Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Growing Stronger”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng admits to Lyka that he originally intended to reflect Lyka into his Divine Kingdom and turn him into one of its members.
• Lyka criticizes Chen Cheng’s bluntness but agrees to govern the Divine Kingdom.
• Lyka disperses into the Dao and becomes a new will of heaven and earth within Chen Cheng’s Divine Kingdom. His presence creates an additional control over Scorpion Lady and the others, though Chen Cheng’s authority remains supreme.
• Lyka gathers the Divine Kingdom’s laws and merges with Chen Cheng’s Divine Soul. Six additional arms appear, transforming Chen Cheng into an Eight-Armed Demon God.
• Chen Cheng’s mastery over the laws dramatically improves. He can now control multiple laws simultaneously and fuse them together without obstruction.
• Using his enhanced power, Chen Cheng unleashes a technique that accelerates the life cycles of all organisms on the island, causing them to experience birth, aging, sickness, and death repeatedly.
• He names the technique the Withering-and-Flourishing Palm, since it can cause things to decay or thrive according to his will.
• Chen Cheng examines Snow Maiden with his evolved Divine Eye and discovers that her condition is worsening. Her forced absorption of the Ice Law has placed her on the path toward irreversible Dao Assimilation.
• Snow Maiden has only about one month before the Divine Blood sustaining her body is exhausted and she fully merges with the world’s laws.
• Two possible solutions are considered: Snow Maiden could complete Sequence Apotheosis and become the controller of the Ice Law, or she could enter Chen Cheng’s Divine Kingdom and become a Law Dao Lord there. Both options carry serious difficulties, and neither is an easy rescue.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Becomes vastly stronger after merging with Lyka, gaining eight arms, superior law control, and an evolved Divine Eye. He also displays increased confidence and excitement over his new abilities.
• Lyka: Shifts from a potential subordinate or captive into a governing will within Chen Cheng’s Divine Kingdom. His integration significantly strengthens Chen Cheng but also imposes a new hierarchy on the kingdom’s inhabitants.
• Snow Maiden: Has physically matured from the childlike figure Chen Cheng first knew into an adult Legendary Rank Elf. However, her power comes at the cost of worsening Dao Assimilation, giving her a serious and urgent survival crisis.
• Melos and the other inhabitants: Are shocked by Chen Cheng’s transformation and power. Scorpion Lady and the others feel uneasy upon sensing Lyka’s new authority over them.

Significant Themes

• Power through integration: Chen Cheng grows stronger by incorporating Lyka and the laws of his Divine Kingdom, demonstrating that unity with powerful forces can produce exponential advancement.
• Authority and hierarchy: Lyka’s arrival creates a layered system of control within the Divine Kingdom. Although Chen Cheng remains the supreme will, the others must now answer to Lyka as an intermediate authority.
• The cost of strength: Snow Maiden’s immense power is directly tied to her approaching Dao Assimilation, emphasizing that advancement can threaten identity and existence.
• Control over life and death: Chen Cheng’s Withering-and-Flourishing Palm reflects his growing command over fundamental laws, allowing him to manipulate the natural cycle of life.
• Humor amid danger: The serious discussion of Snow Maiden’s impending death is contrasted with playful banter between her and Chen Cheng.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Lyka openly discuss their original intentions and establish a more cooperative relationship, with Lyka accepting a governing role.
• Lyka’s integration causes Scorpion Lady and the others to feel constrained by his authority, though Chen Cheng’s will remains dominant.
• Chen Cheng impresses Melos and Snow Maiden with his transformation and new technique.
• Chen Cheng teasingly orders Snow Maiden to help him change clothes after his power destroys his garments. She responds by throwing a snowball at him and escaping with Melos, preserving their familiar, comedic dynamic despite the chapter’s darker revelations.

Chapter Summary: Leaving the Twisted Realm

Key Plot Points and Events

• After changing into fresh clothes, Chen Cheng reunites with Melos and Snow Maiden.
• Melos anxiously asks about Ireland and the others. Chen Cheng reassures her that they are safe and likely nearing the Kingdom of Moss.
• Melos urges them to leave the Sea God’s capital, having been traumatized by her near-death experience on Ice and Snow Island.
• Chen Cheng considers returning someday to study the five islands representing the Five Elements Laws, but recognizes that he currently lacks the time.
• He prepares to teleport Melos and Snow Maiden out using his Divine Domain. Snow Maiden, being a living manifestation of the Ice Law and already undergoing Dao Assimilation, must willingly lower her resistance for the teleportation to work.
• Snow Maiden jokingly flirts with Chen Cheng, creating an awkward exchange in front of Melos. She disguises her embarrassment by conjuring a piece of “frozen tofu” and throwing it at him.
• Chen Cheng envelops both women in his Divine Domain and transports them toward the Eye of the Storm’s barrier.
• Melos realizes how dramatically Chen Cheng’s strength has advanced. His Divine Domain is now so powerful that she understands she could no longer withstand even one of his attacks.
• Chen Cheng crosses the turbulent barrier with ease, no longer needing to follow the dangerous currents of law as he had when entering.
• Inside the barrier, the group encounters countless violently rotating law threads. Melos recognizes their deadly nature and understands that even a brief brush with them could tear her apart.

Character Development

• Chen Cheng: Demonstrates immense growth in power and confidence. He can now freely navigate the Eye of the Storm and use his Divine Domain to transport beings connected to the world’s laws. He also shows concern for his companions and restraint regarding Snow Maiden’s teasing.
• Melos: Reveals lingering fear from her ordeal on Ice and Snow Island and becomes more protective of the group’s safety. She is humbled by Chen Cheng’s rapid advancement and reflects on the different strengths and limitations of the Human and Elf races.
• Snow Maiden: Continues using provocative humor to hide her emotional attachment to the Twisted Realm. Although she jokes constantly, her reluctance to leave suggests that this world is deeply important to her. She also becomes embarrassed when Melos witnesses her behavior.

Significant Themes

• Rapid growth and destiny: Chen Cheng’s extraordinary progress echoes the rise of Lyka and emphasizes the seemingly limitless potential of Humanity.
• The balance of strengths and weaknesses: Melos reflects that the Elves’ long lives, perfect forms, and inherited abilities may come at the cost of the Humans’ adaptability and limitless possibilities.
• Attachment and departure: Snow Maiden’s reluctance to leave highlights the emotional difficulty of abandoning a place tied to one’s existence.
• The danger and majesty of natural laws: The Five Elements islands and spinning law threads portray the world’s laws as both sources of knowledge and forces capable of destroying even powerful beings.
• Power and trust: Teleporting Snow Maiden requires her cooperation, showing that immense power still depends on mutual trust when dealing with beings intertwined with fundamental laws.

Character Interactions

• Melos and Chen Cheng share a concerned exchange about Ireland and the others, strengthening the impression of their mutual trust.
• Snow Maiden teases Chen Cheng with suggestive remarks, while he attempts to maintain composure and protect Melos from further awkwardness.
• Melos acts as the embarrassed observer before eventually pretending nothing happened.
• Chen Cheng’s superior strength becomes clear through his interaction with Melos, who compares his rise to Lyka’s legendary advancement.
• The chapter ends with the group united under Chen Cheng’s protection as they pass through the deadly law-filled barrier.

Summary of “Three Old Fogeys”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng, Melos, and Snow Maiden escape the Twisted Realm through the Eye of the Storm. Chen Cheng misjudges the thickness of the surrounding laws, causing seawater to burst through and drench Melos and Snow Maiden.
• After drying them with Water-Drawing Spells, the group discusses the relationship between the Twisted Realm Sea and the mobile Eye of the Storm. Chen Cheng concludes that the Twisted Realm is likely a divine realm accessed through the storm rather than a sea that physically moves with it.
• Three ancient members of the Sea King Clan—Whale Demon King, Kunfu King, and Blood Shark King—emerge to meet them, fully equipped with Phase Weaponry.
• Chen Cheng recognizes the lingering aura of Samlet’s laws on Kunfu King, realizing that Kunfu King was once wounded by Samlet and still suffers from those injuries.
• Expecting hostility, Chen Cheng prepares to attack, but the three Sea Kings unexpectedly behave courteously. Kunfu King explains that he must constantly wear his weaponry because removing it could cause his old Dao wounds to flare up and kill him.
• Snow Maiden and Melos urge Chen Cheng not to attack immediately. They suspect the Sea Kings may have a deeper motive and believe anything connected to the gods and the Twisted Realm should be treated cautiously.
• The Sea Kings claim they have come merely to welcome the group as honored guests, since anyone capable of entering and leaving the Twisted Realm Divine Kingdom is highly respected.
• Their real purpose is soon revealed: they want to know whether Crimson Ray Queen entered the Divine Kingdom and whether she gained anything there.
• Chen Cheng deliberately portrays Crimson Ray as having trapped Melos and Snow Maiden on an island formed from the Ice and Snow Law, nearly causing a war between the Sea Clan and the Elves.
• Melos supports his accusation, demanding that the Sea Clan provide an explanation.
• The three Sea Kings are shocked, realizing that Crimson Ray may have entered one of the legendary Divine Islands. They distance themselves from her actions, calling her a “traitor,” and ask whether she might still be trapped inside the Divine Island.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng remains pragmatic, suspicious, and opportunistic. He is ready to fight rather than waste time, but he also recognizes the potential value of information about the five law-based islands. He cleverly manipates the Sea Kings by exaggerating his anger toward Crimson Ray.
• Melos becomes more assertive in defending the dignity of the Elf race. She plays along with Chen Cheng’s accusation and demands accountability from the Sea Clan.
• Snow Maiden acts cautiously and diplomatically, preventing Chen Cheng from launching an unnecessary attack. Her concern reflects her awareness of the dangers surrounding divine powers and ancient laws.
• Kunfu King is revealed to be severely injured by Samlet’s Dao and dependent on Phase Weaponry for survival. His guarded but respectful behavior suggests fear and caution toward powerful outsiders.
• Crimson Ray Queen is further characterized as ruthless and dangerous. Her actions have created tension between the Sea Clan and the Elves, while her possible discovery of a Divine Island makes her a threat and an object of concern to the Sea Kings.

