Chapter Summaries

After a night-long battle, Gu Qing, Matt, and Andrew clashed again, while the U.S. President ordered a nuclear strike against them. Matt escaped after learning of the order, but Gu Qing was caught in the shockwave when the missile detonated, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Gu Qing learned from the system that he could now kill the protagonists and that the world would keep generating Spacetime Value even if he left.
• The President ordered a nuclear strike, and General William arranged for a submarine to launch a tactical nuclear missile toward the Persian Gulf.
• Torres warned Matt of the incoming strike, and Matt fled underwater after Gu Qing shattered his shoulder.
• Gu Qing and Andrew sensed the missile approaching, but it detonated before Gu Qing could stop it.
• Gu Qing fled at Mach 2 but remained inside the airburst shockwave radius, where heat and radiation threatened him.

Gu Qing survived a two-megaton nuclear blast by pushing his powers to their limits, then returned to the Main World badly injured. He woke in 1945 to learn that the Nazis had fallen and Klaus Schmidt had escaped, leaving Gu Qing to recover and wonder whether Andrew and Matt had survived.

• Gu Qing used Cellular Recombination and Magnetic Field Rotation to endure the nuclear blast, but ordered the system to return when he reached his limit.
• Gu Qing woke in a hospital on May 9, 1945, eight months after entering the Chronicle World, as people celebrated Germany's surrender.
• Nina Ivanovna Ivanova told Gu Qing that the Red Army had liberated Auschwitz and that he had been unconscious for a week.
• Gu Qing learned that the Nazis had been defeated and suspected Klaus Schmidt had escaped under the identity Sebastian Shaw.
• Gu Qing remained in the hospital to recover and wondered whether Andrew and Matt had survived the explosion.
• Gu Qing opened his system panel to check his Spacetime Value.

Gu Qing learned that Steve Rogers and Captain America did not exist in his X-Men-only world, then prepared to leave after recovering from his injuries. With the Dog Talisman and a Senzu Bean from the lottery, he set out to find Schmidt, whom he knew would become Sebastian Shaw.

• Gu Qing learned that returning to the Chronicle World would cost 100,000 Spacetime Value, then used the lottery and obtained the Dog Talisman and a Senzu Bean among several Gotham-themed items.
• Gu Qing embedded the Dog Talisman in his body and stored the Senzu Bean in his Space Ring for later.
• After treating his injuries with Cellular Recombination, Gu Qing asked Nina whether she had heard of Steve Rogers or Captain America, and she said she had not.
• Gu Qing confirmed that his world belonged only to the X-Men movie universe, then asked the system when he could anchor a new Instance World and received only a search prompt.
• Gu Qing packed his things and left to pursue Schmidt, whom he knew would become Sebastian Shaw and establish the Hellfire Club.

After recovering from his injuries, Gu Qing took over a Sicilian Mafia family and renamed it the Lehnsherr Family to help him search for Klaus Schmidt. He left Vanessa in charge of the family’s affairs, warning her not to use her cleverness against him.

• Gu Qing absorbed the life force of the forest’s plants and animals, fully healing his injuries and demonstrating the power he had gained at ninety thousand matches.
• After searching unsuccessfully for Schmidt in Germany, Gu Qing recruited subordinates and took control of a Mafia family in Palermo.
• Vanessa, the former family head’s daughter, helped Gu Qing secure control, and the family took the name Lehnsherr.
• Vanessa reported that the search for Schmidt had disrupted the family’s businesses and that McConnell was seizing its territory.
• Gu Qing told Vanessa to handle McConnell herself, warned her not to manipulate him, and reminded her that she would face consequences if she failed.

Gu Qing stopped McConnell’s attack on the Lehnsherr estate and spared Vanessa after she cut off her own hand to prove her loyalty. He then ordered the family to absorb McConnell’s forces and continue searching across Europe for Schmidt, Sebastian Shaw, and the Hellfire Club, but the search still produced no results.

• McConnell led his men in an attack on the Lehnsherr estate and demanded that Gu Qing surrender the family’s businesses and assets.
• Gu Qing used his power to make McConnell’s men kill themselves, and Vanessa shot McConnell dead.
• Vanessa confessed her betrayal and cut off her own left hand, so Gu Qing healed her wound and spared her.
• Gu Qing ordered Vanessa to absorb McConnell’s forces and continue the search he had assigned.
• The Lehnsherr Family searched across more than half of Europe for Schmidt, Sebastian Shaw, and the Hellfire Club, but found nothing.

