran’s achievement. He tries to conceal why he was observing her, but she catches on and threatens him.

Significant themes

• Games as paths to insight: Li Moran converts a game mechanic into a philosophy of combat.
• Unexpected character depth: Tower Masters have agency and personal bonds rather than functioning as mere collectibles.
• Humor and irony: Zhong Yi accidentally unlocks intimate dialogue, while Lu Ze’s effort to harvest Demonic Value leads him into an awkward confrontation with Li Moran.

Key plot points and events

• The Illusion Realm’s Volcano region sharply raises the difficulty: Pals grow more aggressive, berserk attacks become common, and enormous Bosses such as Flame Emperor and Sea-Covering Dragon replace the earlier, gentler challenges. Cultivators die often, but the danger motivates them to grow stronger and capture more powerful Pals.
• Mu Yawen and Zhou Yue defeat and capture a Flame Emperor by using teams of Sea-Covering Dragons. Zhong Yi had figured out how to breed high-tier Pals from Zhou Qiaoling’s Flame Emperor, enabling them to obtain the dragons needed for the fight.
• Zhong Yi travels toward the distant World Tree, using a Water Spirit Dragon to evade dangerous sea creatures. He reaches the island and climbs its enormous vines, but an ancient barrier blocks entry. Recalling the hint that “The High Tower is the key,” he concludes he must progress the main story to uncover the tree’s secrets.
• Zhou Qiaoling, exploring the Icefield, discovers a beautiful, snow-white Pal that she suspects is a divine beast.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi’s breeding research proves practically valuable, while his curiosity about hidden content drives him to explore the World Tree. His panicked outbursts during dangerous travel become familiar enough to reassure his companions—until Zhou Yue warns him not to tempt fate.
• Mu Yawen and Zhou Yue celebrate their Flame Emperor capture and credit Zhong Yi’s strategy. Zhou Yue argues that the creature’s strength and imposing appearance make it impressive, while Zhou Qiaoling dismisses it in favor of the Icefield Pal she has found.
• The group’s confidence has grown alongside their strength: they treat dangerous setbacks as part of the challenge rather than reasons to quit.

Significant themes

• Escalating danger and adaptation: As the world becomes more threatening, players respond by improving their abilities, refining tactics, and breeding stronger Pals.
• Exploration and discovery: The World Tree’s barrier and the mysterious Icefield Pal offer new goals, keeping players invested beyond the immediate storyline.
• Powerful creatures inspire fascination: The shift from cute Pals to imposing “great demons” does not deter the cultivators; it makes them more eager to capture them.
• Endless gameplay: The chapter emphasizes how abundant activities and discoveries can absorb players far beyond the main quest.

Key plot points

• As Palworld grows more demanding, players keep grinding without complaint because they enjoy watching the Pals at their bases work even harder. Lu Ze realizes that the players’ enthusiasm—and their demonic value—helps him endure the exhausting work of building illusions.
• In the Spirit Cloud Sect, an outer disciple wakes after playing all night and remembers he has to mine spirit ore. Exhausted, he jokes that the sect’s disciples are the real Pals.
• At the Beast Taming Sect, the evil soul inhabiting the Void Dream Chi has settled into the role of Quivern in Palworld. It now targets players through berserk Pals, and its resentment is increasingly redirected into the game, improving the Void Dream Chi’s condition.
• He Muye believes they can soon separate the evil soul from the Void Dream Chi. Lu Ze urges them to wait, suggesting the soul might recover without needing to be removed.
• The Illusion Alliance Leader, Heart Demon, wakes after being unconscious for two months and three days. He concludes that his attempt to analyze Lu Ze’s Illusion Tower activated a trap: Heart Demon himself unknowingly cast a Heavenly Dao spell that trapped his Spiritual Sense in a maze. He asks White Crane for news.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Ze shows a better understanding of why players enjoy the game’s grind and remains cautious about intervening in the Void Dream Chi’s recovery.
• The outer disciples mirror the game’s exploited Pals: a chubby disciple wakes Senior Brother Huang for duty, while Huang’s in-game confidence collapses as he faces real-world mining.
• He Muye is relieved by the Void Dream Chi’s progress and eager to free it from the evil soul.
• Heart Demon awakens wary and resentful toward Lu Ze, though he recognizes that the Heavenly Dao—not Lu Ze’s cultivation alone—made the trap possible. White Crane fills him in and asks what happened.

