Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “A Lesson”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Baoguo warns Chen Cheng that he is demonstrating a real combat stance, not the gentle form of Tai Chi practiced for exercise.
• The two spar, with Yang using advanced Yang-style Tai Chi techniques and calling out each move as he attacks.
• Chen initially struggles against Yang’s deep experience and powerful technique, but adapts by fighting at close range, where his superior physical strength gives him an advantage.
• Chen uses Wing Chun-style close-quarters techniques, evasions, joint locks, and grappling to counter Yang’s Tai Chi. He exploits the fact that Yang needs space and leverage to generate maximum force.
• Chen ultimately takes Yang to the ground and immobilizes him, then respectfully releases him and apologizes for offending him.
• Yang acknowledges that Chen’s strategy was correct, explaining that even a Tai Chi Grandmaster remains limited by human physiology and the laws of physics.
• After the match, Yang demonstrates his complete Yang-style Tai Chi routine at Chen’s request.
• The chapter reveals that Chen did not merely spar with Yang: he fought every Grandmaster present over the course of the day and defeated all of them. The Grandmasters secretly demonstrated their martial arts because they believed Chen might reach the Dan Embrace realm, but they concealed the humiliating outcome from their juniors.
• Chen emerges heavily bruised but seemingly unaffected. He thanks the Grandmasters, then deliberately leaves them to face the shocked Martial Arts Association staff, exposing that something extraordinary happened.
• Chen privately admits he did this as revenge for the Grandmasters’ attempt to hide the day’s events. He recalls that Wu Cai’s Eight Trigrams Palm gave him the bruise on his face, though Wu Cai also suffered badly in the exchange.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates not only overwhelming physical strength but also tactical intelligence. He recognizes that he cannot win a prolonged frontal exchange against Yang’s decades of experience, so he changes tactics and attacks from close range.
• Chen shows humility and martial etiquette by saluting Yang and calling himself a junior after winning. However, his later decision to expose the Grandmasters’ secret reveals a mischievous and vengeful side.
• Yang Baoguo is portrayed as an experienced and open-minded Grandmaster. Rather than resenting his defeat, he analyzes it objectively and admits that Chen accurately exploited the limitations of Tai Chi in close quarters.
• The other Grandmasters are shown to be powerful enough to injure Chen despite his extraordinary body, but they are also embarrassed by being defeated. Their willingness to teach Chen suggests that they recognize his exceptional potential.

3. Significant Themes

• Strength versus technique: Chen’s raw physical power cannot simply overpower experienced martial artists from a distance; he must combine strength with strategy.
• Adapting to an opponent: Chen wins by identifying Tai Chi’s dependence on leverage, distance, and proper structure, then forcing Yang into a range where those advantages are reduced.
• Respect in martial arts: Although Chen defeats Yang, he follows the traditions of saluting and acknowledging his senior’s skill. Yang likewise respects Chen’s victory.
• Human limitations: Even Grandmasters remain bound by anatomy and physics. Mastery does not make someone literally superhuman.
• Humility and reputation: The Grandmasters’ embarrassment highlights the importance of status and public image in the martial world, while Chen’s actions mock their attempt to preserve their dignity.
• The birth of a legend: Chen’s victories mark the beginning of his future reputation as the Great Grandmaster Bu, transforming a private sparring session into a historic martial-arts event.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Yang Baoguo: Their fight shifts from a technical exchange at medium range to a close-quarters struggle. Chen wins by grappling and exploiting Yang’s inability to generate full force at extremely close range. Yang responds with admiration rather than hostility and teaches Chen his complete Tai Chi form afterward.
• Chen Cheng and the Grandmasters: Chen spends the entire day fighting and learning from them. Though they collectively leave him covered in bruises, he defeats them all and later thanks them formally.
• Chen Cheng and Wu Cai: Wu Cai’s Eight Trigrams Palm leaves Chen with a facial bruise, but Wu Cai is also injured. Chen takes satisfaction in knowing that Wu Cai’s attempt to gain an advantage ultimately backfired.
• The Grandmasters and the Martial Arts Association staff: The Grandmasters hide their embarrassment, leaving the staff confused by their subdued behavior. Chen intentionally exposes their secret by appearing openly bruised and acting as if nothing unusual occurred.

Chapter Summary: “Traveling”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng leaves Great Capital shortly after becoming a Grandmaster. He takes a Martial Arts Association membership card and a subsidy card, giving him both financial support and official access to martial arts sects.
• He refuses the Association’s offer to remain for the New Year because he has discovered that only a little over six months remain before his destined death beneath a truck. He suspects this deadline is connected to his Ascension Task: achieving the martial arts realm of Dan Embrace.
• Although he reached the Grandmaster level rapidly, Chen Cheng realizes that his previous physical advantages will no longer be enough. Dan Embrace requires the spiritual consciousness to become complete and perfectly unified with the body.
• Believing that experience, travel, and exposure to nature can broaden and refine his martial intent, Chen Cheng begins touring China’s famous mountains, rivers, and historic sites.
• He visits the Five Sacred Mountains, exchanges martial arts with local sects, and completes the achievement of conquering the mountains on foot.
• At Mount Hua, he learns the real-world Eighteen Dragon-Turning Palms, a technique whose name resembles the fictional Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.
• Over the following months, reports circulate throughout the martial world about Chen Cheng visiting famous locations and exchanging pointers with different sects.
• He eventually reaches the Hengduan Mountains and then Kunlun, finding no supernatural beings or miraculous immortals—only majestic landscapes and Daoist practitioners whose insights are elevated but still human.
• By this time, Chen Cheng’s name has appeared on the candidate list for the Nobel Prize, but he does not return immediately. Instead, he applies to climb Mount Everest.
• He reaches the summit before dawn. As the sun rises, he realizes that his spiritual preparation is complete and that his “Dao” is ready to be achieved.
• When a guide warns him to wear a safety harness, Chen Cheng calmly refuses, then leaps from the summit without protection. He lands safely and disappears into the clouds, leaving the climbers convinced they may have witnessed an immortal cultivator.

Character Development

• Chen Cheng becomes increasingly purposeful and urgent as he races against the limited time before his predicted death. His journey shifts from simply accumulating martial techniques to cultivating the deeper spiritual understanding required for Dan Embrace.
• He develops a more philosophical view of martial arts, recognizing that consciousness is shaped by one’s environment, experiences, thoughts, and actions.
• His travels make him calmer and more detached. At Everest, his eyes and demeanor show that he has attained a profound clarity, suggesting he has finally crossed the threshold toward Dan Embrace.
• Wu Cai views Chen Cheng with amusement and quiet hope, believing that Chen’s youth and exposure to the world may allow him to achieve what older martial artists no longer can.
• The older Grandmasters are portrayed as having been worn down by life, contrasting with Chen Cheng’s remaining vitality and ambition.

Significant Themes

• Travel as spiritual cultivation: Chen Cheng believes that witnessing vast landscapes and encountering diverse people can broaden the mind and refine martial consciousness.
• Body and spirit: Physical strength was enough to help him reach Grandmaster, but Dan Embrace requires the integration of body, mind, and spiritual awareness.
• Experience versus isolation: The chapter suggests that a person’s surroundings shape their outlook; a broad, vibrant life can produce a broader and more complete spirit.
• Mortality and transcendence: Chen Cheng is racing toward enlightenment while knowing he is destined to die. His leap from Everest symbolizes his movement beyond ordinary human limitations—and possibly his transition out of this life.
• Reality versus legend: Famous martial-arts stories and immortal myths are repeatedly contrasted with the ordinary modern world, though Chen Cheng’s abilities make those legends seem possible again.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng receives practical support and official recognition from Wu Cai and the Martial Arts Association before departing.
• He exchanges martial knowledge with numerous sects during his travels, strengthening his understanding of martial consciousness.
• His encounter with the Mount Hua Sect introduces him to the Eighteen Dragon-Turning Palms.
• At Everest, he briefly interacts with a concerned guide, whose ordinary concern for safety contrasts sharply with Chen Cheng’s superhuman confidence.
• The climbers’ shocked reaction after Chen Cheng’s leap reinforces his transformation into a figure resembling the immortals and martial legends of fiction.