In 1949, Gu Qing gave up trying to recover his lost memories by stimulating his brain and decided that Charles Francis Xavier might be able to help. He flew to the Xavier Family Old Mansion in Westchester County, where Charles came outside with Raven Darkholme.

• Gu Qing reflected on the Lehnsherr Family’s rapid growth under Vanessa, whose Current Propulsion ability had awakened, but noted that the family still had not found Schmidt or the Hellfire Club.
• Gu Qing used Current Propulsion to stimulate his brain, recovered Erik’s childhood memories, and learned that Erik had died when Schmidt’s soldiers struck him with a rifle butt.
• Gu Qing realized that his past-life memories were buried in his soul and that electric currents could not reach them.
• Gu Qing decided that mutants might offer outside help and chose to seek out Professor X, whom he knew as Charles Francis Xavier.
• Gu Qing flew by helicopter to the Xavier Family Old Mansion in Westchester County, where Charles came outside with Raven Darkholme.

Gu Qing asked Charles Xavier to help recover memories sealed within his soul, and their attempt revealed a crucial clue about Argentina’s Giselle Villa. Charles collapsed from the effort, leaving Raven to accuse Gu Qing of harming him.

• Raven warned Charles that the helicopter’s arrival made her uneasy, but Charles could not read the pilot’s thoughts through his mental barrier.
• Gu Qing jumped from the helicopter, introduced himself to Charles as Erik Lehnsherr, and explained that he wanted Charles to help unlock his memories.
• Charles agreed to act as a catalyst while Gu Qing used his own power to delve into his soul.
• Gu Qing recovered memories of X-Men: First Class and identified Argentina’s Giselle Villa as a crucial clue.
• Charles began trembling and collapsed into Raven’s arms, and Raven blamed Gu Qing for what had happened.

After Charles glimpsed memories of a possible future, he insisted on helping Gu Qing stop Sebastian Shaw, whom Gu Qing said was about to die by his hand. Gu Qing, Charles, and Raven arrived in Miami to search for Schmidt and prepared for an operation.

• Charles recovered from the psychic experience and told Gu Qing he had seen memories of the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw, and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Gu Qing explained that Charles had seen one possible timeline, but Charles insisted they had to stop Shaw; Raven demanded an explanation.
• Charles confronted Gu Qing, revealed he knew the target was in Argentina, and persuaded Gu Qing to let him come along.
• Gu Qing brought Charles and Raven to Miami after learning that Schmidt and two soldiers were likely still there, near the yacht Gaspardina.
• Vanessa reported that preparations were complete, and Gu Qing ordered her to use only elite operatives for the mission.

Sebastian Shaw formed the Hellfire Club and arranged to meet the Lehnsherr Family, whose ambush at the Port of Miami failed to harm him because he absorbed the attacks. Gu Qing confronted Shaw and battered him relentlessly, testing the limits of his energy absorption.

• Shaw proposed naming his organization the Hellfire Club and asked the Red Devil to join, but the Red Devil said he needed time to think.
• Vanessa’s people attacked the Gaspardina at the Port of Miami with gunfire and rockets, but Shaw absorbed the explosions and destroyed the approaching speedboats with the stored energy.
• Charles warned the Lehnsherr Family members to retreat, while Raven watched Shaw’s power in astonishment.
• Gu Qing arrived and ordered Charles not to act, then rejected Shaw’s offer to talk and attacked him with powerful punches.
• Shaw absorbed Gu Qing’s kinetic and electrical attacks but could not retaliate effectively as Gu Qing continued his barrage.

Gu Qing broke through Black King Shaw’s defenses, but Red Devil rescued Shaw before Gu Qing could finish him. Shaw’s flight crashed into a restaurant, killing Talia and leaving Trask consumed by grief and hatred.

• Charles watched Gu Qing bombard Black King Shaw from a helicopter as Shaw absorbed and released the blows.
• Gu Qing pushed himself to 110,000 horsepower and used Rapid Bullet Fist to overwhelm Shaw’s ability to absorb energy, shatter his breastbone, and send him flying.
• Trask prepared to propose to Talia at a Miami restaurant, but Shaw crashed into the building and killed her.
• Gu Qing confronted the badly injured Shaw, but a red-skinned man in a black zhongshan suit appeared and teleported away with him.
• Gu Qing’s power rose to 120,000 horsepower, and his outburst shattered the front half of the mall while Trask clutched Talia and vowed hatred toward mutants.

Gu Qing pursued Red Devil and Black King Shaw, using repeated Blood Saber Slashes to weaken Red Devil’s teleportation until he caught them on a deserted island. He killed Shaw and turned his attention to the terrified Red Devil.