Significant Themes

• Caution around divine power: The characters recognize that the Twisted Realm, the Eye of the Storm, and the Divine Islands are connected to forces beyond ordinary understanding.
• Political tension and mistrust: The Sea Kings’ polite welcome conceals their concern about Crimson Ray and the possible benefits she may have obtained.
• Manipulation and diplomacy: Chen Cheng uses deception and Melos’s outrage to pressure the Sea Kings into revealing their true intentions.
• The consequences of past conflicts: Kunfu King’s lingering injuries show that old battles with figures such as Samlet continue to shape present relationships.
• Power and acquisition: Chen Cheng is particularly interested in claiming the five law-based islands for his own Divine Kingdom, revealing his ambition to increase his strength.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng apologizes to Melos and Snow Maiden after accidentally drenching them, then explains his theory about the Eye of the Storm.
• The three Sea Kings initially confront the group but quickly shift to respectful hospitality.
• Chen Cheng and the women coordinate their reactions: he suggests attacking, while Melos and Snow Maiden urge restraint.
• Chen Cheng and Melos jointly condemn Crimson Ray, using their shared accusation to pressure the Sea Kings.
• The Sea Kings reveal their anxiety about Crimson Ray and seek information about her whereabouts, establishing that their apparent welcome was motivated by fear and concern over what she might have discovered.

Chapter Summary: A War Ended in a Single Sentence

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng confronts three elders of the Sea King Clan about the mysterious islands in the Twisted Realm, recognizing that they know far more than they initially admit.
• He refuses to answer their questions about the Crimson Ray Queen and prepares to leave, using their fear of his possible connection to the legendary prodigy Samlet to pressure them.
• The elders finally reveal the truth: the five Divine Islands were formed from the Five Elements Law and serve as foundational “supports” that stabilize the world’s separate laws. If even one island were destroyed, the world would gradually collapse into chaos.
• Chen Cheng explains that he cannot reenter the Twisted Realm because the Sea God has sealed the Eye of the Storm. He also abandons any intention of taking the islands, realizing they may support either the Karmak World or the System World.
• After extracting what information he can, Chen Cheng leaves with Melos and the others, using his Divine Domain to prevent the elders from stopping him.
• The elders decide to abandon the Sea Clan’s centuries-long campaign to conquer the land. Believing that the Sea God favors the Crimson Ray because she entered the Twisted Realm, they plan to follow the Eye of the Storm and imitate her actions.
• Without realizing it, Chen Cheng ends the war between the Sea Clan and the land simply by suggesting that the Crimson Ray might destroy the Divine Islands.
• Chen Cheng travels toward the coast and the ruins of the Sea God Temple, the site through which he previously entered the System World.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates sharp manipulation and strategic thinking. He deliberately provokes the elders into revealing the secrets of the Divine Islands, while outwardly maintaining the respectful language of a junior addressing his elders.
• His understanding of the Twisted Realm deepens. He connects the Divine Islands with the Five-Element Creation Theory and recognizes their possible importance to the System World.
• Chen Cheng also becomes more cautious and responsible, abandoning the idea of taking the islands once he realizes that disturbing them could endanger an entire world.
• The three Sea King elders, particularly the Kunfu King, shift from secrecy and pride to desperation, exposing their clan’s deepest knowledge when they fear the islands may be destroyed.
• The elders’ worldview is revealed as deeply religious and submissive. They interpret the Crimson Ray’s success as evidence of the Sea God’s favor and change their political strategy accordingly.
• The Crimson Ray Queen remains mostly offstage, but her entry into the Twisted Realm and her perceived favor with the Sea God make her the object of the elders’ envy and imitation.

Significant Themes

• Manipulation and information control: Chen Cheng gains the truth by exploiting the elders’ fears rather than through direct force.
• Ignorance and blind faith: The Sea King Clan misunderstands the powers governing their world and acts according to rigid religious beliefs, mistaking cosmic events for divine approval.
• Unintended consequences: A single mocking statement from Chen Cheng causes the Sea Clan to abandon a war that has lasted thousands of years.
• The fragility of reality: The Divine Islands symbolize the hidden structures holding the world together, emphasizing how easily existence could descend into chaos.
• Power beyond mortal understanding: Both the Sea God and the System remain mysterious forces whose motives are incomprehensible to the Sea King Clan.
• The end of futile conflict: The chapter fulfills part of Nefei’s earlier wish by bringing the war between the Sea Clan and the land to an end.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng challenges the elders’ evasiveness and forces them to admit their knowledge of the Divine Islands.
• The elders beg Chen Cheng to intervene against the Crimson Ray, but he refuses to promise help and instead points out the limits of his access to the Twisted Realm.
• After Chen Cheng departs, the elders collectively reinterpret his words and use them to justify a major change in Sea Clan policy.
• Chen Cheng’s interaction with the elders therefore has consequences far beyond the conversation: it reshapes the Sea Clan’s religious beliefs, military goals, and relationship with the land.

Chapter Summary: “Miracles Flash Across the Sky”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng returns to the waters near the former Sea God Temple ruins to determine whether Lokasky, Black Tiger Venerable, and the Guild members are still there.
• Having greatly improved his abilities, Chen Cheng travels across more than half the World Sea through rapid spatial flickers, bringing Melos and Snow Maiden with him.
• They arrive in a war zone where Sea Clan forces are unexpectedly retreating. Human soldiers mistake Chen Cheng and his companions for powerful negotiators or Legendary experts who forced the retreat.
• Melos heals the wounded soldiers using her Healing Magic. Chen Cheng then expands his Divine Kingdom over a vast area and uses the Life Laws to drain vitality from ferocious sea beasts, restoring countless injured soldiers on an even greater scale.
• The soldiers interpret these miracles as the descent of a True God. Their gratitude generates a large amount of Faith Power for Chen Cheng, which continues increasing despite the scale of his actions.
• Chen Cheng travels through the war zone, repeatedly healing survivors. His image becomes deeply branded in their memories, and many begin worshipping him.
• Afterward, these new believers encounter Jamir’s Divine Religion. Upon realizing they worship the same deity, the groups merge and use the miracle’s influence among the military to infiltrate the armies of various kingdoms.
• Chen Cheng, Melos, and Snow Maiden reach the Sea God Temple ruins. Chen Cheng sends the two women to wait while he dives into the sea to search for the Guild members.
• In the deep trench leading to the ruins, Chen Cheng senses that he is surrounded by a genuine sea monster—something the Giant race had previously claimed guarded the passage. Before he can proceed, the monster attacks him with a powerful mental wave that leaves even him dizzy and disoriented.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates a major increase in speed and power, now capable of rapid spatial movement and large-scale divine healing.
• His actions reveal a growing sense of moral responsibility. He realizes that possessing the power to save others naturally compels him to help those in need, even when no one forces him to do so.
• Chen Cheng also recognizes the practical value of miracles: healing the soldiers not only saves lives but dramatically strengthens his Faith Power and expands his religious influence.
• Melos continues to embody compassion and healing. She immediately tends to the wounded soldiers without hesitation, reinforcing her role as a benevolent and powerful healer.
• Snow Maiden acts primarily as an observer, questioning the soldiers’ behavior and accompanying Chen Cheng and Melos on their journey.
• Jamir and his followers capitalize on Chen Cheng’s miracle, merging with the newly converted soldiers and expanding their Divine Religion through military networks.

Significant Themes

• Power and responsibility: Chen Cheng embraces the idea that those with great abilities have a moral duty to protect the weak.
• Faith and miracles: The chapter shows how direct supernatural intervention can create belief far more effectively than doctrine or tradition.
• Compassion versus exploitation: Chen Cheng genuinely saves lives, but his miracles also increase his divine power and strengthen his political and religious influence.
• The birth of legend: A single battlefield intervention transforms Chen Cheng from an unknown figure into a godlike savior whose deeds spread through eyewitness testimony.
• Unseen dangers: Just as Chen Cheng’s power and influence expand, the sea monster reminds him that the deep world still contains threats capable of challenging him.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng explains to Snow Maiden why the soldiers are kneeling, identifying their mistaken belief that he drove away the Sea Clan.
• Melos actively heals the soldiers, while Chen Cheng follows by using his Divine Kingdom to perform mass healing.
• The soldiers respond to both of them with reverence, but Chen Cheng becomes the central object of worship because of the scale and visibility of his miracles.
• Chen Cheng asks Melos and Snow Maiden to remain on the island while he investigates the ruins alone.
• His solitary exploration ends with a confrontation—or impending confrontation—with the sea monster guarding the underwater passage.