Summary of “Fate’s Mockery”

Key Plot Points and Events

• On a rainy morning in Great Capital City, Chen Cheng walks toward the research institutes along Science Road. News reports and ordinary citizens celebrate his achievement of developing controllable nuclear fusion, viewing it as a breakthrough that will make life cheaper and more convenient.
• At a fruit shop, Chen Cheng speaks with an elderly shopkeeper about nuclear fusion and its promise for the future. He buys a fruit basket intended as an offering for someone he is about to visit.
• Chen Cheng reflects on the past six months, during which he has tried every possible way to contact his past-life self and warn him of impending danger. Because his former identity was protected by an extremely high-level security system, none of his calls, messages, or financial transfers reached him.
• As a final attempt, Chen Cheng sends all his former contacts a warning: they must keep his past-life self inside the research institute, because leaving would result in his death. Immediately afterward, communications throughout the area are mysteriously cut off, suggesting that powerful forces may be involved.
• At the taxi lot, Chen Cheng searches for the driver connected to his past-life death. He realizes that his former self has just left the institute in a taxi, summoned by phone rather than taken from the parking lot.
• Chen Cheng sees the taxi pass him. Moments later, a fruit truck runs a red light on the rain-slick road after suffering brake failure and crashes into the taxi. The vehicle flips, and Chen Cheng’s past self is fatally injured by shattered glass and the car’s wreckage.
• Chen Cheng recognizes that his past self cannot be saved, even with Healing Magic. Overwhelmed by witnessing his own death, he vomits, then prepares the fruit offerings, bows to the unconscious victim, and leaves.
• Knowing that the final death will occur during the rescue process and that he has fewer than three hours remaining, Chen Cheng prepares to complete the last stage of his Ascension Tasks.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng is shown as determined and resourceful, exhausting every possible means to prevent his past self’s death. His repeated failures reveal the limits of his influence over the past and the strength of the security apparatus protecting his former identity.
• His emotional state shifts from hopeful intervention to helplessness and grief. Although he has experienced violence before, witnessing his own death produces a uniquely profound shock and causes him to lose control physically.
• Despite his despair, Chen Cheng remains practical and disciplined. Once he understands that the accident cannot be prevented, he performs a respectful farewell and immediately returns his attention to the Ascension Tasks.
• Chen Cheng’s past self is presented indirectly as a highly valued national scientist whose importance explains the extraordinary security surrounding him. His decision to leave the institute unknowingly places him in the exact situation Chen Cheng had tried to prevent.
• The fruit-shop auntie represents an ordinary citizen whose hopes for a better future are tied to Chen Cheng’s scientific achievement.

Significant Themes

• Fate versus human effort: Chen Cheng uses every available method to alter events, yet fate—or a highly organized hidden force—still guides events toward the same fatal outcome.
• The limits of time and causality: Chen Cheng can observe and attempt to change his past, but he cannot easily communicate with or protect his former self.
• Irony and fate’s mockery: The warning fails at the precise moment it is sent, the taxi appears just as Chen Cheng reaches the parking lot, and the fatal accident occurs directly outside the fruit shop where he bought the offerings.
• Scientific progress and public hope: Nuclear fusion symbolizes a brighter future for ordinary people, contrasting sharply with the secret danger and personal tragedy surrounding its creator.
• Identity and self-confrontation: Chen Cheng is forced to watch himself die from an outside perspective, turning a past event into an immediate and horrifying encounter with his own mortality.
• Acceptance and duty: After recognizing that his past self cannot be saved, Chen Cheng accepts the outcome and focuses on completing his larger mission.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng has a warm, ordinary conversation with the fruit-shop auntie. They discuss nuclear fusion, education, and hopes for cheaper living and easier travel. She gives him a peach and sells him a fruit basket.
• His attempted messages to his former contacts show his desire to protect his past self, though there is no direct response because communications are blocked.
• Taxi drivers try to recruit him as a passenger, but he refuses because he is searching for a specific driver and person.
• After the crash, Chen Cheng does not directly speak with his past self, who remains unconscious. Instead, he silently pays his respects by arranging the fruit offerings and bowing.
• The chapter closes with Chen Cheng emotionally devastated but still driven by the larger demands of the Ascension Tasks.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Academician Chen Cheng is critically wounded in a targeted assassination. His vital signs briefly fall to zero, prompting the political commissar to order the doctors to save him at all costs.
• Higher authorities identify the attack as a deliberate enemy operation and instruct the military to find the perpetrators. Chen Cheng’s warning text message is investigated, but the attackers had cut communications across the area, making the message’s source nearly impossible to trace.
• Old Ke arrives and orders emergency measures: oxygen, blood circulation, and immediate transfer to the institute’s biological restoration chamber.
• Meanwhile, Chen Cheng returns to the Martial Arts Association, apparently intending to demonstrate his breakthrough into the Dan Embrace realm. He wants the senior martial artists to witness and perhaps learn from his achievement.
• Wu Cai and the other elders sense that Chen Cheng’s presence has changed. He admits he has not fully completed the breakthrough but claims he can do so at any time.
• The Martial Arts Association prepares an elaborate Daoist-style ritual space on the rooftop, using feng shui and auspicious positioning. Martial artists from across the country join through video calls to watch.
• Chen Cheng enters meditation and begins merging the martial insights and experiences of both his lives into his body and consciousness.
• During the process, he encounters the “External Demon,” a psychological obstruction formed from his past emotions and experiences. The elders recognize the danger but understand that no one can help him overcome it.
• Chen Cheng remains unaffected because his extraordinary life has already forced him to confront death, slavery, power, loss, and rebirth. He successfully continues the fusion.
• At the moment of merging, he experiences the sensation of embracing an egg—an image symbolizing Dan Embrace. However, when he opens his eyes, the martial association has vanished, replaced by an immense yellow desert.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Demonstrates remarkable composure and spiritual maturity. His former arrogance gives way to humility, though he still retains a playful confidence in his abilities. His experiences across two lives allow him to withstand the External Demon and approach completion of the Dan Embrace realm.
• Wu Cai and the senior martial artists: Shift from skeptical observers to deeply invested witnesses. They recognize that Chen Cheng has reached a stage beyond their own and eagerly support his breakthrough.
• The political commissar: Shows intense concern and personal grief over Chen Cheng’s condition but quickly assumes responsibility for uncovering the assassination plot.
• Old Ke: Acts decisively, prioritizing Chen Cheng’s survival and using advanced biological technology to preserve him.
• Huang Xiaoren and the other elders: Display both excitement and anxiety as they observe Chen Cheng’s dangerous transformation.

Significant Themes

• The limits of human power: Even a Dan Embrace martial artist remains physically mortal and vulnerable to modern weapons, emphasizing the gap between martial achievement and true transcendence.
• Transformation through suffering: Chen Cheng’s past deaths, hardships, slavery, and changes in social status have prepared him to overcome the External Demon.
• Science and martial cultivation: Emergency medicine, signal tracking, biological restoration, and martial Dao coexist, suggesting a world where technological and spiritual advancement develop together.
• The nature of inner demons: The External Demon is presented not as a supernatural monster but as the unresolved weight of one’s own history and emotions.
• Witnessing and legacy: Chen Cheng deliberately allows the martial elders to observe his breakthrough, hoping his example will guide future practitioners.

Character Interactions

• The political commissar receives orders from higher authorities and later commands the Information Department to trace Chen Cheng’s warning message.
• Old Ke intervenes with the medical team and directs Chen Cheng’s transfer to the institute.
• Chen Cheng jokes with Wu Cai and the elders about his incomplete but imminent breakthrough, creating both admiration and exasperation.
• Wu Cai and Huang Xiaoren debate whether they should intervene when the External Demon appears, ultimately agreeing that Chen Cheng must overcome it alone.
• The chapter ends with Chen Cheng’s internal experience shifting from the observers on the rooftop to a mysterious desert, leaving the result of his transformation unresolved.

Summary of “Disturbance”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng suddenly disappears from the balcony of the Martial Arts Association in Great Capital City. Only his clothes, phone, membership card, notebook, and bank card remain.
• His disappearance generates powerful electromagnetic interference across the entire spectrum, destroying nearby cameras and phones and producing a disturbance detectable across the globe.
• The disturbance reaches the Void Divine Court and interrupts the Heavenly Emperor’s perception of time. Although the ripple is tiny, its ability to affect his temporal awareness proves that an extraordinary force is involved.
• Suspecting that the Main World has produced a remarkable figure, the Heavenly Emperor rewinds the entire Void Universe and Main Universe.
• The reversal reduces the universe to drifting strands of starlight as the microscopic particles composing reality are forced back into earlier states.
• During the reversal, the Heavenly Emperor discovers a man in casual clothing emerging from a bright point in the River of Time. The man explains that he expelled the individual who disturbed the Main Universe as soon as the disturbance occurred.
• A black mist attempts to invade through the River of Time. The Heavenly Emperor repels it and stops the reversal, fearing that continuing would allow dangerous entities to enter.
• He rapidly restores the universe’s timeline to its proper course, compressing countless ages of history into moments.
• Afterward, he reviews records concerning Karmak World and decides not to force it under the Divine Court’s rule, believing that each world should follow its own karmic destiny.
• The chapter ends by emphasizing the overwhelming power of the Heavenly Emperor: even Great Sovereigns, who believed themselves beyond time, are unable to resist his reversal and some are forcibly reduced by an entire realm.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: His disappearance marks him as a figure capable of causing disturbances on a cosmic, possibly temporal scale. The chapter does not reveal his destination or intentions, but establishes his importance.
• The Heavenly Emperor: He is portrayed as an immensely powerful and cautious ruler. He can reverse the timeline of the entire universe, repel intrusions from the River of Time, and restore reality to its proper state. Despite his power, he remains concerned about cosmic threats and the burden of guarding the Void.
• The Casual-Clothed Man: He appears to be a powerful guardian of the Main Universe who immediately removed Chen Cheng—or whoever caused the disturbance—from it. His relaxed, teasing manner contrasts with the Heavenly Emperor’s solemn responsibility.
• The Dao Ancestor: Though absent from the main action, he is presented as one of the only beings who fully understands the temporal event and as a fellow guardian of the Void.
• The Great Sovereigns: Their confidence is shaken when they are forced to submit to the Heavenly Emperor’s authority over time, reminding them that they are not truly beyond the laws of the universe.