Significant themes

• The game’s labor satire blurs into reality: players exploit Pals for entertainment while ordinary cultivators return to exhausting work of their own.
• People can find energy and pleasure in work when it is framed as play—or when they are the ones benefiting from someone else’s labor.
• Illusions can redirect harmful impulses, turning the evil soul’s resentment into something that may help heal its host.

Key events

• Heart Demon learns that Lu Ze survived absorbing Void Soul Crystals. He suspects the Heavenly Dao intervened and wonders why Lu Ze is still pursuing more crystals.
• White Crane believes Lu Ze deliberately disrupted his attempt to obtain the crystals, fearing the elders might surpass him on the Path of Illusion.
• Heart Demon claims to have figured out Lu Ze’s illusion technique: its lifelike characters are made from the souls of living people. He intends to use the same method.
• On the fourth day of Palworld, Lu Ze completes a quest and receives the Spirit-Taming Art. Initially unimpressed, he soon discovers that deaths of spirit beasts within his illusions generate demonic value—even when the beasts are only cybersouls.
• Lu Ze tests whether killing cybersouls of human cultivators also earns demonic value. It does not, so he concludes the benefit applies only to spirit beasts.
• He realizes Palworld can earn him demonic value whether players kill Pals or Pals kill players, and plans to use spirit-beast souls in future games as an additional source of income.

Character developments and interactions

• Heart Demon remains composed despite another failed attempt to kill Lu Ze, but is uneasy about Lu Ze’s continued pursuit of Void Soul Crystals. He confidently shares his theory with White Crane.
• White Crane is resentful and convinced Lu Ze intentionally thwarted him.
• Lu Ze shifts from disappointment with his reward to delight at discovering its unexpected advantage. He experiments with summoned cybersouls, including Elder Rakshasa and Elder Blood Crow, to test the system’s rules.

Significant themes

• Danger and ambition: Void Soul Crystals offer power but carry a deadly, unknowable absorption limit.
• Illusion versus reality: Lu Ze’s illusions use souls to make their inhabitants seem real, while the system treats spirit-beast cybersouls as valid sources of demonic value.
• Exploitation and ingenuity: Lu Ze turns an apparently underwhelming reward into a profitable loophole, while Heart Demon seeks to imitate his technique.
• Rivalry and suspicion: Lu Ze’s actions are interpreted as deliberate threats by his opponents, intensifying the conflict between him and the elders.

Key plot points and events

• Zhong Yi abandons his plan to clear the towers after discovering the Arena, whose cross-world PvP and special tournaments captivate him.
• He spends days developing varied, strategic Pal lineups and quickly earns a reputation as a skilled competitor. In a thousand-player bounty tournament, he wins five matches in a row.
• His next opponent is his friend Zhou Yue. The two trade insults before choosing their teams: Zhong Yi fields Sea-Covering Dragon, Lotus Dragon, and Electric Needle Demon; Zhou Yue brings Taifeng, Anubis, and Thunderclap Bird.
• Zhou opens with Rock Blast and Sandstorm to disrupt Zhong Yi. Zhong Yi reveals his lineup is built around elemental combos: Lotus Dragon applies the soaked effect, while Electric Needle Demon adds lightning damage and boosts attack power, letting Sea-Covering Dragon hit harder.
• Zhou recognizes the strategy and orders his team to scatter and defend, but a powerful water attack sweeps all three Pals into the air.

Character developments

• Zhong Yi proves that his clumsiness in ordinary play does not prevent him from excelling through planning and tactical insight. He is confident, inventive, and enjoys explaining his strategies.
• Zhou Yue shows confidence in his well-trained team and reacts quickly to Zhong Yi’s surprise tactics, though he realizes the danger only after the combo is underway.

Significant themes

• Strategy over raw strength: Match outcomes depend on predicting opponents, team coordination, training, and exploiting abilities—not simply choosing the strongest-looking Pals.
• Experimentation and mastery: Zhong Yi’s willingness to breed unfamiliar Pals and test new combinations fuels his success.
• Competition as entertainment: Cross-world matchmaking, tournaments, and livestream reactions make the Arena a social spectacle as well as a battlefield.