Chapter Summary: “Mechanism Monster”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng is ambushed underwater by countless tentacles belonging to a hidden sea monster.
• The seawater dulls his perception, making it difficult to locate the monster or determine the tentacles’ true positions.
• His Lava Battle Armor and Lava Longspear pass through the tentacles without making contact, revealing that the creature exists on a different layer of reality.
• Chen identifies the sea monster as a mechanism monster, a rule-based entity whose weakness must be discovered before it can be harmed.
• He attacks with Water-Splitting Spikes and then uses the Withering-and-Flourishing Palm, combining the Life Rule and Reincarnation Principle. Although the attack affects the monster’s life-and-death cycle, it causes no visible physical damage.
• The monster continues attacking with increasingly numerous tentacles. Chen blocks them with a tortoiseshell shield but realizes that even when the tentacles become tangible, they can still phase through him.
• Chen eventually deduces the monster’s mechanism: it detects and attacks beings emitting the aura of rules or divine power. When he suppresses all such energy and returns to the state of an ordinary cultivator, the tentacles disappear.
• He escapes through the relic barrier and reaches the beach, concluding that the “black trench” may actually be the monster’s true body. The trench likely functions like a sieve, filtering creatures that pass through it and trapping those who reveal rule-based power.
• After fleeing the sea, Chen discovers he has emerged at a different part of the relic’s coastline. He finds the Guild’s former landing site transformed into a guarded harbor and suspects Lokasky has established a secret Guild base there.
• Guild patrols riding giant birds notice Chen flying toward the harbor. Since flying is forbidden within the relic and even Lokasky cannot do so unaided, they recognize him as an unusual and potentially powerful newcomer.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates adaptability and analytical skill. Rather than continuing to waste energy on ineffective attacks, he studies the monster’s behavior and identifies the rule governing its mechanism.
• His experience leaves him deeply disturbed, both by the monster’s deceptive nature and by the possibility that he passed through its body.
• He becomes more cautious about displaying rule-based abilities and considers accelerating his second transformation to gain greater physical protection.
• Chen also shows increasing suspicion toward Old Ke and the Guild, blaming them for placing such a dangerous “watchdog” in the relic.

Significant Themes

• Power versus understanding: Raw strength and powerful techniques are useless against a mechanism monster until its underlying rule is understood.
• The danger of rules and aura: Chen’s greatest abilities become liabilities because the monster is designed to detect rule-based power.
• Deception and hidden threats: The sea appears ordinary, the tentacles are difficult to perceive, and the monster’s true body may be disguised as a geographic feature.
• Adaptation and restraint: Chen succeeds only by suppressing his power rather than increasing it, emphasizing the value of flexibility and self-control.
• Mistrust of institutions: The Guild’s secretive handling of the relic and its use of the monster as a guardian reinforce Chen’s distrust of Old Ke and his associates.

Character Interactions

• Chen has no direct conversation with the sea monster, but their confrontation is an intellectual battle: the monster attacks according to a hidden mechanism, while Chen experiments until he discovers its condition.
• Chen’s thoughts repeatedly reference Old Ke, Lokasky, and the Guild, suggesting strained relations and suspicion toward the people responsible for the relic.
• Upon reaching the harbor, Chen is observed by Guild patrols. They do not recognize him, but his ability to fly inside the relic immediately marks him as an extraordinary and possibly dangerous figure.

Chapter Summary

• Chen Cheng arrives at the Guild’s hidden harbor base, an ancient ruin now restored and guarded by a powerful patrol squad. Rather than forcing his way inside, he respectfully asks to see Guild Master Lokasky and identifies himself as “Brown,” trusting Lokasky to understand.
• While waiting, A Bei visits Chen Cheng and kneels to thank him for saving Black Tiger Venerable during the previous crisis. Because Black Tiger raised A Bei after finding him as an infant, A Bei considers Chen Cheng’s rescue of his brother equivalent to saving his own father. He pledges his life and loyalty to Chen Cheng, provided Black Tiger is not harmed.
• A Bei explains that Black Tiger joined the Guild to secure a better future for their brothers and sisters. He rejected both banditry and serving as expendable soldiers for noble kingdoms. Chen Cheng refuses A Bei’s offer to betray the Guild, emphasizing that their ideals differ and expressing hope that true peace will eventually give them a new understanding of liberation.
• Lokasky arrives and reunites with Chen Cheng, revealing that he and Black Tiger had spent more than half a year trying to open the ruin after Chen Cheng disappeared. Black Tiger even damaged his own cultivation while helping Fox develop a method to unlock it. Black Tiger then embraces Chen Cheng with relief, admitting how deeply worried he had been.
• Lokasky explains that the continent has descended into widespread chaos following the failure of the first northern expedition. The Guild’s previously planned escape routes have been compromised, forcing them to turn the ruin into their final retreat and secret base.
• The Kingdom of Moss remains relatively peaceful, largely because Crown Prince Wisdom Shield has bought temporary stability and is supplying logistics and military materials for the second northern expedition. However, Lokasky fears Moss will eventually be dragged into the conflict. Mei Luo refuses to leave the kingdom, which is another reason Lokasky continues monitoring it.
• Chen Cheng realizes that Wisdom Shield has followed their earlier plan, but instead of feeling victorious, he thinks of the wounded soldiers he recently encountered and the much greater casualties the coming expedition will cause. He comes to understand the ancient principle that weapons are ominous tools and should be used only when absolutely necessary.

Character Development and Interactions

• Chen Cheng returns more cautious and reflective, valuing restraint over displays of power and becoming increasingly troubled by the human cost of war.
• A Bei demonstrates profound gratitude and loyalty toward Chen Cheng, while his devotion to Black Tiger reveals the familial bond created by their shared past.
• Black Tiger shows genuine emotional concern for Chen Cheng beneath his usual tough exterior. His willingness to damage his cultivation to rescue Chen Cheng highlights his loyalty.
• Lokasky remains committed to protecting the Guild and its members, but his exhaustion reflects the worsening political situation. His teasing relationship with Black Tiger provides a brief moment of warmth amid the crisis.
• Chen Cheng and Lokasky discuss the Guild’s future, Moss’s precarious position, and the consequences of the northern expedition, deepening their shared concern over the continent’s escalating turmoil.

Significant Themes

Gratitude, loyalty, and chosen family

The conflict between liberation and political exploitation

The consequences of war and the moral burden of military action

Restraint, responsibility, and the destructive nature of weapons

Hope for peace amid social and political collapse

Chapter Summary: “Fear”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng realizes that avoiding war is no longer within his control, especially because Smog has deliberately fueled the conflict.
• Lokasky reveals that the Northern Great Wall Army, commanded by General Ye Rong, is supported not only by the Orcs and Elves but also by two Dragon princes: the Black Dragon Emperor and the Azure Dragon Emperor.
• Chen Cheng learns that the Dragon princes helped Ye Rong break through the northern defensive formation by leading a Magic Beast assault against the enemy’s flanks and rear.
• Lokasky estimates that the kingdoms will launch another northern expedition within two months. This force may be stronger than the first because the nations are now cooperating more seriously after their previous defeat.
• The Five Great Kingdoms may deploy ancient weapons and resources inherited from the lost Empire, including technology preserved in Ancient Ruins for over one hundred thousand years.
• Chen Cheng becomes deeply alarmed that deteriorating ancient systems may allow Legendary experts to access dangerous weapons, including high-tech military devices.
• He immediately leaves to prepare for the coming crisis and advises the Guild not to become involved.
• Lokasky agrees that the Guild itself will not aid the kingdom factions against Chen Cheng, though individual lower-ranking members may choose their own sides.
• After Chen Cheng departs, Black Tiger accuses Lokasky of cooperating out of fear, particularly because Chen Cheng destroyed the Academy Alliance in the Ruined Capital. Lokasky retaliates by accusing Black Tiger of manipulating the conversation to gain Chen Cheng’s favor.
• The two begin fighting while A Bei and Fox observe. Fox also reports that the prophetic screen wall can no longer predict Chen Cheng’s future or detect karmic connections between him and his former allies.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Becomes increasingly anxious and decisive. The possibility that ancient imperial weapons could be recovered convinces him that immediate action is necessary. He also demonstrates political foresight by trying to keep the Guild neutral while relying on the goodwill he has built among grassroots cultivators.
• Lokasky: Shows himself to be cautious and politically pragmatic. He refuses to openly support either side, protecting the Guild and its factions, but still gives Chen Cheng valuable information and promises that the Guild will not actively oppose him.
• Black Tiger: Reveals a sharper and more calculating side than his usual appearance suggests. He openly mocks Lokasky for acting out of fear and exploiting the situation for personal advantage.
• A Bei: Acts as an observer and mediator, recognizing the hidden motives behind Lokasky and Black Tiger’s behavior. He becomes frightened by the possibility that Chen Cheng is now powerful enough to see through any deception.
• Fox: Remains concerned about Chen Cheng and believes following him may be the safest choice. Her revelations about the prophetic wall emphasize how far Chen Cheng has evolved beyond ordinary beings.
• Black Dragon Emperor and Azure Dragon Emperor: Their involvement establishes that powerful Dragon forces are actively supporting the northern campaign, increasing the threat Chen Cheng faces.

Significant Themes

• Fear of war and escalation: The coming expedition threatens to become much more destructive than the first, with multiple races and ancient technologies involved.
• The dangers of the past: Forgotten imperial weapons and Ancient Ruins may reshape the present, showing that history’s suppressed power can return in catastrophic ways.
• Political neutrality and self-preservation: Lokasky’s position reflects the difficulty of remaining uninvolved when major factions are preparing for war.
• Changing power and transcendence: The prophetic wall’s inability to perceive Chen Cheng suggests that he has reached a level comparable to Gods and Devils, separating him from his former companions.
• Trust, deception, and hidden motives: The quarrel between Lokasky and Black Tiger exposes how even apparent support may be motivated by fear, calculation, or self-interest.
• Isolation through power: Although Chen Cheng has allies and influence, his growing strength appears to sever his karmic connection with others, implying that his rise may come with increasing loneliness.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng questions Lokasky about the Dragon princes and the timeline of the next expedition, using the Guild Master’s intelligence to assess the threat.
• He warns Lokasky not to involve the Guild, and Lokasky offers a limited but meaningful assurance of neutrality.
• Black Tiger and Lokasky verbally attack each other after Chen Cheng leaves, each exposing the other’s manipulative behavior.
• A Bei prevents Fox from joining the fight and explains that both men are angry because their schemes have been revealed.
• Fox and A Bei discuss Chen Cheng’s disappearance from the prophetic wall, concluding that he has become too powerful for their previous methods of prediction and karmic connection.