Significant Themes

• The limits of power: Even beings who have transcended ordinary time remain vulnerable to the Heavenly Emperor’s authority.
• The fragility of reality: The universe is depicted as an arrangement of microscopic particles and temporal states that can be unraveled and rearranged by a sufficiently powerful entity.
• Cosmic guardianship and isolation: The Heavenly Emperor and Dao Ancestor bear the lonely responsibility of protecting the Void from returning threats.
• Free will versus forced order: The Heavenly Emperor chooses not to impose Divine Court rule on Karmak World, recognizing that control should not override karmic affinity and individual choice.
• Consequences of temporal interference: A seemingly minor disturbance can threaten the stability of the entire universe and potentially create openings for dangerous entities.

Character Interactions

• The Heavenly Emperor and the casual-clothed man discuss the disturbance and the dangers of altering time.
• The man reassures the Heavenly Emperor that he expelled the source of the disturbance, but jokingly criticizes him for overworking himself.
• The Heavenly Emperor responds with envy toward the man’s comfortable family life, contrasting it with his own lonely duty alongside the Dao Ancestor.
• Their banter reveals mutual familiarity and respect beneath their opposing personalities: the man is casual and irreverent, while the Heavenly Emperor is serious and burdened.
• The Heavenly Emperor later interacts with an immortal official over whether Karmak World should be brought under Divine Court control, ultimately choosing restraint.

Chapter Summary: “Unaware of His Divine Authority”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng returns to the Karmak Continent after his time on Blue Star, finding himself in the yellow desert with Snow Maiden transformed into a snowball and himself completely naked.
• He dresses using his spatial ring and provides desperately needed water to Brother Octopus and She Li, who have waited in the desert for over seven months.
• Brother Octopus attempts to attack Chen Cheng, but Chen Cheng easily detects and defeats him, despite believing that Transcendent powers and domains should be restricted in this world.
• She Li reveals that he and Brother Octopus waited exactly 216 days—matching the length of Chen Cheng’s time on Blue Star. This leads Chen Cheng to question the relationship between time, space, and the worlds he travels between.
• Chen Cheng wonders whether the rules of reality have somehow corrected the impossibility of his time travel, but he ultimately sets the mystery aside.
• Brother Octopus asks Chen Cheng to demonstrate the Divine Authority he supposedly gained through Sequence Apotheosis. Chen Cheng admits he does not even know how to inspect or identify his own Divine Authority.
• Brother Octopus responds by unleashing an absurdly extensive stream of insults rather than explaining. Chen Cheng chases and defeats him, eventually chopping up his tentacles and cooking them into seafood noodles.
• After eating, Brother Octopus confirms that he was telling the truth: a special instrument exists that can detect Chen Cheng’s Divine Authority.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Returns stronger and more perceptive than before, demonstrating that he can detect and strike Brother Octopus even when ordinary abilities should not function. Despite reaching the level of Sequence Apotheosis, he remains comically ignorant of his own Divine Authority. His scientific and analytical nature is highlighted by his concern over synchronized time between worlds.
• Brother Octopus: Remains provocative, mischievous, and incapable of interacting peacefully with Chen Cheng. Although he constantly insults and antagonizes Chen Cheng, he ultimately provides useful information about the Divine Authority-detecting instrument.
• She Li: Has endured the harsh desert alongside Brother Octopus and remains calm, observant, and reliable. His precise record of the waiting period helps Chen Cheng recognize the significance of the synchronized time.
• Snow Maiden: Appears only as a snowball, serving as the immediate source of Chen Cheng’s initial confusion upon returning.

Significant Themes

• Mystery of time and reality: The exact synchronization between Chen Cheng’s time on Blue Star and the 216 days that passed on the Karmak Continent raises questions about the structure of the worlds and the laws governing travel between them.
• Unrecognized power: Chen Cheng has apparently achieved divine status or authority without understanding what abilities he possesses, creating both humor and suspense.
• Comedic conflict and companionship: Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus constantly insult, attack, and retaliate against each other, yet their violent arguments function as a familiar form of friendship.
• Limits of knowledge: Even Chen Cheng, who approaches problems scientifically, cannot explain the anomalies surrounding time travel or his own transformation.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng helps She Li and Brother Octopus recover from dehydration, though he teases Brother Octopus for insulting him.
• Brother Octopus attempts two surprise attacks, both of which Chen Cheng effortlessly defeats.
• Brother Octopus challenges Chen Cheng to reveal his Divine Authority, then frustrates him by answering his question with profanity.
• Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus engage in a chase that ends with Chen Cheng overpowering and cooking him, though Brother Octopus happily eats the resulting seafood noodles.
• She Li watches their repeated clashes with resignation, recognizing that the two inevitably fight whenever they meet.

Chapter Summary: A Lone City in the Desert

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng, She Li, Snow Maiden, and Brother Octopus continue crossing the desert in search of the mysterious place Brother Octopus previously mentioned.
• The journey has already lasted more than half a month, causing Chen Cheng to doubt Brother Octopus’s directions. Brother Octopus admits that his estimate was based on his former peak strength and is therefore unreliable.
• She Li discovers that they are near an oasis marked on an ancient magical map given to him by Zhulu. The map tracks oases, wind direction, and shifting sand dunes in real time.
• The group reaches a weathered, abandoned-looking oasis city built by the Empire. The city has tens of thousands of low houses, many partially buried by sand, and inscriptions praising the Empire and its construction efforts.
• The city appears deserted, but Chen Cheng senses hidden observers. He and She Li prepare for danger.
• An unseen attacker fires an arrow at Chen Cheng. He catches it and returns it, knocking another arrow from the air.
• Before a battle begins, a white-bearded old man emerges with a group of elderly, weak, sick, and disabled people. Their Armor-Piercing Steel Armor identifies them as former Imperial soldiers who likely remained behind to guard the city.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng remains outspoken and easily irritated, especially by Brother Octopus’s unreliable claims, but he continues the journey rather than abandoning the search. His ability to catch and deflect the arrow demonstrates his sharp instincts and combat skill.
• Brother Octopus continues behaving comically and recklessly. His attempt to eat noodles made from his own tentacles ends in humiliation, and his uncertain guidance forces the group to travel much farther than expected. Despite this, his knowledge still leads them to the oasis city.
• She Li acts as the group’s practical and dependable guide. He monitors their surroundings, uses Zhulu’s magical map effectively, and immediately responds to the hidden threat by preparing his Butcher Knife.
• Snow Maiden remains a detached, humorous observer, treating Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus’s quarrels as childish nonsense.
• The old soldiers are introduced as survivors or guardians of the Empire’s desert project, suggesting that they have endured in isolation long after the city’s decline.

Significant Themes

• Decay and abandonment: The ruined oasis city reflects the collapse of an ambitious Imperial project and the passage of time.
• Persistence despite uncertainty: Although Brother Octopus is unreliable, the group continues onward, motivated by curiosity and the effort already invested.
• The contrast between past ambition and present ruin: Imperial slogans and abandoned construction remain visible while the city is buried by sand.
• Duty and endurance: The elderly armored inhabitants suggest that some individuals continued guarding or preserving the city long after its original purpose had faded.
• Humor amid danger: The comic conflict between Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus contrasts with the increasingly ominous discovery of hidden inhabitants and possible threats.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng mocks Brother Octopus for being scalded while eating noodles, prompting Brother Octopus to retaliate by throwing mucus-covered noodles at him.
• Brother Octopus chases Chen Cheng while She Li reacts with exasperation and continues managing the expedition.
• Chen Cheng questions Brother Octopus’s directions, while Brother Octopus tries to justify the mistake by referring to his former “peak condition.”
• She Li provides the crucial information about the oasis and the magical map, while Chen Cheng becomes fascinated by the map’s advanced abilities.
• When arrows are fired from hiding, Chen Cheng confronts the unseen attackers directly. His response forces the hidden inhabitants to reveal themselves, leading to the appearance of the elderly armored group and setting up the chapter’s next conflict.