Character interactions

• Zhong Yi and Zhou Yue exchange affectionate insults, reflecting their familiarity and rivalry.
• Zhong Yi’s stream viewers speculate about his unusual team and recognize his ability to create fresh lineups.
• During the battle, Zhong Yi taunts Zhou and explains his strategy, while Zhou counters with quick defensive orders.

Key plot points and events

• Most players are around level 50 and have yet to capture any divine beasts, but Zhong Yi’s rare Palworld creatures give him a major advantage in the arena.
• Against Zhou Yue, Zhong Yi chains water, electric, and paralysis effects to overwhelm Zhou’s creatures. But Zhou exploits the arena’s rules: rather than defeat Zhong’s team, he attacks Zhong himself and wins.
• Zhong Yi adds a lesson to his arena handbook: opponents can be more vulnerable than their creatures, so target the person.
• Zhou’s next opponent is Li Moran, who has advanced rapidly by fighting bosses. She brings a modest-looking team, including several Lamballs and a Bladefish.
• Li reveals Bladefish’s Partner Skill: it transforms into a sword she can wield. Her precise swordsmanship lets her dodge attacks and suppress Zhou’s three creatures, though the Bladefish’s transformation has a time limit. The match remains uncertain as Zhong Yi comments from the sidelines.
• The bout is interrupted by Zhou Qiaoling, who reports that the group has run out of Spirit Oil at home.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi is confident in his powerful creature combinations, but learns that arena combat rewards tactics beyond team strength. He watches and commentates on Zhou and Li’s match.
• Zhou Yue proves resourceful and willing to exploit the rules, first defeating Zhong by targeting him, then facing Li with his usual feints and attempts to find an opening.
• Li Moran shows how far she has progressed through relentless boss fights. Though her creature roster appears unimpressive, her skill and Bladefish weapon make her a formidable opponent. Her agreement with Lu Ze bars her from using creatures in the main story, but not in the arena.
• Zhou Qiaoling cuts through the spectators’ excitement with a practical reminder: their household supplies are depleted.

Significant themes

• Strategy over raw power: Zhong’s elemental damage combo is formidable, but Zhou wins by understanding the arena’s rules.
• Creativity and adaptation: Palworld’s unusual Partner Skills—such as turning a fish into a sword—can redefine how creatures are used.
• Skill and perseverance: Li’s rapid leveling and combat ability come from taking on difficult bosses rather than relying on a strong creature roster.
• The contrast between spectacle and everyday needs: The dramatic arena match is abruptly grounded by the shortage of Spirit Oil.

Plot points and events

• Zhong Yi’s group relies on a desert outpost with only two oil deposits, leaving them short of spiritual oil and plasteel. They have upgraded only essential gear and ration their strongest Pal Spheres.
• Zhou Qiaoling reveals she found a gold schematic for Cold-Resistant Plasteel Armor. Each suit costs 200 plasteel, making four sets—and a chance to challenge Frostallion—seem far out of reach.
• The group considers farming oil fields, but their available targets are either depleted or too difficult. Zhong Yi concludes they need a lasting source of materials.
• Mu Yawen arrives with two pieces of plasteel, likely dropped by a glowing Shadowbeak she caught during a strange encounter in a Great Demon’s lair.
• Zhong Yi checks the Paldeck and discovers that non-boss Shadowbeaks can drop plasteel. He recognizes the encounter as a special event involving a Great Demon guarding its young, not a reliable supply of ordinary Shadowbeaks.
• Instead of searching for more oil deposits, Zhong Yi decides to breed Pals and use newly unlocked technology. He builds a machine called the Rebirth Machine, though its purpose is not yet explained.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi moves from worrying about the group’s resource shortage to making an inventive, morally questionable plan. He denies intending to use the notorious Meat Cleaver, despite his companions’ suspicions.
• Zhou Qiaoling is excited by her rare armor schematic but frustrated by its enormous material cost.
• Zhou Yue is eager to grow stronger after losing in the arena and sees Frostallion and gold armor as opportunities. He is increasingly alarmed and confused by Zhong Yi’s plan.
• Mu Yawen contributes the crucial plasteel clue from her recent, dangerous encounter with the Shadowbeaks.
• The group’s banter mixes practical concern with mistrust of Zhong Yi’s intentions: Mu Yawen quietly disputes his claim that he has always treated Pals gently.