Chapter Summary: “A Way to Deal with It”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After leaving A Bei and the others, Chen Cheng continues receiving their powerful Faith, realizing they remain deeply worried about him.
• He returns to the dark sea and reunites with Snow Maiden, Elder Melos, and A Chou, the Tuo Dragon he had previously left behind.
• Snow Maiden explains that A Chou attacked her and Elder Melos because he sensed unfamiliar, powerful beings and believed they might threaten Chen Cheng. Chen Cheng praises his loyalty but warns him not to act so recklessly.
• Chen Cheng decides that Snow Maiden, Elder Melos, and A Chou should return to safety because the Elf race’s alliance with him is now widely known and may place them in danger.
• Snow Maiden refuses to leave, citing their contract and joking about her salary. Beneath the humor, however, she is afraid that Chen Cheng intends to abandon her before her condition worsens.
• When Chen Cheng offers to pay her wages in advance, Snow Maiden breaks down in tears. He reassures her that his upcoming mission is too dangerous for her to accompany him and promises that this is not their final farewell.
• Chen Cheng offers her some of his Divine Blood, hoping it will help sustain her. Snow Maiden refuses to consume it because she does not want him to weaken himself for her.
• Seeking a more lasting solution, Chen Cheng consults Lyka within his Divine Kingdom about Snow Maiden’s deteriorating condition.
• Lyka explains that Snow Maiden has already entered Dao Assimilation. Ascending to godhood and forming a true Divine Core is now impossible, and Divine Blood can only delay the process.
• The best permanent solution would be Dao Fusion, allowing Snow Maiden to enter Chen Cheng’s Divine Kingdom. A temporary alternative is Phase Weaponry, which would place her in a permanent Phase State and preserve her consciousness and physical form by effectively creating a low-grade Pseudo-Divine Core.
• This method would have no reversal: if she ever stopped maintaining the Phase State, Dao Assimilation would immediately overtake her. Only Chen Cheng’s eventual transformation into the true God of Light might allow him to create a genuine Divine Core for her.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates increasing responsibility and concern for those connected to him. Rather than allow Snow Maiden to face danger beside him, he attempts to send her away, even though he knows it will hurt her.
• He also reveals humility by admitting that, despite his immense power, he lacks knowledge about many fundamental matters and must rely on Lyka’s wisdom.
• Snow Maiden shifts between playful teasing and emotional vulnerability. Her jokes about contracts and wages conceal her fear of losing Chen Cheng and her awareness that Dao Assimilation is claiming her.
• She ultimately respects Chen Cheng’s decision, masking her pain with humor while refusing to waste his Divine Blood.
• A Chou is shown to be fiercely loyal and protective of Chen Cheng. His attack on Snow Maiden and Elder Melos came from concern rather than hostility.
• Lyka acts as a knowledgeable adviser, providing Chen Cheng with a practical but dangerous method for prolonging Snow Maiden’s life.

Significant Themes

• Love expressed through sacrifice: Chen Cheng tries to protect Snow Maiden by separating from her, while Snow Maiden refuses to burden or weaken him.
• The inevitability of death and transformation: Dao Assimilation represents the loss of Snow Maiden’s current self, making her condition both a physical and existential threat.
• Hope through imperfect solutions: Divine Blood, Dao Fusion, and Phase Weaponry each offer different forms of survival, but none is simple or without cost.
• Trust and loyalty: A Chou’s protective instincts and Snow Maiden’s determination to remain with Chen Cheng emphasize the bonds formed between them.
• Power versus knowledge: Although Chen Cheng possesses extraordinary strength, he still depends on older and wiser figures to understand the laws governing life, death, and divinity.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng disciplines A Chou while acknowledging the loyalty behind his actions.
• Snow Maiden teases Chen Cheng, creating a brief moment of humor before their conversation becomes emotionally serious.
• Chen Cheng and Snow Maiden openly confront the possibility of separation, with his reassurance and Divine Blood serving as promises that he will return.
• Their exchange reveals mutual affection: Chen Cheng prioritizes her safety, while Snow Maiden refuses to let him sacrifice himself unnecessarily.
• Chen Cheng’s consultation with Lyka expands the situation from a personal farewell into a larger question of whether Snow Maiden’s life and identity can be preserved.

Chapter Summary: “A New Program”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng concludes that Lyka’s proposed method remains the best solution for Snow Maiden. Although he may not succeed personally, his failure would at least prevent Snow Maiden from fusing with the Dao and being absorbed into his Divine Kingdom.
• He returns to Lokasky and Black Tiger, who have resumed quarreling and fighting. Lokasky willingly gives Chen Cheng a box of Phase Weaponry, claiming Chen Cheng deserves a share of it.
• In exchange, Chen Cheng identifies flaws in Lokasky’s cultivation. His guidance reveals the reason Lokasky has been unable to reach the final stage of power despite his talent and effort.
• Chen Cheng gives the Phase Weaponry to Snow Maiden. Once activated, it protects her body and consciousness from the worst effects of Dao Assimilation, allowing her to retain her identity for several years—as long as she does not use her own power.
• Snow Maiden’s Dao Assimilation is not cured. Without the weaponry, her emotions and memories would be erased, leaving her as an emotionless embodiment of natural law.
• Chen Cheng orders Ah Chou to protect Snow Maiden at all costs and arranges for Elder Melos to escort her to Moonlight Forest, where the Tree God can keep her safe.
• Chen Cheng gives Melos newly developed programs based on his understanding of the Life Equation and Life Laws. These programs are intended to compensate for the World Tree’s declining ability to support Elf reproduction.
• He recognizes that fully repairing the Elf race’s reproductive system would require replacing the World Tree’s ancient programming entirely, since centuries of unattended operation have caused systemic deterioration.
• After making these arrangements, Chen Cheng departs from Snow Maiden, Melos, and Ah Chou.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates responsibility and compassion. He refuses to accept the Phase Weaponry without offering Lokasky something of equal value and uses his superior understanding of Dao Laws to help him.
• Lokasky gains a major breakthrough in his cultivation. Chen Cheng’s advice resolves the obstacle that has kept him from reaching the highest level.
• Snow Maiden receives temporary protection but is forced to confront the seriousness of her condition. She understands that the weaponry only delays the loss of her emotions and memories rather than eliminating the danger.
• Melos becomes a trusted ally responsible for helping safeguard Snow Maiden. She also receives Chen Cheng’s solution to the Elves’ population crisis.
• Ah Chou is formally entrusted with protecting Snow Maiden, reinforcing his loyalty to Chen Cheng.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice and responsibility: Chen Cheng accepts the burden of finding a solution for Snow Maiden and prioritizes her survival over his own success.
• Temporary solutions versus true repair: The Phase Weaponry merely delays Dao Assimilation, while the Elf reproductive programs only compensate for deeper flaws in the World Tree’s ancient system.
• Knowledge as power: Chen Cheng’s understanding of Dao Laws and life-related principles allows him to help both Lokasky and the Elves in ways that ordinary treasures cannot.
• Identity versus transformation: Snow Maiden’s fear of becoming a cold, emotionless deity highlights the cost of Dao Assimilation and the danger of losing one’s humanity.
• Aging systems and maintenance: The World Tree’s declining fertility reflects how even powerful systems deteriorate when left without maintenance or correction.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Lokasky establish a mutually beneficial exchange: Lokasky provides the Phase Weaponry, while Chen Cheng offers invaluable cultivation guidance.
• Chen Cheng reassures and teases Snow Maiden while giving her the protective armor, maintaining their familiar relationship despite the seriousness of her condition.
• Chen Cheng instructs Ah Chou to prioritize Snow Maiden’s safety, strengthening the bond of loyalty between them.
• Chen Cheng explains Snow Maiden’s situation to Melos, who responds by offering Moonlight Forest as a safe refuge.
• Chen Cheng’s programs give Melos and the Elf race a powerful reason to support him, linking his personal relationships to broader political and racial consequences.