Chapter Summary: “Garrison”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng and She Li encounter an isolated Imperial garrison in the Great Desert, led by an elderly general and composed of elderly, sick, weak, and disabled soldiers.
• The general assumes Chen Cheng’s group are Imperial envoys, since the desert was sealed by Imperial order and no outsiders should be able to enter alive.
• Chen Cheng initially plays along, claiming they have come under the Emperor’s orders, and provides the garrison with much-needed grain and supplies.
• Once they are alone, the old general reveals that he does not believe Chen Cheng’s story and places a sword at his throat. She Li responds by threatening the general in turn.
• Chen Cheng draws the Sword of Kings, the sacred symbol of Imperial authority. The general immediately recognizes it, drops to his knees, and realizes that the Empire must have suffered a catastrophic fate after more than a century without contact.
• The old general grieves upon learning that the Empire has fallen. He then begins considering the garrison’s future: evacuating the survivors, settling them outside the desert, and allowing them to choose whether to support the restoration of the Empire.
• Recognizing that Chen Cheng can wield the divine sword, the general suspects that he is a member of the Imperial bloodline. Chen Cheng confirms that he is Sixteenth Thorn Blossom, Brown Hopps.
• General Camela Mondorf Doyle swears loyalty to Chen Cheng before the Sword of Kings.
• Chen Cheng explains that Prince Pingbei has established a base outside the desert and assures Doyle that the garrison can go there after leaving their isolated post.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Demonstrates diplomatic skill by initially concealing the Empire’s collapse to spare the garrison immediate pain. He also shows increasing confidence in his role as heir and leader of the Imperial restoration. By recruiting Doyle and his soldiers, he gains access to the last surviving practitioners of orthodox Imperial Army training.
• General Camela Mondorf Doyle: Initially appears welcoming and overjoyed at the arrival of supposed Imperial envoys, but remains cautious and perceptive. His suspicion leads to a confrontation, yet the Sword of Kings transforms his distrust into grief, recognition, and renewed loyalty. He shifts from isolated commander to potential leader and instructor for Chen Cheng’s restored forces.
• She Li: Remains vigilant and protective of Chen Cheng, immediately responding when Doyle threatens him. Her readiness to fight contrasts with Chen Cheng’s preference for restraint and negotiation.
• The garrison soldiers: Their excitement at receiving supplies reveals how desperately they have endured isolation. Though physically diminished, they retain their discipline, loyalty, and connection to the old Empire.

Significant Themes

• The burden of history and delayed truth: The garrison has spent over a century waiting for an Empire that no longer exists. Their eventual discovery of the truth shows the emotional cost of living in isolation and preserving a duty after its original purpose has vanished.
• Loyalty beyond the fall of a nation: Doyle’s oath demonstrates that loyalty to the Empire has become loyalty to its surviving heir and the hope of restoration.
• Symbols of authority and legitimacy: The Sword of Kings serves as proof of Chen Cheng’s identity and authority. Its sacred status makes deception impossible and bridges the gap between the fallen Empire and its successor.
• Renewal through inherited knowledge: The garrison’s greatest value lies not in its combat strength but in its preserved military traditions. Their knowledge can help rebuild the Imperial Army.
• Duty versus adaptation: Doyle must accept that his original mission is over while deciding how to serve a new future.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Doyle move from formal cooperation to mutual suspicion, culminating in a tense sword-point confrontation.
• She Li and Doyle briefly threaten one another while protecting their respective allies.
• Chen Cheng resolves the conflict not through force but by revealing the Sword of Kings and his true identity.
• Doyle’s emotional recognition of Chen Cheng’s bloodline leads to a renewed master-and-subject relationship, formalized through an oath of loyalty.
• Chen Cheng offers Doyle both reassurance and a practical path forward by directing him toward Prince Pingbei’s base and the broader effort to restore the Empire.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Doyle leads Chen Cheng and another newcomer toward the oasis at the center of the desert city while the residents transport newly delivered grain.
• One-Eye, a relatively young prisoner among the city’s elderly, notices that the grain sacks are made from different types of hemp cloth. He recognizes this as unusual because Imperial supplies normally followed standardized production methods.
• One-Eye begins suspecting that the Empire may be declining and that the two newcomers have been sent to inspect the settlement rather than relieve its inhabitants. He fears the old prisoners will be abandoned in the desert permanently.
• The elderly laborers argue with a white-haired soldier over their work pace. Although their prison sentences ended long ago, the local rule remains that those who work more receive more food.
• Doyle shows Chen Cheng the oasis and the limited farmland the survivors have reclaimed. The settlement relies not only on crops but also on Sandworms that emerge during Wind Season.
• Chen Cheng learns that these Sandworms are unusual desert spirits made primarily of sand and soil infused with energy, similar in nature to Snow Maiden.
• Chen Cheng promises Doyle and the others that they can leave the desert with him after his current mission, assuring them that food will no longer be a problem.
• Rather than depart immediately, Chen Cheng decides to wait for the harvest so the group can use the grain as provisions. He then plans to enter the Ancient Ruins mentioned by Brother Octopus.
• As Chen Cheng approaches the oasis, his previously dormant identity token reacts, confirming that this is the Ancient Ruins they have been seeking.

Character Developments

• One-Eye is shown to be observant, experienced, and politically perceptive. Unlike the others, he looks beyond the immediate food supply and analyzes its implications for their future. His fear of abandonment reveals how deeply the desert’s hopelessness has affected him.
• Doyle remains responsible for the settlement and its people, guiding Chen Cheng through the city and explaining how they survive. His excitement at the promise of escape highlights how long he and the others have endured hardship.
• Chen Cheng demonstrates compassion and a growing sense of responsibility toward Doyle’s group. He feels guilty that his mission took so long and makes plans to ensure their safe departure rather than treating them merely as temporary allies.
• The older prisoners retain pride and resilience despite their physical decline, continuing to work and negotiate over their food shares.

Significant Themes

• Abandonment and fading hope: One-Eye’s suspicions reflect the fear that the Empire has forgotten the people it once imprisoned and stationed in the desert.
• Survival through cooperation: The settlement survives by sharing labor, rationing food, cultivating every available patch of land, and using Sandworms as an additional food source.
• Aging and lost strength: The once-powerful residents have entered old age and can no longer rely on their former abilities, making youth and endurance valuable resources.
• Compassion and responsibility: Chen Cheng’s reaction to the survivors emphasizes the moral obligation to help those who suffered while waiting for him.
• Hidden truths revealed through small details: The irregular grain sacks act as a clue that the Empire’s condition is not what the prisoners believe, foreshadowing broader revelations about its collapse.

Character Interactions

• One-Eye jokes and argues with the other laborers about the sacks, while a white-haired soldier pressures them to continue working.
• The workers remind the soldier that their prison sentences have ended, but he insists that the settlement’s principle of “more work, more reward” applies to everyone.
• Doyle explains the oasis, farmland, and Sandworms to Chen Cheng, giving him a clearer understanding of the group’s harsh living conditions.
• Chen Cheng comforts Doyle by promising that he and the others will leave the desert, creating a moment of hope after years of stagnation.
• Chen Cheng’s interaction with Doyle also deepens their relationship, as Chen Cheng recognizes the suffering caused by his delayed arrival and takes practical steps to help them.

Chapter Summary: “Harvesting Grain”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng, Doyle, and their companions prepare to leave the isolated desert city after the grain harvest and the passing of the dangerous wind season, when the sandworms are expected to return to dormancy.
• Chen Cheng is given a stone house, while the group calmly finalizes its departure plans. Their lack of urgency frustrates One-Eye, who is desperate to escape and increasingly focused on rebellion.
• Missing Tooth, an elderly former Imperial Logistics Department worker, questions One-Eye’s strange behavior. Their exchange leads One-Eye to ask about the standardization of Imperial grain sacks.
• Missing Tooth initially assumes One-Eye is plotting to steal grain, but upon inspecting the warehouse, he notices that the sacks have several different weaving patterns. This suggests that the Empire’s supplies—or the city’s history—may not be as straightforward as believed.
• One-Eye’s past as a failed rebel leader is revealed. He attempted several uprisings during his imprisonment, all of which Doyle suppressed. After his sentence ended, he instead helped organize former prisoners and support Doyle.
• Despite his outward cooperation, One-Eye now decides that he needs allies and begins recruiting younger, more capable people. A conflict that has been suppressed for over a century is close to erupting, fueled by incomplete information and mistrust.
• Doyle and Chen Cheng organize the grain harvest. Chen Cheng sends She Li and several veterans to the city wall to watch for approaching desert winds and sandworms.
• The prisoners and residents begin harvesting while chanting enthusiastically. One-Eye and several younger followers quietly reposition themselves within the harvesting group, moving toward Doyle and Chen Cheng at the front.

Character Developments

• One-Eye: His impatience and longing for freedom intensify into active conspiracy. His old rebellious instincts return, and he begins seeking allies rather than acting alone. He remains wary of Doyle, whom he recognizes as the true obstacle to escape.
• Missing Tooth: Though initially dismissive of One-Eye, his professional experience makes him suspicious of the irregular grain sacks. He becomes an unwilling participant in uncovering the mystery behind the supplies.
• Doyle: He remains confident, practical, and well regarded by the older prisoners. He plans for them to become instructors after leaving, allowing their military experience to benefit the Empire’s future forces.
• Chen Cheng: He takes responsibility for the group’s future and decides that they should help train new Imperial soldiers. He also demonstrates willingness to work alongside the prisoners by joining the harvest himself.
• She Li: She is assigned the important defensive task of watching for the wind season and sandworms, showing her reliability and concern for Chen Cheng’s safety.
• The former prisoners: Their initial excitement about freedom contrasts with the hidden resentment and uncertainty represented by One-Eye and his followers.