• Charles sensed Red Devil and Black King Shaw twenty-five kilometers south, and Gu Qing flew after them at Mach 2.
• Red Devil teleported with the wounded Shaw, but Gu Qing struck him with electric arcs that gradually numbed his body and restricted his teleportation.
• Gu Qing chased the pair through Homestead City and into the Florida Strait, attacking whenever Red Devil appeared and devastating streets along the way.
• Gu Qing caught both men on a deserted island, snapped Shaw’s neck, and crushed his head with a punch.
• Gu Qing exulted in his revenge while Red Devil stared at him in fear.

Gu Qing spared Red Devil after Charles intervened and learned that Red Devil wanted Shaw’s power to free his people from a sealed pocket dimension. Gu Qing refused Charles’s request to change his ways and left, while Charles invited Red Devil to join him.

• Gu Qing questioned Red Devil, who explained that he had approached Shaw in hopes of using his power to free his people from a pocket dimension.
• Red Devil offered to serve Gu Qing, but Gu Qing rejected the offer and prepared to kill him.
• Charles called out to Gu Qing and asked him to spare Red Devil; Gu Qing let Red Devil live but refused to promise he would value human life.
• Gu Qing departed, leaving Charles and Raven with Red Devil on the deserted island.
• Charles invited Red Devil to join him, and Red Devil agreed before teleporting himself, Charles, and Raven away.

Vanessa recalled her brother Ryan’s death and her father’s refusal to avenge him, then visited her father’s grave and reflected on the feelings she had found in Iron Hand. She left the cemetery, ending her last ties to her father.

• Ryan hid Vanessa from their pursuers and ran off to draw them away, but his final smile remained with her as she woke from a nightmare years later.
• Vanessa’s father slapped her for rejecting etiquette lessons and wanting to learn the family business so she could avenge Ryan.
• Years later, Vanessa confronted her aging father over his decision to have Carlos cooperate with the McConnell Family, accusing him of putting the family above her and Ryan.
• At her father’s grave, Vanessa said she had found hope and a sense of peace beside Iron Hand, then wiped away her tears and left without attachment.

FBI agent Jamie Barlow left a file bag for Daisy Aisha to take, and she found a report that prompted her to order a search of the Florida Strait. The search began after Aisha said the FBI would cover up the destruction in Miami as a localized earthquake.

• Jamie Barlow entered a café in Homestead City, sat beside Daisy Aisha, and left without his file bag.
• Daisy Aisha took the file bag after Barlow departed and returned to her car, where Freyer asked whether Mutants had caused the destruction.
• Aisha told Freyer that the FBI would handle the aftermath and describe the destruction as a localized earthquake.
• After reading a page in the report, Aisha ordered Freyer to send ships and helicopters to search the Florida Strait.

After avenging himself, Gu Qing confronted his lack of belonging and resolved to find a way back to his original world. He returned to Vanessa, then entered The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, where a little beggar ran into him in Hanzhong.

• Gu Qing traveled the world for six months to train in fighting styles, but soon felt confused and unfulfilled again.
• Remembering Steve Montgomery’s downfall, Gu Qing accepted that he was Gu Qing rather than Erik Lehnsherr and resolved to find his way home, believing the system might help him surpass one million horsepower.
• Gu Qing returned to Sicily, where Vanessa confessed her feelings through a passionate kiss, and he stayed with her overnight.
• The system anchored The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, and Gu Qing decided to enter the world to gather Spacetime Value and martial arts techniques.
• Gu Qing arrived in Hanzhong, where a little beggar chasing a young swordsman crashed into him and bounced backward.

Gu Qing met Linghu Chong and his Mount Hua junior brothers at Taibai Tower, where they drank and discussed Gu Qing’s plans to settle in the Central Plains. When two Qingcheng swordsmen bullied the shopkeeper, Linghu Chong began mocking them, while Gu Qing watched without getting involved.

• Linghu Chong introduced himself and Lu Hou'er to Gu Qing, apologized for Lu Hou'er's recklessness, and invited Gu Qing to Taibai Tower.
• At the tavern, Lu Hou'er complained that Linghu Chong had drunk all the monkey wine he stole, and Linghu Chong persuaded him to keep their secret.
• Linghu Chong asked Gu Qing about his Western Regions background, and Gu Qing said he planned to settle in the Central Plains and start a small business.
• Two white-robed Qingcheng swordsmen threatened the shopkeeper over their seating, and Linghu Chong decided to intervene.
• Linghu Chong called the Four Elites of Qingcheng beasts, while Gu Qing watched the confrontation without joining in.