Chapter Summary: “A Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng leaves the island and travels south, seeking a powerful “cheat” capable of countering the overwhelmingly strong final enemy created by Old Ke and the others.
• Along the coast, he sees soldiers and sailors safely returning to their families—many of whom he had previously rescued. This gives him a sense of purpose, but his journey inland reveals the devastating consequences of war: abandoned villages, displaced families, and children sold for food.
• Lyka witnesses the suffering through Chen Cheng’s Divine Kingdom and becomes overwhelmed with grief and anger at how badly the people have been betrayed by the post-Empire kingdoms. Kui Niu reminds him that the current rulers are corrupt tyrants, not worthy successors to the founders of Lyka’s old Empire.
• Chen Cheng realizes that even his immense power cannot immediately stop the wider war. He must continue working indirectly and act as quickly as possible.
• In a deserted city, Chen Cheng discovers Russo, once a missionary and follower of Chen Cheng, now dressed as a soldier and leading starving peasants in revolutionary resistance.
• Russo uses Chen Cheng’s Revolutionary White Paper to awaken the peasants’ anger and solidarity. Through speeches and a grievance-sharing meeting, he helps them recognize their common suffering and directs their resentment toward the nobles and landlords responsible for their exploitation.
• Chen Cheng meets Russo and asks whether he regrets his path. Russo addresses him as “Comrade” rather than “Your Majesty,” affirming his commitment to the revolutionary cause. He insists that they are following the right path, even if it demands sacrifice.
• Russo explains that his greatest difficulty is obtaining food. Chen Cheng promises enough grain to feed ten thousand people for a year.
• Rather than stealing stored grain, Chen Cheng obtains seeds and uses his Life-Reincarnation Principle and Withering-and-Flourishing Palm to rapidly grow enormous quantities of rice in abandoned fields.
• He then gathers additional resources from the wilderness, with terrifying beast roars echoing from the mountains during the night.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: His understanding of the war deepens as he personally witnesses mass suffering. He accepts that individual strength cannot reverse the entire historical situation, but he becomes more determined to support the people and the revolutionary movement. His actions demonstrate compassion, practicality, and a willingness to expend immense power for ordinary civilians.
• Russo: He has transformed from a missionary into a committed revolutionary organizer. Though physically weakened by hardship, he possesses strong leadership skills and ideological conviction. He turns scattered, desperate peasants into a united resistance group.
• Lyka: His feelings shift from sorrow over the Empire’s collapse to fury and despair at the corruption of the kingdoms that replaced it. He is forced to confront the betrayal of the ideals he once believed his Empire had established.
• Kui Niu: He serves as a voice of perspective, helping Lyka distinguish between the genuine founders of the old era and the corrupt rulers of the present.

Significant Themes

• The suffering caused by war: The chapter emphasizes that political collapse is measured most painfully through starving families, ruined villages, and displaced civilians.
• Revolution and class oppression: Russo identifies greedy nobles and landlords as the central forces exploiting the people. Shared grievances become the basis for collective resistance.
• Hope through solidarity: Chen Cheng’s loneliness begins to diminish when Russo calls him “Comrade,” showing that he is not the only person pursuing change.
• The limits of individual power: Even a near-unmatched powerhouse cannot instantly end a war or reverse social conditions. Meaningful change requires organization, sacrifice, and collective action.
• Power used for the common people: Chen Cheng’s cultivation techniques, normally viewed as precious or transcendent, are used to grow food for starving civilians. This challenges the elite belief that ordinary people are unworthy of such resources.
• A small act igniting wider change: Russo’s speeches, the sharing of grievances, and Chen Cheng’s support represent small sparks that may eventually spread into a broad revolutionary movement.

Important Character Interactions

• Lyka and Kui Niu: Kui Niu comforts Lyka and helps him understand that the current rulers have abandoned the principles of the old Empire.
• Chen Cheng and Russo: Their meeting strengthens Chen Cheng’s confidence in the revolutionary cause. Russo’s conviction reassures Chen Cheng that he has comrades working toward the same goal.
• Russo and the peasants: Russo builds unity by combining ideological speeches with practical aid and emotional sharing. The peasants’ personal suffering becomes a collective political consciousness.
• Chen Cheng and the people: Although he cannot fight alongside Russo yet, Chen Cheng provides essential material support by creating enough food to sustain the growing resistance.

Summary of “Rallying South”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng leaves Russo a large supply of grain, processed Magic Beast meat, and crystal cores, along with a sealed red-marked Space Bag containing a final emergency “trump card.” This support gives Russo the resources and confidence to sustain his growing movement.
• Russo begins attacking small detachments of soldiers sent by territorial nobles to plunder the countryside. Using firearms, ambushes, and local recruits, he rapidly expands his forces.
• Similar resistance movements emerge across the continent. The rebels are organized and strategic rather than acting as scattered peasants: they avoid direct battles, retreat into familiar terrain, and use guerrilla tactics to exhaust and delay the nobles’ armies.
• As resistance spreads, the nobles’ countryside plundering becomes less effective. Their failure to meet the expected quotas eventually draws the attention of the King, while sparks of rebellion ignite throughout the continent.
• Traveling south, Chen Cheng repeatedly intervenes when he encounters soldiers abusing civilians. He rescues the victims, relocates them to hidden valleys or gorges, and teaches them survival methods based on the mountain savages’ traditions. He kills powerful Magic Beasts and uses their heads to create ritual vessels that intimidate the remaining beasts, leaving the people with supplies before moving on.
• Chen Cheng’s actions become known, and the five great kingdoms realize he is heading toward the Dwarf Kingdom to obtain a key connected to the Codex. They fear that gaining the Codex’s power will make him unstoppable.
• The kingdoms decide to launch the Second Northern Expedition within half a month. Rather than seeking victory, their main objective is to tie down Ye Rong and other potential reinforcements so they cannot support Brown and the Dwarf Kingdom.
• They request aid from the Church and the Guild. The Guild gives no response because its Guildmaster is in hiding, while the Church claims it lacks the strength after suffering major losses. The kingdoms nevertheless proceed, intending to eliminate Chen Cheng and later use his death as political justification for breaking free of the Empire’s control.

Character Developments

• Russo grows from an anxious leader worried about feeding his people into a capable revolutionary organizer. With Chen Cheng’s supplies, he is able to build a sustainable resistance and recruit more followers.
• Chen Cheng changes from someone who mainly thought about injustice into someone committed to direct action. He recognizes that practical intervention—even saving a limited number of people—is more meaningful than merely contemplating the suffering around him.
• Lyka serves as a witness to Chen Cheng’s changing outlook, prompting him to explain the moral reasoning behind his actions.
• The kings of the five great kingdoms reveal their fear of Chen Cheng’s growing power. They put aside rivalries and prepare to deploy every hidden resource available.
• The Church and Guild are shown to be weakened and politically calculating. Their absence does not reflect goodwill but rather weakness, self-preservation, or a desire to manipulate the aftermath.

Significant Themes

• Resistance and revolutionary organization: Oppression becomes vulnerable when ordinary people unite, plan, and preserve their strength instead of fighting recklessly.
• Action over passive thought: Chen Cheng concludes that doing something concrete to help is more valuable than simply understanding or lamenting injustice.
• The spread of hope: The rebellions function like sparks spreading across a prairie, suggesting that small acts of resistance can develop into continent-wide upheaval.
• Adaptation and reversal: Formerly “civilized” people are forced to adopt the survival practices of groups they once despised, blurring the distinction between civilization and savagery.
• Political manipulation: The great powers pursue military goals while simultaneously preparing narratives and alliances that will strengthen their political positions afterward.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Russo: Chen Cheng supports Russo materially and ideologically, while Russo and his followers inspire Chen Cheng to become more actively compassionate.
• Chen Cheng and Lyka: Lyka questions Chen Cheng about his interventions, leading him to articulate his belief in practical humanitarian action.
• The five kings: They collectively agree that stopping Chen Cheng is more important than winning the coming war, demonstrating their shared fear and willingness to cooperate.
• The kingdoms, Church, and Guild: The kingdoms seek assistance, but the Church refuses because of its depleted strength and the Guild remains silent. Their interactions expose the fragile alliances and shifting political loyalties surrounding the conflict.

Summary: “Fortune Method and Witchcraft”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter criticizes the political factions opposing the Empire, arguing that their reliance on compromise and underhanded tactics made them weak and contributed to the failure of the First Northern Expedition. Ye Rong exploited their internal weaknesses and defeated them.
• Chen Cheng continues traveling south into the Southern Barbarians, passing through oppressive jungles and increasingly isolated tribal territories.
• He observes that the southern tribes possess distinct cultures and languages shaped by their individual Faiths. Unlike the hostile tribes he previously encountered, these communities are relatively welcoming toward travelers.
• Chen Cheng witnesses an Epic Rank Beast Emperor and several Platinum Rank Magic Beasts attacking a tribe. Lyka tells him not to intervene, sensing powerful Faith energy protecting the tribe.
• The tribal warriors activate Divine Descent by applying dark-red pigment to their faces and invoking their Faith. Their Fortune Aura dramatically enhances their strength, allowing them to defeat the invading Magic Beasts.
• Rather than turning the beasts’ heads into sacrificial vessels, the tribe divides the meat and preserves valuable body parts with a dark-green ointment. Chen Cheng recognizes this as the creation of primitive Witchcraft Artifacts.
• The tribe later conducts a ritual in which a statue of an ancestor is brought from its ancestral hall. Chen Cheng and Lyka realize that the tribe has combined Witchcraft with the Fortune Method.
• Lyka explains that worshiping their ancestors allows the tribe to avoid the difficult process of winning converts. Their shared bloodline serves as a natural bond through which the tribe gathers and distributes Fortune Aura.
• Lyka suspects that the tribes did not invent this system independently. Since only the Empire possesses a complete Fortune Method, later monarchs likely introduced or reformed the practice.
• Chen Cheng confirms the method’s effectiveness by drawing upon the tribe’s Fortune Aura himself.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng becomes more observant and analytical as he studies the Southern Barbarians’ social systems, combat practices, and religious traditions. He recognizes the connection between their rituals and older forms of Witchcraft.
• Lyka demonstrates her deep understanding of the Fortune Method and Witchcraft. She quickly identifies the source of the tribe’s power and explains the political and religious implications of their system.
• The tribal warriors are portrayed as disciplined defenders of their community, using collective Faith rather than individual magical ability to overcome vastly powerful beasts.
• The tribal shaman or elder represents the survival and adaptation of ancient Witchcraft, preserving monster materials for ritual and magical use.