Significant Themes

• Freedom and impatience: One-Eye’s desperation shows how the promise of freedom can become psychologically overwhelming, especially after a century of confinement.
• Mistrust caused by incomplete information: The differing grain-sack patterns hint at hidden truths and demonstrate how limited knowledge can create suspicion and conflict.
• Rebellion versus cooperation: One-Eye favors escape through insurrection, while Doyle and Chen Cheng envision cooperation, service, and rebuilding.
• Generational transition: The elderly prisoners may no longer be able to fight, but their experience can be passed on by training younger soldiers.
• Danger beneath ordinary life: The harvest appears peaceful, but the threat of windstorms, sandworms, and internal revolt hangs over the scene.

Character Interactions

• One-Eye and Missing Tooth exchange insults, with Missing Tooth mocking One-Eye’s blindness and One-Eye probing his former Imperial career.
• Missing Tooth warns One-Eye not to rebel, invoking Doyle’s authority and revealing his fear that One-Eye is planning something.
• Doyle and Chen Cheng discuss the older prisoners’ future role as military instructors.
• Chen Cheng and She Li coordinate the city’s defenses, with Chen Cheng expressing confidence in her ability to respond to danger.
• During the harvest, One-Eye and several younger allies deliberately move closer to Doyle and Chen Cheng, strongly suggesting that an attack or confrontation is about to begin.

Chapter Summary: “Assassination”

Key Plot Points and Events

• During harvest, the community’s attention is focused entirely on gathering every grain, leaving One-Eye and his allies unnoticed as they prepare an attack.
• Missing Tooth spots the conspirators approaching Chen Cheng and Doyle. He throws his harvesting dagger at One-Eye and shouts a warning.
• One-Eye attempts to assassinate Chen Cheng, believing Chen’s map is essential for escaping the desert. His companions attack Doyle, the community’s central leader, hoping his death will make the others vulnerable to One-Eye’s promises.
• Doyle shields Chen Cheng, but the attackers miss their intended target. One-Eye accidentally stabs Doyle in the back.
• Doyle immediately counterattacks, punching through One-Eye’s abdomen and killing him. The remaining conspirators are subdued and taken prisoner to serve as bait.
• Doyle orders everyone to continue harvesting and pretends that his injury is insignificant. Once inside his house, however, he reveals the severity of the wound.
• Chen Cheng treats Doyle with medical supplies, stitches the wound, disinfects it, and uses a healing magic crystal to accelerate Doyle’s recovery.
• Chen urges Doyle to explain the truth to the community and allow everyone to choose whether to remain or leave. He warns that those who depart should conceal their identities to avoid persecution by the Empire.
• Chen plans to accompany Wisdom Shield below while Doyle speaks with the others and obtains their decision.

Character Developments

• Doyle demonstrates unwavering loyalty to Chen Cheng, placing himself between Chen and the assassin despite his age and weakened condition. His decisive killing of One-Eye shows that he remains extremely formidable despite no longer being at his former Epic Peak strength.
• Chen Cheng displays practical leadership and compassion by personally treating Doyle’s injury. He also recognizes the political danger of suppressing the community’s concerns and advocates transparency and individual choice.
• One-Eye is revealed as desperate and calculating, targeting Chen because of his map and Doyle because Doyle represents the group’s stability. His hesitation ends in failure and death.
• Missing Tooth proves that even the elderly and physically limited members can play a crucial role by detecting the assassination attempt and warning the others.
• The community is shown to depend heavily on Doyle for order and direction, while the attack exposes the distrust and divisions developing among them.

Significant Themes

• Loyalty and sacrifice: Doyle willingly takes a mortal-looking blow meant for Chen, reaffirming his devotion to his emperor.
• The burden of leadership: Doyle must conceal his pain to preserve morale, while Chen recognizes that genuine leadership also requires honesty.
• Aging and diminished strength: Doyle remains dangerous and skilled, but his old age prevents him from healing as he once could and makes the injury more serious.
• Trust and political unity: The assassination attempt reflects growing division within the isolated group. Their future depends on whether they can restore trust through open discussion.
• Freedom versus security: Chen offers the people a choice to remain or leave, but those who leave must hide from possible imperial persecution, showing that freedom carries serious risks.
• Practical cooperation: Ancient martial skill, modern medical supplies, and healing magic work together, emphasizing the blending of different forms of knowledge and power.

Character Interactions

• Missing Tooth warns the group by attacking One-Eye with a dagger.
• One-Eye and his allies coordinate an attack on Chen Cheng and Doyle, but their plan collapses when Doyle protects Chen and kills One-Eye.
• Doyle maintains authority over the frightened workers by ordering them to resume harvesting despite his wound.
• Chen Cheng cares for Doyle physically and then advises him politically, urging him to explain the situation and respect the community’s choices.
• Doyle accepts Chen’s guidance and agrees to address the people, while Chen deliberately avoids interfering directly in the final decision.

Chapter Summary: “Wind Rises”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The annual wind season begins as Chen Cheng leaves the stone house with Doyle. Doyle predicts that the storm will last less than half a day.
• Doyle leads Chen Cheng to Desert City’s Wind Shelter Cave, a heavily protected former storage warehouse covered in runes and equipped with a magic array that draws water from the air.
• The shelter contains supplies and the ashes of former settlers. Each year, the elderly members of the remaining community act as lookouts and bait, drawing sandworms toward the shelters so the creatures can be killed for food.
• Grain is carefully preserved for planting and eaten only as a rare luxury, since sandworm meat is the community’s main source of nourishment.
• Doyle explains the history of Baimu Kesi, nicknamed Shell, and the other settlers who remained in Desert City. Though many regretted the harshness of the region, they stayed out of loyalty and hope of transforming it. Most eventually died from age or while sacrificing themselves to protect others.
• Chen Cheng is deeply moved and promises to take the survivors and their ancestors’ ashes home.
• As the storm and sandworms approach, the grain is brought into the shelter. Chen Cheng refuses to remain there, instead choosing to descend with She Li toward the city’s central oasis in search of the Ancient Ruins.
• Doyle gives Chen Cheng his general’s command token for protection or assistance.
• At the oasis, Chen Cheng and She Li find a stone stele describing Desert City’s construction. Guided by Brother Octopus, Chen Cheng learns that the ruins beneath it are damaged but can be opened by moving the stele and using Doyle’s token.
• They manage to shift the extremely heavy Starstone stele enough to create an entrance. Chen Cheng considers taking the stone with them, but Brother Octopus dismisses it as useless.

Character Development

• Chen Cheng: Gains a deeper understanding of the settlers’ sacrifices and develops respect for their loyalty. He vows to bring them home, while also showing his increasingly practical and money-conscious side by considering whether the Starstone stele could be valuable.
• Doyle: Is portrayed as a capable, experienced leader who understands the desert’s weather and survival patterns. His respect for the dead and his willingness to entrust Chen Cheng with his command token reveal his loyalty and trust.
• She Li: Continues to act as Chen Cheng’s reliable companion and assists him in confronting the ruins during the storm.
• Baimu Kesi and the settlers: Their backstories reveal that they were not simply abandoned colonists but people who consciously chose duty and sacrifice despite hardship.
• Brother Octopus: Provides practical knowledge about the ruins and Starstone, while teasing Chen Cheng and curbing his opportunistic impulses.

Significant Themes

• Loyalty and sacrifice: The settlers remain in the desert despite suffering, and many give their lives so the community can survive.
• Memory and honoring the dead: The urns and Chen Cheng’s promise to take everyone home emphasize the importance of preserving the settlers’ dignity and legacy.
• Duty versus personal comfort: Baimu Kesi’s regret contrasts with his ultimate decision to stay and serve.
• Survival through cooperation: The community survives through shared labor, sacrifice, careful resource management, and defensive magic.
• The burdens of leadership: Chen Cheng recognizes the weight of responsibility and begins to empathize with those who must protect and provide for others.
• Ruins and the past: The Ancient Ruins and Desert City’s construction history connect the present struggle with forgotten civilizations and unresolved mysteries.

Character Interactions

• Doyle explains the Wind Shelter Cave and the settlers’ history to Chen Cheng, strengthening Chen Cheng’s respect for him and the community.
• Chen Cheng questions Shell’s death, revealing his emotional investment in the settlers’ stories.
• Chen Cheng promises Doyle that he will bring the survivors and their ancestors home.
• Doyle gives Chen Cheng his command token before the storm, demonstrating trust and cooperation.
• Chen Cheng and She Li work together to move the Starstone stele.
• Brother Octopus guides Chen Cheng through opening the ruins and mocks his desire to take the valuable-looking stone.