Significant themes

• Scarcity and resource management: Limited oil and plasteel constrain the group’s equipment and ambitions.
• Ingenuity and adaptation: Zhong Yi looks beyond conventional resource-gathering and responds to a discovery by devising a new production method.
• Ethics versus efficiency: The Meat Cleaver’s reputation and the group’s discomfort raise questions about the cost of exploiting Pals for progress.
• Shared rewards: A rare schematic can benefit the whole sect, while individual discoveries may reshape the group’s plans.

Key plot points and events

• Zhong Yi reveals the newly unlocked Rebirth Machine. He demonstrates it by sending a level-one Shadowbeak through it; the Pal disappears, leaving behind a Pal Soul and plasteel.
• Zhou Yue objects that the machine is essentially an automatic butcher. Zhong Yi insists the Pal looked happy and frames its destruction as “reincarnation,” arguing that mass-producing Shadowbeaks could solve the group’s costly plasteel shortage.
• The narrator explains that the machine’s cheerful presentation masks its true function: automated Pal disassembly. Zhong Yi plans to share the discovery on the Forum, likely encouraging players to use it widely.
• In the sealed space beneath the World Tree, the evil soul—now embodied as Quivern—has been forced to share the sensations of Palworld across the live game world. It initially enjoys the violence of aggressive Pals killing cultivators.
• Its experience soon turns miserable: it feels the exhaustion of Pals being made to mine, farm, and work at furnaces, and repeatedly experiences the terror of being sent through the Rebirth Machine and disassembled.
• The Fragment of the Heavenly Dao beckons Quivern to fight, while it looks on with exhaustion and grievance rather than its former bloodlust.
• On the game’s seventh day, Beast Taming Sect Master He Muye tells Lu Ze that the evil soul’s resentment is weakening. Lu Ze credits the cultivators’ treatment of their Pals, suggesting the soul’s shared experience of forced labor and disassembly has overwhelmed its desire for vengeance.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Yue is suspicious of the Rebirth Machine and openly challenges Zhong Yi’s cheerful justification.
• Zhong Yi treats the machine as a practical solution to resource scarcity and rationalizes its use with absurd “reincarnation” language.
• The evil soul/Quivern shifts from gleeful, bloodthirsty confidence to profound exhaustion and despair as it experiences the Pals’ labor and repeated disassembly. Its interactions with the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao now resemble those of a worn-out captive being summoned to fight.
• Lu Ze remains modest when praised, crediting the cultivators’ behavior—though he privately recognizes the cruel irony of how their gameplay has weakened the evil soul.
• He Muye moves from uncertainty to astonishment and relief as Lu Ze’s prediction comes true.

Significant themes

• Dark comedy and euphemism: “Rebirth” and “reincarnation” disguise what is effectively slaughter, highlighting the gap between cheerful presentation and brutal reality.
• Gaming ethics and desensitization: Players accept Pal disassembly because it looks less disturbing than butchery, even though the outcome is the same.
• Reversal of perspective: The evil soul’s shared sensations make it experience Pals’ labor and suffering, turning its former enjoyment of violence into torment.
• Unexpected consequences: A resource-saving gameplay strategy inadvertently becomes a way to weaken the evil soul’s resentment.

Plot and events

• At Base No. 3, Zhong Yi keeps expanding his Shadowbeak production line, despite already having ample plasteel. His elaborate breeding and egg-doubling methods reflect his obsession with maximizing production.
• Zhou Yue reports that the group has again failed to defeat Frostallion—even with a three-star Flame Emperor. Frostallion’s intelligence and ability to evade a coordinated attack suggest it is an unusually capable, possibly special, Pal.
• Determined to protect the Spirit Cloud Sect’s reputation, Zhong Yi orders the farms switched to Flame Emperors and decides to join the next fight himself.
• Elsewhere, Lu Ze visits Quivern, now exhausted after being tormented by the players. The Fragment of the Heavenly Dao has returned to its true form and is visibly repairing itself.
• The Fragment explains that Quivern’s impending purification will resolve some of the karmic debt created by its intervention in the Primordial Era’s Righteous-Demonic War. It vows to leave opportunities in the Illusion Realm.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhong Yi is revealed as both a relentless production optimizer and a proud, curious cultivator. Zhou Yue’s account of Frostallion’s intelligence draws him out of his long focus on breeding research.
• Zhou Yue is frustrated by repeated losses and argues that Frostallion, rather than their team, is the problem. His warning does not stop Zhong Yi from joining the challenge.
• Lu Ze finds the players’ treatment of Quivern amusing and recognizes that their actions have consequences beyond the game.
• The Fragment of the Heavenly Dao moves from recovery to active intent: once it understands why it is healing, it resolves to reward or assist those in the Illusion Realm.