Significant Themes

• Political weakness versus genuine power: The chapter contrasts ineffective political maneuvering with the practical strength created by shared Faith, bloodline, and collective organization.
• Adaptation of ancient traditions: Primitive Witchcraft has evolved by combining with the Fortune Method, producing a more powerful and efficient system.
• Faith and social cohesion: The tribes’ worship of their ancestors strengthens their communities and provides tangible supernatural protection.
• Civilization and isolation: The isolated tribes appear untouched by broader political conflicts, yet they have developed sophisticated spiritual and defensive practices suited to their environment.
• Power through collective identity: Divine Descent demonstrates how a group can pool its Fortune Aura and temporarily elevate every member’s combat ability.
• The Empire’s hidden influence: Although the tribes seem culturally independent, their advanced use of the Fortune Method suggests intervention or guidance from later imperial monarchs.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Lyka travel together and discuss the tribes’ protection, rituals, and magical techniques.
• When Chen Cheng considers helping the attacked tribe, Lyka restrains him, correctly predicting that the tribe can defend itself.
• Chen Cheng recognizes the tribal warriors’ Divine Descent as similar to a technique once used by Eugene during the Hui Dun City crisis.
• Lyka interprets the ancestor statue and explains how bloodline ties allow the tribe to channel collective Fortune Aura.
• Chen Cheng tests Lyka’s theory by successfully drawing Fortune Aura from the tribe, confirming that their system can affect outsiders with sufficient connection or understanding.

Chapter Summary: “Disagreement”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng discovers that the Southern Barbarian Forest contains an enormous reserve of Fortune Aura, accumulated from countless tribes over many generations.
• He briefly considers absorbing the Fortune Aura from every tribe, but immediately suppresses the power and erases all evidence that he used it. Lyka suggests the forest may have been prepared by later rulers as a vast “Fortune Aura battery,” possibly intended to help someone become a god.
• Chen Cheng doubts this explanation because Samlet, who taught him about the Fortune Method, never mentioned the forest. Nevertheless, he recognizes that the Fortune Aura could become a hidden trump card.
• Chen Cheng continues south deliberately exposing his location. His goal is not yet the final confrontation with the God of Light or the Church, but to eliminate the powerful Attendants supporting the various kingdoms before the ultimate battle.
• The Northern Great Wall Army has expanded beyond the Northern Frontier and now controls two neighboring provinces. Its front line has advanced into Northern Wasteland Province.
• Ye Rong, commander of the three armies, realizes that Chen Cheng has likely found the Codex and is traveling south to obtain a key from the Dwarf race. He also understands that Chen Cheng is intentionally luring the enemy’s Legendary figures south so the Northern forces can exploit the opening.
• Zhixin confronts Ye Rong about how to respond. Ye Rong plans to launch a second military campaign rather than send a small force to assist Chen Cheng.
• Zhixin strongly opposes this decision, arguing that Chen Cheng’s survival is more important than any military victory. Ye Rong insists that Chen Cheng exposed himself specifically to create an opportunity for their armies and that they must seize it.
• The chapter ends with Ye Rong reconsidering the situation. He recognizes that the various kingdoms may unleash all their hidden forces against Chen Cheng, potentially threatening even someone as powerful as a True God.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates caution and strategic foresight. Although tempted by the immense Fortune Aura, he conceals his actions and avoids revealing a potentially valuable advantage. He also clarifies his larger plan: remove secondary threats before confronting the ultimate enemy.
• Lyka continues to act as Chen Cheng’s observer and commentator, helping him interpret the historical significance of the Fortune Aura and the intentions of past rulers.
• Ye Rong is presented as a pragmatic and highly capable military commander. He prioritizes the strategic opportunity created by Chen Cheng’s movements, even at the risk of leaving Chen Cheng unsupported.
• Zhixin reveals her deep loyalty to Chen Cheng and her understanding that the Empire’s unity depends primarily on him. She values his safety above territorial gains and challenges Ye Rong’s military calculations.
• Ye Rong’s certainty begins to weaken when Zhixin raises the possibility that Chen Cheng’s exposed movements are actually a call for assistance.

Significant Themes

• Power and secrecy: Chen Cheng recognizes that the Fortune Aura could radically increase his power, but he understands that revealing or recklessly using it could expose him to danger.
• Strategic sacrifice: Chen Cheng and Ye Rong both attempt to use his apparent vulnerability to reshape the larger conflict, though they disagree about how much risk is acceptable.
• Unity centered on an individual: Zhixin emphasizes that the alliance of humans, beastfolk, elves, and the Northern Frontier is held together by Chen Cheng personally rather than by shared ideals.
• Trust and interpretation: The central disagreement arises because Chen Cheng’s intentions are ambiguous. Ye Rong interprets his actions as a deliberate diversion, while Zhixin fears they may signal that he needs help.
• The approach of a decisive conflict: The chapter establishes that the current campaigns are preparation for a final battle involving the kingdoms’ hidden powers and possibly the God of Light.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Lyka: They discuss the origins and possible purpose of the Fortune Aura reserve. Their exchange highlights both the temptation of hidden power and the uncertainty surrounding the rulers who created it.
• Ye Rong and Zhixin: Their confrontation forms the chapter’s main conflict. Zhixin demands that Chen Cheng be protected, while Ye Rong argues that the army must exploit the strategic opening he has created.
• Zhixin and Ye Rong’s opposing loyalties: Zhixin’s devotion is personal and protective; Ye Rong’s is expressed through military strategy and long-term victory. Both want the same ultimate outcome but disagree over the immediate course of action.

Chapter Summary: Guidance of the Wise

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhixin and Marshal Ye Rong reach a serious disagreement over how to respond after Chen Cheng’s whereabouts are exposed.
  • Zhixin prioritizes protecting Chen Cheng immediately, believing he is the most important concern.
  • Ye Rong argues that the exposure is a strategic opportunity: enemy forces will focus on Chen Cheng, weakening the front lines and allowing them to launch a decisive campaign.
• Unable to persuade one another, they ask Prince Pingbei to make the final decision. Chen Cheng’s adviser, Chen Cheng, had anticipated that such a conflict might arise.
• Prince Pingbei first studies the intelligence reports—including Jamir’s report and Russo’s account of meeting Chen Cheng—before meeting them, ensuring he understands both sides rather than hearing only one perspective.
• Rather than choosing immediately, Prince Pingbei addresses the resentment developing between Zhixin and Ye Rong. He compares them to a married couple managing the civil and military sides of Chen Cheng’s “household,” emphasizing that disagreements must not become lasting personal grudges.
• He then analyzes Chen Cheng’s character, particularly his actions toward Russo and ordinary people. Prince Pingbei explains that Chen Cheng is a compassionate sovereign who values common people and may even sacrifice himself for them.
• Through this discussion, Zhixin and Ye Rong realize that the correct course must be guided by Chen Cheng’s ideals. They reach an unspoken agreement without Prince Pingbei explicitly deciding between their plans.

Character Developments

• Zhixin begins firmly committed to prioritizing Chen Cheng’s safety, but becomes more reflective after considering his principles and character.
• Ye Rong initially focuses on exploiting the strategic opportunity created by Chen Cheng’s exposed location. He also recognizes that internal conflict would undermine any military success.
• Prince Pingbei demonstrates wisdom, patience, and political restraint. He carefully gathers information, identifies the emotional source of the disagreement, and resolves the conflict through moral guidance rather than issuing a direct command.
• Chen Cheng is further revealed as a benevolent ruler who genuinely empathizes with ordinary people. Though capable of ruthless decisions, his underlying concern is justice and the welfare of those at the bottom of society.

Significant Themes

• Unity despite disagreement: Civil and military leaders may hold opposing views, but their disputes must remain focused on policy rather than turning into personal hatred.
• Leadership guided by ideals: Understanding a ruler’s true convictions allows subordinates to find common ground even when immediate strategies differ.
• The burden of a compassionate sovereign: Chen Cheng’s willingness to endanger himself for others is both a virtue and a potential weakness.
• Duty versus strategy: Zhixin represents loyalty and protection of the sovereign, while Ye Rong represents seizing military opportunity; the chapter suggests both must ultimately serve Chen Cheng’s larger vision.
• Moral authority over formal authority: Prince Pingbei resolves the matter not by imposing power, but by helping the others understand the principles behind their service.

Character Interactions

• Zhixin and Ye Rong’s argument exposes hidden resentment beneath their normally harmonious partnership.
• Prince Pingbei gently confronts their emotional distance, using the metaphor of husband and wife to remind them that their cooperation is essential to Chen Cheng’s success.
• His interpretation of Chen Cheng’s actions causes both Zhixin and Ye Rong to reassess their own motives.
• By the end, they do not simply compromise with each other; they achieve a deeper, shared understanding of Chen Cheng’s ideals and become united in serving them.

Chapter Summary: “Seeing Through”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Prince Pingbei successfully reconciles Marshal Ye Rong and the other powerful official by making them recognize their shared loyalty and responsibilities. Though he does not choose between them, his judgment persuades both to abandon their estrangement.
• After they leave, Princess Hisha questions whether Pingbei was reckless to discuss the Emperor’s intentions so openly. Pingbei explains that Chen Cheng is an exceptionally unusual ruler who genuinely seeks to share power with ordinary people rather than preserve imperial authority for its own sake.
• Pingbei identifies Chen Cheng’s White Book not as a harmless political reflection, but as a guide to dismantling the Empire’s entrenched class and power structures—essentially “crippling one’s own martial arts.”
• Ye Rong returns to military headquarters and revises his strategy. Instead of maximizing enemy casualties, he plans to target the rebel army’s command structure. Since most enemy soldiers are ordinary conscripts loyal to the Emperor rather than the traitorous leaders, eliminating the command echelon should encourage mass surrender and end the war more efficiently.
• Ye Rong and Zhixin agree on the revised campaign, despite some manageable disagreements. The Northern Frontier’s forces, supported by Wisdom Shield, Jamir, and other allies operating behind enemy lines, begin coordinating intelligence, rear-area operations, and efforts to turn enemy troops.
• Meanwhile, Chen Cheng travels deep into the Southern Barbarians. He encounters powerful combinations of Witchcraft and the Fortune Method, finding their fusion unusually harmonious and learning from their techniques.
• As Chen Cheng journeys southward, the landscape changes into a volcanic rainforest filled with active volcanoes, lava flows, sulfur, and recurring forest fires. The cycle of eruption, burning, rainfall, and regrowth gradually builds layered geological strata.