Summary of “The Vanished Ruins”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Brother Octopus directs She Li to carve through a Starstone base so Chen Cheng can access a hidden token lock.
• Chen Cheng inserts and turns the token, opening a passage and causing the group—Chen Cheng, She Li, and Brother Octopus—to fall into a vast underground space.
• Unable to find an exit or recognizable ruins, Chen Cheng and She Li explore the darkness using magic crystals. Brother Octopus, unusually subdued, eventually guides them toward the remains.
• They discover a glowing fragment bearing the words “...City, 0243rd Company,” suggesting the location was once a military garrison of the Ancient Civilization.
• Chen Cheng deduces that the garrison must have been part of a much larger military force, possibly assembled to fight an extremely powerful enemy. The destroyed state of the ruins indicates a devastating ancient battle.
• Overcome with grief, Brother Octopus attacks the ruins and reveals that he remembers the people stationed there. He claims that they slaughtered his subjects and later sealed him away.
• Brother Octopus explains that he and his subjects came from the Chaos Sea, a world inhabited by evil and chaotic beings. He says they moved to a newly born world, hoping to reform, but were instead attacked.
• Chen Cheng rejects this account, accusing Brother Octopus of being an invader who is mourning the loss of his power rather than his subjects.
• When Chen Cheng draws his divine sword, Brother Octopus retreats and attempts to portray himself as a wronged benefactor. Chen Cheng counters that Brother Octopus merely manipulated him and that the Ancient Civilization was justified in defeating and sealing the invaders.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Remains sharp-tongued, skeptical, and unwilling to accept Brother Octopus’s claims without question. His willingness to confront and threaten Brother Octopus shows that he has become less easily manipulated. He also demonstrates growing insight into the octopus’s motives.
• Brother Octopus: His usual argumentative and shameless personality gives way to melancholy and grief upon entering the ruins. He reveals a tragic-seeming history but undermines it by admitting that he and his subjects were criminals and invaders. His emotional display suggests genuine attachment, though Chen Cheng suspects that self-interest and lost power are the real sources of his sorrow.
• She Li: Plays a practical supporting role, efficiently carving through the stone and accompanying Chen Cheng through the ruins. He remains cautious but largely silent during the confrontation.
• Relationship between Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus: Their constant insults continue, but the ruins expose deeper tensions. Chen Cheng cares enough to carry and protect Brother Octopus, yet distrusts him completely. Brother Octopus relies on Chen Cheng while trying to manipulate him through emotional appeals and moral blackmail.

Significant Themes

• Moral ambiguity: Brother Octopus presents himself as a victim, but his own history reveals that he and his subjects were destructive criminals. The chapter questions whether suffering excuses past wrongdoing.
• Manipulation and distrust: Brother Octopus’s story may contain elements of truth, but Chen Cheng recognizes his tendency to distort events for sympathy or advantage.
• The consequences of invasion: The ruined garrison and sealed survivors reflect the destruction caused by conflicts between worlds and the harsh retaliation faced by invaders.
• Memory and grief: Brother Octopus’s recognition of the ruins and his emotional reaction suggest that even cruel beings can form attachments and mourn their losses.
• The mystery of the Ancient Civilization: The ruined military installation, its company-level garrison, and the unknown enemy hint at a much larger and more catastrophic ancient conflict.

Character Interactions

• Brother Octopus orders She Li to clear the entrance, while Chen Cheng supervises and warns She Li to be careful.
• During the fall, Brother Octopus lands beneath Chen Cheng, prompting mutual insults; Chen Cheng nevertheless picks him up and carries him on his shoulder.
• When they become lost, Chen Cheng repeatedly pinches and mocks Brother Octopus, who reluctantly guides them.
• Brother Octopus attacks the ruins in grief, and Chen Cheng restrains him and questions his connection to the destroyed garrison.
• Their argument ends with Chen Cheng verbally dismantling Brother Octopus’s victim narrative and using the divine sword to force him into submission.

Chapter Summary: “Black Humor”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the underground ruin disappears, Chen Cheng demands that Brother Octopus show them a way out.
• Brother Octopus admits he does not know how to escape and had also lost the chance to recover his sealed power. Chen Cheng angrily threatens to cook and eat him.
• She Li confirms that the surrounding area has become a vast, empty underground hollow.
• Brother Octopus runs away from Chen Cheng, but privately grieves over the destruction of the ruin and the loss of his carefully planned opportunity.
• A gigantic Sandworm suddenly attacks Brother Octopus. Chen Cheng and She Li prepare to fight it, with Chen Cheng using Magic Crystals to illuminate the darkness and She Li attacking its teeth with Saber Intent.
• Snow Maiden intervenes, explaining that the Sandworm is merely starving and has become aggressive because the Wind Season prevents it from sleeping.
• She feeds the Sandworm a Magic Crystal in exchange for Brother Octopus’s release. She then discovers that the Sandworm can guide them out of the underground space if paid with more Magic Crystals.
• Brother Octopus wants Chen Cheng to retaliate against the Sandworm, but Chen Cheng warns him not to cause further trouble or he may never regain his lost power.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng becomes increasingly frustrated with Brother Octopus’s irresponsible behavior, but his willingness to rescue him shows that their antagonistic relationship still includes loyalty and concern.
• Brother Octopus is revealed to be both reckless and self-serving. He feels betrayed by the destruction of the ruin after manipulating Chen Cheng into coming there, yet he remains dependent on Chen Cheng for survival.
• She Li continues to act as a capable protector, immediately joining the battle and attacking the Sandworm when Brother Octopus is threatened.
• Snow Maiden demonstrates empathy, insight, and resourcefulness. Her ability to understand the Sandworm prevents a needless fight and provides the group with a possible route to safety.

Significant Themes

• Consequences of deception: Brother Octopus’s schemes fail, leaving everyone trapped and forcing him to face the results of misleading Chen Cheng.
• Humor amid danger: The repeated “black humor” joke contrasts with the characters’ genuine fear and desperation, creating comic relief in a life-threatening situation.
• Cooperation and mutual dependence: Although the group constantly argues, survival requires them to work together and rely on Snow Maiden’s understanding of the Sandworm.
• Compassion over violence: Snow Maiden resolves the conflict by recognizing the creature’s hunger rather than treating it as an enemy to be killed.
• Unexpected salvation: The Sandworm, initially a terrifying threat, becomes their potential guide once its needs are understood.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng repeatedly threatens Brother Octopus, but ultimately protects him from the Sandworm.
• Brother Octopus’s “black humor” irritates Chen Cheng so much that Chen Cheng later turns the phrase back against him.
• She Li supports Chen Cheng during the attack and uses his combat ability to protect the group.
• Snow Maiden mediates between the travelers and the Sandworm, transforming a violent confrontation into an exchange.
• The chapter ends with Chen Cheng warning Brother Octopus to cooperate, emphasizing their tense but necessary partnership.

Fortress Ruins — Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Brother Octopus tells Chen Cheng that the giant sandworm can lead them out of the underground area in exchange for a magic crystal from each person.
• Chen Cheng agrees and offers additional crystals if the sandworm can guide them to something that glows, hoping to find more ancient ruins or magical machinery.
• Snow Maiden learns that the sandworm’s destination is its nest, located near a fortress-like ruin. Because many sandworms are away feeding during the monsoon, the group must leave before they return.
• The group rides the sandworm through the darkness and reaches its nest, where they discover a large fortress ruin rather than any visible adult sandworms.
• Chen Cheng pays the sandworm, which agrees to wait for their return.
• Snow Maiden uses a magic crystal to attract several tiny sandworm larvae, which reveal the location of the fortress entrance.
• The group discovers that the ruin is labeled “Great Wall Fortress No. 9527.” Chen Cheng concludes that it belonged to the same civilization as the earlier ruins and may have been part of a vast military defense system.
• Chen Cheng begins searching for a way to open the fortress door.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates his willingness to spend resources strategically, valuing access to ancient magical technology more than conserving a few crystals.
• He remains curious and analytical, examining the sandworms’ nature and deducing the fortress’s possible scale and purpose.
• Snow Maiden acts as the group’s essential translator and guide. She communicates effectively with both the adult sandworm and its larvae, showing patience and practical intelligence.
• Brother Octopus becomes jealous and antagonistic when Chen Cheng relies on the sandworm rather than him. His bitterness also resurfaces when the fortress reminds him of the ancient beings who sealed away his power.
• Brother Octopus spitefully intimidates the sandworm larvae, an action that appears minor but is foreshadowed as potentially disastrous.
• She Li remains largely silent and follows the group into the fortress.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge and lost civilizations: Chen Cheng is more interested in discovering ancient magical patterns and technology than in ordinary treasure.
• The mystery of the past: The fortress’s identical construction to earlier ruins suggests a widespread, highly organized civilization whose enemies and history remain unknown.
• Power and humiliation: Brother Octopus’s resentment reflects the trauma of having once been powerful but later sealed and reduced to helplessness.
• Cooperation and exploitation: The group gains passage by negotiating with the sandworm, while the sandworm and its larvae survive by consuming magic crystals and energy-rich materials.
• Order versus chaos: Snow Maiden explains that sandworms transform the desert’s chaotic power into ordered force, though Brother Octopus challenges whether this process truly benefits the desert.