Significant themes

• Karma and restitution: Purifying Quivern’s Evil Soul helps repair damage caused by the Fragment’s past intervention.
• Players’ unintended influence: Their game-like farming and combat affect real beings and reshape the world’s spiritual balance.
• Production and cultivation: Zhong Yi’s obsessive resource optimization parodies base-building gameplay while showing how familiar players have become with sacrificing Pals for materials and upgrades.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Ze realizes that Frostallion’s unusually powerful stats may be a hidden opportunity deliberately left by the Fragment of the Heavenly Dao for Zhou Yue, rather than merely the result of Zhou’s terrible luck. He jokes about the strange bond between them.
• In Zhong Yi’s Palworld world, the group prepares to capture Frostallion. Zhong Yi has raised four four-star Flame Emperors, hoping their fire advantage will help defeat the ice-type divine beast.
• Zhong Yi’s strategy is to lure Frostallion to a newly built base and overwhelm him with waves of Pals, as they once did against the formidable slab Boss.
• The plan collapses when Mu Yawen reveals she sent all their strongest Pals on an expedition because the Expedition Station had been idle. Only their weaker Pals remain, so the group must face Frostallion directly.
• Before they can act, a fierce battle erupts nearby. They discover Li Moran confronting Frostallion with a purple Light Sword, enduring its attacks herself.

Character developments

• Lu Ze connects Frostallion’s abnormal strength to a possible hidden fortune and sees it as a sign of the unusual connection between Frostallion and Zhou Yue.
• Zhong Yi is confident in his clever battle plan, but his confidence is undermined by Mu Yawen’s well-intentioned decision to send away the group’s strongest Pals.
• Mu Yawen remains cheerful and resourceful, prioritizing the efficient use of expedition resources without realizing she has ruined Zhong Yi’s timing.
• Zhou Yue recognizes Zhong Yi’s strategy but remains wary of his confidence, which he associates with Zhong Yi’s reputation for jinxing things.
• Zhou Qiaoling responds to the unfolding chaos with humor, then recognizes Li Moran in the battle.

Significant themes

• Fortune and opportunity: Hidden rewards in the Illusion Realm may appear as extraordinary encounters, not just conventional cultivation insights.
• Preparation versus unpredictability: Zhong Yi’s careful plan is undone by an unexpected choice, and the group is then overtaken by a battle already underway.
• Humor and bad luck: The chapter plays on Zhong Yi’s overconfidence and Zhou Yue’s poor luck, using mishaps to undercut the seriousness of their preparations.
• Resourcefulness in a game-like world: Expeditions, bases, Pals, and equipment shape strategy, but their usefulness depends on timing and coordination.

Character interactions

• Lu Ze teases the connection between Zhou Yue and Frostallion.
• Zhong Yi proudly explains his base-based “Pal-wave” plan to Zhou Yue, who quickly understands it.
• Mu Yawen arrives through the Palbox and cheerfully explains why the strongest Pals are unavailable, leaving Zhong Yi dismayed and Zhou Yue amused.
• The group’s banter gives way to alarm when Frostallion’s attacks shake the icefield, and then to surprise when they see Li Moran fighting it alone.