Character Developments

• Prince Pingbei demonstrates wisdom, courage, and political insight. Having witnessed the fall and rebirth of nations, he has become less concerned with preserving power or class distinctions and is willing to support Chen Cheng’s radical reforms.
• Princess Hisha reveals a more conservative, class-conscious perspective. She views the White Book as a warning or theoretical reflection whose dangers can be managed, whereas Pingbei understands it as a genuine program for restructuring society.
• Ye Rong undergoes a major ideological and strategic change. He stops viewing war primarily through enemy casualties and begins distinguishing between ordinary soldiers and the leaders responsible for the conflict. His new approach seeks to minimize unnecessary deaths and bring about surrender.
• Zhixin remains practical and involved in military administration. Although he and Ye Rong disagree on aspects of the new plan, their relationship is stable enough to produce coordinated action.
• Chen Cheng continues expanding his understanding of foreign powers and supernatural systems. His observations of Witchcraft and the Fortune Method broaden his knowledge and suggest future strategic or philosophical applications.

Significant Themes

• True political reform versus superficial idealism: Chen Cheng’s writings and policies are presented as sincere efforts to redistribute power, not merely rhetoric.
• Leadership and trust: Pingbei’s reconciliation depends on trusting Ye Rong and the other official to remain loyal despite their immense authority.
• The morality of warfare: Ye Rong’s revised tactics reflect a shift from destruction toward precision, surrender, and the protection of common soldiers.
• Class and vested interests: Hisha’s interpretation of the White Book shows how social position shapes one’s understanding of revolutionary ideas.
• Cycles of destruction and renewal: The volcanic rainforest mirrors the broader political and historical cycle of collapse, reconstruction, and rebirth.
• Understanding through experience: Both Pingbei and Ye Rong change because they reinterpret power and conflict through the lessons of history and lived experience.

Important Character Interactions

• Pingbei and Ye Rong/the other official: Pingbei resolves their conflict by appealing to their loyalty and giving them a shared direction rather than issuing a coercive command.
• Pingbei and Hisha: Their conversation contrasts Hisha’s cautious, class-based interpretation of Chen Cheng with Pingbei’s deeper understanding of the Emperor’s revolutionary intentions.
• Ye Rong and Zhixin: Their military planning shows continuing disagreement, but also mutual trust and the ability to cooperate effectively.
• Chen Cheng and the Southern Barbarians: Though Chen Cheng does not directly engage in a major confrontation here, his observations of their combined power systems deepen his understanding of their culture and capabilities.

Chapter Summary: “Encirclement and Slaughter”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Cheng descends into a volcanic region and kills the Explosive Demon Ape Emperor with a single finger strike, despite it bathing in lava.
• The remaining Demon Apes attack him, but Chen Cheng effortlessly defeats them, regardless of their ranks.
• He salvages the Emperor’s valuable hide, which can be used for fire-resistant potions and Magic Artifacts, and extracts its Magic Crystal core. The core contains enough fire poison to unleash destruction comparable to a Forbidden Spell.
• Chen Cheng inscribes a Small Fireball Spell into the core, stores it, and discards the worthless bones and meat. He also collects the hides of the other Demon Apes, though their Magic Crystals have been drained of fire poison during combat.
• Rather than immediately leaving, Chen Cheng cooks Magic Beast meat over the flowing lava, producing stone-grilled meat that masks the sulfurous smell of the volcano.
• He reveals that Simon has been following him and deliberately throws grilled meat toward him. Simon destroys the first piece but is burned by the hot oil.
• Simon orders the hidden attackers to begin their assault. A massive Forbidden Spell formation appears over the volcano, summoning a thunder dragon to kill Chen Cheng.
• Chen Cheng casually throws another slice of meat at Simon. Although Simon’s fist wind had previously been powerful enough to destroy trees, the meat slice pierces it and breaks his supposedly invincible iron fists.
• He throws a second slice at the thunder dragon. The meat passes through the lightning and causes the Forbidden Spell to collapse, injuring the distant lightning-element Grand Mage who cast it.
• The Grand Mage realizes that Chen Cheng has reached the level of Gods and Devils. His ability to manipulate laws directly allows him to neutralize their law-based Forbidden Spells without needing a conventional attack.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Demonstrates overwhelming power, precision, and composure. He treats the Demon Ape Emperor’s corpse as a source of useful materials and remains relaxed even while being surrounded and attacked by Legendary figures. His seemingly absurd use of grilled meat reveals his ability to manifest laws effortlessly through his Divine Kingdom.
• Simon: Is portrayed as physically powerful and confident in his “invincible” iron fists, but Chen Cheng humiliates him by breaking them with a slice of meat. His confidence gives way to shock and pain.
• The Lightning Grand Mage: Begins the attack with confidence in the supposedly unavoidable nature of Forbidden Spells. After Chen Cheng dissolves her thunder dragon, she recognizes the enormous gap between him and the attackers and warns the others to use their full strength.
• The Demon Apes: Their savage nature is emphasized through their immediate charge after their Emperor’s death, but they are completely outmatched by Chen Cheng.

Significant Themes

• Overwhelming power and disparity: Chen Cheng’s effortless victories show that he exists on an entirely higher level than the Legendary attackers.
• Laws versus conventional magic: Forbidden Spells are powerful because they embody laws, but Chen Cheng’s God-and-Devil-level mastery lets him directly manipulate those laws.
• Calmness and absurdity in battle: Chen Cheng’s casual cooking and use of meat as a weapon contrast with the attackers’ serious, destructive assault, highlighting his absolute confidence.
• Practicality and resourcefulness: Even after killing powerful beasts, Chen Cheng carefully salvages their valuable materials and ignores what has no practical use.
• Misjudgment and revelation: The attackers initially underestimate Chen Cheng, but his destruction of the Forbidden Spell forces them to recognize that he is far beyond their expectations.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng taunts Simon by offering him grilled meat while exposing that he has known about Simon’s pursuit.
• Simon responds aggressively, attempting to destroy the meat and later commanding the hidden group to attack.
• Chen Cheng’s attacks turn the interaction into a humiliating display: one slice injures Simon’s hands, while another destroys the lightning mage’s Forbidden Spell.
• The lightning Grand Mage serves as the first attacker to correctly understand Chen Cheng’s power and warns the others that they must fully activate their Dao Fruits to survive.

Chapter Summary: “Clark”

Key Plot Points and Events

• At the Archmage’s warning, the gathered Legendary experts unleash their Dao Fruits and laws throughout the rainforest, destroying the ancient trees as they prepare to confront Chen Cheng.
• After finishing lunch, Chen Cheng addresses them and offers them one last chance to withdraw. He emphasizes that they are vital foundations of the Human race, but warns that once the battle begins, he will show no mercy.
• Clark, a middle-aged scholar and peak Archmage, steps forward to explain their opposition. He claims they must stop Chen Cheng either out of gratitude toward the royal families or to prevent him from opening the Codex, which the First Emperor sealed to protect the world from the Extraterritorial Evil God.
• Chen Cheng challenges Clark’s unquestioning faith in the First Emperor’s will, asking whether Clark would obey the First Emperor if he could be resurrected and personally changed his mind. Clark rejects the idea as forbidden soul manipulation and insists that the dead must not be disturbed.
• Chen Cheng concludes that Clark is not malicious but naïve and foolish. He recognizes that Clark is deliberately delaying him while the others establish their formation, yet chooses to give him a chance rather than immediately punish him.
• Simon abruptly insists that Chen Cheng must remain and cannot be allowed to leave, exposing a disagreement between the supposed allies. Clark, confused, asks why they are abandoning their earlier agreement that Chen Cheng could remain Emperor if he gave up opening the Codex.
• Chen Cheng has the Armored Turtle King attack Clark. Clark resists by using Chaos Magic to create a clone and escape the turtle’s binding technique.
• Clark summons two enormous chaos pythons, whose explosive transformations into multiple elemental magics overwhelm the Armored Turtle King. The turtle responds with his Black Tortoise Phantom and is forced to take Clark seriously.
• Chen Cheng intervenes personally. Clark’s Chaos Magic changes into a spatial shield that redirects Chen Cheng’s punch, but Chen Cheng counters with his own Space Magic and breaks through the defense.
• Before Clark can activate his Chaos Dao Fruit and use the Gods-and-Devils Body, Chen Cheng briefly immobilizes him and seals his Dao Fruit with the Reincarnation Principle.
• Chen Cheng orders the Armored Turtle King to guard Clark carefully because he has a use for him. The turtle adopts his Black Tortoise True Form to protect both himself and Clark.