Character Interactions

• Snow Maiden serves as mediator between Chen Cheng and the sandworm, negotiating payment and conveying warnings.
• Chen Cheng rebukes Brother Octopus for provoking or insulting the sandworm, prioritizing the group’s safety.
• Brother Octopus competes with the sandworm for Chen Cheng’s attention and later mocks the larvae out of spite.
• Snow Maiden cautiously builds trust with the larvae by offering them a magic crystal, allowing them to locate the entrance.
• Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus discuss the fortress’s military purpose, but Brother Octopus’s defensive response reveals how deeply the ruins connect to his painful past.

Chapter Summary: “Underground Fortress”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng and his companions discover that the fortress gate can only be activated with an identity token. When he uses it, a familiar mathematical security panel appears.
• After solving a simple parabola problem, the ground beneath them descends like an elevator, revealing the fortress’s interior.
• The first accessible level is heavily ruined but still contains remnants of powerful defensive installations. Among the debris, they find glowing, cable-like wires containing enormous energy.
• Snow Maiden eagerly collects the wires, hoping to use their energy to support her younger siblings. Chen Cheng confirms that the cables are incredibly durable and decides to gather all of them.
• After scavenging the level, the group uses the elevator system to access lower floors. Chen Cheng realizes that the numbers beside the mathematical problems indicate the corresponding floors.
• The fortress originally had eight floors. The first floor is gone, the second has been explored, and six lower levels remain.
• On the third floor, they find a damaged gate leading into a completely dark area. Brother Octopus unexpectedly rushes through the breach before Chen Cheng can stop him.
• Worried that Brother Octopus may be in danger, Chen Cheng orders She Li and Snow Maiden to remain outside and enters alone with his divine sword.
• The third floor contains a strange darkness that defeats even Chen Cheng’s enhanced vision. Sound is distorted: when he calls for Brother Octopus, his voice becomes an eerie attack that enters his mind.
• Chen Cheng also steps on a sticky, intelligent creature that begins crawling up his leg. He drives it away with his divine sword, then decides to retreat and find a safer way to rescue Brother Octopus.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates caution and practical intelligence by using the identity token, decoding the floor system, and recognizing the danger posed by the damaged fortress.
• His protective nature is emphasized when he warns Snow Maiden about the cables, orders She Li to remain behind, and risks entering the dangerous third floor to save Brother Octopus.
• Despite his growing confidence after completing Sequence Apotheosis, Chen Cheng recognizes that he is still vulnerable to unknown supernatural threats.
• Snow Maiden reveals her strong sense of responsibility toward her younger brothers and sisters. Her excitement over the energy-filled wires is motivated not by greed, but by her desire to ensure they never go hungry.
• Brother Octopus continues to act unpredictably and mysteriously. His sudden leap into the third floor suggests that he may understand the danger there better than Chen Cheng does.
• She Li follows Chen Cheng’s instructions and assists with the scavenging, serving as a dependable member of the group.

Significant Themes

• Ancient technology as treasure: Objects discarded by the Ancient Civilization, such as the glowing wires, are invaluable resources to the current survivors.
• Exploration and danger: The fortress appears abandoned, but its ruins conceal powerful security systems, unknown creatures, and supernatural hazards.
• Knowledge versus uncertainty: Chen Cheng can solve the fortress’s mathematical mechanisms, yet his knowledge is useless against the strange darkness and hostile forces within.
• Responsibility and survival: Snow Maiden’s concern for her siblings and Chen Cheng’s willingness to risk himself for Brother Octopus highlight the importance of protecting one’s companions.
• The limits of power: Even after becoming a god-like existence through Sequence Apotheosis, Chen Cheng remains cautious and capable of fear when confronted with unfamiliar dangers.

Character Interactions

• Brother Octopus reminds Chen Cheng to use the identity token, enabling them to enter the fortress.
• Snow Maiden explains her motivation for collecting the glowing wires, and Chen Cheng supports her by helping gather them.
• Chen Cheng organizes the group’s exploration, instructing everyone to scavenge and later commanding She Li and Snow Maiden to stay outside the dangerous third floor.
• Brother Octopus’s reckless entry forces Chen Cheng to follow him despite recognizing the danger.
• Chen Cheng attempts to call out to Brother Octopus, but the distorted echo reveals that the third floor itself is hostile and psychologically dangerous.

Chapter Summary: “Spatial Trap”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng realizes he is surrounded—or nearly surrounded—by soft, slippery creatures in the darkness. Fearing they may be attracted to sound, he throws an empty waterskin to test their reactions.
• Instead of triggering an attack, a soft creature climbs onto his shoulder. Chen Cheng nearly strikes it with his divine sword, but it avoids the blow and identifies itself by writing on his back: “Brother Octopus.”
• Brother Octopus warns Chen Cheng that the space has been distorted into a spatial trap, preventing him from returning through the entrance.
• The two communicate by writing on each other and on Brother Octopus’s malleable tentacles. Brother Octopus explains that the trap was designed specifically to restrain beings like him, meaning he cannot escape alone.
• Brother Octopus also warns that the giant insects outside will soon return, forcing Chen Cheng to accept his guidance despite their mutual distrust.
• Chen Cheng summons his Dragon-Scale Armor and follows Brother Octopus through the unstable space, probing each path with his divine sword before stepping forward.
• They eventually encounter a gigantic creature with two glowing red eyes, apparently guarding the only stable passage out of the distorted area.
• Chen Cheng initially suggests going around the monster, but Brother Octopus explains that the surrounding space is warped; only the monster’s location and the doorway behind it remain intact.
• Chen Cheng tests the spatial distortion by throwing another waterskin. It disappears and reappears behind him, confirming that bypassing the guardian is impossible.
• Brother Octopus claims he can deal with the creature if Chen Cheng brings him close, even offering his life as a guarantee that he will not betray Chen Cheng.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng remains cautious and resourceful under extreme danger. He uses sound-based tests, his sword, and his armor to investigate the environment rather than acting recklessly.
• His fear of the unknown is evident, but he maintains enough composure to analyze the monsters and spatial distortions logically.
• Chen Cheng is forced to rely on Brother Octopus, though he continues to distrust him and makes clear that betrayal will have fatal consequences.
• Brother Octopus reveals greater knowledge of the spatial trap and demonstrates his unusual physical versatility by using his body as a communication surface.
• He appears willing to risk himself to escape, but his motives remain uncertain. His promise not to deceive Chen Cheng strengthens their uneasy cooperation without eliminating suspicion.

Significant Themes

• Trust under pressure: Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus cooperate because survival requires it, but neither fully trusts the other.
• Confined space and helplessness: The distorted environment removes ordinary escape routes and creates a sense of entrapment.
• Reason versus panic: Chen Cheng’s fear is intense, yet he repeatedly relies on observation and experimentation to understand the danger.
• Mutual dependence: Although the two characters often joke and act like brothers, the crisis exposes how fragile and conditional their relationship really is.
• Unknown powers and ancient guardians: The spatial trap and colossal red-eyed creature suggest a larger supernatural system designed to contain powerful beings.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng nearly attacks Brother Octopus when he mistakes him for an enemy, but their nonverbal communication quickly establishes his identity.
• They exchange warnings and instructions by writing on one another’s bodies, creating an unusual but effective method of dialogue in the darkness.
• Chen Cheng threatens Brother Octopus with the divine sword, while Brother Octopus counters by promising that he can be killed if he attempts any trick.
• Their interaction balances suspicion, sarcasm, and reluctant cooperation as they prepare to confront the guardian blocking their only possible escape.

Chapter Summary: “Sealing the Six Senses”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng agrees to help Brother Octopus approach a gigantic monster believed to contain or represent the power Octopus lost.
• As they draw closer, Chen Cheng realizes the monster looks exactly like Brother Octopus and immediately suspects deception.
• Brother Octopus explains that he believes the monster is a ruin guardian created from his stolen power, much like other guardians formed from researched Lord Gods. He admits he had hidden this theory because Chen Cheng might have attacked him if it proved false.
• Chen Cheng remains suspicious and nearly attacks Octopus, but instead cuts off a tentacle that suddenly emerges from the darkness.
• They discover that countless flesh-and-metal tentacles have surrounded them.
• Brother Octopus urgently tells Chen Cheng to seal his six senses, empty his mind, and follow only the gestures on his back. This is necessary because Octopus’s divine power causes terrifying mental contamination and assimilation in weaker beings.
• Chen Cheng follows the instructions and enters his inner consciousness. He discovers that his consciousness form still exists and that his perfectly round Dan is located within it, continuously absorbing multicolored energy.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng remains distrustful and volatile, willing to abandon or kill Brother Octopus if he believes Octopus is plotting against him. However, he is also observant and capable of reacting quickly to genuine danger, as shown when he cuts down the hidden tentacle.
• Brother Octopus is revealed to be frightened and vulnerable despite his usual arrogance. He admits both his uncertainty about the monster and his private intention to punish Chen Cheng after recovering his power. His knowledge of his own divine abilities becomes crucial to their survival.
• Chen Cheng’s discovery of his consciousness world and Dan marks a step forward in understanding his cultivation and the effects of completing Dan Embrace.