Linghu Chong fought two Qingcheng Sect disciples at Taibai Tower while Gu Qing revealed a mysterious defense that sent them flying away from him. After parting with Linghu Chong and his companions, Gu Qing planned to obtain and distribute the Lin Family's Evil Warding Sword Manual, study martial arts, and use his accumulated Spacetime Value for a prize draw.

• Linghu Chong introduced himself to the two Qingcheng Sect disciples and provoked them into a fight by calling them the Four Beasts of Qingcheng.
• Linghu Chong fought the two disciples, mocked their swordplay, and kicked them off the second floor toward Gu Qing.
• Gu Qing remained seated as an unseen force repelled the two disciples, leaving Linghu Chong startled by his apparent hidden strength.
• The Qingcheng disciples left to fetch their senior brothers, while Linghu Chong dismissed the threat and apologized to Gu Qing for the disrupted drinking session.
• Linghu Chong and his companions departed for Mount Hua, and Gu Qing parted from them before setting out for Fuzhou.
• Gu Qing planned to obtain and widely distribute the Evil Warding Sword Manual, study martial arts techniques, and draw prizes with his accumulated Spacetime Value.

Gu Qing used thirty-four lottery draws to obtain Marvel gadgets, the Tara Mask, and Magnetic Field Heavenly Saber mastery, then tested the mask’s summoned legions. At Mount Hua, Yue Buqun punished Linghu Chong for a clash with Qingcheng disciples while privately revealing that he had arranged the incident to strengthen Mount Hua’s position.

• Gu Qing spent his lottery winnings on thirty-four draws and received various Marvel items, including Ant-Man Discs, a Vibranium Spear, and Black Widow’s Rare Video.
• Gu Qing mastered Magnetic Field Heavenly Saber and found it stronger than his Blood Saber Slash.
• Gu Qing put on the Tara Mask, summoned several kinds of Ghost Shadow Legion, and blasted them apart with a punch.
• Yue Buqun confronted Linghu Chong with a letter from Yu Canghai, and Linghu Chong, Lu Hou'er, and Ying Bailuo admitted the matter had been exposed.
• Yue Buqun ordered Linghu Chong to receive thirty heavy strokes and kneel for a day and night, then revealed that he had orchestrated the clash to intimidate the Qingcheng Sect and boost Mount Hua’s standing.

Gu Qing established the Jianghu Monthly Report to spread information across the martial world and obtained the Evil Warding Sword Manual. In Fuzhou, Lin Pingzhi killed Yu Renyan after a tavern quarrel, while a Ghost Shadow Ninja secretly recorded the incident.

• Gu Qing opened the Jianghu Monthly Report’s main office in Hanzhong City and planned to use its branches to spread the Evil Warding Sword Manual.
• A Ghost Shadow Ninja returned with the Evil Warding Sword Manual, and Gu Qing inspected its warning that practitioners had to castrate themselves.
• Lin Pingzhi and his escort guards stopped at a tavern in Fuzhou, where the owner explained that he had taken over the business and introduced his granddaughter, Wan'er.
• Yu Renyan harassed Wan'er and insulted Lin Pingzhi, prompting Lin to fight him.
• After Yu Renyan defeated him, Lin Pingzhi attacked with a dagger and killed him, while a hidden Ghost Shadow Ninja recorded the scene.

Gu Qing resolved to create a Magnetic Field Martial Way through his own effort, and his growing will let him glimpse the first possibility of developing it. Meanwhile, Lin Pingzhi struggled as a starving beggar after the Qingcheng Sect captured his parents, then learned that the Jianghu Monthly Report had exposed the sect’s role in the Fuwei Escort Agency’s destruction.

• Gu Qing rejected relying on the system and, as his Complete Realm grew, saw the first faint sprout of a new martial way.
• Lin Pingzhi recalled how Yu Renyan’s death led to the Qingcheng Sect attacking the Fuwei Escort Agency and capturing his parents while he alone escaped.
• After losing his travel funds and enduring hardship on his way to rescue his parents, Lin Pingzhi became a beggar and nearly considered stealing food.
• A bun shop owner took pity on Lin Pingzhi and gave him two buns, which he ate while weeping over his parents and blaming himself.
• Lin Pingzhi overheard tavern patrons say the Jianghu Monthly Report had revealed that the Qingcheng Sect destroyed the Fuwei Escort Agency.