Character Developments

• Chen Cheng: Demonstrates overwhelming confidence and power, but also restraint and concern for humanity’s long-term survival. He distinguishes between foolish opponents and genuinely evil ones, choosing to preserve valuable Legendary figures rather than kill them unnecessarily.
• Clark: Revealed as idealistic, obedient, and deeply attached to the First Emperor’s original decision. Though naïve in his political judgment, he proves himself an exceptionally capable Archmage whose Chaos Magic can imitate or combine many magical attributes. His combat ability earns the Armored Turtle King’s respect.
• Armored Turtle King: Initially underestimates Clark because of his childlike reasoning. After Clark escapes his binding art and severely damages him with Chaos Magic, he becomes more cautious and protective.
• Simon: Shows a more rigid and uncompromising attitude than Clark by insisting that Chen Cheng must be stopped no matter what, highlighting fractures within the opposing group.

Significant Themes

• Duty versus independent judgment: Clark follows the First Emperor’s historical decision without questioning whether circumstances have changed. Chen Cheng portrays this as blind loyalty rather than true wisdom.
• The burden of protecting humanity: Chen Cheng argues that powerful human figures should not destroy one another over authority, especially when the world faces threats beyond political struggles.
• Idealism and political manipulation: Clark believes the royal families’ stated motives and the old imperial agreement, while Chen Cheng recognizes that others are using these principles to delay or control him.
• Power tempered by restraint: Although Chen Cheng could easily kill the gathered experts, he chooses to spare them and preserve Clark for future use.
• The danger of underestimating opponents: Both the Armored Turtle King and the opposing faction misjudge Clark, whose naïveté masks extraordinary magical strength.

Character Interactions

• Chen Cheng and Clark: Their debate centers on whether the First Emperor’s will should be obeyed unquestioningly. Chen Cheng mocks Clark’s naïveté but ultimately treats him as valuable rather than disposable.
• Clark and Simon: Clark expects their prior agreement to remain valid, but Simon rejects compromise and demands Chen Cheng’s capture, revealing conflicting priorities.
• Clark and the Armored Turtle King: Their fight shifts from the turtle’s confidence to surprise and caution after Clark escapes his restraints and unleashes devastating Chaos Magic.
• Chen Cheng and the Armored Turtle King: Chen Cheng intervenes when the turtle is endangered, defeats Clark efficiently, and entrusts the turtle with guarding him, forcing the turtle to acknowledge Clark’s strength.

Chapter Summary: “Chen Cheng’s Power”

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cheng joins the battle instead of remaining an observer and targets Simon, mocking him for refusing the meat Chen Cheng roasted.
• He attacks Simon with a devastating punch. Simon deliberately allows the attack, activating a golden aura and projecting a small golden figure to counter with a technique resembling Uncle Sam’s Void God Fist.
• Their collision damages space and creates a collapsing void, but Chen Cheng overwhelms and destroys the spatial distortion through sheer force. His punch then strikes Simon’s lower back.
• To survive, Simon detonates half his own body and escapes with only his upper body intact. He immediately activates his Divine Demon True Form and Demigod Heaven-and-Earth, entering full-power combat.
• Simon’s domain attempts to distort Chen Cheng’s existence, but Chen Cheng’s superior domain forcibly breaks through it.
• The destruction of Simon’s domain reveals that his Law Dao Fruit is embodied by the small golden figure. Chen Cheng recognizes Simon’s technique as the Spirit-Concentration Method, which treats Simon’s own body as the true “god.”
• Chen Cheng explains that destroying the golden figure is meaningless: it will reform as long as Simon’s true body survives. Simon’s reputation as the “Invincible Iron Fist” likely came from exploiting opponents who misunderstood this weakness.
• Simon realizes Chen Cheng has uncovered his greatest secret and urgently asks whether the preparations are complete.
• Chen Cheng reveals that he has already anticipated the enemy’s plan to surround him with an array. He summons a “Phantom Image” of Lyka.
• The illusion—or manifestation—shows Lyka standing inside the enemy’s completed array. Lyka has already destroyed the array, killed several Legendary Rank archmages through backlash, and effortlessly deflected the attacks of the remaining experts.

Character developments

• Chen Cheng demonstrates overwhelming physical strength, superior domain control, sharp knowledge of ancient cultivation techniques, and strong tactical awareness. He is no longer merely observing events and actively controls the battlefield.
• Simon reveals his powerful survival abilities and willingness to sacrifice part of his body to escape death. However, his confidence is shaken when Chen Cheng identifies the secret behind his Spirit-Concentration Method.
• Lyka is established as an almost mythic figure whose abilities surpass the expectations of even the strongest current experts. His mastery of arrays and combat technique makes him appear more terrifying than ordinary legendary cultivators.

Significant themes

• Overwhelming power versus specialized techniques: Simon relies on complex secret arts and domains, but Chen Cheng defeats them through superior strength and control.
• The importance of understanding an opponent: Simon’s Spirit-Concentration Method is dangerous because enemies usually attack the wrong target. Chen Cheng’s knowledge allows him to see through the deception.
• Hidden trump cards and countermeasures: Both sides reveal previously concealed abilities, while Chen Cheng shows that he has anticipated the enemy’s preparations.
• Legacy and inheritance: The Spirit-Concentration Method and other ancient arts survive from the era of Gods and Devils, while modern experts are portrayed as descendants or inheritors of figures such as Lyka.

Character interactions

• Chen Cheng taunts Simon before attacking, turning their confrontation into both a physical and psychological contest.
• Simon attempts to surprise Chen Cheng with the golden figure and Void God Fist, but Chen Cheng recognizes and neutralizes the technique.
• Chen Cheng openly analyzes Simon’s secret art, exposing the weakness behind Simon’s “Invincible Iron Fist” reputation.
• Simon calls out to hidden allies preparing an array, but Chen Cheng interrupts him and reveals that Lyka has already destroyed the formation.
• Lyka’s appearance intimidates the gathered experts, who recognize him as an ancestral master figure and are unable to challenge him effectively.

Chapter Summary: “Invincibly Strong”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Simon, transformed into a powerful Gods-and-Devils state, is stunned when Lyka—believed dead for a thousand years—appears before him. Unable to accept Lyka’s resurrection, Simon attacks him with a devastating punch.
• Lyka’s body appears to explode under Simon’s attack, causing Simon to believe the apparition was fake. However, Lyka immediately reappears and counterattacks, punching through Simon’s supposedly Undefeated Body with ease.
• Lyka condemns Simon for using his body as a god and for harming others through his cultivation. Simon threatens Lyka and continues attacking, relying on the Divine Demon True Form’s near-instantaneous recovery.
• Chen Cheng intervenes with Withering and Flourishing, neutralizing Simon’s countless attacks and causing his body to decay into a nearly lifeless corpse.
• Simon survives because his Divine Demon True Form is merged with his Dao, making him extremely difficult to kill directly. His spirit and Dao have become inseparable, allowing him to remain alive even after his Demigod Heaven-and-Earth is destroyed.
• Simon boasts that he is invincible, but Chen Cheng uses Reincarnation to force him to experience the lives of the ordinary people whose faith and suffering he exploited through the Spirit-Concentration Method.
• Simon’s life force rapidly fades into Oblivion, and Chen Cheng destroys the remnants of his body, definitively killing him.
• The remaining Legendary figures realize that their plan has failed. Without Lyka’s absence to exploit, they can no longer empower Simon enough to match Chen Cheng.
• Some surrender and accept their defeat. Chen Cheng prepares to kill those who continue resisting, remarking that their laws could strengthen his Divine Kingdom.

Character Developments

• Simon changes from arrogant confidence to disbelief, desperation, and terror. Despite his powerful transformation and regenerative abilities, he is ultimately humbled and destroyed by Chen Cheng’s superior techniques.
• Lyka is revealed to be alive—or at least capable of returning in a form indistinguishable from life—and remains overwhelmingly powerful after a thousand years. His attitude is cold and judgmental, particularly toward Simon’s abusive cultivation methods.
• Chen Cheng demonstrates that his strength surpasses ordinary Legendary-level power. As a God Ascender, he can bypass the defensive advantages of Simon’s Divine Demon True Form and kill him through spiritual and reincarnation-based techniques.
• The surviving Legendaries lose their confidence after Simon’s death. Their fear and surrender show that Chen Cheng, Lyka, and their allies have completely reversed the battle’s balance.

Significant Themes

• The limits of apparent immortality: Simon’s body can regenerate almost endlessly, but physical survival cannot protect him from attacks on his life force, spirit, or karmic existence.
• Power beyond conventional cultivation: Chen Cheng’s God Ascender status allows him to overcome the normally “invincible” state of Dao Integration and Divine Demon True Form.
• Justice and retribution: Simon is forced to experience the lives of the people he exploited, making his death a form of punishment tailored to his crimes.
• The danger of arrogance: Simon’s belief that he is untouchable prevents him from recognizing the gap between his power and Chen Cheng’s.
• Defeat and submission: The collapse of the Legendaries’ plan illustrates how quickly political and military power can disintegrate once its central champion is destroyed.

Character Interactions

• Simon and Lyka: Simon rejects Lyka’s existence, attacks him, and is shocked when Lyka survives and overwhelms him. Lyka condemns Simon’s methods and declares that he must die.
• Simon and Chen Cheng: Their battle contrasts brute-force regeneration with higher-level spiritual techniques. Chen Cheng first withers Simon’s body, then uses Reincarnation to destroy his life force completely.
• Chen Cheng and the surviving Legendaries: Chen Cheng warns them that opposing him means accepting death. Some acknowledge defeat, while others continue resisting and become targets for elimination.
• Chen Cheng and Lyka: Though they do not directly converse much, their combined presence creates an overwhelming advantage. Lyka removes the possibility of empowering Simon, while Chen Cheng delivers the decisive victory.