Significant Themes

• Distrust and reluctant cooperation: Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus must work together despite expecting betrayal from one another.
• The danger of knowledge and perception: Simply seeing, hearing, or imagining things connected to Brother Octopus can expose mortals to lethal mental contamination.
• Self-control as survival: Chen Cheng must deliberately seal his senses and empty his mind rather than rely on force.
• Uncovering hidden power: The chapter reveals that Chen Cheng’s Dan and consciousness are not located where he expected, suggesting his cultivation is connected to a deeper spiritual realm.
• The horror of divine corruption: Brother Octopus’s “beauty” is portrayed as an incomprehensible force that mutates or assimilates weaker life forms.

Character Interactions

• Brother Octopus tries to guide Chen Cheng physically and verbally, while Chen Cheng repeatedly threatens him and demands honesty.
• Chen Cheng communicates by writing on Octopus’s tentacle and uses the divine sword to keep him under control.
• Their argument is interrupted by the surrounding tentacles, forcing them to set aside their distrust.
• Brother Octopus becomes the protector and instructor, explaining the danger of his power and directing Chen Cheng through the only viable escape method.

Chapter Summary: “Charcoal-Grilled Octopus”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng approaches the massive Octopus Monster while carrying Brother Octopus, following Brother Octopus’s instructions.
• The monster’s leaking divine power is drawn toward Brother Octopus, since the monster is his original body and vessel. However, instead of allowing Brother Octopus to reclaim the power directly, the divine energy begins affecting Chen Cheng.
• Chen Cheng’s body starts mutating horribly: his skin writhes, his arm begins forming tentacles, and his face appears to melt.
• Brother Octopus considers ordering Chen Cheng to retreat, partly because he does not truly wish to harm him. Chen Cheng’s earlier help saved Brother Octopus from remaining trapped as a statue, and Brother Octopus recognizes that Chen Cheng possesses considerable influence despite being wanted.
• A point of light suddenly appears between Chen Cheng’s brows and spreads throughout his body, restoring him and halting the mutation.
• The released power then erupts from Chen Cheng and scorches Brother Octopus, whose body becomes hard and charred. He is effectively roasted while still clinging to Chen Cheng, prompting his anguished realization that he is becoming “Iron Plate Octopus.”
• Inside Chen Cheng’s consciousness, his mysterious Purple Crystal Pendant reappears. It absorbs the multicolored energy from his Golden Elixir and an evil spiritual force entering from the void.
• The pendant changes from black back to its original purple form. Chen Cheng realizes it may be a powerful imperial divine artifact, possibly comparable to the Sword of Kings, though its exact nature remains unclear. A fleeting, key-like pattern appears within it before it falls away.
• Chen Cheng awakens and discovers that he has already passed through the Octopus Monster and reached the gap in the great door. Brother Octopus’s tentacle has become hard like wood, suggesting it has been badly scorched.
• Chen Cheng exits through the doorway into a brighter area, where She Li stands defensively before Snow Maiden, holding his Butcher Knife and watching Chen Cheng with suspicion.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Demonstrates remarkable resilience as his body withstands divine-power-induced mutation. His pendant activates independently, revealing that his imperial inheritance is more powerful and mysterious than he understood. He also remains cautious by preserving his silence and using written communication as Brother Octopus instructed.
• Brother Octopus: Shows unexpected reluctance to sacrifice Chen Cheng, acknowledging both his debt to him and Chen Cheng’s hidden political power. Despite his scheming nature, he is not entirely without gratitude. His attempt to reclaim his divine power instead leaves him painfully scorched.
• She Li: Remains vigilant and protective of Snow Maiden. His immediate reaction to Chen Cheng is distrust and readiness for confrontation.
• Snow Maiden: Does not act directly but is placed under She Li’s protection, reinforcing her vulnerable or important status.

Significant Themes

• Power and identity: Divine power carries the imprint of its original owner and instinctively seeks its source, linking Brother Octopus, the monster, and Chen Cheng in a dangerous chain.
• Hidden inheritance: Chen Cheng’s pendant, an imperial artifact whose abilities exceed his understanding, hints at his family’s deeper secrets and future significance.
• Mutual dependence and reluctant loyalty: Brother Octopus needs Chen Cheng to escape and recover his power, while Chen Cheng depends on Brother Octopus’s guidance. Their relationship mixes manipulation, debt, and reluctant concern.
• Transformation and control: Chen Cheng’s horrifying mutation reflects the danger of uncontrolled power, while the pendant’s intervention suggests a protective force capable of restoring his body.
• Dark humor amid danger: Brother Octopus’s near-death experience is presented comically through the image of him being roasted into “Iron Plate Octopus,” contrasting with the genuinely terrifying bodily horror surrounding Chen Cheng.

Important Character Interactions

• Brother Octopus directs Chen Cheng toward the Octopus Monster but becomes alarmed when Chen Cheng begins mutating.
• Chen Cheng unknowingly absorbs or channels divine power, causing it to burn Brother Octopus—the very power Brother Octopus wanted to reclaim.
• The pendant intervenes within Chen Cheng’s consciousness, absorbing dangerous energies and preventing the transformation.
• After Chen Cheng emerges from the monster, She Li confronts him defensively while shielding Snow Maiden, setting up a tense encounter for the next chapter.

Chapter Summary: “Danger Sense”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng returns from the relic with Brother Octopus, but She Li and Snow Maiden mistake them for illusions created by the divine power inside the ruins. She Li draws his blade, while Snow Maiden remains hidden behind him and challenges Chen Cheng to prove his identity.
• Brother Octopus explains that the divine power likely leaked out and caused the misunderstanding. He transforms back into his true form, but his body is severely damaged—shriveled, pitted, and burned-looking—making him appear like a terrifying monster.
• Snow Maiden is frightened by Brother Octopus’s appearance and insults him, while he tries to win her over by calling himself her protector. Her reaction, however, leaves him even more humiliated and angry.
• Brother Octopus spits out special restorative ink, which heals his damaged body and restores his glossy original appearance. Chen Cheng mocks him by saying he looks “cuter” now only by comparison.
• She Li realizes that the group cannot be illusions because their chaotic argument and behavior are too genuine. He sheathes his Butcher Knife and accepts that Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus are real.
• Chen Cheng concludes that something powerful escaped from the sealed space beneath the fortress. The spatial trap and Mechanical Octopus Monster were likely guarding another entity, probably one of god-level strength. He decides not to investigate further.
• Chen Cheng reflects on his own advancement after becoming a god. He suspects that his future cultivation may center on the Golden Elixir within his consciousness body, though he has no suitable technique and will need to discover his path independently.
• The group takes the elevator back to the fortress entrance, intending to leave on the giant Sandworm that had transported them earlier. However, the Sandworm has disappeared.
• Brother Octopus complains about the creature’s lack of reliability, but Chen Cheng senses that something is wrong with the surrounding atmosphere. His danger sense warns him that a serious threat may be approaching.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng remains cautious and pragmatic. Rather than risk confronting a true god-level being, he prioritizes survival and postpones investigating his new divine cultivation path. He also continues to deflect responsibility for Brother Octopus’s suffering and responds to danger through instinctive caution.
• Brother Octopus is physically weakened and emotionally aggravated by the events in the relic. His attempts to act protective toward Snow Maiden are undermined by his frightening appearance and her rejection. Despite his bitterness toward Chen Cheng, his restorative ink demonstrates that he still possesses valuable abilities.
• She Li is highly vigilant and ready to attack what he believes may be an illusion. Once he recognizes Chen Cheng and Brother Octopus as genuine, he relaxes and lowers his weapon, showing both caution and sound judgment.
• Snow Maiden remains suspicious and timid but also sharp-tongued. She hides behind She Li for safety, judges Brother Octopus by his appearance, and unintentionally wounds his pride with her blunt comments.

Significant Themes

• Danger and survival: Chen Cheng refuses to pursue a powerful entity when the risks are too great, emphasizing the importance of recognizing when retreat is wiser than exploration.
• Appearance versus reality: The group initially mistakes one another for illusions, while Brother Octopus’s frightening appearance causes others to misjudge him. The scene also humorously suggests that attractiveness depends on comparison.
• Uncertain cultivation and personal growth: Chen Cheng has entered a new stage of existence but lacks a clear method for advancing, forcing him to create or discover his own path.
• Comedic conflict amid danger: Insults, misunderstandings, and Brother Octopus’s exaggerated reactions provide humor even as the characters confront potentially deadly supernatural forces.

Character Interactions

• She Li confronts Chen Cheng with his blade drawn, while Snow Maiden backs him up from behind.
• Brother Octopus tries to explain the misunderstanding, then attempts to gain Snow Maiden’s loyalty by promising to protect her.
• Snow Maiden’s fear and criticism of Brother Octopus provoke his anger and deepen his embarrassment.
• Chen Cheng mocks Brother Octopus after his recovery, continuing their hostile but familiar relationship.
• She Li ultimately accepts Chen Cheng’s identity and lowers his weapon.
• At the chapter’s end, Brother Octopus complains about the missing Sandworm, while Chen Cheng dismisses the joke and focuses on the ominous danger he senses.