Key events

• In this harder version of Palworld, Li Moran has followed Lu Ze’s rule and fought Pals without using them. With only a sword, she has reached level 54 and defeated powerful enemies through skill and persistence.
• At an icy lake on Spirit Peak Mountain, she faces Frostallion. She dodges its formidable ice attacks and gradually senses an unfamiliar Dao resonance in the snow.
• As Li Moran touches a resonant snowflake, the wind and ice change direction. Frostallion’s attacks turn aside, and the divine beast kneels to her.
• Li Moran captures Frostallion with a modest Pal Sphere despite the supposedly tiny odds; it offers no resistance. She then leaves, and the next morning attains enlightenment on Sword Inquiry Peak and breaks through to the Refining Void Realm.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Moran demonstrates exceptional swordsmanship, discipline, and self-reliance. Her battle brings her into contact with a new ice-related Dao resonance, suggesting a major spiritual breakthrough. She responds warmly to Frostallion, petting it before capturing it, and politely checks whether she has taken someone else’s Pal.
• Frostallion shifts from a fearsome opponent to a willing companion, recognizing or responding to Li Moran’s connection with the ice and snow.
• Zhong Yi, Zhou Qiaoling, Mu Yawen, and Zhou Yue watch in amazement. They praise Li Moran, joke about her resemblance to Frostallion, and wonder whether Lu Ze’s Frost-Dao characters were modeled on her.
• Zhou Yue reflects that he has relied too heavily on Pals in the Illusion Realm and neglected his own combat skills. Zhong Yi’s livestream captures Frostallion’s submission, prompting shocked and humorous comments from viewers.

Significant themes

• Self-reliance and mastery: Li Moran’s success comes from her own skill rather than relying on Pals.
• Enlightenment through struggle: Her hard-won battle leads to an intuitive connection with the Dao and an overnight breakthrough.
• Respect and affinity over force: Frostallion submits through an unexplained bond, not through being weakened or captured by superior equipment.
• A challenge to assumptions: The observers reconsider how the Illusion Realm should be played—and whether strength comes from one’s Pals or from oneself.

Plot points and events

• Li Moran’s breakthrough in Palworld convinces cultivators that the Illusion Realm is unusually rich in “fated opportunities.” Stories of discoveries spread rapidly, drawing crowds to Palpagos Island and pushing Palworld’s user count beyond Immortal Abyss Continent Operation at its peak.
• Newcomers quickly learn from veteran players how to exploit the game’s systems. As cultivators kill Pals for opportunities, Lu Ze’s Demonic Value income surges—while the evil soul in the Main Server World becomes increasingly drained and less resentful.
• Cultivators adapt their training to Palworld: some repeatedly challenge powerful Pals, practice alongside them, or pursue other eccentric schemes. The opportunity rush also advances Lu Ze’s short-term goal of extracting as much value as possible from the game.
• Zhou Yue, disappointed after repeatedly fighting the Flame Emperor without success, switches to Frostallion. On the way, he encounters and defeats three Rampaging Pals, gaining an Invader Core that seems to be his opportunity.
• Mu Yawen then finds a small Dan Feng after a flock destroys his equipment. Zhong Yi is left behind at the base as both fellow sect members log off to refine their gains.
• Feeling overlooked, Zhong Yi wonders what kind of opportunity could suit his unusual Grand Dao Truth Incantation. He considers Zoe, the captive High Tower master left to do chores, but dismisses her as a match. When she tentatively offers to talk, he instead assigns her work; she responds by throwing things at him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Yue moves from frustration to excitement, finding an opportunity that fits his fire-based practice and bad luck with Rampaging Pals.
• Mu Yawen shows an unexpectedly bold side, first challenging Zhong Yi and then enthusiastically claiming her own opportunity, which she links to her physical training.
• Zhong Yi shifts from confident veteran and helpful base manager to an envious, lonely observer as others advance. His practical, oblivious treatment of Zoe undercuts her awkward attempt to connect.
• Zoe appears to soften briefly toward Zhong Yi, but his dismissive response turns the exchange into comic irritation.

Significant themes

• Fate versus effort: Opportunities seem accidental, but they often arise from persistence, hardship, and compatibility between a cultivator’s methods and a Pal.
• Opportunity and competition: The promise of breakthroughs transforms Palworld into a crowded hunting ground, with cultivators eagerly copying successful strategies.
• Comic contrast: Grand claims about heavenly opportunities are paired with game mechanics, absurd training routines, and Zhong Yi’s mundane base-management chores.
• Exploitation and consequences: Palworld’s popularity benefits Lu Ze financially, while the suffering it generates weighs on the evil soul bound to the Pals.